Be Here Now
A/N: Hi! I've got two people on story alert and one favorite (thanks, by the way!) but where are my reviews? :'( Anyway, here's chapter 3!
Disclaimer: (Yes, I've been forgetting) If I owned Harry Potter, I'd be writing a whole series on the Marauder era.
x.o.x.o.x
Suddenly the compartment door flies open and reveals the Ravenclaw girl seventh year prefect. "Death Eaters!"
Lily stands quickly, so quickly that her chair falls behind her.
"Quick! They're surrounding the train!" the prefect cries, looking very distressed.
Lily pulls out her wand. "Get all the prefects, but try not to tell any of the Slytherins of this. Tell all the seventh years from other houses. Quickly!"
Remus and Hilary run from the compartment while James draws his wand as well, sending a Patronus into the air. The brilliant stag canters off toward Hogwarts, as quickly as James could muster. Lily had turned from him, waving her wand in complex patterns and muttering foreign words under her breath. Wisps of vapor blow out from her wand, growing into firm shields after floating through the window. Without another word, she runs out and starts performing security charms in every compartment. Suddenly, she is blocked by a trio of Death Eaters masked.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? A little redheaded Mudblood," sneers a female voice.
Lily stiffens at the voice. "Bellatrix," she says curtly, making no move to hex or cure or jinx.
Bellatrix Black Lestrange, however, jabs her wand in Lily's face, not quite making contact. "How dare you utter my name with your unworthy Mudblood lips?" she snarls.
"Did Voldemort send you here?" Lily continues, unfazed.
"Don't you dare speak the Dark Lord's name, filthy Mudblood. Go back where you came from," a silky smooth, malicious voice says from under another mask.
Lily laughs derisively. "What, the Heads' compartment? And it is his name, is it not? Why should I not speak it?"
"Because your lips are unworthy of speaking it," snaps Bellatrix, firing a hex.
"Protego!" screams Lily, blocking the hex and sending another back.
"No you don't," Bellatrix sneers, blocking it and advancing, while firing the Cruciatus curse at Lily.
Lily silently blocks this one, sending it flying back toward the black-haired woman.
"Sectumsempra!" Lucius cries, sending it in a straight line toward Lily.
Lily juts out her wand to block it, but suddenly, a flashback occurs and she is hit. Before she blacks out from blood loss, she has the flashback…
Flashback
"Lily, I've invented a new spell!" Severus Snape calls, hurrying to catch up with his best friend.
Lily stops walking and turns to face him. "Really, Sev? Show me!"
Severus hesitates. "I can't, Lily. I can't unless it's human or animal flesh."
"Then use me! Or you!"
Severus shakes his head. "Maybe a fly? Or a rat?"
Lily rolls her eyes. "Aren't you a wizard?" Out of nowhere, she conjures a stuffed rat.
"Sectumsempra!" Severus cries, tracing his wand in a pattern at the rat.
The rat now has cuts all over its body, and fur is spilling out. Lily stares at it in shock. Severus misinterprets it as impression.
"Isn't it bloody brilliant, Lils? We can use this on Potter and his mates!"
Lily shakes her head. "Sev, I want you to promise me to never use this again."
"Lily-"
"No, Sev!"
"Not even against the bane of your existence?"
"I may dislike him passionately, Sev, but no one deserves this pain," Lily replies firmly, gesturing at the fur-less rat. "Promise me, Sev."
End Flashback
x.o.x.o.x
The Hogwarts Express pulls into Hogsmeade station. The seventh years and prefects had just barely managed to get the Death Eaters off their trail, but Lily was still unconscious, although Marlene, a budding Healer, had stemmed most of the blood. She had still lost more blood than necessary, though, and had turned pale white. Alice whips out her wand.
"Wingardium Leviosa," Alice says. Lily's body lifts into the air, and the Marauders and the girls disembark the train.
"Wha' happen'd to Lily?" Hagrid calls from his line of first years.
"Death Eaters," Remus calls back, looking quite worried.
James is pale white, staring at Lily in pure shock and worry. He may be a player, but Lily Evans had captured his love interest since first year, before he started any of the playing.
x.o.x.o.x
In the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey hurries to the door to greet the posse. Lily is hovering in between them, blood still gushing from some wounds.
"My Merlin! What happened to poor Miss Evans?" Madam Pomfrey gasps, drawing her own wand.
"Death Eaters," Hilary replies faintly.
Madam Pomfrey clucks disapprovingly. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is notorious. Setting his servants on poor Miss Evans!"
"She fought well," Sirius comments softly. "One of the Death Eaters engaged her in a battle, and it wasn't until another Death Eater stepped in that she went down."
"Why in Merlin's name was Miss Evans even fighting? She must have enough common sense to stay secluded!" Madam Pomfrey successfully stops all bleeding. The cuts were deep enough to leave scars, though, and Lily had lost almost too much blood.
"She's Head Girl. Lily, being the noble young woman she is, had to go out and cast protective spells over the other students," James answers.
Alice shakes her head. "I can't believe Lily did that," she sighs.
"She'll be fine, but I'm afraid we have to put her into a sleep-induced coma to ensure her survival," Madam Pomfrey says quietly.
"For how long?" Marlene asks fearfully.
"For as long as she needs. At the very least, two weeks," Madam Pomfrey informs her.
"Who will take her place as Head Girl?" questions Peter.
"I believe that is my decision," says a calm, powerful voice.
They turn and nod politely at their headmaster. "Professor Dumbledore."
Dumbledore smiles at his students. "You all were very brave, children. And Miss Evans showed more bravery in a Gryffindor than I have seen in a long while. She essentially sacrificed herself for the students of Hogwarts. As for the replacement, Miss Potter, would you be willing?"
Hilary gasps. "Professor, I couldn't."
"You are the most worthy candidate at the moment, Miss Potter. I have no doubt that you and Mr. Potter work very well together," Dumbledore assures her.
"Alright," Hilary relents. "But I will not step foot into Lily's new dorm. No one can see that until she unveils it herself."
"Very well. That is a perfectly good deal. But the Head Dorms are very nice, Miss Potter. Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir, very sure," Hilary replies adamantly.
Dumbledore nods, twirling his wand. A brand-new Head Girl badge appears and is placed magically on Hilary's robes. "A very wise decision, Miss Potter. Truly a Gryffindor action."
"Professor, you won't contact her parents, will you?" Remus asks. "It would be quite unnecessary for them to worry."
Dumbledore smiles sadly, winking at the girls. "You are quite right, Mr. Lupin. No, I will not be contacting Miss Evans's parents." With a swish of his robes, he is gone.
x.o.x.o.x.
"Malfoy."
"Yes, my Lord?" Lucius Malfoy asks with immense respect, bending to kiss the robes of his master.
"We need another spy inside Hogwarts. A very inside spy," Voldemort remarks in his cold, high-pitched voice.
"Another spy, my Lord?"
"Yes, Lucius, another spy."
"A Slytherin, my Lord?"
"No," Voldemort replies to his surprise. "We need someone close to the Potters and the Evans girl. Throw in the other Black as well and we have a terrific team on our hands. No Slytherin is close to them."
"A Gryffindor, perhaps, my Lord?" Lucius ventures.
"Yes," Voldemort decides. "A cowardly Gryffindor that is cowardly enough to accept my services in return for his or her own."
"I know just the person, my Lord. Little Peter Pettigrew. He is just barely in their little group, and he is a real coward, my Lord."
"Excellent," breathes Voldemort. "Get Snape to persuade him."
"Right away, my Lord." With a crack, Lucius disappears, leaving a triumphant Lord Voldemort.
x.o.x.o.x
A/N: Enjoy? Please press the review button and tell me what you think! Until chapter 4…
~ TrueLoveis4ever