Chapter 153

Defeat from the jaws of Victory

As the light began to fade, Lily found herself on the floor, and forced herself to stand up, blinking as she tried to see what was happening. The light had been blinding, but she was able to hear several moans of agony.

"Did… did we do it?" Lily croaked, looking around, trying to see anyone as the light was fading from her eyes.

"I… I can't see," Draco replied, before coughing.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked, groaning as Lily's sight began to return. She blinked a few times, before managing to see again. They weren't in the tomb anymore; they were outside of the entire area; she realised she was standing on the dirt of Pendle Hill.

"Are… are we outside?" Hermione asked weakly.

"Yeah… I think we are," Lily confirmed, looking up and seeing the night sky. "We're outside of the whole area."

"We… we did it," Crouch said, laughing as he got up. He looked at the area around them; the rock that had opened to the doorway had crumbled into dust. "Without Slytherin, the Conduit was gone, and it was the only thing keeping that place intact."

"So, it's just gone? That castle, the town around it, all of it?" Lily asked, helping Ginny up.

"Looks like," Scrimgeour confirmed. He waved his wand, and thankfully Lily's full sight returned. She could see that everyone was looking around as if their sight had just returned, and thankfully, everyone was still there, except for the spirits.

"It's done, then. The Horcrux, Slytherin… we won," Draco said, grinning.

"We won," Lily agreed, as the others let out a cheer, with everyone starting to embrace one another in hugs, cheering and laughing happily.

"What did Moody teach you?" Draco asked Hermione.

"An ancient spell that was created to destroy Dark Spirits, from long ago, when a group of Dark Wizards left their bodies and became spirits, to try and conquer the world," Hermione explained.

"Trust Moody to have known that kind of spell," Remus said, smiling. "We should get out of here and get back to the safe house."

"Agreed," Lily said. "Can everyone apparate? Or should we create portkeys?"

"Dobby and Kreacher can help, Lily Potter Miss," Dobby said.

"Okay, can you both start apparating everyone to the safe house?" Lily asked. Dobby nodded, and he and Kreacher began with Molly and Bill Weasley, all four disappearing before they returned, taking another two. As everyone began to leave the area, Lily looked around, seeing the fading image of Mad Eye, Arthur, Regulus, Narcissa, and Lucius, all smiling and looking at the group proudly. Draco, Sirius, Ginny, Hermione, and Lily all looked at them, waving as they faded, before Dobby and Kreacher came to take them to the safe house.

"To Victory!" Crouch said, as he raised his glass in a toast, with everyone joining in. As Lily took a sip of her drink, she looked at everyone, the music playing in the background adding to the ambience.

"I want to say thank you, to all of you. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and had things gone differently over the last few years, there's a chance I'd be here alone, and not in this house, but living in the wild. I know we wouldn't be as successful as we have been," Lily said, with a small smile. "But there is so much that we've succeeded at, and we've already taken a lot away from Riddle. We've got two Horcruxes left, once we've removed the ones from myself, Ginny, and Nagini, and we'll have them destroyed soon," Lily said. "We'll be rid of him before long, and finally, we'll all be free to enjoy our lives. When we do, I think we can go on holiday, and relax after a long, and brutal, war."

"Hear, hear," Sirius agreed. "A holiday is something we all deserve."

"Well, how about somewhere hot for the wedding?" Ron asked.

"Wedding?" Remus asked.

"Mine and Lavender's. I asked Draco to be my best man. Bill, Percy, Charlie, I did think about asking you, but…" Ron started, but Bill held his hand up.

"Ron, we've been away for a while, we'll be glad to see you get married, but you and Draco have become damned good friends. That's always a good thing," Bill said, before embracing Ron in a hug.

"We're proud of you, little brother," Charlie complimented, as the girls were congratulating Lavender.

"Mum, I wanted to ask you to perform the ceremony," Ron said. Molly began to tremble before embracing Ron in a hug.

"Oh, Ron," Molly practically wept as she held onto Ron. "That means so much."

"Mum, of course it's you I want to marry me and Lavender," Ron smiled, kissing Molly's cheek.

"Guess I should get a tux," Draco said, smiling.

"Yeah, you're gonna need a good one," Lily said.

"And we're gonna need to go dress shopping," Lavender pointed out.

"I can't wait," Lily grinned. "I love dress shopping."

"Yeah, you were never meant to be a boy, Lily, because boys don't get excited to go dress shopping," Draco pointed out.

"Actually, there's something more indicative, other than the fact that Lily's body is developing properly," Fleur pointed out. "Men don't usually feel happy about their genitals being removed through magic."

"As a guy, I can confirm, since I'm standing over here and I'm getting a panic attack just thinking about that!" Charlie agreed, laughing.

"Agreed!" Bill added, causing the girls to burst out into laughter.

"Well, let's start a real celebration, shall we?" Scrimgeour said, before a loud beeping noise began to emit from the cabinet in the living room.

"Is that the Sneakoscope?" Lily asked, waving her wand and stopping the music.

"No, that's the communication pin that Aunt Sofia gave to me," Draco said, grabbing the small pin. "I think she's in trouble."

"Alright, let's get going, now," Lily said, as Draco gave the address to the others. They quickly ran from the house, before disapparating, with Lily feeling like the celebrations were well and truly over.

As Lily stepped into Sofia's house, she frowned, seeing the damage to the house. "Bloody hell," Ron said, looking around. "How the hell did this happen?"

"Aunt Sofia!" Draco called out. "Are you here?"

"Let me check," Hermione said, waving her wand. As the group looked, they saw the shadow of an outline appear behind a large amount of debris. "There!"

Sirius immediately waved his wand, removing the debris, where they found Sofia on the floor, multiple cuts on her face and body, her clothes torn in multiple places, having clearly been tortured with dark magic.

"Aunt Sofia!" Draco cried out, as Molly knelt down, waving her wand gently over Sofia. "Is she going to be okay? What happened?"

"Draco, stay back, let Molly do her work," Sirius said, holding onto him. Sofia groaned softly as she gently opened her eyes.

"Draco… is that you?" Sofia asked weakly.

"I'm here, Aunt Sofia," Draco replied. "What… what happened?"

"Bellatrix… learnt you… had been here," Sofia replied, her voice breaking. "My questions… had been discovered."

"Oh Merlin," Lily gasped, covering her mouth. "This is… our fault… my fault."

"No… Bellatrix did this… she is evil… and enjoyed this. I refused… to tell her anything," Sofia whimpered.

"It's gonna be okay Aunt Sofia, don't worry, we'll get you out of here," Draco promised.

"Draco, listen to me. The Horcrux… it can be removed… but it needs something… a spell… to allow you to explore… the inner self," Sofia whimpered, wincing in pain.

"Mrs. Weasley, please… help her…" Draco pleaded. Molly looked at the older woman, casting a few more spells, before looking at Draco sadly.

"I'm so sorry, Draco, but…" Molly paused, trying to find the words.

"No… please, no," Draco pleaded, tears streaming down his face.

"Draco… it's okay. You must be strong," Sofia said, before coughing up blood. "Lily… there's a spell… the book is in my study… Draco, only you can enter it."

"Aunt Sofia, please stay with us," Draco pleaded. "You've always been here for me when I needed you."

"And… I'll… always be…proud of…the man you've become," Sofia smiled, weakly taking Draco's hand. "Don't let… your anger…control you. Promise me… you'll win, and never… lose to anger."

"I…" Draco paused, the tears fully flowing as he held Sofia's hand, whilst Sirius held onto Draco, supporting him. "I promise, Aunt Sofia," he said. Sofia smiled before closing her eyes. Her chest stopped moving, and her hand fell to the ground. Draco howled in sorrow as he turned and wrapped his arms around Sirius, as Lily gently moved Sofia's hands onto her chest.

"Thank you, Sofia, for everything. I'm sorry… that we didn't get here in time," Lily said softly. She felt rage and anger filling her; Bellatrix had done this because Sofia had dared to help them.

"Draco, let's go and get the book your aunt mentioned," Sirius suggested softly, picking up Draco and guiding him from the room.

"We should clean this place up; give Sofia a little dignity," Hermione suggested.

"I want to find Bellatrix Lestrange. She's taken too many good people; it's time she went down," Lily said angrily, her hands curled up into fists. "Sofia dared to help us, so Riddle sent his mad dog to stop her. No more. I am done letting that bastard take innocent lives because he thinks he can, or because Bellatrix is twisted enough to enjoy it."

"Lily; don't let the anger consume you either. Sofia begged Draco not to be consumed by the anger. You need to take that lesson as well," Ginny said softly.

"We had won a victory, and now Riddle has taken that and turned it into defeat," Lily said bitterly, her eyes full of anger and hate. "It's time we showed them they can't control everyone."

"We can't, not whilst there are still Horcruxes," Remus pointed out.

"Lestrange doesn't have any; yes, she's powerful, but she's vile, and evil. She can be taken down," Lily responded, looking around for any clue that could lead them to Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Lily, if you go after her now, you'll fight bravely, and die quickly," Crouch warned her, as Molly and Hermione were helping with the cleaning spells.

"I won't let her get away with what she's done. She tortures and kills innocent people, and she gets to walk away from that. No more. I've had enough of innocent people being killed because of her, and because of Riddle," Lily said. "It's time we did more than hide. We need to start taking the fight to him."

"What are you thinking?" Sirius asked, from the doorway, where he and Draco were standing.

"I'm thinking we set up small groups to launch attacks against known Death Eater locations, as well as going to places and making sure people know the truth, like sending signs in the sky, freeing innocent people from Azkaban, all of it," Lily said.

"Azkaban? You think we'd be able to?" Draco asked.

"Uncle Remus escaped from Azkaban, so we should be able to get in, and we've got enough strength to keep the Dementors at bay until we escape with the right people. We could create Portkeys for the people to escape with," Lily suggested.

"As strange as this sounds, Lily might have an idea, but let's get out of here. We can discuss it later," Crouch said.

"We'll… give Sofia a real funeral. I won't let the Death Eaters use her as bait or anything," Lily said, taking Draco's hand.

"Thank you, Lily," Draco said softly, embracing Lily in a hug. "I'm sorry, for everything bad I've done to you."

"All in the past. We're friends… no, we're family Draco, and we're in this together," Lily said, as Remus was casting a spell to take Sofia's body with them.

"We should… take some of these things with us. There's a lot we… we can use to help us," Draco said.

"I'll take her body away from here," Remus said softly.

"I'll tell you all what to take, then we can leave. I won't let any of her artefacts or weapons fall into the wrong hands," Draco said bitterly. "There are things here that they can use against us, and Aunt Sofia wouldn't want that to happen."

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked.

"I need to do this. She'd want this," Draco confirmed. As Lily watched everyone following Draco's lead, she knew he was right; Sofia had been helping them and would be glad to know that her artefacts and weapons were going to help protect the world.

The next evening, with the sun setting, Lily was standing in front of a funeral pyre, with Draco, Pansy, Hermione, Fleur, Ron, Lavender, Ginny, Sirius, Remus, Crouch, Scrimgeour, and Molly, who was there to support Draco. Sofia's body was on the pyre, covered by a gentle cloth, her body looking clean and at peace. Molly had helped to prepare the funeral, knowing how hard it was going to be for Draco.

Lily stood next to Draco at the front, helping to support him as the wind was gently blowing against them, their hair gently flapping in the breeze.

Draco looked at Lily, and then at Hermione, nodding. Hermione aimed her wand at the pyre, igniting it. There wasn't going to be any speeches, or anyone saying things, because Draco knew they wouldn't help. Lily could understand that.

What could any of them say? Draco was the only one who knew Sofia, and Lily knew there was so much that could be said by Draco, but there would be so much that would be missing.

As the flames began to grow, engulfing the pyre, the heat from the flames could be felt by the whole group, as sparks from the flames were flying into the air. Lily watched as the wind carried them harmlessly away, with smoke rising up into the sky, which was lit up by the setting sun, the colours lighting up the entire sky. It was a beautiful sight, Lily thought, and she hoped it would be a chance for Draco to find some closure, though she suspected there wouldn't be any real closure until Voldemort was gone, as well as Bellatrix.

Lily felt the anger within her at what had happened; she also blamed herself for the events. She had been the one who Voldemort was after, and she was the one Sofia was helping. Would she still be dead if she hadn't been helping Lily?

At the same time, she also knew Draco didn't blame her, though would she be able to find that forgiveness within herself? How many people were dead because of her? Cornelius Fudge, Arthur Weasley, Mad Eye Moody, Dumbledore…

Even Dumbledore's death still weighed heavy on her. Was she right and Dumbledore had planned his death with Snape? She didn't understand why such a thing would happen. None of what happened made sense to Lily, but maybe it was time to stop focusing on that. No, now she needed to focus on taking down Voldemort and his entire regime, and Lily knew she had to succeed.

Too many lives were depending upon it.