You Were too Young to Die

Chapter 6

A TON ETOILE

( Thanks to your star )

" What name would you like for the baby ? "

" Mmmmm ... Let me think about it... "

James took an inspired expression, while he was eating the last part of the pumpkin cake Lily had cooked in the afternoon. He looked tenderly at his wife, sat on the sofa and at her womb which became a little more swallen every day.

" If she is a girl, I would like to name her Laura... Maybe Helen... "

" I definitely like Laura. It is beautiful. I had thought of Emma, or Juliet. "

" And if he is a boy ? "

" Harry or William ? "

" I had thought about Harry. "

He came to join her on the sofa then whispered :

" If she is a girl, I hope she will be as beautiful as her mom and if he is a boy, I am sure that he will have my irresistible charm. "

Lily laughed and said on the same tone :

" Well I, whether the baby is a girl or a boy, I hope that he or she will be more modest than his father... "

***

Severus Snape knocked to Dumbledore's office then entered. The Headmaster of Hogwarts threw him an inquisitive look :

" So ? "

" Nothing Headmaster. I´ve tried for three months but I´ve failed. "

" Please, still try Severus. Get her out of this. "

Sous la lumière en plein

Et dans l´ombre en silence

Si tu cherches un abri inaccessible

Dis-toi qu´il n´est pas loin

Et qu´on y brille

" I have another piece of information for you, Headmaster. "

" Tell me. "

" Voldemort's next target is... "

" Who ? "

" Alison and Franck Longbottom. "

" Oh, please not... She has just given birth to a boy... He set about more and more young couples... Thanks to have warned me, I will take charge of it. Severus, please, take care of the Potter girl. "

***

After Snape´s departure, Dumbledore took a quill and got ready to alert his team but decided something else. He opened a drawer and grabed a mobile phone. It was a muggle object offered by James and Lily which could have some usefulness. He composed awkwardly a number phone. He heard the dial tone, wondered if he had made the good operation. On the phone, somebody picked up the receiver and a feminine voice rang out :

" Good evening, Lily speaking. "

" Good evening, Lily. I have to entrust you with an urgent mission. "

" All alone ? "

" No, don´t worry. Take James with you. Warn Sirius, Remus and Peter. I wait for all of you in my office. Please, be quick. "

" I come at once. "

He heard a click then nothing. He hung up.

***

They were all gathered around Dumbledore less than half an hour later. He spoke about the threat which pressed on the Longbottoms.

" One of my spies taught me it this afternoon. I don´t know much about it. Nor when the attack will take place. Nor which is the nature of this attack. I want you to establish a total surveillance on their house. "

He threw a glance to Lily's belly, seemed to remember something then added :

" Please, don´t forget they have a some weeks years old son. I don´t want this child to be an orphan. "

A ton étoile

Toujours à l´horizon des soleils qui s´inclinent

Comme on n´a pas le choix

Il nous reste le coeur

Everyone nodded but all of them were still under the shock of the news. The Longbottoms were aimed. They saw, every day, people dying around them but always thought that happened only to other people. They hadn´t realized that they could also be affected one day. Automatically, Lily put a hand on her womb then stood up :

" I believe that it would be necessary to begin now. "

***

Some days later, nothing had still happened. Lily went around and around in her lounge, ready to jump up in the slightest telephone ring. James was to the scene with Sirius. Remus and Peter was in charge of contacting Dumbledore in the slightest alert. And she ? James hadn´t wanted her to accompany them. " Because of the baby " he had said.

No. She won´t leave it at that. They needed her. She knew it. With abang, she apparated in a street near the Longbottom´s.

A ton étoile

Petite soeur de mes nuits

Ca m´a manqué tout ça

Quand tu sauvais la face

A bien d´autres que moi

Everything was quiet.

The night fell.

It was cold.

Lily wrapped herself in her cape. She approached the house and hid herself on a corner. At least, she would be useful here. She watched the street.

Suddenly, a heart-rending yell rang out in the silent night. A yell which made her shiver. She jumped up.

The yell rang out once again.

She rushed in the garden then crossed the front door. She opened a door, then a second. She climbed the stairs, found herself in a corridor.

The yell got more and more closer.

Guided by the noise, she entered into a dark room and what she saw made her howled with terror.

Franck and Alison was in the ground, shaken by spasms of pain.

She heard steps behind her.

The support...

She breathed uneasily, her mind became numb, her legs were giving away.

Then, nothing more.

Sache que je n´oublie rien

Mais qu´on efface

A ton étoile

***

" Lily ? Lily ? Answer me. "

She fluttered her eyelashes.

Yes, I am there. Franck and Alison ?

She felt arms lifting her but had strenght to whisper :

" Franck and Alison ? "

" Calm down, Lil. "

She closed her eyes.

***

When she opened her eyes, she saw James beside her. She sat and asked :

" Alison and Franck, where are they ? How are they ? "

She saw that he avoided her look.

" Tell me, James. "

" They are at S^t Mungo´s Hospital... "

Lily had a sigh of relief. They aren´t dead.

A la joie, à la beauté des rêves

A la mélancolie, à l´espoir qui nous tient

A la santé du feu et de la flamme

A ton étoile

But she saw that James kept a dark expression.

" What happened to them ? "

" Death Eaters put hexes on them. Crucio. "

" How horrible ! "

" And they are in a pathetic state. "

" What means ? "

" For the moment they didn´t recognize anybody. Nobody. You came at the crucial moment. Some seconds later and they would be dead. "

" And they will manage, won´t they ? I want to say... They will go out of the hospital ? "

James looked at her with gravity :

" Dumbledore thinks they won´t. "

" What ? "

" He thinks that will stay like that, that they will never recover their normal state. "

" Oh no, please, no... "

Lily let her tears slid, noiselessly. After Jessica and John, this was Franck and Alison...

Why ?

Tears always poured.

A ton étoile, à ton étoile.

And that, it´s thanks to my star, isn´t it ?