Lily stared off into space, rocking Harry
back and forth and ignoring the tears that were running down her face. "I can't believe it..."
"It's okay, Lily," James whispered, "He'll be fine."
"Yes, but whoever would have thought? He was always so nice..." Lily
looked down at Harry's wide, innocent eyes that seemed to have no idea of the
danger he was in.
James bit his lip, thinking. "No," he said slowly, "Recently, he was...so distant with us, remember?"
Lily turned to him, bright green eyes sparkling with tears. "Yes, but we all thought it was just a phase, didn't we? And poor Sirius, he's going to be feeling horrible, I just can't believe...after all these years...of all people, how could it be him?"
James reached out and pulled her close to him. "It's okay, Lily. Harry will be fine."
Lily rested her head against his chest, still crying. His shirt was soaked, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing except Harry, and Harry...Harry would be fine. Dumbledore had promised. The prophecies had told them so. "I just wish this didn't have to happen."
James absentmindedly stroked her hair, that long red hair that he had loved for so long. And now...well, now they would see.... "I love you, Lily," he whispered.
"I love you too, James," she whispered back. She looked down at Harry,
smiling through her tears. "Look, he's gone to sleep."
James smiled back. "At least he's
happy."
There was a noise outside in the bushes. They both sat up straight. "He's here," James said, barely able to believe his own words.
The tone in his voice woke Harry, and he cried out, but neither he or Lily paid
any attention to him.
Lily gulped. "James--"
"Lily, take Harry and GO!" James told her sharply, panic suddenly flooding him. Lily did not move. She seemed to be frozen with fear. "It's him! Go!! Run! I'll hold him off--" the blood seemed to return to Lily's feet, and she stumbled out of the room,
holding Harry close to her chest, and raced upstairs.
The door burst open, and a black-robed figure came in. It stopped when it saw James, and then cackling, high pitched cackling filled the room...
Lily gasped and almost fell down the stairs when she heard it, but she kept running. Harry was
still crying. She flung open the door, then whirled around and locked it. That should stop him for a while. That was all she could do anyway.
She put Harry on the bed and sat down and tried to wait, but she couldn't. She paced around, the room, and sat down again, and picked up Harry, and put him back...
There was a lump of fear growing and growing in her stomach. Her footsteps thudded around the room loudly, and she strained to hear what was going on downstairs, but she couldn't. Then--more cackling--pleading--Lily gulped, she couldn't stand to listen to it--and then--"AVADA KEDAVRA!!"
Lily gasped, and a hand flew to her mouth, stifling a scream. He's coming, and he's coming to get me,
she thought. She couldn't shake it...he's coming...I'm next...no...
The door opened. Lily flew out of her seat. "No!!" she screamed.
"Stand aside," hissed Voldemort, leering at her.
"No, not Harry!!" Lily shrieked again, panic flooding her. "You can't!! No, you can't do this to me!!" She was absolutely wild with fear, there were tears streaming down her face in torrents. "Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!!"
"Stand aside, you silly girl...stand aside, now. Or would you like to die too?" Voldemort raised his wand.
"No!! Not Harry, Please, anyone but Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead, please--"
Voldemort was silent for a minute, seeming to consider her request. Lily's hopes rose wildly, in spite of herself. "Not Harry!! Please...have mercy...please..."
"Crucio!!" hissed Voldemort.
"NO!!" Lily screamed, falling to her knees. White-hot pain flooded her, but she did not forget...she must save Harry...had to..."Not Harry! Please, not Harry, have mercy, take anyone but Harry, have mercy...please...you've got to..." her big green eyes looked up at Voldemort, wild with fear and pain.
But Voldemort just stood there and laughed, laughed at her fear and her pain. Then he raised his wand--she begged more--but he just laughed, and said something and then--
Harry shot out of bed. His heart was beating wildly. He put a hand up to his face and realized it was soaked with tears. Racking his brain, he tried to remember what his dream was about.
The memory hit him at full force, and he fell back in bed under the weight of it. His mother screaming...Voldemort laughing...his throat choked up again. That was the clearest he had ever dreamed of it. His mother and his father...he squeezed his eyes tight, forcing himself not to cry.
After a minute, Harry got himself under control and lifted his head to look at the clock. The little lighted numbers on someone's magical clock read 2:34. As he watched, they clicked
to 2:35. Harry sighed. He really needed to get some sleep, or he would be exhausted tomorrow. He flopped his head back on the pillow, rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.
As soon as he closed his eyes, the dark crept in on him again. His
mother's
face swam in front of his eyes, screaming and pleading.
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead--"
Harry's eyes popped open and he shuddered and sat up again, hugging his knees tight to his body. Suddenly he realized just how
thick the darkness was. It was creeping in on him...he squeezed his eyes
shut again, trying to shut it out, but it just kept coming.
"It's him! Go!! Run! I'll hold him off--"
He opened his eyes. This wasn't
working. He glanced nervously around the dark, half expecting Voldemort to
come bursting out of it. A lump of fear rose in his stomach.
Voldemort's snaky face appeared in his mind, and he gave a shuddering breath
when he realized how cruel the man was, how he had just stood there and laughed,
laughed at his mother screaming, and then just killed her, just one curse
and...Harry shuddered again. This
wasn't working. Throwing back the covers, he climbed out of bed.
In the trunk at the foot of his bed, there was the book Hagrid had given him at the end of his first year, the one with all the pictures of his mom and dad. Opening it and taking it to the window, he looked down at a picture of Sirius, Remus, his mom and dad and him as a baby all standing in a photo together. Well, not standing. Sirius was jumping up and down for no apparent reason, Remus was trying to hold him still, his mom was rolling her eyes and his dad was laughing at them. Peter was nowhere in sight.
Peter. Harry frowned at the thought of the name, but he quickly looked back down at Sirius in the picture.
Sirius...I wonder where he is tonight... he thought absentmindedly. Smiling, he closed the book and put it back where it belonged. Then he climbed into bed again, determined to go to sleep this time.
In a few minutes, Harry was snoring away with the rest of the boys in his dorm, and he didn't wake up again that night.
But far away, someone else was haunted with similar nightmares...
More coming soon, I promise!
