Four Little Words

"Ease my mind
Reasons for me to find you
Peace of mind
Reasons for living my life."
-Call Me, Call Me - The Seatbelts

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Regardless of what anyone previously thought, this was a dueling battle.

There were no overwhelming numbers of Dark Creatures, no torturing of Muggles, no point-and- kill techniques. Just one-on-one Auror vs Dark Wizard duels.

It wasn't completely one-on-one, as there were, oddly enough, less Death Eaters than Aurors. Those Death Eaters deemed to be the better at dueling were taking on two Aurors, while James, Sirius, and Remus stayed positioned at their post, just in case. They still were not sure how this battle was going to turn out, and there was the feeling that this was not the big thing.

Nearest to James, Benjy Fenwick and Moody were fighting against what could only be Lucius Malfoy. Only he had the ability to fight more than one Auror and look as if he was merely bored.

James knew that if he joined in on that one, he would only be in the way, and probably killed before he could shoot one spell. He didn't dare joke that he was that good.

He turned his attention to other pairs and triplets around the street. Sirius had left his post at the Three Broomsticks and was doing his best Dark magic against the Dark magic directed at him. By the look on his face, he probably recognized the person's voice.

Remus was paired with Emmeline dueling with a tall wizard, and obviously a very talented one, as the two of them were just barely getting by.

He eyed the battlefield for any greasy-looking black hoods, but could not distinguish the spy from the rest of them. With every moment passing, he became less nervous and more irritated. Why the hell had Snape gotten them all excited if it was just a-

"OOF!" James cried out, falling to the ground. He was back on his feet, head spinning, facing whoever it was that had attacked him from behind.

"Haven't you been taught to watch your back, Potter?" There was the little greaseball.

"What the bloody hell was that for, Snivellus?" James exclaimed, loudly.

"I had always assumed you were an idiot, Potter," Snape jeered, cursing him again. "But this is proof."

"But you..." was all James could get out before he was on the ground, writhing again.

"Come now, Potter, put up a fight before I kill you," he taunted. James looked up at him, still confused. Wasn't he on their side thought? Why was he attacking James if they were on the same side?

Unless it was some sort of a trap...

James stood up, a bit shakily. "You l-oof!"

"I'm getting sick of talk-" Snape was off his feet as soon as James could fling out his wrist.

"You are dead, Snivellus," James huffed, now that he and Snape were level on the ground. "You lying bastard-"

"Sticks...and stones..." Snape puffed, rising to his feet. James too rose to his feet.

And then, they dueled.

"My, my, my..." Voldemort said, quietly, looking about the room slowly, examining the rickety wooden shack of a house."You would think that a safe house would look more safe?"

Lily was pale, but willed herself not to tremble. Her mind was racing with a million questions. Dumbledore had put a charm on the house so that no one would know where it was, except those who he told, Aurors, and members of the Order of the Phoenix. That meant that there was some Auror, or some member, who was a spy for Voldemort.

"Surprised to see me?" he taunted, red eyes flashing maliciously. "I admit that I have been wanting to see the inside of the safe house for many months now, and now that I am here, I must say, I am quite disappointed. A single Mudblood, and no injured Aurors," he sniffed. "That will change very soon, I imagine."

The implications of the enemy being in the place where injured wizards went for treatment sprung on her like daisies in spring. This was the perfect trap, the perfect bluff. This was how he was going to finish off the Order of the Phoenix in one fell swoop.

She immediately thought of James, but could think of nothing more. Because with a flick of his wrist, Voldemort tied and gagged her, and with another she had flown across the room and was standing right in front of Voldemort. Mockingly, he bent his face down to be level with hers.

"I suppose you are wondering if I am going to kill you, hm?" Voldemort said, looking at her straight in the eye.

Lily did not make any sign of answering.

Voldemort tutted. "Not very lady-like, now is it? When I ask you a question, answer me," he said, putting her under the Imperius Curse.

She felt her head going up and down, but she fought it so hard that she felt her neck was going to break.

"Very good, very good...." he said, quietly. "I must confess that I am not going to kill you just yet. I would rather like you to sit and watch the show that is unfolding. My Death Eaters are most excited about seeing your reactions." He smiled, gruesomely.

"Especially that self-righteous boyfriend of yours," a voice that could only belong to Bellatrix Black taunted her from her left. "I plan to torture him for hours in front of your eyes until you beg me to kill him."

Lily's eyes widened in fear and the Death Eaters laughed. Voldemort was staring at her intently.

"You're thinking of him, I can see it," he sneered. "He's appearing all over your pathetic mind."

Lily shut her eyes. If he knew how to read minds, then she had to break the eye contact. Voldemort was laughing at her again.

"It makes no difference, you know, you all will die anyways."

James fell to the ground, blood trickling out the side of his mouth. He jumped to his feet and held his wand steady, staring at Snape who was staring back with the same smoldering intensity. Snape had been more intent on throwing James into the wall than magically hexing him, and kept trying to get close. James wouldn't let him though, and it was hard to say who was hurting more.

To his left, Benjy Fenwick gave a cry of pain and stepped away from the other two he was dueling with. James turned his head for a moment to see if he could distract Malfoy long enough to get Benjy to the safe house.

He hurled a blinding hex Snape's way and threw another Malfoy's way. Benjy gave him a nod of thanks and then Disapparated.

James turned back to his battle when Snape grasped him around the throat angrily.

"The Dark Lord is at the safe house," he whispered, throwing James off of him and hexing him once more.

"Lily!" Benjy Fenwick gasped, appearing in the middle of the safe house. Lily slammed her eyes shut before it happened. She heard a horrible sound and felt something wet slide down her face. Her stomach turned over and vomit rose up her throat, and she clamped her teeth together to prevent it from coming out of her mouth.

Don't let James come, don't let him come, oh please, please, please, don't let James come.

She felt breath on her face and slowly opened her eyes. Voldemort was staring at her intently with a horrible smile on his face.

"You don't like my show?" he asked. "I am offended." Pain wracked her body as he put the Curse on her.

James' face went as white as a sheet. "Lily..." he breathed.

Before he could scream out a warning, Snape grabbed him back. "Do not yell it," he hissed into James' ear.

"Let go of me!!" James said, panic evident in his voice. "I have to save her!!" All he could think of was Lily, and was she all right, was she hurt...was she dead?

"If you go now, you will be killed," Snape whispered. "Now, hex me like you mean it so I can alert Dumbledore." He shoved James away.

James stared at him as if he had never seen him before.

"Do it, Potter," Snape said. And then, James looked into his sunken, greasy face and for the first time ever, the two of them understood each other.

James raised his wand and sent a horrible hex hurtling Snape's way, only about an inch to the left. Snape fell back as if it had really hurt him, and then Disapparated.

James knew that Snape was the only one who could get away to get Dumbledore. James also recognized with a guilty jolt that Benjy Fenwick was probably dead by now, and that if he went to the safe house by himself, he would probably suffer the same fate. He chose to ignore the pounding sensation in his head that told him that Lily too was probably already...

And then, with a great Pop, Dumbledore appeared in the middle of the battle, rage evident on his face.

"The safe house is under attack!" he roared, and at once the battle stopped. Death Eaters cackled with a supreme look of glee on their face, and Disapparated to continue the battle there.

For a moment, none of the Aurors moved.

"Attack?!" Remus said, in complete and utter terror. His eyes flew to James, who was already gone.

The moment Dumbledore had appeared, James had Apparated to the safe house. When Lily saw him, her heart started to hurt so bad that she was afraid that it had burst, but she couldn't close her eyes.

Instead of being blown to pieces, James was ready at the first, and blew the wand out of Voldemort's hand. In that second that all of the Death Eaters were stunned, all of the Aurors appeared in the middle of the safe house, as well as Dumbledore. The safe house being too small for everyone to blow the bejesus out of each other, they branched out to the back of the house, where the cliff was.

Voldemort had been one of the first outside, after grabbing his wand, but only because Dumbledore was pursuing him. The Aurors, furious that their safe house had been breached, found their second wind, and were fighting the Death Eaters as if their lives depended on it.

Lily had been released by Remus and had jumped right into the fray. James, meanwhile, was trying to get to Lily's side, but he was stopped by none other than Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Does Potter want to get to his ickle girlfriend?" she teased, firing a hex at James that knocked the wind out of him.

"Bite me," James wheezed, throwing another hex her way. He got to his feet and watched as Lily found herself a Death Eater to battle on the cliffside.

"Pay attention, Potter," Bellatrix shrieked, causing him to flip over the couch. "You might end up dead one day."

From lying on the floor, James flung his wand over the couch and hexed her off of her feet as well. He stood up, slower than before, as he'd been physically abused throughout the first part of the battle, and was about to hex her when another Death Eater slammed into him and his hex blew a hole in the wall.

James shook the stars out of his eyes and felt someone pick him up by the scruff of his neck. He turned around and looked into the eyes of Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Stay away from my woman," he growled onto his face.

James tightened his hold on his wand, but instead, kicked Rodolphus in the groin area. Rodolphus sunk to the ground in pain and James spat at him, "Stay away from my woman."

Speaking of, he heard Lily give a shriek of pain, and he ran out the hole to help her.

Outside was a complete mess. The Death Eaters seemed to want to finish off all of the Aurors tonight, they were fighting as if this was it. The Aurors knew that they had no where to go, so they fought as if their lives depended on it.

The only problem with that was that James could not find Lily, and oh, how he ached to have his arms around her once more.

"Looking for someone, Potter," Bellatrix shrieked, before she let loose a hex. He ducked out of the way, and turned to fight her once more.

Lily, meanwhile, was holding her own against a Death Eater, but she had been so far removed from fighting itself, she knew not his name. He was merciless, and the only thought keeping Lily from slowing down was that she knew her life would be forfeit if she did.

She saw a flash of white and took her strength, as she always did, from Dumbledore. If an old man like him was giving Voldemort a run for his money, then she could do the same with this petty Death Eater.

She wanted to make sure that James was all right, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from what was going on in front of her. She knew she had to make a decision; continue dancing with this man or finish him and help James, who she wanted to hold until he was blue in the face.

She took one look into his empty eyes and let a hex fly straight at the Death Eater's chest. He gave a cry of pain and fell to the ground, motionless, his chest not heaving. Lily's breath caught in her chest.

She had just killed a man.

Lily stared at his still body and once again felt the bile rising in her throat. Her body was trembling and she couldn't believe her eyes. She had killed a man...she was no better than the Death Eaters...

"Lily!" she heard, from a distance. She turned her head to see a flash of green headed for her.

The cry had alerted Voldemort, and he turned his head to see what had happened. He noticed that one of his Death Eaters had been killed, and his eyes narrowed in anger. He shoved Dumbledore away and turned his wand on Lily.

Across the battle field, James saw the scene through an opening and knew what was going to happen. Unconsciously, he ran towards Voldemort, intent on stopping him in any way possible.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" he roared, just as James slammed into him. There was a tangle of limbs for a moment and then James poked his head up, breathless.

He watched helplessly as Lily fell to the ground.