Title: According to Plan
By: Nesma
Disclaimer: Not my characters.
A/N: Right. Well. I wrote this for the 31-Jan and I thought I should post it. Enjoy.
James knew this day was coming.
Before joining the Order, he thought it would be fun. He used to think that apperating into battles were cool and stunning Death Eaters would be exhilarating. He could easily day dream what it was like to have Sirius by his side, laughing in the face of Death as jinxes and missed them by inches. He thought it would be like the duels in Hogwarts but better.
But no one laughed when not one, not two, but three green lights narrowly missed him and Sirius. No one laughed the time Lily was hit with a sectumsempra curse, when minutes before she told a few close friends she was pregnant. And no one laughed when Fabian and Gideon died.
There was no glory in surviving. There was no fame to be achieved in the battles. You gained new scars and new horrific memories to visit late at night. And winning a battle was so rare, and it often meant something much worse was coming afterwards. It often made James and Lily stay wide awake at night, petrified at what new fresh hell the Death Eaters would bring.
There was never a safe moment. There was never a good battle. There was only blood and death and fear. And it was a scent that clung to his clothes and no matter how hard he scrubbed his body after a battle, he was always convinced that the blood was permanently stuck on his hands. He knew he wasn't alone in this sentiment. He even once walked in on Lily crying hysterically as she was using a washcloth to rub at her skin.
There was never a moment of glory in this war.
Yet, despite the battle. Despite the deaths, despite the blatant facts that would otherwise prove to him that there was no glory in this war, he still believed that the day Lord Voldemort visited his home would be the day that he would have his epic battle.
He knew what curses to use, what hexes to throw, and what jinxes to mix together. He knew every single room like the back of his hands. He knew where the boards creaked and where he could duck depending at what angle someone entered the room. In the days of hiding, he read about the battles between Dumbledore and Voldemort. He even read about the battles between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. He practiced spell after spell in their office, thinking that if he could lure Voldemort in there; that just maybe, he could take him down.
Or at least, give Lily and Harry enough time to escape. Reversing an anti-apperation spell only takes seconds, and James was confident that the moment Voldemort stepped on their property that he could do it before preparing to battle. After all, he figured it could be like Hogwarts. If he studied the spells long enough, if he practiced the jinxes enough times, and if could simply perfect his hexes… then he could take down Voldemort and save his family.
But the funny thing about life - James realized the moment that Voldemort crossed the threshold of their house and his wand miles away - is that it never quite goes according to plan.
A/N: Love it? Hate it? Review it!