There were screams coming from all around. People were running, screaming, and dying. Spells flew everywhere. Stray spells had hit the walls and ceiling, the chandelier had fallen and smashed to the ground causing glass and crystal to fly across the floor. Columns were exploded by stray spells, their marble pieces were now scattering the floor. Curtains were on fire and smoke started filling the air. All of this chaos was going on around me, but I could only stare down the length of a wand.
"Miss me Lily?"
"Go to hell Jaromen." I said.
"Such formalities. Call me Chris. Afterall, we a have history together now don't we?" He said.
"Fuck you." I said.
"Oh, someone eager for another round?" He asked.
I paled. Suddenly a jet of red light shot in between us. We both jumped back and I quickly pulled out my wand and directed it at Chris.
"Someone's been practicing I see." He said straightening out his robes.
"Drop your wand." I said.
"And why would I want to do that?" He asked.
He shot a stunner at me and I deflected it easily.
"What are you even doing here?" I said.
"Why, to marry you of course. Who wouldn't want to have you anytime they wanted?" He said laughing at his perverse humor.
"Really, though, I'm afraid I'm here on business rather than pleasure." He said.
"Business? And who's bidding are you doing?" I asked, knowing full well he was here on Voldemorts orders to kill people.
I had long suspected Headmaster Jaromen to be a deatheater. It's only natural his evil and sadisitic son would be too.
"Actually, I'm here on direct orders. It seems someone wants you dead. This has been a long time in the planning you know. The whole betrothal was to give me information on you and your family. Your annual Easter ball always has the best of the best in attendance. It's bad enough you're muggles, but you go around thinking you're royalty. It's disgusting. The dark lord saw this little gathering as the perfect opportunity to kill you. You see Lily, The dark lord simply won't tolerate people trying to foil his plans. And, as rumor has it, you're right in with the Potters now aren't you? How foolish really, especially when the dark lord wants them all dead. It means nothing to me of course, but I do have the honor to kill you. The dark lord rewarded my efforts of the past months by giving me the permission to personally kill you. Afterall, you don't really mean anything to him. You were just a little pawn in his game. He was more than willing to sacrafice you. But enough talk, this is the part where I kill you." Chris said.
"Like hell you will!" I screamed.
Before I could blink he shot a curse at me that slammed me backwards and into one of the marble columns. I slid to the ground next to a women who was covered in blood. I barely had the time to look at her empty eyes before I was pulled up by a hand around my throat. Chris had pulled me up and pushed me against the column, pressing his body into mine as he leaned in to my face.
"I've had about enough of this Evans. You forget, I'm stronger than you. And I always get what I want." He said as he rubbed his hands up and down my body.
"What's this, no screaming? You know I like it when you scream." He said as he kissed my neck.
My eyes were closed as I had flashbacks from Drumstrang. I had been screaming when my best friend Lauren had found me. I'll never forget the look on her face when she threw open the door. Her eyes had widened as she gasped out my name. Before she could even move Chris had aimed his wand at her and killed her. He killed her like she was nothing, not even worth a second look to him. But she was so much to me. She was my best friend, the only person I had in that whole place. If only I wasn't so weak. If only I had of tried to fight harder. If I wasn't screaming, Lauren would have never found me. She'd still be alive. No, this was his fault not mine. It's like I could hear James' voice in my head, telling me that it wasn't my fault. And I know he's right. It's his fault, Chris'. I opened my eyes and shouted a curse that sent Chris flying into the air before he crashed to the ground. I bent down and picked up my wand. Chris rolled onto his back and looked up at me. His eyes held a darkness that I was all too familiar with.
I stepped up to him with my wand pointed down on him.
"You fucking bastard." I said.
He actually had the audacity to grin.
Suddenly I felt a wand in my back.
The voice sounded oddly familiar as the person with a wand to my back spoke. It was a female voice for sure. I was almost positive I had heard it before. "Drop your wand mudblood." She said.
I dropped my wand and Chris stood up.
"Jaromen, stop messing around. I don't have time to save your ass." The voice behind me said.
"I've got it under control." Chris said twirling his wand in his hand.
"Looked like you were letting this mudblood get the better of you." The girl said.
It was almost like she was making fun of him.
Chris narrowed his eyes and pointed his wand at me.
"Crucio!" He shouted.
Pain. Pain so intense it feels like you're being ripped apart from the inside out. Like thousands of knives stabbing you over and over on every part of your body. It was like falling through the ice into a freezing lake below. It's like being struck by lightning. It's like your blood slows down, but your heart is beating ten times faster. It's like having all of your bones broken over and over again. You can't move. You can't see anything. You can't hear anything. Your senses are dulled except for your sense of touch which seems like it's magnified by a thousand so that the pain is that much more intense. Then it just stops, and your body feels like it will go into shock at any second.
I opened my eyes and looked up at Chris. The other deatheater had gone. My eyes started watering as I looked at the bodies that scattered the floor. Was I going to end up like them? My wand was next to my left hand, but I didn't feel like I had the strength to move.
"Been a while for you, has it?" Chris asked.
I had to fight back.
"No comment, then?" Chris asked.
I grabbed my wand and shot a spell that made a large gash in his right arm. His wand arm. Chris stumbled backwards, dropping his wand and grabbing his arm with his left hand.
"That was nasty, Evans." He said.
I sat up slowly. I was out of breath and I could barely focus.
"Stupefy!" Another familiar voice shouted.
A jet of red light flew straight toward Chris. He ducked at the last second and the curse hit a deatheater behind him, knocking him to the ground.
I turned and watched James Potter step toward Chris, his wand aimed at Chris' heart.
"So this is the boyfriend?" Chris asked.
James had a look of pure hatred on his face.
"Don't you dare talk to Lily." James said.
"Or what, you'll try to stun me again? It's Potter isn't it?" Chris asked.
"Yes. Who the hell are you?" James asked.
"Oh, Lily didn't tell you? Well, my name is Christopher Jaromen. I'm her betrothed. And, I must say Potter, I've heard a lot about you." Chris said.
James turned around and looked at me before quickly turning back to Chris.
"Jaromen? Like the headmaster of Drumstrang, Jaromen?" James asked.
"Yes, he's my father." Chris said.
Realisation dawned on James face.
"That's why the headmaster never did anything about the rape or the murder. Because you were his son?!" James said.
"That's right." Chris said smiling. "Besides, she's a mudblood. He could care less about what happened to her. But when he found out she was pregnant, well now we couldn't have my blood mixed with that now could we?"
"You fucking bastard!" James yelled.
"Don't tell me you care about her Potter? I mean, I've heard the Potters are some of the purest wizards there are." Chris said.
"I love her." James said.
"Well it's too bad that I'm going to kill her." Chris said.
"Not if I kill you first." James said.
"That's a pretty big threat Potter. Tell me why it is that I just don't think you have it in you?" Chris said.
"Try me." James said.
The two of them started dueling. At this point I was barely able to sit up and support myself. It felt like all of my energy had been drained. I looked around the hall for any sight of my brothers. Charlie was dueling next to Remus, the two of them seemed to be holding their own against the deatheaters they were fighting. Finally I spotted Harry. He was trying to sneak out guests through the servant entrances without being seen by the deatheaters. I shouted for him but a body hitting the ground close to me stole my attention.
I turned and James was lying on the ground clutching his stomach. He looked up as Chris shot another spell at him. James rolled to his left at the last second and jumped to his feet. They started dueling again as I looked at the floor where the green colored spell had hit. The floor was scorched. It came so close to hitting James.
"Lily! Lily are you all right?" Harry asked falling to his knees by my side.
"I think so." I said.
"Lily what is going on in here? Who are these people?" Harry asked.
"They're evil wizards who call themselves deatheaters. Harry, you need to get out of here." I said.
"What?! I can't just run away and leave people here to die! And I'm definitely not going anywhere without you!" Harry said.
"But you're not magical Harry. You're practically defenseless. There's nothing you can do to stop them!" I said.
"Lily, I'm not leaving you here. Come on." Harry said as he tried to help me up.
"No! Harry, I can't leave without James!" I said.
"Lily, look around you! People are dying! This place is falling apart. Now come on, you're injured, you need to get out of here." Harry said.
"Harry, it doesn't matter! Don't you understand? I can't leave James. I can't!" I said.
Harry looked at me for a moment before nodding.
"Where is he?" Harry asked.
"There." I said pointing him out.
James shot a spell at Chris, causing him to dive to the floor to miss it. Chris was right in front of me. He looked up at me before smirking and firing a spell my way. I was shocked, I couldn't move at all. Suddenly James knocked into me and he rolled the two of us away.
Chris turned his wand on us again and fired another spell. James and I had just stopped rolling, we had no time to react to the second spell. The green spell seemed to shoot toward us in slow motion. Right before it got to us, it hit another body that had jumped in front of us. It hit Harry's body.
I screamed. James pointed his wand at Chris.
"Avada Kedavra!" He shouted.
Chris' body fell to the floor.
Aurors started appearing and gradually, the masked deatheaters started to disappear. The ministry of magic was everywhere. Some of the ministry employees were questioning the guests that weren't too badly injured, trying to figure out exactly what had happened. All the muggles were being retained for questioning, healing, and memory modification. St. Mungos healers were running around taking body counts and trying to heal peolpe as best as they could. All of this seemed to be happening in high speed as I sat, stuck in slow motion. The people around me were just blurs. My brother was dead.
He was the person I looked up to, the person I went to for advice. He was my big brother. I thought he was invinceable. Now he's dead. Lying on the ground as people rushed around him to help everyone else who still had a pulse. He was murdered right in front of me. I couldn't move, It felt like I was cemented to this spot. I think I was in some form of shock or something. I didn't know where the rest of my family were, or if they were ok. Arms suddenly wrapped around me tightly.
"Lily are you alright?" I heard James' voice, but I couldn't move.
"Lily! Lily talk to me." James pleaded.
He shook me a bit and I looked at him. He was sweaty with cuts on his face, a gash across his chest and stomach, and a pretty bad burn on his right arm. He looked horrible overall.
I flung myself at him, wrapping my arms around him. But I could not cry.
"I'm here." He said softly, rubbing small circles on my back.
I looked into his eyes as realization hit me, James had killed Chris!
"I'm so sorry." I whispered.
"It's not your fault Lily." James said.
"James! Lily! Thank merlin you're safe!" Charlotte Potter said running towards us with Mr. Potter in tote.
Charlotte pulled both of us into a hug.
"Are you both alright? James what happened to you?" Mr. Potter said.
Before anyone could say anything else, a woman started screaming. I recognized it immediately having heard it so many times before. Though this time it was different. Her scream was full of pain. I turned around see my mother crumbling to the ground in tears beside my brother's body. My father just stood next to her looking down at Harry's body as if he couldn't believe Harry was actually dead.
"Oh no!" Mrs. Potter whisper.
James put his arm around me, but I just stood there. I just stood there, bodies scattered all around me. There were people crying out in pain, but I just stood there watching.
My mother suddenly looked up and her eyes landed on me. She got up suddenly and made her way toward me. My father, surprised at her sudden action, looked toward the direction she was walking to and I could see that he'd recognized me. Father had just started to walk toward me when my mother reached me. She walked straight up to me, tears still streaming down her face, and she slapped me. The force of her smack was enough to turn my head sideways and to cause me to stumble into James. James was so shocked that when I stumbled into him, he almost fell over himself.
"This is all your fault! My baby is dead now because of you! You and all the other magic freaks just like you!" She screamed.
Charlotte and Henry's eyes were wide in shock. My eyes were filling with tears because they were watering from the stinging pain on my face. But I would not allow them to fall. I wouldn't give my mother that satisfaction. My mother stepped toward me again and I backed away. Her arm was yanked back by my father.
"What are you doing!?" Father yelled angerily.
"It's her fault and all of those people who are like her." Mother sobbed.
Father looked at me and then back at my mother and I could tell from his eyes that in some amount, he agreed.
"You can't blame this on Lily." He said as mother held on to him crying.
My father glanced at me again before dragging my mother away.
"Lily are you alright?" Charlotte asked rushing toward me.
I quickly turned away, ashamed to let Mrs. Potter see my face. Mr. Potter walked away and James turned me toward him and his mother.
I looked up at them and Charlotte gasped. She quickly pulled out her wand.
As Charlotte conjured me a cold press, James gently touched my face where my mother's hand print resided. I gasped at the pain I felt even from his gentle touch. James jerked his hand away quickly and pulled me into a hug.
"Don't you dare listen to her Lily, it's not your fault." James said.
The only way I could reply was to nod my head. My throat felt constricted as I felt the urge to cry.
"Here, James, let me put this on her cheek." Charlotte said.
James pulled back and Charlotte gently put the cold compress up to my face. I held on to it as Charlotte looked at me and sighed. Mr. Potter returned with a medi-witch who quickly started to heal the injuries that James and I had collected. She spent most of her time healing James, but as soon as she was finished, she left to find other victims.
"James, why don't you take Lily home and watch out for her ok? Sirius, Charlie, and Remus are already there." Mr. Potter said.
James nodded.
"Ready Lily?" He asked.
I nodded and held his arm, preparing for the side-along apparation. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them I was standing in James' bedroom. I blinked as my eyes adjusted to this new scene. There was no more of the destroyed ball room that was, only an hour earlier, filled with chaos. I sat on James' bed as he changed his clothes and handed me some. I went into James' bathroom and took off my dress. As I looked in the mirror, I stared at my reflection. My eyes were blood shot, and my skin was all blotchy from being smacked. The cold compress seemed to have worked because there was no traceable handprint, just a red spot that it had faded into. I felt empty. I looked a mess, so I splashed cold water onto my face. I took my hair down and let it hang loosely. I put on the clothes James had handed me and walked out of the bathroom quietly. James was sitting by the window looking outside. I don't think he heard me come out of the bathroom so I stood in the door frame and looked at him.
James was wearing dark blue boxers and a dark blue t-shirt. He sighed and put his head to the glass. I walked over to him and put my hands on his shoulders. He didn't seem surprised to my touch. I started massaging his shoulders and James leaned his head back against my chest and looked up at me.
"I'm a murderer." He whispered.
I looked down at him and sighed.
"What if someone seen me? What if I go to Azkaban?" He asked.
"It was self-defense. Everyone was under attack." I said.
James turned around and put his arms around my waist, leaning his head against my stomach. I stood still at first, then I ran my fingers through his hair. He was still sitting by the window and I was still standing in front of him.
"Are you alright Lily?" James asked.
"I don't know." I said slowly.
"We're going to be alright, aren't we?" James asked.
"I hope so." I said quietly.
James reached out for my hand and squeezed it.
"I love this look for you by the way." James said smiling.
I was wearing a pair of James' boxers and one of his quidditch t-shirts. I smiled at him.
"Do you know how hot it is that you're wearing my boxers? Merlin." James said as he ran a hand through his hair.
I snorted and rolled my eyes. James smiled weakly.
"James, I love you." I said.
"I love you too Lily. So much." He said.
"I know." I said.
I looked at James. He was in pieces inside. You could see it in his eyes. James would never want to kill someone. And it was bothering him so much that he did. He was keeping it to himself though, he knew that I was upset and he didn't want to make it worse by telling me how much of a mess he was. But I knew him. He was trying to be strong for me. But, I know that he needs me now. Just like I need him.