Chapter 5: I Swear your Pride will be the Death of us All, Beware it Goeth Before the Fall
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in the story, they all belong to J.K Rowling. I also don't own the song lyric that is the title of this chapter, which is from the song 'Schuyler Defeated' written by Lin-Manuel Miranda for the musical Hamilton. All rights belong to him.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited and followed my story, it's hard to believe that we are 5 chapters in already! I realised after publishing the last chapter that I didn't mention anything about them getting the Horcrux from Umbridge, but read on knowing that James, Lily and Sirius all know about the locket.
James, Lily and Sirius grew steadily more and more nervous as time passed. They could visibly see the effects of the Horcrux on Harry, Ron and Hermione, and the tension between them was mounting every second. They knew that the teenagers were in constant danger, and it was only a matter of time before they came face to face with Voldemort himself. There was a time when there wasn't anything too nerve-wracking happening, so Sirius, Lily and James took the time to regather themselves and settle their nerves before the inevitable happened. It was one of those days when Sirius and James decided to talk together.
"I'm really worried about Harry, Ron and Hermione. Their friendship is the only good thing they have right now, and if that falls apart, who knows what's going to happen." James said, running a hand through his messy hair.
"It does seem a bit shaky at the moment, though I think that it's just the effects of wearing a part of Voldemort's soul every day. That'd bring out the worst in anyone. Besides, if anyone can mend a broken friendship, it's those three. I've seen them at their best, and we are seeing them at their worst right now, but they will pull through. " Sirius reassured his best friend.
"I know, I know. But Lily is extremely worried about them. She thinks something's going to happen like they might split up, and they won't ever be able to fix their friendship because at least one of them may…"James left the sentence hanging awkwardly in the air.
"Die. It could happen. People are going to have to die if we want to win the war, and just because Remus is our best friend or Bill and Fleur just got married, or Harry, Ron and Hermione are the 'Golden Trio', anything could happen. The Death Eaters aren't picky with who survives, and Harry, Ron and Hermione will be targeted. But we need to have faith in our friends and family, and trust that they'll pull through like they always do." Sirius looked down and saw that his hands were trembling slightly, and he hurriedly shoved them deep in his pockets. He needed to stay strong for James' sake and be his rock. It wouldn't do Lily and James any good if he suddenly became all emotional. But James, as best friends always do, noticed it and walked over to Sirius.
"Sirius," James started and pulled his best friend's hands out of his pockets."It's ok to be scared, worried, emotional. We all are nervous and worried about what's going to happen to Remus, Harry, his friends and his adopted family, and you don't need to hide your emotions for Lily and my sakes. We are all in this together Sirius, trust us, trust me with your emotions, Pad." James' deep hazel eyes bored into Sirius' grey ones, and James was surprised when his friend's eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Sirius, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to" But he was cut off by his friend launching himself at James.
"Thank you, Prongs, thank you," Sirius whispered as he hugged his friend. They stood together for a while before Lily came to find them.
"James… Sirius?" She whispered gently when she found the pair in a tight embrace. They slowly untangled themselves from each other's arms, and Lily was shocked to see both of them had blotchy red eyes. "You guys ok?" She asked, giving Sirius and then James a tight hug. They both nodded, and James gave Lily a look that told her not to press Sirius. She hugged her husband again and whispered in his ear, "I think something's about to happen." James' eyes widened slightly, and she saw them flick furtively over to Sirius. "He'll be fine. We'll be there with him." James gave Lily an extra-tight squeeze, and they two released each other and held hands as the trio walked back to their view of their son's adventures.
When they arrived, it was immediately evident that the trio was in the midst of a massive argument. Lily's heart broke for Hermione, who was trying desperately to convince Ron to calm down. She was in love with Ron, and Lily couldn't imagine how she would cope if James did something like this to her. Harry was trying to comfort Hermione while calming Ron down, but it was fruitless. James groaned under his breath as Hermione and Ron drew their wands simultaneously, and let out a sigh of relief as Harry cast a Shield Charm between the pair. Sirius watched fearfully as Ron threw the locket ungracefully off his neck, and left the tent.
"Shoot." Sirius hissed as Hermione stumbled out of the tent, searching desperately for her best friend.
"That's horrible! This- it's not good." James finished lamely, looking over at his wife uncertainly. He knew that this was going to make Lily worry even more than she was. Her green eyes were shining, and James shifted slightly and hugged her, rubbing her back. Sirius moved closer to his best friend and put one arm around him. They sat together and watched their son and his friend as they moved around the country, and Lily noted silently that this would mean that it would be virtually impossible for Ron to find his friends, and she knew Sirius and James would figure it out soon if they hadn't already. They watched as Harry tried his best to help Hermione, but there was no sense of camaraderie or friendship, and Lily could tell that they both felt like giving up. She also knew that they had been discussing whether they were going to go to Godric's Hollow to search for the Sword of Gryffindor, but James and Sirius didn't. She half-hoped that they wouldn't, because going to Godric's Hollow would mean seeing the destroyed house, and seeing their graves. But the other half of her wanted Harry to go, because he had never seen their graves, and hadn't seen the house since he was 1. She sighed quietly, and let alone tear roll down her cheek. It dropped onto James' arm, and he looked at her, concerned.
"I'm fine." She whispered, hoping her husband wouldn't press her any further, but his eyes were locked onto hers, brown meeting green.
"You sure?" He asked gently, and she nodded, trying to smile, but it turned into a grimace. James felt that she didn't want to talk anymore, so he turned his head back to Sirius, but slightly tightened his arms around her. Lily melted in his embrace and wished that she could stay there forever. She was just beginning to relax when she heard her son's voice.
"I want to go to Godric's Hollow."
Lily stiffened, and she felt James do the same. She adjusted herself so she could look up at her husband, and was non too surprised when she was his eyes glisten with tears. She could see Sirius out of the corner of her eye, and he was looking unusually solemn.
"We don't have to watch if you don't want to," Sirius said softly, and James heard his voice crack with emotion. He looked down at his wife, and she nodded firmly.
"I want to watch. If Harry had been raised by any decent human beings, he would have been there before. It's sad enough that he's seventeen and never seen our graves." Lily's voice quavered slightly, but she was definitely in what she said. James looked over at Sirius and beckoned to him.
"Sirius, could you come here for a second." The handsome man nodded, and they walked a short way away from Lily before James spoke.
"Look, Sirius, I know Harry's your godson and all, but do you mind if-" James was cut off as Sirius interrupted.
"If it's, just you and Lily who watch?" James nodded. "I knew that's what you were going to say, and I was going to offer myself if you didn't say it." James' face visibly relaxed, and he hugged his best friend. He smelt of Lily's flowery perfume and salty tears, and Sirius squeezed his friend back. "Call me over if you need me, ok?" With that Sirius walked away and gave the couple their privacy.
"Hey," James said as he sat back down next to his wife.
"What did you say to him?" Lily asked her husband and brushed the hair out of his eyes.
"I just asked if you and I could watch this together, and he agreed." He said hastily, not wanting to miss anything happening down on Earth. Lily nodded and shuffled so her back was on her husband's chest. James wrapped his strong arms around her, and the pair watched Hermione and Harry walk through the kissing gate of the cemetery. They walked through the many, many rows of graves before Hermione called out to Harry. By the tone of her voice, Lily and James could tell that she had found their graves. Evidently, so could Harry, and he hurriedly made his way over to Hermione. James pressed his lips to Lily's head gently, and felt his heartache with gratitude towards Hermione as she conjured a wreath of-
"Lilies." His wife whispered and started shaking as tears wracked her body. James pulled her closer, and Lily felt his lips tremble and wet droplets splash onto her head as Harry talked to them in their graves. She spun around and returned her husband's hug. She could feel him shaking in her arms, and pulled back slightly to look into his eyes. "James, look at me." She told him and saw his eyes flick feebly to hers. She gently planted her lips onto his, and put as much love and care into the kiss as she could muster. They held each other close and didn't move until they heard Hermione scream.
"Shoot," James said, and they watched as they battled Nagini, and didn't breathe until they escaped. But even as they relaxed slightly, the bomb dropped that Harry's wand was broken.
"How on Earth is Harry supposed to kill Voldemort if his darn wand is broken!" James yelled, and Lily's eyes clouded with worry. James noticed his wife's reaction immediately and stopped shouting. "Oh, Lily, sorry for shouting. I just got stressed, that's all." He was mentally kicking himself for being so insensitive.
"It's fine we're all stressed," Lily said, but James could tell that she wasn't telling the truth. "Really!" Lily said and turned away slightly so James wouldn't see the hurt in her eyes. He knew she wasn't fine, but it was always best to leave her alone for a bit when Lily was upset. James decided to go and talk to Sirius, so he stood up and gave Lily a light squeeze and strolled over to his best friend. The pair talked for a while before Lily called them over. "Sirius, James, come over here!" Lily called. Her voice was calm, but both of the men detected a tremor in her voice. They quickly sat down on either side of Lily, and James put an arm around his wife.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, and she smiled at him. They focused their attention back on their son and saw him walking through the forest following a doe Patronus.
"A doe? But that's Lily's Patronus." Sirius said, and Lily and James nodded. Both men looked at Lily, but she shook her head firmly.
"I didn't cast that," She said defensively, "And I also don't know anyone else who would have a doe Patronus except-" Lily's face paled, and her eyes widened slightly.
"What?" Sirius asked, but James nudged him, and shook his head slightly, communicating to his friend not to continue his line of questioning. James looked at Lily and saw tears in her eyes. He shuffled closer to her, and they watched as Harry spotted the Sword of Gryffindor glinting at the bottom of the lake.
"Oh no you don't, Mr Potter!" Lily exclaimed, having figured out what Harry was about to do. He dove into the icy pool and grabbed the Sword, and Lily shrieked when the locket started strangling her son.
"No, no, no!" Sirius hissed. Harry couldn't die now, he hadn't defeated Voldemort yet! They all breathed a sigh of relief when a mysterious someone pulled Harry out of the lake.
"Ron?!" James yelled in utter amazement, not sure how his son's best friend returned, but grateful anyway. As Ron destroyed the locket, Sirius and James debated how Ron returned, and Lily watched the horrors emitting from the Horcrux. Sirius and James stood up after a while and made to move off, but Lily caught her husband's arm.
"James, could you wait here for a minute?" Lily asked, and James nodded.
"I'll catch you up later," James told his friend before turning to his wife.
"Look, James, I wanted to tell you whose Patronus that was. I think this is going to be important for us to know. The Patronus belongs to… Severus." Lily whispered, and James' eyes were flooded with shock and worry.
"Bu-" James said but stopped. Whatever he had to say about Snape wouldn't help Lily.
"We are all going to have to trust him," Lily said in a final tone, and James nodded.
The group watched the break-in to Gringotts in suspense, and the nerves were running high, and as the trio destroyed the Horcruxes, the time to defeat Voldemort was coming nearer. The Battle of Hogwarts was going to be intense, everyone knew it, and James wasn't sure how he was going to sit through watching his friends and family fight and possibly die. As the preparations for the Battle began, James pulled Lily into a rib-crushing hug.
"Sirius and I are going to be here for you, ok? You don't have to watch scenes that you don't want to." James looked into his wife's gorgeous eyes, and she nodded, pulling him in tighter.
"And James, don't hide your emotions from me, promise?" She whispered to him, pulling back a bit to study his face closely.
"Promise." He said solemnly, and Lily kissed his lips gently, and the two sat down, with Lily's back on James' chest. Sirius sat down next to them, and they watched the battle intently. They had to follow where Harry was going, so the trio couldn't hang around and watch the beginning of the battle. They watched as their son and his friends found the diadem in the Room of Requirement, and rescued Draco and Goyle from the fiendfyre, Sirius cheered loudly when Ron and Hermione kissed. His elation didn't last long as Harry made his way to the Shrieking Shack, and the trio saw Snape and Voldemort. James hurriedly put his arms around Lily when he saw her former friend, and Lily stiffened slightly. The tears were already forming in her eyes as he watched her friend get interrogated by Voldemort, and she could tell that his time was coming to an end. She was right. Lily screamed and burrowed her face in the crook of James' elbow as he got attacked by Nagini. Sirius and James were frozen in horror, as nobody deserved to be killed by Voldemort's snake, not even Snivellus. When Harry went and crouched down next to Snape, James nudged his wife gently. She looked up slowly and saw Severus transfer his memories to her son. They watched as Harry hurried to Dumbeldore's Pensieve, and poured in the memories. Watching them, especially the ones with Lily and Severus as friends, made Lily sob, and James had tears running down his cheeks as well. But nothing made them all cry as much as when they found out that Harry was the seventh Horcrux.
"That means that he is going to have to die, doesn't it?" Lily whispered uncertainly, and Sirius nodded. The tears were flowing already, but Sirius and James started sobbing when they saw that Remus, Tonks and Fred had died.
"Remus!" James cried, and buried his head into Lily's hair, and Sirus was leaning heavily on James' shoulder.
"Hey, you guys. You do realise what this means, right?" Lily asked. "They are going to be coming here." As Lily spoke, three people materialized in front of their eyes. Remus, Tonks and Fred grinned widely as the threesome jumped up and hugged their friends with all the strength they could muster. Lily was introducing herself to Tonks, and Sirius and James were practically ambushing Remus.
"The Marauders are back together again!" James crowed happily, and Tonks grinned. Fred, however, was staring wide-eyed at his former professor and his friends, his mouth open.
"The-the Marauders?" Fred stuttered, disbelievingly.
"Messrs. Moony, Padfoot and Prongs at your service, Mr Weasley," Sirius said with a goofy grin.
"You guys are the reason behind George and my success! I can't believe I'm finally meeting you!" Fred exclaimed, and they took turns hugging each other.
"Thank you for giving my son the Map, Fred," James said, his eyes twinkling.
"No problem! I can't believe Harry is the son of a Marauder!" Fred said casually. The group sat back down slowly, the nerves already beginning to return.
The battle was still raging on, but Harry was walking toward the Forbidden Forest. Neville had killed Nagini, which meant that all the Horcruxes had been destroyed (besides Harry). They watched Harry walk very slowly into the Forest, and get the Ressurection Stone. Suddenly, Lily, James, Sirius and Remus disappeared, leaving Tonks and Fred to watch on. However, all they could see was Harry alone in the Forest.
"It's the Stone. They went down, but only Harry can see them." Tonks whispered, and Fred nodded. After a while, the four returned, and Lily had tears running down her cheeks. James looked shaken and teary, Sirius was ghostly pale and Remus' eyes were glistening. Tonks walked forward and enveloped her husband in a hug, and Lily and James embrace each other. Sirius stood awkwardly, but Fred noticed his hesitation and gave the Marauder a brotherly hug.
"Thanks, Ferd," he whispered in the younger adult's ear and hugged him back. The six adults sat close to their respective partners or friends (in Fred and Sirius' case) and watched as their son/godson/honourary son sacrificed himself for his friends. Lily and James were both sobbing as Harry stood undefended in front of Voldemort, and were holding each other close. Everyone else was pale and the tears fell thick and fast when the curse was spoken.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Lily screamed and James burrowed his head into Lily's hair. Sirius was at James' side whispering encouraging words into his ears, and Remus and Tonks were hugging each other.
"Remus, my love, let it all out. It's fine, hon, it's fine." Tonks whispered, and they bot let the tears flow. Fred was watching with silent tears, and his face was pale. Because he wasn't hugging anyone else, Fred was the first to notice that Harry was talking to Dumbledore, and didn't want to disrupt the couples (and Sirius), but he knew that this would cheer them all up.
"Guys, I don't want to interrupt the cry-fest, but look!" Fred said with a smile, pointing toward where Harry and Dumbledore were talking. Sirius turned around and smiled at Fred, silently thanking him for boosting the mood. Dora, Remus, Lily and James all turned around soon after, curious as to what Fred was pointing to. They witnessed the whole conversation, and cries of relief and joy were emitted as Harry was back at the Forbidden Forest. When Voldemort asked if Harry was dead, the nerves returned. If they discovered that Harry was alive, he would be dead. As Narcissa walked forward, nobody dared breathe, and when she declared that Harry was dead, Lily started sobbing with relief. Dora felt a massive pang of sadness for Hagrid, who was carrying Harry, believing that he was dead, but the cries of despair and utter shock from Mcgonagall, Hermione, the Weasleys and Dumbledore's Army were even worse. Lily felt so sorry for Ginny, who had probably been thinking that she and Harry would get back together after the war. As the Sorting Hat was placed on Neville's head and set on fire, everyone gasped.
"No!" Fred yelled. He had known Neville through Dumbledore's Army and knew that he was a fighter. Soon enough, the famous final duel between Tom Riddle and Harry Potter. Lily was gripping James' hand tightly, but she was the least worried out of all the group. Lily had complete and utter faith that her son would succeed, and she was right. With a final yell, Tom Riddle fell to the ground, dead.
A/N: Another chapter is done! This is the longest chapter so far, so sorry for taking forever to upload it. The next chapters will be my version of Harry's life after the Battle. A word of warning, I ship Harry and Ginny, so if you were looking for non-canon ships, this is not the story for you. That said, you could substitute characters where necessary if you want. The next chapter should be uploaded on Monday or Tuesday! Also, reviews would be appreciated! xoxo
