James And Lily Potter: Third year

Chapter 25: summer of third year

"Potter," one of them muttered. Its voice sounded oddly like—

"Malfoy!" hissed James, stepping forward. "Lucius Malfoy! What are you doing to my friends?"

"Dear me, Potter, there is no need to jump to conclusions," came the silky voice of Malfoy. "All we ask for is a bargain."

James raised his eyebrows suspiciously. "What kind of bargain?"

Malfoy grinned. "We'll give you back your little—er—friends, if you're willing to sacrifice someone from your little circle."

"What?" exclaimed James, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You can have your friends back if you give yourself up, Potter."

There was an eerie silence following Malfoy's silky voice. No one spoke a word; instead, everyone looked at James' pale face. Lily was twisting her hands nervously, regretting the fact that she's ever hated Potter before.

"Fine," came the final reply.

Sirius managed to twist himself loose from the second black-cloaked figure. "James—no!" he cried. "It's all a trick...they work for the Dark Side!"

James turned sharply to Malfoy. "Is this right, Malfoy? You're doing this for the Dark Side?"

"Our Master wants you, Potter, seeing that you're the youngest and strongest Heir in your whole family."

"Heir?" echoed Lily, stepping forward, too. "What Heir?"

Malfoy sneered at Lily. "Ah, Mudblood, perhaps you don't know your boyfriend's little...let's say, secret?"

"Secret?"

He laughed. "The Potters are the last Heirs of Gryffindor, Mudblood. Soon after our Master slaughters the whole Potter clan, he'll want the last and strongest Potter of them all—dear J.H. Potter, here."

James reddened. "Look, I don't know what the heck you're talking about, but I have to warn you that—"

"Careful, Potter, my Master does not like outspoken little boys."

"All right, who is this 'Master' of yours, huh? Let me ask you something, Lucius. No sane person has a master. And I don't know why you idiots want me! So, please elaborate on your stupid doings."

Malfoy's eyes flashed. "For your information, Potter, you're insulting my Master. Who is my Master, you ask? Why, none other than the Dark Lord himself, of course! Dear, dear, and you do have a lot of that foolish Gryffindor boldness to ask and belittle my Master. Have you ever heard of Lord Voldemort?"

James glared at him. "Of course I have. He's the nutter that believes everyone is afraid of speaking his name—Voldemort. Ha! What's so scary about that name?"

"You know, Potter, I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you," came a new voice. The second cloaked figure pushed down his hood, revealing none other than Severus Snape.

"Snape? What are you doing here?" snapped James, surprised.

"Why, teaming up with Lucius and Evan here, of course," replied Snape, smirking. "Surely you don't expect me to miss out on all the fun, do you?" He glanced around at everyone, until his eyes rested on Lily's. Then he did a double take and stared at her.

"Lily?" he croaked. "What are you doing here?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, Snape, this happens to be my hometown, you know. I live here, you dodo!"

"Then why is Potter and his gang here with you?"

"Well, I've invited them over my house for the summer, Severus."

Snape glared at James jealousy. "So—you've got yourself another girlfriend, eh, Potter? Tired of all the rest?"

"Why you little—" snarled James, but Rosier cut them off.

"Really, Severus, I expected better of you!" he chided. "Arguing with Potter about some stupid Mudblood. Come, we have to do our job."

James suddenly stepped right in front of the three Slytherins and hissed, "Don't you dare call Lily a Mudblood again. You Slytherins are a disgrace to the name of wizard."

Rosier snorted. "Get away from us, Potter, you're giving us your Gryffindor germs." All three of them laughed menacingly.

"Dear, dear, Lucius, Severus, Evan, I expected you to hand me over the Potter boy already," hissed a soft voice from behind the trees. James jumped.

"Of course, Master," they murmured, seizing James and pulling him to where the voice came from. Arabella and Sirius were abandoned now.

"James Potter," said the voice, "I have wanted to meet you. After all, Heirs should meet each other, should they not?"

"I don't know who you are," said James loudly, "but I'm ready to call all the Aurors at the Ministry here to throw you into Azkaban. Who are you, you nutter?"

The figure behind the trees tensed. "Ah, just like the rest of your family, Potter. Boisterous and rude to anyone who is of lower rank. Really, James, I did expect better from the most powerful wizard alive in our world today."

Silence followed. James spluttered, "I'm—I'm what?"

"You're the Heir of Gryffindor," said the voice coolly. "Heirs are the most powerful wizards, but the Heir of Gryffindor is most powerful. But, of course, the prophecy can be wrong. After all, I don't see how powerful a scrawny thing like you are. But I can prove how powerful I am. After all, no one's afraid to speak your name out loud, Potter. However, they are frightened to speak mine." He grinned widely. "I am the most powerful wizard in the world—the last Heir of Slytherin, Lord Voldemort."

"Ha! You're Voldemort, is it?" asked James mockingly. Voldemort tensed at being called by his name.

"A bold thing, aren't you? Well, I expect more manners from you, boy. My name is not Voldemort when spoken out of your mouth, it's 'sir' or 'my Lord'."

"Oh really? And who are you supposed to be, chiding my manners—my father?"

Lily suddenly felt an air of gloom and danger around Voldemort. She ran towards James and grabbed his arm. "Please, James, don't anger him."

James pried her off him gently. "Don't worry, Lily, he's just some stupid fraud," he whispered.

"Ah...if it isn't your little Mudblood girlfriend, Potter," sneered Voldemort. "I suppose you would die for her?"

James glanced at a tear-streaked Lily and glared boldly at Voldemort again. "You know, I still don't know what you want with me."

"Why"—Voldemort's red eyes widened in surprise—"I want you to join me, of course, my dear lad."

"Join you?"

"Join me, my boy, and we'll do great things together."

James narrowed his eyes. "If you're asking me to join the Dark Side, then my answer is NO. I'd never become evil, when my family and friends could be at stake."

Voldemort paled. "You'll regret this decision someday, Potter," he spat. "I'll do anything I can to not have you go against me, including killing the ones who are preventing you from joining me." With a whisk of his cloak, he and the Slytherins were gone.

Everyone stood there in stunned silence. Lily felt extremely uncomfortable. So, this is how she and James were going to die! Killed by a nutter wizard! James, however, was nervous about what Voldemort had said: I'll do anything I can to not go against me. What did he mean by 'anything'?