Chapter 31

James's POV

It was hard to believe. Even when Severus had been one of my enemies, he'd always been there; we'd come so far from then, and it was nearly impossible to imagine a future where he wouldn't be there.

I didn't need sight to know that the curse had struck him; Lily's screams and sobs told him that his friend was dead. When he'd been waking up, Lily had explained to him that Voldemort had put up some kind of shield, preventing her from getting to Severus and Harry.

Now, I could only hope that Harry's death would be quick; there was no chance of survival. We couldn't go in to save him, and Severus had been killed trying to protect him. The only thing we could do was hope Neville survived, but I didn't know if we'd be the ones to raise him. I couldn't leave while my son was still breathing, I knew Lily felt the same way, but the chances were that we'd be killed once he was dead.

"You monster!" Lily started beating her hands against the shield. I reached forward and pulled her back as her anger turned to sorrow. "My baby," she cried. "Please don't hurt Harry."

"Two wizards have already died trying to protect this boy," Voldemort told them coldly. "Don't make it another two; I have no wish to spill magical blood."

Severus and Peter. Two of my brothers dead in one night. Dead to protect us and all for nothing. There was no help coming; Remus was on a mission, and Sirius had taken his brother to St Mungo's. By the time they got home and found Neville, it would be too late. I had to hope that they took Neville and ran; they had to save the only remaining child that could defeat this monster of a wizard.

Everything slowed down and sped up at the same time. Never had I hated being blind more than in that moment; Lily was screaming and pounding on the barrier. My wife was going to witness the death of our son and not only could I not do anything, I couldn't protect them, and I wouldn't even know when he was dead.

Finally, I heard the dreaded words. The sound of the Unforgivable was nearly drowned out by our screams. Next thing I knew, I was being blown across the room and there was a loud exploding noise; I tried to cling onto Lily but she was blown away from me.

I was dazed from hitting my head against something, but as soon as everything went quiet I got up and started trying to find Lily and Harry, desperate to protect them and refusing to believe either of them could be dead, regardless of the fact I'd heard Voldemort cast the Killing Curse.

"Lily!" I shouted, falling over something that felt like rumble, causing a cloud of dust and making me cough. "Lily! Harry! Where are you?!"

"James?" I started going towards the voice, but I kept tripping over everything, unable to see the obstacles in my way. The familiar layout of my house seemed to have been completely destroyed. "James, stay there, I'm coming."

Lily must have realized my predicament. I heard sounds of rumble being moved and then, to my outstanding relief and shock, a child crying. Both noises were getting closer to me, but I couldn't find my wand anywhere; I was worried that Voldemort was still somewhere and I didn't even have a wand to help defend my family.

"Lily," I held her close when she got to me, feeling the bundle she held in her arms. "Harry, my baby, is he okay?"

"He's fine," she sobbed, cuddling the crying boy closer to her. "Voldemort's gone. I don't know what happened."

"Gone?" I repeated blankly, holding them close to me while I attempted to find my emergency Pot Key. "How?"

"He fired the K-Killing Curse at H-Harry," Lily's voice broke, clearly still shook up at the near loss of our son. "And it exploded backwards. Voldemort exploded. I think he's dead, gone."

"And Harry?" I demanded, refusing to dwell on any hope that we might be safe until I was sure my son was okay.

"He has a cut on his head," Lily grabbed my hand and ran my fingers over his head, letting me feel the cut that was there. "It's stopped bleeding and it looks like a lightning bolt."

"Let's hope Dumbledore knows something," I muttered, victoriously holding up my Port Key. "Maybe he can tell us if Voldemort's really gone."

I felt Lily nod and then I activated the Port Key, bracing myself for the landing. Lily passed me Harry as she scooped up Neville; clearly he'd been safe at Sirius's like we'd hoped. Then, it was a case of waiting until the others returned; we didn't feel safe enough leaving the house with the two children.

"James! Lily!" Sirius raced up to us. I could hear footsteps behind him and assumed it was Regulus. "Are you okay? I can't get in touch with the others."

"We need to see Dumbledore," I told him, knowing we probably looked a right mess; covered in dust and scrapes holding the two children as if someone was going to try snatching them away. "We think Voldemort might be dead."

"Dead," Regulus repeated, confirming my thoughts that he was there. "He's really dead?"

"We think so," Lily said blankly, probably in shock after the night we'd had. "Severus and Peter are too."

"W-what?" I felt Sirius sink to his knees next to me so I reached out and grabbed his shoulder knowing we both needed the support.

"Contact Remus," I ordered Regulus. "His mission doesn't matter. Tell him to meet us in Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts."

Once I'd heard him walk away to access the Floo, I let my head fall down onto Sirius's shoulder. We stayed like that for a little while, just soaking up the comfort after the loss of our friends. Eventually, Sirius got up and moved away; he came back a few minutes later and sat back down next to us.

"The Port Key will take us to Dumbledore's office," he waited until Regulus came back before activating it, clearly not comfortable leaving his brother behind.

We told Dumbledore everything that had happened, our voices braking when we got to the loss of Peter and Severus. Dumbledore agreed that Voldemort was gone; proven by the amount of people coming out of the Imperius Curse and the Dark Mark fading slightly on Death Eater's arms. However, he didn't think he would be gone forever, banished but not dead.

Dumbledore promised that he would retrieve the bodies of our friends. In the meantime, we were given official custody of Neville and were hailed as heroes by the Wizarding World. The next day, while we were burying our brothers and Neville's family, the rest of the world were celebrating and raising a glass for Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.

A/N: Just the Epilogue to go now! :)