CHAPTER 53 – The Strength of Seventh Years
The scene around the Hogwarts Express was certainly one to behold. Students were scattered and flashes of colored light appeared at different intervals and places. If the neighborhood dentist were to stumble upon the sight he would have no explanation and the closest thing he could compare it to would be fireworks. Fortunately, the train was stopped somewhere between Kings Cross Station and Hogsmede. Maybe not so fortunately, the students were to left alone to defend themselves. There were only two adults on board the train during the event. A muggle studies professor and the train operator. The latter had taken advantage of his ability to see the affair first. He blasted a hole through the window, jumped out of the train and apparated when he was a safe distance away. The Muggle Studies Professor was not so lucky. He did his best to help the students fight off the Death Eaters but was overpowered. His unconscious and battered body was soaring through the air, back and forth, for fun. The Death Eaters laughed and shouted threats to all 'useless and pathetic' muggles.
James kept his eyes fixed on Lily. The aching pains in his body seemed to subside while he let his feelings for her consume him. There she was maliciously dueling with no remorse. Viciously taking advantage of any weak spots in her opponent. Her face was blank but focused. She was horrifyingly beautiful. With a wand in her hand she was almost scary and it was exhilarating. He was overwhelmed by the desire to take hold of her kiss her until every feeling and thought he had for her was understood and returned.
Lily was kneeling on the hard soil; her head was pounding with every stroke of her heart. The best word to describe exactly how she was feeling was fuzzy. It was all very dream-like, as if she was not actually herself but someone else. She pushed herself up off the ground and had to steady herself. Things were moving strangely and sounds were muffled. A nearby miss fired spell caused dirt to fly into the air and sprinkle above her and James. This brought her out of her trance, sounds returned to normal but she still felt 'fuzzy.' She turned to see James staggering across the ground toward her. His face held too many expressions to decipher.
Forgetting her anger for the moment she strode towards him, "Are you alright?"
His face was streaked with blood and his movements were pained, "Lily Evans, I think you might've saved my life."
She let out a chuckle in the midst of the battle that caused pain to shoot from her upper arm. She instinctively grabbed the area and was met with warm, sticky liquid. She had barely even noticed the spell hitting her as she downed the last Death Eater. Now that she was conscious of it, the pain was gnawing. James acknowledged the slash, his eyes showing concern. Thankfully, he said nothing. They both understood that now was most certainly not the time. The moment had come and gone in a blink of an eye. They were brought back to their surroundings when the sound of a student screaming pierced their ears. They both whirled around, pulling their wands to eye level and stiffening their bodies. It was clear that even though the Death Eaters were outnumbered there was no chance they would win this fight. The number of students left was decreasing rapidly. They were either cursed or disapparating without returning from fear. There were still some fourth, fifth and sixth years left, gathered together in a group.
The group was surrounded by Death Eaters who were collecting wands from students. A dark haired Hufflepuff girl was on all fours crying in front of a female Death Eater. Lily recognized her from earlier; the one Braxton had trouble fighting. The Hufflepuff let out another scream when the Death Eater woman threw down the girl's wand and crushed it to pieces with the heel of her pointy shoes. While James and Lily bolted in her direction they could hear the woman shouting.
"You are not worthy to carry a wand, not worthy to attend a school of magic; you are less than a House Elf!"
At this, James glanced over at Lily, half considering pushing her out of the way to keep her from running toward the group of Death Eaters. He never found out if he would have done it or not because they had closed the distance. Death Eaters noticed their arrival and spells were shot at them from every direction. James had to lift his feet in a sort of skip to avoid one in particular. He almost muttered his appreciation for Quidditch reflexes. They were able to avoid being hit for awhile but as the attention on their entrance grew, so did the number of spells fired. A bombarding spell missed but hit the ground directly behind James' heel. He only noticed the sudden piercing sound in his ear, flying forward through the air and then the numbness his ears and body felt. He landed an arms distance from the poor Hufflepuff girl. His brain felt like foreign electricity was shooting through every neuron causing lightning bolts of sharp pain.
Lily had not so forcefully been pushed by the impact to the ground, close to where it had hit. She looked up from the dirt; James was much further away now. He had dirt splattered over his shirt and jeans and he was pushing himself up. Before she had a chance to move, two wands were pointed in her face. Her own wand was ripped from her fingers by one of the wizards pointing theirs. She could feel the pressure of a heavy boot pushing into her back. She almost wanted to roll her eyes, the wands in her face weren't enough they had to step on her too? It wasn't like she'd be going anywhere now. James had reached a similar fate, only standing woozily and surrounded by five Death Eaters.
"Well, well Head Boy to save the day. What is it with you Heads? You should have escaped when you had the chance," the female Death Eater scowled.
"Careful Idna, that's a Potter," a closer Death Eater whispered, loud enough only for her to hear.
"Pureblood, very old purebloods. Still the Potters haven't exactly chosen sides now have they? Maybe we should decide for them," She snickered through her mask.
"An example? Now I'm not opposed to the idea but the Dark Lord would like as many supporters as possible. He'll make a great example if they refuse," a very tall, very muscular man strode toward the woman.
He seemed to be the one in charge and had just entered the picture. The woman nodded obediently and turned back to the Hufflepuff. So far, no one else had taken notice of Lily, which she was silently grateful for. The girl was sobbing uncontrollably, clenching a few pieces of her wand in her hands. A wand was something held most dear by witches and wizards. It meant protection, safety and was an embodiment of who they were. Attachment seemed like such a trivial word for something so special. It had been shattered in an instant and it would never come back. Even a new one would never take its place. Just as the female Death Eater was about to wave her wand at the girl, James' voice interrupted her.
"My parents would never join with the likes of you!"
Both the lead Death Eater and the woman took closer step toward him. They shared laughs but it was the man who spoke.
"You'd be surprised what a parent would do for their children. Especially an only son," he mused, crouching to James' level.
"Oy! Who's this? Brought the mudblood Head Girl with you, Potter? I thought Heads were supposed to be smart," the woman Idna recognized Lily.
"Another mudblood? And Head Girl? At Hogwarts? The muggle loving scum Dumbledore has a lesson or two to learn," the man growled.
"This would work well for an example, I think. 'sides I owe her," she neared Lily's positionand the surrounding Death Eaters.
Lily shut her eyes tightly, preparing for pain or worse. She held back the tears that were threatening to come at the idea of everything ending here. She never had a chance to tell Amelia how good of a friend she had been, never fixed things with Petunia, never told James off for dating Charlotte. There were a lot of things she hadn't done yet. Instead she focused on the image of the Hufflepuff girl watching her wand break into pieces. She opened her eyes when he heard shouting. James was yelling and fighting against the grasp of the Death Eaters around him. The look on his face was agonizing. She turned her face away from him and to the Death Eater, Idna. The womans wand was pointed at Lily's face and she wore a large grin. Lily's mind was racing, she wouldn't let it all end here, there had to be some way out.
"Crucio!" came the word she was waiting for.
Her body took over for her. Lily had grabbed the leg of one of the Death Eaters backing away. She pulled as hard as she could and he tumbled to the ground in front of her. Just as the curse was about to hit its mark. The man began to twitch and scream in pain. Before anyone else had time to react, Lily stole his wand and rolled out of the way. She wasn't sure exactly what she was going to do. Winning a battle against all of the Death Eaters single handedly was not going to happen. She ducked just in time to avoid a spell shot at her. Without even aiming she began to shoot the worst kind of spells she could imagine in every direction. If she was going out then it would be in a fight and not flat on her stomach.
Two people emerged from the frightened crowd of students, noticing the scene. Sirius Black and Amelia Paddock, the latter sporting a bloody bandaged hand and an exhausted expression. The Death Eaters containing the crowd attacked the two, trying to force them back into the circle. Sirius was having none of it. He merely flicked his wand angrily and the two fell to the ground. They rushed to back up Lily.
Amelia turned to the crowd of students, "Most of you still have your wands. Fight! If you don't fight, you'll die where you stand."
Lily certainly didn't expect a miracle like this. She continued to fight with new vitality. Many of the students jumped in to help; Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors and even the occasional Slytherin. Colors of different spells shot in every direction, like a light show. Students were already dropping like flies as the Death Eaters banded together and attacked. They had all forgotten about the possibility of help by now. It seemed like it had been hours since the Death Eaters destroyed the train.
The light popping sounds could barely be heard over all of the other commotion , including screams as the Death Eaters were fighting back the students and winning. One by one people Lily had never seen before in her life were appearing out of thin air, accompanied by other students. Lily knew side-along apparation could be used to transport the younger students to a safer place but she hadn't considered it as a way to bring others in for back up. This must've been the Head Boy's doing, her eyes searched for him in the crowd. The battle wasn't over yet and she was on the front lines, a blast came in her direction causing her to change her focus. Beside her were two older boys, vaguely familiar, with fiery red hair. She might've laughed at what they mustve looked like all together if it wasn't for the constant spells thrown at them.
It was the man who seemed to be the leader of this Death Eater excursion that first drew her eye. Who he was fighting with was more important. Albus Dumbledore stood tall and terrifying, swishing his wand with ease. Peter Pettigrew stood directly behind in a sort of confused cower. The Death Eater was unconscious in a moment and Dumbledore moved on. It wouldn't be long before the Death Eaters got wind of his arrival and turned tail to run. A feeling of relief and hope filled her heart, things would be ok.
"Oy!" One of the tall redheads stepped in front of her to block a spell headed her way.
"Dumbledore is here!" was her only explanation.
"Right well, Miss…Head Girl, you better keep your guard up," he returned to firing curses, "The name is Fabian, Fabian Prewett."
"Pleasure."
The intensity of the battle was beginning to wane. More popping sounds could be heard as some of the Death Eaters, particularly the ones noticing Dumbledore, disapparated. Lily brandished her wand with continued fervor. They were winning and things were going to be just fine. As far as she knew, no one was killed and that was something to be proud of when coming up against the Death Eaters. She rushed through the crowd of uncoordinated students, unsure of what more to do. She kept her eyes open for black cloaks and menacing figures. Sure enough, she found one. Or rather, one found her.
"Well if it isn't Head Mudblood," the female Death Eater cackled.
They stood near the fallen Hogwarts Express, the scene around them was a blur of rushing people. Whatever grass there had been was covered with the dirt that sprinkled from missed spells. Lily whirled around to meet who she already knew it would be; Idna. Lily's wand was out her hand in less than a second. The cold woman laughed as she moved closer.
"You think this is a victory? You're wrong. None of you were killed because those were our orders but youre lucky. The Dark Lord was gracious. I don't think he'd mind the death of a mudblood with far too much attention to herself. Its like you were just looking to be offed," she continued on.
Lily had been raised a lady, independent yes but with plenty of manners. She had always been polite and even sometimes reserved because of it. Before Hogwarts, in fact before the past couple of years she had never done anything rash or rude. Unless you count James Potter, but he was an exception to her rules. She couldn't restrain herself any longer, she had grown tired of listening to woman speak. Idna still saw herself as far greater than Lily and she was about to show her how wrong she was. Without really giving herself time to think it over, she took four steps toward the Death Eater. She reeled her fist back and let her have it. Unfortunately, the woman was taller than Lily so instead of a jab to the face, her fist connected with Idna's bottom jaw.
Sparks shot up Lilys knuckles and through her arm. As the Death Eater swayed, she couldn't help but shake her arm in pain then bring it in to her chest. She didn't want to show Idna that she had probably hurt herself just as much as she had hurt her. She clenched her jaw to try to distract herself from the pulsing in her hand. Idna righted herself and glared at Lily. The punch had certainly not done as much damage as she was hoping for.
Idna raised her wand, "Crucio!"
Lily dove to the ground just in time to miss the curse.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Lily was amazed with herself, it must have been the adrenaline. That or she needed to join the quidditch team. She had managed to sort of roll out of the way but leaving herself exposed on her back. She wouldn't be able to avoid the next one.
"Crucio!"
The sound of her screams permeated the tense air. Fortunately for Lily the cruciatus curse was a bad idea. Anyone near who heard her screams were on their way to help. Idna's laughter lasted only long enough for her to realize her mistake. She disapparated just in time to avoid Albus Dumbledore's wrath. The searing pain stopped and Lily lay in the dirt, unmoving but breathing heavily.
Dumbledore's face hovered over hers, he was crouching oddly with a small smile and a chuckle, "cant have our Head Girl laying in the dirt."
She laughed on the inside. This wasn't exactly a joking matter. She pulled together the strength to stand and made it to her feet. She wobbled some but managed to keep herself together. Dumbledore winked and then wandered off to find others that needed help. Lily just stood in place, dazed. Something the female Death Eater said made her feel better, "None of your were killed…" She felt relieved knowing this. Of course, she was sure more than enough were injured pretty badly.
Her thoughts were shaken by hands grasping both of her arms, and hazel eyes looking into hers. There was worry, relief and exhaustion in them. James Potter stared back at her and she couldn't force away the tingling sensation or the flopping in her stomach. Still, she reminded herself, he was not the good guy right now. She forced herself to stay completely nonchalant.
James Potter once again moved in for a kiss from Lily Evans. This one was different from the first one, this one felt like it held so many thoughts and emotions. Too many to package into one. Still, it was a nice kiss that sent more butterflies to run through her abdomen and make her feel like shouting like a child. Instead, after waiting entirely too long, she pushed him away. Lily Evan pushed James Potter away and stomped off, unsure of what to say and too afraid to try.
Hey all! First, I want to apologize again for the absence but I can assure you... I'M BACK! Its been a long hard...however long its been, I dont even know. Anyway I'm back and ready to continue this story. I hope you like this chapter. I feel so bad for being gone so long that I wanted to post it right away so instead of individual thanks for this chapter I'm just going to say: THANK YOU REVIEWERS! You kept me writing and coming back to this story. I hope you enjoy, tell me what you think. Love ya!
