THC Year 7, Round 8 - Never Be Forgotten

House: Slytherin

Class: DADA

Entry: Standard

Prompt: [Object] Springs

Word count: 2092

Betas: Butterflies765, Aya Diefair, VanillaAshes

This was an idea I had the other day. Enjoy reading!

A Call Of Warning

The darkness loomed beyond the lilac curtains, not an ounce of light could be seen. The wind was rattling at the windows, almost as if invisible forces were trying to push their way in. Somewhere in the distance, an owl could be heard, hooting into the night.

The village was asleep; everything seemed peaceful. However, Lily wasn't peaceful. Quite the contrary, in fact.

Lily and James had been sitting in the living room for a while now. The fire in the hearth was burning merrily, the old grandfather clock in the corner was ticking in the background, and yet Lily couldn't bring herself to calm down. Adrenaline was flooding her system and she didn't know why.

"Something's off, James," she said softly as she placed her empty mug back on the coffee table. She'd tried to force herself to relax with a cup of tea. It had always worked back when she had felt stressed before an exam at Hogwarts, but she feared that she had reached a point of anxiety that tea couldn't do much about it anymore.

She felt a familiar warmth in her heart as her husband turned around to face her, worry clear in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I can't put my finger on it, but something feels different today."

Ever since they had watched Albus cast the Fidelius Charm on their home, both of them had been in a state of constant anxiety. They had tried to not let it show too much as Harry was at an age where he could easily pick up on their mood, and they simply didn't want him to worry. He was such a happy toddler, and every waking moment they spent with him, listening to his garbled giggles, helped them relax to some extent, which they were grateful for.

They both knew that James wanted to go out there and help the Order in their fight against Voldemort's followers, but he never said it out loud and Lily never asked. She knew he was itching to do something, like she was, but they both knew that there was something, someone, more important to look after.

So they went about their days, trying to make life as fun and educational for Harry as they could, but never truly being able to let go entirely.

James had a direct connection to the wards around their property, as he had been the one casting them on the day they had moved in. He had used very old incantations that had been taught in his family for centuries. Ancient rituals for protection that would warn them whenever danger was imminent seemed like a sufficient thing to cast in times like these.

Yet, he had never felt anything attack the wards around the house.

James frowned at her, worried, before shifting on their old couch. The springs creaked softly, a noise Lily had learnt to associate with cosiness and warmth. It always managed to subconsciously cheer her up, now, however… "When did this feeling start?"

Lily's eyebrows drew close together as she stared at a mole right next to his nose. "I don't know," she mumbled, feeling entirely helpless.

She had never experienced anything like this before. Sure, the usual bad feeling before an exam or when Severus had called her a Mudblood… That feeling she knew quite well, but this was different. It wasn't her gut but her very bones that were telling her that something was about to happen, that they needed to be prepared to fight. However, she had no idea what it was!

Absentmindedly, she wondered whether that was what a Seer felt whenever a prediction built itself up in their mind. But Lily was a Muggle-born. She wasn't a Seer, far from it actually. She'd taken Divination back in third year and after the first class, she had gone to Minerva, demanding to be taken out of the class. Of course, she believed that there were gifted individuals out there, that some prophecies were true. If she didn't believe that, her family wouldn't be in hiding now.

A sigh escaped her and she buried her face in her hands. The warmth coming from the fireplace seemed almost out of place, as if it belonged to a different version of right now. She felt the higher temperature, however, her body seemed to reject it.

The springs creaked anew as James shifted closer. A second later, she felt his warm hands on the sides of her face, gently lifting it out of hers. "We will figure it out," he said with a confidence she didn't have. "I will check the wards and tomorrow, we will look up additional ways to protect the property, okay? I will send Dumbledore a message and talk to Sirius, see what they can find as well. I want you to feel safe here."

Tears gathered in her eyes and her vision became foggy as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her face into the crook of his neck. "I love you." The whispered words seemed to hang in the air for just a short moment before soft lips grazed her cheek.

But before James could respond, his whole body tensed. His head jerked up, his eyes were filled with alarm, and Lily didn't need him to say the words out loud. She knew this was what her senses had tried to warn her from.

This very moment.

"Trespasser," James whispered before pulling her off the couch. The springs creaked a last time with his swift motion. The noise did nothing to make her feel more safe. He pulled her out of the living room and turned to the right, towards the stairs, before freezing. He spun around, facing the door.

Dread filled her body and it felt as if something had pulled the floor out from under her feet as a shadowy figure approached their door.

"Run." His voice was strong, but she could hear a flicker of fear pass through it. She started shaking her head as he turned back to her, turning his back to the front door, and taking her hands in his. "Lily, I need you to run. Go upstairs, take Harry, and leave! I love you, I love you so much, but you need to leave. Now!"

The shadow was getting bigger, the wind stronger, rattling on their windows with such a strength that Lily idly wondered whether the panes would give way at any moment now. Her heart was beating at such a high rate that it was painful to breathe.

"Run!"

A lone tear fell out of her eyes as, with a last, desperate look at James, she turned on the spot and ran up the stairs. She needed to get to their son, to get him to safety, and then she would return and help James. She would come back and make sure her family was safe!

A loud bang echoed up the staircase just as she reached the door to Harry's nursery. A gasp escaped her as she heard James yell something incomprehensible over the loud howling of the wind outside before the hallway was lit up in bright, green light, and in that moment, Lily knew that this was the end.

Her heart stopped beating for a second before picking up again, sending waves of agonising pain shooting through her body with each beat. James. James.

Tears were streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably now as she pushed her way into her son's nursery and spelled every piece of furniture in the room in front of the door. She knew it wouldn't keep anything magical outside, but she didn't know what else to do. She was desperate, so desperate. Up until this moment, it had completely left her mind that an Apparition barrier had been put up around their property as part of the protection. They had wanted to take it down. Tomorrow.

"Harry," she whimpered before she knelt in front of her baby's bed. His big, green eyes that were so like her own looked up at her with confusion. "I love you so much, Harry. Daddy loves you so much. Be safe," she said as she heard a voice that sent shivers down her spine right in front of the nursery, "be strong!"

She bit back a scream as the bookcase she had levitated in front of the door exploded. She had known this would happen. She didn't know how she had known, but she was certain that this was what the anxious feeling had tried to tell her. She could have saved her family if she had just understood the feeling sooner.

Showing a bravery she didn't know she still had in her, she slowly stood up, her fingers softly trailing through her baby's messy hair one last time, before turning around, facing her fate with her head held high.

*~*HP*~*

The scream caught in her throat as her eyes flew open. She was covered in cold sweat. Her blanket was wrapped around her legs, holding them together in a tight bundle as she tried to gain enough consciousness to figure out what had just happened.

Her heart was beating so fast that it hurt as she jolted upright, springs creaking in the mattress beneath her.

She looked around the room she was in, eyes searching for the danger that had just threatened the lives of her family, but she could barely see anything in the darkness.

She was in her bedroom, the curtains were drawn and James was peacefully sleeping next to her. His glasses were resting on his bedside table and his lips were parted the tiniest bit. His cheeks were rosy and he looked very innocent and young. Lily spent the next five to ten minutes just watching him sleep, giving her heart the chance to calm down and her brain to understand that it had all been just a dream. Nothing more, just a bad dream.

Outside, she could hear an owl hooting somewhere in the distance, giving the night the stark difference to what her dream had just felt like.

Slowly, deliberately, she took a deep breath and threw the blanket off her body. Shakily, she slid out of bed, naked feet slipping into her fluffy slippers, and winced as the old springs in their mattress gave a sound of protest of the missing weight. A familiar wave of love and comfort washed over her as her brain connected the meaning to the creaking sound.

She bit her lip and waited for a few seconds to check whether the sound had woken up her husband before she silently walked out of the room, turned left and made her way towards their son's nursery. Upon cautiously pushing the door open just a smidge, she saw him calmly lying in his cot, plush dog hugged to his small body, sleeping just as peacefully as his daddy was in the other room.

A smile tugged at her lips before she quietly closed the door again and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. She opened the cabinet that held the mugs and glasses, took one out, and filled it with ice-cold water over the sink. Her eyes travelled over the garden she could see from the kitchen window. Everything looked peaceful. There were darker clouds drifting over their house and she thought absentmindedly that it seemed like it would be raining today. The branches of the tree in their back garden swayed in the wind. They would have to spend the majority of their day indoors, then.

Lily sighed as she placed the empty glass into the sink and turned back around. She rarely had nightmares, but the stress and constant anxiety of living in hiding seemed to gnaw on her more than she had noticed. She would have to talk to James about it, she thought as she shuffled out of the kitchen to go back to bed. Bad dreams didn't always have to have a meaning, but she would want James to tell her if he should ever have a dream as bad as the one she had just woken up from.

On her way out of the kitchen, she shot a fleeting glance at the calendar hanging next to the door. It was the early hours of October 31st, 1981. A feeling of hesitant excitement washed over her as she thought about the costume she had gotten for Harry to wear.

He would look so adorable as a little tomato.

Hehe Harry as a little tomato would be so adorable! Please, anyone who can draw, please draw me a picture of that image! *puppy dog eyes*

I hope you liked this one!

Until next time - see ya!