IF THEY LIVED (Harry Potter)

18|BELLATRIX LESTRANGE

"Time to call the Dark Lord!" Bellatrix sang and James could feel his throat tie itself into a perfect knot, he felt his chest tighten and his heart beat all over his body. Quietly he started running down the stairs, following her voice. He paused as he saw the long black hair go around the corner.

He walked up to her, as she was taking out her wand to open the door. This was his chance.

Bellatrix waved her wand, performing a spell. He heard the door make a cracking sound, which meant it was unlocked. Quietly James moved towards her, so they were almost touching each other. He didn't want to attack her. He couldn't risk getting into a fight - a fight would blow their cover. He was going to try and confound her and pour the potion down her throat at the same time. But it was delicate... do very delicate.

He opened the bottle with the potion as quietly as he could, slowly removing the lid and gently pulling it out, but to his agony, it still made a popping noise.

Bellatrix heard it and turned around, almost making  James fall on his behind, but he kept himself steady. He stared at her black, cold eyes, which were just a few inches away from his face. He heard her deep breaths and saw them push a strand of her black hair gently from her face. He tried to read her expression, praying silently for her to turn around. Her lips were straight, slightly apart, as her eyes traveled around, exploring the dark hallway.

She turned around, stepping forward. James felt a sense of relief take over his body, but immediately pushed himself back to reality. He gripped his wand with his left hand and wanted to follow her, but just as he was about to she turned around again, even quicker as she did before, barely moving her wand and before he could react, James was standing before her as his cloak flew into her hands.

"Crap," he said, as his best friend's cousin laughed at her victory. She slowly walked towards him, dangling her wand in her hair.

"I got you," she said quietly, like a little girl, her evil laugh echoing. James smiled, as he held his wand behind his back. He had to act before she said anything else.

"Congratulations," he said, "so what are you gonna do with me Bella?"

"Well since you asked," she started, her evil imagination going wild. James took advantage of that and flicked his wand, sending her flying into the cellar, unconscious. He winced, as he noticed, that her body was going to land with a crash. He immediately pointed his wand at her flying body and whispered "arresto momentum."

Bellatrix's body landed softly on the floor. Quickly he made his way to her body and forced the potion down her throat, while pulling a hair off her head. He pocketed her wand and stood back up.

"Lumos," he whispered looking around at the dark old walls. Where was she? He couldn't see them anywhere and it wasn't a big room at all. Was all of this a lie? Did Snape set all of this up?

Hate, along with fear was taking over his mind, sending vibrations down his body. It was a trap. He won't ever see her again and they are probably never going to get out of this place alive. A single tear escaped his eyes. He killed them. He killed his friends, his wife... He killed his baby boy.

Suddenly he heard a noise, a muffled sound, made by a child.

He turned around to face the direction of the sound, his heart skipping a beat. He walked towards it slowly. It wasn't clear who was in the dark corner, but he saw a shadow, a very small one, Harry.

He almost let out a yell of relief, but stopped himself. He quickly ran towards him, but before he could pick him up, he felt his wand forcefully leave his grip. 

 "Don't you dare touch him," he heard a very familiar, shaking voice say. He raised his hands in the air and turned around to see the tip of his pointed wand pointing directly at his chest.