Chapter 1: The Last Train Home (Part 5)
James stumbled backwards, knocking into Remus and the pair tripped to the floor on top of each other, the ground rattling in protest as a series of exit pillars exploded. As soon as the floor steadied, he jumped to his feet, adrenaline coursing through his blood, dimming his confusion into a clear need for action.
He used the moment when most were knocked down to scan the bustling platform for a flash of auburn, a splash of her green shirt, anything that told him Lily was okay. Just as the fear set in around him, providing the impetus for chaos to ensue, he caught sight of her at the far end, near the front of the train. And she was moving.
Relief washed over him and even amid the terror, a smile slipped through.
"What the hell was that?" Remus cussed, reaching out to help his mother up.
"Something bad," James replied, tearing his gaze away from Lily.
"What do we do?" Marlene asked, looking around as people started to run past their stationary group.
"Come on, Peter. Let's get out of here. Everyone's going that way so let's just follow them and see which exit is still open," Mrs. Pettigrew said, her voice at least an octave higher than usual. She grabbed his hand and pulled, but Peter didn't budge.
He turned to James and repeated the question. "What do we do, Prongs?" Somehow, James would know what to do. He always had a plan.
"Go. Mum, Dad, you have to go," James said with certainty.
His mother balked. "James! We are all leaving this instant–"
"Go home and contact Dumbledore, he needs to know what's happening so that he can send help. Our house has more safety charms and spells on it in place than any other so we'll send the injured there through any of the fireplaces that are open."
Mr. Potter stepped forward. "James–"
"You're out of practice, Dad. You can't stay, you'd be killed," he cut off, no longer worried about manners. "But you and Dumbledore are mates so he'll listen to you the instant you call."
"The aurors will come. We should all go now and–"
"Dad! You know what I signed up for. You both do," he said, forcing himself to look into his mother's worried eyes.
"Just because you signed up for some… some resistance group," his mother dropped her voice, though it was hardly worth it given that the chaos would easily cover the sound, "doesn't mean that you have to fight during a random attack where no one knows what is happening."
"If I'm not going to fight now, then what was the point of joining!" he fumed, losing his patience with every second that slipped by. "I'm staying and someone needs to tell Dumbledore what's going on so that we can get back-up."
Fleamont looked his son square in the eye and filled his chest with air before nodding solemnly. The plan made sense. "I'll be back as soon as I tell Dumbledore. Stay safe." He grabbed onto his wife's hand who protested loudly, but they let the flow carry them away to an exit.
James watched as Peter shook off his mother's prying hands, shooing her to the exit while he stayed behind. Remus falsely promised his own parents that he'd be right behind them as soon as he found Lily. Marlene and Dorcas followed their families toward an exit before allowing themselves to be separated so that they could fight the current and make their way back to their group hiding behind the pillar.
"Did you see how many fireplaces are open?" James instantly asked them.
"Two, maybe three," Marlene replied instantly.
"Damn," Sirius cursed, running a hand through his hair distractedly.
"We gotta help people out of here. We're sitting ducks," Remus urged, glancing around.
"Can't we just apparate out?" Peter asked nervously.
James shook his head and gave a mirthless laugh at the irony of it all. "No, the Ministry has an anti-apparition jinx all around here to protect something like this from happening."
A fresh round of screams filled the air and the group simultaneously peered around the barrier. Death Eaters were shoving their way out of one fireplace, watching the crowd swarm in one mass away from them and towards the last exit.
"We have to protect that fireplace. If they block it first…," Sirius said, not needing to finish his ominous thought out loud.
"Right, let's split up. Half protect the fireplace. Half help people get there," James said, already looking towards where he had last seen Lily. Not waiting for a response, James bolted off towards the back of the platform, his eyes narrowing as he had lost sight of her.
"Why aren't they firing?" Sirius muttered beside him, his gaze falling above the crowds' heads at the Death Eaters that were merely storming through the people, their wands lying still at their sides.
"Maybe they're looking for something?" Dorcas suggested from Sirius' other side.
One Death Eater motioned towards another and the pair shoved through the crowd, their wands raising.
"Or someone," Sirius replied, hurrying his gait to intercept them. Dorcas was one step behind.
"To the right too!" James shouted at their backs as another Death Eater broke ranks as they apparently noticed a target. He danced around a mother pushing her young daughter in a cart towards the fireplace and followed the man's gaze towards–his heart skipped a beat–Lily.
"Lils!" he shouted, his voice thankfully carrying across the busy platform. She turned and was able to cast a Protego charm just as the Death Eater fired his first curse. James shot his own hex at the man's back, feeling a surge of relief and vindication as the man toppled over, stiff as a board.
"Are you okay?" James asked as they rushed towards one another.
"I'm fine. What's going on?" she asked, distracted.
"Not sure. My Dad is sending for reinforcements through Dumbledore now though."
"I think the aurors just arrived too."
"Really? Let's–"
"There!" a loud voice shouted. They turned instinctively towards the sound to find a woman behind a silver skull mask pointing straight at them. Straight at Lily.
James pushed himself forward to be the first to fire. He heard Lily join the fray half a second after him and soon, he felt a third join on his other side. Soon enough, the woman succumbed to the three of their spells and he turned towards the purple-clad Auror.
"Collins?" James asked aghast. He hasn't seen the man for years since the last Ministry fundraiser his parents had dragged him to.
"Potter! What are you doing here? You need to leave, now," the man said, his tell-tale nervous eyes roving over the entire platform, never landing on one spot.
"How can we help?" James asked instead.
"We do not need help, Potter. We have it and all of your friends need to leave. You are only hindering–"
"We're helping, Collins."
"-hindering our movements! Get to the fireplace and get home."
"We're helping. Where do you want us?" James insisted, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the pedantic man.
"In the fireplace. Go."
"Mr. Collins?" Lily interrupted, hoping she heard his name right. "Can you tell us if they're targeting someone? Why aren't they firing randomly?"
Collins sighed dramatically. "We think they're targeting muggle-borns, which is another reason that you need to leave."
"How does everyone know I'm a muggle-born," Lily muttered darkly, watching the platform for signs of anyone else heading towards her, her skin tingling as if she could feel the pairs of eyes searching for her.
"We think they stole Hogwarts records about a week–"
"You think? You don't even know?" James demanded incredulously, instantly irate.
"We have been busy, Potter. Civilians present will only make our jobs harder so I urge you to get home to your parents who I'm sure are worried sick."
"I appreciate your concern, but I'd be more worried about Death Eaters apparently stealing from the Ministry without your knowledge."
Another boom rumbled through the platform, dust falling from the ceiling. James braced himself until the shaking stopped and in his periphery, he saw everyone else still remaining on the platform do the same.
"James," Lily said under her breath, tapping his shoulder.
She motioned with her chin across the platform. "See you," James instantly said to Collins. He followed Lily through the crowds towards the familiar face that had waved them over.
"Lily, you were good at charms, right?" Alice Longbottom said as soon as they arrived.
Lily nodded, biting her lip anxiously.
"Have you ever made a portkey?"
"Once, but I remember the basics."
"That'll have to do. Get a few going to the Potter's. Dumbledore said to send people there and at this point, we don't have time to triage the injured so we're just sending anyone who's left there first."
"Got it," Lily said, squeezing James' hand once before dashing away, ducking away towards a turned over cart filled with random things.
"And stay hidden! They know you're here!"
Lily waved her spare hand in recognition, scooping up a few textbooks from the cart to use as portkeys and running behind the nearest pillar.
"You're good at transfiguration, right Potter?"
"Yeah," he replied confidently.
"Good. Get Black and try to fix one of the fireplaces. They blocked the last pillar so we're all stuck here until we create more ways out."
James nodded and raced back towards the fray where he was certain Padfoot would be. As he ran over, he found himself dodging far less people than he was originally. Though he did now have to dodge those that lay unmoving on the ground, yet James refused to look at them, knowing that if he did, he may never stop. While the platform was much emptier than before, there were still plenty of innocent bystanders trying to find cover from the Death Eaters. Many were looking around in search of an escape, while others were slightly confused as to why they had not been fired upon while they simply stood near the blocked exits. The older students and parents huddled around the younger ones, trying to shield them not only from the Death Eaters' sights, but also preventing them from seeing the prone figures scattered intermittently along the platform. Aurors and some older students fought in clumps, protecting the helpless muggle families that were trying to find their own ways out. Part of James was itching to join the duels, yet he knew that he had to find a way out first for that to be of any use.
"Sirius!" James shouted, spotting his friend just as he, Remus, and Dorcas sent one Death Eater flying backwards. "We have to fix one of these fireplaces," he said.
Padfoot nodded and quickly ran towards the nearest one, beginning to mutter spells to try and figure out how best to fix it. While James and Sirius worked through transfiguring and fixing the broken pieces back into a functional floo entrance, Remus and Dorcas stood guard, stopping any Death Eaters who tried to approach them.
Before long, they were corralling muggle-borns and their families through the fireplace first, followed by the rest of the trapped witches and wizards, while some of the crowd would disappear at random in a bright flash of pale blue portkey light. Meanwhile, the aurors kept the Death Eaters at bay.
"That's the last of them," Sirius said breathlessly, looking around at the oddly forlorn platform. The chaos stemming from the hectic crowds had left with the crowds themselves, yet shouts and grunts still filled the large room from the duels between the aurors and Death Eaters. Just as James considered joining the fight, he squinted past the clumps of people, noticing two Death Eaters in the back, using their wands to drag the lifeless witches and wizards towards one end of the hall where they had started to line them up like corpses.
The word caught in James' throat.
He hadn't had time to even consider that the people along the ground might not just be stunned like they were in their practice duels. They weren't as still as corpses anymore. They were corpses. His fellow students. Their families. It could have been his friends. Or him. Or Lily.
"Prongs!" Remus said loudly, shaking his shoulder. He had clearly been trying to get his attention for a while.
"What?" James snapped irritably.
"We have to go. Now. The aurors are headed out after us. They think Voldemort is on his way, there's nothing more that we can do."
James nodded feverishly. "Go. I'll find Lily and meet you at home."
"She probably left with her last portkey. We'll find her at your house."
"I just need to double check," James said, looking around the platform for any sight of her.
Remus didn't move, but stared hard at James until he was forced to meet his gaze.
"I promise, I'll be right after you. I'm just going to find Lily, I won't join the duels or anything," James insisted, reading his mind.
At last, Remus nodded and disappeared through the fireplace just as Dorcas was whisked away by the green flames before him. With one last glance at the fights behind him, James dug through his pockets and pulling his invisibility cloak around him, he ran towards the pillar he had last seen Lily behind. As he passed one group of duels, he heard an auror shout, "Everyone's gone! Let's get out!" followed by another saying "Go, I'll cover you!" and the retreat began. Having no wish to be the last one left with the group of over-enthusiastic Death Eaters, James hurried his pace to a sprint, not worrying if the bottom of his trainers would be seen beneath the cloak.
He barreled around the pillar, sliding over the stones, and his heart gave a sigh of relief to see Lily crouching at its base. Though for some reason she was leaning over something around the other corner.
"Let's go, Lils"—James made a gap in the cloak and moved to wrap her in it— "Here, get under the cloak and we'll go back to the fireplace."
Lily shook her head. "No, no, no, no…" she muttered.
"Lily?" James asked, squatting down to her level, apprehension tracing every syllable.
She turned back to him, her eyes red and puffy. She leaned slightly away from the pillar and he was able to see what she was crouching beside.
A student was lying on the stone, staring lifelessly up at them, her dark brown hair coated in blood.
James opened his mouth but nothing came out except a croak.
"It's Ria," Lily answered for him and her voice was thick with tears. "The Ravenclaw girl from our year. She was a muggle-born too, remember?"
He nodded, not trusting himself to speak and he couldn't tear his eyes away from her pale face.
Lily sniffed and swiped at her nose. "We have to take her back with us. We can't let the Death Eaters find her and add her to their… their…"
"Yeah," James quickly agreed, not wanting her to have to find the right word for whatever their plans were for these corpses. "The cloak won't cover all of us at once. You take the cloak and take… take her to the fireplace and before you floo out, send the cloak back my way and then I'll come after you, okay?"
She nodded and let him swing the cloak around her shoulders while she pointed her wand and muttered, "Mobilicorpus." Moving slowly, Lily made it across the platform as the last of the aurors disappeared in swirling green flames and the Death Eaters were too preoccupied collecting the bodies to notice the slight flicker of a foot or hand that snuck outside the Invisibility Cloak. Barely sparing a moment's glance around her, Lily took some powder from the tin at the base of the fireplace and levitated the recent graduate above the logs, tossing in some of the floo powder. She said "Potter's Mansion" into the flames, careful not to get any part of her caught in the bright embers before she could send James the cloak.
The rustling of activity behind her stopped and her heart thumped rapidly beneath her chest, the blood pounding in her ears as she knew that while the Death Eaters may not have noticed a small slip-up with the Cloak, they certainly did not miss the rush of floo powder. Lily tore off the Invisibility Cloak and without shedding a moment to aim, she shot it towards the pillar she knew James was hiding at using her wand and scooped up another handful of floo.
But before she could duck into the fireplace, she felt herself get knocked aside by a blast of wind and she fell flat on her back, sliding across the polished floor. Blinking back tears of pain, she found herself staring up at three Death Eaters, all of which had their wands pointed threateningly at her face. One dropped their wand and let out a short laugh, doing nothing to ease Lily's terror.
"Merrick! Come here," the man shouted, the corners of a smile peeking out from beneath his mask.
Lily watched as another cloaked figure approached them, twirling his wand in one hand. She could feel her wand pressed underneath her leg, yet even as she slowly sat up, she knew that there was no way that she could reach it and do anything of use before one of the Death Eaters got to her first.
"Isn't this that mudblood you're always complaining about? The one dating the Potter boy?"
Her skin went cold as the new addition pulled off his silver mask and Mulciber was grinning maliciously down at her.
"Indeed, it is! It's Evans," he said, sounding way too satisfied for Lily's liking.
"Well how kind of you to join the party, Miss Evans," his father said, gaining some deep-throated laughter from the others still holding their wands steadily at her. "Perhaps we should show her a good time before adding her to the pile."
Another Death Eater approached their circle slowly, their shoulders slumped and head cocked to one side.
"Want to do the honors, Snape?" Mulciber asked, slapping the newcomer on the shoulder.
"We shouldn't–"
"Ah, that's right! You used to fancy her, didn't you?"
"You what?" Mulciber Sr. asked, whipping around to face Snape.
"Don't worry, that weird infatuation is long gone, isn't it Snape? But do you still want a go before we kill her?"
"No. You shouldn't–"
"Suit yourself," Mulciber interrupted with a shrug and turned back towards Lily, nodding to his father.
The taller man grinned and slowly raised his wand, pointing it straight at Lily's chest. Every bone in Lily's body was screaming at her to move, yet she was frozen in place. Glued to the ground, her limbs felt as heavy as lead as she stared down the end of the wand that would surely end her life.
A cold rush of air blew across the platform, the Death Eaters' robes swirling at their feet.
"I thought I told you to gather up the bodies by the time I arrived. Why are you all standing about?" a soft voice asked from just behind the group.
Instantly, the Death Eaters turned to face him, their heads bowed. As their focuses were drawn away, Lily inched one hand down her leg towards her wand, but one man noticed and shot a warning stream of sparks, forcing her to capitulate and move her hands back into the open.
"My Lord," Mulciber Sr. said reverently, "We were just about to add one more to your collection. We caught her trying to escape the platform just now."
"Is that so?" His voice was deathly quiet, yet it somehow easily carried throughout the platform. "And who is this?"
"Lily Evans, my lord," the younger Mulciber replied, barely restraining his grin of joy.
"Ah yes. I've heard of her." Tom Riddle slowly walked towards the group, the Death Eaters parting on either side of him as he approached. He stood above Lily, apprising her calmly, and she forced herself to meet his dark gaze.
After a minute of silence, he spoke again, though still without looking away from her. "I did not tell you to stand here gawking, now did I? I believe your orders were quite clear. Collect the bodies and leave at once."
They scurried off with a few backward glances, and soon, the fireplace was intermittently lit up with green as the Death Eaters traveled elsewhere, dragging their victims along with them.
"Just us now, Miss Evans," Voldemort said in the same maddeningly quiet voice. "Though I do not expect to be alone much longer. James Potter will not leave us alone for long, if I am not mistaken."
