This is the last installment of the Of Alliterations series sob. I want to thank all of the wonderful reviewers who have reviewed any chapter, and a special thanks to all who reviewed on Of Babies, Bereavement, and Breaks.
My next project is either going to be a oneshot in response to the challenge from 100-percent-Harry-Potter-obsessed or a Twilight oneshot, whichever I feel inspired to write. The challenge will be titled Innocent (as per the challenge) and the finished product as well as a copy of the rules at the top of the story.Thank-you to all the reviewers!!! 2hyper4life, Silver Wind Kitsue, cMEk, dramafreakx2, liz22463, and Trisken Leigh are my new heroes!
Disclaimer: I do not own this…I wish I did, but the shooting star seems to be broken right now. As a secondary disclaimer, I also would like to mention that some of the dialogue at the end belongs to J.K.R, it was merely borrowed for accuracy.
CAUTION! DO NOT READ UNTIL HAVE READ A/N BELOW!!!!
PLEASE NOTE: This is the SEVENTH installment in the Of Alliterations series…if you have not read Of Snow, Snowshoeing, and Snogging, Of Tests, Tricks, and Turning Points, Of Dates, Drama, and Dilemmas, Of Engagements, Employments, and Endangerments, Of Weddings, Waging Wars, and Wrangles, and Of Babies, Bereavement, and Breaks (preferably in that order), then DO NOT READ THIS (yet)!! Thank-you and enjoy! Of Death, Disloyalty, and Deliverance"Bathilda's coming over for tea tomorrow dear!" Lily called out the window from the kitchen of the Potter's cozy house in Godric's Hollow, as she let go of their family owl to send the acceptance to their neighbor.
"As long as she doesn't start up again about Dumbledore again!" James replied, chasing Harry who was zooming around the garden as fast as his toy broomstick could take him, "I swear that women loves nothing more then a scandal!" Lily laughed and dried the last dish, putting it back in the cabinet with a swish of her wand.
Lily sighed contently, the house now sparkling clean for at least a few moments.
Oh, moment's up! Lily thought, laughing as Harry came walking into the house as fast as his tiny legs could go, eager to show off his new walking skills, and trailing dirt from the garden onto the freshly cleaned rug.
"Sorry." James said sheepishly, coming in a moment after carrying the toy broomstick, which was immediately put far out of Harry's reach. The first time the made the mistake of putting it on the kitchen table, an ugly Christmas vase from Petunia had gotten broken, although neither parent could be very angry with the boy because they finally had an excuse to throw it out.
Lily laughed and scooped up Harry, who shrieked in delight as she swung him up into the air.
"Let's get you into the bath mister!" exclaimed Lily, nuzzling Harry's nose. She simply couldn't get enough of this child. Lily had been worried she would be stir crazy in the house, but Harry's every moved seemed to fill her with delight and she couldn't stay downhearted for long.
I wish I could say the same for James…Lily thought, glancing quickly to her husband who was looking through the mail eagerly, only to put it back down in disappointment when there were no letters from any of the Marauders. Lily frowned and walked into the upstairs bathroom.
It had been hard for James, staying away from his friends because they were more like his family. They'd never spent more then a couple of weeks over Christmas break apart, and even then he had almost always had Sirius.
Lily sighed, switching Harry over to her hip to turn on the bathwater. Harry immediately began squirming, he never liked baths and always ran right back into the mud if allowed.
As Lily lowered Harry into the tub, she shook her head, feeling sorry for James' worries.
He loved all the time he got to spend with Harry, no one could ever say he didn't. James doted on their son like a little prince and more often then not Lily had to be the one with a firm hand and say that Harry could not have cookies for dinner simply because he pointed at them excitedly and pulled on his father's shirt.
But James was bored; he had never been in the position where he wasn't allowed to do anything, not even go out of the house. He missed Remus and Sirius especially; Peter was able to visit more often because he never had as much Order work to do. In fact he had just come this past week. The visit had done wonders for James' spirit, especially when Peter brought a letter from Sirius saying that he was going to visit on Halloween around 11 o'clock.
No one knew that Peter was actually the Secret Keeper to the Potters, not even Dumbledore although Lily wondered if any secret could really be kept from the insightful headmaster. They had decided that it would be clear to everyone that James would trust no one more then Sirius, and that was exactly the right reason not to pick him.
Peter had actually made a lot of sense when he had explained his reasoning.
Everyone would expect that Lily and James would choose Sirius or Remus as their Secret Keeper, never Peter (although James tried very valiantly to convince Peter he would have been their third choice). So when Peter had come to them and Sirius the night the charm was to be cast, he'd made a strong point that it was better to choose the more unlikely candidate because Voldemort (Peter had squeaked trying to say the name) would know that Sirius would be their first choice.
Lily wasn't very comfortable with the idea at first. She thought that despite the risk, Sirius was likely to hold up much better then Peter if Voldemort found them, but James seemed to like the idea. He was worried about putting more strain on Sirius who was doing an extremely dangerous mission for the Order. He was trying to infiltrate part of the Death Eaters circle, become a spy in one of the lower ranking levels.
More secrets and lies. Lily thought, closing her eyes while washing Harry's hair.
Because no one was allowed to know about the mission. Only Dumbledore, Lily, and James knew and the only reason that the Potters knew was because of the risk they would be taking by making Sirius their Secret Keeper.
Neither of them had cared about the risk and determinedly denied Dumbledore's offer to be their Secret Keeper as he was to the Longbottoms. They had both agreed that he had enough to do without adding themselves to the list.
Lily would have much preferred Remus to be the one to make the switch with, but he couldn't do anything, grief had clogged his mind and Lily still worried, even now, about the damage it had done to his heart.
Lily's eyes began to well up as she thought of the tearstained letter they had received the day before the Fidelius Charm was being preformed. It was from Remus, telling them that Dacia had died while being tortured by Death Eaters for the Potter's whereabouts and her body had just been found a few miles from her home, bloodstained and bruised.
Lily felt droplets of warm water splash up onto her face and smiled watching Harry slap the top of the water, delighted in the way it splashed up onto the sides of the tub.
However he did not like it when the water hit his eyes and was about to cry when Lily swept Harry up and wrapped him in their soft towels. As Lily leaned him against her shoulder, she felt Harry yawn and snuggle closer. Quietly she walked down the hall and placed him in his white crib. Almost immediately Harry was asleep, rolling onto his side and sucking his thumb.
Watching Harry lying there, Lily could feel her grief sliding away. It had been over a year ago but she still missed her friend dearly and it tortured her endlessly to know that Dacia died because of them.
And so a year had passed slowly for the three Potters. Lily reflected on the first three tense months. They had lived in constant fear, despite their protections, wondering if today would be the day that Voldemort found them.
But as the months rolled by and Harry grew up too quickly for Lily's liking, they relaxed and began to settle into their new home; a beautiful, cozy cottage in Godric's Hollow. James had immediately been fascinated by the fact that Godric Griffindor had once lived here and one evening had come in shouting, after an excursion under his Invisibility Cloak, that in the graveyard by the church they had never attended, were the graves of two Dumbledore's; possibly Albus Dumbledore's family.
Lily was astonished, but cautious to think it was their former professor's family. After all he had never mentioned that he used to live there. But he was also a very private man…so Lily had placated James with a noncommittal "hmmm" and dropped the subject.
The more the Potter's became used to their imprisonment of sorts, the more out of place in the world Lily felt. Visitors had been decreasing over the last few months and Lily couldn't help but be pained by the fact that it was caused by the increased Death Eater attacks…attacks that they could do nothing about.
But even as the terrors grew, Lily couldn't help feeling safe in their cozy home. She felt almost invincible, although she still had twinges of regret in picking Peter. If she had been worried before about his behavior, those fears were waved away when Peter finally admitted to having joined a new age protection group as Lily suspected but announced that he had left. He only occasionally twitched involuntarily, but when he did he tended to stare at Harry in a way that brought back all of Lily's former concerns.
But his visit earlier that week had been extremely somber. Peter had cried nearly every time he looked either Lily or James in the face. They could only console him, for it was because of the McKinnons' death that he felt so horribly, and assure him he wasn't alone and would always have his friends.
Dumbledore had also visited, the day before Peter, and was the one to break the news about the McKinnons to Lily and James.
Thinking of Dumbledore, Lily frowned, folding another blanket onto Harry on the unusually cold 30th of October.
I hope he returns James' Cloak soon…Lily thought, watching Harry sleep a while longer. Although she herself didn't rely on the Cloak for much, the odd visit that had signaled its departure left Lily uneasy.
Dumbledore routinely stopped in at Godrick's Hollow to give them news and check on Harry, whom Dumbledore dotted upon more then a future headmaster should, Lily often teased.
But when Albus last came to visit, it was a very strange occasion.
He and Lily were having a cup of tea in the kitchen while Harry was, thankfully, sleeping. The news of the McKinnons had left the atmosphere quiet and sorrowful.
James had gone out to get milk under his Cloak just before Dumbledore arrived, so Lily was not surprised to see the front door open apparently by itself. However she had forgotten to mention this to Dumbledore and cried out in alarm as he swiftly sent a Stunner at the doorway.
To everyone's surprise the spell disappeared right at the door, Lily could only assume that the Cloak had absorbed it. A moment later James whipped off his Cloak and raised his hands to ward off Dumbledore's next attack.
Lily had never seen Albus taken by surprise by anything before, but as he looked from the Invisibility Cloak to his wand to James and back, the expression was clearly etched in his face.
"James where did you get that cloak?" Dumbledore swiftly asked in astonishment.
"It's been in my family for ages…passed down. No one really remembers how long." James shrugged, sliding into a chair next to Lily. He had smiled sheepishly, "That's how we always got around the school."
"Really?" Dumbledore chuckled as he reached to touch the silky material, "Curious." But his eyes were burning with some hidden desire, which immediately turned to shock and self-disgust before becoming composed again in scholarly interest. If Lily hadn't been looking closely she never would have see the two second change and even so she wasn't positive of what she had seen.
However soon the winkle eyed professor came to his wits and finished updating them on news just as before. Lily had scolded herself as she cleared their teacups.
As the visit came to an end, Dumbledore rose from the small table with the Potters and walked to the door where he paused, either unsure or embarrassed.
"I must admit James…I'm quite fascinated by that magnificent Cloak of yours. Could I perhaps borrow it to test some things?" Dumbledore asked, and all that his eyes showed was the educational curiosity. James hesitated and Dumbledore chuckled again, "I promise to return it in the best of conditions." James had laughed along with him and immediately agreed. Lily however felt a twinge of unease in her chest and despite the trust she had in Dumbledore's fully honorable promise, she had an ominous feeling that she and James could never see that Cloak again.
Harry gurgled in his sleep and rolled over as Lily quietly crept out of the small bedroom and down to the living room where James was sprawled over the couch reading the Daily Prophet.
"S'all rubbish." James muttered angrily before tossing it over the back of the sofa, "I dunno why we even have a subscription anymore Lils."
"Because you'd go stir crazy without news." Lily reminded him affectionately, folding herself into his arms as he moved his back against the back of the couch to make room for her to lie beside him.
"Ah yes…" James murmured, his warm breath tickling her ear, "I suppose your right."
Time ticked quietly by but Lily was content to just stay there, wrapped in the warmth of James' arms as his soft breath stole across her cheek.
She sighed, shutting her eyes for the first time today and sunk deeper into James' strong embrace, smiling as he chuckled and nosed her hair. Soon Lily's mind wandered and she didn't think of anything through the safe, easy haze that floated into her mind
What felt like moments later, Lily started and found herself wrapped up in a blanket sprawled across the floor after falling off the couch.
"Nggh." She moaned, rubbing the back of her head while trying to figure out what happened.
"Lily love?" James called from the kitchen, "Alright?"
"Fine…" Lily called back, still confused. When did James leave the couch? Looking out the window, Lily stared deep into the black night.
But the sun only just set! Lily started and looked around for the ornate grandfather clock. It read quarter to eleven.
"Uhhh." Lily rolled up so her back was on the bottom of the couch and tugged the blanket around her more tightly. James walked to the entranceway and paused against the doorframe, chuckling before coming to sit next to her.
"You fell asleep and you looked so cozy," James explained, moving some fallen strands of red hair from her eyes, "I couldn't wake you…cookie?" Lily stared at the shapes on the plate James put in front of her.
"You…baked?" She asked suspiciously, picking up one of the pumpkin shaped cookies. The frequently used cookie plate now held a dozen of assorted treats; ghosts, pumpkins, bats, and other Halloween pictures. And they were all frosted. And warm. And baked by James.
And Lily didn't trust them.
"Where did you get these?" Lily asked, turning the cookie over in her hands. As much as she adored her husband, his cooking skills were wanting to say the least. Once he had tried to surprise her with breakfast in bed. It turned out she was surprised with a fire in the kitchen.
James shrugged and bit off a ghost's head, "Baffed sem." He said through the mouthful before swallowing with an apologetic look, "Baked them." Lily bit a cookie thoughtfully. These were exceptionally good – warm, moist, and the frosting looked perfect.
"When did you bake them?" She pressed, finishing her pumpkin and licking the orange frosting off of her fingers. Again James shrugged and put the plate down beside him.
"I finished frosting about ten minutes ago."
"Liar." Lily contradicted lightly; reaching for a bat shaped one, "We don't have any frosting." James paused for a moment before smiling confidently.
"Got some by mag-" Lily interrupted him with a buzzing sound.
"Food is one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, honestly didn't you pay attention once in class?" Lily asked, only mildly rebuking him. James shrugged.
"Not on theory days."
"You still didn't answer my question." James took another large bit of cookie and mumbled the answer. Lily raised an eyebrow and James swallowed the mouthful before sighing.
"I bought them from the bakery today." Lily smiled and kissed his cheek.
"Well then thank-you…it doesn't have to be from scratch for me to like it you know." James shrugged again and leaned his cheek on her hair.
"I just feel useless sitting around here!" He confessed, " I'm useless helping you around the house, I can't do any Order work or Auror work, I can't even write a bloody letter to my friends!" Despite his age, James couldn't help scowling and crossing his arms in a full pout.
Lily turned his face back to hers for a kiss, and despite his aggravation, she could feel James relax.
"I'm sorry." Lily whispered, resting her forehead against James', "I know how hard this is for you. But you are doing something…you're protecting Harry and me, creating a life for us. That's worth more then some batch of cookies. James snorted but looked slightly mollified even though she knew he thought she was being ridiculous.
But Lily was serious. She never stopped James from going out into the village with his Cloak, but every time he left…it started.
She would feel fine for a few minutes. But then, slowly, she'd swear she could feel eyes watching her. Every time Lily turned around she'd feel silly, but she couldn't help doing it again. Then she'd start having trouble breathing, worrying that someone would sneak up on her and she wouldn't be able to protect Harry in time, or that James wasn't around to be the second one to do that. Once it had gotten so bad Lily'd begun to barricade her and Harry in his small bedroom. She had chocked back screamed when she heard the front door open, but then nearly wept in relief when she heard James call out asking where they were.
Lily had quickly removed all of her protection spells and hurried down with Harry on her hip, completely unflustered. The only difference noticeable to James was the slightly hysterical edge that her kiss contained.
Without James' presence in the house, all of Lily's fears come to the surface and she couldn't handle it. James had no idea how much she owed him for keeping her sane, this in addition for being the perfect husband. But she could never tell James exactly how much he helped because then he would never leave her side, unwilling to cause her fear. And then he would be hurting himself, and Lily would be the one denying him his small freedoms.
"And, "Lily persisted, "Look around us! This is practically Halloween Town!" James looked at her queerly.
"It's a Muggle movie." She explained and James shook his head mockingly.
"But you do like it? It's not too overboard?" James asked excitedly pulling Lily to her feet to show her the finer parts of the Halloween scene he'd set in their living room while she slept unaware. Lily laughed and allowed herself to be towed closer to the giant cobweb across one window. Shrieking suddenly, Lily jumped behind James and dragged him farther from the window.
"SPIDER!!!" She screamed but James laughed and pulled her unwilling figure closer.
"It's fake, jeez Lils someone's a wimp."
"Being afraid of a one foot large, apparently real spider does not make me a wimp!" Lily scoffed, but even knowing it was fake she couldn't get closer to it without James standing in front of her, "And everything you do is a bit overboard…but I love it!"
And she did.
James had, in the few hours Lily was sleeping, transformed the living room into a haunted house of epic proportions.
Cobwebs hung eerily for the corners and strange creaking noises filled the silent air. Lily shivered looking around, black and orange streamers hung around the chandelier and carved pumpkins of every size were placed on all the flat surfaces. There was even a bat that flew around the room in a set path. The entire room was beautiful, yet frighteningly eerie…and it was exactly like James to do this. He'd gone to great lengths to make this Halloween perfect for Harry, who couldn't go out trick-or-treating like every young boy should be allowed to do. He was determined to make their estrangement from the world as normal for Harry as possible.
"Harry will love it." Lily promised as she wrapped her arms around James, the pair standing in the middle of their haunted house.
And she was right. Harry delighted so much in the room, he refused to leave it all day.
Just when Lily thought that Harry and James would run out of discoveries or toys, she would hear a shriek of frightened excitement as some new terror jumped out. But Harry was never truly afraid, he'd even run up and tried to grab the spider of which Lily had been so scared.
The whole day was spent in bliss. The couple played with Harry the entire time, happier then they'd been in months.
But as the evening wore on, Lily had to put her foot down and make James remove the decorations. The charms were being to wear off and things were falling down, or in the bat's case, dive bombing anything bright colored, shiny, or moving. And it just so happened that Lily's hair fitted two of these descriptions.
It was evening before Lily finally got around to doing the day's dishes, listening happily as she heard James making puffs of colored smoke appear as Harry so loved. James'd been rather put out when he wasn't allowed to leave up the decorations for Sirius' visit, but had agreed to take pictures and then strip the room back to its normal state.
Lily stretched, twisting to get the cricks out of her back from spending the day on the floor playing. With a flick of her wand, Lily sent the last plate into the cabinet and then took a sweeping look of the kitchen. It was spotless, until morning.
Which is more then can be said for this…Lily thought, wrinkling her nose at the smudges on her wand. But her eyes flicked to the clock and Lily set her wand down on the kitchen table, deciding to clean it after she set Harry in bed, it was late past his bedtime already and if he was awake when Sirius arrived there would be no getting him to sleep…
Lily pushed open the kitchen door into the living room and paused, pushing her red hair from her eyes as she said, "Alright boys…party's over, its time for Harry to go to bed."
James picked Harry up from off the couch and gave him a kiss on the forehead before handing him to Lily.
James stretched and yawned, throwing his wand down on the couch as Lily moved towards the stairs. James' face looked excited, remembering that Sirius would be here in less then an hour.
It'll be fun to see Sirius again. Lily thought, smiling. And just as she thought these words, she heard the front door slam open with much more force then necessary and James moving to go see if Sirius was early. But he doesn't need to break my house…
It was then that Lily's heart stopped as she heard James' voice, her favorite baritone sound, shouting up the stairs, layered thickly with fear.
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off." Lily stumbled on the stairs, her senses choked with fear and she nearly crashed. But Lily caught sight of Harry's innocent face, blissfully unaware and staggered up the last few stairs.
How can you my foolish, brave, wonderful love? Lily thought, drowning in panic. It wasn't supposed to be like this, not on a night like tonight. Tonight was happy. Tonight was good. Why hadn't they kept their wands on them?
Halfway down the hall, Lily screamed and fell to one knee before forcing herself on. She had just felt half of her soul ripped apart, had seen the flash of green light…that cruel voice…how could it be so pitiless? Even amused?
Her brain clinging to consciousness by a thread, Lily fell into Harry's bedroom, the original destination when she'd picked him up and began stacking everything in sight.
Boxes, the nightstand, a lamp. Lily knew it was useless but couldn't stop anyway.
Why? Why, why…how? Lily thought, pulling a box of photos on the haphazard stack. How could he have gotten through…?
And with a bolt of horror Lily stumbled back, stopping at the crib as she heard the slow, almost bored, steps make their way down the hall.
Damn you to the deepest depths of hell you traitor. Lily thought, crushing Harry to her chest, her lips kissing his head frantically, trying to find someway out of this nightmare, or at least to save her son. How could you Peter? How could you do this to us? To James? How could you sit in our home a week ago? Did you know we were going to die? Is that why you cried for us? You could have warned us and so help me God if I find a way to harm you I will take it.
But Lily knew that was fruitless because she was going to die…Harry was going to die. Tears streamed uselessly down her cheeks as she kissed Harry for the last time and the semblance of a defense she'd set up was swept away with a careless flick of a wand and he stepped into the small bedroom.
Lily dropped Harry into the crib quickly, one final kiss, and threw her arms out wide in front of him, the last idea that came to her mind as some sort of protection.
"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!" Lily begged, she couldn't help it. As much as she wanted to stand here, defiant until the end, Lily Potter couldn't allow her son to die like this.
"Stand aside you silly girl…stand aside, now." His high voice cut through Lily's soul like a whip. He didn't even seem to want to kill her. All he cared about was the defenseless baby sitting behind her, gurgling happily thinking his father had come to see him.
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead…" Lily sobbed, her mind unable to form any words except for her plea. Voldemort didn't make any notice of her strife.
"This is my last warning-" Lily's voice rose higher, hysterical now.
"Not Harry! Please…have mercy…have mercy…Not Harry! Not Harry! Please – I'll do anything." And she would. Lily didn't care what awful deeds she would be forced to perform as long as her son lived. It might make her a monster to admit it, but she was beyond caring.
Voldemort's snake-like eyes narrowed in anger.
"Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!" Lily knew it was over, Voldemort raised his wand but Lily couldn't hear the words coming from his mouth, the rush in her ears was too loud.
And then she was gone…yet there. Lily's brain seemed to be working more easily now and she looked around, apparently in a tunnel…and there was James.
Darling! Lily called out, but was surprised not to hear a sound. Is this a dream? Had it all been a dream?
Relief poured over Lily's flaming soul. Harry was safe; she hadn't been stupid enough, careless enough to not be able to protect him. But James shook his head and his voice sounded all around, yet nowhere.
Lily, we've died…
An inhuman sob wrenched from Lily's throat. Turning, she tried to run, run away from the end of the tunnel because it surely led to hell. And she deserved it. Harry was going to be joining them soon and he deserved heaven. But she, she deserved hell. She had let her helpless child die.
But the sight that greeted Lily wasn't a darker part of the tunnel; it was Harry's baby room. Horrified Lily realized that she was already in hell because here she was, watching her son's murder.
Harry started to cry when he realized that the cloaked man wasn't James and Lily's face was drowning in her own tears.
She tried to call out to him, not to be afraid, though it was a lie. But he would be here soon. Maybe that was better…he wouldn't have to live in that world of pain.
But Lily couldn't do nothing and she flung herself down, trying to get back to save him. James' strong hands clasped her arms, pulling her against his chest and Lily could feel water dripping onto her shoulder as he imprisoned her, refusing to let her return.
She fought, she couldn't help it, and she needed to do something, anything.
But Lily went limp in James' arms, astonished as she watched a magical force wrap itself around Harry, a force invisible to the living, but perfectly clear to the dead. Watched as Voldemort's killing curse rebounded upon himself and watched as he writhed in pain, the house collapsed, and Harry sat in the rubble in his slightly broken crib, crying his eyes out, but alive.
And Lily collapsed, James falling with her.
Wrapping their arms around one another Lily felt complete. James was here; she knew she could face anything. Harry was alive; she knew others would watch over him.
And Lily Evans Potter smiled, completely blissful because as her mind ran the movie of that magical protection wrapping around their son like she always placed his favorite blanket, Lily knew. She recognized that magic, though she'd never been aware of it before. She saw that it was her magic holding Harry, saving him. And she saw that deep within that magic, the threads of the blanket, was the magic James had placed in her, his love. And Lily knew and as she smiled as James he knew. They both walked towards the opposite end of the tunnel, away from Harry and the world of the living, hand in hand and they knew it.
They had saved Harry, enabling him to live another day.
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I have literally been crying for the last three pages.
I hope everyone enjoy the final installment of the Of Alliterations series (and I hope you read the other ones first!). I feel very sad that it's over, but proud because this series is my first completed fanfiction item that is longer then a oneshot!
Please, please, please I beg you to drop a review! I appreciate them greatly and because this is the last one there won't be another chance to do it! So please be kind and send me just a few words!
Thank-you to everyone who has reviewed in the past, I put your names at the top because it really does mean a lot to me when people take the time to write something. It shows me that you think I've worked hard enough to deserve your opinions!
And so…I am joyous and grieved to announce that Of Alliterations, the story of James and Lily Potter as told by Artemis Hunt, is over.
