A/N: part two is up! woo hoo! thanks to .7 and 3harryp for the reviews on FFN! unfortunately I don't think 3harryp will be quite happy with this chapter; however, I did try to include more marauders. I hope to incorporate even more marauders in the coming chapters so thank you very very much!

everyone please READ AND REVIEW!

Y6: When the Enemy Strikes Pt 2

"Avada Kedavra!" a Death Eater just barely missed the two of them.

James grabbed Lily, "We have to move! C'mon we have to go!"

"No! I can't leave her," Lily cried clutching to Mary's dead body, "please, I can't leave her."

"Lily!" James screamed as he jumped away from a spell, "We need to go!"

Lily just shook her head as hot tears fell rapidly from her eyes.

They couldn't stay there out in the open, and the gate was too far to carry Lily against her will. James did the only thing he could think of. He scooped Mary's body into his arm and ordered Lily to follow him. The body was light and cold and the longer he held on to it, the more real everything became.

Yes, Mary was dead. Yes, they were being attacked. Yes, they may not make it out alive. Yes, he would protect Lily Evans to the death.

James jumped behind a telephone booth. He set Mary's body down and Lily ran to it. It. It was still Mary, wasn't it? Is this when a person becomes an it?

"Mary," Lily cried, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. I should've forgiven you. Please, don't leave me. You- you can't die. Not now, please."

James tensed at Lily's cries, he had no idea how to console her right now. It still wasn't his main priority. He had to get them out alive. What a day to forget your bloody invisibility cloak! He peered out from behind the phone box and down the road. Not far from them was Honeydukes. If they could make it there, they could take the passage way into Hogwarts. Now, he had to just get over there.

"We have to move, Evs," James said to Lily.

Lily shook her head as she cried for her friend, "Mary, please wake up."

James clenched his jaw as he put a hand on the small of Lily's back and whispered, "She would want you to be safe, Lily. If we stay here, we die. We need to move."

Lily's body heaved up and down as sobs slipped from her mouth. But she stood wiping her eyes and James pointed her in the direction. He scooped up Mary and made a go for it.

They ran to the doors of Honeydukes. James tried to push it open but it was locked.

"Alohomora," Lily shouted at the door but it would not open.

"Dammit," James shouted as he threw his body at the door repeatedly.

"Please, please help us," Lily shouted tapping on the windows, "We're Hogwarts students, we need help!"

Lily was still crying and James set Mary down. He was about to blast the door out when it slowly opened and an eye peaked out. James pushed the door open glaring at the wizard who fell to the floor due to James' force.

"Lock it," James ordered to the man then turned to Lily, "follow me."

James carried Mary's body down to the basement where Lily followed him. The owner remained upstairs unaware of what James was doing. He set Mary's body down and lifted a tile up revealing a secret passage.

"Let's go," James said picking up Mary leading the way.

They crept through the passage for what felt like hours but was only maybe twenty minutes. At one point, James had to drag Mary's body as he crawled through the tunnel. When they reached the entrance to Hogwarts, James pushed the portrait open with his shoulder. Lily was shocked to find herself stumbling on the stairs of Hogwarts.

"How did we get here?" Lily asked.

James didn't respond and rushed down the stairs with Mary still in his arms. He ran for the Hospital Wing which was at the other end of Hogwarts. They jostled students around but everyone was too caught up in the panic to notice them. James pushed through the crowd surrounding the Hospital Wing.

"Pomfrey," James shouted but stopped dead in his tracks as he looked at all the people in the room.

There was at least eighty students crammed into a room that was too hold maybe forty five. Students lay on the floors with blood seeping from their bodies as they moaned and groaned. Sheets covered some bodies both on the beds and ground. James and Lily breathed heavily as they searched for their friends. They couldn't find them so James set Mary down in a far corner of the room by a bed that had been blocked off. James pushed through the curtain to see who was their praying it wasn't one of his friends.

When he saw Cara frowning up at him, he jumped back.

"Cara?" James was surprised, "what're you doing here?"

Cara shrugged.

"Have you seen Sirius? Or Peter? Or Remus?"

"Re-Remus Lupin," Cara nodded a yes.

"Where is he?" James asked, "Where did he go?"

"He said Hogsmeade," Cara shrugged, "to go to Hogsmeade."

James ruffled his hair frustrated. He walked out without saying goodbye figuring that he'd worry about Cara later.

Lily was huddled over Mary crying. James walked over to her putting a hand on her shoulder.

He bent down and whispered, "I have to go."

Lily looked at him with tears streaking her face, "Please don't leave me, please."

Her face tore at James' heart but he knew what he had to do, "Lily, you're safe here. I need to find the others. Sirius and the others, okay?"

Lily sobbed into her hands but gave a slight nod. James hugged her tightly breathing her in before leaving.

He raced down the steps of Hogwarts castle and went for the doors.

"Yer gotta stop Potter," Hagrid said to James, "Can't let yeh out."

"Hagrid, I have to find my friends," James glared, "they're still out there."

"I get tha', but Dumbledore says no one's ter' leave."

James glared at Hagrid trying to push past him but the man wouldn't let him out. James screamed in frustration and raced back up the staircase. He ran up through the Gryffindor tower racing towards the Fat Lady. "Butter mellow!" he yelled. And the portrait swung open. The Common Room was empty and James ran for his dormitory taking three steps at a time. He threw his door open and reached for his trunk. He pulled out his cloak cursing himself for not bringing it in the first place. He then threw open his window.

"Accio broom!"James yelled and in a matter of seconds James' broom came flying to him.

He jumped on the broom and raced out of Hogwarts. He knew he couldn't simply fly over the wall, the protection charms would still be up. But the gates had to still be opened; students were still in Hogsmeade. James raced for the gates searching the faces of students for his friends. When he flew through the gates, he watched as Professor McGonagall looked up in shock.

James made it to Hogsmeade and jumped from his broom. He threw on his cloak and began to run through the streets. They were mostly empty except for the dead bodies scattered on the grounds. He refused to look among the bodies for his friends. He could hear some shouts up ahead and he went off at full sprint. When he broke past all the shops, there in the center of Hogsmeade was a full on wizarding fight. It was Death Eaters on one side and Ministry Aurors on the other. Unfortunately, the side James stood on was Death Eaters. He treaded carefully past the enemy avoiding miscast spells. He tripped over a body exposing his leg as he clattered to the ground. A Death Eater spun around but didn't see James tug the cloak around his leg again. James crawled away as quickly as possible. He slipped into an alley and began to follow that route away from the fight for now. He needed to find a way on to the other side. He made the first right and sprinted down that alley. He made the third right and went back to where he heard the shouts. When he broke free from the alleys, he came out on the Aurors' side.

He was still towards the front so he had to jump around to avoid spells. James made his way through the back but was stopped in the middle of the crowd of aurors. He ran in to a tall man and fell in front of another cutting his knee open on jagged stones.

"James!" the man James fell in front of yelled.

The man pulled off James' cloak revealing him.

"Dad?" James said looking up at the man, "what're you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?!" he yelled to his son.

"I was—Sirius, Remus, and Peter—they're still out here, I needed to find them," James said standing up from the ground.

The man ruffled his hair as he led his son to the back of the crowd. They ran in to a small cottage. Sirius and Remus jumped to their feet as the two Potters ran into the house; Peter fell to the ground terrified.

"There," James' father yelled, "now you found them, put the cloak on and get out of here!"

James nodded and his dad ran back into the fight.

"Mate," Sirius said breathlessly as he took James into a hug, "we thought you were dead."

Dead. James flinched at the word, a lot of people they knew were dead now.

Remus and Peter followed Sirius' suit and hugged James as well.

"Did the third years make it out?" James asked.

"Yeah, mate, Flitwick escorted them up to the castle. We ran back for you and Lily," Sirius smiled.

"Is she okay?" Remus wondered.

"Yeah, yeah, she's fine. She's back at Hogwarts," James said but there was still a look of sadness on his face and an edge to his voice.

"What is it?" Remus worried.

"Mar—" James choked on his words, "Mary. She's dead."

The boys looked at him stunned. They knew people had died but never had they thought one of their own would.

"Diven's d-d-dead," Peter said taking a seat.

James nodded. Remus rubbed his neck. And Sirius muttered a "Shit."

He couldn't tell them how they had come across her; he could still feel her lifeless body in his arms.

"We need to go," James ordered, "get under the cloak."

He flung the cloak over top of them and it fell to their shins. If they were careful though, no one would notice their feet. They crept out of the house and James led them down a series of alleyways to avoid the fight on the main road. At the turn that would take them to the gates, Death Eaters guarded. James backed them up and took a new route. He noticed Bellatrix Black and the Lestrange boys running about the streets. He tried to keep Sirius from noticing but there was little he could do in that moment. Sirius tensed at his cousin's laugh but continued following James.

James could see the gates not too far away. The boys picked up their pace as they watched McGonagall pace back and forth. Suddenly her wand was in the air. It was then that the gates began to close. They ran faster but James knew they wouldn't make it. And if the gates shut, what would happen to them? He had to stop them. But they couldn't see him.

He'd have to run out into the open.

James threw off his cloak screaming, "Wait, wait!"

The gates stopped and a flash of light came from behind James. He didn't feel himself fall to the snow covered cobble stone. He didn't see Sirius turn and duel his cousin, Bellatrix. He didn't hear Professor McGonagall's cries of horror. He didn't taste the iron that coated the air.

It was black and peaceful. It was cold and dark.

In that moment, James Potter was in a state of nothingness.