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 25:Padfoot's Treachery

Lily stumbled as her feet slammed back onto solid ground and she toppled into Sirius, knocking him over. James quickly snatched her hand and pulled her up, hiding her behind him. For once Lily didn't argue with his over-protectiveness. They appeared to be in an old house. Moldy curtains were the only sign of furnishing in the room and the only door was tightly closed and locked. Lily was too numb with fear to even think straight. Sure they had faced Voldemort before, but they hadn't known it was him. Now here he was, staring at them mercilessly with his cruel, red eyes. He then lowered his hood, smirking dangerously.

His appearence was even more hideous then Lily could have ever imagined. His skin was pale and only a few wispy strands of black hair remained on his head. His nose was flattened with slit like nostrils and his mouth consisted of thin lips. He was quite tall, yet his his features were all hardened and bitter. Still worst of all were his eyes. Scarlett and flashing with a vehemence that they could inspire fear in the bravest of people. Shaking, Lily grabbed onto James' arm. Voldemort let out a loud, high pitched laugh.

"Foolish mudblood! You think your pathetic excuse for a husband can save you? Oh yes I know all about you. You see, Lord Voldemort knows all." he cackled. Lily trembled, wondering how he had known she and James were married know.

"You're no Lord!" Sirius spat, holding his wand in front of him, aiming directly at the place where Voldemort's heart would be. Voldemort laughed yet again, seemingly amused at this display of resillance. Lily flinched when he withdrew his wand, expecting him to torture of kill Sirius. But instead, she was surprised. When Voldemort next spoke, it was in a softer voice, a more persuasive one.

"Come and join us Black. You're powers have always been greater then those who you considered your equals. Your noble blood would be worshipped amongst my followers. Come and join me and I can offer you power and respect you've never known before..." Sirius looked taken aback by his offer but immediatly retorted,

"I would NEVER join you!"

"Fine." Voldemort replied simply, his eyes flashing, "Maybe you need a little more convincing." He aimed his wand at James, "Crucio." Sirius watched in horror as James was knocked off his feet and fell to the ground, writhing with pain. Lily immediatly dropped down to the ground beside him and grabbed his arm.

"James, " she whispered, "James!" Voldemort laughed his loudest yet at this and Lily felt a fury rise within in her that she had never known before. Turning to face the towering, dark wizard, she screamed,

"Expelliarmus!" Emotion echoed in every syllable of her spell and miraculously, Voldemort's wand flew from his grasp. James' screams stopped and for a moment, all four of them remained paralyzed with shock at this lack of control. Then sense kicked in. Lily lunged forwards and cried,

"Accio wand!" But Voldemort was too quick for her, with one swift moment, his foot met her stomach and she was sent careening back towards James. Eyes watering with pain, Lily looked up sorely to see that Voldemort had managed to retrieve his wand. Sirius was still standing like a statue, his face white and his lips pursed.

"Stupid Mudblood. You think you can defeat me with your mediocre spells? Your pathetic, unworthy, snivelling, low-class blood. Let me teach you a lesson, Cru-" Voldemort hissed but was interrupted by Sirius. With the force of a charging bull, their friend had hurled himself at Voldemort. Recovering quickly as he was knocked to the ground, Voldemort waved his wand and Sirius went flying back into the wall. He laughed again.

"Don't you see? You can never defeat me!" Voldemort cried, a maniacal joy lit within his voice. Lily stared in horror at him, her mind working furiously. How could they escape? Before Lily could do anything though, Sirius spoke up in a low, croaking voice, full of pain and, was it sorrow?

"If I join your legions," he began pain-stakingly, "Will you let them go?" Voldemort turned to the crumpled man, his features lighting up with malice.

"Of course." he hissed slyly. Lily could hear the lie embedded within his words but she was still too shocked at Sirius' offer to do anything. James seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

"Sirius NO!" he yelled, his voice echoeing hollowly around the small room. Sirius faced his friends grimly,

"It's the only way! Besides, he's right...I am worth more then you." Lily gaped at the man she had considered her friend. Was he defying them now? In perhaps their darkest hour? Voldemort however was looking quite pleased,

"That's right," he hissed, "I see you've finally gotten the point. Your ancient blood lines are worth far more then any mudbloods, or those who choose to marry a mudblood." Sirius keeping his eyes downcast replied in a tone of glee,

"Yes, yes. My Lord, make me one of your devoted servants know! Brand me with your royal mark and I shall do your bidding!"

"NO!" Lily screamed, tears now streaming down her face.

"Shut your mouth!" Sirius snarled just as Voldemort cried 'Crucio!'. It was pain beyond pain. Lily had never experianced such a feeling before. Pain bit at every inch of her body as if knives were being plumetted into her body over and over again. She was so absorbed in the terror and sheer echoeing pain of it that she wasn't even aware of her own screams filling the room. Then as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped and Lily became numbly aware of someone at her side, clutching desperately onto her hand.

Through her watering eyes, Lily could make out the distinct outline of James' glasses somewhere above her. Shaking her head she saw that he was crying. Such a fear possesed her, for she had never seen him lose control like this. Almost as horrible as the pain she had experainced moments before, was the fear she was feeling now. A hopeless desire for escape, yet the helplessness of the death sure to come to them in only moments time. Voldemort, she knew, would never keep his promises. And Sirius, he had betrayed them...

With slow painful movements, Lily pulled herself into a sitting position and searched the room with her eyes. Voldemort was in the corner, speaking in low whispers with Sirius who she was horrified to see, held both James' and her wands clutched in his hands. Had she been so blinded by pain that she hadn't even noticed him taking it from her?

"Lily, i'm sure he's just trying to...save us." James whispered into her ear. Lily leaned into his chest knowing that he was desperate to believe any reason for his best friend's treachery. But she couldn't see how that was the case. Sirius would surely know that Voldemort would never let them leave alive, no matter what vows he made. Perhaps Sirius had been the spy all along. Had he turned to Voldeemort before and was the reason for the ambush on Headquarters so many months ago? Was he responsible for all the recent deaths? Had he always been the one who had betrayed them, and now was staging this so that Voldemort could now finish off Lily and James? His desire to kill them must have surely increased since the time they had escaped him back in the June of their graduating year.

Lily's panicked, desperate thoughts were soon interrupted by Sirius, who was now approaching them. Voldemort, Lily could see, was watching with a hungry expression in his greedy eyes.

"He wants you to duel." Sirius told them loudly offering their wands back to them. "He's going to prove his worth over you." James and Lily remained motionless, staring blankly at their ex-friend.

"Make them take them!" Voldemort called impatiently from behind Sirius. "Or i'll have to miss out on the joy of torturing them and simply kill them now." Sirius glanced briefly at his new master then turned back to Lily and James.

"Take them." he commanded in a superior, demanding voice. Yet somehow, Lily saw, his coldness didn't reach his eyes. His dark brown eyes were filled with a pleading, a last flicker of hope burning inside them. Trustingly, Lily reached forwards but was stopped by James who seized her wrist.

"Fine. If they are too cowardly to duel then I shall finish them now. Step aside Black!" Voldemort commanded, striding forwards. Instead of obliging, Sirius forced the wand into James' hand and Lily grabbed hers with her free hand. The last thing she saw before being whirled away was Sirius still clutching the end of James' wand, transporting himself along with them.

00000

For the second time that day, Lily felt her feet slamming into the hard ground and she crumpled to the ground, making no move to try and break her fall. Still sore from the battle and exhaustion residing in every one of her muscles she couldn't move even if she had wanted to. Her mind too was wearied beyond belief from the internal battle she had waged, deciding whether of not to trust Sirius. She knew now, that she had made the right decision. By dropping his pride, Sirius had saved all three of their lives.

"Lily? James? Sirius?" a soft voice asked from above, "What happened? Are you okay?" Lily turned pain-stakingly onto her side to see Remus Lupin hunched above their still bodies.

"Moony!" James exclaimed joyfully from Lily's left.

"What happened?" came Peter's voice. He sounded quite confused. "Where did you, er, go?"

"We were attacked, " Sirius gasped as Lily pulled herself to her feet with help from Remus. She then bent down and helped James up, then Sirius. "Thanks," he mumbled. "We were attacked by Voldemort." Involuntary shudders resounded around the small group. In the distance, Lily could see Dumbledore tending to some of the injured. The giants were nowhere in sight, likewise with the death eaters.

"How did you escape?" Remus asked weakly.

"Sirius saved us." Lily said, speaking for the first time. Everyone's attention turned to her, "He pretended to go over to his side so that he could help us escape more easily." Peter stared soundlessly at Sirius who shrugged.

"We owe you our lives Padfoot. I'm sorry I mistrusted you." James said solemnly. Lily nodded to show her thanks as well. Sirius let out his bark like laugh.

"No problem! But don't expect me to do anything like that again! I don't ever want to go within fifty feet of that wizard again!" This seemed to lighten the mood as Dumbledore hurried over to their small group.

"Was it him?" he asked simply, blue eyes flashing with alarm. Lily nodded as James retold their story to Dumbledore. Once he was finished, Dumbledore was , looking very grim.

"I hope you will now realize that this recent battle will have put you three at an even greater risk for Voldemort's attacks. After escaping him twice, he will seek you with a thirst I can not even begin to fathom. You will need to be on vigilant alert from now on." he explained quietly.

"I understand sir." Sirius said calmly and James and Lily nodded mutely. Dumbledore smiled encouragingly,

"Don't lose hope. There is a chance that you might not even run into him ever again. Now drink this (he waved his wand and three potions came flying towards them from the ground where the other's lay) and you'll be restored to full strength. I suggest you all return home immediatly and get some rest. I have already sent your friends home. It is not wise for Mrs. Alice Longbottom to exert herself so much during this time."

"Sir what are you talki-" Lily began but Dumbledore raised his hand to stop her.

"That is up to her to tell you when she's ready. She may not even know herself yet." he said, eyes twinkling fondly. "You'll see what I mean in good time."

"Er, okay." Lily said. "Bye then Sir."

"Sleep well." he responded and waved merrily as they all apparated back home.

A/N: Yes, yes I know we all are mad at me right now:) But what can I say? You've all heard my excuses. And it's perfectly true, school work is keeping me unreasonably busy. I swear, the teachers have a conspiracy against fanfiction. lol

Well anyways here's chapter twenty five. It's very short, but that's all it needs to be. And sorry if my writing isn't quite itself, I haven't written in quite a while and i'm a bit stale. Next chapter will be better though, I promise. I think you'll like what's coming up next, I know i've been looking forward immensely to writing it. It should be good and i'll update as soon as possible. Trust me, I WANT to update as quickly as possible, it's just those teachers...I tell you. Anyways getting carried away again... Well, please review! Oh, and can anyone guess what's up with Alice:)