This story is rated PG-13 and the reason for it is this chapter. Warning: it contains violence that some readers might consider disturbing.
For a less descriptive version of the event for more squeamish readers, a tamer version can be found at The Sugar Quill.
Christmas, 1975
'Can you quit?'
The question came out of the blue. Lily raised her head from her homework and stared at Petunia in surprise.
'Quit what?'
'That school of yours.'
Lily was even more confused now. 'Why would I want to quit Hogwarts?'
'Because it's not normal,' said Petunia seriously. 'Lily, I've thought about this - you're nearly seventeen already. That magic stuff is done - I mean, it's time for you to think about the real world soon, isn't it?'
'Pet, it's not a game. My school is serious.'
'Of course it's not. Look, you can leave and enrol in a proper school, take the A Levels. I know Mum and Dad haven't got much to fix you up in a good school, but I'm finishing college soon, I can help once I get a job. You could come to my school, although without your O levels it's probably not possible to get you a scholarship like I did -'
'Oh Pet … I can't do that.'
'Why not?'
Lily sought around for the right answer. 'Because … because … I belong at Hogwarts, Pet. Don't you see? I'm a witch - I have to be at Hogwarts to learn how to control my magic.'
'Control it? Lily, you don't even have to be like that. Come on, don't be so stubborn.'
'I'm not the one being stubborn!'
'Lily, calm down - think about this logically.'
'Speak for yourself, Petunia!' Lily snatched up her wand and directed it at a teacup. 'Look at this -' The teacup wriggled, and then became all furry as Lily transfigured it into a rat. It was really quite useful that, in light of the threat of You-Know-Who, the Ministry had lifted the ban on Underage Wizardry.
Petunia shrieked as the rat dashed under her bed. 'Lily! Stop it! Stop that at once!'
'I'm a witch, Petunia! I can do things like that! I'm not going to leave Hogwarts and go to your old prissy school or be a boring secretary like you plan to be -'
'A boring secretary! That's nice of you; I'm trying to help you here, all right? You don't need to learn all this weird stuff, honestly you don't -'
'Yes I do!' Lily shot back. She was on her feet - she wasn't sure when she'd actually risen - and fuming at Petunia. The sisters stared at each other, until a squeak at Petunia's feet broke the silence. Petunia yelped and leapt onto her bed.
Suddenly, the situation seemed too absurdly funny. Lily couldn't help herself - her anger faded as quickly as it had built up and she burst out laughing. Petunia looked at her incredulously.
'Sorry -' gasped Lily. 'Sorry, Pet, I got carried away there.'
Petunia sniffed.
'Really - I shouldn't have said all that - about your school. I'm sure you'll be a wonderful secretary and all. But I don't think I would like it.'
Petunia sighed and shook her head. 'Think about this, Lily, OK?'
She looked so concerned that Lily agreed. But privately, she knew that she wasn't even going to consider giving up magic.
James folded his arms and leaned against the door, a frown line etching itself on his forehead as he watched his parents argue.
'I've got a job to do.'
'It's Christmas, for God's sake, Patricia, can't they spare you this one day to be with your family?'
'Maybe the Darlington murders didn't mean anything to you, Andrew, but the wizarding community wants the ones responsible to answer to their crimes-'
'At your expense. Maybe you don't realise, Patricia, but you're essentially neglecting us in favour of those damned Death Eaters.'
'And just how do you make that out? We're in a war here, Andrew, a -'
'A war that's distracting you from the true purpose. It's all a game of revenge and power consolidation for Bartemius Crouch and you're being dragged into it -'
'We're saving lives, Andrew! You don't know what these Death Eaters are capable of -'
'I know perfectly well, Patricia. So do you. And you want revenge too. For Harriet.'
There was a sharp intake of breath, from James as well as his mother. His sister's name was taboo in the house; they all knew that. Patricia Potter stared hard at her husband, who met her gaze levelly. Without a further word, she Disapparated with a furious pop.
Andrew Potter kept his eyes trained on the spot where his wife had been, a wooden look upon his face.
James left the room and entered the dining room. The house-elves had prepared a veritable feast for three, and the table was laden with dishes. He seated himself at his customary chair and reached for a plate.
And he ate his Christmas dinner.
'Have some more pudding, Lily darling,' coaxed Mrs Evans. 'You've eaten positively nothing!'
'Just a little, Mum, really, I've had plenty,' insisted Lily. 'Pet, do you want more pudding?'
'No, I'm full. Mum - why don't we help you clear up, we've really had enough.'
'Why don't we do the dishes, Mum - we'll join you and Dad in the living room when we're done.'
'Girls, that's sweet of you, thanks.' Mrs Evans kissed both her daughters' cheeks.
The kitchen window over the sink looked out onto the wintry street. Lily gazed out contentedly as she rinsed the plates and handed them to Petunia. It was wonderfully cosy, being home for Christmas, her mother's delectable Christmas dinner filling her stomach and the love of her family warming her soul.
Outside, things were getting pretty warm too, it seemed. A few blocks away, a steady blaze was growing.
'Pet - I think there's a fire; ought we to call the fire brigade?'
Petunia peered out of the window, and then stared at Lily strangely.
'You're not seeing things, are you?'
'No - look, there -'
Petunia continued to look at her blankly. Lily felt a chill run through her.
'Can't you see it?' Panicky thoughts were beginning to invade her mind. There was indeed a fire: a third look confirmed it. And if Petunia couldn't see it, it was highly likely that it was of magical origin.
The first thing that came to mind was Death Eaters.
If they were attacking, here in her own street … Fear gripped her heart like an iron fist. It couldn't happen. Her family …
Her mind was made up in an instant. Ignoring Petunia's questioning look, she dashed out of the kitchen and into the room that the girls shared. Her wand lay on her bed table; she snatched it up and gripped it tightly, trembling.
What did she do now? Stay here and wait for Death Eaters to arrive? Wards, she thought. Shields. Anything to deter Death Eaters.
She hurried outside and began casting all the Shield Charms and defensive spells that she could think of. She spent five frantic minutes trying to secure her house against any attack before logical thinking overtook her and she realized that it wasn't likely that she could resist the Dark magic that You-Know-Who's followers undoubtedly wielded.
Another glance at the fire in the distance revealed that it seemed oddly concentrated in an area, with no sign of spreading.
Maybe it wasn't her family in danger. Maybe it was some other Muggles at the mercy of Death Eaters and You-Know-Who. Lily started running towards the fire; if she was the only one who could help, then she would do what she could.
As she got nearer, Lily could see that it wasn't just one house ablaze but an entire row. And spaced at regular intervals around them were grim-looking people in cloaks …
Lily halted and clenched her wand so tightly that her knuckles went white. One of the cloaked wizards turned halfway towards her direction and yelled, 'Dawlish! I need you here; the Death Eaters are going to break through the containment barriers -'
Another cloaked wizard pushed past Lily at a sprint and joined the other. Lily caught a glimpse of the badge glimmering on his chest as he passed. Magical Law Enforcement - Aurors. She felt a huge sense of relief. The Ministry was here; they'd catch the Death Eaters.
She had to be sure, though. Slowly, she edged towards the invisible line around the houses where the Aurors were stationed.
The first thing that struck her was the screams. From inside the houses. With a chill, she realised there were people trapped inside, people who couldn't escape because of the enchantments being held up around the burning houses. People who were burning alive inside. People…who didn't sound like Death Eaters.
It was as though an invisible wall was separating the Aurors from the people inside: Muggles and Death Eaters alike seemed to be flailing their arms in mid-air, frantically trying to escape the flames licking at their feet.
Lily clutched her wand tightly. Why didn't the Aurors do something to save the Muggles inside? And what could she do?
How would a sixth-year Hogwarts student, even one whom Professor Flitwick, the dwarfish Charms teacher, proclaimed had an extraordinary natural feel for the subject, manage to save anyone alone?
Yet she couldn't turn away; nor could she watch this go on.
Lily thought fast. Maybe, if she tried, if she concentrated, she could reverse a part of the wards … enough to let the innocent people through …
Focusing harder on the spell than she had ever done before, training her wand straight ahead, she imagined a hole being formed in the invisible magical barrier.
'Finite Incantatem.'
There was no sudden explosion, no rush of sobbing Muggles from a hole, nor was there (thankfully) a horde of Death Eaters emerging. In fact, nothing seemed to have happened at all … until a few moments later, her wand still held out, she began to see a shimmer before her that seemed almost tangible.
Behind the wards, Muggles had jumped away as the air in front of them took on the appearance of melted glass. They stared through it at her, screaming for help, eyes stricken with fear and imploration.
And then, the glassy texture of the air disappeared.
Lily felt a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Was it possible she'd weakened the spell? She hadn't been able to cancel it, but she might have affected it. If she tried again …
Maybe with another spell?
The Reductor Curse crossed her mind briefly, but what if it worked too well and someone behind bore the brunt of it?
'You've got to figure what sort of Containment Charm it is before you can attempt to break it, girl. And I highly doubt you'll have any chance of figuring that out, especially now, Death Eater.'
Lily started and turned, her heart racing. Another wizard dressed in Auror garb had his wand pointed straight at her face. The first thing she noticed was that he had only one leg; where the other should have been was a crudely-shaped wooden stump.
Then the fact that he had called her a Death Eater sunk in.
'I'm not a Death Eater!' she protested.
'Prove it,' growled the one-legged wizard. 'If you're no Death Eater, what are you doing meddling with Auror work?'
'You Aurors are letting innocent people get burnt alive, if you didn't know!' Lily pointed out hotly.
'Aye,' said the wizard, eyeing her shrewdly. 'What's your name, girl?'
'Lily Evans. And I'm not a Death Eater. Would you mind putting your wand down?'
'As a matter of fact, I would, Miss Evans -'
'Wait!' The Auror that approached them was an elderly witch, her face looking pained. 'The girl, she -'
'Could be a Death Eater.'
The female Auror stared hard at Lily's face. There was something remarkably familiar about the shape of her features, but Lily barely registered this. Her throat felt dry; if they believed her to be a Death Eater, would they chuck her into the fire along with the ones they were currently burning?
'I'll give you the benefit of the doubt,' said the witch finally. 'To breach that Containment Charm, we'll certainly need a strong counter-cha -'
'Hold it, Patricia!' barked the wizard Auror. 'You're basing this on the off chance that she isn't some Polyjuiced Death Eater!'
Patricia rounded on him, breathing hard. 'Dawlish refuses to reveal which charm he and his team used when they first got here, and damned if I'm to spend the rest of the hour running through every bleeding one of them! If this girl can do the Revealing Spell - and I saw that spell work of hers - then I say let her.' She whirled back to face Lily, and said in a low voice, 'Those people need to be evacuated - especially the Muggles. But it'll take a powerful Revealing Charm first to uncover the spell web; it's not something many people are capable of. Do you understand?'
Lily looked from Patricia's frantic face to the wizard's harsh one. He still had his wand trained on her, and mistrust was clearly written across his face. Slowly, she turned around, and trembling, she cast the most powerful Revealing Charm she could think of.
An amazing thing happened: the air before her began to shimmer, as before, but this time it didn't disappear. A golden criss-cross pattern was beginning to form. It spread out several centimetres from the point at which her wand was focused, and she could feel her wand tingling from the effect.
A circular web of radius approximately five centimetres shone brightly for ten seconds, then faded off slowly, but it was enough for Lily to see that the Containment Charm was comprised of a strong Anti-Apparition ward as well as a physical impediment barrier and a few more scattered blocking charms which she hadn't time to place before their visible essence faded away.
She hadn't known it was possible to see magic in this form.
'Anti-Apparation, modified. Damn Dawlish,' muttered Patricia. She closed her eyes, as though concentrating on a problem.
'I certainly hope you're telling the truth and you're no Death Eater,' said the wizard grimly. Lily turned to face him, and saw that he still hadn't lowered his wand.
'I'm not. Really, I'm not! I'm not even out of Hogwarts yet! And I'm - I'm Muggle-born.'
'Polyjuice,' growled the wizard. 'Wait out an hour and we'll see.'
'I'm really not a Death Eater in disguise …'
A dry sob from Patricia made Lily turn back to the fiery scene. 'Too late,' Patricia whispered, clenching her fists. 'It's spread too close …'
It was worse than the most awful horror film Lily had ever seen. The fire was at its peak now, consuming everything within the barrier. There were people on the ground, unconscious - were they even alive? - the flames toasting them to a crisp. And they were probably the lucky ones. Standing among them were others choking and coughing, asphyxiating in the thick, sooty smoke. One little girl had caught on fire - she was running around, wailing at the top of her lungs, flames streaming from her nightdress.
But there was nothing that any of them could do anymore - the fire had reached the edges of the Containment Charm, and to break that down would be to unleash the inferno within and set the other unaffected houses down the street ablaze.
By now the fire was catching those closest to the barrier already, and their panicked screams were escalating in volume. Lily clamped her palms over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut, unable to bear watching. But she couldn't drive out the terrified screams of tortured, dying people.
It might have taken a minute … half an hour … a full hour. Lily had no idea how long she stood there, frozen with her eyes firmly closed and her hands covering her ears tightly. The screams never seemed to fade, even though fire must have consumed everything, including the very oxygen that supported it, and died of its own accord.
Even when it was over, and the Aurors were beginning to remove the charms in place, the cries were still ringing in her ears. She felt like weeping, yet her eyes were shocked into dryness.
Next to her, Patricia had collapsed to her knees, her head in her hands. She was breathing raggedly, her shoulders shuddering.
'Patricia,' said the wizard softly.
'Merlin,' she said, in a hoarse voice. 'I didn't think - I helped to … Merlin help me …'
'Patricia Potter!' Through the smoky haze that seemed to be clouding her mind, Lily registered the use of the name 'Potter'. At any other time, perhaps, she might have latched on to that. But now, her thoughts were pre-occupied with the horrors of what she had just witnessed. The Aurors were now entering the houses, clearing away the ashy remains of their arson …
'I can't go in there,' breathed Patricia. 'This is … in all my years, I never … oh, Merlin …'
Her colleague gripped her shoulders tight. 'Pull yourself together.'
Patricia closed her eyes for several seconds. When she opened them again, there was a hollow look to them, but she seemed to have tightened something within her mind. She grit her teeth and walked away, towards the rest of the team of Aurors, without a word to Lily or the wizard.
Lily followed Patricia with her eyes, and then looked up to see the wizard watching her, with tears in his wizened eyes. He had finally lowered his wand, and his gaze was both regretful and sorrowful.
'They didn't deserve that,' Lily found herself saying, her voice shaking. 'None of them.' Even the Death Eaters.
'No,' agreed the wizard. 'None of them.' He glanced at his watch and back at Lily. Evidently, the Polyjuice hour must have been up, because his gaze softened and he patted her awkwardly on the shoulder.
He walked her home, his wooden leg thumping in a gloomy rhythm as he strode along. Lily wasn't sure how long they took to get back; her parents received her angrily when they arrived - anger that gave way to anxiety when they saw Lily's closed expression, and the grim one-legged man accompanying her.
Suddenly, Lily felt numb: she wanted nothing more than to run up to her bed and collapse there. Petunia was staring, her face a puzzle. The wizard was talking to her parents in a low voice. Lily made for the bedroom she shared with Petunia, but the wizard called after her.
'Miss Evans.'
Wearily, she turned to acknowledge him.
'I apologise for accusing you of being a Death Eater.'
She nodded brusquely. ';You were right to be suspicious,' she told him coolly.
'Alastor Moody,' he introduced himself. 'I'm sure our paths will cross again, Miss Evans.'
Lily shook his hand, and excused herself. She opened the door to the bedroom softly, and closed it gently behind her. Lying down on her bed, she closed her eyes.
Even in her sleep, she heard the screams.
A/N: My betas, jamc91 and Birgit, deserve a big hand for their input in this chapter. Birgit helped me to sort out Moody's characterisation, and jamc91 helped me in a rewrite with more ideas to bring the event more to life. A HUGE thank you to her as well for pointing out a big plot hole!