Magic drew them together. And now magic will make them part.
The Final Stand
presented by
The Scarlett Secret
Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling.
&&
I stood there in front of the crib, heart pounding with fear and adrenaline. I lifted the baby and cradled him in my arms as I stood there in the dark, rocking the sleeping boy quietly as I swiftly threw some diapers into a duffel bag that was already filled with clothes, toys, and baby powder among other things. We had been ready for this. We had been so prepared.
I looked down at my sleeping son. He had his father's thick hair, and strong chin. Kissing his forehead lightly, I made for the door as a crash sounded throughout the house. I froze in my spot, heart pounding throughout my ears. No, this couldn't be happening.
"Get out of here!"
"No! You get out! Get away from him!" I thought furiously and loudly, but I was unable to move, frozen with fear as I looked at my baby. My little baby…
An evil cackle sounded.
"Do you really think it's going to be that easy?" a strange voice said. In that moment, the house was different. This wasn't the house I'd lived in for the past few months. This wasn't the house in which I'd rocked my son to sleep. This wasn't the house in which I'd made love. This was a house filled with fear, anguish, evil, hatred, and coldness. All of which amplified intensely with only two words.
"Avada Kedavra."
My husband called out my name just before he hit the floor with a thump, the duffel bag along with him. I didn't hear the name so much as the anguish and love. There was a story behind that word, and it came back to me the moment it was uttered.
&&
I was at Hogwarts, by the lake. Yes… yes, I was reading. Kerry was sitting next to me working on her charms with a rock. Waves of crisp air rolled off the lake and bore through the tiny holes in my green sweatshirt while blowing my red hair around furiously.
"Lily?" a voice called out, waking me from my entrancement. I looked up and saw James Potter beckoning for me with his hand. Sliding the bookmark into position, I dropped by book on the ground with the rest and walked over to the boy.
"Yes, James?" I looked up at the trickster. His hair must've been moving at as rapid a pace as mine was. His eyes usually glinted with the adrenaline of his next prank, but I could tell this adrenaline was something other than a prank.
"Lily, hear me out." I started to speak, but he put a finger to my lips, the unexpected gaining him some silence.
"You know I like you, and have for years. I… I would really like to know you better," he said, covering up any nervousness he had. There wasn't any, nor nervousness. He was telling it like it was, ready for any outcome.
"James Potter, are you asking me to be your girlfriend?" I asked coyly.
"Yes," he said looking straight into my eyes. "I am."
"Give me one good reason to be your girlfriend," I said, clutching my sides against the cold.
"I can make you laugh like no one else can, or will," he told me confidently, with no hesitation.
I looked at him and smiled a bit, tilting my head as I took him in.
"After a while," he said, putting a caressing finger to my lips, "you just want to be with the one who makes you smile."
He tore his gaze from my lips and looked into my eyes, hopeful, awaiting my answer. Putting both my hands on the sides of his head, I pulled him close and whispered in his ear.
"You are the worst thing that's ever happened to me," I told him, "But you're also the best."
Wrapping my arms around him, I pulled him even closer. In that single moment, our hair entwined, the wind blew faster, and the cold disappeared. When my lips touched his there was a spark. I don't know if it was charmed, but there was definitely a spark. That was the spark that stayed with me, and appeared every so often, whenever our lips touched, for years afterwards.
&&
There was a sound of satisfaction from the front hall, and I heard footsteps in the opposite direction. I took a step into the hall, and tried to look anywhere but the floor to my right. Unfortunately, that's exactly where I looked. Brown eyes stared up at me with determination, fear, and love. I shook my head to get the images out, but they were too strong.
&&
I stood in an elegant white dress in the great hall of a church, where the colored light dancing playfully on the floors was streaming through the stained-glass windows high above us. I'd wanted so much to have a traditional wedding as my parents and friends had, and he'd been so happy to hear my reply that night that I know he would've agreed to get married in a pig pen.
Looking into his eyes I said the vows. They were the same deep brown eyes I had been staring at a moment before. But this time they were full of life, energy.
"I do," I told the minister.
"You may now kiss the bride," he told James. Which, being James, he did. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him, each of us with a smile on our faces. Looking out towards the crowd I threw the bouquet of white flowers, smiling when it hit Sirius on the head and he said something very Sirius-like, earning a reprimanding glance from the staff at the church.
&&
The footsteps echoed towards me, and the house's layout came flooding back to me as I determined all possible escape routes. I knew that from the way he was coming he was cutting me off from most of them. I flew back into the nursery. There was a door that led to our bedroom from there, and I figured that if I kept out of his sight long enough he might think that Harry and I weren't here.
I ran to the other side of the crib and banged my knee on the corner, slamming the crib into the wall. I froze again in both fear and pain; I'd been running pretty fast when I slammed into that crib. I heard the whirl of a cloak, and quickly limped towards the door, grasping the doorknob. The metal felt cool against my sweaty palm as I went to turn it, but a quick 'click' from stopped me. I frantically tried to turn the doorknob, but it wouldn't budge. Turning around, I saw the cause of the locked door.
There stood the feared wizard, his wand pointed at the door, a smirk on his face. He reached out his hand and flipped on the lights, momentarily blinding me.
"I was beginning to think you weren't here," he hissed, and I mentally slapped myself. If only I'd missed that corner…
I edged towards the door, and found myself in front of the crib again.
"Oh, no, you don't," he said, locking the other door wordlessly. I felt my back pocket for my wand, but it wasn't there. What? I always kept my wand there… James had taught me that…
&&
His hand reached over as he entwined his fingers with mine, showing me the correct wand movements for the latest spell he was testing.
"No, no, no, like this," he said, swishing my arm back and forth.
"Oh, I don't get it, James. Sirius is coming over later, why don't you test it out on him?" I asked with a sigh.
"Oh, all right," he submitted.
I made my way to the kitchen as a buzzer went off, and set my wand down on a nearby end table.
"Oh, Lily," he called after me. "Your wand!"
"What about it?" I asked.
He grabbed it off the end table and caught up with me.
"Always keep it with you," he told me, looking me in the eye. He looked down at my stomach, and patted it. "Especially with the new addition on the way."
I looked at his hand on my stomach and smiled. "All right. For Harry."
"For Harry."
&&
With my back pressed into the crib, I slowly lowered my child into it, out of harm's way, and stood there defiantly.
"Oh, Lily, you don't have to do this," he told me.
Looking into his eyes, I told him defiantly, "Yes. I do."
"Step away from the boy, and you don't have to die."
I was filled with emotion. Anger, frustration, anguish, love, fear. But I was fed up with this. This hiding, and having to be aware of everything. I couldn't help it; I just let myself forget the anguish, the fear, and just told him what I thought.
"He's not just a boy. He's my son; his name is Harry. And I love him, Tom." I could feel his eyes on me. "I love him."
"I'll give you one more chance, Lily," he told me, wand shaking with fury. "One chance. Now move."
I looked behind me, and ran my thumb over Harry's forehead before kissing him where my finger had been.
"No, Tom. I will not move."
"You will die for this boy?"
"Yes. I will die for my family."
"Very well. Avada Kedavra!"
That was my last memory. My entire vision went green, and then black. I never saw Harry again.