Chapter 19

James' POV

I see Ariana stumble back from her high five with Eli; a stressed expression on her face, the same expression she had on her face before. I rush toward her as she stumbles back again and falls onto her butt. I point to the house and yell, "Hey! Someone go get my dad! NOW!"

Eli, Brittney and Al run inside while Roxanne, Landen and Freddie all back away as I kneel in the snow and catch Ariana's arm before she can fall any further into the cold snow. I wrap her arm around my neck and scoop her up out of the snow. I walk us into the house and sigh as I lie her down on the couch. As soon as her head hits the couch she jerks upright with a sharp gasp, almost knocking me backward. She looks around the room with a bit of a panicked expression. As soon as she catches sight of me, she grabs my arm. "Where's your dad?"

Just then Eli, Brittney and Al come down the stairs with my dad and Landen's dad following close behind. My dad walks into the living room and sits on the table in front of Ariana. "It happened again?"

She doesn't answer his question, but instead stares at his forehead curiously. "Mr. Potter, can I see it please? I mean, I know it's there, but I want to see it so I can confirm my suspicions."

My dad stares at Ariana intently as he pulls his hair up and reveals the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Ariana reaches a hand out and traces her first finger over the scar then drops her hand and nods firmly. "Let's go. We have some things to discuss." She gets up off the couch and points to me. "He should come too. I think it might involve him."

My dad shakes his head as he glances over at me. "No. I'll talk to you first and then decide if he should hear about it."

She narrows her eyes at my dad and clenches her fists. "His bloody life could be on the line! I think he deserves to know!"

I step forward and place my hand on Ariana's shoulder, turning her to look at me and firmly say, "It's alright. Go talk to my dad."

She stares at me for a moment then nods and walks to the stairs, stopping at the bottom one. "Are you coming, Mr. Potter?"

My dad gets up from the table and walks to the stairs. Ariana gestures up the stairs in front of her and steps to the side. "After you."

My dad walks up the stairs and, before following him, Ariana shoots me one more uneasy glace. I nod to her and she walks up the stairs and out of sight, leaving me downstairs in an awkwardly silent room to think about her most recent claims. Is my life really in danger?

Ari's POV

Harry and I walk up the stairs in silence. He stops once we get to the top floor and takes a seat on a couch against the wall. "So what did you see?"

I lean against the wall and sigh. "I saw Caledon listening to a prophecy."

His expression remains stoic. "Did you get to hear what it said?"

"Under the full moon, the new Dark Lord will rise, only to be fought by a girl with a fire inside and the oldest product of lightning. Three will enter the battle, but only two will leave alive. Although the three are equal in power, a secret will be revealed that will lead to the downfall of one."

He reaches up and touches his scar. "The oldest product of lightning…"

I scoff. "Really? That's all you heard? How about the part that said three will enter the battle but only two will leave alive?"

He pinches the bridge of his nose and opens his mouth to answer, but gets cut off by a bleeding Al. "Dad they're back."

Harry's eyes widen and he looks at me and Al definitely. "You two take the rest of the kids back to Grimmauld Place. The rest of us will join you shortly."

Al nods. "James already did."

I nod to Harry as he brandishes his wand and rushes down the stairs. Al looks upset as he watches his father go. I walk over and squeeze his arm. "He'll be alright. Let's go make sure Jamie got everyone."

I pull out my wand and we walk down the stairs. I can clearly hear the adults fighting and as we get closer to the bottom floor, I can understand why. There is a gaping hole in the living room wall that easily shows the ongoing battle outside. Once we get to the bottom floor, I point my wand ahead of me defensively and yell "Hello? Any more kids here?"

CRACK!

I clasp my hands over my nose as I register what just happened. I look under the stairs and see Lily cowering with closed eyes and her fingers wrapped tightly around a long board. "Really Lily? You hit me with a board? I think you broke my nose!"

She opens her eyes and her mouth falls open. "Sorry Ari! I thought you were someone else!"

I grab her hand and pull her out from under the stairs, wrapping her in a hug. "Who the hell else would I be? Why didn't you go with Jamie?"

I let her jump on my back as I hold her up with one hand and hold my wand out with the other, blood running freely down my face from my broken nose. We meet up with Al his eyes widen when he sees my nose. He points his wand at my nose, causing a loud pop to emit from it as it snaps back into place and heals. I wince away and groan. "Bloody hell that hurt…"

He rolls his eyes and waves his wand again, cleaning the blood away, before looking at Lily. "What is she doing here?"

"I found her under the stairs. Let's go home and get her to safety." As we get ready to apparate to Grimmauld Place, a Death Eater runs into the house and shoots a spell at us. It hits the stairs directly, causing them to explode. I drop Lily off my back and look at Al. "Go. I'll catch up."

I brush the shrapnel from the stairs off and shoot a spell at the Death Eater as I hear aloud POP behind me. The Death Eater shoots another spell, knocking my wand from my hand. "What are you going to do now that you're disarmed, bitch?"

I smirk at him as I sneakily grab a board off the ground and step toward him. "You could have killed me twice already, you idiot. It's too late now though." I swing the board at him and it connects with his head, knocking him to the ground forcefully.

I kick his wand away from him and scramble over to the stairs and sift through the rubble, searching for my wand. Once I've found it I quickly apparate to Grimmauld place. I throw open the door to the house and slam it shut once I'm inside. I lean back against the door and take a deep breath then push myself off the door and launch up the stairs, stopping on the first floor. "Is everyone here?"

One by one heads poke over the railing, revealing everyone's safety. The last to poke their heads out are Al and Lily, who are in Al's room, and James, who is in his own room. As soon as I see James I point back into his room. "Go. We need to talk now."

He nods and opens his door for me, crossing his room to put his wand down as I walk in. I shut the door and sigh as James struggles to wrap a bandage around a large cut on his arm. He looks over at me and smirks. "I'll be fine. Nothing I can't handle."

I shake my head at him and briskly walk across the room, grabbing the bandage from him. "Here, let me help you." I sit us down on his bed and sigh. I wrap the bandage around the cut and tie it tightly then set the remaining bandage in my lap. He closes his eyes and leans forward into my hand as I run my thumb along the cut that runs vertically down from right above the top of his right eyebrow down to the top of his right cheek. "Did you take care of that yet?"

He opens his eyes and grabs the bandage from me with a frown. "No I'll take care of it later. And thanks for the help… Although it looks like you could use some medical attention too, you know."

"What?" I look at my arms and return his frown. "What are you talking about?"

He smirks and walks into his bathroom, coming back a few minutes later with a towel, a bowl of water, and a handheld mirror. He hands me the mirror first and I accept it graciously. I hold it up and grimace at what I see. The whole left side of my face and neck is littered with cuts and scrapes and there are still scraps of wood tangled in my hair. I reach up and pull out a chunk of wood from my hair with a groan. "I look like hell…"

"It's not that bad." He dips the towel into the water bowl and motions for me to turn my head. I comply and turn my head to the right. James lifts the towel and is about to place it on my face when I pull away, so he places a hand on the right side of my face to hold me still. He places the towel on one of my cuts and a stinging sensation fills the cut. I lean into his hand as I try to pull away from the towel. He sighs and gently presses on my face while bringing the towel back onto my face. "I know, I know… It's going to sting a bit. I'm sorry, but these cuts need to be cleaned. How did this happen, anyways?"

I clench my teeth and grasp the bottom of his shirt tightly as he dabs the towel across another cut. "A Death Eater got into the house and blew up the stairs while Al, Lily and I were trying to apparate here. Merlin that stings! That's not water, is it?"

He shakes his head with another frown. "Well then these definitely need to be cleaned and no, this isn't water... We're obviously going to be here for a while, so do you want to tell me about what happened today NOW or after I'm done?"

I groan at the stinging on my face and he gives me a sympathetic look. "I'll tell you about it now. Maybe it will distract me from the torture you're putting me through."

He sighs as he gives me another sympathetic look. "I know… Sorry…"

I pat him on the arm with the hand that's not tightly clutching his shirt. "I know, I know. You're being as gentle as you can. And I DO appreciate you doing this for me. SO! I think I know more of Caledon's plan, but I'm not positive. I think he's planning something against the American Embassy, but I don't know which one or when…"

"When did you see this one?"

I sigh. "This morning. I haven't told your dad about that one yet. I don't want to send him on a wild chase all over the world because I don't know the exact location of Caledon's plan."

"Okay, well what was the second one? I'm guessing this one is where you saw my life in danger because I don't see how the first one is a danger to me at all." He soothingly strokes my right cheek with his thumb as he spreads out the damp towel and presses it onto the side of my face and neck.

I wince and inhale sharply. "Shit! A little warning would have been nice! Anyways, the second one was just about Caledon. He was sitting at a table listening to a prophecy."

He pulls the towel off and releases my face. "Alright, you're good to go." He sets the towel down on his bedside table and sighs. "What was the prophecy? Do you remember it?"

I nod as I get off the bed and grab the towel. "I remember it word for word. But first, I'm going to go get a fresh towel to clean the cut over your eye." I walk into his bathroom and toss the towel into the sink so I can wash the slight red off of it later. I head over to the closet and grab a new towel then walk out of the bathroom and sit back down on the bed.

I dip the towel in the clear liquid and grab James' chin as I lightly dab the towel on his cut. He winces a bit but remains silent. After neither of us says anything for a bit, he clears his throat. "So are you going to tell me what the prophecy said or not?"

I sigh and drop the towel from his face. "Under the full moon, the new Dark Lord will rise, only to be fought by a girl with a fire inside and the oldest product of lightning. Three will enter the battle, but only two will leave alive. Although the three are equal in power, a secret will be revealed that will lead to the downfall of one."

He stares at me for a moment and reciprocates my sigh. "Oh… So you think I'm the one that's going to… die?"

I shake my head and let go of his chin, lowering my gaze to the towel in my hand. "No. I mean, it's possible, but I don't think it's going to be you…"

"Then who do you think it's going to be?"

I shrug my shoulders while keeping my gaze on the towel. "Well I can hope that it's going to be Caledon, but… But I have this strange feeling it's going to be me."

He grabs my face and pulls it up, giving me a rather frustrated look. "Wait, what?! How do you even know that the prophecy is about us? And how do you know it won't be me?"

"Well, for one: Caledon has been calling me little fireball. Plus my patronus is a phoenix… Which would make me the girl with fire… Two: The oldest product of lightning? You're the oldest son of Harry, who has a lightning bolt scar. And three: Because I'm pretty sure you can't hear a prophecy from the source unless it involves you. And I heard that prophecy pretty clearly. Oh, and I know it won't be you because I refuse to let that happen. It's either me or Caledon. End of story." I see his expression and quote him with a smile. "Jamie, I'll be fine. Nothing I can't handle."

He frowns, clearly not amused by the fact that I quoted him and drops his hands from my face. "That's just not something I can accept."

I sigh and shake my head at him, my smile gentle. "James, I don't think that's anything you can control. If I can accept it, then you should be able to also. Besides! I could be completely wrong. It could be Caledon who dies…"

He shakes his head. "No… You don't understand…" His brows furrow together and he purses his lips, as if he is having trouble forming his words. "I just can't lose you again."

"Excuse me? Again?"

He nods. "Yes, again. I mean, I may have only lost my memory before and I know I didn't remember you, but those few months that I didn't have my memory were the worst. Partially because we hated each other so much, partially because I was going out with that needy wanker Monroe, but mostly because I constantly felt like something was missing. Obviously now I know it was you that was missing, but I didn't know then. If it was that bad when I didn't know what I was missing, I can only imagine how bad it would be if I knew." He gets up off the bed with a sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose as he leans his back on the wall across from me. "Ari, you cannot ask me to knowingly lose you again and just be alright with that. I love you, but that is something I cannot do. I can't… I just-"

I jump off the bed and launch myself at him; getting up on my toes, grabbing his face and kissing him full on the mouth. He winds his arms around my waist and pulls me flush against him, pressing his lips firmly against mine. I pull my face away from him and sigh. "Sorry…"

He laughs at me with a smirk. "Oh… Mhm yea… Me too…" He smirks at me again before he recaptures my lips with his.