I own nothing.
**
Chapter 4: The Attack
"Sad soul, take comfort, nor forget,
That sunrise never failed us yet."
--Celia Thaxter
September 25, 1977
James let out a satisfied sigh as he put down his quill, stowing away his newly completed Transfiguration essay in his bad. It was surely and 'Outstanding' piece of work. He looked across the table and spotted Sirius, who was frantically scribbling away at something or the other. Sensing nothing interesting, he turned to Remus, who was predictably working diligently on Herbology. Peter was chewing on his nails nervously, tapping his quill against his leg.
James sighed, this time in boredom. Why does nothing interesting ever happen to me? he thought sullenly. It was just after the last class of the day, Transfiguration, and the four boys were working frantically to finish various pieces of work for the next day. James still had his Herbology essay to complete, but he could always do that later.
"If it isn't Perfect Potter," a voice spat in a whisper from behind him, and he rolled his eyes, his demeanor cool. "Are you okay, Potter? Not so vocal? Cat got your tongue? Or should I say, Danes got your tongue?" No one else could hear his tormentor; they were all writing away, even Peter.
James stiffened and Sirius looked up, sensing the cold fury radiating off his friend.
His eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the boy behind James. "Excellent, Snivellus, provoke the Head Boy. Then again, you always were thick, weren't you?" he sneered.
"I would expect better from you, Black," said Snape derisively. "Toujours Pur. Pah! Not bloody likely, with you in that lot. You're blood's purer than most, yet you sully your name with this filth. No matter, all what you deserve, I should say."
"Always pure?" asked Sirius incredulously. "Anyways, what are you doing running around spouting off my family motto? Why not just become a bleeding, pure-blooded Black? See how you like it."
"I would rather not be part of a family that tolerates a disgrace like you," sneered Snape.
"But you are, aren't you, Snivellus?" said James quietly. He was leaning back in his chair, his feet up on the oak table, looking relaxed.
"I am what?" Snape asked suspiciously.
"Part of a family that tolerates a disgrace. Like you. I've seen your parents, and I've seen you. And I've seen you together. Not a pretty combination," hissed James, still angered by Snape's usage of Maria. That insult was low, below the belt, even.
"Don't you dare," Snape cried, reaching out quickly and dragging James up by his collar. James saw Sirius reach for his wand and motioned him off, surprised that Snape was this strong and actually had the courage to stand up for himself. What the hell? He's never talked back before?
"Don't I dare what, Snape? Why don't you get your dirty arse out of here before I dare do anything?"
"One day…one day I'm going to kill you," Snape hissed venomously. "You're going to die just like your beloved aunts and uncles and you bitch of a moth--
With identical cries of rage, James and Sirius jumped on Snape, tackling him to the ground. James's fist just missed contact with his head, but Sirius landed a punch straight onto the git's hawk-like nose. Snape was muttering something and fiddling with his wand.
"Leave him ALONE! Both of you!" James heard a voice cry behind him. Seconds later, hands were grabbing him and dragging him away from Snape, and he saw that Sirius was suffering the same fate. James tried to take a few more swings at Snape, but his captor was still holding him back. "What were you thinking?" James heard Evans hiss in his ear, before she pushed him slightly to the side.
"Watch out, Potter," Snape spat, wiping at his split lip and his bloody nose, before shoving Evans out of the way and sweeping out of the library.
"Twenty points from Slytherin for harming another student with a curse of the Dark Arts!" Evans called after him. Out of the corner of his eye, James saw Madame Pince stalking furiously towards them like an overgrown vulture.
"What curse?" James said furiously. Evans looked at him incredulously, then motioned for Remus to let him go. Peter and Sunny let go of Sirius. "No one's hurt!"
"No one's hurt? Are you numb to pain or something?" Evans said curiously, just as Madame Pince came over and began shrieking at all of them to leave for destroying the peace of the library.
James was aware of the warm, wet feel of blood trickling slowly down his temple. His fingers flew to his hairline, where there was a gash that ran from above his eye down to his ear. He also felt blood trickling down the side of his calf.
Then it began to hurt.
It was agony, as if salt was being rubbed into his wounds consistently, and James doubled over from the pain of it. Remus bent down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, looking at him worriedly. James gasped, tried to struggle to his feet, and failed, falling back to the floor.
"A--Aquis V--Vanus!" James heard a squeaky voice say. He supposed it was Peter and it was supposed to help, but it didn't at all. Nothing happened.
"Aquis Vanus!" James heard Sunny cry, and the burning feeling began to subside. When it had become just a slight sting, James breathed a sigh of relief and tried to get up off the floor. His legs were shaky but with one arm around Remus's shoulders and the other around Sirius's, he was able to walk. After they had reached the library doors he had recovered enough to walk by himself.
"Hospital wing, Potter," said Evans, frowning at him. "You need to get that cut bandaged."
"And I beed by dose fixed," said Sirius, and James noticed that he was bleeding profusely, causing him to talk strangely. Remus pulled out his wand and poked at Sirius's nose and healed it, causing him to wince and curse.
"It's fine, you bloody prat." He looked at James. "Get Gauche to look at those."
"Damn that--" and James let out a long string of profanities that included the use of Snape's head and a Severing Charm.
"He didn't even do anything to you," Evans scolded. "You always attack him for no reason!"
James was about to set her straight, none to gently, but his mouth dropped open when his best friend did it for him. Sirius grabbed Evans's shoulders hard and swung her around to face him, glaring into her eyes.
"It wasn't nothing, Lily. You weren't even there. He insulted James's mother. We aren't going to take that lightly." James shivered. Sirius said it so harshly, in a whisper that chilled him straight to the bone.
"Alright," said Evans, her voice unnaturally high. "Alright, Sirius. You're hurting me."
"Am I?" Sirius asked, his voice strange, but now James could see it too. Sirius was gripping Evans's shoulders so tightly that there would be bruises forming in the next few minutes. "Am I really hurting you? Then I think we need to reconsider this relationship of ours."
"Let her go, Sirius," Sunny said firmly, grabbing his wrist and trying to pull his unyielding hand away.
"Wait," snapped Sirius. "I want to know, Lily, should we break up?"
"Let her go. Now," James said, wrenching Sirius's hands away from Evans with Sunny and Remus's help. He grabbed Evans around the waist and pulled her backwards.
Sirius finally let go, and his face was going blank, slowly but surely. James stepped up to his friend as Remus, Peter, and Sunny tried to calm Evans, who was looking Sirius with something akin to fear.
"I can't believe I just did that," Sirius whispered. "I can't believe I just physically hurt her."
"Damn, Sirius. You need to get a grip." James smiled and raised and eyebrow. "Five more months."
Sirius frowned. "It's harder. Now that I actually know her. Know what I mean?"
James didn't, but he nodded anyway.
"Now, I have to talk to Lily," Sirius said, gaining some of his composure back.
James looked away as Sirius walked over to the other end of the hall, where Evans was standing by herself, pale and wide-eyed. He stole glances out of the corners of his eyes. Peter was shifting from foot to foot, looking nervous, and Remus was standing off to the side, his head bent as he listened to Sunny. There was a slight frown on his face.
Sirius touched Evans's cheek and said something to her that James couldn't hear, and Evans closed her eyes, trembling slightly. She said something back to Sirius and shook her head slowly, grabbing his hand. James watched as Sirius bent down to kiss Evans, and he whirled the moment their lips touched, heading towards the hospital wing. Madam Gauche had him bandaged up in no time, thanks to the spell Peter had known.
…Which was a curious thing. Why did Peter, of all people, know the countercurse to a Dark Arts spell? It was the first thing he asked when he entered the common room and noticed him sitting in a chair near the fire.
"I-I found it in a book when I was in the restricted section," said Peter.
"Which book?" asked James curiously. That last thing he wanted was one of his best friends dabbling in the Dark Arts, which he hated more than anything.
"Just some book," said Peter, brushing past him and out of the portrait hole.
**
September 26, 1977
"You know that concert is tonight, right?" said a voice in James's ear. He smiled warily as he saw Amy Duncan, his old girlfriend from the beginning of sixth year.
"What concert?" he asked softly. It was a Friday afternoon, and seventh and fifth years were already studying for their N.E.W.Ts and O.W.Ls, respectively.
"Melissa Blackden," replied Amy, sliding into the chair next to his. She settled back comfortably, as James tensed. He could see Sirius, Remus, and Peter watching curiously from the other side of the room.
James made a decision fast. "Yea, I'll go. I'll bring Sirius and Remus and Peter too."
Something in Amy's eyes flickered, but it was gone in a moment and James swore he had imagined it. "Interesting. Do you ever think about sixth year, James?"
It took a while for Amy's words to penetrate his brain, and when they did, he recoiled slightly. That was Amy, straightforward and abrupt. In his opinion, it was her worst character trait, and part of the reason he had broken up with her.
"What?" he hissed softly. "Beg pardon Amy, but that was random as hell. We haven't talked about sixth year since-"
"Sixth year, yes," said Amy impatiently. "Yes, I know. And?"
"And what?"
"Do you think about it?"
James shrugged uncomfortably. "Not really."
"I do. You were my first lover."
James coughed lightly into his hand to hide his shock at her words. "Er, you were my, um, first lover, er, as well."
"Right then," said Amy suddenly, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had descended upon them. "Save a dance for me at that concert," she ordered, before sweeping off and leaving James dazed.
"Are you done flirting with your ex, Potter?"
James turned with dread and saw Evans in the standard black robes and carrying a thin tome in her right hand.
"Oh, shut up, Evans. What do you want?"
"I found out what curse Snape used on you," said Evans, her entire aura changing to that of eagerness to share her knowledge.
"Spill," James told her, motioning to the seat across from his.
"It's called the Salvanus curse, meaning 'Salty Wound' or something to that effect. It's a very popular Dark Arts spell, and the incantation is: 'Urere Salvanio' and then the body part, in Latin, of course"
"Description?" prompted James when she paused.
"Er, it creates a gash along the indicated area of the body, and the pain does not begin until the wounds are acknowledged. Then it feels as if salt is being rubbed into an open cut," said Evans immediately.
"Vile," said James, shaking his head in disgust.
"She likes you a lot," said Evans suddenly.
James was left disoriented from the change in conversation track. "What is it with today? Make James Potter feel Really Uncomfortable Day?"
"Yes," Evans shot back. "And she really, really, really fancies you, Potter. And Amy Duncan is an amazing girl." James made a small sound of protest and Evans looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "What? You don't believe me? Not pretty enough for--"
"Amy isn't-she's-too demanding and bossy, and much too dominant," said James hesitatingly as he saw Sirius, Remus, and Peter begin to walk towards them.
Evans winced. "I'm going to ignore that insinuation about your sex life."
"What sex life?" said Peter.
"James hasn't gotten any since Maria Danes," added Remus.
"And that was a little before the end of sixth year," finished Sirius.
"Overshare," muttered Evans.
"Ah, you'll have to live with it, Lily dear," said Remus pityingly.
"Oh, shut up."
"Hey, what was Amy talking to you so much about?" asked Sirius suddenly. "She was my favorite of all your, er, serious girlfriends."
James stared at him blankly for a moment. "I've only had two, you prat."
"And you slept with both of them," added in Remus, ever so helpfully.
"Why is that relevant?" James asked, more than a little desperately. His girlfriend experiences had not been pleasant.
"It just is," said Peter quietly. He hadn't spoken much throughout the entire conversation.
"Okay, can we please stop talking about Potter's sex life? Please?" asked Evans exasperatedly.
"Yes," said James hastily, thankful for the interruption. "Yes, let's stop. Did you know there's a concert in Hogsmeade tonight?"
Evans looked at him strangely. "Are you mad? Dumbledore just talked to us about it a few days ago! He said that the seventh years and sixth years were allowed to go!"
James furrowed his brow. "Oh! Now I remember."
"Helpful, Potter. Very helpful. Did you make an announcement? You agreed to it!"
"EVERYBODY! LISTEN UP!" yelled James suddenly, making Evans jump. "I WANT EVERYONE BUT THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH YEARS OUT OF HERE NOW!"
There was a mad scrambling for the fifth and below years to leave, and Remus told them on the way out to send more sixth and seventh years down from the dorms. James did a quick head count and saw that there were only a few people missing, Maria included.
When everybody they could find was there, James hopped up on a table (with a sharp "Hey!" from Evans) and began to talk. "There's a Melissa Blackden concert in Hogsmeade. Tonight." He held up a hand to silence the cheers. "And you can all go, as long as you're back by midnight," he added, remembering the terms Dumbledore had discussed at the meeting. "Go, shoo, tell the people in your year who aren't here!"
There was a mad rush to leave the portrait hole, and James collapsed back down.
"Ugh. Head Boy is a horrible position."
"Ha!" crowed Sirius.
**
This woman is good, thought James, as he listened to Melissa Blackden belt out a high note. The stage had been erected on a large field just outside of Hogsmeade, and Blackden was a lone figure in white, surrounded by black. It made her look heavenly.
With a sigh, James looked around, searching for a familiar face. The only person he saw was Peter, and he was trying (and failing) to dance. In order to remove the traumatizing sight from his eyes, James went back to taking in his sad surroundings.
He had already noticed the M.L.E.S. patrolling the field, but he also noticed, with a start, that there were about six, which was a pitifully small number, considering the size of the crowd. It almost made him angry. Voldemort was a serious threat these days, but extra security was apparently not an issue at a concert.
"James!"
Slowly, James turned, dreading what was about to happen, because he had recognized the voice.
"Hello, Amy," he said through gritted teeth. "Where's Anabella?" he asked, naming her best friend.
"Oh, dancing with some bloke over there. She didn't want to come with me," said Amy, waving a hand in dismissal. "Now, you did save a dance for me, didn't you?" she asked, as a slow, sensual beat started up.
I wanna hold you forever,
And never let you go.
Let me hold you forever, ba-by.
So we can dance real slow…
Apparently the song was popular, as a loud cheer went up as Blackden sang out the high, soprano notes.
Dance with me tonight,
Uh-uh, lemme hold you tight.
Because this feels oh-so-right
Let's go, baby.
Amy grabbed James's hands and pulled him close, pressing her body tightly against his. They began to move, slowly, stiffly.
Touch me there, hear my plea
I wanna have you, here with me,
Rock with me until we're
Swimming in, ecstasy.
Silence reined for a moment, and James guessed it was a break in the song. Amy pressed herself even closer, awakening desire in the pit of his stomach.
And then it started.
James thought it was part of the song, until the scream was taken up by more people and borne towards him. He wrenched himself away from Amy and whirled, drawing his wand and frantically searching for whatever the problem was.
It was extremely apparent, as the night sky seemed to be going out, the stars disappearing one by one. It became utterly cold, and James knew, without a doubt, that the two renegade dementors were close. Very close.
A scream from the platform, especially shrill, brought him back to earth. Melissa Blackden was surrounded by four men, all in hooded cloaks.
Death Eaters.
It was becoming colder still, and James knew what he would hear. What would be coming towards him, the sound of speeding death…
"Give up!"
"I won't. I won't!"
"Then die!"
"NO!" His shout was hoarse, lost among the screams, and suddenly, it went silent, and all James could hear was the sound of his own harsh breathing, before he heard it.
"STUPEFY!"
The jet of red light struck one of the hooded men on the stage, and all Hell broke loose.
"INCENDIO!" someone roared, and James cursed whoever it was as a circle on the ground went up in flames. Smoke clogged the air and made it hard to see immediately.
"STUPEFY!" James roared, pointing his wand at a figure on the platform, Amy forgotten. The Death Eater dodged the beam and cried something, pointing his wand into the crowd.
James watched in horror as a little girl was levitated into the sky before dropping, her body glowing green. It was some sort of variation of the killing curse.
The cold was getting worse and, without thinking, James drew his wand and summoned the happiest thought he could find. "Expecto Patronum!"
A silvery, whooshing mass streamed out of his wand, condensing into the familiar form of a unicorn, before galloping off into the night, driving some of the cold away. He saw two other silvery forms in the dark, but that was all he could make out. The rest was a jumble of multi-colored beams of light mixed with smoke and the sound of screaming. Quickly, before he lost his nerve, he stunned a Death Eater who had apparated a few feet in front of him.
"Impendimentia!" he heard a familiar voice cry, and he whirled, seeing Evans with her wand raised. She looked…strange, with her eyes bright, her hair wild, and a small line of blood on her forehead.
A warrior.
"Potter!" she shouted, stunning a Death Eater on her way to him. "What's happening?"
"Damned if I know!" he shouted back, ducking a curse and hurling a stunner in the general direction of the attack.
"It's a madhouse out here! What about the rest of the students?" she asked, drawing up alongside him.
"They'll have to fend for themselves. Shouldn't help have come by now?" asked James desperately.
Evans had moved so she was back to back with him, so they protected each other from attacks on the sides they couldn't see. "I don't know what happened to Sirius," she said above the noise.
Something heavy settled in the pit of James's stomach. If any of them died…he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.
"Where's the help?" he asked again.
"Oh, damn, Potter. Look up!"
A large, green dome had dropped down around them, casting everything into an eerie light. James watched with trepidation as someone ran into the dome.
He crumpled, dead, to the ground.
"Oh, god," Evans choked out behind James.
"It's-a wall made of the killing curse," James whispered in terror.
After at least more than three people had run into the shimmering wall of green light and fell to the ground, the rest of the crowd got the message.
"That's where the help is," Evans said, her voice shaking, pointing to the wall of green light. If James squinted, he could just make out the shapes of people outside the green dome.
They were all trapped, then, like rats, James thought as he began shivering with cold.
The cursing and hexing and jinxing had stopped for a moment as the dome descended, but now they began again in earnest, flying through the air and striking people who were unawares. He heard the killing curse and the sound of speeding, rushing death, saw flashes of green…
"JAMES!" a loud scream brought James's attention to the side, where a Dementor was leaning over Amy, pulling down its hood to reveal the scabbed skin and the gaping, sucking mouth…
"Expecto Patronum!" he heard to his side, and saw that Evans was valiantly trying to conjure a Patronus to help Amy. All she could produce however, was a shimmering silver vapor that hovered in front of her.
James began to run towards Amy, summoning a happy thought and conjuring his Patronus. It galloped straight for the Dementor and drove it away from Amy, who staggered to her feet and swayed. James quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her backwards, running as far as he could in the opposite direction the dark creature had taken.
"Potter! I'm going to go try to find the others," Evans panted to him, running off, her hair flying brightly behind her.
"Okay then," said James, a bit weakly, letting go of Amy's arm.
"Thank you, oh, god, thank you James! I tried, I really tried, but nothing could make it go away," sobbed Amy. "I need to tell you something, James," she continued as a curse flew over their heads. "I need to tell you that-"
"ENOUGH!" a voice roared from within the dome. A deep, deep voice the reverberated within the space for an eternity of time. Amy stopped speaking and her head turned to the side. James turned too, and the sight that greeted him made him feel sick to his stomach.
He stood on the platform, the dying colors of curses flying the background as one by one, they stopped and every eye was trained on the imposing figure in long, darl robes.
"Accio!" the Dark Lord, Voldemort, cried, and a small child flew into his arms. She immediately began to cry piteously.
"Where are they?" Voldemort asked in a hiss. "James Potter and Lily Evans. Where are they?"
James shock at hearing his own name was shaken off as Amy gave a loud sob. James told her to hush.
Voldemort's head swiveled slowly until he caught sight of James and Amy, crouching together on the ground.
"I had wondered if you and Evans would come, Potter. And alas, here you are, at least one of you, and you shall come up here or be the reason this little brat dies. Which shall it be Potter, your life or hers?"
Sick bastard.
"Come up and play, Potter and Evans."
James saw her hair across the crowd and caught her eyes. Evans's green were wide and fearful, yet the look of her face was resigned.
Slowly, they began moving towards the platform, James wrenching his hand out of Amy's tight grasp. He knew that they would have gone anyways, to save everyone, but it still hung as a dark cloud around them that they were sacrificing themselves.
They both reached the stairs at either end of the platform at the same times and began to ascend them, their eyes still locked. It was utterly silent within the dome and James wondered why no one was cursing the Dark Lord to help them. Either the people of the crowd were incredibly selfish and didn't want to be killed themselves, or they didn't want to hurt the little girl. For the sake of humanity, James hoped it was the latter, and not the former.
"Good children," Voldemort said loudly, handing them a small scrap of leather.
A portkey.
Nothing happened for a moment until James tried to let go of the portkey, and it wouldn't pull away from his hand. Voldemort saw this and pulled his wand out.
"Avada Kedavra," said the evil wizard, almost lazily, pointing his wand at the child, who let out a small sob before falling to the ground. Several shocked gasps went up from the crowd, and Evans made to break away from the portkey, but couldn't.
"A minute and thirty seconds." Voldermort raised a careless hand and waved it at the crowd. "You may resume your battle," he said idly, putting up a shield to protect the three on the platform. Immediately jets of light began to fly through the air, bouncing off the shield and hitting someone in the crowd occasionally.
"One minute."
This is it.
"Fifty-nine seconds."
Should I tell her?
"Fifty seconds."
"Lily-"
"James-"
He looked at her in shock. She'd never said his name before. Not just his given name. It had either been 'Potter' or 'James Potter'. It sounded disturbingly right coming from her mouth.
"Forty seconds."
I can't.
"Thirty-three seconds."
I won't.
"I'm scared," she whispered softly.
"Twenty seconds."
"Me too," James replied, almost reaching for her hand. He pulled back at the last moment.
"Ten."
Nine.
"Eight."
The shield around them retracted slowly, and the blue light faded from around them.
"Six."
I'm not even that scared.
"Four."
"James! James! I love you!"
He whirled as fast as he could to see Amy rushing towards the platform, her golden hair flying behind her in the wind.
"Two."
"Don't go, James," his old girlfriend called out to his shocked face. "I love you!"
"Avada Kedavra."
And the wind began, the rushing sound filled his ears and he felt the hook behind his navel wrench him into the air. All he saw was the flash of emerald green light as it rushed towards Amy, pushing the life out of her and making her fall, lifeless, to the ground.
Goodbye.
**