-Part 2 – The Attack-
Bellatrix Black strode down a trail outside Hogwarts with one of the over-eager Slytherin students in tow. He had tried to introduce himself when Lucius decreed that the current students should be paired up with their more experienced counterparts. "Rosier. Evan Rosier," he had said, sticking his hand out awkwardly. Bellatrix had simply stared at it.
"I don't care," came her reply. Since then Rosier had kept quiet and followed behind her like the weak little minion she expected him to be. She would lead him as far as the village, and then act out the Dark Lord's orders without a second thought for her shadow.
In the distance, a twig snapped. "Mask down," Bellatrix snapped. She slipped her own disguise over her face and tugged up the pointed hood of her black coat as Rosier followed suit. They stepped off the path into the trees, momentarily out of sight.
From their hiding place, the sinister pair could see a group of students coming down the path, a couple holding hands and three boys with them. "Gryffindors," Rosier breathed. "A-and the girl is a mudblood," he spat.
Bellatrix's lips curled up into a sneering grin. Her fingers danced on her wand, but she held off for just a moment before sliding the walnut handle free and leaping into the students' way. As she had hoped, the mudblood screamed.
"Cruci-" she cried, thrusting a spindly arm toward the red-headed girl. But she wasted too much time in her malicious drawl, and before she could finish the Unforgivable Curse, the mudblood's boyfriend whipped out his own wand.
"Expelliarmus!"
Bellatrix's wand went flying into the brush. She screeched and grabbed at Rosier. "Give me that," she barked, snatching his freshly-drawn wand. Unarmed, the boy dove back into the woods to find the missing implement and to cover his behind. On the trail, the group of Gryffindor boys stepped forward with their own wands at the ready.
"Little Sirius!" Bellatrix crooned, recognizing one of the boys as her kinsman. "I heard you've finally run away. Ashamed of your reputable family?"
Sirius's eyes turned cold. "Cousin Bellatrix. I should have known you'd get yourself into some such madness." He lifted his wand. "Infligo!"
As Bellatrix moved to block her cousin's spell, Sirius addressed his friends without turning his head. "My cousin is crazy! Get Lily away from here! Run!" Without hesitation, James took Lily's hand and pulled her along with him back toward Hogsmeade. Peter followed quickly after them.
"Padfoot…" Remus hung back, uncertain. "We'll need you."
"I'm right behind you! Go!"
Remus turned and fled, listening closely to the sounds of battle behind him. When the shouted incantations ceased, he ventured to look back. To his relief, it was Sirius who came after him in hot pursuit. Together, they followed their friends back to the village.
-
The Hogsmeade that the boys and Lily returned to was not the one they had left. The already bleak gray November sky had gone black with billowing smoke. It seemed like half the village was on fire. Shards of glass littered the snowy cobblestone streets, the last remnants of shattered windows. Madam Puddifoot's door clung to the frame by a single hinge; inside, everything was scorched black. At first the Gryffindors could see no one, not on the streets or in the buildings, but as they gaped at the wreckage, a mob of people masked and cloaked as Bellatrix had been came around a corner.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" The ominous figures called out taunts and jeers to the seemingly empty streets. "Bloody cowards! Blood traitors! You can't run from the future of our kind!" It occurred to Lily that the Hogwarts students and Hogsmeade inhabitants must have been hiding. Obviously these miscreants had more on their minds than vandalism. She and the boys ducked into the burned out shell of Madam Puddifoot's before they could be seen.
"James," she whispered. He squeezed her hand.
"We're gonna get out of here," he promised. "Trust me."
-
Severus followed a gang of Slytherins through the deserted streets of Hogsmeade. At the head, the brothers Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange led the younger students. They seemed set on making a spectacle of themselves, firing off hexes and curses at anything that moved. Rodolphus had been the one who conjured the fiendfyre that set the village ablaze; he had nearly decided to leave it to its own agenda before someone pointed out that could just as easily torch their comrades.
Now, the smoldering flames gave them their only source of light in the early winter dusk. No one dared light so much as a candle to give away their positions to the murderous strangers who patrolled the village.
They hadn't killed anyone, so far as Severus knew. Not yet. But the damage grew with every passing moment, and something about the growing darkness brought out the worst in his fellows. It was as if their inhibitions ebbed away with the daylight. Cloaked in anonymous shadows, the actively sought out the terrified students, chasing any poor souls unfortunate enough to be causght out into the streets for humilation and torture. Rabastant inquired after each of their conquest's blood status. One third year boy was naïve enough to answer, "Muggleborn," in a tiny voice.
It was Rodolphus who did it. In a flash of green light, the boy fell to the ground.
Severus immediately felt sick. Merciful Merlin, he thought. Where is Lily?
-
"Where is Peter?" Lily asked across the village, where she, James, Sirius, and Remus had taken refuge behind the charred counter in Madam Puddifoot's.
The boys, who had been muttering amongst themselves, turned to look at her. "He's, uh… he's gone to explore," James answered.
"What? He could get killed out there!"
"He'll be fine," Sirius assured. "Peter can be quite inconspicuous when he tries." The boys shared a nervous laugh. For the umpteenth time that night, Lily felt as if she were missing something. She peered out the gaping hole that had once been the front window of the shop. Every so often, a group of the masked strangers passed by outside, shouting and cursing, and Lily's heart would race until their voices faded away again and their shadows disappeared from the singed walls. After what seemed like forever, she turned to face the wall instead.
When one of the shadows seemed to materialize within the shop itself, Lily turned in a panic. She was relieved to stifle her gasp, however, when the dark shape became Peter.
"Don't give the girl a heart attack, Wormtail," Sirius joked, pulling his friend down out of sight. "Now, what did you see?"
"Most everybody's in the basement under the Three Broomsticks," he replied.
Lily gaped at him. "You went all the way to the Three Broomsticks? Peter!"
"That's not all," he continued. "I went past Honeyduke's—those mad blokes are swarming the place."
"What does candy matter at a time like this?" Lily demanded, incredulous. "I'm beginning to think you lot are hiding more from me than just the tricks behind your pranks. What's going on?"
James laid his hand across Lily's arm before interrupting her, "Moony? What time is it?"
Lily was not placated by the gesture. "You're not even listening to me!" she whispered as loud as she dared.
"Oh, hell," Remus choked, checking his watch. "It's a quarter past five. We've got fifteen minutes."
"Fifteen minutes," Lily interjected irately, "until what?"
"Until things get a whole lot hairier," Sirius explained. "And a whole lot worse."
-
Within minutes, the group had determined that for the moment, the street was clear enough for them to leave the sooty safety of Madam Puddifoot's. The boys still refused to tell Lily what was so urgent, but she followed them toward the edge of the village for fear of being caught alone.
"James!" she called after a bit. "This isn't the was back to Hogwarts! That path goes to the Shrieking Shack."
"We know, Lils," James answered. He stopped and reached for her hands. "You're right that we haven't been entirely honest with yo-" His mouth fell open and he stared upward.
Lily whipped around to see what had interrupted her revelation. A silvery bird glided toward them from the direction of the castle. As it approached, it swooped low and came to reest beside the couple. Lily recognized the majestic form of an adult phoenix.
"A patronus?" James murmured.
"A message," Lily explained.
The phoenix opened its beak, and the Headmaster's voice spilled out. "James, Lily. I hope this finds you safely. If the village has been attacked, you ought to know that we are not sending help immediately merely because we cannot. There is another threat, I'm afraid, closer to home. But no fear! Mr. Potter, you know how to get safely back to the school. By the time you arrive, all should be well here. I trust you and Miss Evans to guide our students home."
"But Headmaster, Remus-" James began.
"After this is all over, we can protect you secret route," the bird continued, and Lily could've sworn she saw it wink. "I like to use that one myself. Good luck!" With that, the bird dissolved like a mist.
"But Remus!" James shouted to the spot where it had been.
Lily whirled to face him, livid. "But what? What does Remus have to do with us getting everyone out of here?"
James shook his head. "Dumbledore thinks we can get out through Honeyduke's, but we can't. There's a passage there, but it's blocked. There's another way, but it goes through the Shrieking Shack."
Lily opened her mouth to ask, "So what?" but as she did, a horrible moan broke out ahead of them, followed by a series of garbled snarls. With a look of terror, Lily gazed up at the sky, lit by a freshly full moon, then back at the beast that seemed to be possessing Remus.
James was unfazed. "The Shrieking Shack," he explained, "is where we hide that."