TO: Taiyourshoes, James definitely likes Lily but I think he's reached the stage where he's not even sure it would happen and I guess he's kind of realizing that his life at Hogwarts isn't what the whole world revolves around. He's trying too hard to mature but he's not realizing that he's a lot more mature than what he gives himself credit for. At the same time I didn't want him to be too mature so there will be times when he's being stupid. Confused? Yeah me too! And I'm supposed to be the one writing about him!
TO: Ember marieclaire, Wow, you from Australia! Even cooler! How can you say your guys aren't cute??? Hehe, as for Yoanna, trust me she will be back. She's got more to do yet...
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A split second passed and it slammed into the solid wooden door again. The rounded metallic opener shook against its hook and the group flinched back as something threw itself bodily at the door again.
"I told you it was a bad idea!" Peter screeched, his back pressed against the far wall. "Never mess with the dead! That door isn't going to hold!"
"Calm down Wormtail! The door will hold!" James was right. The heavy door wasn't even shaking in its frame and it was going to take a lot of force to make it budge an inch. There was no denying that the sound of the barraging would argue otherwise but it was the acoustics of the stone room that magnified the crash of impact.
"Let me in!" Came a muffled sob followed by weaker thuds of someone hitting the wood with their fist. Sirius flew to the door at once while James grabbed the Marauders' Map that lay forgotten on the floor.
Brent joined Peter at the back wall. "ARE YOU CRAZY? You can't open the door!" he squeaked, his usual confidence had burnt away and now he looked more frightened than Peter. "No!"
"It's Rosie!" James dropped the map and went to help Sirius undo the extra bolts and locks they had put on the door.
"But what if it isn't her!" Brent protested.
James shot him a look. "The map never lies."
Rosie continued to scrabble at the door on the other side sobbing. As soon as a gap appeared she slipped in and threw herself at the door again.
"Hurry!" she croaked and fumbled needlessly with the locks. The Marauders were always thorough and they had made sure the door had an automatic locking system as soon as it closed.
"They're all locked." Sirius began but still she continued in her frenzied panic. "Rosie!" he grabbed by her wrists.
"It came alive!" she whispered chillingly. Her dark eyes had taken a haunted look and she cast them fearfully about the dim room.
Sirius gripped her elbows. "What came alive Rose?" Everyone stood in baited silence while she just stared back at Sirius with wide eyes. Sirius could not recall having ever seen someone so terrified. He was literally holding her weight as if her legs were threatening to give way and she seemed like she might be going into shock. "Rose!" he shook her again but she just opened her mouth unable to form coherent words.
"It!" She emphasized her hands suddenly in action. "IT!" she clenched her right hand and then splayed out her fingers.
Lily fidgeted with a lock of hair nervously watching Rosie's mime. What was it that scared her so much she couldn't even say it? She could see the others were as lost as she was at whatever it was she was trying to convey with her hands. Remus was also crouching beside Rosie now and Peter remained pressed against the wall with Brent. James had back off some way and he returned Lily's worried look.
Still confused and well on her way to being scared, Lily focused in Rosie again. Her hand was still clawed and she was close to tears as she moved her fingers to create a creeping motion-
The Hand! The hand of Sameth the Great! Lily felt her heart skip a beat and horror flooded her. They had performed a Calling, something they improvised to call the spirit to them, but what if they hadn't called his spirit and instead the spell had reached for the part of him that was most easily accessible? Lily felt her stomach coil at the thought of the rest of his mummified body crawling out of the grave...
A faint hint of movement caught her attention and Lily instinctively snapped her head back as something that seemed like all legs flew at her. It twisted to clutch at the ends of her hair but dropped away onto the floor unable to get a grip. Lily uttered a soft-startled cry and fell back landing heavily. She was moving instantly, her eyes straining to see the crawling horror make its way to her. Light from the hearth cast a garish glow on the severed limb that was very much alive. Like some sort of bizarre insect it dragged itself with amazing speed that matched her rapid back pedaling on the floor. With a thud her back hit one of the large terra-cotta pots and without thinking she shoved it straight onto the mummified hand before it could jump on her.
The heavy pot fractured into chunky pieces and a broken bit covering the Hand quivered. Lily yelped as hands slid around her and hoisted up. Torn between relief that it was James and the need to stampede over the remains of the pot Lily was pulled back towards the hearth before she could make a choice.
"The Hand! We've Called his hand!" Lily cried desperately.
James nodded tightly. "Get over here!" He barked to Peter and Brent. Peter edged to them straight away while Brent remained frozen where he was shaking uncontrollably. He had seen it just as it had emerged from the top of one of the pots and jumped at Lily. No way was he going to move. He couldn't! "Come here!" James repeated, his wand drawn. Remus and Sirius also had their wands out.
"I can't! It'll get me!" he managed to say.
"Get here now! Don't make me go over there to get you! Or you'll find your hand joining that one!" Sirius hissed in a low voice. With effort Brent eased away from the wall and took a few timid steps before running to join the group.
Rosie resisted the urge to whimper now that it was locked in the same room as them. The initial shock to find the dead hand come to life had passed and she was now as alert as any of the others. The fear hadn't lessened but at least she wasn't as terrorized as she had been in her flight down the corridors. The others would ask questions of course but she wouldn't need to deal with that until after they dispose of the hand.
James pointed his wand to the two corners he could see knowing that Sirius and Remus were doing the same with the other corners. His eyes were in constant motion, darting from shadow to shadow searching everywhere. The whole room was fraught with promises of threat. Nothing moved; the shattered pot lay motionless and there weren't any sounds other than the cracking fire and their breathing in the chilled room.
"The door." He whispered. As one they shuffled towards the exit careful not to turn their backs against emptiness.
Lily felt more exposed then ever, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She was the first to reach the door and she started to unlock it immediately. They had put an anti Alohomora spell on it earlier thinking that they were being extra careful but now it seemed they had been extra stupid.
James continued to sweep his eyes over each pot while silently cursing. "We need more light!" he muttered and then almost slapped his forehead. They were in the Room of Requirement. "That's it! We need LIGHT!" Bright white lights appeared in rows around the walls illuminating the whole room in blinding proportions.
"Gah! Less light!" he shouted almost immediately and they all dimmed once again. Blinking away the black dots James swore that he saw something perched on top of on of the pots and he continued to blink rapidly until that something pounced straight at his face. With a cry he threw a stunning spell at it but missed. He ducked taking Lily down with him. The hand hit the door with a faint clunk causing them to disperse. James, Lily and Brent ran to the left side of the hearth while Remus, Sirius and Rosie went to the other side. Peter remained close to the door.
"Oh MY GOD! IT'S A MOVING HAND! I'M GOING CRAZY. IT'S A SEVERED HAND! A DEAD HAND!" Brent rambled, his voice increasing in volume with each word.
"Where is it? Where?!" Sirius shouted over Brent's hysterics while pulling Rosie aside. The hand hit the floor and bounced once before scuttling back off to the shadows. Once again the room was too dark to make out anything.
"THIS ISN'T HAPPENING TO ME! IS NOT! I WILL NOT BELIEVE IT! DEAD HANDS DON'T MOVE! WHERE'S THE BODY?!?!"
"Will you SHUT UP?!" Sirius yelled back and Brent reduced his volume but continued his irrational talking.
"Moderate light!" Remus called out and the room brightened. "We need some sort of reversal spell!" Lily marvelled at Remus' rational thinking. In her panic she had only been concerned about getting away and it hadn't even occurred to her.
James racked his brain for the right spell. He knew it was a variation of the Priori Incantanto spell but all of a sudden he couldn't quite remember the words. Priori Incantito? Priori Incanta? "Priori Incantana!"
The hand went wild; it leapt out from its hiding place on the other side of the hearth. Peter threw himself at the door and undid the remaining locks. Remus and Sirius were openly firing with their wands at the Hand now but it was impossibly quick and kept running behind the pots. Pot after pot broke as they either hurled it across the room or blasted it.
"It's didn't work!" Sirius let out a volley but still the elusive Hand ran. "Why didn't the spell work?"
"We repeated the spell four times!" Lily had her own wand out now but the target was proving too hard. At once they all began shouting the spell reversal charm. If possible the hand went ballistic and picked up speed.
Brent seized the opportunity to run out. He shoved Peter out of the way and was out through the door.
"Close that door!" James roared as a wide breeze swept in. Peter froze and the Hand darted through the small gap and disappeared down the hall. It was too late. Remus shouted the spell once more to complete it but the hand was already gone.
"Do you think it worked?" Lily ventured.
"It will." Remus replied flatly. "We need to find that hand."
"I hope it didn't." Sirius said quietly but loud enough for everyone to hear. "What?" he held up his hands innocently to their glares. "Allow it to chase down that annoying git."
"It's worked." Remus repeated. "The spell has been reversed. No body or body parts will be move any more. The spell is absolute the ones we cast earlier will be nulled." Out of all of them Remus had the broadest knowledge of spells and their effects, if he said it was absolute then she would believe him. Lily let out the breath that she had been holding and dropped to the floor with relief. What a bad idea the Calling was.
As if reading her thoughts Sirius complained. "Whose bloody idea was this?"
"Don't you start Padfoot." James warned, Lily could tell that the usual banter was fast returning to the group.
"And what if I do?" Sirius replied automatically.
"If he were Tatty he'd be making fart noises right now. Now prizes to guess why she chose that particular sound." Remus quipped. Lily smiled. In a few minutes they would have leave to search for the hand but at least it would once again be dead...right?
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A/N: Expect a teenie bit of fluff in the next chapter. I think Lily might catch on a thing or two.
How is Rosie going to explain herself out of this one? Why had the Hand chased her into the room? Questions and more questions!
