Great Night of Terrible Destruction
"Hey, Lil," greeted James when the door open. James was standing in a chair hanging paper spider webs on the ceiling. "Did you remember the candy?"
Lily rolled her eyes at her immature husband. He was too old to be this excited over Halloween. She decided to cut him some not to cut him any slack. It wasn't like he was completely alone.
Lily strolled past the chair, bumping it a little so that it wobbled and James lost his balance.
"Don't you think you're too old to be this excited about Halloween?" she said irratibly, placing her grocery bags on the counter in the kitchen.
"Of course not," he responded rummaging through the bags looking for candy. "You have to be forty-five to stop liking Halloween."
Lily rolled her eyes. According to James, you had to be forty-five to stop doing everything.
She looked around the kitchen and noticed, for the first time, that it was clean. Too clean.
"Where's Harry?"
"I put him down for his nap," he answered as he pulled out a large slab of chocolate. "What the hell am I suppose to do with this?"
"It's candy," she exasperated. "You eat it. Why is Harry sleeping at ten thirty in the morning?"
James ignored her question, he was still complaining about the candy. "Harry can't eat this. Do you know what happens if a baby eats two pounds of chocolate?"
"Then don't give it all to him at once."
"What am I suppose to do with it after I open it. It's not M&M's. It's going to melt."
"It was the only chocolate they had. Halloween is tonight, they sold out of everything else." James went back to digging in the bag for more candy. Lily took this opportunity to ask about Harry. "Why did you put him to sleep so early?"
"What? Oh. . .he was a little fussy."
"Why didn't calm him down?" she cried. "What, he's suppose to stay up half the night because his father didn't have enough common sense to calm him down?"
James looked up in shock. Lily looked very angry. What was happening? She never spoke to him in that way, not to mention, look that angry. Not since they were both at Hogwarts.
"What's the matter with you?" he asked her. "The kid was crying like he was in pain about something. I checked his diaper, tried to feed him his bottle, and he had no fever or other injuries."
Lily's expression softened. What was she thinking? How could she yell at James when he was clearly trying his best? She never understood how stressful it was to not leave the house. According to Dumbledore, someone made sure that she was safe. She could leave whenever she wanted.
She looked up and her husband and saw that he was concerned for her.
"I'm alright," she said. "I'm sorry, James. It's just that I'm worried for you and Harry. What if You-Know-Who comes and he. . .he. . ."
James grabbed Lily's hands, held them firmly in his, and looked into her eyes.
"Everything's going to be fine," he said in a soft voice. "The only way Vol- sorry, You-Know-Who is going to get to us is if he knows where we're hiding."
"But—"
"I know Peter. He's one of my best friends. I know he's not exactly the bravest person I know, but he would walk on hot coals rather than betray us."
James smiled encouragingly. Lily smiled as well, then hugged her husband. The man she loved so much that it hurts.
Lily sat in the living room folding laundry and thinking about how to tell James she had a date with Snape.
As she thought, questions popped into her head. Was she doing the right thing going out with Snape? Is she cheating on James? Should she stand Snape up? What were her feelings towards Snape? What were her feelings towards James?
Lily knew it was the wrong for her to go out with Snape while she was married to James, but she felt it was the right thing to do to go out with Snape. Snape was a good person at heart no matter what anyone said. As for her feelings toward him, she didn't know.
On the other hand, James married her. James wasn't her first choice of husbands. He wasn't even a choice until she started dating him. Then why did she marry him? And why was she still with him? Was it because of Harry? Did she want Harry to live with his biological father? That wasn't the answer.
Lily was so deep in her thoughts that it took her a minute to realize that Harry was crying.
She folded her last piece of laundry and placed it in the basket before going to check on her son.
When she reached Harry's room, the sight she saw tore at her heart. James was sitting in a rocking chair, rocking his son, and whispering words of encouragement.
As the baby began to quiet down, she felt guiltier.
By a quarter to six, Lily was already ready. She was dressed in a blue jeans, a dressy black shirt, and a pair of black, heeled boots.
James entered the room and noticed how beautiful she looked.
"Look at you," he said. "All dressed up with no where to go." He frowned. The only time that Lily dressed up was during formal dinners. "Wait. Where're going?"
Lily was afraid of that question. She looked down at her hands trying to choose the right words.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to look into her husband's eyes. Honesty was the best policy. "You know how I went to the store today?"
"Yeah?"
"Today I ran into an old friend," she hesitated. "I ran into Severus."
"Severus?" asked James, confused. "Severus wh—Snivellus?"
"His name is Severus," she snapped.
She watched as James took a deep breath. "Okay," he began. "So you saw Snape when you went to the store. That still doesn't explain where you're going and why you're dressed up."
Lily licked her lips. "He invited me out to dinner."
"WHAT!? And you're actually going? How could you cheat on me? How could you cheat on me with Snape? And worst than that, how could you cheat on me with Snape and tell me about it? It would have been less painful if I found out from somebody else."
"I'm sorry, James," she said with tears in her eyes. "I don't want to go, but I want to go."
"That doesn't make a lick of sense," he yelled.
"I'm sorry. Please stop yelling. It's just that. . .I've always wondered what would happened if I married Severus."
"You'd look like a fool. That's what!"
He stormed out of the room.
"James, wait!" she said, rushing after him.
"Just go!"
"James. . ."
It was going on seven thirty. Where was Lily? Did she decide not to show up?
Snape was standing in front of the Leaky Cauldron in a fresh black suit, holding a bunch of roses. He looked up and down the street. There was no sign of Lily.
He then heard a loud "Crack". The sound of someone apparating. He looked across the street and watched as Lily walked across the street to him. When she approached he gave her the flowers.
"Thanks," she said excepting them. "Sorry I'm late."
"That's alright," he replied. "Shall we go in?"
She nodded and they walked in the inn arm in arm.
It wasn't the best place for a date, but it was cleaner than the Hogshead and much less of a crowd than the Three Broomsticks.
They walked to a small table that was close to a man who sat alone drinking fire whiskey, but they were away from the bar.
Snape offered Lily a seat before taking one himself. They both picked up their menus and began to examine them.
A young waitress made her way over to them.
"May I take your order?" she asked, eying Snape like he was eye candy.
"Yes," answered Lily. "I'll have the chicken soup and a cup of tea."
"Excellent choice. And your handsome friend?"
"I'll have the same thing."
The waitress took their menus and went off to place the orders.
"Bitch," Snape muttered under his breath.
"Hmm?"
"Oh, I said nice witch," he lied. "So, house Harry?"
"He's doing better."
"Better? What, he was ill?"
"Well, not exactly. I couldn't find any symptoms of an illness, but he seems to cry a lot."
The waitress brought over their orders and left to take orders at another table.
Snape took a sip of tea.
"He doesn't cry a lot, does he?"
Lily racked her brains. She couldn't remember Harry crying that much. The only time he cried was when he was sick.
"No, he doesn't," she answered. She then stood up. "Excuse me. I need to use the ladies room."
Snape watched as she left. He continued to eat his food when the man behind him spoke.
"Dating a mudblood," said the man. "Pathetic."
Snape turned around and glared at the man. "Who're you calling pathetic?"
The man turned around and Snape recognized him as a fellow Death Eater.
"Hello, Snape. Making your move on the mudblood? Thinking of marrying her when her family die tonight?"
"What are you talking about, Greyback?"
"Tonight's Halloween, isn't it?"
"What does that childish day have anything to—" he broke off. He suddenly remembered the events that were going to occur later today.
Snape looked at his watch. Any minute now.
Lily came back and saw that Snape looked agitated and worried about something.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he said as he threw money down on the table. "We gotta go."
He grabbed Lily by the arm and disapparated out of the bar.
They appeared on a cliff in Godric's Hollow that overlooked the town.
"Wow," exclaimed Lily. "It's so. . ."
Lily stopped her sentence when there was a big explosion that shook the whole town.
Her stomach contracted with fear as she looked towards her house.
She couldn't believe what she saw.
