Well, hello, my readers! I am back, hopefully for awhile. I promise, I have no intention of abandoning my project, although months of absence may have given some that idea. One way or another, we'll get to the end of the story! Here is the next chapter.
Chapter 4. Xenia Verdi.
Xenia could not see Lily's silhouette in the dark, but she sensed her presence. It was a good thing that they were too old to fear the dark. There were enough things to be afraid of as it was… To fear whom? And, more importantly, what? Xenia would have liked to know what lay in store for them – the unknown is always frightening.
"Are you afraid?" in the dark and dampness of the dungeon Lily's voice sounded unnaturally shrill.
"I wish I could say no," Xenia smirked bitterly, getting up. Sitting idly was harder. Yet, what else could she do? They were left with only one thing to do: to fret…
Fear… Her father used to say to her that people often thought her fearless. Odd, but all of her life (since her grandfather's death), she was afraid: afraid to fail at her mission, fail at saving the Light, whatever it was. She eventually got used to the feeling, although the first few years she frequently woke from her nightmares, wiping sweat and tears from her face. After a while, the fear became a part of her and she ceased to pay it any mind.
Yet, there must have been a grain of truth in her father's words. She did not truly fear anything back then, save for the prophecy and her role in the fate of the Light.
The fear came when the prophecy was gone from her life, and James came into it. She learned a lot of things she had missed in her earlier years because of her dedication to her studies and her mission. As for him, he gave her gifts she had not dared dream of: strolls under starry skies, flowers on her pillow, buttered toast in bed, a white dress. He opened for her a different world, the world of love and family. And she learned that, once you love someone fiercely, with your whole heart, giving all of yourself, that feeling inevitably brings with it another feeling: fear. She learned to be frightened of ordinary everyday things, just like other people: when James was late in coming home for no apparent reason, when he got sick, when he played Quidditch with abandon, forsaking everything, including his own safety in his pursuit of the Snitch… How many times has he crashed from his broomstick as she looked on! And she feared for him, without ever letting on. And she knew that he feared for her, too. As do all who love.
Xenia walked across their cell, smiling sadly as she remembered last night, when James couldn't get any sleep, because the baby was making his presence known already. Xenia kept dashing for the loo. She knew that it was perfectly normal. Her poor James, however, was so worried, as if she was at death's door. He was willing to carry her in his arms, make her entirely unnecessary cold and hot compresses, even call for Theodick, whom he did not like very well… And she tried to calm him down between bouts of morning sickness.
"Jim, come on, you know that Potters on the whole are trouble." – "Meaning?" – "Well, in all the time I have known you, something would always be afoot. If not another attack by an army of foes, then little Al inadvertently turning Hugo's arm into a rubber python. Or you flying off your broomstick as though you are a hyppogrif with wings behind your back, and falling ten feet or so to the ground is no big deal." – "I am not that much trouble." – "Don't pout, you are a walking adventure, just like all Potters. And it appears that your baby is taking after you." – "Well, he is a Potter, after all." – "That is precisely what I've been telling you: calm down and go to sleep…"
He worried, and she worried, but it was ordinary, it was a part and parcel of their happy life, full of unexpected "Potter" stuff. And her old, former fear was all but forgotten…
And now, she had a new reason to fret. Again, not for herself. For Him, whose soul she was only beginning to feel inside her – fleetingly, almost imperceptibly, faintly. But since that soul had been inside her, Xenia felt it more and more clearly with each day. It – more, the others – less. And she hoped that one day, all she would be able to feel was him, her baby. The day he would be born – the happiest day of her life. She dreamt about it, and now the fear that that day would never come was creeping from the gloom of the unknown, making her instinctively put her hands over her still-flat belly – protecting the new soul growing there. Protecting Him.
"Forgive me, this is all my fault," Lily spoke again, breaking into the little bubble of memories that momentarily pushed away the darkness and the unknown. Xenia did not respond: it was completely irrelevant now whose fault it had been. And was it really anyone's fault?
Xenia smiled in the dark: if Lily was guilty of anything, it was of always being herself, Lily Potter. Yet, do we really chose who we are born as? And what family to be born into? The father, a hero, an insanely kind man, who tried to give his children everything he never had, protecting and spoiling them. The mother, full of tenderness and love, always there for them, especially for the only daughter. The brother who, in his own way was always there to protect and defend. Uncles, aunts, grandfathers, cousins… And the world permeated with the tales of the Hero who was her father. The dreams of a handsome prince… And the prince himself – not even the wall, but a fortress that enclosed her, elected over her a dome of absolute safety, hiding her from the cruelty and pain of the real world.
Scorpius Malfoy. Xenia always thought that what attracted him to Lily was that she had everything that he had been seeking for years and never finding. He wanted to be needed, indispensable. And he found it in Lily. And he fell in love with her for all the qualities that she possessed and he never had, qualities that he actually thought to be weaknesses and flaws. And he did everything in his power to ensure that Lily – as she was when he fell in love with her – remained herself, and so he protected her from everything. Despite always cracking jokes, even in front of Xenia, at the Potters', and especially Lily's, kindness and gullibility, calling it her "rose-tinted glasses"… Xenia suspected that Malfoy actually tried to preserve those traits in Lily so that his wife would truly complement him… So that he could learn from her… And so that he could be sure that as long as he was with her, she would stay herself…
Yet, apparently, even Malfoy was not omnipotent. The fortress caved in, while Lily remained trusting, vulnerable, believing the best in people…
"How did you know that I shouldn't touch that wand?"
"Dragon hide. Why would the person who found it wrap it in dragon hide?" Xenia sat down, feeling a little light-headed.
They fell silent again, wrapped in their own thoughts.
"I am always used as a means to get to my loved ones…" Lily said unhappily.
Xenia shrugged, before reaching out to touch her friend's hand:
"And why are you so sure you weren't abducted because they wanted you? Maybe it has nothing to do with your family, with Malfoy or with anyone else? What if you are who they want?"
"Why would Zabini want me, if not to get to…"
"So you think Zabini is behind this?"
"Who else?"
"But why them? And why now? Because of Priscilla?"
"You know that she had been released?"
"I heard at St. Mungo's that she was brought before a medical panel, and the healers decided that she really was unwell. Do you think you were kidnapped because of her?"
"Why not?"
"I don't know," Xenia shrugged again, but Lily, of course, could not see that. "Although, who else…?"
"That is what I am wondering: who else? One thing is clear though…"
"What's that?"
"That I did a stupid thing, and now you are going to be paying for it along with me," Lily said tearfully.
"Don't be a wet blanket, it will work out fine…"
Lily did not answer that, and Xenia knew why – neither of them could be sure of that outcome.
Silence was broken by a peculiar sound of Apparating, and the girls jumped to their feet, trying to determine where the noise came from. Something hit the stone floor, then another popping sound, and they were enveloped once again in the silence of the dungeon.
"Was it a house elf, you think?" Lily asked, walking toward where the commotion had been.
"I believe so, since it Apparated here," Xenia followed after her friend. "It appears he left something…"
Feeling around, they soon found a tray (or something akin to it) with two bowls of something hot and two pieces of bread.
"And what's this?" they touched something cold and rounded, like a large pan or…
"If I am not mistaken, this is a bona fide chamber pot," Xenia chuckled.
"Darn, all facilities delivered by elf-post… And there I was, hoping that we would receive a visit from our abductor and learn something, anything…
"Well, at least we have learned that they are not planning to starve us," Xenia said, "except I am not so sure that it is safe to eat…"
"Yes, quite the dilemma," Lily touched Xenia's elbow, probably just to feel her physical presence next to her; Xenia felt the same urge constantly. "If we knew where the elf would materialize next time, we could grab him and Apparate…"
"Lily," Xenia tensed and got to her feet, peering through the darkness.
"What?"
"I don't believe we are alone," the Healer could now clearly sense someone else in the room, as opposed to mere moment before.
"How do you…?"
"Well, well," the already familiar voice came from the direction of the bars, "it turns out that we truly have the honor to receive a Healer of Souls in our humble abode! Who would have though it."
"What gave you that idea?" Lily stood next to Xenia.
"Well, it was not hard to verify, and now I know for sure," they could tell that their kidnapper was smiling. Xenia suddenly lost the sense of him, as though he vanished on the spot. "Xenia Potter, who treats human souls…"
"Who are you? What do you want with us?" Lily took a step towards the voice, but instantly heard the squeaking of the bars closing, and the turning of the key.
"By the way, the food is not poisoned. On the other hand, suit yourselves, guests are free to do what they like," the mocking voice sounded right next to them. "Oh, and I would not advise you to attack my house elves; they are quite capable of defending themselves…"
"Wait!"
Two popping sounds were their answer, then silence. They did not speak for a long time, unsure what to do next.
"Xenia, do you have a hair pin?" Lily seemed to be moving toward the bars.
"Do you think it is that simple?" the other girl searched her trouser pockets for the bobby pin she used to hold her hair back when at work.
"I cannot just sit there," Lily felt in the dark for her friend's hand, took the pin, and the darkness was filled with quiet gnashing of metal.
Xenia stood next to her, leaning against the bars. She thought that she ought to eat, so as not to harm the baby. Yet, could this man be trusted? On the other hand, if he wanted to poison them, why all the machinations with the portkey? Speaking of the portkey…
"Ouch!"
Xenia straightened abruptly, because the lock clicked and the bars opened.
"I can't believe it…" Lily whispered, not moving. "This is stupid."
Xenia stood still, too.
"Hang on," Lily headed for the tray (luckily, they had begun to get their bearings in the dark), and was soon back at Xenia's side. "Let's check."
As Xenia gathered, Lily threw the chamber pot into the opening.
Just when it should have crashed to the floor, the ceiling above it lit up with something akin to grey mist, and down on the floor there began some strange movement.
The sound of the pot hitting the floor never came, as through it fell on something soft. And this something was alive, and making a strange rustling noise.
"What is it?" Lily whispered, afraid to move. Xenia eyed the glowing ceiling – uneven, as though in a cave. Why did it light up? What's there on the floor outside of the cell? What trap was waiting for them?
"Ouch!"
"What?" Xenia started when Lily gripped her hand.
"Something grabbed my leg!"
And then Xenia also felt the sturdy, whippy ropes beginning to wind around her feet.
"Quick! To the bench!"
They managed to free their legs, and a moment later stood atop the stone bench, their back pressed against the cold, uneven wall.
"What is it?" Lily's voice shook, although she clearly was trying to reign in her panic.
"The Devil's Snare," Xenia whispered. "Don't move, they retreat from the light…"
At that moment, the ceiling above them lit up as well, and they could see that the tentacles were not moving away at all; they continued to multiply, albeit at a much slower pace.
The noise grew quieter, but the girls were afraid to move.
"I think they stopped growing," Lily whispered. The ceiling also dimmed.
"Well, that's a relief," Xenia remarked with sarcasm, feeling nauseated from fright, from hunger, from exertion. Yet, should she faint now, she might never wake up in the embrace of the lovely plant that now seemed to occupy the entire floor of their cell.
The girls quietly slid down the wall, holding still each time they heard the faint rustling noise started anew.
Xenia finally sat down, with her knees pulled tightly to her chest, and was still. Who said that there no hopeless situations?..