Chapter 6: A Very Merry Christmas
November came and went in a blur. Hufflepuff beat Ravenclaw in the first Quidditch match of the season, then Ravenclaw beat Slytherin, and in the last game before winter break, Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw.
Charlie and Kalvin were the focal point of gossip for about two weeks. It was a shock to many people as it had been at first for Lily to see this rebellious Tomgirl going steady with a gorgeous Quidditch captain. Rumors ignited, of course, but the couple either didn’t pay attention to them or didn’t hear of them. Lily had never seen Charlie so happy before.
Something she also noticed that made her smirk was Sirius giving Kalvin a calculating look through narrowed eyes whenever he was around. When she thought about it, he had been acting rather… decent since Charlie started dating Kal. She might just talk to him about that sometime later.
Toward the middle of December, Remus had one nasty full moon. Apparently, the other three Marauders hadn’t been able to get to the Shrieking Shack discreetly. As a result, Remus had torn himself up pretty badly, and only got more violent when he supposedly heard other animals outside the Shack. He spent what must have been a week in the hospital wing, constantly covered in thick orange paste. Questions had come up, but were quickly forgotten.
Lily found that James seemed to be everywhere she went. If she was in the library, she would peek through shelves and see him a couple aisles down. If she went to breakfast early, he would already be sitting at Gryffindor table. If she unexpectedly ran out of ink or paper in a class, he would be there sitting next to her or behind her, ready to give her some of his spare supplies.
It had her asking herself if she believed in miracles, coincidences, or just luck in general. To be honest, she really believed in all three, but she still got the feelings it wasn’t just the play of the cards that had him hovering over her.
She’d yet to tell anyone about graduating early with credits and moving back to the muggle world, even Dumbledore. She told herself she was just thinking it over, but in reality she was beginning to be reluctant to leave.
Before anyone knew it, exams were taken and trunks were being packed for the holiday at home.
“Silver bells… silver bells… It’s Christmas time… in the city…” sang Lily at breakfast on the day they were to leave for home. She was dancing in her seat.
“You’re not normally a morning person,” grumbled James with heavy-lidded eyes.
“I can’t wait to see Mum and Dad!” She continued with her carol.
“Shut up and eat your breakfast already,” Sirius ordered.
Lily giggled with pleasure that she was pestering her anti-morning friends and hummed instead. Remus rolled his eyes but grinned.
Later, everyone was standing outside waiting for the carriages to take him or her to Hogsmeade Station to board the Hogwarts Express. Lily was still humming and bouncing on the balls of her feet. Charlie was off sharing goodbyes with Kalvin, and she didn’t know where the Marauders had gone off.
Suddenly, something cold hit her square in the back of the head. Turning around, she saw Sirius looking up at the cloudy sky and whistling, putting on his ‘don’t look at me, I’m innocent’ act. Lily smiled evilly. She bent down, made a snowball, and then took out her wand. She doubled the snowball, and then duplicated those snowballs and so on until she had a pile up to her knees. Then she enchanted them to follow Sirius until they all will have hit him.
When Sirius realized what she was doing, he gave a high-pitched shriek and ran. Lily laughed so hard she had tears running down her cheeks and was clutching her side. “Black, you scream like a girl!”
The carriages had already arrived when she turned back around. Finding an empty one, she climbed in and got comfortable.
“Lilliana Brielle Evans!” yelled a voice causing her to jump. In clambered Sirius, soaking wet and panting. “You’ll pay!” He lunged at her and tackled her to the floor of the carriage, tickling her mercilessly. Being one of her best friends now, he knew exactly where she was sensitive. Lily screamed and wriggled. She felt the carriage shift as many someones entered. She could only guess who it was.
“R-Remus! Help!” she squeaked. Remus pretended to think it over, shrugged, and joined forces with Sirius.
“N-not him! Me! S-stop! I “ can’t “ breathe!”
“Say: Sirius rules, Evans drools!” Sirius challenged.
“No!”
“Say it!”
“No!”
“Say it!”
“No!”
“Fine, I’ll have Prongs kiss you!”
“NO!”
“Then say it!”
“Sirius drools, Evans rules!”
“Tut, tut, Lily! Switch it around.”
“Evans rules, Sirius drools!”
“You know, Padfoot, this is technically correct,” Remus sided. Peter and James were watching the whole scene in amusement.
“Sure, stick up for the damsel in distress!”
“I’m just being fair.”
“Fine.” Sirius let up, leaving Lily gasping for breath on the floor of the carriage.
“You… foul… little… worm…” she panted.
Sirius just smiled as he sat between Remus, on his left, and James, on his right. Peter and Charlie were seated on the other side. “So, what are you doing for Christmas, Lily?”
Lily eyes him warily. “What do you care?”
Sirius shrugged. “Just wondering.”
“I’ll be sitting at home, enjoying my solitude away from Slughorn and… certain others. I also have to have dinner with Petunia’s fiancé, Vernon.” Lily pretended to wrap her hands around her throat and strangle herself, earning laughter in return. “Going straight to James’s then, Sirius?”
“Ain’t no way I’m going home.”
“There isn’t any way,” Lily corrected, “Didn’t you learn proper grammar?” Sirius folded his arms and stuck his tongue out at her as the carriage came to a stop. “Oh, real mature.”
The train ride was made up of mostly sweets, jokes, and laughing. But when Peter took out a copy of the Daily Prophet from that morning, talk started up on the rising dark wizard, Lord Voldemort.
Over the past few weeks he’d evolved from being a troublesome shadow to a dangerous murderer. Several entire families had been attacked, or sometimes it was just a single member or two. But no matter the number of casualties, one could always tell where a murder had just taken place. In the sky of above the scene of the crime, there was a skull that looked like a green cloud. The most disturbing aspect of the symbol though, was the snake that would protrude from the skull’s mouth.
Rumors had been spread saying that this Dark Lord was fantastically powerful. Some even said that he would be greater than Grindalwald had been, and that had set people in such a state that few called him Voldemort any more. It was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who.
When the six stepped off the train, they said reluctant goodbyes and gave bear hugs. Lily’s brows drew together when James lingered a little longer in the embrace than expected. But before any thoughts could form, he was drawing away again and giving her an earnest grin that gave her the feeling it had more meaning than she realized.
A week later, Lily had read 2 romance novels, always ending happily with a promise of a wonderful future for the characters, and 1 mystery thriller; she wasn’t able to put it down until it was finished because of the constant suspense and cliffhangers. When she had finished, her eyes burned every time she blinked from lack of moisture.
She took a hot bath every night until her skin was as shriveled as dried prunes, soaking in “Lily of the Valley” suds.
She didn’t sleep all day though. She woke up between eight and nine. After breakfast on some mornings she would stroll slowly down a path she knew by heart to the neighborhood park. There she plopped down on a swing and listened to her surroundings, taking in the magical view, though it contained no magic.
It was presently Lily’s 7th evening home, Christmas Eve. Petunia was staying with Vernon Dursley for Christmas. Lily and her parents were to go to his house at noon tomorrow for Christmas dinner. Sitting in the living room, Lily was flipping through her latest magazine. Mark Evans’s eyes darted from side to side as he read the articles in a newspaper and Maggie Evans had her eyebrows knit as she tried to figure a crossword. The fire was crackling joyfully, sending sparks up before they vanished moments later.
Lily started when she heard a twig snap outside, but dismissed it as an adventurous animal. Then she heard it again, this time accompanied by footsteps crunching on snow. Slowly standing from her chair, she walked over to the window and peeked through the slit between the curtains. No streetlamps were alight. Now knowing something wasn’t right, Lily felt around in her pockets but couldn’t find her wand.
“Something wrong?” Lily turned around to find her dad looking at her curiously and seriously. She had told both of her parents about the new danger Muggles were in, and they made sure to keep an eye open.
“I heard something.” She was straining her ears. After a tense moment, her blood ran cold and she froze.
Click.
Her senses came back and she grabbed her father’s wrist, then her mother’s and frantically looked about for something to hide behind or inside of. There was a coat closet; Lily shoved them in.
“Stay here and stay quiet. I have to go get my wand. I’ll come back for you.” The terrified look on her parents’ faces broke her heart. “I love you.” She shut the door of the closet, leaving them in darkness, and softly but quickly padded through the living room and up the stairs.
Oh my god, oh my god, there are Death Eaters in my house…
Lily decided she should send for help while she was in her room. She grabbed a scrap of parchment and a pen (since she didn’t have time to search for a quill and ink) and scribbled:
Help! Death Eaters! “ Lily
James…
Lily’s snowy owl, Hannah, had been watching Lily curiously, wondering what’s going on. When Lily called her over, she immediately obeyed, knowing something was amiss. Lily tied the S.O.S. to Hannah’s leg and told her to take it to Sirius or any of the Potters as fast as she could and to stay there for a while. She didn’t know how far away the Potters resided.
After Hannah took off out the window, Lily grabbed her wand off her bedside table. Taking a few deep breaths, she reminded herself of some spells.
Stupefy… Petrificus Totalus… Reducto… Protego… Collo-
A blood-curdling shriek echoed up the stairs. Lily’s breath caught in her throat. Without a coherent thought of what she was doing, Lily bolted down the stairs and into the living room.
There stood ten black, hooded figures, whose heads all swiveled as she entered the room. Looking through a gap between two of them, she saw her mother’s and father’s bodies lying on the floor with a freaked look on their faces, and subconsciously noted the living room was in shambles.
“Ah, the Mudblood has come to play,” one of the figures jeered. Lily’s comprehension came back tenfold. She turned and ran through the hall and kitchen towards the front door.
“Stupefy!” A red flash went over Lily’s shoulder.
“Reducto!” Lily screamed, not wanted to waste time jiggling the door handle. The front door blasted open and Lily ran out into the front yard. She heard a Death Eater shout, ”Incendio!” and knew her house was doomed. Her yard, like all the others, was covered in snow from the first storm of the winter the night before. Lily had nothing to hide behind except the car, and she knew that probably wouldn’t be a good idea.
1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… There’s too many! I can’t take them all on my own! Just as these thoughts were going through her mind, Lily heard a ‘pop’.
“Leave the prodigy to me,” a high, hissing voice drawled. The Death Eaters stopped giving chase, and made way for a, well, Lily didn’t think it was human. It, or rather he, had skin as white as the snow crunching beneath his feet and a bald head. The whites of his eyes were yellow and their color was blood red.
Lord Voldemort had arrived.
“You’ve been a real burden upon me, but now, that will come to an end, girl,” he forewarned. He took out his wand and aimed it right at Lily’s heart as her eyes widened and she stood paralyzed with fear.
“Avada Kedav-“
“TOM!” Lily spun around to face a very livid Dumbledore; she’d never seen him this mad, nor thought it possible. His face was actually flushed. “YOU WILL NOT HARM LILY!”
“Dumbledore,” Voldemort spat, “Do not call me by that disgraceful name. My name is Lord Voldemort. The Mudblood is in my way, I must dispose of her.” Before anyone could blink, he said the Killing Curse once again. It seemed to sail toward Lily in slow motion, but before it could touch her, she quickly conjured a wooden chair that intercepted it, setting it ablaze with fire like her house.
Everyone, including Lily, was shocked for a moment at her quick thinking. Obviously no one had ever deflected a Killing Curse before.
Next thing she knew was Dumbledore dueling Voldemort “ with her in the middle. Ducking under and jumping over spells, Lily was getting quite the workout. Voldemort would occasionally throw a curse at her, but either Dumbledore or herself would block it. The Death Eaters just stood there; they had not been commanded to do anything. Lily only just noticed the neighbors looking horror struck out their windows at the scene.
Suddenly there was a ‘crack’. Lily looked back and saw Voldemort had disappeared, and Dumbledore was looking around wildly. In a split second, there was a ‘pop’, Dumbledore shouted, “Lily!” and Lily was overtaken with pain. It was everywhere. She was determined not to give Voldemort the satisfaction of hearing her scream. Liquid fire flooded through her veins and it felt like all of her bones were breaking at once, over and over again. She fell to her knees, doubled over, hugging herself, biting her lip so hard it bled, and squeezing her eyes shut though hot tears still slipped through. She felt the pain get worse as Voldemort got frustrated with her lack of wailing. She was slowly lapsing into unconsciousness.
As soon as it had started, it stopped. Every part of Lily was still throbbing, but at least the real pain was over.
There were more voices around her then there had been before. She opened her eyes. Voldemort and Dumbledore were at it again, but now the Death Eaters were dueling, too, with people Lily didn’t know, except three. Sirius, Remus, and James were back to back fighting one Death Eater each. She had to help; it was her fault in the first place. She shakily stood and plucked her wand from the ground where it had fallen. She walked unnoticed toward the three Death Eaters her best friends were fighting.
Stupefy, she thought. A red jet of light from her wand hit her target, Sirius’s dueler, square in the back and he or she dropped. Sirius smiled at her gratefully, and then nodded toward Remus, meaning she help Remus while Sirius helped James. She nodded back to show she understood.
Pieces of her burning house kept crumbling to the ground. Lily snuck up behind Remus’s Death Eater and they met the same fate as Sirius’s Death Eater had. Remus jogged up to her.
“You okay?” he panted.
“Yea-“ Unexpectedly, Lily was grabbed from behind. She felt a wand being jabbed into her throat. Remus made toward her but -- “STOP!” Voldemort, who was holding her, bellowed. Everyone stopped dueling and turned toward he and Lily. She was breathing rapidly, seeing her breath come from her mouth. She hadn’t noticed how cold it was outside because the flaming house emitted plenty of heat.
The Death Eaters congregated behind Voldemort as the people who had been dueling them grouped in front of Lily. She figured these were the people here to help her. Some of the good people took steps forward, but Voldemort wouldn’t be intimidated.
“DON’T move!” They froze. “I’m going to do what I came to do!” The good people’s eyes widened. Some looked like they really wanted to run forward and help Lily, especially James, Sirius, and Remus, but knew they shouldn’t.
“Goodbye, you naïve little Mudblood,” Voldemort whispered in her ear, making her shiver from the stench. But before he could take a breath to utter a word, Lily’s mind caught up and told her to struggle.
All at the same time, Lily elbowed Voldemort in the stomach, stomped onto his right foot with hers, and lifted her other foot into his groin “ hard. He let go of her and she fell forward from imbalance, and then she half-sprinted, half-stumbled over to her group of people. Dumbledore stepped in front of her and James, Sirius, and Remus all helped her up and held her closely and protectively.
When Voldemort had regained his composure, he looked at Lily furiously, his pale cheeks tinted pink in anger. “You’ve won this battle, Mudblood, but you didn’t come out unscathed.” With that said, he was gone in a ‘crack,’ his Death Eaters following.
Lily stood where she was, feeling far away from everyone. She had no home, no belongs, no… parents. Her parents were gone. Gone.
“Lily? Come on, we need to get out of here,” she could distantly hear Remus saying. She didn’t move, or even acknowledge that he was there. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and stared at the ground.
“Lily?” She felt someone put a hand on her cheek. “Bloody hell, she’s in shock. We need to get her out of here and we need to get her warm.”
An almighty shudder racked her body. She was starting to get really cold, really fast. Her vision was starting to blur in the corners.
Suddenly she was being carried bridal-style. She gasped and wrapped her arms around the neck of whoever was carrying her. Focusing her eyes on the person’s face to find it was James, Lily started and said, “What are you doing?” she slurred really faintly, as though she didn’t have the energy to talk.
“Carrying you.”
“I think I can manage myself, thanks.”
“No, you can’t. Just lean on me for a minute.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“Out of here.”
Lily looked around, having forgot where ‘here’ was. She saw the burning house and many people talking on the streets. Something was missing.
Jerking to get down, she gasped, “Petunia, where’s Petunia?”
James held on tight. “She’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
Lily, not caring much at the moment about any particular thing, sighed and laid her head on his shoulder.
All of a sudden, James said, “Hold on to me.” The world spun in circles but before she could get her head around what was going on, James was sitting her down on a sink counter in a bathroom. “Stay there.” He turned and the sounds of running water could be heard.
Lily took in her surroundings. It was a fair sized room, not too cramped but not too spacious. There was a door on the wall opposite her, probably a closet. The door to the room was open a crack, and she could see a scarlet bathrobe hanging from a hook on the inside. The walls were painted with swirls of a pale red color and cream. The tub that was being filled was round and could probably fit ten people in it.
The water stopped and James came back to her, studying her face. She met his gaze unconcernedly. “Do you feel dizzy?”
“Slightly.”
“Nauseous?”
“Not really.”
He blew out a breath and seemed to hesitate. Then he untied her shoes and slipped them along with her socks off her feet, doing the same to himself.
She started. “What are you doing?”
“Come here.” He held out his arms and, though hesitating, she warily slid into them. He carried her a few steps, then stepped into the bathtub.
“What are you doing? What about our clothes?”
He chuckled and said, “Trust me, when you get your bearings straight, you’ll want them on.”
All Lily could do was furrow her eyebrows as he sat back in the tub. Lying with her back on his chest, the warm water came up to her chin and immediately started soothing her senses. James wrapped his arms around her to hold her in place; she sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head back.
“Is it too hot?” he asked
“Nuh-uh,” she whispered, her breathing starting to slowly even out. She felt James lift a hand and press two fingers on the pulse point in her neck.
“Pulse is getting back to normal. Are you still shaky?”
“Just tired,” she sighed.
After about another ten minutes, Lily felt the smoke clear from her mind. Without much discomfort, she realized she was in a bathtub filled with warm water with James Potter under her. Within what must have been a half hour, Death Eaters had invaded her home, killed her parents, and taken everything she had in the Muggle world away from her. Except Petunia, but she hadn’t even been around. Lily sighed. She would have to talk to her sister tomorrow.
She was much too tired to be very grief-stricken yet, though she knew it would hit full-force tomorrow. She vaguely wondered where everyone else had gotten.
“James.”
“Hmm?”
She turned around a bit to look up at him. “I’m all right now. Can I just go to bed?”
He did an extreme examination of her face, trying to gauge her emotions and the truth of that statement. Apparently approving of what he saw, he nodded and gave a nudge so she would stand up. They climbed out and he drained the tub, but then they just stood and looked at each other in their wet cloths.
Lily cleared her throat and looked away, causing James to snap out of whatever daydream he had been caught up in. “Zeeny!” he called.
Lily recognized a house-elf when she saw one. This one didn’t look wary or worn though; it looked healthy and proud. The baseball-sized eyes took in the two seventh years and their wet cloths. Lips pursed and eyes narrowed, Zeeny snapped her fingers, instantly drying the clothes.
James led Lily to a spare guest room and showed her where everything was, also providing her with one of his t-shirts for nightwear. Glad to have something other than the clothes she was in, Lily took it gratefully. All the while he watched her with intense and heavily concerned hazel eyes.
Just as he was about to shut the door and leave her alone, Lily went with impulse and quickly strode over to him. Throwing her arms around his waist, she buried her face in his chest and let out a large long-suffering sigh. Thinking of her past and everything she had known suddenly disappearing, one single tear escaped her. When she drew her head back to look up at him, he gently wiped the tear away with his thumb. “Will you be all right?”
Lily nodded and buried her face in his chest again for another moment. She felt so… safe here. Content. Protected.
Loved.
And what surprised her most was the fact that she wanted this moment to last forever. She never wanted to leave his strong embrace. Deciding to sleep on it, she kissed his cheek and went to bed, not necessarily looking forward to the morning.