Lily, Please Don't Die!

October 31, 1981.

Amid the festive decorations, Voldemort crossed the threshold. How foolish, he thought. They didn't know that the charm symbolizing fidelity had betrayed them, and were even enjoying the carefree holiday atmosphere.

A tall, bespectacled man rushed into the hall. So easy, far too easy. Voldemort studied the man. He hadn't even had time to pick up his wand. How ridiculous...

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off-"

A flash of green light, and James fell stiffly to the floor. Voldemort walked slowly up the stairs. He could already hear the woman pleading in panic.

"No, please, have mercy, I'll do anything, don't hurt him-"

She needn't have died, but she had insisted on standing in front of her child... Voldemort raised his wand and dealt with the nuisance first. Just as he turned his gaze to the oblivious child standing in the crib, a commotion and the cry of a phoenix came from downstairs.

Voldemort paid it no mind. He aimed at Harry and said, "Avada Kedavra." A moment later, before a triumphant smile could reach his face, the Dark Lord fell heavily backward, disbelief written across his face...

Before he died, he saw a girl rushing up the stairs two or three steps at a time, a phoenix in her arms. James, who should have been dead, came charging up too...

A question mark slowly appeared over Voldemort's head as he fell, unwilling to accept it.

Killing Curse, how dare you fake it on me!

More than half a year after she moved here, a week before Halloween, Evita finally triggered the next task-[Chain task, part two: prevent Lily and James's deaths]. They lived here, but no matter what she tried, she couldn't find them.

Godric's Hollow wasn't big. Evita wandered around the neighborhood until she finally saw a house gradually come into view.

She pressed herself against the doorway and strained her eyes to see inside: a terrifying man whose face seemed to have been burned, his features blurred and as flat as wax but not smooth, raised his wand and sent a beam of green light into another man.

Voldemort, known as the most terrifying dark wizard, and James Potter.

At the same time, another dazzling flash of green light appeared, and a mechanical voice sounded.

[The Dueling Arena function has been unlocked for a limited time. Current teammates: Lily Evans, James Potter]

[Choose the wrong wand, and your teammates will be left in tears. Bring a dual-revive wand and go!]

With no time to think, Evita charged straight in and saw a golden icon light up above the man's head, shaped like a hand reaching for something.

Lily's intense love and her powerful will to protect had triggered the Dueling Arena function, whose conditions were exceptionally strict, and had brought her husband along for the ride (×).

This system had never been activated before, and its functions had only brief descriptions. One of them allowed living teammates to revive "dead teammates," giving Evita, who happened to be passing by and had somehow become teammates with Lily and James, a chance to help them.

She revived James first, then ran to revive Lily. She curled her lip at Voldemort, who had vanished without a trace, then pulled out a cat teaser and clumsily tried to comfort the child, who had burst into tears.

He was still very young, not yet two. Even if he didn't know what had just happened, he had instinctively felt panic and fear, and once the source of danger vanished, he began to cry so hard he could barely catch his breath.

Evita bent down and touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead.

The cat teaser failed to soothe Harry, and he cried even louder. He wailed himself hoarse, enough to break the heart of anyone who saw or heard him. Lily, who was closest, snapped to her senses at once and put aside all her questions to comfort her son.

James rushed over too. After regaining consciousness, he had been acting entirely on instinct, and only gradually came to his senses after taking his son in his arms and patting him twice. In utter disbelief, he pinched himself hard. Clearly, the fact that he was still alive shocked him far more than it delighted him.

"We're all still alive, James." Lily kissed little Harry on the forehead. Who would want to die and leave their child alone? She repeated it with absolute conviction. "We're all still alive. Harry, Mommy's here."

Then she looked at Evita, her voice full of gratitude. "Thank you for saving us."

"Flesh is weak, the machine ascends." Evita's answer rang out with conviction. "Thank technology, and love. Most importantly, thank yourself."

Lily didn't understand, but chose to respect it and smiled politely.

"You're all right... aren't you?" Having failed to find Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black had rushed over, his heart sinking when he saw the dazzling green light, and now burst inside. Albus Dumbledore, who shouldn't have arrived here yet, was there too, his blue eyes flashing sharply.

But the scene inside the house was far more astonishing than they had imagined.

Harry, soothed back to sleep; James, pondering life; Lily, her face calm but her eyes a little unfocused on closer inspection; and a strange silver-haired girl.

A most peculiar and curious combination, Dumbledore couldn't help thinking. He also couldn't help noticing the fresh lightning scar on Harry's forehead.

That scar... and such a dazzling green light could only have come from an immensely powerful Killing Curse.

The phoenix preened his feathers, perched on his young mistress's hair, which had become messy from running, as elegantly as if he were in a magnificent palace.

Gold, red, and silver intertwined in a striking display of color. Evita, whose hair was one of those colors, rummaged through her pocket and picked out a piece of candy to put in her mouth. She had collected it all today when, out of options, she had resorted to knocking on every door to see whether Lily and James lived there.

When she finished the candy, Evita looked up and found everyone watching her. Under the gazes of one, two, three, four people, she grew a little nervous, held open her pocket, and said for no particular reason, "Trick or treat?"

The room fell silent.

People could get very busy when they were embarrassed. Evita hugged the phoenix tightly and whispered, "Fini, maybe you'd better hurry up and take me away..."

Before the girl and bird could make a quick escape, another phoenix flew over, trailing long golden-red tail feathers, and touched heads with Fini, looking very happy.

"I'm delighted to meet you. He is Fawkes, and I am Albus Dumbledore."

"Hello." Under the gaze of Dumbledore's keen blue eyes, Evita quickly replied, "I'm Evita Lorand. I live nearby, and this is Fini. We're very good friends."

Lily came to her senses and eagerly pulled an assortment of candies from her pocket, holding them out. "If you'd be willing to accept them."

Evita happily held her pocket open. "Thank you. Quite a haul-enough to last me three days."

"Three days?" Lily looked down at the pocket full of candy and swallowed her question.