♥ Avoiding Voldemort or Not ♥
Author: Yours truly, LilyHeartsJames
Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter then by now I would have bought a mansion, bought a limo and gave a thousand dollars each to charities such as the breast cancer foundation etc. Therefore I don't own Harry Potter because if I did then I'd be rich.
Dedication: My little friend Ysolde. She was like my little sister but she's going to boarding school in Adelaide next year, and on her last day I took photos and had fun and most of all I cried. Yep. That's me. I dedicate this chapter to her because I'm gonna miss her SO much. XXX
Notes: Oh gosh guys, I really, really appreciated all those reviews! I really did! I loved every single one of them. Oh and just to clear it up, Becky slept with that Josh guy that Lily went out with I think in her fifth year. Yeah well that's who Becky slept with. Oh and Heather and Jane were just going on a mission to see whether James and Lily were actually going out, they weren't trying to break them up. One reviewer asked about that. :
Oh and anyone that hasn't reviewed APON could you please be an awesome dude and review? I have 198 reviews for it so far and was hoping to make it 200. I'd REALLY appreciate it!
So, let's get on with chapter seven!
Chapter: 7
"Ok now who can tell me what will happen if you used any one of the three Unforgivable Curses?" Alastor 'Mad Eye' Moody asked the group of Aurors in training. It had been three days since the sleepover and Remus and Emm had left town after their wedding to go on a little honeymoon and Becky had stayed at Lily's for two nights.
Moody looked around and saw no one volunteer, and said; "anyone?"
Lily raised her hand slowly and he nodded at her.
"You'd go to Azkaban"
He nodded again and wrote it on the board. James winked at her from across the room. They were sitting in a circle and due to James being late he had to sit across from her.
"Right now… yes Potter?"
Everyone turned to look at James who had his hand in the air.
"Well they wouldn't just go to Azkaban. They would also have to live with the fact that they used an Unforgivable on someone and they couldn't take it back and it would torment them, and that would be one of the worst things they'd have to deal with, let alone Azkaban"
Moody looked at him for a few seconds and nodded, looking impressed.
He turned and wrote that too on the board and James stuck his tongue out at Lily who repeated the gesture.
"Now, I know that some of you have an Auror in you're family so you'd know a fair bit so forgive me for giving information to the ones that don't know anything.
"Catching Death Eaters isn't just what being an Auror is about. It's about looking after you're world. It's about looking after one another and keeping everyone safe. It's also about Team Unity. An Auror isn't an Auror without a team. And it's also about CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody shouted loudly and every single person in the room jumped.
"When we come back after the break, my assistant Kingsly Shacklebolt will help me show you all the jinxes, curses and anything you need to know. We are at war, and the sooner you all know about spells and anything useful the better. You are dismissed"
Everyone stood up and Lily walked out of the room and when she came out of the door she got the shock of her life because James jumped out in front of her and shouted "BOO!"
Lily glared at him and slapped his shoulder, hard. "What's you're problem you idiot? You scared the HELL out of me"
James smirked as they walked along towards the café. "That was my plan all along"
"Whatever. You suck you know that? And you went all competitive"
James shrugged. "Ah well someone had to. What do you want?" he asked when they got to the line.
"Uh… just a coffee. Oh and a chocolate chip muffin… please"
He grinned and shook his head.
"Anything else Miss. Evans?"
"Yes. Stop being a smart arse"
She turned and walked off over to a table and sat down and watched him. He smiled and when he got to the front of the line said; "Can I please have two coffees and two chocolate chip muffins please?"
"Sure can. You say 'please' a lot did you know?"
James nodded and looked at her.
"Yeah I can't help… Carly? What the HELL are you doing here? How many jobs do you have?"
Carly smirked as she got the things he wanted.
"I got sacked after that brawl Lily and I had. I only work here and at the ice cream store now"
"You know what's so funny? You just somehow end up in nearly all the places we go to"
"I know. Must be you're lucky day isn't that right James?"
James smirked. "It was until I ran into you" he grabbed his things and handed over the money and walked off over to the table.
"What took you so long?" Lily asked and James smiled.
"Er, big line up?"
Lily looked at him suspiciously but accepted her muffin and coffee.
"Wouldn't have something to do with a previous girlfriend and sex partner now would it Potter?"
James stared at her and she smirked.
"How did you-"
"I'm not blind you know"
James watched her and she sipped her coffee.
"Don't worry James! I'm not going to go and punch her… unless you want me to"
He shook his head. "You can only punch her if I ask you to real nice, since I can't"
Lily chuckled. "Yeah, wouldn't want to be a woman basher now would you? Imagine that… James Potter, woman basher"
"I can't imagine that Evans"
"No, neither can I"
He sighed.
"Eat you're muffin and stop annoying me"
"Gee thanks, you know for a Marauder you have such lovely manners" Lily replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
James rolled his eyes. "Sarcasm is a service that you offer"
"Of course! Without it I wouldn't be able to annoy you"
James groaned and Lily grinned.
"You're dad wants to see us after Auror Training" Lily said leaning towards him.
"And why would he want to do that?" James questioned suspiciously and Lily shrugged.
"No idea. He just said for us to go to his office"
James shrugged this time. "Probably wants to warn us against inter office dating" James said rolling his eyes.
"Inter office dating? Potter, Evans… is there something you'd like to tell me?"
Lily and James looked over and saw Moody standing next to their table.
"Oh crap" James muttered and Moody frowned at them.
"You's aren't dating are you?"
They shook their heads.
"No Moody. Um… we used to and then we kinda broke up but stayed friends and James' dad has some weirdo idea that we might actually get back together" Lily piped up and James had to stop from sighing with relief.
Moody stared at them suspiciously for a moment and then nodded.
"See you after the break" he turned and walked off and James let out a breath he had no idea he was holding.
"Thank god you're a quick thinker"
She smiled at him.
"Of course I am. I wouldn't have had quick come backs to all the insults you threw at me over the years"
James groaned and rested his head on the table.
"You suck you know that?"
-
"I totally cained you're arse today" Lily said as they walked along towards the Auror's cubicles.
James rolled his eyes at her. "You know I let you stupefy me"
"Three times in a row?" Lily questioned and James went red.
"I was going easy on you, and besides I got you on the last one"
"Yeah right!" Lily said punching his shoulder.
"Oh come one! Go easy on me!"
"I thought you were going easy on me!" Lily shot back quickly.
"I hate you" James mumbled to himself.
"You keep telling yourself that but you and I both know that it's not true" Lily replied smirking and skipped off ahead of him.
"And she called me arrogant" he said in a low voice hoping she couldn't hear him.
"You know if you keep talking to yourself people will think you're mad"
"Shut it Evans!" James growled and she cackled evilly.
"Although you pretty much already are mad"
"Okay, that's it. You're gonna regret that!"
James chased her and she shrieked as she ran down into Danny's cubicle.
"DANNY! Help me! He's chasing me! I didn't do anything! I'm inno-"
Lily stopped in her tracks and froze.
Rufus Scrimgeour was standing there, talking to Danny.
"Gotcha!" James said from behind and pounced. They fell to the floor and got back up quickly and stared at Scrimgeour who raised his eyebrows at them.
"Er… hi" Lily said, hoping to break the tension.
Danny smiled and said; "this is my son James, and his friend Lily. Guys this is Rufus Scrimgeour, he's head of the Auror Department"
Scrimgeour nodded at them, and James said; "I know you! You're the one my dad hexed and stuff because you called me and Lily stupid!"
Scrimgeour blushed and said; "I wasn't thinking straight… forgive me"
James shrugged and looked at Lily.
"What?" she asked and James just shook his head and smiled.
Lily rolled her eyes and turned to Danny.
"Um why did you want us here Danny? Did we do something wrong?"
"No, of course not! I just wanted to talk to the two of you"
Scrimgeour took this as his cue to leave and did just that.
"So-"
"Look dad we already know about the inter office dating thingy and we told Moody that we did go out but then broke up and that you think we'll get back together and that that was why you wanted to see us" James said this all in one breath and by then end of his sentence his father was chuckling.
"Ah… what's so funny?" Lily asked him and Danny smiled at her.
"I didn't call you in here to lecture you about that. I just wanted to know whether you wanted to go with me to see Abigail Stokes"
"Who?" James asked frowning.
Lily gave him a look and said; "the ten year old girl who was accused for killing her family, duh!"
"Oh! Right, er sorry" he said blushing red.
"I wanna go! We are so there!" Lily said and James cocked an eyebrow.
"Who said I'm going?"
"Me" Lily replied and stuck out her bottom lip.
"Um… well I kinda promised Padfoot I'd catch up with him and go out to the ice cream parlor. We were gonna invite you, Becky and Peter but yeah"
"We can go straight away, as soon as we get back I promise!" Lily said pleadingly.
James sighed.
"And don't you want to know the girl who we're trying to prove is innocent?"
"Tried to prove, we stopped trying" James said and Lily sighed this time.
"Yes but still! We can try again! And maybe people will listen to us this time! Come one, what do ya say partner?" Lily asked holding out her arm.
James glanced at it.
"Deal" he replied and they bumped fists.
Danny grinned.
"Great let's go!"
"Uh, wait. Where are we going?" Lily asked curiously.
"The questioning room. I had two Aurors bring her in"
"Does she still think that she killed them?"
Danny nodded sadly.
"Yep. But I think she might be starting to regain some of her memory back"
Lily stared at him as they walked down to the questioning room.
"Really? I mean, are there like signs or something?"
Danny looked at her. "She keeps saying that she killed them but the next second she says she didn't"
James looked at his father in interest.
"Really? So she could just regain it like that and tell everyone the truth and then get out of prison?"
"It doesn't work like that James. Everyone knows that she keeps saying she killed them. But as soon as everyone finds out that she's saying she didn't do it… well… people will want to make a story of it, some won't believe her and some will. Some might actually think she's gotten bored in there and is just trying to get attention. But who knows? This is life. Not everyone have the same opinions"
James and Lily nodded and then stopped next to Danny who looked in through the window.
A little girl who looked about eleven was sitting there, looking miserable. Her hair had grey strands and her face looked stressed and tired. She kept glancing nervously around the room.
"That poor girl. We have to get her out of prison! She doesn't belong there! We have to prove that she's innocent!"
Danny stared at er, as well as James and James said; "Lily you don't want to get too attached".
Lily stared at him as of he was crazy.
"I'm not going to! I swear! I just… think she deserves better then being in prison for something she didn't even do"
"You don't know that" James replied and it took her by surprise.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? You don't believe that she's innocent or-"
"No! I didn't mean that! But that's our theory. And I want to believe our theory but what if we're wrong huh? What of she did?"
"You sound as if you doubt the possibility that she could be innocent"
"Lily… I'm just trying to see it logically. I know you want to believe she's innocent and so do I, but what if we are wrong? What if she did do it?"
"We are not wrong! How could a ten year old child know how to perform the Dark Mark?"
"Her father was a Death Eater" Danny said unexpectantly.
"What?" Lily snapped staring at him in disbelief.
James' eyes were wide and Danny sighed.
"Not many people knew, but I think he did it to protect his family. He was one of the least Death Eaterish people I knew. I think he was forced into it. Join, or lose you're family. That's the way it is lately. So he joined and I'm guessing he wanted to back out, but Voldemort wouldn't have that, especially when he had a few Death Eaters in the Ministry. But he couldn't afford to lose one if he wanted to over power the whole Wizarding Community and rule over everyone. And I think Stokes got cold feet and Voldemort took revenge on that. And didn't want to be blamed for it so he blamed the little girl, knowing that a few people namely Aurors or members of the Order of the Phoenix would know about Stokes being a Death Eater and think that the girl learned dark magic from her father"
Lily stared at Danny and sighed.
"What is wrong with Voldemort? Why does he have to do this? Killing people left and right all because he wants to over rule the entire world?"
"Because he enjoys watching people suffer… and get hurt" James said and looked at Lily.
"I believe that she's innocent. Trust me Lily I do. But there are some people out there that think she is guilty. And they won't change their minds. And you need to know that" James added and Lily sighed.
She nodded and said; "Of course I trust you. I'm sorry for saying you didn't believe her I guess I just didn't want to believe that there might be a small chance that she's actually guilty. I'm really sorry"
"Hey, it's okay" James said and hugged her.
Danny gave him a look and muttered; "Moody at nine o'clock" James pulled away and looked at Lily.
"You okay?"
She nodded slowly and Moody said; "Potter!"
"Yes?" James and Danny said at the same time.
Moody shook his head at James and said; "senior. Scrimgeour has just informed me that there's another Death Eater raid. They're killing Muggles and they've gone into the hospital and taken people hostage a few blocks down from here. It's called 'St. Radcliffs' and we need you down there now. I already have a few others going but-"
"I'm going to" Lily said shocking them all.
Danny shook his head.
"No, Lily you have to go home"
Lily shook her head.
"My dad works there"
Danny and James stood there, staring at her with pity.
"Don't look at me like that. Nothing's going to happen. And besides, I want to help"
"Evans you can't. You're not a fully trained qualified Auror and-"
"I don't care! Just like you said Moody, we're in war. And you need all the help you can get and I'm willing to help. I want to!"
Moody looked as if he wanted to take back his words.
"Fine. But if you're parents finds out I let you-"
"You won't have to worry about my parents. Just most likely Heather" Lily said with a smirk and Danny nodded at Moody.
"That's true"
Moody sighed.
"Go, but Potter-"
"I'm going to"
"No you're not! You go home right now and-"
"If you think I'm gonna let Lily go on her own then you don't know me at all" James said interrupting Moody and glaring at him.
Moody seemed to be thinking it over.
"Besides Moody if you send me home there won't be anyone there to make sure I stay put"
"You're mother will be" Moody replied glaring at him.
"Yes, but then she'll find out that Lily's gone and you know what will happen then"
Moody grumbled and then said; "Fine! But you're risking you're necks, both of you"
"We'll be fine" Lily replied and they followed Danny.
"I'll round up some more people!" Moody shouted after them.
Danny nodded and Moody added; "And I'll be there soon!"
-
Lily had never thought it would be this bad.
Muggles were running everywhere. Screaming their lungs out, crying, shouting and yelling. Calling out to loved ones. There were so many. But Lily could tell who the Death Eaters were.
They were wearing black hooded cloaks, and masks just like the ones Lily and Remus wore when Voldemort had taken her.
Bad was an understatement. She couldn't think of a word to describe it properly. Other then horrible, terrifying, terrible… she couldn't think of words worse then those at the moment, she was keen on helping out.
"Alright, don't go too far. Stick together and don't split up. Good luck" Danny said rushing over to fight a Death Eater who was dangling a woman upside down so that her dress flew over her head and he got a good view of her underwear.
Lily gave him a disgusted look and saw another Death Eater heading for Danny.
"STUPEFY!" Lily shouted pointing her wand and the Death Eater was blasted off his feet and smashed into a wall.
James gave Lily an appreciative look and said; "Come on".
He took her hand and they ran out into the street, leaving the alleyway which they had Apparated into.
A woman was screaming out for her husband, who was lying under a ton of bricks. Lily and James stopped and Lily charmed the bricks off of him and the woman looked at her as Lily rushed over to see if he was breathing.
"I've got a pulse. Don't go to St Radcliffs. People are being held hostage there. Take him to another one and he'll be fine"
"Thank you" she said and helped her husband up and hurried off.
"Lily look out!" James yelled pushing her out of the way as a curse flew right in between them.
Lily smiled at James and hurried off and he followed her, not wanting to be split up but soon he had no choice: A Death Eater had blocked his path and James began to duel with him.
It took five minutes for him to conquer the mentioned Death Eater and he was on his way again, looking for Lily.
"Lily!" James called, looking around.
There was no sign of the red head anywhere so he continued shouting her name.
-
Lily stunned another Death Eater who was advancing on a little girl in a corner. Cords flew from her wand as she tied him up and used Wingardium Leviosa to make him over down into another alleyway.
Lily ran over to the little girl who had chestnut brown hair and blue eyes. She was crying and Lily kneeled down in front of her.
"Hi my names Lily"
"I'm Charlotte" The little girl replied and Lily smiled at her.
"Are you alright?"
Charlotte shook her head. "I can't find my daddy"
"Okay Charlotte how old are you?"
"Six"
Lily nodded and helped her up.
Lily looked around and saw a lot of people hurrying away.
"Um, so tell me what does you're dad look like?"
"He's tall and has brown hair like me and has green eyes and-"
"What clothes is he wearing?"
"A brown sweater, blue jeans and black shoes"
"Okay, where did you last see him?"
"He hid me in here and then he ran off down that way" Charlotte informed her and pointed to their left.
Lily turned and saw a Death Eaters heading towards them.
"Go back where I find you and I'll come back for you" Lily told her and a scared look crept onto her face.
"But that's what daddy said!"
Lily stared at her for a second before telling her that she promised her.
Charlotte nodded and ran back to her hiding spot and Lily turned back to the Death Eater.
"Impedimenta!" He shouted but she blocked it quickly.
"Stupefy!" Lily yelled but he blocked it this time.
"Incarcerous!" Lily ducked out of the way and the spell hit a Death Eater that she had no idea was there.
The Death Eater was tied up and the other was still firing spells at Lily.
Either missing or having them blocked by the fiery red head who was starting to get annoyed.
"STUPEFY! IMPEDIMENTA!" Lily shouted pointing her wand at him.
He blocked the first but wasn't so lucky the second time around.
He fell to the ground and Lily ran over to Charlotte.
"Look out! There's a man behind you!" Charlotte yelled and Lily turned, ready to hex but found that it was James.
"Lily there you are! I was worried!" he said as she put her wand down and hugged him.
"I lost you and couldn't find you! What's going on?"
"I found Charlotte being advanced on by a Death Eater, got him. Then this one showed up, he ended up getting one of his own and then I got him. Where's you're dad?" she asked sounding worried.
"He's back there. But we have to get out of here. We need to help some more"
"What about Charlotte?" Lily asked.
"Where are her parents?"
Before Lily could answer Charlotte spoke up.
"My mum died when I was three, my dad ran off to help fight"
James looked at her sadly.
"How long has he been gone for?"
Charlotte shrugged. "A while"
James sighed.
"We can't leave her" he said quietly to Lily who nodded.
"And we sure as hell can't bring her with us out there" Lily said nodding at the street.
James sighed and sat beside the little girl, who scooted away from him.
"I don't know you. Stranger danger" she said and Lily laughed and James looked bewildered.
"I'm James" he said and Lily sat next to the girl, leaning against the wall.
"Charlotte this is my good friend James. He won't hurt you, I promise"
Charlotte nodded and looked out at the street.
"I want to go home" she whispered and tears fell from her eyes down her cheeks.
James looked at her and pulled her closer to him and hugged her.
"It's gonna be okay. It'll be over soon" James said soothingly as she cried into his chest. James sat her in his lap and Lily couldn't help but smile as she watched James hug Charlotte.
"I miss my daddy"
Lily watched her, and wondered whether her own father was alright. He'd come home from her grandparent's house a day before but her mother was still up there. She was spending a few more days there.
Lily felt like crying herself, but knew that if she did she would never stop. And she didn't want to scare Charlotte anymore then the little girl was.
Lily sighed and James looked at her.
"He'll be okay" he told her and Lily nodded and looked out at the street as more people ran around.
"CHARLOTTE! Charlotte where are you?" A man yelled and Charlotte sat up straighter and looked at James.
"That's my daddy!" she said and she stood up. She looked at Lily who smiled at her.
"Daddy!" she called out and James stood by her protectively and Lily stood up too as the man Charlotte had described came hurrying over.
"Hey that's my daughter! Stay away from her!" he said as Charlotte hurried over and jumped into his arms.
"Its okay daddy, they were looking after me"
The man looked at them and his expression softened.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just trying to protect her"
Lily and James nodded.
"It's fine. Just as long as she's okay. We have to get back out there so, we might see you around or something" James said taking Lily's hand.
"Wait!" Charlotte said and her father let her down and she hurried over to them.
She hugged James first and thanked him and he smiled fondly at her.
Don't tear up now James he told himself. You've only known her for about five or ten minutes!
He watched as Charlotte pulled away and hugged Lily this time. Lily kissed the top of her head and said; "Bye Charlotte"
Charlotte waved and her father pulled her away down the street, away from the fight.
James looked at Lily.
"You okay?"
She nodded. "Um yeah. I just… she was pretty cute that's all"
James nodded. "Yeah she was"
"Come on, we have to get back out there" Lily said and they hurried back out.
"This time, let's stick together" James said and Lily chuckled.
"You'd better keep up then"
-
Lily and James had run around hexing as many Death Eaters as they could. Thankfully they didn't get split up again and they ran past Danny a few times. He was an exceptionally good Auror Lily thought as she watched him fight three at once.
"James I have to go to the hospital"
"Lily are you mad? People are being held hostage there and-"
"Everybody is here fighting! There's no one there to save those people"
"Lils, I know that you're worried about you're dad, so am I! I know how much he means to you. But he wouldn't want you to go and risk you're life! He'd want you to be safe Lily"
"I'm not exactly safe here am I? I could get hit by any one of these lunatics and I could be killed James!"
"But that's not going to happen, because as long as I'm around I'm not going to let anything happen to you"
"James we weren't together before! We got separated! That's not exactly looking after me is it?"
"Well that's not my fault! I was fighting someone! I found you eventually"
Lily sighed. "I know… I'm not saying it's you're fault but…"
"But what?"
"How would you feel, if it was you're dad in there and I was telling you not to go in there? Huh? How would you feel?"
"Truthfully? I'd be pissed. But I'm just trying to protect you Lily! I love you, and even if that means keeping you safe by any means I'll do that! And you want to know why?"
"Why?" Lily asked, staring at him.
"Because I know that you'd do the exact same for me"
Lily continued to stare at him for a few more seconds before hugging him.
"I know that you keep saying that I won't lose you… but that doesn't mean I can't be afraid of it happening" James said softly when she pulled away. She kissed him softly and then stepped back away from him.
"James… I love you"
Lily turned on the spot and James stared around.
"LILY? Lily! Get back here Lily! Get you're arse back here NOW!"
James swirled around, hoping that maybe she had tricked him and had just Apparated behind him but she wasn't there.
"No… LILY!"
"James! Where's Lily?" Danny asked running over to his agitated son. The Death Eaters he had been fighting were gone. One was stunned and the other two had ran off.
"She's gone"
"Gone? Gone where?"
James could hear the fear in his father's voice.
"To the hospital. I have to go"
"No James, you're staying here"
"She's gone back dad! I have to go back for her!"
"Why? Other than the fact that you love her, why?"
"Because I know that she'd go back for me… and because I love her"
"James-"
But James too had spun on the spot and Apparated away.
"Dammit James!"
Danny looked around and saw a tonne of Aurors fighting Death Eaters and running around.
He sighed and did the only thing a Potter would do:
He Apparated away to the hospital to save his son, and the girl who had become a daughter to him even if he died in the process, he would bring them back.
A/N: Oooh, a cliffhanger! Argh! Don't shoot me! Anyways, this was a pretty quick update, but don't thank me. Thank my HOLIDAYS! If it wasn't for them it wouldn't be so quick.
Well, don't leave mean reviews saying you're going to kill me for leaving a cliffy, or er… saying if I don't update soon you'll kill me. 'Cause I'll be sleeping with my torch and pitchfork so there! If I see an angry mob outside my house expect to be er… freaked out by this crazy weirdo who's brandishing her torch and pitchfork like she's gonna bash you with them!
Sorry, just went a tad weird there but that's to be expected from a person who goes OVER a tad weird 24/7.
Well, Audios Amigos! Hope you stay tuned!
ALWAYS and FOREVER
♥ LilyHeartsJames ♥