James stood staring at the burning words in utter disbelief, the blackboard not twisting as you might expect but the words burning as if they where etched there with lighter fluid. The orange smoulder surrounding them highlighted the text and gave it an eerie glow but nothing could compare to what the words actually said.

I am Lord Voldemort

They were so simple, they made perfect grammatical sense but in reality they might as well have been written in Aramaic for all the literal sense they made. The shock echoed around the room, everyone staring at the board their jaws almost touching the floor. Hermione had gone pale as if she was made out of rice paper making her look fragile and delicate, as if she was liable to faint or retch at that very moment. If the truth be told she looked almost as if she had been Petrified, but then again she had albeit in a different sense of the word.

He had always been the quick thinker, the one to make up plans and cover excuses but at this moment in time it struck James that he was just a teenager after all. A teenager who could well die with the simple wave of a single wand belonging to the caped figure standing tall in front of him; the figure that 30 seconds ago had worn the face of his potions mistress. Had Voldemort always been her? Had this been a cleverly worked out hoax lasting years or was Professor Gander out there somewhere? Was she even alive?

James could feel stabbing pains in his chest as the figure twisted in front of him, the cloak emphasising the simple movement. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion making it more dramatic, although James honestly didn't know how much more drama he could stomach in one night.

"Well, Harry Potter. I hope you realise just how useless this whole situation is?" the voice hissed, almost inaudible with the bitterness which ran through it. The man's face was now visible, and it was truly grotesque in the same way of the pictures of the Hindu god ripping out the insides of the atheist go was grotesque and made you want to look away. Pale skin stretched over a face in a style reminiscent of a shrunken head. The skin didn't seem to fit, it was too tight as if it was a balloon filled with too much water or as if a pair of tights had been stretched over the face like they did in muggle entertainments. Two eyes glinted within dark hollows of the eyes like the fires of hell or cursed rubies; they were the colour of blood, as if the supposed and expected pinkish tinge of the person had all been concentrated within the dark sockets which made the man seem almost skull like. But the face was twisted and deformed too, like a snake. The nose was flat with slit nostrils and the mouth ha very little in the way of lips and shape. It wouldn't have been surprising if a forked tongue was seen occasionally flicking out of the face.

Harry snorted, the whole scenario seemed to be occurring so slowly and yet in truth it had probably been only a matter of seconds since the polyjuice had started to wear off. "Never stopped me kicking up a fuss before though, has it?" he retorted. He sounded full of confidence but after hanging around with Harry for a few weeks James was pretty sure it was put on, he had never seen that arrogance before. It must have been a front; either that or he had got more from his father than James had initially thought.

Something quite alarming happened then, Voldemort laughed. It was not the kind of sound you expected to come out of a man believed by many to be the source of all evil but that twisted hiss which came from his throat was no doubt a sign of amusement.

"Harry, you just don't get it do you? I banked on you kicking and screaming. Time is a very delicate thing. You mere presence is probably more than enough to ensure that you will never even exist". Those thin lips twisted into a gruesome shape, a shape which might have once qualified as a smile but now just made the hairs on ones neck stand up and goose pimples to form down your pale, clammy arms.

"Fuck you" shouted Harry, causing everyone to stare at him in shock, even Voldemort's rhythm was disrupted, Harry used this to his advantage. Removing the wand from his side and pointing it directly at Voldemort before yelling "petrificus totalas"

James cursed his child's naivety, a full body bind would never work on the dark Lord, it would just anger him. He acted impulsively as he used a stunner on the barely human remains in front of him. He didn't leave enough time to see if the body bind would have had any effect, but the way Voldemort stood up immediately from the effects of 2 curses suggested that it would have minimal effect on its own.

"Crucio"

James didn't dare look at who it was heading too, whoever it was would have no way of getting out of it. It was unblockable, and in equal measure James hoped it would and wouldn't be him. If it was him it would hurt, he knew that much and those self-preservation instincts Lily had referred to earlier were starting to kick in. But if it was him that means that he wouldn't have to watch anyone he cared about in pain.

Screams quickly filled the room, they weren't James'. They weren't even male, meaning it was between James' unofficial love or Rons' unofficial love. James didn't want to find out, but unless he did he wouldn't be able to stop it. And that's the only thing that was scanning through his mind at this moment in time. The screams where the kind which makes your heart stop and you retch at the back of your throat.

It was Lily.

That pushed James over the edge; his actions were no longer them of a sane man. He shot curse after curse at Voldemort, not caring what they were. For all he knew they could have been jelly legs, or summoning charms maybe even a bat bogey but he didn't care. Word after word came flowing from his mouth, each hitting the dark lord with minimum effect, each one seemed to just bounce of him causing no damage at all and still Lily's screams filled the room. James was only partially aware that he wasn't the only voice yelling curses but he didn't care. To him this was HIS job; he had to save HIS damsel in distress. Lily was his future, he knew that now and nothing was going to stop it.

It was Voldemort who eventually lifted the curse, not out of obligation but it appeared to be more out of boredom. Lily collapsed to the floor as if she was little more than a rag doll being tossed put of a pram by a spoilt child. She made no movement as James ran over to her and instinctively rolled her over so he could see her face. She was alive, maybe even responsive as she let out a groan as she was moved but her famously green eyes stayed closed.

"You fucking bastard" James yelled, past thinking straight he had resorted to the same techniques employed on Snape. Pure anger had distorted the way he saw life. He didn't think about magic, he didn't think about physical violence; all he thought about was that his girlfriend, well the girl he desperately wanted to be his girlfriend. He didn't want to leave her side. He never wanted to leave her susceptible to such actions again. It was his entire fault; if he hadn't been such a coward he could have taken the curse for her. He could have stepped into it, he could have physically snatched the wand from Voldemort, and he could have pushed her out of the classroom as they all stood stupidly looking at the board. It was his entire fault.

The trio were staring intently at Voldemort, the marauders at James. Each had their whole attention span occupied by the sight in front of them. James didn't care anymore, he felt the wet run down his cheeks as silent sobs wrecked his body; he could taste the saline running into the creases of his lips. He couldn't see properly, the tears were blurring his vision and they had started to splash onto his glasses some more which with the condensation made it an impossible situation.

He absently mindedly ran his fingers through Lily's her, his hands shaking violently as he did so. He couldn't face the thought of losing her, it was their destiny. They were going to grow up, get married, have a child and die together. It couldn't end this way, it just couldn't. He willed each breath Lily took to keep coming. He knew about crucio, he had never seen it before but he knew that the pain could make someone just give up on life even once it was lifted. He knew that Lily must have been close to that point; she was shaking still, her eyes rapidly moving underneath her closed eyelids. He knew she was close because he had seen this happen to his own brother.

He was too late that time, and history has a habit of repeating itself.


Wahey! It's almost Christmas, but as we all know some things have to happen to make you feel Christmassy and this is mine :-

Adverse Weather Policy
In the event of a heavy snowfall every effort will be made to keep the school open, but regard to the children's safety must be paramount. Accordingly:

In the event of heavy snowfall during the school day, the situation will be carefully monitored by Senior Management personnel and the School Office.
We shall gather information from Manchester Weather Centre, the Police and local bus companies as to the state of the roads and predictions for the remainder of the day concerned. The school will respond to their advice.
In the event of school closure and a 'staggered' evacuation, those children most at risk, i.e. those with physical disability and those who live in outlying areas, will be sent home first, provided they have access to their home or other place of safety. Such children, before they leave, must indicate their destination if it is not their home.
After-school events, games, clubs, detention, choir, parents' evenings etc. will normally be postponed.
Where adverse weather is forecast, pupils should be suitably clothed and provided with sufficient monies to cover bus fares.
In the event of heavy snowfall or adverse conditions overnight, we will try to contact the local radio stations (Tower FM, GMR and Key 103) to broadcast details concerning whether school will be open or closed.
Pam Burrow, Deputy Headteacher

Silly, I left High school in 2001 but still this letter symbolises the start of Christmas to me. When we got given these then from that moment on excessive glitter on nights out and tinsel in your school bobbles where excusable. Teachers would start watching videos in classor playing on their N64s, loading them through the projectors and showing off their top scores to the class.

So, Merry Christmas everybody. I hope you enjoy it. Now go and buy BandAid20. It's an order.