Lily Potter and the
Worst Holiday
Chapter Three
Standard Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including, but not limited to, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
WARNING: Harsh Language and adult themes and violence
Chapter Three Summary: Voldemort makes his move against Hogwarts and the Boy-Who-Lived, Neville Longbottom.
The tall pale man, if one could call the monster a man, walked in front of the Head Table, weaving in-between the children who were forced to sit on the floor. Voldemort casually cast the Cruciatus Curse on Neville as he passed the young man.
Ron tried to jump up and defend his friend as Neville screamed and writhed on the floor, but his legs were knocked out from under him by a curse from an anonymous Death Eater standing behind the Head Table, his identity obscured by his white mask. Another unknown Death Eater, who appeared to be wearing a silver glove over his right hand, snickered openly at Ron's dilemma.
Voldemort lifted the curse and continued to stroll back and forth in front of the Head Table. The fiend caressed his wand lovingly as he spoke to Lily who was being held by two Death Eaters.
"Two simple words caused me so much pain," Voldemort said. "Every single moment of every single day for thirteen years was pure agony."
The Death Eater who had taken James and Lily's wands walked up to Voldemort and offered them to his master. The Dark Lord took the two wands and placed them in his robes and then resumed his pacing, back and forth in front of the Head Table.
Lily held her breath as the monster walked past her children, Alice and Remmy. The monster seemed to pay them no mind as he continued his trek back to the children from the other time-line. Voldemort paused in front of Neville and bent over to speak in the young man's ear.
"I will enjoy killing you again, boy," Voldemort said nonchalantly. Neville blanched and Voldemort turned his attention back to Lily.
"After all the pain I had to endure, I believe that it is about time for a little… retribution," the monster stated as he leveled his wand at Lily's heart. James futilely tried to pull free from the three Death Eaters who held him fast. It was obvious he wanted to protect Lily from whatever curse the monster was about to cast.
In the blink of an eye, Voldemort swung his wand until it pointed at Lily's thirteen year old son, Remmy.
"CRUCIO!" Voldemort shouted.
Remmy let out a horrifying scream as he thrashed violently on the floor.
"NO!" Lily and James screamed as one, as they fought to break free of their captors. The Death Eaters who held the Potters laughed sadistically as James and Lily thrashed helplessly in their grasps. Remmy continued to convulse for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Voldemort ended the curse. Remmy's painful cries ceased; however the poor boy continued to twitch on the ground.
"We seem to be short a guest or two," Voldemort said as he counted the children from the other time-line. "Draco, you reported that there were six of them, didn't you?"
"Y-y-yes, master," Draco sniveled, as he bowed to Voldemort. "I believe that the other two are in the Hospital Ward."
"Let us invite them to this wondrous celebration," Voldemort said with a mirthless chuckle. He turned to one of the masked Death Eaters standing behind the Head Table, and commanded, "Bellatrix, take Rodolphus, Rabastan, and your Death Eaters and bring our wayward sheep here before me."
The Lestranges marched out of the Great Hall with twenty Death Eaters in their wake.
"This is a momentous day," Voldemort stated as he strolled in front of the Head Table. "I have the three most important people in my life before me in the same room."
The Dark Lord paused in front of Neville.
"Even though you are in the prophesy and therefore important, you, boy, were nothing more that a mote of dust in the eye of my god-head," the fiend said to Neville. "The first time I killed you, you were begging and pleading for your worthless life.
"CRUCIO!" Voldemort shouted and Neville screamed. After a moment he lifted the curse and Neville ceased screaming. Ginny, Luna, and Ron quickly huddled around the tortured young man.
"As for you old man," Voldemort walked up to Dumbledore, "you have been slightly more then a nuisance…CRUCIO!"
Dumbledore tried to refrain from giving the fiend the satisfaction by showing the pain he was feeling, but it became too much. He began to scream under the Cruciatus Curse as his body continued to thrash against his invisible bonds that held him prisoner. Voldemort held the curse on the aging Headmaster for a full minute.
As he ended the curse, Voldemort turned to Lily with an evil grin upon his snake-like face.
"And finally, you, the murderer," Voldemort said. "Out of the three, you are easily the most important. You are the one to have caused me the most pain. So much pain that I think I should return it in kind."
The fiend took a step closer to Lily but raised his wand at Alice, without bothering to look at the young girl. Alice began to recoil in fear, but two Death Eaters rushed up behind her and held her fast.
"Mum," Alice moaned as she began to shake, "Dad…"
"NO!" STOP!" Lilly yelled. A triumphant smile crept across Voldemort's face. "Please. Please, I'll do anything," she begged.
"Anything?" Voldemort mocked. "I think I shall enjoy this." The fiend held out his left hand while continuing to hold the threat against Alice by keeping his wand pointed straight at Lily's daughter. The Death Eaters who were holding Lily released her as if on cue. "Kneel and kiss my hand."
Lily knew there was nothing else she could do. She couldn't defend her children against an Unforgivable Curse, especially without her wand. She already had to witness her son, Remmy, being tortured, she couldn't bare the thought of her daughter suffering as well.
Lily built up her courage and forced herself to march up to the Dark Lord. Her knees trembled as she genuflected before Voldemort. With bile creeping up into her mouth, Lily pressed her lips to his cold hand.
"Ah, you cannot imagine what this makes me feel, murderer," Voldemort said coldly. A single tear escaped Lily's eyes. "After all the pain you have caused me, I shall enjoy humiliating you and seeing you suffer. CRUCIO!"
Alice's screams echoed off the walls in the Great Hall as she writhed on the floor next to her brother. Lily knew she couldn't stop Voldemort from harming Alice without her wand. Instead, she scurried over to her daughter to try to help her in some way, completely forgetting the shame of having to bow before Voldemort and kiss his hand like some groveling servant. As Lily reached Alice's side, Voldemort ended the curse and the young girl ceased her screams. Lily clutched both her son and daughter to her as she glowered at the Dark Lord. The monster smiled mirthlessly at Lily as he, once again, swung his wand to point at a new target without looking. This time the wand's target was James.
The fake smile disappeared from Voldemort's face and pure hatred burned in his eyes. Lily knew that the monster wasn't going to use the Cruciatus Curse on her husband, but something far worse. A soft "no" escaped her lips.
"AVADA KEDA…!" Voldemort began to shout the Killing Curse, but an explosion from somewhere in the castle cut off his incantation. Dust and small bits of masonry rained down as the castle shook. As another explosion rocked the ancient building, a loud scream accompanied the blast.
"Ah, it looks as if we will have a few new guests joining us soon," Voldemort chuckled as he turned his back on James. "Let the Blood-Traitor spend his last few remaining moments with his poor excuse for a family."
As soon as he was released, James rushed to his wife and kids and hugged them tight.
The Dark Lord walked up to where Dumbledore was restrained. The magical bonds holding Albus in place must have been weakening; he had begun to be able to move his arms slightly.
"Well, we can't have that, now can we?" Voldemort mockingly asked as he waved his wand in front of Dumbledore to strengthen the bonds. Albus sat as still as a statue after Voldemort had cast the silent spell.
Voldemort casually conjured an elaborate throne in front of Dumbledore's seat and sat down to wait.
"Tell me," Voldemort addressed the children from the other timeline, who were kneeling in front of him. "Who are the other two children?"
Lily's blood froze. She slowly turned her gaze towards the area where Paullina and Albert Granger sat. Remus and Sirius were trying to shield the Muggle couple, as well as Michelle and Emilia, from the Death Eaters' attentions. If Voldemort found out that one of the children was her Harry, the monster would use him to further taunt and torture Lily. But an even worse thought was that if he found out the other child, Hermione, was a Muggle-Born and that her parents were in the castle right now, Voldemort would kill them without thought or hesitation. Apparently the children had the same thought as Lily because they all remained silent.
"Well, who are they?" Voldemort sat at them as he leveled his wand at Luna's head. "Tell me, or you will suffer!"
The other time-line's Luna began to visibly tremble, but kept her mouth firmly shut.
"CRUCIO!" Voldemort shouted, but Ron dove in front of Luna, taking the curse instead.
Ron screamed and thrashed on the floor for a moment. Voldemort lifted the curse and stalked to stand over Ron's still twitching body.
"Tell me, boy; who are they?" Voldemort hissed.
Ron closed his eyes as he composed himself before speaking softly, "For a berk who spent the better part of thirteen years without a body, you'd think that patience would be one of your strong suits."
Voldemort's eyes bulged in rage and he practically shoved his wand in the red-haired boy's face. "CRUCIO!"
Ron's screams filled the Great Hall once again. This time, Voldemort did not lift the curse until a full minute passed. The young man convulsed once before passing out as Voldemort returned to his throne. The other time-line's Ginny and Luna pulled Ron's limp body onto their laps. Luna cooed softly as she stroked his hair comfortingly.
The doors to the Great Hall suddenly flew open and all eyes turned to see a young witch with untamable brown hair proudly walk in, followed by Poppy Pomfrey and four Death Eaters. Lily half-hoped, yet half-dreaded, to see her son following the young woman: part of her longed to have her son safe and in her arms, but the other part wanted him as far away from Voldemort as possible. Although Hermione was walking with an air of victory, she had a prominent gash under her left eye while a nasty bruise was developing on the right side of her face.
"Where is the other child?" Voldemort demanded. "And where are my other servants?"
The Death Eaters were hesitant to answer their master. Bellatrix slowly moved forward and knelt in front of the Dark Lord.
"Master, forgive us," Bellatrix said meekly. "But we were not prepared…"
"Prepared for what?" Voldemort hissed.
"This girl is…" Bellatrix stammered nervously, "she is more skilled than we were expecting…"
The female Death Eater stopped speaking and recoiled in fear from the icy glare she received from Voldemort.
"What happened, Bellatrix?" Voldemort asked coldly.
"We had arrived at the Hospital Ward," Bellatrix began to explain. "I ordered Cornwell, Peters, Hamilton, and Bluemoss to storm the room and take the children and Healer by surprise. But the children must have known we were coming."
A wry grin stretched across Hermione's face as Bellatrix glowered at the young witch.
"The moment Hamilton touched the door, it exploded," Bellatrix continued. "All four of your Death Eaters were blown to bits. Before we could regroup, this one," Bellatrix stabbed her thumb at Hermione, "rushed through the ruined doorway and began hexing us. Two of my Death Eaters were hit with some curse that made their eyes shrivel up in their skulls."
"I don't like Death Eaters," Hermione explained quite calmly.
"You mean to tell me, that this little girl took out six of my followers?" Voldemort asked incredulously.
Lily felt a pang of guilt when Voldemort used the same insulting moniker for Hermione that she herself had used earlier in the day. But Lily tried to take solace in knowing that Voldemort wasn't just using the phrase to hurt Hermione; he was using it to add insult Bellatrix's failure.
"Not just six, Milord…" Bellatrix responded skittishly.
"WHAT!" Voldemort shouted. "How is it that one little girl could do this?"
"I have a good Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor," Hermione responded without bothering to look at the Dark Lord. Lily knew that the young witch had to be using all of her courage to not show fear in front of the fiend.
"At least tell me the other child died in the battle and that is why he is not in your custody," Voldemort said scathingly.
Lily's heart sank, was her baby dead… again? Was this some cruel joke to give her back her first-born, just to take him away before she could even hold him again?
Bellatrix seemed to shrink even further under her Master's evil glare.
"What happened?" Voldemort hissed between his clenched teeth.
"This girl was a distraction, Master," Bellatrix stammered once more. "While she was switching MacGregor's head for Rackharrow's foot, I saw the other one, the boy, running off."
Anger poured off of Voldemort. He stood so fast that he knocked his throne over. The fiend began to pace in front of the teachers' table, seething in anger. Bellatrix cowered on the floor, silently begging for mercy.
Voldemort stopped suddenly and eyed Hermione menacingly. The young girl refused to flinch under his stare.
"Who is the boy, girl?" Voldemort demanded.
After a brief moment of silence, Hermione quoted, "'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord.'"
"What nonsense is this? The Boy Who Lived is right there!" Voldemort said pointing at Neville. "Do not tell me lies, girl! The boy mentioned in the prophesy is right…"
Voldemort froze as realization danced across his eyes. He slowly turned his attention to Lily.
"Potter," Voldemort said in an amused fashion. "It's the Potter boy."
The fiend barked a laugh and clapped his hands.
"I get to kill your Half-Blood Mutt again!" Voldemort cried out triumphantly. "And this time, I will get to make you watch!"
Lily repressed a gasp as Voldemort chuckled mirthlessly.
"So, Bella, did this little girl manage to kill the rest of your team?" Voldemort asked turning toward the cowering Death Eater.
"No… no Master," Bellatrix replied. "After the boy, I mean the Potter boy turned a corner, the girl surrendered. Rodolphus and Rabastan took the remaining Death Eaters and chased after the boy."
"Tell me, girl, did the Potter boy believe he could escape me?" Voldemort demanded from Hermione.
"Harry's no coward," Hermione defended Harry. "He went to recruit some help."
"Help from whom?"
Hermione averted her eyes from Voldemort before answering, "He had to talk to a ghost-"
"A ghost!" Voldemort interrupted gleefully. Lily tried to comprehend what made her son think that a ghost could possibly help him. Ghosts were non-corporeal beings; they had absolutely no impact on anything in the physical world. Did Harry possibly hope that one of the ghosts could slip past the Death Eaters and go to Hogsmede for reinforcements?
Apparently, the four children from the other time-line had the same questions on their minds as Lily did. Neville, Ginny, Luna, and Ron, who had regained consciousness after Hermione entered the Great Hall, looked at Hermione, pleading with their eyes for her to explain to them why Harry did what he did. Lily saw the brunette witch lock eyes with the other Ginny and mouth the simple phrase, "I'm sorry."
Ginny's face contorted into a mask of horror as the girl began to tremble. Luna, Neville, and Ron all embraced Ginny and tried to silently comfort her. All this went unnoticed by Voldemort, who was laughing almost hysterically.
"A ghost? This is brilliant! But what to do with my Death Eater who let a little girl get the better of her, and let a boy escape her clutches," the Dark Lord began as he stood in front of the prostrate Death Eater, Bellatrix, and gestured for her to stand. With her knees visibly shaking, she got up to her feet. "Bella, I was going to punish you for letting the half-blood mutt get away, but this turn of events is just too entertaining. You may retake your place at my side."
Bellatrix scampered to Voldemort and kissed the hem of his robes like a good sycophant. She then took her place behind Voldemort's throne, beside the two unknown Death Eaters who had remained silent the whole time.
Hermione stood in front of the teachers' table scrutinizing Bellatrix and the two other Death Eaters.
"I know who two of you are, but who is the third?" Hermione asked aloud. After a moment, the young witch snapped her fingers. "I have a question for you, Crouch;" Hermione began. The Death Eater standing between Bellatrix and the unknown masked man with a silver glove, recoiled as if Hermione had slapped him. "Did you let Moody die like a man or did you make him rot in his own trunk?"
"Barty Crouch?" James blurted out disbelievingly.
"Barty Crouch, Jr. actually." Hermione corrected.
"How do you know of him?" Voldemort asked, visibly taken back at the fact that Hermione knew his masked Death Eater's identity.
"In our world, this fool exposed both his identity and plan to Harry," Hermione explained, never taking her eyes off of Crouch. "He was so desperate to see if he was Voldemort's favorite lap dog." Hermione continued, this time her comments were directed to the Death Eater in question, "You hurt and betrayed Harry; he won't thank you for it.
"And you," Hermione said turning her attention to Bellatrix, "you killed Sirius and then mocked Harry's pain. You will die the quickest out of the three of you.
"But you, Rat," Hermione addressed the Death Eater with the silver hand. James stirred when Hermione referred to him as a rat. "You hurt Harry the most next to Voldemort. Harry and I devised a special hex just for you, Wormtail."
Lily grabbed James's hand to stop him from attacking the despicable man who had betrayed them and caused the death of their son.
"If you are done with your empty threats, little girl," Voldemort stated, "please take your seat next to your friends."
Hermione complied and sat next to the still trembling Ginny. The brunette witch leaned into Ginny's ear and began to whisper to her.
"And now, I believe we should wait for our last guest," Voldemort said turning to Lily. "I think I shall enjoy killing him. I have been given me the ultimate gift in order to enact my retribution, Mudblood."
Voldemort's red eyes burned into Lily's as a cold chuckle escaped the fiend's throat. Lily could not help but to tear her gaze away from the monster. Voldemort turned away from her as he continued his cold laughter.
Lily noticed something moving on the edge of her vision. Her eyes focused on a line of tiny spiders marching across the floor, up the wall, and out through a small crack in the window. The auburn-haired witched began to ponder on what would cause dozens of spider to act so strangely when Voldemort once again cast the Cruciatus Curse on Dumbledore and the old man's screams began to fill the Hall once more.
Nearly half an hour had passed since Hermione had been marched into the Great Hall, and yet the Death Eaters sent after Harry had still not returned. Lily was on the verge of panic. She began to imagine the worse had befallen her son; that Harry was being beaten and tortured by the Lestranges and their Death Eaters. Or that the Death Eaters would kill her son before she would be given the chance to tell him how much she loves him.
A low growl from Voldemort drew Lily's attention. Voldemort wasn't a patient man and he had obviously reached his limit and was visibly agitated. He was once again stomping back and forth if front of the teachers' table. He stopped in front of Bellatrix and hissed, "Where are they?"
Bellatrix hastily pulled a small hand-held mirror from her robes and began to address it, when Voldemort tore it out of her hands.
"Rodolphus Lestrange," Voldemort said to the mirror with anger in his voice. After a brief moment, a voice emanated from the mirror.
"Yes, master?" the masculine voice asked.
"What is taking you so long?" Voldemort demanded. "Where is the Potter boy?"
"Forgive me, my Lord," Rodolphus' voice begged, "we followed the boy into this bathroom as quickly as we could, but he seems to be missing. There's no other exit from here, and this ghost isn't being helpful."
"I've told you the truth!" a girl's whiney voice cried out from the mirror. Lily felt nauseous; she immediately recognized the voice. It was Moaning Myrtle, the ghost who haunted the second floor girl's toilet. Why would Harry try to seek help from that ghost out of all of them was beyond Lily's comprehension. Myrtle was the most bothersome ghost in the castle. She could make Peeves seem helpful at times.
"As I told you before," Myrtle's shrewish voice echoed from the mirror, "I heard a boy's voice here in my bathroom. When I came out to yell at him, he was gone."
"Who is that speaking?" asked Voldemort.
"It's Moaning Myrtle, Master," Rodolphus stated. "She's the ghost that haunts this girl's loo."
"I do not recall that ghost," Voldemort replied off-handedly.
Hermione interjected herself into the Death Eaters' conversation. "I find it most peculiar that you don't remember Myrtle," she said. "Seeing as you're the one who turned her into a ghost in the first place."
"I have turned a great deal of people into ghosts, little girl," Voldemort hissed at Hermione.
"This one was your first," Hermione retorted as she bravely looked into Voldemort's eyes. "Or rather, your pet's first."
A look of confusion appeared on Voldemort's face.
"They are in the girl's bathroom on the second floor," Hermione continued. "'And the Dark Lord will mark him as an equal.'"
Comprehension dawned in Voldemort's eyes. He turned his attention back to the mirror and spoke slowly and clearly, "Rodolphus, listen to me very carefully. Leave the room, immediately, and barricade the door-"
"Pardon me, Master," Rodolphus interrupted, "but one of the wash basins is moving. It's opening…"
Lily noticed with some alarm that the other time-line's Ginny began to tremble harder than she had before and that she had clutched onto Hermione's robes. Lily could hear Hermione try to comfort the younger witch by whispering in her ear, "It'll be over soon."
"Master, there is something coming out of…" Rodolphus' voice began before a loud thud emanated from the mirror. Voldemort roared and threw the mirror, shattering it.
"Master, what happened?" Bellatrix asked.
"Your husband, his brother, and all of my Death Eaters who accompanied them, are dead," Voldemort answered coldly. The fiend resumed his pacing in front of the Head Table, cursing under his breath.
Voldemort abruptly stopped and turned to a masked Death Eater and addressed him. "Lucius," he commanded, as the Death Eater immediately dropped to one knee, "leave me two dozen Death Eaters and lead the rest outside this hall. Do not let anything pass you or enter the Great Hall."
"Sire, what shall we prepare for?" Lucius asked.
"Prepare to fight to the death," Voldemort answered.
Lucius hesitated for a brief second before standing and ordering twenty-four Death Eaters to stay, one of whom was the only unmasked Death Eater, his son Draco. The elder Malfoy commanded the remaining forty Death Eaters out of the Great Hall.
After the giant doors swung closed, Voldemort turned to Hermione and said, "I know what you are planning, little girl. You and your half-blood mutt friend are hoping that I will try and stop the monster from killing my servants, since I am the only other living Parseltongue. And when I would have foolishly left the Great Hall, you would free the old Muggle-lover, Dumbledore, wouldn't you?"
Hermione refused to look at Voldemort as he continued his rant.
"And while I was busy with the monster, Dumbledore would then make short work of my Death Eaters. Unfortunately little girl, your plan has failed."
Without warning, screams from outside the Great Hall erupted without warning. Dozens of voices were heard shouting a bevy of curses and hexes.
The Death Eaters in the Great Hall stood and watched the door nervously, as if the horror that lay on the other side of the door was about to burst through at any second. Voldemort, on the other hand, was idly twirling his wand between his fingers.
The screams from outside the doors made Lily's blood run cold. Even though they were Death Eaters and, more than likely deserved to die because of their crimes, the horror in their cries was nearly unbearable.
One by one, the screams ended abruptly. Only a few of the Death Eaters continued their terror-filled cries. Lily could hear something gigantic being dragged along the floor on the other side of the door. A sickening crunching sound accompanied the end of one particular scream. Within a mere half-minute since the onslaught of screams and shouts began, only three or four voices could be heard.
Lily reasoned that whatever the monster was, it had to be some sort of snake, otherwise Voldemort wouldn't have mentioned that he would be able to control it because he was a Parseltongue. But what kind of snake could create such havoc? Before Lily could finish her ponderings, a final cry echoed from outside the Great Hall, and then silence.
For several seconds, no sound emanated from the corridor. Suddenly, a single voice shouted out a Blasting Hex. Draco Malfoy's face beamed with pride as he obviously recognized the caster's voice.
Almost immediately, the doors swung open and a Death Eater stumbled his way into the Great Hall. All eyes were drawn to the giant snake that lay motionless on the floor behind the Death Eater.
"Master, it was a Basilisk," Lucius Malfoy stated as he tore off his now-ruined mask. His face was obscured with blood, but whether it was his own or someone else's, Lily couldn't tell. The Death Eater also had his eyes lowered and half-closed, as if he was trying to ignore the pain of his wound.
"Yes, I know," Voldemort hissed impatiently. "What happened to the Potter boy?"
Lily leaned forward, desperate for any news on her son.
"I saw a boy who looked like the blood-traitor Potter, but he fell when he was hit with a stray Killing Curse," Lucius responded, putting an odd emphasis on the phrase "Killing Curse."
Lily and James hung their heads in sorrow. Apparently, fate had played a vicious joke after all. They were teased with the idea of holding their first-born child after sixteen long years, just to have Harry die again. Lily pushed her grieving aside; she had to make sure her two other children would survive the day, somehow. She also vowed to make sure that her son's friends would survive as well. She looked up to see how the children were dealing with the news of their friend's death, particularly Hermione, her son's fiancée. Lily was surprised to see the five children in a hushed conversation, but with no visible signs of sadness. She did notice that they each had a look of determination in their eyes.
"Oh, how I wanted to torture him and make you watch, murderer," Voldemort taunted Lily. The monster raised his wand and pointed it at Remmy and Alice. "At least, I can take comfort in knowing that you have two more half-blood mutts with which I can torment."
"I find it very ironic that you insult them by calling the Potters 'half-blood mutts,'" Hermione said, standing up. "I mean, it's not much of an insult when you're a 'half-blood mutt' yourself, is it… Tom!"
"What did you say?" Voldemort snarled, turning on Hermione.
"I called you by the name your mother gave you," said Hermione defiantly. "Tom Marvolo Riddle, she did name you after your Muggle father after all."
"If you know what is good for you, you will shut your mouth, child," Voldemort hissed through clenched teeth. "And if you knew what this mudblood bitch has done, you would not defend her so easily. It would make your pure and righteous heart skip a beat."
"Not really," Hermione retorted. "I, too, would have used the Killing Curse on you, if I'd been placed in her position." James gasped aloud as Lily stared at Hermione dumbstruck.
"Ah, I see the old man has finally stopped lying and told the truth after sixteen years," said Voldemort, turning to Dumbledore.
"No, I just figured it out," Hermione answered. Everyone in the Great Hall turned their attention to the brunette witch as she explained. "Dumbledore knew that using the Killing Curse on you would've been pointless; because of the prophesy, only Neville or Harry could kill you. Even if baby Neville's life was in immediate danger, Dumbledore would merely have restrained you. In our world, you were trying to kill Harry in the Ministry of Magic and our Dumbledore only tried to confine you because he knew anything else would have been pointless. But in this world, Lily had just witnessed her baby being murdered by some spineless coward…"
'She knows, Hermione knows the secret,' Lily thought to herself in total panic. Lily had accompanied Albus, James, Sirius, and Remus to the Longbottom's house that horrible night. She had jumped over Alice and Frank's bodies, paying them no heed, and ran into the nursery well ahead of the others. There she had found the monster looming over the crib, his lips curled cruelly as he pointed his wand at the defenseless baby. It was Lily, with blinding rage coursing through her veins, who shouted the Killing Curse without a cognitive thought in her head besides revenge. Lily had to kill the bastard for taking away her baby.
As a bizarre mixture of guilt and relief filled Lily with the knowledge that her secret being finally disclosed, she caught an odd movement out the corner of her eye. She turned and saw that nearly everyone in the Great Hall, student, teacher, and Death Eater alike, had their attention glued to the interchange between Hermione and Voldemort. Everyone save for Lucius Malfoy.
The pale Death Eater was strolling throughout the Great Hall silently casting what looked to be a Homing Charm on each of the Death Eaters standing amongst the students. Lucius glanced in Lily's direction and froze momentarily. Lily and the Death Eater locked eyes for a brief second. She gasped aloud, but it wasn't because Lucius was wearing spectacles, which he must have put on when Hermione was arguing with Voldemort. The reason Lily lost her breath is because of the bright green eyes staring at her from behind those glasses. They were her eyes; the same eyes that Harry had inherited. 'Lucius' gestured for Lily to remain silent as he continued to mark another Death Eater with the Homing Charm.
"HOW DARE YOU!" Voldemort screamed at the insult. The fiend leveled his wand at Hermione's heart. "That worthless mudblood bitch caused me such pain, and you defend her!"
"You murdered her baby; any mother would have done the same," Hermione said defiantly. "It's easy to figure that Dumbledore took the 'credit' for the Unforgivable in order to protect Lily," Hermione continued. "Every Death Eater would have tried to seek revenge against Lily for killing you. But everyone knows that they, like you, are afraid of Dumbledore and wouldn't dare to risk an attack against him."
"Shall I show you a small taste of the pain that she caused me," Voldemort threatened Hermione and he took a step towards the witch. "Perhaps then, you will not defend the mudblood murderer?"
Lily saw her son, still disguised as Lucius, stop and turn toward the evil fiend threatening his friend. He leveled his wand at Voldemort.
By Lily's count, Harry had only marked half of the Death Eaters standing in the Great Hall. Whatever his plan was, Lily knew that Harry hadn't completed his preparation, yet he was about to abandon this plan in order to save Hermione. Making her decision, Lily rapidly stood up, nearly knocking James and her children over in the process.
"This is so typical of you, you coward!" Lily said loudly.
"What did you say?" asked a shocked Voldemort, as he turned his attention to Lily.
"Apparently you are also hard of hearing on top of being a coward!" Lily stated defiantly with only a slight tremble in her voice.
"WHAT!" Voldemort screeched. The fiend stomped toward Lily and shoved his wand in her face. Lily saw out of the corner of her eye that Harry had gone back to marking the remaining Death Eaters. She breathed a sigh of relief knowing that her distraction had worked. But for the distraction to continue, Lily needed to keep Voldemort's attention on her.
"I called you a coward!" shouted Lily as she looked into Voldemort's hate filled eyes. Anger was pouring off the so-called Dark Lord. Lily knew that Voldemort was so angry that he couldn't concentrate enough to use his Legiminiency skills on her. "With all of your power, the best you can do is threaten an unarmed school girl! That's all you have EVER been good at!"
Then Lily did something no one, not even Lily herself, was expecting: she slapped the fiend across his face. A collective gasp filled the Great Hall as Voldemort staggered backward. The Dark Lord touched the great red welt on his face and pointed his wand at Lily once more.
"You shall pay for that, you murdering whore!" he spat. Lily braced herself for whatever punishment Voldemort had planned for her when she heard a voice emanating from in front of them.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Tom," Lucius said. All eyes in the Great Hall turned to Lucius who had walked over to stand in front of Voldemort.
"How dare you call me…?" Voldemort began to hiss at the blond Death Eater. Voldemort froze as he finally noticed that Malfoy was wearing glasses. "What? How can this be?"
"What? Didn't anyone tell you that I was a Metamorphmagus?" began 'Lucius'. He screwed his eyes shut and his features changed in an instant. Where Lucius once stood, now was a tall and thin young man with a cruel face. He spoke in a familiar high-pitched voice and said, "This is how I was able to control the Basilisk; I just changed myself to look like you did when you first opened the Chamber, back when you were a student, Tom. It's quite simple."
The young man standing in front of Voldemort closed his eyes once again and not only did his features begin to change, his entire body did as well. Within a second, Lily's undersized son stood where the tall, cruel man once was. Harry, back to his own size, was now practically swimming in Lucius' Death Eater garb.
"You are a fool, boy," Voldemort said with a chuckle. "You are outnumbered twenty-eight to one. You should have brought the Basilisk in with you, only then you might have had a chance."
"And risk you taking control over it? No thanks," Harry replied, as he wiped the blood off of his forehead, revealing his odd lighting bolt scar. "Besides, too many innocents could've been killed."
"In order to win, you have to be willing to make sacrifices," Voldemort stated. The fiend gestured to the three Death Eaters behind him and they started to move.
Crouch grabbed Hermione, hoisting her up and holding the petite girl in front of him like a shield. Pettigrew did the same with Ginny. Lily was distracted, with her attention, momentarily fixed on Hermione and Ginny's predicament, she did not see Bellatrix walk up behind her.
"Imperio!" Bellatrix shouted from behind Lily.
Lily felt her mind go blank. She felt as if she were floating.
'Stand up', a voice in Lily's head commanded; a voice which sounded like Bellatrix's. She could feel herself rise up from the floor, but it was if Lily was completely detached from her body.
'Walk to my Master', the voice ordered. Lily felt herself move to stand next to Voldemort.
"I will teach you a lesson, boy," Voldemort hissed as he drew Lily's wand from out of his robes. "To survive, to win, you have to be prepared to sacrifice. To beat me, you will have to kill your mother."
'Take the wand...' Lily saw her hand accept the wand from Voldemort. 'Now, kill the brat!'
Lily could feel herself move to stand in front of Harry, she also felt Bellatrix take up her position directly behind Lily.
'Kill the boy!'
"There is no defense for the Killing Curse, boy. You cannot defend yourself against it," Voldemort said with amusement, as Lily raised her wand and pointed it at Harry. The Dark Lord waved his wand and a magical shield appeared in front of Lily. "This shield will block everything except the Unforgivable Curses. Of course, if you try to use anything besides the Killing Curse, my Death Eaters will kill twenty students."
'Kill the boy! Kill him!'
Lily felt hatred build up within her body.
"Lily, fight it!" Lily heard James beg. "For the love of God, fight it!"
"The only way for you to survive, boy, is to kill your mother!" Voldemort sneered.
Ignoring Voldemort, Harry casually pulled a canvas sack out of his robes and let his hands hang at his side. He looked at Lily with a kind smile. His oversized shirt hung open, revealing the bizarre jagged "X"-shaped scar. Lily saw Ron out of the corner of her eye, crouching, as if he was preparing himself to jump at something.
"Before you have me killed, Tom, let me ask you a question," began Harry as if there wasn't anything to fear. "Aren't you the least bit interested as to why I spent so much time in the Chamber just now?"
"Not in the slightest, boy," Voldemort hissed.
'Say the words!' Bellatrix's voice demanded. 'You've said them before!'
Lily's mind tried to focus on Harry's scar, something about it was important. Something about a similar scar…
"Avada Kedavra!" Lily heard herself scream. The moment the curse left Lily's wand, Bellatrix lifted the Imperius Curse. Lily's mind became her own just in time to watch her son die once again, but this time, it would be at her hands. Lily's heart plummeted as she saw the green bolt race toward her child. She was taken back at how happy Harry looked, as if he had wanted this to happen. The Killing Curse hit Harry square in the chest, a few centimeters to the left of his X-shaped scar.
"NOW, RON!" Hermione shouted. Ron leapt at Lily, tackling her to the ground.
Lily could not take her eyes off of Harry as she and Ron fell. She expected to see Harry crumple to the ground like a rag-doll; instead, he only hunch over a bit and was surrounded by a strange green aura. Lily watched as the green aura quickly turned black, and new jagged "X" was carved into Harry's chest.
Then, suddenly, the black aura surrounding Harry flew off of his body in a bolt. Everyone followed the bolt as it rocketed back toward Bellatrix, who was standing in a daze, directly behind where Lily had just been standing. Bellatrix gasped right before the black bolt hit her in the face. Her agonized cry filled the Great Hall as the rebounded Killing Curse turned the witch into dust.
Both Crouch and Pettigrew dropped their hostages out of shock and fear. Peter immediately scurried to stand at Voldemort's side for protection, while Crouch reeled backwards away from the pile of dust that had been Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Sorry about tackling you like that, Mrs. Potter," Ron said into Lily's ear. "But the Unforgivable Curses affect Harry differently then the rest of us."
Lily turned her attention back to her son, who staggered for his balance for a brief second before standing upright. Harry grunted as he unexpectedly threw the canvas sack into the air. Scores of silver darts flew from the satchel, and Harry rapidly performed a Banishing Charm on them. Each dart soared at a Death Eater; they were obviously charmed to seek those people in the Great Hall who had had a Homing Charm placed on them. The Death Eaters squealed in pain as a minimum of two darts pierced their flesh. Lily noted with interest that none of the darts flew at Crouch, Pettigrew, or Voldemort. She wondered if Harry did so intentionally and if he had special plans for those three.
"KILL HIM!" Voldemort screamed at his Death Eaters. As the Death Eaters who were standing amongst the students started to move toward Harry, something odd happened. Some of the smaller Death Eaters started to stumble.
Harry paid the approaching thugs no heed as he quickly leveled his wand at the traitorous Wormtail; Harry shouted, "Muris Adfeectio!"
Everyone in the Great Hall froze as Pettigrew let out a blood-curdling scream. Peter was slowly changing into his rat form, however something was horribly wrong.
Lily had seen her husband change into his animagus form many times in the past. The transformation from human to stag was always beautiful and elegant, like a ballet. The way Peter was changing now was painful and disgusting! Lily could hear Peter's bones crack and break as his left hand shriveled into a rat's paw, while the rest of his arm stayed in its human form. The unchanging skin around his mouth and nose started to tear, as the bones of his face reformed into a grotesque snout. The traitor's right arm painfully shrunk to a rat's foreleg and back to his normal form within a second, but the entire time, his silver hand stayed human. His right arm began to change again, but this time, his silver hand ripped off of his flesh and hit the ground with a clank of metal. The little man screamed even louder as his left leg transformed into a giant rat's leg, yet his human foot remained unchanged.
After several gruesome seconds, Wormtail fell to the floor in a heap, spewing blood from his mouth and the stump of his arm. His body no longer looked human, but a sickening combination of a rat and man.
As everyone was distracted by watching Wormtail's body twitch once more before dying, Harry launched a rapid series of Cutting and Slicing Hexes at Crouch. With a horrifying spray of arterial blood, Crouch's leg was cut off below his knee, his eye was brutally gouged out, and a chunk of his nose was torn away. Obviously dieing, Crouch tried futilely to crawl to safety, leaving a trail of his own blood behind him. To Lily, he suddenly looked like a monstrous copy of "Mad-Eye" Moody.
Voldemort quickly recovered after watching three of his most trusted servants die. The Dark Lord shouted a command to the rest of his Death Eaters, "KILL THE BOY!"
The Death Eaters instinctively responded to their master's orders and began to encroach on Harry once more.
"You really should've asked me what it was that I was doing down in the Chamber that took me so long, Tom," Harry said with a wicked smile. Suddenly, the Death Eaters who had been staggering began to fall. The Death Eaters who had more than two darts in their bodies stopped and began to shake violently. "If you had asked, I would've answered: 'milking the Basilisk for its venom and then conjuring a bunch of darts so that I could quickly poison your followers.'"
The Death Eaters began to drop like flies. Lily noticed Draco Malfoy groan pitifully as he crumpled to the floor like his masked brethren. Voldemort pointed his wand at Harry and said: "My followers may not be able kill you, but the prophesy states that I can. Avada Kedavra!"
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted, and the two magical bolts struck in midair. Lily gasped as a thin golden thread appeared between Harry and Voldemort's wand.
"Priori Incantatem!" Lily said in a near whisper. She had heard of this happening when wands with similar or brother cores dueled, but never witnessed it before. Both Harry and Voldemort were struggling under its effects. Lily wanted to help, but was at a loss as to how.
"Harry!" Hermione shouted. "Voldemort used this world's Neville to resurrect himself, not you! Your Blood Protection still works!"
Whatever Hermione was talking about, Harry understood. He broke the connection between the two wands and charged at Voldemort. The fiend shouted a vulgarity as Harry physically tackled him to the ground. The two men struggled on the ground and Lily was shocked to see smoke rising from their intertwined bodies.
Within a second, Harry had somehow gained the upper hand and wrapped his hands around Voldemort's throat. Lily saw painful burn blisters pop up all over Harry's hands and forearms. But the injuries that Harry was suffering were nothing compared to Voldemort's. The burn blisters that marred Harry's flesh also covered the fiend's neck and face. As if the touch of the two combatants was actually corrosive to each other. Lily could hear bone and cartilage creaking and cracking as Harry crushed the villain's throat. The Dark Lord's flesh soon cracked open and his blood was pouring out between Harry's clenched fingers. After what seemed like an eternity, Voldemort stopped struggling and his blood ceased to flow. He was dead, finally dead.
Harry slowly and weakly stood up. Extreme pain etched his face. His hands and arms were disfigured with burns. Both Lily and Hermione made their way to Harry when he suddenly collapsed unconscious to the floor.
Lily froze as she looked at her son's motionless body, while Hermione ran to his side.
"Harry," Hermione cried as she cradled his head in her lap. "Harry, baby… wake up… please, wake up…"
To Be Concluded
Author's Notes: Thank you for reading my fic. I would like to thank my beta sasqch.