Disclaimer... these characters belong to JKR.
It was a shipment of rare and obscure poisons. Voldemort and his followers didn't need to use poisons, of course, but there was something delightfully sly about them, more delicate that the brute force of Unforgivables.
Lily Potter and Gideon Prewett had been crouched in the shadows of the farmhouse for three hours, the damp slowly seeping into their clothes and skin.
It was an old tumbledown ruin, but Lily could see the edges of it and imagined a family living there, with children and love and chickens that lived in the small coop that they were leaning against.
"I spy with my little eye, something starting with - erm - purple."
Lily sighed. "That's not how it's played, it has to be a letter."
Gideon squinted off into the darkness. "E."
"Eggplant," Lily said immediately. "Er - no, elbow."
"Since when are elbows purple?" Gideon asked her.
"Mine are, I'm freezing."
He was about to reply when Lily slammed her palm over his mouth, hushing him. A light had gone on in the house.
Gideon's frank, hazel eyes widened and Lily's heart broke a little bit. He was nineteen, fresh out of Hogwarts with a dead father and a reckless little brother. Gideon wasn't a fighter by choice. He was kind, and sweet and primarily interested in magical history and the rights of non-wizard magical creatures.
He shouldn't be out here on a moonless night, killing the tedium and terror with stupid car-trip games.
If she could spare him, if she could spare them all.
She watched the window raptly as shadows moved and roiled behind the yellow lit glass.
"Sonorus" she whispered, palming her wand.
The conversation from inside the house rose suddenly, startling the silence that had held.
"... yes, they'll all be there, my lord. All of them, in the one place."
Lily closed her eyes for a moment. He was there, just a few feet up and away from them. Gideon took her hand and squeezed it tightly and Lily thought again about how young they were.
What had Petunia been doing at this age? Going on sedate dates with Vernon, fish and chips before the cinema and home by 10 pm with a chaste kiss on the lips on the front stoop.
There hadn't been nights like this.
"The Confederation is taking considerable precautions but nothing unmanageable for us," the voice was low and raspy and servile and Lily shuddered, hearing it.
Gideon tapped her arm and pointed around the side of the house, raising his eyebrow. Lily shook her head tightly. They would listen for as long as they could and then leave.
"- 8 o'clock, my lord. The Blacks and Malfoys are already in position with some lower echelons of their houses, who don't bear the name. All is ready."
Lily heard a low murmur of agreement and then something that sounded like the splash of wine into goblets.
She tugged at Gideon's sleeve and the two of them straightened, with some difficulty. She winced, rubbing her back, and caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye.
"Down!" Lily shouted, yanking at Gideon and turning on the spot, holding on tight as the two of them were whisked into nothingness.
Lily fought the urge to breathe, her fingers wrapped so right around Gideon's arm that she was sure there'd be bruises.
When they re-materialized on a dark street corner, they both gasped for air.
"Did they see our faces?" Gideon asked, voice shaking. It had supposed to have been a routine assignment, simple surveillance and information gathering so they would know when the shipment was. An easy task for Lily, and a good way to get Gideon used to the Order.
Lily shook her head, unsure. Before she could say anything, there was a pop and the swish of a cloak and a bolt of red light darting out and surging towards Gideon, who paused like a startled deer.
The light passed through his shoulder, opening a fist sized, bleeding hole. He staggered, and the Death Eater sneered.
"Tracking spells," she informed them in a raspy voice. "Activated once you step onto the property."
Lily couldn't spare a glace for Gideon, who had sunk to his knees on the cold, damp street. She was watching the witch's hand, ready to duck if necessary.
"It's a clever little spell," the Death Eater went on. "Virtually undetectable."
The moonlight sparked off the dirty puddles in the alley, incongruously beautiful.
"Crucio!" the Death Eater screamed, and cackled as Gideon toppled, writhing in agony.
Her heart was drowning in fear and sorrow and the knowledge of what she had to do. Lily raised her wand, and the Death Eater followed. Lily could see a spark of fear in her eyes, like she knew what Lily was about to do.
"Avada Kedavra"
The green was toxic. It was sickening and Lily could feel it burn through her veins, tearing something deep and irreplaceable in her heart.
And in the edge of the light... Lily could see so many things. Abandoned children, crying in cradles. Bleeding bodies on battlefields, dropped in the instant between one heartbeat and the next. And she saw herself standing in the middle of it all, that green light surging and searing and destroying.
The Death Eater dropped like a clockwork toy that hadn't been wound up.
When Lily turned to pull Gideon up, he shrank back from her for a moment, and she saw fear in his eyes.
"Gideon, we have to go," she snapped, eyes on his bleeding shoulder. He was pale, and Lily could see a blankness in his features that felt like a punch to the gut.
"Gideon!"
He looked at her, hazel eyes dark.
"I won't say anything," he whispered.
"What?"
"About her. The Order doesn't have to know."
Lily regarded him for a moment, shock and confusion warring. She realized he was waiting for an answer.
"Ok," she replied, helping him up. "Ok."
They Vanished the body before leaving.
Headquarters was in an uproar when they got back.
"They've been gone too long," Fabian Prewett was shouting, face to face with Emmeline Vance. "We need to go look for them!"
"Lily and Gideon are adults, Fabian-"
Conversation ceased as Lily helped Gideon limp through the door.
The room was darkened, the candles flickering lowly on the table. Molten wax was dripping, spreading slowly across the dark wood, gleaming silkily.
James was sitting in the corner in a low armchair, Sirius by his side with a hand on his arm. Lily's heart leapt for a moment, before the memory of the alley came pouring back.
"Gideon!" Fabian cried, leaping towards his brother. Gideon wobbled.
James stood so suddenly he knocked the chair back, and Lily took a half step away. She wasn't sure she would be able to hold him, to look into his eyes with the echo of that green light still flashing.
"What happened?" Emmeline asked urgently.
"The International Confederation of Wizards' confirmation of the Supreme Mugwump," Lily said, not looking at James. "They're going to attack it."
A.N. Damn, I've been gone for a while. I'm a bit late, but happy new year at Hogwarts! Hopefully you enjoyed the first chapter, and I'd love it if you dropped me a review. Thanks for reading!