And I'm sure you're on your way
Yes I'm sure you're on the road
I go nowhere high
Go nowhere warm
Until you're by my side
Your hand in mine
-Kate Havnevik-
It took exactly 12 seconds for Lily to snap back to reality. There was a difference between hearing about the horrors of the world, then waking up one day and actually seeing all of it headed towards you, and the difference had never been clearer.
"Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah," the other four called back in unison.
Marlene crawled over to Lily, a dark bruise on her temple. "We have to move fast. We have to do something Lily."
Under the table Lily locked eyes with Cas and saw Peter holding a hysterical Heather. She searched for an adult; someone to take control of the situation by anyone that fit the bill was hiding and cowering under their table. "Okay…Er...Okay we can't take them on by ourselves. Um…Marlene, go to the ministry-"
"I'm not leaving you." Marlene told her firmly.
"You have to. I've never been to the Ministry and we need help." Lily looked at Esmee and Cas's feet. Cas was wearing bright pink flip-flops and Esmee was wearing thick durable boots. "Cas, you need to apparate back to the house, get the boys and Dorcas."
"But-" Cas started looking at her sister nervously.
"If you don't go, everyone will die." Lily told them fiercely. "Now MOVE!"
Startled Marlene and Cas shared a look before identical pops were heard.
Lily looked up and saw the Death Eaters were splitting off into small groups. Her hands were trembling at her eyes were watering but she had to keep it together. Glancing at the other three left, Lily cleared her throat.
"Okay…Alright…Um…Amelia and Fabian are here…somewhere. Fabian is training to be an Auror. He…he will know what to do."
Esmee nodded, her short black hair askew with bits of broken glass. "Merlin…They are headed over."
"Okay we have to go then," Lily zeroed in on Heather, who was sobbing and shaking violently in fear. "Heather, look at me."
The younger girls make-up was smeared and her pristine blond hair was everywhere. She was clinging to Peter's side for dear life. "Lily…I'm …I'm a muggleborn…they're …they're gonna kill me…"
"Hey," Lily spoke to her sharply. "We need to move. If you want to live, we can't stay here. We are behind a table in the middle of the room, we are sitting ducks." Heather couldn't get up and Lily couldn't give her time. "Peter, grab her or we are leaving you. Come on Esmee."
In a flash Lily was running over to the side of the restaurant where she had seen Amelia and Fabian. She didn't even consider the possibility that they could have left in the past ten minutes since she saw them. All of the adults in the room were shuddering under their tables in fear, she needed to be with people that would overcome that and do something.
She dodged the fallen over tables and a few people who were unconscious on the floor. Esmee was quick on her tail and Peter was dragging Heather with him. Lily didn't blame Heather, this literally was a life or death circumstance and to be petrified of that was natural, but as a prefect for two years Lily had learned how to take charge of situations when necessary. And this was necessary.
Thankfully, when she rounded around the bar, Amelia and Fabian were indeed still there and they both jumped up to hug Lily when they saw her.
"EVANS!" Fabian breathed, his hazel eyes flashing relief, "We need to-"
"We sent for ministry back up already," Peter cut him off, his jaw trembling.
Amelia let out a cool breath, "Okay, then we need a plan. First," She grabbed Heather by the shoulders, "Stop. Crying. Control yourself. Now is not the time to lose it."
Fabian crouched down, "Okay, here's the plan, Pettigrew, you and your girlfriend stay here with the rest of the people. Do what you can, but keep your head down. Tell them, your girlfriend is Emmeline Vance, she's a pureblood and they won't hurt her. I want you to try and guide people to the bathrooms, as many as you can…I'm sorry I don't know your name," Fabian gestured to Esmee, "But we have to break them up. They won't be expecting people to fight back. In the paper they tell people to surrender and do what they say. You stand guard near the bathrooms and catch them off guard with Amelia here…Lily," His thick eyebrows furrowed and his eyes bore on her, "We are going to face them head on, in the street. We will create the distraction so Pettigrew and get people to safety."
It wasn't a question. No one had a choice. It was either fight, help others, or chose to die.
Lily had always read about characters who were in the thick of battle, people who without a moments notice just put everything on the line for what they believed in, but she never thought she'd ever actually have to be that person. People like James and Sirius were meant for this, not her. Lily was meant to be changing things by coming up with a life changing potion or changing legislation. Not this.
"Go!" Fabian told them, waving his hands to Peter and Heather. "We don't have time to stand around," He grabbed Amelia, kissed her hard before grabbing Lily's hand and running to the back of the restaurant with her.
"God…I'm so stupid. Wait, didn't more people apparate? We could of side along apparated everyone!" Lily asked, her voice cracking, as they weaved through the empty kitchen.
"They put up an anti-apparation spell 1 minute after they dropped. The kitchen staff and a lot of people in the restaurant apparated immediately, so yes a lot of people left when they had the chance. This place was packed, now only thirty people are in here, but most of them are injured, too young or too old to apparate in that window. Not to mention the muggles. If we left they would have been slaughtered."
"True, but were are we going?"
"I used to work in a restaurant." Fabian muttered, "They all have a backdoor where they dump the trash. I don't think they'll think of it at first."
"Why don't we send people through here?"
"Because if they see everyone running to the back then they will cut it off." He breathed unevenly, biting his lip. "They haven't gotten that far yet."
Lily gulped; her body was violently shaking from the surges of adrenaline, fought to keep it together. Her eyes were burning and her head, her head was spinning. This wasn't anything she ever was prepared for. There had to be something they were missing, there had to be an adult in the restaurant that could have done this for them. This wasn't supposed to happen. How was Lily supposed to go against Death Eaters?! People who literally were dressed up and trained to murder people like her.
"Fabian," Lily said shakily as they paused in front of the door. "…Do you know what you're doing…I mean…Tell me, you know what you're doing. Tell me you have a lot of training in this. Please."
His big hazel eyes were fixed on her, his wide jaw clenched. "I only started two months ago Lily."
"Fuck…Just…" She clutched her hair in anguish, tears streaming down her face. "We are fucked…we just…Christ."
"Lily. I know this is messed up, but we have to do this."
"I know," Lily looked around and saw a bottle of firewiskey. She grabbed the bottle and took a shot. It scorched her esophagus, and shot the tears that had been wheeling in her eyes down her cheeks. "Okay…OKAY, let's do this."
She wasn't just scared, she was terrified. Her knees were knocking together and all she had was some lessons of self-defense with McGonagall. It wouldn't be enough. She was only seventeen, and people much older, much wiser and with much more confidence and experience had been murdered by them. To make her feel better she tried to think of what her father or sister would do in this situation. Her father would have used his psychology training to understand the enemy. He would have kept a cool head and figured out a logistical was to solve his problem. Petunia would have ran. She would have saved her own skin, no matter the consequences to everyone else. And maybe her sister was smart in that way.
This wasn't bravery, this was reckless and stupid, but despite everything a flash of a smile began to build on her face. It wasn't a nervous tick or out of fear, but out of genuine amusement because if it James. If this was happening to him, if he were here, this was exactly what James would do. He wouldn't have ran. He wouldn't have saved his own neck. James Potter would never be that cowardly. He would fight, and he would expect her to suck it up and do the same, because it was the right thing to do.
And just that small little seed of a thought, dropped into down her mind and spread, leaving a calm steadiness in it's wake. Soon was she was following Fabian through the winding alleyway and fighting her fear head on.
Marlene knocked three people clear over, and for once didn't even apologize. Her blond hair was half-braided, half-flying freely, and her head was throbbing from the bruise on her forehead, but she paid it no mind. Running with James for the past few months had kept her in pristine shape. Lily had sent anyone else to the ministry they wouldn't have made it to Mr. Potter for another five minutes on speed alone. Not adding in how she always used to visit him for lunch with James growing up and therefore knew exactly where his office was.
She skidded across the aisle way and charged towards the door. There were people in his office talking to him, but she didn't even pretend to knock. The problem was, it was locked and obviously sound proofed.
"MISS!" A woman shrieked, storming over, "they are in a meeting, you must come back and make a-"
"NO!" Marlene shouted, pushing the woman off of her, taking out her wand and blasting the door open.
"Excuse me-" One of the men started pointing at her threateningly, but her eyes were fixed on Mr. Potter.
Marlene cleared her throat, and said as quickly as possible, "Death Eaters are attacking, they've sealed off a block, they have hostages…."
Mr. Potter stood up immediately and glowered at the man to his immediate left. "Emergency meeting?"
"Are you accusing me of knowing about this?" A man Marlene recognized to be Mr. Lestrange, Rudolpus Lestrange's father.
His lips thinned, he pushed Marlene aside and shouted, "CODE BLUE,"
Every Auror in the office immediately leapt to their feet and rushed to meet him. Mr. Potter spoke to them for a second, before grabbing Marlene suddenly by the shoulders. "I want you to explain to them what happened and then I need you to go back to the house."
"But Lily and Peter are there." Marlene argued instantly, her blue eyes wide with fear.
"And they will want you safe. Go back to the house Marlene. Stay there." When he saw her wavering her, he gave her a stern glance. "Marlene please."
Letting out a small cry, she nodded, and dutifully turned and to address the six Auror's in front of her.
Mr. Potter ran a hand through his hair anxiously and calmly went back into his office.
"What is the girl going on about Harold?" Emma Lawrence, an aging Ministry board member asked.
"There's been an attack. This meeting will have to be rescheduled." He said clearly. "I have to coordinate this. So if you'll understand, I must ask you all to leave."
The five men, and Mrs. Lawrence stood up and left instantly, discussing the matter quietly loudly. Mr. Lestrange didn't get up so quickly, but once he did, Mr. Potter walked so close to him, he pinned himself against the wall.
"I know you were behind this."
Mr. Lestrange feigned innocence, "You are paranoid Harold and out of order."
"If I find out, that those kids were hurt, because of this…" He growled, the hatred radiating from his tone.
"I could get you fired for threatening my life!"
Mr. Potter's Adams apple bobbed as he gripped his wand tighter. "Try me."
"I will have you on probation for this," Mr. Lestrange continued, slipping out of the office with a stricken look on his face.
Sighing, Mr. Potter was relieved to see Marlene and the Auror's were gone, but he knew it wouldn't be enough. He sent out owls to all of the Auror's and moved to go out there himself. It wasn't protocol, but he couldn't just stay here. Mr. Potter had this horrible feeling that if Lily Evans was in the thick of this then so was his son.
"Okay Lily you go first and I will cover you…or," He paused taking a second to give her an unsure look. "I know you're probably Head Girl this year, but do having any combat experience?... I can go first, and you can cover me-"
"I'll be fine," She lied, sweat forming on her forehead.
"Okay." She gave her a pat on the shoulder, "Good luck Evans."
In the distance, she heard muggles screaming. Not the type of screams she could ever get used to, these were screams that cut through the air and sliced anyone who could hear them. These were screams of unspeakable acts being performed.
She prayed that Esmee and Amelia were holding down the restaurant. More than anything though, she hoped that she was doing the right thing, that interfering wasn't going to make it worse for the people who were being tortured. Internally she fought with her self for a brief moment. Then her left hand tightly winded around the strawberry bracelet that resisted there and she propelled herself forward, blasting a herd of Death Eaters back and hiding behind a parked car.
Clinging to the side of the car, her eyes widened when she saw a flash of light heading right for her. She ducked and rolled to the side, scrapping her knees and bruising her shins, but surviving. Sore, Lily thought quickly and pointed her wand at herself, whispering an enchantment and turning her entire body invisible.
First she had to take out as many Death Eater's as she could.
Second she had to try and save the Muggle's, whose cries were still raw in her ears.
Letting out a long breath, Lily put her plan into motion.
Remus sighed, his arm around Sirius, "Well! We will be back with food."
"Do you have my order?" James asked.
Glaring at him as Sirius made a face at him, Remus said, "Yes Lord Wanker, we have your order."
"Just check-ing."
"I'll be back," Remus kissed Dorcas lightly and Sirius moved towards James as if to do the same.
James laughed and swatted him away. "Get out of here! You twat!"
"What?!" Sirius cried, holding his chest overdramatically, "YOU NEVER KISS ME ANYMORE!"
Dorcas doubled over laughing at them. "You two…are ridiculous."
Remus and Sirius left out the front door cackling amongst themelves. James leaned back on his couch and asked, "So what do you think of Everett? Does he work with the group? Is he keeping the group dynamic well?"
Dorcas grabbed an ice cream sandwich and paused thoughtfully, "He'll do."
"Today was fun," James sighed, rubbing his eyes.
"Oh did you get the Quidditch gear off the lawn?" Dorcas reminded him, "You know your mum will lose it if she sees you left it out there again."
He gave her a puppy dog look, "Are you going to help me?"
"Um, do I look like I should be touching equipment?" She gestured to her sticky, ice cream tainted hands.
"Fine! I'll do it!" James proclaimed pushing her with his foot.
He rose to his feet and slowly dragged himself back to the yard. It only took him a few minutes to put everything in the shed. When he was walking out, he saw Cas sprinting towards him, moving far faster than he would have pegged her capable of.
"What…What are you doing?" He laughed, not seeing her expression until she was closer.
"HELP! WE NEED," She stopped, dropping her hands to her knees, "DEATH EATERS!...PETER…CAS….LILY-"
James dashed over to her. "What do you mean?!"
"They're trapped-"
"Where?! WHERE?!"
"Four blocks away from the Ministry," She told him.
James felt a blind panic come over him as the possible horrible things that could be happening played out in his mind. He grabbed Cas by the shoulders, his eyes already watering. "Go inside and get Dorcas, leave a note for Sirius and Remus and then go back-"
"What are you going to do?" She interrupted swiftly.
"I'm going to get my friends," He said before releasing her and running as fast as he could for the border of the Potter property.
Lily cried, blood creeping out of the wound on her stomach, but she used every last will power she had to stand. Putting down three fully-grown Death Eaters was an accomplishment. No it was fucking skill that most people her age wouldn't have been able to accomplish.
Fabian was unconscious, she checked just before she was caught, but he looked like he was dead and the Death Eaters were either too lazy or too stupid to check. Either way, for the time being, if he had no internal injuries than he was safe. They were too busy trying to deal with her.
Lily stood in the rubble of what was once a popular downtown London street, her hair plastered against her face, a mix of blood and dirt lingering in her mouth. In front of her stood four Death Eater's, all pointing their wands at her, until someone came in from a side street and stood in front of them. They bowed to him, muttering something under their breaths, but Lily didn't care to listen. She was going to die and she didn't care enough to be afraid of this new person.
"You said there were only muggleborns and half breeds here," The man spoke to his subordinate, in a cold but high-pitched voice.
One of the inferior men shrinked and replied, "That is true, my lord."
"Then why is she here?"
"Her name is Lily Evans, she is muggleborn." Another Death Eater clarified.
The man turned to face Lily and it was then that she realized in utter horror that he wasn't a man at all. His eyes were scarlet, he had no hair on him, his nose was gone and there were slits like a snake where it most likely had once been. What stood out the most to her though was that he was the only one not wearing a mask or the traditional costume. That meant that he was different and more important than the rest, which meant… that this was the mass murderer. This…this…was Voldemort.
"A muggleborn?" He questioned as if it was a term he'd never heard. His head tilted skeptically, "She doesn't fight like a muggleborn."
"Why don't you talk to me?" Lily said hotly, her eyes filled with hard rage. "I'm not an object. If you're going to kill me…At least have the decency to talk to me."
A flash of surprise crossed his features, but they were quickly masked by distant amusement. "It was clever of you to use an invisibility spell."
Lily didn't reply, she just straightened her back and held her posture more perfectly than it had been her entire life.
"Well Muggleborn, what would you like your last words to be?"
Her fingers dug into her strawberry bracelet, and tears slipped down her broken and battered cheeks. The hollow of her knees were weakening and her chest was contradicting, but she didn't look away.
No, this had to be her last act of defiance.
Lily cleared her throat and said, "Fuck …you."
"Why you little bitch-" One of them spat, but Voldemort held up a hand.
"You could prove useful. You are smart, clearly clever. Wouldn't you like to save your family?"
Lily eyebrows furrowed. "…What do you mean?"
"If you became a double…We could promise that your family would be untouched."
"And why would I ever trust you?"
"What reason would I have to lie?" He answered simply as if they were having a normal conversation.
Lily thought about it. All of her anxiety would be gone. Her family would be safe and she wouldn't have worry about their safety any longer. It was a nice dream, but the longer she thought about it, the more she realized that she could lose her family any moment. They could die in a car accident, or get cancer, or have anything happened to them. Voldemort couldn't save them from that. All he was saying was as long as she did what he said, he wouldn't personally attack them and what good was a promise like that?
Perhaps a smarter person would have been able to use this as wiggle room to escape, but Lily wasn't going to. They were hunting her people. Eventually she was going to die and she was damned if they gained anything from it.
"No," She said in a low shuddering tone. "I won't do it."
Voldemort's rage became clear in his silence.
"You can kill me, and everyone like me, but we will always come back, because what you are doing is wrong. It's wrong," Tears splashed down her cheeks as her voice became ragged, "And I may be young and naïve, but I know that you won't win…Do you hear me? YOU-WON'T-WIN!"
Her voice rang through the streets, and Voldemort bared his teeth. "Fine. Kill her."
Lily snapped her eyes shut and squeezed them for good effort. She didn't want to see it.
"AVA-" One of them began, his voice hard, but he was interrupted by a louder much stronger voice.
"NOOOOOOOO!" A voice roared.
And Lily's eyes opened, because she knew that voice, she knew that voice all too well. She turned and saw James panting, his wand rose. "Don't you touch her!"
"One against five?" Voldemort questioned him. "I don't like your odds Mr…?"
"That's Harold Potter's son." A Death Eater snarled. "Nasty little bastard."
"Well, with bravery like yours-" Voldemort began thoughtfully
"I wouldn't join you in a thousand years," James declared hotly; strutting forward, fear in his eyes, but not in his step.
"And you are a Pureblood I'm assuming?" Voldemort mused, looking livid. "And you wish to die too?"
James stepped forward and grabbed Lily's hand firmly, "I'd rather die than join you."
There was a beat of pause. All that was audible was the tears coming down Lily's face and James's heavy breathing. Neither one looked at the other because they knew if they did they would break stature.
"Very well then." Voldemort himself raised his wand, but stopped when he saw them.
Aurors and with them a man in white robes, and very destintive half moon shaped glasses. Tensing Voldemort disappeared, abandoning his Death Eaters as the Auror's shot spells at the fleeting Death Eaters.
Lily dropped onto James, her entire body weak and too tired to carry on. James grabbed her and held her, tears streaming down his own face as he pressed her as close to himself as humanely possible.
"We're alive," She sobbed in relief, "We're alive."
James couldn't speak, he pressed his face to hers and just held her. And for that moment, that was enough.
Dorcas broke through the door and saw bodies along the floor, but she kept moving towards the back of the restaurant.
Vomit crawled up her throat as she stepped over corpses. The idea that they had been people only hours earlier sickened her to the core. Bucking the bathroom door, Dorcas saw two wands pointing at her; Amelia Bones and Esmee's. Esmee was pretty messed up, one of her eyes were swollen shut, and she had a long gash on her cheek. Amelia's blond hair was everywhere, but she seemed to be rattled, but uninjured. As soon as Dorcas saw Amelia, she ran into her arms.
"Oh my god, I'm so glad you're okay," She pressed Amelia into her arms, and sent Esmee a strong look, "Both of you."
" There are a few people alive in the other bathroom. I just checked…" Her bright blue eyes centered on Dorcas, "…Is it over?"
Dorcas nodded, "The Auror's are here. The Death Eater's are fleeing…I thought Peter was with you, where is he?"
Esmee's eyes became glossy, "He's um…he's over there," she used her small fingers to point at a stall in the back.
Dorcas let go of Amelia, and stood up. She didn't know if he'd be alive or dead. After all the bodies she'd seen, Dorcas wasn't even sure she'd believe it if Amelia had told her whether or not he was. Peter, not Lily or even Marlene was her oldest friend and it was something she needed to see to believe.
Typical Dorcas, she didn't ask anyone, she went to investigate on her own and left the consequences for another time.
Gently, she pushed the stall door back, and dropped to her knees. Peter was alive, but he looked like he was dying. In his arms was Heather, but her eyes were open and she didn't blink, she didn't make a single sound.
Her chest wasn't rising, it wasn't falling, it was just sickeningly still.
Peter wouldn't let go of her. His was sobbing, continuously sobbing and even when Dorcas moved into his line of vision he saw nothing but Heather. Her tight grey skin, her blue lips, her previously perfect outfit was stained and there were trail of tears, coming from Peter, all coming from Peter.
His hair had fallen into his face, and his face was squeezed so hard it was bright red and his watery blue eyes were bloodshot.
And for once Dorcas didn't have a single idea what to do.
She was an action person. Other people talked about things, but she just did them. But she didn't have anything she could do. There was nothing she could say. All she could do was sit on the cold stone floor, and stare at them. Stare at what was a 16-year-old girl. A girl who told Dorcas only a week earlier that her greatest ambition was to see a unicorn and convince it become friends with her. A natural blond, a Hufflepuff, a Bernie botts collector, a good student, a daughter, a sister and a girlfriend.
Gone.
Just gone.
Dorcas wished she were Marlene or Lily.
They would figure out what to do or say to Peter. They would be able to help him. They would fix him. She didn't know how they would do it, but they would. And she had never wanted to badly for them to be there.
Literally looking at him, she could see his heart ripping apart and it broke her heart. He had been with her for months and fell so madly in love with her that he started getting confidence and excitement about himself. He had told her that he couldn't believe anyone would want him, but to see that such a wonderful person did, gave him hope. Hope to be a better person. Hope to want to be a braver, stronger and tougher for her.
That person was dead.
Peter was the first friend she made when she came to Hogwarts, he helped her when she was bullied and never left her. He was the one person she could always count on no matter what happened.
And there was nothing she could do to help him.
