Harry Potter Fan Fiction

The older woman turned her gaze from the fireplace to Remus worried and slightly irritated face. “It’s been twelve hours, Remus. Procedure calls for twenty-four hours to search for a missing person.” She searched his face before turning back towards the fire. “You know that, Remus.”
“Damn it!” Sirius cried angrily, and pounded his fists into the desk in front of him. “Figg—you know as well as I that they’ve been captured, and we do not have twenty-four hours.”
“Black-”
“No, Figg, listen! Damn the hell out of procedure, sometimes it doesn’t work and this is it!”
The middle-aged woman gave a weary sigh. “Black-”
“You know that no one has ever survived for more then twenty-four hours in capture, and you know that they’re probably being tortured, and you bloody know James and Lily—how can you do this to them? Don’t you know that you’re condemning them to death?!”
Arabella grew silent, her gaze turning inward as memories that she tried in vain to squash down washed over her as they had every evening in her dreams since that terrible, terrible night five years ago during the beginning of the war.

“Oh, be careful David!” A younger version of herself, idealistic and naïve leaned over to kiss her fiancé.
He grinned at her cockily, twinkling emeralds glowing with silent mirth. “Aren’t I always?” He then disappeared, off to complete another mission as he always did.
Only this one was different.
It was the last time she saw him alive.
There had been an ambush, he had been captured. She had begged her commander to send out a search party for them, but procedure did not allow it. By the time they reached him, he was gone.
She still recalled how she had felt when she was given the news that she would never see her love again. That they would never laugh together, never cry together. How they would never get married, never have kids, never grow old together, as their whispered promises had always pledged.
It was a terrible ache that radiated from deep inside her chest, nearly consuming her. It had not waned since and she was ascertained that it never would
Could she really condemn others to the same cruel fate?

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“What?” James asked incredulously as he gaped at the boy. “You…can’t?” His voice rose in anger. “You can kill innocent women and children, join Voldemort, the spawn of the devil, disown your own BROTHER but you CAN’T torture a rebel?”
Regulus flinched visibly. “But…” He sputtered, desperately seeking compassion in the hard hazel eyes. “I…I know you.”
He still recalled when the older boy would bring laughter to the dark halls of his house before he and his brother had started Hogwarts. James was always kind to him, always allowed him to tag along when he and Sirius pulled pranks. However, when James and Sirius had left for Hogwarts, there was a huge uproar between Sirius and his parents, especially when Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor. Sirius and James rarely, if ever, were at his house. They left him alone. With them.
With so much time of only his parents’ words ringing in his ears, what could he have done but believed them?
James snorted, disgusted. “And that really makes a difference? War isn’t all fun and games Regulus.”
Regulus stayed silent, and James sighed and turned again. “Stop being an idiot, already, Regulus. Hurry up and get it over with.”
“No.” The word was softly spoken, but it held defiance and pride. There was a light in his blue eyes that had not been there for a long, long, time, and James was suddenly reminded of the mischievous little boy that Regulus had once been.
“Listen, Regulus, this is really noble of you and all, but you have to do this, Voldemort will torture you if you don’t, and you need to stay alive, you idiot!”
“No.” After saying yes so many times, after giving in so many times to things that he knew were not right, this word brought relief to his soul, and he reveled in the sheer power that it held.
James growled quietly to himself, realizing with a touch of wry humor how utterly idiotic this was of him. Honestly, begging to be tortured! “Regulus…”
“I won’t, and you can’t make me. I’ll stop being a Death Eater, I swear I will and I’ll join the Aurors, I’d be useful, I swear I would! That is, if you’d have me…”
Hazel eyes gazed searchingly into the sincere, desperate pale blue that bore into him. There was slight plea for redemption in those eyes, and he could sense neither malice nor deception. He dropped his gaze and smiled at him.
“I have a much better idea than that…you could serve some use in the Order, if you’d be willing to take risks that would jeopardize your life and could cause you severe bodily harm…”
Cerulean eyes lit up, and he answered, as seriously as he could, “I’d do it.”
James grinned. “Good, you have to be slightly nutters as well, and since you agreed to the terms listed above, you are definitely a loony…Well then, this is all very peachy, but you’re going to have to torture me!”
A stricken expression answered him. “I can’t.”
“Argh!”
“Listen, I’ll just have to explain to Voldemort that you’re a pureblood and-”
“Don’t be a fool!” James hissed. “He’ll kill you on the spot for disobeying his orders!”
The door suddenly swung open, banging into the wall behind it with a crash and they both jumped slightly. From the doorway, a voice drawled, “Indeed.”

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“This is the traitor my Lord.”
Regulus was shoved in front of the throne that Voldemort was sitting in, and crumbled to the ground.
“Tell me, Black, I hear that you are betraying me to join Dumbledore’s side…I assume that it is not true. For you know what we do to traitors.”
“Yes, m-my Lord.”
Voldemort raised a thin eyebrow slightly. “Yes, you know what we do to traitors, or yes, you are confirming the rumor?”
“B-both sir.”
Voldemort’s eyes flashed. “Wrong answer.”
Regulus scrambled to his feet as a sense of pride swept over him. He was oddly calm, though his heart hammered in his chest, and he knew, with sudden clarity that he was going to die. But if this was truly the end, then he would die proudly. Honorably. Like his brother would have.
“My lo- Voldemort. Your order is for a stupid cause, and I was a git for joining your ranks. I have chosen to resign from the Death Eaters permanently.”
Voldemort gave a bark of laughter. “Very well then, boy. I shall grant you your wish. AVADA KEDAVARA!”
There was a flash of light, and Regulus crumbled to the ground as life left him, a permanent, triumphant smile twitching the corners of his lips.
Outside, it began to rain fiercely from the heavens as the angels wept bitterly at the injustice of the loss.

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James was thrown into the cell and groaned as the impact with the hard floor jostled his various injuries. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking in calming breaths as deep as his cracked ribs would allow.
After a few minutes of composing himself, he opened his eyes again. “Lily…” He whispered, turning his pounding head to where she still lay slumbering. Slowly, inch-by-inch, he managed to drag himself over where to she was.
Her features were at peace, and he smiled tenderly as he gently pushed a crimson lock behind her ear. Darkness crept across his vision as the adrenaline quickly drained out him so that he was spent. He slumped over her, landing on her stomach as he succumbed to the comforting pull of unconsciousness.
“Lily…” He breathed, the word nothing more but a small exhalation riding on the labored huff of air. “Lily…”

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Lily…
Lily scrunched up her nose in confusion as she stopped in the middle of the forest. Sunshine glittered through the canopy of trees and small birds chirped happily to one another. She was content. She stood still for a couple of moments, and she shrugged. Just when she was going to continue on her way—
Lily…
There it was again.
The voice was soft, and the redheaded witch had to struggle to hear it as it rode upon the wind. She could not place the name to the voice that called for her. It was slightly desperate, pained, yet tender and loving.
Lily…
Emerald eyes widened. That was James! She was sure of it now. Her keen gaze searched the forest, but she could find no trace of him. The forest noise had stopped, and she found herself at a fork in the road.
In one path, there lay peace and happiness and love.
In the other, there lay shallow feelings, and a war that she knew she could never win.
For who could ever win the war of loneliness?
There were two paths—one bright and shining, the other, slightly darkened, filled with uncertainty and trials of suffering.
She chose the darker path, the path that had peace with herself, happiness, and love.
She chose life.
She chose James.
For when given the choice between heaven and hell, what crazy loon would choose hell? (1)
Lily made her choice.
Emerald eyes opened slowly, blinking to clear her hazy vision. As her eyesight adjusted to the poor lighting, the crimson-haired witch took in her surrounding. Her memories flooded back, and she grinned wryly.
Had she truly left peace only to be confronted with this?
She had left the darkness for some reason that she could not fathom, and it resided teasingly at the edge of her conscious.
It was then that she noticed the unusual weight that was draped across her. She grunted as she attempted to sit up, but she could not see what was keeping her down.
Her feather light touch gently moved the unruly black hair aside to keep it from obscuring his features.
To her fascinated horror, the crumbled, battered body was that of James Harold Potter—the one, that only hours prior, she had started to consider a friend. Lily finally gasped, her emerald orbs growing wide with shock as the deep crimson stained her robes, the vital liquid flowing out of him rapidly.
Much too rapidly.
“JAMES!”

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Could she really condemn another to the same cruel fate?
Arabella finally came out of her thoughts to the sight of Sirius still ranting and raging in her office, while Remus stood quietly by.
“We will be leaving, Arabella. With or without your consent.” Remus warned as his sharp gaze met hers.
“You will send a rescue party out, Figg, damn it! I don’t care about bloody procedure; I care about my friends’ lives! Send out a search party, and do it now!”
“Okay.”
“And another thing!” Sirius continued to rage, “We will-” The ebony-haired wizard blinked, stopping in mid-tirade. “O-okay?”
Arabella rolled her eyes at the dumbfounded look that dominated the features of both the two that stood before her.
“Yes, Black. I gave my consent to have a search party organized. As of now, James and Lily are both missing-in-action.”
Sirius was still for a moment, before he gave a loud whoop and bolted for the door. Remus followed at a much more sedate pace, and turned to give his superior a last word.
The older woman was staring at the fires, lost in memories from long ago. Remus knew he had no place intruding, and withdrew from the room. “Thank you,” He whispered quietly, and shut the door, leaving her to her thoughts.

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Peter’s eyes were narrowed into slits as he overheard the conversation going on between two wizards that were wandering outside of his doorway.
“I hear that they’re got a whole search party already commissioned, and Figg even approved of it!”
“Probably would have gone anyway, don’t you think?”
“Yeah,” The other laughed. “But I must say that this must make it easier for them. I hope they find Potter and Evans…I always liked those two.”
There was a sigh. “We can only hope.”
The two men continued on their way, and Peter stared at the ceiling above him. So they were already on their way to rescue James and Evans, were they? Well, it was no skin off his nose if they got caught by the Dark Lord.
Deep in his heart, however, a tiny voice disagreed, but it was locked up, as it always was, away from his heart.
‘No skin off my nose indeed…’

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“Damn it, Potter, what did they do to you?” Lily questioned, but received no answer from the unconscious man. And although she would have been grateful to see his sparkling eyes once again, she knew, that with injuries so severe as these, that it was no small mercy to be in the land of oblivion.
“Stupid, stupid man!” She muttered angrily to herself, as she tore her robe into ribbons to provide bandages. She shivered in the cool night, her muggle clothing doing little to keep her warm.
She continued to mutter to herself, but her fury was not targeted towards the man that lay in front of her. Her feather light touch brought moans of agony that he could not quell in his current state. Lily tore off more of her robe to staunch the bleeding from his multiple abrasions and lacerations.
Bruises mottled his form, so that there were more purple bruises and crimson blood to his skin then there was undamaged flesh. She winced as she came into view of the thin lashes that crisscrossed over his chest and back that still oozed blood.
Fury at the injustice was pushed down for this was neither time nor place. Anger would not help James in his current condition.
So instead, she gently nursed to as many wounds as she could, ignoring the tug that wrenched at her heart. His face, lax in sleep, was strangely vulnerable, more so without his glasses that usually graced his face.
He twisted in the throes of a nightmare, his face settling into a grimace of agony and pain. Lily stayed with him throughout the horrible dreams that plagued him, murmuring soothing words into his ear.
James quieted, and Lily silently and fiercely swore to herself that she would not allow this-this injustice!- to occur again. And she vowed revenge on all those who had tortured, the person who had managed to creep his way into her hardened heart.

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Remus stared unseeingly into oblivion as he watched the search party prepare for what they might need. The hustle and bustle was lessened in his ears, nothing more but a dull roar that emitted in the background.
A strong hand clasped his shoulder, and concerned blue eyes peered at him. He did not turn from his position, but gave a sigh and a low welcome.
“What is it, Moony?”
“Did you hear what she said? Missing-in-action.” His voice was soft, emotionless.
Sirius winced, for he and every other soldier in this god-forsaken war knew the euphemism precisely for what it was. It meant simply, that they had not found the rotting carcass quite yet. His grip tightened on Remus’ shoulder, and he stared at the ground.
Softly Sirius murmured, “We’ll find them, Remus. We will.”
Remus heaved another sigh, and stared up at the darkening sky. The moon was overcast with the darkened clouds, but a few lone stars peeked through the blanket of darkness, bringing hope to the mortals on earth.
And hope was something he was in need of quite badly at the moment.
Turning, Remus gave Sirius a weary, determined smile as he glanced up at the twinkling stars once again. “Yes, Padfoot. We shall.”
Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will break our hearts.” ~Robert Fulghum (1937—)

James whimpered, a strangled mew that tore Lily’s heart, her chest and throat tight as she attempted to dress his wounds. Blackish water had been provided for them, and Lily’s throat was parched, but she dared not drink the foul looking water. She would have preferred not to touch it at all, but in this matter, she had little choice.
She could risk infection by using the water.
Or she could guarantee infection by not using it.
She chose to risk it, and prayed to Merlin that she had not made a horrible mistake. Sweat covered his brow, and Lily gently dipped a strip of cloth in the water and laid it across his forehead. He was lost in the clutches of a nightmare, much as she had been, but she dared not to wake him, leaving him to his much needed healing slumber.
She murmured soothing words as she bandaged and re-bandaged the many wounds he had sustained. Her fury was smoldering inside of her slowly, but she did not grant it leave to the surface. She glanced down to his face once again, and was surprised to see dull amber squinting up at her.

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Sirius peeked into the darkened room and quickly closed the door. He turned to the figure that was leaning against the wall, and said quietly, “Pete’s asleep.”
“It must be the after-effects of the Cruciatus. Do you think that he’d want us to wake him up?”
Sirius smiled fondly, but shook his head. “Pete’s always doing things like that, bumbling in, and trying to help every way he can. I’m know that he really is worried about James, and wants to be involved in the search party, but still…”
Remus smiled at him. “Yes, of course. Peter’s still under the curse’s effects, and we cannot lose valuable time. I believe that the search party is nearly ready. Shall we go?”
“Yes. We’ll let Peter rest.”

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James groaned inwardly, hissing as he moved his head to stare at the vision before him. A ruby-haired vixen was above him, and he blinked, automatically reaching for his glasses. He fumbled only with empty air however, and it was then he realized she was speaking—the angel was speaking, but he could not comprehend the words at first.
“James,” The beauty was speaking, and after every second ticked by, her voice got clearer and more defined. “James, please, wake up a bit…just a little bit more…”
‘Lily’ He realized numbly. Honestly, what did she want him to wake up for? Did she want to torture him? Well, that was a stupid question, of course she did. Because staying awake made him notice all the aches that burned his body and it hurt. It hurt like hell. No, hell had nothing on this. Every nerve was on fire. His body betrayed him, and he let loose a low gasp.
“Easy, easy now, Potter. Don’t do anything stupid. Don’t move.”
James snorted. “And where exactly would I go? Oh look, there’s a nice patch of dirt. I think I’ll just drag myself over there and lie on that instead.”
Lily sighed, but it was more that of relief than true irritation. His wisecracks were something she craved, something that gave her stability when her world was topsy-turvy. “Shut it, Potter, you know what I mean.”
“Oh yes, I have an incredible ability to read minds, you see. That’s what made me so popular with the ladies.”
Lily snorted as she bandaged another wound, rather angry at the mention of his past exploits. “What ladies?”
“Come, come, now, Lily. My charm was extremely well-known throughout the school.” The proudly uttered words were a jest, but Lily did not catch them.
“Charm? What charm?” Lily gave a discriminating laugh, “You were just a git with an over-inflated head, thinking that you were better than everyone else. You strut around like a peacock just because you happened to play Quidditch!”
Thick silence hung over the air, and James stared up at the ceiling. Quietly, oh so quietly, he uttered, “Is that what you really think of me?”
“Yes!”
James sighed, closing his eyes, and muttered, “I had hoped…” He trailed off and turned to his side, his back towards the witch who was staring hard at the ground.
“Hoped what?” Lily ventured softly.
“That we could have been friends…I…I rather foolishly believed that we could after the conversation we had before…”
“James…” Lily started, regretting her words deeply, and she reached out to touch his shoulder. He gave a slightly bitter laugh and she flinched, her hand dropping to her lap once more.
“Nothing but a fool’s dream, I suppose.”
“James—”
He cut her off with a weary sigh as he closed his pained eyes. “I’m tired now, Evans.”
Lily stopped as she stared at his back, and silently withdrew to the shadows of the room. James exhaled as she left, the flashes of lightening lighting up the cell in brief moments, and the thunder and pounding of the rain slowly lulled him to sleep.
‘I changed, Lily,’ He thought desperately, at the brink of sleep once more. ‘That’s what war does to you…I’ve finally grown up. Why are you the only one who doesn’t realize that?’
Lily sat, huddled in a corner, watching the wavering, even fall and rise of James’ chest in his slumber. His breaths were raspy, and Lily was sure that he had cracked, or perhaps even broken a few ribs.
Her anger had faded as quickly as it had been triggered, doused and extinguished with the painfully spoken whisper of James. In its absence it left instead regret and remorse, and slightest twinge of guilt that was slowly germinating inside of her. Mentally reviewing the conversation, she realized the dry humor that he had spoken to her for what it was. But her words…
They were not made in light humor. They were made to be cutting, malicious, something that Lily despised in everyone else, but when it came to James…She was confused, confounded by the many rush of emotions that were associated with him, and him alone.

The Order of the Phoenix.net

24 Hours - Part 4