CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The Attack
October 10th, 1978.

Daphne knew Lily Evans was destined to do big things in the Wizarding World, though she knew Lily and she wouldn't go as far as working at the Ministry, Lily wanted to help people; the same way she tried to help Severus or young students at school. Helping people was part of her. So, it wasn't a shock to Daphne when she read that Lily had found a job at the St Mungo's as a healer in the bad injuries wing. What was a shock was to see James waiting in front of the hospital almost every single day, then giving her a kiss as soon as she stepped out.

Daphne was hurt and angry. Despite being broken up for months now, it stung to know that he had moved on and especially with Lily Evans whom he assured he wasn't in love with when they were together. It hurt. But, she kept it together because Tom was expecting results soon and she couldn't not do anything.

Today, they had planned an attack on the Hospital. Daphne was part of it and she hated it. She hated it because James was probably somewhere around the Hospital and would arrive as soon as he knew. What if he got hurt and she couldn't do anything but watch?

"Ready, Rosier?" Mulciber asked, appearing behind Daphne as she turned around to look at him. "You look scared. Are you scared?"

"Shove off, Mulciber," she muttered, turning on her heels to look at the building.

He shrugged, "I'm just saying," he said. "Are you ready to hit or not, Rosier? It's your first mission," he added as she kept looking at the building, hoping James Potter wouldn't walk in.

"I'm ready, Mulciber. We should do it now," she said surely.

He shook his head, "No, our Lord wants us to wait for that Potter," he said, almost spitting it out. "He knows he's here every day for his Muggle girlfriend. He's really pathetic, isn't he? He was stuck on the same girl for seven years when half of the castle was at his feet..."

No, he was with me. Daphne wanted to scream it because she wanted everyone to know that once he had loved her, adored her, cherished her. She wanted everyone to know that because she was selfish and she wanted James Potter for herself once, and maybe because she hated being out of the picture. It was awful to watch and do nothing about it. If only they knew James Potter was once hers.

"Does he really want Ja--Potter?" She corrected herself before he could realise.

He shrugged with a hum, "That's what he said. It's not a coincidence he sent you to spy on them," he spoke up, eyeing the building. "And, you have helped. See? Without you, we wouldn't know James Potter comes here everyday."

Daphne had done her part of the job, at least that was that. Sadly, she hadn't been able to see Fabian. She had crossed paths with him once in the week and had proposed to postpone the dinner, which he agreed with a wide smile.

"Alright, let's go!" Mulciber touched his mark with his wand and Daphne could feel the slight burn, meaning he had just told everyone it was time.

Soon, loud pops were heard all around her and black trails were flying towards the hospital. Daphne rapidly followed, hearing screams and sadic laughs coming from the rooms. Nurses were running outside, others were fighting and Daphne could swear she was hearing Lily's yells coming from the other wing. It was suffocating. The whole atmosphere was heavy and it was getting complicated to breathe.

Daphne was throwing curses at every single person that pointed a wand at her, she hated it but she couldn't avoid the fight or she would be punished for it. From the side of her eyes, she caught familiar figures running. She could have recognised them everywhere. Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. It felt like the world stopped for a moment, everything was so silent and she wondered if the others were still fighting.

Sirius had his wand pointed at her and she knew from his face that he wasn't going to put it down, "Sirius, don't make me do this," she pleaded softly.

He scoffed, "Don't play the vulnerable card with me, Daphne. It's not going to work," he muttered and she could see Remus standing still behind him. "You are one of them."

"As if you didn't know," she said. "You knew before anyone which fate was waiting for you and you ran away from it," she shouted angrily. "You left Regulus behind, in this crazy household! You are no better than a Death Eater. Hurting the people you love and being cruel," she added.

"I left for my safety."

"You're not safe anywhere, Sirius. Don't you get it? He has tons of people spying on you every single day and you think you are safe in your bloody flat!"

"Shut up!" He yelled, still pointing his wand. "I know you and your type of people better than you think. You wouldn't dare to hurt me, Daffy," he said.

"That is where you're wrong! I would hurt you," she told him seriously. "I would hurt you and that's the worst part of it."

Before she could say anything else, her breath was cut short as she felt a pain like no others in her stomach. She clutched at it and looked down to see a huge injury with blood dripping down. It sounded like everything around her was collapsing, she was hearing screams and her name being called out multiple times. She could perceive Mary Macdonald behind Remus and Sirius, but no one else.

"Daphne!" A familiar voice shouted loudly but she couldn't turn around to look or to feel. "Daphne, oi, can you hear me?" She moved her head slightly but let out a cough as soon as her body moved, "Mary, with what curse did you hit her? Mary, answer me!"

Before Daphne could hear the answer, everything became darker around her and she knew she was slowly going away. All she could feel was safety which was weird considering she shouldn't be feeling that way. But, almost as if the arms she was in were familiar and they had held her thousand times before. It felt like she was home.

"Diffindo!" She shouted, overwhelmed with the pressure of it all. "James, I--"

"Go find Lily, I'll--I'll handle it," he muttered.

James didn't think he would hold Daphne in his arms again, especially under these circumstances. Merlin, he still hated this need to hide--hide the fact that he cared for her and would harm anyone that lay a hand on her. He hated it. He loathed the fact that he could feel everyone's eyes on him and how his tears were salty. He shouldn't be crying for her but he was, and it hurt because what if Daphne Rosier was dying in his arms?

"Prongs," Remus' voice echoed but he didn't look up, afraid she would leave at any moment if he did. "She's not leaving," he added, knowing his best friend.

James sighed, holding back the tears, "You don't know that, Remus. Sh--She could be dying and we're not doing anything!" He argued. "This is wrong, so wrong."

"James, Lily can't see you sobbing over her," Sirius said.

He shook his head, giving her body a squeeze, "She knows that I've loved her, she'll understand," he mumbled,
rocking back and forth. "Can someone hurry up? We need help!"

"Prongs," Remus continued, reaching for his shoulder. "There's no one coming."

"Bloody hell," he sighed with a sniff. "I--I don't think I'm ready to lose her yet," he admitted quietly. "I love Lils but what if I lose her? I didn't think I could lose Daphne, ever," he added.

"I'll contact Pandora Malfoy, they were good friends, weren't they?" Remus proposed.

James nodded quietly and Sirius scoffed once again, "How come you have her number?"

Remus rolled his eyes tiredly, "She owns a shop in Diagon Alley. She's a sweet woman, Sirius," he pointed out.

James heard Remus' footsteps getting further and soon Sirius' too, meaning he was alone. Daphne was still unconscious in his arms and he wondered how no one came to get her yet. Perhaps they didn't really care that much. Her face was still angelic, though she had now a little scar on her jaw that she didn't have before. Without knowing it, his finger slowly grazed the scar and sighed sadly.

"James!" Lily shouted from behind him and he choked up on some tears before straightening his posture to look at her. "Are you alright? Looks like you've cried."

"Just something got in my eye," he lied, showing her the destroyed wall. "Can't get it out."

"Merlin, is that Daphne?" She whispered, her eyes wide and James noticed that she was horrified. "What happened?"

"Mary used Diffindo," he muttered, still holding her close. "She just collapsed..."

Lily hummed, kneeling down and James supposed her need to help people was coming off strong, "Diffindo, Merlin's beard," she murmured to herself, tucking a red piece of hair behind her ear. "That's--Since when she's unconscious, James?"

"Probably an hour or so," he said with a shrug. "Remus and Sirius are supposed to get Pandora since they were good friends during school," he explained. "I'm sorry I didn't come to get you, Lils--I swear I was and then I saw her falling to the ground while Sirius was just watch--"

"Shh, love, relax," Lily cupped his face, caressing his bone cheek with the pad of her thumbs. "I'm here, aren't I? I got away just fine," she reassured him. "But, James...Diffindo is not easy to patch up. She looks pretty hurt."

"I know," he hummed.

Wordlessly, Lily pulled out her wand and started working on Daphne's injury. Not long after, Remus came back with Pandora but without Sirius and James knew deep down that he was mad at him for defending her but he didn't care.

Pandora let out a gasp at the sight of Daphne and hurried to her side, she started exchanging with Lily until they both agreed and started working on something. Everything hurt, his head, his arms, his legs, his eyes and his heart. He couldn't help but think he was about to lose her.

"James," Pandora's voice rang until he looked at her. "Daphne is stable, though I need you to come with me so she can go home," she added, eyeing Lily. "Is it okay with you, Lily?"

Lily nodded her head vigorously, "Of course, I couldn't carry her so James should be the one coming with you," she said.

Pandora smiled, "Thank you. I know where she lives, it's not far from here," she muttered, rising on her feet as he did the same, holding Daphne close.

"I'll be back soon," James told Lily, leaning down to kiss her forehead as she gave him a warm smile. "Go home right away with Remus and don't be stubborn, Lils. I don't want to lose you, alright?"

Lily hummed, "Alright."

James followed Pandora blindly through the streets of London, which were not even packed. If he was honest, Pandora could have been leading him into a death trap and he would have walked right through it considering the situation. Was it bad of him to be that sensitive while he was with Lily? He hadn't planned to be with Lily, actually not at all. It just happened.

"She lives in Diagon Alley?" He asked Pandora, recognising the path.

She nodded, entering the Leaky Cauldron, "She moved a few weeks ago," she replied softly.

James always liked Pandora, she was nice and good. He could feel it.

"Daphne!" He heard someone call for her as he walked out of the pub. "Oi! Potter!"

"Fabian?" He turned around to meet the tall red hair he knew so much. Actually, Fabian and Gideon were almost part of the Order so they met at a few meetings, and besides James was a fan of them before. "You know her?"

"Daphne? Of course," he nodded, looking at her worryingly. "What happened?"

"Bad attack at St Mungo's," he explained. "She got hurt in the process."

Fabian winced, "What spell? Is it bad?"

Pandora shook her head, "Diffindo but we did our best. She should be alright," she spoke up, earning a grateful nod from Fabian. "Are you the boy she talked to us about? Handsome, red hair, tall with freckles?"

Fabian scratched the back of his neck, "That should be me, yeah," he chuckled. "Hey, James, how about I take care of her now? You can go back to Lily, I know she must be worried," he added.

"Actually, I--" James stopped and thought. He had no reasons to stay here, by her side, he truly had no reasons to be the first person she saw when she would wake up. "Actually, yeah. You take care of her, mate."

Fabian hummed, "Brilliant."

James didn't know why he didn't tell him that she was a Death Eater, probably because she was Daphne. The sweet Daphne who loved her owl and Quidditch. The same Daphne he used to love so bloody much. Maybe he still saw the good in her and didn't want to ruin it for Fabian and her. It would be selfish, wouldn't it? He was with Lily now, so why did it matter that she was almost with Fabian?

That night, James Potter went home, hugged his parents and kissed Lily as usual. He sat down at dinner, almost forgetting that hours previous he was holding her body in his arms or how she had described Fabian to her friends. He was forgetting, the same way he forgot her months ago until he went back to his room and his thoughts got the best of him. He found himself looking for the personalised snitch she had gifted him after the Christmas break.

That night, James fell asleep with the snitch under his pillow. A mere reminder that he was loved by her before, that he had been the lucky person Daphne had given herself to.

One question spiralled in his mind : did he still love her?

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authors note, this is my way to torture you ❤️ love you mwah mwah