Jily

Chapter two

Not my work.

Act Two

Coerce

James, still bound, sat in his chair. After screaming himself hoarse, an unrecognizable man, dressed head-to-toe in black, had replaced the gag in his mouth. That seemed like ages ago now. James was not sure how much time had passed. There were no windows in his cell. Everything was dark and grimy. No one brought food or water. He was exhausted but could not sleep. His entire body was caked in dry sweat. His back ached more and more with every second. He could not even slouch in his current position.

He was having trouble remembering things. His mind was woozy from the lack of food. He sensed that he was probably dehydrated, as well. The constant sound of water dripping from the ceiling was obscenely tantalizing. If he had more energy, he would have somehow found a way to get out of there. He knew there had to be a way, if only he was at his full capacity. For now, all James could do was concentrate on keeping his heart beating and his lungs expanding. Time meant nothing. He could not recall a time when he was not being tortured. James half-wondered if this was all a bad dream he would wake up from eventually.

More time passed, and James's consciousness continued to waver. The lucidity of his thoughts fluctuated between perfect coherency and complete delusion.

He could not decide which one was worse.

His mind wandered over the things he would miss most in life, for he was definitely going to die now. He would miss flying. James loved the exhilaration of gliding through the air, as though he was defying physics by making the molecules move around him. He would miss the hours of strategy and tactics with his teammates. He had really whipped the Gryffindor Quidditch Team into shape. They were due to play Hufflepuff for the Cup in two months.

Thoughts of Quidditch made James's back ache more. He longed to stand up and stretch out his strained muscles. The ropes against his bare flesh were chaffing his skin. There must have been huge red marks. The pain was excruciating. He forced himself to think of other things. He imagined, not the crying faces of his parents when they would have to bury their son, but their elated faces when he showed them his N.E.W.T.s scores. They would be so proud of him when he was accepted into auror training. His mum would fret over how mature he was becoming, and his dad would slap him on the back with such fatherly affection that James would have to hold back tears, as he was doing now.

The Marauders! They would never cause James grief. An only child, James could never have been so lucky as to have the three most amazing brothers. If he got out of the cell, he would spend an entire day just telling jokes with his friends and playing games of Wizard's Chess or Exploding Snap. They would sit around and enjoy each other's friendship, bonds that could never be broken, no matter the situation. James tried to envision Sirius's laughing face when he told him that he really was scared now. However, all James could see was the worry lining his forehead and the agony in his best friend's eyes.

Against his gag, James moaned. No sound came out. He did not want to die. He had so much to live for. Hell, he was only seventeen-years-old. Death came later. James wasn't ready. He was too young to have regrets. He needed more time. He had to tell Lily how he felt. How could he die before he had the chance to tell her how much he loved her? His body weak, his chest heaving, and his mind betraying him, James allowed himself a lie.

His body finally gave out and James fell asleep awkwardly, unable to move out of his sitting position. His rest was neither long nor peaceful. He thrashed against his binds and breathed shallowly as nightmares filled his head. James, panting, woke up suddenly with sweat pouring down his forehead. He gagged on the material in his mouth before he realized that he was still in his cell. The very thought made him nauseous, but there was no food in his stomach to vomit. He closed his eyes and waited for his breathing and heart rate to calm down.