His Final Year
Chapter Ten: The Scariest Halloween
James and Lily still hadn't spoken to each other, let alone about what happened that night. They spoke to each other only when they had to, and even then it was a few words at most. They both knew they should talk about what happened that night, but neither knew why they did what they did. They both tried several times, but they just never could get it out of their mouths.
Days passed, followed by weeks. They both seemed more cheerful after talking with their friends. They were happier than they had been and pretty much seemed back to normal…except when they saw each other. Every time they glanced at each other during patrol, locked eyes in class, or made any other eye contact with each other, they seemed to be sent somewhere else. Their minds wandered someplace, and it wasn't easy to get the other off of their minds.
The weeks of school had seemed to fly by, and before anyone knew it, it was Halloween. Everyone was at dinner, laughing and eating with friends, Lily and her friends sitting with the Marauders. Mel still had the biggest crush on Remus, so Alex and Lily sucked it up and put up with the boys for her sake. Alex somehow managed to usually be arguing with Sirius, but Lily always had one of the girls to talk to. James and Lily always seemed to sit the farthest away from each other as they could.
Alex and Sirius were, to everyone's surprise, talking to each other about class. They seemed to almost be enjoying each other's company; Alex didn't yell at him, and Sirius didn't hit on her. Mel and Lily were chatting away while Remus, Peter, and James were talking. Lily looked all around the Great Hall, noticing that for some reason Professor Dumbledore wasn't present. Just as she was about to say something about it, Lily glanced over to James and saw him laughing, causing her to smile. He turned, looking in her direction, and they locked eyes.
Suddenly, the doors flew open, and everyone present turned to look. Nine or ten black, hooded Death Eaters stood in the doorway, wands out. Before anyone knew what was happening, they started sending curses in every direction. Teachers pulled out wands, sending curses right back at them. The students all took off running, trying their hardest to get out of the Great Hall. A curse went flying and hit the table James and Lily were sitting at. Everyone was immediately thrown to the floor. Remus ran over and helped Mel stand up and looked at James and Sirius. "We've got to get everyone out of here."
James nodded, as did Sirius. Sirius quickly picked up Alex, flung her over his shoulder, and took off toward the door. Remus took Mel and rushed her out as well. Lily was still oh the floor, trying to get up, unable to with everyone rushing so much. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her hand and pull her up. She looked up to see James holding her hand, guiding her toward the door. Even after the existed, he still held her hand. It was chaos, people running everywhere they looked. James quickly whistled so loud everyone stopped and looked.
"Alright, as scary and horrifying as this may be, we really aren't helping doing what we're doing. Ok, fifth years and younger, group together. Go quickly back to your common room and get as many people on the way. If you see someone, take him or her without you, regardless of house. Sixth years and seventh years, the teachers are outnumbered. A large group of sixth years, go and search for Dumbledore. Check anywhere you can. Stay together. No one split up at any time! Seventh years, wands out and get ready to fight!"
Everyone was completely shocked but every person did what James had said. Fifth years and younger ran off toward their common rooms, as most of the sixth years went to look for Dumbledore. The rest pulled out their wands, preparing to enter the Great Hall again. James squeezed Lily's hand and looked at her. They stared at each other for a few seconds, then James lead the way back into the Great Hall, Lily and Sirius right behind him, followed by Alex, Mel, Remus, Peter, and the rest of Hogwart's highest students.
When they entered, most people gasped. Two or three Death Eaters were down, but many were still standing and fighting. The teachers also had some still fighting but not many. James turned and looked at a few students huddled together. "You guys go get the teachers who can't fight anymore and get them out of here. Mel go and help them ok?" They nodded. Everyone took a deep breath and headed off. James disarmed a Death Eater who was about to hit Professor McGonagall from behind. As the Death Eater hit the ground, more turned and fired at the students. Remus and Sirius each grabbed a Death Eater and started dueling. James ran over to help Professor McGonagall who was dueling two at once. Lily and Alex paired up and started dueling as well.
As a Death Eater was just about to fire on Professor McGonagall, James sent a spell that deflected it. She looked over and saw James standing next to her. "Potter! Get out of here this instant! It's too dangerous!"
James laughed. "Doesn't seem like I can leave. You guys seem kind of outnumbered. Plus, there are too many students fighting to get them all out of here now!"
She turned and saw her seventh years fighting. She gasped. "Where is everyone else?"
"Don't worry." He quickly dodged a spell and sent one at a Death Eater. "The younger students are safe. We handled it."
She turned and quickly glanced at her student. She hadn't ever imagined she would be standing next to him as they fought a battle. He looked at her, gave her a reassuring smile, and disarmed a Death Eater. He did a quick glance around the room to find Lily, his eyes finally resting on her. She seemed to be doing just fine, as was Alex. He looked at Remus and Sirius and saw they were fine as well. He noticed that Sirius sent quick glanced at Alex more than once. James grinned and dueled a rising Death Eater.
After what seemed like hours, the doors flew open and Dumbledore stepped in. He gracefully moved around, stopping all the Death Eaters in their tracks. He said one spell that sent every Death Eater to the ground. James was suddenly attacked in a bone-crushing hug. He smiled as he realized it was Professor McGonagall. Sirius and Remus ran over to the girls. Sirius grabbed Alex's arm and began talking to her. Remus checked on Lily, then they all went over to James who was still wrapped in a hug. She finally let go and hugged everyone else. She then quickly ran over to Dumbledore, leaving the group by themselves.
James immediately walked to Lily, looking concerned. "Are you ok?"
She stared at him and gave him a small smile. "A little shaky, but yeah I'm fine. I've never experienced anything like that." She laughed slightly, as though trying to calm herself down. "Guess this is another thing that makes Halloween so scary, huh?"
James nodded and wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him back. James slightly pulled away to face Remus, Sirius, and Alex, but still held on to Lily. "You guys good?"
They all nodded. No one said anything for a while until Remus blushed and spoke up. "Um…can we…can we go find Mel?"
They all smiled, knowing Mel was just fine. Remus lead the way out of the Great Hall, followed by Sirius and Alex. James and Lily were last, James still holding Lily's hand.