Twice Defied

The minute Lily walked through her door carrying a sleeping Lindsay, James was there to greet them. "What happened?" he whispered as he took the bag that had Lindsay's things from his wife.

"Lynch came back and tried to take her," she replied just as quietly. "After arguing back and forth he said we could take her for now."

James nodded as they walked into in to their second bedroom. He pulled back the covers of the bed as Lily laid Lindsay down and took her shoes off.

Once Lindsay was tucked in, James and Lily went back to their living room were they sunk onto the couch. They were silent for a few minutes before Lily asked, "Now what?"

"Doesn't St. Mungo's have a daycare?"

"Oh, yeah...I almost forgot. I could just take her to work with me. I think Marlene had said something about the hospital also having a type of basic education program set up, too..."

"Do you think she'd be up to meeting everyone? I mean, just our close friends, your mum and my parents."

"I think so...she'll need to meet everyone eventually, so the sooner, the better. We could maybe set something up this weekend." Then, she started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" he smiled.

"We've told everyone that I was taking care of Lindsay, but we never said anything about letting her live with us, well except to Sirius. They're gonna be surprised..."

Now it was James's turn to laugh. "Can't you just imagine the looks on their faces," James's eyes widen and his mouth fell open in imitation of their friends and family before they both started laughing nearly uncontrollably.

000

Over the next few days, James, Lily and Lindsay all started to get adjusted to their new arrangements. And while it was not easy to one day being childless to the next having full responsibility for a five year old girl, James and Lily both knew that everything would work out. So in just those few days, things went rather smooth. They managed to contact their friends and family to invite them to their apartment that Saturday, though they didn't say why. Once everyone (Sirius, Remus, Alice, Frank, Elizabeth, Dorcas, Sarah Evans, Daniel and Marie Potter, Peter, and – to nearly everyone's surprise – Josefine) were sitting in the living room, Dorcas finally asked what everyone was wondering.

"Guys, what's going on?"

Lily glanced at James before answering, "We wanted to tell you guys something. But, I think it would be easier to show you," she got up and left everyone in the living room to go into Lindsay's room.

Lindsay, who was sitting on her bed flipping through one of her picture books, looked up when she heard Lily come in.

"Are you ready to meet everyone?" Lily asked.

Lindsay nodded as she stood up and took Lily's hand. Together, they went into the living room. Everyone, who looked as if they had been asking James what was going on, turned to Lily and Lindsay.

"This is Lindsay Ellis and she'll be stay with us for a while."

"Is this the same girl you have been caring for at the hospital?" asked Mrs. Evans.

"Yeah," Lily launched into the story of how Lindsay had come to stay with her and James.

Everyone was thrilled – except one person; Josefine. But Sirius was the only one who noticed. Sirius, who was sitting next to Remus, elbowed his friend in the ribs. Remus looked at him in confusion, but Sirius nodded in Josefine's direction. She had a bitter look of recognition on her face as she looked at Lindsay.

Josefine suddenly glanced at her watch and stood up and said, "I'm really sorry guys, but I just remembered I have to meet my mum in a few minutes," before she let herself out of the apartment.

"What was that about?" Sirius quietly asked Remus.

"I have no idea."

000

Once out of the Potter's apartment, Josefine Apparated, not her mother's, but to her best friend's.

"Bella!" Josefine called though the large manor.

"Yes, Josefine, what is it?" said Bellatrix Lestrange as she came down the grand staircase.

"James and Lily Potter have that Ellis girl you'd mentioned."

Bellatrix gave Josefine an evil smile. "Good, now I can finish what I started..." she drawled on, "I shall tell our Master. Now, tell me, where are the Potters living?"

000

It was getting late, but nearly everyone was still at James and Lily's apartment. Only Lily's mother had left, considering she had an hour drive home. Lily looked around at her friends. Dorcas and Sirius were talking to Frank and Alice about the Order; Remus had his arm around Elizabeth and were whispering to each other, both of them smiling; Lily was sitting with James, with Lindsay on his lap, and his parents.

They suddenly heard a loud bang from outside the building. Sirius, who was standing the closest to the window, looked below. What he saw made his blood run cold: more Death Eaters than he could count were streaming into the building.

"Death Eaters!" He managed to yell before ten of them Apparated into the apartment.

James handed Lindsay to Lily, who ran down the hall to Lindsay's room. Lily tried to put her down, but she screamed and wouldn't let go of Lily.

"Lindsay, I need you to hide, okay? You're going to be fine, I promise, but you need to get rid of those bad men." Lily ran to the closet and put Lindsay down. "Stay here and be quiet, okay,"

"Okay,"

She kissed Lindsay's forehead before she shut the closet door, ran out the room and locked the door magically.

Before she could get to the living room, two masked Death Eaters met her in the hall way. She fought the both of them for what seemed like forever before she finally got one of them with a Stunning Spell. And the other fell right after. Confused, Lily looked up to see Remus still pointing at the fallen Death Eater.

"Thanks," she said, trying to catch her breath.

"No problem. Alice sent her Patronus to Dumbledore, so help should be here soon. We've chased most of them out of the apartment, except for a few. James, Alice, and Frank are still here fighting them. Everyone else went down the hall to help some of the Muggles. It looks like they're attacking the whole damn building."

Lily nodded before the two of them set off for the living room. James, Alice, and Frank were tying the Death Eaters they had been fighting.

"I'm going to help the others," said Remus before he ran out of the apartment.

"You guys okay?" Lily asked.

"Alright, you?" answered Alice.

"Fine."

"Well...look at what we have here..." The four of them turned to see Lord Voldemort accompanied by two Death Eaters, sneering at them. "I have failed to kill you four once already, but I won't make that mistake again."

Frank and Alice ran forward to duel with Voldemort while James and Lily took on the Death Eaters. Curses and spells fired in every which way, leaving numerous burn marks on the walls, and breaking windows.

Lily fell to the ground, screaming in agony as the all too familiar sensation of being stabbed with white hot knives over took her. Once the curse was lifted, she saw the two Death Eaters run down the hall. James's face swam into her view.

"Lily!" he cried as he tapped her cheek.

"I'm okay." She finally managed to stand and once she regained her balance, she and James rushed to Alice and Frank's aid.

How long the four of them fought Voldemort, Lily never knew. But one thing was curtain, they were starting to weaken. They're responses were slowing down, which was not a good thing.

Then Lily heard a faint pop from behind her and a familiar calm voice say, "Hello, Tom,"

She didn't even need to turn around to know how it was that had come to their aid – only one man could make Voldemort's face fill with such fear.

Dumbledore took up the battle as Lily rushed down the hall, James, Alice and Frank at her heels. But before she could reach Lindsay's room, Lily could hear her pleading screams.

In a shower of blue sparks, Lily burst through the door. But she was too late...

"Avada Kedavra!" one of the Death Eaters cried. With a flash of blinding green light, Lindsay fell to the floor.

"NO!" Lily screamed as she ran into the room. But once the Death Eater saw her, they Disapparated.

Lily crouched next to Lindsay's limb body and sobbed. James kneeled next to her and wrapped his arms around her to comfort her as Alice and Frank watched sadly from the doorway.

000

Cornelius Fudge, Junior Minister for the Department of Magical Catastrophes, stepped over a broken lamp in the Potters' apartment to speak with Albus Dumbledore.

"Ah, there you are Albus. Do you know were James Potter is?"

"James is in the apartment directly above us, owned by Elizabeth Parr and Dorcas Meadows. James and Lily have just lost a girl that they were caring for. And just why do you need him?"

"Dreadful news, just dreadful. I've just heard that Daniel and Marie Potter were killed just a floor below. Apparently, they were trying to help a young Muggle family escape when what appears to be five Death Eaters stormed the apartment. No one survived, and the Death Eaters had already left when the Aurors had arrived. And since James was their only son, he needs to be notified." Fudge turned away to find James.

"Cornelius, wait" said Dumbledore somberly. "I should tell him,"

"You sure, Dumbledore?"

"Yes,"

000

It was near midnight by the time Lily and James had finished talking with the Aurors about what had happened. Dorcas and Elizabeth knew the last place that Lily wanted to be was in her apartment, where Lindsay had died, so they invited Lily and James back to their apartment, waiting for news of everyone else. Shortly after midnight, Sirius and Remus came back to Dorcas and Elizabeth's to say that Peter was alright and had just left for his house, Frank and Alice were still with the Aurors, but they still hadn't heard about James's parents yet.

"But I'm sure they're fine," Sirius had said confidently to James.

The six friends were sitting around the kitchen table, sipping on hot tea, not saying a word. They all felt terrible for Lily and could not say anything that would ease her mind. But they didn't need to; just the fact that they were there was enough for Lily.

She turned to Dorcas and asked, "When had Frank and Alice fought Voldemort before tonight," not really caring about the answer, but trying to think of something other than Lindsay's death.

"The night when Lin – I mean, one night in early January." Dorcas answered.

That was when they heard a soft knocking at the door. Wordlessly, Elizabeth answered it and was surprised to see her former Headmaster at the door.

"Professor, what are you doing here?"

"Please forgive my intrusion, but I need to speak with James. Is he still here?" Even though he sounded upbeat, there was an unexplainable sadness his blue eyes.

"Yeah, he is," she said as she let him in and led him to the kitchen.

"Hello everyone...James I have some information...about your parents." Dumbledore said somberly.

Everyone tensed as James nodded for him to continue.

"From what I have heard, they were trying to help a Muggle family escape the attack when...when what is believed to be five Death Eaters attacked. Neither of them survived, James."

James stared at his former Headmaster as the information sank in. He slowly put his head in his shaking hands, willing himself not to be sick. From somewhere to his right, Lily was affectionately stroking his arm. He could hear Dumbledore offering his condolences and he found himself nodding. He could feel everyone's eyes on him, but he didn't care.

His parents couldn't be gone – they just couldn't be. Mere hours ago they were saying how proud they were of him and Lily for taking Lindsay in. He suddenly felt claustrophobic; he quickly moved away from the table, towards the window. James leaned on the window ledge, placing his forehead against the cool glass, breathing deeply.

He then became aware that Lily was rubbing the small of his back.

"James?" she said both cautiously and gently, "Sirius said that we could stay at his place tonight. Do you want to go there?"

Still looking out of the window, he nodded and let Lily lead him to the fireplace. Without really thinking about it, James grabbed some Floo powder, said Sirius's apartment number and location, and walked into the green flames.

000

James looked around the apartment he used to share with his friend. It was nearly pitch black and so...so calm. How could it be so calm when he felt like screaming, like ripping something apart? His gaze landed on a chair...and for some reason, throwing it though the window seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing.

Just then, he realized that Sirius and Lily had made it through the fireplace. Lily had sat down on the couch, which Sirius was now leading him towards. As soon as he sat next to his wife, he seemed to slump over and put his head in her lap as she absentmindedly rubbed his shoulder.

"I just can't believe it," Sirius was muttering from the kitchen. He came back with a half empty bottle of firewisky, not even bothering with glasses.

He sat down in an arm chair opposite James and Lily and took a swig. "What a night," he mumbled miserably into the bottle as he took another drink.

James looked up at Lily. She was wiping silent tears from her eyes – wether they were for his parents or Lindsay, he didn't know. Probably both, the reasonable part of his mind thought.

"This may not mean anything now," said Sirius, "but I want you to know that I am truly sorry about what happened tonight, to the both of you" he nodded to Lily. "Prongs, you know better than anyone what you're parents' kindness has meant to me, and I will never forget it."

"I know, Padfoot."

"Now if you two don't mind," Sirius said as he stood up, "I'm going to finish off this bottle and more than likely pass out on my bed,"

"G'night" James and Lily said as Sirius staggered into his bedroom and shut the door.

They were silent for a few minutes before Lily couldn't take it any longer. She stood up, leaving James on the couch, as she paced up and down the living room, her hands over her mouth, trying to stop her tears.

"This is all my fault," she cried. "If I hadn't been so selfish, none of this would have happened. I should have just let that Lynch man take her to an orphanage – at least she'd still be alive! And I wouldn't have put your mum and dad in that danger. Everything that happened tonight was because of me,"

"Lils, come and sit down," She did.

"You listen to me, Lily" said James as he tilted her chin up. "None of this was you fault. I don't blame you for this, and you shouldn't either...It's not you fault that they're..."

But he couldn't finish his sentence. The tears that had been threatening to fall finally did. He buried his head on her shoulder and let the tears fall. She held him as they both cried until they fell asleep.

A/N: I know that you guys probably really hate me right now, but I had to kill all three of them off. I hated to do it...honestly, I did. Please review!