Before it Began
By. SkyQuill
Summary
James knew he was in love at first sight, but what would it take for Lily to love him back? Read their story leading up to their deaths and discover the dangers they faced and the loves and friendships they shared.
Disclaimer
I do not own most of the characters and places or anything else that may seem familiar. J.K. Rowling has the exclusive claim to this as well as the general plot that formed this fanfic.
Chapter 24: Summer's End
The weeks following the wedding passed in oblivious happiness. When the newly wed couple weren't spending time with their friends, they were simply enjoying each other's love and companionship.
Everything seemed to almost lighten in these months. The amount of Order meetings lowered considerably as death eater attacks and such came to an almost standstill. Although the occasional murder occured, Voldemort seemed to be waiting for something. But determined now to let this spoil the summer mood, Lily and James continued their new life, as huband and wife.
At the end of July, James signed up for auror training. Now that he was married, he had finally decided what he wanted to do with his life. He was going to help fight in the ongoing war against Voldemort. Lily was pleased with his decision as it allowed them to spend a great deal more time together during lunch and breaks.
And with this new progress, time seemed to pass even more quickly. Therefore it came as a surprise when Lily found herself flipping the calender over to the September page.
"Lily are you almost ready? We're going to be late for work!" James called from upstairs. Lily rolled her eyes, James usually being the late one.
"I am ready you great prat." she called back to him in a taunting voice, "You're the one still getting dressed!"
"I'm dressed!" James said indignantly as he joined her in the kitchen. Lily snorted to see him trying to place his wizard's hat on his foot.
"Sure." she laughed. James blushed slightly when he realized that it wasn't his shoe. Lily smirked as she strolled over, and attempted to help her sleepy eyed husband place his garmets in the correct place. He ran a hand through his already tousled bed head and kissed her. For a moment Lily kissed back until they both remembered they were supposed to be at work.
"We'd better go love." James sighed as they broke away. Lily groaned inwardly, knowing that he was right but much more preferring to stay at home with James. Their relationship had deepened immensely since their marriage.
So reluctantly, yet still immersed in bliss, the two stepped out of their door into the warm summer's end air and apparated to the ministry.
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"Lily!" Alice called hurrying over to her friend. Lily was sitting at the Ministry cafeteria with James munching on a peanut butter sandwich between kisses.
"What?" Lily replied, pulling herself away from James. At first Alice didn't answer but rather looked around warily for any passer-byers. Then lowering her voice conspiciously, she whispered,
"I just heard from Mad-Eye that there's an Order meeting tonight. Urgent he says and that we'd better get there as soon as we get off work!" Lily felt a prickle of fear rise within her.
"He didn't say why did he?" she whispered back. Alice shook her head, taking a seat opposite to her.
"No but I think it's something very important." James' forehead creased in thought while Lily bit her lip anxiously. The thought that even Mad-Eye, one of the best aurors in the world was nervous made her feel extremely uneasy.
While the three of them were thinking of what horrors the night might hold for them Frank arrived looking weary and woe-begotten. Alice immediatly jumped up to greet her husband.
"What's the matter Frank?" she asked, her voice soft with worry. He turned his eyes dully on the lot of them.
"Mad-Eye's told you I expect?" he asked.
"About the meeting? Yeah." James said quickly.
"Is that all he told you?" Lily and Alice nodded silently, alarm beginning to flood their senses. All this had come on so unexpected.
"I think we're going to fight tonight. Mad-Eye and I had the chance to speak at break and from what he says he's heard from Dumbledore, you-know-who is planning a huge attack tonight. Or at least that's what they suspect." Frank explained gravely. Lily blanched, what in the name of Merlin could inspire so much terror in two of the greatest wizards of the age? James seemed to thinking along the same lines.
"Maybe we should take the afternoon off work." he suggested, he was evidently stuggling to keep his voice from trembling. Lily placed her hand over his while Alice answered.
"That's definitely out of the question." she said briskly, "The Ministry would get very suspicious if all the Order members mysteriously took the same day off you know." Frank nodded in agreement and Lily had to admit they had a point. Nobody outside members could know about the Order of the Phoenix seeing as the Ministry was set on fighting Voldemort by themselves.
"I suppose, "James muttered, "By the way where are we having the meeting tonight? Remus' again?" Ever since Headquarters had been attacked last winter the meetings were being held at different members houses, providing of course that extra security measures had been put up.
"No, you're mate Sirius has lent his house to us for the night." Frank replied, munching on some of the salad Alice pushed at him. The four of them ate the rest of their lunch in silence, worry pressing on them like a heavy blanket. Finally Lily got to her feet, unable to stand the tenseness any longer.
"I'm going to get back to class." she announced checking her watch. She figured she might as well leave now, class begun in ten minutes anyhow. Alice nodded and followed suit.
"I'll come with you, " she offered, "We can get some last minute studying in for our concealment exam." The girls bade their husbands goodbye and headed to the office, wondering what tonight had in store for them.
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Lily sat breathlessly in Sirius living room alongside the others. She was currently curled up on the sofa, leaning against James as he curled his arms around her comfortingly. Dumbledore stood in the center of the room, looking very worried as he spoke to them of the meeting's contents.
"I'm afraid I have some very bad news for you all." he sighed sadly. Lily felt a wave of dread spill over her at this pronouncement. Jame's arms tightened around her and they silently awaited Dumbledore's grim announcement.
"Dorcas Meadowes was found dead this morning. It is my belief that Voldemort (nearly everybody flinched, Peter giving a small yelp) killed her personally. Her body was found about twenty minutes away from her house, at the foot of the mountains." Dumbledore informed them.
"What are you saying?" Sirius asked, his hands were clenched into fists and his dark eyes seemed to flash with alarm. It seemed apparent to them all that whatever Voldemort had been waiting for, with enough business that he had decreased his attacks, had finally arrived.
"I think that this means, " Dumbledore continued, "He has gotten a small army of giants to join his side." Lily gasped, her face whitening as so many others. "It is also in my reasoning that an attack has been planned for tonight. Much evidence was found at the scene of Ms. Meadowes murder."
"So you want us to go and stop them?" Remus asked, confirming everyone's worst fears. Dumbledore nodded hesitantly, then added,
"Only if you wish to put yourselves in this danger. I understand that this will be much riskier then our usual missions, and certain individuals might wish to refrain from waging this sort of battle." He looked pointedly at Alice as he said this and she looked rather taken aback. But before she could demand a deciphering of this look the other's began piping their support,
"I'll come sir!" Sirius announced boldly.
"As will I." Stugis Podmore put in. He had recently gone from recruiting Order members to taking part in missions. The others hastily began putting in their support, Lily and James included. Alice was the last one to agree, obliging with a last questioning glance at Dumbledore.
"Then it is settled." Dumbledore said gravely, "If you'll all follow me. We are apparating to 101 Willow Street, Kent."
Lily got up hand in hand with James and they followed their old Headmaster and leader into the starry-skyed evening. James squeezed her hand before apparating and whispered a 'Be careful' in her ear. Feeling more frightened then she usually would, Lily closed her eyes and with a last thought of confidence to herself, apparated after James and Dumbledore.
The first thought when Lily arrived with the others on Willow Street was that Dumbledore had mistaken the address. She had never seen a community so at peace. Lights gleamed from behind curtained windows and the street's were peacefully deserted. Birds were even lamenting their last of the day songs into the fading sunset. As Lily looked around, she could see the others were also frowning, quite confused.
"What's up with this?" Sirius asked coming up behind James. Lily jumped as his voice reached her ears, startlingly loud in the silence. James shrugged,
"No clue. But Dumbledore's never been wrong before. Maybe their just biding their time."
"I agree." added Remus who had now joined them, "Things aren't always as they seem." Lily turned away from the conversation and glanced at Dumbledore. He was examining something with a satisfied sortof nodding. Ignoring the others, Lily walked up to him.
"What is it sir?" she asked, bending down beside the kneeling wizard.
"They've been here." Dumbledore said calmly, surveying her from behind his half-moon spectacles.
"How can you tell?" Lily whispered.
"Take a look. I believe they teach you this in auror training. Tell me what you see." Dumbledore said, refusing to answer her question directly. Curiously Lily moved into the spot Dumbledore had made for her and she stared at the pavement. After noting the signs there, she quickly scanned the street for more evidence. As she contemplated the scenery, she felt all the other's eyes boring into her neck.
She straightened up, concluding her evidence.
"Well, " she began straightening up and facing Dumbledore. "The sewers bent in the middle, as thought something heavy trod on it, also, you'll notice that several cars have been dented on the side that's facing the street. And lastly, " Lily said pointing to an old looking and deserted house down the street, "That fence has been forced open. You can tell because all the guadings are bent." Dumbledore beamed at her observations.
"Very good." he praised then addressed the others, "As Mrs. Potter (Lily grinned) rightly says, there are tell-a-tale signs of giants coming down this road. I imagine that the resident's here have been under te Imperious curse so that they will have not reported anything suspicious."
"So what are we going to do?" Frank asked. Dumbledore smiled grimly at him.
"Looks like we have to attack them where they're hiding. Shall we?" Everyone followed obediently at his words, walking in his walk down the peaceful street. As Lily thought about what Dumbledore had said, she realized that this calm was too good to be true. James soon caught up with her and grabbed her hand.
"Good observing." he commented.
"Thanks." Lily replied, her voice quivering slightly. In only a few seconds she would be fighting twenty feet tall monsters.
"I think you should turn back." James whispered abruptly as they neared the gate. Lily felt a prickle of surprise and indignition.
"Not this again." she snapped. James winced as thought she had slapped him but continued his persuasion,
"Please," he begged, "Nobody will look down upon you if you leave now. I can't stand to lose you."
"And I you." Lily said firmly, "Besides, i'll look down upon myself if I go and leave you and the others to face this danger. And i'm the one with more auror experiance." she added. James stared down at the ground,
"Lily please. This isn't going to be like the other fights..."
"James stop it! Nothing bad will happen okay?" Lily said, lying to herself and James, "But you've got to trust me. I can take care of myself. You've got to let me do this!" Lily's tone was now more urgent as they arrived at the iron fence. How could she make James understand that she wasn't going to leave him to fight alone?
"Alright." James gave in. He looked into her emerald eyes for a moment and then kissed hr briefly. "I love you."
"I love you too James, don't worry." A short ways away, Alice and Frank were also exchanging sentiments. Who knows what this sudden and dangerous battle could bring?
As if in slow motion, Dumbledore tapped the door and unlocked it. The uneven and bent bars slowly creaked open to permit their entry. Lily closed her eyes, briefly laid her head against James' shoulder and marched in after the others.
As if sensing their presence, a dozen dementors suddenly swooped out from a demolished lookign garage. Lily felt the sudden douse of coldness snatch at her breath and she summoned the image of her's and James' wedding. With a swish of her wand and a loudly uttered charm, she sent her cat shaped Patronus reeling out into the darkening night.
Several dementors stumbled and glided away as a flurry of Patronuses flew at them. Yet soon many fresh ones were upon them and the fighting truly began. Lily didn't even notice that death eaters had joined the fight until one of them rounded on her with a harsh, orange colored light. Narrowly dodging it, Lily stumbled to the ground where she countered with a stunning hex. The spell caught the hooded figure by surprise and sent it catapulting to the ground.
Lily leapt to her feet only to be met with a nasty looking dementor. The creature circled her briefly then threw itself upon her, grasping with it's scabby hands. Lily choked on it's rancid breath as she struggled to aim her wand. Just as her senses began leaking away a loud reprimendation cleared her horrifying memories and she was suddenly released. She glanced up sorely to see Remus Lupin chasing the dementor away with his patronus.
"Thanks Remus." she mumbled, struggling to her feet. He didn't answer but stared numbly in the direction of the house. Lily followed his gaze only to experiance the feeling of lead in her stomach as an enormous foot found ground just meters in front of them.
"Stunning curses at the count of three!" Sirius' bellowed but only a few feeble beams of light met his command. Many of their fellow attackers had been knocked out or were despereately duelling with a death eater. Lily and Remus watched in horror as the giant drew closer, followed by two others. Then instinct kicked in.
"Impendimenta!" Lily cried, throwing herself out of the creature's way. Remus narrowly dodged it crushing footstep as it slowed down before their eyes. Before Remus could thank her, Lily dashed at a death eater bearing down on James who was hunched on the ground, blood spilling from a gash on his forehead. Sirius was crouching beside him, a bruise welling up over his right eye.
"Stupefy!" Lily shouted, directing the curse at her friend and husband's attacker. Unfortunately the death eater had followed Sirius' hopeful gaze at Lily and managed to block the spell just in time. The cloaked figure let out a harsh laugh and Lily recognized it as a female's voice.
"Oh the little mudblood's come to play now has she?" she cackled. James made a violent movement but was kicked back by the woman. Lily met the eyes glinting from underneath the hood with a hard stare. "What, no pathetic begging? Don't you want me to spare your precious little friends?" Lily couldn't think of what to do, if she attacked, the woman would merely block it, and Sirius and James were at an angle that they could be hit by the riccochet.
"Fine then." the woman sneered when Lily showed no sign of response, "Avada-"
"NO!" Lily shrieked. The woman stopped and gave a short laugh, she opened her mouth, lips forming the words 'Crucio' when another cloaked figure apparated beside her. Lily felt her such an intense feeling of dread as this man stared at her with his cruel red eyes that she almsot wondered if she was already dead.
"I'll take care of them Bella. I've been looking forward to torturing some filthy mudblood. I'll take care of these two as well." Voldemort spoke in his cold voice. Lily looked around desperately, willing someone, anyone to help them. Dumbledore had his back turned to them, busy subedueing the giants, Remus was duelling with two death eaters at once, Sturgis Podmore was lying on the ground as a dementor lowered it's hood to him, Mad-Eye was laying unconcious on the grass, and Peter was nowhere in sight. The others were also too busy, either bleeding or fighting. Lily felt tears of fright well up in her eyes.
Voldemort let out a high laugh, obviously taking note of her fear. In one swift moment, he transformed a rock into a port key and forced them al towards it. Lily felt a dazed feeling momentarily take over her mind as she thoughtlessly approached the stone and pressed her hand onto it.
Then as the portkey jerked into action, swirling them all to somewhere unknown, Lily felt a renewed battle for her life begin.
A/N: Alright, again i'm so sorry for the delay on this update. Same reasons as before, my life is just so busy right now! Anyways this chapter is bound to be a bit rushed and maybe a bit sloppy but that's because I stayed up to midnight writing this, and i've got school tomorrow! I hope you enjoy it anyways though. It's a bit of a time jumper but I think I blended it in okay. Anyways I left you off at a bit of a cliffhanger, so i'll try to update quickly! Thanks everyone! Hope you enjoyed!