-Part 3 – The Rescue-
James wished desperately that he could have had more time for this moment. He had imagined in his daydreams a thousand ways to reveal to Lily his biggest secret. He would prepare her, he thought, with sweet nothings of a cryptic kind, and then dazzle her with his secret skill, his first chance to really show it off with pride.
Instead, his cover was blown in an instant. He had only the time to shout, "Don't be scared," before he fell to all fours and rose, to his shocked and terrified girlfriend's awe, as a stag. Before her eyes, Sirius did the same. Where he had stood, a massive black dog remained.
Lily grabbed for Peter's arm. "You too?" she whispered.
"Afraid I'm not much help now," Peter said. He stepped back and morphed out of sight, until Lily spied the twitching tail.
"Wormtail," she realized. "Padfoot. Prongs. Moony. Oh, God." Severus had been right. But his far-fetched theory hadn't mentioned the rest of the mischievous gang. Lily shrank back as Peter sprang up again. "What do we do now?" she moaned. "We can't take the students past… a monster."
James left the werewolf-baiting to Sirius for a moment to shift back by Lily's side. "Don't panic. I have an idea."
He outlined his plan as swiftly as possible. He and Sirius would drive Remus around the perimeter of Hogsmeade and back to the caves. There they could keep him guarded as they usually did and remain out of the way. Meanwhile, Lily would sneak the students out to the Shrieking Shack and back to Hogwarts. Peter would accompany her to open the passage and sneak past any masked lunatics.
Peter scampered off to the relay the plan to Sirius. In his absence, Lily fell into James's arms.
"We're going to be fine," he promised, burying his face in her hair. "We won't let them have the satisfaction." He kissed her cheek, then turned and bounded into stag form.
"James," she called softly.
He turned back and stood, human.
Lily ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. Before he could react, she pressed her lips firmly to his, eyes shut tight. For a single fleeting moment, they both relaxed in perfect bliss.
-
Severus, concealed in the forest nearby, turned away in disgust. He reached up and pushed back his mask from his face, but nothing was interfering with his vision. The reality of what he had seen hit him like an uncounterable hex.
So far, he had been able to deny it. For so long, he and Lily had mocked Potter and his cronies behind their backs. She had recognized them for the bullies they were. But since their falling out, she had begun to fall under Potter's spell. He could ignore it. He could convince himself that it meant nothing. He could throw himself to her feet and proclaim his unrequited and undying love for her. But he could never unsee Lily Evans passionately snogging James Potter.
Something in Severus broke at that moment. It wasn't just his heart, it was something more. Lily had been his conscience, his moral compass, his anchor to reality when his grandiose visions became too great, too cruel. She was the wedge between himself and his fellow Slytherins, the reason he questioned Avery's schemes and Mulciber's plots. Even after she had refused his final apology, he had continued to imagine her voice in his head.
"Are you sure about this, Sev?" "I wouldn't trust him if I were you," or even just a simple, "Don't." She guided him and his choices long after they stopped speaking. But no more.
Lily had made her final choice. She had committed herself to Potter, and now Severus needed a new guide. He would permit himself just a moment or two of mourning—and then he would return to the village, and the friends who would never kiss his sworn enemy.
-
As they drew apart, Lily began to cry. "James, they're Death Eaters, aren't they? Oh, they are!"
James didn't refute it.
"And Dumbledore said… that other threat! It's You-Know-Who! You-Know-Who, James! He's kill us as soon as look at us!" She buried her face in his shoulder.
"That's why we have to get everyone out of here. Lily, Peter's already gone to get the students. He'll get them back alright—there's safety in numbers." James stroked her coppery hair. "I'll stay with you, if you want."
Lily stared past him to where Sirius was trying, unsuccessfully, to divert wereRemus away from the path. "No…" she admitted. "Sirius can't get Remus away from here in time without you."
James nodded. "Okay. Keep your wand ready. Peter will be back soon." He kissed her one last time, then turned and morphed. As dog and stag drove the werewolf away for everyone's safety, James permitted himself one last look.
Lily had collapsed to the ground, weeping bitterly.
-
From the far side of Hogsmeade, Bellatrix watched the silvered phoenix descend. She instantly recognized it as an attempt as communication. Briefly she considered warning the others, but in the end her desire for glory won out. How proud the Dark Lord would be when she told him how she had single-handedly quelled this attempt to foul up his plan!
First, however, she would have to lose Rosier. "Over there!" she cried out of nowhere. The younger wizard peered to where she pointed.
"I don't see anything."
"The bushes moved. Go look! Someone could be hiding."
As soon as Rosier left her side, Bellatrix apparated to the other side of the village. She quickly realized that she had missed when she found it deserted. Cursing, she ran down the path leading away from Hogsmeade. The thing must have been further away than it looked.
As she ran, Bellatrix imaged what many lay ahead. A whole slew of filthy mudbloods, she hoped, cowering like animals. She would deliver them to Lord Voldemort like trophies, she thought, grimly pleased. Cold, dead trophies.
Footprints in the snow betrayed the location she sought. Wand at the ready, Bellatrix whirled around, looking for the recipients of the patronus. She nearly missed the redhead crouching by the edge of the path. "You!" she hissed.
Lily jumped up and scrambled to get her wand.
Bellatrix laughed cruelly. "Where's your little boyfriend now? Left you all alone in the cold, dark forest…"
Lily opened her mouth, but no spells came. This is it, she thought. She would die here, alone, just seventeen years old. She would never have the chance to graduate, get married, have children, or even live in the wizarding world. A single tear rolled down her cheek. She was all cried out.
Bellatrix grinned as she stepped forward, eager to toy with and dispose of this waste of a wand. She didn't even notice the black-cloaked figure step out of the shadows behind her prey.
-
Severus should have let her go. What better way to force this emotional nightmare to end? But when he saw that look of malice on Bellatrix Black's face, he just couldn't let her have her way with Lily. He jumped into the open and flicked his wand, yelling in his head, Levicorpus!
He looked on with pride as the sadistic witch flew upwards by her ankles. Then, he remembered in horror that his mask was up.
-
Lily watched in elated disbelief as the Death Eater rose into the air, dropping her wand. Her disbelief continued when she spun to see her sudden savior.
Standing behind her was another cloaked villain… with Severus's face.
She stared for just a split second before the person tugged one of those awful masks down and ran for the forest. After he was gone, she found herself questioning what she had seen. It couldn't have been Sev. Not dressed as a Death Eater. Not saving her. Not here, now. She shook her head. There were more important things to worry about.
The Death Eater still floated harmlessly above, but she was perfectly conscious, and screaming horrible things about Lily and her parentage. Lily couldn't let that monster watch them escape.
"And that blood traitor!" she was bellowing. "If I find out who that was… the Dark Lord will have his head!"
"Shut your bloody trap," Lily replied. "STUPEFY!"
-
Peter managed, with the help of most of the prefects, to get the students out of Hogsmeade safely. Lily met them at the Shrieking Shack. The younger students were hysterical. She did her best to keep everyone calm as Peter opened the passage, but word was spreading that the Death Eaters had killed someone, and that You-Know-Who was waiting back at Hogwarts for the rest.
Lily couldn't take it anymore. She climbed up on a creaky chair and hollered, "Enough!"
The students quieted and looked at her expectantly.
"Uh… okay then. Listen up. Yes, we faced Death Eaters tonight. And, erm… I think they killed somebody. But we all made it here because we stayed together and stayed safe. I don't care if you're muggleborn, pureblood, or anything in between. If we just think clearly and adapt to the situation, we know how to protect ourselves and each other. Believe it or not, there are even some on the other side who want to see this end peacefully. So we're going to go back to Hogwarts. The professors will know what to do. And this will end."
Peter reappeared, and with a nod from Lily, began leading students into the passage.
Lily brought up the rear. As the last few students ducked into the passage ahead of her, she gazed out the window at the moon and the distant village. Far away, she could hear howling.
For once, it was a reassuring sound.
-
In the misty forest, a tall and imposing wizard faced his followers for the second time. His dark cloak was torn to tatters, and he clutched his upper arm to staunch the flow of blood from a curse wound. His kneeling underlings could scarcely believe that their exalted leader could fail.
"My Lord!" gasped a wide-eyed Bellatrix Black. "I didn't think you could bleed!"
The Dark Lord turned on the sycophant, sneering. "I will be infallible! I hear that you, Bellatrix, let a mudblood incapacitate you with ease."
"I-I was betrayed!"
"Perhaps." Lord Voldemort looked out across the wilderness, his sharp features blank. "In any case, we have all underestimated our opponents tonight. Dumbledore managed to warn someone in the village."
"My Lord," Lucius Malfoy began. He waited for permission to finish his thought. "I believe it was the Head Boy and Head Girl he contacted."
"Students?" the Dark Lord spat.
"James Potter. Lily Evans."
"Very well. They have defied us once." The cold, pale wizard tightened his grip on his wand. "They will not do so again."
Author's Note: The End? Not quite. Be on the lookout for the final chapter: The Aftermath.