Lily Lives On

The Manor And The Manure

The silence of the night was penetrated by a horrendous scream that froze all Lily's insides, coming from the manor, though muffled by the distance and the wind. Crouching under the Invisibility cloak, she tiptoed towards one of the gates and peeked into the garden. She was certain that all gates were guarded with the help of magic and that simply opening one and helping herself inside would not do.

She gasped with a ragged breath when she heard him scream again. How long it would take before they broke him, she dared not guess. She needed to do something now.

She saw a dark, hooded figure walking effortlessly out of the main gate without even opening it. She recognized Voldemort.

As if he'd sensed her, the dark wizard stopped to scan the area with his red eyes. Then he disapparated, presumably to Hogwarts, to find her.

Merlin - no - Dumbledore save Hogwarts, she thought.

Another scream.

The stupid snake is out of my way now, she thought. She didn't know how to turn it to her advantage, though. She kept staring into the garden without a clue what to do.

And then she saw another miserable being, stopping near the fence to feed the peacocks, just a few meters from her. A house elf. While she was deciding whether to put her trust in this little creature or not, Severus screamed again. The house elf whimpered and sighed. The light from his lamp revealed his big, sad, green eyes. Never in her life had she seen such a sorrowful being. That was the moment that finally made her decide.

"E-excuse me," she whispered, sounding rather shy.

The elf jumped in surprise at the sound and started looking around frantically.

"Over here," she said and revealed her hand, beckoning him to come closer.

The elf took only two steps toward her and then stopped. "W-who are you, madam?"

Lily looked around and then slowly, with caution, took off the cloak from her head.

The elf's eyes went wide when he saw the head say: "I am Lily. And who are you?"

"Miss Lily wishes to know my name?"

The beautiful head nodded with a friendly smile.

"My name is Dobby, madam."

"Nice to meet you, Dobby."

"Nice to... Meet me?" the elf whispered in bewilderment. Lily saw his big eyes fill with tears.

"How can Dobby help you, madam?"

"I am here to rescue Severus. Can you help me with that?"

The elf shook his head sadly. They could hear Severus scream again, this time with a cracked voice.

"Please, please help us," she begged him with tears in her eyes. "Can you... Can you smuggle me into the manor somehow? I'll do the rest."

Again, Dobby shook his head. "It's not that Dobby doesn't want to help Miss Lily... Dobby can't. Dobby is tied to the Malfoys, enslaved till he dies, madam. Dobby can't do anything that would go against the wishes of his masters and mistresses. However..." His voice trailed off when he immersed himself in thought. And then, without any explanation, he whispered: "Hide yourself and follow Dobby along the fence - I-if you wish."

"Thank you," she smiled at him and put on James's cloak again.

The journey along the fence was long and full of blackberry bushes. Finally, the elf stopped and so did Lily. She was now standing right in front of something big and dark. Lily let out a relieved sigh when she realized she was looking at nothing more than a large pile of manure.

"Excuse the smell, Miss Lily. This is, however, the least protected part of the fence and Dobby will open this little gate to take out the rubbish. When the gate is open, Dobby will do his job and not notice anything."

Dobby disappeared to get the rubbish bin. Lily waited patiently, shifting on her feet. Severus screamed again in a tired, raspy voice, reminding her of how short on time she really was.

Finally, the gate opened and Lily went through it. When she found herself standing in front of the elf, who was now carrying a large rubbish bin, she patted him on his shoulder. In a voice so quiet that he had to stretch his ears, she said: "I will be back. I'll get you out of here, too. I promise."

Dobby's eyes shot up toward the spot where her eyes were. "Dobby will be free only if Dobby gets a piece of master's clothing, given willingly."

"Then I will make your master give you his clothes. All of them."

Lily's mischievous smile was quickly interrupted by Severus's even hoarser, even more agonized, wail.

"I have to go," she whispered apologetically.

"Good luck, Miss Lily. Dobby will take out some more rubbish when you get back here."