Lily was stressed. However, it was not just the Head Girl, many fifth and seventh years were becoming more and more irritable as OWLs and NEWTs loomed nearer. Lily was finding it difficult to juggle Head duties, Charms and Potions Clubs, massive amounts of homework, and the antics of the Marauders.
Lily hadn’t known that when she began seeing James, she would apparently be getting the entire collection of maniacs. They were insane, the four of them; their energy was limitless. All four loved Quidditch”rain or shine”though James was the sole House player of the group. Remus, James, Peter and Sirius had even tried to convince Lily to go for a fly, but after a disastrous first year flying lesson, Lily had been cured of all her desire to swing a leg over an unsafe piece of wood again.
Overall, the third years and above eagerly and gratefully welcomed a getaway trip to Hogsmeade village in the middle of February. Lily and Alice had made plans to go shopping together then meet up with Frank, James, and the others for lunch in the Three Broomsticks.
Lily and Alice, their purses tinkling with coins, strolled leisurely along the streets of Hogsmeade, stopping to browse through the more interesting stores. The girls chatted and giggled non-stop, reverting back to their former best friend-ship as easily and comfortably as slipping on a favourite pair of shoes.
“You know,” Alice remarked as they emerged from Scrivenshaft’s, “Hogsmeade wouldn’t be a bad place to live at all.”
“Mmm…It wouldn’t,” Lily agreed. Her stomach rumbled. “How’s about meeting the others for lunch, eh?”
“Good idea.”
A sudden shriek pierced their ears.
“What was that?” Lily asked.
Alice just looked bewildered as they took off running. They turned onto Main Street and were greeted with a terrible sight. Villagers and students were running away from Lily and Alice, towards Hogwarts. Lily and Alice both gasped as they saw what was causing so much terror.
Graphorns*.
Death Eaters.
Lord Voldemort himself!
Lily was almost paralyzed with fear. Lord Voldemort, here? Why here?
“Oh, my God,” Alice whispered, her voice trembling with the same, familiar fear.
“We’ve got to do something.” Lily found her voice at last.
“Yes.” Alice rushed forward, Lily hot on her heels.
“I’ve got to get the younger students back to Hogwarts!” Lily shouted to make herself heard over the screams as they ran towards the fray. “Gather up some of the older students and try to hold off the Death Eaters. Try not to get yourselves killed, and avoid the graphorns!”
They split up. Lily ran to a group of panicking third years closely pursued by a black-robed Death Eater.
“Petrificus totalus! ” Lily got him from behind. “Come on, guys, follow me!” She swept them in front of her and they took off running up the road to Hogwarts. She met Remus, Peter, and two other prefects herding other students the same way.
“Remus, Peter!” Lily gasped, relief seeping through her. “Where are James, Frank and Sirius?”
“I dunno,” Remus replied, looking sweaty and dirt-stained. “We lost them a few minutes ago.”
“Ok, then,” said Lily worriedly. “Will you take the kids back to the school? Alert the Professors. I’ll-”
Lily never finished her sentence. A tiny girl in Hufflepuff robes screamed and pointed past Lily. Lily whipped around. The graphorn, an enormous, ugly grey-purple creature, was charging toward the group of students. Lily, Peter and the prefects quickly pushed the students together and stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of them, blocking them all from the graphorn’s view.
As the graphorn closed the distance between them”unaffected by the spells thrown at it”a huge black dog came out of nowhere and launched itself at the graphorn’s hunched back. The two creatures went rolling, snarling and sending up bits of mud and slushy snow. Some spattered the pale, watching faces of the students transfixed in horror. Then, Peter tore his eyes away from the scene and said urgently, “Quickly, while it’s distracted! Let’s go now!” The group sprang into action. The prefects and Peter charged the students in the direction of the school while Lily and Remus sprinted in the other direction. Remus glanced over his shoulder at the fighting animals.
“Lucky, that,” said Lily breathlessly as they ran. The spitting from behind ceased and Remus was suddenly knocked off his feet as the graphorn bowled him over.
“Remus!”
“I’m alright,” he gasped, pushing himself up as Lily tried to lift him. His trousers were torn and bloodied where he had been grazed.
“Are you-”
“Avada Kedavra! ”
Remus dove to the ground, bringing Lily roughly down with him as a jet of green light missed them by inches.
Lily caught sight of long, dark robes billowing ominously in front of her in the chilly breeze. She had a bad, foreboding feeling about the person who would accompany such robes, robes as magnificent as if Satan himself had placed them on the body of the creature in front of her. She and Remus scrambled to their feet, wands held at the ready.
“Ah, students out to play?” asked a cold voice in a low hiss.
Lily’s heart nearly stopped as cruel red eyes roamed over her and Remus. He twitched his wand and Remus went sailing through the air, the siding of the Three Broomsticks violently halting his flight. He was knocked unconscious immediately, sliding to the ground. Lily was rooted to the spot, shaking madly with fear.
“So, my pet,” drawled Lord Voldemort, “have you come to play with Lord Voldemort?”
He was playing her. Lily felt sickened. He was going to toy with her before he killed her. Well, she was not going to let him. She squared her shoulders.
“Stobensie! **” she cried, sending the orange light straight at Voldemort. He blocked her spell easily.
“Not going to play nicely, are we, Miss Evans?” he said menacingly. “Very well.”
He threw something powerful at her, and Lily barely dodged it. She smelled burning hair. Things continued in this manner: Voldemort would throw a curse at her, each more deadly than the last. After her first dodge, Lily wasn’t so lucky. Her eye felt as if it had been gouged out, and her left arm was on fire. She was panting, completely winded, while Voldemort stood watching her lazily, unscathed.
“As much as I have enjoyed this time together, I’m afraid that our playtime must end now.” Voldemort’s eyes glowed with anticipation as he raised his wand again.
“Farewell, Miss Evans.”
Lily threw one last weak curse at him. This is it, she thought. Prophecy or no, I am going to die right here.
“NOOO!”
Voldemort’s jet of green light was never fired. He turned quickly to block the unexpected attack, and his scarlet eyes narrowed with malice as they spotted his new prey.
“Mr. Potter,” he breathed through his snake-like nose; a thin, mocking smile appeared after the initial frown of displeasure.
“Get away from her!” James snarled. He was in front of her, blocking her view of Voldemort, his wand held pointed at Voldemort’s chest. He looked battered; his robes were in tatters, hair unruly and sticking to a bloody gash on the back of his neck.
“James, no,” Lily hissed from behind him, clutching a fistful of his robes. James wasn’t listening. His eyes were locked on Voldemort.
“Decided to join me yet, boy?” Voldemort’s cruel, taunting voice asked James.
“Never!” spat James, his wand never wavering.
“Pity. Your temper would make you a magnificent killer.”
“I am not a killer!” yelled James furiously, growing red with rage.
“No, that’s a job best left to your father, isn’t it?” Voldemort’s low voice mocked James. James fiercely shot a spell at Voldemort, who blocked the advanced magic as easily as though he was swatting a fly.
“Temper, temper. You could live a wonderful life you know. Just give in to your dark nature; it is calling to you, James. Join me now and avoid the fate of all who defy me***.”
James fired another jet of white light at Voldemort.
“You have chosen the loosing side, James. You are all foolish to believe that you could ever defeat me-”
“Dumbledore! ”
The cry rang amongst those still duelling in the streets of Hogsmeade.
“My Lord!” A masked Death Eater approached Voldemort quickly. “My Lord, he’s here!”
“Dumbledore,” Voldemort breathed. “A foe beyond any of you. Fly, you fools! ****” He commanded his followers, and they instantly Disapparated. “We will not meet again,” he said to Lily and James, and he swished his wand toward the two. He Disapparated, as well. The building behind them crumbled.
“Are you alright, Lily?” came James’ muffled voice from the rubble beside Lily.
“Yes,” she said, rising unsteadily to her feet.
An ear-splitting screech reached Lily and James.
“I’ve got to go,” said James urgently. “Get up to the castle, Lily.” He raced off in the direction that the sound of pain had come from. Lily waited until he was out of sight, and then followed him as fast as her tired legs would take her. The cry had sounded like that of an animal. The only animals Lily had seen that day were the graphorns and that black dog. By the sounds coming from the alleyway down which Lily was now travelling”the one leading to the Hog’s Head”the dog and graphorn were still at it.
She sped up, realizing that James was nowhere to be seen. Where had he gone? Lily turned a dark corner and stopped dead in her tracks, staring, mesmerized by the sight before her.
The graphorn was backed into the dead end, wounded fatally. The black dog was poised a short distance away, crouched low to the ground, its hackles raised. Beside it was a gorgeous chestnut stag with its golden-antlered head lowered toward the dying graphorn. There were dark earthen stains all over its lustrous body, as well as splotches of blood. It had its fierce brown eyes trained on the graphorn, awaiting the creature’s next move. Its eyes were beautiful, thought Lily through her anxiety for the two creatures, almost familiar, like a friend’s…
Before Lily could even complete her thought, the fatally wounded graphorn made one last leap at the two creatures in front of it. In the blink of an eye, the trapped creature was lying in a bloody heap beneath the stag. As the black dog slithered out from underneath the stinking graphorn, Lily gasped a little. The two animals turned sharply toward her, startled by the unexpected sound. Lily took a few steps back as the animals walked tentatively forward; then she backed into a wall to let them pass, her wand held uselessly at her side.
Though they appeared dangerous beasts, they had probably just saved a few lives and deserved to walk away. As they passed her, the animals’ eyes, locked onto hers, glittered in the light of her wand. Up close, Lily could see that both dog and stag were decorated with flowing battle wounds. The dog stopped in front of her and wagged its tail at her. Lily tentatively held out her hand and the dog rubbed its head against it. Its blood-matted shag was still soft and the muscles almost gentle beneath her touch. The stag bent its head and gave the dog a prod with its antlers. The dog bounded off down the alleyway.
The stag stopped in front of her also. Beneath a gaping slash on its forehead, its eyes startled her. Their expression was mournful, yet loving, as if saying, “I’m so sorry you had to witness that, but it had to be done.” Then it was gone.
Lily tried to follow the two saviours back through the alleyway but the hoof beats were soon out of hearing range. Once back to where the battle had taken place, Lily looked all around, but both animals had disappeared. Lily gave up the thought of searching for them and made her way over to where Professor Dumbledore was examining an injured student. She picked her way over debris and the other graphorn, dead on its side.
“Miss Evans,” Dumbledore said as she approached. “Once again, I am indebted to you for your assistance in a disastrous situation. This wasn’t exactly in your job description as Head Girl, eh?”
“No, Professor,” she said, smiling faintly.
“I suggest you go up to the Hospital Wing to have Madam Pomfrey take care of your injuries,” he said, turning back to the student sprawled on the ground. “Please then offer your services where they are needed. I imagine that Madam Pomfrey will be in need of some help.”
“Yes, sir,” she said. Before she did as Dumbledore asked, she wanted to find Remus.
“Mr. Lupin has already been transported to the Hospital Wing.” Professor Dumbledore was helping the student to her feet as he stood up also. “Miss Evans, are you hurt badly? No? Then could you please assist Miss Lund to the hospital wing as well?”
“Of course, Professor.”
“There, good as new,” Madam Pomfrey declared as she put the finishing touches on Lily’s arm. “You may go, Miss Evans. But,” she said, looking at Lily sternly as Lily flexed her arm, “I don’t want to see you in here again this year.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Lily laughed, pulling her robes on straight. Madam Pomfrey hurried off with the screen. Lily arose from the cot and spotted Peter, Sirius and James all gathered around a bed that she assumed belonged to Remus. Lily hastened over to them. As she joined them, she was appalled to see nicks, bruises, dirt, and gashes all over the three boys, Sirius and James worst of all. They had definitely been in the thick of it.
“Guys, what-” Her eyes widened as she peered down at the limp figure on the cot. Lily slipped her hand into James’. “How is he?” she murmured, concerned.
“His skull was fractured, and every bone in his back was shattered,” James muttered, turning his face toward hers. Remus was paralyzed. Lily took in the flowing slice on his forehead and the blood dripping down his neck. “Graphorn poison was spreading up his leg, but Madam Pomfrey got him the antidote to that at once.”
Lily tore her eyes away from James to glance down at Remus again. She looked at Sirius, sprinkled with the same purplish blood as James. Only one creature known to Lily has purplish blood, and two of those had just terrorized Hogsmeade village. Did they have something to do with the one Lily had passed, lying dead on the ground, or the one that had been killed by the stag and the dog?
“Miss Evans,” Madam Pomfrey interrupted Lily’s thoughts, “you’re free to go! Back to your dormitory with you!”
“Madam Pomfrey,” Lily said quickly, coming out of her reverie, “Professor Dumbledore has instructed me to offer my assistance where you are in need of it.”
“Oh.” She paused in her rapid inspection of Remus’ injuries. “I have my two Healers-in-training,” she said, pointing at the other end of the ward where Dorcas Meadowes and Melissa Greenleaf were bustling about. “We may not-
Just then, the door to the wing burst open and three cots of moaning students came floating through the door, followed by Professor McGonagall.
“These students are in need of care, Madam Pomfrey,” she said, “though not immediately. Minor injuries.” She set the cots down gently and exited quickly.
“Madam Pomfrey should I-?” asked Lily questioningly.
“Yes, yes, see what you can do for them, Miss Evans. I need to make a call to St. Mungo’s.” With that said, she rushed into her office to use the Floo.
Lily did her best to make the three students comfortable until Dorcas took over, flashing her a brief smile of thanks. Melissa mended the Marauders quickly. Remus and another badly mangled student were whisked away to St. Mungo’s shortly after.
The following morning over breakfast, Lily shared the more interesting bits of her Daily Prophet with Alice, Frank, and the Marauders.
“‘After the attack on the village of Hogsmeade,’” she read aloud, “‘He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named and his Death Eaters devastated the Muggle town of Dundee, leaving nearly one hundred and fifty dead. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement and a squadron of Aurors were dispatched to the scene within minutes of the attack. Unfortunately, they were too late to save most, as the Dark Lord and his followers Disapparated the moment the DMLE appeared. Obliviators were forced to wipe hundreds of memories.
“‘This attack was unexpected and unprovoked,’ said an exhausted-looking Enforcement agent. ‘We don’t have any clue about where You-Know-Who will strike next.’” Lily finished.
“Bastard!” growled Sirius. “All those-” He cut himself off as the great hall grew quiet suddenly. Professor Dumbledore was standing at the staff table.
“Students of Hogwarts,” he said gravely. “A most terrible tragedy occurred yesterday. It was unanticipated and unjustified. Nonetheless, it has struck us. Two of our number were taken from us by Lord Voldemort.”
Lily heard sobs from the Ravenclaw table and the third year Gryffindors.
“Let us honour them now.” Dumbledore raised his goblet and the school followed.
“To Sahara Arahm and Basil Watton.”
Breakfast afterwards was a quiet affair, but Lily had to ask James about something that had been bothering her since the attack yesterday.
“James,” she said, lowering her voice. “How were you and Sirius injured yesterday?”
James and Sirius met each other’s gaze for a fraction of a second. Lily noticed.
“A graphorn,” said James briefly.
“Did you kill it? Did it hurt you badly?” Lily asked, the sight of the beast on its side floating through her mind.
“Yeah, we killed it, but it didn’t hurt us badly.” There was a pause.
“James,” she said tentatively. “After V-Voldemort Disapparated, I tried to follow you, but you had disappeared.”
“Yeah..?”
“I went down the alleyway leading to the Hog’s Head, and I saw”I saw the other graphorn.” Peter, Sirius and James were all leaning in close to hear her better. “It was cornered by a huge dog and a”a deer. They…killed it,” she choked out. “They probably saved a few students by doing that, but…it was so strange.”
“Yeah, strange,” repeated Sirius, shooting a furtive look at James, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Undeterred by their lack of response, Lily continued.
“They were injured: the dog had a massive gash on its side and the stag”it was beautiful”the stag had a cut on its…forehead…” Something clicked in Lily’s brain. She twisted around in her seat to look straight into James’ face, which in turn looked a bit like a deer caught in some headlights. “James, that cut on your forehead…How did you get it?”
“I just remembered that I haven’t finished my potions homework!” Sirius exclaimed, jumping up from the table.
“Me, too.” James and Peter made to follow him, but Lily grabbed James’ arm. “Were you that stag, James?” she whispered feverishly, and then shook her head as if bringing herself back to her senses. “No, you can’t have”How could that have been you? Unless-” Her eyes gleamed as she rose from the table. “You know, I have to finish something as well. Research. I’ll be in the library if you need me. See you guys later!” She hurried out of the Great Hall and wasn’t surprised when she heard quick footsteps behind her a moment later.
“Lily,” James called. “Lily, wait! D’you, uh, need some help with that research?”
“No,” she replied cheerfully. “This is some research that I’d rather do on my own, thanks.” She sped off, leaving him behind. James just stared after her, at a loss for a course of action. She was bound to find out sooner or later, though I had hoped it would be later, thought James. Well, I’d better tell her myself, and soon.
A/N: * Graphorns”I did not make this creature up; J.K. Rowling did, however. For more information on this creature, check out Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, pages 19-20.
** “Stobensie! ””This is a made up spell of mine, which is garbled German for ‘repel’.
*** “Avoid the fate of all who defy me””A helpful suggestion by my Beta, lumos_aeternum
*** “Fly, you fools!””Here, Voldemort shouted this to his Death Eaters. In “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” the film, Gandalf the Grey whispers this to the Fellowship before falling into the pits of Moria.