"Journeys end in lovers meeting."
― William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Harry POV
All of them, except one.
He simply turned around, smiled and...vanished.
Gone...
I looked at the other Order members, who all where experiencing similar states of shock. I believe that Kingsley was the first one to snap out of the stupor, pulling the rest of us with him with a deep intonement of "does anyone recognise the girl...". And that was all I heard, before I was running towards the broken figure that I was sure had somehow saved my life.
Looking down on her in that moment was like looking at a collection of oxymorons. Her features proud, yet emaciated. Beautiful, but possessing an eerie skeletal like quality. So very strong, yet beaten down into this almost feral being I saw before me.
Her eyes, before so big and dark, where closed, thick lashes pointing downwards to an elegant nose and full lips. Hair as black as a ravens wing was matted in clumps around her face, her skin was waxy and her cheekbones as sharp as a blade, threatening to pierce the skin.
However, even just below the face told the story, full of the sorrow, pain and angst he had seen in her eyes just moments before.
Scars that formed both words and images covered her skin, like grotesque tattoos. Starting on her neck, right down to her toes and her fingertips. I gently covered her with a cloak that once belonged to one of the fallen, obscuring her bare form from view.
"We need to get her to Madame Pomfrey, Mungo's would be too dangerous." Came a quiet, somber voice from behind me. Needless to say, I allowed this particular voice (also know as one Nymphadora Tonks) to scoop up the stranger, before disappearing with a loud crack as my request died in my throat "can I ...".
Hurrying up to Lupin, I placed my hand in his, and we too joined the exodus towards Hogwarts...
Lila POV
Swaying.
To and fro, to and fro.
No colours only shades.
Black, white and every form of grey in between.
To and fro, to and fro.
Voices, only distinguishable by pitch.
A high woman's, low men's and every pitch in between, merging, never stopping.
"Who is sh..."
"Where did she co..."
"...been there?"
And then the darkness returned...
Harry POV
The hospital wing was in a state of complete and utter chaos. People arguing whilst patients lay confused in their beds. Madame Pomfrey struggling to get a word in edgeways. And then there was the girl. Lying there with an impossible air of peace, laced with what I hoped where just remnants of the pain she had been put through, and not lasting sufferance.
"Quiet!" I heard McGonagall order "Everyone except for Madame Pomfrey, Kingsley, Nymphadora, Remus and Harry, get out!"
Grumbling, the entire room cleared out, anxious to avoid annoying the already frustrated and infuriated Headmistress. One silly third year with a huge gash in his leg even tried to join the mass of people exiting, only to be shot down by the school's nurse, who was flapping about like a mother hen.
"Well then, is anyone actually going to explain what is going on here?" Inquired the exasperated Head.
"They where killing her, she was in so much pain..." I whispered, every molecule of compassion in my body was being directed at this one...stranger.
"Her injuries are quite extensive, I shudder to think how long she must have been there." Input the healer.
"How extensive?" Came a voice from somewhere behind me. I was too desperate for her answer to try and guess who had spoken.
"I'm not sure that it is appropriate to discuss with young mister Potter here..."
"Just get on with it Poppy!"
"Okay, she has many assorted knife, burn and whip marks all over her body, however two of these drew my attention more than the rest and I will explain why in a moment. There has also been a lot of pressure placed on her heart, I imagine due to extended and heavy use of the Cruciatus curse, along with others of a similar nature. She also has...erm..."
"Spit it out Poppy!"
"A large amount of vaginal scarring, suggesting repeated sexual abuse which also links in to one of those two scars I was telling you about earlier.
You see these names on her hands? And the small numbers next to them? Well they have been charmed to appear when she is...erm...assaulted, according to the person and how many times."
"But there are so many names on here, they go right up to her elbow, is there any on the inside as well?"
"Yes there are on the forearm, but the ones I was concerned with are on her palms."
Madame Pomfrey held the girls palms out to the Order members and showed them two distinct scars forming three words, two on one hand and one on the other, very clearly spelling out:
Lord Voldemort and Father
"It is my belief that these two people are one on the same, which I'm sorry to say, is only supported by the scar on her back, the other charmed one."
The room was utterly silent. You could have heard a pin drop, but everyone was too shocked to test that.
"Are you quite sure?" Croaked out McGonagall.
"As sure as I can be without either parties confirmation or a paternity test. Look at this scar."
Poppy turned over the limp figure, her coal black hair snagging slightly on the healers nurse watch, and moved the sheets down to show her nude back to the others present in the room. There lay the words:
Property of Lord Voldemort
And then, almost as if it had been squashed in as an afterthought:
Can be used by anyone bearing the Dark Mark...
Lila POV
So much pain.
Layering and pressing down on me.
Clouding everything.
The darkness swirling, moving, spinning.
And then, a single ray of light.
Breaking through the agony,
Soothing the hurt.
And then I awoke,
And I saw those bright green eyes staring back at me...
Harry POV
Her eyelids fluttered, before opening and zapping me into place.
And there I stayed,
Frozen by those dark, dark pools...
A/N two posts in as many days! I'm on a roll!
A big thank you to everyone who favourited and followed, and a special thanks to my ONLY reviewer EdwardCullen123, I hope you enjoyed this chapter even if it is a bit morbid, but I do hope it explained why Lila was there in the first place, you will find out more about her as the story continues.
If you enjoyed this REVIEW PLEASE! It will make me happy and I will write the next chapter as quickly as possible. Shoutout's and replies will be written in the A/N of the next chapter if reviews are received.
Love you all
Hannah xxx
~sorry about the llama's~