Lysander Scamander and the Missing Mirror

8: Keep Forward

Lily and I snuck back into the castle that evening and made our way to the Great Hall. I didn't even notice Lily had started embracing my arm until we entered the hall and some of our friends looked up at us. And my brother was one of those people. I looked around at them and tried to move forward, but I couldn't. Lily'd planted herself to the floor and was tightening her grip on my arm. She was staring ahead of us, a shocked expression on her face.

I looked around. Lorcan was standing there a few feet ahead of us. His shoulders sagged as I looked at him. He started moving toward us and as he reached, Lily let go of my arm.

"Lorcan." she started.

Lorcan pushed between us as he shook his head at us. Lily stood there in the Great Hall, and I did the only thing that made sense to me.

Running after my brother, I called, "Lorcan!" Lorcan walked hastily down the corridor as I ran after, "Lorcan, please! Nothing's going on between Lily and I! I promise!"

Lorcan looked around at me, "Why?!"

I stopped abruptly and looked at him, "What?"

"Why is there nothing between you two?!" he yelled at me, "Why can't you two not be complete idiots?!"

I watched him stomp away. Lorcan wanted Lily and I to have something? Erika's words bounced around my head and echoed in my ears.

Lily and Lorcan aren't as happy as you think.

"How could that be? They always seemed like the perfect couple when they're together. Riley popped up out of nowhere with,

"You really are an idiot!" she said and walked away.

But she stopped in her tracks when a wail was heard through the corridor. She looked at me for confirmation that she's not crazy. I nodded back to her as to say she wasn't. We joined shortly by Alice, Lily, and Lorcan.

"What are you doing, Lorc?"

"I heard something. A wail. I thought you'd know what it was." he explained.

I bit down on my lip, but before I could say anything, the wail was heard again. I grabbed Lily by the hand and ran down the corridor. Lorcan, Riley, and Alice followed, sprinting to keep up (Lorcan didn't run much, Riley just wasn't a fast runner, and Alice was the shortest in the group). I ran around corners, through low windows, - stopping to help Lily through - and over benches in my path - again stopping to help Lily over them.

We only stopped when I fell, rolling down into a pit. I'd let go of Lily's hand in the tumble. Looking up, I spit dirt out my mouth as I scanned the surroundings. My eyes darted around the area when I heard screams from above us.

"Lysander!" I heard Lorcan yell.

I scrambled to my feet, but I couldn't climb up the hill. The dirt slipped out from under my feet. That's when I remembered who was in the pit with me. I turned around and tripped over myself as I hurried over to her. I took Lily in my arms and relaxing her back on my thigh, crouched down on one knee. She still had a pulse, but I couldn't get her to wake up.

I closed my eyes and said to myself, "Lorcan's not here. What he doesn't know won't kill him."

I inhaled, plugged Lily's nose, and breathed in. Lily's chest rose, so I did it again. Her chest rose again, and Lily woke up coughing. I let out a breath of relief. She stared up at me.

"What happened?" she asked as she looked around.

I helped her to her feet as I looked around. Shaking my head, I said, "I don't know." I looked back at Lily, "But I think the others have been taken."

Lily ran to the wall of dirt and tried to climb.

"I already tried that, Lils. We're stuck."

Lily looked around and before long, she smirked at me and pointed. A passageway had formed. She grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me along. We ran down the passage until we hit an edge. I pulled Lily back as she was about to topple over. I looked around for a way down to the floor below.

Then, I remembered a spell I read about in my nana's book. I took a step back and ushered with my hand for Lily to step back. Pointing my wand out in front of me, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and shouted.

"Conjurus Lapsus!"

A bright light burst from my wand, and I watched as a slide formed in front of us. Lily looked at me for a moment before hopping on the slide and slipped down. I followed her soon after. Once at the bottom, Lily pulled me up and we looked around for the next way to go.

"Will we find the others if we keep moving?" Lily asked.

I looked at her deeply in the eyes. Placing my hands on her shoulders, I smiled and said, "Course we will, Lils. Everything will be fine."

Lily smiled, "Well, if we don't get out of this-" she stood up on her toes and kissed my cheek.

Then she moved down the passage again. I stood stunned a little but followed her quickly. That kiss gave me a boost to keep moving forward. Thanks Lily.