James Did It! (A HP Fanfic)

Chapter 28

Lily drifted into conciousness, and the next thing thing she knew she was laying on a smooth surface. Surprisingly, all pain had left her body, and she felt comfortable, when she could only remember feeling burning - burning, aching, bursts of shattering pain that she drowned in and blinded her thoughts with the fireworks it created.

Her eyes flicked open, and she jumped when she saw a burst of white light. She saw... Wait, she could see?! She blinked, bewildered, and her eyes ajusted somewhat.

She slowly sat up, marveling at her sudden ability to see. As far as Lily could see, it was all white. Around her, she thought she saw transparent figures of what looked like whispy, milky white willow trees, then further back was a glasslike pond, a silvery-grey dock that looked so familiar stretching out almost to the middle...

Suddenly she twisted around, and saw a two-story house and - that was her house! And she was in her backyard, now standing, the snowy grass at her feet, so familiar and welcoming. But why was everything so white? Why was it all so still? There wasn't a breeze, not the normal russle in the bushes, not a single garden gnome in her mother's rose bushes by the back of the house, not even a ripple in the lake, a bird in the sky - it all looked so lifeless. Like statues.

Where am I? She thought.

What a pointless question, she scolded herself, I'm home...

Was she really, though?

She didn't have a clue what to do. She seemed lost as to why she was there - hadn't Voldemort just been using the Cruciartus on her somewhere far from here?

Suddenly there was a light hand on her shoulder and she jumped, spinning around again.

"It's all right, Lily." Lily knew who it was, but refused to believe it. This was Albus Dumbledore - she knew from the pictures. His long silvery beard, half-moon specticales, and twinkling blue eyes. He spoke again, "Don't be afraid, you're safe here."

"I -" She could barely speak. "Am - am I... Am I dead?"

"Technically, no, you're not dead," said a voice from behind her, "but morally speaking, yes."

She saw a man with messy black hair and round glasses - for a second she thought her was her dad, but realised it was her grandfather, James Potter. Beside him was unmistakenabily her grandmother, Lily, who's eyes were shining with tears.

"Oh, Lily," she said ruefully, "you poor girl... Are you alright?"

"I - I dunno," Lily stammered, then looked herself over, and found that she had no wounds, "I guess so, apart from being... dead."

Mrs. Potter hugged her, and Lily looked over her shoulder at her grandfather, who was looking symphathetic, the same as Dumbledore.

"You're not dead," Mr. Potter said. "Let me explain this to you - whatever possessed your brother to go into Harry's study -"

"- Yes, thank you, James," Dumbledore said, "but I'll take it from here. Lily, when your brother knocked over that hourglass, it was a mistake."

"Well, I figured that much," said Lily. "He wouldn't have just knocked it off for the fun of it, would he?"

"No, it was a different kind of mistake," said Mrs. Potter. "Not the kind of thing you can control..."

"It was a mistake in all of your fates," continued Dumbledore. "It wasn't supposed to happen. Listen - every person has a destiny. For example, we were destined to die at the time we did. Yet, sometimes, very rarely, a ceartin person has the power to break away from their fate - like how young James went off path just a few weeks ago by knocking that hourglass over and sending you back in time. Everyone else - and yourself - were just dragged into it, breaking away from your own paths as well. And a simple action created a chain reaction of happenings - now Lord Voldemort is loose in your time and seeks power. He shouldn't be. Do you see? Just because one person went off track with their destiny everyone elses' are at stake as well. And you, Lily, were not meant to die by Voldemort's hand. It isn't your time quite yet. Right now were standing in a place between worlds - between the living and the dead. Usually you would just go straight to the land of the dead, but you - since you weren't supposed to be here yet in the first place - are getting a choice... of going back."

"So..." Lily was a bit confused. "So, basically... my life is ruined."

"Not ruined," Dumbledore said. "If you don't mind me saying it like this, I'll describe it as tainted, but most definitaly not ruined."

"You will eventually get back on track," said Mrs. Potter. "You'll be put through a series of tests by Death itself (that's your fate trying to mend itself) but it is essental never to give up, you hear?"

Lily nodded. "I... I can go back, but I have a tainted life, and I'm going to be followed by Death."

"To give you the reailty of it," said Mr. Potter, "yes. And, if you go back, you will be a target of Voldemort's, understand? He'll try to get you, no doubt, but your dad will stop him, alright?"

Lily looked at her feet, pondering the pros and cons of returning. She knew it was a horrible decision, considering she shouldn't have been there in the first place, and she knew she shouldn't be thinking so hard about it, she knew that it the obvious answer was that she wanted to go back home, but was torn, for some odd reason. She had a bad feeling about it, and it made her uneasy and all the thinking was beginning to give her a headache.

It was quiet until Dumbledore said, "Lily, it shouldn't be that much of a choice."

She knew that.

"It's not exactly a party over on our side," Mr. Potter put in. "Quite boring, actually - we just sit around with Moony and Padfoot, really, you wouldn't like it."

"Yes," said Mrs. Potter thoughtfully. "Think of your family... Think of what they're feeling right now."

A sudden picture formd in Lily's mind - the image of her mother and ather crying over her grave, or her brothers, mother, father, and Teddy sitting at the dinner table without her, Hugo on the Hogwarts express alone...

"What about Voldemort?" she asked suddenly. "The Horcruxes? How will we get rid of him?"

"The answer to that will come gradually wth time," said Dumbledore.

That didn't satisfy Lily, but she didn't push it. "What about my eyes?"

"They will be healed," Mr. Potter answered. "That wasn't planned."

"But what about the others?"

"Quite frankly, they needed this lesson," said Dumbledore. "They needed to understand the seriousness of the situation, with Voldemort coming back. Memories are a part of us."

"We can't wait much longer," said Mrs. Potter, sounding urgent, "you have to choose now, Lily!"

Everything seemed to be getting more bright by the second.

"I - I dunno - er -" Lily stammered. "Oh, I want to go home!" she exclaimed tearfully, stomping her fot in frustration.

Then it all went white.

*

Hermione (O) let her tears fall, wetting the parchent that was in her hand. She let them fall for her niece, her beautiful, lovely niece, who had died just hours before. Hermione had just been notified, and everything was quiet in her house, the children sleeping and Ron's snores could be heard from the living room - everything seemed quiet, but Hermione's sobs suddenly shattered the silence. Her cries became hysterical as her heart twisted and broke inside of her, and she collapsed onto the kitchen floor, weeping for Lily.

Hermione couldn't bear this - she couldn't believe Lily, lovely little Lily, her two best friends' daughter, was dead. It couldn't be true that she was no longer living...

"Hermione?" Ron's groggy voice came, and Hermione jumped up and shooved the paper in his hand, and he quickly matched her own state, tears rolling down his cheeks. Hermione cried into his shoulder loudly and he held her, tiny cries coming from him every so often.

"W-w-w-why he-he-her, Ron?" Hermione stuttered, her sobs not subsiding for a moment.

"I don't know, Hermione," Ron whispered, his voice breaking.

"She - she was - she was only a little - a little girl!" Hermione wailed. "She - she never - she never did anything to - to deserve this..."

There was a POP and Ginny arrived, tears streaming down her face. Hermione and Ron both instantly took her into their arms, and Ginny broke down on her brother's shoulder, sobbing freely and whispering soft nothings...

The three adults cried for a long while more, mourning the death of the youngest Potter.

*

White faded into black and then -

Sobbing. Horrible throaghty cries filled her ears instantly and she was startled because she knew who it was as soon as the dreadful sound reached her ears. Terror sprang up in her, because she had no idea her father was cabable of making such a sound and hated it.

Conciousness filled Lily. She could feel every inch of her body; everything from the tips of her fingers to her feet to her eyes. She suddenly felt like she had been submerged under water for a long time and her lungs were aching for breath so badly she felt she might faint. But she didn't pay attention to that - the sound of Harry's cries held her full attention, and all at once, her eyes flew open, she sucked in a huge breath, and sat straight up, bewildered, as everything made sense in her mind.

Her father was seated a few feet away, his head buried deep in his hands, and that didn't even help to muffle his sobbs. He was missing his glasses and with a quick sweep of the room Lily found them laying on their side, cracked, across the room, as if he had thrown them.

Harry had obviously not heard Lily gasp, or the bed give a violent creak as she sat up, or the beeping from a machine somewhere in the room that had very suddenly started to work again.

Carefully, Lily turned and her feet shivered against the cold of the floor. It felt odd to walk; her feet hurt a bit against the floor. She picked up his glasses, then slowly went to stand directly in front of her father, whom, she noticed, was shaking and hadn't given the slightest acknowledgement that he knew she was right there in front of him.

Lily hesitantly reached a hand out and touched his shoulder, but he didn't move, so she squeezed it. Panicing a bit, wondering if it was truly him, she tore her hand away and almost screamed, "Dad!"

Harry Potter froze, then looked up at his daughter, who had been dead for over and hour now. But... no... she was right there... His cheeks were stained from his tears, his emerald eyes huge and wet.

Lily, bursting was happiness she knew it was him, held his glasses out and said softly, "You dropped them."

Then suddenly Harry was hugging her fiercly, and he picked her up, and he spun her around, tears beginning to rise in Lily's eyes and Harry continued crying.

"Lily," he choked out, never willing to let her go, "oh, Lily, my little girl..."

"Daddy," Lily whispered, "Daddy, I couldn't find you..."

"It's alright, sweetheart, I've got you," Harry said, his heart breaking with her words, "I'll never let you go again, I promise, Lily... He won't hurt you... not ever again... I'll protect you... Oh, honey..."

"I missed you, Daddy," Lily cried into his shoulder. He faintly smelled like cologne, the kind he always wore, and it always reminded her of him. "I - I didn't m-mean it, Dad, I - I didn't, I swear -"

"What are you talking about?" Harry pulled back and held onto her shoulders, looking her in her sparkling eyes.

"W-when you cal-called and I y-yelled at you I didn't - didn't mean it, D-Dad, I didn't real-really want Vol-Voldemort to come and fi-find me and -" She was almost hypervinalating.

"Lily, it's alright, I know you didn't mean it," Harry said, stopping her, his voice quivering.

"N-no, I really didn-didn't, but I yell-yelled at you and - and I upset M-Mum and Volde-Voldemort hurt m-me and -"

Harry hugged her again, squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing her back as she cried on his shoulder, whispering, "Shh, baby, don't say anyhing. I'm here, I've got you, you're safe..."

Harry knew just how manipulative Voldemort could be, he knew from experience, but this - this had gone too far. Voldemort had crossed the very thin line he had with Harry, and Harry then knew just one thing;

He was going to kill that old bastard for hurting his daughter.





( A/N: this is the end, but I'll be posting a few previews for the next book on this story.

Oh my goodness! I can't believe I finished this story! It's been so fun to write, and it's my most successful story, I'm so happy it turned out like this! Thank you all so much xD

Thankfully, I already have ideas for the next book, so it WILL NOT be so much of a long wait for it to come out, or at least the preview chapters to come. There will be two posted on here at the most, maybe one, it depends on how it turns out.

I had aimed for this to be thirty chapters, but oh well. The next one might go up and above that, who knows? ;)

THANK YOU SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH FOR VOTING AND READING! I LOVE YOU GUYS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dedication to @potterhead789, because who could ask for a better best friend to help me through it all? ;) Please go check her out, she's an amazing person and is so supportive of my stories. Oh, and to @potterhead789 AND @simsim10 - "IMPACT!" {just an inside joke we share}

Love from,
Lily

P.S. If we can get this story to 15K reads and 500 votes before I release the next book you all get ETERNAL GLORY!................................. (and an amazing bouncing ferret named Malfoy. )