A/N: My new pen name is Chasing Laughter. Please see my profile for more details. :D
As promised, my new fanfic: Spin. Title is from the song of the same name by Lighthouse. :)
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The summer before seventh year was when I truly understood that there was a war.
In all my six years before in the wizarding world, I had known that there was a fight between the good and the bad, between the pro-Muggleborn versus the pro-blood purification, between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins. But Albus Dumbledore had always kept us protected, unaware of the events unfolding outside the safety of Hogwarts.
But that summer, not even the only one he ever feared could keep us safe from the horrors and chaos that erupted.
Before the war even started, seventh year was a year you could never forget, if only because it was when you left your home of several years and entered the world of the adults.
When I entered seventh year, graduation was pushed to the back of our minds as Lord Voldemort and his followers terrorized the wizarding world. That year, it became far more than a small article wedged in between a story about the Chudley Cannons and an advertisement for Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans. It became far more than just something the Slytherins dropped hints about but never explained. It became far more than a secret the professors whispered about when we couldn't hear them.
That year, it became real.
The summer of 1977 brought with it a series of brutal, vicious attacks on Muggles, Muggleborn, half-bloods, and liberal purebloods that shocked the wizarding world from denial of what was right in front of their eyes. Hundreds of people were killed, many of them relatives of Hogwarts students. Suddenly, everyone was traveling in groups. Curfews were established. Parents were locking their children inside their homes.
And we, the seventh years who were supposed to be enjoying our last year in school, were propelled into a world full of violence, destruction and war.
In those days of darkness and despair, of all the people who stuck by me and gave me strength to continue fighting, one stands out. He was, and still is, my lighthouse – my hope, my light, the reason why I fought on the front lines on battle. He inspired me and challenged me to be a ray of light for others like he was for me – to give hope to everyone suffering in the war.
I never expected that he, of all people, would come to mean so much to me. Over our years at Hogwarts, I had watched him grow from an awkward, skinny boy with wild black hair to an arrogant, overconfident Quidditch hero, to the brave, determined man he had become. In less than a year, James Potter had become my everything – my confidante, my shoulder to cry on, my personal cheerleader, my hero, my best friend, and eventually, my soulmate – my forever.
I still have no idea how this happened. I have no idea why I was so lucky to have James when, around me, people were getting tortured and killed every day. I have no idea why, in the midst of insecurity and instability, I had a constant – the only thing I was sure of in this world.
When the world was spinning, so suddenly, so quickly, so erratically, James Potter was my anchor. He kept me steady and sane and alive when on some days, I just wanted to curl up and die and leave it all behind. He became my reason to keep on fighting, my reason to keep on living. If it weren't for him… I don't know where I would be right now.
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A/N: I hope you enjoy, and please review! I'd love to hear your thoughts, positive or negative. :D