*hides from angry readers throwing flames*
yes i have finally updated! and by bloody merlin it has taken me forever. if ive lost your interest to this story that is my fault only! and i am completely sorry. =\ all my fans are amazing. and if you are still waiting for this chapter. here it is. its taken a twist. and hopefully i will update more frequently now. i am sorry for this taking so loong to write! it was just such a hard chapter for me. i hope you like it. and i am sorry once again for not updating sooner. i am terrible. i welcome all the angry emails of not updating. sooner. =\ on a happier note; you get another chapter! thanks for all you guys who have stuck with me through this long and awful process. =] i love you all!
Chapter Twelve: Everything Changed
Bliss. Ecstasy. Paradise. Heaven.
Not one word could describe how I was exactly feeling at this moment. Parting from James after our earth shattering talk was almost impossible to do. I missed him already, and we'd only just left each other five minutes ago.
A camera was shoved in my face the moment I entered the limo to take me back to my suite. Even the badgering questions they asked couldn't bring the smile on my face to falter. In a couple minutes, I stepped back out of the limo and into the fresh night air.
Crisp air hit my heated face, making me feel light headed. My dark emerald green eyes glanced to the inky black sky, stars winking at me. I smiled at them.
"Miss Evans?" the bellhop interrupted.
"Oh, sorry," I said, crossing the threshold into the hotel.
Tomorrow I would be going into town to look at engagement rings. That was one of the things the camera crew had told me as they shoved cameras down my throat.
Engagement rings.
It still hadn't sunk in yet. James could possibly propose to me the next evening. That hadn't even begun to scratch the surface of sinking in.
James.
The name brought a smile to my face, and the pattering of my heart could not be stopped.
He loved me.
James Potter loved me. Little old Lily Evans.
This just couldn't be happening. Things like this don't happen to me. Lily Evans does not have fairy tale endings; she has heart breaks and failed relationships. I tried to steer my thoughts away from him for only a split second, and found I couldn't.
"I need a distraction," I said aloud, as I let myself into my suite.
Flicking on the lights, I noticed right away something wasn't right. An eerie silence filled the air, almost as if an evil so powerful was hanging over the room. Quickly and swiftly, I pulled my wand from my bag. I stepped over a fallen vase, making sure not to step on the glass. A rustle drew my attention to the sliding glass doors.
Cautiously moving towards the deck, my wand outstretched in front of me, my eyes searched the dark outside. Stillness stretched over the courtyard below. I turned around and screamed.
"Hello Evans," snarled a hooded figured.
I lay on my back, against cold tile. Pain overpowered all other things in my body, even laying on my back was painful. A pounding above my right eye signaled a bruise that would be huge tomorrow. My stomach had a slash through it almost as if someone had tried to gut me. I moved onto my side.
I groaned. "Lord of Merlin," I said sharply.
Opening my eyes slowly, darkness surrounded me. I noticed my right eye wouldn't open as far as my left one. Must be the bruise, I thought to myself. I moved my left arm. Another sharp pain shot through my body.
"Holy hell," I muttered, trying to inspect my arm.
Groping around in the darkness, I attempted to look for my wand. Nothing met my hand as I swept it across the cold tiles.
"Damn!" I swore.
Whoever kidnapped me must have taken my wand with them.
That aroused another question, actually it aroused many questions. Who kidnapped me? Why was I even kidnapped in the first place? Where was I?
But that voice, when they said Evans, it sounded too familiar. Almost scary familiar. I racked my brain for all the people that would honestly want to kidnap me. None came to mind, other than Voldemort.
Voldemort.
The name made my blood boil. I don't know why he would want me though. Putting the ridiculous idea that Voldemort kidnapped me aside, I pursued my search for my wand, or at least some light.
Without any luck, I sat down twenty minutes later angry. I wanted to scream, but I didn't know if that would be a good idea or not. Deep breathes I advised myself. No need to freak out now. Not that there wasn't any reason I should freak out. I was only in a room that was completely dark without my wand. Yeah, that wasn't a reason to freak out at all.
At times like these I wished I was able to use magic without my wand. Dumbledore explained to me one day in Hogwarts that it would be very useful, I laughed at him. Telling him I would never go anywhere without my wand. I wanted to bite myself in the ass for saying that to him. Now was a perfect example of when I could use wandless magic.
What had Dumbledore told me about wandless magic? Although I know I never really paid attention when he mentioned anything along the lines of wandless, he did explain some things to me.
His quiet practiced voice moved their way into my brain. "Wandless magic is a most useful art. Not many people know exactly how to perform wandless magic, but the technique is simple. Once you learn the basics, it will be perfectly easy to access."
I racked my brain for more memories of Dumbledore. What else would he say to me at this moment?
"You should have paid better attention," his voice chuckled.
"Oh shut up," I muttered.
There had to be something, just one little thing that could jog my memory of wandless magic. He mentioned something about focusing your brain on the one task you wanted to complete.
"To be completely efficient, all your thoughts must be on your task. Concentration and focus are the most important elements of wandless magic. It's a bit like the Expecto Patronum charm; you must focus completely on what you want to happen. Plus, you must motivate yourself to do. Find a certain thing that will motivate you to allow wandless magic to occur. Only powerful wizards are able to perform this rare magic, Lily you are very powerful even though you may not even see it yet. Your magic will be greater than most others."
Imagine him telling this to a sixteen year-old witch who thought she was way smarter than everyone else. Of course I didn't take this lesson seriously. I read up on wandless magic some in my fifth year and it looked impossible. I laughed at Dumbledore when he told me this.
I'm an idiot.
A noise outside the room silenced me. I fell back on the floor, pretending to be asleep – or dead. The crank of a lock opening sounded and a flood of light fell upon the floor.
"Still knocked out," a voice laughed. "Guess you hit her too hard, mate?"
Footsteps moved closer to my body. Someone kicked my side, just to check. I bit my cheek so hard I could feel the coppery taste of blood begin to trickle down the side.
"I thought she was much tougher than this," the second voice said.
Malfoy! I wanted to kick him. He was the one that kidnapped me; of course I recognized his slimy voice. I endured him for seven years at Hogwarts – I knew it was him.
"I'm still confused on why the Dark Lord wants her here," the first voice spoke. "She is a Mudblood, what could he possibly want with her? Rather than to kill her."
"I don't know Dolohov. The Dark Lord shares his ideas with no one but that stupid snake. My guess is that he wants to use the Mudblood for something."
"Obviously, she is some use to him if he has asked us not to kill her."
Malfoy grumbled. He didn't like being talked back too. "Anyway, we should tell him that she still is knocked out and what he wants us to do with her."
The pair retreated quickly. I glanced up to see where the door was. The second it clicked shut I jumped from the ground as fast as my aches and pains allowed me too. I groped around for a handle but found none.
An intense feeling washed through me. I wanted nothing more than to be out of this prison and with James.
James.
Motivation = James. I got part of wandless magic down already. Closing my eyes I pictured James, his laughing smile, his perfect, clear hazel eyes, his ever messy hair. Just to see him would mean the world to me.
With my motivation in hand, I concentrated. I held my hand out in front of me, extending it towards the door. A vision of me opening the door embedded itself in my mind. I opened one eye to see if the door had opened – nothing.
"Bloody hell," I grumbled.
"Concentrate!" His voice was back. "Focus on the task at hand. Push every other useless thing away from your mind."
"I can do this," I said strongly.
All other thoughts, besides that of James and getting out, vanished completely. The door clicked open revealing a small sliver of light.
I stood, mouth hanging open. "I just did that," I said softly. "Awesome!"
Now that I had opened the door – with wandless magic – I didn't have any clue what to do next. I still had no wand. And although I found I could perform wandless magic, I still liked the reassurance my wand gave me.
A light bulb popped in my head. Of course! I concentrated again and thought 'accio wand'. Nothing happened. I didn't expect my wand to be that easily accessible anyway.
I continued along the stone corridor careful to not make any noise. Malfoy and Dolohov were going to be back any second, and once they found out I was gone. It was not going to be pretty. I needed a plan, fast.
At this moment I wished I could communicate with others through my head so I could ask for help, or at least know someone was looking for me.
First task at hand – I needed to get my wand. A door up ahead opened making me fall back into the shadows. The person who exited the room walked briskly in the other direction. I made a break for the door and glanced inside.
The table in the center held a couple wands. My heart leapt greatly, mine was there among the stolen wands. I crossed the threshold and snatched my wand off the table. A great feeling of relief spread through my body. Now that I had my wand I felt I could take on all the death eaters in the world. I decided to grab the others, they were obviously stolen off of someone here and I thought I would try and return them to their rightful owners.
Completed first task, what to do next? I decided to follow the direction the person ran out of the room. There must be something worth while to see going on here.
Angry whispering broke out ahead. Three figures stood outside a large door.
"What is wrong with you?" Malfoy asked the smallest.
"N- nothing," squeaked the smallest – he sounded extremely familiar.
"Obviously there is if you thought it was smart to leave your post. Now someone might be able to break in there," Dolohov said menacingly.
"I d- didn't m- mean too," he said quietly.
"What are you doing here then? The Dark Lord doesn't need to be bothered with your petty problems," Malfoy scoffed.
"I wanted to know if you had captured Potter and Black yet," he wished.
Malfoy barked a laugh. "Why? So you could go save your once upon a time friends? I don't think so."
"They aren't my friends anymore," he said darkly.
"Well, we have got them," Dolohov said quickly, almost sounding excited. "They are locked away just like Evans is."
I didn't listen to anything else they said. I sprinted – as quietly as I could – away from the three bickering death eaters. There were more doors just like the one I had been locked away in. I hadn't noticed when I broke free.
How was I going to know which room they were in? I put my ear up to the door, hoping to hear a voice that would help me to figure out where they were.
I pointed my wand at the door. "Alohamora," I whispered quietly. The door clicked open. These death eaters needed to upgrade their spells. That was almost too easy. I opened the door looking around the room for a body. "James, Sirius?"
"Lily!" Ari's voice said happily. "How did you open the door?"
"Simple," I said smiling, hugging my best friend. "What are you doing here?"
"No clue, I was with Sirius at dinner. I went to the bathroom and never came out. Do you think they have Sirius here?"
I nodded. "Sirius and James. Which one of these is your wand?"
Ari plucked a small oak wand from my hand. "Those other two are James' and Sirius', I can tell."
"They must be in the other rooms," I said, closing the door behind us.
Ari stood in front of the next door. "Alohamora." The door clicked open again. "It's Sirius!" she said excitedly from inside the room.
That means James must be in the next room. "Alohamora," I said excitedly. "James?"
"Lily?" his weak voice asked. "What is going on? Why are you here?"
James lay in the middle of the room, curled into a ball. "Are you okay? What happened to you?" I gasped as my eyes fell upon a large gash over his eye.
The crooked smile I loved so much appeared. "I decided I would fight back."
"How many came after you?"
"Six."
Six!" I exclaimed. "Come on, I'll help you up. Can you walk?"
He nodded, grunting as I helped him to his feet. I kept an arm around his waist to steady himself. Ari and Sirius waited outside of the room.
"Do you know where we are?" Ari asked.
"Malfoy Manor," Sirius answered immediately.
We all gave him quizzical looks.
"I've been here before, against my own will," Sirius said, glaring at the walls.
"Do you know how to get out?" I asked.
Sirius glanced about, trying to decide where he was. "Yeah, follow me. We aren't that far from the basement exit."
The three of us quickly followed Sirius' lead through the stone walls underneath the Malfoy Manor. We made sure to make hardly any sound. At any moment a death eater, or worse, could pop out of nowhere.
"Are we almost there, Sirius?" Ari asked, pausing to catch her breath by a stone gargoyle. She relaxed her body up against the cold stone. The gargoyle instantly began to move back into the wall.
Ari gasped, jumping away from the gargoyle.
"What is this?" I asked, looking down the long tunnel it revealed.
James was already halfway down the tunnel. "Come on, let's go!"
"Are you sure?" Ari asked skeptically.
I pulled my friend through the opening. "It's better than standing here waiting to get caught by someone."
Once we were all through the opening, the gargoyle closed back up, sealing us into the now completely dark tunnel.
"Now what?" Ari asked.
"We walk until we get to the end," Sirius said, now behind James.
The tunnel continued on for another mile or so. We trudged on, not stopping anymore. All of a sudden I bumped into James' back. His stopping went unnoticed by me.
"Why did we stop?" I asked curiously, peeking over James' shoulder.
A large stone door blocked our exit to the outside–or at least we thought so.
"Just open it, mate," James instructed to Sirius.
He did as he was told but the door wouldn't budge. I stepped forward. "Alohamora!"
Nothing again. "Well, we're done for now," pouted Ari, plopped against the wall.
I picked my tired friend up. "Come on Ari-Bell, we are gonna get out of here. James, what are we to do now?"
His brow furrowed in concentration. I couldn't help but notice how adorable it made him look. The was his eyes scrunched together as he thought hard about this current task made me want to jump on him at this very moment. Control. I had to control my desire to tear his clothes to shreds. Holy Merlin, what was becoming of me?
"I got it!" James shouted. He moved closer to the door. "Do you see these markings?" His hands traced over drawings of symbols on the door. "They are enchantments, protections rather. They are drawn here to keep everyone and everything in the dungeons."
"Well, how do we break the enchantments?" voiced Ari.
"Simple," James said, brandishing his wand. He tapped the door in a fluid of movements and in various places. The door pushed open immediately.
The three of us stood there in amazement.
"How in bloody hell did you manage to do that?" I asked breathlessly.
His trademark smile graced his features. "It's a mystery love."
My friends and I stumbled out of the tunnel, faces of happiness and relief. Our laughter quickly ended as soon as we saw what was on the other side of the tunnel.
"Thought you could escape that easily now didn't you boys and girls?" the blood chilling voice of Lord Voldemort seethed.
Dread crept onto my face. Death eaters upon death eaters appeared from behind Voldemort. There must be at least twenty strong, maybe even a few more. There was no way we were going to possibly get out of this alive.
As I stood there–playing with the thought of actually dying at this moment–my whole life ran through my head.
Discovering I was different at the tender age of five.
Always being picked on by Petunia.
Receiving my Hogwarts letter at eleven.
Finding out I am not a freak, and that there are actually good things that come with magic.
Enduring torturous amounts of homework and exams.
Graduating from the place I called my home.
Becoming an Auror by age nineteen–youngest in history besides the man I now love.
Being accepted to the Bachelor.
Meeting James.
Wanting to be with James for the rest of my life.
All the different moments of my life played like a video on a continuous loop. I decided at the moment all my life's goals had been met. All save for one–marrying my true love. I looked to my side finding James standing there, a look of determination and pride burning on his face. His hazel eyes snuck a glance at mine. His one glance into my eyes gave me a sense of confidence and self-assurance. His smooth fingers caught a hold of mine giving them a gentle squeeze. I turned my attention to the danger in front with a certain confidence I had not had in years. If this was going to be the place I died, at least I could die with my friends and the love of my life.
I stared straight into the face of Lord Voldemort, master of all that is evil. No more did I feel shaky or scared underneath his penetrating glare. No, I wouldn't cry or give into his evilness for I am strong. I felt a wickedly similar smile–to those of James' and Sirius' after they know they've done something wrong–pull at my cheeks. If anyone was going to die tonight, it was going to be all the death eaters that came across me. No one will touch the people I love anymore, their reign of terror ends tonight. For I am strong; and I am no longer frightened of dying.
And in that one moment, everything changed.