A/N: Okay okay! So this is the last chapter I post this month. I have to finish this term paper, and then I'll come back to this! But anyway, I'd just like to say thank you to all the new readers and all the old readers, and especially my friend Cale who I looped into reading this! (and who constantly points out parallels that I don't necessarily agree with, but bless him for noticing.) Partly inspired by the song Vox Populi by Thirty Seconds to Mars
I hope you enjoy this chapter! xo
This is a call to arms
We own the night
This is a battle song
We own the night
Quidditch Pitch, June 24th, 1995
Everything moved so quickly after Harry's announcement regarding Lord Voldemort. Harry's leg was injured badly, and voices that sounded distant coaxed Jules to let go of her nephew. Her daughter's voice drifted in and out of her ears, until finally a familiar electric blue eye whizzed around and a gruff voice made her focus.
"Julianne," Alastor Moody growled. "Let me take the lad."
"I'll come with," she replied as he helped lift Harry up out of her arms. He'd stopped crying but was now in utter shock.
"No, you go check on your daughter," Moody waved her away. "He'll be safe with me, Julianne."
Jules' hands refused to stop grasping at Harry's Hogwarts jersey. She shook her head and tried to insist that she'd come with, but a hand placed itself on her shoulder and said, "It's Moody. He'll be fine." So she let him go and watched as her old mentor half-dragged, half-carried her nephew back towards the castle. Harry turned his head to look back at his aunt and opened his mouth as though to call out her name, but no sound came out.
Molly Weasley placed her hand on Jules' outstretched forearm, and a familiar bundle of black curls and maroon and gold flung her arms around her waist. Jules placed her hand on her daughter's head and was suddenly dragged back to earth when she heard the sniffling. Lucy sobbed into her mother's chest. The distraught twelve-year-old was enough to distract Jules from the emerald eyes that had become a tiny spot in the distance. She wrapped her arms around her daughter and held her tightly.
She wanted to say something comforting, like she'd been able to for the past twelve years, but no words could come out. There was a war unlike anything Lucy or Harry could fathom that would boil over in a matter of months, if not weeks. There were no words to prepare the daughter. Julianne lifted her hazel eyes up to the various sets of eyes that looked down at her and locked eyes with Sirius. This was why all of those years ago, she had feared the idea of a family. This was why every year since James and Lily's deaths, she had protected Lucy and fought for Harry as though her life depended on it... Because it did. Jules' livelihood was entirely invested in the two little lives that were now being thrust into the war.
A second, devastating realization etched itself into Julianne's skin as the crowd bustled and mourned for Cedric. Mad-Eye never called her Julianne. Not. Once.
"ALBUS!" Jules shrieked as soon as she realized. At the sound of the desperation in her mother's voice, Lucy found herself backing up and staring at the sudden panicked craze that danced around in her mother's eyes.
Order Headquarters, June 24th, 1979
Marlene watched as Jules expertly applied dittany to Sirius' shoulder torn open shoulder. Her friend's black hair was pulled into a messy knot, she had a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, she had dirt covering the better part of her beaten up body and somehow Sirius was still looking over at her like she was a madonna. He used to look at me that way, Marlene thought bitterly. The pool of eligible young men had significantly diminished since they had left school. They were either death eaters, dead or oblivious to the war. Or they were married like James, Frank and now Kingsley. It always made her feel guilty, however, resenting the relationship that had developed most reluctantly between Jules and Sirius. She loved both of them, and she had always known it would happen eventually. It just wasn't pleasant to be alone in a war.
"I don't like the flat with the loft," Jules muttered, tapping the ash off of her cigarette and putting it back in her mouth before she smoothed Sirius' new bandage.
"You didn't like the flat without the loft either," He replied. "You hated the flat in Ottery St. Catchpole, and the cottage next door to Bathilda..."
"Who wants to live next door to Bathilda in a little cottage?" Jules said frustratedly. She turned to Marlene and said, "Would you come visit if we lived next to Bathilda blooming Bagshot."
"Probably not," replied Marlene. "I don't understand why you aren't just getting a place with James and Lily again." Jules and Sirius looked at each other and then both of them turned to Marlene.
"Marls," Sirius said, "They're... Er... Starting a family." Jules cringed as he said the words. Marlene looked at them and raised an eyebrow.
"And you two hate children?" She replied with confusion evident on her face.
"No," Jules said quickly. "Well- No. Just... The process that goes into making them..."
"Oh, come on," Marlene teased. "I know you don't hate- Oh. OH." She cringed and laughed at herself for over-looking that detail.
Sirius wrapped his injured arm around Jules' waist and pulled her closer to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder. He pressed his lips to her temple and said, "We'll find a flat. Or we'll have to start competing to see who can create a baby faster."
"Sirius!"
Outside the Hospital Wing, June 24th, 1995
"Are you honestly smoking?" Remus nearly shouted, astonished, as he watched Julianne pull the white and orange muggle cigarette out of her mouth. She raised an eyebrow and exhaled a plume of smoke.
"No, I'm honestly dancing an Irish jig," She said defiantly as she inhaled tobacco once more. Remus rolled his eyes. She looked like she was 19 again for a moment as the cigarette glowed. "What do you think I'm doing?" Their eyes flickered into the Hospital Wing where Harry was asleep, and Sirius was gently brushing the hair out of his eyes.
"Julie," sighed Remus. Jules exhaled smoke, keeping the cigarette between her lips and dug around in the school bag that Lucy had draped over her arm.
"Who gives a damn?" Jules snapped through her teeth. "At this point, who bloody well gives a damn? Voldemort is back. Alastor was actually Barty fucking Crouch. A 17 year old is dead. I assaulted a teacher. I'm- I'm bloody well going to lose what little rights to Harry I have, so forgive me for needing a fag, Remus."
Remus exhaled and then took the cigarette from between Jules' lips and put it into his mouth. He inhaled, exhaled, coughed and started again. Julianne raised an eyebrow at him, but he shrugged, "This tastes disgusting."
"So do you," Jules quipped in return. Remus shot her a look and she shrugged her shoulders. Leaning against the stone railing by the staircase, she watched Remus inhale. Suddenly, the clicking of McGonnagal's heals made Remus freeze.
"Remus. Lupin," Her disapproving voice made Jules laugh bitterly as Remus started coughing up puffs of smoke. She took the cigarette from him and pat him on the back. Stuffing the end of it in her lip she inhaled, only to be sprayed with a jet of water from a most unimpressed Minerva McGonnagal.
"There are children present, Miss Potter," McGonnagal said disapprovingly.
"Yes," Jules spluttered and coughed up water. "I happen to be the guardian of two of them." She pulled a now soggy half-smoked cigarette out of her mouth.
"Not for long," Severus Snape's nasal voice crawled past Julianne's ear.
"Well, it's not like Harry's about to become your son," Jules snarled as her eyes narrowed while he walked past. Snape flinched, and then turned on her with ferocity Remus had never seen before.
"No, but it's not as though he's about to become yours either," Severus' upper lip curled back.
"Severus," McGonnagal warned with her tone. She then turned her attention back to Remus and Jules. "I expected better of the two of you."
"Did you?" Jules said dryly. "I'm flattered."
Minerva contemplated the response for a moment and then pursed her lips. She turned to Remus and said, "At the very least, I expected better of you."
"That's the spirit," Jules clapped Minerva on the shoulder. She then walked right past her and into the hospital wing. She pulled up a chair beside Molly Weasley and Lucy. Lucy reached her hand out for her mother's, and Jules immediately locked her grip around Lucy's fingers.
"Mum," said Lucy. "What's going to happen now? We're going to be alright, aren't we?" Jules inhaled sharply. She looked at her sleeping nephew, his lightning scar, and had flashes of James laying limp on the stairwell. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"No," Jules said quietly. She shook her head and a pathetic whimper escaped her lips. "No, Lucy... We're not going to be alright." With that, her head collapsed onto Harry's bed and she began repeating how sorry she was for failing them.
Molly rubbed Jules' shoulder with one hand and reached for Lucy's now shaking hand with the other. Molly made eye contact with Sirius on the other side of the bed, and they both swallowed. There were no promises left to be made, just as there was nothing left that was sacred. The only thing that they could do was gather forces, call back the Order, and prepare to battle now in their older, more beaten bodies.
The McKinnon House, October 15th, 1981
"I won't tell you..." Marlene said with blood dripping from her lip down her chin. Her left eye was nearly swollen shut and her blonde hair had been stained crimson where her head had been smashed against the staircase. Her mother was dead. Her father was dead. Her family how was now a mausoleum of corpses not yet buried.
"So brave and valiant," Travers sneered. He grabbed her hair and yanked her up to her feet. His breath was sickly and sour as he breathed down her neck. "Tell me where the Potters are, or I'll kill y-"
He was cut off by the front door being blast open.
"STUPEFY!" Jules cried from the doorway. She was flanked by Sirius, Remus, Frank and Alice. The three of them, wands out entered the house that had clearly been rampaged by Death Eaters. Travers dropped Marlene and narrowly dodged the jet of light that flew at him. That was when the scramble happened. Streams of lights, shouts and the sudden appearance of four more death eaters made tensions high and wands move so fast that they appeared blurred in hands.
"You stubborn twat," Marlene grumbled as Jules dove forward and pulled her behind a turned over book case. "You shouldn't be here. You're who they're after next..."
"You think that's going to stop me?" Jules replied with a grin. She handed Marlene a flask filled with dittany to apply to her wounds and stood up to shoot a few more hexes at the Death Eaters. Rodolphus Lestrange spun on his heel and started sending hexes flying her way. She was hit by one that made her nose start to bleed. Marlene grabbed Jules' hand and yanked her back down.
"You are almost as big of an idiot as your brother," Marlene hissed. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Sabing you," Jules said through her bleeding nose. "Gib be sob ub dat." She reached for the flask and poured it on her nose. It stopped bleeding nearly immediately. Marlene noticed movement out of the corner of her eye,grabbed Jules' wand from her hands and disarmed the death eater that made his way towards them.
"I can't believe you fucking organized a rescue mission," Marlene shook her head. "I would've been fine."
"You would've been dead,'" Jules wiped some of the blood around her chin with the back of her hand and then took her wand back. "Apparate somewhere," She tossed over her shoulder as she jumped back into combat and joined Sirius' side.
"Not bloody likely," Marlene said. She saw her wand across the room, all of the Death Eaters were occupied, so she did the one thing she knew she could. Marlene apparated to her wand, and joined in on the fighting. It was in a moment of arrogance that the mission fell apart.
Jules was throwing fancy hexes left right and centre that danced around the room and hit various death eaters. Marlene had started to act as Jules' cover unwittingly. Her wand danced around and sent various curses and spells all around at the Death Eaters who weren't occupied chasing the Longbottoms or Sirius around her childhood home.
"LOOK OUT!" Sirius shouted as he shoved a Death Eater, who was unconscious, down the stairs with a kick. He watched it happen as though it was in slow motion.
"Diffindo!" Rodolphus said with his wand pointed towards Jules' torso. A flash of white light and then crimson appeared across Julianne's blouse. She fell to her knees and clutched at the wound that had sliced from her right breast across to her left shoulder. She reached her wand up, but it dropped from her hand and the world went black for her before she could hear someone cackle, "Avada Kedavra!"
"NO!" Marlene rushed forward just as a jet of green light was sent flying from Rodolphus' wand. As though racing the killing curse, Marlene flung herself on top of Julianne. Sirius raced down the stairs and started throwing as many curses as he could towards his cousin-in-law, but his heart was pounding and his vision was blurred as he heard Marlene's high pitched scream fill the house. Suddenly wisps of green smoke filled the air, and all of the Death Eaters vanished as Mad-Eye Moody and Dumbledore stormed into the house.
Alice Longbottom raced across to the two young women laying limp on the floor. Marlene's blonde hair was quickly becoming clumped with Julianne's blood. The petite, pixie-like woman's dewy brown eyes filled with tears as she checked relentlessly for a pulse on the blonde. When she couldn't find one, she looked up at Sirius and shook her head.
"Julie, Alice, is Julie-" said Sirius with pain evident on his face. The pair of them, with the help of Frank, moved off Marlene's corpse while Mad-Eye pulled out some dittany and they searched for a pulse. Sirius sobbed with relief as soon as they felt the faint heartbeat beneath the skin on her neck.
"We have to get her to Madame Pomfrey," said Albus objectively. "She won't make it otherwise."
James stormed into the hospital wing, followed by Lily who was carrying 18 month old baby Harry, and immediately grabbed Sirius by the throat.
"HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?" His hazel eyes were red, swollen and angry beneath his glasses.
"James," Lily grabbed his arm with her spare one and tried to pull him away. Sirius wasn't fighting. His arms hung limp at his sides and his eyes looked equally swollen. Harry started crying in his mother's arms, and James' grip around Sirius' throat loosened.
"I'm so sorry," said Sirius softly. The two men stared at each other for a moment, before James finally collapsed into Sirius' arms. Sirius wrapped his arms around his friend and held him while he cried, mourning Marlene and worrying endlessly about his twin behind the curtains. Finally, the sound of the curtain opening made them both let go of the other.
"Oh, bloody hell," said Jules with a hoarse voice. Her lips were pale from blood loss, and she had dark circles under her eyes. "You weren't honestly crying over me, were you?" She grinned, "I'm fine, you sods... Where's Marley?"
Lily cringed and adjusted baby Harry in her arms. The three of them slowly walked towards her. Jules tried to get up but flinched at the pain on her chest as she did so. James grabbed a pillow from an unoccupied bed and Sirius helped her so she was sitting up, but no one spoke a word.
"Marley isn't hurt, is she?" Jules looked around and then froze when Lily wouldn't make eye contact with her. "No..." Sirius sat down on the side of her bed and held her hand in his. "No, no! We were supposed to rescue her! Oh Godric..."
"She saved you," said Sirius with his voice cracking. James pushed a piece of her hair out of her forehead and she clamped her eyes shut. A tear ran down Jules' cheek and she shook her head. "I couldn't make it in time. Rodolphus was going to kill you once you were down and Marlene threw herself in front of you..."
Lily blinked back her own tears. She watched as Jules sobbed and threw herself into James' arms despite the pain it inflicted. Order members dropped like flies at every turn, but they had always considered themselves invincible. They were the ones who were going to survive the war. They were the ones who were going to live long, happy lives and send their children off to Hogwarts together. Death hadn't been part of the plan.
James held Jules in his arms while she cried over the sacrifice Marlene had made for her. He rocked her gently back and forth, while Sirius kept his hand on her back. The three of them stayed like this for a while until Madame Pomfrey came to change her dressing and scolded them for letting her move.
That night, Sirius stayed with her. He crawled into the hospital cot and held her in his arms while she waited for the dreamless sleep potion to kick in.
"She died for me," Jules whispered while Sirius curled a strand of her hair around his finger.
"As you would have for her," He replied.
"As I should have," She said softly. The sound of Sirius' heartbeat soothed her slightly. She blinked and let a few more tears she didn't know she had fall down her cheeks.
"If it means anything to you, darling," Sirius whispered into the top of her hair. "I'm awfully glad you didn't." Jules looked up at him and yawned.
"Now Lily'll have to be my maid-of-honour," Jules said through her yawn. She adjusted herself onto her good shoulder and leaned her head on his chest. "Happy birthday, by the way, love." With that, the potion took over and Jules' eyelids felt heavy. She didn't fight them. She just let herself fall into the darkness that was dreamless sleeping.
Sirius decided he didn't like birthdays.
A/N: Poor Padfoot. That must've been the worst birthday ever, eh? Anyway! Thank you all so much for reading! Please please please review. They're my favourite notification to receive.
The next section of the story will deal with a rather unfortunate twist of events for Jules and Harry now that Voldemort is back... But more importantly... SIRIUS AND JULES GET MARRIED (Finally!)
xo Sophie