We must, Lily thought, figure a signal, a sign, to say 'I love you' in the dark.

She should not have been thinking like that. It was silly, first off. And second off, the only reason she thought it necessary was because she was standing in a dark, dank tunnel in pitch black with James and some other bloke with a pool (all right, not a pool but some) Death Eaters a few steps down the way, and who knew what might happen.

Exactly, she countered herself. Who knew what might happen? Which was why it was important for him to know, really, again, before they met the bottom of the staircase. Squeezing her fingers would have to be enough for now, she supposed, but she would come up with something later, because then he was gone off into the darkness, and Lily was left alone.

She waited with one hand on the wall to steady herself, while flexing her wand hand at the same time. Her run in with Severus, at the apothecary, was still fresh in her mind though she tried very, very hard not to think about it, or him, or anything but the water on the wall and the wand in her hand.

"Count to thirty, then follow."

Water and wand. Thirty and follow.

She mouthed the numbers quietly, waiting, praying, listening, and hoping that James didn't take it upon himself to trip over his own feet or anything.

At thirty, she moved. Her wand was held prone ahead of her; if anything happened to them, she would be the last to know and she would need to be ready. It was at times like these, she imagined, that it would be useful to be an animagus. Not in her case, of course, seeing as how a doe-patronus meant that she would likely be a doe-- and one didn't normally find does in city tube stations. No, to be something like McGonagall, like a cat, or to be a rat or a mouse or a bug would be useful. No one would suspect a rat.

It was in the midst of these wonderings and wanderings that Lily suddenly found herself illuminated; her wand was half up and a curse half to her mouth before she realized that, should it have been a Death Eater, they'd not still be merely shining a light upon her. She waited for Arthur in silence, though her heart still thudded painfully due to the shock.

Focus, Evans.

"The stairs lead down into the Tube just ahead."

She nodded.

"Wait at the top. Don't move unless something happens or James or I come back for you. You're backup, Evans. If anything should go wrong, we're relying on you."

Do what?

Wait? Wait! Wait, while James slipped down and down into the darkness-- while Arthur followed him into the unknown. Wait!

Lily bristled; she even shivered. Back up. She was a bloody fine witch-- she had looked Him in the face and not flinched and she was being relegated to bloody back up?! She grit her molars together. Back up. Well, she'd be the best damn back up Arthur Bones had ever had, thanks much!

There was certainly something to be said about letting emotions get in the way of one's focus, and the something was that Lily was particularly apt to doing so. Not that she found herself weepy or distracted-- but it was distinctly unheroic to make a face at one's project leader as he crept back down the dark and frightening staircase towards the Death Eaters.

But she heard the click. And her face grew serious. She gripped the handrail, lifted her wand again, and waited for the next noise or movement.


Bee and ffleurbert Sitting in a Tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

The Former Evans: Keeper of Kibble, Walker of Doggies, Breeder of Elvendork Potters, Caretaker of the Untameable Hair.

I, Lily Cootie-Infested Evans, hereby promise to love, honour, but most importantly to OBEY the Tangle-Headed Potter for all eternity, henceforth. DOOM!