“So… I’ve talked to you for hours now about my life… but what’s going on here? What were those things that attacked us?” Jamie asked. The sun was beginning to rise, casting a warm pink glow over the land; the crackling fire had now burnt into orange embers. Lily smiled sadly.
“They… we call them Crackacks. They will literally tear you apart until they get to your soul, that’s what they feed on. They hang around the mountains, in the shadow. The only reason Voldemort and other evil people go there is because their souls are incomplete, so the Crackacks have no desire for them.”
“But… they chased them away… Padfoot and Prongs chased them away.”
Lily pursed her lips. “I know, they can be chased away “ Padfoot, Prongs and your uncle Charlie make a sport out of it, I believe. Working as a team, we can get rid of them, for the time being, but no one goes into the mountains if they can avoid it, and certainly not alone.”
“Oh, I see. Another thing “ you don’t look old enough. You don’t look old enough to be my Dad’s mum, even if he was only one at the time, if you get what I mean.” She laughed.
“I know what you mean. When you die, you can take the form of any age you want. Most people tend to pick the age they were happiest, like me. I picked the very moment I found out that I was pregnant, when I was twenty. Although, I do look young “ many people used to say that I looked seventeen. But, I was in fact twenty and expecting my first child…” She took another sip of her hot chocolate, which had become cold; her eyes distant and far away. Jamie bit his lip, wondering if he should ask the question that had been bugging him since he first found out about the veil.
“Does it hurt?” he blurted out, finally.
“What? Getting torn apart by Crackacks? Probably.”
“No… I meant, Avada Kedavra…”
Lily closed her eyes, but her face stayed blank. “It’s not enjoyable. It’s more of a blunt pain. You don’t really realise that it hurt until it’s all over. Still, though, if you want my advice, don’t get hit by it.”
“I don’t plan to,” Jamie said, smiling, and then his face fell. “What are we going to do? I heard you talking to that man “ Dumbledore, wasn’t it? He has to come through the veil with us, or we can’t get back.”
She smiled warmly. “We’ll work something out, dear. I promise. Now, you’d better get some more sleep “ I need to find your uncle.” Jamie made his way back to the sleeping hut, his eyelids growing steadily heavier as he got nearer to the intoxicating flowers. He went back to where he’d been sleeping before, curled up in between Lillian and Sirius. The moment he closed his eyes, he was asleep.
***
“We can’t let Voldemort come back. Lestrange has planned all this; she’ll have everything ready. He’ll make another Horcrux. Then he’ll kill the children,” said Charlie Weasley, bluntly. The adults sat together in the Dining hut, were there was a low table, just raised above the ground high enough for them to kneel at it. Although, they did not all appear to be adults. Charlie had decided to take his fourteen-year-old form, finding that was the time he was happiest. The bright yellow flowers in the hut gave off a fruity scent, and the polished table showed the reflections of all the adults present “ Charlie, Dumbledore, Padfoot, Prongs and Lily.
“There’s nothing else we can do. We can’t let them stay here “ no, we can’t, Lily!” said Sirius, frowning at Lily, who had opened her mouth hopefully. She scowled quickly.
“Well, we can’t let him go back! My son is out there, and you know that he’ll be the first person Voldemort will want to kill! Can’t one of us go through with them? I’ll do it-”
“No, Lily,” interrupted Dumbledore softly, “we’ve already been through this.” Lily hurriedly blinked back tears that were threatening to spill down onto her porcelain-like cheeks. The secret hurt that had played on her mind all these years - missing out on watching her child grow and flourish “ ached in her heart, and seeing her grandchildren had made it both better, and worse.
“We can’t stand aside and do nothing,” she said, her voice quivering slightly. Dumbledore closed his eyes and sighed.
“I’m sorry, Harry,” he muttered quietly. James put his head in his hands.
“Can’t we tie him up or something? So, when he goes through, he won’t be able to kill anyone?” asked Charlie, desperately.
“No, he has to walk through the emptiness,” muttered James dully, referring to the mass of swirling colour between the two worlds. Sirius shook his head weakly, his eyes shiny with tears. Dumbledore sighed again.
“We must get him from the mountains. Then he must go through, for everybody’s sake.”
***
A handsome, dark haired youth strolled confidently through the thick crowds of glaring and fearful people, flanked by a growling dog, and a snorting stag. He was followed by seven crying children, shame and horror filling them up from the pits of their stomachs.
The youth grinned as he saw the gently fluttering veil. An evil grin, full of malice, and greed.
“I’m warning you, Riddle, touch my son, and you’ll have to deal with me when you return,” muttered James threateningly, now back into his human form. Riddle laughed softly.
“Really? I hate to disappoint you, but your son will suddenly appear in that pathetic little forest you call your home. Soon. Me? I will never die again. I will keep on living. I will keep on surviving.”
“Okay, we’ve heard your cheesy little speech. Now I’m not threatening, I’m promising. Kill my son and I’ll rip you apart with my bare hands, and feed what’s left of your black soul to the Crackacks, if they’ll take it.”
“How touching,” sneered Riddle. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe that your grandchildren and I must make a small journey, back to your son.” With an evil grin, he took the potion from Rosa’s shaking hand and downed it in one.
***
“NO!” Harry screamed as his children ran through the veil, but it was no use. They couldn’t hear their parents through the spell. He held Ginny and rocked her back and forth as Bella cackled, both parents sobbing. It was only a matter of seconds before the veil started to make a sulphurous roaring sound once again, and Harry was dragged by his hair up to his feet. The Death Eaters pushed him around the mirrors, and thrust his wand in his hand.
“So we can have a bit of fun with you beforehand!” one of them yelled.
“Yeah, let your kid’s watch you fight to the death!” screeched another. Harry’s mind was racing as he squinted at the thunderous veil. He didn’t have to kill Voldemort… he’d barely been able to do that last time… just fight until the seventy-two minutes were up… he just had to survive for seventy-two minutes…
The Third War by dumbledorefluertwins
Chapter Notes: Sorry for the wait, guys - my beta had RL to deal with and then she had to send it to her Beta mentor, who was swapmed with work. Anyways, it's here now, and I'm sorry for the evil cliffy at the end, but you should know by now that I love to keep you in suspense.
Please review and tell me what I could do to improve - anyone who says there's nothing will be shot; there MUST be something or I wouldn't be on this site, I'd be a best selling author. Thank you to those amazingly brilliant, lovely people who have helped be beat the 350 reviews mark. :D
~Evie