"Shh, shh, shh," he grinned placing one finger on her lips as his other hand tickled her side. She wormed underneath him, trying to get him off and trying to squelch her squealing.
"James," she heaved, through suppressed laughter.
"Just admit that you stole the blankets last night and this will all stop," James insisted and Lily shook her head.
"I like to see it more as you gave them to me," she quipped and his hands dug into her sides again and she let out a loud laugh. His face buried into her neck, his hair tickling her cheek as she tried to push him off. "James," she squealed.
"Just admit it," he kissed her neck softly, his hands stopping their attack and instead caressing her body under her pyjama shirt. He kissed down her neck slowly before making his way back up and Lily was going to meet his lips with her own—
"James! Lily! Are you up? Breakfast has been sitting out for an hour!" came Euphemia's voice from down the hall and James dropped his head, groaning before rolling off of Lily.
Lily rolled towards him, resting her arm on his chest and playing with his hair. "There's a lot we should do today," Lily said quietly.
"Hmm, like what?"
"Like the potion and trying to — James!" she protested with a laugh and a small yank of his hair as he feigned falling asleep.
"I'm off on a Friday and you're off on a Friday," James pointed out. "Which makes it the perfect day to…?"
"Catch up on things we're behind on," Lily offered.
James frowned. "No, Evans. You're such a wand in the mud sometimes." She yanked his hair again before rolling completely on top of him so her face was hovering over his.
"Maybe I can demonstrate some of the things we're behind on," she suggested innocently as she slowly rolled her hips on his.
"Oh, you minx!" he grinned, grabbing her arse.
"Not such a wand in the mud now, am I?" she teased, pressing soft kisses to his lips.
"Whoever said that is a daft idiot," James agreed and she laughed prettily.
"James!" Euphemia shouted again and Lily sighed sitting up straight, a leg on either side of him. "It's past twelve!"
"Maybe if we have breakfast she'll leave us alone," James suggested with false hope.
"I think it's more like lunch at this time."
"Still, she might leave us alone."
"James, you promised you would help clean out the spare room upstairs!" Euphemia shouted again.
"And maybe not," Lily sighed. She bent down, pecking his lips before rolling all the way out of bed.
"Oi, where are you going?"
"To breakfast before your mum comes in here and catches us fooling around."
"You know she knows that we share a bed."
"Yes but she doesn't know what we do in bed and I'd like to keep it that way."
"Oh! The horror! Two teenagers .. in a prolonged relationship … in bed … fully clothed! What ever will we do?" he gasped and sighed in a mock faint and Lily folded her arms and stared at him with a raised brow.
"Are you done?"
Whilst James spilled into a monologue of whether he would ever truly be 'done' Lily changed, shaking her head and contributing a witty remark when required.
"It amazes me that you can spew absolute nonsense for five minutes straight."
"Really? That's what amazes you?"
"Not really but I think if I didn't block out your nonsense the moment you started, we'd have broken up five years ago."
"We haven't even been together for five years."
"Exactly."
"Now who's spewing nonsense."
Lily rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, attempting to tug him out of bed. "Come on, get changed," she insisted.
Lily almost shrieked when a deep, cranky voice shouted from behind her but James shot out of bed as they listened to the patronus. Duty called.
Ella picked up a stuffed animal and firmly said, "Animal theme."
Sirius shook his head, picking up a toy broom and said, "Quidditch theme."
"Seriously?"
"Yep."
"No," Ella shook her head. "Quidditch is a sport not a theme."
"And animals are animals, not a theme and if our kid is going to be the best Quidditch player in the history of Hogwarts-"
"And who says our kid wants to be the best Quidditch player in the history of Hogwarts?"
Sirius gasped dramatically. "My child will love Quidditch."
Ella shook her head, "Be as it may, I'm still not agreeing to a Quidditch themed nursery."
"I thought we were talking about the baby's room. What the hell is a nursery?"
"A nursery is a baby's room. Have you even read one book I asked you to?"
"I don't understand why there's another name for a baby's room."
Ella shook her head exasperated, then paused to glance around at all the things they still needed to get. There was so much. A cot, a change table, a stroller, a high chair, a bouncer, clothes, blankets, bottles. It was all so overwhelming.
Suddenly there was a shout from Sirius' pocket and Ella rolled her eyes. "You know the amount of times you two talk to each other in a day, you'd think you two were having a baby."
Sirius just smirked at her as he pulled the mirror out. "What's up Prongs?"
"Get to Burlington Arcade now. Moody just got tipped off that Death Eaters are planning to attack there today. Moody says muggle clothing if you can."
"I'll be there," Sirius assured him.
"Quick as you can," James urged. "We don't know when they'll strike."
Sirius nodded before turning to Ella. "Here, take this. I'll contact you through James'. Just get to the apartment or Headquarters or, or go back to work I suppose."
"What do you mean? Sirius, I'm coming with you."
"Ella, you're pregnant."
"No one can even tell."
"It's not about whether people can tell, it's about you not getting hurt and putting the baby at risk."
Ella glared at him. "Don't ask me to sit this out."
Sirius glared right back at her. "I'm not asking I'm telling. You're sitting this out."
"Well, you're wrong because even if you leave me behind, I'll just apparate on my own."
Sirius sighed. "You're right." He traced his fingers up her arm, trailing up and down, before pulling her into a hug. "I'm just worried for you."
"You don't need to be worried. I'll be fine," she assured him.
"You're right. You will be." He stepped away from her, holding up her wand. "I'll call with updates."
"Sirius Black, don't you-"
He didn't wait to hear her idle threat and instead apparated to Burlington Arcade.
She missed her brother and it was strange that despite both of them working in London she barely saw him ever since he'd moved out. She could hardly refuse when he'd suggested lunch over the phone at Burly Arcade, the shopping centre of so many weekend outings to London when she was little.
She made sure all her different supervisors knew that she had to take her lunch break at exactly twelve and as soon as the clock chimed she found herself apparating to the spot they'd agreed to meet: a dirty alley out of sight from the main road.
"You know, I don't quite know how I feel about my baby sister appearing in questionable alleys where anyone could be lurking," Charles cool voice spoke from behind her. She whirled around with a smile on her face and pulled him in for a hug.
"I'm not a baby and I'd turn anyone into a toad if they tried anything funny."
"That I'd like to see. Ready to head in?"
"No I thought lunch in this alley seemed rather lovely."
He nudged her and they made their way out of the alley, talking about nothing in particular until they reached a cafe just at the entrance of the arcade. They settled in ordering themselves a drink and meal.
"So, how's Liza?" Marlene asked. "You haven't brought her around in a while."
Charlie shrugged. "She's been busy and uh, well, things, uh, haven't been going stellar at the, uh, at the moment."
"Oh, Charlie," Marlene sighed. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I think we yell about it enough," Charles said.
"Okay, well, if you ever want to talk about it…I'm here."
"I know. How's the McKinnons' doing?"
Marlene shrugged. "They're doing okay. Faith and Steve moved out of Chudleigh."
"Where to?"
"A wizarding town near Swansea. Nate and I helped them move some of their stuff."
"So you two are still together then?"
"We are," Marlene agreed, looking towards the street and furrowing her brow. A man with elegant black hair wearing a QUEEN t-shirt with a black leather jacket and a face of uncanny resemblance to Sirius Black just walked passed but that was obviously absurd. Sirius Black wouldn't be in the middle of muggle London. It had to be someone who just looked like him and had a crazily similar jacket and sense of style. Marlene shuddered at the thought of two Sirius Black's in the world.
"Marls," Charles snapped his fingers in front of her face and she turned back to him.
"Sorry, what?"
"I was asking how work was."
"Oh, right. Sorry. It's good, just waiting for some exam results to come back so I can progress to the next stage." Marlene rolled her eyes, "They're taking their sweet time getting the results out but Healer Wright assures us they should be out sometime in the next fortnight."
"Probably on the fourteenth day then."
"Probably," Marlene agreed. She looked up as the waitress approached their table with their food and drinks and squinted because that — without question — was Dorcas Meadowes walking into the arcade. She was unmissable and for god's sake she was wearing a tremendously hideous poncho that may as well have been the modern day robe — if there were anything modern about robes in the first place.
"And what a lovely hairpin," the waitress complimented Marlene. Her 'hairpin' was her wand.
"Thanks," Marlene said, distracted. "Charlie, I'm just gonna go to the loo."
"But the food just got here."
"I'll be back in a minute," Marlene promised. "And don't eat my fries. I'll know if you did."
"Yeah, yeah, go on then."
Marlene left the cafe quickly, entering the arcade, her eyes scanning and with a feeling like she was going to need her 'hairpin' soon.
Adaline, Alice and Frank popped into a cleaning closet within Burlington Arcade and immediately started hitting elbows and legs with each other, walls, and broom sticks.
"This closet so does not fit three."
"I think you'd find that technically, it does," Frank muttered as Alice opened the door. The three of them fell out and Adaline shivered, brushing dust off her jacket.
"I don't know what excuse I'm going to put in at work for ditching during lunch," Adaline muttered.
"You'll come up with something."
"Easy for you to say! You report to Moody. He's in the Order!"
"You'll be right," Alice assured. "See anyone yet?"
"We're supposed to blend," Frank pointed out.
"Doesn't mean it wouldn't be good to know where others are." Alice looked around the mall and shuddered.
The corridor was narrow, lined with glass faced shops and people were everywhere. Teenagers, mothers with small children, elderly people. Alice hoped that Moody's tip would be wrong because whilst they may be able to help save some of these people, they wouldn't be able to save them all.
"Alice — Alice Vance?"
Alice whirled around and she frowned. "Isn't that….?"
"Marlene's brother. Yeah," Adaline finished matching Alice's frown.
"That is you, right? Alice Vance?"
Alice nodded, "Yeah, it's me, Charles. Only I'm Alice Longbottom now. You remember, Della?" Alice asked nudging Adaline and then gesturing to Frank, "My husband Frank. I don't think you've met before". Charles greeted Adaline and shook Frank's hand before Alice asked, "So what are you doing here?"
Charles quirked his eyebrow up. "Oh well, I was having lunch with Marlene until she went to the loo about ten minutes ago. I just came to see if I could find her but I should be asking you that! On my turf and all."
Alice laughed, "Ha, yeah. So, uh, Marlene's here?" Had anyone told Marlene yet? If someone had why hadn't she sent Charles on his way?
"Yeah, somewhere. You haven't seen her by any chance?"
"No, I haven't but Charles, you should get out of here."
Charles pulled a face, "What do you mean?"
"I mean you should get out of the arcade. Go back to work or home or whatever."
"Is something," he looked hesitant, "Is something happening with you — oh, isn't that your other friend? Shoot, I can't remember her name! Er, Livy — no — Lib — Lizzy?"
Frank nudged Alice and gestured to a red head in a brown leather jacket. Lily was walking hand in hand with James, blending right into the crowd. "Lily," Alice corrected Charles. "But look, you really should get out of here. I'll find Marlene and let her know but you should go."
"Am I missing-"
The rest of his sentence was drowned out by an almighty crash followed by shouts and screams.
In the last week, Remus and Haley Daniels had become allies, Remus might even stretch it to say friends and though he was no closer to finding out the allegiance of werewolves, she made living in this place better.
"Okay so chocolate or ice cream?"
"Chocolate."
"Chocolate or liquorice wands?"
"Chocolate."
"Chocolate-"
"Look anything up against chocolate is going to be chocolate. Specifically Honeyduke's."
Haley frowned. "Chocolate is good but I don't know if it's that good."
"Oh it is," Remus assured her and she shook her head. They'd gotten into playing silly games like this to pass the time. "We'll have to get our hands on some Honeyduke's so you can be enlightened to the wonder."
"You're so dramatic. Oh, I like this song," Haley hummed quietly to the tune that someone's wireless was playing.
"You haven't met my friends. They're a dramatic bunch."
"You guys close then?"
"Very. Friends since first year and I don't think there's anyone in the world I trust more than them."
"Tell me about them."
"Well, first there's Peter. He's subtle but brilliant, can find out anything you want to know. Then there's Sirius. He's the most dramatic person I've ever met in my life and stubborn as hell. To his friends he's the kindest, most loyal person but to everyone else he comes off a bit harsh but that's just Sirius. James is probably the leader. We'd never admit it, it's just there. If James told us to do something we'd do it no questions asked. He's just — it's like he's a mix of us. He's brilliant, dramatic, funny — maybe a little too egotistical but Lily's helped him deflate — and he's probably the most loyal out of all of us, you know? He's just … James."
"He's the glue," Haley offered.
"Yeah, yeah he is."
"He's got a girlfriend?"
"Yeah, she's great. Lily's beautiful, funny and one of the kindest people I've ever met. James had been practically in love with her for at least three years before they got together. I'm pretty sure the whole school was betting on it — in fact, I think the teachers were betting on it."
"What changed her mind?"
"They had to work together a lot in seventh year — they were Head Boy and Head Girl — and some stuff went down and I guess she realised she liked him like that too and the rest is history. She's basically an honorary Marauder now."
"What the hell is a marauder?"
Remus flushed, "It's the name we gave ourselves."
"You gave your friend group a name?" Haley asked with an amused smirk. "Wow, you really are a dramatic lot."
"What about you?" he nudged her leg.
"What about me?"
"What are your friends like?"
"I — well — I don't have friends like that."
"What do you mean?"
"When I stopped going to school, the rumour started going around that I was a werewolf and even though it was only a rumour my friends, well, they all stopped talking to me." Haley shrugged. "I mean I was never close with them. I only ever saw them at school and I would never get invited to their houses in the summer and they'd always decline my invitations — except Rachel. She was such a sweet heart but after being bitten even she stopped trying. Even if they didn't know, I doubt we'd have kept in touch. You're lucky that they don't know."
"You kidding? They found out within my first year."
"Oh."
He didn't know what it would feel like to not have a friend that you could share everything with no matter what because he'd had that since he was eleven. He knew that he could tell them that he'd murdered someone and they'd have a five point plan on how and where to bury the body.
"I'm sorry."
"For having better friends than I ever did?"
"Well no but for them. Clearly they weren't very nice people."
"They were nice enough."
Remus shrugged, "Sometimes enough doesn't cut it."
She looked down, playing with the hem of her robe. "It's not like I had no one. My parents were great and they paid for me to get the best medical attention and they helped me study at home and after school, it became pretty clear that I wasn't going to be able to get a job — you know how it is — so they gave me money to travel and see the world. In a way, I became closer with them and with my brother. He's probably my best friend. Him and his best friend Summer. We've gotten pretty close."
"It's funny how we have the opposite problems. My parents — they love me but this didn't make us closer. I always felt like a burden to them but I've got friends who don't care what I am and then you-"
"Have a close family but no friends. Seems this curse has taken its toll in different ways."
"I'm sure that's true for everyone." He waited a beat, letting the song on the wireless fill the silence for a moment. "If you ever meet my friends, they'd love you."
"There you go, being dramatic again."
"I'm not."
"Hmm, what do your friends do now?"
"Sirius is happily unemployed and living off the small fortune his uncle left him. James' mum is slowly roping him into doing activist work. His girlfriend is pregnant, actually so that'll be interesting — she works for the Ministry. James plays professional Quidditch for Puddlemere and Peter works at his father's shop in Diagon Alley."
"What about Lily?"
"She works for the Ministry, too. Charms development, specifically."
"Does the war affect them much?"
"As much as it affects anyone else," Remus replied vaguely.
The music cut out on the wireless, replaced by a wizard speaking quickly.
"Oi, turn that up!"
"A muggle shopping centre in central London has been attacked by You Know Who's followers and whilst sounds of battle can be heard, Ministry officials have declined to answer on their involvement."
Remus' stomach sunk. Were his friends in there?
Marlene was scanning the crowd for the familiar faces she was sure she had seen. Meadowes and Black had to be around somewhere but the arcade was so crowded that it was hard to see over heads. Marlene walked halfway in, an anxious feeling brooding in her stomach and she was suddenly very conscious about the wand stuck in her hair, as though suddenly it had neon lights and it was all she could think about.
A loud crash sounded, with a cloud of dust filling the arcade as people shouted. The next sound of wizards cracking into appearance had Marlene whipping her wand out from her hair and attacking. Marlene had no idea what was going on but she knew that these muggles were under attack. Marlene looked around, trying to find anyone that could help her figure out what was going on.
Suddenly, a Death Eater was facing her, wand raised and it looked terrifying. They wore masks that looked like white skulls to hide their identities and Marlene had to close her eyes. It's just a person, just a person, just a person. She opened her eyes, squaring up as though she were back in the walls of Hogwarts and Avery or Mulciber or the likes had decided it was time to pick a fight. It's just a fight, she told herself. The Death Eater hurled a green curse at her and Marlene stepped to the side, watching the death curse fly by her head. She couldn't let herself think about how she'd been an inch from death. She needed to focus because she was in a fight — a fight that would have much larger consequences than a trip to the infirmary if she lost.
Marlene flicked her wand, "Expelliarmus!" the Death Eater blocked it easily and Marlene found herself in a dance of dodging curses whilst throwing stunning and disarming spells. She got insanely lucky when she spun out of the way of a green curse, throwing a stunner at the end of the turn and either it caught the Death Eater by surprise or he was too slow to move out of the way because the red light connected with his arm. The Death Eater crumpled to the floor and Marlene sighed in relief.
She turned to look around and bumped right into Emmeline.
"Emmeline!" Marlene shouted, helping Emmeline fight the two Death Eaters she was duelling with. "What the hell is going on?"
"You know as much as I do! We just got summoned here."
"What? No I didn't! I was having lunch with — oh my God! Charles!"
"Who?"
"My brother! I have to find my brother!"
"He's got his wand on him, doesn't he? He'll be fine!"
"My brother is muggle!" With a new determination, Marlene shot three consecutive spells within a second of each other and two out of three hit their mark. One of their opponents fell, the second one snarling at them angrily.
"Go!" Emmeline shouted. "I'll cover you! Go find your brother!"
Marlene didn't hesitate, heading towards the entrance where she had last seen Charles. Someone grabbed her hand. A man holding a little girl. "You — you're one of them but you're good right? You're helping us?" The man seemed to be desperate and blood was trickling down from his forehead. The little girl had tears tracked down her face and her pink dress was dirty with grey dust marks and smudges of blood.
Marlene nodded, "I am. Are you hurt? Is your daughter okay?"
"We're fine — it's my wife! She's hurt badly!"
"Show me."
The man didn't hesitate to grab Marlene's hand and pull her through the rows of fighting wizards and witches. It was a wonder the man had made it this far alive, Marlene noted. Spells were ricochetting all over the place and it was all Marlene could do to deflect the ones that flew in their direction. The man led Marlene towards the entrance — ironically where she was planning to go anyways — and Marlene assessed the damage considerably.
The whole entrance had been caved in and a woman lay, crushed underneath a wooden beam but she was conscious.
"Hello," Marlene greeted crouching next to the woman. She smiled softly, her healer training kicking in. "I'm Marlene. Can you tell me your name?"
"J-Jennifer."
"Hello, Jennifer. Now, I'm going to be doing things that you won't be used to but I promise I am helping you get out of here alive, okay? So can you promise that you'll stay calm?"
Jennifer nodded her head and Marlene nodded curtly once. She waved her wand over Jennifer's body performing tests and reading the diagnostics that floated up. Heart rate was a little too slow, blood pressure was high and her breaths were shallow. "Can you feel your legs, Jennifer?"
"I don't — I don't know."
Marlene draw the tip of her wand along both her legs, "Could you feel that?"
Jennifer nodded. "Yeah, yeah I could feel that. Are you a doctor?"
"I am. Okay, I'm not going to know what kind of damage you're in until we get this beam off you. The good news is your spine seems to be fine but just to be sure I'm going to put your neck in a brace," as Marlene said it, she drew her wand in a complicated fashion and the brace appeared, Jennifer watched with wide eyes.
"What are you?" Jennifer whispered. "Who are you people?"
"Who and what I am isn't important right now. We need to get this beam off of you."
"I can get people to help us lift the beam, can you watch her?" the husband asked.
"No need, I got it." Marlene got up off the floor and took a few steps back. She pointed her wand at the beam and slowly it began to lift, Jennifer groaning as the weight lifted off of her.
"What the—"
"Move her!" Marlene ordered, "It's too heavy for me to move." Her hand and wand were already shaking from the power it was taking to lift the heavy beam. The husband was quick to set down their daughter and gently drag his wife out from under the beam. Marlene let it drop to the floor the moment Jennifer was out of harms way.
She felt a tug on her coat and looked down at the little girl. "Are you a fairy?"
Marlene laughed lightly at this little girl's mind. "Something like that," Marlene told her before moving back to Jennifer. "Okay, talk to me, Jennifer. How are you feeling?"
"Stomach hurts everywhere," she groaned and Marlene nodded as she waved her wand over her stomach. Hurting everywhere sounded about right. She had massive internal bleeding. Marlene lifted Jennifer's shirt to see what magic had already told her, a purpling abdomen.
"She needs to get to a hospital!" the husband insisted.
"She won't make it to the hospital," Marlene told the husband. "All right, Jennifer. I'm going to fix you up but it's going to feel uncomfortable, okay?"
Jennifer nodded and Marlene ordered the husband to have their daughter look away before murmuring the spells to heal the internal bleeding and after fifteen minutes of intense mutterings, Jennifer's stomach was a tender pink colour.
"There you go," Marlene smiled, helping Jennifer to sit up. "You might have a bit of residue soreness but it'll clear up in a few days."
"How did you do that? I feel like — like-"
"I know," Marlene smiled at her. "But you wouldn't believe me even if I told you. You three should get into a shop and stay low. I think both the entrances are caved in."
A comforting thought because that means Charles couldn't have made his way in.
James and Lily had both crouched to the floor at the sudden loud noise, as so many people around them had also done. James dragged her back up first, his wand already out.
"It's starting," he said.
"Yes, thanks for that," Lily snorted. She looked to the way the crash came from but a veil of dusty haze made it difficult to tell what exactly had happened but she could guess well enough. "Looks like they've caved in the entrances. Everyone's trapped in."
Lily scanned the arcade and noted almost everyone was going frantic. Mothers gripped the hands of their children, holding them close and shop owners came wandering out of their shops to see what was going on. The only people who were seemingly calm were those Lily recognised to be in the Order.
She spotted Emmeline Vance thirty feet away helping an elderly woman who had fallen in the commotion and not far behind her were the Prewett brothers ushering civilians into the nearby shops.
"Lily! James!"
They both turned to see Alice, Adaline and Frank with someone who Lily thought looked familiar. "Noticed anything off?" Lily asked them.
"Apart from them caving in the entrances, no," Alice frowned.
"Who's they?" asked the someone Lily thought looked familiar.
"Lily, you remember Marlene's brother Charles."
Lily's mouth popped into an 'o'. "Why's he..? Is Marlene here?"
"Somewhere apparently," Della confirmed.
"What's going on?"
"He won't stop asking questions," Alice frowned.
"If you'd answer any of them, I'd stop asking and-"
Lily twisted around, wand out, as the sound of loud cracks echoing filled the crowded area. James, once again, pulled her and Adaline to the floor whilst shouting, "Duck!" and luckily too as spells flew across their heads, hitting people who had not had the good fortune to duck.
The green flashes had found far too many people and they lay, eyes opened, on the floor.
"What the fuck is going on?" Marlene's brother shouted.
"We don't have time to explain!" Alice shouted, standing up and shooting a stunner at the back of a robed Death Eater. Lily scrambled up with James, following Alice and Frank's examples and stunning anyone in a black robe. Lily vaguely heard Alice shout at Charles to get into a shop but was forced to miss his protest as she spun out of the way of a green light, pushing James with her.
"All right?" he shouted at her over the cries and shouts. She nodded and paused for just a moment to press a soft kiss to his lips. He clutched her waist tightly, pulling her closer as she rested her forehead on his, "I love you. Be careful," she whispered and James replied with a soft, "Back at you," before they both turned back to the fight.
Lily couldn't even count the amount of Death Eaters she saw. There were too many and all of them moving so quickly she couldn't be sure if she was double counting but by estimation she'd guess there were over thirty of them. One of them was approaching a crying boy. He could have only been around eight and he was shouting for his mum to wake up but the woman he kneeled next to was still as a statue. Lily reached the boy first and was filled with regret upon seeing the mother's vacant expression but she had to push that away so she could help the little boy.
"Hi, sweetie, I'm Lily. What's your name?"
"M-Max," he sniffed. "Why won't my mummy get up?"
"Max," Lily said gently, "Your mum is—"
"Is she dead?" he whispered and Lily's heart broke at the innocence his eyes bore and she hated that she was going to be the one that broke it.
"Yes," Lily told him. The approaching Death Eater caught her eye so she turned back to Max. "But I need you to be brave for me. See that shop behind us? I need you to get inside it quick as you can. Can you do that for me?"
"B-but my mum," he sobbed.
Lily opened her mouth to reply but instead found herself practically tackling the small boy out of line from a spell. With no more time left to talk to the small boy, Lily got up off the floor, placing herself in front of Max and faced the Death Eater. She shot a few spells at him before turning back to the boy. "Go," she shouted. "Quickly!"
It was that brief moment of looking away where she was tackled to the floor, her head cracking loudly on the floor. The wind knocked out of her lungs and seeing stars, she coughed as the world came back into focus and looked up to see Sirius hovering over her, "You're welcome."
"Holy shit, Sirius, you couldn't just shout 'duck'?" she groaned, pushing him off her and massaging the back of her head.
"Quit complaining about my heroic moment," he told her as he got to his feet. He helped her up and asked, "You okay?"
She nodded. "Thanks, Black."
"Keep your eyes on the game, yeah?"
Lily would have replied but she pushed Sirius out of the way and yelled, "Protego."
"Guess that makes us even," was all Sirius had time to say before he was shooting his own spells at the masked Death Eater beside Lily. They held their ground, defending themselves just as much as they were attacking their masked opponent but it seemed they were equally matched to the Death Eater.
They were tossing spells at him for so long that Lily's wrist felt like it was going to fall off and Sirius must've felt the same because he shouted, "Oi, Evans! Prongs ever talk to you about some of our codes?"
"I really don't think now's the time!" Lily yelled back. "Expelliarmus!" Their opponent blocked it easily and Lily, frustrated, flew a silent stunner at him. He blocked that too though. "Which one?"
"Operation jiggly-puff," Sirius said hopefully. "Oi! No you don't mate!" He shouted before throwing a set of three stunners, all of which were narrowly dodged. Lily did in fact know some of the Marauder Mischief codes and she remembered Operation Jiggly-Puff purely because the name (a) had nothing to do with the actual play and (b) it was the most simplest thing ever.
"Yeah! I got it!" Lily glared at the robed and masked Death Eater, looking more ridiculous than the grim reaper and said, "Oi! Skull-face! Lord Voldemort's behind you!"
The Death Eater turned in surprise and Sirius winked at Lily before sending the stunner that had him crashing to the floor.
"Works every time." Sirius clapped Lily on the shoulder. "Knew you were an honorary marauder for a reason."
Lily looked around and sighed. They'd only stopped one and there were plenty of more where he came from. One was fighting James just across from her. Alice and Frank were up against three and Adaline was ushering muggles into shops. The fight was far from over.
Adaline's blood boiled as a Death Eater levitated a muggle woman in the air. The woman couldn't have been older than twenty-five and she was being tossed around in the air like she was nothing more than an old rag doll. Adaline ran towards them, leaving Alice and Frank to look after Marlene's brother — they were training aurors and they could handle themselves.
"Petrificus totalus!" she shouted and the Death Eater, too enrapt in his humiliation of the woman, fell stiff as a plank board. Adaline silently slowed the woman's fall to the ground and ran over. A man pushed her out of the way just as she was about to reach the woman though. "Oi!" she shouted.
"Stay away from her! You're one of them!" the man had a buzz cut and had brilliant blue eyes with a gorgeous face to match but she had to pull herself together because they were literally in the middle of a war.
"I helped her in case you didn't notice!" Adaline snapped. She saw the Death Eater she attacked stir and grimaced. She stood up and shot a stunner at him but he blocked it easily. Cursing Adaline stepped over the woman laying unconscious on the floor and quickly put up a number of shield charms.
A series of multi-coloured lights came flying at her, sending spidery shatters through her shield making it glow orange — she was in trouble if it went red. It was all she could do to keep uttering the shield charms to keep the Death Eater at bay. The shield was becoming more red than orange and the Death Eater was advancing, soon he'd be close enough ….
"Are you going to do something!" the muggle man shouted.
Adaline blocked him out because her wand arm was shaking with the power it was taking to keep the shield up and the shield was the only thing between them and the Death Eater.
"You can't hold that thing up forever," the Death Eater sneered at her. "It'll break eventually and when it does-"
Adaline slashed her wand down, sending the force of the shield forward, blasting the Death Eater back into a wall where he slumped unconscious to the floor.
"You'll be finished," Adaline finished his sentence smartly, feeling a great sense of satisfaction before turning to the muggle. "That was quite impressive, wasn't it?"
"You're — you're mad!"
"I just saved you and this lady so less insulting and more being useful. Get yourself and this lady into a shop! Stay low, don't come out until people who aren't in black robes come to get you."
"Who are you people?"
"No one you'll know of. Now go!"
Adaline didn't wait around to watch him go, instead she turned to the next Death Eater and this time she was on the attack. She hurled spell after spell until she had her backed into a corner and then she stunned her. It went on like that for a while. Fight, beat, repeat. Her arm was getting tired after round five with a Death Eater and he had her backed into a corner.
"You know, a fighter like yourself, there could be a place for you on our side," the Death Eater offered and Adaline spat at his feet.
"Why don't you take the mask off, you coward?"
"I'm not the one backed into a corner," he sneered.
"And I'm not the one who talks too much," she stepped on his foot and shot a silent stunner straight into his belly he slumped to the floor and she slumped against the wall, heaving heavily. She didn't know how much longer she could do this.
A lot of them sat huddled, shoulder to shoulder, around the wireless eagerly awaiting any updates but it seemed that the Death Eaters spelled the place to stop anyone from being able to enter. Worse, Barty Crouch announced that whoever the Death Eaters were fighting against inside the arcade, it wasn't Ministry officials — something very bad for the Order. They were supposed to be non-existent.
"Good on them," a woman spoke up. "If the Ministry's doing nothing, at least someone is."
"You a filthy blood traitor then?" a scruffy man asked.
"Either way I'm screwed so I may as well root for the side of good."
"The side of scum! Of thieves!"
The woman snorted. "They're not the ones murdering innocents for fun."
"Shut it the both of yeh, I'm tryna lis'en here!"
Everyone fell silent again as they listened to news they already knew and Remus chewed his lower lip in worry. He should be in that arcade with his friends. He was sure at least some of them would be in there and if Remus had to guess out of the lot of them — Sirius and James would be definite. They'd have volunteered for the chance to kick Death Eater butt and yet Remus worried that they may not be the ones doing all the kicking. Ella was pregnant so surely she wouldn't have gone and Lily had to keep her cover for her mission so she probably hadn't gone either. Alice and Frank would be there, Remus realised with a drop of his stomach. Marlene might've been called in to heal people at the site — Nate was fifty/fifty and so was Peter and Adaline.
"You look like you're about to swallow your lip," Haley commented. "You okay?"
"Dandy."
"You don't look dandy."
Remus shrugged, trying to play it cool. "Things like this make me nervous. I hope they haven't hurt too many people."
"I wonder why they decided to attack a muggle building."
"Do they need a reason?" It was a valid question. It wasn't the first time Voldemort had ordered an attack with less than reasonable reasons.
"I suppose not. Who do you think they're fighting against?" Haley asked him quietly. "It's got to be a magical group of some sort. Muggles wouldn't stand a chance."
"I don't know," Remus said but his friends all came to mind.
"Whoever they are, lets hope they win."
Remus nodded in agreement.
James knew it was him. He may have been wearing a mask but James would know the stance of that cowardice piece of shit anywhere. James turned back to his current opponent, quickly throwing a succession of three stunners until one stuck. James didn't even wait until he fell, he stormed over to Snape — who was duelling someone else from the Order — and punched him in the face.
"That is for Lily," James said coldly to him. Snape took two steps back and eyed James with a venomous stare but James didn't falter.
"I had him!" Fenwick complained.
"Piss of, Fenwick," James snapped. "Snivellus is mine."
"You always did have to puff your chest with that arrogance," Snape drawled, removing his mask to reveal his snarled lips and dark eyes.
"This isn't about that," James hissed furious that Snape was trying to make this about some schoolyard squabble instead of what it was really about. "This is about Lily."
Snape barred his teeth in an ugly snarl. "You shouldn't be allowed to say her name. You don't deserve her! You never have!"
"What's between Lily and I is none of your god damned business but just a tip, Snape. It's not about deserve because if it was she'd never have been friends with you in the first place."
Snape's hand moved so quickly the only evidence of action was the cut across James' cheek not unlike the one Snape had given him by a lake almost four years ago. James didn't bother to touch the small slice and threw back his own spell. It hit its mark and Snape doubled over in pain.
"Don't like the sound of the truth, Snape?" James said with the easy air he'd always had when goading Snape — this really was just like being back at Hogwarts.
To add insult to injury, Sirius had spotted them and just as Snape had stood up straight again, Sirius strode over punching Snape straight in the stomach. "That's for Evans," he spat.
"And I'm supposed to believe you care for her?" Snape gasped.
"Evidently more than you ever did," Sirius said coldly. "You ever so much as look at Evans again and I'll — whoops I meant we will make sure you piss red for a week."
"That's pretty tame I was thinking more along the lines of not letting him breathe again."
"Now, now, we can't stoop to their level even if it is for Lily and even if it is Snivellus."
The use of that name seemed to snap something in Snape as he started ferociously attacking them. Snape, no matter how hard he tried, was no match for James and Sirius though. James and Sirius who when together seemed to have a their own brain that only the two of them knew the language to. They easily discarded Snape's spells as easily as deflecting a ball of parchment.
James may have felt bad for the sweat Snape was producing on his forehead but he remembered the state Lily was in the last time she ran into Snape and any feeling of regret or sympathy went out the window. The truth was Snape was the embodiment of everything James hated. Blood-purist, hypocrite who didn't know how to grow up and thought the affections of a girl were owed rather than earned. Yes, in this moment and perhaps in all moments after, James could perhaps feel regret for the way he was towards Snape during their school days but not out here.
Alice had lost Frank in the chaos, she tried to find him in the spare moments between defending herself and attacking her opponent but there were just too many people. She was duelling another masked Death Eater and Alice thanked Merlin for Moody always going hard on her in training because this seemed like a piece of cake compared to fighting with Moody. She worried for the Death Eater that went up against Moody.
The move Alice had been practicing for weeks had won her a handful of the duels she was in today and she prepared to do it again. She waited for a break in between the flashes of light and jabbing wands and she was praying that it came soon as she threw herself to the ground to dodge a spell. She aimed a stinging spell at the Death Eater's feet and as she screeched in pain, Alice scrambled to her feet and she slashed her wand in a diagonal fashion from the left side of her head down to the right side of her hip. Out of her wand came a ferocious gust of wind that unbalanced the Death Eater so much it knocked off her mask and Alice's lip curled. She flicked her wrist and the witch's wand flew out of her hand.
"You've become quite the fighter, Al!" Bellatrix Lestrange commented. "You sure you don't want to join us? I promise it's much more fun being on the winning side."
"From where I'm standing you're loosing," Alice shot back.
"Am I?" Bellatrix sneered with a smirk and Alice felt a shiver run down her spine.
"ALICE!" someone shouted, was it Lily? Alice thought it sounded like Lily but she couldn't afford to look away from Bellatrix. "ALICE DUCK!"
Alice followed the instruction, ducking just in time to see the green flash soar over her head. Her heart pounded in her chest and she whirled deciding the threat behind her was greater than the threat in front of her and her eyes widened at the sight of him.
She'd never seen him before. Of course everyone in the Auror department had seen a photo but it didn't do him justice. They show you the black and white photo and tell you that his eyes are red but it didn't capture the malicious power he radiated. The red eyes were like glowing snake eyes in the dark of the woods. His skin was so white that Alice could see the spidery blue veins underneath. He was a tall man, his head turning this way and that to assess whether or not he was winning this battle and Alice stood three meters in front of him.
His eyes, those hellish eyes, turned back to her and she gripped her wand tighter, not knowing what she could possibly do against Lord Voldemort but she raised it up at him anyways. She tried to look around to see if anyone could help her but everyone was in their own fights. Lily was up against two. James and Sirius were fighting Snape — beating the crap out of him too by the looks of it. Emmeline and Adaline were up against three. Marlene was helping a muggle who probably had more of his blood on the floor than in his body. She set her eyes back on Voldemort.
"AL!" Frank. She almost turned to look but Voldemort raised his own wand and with careless flicks came the green light that meant death. There was no spell to defend against that — a fatal flaw in magic, Alice thought — and Alice found herself dodging. She twisted and turned, jumping and ducking out of the way of the streaks of green. She was waiting for the break but it never came, she had to keep moving and she tried to throw the odd spell but he either deflected it easily or her aim was off and it missed him completely.
"Dancing target's always fun," she heard Bellatrix cackle as Alice ducked behind a large potted tree.
Suddenly, there was a break. Alice peaked out and saw Frank fighting him. Alice waited to catch her breath before standing up and running out next to Frank. Together, they were able to keep him occupied enough to stop him from shooting killing curses at them.
"Such a waste of talent," he tsked. "They'd be much better served on my side."
"You're the waste of talent!" Alice shouted as she slashed her wand diagonally, putting as much power into it as she could. The gust of wind roared out of her wand and Alice shouted, "NOW!" at Frank.
He shot a stunning curse at Voldemort and how strange to think that if it had only hit him, this would've all been over. The spell was deflected by Voldemort a moment before it was about to hit him and he raised his wand at the two of them.
"Avada Ke-"
Lily came sliding across the floor, straight under Voldemort's outstretched arm.
She collided into him, her combat boots knocking his legs right out from under him. She didn't lose her focus as Voldemort landed on top of her. She grabbed his wand, trying to pry it out of his fingers.
"Let go you insipid girl!"
She bit down hard on his hand and he let out an almighty cry, relinquishing his wand. Lily grabbed the bone coloured stick and was about to toss it aside when Voldemort grabbed her wrist so tightly it was like irons were cutting her blood circulation. She let out her own cry and used her other hand to punch him in the face. She'd never punched anybody before but her dad had told her how much it hurt afterwards and he was right. Her hand ached as she drew it back but that didn't stop her from doing it again. She drove her knee upwards and it connected with his stomach taking the wind out of his lungs. She used that moment to shove him off her and crawl away but she wasn't quick enough.
A hand clamped around her ankle, dragging her back. Lily twisted around so she was on her back and kicked her legs, not caring what she hit as long as she hit something. She heard a satisfying choke when the heel of her boot connected with his neck and felt even more satisfaction when she realised he couldn't quite breathe. That was for my mum.
She shuffled backwards as quick as she could but his wand flew out of her hand. Lily whirled around and stared into the eyes of Bellatrix Lestrange. Lily growled at the dirty move. Attacking someone from behind was less than honourable but Lily didn't have time to dwell as Bellatrix tossed the wand back to her master. Lily scrambled back up onto her feet finding herself at the end of not one but two of the deadliest wands the wizarding world had seen since Grindlewald.
Author's note: Apologies for starting with fluff and ending on ... well that but short ending fluff is better than no fluff.
Hope you enjoy!
-Natalie x