Jily

Chapter three

Not my work written by Molly Raesly

Act Three:

Escape

"Lily, I don't understand. How did you get in here?"

She sighed in exasperation as she attempted to get him standing. "Magic, Potter. Makes you wonder if Merlin gave you any brains or just decided to cover your head in extra hair to compensate."

James stared at Lily with rapture. The sound of her insulting him was glorious.

She rolled her eyes. "I used a Disillusionment Charm to get in here unnoticed, and then I found the keys that unlock your cell. It wouldn't open with a charm. Sirius, Remus, and Peter got some black robes to try to blend in as guards. They're waiting for us. There seems to be some magic protecting this place, so we can't just apparate out."

James blinked as he tried to absorb all the information. His mind seemed too heavy to understand it all completely. His head was still reeling over the fact that the real Lily Evans was with him. Now, he had to process an entire escape plan. He forced his brain to interpret all of this new information. Then, he remembered something. "Dumbledore!" he croaked out. "We have to warn Dumbledore! They want to hurt him!"

"James, be quiet," Lily muttered with apprehension in her voice. She looked over her shoulder wearily before turning back to James. "We are trying to make this a subtle rescue mission, not alert the bad guys that we've entered their secret lair."

"But they want to hurt him. They think he has a secret. It has something to do with us," protested James.

"Us?" asked Lily, surprised. "What's supposed to happen? Are the Head Students going to take over the world by taking away points from Slytherin?" She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

James was glad she underestimated these people. He never wanted anything to happen to her to make her fear them like he did.

"Lily," said James urgently. "Where is Dumbledore? Is he safe?"

"He is at some type of meeting with the Ministry of Magic. Sirius, Remus, and Peter went to his office, but he wasn't there. Apparently, McGonagall sent them back to bed. They were plotting and speaking rather loudly in the Gryffindor Common Room when I woke up. They, apparently, were just going to storm into the place and try to take it by force. I came downstairs to make them be quiet so the First Years could sleep, and then I had to help them."

"Such a good Head Girl," James said warmly as he grasped Lily's hand lightly. He smiled when she did not pull away. "But how did you know where to find me?"

"That bloody map of yours. I'm confiscating it when this is all over."

"So we're not that far from Hogwarts?"

"No, we're someplace underground. However, we might never get back there if you keep asking me all these bloody questions when I'm trying to save you!"

James grabbed her hand tightly and stood up, pulling her up with him.. "Let's go home."

Lily took out her wand when they heard the sounds of footsteps coming closer. She looked at James with a panicked glance. "Someone's coming," she whispered.

James looked around vigilantly as he formed a plan. His brain, hazy and confused, worked as fast as it could. "Be evil," James whispered to her before a man walked towards the bars of the cage.

"Still playing with the puppy?" sneered the man, whom James recognized from his first encounter with these people. "I thought your time was up, Bellatrix."