Lily, James and Sirius rushed to the main house, curses were flying everywhere. A pale-skinned figure stood in the center of the slowly decaying house, and Lily was going to rush towards him, shaking her fists, but James pulled her back. Hard.
"LILY!" He barked. "GO! Go to the safest place you can think of and bolt the doors. Put every hex you can think of on it. Stay there. We will find Jackie and Helen and everyone else."
Lily glared at him for a moment, then yanked her arm back, taking off running. Her skirt ripped, a curse sailed past her, she gained a gash on her forehead, but she made it to the ballroom.
Nobody was there. Lily slowly stepped to the middle of the room and looked at the grand chandelier, and shivered.
"Mommy? You there?" She whispered. "Mommy, I need you. I need you to be an angel. I need you, mommy. I must have jumped over five dead bodies, mommy, they're dead because I wanted a little chaos. Mommy? Come and save me. Take me with you.. Please.."
The back door Lily came in suddenly opened and Jackie fell into the room, hitting the floor hard. Her red dress had been slashed, you could see the white lining, she was pale beyond belief, and she was bleeding heavily from the head.
Lily rushed to her, and dragged her to the center of the room. "Lily, I'm so glad I found you.. He's here because of me.. I'm dieing, Lily, I am.."
Lily quietly shushed her and let Jackie lay down, her head in Lily's lap. Lily absentmindedly ran her fingers through Jackie's hair, now dripping with sweat and blood.
"Jackie, it's alright, everything will be alright.."
"Rafe's dead, Lily. He's dead. Helen is screaming, Hufflepuffs are dieing, Ravenclaws are shrieking, Tom's pissed."
"Quiet, Jackie, quiet."
"Lily, I want you to remember that time is the best and worst thing that will ever happen to you and it's the only thing you can ever count on.. Tell Sirius I love him, Lily.. I do.. Everyone has a purpose in life, everyone will have a role to play. Everything happens for a reason, Lily. You must remember this. You must stay friends forever with our circle, but one of them will betray us, one of us will leave before they complete their education and continue at home. He wants me dead, and he shall have me dead." Jackie was rattling on, becoming lighter and lighter in Lily's lap.
"Whenever I was scared, my mommy always sang this to me, you'll feel better." Lily said in a very creepy whimsical voice, a voice that seemed empty. Around them plaster and boards fell to the floor, but a circle around them remained untouchable.
In a very shaky voice, slowly and painfully the words trickled out of Lily's throat. Out of nowhere the music from her jewelry box echoed around them, and Lily was soothing Jackie. She sang the same song for hours and hours on end.. Lily didn't hear the pounding the last time she sang it, the screams. She didn't feel Jackie slowly slipping away, she didn't hear the board fall onto Jackie's feet, or the crumbs of plaster in her hair.
And now I'm all alone again
Nowhere to turn, no one to go to
Without a home without a friend
Without a face to say hello to
And now the night is near
I
can make believe he's here
Sometimes I walk alone at night
When everybody else is sleeping
I
think of him and I'm happy
With the company I'm keeping
The city goes to bed
And I can live inside my head
On
my own
Pretending he's beside me
All alone
I
walk with him till morning
Without him
I
feel his arms around me
And when I lose my way I close my eyes
And he has found me
In
the rain the pavement shines like silver
All the lights are misty in the river
In
the darkness, the trees are full of starlight
And all I see is him and me forever and forever
And I know it's only in my mind
That I'm talking to myself and not to him
And although I know that he is blind
Still I say, there's a way for us
I
love him
But when the night is over
He
is gone
The river's just a river
Without him
The world around me changes
The trees are bare and everywhere
The streets are full of strangers
I
love him
But every day I'm learning
All my life
I've only been pretending
Without me
His world would go on turning
A
world that's full of happiness
That I have never known
I
love him
I
love him
I
love him
But only on my own.
James looked up, the heavy log he, Sirius, Remus and Munguldus were using to get into the ballroom almost dropped. Lily was choking back tears from that song from her jewelry box always played. They gave it one last thrust and the double doors swung open noisily. Sirius rushed to Jackie's side, holding her dead body close to him. Munguldus helped a crazed Helen drag Rafe's body into the room. Sirius kissed Jackie's cold lips, hoping to bring life into them. Lily had a simply blank look on her face and another board fell, a light one, onto Lily's waist. Remus covered Sirius and Jackie's body, Munguldus hovered over Helen, and James over Lily. Arabella cuddled close to Ronan to get her protection. The room began to shake violently, and when the glass from the chandelier started to clink, James began shouting.
"ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY MOVE, THE CHANDELIER IS GOING TO CRASH!!!!!"
Munguldus dragged Helen, who was still clinging to Rafe, over to the edges of the room. Sirius himself carried Jackie over, Remus and James lifted Lily, whose body was very heavy now. Barely after Ronan and Arabella got away, the whole thing dropped to the ground. The screams stopped, and there was no more noise.
"Do you think it's over?" Arabella whispered. Ronan stuck his head out.
"The Death Eaters are gone. Tom must have left."
And all of a sudden, the ballroom was clean and they were in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. That was why Jackie made them go to the ballroom. It was like a Portkey.
So was the five-hour long massacre of Napa, California. Seven magical children were dead, five from Hogwarts. Three magical adults died in the explosion of the kitchen, and two Muggles coming to investigate were instantly killed. Claire had escaped the blast and had flown to Paris.