In The Works

Harry Potter - Sirius/Lily

She needed to focus. She didn't have much time. Not only because Voldemort was undoubtedly making his way up the stairs at that very moment to kill her son...

...but because there was only so much time to accept the protection James' sacrifice would give Harry.

And prepare for her own sacrifice to do the same.

Deep in the recesses of the Potter Library, she'd come across an old, forgotten tome that, buried in its pages, had held a protection spell. At first, Lily had cringed away from it, realizing at once what the terms of the spell required.

But then they had learned Voldemort was hunting them. And they had learned that Voldemort wanted nothing more than to kill Harry. While Lily had been skeptical of Dumbledore's furtive hints that Harry was prophesied to be the key to Voldemort's defeat, she hadn't been able to ignore the fact that Voldemort believed it. Neither had she been able to ignore the feeling deep in her gut that told her they wouldn't be able to hide forever.

And the protection spell had reemerged from the nebulous realm of her memory.

She'd told James about it that first night they'd been in hiding.

At first he too had shied away from it; it was blood magic, he'd snapped, and too unpredictable and dangerous because of it. But as the days had turned to weeks, the feeling of inevitability had begun to press on him, and he had brought it up again. After weeks of discussing it and researching, they had decided that it would be their last resort. Should Voldemort find them...Harry needed to be protected at all costs. But it was more than his overwhelming love for his son that had James reconsidering; as much as he hated the thought of the future resting on his child's shoulders, James had believed Dumbledore when he'd told them Harry was the key to winning the War where Lily had scoffed at the viability of prophecy. Lily simply needed to do whatever she could to protect her son.

So they had initiated the spell, laying the magical groundwork so that, should one or both of them be killed, Harry would still have their protection after their death. Lily, being as skilled with Charms as she was, had woven the first layers around her, James and their precious child, drawing on James' power to bolster her own considerable magical strength.

And now that Voldemort had come?

It was time to complete the spell.

Another shuddering sob threatened to shatter the incantations that had started falling from her lips the instant she had turned back to her son. A tingle of power fluttered across her skin as the spell took hold, the signature unmistakably James. In his cot, Harry made a face as it settled around him, imbuing his skin with a soft, soothing glow. At once he calmed, as though knowing the magical energy surrounding him belonged to his father. The first of Lily's tears spilled down her cheeks.

And then she started her own, slightly different set of incantations.

After all, she wouldn't be able to perform the charm once she was dead.

Dread mingled with hope in the pit of her stomach.

Seconds had passed since the green light had flashed beneath the door. And she knew her time was just about up. Her wand fell from her fingers to land silently on the rug.

She knelt in front of Harry's cot, reaching out to cup his round cheek as she stared into his dear face. Her own eyes stared back at her from her husband's face. More tears threatened to blur her vision as the last words of the spell fell from her lips. Another wave of tingling magical energy washed over her, flooding from the centre of her own chest and down her arm to her son. His little brow furrowed at the sensation but his expression quickly cleared, instinctively recognizing his mother's magical signature just as he had recognized his father's only seconds before.

"Harry, you are so loved," she murmured, her voice wavering with regret, but the overwhelming love she felt for her son strengthening it, "Mama loves you. Dada loves you. Harry, be safe. Be strong." She got to her feet, the movement feeling like it was almost too much for her body to bear. Grief and resignation was starting to take its toll, as was the drain her spells had placed on her magical core.

The door exploded behind her.

A cry burst from her lips as she curled around her son, instinctively protecting him from the blast. As shards of wood from the door settled around her, she was already spinning, her hands clenching around the rail of the cot, keeping her own body firmly between the threat and her son.

A high-pitched cackle filled the nursery. Lily's grip on the cot tightened, her knuckles white and aching on the rail as a shudder of fear and revulsion skittered through her at the sight of Lord Voldemort advancing toward her.

"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!" The words burst from her lips, her voice shaking and desperate as fear flooded through her at the way his inhuman eyes tried to glance around her to her son. He scoffed, the sound dismissive as he stepped closer.

"Stand aside, you silly girl...stand aside, now..."

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead—" His pale brow creased faintly in annoyance, his mouth twisting with impatience. Voldemort gestured sharply, his grip tightening on his wand.

"This is my last warning —" Lily shook her head, her resolve and her instinct to protect her child at all costs warring with her terror.

"Not Harry!" she pleaded, her voice rising in desperation. "Please... have mercy... have mercy... Not Harry! Not Harry! Please — I'll do anything..." A silent snarl curled the Dark Lord's lips. His wand rose, the tip flicking with a lazy, impatient gesture.

And Lily was crashing across the room, dashed aside by the almost absent flick of his wand.

Disoriented with pain, her vision blurred, her body aching from the force of being thrown into the pale-painted wall of Harry's nursery, she struggled to pull herself back up, weak protests already falling like a jumbled mess from her lips..

"No...no, please...Harry...Harry!"

A flash of green seared across her eyes and Lily screamed.

Only for an explosion to rip through the room, the shockwave buffeting Lilly back painfully against the wardrobe as a high-pitched shriek rent the air.

As Lily blacked out the last thing she heard was the frightened cries of her son.