In many a mountain pass,
Or meadow green and fresh,
Mass shall encounter mass
Of shuddering human flesh;
Opposing ordnance roar
Across the swaths of slain,
And bloods in torrents pour
In vain - always in vain,
For war breeds war again!

The shameful dream is past,
The subtle maze untrod:
We recognise at last
That war is not of God.

~ John Davidson

…

Screams and shouts filled the air. Coloured lights lit up the sky. Blood flowed from every single person there. There was no love. There was no happiness. There was only desperation. There was only fear. There was only hatred.

Desperation. Fear. Hatred.

All together they equal death. All together they equal pain. All together they equal war.

…

The message from Dumbledore had come while they were having dinner.

Hillsbrook. Muggle town. Twenty dead already.

They hadn't said goodbye. They hadn't wanted to. It was just another battle. There was nothing to worry about. They'd done this enough times to know that goodbyes would just make it harder to concentrate on their own battle.

No goodbye would ensure that they would see each other again. Alive.

…

Lily had a gash above her eyebrow which would scar brightly.

James had cuts all over his body, though only one on his shoulder would scar.

Remus had a large cut on his back which would scar, though it would blend in with all the others.

Peter had a cut on his arm which would not scar.

Sirius had a gash on his cheek which would scar lightly no matter what.

…

The Death Eaters were faring no better. Not one of them was unharmed. And they all appeared to be desperately holding on for something. They were all waiting for something or someone.

This fact only made the Aurors and Order members fight harder. They were desperate to finish this battle before the arrival of Lord Voldemort.

James and Lily didn't know if they would be able to survive another encounter with him. No one thought they would be able to.

…

Lily was only just managing to fend off five Death Eaters. The cut above her eyebrow was causing problems though. The blood kept clouding her vision. And it hurt, a lot. The five Death Eaters had long since realised the problems that Lily was having and they were trying to use that to their advantage. They kept making sure that she couldn't see them, but, thankfully, she always managed to block the curses in time. Either that or she dodged them and hoped they didn't hit anyone on her side.

Lily couldn't see anyone friendly anymore. All she could see were Death Eaters. Everywhere she looked there was someone who wanted her dead. She could hear the screams and shouts of her friends off in the distance and that was worse than actually seeing them hurt. Lily could only hope that they were doing better than she was. And that at least some of them were fighting in groups and not individually.

Lily was roughly pushed aside as a curse was thrown at her. She then watched helplessly as the curse slammed into a Death Eater. The Death Eater in question began to scream as his flesh started to melt. It was the most horrible sight that Lily had ever seen and she abandoned her efforts to stay alive in an attempt to help the writhing Death Eater. She knelt down beside him and ripped off his mask to reveal a seventeen year old boy. Lily almost lost it then. How could children be made to fight? Then of course she realised that she was only nineteen. The young boy seemed incredibly confused as to why he had helped a Mudblood that he was just attacking and why she was helping him, but as a fresh wave of pain came over him, he decided he didn't care why. He just wanted help.

Lily began trying every single counter-spell she could think of but nothing was working. And the fact that the other Death Eaters were still sending curses her way wasn't exactly helping. Lily's hands were shaking from the exhaustion of it all and she was very nearly killed but at the last minute someone deflected the curse.

"Bloody hell, Lils, pay attention." A beaming and bleeding Sirius said. Lily was so glad to hear Sirius' voice that she almost abandoned her efforts to help the boy in front of her.

"Sirius! Help me." Lily motioned towards the young boy. Sirius knelt down and inspected him.

"Christ. Johnny?" Sirius reached out and touched the boy's face.

"You know him?" Lily fired off a curse and smiled grimly as a Death Eater fell to the floor unconscious.

"He's a friend of Regulus. Johnny, can you hear me?" All of Sirius' concentration was focused on his brother's friend and so Lily took over the business of protecting the three of them. Johnny looked at Sirius and seemed to recognise him. Johnny opened his mouth to speak but the words were replaced by a scream of pain. Sirius knew what this curse was. And he knew that there was no stopping it.

"Help… me… please… Sirius…"

"I can't… Johnny, I'm sorry. Nothing can stop this curse. You know that." Sirius gripped Johnny's hand. "But I won't leave you to die alone like this."

"I know." Somehow Johnny's eyes had cleared and he seemed to understand what he'd done. "I made a mistake. I joined the wrong side. This war is wrong. I know that now. I knew that when I pushed her aside." Johnny nodded at Lily. "She's nice, she isn't trying to kill us. She should be though."

"That's Lily Potter. You won't ever find her killing for no reason."

"Lily Potter. Evans. I remember her. She was Head Girl." Johnny closed his eyes and grimaced in pain. "Sirius… Regulus… he's here. Help him." The last thing Johnny saw was Sirius' face and Johnny was very thankful for that. He had, after all, always been in love with Sirius.

As soon as he was sure Johnny was gone Sirius stood and looked around at all of the Death Eaters, hoping to recognise his brother's lanky figure. Lily saw his distress and asked him what was wrong. Sirius simply said his brother's name and Lily knew.

"Go look for him, Sirius. I'll be fine." Sirius glanced at her and knew she would be. And so he took off.

…

James was beginning to get really annoyed. He was currently fighting back to back with Remus and he could just make out the figure of Peter standing and fighting with Arthur Weasley and Kingsley Shacklebolt. James was glad that Peter was getting help. James could also see Alice and Frank fighting with Gideon and Fabian Prewett. The only people James couldn't see were Lily and Sirius. Somehow he doubted that they were fighting together. Though he hoped they were.

James was brought back to his current situation when he felt Remus slump to the ground behind him. James swore and looked up at the moon. Tomorrow night would be the full moon. Remus shouldn't be there fighting. Dumbledore hadn't sent him a message but the idiot had found out anyway. James created a temporary bubble around them to keep them safe. He then crouched down in front of Remus, who smiled at him weakly.

"I shouldn't have come."

"You think?" James couldn't blame his friend for coming. Remus had never shied away from a fight. At school, maybe, but that was because those fights were insignificant. He hadn't missed a single fight since they'd graduated. Except for one, but that had been the moon's fault and none of them, not even Lily, had been there.

"It's not worth it, James. What they're fighting for, I mean. They die for nothing on the whim of a mad man. We die for everything we have on our own whim. What makes them think it's worth it?"

"I dunno, mate. We'll ask as soon as I take down the bubble, shall we?"

Remus laughed. "If you like." He drew a shuddering breath. "James, I think I have to go now."

"What d'you mean?"

"I'm not sure. But I feel cold. And it's getting darker."

James' breathing hitched. Remus was dying. "It's the middle of the night, Moony. Everyone feels cold."

"Stop lying, Prongs. Everyone's hot, the adrenalin, and I'm cold. There's no adrenalin. I think… I might be dying."

"Now who's lying? Come on, Moony, you're not dying. Lily would kill me if that happened." James was hoping to elicit a smile from his friend. And he did, briefly. But then pain raced through Remus and he cried out. "Shit, Remus, don't you dare. Don't you dare die on me." James pointed his wand at Remus and that was when he discovered that the gash on Remus' back was deeper than they had originally thought. James desperately tried to think of the spell to heal the wound but the word wouldn't come to his mind. A string of obscenities escaped James' mouth but they quickly turned to a smile when Remus laughed at him.

"Relax, James, this day was always going to come. It comes for everyone."

"Nope, not today, not for you. What's the spell, Moony? I know you know it."

Remus sighed. "It won't work."

"Just tell me the damn spell, Moony! At least let me try." Remus whispered the spell and James quickly performed it. The skin on Remus' back laced together and the blood he'd lost was instantly replaced. As soon as the spell was complete the protective bubble around the two men dissipated and they were thrown back into the fight.

It was then that James saw a strange sight. Sirius was running around ripping the masks off of various Death Eaters. Each time he did this Sirius would peer closely at the face still in darkness and then race off to the next one. James shook his head wondering what the hell was going.

"Regulus." Remus spoke quietly but it was enough to send a shiver down James' spine.

"Bloody hell."

…

A scream filled the air.

A body fell.

Silence descended.

Lord Voldemort had arrived.

…

And that's when things began to go wrong. Up until then, the darkness had been a minor inconvenience. But now that Lord Voldemort was there, the darkness was horror and terror and everything that they feared. Voldemort would move amongst the shadows and whenever he got closer to someone from the 'other' side he would let them know he was there and then kill them. They had no warning. They had no chance to fight back. They never saw him coming. Even his own followers didn't know where he was. And he actually killed two Death Eaters, both of whom had been telling Dumbledore certain secrets. Voldemort showed no mercy, as usual, but he also showed cowardice. He never went anywhere near the fearsome figure of Professor Albus Dumbledore. For Voldemort knew, deep down, that Dumbledore knew where he was hiding in the shadows and at any second Dumbledore would lash out and he would be wounded and unable to defend himself. It was then that Voldemort began questioning whether or not any of his Death Eaters would stand beside the fallen master and protect him from the masses. Somehow, he knew that many of them would run and claim they were under the Imperious curse, and the foolish ministry would believe them out of desperation.

Voldemort moved swiftly and silently. Picking his victims from a distance. Those he killed weren't chosen randomly. Nothing about this particular battle was random. He had planned the entire thing. Certain people were cut off from the friends. Voldemort wasn't taking any chances. His victims had all been handpicked by him in advance. He had taken suggestions and requests, however, from his most trusted followers. It was a very exclusive list and one that you really didn't want to be one.

Voldemort saw a flash of red. Red hair, no less. The target he was after. The Mudblood, Lily Evans, Potter. The former love of his most trusted follower. Severus didn't know that tonight was the night that Lily Potter would die.

…

Lily was desperate. More desperate than she had been the whole night. She needed to get to the others. She needed to find someone friendly. She needed to escape Voldemort. Lily had seen the pattern and she knew he was after her as well. And she knew he wasn't far away. Only three people were following Voldemort's progress. Dumbledore, Lily and Remus. No one else could see that he was walking in a circle, he was closing in on everyone. When someone fell down dead next to someone, they would run away from the body and further into the middle. Lily was doing the same thing but she was warning people as she went. All of them listened to her and so they passed on the message and people did the only thing they could think of. They Aparated away from the fight. Everyone went to the safe house where Healers and Aurors were waiting. People had been going there all night. But now they were going there in larger numbers. Lily hoped that the message would get to…

"Lily Potter." A wand tip was pressed against her back. A cold chill raced down Lily's spine.

"Lord Voldemort."

"No one else has replied to me all night. Interesting change of pace." Cold laughter escaped Voldemort's mouth. "How does is it feel knowing that you die tonight?"

"One day, Voldemort, you will meet someone who will have the power to kill you. I only wish that I could see it."

"No one can kill me."

"No one you've met perhaps. But one day, they will come. And you will fear them."

"I fear no one. Goodbye Lily Potter. Avada Kedav…"

"No!"

Voldemort was thrown off to the side but he managed to get the last syllable out. A green light exploded from his wand and headed for Lily. Voldemort was sure that the curse would find its mark and so he quickly left the scene.

…

Avada Kedavra.

Those words. They aren't good words. And you never want to hear them.

I don't want to hear them. All I want is James.

I hear the first dreaded word. The second word begins and, suddenly, the small circle of pressure on my back disappears. I turn to see Voldemort flying to the floor. He finishes the word.

Green light explodes and lights up the dark night. It's brighter than I've ever seen it before. How is that possible?

Voldemort's cruel smile appears. And that's when I realise he's killed me. I am dead. As soon as that curse hits me.

Three…

Two…

One…

Nothing…