Thrice Defied

In the middle of May, Remus and Elizabeth had set the date of their wedding for September twenty first, thereby giving them plenty of time to plan everything. It's nice to have something to look forward to, Lily thought as she drank her coffee. She was on a break and had just sat down in the employee's lounge at St. Mungo's one day in late July. By now, she was a fully licensed Healer and James was an official Auror. They had all been so busy lately that she hardly knew were the past few months had gone. James and Lily's career advancements had only meant one thing – longer working hours.

There had also been a drop in the Order's numbers. In the past few months alone, they had lost Edgar Bones, Gideon and Fabian Prewett, and Caradoc Dearborn. They never even found a trace of Caradoc.

But they had a very hard time recruiting new members. While most of the wizarding population was against Voldemort, very few would openly stand against him for fear of his wrath. Elizabeth had joined only a few weeks ago – much to Remus's protest – but she was the only new person within the ranks.

Lily was beginning to dread the Order's meetings – no progress was being made and the only news they got was tragic. There was one tonight and she was holding on to some small amount of hope that something good could be reported, like a lead on a possible Death Eater or something...How wrong she was.

They never even had the chance to sit down. Nearly as soon as they set foot into headquarters, they were being briefed about a massive attack in northern England. Dumbledore quickly divided them into teams and were on the battle ground in fifteen minutes flat. It looked like bomb had exploded. Trees and what remained of houses were on fire, issuing large clouds of black smoke into the air. And over many of the houses, the Dark Mark flew as a terrifying reminder of just who had done this.

"Okay," said Moody glumly to the gathered Order, "We're just looking for survivors at this point. Potter, Evans, you take this house; Black, Lupin, and Parr, you take the next one,"

"So do you think he's ever gonna call me anything but Evans?" Lily asked as she and James started towards the house that Moody had indicated.

James couldn't help but laugh. "No. To him, you'll always be Evans,"

But they're laughter died away as they came closer the house. Most of the house was destroyed. The edges had black scorch marks and the house seemed to be on the edge of collapsing. But Lily couldn't help but feel as though she had seen this house before...

Wands drawn, they slowly entered the silent house. It was in such a state of destruction that it was impossible to tell if the house belonged to a wizarding or Muggle family. But once inside, a pain-filled cry hit their ears so suddenly that it nearly knocked Lily over. Someone was in a large amount of pain.

"Never a dull moment, is there?" James whispered as they tried to find where the screaming was coming from. But before they could move very far, it stopped just as suddenly as it began. They paused, unsure how to continue. Then they heard movement from the second floor. With a brief nod, James started up the nearly destroyed steps, Lily following close behind. But half way up the stairs, she stopped dead in her tracks. Hanging haphazardly on the wall with a large crack down the center was a picture...but it wasn't just any picture. It was a family portrait. And in the middle of the people was...

"Dorcas..." Lily whispered as she pointed to the picture. That was why the house looked so familiar – this was Dorcas's parents home.

James turned around, a look of shock on his face as his eyes found the picture. "Oh, shit," he mumbled. "We need to keep going. If it is Dorcas's family that's up there, we may need back up,"

Lily nodded, feeling slightly nauseous, before they started up the stairs again. They went as quietly as possible. Once at the top of the stairs, they could tell that the screaming was coming from the first room on the left. Lily had come over countless times during the summer holidays and knew that this was Dorcas's old room.

As they crept closer, Lily heard the voice that had haunted her dreams for over a year.

"I know that the old fool is planning something. Now tell me – what is Dumbledore planning?" Lord Voldemort commanded.

"I – I don't kn – know," sobbed the hunched figure from the floor. Lily's stomach plummeted – it was Dorcas.

"I grow weary of you cries. You should thank me for your merciful death," James quickly signaled for them to go in as he sent his Patronus – a large stag – for help.

Just as they rushed into the room, Voldemort called, "Avada Kedavra!" Lily turned her eyes away as the room was filled with bright green light. James tried to disarm him, but Voldemort easily deflected it.

"Do the two of you never learn?" He hissed angrily. "I have been patient with your meddling thus far, but I am going to end this tonight. Look at your friend," he gestured to Dorcas's dead body. "It did her no good."

Lily couldn't tolerate the taunt about her friend – she fired a curse. Voldemort quickly dodged it. In the blink of an eye, they were in full battle mode. James and Lily moved across the room, dodging and sending curses, ducking behind upturned furniture.

And then, as suddenly as it began, it stopped. Voldemort was gone. Lily's eyes quickly scanned the room. He had just left. But she couldn't let her guard down – even now, tears were welling in her brilliant green eyes over the loss of her dear friend.

"Where is he?" she asked James. He opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, the wall seemed to explode. The force sent James and Lily tumbling to the floor. Slowly, they stood. The entire wall was gone. As they cautiously stepped closer to the gapping hole, they could see nothing but destruction in the battlefield beyond. Carefully, they leaned over the side, and Lily and James saw a Voldemort, standing at the base of the what was left of the house, waving his wand in a circular motion.

"We gotta get outta here!" James quickly said as he grabbed Lily's arm.

But before they could Disapparate, the house began to fall in around them. Lily glanced upward as a large part of the ceiling fell straight towards her. The last thing she remembered was James's hands on her head, protecting her, before being covered, along with her husband, in the wreckage of the house.

000

"Hey, Moody!"

When Alastor Moody turned to see who was talking to him, he saw Sirius, Elizabeth, and Remus rushing toward him.

"What is it?"

"James just sent a Patronus asking for backup," Sirius said, out of breath.

"Fine, we'll go now,"

But before they could even take a step, the house they all knew James and Lily were in collapsed. They stood – horrified – unable to say anything.

"Lupin, get some Healers and as many other Aurors or Order members as you can find. Black, Parr, we're going to try and find them."

Remus ran off in one way as Sirius, Elizabeth and Moody hurried toward the collapsed house. Once there, they began searching through the rubble. While Elizabeth was moving a large piece from what looked like the ceiling, she glanced at Sirius. He face was so white he looked like a ghost, but he kept looking – and so did she.

But what she found nearly made her sick. As she moved through the wreckage, she saw an unmoving hand. And from the diamond rings that were on it, she knew who it belonged to.

"Hey!" she called as Lily's hand twitched, "Over here!"

Sirius and Moody hurried over. They managed to get more fragments of the house off of her as Lupin, accompanied by Marlene McKinnon and two other Order members, showed up.

"Lily!" said Marlene as she crouched next to her. Lily's eyes fluttered open, tears running down her face. She had a few minor cuts on her face and it looked like she had a broken leg.

"J-James," she murmured, shaking.

"They're looking for him now," said Marlene as she conjured Lily onto a stretcher. "Are you feeling any pain, Lily?"

"My leg, my head...and...and everything else,"

"We found James," someone called.

"Lily, I'll be right back," Marlene said as she went to see James.

Lily tried to sit up, but she was strapped down. Instead, she turned her head, but she couldn't see much; all she could see was James's hand – which wasn't moving.

Then Marlene came back to her side. "I'm going to take you to St. Mungo's, Lily."

"No," she breathed, "What about James?"

"He isn't stable enough to be transferred right now, but he will be." And before Lily could argue any more, everything when black and Lily felt like she was being pushed down on from all sides. Next thing she knew, she was staring at the ceiling of St. Mungo's.

"Simone!" Marlene called as Lily groaned.

"What happened?" asked Simone.

"There was another attack, Lily and James were found inside of a collapsed house. I've got to get back," With that, Marlene Disapparated.

Simone waved her wand at the stretcher Lily was on as it glided towards an empty room.

Once there the stretcher stopped moving, Lily tried to sit up, but Simone pushed her back down.

"Let me go!" Lily screamed. "I have to get to James!"

"You need to sit here," she said.

"No!"

"Lily! There's nothing you can do right now. Your leg is broken, just let me fix it."

She glared at Simone, quite possibly one of her least favorite people of all time – before saying "Alright,"

With a quick wave of her wand, Simone healed Lily's leg.

"Now can I go?"

"You know my answer as well as I do. Now, do you want get into the bed or do you want me to put you there?"

With another glare at Simone, Lily got off the stretcher and into the adjacent bed.

"I'll be right back," said Simone before she felt the room.

Lily sat down on the bed, but sleep was the last thing on her mind.

How was James? Marlene had said that he wasn't stable enough to come here, and that didn't sound good. He had protected her from the falling debris, so he had been hurt worse...much worse. If she hadn't lost control when Voldemort had taunted her about Dorcas...

Dorcas was dead...just the thought of her being gone was almost too much.

Then she heard Simone come back into the room. Lily turned to see Simone, carrying a goblet, walking closer.

"You need to drink this, Lily"

"Have you heard anything about James?"

"No, I haven't...now go head and drink this,"

Lily looked at its contents as she accepted the goblet. "A sleeping potion? Do you actually think that I'm going to take this?"

"Listen, Lily, you need to rest. I promise that I'll wake you if I hear anything about James."

And for the first time in years, Lily and Simone understood each other. Lily nodded briefly before she drank the potion. Slowly, she felt her eyes close as she fell onto the pillow...

A/N: Sorry about the cliffy, but I have to end it here. And about the next chapter...this coming up week is going to be ridiculouslybusy for me, but I will try my best to update soon. Don't forget to review!