Disclaimer: The characters and situations of Harry Potter depicted in this story are the legal property of J.K. Rowling and all those company things that made the movie. I'm not quite sure if they own James and Lily, but JKR probably does. I wonder if she would object what I am subjecting them to…anyways, I get no money, I do this for the pure pleasure of reading a spiffy review and to amuse myself and others. Whee! 

Many of the spells used are also the brainchild of the wonderful author Robin, who gladly consented to their use here. Don't forget to read Robin's Unbroken Universe.

Part Four: Lasted Forever

"STUPEFY!"

A bright flash of red light shot by Lily's face, and she braced herself for the shock of being Stunned.

It never came.

Lily looked up just in time to see the drunken man who had been touching her face collapse instead.

She didn't waste time pondering who was helping her, she moved, heart still beating fast, and dived for her wand. Feeling the familiar willow wand in her hand, she whirled around and yelled "Retardo!" That would slow them down for a few precious seconds—

"Everbero!" the fiercely cold voice commanded, and seconds later something crashed into Lily's back. If someone had shoved her with the might of twenty men, that might have equaled the force that struck her. She fell down to her knees, her head spinning.

Strong arms enveloped her and tried to bring her to her feet. Oh no, it was another man hooded in black—he held her arm steadily as he threw back his hood—wait a second—was that James Potter?

____________________________________________________

James didn't hear his father's warning cry; he could only see Lily's face, eyes wide with fear. Without thinking he pulled out his wand and forgot all pretense. "STUPEFY!" he roared, aiming carefully for the brute that had dared to touch her. Lily took advantage of the men's brief confusion to grab her wand and throw a hex that seemed to slow them down. The tall one looked like he had been unaffected and he roared in an icy voice that had made James' blood run cold. He didn't hear the spell; he only saw what it did to Lily, she was on the floor writhing in pain—what was his father doing, playing with mirrors, couldn't he see Lily was hurt?

James was already there without having realized it, and his arms were around Lily in a heartbeat. He pulled her to her feet and for a moment the rest of the pub seemed to fade away. She looked up at him in horror—oh wait, he looked like a bloody Death Eater, that was it—James pulled off the hood—why couldn't his hands move fast enough—

The look of disgust mingled with fear suddenly was wiped off of Lily's face. Recognition and relief danced through her eyes and she smiled at him, that radiant smile of happiness. James felt his knees buckle. She had never smiled for him before, and oh, it was heavenly. Lily drew him close and hugged him briefly and whispered, "Thanks."

She smelled great.

Whatever witty thing James had been going to say tumbled out of his brain, and whatever heroic and stunning brave sonnet he was going to recite for her completely disappeared. He was holding her; that was enough. A faint but distinct aroma rose from her skin and hair, and it was wonderful. None of that cheap flowery stuff other girls used. This wasn't perfume. This was…this was…

"JAMES!"

His father's vehement voice broke his reverie. James looked up and realized Lily wasn't even in his arms anymore, she and his father were busy hurling curses and hexes at the men. The bar was empty save for the prevalent battle; dangerous spells shot back and forth, his father was sporting a few bruises he didn't have before. Most of the louts who had cornered Lily were on the floor, unconscious or injured. The only ones left were two men cloaked in black and one taller one; they were hurling Dark curses now.

"JAMES!"

James snapped back to reality and dodged the shaft of a rather violent and quick burst of light in the nick of time; it crashed into the wooden table behind him, cracking the it in two and setting it on fire.

"Debellum!" his father bellowed. James took a moment to admire his father's skill—the amplified Stunning spell took one of the cloaked men to the ground—before casting his own Stunning spell at the remaining man.

Lily cast the same spell at the very moment he did; the other man in the cloak was blasted into the wall with the combined force of two Stuns. He slid to the floor, blood running from his head.

The tall one advanced on them. There was something about him that made James back up a step—the effortless glide that propelled him forward or the resounding memory of that chilling voice froze his feet to the ground.

"Vexameum!" shouted his father. "Debellum! Rumpreis!"

The hexes all seemed to slide off the man's dark cloak or to disappear into the black folds of the cloth.

A pale hand slid out of the robe, holding a wand almost delicately, as if he were about to savor a fine dessert after a satisfying meal.

"Crucio."

_________________________________________________________

Lily's head exploded. Every nerve in her body on fire, every fiber of her being resonated with pain, the very marrow of her bones was screaming. She was screaming too, begging for mercy, but the burning agony did not relent.  It was unbearable; the cold, wooden floor was wet with her tortured tears. Somewhere on the left she knew James was suffering too; his screams and his father's screams echoed against the walls like the unflinching screech of a nail on a chalkboard.

Then ever so slowly the pain began to decrease in a gradual diminuendo. When Lily could open her eyes again, it was still there, but dormant as a dull ache in the center of her body. She then saw the reason; James' father had grown a sickly white, sweat beaded on tiny droplets on his forehead, and he struggled as if holding up an immense weight. A semi-translucent sphere had encased the three of them, protecting them from full wrath of the Cruciatus Curse.

Outside the shield, the tall cold man seemed to radiate anger. A flash of red light hit the shield, and it shook, seeming as if it would crack under the pressure.

"How can we help?" asked Lily, as another blast shook the fragile bubble.

"Very advanced magic," the elder Potter breathed laboriously. "All in the mind. Think of something strong—anything—picture adding it to the shield as energy—if you can do it—he might get impatient and leave."

James closed his eyes and Lily watched him furrow his brows and concentrate.

She closed her own eyes and wondered how this was supposed to work. Think of something strong…Lily cast about for memories of something strong…something that would withstand this onslaught…a box? No…something better…designed to keep evil out…a house? Come on…I have a better imagination than this! Lily thought, frustrated. Hogwarts! It must have stood for hundreds of years since the Founders' time, protecting the students within and nurturing life. Hogwarts, with its wonderful towers and stairways and twists and turns and sturdy stone walls. She thought of the energy behind those walls, that magnificent castle's might and power and gave it to the shield. Something was happening…the dull ache in her heart from the remnants of the Cruciatus was fading away...Lily thought of the thickest walls of Hogwarts, down to the very foundations deep into the ground, and gave those sturdy foundations to the shield. She thought about her fear and anger at the tall cold man and all the brutes that thought they were better than she was—just because she was Muggle-born, and she let the shield have that too.

Lily opened her eyes, and then felt the Dark magic the man was throwing at the shield. She was the shield in her mind. The Dark ravaged against the walls of Hogwarts, but the walls would not break…they would not break…they would not break…

There was a howl of rage—and then—

A dark gray smoke was billowing about around the sphere, and everything outside appeared murky and foggy.

They held the shield for several more minutes, but there was only silence and the smoke.

"I think it's safe," said James' father. "You can relax now."

Lily let Hogwarts go from her mind and let herself breathe for a moment. Her muscles ached and her heart was still pounding, but her head was miraculously free from pain. She looked up and met James' eyes. He smiled at her in relief. They were alive. Lily grinned back.

His eyes were a warm hazel. She wondered why she never noticed that before. Then again, she never had been standing quite so close…

His father coughed.

"Oh, yeah," said James, his cheeks turning pink. "Dad, this is Lily Evans. Lily, this is my dad."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Potter," said Lily, shaking his hand. "Thank you for…"

He chuckled. "Not a problem. I was in the area—scouting for followers of the Dark Lord. I guess we found them."

"Very impressive," said Lily gratefully.

"All in the job requirement," he said. "I'm an Auror, by the way."

No need to know where James learns all those hexes now, thought Lily amusedly. She quickly scolded herself. I've got to stop doing that. The Potters had just saved her life—the least she could do was be nice to James—even if he was a big-headed prat, he did have nice eyes.

Wait a second—

When did I start calling him James instead of Potter?

And when did I care about the color of bloody James—no, Potter's—bloody—eyes!

It was the stress, Lily decided. It had been a very long day and she had just undergone a traumatizing experience and now she was being delusional and thought she liked James Potter. James—no, Potter was an idiot, and had always been an idiot.

"—top of her class, best in everything, 'cept Transfiguration, that's me, and prefect for two years, I bet you she's Head Girl—"

What was he talking about? Head Girl? That was impossible.

His father smiled at her. "You sound like a very bright young lady. Quite a powerful witch too from what I've seen today."

"Oh—um—thank you," said Lily, blushing slightly. She dipped her hand in her bag to get a look at her Hogwarts letter. This morning Lily had been in a hurry because Petunia had been rushing her and she just dropped the envelope in the bag. She hadn't  even looked at her letter.

Lily read it now and felt a surge of joy rush through her. He was right. "I'm Head Girl," she said, disbelieving.

James grinned. "I knew it."

"Congratulations," said the older Potter. "We should be going home soon, James. Your letter and Sirius' probably arrived this morning and your mother will be beside herself if you make Head Boy and you're not there. I called Headquarters earlier for more Aurors, so they'll be here soon." He began walking towards the other side of the pub. The smoke had all cleared by now, leaving a mess of broken tables and chairs, and several unconscious men lying about.

"We better leave before they wake up," said Lily.

James nodded. "My dad might take some of them to Auror Headquarters for questioning and stuff, so he'll probably Stun them again."

Lily turned around and saw that his father was indeed Stunning the men to ensure they remained unconscious.

"Lily, look—I haven't always—" James started to say. His eyes suddenly dilated in horror. "Dad, he's AWAKE!" James yelled.

Lily spun around to see the man who had hit the wall earlier slowly draw his wand. At James' sudden shout, several things happened at once.

"Where—STUPE—"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

A/N: I'd like to thank my wonderful beta as always, shellebelle, for helping me develop this story and make it so much better. Thank you to all my spiffy reviewers; I read every word and love all of it. Leading a double life prevents me from responding to every one of your reviews, but all of your insight is appreciated and more often than not taken into my writing.

I am quite sure, since all of you have been complaining about cliffhangers, that you have approached this chapter with yet another groan. Don't give up quite yet! I promise there will be no more cliffhangers after this one. We're almost to the end…