"Lily, take the boys and go!" James yelled through his charmed wristband, "It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off—"
Lily jerked up from where she'd been sitting, watching her sons play a game they'd made up. Her first instinct was to panic, but she ignored it with little difficulty. She snatched her wand from a nearby shelf, and then knelt down to pick up her twin boys. She carried them awkwardly, one on each arm with her wand clenched between her fingers, and prepared to disapparate. However, as she felt an Anti-Disapparation jinx go up, Lily knew she had to find another way to escape.
Crash!
The sound of breaking china and rush of spellfire from the room below sent Lily's heart racing and she had to force down the impulse to go in and help James. Her breath slowed as various possible means of escape filtered through her mind.
She could try to break the Anti-Disapparation jinx, but the only way she knew meant the caster – most likely Voldemort – would be able to track her. She couldn't floo – that was in the other room, and with both hands full she'd be virtually defenseless. All the portkeys were with—
A tortured scream split the air and Lily felt her heart stop. The scream cut off into pained moaning before quieting abruptly, and Lily could only stand, petrified, eyes wide as saucers.
She dropped her wand. Scrambling to pick it up with two toddlers in her arms, she didn't notice when Voldemort came in. When she did, she very slowly levitated the boys into their cots, green eyes never leaving red. Her face was pale but determined.
"Leave," she spat. Her voice was cold and hard, despite knowing the man – monster – would not comply.
Voldemort smirked. "No," he said almost playfully, as if this were all a game to him.
"Avada Kedavra," Lily said flatly, showing him exactly how much of a game it wasn't.
The world flashed green as the death curse sped toward Voldemort, air seeming to bend around it. Half a meter in front of its intended target the stream shattered, and a thick stone shield rippled into view.
Voldemort hadn't twitched.
"Alright…" he said in that same careless tone and Lily noticed he hadn't even drawn his wand. He did so now, rolling the bone-white wood between his fingers. "Sectumsempra!" he snapped out faster than Lily could follow. She quickly summoned a chair to take the hit, but a second cleaved through and cut deep into her cheek. She winced from the sudden pain as blood trickled down her chin. Already three more spells sped through the air, slamming into and almost shattering her hastily conjured shield. She returned with several curses, though all were easily blocked.
For every spell Lily cast, she had to block three more. She wasn't an especially good duelist, though she could usually hold her own in a fair fight - but this – this was too much for her.
The duel was over in less than a minute.
Lily lay on the ground, exhausted and dizzy from blood loss. Through a haze of pain she saw Voldemort stride over to the two cots behind her. As he leaned over and raised his wand, Lily found the strength to stand. She rushed to protect her boys, stumbling and almost tipping over one of the cots.
"NO!" she all but screamed. Voldemort glared, and suddenly Lily's headache intensified. Her head pounded and her temples throbbed, but through it all she hovered protectively in front of the ones she would not let die.
The pounding stopped.
"Stand aside," Voldemort demanded, shoving her out of the way. He brought his wand up once again.
Distraught, Lily begged, "No, please no, not Harry—"
Curious, Voldemort shifted his hand to the left.
Eyes wide, Lily started again, "No! Please, not Tom—"
She stopped when Voldemort paused, seeming almost…surprised? – And there was silence for exactly three seconds. Suddenly Voldemort looked angry, and Lily was all the more wary of the deadly vehemence in his voice. "He will die first," he growled, raising his wand for a third time.
Lily became even more desperate and jumped in front of his wand again. "Please no," she cried, "take me, kill me instead—"
"Stand aside, you silly girl!" Voldemort barked, fed up with the interruptions. He knocked Lily to the ground, viciously breaking a bone in her leg in the process. She stayed silent despite the almost unbearable pain. "Stand aside now, and one of them—" he glanced at the cots, "—will live."
Lily couldn't bear losing even one of her precious boys and shook her head. She yanked on his robes, hoping to at least make him trip. When he simply ignored it, she continued to plead. "Please, have mercy…"
"Avada Kedavra!"
Lily lowered her head, defeated and unable to look. "Have mercy…" she whispered. Tears streamed down her face and dripped onto her skirt.
The dreaded squeal of fright never came.
Lily glanced up and saw the Voldemort had frozen with a shocked expression on his face. She turned her head very slowly, a spark of hope in her eyes.
On his cot, Thomas Dianthus Potter sat legs sprawled out in front of him and arms extended. A tiny green globe hovered inches from his palms. Tom gently brought his hands closer to his face and stared at the lightly pulsing ball. Suddenly he threw it into the air and yelled, "Catch, Harry!" or what sounded like it in baby language.
The ball moved very fast and bounced off Harry's forehead before he could blink. Tom pouted and caught it with cupped hands before tossing it again. This time Harry was ready and snatched it out of the air.
To Lily's bemusement they tossed the small ball back and forth several times before Harry just sat there with it in his hands. He brought it very close to his eye, apparently examining it. Abruptly he whipped his hand back and threw it straight at the only person standing. The green orb seemed to sink into his skin like a rock in water, and for a moment everything was still.
Harry smiled.
Tom giggled.
Voldemort imploded.
Lily blinked and stared at the remains of the most feared Dark Lord with slight shock. She didn't know how long she spent just sitting there, but the next thing she knew someone was calling her name from the door.
Lily turned blankly. "James?" she questioned. A part of her sighed in relief, but mostly she just stared unblinkingly. "I thought…" she trailed off, turning her eyes toward the bloody pile on the floor.
James followed her line of sight. "Yeah…" he said after a pause, and then explained, "I think I passed out for a minute. When I woke up, he," James nodded toward the pile, "was gone. Are you okay?" He sounded concerned. He walked over, casting a few healing spells on the shallow cuts Lily had accumulated.
"I…think so?" She shook her head a bit and came back to herself. "You? I heard you scream…" she said cautiously, splinting her leg and standing up.
James leaned over Harry and Tom's cots to make sure they weren't hurt. "I might have to go to St. Mungos later but I'm good for now," James told her. "Is he really…?" he said glancing at Voldemort's remains.
"Uh huh." Lily nodded uncertainly.
"That's nice," he said after a moment, seeming only slightly less shaken than Lily herself was. "Lily, look at this."
"What?" She stood next to James and looked, fearing the worst.
James saw the look on Lily's face. "It's alright," he assured her, "but look - this." He pointed at Harry's forehead. Harry blinked up at them, still smiling a bit; on his forehead, off center to the left, was a thin scar shaped like a lightning bolt that ran from his hairline to his eyebrow. "And this," James continued, holding Tom's left hand gently in his fingers, palm up. At the base of his thumb was another scar, this one a puckered circle shaped not unlike a bullet wound - or a sun.
Lily bit her lip. "What are they? They don't look like normal scars." She poked one on Harry's forehead. It didn't seem to be hurting him; that was good, at least.
"I don't know," James said, turning toward Lily. "Did you see when they got them?"
Lily shook her head. "I was too distracted, but we can look in a pensieve later. Actually, I'll show you all of it in the pensieve…" She yawned and sat down on the floor.
"Alright," James said, sitting down next to her. "Harry and Tom seem to be doing okay now, and the Order should be here soon. You can sleep," he added, seeing Lily was about to nod off.
Lily nodded drowsily. "G'night James," she mumbled and leaned into his shoulder, instantly asleep.
AN: This'll be a series of connected oneshots and not one big fic. They probably won't be in linear order either, and I'll be posting them as I write. I have no idea what the next chapter will be, nor when it will be up.