Chapter 26
Shut Up
Disclaimer-Not mine.
Previous Chapter...
"Lily?" James asked after the light in her wand went out. He squinted in the darkness as he reached for his own wand.
"Experlliarmus!" A deep voice shouted, sending James's wand out of his hand. "Don't move or you'll never see her again."
James's mouth dropped. "Lily?" He questioned.
Lily let out a muffled scream behind the hand that was holding her mouth tightly shut. "Back out of the corridor." The voice yelled at James but he just shook his head. "Get out boy!"
James didn't make a move. He stayed where he was, his hands up by his head as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He could make out an outline of a tall man holding Lily close to his chest. He wasn't sure who the man was though.
Lily felt a curse hit her in the side of her throat. Nothing hurt her but she screamed. It was like she had no control over her vocal cords. It finally hit James then that whoever this was, wasn't playing games. His breathing began to get rapid as he stepped back towards the entrance of the passageway.
"I said get out!" The voice shouted again.
"Don't worry Lily. It's going to be fine." He assured her. But it was James who needed more assurance than Lily.
Lily let out another, this time intentional scream as she attempted to pull herself from the man's grip. The man held onto her even tighter as she squirmed away from him.
"Don't tell a damn soul." The black-masked man said.
James nodded. "Yeah okay." He whispered as he put a hand behind him to guide his way to the door.
But for the man, James was walking too slow and he was far from being patient man. "I said go!" The man yelled, cutting James off. James stumbled back stunned, still looking at the him. The man let out a frustrated sigh before bellowing, "Crucio!" The spell hit Lily with horrifying perfection.
Lily screamed in pain and the man let her fall to the ground, knowing she wasn't going to go anywhere. James took a step towards Lily instinctively. "Are you thick? I said leave!" The man shouted. Lily let out a groan as every part of her body ached with the most excruciating pain she had ever felt in her life. She didn't know what it felt like to die, all she knew was that it couldn't be worse than this. No matter what way you went.
Lily's eyes locked with James for a quick second as she whispered through the pain, "Go."
James had no choice.
A look of shock crossed Remus's face. Julia frowned and opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when Remus called, "Julia look out!" But he was too late.
A swirling red and yellow spell hit her in the back of her head. Julia let out a deep breath as she felt her legs turn into jello. Her head was spinning as san arm close around her waist. She was aware of everything going on around her, but she couldn't make sense of any of it. It was like she was dreaming or hypnotized. "Remus?" She said, as she watched him being pulled back towards the library. She didn't know who was pulling him.
That smell. That smell was the only thing she could make sense of. It swirled around her nose at the same time the arm around her waist did. It was a smell she could always recognize. It was the smell that only belonged to one person.
She wearily turned her head around, like in slow motion, a swirl of images blurring together. Her eyes landed on a man in a black-mask. Even with the mask on, she knew exactly who it was. "What are-" She slurred before collapsing into the man's chest.
And that was all she would remembered.
"Let go of me!" Lily said as she kicked the man dragging her down the hall. She grabbed hold of the hand pulling her and attempted to yank it off to no avail.
"Just shut up. You're coming whether you want to or not." The man hissed.
Lily continued to struggle against the arm holding her. The man slowly brought her farther down the passageway, keeping an eye out for anyone else that might be in it. "You're going to regret it if you don't let go of me." Lily hissed back.
The man couldn't contain a laugh. "Do you really think that your 4 foot 8 self is going to stop me?"
"No." Lily said, as she brought her elbow up and behind her, hitting the man square in the nose. He groaned and his hand instinctively went to his now bleeding nose. Given this opportunity, Lily turned around and kneed him in the groin. "Try my 5 foot 2 self."
With that, she turned and ran as fast as she could back towards the entrance of the passageway. Her heart was pounding against her rib cage and her adrenaline was flowing faster than it ever had. She could hear her pulse beating in her ears as she carried herself closer and closer to freedom.
"Inmobulocorpus!" Lily heard the man shout at her. An invisible rope-like spell wrapped around her middle and dragged her back towards the man. Lily tried desperately to fight against the spell, concentrating on breaking it.
A second rope-like spell shot out of the wand. This time, the rope tied around Lily's ankles. The man jerked his wand back, sending Lily down on the floor, face flat against the cold stone ground. Her chin and knees scrapped the rough stone as the man jerked his wand, one last time. She barely felt a thing due to the adrenaline rushing in her though. Lily flipped onto her back in time to see the man hovering over her.
"The problem is," The man began as he grabbed her upper arms and pulled her upright. A light groan escaped Lily's lips as he slammed her against the wall. "I have a wand and you don't." Lily fought against his hands as they pinned both of her arms against the wall.
Lily said nothing but concentrated on how to get him off of her. "So here's the deal." The man said, taking his wand out from his jacket pocket. "You listen to everything I say or else, I'll kill you." He dug the point of the wand into her neck.
Lily's breathing was rapid so she tried to steady her voice before hissing through gritted teeth, "I'd rather die."
He laughed shallowly, "What a Gryffndor." He said. "But I know you don't want to die and you wouldn't choose death."
Lily looked him directly in the eye and said, "What makes you think that?"
"James Potter."
Lily frowned and shook her head, "He doesn't have anything-." She began but he interrupted her.
"Because if you let me kill you, James will never be able to forgive himself. It's his fault you're down here."
"It's not his fault." Lily spat at the man as she, again, tried to wiggle her way from him.
"Maybe not. But he's going to think that." The man slowly ran a hand down her face sending goosebumps down Lily's spine. "Now why would you ever do something like that to him?" He cooed. Lily looked away from him and bit the inside of her lip. "Besides, in a couple minutes I'll have even more of a reason to make you listen to me."
Lily returned her puzzled gaze to him. The man nodded, a grin crossing over his face. "I'll have two more reasons actually."
The color drained out of her face as she realized what he was saying, "Who?" She whispered.
The man's smile only got bigger. "Tell me who!" Lily shouted, realizing that this man and herself were not going to be the only people down there. "Answer me!" She struggled against him, his sickening smile still in place.
"You're pretty smart for a Gryffindor. I thought I was going to have to tell you that we'll have some other guests arriving."
"Let go of me you bastard." She said, his grin making her sick. She pulled her head back and spit on the man's face before trying to get him to release his hands from her.
He slowly wiped away the spit before slamming her against the wall again, knocking the breath out of her lungs. He raised his wand to her again she spat, "Crucio!"
Lily let out a yelp of unbearable pain. Every inch of her ached like she was being slowly cut down the middle. She tried to be strong and hide it, but it wasn't doing much good. She tried to ignore her pain; to think of anything else but how much she wanted it to end, even if it meant dieing.
The man laughed again, "Stupid girl." He backed away from her, his wand still raised at her.
"What are you doing?" A voice asked behind them. The man turned and his eyes landed on two figures standing in the dark of the passageway.
"Teaching her a lesson." The man said. Lily glanced in the direction of the new voice, but as soon as she did, she felt a searing pain in her side. She curled up and let out another scream.
"Stop it!" The second male voice said. "You said you wouldn't hurt her!"
"I said I wouldn't kill her." The man lowered his wand and as he did, the curse was broken. Lily took a deep breath as she tried to regain her composure. Even though the curse was no longer on her, every part of her body was sore; sore in muscles she didn't know existed.
"So you actually brought the girl." The man said, grabbing hold on Lily and dragging her up again. Lily winced in pain but didn't have the energy to fight back.
Lily squinted into the darkness as the two figures in the shadow. One of them was leaning against the other one with the appearance of being unconscious. "Sirius?" Lily asked.
"Yeah, it's me Lily." Sirius returned, quietly.
"You take this one." The man said, pushing Lily towards Sirius. "And I'll take this one." The man said, grabbing the girl in Sirius's arms towards himself.
"Don't hurt her." Sirius said, as the girl was ripped from his arms.
"Julia?" Lily whispered as she caught the face of the girl. "But-What's going on?" Lily asked.
The man laughed and turned away from the two of them. "We're leaving now. And Sirius, don't bother trying anything. Remember, I've got your girl right here."
Sirius glared at the back of his head as he started down the passage. "Just be quiet Lily, I don't want you to get hurt." Sirius said.
"Why did you bring Julia here?" She asked.
"I had no choice." Sirius replied.
"Shut up now!" The man called behind his shoulder.
Sirius lowered his head, "Come on." He said, following the man down the hall. Lily didn't understand. Not even one time could Lily remember Sirius's backing down. But he just did it...It was so...unlike him.
Lily shook her head but followed him anyway. She thought about running to get help, or at least get her wand that had been knocked out of her hands before, but she wasn't going to risk anything happening to Julia.
"What are you-?" Lily began. The man turned to her and as he did, a bolt of yellowish-orange light escaped his wand. The spell hit Lily even before she could realize what was happening. The curse sent her back a few feet into the wall of the passageway. She let out a groan as her knees gave out and she slid to the ground.
"I said shut up." The man said, before turning back down the corridor. "Go get her Sirius."
Sirius obeyed and turned back to Lily. He bent down and whispered in her ear, "For once in your life Evans, please be quiet." He begged.
"Sirius, who is he?" Lily asked, her head pounding like a thousand tiny hammers tinkering away at her skull.
"He's name is Paul Fairley." He quickly explained. "He's a Death Eater."
Lily frowned. What would a Death Eater want with the three of them? "Why is he here?" She asked.
"Sirius, your father is not going to be happy with you if you don't hurry up." Fairley called over his shoulder, as he stopped to wake Julia up.
The man turned to Julia and shook her shoulder, "Wake up girl." He said. Julia slowly came to it, blinking her eyes slowly awake. But being in the state she was in now and being asleep weren't much different. She was still out of it, the spell that was put on her before, had had a strong effect on her.
A gray cloud clogged her head, making everything hazy. She didn't know where she was now, but she didn't really care either. It was like she was in a dream, or hypnotized. Julia stumbled forward as Fairley pulled her arm.
Lily slowly stood up, her vision filling with white dots from standing. She recalled what Fairley had just said. Your father is not going to be happy...Why would Sirius's father have anything to do with this?
Sirius offered her his hand to help her up. She took it, gratefully, and they started down the hall.
Lily's mind was reeling with a way to outsmart Fairley and get them out of there. The only problem was, she really had no idea what was going on.. All she knew was that this was bad. Lily didn't have a wand and-Wait...Julia's wand.
Lily turned to Sirius and mouthed, "Julia's wand?"
"What?" He lipped back.
Lily pointed to Julia and Sirius nodded. She thought for a moment before pointing her index finger and swishing it, like you would to perform a spell. "Her wand?" Sirius mouthed.
Lily nodded and shrugged her shoulders, "Where?"
"In her..." Sirius pointed to his own pocket. Lily nodded.
"Where's yours?"
Hope was now installed in Sirius as he pulled his wand slowly out of his pocket. "Get hers." Lily whispered inaudibly.
Sirius read her lips and shook his head. He slid his wand into Lily's hand, making sure Fairley wasn't looking.
"How are you two doing back there? I didn't expect you to be this quiet." He turned his head to look at them and as he did, Lily stuck the wand up the back of her shawl. Of course the time something like this happens, she had to be wearing a dress. As soon as she thought of this, she remembered the date her and James were supposed to be having now..."I guess you learned your lesson huh?" Fairley addressed to Lily.
Lily glared at him as he turned back ahead. They made their way to the end of the passageway and Lily contemplated when to use the wand. She didn't want to do it too early, she figured Fairley would be expecting something.
"Alright out this door. You two first." Sirius and Lily both exited through the small hole leading to the night air. A large bush was blocking the entrance which the two navigated easily around. Fairley and Julia soon came out as well.
"Where are we going?" Sirius asked.
"Hogsmeade." Fairley replied.
"Where is Hogsmeade?" Lily asked.
Fairley looked at her sourly, "I thought I told you to be quiet."
Lily glared at him and slowly, he turned around leading the two of them towards Hogsmeade.
Lily took a deep breath and pointed Sirius's wand at Julia, she thought over and over "Accio wand." Slowly, Julia's wand rose from her pocket. Lily jerked Sirius's wand and the wand went flying into her hand. Lily stuffed Sirius's wand into his hand.
The two watched Fairley carefully, to make sure he didn't know what was going on. "Muffliato!" Lily whispered. A buzzing sound soon filled Fairley's ears, making it impossible for him to hear. "How do you get the Whomping Willow to stop moving?" She asked hurriedly.
"Press the big knot next to the trap door." Sirius replied.
"You get Julia, I'll stop the tree." Lily looked around to see if there happened to be anyone who could help them around. Of course, there wasn't, for what professor would be out of the school at this time of night?
"But-." Sirius began to ask but it was too late.
Fairley rubbed his ears, trying to get rid of the sound, assuming it was a bug. After swatting for a few seconds, he realized it wasn't one. There were no mosquitoes out in the winter. He whipped around to see a blueish spell coming at him. "Experillarmus!" Lily had shouted, aiming her spell dead straight at Fairley.
The spell hit him square and he flew back a few feet, his wand knocked out of his hand. "Lily, you have to crawl on your stomach or the tree will hit you." Sirius said as both of them sprinted off: Sirius to Julia and Lily to the Whomping Willow.
"Come on Juls." Sirius said, putting his arm around her back. He slowly lifted her up to her feet. "Can you walk?" He asked her.
She looked behind her before her eyes focused on Sirius's face. "It's dark out." She said.
Sirius sighed, "Please Julia try to walk quickly." He told her.
She didn't seem to understand what he said because she made no move forward. Sirius groaned as he helped her across the lawn to the tree.
Fairley swore loudly as he landed on his back. He stood up to see Lily running towards the Whomping Willow. He got on his hands and knees and desperately searched the ground for his wand. If he couldn't find it, he had no choice but to chase the students without it, which he knew, wouldn't be wise seeing as, somehow, Lily had found her wand. Or so he thought.
Lily's feet pounded the ground as she sprinted towards the tree. She reached the tree very shortly, at which time, she hit on the ground on her stomach and began to crawl, military style to where she thought she could find the knot. She had only been through the Whomping Willow once, so she wasn't exactly sure where she would find it.
A branch of the willow came swooping towards the ground, she rolled over onto her side and ducked her face into her body to protect herself. The branch landed on the ground where she had been, leaving a shallow imprint in the grass. After the branch retreated, she immediately got back on her elbows and crawled.
"Come on Julia." Sirius begged. He glanced behind him to see that Fairley was still looking for his wand. "Please." He whispered to her. She seemed to register something, because she began to support more of her own weight. "We're almost there." He told her. "Just a little bit longer."
"Sirius?" She asked him.
"Yeah?" He answered.
She shook her head lazily and slurred, "I don't know what I'm doing."
Sirius took a deep breath. This was all his fault. Why couldn't he have done something, anything to stop it? "I'm sorry." He said.
Julia looked up at the stars. "Okay." She said, tripping over her own feet. She looked ahead of her, unable to focus on anything around her.
Lily made it to the trunk of the tree and she looked around for a particularly large knot. She pushed a couple of them so far, but none of them worked. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a branch coming at her from the side. She pulled herself forward, but the branch caught the back of her leg. She winced in pain at the sting but urged herself to keep moving.
"On your left Evans!" Sirius called, as him and Julia reached the willow tree. They were close enough to be able to reach the door quickly but back far enough to avoid the branches.
Lily heard Sirius and looked to her left, a foot away was a large, rounded knot. She slammed her fist on it and the knot sunk into the tree. The branches of the Whomping Willow froze where they were.
Sirius urged Julia to move towards the hole in the ground on the side of the tree. She stumbled with him towards it as fast as she could without losing her balance completely. She might not have know what was going on, but she did understand what Sirius said about going as fast as she could.
Fairley let out an angry yell as he crawled around looking for his wand. He looked up at the students and saw that they had all made it to the Whomping Willow. He figured there must have been some kind of passageway there. Where? He didn't know. Fairley ran his hands across the grass, blindly looking for his wand in the dark of the night. His hand rolled over something long and rounded. He picked it up and brought it closer to himself. "Lumos." He mumbled. Sure enough, the tip of it light. It was his wand.
Lily dropped down into the hole and landed on the muddy ground softly. Sirius turned to Julia, "Can you jump down there?" He asked her. She didn't even look at him much less respond to him. He sighed and grabbed her around the middle. Both of them sat on the edge, dangling their feet into the whole. "Watch out Lils." Sirius said, as he pulled both himself and Julia down.
They both teetered over into the wall behind them, but landed without a scratch. "Hurry." Sirius said, as he stood up. He turned back to the wall he had just fell into and opened another door.
"I didn't know that was there." Lily said, recounting the first and only time she had ever been in there.
"We just put it in." Sirius said, pulling Julia into the closet-like room.
Lily followed and shut the door behind her. "Where does this lead?" Lily asked.
"It doesn't go anywhere." Sirius replied.
Lily frowned, "Then what are-"
"Shh..." Sirius whispered as he heard someone land inside the passageway just outside the door.
"Come out where ever you are." They heard Fairley say. "You can't run from me. Especially with that drugged girl you have with you."
Fairley's footsteps could be heard going up the stairs into the Shrieking Shack. "She's drugged?" Lily asked Sirius.
Sirius shook her head, "It's a curse."
Lily frowned, "What curse?" She asked him.
Sirius shrugged, "I don't know. The incantation is Deterorpus." He explained. "But I don't know exactly what it-."
Lily's mouth dropped, "Who put that spell on her?" She demanded, after recognizing the spell.
Sirius looked away, ashamed. "I did." He said softly.
Her eyes widened as she probed, "Why the hell did you do that?" She asked.
"Because if I didn't do exactly what they said, they were going to kill you." He hissed. Lily recoiled. It was going to be hard to stay mad at him after this; after all he has done, she resolved. That is if they even made it out of there alive.
"W-What exactly does it do?" Sirius questioned.
"Well, for one thing, she's not going to remember any of this." Lily began. "The curse effects the mind but as long as she gets treated soon, she should be fine."
Sirius didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything. "Come on." He said, as he cautiously pushed the door to the closet open. "We have to get back to the castle."
Julia, with help from her two friends, and themselves, slipped out of the closet. Lily jumped up and grabbed a hold of the hole's side they had just come down. She slowly pulled herself up onto her stomach, then up out of the hole. "Hurry before Fairley realizes we're not in the house." Lily whispered down to Sirius.
Sirius picked up Julia and with all his strength, held her up to the edge of the hole. Lily grabbed both of her arms and heaved, dragging Julia out of the hole. Shortly following her, was Sirius.
Sirius took a deep breath after he got out, gaining his strength to help Julia back into the castle. He slowly looked up from the ground. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. "Crap..." He mumbled.
Lily frowned and turned around, figuring he was just swearing at his exhaustion when she bumped into a tall, strongly built man with dark black hair and the same gray eyes as Sirius.
"Well well. What do we have here?" He asked, grabbing a hold of Lily's arm to keep her from leaving.
Lily looked from Sirius to the man and saw a striking resemblance. Besides their almost identical eyes, they had much of the same facial structure; the jaw, the chin...Lily frowned and jerked her arm away from him.
"What do you want?" Lily asked him.
The man calmly took hold of Lily's arm again. "I'm here to teach my son a lesson."
"Your son?" Lily blurted out, looking from Sirius to his father. Sirius hung his head in shame.
"But I did what you told me to." Sirius hissed.
"Get down." He said, referencing to the hole where the three had just gotten out of.
"But I-."
"Sirius." His father said sternly. He looked from Julia to Lily before turning and sliding down the passageway.
Julia followed him, with help from his father. "Come on down and don't try anything." Sirius's father called up to Lily.
Lily weighed her options. Risk her and her friends for help or risk her and her friends by listening to this man. "O-Okay." Lily said as she raised the wand behind her back and thought Ecrivouous. A soft mist appeared at her wand and silently floated up to the stars. Her face didn't change expression as she slipped down the hole, her wand tucked under her shawl.
A cold hand gripped Lily around her neck. "Move." Sirius's father hissed into her ear.
Lily hid a shudder as his sickly breath hit the back of her neck, making the hairs stand straight up. Lily reluctantly obeyed.
A/N- Gasp Well? What do you think? I was going to finish this scene but 1) is would be way too long if I did and I didn't want it to get boring. 2) the mood changes after this and I think another chapter would be more fitting.
SOOoooo...I got this out pretty quickly huh? For a change. And I promise it will be more like this from now on. I just thought I hit a dead end with this story, but I guess not.
Keep reviewing and I'll keep writing.
Kait
