Lily's screams penetrated James' ears and he lost all sense. He sprinted blindly to where she had fallen and pleaded with his legs to move faster.
"Crucio," he heard a raspy voice scream, and Lily cried out again in pain.
"Stop it," James yelled.
Voldemort saw James come over the top of the hill that had separated them and suddenly a whip of fire emerged from his wand and he swung it at James. With lightening quick reflexes, James dove out of the way, sending an array of spells in Voldemort's direction.
"You'll have to do better than that boy," Voldemort cackled.
Immediately, head stones from the grave sites were uprooted from the ground and began flying towards James. He sprinted through the moving minefield that Voldemort had created, destroying as many obstacles as possible. Sharp broken shards of rock continued to fly at him and one cut him deeply in the shoulder. James cried out in pain, but he would not be stopped. Finally, with a flick of his wand, the stones turned to nothing more than dust. Voldemort shouted in outrage.
"Enough of this, I'm going to kill her and you will watch, then I will kill you," Voldemort said, seemingly pleased with his idea.
He pointed his wand directly at Lily's chest, who seemed to have lost consciousness. An evil grin appeared on his thin twisted lips. James' heart beat in his throat. Lily was everything to him. He'd do anything to protect her.
"Don't touch my wife," James bellowed.
Suddenly the lake next to them drained and the water rose up to form a giant wave. With a flourish of his hands, James sent it rushing towards Voldemort. James didn't have much time before Voldemort and Lily would be washed away. Even if he ran, he wasn't sure he could get there in time, but he had to try.
"Accio broom," he shouted.
The broom raced over the hill top, James grabbed it, jumped on and flew as fast as he could. Voldemort watched as the water collapsed on him. James dove down the hillside, and reached Lily as the wave was about to break. He grabbed her limp body and pulled her to him. As quickly as possible he immediately shot upwards as the wave crashed and Voldemort apparated away. Not wanting to be seen or followed by death eaters, James immediately put his invisibility cloak over himself and Lily and began to steer the broom towards St. Mungo's. Lily's pulse was faint, but detectable which told James he didn't have much time. He held Lily tightly to him as he soared over London and preyed she would survive.
James landed at the visitors entrance of St. Mungo's and immediately shed his cape. Lily laid limply in his arms and her complexion had paled. Suddenly, she began to convulse. He held her tightly, trying to make it stop.
"Please don't do this to me," he pleaded.
When she had stopped shaking, he immediately stood up and sprinted towards the entrance hall of St. Mungo's.
"Help," James shouted. "Someone please help me."
He ran passed the check-in counter as a young witch screamed for him to come back and sign in. He didn't have time to waste. He had to get up to the fourth floor. When he arrived, he continued shouting.
"Get Katie Lupin," he roared at a young healer in training.
The young woman was so frightened that she jumped out of her seat and sprinted down the ward to find the person James was looking for. She flung open a door to a patient's room, where Katie was taking the vital signs of an elderly wizard who was suffering from dragon burns.
"Ms. Lupin, there is man outside screaming for you," the young witch said.
Katie looked at her, annoyed that she had been interrupted.
"Tell him to wait," Katie replied curtly.
The young witch did not want to go back to the screaming lunatic without the person he was looking for, so she decided to press her case further.
"He's holding an unconscious woman in his arms," she said.
Katie chastised the girl for not saying something earlier and dropped her clip board and sprinted out of the room. As she ran down the hallway, her heart started to pound in her chest. She took in the sight of James clutching a barely alive Lily for only a second, and then immediately sprang into action.
"What happened?" she asked as she showed James where he could lay Lily down.
He didn't want to let go of her, but Katie forced him to, saying that she couldn't do her job if he was wrapped around the patient.
"Voldemort," was all he could manage to get out.
Katie's eyes widened in horror. Patients who were attacked by Voldemort himself usually didn't survive long, if they did at all.
"What curse did he use?" Katie said, trying to remain calm, because it was obvious that James had lost it.
James just shook his head and squeezed Lily's cold clammy hand. Her cheeks were pale and her breathing was light.
"I don't know," James said quietly as he brushed a strand of hair out of Lily's face.
Katie used a simple charm to run a few baseline tests to better understand what had happened, but what she really needed to know was what curse Lily had been hit with.
"Think James. Lily's life depends on it," Katie said, hoping that her bluntness would shock him into action.
"I heard him use the Cruciatus Curse," James stammered.
He felt so helpless watching Lily lie on the cold table as Katie examined her. Suddenly the shaking started again, and Lily screamed out in pain. Her whole body convulsed violently.
"Do something, make it stop," James pleaded.
Katie was using every spell she knew to save her friend, but nothing seemed to be working.
"This isn't a common reaction to the Cruciatus Curse. Do you remember anything else that happened," Katie pressed, as Lily continued screaming.
James couldn't think with Lily screaming. He couldn't concentrate on what Katie was asking him to do. He wanted to burst with frustration and anguish.
"James," Katie pressed.
"I don't bloody know. You are the healer. Stop asking me questions and help her. You have to save her," James roared.
Other healers had appeared in the room and pushed James away from Lily so they could look at her. The shaking had stopped and now she lay perfectly still and quiet. James hated the quiet more than the screaming. At least when she screamed, he knew she was alive. He watched as they performed tests and whispered amongst themselves, shaking their heads in concern. Finally James had enough. Tears started to slide down his face. If Lily didn't make it and he never got the chance to tell her how he felt, he would never forgive himself. She had to live.
"Stop staring at her and save her you God Damn It," James swore.
Katie adeptly came to his side and put a hand on his arm.
"James we are doing everything we can," she said soothingly. "We need time, you have to give us that. Please, just wait in the waiting room and I'll come find you as soon as I know something."
With a flick of her wand, she performed a calming spell and James seemed slightly more agreeable. He just nodded his head and left the room. He found a small quiet corner of the hospital wing and allowed himself to sit for a minute. All the adrenaline that had kept him moving, now seemed to be leaving his body. He buried his head in his hands as he let everything set in. He'd lost almost everything and if he lost Lily, he didn't know if he'd be able to hold on. He needed her to be alright. Fatigue set in and his muscles began to ache. His body craved sleep, but he couldn't allow himself that. He had to stay awake in case news of Lily came. So he just sat there, feeling out of control and hopeless.
He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting on the floor when Sirius found him. His best friend took a seat next to him and put an arm around his shoulder. They didn't speak, but it wasn't necessary. Nothing Sirius could say would make James feel better until he knew that Lily was going to be okay. All he could do was keep him company. They were soon joined by Remus. James looked up at him, hoping he had some news. He hoped that maybe Katie had told him something of Lily's condition. Remus just shook his head.
"It's too early mate," was all Remus said.
He took a seat on the other side of James and the three best friends just waited together, hoping that time would bring good news.
After a week of not hearing from his fiancé, Jack became worried and decided to surprise her with a visit. First he'd tried the hotel she said she was staying at, but there was no record of her having a room there. He knew she had some family, so he'd contacted Petunia and that had been a mistake. She said she hadn't heard from Lily in years and she preferred it that way. In the end he remembered Lily had once told him about a friend of hers, Gabriella Pryce, so he decided to give her a ring. He was dismayed to learn she didn't have a listed number so he was forced to just knock on her door. When he did, his world was suddenly flipped upside down.
"Oye, I'm on my way out," Gabby had said when she answered the door.
Jack was slightly taken a back by the rudeness in her tone.
"Sorry, this will only take a minute, I'm looking for Lily Evans," Jack said.
The American accent immediately gave away who he was.
"Jack?" Gabby asked.
Jack just nodded his head, grateful that he had found some lead that could take him to Lily.
"Yeah, that's me," Jack said excitedly.
"You better come with me," was all Gabby could say.
She closed the door to her apartment and started to head down the stairs to the street. When she realized Jack wasn't following her, she turned around and looked at him with some annoyance.
"Sorry, but where are we going?" Jack asked.
"St. Mungo's" Gabby replied.
Jack's confusion deepened.
"St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries" Gabby clarified.
However, this didn't help Jack at all. All he had heard was "hospital" and "magical"
"Are you pulling my leg?" Jack asked, starting to think an elaborate practical joke was being played on him.
Gabby rolled her eyes. She was dealing with a very mugglish muggle and she was starting to get the feeling that this particular muggle had no idea he was engaged to a witch.
"No, that's where Lily is," Gabby replied.
Suddenly, Jack's expression turned serious. If Lily was in the hospital, even if it had a ridiculous name, he had to get to her.
"Is Lily hurt?" Jack asked as he struggled to keep pace with Gabby.
They were on the tube now, taking the Picadilly line to this supposed magical hospital.
"Yes, she was attacked by Lord Voldemort," Gabby replied.
Jack's head began to spin and he was at a slight loss for words. This was one of the strangest experiences he had ever had.
"Let me get this straight. My fiancé was attacked by some English Lord and now she is in some 'magical' hospital?" Jack asked. "Has everyone gone insane? Where is Lily?"
Gabby was annoyed at the scene he was creating on the train and immediately put a silencing charm on him. When Jack realized he couldn't talk and the girl he was sitting with had a wand, his eyes grew very wide.
"Ok, I'll explain, but you have to remain calm," Gabby said. "Lily is a witch and she was attacked by a dark wizard who has pretty much been in the business of murder and mayhem for about a decade now."
Jack tried to absorb this, but everything in his body told him that what she was saying was rubbish. He'd dated Lily for two years now and had never seen her do anything magical. And the idea that there was some sort of dark wizard on the loose didn't appeal to him either. After he'd had some time to digest the information he had just been given, Gabby took the silencing charm off.
"I see Lily forgot to mention that little piece of information when she agreed to marry you," Gabby said, somewhat annoyed that she was the one who had to tell the muggle his fiancé wasn't who he thought she was.
"Ok so suppose Lily is a witch, why would Lord Whatshisname be after her?" Jack asked, trying to make some sense of what he was hearing.
"Lily's parents were muggles, sorry non-magical, and Lord Voldemort takes exception to witches and wizards who aren't from old wizarding families, those he considers pure bloods," Gabby tried to explain, although she felt like she was talking to a two year old. "Plus Lily is talented and takes particular pleasure in thwarting his plans."
Jack stared at the map of the London Underground, realizing that everything he had ever known about Lily was a lie.
"So my fiancé is a witch and in her spare time she likes to pick fights with dark wizards?" Jack asked.
"Well actually I'd say that Voldemort picks fights with her, but yeah that's the gist of it," Gabby said.
She stood up and got off the train and Jack ran to catch up with her. They walked the rest of the way in silence and when they entered St. Mungo's, a building that looked like a falling down shack to Jack, he started to realize that maybe everything Gabby told him was actually true. At first he thought he was dreaming when he entered the hospital. Witches and wizards dressed in strange clothes roamed the hallways and Jack saw quite a few interesting injuries from a little child hiccupping frogs to a man who had managed to grow an extra head. However, the more he saw, the more real it became.
"Come on, Lily's on the third floor," Gabby said.
When they reached the level they wanted, they exited the elevator and Gabby showed him to the waiting room. Inside sat Remus, Katie, Sirius, and in the corner, James was leaning up against a wall, brooding darkly.
"Everyone, this is Jack, Lily's fiancé, Jack this is everyone," Gabby announced.
All sets of eyes immediately looked at Jack and then looked at James for a reaction. He stiffened slightly, but was too preoccupied with Lily to really make a scene.
"Hi, I'm James Potter," James said as he extended his hand.
Jack shook it.
"It's nice to finally meet Lily's friends," Jack said.
After everyone introduced themselves, Katie offered to take Jack to see Lily.
"I have to warn you, she looks a little banged up," Katie prefaced before she opened the door to Lily's room.
The door opened, but Jack didn't enter immediately. Instead he hung back.
"Is she going to be ok?" he asked in a shaky voice.
Katie put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but she knew there wasn't an easy answer to this question.
"That's up to Lily. We've done everything we can for her and she'll come back to us when she's ready," Katie said, trying to be upbeat.
Jack let out a sigh and then walked into the room. The curtains were closed so it was dark, but he could make out Lily's small body lying in the bed in front of him. Her face was slightly swollen and her skin was paled, but she still looked beautiful to him. He took a seat next to her and held her hand in his. Suddenly, everything that she had hidden from him didn't matter anymore. He just wanted her to wake up.
"I'll leave you alone," Katie said and then she shut the door and walked back to the waiting room.
Everyone was hovered around James, who was looking extremely annoyed. He'd barely left Lily's bedside for a week, he hadn't showered, he looked exhausted, and his hair was unruly.
"What do you want me to do Sirius, the man is her bloody fiancé," James finally erupted after Sirius asked him why he hadn't hexed Jack back to America.
"You could have stood up for yourself and told him who you were," Sirius remarked.
James stood up with a look of outrage on his face.
"Exactly, that's who I was, and it's in the past, what's the difference if I tell the poor bloke I used to be married to his fiancé," James roared.
"I don't know, maybe because you are still in love with her," Sirius replied sharply.
James suddenly appeared deflated. He took a seat and put his head in his hands. Everything he had ever wanted was lying in a hospital bed clinging to life as her fiancé watched over her. It should have been him in that room, he thought. Instead some muggle American with neat hair and placid blue eyes was with Lily, his Lily.
Sirius walked over to his best friend and put an arm around his shoulder.
"She's going to be alright mate, you saved her life," Sirius offered.
"Actually, she saved mine," James said, and then he got up and walked out of the waiting room. "I'm going for a walk."
His friends watched him walk away. Gabby and Sirius looked at each other and frowned slightly.
"We've got to do something, Lily can't marry the American," Sirius grouched.
"What can we do? Lock them in a broom closet like we did at Hogwarts? We aren't sixteen anymore Sirius, we can't force them to do anything that isn't really in their hearts," Gabby replied.
"This is Lily and James we are talking about here, they love each other, they are just being stubborn. Good thing they have a friend like me to make sure things work out," Sirius said.
"Yeah well why don't you hold off on your cupid efforts until Lily actually wakes up," Gabby suggested.
James wandered the streets of London with no particular destination in mind. He knew it probably wasn't safe for him to be by himself when he knew that Voldemort had a personal grudge against him, but he just needed to clear his head. All of his emotions seemed to be piling up and slowly crushing him. Up until today, he hadn't really accepted the fact that Lily was engaged to someone else. But now it seemed that he was truly going to lose her. All he could do now was hope that she would wake up. The image of her being struck to the ground by Voldemort haunted him. He wondered if she would be better off with Jack, where she could be guaranteed a safe and content life. James realized he couldn't provide that for her. There would always be a battle to fight and a dangerous mission to go on. He couldn't ask Lily to put herself in danger for him. She deserved to be happy, and at the moment he doubted that he was the man that could make her so.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and pulled up the collar of his coat to block out the wind that was lashing at his face. He wanted to scream and yell with frustration, but he knew there was no point. In the end, although he would always love Lily, he couldn't ask her to risk everything for him. So if she woke up, he'd step aside, sign the divorce papers and let Lily move on.
When he returned to the hospital, everyone was gone, except for Jack, who was sitting in the waiting room while Katie was performing a few tests on Lily. James took across from him. Jack started to talk first.
"So how do you and Lily know each other?" Jack asked.
James looked slightly uncomfortable, but he didn't want to be rude.
"We went to Hogwarts together," James replied, not wanting to divulge too much.
Jack, who was new to the magical world, looked at James for an explanation.
"Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry," James elaborated. "It's where young witches and wizards learn to practice magic."
Jack was fascinated. This was something out of a story book. He wanted to ask James to perform a bit of magic for him, but he didn't want to appear childish.
"At this school, do you take classes, how does it work?" Jack pressed.
James launched in to an explanation of the wizarding world. He told Jack about the classes he took, how his world had its own government, he even explained that there were witches and wizards in every country of the world. It was when they were talking animatedly about quidditch, James' favorite subject, that Kate walked into the room. She had a grave expression on her face and immediately James sobered.
"I'm afraid Lily's condition has worsened and if we don't do something immediately we could lose her. I need your permission to try something a bit radical," Kate said, looking at James.
Jack didn't notice this and immediately spoke up.
"What would you do?" he asked.
"She has extensive internal bleeding and in order to stop it, I need to give her an infusion of Unicorn's Blood," Kate said.
Jack looked confused.
"If you think it'll help her, then do it," Jack replied.
"It's a somewhat risky procedure so I need someone who is next of kin to sign a waiver," Kate replied.
James turned his head. Using Unicorn's Blood was a last resort and something only done when a patient was clinging to life.
"I'll sign the waiver," Jack offered.
Kate looked at James, waiting for him to speak, but realized he wasn't going to.
"I'm sorry, but you aren't her next of kin Jack," Kate replied.
She then turned her gaze back on James and pleaded with him.
"James I know the risks, but it's the only way. I'll do everything I can to save her. Please just sign," Kate asked.
At this point Jack turned to James and was more confused them ever.
"Him?" he asked to Katie.
"I'll do it," James said reluctantly.
Katie handed him a quill and piece of parchment and he signed it.
"You're doing the right thing James," Katie said as she took the parchment back from him.
James didn't look at Jack, who was slightly dumbstruck at this new revelation.
"Sorry, but how are you and Lily related?" Jack asked.
James stared at the sitting, but Jack continued to stare back at him. Finally he spoke.
"We're married," James said quietly.
After hearing this Jack took a seat. He didn't think he could take anymore surprises. James watched him digest the information that his fiancé wasn't exactly legally single, and he had to admit that his heart went out to the guy.
"Look, it's not what you think. We've been separated for seven years and she only came back here to hand me divorce papers, but with everything that's happened, there just hasn't been time. The fact that we are still married is just a technicality," James promised.
However, this didn't seem to console Jack.
"You let me sit here thinking you were just her friend," Jack said. "I feel so stupid."
"I'm sorry, I just didn't think it was important," James said, trying to defend himself.
"I'd say it's pretty damn important that my fiancé is still married to another man. The witch thing I can get used to, I can even deal with the fact that some dark wizard has it out for her, but this is asking a lot of me," Jack ranted.
He was now pacing up and down the waiting room, looking extremely agitated. James was starting to get slightly annoyed. On the list of things to worry about, a slight technicality of Lily still being married had to be an easier pill to swallow then her being a witch who was being hunted by Voldemort. Muggles were funny, he thought.
"Look mate, she loves you, she's going to marry you, so stop wigging out," James said.
Jack walked up to him and towered over James, who immediately stood up, not liking the fact that the American was clearly trying to intimate him.
"Just answer me one question: do you still love her?" Jack asked. "Because if you do we have a problem."
James had to laugh.
"Does it really matter," James replied flippantly and then took a seat.
Jack didn't appreciate being laughed at, especially when it was his fiancé's husband who was doing the laughing. He wasn't finding anything humorous about the situation. So he approached James again, with one last thing to get off his chest.
"I love Lily and we are getting married, so by the time she wakes up, you better have signed the papers and this better be over with," Jack warned.
Suddenly James stopped laughing. If there was one thing that defined James Potter's life, it was that he hated being told what to do. He was using every ounce of control he had not to blast the cocky American back to the United States. Instead, he tried a little intimidation of his own. He took out his wand, because he knew muggles hated it when he did that, and glared down at the man.
"No offense mate, but if I wanted to keep you from marrying Lily, there isn't a thing you could do to stop me," James said, and then he decided it was time to go home and take a shower.
Lily's head felt as if it was full of sand. It was heavy and she couldn't lift it. She wanted to open here eyes, but every time she tried she felt a searing pain. It was very frustrating. Finally her eyes managed to flutter open, but everything was blurry. All she could make out was a vague outline of someone sitting in a chair next to her bed.
"James?" she croaked, and reached her hand out to touch him.
It wasn't James' hand however. It was smaller and not as rough to the touch. She quickly realized who it belonged to.
"It's Jack, Lils," a voice said.
Lily's eyes began to focus and in front of her was her sandy haired blue eyed fiancé. He looked tired and somewhat confused. Suddenly, she realized that she was lying in St. Mungo's with her muggle boyfriend by her side after being attacked by Lord Voldemort, and she began to sob and she didn't stop.
"Is James ok?" Lily asked between sobs.
"He's fine," Jack said as he did his best to comfort her, but her entire world was foreign to him.