Prologue
With a knot deep in the pit of her stomach, Lily opened the doors and stepped out into the cold night air.
It was a new moon, which usually meant a dark, still night. Tonight however, the air was ablaze with colorful lights, with shouts and screams piercing through the night.
The knot in Lily's stomach tightened, and the panic that had settled inside of her a few minutes ago was now threatening to burst out of her.
Lily was terrified, for the flying lights were hexes and curses, and the shouts of people were screams of pain and grief.
Hogwarts was under attack.
Jets of curses and hexes flew left and right, up and down, hitting people and missing people. The air was filled with cries of pain, people gasping and panting, and harried footsteps slightly muffled by the grass. But Lily could do nothing but look for one person.
James.
She sprinted into the field, dodging spells that displayed all the colors of the rainbow, firing curses at Death Eaters dueling with Hogwarts students and staff.
"JAMES!" she shouted, pushing and weaving through dueling witches and wizards, hoping he would hear her. She had reached Hagrid's hut, and there was still no sign of him.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a sickening flash of bright green, followed by the sound of a body falling to the ground.
"NO!" Lily screamed in horror as the Death Eater cackled in victory. It was Mulciber. Lily sprinted towards the body that had fallen from the Killing Curse, and shielded it from the spells that were still flying thickly in the night air. "No!" Lily shouted again, as Mulciber made a run for it. "No no no no no," she whimpered, cradling the lifeless body.
"Lily? Is that you?"
Lily looked over to see Sirius standing over her. His eyes were wide. "No," he whispered. His wand slipped out of his hand, and he fell to his knees.
The fear that was bottled up inside Lily suddenly exploded in the form of rage and grief. "YOU COWARD!" She shouted into the night, at Mulciber, at all the Death Eaters, at Voldemort. She was shaking with anger and disbelief and sorrow. "I'LL KILL YOU!" She got up unsteadily, and made to run in the same direction Mulciber had, but Sirius grabbed her hand. "Sirius, don't you dare try to stop me," said Lily, her words trembling.
"Lily, please. We need to stay with – " He sighed deeply, and closed his eyes, silent tears streaming down his face. "We need to stay here."
A/N: And that's the prologue! Please let me know what you think! I promise future chapters will be longer. I'm super new to fanfiction writing, so please let me know if I need to elaborate the setting more or fix the dialogue style or anything. Additional suggestions, tips, and comments would be lovely!