Chapter 11: I Learn to Believe in an Invisible Being

(Lily)

"And then the entire building just exploded!" Uncle Ron concluded his story with a very satisfied grin.

"I'm sorry dear, did you say it was aliens that made the Burrow explode?" asked Aunt Hermione stifling a giggle.

Uncle Ron snorted. "Uh, yeah. You were there Hermione."

Rose and Lucy gave snorts of their own. Al smiled. Fred, Molly, Louis, and Dom laughed. Teddy and Victorie stared at each other lovingly, completely ignoring Uncle Ron. Frank, whom had been invited to join us this Christmas, was in the kitchen with Roxy, helping prepare lunch.

Yes, the typical Weasley/Potter gathering. It was just missing two things. Hugo and James.

My parents said James was an adult, and was allowed to go do his own thing. I didn't think it was right though. He should be here, with the family. And Hugo… well the letter he supposedly sent saying he was spending the weekend with James seemed fake to me.

"Aren't you a little worried about Hugo?" I asked Rose.

She looked at me funny and shook her head. "No, why would I be?"

"Well, I dunno. Do you think it makes sense he and James just left to spend the weekend together? I mean, it's not like they're the closest cousins anyway."

"He sent us a letter, Lily," Rose said soothingly.

I shook my head. "Whatever, Rose."

I stormed off and went to the room I shared with Lucy and Roxanne.

Do you ever just feel depressed? Like tired of fighting so hard with no avail? Annoyed with everyone around you, even when they didn't do anything wrong?

I didn't know why but for the first time I felt like giving up. I wasn't even sure what I felt like giving up on. Giving up on my stupid cousins? My parents? Life? I tried to process my feelings but it was just a jumble of anger, sadness, and fear and every other negative emotion.

I curled up on my bed and just sat there. Thirty minutes had passed when Lucy knocked on the door.

"What?" I snapped irritably.

"I believe you."

I turned to Lucy and frowned. "What?" I repeated.

"Hugo. There's something wrong. I… I think he's in trouble."

Maybe someone believing me was the motivation I needed to get out of bed. I jumped to my feet and smiled. "Thank you!"

"We need to find him," Lucy added.

I nodded. "I know where we have to go."

"Where?"

"No time to explain. Go get Al, and… uh, Frank. Yeah. Get them and meet me outside."

Lucy looked excited at the thought of adventure. "I'll get right on it."

When Lucy left I grabbed a scrap piece parchment. Scribbled a note of it and gave it to Pigwidden, the family owl.

Then I went to find my Dad.

Maybe it was stupid. No, not maybe, it was idiotic. But I couldn't give up hope. I wasn't James. I loved our parents dearly. I knew something was wrong with them, that much was obvious. I just wanted to fix it. But how do you fix something when you don't even know what part of it is broken?

I flew down the stairs to check the kitchen. He wasn't there. I checked the sitting room, he wasn't there either. Not in the backyard. Not in the bathroom. Finally I went up to my parents' room which I wasn't supposed to go in. Despite that I threw the door open without even knocking.

"Dad," I breathed. I couldn't barely get out the one-syllable word I was so in shock.

My father- or whatever was pretending to be him- was standing over unconscious Aunt Angelina with his wand pointed at her. He froze and when he turned to me he face was completely blank.

"Lily," he said stiffly.

I pulled out my wand because I didn't know what else to do. "What did you do to my father?" I shouted mustering up the most confident voice I could.

"Lily," said a voice. It was a different voice this time still coming through the thing's mouth. Except this sounded less stiff, less robotic, more human.

"Dad?" I asked my confidence breaking. "What happened to you?"

My father crumpled to the floor. He was clutching his head covering his ears as if there was a loud noise.

"You have to save Hugo," he panted, in a voice strained with effort. "Don't tell the parents. Get help, and save him. Now!"

My father writhed on the floor as if he was being tortured. I just stood there, paralyzed.

"Go!" he grunted. "Go!"

And so I ran.

Twenty minutes later Lucy, Frank, Albus and I were stomping down the street.

"Where are you going?" Albus demanded. "We can't just wander around hoping to find Hugo."

"I don't know why we didn't get an adult," Lucy murmured uneasily. "It would be safer."

"We're not just wandering and you have to trust me," I replied irritably.

We reached a street where all the houses looked to be abandoned.

"Why are we going here?" asked Frank looking around. "Nothing but a bunch of empty houses.

But I knew better. I knocked on the one house I knew was occupied.

Just as I was about to magically remove the door from hinges it opened slowly. "You didn't have to knock my door down."

"You could've answered my letters!" I shot back.

Marlo shrugged. "I had more important matters to attend to."

"Yeah, well, I need your help."

"If I may interrupt," Albus said, "Who is he?"

"You're in my house I should be asking you that question," Marlo said.

"Marlo, Albus; Albus, Marlo. And that's Lucy and Frank," I said in a rush. "Okay?"

"I'm assuming you have something of utter importance you want to say," Marlo surmised.

"I need two things from you-"

"And what do I get in return?" he interrupted.

"Can't you just be a good person for once?"

Marlo shrugged again. "Depends."

"I need you to tell me where Jacob lives. Let's just start with that."

I could see a little emotion creep onto Marlo's impassive face. "He's not in trouble is he? I've been watching him…"

"No- well, maybe. I just need him. Please."

"Fine but you don't let him know I led you there and definitely don't tell him I've been watching."

I smiled a little. "You don't want him to know you care."

"No, I just fancy all my body parts the way they are."

He had a point. If Jacob knew he was being watched, he'd kill Marlo.

(Jacob)

"And don't forget the honey!"

"I wouldn't dream of it," I mumbled.

I watched as the kettle boiled, poured it into the glass. Hoping Jonathan wouldn't notice I poured myself a glass too. Sure the water was burning hot but it was still water.

"What's taking so long?" demanded my brother from the other room.

There was a number of things I wish I had the guts to say but all that came out was a very nervous "Sorry!"

My hands shaking I brought Jonathan his tea. I had always found it kind of funny that my older brother's favorite beverage was tea. With honey. The big bad Jonathan drank tea. Of course he'd pound me into next century if I ever said that out loud.

Jonathan grabbed the cup from my hand and it spilt. He sighed loudly. That was the sigh that haunted my dreams. The two-second warning that I was about to get slapped or punched or kicked.

Jonathan took his hand and punched me, almost lazily. "Clean that up!" he barked.

"Sorry," I muttered and ran to the kitchen to get a cloth.

"You're such a screw up," Jonathan growled at me. "When have you ever done anything right?"

I didn't say anything.

"I mean seriously. I'm surprised they even let you into that freak-school of yours."

I gripped the cloth harder and scrubbed.

"And you claim you have friends. Suuure. Who would want to be friends with you? You're a loser Jacob. You're a crybaby, as far as I know you still wet the bed, and you're afraid of a closet-"

"I do not," I mumbled.

"What?" Jonathan said, staring me down with his cold, dark eyes.

"I haven't wet the bed since I was seven," I said a little louder. "And I'm not afraid of a closet."

"So you wouldn't mind if I put you in there? Why don't you go on in?"

"It's all because of you," I mumbled.

"Stop being a coward and say it to my face!" snapped Jonathan.

"All because of you!" I shouted. Of course that was the exact reaction he wanted. But what I supposed to do?

"That's the thing Jacob," Jonathan said. "It's not my fault. I'm not the one who did this to you, you are."

"That's a lie!"

"No, it's really not. Did I make you a freak? No. Did I give you this bad attitude? No. Did I-"

"You turned Jasmine against me," I said, a bit suddenly.

Jonathan nodded. "Jasmine. How she doing by the way? She went to that freak school this year didn't she? But I guess you wouldn't know how she's doing cause she still doesn't talk to you, does she?"

"It's your fault!" I shouted trying to fight back the tears.

Jonathan shook his head. "I didn't take away the thing she loved most, did I? We both loved him, Jasmine and me. But you didn't care did you? And then you ran away like a coward. Because that's all you are, Jacob. A bloody coward."

Words hurt more when they were true. And even if it was a little twisted, even if the words were a little warped, Jonathan wasn't lying.

"Do your friends know Jacob?" Jonathan teased. "Do they know what you did?" I didn't respond. "Answer me Jacob!"

"No," I said quietly.

"Hmm, well, when I'm ruining Milly's life-"

"Lily. Her name is Lily," I corrected in a steady voice.

Jonathan glared at me. "While when I ruin her life, just the way I did yours back when you went to normal school, I'll make sure to tell her your little secret. Unless of course you've accepted my deal…"

I thought about what Roxanne said. That it wasn't worth it. Lily wouldn't want me to risk my life just to save her from a little emotional pain. But it wasn't going to be a little, because a little bit of pain wasn't how sadists like Jonathan worked. Go big or go home, that was Jonathan's moto.

"I'll-"

But before I could finish the sentence someone busted open the front door. Lily, the last person I expected to see, stood in the doorway.

(Lily)

Maybe busting down the door wasn't the best idea. But it was the first one my impulsive mind thought of.

"Is this the famous Lily?" asked a tall boy who looked like a bigger, badder version of Jacob.

"I am. And are you the infamous Jonathan?" I countered.

"I am."

I opened my mouth to say something else but I didn't know what. I ended up closing it awkwardly.

"This is the brave, fearless Lily you speak of?" Jonathan laughed. "Pathetic Jacob, really pathetic."

Nobody spoke for a second. I stood in the entry way staring at Jonathan. Jacob stood with a tea towel in his hand dark bruise forming on his cheek.

"You know, this might be the perfect time to share that thing we were talking about. Remember? About how you-"

Before Jonathan could finish Jacob tackled him. Or at least attempted to. It was more like Jacob jumped onto him, Jonathan caught him, and threw him into the wall.

I gasped and ran over to him.

"Jonathan," Jacob muttered. "… I accept."

Jonathan smile. "Good. Good. Well, it's been a pleasure meeting you, Lily… and friends," he directed the last part to Albus, Lucy and Frank who were still standing in the doorway, "But you really must go."

"Not without Jacob," I said stubbornly.

"Ah, you see Jacob is mine again. He made a deal with me to protect you. And all he had to do was come home, and stay home."

"Why do you want him here if you hate him so much?" asked Lucy who moved a little more into the house.

"It's not my place to tell you, I suppose. Let's just say Jacob has done something that he needs to pay for."

"That's ridiculous. We're leaving!"

I grabbed Jacob by the arm and began dragging him towards the door. "Lily…" he protested.

Jonathan held up a remote in his hands. "This allows me to-"

Jonathan didn't finish his sentence because at that moment the remote flew out of his hand. Albus stood smiling, holding it.

"Magic," Jonathan hissed.

Albus pressed the off button on the remote and with Lucy's help we managed to get Jacob out of his house. Oddly enough Jonathan didn't try that hard to stop us. I decided not to dwell upon our good luck right now.

We walked from Jacob's house, which was pretty much the only one on its street, back to the old abandoned houses where Albus and Lucy preformed some simple healing charms on Jacob who was a bit beaten up but not too bad.

"Why'd you kidnap me?" Jacob asked, almost sounding annoyed.

"We recused you because, well, I need your help for one thing."

"With what?"

I shook my head and pinched the end of my nose. There were so many problems to deal with I didn't even know which one to start with. "Well, Hugo's missing for one thing."

"Missing? What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I'm worried he might've been kidnapped."

"By Code?" Albus guessed.

"Yeah. At least I think so."

Jacob slapped his forehead. "He's been having bad dreams. I asked him about it, but he wouldn't tell me anything-"

Suddenly I came to a conclusion. "Code got into my head! He said he was looking for some wand. He said he needs to find out who has it and he thought I knew… What if it was Hugo? He thinks Hugo has this wand and the bad dreams he's having was really just Code entering his mind using Legilimency?"

I wasn't sure if that's how any of that worked but it seemed like a pretty good theory right now. And just coming up with something, anything that could help my cousin, felt good.

"So you think Code has Hugo, because Hugo has a wand?" Frank queried.

I shook my head. "Not just any wand. A specific one. I guess something powerful if Code wants it so bad."

"This is what the people at the wedding were looking for!" Lucy realized. "I'm guessing they work for Code and that they wanted to find the wand. Code must think someone in our family had it and then somehow decided it was Hugo."

"Code's been trying to get into my head lately and I'll bet he's been doing the same with James. This is probably why."

"Great," Jacob said folding his arms over his chest, tapping his foot impatiently. "I'm glad you figure out what the bloody hell he's after but how exactly does that get us any closer to finding Hugo?"

I tried not to pay attention to how cute Jacob was when he was angry and how admirable his concern for his friend was. Right now I had to focus on Hugo and saving him.

"I know!" Albus suddenly shouted. He pulled something out of the pocket of his robe. A paper airplane.

"Yes, Albus, thank Merlin you have a paper airplane in your pocket! That will surely save the day."

We all slowly turned towards Lucy, except for Frank who was smiling knowingly. "Did you just make a joke?" asked Jacob.

"Oh, get over it," Lucy snapped. She turned to Al. "I'm hoping you have some genius plan?"

"Yeah, I do, just give me a second."

Albus scribbled a note on the paper airplane. He tapped it with his wand and it flew off. "I'm not really sure how long we have to wait but-" Albus began.

But before he could finish the paper airplane was back. He unfolded it and read the message. When he finished he made a fist, crumpling the paper.

"I got word from an unreliable source that Code is currently at the Malfoy Manor."

Nobody said anything for a moment. "Well?" Lucy said annoyed. "We should probably get going."

"And unreliable source, Luce," Albus repeated. "He could be lying. Or he could be wrong."

"I don't care!" Lucy practically shouted. "We need to find Hugo."

Under different circumstances I would've wondered why Lucy was suddenly acting so… nice. And concerned. She'd been known to be harsh, and firm, not caring about hurting people's feelings. And for her to be so willing to break so many rules all on a hunch… well something was definitely up, but I didn't have time to think too hard about it.

"Well how are we going to get to the Malfoy Manor?"

"Fly?" Jacob suggested.

"We don't have our brooms with us," I pointed out. "And we can't return to the house. Dad told me not to."

Everyone turned to me and I realized I hadn't even explained what happened to Dad.

"How about the Knight Bus?" Lucy offered. "And on the way Lily can tell what's going on with Uncle Harry."

We all agreed to that. Lucy summoned the bus and it arrived in seconds.

"Hi, to you- oh hey, Jacob," greeted the man in the Driver's seat when he saw Jacob. "So where are you kids headed to?"

"Wiltshire," replied Lucy.

Smartly she didn't mention we were going to the Manor. That would be suspicious. After all it was supposed to be empty. Draco had moved out when he married Astoria and Lucius was now in Azkaban. Telling the driver where we're going would just pose questions we didn't want to answer.

"That'll be five sickles, two knuts please."

Albus, Lucy and I paid and then we all found seats near the back where we could talk without being over heard.

"So Lily, you talked to Dad?" Albus prompted.

I sighed. I really didn't want to talk about it because I didn't want to face my fears. Was it possible the great Harry Potter had been beaten? I prayed I was wrong but I told my friends what I thought.

"I'm worried he might be under the Imperius Curse." I bite my lip and buried my head in between my hands. Albus scooted closer to me put his arm around me protectively. I felt like it was so long since he'd done this. The gesture was so comforting it allowed me to continue.

"After I talked to Lucy I went to Dad. I was hoping he'd come with us. I was hoping if he came we'd finally have enough proof to convince him Ryan Code is evil and James isn't insane. But when I went he was standing over Aunt Angelina. She looked like she was either dead or unconscious. I couldn't tell but if she was breathing, it was very lightly. And… the thing was standing there over her body and it had this weird look in his eye. And then suddenly it was Dad and he told me to run. Told me to get help and save Hugo."

"How'd he know?" asked Albus tightening his hold on me just a little.

"I don't know. I think maybe Code's gotten into his mind, or something. Maybe he was fighting it? I don't know but he told me to run and not to tell any other adults. But I shouldn't have listened to him. I should've told Aunt Hermione or someone…"

Lucy shook her head. "If Uncle Harry told you not to it must've been for a good reason."

"But I'm not even sure if it was Dad!" I replied. The more I talked about it the more real it seemed, the scarier. Did I just allow my father's wand to kill my Aunt? Could I have stopped it if I wanted to? And worst of all…

"What if that wasn't Dad at all. What if it was still Code and this is all a trap?"

Frank shook his head. "No," he said firmly. "That was Harry. He's strong, and I'm sure he told you what he said to protect you. Didn't you see the change in his eyes, his voice, when he spoke to you? You can't fake that kind of love."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You're right," I whispered. "It's going to be okay."

I kept telling myself that and the more I said it, the truer it sounded. Did it make me feel better? Not really, but it was the hope that counted. The hope that something might actually work out.

"Do you…. Do you think he has James too?" asked Lucy quietly. Though the question was directed to any of us she was looking at Albus. We all were. He was our leader on this mission. I knew he wasn't used to it, and I knew he didn't want to be, but we needed someone to act as the strong one.

"I… I don't think so," Albus said quietly, sounding like he was convincing himself more than us. "No. No, I don't think so."

And he said no more on the matter. Which was proof enough for all of us that Albus had the same fear that Lucy voiced. Albus had no arguments, no defense. No evidence that James was okay and that made my skin crawl.

We sat silently for the rest of the ride. I was still curled up against Al. Hugging him tightly because the reminder that he was here with me, that I wasn't alone was the only thing keeping me from screaming.

Lucy and Frank were leaning against each other. Probably trying to draw strength from each other just like I was doing with Albus. Jacob was a little off from all of us. He stared out the window. I couldn't read his mind but I knew he was thinking about his brother, and whatever deal they were discussing. I wanted to go and comfort him but I really didn't have enough energy. I made a mental note that I would talk to him when this was all over.

If it's ever over said a voice in my head. At first I thought it was Code but then I realized it wasn't cold, or dark enough to be Code's voice. It was just the realistic in me knowing that there might not be an end.

"You're going to be okay Lily," Albus whispered.

"How can you be sure of that?"

Albus tucked a lose strand of hair behind me ear. "I can't, Lils. But think about it this way. If don't believe then what chance do you have? You have to want everything to work out, you have to think everything will."

"But… I-"

"Believe, Lily. Have hope, have faith."

"Have faith in what?" I asked. "What is there to put all my trust in?"

"Well, that's the thing about faith. It's not some magical creature or invisible force that you know you can trust. Some people believe in God, and if you do, put your faith in him. If you don't just you just have to think and hope that everything is going to work out."

Albus seemed to be trying very hard to get me to understand. He spoke with a passion in his voice, confidence that was usually absent. But I didn't understand, I couldn't. How could you just believe that God or… or whoever was just going to make everything turn out okay?

"You want me to put my life in the hands of something that doesn't exists? I'm sorry, Albus, I just don't get it."

Albus frowned for a moment. He seemed absolutely determined to make me understand. "Well, do you want to live Lily?"

"Of course I want to live, that's a stupid question."

"Well, wanting something is half of it," Albus explained. "If you don't want something you can't have it. But the other thing is that you have to believe you can have it. You have to believe you can survive. How can you expect something to happen if you don't think it can?"

"I guess that makes sense."

"Exactly. Lily, it's important because it's so true. I need you to understand because otherwise things wouldn't work out for you. I get that you can't put all your trust in something you don't know, something that there's no proof that it even exists but what if you put your trust in me? What if you believe, and have hope and faith that I'm right, that I know what I'm talking about?"

Usually this was the part in the conversation where I got bored and agreed with whatever the person was saying just to get out of it. But it wasn't like that now. I really wanted to understand what Albus was saying mostly because even if I didn't really know it, I needed something to believe in. I needed some sort of reassurance that my life wasn't going to be one dramatic, impossible event after the other until I died. None of it made sense, my head felt like it was spinning a million miles a minute, but somehow it still made me feel better.

"Yeah," I replied after a little while. "I can do that."

"Good," Albus replied squeezing me tightly. "As much as I'd love to keep chatting we're almost at our destination."

I looked out the window and noticed the bus coming to a stop. The five of us stood up and slowly made our way to the door.

"Good luck out there," said Travis, the driver, as if he knew we were facing some big problem that was near impossible to overcome.

"Thanks," Jacob whispered quietly. "We'll need it."

We stepped off the bus and into the cold winter air.

Albus stood in front and led us towards the Manor. It took about fifteen minutes for us to arrive there.

"Okay," Albus turned to us when we arrived. "We're hear. Plan is for me, Jacob, and Lucy to head in, try and surprise and outnumber Code. I have a feelings he doesn't have many followers here right now. Lily, Frank, you're our back up if we fail. Stay hidden and cover us if we need it. Ready? Let's move."

I followed Frank into the mansion a discreetly as we could.

Have faith, have faith I whispered to myself over and over again because it was the only thing I could do to keep myself from running in the other direction.

A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter. And I hope your proud of me for actually updating on time :)

1: Next chapter will be updated on March 3rd or 4th. I already have he chapter edited I just need to post it, so you don't have to worry about me being delayed.

2: I want to thank Sir Manayaz for reviewing. Glad you liked the chapter and I assure you it relates, just wait until next chapter everything will make sense ;)

3: I just want to say that the random paper airplane Albus sent out was from Jonah Greengrass. Remember he gave it to Al and told him that was the fastest way to contact him? It was from the chapter I have too Much Victory.

4: You might think that talk Lily had with Albus was random. It wasn't. It leads to something I swear. But it also stems from something. The Potters have had to deal with a lot of stuff. James has been dealing with it (mostly by talking to Alice) for, well pretty much since book 1. And it hit him hard (Code, the whole thing with his parents, death of Grandpa Weasley) But Lily, you haven't really seen her reaction to it, not up close. Well, it's happening now. She's depressed and she's losing hope. And Albus? Well compared to his brother and sister he's taking everything pretty well. That's because he still has faith. He still has hope. And he can't stand seeing Lily so broken, so confused, ready to give up. So he does his best to fix that by explaining to her about hope ad faith.

5: I also just remembered I used to do a question of the chapter which I totally forgot. So I'll start that up again: This chapter's question is do you believe in God? And the evil? Or like Al told Lily, do you just have faith? I'm quite curious. Feel free not to answer if you find this question too personal. In case your curious of my answer, I do believe in God. And the devil. And I have faith. If you'd like to discuss this topic in detail PM me :)

Why would Harry injure Angelina? Is she alive? Was Lily right to have listened to Harry's advice to run? Was it even Harry who gave her that advice? Who's side is Marlo on? Where does he stand? Who did Jacob hurt? Is it possible he actually deserves what he gets from Jonathan? Why is Lucy acting so different? Is Al's unreliable source right? What's wrong with Harry? Does Code have Hugo because he's looking for a wand? Is he using Legilimency to invade Hugo's mind? Will everything turn out all right?

"No matter how dark the moment, love and hope are always possible," George Chakiris.

-Monkeywoman14