Because You Love Me

4. The Last Stand

"I love you," she told him quickly.  She turned to Alaina.  "Go!  Up the stairs!  Hurry!"

Alaina's eyes widened fearfully.  Voldemort was here?  How?  She thought the place was protected.  She turned and ran up the stairs like Lily had asked her to, her hands holding Harry's head tightly against her chest.  She glanced back to make sure Lily was right behind her.  She was right on her heels, tears streaming down her face.  They made it up to the nursery and closed the door.  That's when they heard the explosion downstairs.  Both of them cried out in alarm, which caused Harry's eyes to shoot open wide.

James was thrown backwards.  He hadn't expected him to blow the door up.  He hit the floor hard, but he turned the pain into energy.  He was going to need all he could get.  He had his wand in hand and he was determined to hold him off for as long as possible.  Voldemort came through the door, practically gliding.  He was truly evil.  He found James standing in the middle of the living room among the debris from the front door.  He sneered.

"Your son?" he asked.

"He's safe," James growled.  "And you'll never touch him."  He started throwing spell after spell, but it was like he was immune to his magic.

"I have no time to play around," he said angrily.

"I can't imagine you being afraid of a baby."

This statement seemed to anger Voldemort and he threw a curse at James.  It narrowly missed him.  He was maneuvering himself around.  He wanted to get to the stairs.  He would protect Lily, Harry, and Alaina at all costs.

"I'm through playing!" Voldemort shouted.  

With a burst of energy, he hit James with a curse he didn't have time to shield himself from.  He flew backwards up the stairs, his wand flying from his hand.  The last thing he saw was a jet of green light coming toward him and he had no way to block it.

Up in the nursery, Alaina chewed nervously on her bottom lip.  She'd heard someone on the stairs and she was sure Lily had, too.  She was extremely nervous.

"Give me, Harry," Lily commanded.  She hurriedly wiped the tears from her face.  She knew James was dead.  The stairs were creaking too slowly.  Voldemort was coming for her now.  She didn't say anything, not wanting to worry Alaina.

Alaina quickly handed him to her.  She watched her put him down in the crib.  He was gazing up at her curiously the whole time.  Lily bent down in front of the crib so her eyes were level with her son's.  Alaina's heart was racing and tears started to well in her eyes.  This was it.

"C-Can't we just apparate out of here?" Alaina asked.

"No.  Anti-Apparition Charm.  The Order was hoping to catch anyone who tried to execute us," Lily explained.  "Besides, I couldn't leave James."

"I know.  I just-  I'm scared."

"Me too," she admitted.  "But it's going to be okay.  I won't let him kill my son."  She returned her attention back to Harry.  "Mommy loves you, Harry.  And Daddy loves you.  You're going to be okay.  Be safe and strong for me, okay?"  She picked him back up and squeezed him tightly.

Alaina watched her, heartbroken this was happening to her family.  "I'm going to go check on James."

Lily looked up at her.  "No.  It's too dangerous.  Voldemort is too powerful."

"Not as powerful as I am."

Lily raised an eyebrow as Alaina propped her leg up on the chair and raised the dress she was wearing to get her wand out of its holster.  She always wore it there.  It seemed to be safer than anywhere else anyway.  She liked wearing dresses.  Lily stared at her in amazement.

"Alaina, just stay.  He's-"

"I'll be careful," she promised.

Alaina walked over to the door, but before she could put her hand on the knob, the door exploded.  She was thrown back across the room against the wall.  Lily screamed as she fell lifelessly to the floor, blood seeping out of the side of her mouth.  Voldemort waltzed in the doorway brandishing his wand menacingly.  Lily hurriedly put Harry down in the crib and whirled around to face the only person she had ever hated in her entire life.

"Step aside," he hissed.

"No," Lily said firmly.

"Step aside and I won't kill you."

"I won't let you hurt my son."

He raised his wand.  "Very well.  Avada Kedavra!"

Lily screamed as the jet of green light hit her square in the chest.  She too fell to the floor, her eyes wide open, lifeless and empty.  Voldemort smiled, every tooth he owned showing, as he crept up to Harry's crib.  The little baby was crying now, scared and confused.  Voldemort pointed his wand at him.

"You will never defeat me, little boy," he sneered.  "I've killed your whole family and now I'm going to kill you."

Harry let out a loud wail as Voldemort rared back.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The spell hit Harry just as it had his mother, but it didn't kill him.  Tears spilled down his tiny cheeks as the man in front of him exploded into thin air, sending an explosion through the roof of the house.  Pieces of plaster and wood fell down all around him, hitting the floor with a loud thud.  The noise silenced the youngster.  He fell on his butt in the crib, his tear-filled eyes wandering around the room.  The dust that stirred because of the debris settled.

And then there was silence.

~ * ~

Sirius had done it.  He had made Peter Pettigrew the new secret keeper.  Things would be okay now.  At least that was what he hoped.  Peter had been strangely nervous around him tonight, even more so than usual.  Of course he was taking on a huge burden.  Being a secret keeper wasn't as easy as it sounded.  One wrong move and you could ruin a whole lot of lives.

He was sitting there in his house at Grimmauld Place enjoying a well-deserved glass of fire whiskey.  The day had taken its toll on him and he was as tense as he could be.  First the fiasco with Alaina at St. Mungo's had tuckered him out and then the switching of the Fidelus Charm from him to Peter.  That had gone over smoothly.  He hadn't seen him in a couple days.  Seeing James and Lily had definitely been the highlight of his day.

He took a sip out of the glass and turned on the television.  He nearly dropped it when they showed the street in Godric's Hollow where Lily and James's house still sat.  The charm hadn't broken, but something had happened.  He leaned in closer to the television as the Muggle newswoman explained there had been several loud bangs heard and the sound of a baby crying.  Everyone was afraid because there was seemingly nothing there but an empty lot.

Sirius's first thought was Harry.  If they heard a baby crying, it had to mean he was alive, right?  He had to get over there and get over there quickly.  He couldn't apparate because of the Muggles, so he chose the next best thing: his motorcycle.  In a few minutes, he rode out from the back side of Grimmauld Place, the fear of the unknown plaguing his heart.  It would take him a long time to get to Godric's Hollow that way, but he had to know one way or the other.

But when he got out onto the road, there was a bunch of traffic.  He had completely forgotten about it being Halloween.  At this rate, he wasn't going to get there before daylight.  Deciding the black of the night would shield him, he took out his wand and cast an enchantment on his bike when the coast was clear, causing him to rise into the air.  This would get him there a lot faster than the way he was going.  He leaned forward and kicked the gas, making it go even faster than he had been going on the road.  If anything happened to James and Lily, he was going to be heartbroken.