First Wizarding War

Chapter 3: Assignments (Part 2)

James had certainly been in the Hog's Head Inn before. Not by choice, per say, more out of necessity for a change of pace. They had arrived in room 203 ten minutes early–Lily and Remus's doing–and within the past five minutes of mindless waiting, James reaffirmed his distasteful assumptions. The room could only be described as grey: dark furniture with a healthy layer of dust rested on creaky wooden floors that may have been brown at one point, though you would have a tough time convincing anyone of that. Even the scant decorations were dreary with a black and white landscape hanging tilted on one wall and an empty vase of flowers beside the bed. Even when the room filled with the three additional voices of Peter, Dorcas, and Marlene, it still felt as gloomy as a funeral home, though that may also be because for some inexorable reason, they all determined it best to keep their voices no louder than a whisper.

So when Moody came barging in, throwing the door wide open and announcing in his loud, growling voice, "Follow me"... well, suffice to say it was a startling surprise. Though with a shared look of apprehension, they did just that with no thoughts of disobeying or questioning.

They marched unceremoniously from the room and down a flight of rickety steps. If anyone in the restaurant below thought it odd to see a string of teenagers following a man wearing a trenchcoat in summer, they refused to show it. In fact, not a single person looked up from their drinks except for the barkeeper who nodded covertly at Moody as they passed.

When they reached the street, instead of turning towards Hogsmeade, Moody turned towards the outskirts of the village and strode towards the edge of the path where the gravel road faded away into dirt, then grass. But he didn't stop there; he kept going until the patches of grass disappeared into the shadow of the nearby mountain and then the shadow of the forest.

"Sir? Where exactly are we going?" Sirius eventually asked as he ducked below a branch.

"If there was a name for it, it would be too well-known, wouldn't it?" Moody replied evasively, his bright blue eye whizzing in its socket to peer out of one corner at him.

"We can name it a bloody inconvenience, that's for sure," Remus muttered from somewhere behind James who stifled a laugh.

Whatever name they eventually chose for their training location, the location itself ended up being a clearing in the midst of the woods at the base of the mountain. The tree cover was so thick and the rocky terrain so tall that James questioned how the grass beneath their feet could get enough sunlight to grow, even at the height of noon. Sensing their predicament, Moony had apparently brought a series of lanterns that gave off a pale, warm light and when they arrived at the clearing, he instantly used his wand to send them hovering in a vague circle along the tree edge.

With their circle of light in place, Moody turned around abruptly and clapped his hands together once.

"Right then! This clearing has all of the protective charms that you can imagine to keep us well-hidden except for an anti-apparition jinx, so now that you know where to go, you are to apparate here every evening for training. It goes without saying that this clearing is one of those secrets not to be shared with anyone outside of this group, understood?"

He stared squarely at James, Sirius, and Remus for a second each, waiting for them in particular to nod in turn before he continued on.

"Pair up. Today we see what you're made of."

Dorcas, Lily, James, and Peter lined up on one side, facing Marlene, Remus, and Sirius on the other while Moody stood behind the group of three. Marlene started to turn around in order to see Moody, but he quickly motioned for her to face Dorcas instead.

"The point of me standing here is for you not to see me!" he shouted as if it were the most obvious fact in the world. Marlene blushed scarlet but found some solace in Dorcas's grinning eye roll.

"Behind you three, I will write a spell, curse, jinx, hex, whatever in the air for the group of four to see. Then I will randomly light up my wand and when I do so, you are to fire the appropriate spell at your partner who will have to block it without knowing what is coming or when it is coming. Yes, Black. You have a question?"

"Er… yeah. How does the odd number of people work out exactly? 'Cause right now, it looks like James and Peter are both aiming for me…"

Moody chuckled, a grin lighting up his features. "That is quite the dilemma you are in, isn't it? Now then, ready to begin?"

Sirius furrowed his brow, his confusion no less satisfied than before, but he faced his two opponents nonetheless, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet. James grinned back at him, twirling his wand, while Peter sucked on his lower lip nervously, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see what the three on his right were doing.

James craned his neck to see around Sirius at what Moody was writing and saw, in fiery red letters, the words: leg-locking. Then, without waiting a heartbeat after he finished the last letter, a glowing orb appeared at the end of Moody's wand and James quickly fired the nonverbal jinx at Sirius. Peter muttered "Locomotor Mortis" a second later, but both spells bounced neatly off of Sirius's simple shield spell.

Looking further down the row, James was pleased to find that no one was hobbling around with their legs tied together. So far, they seemed to be at least meeting Moody's expectations. Though, that really was too early to judge.

The spells Moody demanded got more and more difficult, some requiring nonverbal incantations while others required precise wrist movements. Some had to be recognized by the defender as powerful enough to break through the simple defensive enchantments, and those who didn't realize this in time, found themselves subject to various hexes and jinxes. Once everyone was breathing heavily and their nerves felt stretched thin, Moody called for a small break before they repeated the exercise, but now in opposite teams.

And so, the evening stretched on and James grew increasingly grateful for the lanterns that Moody had strung up when they had arrived. If it weren't for those, they would have been plunged into pure darkness by now, making the entire test that much more difficult.

"Not a bad base to work from for the most part," Moody announced once the offensive side had finished their turn playing the defensive role. "But now the real work begins."

Peter groaned softly from beside him and James watched as Sirius grabbed onto his shoulder, giving him a reassuring shake.

"Apparate here tomorrow at the same time. From here on out, anytime you step foot within this clearing, assume that I could try to attack you and you need to be ready to defend yourself."

James sucked in a breath at the ominous announcement and from the back of the group, he watched as everyone drew themselves a bit taller.

"That may sound harsh, cruel, crazy, doesn't matter. Call it what you want and guarantee I've heard it before and then some. But it works. And if you want to stay alive, you need constant vigilance. That is one of the things that I will be trying to instill in you and the best way to do that is to practice it constantly. Everytime you leave your home, everytime you go out, be observant. Be careful. Be prepared." He looked at each of them in turn before grunting, "Off you go."

Moody raised two fingers to his forehead, giving them a small salute before he flicked his wrist and the lanterns went black. A second later, they heard a quiet pop and Moody was gone, though they could no longer see anything to make sure of it.

"See you all tomorrow, I guess," Marlene said. A second pop and she was gone too.

With exhausted goodbyes from them all, they disappeared one by one. James landed just outside the small gate of the Potter Manor and held it open for Sirius and Lily who arrived moments after him. They trooped into the house, heading instantly for the kitchen without saying a word. Too tired to cook and it being too late to ask Missy to make something for them, James grabbed the milk and they all enjoyed a bowl of late night cereal.

"Well, I am exhausted and will be sleeping in tomorrow."

"You always sleep in, Padfoot," James laughed.

"I'm just saying, don't plan on seeing me until well into the afternoon."

"I'll be up. I'm going to start a batch of potions tomorrow morning," Lily added, grabbing all of their empty bowls and heading to the sink.

"I don't envy you," Sirius said, stretching his back as he leaned off of the counter.

Lily shot him a confused look over her shoulder. "I thought you were jealous that they gave me something else to do."

"I was, but that was before I knew how tired I would be."

"Fair enough. Just as long as you're up in time for day two of Moody's training."

"I will be," he promised. "See you tomorrow afternoon."

James shook his head ruefully and muttered goodnight as Sirius passed, waiting for Lily before they headed upstairs together, hand in hand. When they reached his bedroom door, he tugged her into his chest and leaned down to kiss her, his heart still skipping a beat when their lips met. The familiar tingles ran down his arms and he knew that no matter how many times they kissed, no matter how long they were together, the thrill would never fade away.

"I love you, you know that?" Lily murmured.

James grinned and lay a gentle kiss at her hairline. "I know. And I love you." He fumbled behind him for a moment, searching for the door handle and was about to suggest she stay the night in his bed, when the door down the hall creaked open.

"James? Is that you?" His father's whisper echoed against the walls, his voice still thick with sleep.

He sighed. "Yeah, Dad. We just got home."

"Just now? Why did they keep you so late? What were you doing?"

James heard him step further outside and shut the door behind him. This was going in the opposite direction as he had hoped.

"I can't tell you, Dad. You know that."

Even in the dark, James knew the sound of his father's frown and this silence was definitely it.

"Right. Well you tell them not to keep you out so late next time."

"Sure. I'll tell them," he said, lightly enough to imply that there was less of a chance of that happening as Voldemort marrying a muggleborn.

"Good. Get some rest. I'm sure you're exhausted."

"Yeah, we're heading to bed now."

"All right. Well good night, then."

" 'Night, Dad," James sighed, but his lips quirked into a smile when he heard Lily giggle lightly and she pressed her forehead against his chest in embarrassment.

"Have I mentioned we really need our own place?"

"Yes. Yes, you have." She pressed her lips against his once more then started to slowly walk backwards until their arms were fully outstretched yet they were still holding hands. "Good night, James."

He smiled and let her hands slip from his fingers. "Good night, Lils."

Chapter 3: Assignments (Part 3)

Sirius sighed happily, stretching out on the dusty wooden floors as if it were a bed of feathers. "I'm so glad you decided, Moony."

"Let's just hope I don't regret it," Remus replied, walking slowly around their new kitchen, letting his hand trail on the simple tiled island.

"Either way, it's ours! We're real adults now, free to do what we please."

"Have you ever done anything except exactly what you pleased?"

"Occasionally. Only when that little nagging voice in my head was being too persistent."

Remus chuckled and turned back around, seeing Sirius now making snow angels in the thin layer of dust. "Get off the floor, Padfoot. That's disgusting."

He sighed wistfully. "There's the voice."

Thoroughly ignoring him, Remus flicked his wand and the dust disappeared. Soon, the dust was slicked clear from the kitchen surfaces, the windows, and the single ratty couch that the old owners kindly left for them–or were too scared to get rid of based on the state of it. The faded green fabric looked like it might disintegrate upon touch.

"Come help me clean out our two bedrooms before my parents and the Potters come with our things," Remus said, walking down the short hall where two bedrooms and a single bathroom lay waiting for them.

"I don't exactly please to!" Sirius called after him, already sitting up.

"Then I get first dibs!"

Instantly, Sirius jumped to his feet and raced after Remus. "I'm coming!"

"What are they doing up there?" Lily asked with an amused smile as they heard loud footsteps pound down the hallway above them.

"I no longer care," James announced.

"Oh yeah? And why is that?"

"Because the only thing that seems to matter right now is the marvelous fact that I get to live with you, Miss Evans." James smirked, walking towards Lily who was standing in the middle of their small living room.

She turned from the fireplace and grinned sheepishly. "I'm pretty sure I've been living with you at your parents' place for a little bit now."

James shook his head, taking her hands in his and rubbing his thumbs over the backs of her palms. "That does not count in the slightest. I love my parents, but they don't really help with the romance."

"I don't think we'll have much time for romance with training and potion making and eventually we'll have missions on top of that and–"

"Not with that attitude we won't," James murmured, leaning forward to kiss her gently.

She smiled against him and muttered, "I suppose I can make time."

He kissed her again, wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her closer against his chest. "How generous of you."

She smiled again but her brain could not seem to fathom a response. Her mind was entirely focused on the tingles that James had sent racing down her limbs as the kiss deepened. She grabbed onto the front of his t-shirt and pulled him forward as she stumbled backwards until her back hit the kitchen island. With barely a pause, Lily pushed herself onto the island and wrapped her legs around James' whose hands found themselves resting on her thighs. His fingers traced under the hem of her shorts and her stomach erupted in a swarm of butterflies.

"Oi! Lovebirds!" A knock shattered their blissful silence, knocking them out of their own private world. "They're here!"

James sighed and rested his forehead against Lily's. "Why did we think living below Padfoot was a good idea?"

"You tell me," Lily said, lying one more kiss against his lips before ducking under his arm onto her feet. She walked backwards towards the front door with a teasing smirk dancing across her lips. "But what did I tell you? There's hardly any time for romance."

"Oh, I'll make time."

Sirius's voice came through the door. "Stop your snogging and get out here!"

Lily threw open the door which Sirius was apparently leaning against and he stumbled into their living room as she walked past, completely unphased. "Good afternoon, Sirius."

James grinned as Sirius righted himself in front of him. "So dramatic, as ever."

"Oh, shove it," Sirius laughed as James walked past him. "But you were snogging, weren't you?"

Turning to face him, the familiar mischievous light dancing in his eyes, he replied, "Obviously."

The afternoon was then filled with flying furniture and parents surreptitiously wiping their eyes and the new leasers hurrying their families out when the day started to drag into the evening and they had to prepare for their training. When the front door was shut behind the Potters at last, James and Lily stood side by side, staring at the door in the silence that seemed to bounce around their flat.

Their flat.

They had their own flat.

Well, 'own' plus Sirius who didn't seem to realize that front doors were not meant to be barged in through. Yet, that is precisely what he did without so much as a knock.

"Ready for training?" he asked as a greeting. Remus was rolling his eyes in the background, refusing to step over the threshold without being invited in.

"Yes, we're ready," Lily replied, scooping up her wand from their small and slightly lopsided kitchen table James' Mom had bought from a friend.

"We can't be late. I don't want to see what Moody makes us do if we're even a second past five," James added. Before he shut the front door behind their group, he peered into the flat once more.

The furniture was sparse and unorganized. Their things were in boxes against the walls. Half of the kitchen appliances needed to be fixed. Yet it was home. Their home that they were renting with money from their own jobs.

Though his blissful smile was wiped off of his face as soon as he landed in the clearing that Remus had dubbed "the Inconvenience" because when James opened his eyes, he saw Moody with his wand pointing straight at him. A stream of freezing cold water showered over him and with his wand safely stowed in his back pocket, James was powerless to do anything but stand there and be glad he was wearing glasses to keep the water out of his eyes.

The stream of water ended, leaving a dripping James Potter glaring straight ahead while his friends, all of whom were lucky enough to not apparate next to him, stifled their laughter behind their hands.

"Constant vigilance, Potter!" Moody said with satisfaction. "Never apparate into an unknown area without your wand ready."

Moody turned on his heel to face the rest of the group, hands clasped behind his back, while James fished his wand out of his jeans and dried himself. He approached his friends and muttered, "Not a word" while the rest carefully arranged their faces into looks of compassion.

Four hours in and sweat had built up on each of their foreheads despite the cool night air. Their jackets all lay in a pile to one side and it was with no small amount of relief that James dropped his wand arm when Moody called them to a stop after hours of practice duels in every pair imaginable. They practiced in assigned groups in various assortments of one-on-ones, two-on-twos, one-on-twos and more while Moody and the rest watched. After one side "defeated" the other or the duel went on for long enough, Moody would call a pause to give them pointers, alter their stances, offer corrections, criticisms, and ever so rarely, a possible compliment. Suffice to say, they were each exhausted and ready to collapse on the nearest surface to sleep for as long as allowed.

But when Moody called the entire group towards him for a closing announcement, James' exhaustion seeped out of him and excitement rushed in.

"Starting next week, you will each be given a few small assignments. Mind you, these are information gathering assignments only. You are not to engage in any magic whatsoever. But essentially, Dumbledore has predicted that Voldemort will soon be turning his attention to the Ministry. We need to find out what we can about what influence he already has and where he might be looking to make his next move. The seven of you are perfect candidates for this because anyone your age could be looking for an intro job at the Ministry."

Moody dug around in his coat pocket until he was holding up a small stack of envelopes. "In my hand, I have separate assignments for each of you with different departments or jobs you are to apply for and people you must get an interview with, as well as what kind of information you should be after. Your homework tonight is to read these envelopes and start getting ideas for how you would get the information out of people without them ever being the wiser. That being said, tomorrow's training will be far less hands-on. We will go over what techniques to use on weedling information out of even the most tight-lipped of people, yet that is a long way off of being useful. You first have to do what you would be doing if there was not a war going on right now. Does anyone know what I mean?"

After a beat of silence, Lily answered. "Make resumes?"

Moody grinned. "Precisely. That is your second homework assignment. Make your resumes and make them well. If this is to work without arousing any suspicion, your resumes and interviews must be as realistic as you can make them. Any questions?"

"I have one," Remus said quickly. "Are we allowed to tell each other about what our assignment is?"

"Ah, Dumbledore said one of you would ask that. All of that information will be found within your envelopes as well. Here is yours, Mr. Lupin." Remus walked forward to collect his envelope and he stared through the parchment as if he could see the words printed inside it. When all of the letters were passed out, Moody gave them a curt nod and disappeared, the lights going out with him.

Too tired to offer much in ways of good-byes, the trainees all disapparated a moment later and James, Lily, Remus, and Sirius headed dolefully towards their flat from the alley near the trash bins. They paused at the ground level front door and glanced uncertainly at each other.

"Well… I guess we should open these on our own, then," Remus said, holding up his own letter. "We don't really know how secretive we have to be about it."

"I'll tell you whatever I'm allowed to," James promised.

"Same," agreed Sirius.

"Let's read them tonight and we can go over everything tomorrow morning with breakfast," said Lily.

"See you tomorrow," Remus murmured, already heading up the stairs.

"See ya," Sirius added, following close behind.

James sighed and slung an arm around Lily's waist as she opened the door to their flat. "Dumbledore better not expect us to keep any big secrets. I feel like that's not a great way to build a relationship."

"Either way, I trust you completely. Any secrets he wants us to keep is for a good reason so it won't be a reflection of our relationship."

"That's true. But if I know what you're doing, I'll be less worried about you."

Lily smiled as James curled his arm around her waist tighter and kissed the top of her head. "I'll always worry about you."

"And I'll always worry about you," James sighed. "I guess that's part of the job."

"Guess so…"

James hastily unwrapped his arms from Lily and clapped his hands, making Lily jump at the sound. "Well. This envelope is not going to open itself. Let's see what boring job I'll be applying to." He collapsed onto their sofa and tore open his envelope.

She watched him read whatever was written on it, trying to gauge how excited or miserable he was by the assignment from the back of his head. Meanwhile, she leaned against the kitchen island and carefully slit hers open too, a mixture of excitement and nervousness racing through her core.

Chapter 3: Assignments (Part 1)

Too many thoughts, opinions, and worries were swirling around through James' head, combining into a slurry of a confusing mess that was pressing against his skull, on the verge of causing what would surely become a blaring headache. He stomped up the garden path, barely pausing at the front door and storming straight through the few rooms into their back garden where he instantly began to pace, flattening the grass into a flat trail in his wake.

"What's up, Prongs?" Sirius asked as they trooped into the garden after him.

James started in surprise. In his haste he had completely forgotten that the others would be following him home.

"Where to even begin?" he replied, continuing his pacing. Sirius snorted and leaned against the house wall in amusement.

"I assume you're thinking about Dumbledore's reasons for secrecy?" Remus prompted with a raised eyebrow.

"Partially."

"And…?" Peter egged on.

"And what do they want Lily for? And how many others weren't at the meeting? And how long will training take?"

"Well we'll find out what they want Lily for whenever she gets back," Remus answered.

"If they'll let her tell us," Sirius added with a grim smile.

"It is an odd rule…," Peter mused, more to himself than anything.

"Definitely not one that I would think of, but one of the reasons that I signed up for this was because Dumbledore is leading it and he has experience. He knows what he's doing. I say we trust him," Remus said, feigning confidence.

Sirius snorted incredulously. "Sure, but basing the Order off of the Death Eaters?"

"It's not only the Death Eaters. It's also a common thread among a lot of other large scale rebellions. Take the goblin revolution of eighteen–"

"Moony, I swear on Merlin's left incisor, if you start spouting some History of Magic nonsense–"

"Yeah, I'm with Padfoot on this one," James laughed. "We graduated for a reason."

Remus smiled. "Fine. All I'm saying is that we've literally been to one meeting. Who are we to assume that we know better than everyone else there?"

"Yeah…" James ran a hand through his hair and stopped his pacing, staring instead at the lawn beneath his feet. "We can always just tell each other what we can, right?"

"Definitely. And hopefully we'll be placed on the same missions together so then we can tell eachother everything anyways!" said Peter.

"I hope we can get out there sooner rather than later. I just want to start any mission, I'm not too picky on what it is at this point," Sirius bemoaned.

"I'm sure Moody will whip us into shape in no time!" James added cheerfully, the knot in his stomach slowly unraveling and untying itself as he fell back into the familiar rhythm of things. All he needed now was the same dorm beds surroundings them or the Common Room fireplace to really ease his worries.

"Hey!" Lily said breathlessly nearly an hour later as she threw open the back door, a bag slung over one shoulder. "Sorry that took so long."

"Lily!" James cried, jumping up from the grass where he had been lounging, dusting off the back of his pants.

"What did they want?" Sirius asked instantly.

"If you're allowed to tell us," Remus added.

"It's okay, I can tell you," Lily smiled. "I even asked to make sure. I'm just helping Henry brew some of the basic potions the Order needs to start making a stockpile while he focuses on the more advanced stuff. Isn't it great?"

"Good for you, Lils!" James said.

Sirius, on the other hand, groaned dramatically and flopped onto his back fully spread eagle. "It's day one and you already get to do something!"

"Calm down, Padfoot. They'll be having you blow up Death Eaters and playing the knight in shining armor soon enough."

Sirius scowled and raised his head just enough to stick his tongue out at her.

"So what potions are you making? Can you share more specifics?" Remus asked politely as Lily joined their circle.

"I made a short list with Henry. Mostly different healing potions: some cleaning wounds, some internal healing, some for nerves, that sort of thing. Henry is sticking to the ones specific to each of the missions, but then we'll be taking turns delivering some of the standard potions to different stockpiles since it's less suspicious to see a bunch of injured people always going to the same house. So I think I'm going to take the first delivery–"

"Good afternoon, boys! I didn't know you were all over. Oh, and Lily! Sorry dear, I'm so used to just saying 'boys.'" Mrs. Potter chuckled to herself from the back door.

"Hey Mum," James said weakly, his heart hammering at the intrusion.

"I'm not sure what delivery you're talking about Lily, but do you want me to have Missy deliver you some dinner or snacks soon?" She smiled at her own word play, missing the nervous glance that passed between the group.

"That's okay," James replied. "We'll come in for dinner in a bit."

"Okay. I'll tell Missy there'll be extras tonight."

Silence stretched between them in her absence as Mrs. Potter went off to discuss dinner with their house elf. No one was entirely sure what to say or what was safe to say anymore.

Eventually, James broke the silence. "We really need our own place."

Sirius laughed. "Agreed. We should just sign that lease. I don't think we're going to find anything much better, no matter how long we wait."

"What we really need is to be more careful about when and where we talk about these things," Remus said pointedly, trying to steer the conversation away from what he knew was inevitable.

"That too," Lily agreed. "But what do you think, Moony? I liked the last set of flats we found, but I know you're feeling a bit more hesitant."

He sighed, hoping the pressure wouldn't turn to him. "Give me a day or two to think about it. I'll let you know."

"Well you have until Friday I think. That's when we have to decide by before they give them to someone else," James said.

"But if you're not sure, we can always ask for an extension," Lily said, sensing his unease.

"Yeah, but they'll raise the price and make it a whole negotiating tactic and…," Remus shook his head with a heavy sigh. "No, I'll decide before then. I will."

Chapter 2: The First Defiance (Part 1)

James' heart froze within his chest when Voldemort called him out so calmly. There goes his daring rescue plan, wrought upon the element of surprise. From beneath his Invisibility Cloak, James looked between Voldemort's thin and towering figure to Lily, slowly getting to her feet. Thinking quickly, he backtracked until he was behind Voldemort to quietly remove the cloak, hoping that Voldemort's sources, whoever they were, failed to mention his prized possession.

Lily's eyes widened as he appeared and Voldemort must have noticed because he turned around, still fingering his wand patiently in front of him.

His thin lips curled into a facsimile of a smile at the sight of James standing so boldly before him. "Ah, Mr. Potter. How good of you to join us without that silly cloak of yours."

Damn. James thought to himself.

Voldemort nodded grimly, apparently not expecting a response and turned away from them momentarily, looking off at the opposite wall of the eerily empty platform, the scarlet train still lining one side. Shooting a confused look at Lily, she hesitantly walked towards James, fully expecting a curse to fly at them at any moment. But, none came.

"You are no doubt wondering why I have not killed you yet. Why you still live when I know that you have fought my followers so vehemently already during your time at Hogwarts. Why should I seemingly spare a mudblood and the foolish boy willing to sully his pure and noble blood?" He turned and began to pace before them, his eyes flashing red with passion. "Well I will gladly tell you."

"You have many faults. Countless and innumerable, surely. Yet from what I hear, I would be willing to look past them. To mercifully let you live because beneath the errors in your ways, you could provide an invaluable use to me. You are both talented, undeniably. You are eager and determined. Qualities that make any good soldier, no matter which side you are on. But your true value lies in the fact that no one doubts whose side you are on."

He stopped his pacing and turned to face the pair head on. James and Lily both gripped their wands fiercely, yet the idea of facing the most powerful dark wizard of their time made their beloved wands feel like little more than twigs.

"No one would doubt that you chose the losing side, even if you were to furtively change your loyalties and become a spy. If you do this–and do not even think about double crossing me, for Lord Voldemort always knows–but if you swear your loyalty to the right side, I will look past your… failures, I will even allow your youthful and naive relationship, and let you live."

"What do you say? A simple request for two spared lives. That is all I ask."

Lily scoffed and shook her head slightly. James still didn't respond, trying desperately to think of a way out of this.

Voldemort's narrow eyes flashed scarlet. "She laughs. She laughs when I have been so kind, but you, Potter… you know what I can offer. You have tasted power in your school days. I can offer you even more of the same glory. You have experienced the thrill of both regulated power and of unmanaged power–"

"When I was a bully, you mean?" James interrupted. Lily grabbed his arm as a warning.

"When you felt what it meant to approach your full potential. Your full influence!"

"Thanks, but I'll pass," James replied, his voice dragging with sarcasm.

"You dare defy me! You dare disregard my merciful offer–"

James suddenly raised his wand at the pillar behind Voldemort while simultaneously grabbing onto Lily's wrist and dragging her down into a crouch. The pillar exploded, debris flying in all directions, but Voldemort had expected something rash. Something foolish. He instantly fired back, though the deathly green curse flew just above their heads, singing the top of Lily's hair as she was pulled beneath its path.

Without waiting to see Voldemort's reaction, James lunged randomly to one side, dragging Lily with him and pulled the Invisibility Cloak over them both before jumping in another random direction right as a crater burned into the stone floor where they had been. James froze beneath the cloak with Lily, both of them lying uncomfortably on the ground, ignoring the pain in his stomach from landing on his side. He didn't dare to move a muscle in case the sound told Voldemort which direction he had leapt in while under the Cloak. Lily was breathing heavily beside him, her legs drawn up as tight as they could be.

"Do you really think that you can hide from me? It is only us here, there is nowhere to run," Voldemort said.

A pillar behind them exploded and they flinched from beneath the Cloak, though thankfully their terror held them at bay from releasing any sounds. Almost immediately following, something seemed to swoop low over them, as if casting them in shadow.

"That is a true Invisibility Cloak, Potter. Yet another value you could bring to my team. Your bravery would be rewarded, but not this blunt stupidity." Voldemort's voice had lost the soft tone, taking on a hard edge in his annoyance.

James tapped Lily lightly on the wrist and painfully slowly, they rose to their feet, still in a crouch, just as another pillar exploded from somewhere to their right. "Now," James whispered in her ear and they began to zig-zag towards the fireplace as curses were fired randomly above their head and at their feet. Though miraculously, none landed other than one catching the back end of James' trainer.

James scooped up a handful of floo powder from the container at the base of the fireplace and pushed Lily onto the logs before throwing down the powder and leaping to get one foot into the green flames as he began to spin away. The last sight that he glimpsed of Platform 9 ¾ was heavy stone debris falling in front of the fireplace, blocking the last exit out.

Far more abruptly than he could remember, the spinning sensation ended. James stumbled out of the fireplace, tripping over Lily and just managing to catch himself before falling face down on the glossed wooden floors.

"James!" His mother's worried cry instantly lifted from out of the crowds. Before he had a chance to take a breath, Euphemia slammed into his chest and wrapped him within her arms. "Oh James, you're okay!"

He sighed, the exhaustion slamming into him like the Knight Bus. "I'm okay."

"What happened? What took you so long? Remus said that you were going to be here ten minutes ago! We were worried sick and—"

"I know, I know, Mum," he said, cutting her off before she grew too hysterical. "I'm sorry, but I'm okay. We're okay."

She held him at arm's length and scanned him as if needing to assure herself of the fact with her own eyes. Then she turned to Lily and repeated the process all over again.

"What's been happening here?" James asked, rubbing one hand over his chin as Sirius, Remus, and Peter saw that he had arrived.

"Other than worrying that you were dead, you mean?" Remus asked.

"Yes, other than that."

Remus glared heartily at him, crossing his arms while Sirius filled him in. "We've sent all the non-injured people home with some of your Mum's spare potions for calming nerves and all that. Remus's parents are off checking on their friends now that they know he's safe. Peter's parents are still around here somewhere. The aurors sent a few extra people to help the injured and they're set up in the foyer, sending people home as soon as they've been checked and are cleared."

"But nothing from the Order?" James asked, his voice dropping.

"Nothing," Peter said.

"Odd." James turned to hide the fact that his heart had just dropped. "And where's my Dad?"

"I think he went off to the Ministry before we got back to make sure the aurors were aware and probably to yell at some officials for letting this happen," Sirius said nonchalantly.

"What happened to—"

"And Ria's family? Did someone tell them?" James asked instead, his eyes straying to Lily, now swarmed by his Mum, Dorcas, and Marlene.

"Yeah, one of the aurors left a few minutes ago," Remus said somberly.

"That's good, that's good." James nodded distractedly.

"So… are you going to tell us what kept you? You seem really shaken up," Peter asked.

James turned back towards his friends, his eyes wide. Shaken up was an understatement. Every nerve in his body was on edge, his heart was pounding with adrenaline, and his legs were so shaky that if he stood for too long, he would surely collapse. He ran a hand through his hair and swallowed heavily, trying to process what had happened himself. "We got stopped by Death Eaters while we were trying to get Ria out and then Voldemort came and offered us jobs as spies in exchange for our lives."

Remus blinked, stunned, and Peter gaped openly.

"What the hell?" Sirius cussed.

James sighed and began to explain the entire ordeal as quietly as he could, meanwhile Lily was doing the same thing for Marlene and Dorcas while Mrs. Potter went off to find a potion to clean the gash in the back of her head.

"Let's get out of this mess for a bit. You need to sit down," Dorcas announced, taking Lily by the hand and frog-marching her and Marlene upstairs, winding through the people still present. Silently, the four wizards followed close behind and the group found themselves safe within James' bedroom walls.

Chapter 2: The First Defiance (Part 2)

"Poor Ria," Lily said softly into the lull of conversation. They had already been over each of their accounts of what had transpired on the platform and Marlene and Dorcas had just left for home with their families after being assured that Lily was actually alright. Now, supplied with snacks to carry them through the night, the remaining five were spread across James' room on his bed, his desk, and his beanbag chair.

"There were so many of them," Remus replied. Like the others, he had tried not to focus on the bodies sprawled on the ground while he had been fighting, but as the adrenaline wore off, it seemed like those images were burned into his mind indelibly. "At least ten, maybe fifteen. All muggles or muggle-born from the looks of it."

Sirius frowned. "And tell me what Voldemort said again? About what they were doing to them?"

James sighed. " 'Collect the bodies.' And Mulciber's Dad said to add them to the collection."

"So there was definitely a point," Sirius insisted immediately.

"Apparently," James agreed.

"But what do you think their point was? I mean, it could have been anything!"

"I don't know, Padfoot!" James snapped. "I already told you everything I know."

Sirius balked and raised an eyebrow pointedly.

"Sorry. I'm just tired, I guess."

"Understandable. You did just fight off Death Eaters, turn down Voldemort, and escape him all in one afternoon," Remus said, a sardonic grin briefly stretching across his face.

Releasing a tense chuckle, James dipped his head. "Just barely escaped. It was pure luck. One wrong move and we would have been goners. Two more for his 'collection,' whatever that even means."

"It could have easily been me," Lily added. She was sitting at the foot of James' large bed, her legs drawn up to her chest, staring down at her feet.

"It could have been any of us," Remus said.

"I'm a muggle-born and they all knew it. I was being targeted from the start and if you all weren't there to help stop them or if I had messed up once, then…"

"Yeah, but we're always going to have each others' backs," James insisted. "You're never going to have to fight them off alone."

"Besides, they'll be targeting all of us soon enough so then you won't even be alone in that!" Sirius added, his usual facetious self returning in full force. "A bunch of blood traitors and a werewolf, who wouldn't want us?"

Lily smiled gratefully, but her face was still pale and every breath came out shaky. James scooted closer to her on the bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, letting her sink into his chest.

"But you see what I mean?" Peter asked, eyeing the pair. "You keep saying it could have been any of us like it wasn't like that already. Ria died! Someone from our year just died from this war and we've been graduates for less than a day! How are we supposed to manage to accomplish anything when Ria is proof that we are clearly not qualified!?"

And for the first time, no one jumped to the Order's defense. No one hurried to reassure Peter or quell his doubts. Instead, they seemed to absorb his anxiety like sponges and consider his concerns as if hearing them for the first time.

"We just have to trust that Dumbledore knows what he's doing," Lily offered quietly. "He wouldn't have given us the jobs at all if he didn't think we would be capable of doing something good."

"And I trust Moody. He's a great auror, he'll teach us and tell us everything we need," Sirius added, his tone somber.

"But still, how much can we really learn in a few months when these Death Eaters have had years?"

"Well think about it, Peter," James said, frowning curiously. "Mulciber and Avery and all of them are joining the Death Eaters and they're essentially in the same underprepared position we are."

"Sure, but that doesn't change things for us. Plus they can use Unforgivable Curses instead of just trying to trap or disarm. So if they hit us, they instantly win. If we hit them, it's still not completely certain what will happen."

"I hope you aren't suggesting that we start using Unforgivable Curses too. 'Cause then we'd be just as bad as them."

"Don't be thick, Padfoot, of course I'm not," Peter reassured hurriedly. "I'm just saying, we're still at a disadvantage compared even to them."

"Okay, fine. I'll admit it. We're out of our depth, here," James said, running a hand through his hair. Peter slunk back into the desk chair, dropping his hands onto the arms of it in frustration. "But that doesn't change that I'm still going to do anything that I can to help. I'm still going to do anything that I can to make a difference. I'll practice every hour of every day until Moody says I'm ready to fight. And until then, I'll help behind the scenes, doing whatever the Order needs."

"Here, here," Sirius said, raising his chocolate frog in a salute.

"Besides, what else could I even do? Who would hire me? I'm a 'half-breed,' remember?" Remus added.

"Same for a mudblood," Lily added. Their gazes met and they exchanged sympathetic smiles.

"I wish you'd stop calling yourselves that," James added.

Remus shrugged. "Yet you have no qualms about Padfoot calling you a blood traitor."

"We're getting off topic," Peter interrupted, waving his hands in front of him to clear the air. "What are we supposed to–"

"Well what do you want us to say?" Sirius cut in, his exasperation adding an edge to his voice. "We can tell you it'll be okay until the sun rises, but will that really make you feel better? If you're questioning if you really want to do this, then back out now before you're in too deep. We won't hate you, we'll still be friends, so don't feel like we're dragging you into this."

"No, no, no! I'm in, I'm in."

James sat up quickly, startling Lily who moved over to make room for his eager hand gestures. "Then at least now you know what you're getting into. This isn't just some DADA review session. This is a war. Yes, we're likely hopelessly outnumbered. We're novices compared to some of those Death Eaters. We have no idea what Dumbledore might assign us. We don't know how this will end. But what we do know is that we're trying to make our world safer. We're at least trying to do something instead of sitting around, hoping that someone else does for us."

Peter sucked on his lower lip anxiously and looked at James for reassurance before slowly nodding and turning back to stare at his shoes, lost in thought.

Remus looked between the two of them for a moment, then cleared his throat. "Speaking of the Order, do we know why there weren't more Order members coming to help today? Your Dad sent Dumbledore the message, didn't he?"

"Yeah, I don't know," James replied. "I guess that's something to ask at our first meeting."

"Which we don't even know the date of yet," Sirius added.

"I'm sure they'll contact us soon. They said they'd be in touch a few days after graduation. That could be any day now," said Lily.

"Yeah. I guess we'll just have to wait and see," James acquiesced, wrapping his arm around Lily once more.

It turned out to be a nerve-wracking day and a half later when each of them received a small envelope through their fireplaces, the parchment as crisp and the stamp as pristine as their original Hogwarts letters. The same neat scrawl from McGonagall was copied on each, alerting them of the next Order meeting disguised as an invitation, reading:

Please join us for tea next Wednesday at 3:00pm to the address below.

Until then, enjoy the start of your holiday.

And so, they did just that. Though naturally, they saw each other when they could before the date arrived. Sirius, James, and Lily, of course, saw each other every day since they all lived in the Potter's mansion and they took their week off to look for flats of their own to live in. Remus occasionally joined them as he was considering living with Sirius if they found a place where he could pay for half of the rent instead of living off of Sirius' wealthy, deceased, and similarly estranged uncle who had left most of his savings to his favorite nephew, mostly to anger the rest of his family. Peter joined them not to look for housing since he would be living at home to stave off his mother's worrying, but for their worry-free afternoons and evenings which seemed to be growing ever closer to an end.

Though as previously instructed, they had each memorized the address before destroying the letter and on the day of, they apparated nearby before walking up to the home on some muggle street that none of them had ever heard of. James, Sirius, and Lily apparated together and simultaneously stopped at the small gate in front of the garden, staring up at the perfectly average two-story house with flowers practically spilling out of their pots and threatening to take over the stone walkway up to the door.

"Well whose do you reckon this is?" Sirius muttered curiously, hands shoved deep in his pockets and squinting up at the facade.

"Let's find out." Lily led the way, carefully avoiding stepping on any of the meandering plants, occasionally toeing a stray vine out of the way. "Look!" she said, stopping abruptly. "Nettles!" A moment later she gasped again and pointed excitedly at what James would consider some rather mundane purple flowers, declaring, "And aconite! They must make a lot of potions."

"Well if we ever make it to the front door, we can ask them," Sirius said, his voice overly sweet.

"Right, yeah." Lily hastened her lead and knocked.

Almost as soon as her knuckles touched the wood, the door was flung open to reveal a man she did not recognize, but who clearly recognized her.

"Lily! Come in, come in!" He shut the door after the three passed the threshold, barely acknowledging the two wizards who followed. Instead, he clasped his hands together in front of his chest, wringing them anxiously, while he peered curiously somewhere just beyond Lily's shoulder. "Is it okay if I call you Lily? I know we only just met, but I feel like I already know you from everything I've heard!"

"Er… sure?" Lily responded, bewildered.

"Oh wonderful! I was one of Professor Slughorn's favorites too, you see, and we keep in touch and he's mentioned you quite often. Plus, we're always given brief introductions to new Order members so there's that too, and–"

"Moony!" James cried in relief, spotting the wizard through one threshold off the main foyer. Remus turned and waved them over.

"We're not late, are we?" James asked loudly, trying to find a way to politely sidestep the wizard still eagerly immersed with Lily.

"No, just on time!" the man answered, his head popping out of his other conversation. "Follow me, the meeting will start any moment now. Can I get you anything? I make my own tea, you know, from plants in my garden so I can make you something specific. I do love a good challenge."

"So this is your house, then?" Lily asked as they walked.

"Yes, yes, I'm so sorry, in my excitement I forgot to introduce myself. Call me Henry."

"And you brew potions then?" Lily asked again, not realizing that she was slowing down as she talked, preventing Sirius and James from entering the next room that was taking them torturously long to reach.

"Brew them, study them, experiment with them," he said, waving one hand. "I do what I can. After I started to see the first signs of trouble, Gideon approached me on behalf of the Order offering me a much safer job. More out of sight than a typical potioneer position. So now, I'm the Order's potioneer!"

And again, he and Lily were off in a discussion about something or another. Though James and Sirius didn't wait to find out because the moment they were through the hallway, they stepped around them, and found themselves in an eclectic sitting room with mismatched sofas, armchairs, tables, and quilts thrown about apparently at random with quite a few Order members mingling together as they waited for the meeting to begin.

When the last of them had apparently arrived, the room was quite full with one of the most surprising mixes of people Lily had ever seen. Besides themselves being the youngest of the group and taking up one fraction of the space, the Longbottoms had arrived minutes before in their auror uniforms, the Prewett twins with their bright red hair were talking to somehow who had an undeniably shady air about them; there was a witch who stood by herself in the corner and a scruffy wizard that stood nearby who appeared to be considering if his current jug of some drink or another was strong enough. There was a frail woman who looked like she owned five cats beside two self-assured wizards discussing something quietly, both of whom were twice the size of her, and another wizard whose hat nearly scraped the ceiling. Then to top it all off, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and someone who Lily instantly recognized as the infamous Alastor Moody strode into the room not a minute past three o'clock.

"What a delight to see you all today!" Dumbledore beamed at them as he entered. "I think this might just be our largest meeting yet–though of course, a few regretfully are unable to be with us today."

Lily frowned slightly. This was the largest meeting the Order of the Phoenix has had so far? Sure, it felt like a lot of people crammed into the already cluttered living room, but there were barely over twenty people here, a third of which had only just graduated.

"And let us welcome our newest members!" Dumbledore continued, gesturing to all of them, lined up against the wall. Lily flushed as a symphony of greetings rang out and warm smiles shone at them from all angles; yet still, Lily was under the impression that they were being analyzed by every single person there. As if sensing her nerves, James' hand slipped into hers and she felt herself relax at his side.

"For our older members, please excuse me while I introduce everyone. I see you've already met Henry Lewis, our resident potions expert. And you already know Frank and Alice Longbottom from your shared time as Gryffindors I presume. This is Mundungus Fletcher… and Gideon and Fabian Prewett…" The list went on and when everyone had been introduced, most giving feeble waves in response to their names being called, Dumbledore hastened for them to get comfortable so that the meeting could begin.

Lily wasn't quite sure what she expected, but she knew it was not that the meeting would begin with the house's owner reminding the guests to use the lace doilies when putting their drinks on wooden tables. But sure enough, everyone setting down their drinks and focusing their attention on Dumbledore who sat in one plush armchair opposite the fireplace seemed to be enough to announce the start of their first meeting.

"Now then, allow me to update you all on what has transpired since our last meeting," Dumbledore said, his fingers poised like a tent underneath his chin. "As I am sure you are all aware, the Death Eaters staged their largest targeted attack about one week ago at Platform nine and three quarters when the Hogwarts Express arrived with the students."

A sharp intake from Lily's left told her that he certainly had James' attention now.

"They were attacking only muggle-borns and their families, as well as anyone who fought back, no matter their background. From what Alastor, Alice, and Frank have told me, the Death Eaters did not seem to be doing this just for their usual entertainment or scare tactics. They seem to have been… collecting the bodies, for lack of a better word. The only plausible explanation that I have arrived at is that Voldemort is intending to create an army of inferi. Though I would love to hear other thoughts on this."

He looked around slowly, his blue eyes roving over every member, searching for alternate answers as if this was a classroom.

"If he was really after enlarging an army of inferi, why not just kill anyone and everyone?" asked one of the Prewett twins.

"Well, this way he can stick to his ideology of not being after anyone but muggleborns. This way, he's not isolating himself from half-bloods and purebloods who are still on the fence," replied the woman in the corner. Emmeline Vance, if Lily could recall correctly.

"Precisely my thinking," McGonagall chimed in. "And they are still reminding everyone that they are here, growing stronger and bolder."

"And more dangerous if they're willing to go out in the open," Moody growled.

The room was launched headfirst into a debate on what all of this meant for the Order, though no one seemed to doubt the fact that Voldemort was indeed creating an inferi army, primarily out of muggles, muggle-borns, and anyone who opposed him. While the concept did make sense, the logic behind it that the rest of the Order shared did nothing to quell Lily's growing concerns.

When the discussion generally quieted, Dumbledore nodded slowly and spoke once more. "Thank you for your thoughts. There were certainly a lot of points to take into consideration, but in the interest of time, I think it best we move on to our next topic of discussion." He cleared his throat and crossed his legs, leaning back in his chair. "Thanks to the information that we have gathered, we know that Voldemort still does not know about our mounting resistance."

Lily frowned at that. It seemed highly unlikely that Voldemort had no idea that the Order existed, though Dumbledore seemed to read her mind and continued in his explanation.

"Allow me to give a few more details purely for our newest members. To everyone else, apologies for the redundancy of news which I am sure you all remember." He turned in his seat towards them, all squished on one sofa, taking up the cushions, the arms, and the back edge. "We have managed to keep a vast amount of what we do here hidden from Voldemort's ranks due to a set of very strict rules that I will tell you all after the meeting. But from these guidelines, he does not know how many of us there are, if we are all working together as one group, what our goals are, and the like. Of course he knows that there is resistance, as there is bound to be when someone attempts any type of coup, but he does not know that we are growing stronger day by day, that we are one united front instead of multiple small groups, and that our members are spread out just as far as his spies are, gathering intel."

"Now, back to how this relates to recent events. I would like to praise everyone for responding so promptly to the call last week regarding the attack at the platform. Thanks to everyone's brave efforts, we were able to arrest two Death Eaters and save countless lives. Yes, Mr. Potter?"

Lily started and turned to her side to see James raising his hand as if attending Dumbledore's lecture in Hogwarts.

"Please pardon my ignorance here, but what 'call' are you referring to? We were all on the platform the entire time and I wasn't aware of any Order plans or anything like that going on," he said, careful to keep his tone light and inquisitive.

"An excellent example of my previous point! That secrecy is of the utmost importance!" Dumbledore beamed at him. "Your father alerted me to the trouble moments before the aurors themselves heard. I was able to send a message to a select few Order members who have not been seen by the Death Eaters in some time to provide the aurors with extra assistance. You may not have seen them because they were all disguised as civilians rather than wearing "Poor Ria," Lily said softly into the lull of conversation. They had already been over each of their accounts of what had transpired on the platform and Marlene and Dorcas had just left for home with their families after being assured that Lily was actually alright. Now, supplied with snacks to carry them through the night, the remaining five were spread across James' room on his bed, his desk, and his beanbag chair.

"There were so many of them," Remus replied. Like the others, he had tried not to focus on the bodies sprawled on the ground while he had been fighting, but as the adrenaline wore off, it seemed like those images were burned into his mind indelibly. "At least ten, maybe fifteen. All muggles or muggle-born from the looks of it."

Sirius frowned. "And tell me what Voldemort said again? About what they were doing to them?"

James sighed. " 'Collect the bodies.' And Mulciber's Dad said to add them to the collection."

"So there was definitely a point," Sirius insisted immediately.

"Apparently," James agreed.

"But what do you think their point was? I mean, it could have been anything!"

"I don't know, Padfoot!" James snapped. "I already told you everything I know."

Sirius balked and raised an eyebrow pointedly.

"Sorry. I'm just tired, I guess."

"Understandable. You did just fight off Death Eaters, turn down Voldemort, and escape him all in one afternoon," Remus said, a sardonic grin briefly stretching across his face.

Releasing a tense chuckle, James dipped his head. "Just barely escaped. It was pure luck. One wrong move and we would have been goners. Two more for his 'collection,' whatever that even means."

"It could have easily been me," Lily added. She was sitting at the foot of James' large bed, her legs drawn up to her chest, staring down at her feet.

"It could have been any of us," Remus said.

"I'm a muggle-born and they all knew it. I was being targeted from the start and if you all weren't there to help stop them or if I had messed up once, then…"

"Yeah, but we're always going to have each others' backs," James insisted. "You're never going to have to fight them off alone."

"Besides, they'll be targeting all of us soon enough so then you won't even be alone in that!" Sirius added, his usual facetious self returning in full force. "A bunch of blood traitors and a werewolf, who wouldn't want us?"

Lily smiled gratefully, but her face was still pale and every breath came out shaky. James scooted closer to her on the bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, letting her sink into his chest.

"But you see what I mean?" Peter asked, eyeing the pair. "You keep saying it could have been any of us like it wasn't like that already. Ria died! Someone from our year just died from this war and we've been graduates for less than a day! How are we supposed to manage to accomplish anything when Ria is proof that we are clearly not qualified!?"

And for the first time, no one jumped to the Order's defense. No one hurried to reassure Peter or quell his doubts. Instead, they seemed to absorb his anxiety like sponges and consider his concerns as if hearing them for the first time.

"We just have to trust that Dumbledore knows what he's doing," Lily offered quietly. "He wouldn't have given us the jobs at all if he didn't think we would be capable of doing something good."

"And I trust Moody. He's a great auror, he'll teach us and tell us everything we need," Sirius added, his tone somber.

"But still, how much can we really learn in a few months when these Death Eaters have had years?"

"Well think about it, Peter," James said, frowning curiously. "Mulciber and Avery and all of them are joining the Death Eaters and they're essentially in the same underprepared position we are."

"Sure, but that doesn't change things for us. Plus they can use Unforgivable Curses instead of just trying to trap or disarm. So if they hit us, they instantly win. If we hit them, it's still not completely certain what will happen."

"I hope you aren't suggesting that we start using Unforgivable Curses too. 'Cause then we'd be just as bad as them."

"Don't be thick, Padfoot, of course I'm not," Peter reassured hurriedly. "I'm just saying, we're still at a disadvantage compared even to them."

"Okay, fine. I'll admit it. We're out of our depth, here," James said, running a hand through his hair. Peter slunk back into the desk chair, dropping his hands onto the arms of it in frustration. "But that doesn't change that I'm still going to do anything that I can to help. I'm still going to do anything that I can to make a difference. I'll practice every hour of every day until Moody says I'm ready to fight. And until then, I'll help behind the scenes, doing whatever the Order needs."

"Here, here," Sirius said, raising his chocolate frog in a salute.

"Besides, what else could I even do? Who would hire me? I'm a 'half-breed,' remember?" Remus added.

"Same for a mudblood," Lily added. Their gazes met and they exchanged sympathetic smiles.

"I wish you'd stop calling yourselves that," James added.

Remus shrugged. "Yet you have no qualms about Padfoot calling you a blood traitor."

"We're getting off topic," Peter interrupted, waving his hands in front of him to clear the air. "What are we supposed to–"

"Well what do you want us to say?" Sirius cut in, his exasperation adding an edge to his voice. "We can tell you it'll be okay until the sun rises, but will that really make you feel better? If you're questioning if you really want to do this, then back out now before you're in too deep. We won't hate you, we'll still be friends, so don't feel like we're dragging you into this."

"No, no, no! I'm in, I'm in."

James sat up quickly, startling Lily who moved over to make room for his eager hand gestures. "Then at least now you know what you're getting into. This isn't just some DADA review session. This is a war. Yes, we're likely hopelessly outnumbered. We're novices compared to some of those Death Eaters. We have no idea what Dumbledore might assign us. We don't know how this will end. But what we do know is that we're trying to make our world safer. We're at least trying to do something instead of sitting around, hoping that someone else does for us."

Peter sucked on his lower lip anxiously and looked at James for reassurance before slowly nodding and turning back to stare at his shoes, lost in thought.

Remus looked between the two of them for a moment, then cleared his throat. "Speaking of the Order, do we know why there weren't more Order members coming to help today? Your Dad sent Dumbledore the message, didn't he?"

"Yeah, I don't know," James replied. "I guess that's something to ask at our first meeting."

"Which we don't even know the date of yet," Sirius added.

"I'm sure they'll contact us soon. They said they'd be in touch a few days after graduation. That could be any day now," said Lily.

"Yeah. I guess we'll just have to wait and see," James acquiesced, wrapping his arm around Lily once more.

It turned out to be a nerve-wracking day and a half later when each of them received a small envelope through their fireplaces, the parchment as crisp and the stamp as pristine as their original Hogwarts letters. The same neat scrawl from McGonagall was copied on each, alerting them of the next Order meeting disguised as an invitation, reading:

Please join us for tea next Wednesday at 3:00pm to the address below.

Until then, enjoy the start of your holiday.

And so, they did just that. Though naturally, they saw each other when they could before the date arrived. Sirius, James, and Lily, of course, saw each other every day since they all lived in the Potter's mansion and they took their week off to look for flats of their own to live in. Remus occasionally joined them as he was considering living with Sirius if they found a place where he could pay for half of the rent instead of living off of Sirius' wealthy, deceased, and similarly estranged uncle who had left most of his savings to his favorite nephew, mostly to anger the rest of his family. Peter joined them not to look for housing since he would be living at home to stave off his mother's worrying, but for their worry-free afternoons and evenings which seemed to be growing ever closer to an end.

Though as previously instructed, they had each memorized the address before destroying the letter and on the day of, they apparated nearby before walking up to the home on some muggle street that none of them had ever heard of. James, Sirius, and Lily apparated together and simultaneously stopped at the small gate in front of the garden, staring up at the perfectly average two-story house with flowers practically spilling out of their pots and threatening to take over the stone walkway up to the door.

"Well whose do you reckon this is?" Sirius muttered curiously, hands shoved deep in his pockets and squinting up at the facade.

"Let's find out." Lily led the way, carefully avoiding stepping on any of the meandering plants, occasionally toeing a stray vine out of the way. "Look!" she said, stopping abruptly. "Nettles!" A moment later she gasped again and pointed excitedly at what James would consider some rather mundane purple flowers, declaring, "And aconite! They must make a lot of potions."

"Well if we ever make it to the front door, we can ask them," Sirius said, his voice overly sweet.

"Right, yeah." Lily hastened her lead and knocked.

Almost as soon as her knuckles touched the wood, the door was flung open to reveal a man she did not recognize, but who clearly recognized her.

"Lily! Come in, come in!" He shut the door after the three passed the threshold, barely acknowledging the two wizards who followed. Instead, he clasped his hands together in front of his chest, wringing them anxiously, while he peered curiously somewhere just beyond Lily's shoulder. "Is it okay if I call you Lily? I know we only just met, but I feel like I already know you from everything I've heard!"

"Er… sure?" Lily responded, bewildered.

"Oh wonderful! I was one of Professor Slughorn's favorites too, you see, and we keep in touch and he's mentioned you quite often. Plus, we're always given brief introductions to new Order members so there's that too, and–"

"Moony!" James cried in relief, spotting the wizard through one threshold off the main foyer. Remus turned and waved them over.

"We're not late, are we?" James asked loudly, trying to find a way to politely sidestep the wizard still eagerly immersed with Lily.

"No, just on time!" the man answered, his head popping out of his other conversation. "Follow me, the meeting will start any moment now. Can I get you anything? I make my own tea, you know, from plants in my garden so I can make you something specific. I do love a good challenge."

"So this is your house, then?" Lily asked as they walked.

"Yes, yes, I'm so sorry, in my excitement I forgot to introduce myself. Call me Henry."

"And you brew potions then?" Lily asked again, not realizing that she was slowing down as she talked, preventing Sirius and James from entering the next room that was taking them torturously long to reach.

"Brew them, study them, experiment with them," he said, waving one hand. "I do what I can. After I started to see the first signs of trouble, Gideon approached me on behalf of the Order offering me a much safer job. More out of sight than a typical potioneer position. So now, I'm the Order's potioneer!"

And again, he and Lily were off in a discussion about something or another. Though James and Sirius didn't wait to find out because the moment they were through the hallway, they stepped around them, and found themselves in an eclectic sitting room with mismatched sofas, armchairs, tables, and quilts thrown about apparently at random with quite a few Order members mingling together as they waited for the meeting to begin.

When the last of them had apparently arrived, the room was quite full with one of the most surprising mixes of people Lily had ever seen. Besides themselves being the youngest of the group and taking up one fraction of the space, the Longbottoms had arrived minutes before in their auror uniforms, the Prewett twins with their bright red hair were talking to somehow who had an undeniably shady air about them; there was a witch who stood by herself in the corner and a scruffy wizard that stood nearby who appeared to be considering if his current jug of some drink or another was strong enough. There was a frail woman who looked like she owned five cats beside two self-assured wizards discussing something quietly, both of whom were twice the size of her, and another wizard whose hat nearly scraped the ceiling. Then to top it all off, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and someone who Lily instantly recognized as the infamous Alastor Moody strode into the room not a minute past three o'clock.

"What a delight to see you all today!" Dumbledore beamed at them as he entered. "I think this might just be our largest meeting yet–though of course, a few regretfully are unable to be with us today."

Lily frowned slightly. This was the largest meeting the Order of the Phoenix has had so far? Sure, it felt like a lot of people crammed into the already cluttered living room, but there were barely over twenty people here, a third of which had only just graduated.

"And let us welcome our newest members!" Dumbledore continued, gesturing to all of them, lined up against the wall. Lily flushed as a symphony of greetings rang out and warm smiles shone at them from all angles; yet still, Lily was under the impression that they were being analyzed by every single person there. As if sensing her nerves, James' hand slipped into hers and she felt herself relax at his side.

"For our older members, please excuse me while I introduce everyone. I see you've already met Henry Lewis, our resident potions expert. And you already know Frank and Alice Longbottom from your shared time as Gryffindors I presume. This is Mundungus Fletcher… and Gideon and Fabian Prewett…" The list went on and when everyone had been introduced, most giving feeble waves in response to their names being called, Dumbledore hastened for them to get comfortable so that the meeting could begin.

Lily wasn't quite sure what she expected, but she knew it was not that the meeting would begin with the house's owner reminding the guests to use the lace doilies when putting their drinks on wooden tables. But sure enough, everyone setting down their drinks and focusing their attention on Dumbledore who sat in one plush armchair opposite the fireplace seemed to be enough to announce the start of their first meeting.

"Now then, allow me to update you all on what has transpired since our last meeting," Dumbledore said, his fingers poised like a tent underneath his chin. "As I am sure you are all aware, the Death Eaters staged their largest targeted attack about one week ago at Platform nine and three quarters when the Hogwarts Express arrived with the students."

A sharp intake from Lily's left told her that he certainly had James' attention now.

"They were attacking only muggle-borns and their families, as well as anyone who fought back, no matter their background. From what Alastor, Alice, and Frank have told me, the Death Eaters did not seem to be doing this just for their usual entertainment or scare tactics. They seem to have been… collecting the bodies, for lack of a better word. The only plausible explanation that I have arrived at is that Voldemort is intending to create an army of inferi. Though I would love to hear other thoughts on this."

He looked around slowly, his blue eyes roving over every member, searching for alternate answers as if this was a classroom.

"If he was really after enlarging an army of inferi, why not just kill anyone and everyone?" asked one of the Prewett twins.

"Well, this way he can stick to his ideology of not being after anyone but muggleborns. This way, he's not isolating himself from half-bloods and purebloods who are still on the fence," replied the woman in the corner. Emmeline Vance, if Lily could recall correctly.

"Precisely my thinking," McGonagall chimed in. "And they are still reminding everyone that they are here, growing stronger and bolder."

"And more dangerous if they're willing to go out in the open," Moody growled.

The room was launched headfirst into a debate on what all of this meant for the Order, though no one seemed to doubt the fact that Voldemort was indeed creating an inferi army, primarily out of muggles, muggle-borns, and anyone who opposed him. While the concept did make sense, the logic behind it that the rest of the Order shared did nothing to quell Lily's growing concerns.

When the discussion generally quieted, Dumbledore nodded slowly and spoke once more. "Thank you for your thoughts. There were certainly a lot of points to take into consideration, but in the interest of time, I think it best we move on to our next topic of discussion." He cleared his throat and crossed his legs, leaning back in his chair. "Thanks to the information that we have gathered, we know that Voldemort still does not know about our mounting resistance."

Lily frowned at that. It seemed highly unlikely that Voldemort had no idea that the Order existed, though Dumbledore seemed to read her mind and continued in his explanation.

"Allow me to give a few more details purely for our newest members. To everyone else, apologies for the redundancy of news which I am sure you all remember." He turned in his seat towards them, all squished on one sofa, taking up the cushions, the arms, and the back edge. "We have managed to keep a vast amount of what we do here hidden from Voldemort's ranks due to a set of very strict rules that I will tell you all after the meeting. But from these guidelines, he does not know how many of us there are, if we are all working together as one group, what our goals are, and the like. Of course he knows that there is resistance, as there is bound to be when someone attempts any type of coup, but he does not know that we are growing stronger day by day, that we are one united front instead of multiple small groups, and that our members are spread out just as far as his spies are, gathering intel."

"Now, back to how this relates to recent events. I would like to praise everyone for responding so promptly to the call last week regarding the attack at the platform. Thanks to everyone's brave efforts, we were able to arrest two Death Eaters and save countless lives. Yes, Mr. Potter?"

Lily started and turned to her side to see James raising his hand as if attending Dumbledore's lecture in Hogwarts.

"Please pardon my ignorance here, but what 'call' are you referring to? We were all on the platform the entire time and I wasn't aware of any Order plans or anything like that going on," he said, careful to keep his tone light and inquisitive.

"An excellent example of my previous point! That secrecy is of the utmost importance!" Dumbledore beamed at him. "Your father alerted me to the trouble moments before the aurors themselves heard. I was able to send a message to a select few Order members who have not been seen by the Death Eaters in some time to provide the aurors with extra assistance. You may not have seen them because they were all disguised as civilians rather than wearing some uniform like the Death Eaters do which would make them instant targets. As I'm sure you can appreciate, this gives the impression that those fighting back were just brave parents rather than an organized resistance movement."

James nodded, satisfied with the answer and leaned back against the couch cushions. Lily craned her neck slightly to hear what Sirius whispered into his ear as James then frowned, whispered back and Remus quickly joined the nearly silent debate. Though turning her attention back to the main discussion, the meeting lasted another half an hour or so, with various members apprising them of updates, with debates on future steps, and at last, reminders for private meetings that were coming up.

As they all rose to apparate home, McGonagall called the recent graduates over and Lily led the way against the current towards the fireplace where Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Moody were all standing. They fanned out in front of them, a melange of nerves and excitement racing through each of their veins.

"Now then, welcome once more to the Order of the Phoenix," Dumbledore said happily, spreading his palms out as if presenting a feast before him.

"Though of course, any of you may back-out at any point," McGonagall added, her sharp eyes scanning them each in turn. "This is a dangerous undertaking, not to be joined lightly."

"Of course. If anyone has any doubts, any mere musings of if this will be worth it, if the stress and danger is worth the goal, then please do not hesitate to turn back with no hard feelings." Dumbledore continued to smile lightly, watching as each of the Gryffindors turned slightly to make sure that no one else was backing away. Lily forced her chin up slightly higher and Sirius crossed his arms defiantly.

"That's what I thought, but please know that the offer will always be on the table."

"Let's see who's ready to quit after a week with me." Moody gave a loud bark of laughter that caught them all by surprise, many of those closest to him visibly flinching.

"Yes, why don't you share your piece first, Alastor?" Dumbledore said politely.

Moody stepped forward, crossing his arms heavily and while one dark eye scanned one half of them, the other whizzed about in its socket, darting between the other half of the trainees and the room itself. One large, faint pink scar stretching across his face and his light brown hair was beginning to grow streaks of gray as it came to a messy cut at his chin, as if he had cut it himself in one fatal swoop. Just looking at his heavy trench coat made Lily start to sweat in the heat and she found herself wondering if he wore it as protection, comfort, or to hide more scars that surely lined his skin.

"Right," he growled after a painful minute of silence, "I will be training you, as I believe Dumbledore has made you aware. I will not go easy on you because the Death Eaters will not go easy on you. My goal is to get as many of you to the end of this war alive as I can. I will do my part in teaching you, so you must do your part in arriving on time and being ready to give the day your all. This is not just a class anymore. This is life or death."

Lily's eyes widened at his grim announcement. Even unshakable James released a heavy breath when Moody's short spiel came to an end.

Dumbledore nodded, but his warm smile was no more. He now matched McGonagall's tense expression almost perfectly. "Thank you, Alastor. As he mentioned, it is essential that you take these lessons seriously. I will not give you any orders in the field until he says that you are ready. Apparate to the Hog's Head Inn, room two hundred and three tomorrow at five o'clock. Alastor will collect you there and your training will begin. Expect it to go late into the night every night. Understood?"

They all nodded and Remus muttered, "Understood."

"Good. I have already told you the basics of the rules when you joined during the school year, but listen carefully now because as I already impressed upon you, these are vital to the survival of the organization. Naturally, everything that is discussed here or anything that is of Order business is not to be discussed with anyone else. Not your parents, not your friends, not even your owl. Once you complete training, I may start to assign you separate missions and these will also need to be kept a secret from anyone outside the Order, but possibly even from those within the Order. That being said, do not ask questions of other members that do not pertain to you as this may put them in an uncomfortable situation. Assume that I will tell you all the information that you need to be successful or that I will have someone else alert you to what is important. Any other information is therefore extraneous and may be best kept to the members themselves."

"I assume that you have some qualms with this Mr. Potter, Black, or Lupin? As you are hopefully aware after today's meeting, I welcome any and all different opinions. They often provide the best opportunities to create new possibilities."

If he was caught off guard by being called on so suddenly, Sirius certainly didn't show it. "I was just thinking that this secrecy within the Order itself seems remarkably similar to the Death Eaters. Isn't it true that none of them even know the full list of Death Eaters?"

"That is indeed true."

"And… are you sure that they are the best group to base the Order off of?"

"Certainly. Part of why they instill such terror is that because no one knows who they are, what they do, or when they are going to do it. This secrecy not only adds to their image but also prevents people like us from easily learning what they are doing and stopping it. By using the same model of secrecy, we can prevent them from similarly learning about our whereabouts and plans."

"Got it," Sirius nodded, yet his brow furrowed and Remus cocked his head to one side, still considering the matter.

"Are there any other issues you wish to raise?"

James shook his head while the rest simply remained silent, giving Dumbledore his answer.

"If you think of any at a further date, please do not hesitate to contact me. The Order of the Phoenix is very much an open discussion. But until then and until you get further along in your training, that is all of the information that I have for you. You are free to leave though I would like a word with Miss Evans, if you please."

"Oh! Er… sure." She glanced at Dorcas and Marlene who gave her bewildered shrugs and whispered that they would see her later as they passed.

"See you at the house?" James whispered to her and she nodded with a smile that she hoped didn't give away the bundle of nerves nestling themselves in her chest.

Lily waited quietly, playing with the bracelet on her wrist to occupy her hands. The three imposing figures before her were silent until the front door opened and shut, her friends' muddled conversation fading away.

"No need to be nervous, Miss Evans," Dumbledore said kindly, sitting down once more in the same armchair as before. McGonagall and Moody sat once more so Lily followed their lead, perching lightly on the edge of the sofa that now felt much wider than it ever did without anyone sitting beside her.

"I believe you met Henry Lewis?" McGonagall asked briskly.

"Yes, I did."

"And did you talk further about his role in the Order?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then to get into the details of it, Mr. Lewis is beginning to get overwhelmed with the amount of potions that the Order would like to have on hand. At the moment, he is brewing the potions on what is needed for the day when someone needs a healing potion or something for a specific mission. It would be much better to have a large stock of standard potions on hand that can be distributed to multiple locations and safehouses instead of just this one house as that could get suspicious if people keep showing up here just to pick up packages. We would like you to brew a set of standard healing potions while Mr. Lewis continues with the more advanced case-by-case needs. You would be doing this during the day on top of your nightly training. Would you be amenable to this?"

Lily blinked, stunned into speechlessness for a moment before a warm glow of pride erupted in her chest. "I would be honored to!"

McGonagall's mouth curved into a tight smile. "We thought you wouldn't say no."

"Mr. Lewis will be very pleased. You can discuss with him which potions you both think would be best and who will be delivering your potions to the other safehouses," Dumbledore elaborated.

Moody chuckled to himself, his gaze darkening. "Of course Lewis will be pleased! She's taking on half of his danger and risk!"

The glow in Lily's chest dimmed. She didn't think about it that way. She would be much more visible: delivering potions, picking up materials,-

"Thank you, Alastor," Dumbledore interrupted. "I think it is probably best to now leave you and Mr. Lewis to yourselves as the resident potioneers. I believe he is out in his gardens if you would like to join him there."

Lily nodded, raising from her seat, letting the reality set in of what she had just agreed to. She followed her Professors through the crowded room and back into the foyer, pausing before the front door to allow herself a breath to orient herself before passing the threshold into the garden and into her new role.

Chapter 1: The Last Train Home (Part 1)

June, 1978

James Potter opened his eyes to the familiar frayed curtains hanging inches from his face. He breathed in their musty scent like a treasured candle and smiled. Untangling himself from the bedsheets with a few unceremonious kicks, he threw off the covers behind him so that they happened to land on Sirius's face whose mouth was wide open and emitting a deep snore resembling that of a broken steamboat engine. Though with great practice, Sirius had learned to sleep through James' morning ebullience so it wasn't until James shoved open the nearest window, letting in the crisp morning air, that Sirius was finally torn from his slumber.

In fact, all of the inhabitants were simultaneously brutally awakened, filling the dorm with a symphony of groans and muttered protests. All of which were facetiously overruled by a cheerful James declaring, "Happy graduation day, lads!" with his arms held out wide, his grin stretching across his face to match it.

"What time is it?" Peter mumbled into his pillow.

"Time for our last day as Hogwarts students to begin!" James replied, marching briskly over to the next window, throwing it open, and poking his head outside with shut eyes to bask in the sun like a housecat for the briefest of moments.

Meanwhile, Sirius fumbled for his wrist watch on the bedside table and checked the actual time. "It's barely six-thirty!"

"Proooongs!" Peter whined, curling back into a ball and drawing the covers over his eyes to try to try and tempt sleep back into his body.

"Come on, mate! We have to make the most of today!" James attempted once more, shaking Peter's shoulder stubbornly.

"I will make the most of the morning by catching up on well-needed sleep after my NEWTs," Sirius muttered thickly, turning away from Prongs.

"Oh please, you can't use that excuse. You barely studied!"

"Like you can talk. Especially after I leant you half of my bed for the night."

"Yeah, so that it could be like old times! All together in one room like a happy family," James said, fully undeterred in the slightest and plopping onto the bare half of Sirius's bed, rocking the mattress. Sirius did not reply.

Though a groan was heard from two beds down, followed by a rustling of sheets. Instantly, James popped up, strode across the room, and spun around Remus's bed post.

"Is that a Moony? Peeking out from his den?" James asked.

A single finger–coincidentally a middle finger–poked out from beneath the covers, followed by a terrible case of bed head and barely opened eyes that somehow managed to still glower quite terrifyingly. "Has anyone ever told you that you are not allowed to be this cheerful before seven–no, eight a.m.?"

"You have. Many times," James replied with a grin.

Remus sighed in defeat, but swung his legs around, stretched, and stood nonetheless.

"Yes! He's up! Our day can begin!"

Remus didn't deign to respond, choosing instead to open a nearby drawer and withdraw a book. James watched as he smoothed down his sheets, propped up his pillows against the headboard, and positioned himself politely, crossed ankles and all, with his book opened in his lap.

"Okay, ha ha, I get it. Very funny. Point taken. Now can we go do something?" James asked, rolling his eyes.

"Feel free," Remus shrugged, his eyes beginning to rove the pages in front of him.

"I want to do something with you lot, like old times!"

"You mean like yesterday? And the day before that?"

"Exactly!"

"Then come back at eight."

"That's an hour and a half away!"

"Excellent math skills."

"What am I supposed to do until then?"

"Nothing in here, that's for sure."

James huffed and looked around the room for inspiration, muttering all the while, "And I thought you were a morning person."

"I am, but I prefer a morning of peaceful relaxation rather than one of raucous rampaging," Remus replied quietly, turning the page.

"Nice alliteration," James smirked.

"Thank you. Now why don't you go annoy that girlfriend of yours instead? She at least chose you instead of having the misfortune of being forced to live with you simply due to the convenience of age."

"You're not fooling anyone with that 'woe is me' attitude. I know you'll miss this."

Now it was Remus's turn to smirk behind his novel. "I never said I wouldn't. All the same…"

"All right, all right, I'm going. I'll be back in an hour or so."

"Make it an hour and a half," Remus replied, an eyebrow raised as he watched James snatch his wand from Sirius's bedside table. James raised one hand in affirmation and padded quietly towards the dorm door.

"And shut those windows!" came a fifth voice from the other end.

James grinned and stopped in his tracks. "Sorry Bertram," he whispered to the other Gryffindor student who had been resigned to seven long years dorming with the infamous Marauders.

"Yeah, yeah. If I had a sickle every time I heard that."

"Aw, you'll miss this," James whispered, suddenly aware that half of the inhabitants were already asleep again.

"Don't push your luck," Bertram replied thickly before he rolled over and a new set of snores soon joined the others.

After dutifully closing the windows, James paused at the threshold of the dorms and turned around, placing one hand on each end of the door jam to take in the sight before him, hoping the image would burn itself into his memory. Bertram, as always, ignoring their nonsense in his own private corner of the dorm. Sirius was sprawled across his bed having quickly taken over James' borrowed half, his things strewn about as haphazardly as he was. Peter was curled in a tight ball beneath his covers with half of his things thrown into his trunk, the rest gathered in odd piles here and there. And Remus, sitting composedly on his bed with a novel in hand, naturally had his things folded and packed away days before with his set of clothes for today set aside so that he wouldn't have to rummage for anything. Feeling James' gaze upon him, Remus looked up to see his wistful smile from the door.

Their eyes met but before Remus could say anything, James smiled and dipped his head sheepishly before slipping out onto the staircase.

Chapter 1: The Last Train Home (Part 5)

James stumbled backwards, knocking into Remus and the pair tripped to the floor on top of each other, the ground rattling in protest as a series of exit pillars exploded. As soon as the floor steadied, he jumped to his feet, adrenaline coursing through his blood, dimming his confusion into a clear need for action.

He used the moment when most were knocked down to scan the bustling platform for a flash of auburn, a splash of her green shirt, anything that told him Lily was okay. Just as the fear set in around him, providing the impetus for chaos to ensue, he caught sight of her at the far end, near the front of the train. And she was moving.

Relief washed over him and even amid the terror, a smile slipped through.

"What the hell was that?" Remus cussed, reaching out to help his mother up.

"Something bad," James replied, tearing his gaze away from Lily.

"What do we do?" Marlene asked, looking around as people started to run past their stationary group.

"Come on, Peter. Let's get out of here. Everyone's going that way so let's just follow them and see which exit is still open," Mrs. Pettigrew said, her voice at least an octave higher than usual. She grabbed his hand and pulled, but Peter didn't budge.

He turned to James and repeated the question. "What do we do, Prongs?" Somehow, James would know what to do. He always had a plan.

"Go. Mum, Dad, you have to go," James said with certainty.

His mother balked. "James! We are all leaving this instant–"

"Go home and contact Dumbledore, he needs to know what's happening so that he can send help. Our house has more safety charms and spells on it in place than any other so we'll send the injured there through any of the fireplaces that are open."

Mr. Potter stepped forward. "James–"

"You're out of practice, Dad. You can't stay, you'd be killed," he cut off, no longer worried about manners. "But you and Dumbledore are mates so he'll listen to you the instant you call."

"The aurors will come. We should all go now and–"

"Dad! You know what I signed up for. You both do," he said, forcing himself to look into his mother's worried eyes.

"Just because you signed up for some… some resistance group," his mother dropped her voice, though it was hardly worth it given that the chaos would easily cover the sound, "doesn't mean that you have to fight during a random attack where no one knows what is happening."

"If I'm not going to fight now, then what was the point of joining!" he fumed, losing his patience with every second that slipped by. "I'm staying and someone needs to tell Dumbledore what's going on so that we can get back-up."

Fleamont looked his son square in the eye and filled his chest with air before nodding solemnly. The plan made sense. "I'll be back as soon as I tell Dumbledore. Stay safe." He grabbed onto his wife's hand who protested loudly, but they let the flow carry them away to an exit.

James watched as Peter shook off his mother's prying hands, shooing her to the exit while he stayed behind. Remus falsely promised his own parents that he'd be right behind them as soon as he found Lily. Marlene and Dorcas followed their families toward an exit before allowing themselves to be separated so that they could fight the current and make their way back to their group hiding behind the pillar.

"Did you see how many fireplaces are open?" James instantly asked them.

"Two, maybe three," Marlene replied instantly.

"Damn," Sirius cursed, running a hand through his hair distractedly.

"We gotta help people out of here. We're sitting ducks," Remus urged, glancing around.

"Can't we just apparate out?" Peter asked nervously.

James shook his head and gave a mirthless laugh at the irony of it all. "No, the Ministry has an anti-apparition jinx all around here to protect something like this from happening."

A fresh round of screams filled the air and the group simultaneously peered around the barrier. Death Eaters were shoving their way out of one fireplace, watching the crowd swarm in one mass away from them and towards the last exit.

"We have to protect that fireplace. If they block it first…," Sirius said, not needing to finish his ominous thought out loud.

"Right, let's split up. Half protect the fireplace. Half help people get there," James said, already looking towards where he had last seen Lily. Not waiting for a response, James bolted off towards the back of the platform, his eyes narrowing as he had lost sight of her.

"Why aren't they firing?" Sirius muttered beside him, his gaze falling above the crowds' heads at the Death Eaters that were merely storming through the people, their wands lying still at their sides.

"Maybe they're looking for something?" Dorcas suggested from Sirius' other side.

One Death Eater motioned towards another and the pair shoved through the crowd, their wands raising.

"Or someone," Sirius replied, hurrying his gait to intercept them. Dorcas was one step behind.

"To the right too!" James shouted at their backs as another Death Eater broke ranks as they apparently noticed a target. He danced around a mother pushing her young daughter in a cart towards the fireplace and followed the man's gaze towards–his heart skipped a beat–Lily.

"Lils!" he shouted, his voice thankfully carrying across the busy platform. She turned and was able to cast a Protego charm just as the Death Eater fired his first curse. James shot his own hex at the man's back, feeling a surge of relief and vindication as the man toppled over, stiff as a board.

"Are you okay?" James asked as they rushed towards one another.

"I'm fine. What's going on?" she asked, distracted.

"Not sure. My Dad is sending for reinforcements through Dumbledore now though."

"I think the aurors just arrived too."

"Really? Let's–"

"There!" a loud voice shouted. They turned instinctively towards the sound to find a woman behind a silver skull mask pointing straight at them. Straight at Lily.

James pushed himself forward to be the first to fire. He heard Lily join the fray half a second after him and soon, he felt a third join on his other side. Soon enough, the woman succumbed to the three of their spells and he turned towards the purple-clad Auror.

"Collins?" James asked aghast. He hasn't seen the man for years since the last Ministry fundraiser his parents had dragged him to.

"Potter! What are you doing here? You need to leave, now," the man said, his tell-tale nervous eyes roving over the entire platform, never landing on one spot.

"How can we help?" James asked instead.

"We do not need help, Potter. We have it and all of your friends need to leave. You are only hindering–"

"We're helping, Collins."

"-hindering our movements! Get to the fireplace and get home."

"We're helping. Where do you want us?" James insisted, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the pedantic man.

"In the fireplace. Go."

"Mr. Collins?" Lily interrupted, hoping she heard his name right. "Can you tell us if they're targeting someone? Why aren't they firing randomly?"

Collins sighed dramatically. "We think they're targeting muggle-borns, which is another reason that you need to leave."

"How does everyone know I'm a muggle-born," Lily muttered darkly, watching the platform for signs of anyone else heading towards her, her skin tingling as if she could feel the pairs of eyes searching for her.

"We think they stole Hogwarts records about a week–"

"You think? You don't even know?" James demanded incredulously, instantly irate.

"We have been busy, Potter. Civilians present will only make our jobs harder so I urge you to get home to your parents who I'm sure are worried sick."

"I appreciate your concern, but I'd be more worried about Death Eaters apparently stealing from the Ministry without your knowledge."

Another boom rumbled through the platform, dust falling from the ceiling. James braced himself until the shaking stopped and in his periphery, he saw everyone else still remaining on the platform do the same.

"James," Lily said under her breath, tapping his shoulder.

She motioned with her chin across the platform. "See you," James instantly said to Collins. He followed Lily through the crowds towards the familiar face that had waved them over.

"Lily, you were good at charms, right?" Alice Longbottom said as soon as they arrived.

Lily nodded, biting her lip anxiously.

"Have you ever made a portkey?"

"Once, but I remember the basics."

"That'll have to do. Get a few going to the Potter's. Dumbledore said to send people there and at this point, we don't have time to triage the injured so we're just sending anyone who's left there first."

"Got it," Lily said, squeezing James' hand once before dashing away, ducking away towards a turned over cart filled with random things.

"And stay hidden! They know you're here!"

Lily waved her spare hand in recognition, scooping up a few textbooks from the cart to use as portkeys and running behind the nearest pillar.

"You're good at transfiguration, right Potter?"

"Yeah," he replied confidently.

"Good. Get Black and try to fix one of the fireplaces. They blocked the last pillar so we're all stuck here until we create more ways out."

James nodded and raced back towards the fray where he was certain Padfoot would be. As he ran over, he found himself dodging far less people than he was originally. Though he did now have to dodge those that lay unmoving on the ground, yet James refused to look at them, knowing that if he did, he may never stop. While the platform was much emptier than before, there were still plenty of innocent bystanders trying to find cover from the Death Eaters. Many were looking around in search of an escape, while others were slightly confused as to why they had not been fired upon while they simply stood near the blocked exits. The older students and parents huddled around the younger ones, trying to shield them not only from the Death Eaters' sights, but also preventing them from seeing the prone figures scattered intermittently along the platform. Aurors and some older students fought in clumps, protecting the helpless muggle families that were trying to find their own ways out. Part of James was itching to join the duels, yet he knew that he had to find a way out first for that to be of any use.

"Sirius!" James shouted, spotting his friend just as he, Remus, and Dorcas sent one Death Eater flying backwards. "We have to fix one of these fireplaces," he said.

Padfoot nodded and quickly ran towards the nearest one, beginning to mutter spells to try and figure out how best to fix it. While James and Sirius worked through transfiguring and fixing the broken pieces back into a functional floo entrance, Remus and Dorcas stood guard, stopping any Death Eaters who tried to approach them.

Before long, they were corralling muggle-borns and their families through the fireplace first, followed by the rest of the trapped witches and wizards, while some of the crowd would disappear at random in a bright flash of pale blue portkey light. Meanwhile, the aurors kept the Death Eaters at bay.

"That's the last of them," Sirius said breathlessly, looking around at the oddly forlorn platform. The chaos stemming from the hectic crowds had left with the crowds themselves, yet shouts and grunts still filled the large room from the duels between the aurors and Death Eaters. Just as James considered joining the fight, he squinted past the clumps of people, noticing two Death Eaters in the back, using their wands to drag the lifeless witches and wizards towards one end of the hall where they had started to line them up like corpses.

The word caught in James' throat.

He hadn't had time to even consider that the people along the ground might not just be stunned like they were in their practice duels. They weren't as still as corpses anymore. They were corpses. His fellow students. Their families. It could have been his friends. Or him. Or Lily.

"Prongs!" Remus said loudly, shaking his shoulder. He had clearly been trying to get his attention for a while.

"What?" James snapped irritably.

"We have to go. Now. The aurors are headed out after us. They think Voldemort is on his way, there's nothing more that we can do."

James nodded feverishly. "Go. I'll find Lily and meet you at home."

"She probably left with her last portkey. We'll find her at your house."

"I just need to double check," James said, looking around the platform for any sight of her.

Remus didn't move, but stared hard at James until he was forced to meet his gaze.

"I promise, I'll be right after you. I'm just going to find Lily, I won't join the duels or anything," James insisted, reading his mind.

At last, Remus nodded and disappeared through the fireplace just as Dorcas was whisked away by the green flames before him. With one last glance at the fights behind him, James dug through his pockets and pulling his invisibility cloak around him, he ran towards the pillar he had last seen Lily behind. As he passed one group of duels, he heard an auror shout, "Everyone's gone! Let's get out!" followed by another saying "Go, I'll cover you!" and the retreat began. Having no wish to be the last one left with the group of over-enthusiastic Death Eaters, James hurried his pace to a sprint, not worrying if the bottom of his trainers would be seen beneath the cloak.

He barreled around the pillar, sliding over the stones, and his heart gave a sigh of relief to see Lily crouching at its base. Though for some reason she was leaning over something around the other corner.

"Let's go, Lils"—James made a gap in the cloak and moved to wrap her in it— "Here, get under the cloak and we'll go back to the fireplace."

Lily shook her head. "No, no, no, no…" she muttered.

"Lily?" James asked, squatting down to her level, apprehension tracing every syllable.

She turned back to him, her eyes red and puffy. She leaned slightly away from the pillar and he was able to see what she was crouching beside.

A student was lying on the stone, staring lifelessly up at them, her dark brown hair coated in blood.

James opened his mouth but nothing came out except a croak.

"It's Ria," Lily answered for him and her voice was thick with tears. "The Ravenclaw girl from our year. She was a muggle-born too, remember?"

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak and he couldn't tear his eyes away from her pale face.

Lily sniffed and swiped at her nose. "We have to take her back with us. We can't let the Death Eaters find her and add her to their… their…"

"Yeah," James quickly agreed, not wanting her to have to find the right word for whatever their plans were for these corpses. "The cloak won't cover all of us at once. You take the cloak and take… take her to the fireplace and before you floo out, send the cloak back my way and then I'll come after you, okay?"

She nodded and let him swing the cloak around her shoulders while she pointed her wand and muttered, "Mobilicorpus." Moving slowly, Lily made it across the platform as the last of the aurors disappeared in swirling green flames and the Death Eaters were too preoccupied collecting the bodies to notice the slight flicker of a foot or hand that snuck outside the Invisibility Cloak. Barely sparing a moment's glance around her, Lily took some powder from the tin at the base of the fireplace and levitated the recent graduate above the logs, tossing in some of the floo powder. She said "Potter's Mansion" into the flames, careful not to get any part of her caught in the bright embers before she could send James the cloak.

The rustling of activity behind her stopped and her heart thumped rapidly beneath her chest, the blood pounding in her ears as she knew that while the Death Eaters may not have noticed a small slip-up with the Cloak, they certainly did not miss the rush of floo powder. Lily tore off the Invisibility Cloak and without shedding a moment to aim, she shot it towards the pillar she knew James was hiding at using her wand and scooped up another handful of floo.

But before she could duck into the fireplace, she felt herself get knocked aside by a blast of wind and she fell flat on her back, sliding across the polished floor. Blinking back tears of pain, she found herself staring up at three Death Eaters, all of which had their wands pointed threateningly at her face. One dropped their wand and let out a short laugh, doing nothing to ease Lily's terror.

"Merrick! Come here," the man shouted, the corners of a smile peeking out from beneath his mask.

Lily watched as another cloaked figure approached them, twirling his wand in one hand. She could feel her wand pressed underneath her leg, yet even as she slowly sat up, she knew that there was no way that she could reach it and do anything of use before one of the Death Eaters got to her first.

"Isn't this that mudblood you're always complaining about? The one dating the Potter boy?"

Her skin went cold as the new addition pulled off his silver mask and Mulciber was grinning maliciously down at her.

"Indeed, it is! It's Evans," he said, sounding way too satisfied for Lily's liking.

"Well how kind of you to join the party, Miss Evans," his father said, gaining some deep-throated laughter from the others still holding their wands steadily at her. "Perhaps we should show her a good time before adding her to the pile."

Another Death Eater approached their circle slowly, their shoulders slumped and head cocked to one side.

"Want to do the honors, Snape?" Mulciber asked, slapping the newcomer on the shoulder.

"We shouldn't–"

"Ah, that's right! You used to fancy her, didn't you?"

"You what?" Mulciber Sr. asked, whipping around to face Snape.

"Don't worry, that weird infatuation is long gone, isn't it Snape? But do you still want a go before we kill her?"

"No. You shouldn't–"

"Suit yourself," Mulciber interrupted with a shrug and turned back towards Lily, nodding to his father.

The taller man grinned and slowly raised his wand, pointing it straight at Lily's chest. Every bone in Lily's body was screaming at her to move, yet she was frozen in place. Glued to the ground, her limbs felt as heavy as lead as she stared down the end of the wand that would surely end her life.

A cold rush of air blew across the platform, the Death Eaters' robes swirling at their feet.

"I thought I told you to gather up the bodies by the time I arrived. Why are you all standing about?" a soft voice asked from just behind the group.

Instantly, the Death Eaters turned to face him, their heads bowed. As their focuses were drawn away, Lily inched one hand down her leg towards her wand, but one man noticed and shot a warning stream of sparks, forcing her to capitulate and move her hands back into the open.

"My Lord," Mulciber Sr. said reverently, "We were just about to add one more to your collection. We caught her trying to escape the platform just now."

"Is that so?" His voice was deathly quiet, yet it somehow easily carried throughout the platform. "And who is this?"

"Lily Evans, my lord," the younger Mulciber replied, barely restraining his grin of joy.

"Ah yes. I've heard of her." Tom Riddle slowly walked towards the group, the Death Eaters parting on either side of him as he approached. He stood above Lily, apprising her calmly, and she forced herself to meet his dark gaze.

After a minute of silence, he spoke again, though still without looking away from her. "I did not tell you to stand here gawking, now did I? I believe your orders were quite clear. Collect the bodies and leave at once."

They scurried off with a few backward glances, and soon, the fireplace was intermittently lit up with green as the Death Eaters traveled elsewhere, dragging their victims along with them.

"Just us now, Miss Evans," Voldemort said in the same maddeningly quiet voice. "Though I do not expect to be alone much longer. James Potter will not leave us alone for long, if I am not mistaken."

Chapter 1: The Last Train Home (Part 4)

As per the annual tradition, as soon as the train rolled to a standstill, chaos ensued as the younger students raced to be the first on the platform and the older students lolled about in the corridors, trying to drag out the moment before they returned to their families. Lily, James, and the other Prefects attempted to hurry the process along and eventually, she was fairly certain there was no longer a child left on the steam engine yet Lily could not say the same about forgotten jackets or trunks. So, she made her way to the back of the train and slowly moved forward, checking each and every compartment for a wayward item.

Though in the back of her mind, even as she shooed James ahead, she knew that she was just as guilty as the rest of the older students. She too was stalling the inevitable. Though for her, it wasn't necessarily stalling the moment when she left her friends in favor of her family. Those two were one and the same now–in all regards that mattered, anyways. But no, it was stalling before that very fact was thrown in her face once more. She just needed one more moment on this last tie to Hogwarts, her last tie to her home where she knew who she was and her place in the world felt steady. Once she left this train, she would live with the Potters while her and James searched for their own place so even her home was uncertain. Her new occupation would turn from scheduled classes to uncertain missions that they had yet to be assigned.

Everything would change.

But the compartments on the train felt so blissfully nostalgic, so safe and comfortable, that she assigned herself the mission of finding every loose trinket, every loose end, to give to the lost and found. This quest did not take her quite as long as she had hoped so the platform was just as full as it was ten minutes ago when she emerged. Parents were talking with their excited kids and their friends, the students spewing stories left and right. Plans were being made between friends and parents. Trunks were being checked for lost things.

And everywhere she turned, Lily saw nothing but parents. Parents and siblings and families.

She sniffed and surreptitiously swiped at her eyes, hurrying to give a quick nod at a passing student. Safe in the sea of students, Lily scanned the platform, quickly finding her group of friends at a pillar a short distance away. James was wrapped in the loving embrace of his Mom while Sirius was bashfully pulled in by Mr. Potter. Meanwhile, Mr. Pettigrew was straightening Peter's coat, his mother dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. Remus's head was bent towards his parents as they talked together quietly, completely the opposite of Marlene squealing loudly as she hugged each of parents, siblings, and cousins in turn. Dorcas was similarly enraptured in conversation and Lily could practically feel the pride emanating off of their families, all eager to celebrate their recent graduates.

She watched as the elder Potters switched boys and offered their Congratulations anew, their well-wishes mingling with another large family celebrating a Ravenclaw in their year. 'Congratulations' were being thrown about like confetti from the mouths of every cousin, aunt, uncle, grandparent, third cousin twice removed, and friend that was able to come. And she, well, she had her friends. James' parents would certainly welcome her as one of their own, but she still knew that she was not their own. No matter what they could do, she would still long for her parents. For her favorite aunt who could never know about who she truly is. Her cousins who she lost touch with as soon as she went off to some 'strange boarding school.' For her sister who could not manage to look at her without a scowl gracing her face.

No, she would not dwell on Petunia on a celebratory day like this. And while that betrayal was a long-time coming, the wound of her parents' recent deaths still tugged inexorably at her heart, especially today. She could picture her mother's smile of wonder that never dissipated whenever she came to the platform. She could feel her warm hug and her auburn hair that always smelled of summer. Her Dad would instantly wrap her in an embrace, tucking her under his chin and kissing the top of her head like he would always do. They would both exclaim with joy and pride, just like they had done when she was made Prefect and then Head Girl. But the slightly lost expression would still mingle in their eyes, as it always did when she tried to explain something in her world, and even that disconnect was something she had come to love.

Something she had come to miss.

She shook her head, trying to shake herself out of her dismal fantasies. Wiping once more underneath her eyes, careful to not disturb the makeup that Dorcas had so expertly and fastidiously applied that morning, she plastered on a smile and with a deep breath, began to move away from the stationary train behind her.

The air shattered.

A series of explosions shook the platform, raining debris from the rafters.

Lily was flung back into the train behind her. Her back slammed into the metal and her head smacked into the glass window, her feet at least two feet from the ground. Her wand fell from her limp fingers and she crumpled to the floor like a ragdoll.

Lily forced herself to breathe, but filling her lungs with air was much harder than she ever remembered. Her ears were ringing loudly, her joints protested any movement, her back ached like a hippogriff had stamped on her spine, yet she was alive. Now that air had made its way through her constricted chest once, twice, now three times, it was easier to breathe as if the debris in her throat had been cleared away. She was breathing and she was alive.

If she thought the platform was chaotic before, it was nothing compared to the madness that reigned now. It played out like a silent movie, all noise drowned out by the incessant ringing. Mouths opened wide in muted screams of terror, people were running this way and that, searching for one of the only fireplaces still functioning as an exit, their trunks forgotten. Others were huddled by catatonic figures, crying out silently for help. And still, her heart continued to beat frantically, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she squinted, trying to make sense of the shaky scene before her.

Her friends were lost in the blur of colors, but she knew they would be here. They would be searching for what had happened, how to help, how to fight. Her hand stumbled upon her wand laying on the floor as she pushed herself unsteadily to her feet. She stumbled into the train and placed one hand on its side to catch her bearings as the world swam before her.

Blinking rapidly, she pointed her wand at her feet and slowly raised it up to her head, murmuring a spell that would remove her dizziness, even if it was only temporarily. The colors in front of her sharpened to a focus, but she didn't stop to appreciate it. She kept her wand pointed at her own face and cleared the buzzing in her ears, allowing the screams to penetrate through her consciousness as the dull ringing faded away.

She looked around as a mother sprinted past her, carrying her young son in her arms and following the crowd streaming towards the fireplaces since all of the exit pillars were now blown to pieces. Lily dove forwards toward an older man struggling to his feet, quickly grabbed his elbow and lifted him up, half-pulling and half-shoving him towards the exit. She quickly moved onto a younger student who was attempting to carry his entire trunk through the hectic crowd, but Lily ushered him onwards, all the while searching for a familiar face.

The crowd surrounding one of the last two exits let out a collective scream as more people shoved their way onto the platform, all dressed in stygian robes with silver masks.

Lily's breath caught in her throat. They were supposed to be trained before being thrown into things like this. They were supposed to be more prepared. Yet there was no question about which way she would run.

People swarmed past her, towards the final exit remaining and she pushed her way through, trying to find a clear view of what was going on. The Death Eaters began to spread out, though oddly enough, they weren't cursing every person within their sight like Lily had expected. In fact, she had only seen a few spells flying through the crowd so far. Instead, they were each surveying the people in front of them, as if they were searching for something.

One of the taller figures seemed to have found what he was looking for and marched forward, quite literally shoving his way ahead. Lily followed his train of vision and saw him heading directly towards a small cluster–two students, one definitely a first-year, the other a few years older. Lily furrowed her brow and shoved her own way through, desperate to cut him off.

"Finite!" she shouted at the same time as he raised his wand.

The two students finally seemed to realize they were being targeted and the older one began to tug on their younger sibling's hand who was frozen in place, tears streaming down his cheeks. Lily could worry about them later. For now, the Death Eater turned his attention to Lily as they stood a few feet apart, the pair of students practically between them.

She took a shaky breath, sparing a moment of pride in the fact that her arm was not visibly trembling. The masked man did not seem to care; he barely gave a moment's notice before attacking, his wand swiping through the air in vicious arcs.

Suddenly, she was dueling for her life.

All of their practices in empty classrooms or the Common Room seemed like child's play–nothing more than a naive game. Lily was blocking the spells she could and dodging the ones she couldn't, forcing her to dance side to side and her shots were hardly aimed at the Death Eater at all.

He rained spells down on her, endlessly and indefatigably, and Lily was forced to step backwards. Just once, then a few more times until she was having to glance backwards to make sure she didn't trip, meaning she had time for even less offensive spells. Yet still, she hung on and managed to fight back until she got her chance to break through his guard.

The moment came when the entrance that the Death Eaters had entered through and were guarding erupted in new flashes of color. Purple robed witches and wizards flooded onto the scene, wands already whizzing through the air. Too caught up in his own victory, the man glanced towards the commotion, allowing Lily to shoot rapid-fire spells at his shield charm, aiming one at his feet just below his edges of safety. The stone floor momentarily turned to quicksand, sucking the man into the Earth until his legs were fully submerged in hardening concrete. Lily disarmed him, catching his wand and tucking it in her pocket, and sprinted towards the swarm of purple that could only mean one thing–aurors.

Chapter 1: The Last Train Home (Part 3)

Almost exactly an hour and a half later, Remus made his way down the stairs into the nearly empty Common Room to join James and Lily near the window where he promptly demanded to be dealt into their ferociously competitive muggle card game which Lily had gotten them all hooked on. Marlene and Dorcas were the next to join and by the time Peter and Sirius stumbled blearily out of the dorm, it would be hard to audibly guess how empty the Common Room really was based on the loud cries of joy and despair that emanated from their crowded card table.

The rest of the day was spent roaming the grounds lazily, visiting all of their favorite haunts, seeing (and tormenting) their favorite professors, and slowly growing more anxious for their night of impending graduation. All of this was done with an air of nostalgia with random memories from years before being wrought from the depths of their subconscious. Their conversations were full of reminiscing, full of hopes for the distant future, and full of fears or doubts for the near future that was coming quicker than any could have expected. The ceremony itself was short, sweet, nostalgic, and like any good graduation ceremony, ended in the graduates finding themselves surrounded by a small mountain of food. In this case, after the ceremonial boat ride across the Great Lake, they claimed their infamous compartment on the Hogwarts Express and bought so many snacks from the trolley that one might think they could never get licorice wands or cockroach clusters from anywhere except from the train itself.

"I can't believe this is our last time on this train," Peter said morosely, picking at an empty wrapper nearby.

"I can!" Sirius said, his optimism sharply contrasting Peter's gloom. "I never have to sit through a boring lecture again!"

"Did you actually listen to any of those boring lectures, Black?" Marlene accused, her arms crossed playfully.

"Occasionally. Though why bother when copying Remus's notes was far more efficient."

James and Sirius chuckled while Remus simply rolled his eyes, too accustomed to his blatant cheating to even attempt to put a stop to it anymore. "I deserve at least half of your OWLs and NEWTs. You would have failed if not for me."

"I would not have failed! I wouldn't have done quite so magnificently, but I would have passed," Sirius insisted, though it was hard to ignore the rest of the compartment's stifled giggles.

Remus decided to play along and offered, "Fine, a quarter then, if you want to live in your delusions a little longer."

"Deal," Sirius grinned.

"Like you'll need them," Lily added in. "I'm sure you did great."

"Awww. How touching," Sirius said cloyingly. He stretched out his long legs from where he was sitting on the floor and kicked Lily's foot teasingly.

"I'm sure we all did great," Lily amended with a smile.

"Besides, it's not like any of us will need them," Peter added monotonously. When all eyes turned to him, his cheeks flushed and his shoulders hunched, pushing him further into the corner.

"What do you mean?" James inquired politely from the other end of the bench.

"Well… we all have jobs of sorts, don't we? The Order doesn't exactly care which OWLs we got. We're already in," he said, his voice the audible embodiment of a shrug.

The three girls exchanged a glance. "Yeah, but what about after the Order? This war will end sometime and then we'll have to move on. It wouldn't hurt to have good grades to fall back on if we needed," Dorcas suggested.

Peter nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

"Cheer up, mate!" Sirius said, kicking his shin much harder than he did Lily's.

"Ow!" Peter moaned quietly, rubbing his leg while Sirius continued without pause.

"We're off to do some good in the world! To make a difference!"

"We're off to make good ole' Godric proud," James added in a near identical voice, full of bravado.

"But… what if… what…"

"What is it, Peter?" Lily asked kindly.

He sighed. "What difference can we really make though? We're just a bunch of teenagers!"

James blinked as if he had never considered this before. "Teenagers that were chosen by Dumbledore himself!"

"I wasn't," Peter replied bitterly. "You were invited, sure, but I was just there and he said you could drag me along."

"He wouldn't have said that if he didn't believe you were capable, Wormtail," Remus said.

Peter leaned forward now. "Even still. That's only seven more of us against how many Death Eaters?"

James frowned. "Not sure. I'm guessing we'll find out at our first official Order meeting."

"And what can we really do to stop them? We'll have to defeat you-know-who if this is ever going to end. How can we possibly do that!?"

Sirius leaned forward off of the seat behind him. "Well Dumbledore–"

"We are way out of our league here! Wouldn't it be smarter to just sit back and… and… and play it safe?" Peter continued, his hands flying frantically.

"But what would happen if everyone said that?" Lily asked quietly after she was sure that Peter was finished. "If everyone wanted to let other people take care of it, then Voldemort could just waltz right in and I, and everyone like me, would be a goner."

Peter met her gaze and the panicking light in his eyes diminished. In a meek voice, he said, "But why does it have to be us?"

"Why not us?" Sirius insisted. "Sure we're young, naive, inexperienced–"

"Not helping, Pads," Remus murmured.

"-but everyone has to start somewhere! Besides, Moody is going to train us up in no time! That'll boost your confidence!"

"Though I'm sure you don't have to be in the thick of it if you aren't willing, Peter," Remus said. "There are plenty of really important behind-the-scenes kinds of jobs too."

"No, no, no!" Peter insisted. "I want to do whatever you're all doing. I'm just… it's…"

"Scary?" James asked.

"Terrifying?" Lily suggested.

"Mind-numbingly harrowing?" Remus added.

With a histrionic sigh, Peter nodded. "Exactly."

"Well, we're all scared, Peter," Marlene admitted with a small smile.

"Yeah?" he asked, doubtfully, his gaze naturally straying towards James.

"Of course!" James insisted obediently. "But as my Dad always says, Gryffindors aren't fearless. They just know how to meet their fears head on."

Peter pursed his lips in some semblance of a smile and nodded.

"I know what you need, Wormtail!" Sirius declared, jumping to his feet. "To be bested once more in a round of pock-er."

"Poker," Lily corrected with a giggle as Sirius opened Lily's bag unceremoniously, digging around for her deck of cards.

"Like you're going to win when you can't even pronounce it right," Dorcas snapped, instantly edging forward, her competitive streak taking hold, her eyes gleaming as she watched Lily expertly shuffle the deck.

With a smile at his friends' antics, James politely excused himself to use the restroom and do a quick patrol as he walked the corridors–his last set of Head Boy duties. But when he was making his way back, his brow furrowed slightly at what he saw, though he refused to let his steps falter. Instead, he continued his relaxed gait until he was beside the small cluster of older students.

"Good afternoon," James said pleasantly.

Mulciber, Avery, and Vanity scowled simultaneously as their attention was drawn towards him.

"Please find a compartment soon. I'm afraid you shouldn't be blocking the corridor if you can help it," James continued with an even smile, though his eyes roved over their expressions, hungrily searching for a clue of any misdeed.

"Certainly, Head Boy," Mulciber replied after a beat of silence, emphasizing the title sarcastically.

Avery stepped closer to James until they were mere inches apart.

"I confess, I didn't think we were this friendly, Avery," James joked, refusing to draw himself backwards.

Avery's eyes merely narrowed. He tilted his chin up to appear taller and he squinted down at James who was still smiling pleasantly back, though his every bone was tense with anticipation. "Enjoy the ride home, Potter. I'm sure I'll be seeing you again quite soon."

Finally, Avery stepped back and under the guise of a friendly pat on the shoulder, gripped James so tightly that he could feel Avery's fingernails through his t-shirt. "And I do hope you enjoy the company of that mudblood girlfriend of yours."

James frowned and his heart skipped a beat, but he forced his hands to remain in his pockets even as they curled into fists.

Avery laughed, seeming to sense his internal struggle. "Ah, she has you well-trained. We'll see how long this… shall we say… diplomacy lasts, won't we?" With that, he turned on his heel and cut through the small gap between his friends.

Vanity gave her best facsimile of a smile before sauntering after Avery, and Mulciber gave a sweeping, mocking bow, saying, "I do hope to run into you and your friends, Potter. We can only hope it is sooner than expected."

James watched them depart towards the front of the train, their laughter echoing down the corridor. What did all of that mean? Were they simply taunting him as usual, or was something more out-of-the-ordinary going on? It certainly seemed like they were hinting at something specific, yet nothing in particular that they said gave it away. Sure, they were undeniably threatening him, but that was old news. That was merely the same banter that they had been exchanging for the entire year as their places in this war were further established. Was that truly all it was?

"Excuse me," a short first year muttered, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Sorry," James mumbled and stood aside to let her pass beside him in the narrow corridor. With one backwards glance at the long gone Slytherins, James found his way back to his own compartment, his thoughts far away from poker or whatever game they had turned to by now.

Nonetheless, he slid the door open exactly when Remus had won the round, the mingled cries of victory and despair spilling out. Grinning like the rest of them, Lily looked up as he made his way towards her. She automatically moved aside, making room next to her for James and instantly, her hand fell to his arm.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

"I'm sure it's fine," he muttered, refusing to meet her worried gaze and instead, searched for spare candy or chocolate he could use as poker chips to join the next round.

Lily watched his futile search a minute longer, knowing that James could feel her eyes on him. "Can you tell me anyways?"

James paused and felt her hand cover his own on the seat between them.

"I'll give you half of my stash of chocolate coin poker chips," she added.

The corners of James' lips quirked up and he used his knuckles to shove his glasses further up his nose. After sighing slightly, he acquiesced and turned towards her. "I just ran into Avery, Mulciber, and that sixth year girl, something Vanity–"

"Emma?"

"Yeah, her." And for someone originally so reluctant to share his anxieties at all, he found himself searching to remember the exact words and phrases to give Lily as close to an exact reenactment as possible. Nonetheless, he finished his spiel with, "But I'm sure it's nothing… right?"

Lily frowned. "Nothing that we can change, at least."

James nodded and squeezed her hand, finding solace in their interlaced fingers. She gave a smile as he leaned forward to kiss her temple before they turned back to the card game at hand.

Chapter 1: The Last Train Home (Part 2)

Lily Evans woke to the now familiar sound of her door being cautiously opened and closed, followed by James padding over to her bed and sitting carefully on the opposite side of her. She heard him reach out and before his tentative hand could touch her shoulder, she said "Good morning" without opening her eyes.

"You beat me to it, yet again," came the reply from somewhere behind her.

She rolled onto her back to look up and see James' grin beneath his untidy black hair and glasses. "And you woke me up trying to sneak in here, yet again."

"It's not my fault that you're such a light sleeper," James teased.

"Then who's fault is it?"

"Your parents," James replied happily, falling onto his stomach and elbows so that his hands were resting on Lily's spare pillow.

"I'm too tired to argue over nothing with you," Lily said, not bothering to hide the yawn that temporarily took over her face. She readjusted herself to lay on her side facing James and propped her head up on one hand, though her eyes remained steadfastly closed. "What time is it?"

"According to Padfoot, sometime past six thirty."

"And you woke me up this early, why?" Lily demanded, a hint of annoyance coloring her voice.

"Because it's our last day as Hogwarts students! We should enjoy this!"

Lily opened her mouth to respond, but James cut her off quickly.

"And don't you dare say you'd rather enjoy it by sleeping! Sirius already used that excuse!"

Lily chuckled but pushed herself into a sitting position, quite literally rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I wasn't going to. But if we are going to fully enjoy the next twelve hours, I'd like to at least brush my hair before leaving the dorm."

James grinned and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "That's why you're my favorite."

"Don't tell Padfoot. He'll never forgive you," Lily teased, sliding sleepily off the mattress and opening her packed trunk in search of a comfortable t-shirt and jeans.

"I'll tell you what. I'll change and get ready too, then I'll meet you in the Common Room for a morning of peaceful relaxation as Remus calls it."

"And what does that entail?" Lily asked, one eyebrow raising skeptically as her trunk lid thudded closed.

"No idea, but we'll figure it out." He strode out the room and across the hall into the Head Boy's dorm, leaving Lily to smile to herself as she made her Gryffindor bed for the last time.

Did you notice this? Harry's three kids (James II, Albus, and Lily II) are the first generation of Potters to have lived in peace and not get involved in wars unlike the previous generations of Potters:

• Their parents (Harry and Ginny) were born during the last years of the first wizarding war and they both played an active part in the second wizarding war as members of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army.

• Their paternal grandparents (James and Lily) were heavily involved and active during the first wizarding war as members of the Original Order of the Phoenix.

• Their paternal great-grandparents were either heavily involved in the Global Wizarding War against Grindelwald (James's parents) or were WW2 veterans (Lily's parents).

• Their paternal great-great-grandfather (James's grandfather) tried to convince the ministry of magic to use magic to help muggles fighting in WW1 and publicly condemned the minister of magic for refusing to do so (and thereby leading the Potter family to be banished from the Sacred 28).

Please tell me what you think of this!

Was there any battles during the First Wizarding war?

Say if you were in Dumbledore's position, and you've just had a meeting with James and Lily telling them that their infant son and entire family have been marked for death, how would you have dealt with the whole secret keeper business with them?

Normally we would root for the heroes (Order of the Phoenix) and condemn the villains (Death Eaters), but on this rare occasion I want to do just the opposite.

Before we start and to make this fair, the leaders and founders of both organizations (Voldemort and Dumbledore) and anyone who was a member of both organizations (Snape and Peter) are excluded from nominations.

Finally, if I was to choose the best Death Eater and the worst member of the Order of the Phoenix, it would be based on their roles, level of performance, level of dedication and beliefs in the causes of their organization, and level of participation in the organization that they were in.

Here are mine:

• Best Death Eater: Bellatrix Lestrange

• Worst Order of the Phoenix member: Mundungus Fletcher

Please share your opinions in the comments section and who you think are the best Death Eaters and worst Order of the Phoenix members.

Okay, we all know that Sirius was initially chosen by the Potters to be their secret keeper (despite Dumbledore offering to be secret keeper himself) and they later (after Sirius's persuasion) switched to Peter in the last minute.

However, I was wondering how you think all this went down like? How do you think Dumbledore, James, Lily, Sirius, and Peter acted or said during all this secret keeper drama?

Dumbledore's eyes were wide and mouth was open after James and Sirius had recounted how they became illegal animagi to keep Remus company during the the full moon. Harry on the other hand had now fallen asleep in his father's arms.

"Well ... while I admire your friendship and intention to keep Remus company during his transformation, it was still very reckless indeed. You boys put yourselves and others in danger while you roamed Hogsmeade. Not to mention, being an unregistered animagus is illegal," Dumbledore rebuked with a calm tone.

"We're sorry, professor," said James and Sirius, bowing their heads and unwilling to look Dumbledore in the eyes.

"I understand. You boys were still at the age where recklessness and fun were more intriguing than responsibility and consequences," said Dumbledore understandably. "I will send out an alert to the ministry and inform them about Peter being an animagus. Aurors will do their best to track him down."

Peter was successfully caught within two weeks. He tried hiding as a rat with the Weasleys, but Molly Weasley tactfully trapped him and turned him in after seeing the notice on the Daily Prophet about Peter's animagus form and his markings. Peter was sentenced to a trial and was thrown into prison, not just for betraying the Potters, but for several terrible deeds that he done as a Death Eater. James, Sirius and Remus chose to avoid the trial as they did not trust themselves to face Peter out of fear of letting their anger get the better of themselves. Luckily for Prongs and Padfoot, the only charge they were faced with for being illegal animagi was to pay a heavy fine and register their animagi. This was mostly due to them being tried as juveniles as they were only fifteen at the time they became illegal animagi. The fact that James' son had just vanquished the Dark Lord also helped bring more leniency on their sentence.

James ran his hand through his hair and covered his face with a throw pillow before looking up at his best friends with a sullen face. The three Marauders were seated in the informal hall at Potter Manor.

"Why, why would that rat do this," sighed James.

"Because he has always been a selfish coward who always aligns himself with the strongest people for his own self preservation," shouted Sirius. "First it was us three and then, a year before his downfall, it was with Voldemort," Sirius continued.

"Besides it wasn't just you and Lily who he betrayed," said Remus whose anger was beginning to match that of Sirius. "What about Marlene and her entire family," explained Remus, "she was like a sister to you Prongs, just like how you and Padfoot can come across as twins," said Remus. "She was also more of a sister to Lily than Petunia ever was to her, and she was also the only girl who Padfoot didn't ignore" said Remus, whose mood wasn't getting any better. "Marlene has never wronged Peter in any way and this is how that rat repays her," shouted Remus.

"And then there is Fabian and Gideon," shouted Sirius. "I mean them two were like older versions of me and you Prongs, I mean the amount of laughs and pranks we used to have with them, and then suddenly, that rat has no issue in setting them up to Dolohov and his gang, and then suddenly has the audacity to hide in their sister Molly's household" shouted Sirius, who was showing no signs of calming down. "And worst of all," screamed Sirius, "he made me believe that one of my best friends (looking at Remus) was the spy, and I'm so sorry about that Remus."

"I understand, and I'm sorry that I suspected you too Sirius," said Remus in a regretful manner, "that rat must have been really good in manipulating and playing mind games with us."

James suddenly spoke, "well if one thing is right about Peter, it's the fact that his animagus form really fits who he is, he is the definition of a rat If I've ever seen one."

Sirius finally loses his temper, "if I ever see that rat again, I will personally kill him in the most slowest and painful way possible."

"And won't blame you if you do," said Remus, "in fact I will join in and help you."

"Listen guys," said James, "as much as we all want Peter to suffer, I don't want him dead, but at the same time you shouldn't expect me to shed any tears over him."

"That's pretty noble of you James," said Remus, "if you ask me he doesn't deserve it."

"Yeah well that's the difference between us and him," explained James, "because unlike him we're not killers."

"I don't know how I'm going to do it without her," the newly single father said dejectedly.

"You're a great father, James. You'll do just fine." Sirius sat beside him and put an arm on his shoulder.

"What if I screw up and Harry ends up thinking I'm a completely useless father", James's hazel eyes shone with apprehension.

"You won't screw up. You've always put Harry first and that's a sign of being a good father," said Remus reasonably.

"And I'll be there for you whenever you need help with Harry. I am his godfather."

"You can always count on me for help too, James", said Remus courteously.

James began twisting his wedding ring and biting his lip. "Will you both please move in? I would really appreciate it," he looked hopefully at his best friends.

Sirius and Remus exchanged looks before turning back to James.

"Of course, mate, after everything you've done for us I think it's about time we repay the favor" Sirius tightened his grip on James's shoulder.

"Count me in too, mate, said Remus." "You've done everything not only for us, Lily, Harry, Marlene, and the Order, but unfortunately also for Peter too, and look how he has repayed you," said Remus. "You've even comfortable Molly Weasley after her brothers we're set up and butchered," Remus continued. "Your parents, especially your mother, would be so proud of you Prongs," Remus explained to James. "Even Lily's parents would want you to do this, after all, you were their favorite son-in-law compared to Lily's sisters husband," explained Remus. Remus stood up and took James's hand in his.

"Thank you," said James gratefully.

"We'll be three men and baby. Although, we're probably the most clueless people to be raising a baby," Sirius sniggered with amusement.

"We'll get the hang of it," said Remus.

James Potter slipped a bit on the frosted sidewalk as he turned onto the narrow road at Godric's Hollow that Halloween night. He was cold, and a warm fire sounded wonderful. He shouldn't have been away so long. As he looked down the road, his heart froze in his chest. Standing in the sky, lurid and prominent, was the Dark Mark. No, it couldn't be - it couldn't be their cottage, it was protected, it had to be another one... he raced along, half-desperate, half-afraid to know.

He rounded the hedge, and then he saw that where the right side of the top floor had been, a large whole gaped, blown open as if from a huge explosion.

James flung open the iron gate and raced up the pathway. A knife seemed to be piercing his stomach as he ran inside the house. "Lily! Lily!", he called out, desperately hoping that they were alive. Maybe they'd escaped...

His heart beat rapidly as he ran up the stairs. He burst into their bedroom to find that its ceiling was open to the sky. On the floor lay Lily's dead body, while Harry was alive in his crib, crying. A strange lightning-shaped cut stood out jarringly on his forehead.

James' steps stumbled, and then all went black.

"James ... Lily ... James ... is everyone alright?" came a voice. It grew shakier as it drew nearer and an attractive young man with sleek black hair entered the room.

Sirius could tell Lily was dead from her open eyes and stiff body. A sharp jolt hit his stomach and tears filled his eyes, but slight relief washed over him when he saw that James was still breathing, albeit unconscious. He picked Harry up and comforted him before making his way to James with the toddler in his arms.

Sirius trembled as he shook James with his free arm. "James! James! Please wake up." The knots in his stomach lessened as the hazel eyed wizard opened his eyes.

James was confused at first, but as things began coming back to him, wracking sobs began taking over his body and soon he was wailing uncontrollably. Since Harry had stopped crying, Sirius put him back in his crib and went over and put his arms around his best friend.

"It's all my fault," James cried out.

"James, it's not your fault that Peter was a treacherous rat," said Sirius, trying to placate and reason with the new widower. It was usually James who comforted him when he was upset over something. It was rarely the other way around.

As Sirius was still contemplating the best course of action, he heard someone enter the room and was glad to see the elderly wizard with a long white beard. The Hogwarts Headmaster was stunned by what he saw but quickly recovered. He paced the room looking somber, then walked over to Lily and closed her eyes before walking over to Harry's crib and picking him up. He pressed his lips and narrowed his eyes as he examined Harry's scar with steeple fingers before putting him down.

"Professor, look at what that sneaky worm-rat did," said Sirius heatedly.

James was still crying and absent-mindedly blaming himself, oblivious to his surroundings.

"Were you not their Secret Keeper, Sirius?" asked Dumbledore.

"No, we switched to that scum, Peter, last week. I thought it would be too obvious if I was their Secret Keeper, so I convinced James and Lily to switch to Peter." Sirius looked down in shame.

With a flick of Dumbledore's wand, James slumped over as if in a deep sleep. .

"I had to make him unconscious. He is not in a state to function. We need to get James and Harry to St. Mungo's. We'll discuss things further there," said Dumbledore calmly.

Sirius appreciated how Dumbledore always had a talent for keeping himself calm and composed in any situation.

"We can't apparate from inside the house. Let's get James and Harry outside the house," Dumbledore added.

"What about Lily?" asked Sirius.

"She will receive her due respect, but unfortunately we cannot remove her body before the Aurors show up."

Dumbledore levitated James outside the cottage while Sirius carried Harry. They apparated to St. Mungo's with the father and son.

James woke up in one of the wardrooms at St. Mungo's and immediately tried to jump out of the bed, nearly hysterical. Sirius gently pushed him back while a nurse quickly gave him a calming drought, and after a few minutes, his friend was finally able to talk more composedly.

"Is Harry alright? I remember seeing a cut on his forehead," he asked shakily.

"Harry's just fine," Sirius put fifteen month old Harry who had a bandage on his forehead on the bed next to James.

"Da da," Harry held his arms out to his father.

James picked his son up and embraced him before carefully examining him.

"Harry, daddy's really sorry he wasn't there to protect you," said James ruefully.

"James, is it true that you switched your Secret Keeper from Sirius to Peter?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, and he betrayed us. I thought he was one of my best friends," James said dejectedly as he soothingly patted Harry who was lying on his chest.

"Professor, I don't understand. Voldemort attacked Harry and Lily, but now he seems gone. Not that I'm complaining, but Harry somehow survived with just a cut," said Sirius curiously.

Dumbledore stroked his beard. "I theorize that Lily sacrificed herself for Harry, invoking an ancient protection charm. Hence, when Voldemort cast the killing curse, it backfired on him instead."

"So Voldemort's gone for good?" asked Sirius hopefully.

"I'm afraid there are ways for him to return since he had gone to great lengths to make himself immortal. But for now, he's gone," said Dumbledore.

"It's my fault. I'm sorry, James. I'm the idiot who suggested that we switch to Peter." Sirius looked down, unwilling to meet his best friend's eyes.

"It's not your fault, Sirius. It's that stinking traitor's fault. When I get my hands on him, he'll wish he was never born," James swore, clenching his fist.

"I'll get him. I'll kill him and go to Azkaban instead of you. Harry needs you," Sirius vowed.

"Calm yourselves, James and Sirius. Peter will most certainly be caught and punished for his deeds. No need for either one of you to do anything rash and risk getting thrown in Azkaban," Dumbledore rebuked.

"But he can easily escape in his animagus form," said James and Sirius together.

"I beg your pardon?"

James and Sirius exchanged uncomfortable looks. It was confession time.

And also, why are these six most responsible?

What I am about to write is in response to @Glowing.Pink.Eyes anti-James fanfictions where she goes against canon and villainizes James.

Knockturn Alley

The snow was falling, fast and heavy by the light of the torches in the darkness. The heart of Wizarding London was bustling with preparations for Christmas; just out of Diagon Alley, though, was not.

Knockturn Alley was, in fact, dead quiet. Shadows creeped through the streets in a haze, and with it came the Death Eaters. They darted out between the buildings, from shop to shop in frantic movements. It was clear they were waiting and lurking; for what, no one could be sure. All that remained to be seen was who, exactly, was their target. Voldemort was a daily name in the Prophet, now; it was clear he had not quite reached his full power - the great potential that he was capable of - and the Wizarding World was at war.

At this time of night, anyone in London would not be caught dead lurking in that Alley, save the Death Eaters themselves. It was a trap, plain and simple. The Ministry knew what Voldemort wanted, but they certainly had no way of knowing when they would strike.

Smoke rose from the torches and touched the frostineess of the air; the glass surfaces shimmering with mist. Through the alleyway, there was hushed towns and it was as if there was a snake, lurking in the garden.

Watching, waiting. Lurking and ready to strike.

It all became clear, however, when a man and a woman, each of them carrying a wand, who were blindfolded and gagged, were pushed around the corner, and with a wave his wand, Regulus Black doused the light, and the streets flooded with darkness while the witch and wizard tried to scream.

Lily Evans' heart was pounding in her ears.

Her hands were bound and she struggled against her hold, and she could not see even the light of the stars. Beside her, James Potter's position was the same. They were being forced up against a wall, and Lily screamed but it could not be heard. She wanted, more than anything, to reach out and hold James' hand, to let him know that they were in this together, and provide them both with the warmth and strength that she could use and she could give, so that they could fight together.

Because they were going to have to fight, that much was clear. She didn't know who had kidnapped her, or why it was happening.

She'd be willing to bet, though, and would certainly place her luck on the Death Eaters on the paper. James was the son of a prominent Ministry official; she was a Mudblood. It all made sense.

They hadn't had their guards up at all, and that was a mistake. But it was Christmastime, in their final Hogwarts year; if anything, this showed they had to grow up, and make quick work of it, too. She wished she had thought to be safer, take less risks and watch her surroundings. Lily Evans was always straight forward and prepared, and it scared her immensely that she had had her guard down for even a second. James had been more watchful than she had, but in the end the corner had been flooded in darkness, and they had been outnumbered, bound and gagged and blinded and stripped of their wands, which scared her more than anything.

She tried to calm herself down and listen for James' breathing, which was steadier than hers but still fast and terrified. She moved just the smallest bit closer, so that he could feel the heat radiating off of her, and began screaming his name, as loud as she could through the gag. It steadied his panicked movements instantly; if he had fought anymore, they would have killed him.

She had no idea why she wasn't dead, anyway. But she wasn't going down without a fight, and she wasn't going at all with James beside her.

"Well," said a gruff voice, and she silenced, tears running down her face. Her curtain of hair flew around her, and the snow that caught in it made her freeze, even as sweat built up on her neck, beads that dripped with each move they made. "What are we going to do with them?"

She was terrified.

"Hand them over, of course. Those are the Dark Lord's wishes," replied the same one who had grabbed her arms.

But she and James were strong. Top of the year. Skilled in defence. Quick and sharp with their movements.

"Can't we have a little fun first?" This voice was a man's, bloodthirsty and maniacal.

And Lily hadn't realized it until now, but cared about him more than anything. She knew, somehow, that he returned her affections. It was not in the way he had asked her out over the three years before their last, or his constant fawning over her.

"I see no problem with that, Rodolphus," cooed a woman's voice, her sounds from her lips laced with venom.

It was in the way that he had changed, and become someone that she found herself loving above all else. The tender way he held her, the hushed tones in which he whispered her name.

There was love there; true, caring love that she wanted to keep and hold forever.

But the Death Eaters had other ideas.

Their blindfolds disappeared, and the pain rippled through her like lightning.

(Written on the wall above them was Mudblood, written in exactly that.)

Fight it.

Don't bend. Don't break. Don't let them get to you.

Fight it, fight it, fight it. It wasn't the Cruciatus curse, it was ancient magic of times when runes were the language, and they were writing them through the air, holding them hostage under the powerful bounds of the terrifying magic. James kept repeating it, over and over in his head like a mantra. He ignored the fact that he could see Regulus Black's face, the kid he used to think was innocent and far too young to be corrupted, and it made him want to kill Sirius's parents with full force; it was like sending a child into war. He focused on Lily – staying strong for her, and for the both of them together, because he was sure as hell making it out of this. Wand, or no wand.

He could hear her screams over his own, and just the sound wanted to make him stab Bellatrix Lestrange a thousand times over.

He thought of Lily, who was undeniably beautiful, and whose eyes shone brighter than the sun and reflected the stars, and who had the warmest heart of anyone he knew. He thought of the lies Sirius had been told when he was young, and how they were fueling what was happening right then in the Wizarding World. He thought of how fast he fell for her, thinking that maybe one day, they could get away from this incredibly stupid world where teenages were soldier and never go astray, because they had each other and their families and their lives to live and that's what mattered.

And he fought it.

He struggled to move but he did, and even as they were torturing him he moved to his left to shield Lily. Bellatrix Lestrange stepped up to him, taking it as a personal insult.

"You dare to fight me!" She brought the wand to his chin.

It seemed that Lily had fought it, too, forgot the pain even though it was bone-chillingly there, because spit covered her face. She was so disgusted, so angry, she rounded on Lily and screamed and marched toward her but there was a split second where he could —

In a flash, he had her wand. James fought with Lily beside him, taking down the Death Eaters in massive stupefies.

(They left Regulus Black to stand in shock.) James grabbed her hand and apparated in a flash. They collapsed into each other by the warmth of his fire.

"You're freezing," he mumbled into her shoulder. Tears stung her eyes, and he wiped them away. Kissed her forehead. Relief flooded him when she wrapped her arms around him, when he felt her heartbeat right next to his.

"James," she got out, tears morphing her words. "Thank god."

"Hey, I'm here." It was soft, reassuring; what she needed to hear.

Their hearts beat together.

I'd love to know what you think! :)