She waited. Eyes closed, knuckles clenched, Lily Evans waited for the curse that would end her life. Moments flashed before her eyes. Late nights in the Gryffindor common room, mornings by the lake, notes passed in lessons, kisses exchanged between her and a boy, arguments with her sister, cuddles with her mother – she waited.

'Death is the last enemy.'

The words uttered to her mere weeks ago resounded in her mind, and she saw the scene in her head, she and James in an empty Muggle pub in London. They drank only Lilt, for they needed to travel, so Lily could clearly recall James, however much she wanted to forget seeing him like that. Shoulders hunched, one hand running through his hair, Lily could see the tears in his eyes, however much she didn't want to. James.

'Don't think about him,' she thought. 'Not now.'

But her mind strayed. She thought of the times she had with him, and, in spite of herself, smiled. She thought of evenings cuddled together on a too-small sofa, dates spent in an over-crowded pub and words, however meaningless, exchanged. Love is better lost than to have never existed at all. 'But I don't want to lose it,' she thought. Her eyes opened.

The woman standing in front of her laughed, spiteful and exhilarated. 'You should have known, Evans.' She paced in front of Lily, twirling a strand of her thick hair with her wand. 'What to do with you…'

'It doesn't matter if I die. I'm insignificant. I just want you to know that, honestly, you will never win. We will always be fighting you.'

'It's hard to fight when you cease to exist.' The woman stopped pacing, and had turned around to face Lily. Her black eyes burned into her green ones. 'You're resistance is the reason for your death, Evans. You could have been so much more.' She glared at Lily, and her wand arm rose. 'It's a shame. You're the only scum he would have made an exception for.'

'You think I would have liked being the exception in your group? I wouldn't even join if I were Pure-blood! You're cause disgusts me – '

'Enough, Evans.' The wand pressed against Lily's temple. 'How does it feel? Being alone? Thought he'd be here to save you, hm?' The woman smirked. 'You thought a prat like him genuinely loved you. I warned you, Evans. I told you what he'd do to you.'

Lily recalled sitting in a shadowed corner of the library with this woman, muttering words to her. At the time, she believed her, however, after nearly a full year with James, how could they be true? He was on a mission, a big one, if she recalled correctly, and she was to blame for this whole situation. She was the one who had stupidly gone looking for him. He loved her.

'I'm going to destroy you, Evans,' whispered the woman. Memories surged through Lily's mind. She remembered being up all night in the Gryffindor dormitory, whispering and laughing with Marlene, Florence, Mary and Rhiannon. She remembered dinners in the Great Hall; many spent watching the likes of James and Sirius scoffing food as if they hadn't eaten in weeks. She remembered Prefect patrols with Remus, laughing as they exchanged stories, and jokes shared with with Peter, whom she had always thought to be a nice fellow. Her eyes fluttered to a close. The last thing she remembered before everything went dark was holding her mother's hand at her deathbed.

'Death is the last enemy.'