A/N- I don't own anything someone else thought of first. :)
This chapter is dedicated to HermioneGranger1971 for her encouragement, and for using the term "bloody brilliant" :D
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.
James and Sirius tiptoed down the staircase of the boy's dormitory. James had already planted the gift, he hoped Lily would like it. He hadn't gotten her five golden rings, he had only gotten her one; but it had five coils, and five emeralds set into it, so that had to count for something. He had hidden it rather cleverly in an ornament, he liked that idea, he hoped she would appreciate it as well; however, he now had more pressing matters at hand: the duel with Snape. It was 12:30, and it was time to move. They had planned to be out of the common room by half passed, but Sirius hadn't woken up properly: he had been having one of those dreams again. James had had to pour the pitcher of water over Sirius' head and yell before he had woken up. Now they were running late, but it just made a little more risk, which for them was part of the fun.
They swept the invisibility cloak over them before exiting the portrait hole, and Sirius observed the Marauders' map closely to make sure there wasn't any trouble headed their way. He could see Snape and Dolohov heading down to the chamber. "They're ahead of us, our plan won't work!"
Their plan had been to get there first and ambush them. "We could take off the cloaks and run, if we use the secret passage between Solomon the Slob and Frampton the Fat we could still make it. Do you see anyone on the map?"
"Nope," answered Sirius, "Ogg is near the prefects bathrooms on the sixth floor and Peeves is in the astronomy tower, we shouldn't see either."
"It doesn't matter if we see them, it matters if they see us," said James, yanking off the invisibility cloak and handing it to Sirius. "Let's go!"
So the two tore through the hallways, eager to get to the room first. They were rounding the last corner when they saw a figure at the opposite end of the corridor. The two boys ducked behind a suite of armor, not sure if the person had seen them. Sirius pulled out the map and strained to read it in the dim light. He had just made out who it was and was about to tell James when something else caught his eye. There were several Slytherin sixth and seventh years coming down the opposite hallway. If the two kept going the same direction, they were going to meet... here.
"Prongs, we've got to move!" whispered Sirius. "That's Severus, but-"
James made to jump out from behind the suite of armor, but Sirius stopped him, "He's brought company, and not just Dolohov, look at the map!"
James snatched the map and squinted at it. Sure enough, there was Snape, walking down one end of the corridor slowly, heading for the duel. Down the other end were a band of several Slytherins. And smack dab in the middle were Sirius and James. And then James spotted another problem, as if things could get any worse… Lily was heading toward them, coming from the corridor that they had just escaped.
0o0
Lily had been fretting about the fight between Severus and James all day. And what astonished her was that she was worried for James, not Severus. The hell with Severus, he had called her a mudblood one too many times.
So she had set her alarm clock for 12:45am, and was making her way down to the statue of Gregory the Smarmy. She was confident that she would be able to break up the fight. She was almost there, turning the corner purposefully, when a hand reached out from the shadows and snatched her behind a suite of armor. She tried to scream, but a hand was covering her mouth, someone was clutching her to them.
"Evans, shh, you have to be quiet!" Lily heard James' voice and instantly relaxed. Why was she relaxing? She should be jinxing him for daring to seize her like this against her will! Ah, but it felt so good… "Why are you here?" he asked, his voice a low whisper.
"A question I might like to ask you," said the steely voice of Travers. The hall was suddenly illuminated by wandlight. Sirius, Lily, and James could immediately tell that they were in danger. There were at least ten Slytherins, not including Severus; they were sorely outnumbered.
"What do you want?" Sirius sneered.
"We've come to do the job Snape here was sent to do: kill you" said a hooded Slytherin.
"Oh, I'm so scared," said James sarcastically, "If Snivellous here couldn't do it, what makes you think you kids-" he emphisised the words, "can outwit the marauderers?"
"And Lily," added Lily.
"Cheek, Potter," corrected Dolohov, "There are ladies present. We were sent by the Dark Lord to slay you. I suppose we shall have to kill Evans and Black now, too."
"If you so much as cut her, I'll crusciate you so much, the fires of hell will feel like a blessing after I finally slaughter you!" threatened James, Lily was in shock. Death Eaters? In Hogwarts? There had been rumors, but… this couldn't be happening.
"Ooooh," said Travers, "She'll be the first to go, then. It's a pity, Snape here would have liked to do her first, and I wouldn't say no to a hunk of that either. Ah, well. Dead bodies work just as well."
Lily was terrified, not to mention disgusted, she raised her wand to defend herself.
"NO!" said two voices at once. Both Severus and James had flung themselves at Travers, knocking him to the ground. Everyone watched in shock as, together, they brought him down. Suddenly there was a voice in Lily's ear. Sirius whispered, "Run, now, me and James will follow!"
"I'm not leaving you guys! They were serious about murdering you!"
"Just go! We'll be right behind you." Sirius swept the invisibility cloak over her. "Meet us in the room of requirement. It's on the third floor in front of the painting with the trolls in the meadow! Go!"
Lily couldn't argue, she took off. But now that she was invisible, she only went a few yards before halting and drawing her wand once more, ready to hurl curses at the death eaters. She watched in silence as James and Severus got up from the unconscious Travers and began cursing each other. Lily wasn't sure who to shield, she figured they could manage on their own, so she averted her attention to Sirius. He was having a hard time fending off the remaining eight, though he was dueling miraculously. The invisible Lily fired curse after curse, stunning three and disarming one, making the job easier for Sirius. James seemed to have knocked out Sev, so he was joining the fray as well. Then the shortest death eater disarmed Sirius, and he dived for his wand, and the death eater took advantage of that moment to slice Sirius' arm. Blood spurted everywhere. He howled in pain, grabbed his wand, and stunned the death eater. But now it was a fair fight, and with Sirius' bleeding arm, they were losing. Severus was back in the fray.
Then Severus did something to James, he yelled "Sectumsempra!" and the next thing Lily knew, James was bleeding all over the place, gushing blood.
"Let's get the hell outta here before someone gets hurt!" bellowed Sirius. It was a little too late for that, thought Lily, before someone gets killed maybe.
Lily lifted the invisibility cloak, "under here!" she yelled.
Severus and the remaining two death eaters were firing curses, but Sirius managed to hold them off while James got under the cloak. He was barely conscious.
"Go, just go!" yelled Sirius. "I'll be there in 20 minutes!"
"We can't leave him!" yelped James, but two death eaters were still trying to curse the invisible Lily and James.
"Yes we can, Sirius is strong, he'll be fine!" and Lily dragged James along, and they half ran, half fell to the Room of Requirement.
0o0
Lily tried to heal James' wounds, but it just wouldn't work. He was slipping in and out of consciousness, and Lily thought it best to get him to the hospital wing. She magiked a stretcher from thin air, and helped James onto it. Then she levitated him to the hospital wing.
Lily wasn't sure what to tell Madam Pomfrey, but she didn't ask many questions. When she saw him she shooed Lily away, and got to work immediately. Lily dashed back to the room of requirement, and she met Sirius there halfway.
"Where's James?" he asked breathlessly.
"Hospital wing," said Lily.
"I think I'll head there myself," said Sirius. He looked like he could use it, too. His bicep was cut open and bleeding freely, and he had a black eye. His middle finger also appeared broken. "just head back to the common room, but be careful. They're still out there."
"I will be," promised Lily, and she headed back to the dormitory.
0o0
It wasn't till she woke up the next morning that she remembered the gift. She looked to her tree expectantly, but only saw one addition: hanging on one of the lowest branches was a fat little Santa Clause. Lily wondered what on earth that had to do with the five golden rings, or even the Twelve Days of Christmas. She felt dejected, as if her secret admirer had let her down. That was silly; she thought to herself, most girls didn't get anything like this. But she couldn't help but feel as if everything had gone wrong. On the verge of tears, she prepared to start her day. She thought about visiting James in the hospital wing, but descided against it. It was, after all, Lily thought angrily, all James bloody Potter's fault that he was in the hospital wing to begin with!
A/N- don't hate me for that last bit, I have my reasons…
This was my longest chapter yet! xD Woo-hoo! Hope you all liked it, tell me what you thought in your reviews!!!
Thanks to the two of you who have reviewed the last chapter, Venus, goddess of love; and feeling5. I was tempted not to post this chapter because there weren't very many reviews, but I am forgiving, and so I assumed you all had problems with your computers. :D I like to see the best in people… :)
So there it was, the sixth chapter. PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love to all who've read this story, and more love to those who review. (Just press that little button, come on!! If you don't press that button it means you're pushing mine! lol!)
~LU