A/N: Hello Everyone! This scene came to me one day in the car in early September. I am submitting this as a one-shot because I attempted to write a novel about this, but I suck at beginnings! This was supposed to be the final scene. The novel is under the same title, At the End, and is a James/Lily fiction. If anyone would like to create a story around this and finish it more completely then feel free to, just remember to mention my name :) I know this is only a one-shot, but a banner would still be nice so if you could either make one or send me a review telling me how to make one that would be great. Sorry for the ridiculously long A/N, but here is some background: This story takes place approximately sixth months from Lily and James' graduation from Hogwarts. They got together in 7th year, but Lily broke it off for some (I don't know what) reason. They are both training to be Aurors, and they have seen very little of each other during training. Hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: Stop. Rubbing. It. In!
At the End
The stars shone in the darkness, surrounding the pale crescent moon which bathed the wooded valley in a dim light. Nestled beneath one of the cliff faces was a camp filled with orderly rows of white tents. An eerie silence had descended upon the hollow with nightfall. There was nothing but the rustle of dry autumn leaves, and the occasional chirp of a cricket.
The silence was shattered in an instant with sound of many load cracks. The valley was illuminated soon afterward by a barrage of spells. There were screams and shouts as the camp was awoken, and roused itself for a fight. An animal, silvery and translucent, sped strait up the face of the cliff and disappeared over the lip.
Lily awoke to the sound of screams and the crack of apparation. She clambered out of her bed and groped for her wand in the darkness. Raising it in front of her she muttered, "Lumos," and her wand-tip lit.
She scrambled through the tent flap and stood upright, peering into the darkness. A spell whizzed overhead, momentarily illuminating the area around her. She was shocked to see masses of hooded, masked figures throwing curses into the group of tents. Lily rushed towards the area at the center of the camp, and joined the assembled throng of the Auror Division's Charms Specialist Unit.
A man stepped forward and the crowd hushed expectantly, "We will be using the Advanced Safeguard Ward. Any who do not yet know this spell should assemble with the main body and try to hold back the tide of Death Eaters."
All but a few grizzled veterans and Lily jogged away to fight on the front lines. One of the men shot her a curious look, but Lily ignored it and faced towards the leader. He raised his wand above his head and everyone else followed suit.
They all began to mutter the complex incantation under their breath, and were rewarded when a thick cord of pulsating, golden energy erupted from their wands. The strands combined above the assembly and rose into the air, fanning out into a golden defensive nexus. The ward stopped all incoming spells, and prevented more Death Eaters from entering by conventional means. The curses, hexes, and jinxes dissipated against the powerful shield.
The shield; however, required and enormous amount of energy to sustain it, and it was taking a heavy toll on the spell-casters. They would not be able to sustain such a large and powerful shield for any extended period of time.
James was locked in a duel with two Death Eaters on the fringe of the camp. Aurors and Death Eaters alike were collapsing around him─ conquered by their opponents. He threw a powerful curse at one of the Death Eaters, who threw up a clumsy shield which the curse shattered through. It impacted the man in the abdomen, and he flew backward through the air, hitting the ground and crumpling into a heap.
James turned to face the other Death Eater, but was distracted by the bright light of the nexus being formed. He glanced upward quickly, but in that half a second, the Death Eater managed to shoot off a hex. James raised a shield charm, and the transfigured the air around the man into solid granite. He then blasted the pillar of stone with a quick Reducto, shattering it and dispersing it particles on the wind.
They were slowly being pushed back by the never ending tides of Lord Voldemort's followers. A voice raise above the sounds of the fighting roared, "Fall back to defend the main square!"
In only fifteen minutes two spell-casters had collapsed, and had been dragged away to the hospital tent. Lily was still standing, and looked to be the least tired out of the witches and wizards remaning on the green.
As she stood there, two more wizards collapsed, leaving only Lily, the leader, and one more witch. The spell was becoming harder to maintain, and both the leader and the other witch were growing steadily paler.
Lily looked to her right and saw the Aurors falling back to the edge of the commons. She started to turn her head back towards the other charms specialists, but did a double take as she spotted a mop of untamable jet black hair. They made eye contact for a brief moment, emerald meeting gold flecked hazel.
James took up his position next to the command tent, and turned to witness a beam of golden energy rising out of the wands of three Aurors. As the sun rose above the horizon, it threw beams of light onto the most beautiful person James had ever seen. Her hair shone with the light, appearing golden, red, and orange in the same moment. As she turned towards him, his breath caught in his throat─ it was Lily. Their eyes met, and James wished he never had to turn away from the gaze of her beautiful emerald eyes. A flash of green light rushed passed James' ear, and he turned to face the mad, high-pitched shriek that came from the throat of Bellatrix Lestrange.
She cackled as she threw the Cruciatus at him, "Poor Jamie! Where'd whittle Siwius go? Oh, Wait! I killed him!"
"Liar!" James yelled, throwing up a shield charm and sending a powerful curse at her face.
She dodged it, still cackling. She sent a killing curse at James, but he redirected it back at her. She jumped aside laughing, and said, "Little Jamie learned how to fight!"
Suddenly, she cringed and winced, glancing at her left arm before she disappeared without even the pop of apparation. James looked around confused as he realized that all the Death Eaters had vanished. 'They must be regrouping,' he thought to himself.
He turned towards the center area and saw that there were only a few Aurors fit to fight. Lily and one other Auror sustained the shield, but the man was steadily weakening. This was made obvious by his wobbly legs and pale skin.
He collapsed unconscious a moment later, leaving Lily to keep the shield up by herself. A mediwitch came up and removed the man on a stretcher. There were only roughly twenty Aurors left defending Lily.
A man stepped forward, "Word has been received from the Ministry, all forces are otherwise engaged, and no aid can be sent. We are by ourselves in this fight."
A pillar of roaring fire exploded from the ground thirty feet from the party. It rose into the air, stopping at the shield which held things not only out, but also in. When the fire ended, as fast as it had begun, it left a patch of burnt ground, and a completely unharmed looking Voldemort.
His pale skin gleamed, and he held his wand pointing down. He was smiling his evil, insane smile, and walked towards the Aurors who raised shields of their own. Voldemort raised his wand, and with a high-pitched laugh released a bolt of lightning, which passed through one man's shield as though it wasn't there. It divided into tendrils, and one attacked each Auror other than Lily.
It smote each of them except James, who transfigured the tendril coming at him into water. Voldemort laughed, "Oh we have a smart one here. I will delight in killing you!"
He raised his wand, but before he could say something, Dumbledore burst from the ground to James' left, and raised his wand at Voldemort.
While Voldemort and Dumbledore faced off in a duel no other man could hope to follow, James jogged over to Lily, strain evident in her face, and asked, "Lily, are you alright?"
"I can't sustain it much longer; they will all be able to come in." There was fear written plain on her face, but also steely resolve to fight to the last breath.
"James I need to tell you something: I never stopped loving you. I still love you, and I will always love you."
Without a word, James walked over to her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and crashed his lips down upon hers. She wrapped her free arm around his neck, and kissed him with a passion shown only by those who believe they are soon to take their last breath.
He pulled away momentarily, met her eyes, and said, "I love you too Lily."
At their contact, the beam of energy strengthened, and the nexus was redoubled. James thought that if Dumbledore was not otherwise occupied he would have talked about 'the power of love'.
With a shriek of hate, Voldemort vanished, and Dumbledore turned towards the still embracing James and Lily and said, with a twinkle in his eyes, "About time!"
A/N: I hope you enjoyed that! Please send me a review. I am open to constructive criticism, the words 'It Sucked!', banner-making info, or hopefully *crosses fingers* the words 'THIS IS THE GREATEST THING I HAVE EVER READ!'. Though I doubt the last one will happen, you can't blame me for hoping:)