June, 1978
James Potter opened his eyes to the familiar frayed curtains hanging inches from his face. He breathed in their musty scent like a treasured candle and smiled. Untangling himself from the bedsheets with a few unceremonious kicks, he threw off the covers behind him so that they happened to land on Sirius's face whose mouth was wide open and emitting a deep snore resembling that of a broken steamboat engine. Though with great practice, Sirius had learned to sleep through James' morning ebullience so it wasn't until James shoved open the nearest window, letting in the crisp morning air, that Sirius was finally torn from his slumber.
In fact, all of the inhabitants were simultaneously brutally awakened, filling the dorm with a symphony of groans and muttered protests. All of which were facetiously overruled by a cheerful James declaring, "Happy graduation day, lads!" with his arms held out wide, his grin stretching across his face to match it.
"What time is it?" Peter mumbled into his pillow.
"Time for our last day as Hogwarts students to begin!" James replied, marching briskly over to the next window, throwing it open, and poking his head outside with shut eyes to bask in the sun like a housecat for the briefest of moments.
Meanwhile, Sirius fumbled for his wrist watch on the bedside table and checked the actual time. "It's barely six-thirty!"
"Proooongs!" Peter whined, curling back into a ball and drawing the covers over his eyes to try to try and tempt sleep back into his body.
"Come on, mate! We have to make the most of today!" James attempted once more, shaking Peter's shoulder stubbornly.
"I will make the most of the morning by catching up on well-needed sleep after my NEWTs," Sirius muttered thickly, turning away from Prongs.
"Oh please, you can't use that excuse. You barely studied!"
"Like you can talk. Especially after I leant you half of my bed for the night."
"Yeah, so that it could be like old times! All together in one room like a happy family," James said, fully undeterred in the slightest and plopping onto the bare half of Sirius's bed, rocking the mattress. Sirius did not reply.
Though a groan was heard from two beds down, followed by a rustling of sheets. Instantly, James popped up, strode across the room, and spun around Remus's bed post.
"Is that a Moony? Peeking out from his den?" James asked.
A single finger–coincidentally a middle finger–poked out from beneath the covers, followed by a terrible case of bed head and barely opened eyes that somehow managed to still glower quite terrifyingly. "Has anyone ever told you that you are not allowed to be this cheerful before seven–no, eight a.m.?"
"You have. Many times," James replied with a grin.
Remus sighed in defeat, but swung his legs around, stretched, and stood nonetheless.
"Yes! He's up! Our day can begin!"
Remus didn't deign to respond, choosing instead to open a nearby drawer and withdraw a book. James watched as he smoothed down his sheets, propped up his pillows against the headboard, and positioned himself politely, crossed ankles and all, with his book opened in his lap.
"Okay, ha ha, I get it. Very funny. Point taken. Now can we go do something?" James asked, rolling his eyes.
"Feel free," Remus shrugged, his eyes beginning to rove the pages in front of him.
"I want to do something with you lot, like old times!"
"You mean like yesterday? And the day before that?"
"Exactly!"
"Then come back at eight."
"That's an hour and a half away!"
"Excellent math skills."
"What am I supposed to do until then?"
"Nothing in here, that's for sure."
James huffed and looked around the room for inspiration, muttering all the while, "And I thought you were a morning person."
"I am, but I prefer a morning of peaceful relaxation rather than one of raucous rampaging," Remus replied quietly, turning the page.
"Nice alliteration," James smirked.
"Thank you. Now why don't you go annoy that girlfriend of yours instead? She at least chose you instead of having the misfortune of being forced to live with you simply due to the convenience of age."
"You're not fooling anyone with that 'woe is me' attitude. I know you'll miss this."
Now it was Remus's turn to smirk behind his novel. "I never said I wouldn't. All the same…"
"All right, all right, I'm going. I'll be back in an hour or so."
"Make it an hour and a half," Remus replied, an eyebrow raised as he watched James snatch his wand from Sirius's bedside table. James raised one hand in affirmation and padded quietly towards the dorm door.
"And shut those windows!" came a fifth voice from the other end.
James grinned and stopped in his tracks. "Sorry Bertram," he whispered to the other Gryffindor student who had been resigned to seven long years dorming with the infamous Marauders.
"Yeah, yeah. If I had a sickle every time I heard that."
"Aw, you'll miss this," James whispered, suddenly aware that half of the inhabitants were already asleep again.
"Don't push your luck," Bertram replied thickly before he rolled over and a new set of snores soon joined the others.
After dutifully closing the windows, James paused at the threshold of the dorms and turned around, placing one hand on each end of the door jam to take in the sight before him, hoping the image would burn itself into his memory. Bertram, as always, ignoring their nonsense in his own private corner of the dorm. Sirius was sprawled across his bed having quickly taken over James' borrowed half, his things strewn about as haphazardly as he was. Peter was curled in a tight ball beneath his covers with half of his things thrown into his trunk, the rest gathered in odd piles here and there. And Remus, sitting composedly on his bed with a novel in hand, naturally had his things folded and packed away days before with his set of clothes for today set aside so that he wouldn't have to rummage for anything. Feeling James' gaze upon him, Remus looked up to see his wistful smile from the door.
Their eyes met but before Remus could say anything, James smiled and dipped his head sheepishly before slipping out onto the staircase.
Lily Evans woke to the now familiar sound of her door being cautiously opened and closed, followed by James padding over to her bed and sitting carefully on the opposite side of her. She heard him reach out and before his tentative hand could touch her shoulder, she said "Good morning" without opening her eyes.
"You beat me to it, yet again," came the reply from somewhere behind her.
She rolled onto her back to look up and see James' grin beneath his untidy black hair and glasses. "And you woke me up trying to sneak in here, yet again."
"It's not my fault that you're such a light sleeper," James teased.
"Then who's fault is it?"
"Your parents," James replied happily, falling onto his stomach and elbows so that his hands were resting on Lily's spare pillow.
"I'm too tired to argue over nothing with you," Lily said, not bothering to hide the yawn that temporarily took over her face. She readjusted herself to lay on her side facing James and propped her head up on one hand, though her eyes remained steadfastly closed. "What time is it?"
"According to Padfoot, sometime past six thirty."
"And you woke me up this early, why?" Lily demanded, a hint of annoyance coloring her voice.
"Because it's our last day as Hogwarts students! We should enjoy this!"
Lily opened her mouth to respond, but James cut her off quickly.
"And don't you dare say you'd rather enjoy it by sleeping! Sirius already used that excuse!"
Lily chuckled but pushed herself into a sitting position, quite literally rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I wasn't going to. But if we are going to fully enjoy the next twelve hours, I'd like to at least brush my hair before leaving the dorm."
James grinned and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "That's why you're my favorite."
"Don't tell Padfoot. He'll never forgive you," Lily teased, sliding sleepily off the mattress and opening her packed trunk in search of a comfortable t-shirt and jeans.
"I'll tell you what. I'll change and get ready too, then I'll meet you in the Common Room for a morning of peaceful relaxation as Remus calls it."
"And what does that entail?" Lily asked, one eyebrow raising skeptically as her trunk lid thudded closed.
"No idea, but we'll figure it out." He strode out the room and across the hall into the Head Boy's dorm, leaving Lily to smile to herself as she made her Gryffindor bed for the last time.
Almost exactly an hour and a half later, Remus made his way down the stairs into the nearly empty Common Room to join James and Lily near the window where he promptly demanded to be dealt into their ferociously competitive muggle card game which Lily had gotten them all hooked on. Marlene and Dorcas were the next to join and by the time Peter and Sirius stumbled blearily out of the dorm, it would be hard to audibly guess how empty the Common Room really was based on the loud cries of joy and despair that emanated from their crowded card table.
The rest of the day was spent roaming the grounds lazily, visiting all of their favorite haunts, seeing (and tormenting) their favorite professors, and slowly growing more anxious for their night of impending graduation. All of this was done with an air of nostalgia with random memories from years before being wrought from the depths of their subconscious. Their conversations were full of reminiscing, full of hopes for the distant future, and full of fears or doubts for the near future that was coming quicker than any could have expected. The ceremony itself was short, sweet, nostalgic, and like any good graduation ceremony, ended in the graduates finding themselves surrounded by a small mountain of food. In this case, after the ceremonial boat ride across the Great Lake, they claimed their infamous compartment on the Hogwarts Express and bought so many snacks from the trolley that one might think they could never get licorice wands or cockroach clusters from anywhere except from the train itself.
"I can't believe this is our last time on this train," Peter said morosely, picking at an empty wrapper nearby.
"I can!" Sirius said, his optimism sharply contrasting Peter's gloom. "I never have to sit through a boring lecture again!"
"Did you actually listen to any of those boring lectures, Black?" Marlene accused, her arms crossed playfully.
"Occasionally. Though why bother when copying Remus's notes was far more efficient."
James and Sirius chuckled while Remus simply rolled his eyes, too accustomed to his blatant cheating to even attempt to put a stop to it anymore. "I deserve at least half of your OWLs and NEWTs. You would have failed if not for me."
"I would not have failed! I wouldn't have done quite so magnificently, but I would have passed," Sirius insisted, though it was hard to ignore the rest of the compartment's stifled giggles.
Remus decided to play along and offered, "Fine, a quarter then, if you want to live in your delusions a little longer."
"Deal," Sirius grinned.
"Like you'll need them," Lily added in. "I'm sure you did great."
"Awww. How touching," Sirius said cloyingly. He stretched out his long legs from where he was sitting on the floor and kicked Lily's foot teasingly.
"I'm sure we all did great," Lily amended with a smile.
"Besides, it's not like any of us will need them," Peter added monotonously. When all eyes turned to him, his cheeks flushed and his shoulders hunched, pushing him further into the corner.
"What do you mean?" James inquired politely from the other end of the bench.
"Well… we all have jobs of sorts, don't we? The Order doesn't exactly care which OWLs we got. We're already in," he said, his voice the audible embodiment of a shrug.
The three girls exchanged a glance. "Yeah, but what about after the Order? This war will end sometime and then we'll have to move on. It wouldn't hurt to have good grades to fall back on if we needed," Dorcas suggested.
Peter nodded slowly. "Yeah…"
"Cheer up, mate!" Sirius said, kicking his shin much harder than he did Lily's.
"Ow!" Peter moaned quietly, rubbing his leg while Sirius continued without pause.
"We're off to do some good in the world! To make a difference!"
"We're off to make good ole' Godric proud," James added in a near identical voice, full of bravado.
"But… what if… what…"
"What is it, Peter?" Lily asked kindly.
He sighed. "What difference can we really make though? We're just a bunch of teenagers!"
James blinked as if he had never considered this before. "Teenagers that were chosen by Dumbledore himself!"
"I wasn't," Peter replied bitterly. "You were invited, sure, but I was just there and he said you could drag me along."
"He wouldn't have said that if he didn't believe you were capable, Wormtail," Remus said.
Peter leaned forward now. "Even still. That's only seven more of us against how many Death Eaters?"
James frowned. "Not sure. I'm guessing we'll find out at our first official Order meeting."
"And what can we really do to stop them? We'll have to defeat you-know-who if this is ever going to end. How can we possibly do that!?"
Sirius leaned forward off of the seat behind him. "Well Dumbledore–"
"We are way out of our league here! Wouldn't it be smarter to just sit back and… and… and play it safe?" Peter continued, his hands flying frantically.
"But what would happen if everyone said that?" Lily asked quietly after she was sure that Peter was finished. "If everyone wanted to let other people take care of it, then Voldemort could just waltz right in and I, and everyone like me, would be a goner."
Peter met her gaze and the panicking light in his eyes diminished. In a meek voice, he said, "But why does it have to be us?"
"Why not us?" Sirius insisted. "Sure we're young, naive, inexperienced–"
"Not helping, Pads," Remus murmured.
"-but everyone has to start somewhere! Besides, Moody is going to train us up in no time! That'll boost your confidence!"
"Though I'm sure you don't have to be in the thick of it if you aren't willing, Peter," Remus said. "There are plenty of really important behind-the-scenes kinds of jobs too."
"No, no, no!" Peter insisted. "I want to do whatever you're all doing. I'm just… it's…"
"Scary?" James asked.
"Terrifying?" Lily suggested.
"Mind-numbingly harrowing?" Remus added.
With a histrionic sigh, Peter nodded. "Exactly."
"Well, we're all scared, Peter," Marlene admitted with a small smile.
"Yeah?" he asked, doubtfully, his gaze naturally straying towards James.
"Of course!" James insisted obediently. "But as my Dad always says, Gryffindors aren't fearless. They just know how to meet their fears head on."
Peter pursed his lips in some semblance of a smile and nodded.
"I know what you need, Wormtail!" Sirius declared, jumping to his feet. "To be bested once more in a round of pock-er."
"Poker," Lily corrected with a giggle as Sirius opened Lily's bag unceremoniously, digging around for her deck of cards.
"Like you're going to win when you can't even pronounce it right," Dorcas snapped, instantly edging forward, her competitive streak taking hold, her eyes gleaming as she watched Lily expertly shuffle the deck.
With a smile at his friends' antics, James politely excused himself to use the restroom and do a quick patrol as he walked the corridors–his last set of Head Boy duties. But when he was making his way back, his brow furrowed slightly at what he saw, though he refused to let his steps falter. Instead, he continued his relaxed gait until he was beside the small cluster of older students.
"Good afternoon," James said pleasantly.
Mulciber, Avery, and Vanity scowled simultaneously as their attention was drawn towards him.
"Please find a compartment soon. I'm afraid you shouldn't be blocking the corridor if you can help it," James continued with an even smile, though his eyes roved over their expressions, hungrily searching for a clue of any misdeed.
"Certainly, Head Boy," Mulciber replied after a beat of silence, emphasizing the title sarcastically.
Avery stepped closer to James until they were mere inches apart.
"I confess, I didn't think we were this friendly, Avery," James joked, refusing to draw himself backwards.
Avery's eyes merely narrowed. He tilted his chin up to appear taller and he squinted down at James who was still smiling pleasantly back, though his every bone was tense with anticipation. "Enjoy the ride home, Potter. I'm sure I'll be seeing you again quite soon."
Finally, Avery stepped back and under the guise of a friendly pat on the shoulder, gripped James so tightly that he could feel Avery's fingernails through his t-shirt. "And I do hope you enjoy the company of that mudblood girlfriend of yours."
James frowned and his heart skipped a beat, but he forced his hands to remain in his pockets even as they curled into fists.
Avery laughed, seeming to sense his internal struggle. "Ah, she has you well-trained. We'll see how long this… shall we say… diplomacy lasts, won't we?" With that, he turned on his heel and cut through the small gap between his friends.
Vanity gave her best facsimile of a smile before sauntering after Avery, and Mulciber gave a sweeping, mocking bow, saying, "I do hope to run into you and your friends, Potter. We can only hope it is sooner than expected."
James watched them depart towards the front of the train, their laughter echoing down the corridor. What did all of that mean? Were they simply taunting him as usual, or was something more out-of-the-ordinary going on? It certainly seemed like they were hinting at something specific, yet nothing in particular that they said gave it away. Sure, they were undeniably threatening him, but that was old news. That was merely the same banter that they had been exchanging for the entire year as their places in this war were further established. Was that truly all it was?
"Excuse me," a short first year muttered, snapping him out of his reverie.
"Sorry," James mumbled and stood aside to let her pass beside him in the narrow corridor. With one backwards glance at the long gone Slytherins, James found his way back to his own compartment, his thoughts far away from poker or whatever game they had turned to by now.
Nonetheless, he slid the door open exactly when Remus had won the round, the mingled cries of victory and despair spilling out. Grinning like the rest of them, Lily looked up as he made his way towards her. She automatically moved aside, making room next to her for James and instantly, her hand fell to his arm.
"What's wrong?" she asked quietly.
"I'm sure it's fine," he muttered, refusing to meet her worried gaze and instead, searched for spare candy or chocolate he could use as poker chips to join the next round.
Lily watched his futile search a minute longer, knowing that James could feel her eyes on him. "Can you tell me anyways?"
James paused and felt her hand cover his own on the seat between them.
"I'll give you half of my stash of chocolate coin poker chips," she added.
The corners of James' lips quirked up and he used his knuckles to shove his glasses further up his nose. After sighing slightly, he acquiesced and turned towards her. "I just ran into Avery, Mulciber, and that sixth year girl, something Vanity–"
"Emma?"
"Yeah, her." And for someone originally so reluctant to share his anxieties at all, he found himself searching to remember the exact words and phrases to give Lily as close to an exact reenactment as possible. Nonetheless, he finished his spiel with, "But I'm sure it's nothing… right?"
Lily frowned. "Nothing that we can change, at least."
James nodded and squeezed her hand, finding solace in their interlaced fingers. She gave a smile as he leaned forward to kiss her temple before they turned back to the card game at hand.
As per the annual tradition, as soon as the train rolled to a standstill, chaos ensued as the younger students raced to be the first on the platform and the older students lolled about in the corridors, trying to drag out the moment before they returned to their families. Lily, James, and the other Prefects attempted to hurry the process along and eventually, she was fairly certain there was no longer a child left on the steam engine yet Lily could not say the same about forgotten jackets or trunks. So, she made her way to the back of the train and slowly moved forward, checking each and every compartment for a wayward item.
Though in the back of her mind, even as she shooed James ahead, she knew that she was just as guilty as the rest of the older students. She too was stalling the inevitable. Though for her, it wasn't necessarily stalling the moment when she left her friends in favor of her family. Those two were one and the same now–in all regards that mattered, anyways. But no, it was stalling before that very fact was thrown in her face once more. She just needed one more moment on this last tie to Hogwarts, her last tie to her home where she knew who she was and her place in the world felt steady. Once she left this train, she would live with the Potters while her and James searched for their own place so even her home was uncertain. Her new occupation would turn from scheduled classes to uncertain missions that they had yet to be assigned.
Everything would change.
But the compartments on the train felt so blissfully nostalgic, so safe and comfortable, that she assigned herself the mission of finding every loose trinket, every loose end, to give to the lost and found. This quest did not take her quite as long as she had hoped so the platform was just as full as it was ten minutes ago when she emerged. Parents were talking with their excited kids and their friends, the students spewing stories left and right. Plans were being made between friends and parents. Trunks were being checked for lost things.
And everywhere she turned, Lily saw nothing but parents. Parents and siblings and families.
She sniffed and surreptitiously swiped at her eyes, hurrying to give a quick nod at a passing student. Safe in the sea of students, Lily scanned the platform, quickly finding her group of friends at a pillar a short distance away. James was wrapped in the loving embrace of his Mom while Sirius was bashfully pulled in by Mr. Potter. Meanwhile, Mr. Pettigrew was straightening Peter's coat, his mother dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. Remus's head was bent towards his parents as they talked together quietly, completely the opposite of Marlene squealing loudly as she hugged each of parents, siblings, and cousins in turn. Dorcas was similarly enraptured in conversation and Lily could practically feel the pride emanating off of their families, all eager to celebrate their recent graduates.
She watched as the elder Potters switched boys and offered their Congratulations anew, their well-wishes mingling with another large family celebrating a Ravenclaw in their year. 'Congratulations' were being thrown about like confetti from the mouths of every cousin, aunt, uncle, grandparent, third cousin twice removed, and friend that was able to come. And she, well, she had her friends. James' parents would certainly welcome her as one of their own, but she still knew that she was not their own. No matter what they could do, she would still long for her parents. For her favorite aunt who could never know about who she truly is. Her cousins who she lost touch with as soon as she went off to some 'strange boarding school.' For her sister who could not manage to look at her without a scowl gracing her face.
No, she would not dwell on Petunia on a celebratory day like this. And while that betrayal was a long-time coming, the wound of her parents' recent deaths still tugged inexorably at her heart, especially today. She could picture her mother's smile of wonder that never dissipated whenever she came to the platform. She could feel her warm hug and her auburn hair that always smelled of summer. Her Dad would instantly wrap her in an embrace, tucking her under his chin and kissing the top of her head like he would always do. They would both exclaim with joy and pride, just like they had done when she was made Prefect and then Head Girl. But the slightly lost expression would still mingle in their eyes, as it always did when she tried to explain something in her world, and even that disconnect was something she had come to love.
Something she had come to miss.
She shook her head, trying to shake herself out of her dismal fantasies. Wiping once more underneath her eyes, careful to not disturb the makeup that Dorcas had so expertly and fastidiously applied that morning, she plastered on a smile and with a deep breath, began to move away from the stationary train behind her.
The air shattered.
A series of explosions shook the platform, raining debris from the rafters.
Lily was flung back into the train behind her. Her back slammed into the metal and her head smacked into the glass window, her feet at least two feet from the ground. Her wand fell from her limp fingers and she crumpled to the floor like a ragdoll.
Lily forced herself to breathe, but filling her lungs with air was much harder than she ever remembered. Her ears were ringing loudly, her joints protested any movement, her back ached like a hippogriff had stamped on her spine, yet she was alive. Now that air had made its way through her constricted chest once, twice, now three times, it was easier to breathe as if the debris in her throat had been cleared away. She was breathing and she was alive.
If she thought the platform was chaotic before, it was nothing compared to the madness that reigned now. It played out like a silent movie, all noise drowned out by the incessant ringing. Mouths opened wide in muted screams of terror, people were running this way and that, searching for one of the only fireplaces still functioning as an exit, their trunks forgotten. Others were huddled by catatonic figures, crying out silently for help. And still, her heart continued to beat frantically, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she squinted, trying to make sense of the shaky scene before her.
Her friends were lost in the blur of colors, but she knew they would be here. They would be searching for what had happened, how to help, how to fight. Her hand stumbled upon her wand laying on the floor as she pushed herself unsteadily to her feet. She stumbled into the train and placed one hand on its side to catch her bearings as the world swam before her.
Blinking rapidly, she pointed her wand at her feet and slowly raised it up to her head, murmuring a spell that would remove her dizziness, even if it was only temporarily. The colors in front of her sharpened to a focus, but she didn't stop to appreciate it. She kept her wand pointed at her own face and cleared the buzzing in her ears, allowing the screams to penetrate through her consciousness as the dull ringing faded away.
She looked around as a mother sprinted past her, carrying her young son in her arms and following the crowd streaming towards the fireplaces since all of the exit pillars were now blown to pieces. Lily dove forwards toward an older man struggling to his feet, quickly grabbed his elbow and lifted him up, half-pulling and half-shoving him towards the exit. She quickly moved onto a younger student who was attempting to carry his entire trunk through the hectic crowd, but Lily ushered him onwards, all the while searching for a familiar face.
The crowd surrounding one of the last two exits let out a collective scream as more people shoved their way onto the platform, all dressed in stygian robes with silver masks.
Lily's breath caught in her throat. They were supposed to be trained before being thrown into things like this. They were supposed to be more prepared. Yet there was no question about which way she would run.
People swarmed past her, towards the final exit remaining and she pushed her way through, trying to find a clear view of what was going on. The Death Eaters began to spread out, though oddly enough, they weren't cursing every person within their sight like Lily had expected. In fact, she had only seen a few spells flying through the crowd so far. Instead, they were each surveying the people in front of them, as if they were searching for something.
One of the taller figures seemed to have found what he was looking for and marched forward, quite literally shoving his way ahead. Lily followed his train of vision and saw him heading directly towards a small cluster–two students, one definitely a first-year, the other a few years older. Lily furrowed her brow and shoved her own way through, desperate to cut him off.
"Finite!" she shouted at the same time as he raised his wand.
The two students finally seemed to realize they were being targeted and the older one began to tug on their younger sibling's hand who was frozen in place, tears streaming down his cheeks. Lily could worry about them later. For now, the Death Eater turned his attention to Lily as they stood a few feet apart, the pair of students practically between them.
She took a shaky breath, sparing a moment of pride in the fact that her arm was not visibly trembling. The masked man did not seem to care; he barely gave a moment's notice before attacking, his wand swiping through the air in vicious arcs.
Suddenly, she was dueling for her life.
All of their practices in empty classrooms or the Common Room seemed like child's play–nothing more than a naive game. Lily was blocking the spells she could and dodging the ones she couldn't, forcing her to dance side to side and her shots were hardly aimed at the Death Eater at all.
He rained spells down on her, endlessly and indefatigably, and Lily was forced to step backwards. Just once, then a few more times until she was having to glance backwards to make sure she didn't trip, meaning she had time for even less offensive spells. Yet still, she hung on and managed to fight back until she got her chance to break through his guard.
The moment came when the entrance that the Death Eaters had entered through and were guarding erupted in new flashes of color. Purple robed witches and wizards flooded onto the scene, wands already whizzing through the air. Too caught up in his own victory, the man glanced towards the commotion, allowing Lily to shoot rapid-fire spells at his shield charm, aiming one at his feet just below his edges of safety. The stone floor momentarily turned to quicksand, sucking the man into the Earth until his legs were fully submerged in hardening concrete. Lily disarmed him, catching his wand and tucking it in her pocket, and sprinted towards the swarm of purple that could only mean one thing–aurors.
James stumbled backwards, knocking into Remus and the pair tripped to the floor on top of each other, the ground rattling in protest as a series of exit pillars exploded. As soon as the floor steadied, he jumped to his feet, adrenaline coursing through his blood, dimming his confusion into a clear need for action.
He used the moment when most were knocked down to scan the bustling platform for a flash of auburn, a splash of her green shirt, anything that told him Lily was okay. Just as the fear set in around him, providing the impetus for chaos to ensue, he caught sight of her at the far end, near the front of the train. And she was moving.
Relief washed over him and even amid the terror, a smile slipped through.
"What the hell was that?" Remus cussed, reaching out to help his mother up.
"Something bad," James replied, tearing his gaze away from Lily.
"What do we do?" Marlene asked, looking around as people started to run past their stationary group.
"Come on, Peter. Let's get out of here. Everyone's going that way so let's just follow them and see which exit is still open," Mrs. Pettigrew said, her voice at least an octave higher than usual. She grabbed his hand and pulled, but Peter didn't budge.
He turned to James and repeated the question. "What do we do, Prongs?" Somehow, James would know what to do. He always had a plan.
"Go. Mum, Dad, you have to go," James said with certainty.
His mother balked. "James! We are all leaving this instant–"
"Go home and contact Dumbledore, he needs to know what's happening so that he can send help. Our house has more safety charms and spells on it in place than any other so we'll send the injured there through any of the fireplaces that are open."
Mr. Potter stepped forward. "James–"
"You're out of practice, Dad. You can't stay, you'd be killed," he cut off, no longer worried about manners. "But you and Dumbledore are mates so he'll listen to you the instant you call."
"The aurors will come. We should all go now and–"
"Dad! You know what I signed up for. You both do," he said, forcing himself to look into his mother's worried eyes.
"Just because you signed up for some… some resistance group," his mother dropped her voice, though it was hardly worth it given that the chaos would easily cover the sound, "doesn't mean that you have to fight during a random attack where no one knows what is happening."
"If I'm not going to fight now, then what was the point of joining!" he fumed, losing his patience with every second that slipped by. "I'm staying and someone needs to tell Dumbledore what's going on so that we can get back-up."
Fleamont looked his son square in the eye and filled his chest with air before nodding solemnly. The plan made sense. "I'll be back as soon as I tell Dumbledore. Stay safe." He grabbed onto his wife's hand who protested loudly, but they let the flow carry them away to an exit.
James watched as Peter shook off his mother's prying hands, shooing her to the exit while he stayed behind. Remus falsely promised his own parents that he'd be right behind them as soon as he found Lily. Marlene and Dorcas followed their families toward an exit before allowing themselves to be separated so that they could fight the current and make their way back to their group hiding behind the pillar.
"Did you see how many fireplaces are open?" James instantly asked them.
"Two, maybe three," Marlene replied instantly.
"Damn," Sirius cursed, running a hand through his hair distractedly.
"We gotta help people out of here. We're sitting ducks," Remus urged, glancing around.
"Can't we just apparate out?" Peter asked nervously.
James shook his head and gave a mirthless laugh at the irony of it all. "No, the Ministry has an anti-apparition jinx all around here to protect something like this from happening."
A fresh round of screams filled the air and the group simultaneously peered around the barrier. Death Eaters were shoving their way out of one fireplace, watching the crowd swarm in one mass away from them and towards the last exit.
"We have to protect that fireplace. If they block it first…," Sirius said, not needing to finish his ominous thought out loud.
"Right, let's split up. Half protect the fireplace. Half help people get there," James said, already looking towards where he had last seen Lily. Not waiting for a response, James bolted off towards the back of the platform, his eyes narrowing as he had lost sight of her.
"Why aren't they firing?" Sirius muttered beside him, his gaze falling above the crowds' heads at the Death Eaters that were merely storming through the people, their wands lying still at their sides.
"Maybe they're looking for something?" Dorcas suggested from Sirius' other side.
One Death Eater motioned towards another and the pair shoved through the crowd, their wands raising.
"Or someone," Sirius replied, hurrying his gait to intercept them. Dorcas was one step behind.
"To the right too!" James shouted at their backs as another Death Eater broke ranks as they apparently noticed a target. He danced around a mother pushing her young daughter in a cart towards the fireplace and followed the man's gaze towards–his heart skipped a beat–Lily.
"Lils!" he shouted, his voice thankfully carrying across the busy platform. She turned and was able to cast a Protego charm just as the Death Eater fired his first curse. James shot his own hex at the man's back, feeling a surge of relief and vindication as the man toppled over, stiff as a board.
"Are you okay?" James asked as they rushed towards one another.
"I'm fine. What's going on?" she asked, distracted.
"Not sure. My Dad is sending for reinforcements through Dumbledore now though."
"I think the aurors just arrived too."
"Really? Let's–"
"There!" a loud voice shouted. They turned instinctively towards the sound to find a woman behind a silver skull mask pointing straight at them. Straight at Lily.
James pushed himself forward to be the first to fire. He heard Lily join the fray half a second after him and soon, he felt a third join on his other side. Soon enough, the woman succumbed to the three of their spells and he turned towards the purple-clad Auror.
"Collins?" James asked aghast. He hasn't seen the man for years since the last Ministry fundraiser his parents had dragged him to.
"Potter! What are you doing here? You need to leave, now," the man said, his tell-tale nervous eyes roving over the entire platform, never landing on one spot.
"How can we help?" James asked instead.
"We do not need help, Potter. We have it and all of your friends need to leave. You are only hindering–"
"We're helping, Collins."
"-hindering our movements! Get to the fireplace and get home."
"We're helping. Where do you want us?" James insisted, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the pedantic man.
"In the fireplace. Go."
"Mr. Collins?" Lily interrupted, hoping she heard his name right. "Can you tell us if they're targeting someone? Why aren't they firing randomly?"
Collins sighed dramatically. "We think they're targeting muggle-borns, which is another reason that you need to leave."
"How does everyone know I'm a muggle-born," Lily muttered darkly, watching the platform for signs of anyone else heading towards her, her skin tingling as if she could feel the pairs of eyes searching for her.
"We think they stole Hogwarts records about a week–"
"You think? You don't even know?" James demanded incredulously, instantly irate.
"We have been busy, Potter. Civilians present will only make our jobs harder so I urge you to get home to your parents who I'm sure are worried sick."
"I appreciate your concern, but I'd be more worried about Death Eaters apparently stealing from the Ministry without your knowledge."
Another boom rumbled through the platform, dust falling from the ceiling. James braced himself until the shaking stopped and in his periphery, he saw everyone else still remaining on the platform do the same.
"James," Lily said under her breath, tapping his shoulder.
She motioned with her chin across the platform. "See you," James instantly said to Collins. He followed Lily through the crowds towards the familiar face that had waved them over.
"Lily, you were good at charms, right?" Alice Longbottom said as soon as they arrived.
Lily nodded, biting her lip anxiously.
"Have you ever made a portkey?"
"Once, but I remember the basics."
"That'll have to do. Get a few going to the Potter's. Dumbledore said to send people there and at this point, we don't have time to triage the injured so we're just sending anyone who's left there first."
"Got it," Lily said, squeezing James' hand once before dashing away, ducking away towards a turned over cart filled with random things.
"And stay hidden! They know you're here!"
Lily waved her spare hand in recognition, scooping up a few textbooks from the cart to use as portkeys and running behind the nearest pillar.
"You're good at transfiguration, right Potter?"
"Yeah," he replied confidently.
"Good. Get Black and try to fix one of the fireplaces. They blocked the last pillar so we're all stuck here until we create more ways out."
James nodded and raced back towards the fray where he was certain Padfoot would be. As he ran over, he found himself dodging far less people than he was originally. Though he did now have to dodge those that lay unmoving on the ground, yet James refused to look at them, knowing that if he did, he may never stop. While the platform was much emptier than before, there were still plenty of innocent bystanders trying to find cover from the Death Eaters. Many were looking around in search of an escape, while others were slightly confused as to why they had not been fired upon while they simply stood near the blocked exits. The older students and parents huddled around the younger ones, trying to shield them not only from the Death Eaters' sights, but also preventing them from seeing the prone figures scattered intermittently along the platform. Aurors and some older students fought in clumps, protecting the helpless muggle families that were trying to find their own ways out. Part of James was itching to join the duels, yet he knew that he had to find a way out first for that to be of any use.
"Sirius!" James shouted, spotting his friend just as he, Remus, and Dorcas sent one Death Eater flying backwards. "We have to fix one of these fireplaces," he said.
Padfoot nodded and quickly ran towards the nearest one, beginning to mutter spells to try and figure out how best to fix it. While James and Sirius worked through transfiguring and fixing the broken pieces back into a functional floo entrance, Remus and Dorcas stood guard, stopping any Death Eaters who tried to approach them.
Before long, they were corralling muggle-borns and their families through the fireplace first, followed by the rest of the trapped witches and wizards, while some of the crowd would disappear at random in a bright flash of pale blue portkey light. Meanwhile, the aurors kept the Death Eaters at bay.
"That's the last of them," Sirius said breathlessly, looking around at the oddly forlorn platform. The chaos stemming from the hectic crowds had left with the crowds themselves, yet shouts and grunts still filled the large room from the duels between the aurors and Death Eaters. Just as James considered joining the fight, he squinted past the clumps of people, noticing two Death Eaters in the back, using their wands to drag the lifeless witches and wizards towards one end of the hall where they had started to line them up like corpses.
The word caught in James' throat.
He hadn't had time to even consider that the people along the ground might not just be stunned like they were in their practice duels. They weren't as still as corpses anymore. They were corpses. His fellow students. Their families. It could have been his friends. Or him. Or Lily.
"Prongs!" Remus said loudly, shaking his shoulder. He had clearly been trying to get his attention for a while.
"What?" James snapped irritably.
"We have to go. Now. The aurors are headed out after us. They think Voldemort is on his way, there's nothing more that we can do."
James nodded feverishly. "Go. I'll find Lily and meet you at home."
"She probably left with her last portkey. We'll find her at your house."
"I just need to double check," James said, looking around the platform for any sight of her.
Remus didn't move, but stared hard at James until he was forced to meet his gaze.
"I promise, I'll be right after you. I'm just going to find Lily, I won't join the duels or anything," James insisted, reading his mind.
At last, Remus nodded and disappeared through the fireplace just as Dorcas was whisked away by the green flames before him. With one last glance at the fights behind him, James dug through his pockets and pulling his invisibility cloak around him, he ran towards the pillar he had last seen Lily behind. As he passed one group of duels, he heard an auror shout, "Everyone's gone! Let's get out!" followed by another saying "Go, I'll cover you!" and the retreat began. Having no wish to be the last one left with the group of over-enthusiastic Death Eaters, James hurried his pace to a sprint, not worrying if the bottom of his trainers would be seen beneath the cloak.
He barreled around the pillar, sliding over the stones, and his heart gave a sigh of relief to see Lily crouching at its base. Though for some reason she was leaning over something around the other corner.
"Let's go, Lils"—James made a gap in the cloak and moved to wrap her in it— "Here, get under the cloak and we'll go back to the fireplace."
Lily shook her head. "No, no, no, no…" she muttered.
"Lily?" James asked, squatting down to her level, apprehension tracing every syllable.
She turned back to him, her eyes red and puffy. She leaned slightly away from the pillar and he was able to see what she was crouching beside.
A student was lying on the stone, staring lifelessly up at them, her dark brown hair coated in blood.
James opened his mouth but nothing came out except a croak.
"It's Ria," Lily answered for him and her voice was thick with tears. "The Ravenclaw girl from our year. She was a muggle-born too, remember?"
He nodded, not trusting himself to speak and he couldn't tear his eyes away from her pale face.
Lily sniffed and swiped at her nose. "We have to take her back with us. We can't let the Death Eaters find her and add her to their… their…"
"Yeah," James quickly agreed, not wanting her to have to find the right word for whatever their plans were for these corpses. "The cloak won't cover all of us at once. You take the cloak and take… take her to the fireplace and before you floo out, send the cloak back my way and then I'll come after you, okay?"
She nodded and let him swing the cloak around her shoulders while she pointed her wand and muttered, "Mobilicorpus." Moving slowly, Lily made it across the platform as the last of the aurors disappeared in swirling green flames and the Death Eaters were too preoccupied collecting the bodies to notice the slight flicker of a foot or hand that snuck outside the Invisibility Cloak. Barely sparing a moment's glance around her, Lily took some powder from the tin at the base of the fireplace and levitated the recent graduate above the logs, tossing in some of the floo powder. She said "Potter's Mansion" into the flames, careful not to get any part of her caught in the bright embers before she could send James the cloak.
The rustling of activity behind her stopped and her heart thumped rapidly beneath her chest, the blood pounding in her ears as she knew that while the Death Eaters may not have noticed a small slip-up with the Cloak, they certainly did not miss the rush of floo powder. Lily tore off the Invisibility Cloak and without shedding a moment to aim, she shot it towards the pillar she knew James was hiding at using her wand and scooped up another handful of floo.
But before she could duck into the fireplace, she felt herself get knocked aside by a blast of wind and she fell flat on her back, sliding across the polished floor. Blinking back tears of pain, she found herself staring up at three Death Eaters, all of which had their wands pointed threateningly at her face. One dropped their wand and let out a short laugh, doing nothing to ease Lily's terror.
"Merrick! Come here," the man shouted, the corners of a smile peeking out from beneath his mask.
Lily watched as another cloaked figure approached them, twirling his wand in one hand. She could feel her wand pressed underneath her leg, yet even as she slowly sat up, she knew that there was no way that she could reach it and do anything of use before one of the Death Eaters got to her first.
"Isn't this that mudblood you're always complaining about? The one dating the Potter boy?"
Her skin went cold as the new addition pulled off his silver mask and Mulciber was grinning maliciously down at her.
"Indeed, it is! It's Evans," he said, sounding way too satisfied for Lily's liking.
"Well how kind of you to join the party, Miss Evans," his father said, gaining some deep-throated laughter from the others still holding their wands steadily at her. "Perhaps we should show her a good time before adding her to the pile."
Another Death Eater approached their circle slowly, their shoulders slumped and head cocked to one side.
"Want to do the honors, Snape?" Mulciber asked, slapping the newcomer on the shoulder.
"We shouldn't–"
"Ah, that's right! You used to fancy her, didn't you?"
"You what?" Mulciber Sr. asked, whipping around to face Snape.
"Don't worry, that weird infatuation is long gone, isn't it Snape? But do you still want a go before we kill her?"
"No. You shouldn't–"
"Suit yourself," Mulciber interrupted with a shrug and turned back towards Lily, nodding to his father.
The taller man grinned and slowly raised his wand, pointing it straight at Lily's chest. Every bone in Lily's body was screaming at her to move, yet she was frozen in place. Glued to the ground, her limbs felt as heavy as lead as she stared down the end of the wand that would surely end her life.
A cold rush of air blew across the platform, the Death Eaters' robes swirling at their feet.
"I thought I told you to gather up the bodies by the time I arrived. Why are you all standing about?" a soft voice asked from just behind the group.
Instantly, the Death Eaters turned to face him, their heads bowed. As their focuses were drawn away, Lily inched one hand down her leg towards her wand, but one man noticed and shot a warning stream of sparks, forcing her to capitulate and move her hands back into the open.
"My Lord," Mulciber Sr. said reverently, "We were just about to add one more to your collection. We caught her trying to escape the platform just now."
"Is that so?" His voice was deathly quiet, yet it somehow easily carried throughout the platform. "And who is this?"
"Lily Evans, my lord," the younger Mulciber replied, barely restraining his grin of joy.
"Ah yes. I've heard of her." Tom Riddle slowly walked towards the group, the Death Eaters parting on either side of him as he approached. He stood above Lily, apprising her calmly, and she forced herself to meet his dark gaze.
After a minute of silence, he spoke again, though still without looking away from her. "I did not tell you to stand here gawking, now did I? I believe your orders were quite clear. Collect the bodies and leave at once."
They scurried off with a few backward glances, and soon, the fireplace was intermittently lit up with green as the Death Eaters traveled elsewhere, dragging their victims along with them.
"Just us now, Miss Evans," Voldemort said in the same maddeningly quiet voice. "Though I do not expect to be alone much longer. James Potter will not leave us alone for long, if I am not mistaken."
It is amazing to be back, writing in the Harry Potter universe once more! If you found this story because you read After the War, it's great to see you again! If you just stumbled upon this story, then it's great to meet you! Either way, I hope you enjoyed chapter one. Please leave lots of comments or send me a message if you have any thoughts or suggestions (I would love to hear from you)!
The rest of the story will start on the day of their graduation from Hogwarts and once the first official chapter is posted, I will do my absolute best to try and publish the next chapter at least once a week.
So now, our story is officially underway. I hope this chapter didn't drag on for too long, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions at all. I would genuinely love to hear them! I will try to get the next chapter out sometime next week.