Harry Potter walked through the halls of the Ministry of Magic on his way to a meeting, a meeting that would make his career, a meeting that if he missed, or was late to, would destroy his chances of being Minister. At 42 years old, Head Auror Potter thought he deserved a change, and after over two decades of auror work, thought he needed it.
As he entered the large oval room he noticed a lot more people were there than expected. The current Minister of Magic Kingsley was the only one he thought would be there. But, as it turns out, his entire team of aurors were there also; including Ron, Seamus, Dean and Draco.
"Oh hey guys" he said in surprise as he made his way across to the round table in the middle of the large room. He sat himself down at the head of it, opposite the Minister who was already seated. They smiled warmly at each other, as everyone said their greetings and sat around them. "Wasn't expecting so many here" he said, still smiling.
"Well, we thought we would come and support you mate" said Ron "We're just telling Kings how awesome you are" grinning from ear to ear he slapped Harry on the back affectionately.
"We wanted to make sure the right man got the job" said Draco from Harry's other side.
"And they all think you're the one my boy" Kingsley said smiling. Harry smiled back, feeling slightly taken back by the amount of support from his friends. "But what do you think?" Kingsley suddenly went serious, his smile turning into a hard line and his eye brows rising, he looked directly at Harry waiting for an answer.
"Well…" Harry stuttered slightly before continuing, "I'm experienced with leadership, not only as Head Auror but during the war as well. You know I cope well under pressure should something happen and a decision needs to be made fast. I have plenty of skill and power already, although I hope to learn more. And really sir, if I'm being honest, I don't think anyone else deserves this-" he was cut off by a loud crash from outside the room.
He stood instantly, as did the other aurors, wands drawn. Many close to the Minister stood around him, forming protection. There was another loud crash and someone shouting in outrage. Harry stood undeterred, as did Draco, who had been the first to move around to stand in front of Kingsley.
The doors burst open seconds later, revealing two very handsome and out of breath teenage boys.
"Albus! Scorpius! What in Merlin's name are you doing?" Draco demanded, placing his wand back into his sleeve. Albus ran into his father's arms, Scorpius copying him, both men calming instantly hugging their sons.
"It's Lily dad" Scorpius sobbed into his father's robe.
"Al, what's happened?" Harry said softly, stroking his son's hair.
"She's gone" the sixteen year olds stepped away from their parents, each with sullen and concerned looks. "I don't know where she is" Al sniffed "She and James had an argument in the common room, she stormed off, and she didn't come back"
"Are you sure she's not hiding? You know Lily, she's stubborn" Ron tried to reason but the boys shook their heads violently. "Well how long has she been gone for?"
"A week" Scorpius said quietly. All aurors in the room gasped. They all knew the Potter children well; they would come in and have lunch with Harry during the holidays. They also knew how stubborn she was, having heard Harry moan about not being able to find her for hours at a time; but to be gone for a whole week? That was worrying.
Harry was looking blankly at Albus, who was looking blankly back. Draco walked over to Harry, gripping his shoulder.
"Come on, let's go to Hogwarts, and talk to Neville?" Harry nodded mutely, before letting Draco lead him, Albus, Ron and Scorpius into the floo. "Dean, you're in charge of the aurors until we get back" Dean nodded in understanding before watching the five of them disappear in green fire.
They stumbled into the headmaster's office, Harry still looking blankly at nothing. Ron and Draco sat him down, before turning to the boys.
"Go get the others boys" Ron said, his voice shaking.
An hour later had the entire Weasley clan that was still at Hogwarts in Headmaster Longbottom's office, with Scorpius Malfoy and Frank and Alice Longbottom sitting amongst them. Ginny had also been called from work, as had Hermione and Astoria. The other Weasleys had been informed and were asking for a family meeting tonight at the Burrow.
"So what exactly happened before Lily ran off" Ginny asked, strangely calm as she sat on the arm of Harry's chair rubbing his back. He had since come out of his trance, but was still shaking uncontrollably, they all were.
"Well," James began, his voice wavering, "we had one of our arguments, something stupid, but she got really wound up, like it was worse than it was. She stormed out of the common room, and she didn't come back" James then broke down, his head coming down to rest in his hands, his whole body shaking with sobs. Rose put a hand on his back and rubbed gently.
"It's not your fault Jamie," she said "We don't know what happened"
"What if she's hurt Rosie?" James asked quietly looking up at her with wet eyes. "What if she's dead?" the whole room tensed at this, "What if we never see her again? It's my fault she left the safety of the common room. It's my fault she was taken!"
"Now we don't know what happened yet James, she might not have been taken"
"What other option is there Nev?" Al said quietly, diverting everyone's attention to him instead of his brother, who was now resting his head on Rose's shoulder. He was looking at the floor in front of him, eyes glazed over.
"He's right" said Scorpius "I know Lily, like all of you do, she wouldn't stay away for this long, she would contact us, to let us know she was safe, even if she was angry"
"Right," Draco said, clearly not hearing whatever his son was saying, "do you guys know where she would go, what she would do if she was angry? Somewhere she would go a cool off?" he asked the teenagers seated around the office. All but one shook their heads.
"She never told us where she went" Rose said.
"It was her private place, her time alone, she didn't want anyone to find her" said Hugo. There was a loud sigh from the other side of the office, everyone turned to see Scorpius frowning, as if arguing with himself. "Scorp" Hugo asked, "You know something we don't?" Scorpius only frowned more, still staring at a spot of the floor. He looked up and sighed.
"Yes, I know where she goes when she wants to be alone"
"She told you?" James asked, disbelieving.
"Not exactly"
"Well?"
"I'll show you" he stood slowly then made his way towards the door to the office. Everyone stood automatically, following his lead as he led them out into the halls of Hogwarts. Students walked past quickly, most gasping and whispering as they saw the Harry and the other adults, all famous and respected in their own right. Scorpius led them out of the castle, walking towards the forbidden forest. He took a sharp turn however, and ended up standing in front of the black lake. There were trees dotted around the edge of the water, only a few metres apart. The ground was uncommonly dry and patches of dead grass were littered around their feet. Scorpius sighed again, "This is it. She would sit here and look out across the lake until she calmed down"
"It's beautiful" Alice said, speaking for the first time. Everyone nodded, understanding why Lily would come here to cool down.
"I showed her this place" Scorpius said quietly, his friends turning to him in confusion. "In her first year, she was being picked on by these stupid gits from Ravenclaw; she came into the common room crying and I was the only one there. I found it when I first started Hogwarts, thought she would like it. Didn't realise she still came here" he was talking more to himself then to the others, staring out onto the still water.
"Does anyone else know she comes here?" Ron asked. Scorpius turned to look at him.
"I don't know whether she showed anyone else" he said quietly.
"Guys" James said, deterring everyone's attention from the guilty looking Scorpius. "There's blood" Most gasped and ran to see, some simply walked quickly to where James was standing, looking in shock at the ground. By a nearby tree, a patch of crimson stood out from the hazel ground, a broken wand lying next to it, Harry picked the pieces up carefully. "It's Lily's" James answered the unasked question.
The Great Hall was crowded, loud and bright. Harry, Ron and Draco stood at the front with Neville, students glancing at them then whispering to their friends. It wasn't often that they were at Hogwarts so publicly, only really when their children were playing quidditch.
Neville stood from his seat, silencing the entire hall with a look. The students sat up straighter and waited patiently for their headmaster to speak. Draco smirked.
"Amazing the amount of respect these kids have for Nev" he whispered in Harry's ear as they joined Neville standing before the school. Harry smiled in response, but then frowned, remembering the occasion.
"Good evening students" Neville began "I'm sure you have been wondering why these aurors are here today. It is with great sadness that I announce that a fellow student has gone missing, possibly taken from Hogwarts" there were scared murmurs and whispers echoing around the hall.
"Who is it?" shouted a 7th year sat next to Frank.
"Lily Potter" the whole hall looked at the Potter brothers, who were looking at their plates. No one saw that their hands were grasped together under the table. "Now we do not wish to alarm you, or scare you in anyway. And do not worry, we will find her" Harry stepped forward.
"Now, obviously, this is a hard and scary time for all who love Lily, but I do need your help" he paused and took a deep breath, motioning for his sons to join him, as they stood, he continued "if you know anything about Lily's disappearance, or saw anything odd, please do not hesitate to come forward" Albus and James stood either side of their father, faces tear stained and eyes puffy.
"Please" Al began, a new set of tears falling, "I need my sister back"
The following week was difficult for all in the Weasley family. Albus and James had been pulled out of school temporarily, their teachers saying they weren't able to focus. The other Weasley children at Hogwarts grumbled about having to stay, saying they wanted to help. Their parents said they would floo every evening to give news and that they could come home at the weekend.
Albus had stopped eating, sleeping and washing. He would stare blankly into space when anyone tried to discuss anyone who wasn't Lily. James was similar, although he was more focused, trying to piece together anything he could find on his sister's disappearance.
Harry had been given leave from work, to help find his daughter. He had been told he would be minister as soon as Lily was home; he feared he would never be minister. Ginny had also taken time out of coaching the Hollyhead Harpies.
In the last week the entire wizarding world knew of Lily's disappearance. Due to the Potter family's wealth and talent, they were known across world. Every wizarding community in every country had posters and fliers and search parties to look for the youngest Potter.
The following Saturday, Lily had been missing for nearly 3 weeks. No one had heard anything from her. Although some fellow students had come forward, saying things like:
"Yea, Lily was acting really odd, like more emotional"
"I caught her crying in the bathroom a few days before she disappeared, she said she needed to figure some stuff out"
"I saw her running from the common room"
All just made the family worry more, although useful information to have. They came to the conclusion Lily probably knew something, or was being threatened. What she could have seen, or who could have the means to threaten her, they did not know.
The Burrow was crowded, with the entire Weasley clan and Longbottoms all trying to find a place to sit or stand. Most of the children sitting on the floor, and adults perched on arm chairs. Harry stood staring into the fire place, as silence absorbed the room. He turned to see Scorpius stood in the doorway, his father by his side. He smiled slightly, motioning for them to sit. Albus hadn't talked to his blond best friend since the day by the lake, and didn't look up when Scorpius sat next to him. He only looked at his fellow Gryffindor when he spoke.
"I've heard from Lily" everyone looked shocked at Scorpius, who looked guiltier than before. "I got a letter, came over as soon as I had read it"
"What did it say?" a small voice came from the opposite end of the room. Scorpius looked up to see Rose, sat on the floor in front of her father, knees under her chin, looking expectantly at her best friend.
"I'll read it to you" he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a dirty napkin. "It reads:
Scorp,
I know you're worried about me, I know everyone is. The men who took me were laughing about it, how they'll never be found, how I'll die here. I know you guys will find me, I have faith.
I can't tell you where I am because I don't know, and I don't know the men who took me.
I am sending a memory crystal soon. But I don't know when I can; they have people monitoring my cell nearly all the time. Thankfully I know some wordless spells to make them leave for a few minutes at a time.
Tell Jamie it's not his fault and Albus to stop hurting himself. I know my brothers; they'll be messes by now.
I love you all, and don't worry, I'm a survivor.
That's all she said, I'm expecting a memory crystal soon" Scorpius put down the napkin to see everyone in tears. James stood, stiffing and wiping his eyes to sit next to Albus who was looking at Scorpius perplexed.
"Albus I-"James was cut off by his brother talking to Scorpius.
"You made it?" people looked confused but Scorpius only smiled.
"Yea, it was a good idea Al, and once I figured out how to do it, Lily helped to do the rest. We were going to surprise you with it at Christmas" Al smiled at his friend, realising it was the first time he had smiled since his sister's disappearance.
"I'm sorry to interrupt" Ron spoke up "but what is a memory crystal when it's at home?"
"A memory crystal is a stone charmed to look like a crystal; you then put memories into it. If you throw it at a wall or simply into the air it explodes then plays the memories like a sort of muggle television" Everyone looked, in a word, impressed. "Al came up with the original idea, then me and Lily figured out how to do it, and created the spell" Scorpius never took his eyes away from Al's, both boys staring undeterred. The family weren't put off by this, they did it often enough.
"So" Al continued "all Lily has to do is find a rock; seeing as how it's a spell that can be done without a wand. She then sends us the crystal and we can see what happened and who took her, maybe even clues as to where she is" It was only when Draco spoke did the boys break eye contact and look at him.
"Scorpius that is incredible" he smiled at his son with pride.
It had been two days since the letter from Lily, and the memory crystal still hadn't arrived. Scorpius had been staying at the Burrow since the napkin was read out, due to everyone not wanting there to be any time wasted. Everyone was in the living room of the lopsided house, like they had been two days prior, when a small package flew through the window, breaking it, and landed at Scorpius' feet.
He picked it up carefully and looked around the room, all faces glued to his. He then looked down, eyeing the small package.
"It looks like it's wrapped in some sort of clothing material" Scorpius said holding it up.
"Lily was wearing her school robe when she ran off" Al said. Scorpius nodded, gently un-wrapping the ripped material only to reveal what they had been waiting for. Now in his palm was a small oval crystal, clear with a slight brown tinge to it. It glowed slightly as he held it up in the Sun, examining it. Small cloud like swirls danced within it, Scorpius smiled.
"She did it"
"Well" Harry began, getting impatient "let's see what happened" people nodded and Scorpius smiled kindly at Harry before throwing the crystal at the wall above the fire place. There was a bright light, causing everyone to turn away, eyes squeezed shut. When the light subsided and they looked back, they saw a rectangular image playing above the fire place.
"Really like a muggle TV" Harry mused before silently sitting down as the first memory began to play.
The first image was Lily running, crying from the common room. She sobbed hysterically as she pushed people out of the way. She ran down to the spot by the lake, her ginger hair flowing in the wind. She stopped finally, looking out over the lake, taking deep breaths and wiping her eyes. She closed them briefly, counting to ten out loud. This clearly didn't calm her; she ran her hands through her long hair in frustration and fell to her knees, once again sobbing hysterically.
"I didn't realise I upset her that much" James said, tears threatening to form. Rose grabbed his hand, turning her attention back to the memory.
Lily continued to cry loudly, until a crack was heard behind her. She looked up quickly, eyes alert as she stood up, turning in the process. She grabbed her wand when she saw a man stood there.
"Does anyone recognise him?" Draco asked the group, no one did.
"Who… who are you?" she sniffed; the man chuckled darkly, near black eyes never leaving Lily's puffy face.
"I don't think you'll ever know" he looked Lily up and down, she held her wand higher in response.
The man laughed again, this time big and loud, clutching his stomach and leaning his head back. Lily just stood there, wand raised, staring undeterred at the man in front of her.
"What do you want?"
"I want the Malfoy boy"
"I don't see why" Lily said, her voice now strong, confident, "he's no use to you"
"And why would that be?"
"Because no matter what you want him to do, however nicely you ask, Scorpius will never do what some deatheater says"
Everyone turned to Scorpius, who looked shocked. The memory ended, the next one beginning a few seconds later.
Lily awoke in a dark cell, not bigger than her bed at Hogwarts. She sat up slowly, body aching from the time spent unconscious on a concrete floor. She winced as her arm began to sting; she looked down to see a large gash in her shoulder, blood staining her once white school shirt. Her black robe lay over her body lightly, clearly put there to act as some sort of blanket.
"She didn't show us how she was taken" Al said
"It's because she lost the fight, didn't want us seeing that" Hugo said, knowing his cousin.
Her head throbbed as she held it. She examined her entire body, checking for any more injuries. She discovered large purple bruises on her torso and rope burns on her wrists and ankles. She sighed loudly, propping herself up on the wall. She knew this would happen eventually, if she kept going to that damn lake. She knew it was unprotected, but she still risked it.
"Ah you're awake" a voice came from the dark outside the cell, slow and deep, it echoed in the tiny cell as a shadow came nearer to the small metal door. Said door was then flung open, large hands coming in quickly and grabbing Lily by the shoulders, dragging her along a dark cold corridor before entering a larger, square room and pushing her into a wooden chair. Lily looked up through hooded eyes and saw ten men and women standing around the room, all looking directly at her with large evil smirks gracing their features. Lily noticed the black robes that stopped at the elbow, showing off the increasingly old dark marks. A man stepped before her, leaning into her face; his only inches away and smiled arrogantly at her. His smile faltered slightly when Lily returned the smile only hers with a raised eyebrow and showing of teeth.
"I will ask you this once and once only" he began, retrieving his wand from his pocket, "where is Scorpius Malfoy?" Lily continued to smile, and giggled slightly as she said:
"Aw sweetheart, you think a couple of scratches and bruises will make me tell you where he is?"
"Oh I can do a lot more than just that if you like"
"Go on then, no matter how much pain I'm in, how close to death I go, I will never betray Scorpius" she looked confident and brave, and it was clear the death eaters thought she was mad.
"As you wish" the unnamed man stepped back, raising his wand to point at Lily. "CRUCIO"
The memory ended with the family on the edge of their seats; all shocked and upset and looking at Scorpius for answers. But he could not give any; he did not know why this was happening.
"Turns out it's not your fault James" Scorp said quietly, "it was mine"
The next memory started playing before anyone could say anything else.
Lily awoke once again in her dark cell, aching more so than before. She sat up slowly, using the wall to stop her falling back to the concrete. She wrapped her school robe around her, and held her knees to her chest. She didn't cry or scream when she was tortured, not wanting to give the psychopaths the satisfaction. The unforgivable wasn't the only form of torture. She spread her legs out in front of her, examining the new gashes and bruises.
"Oh my God" Ginny gasped at her daughters injuries as many others in the room did. Others looked down slightly not wanting to look. Harry grabbed his wives hand and wrapped his free arm around Al, who was sitting on his other side. Al looked to his left at James and grabbed his hand; he received a squeeze back as he held it tightly.
"Ow" Lily moaned quietly. There was a low chuckle from outside the cell door and Lily turned to see the face of her torturer staring through an open hatch in the door. "Oh hi" she said casually, leaning against the wall, propping her head back and closing her eyes. "What can I do for you?"
"You can tell me where the Malfoy boy is" Lily giggled.
"I did say to you last night if you recall, I'm not saying anything that will jeopardise Scorp's safety. Plus, you know where he is"
"Yes, but not how to get him out"
"Same way you got me out"
"The lake? How are we supposed to lure him to the lake?"
"Well that's your problem"
Lily was then dragged out of her cell again and placed in the same square room as before. Except now, the room was empty, apart from her and the man who stood before her. She smiled almost sadistically as he raised his wand.
The third memory ended as there was an intake of breath.
"Did you see her face?" James asked, still squeezing his brother's hand, "Almost as if she were enjoying it" Al looked at his brother as if he had sprouted horns.
"Enjoying it?" he asked perplexed.
"Like she enjoyed teasing him and making him angry"
"Well whatever it is that was the last memory" Scorp said sighing.
"What? That's it?"
"Yea there's no more" he said, watching as the image faded and a rock drop to the ground in front of the fire place. "Spells over"
"But why did she send us those specific memories?"
"They were for me" Scorpius said, standing to address the families. "That man whoever he is wants me, the lake is the only place he can get to me, he doesn't know I'm here, and he's clearly not going to risk exposure by making some sort of threat. He's also not going to stop hurting Lily until he has me. So, the only option is for me to go to the lake and let him take me" he sighed as he finished and made his way out of the room.
"Scorp wait!" Rose shouted following him as did the others. He turned smiling and winked.
"Don't wait up babe" there was a loud crack, and Scorpius was gone.
It had been three days since Scorpius left the Burrow. Of course the aurors of the group went straight to the lake, but he was already gone. Draco had a small meltdown, locking himself in his office at Malfoy Manor, trying to piece together anything that would help get his son and goddaughter back. He only allowed fellow aurors and his wife in the room, and listened to nothing but news about his son.
Albus was worse than before, after Lily's letter he had begun eating normally again, due to his sister wanting him too. But Scorpius' disappearance stopped him doing that again. He was slowly losing his strength, not being able to stand for long periods of time being only one example. James spent most of his time looking after Albus, simply sitting with him or getting him to eat. He was unsuccessful for the most part, but still tried, he had already lost his sister, he wasn't losing Al too.
The rest of the family was in turmoil too, watching Al destroy himself, and not knowing whether Lily and Scorpius were still alive had taken its toll. It was only when another letter arrived did hope become less rare. The letter was addressed to Albus, who picked it up carefully. He noticed it came with another memory crystal. He read the letter first:
Al,
I'm so sorry about what happened, but I had to do it. Lily was at risk and I wasn't going to do nothing. They took me from the lake and now I'm with Lily. We're both alive, but injured badly.
Here's the important part Al, although all of the memories we saw are true, Lily was not the one who sent them. Her captors, as part of her torture, went deep into her mind, and found out knowledge about us and how to make memory crystals. Lily didn't want me here, didn't want me to be in danger, and the men knew that. They knew she was strong and stubborn, but they also knew that if I knew she was in danger, I would do anything to save her.
I charmed this letter to fly to the Burrow, knowing you'll be there. He didn't take my wand, but it's faulty so I can't do serious spells, only small ones.
This memory crystal contains more of our memories of what's happened the last few days. Don't give up hope Al; we have a plan and we'll come back to you. I promise you that.
Scorp and Lily xx
When Albus had finished reading the letter aloud for the third time he finally looked at his palm, which contained a small oval crystal with cloud like swirls within it.
"He is clever that boy" Ron said, motioning for Albus to show them the memories. Al nodded as he threw the crystal at the wall above the fire place like Scorpius had, only days before.
Scorpius awoke in a dark cell, no bigger than his bed at Hogwarts. The concrete floor made his back ache from his unconscious stay on it, and his head throbbed badly. The small room was barely lit, only the sunlight coming through a small window 3 metres above him shed light into the room. He looked around with hooded eyes, trying to remember where he had seen this before. Then he saw her. Lily was lying on her side by the door, head resting on her left arm, eyes closed.
"Lily" Scorpius whispered, crawling over to her slowly. He gasped in pain as a sharp stinging sensation rocked his torso; he looked down and lifted his shirt to see a large deep gash across his abs.
"Oh my God my poor boy" Astoria and Draco had been there before the letter arrived, and were currently clinging to each other watching their son.
He grabbed his stomach and continued to make this way towards Lily, who was now stirring. It was only when she sat up slightly, eyes still closed, that he noticed the extensive bruising across her neck, her cut lip and purple eye. She had blood covering her school robes, and rips in her shirt.
"Oh God Lily I'm so sorry" Scorpius took her face in his rough hands, pressing his forehead to hers. She opened her eyes quickly a gasp leaving her lips as she reached for him. She put her hands on either side of his neck, rubbing her thumbs across his jaw. She looked up into his eyes and smiled, then frowned.
"What the Hell are you doing here Scorpius?" she whispered. He looked up too, their eyes locking. It was now that he noticed she had the exact same eyes as her brother.
"I'm here because of the memories you sent us, the man wants me, I couldn't let him hurt you" Lily looked confused and continued to frown.
"I didn't send any memories…" she paused for a second, looking away, disconnecting herself from Scorpius and propping herself against the wall of the small cell. "Wait" she said "I think you were tricked"
The memory ended there and no one questioned it, having everything already explained. Before anyone had the chance to say anything however, the second memory began to play.
Scorpius was leaning against the wall, with Lily held closely to his side. Her head was resting on his shoulder lightly, his hand in her hair. Suddenly the room was filled with laughter as the door was heaved open and the man appeared yet again. Scorpius' grip on Lily tightened, as she moved, if possible, closer to him.
"Well hello there Mr Malfoy" the deep voice echoed through the small cell as the man sneered at Scorpius, ignoring Lily completely.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing from you" Scorpius looked confused for a moment, looking down slightly before apparently coming to some sort of conclusion. He looked up again, "you want to kill me don't you" the man grinned from ear to ear, having been pleased with the conclusion Scorpius had made. His sadistic smile made Lily's stomach turn.
"Oh yes dear boy. Don't worry it's nothing personal, but it's the only way to make sure Draco suffered for what he did"
Everyone turned to Draco, who was staring shocked at the images before him.
"What did he do?" Lily asked quietly, intrigued.
"He betrayed us." The man was grinded his teeth as he spoke, "switched sides just because we lost the war, then ratted us out, most of us went to Azkaban, some of us survived" his fists clenched around his wand by his side.
"You do realise that he was never on your side to begin with right?" Lily said louder than before, growing more confident although the man grew angrier.
"Doesn't matter how he felt, he had… has the mark, meaning he's one of us, meaning he betrayed us" the man's logic was faulty, everyone but himself knew that. "He needs to pay for what he did to us. Now we couldn't hurt him, he wouldn't care; he's like Miss Potter here, strong. But hurt someone he loves, like his son for example," he leered at Scorpius, "that would hurt him too. But if you were to torture, then murder his son, well, that would almost kill him" with that he stepped forward, grabbed Scorpius and marched out the door.
"No! Scorpius!" Lily screamed as he was taken from her grasp and filed out of sight. She banged on the door loudly before sitting back and cuddling her knees to her chest. She cried for the first time since she was at the lake. She was rubbing her eyes, willing herself not to be weak, when she spotted it; Scorpius' wand.
The memory ended and Harry noticed everyone was in tears, including himself.
"But he's still alive" Al said with a shaky voice, "he sent us the letter and the memories, he's alive Draco" he stood up to stand in front of his best friend's father. Draco was crying more than anyone and Harry noted it was the first time he had seen the man cry since his mother's death two years prior. Draco put a shaking hand on Al's shoulder, a small smile gracing his features and he squeezed. The third memory started before anyone could speak another word.
Scorpius was thrown into the cell, his body trembling. Lily crawled over to him immediately, he had been gone an hour. She wrapped her arms around his shoulder as he sat up slowly; he winced visibly at the contact. She pulled back apologizing then gasped at the damage. Scorpius had deep gashes on his face, arms and torso. His clothes were ripped in multiple places, blood stained nearly every inch. Bruises were beginning to appear on both eyes and around his neck, evidence of being straggled. He was weak and his eyes were hooded, he smiled slightly at Lily as she gently put a hand on his cheek.
"We're going to get out of this Scorp, both of us" she whispered, kissing his forehead and lying him down.
"Got a plan?" was the shaking, croaky reply.
"I do actually" she smiled slightly as she lay down next to him, he smiled back.
"I'm all ears"
"Well, you know how that man tricked you into thinking I was the one sending that letter and memory crystal?" Scorp nodded and she continued, "how about we beat him at his own game? You still have your wand, you dropped it when you were thrown in here" she sat up slightly, leaning to retrieve it from the floor next to her.
"I didn't realise"
"Yea well, it's slightly cracked so it's probably faulty but we could do an awful lot with it." Lily's evil smile graced her features making Scorpius smirk in return.
The next memory began with the two teenagers sitting cross legged in their cell, their faces inches apart as they stared at the wand on the ground between them.
"So we know we can't heel with it," Lily began, still staring at the wand, "and we can't do serious damage either" remembering the attempt Scorpius had made to set the door on fire. There was now a small black tinge to it, but no flames had appeared.
"Looks like only small charms are possible" Scorpius said looking up into Lily's face, she looked up too, staring back.
"So we'll be able to charm a letter and a crystal to go to Albus?"
"I should be able to do it, me and Rose do it all the time, and sometimes I don't even use my wand"
"What about homing signals?" Lily asked, looking back down at the wand. When Scorpius didn't reply, she looked up to see his confused face and smiled. "They don't know where we are, neither do we, but if we send a distress call out to, for example, Draco, they'll be able to find us"
"I'm sure I could do it" Scorp paused, "but what about when they get here, the men will just kill us if they try to come close to a rescue"
"Not if we're not here" Lily smiled.
The memory ended and the image faded a rock dropping to the floor at Rose's feet. Everyone looked confused, and then they seemed to come to a conclusion in unison.
"Oh but that's brilliant!" Harry exclaimed, impressed his daughter could think of that. "They'll send a signal when they're in position, and we'll go and get them!"
It was another few weeks after the last letter and everyone was even more anxious than before. They all had gathered in the hall for dinner, the students at their respective house tables, and the teachers at the head under the giant window. Albus had returned to school, his mother insisting that he continue with his education. He had agreed, mostly due to the fact James would be coming with him.
The Potter brothers sat at the great hall, James doing all but spoon feeding Albus to try to get some food inside him. He had continued not to eat too much, and his roommates telling his cousins he was having violent nightmares, and James thought that this was the reason for Albus wanting to bunk with his older brother.
Their cousins sat around them, Rose looking up at her father and uncle every so often, who were seated at the teacher's table, along with Draco, all eating and talking quietly with Neville.
Suddenly there was a loud crash and a yell as someone was thrown through the massive stain glass window above the teacher's heads. The body landed half way along the great hall, between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. The body stood quickly, face bruised and gashed, clothes torn and dirty showing the muscled and bloody body beneath them. It was only when the figure turned to face the window it had just been thrown through that everyone recognised him.
"Scorpius!" Albus was on his feet in milliseconds, running to his best friend who had his arms out ready for him. "Oh my God Scorp don't ever do that to me again" Al whispered in his blond friend's ear over and over as he hugged him tight.
"I'm sorry Al, but I'm here now" he let go and smiled, looking up to his father who was approaching. "Hi dad" and embrace Draco in the same way he had Albus.
Suddenly there was another crash, and Lily appeared, standing in the hole in the glass window smirking.
"Miss me boys" she said arrogantly as she waved a wand. Ten deatheaters came flying into the room, all unconscious and battered. They landed with thuds in front of the headmasters chair, all bound. Lily jumped down from the window and walked quickly over to her father. Hugging him tightly and smiling as she released him.
"What happened Lily?"
"Turns out we didn't need you to come rescue us after all," she began smiling, turning from Harry and walking to where her brothers were waiting. It was only now that they really noticed how damaged she was, very similar to Scorpius, except you could see her legs were badly damaged too, yet she was walking as if they weren't. "We could look after ourselves" she said as she was enveloped in a three way hug with her brothers. They both nuzzled their faces into the crooks of her neck, and made sure not to squeeze too tight, but held a firm grip nonetheless.
"Ladies and Gentlemen" came Neville's voice from the front, "looks as if our missing persons are no longer missing" he smiled as the rest of the Great Hall cheered in relief. Lily looked around confused slightly.
"You really missed us that much?"
"Are you kidding Lils?" Rose said as she wrapped an arm round Scorp's waist, "everyone did" there were cheers of agreement throughout the hall and they chuckled.
"Not to ruin the party, but I could really do with a healer"
Two weeks later both Lily and Scorpius were fully healed, thanks to the skills of Polly. When asked how they escaped, they simply answered that they used the little wandless magic they knew, and Scorpius' faulty wand to defend themselves and disarm the deatheaters before taking their wands and fighting properly. No one doubted or questioned this, knowing the two were strong and good fighters.
"Are we going to tell them the truth?" Lily asked as they laid by the edge of the black lake, legs spread out heads propped up on their jumpers.
"Do you want them to know?" Scorpius asked, not taking his view away from the landscape before him.
"I don't know" Lily said sighing quietly, "I just don't like lying to them" it was then that Scorpius looked at her. He noticed her hair was up in a messy ponytail, and her shorts were slightly ripped.
"Me neither," he said as she turned to look at him. It was then that she noticed his eyes were identical to Draco's and that his shirt had a pudding stain. "But them knowing is worse"
Lily nodded in acceptance and sat up stretching, her tank top riding up slightly.
"Come on, they'll be waiting for us"
They stood together, Lily linking her arm through Scorpius' as they began to walk back towards the castle. They made a silent agreement that day, to never tell anyone what really happened, but fate likes to play tricks, and as they were met with applause while entering the great hall that evening, someone was there, waiting to expose them.
Soooo…. That happened.
Thanks to everyone who read this all the way through, was longer than I expected :P
Should I do a sequel?! You tell me!
I would really appreciate any reviews about this story and my others.