His ears were ringing, that much James could tell, but from the force of the spell or his own panic, he couldn't decipher. Faintly, he could hear Lily shouting down the stairs at him, could hear the panicked cries of his friends unable to do anything but watch him flounder in front of You-Know-Who through the shard of mirror in his other hand; but it felt like he was hearing them through water. Absently he noted that Harry was eerily silent; awake certainly, but silent, like fwoopers when they sensed danger was near. What he did know was that pale and bony fingers had a wand shoved into his face and red snake-like eyes were staring hungrily at him as he gripped tight to the mirror shard in his now weeping hand.
"LILY! TAKE THEM AND GO!" Somehow James had managed to call the words over his shoulder as his gaze remained glued to the monster before him. There was no mistaking the previously unknown wizard this time around. Clenching tight to the shard of mirror in his hand, a steady trickle of blood soon began to weep from his palm; mindless of his inner turmoil. The steady trickle of his own blood dribbled to the floor where it mixed with the splotches of teen's blood still glued to the hardwood floors, and mixed with the magic thrumming through floorboards. It had made it harder for the pair of Potters to remove the blood from the floorboards earlier that evening, until eventually Lily had thrown her hands in the air and declared that she would handle it in the morning. He wasn't sure why he was thinking of that now. "IT'S HIM! GO! RUN! I'LL HOLD HIM OFF!"
An answering scoff and sliver of a smirk on cracked lips was all the warning that James received before Voldemort suddenly fired a killing curse in his direction. The emerald green light lit up the hallway, bathing the room in an eery glow and seemed to move in slow motion towards him. James' heart jumped into his throat where it jackhammered as he threw up a hasty shield of protection between them. It wasn't enough to hold the dark wizard off forever, but it was just enough for the killing curse to dissipate before it made contact, much to the other wizard's ire. The following volley of spells exchanged between the two illuminated the lower level of the house and he prayed that Lily had taken the children to safety.
Absently, he noted the hurried footsteps sounding above him as Lily hurriedly gathered the children together, and the scrambling on the other end of the mirror as both Remus and Sirius hurried to help their friends. Their muttered curses as they fell about trying to stuff themselves into their clothes was just enough to ground the young man as he fought back against the darkest wizard of the age. The following cracks of apparition ringing in his palm further cemented the relief that he would soon have his best mates by his side. Of course, that did nothing to help him in that moment—he still had to live long enough until then.
Time seemed to blur together like fog, his throat clogged with panic as James fought off Voldemort, his only thoughts to stay alive long enough for Lily to get the children to safety. For him to hang on long enough for his mates to arrive, for the Order of the Phoenix to blast their way through his backdoor—hell! He'd even take Alastor's scowl leering at him through the dark and the backhanded compliments he'd offer at a job well done. And then all of a sudden, the lower levels of the cottage was illuminated in a very different glow than the ones from their spells.
Runes he'd never seen before or even remembered learning about school (not that he really paid attention in school anyway). They were old, that much James could decipher as they leaked down the stairs like water and spread across every surface like rabid mold. Sunken into the floorboards and engraved into the loud wallpaper with a illumines golden glow, the runes almost looked like something out of Babbling's yearly presentation to encourage students to take Ancient Runes; (nothing as impressive as some of the other more practical electives mind you, but still enticing enough). The thing that seemed to stick out to James was the these runes were old; but not just any old, they had to be old old—like older than Dippet, old.
The momentarily shared confusion was broken by Elvendork who had emerged from the windowsill whilst they were gawking and had somehow appeared on the stairs. She was fluffed up like a pompom and hissed at the pair of men like a leaking balloon. Spiderwebbing runes beneath her paws made their way across the house—both inside and out—in which the wizards traced their trajectory with wild eyes. From the stairs with the irate & illuminated kneazle to the ramshackled kitchen behind James and back to those golden runes now circling the entrance hall in which they both stood. Some small part of James wondered if his cat had somehow manifested the ability to perform such powerful and ancient magic; but this was soon thrown out the window when You-Know-Who renewed his onslaught with much vigour.
Sweat beaded on James' brow as he grit his teeth in determination, bearing his Gryffindor stubbornness like a shield. The dark wizard seemed to take the runes & cat's presence as a challenge however—the cue to bear down even harder on the younger wizard with all the brute force of a dying man unafraid of death. Furious red eyes narrowed and fang-like teeth were bared as spell after spell was fired in rapid succession. Though loathe to admit it, James was losing ground—losing the battle—much to his dismay.
And then just as James felt his foot slip, catching on a roll of the rumpled rug; a loud and voluminous shriek ripped through the cottage like a wailing woman. The sound of bones crunching like snapped twigs and flesh burning away filled the room and turned his stomach; and yet even as he tumbled back into another ghoulish knick-knack gifted to them by the Dursleys, James found himself petting his own body down even though he felt no pain. Pulling himself upright just in time, he watched on in horrid awe as You-Know-Who folded in on himself, breaking down like moldy bread and steaming like a kettle. The whole process must've taken no more than a few minutes until nothing but a tattered black cloak and wand remained flopped over in a pile on the floor where the dark wizard had stood only moments before.
"What the hell…?" James breathed, staring dumbly at the cloth at his feet and wand still clenched in his hands. The once illuminating runes that had peppered the room were slowing starting to recede, disappearing back up the staircase as if they had never been there to begin with. He continued to stare in utter disbelief, mouth gaping wide as Elvendork cautiously crept towards the black cloth, intent on investigating the remains of the dark wizard as if to make sure that the intruder was well and truly gone. Utter disbelief flooded his system as he stared down at the black cloth at his feet that his cat was throughly sniffing, whiskers twitching wildly as if she was worried something was going to jump out of it. Honestly, so was he. Darkest wizard of the age and he was defeated by mysteriously unknown golden runes.
After a few moments of just standing there in the open hallway, James (spurred on by the cold breeze blowing through the house) moved to fix the door. Moving more on autopilot than anything else, James cautiously approached and skirted the cloth before making his way over to the front door where said item now lay smashed on the floor. A few waves of his wand and the door was back in place with some extra security charms added to it for good measure. After throughly checking all other possible entry points (and really just procrastinating having to approach the remains) he returned to the hallway where Elvendork sat looking just as confused as he felt.
"Mrrow?" Elvendork titled her head in question, whiskers twitching as squashed face stared up at him and You-Know-Who's wand sat between her paws like her catch-of-the-day.
"Yeah—yeah, we should clean that—this—him—it up" James nodded, as if agreeing with the cat. Turning back to stare at the remains, James felt his heart a-flutter as he encompassed the old cloth in a shield-like bubble and hoped that that would do the trick; before he spun on his heel and raced up the stairs towards the nursery, leaving the bubble floating in the hallway behind him. Dancing around the cat who gave a startled yowl at his sudden change in movement, James thundered into the nursery only to have to suddenly duck so as to avoid the barrage of attacks thrown at him.
"LILY! LILY! IT'S ME!" James called from behind his hastily-constructed shield.
"Prove it" Lily demanded, clearly far too wired (not that he could blame her) as her spells ceased but her wand remained pointed at him. "What did Marlene catch you and Sirius doing in the broom cupboard?"
"HEY!" James snapped, blushing bright red in embarrassment, "THAT WAS COMPLETELY PLATONIC! He had to show me something…It's not like I asked to see his dick—duck! Dammit!"
"James? Oh my God! James? Are you alright?" Lily's panicked voice called as she lowered her wand; wide eyes moving to the mark on the wall just beyond his ear, left behind by her attack. In her other hand sat Harry giggling madly despite his ashen face and on the bed, the unknown witch remained with golden hazel eyes fluttering beneath her eyelids as she tossed and turned.
"Nice shot…" James murmured as he shuffled further into the room and made his way over to his wife, once again reminded of her prowess. "What are you doing here?" He asked, cupping her face and stared into her eyes as Harry latched onto his crooked arm. "I thought I told you to get out!"
"I tried!" Lily blubbered as she flung herself at him (there was a brief moment where he stumbled to catch her before she hit the ground whilst still holding Harry aloft), mindless of the current limpet shared between them. "But the wards—! And the runes—! Oh James!"
"Aagaa!" Harry cooed, shrieking with laughter as he was squashed against his father's scruffy chin and pudgy hands grabbed for the dislodged spectacles barely sitting on James' nose.
"—She just started mumbling and writhing! And those runes—!" Lily continued to weep into her husband's neck, chest heaving against the child in his arms, who in turn, made it rather hard for him to return the gesture.
An awkward arm petted at his wife's side from where it was propped beneath the toddler and he was starting to despair on the position they had fallen into, if only because his arm was starting to fall asleep. Large green eyes looked up at James as tiny little fists beat gently against his father's arm as if Harry was mimicking his actions in a much lesser fashion. Then turning to his weeping mother, Harry wriggled around far enough so that tiny pudgy fingers probed at his mother's lips, forcing them upwards by the corners as he physically tried to make Lily smile. James leant his head against Lily's, smiling slightly at his son's actions. Harry, it seemed, just wanted them to be happy again.
Once again barricaded in the nursery with the unknown witch lain out in the single bed and Harry happily gurgling in his mother's arms, James finally sank to the floor and cradled his head in hands as everything finally hit him. How the hell had their evening gone from perfect to hell in a hand basket? One minute, he had been watching his family dance around in the kitchen as they snacked on Halloween candy, and the next they'd welcomed a fatigued (and possibly tortured) muggleborn into their home which ultimately ended with You-Know-Who collapsing into a pile of folded cloth courtesy of said witch & her runes.
Sparing a glance over towards Lily and Harry, James was at least relieved that the pair were seemingly okay for the most part. Shock and anxiety having played a large role in tonight's event, meant that all those involved were rather drained—both emotionally & physically. At some point Elvendork had returned to the nursery where she had resumed her place atop the teen, purring happily as if nothing had happened and Lily had slumped over in the corner with Harry pressed to her bosom, happily snoring away.
In turn, James had fallen back against the (now) closed door, acting as a man-made shield against any further attacks. This time, both Potters were far to wired to sleep and James suspected that not even a Calming Drought would work on them at this point. It had been a helluva night, that was for damn sure and he could only hope that the morning breaking over the horizon would bring at least some clarity or answers to them. They deserved that. Or at least, James hoped so.