Turning Saints Into the Sea
Chapter Thirteen: Once
December 25 was approaching quickly, and Lily had absolutely no idea what she was going to get anyone. She was lazily going over her list of things to buy in Hogsmeade this weekend, still not 100 sure about any of them:
Samantha: that pretty gold embossed parchment she's
been admiring
Melanie: book on do-it-yourself beauty tips
Brandon:
anything over ten Galleons at the Quidditch store
Remus:
whatever's new at the bookstore
Peter: a wristwatch
Sirius:
something perverse.
James: . . .
James. Oh God. What in the world was she going to get James, the one whom she'd despised for roughly the past six years? A new quill? Lettering? Please.
She let her head fall backwards on the couch, staring at the ceiling. Did she really need to get him a gift? It wasn't like he was getting her anything . . .
Or was he?
As if on cue, James walked through the Heads' Common room portrait entrance, calling, "Hey, Lily, what do you want for Christmas?"
Lily sat up. "Why?" she asked suspiciously, afraid to get her hopes up and assume he was in fact getting her something.
James walked over to the couch, a few Chocolate Frogs in his hand, and sat down. He tossed her one and said sarcastically, "Well, Brandon and I just had the loveliest lunch date and he had asked me, since we were getting to be such good friends, what I was getting you, and I told him I didn't know, it was between some cherry-flavored lollipops and Scotland."
Lily laughed, unwrapping her Frog and giving the card to James, who pocketed it. "I wanted to know what to get you," he explained unnecessarily. "What do you want? Books, perfume, candy. . ."
"I don't know," Lily said seriously through a mouthful of chocolate, "Scotland's looking pretty good right now."
"Touché," James complimented. "Seriously, though."
Lily thought for a moment. "I really don't know. A new spell book would be nice, but I already have so many of those. I'm a sucker for those little crystal mobile things. . . Sort of an emotional connection with the way the light reflects off them. My dad had one back when I was little."
James shrugged. "Alright. I'll get you one of those."
Lily gasped. "No, those would be so expensive! You shouldn't spend all that money on me."
"Why not? I have the money, and I'd rather get you something you enjoyed than a cheesy little knick-knack. Consider it a gift to make up for the past six years," James said, throwing her another Frog.
"The past six years?" Lily echoed, confused.
"Yeah." James gathered his thoughts while he unwrapped his third Frog. "I'm sorry that I was such a tool to you in the past, asking you out and harassing you. It was so immature and stupid, and I wish I could take it back."
Lily was shocked. "You do?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I can't believe that I sunk to that level. I never will again, that's for sure."
A silence followed James' statement, and Lily coughed, changing the subject, "What are you getting Julie?"
James froze for a second and glanced up at her, a you-don't-want-to-know grin slowly creeping up his face.
Lily felt herself starting to blush. "What? What is it? Is it that bad??"
James' you-don't-want-to-know smile turned into a you-really-don't-want-to-know smile, and Lily stood up, disgusted.
"I'm going for a walk," she sputtered moodily, thoughts of all the raunchy things James could possibly be getting Hernandez flashing through her mind.
James, laughing, half-heartedly called out, "Evans, don't go. . ." but Lily had already slammed the portrait hole.
As he chuckled to himself quietly, a portrait in the room who had been listening to the whole conversation asked, "What are you getting Julie?"
James grinned. "A new book bag."
The wind was cruel as it sliced through the students walking through Hogsmeade. Lily, Melanie, and Samantha in particular were freezing to the bone without the proper garments to wear.
"Let's go into the Three Broomsticks," Melanie called over the wind, dragging the trio into the pub, which was crowded and well-lit.
They found a table next to the window and ordered three scalding butterbeers.
Melanie looked onto the streets. "It's so pretty outside."
"It's pretty, but bitter," Sam added. "The wind makes it terrible."
"I hear what you're saying — ah, the drinks!" Lily said, taking the mugs from Madame Rosmerta.
Drinking deeply, the friends sat for a moment enjoying the silence and each other's company — until four seconds later, when with a loud BOOM! the doors to the Three Broomsticks smashed open and the four Marauders paraded in.
Sam rolled her eyes at them, taking another sip. "What are they doing here?"
Melanie stared at them in mild amusement. "Why are they so obnoxious?"
Indeed, the four were acting ridiculous. James and Sirius both had charmed the numerous bags filled with Christmas presents to hover behind them, but the spells were performed sloppily and the parcels were colliding with anything in their way: walls, people, each other. Remus was remarkably more reserved, but there was still an odd glint in his eye that suggested he wasn't as innocent as he seemed. And Peter was Peter, tagging along and grinning, happy to be out with his friends.
"Mel!" Sirius yelled suddenly, leading the other three over to the table where Melanie, Lily, and Sam had been sitting. He slid into the seat next to Mel, pressing a quick but firm kiss on her lips and settling in with his arm casually draped around her shoulders.
Sam glanced uneasily at their casual affection for each other, then kissed Remus' cheek and took his hand. She saw Sirius watching them out of the corner of her eye.
James sat directly across from Lily and grinned at her, placing is packages on the ground.
Lily felt uneasy; she was a little more than acutely aware that she was a little more than acutely aware of exactly how the cold and wind made James look. Years previously, how she looked at James Potter didn't even faze her, but more recently she had been noticing how often she glanced his way. Denying that she cared about his appearance only made her looking, or not looking, that much more obvious.
"What did you buy?" Sirius asked Melanie playfully, digging through her own bags.
She swatted at him. "Get away from there. It ruins the surprise if you see it early."
His eyes lit up. "So you did get me something!" He resumed searching through the parcels.
Melanie rolled her eyes, placing the bags on the other side of her.
James leaned across the table. "What are you three doing in Hogsmeade?" he asked Lily directly.
Gazing up at his face once, Lily sipped daintily at her butterbeer before responding, "Christmas shopping of course. I also had to get a dress for my sister's eighteenth birthday; there's going to be this huge party, seeing that it's Petunia, and I don't want to be unprepared."
He looked mildly interested as he reached across the table for her mug. Taking a swig, he asked, "When's the party?"
"December 26," Lily responded, taking back her mug.
James frowned. "So you won't be staying over Christmas Break?"
Lily shook her head. "I'll be staying till around five Christmas Day, and then I'll Apparate home for a couple days. I should be back the 27th, early 28th at the latest."
He nodded. "I'm going to see my parents for a day too. Having an Apparation license has made staying in touch that much easier."
Lily nodded in agreement. She looked over at the bar, frowning. "There seem to be a lot of men in dark cloaks here today," she commented.
James laughed. "This is a magical village, Evans. Occasionally, men in dark cloaks do turn up here. It's not really something they can help."
Lily laughed weakly too, trying to ease the sudden feeling of anxiety that washed over her.
A little while later, while one of the waitresses was handing the men their drinks, one of the cloaked men said loudly, "I'm not drinking this with all your Mudblood filth on it."
A hush fell over the room. Heads turned in indignant astonishment to the speaker.
The waitress, a young girl barely out of school, blushed furiously and stammered quietly, "I-I can get you a different mug if you'd like, sir. . ."
Not bothering to keep his voice down, the man said, "I don't want a different cup, I want a different server, one who won't soil my food."
Humiliated, the waitress mumbled something about talking to the owner, than ran out of the room with tears in her eyes.
The room buzzed angrily, offended by the man's vulgar talk. Lily turned back, her own ears red from embarrassment and infuriation.
Sirius looked stricken. "I think we'd better leave," he said seriously.
James nodded, frowning. "It would be better if we got out of here."
While the group was packing up, the manager, a stout old man with a bristling mustache, came out from the back and hustled over to the group of men furiously. "I will not tolerate your language or your group in my restaurant! I demand that you leave immediately!"
The men stood slowly, intimidating the man. "What?" the leader asked silkily.
The old man stood his ground, refusing to be moved. "I said, leave my restaurant!"
The leader suddenly whipped out his wand, and with a flick of his wrist sent the old man flying across the room.
Sirius stood, his wand drawn. "Hey!" he cried.
A few other people stood up, brandishing wands. The other hooded men all joined their leader, forming a tight circle. With all the robes looking the same, it was hard to tell where one man stopped and another began.
A shout of "Crucio!" came from the group of men and suddenly, the air was filled with sparks, screams, and hexes. Lily and the rest of the group sprang up, pulling out their wands and shouting curses at the men.
Sirius, jumping over a table, cornered one rather short hooded man against a wall. He screamed, "Expelliarmus!" shooting him into a wall. The man slammed against it, crumpling on the ground. A thrill of adrenaline shot through Sirius and he turned, exhilarated, to fend off another man.
As he hurried to help, he saw Sam watching the scene from a corner, an oddly blank look on her face. Dodging a hex, Sirius ran to Sam to see how she was holding up.
"Are you okay?" he yelled over the noise. Sam looked up at him quickly and nodded. "Yeah. Give me a minute," she said normally, waving Sirius off.
His face twisted. "What are you doing?" he bellowed. "Either help or leave! You can't stay here if you won't fight!"
As if shaken from a daze, Sam turned to face him, a look of pure hatred on her pretty face. Sirius felt the look like a blow, taking a step back to absorb its impact. He'd never seen Sam looking so . . . anything before.
"I am going to fight," she said stiffly, anger blazing from her eyes.
Getting over her malicious look, Sirius rolled his eyes. "Then get out there! You can't spend your entire life watching, Sam!"
The only way Sirius could describe Sam's reaction to his statement was like a volcanic eruption. He watched with some satisfaction as her face scrunched up tighter and tighter as she got madder and madder until she didn't even resemble herself anymore and then — it was gone. All the fury that had been etched into every line in Sam's face vanished, as if a giant cloth had wiped away all emotion from her.
Staring away from Sirius as if he wasn't even there, she nimbly jumped over the fallen table. Landing in front of a hooded man, who turned to look at her and laughed, Sam cried, "Relego!"
A flash from her wand aimed towards the man sent him flying through the air and smashed through a wall.
Sirius' mouth fell open as Sam turned to face him, her face touched with slight amusement. "Hell hath no fury," she said softly, slipping off into the rest of the fight.
Sirius watched her leave, his mouth still agape. For some odd reason, he felt as if he had never seen the real Sam until this very moment.
James felt the sweat pour down his neck as he battled man after man, not sure when it was going to end. He wiped his brow hastily, trying to regain composure.
A cry made him whip around. James watched in horror as the leading man in the group sent a stream of blue light straight for Lily's heart. The beam caught her dead center, flinging her on her back.
His heart in his throat, James ran over to her as fast as he could, forgetting about the chaos around him.
"Lily!" he said, lifting her head frantically. "Are you okay? Lily, say something!"
She opened her eyes groggily, taking a couple seconds to focus on him. "Potter?" she slurred. "Whas goin' on?"
Without a second though, James lifted up her body in his arms. Adrenaline pulsed through him as he carried her outside the Three Broomsticks, where to his horror the fight had accumulated. The streets were lit with spells and colorful language.
The initial rush wearing off quickly, James moved quickly, trying to keep Lily and himself from becoming a target for open fire. He scanned the shops anxiously, looking for the place he knew Lily would be safe.
"Thank God," he thought, running around the back of Honeydukes and using the rear entrance. Once inside the store, he ran down into the cellar, Lily's dead weight extremely heavy in his tired arms.
He placed Lily down on a crate, magicked a blanket around her, and turned to go when a hand shot out and latched onto his arm.
"Where you goin'?" Lily asked, trying to form coherent sentences.
"I have to go help fight, Lily," he explained, attempting patience.
She turned frenzied. "Don't leave me!" she screamed, clawing to get closer to him. "Please! Don't!"
James was confused. "Why not?"
Lily's eyes darted around wildly and James wondered how lucid she was after the spell. "It's d-dark in here," she whispered fearfully. "And . . . quiet."
Something clicked in James' mind. Oh no. She has those phobias. Sedatephobia and lygo-something or another. Now what. . .
"Lily," he said, prying his arm loose, "I will be back when the fight is over. Now please just stay in here. You can hide in between these boxes." He indicated to two crates next to each other.
She looked at them, shaking her head furiously. "No! I can't!"
James groaned, looking heavenward. "Why not?"
A moment of silence elapsed, and James looked down to see Lily. Her face was chalky white, her red hair disheveled, her green eyes erratic. "They'll come and find me," she said quietly. "I know they will."
"Who will?"
She stared at him. "Them"
James put his arm around her shoulders, leading her over to the boxes. "Lily," he said as soothingly as possible, "You have to sit here for just a little while." He sat her down firmly between the boxes, kissed her quickly on the forehead, then sprinted up the stairs for the door.
Lily struggled to stand, screaming hysterically, "No! James! Please don't leave me! JAMES!"
James shut the door behind him, leaning against it for a second. Her cries echoed through his head, her frightened face carved into his memory. Shaking his head to clear it, he raced out of Honeydukes to fight.
Back in the cellar, Lily scrunched as far down as she could between the boxes. She felt the waves of nausea start to pound in her gut, threatening to overtake her, and attempted to take a few deep breaths, trying to concentrate on not concentrating on the darkness surrounding her.
And the silence. The awful, dreaded silence.
Lily felt herself start to shake, her heart pounding in her ears as she tried again to draw breath. The room was already spinning, and though she suddenly felt unbearably cold, sweat started seeping through her shirt.
Terror overwhelming her, Lily felt hot tears pool in her eyes. She squeezed them shut, whispering, "Hurry."
Thank God.
James slowed his sprint to a hasty walk as he approached the Three Broomsticks, where the fight had thankfully stopped. He spotted Sam, Sirius, and Remus all kneeling around Melanie in front of the pub. Mel seemed to be fighting off tears as Remus tended to a wound on her side.
"What happened?" James gasped, looking at the gash.
Sirius, who was holding Mel's hand, said quietly, "Melanie was momentarily distracted, and the man who she was fighting pulled out a knife and stabbed her. It was so unexpected; she didn't have time to jump out of the way."
"She's going to need to go to the hospital wing," Remus said seriously, scooping her up in his arms. He paused, seeming to rethink this move, then gently gave Melanie to Sirius.
Sirius staggered for a second, and then caught his balance, heading up to the castle. Sam and Remus trailed behind, both trying to help and console Melanie at the same time.
James started to follow, but after a few steps realized that the whole scene was bathed in an odd green-ish light. Fearing what he might see, he turned slowly.
Above the Three Broomsticks, the Dark Mark blazed. The skull's evil face and the snake twisting its way around it grinning viscously down at him.
His heart in his throat, James turned to catch up to his friends.
Lily felt her muscles cramping from staying in the same position for so long, but as painful as sitting down was, the irrational fear of what else was in the basement overpowered her discomfort.
How long had it been? She couldn't imagine. It seemed to be days since James had left her. . . Did he remember he left her there? What if he never came to get her? Would she be stuck here forever?
Don't think like that. Of course he'll come and get you. And if he doesn't, you can always just get up yourself.
As Lily surveyed the dark room, she knew that her last thought was in vain; there was no way she would ever get up.
A sudden knock sounded from the floor, under a rug. It sounded like something was coming up from beneath.
Lily's heart, which had just started calming down, sprang into action twice as fast as it had been. She felt her body start to tremble in panic.
The rug started lifting as if by magic. After a second, Lily realized it wasn't the rug that was lifting, but a trapdoor under the rug. A dark figure hoisted itself out from the trapdoor, replacing the rug neatly.
"Lumos." James Potter lit his wand.
A cry of relief erupted from Lily's chest, causing James to hurry over to her.
"Lily!" he lamented, "I'm so sorry for leaving you! I didn't want to, but they needed my help out there and . . ." James looked down at her between the boxes. "Did you move an inch from where I left you?"
Lily felt the tears trickling down her cheeks as she gazed up at him. She shook her head quickly.
James' face softened. "Ah, Evans . . ." He put down his wand and, grabbing her gently from under her shoulders, lifted her onto her feet.
Lily's legs ached and when he set her down, quivered uncontrollably. She collapsed against James as they gave out, weeping.
"Oh, James, I was so scared! I though you'd leave me here forever," she sobbed. James sat down on a box and pulled her onto his lap where she curled into a ball, burying her face in his neck. He put his arms around her, holding her.
"I knew, I just knew that they were out there and going to get me and I didn't want them to find me and then you left to go fight and I realized that those - those things out there were far more horrible and you and Sam and Melanie and Remus and Sirius were going to get killed and all I could do was sit here and . . . and . . . oh, James!" Lily cried, huddling herself deeper into his chest.
"I'd never abandon you," James murmured soothingly, stroking her back. "Never."
