Warning - Character death!
To prevent confusion, I am listing a few things below -
What we know -
1) How Voldemort knew about Harry's birth - Lily had informed Peter and he had in turn told Voldemort.
2) How Voldemort knew about Frank Longbottom being the Secret Keeper - Peter had eavesdropped on Lily and Alice's conversation and informed Voldemort.
3) Lily is a seer.
What we do not know -
1) Who leaked the prophecy to Voldemort.
2) Who made the prophecy.
And remember - Draco and Harry's souls are connected! They are soul mates!
Chapter Eleven –
Last –
"The question is... diversion from what?" Remus voiced quietly.
No one had an answer.
At least, not until Alice Longbottom stumbled out of the fireplace; her eyes haunted...
... ... ... ... ...
James jumped to his feet and caught Alice in his arms as she stumbled inside. "Alice! What's the matter? Are you hurt?"
"James…," Alice gasped out, "James, they are gone. I cannot find them. Help me, please!"
Then she broke down into loud and uncontrollable sobs. James tried soothing her, but she was inconsolable.
Remus took an uncertain step towards Alice, but stopped not knowing what to do.
Sirius nodded his head in agreement as Severus muttered something about hysterical females; but then, of course, he noticed who he was agreeing with and hissed out, "Shut it, Snivellus."
James threw a glare at Sirius, successfully silencing him; and then took a look around the room. The other occupants were wearing matching expressions which clearly stated that they would rather be anywhere else but there.
Useless, the whole bloody lot of them; James thought with disgust.
At length, he turned the full force of his glare on Severus and mouthed 'Do something'.
Heaving an irritated sigh, Severus complied and called for his house-elf. The elf popped before him and bowed.
"Wallie, bring me my potion case from the Manor without delay." Wallie nodded and hurried to obey his master.
Within a few seconds Wallie was back with Severus' potion case which contained several necessary potions to be used during emergencies. Severus pulled out a vial containing the Calming Draught and handed it over to James.
Taking the vial from Severus, James gently pried Alice out of his arms and made her drink the potion. The potion was effective instantaneously; and Alice, much to everyone's relief, calmed down.
... ... ...
Dumbledore beamed at Severus with twinkling eyes, "Ahhh… an excellent idea, Severus." Then rising from his seat, he approached Lady Longbottom.
As he did so, his demeanour altered slightly; and the genial old man transformed into a powerful and experienced man bearing the title of 'Leader of the Light.'
"Alice, please continue. Who are missing?" he asked her in a gentle voice.
Alice, who had finally regained her composure with the help of the potion, replied, "Dumbledore, Frank and Neville have been missing since they went for Neville's regular check up at St. Mungo's. I have searched every possible place they can be, but could not find them. I am afraid that they have been captured by the Death Eaters…"
xXxXxXxXx
Godric's Hollow…
Lily stood in front of Harry's crib with her wand clutched tightly in her hands. She had already banished all signs of the ritual from the room. Now, she was just waiting in tense expectation for Voldemort to tear down the last of the protections and get inside the room.
She glanced back at Harry whose face was scrunched up into an adorable frown and her heart twisted painfully within her.
She reached out with a hand, and gently stroked his soft hair.
"My baby, I love you so much," she whispered. "I'll have to leave you now. But never doubt that if there was any other way, I would have stayed forever with you."
Bending towards him, she placed a gentle kiss upon his forehead. "Goodbye, baby."
A single tear rolled off her cheek and fell on Harry's nose. Harry blinked and went nearly cross-eyed trying to see what it was. Lily couldn't help but giggle at the picture her son made.
It was right then that the door to the nursery was blasted off its hinges; and turning around, Lily came face to face with the demon with red eyes.
... ... ...
Voldemort glided into the room, his red eyes filled with anticipation and triumph. Finally, he was going to destroy the last obstacle which remained between him and immortality.
He was going to kill Harry Potter; and along with him… all the hopes the Light had.
His venomous eyes locked on the mudblood who stood protectively in front of her son's crib with her wand pointed at him.
He laughed at the silly display.
"Ssso you think you can sstop me, you foolish girl?" he asked while chuckling.
"No, I do not think so," Lily replied quietly. "I know I will."
Annoyed by her insolent response, Voldemort hissed, "And how will you do ssso? You can never match me in power. Then enlighten me about how you are going to ssstop me. With… love?"
Voldemort laughed in mirth at his own words and ordered her to move out of his way.
"Ssstand aside before I kill you."
Undaunted, Lily only stood taller and responded, "Never underestimate the power of love. And especially, that of a mother's love. But then, you have never really known what a mother's love is, have you? I pity you, Voldemort. Or shall I call you Tom Marvolo Riddle?"
"Crucio," Voldemort roared out in rage.
Harry started bawling at the top of his lungs as Lily fell to the floor, screaming in agony.
"How do you know about the woman who gave birth to me?" Voldemort demanded as he lifted the curse after a while; his curiosity overcoming his anger at her impudence.
Gasping for breath, Lily struggled back to her feet. And with trembling hands she reached for a now sniffling Harry, who quietened after sensing her touch.
Then she looked at Voldemort with her eyes burning with hatred and replied, "I know many things Voldemort. Just like I know that my son is going to annihilate you and your dark empire. Who do you think made the prophecy?"
Voldemort stiffened in surprise at that revelation and his mouth twisted into a cruel sneer.
Seeing his shock Lily smirked, "So the one who leaked the prophecy to you did not know about this."
"Don't look so ssmug, mudblood. The prophecy will become obsolete when I kill your ssson. Perhapsss I will make you watch…," Voldemort smiled sadistically at that thought.
"Reducto," Lily screamed, throwing the curse at Voldemort. But Voldemort merely swatted the powerful curse aside like one would a pesky fly.
"Ssso pathetic... Who will protect your son when you are dead?" he asked scornfully.
Lily gave him a look of pure contempt and answered truthfully, "When I fall, at least ten more will rise up to take my place. And they will be standing right beside my son when you fall for the last and final time."
Voldemort glowered at her with his red fury-filled eyes and aimed his wand at her.
In a split second, Lily threw a string of powerful curses at him. "Bombarda Maxima… Conjunctiva… Confringo… Defodio… Diffindo…"
Like before, Voldemort diffused the spells with little enough difficulty.
"Enough with the gamess, foolish girl. You are a sseer, and I have use for you. Forget about what is right and what is wrong; forget about love; and come join me. I will let you live. I only need your son. Sstand aside, now."
"Never," Lily snarled furiously. "To reach my son you will have to walk over my dead body."
Voldemort smiled chillingly, "That can be arranged. But as I am feeling particularly graciouss today, I have decided to let you know about who leaked the prophecy to me… before I kill you."
Leaning closer, he whispered the name into her ears.
Lily's eyes widened and her mouth fell open in disbelief. Numbly, she then watched Voldemort point his wand towards her and…
"Avada Kedavra."
xXxXxXxXx
Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts…
"… I am afraid that they have been captured by the Death Eaters."
James' face turned ashen as the full implications of the statement hit him. He frantically turned towards Dumbledore and croaked out, "Find Frank and Neville. I have to move Lily and Harry out of Godric's Hollow."
Saying so, he rushed for the exit, almost shoving Lucius and Sirius out of his way. But before he could leave, Dumbledore stopped him.
"James, do not make any hasty decisions. For all we know, this might be exactly what Tom wants us to do. His mind works in odd ways."
James ran his fingers through his hair, making it even more untameable, and nodded.
Meanwhile, the four other men in the room grew more and more agitated.
Sirius, who had all the subtlety of a rampaging bull, demanded in frustration, "Will anyone tell me what the fuck is this all about? James, what the hell is going on?"
"Stop with your ludicrous questioning, Black. It is but obvious what the matter is. Longbottom must be Potters' Secret Keeper. Am I not right, Lady Longbottom?" Severus snapped.
"Yes, you are…," Alice replied in a small voice.
Remus silently went over to Alice and pulled her into a hug. "Relax Alice for nothing has happened to Frank and Neville. Sirius and I know the secret too. If anything had happened to Frank, we would have become the new Secret Keepers by default."
"Unless the Keeper willingly divulged the secret to another," Lucius added softly.
Only James and Severus heard Lucius say that as they were standing closest to him. James stiffened and whispered back fiercely, "Never. Frank will not betray me."
And then, as if on the silent cue of the thing called fate, the fireplace once again burst into green flames… and there came Augusta Longbottom carrying her grandson in her arms.
xXxXxXxXx
Godric's Hollow…
"… Avada Kedavra."
Lily's lifeless body crumpled to the floor. Voldemort sneered and stepped over it to reach his nemesis.
Looking at the minute creature lying inside the crib, he was filled with derision and disbelief. "You are the one who is supposed to vanquish me. How hilariouss…"
He chuckled heartily before continuing, "I sshould have brought Nagini with me. Ssshe would have loved you as her ssnack."
Then he trained his wand on Harry while Harry simply stared at him with those glowing emerald eyes of his.
"Be grateful brat, I am ssending you to your mother… Avada Kedavra."
xXxXxXxXx
Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts…
Making an unintelligible sound in her throat, Alice rushed forwards and yanked her son into her arms. Filling his little face up with kisses, she exclaimed, "Oh thank Merlin! Where is Frank? I am so going to kill him for this."
James slumped in relief and muttered, "And so am I."
Dumbledore too relaxed and said with a jovial smile, "Yes, he gave us all quite a scare. Where is he?"
Augusta Longbottom did not reply as she was busy staring off into the space.
Dumbledore's smile faltered. "Augusta?" he asked.
At length, the Longbottom family Matriarch intoned in a dead voice, "My son is no more. He has been murdered."
xXxXxXxXx
Godric's Hollow…
The bright green light of the Avada Kedavra curse flashed in Harry's emerald eyes as it drew nearer to him. But before the curse could connect with him, a bright golden shield encircled his body.
The green curse warred with the golden shield, both battling for dominance.
They were the antithesis of each other. One was the result of pure hate while the other… of pure love.
For a moment it almost seemed as if the green curse would triumph. Harry cried out in pain as a crack appeared in the golden shield and sliver of green broke through.
But before the green curse could touch Harry, his forehead began to split open taking the form of a lightning bolt…
A pure silver light encased in bright gold erupted out of it; repelling the green curse away from Harry.
All the while, Harry's mark glowed ethereally in his palm.
xXxXxXxXx
Malfoy Manor…
Narcissa was anxiously trying to locate Lucius. He was supposed to be with Severus, but both of them were nowhere to be found.
She had finally decided to contact Dumbledore when she heard Draco scream in fury.
Alarmed, she ran towards his nursery. But at the first sight of her son, she stopped dead in her tracks.
Draco was completely enveloped by fire, while his mark glowed brightly in his palm.
Draco screamed again, but this time it was in agony. Narcissa tried to reach for him but was warned away by the flames.
"Oh Merlin! What is going on?" she cried out, sobbing helplessly.
xXxXxXxXx
Godric's Hollow…
Voldemort could only gape in disbelief as the curse rebounded and hurtled towards him; striking him square in the chest.
The curse hit him and not only did it sever his mutilated soul from his body, but also split the soul into two parts.
The maimed soul was split generating such an immense force, that it resulted in an explosion which disintegrated Voldemort's body to ash and blew off the roof of the house.
The sentient part, the one which contained Voldemort's consciousness… fled. And the other lodged itself inside Harry's scar.
Little Harry lost his consciousness.
xXxXxXxXx
James ran towards his cottage at a breakneck pace after apparating to the nearest apparition point from his cottage.
He was barely aware of the other wizards who were following him. In fact, he was barely aware of anything but his need to reach Lily and Harry.
Please, let them be all right. Please, let them be all right… Over and over he kept repeating it like a mantra.
A passerby would have described him as a man possessed.
As he neared his cottage, he increased his speed. Shouts of the other wizards reached his ears but his ringing ears could not make out the words. Nor did he care at the moment.
He had almost reached the door when there was a loud blast and the roof of his cottage was blown off. The force of the blast threw him backwards.
Gasping, he got up and once again started heading for the cottage… only to be tackled from behind. He was thrown to the ground and effectively pinned to it by a larger and stronger body over his own.
James cursed and began struggling in earnest. Lily and Harry were inside. He had to get to them.
He was too far gone to realize that the person over him was trying to save him from the raining debris.
... ... ...
"Damn it," Severus swore, "the fool is going to get himself killed."
He ran after James and pushed him to the ground, covering him with his own body.
"Immobulus Exanimus," Severus muttered the spell and the flying debris from the blast stilled harmlessly in air all around them.
He growled as James started struggling in earnest to get free. He pushed the idiot harder into the ground, effectively stopping all his struggles and hissed into his ears, "Potter, stop struggling. You are of no use to them dead."
James stilled his useless attempts and ground his teeth in anger.
After a while, Severus got off James when the threat of being crushed by the debris diminished. James immediately made a beeline for the cottage.
Severus swore once again and followed.
... ... ...
James entered the cottage not even bothering to check for intruders. Severus arrived right behind him followed by Sirius, Remus, Lucius and Dumbledore.
"Check all the rooms downstairs and I will go check upstairs," he directed them and rushed towards the nursery first.
Entering the nursery he took in the scene before him…
And his whole world shattered into a million pieces!
xXxXxXxXx
Thus the second part of the prophecy was fulfilled that night when the Dark Lord himself marked Harry Potter as his equal.
And as for the battle between love and hate, love had emerged as the victor… but at a great price.
Hope you all liked it!:)
Now, you all must be wondering about Lily knowing about Voldemort's mother... something which belongs to the past, not the future - Rest assured that I will explain it in due time.
As for the question about who leaked the prophecy? Was it Peter... or someone else altogether? - As I said, in due time.:P
Please review! **batting eyelashes**
And if you have any more doubts, ask me!