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."
