(24th December 1979)
(1)
The air was still, frigid, heavy that Christmas Eve; the landscape blanketed by a thin layer of snow which seemed to reach every crevice imaginable. Muggles and wizards alike closeted themselves inside their warm homes to avoid the freezing night air, the fire crackling noisily as families celebrated the impending holiday.
One such family was laughing jovially as they warmed themselves by the fire after a rousing game of Quidditch. The group of young men clustered around a table as they watched a tall, handsome man with long dark hair chuckle as he commanded the game of chess in front of him to take the Queen. His opponent - a stouter man with watery blue eyes - groaned good naturedly but looking thoroughly unsurprised by the result. "I'll never be as good as you."
The group paused as they heard their names being called from the kitchen. They stretched and slowly got to their feet as a pretty young woman filled the doorway, beaming. She was wearing a vibrant christmas jumper which contrasted greatly with her long red hair. A bespectacled young wizard appeared behind her shoulder holding a steaming pan in his hands. The men groaned in approval as the smell wafted into the room. The party moved into a bright kitchen where a large wooden dining table dominated the surroundings, completely covered with an array of dishes filled to the brim with all sorts of succulent foods.
An owl hooted as she swooped lower towards the house, a letter attached to its leg. A man with dark circles under his eyes and a faded scar across his face looked out the kitchen window at the noise and hurriedly opened the window. The owl swooped in around the toasty kitchen, dropping the letter into a large bowl of punch.
James Potter extracted the now-purplish letter and quickly waved his wand to wipe it clean. He ripped the envelope open. His eyes blurred slightly as they raced across the page.
"Looks like we're needed at headquarters," he sighed, with a regretful glance towards the feast that would have to be left behind uneaten.
(2)
It was pitch black. The lone cottage sat dejected at the outskirts of a dark wood. The loping countryside showed no signs of any kind of life, human or otherwise. The cottage looked like it hadn't been inhabited for years, with foliage creeping up the walls reaching the roof while weeds grew rife in the small garden, hidden behind a low garden wall surrounding the cottage. The door on a small green shed at the edge of the garden had half fallen off its hinges, opening and closing in the wind. The snow covered the ground as if Mother nature herself had tucked the earth in with a quilt.
A sudden crack filled the air and disrupted the tranquility, as some nesting robins hastily thrashed out of the branches where they had settled down for the night. Two figures abruptly appeared out of nowhere in the shadow of the wood a few metres away from the garden wall, hand in hand.
"This is turning out to be a great Christmas," grumbled James as he took in the scene before him. "Look at this place!" He ducked beneath a branch as he moved to get closer to the property. He stopped right in front of the stone wall, kneeling to get a better look without drawing attention to himself.
"Cheer up," said Lily affectionately to her irritable husband. She kneeled down beside him, her hands reaching out to touch the overflowing vegetation growing on the wall. She reached into her pocket for her wand and waved it in a complicated fashion, muttering words under her breath. The sharp cold air made her shiver a bit, frosty clouds of air leaving her lips every time she drew breath. James smiled as he noticed she was still in her Christmas jumper.
"Well?"
Lily frowned. "No signs of any recent magic activity. They're definitely not here now, regardless."
"That's odd... Dumbledore said this is a frequent spot for Death Eater meets - well, according to his source," James said as he tapped his fingers off the freezing wall in thought.
"It's still early. They mightn't have visited for a while in case this place had been discovered by the Order?"
James smiled lazily at her. "I personally think we should give this up as a bad job. Clearly Dumbledore got an outdated tip and the Death Eaters have already cleared out of here. If we leave now, we can be home in time for pudding!" he coaxed as he leaned forward to kiss her.
Lily giggled. "Come on, eager beaver. We're not finished yet. They might still come tonight. Dumbledore seemed definite that a meet was scheduled for a hour's time here." She started to move around the boundary, occasionally flicked her wand, as James trodded reluctantly, but alert, behind her.
After several minutes, Lily stopped abruptly. She huffed in frustration. "It makes no sense. All the other dens we've located are loaded with charms and defensive magic."
A rustle in the thicket of bushes behind them caused them to quiet sharply and raise their wands. However they lowered them moments later as Remus came into sight, wrenching his body away from the bush where his clothes had been caught. "Found anything interesting?" The couple shook their heads. "It's an odd place, isn't it? A bit out of the way, even for them."
"Maybe the Death Eaters purposely planted it to try to distract the Order," Lily suggested uneasily. "They've done it before."
"It's possible," mused Remus. "But it's all a bit obvious, isn't it? The lack of enchantments, the obvious lack of human presence anywhere nearby... If this is a false trail, they haven't even attempted to make it seem like a plausible location."
"You could argue it's the perfect place for Death Eater meetings ... Completely off the beaten track," James pointed out. "They never hang about for long anyways when it's only small groups of them - it's not safe to!"
"There are ways to hide traces of magical activity as well. Very time consuming though," Lily added. "They don't usually make any effort above the usual heavy concealment spells to ward off Muggles ... well, anyone really."
"Well," said James, as he sat down heavily into the grass and leaned against the wall. "I guess we wait and see whether anyone shows up then."
Lily twisted a branch in her hands until it snapped off. She looked down surprised at the sound. This had not been the Christmas Eve she had envisaged. She didn't understand why this meet had been so important to call them in to scout tonight. They had been expressly instructed to not confront if and when the Death Eaters appeared, just to observe and report back. Surely it could not be that important in that case. It was all very strange.
The trio sat there for hours on the cold hard ground, playing cards (the muggle kind as the wizard equivalent would be too conspicuous). The first hour passed quickly with no sign of anything suspicious. At one point, an owl had hooted very close to where they were sitting; its proximity had taken them by surprise, causing them to jump and raise their wands. After two and a half hours had passed, Lily could no longer stifle her yawns. She was shocked to see that it was only half one in the morning.
James looked at her tired eyes and said, "Why don't you try to get some sleep? We'll keep watch here and wake you up if anything happens." Lily smiled gratefully at him and moved around to rest her head against her husband as she drifted off to sleep.
Lily had just been sleeping for a hour when another owl hooted loudly, drawing her back into consciousness with a sharp jerk. "What time is it?" she groaned as she moved further into James' coat.
"Just coming up to three now," Remus answered from his vantage point, a few yards away from the Potters. He was leaning against a tree, reading the day's Daily Prophet.
"Looks like it was a false tip," James pointed out. "I sent a note to Dumbledore but he told us to stay put for another few hours incase there was a delay. 'It is imperative that we hear the contents of this meeting if it takes place.' All a bit mysterious, really."
Without any warning, there was a loud crack like gunfire. The trio, already thoroughly doused with Disillusionment charms and other concealment spells, curled up into themselves in an attempt to make them even more camouflaged. Their wands creeped out of their coats, poised for battle.
They relaxed as Frank Longbottom came into view, walking purposefully towards them. "What's-?" started James, taking in Frank's stressed manner.
"There you are! James, we need your help ... Bloody Death Eaters... muggle baiting ... McGonagall's tied up ... Dumbledore told me to get you ... faulty transfiguration ... this is all we needed!" Frank sucked in air as he tried to explain while hurriedly writing a note on a sheet of parchment. An owl flew down from its perch in a nearby tree and he swiftly attached the letter to its leg. "Dumbledore really wants to keep this out of Mungos - and the Ministry's attention - so we need to act fast."
James got to his feet slowly, rubbing his aching back and strode over to Frank. Lily watched the two of them confer with each other, thinking indulgently how everything had changed so much since the days of Hogwarts. In those days, she had never been particularly close to the Marauders; she would have been flabbergasted if someone had told her what her future would look like in a few short years. Frank had been a few years ahead of them - Head Boy in his time as well! - so Lily had not known him very well either, but they had been in the same house, and his cousin had been in the same house and year as Lily.
"Moody is sending Sirius over to help here, but you're off duty in a hour anyways so with any luck he won't be needed," Frank assured Remus and Lily as he prepared to leave with James in tow.
"Yeah, we'll be fine," said Remus as he stood up to stretch his legs, yawning widely.
"Don't worry about us... I'll look after Remus," said Lily, grinning up at James. James chuckled, as he shed his coat and draped it around Lily. He kissed her soundly on the lips as he left with a sigh at the long night it had been.
It seemed like just minutes after Frank and James had Disapparated, voices filled the woods again, as a small flock of wizards in black cloaks appeared just yards away from them, talking raucously amongst themselves as they moved towards the house, taking no notice of Lily and Remus.
"Did you see that Muggle's face when I-" A young witch with dark hair and a threatening smile laughed derisively as she slammed the door of the cottage open. In the dim light of the flickering wands, Lily recognised the woman as Bellatrix Lestrange, well known to the Order as one of Voldemort's most loyal supporters.
As the group filtered inside the house, Lily noticed a fifth figure trailing behind them and looking around suspiciously. He watched the proceedings unsmiling, while the rest sneered as they jovially discussed the Muggles they had tortured that night. She ducked behind the wall as his gaze flickered in their direction.
Within moments, the Death Eaters had moved inside and shut the door. An uneasy silence quickly established itself to the woods once more, as a tense Lily and Remus attempted to reach a decision on what to do now the Death Eaters had materialised. They'd been ordered to listen in but not confront the party, but they would need to get closer to do so. However, Dumbledore had led them to believe it would be a smaller group and Lily was very aware that they were heavily outnumbered if things were to go wrong.
Remus motioned to Lily to stay back as he inched his way around the wall to the back of the house, taking care to stay out of sight. Lily kept a close eye on the house, noting candlelight in a front room, as Remus found a small gate at the back of the house which had been completely obscured by two overgrown bushes either side.
Remus hesitated before carefully opening the gate. He couldn't help the grim smile of satisfaction that transformed his face as he successfully opened the gate without making any clamours of noise, and motioned for Lily.
Lily was filled with the familiar rush of adrenaline as the pair moved into the garden and crept up to the house. Lily cursed as a weak light appeared in the window directly opposite them. Lily tugged Remus down to hide in the long grass, silently thanking the Death Eaters for their lack of domestic upkeep. She was wary of the fact they were in a particularly vulnerable position as their concealment charms would not hold up to any scrutiny in the blinding white snow around them.
She sighed in relief as the window grew dark again, and they successfully reached the wall.
"Where is Sirius?" muttered Remus anxiously, looking behind him. "This isn't safe, Lily. There's too many of them and too few of us. James will kill me if something happens to you."
Lily didn't answer him as she whispered several incantations under her breath. "Shit!" she breathed out in displeasure. "They must have cast an Imperturbable Charm or something... I can't hear anything."
"Lily," warned Remus as he watched Lily's determined face turn towards a door at the back of the house leading off from the kitchen. "We can't. We need to wait for back up."
Lily turned to him. "You heard Dumbledore earlier. We need to find out what they're up to. And you know Death Eaters never linger for long. Especially somewhere like here where there's no real magical protection set up."
"Besides," she added. "No backup's coming. They're all busy dealing with whatever those gits have done to those poor Muggles. I bet they've done it to distract the Order from here."
Remus looked torn, conflicted between his desire to protect his friend from what seemed like inevitable capture and torture, and the thirst for productive action. Just last week, the Prewitt brothers had been murdered and it had devastated the Order, particularly shocking the younger generation. "Alright, we'll go in. But we are just going to find out what they're planning and then we get straight out. We're not going to take any risks... we'll stay as far away from them as possible ... And I go in first."
Lily smiled victoriously as she gestured for him to take the lead. She was filled with relief that finally they were doing something; it was not in her character to step back and wait. She muttered an incantation to find out where the Death Eaters were positioned in the house, and smiled in relief upon finding out that all five were sitting in the front room. Lily felt reassured that they could succeed in Dumbledore's mission - the Death Eaters' defensive spellwork had been rudimentary at best. As far as she could see, they had just cast a quick anti-eavesdropping spell and had locked the doors. An Alohomora was all that was needed to break into the house.
Remus lead the way as they silently crept into the empty kitchen. It was no warmed inside the cottage than it had been outside, their breath still visible every time they breathed out. The outdated furniture of the room, and the state of which it was in, indicated to Lily that the house had been left abandoned for a long time. She could hear voices coming from deeper into the house but she could not catch the conversation. As one, they moved closer to a door leading into a hall.
The hallway was littered with animal droppings and old brown leaves. She dodged a smashed photo frame with a - Muggle, she noted- photo of a little boy grinning up through the cracks of glass on the floor. Remus stopped with such sharpness that it nearly caused Lily to run into him. Here, they could just about catch the conversation, without getting too close. Lily mused that if worst came to worst, they would have a clear advantage at getting away.
"Avery has the list," they heard a deep voice speak. "It's not complete, obviously, but it gives us a good idea-"
"As if we didn't know who would be on it," scoffed another voice.
"Regulus," said the raspy voice Lily recognised as Bellatrix Lestrange's. Lily squirmed, an instinctual reaction to Bellatrix's disgustingly sweet tone. "A little birdie told me your brother is on that list."
They heard sharp movement as a chair clattered to the floor. "He's not-"
Lily and Remus looked at each other in alarm, as the conversation turned hostile and several voices yelled over each other. Remus backed into Lily nervously, leaning into the silly Muggle Christmas jumper Lily was still wearing, setting off the lights on her jumper.
Instantly, chaos ensued, as the lights lit up the hallway. The Death Eaters roared and hurled themselves towards the hallway as they became aware of the intruders. Remus swore in shock and horror, pushing Lily behind him back towards the kitchen. Red sparks filled the hallway. Remus ducked the sparks flying towards them and Lily hurled herself into a door and fell into a large dark bedroom.
Remus had not been so fortunate; within seconds he was compelled into combat with both Rodolphus Lestrange and another man he did not recognise as he backed into the kitchen towards his escape. A well aimed Stunning spell hit the unnamed man right in the chest and he flew into the kitchen table, breaking it under his weight. Remus heard the familiar loud snap of bones breaking, and the man lay on the floor groaning in pain. "Lily!" Remus called out desperately, hoping fervently she had managed to escape. However, before he could make any moves to go back and find her, Rodolphus had trapped him in a corner. "Crucio."
Lily looked around her in panic as she rolled to her feet and ran to the window. Her wand swiped through the air and the glass disappeared in its frame. One leg already raised to climb out through the window, she froze in horror as she heard Remus scream in pain from somewhere in the cottage. "Remus!" she shouted, as she turned to save her friend, but stopped as Bellatrix Lestrange stepped into the room, blocking her route.
"Now who are you?" she taunted. The shining light emitting from her wand burned Lily's eyes as Bellatrix raised it to her face. She screamed in delight. "You're the mudblood Potter married!" She spat in her direction. "I wonder what Mrs. Potter is doing here on Christmas Eve? Surely she should be safe at home with her blood traitor husband?" She cackled, encouraged by Remus' screams.
Lily stared at her defiantly and rushed to the window. "Oh no, you don't! Cruc-"
"Expelliarmus!" shouted Lily.
Bellatrix's wand dropped to the floor in between the two witches. Both Bellatrix and Lily immediately grappled to retrieve the lost wand. Lily's heart sank as a second figure filled the doorway. "Accio wand." Both wands flew out of the witches' hands. "Crucio," Antonin Dolohov said darkly.
Lily felt like she was on fire. Her skin burned, as she cried out in agony. She choked as she tried to force air into her lungs. It felt like a thousand blades were tearing down into her skin. Her insides turned inside out. She clutched her head and curled into a small ball as she suffered the worst pain she had ever felt in her life. Seconds felt like years, minutes centuries, and she tried to clutch to anything in her mind to lessen the pain. She couldn't think who she was, where she was; her whole being was preoccupied with the excruciating pain.
The pain stopped abruptly, as if it had never been. She cowered, her hands shaking like leaves, as she tried to get her bearings. She opened her eyes to see Remus duelling with Dolohov. Bellatrix was gasping in pain, as angry boils covered her face, her face swelling up at an astronomical pace. Lily crawled behind the bed while she had the chance when everyone's attention was diverted away from her. She yelled in shock and pain as she gashed her hand on some broken glass lying on the floor where a framed picture had fallen down and smashed.
Bellatrix's eyes found Lily as she screamed maliciously. Remus disarmed Dolohov and sidestepped a curse from Rodolphus Lestrange. The wand landed a few feet from Bellatrix, who hastily lunged for it. Her eyes flickered between Remus and Lily, clearly trying to decide who to tackle first. She got to her feet unsteadily, finding it hard to get her balance as her grossly swollen face became too heavy for her body. Bellatrix shouted a curse Lily did not recognise and a purple blast struck Lily.
Lily flew into the wall, the strength of the blast causing the wall to collapse inwards. She didn't move as bricks fell down around her.
(3)
James wiped the sweat off his forehead. He was sitting in Headquarters after just finishing a particularly onerous piece of transfiguration. The victim lay unconscious in the bed beside him, now blessedly one hundred percent human once again. He had never attempted magic that advanced before and had been proud off his effort.
An older witch called Marlene stood beside him as she took over to erase the Muggle's memory of the past couple of hours.
'Better not to remember how he had the body of a human but the head of an ass,' James grinned to himself. He sobered up when he thought about what the Death Eaters had done to this poor man. It was an abuse of power, plain and simple, and he was infuriated by the level of violation this man had endured just to humour some evil wizards. The man had been targated purely due to his blood status and lack of magical ability, and James was filled with passionate anger at the injustice.
James moved towards the door, waving a tired goodbye to Marlene as he stifled a yawn. Downstairs he found refreshments and several Order members who had just finished with their work and were discussing the night's events over turkey sandwiches. James walked over to Frank Longbottom who was standing with his arm around his wife, Alice, discussing with Peter Pettigrew the disgraceful behaviour they had witnessed that night from Voldemort's followers.
James joined in the conversation passionately, wondering aloud what their motivation had been to do it that night of all nights - were they just trying to ruin a predominately Muggle holiday? Had Lord Voldemort commanded this breach of propriety or had the Death Eaters taken it upon themselves?
James frowned as he looked down at his watch, and asked the Longbottoms if Remus and Lily had gotten back yet.
"They should be back any minute now," Frank said easily, apparently unconcerned.
James, however, could not help the bad feeling that coursed through his body, as if he had just suffered a punch in his gut, and excused himself. Peter knew his best friend well enough to know something was wrong by the look on his face and hurried after him.
"She's fine, Prongs," he said earnestly as they walked up the stairs. "I'm sure she's fine. Moody sent Sirius to replace you. They're probably just mucking about... I can assure you they are having a lot more fun than we are here!"
James sighed. "You're probably right. I'm just a bit on edge-"
"Which is completely understandable. We all are. The last month ... We're dropping like flies!" Peter was trying to be flippant, but his voice broke, breaking the facade as true fear filtered into his words. "It's just..."
"I know, Peter," said James with a tired, shuttered look in his eyes. "The Bones, Gideon, Fabian... so many losses. It makes you think. I can't imagine..." He didn't finish his sentence.
"Sometimes I think it would have been better - easier! - if-" Peter started, his tone uncharacteristically fervent.
"Look at the bright side - at least we won't have as many Christmas presents to buy next year," continued James with a dark empty grin on his face, not listening. Peter was frightened and concerned at the shuttered look on James' face.
"James!" Alice ran after them. "James!"
James turned around and froze at the look in her eyes. "No... no... no." His heart stopped beating in his chest or maybe he just stopped feeling anything because he knew that look. He had seen it countless times before. It was dangerous times and the Order were particularly perceptible.
"No, James. She's alive. They're alive."
(4)
Lily lay unconscious for over fourteen hours as the Healers worked around her in St Mungos. Lily's injuries were so serious it was decided that it was beyond the abilities of the Order members, as talented as they were, and she had been transferred to Mungos within the hour. Head wounds could be tricky.
James had refused to be parted from Lily when she arrived at Headquarters in a bloody Sirius' arms. The Healers had attempted to banish James to the waiting room but, before long, they gave in to his ceaseless demands to see her. The Healers shook their heads at the dramatics of young lovers, but were genuinely touched by the love the young couple shared.
She hadn't suffered any permanent damage, from what they could see, they assured the distraught wizard over and over. Yes, her injuries were serious - but not critical at all, Mr. Potter, not anymore - altogether very treatable, and she would be right as rain in no time at all. Besides, witches and wizards had a quicker recovery rate.
Remus had also been injured in the escape attempt but Marlene had patched him up at Headquarters. The Marauders had set up shop in the waiting area of St Mungos. As they waited for news, they amused themselves with opening their own clinic for the crowded waiting room. It seemed Christmas was notorious for the flare up of family rows with cursed presents being handed left and right. The St Mungo staff were less amused. All in all, it had been a particularly memorable Christmas Day, as they would tease Lily later.
Of course, a good amount of time was devoted to trying to persuade James that he was being an idiot about feeling guilty for leaving Remus and Lily behind. No one could have foreseen it, and he had been called elsewhere by his superiors. He couldn't have been aware he was leaving them in a dangerous situation. Sirius finally snapped and told him that he should be solely concerned with Lily's health, his level of culpability shouldn't even have entered into the conversation. James thoroughly abashed never mentioned it again.
One moment Lily had been in a dreamless deep sleep, the next she was aware of a weight lying on her middle section, a pressure around her hand as well as a bloody annoying headache. She frowned behind her shut eyes, and slowly opened them as she adjusted to the light. Lily's frown deepened as she realised where she was and her hand tightened around James' who had passed out at her bedside a couple of hours prior. Within minutes, her memory started to come back in flashes, and she began to piece together the events of the night before.
It wasn't long before James stirred and opened his eyes blearily to see his wife's alarmed face staring back at him. "Fuck, Lily..." he sighed, speechless. "You're awake." He clutched her head between his hands and kissed her forehead softly. "I was so scared," he whispered into her hair as they clung to each other.
He was the one person she could cry in front of and still feel strong. What would life have been if she had said no to go to Hogsmeades with him that long night of Head duties just a few short years ago? She didn't like to think about it.
Later she would find out the details about what had happened after she had been knocked out. Needless to say, it was very lucky that she and Remus survived. Immediately after, Lily had been thrown into the wall, Remus had been surrounded by four wizards at once, all flying different spells into the air. Remus had successfully thrown a Hex at the anonymous male Death Eater; he had disarmed Regulus Black (Remus felt compelled to mention that, really, Regulus didn't put any effort into retrieving his lost wand and had stayed at the sidelines; that sibling loyalty must have counted for something after all). However, anyone could see that it was too much for even a talented wizard like Remus to combat. The odds were stacked against him.
Fortunately, Sirius had arrived at that point. Within seconds of Apparating to the cottage, he had established the dire circumstances Lily and Remus were in, promptly sending a Patronus requesting backup before intervening as Bellatrix moved in on Remus.
More wizards from the Order arrived within five minutes of the Patronus, including the much-talked-of auror, Alastor Moody. And within ten minutes of their arrival it was all over. Regulus had promptly Disapparated with Dolohov when the cottage was infiltrated by more of the Order with the Lestranges following shortly after. Remus' combatant in the kitchen had been left behind, still clutching his knee. He was already in his cell in Azkaban when Lily woke up.
"So, really, it was all worth it then. One less Death Eater on the streets," Lily reasoned as James pulled a face and the Marauders all laughed.
By the time Lily remembered the significance of the day, there was only forty five minutes left off it. "I cannot believe I missed Christmas," she said woefully to James.
He laughed. "We have countless Christmases ahead of us... I wouldn't get too upset."
"Still, James! It's my favourite holiday and I missed it!"
"Evans, you are one strange bird," he guffawed. "You could have died! And you're concerned about missing - what? A meal? An old fat man breaking into your house and leaving a new cauldron? (What a stupid Muggle tradition anyways. Everyone knows reindeer can't fly!) Completely mental!"
Lily threw one of her pillows at him. "Shut up, Padfoot. You purebloods would never understand!"
A Healer came to check on Lily, smiling good-humouredly as Lily and Sirius squabbled over the practicalities of Santa Claus and whether it was possible a potion could be found to make reindeer fly. "Congratulations, by the way," she said, as she reached into her robes to find a potion for Lily.
"On what?" Lily laughed.
"Living?" joked Peter.
The Healer looked around at the obvious confusion. "Oh ... I'm sorry ... forgive me ... I thought you would have been told already ..."
"I don't understand ..."
"When we treated your injuries, we discovered you are ... well, nearly 8 weeks pregnant," she smiled. "Congratulations, Lily. You're going to have a baby."
She was met by a room of stunned looks.
"Well, I think I can safely say that this has definitely been a memorable Christmas," Sirius commented.