The Way of Untold Truths

It was the easiest it had ever been for him to find her. Stupid git. Stupid, beautiful, charming, witty git. She thought she could hide behind her mask, as the beautiful new actress. It didn't work. She could never hide from him. He knew her too well. And she was a fool to have ever thought she could.

He had to admit it, though, she could act. Hadn't she been fooling the ministry all this time? But then she got cold feet and ran off. Stupid, beautiful git.

He had reached her door, inside the apartment building. Whispering, he unlocked the door, then followed the sounds to her bedroom, where he quietly opened the door.

She turned as she heard the door shut behind him. Then she gasped when she saw him, and her eyes narrowed. "You." She whispered fiercely. He laughed, which made her even more furious.

"Hello Lily. Have you missed me?" Now it was her turn to laugh bitterly.

"Miss you? Miss you? As if." His smile only grew wider.

"Still bitter, aren't you? Still amusing, though. Still horribly beautiful. I've missed you, brat, I haven't kissed you in ages--"

"I wouldn't let you touch me--"

"Really?" he moved toward her, and she backed away. "Oh, come now, Lily, don't do this, I know you still love me, everything about me--" he had her wrist now, he was pulling her towards him; she was struggling furiously.

"Let got off me! Dammit!" she screamed in fury, he grabbed her chin in one hand, he was pushing her against the wall with the other. She was throwing her arms all over scratching him, trying to push him away. "Get off! I hate you! Oh, shit, let go, let go!

He was laughing now, he had her against the wall, he grabbed hold of her chin, she was screaming non-stop now. He slapped her, shocking her, than gripped her cheeks tighter, so she couldn't talk. "Lily, Lily, Lily. What am I going to do with you?" Her eyes flared, and he laughed even harder. "It was wrong of you to leave us, Lily, wrong of you to leave me. And now we're getting stronger, so much more. You're missing out on all the fun. So now I'll give you a choice. Return to us, or serve your sentence..." He lowered his voice to a whisper, he was so close now she could feel his breath, "Return to me, Lily. You will never suffer then..." he uncovered her mouth.

She looked at him a moment, then whispered, "Go to hell, Rubus Malfoy."

He screamed in fury, and grabbed the first thing he could: a wood brush, hard and true. He hit her, right on the head making her collapse to the ground.

He kicked her in the stomach, then turned on his heel, not before pausing at the door, and whispering, "You'll regret this, Lily Evans. You'll regret this for the rest of your life."

It wasn't ringing. The damn phone wasn't ringing. Something was terribly wrong.

She had been so surprised he had shown up. She had been furious that he had found her again, one more time. She had been very scared. So very scared. But she was even more scared now. She was scared to death.

Because he hadn't hurt her badly, like before. He hadn't cursed her, hadn't even used a wand on her.

So he was going to hurt her another way. She knew it. And she knew exactly how he was going to, too. But she hoped she wasn't right.

But the damn phone wouldn't ring. Someone had disconnected the line. She cried out in frustration.

She had to apparate. It was the only way. She knew she was in no condition to do it. But she had to try.

She tried to move around the house, looking for her wand. There it was, on the dresser. She stumbled towards it, her head hurting horribly. She had to get there.

It was all his fault. As usual. God, she hated him. She would never love anyone again if they were dead. Never.

She had it, finally. With a small pop, she felt herself whirl around, then land on the ground. She cried out in pain as her head was jerked. She felt a wave of nausea and bent over, vomiting. Then she looked up.

Yes, there it was. Her old house. The one she spent all her childhood in. The one place that held all the people she had ever loved.

She shook her head of all thoughts, and forced herself to move inside, looking cautiously around.

Her heart was beating. Where were they?

She climbed up the stairs, feeling the need to rid her stomach again. She crawled onto the landing, and into the first room again.

She screamed, and vomited again.

The she fell to the floor in shock, hitting her damaged head on the wood floor and passing out.

~~~~~~

"Bella? Bella Figg."

Arabella Figg jumped, and looked up. She rubbed her sleepy eyes, and looked dazedly around her. Then she glanced into the fire.

An old head sat there, impatient and waiting. She smiled faintly. "Sorry Professor, I must have dozed off--"

"There's been another raid. This time, a whole street. We need you to come quickly."

Bella sighed deeply, and closed her eyes, as if drawing strength from their solitude.

"Come to 15^th ave as fast as you can."

Her eyes popped open again, her heart sinking.

That was Lily's old street.

~~~~~~

Ministry officials were dealing with the crowds. Only those Dumbledore had alerted were going through each house, seeing all the same things: stunned, dead people. It was becoming a chore.

Bella breathed heavily, before entering the last house. She was tired, and wanted to go home. Then she recognized the house.

It was Lily's house.

Lily's old house.

She roamed the familiar rooms, looking around for any type of living force, wand out and ready. She ventured up stairs, and turned just as Lily had. Then she gasped at the 8 faces she had known so well, stunned, shocked and dead.

She started to turn around, hiding her tears from...dead people. She tried to muffle a sob. Dead people she had loved.

But then, out of the corner of her eyes, she caught something else. A waterfall of red hair. A pool of blood. Bella cautiously creeped over and pushed the body over. Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my god..."she whispered, before screaming, "Professor! Come QUICK!"

~~~~~~~~

Some one was touching her, pushing her over...

"Oh my god, oh my god..."

She was painfully being slapped on the face. She tried to open her eyes, see who it was.

"...that horrible monsterous brat..."

Oh great. Just what she needed. Rubus had found her.

"...please don't be dead..."

She tried to open her mouth, yell at him, I'm not looking so good now, am I? But her mouth wouldn't open, she couldn't speak.

He was hitting her again.

She could hear a man's voice, "...don't Bella, that'll hurt her..."

Bella?

What about Rubus?

She was so confused...

Her head hurt like hell. God, she prayed, rid me of this pain. Please! Oh, shit it hurts! Please, please, please...please...pl...ea...se...

And suddenly, it didn't hurt anymore. In fact, nothing did. And she realized that she was dead.

~~~~~~

"Goddamit, Albus, she's cold!"

"Help me, hurry! We have to get her out of here!"

"Hold on, Lily, hold on..."