Chapter Four: The Three Confrontations
(Lily POV)
I paced back and forth in the small kitchen. James had said that he needed to check on Padfoot – that something wasn't right. They had always had an extremely close relationship – as if they were brothers – and seemed to know when the other was in danger or needed assistance. So James had taken his Invisibility Cloak to see if Padfoot was alright.
That had been an hour ago.
I had no doubt in his abilities. He was one of the best dueler's that I knew – second only to Dumbledore. I had never once doubted the fact that he would come home, even in the dark times that faced us. Whether he had gone on a mission of some sort for the Order, or slipped on his Invisibility Cloak to get out of the house without being detected, he had always come back.
But anxiety still crept up from behind, and I found myself continuously glancing out the window, hoping to see him walking up the path to the house. I kept telling myself that there way no reason to worry – that he would be back.
To reassure myself, I began to think about the three confrontations that James and I had experienced together that involved He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named...
The first confrontation was by no means the most difficult. It was probably easiest one to get out of. We had been on a mission of sorts for the Order. Our first one after being recruited. The plan had been simple. Caradoc Dearborn had overheard that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had planned to attack a family of five because it had no Wizarding lineage. The two of us were to go to the residence of the family and wait. We were told to say in hiding unless You-Know-Who or one of his followers made a move. But it had gone horribly wrong.
It was dusk when we reached our destination. Upon our arrival, we looked around the area and scouted out a place to stay hidden from unwanted, prying eyes. We found a secluded, broken down shed that gave us a clear view of both the front and the back lawn. Before we had even left on the mission, we had both decided that we would stay together. If we were going to succeed in the task we had been assigned, it was better to be united than to be separated.
James closed the door of the shed, but left an inch-wide crack so that we could see out both windows and see the path that led back to the shed. It was overgrown with grass and weeds, and was only faintly there. One of the windows was only as big as my hand. It revealed the front yard. I examined the different details of the landscape that was shown through the smaller window.
A huge fountain that had a swan with its wings spread sat in the center of the yard. It looked like it was made out of marble. Thin, continuous streams of water shot from the swan's open beak and landed in a small stone dish that was sitting on a thin stone pillar that was raised higher than the base of the fountain and was directly underneath the swan's beak. The base of the fountain was tall and had a large diameter. Obviously the base held large quantities of water. The swan was near the front of the fountain, and it was facing the road that led up to the house. The wings that were spread had spontaneous bursts of water that shot out from the tips of the intricately detailed feathers. It made it seem like the giant bird was skimming the surface of the water and causing water to hit its wings and ricochet off.
The path that led to the front door was made out of roughly cut stones that gave the home an eerie look. Mosses and wild grass grew between the cracks in the stone. Around the perimeter of the house sat a stone wall. Ivy danced its way across the wall, and it was nearly impossible to distinguish the wall's true identity.
It was over an hour before anything happened.
"Lily," James said urgently, touching my shoulder and pulling me out of my thoughts.
I turned and looked at him. He pointed at the window that was opposite of the one I had been looking out of the entire time we had been in the shed. I walked over to the window and looked out of it. A man in his late thirties or early forties was walking toward the backdoor of the house. He stopped as he reached a beam of light that was shining down on the lawn from one of the windows on the upper floor. I gasped out loud. "Caradoc..." I whispered at the same time that James muttered "Dearborn..."
James looked at me, "What is he doing?" he whispered.
"I don't know." I admitted as I looked back out at the figure of Caradoc. It was extremely odd that he was here. He had no reason to be.
"I need to find out," he replied.
Before I could say anything to him, he had fished his Invisibility Cloak out of his front pocket and slipped it over himself so that it covered his entire body. "James! What in the world are you doing?"
"Caradoc shouldn't be here. Dumbledore told him not to be. He's been imperused!" a voice answered me from the darkness. "It only makes sense."
"You're going to blow our cover!" I whispered as I saw the crack in the door widen just enough for him to get out and then close again. "James!" I hissed urgently. Another figure had appeared in the backyard. He was wearing a black cloak, and it was obvious that he was a Death Eater. I held my breath as I watched and waited.
I jumped as I saw the door of the shed open and close again. James pulled the cloak off and put it in his pocket, "There's a Death Eater out there. Let's wait and see..."
We waited for roughly five minutes. By that time, another Death Eater had appeared. The first Death Eater walked over to Caradoc and said something in his ear. Caradoc turned on the spot and disappeared. The second Death Eater pulled up his left sleeve of his robe and pressed down on something – the Dark Mark. It was time to act.
James pushed open the door of the shed again, and we slipped out of the enclosed hiding place. We inched along the perimeter of the yard with our wands drawn. James shot a spell across the yard just as a figure materialized out of thin air. The second Death Eater crumpled to the ground. I aimed at the first Death Eater, but James's first spell had given our position away. He deflected it and shot a killing curse in my direction. I dropped down and crouched on the soft grass to avoid the lethal spell.
I glanced over to my right, and saw that James had started dueling He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I fired stunning spell at the first Death Eater and made sure that it had hit its mark before quickly standing up and shooting a spell at the only Dark Wizard that remained standing – You-Know-Who himself.
James and I moved in unison, but our opponent seemed to be able to deflect each spell that was skillfully aimed at him. He ducked and deflected spells and looked as though he was dancing. The prospect of getting away alive seemed bleak. Suddenly there was a loud pop. The three of us all turned to see who had Apparated. The faint outline of Caradoc was only just distinguishable. I saw a flash of red light and turned to see where it had come from. James had taken the opportunity of You-Know-Who's momentary lapse in awareness and stunned him.
I reached over and grabbed his arm before turning on the spot and Disapparating out of harm's way. As soon as our feet touched the ground, James pulled away from me. "We have to go back. Caradoc doesn't know what he's doing. He's going to be killed."
I shook my head. "No, we can go help him when it is safer. We barely got away as it is."
The second duel with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had been based off of the first one. James had been planning on how he could get Caradoc out of the situation that he was in with the most minimum risk possible. Dumbledore had said that Caradoc wasn't in very much danger because You-Know-Who needed him to be his pawn.
James trusted that Dumbledore was right when he said this, so he spent months perfecting each minute detail of the plan until it was flawless. We knew where all the Death Eaters, witches, and wizards were hiding out and we planned to Apparate fairly close to the hideout. We had Apparated there before to watch the habits of each individual Death Eater to solidify the plan.
We had reviewed the plan so many times that it was foolproof. We would arrive at the hideout and make sure that it was like every other time we had visited the location. Then, we would apprehend You-Know-Who's known Death Eaters. They were the ones that would be willing to fight to the death. The ones that were imperused were bound to become confused with various fights going on in different locations on the premises. The rest of the Order would be there as well.
With all of the observing that we had done over the months, I had become familiar with most of the Death Eaters appearances and habits. Amycus and Alecto Carrow, for example. They were brother and sister. Alecto had striking blonde hair that was usually tied out of her face in a tight bun that reminded me of how McGonagall wore her own hair. She was fairly plump, and took pride in patrolling the hideout on the inside and out. It was easy to hear her unique yell as she ordered Death Eaters and imperused victims alike. Amycus was extremely thin comapared to Alecto. He was also very tall, which made him clumsy. He had such long limbs that it seemed that he didn't know what to do with them. The confused look on his face and a stoop that he seemed to have developed at a young age combined with his long arms gave him a shocking resemblance to a gorilla. He usually stayed inside the hide out, presumably on Alecto's orders because she seemed ashamed to even know him – let alone be related to him.
Avery was known to be one of You-Know-Who's first Death Eaters. He patrolled constantly outside the hideout. We had never seen him actually go inside the building. He was of medium build and looked extremely intimidating due to the fact that always had either a scowl or a glare on his face. He was known to hide in various areas around the premises, watching for anyone who wanted to infiltrate the hideout.
Barty Crouch Jr. was almost as gangly as Amycus was. He almost always had the stubble of a beard along his jaw line. His clothes were torn and disheveled. And he had the habit of dressing like a Muggle because he enjoyed roaming the streets of Muggle towns and cornering his prey before attacking. The product of his enjoyment – commonly called "Muggle-hunting" – usually resulted in the death of his victim. On one occasion, he had brought his victim back and various Death Eaters had taken turns using the Cruciatus Curse on her. Because of his Muggle-hunting hobby, he was one of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's most loyal Death Eaters.
Although Barty Crouch Jr. was one of You-Know-Who's most loyal followers, there was one Death Eater in particular that was definitely his most loyal. Bellatrix Lestrange took pleasure in torturing and killing. It didn't seem to matter who her victim was. Anything she could do to please her master, she was willing to do. She usually wore all black, and a scowl almost always was on her face unless she was either torturing or killing someone. When Barty Crouch Jr. had brought his Muggle victim back to the hideout, she had been the one that had tortured her the most, as well as the one that had used the Killing Curse to finish her off. Bellatrix also enjoyed punishing various Death Eaters and imperused victims if they put a toe out of line. Other Death Eaters muttered how unfair she was behind her back, and some shot glares at her as she passed them; but she seemed oblivious to both. It was obvious that she was in charge when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wasn't there, and she took pride in that, using her authority constantly.
Bellatrix's husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, was nearly as bad as his heartless wife. He also enjoyed what he did. He had brown hair that fell to his shoulders. He also assisted Bellatrix in handing out punishments ruthlessly, and seemed to be just as keen – if not more so – to please his master. He also took charge with certain things in You-Know-Who's absence.
Rabastan was the brother of Rodolphus, but he wasn't as swift to hand out punishments, and preferred to stay out of trouble himself by doing all that was asked of him, nothing more, nothing less. He stayed inside a lot of the time, unless he was asked to do something.
Most of the rest of the Death Eaters stayed inside unless they left to do their master's bidding, so we hadn't had the chance to recognize their habits. Nonetheless, we felt confident as we Apparated to the location that we had become so familiar with. Avery and Alecto were both outside the building, talking quietly to each other. James and I flicked our wands in their direction simultaneously. They fell to the ground, making no noise at all. We looked around to make sure that no other Death Eaters were nearby before we levitated the limp bodies of Avery and Alecto into a nearby bush. We placed an enchantment on a small wooded area so that the other members of the Order could Apparate without being heard by any Death Eaters.
Mad-Eye was the first to arrive, followed closely by Wormtail, Moony and Padfoot. Only a minute elapsed before Dedalus and Marlene appeared. After that, the members of the Order of the Phoenix arrived in pairs, one after the other – determined to rescue a friend. Frank and Alice, Emmeline and Benjy, Edgar and Elphias, Sturgius and Gideon, Dorcas and Fabian, and the last pair to arrive was Dumbledore and Aberforth.
Mass chaos erupted as the Order of the Phoenix stormed the hideout of the Death Eaters. We had made it clear that we had only two goals: to rescue Caradoc, and to stay alive. James and I stayed together and went in search of Caradoc, dodging spells that were being shot in every direction.
After over ten minutes, we found Caradoc. He was in one of the rooms that looked as though it was used to formulate plans. James and I convinced him to follow us, and with his help we found an alternate route out of the building. James sent green sparks shooting out from the tip of his wand, signaling to the Order members that we had succeeded. The members were gradually able to escape, one by one, back into the forest and Apparate out again. Mad-Eye took Caradoc with him.
By the time James and I had made sure that everyone was accounted for and out of harm's way, You-Know-Who had been summoned by one of his Death Eaters. He noticed us almost immediately. We had been about to Apparate away from danger when he shot a Killing Curse that narrowly missed me. James yelled out in anger and began shooting various spells at him as fast as he could. I heard the Death Eater's master order them away. He had recognized James and I from our previous encounter, and was determined to finish what he had failed to finish the last time. The Death Eaters all retreated back inside the hideout as I ran forward, doing as James had done; shooting spells as fast as I possibly could, attempting to assist James in any way I could.
I saw a green light erupt from the end of our adversary's wand, aimed for James. He twisted to the side in midair to avoid it, and directed a spell back in his rival's direction. This went on for some time; You-Know-Who intending a Killing Curse to hit James. James dodging the spell and returning a different spell in his direction.
I occasionally aimed a spell at He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but most of the time I was worried that I would hit James because of how much the two of them were moving around. The two of them looked like lions that were circling around each other, attacking each other at every opportunity. Neither of them gained the upper hand.
Somehow James was able to avoid the Killing Curses and deflect the other curses that were aimed in his direction. And James's opponent was deflecting spells as if it was child's play. Very rarely, a flash of green came out of the end of James's wand, but his assailant ducked and swerved agilely so that James was unable to hit him.
After ten minutes of this, James began to show weariness. On impulse, I moved forward and cast a shield charm between You-Know-Who and James. I reached out and got James out of danger using Apparation.
When we touched solid ground, the members of the Order surrounded us. James collapsed on the ground. The second duel had taken a lot out of him.
The final encounter happened four months after the second one. We were at home when Padfoot's Patronus appeared.
It was only three words, "Attack... Moony's... Hurry..." It would have made no sense to anyone outside of the Order. James jumped to his feet and looked at me. We stood there for a moment, shocked. Then James reached out and grabbed my hand before Apparating with me.
We both had our wands drawn when we reached our destination. Everything was mass chaos and it was impossible to distinguish what was going on at first glance. Turning, I hid behind a wall that was behind me. I needed to know what was happening before jumping into the battle. James had other ideas. He immediately ran at Antonin Dolohov and began dueling him. It seemed as though all of the Order members were here, as well as all of the Death Eaters.
Mad-Eye and Bellatrix Lestrange were weaving in and out of the crowd of witches and wizards; each aiming to kill. I had never watched Mad-Eye duel with a true opponent before. When we had fought alongside each other, I had been too preoccupied with my foe to watch him as he dueled. I was shocked at how Mad-Eye was able to dodge each curse that was shot out of the end of Bellatrix's wand. He had never seemed very agile to me – until now. For every spell that Bellatrix aimed at him, he had two thrown back at her. The two of them seemed to moving around the most, and also seemed to be much more aggressive towards each other than any of the others. In a way I was glad that he was dueling Bellatrix, he could retaliate just like her.
Moony and Barty Crouch Jr. were also dueling each other. They seemed to be simply circling each other, neither was making a move to attack. Moony moved his lips and shot a spell that Crouch deflected with a flick of his wand. Then Crouch attempted to do what his opponent had tried. Moony waved his wand and created a shield between the two of them. That enraged Crouch, and in his frustration, he shot spell after spell at the shield. Each spell ricocheted off of the shield, which forced Crouch to dodge and repel his own spells. It would have been laughable, except I knew the danger that we were all in.
Right next to where I was, Alecto Carrow and Frank were ruthlessly attacking one another. Neither one was able to gain the upper hand, even though it looked like Frank had gained it once or twice. The fact that he continually glanced over at his wife to make sure she was handling Alecto's brother, Amycus, without very much difficulty. And she was. Unlike Frank, she wasn't worried that he wouldn't make it out alive. She trusted him one-hundred percent. The fact that Amycus wasn't the best dueler gave her a great advantage, and within a few minutes of me watching her, she had hit him with a stunning jinx.
Padfoot was a different story. He was directly in front of me, so I was able to watch everything that happened between him and Lucius Malfoy. Padfoot had always been known for his elaboration when flicking his wand. Sure enough, he waved it this way and that, and it seemed as though he was showing off as much as possible. He raised his wand over his head and flicked it, attempting to disarm Lucius. It wasn't as if Lucius wasn't showing off. He cast his spells with almost as much flourish as Padfoot, though he wasn't as eccentric. Since I was so close to their duel, I could hear the conversation that the two of them began to have.
Lucius began by sneering at Padfoot. "Being a blood traitor wasn't enough, was it Black? You have to dishonor your family name further by spilling pureblood."
"Yes, because I am running around killing innocent people." Padfoot rolled his eyes.
"No. You are doing much worse than that. You are attempting..." Lucius shot a Killing Curse at Padfoot, "...to kill me. To kill pureblooded wizards when they are only trying to put half-bloods, Muggles, and Mudbloods such as your friend's wif–"
"SHUT UP!" Padfoot bellowed, "JUST SHUT UP YOU SELF-PITYING, IGNORANT, IMBECILE!"
Padfoot began to shoot spells, only attempting to kill. I smiled slightly; I was flattered that he would defend me like that.
My eyes glanced over other various Order members and Death Eaters dueling one another. I saw James and Avery dueling each other in a far corner, and I watched the two of them. It was obvious after observing the two of them, that Avery was an amateur compared to James. Avery was trying his hardest to either kill or disarm James, and James was simply playing with Avery. I watched as James used spells such as Diffindo to cut open various sections of Avery's robes. It was obviously infuriating Avery, because each time he had a new tear in his robes, he seemed to be able to shoot more and more spells one after the other. Eventually, James got bored and simply stunned Avery.
After observing all of the various fights that were happening, I entered the fray. I ran over to James and we both began dueling a Death Eater by the name of Wilkes. He was no match for the pair of us, and after a few minutes, James shot a green light at him and he dropped to the ground. Dead. We then assisted a few Order members with their duels, particularly Moony and Padfoot.
Gradually the amount of Death Eaters that were left standing became fewer and fewer. We began to feel victorious – but that feeling was quickly diminished as a scream rent the air. No one could tell who had screamed, but it was obvious as to the reason the person had let out the blood curdling noise. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had joined the battle. James began to cast spells in his direction, to attract his attention. He didn't want anyone else to face his wrath – not even Dumbledore. I ran over to help him, and a circle of Death Eaters and Order members formed to watch the duel.
The two of us shot stunning spells and Unforgivable Curses alike. When he gained the advantage, the Death Eaters cheered. When we achieved dominance for a short period of time, the members of the Order of the Phoenix cheered. Some of them seemed like they wanted to assist us, but were afraid of hitting either James or me, so they refrained from helping.
James and I stood side by side, casting spells in unison. You-Know-Who was dodging and deflecting the spells, unable to cast his own spells for fear of being hit with one of ours. He moved back and forth, all around the circle of bodies. A look of immense concentration was on his face. I began to hear the noise of people Disapparating all around me. The Death Eaters were retreating for some reason. Possibly because they knew their master was barely able to keep us at bay. Finally the last two Death Eaters – Bellatrix and Lucius – Disapparated with an audible 'pop'.
You-Know-Who seemed to realize that he was severely outnumbered. He let out a furious hiss before Disapparating to join his Death Eaters – wherever they had gone.
A cheering exploded and the Order of the Phoenix swarmed around James and I...
I was pulled from my thoughts as the front door opened. I ran out of the kitchen and stopped as I reached the front door. Both James and Padfoot were standing there, grinning from ear to ear. I ran at James and wrapped my arms around him, happy that they were safe.