James Did It! (A HP Fanfic)

Chapter 13

Lily and Tonks didn't much time to practice after the next few days, and a Death Eater came and grabbed Lily when Tonks was telling her how to sense people were around you. The Death Eater had heard their coversation.

Lily had become expectant of this, being taken away for while, but the fear the overcame her each time it happened would always be there.

The Death Eater shoved her into a room and Lily heard the door lock.

Instant panic.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions, Potter," the Death Eater said, and Lily realized with a horrifying jolt it was Bellatrix Lestrange. "And you are to answer them truthfully, or else you will be punished. Do you understand?"

Lily nodded, going weak in the knees from fear.

"Good little girl. Just like your mumzy." She cackled with laughter. Then her tone became icy and cold. "Now, I want you to tell me exactly how you contacted them," she hissed.

"W-what?" Lily stammered, unsure of what she was saying.

"HOW DID YOU CONTACT THEM?!" Bellatrix shreiked, showing Lily how short of a temper she had.

"I-I'm not - not sure w-what you -"

"Lies, little girl! Crucio!"

Lily screamed as she was blown into the wall from the impact of the spell. Her body was on fire, yet freezing cold at the same time, and the hot - or cold - searing pain that irrupted inside of her made her cry out loudly, screaming in terror. A thousand knives were stabbing her - a thousand blades were piercing her skin, raking down her body and making her cry out in sheer agony.

When it ended (it seemed like forever that the spell had been tearing at her), she was sobbing, and Bellatrix was laughing.

"Do not lie to me, you foul Half-Breed!" she snareled at the weeping girl. "Now, how did you contact your father?!"

"I - I - I didn-didn't -" Lily sobbed.

"OH YOU DIDN'T, DID YOU?! THEN EXPLAIN TO ME HOW POTTER HAS FIGURED OUT WHERE WE ARE! EXPLAIN TO ME WHY THAT IS, REDHEAD!"

Lily remained silent except for her sobs... wait...

Her dad knew where she was?

"Was it that foul Metamorphagus I am disgusted to call a niece who did it?!" Bellatrix demanded. "Does she have another wand? ANSWER ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU, GIRL!"

Lily cried in terror as she was hit with another spell. This time it tore at her - literally. She could feel her flesh being ripped under the curse, and could feel the hot, sticky blood seeping out of her wounds.

Lily dared to say, "Y-you call m-me a 'foul h-half-breed', b-but... you do kn-know that Vol-Voldemort... is a Ha-Half-Blood t-too, so it-it's almost l-like you're in-insulting him as-as well as... m-me."

"YOU DARE SAY HIS NAME?!" Bellatrix shreiked.

"Y-yes, I do. G-genrilally you c-call people by their n-names where I come f-from," Lily said, getting bolder by the second. "And you d-do know, Bella, that y-you can hurt me all you w-want, but you kno-know you can't kill me. And y-you also should know that my d-dad is going to kill you for what you-you've done. You're a hypocrite and I hate you."

Bellatrix seemed to stunned to say anything witty, so she just hissed, "Stay in here" and left, slamming the door and locking it.

Lily curled up against the wall, trying to ignore the searing pain from her wounds or the pounding head ache she was getting or the tears that threataned to spill.

"Please f-find me..." she whispered into her nothingness.







They were in Stuart, Florida, the first day of their investigation. They had rented a hotel room to stay in, and James had finally called and let them know Teddy was staying with Victoire for the time being.

They first went to the local police (lead by a wizard, of course) to find out more about the murder that happened.

"My God, if it isn't Harry Potter!" he exclaimed, shaking Harry's hand. His name was Mr. Youth. "Pleasure! What brings you all the way to America?"

"Actually, we're here on an investigation," said Harry (O), "could we have a word?"

"Of course, of course, by all means, make yourself comfortable!"

"As comfortable as you can get in a Police Station..." Ginny (O) muttered to Ron (O), who snorted.

They sat down in the plastic chairs, and Mr. Youth took a seat behind his desk.

"We were wondering if you could tell us about that murder we heard happened around here," Remus said.

"Oh, you mean the Jacksons?" Mr. Youth asked sadly. "Yes, tragic... Muggles, you know, except their son, he was a wizard... only third year, poor kid... Well, what happened was that the family was celebrating their son's birthday - Dylan, I think his name was - when they got a knock at the door, and... that's all we know."

"But do you think this could've been done by magic?" Ginny (Y) asked, and Mr. Youth nodded.

"I don't think, miss, I know it involved magic," said Mr. Youth.

"What do you mean?" Molly asked.

"What else can we think? No one knows anything but what I just told you and that they died, just like that, end of story. I know something bad is going on... but deep down, I think all we wizards know that we're long overdue for something not bad to happen for this long."

When he finished, his voice was lowered to almost a whisper, but they caught every word he said. And inside Harry's (O) head, he had an instant idea of what was happening.

*

When they were heading back to their hotel in the car, Harry (O) was telling everyone what he was thinking.

"Those people were Muggles, and had a Muggle-Born son, right? Voldemort wasn't hunting for more followers just then. He did that out of pure evil, killing innocent Muggles like that. I know it was him, I know it..."

"He's a little... fricking... mahogony... idiot!" Sirius muttered.

"He is, that's his new nickname, Little Fricking Mahogony Idiot," Hermione (O) said. "Better than the Dark Lord or You-Know-Who..."

"Don't say his name, though," Ron (O) said.

Everyone looked at him.

"Why not?" Ginny (O) asked. "Why can't I say Vol-?"

"Shut up! The taboo, genious! He might've put a taboo -"

"What's a taboo? I am so confused right now..."

"Ginny, a taboo is a kind of curse," said Hermione (O). "So whenever you say Voldemort's name -"

"Well, there's obviously not a taboo," said Sirius. "You just said his name."

"I don't even know why I started this, I'll be quiet now," Ginny (O) said.

*

When they were back at the hotel room, Ginny (O) called James to see what misheif her sons were up to with their cousins before she and Harry (O) went to bed.

"What do you want, Mum?" James asked, probably rolling his eyes.

"Relax, I just wanted to know what you were up too with Albus and your cousins."

"Nothing. Just watching TV. Not as in we're having a Harry Potter marathon... So did you battle any Death Eaters yet?"

"No, but we do know there are some in town. I'm not sure how much longer we'll be gone."

"Mum, you do realise Hogwarts starts next Sunday, right?"

Ginny (O) stopped. Had it really been that many days she had been away from her daughter? "Really? I mean - yes. Of course if does... Okay, I'll make sure you get there. I have to go. Love you, give everyone a hug for me!"

She hung up as Harry (O) came into the room, looking at her concernedly. "What's wrong, Ginny?"

"Nothing," she answered, trying to hold back tears. "I'm going to go brush my teeth..."

She tried to slip passed Harry, but he caught her arm and turned her to face him. "Ginny, you look like you're going to cry. What's wrong? Don't say nothing."

Ginny's eyes filled with tears as she looked at her husband. "Hogwarts starts next Sunday, Harry."

A wave of recognition went over his face. "Gin, it'll be fine. I'll get her back if I have to go all the way across the world again a million times."

"What if we don't get her back, though?" Ginny whispered, and Harry pulled her into a hug. "I mean, what if we're too late..."

"We won't be, we will get her back to us, one way or another." He gave her a soft kiss. "I promise."

"You swear it?"

"I swear it."