Author's Note: A combination of inconveniences and not feeling up to writing is why this chapter was so long in coming. I also have a lot in my personal life I need to sort out, so don't expect too much from me for a while.
On a brighter note, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy Festivus! (It's tomorrow, you know!)
Dedications: Yay!
Amanda: You've never gotten a dedication before. Happy Festivus! (Who would leave a pony country to come to a non-pony country?)
My anti-biotics: I don't feel so sick anymore!
Chapter 17: Imperio!
Peering down into the dark hole the rocks had revealed sent a chill down Lily's back. Still hidden beneath James's cloak, she took his hand and moved closer to him.
"We're going to, erm, test that first, aren't we? We can't just plunge ourselves in there. What if someone's at the end of the chute, waiting....?" She squeezed his hand, eyeing the hole warily.
"I'll test it," volunteered James, removing his hand from her grip. Lily's eyes grew wide; she stopped him from moving nearer to the hole.
"No! Use...a rock, or something," she suggested desperately. "I don't want you to test it."
"We can't use a rock," said James, sounding condescending. "It'll make a racket. They'll hear us. I'm testing it myself." He made another move toward the entrance.
"But--"
"Be quiet," he hissed, turning his head in her direction; he looked annoyed. "This chute echoes." Lily watched him kneel down and inspect it while she tottered on her feet. It took her a moment to realize that he'd gone from under the cloak. She darted forward, the cloak swaying as she went, and placed her hands on one of the rocks beside the entrance. She looked first into the pitch black chute, then at the sloshing, enormous sea at her side, feeling chilly and alone.
She closed her eyes and inhaled. "I can do this," she whispered. "It's only a silly hole. My mum and James are down there..."
A nervous, fluttering feeling filled her as she swung her legs over the rim of the chute. She took off the cloak, not wanting to become entangled during her slide, balled it up, and tucked it away. Before she could ponder herself into a worse case of the nerves, she pushed off from the rim and allowed the chute to engulf her.
The tunnel was cold, hard, smooth, and dark; the rocks had moved back into place after she entered. She kept quiet during her ride, remembering what James said about echoing. Lily's journey through the tunnel was one of her most frightening experiences, because she couldn't stop herself imagining horrible things waiting at the end. Suddenly, the chute leveled out and she toppled into a small, bare stone room. James helped Lily to her feet.
"Are we in the dungeon?" asked Lily, glancing around the room. She shivered.
James nodded. "I think so. We're deep underground."
"My mum must be here, then. She's a...prisoner."
Their eyes met; Lily looked away instantly.
"Come on," James whispered, slipping his hand into hers. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us."
Lily nodded without making eye contact. She drew the invisibility cloak from her pocket and tossed it over them. They walked to the tall, wooden door across the room, minding the train of the cloak's hem.
- - -
Not far from Lily and James, Peter lay, bruised and bloody, in a dark, dingy cell. Recovering from both the Imperius curse and a struggle with Lucius proved difficult, and Peter would have little memory of the incidents if Lucius hadn't insisted upon recalling to Peter each unpleasant detail.
Why, he wondered, had so much misfortune come from his trying to help someone? Initially, Peter hadn't intended on becoming as involved as he presently was in assisting Lily. He'd settled on something much smaller--the counter-potion that would return Lily her free will. But on his mission to recover it, something happened to change his mind.
Peter caught one more flash of Lucius's twisted, maniacal grin in the dim light before he disappeared within the shadows of the hallway.
It's now or never, he told himself firmly.
Pointing his wand at his feet, he muttered "Silencio!" He tapped the ground with his shoes several times to test his spell. Then, once he was certain they would make no noise, he withdrew his invisibility cloak from his pocket and threw it on. Carefully, because the hallway was extremely dark, he began walking further into the castle. For a few minutes, he encountered no signs of life within the building. This, however, was normal; nobody regularly traversed the hallways. When the Death Eaters gathered for meetings, they Apparated directly into the main room.
Near the end of the hallway, Peter found Lucius. He heard him before he saw him, his low voice drifting out of an open door.
"--you will position yourself there, waiting for them," he was saying to a person Peter couldn't see, indicating a location on a piece of parchment in his hand. Lucius stood with his back to the doorway, blocking the view Peter would have of his companion.
"Then I bring them to you?" asked a smooth female voice--Bellatrix.
"Correct," replied Lucius, the excitement in his voice evident. "You won't have to do much with Evans, just order her to follow you. Potter's the challenge. He'll be ready for an attack."
"I'll catch him off-guard," Bellatrix assured him with great confidence. "Potter won't know what hit him."
"Make sure he survives," Lucius ordered. "I want him to witness the main event." A malicious smile curled his lips.
"I must say," Bellatrix began after a pause, "that your plan is falling marvelously into action. When you first came to me with the idea, I admit I thought it near impossible. Having Evans murder her own parents, I mean--"
Clunk.
Lucius and Bellatrix whirled around to find the door wide open. Immediately alarmed for the security of the plan, they dashed into the hallway, and when they found no one in sight, they began firing curses in all directions.
It was only a matter of time before one of them struck Peter.
Why did I have to stumble into the door? he demanded angrily of himself as he collided with the floor.
"I heard something fall over there," said Bellatrix, indicating an area fifteen feet ahead.
"I'll investigate," said Lucius. Wand at the ready, he strode forward until he stepped upon a clump of Peter's cloak. He bent down, gathered the fabric in his hand, and yanked it upward.
"Pettigrew?" Lucius couldn't help sounding surprised. "What were you doing spying on us?" he barked, and kicked him in the stomach. Bellatrix came to stand beside them.
Peter gasped for air. "I-wasn't-spying-on-" Lucius kicked him again.
"Tell me the truth!" he bellowed. "Unless you want to die!"
Peter, struggling to breathe, surveyed the witch and wizard with their wands aimed directly at him. He saw no other option but to tell them the truth.
"I-was-trying-to-find-a-counter-potion," he panted.
"For what?"
"The-potion-you-made-me-give-Evans." He burst into a coughing fit.
"Why?" questioned Bellatrix before Lucius could open his mouth. "Do you fancy her?"
"Not at all," rasped Peter.
"Then why assist her?" probed Malfoy. "Why work against members of the group to which you'd pledged yourself faithful?"
"You disgust me," Peter spat. "The both of you and your plan." Peter pondered what was causing him to speak so freely. He normally hid his true feelings regarding Lucius's scheme.
"Incarcerous! Would you like me to kill him, Lucius?" Bella asked.
Lucius thought for a minute. "No. If Pettigrew wants to play the noble friend, he'll play the noble friend."
Bellatrix frowned, confused. "Wh--"
Lucius held up a hand to silence her. He vanished Peter's bindings.
"Stand up," commanded Lucius.
With great difficulty, Peter pushed himself to his feet.
"Imperio!"
- - -
"How many bloody twists and turns can one castle have?" asked James to no one in particular when he and Lily came across what must have been their seventh dead-end. He slammed the door shut against the stone wall it concealed, and marched back up the corridor to take a right. Lily had to jog to keep up with his quick strides.
"You could slow down a bit, you know," she snapped. "Some of us would like to breathe."
Taking another right, James responded, "Did we come through here before? This brick pattern looks familiar."
Fed up, Lily grabbed hold of his arm and yanked him to a halt. "What is the matter with you?"
James removed his arm roughly from her grip. "I'm trying to help you save your mother. I may not be the most important person in your life, but I care about you and your family."
His words stung Lily; she wished she hadn't said that in front of James.
"Look, James, I didn't--"
"Let's keep moving," he interrupted, and continued walking, his back to her.
"Are you going to be an arse about this always, now?" asked Lily, nettled.
"No," replied James, "because after this is over, I won't be around to be an arse."
Lily stopped walking. "You can't mean that. What brought this on?"
James halted too and faced her. "During this walk, I've done some thinking. If I'm not that important to you, I'll stay out of your way. You and Dinah would be happier without me, anyway."
"When did I ever say you weren't important to me?" asked Lily incredulously. "And why do you think we'd be happier without you?"
"She's never hugged me, or offered to call me Daddy, or told me she loves me," said James fiercely, but his eyes gleamed.
"Maybe because you've never really tried to be her father," Lily yelled. "You've never sat down with her and tried to have a real conversation. You've hardly asked her anything--what she likes to eat, or what's her favorite color. I bet you don't even know when her birthday is."
Lily expected for an instant that he might retort, but he let up his anger and calmed.
"You're right," he said. "I guess I expected her to love me instantly, like she loves you."
Lily stepped toward him and took his hand. "I'm sure she loves you, James," she said gently. "She wouldn't want you to leave."
"What about you? Do you want me to leave?" he asked.
"Really, James," said Lily in exasperation, "if you can't figure out the answer on your own..."
"I want to hear it from you," he insisted. "Do you want me as part of your family?"
"Of course I do," she said, wrapping him in a hug. She released him and made eye contact. "I misspoke earlier. Dinah isn't the only extremely important person in my life.
You are too."
- - -
Light flooded the sunflower-patterned room in which Dinah lay, staring out the window and stroking Max's fur. She turned to see Sirius standing in the doorway, scouting the bedroom.
"Is James not in here?" he asked. "His room was empty. Have you seen him? Wait--is Lily even in here?"
"No," answered Dinah. She sat up. "They're not at home right now."
"Dammit," muttered Sirius. "Every time I want to show him the bike....Where are they, do you know?"
Dinah hesitated. Lily had told her to say that she and James had gone to her house for the rest of her possessions. But that was only if Mr. and Mrs. Potter asked her, right? Surely they wouldn't mind if she told Sirius the truth. He was James's best friend, after all.
"They went to a castle," she said. "A big castle in...Albania, I think. Peter went with them."
Sirius's brow furrowed. "A castle? What in Merlin's name did they go to a castle for? And without me? James knows it's my dream to visit a castle!"
While Sirius went on in indignation, Dinah fetched the two letters Lily and James left behind. Holding them out toward him, she said,
"I think you should read these."
O O O