Chapter 4-The Last Battle
Lily sent a worried look over to Halle, who seemed to be crouching down and clutching her stomach. A puddle of water
had appeared at her feet. The baby was indeed coming. Sirius' eyes panicked. There were Death Eaters streaming into
the reception. Where was he to go?
James eyed Sirius and nodded; Sirius seemed to understand. James outstretched his wand, as did Lily, Remus, Katy, Frank, Alice, Professor McGonagall and the rest of the guests. Within a crack, Sirius had Apparated with Halle to the nearest hospital.
Lily sighed in relief. At least the baby and her friends would be safe. That was the only reassuring thought that heaved into her body. Voldemort seemed to be eyeing all the wands. He wasn't outnumbered though. It seemed as though he had brought his entire pack of Death Eaters.
James wondered how Dumbledore was managing with Barty Crouch in his Animagus form. He knew the old man would persevere without a scratch; but would Barty get away before Dumbledore uncovered who he truly was?
Yet, he shouldn't have felt much worry for the Headmaster. The situation in front of him was one that arose much fear and panic. He was going to be an Auror, he needed to be able to remain strong. It was his wedding day though.
"Avada Kedavra!" the pack of Death Eaters screamed. So much green light filled the hall. Lily and James ducked, hoping everyone else had as well. Unfortunately, they knew not everyone had.
"Stupefy!" Lily and James cried together, standing up once again, hands tied between them. A jet of enormous red light made it's way towards Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
Lily took a quick glimpse over the Great Hall. She saw the Longbottoms still alive, Remus and Katy were getting up slowly. She saw that the Prewitt brothers were taking on Death Eaters, fighting vigorously.
The most perfect day of her life was crumbling before her eyes.
"Impedimenta!" James cried, as a jet of light was aiming towards Lily. She snapped back into reality and outstretched her wand.
She was with James, she had chosen a more difficult life at the price of living with the man she loved. She had to face
that fact.
Halle was howling in pain as Healer Lupin rushed her down the hall on a stretcher. Sirius was running by her side, holding onto her hand and nervously trying to help her through it. The baby wasn't supposed to be due for another month or so.
The white walls of the hospital blinded Sirius as he tried to concentrate on thoughts that were slightly more happy. He was going to be a father. Yet, his friends were in danger; on their wedding day.
Halle screamed as a contraction hit her even more hard.
"You need to calm down, Halle dear. Take slow breaths, relax," Healer Lupin advised. Remus' mum was on Halle's other side, holding her hand while Remus' dad was pulling the stretcher into a secluded room.
She screamed in pain once more. It was impossible for Sirius to keep calm at this point. The woman he loved was in pain and he could do nothing.
"Is she ok? What's wrong with her?" Sirius asked.
Remus' mum shook her head, unsure.
"It could be anything," she replied. "She could just be having fierce contractions. There could quite possibly be something wrong with the baby. Was there something going on that could have sparked her to go into labor?"
"Yes," Sirius whispered. "Death Eaters at Lily and James' reception."
"Dear Lord," Healer Lupin answered. There was nothing they could do for the others until the baby was out
though.
Lily ducked a spell, wiping blood from the side of her head where she had fell. James was beside her shooting off spells of purple coloring. He was sweating and panting from all the running. It seemed as if it would never end.
The Death Eaters weren't only targeting him, but they were targeting Frank and Alice. Some of the most prominent Aurors or soon to be Aurors, Frank, Lily, and James, were undoubtedly the reason that Voldemort had struck he party.
James looked over at Remus. He was fighting and hiding Katy from harm's way. She was blasting off spells as much as possible. She had disarmed a Death Eater and was now kicking him.
Lily wanted her friends to leave, safely. It was their fight, not her friends'.
James seemed to have thought the same thing.
"Remus, get out here. Take Katy with you," he shouted.
"But, Lily," Katy shouted.
"Just go," Lily screamed, dodging another spell flying at her.
Katy and Remus stared uncertainly at one another. They did as their friends wished though, and Apparated.
It was only when Lily saw someone so out of place, that she dared to run away from the Death Eaters.
Petunia was hiding under a table, crying uncontrollably. She had shown up. Lily cursed herself for even thinking of inviting her. This wasn't the environment her sister should be in. James seemed to have covered her, seeing Lily's sister.
"Petunia," Lily whispered. She took Petunia's hand.
"Lily, why are all these people here?" Petunia asked. Her eyes were wide in fear. She had never looked so vulnerable in her life. Lily the shoe off her foot and whispered, "Portus." An illegal Portkey was the least of her worries at that moment.
She levitated the shoe in the air.
"This will take you home," Lily said. "You need to get out of here."
Petunia touched the shoe and was out of sight within a minute.
Lily knew from that moment that Petunia would be too scared to ever consider a relationship with her sister ever again.
She turned and sent a spell off. Several people had Apparated, listening to James' instructions.
It was down to Lily, James, Frank, and Alice. They were outnumbered now. If they could hold off in time to Apparate, they could make it out safely. Lily saw the dead bodies of Gideon and Fabian Prewitt on the ground. She held back the tears that would inevitably come.
"What do you want?" James screamed at Voldemort.
Voldemort flicked his wand and ropes bound Frank and Alice. They had made to bind James as well but James had stopped them with his own wand.
"Answer me," he hissed.
"Anyone who steps in my way, is going to be brought down. You've gotten in my way for far too long," Voldemort answered. The ropes bound Lily from behind. She turned her head to see a short, stubby Death Eater.
James was silenced as he saw the Death Eater Disapparate with his bride. Two others had done the same with Frank and Alice. It was down to James and Voldemort. James would rather be alive and protecting Lily than dead dueling with Voldemort.
He slowly walked forward and allowed Voldemort to bind him. The last thing he saw before he Disapparated was
Dumbledore, entering bloody and tired. A look of failure was on his face as James disappeared from sight.
"What is wrong with my baby?" Halle demanded, as she lay in bed. The contractions had momentarily paused.
"It seems that in light of the stress, your baby has strangled itself around the umbilical cord. It's still alive although we think that when it comes out, the force with cause the umbilical cord to fasten tighter around the baby's neck thus killing it," Healer Lupin said, sadly.
Sirius and Halle looked stunned. Their baby was in danger.
Halle burst into tears and leaned into Sirius' chest. He put his arms around her and stared disbelieving into the eyes of Remus' parents. He felt his eyes sting with tears but he didn't allow them to fall. He patted Halle on the head, knowing that she was going through the same thing as he was.
With a sharp jerk, she backed away, screaming. The baby was ready to come out once again. The contractions had started at an alarming rate.
"Not again," she screamed.
James landed, Voldemort gone. He was in a house, a familiar house. He had been here when he had grown up. It was the Prewitt household.
Now that all the Prewitts were gone, Voldemort and his Death Eaters had decided to keep their hostages in this abandoned house. He was in the attic. He looked over to see Lily and Alice crying and holding one another in fear.
Obviously, Frank was remembering just as James had. He too had been to his house before.
"Prewitts," James muttered. Frank understood.
"What?" Lily asked. "You know where we are?"
"Yes," James answered. He rushed over to Lily and kissed her on the lips, thankful she was alive.
"We don't have much time," he calculated. "They're taking a break from the battle and then they're coming up to kill us."
"How do you know this?" Alice asked.
"Typical technique of a Death Eater," Lily, James, and Frank answered.
Alice, who was a Healer, had no idea what they were on about.
"Can we Apparate?" Lily asked.
James strained himself to Apparate but only felt a shock as he tried to do so.
"No, Anti-Apparation jinx," he answered.
"How are we going to get out of here?" Lily asked. "There are no windows, the door is sealed with Dark Magic."
"One thing I learned as a Marauder is that there is always a way out," James said. "I can guarantee that the Prewitt brothers built a tunnel from the attic to their room. I used to come over and they were busy in their room doing something. I never knew what."
"I remember that too," Frank reminisced. "Their room is directly two floors below this, am I right?"
"Yes," James answered. He walked over to the darkest corner of the attic. He started prodding things with his wand. "Which means, that the passage should be somewhere around here."
"The Prewitt brothers were geniuses if I ever saw any," Frank said, prodding things with his wand as well.
"Why don't we make a Portkey?" Lily suggested.
"It won't work," James said. "They'd have thought of it. You can try if you want, but I am sure they put a jinx on this attic restraining us from doing so. Now, if we can get into the Prewitt brothers room, we can make a Port Key there."
Lily and Alice got up and started prodding things with their wands as well. Lily found a painting of a skinny woman in a pink dress. It looked remarkably like the Fat Lady at Hogwarts, although as mentioned, she was skinny and slightly younger.
It was out of the ordinary compared to the rest of the objects in the room. It wasn't covered in dust or cobwebs. She was surprised she had not spotted it before. She touched it and saw that it slid, leaving space for someone to crawl through and slide down.
"I've found it," she whispered, hoping the Death Eaters were not within listening distance.
"Can you crawl through?" James asked.
"Yes, it looks big enough for all of us," Lily replied. She kissed James one last time and slid down.
"You better go next," James advised Alice.
"Yes, honey, you better go before the Death Eaters come," Frank said. Alice slid down, following Lily as well.
"Go," James whispered. Frank nodded at James and did so.
James saw the handle of the door turning. He slid down fast, closing the portrait so the Death Eaters wouldn't know where they escaped to.
He saw Lily levitating a toy broom, Alice and Frank were waiting for James.
"Grab on quickly," James said. They all did so and were transferred to St. Mungos.
Meanwhile, Halle was experiencing the most painful event in her life. She knew child birth would be painful but she had
not expected this. She felt the sharpest pain in her life and then, looking at Sirius for one last time, her eyes
closed.
Lily, James, Frank, and Alice ran down the halls of St. Mungos towards the room in which they discovered Halle was in.
They were an odd sight indeed. Lily and James in their wedding apparel, Frank and Alice dressed nicely for the wedding. Blood and dirt covering them.
They made it to the end of the hall where they saw Sirius, crying.
"They're gone," he whispered. "Both of them."
A/N: Well, there you go. The third time defying Voldemort as well as the birth of Sirius' baby. If
you're confused, which I hope you won't be, I'll explain more in the next chapter. Yes, Halle and the baby
are dead. That was a horrible chapter to write. Don't kill me please, it had to happen. Sirius doesn't have a
wife or child in the books. Some of you may have thought it through and thought of possible ways of the baby and Halle
living. All will be explained in the next chapter. Please review.