Chapter 11 – The Taj Mahal:
In order to successfully complete her mission of sneaking into the Taj Mahal after hours, Lily decided to get a hotel room and to wait until midnight. When the hour had finally befallen her, Lily slipped on her Invisibility Cloak, hopped on to her broomstick, and flew towards the Taj Mahal. And to her utmost disturbance, but relief, she successfully flew into the building without detection or any magical traps. Lily figured that this was a result of, no doubt, her infamous cloak.
Lily sat and waited for almost an hour, when she finally assumed that the majestic building had no magical properties. Coming to this conclusion, she patiently waited for the pesky midnight black owl, but nothing happened. Fearing that she may have guessed the fourth clue wrong, Lily realized that the midnight black owl had not arrived because no one could see her; no one would know that she was there, so Lily bravely took off her Invisibility Cloak. Within minutes of removing the clock, the vines and flowers on the walls began to move and Lily immediately began to panic, knowing…fearing she had just walked into a trap.
Meanwhile, Eddie, who had proudly figured out the fourth clue, was on a plane, going to where he hoped he would find Lily. As much as he hoped her had figured out the clue, without Lily's help, he could not be sure.
The vines and flowers on the wall of the Taj Mahal continued to move about, like snakes, sliding towards Lily. She tried to back away in fear, fighting them with her wand, shouting curses and hexes. She tried putting the Invisibility Cloak back on, but in vein as whoever was watching seemed to already know that she was there. Desperate, Lily even tried levitating herself, but the vines and flowers were able to reach high. Like a villainous killer, they began to wrap around her ankles and wrists, holding her down.
Eddie de-boarded the plane and immediately ran to the nearest bathroom. Once safely inside a stall, he Apparated to where he thinks the location of the fourth clue is. Suspecting that it could be magical and have magical properties, and if anything like King Tut's tomb, he just hoped that he would not be too late to save Lily. Without a doubt, there would be trap.
He needed to find Lily and fast.
Once Lily was secured to the floor, still standing, the vines and flowers that were originally décor, were now holding her captive. It had been several moments since she had stopped struggling, knowing that it was no use. Lily knew she would have to stand there and suffer through it until she passed some kind of test, like one in King Tut's tomb, or she would die. Deep inside her, Lily was now wishing she has brought Eddie along. At least she would not die alone or maybe he would think of way to get out of here. A second brain and a second pair of eyes were always helpful; which is why Aurors always had partners.
As Lily tried struggling against her binds again, out of the shadows, she saw a man step out from one of the archways in the building; it was the same man who had led her and Eddie to King Tut's tomb; the ugliest man she had ever seen in her life with long, oily hair that lay pressed against his pale, acne filled face, and the hump the overtook his back. It was Orpheum Puckles except now he was wearing a fine suit that contrasted horribly with the rest of his appearance.
"Why dear Mistress, where is Mr. Weasley?"
"He's in dispose," Lily says coldly, narrowing her eyes at the man, struggling against the binds. "Nice to see you again, Puckles. I suppose you're the mastermind behind all of this?"
"Oh hardly, Mistress," he said casually "I'm merely a petty messenger. But, you certainly have flattered me. Now, where is Mr. Weasley?"
"In dispose…as I said…" said Lily coldly. "He's not here!"
"Don't tell me you came alone," he gasps in mock horror. "Tsk tsk Mistress, that was an unexpected surprise. We weren't prepared for this. But, no matter, we'll make do. Maybe this will end up being a…" he paused, as though trying to decide on a word. "quicker…solution."
"What in the bloody blazes are you talking about?" snapped Lily. Puckles has now begun circling her, like lion sizing up its prey.
"Haven't you figured it out yet, Potter?" asked Puckles, almost teasingly. His mouth was so close to her ear that she could feel his smelly, hot, disgusting breath on her neck. "Haven't you figured it out? The greatest Auror of all time?"
Puckles continues to circle her as Lily held her breath in fear, determined to make sure that Puckles did not know that he was absolutely terrifying her; she would never give him that satisfaction. Also, Lily did not want to smell his disgusting, horrific breath. Finally, Puckles stopped directly in front of Lily and stared at her for a moment before lowering his gaze to just right below her neck. His eyes glazed over in a kind of terrifying desire; as though some kind of selfish fire was blazing in his normally, dead, black eyes.
"There it is," he whispered. It was a whisper that sent the most horrifying chills down Lily's spine. She did not have to look down to know what he was staring at. She watched as he reached his hand out to grab it when someone shouted, "STUPEFY!"
Unexpectedly, Puckles was thrown off of his feet and slammed into the opposite wall. Lily looked to the right to see none other than Eddie with his wand raised and a fury in his eyes that Lily had not seen in a very long time; not since the final battle with Voldemort. Something twisted in her stomach; it was nice to see that protective look towards her again.
"Eddie!"
Eddie did not respond to her; it was as though she was not even there. He merely strode over to Puckles and began kicking the unconscious man all the while shouting. "DON'T – YOU – DARE – TOUCH – HER – EVER – AGAIN – YOU SLIMEY –"
"EDDIE!" This time she was not saying his name in relief; there was a warning to her tone that distracted Eddie, causing him to look at her. "EDDIE, LOOK OUT!" But, it was too late. More vines and flowers from the wall had come to life and were now slithering towards Eddie. His eyes widened and he gasped, stumbling backwards.
"Lily? What do I do?"
"Run! Just run!"
"Not without you!"
"Ed!" now she sounded exasperated. "If you get stuck here, we'll both be useless. GO!"
"NOT WITHOUT YOU!" Eddie tried doing the same spells and ideas that Lily had had against the vines but it was no use. They had already wrapped around his ankles.
"Dance! Start dancing and running! Anything!" Lily shouted desperately. Both of them tried using spells and levitation. Neither of them had tried using the Muggle method. But, it too did not work. Despite his movement, some of the vines wrapped around his wrists and pulled him to the ground. Eddie stumbled and hit the ground face first. Lily screamed and closed her eyes, desperately trying to think.
There was no doubt in Lily's mind that once Puckles came to, he would be taking Lily and Eddie to whomever has set up this plan and kidnapped Jane and there is no doubt that it could end up in death for one or both of them.
Thinking about what had happened back in the Tomb of King Tut, Lily suspected that there might be a way to get out of it by saying something; something that the kidnappers wanted. Lily suspected that the kidnappers wanted her specifically and if they wanted her, including what Puckle's eyes were wandering to before, she deep down knew exactly what they wanted…
"THE STONE OF MERLIN!"
Immediately the vines and flowers stop crushing Eddie against the floor and begin to unravel off of both of them. Turning to the corner, where Puckles was on the floor, unconscious, Lily was horrified to see that he had mysteriously disappeared into thin air.
Without another word, Lily grabbed ahold of Eddie and ran out of the Taj Mahal as fast as her legs could carry her with Eddie crying out in confusion as to what she was doing and what in the bloody hell was happening.
Another chapter! Please enjoy!