Lily Luna and The Darkness

Chapter 12: Escape

Lily could feel her legs start to give out, but she persisted. The corridor they had entered was long and full of turns, and it seemed never ending. They had been running for what felt like forever, when everyone in front of her suddenly stopped. She ran straight into Dominique's back, who fell into a wall.

"Ouch, Lily watch it!" Dominique rubbed her forehead, where a bruise was appearing.

"Sorry!" Lily winced as she felt her bloody nose, she had hit into Dom really hard. "Anyone have any tissues?"

"I'm sure we'll be able to find one, but for now we have to get into town." Victoire used her wand to unlock the wooden door in front of them. It took two girls to yank it open, much like the first door. It was as if the corridor hadn't been used in decades. Behind the wooden door was a ladder. Moonlight flooded in, being the only source of light besides the one wooden torch that was blazing a couple of meters back.

"Alright, I'm going up first, to make sure the coast is clear. Send the younger ones after, Lucy and Alice, you guys come last." Everyone nodded and Victoire started to climb. When there was no commotion, Lily started to head up the ladder after her.

Victoire grabbed her hand, pulling her up. Taking in her surroundings, she realized Malfoy Manor was behind them. They were right outside the gate that closed in the grounds, and a town sprawled out in front of them.

"In history, we were talking about how they used tunnels in America to help rescue slaves from the south and bring them to the North. They called it the Underground Railroad, do you think this has something to do with that?" Lily asked Victoire, who was checking around the bushes, making sure nothing was going to pop out.

"Possibly." Lily listened as she helped Rose up. "It was most likely used during the first wizarding war, maybe for helping people escape."

Lily nodded in agreement. Rose was still shaking, looking like she was about to cry again. Lily felt like she could cry as well, but she couldn't imagine what Rose must be thinking as they both helped the rest of the girls up.

"Everyone stay together." Victoire said. "Let's see if there's some place small we can stay until the time turner wears off, it's freezing."

She was right, Lily noticed. The cold breeze was blowing through her pajamas, making her shiver. The patches of snow weren't helping either. "Do we have any guesses about what month it is?"

"With the snow on the ground, it isn't June through September." Roxanne said as they began walking towards the town. "And we know that this happened before the Battle of Hogwarts, cause they were after Uncle Harry, so it's before May 1998."

"Well that narrows it down a little." Alice added, wrapping her arms around her. "Can people we don't know see us without causing a rip in time?"

"I mean, we probably shouldn't be seen at all, but we don't really have a choice. I'm not freezing for 45 minutes." Victoire let her hair down, putting the rubber band around her wrist. "Let's just stay out of crowded places."

The group must have been a weird sight. Eight girls, all dressed in pajamas, walking around barefoot in the early hours of the morning. Not to mention Lily had a bloody nose, and Dominique had a bruise on her forehead.

"Excuse me sir," Molly went up to a man, who was holding a cigar in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other. Not the best person to walk up too. "Do you know what day it is?"

"February 30th, m'lady." He slurred, looking Molly up and down. "My my, you look dashing."

"Yes, and I'm 14, so back the hell off." Molly retorted, and Victoire put an arm around her, steering her away.

"Thank you sir." She said kindly, as they continued walking through the town. "Molly next time let's talk to a sober man."

Molly rolled her eyes. "He's the only one out at 4 in the morning."

The girls continued through the town, finding a small restaurant at the end of the road. "Let's stop in here, there seems to be no one besides the waitress."

The bell chimed as they pushed the door open, and they sat down at a table at the front. The waitress immediately came up to them. Lily discreetly covered her nose with her hand. "Pajama party ladies?"

Victoire laughed softly. "Yeah, i guess you could say that. Can you give us a sec to decide what we want?"

"Of course! Take your time." The waitress, surprisingly peppy for this early in the morning, headed back behind the counter.

"None of us have muggle money on us Vic, how are we gonna pay?" Dominique leaned over and whispered.

"Try and find some muggle money somewhere on the floor." Victoire ducked under the table, out of sight. "I have an idea."

Some other girls disappeared under the table. "Found one!" Said Rose, who pulled out a £20 bill. "Unfortunate for whoever dropped this."

"Perfect!" Victoire took the bill, and looked back to make sure the waitress wasn't watching. Then, she pulled out her wand and pointed it at the paper, and a second one appeared on top of it.

"Victoire that's illegal!" Lucy said in a hushed whisper. "Plus, there's differences, they're gonna be able to tell!"

"First off, this is the least illegal thing to have happened tonight." Victoire pulled out menus from the holder, passing it 'round the table. "Second off, only wizards can tell the difference. Muggles aren't that observant. On top of that, we're in another time. We don't technically exist."

Lucy fell silent as she looked at the menu, but Lily could tell she wasn't happy with it. She looked on Dominique's menu, as there were only 4 of them at the table.

When the waitress came back, everyone ordered their breakfast, Lily ordering toast with raspberry jam, and a glass of orange juice.

"Remember, we only have a certain amount of time before the time turner runs out, we don't want to disappear while she's watching. I would say, we have to leave in 35 minutes, so eat fast."

Around 15 minutes later the waitress came back with their food, and Lily bit into her toast, forgetting how hungry she was. The girls talked about what they were going to do when they got back to their time, considering they were still far away from the Burrow.

"We could always walk?" Rose suggested.

"No, it's too far. It'd be Christmas in our time before we make it back." Lucy said. "We have to go back to the manor. Someone's out to be looking for us by then."

"But what happens if they aren't?" Lily asked. "Then, we're with a bunch of 'Death Eaters.' Who are apparently followers of the darkness, like Molly said earlier." She paused, realizing everyone was staring at her with confused looks in their eyes. "What?"

"Lily, I thought you didn't know about the darkness. You and Hugo weren't meant to know about it till you went to school."

"Wait wait wait, take a step back." Lily scrunched her eyebrows. "I don't know about the darkness, your right Alice. The only reason I know the name is because Molls said it earlier. But why can't I know about it?"

"Because it's dangerous for people who aren't at Hogwarts, especially you, to know about it." Victoire said.

"Well, now you might as well tell me about it, cause I'm not leaving here without knowing." Lily crossed her arms over her chest, leaning forward.

"Now's really not the time Lils-"

"I'm serious. If there's something called 'The Darkness', and it's especially dangerous for me, I think I have the right to know about it." She looked around the table, seeing all the other girls glancing at each other.

"Fine." Dominique sighed. "But you better not tell your parents we told you."