Lily Snape [3]

Chapter Seventeen:

Chapter Seventeen: 

I grimaced as I finally came to, though it took me a few moments to remember exactly what happened.  I slowly pushed myself up off the ground.  I noticed Neville still lying on the compartment floor, his mouth was bound and he was still tied tightly by vine-like ropes and he had long given up on trying to get out of them.  

"Neville.."  His head jerked towards me just as the train began to slow down, causing me to fall back to the ground as it jerked.  Whimpering softly as the pounding in my head grew worse, I finally managed to crawl over to him and get his arms untied and let him take care of the rest.  

"Why didn't anyone come?  Somebody must of noticed them.." I wondered to aloud to myself, before sighing.  My stomach clenched in worry for Luna, knowing that the Death Eaters now had her though for what reason, I didn't know.  I could only hope she was wanted alive, not dead, and I prayed to Merlin that someone would help her if we weren't able to.  

"Why did they take her?" Neville questioned as soon as his mouth was in working condition once again. 

"I don't know," I replied, blinking away the blurriness that was creeping back into my vision.  "But the train has stopped, we should get our things and leave, I'll tell the Weasley's what happened, they'll know who to get in touch with to help Luna... She will be okay, Neville."  I muttered at his look of intense concentration and worry.  "We'll find someone who can help her, I promise.  In the meantime, just don't mention it.  I'll tell her father, and nobody else can know.  It'll only cause more worrying and nobody needs that in a time like this."

Nodding, Neville stood up before helping me up.  I stumbled as I tried to take the first steps by myself, and in the end, I wound up just wrapping my arm around Neville's neck as he wrapped one of his around my waist in order to help me walk.  

Legs shaking, I grabbed my one case off the train and watched as Neville struggled with his things while holding myself up, before we finally managed to walk off the train.  

To my left was who had to be Luna's father, the look in his eyes and that hair was unmistakeable, and to my right were the Weasley's.  The only ones missing were Ginny, Bill, Charlie, Percy and Ron.

I smiled as Fred spotted me immediately, his eyes moving to look at my hand around Neville and Nev's arm around me.  I could see him beginning to get upset before he realized that something must be wrong and he rushed over.  Neville passed me over to him, smiling uncertainly before heading towards who must have been his grandmother.  

"What happened?  What's wrong?  Are you okay?" Fred asked in quick succession as he tried to look me over.  

"I'll explain in a minute, I need to talk to Mr. Lovegood right now.  Can you help me over there?"  

George came up to us, his eyes searching mine as his own eyes filled with worry before he took my suitcase and went back to his family as Fred and I maneurvered our way to Luna's dad.  

"Mr. Lovegood?" I called as his eyes searched the heads of every student for his daughter.  His eyes turned towards me and he smiled good-naturedly, nodding his head at me to continue as he turned back to looking for Luna.  "It's about Luna..."  

"Yes, I'm looking for her now, did she miss the train then?"  

"No," I breathed, my eyes quickly filling with tears as worry seemed to suffocate me.  "They took her, Death Eaters, they just came and they, they took her, and I tried, I tried and I'm sorry."  

With a quick shake of his head, his eyes immediately seemed to show his heartbreak, and he disappeared with a loud -crack-.  

"Death Eaters were on the train?  Is that what happened?  Merlin, Lil, you could have been killed, or taken again!" Fred turned and pulled me into his arms, my chest tightly pressed against his own.  This hadn't quite been the hug I was hoping for before I left Hogwarts, but at that moment, I needed any kind of affection I could get.  I felt ready to just crumble into a heap on the floor and cry for forever.  

But I couldn't do that, no matter how badly I wanted to.  I'd made a promise to Neville and I fully intended to keep it.  I would find someone who could help Luna.

------

"You have to eat." 

"I'm not hungry," I replied for what seemed the four hundredth time that day.  It'd been two days since I'd come back for Christmas break.  It was only three more days until Christmas.  I still hadn't eaten, I'd barely slept because anytime I did, I dreampt of what the Death Eaters could possibly be doing to Luna.  Anytime I tried to eat, I wondered if they were feeding her, and it ruined my appetite because chances are they weren't.  

We still hadn't found someone to help her.  

"You're already skin and bones, Lillith, dear, please eat."  

I stared up at Mrs. Weasley before sighing and getting up from the table, and walking to Fred's room to lay down on his bed, which was empty as he and George were making a guest appearance on Potterwatch to get the word out that Luna had been taken.  It would take a while to find Lee, but they promised to be back on or before Christmas, so I took comfort in that.  They promised they'd be back, so they wouldn't let anything happen to them.

His scent seemed to surround me, making me feel safe and comforted.  Though I managed to fall asleep, I was soon awake and panting for breath as the remnants of the Cruciatus Curse's memory left me.  I grabbed an extra pillow before lying on my side, hugging it to my chest and crying into it.  My legs curled up as great, racking sobs shook my entire body.  

Nobody was meant to handle all of this.  

I couldn't handle it.  

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[[A/N: Two chapters in two days?  WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?!   Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter.  I'm kind of excited!  This book is over halfway done now, and I'm just so ready!  I'm looking forward to doing the fight scenes for the war, I know exactly what I'm going to do, who will live and who will die, etc. WOOOO!   ANYWAYS!  I'm off to write the next chapter, though I'm sure I wont post it anytime soon.  I'm going to write as much as I can today, as it's my day off and then I'll upload them whenever I have time c:  ENJOY <3  

PEACE AND LOVE,

iJay]]