The Marauders: Year Seven Part Two

So nice to see you again, Voldemort

Voldemort's wand hit the floor with a clatter. His wand dropped, the spell holding Lily in the air broke and she fell to the floor with a cry. James rushed forward to collect Lily, sending a stunner in Voldemort's direction, which missed as Voldemort dodged it and struck the wall. "MY WAND!" Voldemort bellowed, and Walburga got up, scrambling for the wand. "STOP HIM!" Voldemort demanded of Regulus as he rushed to get his wand from Walburga...

Regulus's mouth was quite dry. The last thing in the world he would ever want to do was to fight James Potter in any capacity. But the Dark Lord was watching and he'd already challenged him enough for one evening and to show his supposed remorse -- "Flippendo!"

James went flying head over heels, landing on the floor hard on his back. Regulus took two steps forward quickly, wand still raised as James rolled and jumped back up to his feet. James waved his wand, a silent spell shot across the room, sparks flying and struck Regulus hard in the chest, knocking the wind from him, causing him to double forward, the breath stuck in his lungs. In a quick motion, James sent a spell at the wand on the floor, trying to snap it, but it only flipped and hopped a couple steps further than it was - it was a delay, it was what he needed, as Voldemort leaped for the wand, and James grabbed onto Lily's arm.

He tried to disapparate.

But there was a charm keeping Number 12 from disapparation being possible.

"Incendio!" he shouted, aiming his wand at the curtains - a fire blazing up in them and all along a pathway that he struck across the carpeted floor, blocking off Walburga and Voldemort from Voldemort's wand and Regulus.

"STOP HIM!" Voldemort shrieked.

Regulus raised his wand and was about to speak another curse, and James shouted, "Magicus extremos!" And though Regulus had waved his wand, although he'd cast the spell, nothing was sent forth from his wand, his powers temporarily blocked. James lifted Lily up to her feet. She was shaking, staring at him in disbelief, even his touch wasn't enough to fully, truly convince her that he was there. "C'mon," James yelled, "Let's go!" He pulled her past Regulus, who was shaking his wand in apparent frustration, as Voldemort shrieked commands that Regulus could not follow.

James pulled Lily down the stairs, nearly tripping twice, and he was forcibly reminded of a very similar flight, pulling Maryrose along, and he felt sick to his stomach. "HOLD ON," he yelled to Lily, and he redoubled his grasp on Lily's hand, waved his wand at the stairwell, "Glisseo!" The stairs smoothed themselves into a slide-like surface and they skid down the stairwell to the bottom.

Voldemort had burst from the library door above them and hit the top of the slide at full run, knocking himself down and coming behind them. James pushed Lily ahead of him, "GO, RUN!" he screamed and he turned, running backwards behind her, "STUPEFY! STUPEFY! STUPEFY!"

Red and green sparks flew between James and Voldemort, smashing the walls and knocking portraits from the walls, their frames cracking on the floor as they struck. James cast shield charms and antimagic charms and duck charms and stunners, anything he could think of, even one which made the rug roll up beneath Voldemort's running feet. Lily wrenched opened the door of the house, and James leaped out after her. They slammed it shut only to have it explode behind them as they ran down the stoop two steps at a time, lunging forward to the edge of the fidelus and anti-disapparation line.

Suddenly before them there was a great many smoky black figures appearing - easily five - no eight - ten maybe even twelve... "Duck!" James shouted, and he pushed Lily down as Rudolphus Lestrange let a great ball of fire at them, crashing into an ornate granite lion. Lily shrieked and covered her head with her arms, and James pulled her to the left, toward the little alleyway as more Death Eaters appeared on the square. He had no idea what he was doing, they were careening with no sense of direction, just trying to escape... It was Lily who realized their mistake first. The alley was closed ended and they'd effectively trapped themselves, making them easily collected targets for the Death Eaters and Voldemort.

James quickly pushed Lily behind him, arms out, blocking her, his teeth grit with determination as he faced the crowd of Death Eaters advancing on him. "Stay behind me," he commanded Lily.

Lily didn't have her wand, or else she would have argued with him.

James stood his ground firmly, his fist balled tight around his wand, his mind racing, trying to come up with the right plan... And suddenly an idea came to him. He looked around quickly and waved his wand. "Accio pebbles!" He cried, then, "When I say run - RUN - and go to my house the moment you get to the street!" Lily nodded. And as the laughing face of Bellatrix and her husband and Fenrir Greyback and the Carrows and Evan Rosier and the others loomed closer, James shouted, "Engorgio! Wingardium Leviosa! LOCOMOTOR MOMENTUM MAXIMA!!!"

Boulders the size of small cars flew forward at the Death Eaters, bowling them over like weightless pin, knocking them to the sides as they dove out of the way, the boulders clearing a path through their midst. "RUN!!!" James shouted, and Lily ran, and so did Jame, right through the Death Eaters, and out of the alley, onto the street.

"GO!!!!" James screamed, for Voldemort was there in the street, waiting, his eyes shining with anger, "NOW!!! GO GO GO!!!!"

Voldemort raised his wand, "AVADA —-"

Crack! Crack!

And they fell onto the ground, tripping from the momentum they'd been running with, and landing in the dirt out front of the Lupin house. James grabbed onto Lily, rolling so that their bodies crossed the line of their own fidelus... and only just in time as the death eaters arrived, but too late, for all there was for them to see was an empty field of snow.

James clutched Lily, his back against the stone wall of the Lupin yard, mere centimeters beyond the fidelus line, shaking, panting, staring up as Rudolphus paced, frustrated, and entirely unable to get to them.

Lily was sobbing, "I'm sorry," she choked, "I'm so sorry."

James stroked her hair, watching as the Death Eaters circled and paced, "Shh, Evans," he murmured, "We're safe, alright? You're safe. I've got you, and I'm not going anywhere... and neither are you."

Lily pressed her face into his neck, and he held her, his heart finally, slowly becoming unclenched as one by one the Death Eaters disapparated away.