Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling; therefore none of this belongs to me. If I were Ms. Rowling, I would be working my butt off on the sixth and seventh Harry Potter books, not writing on Fanfiction.
Author's Note: This is my very first Fanfic, so though I welcome all thoughts on my story, please don't be too hard on me! I hope you like The Watch!
This chapter is dedicated to my friends and fellow authors: Phantom Panda, SingingValentine, and Jamfase! Here it is you guys! Hope y'all like it!
Chapter One: Lily
Lily and James Potter were sitting in their living room at Godric's Hollow, James' family home. It was 10 o'clock on a clear, silent Winter Solstice. Lily, having just come down from putting their one-and-a-half year old son, Harry, to bed, was sprawled across the couch, while finger-combing her long hair and thinking. James was reading in an armchair, absant-mindingly chewing on the end of his glasses.
Lily broke the quiet. "James?"
He looked up from his book and put his glasses back on. "Yes, Lily-of-the-valley?"
"Does it seem too-" she broke of, hesitating, "I don't know, too quiet to you?"
"Not really, m'dear, but I must admit, it is more peaceful and quiet than usual."
That was just like James - Lily herself - to start reading a book and get completely lost in it, oblivious to the outside world. "Well, doesn't it seem, oh, I don't know, more like calm before the storm than truly peaceful?"
At this, James snapped his full attention to his wife and shut his book, sitting up straighter in his armchair. "Check your watch."
Lily complied, and then gasped at what she saw on it.
The watch Lily was wearing was a very special and unusual watch. This watch not only told the exact time in whatever time zone its owner might be in, it also showed the location of that persona and the people dearest to them. The summer after Lily graduated from Hogwarts, she had made this watch and twelve exactly like it, one for her, one for James, one for each Lily's sisters, Lavender Evans and Petunia Dursley, one for each her parents, Rose and Nelson Evans, one for Sirius Black, James' best and closest friend, one for Remus Lupin, another one of James' closest friend, one for Peter Pettigrew, the last of James' close circle of friends, one for Clarissa Chang, Lily's best friend, and one each for Arabella Figg, Faye Verti, and Ivey Parker, Lily's other close friends, and gave them to her friends and family for Christmas. Lily had labored very hard on these watches, charming them to be exactly perfect. All the watches Lily had given her friends and family that one Christmas had changed, thanks to this war with Voldemort. If someone who had their name on a watch hand died, the hand would disappear. All ready, 5 hands had vanished off the face of Lily's watch. Currently, her watch had 3 separate hands for James, Harry and herself, one each for Remus, Sirius, Peter, and Arabella, and the last one for Petunia, Lily's last living family member. While everyone's hands either were pointing to "home", "work" or "traveling", Lily's, James' and Harry's were all pointing to "mortal peril".
Lily shoved her watch under James' nose. He took on glance at it, blanched, thrust the watch back at Lily, and rushed over to the window.
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!" James shouted to her, sounding panicked.
As Lily stumbled up the stairs, she heard the sound of the door bursting open, a high pitched laugh, and the sounds of a duel taking place. She ran into Harry's room, and picked her son up out of his crib. Lily tried to Apparate away with Harry, but couldn't; Voldemort must have put an Anti-Disapparation Jinx on the house. The door to the nursery burst open. Lily put Harry back into his crib, wand out, spinning around to face Tom Marvolo Riddle.
"You're her for me," Although her voice was calm and collected, Lily was shaking inside.
"No, stand aside, you didn't need to die."
Lily grew desperate. "Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"
"Stand aside, you silly girl, stand aside, now!"
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill instead! Not Harry! Please, have mercy, have mercy!"
Voldemort laughed, a high, shrill laugh, pointed his wand at Lily and said, "Crucio!"
Lily screamed in pain, wishing it would end, knowing it wouldn't until she moved away from Harry, but she wouldn't, she couldn't.
Voldemort stopped, and said, "Lord Voldemort shows no mercy, especially to the weak! Move!"
"NO!!" Lily got all her lost strength back, and roared her answer at him, "NO!!"
"Fine. AVADA-"
Before he could finish, Lily threw all of her love for her husband and son at Harry.
"-KEDEVRA!"
As Lily collapsed, and her spirit rushed away from her body by the flash of green light, all she could think was, "Hold on, Harry, James, I love you both."
***
When Lily finally stopped, she realized that she was behind a big veil.
"Where am I?" she wondered. Suddenly, the answer came rushing to her, along with the answers to all of the questions Lily had ever asked in her life.
"So it's true, that in death, all of life's questions are answered," Lily thought contently. Turning away from the black piece of cloth that kept her captive, Lily glanced at her watch. The five hands that had left the watch had reappeared. The hands that read "Lavender Evans," "Rose Evans," "Nelson Evans," "Faye Verti," and "Ivey Parker," along with the "Lily Potter" hand were all pointing to a new position, labeled "Behind the Veil". Looking up, Lily took a breath in sharply. There, right before her very eyes, stood her parents, her younger sister, and Lily's two friends. Lily's family had been murdered two years after Lily had graduated from Hogwarts, the summer between Lavender's second and third year at Hogwarts. Faye and Ivey had been on a mission for the Order of the Phoenix, and had gotten killed last year, ten years after Lily and the gang had graduated Hogwarts. Lily's eyes filled with tears, and ran to embrace her family and old friends.
After several moments of reuniting, Lily looked at her watch. Harry's and James' hands were still pointing to "mortal peril", but oddly, Sirius' hand was now spinning to "traveling" from its old spot of "home". Lily sighed, knowing when she would see her friends and family again. She turned to Faye and Lavender and asked,
"So you can watch what is going on in front of the veil through the veil?" even though she already knew the answer.
Faye nodded. "That's how we watched you after we came here. James will be here soon, but do you want to watch Harry?"
Lily nodded, and, surrounded by her lost friends and lost family, she went to watch her son. They stood around her, and waited.
A/N: There you go! That's chapter one! I hope y'all like it! I plan to do James' point of view, then Sirius', then Remus' and then Peter's! Maybe even Petunia's! Hmm, I have to think about that one! Well, I think that if I get 5 reviews, I'll post again! How does that sound? If I only get three (and I better get three, Laura, Jen and Morgs!), then I'll post, no matter what! Anyway, until next time! -Mlle. Jennifleur