Love with No Regrets (HP NEXT GEN)

Chapter 22: The Cave

"Teddy we've been here for two hours and we haven't found anything!" Victoire complained. "They're not here."

"They have to be!" James II exclaimed. "They can't not be here." There was a decline from the grass to sand and rocks lined up against the side. James sat on it and groaned. "I need to find them before mum and dad find out." He picked at the flowers that grew from inside the rocks and picked the petals. "Let's just go home." He got up but Teddy pushed him back down. "What the hell!"

A few rocks slid out of place and James had fallen onto a stick. It crushed under his weight and dug into his back.

"Teddy, why'd you do that?" Remus asked, helping James up.

"We can't leave. We're so close, I can feel it!" Teddy said. "Wait...hide!"

He led them around the corner, all of them peeking their heads ever so slightly over. Two men in black stood where they just had. They seemed to be arguing about something, but they were too far to understand. One of them moved the rock where the stick James broke was lodged. The rocks all moved, much like the bricks that led to Diagon Alley. It led to a staircase leading down, the flowers glowing to show the way.

"FOLLOW THEM!" James II said in a harsh whisper. He snuck down after them and quietly followed all the way down. The hole had closed by the time the others got their. It was too late now. It was up to them, or James.

James walked down the narrow hallways until he reached the door the others had gone through. He heard footsteps coming his way. The only option was to go back, or face them. He wasn't going to do either. The men came back out and left without a hint James was there. He was on the ceiling, his arms and legs holding him up on either side of the walls. He slowly came back down and explored the area. He saw a few doors that led to nothing but one struck him. It had no locks, or a handle for all the matter.

He walked towards it but could feel the dark magic. He shrugged and walked into it. The doors opened for him and he ran in before someone would hear. He ran down the hall until the end where there was cell bars. Below  were his siblings and Jillian all chained up. There were currently whispering about something, but it was too quiet for a dog to hear. James was about to break the bars when a cold hand touched his neck. He was yanked up and face to face with the darkest wizard in the world.

"Potter..." he muttered.

"That's the name, don't wear it out..." James joked. He wasn't afraid, just creeped out. All he could think about was that he had no nose.

"Follow me. And stop staring at my face..." He threw James down and one of his death eaters picked him up and dragged him by the arm. They walked into a room and sat him down, chains immediately wrapping around his legs and arms.

"Nice place you have," he said easing the tension. "I really like the mold molding and musky scent you have."

"Enough small talk, Potter, where is Ms. Evans? The mudblood you say you would die for."

He thinks I'm James....James thought. A smirk formed on his face and he stared at The Dark Lord. "Um, I don't know. I broke up with her."

Voldemort stared at him long and hard. "WHAT?"

"Yeah, she was a little too clingy. But I came here to help save my fellow classmates." Voldemort still stared him down, almost zoning out. But really he was trying to enter James's brain. Though James was very smart, he rarely had a thought in his brain that wasn't a prank. All he could see was James trying to throw a dungbomb at his face. But he finally broke through James's barrier and saw everything.

"YOU LIE!" he shouted, his wand pointed at his face. "Lock him up with the others. This is the other James Potter, the future child." James sighed in defeat. "Tell me where they are!" James just sat there. "Cruico." He fell over doubling in pain, the feeling of flaming hot knives searing into his body washed over and he screamed in pain. His father had told him stories about the cruciatus curse. The feeling like you're being stabbed a million times over, each knife twisting in every which way. James didn't want to scream but he couldn't hold it in. But he wasn't going to give away James and Lily. He would never. "Tell me!" 

James flopped over, barley, and looked at him in the eyes. Pure evil. He opened his mouth, muttering something. Voldemort squatted down and grabbed him by the collar. "What, boy?"

"I-I'll never t-tell you, y-you dick."

Voldemort released his grip and continued to torture him.

The three sat in the dim lighting hearing the footsteps draw closer. The door opened and in came the men holding James. They looked up and started shouting, but James never looked at them. His head was down and he was barley walking his own. He was chained and sat there.

James knew they were there. He was ecstatic to see they were still alive, but he was too disappointed in himself to look them in the eyes. Voldemort could see right through him. He brought them here in the first place. Everything his father worked for would be gone if he found James and Lily. The small bits of hair that were usually swooped up with gel were now hanging in front of his face. Through it, though, he could see Lily across the room. Her face was all scratched and she had bruises on her arms. He peered over at Albus. He was holding up, probably reading stories to himself from memory. He didn't even want to look at Jillian. Her blonde hair was filled with dirt and her pale skin was covered in dust and some bloody on her legs. He looked at himself. The Cruciatus curse was used on him at least four times. His muscles were weak, his bones felt like mush.

"What's written on his arm?" Lily asked quietly.

His arms hung high, his wrists smashed between the shackles. On his left forearm a small trail of blood was leading down to his collarbone. There was something written but it was hard to read from a distance. Albus, however, knew what happened. His Aunt Hermione told him about what this Bellatrix did when he asked about her faint scar when he was thirteen.

"It says Blood Traitor," Jillian said.

They sat in silence again.