Disclaimer: All characters herein except those otherwise noted belong to J.K. Rowling, who I think, on occasion, to be some sort of goddess. Inspired by another fic of mine, and throught out while sitting through much boredom at work. Spoilers for all five books, I suppose.
Notes: Thanks so much to Kathy, for beta, and for helping over rough spots plotwise. Love ya, babe. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and given me such wonderful feedback. Thanks also to my brother, who let me smear his lips with my lipgloss—a plot to talk him into tasting the icky ones by giving him the yummy ones first. BonneBell lip rush. In sugar, and lemonade. He also spent the large portion of the story cackling madly. See, I'm funny, if I can amuse a thirteen year old boy.
Through Time
Twelve: Unforgivables
Voldemort looked at Lily.
Behind her, Lily knew James was moving to the unconscious Sirius that lay on the ground behind her.
"Crucio," Voldemort hissed, his eyes glowing in the semi-dark of the room. The doors behind them crashed open, and as Lily dropped to her knees, fighting the pain that burned through her body, six more Death Eaters came in, hovering a group of Hogwarts students through the doors.
They were lined up against the wall, more than a few bleeding, most unconscious. James looked at them, recognizing the dark haired Slytherin girl who had stayed, and several Gryffindors that were in Dumbledore's Army. He assumed that the Ravenclaws were members as well—Cho Chang, the girl who had flirted with Remus, and an Indian girl who had a twin in Gryffindor.
A thought struck James. Where were Harry, Hermione, and Ron? Where was Frank Longbottom's son? And Draco, who seemed to have changed for the better?
James jerked his gaze from the students back to Lily, who was on her knees before Voldemort.
"You will bow to me," he said. "You will sit at my right hand, pretty thing."
"You don't want me," Lily snapped, with her odd double layered voice. "I'm a Mudblood, remember?" she spat.
"Then I shall kill you again, as I did before." Voldemort said.
"You killed me and you killed yourself. Who's to say the same thing won't happen again?" Lily said. Voldemort hissed, spittle flying and landing on Lily's face. The redheaded girl did not flinch, though she was disgusted.
"Crucio," Voldemort snarled a second time. James felt as though Lily's scream of pain would rip him apart. The Ensoluno Charm made the wizard invincible—not invulnerable. Crucio would still hurt. James watched as Lily threw the curse off a second time.
"Come on," she taunted. "Can't kill me again? Afraid that it'll backfire again? If you hadn't killed me the first time, it wouldn't have backfired when you killed Harry."
Voldemort snarled. "Are you afraid of me now?" Lily demanded as the door burst open. "Better kill me before he gets here."
Voldemort raised his wand again, grinning at Lily. His teeth were sharp, pointed. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Neville and Luna burst into the room, wands at the ready. The other door—the one the death eaters had come through, slammed open, and the Weasley family burst in, followed by the adult Remus Lupin.
"Lily!" James screamed. The younger Remus began racing across the floor toward Lily and Voldemort, as Bellatrix raised her wand again over Sirius.
"Stupefy," Lupin whispered, stunning the woman who stood over the younger version of his best friend. The black haired woman fell to the floor, and began stirring almost immediately.
The smile had faded from Voldemort's face.
Harry watched in horror as his dream unfolded, Voldemort opening his mouth. He didn't know anything else, and prayed that he would wake up, even though the throbbing in his hand reminded him that he was already awake.
"Avada kedavra," Voldemort said. The jet of green light burst from the tip of his wand, and several of the girls, including Hermione and Ginny screamed.
The stream struck Lily in the center of the chest, but she remained on her knees, staring up at Voldemort. The light burst around her, surrounding her body and changing to a halo of golden light that surrounded her as she got to her feet.
"I'm already dead," said the voice of Lily Potter. "You can't kill me twice."
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort screamed. "Avada Kedavra!"
Both green jets burst around Lily and added to the light that surrounded her. The more times Voldemort said the unforgivable killing curse, the brighter Lily became, until she glowed as though a star had been captured inside the room and was shining for all it was worth. Hermione turned and buried her face in Harry's chest, as Harry himself closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, Lily was standing before Voldemort, her red hair shining in the candlelight. She turned and looked at Harry, and Voldemort made a motion with his hand.
The Death Eaters attacked. The Weasleys—except Ron and Ginny, stood at the back of the room. Bellatrix was climbing to her feet behind Lupin, as well as Sirius, who, though dizzy and still in pain, had come round. The first three Death Eaters that came toward them were hit in the face with some hex that Harry didn't recognize, but in the next moment, Ginny was laughing, and he saw bat wings fluttering madly all over the faces of the three. Harry dodged around them and ran at Voldemort.
Hermione and Luna ran for the captive members of the DA, removing the magical bonds. Most of them remained unconscious, and Luna had to struggle to keep Padma Patil from cracking her head on the stones as she slid to the side. Ginny continued to perform her bat bogey hex, and Ron trailed after her, stunning her bat wing-faced would-be assailants. The other Weasleys went into action and began making their ways toward Ron and Ginny. Molly Weasley in particular was surprised to see her youngest two children fighting the Death Eaters so viciously—ducking stunning spells and sending hexes in every direction.
"Crucio," howled a Death Eater in a cloak and mask nearby. Molly screamed in pain.
"Stupefy!" Screamed Charlie and Bill at the same time. The twins moved toward the offending Death Eater in unison.
"Crucio," said a female voice, and the four Weasley men turned to see Ginny storming toward the Death Eater who had attacked their mother with the very same curse. The Death Eater howled in a mixture of rage and pain, and Ginny walked over to him. She kicked him in the face once, twice, and kept kicking him until blood began to soak through the mask and stain the toe of her red and white trainers. She kicked him until Bill picked her up and pulled her away, cradling her in his arms.
Ginny began to cry, her entire body shaking. She had performed the Cruciatus Curse—an unforgivable. She had done it because her mother had been attacked. Her older brother petted her hair, and knelt next to Molly, who lay upon the floor. Ginny collapsed onto her mother, who hugged her baby girl—no, her daughter, a young woman who had become so strong right under Molly's nose, and Molly hadn't even noticed. The seven Weasley men stood guard around their women, throwing Stunners and punches whenever any Death Eaters drew too close.
Neville Longbottom faced down Bellatrix Lestrange, the woman who had helped to deprive him of his parents and a real childhood—one where he did not have to visit the long-term ward at St. Mungo's on Christmas, or the summer holidays.
"Stupid little boy," Bellatrix said. "Fat and stupid, just like your parents. Probably can't even do magic that well."
Neville's face was bright with anger. "Well enough," he said. "Stupefy!" he said, but Bellatrix laughed in his face.
"Obviously not." She said, and raised her wand, still laughing.
"Crucio!" Neville said, throwing every ounce of anger he had felt toward this woman his entire life into the spell. He wanted her to suffer like his parents had suffered, to feel that pain. He wanted to be freed of it.
Bellatrix's laughter turned to screams. Neville repeated the spell over and over, not turning away from the dark haired woman who was writhing on the ground. He did not notice as tears began to streak down his face, as he said the word over and over again. He did not notice as the Death Eater lapsed into unconsciousness. He did not notice as she stopped moving, stopped breathing. He did not notice as she died, simply repeated the word again and again, tears streaking his cheeks.
Draco Malfoy moved along the wall of the study, unnoticed in the shadows, until he reached a cupboard. From it, he drew two long, silver bladed swords.
Harry Potter, son of Lily and James Potter, and the Boy Who Lived, faced Voldemort, formerly Tom Riddle, and self styled Dark Lord in the center of the room. On either side of him were his parents, under the magic of the Ensoluno Charm. Lily's skin still glowed softly from the frantic killing curse with which she had been hit.
Voldemort was angry. Livid, even, and was ready to attempt to kill this boy.
"Well, boy," Voldemort hissed, raising his wand. "Shall we make this the last time?"
Harry gritted his teeth. "Whatever," he muttered. He raised his wand. Something moved out of the corner of his eye, and he turned slightly.
"Harry!" Lily screamed, and a flash of green light lit the room.