*The Day*
The dorm was silent as the girls got ready that morning, Kara managed to drag herself out of the pile of sheets on the floor she'd built as an igloo the night before and was solemnly walking around touching each piece of furniture. Lily was sat silently crouching over a mirror trying to do her make-up, but having to start all over again every time new floods of tears started. Sasha was just lying on her bed mindlessly plaiting her hair but really she was just watching Kara as she walked around.
"Ok guys" Kara breathed in and tried to compose herself "Lily, Sasha, you've been two of the greatest friends I've ever known whilst I've been at Hogwarts, and I just want you to know how much I've appreciated it. We've definitely done a lot together" She let out a little laugh as she remembered the naked running into the lake the year before "and I don't know how I'm going to cope without you" she couldn't help it any longer and the tears started rolling down her face and she pulled Lily and Sasha into a hug.
"We won't be the same without you" Sasha sobbed, and then she stopped and pulled away "Oh God. I'm going to be alone in a room with Shanice and Violet. Take me with you!"
Kara mustered a chuckle through the tears "Shoot it's ten, I better be off" She pulled the handle up on her suitcase, linked arms with Lily and Sasha, and called down to James to do the honours and turn the stairs into a slide. The three of them slid down laughing wildly before landing at the feet of the Marauders "ALWAYS WANTED TO DO THAT!" Kara whooped before getting up again and walking out with everyone to the staircase, finally laying eyes on the obstacle course lovingly put together by a drunk Sirius and James.
"Yeah about this…" James started to explain why every third step there was a small mound of books, a carpet slide down one flight, and broomsticks badly sellotaped across the steps.
"I LOVE IT" Kara laughed "It's a perfect end to what turned out to be a terrible list"
"Bit offensive but I'll go with it" James chuckled, picking up her bags and following her as Kara slowly made her way down the 'course' pretending to find it really difficult.
"Yeah I'm sorry for what you had to do just then" Sirius sighed when they finally reached the bottom and started to make their way down to the train station.
Putting down her suitcase at her feet Kara turned around to face her friends, wishing that one of them would go up to her family and force them to let her stay. When they all did nothing but stare teary eyed at her she knew it was the end.
"I couldn't have had a better send-off" She grinned, pulling out the living list from her pocket "You're the only people I know that are stupid enough to ride a maniac tree, spend a night in the hell forest, jump off the tallest tower in the school, and jump across a thin layer of ice with blades strapped to your feet. Thank you for being absolute morons" Lily jokily slapped her but pulled her into a hug.
"You bring out the moron in me" She whisper-laughed into her ear before hesitantly letting her go.
"Marauders, I salute your never ending willingness to publicly embarrass both yourself and others" She raised her hand up to her head in salute at the four of them who did it back straight away.
"Remember us" Sasha sobbed, passing over a photo frame with the moving picture of the seven of them on the roof laughing and eating cake that had appeared in the school paper the day after.
"Like I could if I wanted to" Kara bent down to pick up her suitcase handle.
Surrounded by hundreds of students leaving to go home it almost seemed normal saying bye to Kara at first, but finally it struck Sirius that he'd never see her again. Glancing over at the Shaw family waiting next to their brooms Sirius quickly grabbed Kara's hand and pulled her away from the group.
"God Sirius, what?" Kara rubbed her wrist which he had yanked pretty hard.
"Kiss me" He babbled, pulling her towards him.
"What?" Kara breathed, wrapping her fingers around his and looking up at him "Sirius I'm leaving"
"All the more reason to do it now" and before Kara could ask any more questions he took the back of her head and kissed her passionately. James wolf whistled from behind them and Kara dragged Sirius behind a tree.
"Don't go" Sirius pleaded "I know my family, I can keep you safe"
"I have to" Kara sighed as a tear rolled down her face "But wherever I am, there'll only be you"
"Only you" Sirius whispered, kissing her again but they jumped apart in shock when the train whistle blew. "I love you"
"I love you too" Kara beamed, putting her hand on his face and staring into his eyes "We'll meet again, I swear"
"Kara! We'll be late, come on" Kara's mom shouted, so with one final kiss Kara ran to grab her suitcase, hugged James, Lily, Sasha, Remus, Peter, then Sirius again, then ran over to her family and picked up her broom. She turned around to wave one last time when a loud crack came from behind her. A deafening scream echoed past her as her aunt fell to the floor and started kicking and rolling about.
"Aunt Vicky!" Kara shouted, running over to her and clutching her hand. Suddenly ten cloaked figures apparated around them and drew their wands. The whole Shaw family was surrounded.
"KARA!" Sirius yelled, charging forwards in an attempt to get her out but she was too far away and one of the figures tripped him up and booted him in the stomach.
"Dear cousin, don't interrupt the adults at work" Bellatrix cackled, flicking back her hood.
"You" He scowled, glaring at her for a couple of seconds
"Miss me?" she laughed and turned back to the Shaws.
"Bitch!" Sasha screamed at her, throwing down her bag "TRAITORS!"
They started off by throwing spells at anyone around, flinging them back so no-ne could interrupt. James and Sirius tried to take out one of the Death Eaters to open a gap but they were hit by a curse and were left lying on the floor, skin burning as if on fire and eyes closing up.
Next Remus, Lily and Sasha tried charging at them, wands drawn, Lily looking around at their past classmates torturing the Shaws before her eyes locked on one stood near the back, his greasy black hair sticking out from behind the mask.
"SEVERUS!" She yelled, watching as his head jerked towards her for a second before returning to the group. Gobsmacked Lily slowed down, dropping her wand for long enough for a death eater to slam her to the ground and hit her with a curse shooting cuts all over her body.
"Lily?" Sasha turned around shocked that she'd been distracted, and she was soon taken out by a death eater and thrown backwards into a tree, the same cuts appearing over her face.
Remus dodged around a lot of Death eaters but was finally hit with ropes and was thrown backwards into a heap with James and Sirius, out cold.
"Peter!" Kara shouted desperately before she was hit with the cruciatus curse. Realizing no harm would be done to him as the others were unconscious Peter looked blankly back at her and shook his head. The final betrayal Kara saw. She looked back at him, the pain and confusion clear in her eyes before Karkaroff trod on her shoulder, and killed her whilst Peter stood and watched her eyes turn blank.
"NO LET ME GO THIS IS A FUCKING DISGRACE YOU BASTARDS LET ME SEE HER" Sasha screamed at the staff who were trying to pull her back to her bead to treat her.
"Sasha there's nothing you can do, let us help you" Madam Pomfrey pleaded
"ME, I MEAN FUCK ALL, KARA'S DEAD AND YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT SCRATCHES. LET ME SEE HER YOU BITCH" Sasha raised a fist but collapsed in a pile on the floor as Dumbledore used a sleep charm on her.
"Let her rest Poppy" He said as more of a warning about what she would probably to if she woke up again.
James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily had passed out again at the scene after being hit with more curses once they'd pulled themselves up again to find Kara lying lifeless on the floor. Sirius had taken one look and her, burst into tears and charged straight into a Death Eater, punching them repeatedly in the face before he was blown back. James and Remus had taken Sasha to safety because of bad wounds before running after Sirius to help save what remained of the Shaw family but had been hexed and collapsed next to Sirius whilst Lily lay crying and pounding the ground in pain, totally vulnerable to a wave of hexes. They had all been unconscious since but Sasha had stayed awake yelling abuse at anyone she saw. They'd slept the whole day and night before they started waking up.
"This is it Albus" McGonagall muttered to Dumbledore "This has proved we can't protect the students, it's the end of Hogwarts"
"Minerva, compared to the rest of the world Hogwarts is a paradise, we need to keep students on the grounds for as long as possible until the summer holidays when we can do nothing"
Before she could argue back a loud, pained cry came from the other side of the wing and they turned to find Lily on her knees on the floor pounding the metal frame of her bed. Madam Pomfrey tried running to her but Dumbledore raised his hand and sat down next to her.
"Miss Evans?" He asked softly.
"What?" She growled, stopping hitting the bed and wrapping her head with her arms.
"I know what you're going through, believe me I wish I didn't, but I do. I also know that Kara would never wish this on you" Lily paused, ready to shout about words not being able to put a cover over what she was feeling, but she knew he was right and looked up.
"Help" She whimpered, looking straight at him.
"How can I help?"
"Bring her back" Lily burst out crying and slowly climbed back into bed and pulled the sheets over her head, wincing at the pain from the cuts covering her body.
James had woken up before Lily, but no-one had realized because he simply lay dead still and stared up at the ceiling, the pain he was feeling physically was dwarfed to the pain he now had inside. Hearing her crying he mustered the strength to drag himself up and hobble over to her bed, pulling up the sheet and lying next to her, pulling her into a hug and the two of them lay there silently mourning.
No-one could have missed Sirius waking up, he shouted loud enough to be heard in Hogsmeade. He sat up bolt right in bed and just screamed; no-one could stop him, not even James. He stopped screaming and grabbed James' arm, looking up at him, eyes watering.
"Why didn't I stop her from going? Why couldn't I save her?" He shouted "Why?" and then he started screaming again, finally Madam Pomfrey put him to sleep and lay a cold flannel on his head.
Everyone had just started to go back to their own beds when Remus came into the hospital wing, clothes torn and his face covered in mud. Without asking questions Madam Pomfrey led him to a bed and started healing his wounds, James found it strange until it clicked in his head.
"The full moon!" He thought to himself but before he could check to make sure Remus was all right he was ushered back to his bed by Madam Pomfrey to rest, but of course he couldn't rest.
The next day Peter turned up in the hospital wing looking nervously around at all of his 'friends' lying in bed.
"Guys?" He called out weakly, hoping Madam Pomfrey would turn up and tell him to leave, but he was alone with the people he had betrayed.
"Peter?" Lily was the first to see him as she leaned over to take another pain relief potion.
"Lily…. Are you, um, no, of course you're not, how are you feeling?"
"How do you think Peter" she scowled, until it dawned on her that Peter wasn't lying in a bed next to them "You?" She asked suspiciously.
"Oh, ur…" Peter had spent years lying so what he said next was easy "It was horrible, after you were all down it was just me, I charged at the group but someone grabbed me from behind and I was knocked unconscious. I didn't think I was worthy of treatment because I didn't do anything"
Lily wasn't going to question anyone who had tried to help her friend "Oh Gosh Peter, let Madam Pomfrey check you"
"No, really, no don't, I don't deserve it" He stuttered "No you don't you traitorous pig" He thought to himself
"You" Sirius had woken up for the tenth time that day, but this time he wasn't screaming.
"Sirius" Peter whispered, inspecting the deep gashes and bruises covering his face.
"I see you're perfectly fine" Sirius raised his eyebrows
"Not by choice I assure you" Peter tried to joke before realizing it definitely wasn't the time.
"Whatever" Sirius growled before rolling over.
Not being able to bare anymore Peter fled the infirmary and after that and didn't go back again.
"Lily" Sasha had finally woken up after the sleeping charm and was staring blankly at Lily's bed.
"Sasha! Thank God you're alright I…" Lily started to slowly ease herself out of bed to sit with Sasha.
"I'm not bloody alright thank you very much" She snarled nodding back to Lily's bed "I wouldn't go to the effort of walking, wouldn't want you to run out of energy"
Confused, Lily sat back down in bed and watched Sasha for a bit "I don't understand"
"Yes you do. I could have saved her SHE COULD HAVE LIVED" Sasha started leaning forward and hitting the bed "YOU COULDN'T MAKE IT TO HELPING YOUR BEST FRIEND COULD YOU?"
Realizing what Sasha meant Lily tried explaining what she'd seen but Sasha wasn't giving her the chance "YOU LEFT YOURSELF GET DISTRACTED WHEN SHE NEEDED YOU THE MOST"
"I couldn't…" Lily's eyed welled up as she begun hating herself for letting a traitor like Severus stop her from getting to Kara.
"Sasha we were no match for them…" James butted in, the Death Eaters outnumbered them but Sasha refused to listen to either of them.
"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT. NEVER LOOK AT ME AGAIN" Sasha finally wore herself out and collapsed back to sleep.
"Lily" James tried to get her attention but she just slowly slid down back into bed without a word, reaching into her pocket she flinched when her hand came into contact with the crumpled bit of paper, finally understanding its words.
Author's note:
I'm a horrible human being.