During the weeks following the meeting, Lily spent days worrying that James would slip back into the depression he had when believing Harry didn’t love him. Maybe it was because the pain he felt then had taught him to deal with it better, or maybe it was something else that prevented it, but whatever the reason Lily was grateful that James still talked to her.
What he did do was to manically try to find out more, his need for information almost becoming an obsession. For the first weeks he hardly left Harry’s side at all, hoping that his son would provide him with the information he so desperately craved. When Lily was gone to check on the children, she was fairly sure that he used his ability to give his son orders to make him speak of Sirius, and what had happened to him, at least when he was having conversations with others.
It helped him that Remus’s and Harry’s conversations became more personal than before Harry made his conclusion, the memory of Sirius being stirred up in both of them. Still Lily wondered how much their conversations were ruled by James when she wasn’t there. But, whether James did or did not control their talks, those talks were how James and Lily could learn that Sirius’s name hadn’t been cleared during his lifetime, that he’d spent the rest of his life cooped up in the very house he ran away from as a teenager, and that he died protecting Harry’s life.
To James the news that Sirius had cared so much about his son gave him more comfort than anything else he could have found out. He missed his best friend so much his heart ached, and grieved not being able to see him, but he was still grateful that Sirius had given his life to save Harry’s, and that the two had been so close in spite of the little time they got together.
Lily, while sad about Sirius and heartbroken for James sake, still couldn’t help but to feel relieved that James took it as well as he did. It did allow her to concentrate more on Draco and the children’s safety. She was fascinated with the map now up on the wall in Harry’s office, showing the entirety of Hogwarts and all the people in it. She had never seen it when it was made, and she did manage to persuade James into taking the time to explain it to her.
What worried her was the number of red dots on the map. She had never even contemplated whether or not the teachers could be married and have children when she was in school, but now she saw that many of the teachers did have both spouses and children. There were also other people that came and went at Hogwarts during the weeks, people who were delivering things, visitors to those that lived there, all leading up to the fact that there always were a number of red spots on the map, making the detection of Draco that much harder. Still she guessed it would be easier now than it would have been before.
It was after couple of weeks had passed that James and Lily started to spend more time with the kids again, once more starting to go with them to Quidditch practice and watching their lessons. They watched when Gryffindor won over Hufflepuff with the smallest possible margin and when they lost to Ravenclaw by only a few points, but still giving Ravenclaw the Quidditch cup for the first time in ten years.
Millie was devastated and blamed herself. And in truth her game hadn’t been what it should have been. She was better in the games than in the practices but still far from good.
Eddy however insisted on telling her that it wasn’t her fault, that it was alright, that they hadn’t lost the Quidditch cup in five years and that it was ok to do so once. But Millie didn’t want to listen. The results were rows between the two, that neither Lily nor James had never expected to see, since lashing out in the way that they did was so unlike either of them. It was after one of those rows that the truth became clear to them.
Millie, being angry and hurt, had run away from Eddy and was alone by the lake. She was sitting curled up behind a tree, crying when they heard the caw. Looking up at the bird realisation of what they had missed hit them as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Lily saying that the bird acted strange, that ravens didn’t normally like people, the bird looking at Lily as if it was studying her, or sounding angry when Eddy and Millie had kissed. They had seen the signs, but they hadn’t paid attention to them. The raven wasn’t behaving as a raven at all. It behaved as a human being.
Feeling helpless in the situation, James made his way to Harry’s office as fast as he could while Lily ordered Millie to get up and head back inside. She was relieved to see the girl obey her, and even more relieved when she saw Eddy coming looking for her to apologise. She was however most annoyed when they stayed on the grounds talking and wanted to scream when she saw the bird move closer. Before it had a chance to get close enough to do something, however, Eddy and Millie finally listened to her pleas and headed inside the castle.
After that, James and Lily never left the children alone outside; constantly looking out for the raven they knew must be Draco. Every time he was spotted, one of them tried to get the news to Harry. Every time Draco was gone by the time they’d got to his office. The time they spent watching the map meant watching Draco come only in short intervals, probably just long enough to scan the grounds for Millie or the other children. He was being careful, and he didn’t spend all his time, or even most his time within the grounds.
In every way they could think of, James and Lily tried telling Harry that Draco was a raven. They didn’t succeed. And with every try they became more and more restless, the feelings of helplessness and uselessness gripping them tighter.
“WHAT’S THE RUDDY POINT IF WE CAN’T DO ANYTHING?” James ranted. Lily couldn’t help but to agree.
The times the kids spent in their dorms and at lessons were the calmest ones. That was the time James and Lily could spend in Harry’s office “ watching the map, trying to find a pattern, some way of knowing when Draco came and went. Something easy enough for them to be able to convey to Harry. They didn’t find anything. Yet they kept trying “ simply because they couldn’t give up.
Today there were fewer dots on the map. Easter break had started two days ago, and so most of the students and even some of the teachers had gone home for the holiday. Knowing that it was lunch time and that the children would be inside eating, James and Lily were up in Harry’s office watching the map and Harry working. Remus had been right. He worked too hard. He also ate too little, and often skipped lunch or dinner to be able to work harder. He had lost a lot of weight lately.
It was Lily who saw it “ the tiny red dot moving closer to the school. At first she thought it was just another delivery or visitor, but moving closer she could see exactly who it was. What she didn’t understand was why. He had never been so close to the school before.
Calling James to her, she watched in fear as Draco got closer to the castle, when she saw Millie and Lily exiting the Great Hall far too soon for lunch to be over she knew she had to do something. Rushing over to Harry she nearly screamed in his ear to take a look at the map. Seeing the confused look on her sons face, she was relieved when he got up from his chair and walked over to the map.
He hadn’t even got to it yet when James grabbed her and pulled her to the floor.
“He’s inside the building, with the girls, there is no time to waist!” he said as he pulled her the fastest way possible to the Entrance Hall “ through the floors and the walls of the castle. Just as her head went under the floor Lily could see Harry make a run for the office door.
Lily hated going through floors and walls. Especially the thick stone ones of the castle. In truth she had barely gotten used to going through the much thinner doors, and did it only because it was the only way of not attracting attention. Still the fear for the girls meant that she didn’t even notice the uncomfort she experienced now, as her only concern was her granddaughters.
There was no raven in the Entrance Hall when they reached it. Instead there was a tall man, with long hair, so dirty and tangled that you could only barely see that it was the same white-blond colour as Millie’s. His eyes were grey, even lighter than her blue ones and his skin wasn’t just pale “ it was so light it was blinding, the dark circles around his eyes made so much more distinguishable as a result. The man was smirking, but his lips were chapped and full of soars and the smirk seemed almost ghostly. The yellowing colour of his teeth only added to the impression.
Still the resemblance to his daughter was there. They had the same tall, lean figure. The same high cheekbones. But while Millie looked soft, vulnerable and scared, he looked cold and frightening. He was standing in front of the girls with a tight grip on Millie’s arm and his wand raised. Millie was crying, but also covering her sister with her own body, pleading with the man in front of her to let them be.
Lily in her turn was angry. She clinged to her sister’s waist refusing to let go, yelling and screaming at the man to leave her sister alone. Draco paid little attention to her. His eyes were fixed solely on Millie, and it almost sounded as if he tried to comfort her, persuade her not to cry. In some ways he looked almost as pleading as Millie did, but then he turned to Lily and his face was distorted in anger and hatred, and James and Lily were fairly sure that he would have killed her, had not Millie been in his way.
Pulling at Millie’s arm he tried to get her to move. He said something but with the crying and yelling from the girls there wasn’t anyway to hear what he had to say.
“Don’t let go, Lily!” James told her, trying to give her strength when he couldn’t give her anything else. “Your father is on his way. Whatever you do don’t let go, and don’t move from Millie’s protection.”
They were close now. So close they would have been able to touch them, had they been alive. James didn’t stop talking. It was the only thing he could do. There were no other ways of helping them, no other ways of giving them strength. They’d already tried them all.
“Please let us go, please,” Millie begged, desperation in her voice as she tried to pull her hand free.
“NO!” Draco answered her. “You’ve been brainwashed. It’s his fault! It’s all his fault! I am your father, and everything will be alright now.” He sounded almost as desperate as Millie did. But it was another form of desperation. An angry, vengeful desperation. He was a man that had spent his life hating and plotting revenge “ now he was ready to claim it.
“Please, no,” Millie continued to beg. Like a mantra she couldn’t let go of. Her sister was still shouting and yelling, her grip just as tight as before, her words far cruder those she would normally use.
“Everything will be fine,” Draco repeated. “Once they are gone and dead and you are with me where you belong, everything will be fine,” he said, sounding as if he really believed that Millie would voluntarily go with them if only Harry was dead. Millie however had stopped fighting. Her face had gone even paler than usual and she was barely breathing.
James and Lily were forced to watch in terror as Millie plastered a smile on her face, her voice so faint they could barely hear her.
“I’ll go with you, daddy,” she said softly. The expression on Draco’s face softened the moment she said the word. Screaming at her James told her no, begged her not to do what he knew she would do, but she shrugged of his orders to stop and kept the plastered smile on her lips. “But you have to promise me not to kill anyone. I’ll go with you if you promise that, daddy,” she said and Lily froze when she realized what her granddaughter was about to do. She sacrificed herself so that her family would go on living. Paying for their lives with her own.
“Please, daddy, promise me,” she begged softly when he didn’t respond. Looking at him, he did seem to soften up by her mere use of the word daddy. Behind her Lily was shouting at her to stop, yet Draco seemed to pay no notice of her at all anymore. For one terrifying moment Lily actually thought that Draco would comply. He would leave his vengeance behind him, but take Millie with him. By the time Harry arrived he was nodding his consent, not even noticing the new presence in the room.
“Let them go, Draco!” Harry said coldly, his wand in his hand, ready to strike but unable to while Draco was holding on to Millie. Turning his face to Harry the softness that Millie’s words had evoked vanished before their eyes. Instead his eyes narrowed dangerously and he gripped his wand tighter. Apologising to Millie, saying it was all Harry’s fault anyway, he actually let her go in order to concentrate on the man in front of him. Taking the opportunity the girls ran to stand behind their father.
“Go back to Gryffindor tower,” Harry ordered them, while not letting Draco go with his eyes. The girls took to the stairs, but didn’t obey. Instead they sat curled up together on the steps watching what happened. Wanting the girls to be safe, Lily tried to get the girls to obey. James on his end tried to make them go for help. The girls however refused. They seemed determined to stay put for some reason. Feeling helpless, James and Lily did the only thing they could. They watched.
The men didn’t speak before they started. No words of revenge or justice or insults, just their wands pointed at one another and the curse. They both ducked the first one, and the ones following came rapidly, swift and in a blur of colour and movement. They both had their near hits, but both managed to avoid the other’s curses. On the steps Lily and Millie sat holding on to each other tightly, biting their lips in order to keep from shouting and revealing themselves to their father. It wasn’t until now that James and Lily noticed the pounding on the door to the Great Hall. Draco must have sealed it with a locking spell to prevent disruption. For the first time James and Lily felt relieved that Harry didn’t eat as regularly as he used to.
In all the blur of lights and sparks, one thing became very clear. Ten years in Azkaban had taken its toll on Draco. His magic was advanced and his spells dangerous, but he also got tired faster than Harry. His movements became slower and Harry began getting the upper hand. With a final glance towards the stairs and Millie, Draco avoided a close call only by transforming and heading towards the open door.
Thinking quickly Harry used his wand to slam the door shut forcing the raven to soar higher searching for an open window. He struggled when he felt Harry lock his wand on him trying to summon the bird to him. They were locked in this position, Harry trying to summon the bird, Draco trying to fly in the other direction, when Snape exited from the dungeons, wand in hand. Raising it, he pointed it directly at Harry.
“Let go, Potter,” he said.
“I told you Lily! The slimy bastard is helping Malfoy!” James called out and for the first time Lily was prepared to believe him.