LILY VII

She emptied the tisane in her cup. Lily didn't expect a sleepless night to be necessary for one of her first evaluations at the Auror Office. Well, it wasn't really necessary. Her first test of fighting skills would take place tomorrow in the morning, and the reason why she was still awaken at one o'clock in the morning was because she couldn't manage to sleep.

She had already done a test to prove her knowledge of magical law and jurisprudence. Aurors were expected to know the laws, and especially to respect procedures to arrest criminals. Dealing with a criminal the wrong way could result in his release before he could stand trial. There were also procedures to follow when conducting research in a place or on a person, and to collect evidence that could eventually lead to an arrest. Things were simpler back in the days of the Order. They were losing the war against Voldemort. Procedures and paperwork were the least of their worries. Today was different.

Lily went to the bathroom where she sprayed water on her face. She had dark circles around her eyes. The training took its toll on her. Moving had been difficult in those circumstances. Most of her boxes still remained unpacked, especially those with Harry's name which contained his belongings. The fact that she was trying to accelerate her program didn't help either. Maybe she was too hard on herself. She was thirty-one-years-old. She couldn't expect to be able to work at the same rhythm as when she left Hogwarts, especially not after ten years during which she only practiced magic on a limited scale. Well, that was something she would have to reconsider after her first series of evaluations and exams would be completed.

She wondered how her son was doing. Harry had probably finished his exams by now. He must have spent the evening in the park. Maybe he swam with the giant squid in the lake. Though she doubted it, given he didn't bring a swimsuit with him. That was something she may have to correct next year. Maybe he just laid on the grass in the shadow of a tree with Ronald and Hermione. Maybe it was only with Hermione that he spent his time now that this was all over. She chased the thought of her mind. Harry was only eleven. He wasn't of the age to date a girl yet, and Minerva assured her there was nothing between the two of them in her opinion. Anyway, there was no doubt that her son would be enjoying his time until the end of the year now. The thought that she would see him in a few days for his last game of Quidditch filled her with joy, and the fact that he would come home next week made it even better. Lily went back to bed, hoping she would get some sleep.

She might have gotten some, but it was cut short by some knocking at her door. Putting on a dressing gown, Lily went to look who was knocking at this hour. But no one was knocking at her door. It was knocking at the window. There was no mistake as soon as she looked through the glass. Even in the obscurity, Hedwig's white silhouette was very clear. Lily opened the window and the snowy owl jumped in. Lily closed back the window.

"Hedwig? What are you doing here at this hour?" Lily asked, her voice hoarse from sleep or lack thereof. The owl showed its leg to which a message was attached.

Lily took the roll of paper and put it aside. She would read it tomorrow. She placed some food for her son's owl and proceeded back to her bed. But then Hedwig was on her, flapping her wings, trying to hit her with her beak.

"Hedwig!" Lily tried to get rid of the owl, to no avail. The animal screamed, standing in the way between Lily and her bedroom, pushing her back to the letter she just brought. "Hedwig, stop it!"

The snowy owl stopped, and it landed near the letter, pushing it towards Lily. She didn't want to read it. She needed to rest for tomorrow. But there was something in the owl's gaze. Lily made eye contact with them. Something was telling her that the owl wanted to insist on her to read the letter. As if to emphasize this, Hedwig pushed again the paper towards Lily.

Lily groaned. "Okay, if you want me to."

She took the paper and unrolled it. It was her son's writing inside. Lily wondered why Hedwig brought this to her in the middle of the night.

Dear Mom,

I know you told me to stay away from the Philosopher's Stone and other kinds of trouble, but I can't. Dumbledore is gone, and I just discovered that someone managed to discover how to get past Fluffy. Hagrid told the stranger from who he got his dragon's egg that you only needed to play some music in order to get past the dog. They're going to try and steal the Stone tonight. I can feel it.

I'll try to get the Stone before someone steals it. I'm sorry, Mom.

I love you,

Harry

Lily was stunned into place for a moment. She read again the letter quickly to be sure of its content. Her breathing accelerated.

"Harry..." she said in a weak voice. Her eyes went on the snowy owl's eyes. In that very moment, Lily got the distinct impression that the bird was saying Help him.

The moment she realized this, Lily dressed hastily for the day. Then she took Floo powder, threw it in her chimney and went through it.

"Hogwarts!" she shouted.

A few moments later, she emerged in a dark small room in the castle. No sooner had she emerged that a flash of light blinded her.

"Who's there?" the surprised voice of Professor McGonagall, who was in her bed, said. " Lily, is that you? What are you doing here, in the middle of night?"

"Professor, I don't have time. I need to find my son," Lily said very quickly.

"Your son? Harry is in his dormitory."

"You're sure? You better read this." She threw the paper at her. Minerva highlighted it with the light coming from her wand. Her eyes narrowed, still looking half-asleep. However, as she read it, her expression changed, becoming one of grave concern. The Head of Gryffindor House didn't look like she was taken out of bed anymore.

"He can't have... Follow me, Lily."

Minerva donned a dressing gown right away and headed through the school's corridors, Lily on her tail. They arrived quickly before the portrait of the Fat Lady. Minerva never lived far from her house's common room. She gave the password, and when the Fat Lady only mumbled in her sleep, McGonagall shouted and almost screamed the word several times until she opened. McGonagall surged inside, still accompanied by Lily. Lily would have reminisced about her own time in this common room so many years ago if it hadn't been for the current situation. They climbed a flight of stairs. Minerva burst the door open, and they rushed in. Minerva immediately removed the curtains from one bed. It was empty. Lily recognized Harry's belonging close to it, including one the books she let him leave with.

"He's not here," Minerva said, looking at Lily, a distress on her face Lily rarely witnessed. In the meantime, three boys were waking up in their beds, complaining.

"What's going on?" one asked.

"Who's there?" another said.

"Grandma?" another one said. Lily looked at the origin of the last voice. She recognized Neville, who she saw at King's Cross at the beginning of the year.

McGonagall tore out the curtains from another bed. "Mr Weasley is not here either. I have a good idea of who else might be missing."

She went back to the stairs. Lily followed her. Once in the girl's dormitory, their fears were confirmed. Hermione Granger was absent as well.

"It's a disaster," McGonagall said as they went back into the common room. Some doors were opening around them now. "Three students are missing, and who knows where they are."

"I think we both know where they are, Minerva. We must go to the third floor."

The professor nodded and told Lily to follow her. They ran to the third floor and found the door unlocked. Lily looked at it.

"Alohomora. Really? That's enough to unlock this door? You couldn't put something stronger on it?" Lily angrily asked the professor.

"Lily, this is not the time. We have three children under that trapdoor on the other side. And you have no idea in what danger they are."

"I think I've got a pretty good one. What is down there? What is protecting the Stone?"

Minerva sighed. "A Devil's Snare. Flying keys that are necessary to open a door. A giant chess boardgame. A troll. And a problem of logic involving potions. And some secret protection that Professor Dumbledore put into place. No one knows what it is. That, plus the three-headed dog behind this door."

"Well." Lily took a decision. "For the dog, it will be easy. Harry told us how to get past it. I'm going in."

"Lily, wait. You can't go in there," Minerva warned her.

"My son is down there, along with two of his friends. You want me to leave them to die?"

"Even the most powerful wizards cannot face the spells behind this door," Minerva warned her. "Only Dumbledore could hope to get past all these."

"And where is he?"

Minerva took some time to answer. "In London."

"Well, you wait him if you want, but I'm not going to stand there while my son is in danger."

Lily opened the door and closed it behind her.

"Colloportus!" The door locked behind her.

Growls came immediately from behind. Lily turned to find herself face to face with a huge dog with three heads, looking angrily at her, drool coming out of three jaws. Lily was afraid, but she knew what she had to do. She was about to make a violin appear when she noticed a harp near the feet of the dog. It made things easier. She cast a spell on it, and it began playing.

Right away, the dog started to calm down. Slowly, he rested against the floor and got asleep, squealing like an innocent pet. Lily threw a deep breath, then opened the trapdoor. She jumped through it, and cast a levitation spell to slow down her falling. Then she produced a powerful light, illuminating the cave in which she found herself. Down under her feet, she saw it. The Devil's Snare. She changed her trajectory. It would be better not to land on the plant. It was a practical trap, she had to admit it. You had to know it was there to not fall into it. Lily spotted what she thought was a door and headed for it.

She then saw two human shapes near the door. One was sitting against the wall, the other had his arms hiding his face. There were only two shapes. Where was the third? Lily hoped Harry wasn't the one lying against the wall.

She landed on the ground next to the Devil's Snare. And she realized the shape who covered her face had very long brown hair.

"Hermione?"

The girl removed her arm. Lily reduced the intensity of the light coming from her wand. No doubt, it was her.

"Mrs Evans. What...? How did you...?"

"We don't have time for this, Hermione," Lily cut short. "Where's my son?"

"He's... he's at the end." She pointed to the door. "I wanted to stay with him and help him, but..." Hermione looked at the shape lying against the wall. Lily recognized him immediately. It was Ronald, Harry's friend who spent the Christmas holidays with them. Lily rushed to the boy to examine him.

"What happened to him?" Lily asked.

"He was... hurt during the chess game."

Lily barely gave attention to Hermione as she felt Ronald's pulse. "He's still breathing." She threw a cast to verify if he had any dangerous injury. There was no internal bleeding, from what she could tell, but she wasn't a Healer. From the marks on his body and his unconsciousness, Lily could tell he needed a Healer.

"We've got to get him out of here," she stated.

"I tried," Hermione said, "but he's too heavy. There are broomsticks in the other room, but I can't make him hold on them."

"Broomsticks, you say?" Lily pointed to the door. "Accio broomsticks!" Nothing happened. A spell had to prevent objects from flying from one room to another. "Wait here. I'm coming back."

"No, wait. You need to grab a flying key there in order to access the room after it. But it's hard. I can help you."

Lily sighed. "Okay. Then help me bring Ronald with us. We cannot let him next to the Devil's Snare."

They moved the unconscious Ronald to the next room. Indeed, hundreds of winged keys were waiting for them, with several broomsticks to help them catch one. "It's the key with blue wings. They're broken because it's been seized twice," Hermione said.

"Okay. Wait a minute." Lily approached one of the broomsticks. She created a stretcher which she attached to the tail and threw another spell so that the stretcher would fly just like the broom. "Help me get Ronald into it."

With Hermione's help, they placed the young boy into the stretcher. Lily then threw another spell that got Ronald attached to the stretcher. He wouldn't fall from it.

"Good, Hermione. Now, I'm not as good on a broomstick as my husband was, but I am not bad either. Can you manage as well?"

"Yes, I can. I helped Harry catch the key when we arrived."

"Good." Lily looked at the keys, searching for the one Hermione described. She spotted it after a moment. It seemed quite damaged indeed. It was struggling to fly. "I see it. We will approach from different sides, okay?"

The two girls hit the ground and got in the air. For Lily, it was a strange sensation. She had not flown on a broomstick for over ten years. However, the instincts came back quickly. They had to. Her son needed her.

Like she told Hermione, they approached the key from two different sides at the same time. Lily made sure they wouldn't collide. When the key tried to evade them, Lily caught it under her broomstick. She thought of all the times James brought her to the Quidditch pitch just to fly with her during their last year at Hogwarts. Sometimes he would throw a few balls under her. She was glad that she finally found a usefulness to it.

They flew down to the floor, Lily keeping a tight hold on the key.

"Thank you, Hermione. Now listen." She looked into the brown eyes of the girl. "I must continue and find Harry. You, in the meantime, you fly up with this broomstick." She pointed the one to which the stretcher with Ronald inside was attached. "There's a harp still playing next to the dog. You should be able to get out easily. I locked the door, but you should be able to unlock it with Alohomora. You bring Ronald to the infirmary, then you find Professor McGonagall and you tell her what happened. You understand?"

"Yes, Mrs Evans."

"Good. Now go. I'll open the door for you." Lily did so by opening the door leading to the Devil's Snare.

"Mrs Evans, we don't know who's trying to steal..."

"I know, but you must go, Hermione. Now. Ronald needs help."

"There's a chessboard after that door, and then a dead troll..."

"I know. Quickly. Go now!"

Hermione carried the broomstick with Ron behind in the other room, then mounted the broomstick and flew away, her face expressing fear. Lily watched her and Ronald get up in the other room, far away from the Devil's Snare and up to the trapdoor. Lily could still make out the sound of the harp's music. When she saw them disappear, she closed the door and headed towards the other one. The silver key was still fighting to get free. Lily put it into the lock and turned it. She opened it and released the key behind her before the door closed.

On the other side, she met a scene of devastation. Giant pieces of chess, pawns, knights, bishops, castles, queens and kings were scattered everywhere, some black, some white, some utterly destroyed and lying on the floor, others still standing tall, intact. Lily crossed the chessboard and got to the other door. She was lucky to not have to play a game. The next door was hiding a dead troll with a horrible smell. She got past it and emerged into another room. As soon as she stepped inside, colored fires appeared on the doors behind and in front of her. A table displayed seven bottles. A problem of logic involving potions. Snape's protection of the Stone, without any doubt.

Lily went to the roll of paper next to the bottles and read it. She rolled her eyes. Snape was already doing that kind of things when he was a child. The problem was quite simple, even if he might think the contrary. Lily never had any issue with resolving them. She only needed half a minute to discover which bottle would allow her to get to the last room.

However, she met another problem. The bottle was empty.

"That can't be. That can't be!"

She couldn't stop there. Her son was on the other side. She tried to extinguish the fire on the door, but nothing worked. Solving the problem of logic seemed like the only way forward. Only she solved it. There was just nothing left of the solution. She looked at the transparent bottle more closely. There, deep at the bottom of it, a single drop remained.

"Let's hope it will be enough," she whispered. She approached the fire with the bottle, getting as close as she could to the flames. She didn't feel any heat, but she knew better than to trust temperature with magic. She removed the cork and put the neck's bottle against her mouth, throwing her head back. It took time, but after way too many seconds, the drop reached her mouth. Lily licked it and swallowed it. She threw the bottle on the floor, where it bounced a few times, and rushed into the flames.

She didn't feel any heat as she travelled the flames. She emerged on large stairs going downward and rushed in this direction. She saw a glint of something at the end of it, then a voice whose words she couldn't make out. The sound of the voice though sent chills along her spine.

"And when I do have my own body, I will finish what I started ten years ago. I will kill you."

Lily stopped in her rush. She had made the first words of the voice. She knew that voice. She knew it far too well. She heard it in her nightmares. She heard it every time she remembered that night she lost her husband. She could now make out two shapes down below. One was on the ground, wriggling. She recognized Harry instantly. The other figure was standing, something in his left hand.

"Quirrell, drink!"

Lily rushed forward. And as the Stone was approaching the lips of the man, she raised her wand.

"Accio Stone!"

The next moment, it was in her own left hand. She broke her run and stopped. The stone was red, and maybe brightening a little, but other than that, it only looked like a pretty rock, nothing more. Her attention turned quickly though to the man she just grabbed it from. He was bald, wearing purple clothes. The mirror showed there was another face behind his head. And she knew that face.

"Voldemort." She whispered the name. It was him, just like ten years ago, that night when he burst into Harry's room to kill him. Lily had stood up to him that night, weaponless. Today, she was armed.

The features of the pale face shrank. "Lily Evans." She walked slowly towards him, towards Harry, her wand in the right hand pointed at the assassin of her husband, holding the Stone firmly into her left hand. "Give me the Stone, or your son dies."

The man he seemed to be sharing the body with pointed his wand on Harry, who was still trying to untie himself from tight ropes on the floor. Lily stopped advancing. She looked at her son. There was no way she could stop any spell that would be thrown at him. Harry was at the feet of Voldemort. Lily was probably twenty feet away from him. Her fingers gripped the Stone in her left hand.

"Mom, don't do it." It was her son who talked to her. "He wants to use the Stone to get a new body."

"SHUT UP, YOU STUPID BOY!" the cold voice said. Then Voldemort returned his attention on Lily. "Your son is far too curious for his own good, Evans. And foolish, just like your husband."

Her grip on her wand got stronger as well. This was the monster who murdered James and tried to kill her son. And here he was again, threatening to kill Harry and taunting her about her husband. Lily would have given everything to kill him on the spot. But he had a wand pointed at Harry.

Lily thought very quickly. She had to save her son. Begging would be useless. It didn't work the last time. If anything, Voldemort would just enjoy it, or remain indifferent, or it might even bother him. Giving him the Stone might seem tempting, but she knew better than anyone how much Voldemort wanted to kill Harry. Whatever promise he might make, he wouldn't hold onto it. She could try to disarm him, but Lily wasn't ready to wager about his power, even in his diminished state. Furthermore, he might attempt something on Harry between the moment she would cast the first spell and the time when it would reach him. No, there was only one language that Voldemort understood. It was the language of strength, when you refused to give in to him.

Slowly, still gripping it with all her force, Lily raised the Stone. Then she pointed her wand at it.

"You touch to my son, and I destroy the Stone."

She was surprised by her voice. It was angry, menacing. Everything she had suffered was going through her mind as she had spoken. The green light that killed James. The way she was knocked all around her son's bedroom. The Killing Curse that was cast on Harry. All this suffering this man had caused to her family came back in a flow, but instead of making Lily cry, instead of making her weak, it made her strong. She stared straight into the eyes of the monster, who looked at her with an indecipherable face. Then he laughed, which made Lily flinch. This laugh was so demoniac that was almost impossible to remain impassible facing it.

"You haven't changed, Lily. Still so brave. Ready to do everything for your family. Do you remember how you begged for mercy that night? Do you remember how you foolishly tried to protect your son with your own body? Did you ever tell your son about what happened that night?"

He was trying to cloud her judgment. She wouldn't take the bait. "Free my son, or I swear to you that I destroy the Stone, and your chance to recover a human body with it."

"You silly girl!" Lily shivered again. He had used the exact same words ten years ago, when he told her to stand aside. "You really think the Stone is the only way for me to get a body? You would only be delaying the inevitable. But destroy it, and it will be the end of your son. Now, give it to me."

The wand of the man was still pointed at Harry. He could throw a Killing Curse at any moment. But Lily couldn't let go of the Stone. Voldemort would just kill her and Harry the moment he got it. Her only chance of preventing this was inside her palm.

"Let Harry go, and I will give you the Stone," she finally let out.

"No, Mom! He's going to kill you!" Harry screamed, desperate.

"Shut up, silly boy! Another word, and your mother will look at you while you scream in pain until you become mad," Voldemort stated.

Lily's hands were shaking, both from fear and anger. She had to save her son.

But there was something wrong. Voldemort never threatened with words. He let his reputation, the knowledge of his power perform the threats. He never warned before he tortured or killed someone. And yet here he was, hesitating. Unless it was the man with who he shared his body who hesitated.

"You," she addressed the man named Quirrell, "why do you think he didn't order you to torture my son already? Is that in your master's habits?"

"Don't listen to her, Quirrell. She will try to mess with your head. But we both know that I make you stronger than you are."

"He cannot hurt Harry. The night he was destroyed, the Killing Curse bounced back on him. Voldemort cannot hurt Harry, and neither can you. He is protected by the sacrifice his father and I made ten years ago. If you try anything, it will just turn against you."

She saw doubt on the face of the man, and fury on Voldemort's. "Master, is it true?" Quirrell asked, all of a sudden looking panicking.

"She is a liar, Quirrell. Remember who you were before we met. Remember what happens to those who disobey me," Voldemort retorted.

"Y-y-yes, Master. But if the boy..."

"Enough!"

"My son!" Lily shouted. "Give me my son or I destroy the Stone!"

"You cannot destroy it! I see it in your mind. You don't know what you are doing. You don't know how to destroy it."

"Do you? Are you willing to take that risk?"

She approached her wand further from the stone. The point was almost touching the rock. Sparks escaped it. She would do it. She may have some doubts about the protection hers and James' love provided to their son, but Voldemort was certainly not stupid enough to take the risk of being destroyed a second time. Plus he was clearly reticent to kill Harry right now. The Stone, however, she could see in his eyes that he wanted it more than anything. He hadn't removed his gaze from Lily and the Stone since she arrived.

Just as she thought so, he looked at her son. "Tell me... Harry... Do you know why I tried to kill you that night... When you were still a baby... Have you ever wondered why I spared your mother on that day... Why she is alive today... Why your father died and she is still breathing..."

"Let him go now! Or I destroy the Stone! I will do it!" she shouted.

"No, you won't... Not before you get your son back... Lily Evans... You would really do anything for Harry... You would even kill for him... Sacrifice everyone else so he may live... Including your own husband..."

"Silence!" She screamed. Tears were rolling on her cheeks. "How dare you?! You killed James! You came into our home! You murdered the man I love! You tried to murder my son! You are nothing but a murderer! An assassin! A coward!"

"I spared you that night... Lily Evans... Because your friend asked me..." Her heart stopped. "Did you ever tell your son... Did you ever tell anyone how you survived that night... What does the world know of Lily Evans... Do they know that she only survived because her friend was a Death Eater?"

Lily had tightened her grip so much around the Stone and her wand that both hurt her now. She looked at Voldemort's face, the man who destroyed her life. Then she looked at Harry, still lying on the floor, who had stopped to struggle. Harry... She remembered when he was born and she would hold him in her arms, still covered in blood and amniotic liquid... She remembered when he received his first broom from his godfather at the age of one and he wouldn't stop flying it around the house... She remembered when he made his first steps... She remembered his first words... She remembered his first day at elementary school... She remembered the first time he brought her an exam with an A+... She remembered when he scratched his legs and arms after falling from his bike, and she cleaned it while holding him tight against her as he cried... She remembered when he came back crying from school after some bully threw him in the mud... She remembered his astonishment when she told him for the first time that he was a wizard... She remembered his first football game... She remembered his tenth birthday when the kitchen was covered with frosting after they made a food battle... She remembered the joy on his face when they went to Diagon Alley... She remembered how proud he looked when he embarked on the Hogwarts Express... She remembered when he flew over the pitch during his first Quidditch game, waving his hand at her... He was her son, her reason to live, her strength...

"Let him go. I will not give you another chance."

Her wand touched the stone, causing crackling. She would do it. She would destroy the Stone. She would destroy it and there was nothing Voldemort would be able to do to stop her it. He was right about one thing. She would do anything for her son.

"Release him, Quirrell. I will wait. I will kill him another time," the Dark Lord finally said.

Quirrell seemed taken aback by his master's orders. With a wave of his wand, the ropes disappeared. Harry stood up right away and ran in her direction.

"Harry, run away! Run away now! Go!"

"But Mom..."

"GO! NOW!"

She looked straight into his eyes. Harry must have understood. Lily and her son understood each other better than any other parent and child. She could see he didn't want to go. He didn't want to leave her alone. He was too much like James. He would never abandon those he loved. But she made him leave. She was his mother, and he would do as she told him to. So he ran away, climbing the stairs like a demon.

"I love you, Mom!" he shouted from behind.

Lily didn't look back. Her eyes were focused on Voldemort and the servant whose body he shared as her heart was breaking at the realization that she might have seen her son for the last time. Voldemort would never let her live. He was going to kill her. He wouldn't repeat the mistake he did ten years ago.

"Give me the Stone now, Lily Evans... I gave my word to Severus, and although he betrayed me, Lord Voldemort keeps his promises... Give me the Stone, and I will let you live."

Yes, he would let her live. He would torture her, like he did that night at Halloween. Maybe he would turn her mad like his disciples did to Frank and Alice. Or he would use her as bait to set a trap for Harry.

"Lord Voldemort?" she asked, sarcastically. "Keeping his word? Never. REDUCTO!"

The screams of the Dark Lord echoed through the room along with her spell. The rock in her left hand was reduced to shards and pieces that cut through her flesh and left a red liquid on it.

"KILL HER! KILL HER, QUIRRELL!"

Voldemort kept screaming the words as Lily and Quirrell proceeded to exchanged spells and curses. He sent a Killing Curse which she dodged, and she tried to disarm him with an Expelliarmus, then to stupefy him, but he dodged both as well. He then raised his wand to the ceiling, and fire erupted all around them, enclosing both Lily, Quirrell and Voldemort into an infernal circle. Lily could not take cover anywhere. She produced oil from her wand and sprinkled Quirrell and the floor around him with it.

"Incendio!"

Fire surged all over the man, but it barely started devouring his skin before it left him and rushed on Lily, a huge trail of fire heading on her.

"Aqua Eructo!"

Lily's wand produced a powerful jet of clear water that fought against the fire she created, the fire that Voldemort turned against her. She then felt an additional heat behind her back and dodged just before it hit her. Streams of fire came from everywhere, targeting her. Lily avoided them, stopped them, extinguished them, staying with her back turned on Voldemort far too long for her taste. Between her efforts, she cast a powerful explosion spell to her opponent, which he deviated towards the ceiling. Lily then cast a spell that allowed her to grab one of the pillars of the room, then brought it down on Voldemort... to no avail. Voldemort stopped the pillar in its course and threw it against Lily who had to almost crouch on the ground to avoid it. It went to break against other pillars behind her.

Quirrell then sent several spells over Lily's head. She realized what he was trying to do, but instead of protecting herself, she cast a series of spells on him. One of those burned him to the left hand, the one he wasn't holding his wand with, but that was all. When Lily brought her attention to the danger above her head, half the ceiling was already falling on her. She reduced to rubble a part of it, jumped aside to avoid another part, made some parts levitate then threw them aside, redirecting them towards her enemy when she could. But the debris hit the floor all around her, creating a cloud of dust that made it difficult to see. And finally, a big piece hit her on the leg. She put a knee to the ground, and tried to repel the rest of the falling ceiling, but she was soon covered with pieces of marble and stone, small and big.

Lily pushed aside the debris. She felt a huge pain in her left leg. She crawled out of the debris, her wand still in her hand. She lost it before she could react. It was in Quirrell's left hand now, and he pointed it along with his own wand at her.

"What a familiar situation," Voldemort's voice whispered. Lily continued to extract herself from the debris. She wouldn't die like this. She wouldn't die lying on the floor, waiting for her demise. She would fight until her death, like James did. For Harry.

"How useless... What a waste... You could have had a place of choice by my side, Lily Evans," the murderer of her husband continued. "You could have accepted my offer when I came to you... You and your husband could both have become so powerful by serving me... Now you will die. You will soon be reunited with your husband... And your son will join you soon..."

The two wands were pointed at her. No, she wouldn't die. She wasn't going to die. The fire to live burned within herself. She wasn't going to die at the hands of this man.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

The scream came from behind Lily. From the to top of the pile of debris, a small and skinny figure jumped onto Quirrell's face and pushed him to the ground, eliciting screams of agony, this time from Voldemort's servant. Lily realized that the small figure was her son, Harry, who was holding Quirrell by his face on the floor while he continued to scream.

"MASTER! AAAAAAAAAARGH!"

The screams were deafening, and they came from both Harry and Quirrell. They filled the entire place, an arrangement of human sounds enduring unspeakable pain.

"Harry! Stay away from him!" Lily managed to get up, her left leg still making her suffer. "HARRY!" she pleaded.

Right when she was screaming Harry's name, he let go of Quirrell's head and fell aside, on his back, while Quirrell kept screaming next to him, his back on the floor as well. Lily fell on her knees, and she crept to reach her son. She didn't look at Quirrell. All she cared about right now was her son.

"Harry. Harry," she kept whispering, as he remained unmoving. She finally reached him. He was lying on his back, his eyes closed. She took his face into her hands, reached for his heart, and felt it still beating. He was alive.

She turned to Quirrell next to him, and saw with horror that his whole face was blackened, and that blood spurted from his mouth. It was as if his face had been calcinated in an oven.

A strange cloud of smoke started to gather over Quirrell, and a complaint slowly emerged from it. Then what looked like a vaporing head flew away, screaming. Lily watched it go up the stairs, without a look behind. When she looked at Quirrell once more, he was gone, his blackened face not giving anymore signs of life. She carefully rotated his head. Only his nape was now behind his face. Voldemort was gone.

Lily looked again at her son. His heart was still beating, but he didn't move. He didn't open his eyes. She took him within her arms.

"Harry," she whispered. "Harry, wake up. It's your Mom. Harry, my dear. My little boy." Her voice broke into sobs as she hugged him. He wasn't moving. She could still hear his heart beating, but would he live? She couldn't lose him. She couldn't...

Her eyes wandered to the mirror in front of her. It showed her something that was impossible. She looked behind her, then around the room where they were. There was no one else. There was only her and Harry, and the dead body of Professor Quirinus Quirrell. She looked back to the mirror, then again behind her. Slowly, she stared back at the mirror.

"James," she whispered.

He was standing right behind her, smiling at her. He had aged up a little, but it was him, without any doubt. He crouched to be at the same level as she was. He kept smiling at her, as tears rolled over her cheeks. She thought she would never see him again. And yet here he was.

Other people came behind him. His parents, her parents as well, Tuney... all the people she lost over the years. They were all there. And then there were two little girls that gripped James' sweatshirt. Lily didn't recognize them. But they had her eyes, and her hair. They were lovely. They were the children she and James never had. They were the family they wanted to have once the war would be over. The war had ended, but James was dead, and they couldn't build the family they always wanted.

"Lily." A voice called her. In the mirror, Albus Dumbledore appeared. What was he doing here? "Lily," he repeated. She realized this was real.

She turned her head to look behind her again, and there he was, Albus Dumbledore. It took her some time. She gazed one last time at the mirror, and the image of the perfect family she wished that she had, and returned her attention to Dumbledore, and to Harry, who she had almost forgotten for a moment.

"Professor Dumbledore... Voldemort..."

"I know," he said while walking directly to her. "I saw him flying away while I arrived. How are you? And Harry?"

She looked at her son who she was still holding. "His heart is beating, but..."

"We must bring him to the infirmary. I'll carry him. Are you hurt?"

"My left leg..."

Before she could answer, Dumbledore pointed his wand towards her injured leg. "There. It should hold until we reach the castle. Come."

Albus Dumbledore took Harry from her arms and carried him himself. Lily stood up, realizing her leg felt healed. It was alright. This was over. Dumbledore was here. She recovered her wand next to Quirrell's body, took a short look at his dead body, then gazed one last time at the mirror. James smiled at her while nodding, and so were all the others. They were telling her to go.

"Lily."

Dumbledore's voice reminded her that he was carrying the only family she still had. With regret, Lily turned around and left her husband's reflection behind. She followed Dumbledore out of this place, away from the death and torture inflicted by Lord Voldemort, and back into the light of day.

I hope you liked my rendition of the fight for the Philosopher's Stone, and my first attempt at depicting a duel. As you can see, Lily's presence keeps affecting the story in small ways. Here, the outcome of the fight is mostly the same, though the way to reach this result was different.

Please review. Your comments are veryappreciated.

Next chapter : a new POV (I challenge you to guess who this new POV is)