The next morning started tumultuously. Remus's heart jumped into his throat as soon as Molly frantically cried, "Harry's missing!"
Sirius paled in horror, and Remus could only put a hand on his back and stupidly mutter, "Don't think the worst. We'll find him."
And suddenly, Snape appeared through the fireplace, an expression of fury on his face. "They've got Potter. They've had him since yesterday, I just found out. Aren't you two geniused supposed to be his protection?!" he bellowed in the direction of Remus and Sirius.
"There are a thousand charms on this place, Snivellus!" Sirius shot back, distress evident in his voice. "How are we supposed to expect such a huge breech of security?!"
"Only Order members know the charms," Remus said, his eyes wide. "Who haven't we seen?"
Sirius's face became distorted with rage. "Mundungus."
"Dumbledore knows?" Remus found his voice once more.
"Of course!" Severus snapped. "I don't know what the Dark Lord has in mind for Potter, but why he only took the boy instead of attacking the whole household is beyond me."
"The important thing is not to panic," Molly said, a terrible look of fear on her face, which she tried futilely to hide with a shaky smile. "Do we have a headcount for everyone else?"
"Everyone else is here, Mum," Ron said, physically shaking all over. Remus felt pity for him. He too knew what it was like to lose a best friend.
For three hours, all in the Weasley house anxiously awaited news of Harry, and what was even more painstaking was that there was not much that they could do. Sirius and Remus had checked the protective charms around the house three times to ensure that they were up properly. Molly had tears streaming down her face as she frantically baked and assured everyone that everything would be just fine. Besides her pitiful declarations of satisfactory results, nobody said a word.
Finally, after nearly five painful hours of waiting, Remus stood and headed for the kitchen. He didn't know what he would accomplish by standing outside, but it would remove him from such a bleak reality.
He took two steps out of the kitchen, and breathed in the fresh air. His eye involuntarily twitched. Blood was mixed in with the smell of grass, and a very female smell—her smell.
Remus suddenly heard a solid crash! erupt from behind him, and he looked up to see two figures on the roof. Almost immediately, everyone that remained in the house dashed out.
"What the bloody hell was that?!" Ron demanded shrilly.
"It's not Santa," Remus weakly replied.
One of the figures stirred, and groaned loudly. "Bit of turbulence, and our impact was a bit dodgier than I'd estimated… Not that you care, you're unconscious." The voice belonged to Lily Malfoy, and Remus knew that before he even saw the mass of long, ebony hair. Her silver-gray eyes met the scene below her—a bunch of gaping wizards, most of them with their mouths agape.
Weakly, she pushed the second form, which was most definitely an unconscious Harry, toward the edge of the roof. "Here," she managed, flopping back down on the roof. "He's more trouble than he's worth."
Sirius immediately levitated him to the ground, while not a soul said a word.
"He's not dead, mind you. Voldy just gave him a good wallop," she said, unmoving.
"Bring him to the couch," Molly quietly directed, and half of the procession, including Sirius, left inside the house, with Harry's unconscious form.
Molly stood on her tiptoes, trying to catch a glimpse of the girl. "Erm, Lily, dear?"
There was no response, save for a muffled, "Mmph."
"Are you all right, Lily?" Molly's voice became stronger.
"Yeah," she replied hoarsely. "I mean, I've got quite the pain in my head, a little ringing in my ears, a couple ribs are broken, and I think that wound from a few days ago has reopened, but, yes, I'm fine, Missus Weasley," she said politely.
"Levicorpus," Remus said, and Lily Malfoy's form floated into his arms. She was considerably lighter than he had expected, and flushed scarlet when she looked up at him.
"Remus!" she said dopily. Remus frowned when he saw a trickle of blood run down from her temple.
"We'd better get you inside," Severus replied quickly.
Lily didn't look up to search for the familiar's figure, but closed her eyes and smiled. "And Uncle Severus, too! What luck! You recall, Uncle Sevvie, that magic can't be used to heal me," she said as Remus carried her toward the house.
"Yes, Lily, I remember," Severus replied patiently.
"Why's she all funny like that?" Tonks questioned, an eyebrow raised.
"Loss of blood, I'd imagine," Remus said, looking at his beautiful charge intently. "Molly, can you call Madam Pomfrey, please? We'll need her for the pair of them."
"And I'll go call off the search," Tonks said importantly.
Realizing that there was no other place for her, Remus laid Lily Malfoy on the kitchen table. As he stepped back, a chill was sent down his spine, for she looked eerily as though she was the focus of a funeral.
"I'm fine," Lily suddenly insisted, and she tried to get up. Remus instinctively pushed her back down.
"No, you aren't. Nobody's going to attack you this time, and as you're badly wounded, you'll do well to stay put," he reprimanded. This was unlike him, and Remus was well aware of this. He couldn't explain for his sudden change into a position of authority other than, well, he cared for the girl.
This realization brought up only more questions. Firstly, why should he care for her? Then of course, came a silent inquiry to determine the degree of 'caring' for the girl. For the time being, Remus brushed these bothersome thoughts away with the simple rationalization that he was able to relate to Lily Malfoy and her altered state.
Madam Pomfrey arrived within minutes by Floo, the emerald fire left open as countless medical supplies floated behind her. As soon as she stepped foot into the home, she said loudly, "Where's Potter? You'd think being away from Hogwarts would inhibit the boy from attaining injuries, but of course…"
She continued her speech as Molly showed her to the sitting room, ignoring the broken, bloody mess of a woman on the kitchen table. The rest that stood assembled in the kitchen followed suit.
Remus stood there, blinking in disbelief of his counterparts. They still believed the girl to be a demon, they had to. None of them were deliberately this cruel to anyone, but then again, Remus thought, it was not exactly cruelty. This was a sort of unrecognized indifference, brought on by the fact that Harry was also injured, and that nobody really knew this Lily girl.
Remus suddenly frowned, still looking in the direction of the sitting room. His best friend's son had been taken by Voldemort and badly injured, and all he could do was stand there and seethe about the Order not caring as much about a Malfoy. Remus found himself to be in quite the predicament.
Now alone with Lily Malfoy, he turned slowly to face her. She seemed not to pay any attention to the horde of people that had suddenly vanished from the room. Though her face was still muddy and smeared with blood, her pallor was obvious. One eye was swollen shut and already began to turn a deep shade of violet. Her hair was matted with blood and lay tangled across her chest, which heaved with every breath. As terrible as the girl looked, she remained conscious, surveying her surroundings and looking perfectly calm.
"They—they're just checking on Harry first, is all," Remus said awkwardly, staring down at his shoes.
"I figured so," she replied, her tone indecipherable.
Remus pulled out a chair from the table that Lily lay on, and seated himself. "Thank you, by the way."
Her head turned so that she faced him. She blinked her long lashes, trapping the pools of silver that lay behind them. She seemed surprised. "No problem," she said simply, but Remus could tell that she'd appreciated his gesture.
Feeling rather useless, Remus got to his feet again, looking down at Lily Malfoy. "Are you doing okay? Would you like anything while we wait, Miss?" God, she's young, came throught Remus's mind as he looked into her large, silver eyes.
She smiled shakily. "Besides the pain, I'm freezing," she managed.
With a simple nod, Remus Summoned a thick, knitted blanket that flew in from another room. He snatched it from the air, and very carefully lay it on top of the young woman, covering as much of her as he could.
"Thank you for staying," she replied meekly. "It's nice to have a friendly face around here."
Remus couldn't help but smile. "I'm not sure how friendly my face is, Lily. Still, someone had to watch over you."
"Well"—she grimaced in pain—"I appreciate your concern, Mister Lupin."
Within a few minutes of very still silence, Madam Pomfrey returned with Sirius and Molly at her side. "Good afternoon, Miss Malfoy. We've had an eventful morning, haven't we?" the nurse said briskly as the procession of medical supplies followed her into the kitchen.
She winced as Madam Pomfrey removed the blanket. "Well, eventful night, really. I was staying in that forest over there, and I smelled Voldemort, along with a dozen other Death Eaters, and then Harry's scent brushed my nose. Argh—needless to say, I found it strange for Harry to be waltzing along willingly with such company, so I followed them."
Madam Pomfrey began peering the girl over, and eventually did a scan using her wand. A small piece of paper emitted from the tip of her wand, which she quickly caught. She shook her head, clucking disapprovingly. "Tisk tisk, Miss Malfoy. A rather severe concussion, three broken ribs, and you've lost an abundance of blood from those previous wounds. We have been busy."
Before Lily could answer, Snape (whom Remus had not noticed leave) came bounding through the fireplace, looking wildly around. He was uncharacteristically dissheveled, black hair displaced in his face. Upon seeing Lily and the nurse, he seemed to relax somewhat, and set several vials of different potions upon the room that was left on the table.
"Here," he said, almost proudly. "I have a Blood-Replenishing Potion, a Sleeping Draught, and three other replenishers."
Madam Pomfrey, as well as Sirius and Remus, appeared surprised. "Thank you, Professor Snape, but I have all of these potions with me," she said, trying to be polite as she gestured to her procession of medical supplies.
"Yes, but you see, I made these," Snape said, nodding to his own. "I am completely assured that they are safe."
The nurse nodded, evidently not looking for an argument. Her attention turned back to her patient, who was shivering uncontrollably. "Miss Malfoy, do you know where you are?"
"The Burrow," she said listlessly.
"And your age?"
"Twenty-two."
"That is correct, Madam Pomfrey," supplied Snape.
"What is today's date?"
"The second of August." Lily closed her eyes, her head drooping to the side.
"Correct," the nurse replied, and she began rummaging through her supplies. "Now, I've heard tell that magical medicine is really of no use on you, so I'm afraid you're going to heal like any normal Muggle would," she explained quickly.
"Mhm," Lily mumbled, still shaking.
Molly gingerly touched Lily's arm, then sprang back as if bitten. "Poor dear, you're cold as ice. I'll go turn up the heat." She hurried away, looking nervously over her shoulder as she went.
As Poppy readied her utensils for the next task at hand, Remus balled up the discarded blanket and gently placed it beneath the girl's head.
"Lily," Poppy addressed the girl, stirring her from her half-slumber, "I'm going to cast a spell that will close those wounds and stop the bleeding for good. But, I'm afraid that it'll burn quite a bit, dear. But the rest won't be nearly as hard as this," she said gently.
Lily nodded. "I'm no stranger to pain, thank you."
"Right. Well, one of you three are to hold her down," Madam Pomfrey started, drawing a line up the tattered remains of her tattered blouse. Her top had been completely severed, and just as she reached to removed the blouse's remains, all three of the men spun abruptly around, facing anything but Lily.
The nurse sighed loudly. "One of you need to keep her still," she repeated.
"I certainly will not!" protested Severus from his intent gaze at the wall. "Lily is practically a daughter to me."
Sirius was shaking his head. "Yeah, well, she is my niece!"
"Can't you have Molly do it?" Remus added, his face scarlet at the prospect.
Madam Pomfrey remained her calm tone. "The faster the bleeding stops, the better her chances."
"Then, Remus, you do it," Sirius suggested, and Snape was nodding fervently.
"I hate to admit it, but I would trust you over the mutt here any day," Snape added. His voice was almost…pleading.
The pitiful tone in Snape's voice was enough to settle Remus's mind. He turned, swallowing hard, trying to discourage the color in his cheeks, and strode over to the kitchen table. "I-I won't look, I promise," he muttered in embarrassment.
"Here, dear. You'll want to bite down on this," Madam Pomfrey said, brandishing a towel, which Lily gratefully took and placed between her teeth. "Okay, Remus, go ahead and hold her at the shoulders," she said, and he did as he was told.
"Wait." Backing up and not turning around, Severus came nearer the table. "Here, Lily, hold onto my hand. It will help."
Now, Lily did as she was asked. Madam Pomfrey asked if she was ready, Lily nodded, and Remus got a good hold on the girl's thin shoulders.
He later wondered why he'd been so surprised when Lily screamed. Even through the towel, her howls echoed throughout the room, sad and pained, and they broke Remus's heart. She thrashed, but he held her as still as he could.
Snape also yelled in pain and fell to one knee as his hand was being crushed. His teeth were gritted, and Remus was suddenly quite content to be the one holding down Lily's shoulders.
Remus suddenly leaned down, his head inches from the young woman's ear, though he did well to avoid looking at her chest. "It's all right, Lily, she's almost done," he whispered while she screamed in agony. Her free hand latched onto his forearm in desperation.
After what seemed like an eternity, Madam Pomfrey lifted the spell, and Lily's terrible screams ceased. Her eyelids fluttered several times before rolling back into her head and closing.