Dwelling on Dreams (A Marauders Fan Fic)

Lily and James Go Into Hiding

Cassie ran through the maze, tearing around corners as she sprinted as fast as she could; the hedges on either side towered over her, blocking out the light and casting shadows over her. Cassie kept running, not sure where she was going or how to get out but conscious that she shouldn’t stop.

Suddenly she rounded a corner and found herself inside her old house, her parents sitting in their usual seats in the sitting room. “Cassie!” they smiled. “Come and sit down.”

“Mum? Dad? What are you doing here?” she asked confused.

“We live here silly,” her father said. “We’ve been waiting for you to come home from Hogwarts; it seems like ages since you left.”

“We weren’t expecting you home so soon,” Jasmine said, “but it’s nice to have you back. A lovely treat for us after a tiring day at work.”

“Of course. It’s lovely to have our little Cassie back,” her father smiled, hugging her and engulfing Cassie in his familiar warmth.

Suddenly the scene reformed and her parents were lying on the floor, their faces pale. “Dad? Mum? What happened?” she asked as she knelt beside them, a high pitched laugh reaching her ears.

“I killed them,” whispered a voice in her ear, darkness descending around her.

“No! No you can’t-”

“Oh but I can,” replied the voice. “I can do whatever I want,” it continued as Cassie saw Sirius crumple to the floor before her, her screams lost in the gloom as all her friends died around her. First it was Lily screaming, “This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t left us there Cassie!” Then she was followed by James, Alice, Mary, Lupin, Frank, the list went on as the pile of bodies around Cassie grew. “I am Lord Voldemort and nothing can stop me.”

“No! Stop it! Stop it!” she pleaded with the voice in the darkness, tears streaming down her face.

“Avada Kedavra!” cried the voice, the flash of green light blinding Cassie as she screamed.

She opened her eyes and waited for them to adjust to the darkness, feeling the stray tears leaking down her cheeks.

“Ssh Cassie,” murmured Sirius sleepily as he stroked her hair, pulling her close to his chest. “It’s ok, everything’s fine now. Don’t worry.”

“I had the dream again Sirius,” she sobbed, her body shaking with fear as he tried to calm her down.

“It was only a dream Cassie,” he whispered. “It was only a dream.”

“But it felt so real,” she whimpered. “It was horrible.”

“Ssh… ssh… go back to sleep,” he said softly as he held Cassie close. “I’ll protect you.”

“You will?”

“Of course. I’ll always protect you.”

“Thank you Sirius,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for Cassie,” he said as she pressed her small body even closer to him, curling up as she fell asleep again. “I love you,” she murmured just before she fell asleep. Sirius watched her sadly as he cocooned her in his arms before replying, “I love you too Cassie,” as he went back to sleep, his love cradled beside him.

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Dumbledore looked around at the Order members gathered gravely. “I will save you the horror of seeing what Alastor found of Benjy last week but, needless to say, Voldemort has struck again. I do not know what they did to him or where the rest of his body is, but it is unnecessary to say that Benjy is the latest in a stream of casualties.”

“They’re killing us off one by one Dumbledore!” hissed someone from the back. “First Artemis and Diana, then the McKinnons, the Boneses, Caradoc disappearing and now Benjy!”

“Don’t forget poor Dorcas, visited by You-Know-Who personally!” added another. “She was one of the best and look where that got her!”

“I’m not immune to this you know,” Dumbledore said, “I regret every last death but you all know why we’re fighting, why we’re dying. We just have to keep going and keep opposing Voldemort and his Death Eaters.”

“But how many more are going to die Dumbledore? We’ve gained more casualties than we have stopped Death Eaters and it’s beginning to look like a losing battle.”

“Yes but we need to be ready to be the only people prepared to fight a losing battle if we are ever to stop those who have died from dying in vain,” Dumbledore replied passionately.

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Cassie ran inside looking shaken. “Sirius?” she called as she heard voices from the sitting room. “Sirius I got your message- Lily? James? Is everything alright?” Cassie asked frantically as she noticed how pale Lily looked.

“Dumbledore just came to talk to us,” Lily said slowly, once Cassie was sitting down, Sirius looking on worriedly. “He-he…” she trailed off, in shock.

“What? What did he say?” Sirius asked gently.

James took over here, wrapping his arms around Lily. “Dumbledore told us that Voldemort has heard about a prophecy which he thinks is about us. He’s going to hunt us down and kill us,” James said nervously as Sirius and Cassie gasped.

“What? He can’t!” Cassie began as Sirius asked, “Why? Why does he want to kill you?”

“He thinks Harry is going to be able to defeat him,” Lily said weakly.

“He’ll have to get past me first,” Cassie said forcefully, making them laugh gratefully.

“I would never ask you to do that Cassie,” Lily said.

“Yeah but we’ll never let you die,” Sirius said vehemently. “Dumbledore must help you; he must be putting some plan into place or something.”

“He is – he wants us to go into hiding,” James said, “which means that this is probably going to be the last time we see you for a while.”

Cassie and Sirius’ faces fell, but they understood that it was for the best. “I suppose you have to do whatever will keep you safe,” Cassie said quietly. “But I’ll miss you.”

“It won’t be for long,” Lily said with a hopeful smile. “With any luck this will be over in no time and everything will be fine,” she reassured Cassie, hugging her tightly. “Dumbledore’s doing everything he can to help us and hide us, so that we won’t end up like all the others.”

“I hope so,” Cassie said, smiling feebly. “So… Harry?”

“Yeah we know that he’s going to be a boy,” James said with a smile.

“Harry James Potter,” Lily continued, beaming widely.

“James? You can’t name your child after yourself Prongs!” Sirius said. “Why isn’t he named after me?” he asked, feigning affront.

“Well… why do you think?” James laughed. “He’s not named after me anyway; Lily says she’s always wanted to call one of her children James. Besides, that’s a bit rich coming from you, Sirius Black the third.”

“What? It’s not like I’m the one who had a child and named it after myself. Besides I was named after other relatives, not my father,” he replied.

"Er Padfoot, your middle name is Orion," James pointed out.

"Yes, and your point is?"

"Well... isn't that your dad's name?"

"Oh. Yeah... I suppose it is," he said sheepishly.

When James and Lily left, Cassie held them extra close, and the four of them spent even longer saying goodbye than usual, aware that they might not see each other again for a while.

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