Life After Graduation

Lily felt them land in a dark place, and the way the place echoed she knew that she was inside where ever it was, and it was cold and damp. There was water dripping somewhere, but she did not have time to dwell on that. She began to fight again, but the person was strong as they set her down on a table, or was it a couch? It was too dark to see, and she was too nervous to think about it.

“Where am I?” Lily asked, her voice harsh but shaky. Her stomach was relaxed for now, but Lily knew the nausea was there, just waiting to attack her once again.

He just ignored her question, and moved to the side of the room. His eyes were adjusted to the dark already, plus he knew this place like the back of his hand.

She narrowed her eyes at him, well where she thought he was, and waited for an answer. Nothing came and she huffed slightly. “Look you’re not going to get any information from me, so you might as well kill me now,” Lily bluffed.

“If I wanted to kill you I would have done it by now,” the man replied as he rummaged around in a cabinet, careful that his wand light would not show his face.

True. She did not contest it any further, instead inched a bit toward the edge of the surface she was sitting on, figuring out it was in fact a couch, a very uncomfortable couch. Maybe she would luck out and find an exit.

“Don’t even try,” the man replied turning around to look at her. “There is no way out, unless I want to let you out.”

Where did she know that voice from? It was so familiar.

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“Get off of me,” James yelled as someone came over to pick him up off the ground.

“No get up James,” Sirius said sternly before practically ripping James up from the ground. “Sitting here is not going to get Lily back.”

“Fuck you Sirius,” James growled pulling out of his friends grasp. He was angry, angry and upset. Lily was gone, and he had no idea where she had been taken to or if she was even…no he wouldn’t think about that.

Sirius had to control himself from hitting James square in the face for how malicious he was acting. “Look, it’s not my fault, but just sitting around is not helping Lily in the least.”

The fight had ended about ten minutes ago, and mostly everyone was standing around cleaning up the aftermath of the fight. “Where would they of taken her?” James asked Sirius, the anger in his voice was beginning to drain away now, and misery took its place.

“I don’t know,” Sirius replied placing his hand lightly on James’ shoulder. The sadness in his eyes was heartbreaking, and Sirius had to look away for a second. “But we will find her.”

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Lily sat still on the couch as the man came closer to her, she could hear his footsteps, but her eyes had also adjusted to the darkness so she could see him. His face was still hidden behind the unmistakable white mask, and something was in his hand. Her stomach clenched and Lily doubled over in pain.

“What’s the matter with you?” The man asked, his voice dripping with distaste.

“I’m going to get sick, so give me a trash can, or it will be all over your floor,” Lily snapped. She fought the urge, closing her eyes shut to keep the room from spinning, hearing him grab a trash can, and shoving it by her feet.

She scrambled to the floor on her knees and held the sides before getting sick. Lily froze when she felt his hands on her, but they weren’t angry, but gentle, holding her hair out of her face. She sat up again leaning against the couch to look at him. “Who are you?” Lily asked him quietly.

“That’s none of your concern,” he replied keeping his eyes locked on hers for a second before getting up and walking into the bedroom.

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How could he be so calm? Just standing there taking role while Lily was missing? “Everyone’s here but Lily alright? Let’s stop wasting time!” James snapped when he stopped pacing.

“We need to figure out where she is first,” Albus replied looking at the man calmly. He knew how James felt, and he was upset as well, but being irrational would not help the situation one bit.

James could have killed him out of frustration before collapsing onto the couch. He caught Molly’s eyes, and he turned to face her fully. Her face was full of worry, but there was something else there. “What do you know?” James asked, his temper threatening to snap.

“N-nothing,” Molly stumbled as she looked at Arthur. She was horrid at keeping secrets, and now that James had cornered her, she knew she was going to crack.

“Don’t tell me nothing Molly, I can see it, what the fuck are you hiding?” James said asked, getting up off the couch, and shrugging off Remus’ arm. There was a traitor in the group right? Who would suspect little Molly, the mother of the whole group. His mind was going a million miles an hour now, and he was starting to suspect her of doing something to Lily.

“Get back James,” Arthur said standing up in front of his wife, his hands out, though not threatening, more protective.

Sirius was by James’ side, he could tell Molly was hiding something as well, but he grabbed James’ arms to hold him back. There was no need for violence, yet.

James relaxed only slightly when he caught Sirius’ understanding look. “Molly please tell me, I need to know what is going on,” James said his anger subsiding for only a second. He felt like he was on an emotional rollercoaster, one minute he was ready to kill, the next he felt like dying.

“I-“ Molly began before looking away to stare at her knitting needles. She looked at Arthur, who seemed surprised that she knew something, so he stepped aside a bit so she could look James in the face. “Lily thinks she is pregnant, but she was afraid to tell you just yet,” Molly finally got out before guiltily looking at the large orange F on the sweater in front of her.

James’ world began to spin, Lily was pregnant? How come she didn’t tell him? How was it possible? He could be a father, and now she was gone? He sank to his knees, ignoring everyone else in the room, and the quiet buzz that had erupted from people talking.

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The man didn’t return for a while so Lily just sat on the floor trying to find a way out, but she knew it was fruitless. Sighing she leaned her head against the couch, and waited for what was next. The voice kept echoing in her head, she knew she recognized it, but could not put a face or a name to the voice.

He returned about thirty minutes later, mask still in place, but Lily could tell he was agitated. She watched him stalk over to what had to be the kitchen section and open a cabinet, taking something glass out, since she could hear the clinking, and walk over to her. “Drink it, it will help your stomach,” he offered.

Lily narrowed her eyes at him before shaking her head no. Why on Earth was he trying to help her? Was it a trick?

“Like I said, if I was going to kill you I would have done it by now, and I certainly wouldn’t poison you,” he remarked before shaking the bottle lightly in front of her once again, insisting she take it.

“No I don’t want it,” Lily said quietly. She didn’t want to tell him that she may pregnant, and she felt awful that James still didn’t know, but maybe he would let her go out of sympathy. “I don’t want to hurt the baby.” She ventured watching him carefully.

A baby? That did it. “You’re pregnant?!” He asked her his anger spilling over. “You’re pregnant with his…with…with Potter’s child!” He couldn’t hold in anymore, it wasn’t enough that James had won the girl he loved, but now she had his child? He was enraged, and threw the bottle across the room, shattering against the wall, before falling to his knees next to her. He grabbed a fist full of her hair, pulling her head back so she would look at him.

That statement did it, she knew exactly who it was. She jumped as the bottle smashed against the wall, and let out a loud shriek as he grabbed her hair. “Severus?” Lily asked scared for her life, as well as the answer.

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Remus and Sirius had managed to get James up off the floor, and back to the couch. He was crying, and muttering nonsense to himself, and Remus had managed to pry his glasses from his hand before he broke them with his bare hands and cut himself..

“Where could she be?” Sirius asked Dumbledore quietly, glancing over his shoulder at James before looking at the older man.

Albus sighed before locking eyes with Sirius, “I have no idea. We have no leads, no idea who took her, or why. Take him out of here while we talk, don’t let him out of your sight.”

Sirius nodded before walking over to grab James and mutter into Remus’ ear for him to stay here, and let him know what was going on. “Let’s go Prongs,” Sirius said standing up James and apparating back to his and Remus’ flat.

“Why are we here?” James asked Sirius pathetically. He had no fight left in him, it felt as if everything had been drained from his body.

“You are in no shape to be there right now. They are figuring something out to go get Lily, and as soon as they find her they will come get you,” Sirius replied.

James stared at him before walking over to the couch, slumping down into, and staring off into space, nothing really coming to his mind. There was no way he would be able to get away from Sirius, and really he didn’t want to be alone.

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“You just had know didn’t you?” Severus asked before ripping his mask off his face and throwing it onto to floor clattering. His face was full of anger, as well as hurt. God why did he have to love her? Her of all people, why not someone who was tangible, reachable, and not under James Potter’s spell.

“You’re hurting me,” Lily said struggling to get away but his hold was fast. She had never seen him this angry, and it scared her to death. It wasn’t the same boy she had been friends with in school, he was changed.

“Welcome to the fucking club,” Severus replied before throwing her head forward as he let go of the hunk of hair. He stood up fully and walked away from her to stand by the other end of the couch watching her. He wanted her badly, so badly, he had tried in school, but nothing worked, and seeing her there tonight, in danger, he couldn’t help himself.

She was shaking from fear, and her stomach was tight, but there was nothing else left in her stomach to throw up. “Severus please you don’t want to do this,” Lily said, though she doubted her own words.

“I don’t want to? Oh I do Lily, just to see him suffer the way I have,” Severus said laughing loudly before walking back over to her to look in her face. God she was gorgeous, everything he wanted, needed, and desired, yet still out of reach, even in this situation.

There was something wrong with him, the man she knew, as twisted as he was, would never do this. The death eaters had warped and tricked his mind into insanity, and she was scared of what he was going to do. She couldn’t hold them back any longer, and she began to cry.

Severus rolled his eyes before looking at her, “stop crying,” he spat before turning away, but it only made her cry harder. He let out an anguished sigh, “shut the hell up!” He snapped, and that did the trick. The girl lapsed into silence, but the tears still flowed down her cheeks. How could she do this to him? She was driving him mad without doing a single thing.

Lily stared at him, and wiped away the tears, unsure what she had done to deserve this. She had always been nice to him, until he pushed her too far, then she broke it off, as nicely as possible. He seemed to accept that, but she was wrong. After a moment he lunged at her, causing her to shriek loudly as he lifted her off the ground and throwing her onto the couch, causing her head to connect hard with the arm rest, before climbing atop of her. “Please don’t,” Lily said trying to wiggle her way out. “Please!”

“Why can’t you love me?” He asked her pinning the hand that was not under her back above her head, while the other hand held her face. “Why? What makes him so much better than me?” Severus asked her, his face only inches away from him.

Lily stopped fighting when he ask her the question. She knew it was going to anger him, but she was going to tell him the truth, giving him false hope would make it worse in the end, if he let her live after this. “Because James loves me for who I am, and doesn’t kill innocent people for being who they are,” Lily replied calmly. His grip tightened on her face causing her to gasp, but he didn’t do anything.

Severus let out a growl before getting up off the couch quickly, leaving Lily dazed, and shaken. “Golden boy Potter always got everything he wanted. He picked on me, until no one desired me. He turned you against me, who else did I have left to turn too?” Severus asked turning around to look at her once again.

“He didn’t turn me against you, you did,” Lily replied watching him begin to pace. She sat up a bit before continuing. “James was being civil to you when we started dating because he knew that we were friends. You called me a mudblood, your true colors, and feelings, came out. It was no one’s fault but your own, Severus. You have no one else to blame.”

He stopped in place to stare at her; they both stayed quiet for a few minutes before he finally hissed, “Get out Lily.” He dug around in his pocket, throwing her, her wand which he grabbed from her hand when they apparated before. “Get out before I do hurt you. I won’t save you again, you’re right, we are enemies, and if it comes down to it, I will kill you.”

She was shaking with fear as she scrambled off the couch to get her wand. Lily looked at him for a second before walking toward the door he pointed to. “Thank you,” she whispered before slipping out and running into the night.

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“I can’t sit here anymore,” James said finally. It had been almost two hours since Lily had gone missing, and his mind was finally starting to come out of its haze. He looked at Sirius who was staring out the window waiting for any news.

“James, they are doing everything they can, just relax. If you do something rash, it could possible hurt Lily more,” Sirius replied walking away from the window before taking a seat on the couch next to James. He had no idea what James was going through, but he knew it had to be painful.

“I can help though!” James protested getting up off the couch and walking toward the door. He could see Sirius coming to stop him, so he quickly darted out the door apparating on the spot. The first place he could think of was the site where Lily went missing. The streets were dark, so he had to use his wand to look for any clues on the ground at all. When he heard footsteps, James quickly darted around the side of a house, ignoring the sharp branches of the bushes that ripped at his arms.

“…where would he be?” One person asked, James could not recognize the voice and he dared to move a bit closer to see if he could make out who it was. They were in all black, and their hoods covered their faces. No one he knew, they had to be death eaters.

“Dunno, he probably took her back to his place,” the other man replied back his voice gruff.

James knew exactly who they were talking about, but there was still hope. She was alive when she was taken, so she may have been able to get away or fight them off at least.

“He’ll never learn, what makes him think she will want him now? All through Hogwarts she turned him down,” the first man said before chuckling. They were only a few feet away from where James hid, and suddenly his mind made the connection. The only person Lily turned down, besides him, was Snape. His blood began to boil, and he fought the urge to attack them and torture them for information. The cruatious curse was on the tip of his tongue, but he kept quiet for now.

“I doubt she will be able to turn him down now,” the gruff, stout man said as they passed down the sidewalk. “He’s probably had his way with her already, if he hasn’t killed her yet.”

James shot out of the bushes to attack the men, but they were gone with a pop. “Damn it,” James screamed, ignoring the few people on the street looking his way. He went back to headquarters, shaking with anger, to tell everyone what he had heard.

“He has her,” James bellowed, throwing the door open, causing the door knob to gouge deep into the wall. Everyone jumped at his entrance, and he saw that Sirius was already there waiting for his return.

“Who has her?” Remus asked he was the only person brave enough, or stupid enough, to go over to him.

“Snivelly fucking Snape,” James yelled. He saw that Remus had shrunk back a bit, but he was not going to give up his anger yet. He was shaking and he could tell everyone voted to keep away.

“Tell me how you figured this out,” Albus finally ventured looking at James.

“I went back to where she was taken,” James began looking around the room quickly before looking at Dumbledore. “Two death eaters showed up and said that a guy who she always turned down had taken her to his place, to have his way with her, if he hasn’t killed her already. Who else could it possibly be?” James asked looking at Sirius who seemed to empathize with his thought.

“Well, let’s find out where he lives then,” Albus concluded before sweeping out of the room.

“We need to go look now, looking in the papers, or how ever you are planning on finding his place is going to take too long,” James yelled before looking at Sirius who was by his side. “We need to find someone that knows where he lives,” he said quietly.

“I know a few people we can ask,” Sirius said before stalking out of the room with James hot on his heels.

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Lily was running in the darkness, not daring to use her wand as light incase Severus changed his mind, or something else was out there in the night. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, but she could not apparate just yet.

Finally she made it to the woods, and she burst through the small brush, panting and stumbling. Roots were sticking up everywhere, and she scratched her face a few times on low lying branches. Lily slowed to try and apparate again, but no dice. She leaned against a tree for a short moment, when she heard movement in the woods behind her. A branch snapped, and she whirled around to see nothing. It didn’t sound like an animal, it sounded human. Was this a game? Did he give her false hope just to come after her once again?

With her wand raised Lily began to creep forward, cursing every leaf, stick, and branch that she brushed. How much further did she have to go until she could apparate? Was she even going in the right direction?

The footsteps were starting to get closer, and faster, so Lily began to pick up the pace as well, until her and her assailant were running once again.

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“Where are we going Sirius?” James asked running after his friend. They were in the middle of a slummy neighborhood, garbage was everywhere, animals were roaming, and people were in the alleyways.

“To find Lily,” Sirius replied before blasting a door right off its hinges, though James was sure that just pushing it would have done the trick. The place inside was worse than the outside. Wallpaper was peeling off the walls, the rats on the ground had scattered to their homes, and there were spider webs all over the place. James ducked to avoid one before following Sirius very closely. “Who lives here?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Sirius replied before they entered what seemed to be the living room.

There was a couch, but garbage littered the floor, animal waste lined it as well. How anyone could live like this James could never know. “No one’s home…”

“Shh,” Sirius said turning around to give James a nasty glare before going over to the couch peeling off wet and torn newspaper. There laid an older man, huddled up from the cold, as well as fear. His face was smudged with dirt, and lines were carved deep into his face.

“Hello Jack,” Sirius said a bit smugly before turning around to look at James to see if he made the connection. It was obvious that he did by the look of shock on his face. Jack used to work at Hogwarts, he was the grounds keeper for the school for a short time, until he was caught smuggling in dart arts items to students.

“What do you want?” The man asked trying to sound tough, though the shaking in his voice did not help with that front.

“I need you tell me where Severus Snape lives, I’m sure you know the answer,” Sirius replied, his wand pocking the man’s cheek a bit harshly.

The man’s beady eyes went from Sirius’ face to James’ and he sneered, “what’s in it for me?” He asked them licking his lips.

“That you get to stay alive,” James snapped, jabbing his wand into the man’s cheek hard.

“Sure sure,” the guy said looking quickly between James and Sirius, before he began to talk.

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Lily made it to a small creek, and she paused for a split second to look behind her before sloshing through the cold water that came up to her stomach. She was shivering when she made it to the other side, and her wet clothes made it harder to run, but she wasn’t going to stop and dry off.

She had gained a bit of space because about a minute later she heard the person sloshing through the same place she had just passed. Her body was starting to give out on her though, she was already weak from sickness and fatigue, so the additional strain on her body was not helping.

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“No one’s home,” Sirius said running out of the front door to find James frantically searching the shed outside.

“Where else could she be?” James asked waving his wand in frustration. As he did that though, the light filtering from his wand caused something on the fence to shine. He quickly turned around to see a bracelet, with a broken clasp half hidden under some leaves.

“This is Lily’s,” James said picking it up to look at it. It was platinum with lilies and emeralds, the same one he had given her for Christmas the year before. He turned around to look at Sirius, his face grave.

“Well at least we were right, she was here at some point,” he remarked before looking over the fence at what was past it. It was woods. “There may still be hope, the clasp was broken on the fence, maybe Lily was able to get away,” he replied before hopping the fence, and running for the woods.

When they made it to the woods it was obvious someone had gone through them, small bushes were pushed aside with their branches broken, and footprints in the mud. James’ hope sprung back up, but he tried not to get too excited yet. They followed the path, when they began to hear footsteps a few yards away. Every time they made a move, so did the other person. After a few minutes of this the other person in the woods made a run for it, so James and Sirius followed.

“Maybe..it’s…Snape,” James panted quietly as they ran. The branches were ripping at the skin on his face, and he had to keep adjusting his glasses so they would not fall off. They reached a river, and he could make out the shape of a human in front of them, but that was it. He paused before taking a breath and jumping into the water with a loud splash, with Sirius at the same time. “Shit,” he muttered. It felt as if he had just jumped into a bucket of ice, up to his hips, but he kept moving.

They kept moving in relative silence, the only noise was the sound of their footsteps and panting. James was getting frustrated by the minute, and almost jumped out of his skin at the large crash up ahead. Him and Sirius both skidded to a halt, and waited to see what was next, but there was nothing. No movement or sound. “He better not of apparated,” James seethed as they crept up on where the crash had occurred.

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Lily had been running, and she got caught up on a root, and fell to the ground. She didn’t have enough energy to get back up, and she still could not apparate. She curled up in a ball and waited for death to come, as she waited Lily could hear another set of footprints with the original. He brought along a friend now?

She groaned, and tightened her grip on her wand, she didn’t have the energy to fight, but it made her feel safer. Suddenly there was a woosh, and the ground was gone from under her, “please,” Lily whimpered, though her voice was strained and the sobs coming from her choked out most of the word.

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James and Sirius came upon a clump in the darkness, and before the person could attack, Sirius whisked them up with the levitation spell by their feet. He stayed far enough away in case there was retaliation, but nothing came but a pathetic cry, and sobbing. Sirius stared at James, whose arm fell, along with his wand, before he ran over to the dangling body.

“Put her down,” James cried, his hands reaching up. They had been chasing Lily this whole time, here she was, dangling and crying. “SIRIUS!” James yelled more urgently, he could tell that she was hurt, and tired.

Lily’s eyes opened slightly to see James standing below her, the moon was barely shining through the trees, but she could make out his face. “James?” She said hoarsely as she felt herself flipped right side up slowly, then lowered into his waiting arms.

“Lily, oh God,” James said before holding her close to him, his grip fast and strong. He kissed the top of her head, and refused to let her go, afraid that she would disappear on him once again.

“James,” Lily whispered as she continued to sniffle. She could care less that Sirius was standing there, or rain was beginning to fall, she was in James’ arms and that was all that mattered.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” James asked finally, his voice a bit harsh as he locked eyes with her.

“I-“ Lily stammered as she looked at his face, it was cut up pretty badly, and full of concern, but behind all that she could see the hurt and disappointment. “I was afraid,” she finished looking down at her feet ashamed.

“Afraid of what?” James asked her completely confused.

“I hate to break this up,” Sirius said interrupting the couple before Lily could answer. “But we need to get out of here,” he remarked as he looked around the forest. Animals, and other creatures were out, and it was not safe.

James nodded and picked Lily up very gingerly and walked forward, thanking Sirius for retrieving his wand. They walked for another ten minutes, until they were able to apparate. Sirius offered to go tell the Order to give Lily and James some time alone.