The first time Lily Evans and James Potter defied Lord Voldemort, they were very, very lucky.
It was one week before their seventh year at Hogwarts and they were both in Diagon Alley, getting new robes in Madame Malkin's. James had his shiny new Head Boy badge pinned to the robes he was wearing now, which were a few inches too short, and he marched into the fitting room of the robe shop with a grin on his face.
"Hallo, Lily," he said genially, jumping up onto the pedestal next to his future wife who, at the moment, hated his guts.
"Potter," Lily greeted tersely, her back turned to him as Madam Malkin measured her inseam.
"How was your summer?"
"Fine," Lily said, spinning around slowly so that she was facing him.
When she didn't ask about his, James went on, "Mine was great, as well - "
"Oh my God," Lily said suddenly, her jaw dropping. "Potter, tell me you're kidding. This is some sort of joke."
"What?"
"You took that from Remus, didn't you? Tell me that badge belongs to Remus and you've borrowed it to make me scared for my life," Lily said, paling.
"Oh, this badge?" James said, looking down at his chest. "No, actually, it belongs to me. I'm Head Boy. Jealous?"
"Furious, more like," Lily said, shoving her hand into her own pocket and pulling out her own gleaming Head Girl badge.
"I knew it!" James shouted triumphantly, startling the poor man who was checking the measurements of his waist. "This is fantastic! We'll be working together all year."
"Don't remind me," Lily groaned. "Now I know Dumbledore's gone off his rocker. You weren't even Prefect!"
"Guess I was the best man for the job," James said, feeling a twinge of guilt in the pit of his stomach. The truth was, Dumbledore had asked Remus at the end of their sixth year if he would like to be Head Boy, and Remus had declined the offer. He had mentioned to the headmaster that James would be a good candidate and, two months later, James had received his badge.
"I guess so," Lily said disbelievingly. "And I was so looking forward to being Head Girl..."
"What? It hurts me, Lily, that you would say such a thing," James said, affronted. "This year is going to be great, you wait and see. We can maybe... er, plan a Christmas ball?"
"A... what?" Lily said.
"A Christmas Ball. Dunno, I just thought
you girls liked that sort of thing," James said, shrugging. Or
rather, Remus told me that you've wanted to have a Christmas Ball
since our fourth year but the Head Boy has never been willing. "You
"Well, I do if you do," James said, glad he was facing away from Lily so she couldn't see his blush.
"All right," Lily said slowly. "Well... we'll see. You have to understand that I find it very odd that you want to have a Christmas Ball."
But James suddenly wasn't listening; he was staring intently out the window and down the alley, where some sort of commotion had just erupted.
"What the..." he muttered, as screams filled the alley. People were suddenly running everywhere, spells were flying through doors and archways; James saw the window of Flourish and Blotts shatter across the street, and he jumped off the pedestal.
"Get down!" he shouted to Lily, who was standing frozen on her own pedestal. "Lily!"
He heard a spell whistle toward them and, without thinking, wrapped an arm around Lily's waist and pulled her to the floor. Glass sprayed over them and James closed his eyes, pressing Lily to the carpet with one arm and covering his head with the other. He felt shards of glass cut into his legs and his back and heard Lily cry out.
He lifted his head carefully to look out the broken window. Screams still filled his ears and he could see wizards in dark cloaks and masks running everywhere.
"Come on," he gasped. "This isn't safe, we've got to move."
"Who is it?" Lily said, horror-stricken. "What's going on?"
"It's the Death Eaters," James said. He didn't say that he also thought he had seen You-Know-Who himself in the crowd.
He pulled Lily up with one hand and dragged her through the shop to a back room, where Madame Malkin and her assistant were sheltering.
"That was lucky," James said as Lily slid to the floor. "If that spell had come a second earlier, we'd be dead."
Lily shuddered and touched a hand to the back of her leg, wincing.
"Are you hurt?" James asked, jumping down next to her; his own injuries were forgotten.
"Not bad," Lily said. "You?"
"I'll live," James said.
"Lucky," Lily said, shaking her head. "Lucky."
And she didn't even protest as James sat against the wall next to her and slipped his hand into hers.