I'll Take it Shaken, Not Stirred

Chapter 4: The Harrighagen Strategy

"Oh shit, shit, shit, shit," she whispered. James looked over and saw her fumbling about in the dark. Her robes had long since been discarded, and she only wore the uniform skirt, blouse, sweater, and tie. She was checking her pockets for something.

"What is it?" James asked apprehensively. "My wand," whispered Lily, "it's gone."

"And they said you were smart!" exclaimed James, standing up and facing her. "You lost your wand?"

"I must have dropped it in the lake! Shit, shit, shit!" Lily rubbed her forehead as if it ached. James rolled his eyes and shifted his weight.

"You just... let go... while you were swimming," he murmured irritably, "Didn't you think you would need it?"

"Oh I'm sorry!" snapped Lily sarcastically, "I must have been a little distracted. Or didn't you notice the death eaters?" She stood up to face him, but her foot hurt so that she sat down again immediately.

"Yes I noticed the death eaters," said James, shaking his head, "but that's no reason to lose your head."

"I didn't lose my head; I lost my wand!" retorted Lily.

"Shhh! Listen!" whispered Peter suddenly. Lily and James both turned to see Peter, who was no longer red, but suddenly very pale. He was looking intently at nothing in particular, and he had the expression of one listening to something very quiet, that he could only barely hear. Head Boy and Girl listened.

There was a creaking sound. James and Lily started.

"Who knows what's in this forest? We should get out of here," said Lily, but looking down at her bleeding feet, that didn't seem like much of a possibility.

"Here," muttered James, throwing a wand to Lily. She glanced at it. It wasn't her own, and it wasn't familiar.

"You're not giving me your wand, are you?" Lily said slowly. "No," said James, pulling out his own.

Lily looked perplexed.

"I picked it up off a death eater when I knocked him out," shrugged James. Lily nodded as if she understood, but James could tell that she didn't entirely. For a moment, she hesitated, and then she pointed the alien wand at her feet. She hesitated again.

"What is it?" demanded James.

"I... it's just..." stammered Lily, "the wand won't work as well, since I'm not the owner."

"It's just a simple healing charm," said James, but- for some reason unbeknownst to Lily- he didn't sound aggravated. "The cuts aren't too deep... hopefully..." James said slowly. Lily pulled her socks off, and James lit his wand too see her foot. "Okay, screw the last comment." James sighed. Putting the light out at the end of his wand ("Knox!"), he pointed his wand at her foot. "Sana!" he said with authority.

The bleeding stopped on the cuts and they began to scab over. They did not vanish completely however, and James looked disappointed. Lily used the wand that she held to clean her socks and she slipped them on. It still hurt when she stood, but her feet didn't ache as much.

Peter, meanwhile, was pacing. He had poured the remains of the water on his face, tossed the goblet, and now he simply paced nervously, eyes darting from tree to tree.

"The forest is awfully big," he muttered. "We must have run several miles..."

"Two or three," estimated James. "But you of all people should know the forest is bigger than that."

"How should he know?" Lily asked, folding her arms and giving James an assessing look. He gave her a perfectly innocent one.

"Natural knowledge of geography, of course, Red."