James and Sirius were both wandless and on knees.
"Kill them slowly, will torture them first and see how much they can tolerate before losing their fucking mind. Start with this traitor Potter, he has a hobby of standing for traitors and mudbloods," snarled a death eater.
"Fuck you," shouted James.
"CRUCIO!"
It was pain beyond anything James had ever experienced; his very bones were on fire; his brain was tearing apart in two, his eyes were rolling madly in his head; death would be better than this' he was shrieking he knew but had no sense or control on it. He could hear laughter, he could hear someone shouting, "No."
Then it stopped and he fell to the ground, face first, his glasses breaking, a small piece pierced his skin, but it was nothing as soon another spell hit him and he felt his back tear open.
"If you will not remain quiet, Black then we'll cut apart your traitor friend more," snarled a death eater. Tears were falling from both of their eyes, one was physically and mentally hurt, the other emotionally.
"Dark Lord has no interest in this Potter, CRUCIO!"
The pain returned again, stronger this time, please let me die, please let me die. James wanted to die, the pain was beyond sufferable and now accompanied by the cuts it hurt more.
"Tell me who all are in your precious little order or watch your friend die,"
"Please leave him, torture me instead."
Another cut on James' body, and he screamed loudly.
"Tell me now, the name of all the order members, Black"
"No, if you are my brother, you will not tell them, swear on our brotherhood not to tell them anything, please. I will feel guilty if you did so, I can't be in peace then." James cried mustering the last energy in his body.
"Shut up! Crucio,"
It was the remark of their deep understanding and bond that Sirius didn't utter a single word and watched his brother proceeding towards the death door.
After a minute of continuous torture, James passed out.
"Renervate, not going to get the pleasure of passing out, Potter," laughed the death eaters. "CRUCIO!"
"Please, let him go, kill me instead, please," cried Sirius, only to be hit hard in the head.
"Then tell about the order," growled the one holding Sirius.
"Please, torture me instead," cried Sirius.
"Oh! we will, you are next but Bellatrix wants to torture you herself, she's coming for you," laughed Rosier. "Both you and Potter are going to die today."
James was hit again, he was not able to even scream now, as he has lost all his energy.
"Keep him sane, let him see his friend being tortured too," laughed Rosier.
They hold James up and made him face Sirius. James was soaking in blood and was on the verge to pass out but the death eaters weren't letting him.
Then they began torturing Sirius, his scream reached James' ears but he wasn't able to say anything, only tears fell as he saw his brother being tortured.
"Tell about the Order, Potter, or we'll make him insane," the death eater stopped torturing Sirius and looked at James.
"No, you promise, don't tell anything," cried Sirius.
James didn't had the energy to say anything, he continued staring at Sirius. The torture began again.
And then there was a loud bang from somewhere near, James' head hit the ground as the death eater released his hold on him.
"What was that?" asked the death eater.
"Dunno, tie these two here, and let's go check," and they left after thing the two.
"James, James, can you hear me? James, please say something," cried Sirius but James lay motionless on the floor, blood dripping from his head, face and body.
Ten death eaters reached the source of the blast to find the wall was blown off, standing there were four women, the red hair girl in front, and three men standing behind.
"It's the mudblood, Lily Evans, came to rescue your friends have you?" snarled Rosier. "You denied our offer, you'll die like your filthy parents."
"The name is Potter, Lily Potter," proudly said the fiery redhead, she was radiating a sort of fire, and her bright green eyes were glowing with rage. Her wand aloft, her face furious. The people standing by her side could feel a kind of electric charge surge through them, while a few opponents shifted uncomfortably. "And I came here like a wrecking ball."
One of the death eater's heart broke at her name, it was lucky that he was wearing a mask or his emotions would have been put on display.
Imagine that you are sitting on the couch in the morning, you are drinking tea while reading, a soft fur cat on your lap snuggled into you, pleasant music playing in the background, and then suddenly something large and silver came falling, the stag lands just in front of you. You look up at the beautiful antlers but before you could think anything its mouths open wide, and a soft-gentle voice speaks, you recognize the voice at once but realize that it's filled with sadness along with love.
That's how Lily's morning was, she was scared, scared to hell but she resolute to save her love, she'd save him even from god himself.
The silver doe went to many places with her message, and Mary, Marls, Dorcas, Lonbottoms and Prewetts answered at once by arriving at her house.
"We should wait for Dumbledore," said Mary.
"No time, we have to act fast," Lily replied.
"But we don't know where they are," reasoned Frank. "How are we supposed to find them, let alone rescue them."
Lily placed back and forth in the living room thinking hard and then she felt her bracelet go arm, she looked at it, it was brightly lit, and a small silver light orb was just on it's surface. 'It is ancient, uses the power of love, it's to protect,' she recalled.
She has a strange feeling that it'll take her to James, she doesn't know why but she was trusting it very much.
She has read about ancient wizards using an emotional connection to reach to other people but it was not very reliable due to the weak connection between them, but Lily knew her connection with James was very deep and strong. It has to be, the orb has to take her to James.
"I know where he's, I know, I can take you all with me. You don't have to come but it'll be helpful," said Lily turning to them.
"Of course, we want to come, they are our friends too," said Fabian.
"How do you know where they are?" asked Dorcas.
"I just know, trust me. I will go first though to see if it's safe to land there. I will come and get you then," Lily replied and ran out of the door, she put her hands over the orb, which got observed in her and she felt a warmth in her chest, her mind became clear and she disapparated to save James.
Lily was fighting like her life depended on it but it was her husband's life that depended on it, and it powered her more. Her mind was clear, get rid of the death eaters asap, and reach James.
She blasted one death eater off the floor, he was thrown twenty feet away, hit the wall hard and was knocked out.
Peter realising that the order has come to the rescue, ran to James and Sirius in rat form, and on founding the coast was clear, transformed back into human.
"The order is here, we've to go," he said hurriedly, freeing Sirius.
"Check James, he has been badly tortured and injured," Sirius said at once.
"He's out cold, his breath is breaking," Peter said concernedly.
There were loud shouting and explosions from behind.
"Help me up, I still have strength, you look after him, I will go help them," said Sirius,
Six death eaters down already, just a few more to go and then Lily could meet her husband. Dorcas blasted three death eaters back to back with strong spells, while Lily tied a death eater after knocking him out.
Lily came face to face with another death eater and saw him hexing Mary, and then turning to her, she saw that he hesitated for a moment on seeing her but she didn't hesitate at all, she began firing spells at him.
"Let's run, we are outnumbered, no sense in staying here," shouted a death eater and they all fled.
"Come back and fight you, cowards," shouted Lily.
"Sirius," said Marls, and Lily turned to see an injured Sirius there, they all ran up to him.
"Thank god you are okay," Marls hugged him.
"Where's James? And Pete?" asked Lily looking behind him. "Are they okay? Is James okay?"
"James is badly injured, Peter is with him," replied Sirius wincing.
Lily found James on the ground, Peter trying to heal the wounds with shaky hands.
"We've to take him to St. Mungo's, now. His breathing is breaking," said Peter.
"Let's go then," said Mary, rushing and healing as many wounds as possible. "I am applying some charms which will make apparition easier for him. Two of us should hold him. You bring him, I will make ask to make arrangements at St. Mungo's."
Mary ran out and disapparated.
Frank and Fabian supported James out, while Peter and Gabian helped Sirius.
"What happened, what spells did they use on him?" asked Lily.
"Cruciatus. They tortured him for a very long time, and cut him in between," sobbed Sirius.
Lily felt like crying hard, and Dorcas gave her a tight hug. "He is a fighter, he'll be okay in no time."
But that wasn't the case.
James felt warmth around his hands, he opened his eyes to see a white ceiling, the smell of hospital entered his nostrill, his head was hurting. He tried to recall what has happened, the last thing he knew was that he was caught by Death Eaters.
"You are awake," said a gentle voice, Lily was sitting beside his bed, holding his hand.
"Don't get offended, you are beautiful as always but now, in the state you are, you look horrible," he said weakly and she smiled.
"The flame was missing," she replied. "Wasn't interested in my looks."
"What happened? I am sure, I was going to die. Where is Sirius? And Peter?"
"They both are fine, at home," Lily replied. "I received your stag message, and came to help you with Order members."
"How did you know where was I?"
"It's a long story, will tell you later,"
"How long was I out?" asked James.
"A week,"
"A week?" James said horrified and Lily nodded, tears filling her eyes.
"Your message, made me cry. And then you were out for a week, it was all very horrible. They didn't let me even see for a day."
"Hey! Hey! I am here now," he reached his hand to hold her face. "I am here. It's okay, it's war."
Lily wiped her tears and nodded. "The war is horrible."
"When can I go home?" he asked.
"They said that you can leave today but you need rest," said Lily kissing his forehead.
"What's the news out there?" asked James.
Lily grimaced. "Leave it. You know, I met this witch in here, she is a Beetles fan too, we have become friends, we listen to the music together."
"Lils, that's good but I need an answer to my question. Have you heard from Remus and Ryan? How is the condition out there?"
"Remus will return next week, I passed a few messages from Ryan to Order, only a few important ones," said Lily.
"And?" asked James, he can clearly see that Lily was hiding something. "Lily, it's foolish to hide things from me. Tell me what's going on? What happened?"
"Dearborn is still missing, and . . and Benjy Fenwick is dead," Lily buried her face in her hands. "They mutilated his body, blasted him. . . Order only found bits of him. He was trailing Rabastan Lestrange to find out their headquarters and was caught."
"Oh," James closed his eyes.
"He was here as a guard, he covered for me so that I could stay with you," Lily's heart wrenched. "Then on his next mission he. . "
James sat in the living room of his house, writing each and every place he knew Voldemort has gone in past so that he could find the diadem, and thus probably the final Horcrux will be with them and Voldemort's fall will follow. He has to find it soon as day by day Dumbledore was getting weak and he was the only hope of the Wizarding world against The Dark Lord.
Having talked to Dumbledore, he has found out that Dumbledore hasn't got any clue about the Diadem.
"Hey! What's got your knickers in a twist?" asked Sirius coming into the house. "Are you okay? I am recovered hit the pub one night with Marls, we danced crazy and I was fine but then YOu had the worst. Do you need any help?"
"I am fine, I have recovered," James smiled at his best friend who popped next to him. "It's just this war getting into my head, and I am stuck."
"What are all these about?" asked Sirius picking up the parchments. "Why have you drawn a diadem? Are you going to gift it to Lily or are making it for yourself?"
"It's no ordinary diadem," James told him. "It's Ravena Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem. Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure. I very strongly believe that Voldemort has made it as his Horcrux."
"Hmm... you had to admit the man has got good taste, will look good wearing this," snorted Sirius. "Ooo, hello! my name is Voldymarta, look at my beautiful tiara, isn't it nice Jamie boy? I am here to pleasure you, Avada Kedavara," Sirius horribly mimic the voice of a girl, and they both burst out laughing.
"Never do that again, it was horribly horrible,"
"No, it wasn't. Anyway, where's Evans?"
"I don't really know, she may be at Headquarters, she had to meet Dorcas and Mary," said James.
"You don't know where your wife is?"
"So? We both give each other personal space and privacy," James rolled his eyes.
"Fine, fine. Marls left too, she said it was none of my business,"
"They probably would be having some girls' time then," James guessed picking up the prophet and showing an article to Sirius. "Look here, they killed another goblin in Derby, just because there was some accounting error, and when the goblins protested, they were suppressed. The shock is that Ministry didn't do anything."
"Didn't you hear, the head of Goblin Liasion Office was found under imperius curse and taken to St. Mungo's and the next head was attacked, so they are trying to turn a blind eye on the situation,"
"But that's stupid, the last thing we want now is Goblin's rebelling again," James threw his hands in the air.
"Peter said that he heard from a worker from the Department of Oblivators that they had to modify memories of around a hundred muggles a day, they are robbing, mugging, torturing and whatnot. Also, a dozen of inferi were let loose in Kent, a political leader was killed."
James thought deeply, he was scared after that attack, he was afraid, he could still sometimes feel every bone of his body on fire, the torture, the pain was horrible, he has said to Lily that he has recovered, she has looked at him suspiciously but hadn't pushed it. The torture has left an everlasting impact on James.
"Sirius, I am afraid, a fear has settled into me," he spoke and Sirius looked at him worriedly. "I need to get it out of my brain."
"James, we should go to St, Mungo's,"
"No, that'll not help. I want this fear to get out of me, I want to conquer it,"
"How?"
"I need to get out on the field, and that too in my way,"
"What do you mean?"
"Enough with Order works, I am going to put my work first and then Order."
"Have you talked about it to Lily?"
James shook his head, "I will soon, but I want to go out now, and she will not agree on this. You can join if you want to come?"
"Of course, I want to."
"Then, the first rule, we don't kill anyone unless it's our last option, injure them but not kill them."
"But. . . "
"No buts, that's the rule if you want to come with me. Thanatos doesn't kills."
"Fine."
"Let's go and pick, Peter. He'll back us up."
"He ran away that day," Sirius pointed out.
"You suggest he should have got tortured with us too?" He looked at Sirius sharply. "If it wasn't for him then we would have remained locked and our rescuers would have had to face their full defence, we attacked them from inside and their defence weaken."
"He gets nervous and weak,"
"He's very good at sneaking and stealth."
"Where are we going anyway?"
"To capture and beat the shit out of a few death eaters and terrorize them," smirked James.
The past few days haven't been so good for Narcissa, she was feeling sick, fatigued and was having mood swings. She has ignored it all but now she was sure that what must have happened, she took the test in the morning and has gotten the result.
The result was bad, very bad. If someone finds out then she was a dead woman.
She stayed locked in her room, pacing across the room, she had already thrown up twice, her heart was beating fast, very fast, her hands were sweaty, she was fidgeting and biting her nails
"Why hasn't he replied yet?" she asked herself looking out of the window for the hundredth time that day. "Oh my god! should I just go to his house or wait for the reply? I have to think of an excuse to make to Lucius."
Then an owl soared into her room and landed in front of her, with shaky hands she opened the letter and read it. She relaxed a little only to be tensed by another worry. How will he react?
After making an excuse to Lucius, who didn't pay much attention and was busy counting the galleons again and again, she disapparated and appeared in the labyrinth, now well known to her.
She knocked on the door, the door opened and the man looked at her sulkily, "Why do you have to be so desperate? I have work and my life too, I was working, I had to task Avery with it, wonder how much damage he'll do to my progress."
"Enough with that," she hissed. "Let's go inside, and I am here to talk about something important and not to complete my needs."
He poured red wine for both of them and sat opposite to her.
"I can't drink that," she said refusing the glass.
He looked at her with surprise, "You don't want to drink wine, that's news to me. What happened, you want firewhisky? I have some."
"No," she avoided his eye. " I can't drink any kind of drink."
"Why? You liked drinking."
"Well, now due to my condition, I can't."
He scanned her, "You look perfectly fine to me."
"Don't you understand," she hissed irritatedly.
"What? How am I supposed to understand your stupid riddles."
"I am pregnant, you moron," she looked at him to see his reaction. He was shocked and was looking at her with wide eyes.
"Are. . . are you sure?" he spoke finally after five minutes.
"Yes, that's why I said it was very very urgent,"
"And. . . and . . it's mine?" he gulped.
She threw him a dirty look. "Whose else would it be?"
"Sorry,"
She nodded.
They sat in silence for a few moments.
"When did you find out about it?"
"Today, morning. I was sick for a few days and took the test today."
"But, how, weren't you taking the potion?"
"I was taking the potion," she replied angrily.
"Then how did this happen?" his voice rose too.
"I don't know," she shouted.
"Don't. you. talk. to. me. like. that."
"You watch your tone then,"
"Because of your foolishness, we both will get killed."
"Don't you blame me,"
"It was your responsibility to take the potion on time," he snarled at her.
"Well you could have used contraceptive spells on yourself too," she pointed at him, her eyes filling with tears.
"They are not that effective, the potion is the best. You should have brought it from a proper shop. You had one thing to take care of and you blew it, it's dangerous for us now. I have my whole career in front of me, I can rise to a great position. I have been praised by The Dark Lord for my works. I can become powerful, and receive fame and a name finally. I don't want to lose it all and die."
"I don't want to die either," she shouted, tears falling down.
"Then you should have been careful," he snapped at her and she winced.
"You could have used muggle products too, and be more careful,"
"I am not touching anything made by those filthy, stupid muggles," he shouted.
"Your father is a muggle, he made you. I am a pureblood but I am not complaining about muggle products, am I?" she shouted at him, standing up.
Snape clenched his fist and rose too, "I WILL NOT BE TALKED LIKE THAT."
"Your hunger for power makes me sick," she wiped her tears. "I am going, I came here for help but you are just blinded by your need to earn name and fame. What for? To show your father that you are better, to prove that you are better than those muggles and mudbloods? Well at least your father didn't leave you, did he? It was better to have parents than being grown up in an orphanage. I have seen how they treat children at orphanages, perhaps you should too. Or is it because you want to prove that you are more worthy of that mudblood Lily than James Potter."
He jerked his head at her and glared at her threateningly.
"Oh! I heard what happened that day, Lily Potter came and saved her husband. I asked around a bit and found out that she used to study in your year, and you used to hang around with her in your earlier days, and that you and James Potter had a big rivalry at school. I recognized the name, and wonder what Lucius was talking about to Bella, he has ordered to kill the mudblood's parents who lived in Cokeworth, so she was your neighbour."
"I have nothing to do with her," Snape shouted, red sparks emerging from the end of his wand.
"It's your child too, you might not care but I do, I will save myself and this child too, and make sure that he doesn't turn out to be someone who could leave his child," she stormed off the house, closing the door very loudly. She broke down before disapparating to somewhere she could find privacy.
Snape didn't follow her, he raised his wand and began destroying things in his own house.
He has been in a very foul mood since that day of the attack, the moment he has heard that name, 'Lily Potter.' He had wanted to kill James Potter, torture him and kill him.
Just before the arrival of Lily, Snape was very happy, delighted to be precise. His enemy was caught. And once they received permission to kill the Potter boy, and keep the Black boy for Bellatrix, he was gloating.
It was very pleasant to hear Potter scream, to hear Black begging. Finally, Snape has come out on top and has felt more powerful than Potter, he has proven that Potter was nothing but a prick.
But then the blast has happened, and she was there, her looks made him shiver, and her words broke his heart. He wanted at that moment to run back to Potter, and torture him, himself, before killing him. But, alas that opportunity hadn't arrived.
He sat down in between the mess and buried his face, he was going to be a father and had already shouted at Narcissa and neglected the baby. He has acted just like his father. He has let Narcissa leave knowing full well that she was not well either physically or emotionally. But, then she has said those things. Stupid. He regretted that he was a moment away from hitting her for saying those words.
He walked out and disapparated to Knockturn Alley to get drunk and relax his mind. It was then that he heard from the people in the bar about the faith of Wilkes, Travers and Pyrite, all three of them had been brutally injured, tied and hanged in Derby, the Mongoose hovering over their head.
What raised fear among the death eaters was that they were only speaking Thanatos' name and nothing else, the three had been accused of the death of a muggle family and were possibly involved in the killing of the goblin.
Once again many people have asked the Ministry to declare Thanatos a terrorist, and execute him for his deeds, but to no avail as another half of the population has protested against it and supported Thanatos.
Today's talk was all about whether Thanatos should be put into Azkaban or not. The minister of magic has supported Thanatos, saying that he's a soldier in this war.
Snape sat there, not much drunk as he intended, he was just afraid, he was freaking out for the first time in his life, and he was freaking out badly.
He didn't understand what to do now if someone will find out about Narcissa, he'll probably be killed and even she might be killed too. And then there was his baby.
He walked out of the pub and decided to talk to his mother about it, she was the only one to help him.
The knock on the door alerted Tobias and Eileen Snape, they exchanged looks, the word wasn't too safe, death eaters had attacked a nearby village a few days ago, killing a muggleborn family. This has led to Tobias shouting at his wife for putting him in danger too.
Eileen opened the door to find Snape, his grim face grimmer than ever.
"I want to talk to you something, alone," he said looking at his father loathingly, who mirrored his expression. After saying some unpleasant words, Tobias took a bottle of beer and left for his room.
"What you wanted to talk about?"
Snape told her everything about Narcissa and the baby.
Eileen was, in simple words just shocked.
"What should I do now? I don't want to die just because she made the mistake of not taking the potion properly. I can achieve greatness, power, wealth, and fame but if someone finds out about me fathering a bastard, and that I slept with Narcissa, then I am doomed. I don't want a relationship and am not ready to be a father."
"You want no connection with that child?" she asked her son, who looked oddly at her.
"Narcissa is the wife of Lucius Malfoy, he has a more powerful position than me," he hissed.
"Do you like the woman?" Snape didn't answer. "You can't let her die, nor the baby. You are just as responsible as her."
"I am not responsible that she didn't take a fucking potion."
"It's your choice then, whether protect them both or kill them both to stay safe or put everything on the shoulders of the already stressed and sad girl. She didn't deserve Malfoy and it seems she didn't deserve you too. You had the nerve to shout at a pregnant woman, whose emotions are not right at this time, who is more afraid about the child and her life than you. Sev, children are gifts of nature, it's absolute crime to let them die.
You should feel guilty for treating the poor girl like that, she just found out that she is carrying a life in her, she comes to you for help and you shout at her. That's the stupidest thing to do," she said angrily and then dropped her voice. "You hate your father and here, you are acting like him, worse to be honest. He was at least happy to know that he was going to have a baby."
"He abuses you, hits you," argued Severus.
Eileen raised her hand, "I know, I suffer it. But you are turning just into him," she said disgustingly. "Go talk to her and help her or never ever return to this home again. We can look after ourselves. I have suffered abuse, I am not letting another woman suffer what I suffer. I am disappointed by you and disgusted that you of all people didn't go after her. Go now. I have nothing more to say. Don't return here again if you abandon her and the baby."
Snape walked out of the house angrily, why everyone is comparing him to his filthy father? He decided to talk to Narcissa and arrived at Malfoy Manor, as he entered the Manor he heard Lucius shouting and kicking Dobby, the house elf to keep the prisoners silent. There were now ten prisoners here, all important ones, including purebloods and high-rank ministry workers and two Aurors. Dearborn had been brought here and was tortured for information before being killed a few days ago, his body was given to Fenrir Greyback.
"How are you, Severus?"
"I am fine, brewing Veritaserum is a complex thing when you have a partner like Avery,"
"True. True. But the thing is that Aurors have kept all the potions hidden under strong security so we turn to you,"
"I wanted to be in the field, I am not merely a potioneer."
"Ah, for more recognition, don't worry, Dark Lord will give you bigger tasks soon. Anyway, I should be going, due to the Lestranges we have lost ten death eaters to Azkaban in the past month and then that bloody Thanatos is sticking his nose in our business a lot with the Order. I have to talk to some Ministry workers and bribe them, terrify them," Lucius smirked. "If you are here to meet Nott or Bellatrix, you have to wait."
Snape watched as Lucius walked out, and Snape made his way to Narcissa's room, he didn't know what to do yet. He has decided to do as his mother has said.
The door was unlocked, and he entered the room to find her sitting on the bed gloomily. He locked the door behind him and sat beside her. He spoke after a few minutes.
"We'll find a way, you don't have to be alone in this," he pressed her hands. "You can run away, go live with your distant relative or in a muggle world, I will pay you."
She looked sharply at him, "You think, Lucius will not send lookouts for me just to save the name of his family? I don't need your money, I have got enough. And, how am I supposed to live alone?" She looked at him.
Snape didn't want the burden at all but then he has to prove to her, his mom that he was nothing like his filthy muggle father. His heart sank as he realized that he will now never get Lily, all his dreams have been destroyed. That blood traitor has got her just like he has got everything in his life.
He remained silent, then decided to choose the child.
"I can't live with you there," said Snape. "We'll find out a solution later. I will help you. It's my child too." He placed his hand on her stomach and all doubts about abandoning Narcissa and the baby disappear.
They are right when they say that babies are miracles, they are the beginning of new hope, chances, wonder and possibilities, he felt his cold heartwarming for the first time in ages. He gave her stomach a kiss and stood up to leave but Narcissa caught her.
"Please, stay. It was a long day," she pleaded.
Sirius sat downstairs in the living room with Peter and Marlene, his head buried, he was looking down just like Pete and avoiding Marls.
". . . I leave you for just a few hours and you start acting recklessly. Why in the name of Merlin's saggy left bollock would you go out fighting, risking your life just after three days of being released from the Hospital? We all risked our lives to protect you and instead of taking proper rest, you are off playing hero." This voice was very loud.
"No one asked to save me," This voice was relatively softer.
"You listen to me, Potter. If you ever say that again then I swear to Merlin that I will strangle you. For Merlin's sake, James, don't you understand the meaning of rest? You go around throwing your life, do you even know, what it does to me? How it affects me?" her voice broke for a moment. "You act like a child. The mother leaves you alone for a moment and you destroy the whole house."
"I didn't destroy my house. Did you, Evans?"
"POTTER! Don't you dare take it lightly or I will make sure that you don't leave your room for even a minute."
"Holy Moly! she's really angry," said Sirius. "More than necessary."
"Watch yourself, Snuffles or she'll come after you too, you are just as responsible as him. I am disappointed in you too," said Marls shaking her head.
"No, you don't,"
"Yes, I do and shut up or no sex for a month," Marls replied and Peter snickered, as a result, received a hit from Sirius.
A disappointed-looking Lily and a sad, tired-looking James descended the stairs after half an hour.
"You go and sit, I will make tea and cookies," Lily said without looking at him.
The situation was awkward as Sirius, Peter and Marls had to put up with the cold silence between James and Lily.
"We'll. . . um. . .leave," said Marls standing up and giving a look to Sirius and Peter, both of whom followed her out.
Twenty minutes passed without talking but it felt like an eternity before Lily spoke.
"More tea is left if you want," she said very quietly.
"How much?" James asked.
"About ten goblets," she replied. James has to fight hard to prevent himself from even smiling, let alone laughing.
He kneeled in front of her and looked up at her, she avoided his eyes.
"I needed to get fear out of me, I knew you wouldn't agree with it so I took Sirius with me, I was perfectly fine, healthy and well-rested, Lily," he spoke gently. "A fear has settled inside of me, it was eating me from inside, and I wanted to get rid of it asap. I knew that we can conquer our fear by facing it, and so I did that. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"But you did," tears filled her eyes. "It was horrible since I received your Patronus. I saved you but you were out cold. You were unconscious for a week and that was the most horrible week of my life, seeing you like that. I felt very lonely and empty, I would just sit there and watch you as long as I can, and the healers would have to force me to leave. Then Benjy died and it hit us all very badly, all of our morale was down with back-to-back attacks and losses. I was alone, I grieved alone, I missed you. Initially, they had said that you might suffer memory loss or permanent brain damage, I was scared as hell but then after a few days they said that no lasting damage has been done and you will recover perfectly."
"I am sorry," he said wiping her tears.
"You should be, and also you shouldn't be," she gave him a weak smile. "From now on, I am going on all your missions with you or you are not going at all. I don't want to be somewhere else worrying about your life, I want to be with you, live with you or die with you. Am I clear?"
James nodded. "We will be together on each mission or we'll do no mission. We're not going to be separated at any cost. I will inform Moody about it."
They lay holding each other tightly on the couch.
"We are forgetting a very important thing," said Lily.
"What?"
"What should we do with all the tea?" asked Lily.
James laughed this time. "What were you thinking while making it?"
"I wasn't thinking at all, I just put all the milk in it," Lily confessed. "So, we've to buy milk, and also tea leaves, and sugar too."
"We'll go out and drink tea with Bathilda in the evening, and then with our other neighbours. Do you know anyone apart from Bathilda?"
"Yeah, there are these blonde twin girls who live in the next house with their father, Remus was trying to hit on them, the dog-loving man who lives in front of our house, he has four dogs but is more pleasant than Dursley's sister. Then there's this short old lady who sits in front of her house every evening. Then there's this Indian family, on the left of our house, tasty smelling food smell comes from their house but Bathilda says the food sometimes is very spicy. Then there's this family down the street who all go on morning and evening walks. There's this old couple living nearby, both of them love flowers, and gave me lilies and jasmine when I asked them. They liked my name very much. Then there's this woman in her 40s, she has freckles all over her fave and lives in that funny coloured house, she likes to gossip with everyone, Sirius barked at her, and Peter says she must be a relative of Bertha Jorkins."
James sighed, "So, we know, no one else."
"Nope," Lily laughed. "Am pretty bad at remembering new names."
"Marls told me about your dialogue, 'The name is Potter, Lily Potter.' I have to say, I am impressed," said James.
"You're forgetting, 'I came in like wrecking ball."
"Yes, you've got style, Evans, living with me has changed you. I have been a bad influence on you, I have made already badass Evans, more Badass," smirked James, and Lily hit him playfully.
"It's Potter, Lily Potter, Potter."
"Okay. Mine will go like this, the name is Potter. James Potter."
"They call me 007."
James and Sirius were both wandless and on knees.
"Kill them slowly, will torture them first and see how much they can tolerate before losing their fucking mind. Start with this traitor Potter, he has a hobby of standing for traitors and mudbloods," snarled a death eater.
"Fuck you," shouted James.
"CRUCIO!"
It was pain beyond anything James had ever experienced; his very bones were on fire; his brain was tearing apart in two, his eyes were rolling madly in his head; death would be better than this' he was shrieking he knew but had no sense or control on it. He could hear laughter, he could hear someone shouting, "No."
Then it stopped and he fell to the ground, face first, his glasses breaking, a small piece pierced his skin, but it was nothing as soon another spell hit him and he felt his back tear open.
"If you will not remain quiet, Black then we'll cut apart your traitor friend more," snarled a death eater. Tears were falling from both of their eyes, one was physically and mentally hurt, the other emotionally.
"Dark Lord has no interest in this Potter, CRUCIO!"
The pain returned again, stronger this time, please let me die, please let me die. James wanted to die, the pain was beyond sufferable and now accompanied by the cuts it hurt more.
"Tell me who all are in your precious little order or watch your friend die,"
"Please leave him, torture me instead."
Another cut on James' body, and he screamed loudly.
"Tell me now, the name of all the order members, Black"
"No, if you are my brother, you will not tell them, swear on our brotherhood not to tell them anything, please. I will feel guilty if you did so, I can't be in peace then." James cried mustering the last energy in his body.
"Shut up! Crucio,"
It was the remark of their deep understanding and bond that Sirius didn't utter a single word and watched his brother proceeding towards the death door.
After a minute of continuous torture, James passed out.
"Renervate, not going to get the pleasure of passing out, Potter," laughed the death eaters. "CRUCIO!"
"Please, let him go, kill me instead, please," cried Sirius, only to be hit hard in the head.
"Then tell about the order," growled the one holding Sirius.
"Please, torture me instead," cried Sirius.
"Oh! we will, you are next but Bellatrix wants to torture you herself, she's coming for you," laughed Rosier. "Both you and Potter are going to die today."
James was hit again, he was not able to even scream now, as he has lost all his energy.
"Keep him sane, let him see his friend being tortured too," laughed Rosier.
They hold James up and made him face Sirius. James was soaking in blood and was on the verge to pass out but the death eaters weren't letting him.
Then they began torturing Sirius, his scream reached James' ears but he wasn't able to say anything, only tears fell as he saw his brother being tortured.
"Tell about the Order, Potter, or we'll make him insane," the death eater stopped torturing Sirius and looked at James.
"No, you promise, don't tell anything," cried Sirius.
James didn't had the energy to say anything, he continued staring at Sirius. The torture began again.
And then there was a loud bang from somewhere near, James' head hit the ground as the death eater released his hold on him.
"What was that?" asked the death eater.
"Dunno, tie these two here, and let's go check," and they left after thing the two.
"James, James, can you hear me? James, please say something," cried Sirius but James lay motionless on the floor, blood dripping from his head, face and body.
Ten death eaters reached the source of the blast to find the wall was blown off, standing there were four women, the red hair girl in front, and three men standing behind.
"It's the mudblood, Lily Evans, came to rescue your friends have you?" snarled Rosier. "You denied our offer, you'll die like your filthy parents."
"The name is Potter, Lily Potter," proudly said the fiery redhead, she was radiating a sort of fire, and her bright green eyes were glowing with rage. Her wand aloft, her face furious. The people standing by her side could feel a kind of electric charge surge through them, while a few opponents shifted uncomfortably. "And I came here like a wrecking ball."
One of the death eater's heart broke at her name, it was lucky that he was wearing a mask or his emotions would have been put on display.
Imagine that you are sitting on the couch in the morning, you are drinking tea while reading, a soft fur cat on your lap snuggled into you, pleasant music playing in the background, and then suddenly something large and silver came falling, the stag lands just in front of you. You look up at the beautiful antlers but before you could think anything its mouths open wide, and a soft-gentle voice speaks, you recognize the voice at once but realize that it's filled with sadness along with love.
That's how Lily's morning was, she was scared, scared to hell but she resolute to save her love, she'd save him even from god himself.
The silver doe went to many places with her message, and Mary, Marls, Dorcas, Lonbottoms and Prewetts answered at once by arriving at her house.
"We should wait for Dumbledore," said Mary.
"No time, we have to act fast," Lily replied.
"But we don't know where they are," reasoned Frank. "How are we supposed to find them, let alone rescue them."
Lily placed back and forth in the living room thinking hard and then she felt her bracelet go arm, she looked at it, it was brightly lit, and a small silver light orb was just on it's surface. 'It is ancient, uses the power of love, it's to protect,' she recalled.
She has a strange feeling that it'll take her to James, she doesn't know why but she was trusting it very much.
She has read about ancient wizards using an emotional connection to reach to other people but it was not very reliable due to the weak connection between them, but Lily knew her connection with James was very deep and strong. It has to be, the orb has to take her to James.
"I know where he's, I know, I can take you all with me. You don't have to come but it'll be helpful," said Lily turning to them.
"Of course, we want to come, they are our friends too," said Fabian.
"How do you know where they are?" asked Dorcas.
"I just know, trust me. I will go first though to see if it's safe to land there. I will come and get you then," Lily replied and ran out of the door, she put her hands over the orb, which got observed in her and she felt a warmth in her chest, her mind became clear and she disapparated to save James.
Lily was fighting like her life depended on it but it was her husband's life that depended on it, and it powered her more. Her mind was clear, get rid of the death eaters asap, and reach James.
She blasted one death eater off the floor, he was thrown twenty feet away, hit the wall hard and was knocked out.
Peter realising that the order has come to the rescue, ran to James and Sirius in rat form, and on founding the coast was clear, transformed back into human.
"The order is here, we've to go," he said hurriedly, freeing Sirius.
"Check James, he has been badly tortured and injured," Sirius said at once.
"He's out cold, his breath is breaking," Peter said concernedly.
There were loud shouting and explosions from behind.
"Help me up, I still have strength, you look after him, I will go help them," said Sirius,
Six death eaters down already, just a few more to go and then Lily could meet her husband. Dorcas blasted three death eaters back to back with strong spells, while Lily tied a death eater after knocking him out.
Lily came face to face with another death eater and saw him hexing Mary, and then turning to her, she saw that he hesitated for a moment on seeing her but she didn't hesitate at all, she began firing spells at him.
"Let's run, we are outnumbered, no sense in staying here," shouted a death eater and they all fled.
"Come back and fight you, cowards," shouted Lily.
"Sirius," said Marls, and Lily turned to see an injured Sirius there, they all ran up to him.
"Thank god you are okay," Marls hugged him.
"Where's James? And Pete?" asked Lily looking behind him. "Are they okay? Is James okay?"
"James is badly injured, Peter is with him," replied Sirius wincing.
Lily found James on the ground, Peter trying to heal the wounds with shaky hands.
"We've to take him to St. Mungo's, now. His breathing is breaking," said Peter.
"Let's go then," said Mary, rushing and healing as many wounds as possible. "I am applying some charms which will make apparition easier for him. Two of us should hold him. You bring him, I will make ask to make arrangements at St. Mungo's."
Mary ran out and disapparated.
Frank and Fabian supported James out, while Peter and Gabian helped Sirius.
"What happened, what spells did they use on him?" asked Lily.
"Cruciatus. They tortured him for a very long time, and cut him in between," sobbed Sirius.
Lily felt like crying hard, and Dorcas gave her a tight hug. "He is a fighter, he'll be okay in no time."
But that wasn't the case.
James felt warmth around his hands, he opened his eyes to see a white ceiling, the smell of hospital entered his nostrill, his head was hurting. He tried to recall what has happened, the last thing he knew was that he was caught by Death Eaters.
"You are awake," said a gentle voice, Lily was sitting beside his bed, holding his hand.
"Don't get offended, you are beautiful as always but now, in the state you are, you look horrible," he said weakly and she smiled.
"The flame was missing," she replied. "Wasn't interested in my looks."
"What happened? I am sure, I was going to die. Where is Sirius? And Peter?"
"They both are fine, at home," Lily replied. "I received your stag message, and came to help you with Order members."
"How did you know where was I?"
"It's a long story, will tell you later,"
"How long was I out?" asked James.
"A week,"
"A week?" James said horrified and Lily nodded, tears filling her eyes.
"Your message, made me cry. And then you were out for a week, it was all very horrible. They didn't let me even see for a day."
"Hey! Hey! I am here now," he reached his hand to hold her face. "I am here. It's okay, it's war."
Lily wiped her tears and nodded. "The war is horrible."
"When can I go home?" he asked.
"They said that you can leave today but you need rest," said Lily kissing his forehead.
"What's the news out there?" asked James.
Lily grimaced. "Leave it. You know, I met this witch in here, she is a Beetles fan too, we have become friends, we listen to the music together."
"Lils, that's good but I need an answer to my question. Have you heard from Remus and Ryan? How is the condition out there?"
"Remus will return next week, I passed a few messages from Ryan to Order, only a few important ones," said Lily.
"And?" asked James, he can clearly see that Lily was hiding something. "Lily, it's foolish to hide things from me. Tell me what's going on? What happened?"
"Dearborn is still missing, and . . and Benjy Fenwick is dead," Lily buried her face in her hands. "They mutilated his body, blasted him. . . Order only found bits of him. He was trailing Rabastan Lestrange to find out their headquarters and was caught."
"Oh," James closed his eyes.
"He was here as a guard, he covered for me so that I could stay with you," Lily's heart wrenched. "Then on his next mission he. . "
James sat in the living room of his house, writing each and every place he knew Voldemort has gone in past so that he could find the diadem, and thus probably the final Horcrux will be with them and Voldemort's fall will follow. He has to find it soon as day by day Dumbledore was getting weak and he was the only hope of the Wizarding world against The Dark Lord.
Having talked to Dumbledore, he has found out that Dumbledore hasn't got any clue about the Diadem.
"Hey! What's got your knickers in a twist?" asked Sirius coming into the house. "Are you okay? I am recovered hit the pub one night with Marls, we danced crazy and I was fine but then YOu had the worst. Do you need any help?"
"I am fine, I have recovered," James smiled at his best friend who popped next to him. "It's just this war getting into my head, and I am stuck."
"What are all these about?" asked Sirius picking up the parchments. "Why have you drawn a diadem? Are you going to gift it to Lily or are making it for yourself?"
"It's no ordinary diadem," James told him. "It's Ravena Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem. Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure. I very strongly believe that Voldemort has made it as his Horcrux."
"Hmm... you had to admit the man has got good taste, will look good wearing this," snorted Sirius. "Ooo, hello! my name is Voldymarta, look at my beautiful tiara, isn't it nice Jamie boy? I am here to pleasure you, Avada Kedavara," Sirius horribly mimic the voice of a girl, and they both burst out laughing.
"Never do that again, it was horribly horrible,"
"No, it wasn't. Anyway, where's Evans?"
"I don't really know, she may be at Headquarters, she had to meet Dorcas and Mary," said James.
"You don't know where your wife is?"
"So? We both give each other personal space and privacy," James rolled his eyes.
"Fine, fine. Marls left too, she said it was none of my business,"
"They probably would be having some girls' time then," James guessed picking up the prophet and showing an article to Sirius. "Look here, they killed another goblin in Derby, just because there was some accounting error, and when the goblins protested, they were suppressed. The shock is that Ministry didn't do anything."
"Didn't you hear, the head of Goblin Liasion Office was found under imperius curse and taken to St. Mungo's and the next head was attacked, so they are trying to turn a blind eye on the situation,"
"But that's stupid, the last thing we want now is Goblin's rebelling again," James threw his hands in the air.
"Peter said that he heard from a worker from the Department of Oblivators that they had to modify memories of around a hundred muggles a day, they are robbing, mugging, torturing and whatnot. Also, a dozen of inferi were let loose in Kent, a political leader was killed."
James thought deeply, he was scared after that attack, he was afraid, he could still sometimes feel every bone of his body on fire, the torture, the pain was horrible, he has said to Lily that he has recovered, she has looked at him suspiciously but hadn't pushed it. The torture has left an everlasting impact on James.
"Sirius, I am afraid, a fear has settled into me," he spoke and Sirius looked at him worriedly. "I need to get it out of my brain."
"James, we should go to St, Mungo's,"
"No, that'll not help. I want this fear to get out of me, I want to conquer it,"
"How?"
"I need to get out on the field, and that too in my way,"
"What do you mean?"
"Enough with Order works, I am going to put my work first and then Order."
"Have you talked about it to Lily?"
James shook his head, "I will soon, but I want to go out now, and she will not agree on this. You can join if you want to come?"
"Of course, I want to."
"Then, the first rule, we don't kill anyone unless it's our last option, injure them but not kill them."
"But. . . "
"No buts, that's the rule if you want to come with me. Thanatos doesn't kills."
"Fine."
"Let's go and pick, Peter. He'll back us up."
"He ran away that day," Sirius pointed out.
"You suggest he should have got tortured with us too?" He looked at Sirius sharply. "If it wasn't for him then we would have remained locked and our rescuers would have had to face their full defence, we attacked them from inside and their defence weaken."
"He gets nervous and weak,"
"He's very good at sneaking and stealth."
"Where are we going anyway?"
"To capture and beat the shit out of a few death eaters and terrorize them," smirked James.
The past few days haven't been so good for Narcissa, she was feeling sick, fatigued and was having mood swings. She has ignored it all but now she was sure that what must have happened, she took the test in the morning and has gotten the result.
The result was bad, very bad. If someone finds out then she was a dead woman.
She stayed locked in her room, pacing across the room, she had already thrown up twice, her heart was beating fast, very fast, her hands were sweaty, she was fidgeting and biting her nails
"Why hasn't he replied yet?" she asked herself looking out of the window for the hundredth time that day. "Oh my god! should I just go to his house or wait for the reply? I have to think of an excuse to make to Lucius."
Then an owl soared into her room and landed in front of her, with shaky hands she opened the letter and read it. She relaxed a little only to be tensed by another worry. How will he react?
After making an excuse to Lucius, who didn't pay much attention and was busy counting the galleons again and again, she disapparated and appeared in the labyrinth, now well known to her.
She knocked on the door, the door opened and the man looked at her sulkily, "Why do you have to be so desperate? I have work and my life too, I was working, I had to task Avery with it, wonder how much damage he'll do to my progress."
"Enough with that," she hissed. "Let's go inside, and I am here to talk about something important and not to complete my needs."
He poured red wine for both of them and sat opposite to her.
"I can't drink that," she said refusing the glass.
He looked at her with surprise, "You don't want to drink wine, that's news to me. What happened, you want firewhisky? I have some."
"No," she avoided his eye. " I can't drink any kind of drink."
"Why? You liked drinking."
"Well, now due to my condition, I can't."
He scanned her, "You look perfectly fine to me."
"Don't you understand," she hissed irritatedly.
"What? How am I supposed to understand your stupid riddles."
"I am pregnant, you moron," she looked at him to see his reaction. He was shocked and was looking at her with wide eyes.
"Are. . . are you sure?" he spoke finally after five minutes.
"Yes, that's why I said it was very very urgent,"
"And. . . and . . it's mine?" he gulped.
She threw him a dirty look. "Whose else would it be?"
"Sorry,"
She nodded.
They sat in silence for a few moments.
"When did you find out about it?"
"Today, morning. I was sick for a few days and took the test today."
"But, how, weren't you taking the potion?"
"I was taking the potion," she replied angrily.
"Then how did this happen?" his voice rose too.
"I don't know," she shouted.
"Don't. you. talk. to. me. like. that."
"You watch your tone then,"
"Because of your foolishness, we both will get killed."
"Don't you blame me,"
"It was your responsibility to take the potion on time," he snarled at her.
"Well you could have used contraceptive spells on yourself too," she pointed at him, her eyes filling with tears.
"They are not that effective, the potion is the best. You should have brought it from a proper shop. You had one thing to take care of and you blew it, it's dangerous for us now. I have my whole career in front of me, I can rise to a great position. I have been praised by The Dark Lord for my works. I can become powerful, and receive fame and a name finally. I don't want to lose it all and die."
"I don't want to die either," she shouted, tears falling down.
"Then you should have been careful," he snapped at her and she winced.
"You could have used muggle products too, and be more careful,"
"I am not touching anything made by those filthy, stupid muggles," he shouted.
"Your father is a muggle, he made you. I am a pureblood but I am not complaining about muggle products, am I?" she shouted at him, standing up.
Snape clenched his fist and rose too, "I WILL NOT BE TALKED LIKE THAT."
"Your hunger for power makes me sick," she wiped her tears. "I am going, I came here for help but you are just blinded by your need to earn name and fame. What for? To show your father that you are better, to prove that you are better than those muggles and mudbloods? Well at least your father didn't leave you, did he? It was better to have parents than being grown up in an orphanage. I have seen how they treat children at orphanages, perhaps you should too. Or is it because you want to prove that you are more worthy of that mudblood Lily than James Potter."
He jerked his head at her and glared at her threateningly.
"Oh! I heard what happened that day, Lily Potter came and saved her husband. I asked around a bit and found out that she used to study in your year, and you used to hang around with her in your earlier days, and that you and James Potter had a big rivalry at school. I recognized the name, and wonder what Lucius was talking about to Bella, he has ordered to kill the mudblood's parents who lived in Cokeworth, so she was your neighbour."
"I have nothing to do with her," Snape shouted, red sparks emerging from the end of his wand.
"It's your child too, you might not care but I do, I will save myself and this child too, and make sure that he doesn't turn out to be someone who could leave his child," she stormed off the house, closing the door very loudly. She broke down before disapparating to somewhere she could find privacy.
Snape didn't follow her, he raised his wand and began destroying things in his own house.
He has been in a very foul mood since that day of the attack, the moment he has heard that name, 'Lily Potter.' He had wanted to kill James Potter, torture him and kill him.
Just before the arrival of Lily, Snape was very happy, delighted to be precise. His enemy was caught. And once they received permission to kill the Potter boy, and keep the Black boy for Bellatrix, he was gloating.
It was very pleasant to hear Potter scream, to hear Black begging. Finally, Snape has come out on top and has felt more powerful than Potter, he has proven that Potter was nothing but a prick.
But then the blast has happened, and she was there, her looks made him shiver, and her words broke his heart. He wanted at that moment to run back to Potter, and torture him, himself, before killing him. But, alas that opportunity hadn't arrived.
He sat down in between the mess and buried his face, he was going to be a father and had already shouted at Narcissa and neglected the baby. He has acted just like his father. He has let Narcissa leave knowing full well that she was not well either physically or emotionally. But, then she has said those things. Stupid. He regretted that he was a moment away from hitting her for saying those words.
He walked out and disapparated to Knockturn Alley to get drunk and relax his mind. It was then that he heard from the people in the bar about the faith of Wilkes, Travers and Pyrite, all three of them had been brutally injured, tied and hanged in Derby, the Mongoose hovering over their head.
What raised fear among the death eaters was that they were only speaking Thanatos' name and nothing else, the three had been accused of the death of a muggle family and were possibly involved in the killing of the goblin.
Once again many people have asked the Ministry to declare Thanatos a terrorist, and execute him for his deeds, but to no avail as another half of the population has protested against it and supported Thanatos.
Today's talk was all about whether Thanatos should be put into Azkaban or not. The minister of magic has supported Thanatos, saying that he's a soldier in this war.
Snape sat there, not much drunk as he intended, he was just afraid, he was freaking out for the first time in his life, and he was freaking out badly.
He didn't understand what to do now if someone will find out about Narcissa, he'll probably be killed and even she might be killed too. And then there was his baby.
He walked out of the pub and decided to talk to his mother about it, she was the only one to help him.
The knock on the door alerted Tobias and Eileen Snape, they exchanged looks, the word wasn't too safe, death eaters had attacked a nearby village a few days ago, killing a muggleborn family. This has led to Tobias shouting at his wife for putting him in danger too.
Eileen opened the door to find Snape, his grim face grimmer than ever.
"I want to talk to you something, alone," he said looking at his father loathingly, who mirrored his expression. After saying some unpleasant words, Tobias took a bottle of beer and left for his room.
"What you wanted to talk about?"
Snape told her everything about Narcissa and the baby.
Eileen was, in simple words just shocked.
"What should I do now? I don't want to die just because she made the mistake of not taking the potion properly. I can achieve greatness, power, wealth, and fame but if someone finds out about me fathering a bastard, and that I slept with Narcissa, then I am doomed. I don't want a relationship and am not ready to be a father."
"You want no connection with that child?" she asked her son, who looked oddly at her.
"Narcissa is the wife of Lucius Malfoy, he has a more powerful position than me," he hissed.
"Do you like the woman?" Snape didn't answer. "You can't let her die, nor the baby. You are just as responsible as her."
"I am not responsible that she didn't take a fucking potion."
"It's your choice then, whether protect them both or kill them both to stay safe or put everything on the shoulders of the already stressed and sad girl. She didn't deserve Malfoy and it seems she didn't deserve you too. You had the nerve to shout at a pregnant woman, whose emotions are not right at this time, who is more afraid about the child and her life than you. Sev, children are gifts of nature, it's absolute crime to let them die.
You should feel guilty for treating the poor girl like that, she just found out that she is carrying a life in her, she comes to you for help and you shout at her. That's the stupidest thing to do," she said angrily and then dropped her voice. "You hate your father and here, you are acting like him, worse to be honest. He was at least happy to know that he was going to have a baby."
"He abuses you, hits you," argued Severus.
Eileen raised her hand, "I know, I suffer it. But you are turning just into him," she said disgustingly. "Go talk to her and help her or never ever return to this home again. We can look after ourselves. I have suffered abuse, I am not letting another woman suffer what I suffer. I am disappointed by you and disgusted that you of all people didn't go after her. Go now. I have nothing more to say. Don't return here again if you abandon her and the baby."
Snape walked out of the house angrily, why everyone is comparing him to his filthy father? He decided to talk to Narcissa and arrived at Malfoy Manor, as he entered the Manor he heard Lucius shouting and kicking Dobby, the house elf to keep the prisoners silent. There were now ten prisoners here, all important ones, including purebloods and high-rank ministry workers and two Aurors. Dearborn had been brought here and was tortured for information before being killed a few days ago, his body was given to Fenrir Greyback.
"How are you, Severus?"
"I am fine, brewing Veritaserum is a complex thing when you have a partner like Avery,"
"True. True. But the thing is that Aurors have kept all the potions hidden under strong security so we turn to you,"
"I wanted to be in the field, I am not merely a potioneer."
"Ah, for more recognition, don't worry, Dark Lord will give you bigger tasks soon. Anyway, I should be going, due to the Lestranges we have lost ten death eaters to Azkaban in the past month and then that bloody Thanatos is sticking his nose in our business a lot with the Order. I have to talk to some Ministry workers and bribe them, terrify them," Lucius smirked. "If you are here to meet Nott or Bellatrix, you have to wait."
Snape watched as Lucius walked out, and Snape made his way to Narcissa's room, he didn't know what to do yet. He has decided to do as his mother has said.
The door was unlocked, and he entered the room to find her sitting on the bed gloomily. He locked the door behind him and sat beside her. He spoke after a few minutes.
"We'll find a way, you don't have to be alone in this," he pressed her hands. "You can run away, go live with your distant relative or in a muggle world, I will pay you."
She looked sharply at him, "You think, Lucius will not send lookouts for me just to save the name of his family? I don't need your money, I have got enough. And, how am I supposed to live alone?" She looked at him.
Snape didn't want the burden at all but then he has to prove to her, his mom that he was nothing like his filthy muggle father. His heart sank as he realized that he will now never get Lily, all his dreams have been destroyed. That blood traitor has got her just like he has got everything in his life.
He remained silent, then decided to choose the child.
"I can't live with you there," said Snape. "We'll find out a solution later. I will help you. It's my child too." He placed his hand on her stomach and all doubts about abandoning Narcissa and the baby disappear.
They are right when they say that babies are miracles, they are the beginning of new hope, chances, wonder and possibilities, he felt his cold heartwarming for the first time in ages. He gave her stomach a kiss and stood up to leave but Narcissa caught her.
"Please, stay. It was a long day," she pleaded.
Sirius sat downstairs in the living room with Peter and Marlene, his head buried, he was looking down just like Pete and avoiding Marls.
". . . I leave you for just a few hours and you start acting recklessly. Why in the name of Merlin's saggy left bollock would you go out fighting, risking your life just after three days of being released from the Hospital? We all risked our lives to protect you and instead of taking proper rest, you are off playing hero." This voice was very loud.
"No one asked to save me," This voice was relatively softer.
"You listen to me, Potter. If you ever say that again then I swear to Merlin that I will strangle you. For Merlin's sake, James, don't you understand the meaning of rest? You go around throwing your life, do you even know, what it does to me? How it affects me?" her voice broke for a moment. "You act like a child. The mother leaves you alone for a moment and you destroy the whole house."
"I didn't destroy my house. Did you, Evans?"
"POTTER! Don't you dare take it lightly or I will make sure that you don't leave your room for even a minute."
"Holy Moly! she's really angry," said Sirius. "More than necessary."
"Watch yourself, Snuffles or she'll come after you too, you are just as responsible as him. I am disappointed in you too," said Marls shaking her head.
"No, you don't,"
"Yes, I do and shut up or no sex for a month," Marls replied and Peter snickered, as a result, received a hit from Sirius.
A disappointed-looking Lily and a sad, tired-looking James descended the stairs after half an hour.
"You go and sit, I will make tea and cookies," Lily said without looking at him.
The situation was awkward as Sirius, Peter and Marls had to put up with the cold silence between James and Lily.
"We'll. . . um. . .leave," said Marls standing up and giving a look to Sirius and Peter, both of whom followed her out.
Twenty minutes passed without talking but it felt like an eternity before Lily spoke.
"More tea is left if you want," she said very quietly.
"How much?" James asked.
"About ten goblets," she replied. James has to fight hard to prevent himself from even smiling, let alone laughing.
He kneeled in front of her and looked up at her, she avoided his eyes.
"I needed to get fear out of me, I knew you wouldn't agree with it so I took Sirius with me, I was perfectly fine, healthy and well-rested, Lily," he spoke gently. "A fear has settled inside of me, it was eating me from inside, and I wanted to get rid of it asap. I knew that we can conquer our fear by facing it, and so I did that. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"But you did," tears filled her eyes. "It was horrible since I received your Patronus. I saved you but you were out cold. You were unconscious for a week and that was the most horrible week of my life, seeing you like that. I felt very lonely and empty, I would just sit there and watch you as long as I can, and the healers would have to force me to leave. Then Benjy died and it hit us all very badly, all of our morale was down with back-to-back attacks and losses. I was alone, I grieved alone, I missed you. Initially, they had said that you might suffer memory loss or permanent brain damage, I was scared as hell but then after a few days they said that no lasting damage has been done and you will recover perfectly."
"I am sorry," he said wiping her tears.
"You should be, and also you shouldn't be," she gave him a weak smile. "From now on, I am going on all your missions with you or you are not going at all. I don't want to be somewhere else worrying about your life, I want to be with you, live with you or die with you. Am I clear?"
James nodded. "We will be together on each mission or we'll do no mission. We're not going to be separated at any cost. I will inform Moody about it."
They lay holding each other tightly on the couch.
"We are forgetting a very important thing," said Lily.
"What?"
"What should we do with all the tea?" asked Lily.
James laughed this time. "What were you thinking while making it?"
"I wasn't thinking at all, I just put all the milk in it," Lily confessed. "So, we've to buy milk, and also tea leaves, and sugar too."
"We'll go out and drink tea with Bathilda in the evening, and then with our other neighbours. Do you know anyone apart from Bathilda?"
"Yeah, there are these blonde twin girls who live in the next house with their father, Remus was trying to hit on them, the dog-loving man who lives in front of our house, he has four dogs but is more pleasant than Dursley's sister. Then there's this short old lady who sits in front of her house every evening. Then there's this Indian family, on the left of our house, tasty smelling food smell comes from their house but Bathilda says the food sometimes is very spicy. Then there's this family down the street who all go on morning and evening walks. There's this old couple living nearby, both of them love flowers, and gave me lilies and jasmine when I asked them. They liked my name very much. Then there's this woman in her 40s, she has freckles all over her fave and lives in that funny coloured house, she likes to gossip with everyone, Sirius barked at her, and Peter says she must be a relative of Bertha Jorkins."
James sighed, "So, we know, no one else."
"Nope," Lily laughed. "Am pretty bad at remembering new names."
"Marls told me about your dialogue, 'The name is Potter, Lily Potter.' I have to say, I am impressed," said James.
"You're forgetting, 'I came in like wrecking ball."
"Yes, you've got style, Evans, living with me has changed you. I have been a bad influence on you, I have made already badass Evans, more Badass," smirked James, and Lily hit him playfully.
"It's Potter, Lily Potter, Potter."
"Okay. Mine will go like this, the name is Potter. James Potter."
"They call me 007."