Free Falling

Six

Escape Route

I blinked several times just to make sure I wasn't losing my mind. It just couldn't be...could it? How was it possible?

"James?" I asked in a chocked whisper. "Sirius?"

"Shhh," said James' head.

I blinked again, just in case.

James and Sirius' heads appeared to be floating in midair in the corner of the room.

"James?" I asked again. James and Sirius' eyes were wide and horror stricken. "Sirius? Help me?" I implored in a whisper.

"My lord, Lily," James breathed. His head made a quick movement and the rest of his body appeared and rushed to my side. His hands flew to the knots on the cords and he started tugging at them. I started sobbing uncontrollably again.

The rest of Sirius' body appeared and also rushed to my side.

"Shh, shh," he tried comforting me. He hooked my bra back up and started buttoning my blouse.

"Sirius, it was awful," I sobbed. "Just awful!"

Sirius stroked my hair repeating his comforting words.

After a minute, James had managed to free my left hand. Sirius grabbed it and started rubbing my palm, for my fingers were starting to turn purple because of the tautness of the knots.

"What did I do to deserve this?" I sobbed.

"It wasn't your fault, Lily," Sirius said. James still yanked at the knot on my right arm. "Nothing else happened, did it?"

"No. But - but, he was going to - to..."

"Shh, I'll hear no more of it," said Sirius. "We can talk about it later."

James had untied the bond at my other arm and scrambled over to my feet. I swiftly sat up and threw my arms around Sirius. He kissed my cheek and stroked my hair. I could feel the wetness of tears on his face when he buried his head in my neck.

"We were so worried, Lily," he said. "You have no idea. When we got back into the common room, we saw the note - the one that James supposedly had written to you. The two of us rushed right up to Dumbleore and he brought us here."

"Dumbledore's here?" I asked.

"Yes, but don't worry about that now," James said, freeing my left foot and moving on to my right. "We need to get you out of here."

"I was so worried that I was never going to get out of here," I said, holding Sirius even tighter. "And I was even more afraid of what would happen if I didn't. How did you guys know where to find me? How did you even know that I was here?"

"Dumbledore knows the hideout," James said, struggling with the last knot. "He's here, but we'll explain later."

James freed my last limb. I let go of Sirius, wrapped my arms around James and held on for dear life.

"Oh, Lily," he said, kissing the top of my head. "I can't believe something like this would happen. It's a miracle you're still alive." He held me at arms length and looked me up and down. "What happened to your skirt?"

I blushed. I had suddenly realized that Sirius and James were seeing me in my knickers and that before Sirius had buttoned my blouse again, they had seen me totally bare.

"Voldemort made it disappear," I whispered, looking down. "If the Death Eaters hadn't have interrupted him, he would have had me fully undressed."

"We know," Sirius said. "We were under the Invisibility Cloak watching until the signal came."

"Signal?"

"Not now," James said. "We've got to get you out of here before he comes back."

"All three of us are going to have to get under the Invisibility Cloak. Then we're going to go down the hall and to the left, down four flights of stairs and down another two corridors. Got that?"

I nodded.

"Then we're going to find the nearest door to the garden and then we'll meet Dumbledore at the end of the street," James added. "Ready?"

Sirius nodded.

"Wait," I said.

"What is it?"

"I don't want to go out there without any trousers on," I said. Sirius and James looked down at my knickers and then quickly looked up, both with identical bright yet embarrassed eyes and rosy cheeks.

"Here," James said, taking off his robes so he was left in his trousers and T-shirt. "Wear these."

"Thanks," I said, putting them on. The robes were warm, which made me shiver - I hadn't realized it was that cold, despite the crackling flames in the fireplace.

"Ready?" James asked again. Sirius looked at me and I nodded. "Okay, get under the cloak."

James, Sirius, and I slipped the Invisibility Cloak over us, becoming invisible, and walked towards the door.

"Is the coast clear?" asked Sirius as James peeked out of the door.

"Yes, let's move."

We slowly walked out of the room and into a vast, stone corridor with deep green carpet. There were several more pictures of serpents on the walls. They glared in our direction as if they could see us. I silently prayed that they couldn't, for Voldemort was well known for being a Parselmouth--being able to converse with snakes.

"James," I whispered as we reached the end of the corridor and made a left to a grand, spiraling stone staircase. "What are the chances of us getting out alive?"

"Don't talk like that, Lily," James scolded. "We'll get through this."

"You don't have to soften the truth because of what I've been through. I already know the chances of us making it out alive is slim to none."

"You're right, Lil," Sirius said. "The chances are slim to none, but we know what we are doing to some extent. And Dumbledore is here, he wouldn't let anything happen." He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. "Don't you worry."

We started descending the staircase. The torches on the walls were glowing with blue flames, making the walls dance eerily with shadows. I could swear that the flames were casting our shadows, huddled together and moving slowly down the staircase. This house was getting creepier by the minute.

After the last flight of stairs, we stepped into a narrow hallway full of Death Eaters. James, Sirius, and I stopped in our tracks, staring.

"What does he think he is doing?" said one of the Death Eaters to the other four. "I mean, that Mudblood is only fifteen years old. Is that not wrong for him?"

"Don't speak unpleasantly of our Master," said another. "He is doing his part in the Circle of Darkness. This is where he needs to be, and if he needs to use some fifteen-year-old Mudblood, then that's what he needs to do."

"Yeah," said a third. "And did you even see that Mudblood? I wouldn't mind having a go with her."

I looked over at James, who was at my left.

"Don't listen to them," he mouthed.

"That's enough," said another Death Eater: Lucius Malfoy. "We must go find Master and tell him we've seen nothing."

The Death Eaters Disapparated on the spot, leaving the hall empty save the three of us standing invisibly at the foot of the steps.

"Lily, are you okay?" James asked. "I mean, I know you're not okay, but, how are you doing?"

"I - I can't believe it," I sobbed. Sirius and James wrapped their arms around me. "I was kidnapped...I am part of a prophecy..."

"What prophecy?" James asked quickly.

"Dumbledore didn't tell you?" I asked. "Did Dumbledore not know?"

"Know what?" Sirius asked.

"Never mind," I said, wiping my eyes. "I'll tell you on the way."

We took up walking again. Slowly, but surely, we made it down the corridor and then another one.

"Start searching for doors that go out into the garden," James declared.

"Will you tell us about the prophecy now?" Sirius asked.

I took a deep breath and launched into explanation.

"Voldemort said that there has been a prophecy around for six years that if the Golden One with the purest heart brings into being an heir for the Darkest Being, that heir would follow in his father's footsteps and help his father become the ruler of all."

"That's what Voldemort was playing at?" James asked. "I saw him kissing you and I put into thought that it was just one of those kind of kidnappings...if you know what I mean. I never thought that there was a story behind it."

"Let alone a prophecy," Sirius added. "When we saw him with you, our first thought was that he was going to rape you just for the hell of it."

"No," I said. "Thank heavens you were there -- I was really afraid that he was going to actually pull through and that the prophecy would become true."

"Lily," James said, turning to me and looking deeply into my eyes. "We would never let that happen. Never. I can't even believe that I left you alone when I knew I was a target. That's the first way that the Dark Lord gets after his targets: Going after their loved ones."

"But if he didn't go after Lily to get to you," said Sirius, "why does he want to get you?"

"Like Dumbledore said," I stated. "Maybe something happens in the future that will cause him to want to go after you."

"Like what? He just wants to kill everyone that's not on his side."

"No, I don't think so," I said. "I think that there is a reason. We may never find out until the day you die, but there is going to be a specific reason."

"What would it be? What would cause him to want me and my heir?" asked James.

I stopped abruptly and gasped.

"Heir?" I said. "Your heir? Oh, my hell."

"What?" asked James, clueless.

"That's it," I almost shouted, but kept my voice down. "James, I have a theory that Voldemort only comes after you and your heir because I'm the mother."

"What are you on about, Lily?" James asked.

"Now that you have rescued me, Voldemort won't get his chance to produce an heir with me. Don't you see? You took me away from him. He must have heard a similar prophecy about your heir being the Boy Who Lived and didn't want that to happen. Why else would he specifically pick me to bear an heir to him?"

"Because you were the Golden One," Sirius said slowly.

"No, Voldemort told me that his personal preferences led to me. Which means that there could have been another Golden One. He wanted specifically me so that I could produce him an heir and not for you, James, else he would be defeated."

"Yeah, but two predictions can't overrule one another," Sirius said. "I mean, think of it as predicting that you will bear an heir to Voldemort and then one to James that will conquer Voldemort. That doesn't make sense."

"Yes it does, Sirius," James said finally. "Voldemort only had a prophecy, Trelawney made a prediction. A premonition, more like. Voldemort's was only a possibility. Now that I have made that impossible, he'll want to kill my son and me. Can things get any worse?"

"Cheer up, mate," Sirius said, patting James on the back. "You never really know if that's what will happen. I think this is the door," he added, stopping so abruptly that it made me realize that we were walking again.

The door we had stopped at was a grand set of French doors. There was a window on the left side of the door that showed the a beautiful garden full of brilliantly colored flowers and had colorful lights, which I had suspected to be live fairies, hovering over the rose bushes and by the statues.

"Are you sure that the door hasn't been just made to look like that?" I asked.

"Why wouldn't it lead to the outside? The window shows it does," Sirius said.

"Sirius, what is it that you always tell me? That in the wizarding world, things aren't always as they seem. If Voldemort thinks someone is going to escape, he'll want them to think that they're going outside, but really, the other side of that door will be heavily guarded."

"Lils, you've been watching way too many James Bond movies," Sirius said. "Wizards aren't as smart as Muggles. We like to think we are, but we're not. There is no way that Voldemort would have thought of that idea. The Dark Lord is a bleeding brilliant wizard, but he doesn't know Muggle action plans."

"I bet you that he does," I argued. "He's brilliant, all the more that he would think of a Muggle way of catching escapees and then make the escapees think that no wizard is smart enough to pull off a Muggle plan. It's all logical thinking. The way out is any door but this one, I tell you."

"How can you be sure that we're not going to walk into a trap or the Dark Lord himself?" James asked. "I mean, to make this even more complicated, he knows you're Muggle-born, so he'll know that you will think of the idea that the logical door isn't the correct door, but it really is and all the other doors are traps. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

I nodded. This was starting to frustrate me. When I saw James' head in the corner, I thought it would be just like the knight in shining armor rescuing the princess and we'd get out of the evil man's castle with no trouble at all.

But I was wrong. Dead wrong. Magic is much more complicated.

"What it all comes down to is if we should try this door or not," Sirius said impatiently. "Did you ever think that maybe this is the door that will lead us out? No tricks, no games."

"Well, that is a possibility," I agreed.

"Then let's go for it," Sirius said.

He reached for the andiron handle and turned it.

The door swung silently open, revealing an exquisite garden full of flowers and statues and fountains and fairy lights. It was exactly like what the window showed it to be.

I let out the breath I had been holding.

"See guys," Sirius said. "Voldemort wouldn't think to do something as extreme as making this an access into a trap."

"Lily," James said. "I'll tell you that you did have me worried, but like I always say, you're mind is always in Muggle mode." He made a sweeping gesture with his right hand. "Shall we?"

Sirius checked his watch.

"It's a quarter to three. We have fifteen minutes to get to the end of the street to Dumbledore."

"How far is the end of the street?" I asked.

"About a quarter of a mile," James said. "We've got to hurry. Can the two of you walk quickly together under the cloak? I can slip out from under the cloak and use the Invisibility Charm on myself since I know where I'm going and you two can walk faster without me. You know where you're going, right Sirius?"

Sirius nodded.

"Great." James took out his wand and pointed it at himself, muttered "Tangara" and disappeared. The next second, I could feel the left side of the Invisibility Cloak's flowing material fall to my side, telling me that James had slipped out from under it.

"Let's go," Sirius whispered, stepping through the door and shutting it silently behind him.

We made our way down a stone path. That was too easy, my brain kept saying. Was it right?

"Sirius," I said finally. "Are you sure that this isn't going to be a trap? That seemed too easy."

"A trap?" Sirius questioned. "Why would it be a trap? We're outside now, we don't have to worry about this being a trap. We only need to worry about getting to Dumbledore in time. Besides, we're invisible, no one can see us."

"Ah, but seeing isn't always everything," said a deep voice from somewhere.

I let out a shriek and looked at Sirius.

"Where are you, Lily? I wasn't finished with you yet."

I knew that voice. It was the voice of Lord Voldemort. How had he found us? Could he see us despite the fact that we were under the Invisibility Cloak?

"What do you want from her?" Sirius said boldly. He was turning in circles under the cloak, searching for a sight of the Dark Lord.

"Have you not heard the prophecy?" the Dark Lord said. "Lily is helping me with that, aren't you dear?"

"I will have no part in whatever you do," I retorted.

"Aw, such a pity that you don't get a choice." The Dark Lord chuckled. "And many Death Eaters are interested in having their way with you when I'm finished. It kind of makes you sound like you're just a plaything, doesn't it? Now where are you?"

"You're a bastard," Sirius growled.

"Where are you?" Voldemort repeated, ignoring Sirius' comment. "Don't make this more difficult."

"Difficult for who?" I asked. "Myself or you?"

"Oh, I have my ways to find you. I'm actually enjoying this. You are only making it more difficult on yourself. Show yourself!"

"Why don't you show yourself?" Sirius raged. "Are you afraid that two fifteen-year-olds will overtake you?"

"Afraid?" The Dark Lord let out a derisive laugh. "I do not get afraid. I don't negotiate with wizards of less stature either. But, nevertheless, I will show myself."

There was the sound of fingers snapping and the Dark Lord appeared to the left of us.

"Don't move," Sirius whispered in my ear so faintly that I almost couldn't make it out. "I'm going to give him a surprise."

There was a small pop! and a massive black dog was standing next to me. Then before I knew it, the Invisibility Cloak was whipped off of me as Sirius in his Animagus dog form walked invisibly over to the Dark Lord.

"Look who decided to grace us with her presence," he drawled. "And where might Mr. Black be?"

"How did you know it was Sirius?"

The Dark Lord let out another derisive laugh.

"I have been watching you for three years, Lily. Watching you meant seeing you with your three Animagi friends and that little werewolf. I do my research, Lily. Now, if you come here quietly, there will be no harm done. But if not," he added, drawing his wand, "you know what can happen."

"I won't," I said.

"You will!" shouted Lord Voldemort.

Then came the sound of a dog growling. Voldemort's red, snake-like eyes moved quickly in their sockets, searching for the source of the growl. Then he turned his eyes back on me.

"It seems Mr. Black is in his dog form, doesn't it?" he drawled.

"How did you know?"

"Three years, Lily. I know everything about you and your little friends. Although, I must say, I am surprised that you're still friends with them after all that they've done. You see, I watch you all the time. I almost grabbed you when you were alone that day you were hacked off at the Marauders and wandered off by yourself. But to my displeasure, you're idiotic little friends grabbed you instead. You were lucky."

"Why is it me that you want?"

"Well, you're little theory seemed about the truth. Don't look at me that way, you certainly aren't attractive when you're mouth is hanging open." I shut my mouth quickly. "Yes, I followed you, and later I'll tell you how I found you. Now come here."

"Why should I?" I asked. "You're the only one that wants this prophecy to pull through."

"Oh, so not true, Lily," he said with a smile. "My Death Eaters want me to have an heir that will help me take over the world."

"What about those you've put under the Imperius Curse? Those you have threatened with their lives or the lives of their loved ones? Those whom you are forcing them to do your dirty work would rather die a thousand deaths than to worship you."

"Ouch, that was harsh, Lily. But I've heard better. As to those who'd rather die - that can be arranged." He smiled nastily. Then his lip curled in disgust. "Now get over here or I'll make sure you'll die a slow and painful death."

"You don't want to kill me," I taunted. I knew then why I was sorted into Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw: it takes balls to not listen to the feared Dark Lord. "I know you wouldn't, that prophecy is too important to you and once you've killed me, there's no way that you can get me back, so the prophecy would be ruined."

"Oh, but you've forgotten that there are other girls out there that could play that part, so I could just as easily kill you. Now get over here you little whore!"

I heard an ominous growl then an ear piercing bark. All of a sudden, Sirius, still in dog form, jumped out from under the Invisibility Cloak and sunk his teeth into Voldemort's leg. Voldemort let out a shriek. I screamed as green and silver sparks shot from Voldemort's wand towards me. I pulled on the discarded cloak and stood horrorstruck, not knowing what to do. I could have ran, for Sirius was distracting Voldemort, but I couldn't leave Sirius there to get killed.

Sirius was still clinging onto the Dark Lord's leg when he swung the other leg and kicked Sirius right on the side of his head. Sirius whimpered and collapsed on the ground. He went unconscious and, not being able to stay in his dog form while unconscious, slowly changed back to his human form. I let the Invisibility Cloak fall off my shoulders, wondering if I should risk running to my friend, or stay put.

"That'll teach him," the Dark Lord growled, one hand on his bleeding leg. "He'll be in enough pain when he wakes up, I don't need to kill him. Come here." He pointed his wand at me. "Imperio."

The most wonderful sensation wiped over me. It was as if I didn't have a care in the world. I looked at my best friend passed out on the frost-covered ground, then looked back up at the Dark Lord. I knew that I should be afraid for my life, but the floating sensation overtook me.

"Come here, my lovely Lily," I vaguely heard the Dark Lord say.

"Yes, Master," I replied, but it wasn't my voice. It was sweet and innocent and anything but hateful.

"That's a good girl. Now we're going to go back upstairs."

I remember I nodded and followed him back into the house and up the stairs.

"Master," called a voice from behind. I saw Voldemort turn around towards the bottom of the staircase, but I didn't, I was too busy enjoying the bliss, the euphoria of where I was.

"What is it now! Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Yes, Master, but there is someone here to see you. Someone who wants to join us," said the voice. I knew that voice, but I was too relaxed to care to remember it.

"At this time of night? Well, the prophecy can wait a few more minutes while I inspect the newcomers, now can't it. Lucius, would you mind taking the Mudblood back up to the room?"

"Certainly, Master," he said.

Voldemort turned to me.

"Now, Lily, we're going to be a good girl and we won't do anything to harm Lucius, will we? And we will do everything he says, right?" His tone was more for a toddler than for a fifteen-year-old, but I nodded. "Good girl."

He turned around and swept past Lucius and me and down the corridor and out of sight.

"Lily," said Lucius. "Follow me."

"That's what I'm supposed to do," I said. My words sounded slow and slurred to my ears.

Lucius ignored my comment and walked away from the staircase. I followed.

I dazed off into the bliss of not thinking. Before I knew it, I was back out in the garden. Lucius was bent over Sirius, pointing his wand at him. I forced myself out of the fuzzy state and said, "Don't kill him. He's - he's my best friend."

"Don't you worry, Lily," said Lucius. "I'm not going to hurt him." I sighed with relief and went back to the euphoric state.

"Ennervate," whispered Lucius. I could hear Sirius shuffling around, rubbing his head, expressing his pain in very vulgar ways, but I couldn't see him. I started to feel dizzy. I could see purple and green colored spots in front of my eyes, but nothing else. Before I could come out of my elated state enough to say something, things went black.

* * *

"She easily could have died."

"Thank heaven she didn't."

"I didn't know that when potions were mixed with the Imperius curse it could be deadly."

"Of course it can. The Imperius Curse acts as a drug itself. It thins the blood, kills brain cells, and weakens the heart. When mixed with asphodel leaves, it can be extremely dangerous with the pulmonary system. Do you know what asphodel leaves are commonly used in?"

"No, ma'am."

"It's - look, she's stabilizing."

I could hear the whispers all around me--mostly male tones, whispering things that didn't make sense. I opened an eye to see six bleary figures. Who were they? What were they doing?

"Lily," said a voice. It took me a while to realize whom it belonged to. "Lily, can you hear me?"

I opened my other eye. The images instantly became clearer, sharper. Professor Dumbledore, James, Sirius, Peter, Remus, and Madam Pomfrey were sitting on small chairs around my bed. Madam Pomfrey jumped up and started checking my vital signs by poking me in awkward places with her wand.

"Lily, can you hear me?" Dumbledore repeated.

I nodded.

"Good. Don't try to talk - it will only make things worse. But I want you to know that you are in the hospital wing and you are safe." I nodded again. "Do you remember what happened?" Nod. "Good. We'll explain things later. Right now, Madam Pomfrey needs to have you as good as gold before we want you to tell us everything, okay?" Nod.

James stood up and kissed my cheek, despite Madam Pomfrey's disapproving tut.

"Oh, Lily, we were so worried. I could have lost you. Why didn't you tell us Voldemort gave you potions?"

I was confused. I would have said so, but I found that my throat was tight. It felt as if oxygen was being shoved down my throat and into my lungs.

"Mr. Potter, please don't distress her right this moment, she's had enough for this week, I might say," said Dumbledore. James sat back down, my hand still in his. Dumbledore turned his bright blue gaze back on me. "Lily, I'm going to explain to you everything that we know so far, okay?"

Nod.

"As for your condition, you have been unconscious for four days. The reason is that we found, with some tests, that you had a very high amount of asphodel leaves in your blood stream, as well as spiceberry, crushed beak of a woodpecker, and fireweed. Now, I bet you know what they are used for when they are put together, but we'll cover that later. I want to continue with your condition. You are under a Breathing Charm -- it does the breathing for you, like the plastic tubes Muggle hospitals use, since your pulmonary system has been under a lot of stress. That is the reason you can't speak and your throat and chest feel tight."

I nodded and squeezed James' hand tighter. I felt another hand on my free one and looked to my other side to see Sirius, who had a bandage partially covering a massive bruise on the left side of his face.

"As for the potion," Dumbledore continued, "I think you know by the ingredients that it was a very complex Fertility Potion." I nodded. "Good for you. Do you know how he might have given it to you?" I nodded again. "There was some champagne in your body also, so I'm assuming that's how he slipped it to you. The thing with Fertility Potion is that it makes the egg fertilized with only one time. That's it. It may be the first, it may be the hundredth, and it always works. From what Mr. Potter and Mr. Black have told me, you are very lucky that nothing even happened. Madam Pomfrey, do you suppose that you could take the Breathing Charm off of Miss Evans?"

"Well, I guess that would be all right - but just for now," she said a little reluctantly. She pointed her wand at my throat and said, "Finite Incantatem."

Instantly, I felt my throat burn and it became difficult to breathe. I was spluttering, gasping for air.

"Deep breath, Lily," Dumbledore said soothingly. I started taking in large gulps of air. "That's it. Keep breathing. Can you talk?"

"Yes." My voice sounded more like a croak.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Dumbledore asked.

I took a deep breath; it felt good to do it for myself. I started telling them everything I knew. Except I had to be careful not to tell him that James, Sirius, and Peter were off visiting Remus in the Shrieking Shack.

"I was sitting in the common room reading. I was the only one there because James and Sirius and Peter were off to bed because Remus' mother was sick again and they didn't want to have fun without him. An owl came to the window with a note bound to its leg. It was from James saying to meet him in the Charms classroom at midnight.

"I traveled down there and waited for James, but he didn't show up. Instead, masked figures showed up and Stunned me. The next thing I knew, I woke up tied to a bed and in a room I had never seen before.

"Lucius Malfoy was there, I could recognize is voice. He went to get Voldemort.

"Voldemort told me about the prophecy and how the Golden One with the purest heart brought into being an heir for the Darkest Being, that heir would follow in his father's footsteps and help his father take over the world.

"Then he conjured a bottle of champagne. He drank some himself and then he forced some into my mouth."

"The Fertility Potion," Dumbledore breathed. "He took some too?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'm not sure what that means, but I'm assuming that if both male and female take it, there is a 200% chance of fertility. My goodness, you are most fortunate we came just in time."

"We?" I asked.

"Not now, finish your story."

"Well, he then started kissing me. I asked him why he didn't just put the Imperius Curse on me so it could be easier for the both of us. But he kept saying no, insisting that he liked the torturous route better."

"But really, he gave you the Fertility Potion and he knew that that would be very dangerous to mix," said Dumbledore.

"Right, I see that now. But I was so confused as to why he wouldn't put me under it. I'm sure he has hundreds of people under it at once. Anyway, he was about to pull my clothing off-" I looked away in embarrassment "-when there was a knock on the door."

"And that's where we come in," Dumbledore said. He took off his half moon spectacles and rubbed the bridge of his nose. I studied him; he looked older than I had ever seen him. "James and Sirius came to my office, pounding at the door. I let them in and they showed me the note that James supposedly wrote to you. I had heard the prophecy of the Golden One and the Darkest Being before, but never had I dreamed that it would be you, Lily. I immediately thought of Professor Trelawney's prediction and figured it was Voldemort that had kidnapped you and that he was going to use you for the prophecy.

"James, Sirius, and I gathered essential materials and took the Floo Network to the nearest bar. We then ran to the Dark House, as the people refer to it as, and James, Sirius, and I went separate directions.

"I went to look for someone I could disguise myself as and I fortunately ran into Lucius Malfoy. I Stunned him, took some of his hair and put it in a Polyjuice Potion. I then took his mask and robes and went looking for Voldemort.

"When I found Voldemort, he was with you, Lily, I made up a story about intruders and he quickly followed me. I then showed James and Sirius where the room was and they went in there to wait for my signal.

"Voldemort came back in, I waited a few minutes, and I knocked again. He left, and James and Sirius rescued you and traveled out into the garden, where you would travel down the road to meet me. But instead you met Voldemort."

"The rest you know of," said Sirius. His face looked really awful, all swollen and black and purple.

"But what happened after Voldemort placed me under the Imperius Curse? I remember being really relaxed and dizzy," I asked.

"The relaxation is from the Imperius, it makes you not think. I know you were going in and out of it, trying to fight it, because you had your free will to talk to me, but I didn't know that you had taken the Fertility Potion. That's why I was so shocked when you passed out," Dumbledore said.

"What happened after I passed out?" I asked.

"I woke Sirius up, located James, and they carried you to the middle of the woods, where you'd be safe. I went back into the house to take care of some business." The headmaster looked away, I swear I saw a tears glistening in his eyes. "Lord Voldemort had found the real Lucius Malfoy and I fled. I must go," he said briskly. "I have business with the Ministry of Magic. Speedy recovery, Lily."

With that, the headmaster stood and strode out of the hospital wing.

"Poor dear," murmured Madam Pomfrey. "He's had a very rough life. I suspect that that was the last straw. He didn't get the revenge he wanted, but he did manage to capture three Death Eaters."

"What happened?" Remus suddenly spoke up. I looked over at him. He looked much older than a boy of fifteen. His skin was pale, his eyes had bags under them, and his cheeks weren't rosy or creased from his usual polite smile.

"Oh, never you mind, dears," Madam Pomfrey cooed. "I suspect Dumbledore will tell you when he's ready. Now, you all need to leave, Miss Evans needs her rest.

"Wait," James said. "Can you excuse us for a moment?" He looked at Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Madam Pomfrey.

"Sixty seconds," Madam Pomfrey said sternly as the four of them got up. She closed the curtains around my bed.

I looked into James' deep black eyes and smiled weakly.

"Oh, Lily," he whispered. "I was so worried! I can't even believe I let this happen!" He put his head in his hands.

"James," I said, my voice still somewhat hoarse. "It wasn't your fault. It was nobody's fault. Voldemort is a mastermind lunatic. You could not have known. I could not have known."

He looked back up at me.

"I know," he sighed. "I'm so thankful you're all right that I can't even put it into words."

I pulled him to a standing position next to my bed.

"I am too. Thank you, James, for rescuing me." I pulled him even closer and leaned up to meet his lips.

"Sixty seconds are up!" called Madam Pomfrey from behind the curtain. James pulled away and kissed my nose, my forehead, and the top of my head.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Get some rest," he said softly. He turned and left behind the curtain.

Madam Pomfrey came in and gave me a goblet full of purple liquid.

"Dreamless sleep," she informed me as I drank it. As soon as the goblet was drained, my head hit the pillow and I drifted off into a deep sleep.

* * *

"Lily," I heard someone hiss. I opened my eyes to meet darkness and two figures.

"Mm?" I mumbled, rolling over on my back.

It was Sirius and Remus, standing on the left side of my bed.

"We just wanted to check on you," he said.

"Thanks," I said. "Why?"

"Well, we feel really horrible about what happened," Remus said.

"Remus, there was nothing you could do about it; even if you weren't in your wolf form. It wasn't anybody's fault."

"I know, but I can't help but feel responsible. I mean, I'm the reason that James, Sirius, and Peter were not there to verify that note. I'm sorry."

"Remus, don't be. I'll be okay. I promise. I will never hold this against any of you. None of this was your fault." He leaned over and kissed my cheek. "I love you, Remus," I said.

"I love you too, Lily."

I sat up and looked at Sirius, his swollen face looked worn out and relieved.

"I'm sorry I couldn't have been of more help," he said, not looking at me.

I reached up and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at me.

"Sirius Kent Black," I said with an air of scolding. "You saved my life by risking yours. You are my hero, Sirius. And a damn good hero you've turned out to be." He smiled weakly and leaned over to kiss my cheek also. "I love you Sirius," I whispered.

"I love you too, Lils," he whispered back. "Now go back to sleep."

I nodded, rolled over onto my stomach and closed my eyes. Sirius rubbed my back for a good thirty seconds - or at least that's how long it took me to fall asleep again.

I slept. Dreamlessly, peacefully, getting rid of all cares in the world.