Chapter 24: Lost and Found

James, Karen, and Sirius appeared outside of Malfoy Manor.

"How exactly do you plan to get in there without being seen?" Karen asked.

"I haven't figured that out yet," James said.

"You came here without a plan?!" Karen hissed. "You don't even know if Lily's here!"

"It's worth a shot," James said.

"Why couldn't you just leave it to the professionals?" she asked.

"Where's the fun in that?" Sirius asked. "Some of our greatest pranks were made up on a whim."

"This isn't a prank!" Karen hissed.

"Ok, so we are going to sneak in the back," James said, cutting in. "There are at least three floors, so I'll take the basement. Sirius, you take the main floor, and Karen, you take the upper floors."

"Are you sure it's a good idea for us to split up?" Karen asked.

"I don't think it will make any difference if we do or not, but it will go quicker if we split up," James replied.

They slipped around the back of the black mansion and made their way up to the back porch. Slowly, they opened the door and slipped inside.

"Alright, make sure you're extra quiet and don't make any noise," James said.

"Welcome! I must say, I expected you sooner," a deep voice said.

James, Sirius, and Karen looked down the hallway to see Lucius Malfoy walking toward them. They drew their wands and pointed them at him.

"Now, now there's no need for that," he said. "You just need to put them down and come with me peacefully, otherwise there might be consequences."

"Where's Lily?" James asked.

"Lily? Oh, you mean Evans. She's safe. For now," he replied.

"Reducto!" James yelled, without thinking.

"James!" Karen yelped as Malfoy slammed into the wall.

"Come on, let's get moving," James said quickly.

They went to step forward, but a voice shouted to them.

"Move and you're dead!"

They saw a light shining in their faces. The light dimmed and they saw Rastaban Lestrange watching them with his evil eyes.

"I see you've come for Evans, Potter," he sneered. "Oh, and how she cried for you, but did you come to save her?"

James glared at Rastaban, but Sirius spoke first, "Where is she, Lestrange?"

"You'll never know!" he laughed cruelly. "Besides, did you think we would just give her to you?"

"Give her to us and you won't get hurt," Sirius said. "Besides, we could take you."

Rastaban laughed. "Do you really think so?"

"Yes, cousin, I would love to see you try," a woman's voice rang out. "Looks like we'll have some fun now."

"Now, Bellatrix, we must detain them first," came another voice.

"Oh, Rodolphus, must you be such a bore?" Bellatrix asked.

"Wake Lucius," Rodolphus said.

"Fine."

Bellatrix turned and waved her wand.

"Now, hand us your wands and no one gets hurt," Rodolphus said.

"You think we're going to give you our wands without a fight?" Sirius asked.

"No, but I think you'll give them to me to save a friend," Rodolphus replied.

While they had been talking, Bellatrix had left the room, but now she was back and this time, she was not alone; she had a blindfolded Lily with her.

Bellatrix smiled evilly.

"Now, what are you going to do?" she asked. "Try anything and we kill her."

James stared at Lily. Bellatrix had pushed her to the floor and she was on her knees. Her hair fell in her face as she bent her head. His instincts told him to fight, but his heart and mind told him to surrender. What if it wasn't really her? What if it was just Polyjuice? But that would mean they still had her.

Karen looked at him, the fear apparent in her eyes. Sirius turned to James to see what to do. They were both looking to him for answers. James glanced at Lily again. He looked back at Bellatrix. "What's it going to be, Potter?" she asked.

"James?" Lily asked, her head lifted and she looked for him even though she couldn't see him.

"Shut up, you filthy mudblood!" Bellatrix screeched. "Crucio!"

Lily screamed in pain. Suddenly Bellatrix went flying backwards and hit the wall. Karen lowered her wand.

"Hand the wands over, Potter," Rodolphus said, moving behind Lily and pulling her hair, "or she dies."

"Alright, alright just don't hurt her," James said.

He dropped his wand to the floor with a clank, followed by Sirius' and Karen's.

"Good," Rodolphus said. "Lucius, take her down to the dungeons. I'll take care of theses three."

Lucius pulled Lily up by her arm and took her out of the room.

Rodolphus grabbed their wands off the floor.

"You're smarter than I thought you were," he said.

"You're stupider than you look," Sirius replied.

"We'll see who's laughing in the end then," Rodolphus said dryly. He waved his wand over Bellatrix who awoke.

"Who threw that curse?!" she shouted. "I'll kill them!"

"Bellatrix, you must calm yourself," Rastaban said. "They've surrendered."

Bellatrix glared at them, but didn't say anything.

"Bella, take them down to the dungeons," Rodolphus said. "I think you can handle them."

Bellatrix grabbed her wand and pointed it at them.

"Try anything and I will kill you," she whispered.

They walked forward until they reached the dungeons. "Stand against the back wall, Evans!" Bellatrix called.

She opened the door and pushed James, Karen, and Sirius inside.

"Lily?" James asked, looking around the dark room.

James heard the sound of footsteps and felt arms wrapping around his neck. Lily buried her face his neck. James pulled her closer to him, never wanting to let go. He pulled away to look at her, or at least he tried to; it was quite dark. His hands cupped her face.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm fine."

James pulled her to his chest again. He rested his head on hers and kissed the top of her head. She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest.

After a moment, she pulled away.

"Did you come here alone?" she asked.

"No, he didn't," Karen said.

Lily moved over to her friend and hugged her.

"I thought we lost you."

"You'll never lose me," Lily said.

Karen pulled away and wiped her eyes.

"What about me?" Sirius asked. "Don't I get a hug?"

"Sirius!" Lily said. She threw her arms around him and smiled as he lifted her off the ground.

"You guys came to look for me?" she asked when Sirius let her go.

"Did you think we were going to forget about you and leave you to rot here?" Karen asked.

"No," Lily said. "I just didn't expect you to find me so quickly. How did you find me anyways? I don't even know where I am."

"You're in Malfoy's dungeon," Karen said.

"Great," she said.

"Did you look for any trap doors or secret passages?" Sirius asked, moving along the wall, looking for a secret passage.

"Yeah, I looked, but I couldn't find any," she said.

"Right," James said. "There has to be a way out of here."

He joined Sirius in looking for a way out.

"There is," Karen said. "It's right there." She pointed to the barred door.

Later while Karen and James slept, Lily sat up against the wall with Sirius.

"I'm sorry," Sirius said.

"Sorry? Sorry for what?" Lily asked.

"Sorry for getting you into this mess," he replied. "It's my fault. I told you to leave James alone and you did."

"It's not your fault," Lily said. "You were just trying to protect James. Besides, you were right. He loves her."

"How do you know?" he asked.

"I heard him tell her," she said.

Sirius nodded. "You should get some sleep," he said.

"So should you," Lily said.

"Night, Lily," Sirius said as he laid down on the cold floor.

"Night, Sirius," Lily said.

Dorcas woke up and stretched.

"Hey," Remus said sleepily from behind her.

"Hi," she said, smiling.

They were both sitting on the couch. They had fallen asleep there last night with Remus' arms around her waist and her head resting on his shoulder.

"Do you want some tea?" she asked, raising from her spot. "Or should I say breakfast?"

Remus smiled. "I'm fine," he said. "I have to go back to see if James has any news about Lily yet."

"Want me to come with you?" Dorcas asked.

"If you want," Remus said.

"Alright," she said, taking his hand. They Apparated to James' house and Remus opened the door.

"James? Sirius? Karen?" Remus called. There was no answer. "Funny, one of them is usually up by now."

"I'll check upstairs," Dorcas said. She went up the stairs and Remus went into the kitchen. Nothing looked like it had been disturbed.

"Remus!" Dorcas yelled.

Remus dashed out of the kitchen and into the living room where Dorcas stood.

"What?! Are you alright?!" he asked.

"I'm fine," Dorcas said. She was white as a sheet. "They're gone."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"James, Sirius, and Karen. I. . . . .I think they went after Lily," she said.

"They said they weren't going to," Remus said.

"I know, but they did," Dorcas replied.