Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Harry Potter!

Under My Skin

Chapter Three

Realizations

James attempted to lift his wand. To protect himself, to throw off what Voldemort sent at him. But he didn't have any energy left; he had used up his last just to stand. He had failed his family…

"Interfectum!"

If one were to look out the window from the comfort of their house in the small town of Godric's Hollow, their attention might immediately be captured by the particular weather outside. It was truly quite strange, really. Earlier that day it had been pretty warm considering it was October. The sun had been burning brighter then ever in the clear skies, not a cloud in sight.

And yet now, nearly 10:00 p.m., the weather had drastically changed. A storm raged on and on, with no apparent intentions on dying down anytime soon. The weather people on the local news had not predicted this thunderstorm, and seemed utterly puzzled by it. The storm, to some, seemed positively unnatural. Perhaps it was the slightly green tint that was spotted occasionally in the ink-black sky, or the way that the wind howled louder then ever yet not a tree gave even the slightest ruffle in response. It might also be that the rain outside was not freezing cold as it usually was; it was instead mildly warm.

Many Muggles in the area questioned these seemingly unexplainable occurrences, yet others merely shrugged it off as nothing. Weather was, after all, 'unpredictable'. Still, others just ignored the weird happenings all together.

The rain water soaked everything it touched thoroughly, and eventually began flooding the streets and alleys.

Dead grass and dirt that made up most lawns in this time of year created a mud that no one wanted to tread in if they, for any reason, needed to walk outside in this devastating weather to, say, retrieve something from their cars. Strays took shelter wherever possible, much like the Muggles.

Aside from the pounding rain and occasional flicker of light from inside a house, there were no movements outside. After all, who would be insane enough to walk about in this type of weather?

One man was, although not entirely by choice. He was completely soaked with rain and mud, his strange clothing positively filthy. His jet-black hair was attempting to fight the rain and stick straight up, but every bit of it lost with the exception of a stubborn bit at the back. He staggered, clutching his head, which felt to him like someone were taking an oversized drumstick and hitting him repeatedly with it.

The man frowned as his tried to collect his thoughts...He dreamed that Voldemort...what had Voldemort done? Ah, yes. Voldemort had cursed him. The pain he had felt was unbelievable and his dream then took him to a coffin. He had blasted out of it and collapsed in the dry grass of the cemetery entrance-- that was as far as he had made at that time.

And here he was. James wasn't entirely sure why he had woken up in a puddle of murky rain water, but he figured that Lily would sort this out over a hot cup of tea, sitting on the couch beside him with Harry bouncing on her knee. Ah yes, he thought, a smile gracing his chapped lips. His family. Just the thought of them made him feel better.

This feeling, unfortunately, did not last long. James had staggered quite slowly in the direction of his house, which was only a few blocks from where he had woken up. He tried to rub rainwater from his hazel eyes and he approached where his house was, nearly all energy drained from him at this point.

Perhaps it was because he was not wearing his glasses at the time, or that the rain aided in blinding him further. But James did not realize something was wrong until he was a few feet from his house.

Or what was left of it.

The outside was charred slightly, leaving the once gleaming white paint chipped and blackened. The windows and front door were all boarded up rather carelessly, as well as a few holes in the front wall the house.

James's mind whirled with many different thoughts. What was going on? Why was the house destroyed? Where were Harry and Lily? What if Voldemort-?

His thoughts suddenly came to an abrupt halt. Voldemort. Voldemort. Voldemort.

My dream, the man thought quickly, leaning his head against the boarded up door. My dream...the curse...the curse that Voldemort sent at me, it hurt.

It hurt.

Dreams didn't usually cause you physical pain. Did that mean that Voldemort had come to his house and attacked James? James ceased to breathe for a moment, horrorstruck as he leaned back a bit to stare at his house again. Harry...Lily...

Realization dawned upon James. He had failed his family...

Quite suddenly, the man dropped to his knees and began to sob uncontrollably. His precious Lily, his baby boy. They were gone. They were really gone. And it was his fault, he hadn't been able to hold Voldemort off long enough, he hadn't been able to kill him.

And because of his own weaknesses his family had suffered dearly.

James let out a particularly loud wail, sinking all the way to the ground now, curled up in a tight trembling ball. While the rain washed away any evidence that James had numerous tears leaking through his tightly shut eyes, the rain could not wash away his pain. His suffering.

Lily had been his life, his reason to live. And soon Harry was the joy of his life, and now...

If Voldemort had killed his family, Sirius, Remus and Peter must have been killed as well. There was no way they could have survived.

He continued shaking violently in the rain, part from the fact that the rain had now suddenly grown cold, but mostly because of his loss. Losses, he corrected himself, but that merely made him feel like dying even more so.

James couldn't help but wonder though. Why. Why had they died, yet here he was, grieving on the front step of his burnt house. Why!

Nearly an hour later, the Auror drew himself up, back leaning against the boards that replaced him front door. Harry wasn't alive. Lils wasn't alive. Sirius wasn't alive. Remus wasn't alive. Peter wasn't alive.

Just why was he? If those five weren't here any longer, he didn't see any reason why he was. How much time had passed since Voldemort had destroyed his reasons to live? It would have been too long. Perhaps, thought the man, although still grieving immensely, he had gained a bit of strength, perhaps if James got to Dumbledore and warned him...perhaps Dumbledore could track down Voldemort and destroy him, finish what James had miserably failed, to his family's unfortune.

While the rain had died down quite a bit, it still pounding down upon James, making it even harder for him to get back on his two shaky legs. They wobbled dangerously underneath him, threatening to give away any moment now. He willed them to stay strong, at least for a short while, until he could get to Hogwarts.

Hogwarts. The only place reckoned to be safe against Voldemort, since Dumbledore took charge as Headmaster. With a bit of swelling hope, James could not help but wonder if Lily, seeing as the woman was so bright, had indeed figured out a way to escape and was now sitting in Dumbledore's office, rocking Harry to sleep with James' three best friends surrounding her accompanied by Dumbledore, who was busy at the fire gathering aurors. Yes that was a pleasant thought indeed, but James tried to snap out of it. As much as he desperately wanted to believe this was true, it seemed unlikely.

Yet Voldemort showing up at our house was also unlikely, a least at that time, James thought.

Back to his thoughts about Hogwarts. He needed to get there. But how. It would be easy to Floo if there were any fires about. Regular travel would take days probably. He didn't have much of a choice-- it would have to be apparation.

He highly doubted he'd be able to Apparate under these conditions. He was weak, very weak. And his pain-- James felt the hold on his heart tighten. It was worth a try, because it wasn't as if he could exactly walk up to the neighbor's door and ask to use their fire.

With one last tearful look at his miserable 'home', James closed his bloodshot eyes, concentrating hard. He needed to Apparate just outside Hogwarts or else the wards on the Castle and its grounds would reject him and be set off.

Wrinkling his nose in determination, James Dissaparated with a pop!

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The gray skies loomed ominously overhead, but this went easily unnoticed by anyone in the area. A small abandoned Church stood unsteadily, surrounded thickly by tall pine trees. It had been raining earlier, leaving the grounds wet. Inside the church, for the first time in years, something stirred.

It could easily just be a rat of some sort. In fact, it was. This rat, however, was not what it seemed. For the next moment a short and plump man took its place. The man himself greatly resembled a rat, with his short, pointed nose, large buckteeth, and small, watery eyes. Patched of blonde gray hair were missing from the top of his round head, and he was positively shining in perspiration. He searched the broken church thoroughly with his eyes, and then made a strange sort of signal.

Suddenly about ten cloaked figured appeared in a tight circle, and not soon after, one last towering figure appeared in the middle of said circle, also draped in black cloaks. Unlike the rest of the men, he did not cover his face with a gleaming white mask.

Even if he had, if would not make much difference because the man's face was already pure white, eyes sunken and red, and his nose had seemingly disappeared with the exception of two slits as nostrils. The man was overall pretty snakelike.

Voldemort stood with an air of impatience as each Death Eater bowed low and kissed the hem of his cloak.

"Death Eaters," he finally addressed, when all eleven were situated in their respectful place in the circle. "Give me your reports on the operation's progress,"

One Death Eater stepped out of the circle, bowing low to the ground. "My Lord, the potion you have requested is nearly finished. It should take another day or so at the most," The voice sounded familiar, but the intruder on this meeting just couldn't quite place it yet.

"Very well, Severus." Voldemort dismissed the Potions Master. Snape stepped back, closing the circle again. The next Death Eater stepped out with less confidence.

"My Lord, I-!"

"Ah, Wormtail," Voldemort drawled, causing the Death Eater to visibly flinch. "You have caused me a great deal of trouble lately. I do believe a punishment is needed.

"Crucio!"

The pathetic man dropped to the floor in agony, crying out in yelps. The other Death Eaters watched quite uneasily. That could be any one of them in a moment's time.

Finally after a minute or so the torture ceased and Wormtail, sniffling slightly, attempted to pull himself together and slip back into the circle.

"Now," said the Dark Lord. "It has come to my attention that the Minister of Magic has been ignoring my return with great efforts, as my sources from the Ministry-" he paused and looked at Lucius, who bowed slightly, "-have told me. This can, and will, work to our advantage. We shall lay low for the time being, if we want our plans to go accordingly.

"These plans, I trust you know, to take down Potter once and for all,"

Harry awoke with a start, finding himself tangled in his sheets on the Dorm floor. Ron, Neville, Dean, and Seamus all stood over him, and Ron apparently had been shaking him.

"You alright, mate?" Ron asked cautiously, looking frightened.

"What happened?" Harry said groggily, pulling himself up onto his bed in a sitting position. His scar felt a knife was being dragged down the length of it, and his earlier visions were still fresh in his mind.

"You were thrashing around in your bed for a bit," Ron explained in a hushed tone. "We tried to wake you up; you started screaming and then...fell,"

Harry found his glasses on his bedside table and stood as quickly as his wobbly legs would allow it. "I'll be right back, alright?" he told Ron, ignoring the others' looks. Harry reached into his trunk, located at the foot of his bed, and drew out his father's old Invisibility Cloak.

Once out through the portrait hole and safely covered by the Cloak, he set off to Dumbledore's office.

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Here it is, chapter three! Well the end of it lol. I'm hoping to get chapter four up around next weekend, ok? See ya then :D

My lovely reviewers!

Shaira: Thanks! I know, I can't wait to write that part! I've actually been working on it a bit, but I'm sorry to say it won't be in the story for a few more chapters, most likely. But who knows, I DO change my mind a lot!

Amrawo: It's ok that you reviewed a bit late I really hope you found a great dress, and have fun at Homecoming! I love dances, but I have to wait a bit for a dance in my school because in eight grade we don't get homecoming dances, of course XD But I'll stop rambling and wasting your time lol!