THESE ARE NO longer the things I wish to understand. When war rages like a hurricane, a treacherous storm, ripping away all everyone knows, why are people left to mourn their losses? If it's going to take down all that is good, why not take everything? Everything or nothing. Why leave people to drown in the oceans of their calamities when they've lost all motivation to swim to what they have left?
When wars push of for months and years at a time, the objective slowly fades away. Did the Dark Lord want immortality or did he want global domination? How could the man be a king if his crown was studded with the jewels of every life he ever took? Torture and death were the comrades of war, they inflicted pain and fear down every path they cross – slowly, unexpectedly – until people start becoming insane with the long intervals of sanity provided to them. What fun was there in torture, in hearing the caterwauling of a mother losing her child, of a man losing a brother, of a friend losing a friend?
The war of 1997 brought hell to Earth – all of the devils were here and they lusted for bloodshed and death. They want to murder children and torture everyone else, they wanted to frown everything in chaos and blood – all for pleasure. In some deep dark void within the open fissures of his heart, Fred Weasley understood. He understood the desire the murder in cold-blood because he wanted every Deatheater, every man and woman who hurt his girlfriend to die slowly and painfully. He wouldn't kill them in her name, she'd hate that, no he would do it in the name of lost love because it fucking hurt.
At first, he laughed. He had fallen for the trickery of his vivid nightmares again because Severus Snape wouldn't have blown his cover to mourn the loss of his beloved goddaughter, not it front of everyone. Minerva wouldn't have fainted – she was too strong. Ginny wouldn't have murdered half a dozen Deatheaters with a single heart-throbbing cry for her lost sister. You can't wake up, you idiot, because this is not a dream. Severus did blow his cover and Minerva did faint. Ginny went wild and Fred dropped to his knees in a blinding, disbelieving anger that threw everyone off of their feet on impact. Let my heart be made of stone or crumble to dust because I cannot handle this pain.
In the near distance, sirens howled into the night as unwanted guests Apparated into Hogsmeade. Snape Disapparated before anyone could realize his treachery and Fred ran out of the Great Hall with George on his heels. Just as he reached the entrance doors, George threw him back into a wall and restrained him as Fred fought against him with stoning tears.
"SHE'S DEAD!" Fred wailed, "LILY'S DEAD!"
"I know, I know!" George cried, holding him back as a group of Deatheaters ran blindly out of the castle in the direction of Hogsmeade. "But you can't get yourself killed, Freddie! We need to see this through – LISTEN TO ME! LILY WOULD WANT US TO FIGHT AND WIN THE WAR! THAT'S WHY SHE DIED!"
"SHE DIED BECAUSE I COULDN'T SAVE HER!" Fred roared. His heart was in pieces and those pieces scattered.
No, she didn't, Freddie. She died for the cause, she died for you. If only you could understand... "NO, SHE DIDN'T! SHE WAS ALWAYS GOING TO DIE FRED, YOU KNOW THAT AND SO DOES HARRY!"
"NO!"
George hastily wiped away his year with his sleeve and stared into Fred's broken eyes. "I am still here, Freddie. I am here and I will stand by you. If you want to fight, I'll fight with you. If you want revenge, I'll avenge her with you. But I will not let you get yourself killed!" he shouted, pulling away from Fred as the latter stilled, "I am your twin and I love you! You're a part of me and you always will be! We're the same soul, you and I." He pulled him in for a hug, "Just tell me what you wanna do."
George stared at the wall behind his brother and let him sob into his shoulder. He let him break down right there, he let the denial fade from him. No one would dare take this away from him. George held his twin's weight as he went weak in the knees from the shock of it and he thought of Lily, of the last time he really talked to her...
"It doesn't matter what happens to me now." He coughed. Lily knew he was using much of his remaining strength to use his insignia link. "I saw the blonde git before they dragged him out of here," she figured he meant Draco, "And he told me what you've figured out. Do you really think–"
"–Yes."
"Damn..."
Fred pulled away from his brother's embrace and George's heart throbbed as he saw his broken blue eyes and tear streaked face. He may have lost an ear, he may have been beaten over a few months, but it couldn't compare to Fred's pain. He opened his mouth to speak and as he did, the misery mixed with fury, "I want them dead. I want to kill them all."
"Then that's what we'll do." And the Weasley twins charged out of the castle. They were going to murder every Deatheater in sight and they were going to find Harry, Hermione and their little brother. They were going to make sure they won the war. Casting Disillusionment charms over both of them, George charged at a group of Deatheaters from behind while Fred tackled any other he could find. The Unforgivables were thrown left and right but Fred and George always came out on top – and they ran over the bridge into Hogsmeade.
"POTTER!" the Deatheaters screeched from every direction as they searched for the trio. No one could Apparate out, only in. Everyone was trapped inside.
The twins did, in fact, fight in sync with each other. When George ducked, Fred aimed for the kill. When Fred disarmed two, George delivered the final blow. More and more Deatheaters were filing in but they didn't care – they would die fighting if they must. They were on Main Street when they spotted Ron, Hermione and Harry race past seeking shelter. George saw the tears clouding their vision and he saw Harry's disorientation. A dozen Deatheaters advanced on the twins as they stood guard in front of the alleyway where the trio hid.
"Shit." George swore.
It took every bit of willpower for Harry to deny his instincts to jump out and help them. He couldn't jeopardize their mission after everything. Lily wouldn't have wanted him to throw everything away. Ron didn't have the same amount of restraint. He leapt out of the shadows and ran between his brother, casting unfriendly spells and curses.
"Hey littles bro." George panted as he narrowly dodged a stinging jinx and killed the Deatheater who casted it.
"ARE YOU MAD?" Ron bellowed as he stunned one brazen Deatheater running towards them. He dodged an imperio and glanced back in the alley to see Harry holding Hermione back. He shook his head to tell her not to come out but a shriek escaped her lips and she paled instantly, "RON, LOOK OUT!"
"CRUCIO!"
He wasn't quick enough so he shut his eyes and braced for the inevitable pain, but the spell never struck him. He whirred around to see Fred standing right in front of him, glaring murderously at the remaining Deatheaters through the hazy shield he conjured to block the curse. "NOT MY BROTHER YOU FUCKING GIT!" and with a slash of his wand, they were all thrown back and knocked unconscious.
Ron stared incredulously at his brother, "H-How'd you do that?"
But as Harry and Hermione came out of hiding and walking towards the three Weasley brothers, Harry knew how he did it – out of anger. Lily's powers were always crazy when she was emotional.... Their eyes met and it wasn't a contrast of whose pain hurt more. Harry lost his other half – George couldn't imagine that agony – and Fred lost his universe.
Harry stared at him, "Did you see...?"
"Yeah," Fred nodded bitterly. He saw her death. He saw the broken look in her eyes, the fear, the pain, and he watched her fall, he watched her get cut down, "I saw it."
"She told you about our mission." It wasn't a question, but a statement. He knew. Fred nodded. Harry held out his hand to him, blinking back the tears threatening to fall, "Then we'll do it for her, we'll win this for her."
Fred took his hand, "For Lily."
Hermione wiped her tears away with the backs of her hands and sniffed, "We need to get into the castle. Quickly."
Harry reached into his back pocket and pulled out a familiar worn piece of parchment and handed it to Fred. "The little lady is right." Fred had slapped a worn roll of parchment into Harry's hand. Harry unfurled it and when he skimmed it over, he frowned, for it was blank. "What's this rubbish?"
"Rubbish?!" Lily had exclaimed.
"Rubbish, he says. That there's the secret to our success." Fred had told him with all seriousness.
Fred stared at the Marauders map and then looked at Harry. An understanding fell between them as George tapped his wand to the parchment and said the very words to reveal its secrets one last time, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Scarlet ink traveled across the parchment like veins, merging and forming shapes until it presented the entire outline of the castle and grounds to them. The entrance was blocks by two dozen Deatheaters at least. Fred and George looked at each other nodded at last, "We can get you in." and it was just like old times.
▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂
Draco Malfoy was in ruins and that was the understatement of the day. Chaos erupted outside of the locked door to the dark and dreary room, the room where hope comes to die. He rattled the bars madly, swearing up a storm as he screamed to the limp and lifeless body of Lily Potter – his new friend, his most loyal partner in crime. "WAKE UP, POTTER! FUCK! LILY, OPEN YOUR EYES!" But he was staring at her limp body. Her auburn hair fell messily over her face and her green eyes staring into nothing, glazed over and lifeless. He wanted those fucking green eyes to open more than he wanted the get out and live; those brilliant green eyes, her mother's eyes. He never thought he'd feel so destroyed by the death of one of the Potter twins.
Twins.
Fuck, did Harry know? How was he dealing, losing his other half like that? Did he see it or could he feel it in his very bones? "Fuck, I'm so sorry, Potter!" he cried, rattling the barred door. The rattling grew louder. "I'm sorry for the years of torment! I'm sorry for being an ungrateful son of a bitch! But you need to open your eyes, you need to open them right now!" The rattling grew louder and louder until the door snapped open and Draco found himself staring at the lock, melted into a metal goop. Why couldn't he do that before? The ruckus outside was growing louder with every passing moment – probably those fucking pricks celebrating.
Draco dropped to his knees beside her body and stared, he stared until his chest clenched and tears washed away the blood on her hands. He brushed her hair from her face and stared at the tear streaks, at the slight parting of her lips when she went down screaming – she met the same gruesome fate as her filthy mudblood mother, Voldemort had said afterwards. Draco had lashed out, he screamed himself hoarse until they left, "LEAVE HER WITH PEACE! GET OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT!" he had screamed.
Draco pulled Lily's body onto his lap and cried as he closed her unseeing eyes. He never wanted this. He put Lily's hands on her and helped her close. They were never the best of friends, but they were friends and they had suffered together. Even in death, she should know she's not alone. "You're not alone, Potter. I know I'm the last person you'd want to wake up to, but I'm here. Please, open your eyes. God, you weren't supposed to die!" The noise outside was growing louder still, clear enough for him to hear some of the commotion – screaming, shouting, cursing and spell casting. Someone was up there, someone on their side.
"Do you hear that, Potter?" Draco croaked hopefully, although he knew she wouldn't hear. "Someone's here. Someone's come to get us just like you said." There was a loud thump, thump, thump, thud! as something was thrown down the flight of stairs leading to the dungeons and Draco found himself screaming despite his sore throat, "I'M HERE! PLEASE HELP!" and then he remembered Lily. He would not leave her down here. Even in death, she deserved to be in the light of day again. She deserved to be mourned and buried properly. "WE'RE HERE! DOWN HERE, HURRY!"
Two pairs of footsteps drew nearer to the end of the hall where he sat in the last room. He ignored the stench of the decaying corpse of Gregorovitch in the corner, he ignored the brutal fact that he was clutching to the warm lifeless body of his classmate. "IN HERE!"
"Draco, Draco is that you?" An older feminine voice called out. He knew that voice, he knew it from somewhere but he couldn't think properly. His mind was boggled and his heart was racing. He wanted out. He needed to get Lily to peace. They needed out. Then a younger voice belonging to a boy spoke up, approaching the door. Draco's icy eyes met sea-green ones and he knew. "BOMBARDA!" The door flew off of its hinges and missed Draco by a few feet but he didn't care because he found hope again. And his hope came in the form of Augustus Black and Andromeda Tonks.
"You found us! You found us..." he wept softly.
August paled at the sight of his godsister. He ran to Draco and dropped to his knees beside them. "No, no, no! Lily, come on! Wake up, sis! You can't be dead," he looked at Draco, "She can't be dead!" He had one more day. He came early. He thought he'd make it for sure...he didn't see it.
Andromeda resembled her mad sister Bellatrix. With curly dark brown locks and the same facial structure, she could have been, but when she bent down to their level and looked at Draco with warm eyes, concerned eyes, he knew she was the opposite. He only ever met his Aunt once in his life when he was very young. Why was she there? "Are you alright?"
Draco stared at her. He got lost in the depths of her brown eyes, scrambling through his fucked up brain for something, anything, until he remembered. "If by s-some miracle, one of us makes it out, can you give his f-family that message? They were his last words and I think h-he wanted me to tell them that." Dean had sniffed, "He deserves that much...." August tried to take Lily from him, but he held onto her with all of his remains strength. He made a promise to himself that he would be the one to get her out. He looked to Andromeda, "D-Dean Thomas, he was a classmate. He w-was with Ted T-Tonks." Andromeda's expression darkened and she listened hungrily, "He gave him a message, D-Dean asked us to – he s-said to say he l-loved you. He f-fought, h-he fought."
Andromeda took Draco into her arms and caressed his face, "Shh, Draco. It's alright. Thank you. You're safe now."
"We killed them all, Lily." August cried over her, holding a shaky hand to her hair. "They won't hurt anyone ever again. You don't have to be afraid anymore," he sniffed, "I'm here now. I followed everything you said. God, please wake up! I can't lose you, too!"
"I also have a letter of great significance, it could mean the life or death of many. I want to know if I can trust you with delivering it."
"Of course, ma'am." While this response deeply irritated Lily, for the house-elf was traitorous to Sirius right before he died, she let it go. From within her clutch she produced a sealed envelope, closed with a red-wax feather seal, and handed it to him. Kreacher took it gingerly. "Who shall I be delivering it to?"
She whispered the name in his ear and as she pulled away, she said, "I trust you know the address?"
"Indeed." And in a flash, Kreacher and the very important letter were gone,...
"We got to get h-her out of here. S-She shouldn't be here, s-she wasn't supposed to...I promised, I promised...." he looked helplessly to Andromeda as the woman examined her nephew's state. He was battered and bruised, but he could walk – it was his mental state she was concerned about. He could even form a proper sentence. "Please. Please. She should see the sky, I promised. She needs peace–"
"–Alright, Draco. It's okay. We'll get you out of here – both of you." She looked melancholically down at Lily's body. She stood and a sniffling August helped Draco to her feet. He scooped her into her arms and slowly, they left the room. Andromeda lead them through the winding hallway as August flanked a staggering Draco.
"It's okay, Potter. I've got you now." He thought that maybe those angels that wept and the gods that cried upon listening her laments would produce a miracle. Maybe if he got her out, she wouldn't be scared anymore, maybe she'd open her eyes. For now, she was sleeping. He convinced himself of it. She was sleeping through all of it and that was okay – it was his turn to take the wheel. Andromeda glance back wearily at her nephew and little cousin, but Draco stared up at her with hope – how could there be hope in such broken eyes?
"The Dark Lord left for battle." August sniffed as they walked openly through the giant room – a cupola. They were kept prisoner in an old Ministry of Magic facility. Every room they walk through was empty except for the dead and bloodied bodies of the Deatheaters. "He's preparing to attack Hogwarts. That's where Harry went."
Draco barely registered his words as Andromeda pushed the doors open and they crossed the threshold. Fresh warm air kissed Draco's bruised skin and a soft spring breeze ruffled Lily's hair as it hung over his arm. There wasn't another building for miles, only grasses. Twilight was just approaching and the sky was a beautiful purple-navy hue. He dropped to his knees and set her down on the soft dewy grass, letting her hair fan out around her.
"Lily, please. Please don't be dead." August hoped that maybe her mother's love magic still remained with her, that maybe it wasn't all gone. But then he remembered what she told him about the graveyard back in her fourth year, then when he got into her mind in her fifth year and ever since. "You can't go down like this."
Andromeda crouched down and placed a hand on the boys' shoulders as they cried. Draco looked up at the sky, "The sky is this purple-blue color and there are birds," he remembered Lily commenting on how jealous she was of the birds chirping freely outside while they were locked up. That was in the beginning – days later, she wanted to kill every single one of them mocking her. "And G-God, there are s-stars, Lily, so m-many stars. S-So bright."
August and Andromeda exchanged uneasy glances. She was dead. Lily was dead and he was talking to her like she was still there, as if he was trying to convince her to open her eyes. But they wouldn't understand, they could never understand the agony they endured together, the conversations and the wishes. Their time in captivity was solely theirs, only for them to have the burden of remembering – but he didn't want to be left alone with it. He wanted to be selfish. He wanted Lily Potter to give Death the middle finger and come back. August and Andromeda tried to take her from him but he wouldn't allow it.
"Draco, she's gone." Andromeda whisked softly.
August sniffled, "You have to let go."
"I won't!" Draco screamed. He looked at August with hostility – he should have come faster! He promised Lily they'd get out together. She changed him in there – it wasn't the endless torture or the beatings, it was her. "I WON'T! NO, SHE C-CAN'T BE A-ALONE! SHE'S AFRAID, A-AUGUST! SHE'S A-AFRAID AND I NEED TO B-BE HERE! I WON'T, I WON'T!" Maybe Fred and Harry would be thankful that he didn't leave her. Open your eyes, Lily. Andromeda and August gave up on trying to wrench her from his grip. "I WON'T LEAVE HER! SHE NEEDS TO FEEL SAFE! I WON'T, I WO–"
"–I can see them."
"SHE WANTS TO BE SAFE! WE GOT OUT, WE GOT OUT!" he shouted himself hoarse, "SHE WON'T BE ALONE! SHE'S SAD AND I'M SAD AND I CAN'T LEAVE HER!"
"I c-can see the stars."
Andromeda and August were speechless as they looked down. Draco stared right at her, at her moving lips and couldn't register it, "I WON'T LEAVE HER! SHE'S...SHE'S MY FRIEND!"
Her lips quirked up and her nose crinkled. Andromeda gasped and scrambled closer. Draco stared right at her and his voice ran hoarse. Friend, she's my friend. Lily Potter is my friend and she is not dead. Just sleeping, just sleeping. She's gonna wake up. I can't think. She's awake. Her eyelashes fluttered and she breathed fresh air into her lungs at last.
Her eyes opened.
***
It was the dead of the night and Professor Minerva McGonagall rushed to Gryffindor tower with her robes on, although her long iron-colored hair was pulled back in a braid, not her signature bun. Most of the Deatheaters in the castle rushed to get into Hogsmeade where Harry Potter and his friends were said to be sighted – but when she didn't see Alecto and Amycus Carrow at the head of the riot, she knew they were up to no good. Her instincts led her to the tower, where she found the portrait wide open after getting up all of those steps. She drew her wand but thought it best to keep it to her side as she entered wearily. In the darkness of the common room, she spotted half a dozen masses laying dead on the floor – Deatheaters. Standing among them was Alecto Carrow who pressed her wand to her forearm where the Dark Mark was branded and Amycus Carrow who jumped at her to stop her. But it was too late, the tail of the inky snake moved and the Dark Lord was summoned on false pretense. In his rage, Amycus knocked his sister out and shouted a string of profanities.
"Amycus," Minerva pretended to be clueless, "What has happened here? Why are you in Gryffindor tower in the middle of the night?!"
Amycus turned to her and bared his teeth, "Someone's infiltrated the castle, put my sister under the Imperius curse! IF YOU KNOW A–"
"–I assure you I know nothing." Minerva made a mental note to thank the Weasley twins later...but then she remembered the brutal reality of what happened in the Great Hall hours ago and frowned. Poor Lily...
A few students awoke from the noise and peered over the banisters from their dormitories to catch a look at the scene. As Amycus looked away, she held a finger to her lips. He growled and looked around at his dead comrades, "We'll say them kids up there forced her to press her Mark. He can punish them," he grinned, shrugging, "Couple of kids more or less, what's the difference."
"Let me make one thing clear," McGonagall straightened her posture and glared at the foul man with a stare that could make a giant cower. She approached him threateningly – to harm the professors was one thing, but she'd be damned to have anything happen to her students. "You will not pass of your many ineptitudes on the students of Hogwarts!"
Amycus snarled at her and spat in her face. She reared back and wiped it away with astonishment. Before she could open her mouth to give him hell, a figure she didn't notice before emerged from the shadows and stood between her and the Deatheater. McGonagall cried it with mirth – she could recognize those auburn curls anywhere. Lily Potter snarled at an appalled Amycus Carrow, "You shouldn't have done that." And before he could recover from his surprise, she ferociously spoke the very word that ruined her, "Crucio." And as simple as that, he dropped to the floor screaming bloody murder.
August Black and Draco Malfoy emerged from opposite sides of the common room and casted the Killing Curse simultaneously at the Carrows. McGonagall whispered, "Lily?"
Lily turned around to look at her and the woman's heart broke at the sight of her. The first thing she noticed was that she was clean – a quick shower took away the blood on her skin and the matte in her hair. She wore fresh clothes – belonging to Nymphadora – but that was all. Dozens of cuts and bruises littered her arms and legs and some even peeked out of her collar of her shirt. There was a freshly stitched gash beneath her left eye and another on the side of her head. Her eyes were bloodshot and broken, her lip cut, but she was alive and she was standing right in front of her.
"H-Hello, hello Professor." she stuttered. While August checked to make sure the rest of the Deatheaters laying on the floor were dead, Draco walked up to the pair of women and stood closely behind Lily.
"Draco?" Draco looked no better – he, too, was showered and wearing fresh clothes. There was a large gash on the side of his face and a bruise outlined the left side of his face. He had many bruises on his arms but she took noticed of the fact that his sleeves were rolled up and his forearms were bare of the Dark Mark. When he spoke, she saw a raw bite mark on his tongue, "He's g-going to attack tonight, t-tonight he'll attack H-Hogwarts."
She looked at the pair and fought the urge to cry. The Slytherin prince and Gryffindor princesses went through so much – too much– and it showed. They lost a piece of themselves. They weren't in the right state of mind anymore, not with how they spoke. "We saw you die."
A small smirked flashed on Lily's face, "I gave – I gave D-Death the middle finger." It was definitely Lily. "Get..." she closed her eyes in frustration. She need to talk. "G-Get the kids out. Secret passageways, t-three open."
McGonagall knew. She turned around to see all of the remaining of Gryffindor house at the banisters, "Sixth years, I need you to get the first years through fifth out of the castle. Use the Room of Requirment on the third floor – it will be open."
"S-Seventh years, you a-are now of age, of age." Lily spoke up, looking up at the many hopeful faces. "Hogwarts is u-under attack. It'll be b-bloody. If you choose t-to fight..."
"I'll fight." Seamus Finnigan nodded. Lily's heart throbbed in her chest as she remembered Sean and Dean, an unbreakable pair...
"So will I." said Lavender Brown.
"It's good to have you back Lily," Parvati Patil smiled, "I'll fight, too." Soon enough, the majority of the seventh years had volunteered. The sixth years guided the younglings out of the common room after they all expressed their happiness that she was alive.
"Are you okay, P-Potter?" Draco asked. August screwed up his face – of course she wasn't okay. But Lily knew what he meant: can you fight? She would fight to the end, she would fight through the insanity ebbing it's way into her mind until Voldemort was dead. He killed her baby. He killed her. She nodded.
And then it happened: Severus Snape's voice echoed through every corridor, even room in the castle, "All students and staff will report to the Great Hall in five minutes. I repeat: all students and staff will report to the Great Hall in five minutes." It would sure as hell be a scene to witness – that much had not changed.