Chapter 13

Once

Lily apparated two blocks from Remus' flat, her wand drawn, held under her cloak. She knew that there was only a slight chance that he was alive, but she had to check. If he was, they needed him to fight with them today, they needed the information that he had. If he wasn't…. Lily tried not to let her mind travel down that road.

She figured it was probably a good sign that the Dark Mark was not hovering over the roof of Remus' flat when she arrived. She kept her wand out, though, unlocking the front door with a small wave of the wand and a whispered spell.

She tried to act casual as she passed by Remus' muggle neighbors, who seemed to have no inclination that anything was wrong in their building. Maybe, Lily hoped, Remus had simply overslept and forgotten his meeting with James. Maybe they were panicking for nothing. Even as these thoughts crossed her mind, Lily knew that they were not true.

She reached Remus' apartment and opened the door with another spell. Quiet as a mouse, she crept inside, wand at the ready, prepared for an attack with every step that she took. The apartment didn't look as though it had been ransacked. Perhaps Remus had been taken in his sleep. Lily shuddered as that thought crossed her mind.

Lily didn't hear the muffled footsteps behind her. She didn't see the man's crazed eyes as he crept up on her. She didn't even have time to scream before he brought a large ceramic plate down on her head, knocking her unconscious.

Sirius hated not having a plan. He hated running around in the dark, no idea what was going on, no idea what was going to happen.

He and James were trying to work to find out the location of Olivers' safe house. James was certain that the slaughter would take place there.

The entire Magical Law force would be gathered in one place, certain that they were safe, their guards down. Olivers would place Anit-Apparition jinxes around the building, under the rouse of security so that no one could apparate in. The problem would be that no one would be able to disapparate. Once everyone was gathered, Olivers, who would, of course, be the Secret Keeper for the Safe House, would give the secret to Voldemort. Then, they would be sitting ducks for the slaughter.

James knew that their only chance of success was to expose Olivers as a spy before anyone could apparate to the safe house. How, however, were they to accuse the Acting Head of the Auror Department of being a Death Eater? The entire department knew that James and Sirius were close to Remus, and everyone also knew that Remus and Olivers had had unfriendly contact. Most of the department had also witnessed the recent and very public brawl between James and Olivers in the office. Therefore, their credibility against him was shot. There was no way that people would listen to them.

James sighed, frustrated as he ran his hand though his hair.

"I don't know what to do," he admitted to Sirius.

"Maybe we should to Dumbledore," Sirius suggested in an undertone. "At least he would believe us, and he could get the Order involved."

"Yeah," James agreed. "That's probably a good idea. I don't think we have a chance at this without him. You go, and I'll stay here and see if I can find out anything about the safe house. I'll try to spread the word about Olivers if I can, but I don't want him to know that I'm onto him, so I'll have to do it quietly. If he figures out that we know….."

Sirius nodded, understanding.

"It would mean warfare right here in the Ministry," he said quietly. "Alright, I'll go to Dumbledore and see what I can do."

James nodded and gave his friend a brief hug before Sirius hurried away. James tried to shake the feeling that he would never see his friend again.

James quickly began to circulate among the other Aurors, doing his best to keep his head down, lest Olivers notice what he was up to. Most people were too distracted to listen to a word that James was saying as they hurried around the office, trying to locate missing colleagues and making plans to bring family with them to the safe house.

James overheard a frantic Fabian Prewitt in the fire, trying to convince his sister, Molly, to bring her husband and children to the safe house.

"Gideon's missing, Molly, and they might come after you, next! Just bring the kids and Arthur. Please!"

"Fabian!" James said quickly, tapping his shoulder.

"I have to go, Moll. Floo me back if you decide to take me up on this," said Fabian. He pulled his head out of the fire and turned to face James. "Yeah, what did you need, Potter?"

"Listen, " James said, his voice low. "You don't want your sister coming. I think it might be a trap. I think that there's a spy here in the department. Don't react, just listen," he added, as Fabian took a step back to stare incredulously at him. "I need to try and spread the word around the office without arousing suspicion from the spy. Are you with me?"

"Who do you think it is?" Fabian asked, his voice in a similarly low and serious tone. He and James, as part of the Information Sector, were used to jobs with secrets.

James lowered his voice to a barely audible whisper.

"Olivers."

The panic in Fabian's face spoke volumes.

"But," he said. "He's acting Head of Department! He's-!"

"Shut up!" James growled, grabbing him by the scruff of his robes. "If you can't keep this quiet, Prewitt-"

"Keep it quiet! How are you planning to keep that quiet?" Fabian asked, apparently unable to speak softly due to his current state of panic.

James felt a presence behind him, and dropped Prewitt, coming face to face with Olivers himself.

"What's the problem, Potter?" The older man barked.

"Nothing, sir," James said quickly. "Prewitt here is worried about his family. Just trying to keep-"

James broke off as he saw the sudden gleam of understanding in Olivers' eyes. Olivers knew that James knew. Before James had completely realized that fact, Olivers had lifted his hand, plunging it inside his robes, pressing his finger against the tattoo on his upper left arm.

"No!" James shouted, diving for him.

But, it was too late. Oliver had touched his Dark Mark, summoning Voldemort and his Death Eaters to the Ministry of Magic.

The battle was complete and total chaos. The rest of the Ministry had no idea what was going on, and the Death Eaters had sealed the Auror offices as they arrived. So many people packed into such a small area, all trying to kill each other made for one of the worst battles James had ever witnessed.

He knew, instinctively, that Sirius and the reinforcements would never arrive. He, James, had to find a way to get help. He was still the only one who knew the whole story.

Suddenly, an idea hit him. It was possible that Olivers had neglected to tell the other Death Eaters about the Portkey to the Auror Training Field, which would mean that it would still be active. If he could get there, then he could apparate for help and bring reinforcements to the ministry. Even thought he field had enchantments on it to keep people from apparating in, there was nothing that kept them from disapparating to another location.

James hastily cast a shield charm over himself and ran. He had to get to the Portkey, which was in Moody's office. He reached the door and wrenched it open. He glanced quickly over his shoulder and saw Olivers advancing on him. Olivers realized where he was going, what he was doing.

James dove for the Portkey just as he felt a hand grab his ankle. He looked around and saw, to his absolute horror, not Olivers, but the blood red eyes of Lord Voldemort himself.

"You thought I would let you escape and go for help, Potter?" he laughed maliciously as they landed.

"What about the rest of the battle?" James asked. "You're just going to leave them there, fighting the Aurors? They'll all be killed. What kind of a leader are you?"

"One who realizes that my pawns are disposable," Voldemort snapped.

James' eyes scanned the ground for the Portkey that had transported them, but it had returned to the Auror Office. It would not come back to the field for an hour unless someone else from the office used it to get to the training field.

"Ah," said Voldemort, as they circled one another, wands drawn. "You seek an escape, do you? You know that you cannot apparate now without being killed. Perhaps now you see what a foolish move it was to come here. Crucio!"

James fell to the ground, the pain overwhelming him. When the curse had lifted, he and Voldemort were no longer alone on the field.

Remus stood to Voldemort's left, holding Lily in his arms. She looked to be unconscious.

James stared at his friend in horror as a sudden realization came over him.

Remus Lupin was under the Imperius Curse. Lily had come looking for him, and he'd attacked her then come here, to Voldemort's side.

"Remus, snap out of it!" James shouted, knowing that it was useless, knowing that his friend could not fight the curse.

Voldemort laughed his high, cruel laugh.

"Yes, your friend Mr. Lupin has been very useful to Lord Voldemort," he said, his voice a soft hiss.

James was still on the ground, breathing heavily, wondering how on earth they were possibly going to get themselves out of this mess. Voldemort laughed again, and raised his wand, this time pointing it at Remus.

"He's a pawn, just like the rest of them! Crucio! Crucio!" Remus dropped Lily as he, too, sank to the ground in agony. Lily fell to his left a few feet away. James half hoped that Remus would be shaken free of the Imperius Cruse by Voldemort's spell, but he had no such luck. However, when his gaze moved to Lily, he saw that she was stirring feebly. Hoping that Voldemort was occupied enough with torturing Remus that he would not notice, James started to crawl toward his wife.

"Wake up! Can you stand? Lily, we have to fight, now!" he said urgently, slapping her cheeks lightly.

"Ok," she said, her voice shaky and groggy. They helped each other to stand quickly, wands drawn. (Apparently, whoever held Remus under the Imperius Curse had not instructed him to take her wand.) Together, they stood to face Voldemort, who had stopped torturing their friend long enough to notice that they were standing.

"So, you still have some fight left in you? You chose to stand and fight instead of dying on the ground like cowards? Brave of you, very brave. But it will not save you from death!"

They stood together, facing him, facing evil.

"Lily," James muttered, "I love you. I'm sorry, and I love you." He had to say it, just in case, in case they didn't make it out of this alive. And James was fairly certain that they wouldn't make it out of this alive.

Later, Lily wouldn't be able to recall exactly what went on during the rest of the battle, but she knew that she and James managed to evade Lord Voldemort's spells much longer than they should have. Luck was certainly on their side.

In fact, the battle seemed to be going well, until James somehow managed to trip, and he stumbled, his wand nearly flying out of his hand.

At this, several things happened at once.

The Portkey to the field returned, bringing Alastor Moody, accompanied by the remainder of the Order of the Phoenix and most of the Auror Department. Where Moody's left eye had once been, there was now a gaping, bloody hole.

At this same moment, Voldemort shot a Cruciatus Curse at Lily, and she blacked out from the pain almost instantly.

James knew that being hit with Cruciatus was extremely bad for Lily, but he refused to let himself think about it until the battle was over, until they were safe.

"Dumbledore's on his way, Riddle," Moody growled at Voldemort. "Your Death Eaters have all fled. I'd do the same if I were you, because you've lost this one."

With a scream of fury, Voldemort disapparated.

Moody collapsed almost instantly.

James ran to Lily, praying that she was alive.

Sirius went to Remus, wondering how he had gotten there.

Alice quickly joined James at Lily's side.

"What happened?" she asked urgently, as James gathered his unconscious wife in his arms.

"She was hit with the Cruciatus Curse, Alice. I don't know what to do," James said, his voice unsteady.

But Alice couldn't reply, as a dark stain of blood was slowly beginning to soak Lily's lower body.

"Pick her up and get her to St. Mungo's now!" Alice cried. James did as he was told, picking her up and apparating to St. Mungo's without another word.

James heard news from the rest of the battle as he sat in the waiting room. 4 Aurors were dead, as well as 27 members of Magical Law Enforcement. Even more were injured. Among the injured were Moody, Remus, Lily, Gideon Prewitt, and Dedalus Diggle.

James still couldn't believe that he had survived. He hadn't been allowed to speak with Lily or Remus yet, but Sirius sat beside him in the waiting room. They didn't speak much after Sirius had recounted the rest of the battle inside the Auror Office and James had told of his own experience. They sat in anxious, uncomfortable silence for hours.

When Lily awoke, she was in unimaginable pain. It felt as though every single one of her muscles was on fire, and she had no idea how to stop it. She wasn't even too clear on exactly what had happened. In fact, as she looked at the white walls of the room around her, she wasn't entirely sure that she was alive.

However, Alice was hovering over her in moments, handing her a potion to drink, wand out, examining every inch of Lily's body.

"I'm so glad that you're alive, Lily," Alice said, as she examined her best friend. "I really thought for a moment, well…. I mean, fighting Voldemort himself and surviving, that's just unbelievable."

Lily tried to speak, but found her voice raw.

"Am- am I going to live, though?" she asked, her voice thin and weak.

"Yes!" Alice replied emphatically. "You're going to be here for a while, but you're definitely going to live."

"What about Remus? What about everyone else?" Lily demanded.

"Remus will be fine. The Imperius Curse lifted because Olivers was killed in the battle, and he's the one who placed the curse. Remus has a few minor injuries, so we're keeping him overnight, just in case. Moody last an eye, and Gideon Prewitt's still unconscious, but we think he'll live. We're not sure what he was hit with yet. They found him outside his home in an alleyway. Sirius, James, and Frank are all okay."

"Good," Lily said softly.

"I'm going to bring James in, now," Alice said, her voice growing soft. "But, there's something I need to tell you, first. James already knows…." she trailed off.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked, sensing the change in her friend's tone.

"It's… It's the baby, Lily. I'm- I'm so sorry, but she… she didn't make it."

Lily couldn't respond. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't process what she had just been told.

"I'm going to go and get James," Alice said, quickly leaving the room.

James' face was tearstained when he entered the room. He walked to his wife's bed, and saw her laying there, staring at the ceiling, tears beginning to pool in her eyes.

"Lily," he said softly, reaching out for her, "I'm so glad that you're a-alive."

"Elizabeth," Lily said softly, the name of her baby. "I was going to call her Elizabeth." The tears began to roll down her cheek, slowly at first, and then rapidly, until she was sobbing fully, her hest heaving.

James choked up as well.

"I'm sorry, Lily. So- so sorry," he said, reaching the bed and kneeling to pull her close.

Lily pushed him away, roughly pounding on his chest.

"No!" She cried. "No, my baby. Not my baby, no….. No…."

James tried to embrace her again, tried to offer comfort, but she pulled away from him, sobbing harder.

"It's going… It's going to be okay," James said bracingly, watching Lily's grief, unable to help her.

Lily tore at her own hair with her fists as she sobbed, rocking back and forth in her bed. James could only watch helplessly as she cried and cried. He cried himself, sinking to the floor.

"My baby," Lily repeated again and again. "Not my baby. Not my little girl."

A/N: See, I told you it wouldn't take so long to update this time! Don't expect me to update this quickly all the time, now, but I figured y'all deserved a treat since you had to wait so long! Anyways, thanks for reading, and please Review!

I don't care if you just say: "Cute story, I like it." or "Bad story, I hate it." (I do prefer the first option, though. Haha.) Just let me know that you've been here and read it, please.

This chapter dedicated to: My awesome parents, because they are taking me to Mexico this week. Wahoo!

Love from

Lyny Angell