"Hey look, it's that mudblood Evans!" A voice shouted. Lily froze, body overcome with dread. She spun around and saw a group of Slytherins walk slowly, until she was completely surrounded. Everyone knew they planned on becoming Death Eaters; it was only a matter of time before it actually happened. That terrified Lily. They were only children and they were already making these life-changing decisions that would result in the death of innocents. She knew that their 'careers' were lifelong. There was no going back for them. The five of them took steps towards her, agonizingly slow and careful. She watched them nervously, eyes on the wands. As she saw their shoulders twitch and their arms pull back, she raised her own wand. In what felt like a flash, a low, deep voice was shouting something in Latin – a spell she hadn't heard before- two strong, protective arms wrapped around her from behind and pushed her to the ground. As the voice she now recognised as Crabbe's finished shouting the spell, she felt her body completely covered. She heard the person shielding her scream in agony, gripping her middle. That was when she noticed; it was James. "What are you doing?" She yelled, voice muffled by the ground she was pressed into.
"Protecting you!" He grunted between gasps.
"Stop it!" She cried. "You're getting hurt! Move out the way!" He gripped her arm tightly, groaning in pain.
"I'd take a million times worse than this for you, Evans." He said, collapsing on her, screaming something about his 'friends needing him, the pain they were in and how he and how he 'needed to protect them.' Laughing and jeering could be heard surrounding them. Suddenly, she felt her body jolt and shake. She pushed her arm up, through their bodies that were so close, and felt his wet face.
James was crying.
James Potter was crying.
As he dug his nails into the floor, Lily guessed he had forgotten she was there. She realised that she was crying, too. "Stop it!" She tried to shout, but all that escaped her was a sob. Suddenly, someone from far away was shouting, and she realised it was Miss McGonagall. Slowly, she rolled onto her back and hugged James to try to control his shaking, but it was no use. To Lily, he felt like a dead weight, forced down on her. If it wasn't for the uncontrollable sobbing, she wouldn't even be sure he wasn't dead. "It's okay... It's over," she said shakily as she heard the footsteps fade.
