H is for HARRY
"Lily!" James yelled from downstairs. "Take Harry and go! It's him! Run! Go! I'll hold him off!"
And she didn't know how it had gotten to this point, couldn't pinpoint when life had been reduced to running and hiding and leaving her husband downstairs to die, and the Sorting Hat's words were suddenly echoing in her mind: I can tell, Lily Evans, that you belong in GRYFFINDOR!
But the Hat was wrong, it was wrongwrongwrong, she wasn't brave, she was terrified, she was screaming, she couldn't do this, it was too much, there was too much pressure, and this wasn't supposed to have happened, where did it go wrong, why did it go wrong?"
"Lily," James said, and he was standing at the bottom of the stairs while she stood at the top, and she knew, without knowing how, that this was the last time they were going to see each other. "Lily, I love you. I love you more than anything in the world - more than my own life - "
"Stop," she said. "James, stop it."
But he didn't, because he knew, too, and it was the same sweet-scared-honest voice he'd used that first night so many years ago. "And I am proud to fight for you, to die for you, to sacrifice everything I have for you. What else can I give but my entire being?"
"Stop, James. We're going to be okay. We're going to be fine."
"Tell me you love me," he begged, and then the door was blasted off its hinges, and James hurtled out of sight.
"No," Lily whispered, dropping Harry in his crib and wrapping her trembling hand around her wand. "No, no, no, no - "
"Avada Kedavra!"
" - no, no, no, no, no, no, no - "
And then he was there, in front of her, and a true Gryffindor would have fought but all Lily could do was beg.
"Not Harry. Please, not Harry. Kill me instead."
"Stand aside, you silly girl," he hissed, but she didn't.
"Kill me instead," she said a little more loudly. Her wand had fallen out of her hand, but she didn't bend to pick it up. Somehow the knowledge that it was going to happen - that she was going to die tonight - brought her strength. She wasn't shaking anymore. The Sorting Hat was pounding in her head: Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor. "Not my son. Not Harry."
"This is your final warning. Move out of the way."
"Kill me instead!" she screamed, and for a moment, Voldemort looked almost afraid.
"Avada Kedavra."
By the time she hit the ground, she was already gone.
[100 Prompts: "I will fight for you. I will die for you. I will sacrifice everything I have for you. What else can I give but my entire being?"]
[So You Think You Know Your Character Competition: Lily Evans - how do you react under pressure?]