A/N: This is the Seeker from Montrose Magpies writing for QLFC Round 1.
Prompt: Write your Captain's NOTP - James/Lily.
Thanks to my team for looking through it.
Word Count: 897 (+3 for the title)
Disclaimer: I have no intentions of making money from this story, so all the recognisable stuff belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Into the Void
"Not Harry! Please … have mercy … have mercy…"
It is remarkable how long a single moment of your life can stretch. Killing green light travelling two-and-a-half metres — that was how long it takes for Lily to see her whole life unfold in front of her eyes like a film on the big screen.
Playing with Petunia on a worn-out maroon rug in the nursery of their childhood home, their hair tied back in matching plaits.
Having play-fights with her sister, which soon turned into real ones that created fractures that they had never worked out how to mend.
Making her first best friend, who she thought would stay by her side for the rest of her life, and losing him.
Agreeing to marry the guy she once believed she hated.
Playing a grand prank on everyone with her fiance's best friends on the last day of school.
Holding her child for the first time in her life and seeing deep green eyes staring back up at her.
Celebrating her baby's first birthday in hiding.
Hearing the thump of her husband's dead body hitting the floor as she ran upstairs to save her son.
Begging for her child's sake, ready to give up everything if only he could live one more day.
And then — snap! — as if she could hear the string of her life being cut. Her senses gave up one by one, and finally, impenetrable darkness enveloped her for a millisecond that seemed to extend for millennia, before giving way to blinding white light.
She does not hear the cold, cruel laugh of her murderer, nor does she hear the heart-wrenching cry of her son when her physical form doesn't get up to comfort him up.
All she can do is feel the warmth and coldness swirling around her spirit as vibrant colours pass around her at an unearthly speed that is, somehow, simultaneously fast yet snail-like. It is all surreal; it is the biggest wonder of the world and would have held her attention like that of a child who has spotted candy had her thoughts not been fixated on the well-being of own son.
Wandering in the void she can't make sense of, she tries to gather something — anything — together because she hates being so lost, hates not knowing anything.
And then, a searing hot feeling traverses through her form. Somehow, it is not painful, but instead immensely comforting. She turns around to discover its source, and surprise befalls her when she senses the presence of her soulmate.
"James." The voice is not materialistic — it is a whisper of the winds, felt more than heard — but the spirit of her husband moves towards her, gaining a form as it gets closer.
"Lily," he breathes, lips moving ever so slightly. "I have been waiting for you forever."
She is confused, but somehow, she knows time has no meaning in this void. "How is Harry?" she asks, wanting to embrace her husband but desperate to see their baby first. She knows he must be dead — there is no way he could have survived — but part of her holds out hope.
A sad chuckle escapes her soulmate. "Alive, but burdened with fate."
Lily sighs. She does not know whether or not to be happy her son survived. She is glad he still has a life ahead of him, but she is terrified of what will become of him without them there.
She replays each moment of her son's life that she got to be a part of in her mind, silently promising her son that she will never let go of those memories, that she will always hold them dear to her heart. She wishes she could go back to be with him, to love and and raise him like they had always dreamed, but she knows she has now reached a place from which there's no going back.
"Where are we?" she asks her soulmate, and feels immensely stupid the second the words leave her mouth.
James laughs, though, and seeing the small smile through the tears on his face makes her moment of stupidity worth it. "Some call it heaven," he says, sighing. "Others call this hell." He's quiet for a moment before he finally asks, "How are you?"
"You needn't have died," she says, ignoring the question. "You could have run."
"I could not have lived without you."
"Neither could I, had I survived," she counters. And then there is no stopping her.
A moment later, she is in her soulmate's now-solid arms, and his embrace is everything she wishes for. "Harry is alone," she says.
"He will have people to care for him. But we are together," James replies, his voice holding a promise that is never to be broken.
"Together," she whispers back, joining their lips in a soft kiss. For a moment, happiness fills her at the thought of spending the rest of eternity by James' side, free of pain. Then, that feeling is eclipsed by a sense of guilt and regret. Part of her feels like she is betraying her child by being so happy so soon, and tears leave her eyes as she thinks of Harry as she last saw him, scared and alone in his cradle. She wonders how long it will take for somebody to find him.