Hi! Sorry for the missed week, I had the joy of experiencing my first migraine last weekend. Hopefully, these two chapters will make up for it, cause they're both long. Enjoy!
The summer after Dumbledore's death had not been easy. James' and Lily's revelation on the lake shore, that Harry had something to do, had quickly been confirmed. Harry had sat his parents down only a few weeks after school ended and explained that he, Hermione, and Ron were dropping out of Hogwarts and going to complete a job Dumbledore had left them. No matter what questions they asked, he wouldn't tell them more than that. James had tried to convince him to at least finish his last year first. He thought it would be safer. But, Harry had refused. Lily had taken it deceptively calmly, but she had spent some time that night in bed crying. James understood her fear. Harry was already in terrible danger and doing a job to try and stop Voldemort would surely add more. Having no clue whatsoever as to what he was trying to do made it worse.
On top of this, the Potter's were very aware that the blood protection between Harry and Lily that had protected their home for so long was going to break soon. As soon as Harry turned seventeen, the protection would be broken. Not necessarily the protection over him, though it hardly mattered after Voldemort used his blood to revive, but definitely the protection over the house. And everyone and their mother's uncle knew where the Potter's house was due to the famous nature of all three of them.
The only bright spot of the summer had been Remus and Tonks' marriage. They had it in June; they hadn't wanted to wait any longer, and James kind of suspected Tonks didn't want to give Remus a chance to change his mind. They had wanted to keep it very private with almost no one in attendance, but James had said if he wasn't invited, he would never speak to either of them again. Empty threat though it had been, Remus asked James to be best man, Lily was maid of honor, and Harry and Tonks' parents were the only guests.
After that little celebration, there was nothing to distract them from Voldemort's fierce offensive, and the understanding that they wouldn't be in the house much longer. A safe house, completely hidden from everything, had been set up. James did not like the idea of going back into hiding (it certainly hadn't done any good last time), but it was best to be prepared. As of now, though, the plan was for the Potter's to go from their house to the Burrow and stay there until after Bill and Fleur's wedding. At which point, the trio would go their way, and Lily and James would go stay at their safe house, while hoping things wouldn't be so bad that they'd have to go fully into hiding.
James was not looking forward to it.
As if that wasn't enough, the Order meeting the day before it was time to leave revealed that, yes, the ministry was infiltrated too much for them to safely apparate to the Burrow, so the whole plan had to change.
The new plan was to have Fred, George, Fleur, Mundungus Fletcher, Ron, Hermione, and Lily to take Polyjuice potion to disguise themselves as Harry. They and the real Harry would then be paired with a protector (Arthur, Remus, Bill, Mad-Eye, Tonks, Kingsley, James, and Hagrid) and fly to various safe houses, from which they would take portkeys to the Burrow. Lily and James were going to Moody's house. If all went according to plan, they would be the second to arrive after Tonks and Ron.
When the plan had been explained to Harry the evening of departure, he couldn't have been more against it. But with everyone against him, he really had no choice. He was going with Hagrid to Tonks' parents. With many warnings to be careful, and assurances that they would all see each other soon, the sixteen people took off into the sky.
Which was when everything went wrong.
The group had barely made it to the clouds when they realized they had flown up into a ring of at least thirty Death Eaters. There were screams... flashes of green light on every side.
James shot straight upwards, Lily holding tightly to him with one arm, her wand already in her other hand. James was also gripping his own but concentrated on flying. True to his Gryffindor nature, James was ready to turn right around and make sure everyone, particularly his son, was safe, but...
"There are two behind us!" Lily yelled in Harry's voice.
That wasn't the plan. It could even bring them more trouble by drawing attention to whoever they were helping. They had to go on.
James rolled in mid-air to avoid a spell and sent a return one over his shoulder. He saw Lily send a flash of white light to their right. He couldn't tell if she hit anything. The screams had been left behind; it was just them and the Death Eaters.
James dived sharply. Lily screamed. Muggles. They couldn't risk being seen. Swearing mentally, James took a sharp right, then headed back up.
A flash of light missed them by an inch. James twisted away from it and leaned forward to go faster.
"I got one!" Lily crowed.
"Is he out?" James shouted back.
"Definitely injured, probably out of the chase. Look out!"
James rolled right over just in time to miss a flash of green, feeling both of Lily's arms tighten around him as they did. When they were the right way up again, they were pointed the wrong direction. Two Death Eaters swooped towards them. James shot his own stunner at the one closer to them.
He didn't wait to see if it hit; simply whirled around and started speeding to their destination. They had to be at least half way there. They just had to get there; then they'd be safe. James tried not to think of how anyone else was doing.
"You hit him," said Lily, "But more are coming."
"How many does he have anyway?" James cried, irritated, pulling the broom up sharply to avoid another streak of light.
Lily didn't answer, just shot off another spell, which missed. James weaved to avoid two separate jets of light, while Lily kept firing, and then... everything just seemed to freeze. They were still moving and being chased, but there seemed to be a silence, a coldness, an evil in the air that hadn't been there before.
"James," Lily breathed. James forced the broom to go faster. He ducked a flash of green and then Lily was screaming at him, "It's him! J, Dad, it's him!"
James twisted around to get a full look behind him, and there he was. Voldemort flying after them, not supported by broom or thestrel, simply flying. James' heart dropped like a stone.
Lily.
Voldemort wouldn't care about him; the whole point of this was trying to kill Harry, and Lily was disguised as him right now. This wasn't supposed to happen! He was the one who was supposed to be in danger. Voldemort wasn't even supposed to be here! No, he was not letting this happen again.
James dived. Five seconds later, he jerked the broom left. He climbed again. Utilizing every quidditch skill he had, he twisted and dodged, never staying on the same path for long. It brought them time, but there was no way they could last long.
No matter what he tried, Voldemort edged closer to them until he was only a little distance from them. Obviously, he didn't want to try until he got a clear shot, which James was making difficult, but it wouldn't be long now.
Despair filled him. They were going to die and leave Harry alone again. He never could protect his family.
Then he was gone. Voldemort simply disappeared.
"Where'd he go, where'd he go?!" Lily screamed in his ear.
James looked wildly around, but he was nowhere to be found. His fear did not lesson. What could possibly have happened to make Voldemort call off the chase?
"James!" Lily cried. James faced forward again, realizing the safe house was quickly becoming larger and larger. James violently pulled up and dropped them down into the yard. It was not his smoothest landing; both he and Lily fell off the broom as they hit. James scrambled to his feet, wand raised, but he needn't have bothered. None of the remaining pursuing Death Eaters had made it through the protective enchantments.
He grabbed Lily and helped her to her feet. "Are you alright?" he demanded, fiercely.
"I'm fine," she said, still looking like Harry, "I'm fine. James, we have to hurry or we're going to miss our portkey."
James glanced at his watch, then swore. They barely had a minute. The pair raced into Moody's dark house, saw the spoon on the table, and reached it just as it started to glow blue.
A twisting, stomach churning journey later, and they landed outside the Burrow. James straightened. Safety at last. Tonks and Ron should be there by now, and Fred and Arthur would not be far behind himself and Lily. Harry and Hagrid would be fourth. Not long now.
"James!" Molly Weasley was running towards them. "Lily! You are Lily, right?"
"Yeah," Lily gasped, as Molly pulled her into a hug, and then quickly turned to embrace James as well. James saw Ginny standing white faced between them and the house. "What happened?" Molly asked, pulling back.
"What do you mean?" James asked, sharply. "Aren't Ron and Tonks back yet?" One look at her face told the answer. James' fear began to reach panic levels. Where was everyone? How many had they lost? Harry... oh, Merlin, Harry.
Lily inhaled a shaky breath. "They were ready for us," she explained, hoarsely. "Somehow they knew what day we were being moved. They were waiting. I don't," her voice cracked, and she cleared it. "I don't know what happened to anyone else. Four of them chased us." James noticed she didn't mention Voldemort. He agreed with her decision whole-heartedly, though Molly might have figured it out herself.
"Thank goodness you're alright," Molly said, but James saw her face tighten in fear. Still, he knew from experience that knowing something was wrong was better than wondering if something was wrong. "You two are alright, aren't you? Do you need anything treated?"
"We're fine, Molly," James said, gently, wishing he could give her something to do. "Not even a scratch." He turned to Lily. In the past minute, she had changed considerably back to herself, though her hair still had streaks of black. She nodded. She was fine as well.
"Mum," Ginny whispered, sounding pained. The adults turned in time to see a blue light growing brighter, but no larger. James' heart sank. A sneaker dropped to the ground, and nothing more. Arthur and Fred had missed their portkey. Molly turned and headed back into the house. Ginny sat down on the steps, wrapping her arms around herself.
James turned helplessly to Lily. She threw herself into his arms and kissed him, fiercely. James returned it at once, one hand tangled in her flaming red hair. He had come so close to losing her. Even after they broke the kiss, they stayed in each other's arms, taking comfort from the other's presence.
Lily let out a laugh that sounded full of tears. "I'll never complain about Quidditch again," she said. "If you hadn't been so good on a broom... you saved our lives."
"Why do you think he left?" James whispered, hating to bring it up, but needing to anyway.
"There's no way they could figure out which Harry is the real one," Lily said, but she didn't sound convinced at all.
James tightened his grip. Harry was still out there somewhere. Voldemort had called off his chase of them for reasons unknown, and everyone else had missed their portkey's. Tonks... if anything had happened to her, Remus...
Remus was out there as well. Moony and Prongs, the last of the Marauders. James didn't know what he would do if Remus...
And what was happening to Harry?