Deception and Disguise
Obliteration
Disclaimer – Any character you recognize is JK Rowling's. But the plot and idea completely and truly belong to me.
Several Hours Ago
"She's going to kill herself."
"Oh my," Dora clamped a hand to her mouth, watching James with shock.
"Damn," Sirius swore.
"We have to do something," Remus said immediately, pacing the length of the room, his brow furrowed in concentration. Dora stared at him, admiring his ability to keep a cool head when everyone else was clearly in no state to do so. "When do you reckon she will try to pull this off?" The question was directed at James.
The dark-haired Marauder was still silent, not having moved from his position near the wall. There were no more tears in his eyes, just a steely sort of determination about them. Dora could practically see the wheels turning in his head, processing Remus's question along with a thousand other scenarios.
After what seemed like an eternity, James answered.
"She knows Riddle better than any of us ever could," is what he started with, his voice hoarse. James cleared his throat. "She knows how cunning he can be. If I were Riddle, I would never want anyone to find out about Lily's…death, until it was absolutely necessary."
"And she knows that," Sirius nodded, tactfully ignoring his friend's hesitation.
"So she's going to make it public," Remus nodded too, resuming his pacing. "But do you think she will—"
"I think so," Sirius huffed.
"It's most probable," James agreed solemnly.
Dora's head snapped quickly from one Marauder to the other, trying to keep up with their fast exchange. It seemed the three of them were able to almost read each other's minds, now completely giving up on verbal communication to speak using their eyes. She bit her lip and frowned.
"What are you lot on about?" Dora asked finally, tearing their attention towards her. "What is most probable?"
Remus smiled sheepishly, apologetic. "We think she is going to try to kill herself during the wedding."
"Oh." She didn't know what to say to that.
"The more people there are, the less likely Riddle is to ever cover such a thing up," Sirius added.
James released a long sigh at those words, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. He shook his head as he looked up. "That can't ever be," he decided, looking all of them hard in the eyes. "She will not die."
Sirius clapped a hand to James's shoulder, smiling at him calmly. "Of course she won't. We won't let her."
James gave a curt nod.
"Yes!" Remus suddenly cheered, and Dora's heart jumped a little at the sound. She looked at the light-haired man, watching him grin from ear to ear as he stared at James and Sirius. "I have a plan."
"Finally," Sirius scoffed playfully, flicking some hair out of his eyes. "I thought you were going to take forever."
Dora raised an eyebrow in amusement. Remus must have taken ten minutes at most.
"Well, out with it then!" James demanded, shifting from foot to foot impatiently.
Remus nodded, holding up his hands. "If this works, I can almost guarantee that we will save her. But it will be very difficult, James. It's nothing like anything we have ever done before. And we won't just be risking our lives this time."
James started at that, a hesitant look suddenly springing into his eyes. "You mean…bait?"
"No," Remus assured, and James visibly relaxed. "Not bait, but more accomplices."
"How many more?" This was Sirius.
"A whole kingdom worth of more," was the grim reply.
"What?" James snapped, immediately backtracking. "Are you absolutely daft, Remus? You want us to endanger the lives of all these people?"
"James," Remus sighed patiently, having clearly expected such a reaction. "It's about time we allow them to stand up for themselves."
"What codswallop," James waved a hand. "So we just go to them and say 'please accompany us to the palace, and consequently your untimely death'? And they should just listen?"
"We're not forcing them!" Remus's voice grew louder, and Dora noticed how uncommon an occurrence it must truly have been when James shut his mouth at the tone. "They know what we've been doing all these years. They know the risk. It's their kingdom too, James! We cannot try to handle everything ourselves. This is already beyond our scope. There is no harm in asking for help."
Dora smiled at his words. She could not have put it better herself.
"He is right, mate," Sirius also agreed softly.
James ran a hand through his hair in frustration, sighing heavily again. "Fine," he acquiesced. "Fine, we will have them come with us. But only on two conditions."
Remus was willing to humor him. "What conditions?"
"First—they only come if they want to. No one judges anyone for the decisions made. And second," James said, once everyone in the room had readily agreed to the first. "No one dies in there. None of the commoners. Even if I have to fight with my last breath, every last one of them makes it out of there alive."
"You can't guarantee that, mate," Remus frowned.
"I can die trying."
"We can, you mean," Sirius interjected.
James's lips thinned into a displeased frown at that, not liking the idea even the slightest bit. But Sirius's no-nonsense expression let him know that this was not something he could argue about and win. So James simply grumbled something unpleasant under his breath and shook his head.
Sirius snickered.
"Dora," Remus turned to the blue-eyed girl, voice taking on a gentle tone. "You have the most important role to play today."
"Anything," Dora replied immediately, longing to offer any help that she could.
"It is just an assumption, and it could already be too late," Remus started, "But if Lily actually does intend on doing what we think she does, she must have some sort of a plan. We need you to find it, and destroy it completely. Without letting her know," he said the last words slowly.
"Okay," Dora whispered uncertainly, suddenly feeling like she carried a much bigger responsibility on her shoulders than she could handle. Then she felt Remus's fingers beneath her chin, lifting her face up until she saw the warmest brown colored eyes stare down at her.
His head dipped, and he dropped a chaste kiss on her lips.
Dora's face burned when Sirius let out a whoop of delight, and she was pleased to notice that there was a pink tinge to Remus's cheeks as well. But he wisely ignored Sirius otherwise. "I trust you. You can do it."
"What exactly—"
"I'm not sure," Remus said dejectedly, reading her unspoken question. "It could be anything. She is not very predictable. But she has to use something. And carrying something with her at the wedding—inconspicuous. Instantaneous."
He was mumbling to himself now, but Dora understood well enough. She had to scour the entirety of Lily's surroundings until she found what she was looking for—whatever that was.
"We only have a few hours until the wedding begins," the girl said, and Remus stopped his mutterings to look down at her seriously. "We start now," she said.
"We start now," James agreed, and the pair turned to look at him as he stuffed the will inside his boot. "You get going, Dora. If they notice you missing, there will be hell to pay."
Dora wasn't sure they hadn't already noticed her absence. But it was still too early, and she counted on the incompetency of the guards to buy her some time. "I won't let Lily do anything stupid," she promised, already halfway to the door, and feeling a lot more determined than she had a while back.
"Be careful," Remus called out, and she smiled at him over her shoulder before walking out into the darkness.
"Right," James said, his voice suddenly brimming with uncontrolled energy. "Sirius—gather some disguise for us. Three very different ones. I want us to be able to cover every nook and cranny of the castle. Remus—you and I split up to gather as many citizens as are willing to come. No children, obviously."
Remus grinned, nodding, and Sirius was already out the door, bounding into the streets noiselessly.
Dora silently shut the massive doors of the royal chamber behind her as she stared at the sleeping form of the princess on the bed.
Lily's bright hair fanned across the white sheets brilliantly, her chest rising and falling with even breaths. Dora noticed that the girl's pale face was pulled into a frown, dry tears staining her otherwise flawless skin. She looked troubled even as she slept. Dora's heart went out to the poor thing. She couldn't even fathom at the amount of anguish the princess must have been feeling.
Dora sighed heavily. No matter how much pain Lily was in, she still could not be allowed to take her own life. Dora would see to it. She just thanked her lucky stars that it had still been too early for anyone in the castle to have questioned her absence.
Dora squared her shoulders determinedly and began her search.
She was not certain how long she had been on it. Lily had stirred in her sleep quite a few times in between, anguished lines contorting her features as she struggled with whatever nightmare she experienced behind her closed eyelids. Dora wanted to wake her up, if only to let the girl know that she was just dreaming. But her task at hand would not allow for it. She had to find the weapon before Lily woke up. No matter the cost.
Now, it would help if she goddamned knew where and what to look for.
It was when Dora was almost at her breaking point—ready to cry out of frustration, really—that her fingers touched something cold and smooth in between freshly folded clothes. With her heart pounding strangely, Dora pulled out the drawer as much as she could and lifted the top four or five dresses. And there she found it.
A small, crystal clear vial, lying innocently on top of an ivory gown.
She saw the colorless liquid that filled the vial, and knew in her heart—in every nerve of her body—that it was anything but innocent.
Without a second thought, Dora quickly grabbed the small vial, and strode out the room purposefully.
She returned a few minutes later, the vial still full and sloshing with a clear liquid that only Dora knew was medicinal tonic. She had carefully filled it to just the correct mark, draining out the actual poison down the sink. She noticed the princess still sleeping, and allowed herself a small sigh of relief once she had tucked the vial back into its initial place amongst the clothes.
Dora then proceeded to lay out the white gown she had brought with her onto the foot of the bed. She blinked down at the dress sadly. It really was quite beautiful, and she had no doubt it would only be more so once Lily wore it. She felt disgusted—disgusted with how Riddle was enjoying tormenting the poor girl. Playing it all out as if it were some real wedding—as if no one knew just how torturously he had been blackmailing his niece.
Quite suddenly, Dora couldn't stand the sight of the wedding gown anymore. In fact, she felt much like retching out the contents of her last eight meals right there. Taking a deep breath, she whirled on her feet and left the room.
Dora's feet lightly pattered on the marble floor as she headed towards the palace kitchens. Thoughts swirled in her head endlessly, each one as frustrating and uncertain as the last. Would Lily wake up and realize that the poison had been tampered with? Would she know it had been Dora? What would she do then? Would she find some other way? Did she already have another way?
All these questions were so diligently keeping Dora occupied that the girl didn't realize she had reached her destination until she all but barreled face-first into someone.
"Oomph," the person grunted, and Dora blinked her eyes open to see a white chef's attire in front of her face.
"I beg your pardon," she immediately said, flustered, and tried to cover up her clumsiness. "I just came down to bring some food for the princess. I wasn't looking—"
"It's no problem," the man replied with an amused tilt to his voice. Dora's blue eyes widened at the sound and she looked up to see Remus smirking down at her playfully. Well, she knew it was Remus. It would have been hard for anyone else to identify him—what with his ridiculous brown mustache and mole. He even wore a chef's hat for good measure. "You can barrel into me all you want."
"Remus?!" Dora hissed stupidly, knowing all too well that it was him. "What—How did you get in here? What are you doing? You'll get caught!" she said. Her eyes suddenly darted around the giant kitchen, worried that someone would overhear them. But there were only two other maids there, nonchalantly cleaning up kitchen counters without even bothering to look at the pair talking in hushed voices. Dora was relieved to note that they also stood quite far away from them.
"Relax," Remus replied, his hand reaching out to playfully tug at one of her brown curls. "No one will recognize me except you. It's all part of the plan."
Dora hummed uncertainly at that. "And the others…they're here?"
"Sirius is," Remus replied. "You probably won't run into him though; he's hiding in the dungeons as a guard. James is still talking to the citizens; he'll join us later, don't worry."
Dora nodded. "How did that go, by the way? Asking for their help?"
Remus snickered, and Dora's eyebrows rose questioningly. "You'd be surprised at how much they wanted to come—James certainly was. It seems they have been feeling the need to do something for the kingdom for quite some time now."
Dora allowed herself a smile at that. She didn't doubt it. "And how do you plan on actually—launching the attack, for a lack of better word?"
Remus smiled fleetingly at the phrase. "We're going to get ourselves captured."
"What?" She said too sharply, and one of the maids turned to look at the pair. Dora immediately picked up an apple from the fruit basket beside her and began examining it with deep concentration. Once she heard Remus chuckling in amusement, she looked back up with a frown. The maid had left. "What?" Dora asked again, more softly this time.
"Well, we won't actually be captured—it will be intentional. We simply want Riddle to think that he has us at his feet. I don't doubt for a second that he will use us—mainly James—to control Lily. He might already have something up his sleeve…"
Dora didn't like where this was going. "How are you going to manage that? The fake capture?" She asked in an unsure voice.
"I've already taken care of all the shackles and handcuffs in the palace," Remus waved off, as if it were no big deal. Dora gaped. How had he even known where they were kept? She shook her head, realizing they were, after all, the Marauders. They rarely ever had a half-baked plan. "With the right amount of pressure, they will easily come off."
"Uhh…" Dora didn't know what else to say.
"Listen," Remus suddenly implored, his face serious. "I don't know what Riddle will throw at Lily—or you—before the wedding. But we need to keep both him and Lily unaware about any of this until the last moment. So anything you hear—any threats Riddle shoves in your face—I want you to…no I need you to act exactly like you would have if you hadn't known any part of this plan. Can you do that for me?" he asked, staring into her eyes.
Dora realized what he meant and nodded immediately, smiling. "I'm a good actress."
Remus huffed out a laugh at that. And then, a heartbeat later, he chewed on his lip, looking contemplative. "What about you? Did you—find anything?"
Dora's mouth pulled into a frown, the smile disappearing completely. "Well, I certainly found it," she spat bitterly even as she felt tears prickling her eyes. "Lily was going to poison herself, Remus!"
The Marauder clenched his fingers at her reply, shaking his head. "What are you thinking, Lily?" he muttered to himself.
"I threw it out," Dora continued. Remus looked back at her. "I threw it out and replaced it with some tonic. I don't think she will notice the difference until it's too late."
Remus blinked. Once. Twice. Then his face broke out into a glorious smile. "I am so proud of you right now," he said, and Dora blushed despite herself. "You will make a good Marauder—well, you certainly have more brains than Sirius does."
"Oh, hush," Dora rolled her eyes, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach as she walked around Remus. "I cannot be dilly-dallying in here all day. The king must have woken up by now, and if he's noticed the fake will—well I must dissuade the suspicion as much as possible."
"Right."
"Better get some food for Lily when I return." She looked at Remus expectantly.
"Right." He repeated.
"Aren't you the chef?" She asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.
Remus slowly shook his head. He leaned down and brought his mouth close to Dora's ear, much to her delight. "The chef is actually tied up and gagged inside the pantry. Poor bloke. Wasn't expecting it at all."
Dora's eyes widened, her mouth forming a perfect 'o' as Remus snickered. "What if someone finds him?!" She hissed.
"I have the keys," he simply replied.
"And here I thought you were actually the most innocent Marauder," Dora said with mock-sadness.
Remus tapped her nose. "You should have never associated the words 'innocent' and 'Marauder' together at all, love."
"Guess the cooking is up to me, then. Cannot have the king finding out all your plans simply by looking at the food if you do it." Dora released a long-suffering sigh, gathering ingredients as she spoke. Remus snorted. The sun had risen by then, and the kitchen was brightly illuminated as she worked. "How are you going to manage the wedding delicacies fit for royalty, then?"
"James will show up by that time." Remus replied. And we will get ourselves captured, he didn't need to add.
"Why bother disguising yourself if you just want to get captured?" Dora grumbled.
Remus sighed, leaning against the counter. "If we get caught while we are inside, Riddle will believe that he does not have to expand his security to the kingdom. He will not send anyone out. And—"
"No one will notice that the citizens are planning a rebellion," Dora breathed in realization. She looked at Remus in awe. "Brilliant."
He laughed. "That was James's idea; it was bound to be."
After a few more minutes—Dora was annoyed to notice—cooks and maids and servants were soon bustling about the kitchen. With a deep breath, she set up the breakfast she had prepared for Lily on a tray and picked it up. She bit her lip, looking at Remus. He reached out and opened the palm of her right hand, closing her fingers around a small, sharp knife.
"Keep it," he said. Dora nodded.
"Be careful," she said, walking past him.
"Deceive well," he replied.
Presently: The Courtyard
It was as if time had torturously slowed down around Lily.
She could not move from her spot as the scene unfolded before her eyes. The shock and surprise washed over her, dragging her ability to move away with it. She could only stand and stare, watching as the crowd dashed into the courtyard, a battle cry erupting from every pair of lips. All the citizens carried an odd assortment of weapons with them; while some used sensible knives, pitchforks and chains, Lily was also able to spot an occasional spade, glass bottles and God, was that a rolling pin?!
She saw several familiar faces as well. Hagrid, Madam Malkin, and even Filch. She could hardly believe it. All these people—everyone united against the crown. It was something of a sight to behold.
Slowly, Lily's eyes finally refocused on the Marauders again. And what she saw was enough to pull the world away from right beneath her feet.
For what she had thought—what she had seen—had been little more than a pretentious act. And if she hadn't been able to see through it, the royal guards never even stood a chance.
The princess saw first James, then Sirius and Remus, as all three men—with next to no effort at all—chucked the handcuffs that had been restraining them straight into the faces of the guards who were too busy gaping at the rapidly approaching mob. Lily realized with a jolt then that their cuffs had been taken care of already before they had been even brought out into the courtyard.
She had no doubt it was courtesy of Remus's ability to pick locks effortlessly.
And after that, it was all really rather ridiculous.
The dozen or so guards that had suddenly gathered inside the courtyard were also no match for the large number of commoners who were out for blood. These people were fighting—fighting after they had been oppressed and tortured and starved for the better part of ten long years. There was no pity on their faces as they took on each guard in groups of seven or even eight. And horribly muscular or not, the guards stood no chance. The number of citizens was too overwhelming for them. Add to that the surprise element of the attack, and soon enough, almost all of those guards were down, rolling around in moans and groans of pain.
The Marauders were still engaging about a handful of them all on their own, but Lily could see that they would easily win the fight. How could they not?
Lily watched all of it, letting it settle into her mind. Her legs were shaking, fingers trembling as she covered her mouth with her hand.
She closed her eyes and let the emotion flow through her veins.
Relief.
They had survived. They could actually walk out of here alive now.
But when she opened her eyes again, Lily felt terror seize her heart, cold and gripping. And before she could think, the scream was leaving her lips. Her eyes were impossibly wide as she stared at King Tom Riddle walk towards the Marauders with his sword in hand, death sweeping along his feet as he moved with an intention to kill.
"JAMES!"
Slow.
She had been too slow.
Lily's heart stopped beating inside her chest altogether as she saw Remus and Sirius look up once her scream had reached their ears. She saw identical terror wash over their faces as they learnt of Riddle's intent, of his unrelenting focus on James's unguarded back. She saw their helpless agony as they were forced to engage in their fight with the remaining guards. She saw as they made quick work of their opponents and whirled around to help their friend.
But Lily knew they would not make it.
It was almost painfully slowly that James started turning around after hearing her. By the time he had managed to face Riddle, the king's sword was already poised and ready to strike.
It was like watching her own heart being repeatedly stabbed.
"NO!" Lily shrieked, the scream tearing out of her throat so sharply that her voice broke in the end.
But then, something happened.
For instead of having pierced right through James's heart as Riddle had intended to do, the sword shook violently and lost its trajectory. Lily still felt her breath catch as the blade ripped through James's shirt instead, and neatly sliced the skin of his bicep. The cut was deep, and blood trickled down his arm, dripping from his fingers.
The Marauder swore vehemently, crying out in pain as he felt the sword cut through skin. The ridiculously grandiose shirt stained red as James clutched his arm, wincing, and felt the warm blood soak the cloth entirely.
But when he raised his head again, James's attention was successfully diverted.
Lily saw it happen.
But it was all so fast, so unexpected, that the princess could do little more than gasp.
She had seen Dora, small and unnoticed by anyone else, standing a few meters away when the king had decided to strike James. Perhaps it was foolish of Lily to not have considered it then, given that Dora had been the only one closest to the fiasco who had not been preoccupied with fighting any of the guards. And yet, it had surprised the princess nonetheless when the girl all but shoved herself into the king.
It was only when the sun's rays glinted off slightly that Lily realized Dora carried a knife with her.
But she had not been the only one to notice it.
Riddle, at the last moment, saw the girl from his peripheral vision as she ran towards him, knife in hand. The way she held it let the king know about her inexperience in fighting, and he easily swerved around the blade. But in the same motion, the girl's petite body slammed into his side in full force, even as the small knife fell noiselessly to the grass. The collision was hard enough to stagger Riddle and completely misdirect his aim. The long sword in his hand shook even as it slashed through cloth and skin, and eventually dropped a few feet away when Riddle finally felt his feet lose control.
"Dora!" Remus yelled, dashing towards the girl as she lay in a heap beside the king. Before Riddle could so much as gain a semblance of control again, Remus had picked her up and pushed her behind him, staring down at Riddle with trepidation.
Lily had had enough. She ran, lifting the layers of white dress as she made her way straight towards James. Sirius was there right beside him, taking in everything with calculating eyes as James's arm rested on his shoulder, the blood now staining Sirius's neck too.
The princess was just glad that Lucius hadn't bothered to stop her. In fact, he looked rather pleased to not have had to marry her.
She finally reached the Marauders, feet slowing as she breathed heavily, lips slightly parted as she looked at James, her face white. "You've lost a lot of blood," she said.
James chuckled breathily, lifting his good hand to brush his fingers against her cheek. Her skin was flushed warm. "Hey."
Lily didn't reply, simply gathered a bunch of cloth from her dress and hastily tore away a long piece from the first layer. Then, wordlessly, she reached up and wrapped it around James's arm firmly to stop the bleeding. The white cloth soon turned red, but it seemed to have stopped the incessant trickle of blood. Lily sighed.
"Thanks," James whispered, his own face a little white now from the blood loss.
That's when he felt something wet on his forearm.
"Lily?"
"You are all so stupid!" The princess snapped, her voice thick with emotion. She looked up at the two men in front of her and James's eyes widened at the utterly broken expression on her face. "What if something had happened to you?! You could have died!"
"I'm fine," James said, slowly. Firmly.
"You call this fine?" She shook her head, tears rushing down her face. "I didn't ask for any of this!"
"That's the whole point, love," Sirius spoke up, flicking her nose. She looked at him, and he smirked. "Besides, it would take a lot more than that to get rid of us."
"You mean something like this?"
Lily gasped, watching as Sirius's entire body grew stiff at those words. Her eyes strayed to the dark haired woman who had spoken as she loomed behind the Marauders. She had heavily hooded eyes with long lashes, and her thin lips were pulled into a sneer as she poised her knife carefully against Sirius's throat.
Lily knew her; Princess Bellatrix Black. She was engaged to Prince Rodolphus Lestrange.
The woman might have been beautiful, but there was nothing humane in her expression.
"Hello, Bella," Sirius deadpanned, his previous softness completely gone. The familiarity of the address pulled something in Lily's heart as she realized how difficult it must have been for the Marauder to finally face his family like this after so many years.
"If you do not want your precious Marauders dead," Bellatrix yelled, her silky voice effortlessly carrying to every single commoner in the courtyard, "you will put down all your weapons."
Lily watched in horror as everyone halted, staring wide-eyed at Bellatrix as she cackled; finding great amusement in their pain stricken expressions. It was then that Lily also noticed that Dora and Remus were in similar states of captivity as Sirius, and were being held by Rodolphus Lestrange and his brother, Prince Rabastan Lestrange.
Lily bit her lip, and allowed herself to scan her surroundings more thoroughly, finding her stomach drop in utter dread as she took in the sight.
They were completely surrounded.
It seemed as if the royalty had had enough of sitting around and gossiping, and had finally decided that they could not let a bunch of thieves cause the downfall of a fellow tyrant. It was mostly the Blacks, Rosiers and Lestranges that remained. The Malfoys had subtly disappeared from the scene, including the groom himself. Lily would have snorted at that if she could have.
Instead, she could only stand there, fingers shaking, as she saw all her friends—including James—held captive by varying members of the royalty. All around her, she could sense similar sentiments emanating from the Gryffindor citizens as they stared helplessly at each other.
It was never even a question of whether they could forsake the Marauders.
It was a question of how they could all walk out of there alive.
"Let 'em go!" Hagrid's voice boomed, and Lily saw him shaking with anger.
"You will all pay dearly for what you have done," Riddle spoke up, his cold voice cutting through the courtyard, and simply ignoring Hagrid's plea. Bellatrix snickered. "You will all die in vain. Unless, of course, you wish to stop all this foolishness and leave right now."
There was not a single movement from the gathered crowd.
Riddle hissed, turning on Lily now. "Did you honestly think you could get away with making such a spectacle, princess?"
Lily closed her eyes, fingers bunching against the skirts of her dress in frustration.
"Don't let him get to you!" Sirius yelled, but was effectively shushed when Bellatrix's blade pressed slightly deeper into his skin.
"You have ruined the deal," Riddle continued. And my claim to the throne, he did not need to add, for Lily read it in the icy stare he had locked on her. "And now you will watch everyone you care about die right before your eyes."
"No," The word escaped her lips, vehement and fierce. "No one will die because of me. Kill me. Kill me, and not them. Let them go."
"Oh, I will," Riddle spat, "Do not be under the delusion that you will walk away alive from here today. But you will die only after you have suffered enough—only after I deem it enough."
James's hands were balled into fists. He watched with clenched jaw as the king taunted Lily. Riddle's words—he could only imagine what they were doing to her. He knew she was kind to a fault. That she would only think of herself at the absolute end. Only after everyone else was safe. And Riddle knew it too. He was taking bloody advantage of it.
It made James sick.
Busy as he was cursing the monster in front of him, it was a while before James felt something queer under his feet. He looked down inconspicuously, and his hazel eyes widened imperceptibly when he saw what his right boot was stepping on. For instead of having sunk into the grass like his left foot had, his right one slightly glided on the blade of the pocket knife below it. It seemed to have fallen from Dora's hand when she had tried to attack Riddle before.
James held his breath, hoping against hope that his captor—James guessed it to be one from the Rosier family—had not noticed the Marauder's suddenly taut posture. He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief when he was sure that the prince was busy staring at the scene before him rather than paying attention to James.
Oh, what a fool he was.
With a fluid motion that only came with years of practice, James maneuvered his good arm around until he caught hold of Rosier's wrist that held the knife against his throat. In the same movement, he ducked his head down, swiftly picked up the other knife from the grass using his free hand—clenching his teeth against the pain that shot up from his arm wound—and slashed the blade against the prince's thigh.
Rosier howled in agony as blood gushed from his leg. In his flurry of movement, he ground his knee into James's face.
There was a resounding crunch and James felt his nose break as he fell back down on the ground. The knife shot out of his hand during the movement, and landed somewhere far.
But that had been all the distraction that anyone required.
Sirius and Remus, not even requiring more than a second to understand what happened, used the distraction of their respective captors to immediately gain an advantage over them. It was soon evident as to who was more experienced in combat when both Bellatrix and the Lestranges were unable to overpower the two Marauders.
Dora, seeing her opportunity, moved out of the way as Remus fought both the brothers by himself—seemingly without much difficulty. She instead ran over to help the other citizens and launch surprise attacks on the various opponents the commoners fought with.
Sirius soon had his sword pointed at Bellatrix as she lay on the ground, panting. But instead of killing her—which he really should have done—he instead grabbed a stone from nearby and knocked her out with it.
Then he immediately whirled around towards James. The hazel-eyed man was still on the ground, struggling against Rosier who was putting up a surprisingly good fight despite his wounded leg. James's face was now covered with blood from his nose. His unfavorable position and injured arm—which had started bleeding again—really weren't helping him fight. At this rate, James would simply die of blood loss, Sirius worried.
Just as he was about to go help his friend out, Sirius found himself facing the end of a long sword.
Surprised, he looked up towards his opponent. The man in front of him was handsome, his light-colored skin a stark contrast to his dark hair. His eyes were grey, sharp, and full of disappointment as they looked at Sirius. "Hello, brother."
"Reg," Sirius breathed, gulping against the sudden emotion constricting his throat.
Prince Regulus Black shook his head. "Do not call me that!" He said, and brought his sword closer to Sirius. "I am your opponent. Fight me now."
Sirius snorted derisively. "Still soft around the edges, I see." he said, but picked up the sword and took a defensive stance nonetheless. "If you were a true Black, Reg, you would have killed me before I had the chance of even noticing you."
Regulus sneered. "Do not lecture me about being a Black—that is the biggest form of irony; coming from you."
Sirius continued to side-step his brother. "I never claimed I was a true Black. I have no intention of being one," he replied. "But at least I'm not pretending to fit in."
"Shut up!" Regulus lunged, and a loud clang sounded as his sword met Sirius's blow for blow. "You know nothing about me!"
"I know more about you than you give me credit for!" Sirius shot back, continuing his attacks relentlessly. The Marauder partially acknowledged that Regulus had been practicing, putting up a good fight against him, but another part of Sirius knew—and hated knowing—that the fight was simply being drawn out because Sirius didn't truly want to hurt his brother.
James panted, his breaths coming out in short, forced spurts as he struggled against Rosier, who seemed too bloody determined to gut him all of a sudden. Beads of sweat had gathered on James's forehead, above his lip, and behind his neck as he pushed against the prince using his legs. His right arm had completely given out on him; the wound made it impossible for him to move anything more than his fingers now. His entire nose was caked with dried blood, and he was certain that some of it had even entered his mouth and dribbled down his chin.
All in all, it was not a pretty sight.
Finally, with a growl that built up from somewhere deep within his chest, James gathered all his strength and stamped hard on the still bleeding wound on Rosier's thigh.
It was certainly very cruel of him, but James couldn't have cared less at that point.
Rosier let out the loudest yelp of pain yet, and James almost felt bad for him. But then the prince's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he lost consciousness from the wound, and James inwardly cheered when the man fell sideways on the grass and his heavy weight lifted off of him.
James was almost certain that he himself wasn't very far from a similar fate—if his shallow breaths and limp joints were anything to go by.
However, before he could welcome the darkness, he had to make sure that she was safe. Lily.
Her name rang around in his head again and again, and James turned his head to the right to find her.
But instead, he saw the last face he wanted to.
King Tom Riddle stood amidst the fight in the courtyard, staring down at James Potter's bloodied condition with poorly hidden satisfaction in his black eyes. There was a mad sort of glint in his eye as he deliberately lifted his leg and kicked the Marauder sharply on the ribs. James gasped, groaning as he clutched his side, and wincing in pain when it throbbed. Riddle kneeled next to him, his long, white fingers inching forward and wrapping themselves around James's throat.
James felt himself choke when the king squeezed his windpipe, his feet kicking out as he struggled to breathe.
"It is because of you," Riddle spat, the wrath in his voice barely carrying to James's ears as his blood pounded loudly. "Because of you that all my years of planning have come to ruin."
James couldn't reply. Couldn't do much of anything except wheeze.
"Siri—" he tried to call out to his friend, but noticed him already engaged in a fight some distance away. James couldn't really tell who his opponent was, but it seemed that Sirius was in no condition to look away from his battle. Remus was nowhere near sight either, and soon, James's voice gave up on him too.
"You will die now." Riddle gritted, raising his right hand above his head.
James looked up, and his hazel eyes widened when he caught sight of the knife that had fallen from his hand earlier. Clearly, it had landed too close to the king, and now James would pay for his folly. Riddle's fingers were curled tightly around the handle, and the sun rays glinted brightly against the blade, bringing tears to James's eyes as he stared.
Or maybe he was crying.
James shut his eyes closed, preparing himself for the blow when he saw Riddle's hand fall down towards him purposefully.
But the sharp, agonizing pain never came. The darkness never came.
Instead, James felt the fingers that were around his throat loosen, and then fall away completely.
Instead, he felt a wet splash against his skin, against his face.
Instead, he heard a loud gasp of pain that was not his own.
Slowly, James opened his eyes again, still not completely in control of his breathing, and allowed the shock at what he saw to completely numb his body.
For the knife that should have stabbed through his heart lay haphazardly against Riddle's thigh. For the wet splash he had felt against his skin earlier had been blood—lots and lots of blood that still gurgled from Riddle's mouth. For the king's black eyes were wide with shock and terror as they stared at the same thing James stared at.
There was a long, glinting sword blade sticking right through Riddle's chest, the blood from it dripping slowly onto the ground beside James.
Then slowly, the sword was being pulled back, and Riddle spurted out more blood from his mouth. James would have retched at the sight if he hadn't been paralyzed with shock and injury. Blood oozed out from the king's chest and stained his clothes red by the time the sword had left his body. James knew enough to be able to tell that the blade had pierced right through Riddle's heart.
And then finally, slowly, James looked up, away from Riddle and towards the figure that stood behind the king.
He stopped breathing.
The sword dropped from her limp fingers, her white dress stained red as she looked down at Riddle. Her hair was flying around her face with the wind, and tears streamed down her cheeks endlessly. But she did not look sad. She looked fearless and brave.
She looked like she had been waiting a long, long time to do that.
"You will not touch him," Lily spat, not a waver in her voice as she stared down at her uncle.
A/N – Yaaay! This gives me so much happiness. I really really loved writing this chapter. In hindsight, I suppose I could have broken it down into two parts, what with it being monstrously long and everything. But somehow, I like it the way it is. There were a lot of emotions and view points to capture while I wrote this, and sincerely hope I haven't messed it up. Now, it would really only be fair for you guys to leave me a bunch of reviews for the longest chapter I have ever written. I really do deserve at least that much, I think. I'll try to get the next one up as soon as I can. Promise. Tons and tons of love.
Claudia.