Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot, and the few OCs you see dotted around.
Hello there peeps! So I think this update is slightly quicker than usual, but I don't know for sure, but something i do know for sure is I AM MOTIVATED! YES, THIS MEANS CHAPTERS AND QUICK UPDATES! I'm off on me hols this week, so I should have another chapter ready for next weekend!
Totally not fishing: Reviews make my day, and even if its a criticism, I'll take it;)
Chapter Seven - Lord Voldemort
Lily sobbed as she was kicked against the wall of the dark damp room, her red hair matted with blood and sweat, her attacker looming over her, wand outstretched.
"Filthy mud blood, thought you could get away with dirtying the pure blood of true wizards?" the figure snarled.
Lily didn't reply, already knowing that answering back only bought more pain, not relief. Instead she flinched back as the boot lashed out and caught her under her ribs.
"Little bitch," Another one laughed, "I thought you were a Gryffindor, why no reply?"
The first man laughed cruelly, levelling is wand at Lily again, "This will teach you to corrupt the pure family's names."
And for the first time in her life, Lily felt the pain of the Cruciatus Curse.
The Gryffindor sixth year girls' dormitory had not seen so much as a smile for a day now, and it didn't look like that was going to change just yet: Mary and Emmeline were sitting on Mary's bed, sobbing softly, hugging each other to comfort the other one; Hestia, having been allowed in today with not even a protest from James, was pacing up and down, gesturing wildly, ranting furiously about 'slimy fucking snakes and there slimy fucking hands'; But Marlene was easily the most depressing figure despite the fact she was doing the least. She was lying face up on her bed, just holding a half finished bottle of Firewhisky in one hand as she stared unblinkingly at the maroon canopy of her four poster bed. She hadn't spoken once throughout Hestia's screaming fit, but it wasn't her silence that was the most unsettling thing, no, it was her eyes.
Marlene had gorgeous turquoise eyes that seemed more green in some lights, more blue in others, always changing like the sea, and they were the first thing anyone who could see commented on. But now they were flat, unmoving, a dull blue in the gloom of the dormitory and her face looked washed out without their usual brightness.
Hestia fell silent, breathing heavily as she finished, the only sound being Mary's muffled sobs and Emmeline's hiccuping ones. The door to their dorm banged open and James stormed in, and Marlene could hear Sirius's voice behind, grumbling under his breath as he followed James in. Remus ended his Wingardium Leviosa he had used to bypass the charms that kept boys out of the girls dorms and turned around at at Peter Pettigrew-esque squeal.
"Wormy, remember to /fly/ up,"Remus sighed as Peter slid back down stairs.
Normally Sirius would've laughed at Peter's misfortune, and it was a sign of his mood that he didn't for once. Remus lent against Lily's wardrobe, face deathly pale, a combination of worry for Lily and the approaching full moon. Serious was also pale, but looking more like he was suppressing anger than anything else, and Peter just looked as pinched as usual.
James however was a horrible mixture of furious and distraught. His Lily Flower has been taken, and he was not handling it very well at all. 's face was contorted with anger, and his fists were clenched.
"How dare they! The little gits says she's got /dirty blood/ and that she's /below/ them but they're the ones who have taken her and are probably torturing her right this second," He shouted, his voice cracking as he reached the last few words, "And there is nothing we can fucking do!"
"James, calm down," Remus sighed, tired of his shouting already, having heard this ever since McGonagall told the eight of them that morning that Lily was missing, And that Dumbledore had received a message from the Death Eaters saying they had her. Sirius however, stood there occasionally glancing over at Marlene who still hadn't moved.
"She has been like that all day, hasn't spoken once," Hestia muttered when she caught Sirius looking.
"Why?"
"No idea, but she hasn't responded to anything. The only thing she's done is drink that bottle of Firewhisky," Hestia said with a sigh.
James frowned, his concern for Marlene overcoming his concern for Lily momentarily.
"Marls?" James said cautiously, acutely aware that she hadn't even responded when they were clearly talking about her.
Needless to say she didn't say anything, or even give acknowledgement that anyone was talking.
"Marlene," He tried, louder.
She didn't move.
"Marlene Cecilia McKinnon," He shouted, "Do something please, you're scaring me!"
But it was no good. For all they knew she could be asleep with her eyes open although that was unlikely.
Remus gave James a look. "Let Sirius have a go," He said innocently. Innocence from a Marauder /wasn't/ innocence.
Sirius looked around at Remus, "You want me to try? When Prongs couldn't get her to talk?"
"Just try, Sirius."
"Urgh fine!"
"Marlene, can you hear me?"
She blinked, but whether that was a reaction to Sirius's words or just the need to blink was impossible to tell.
"I'm gonna assume you can, and just talk. James isn't the only one worried about you, y'know? The girls are scared shitless at the way your acting," Serious said, not really sure where he was going with this, "So please just say something, move, smile, cry even, scream, anything but don't just lie there..." He trailed off when she still did nothing.
Emmeline, who had stopped crying in that time Sirius was talking, dried her red eyes and spoke up.
"Marlene, at the moment I know I'm more worried about you than Lily. At least we know what she's going through that we have no idea what's wrong with you…"
As if something had clicked, Marlene blinked again and opened her mouth, "Stop trying to guilt trip me," she muttered.
James threw his arms around Marlene as she spoke, muffling the end of the sentence, "Just don't make us worry about two of you, okay?"
"Okay James, now can I sleep?"
"Sure Marls, night."
She buried her head in the pillow, closing her eyes tightly.
The other girls, incredibly relieved, got ready for bed too, mumbling good night to each other despondently. They felt the loss of Lily even more in the silence, because at this time just the other night, Mary and Marlene were giggling over some story in the Prophet after 'Prefect Lily' had turned the lights out And she had gone total redhead on them, threatening to ban them from ever sleeping in the same room as her, and basically being the Lily they loved even if she was crazy. The silence filled the room as one by one of the girls – including Hestia who was sitting on a transfigured mattress in the corner – dropped off to sleep, leaving only Marlene awake, plagued by her thoughts.
Far away from the safety of Hogwarts, Lily was also awake, not that she had the chance of sleeping where she was, because her torture had lasted most of the day and came at a regular intervals; she never knew when the pain would start again, but there was always a point where the pain was so great she felt nothing, and it was that time she craved, the time she felt in control because they couldn't hurt her. And then they would stop, give her time to hurt, and start again.
But this time was different, because the pain stopped before it had begun. Lily risked a up at the Death Eater but he wasn't focused on her any more, he was focused on a deathly pale, thin, yet aristocratically handsome man. He was past his prime, definitely middle aged, but had the haughty pair of one who knew they were attractive, not dissimilar to how Sirius held himself. But despite never having seen this man before, she instantly knew who it was. Voldemort. Lily continued to stare, ironically less afraid of him at the moment than her attacker.
"This is the girl?" Voldemort said quietly, but his voice rang with authority.
The death eater nodded obediently and motioned towards Lily but Voldemort didn't move. Instead he drew his wand and stroked it.
"You know what happens to those who disappoint me, don't you Selwyn?"
Selwyn looked around, surprised that Voldemort wasn't addressing Lily.
"Y-yes my Lord, I-"
"Crucio," Voldemort said, effectively cutting off whatever he had been about to say with the curse, his voice emotionless.
Lily watched in horror as Selwyn crashed to the ground and writhed in agony. When he stopped moving, Voldemort and continued.
"Did I tell you to take the girl?"
"No, m–Lord," The man winced, "You didn't."
"Then why did you?"
"I-"
"Crucio."
Lily pressed herself against the wall, and hoping that he couldn't see her against that shadows. He did, of course, and turned his piercing gaze on her as Selwyn, who must have been the one torturing her, finished screaming.
"Lily Evans," Sounding curiously like a snake, "What to do with you? I have no need to kill you, but no need to keep you alive. If I do kill you, there is one less mud blood to deal with later," he pondered, "So maybe I should just hinder you so that you will not be a problem in the future. Yes."
"What do you mean?" Lily said, her voice trembling.
"Wouldn't you like justice for what this pile of filth has done to you?" Voldedmort crooned pointing his wand to Selwyn's still form.
"Yes…" She said warily, "If by Justice you mean a trial ending in his lifelong imprisonment in Azkaban."
Voldemort laughed, seemingly amazed at her naïvety, throwing his head back as the laugh echoed around the concrete room they were in. Eventually, his loud laughter died down to chuckles and he fixed his gaze back to Lily.
"No that's not quite what I mean, Lily Evans. Have you ever heard of the phrase' an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth'?"
He didn't give her a chance to reply, assuming because she was a muggle born she would've heard of the phrase.
"He tortured you… You should be given the chance to torture him," He said, with perverse happiness.
Lily gasped, and shook her head quickly, disgusted at his idea of justice.
"No, I don't think that's what normal people call justice," She said, her chin sticking out defiantly.
"You can and you will, Lily Evans, and I shall enjoy watching."
"I shan't, you can't make me!"
His eyes, which had before been relaxed, even complacent, hardened into anger, "You shall, because I have said so, and I am Lord Voldemort, and I always get what I want."
He raised his wand to her and his expression to a malicious smile, "Imperio."
As the spell hit, Lily gasped, not from pain, but because the urge to pick her wand up from its spot on the floor and hurt the man who had hurt her was so great, and was unlike anything she had ever felt before. She heard his voice in her mind, encouraging her, urging her to give in to his will. Her fingers crept towards the handle of her wand And she squeezed her eyes shut, battling the command with every fibre of her being.
"No," She choked, "Please, this isn't me, please."
And somehow, saying that out loud helped. She had her wand in her hand now, and it was pointing towards Selwyn's unmoving body, the word on the tip of her tongue. But Lily was stronger now, and she knew this wasn't her, it wasn't what she wanted. Her hand shook with the strain of resisting the curse, And more it shock, the stronger she fought. Voldemort may still have been totally focused on the spell, but Lily wasn't any more. Her wand clattered to the floor and she stood perfectly still, breathing heavily, eyes locked on Voldemort. Voldemort's face contorted with anger, but he kept his voice calm.
"Well done, mud blood, I am impressed, very impressed."
Lily didn't reply, she just stood there shaking with anger, shock, cold and pain. She was proud, because ((DADA professor)) had already mentioned that while Avada Kedavra and Crucio were possible to fight off, Imperio and could be broken, but he/she did mention it was difficult.
"But you disobeyed me, and no one, not even you, disobeys Lord Voldemort."
He raised his wand and narrows his eyes at Lily.
"Crucio."
Lily screamed, the sound of it coming through the room and along the corridor. It seemed even worse that before, but maybe that was just because she hadn't felt it in a while.
"Crucio," he repeated, laughing as she screamed louder than ever, writhing in agony.
Marlene sat bolt upright, shaking with terror, the images of Lily bleeding still fresh in her mind, forcing her brain wide awake.
She whimpered and buried her head under her pillow, shaking as she heard scream after scream in her mind. Lily was being hurt, she was being half killed, just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What would they do to Marlene and her family, when they were all known supporters of the Ministry and the Aurors, three of them even being Aurors themselves. What kind of torture would they have for people who crossed them? Another scream ripped through her thoughts, and she bit on her lip: why didn't it stop?
Then the viscous circle began again, and Marlene remembered that her parents and oldest brother still hadn't been in contact, and it had been a month now, a month of endless worry, no sleep and horrible nightmares. And now Lily was gone too.
But she was determined not to cry. Mason had always said crying was a sign of weakness, and that the 'Death Eaters' would only exploit your weaknesses. So she held back her tears and slowly drifted off into a fitful sleep as the dawn broke, and the sun began to rise.