Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The wonderful JK Rowling does! I wish I did, then I'd be rich! Just kidding! Please don't sue me for writing a fan fic that I really hope you enjoy!
Last Chapter Summery: A Healer tells Sirius they have no idea how Marissa died. At Marissa's funeral, Lily and James reflect on their life and their friends. James and Lily take Harry trick or treating and he smiles for the first time. Sirius and Remus stay at the house and talk about loosing their wives. James finds a tooth coming in the back of Harry's mouth. Then James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus all dance around the room with Harry. Marissa comes to Sirius in a dream and tells him to move on with his life.
Melodicmoonstar89 gave me the idea for James' vision!
¤.¸¸.·´¨»«´¨·. ¸¸.¤
December…
Harry was giggling madly as James lightly tickled his sides, joining him in his laughter. James then attacked his little baby feet and Harry laughed some more, wiggling around naked on the changing table.
"You know, you're supposed to change him, not tickle him," a voice said from the doorway. James looked up and saw Lily leaning against the doorframe.
"But we're having fun, Lils!" James whined.
"Aaa-ooo…" Harry said in agreement.
Lily rolled her eyes and walked over to the changing table, pushing James aside with her hip. "I asked you to do one thing today and that was to dress Harry for the day," Lily said in a cheerful scold, opening a drawer and getting out a red-footed sleeper with a teddy bear wearing a Santa hat on the front. Harry tried to squirm away from his mother as she began slipping his feet in the outfit.
With a chuckle, James wrapped his arms around Lily's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Okay, I promise to not do it ever again," he said very seriously, kissing her neck. Lily's heart fluttered, it was amazing how he can make her feel like she's sixteen all over again.
Finally, Lily zipped up the front of Harry's sleeper and turned around in her husband's arms, kissing him gently. "You better not, or you'll have me to deal with."
James smiled and captured Lily in another kiss. "What were we arguing about?"
"No clue," Lily replied and rested her forehead on his lips, "Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas," James responded, nuzzling her hair. Harry made a slight humming noise and both his parents turned to him.
"When are Sirius and Remus supposed to get here?" Lily asked, lifting Harry from the changing table.
James opened his mouth to respond, but two pops from downstairs stopped him from speaking. Arguing could be heard, then a voice yelling, "Sirius, DON'T!", a thud followed by several more, and someone laughing.
Turning to Lily and Harry, James said calmly, "I would say just about now."
When they arrived in the living room, they saw a mess of presents strewn everywhere and Sirius doubled over with laughter. "Where's Remus? I thought I heard his voice," Lily asked as she put Harry in the playpen next to the couch. He immediately entertained himself with some stackable cones.
Gasping for breath, Sirius pointed to a spot underneath a pile of bright packages. Frowning, James moved the presents away with his wand and saw a small green turtle underneath them. "You turned him into a turtle?" James asked, trying not to smile.
"Matches his personality a bit, doesn't it?" Sirius choked out before collapsing into another fit of laughter.
Lily kneeled down and put Remus in her palm, then stood again glaring at Sirius. "I don't see how—and it's not funny! What did he ever do to you?" Lily asked.
Trying to stand up straight, Sirius said logically, "Well, he called me a madman for buying Harry so many presents. But I said I'm his godfather therefore I reserve the right to spoil him. Then he insulted my mother! This was all because I made him carry the presents."
"Well, it doesn't give you the right to turn him into a turtle," James said simply, still trying not to laugh. Remus in turtle form snapped in Sirius' direction and let out a hissing sound.
"You have to admit it was damn funny," Sirius said, laughing a little.
"Hey, there are little ears in the room," James said, pointing at Harry's playpen.
Suddenly, Lily screamed and dropped turtle Remus, who landed on his back, spinning on his shell uselessly. "He pooed on my hand!" she squealed, wiping her hand on James' robes. Harry, startled by the noise, starting crying.
"Eww! Don't wipe it on me!" James yelled, grabbing her wrist. Lily pinched his arm to get him to let go of her hand and this started a playful fight between them. In no time they were wrestling on the floor. Lily pinned James on the ground, straddling his stomach and using her knees to hold down his legs and trapped his arms to the floor. In a quick motion, James flipped Lily onto her back and started tickling her, just as he did with Harry upstairs.
"No! James! Stop!" Lily squealed, kicking her legs and wiggling around, trying to get away. Sirius plopped down on the couch to watch the wrestling match and Remus tried desperately to get on his feet again. Harry continued to wail because of all the commotion.
The "fight" ended with Lily clumsily connecting her mouth with James' in the midst of the tickling. James immediately dropped his defenses and started kissing back, resting on top of Lily.
"Oh my God, you two are like bunnies," Sirius commented, for not the first time in his life, "Break it up, no one wants to see a live snogging session."
But Remus was on his way to stop it. During all the ruckus, Lily's foot connected with Remus and sent him soaring upright on his four legs. He had crawled slowly over to James and Lily's forms and snapped his mouth down tight on James' leg. James yelped and shook Remus off of him.
Sirius clicked his tongue and waggled a finger in Remus' direction. "Now, now Remus, I didn't transfigure you into a snapping turtle," he said to the turtle, using the same tone one would use in scolding a two year old. In response, Remus snapped at Sirius and started a new slow crawl towards him.
"Change him back, James," Lily said just before James planted his lips on hers once more. With a sigh, James saw his wand lying across the room and summoned it with his mind. He then pointed it towards turtle Remus and muttered a few words. In seconds, Remus was standing where a small green turtle once was.
After brushing himself off, Remus' eyes narrowed in Sirius' direction and said in a low, dangerous voice, "I'm going to kill you." In a swift motion, Remus pounced on Sirius. Another fight erupted as the two men rolled around on the ground, lightly punching and kicking each other, occasionally bumping into walls.
Lily and James watched amusingly, still on the ground. When they almost knocked over the Christmas tree, James groaned and got up, holding out a hand to help Lily off the ground too. "We better open presents before they do anymore damage. I'll get Harry and you start rounding up the gifts, okay?" James said. Lily nodded and began sending presents soaring neatly under the tree with her wand.
James walked to the crib to see Harry red in the face and hiccupping, tears no longer sliding down his chubby cheeks. "You want out, little guy?" James asked. Harry looked up at his dad, then held his arms in the air to be picked up. James obliged and carried him to the Christmas tree, shooting a spell to stop Sirius and Remus fighting on the way.
A ton of wrapping paper and a half hour later, the friends were all lounging around the living room in midst of newly opened packages. Sirius was relaxing in a recliner while Remus was stretched on the couch, reading a new book Lily had gotten him for Christmas. James was lying under the tree, idly adjusting the lights. His head was resting on Lily's leg, who was sitting upright next to James holding Harry in her lap. Harry in turn was sucking contently on wrapping paper with dancing snowmen on it, looking up at the ceiling.
With a sigh, Lily rubbed a hand on Harry's arm and complained, "Harry was just spoiled rotten with all these great presents and he chooses to eat wrapping paper."
As if he heard his mother, Harry glanced back at Lily then dropped the wrapping paper and reached for a soft toy airplane lying a few feet from him. James grinned and picked up the airplane and made zooming noise, swirling the airplane in circles around Harry's head. Harry cooed then giggled, following the airplane with his eyes. James laughed and set the airplane down in his son's lap, where Harry picked it up and tried to make it fly like James did. "Say, Lily, what is this thing called again?" James asked as he helped Harry make it fly.
"An airplane, James," Lily said exasperatedly, "I told you, all of you, to take Muggle Studies but you didn't listen…"
"Hey! I took Muggle Studies!" Remus protested.
In a singsong voice, James reminded him, "Then dropped it to take Arthimaticy."
Remus thought for a moment, then said, "Oh yeah."
Sirius sat up suddenly and asked, "Lily, didn't we see a movie with an airplanet in it?"
"Yeah! Where the guy says, 'Yes and don't call me Shirley'," James said excitedly.
"And the other guy does the disco dancing-"
"And the guy in the bed starting singing musicals-"
"And the inflatable co-pilot-"
"And the guy asks, 'A hospital, what is it?' and the other one says, 'It's a big building with patients in it, but that's not important right now'-"
"And the stupid guy says, 'It looks like a giant Tylenol'-"
"And when-"
"STOP!" Lily yelled. Sirius and James stopped raving about the movie and Lily smiled and continued. "The movie is called Airplane, that's what this," Lily held up the stuffed airplane, now wet with Harry's slobber, "-not a airplanet. We all saw the movie, there is no need to recite it back to everyone."
"Exactly," Remus said, nodding his head approvingly in Lily's direction, then continuing, "And you are all wrong, the best part in Airplanet was when the two guys were speaking Jive and the old lady talks to them."
All Lily could do at t is point was groan and put her head in her hands as the three men began arguing over which was the best part. Harry squealed loudly and continued sucking on the airplane, watching h the Marauders.
¤.¸¸.·´¨»«´¨·. ¸¸.¤
James was walking through a strange house. But it wasn't like the houses in his other dreams; this one had a bad aura around it. For one, it was spotlessly clean. Too clean one might say. It was like a hospital, very sterile, and it creeped James out a bit.
Just as James was about to explore further, a thumping echoed throughout the house. James tried to cover his head, thinking it was an earthquake, when a boy whose face looked like he was four to five years old came running down the stairs. Now, his face looked like four or five, but his weight said differently. This boy was roughly the size of a baby whale. The unknown boy ran past James (he had to flatten himself against the wall to not be crushed by the oncoming force) and to what looked like a door to a broom cupboard.
With his giant fists, the boy pounded on the door, causing sawdust to fall from the ceiling. "Wake up, Harry! Wake UP! Dad's going to be mad at you!" the boy taunted to someone in the cupboard. The whale then thundered into the kitchen, where he caught a glimpse of another large man. Harry? James wondered to himself, It couldn't be our Harry…
As the door to the kitchen closed, the broom cupboard one opened and James saw a tiny boy, no older than five, emerge from it. James walked over to the door to get a closer look and gasped. The boy was a mirror image of himself! He had messy black hair, a small frame, and round glasses. The only difference was he had startling green eyes that belonged to Lily. Then it is Harry…James thought, wondering what he was doing here.
Harry slouched out of the broom cupboard and closed the door behind him. James inspected him and saw he was wearing clothes that were three times larger than his size. They were full of stains and rips in the cloth, clearly hand me downs. Harry meekly walked to the kitchen and stepped inside, James right on his heels.
In the kitchen, there was a very large man sitting at the table reading a paper. James couldn't see his face, so he looked around the kitchen, trying to place whose home this was. Then he saw a woman at the stove, hastily cooking breakfast. James let out a low growl, it was Petunia. He quickly rushed over to the man at the table and confirmed his suspicions; Vernon Dursley was reading the paper. Why the hell is Harry here?
"Yes Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked. James' heart just about broke; his voice still had a baby tone to it yet it was full of pain and sadness. James looked into Harry's eyes and saw a careful mask on his face, even at that young of an age he was hiding his emotions.
Vernon snapped down his paper and looked Harry up and down, letting out a sigh of disgust. James' blood boiled and he wanted to hit him. "You were supposed to be up long ago," Vernon muttered.
Harry looked at the wall clock and then said, "B-but, it's only seven."
"Laziness is a disgraceful habit! You don't want to end up like your father, a wastrel, would you?" Vernon asked. James clenched his jaw and his hands balled into fists, trying to calm himself.
"No, sir," Harry whispered.
"Ask Aunt Petunia what your chores for the day are," Vernon said, flipping his paper back open.
Turning, Harry asked Petunia mechanically, "Aunt Petunia, what are my chores for the day?"
With a 'humph', Petunia whirled on Harry and said, "Wash the dishes, vacuum the house, mop the kitchen, make the beds, clean the bathrooms, trim the hedges, mow the lawn, dust the surfaces, clean Dudley's room, and clean the furniture. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," Harry whispered. The large boy, who James assumed to be the Dudley that Petunia mentioned, snickered and shoved a muffin in his mouth. Harry gazed longingly at the muffin as his cousin chomped it in two big bites. Petunia caught his stares.
"And no breakfast, you'll need all day to do this," Petunia said, turning back to the meal she was preparing.
Harry let a small groan escape his lips and said, "But I didn't get to eat at all yesterday either."
At this comment, Vernon shot out of his seat and roughly grabbed Harry by the forearm. "You do as your aunt says!" he yelled as he shoved Harry into the hallway outside the kitchen. Harry fell hard on the ground and the kitchen door swung shut on Dudley's laughter. James stormed into the kitchen and tried to punch Vernon in the face, but his hand went straight through him.
With an annoyed groan, that no one heard, James went back into the hallway to see Harry still lying on the ground, small sobs escaping his lips. Slowly, James went to him and kneeled down next to him, trying to hug his son but his arms went through him. Harry sat up and swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. "Why did you leave me, mum and dad?" he asked quietly to the air.
James just looked at Harry, his eyes filling up with tears. "I didn't leave you, I'm right here! I'm right here!" James tried saying, but no sound came out. The image of the hallway and young Harry were fading away.
The next thing he knew, James was sitting up in bed, shaking and sweating all over. He fumbled for his glasses and placed them on his face. Then his ear picked up a new sound, Harry was crying in the nursery. The clock on his nightstand read 2:14 AM. James glanced over to Lily; she had not woken yet to the sound of Harry crying. Gently, James stroked her hair and carefully climbed out of bed to tend to Harry's needs. Lily had been getting up at all hours of the night to take care of Harry since he was born. As James was a very heavy sleeper, he never heard Harry crying.
When he arrived in the nursery, Harry immediately stopped crying and smiled, showing two teeth. "Little faker," James whispered, grinning as he lifted Harry out of the crib. He walked over to the rocking chair and plopped down, sitting Harry in his lap and leaning his body in the crook of his arm. "You know, you drive your mama crazy when you cry in the middle of the night like this." Harry yawned in response.
Sighing, James ran a hand over Harry's head and down his arm. "I had scariest dream. At least I hope it was a dream and not a vision…" And James proceeded to tell Harry every detail of his dream. Harry listened with droopy eyes, looking up at his father.
"I'm so scared. I don't know what that dream meant. What happened to your mum and I? And why did you go to the Dursley's of all people. They're not very nice people," James said and looked down at his son, seeing him blink his eyes heavily, trying to stay awake. He bent down and kissed Harry on the crown of his head and whispered, "It made me realize I would die to protect you. I promise nothing bad will happen to you, as long as I'm around, you'll be safe. I promise."
Harry yawned one more time and closed his eyes, falling asleep. James kissed his head once more and gently laid him in his crib, tucking the blue blanket around his form. "I love you, Harry," James said as he turned on his snitch mobile and crept out of the room.
The next morning James remembered nothing of the dream.
¤.¸¸.·´¨»«´¨·. ¸¸.¤
January…
"I think he's getting a cold," Lily said, attempting to wipe Harry's nose. Harry tried to move his head away and pushed her hands off his face. "Harry, mummy's got to wipe your nose," Lily said in a high voice, attempting to swipe at his face one more time.
James sighed, looking through the owl post. "Should we take him to the mediwitch to see if he's sick?"
Harry sneezed and his nose began leaking again. Lily grabbed another tissue and made a gallant attempt to clean his nose. "I think we should, so we know for sure what potion to give him to get rid of it."
Nodding, James began writing replies to the letters they had received. Then a phoenix soared into the room and dropped a feather into James' lap. Harry watched it soar out the window and gave a small laugh, then started coughing. "Do we have to leave now?" Lily asked James.
"Lils, you know what this means," James said gravely, getting up from the chair and going to the sofa in the study where Harry and Lily were sitting. Harry reached for the phoenix feather and James gave it to him. As soon as his baby fingers touched the feather it started glowing a deep shade of gold. "That's strange…" James muttered.
Lily nodded, watching as he touched the feather to his face. Lily tried to take the feather away from him but Harry immediately started wailing, so Lily let him hold it. "What does that mean?" Lily asked.
"I don't know. Do you think we should take Harry with us?" James asked.
Putting the children's book she was reading to Harry aside, Lily said, "There's no one else to watch him, Dumbledore will know what to do."
James nodded and left the study, going to the hall closet and getting the baby Apparation carrier out. He strapped it onto his chest and went to the nursery where he heard Harry coughing. When he arrived Lily had dressed Harry in a jumper under a coat with a hat and scarf. Lily strapped him into the Apparation carrier, much to the protest of Harry. "I have to change into robes, be right back." Lily said, heading out of the nursery.
"It's not a beauty pageant." James joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere. Lily returned a small smile.
They knew what the phoenix feather meant. All of the members of the Order had to report immediately to Hogwarts and head to the Room of Requirements. It was no meeting though, much more serious. Dumbledore would fill them in on where Voldemort was attacking, how many Death Eaters were there, if the Ministry was involved and what the duties of each member were.
Lily returned and husband, wife, and baby Apparated to the gates outside Hogwarts. A chilling breeze blew threw their robes and James held Harry closer. The child was shivering something awful. "He has to have a cold, I just hope it's not severe," James muttered.
After a long walk, they made it to the Room of Requirements. Most of the members were there, including other three Marauders. "Prof-I mean, Albus," James said, walking to the great wizard at the head of the meeting table. Lily followed him. "What should we do about Harry?" James asked as his son shivered and coughed. "He has a cold-"
"Ah not to worry, James. Madame Pomfrey would be delighted to tend to his cold and look after him." Dumbledore said.
James nodded and started to walk out when Lily said, "James, I'll take him down."
Nodding, James undid Harry from the carrier and handed him to Lily. As she was walking out, James grabbed her arm and said firmly, "Listen, don't feel like it's the last time you're going to see him because it's not."
Lily looked at James for a moment then nodded slowly, pulling her husband into a hug. "Okay, you know me too well. I'll be back in a minute."
As promised, Lily arrived back into the Room of Requirements minutes later. This time Alice and Frank Longbottom joining her. They had dropped their son, Neville, off in the hospital wing too. Madame Pomfrey cured Harry instantly and conjured a playpen for Harry to play in while his parents were on a mission. Lily saw the Longbottoms in the hall and directed them to the hospital wing so Neville could be watched over also.
"Welcome friends," Dumbledore said once everyone had arrived and chosen a seat around the rectangular table. "I am sorry to say this gathering is not of good nature. There is an attack scheduled to happen near Diagon Alley. There are rumors of Voldemort gracing us with his presence, but only his right hand men get the real plans.
"I also have unfortunate news. There is a traitor in our midst." Whispers broke out among the members. "News of the Order has leaked to Voldemort. All of your lives are in grave danger. Use extreme caution today."
The atmosphere got heavier by the second as Dumbledore filled the members in with the details of the attack. Maps to the location were handed out and Dumbledore suggested non-illegal spells to use to their defense. After the information was handed out, the group made their way down to the gates to Apparate, The Potters and the Longbottoms stopping in the hospital wing for one last goodbye.
"Use caution," Dumbledore warned one last time as they all took out their wands on the outskirts of Hogwarts.
"Don't die," Sirius muttered, causing the Marauders plus Lily to glance at him. Then with a lot of pops, they were gone.
Everything was normal when they arrived. As usual, thought Remus, then sighed aloud and thought, We shouldn't know what the "usual" is…
Immediately, the members fanned out and acted as if they were casually shopping. James and Lily strolled together hand in hand, their senses tuned for anything out of the ordinary. Remus and Sirius were looking at a shop's display window, wands clutched in their clammy hands. Peter was wandering around, now and then touching his forearm in pain.
The air around them seemed to tremor and all the members of the Order stopped. They could almost feel the magic in the air getting denser, wrapping around each person like a cloak. Out of nowhere it seemed tons of Death Eaters swarmed the streets. They seemed to be just walking. Simultaneously, James and Sirius fired a spell at the group. The rest of the Order followed suit. The Death Eaters began firing back, most of the shots flying haphazardly into buildings. Muggle shoppers stood there, confused but a few wizards in Muggle attire joined the Order in firing spells. When a Stunning Spell hit a Muggle, panic spread.
"Get into a building!" Sirius yelled to Muggles screaming.
"Stay out of sight!" Remus added, shoving people in buildings and into safety.
As his back was turned, a Death Eater aimed a spell at Remus, hitting him just below his neck. Remus didn't know what the spell was, but it certainly affected him. The world around him got hazy and everything was spinning so fast. His mind was a whirl of confusion as he tried to concentrate and think of the counter curse, his stomach getting sicker all the while.
Meanwhile, Peter looked as if he was engaged in a fierce battle, but none of the Death Eaters around were coming near him. He was throwing out jets of light at various Death Eaters, all missing people. Peter hit target once, a blast of water hit the Death Eater in the face. Peter's skin turned ghostly white and the Death Eater strode over to him, hissing in his ear while still firing curses, "You idiot, what the hell do you think you're doing?"
Trying to stand up a little straighter as he replied, "The Da-dark Lord has instructed me to fight with the Order, Lucius. I don't want to shoot damaging c-c-curses," Peter gathered up any Gryffindor courage he had left and smirking, he added in an undertone, "You of all people should know this since you g-go on about how you're the one he trusts the most."
Even through his mask, Lucius' eyes shined with loathing. "Kindly do not interfere with things you know nothing of, I do not know why the Dark Lord treasures your pitiful information on friends. And watch where you aim your water," he said, giving Peter one last look of contempt before jumping into battle with an unknown wizard.
"Haha! Take THAT!" James yelled, making a Death Eater retreat to a less able bodied victim.
James was just about to conquer another Death Eater when he heard agonizing screams somewhere off to the left. Unfortunately, his ears knew that sound; someone was being tortured by the Cruciatus Curse. He couldn't see who, the air was hazy with smoke. James didn't recognize the screams, although they were causing goose pimples all over his skin. This was the worst part of fighting; he had seconds to think of a solution. Warding off a curse thrown his way, he followed the screams of pain, praying it was a Death Eater being tortured instead of the other way around.
After deflection a few curses and blasting a mediocre enemy out of his way, James stumbled over broken cobblestone and reached the victim, blinking his eyes trying to see through the smoke. His heart sank as he saw it was a Death Eater holding the wand, then crept closer, keeping his form hidden behind a building.
Lying on the ground, screaming and withering in pain, were Frank and Alice Longbottom. He could see they've been in hell for quite some time as madness had begun to slither in their eyes. Shaking away his chills and heartbreak, James armed his wand at the Death Eater on the right. "Stupefy!" he muttered, his voice full of hate. The red light contacted and the first Death Eater fell.
The second lifted the Cruciatus and pointed their wand where James was. "Who's there?" Show yourself!" a woman's voice came from inside the hood. James bit back a gasp; it was Sirius' cousin Bellatrix. Frank and Alice were still on the ground in a ball, convulsing and speaking gibberish. Bellatrix looked down in disgust, kicking Alice in the side who was closest to her. "Stop that you twit," she muttered then turned her attention to where the spell had come from.
But James was ready to attack. "Stupefy!" he shouted again but this time Bella deflected it.
"Stop playing hide and seek, show yourself!" Bellatrix yelled and James did as she wished. He came charging out.
They became engaged in a fierce battle, throwing and deflecting curses. James was surprised, Bella was a good dueler. Of course she had Dark magic to help her. It took all James had to concentrate on the battle instead of his fallen comrades screaming on the ground. Bella saw this small distraction and smiled, using it to her advantage.
James had the upper hand in the duel; a lot of curses had penetrated her shield. Right after she had deflected a minor curse, Bellatrix pointed her wand to Frank Longbottom and said cruelly, "Crucio!" His small whimpers and occasional yells turned into extreme screams of agony. James was distracted for a split second as he stepped towards Frank to help him. Bella took this as her cue and lifted the curse off Frank and struck James down with, "Mobilicorpus!" James couldn't move, invisible binds held him together. "Silencio!" Bella added as an afterthought. Very slowly, she strode over to James and stood over him, laughing as she pointed her wand into his chest. James tried to concentrate on the counter curses and undo the binds with his mind, but the Longbottoms tortured faces and screams kept interrupting his thoughts. "So courageous, James. Too bad Gryffindors are so foolish," Bellatrix said, grinning. She pressed the tip of her wand deep into his sweating cheek and James struggled to get away but he knew it was hopeless. He couldn't concentrate, this was the end. He would never see Lily or Harry again…
"Furnuncules!" Someone yelled behind James. Bellatrix stumbled and fell, boils breaking out all over her body. "Locomotor Mortis! Petrificus Totalus!" the voice shouted again and Bella fell face flat on the ground, frozen with boils breaking out all over her face making her hardly recognizable. "Ah, the beauty of simple spells from first year. You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," the voice said and this time James recognized it. It was Sirius.
Soon the curses had been lifted off James and Sirius was helping him off the ground. "Thanks, a lot. I thought I was dead there," James said gratefully, smiling at his best friend.
"Don't mention it," Sirius said cheerfully, then looked at his cousin. "Hmm, she looks a slight better than normal, wouldn't you say?" Sirius asked.
Laughing, James nodded in agreement and added, "We should probably Stun her, the freezing charm will wear off in an hour and I want to be sure the Ministry gets her."
"May I do the honors?" Sirius said sarcastically and without waiting for James' reply, shouted, "Stupefy!" Sirius grinned, but it quickly turned to a frown when he saw Frank and Alice on the ground. "What happened?" Sirius questioned, kneeling down beside Alice, not knowing how to help.
Guilt took over James, feeling he was responsible for their state. He could've helped them sooner instead of hiding in the shadows. "They're…they've gone mad. The Cruciatus…"
Just then, James and Sirius heard a scream from far off. Little hairs popped up on James' arm, he knew that voice. "Lily…" he whispered. Sirius shot a look of horror his way and both of them ran towards her scream.
Minutes before, Lily was dodging constant curses as she was trapped in the fiercest part of the battle. Dozens of Aurors and Death Eaters were locked in duels all around her and Lily had narrowly escaped a few of them. Now she was trying to take cover so she gather her thoughts. So far, the Imperius Curse has been used on her twice. Of course, Lily could fight it off but it took a lot of concentration.
She took cover behind some overturned garbage bends, breathing heavily. Lily put two shaky hands to the sides of her and took deep rattling breaths, trying to focus on what was going on around her. Every now and then she heard screams and with each one she winced.
"Hello, my dear," said a cold voice behind her. Lily whipped around to see who it was but she barely caught a glimpse of two snakelike eyes before the man muttered, "Crucio!"
The all too familiar feeling swept through her body as the Cruciatus Curse submerged her veins in ice. Hot white knives were stabbing her everywhere and the world was turning red around her. The curse lifted momentarily and Lily lay hunched on the ground, trying to regain her breath. She felt two icy hands turn her on her back and just one hand grasping her chin, pulling her face to hers as the most feared wizard in the world smiled evilly into her eyes. "You won't escape me this time," Voldemort said, a puff of his breath landing on Lily's face. She grimaced, but it was not in fear. It was in disgust. "Perhaps you could spare your life, and the life of your husband and son. Join me, join my ranks, and you can have everything you've ever needed, including protection."
Lily said nothing but stared straight into his red eyes, hate shining in her own. "You're powers would be useful to use. As much as I hate to admit it, you are a very talented witch. You're husband is a powerful wizard, and both so young. You would be a great asset to me. Join—and you live," Voldemort added, his wand now pressed into her temple.
Voldemort waited for an answer, staring right back into her fierce emerald eyes. After a moment, Lily reached up and swatted at his wand hand away, which was placed on her forehead and said dangerously, "Never."
Another dose of torture consumed Lily as Voldemort let out his rage through his wand. The hurt was immense, Lily couldn't remember ever being in this much pain. Let me die! Let me die! Her mind screamed, desperate for any escape out of this anguish.
Then the Cruciatus Curse stopped and Lily, quivering, looked up at Voldemort and saw a sneer placed on his face, looking behind her. Trying to gather all of the energy she had left, Lily glanced behind her and saw Dumbledore standing there. Voldemort let out a cold laugh and turned his attention back to Lily. "We will meet again, reconsider my offer or suffer." With that, Voldemort was gone.
"Lily! Lily! Move out of the way! Lily! Move aside! Oh my God-" A voice was calling desperately. Lily looked up and saw James, with Sirius close behind, running towards her.
Skidding to a halt, James collapsed on the ground next to Lily and gathered her up in his arms. "Oh my God…oh my God. Sirius we could've been too late! Lily…Lils…" James called to Lily. She couldn't seem to focus; a blurry image of James' worried eyes was all she could make out.
"I-I'm here. I'm okay. James, it was Voldemort-" Lily said weakly.
"I know, we saw him Disapparate. Oh God, Lily. Are you okay?" James asked, running a hand over her hair and down her cheek. It was hard for Lily to make words, so she just nodded firmly. James let out a strangled cry and buried his face in her neck, kissing her chin. It was the same place Voldemort had gripped her face and Lily involuntarily shivered.
"James, please move aside, she's just shell shocked. I can fix her in a second," Dumbledore said kindly. James nodded and untangled himself from Lily, but didn't let go of her hand. Sirius stood behind him, clapping a hand on his shoulder. Dumbledore waved his wand a few times over her head, muttering a small amount of words, then circled down her whole body. "Give it a minute, she'll be fine," Dumbledore said when he stopped waving his wand.
"Sir, the Longbottoms, they were being tortured by my cousin, Bellatrix," Sirius said suddenly.
Dumbledore looked up from Lily and into Sirius' eyes. "Are they all right?" he asked slowly.
Sirius and James both shared a glance, then Sirius said shakily, "I don't think so. They might've lost their minds-" Lily heard this and tears started running down her cheeks.
"When I arrived, it looked they had been under the Cruciatus Curse for a while. I'm no mediwizard, but…" James paused, trying to find words, "I just don't know."
With a heavy sigh, Dumbledore nodded and said thank you. He stood to go find the Longbottoms when Lily asked timidly, "Prof-erm, Albus?" Dumbledore turned and smiled kindly, "Does Neville have anywhere to go?" After she said this, more tears slipped down her face.
"Yes, his grandmother is legal guardian if anything should've happened to them," Dumbledore replied. Lily closed her eyes tight and let out a rattling breath.
"We should go find Remus. Can you stand?" James asked Lily. She nodded and stood unsteadily, but straightened her form, trying to be strong.
They found Remus and performed the counter curse. The spell the Death Eater placed on him at the first signs of battle was still in effect, but he dueled three Death Eaters and Stunned one, who would be on trial with the Lestranges. Five Death Eaters had been Stunned and taken into custody. Peter had not been seen since right after they Apparated. With a lot of effort, the four friends Apparated to the gates outside Hogwarts.
Third Defiance…
¤.¸¸.·´¨»«´¨·. ¸¸.¤
"I need to talk to Dumbledore, are you okay to get Harry?" James asked after they passed through the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts.
"Yeah of course," Lily said with a feeble grin.
"Uhh, I think I should take Remus to St. Mungos," Sirius said, trying to help Remus walk straight and stay standing, "I don't know what that curse was but it did a number on him."
James nodded. "That's a good idea, we'll meet you guys up there."
"I rather not go to St. Mungos," Lily said, "You can go James, I'll Apparate Harry home and put him down for a nap, then go to bed."
Giving her a long, searching gaze, James asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"
Lily gave a short nod, then captured James in a tight embrace. "I'm fine," she said into his cloak. James held her for a while, then bid goodbye and good luck to Sirius and Remus and escorted Lily to the hospital wing.
"See you in a few hours," James said. Lily nodded again, words could not be found. James hugged her one more time then headed up to Dumbledore's office.
Taking a deep breath, Lily went into the hospital wing and to the playpen where Harry and Neville were sitting. Neville was holding a stuffed cow toy and it looked like Harry wanted it, for he was eyeing it with interest. He reached out his hand to swipe it from Neville, but as soon as he connected Neville squealed in protest and clung on harder. This caused the cow toy to go 'mooooo'. Both Harry and Neville just looked at it for a moment, then Harry said, "Muh!" while clapping his hands together.
Neville looked at Harry, then the cow toy and a shy baby grin appeared on his face. "Mauhh!" he repeated with a slightly different pronunciation.
Ever so slowly, Lily walked to the playpen and kneeled down in front of it, looking through the mesh that served as a wall of the playpen. Harry saw his mum and he screamed quite loudly in excitement, flapping his arms up and down like he was trying to fly. "Baaah baaooo! Auuh!" he greeted his mother.
On the other side of the playpen, Neville dropped his cow toy and looked at Lily with interest. "Oooad?" he asked. Lily knew it was just a sound, but it felt to her Neville already knew about his parents, as if he was asking Lily for confirmation of what happened only moments ago.
Tears welled up in Lily's eyes as she watched Neville look at her. When Dumbledore found the Longbottoms, he announced sadly that they had lost their minds and wasn't sure if they would ever recover. Now Neville was sitting here, alone in the world with no parents. The thought was too much to bear for Lily. Neville would never have a dad to play ball with or a mum that will hug and kiss him every night. He was just a baby, a helpless baby, whose parents were gone. Lily let out a sob and buried her face in her hands, weeping heavily.
Harry looked at his mum worriedly, then put one of his baby hands on the mesh screen so that he could touch his mother's head. Lily looked up and saw Harry, sitting there with intent look on his face, trying to comfort his mother as she had comforted him so many times. "Please, God," she prayed, "Please don't take me from Harry. Please…"
"Sir?" James said with a knock as he entered Dumbledore's office.
Dumbledore, who previously was hunched over his desk with his hands framing his head, looked up and smiled at James. "Come in. For a moment I was lost in time and thought Professor McGonagall sent you up here for punishment from another prank you played."
James cracked a smile as he walked into the office, sitting in a chair placed in front of Dumbledore's desk, as he had done so many times in the past. "I wanted to discuss something with you," James said quietly. He had always looked to Dumbledore for insight; he held a great deal of respect for the aging wizard.
"I'm all ears," Dumbledore said, pressing the tips of his fingertips together.
"Well…something strange happened earlier with Harry and the phoenix feather you sent us." James paused and looked up at Dumbledore, who nodded in confirmation to continue. "We let him hold it because he got so excited when the phoenix flew in and when he touched the feather began glowing gold. We tried taking it away, but he started crying-"
"Ah, not to worry, James," Dumbledore interrupted, "That was a sign of magic from Harry, it's rare for it to show at such an early age, but you and Lily were always exceptionally gifted and I expect no less from Harry."
Smiling in relief, James said, "Thank you, I was worried and I didn't know what it meant." James stood to leave when Dumbledore said:
"I know you are anxious to see Remus and Sirius at St. Mungos, but I was wondering if I could ask you a question."
A bit taken aback by all Dumbledore knew, James replied, "Yes, of course, what is it?"
"How many times have either you or Lily faced and battled Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked, looking very serious and somber.
James thought about it for a moment, then said, "Three. The first was when I had that vision and Lily went out of the house at night and fought him. The second was that attack Sirius' pressured me to go to and we dueled. And the third was just now, but I'm not sure what all happened."
"Born to those who have thrice defied him…" Dumbledore said in an undertone.
"Pardon?"
Dumbledore snapped his head up, coming out of his trancelike state, and smiled. "Just the rambling of an old man. Go on and see how Remus is doing."
James looked at Dumbledore strangely, but then shrugged and bid him good day, leaving the great wizard to wallow in his guilt and confusion.
¤.¸¸.·´¨»«´¨·. ¸¸.¤
Author Notes: So sorry about how the chapter was super rushed! I tried to fix it best I could, but I don't have much time for editing now. I still need to find some idea for the next chapter of What If (alternate ending, its posted, by the way, so go check it out) and start the love/hate fic. But thank you so much to JLlove for reviewing EVERY CHAPTER and giving me some very helpful critics on the early ones. Now I'm super close to 300. I know you want to help me get there so review!