Chapter 7
With a bit of reluctance James told Lily everything. In the end, he always did.
“...”
“So, you're right. The potion alone won't be helping much. But it told me how we can save Harry if the worst case were to happen.”
“Harry could survive that?”, Lily asked, hopeful yet careful to avoid the Hippogriff in the room.
“Yeah,” James replied, returning the favour with a sad smile, “Harry can.”
But they couldn’t. Not if they wanted Harry to live. It was either them or their son and their choice would always be the same.
“How?”, asked Lily desperately.
“We make the prophecy come true. We've defied him three times. That stands when we'll not fight him if he truly appears. In that case we'll die either way, afterall. Trying to fling a spell at him beforehand, would only make it worse for us. If we stay unarmed and sacrifice ourselves for Harry, our sacrifice may be accepted by the old magics in exchange for Harry’s protection. Combined with the Luck Potion, Harry has a good chance of fulfilling the bloody prophecy.”
James had the feeling the potion made him more talkative. He hadn’t given such a long speech in a while. The isolation since Harry’s birth had made him rather calmer, quieter.
Now, he was making his point and explaining his plan with conviction to his wife. A plan that involved the ultimate sacrifice. Inwardly grimacing, he decided to enjoy the rest of his evening with Lily for as long as he could.
It was only a plan for the worst-case szenario afterall. “But that's only relevant IF Voldemort turns up. We'll have to trust Wormy.”
Lily stood and wrapped her arms around his waist, regarding him closely. “Our sacrifice ‘may’ be accepted by magic?”
James returned Lily's concerned gaze and swallowed thickly. “Yeah. Yours will be. Especially if you manage to stand directly in front of Harry. For me it will be less sure,” he admitted.
Frowning, she asked, “because you took the potion?”
“That, too. But also because it's Samhain. What do you know about the old holidays?”
Lily dragged him to the sofa, plopping down with one arm around his chest and her legs sprawled across his lap. One of his favourite cuddle positions.
“Not much to be honest. I only know that there are certain rituals for specific holidays, which are outlawed nowadays.”
James hummed. “Well, from the Bronze age, that would be 3000 years before Christ for you, over the Greek Dark Ages to the Middle Iron Ages, druids were already performing rituals. It's actually said that's how magic started out; with Rituals, Herbology, Runes, Potions, Astronomy and Divination.”
“Back then, there were no wands or structured Spells to use. Magicals were more solitary and it was near the end of the druid time that the first staffs were created. At least that's what my mother told me,” he said with a shrug.
“And the holidays?” Lily asked, eyes shining with innocent curiosity.
“In the Early Middle Ages, wizards and witches became less isolated and first wands were created. Some drew together to build small villages and communities. This was also a time during which they needed to support each other because of the witch hunts. Hogwarts was built and the tradition to collaborate on grander rituals started.”
“I wonder why we never learned that in history,” Lily pondered.
“To many Dark Lords. Magic became more and more regulated with each dark wizard or witch acting out,” James stated simply. “One or two centuries ago the celebratory rituals were still practiced. Blood magic for protective wards or adoption, too. Now it's all classified as dark.”
“You've never talked about this before, James. Is this the potion talking? And what about the holidays?”
“I haven't grown up with the traditions, so I didn't see the need to talk about them,” he said, rubbing his neck awkwardly, smiling down at Lily. “As for the holidays, they're only a couple of centuries old, but if you have enough magical people doing rituals at the same time, using the calculated most potent days to do so, they become significant.”
“Okay, that makes sense. It doesn't explain why my sacrifice would be valued higher than yours, though.”
James didn't look Lily in the eye when he replied: “Samhain is a celebration of the dead, is seen as an end and a beginning as it lies between the harvest season and the winter season and it honours the harvest of mother earth.”
“Oh.”, She answered, dumbfounded. “Oh. Okay. Well,... what do we do now?”
She was completely lost and James felt like he'd acted more like a professor than a proper husband in the last few hours. What was it with this potion? It still felt like the right thing to do. Lily preferred facts.
Right now, though, he thought, they needed a distraction. “Come on. We don't even know if he shows up tonight and if he does, I'll throw as many additional wards up as I can, to buy you time,” he said with a shaky grin.
Getting up, he put on a record and offered his wife his right hand. “My lady, would you do me the honour of joining me for this dance?”
At last, he got a real laugh out of Lily. He swirled her over the makeshift dance floor in their living room and was relieved to see her worry replaced by a spark of amusement and her usual warmth.
Moments like this, made him almost forget about the war going on outside. It made him appreciate every second of the rare occasions they were enjoying themselves fully, captivated by each other's company, basking in their shared love and laughter.
As the evening progressed into night without any dark wizard bursting through their front door, James allowed himself to relax slightly. Their elaborate dance moves had tuned down and they were swaying gently to the music. His right hand was holding her left while his other hand rested on her lower back. Lily had one hand on the back of his neck, occasionally stroking through his hair and leaned her head against his shoulder.
It had been a long time since they had last danced for hours on end. Must have been in the early month of the pregnancy. Before that only their wedding came to mind.
Smiling, he promised himself to treasure this memory. He'd just tilted his head to press a kiss on the top of his wife's head when he felt it. A violent push against the wards.
Lily's full-body flinch told him she could feel it, too. A rush of sadness flooded his whole being. This was it. The potion was not almighty and he knew it. Yet, it granted them the chance to save their son, a last wonderful day together and one last dance.
That had to be enough.
Cupping Lily's face with both of his hands, he lost himself in these brilliant green eyes he loved so much. “We know what to do. I love you, Lil's.”
“I love you, too, James”, she replied, her voice almost breaking. She was shaking and her eyes were tearing up again, yet she managed to nod firmly. After claiming his lips for a gentle lingering kiss, she rushed upstairs to the nursery.
James on the other hand turned to the door. He threw a broad collection of warning and protective spells at it, occasionally alternating with the hallway windows.
He heard an explosion from outside and knew instinctively that all the outer wards surrounding the property were down. Everything he'd cast from the inside wouldn't hold for more than a minute in comparison.
Suddenly there was a crash and the air pressure from the front door coming down threw him back and sent his wand flying. Following Felix Felices’ lead, he didn’t even look for his weapon. Instead he sprinted back to the door and yelled loud enough for Lily to hear: “Lily, take Harry and go! It’s him! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off!”
Physically blocking Voldemort's way felt surreal. The disgustingly powerful wizard was practically reeking of dark magic in a magnitude that felt suffocating.
Yet, James stood his ground, back-straight and proud like his spirit animal and looked the enemy square in his unnatural red eyes. “Not my family.” You evil shit.
Voldemort didn't even dignify him with a proper response. The expression of the dark-haired wizard twisted into one of annoyance under the hood of his cloak before the only answer he got was an ice-cold:
"Avada Kedavra."