The Nightmare Man

Chapter 13

It was mid-December, a normal day, when Lily Potter entered the Leaky Cauldron. At first, no one paid her any attention. But one glanced over, and then another, and then more and more people at the tables and the bar did the same. Whispers started.

She was covered in cuts and bruises, blood all over her body.

"Fire-call someone!"

"Like who?"

"Her husband! She's been missing!"

Lily Potter said nothing. She just stared at nothing, and let herself be herded, first deeper into the Leaky Cauldron, and then transported to St Mungo's by two Aurors who held her gently by the arms.

She was shaking, staring at her own feet. She was cleaned off and dressed, and someone helped her into bed. She looked up at the ceiling. An older witch came to her bedside and said:

"We've contacted your husband. He's coming."

Lily looked at her.

"The nightmare..." she said.

"It's over," one of the healers said.

Another stroke away the tangled, red hair from Lily's face.

"It's not over," she said, shaking her head. "It won't be over until he's dead... the Nightmare Lord, won't be over until he's gone..."

Then she rolled over to her side and closed her eyes tightly.

-o-

James refused to leave Lily's side and so the gathered Order members held a meeting in her hospital room. Molly Weasley was untangling Lily's hair, bristling and clenching her jaws almost as tightly as James did. Molly and Lily were good friends, and it hurt them all to see Lily curled up like a child, looking so very small in that hospital bed.

"Aside from the cuts and bruises, she's good physically," Poppy said, looking over the charts the healers had left her. "But she was injured, past tense."

"How badly?" James asked.

"Abdominal wound seems to be the largest. Going straight through her. Bruising on her liver, wounds on her hands... but likely also other small cuts that weren't large enough to leave scarring behind."

"Torture?" Sirius asked.

"They couldn't determine that," Poppy replied. "But they are concerned about her mind."

"What do you mean?" James asked. "Has she been under the Cruciatus spell?"

"No, but her Occlumency shields were torn apart," Poppy said. "Someone broke in her mind violently, and with no regards to her mental stability. They don't know who either, so until Lily is strong enough to tell us we won't either."

"But the Nightmare Lord took Petunia and Vernon, so it has to be him who took Lily as well."

"There are some magical traces left in her mind. Not enough to actually be anything harmful, but it could be the Nightmare Lord's magic. It could be from a spell only he knows how to use."

"That bastard did this, I'm sure of it. He did this to Lils. I don't care about those papers Cornelius had about the Nightmare Lord, all that history or that the lord can't be killed. I will kill him for this."

-o-

Somewhere else, Harrison sneezed. He winced at the pain radiating from his cheek. Lucian put down the lunch tray and looked at him.

"Did you just sneeze, master?"

"I am human, humans sneeze," Harrison snapped. "It's probably dust... yes, dust. Has this room been cleaned recently?"