~*~Chapter 9~*~
The next couple of weeks went by smoothly and quickly, similar to leaves fall off a tree: They break off from the rest of their world, drifint slowly down to the ground, to a resting place, but not straight down. The leaves take many spins and curved paths, yet they always go back to their original mission, free flying. Metamorphically speaking, that's how Lily and James' lives were spend at Hogwarts. Granted, with only them there, it was a lot harder to sneak around, but they created ways to cause diversions and blame their screw-ups on ghosts, portaits, and Mrs. Norris.
Most of their time was spent having fun by doing what they did best: Creating new charms and hexes, sneaking around the castle while looking for passsageways and whatnot, making frequent visits to the kitchens where they were bombarded by bored house-elves, and swimming in the lake.
On the few occasions that they saw Dumbledore, they'd swarm him with questions about Minister Potter and what was going on. The weary headmaster always just shook his head and admitted he knew nothing. James even went far enough as to ask him if they could go to Hogsmeade. All he received from that was a stern "no" and a smashed foot, courtesy of Lily.
Filch avoided the two at all costs; they even saw him quickly dart a corner so as not to have to make an encounter. During one of their unfortunate meetings, Flich stated that he had enough of "ungrateful, darn flobberworms" during the school year. Having to worry about them during his time off was slave-work. "I better get paid extra for this," was the last thing he had said to them when they asked him to give them breakfast in bed, Dumbledore's orders. He was furious, much to James' delight.
Now that Dumbledore's time was abysmally low, he had to hire some of the teachers to come watch Lily and James as so-called 'chaperones' while he was out and about on urgent business, probably relating to their own situation. The professors hired took week-long rotations usually. Needless to say, when the headmaster owled them about it, Filch flat-out refused, even though he had to be at Hogwarts anyway, and Secreus Snape didn't even bother to write back.
During McGonagall's turn, all she seemed to do was nag them about their summer homework and "staying on top of the game". They couldn't wait for her to leave; she basically forced them to live in teh library. She even set up a tent for them in there, evidently finding the idea amusing.
Professor Alvin Loritz, the History of Magic teacher, wasn't too bad. He didn't pester them at least; he simply told and re-told stories of when he was a soldier in the muggle military during World War II. Thankfully, he didn't act as a teacher and quiz them on his tales.
The Care of Magical Creatures teacher convinced them she was off her rocker; everyday at precisely 3:33pm, she'd let some strange creature loose in the castle and make them "Round the critter up!". That game was scarily dangerous, yet she must have gotten a kick out of it.
Sadly, Lily's uncle, Professor Odysseus Evans, couldn't watch them because he was investigating parts of Hungary with a group of fellow aurors.
Trelawny was the worst; her stay was an absolute nightmare. At every meal they had to drink tea so she could read their tea leaves for them. They had always heard the upper-classmen complain about how much of a kook she was, but never knew why. Now they did.
For Trelawny, the day wasn't complete until she tried her hand at predicting future events. They'd be walking down a corridor, see her, and all of a sudden she'd shriek and say something like "Oh, my dear! Your hair! It's red!"
"No, really?" James would reply dryly.
"Miss Evans, do you not know what this means?"
"Uh, that I'm part Irish?"
Trelawny brought her hand up to her forehead dramatically as if she were about to faint. "Oh! No, dear child! It's a sign! A sign that the Salem Witch Trials are to be re-lived, and you will be the first to be burnt at the stake! -- What a dreadful destiny... Oh I'm so sorry! -- Fire coloured hair! Oh!" And she left, crying, stopping to briefly explain her despair to uncaring portraits.
All in all, Lily and James stayed out of the castle as much as possible, making major competition out of their new game 'Avoid the Chaperones At All Costs', and they did it well.
A serious amount of their time was spent on their broomsticks. Lily improved by the day because she worked her toosh off during practice. James, on the other hand, was only slightly better. His ego got in the way of his sense, so he spent practices just coasting around, thinking. Lily was going to mention the fact that he needed practice drastically, but realized he wouldn't listen to her anyways, so she decided not to waste oxygen on the matter. She figured his head would catch up to reality one day; she just hoped she'd be around when it did.
Unfortunately, the summer was a very rainy one, making it miserable for them on those days when they couldn't look to the outdoors for freedom. Chess provided to be a great use of their time. Both were turning into exceptional players and some of their life-or-death matches spanned a length of up to six hours.
Despite all the things to do at Hogwarts, James yearned to write Sirius and Remus a letter. No, not even a letter. Just a scribbled note telling them where he was and what had happened would be work, but Dumbledore had absolutely forbid it. With them under limited supervision and Mr. Potter still missing, he said it would be jeopardizing for people to know their whereabouts. Plus, owls can be easily intercepted.
Lily, however, was allowed to owl her parents once a week. They knew exactly where she was hiding, so it was safe. She got letters from them consistantly; they never included anything trivial, just all small talk. Reading between the lines, she discovered that Mrs. Potter was hiding out of the Evans' for safety precautions. This lifted his spirits a bit, knowing where his mum was. They also sent her the Daily Prophet, which was a good source for clues as to what was going on in the world. Unfortunately, all it ever included was stories that the minister had disappeared.
~~~~~~
Disregarding everything going on, the hours turned to days, days to a week, until finally, it was August 28, four days before term started...
"Ha!" Lily shouted glorifyingly, dropping a quill onto her notebook.
"Aww Lily! You broke my concentration -- again! Just give my 30 seconds of silence, that's all I ask, but oh no."
"I should be asking you for silence. Once term starts, I won't be able to get a word is edge-wise with the rest of the Tenacious Trio buzzing around."
James flopped onto the large sofa in the common room, clearly aggitated about being interrupted. "Well then, we'll be sure to give you your peace. Just don't complain that it's too quiet. -- But in the meantime, give me mine. This spell's important, and, as we both know, very complex, so if you don't mind..."
"Fine. I guess you won't get to read the finished poem."
"The poem?!" He sat up quickly. "You're finished already?"
"Uh, ya. That's what I was trying to get through your skull in the first place."
"Then let me read it!"
"No, I don't think I will," Lily replied with the air of someone used to getting their way.
"Come on, that's evil. Please?"
"Nope," she said sauvely, making her way up the stairs. "Since you need all the silence for your spell, you're going to have to wait. I'd just hate to interrupt you again. Ta James!"
"But --"
Lily was seconds away from her dorm when the portrait hole opened, revealing someone totally unexpected.
�Professor Dumbledore!� The both said in unison, very surprised.
�What are you doing here? We thought you were going to be in Wales until term started!�
�That was the plan, Miss Evans, but a revelation put it to a halt.� At the sight of their puzzled faces he went on. �Come, follow me. I have a visitor very eager to see you.�
James and Lily exchanged a look of complete confusion, but shrugged and followed him through the portrait hole.
�Good day, Headmaster. Miss Evans. Mr. Potter.� The Fat Lady curtseyed to them and overly smiled; her attitude had completely transformed since the evening they had first arrived at Hogwarts when they had to guess the password.
Once they reached the floor of his office, James asked, �Professor, who is it that wants to see us? - Are we in trouble?�
Professor Dumbledore ceased his merry humming to let out a loud laugh. �No, of course not, Mr. Potter! Unless there�s something you�d like to confess�� He interrogated him by looking into his eyes intently; James was shaking his head innocently. ��No? Jolly good. Let�s carry on�Where were we?� Ah yes. Your visitor, he can�t stay here forever. He�s a very busy man.�
They had just reached the gargoyle statue that hid the entrance of the Headmaster Office and went up. Watching the professor unlock the door with a magic spell, Lily asked, �A very busy man? What does he want with us?�
�Well, yes, this specific man is always busy. It�s hard to say what he wants with you.� He paused with a twinkle in his eye. �The Minister of Magic doesn�t need a reason.�
�That what?!� Both Lily and James� eyes were protruding from their head, a dazzled expression covering their faces.
Dumbledore didn�t say anything, he just opened the chamber door for them and gestured for them to enter. James didn�t wait for a gesture, he just bombed through the door to see his visitor; his father.
�Dad!� He stopped once he saw him. To be frank, it was both a pleasant sight and it wasn�t a pleasant sight. Sure, he was ecstatic about seeing his father for the first time in over a month, but it scared him looking at his dad�s condition.
Carson Potter was in the far side of the circular office, doubled over a large bowl with a silvery liquid, labeled �Minister of Magic Penseive.� At the sound of his son�s voice, he looked up and struggled to make a grin. Anyone present could tell that he was beyond happiness, but his scraggly beard failed to hide the scars and gashes, making it painful for him to smile. His eyes were the same blue-gray, but they felt even smokier and more distressed than usual; his hair was spread in every direction, as usual, but it was dirty, oily, and almost shoulder-length - much unlike any of the professional-looking Potters. His superiority over people had also deserted him; now, he was just an man, distraught from the experiences of his recent life, needing a hug and someone to tell him they're glad he's back.
"Son," he breathed slowly.
Entirelly forgetting his 'tough' personality, James ran across the room and threw himself into his father's arms, overcome with joy. The force of James colliding with him was enough to throw off Mr. Potter's balance.
"Dad, I'm so happy to see you! You're safe! I was so worried that you were hurt or...or..." He couldn't bring himself to speak aloud the horrible thought he had kept trapped in his mind the whole time since they left the quidditch resort.
"I'm glad to see you too, James. I missed you, but I knew you were safe -- I knew Dumbledore wouldn't let anything happen." The weak man shifted his gaze to the headmaster who was happily spectating the whole scene.
"I'm just glad you're back, Dad."
"Yes, me too, Mr. POtter." Lily smiled warmly.
The next several moments were like a dream -- Nothing was said; everyone just looked on, unwilling to break the soft silence because they all seemed to know what eachother was thinking anyway.
All too soon, the whole room's focus changed when a small critter ran into the room breathlessly.
"Mister Headmaster, sir! Vinnie is here, sir, to tell you that --" Her knobby legs skidded to a halt, and she stood looking at the shabby man in the corner, so marveled that she forgot why she had come in the first place.
Groveling before him, she said, "Minister Potter, sir!" And Courtseyed low to the ground, her long elf ears grazing the floor.
The minister stood, amused at the behaviours of the little elf. All he could see were two buggy eyes openly staring at him with admiration.
"Forgive me, but Vinnie has dreamt of the moment she'd meet Minister Potter! Such a wonderful man! Yet Vinnie is most aggrieved, for you look ill, Minister Potter. Can Vinnie get you anything at all, sir?"
Professor Dumbledore answered for him. "How about some hot lemon tea, please Vinnie?"
"Oh! Vinnie remembers that it is his favourite, sir!" She beamed with pride, then scuttled out of the office.
Now that it was quiet again and the opportunity presented itself, James asked hesitantly, "Dad, what happened to you? Why did it take so long for you to come?"
Mr. Potter opened his eyes so slowly, so regretedly, that it seemed like he had been waiting for someone to ask that question for a long time, but still didn't want to have to answer it.
James realized this as his father let out a loud sign, shattering the quiet like an earthquake. "Nevermind, I shouldn't have asked. Sorry."
"No, James. We both knew this was coming, but I don't think your father has enough energy to re-live the whole tale right now," Dumbledore suggested, his eyes like shadows and hands folded solemnly on his lap.
"Albus," Mr Potter shakily took a sip of hot tea and then set the cup back down with an unsteady clank. "They've been through as much hell as I have these past weeks -- mental hell. There's nothing worse than being isolated and not knowing what's going on in the world around you, and I imagine that all you did was wonder about it. It must have driven them up the wall. I..." He paused to reconsider what he was about to say. "I believe they have a right to know. -- Do you have a penseive?"
The headmaster smiled and summoned an ordinary soup bowl to his hands, then transfigured it to a penseive. "It's temporary, but it'll get the job done. Remember Carson, nothing too graphic. Just enough to let them know."
Over the course of the next couple minutes, all they did was watch while James' dad searched his memory for select images and thoughts.
Lily's hair stood on end as Mr. Potter pushed the bowl of silvery liquid toward her and James. It was creepy; they were about to re-live his dreaded scenario.
"Ready, Lily?"
"Bottoms up."
Without a second thought, the two of them plunged into the whirl of memories.
~~~~~~
They were sucked into a what felt like a warp-zone of history, spinning faster and faster before their eyes, and then abruptly, it stopped, landing them in the lodge at Steep-Ridge weeks earlier.
They stood in the middle of the room, and to their right, they could see themselves sitting in a booth with Mr. Potter.
"This is weird..." Lily mouthed as she listened and watched the scene before her.
"That'll be 5 knuts please," The waitress twisted around flirtatiously. "Why don't I go to the back to make sure your drinks are ice," she paused to lick some lipstick off her front tooth. "--cold."
"Sure, ok..." He agreed tentatively.
James laughed and Lily rolled her eyes as they waitress giggled and walked off, shaking her hips as she did so.
"She looks like a penguin." Lily laughed.
"--with a wedgie."
This comment from James sent them all into a fit of hysteria.
"Now kids, that's not nice," Carson strove to regain his natural air as a man of stature and suave-ness, but he too was snickering.
The present James snorted. That waitress was such a loony. He whispered, "Do you think they can hear us?"
"No, nor can they see us, and good thing too. What would you do if you saw yourself standing 5 feet away, part of a completely different conversation?" Lily said logically.
"I think I'd be off to the psychiatric ward."
"Shh! James, your Dad's about to go find that woman!" She hushed him up, slapping her hand across him mouth hurriedly.
"I wonder what's taking her so long to get our sodas," Lily asked.
"I'll go check." Carson volunteered and freely made his way behind the bar to the back of the kitchen.
"C'mon James! This is where it all started, in the kitchens! We have to follow him!"
Lily didn't realize that the memory would stay with Mr. Potter no matter whether they went with him or not, but this was making it so much more interesting.
All of a sudden, Mr. Potter halted and poised himself as close to the wall as he could get and scooted towards the back, inch by inch.
"Tell me... where is he? Either cooperate, or die! It's your choice, woman, now choose!"
"I...I Can't! Confidentiality --"
He cut her off cruly. "Crucio!"
Mr. Potter tensed up as he heard the forceful thump of her body hit the floor.
Wand! Where the hell is my wand? He thought, running his hands through his robes. He had no chance against this person without his wand.
"What say you now, woman?" The voice roared.
Mr. Potter was growing fearsome and he knew his time was running short, but his wand was nowhere to be found.
The waitress, too weak to speak, whimpered as her head clunked downwards.
"So be it! Avada Kedavra!" He smiled sickeningly as he watched the green light absorb into her cold body, then drop to the floor, lifeless.
Lily screamed as she saw the murder take place before her eyes. "James!" She gasped, clutching on to his robes.
Before he could reply, he saw himself run into the scene holding his dad's wand.
"Hey Dad! Vonneli said you dropped --" He was waving the long wand in the air.
"Shh!" Mr. Potter clasped his hands over James' mouth to keep him quiet and tried to cover his eyes as well, but it was too late. James' expression turned to panic the moment he saw their waitress' dead form displayed on the floor.
The killer's eyes locked with theirs as soon as James spoke. "Ahh...visitors..." He took one glance at Carson and knew instantly who's company he was in. "And what d'ya know... The guest of honor."
He walked towards them, James trembling like a leaf.
"Let's do something about the young one first, shall we?" His arm was held high in the air, brandishing his weapon threateningly.
Carson sna tched his wand and shoved James roughly in the other direction. "Run James run! Get Lily and find Dumbledore!"
"Let me help, Dad!"
"You can't help by getting yourself killed!"
"But Dad --" James watched as a hex was flown at his father, draining him of his strength.
"Do as I say, Son! NOW!"
"Crucio!" The mad-man caught him off guard, making him fall to the ground, his energy sucked out of him like a vacuum in a black hole.
James, teary-eyed, took one final look at his father, the man hovering over him, and ran for dear life.
Lily looked up at James who was shaking like a leaf. He had seen this terrible act before, and seeing it again was nothing short of terrifying. "James, are you--"
"Quiet," he mumbled. "Watch...that man in the cloak...my dad..."
The wand of the man in the hooded cloak flew in the direction James had ran in.
"No!" Shouted Mr. Potter as he brandished his own wand. ""acarnum Inflamare!"
A jet of fire sprang from the tip of his wand, making its home on the person's robes.
The man laughed menacingly. "A little fire? Is that the best you can do? Why don't you try this up for size? -- Crucio!"
At the same moment, Carson threw another hex at him and their spells collided, lowering their destructive abilites to close to nothing.
The curse hit Carson like an electric show, but could have been described as pleasant compared to his last dose of that same spell.
"Expelliarmus!"
Unable to block the spell, Mr. Potter's lifeline whizzed out of his hand as he groaned with agony. He was weaponless.
"I suppose that hex didn't quite torture you? Maybe it's better that way..." The man circled him like an animal about to pounce on its prey. "You are a weakling; had that curse directly hit you, you probably wouldn't be alive to meet my master." His eyes glared with a sick sense of humor. "And he is very eager to meet you, I'm sure..."
Carson could barely lift his head off the kitchen floor to look at his opponent, nonetheless fight him. "Then why did you want to kill me at first?"
"All in a moment's glory. After all, you were a witness. I couldn't just let you run off, blabbling. You should have been killed, if you were an ordinary person, both you and your stupid boy. That was very heroic of you to save him." The sarcasm dripped from his mouth like saliva.
"You little --" Carson, overcome with anger, violently rolled and twisted him body, trying to stand up as he cursed. "I'll be damned if you get away with this!"
"Tut tut." With a wave of his wand, an invisible bond was plastered on his mouth like a zipper. "Don't you know it's rude to interrupt? Especially when you're a captive in serious danger of getting killed. I'd watch your mouth from now on."
Despite the bond, he tried to speak. "Bu voo ved voo vooden' ill vee!"
"True ture, I don't want to kill you, but desperate times call for desperate measures. At that time, I didn't know it was you. How was I to know that the person to find me would be the Minister of Magic?"
Carson didn't do anything. There was nothing he could do except let the hate he was experiencing turn into loathing.
"Well, now that we're done with our chat...Minister..." Without warning, the man clunked him over the head with a kitchen pot, knocking him unconciouss.
Lily and James watched the scene, completely speechless until their vision began swirling. They found themselves in an eerie forest, surrounded by cloaked figures.
From their view, they could see Mr. Potter's unconscious body laying haphazardly on the ground next to a large mushroom patch.
At least...he looked unconscious until his eyes slowly grew larger as he opened them. James gasped when his father tilted his head towards him, winked, and sprawled out again. His act of pretending to be asleep worked like a charm. Not a one of the people saw him; they were too busy bickering.
"Put the damn paper away!"
"Well would ya look at that?" One of them said, acting like he didn't hear the last statement and folding a copy of the Daily Prophet for all to see.
"Crock. You don't still read that rubbish, do you, Stone?"
"Ya, I do do, for yer info," The man named Stone said with a southern American accent. "For this here reason." He held out the paper for him to read the headline. "See that, Brock? 'Minister Captured: 50,000 Galleons Rewarded for His Safe Return'. How about that, eh?"
"Oh don't kid yourself. Do you think we could waltz up to the Defense Department of the Ministry and hand him over, demanding money?" He slapped him upside the head. "Get your finger out of your ear and use your brain, for God's sake!"
"50,000 Galleons! 50,000! I wouldn't know what to do with that kind of money! Think about it... We could make up a believable story and he can't witness against you or me because he's still knocked out."
"Damn right he is, and because of my good graces. If he knew about this, his neck would be on the line even more than it is already; yours along with it. If Master knew he had been awake..."
"Speaking of, have you told Master we've caught him yet?"
"No, why?" Brock shifted his interrogating gaze from Stone to a woman scribbling on a piece of parchment. "There's your letter right there."
Stone panicked. "No!" He loudly voiced, running to her and setting the note on fire.
Brock put his hand to his forehead. "I've had it up to here with you today, Stone! I am the leader here, and you are to follow my orders! Do you understand?"
"Yes sir," he replied coldly.
"Then why the hell did you do that for?"
"Well I...I thought...that..." he murmured undecisively, quickly thinking up an idea.
"You what? Get on with it."
"I thought that maybe...it could be a surprise. Yeah, a surprise that we caught the Minister! It's like a bonus for the master! Wouldn't he be so pleased?"
A few of the surrounding men and women sounded their agreement.
"I don't know. Our Lord likes to know everything that's going on."
Stone ignored his leader's comment. "Just think. He'll be so overwhelmed he'll probably give you a promotion in his ranks..."
That struck a nerve, Stone noticed, as he he saw Brock's eyes gleam with greed. "Done. I won't send a letter."
Stone bowed and walked to his tent to rest.
~~~~~~
Meanwhile, outside, Mr. Potter was smiling to the abysmally dark sky. Perhaps now, there was a way out of this...
~~~~~~
A spine-tingling howl signaling the full moon and a voice casting a spell awoke Carson from his uneasy slumber. Quick to remember his situation, he kept his eyes closed and felt his body being separated from the ground -- someone was levitating him.
In a flash, the evening's earlier events flooded back into his mind. Stone, full of his lust for riches, was taking him to the ministry for the reward.
He heard footsteps sneaking over to him.
"Still unconscious there?"
Carson was prodded in the stomach; thankfully, he wasn't ticklish or he would have been in a lot of trouble.
"Good..."
The ruffling of a knapsack was heard and when Carson rapidly took a glance at what was going on, he saw three glorious things: The trees were gliding past him, which meant he was leaving that God-awful camp; his wand was sticking out of a hole in the knapsack; and Stone was successfully sneaking away, so if he himself had any trouble, he'd only have to worry about one evil man, not a whole band of them.
~~~~~~
Lily and James creeped on slowly, following the two men with great interest. They could hear Stone talking to himself, trying to decide what to do with the 50,000 Galleons.
Occasionally, James gasped when his dad would turn his head and wink or smile at them. It created a very peculiar sensation to know that Mr. Potter actually know they were there.
After about 10 minutes, the memory swerved to what they guessed was a couple hours later.
~~~~~~
Stone halted in mid-step, his face full of fear. The forest was no longer silent. There were footsteps.
...Voices could be heard in the distance...
"Brock! I think we're getting closer!"
"Well then keep moving you imbecile! If I catch that rotten piece of--"
Stone pulled out his wand and whipped around quickly, forgetting that he had to concentrate on levitating his hostage.
"Ooomph!" Carson's whole body smashed up against a massive tree, making it feel like he was one giant bruise.
Stone's eyes flew open as he saw him moving; his focus flew from Carson to Brock and back to Carson. "You! You're...awake! How long have you...?"
Carson seized the opportunity and pounced on the knapsack, reuniting himself with his wand.
"Long enough to confirm that you are perhaps the most ignorant wizard I have ever seen. You cannot believe what you've gotten yourself into..."
Stone slightly lowered his wand. he knew he was no match for the Minister of Magic and Head Auror.
"Scared?" Carson asked bravely.
He said nothing.
"Well, in that case, I have a proposition to make -- You have three choices. One: You come with me and turn yourself into the ministry, leaving with a lighter punishment for doing so freely.
"Two: Fight me, lose, and be taken to the ministy where you will be sentenced to life in Azkaban.
"Or three: Go gallavanting off to your little friends back there, where, unless you have a very good plan, you will undoubtedly be tortured and/or killed for disobeying their orders."
Carson grinned sneakily. "Take your pick."
Neither of them dared to move a muscle; it was so silent it felt as if in a matter os seconds, the darkness would swallow them where they'd be trapped in an abyss of nothingness.
Carson waited, wand poised, his whole body aching with an unceasing pain that caused him to barely be able to stand and fight. He forced his winning smirk to stay on his face, for if he showed one sign of weakness, his bluffing would be a lost cause.
Stone stood, motionless, his eyes darting back and forth as if trying to spot something in the eerie black of night. He began crunching his feet in the leaves and breathing in short, quick gasps.
Carson took his dual position, acting strong and courageous despite the terrible health he was in, and growled, "You have until the count of three. One..."
His captor shook his head like he was coming out of deep thought.
"...Two..."
Stone whipped his head around in different direction, searching desperately for an idea. Drums pounded in his temples, his eyes felt like fire, and his sweaty hand slowly lost grip on his wand.
The Minister locked eyes with him. "...Three..."
Stone wasted no time in screaming at the top of his lungs, "BROCK!" and running in the direction of their voices. "The Minister! He escaped! He--"
"Petrificus Totalus!" Carson shot the hex and watched him freeze mid-run and fall to the ground like a block of concrete.
To his misfortune, the solid darkness was illuminated with a streak of light from a bit away, much like a black hole encountering a star for the first time in millions of years.
It's them! His mind reaces hurriedly. You're to weak to fight, he told himself. You must hide, and hurry!
He chose a particularly plump pine tree and hid behind it, under the branches. The needles seemed to be set on gouging out his body; every muscle that moved earned another stab or pr ick.
Unable to endure the torture no long, he mumbled a prayer and darted to the nearest non-bristle tree. As hard as he tried, he could not keep the twigs and leaves from crunching beneath his worn feet.
Finally, he told himself while panting and fighting off the heartbeat throbbing in his throat. Finall, I'm safe and a little more comfortable.
Or was he?
As he heard the crackling of twigs draw nearer and nearer, his heart chose to also pulsate in his head, creating a painful migraine. For the longest sixty seconds of his life, he fought the urge to pass out. Doing so would heighten the danger.
Desperately, he knealt slowly to the ground and thought, Please. Anybody. I need somebody to get me out of this. I have no way to live without help...please...find me...
The moment he finished his prayer, a light blinded him and all he could feel was the life-threatening tip of a wand being aimed squarely in the middle of this head.
"Hello...Minister..."
With those two words, all the blood, all life seemed to be rapidly draining from his body.
The figure showed him a toothless grin, then shouted to the rest of the group, "He's here!"
This was it, Carson realized. He was done for.
The person, a woman, judging from her voice, looked back at him. "Before Brock gets here, how about a little introduction curse? I...am your worst nightmare."
Just as the spell was to be flung, a hex flew right into her, blasting her away.
"Expelliarmus!" Was shouted by the minister's most beloved friend: Albus Dumbledore.
"Alb--" Mr. Potter began.
"Shh!" He whispered, slamming his hand across Carson's mouth. "They will be here. They are coming, for surely they have ears. I can help you fight! How many are there?"
He mouthed in reply. "Thirty."
"Thirty!?" He gasped almost silently. "Merlin's beard! There's no way the two of us can go against that many deranged maniacs!"
"How'd you get here?"
"Apparated --" His eyes lit with the excitment of an idea. "Which is exactly how you're going to get out."
"I can't...already tried. I don't have enough energy to apparate, and I most certainly can't fight them off!"
Their conversation had gone on longer than expected, and without them knowing, the band of evil-doers had surrounded the two of them with no way out.
The man in front stepped forward. "Doesn't look like you'll be getting a choice, does it, Potter?"
Carson's heart stopped as he slowly scanned the ring of wands enclosing him in a death grip.
"Get out of my way, out of my way!" They heard Brock shove through the mass of them. "Stone, damn him...petrified...Never has done me anything worthwhile." He reminded himself.
As he neared the captives, he raised his eyes and resumed his demeanor of power. "Well well well -- What have we here? -- Minister Potter I see. You've been quite the burden to us lately. I'll be sure to repay the favor very soon..."
His glance shifted to the professor who stared him squarely in the eye, showing not a single sign of fright.
"How perfect. Along with the minister, we have Headmaster Dumbledore! What a surprise. Never miss a chance to show off your good qualities, do you, Albus?" He tsked. "I told you long ago that this hero thing of yours was going to get you into a lot of trouble someday."
Dumbledore was unaffected by his speech. "Just as I warned you about your behaviour back in Hogwarts."
"And that mockery to my power has yet to be fulfilled, Albus."
"I think the future may hold grave things for you, Maurice." Dumbledore spoke the gruesome name tauntingly.
"Maurice?!" Carson snig gered. "I always knew, even at Hogwarts, that you were a sissy."
Dumbledore shot him a look that clearly told him not to bring their silly school rivals into this.
Maurice's face glowed bright chrimson, not from embarassment, but from anger. "Brock! My name is BROCK!"
All of his followers could be heard chuckling under their breath.
"Silence!" He roared at them. "Now, for you two -- You know not how pleased my Lord will be when he sees that I have brought him two presents. Don't you think?"
He turned to face his group. "Have fun with the Cruciatus, then bind and gag them! I want us back at camp tonight! -- Get to it!"
The 30 of them walked towards Albus and Carson, their wands all raised to curse them.
Just in tme, Crock turned and yelled, "I want them alive, dammit! Use your sense! You can't all curse them at the same time, for God's sake!"
They all sighed and one of them pointed their wand at the hostages. "Cruc--"
The spell was never finished for all of a sudden, the earth shook; hooves were heard making a sound like thunder.
Albus breathed in relief. "They are here!..."
"Who?!" Carson threw him a look of surprise and hope. "What are you talking about?"
He might as well have not even spoken at all, because a second later, while the group's backs were turned, Dumbledore's hand flew out and his wand rushed to him like a jet.
Faster than possibly imaginable, he hexed all the figures within eye-shot. All the while, Carson, feeling weaker and weaker by the second, watched admirably at Dumbledore flinging their enemies around like cooked noodles.
"Quickly! Your wand!" Dumbledore barked, still cursing everyone in sight. "Hold them off until our help is here!"
"I...can't..."
Dumbledore slapped him to keep him conscious. "Wake up, boy! If you can't tell, this is no time to sleep!"
Carson warily looked him in the eye. "And this is no time to crack a joke," He said seriously.
"Right you are -- Expelliarmus!" Yet another man was hexed by Albus, almost lazily. "Just don't fall --"
Too late. During the split moment he had the chance to look back, he saw Carson's eyes roll into the back of his head.
In one swift effort, Dumbledore reached his arms out to catch him from falling to the ground and possibly severly hurting himself. "Potter!"
The effort failed, as Dumbledore was a whole 10 yards away from him.
~~~~~~
Here, the images from Carson's memory faded and squiggled like a lost dream in front of Lily and James' eyes.
Their vision was almost clear when they saw the 'present' Professor Dumbledore take a thread from his temple and add it to the basin that the two students were only mentally half in.
The images once again became clear, in the form of Dumbledore's memories, starting at the point that James' dad's ended.
~~~~~~
Dumbledore squinted, not wanting to see Carson smash his head against the tree trunk below his head, but when he didn't hear the clunk, he re-opened his eyes to find the minister's limp body hanging on the side of a beautiful golden centaur.
"Fileip!" He sighed in relief, then looked around at the battle happening before his very eyes between wizard and centaur -- something that hadn't been done for centuries.
"Albus, there's no time to speak! We left as soon as we heard your call. The minister, I hope he is well enough to make it for another few hours until we can get him out of here. Help me get him on my back!" She demanded, her white sparkling mane, stained with blood, ruffling in the wind. "You can't stop them all! I'm taking the minister out of the forest! Just find Gorzio and he'll lead you out of here!"
"Are you sure--"
"Yes! Now go! Hex as many as you can on the way, but don't delay yourself! Get out of here as soon as you can! They evil of this forest is stirring and soon there will be more danger! Find Gorzio!"
After that order, she galloped off as fast as she could to the east, leaving a worn Albus with the rumbling of the earth and the ravenous wolf-like men.
"Ok, Gorzio...where is he?"
In his efforts to find the centaur, his other senses dropped their awareness, and someone snuck up on him from behind.
"Albus...what a surprise!"
The person was wandless, as far as he could see. Instead, a piece of rope was being wrung around Dumbledore's neck.
"Apparently, magic doesn't seem to be able to kill you off..."
The rope was threatening his breathing. Every second was precious, and his air supply was limited. There was nothing he could do except...
He pulled the rope as far away from his throat as his old age allowed and yelled. "GORZIO!"
Not a moment passed between his cry for help and the rope being jarred from his foe's grip.
"Gorzio!"
The centaur stood at his astonishing full height after bucking the man with his back hooves. "Grab on, Albus! We must get out of here! The evil grows and the stars are against us!"
Dumbledore climbed up on the centaur's back and they were off. The wind whipped at his face, making it feel like frostbite; they dodged the trees, going by so fast that he never thought they'd get through the forest without crashing into something.
After a few minutes, he managed to look back and saw, to his relief, that no one was following them. The battle was far behind, and the end of the forest not far ahead.
Finally, it was all over...
~~~~~~
Lily and James felt the familiar navel-pulling sensation and found themselves swirling through the waves of time, landing once again, in the present.
Once he regained his balance from being flung from the past, James took one look at his father and ran up and gave him a long, emotional hug, not even caring about his reputation and that Lily and Dumbledore were there, watching the whole scene while wearing ridiculous grins.
~~~~~~
After the kids expressed their feelings towards what Mr. Potter had to go through, Lily asked him where they ended up and what happened after the penseive scenes ended.
Dumbledore smiled. "Well, surprisingly, after Carson starting his journey in Dover at resort, we ended up in Southern Norway. We have no idea how, but when the centaurs brought us out of the forest, I levitated him, for he was still unconscious, to the nearest town to find that yes, we were in Norway.
"We both knew that Carson was unable to apparate, so I spent an hour looking for someone who spoke English to find the nearest floo fireplace.
"And, here we are."
James scanned his father once again. "Dad, I'm really glad to see you and to know you're safe... but I really think you should get to St. Mungo's since Madame Pomphrey isn't here. You might be hurt really badly."
Mr. Potter attempted a smile for his son's thoughtfulness, but then grunted at looked at Dumbledore for an answer. His face plainly said 'absolutely not.'
Dumbledore was thinking the opposite. "No Carson, James is right. I know how much you hate that hospital... but it is neccessary. You've gone through way too much."
He knew better than to argue with the headmaster's judgement, and simply nodded.
"Good. Ok James, Lily, we only stopped in so you could see for yourselves that he's alright. We'll be going to St. Mungo's now."
"Professor?" Lily spoke softly, like she would in a class she wasn't good in. "Are we going home?"
"I'm not going to deny you that opportunity, if you would like to go. But seeing as term starts in two days, you may just stay here if you feel that a letter home explaining the situation will be enough."
They both nodded in agreement.
The professor continued. "I'll take you to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get some supplies and so you can get some fresh air. -- For now, get some sleep. You've been through a lot. It is not easy for one to go through days of tormentful memories in that short amount of time. I'll see you tomorrow."
Both Lily and James gave Mr. Potter and short, warm hug, and said their farewells before the two elders departed.
~~~~~~
Far far away, back in the dark forests of Norway, the remaining of the group of evil persons gathered menacingly around a weak body, laying helplessly on the ground.
The lump spoke, it's voice trembling. "It wasn't my fault, Brock!"
"Silence! You know very well that it was. There is no excuse for what you did. Your disobeying orders caused him to escape! Caused some of MY MEN to be killed! All because of your foolishness!"
"Please!" He pleaded. "Please, be merciful! Forgive me!"
"Mercy? You want mercy!? How's this for mercy? -- Crucio!"
The figure on the ground writhed in pain, and was then forced to his feet.
"Please..." He murmured with all the energy he had left.
"Neither I nor the Dark Lord have use for a worthless betrayer. Goodbye Stone -- Avada Kedavra!"
The forest fell silent and the morning sun spilled the colour of blood as the greedy man was murdered.
Chapter 8 ~~~~~~ Chapter 10
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