Sorry it has been so long. Things got crazy. Anyway here is a nice long chapter for everyone to enjoy. I hope you all like it. Let me know what you think and sorry for any mistakes, I just don't have the patience to proof it.
Moments later, Gabby and Lily found themselves standing in a large hallway of a very old house. Lily immediately recognized where they were.
"I see James offered the Potter mansion for the Order's headquarters," Lily said as she took in her surroundings.
Enormous portraits of Potter descendents adorned the passageway they were walking through and Lily felt as if they were staring at her. She hadn't been to this house since her wedding to James. They'd had it outside in the garden. It was beautiful. Chills ran down her spine as she thought about the night.
"Yes, he figured since no one was living here, it might as well go to some use," Gabby said as she pressed on a statue that opened a door, that led to another long corridor.
Lily felt a pang of sadness, remembering how alive the mansion used to feel when James' parents had lived there. She'd always associate the old place with the lavish parties that were held in the ballroom or the impromptu quidditch matches James and his friends would hold in the back yard. She knew James had always dreamed of moving into the place and fixing it up, they'd talked about it together plenty of times. She guessed James had given up on that plan after she'd left.
Lily was brought out of her reverie when she and Chloe entered a dimly lit room that was already full of members pacing back and forth waiting for instructions from Dumbledore. She recognized almost everybody in the room; she'd grown up with half of them and learned from the rest. They'd fought, experienced death, fear, and every other emotion together, but she knew that it didn't matter to them. She'd abandoned them and everything they stood for.
"What's she doing here?" Sirius asked Gabby as he walked over to where she and Lily were standing.
Gabby elbowed him the ribs.
"Don't start Sirius. If something bad has occurred, we are going to need every good witch and wizard available and Lily is the best," Gabby said.
"She's rusty and hasn't seen action in years. If she gets in trouble I'm less inclined to come rescue her," Sirius groused.
Lily stepped in, irritated that her skills and her presence were being ignored.
"I'd be happy to use you as target practice," Lily offered.
This managed to bring a smile to Sirius' handsome face.
"Just don't get hurt," Sirius warned, and Lily could tell he was genuinely concerned.
"Where's James?" Gabby asked, realizing that her boyfriend's partner in crime was missing.
Sirius nodded toward a closed door.
"He's talking with Dumbledore, Moody, Longbottom, and Pruitt," Sirius said. "Probably devising some half-brained scheme that's going to end up landing me in St. Mungo's," Sirius complained.
However, before they could continue the conversation, the door opened and out walked James, Mad-Eye, Frank, and Gideon. Dumbledore followed him, and his expression betrayed his distress. The old wizard made his way to the front of the room and immediately everyone fell silent.
"A trusted source has revealed to me that Voldemort and his followers are planning an attack on a wizarding village in Northern England tonight," Dumbledore began.
Everyone let out a collective cry of outrage. However, Dumbledore urged them to let him finish.
"We must act quickly to prevent this from occurring. You all know what teams you are assigned to and your leaders will give you further instructions on what you are to do once you reach your destination. I can only urge caution and vigilance," Dumbledore said.
Immediately, every witch and wizard in the room sprang into action. Lily sat, somewhat dazed by her surroundings. However, Gabby pulled her up from her seat and dragged her over to where a group was gathering around James. Remus, Katie, Peter, a young witch Lily recognized from Hogwarts as Emmeline Vance, Dorcas Meadows, and Sirius were all listening intently to James' instructions.
"Apparate to the town and rendezvous at the Church, from there we will split up and patrol three houses that are currently occupied by high level ministry officials," James said.
"Splendid thanks for signing us up for the suicide mission Prongs," Sirius complained.
No one took him seriously however; Sirius would never want to be away from the center of action. James just ignored his comment.
"Our job is to make sure these officials and their families are evacuated and brought back here for protection. We don't know if death eaters are already there so be careful and move quickly," James finished and then one by one they all apparated away.
Lily wasn't sure if James noticed her when he was giving instructions, but before she had the chance to apprate, he grabbed her arm.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
She wasn't sure if he was angry or worried.
"Thought you lot might need some help," Lily said.
"You aren't going," James countered.
"You can't tell me what to do," Lily shouted.
"Like hell I can, I'm in charge and I won't have someone so out of practice getting into trouble," James roared.
Lily became incensed. She walked up to him and stood so close that she could see the fire in his eyes.
"Don't question my abilities James," Lily said with quiet fury.
"You aren't coming and that is final," James said and then apparated away.
Lily had never been so outraged. She'd competed against him for top marks in their Auror class. She was a Hogwarts dueling champion, a former head girl, and a former Order member. She would be damned if she let him tell her what she could and couldn't do.
She closed her eyes and felt a tug at her navel. When she opened them again, she was in a surrounded by darkness. Her instincts immediately kicked in. She pulled out her wand and started to look for the Church where she was supposed to meet up with the others. When she got there, only Gabby remained.
"Took you long enough," she complained. "Everyone else left already. James assured me you weren't coming, but I knew you'd come just to spite him."
"Egotistical, pig headed, arrogant…." but Gabby cut her off before she could get on a role.
"Come on, we've got to save some people and we don't have all day," Gabby said and headed off into the darkness.
Lily had to practically spring to keep up with Gabby. She cursed herself for not staying in better shape. She was also beginning to wonder if she was up to potentially battling death eaters and worse, Voldemort. She tried not to let her fear get the best of her, but when they arrived at the house they were supposed to protect, she began to shake slightly. Gabby noticed then and put an arm around her friend.
"It's like riding a bike," Gabby said, however, her words were not encouraging.
"I'd hardly compare bike riding and walking into a rickety old house that is probably full of death eaters as similar tasks," Lily argued.
However, they didn't have time to talk. Gabby used her wand to quietly open the front door. The house was quiet and dark. Lily and Gabby only had the lights from the wands to guide them.
"Find the family and get them out, I'll check for threats," Gabby whispered.
Lily nodded her head in agreement. The two girls split up and Lily headed up the staircase to find the master bedroom. The stairs creaked with every step she took, so Lily had to move fast in case someone heard her. When she came to the top of the steps she examined the long hallway in front of her. At the end was a pair of large doors that she thought would lead her to the master bedroom. She moved quickly to reach the doors and then threw them open. The room was cloaked in darkness so Lily used the light from her wand to illuminate it. When she was able to take in her surroundings, she found a couple sleeping in a bed. Uncertain of what to do next, but not wanting to waste time, Lily attempted to wake them. She shook the man hard, hoping to jar him from his sleep. Her efforts were successful.
"What the devil is going on," the man said drowsily.
Lily didn't have time to explain.
"My name is Lily Evans, I'm a friend of Albus Dumbledore's. Voldemort and his supporters are planning an attack, so we must get you out of here," Lily said urgently.
By this time the man's wife was awake. The look on her face betrayed her terror.
"Why would he come here?" she asked, unable to comprehend what Lily had just told her.
"I don't know, but we must leave immediately. I have a safe place to take you," Lily pressed.
The entire time she watched the door and her surroundings for any potential attackers. The couple immediately sprang into action and hurriedly prepared to leave
"The children," the woman said with panic as she tied her cloak around her neck.
Lily's heart began to pound.
"Where are they?" Lily said quickly.
The woman pointed the nursery next door.
"I'll get them, just hurry. We'll have to floo now," Lily said and then sprinted towards the door the woman had shown her.
She flung it open and inside were two small children, a boy and a girl, sleeping soundly in their beds. Lily went to pick them up, and put one under each arm. She turned to leave the room, but by this time she wasn't alone.
"Look at who we have here," a voice cackled. "I thought we had scared you off for good, mudblood."
Lily, clinging to the two children she was holding, stared into the faces of Bellatrix Black.
"I see your precious Lord Voldemort didn't feel like getting his hands dirty tonight," Lily spat.
Bellatrix looked at her menacingly, incredulous that Lily had referred to the dark lord in such a manner.
"On the contrary, he is here, but he just couldn't be bothered to dispense with Undersecretary Collins and his family. Therefore, I just took it upon myself," Bellatrix said, stepping aside to reveal two bodies lying lifelessly on the hardwood floor.
Lily tried to mask her horror and by now, the children were awake and had started to cry loudly. Lily tried her best to comfort them, but their wailing continued.
"Shut up," Bellatrix screamed, and with one flick of her wand, Lily was flying backwards towards a wall, and Bellatrix had levitated the children, so they were now dangling upside down in the air.
Their screams became louder and Lily watched in horror as Bellatrix spun them around mercilessly.
"Stop," Lily shouted as she pointed her wand at Bellatrix and shot a stunner.
With lightening quick reflexes, she managed to keep the children from falling to the ground after Bellatrix's concentration was broken. She used a simple floating charm to guide both children into a crib behind her.
Bellatrix screeched as she regained her composure.
"Let us leave Bellatrix, or I won't hesitate to do worse," Lily said angrily.
Bellatrix just cackled manically.
"It'd be my pleasure to let you try," Bellatrix said and then shot a jet of purple light at Lily. "I've missed our scuffles."
Lily deftly blocked it with a shield charm, but was caught off guard when a blasting curse hit her squarely in the chest. For the second time that night, she slammed into the wall behind her. She was starting to get annoyed.
"You've lost your touch mudblood. It won't be nearly as much fun if you don't at least put up a good fight," Bellatrix shrieked as she descended upon Lily.
Lily saw the wild look in her opponent's eyes and decided it was time to fight back.
"Expelliarmus," Lily shouted, and Bellatrix was knocked off her feet and her wand flew through the air to Lily's outstretched hand.
Then, she shot a jet of green light from her wand that hit Bellatrix and left her unconscious. Lily quickly produced a set of ropes that wrapped around Bellatrix so she wouldn't be able to move once she woke up. As soon as she was finished, the door burst open and Lily didn't hesitate to shoot a stunner towards the person who was entering. Luckily, Gabby deflected it, but she shot Lily and annoyed look.
"I see my concern for your safety was completely unwarranted," Gabby said as she eyed Bellatrix, lying unconscious on the floor. "Where are the Undersecretary and his wife?"
Lily didn't say anything for a moment. It was her fault they were dead. She was supposed to protect them and she failed. She looked over at the children and felt a profound sense of sadness. They would never know their parents.
"She killed them when I came to get the children," Lily said trying to hide the shock and sadness in her voice.
Gabby watched as Lily walked over to the two small babies, who were still whimpering, and picked them up. She held them close to her.
"You did everything right Lily. There was nothing you could have done. You protected the children and that's what matters," Gabby said, in an attempt to console her best friend.
"If I hadn't left them, they'd still be alive," Lily said as she attempted to soothe the crying babies in her arms.
It was at this point, that Gabby knew Lily was no longer talking about Mr. and Mrs. Collins, but rather her own parents. Lily felt personally responsible for their deaths because she hadn't been able to protect them, and the same had happened tonight.
"We both know that you can't play the what if game. None of this isn't your fault," Gabby tried to reason, but Lily wasn't listening.
"I forgot how awful all of this is," Lily said emotionlessly.
Gabby walked over to Lily and extracted one of the children from her arms.
"It's the shit," Gabby admitted. "We have to fight to end it."
"It'll never end," Lily said. "He'll never stop."
At this point, Lily began to cry. She cried for the family she couldn't protect, the children she was holding who wouldn't know their parents, for everyone who'd lost someone to Voldemort, and for the life he'd taken from her. This was how James and Sirius found her, sobbing uncontrollably.
"We saw your patronus, is everything alright?" Sirius asked.
Gabby nodded.
"Lily had a run in with Bellatrix. As you can see, she won, but not before your dear cousin killed the Undersecretary and his wife while Lily was in here collecting the children," Gabby explained.
James watched as Lily clung to the child in her arms and sobbed. He walked up to her and pulled her to him. She allowed herself to collapse into his arms and felt safe again. She'd always felt safe when James held her.
"It's going to be okay," James said soothingly as he held her to him tightly. "Everything is fine now."
He delicately removed the child from Lily's arms and handed him to Sirius.
"Take the children and Bellatrix back to headquarters. You'll have to floo. We'll meet you there," James said to Sirius.
Gabby started to refuse, not wanting to leave her best friend, but one look from Sirius told her to shut up and leave Lily and James alone. For her part, Lily didn't let go of James. Her tears stopped, but she wasn't ready to escape his embrace.
"It's all so pointless," she said as she dried her eyes. "No matter what I do, he wins."
James didn't know how to respond. She was right; they were losing the war and nothing they did seem to weaken Voldemort or his followers. They'd lost friends and family because they risked defying him, and he was beginning to wonder if it was worth the sacrifice. But he had to believe that he was doing the right thing.
"He wins because you let him control you. He wants you to feel weak and powerless," James said.
Lily peaked up at him with her watery green eyes.
"I never had the devotion you have James," Lily said earnestly.
There had been a point in her life when she would have followed James anywhere, but she'd seen what life could be like free from fear, from sadness and sorrow, and she wasn't sure she could leave that life's safe embrace.
"That's bullocks, the Lily Evans I knew was fierce. I remember when you single handedly defeated Malfoy and Lestrange," James said.
Lily smiled a bit, remembering the shocked expression on Lucius Malfoy's handsome, yet twisted face when she hit him with a stunner spell. She'd felt an immense amount of satisfaction when she saw the two death eaters unconscious.
"Yes, but there were loads of other times when we were lucky to escape with our lives," Lily countered.
"You used to like the challenge," James replied.
"Well I used to be daft," Lily said.
By this time she was smiling slightly.
"I think you are still a bit daft," James said playfully. "Come on let's get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps."
They stood up from the spot where they had been sitting on the floor. Silently, Lily walked over to the two fallen bodies and took one last look at them. Their eyes were open, but there was no life behind them.
"We can't just leave them here," Lily said as she bent down to close the eyes of the mother.
"Ministry officials will take care of them," James replied.
"If I die, I don't want people leaving my sorry carcass behind. We'll take them with us," Lily stated.
James tried not to think in such morbid terms. He hoped that he wouldn't meet the same fate the undersecretary and his wife had.
"How are we going to do that," James said somewhat irritably.
"Carry them of course," Lily said as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
James blanched slightly. The idea of lugging a dead person back to headquarters didn't sound appealing.
"There is no way you are getting me to do that," James protested.
Lily glared at him.
"Fine we'll just leave them here for the death eaters to claim as prizes," Lily said indignantly.
At this point, James knew there was no arguing with her. Instead, he just walked over to the body of the undersecretary and used a simple charm to make him weightless. He then levitated the body so that it floated in front of him. Lily did the same thing with the wife.
"Thank you," Lily said, trying to hide her smile.
"Come on, let's get moving. I know a portkey we can use that was set up in case of emergency," James said.
They were a morbid sight as they walked down the street of the small town with two dead people floating in front of them. Both kept an eye out for any suspicious activity. Death Easters were known for coming back to the scene of an attack to take anything valuable they could find. Finally they reached a spot under an old knarled looking willow tree. Lily saw an old boot resting on a branch.
"I'm not touching that old manky boot," Lily protested.
"You'll touch dead people, but not a piece of footwear?" James asked curiously.
Before she had time to respond, James had grabbed her hand and placed it on the boot and they were gone.
They landed with a thud on a cold stone floor. They were back in the Potter mansion. Lily stood up and dusted herself off and realized everyone was staring at her and James. Sirius, Gabby, Remus, and Katie had all waited for them to return and were quite shocked to see what they had brought back.
"What'd you bring the stiffs for?" Sirius asked insensitively.
His remark earned him a glare from Lily and a swift jab in the ribs from Gabby.
"Don't be so callous," Gabby said.
"My thoughts exactly, but I couldn't get Lily to leave without them," James replied, as he stood up and joined his friends.
Katie and Gabby were still holding the small children that had survived the night's attacks. They argued over what should be done with them. Katie wanted to keep them, but Sirius and Gabby argued that they should be handed over to the authorities. Finally, Dumbledore swooped in to get a report from James. When he saw the two bodies and the children he frowned slightly.
"I see we were too late," Dumbledore said.
Lily bit her lip, but then stepped forward.
"It was my fault sir. While I was collecting the children, Bellatrix attacked them. She came after me, but I stopped her," Lily said quietly.
Dumbledore absorbed the information. He looked at the tiny red head who he'd known since she was eleven. He'd seen her grow from a frightened young girl who knew nothing of the wizarding world into one of the brightest witches of her age.
"You did the right thing in protecting the children," Dumbledore said.
Lily fought back the tears that were building in her eyes. The words he said meant a lot to her.
"You've all had a long night, I suggest you go home and sleep," Dumbledore said.
All six looked at each other and let out a collective groan.
"What about the children sir?" Katie asked.
"I'll take them. They have an aunt who lives in Surrey who can care for them," Dumbledore said.
Katie looked a little said as he said this. She'd hoped that maybe she could take them home. Remus put an arm around her as she let go of the child in her arms and handed it over to Dumbledore. Lily made sure that Dumbledore would see to a proper burial for the undersecretary and his wife. Dumbledore promised he would.
When he was gone, they all stood and stared at each other. It had been another horrible night that would haunt them. Gabby clung to Sirius and Katie and Remus hugged each other. Lily desperately needed someone to hold her, but she couldn't ask James to. It wouldn't be fair. Instead they just looked at each other, both understanding why they couldn't hold each other.