A/N: Did you think I had abandoned this story? Well, you probably did, but I found this chapter hidden away on a disk in my room, so I’m posting it. I’m in the process of writing a Draco/Ginny story to be posted after HBP comes out and the queue reopens. Hopefully I can find the rest of the James/Lily story and post them simultaneously. We’ll see.

I hope you continue to enjoy this story and leave a review! All my reviews were lost, so R&R, s’il vous plait.

-kjcp

XXX

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

WE CAN WORK IT OUT

January began normally enough. James fell back into his usual routine of classes, patrols, and Quidditch. His focus seemed to be mostly on lessons, though – partly because NEWTs were around the corner and partly because Lily made him study. Even though he wasn’t close friends with Hestia, he found her absence unsettling. Sometimes she would sit with him in the library when he was studying with Lily, but more often than not, Lily would spend time with Hestia away from him and his friends, only to join him later on in the evening when they did their patrols.

While technically patrols were supposed to be done separately, neither of them brought this point up. During the first term Lily would sometimes demur to patrolling together, but this second term she made it a point to stay with him as they roamed the castle. James figured she probably felt guilty having to divide her time between him and her best friend, and James felt sorry for her, but his sympathy for Lily barely outweighed his anger towards Hestia.

She was only thinking of herself. Remus was going to have to live with his lycanthropy for the rest of his life and would probably need all the support he could get.

‘He’ll find someone else, I’m sure of it,’ said Lily, as though reading his thoughts while they were doing their rounds one night at the beginning of February near the entrance hall.

‘I know, but I feel a bit guilty whenever you and I are around him… together… y’know?’

Lily nodded. ‘I’m sure Remus would rather have us act normally around him than pretend we weren’t together. I think it would be obvious we weren’t acting normal for his sake. Besides, he’s taking it rather well, isn’t he?’

‘Er, Remus doesn’t show too much emotion or anything. It’s hard to read him sometimes. I think he’s gotten past the sad part and moved straight on to bitter.’

Lily nodded again. ‘He does seem a bit… acrimonious sometimes when I try to talk to him.’ She shrugged. ‘Hestia feels awful about it as well…’

‘She should.’

Lily frowned. ‘I don’t blame her for being scared. She could have approached it differently. I’m surprised she would have put so much emphasis on the future – namely Remus getting a job.’

‘Seems materialistic to me,’ murmured James.

‘Perhaps, but the underlying point of all of that was that she was scared.’

‘If she could date Remus for that long and not get hurt, I doubt she should be scared of him in the future. He doesn’t hurt anyone!’

‘She’s not scared that he’s a werewolf,’ said Lily slowly. ‘She was scared of really falling for him. If she started to love him and then after Hogwarts he couldn’t get a job or became more of a threat, physically, to her, then she’d have no choice but to break up with him. It would be much harder to do that if she loved him. That’s what she was afraid of.’

James stopped walking. ‘You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.’

Lily stopped as well, a few feet in front of James, and slowly turned around. ‘I’m not kidding you. Do you not understand how she felt?’

‘I think that’s a piss-poor excuse to break someone’s heart,’ snapped James. ‘Remus never puts himself out there and now he’s never going to again.’

‘Oh, don’t be so melodramatic. Remus will get other girls. He’s not going to be alone for the rest of his life, y’know.’

James’ eyes narrowed. ‘I can’t believe you’re taking her side.’

‘I’m not taking anyone’s side!’ cried Lily. ‘But I’m not going to stand here and listen to you belittle my friend. I think what happened with Remus and Hestia is crappy, yes, but I can see both sides.’

‘Well, Hestia’s side is wrong.’

Lily rolled her eyes and turned back around to resume the patrols.

‘Why do you always do that?’

‘Do what?’ Lily asked over her shoulder, not slowing down.

‘Roll your eyes and act as though everything I think or feel is wrong if it’s the slightest bit different from your opinion? You always want to walk away and dismiss things as though you don’t give a fuck.’

Lily stopped.

When she didn’t turn around James felt his stomach churn. Shite. He was in for it now. It wasn’t always true. When they fought she tended to act like that – like what he said was stupid, but she hardly ever did it otherwise. And they fought so seldom… But he was livid. One look at Remus and anyone could see how miserable he was, but Hestia still looked happy and jovial most of the time. How could Lily just dismiss what Hestia did so lightly? It didn’t make sense. James worried that she might one day dismiss him without seemingly caring.

‘I do not act like that,’ said Lily softly. ‘How dare you. If anything, I listen to you and try to sympathise with whatever’s going on in your life. You think everything is so bloody stressful and I try to comfort you. I help you with your homework and even go to your Quidditch practises when you want me to. Don’t you dare stand there and tell me I don’t care about your opinions or give a… a ‘fuck,’ because we both know that’s not true.’

Lily resumed her walking.

‘I’m sorry!’ called James. She didn’t stop so he ran to catch up with her. He caught her arm, forcing her to slow down. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said again.

‘Don’t touch me.’

James let go of her arm, but continued to walk beside her. ‘I’m afraid of things, too, Lily.’

‘Yeah? Like what?’ she said with a dark tone.

‘I see you justifying Hestia’s break up with Remus and you do it without much feeling and I keep thinking that’s how it’ll be if you break up with me. You’ll make up an excuse riddled with logic, if that makes sense.’

‘You’re afraid I’m going to break up with you?’

James shrugged. ‘Not really, but I’ve thought about it.’

‘You’ve thought about us breaking up?’ shrieked Lily. ‘What is wrong with you? Get away from me; you’re really starting to get me agitated. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to be arguing about, but I know you’re really pissing me off.’

What were they arguing about? Oh, right – Lily taking Hestia’s side over Remus’. James felt overtly disgruntled and let Lily walk away to finish patrols. He went back to Gryffindor Tower, marching past his friends in the common room, and up to bed.

XXX

Lily walked into the common room a little while later. Her books were still on the table where she left them before patrols and she gathered them up, trying to decide whether or not to go to James’ room to fix things from their fight. Her annoyance won, though, and she went to sit on the sofa instead.

‘Did you two row?’

Lily’s head snapped to the left. Remus sat in one of the squishy armchairs by the fireplace. His head was bent over a book and a bit of parchment. His quill scratched against the parchment as he wrote.

‘I’m sorry?’ said Lily.

‘Well, James came storming in here and stomped up to his room. He looked rather hacked off about something.’

‘Oh.’

Remus glanced up at Lily. ‘Oh? There are only two people who can make James storm up a set of stairs like that – you and Severus.’

‘You’re right,’ said Lily with a loud sigh. ‘We did row. Only...’

‘Only what?’

‘Nothing.’

‘If you’re trying not to talk about your relationship because of what happened with mine, save yourself the trouble. I’m over it.’

Lily chewed on the corner of her mouth. She wouldn’t mind an outside opinion on the row, but Remus wasn’t exactly the opinion she sure she wanted, plus she wasn’t exactly convinced that Remus was indeed over Hestia. It had, after all, only been a month or so.

‘It was about you,’ blurted Lily.

Remus sat back in the squishy armchair. ‘Me?’ He snorted. ‘What on earth could make you row about me?’

‘James doesn’t like that I’m not one-hundred percent on your side of the break up. I mean, it was a crappy thing Hestia did, but... I sort-of understand her side of it. I’d be scared as well.’

‘Only you wouldn’t break up with James if he was a werewolf.’

Lily shook her head. ‘No, I wouldn’t; you’re right.’

‘Why?’

Lily was taken aback. Why? Why... ‘Because... I love him – even if he is completely daft and ridiculous sometimes.’

Remus chuckled.

‘I am sorry about Hestia,’ said Lily quietly. ‘I don’t know what to say about that, really. Funny thing, that. I always have something to say, except now, when it’s important.’

‘It’s not that important. Don’t worry about it. There’s other more important things.’

‘Like?’

‘Voldemort,’ Remus said flatly. ‘Dumbledore said Voldemort never gives up. He’ll keep coming after you until you’re dead – or until he’s dead.’

‘Well, we’ll just have to kill him, then, won’t we?’

‘Lily... I don’t think you or James are taking that seriously enough. Dumbledore wouldn’t tell you that unless it’s true. You two should probably be extra careful when you’re not protected by Hogwarts’ wards.’

Lily nodded. ‘Right.’

‘I’m serious.’

‘Okay, all right. I understand.’

Remus was quiet for a moment. Suddenly, he broke out in a smile. ‘The dream couple had a fight about me? That’s so cool.’

XXX

Lily avoided James the next couple of days. James watched her, taking notice of how when he walked by her eyes stopped moving over the sentences in her texts, but stayed fixated on the print. It was rather annoying, really, how she refused to initiate conversation. In all fairness, though, James had to admit that he hadn’t tried to talk to her, either.

‘It’s driving you mad,’ said Sirius.

He was sitting with Sirius and Sirius’ girl in the library after lessons and before Quidditch practise.

‘It is not,’ defended James.

‘You look rather miserable,’ Sophia said. ‘Moping about, like.’

‘I do not mope.’

Sophia raised her eyebrows.

‘Fine, perhaps I’ve been moping. But only a little bit.’

‘You should talk to her,’ said Sophia. ‘The silent treatment only makes both parties involved go barmy.’

‘Does it, now.’

‘Yes, it does. You miss her. Talk to her. You fight. You sulk. You make up. You get over it. Life goes on and nobody gets killed or maimed in the process.’

‘Except for nowadays,’ Sirius said to Sophia. ‘You forget there’s a Dark wizard on the loose who has an affliction for trying to kill my best mate.’

‘Once. He tried to kill me once.’

‘And he’s not going to stop. Remus already had this talk with you, I know he did.’

James gathered up his books and stood up. ‘Right.’ He made his way out of the library, calling over his shoulder, ‘Check you later.’

It was hard not to notice all of the portraits on the walls watching him as he walked down the corridors, going back to the common room. Still, he was able to make it to Gryffindor Tower without incidence. He put his books up in his room and left the Tower with his Quidditch equipment, ready for practise. Before practise, though, he wanted to find Lily. He’d seen her earlier walking out through the entrance hall to the grounds with Hestia; perhaps she was still there.

It was still cold outside and the sky was beginning to grey; it looked as if it might rain. There hadn’t been a February as wet as this one in years. With one hand in his pocket, the other holding onto his broom, James made his way down the small hill towards the Quidditch pitch. He had a hunch that Lily might be under the stands. She said once she liked to go places that had happy memories for her when she needed to think. They had escaped from the rain on their first date and found shelter underneath the stands.

James lifted up one red and gold flap and found Lily sitting on the dry grass. Her hair hung in her face as her shoulders shook slightly.

‘Lily?’

‘Go away, James.’

James knelt down next to her, laying his broom down on the ground. He pushed her red hair away from her face. Tears stained her cheeks.

‘What’s wrong?’

Lily sniffed and turned her head away from him.

‘Lily. Look at me.’

‘They came after my parents,’ she whispered.

‘Who?’

‘V-Vol-Voldemort,’ she stammered.

‘What! Are they all right?’

Lily nodded. ‘They’ve been moved... someplace safe, but Dumbledore wouldn’t tell me where.’ She sniffed again. ‘My sister is even more furious than before. They came to my house... attacked them in their sleep. Petunia wasn’t there, of course, but she heard about it. She blames me and you.’

‘Me?’

‘For being a wizard. Me, for being a witch.’ Lily sighed and wiped away the tears in her eyes. ‘I’m just a mess right now. Dumbledore was right – once you thwart Voldemort’s plans, he’ll keep coming after you until you’re dead.’

‘But your parents didn’t thwart his plans.’

‘But I did. Last time. When we cast the Patronus. James... this is real. I don’t understand it, and I don’t like it, but we have to be careful. McGonagall and Dumbledore told me what happened about an hour ago. They gave me letters from my parents and my sister. Petunia didn’t want to go someplace with Dumbledore. Said she was too busy decorating her new house in Surrey. Annoying, that. She could be killed and all she cares about is what wallpaper to go with her new settee.’

‘Are your parents angry?’

‘Er, no. Scared... Mum and Dad don’t understand why they went after them when I’m here at school.’

‘Who is ‘they’? Death Eaters?’

Lily nodded.

‘They probably were trying to lure you away from school, to defend your family.’

‘That’s completely daft.’

‘Voldemort isn’t the most intelligent guy. He’s trying to rid the world of Muggles and Muggle-borns – how smart is that?’

Lily nodded, looking down at the grass. ‘They were tortured, my parents.’

‘What?’

‘With the Cruciatus Curse. I think they were trying to get information out of them, really. Perhaps they weren’t trying to lure me away from school, but trying to get information about me – or us. The more they know about us, the easier it’ll be to find us and kill us once we leave Hogwarts. We should probably stay close to the castle. I don’t want to take any chances.’

‘Neither do I,’ said James.

‘That means, no Hogsmeade this weekend.’

‘What? You don’t talk to me for three days and the first thing you do is say, “no Hogsmeade”?’

‘You didn’t talk to me either! And, no, we shouldn’t go to Hogsmeade. There aren’t the same type of wards there as there are on the school. We’re in more danger there than we are here.’

‘But I haven’t been to Hogsmeade in two months. My supply of Chocolate Frogs is running low—’

‘James, please,’ pleaded Lily.

‘Lily...’

‘Only for an hour,’ conceded Lily. ‘No more. Only time for you to get your Chocolate Frogs and fresh supply of dungbombs.’

‘Er, I don’t buy dungbombs.’

Lily rolled her eyes and sniffled. ‘Of course you do. I usually pretend not to notice them since you’re Head Boy.’

James smiled. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘About what?’

‘Our fight. Whatever it was about.’

‘I’m sorry as well.’

‘Don’t ever give me the silent treatment again. It almost killed me.’

‘You’re so melodramatic,’ said Lily with a laugh. ‘But all right. Next time I’ll yell at you until I’m hoarse.’

‘Good. I like that plan. Just... don’t ignore me again, yeah?’

Lily nodded. ‘Sure. The next time we row, we’ll just have to work it out, then.’

James smiled and leaned forward and kissed her.

‘Don’t you have Quidditch practise?’

James nodded. ‘Yeah.’

‘Come find me afterwards?’

‘Of course. Where will you be?’

‘Your room.’

XXX

Hogsmeade was beautiful in the snow. The streets were completely white and covered with tracks from all the weekend visitors. James already had a bag full of sweets from Honeydukes and making his way towards Zonko’s with Lily’s hand safely in his.

‘They’re disgusting,’ Sirius’ voice rang out from behind them. James smiled and looked at Lily. Sirius had been following them all morning with Sophia by his side. She was bundled up in a bright red coat with a yellow scarf around her neck. Her hair was in plaits, tied with red and gold ribbons. No one would doubt which house she was from.

‘Disgusting, eh?’ said Lily, turning her head around and looking at Sirius.

‘Aye,’ he said. ‘Always holding hands. Whispering to one another. Enough to make wretch.’

‘Oh? Like you never hold Sophia’s hand,’ said Lily. ‘Like you never kiss her when you don’t think the rest of us are watching.’

‘What? I do not—’ sputtered Sirius.

Lily smiled. ‘Yes, you do. When you don’t think we’re watching,’ she repeated.

Sirius stuck his tongue out at Lily.

Looking at James, Lily said, ‘I’m very glad your best mate is so mature.’

James laughed.

‘Where’re Remus and Peter?’ asked Sophia.

‘Remus stayed at Hogwarts,’ said Lily. ‘He didn’t want to come.’

‘Peter’s meeting us at the Three Broomsticks later,’ said James. ‘Remus is helping him with a Charms assignment.’

Lily stopped walking. ‘The Three Broomsticks?’ she said.

James felt his neck get hot. ‘Er, yeah.’

‘You said you were going to Honeydukes and Zonko’s only and then we were going to go back to the castle.’

Sirius snorted. ‘That doesn’t sound like much fun. Why’d you want to go back without at least getting a Butterbeer or something?’

‘Because!’ snapped Lily, keeping her eyes on James.

‘Because Lily’s afraid we’re not protected here and that Death Eaters might come and—’ James fell silent.

‘What’s wrong?’ asked Lily.

James’ eyes narrowed. ‘Severus,’ he said acidly. Taking off towards the black robe he just saw, James’ entire body stiffened. The Slytherin boy had come out of one of the shops sans coat and James had caught sight of something...

‘James!’ cried Lily’s voice from somewhere behind him. ‘James!’

James ignored her. He caught up with Severus, put his hands on his shoulders, and spun the boy around.

‘What do you think you’re doing!’ cried Severus, shaking James off. ‘Don’t touch me.’ His eyes flickered behind James, to where he could hear Lily, Sirius, and Sophia walking up.

James took hold of Severus’ arm and held it out. Branded on his flesh like a scarred tattoo was a gruesome-looking snake coming out of a skull. It was green, but the flesh behind it was red and raw, as if it had been opened and left bleeding for hours.

‘I knew it!’ shouted James. ‘I knew you were a Death Eater!’

Severus yanked his arm out of James’ grip. ‘You don’t know anything!’

‘That’s the Dark Mark, isn’t it?’ said James. ‘You’ll be kicked out of Hogwarts if Dumbledore finds out about this.’

‘Somehow I doubt that,’ replied Severus very slowly, ‘so you can go and tell ol’ Dumbledore whatever you want to.’

‘You told You-Know-Who where Lily and I were going to be over Christmas, didn’t you?’

‘I did no such thing,’ said Severus. ‘Why would I care where you and your snivelling Mudblood girlfriend went for Christmas holiday?’

At the word Mudblood, James’ blood began to boil. Instead of taking out his wand, he launched himself at Severus, knocking him to the snowy ground. He grabbed a handful of greasy hair and yanked it back, forcing Severus to look him in the eye.

‘Don’t you ever call her a—’ James began to snarl, but before he was able to finish, a sharp pain hit him in his lower back, causing his body to go rigid and fall off of Severus.

‘Stop it!’ Lily shouted from somewhere above him.

The pain had gone from his lower back and extended outwards until it hit his brain, the tips of his fingers, and the ends of his toes. He couldn’t tell if his eyes were open; he only saw flashes of bright, white light that felt as though they were penetrating his eyes, straight into his brain. Everything throbbed and burned. It seemed as if someone had taken a meat cleaver to his heart and was hacking it over and over again. He couldn’t breathe. Everything... just... hurt...

XXX

It happened so quickly that Lily had no time to react. First, James had pounced on Severus for calling her a Mudblood, and then he was withering in pain. She screamed out for whoever it was to stop the moment she heard the word Crucio shouted.

Turning and pulling out her wand, Lily pointed it straight at three men in black hoods. From beside her, Sirius and Sophia had pulled out their wands as well. James was writhing on the ground, convulsing with saliva dripping out of the corners of his mouth.

‘Stop it,’ said Sirius through clenched teeth.

‘Ah, if it isn’t Sirius Black,’ said one of the hooded men – only, wait, the voice belonged to a woman.

Sirius seemed to falter for a moment.

The witch lowered her hood. Underneath was a pale woman with straight black hair and a look upon her face that suggested she had recently stepped in some nasty dragon dung.

‘Bellatrix,’ said Sirius.

Lily felt utterly confused.

‘I didn’t know you were a Death Eater.’

The witch Sirius called Bellatrix smiled. ‘Yes. Once Rodolphus joined I couldn’t resist. The Dark Lord is powerful and strong and deserves the loyalty of all purebloods.’

‘You make me sick.’

Why were they talking when James was still under the Cruciatus Curse? Lily wanted to shake Sirius and tell him to help her!

‘Take that curse off my best mate now!’ he cried, pointing his wand directly at Bellatrix. ‘Or I’ll use the Killing Curse on you.’

Lily gasped. He wouldn’t dare... would he?

Ah, good, all three Death Eaters were paying attention to Sirius. Clearly her throat as quietly as she could, Lily pointed her wand directly at the middle Death Eater and cried out, ‘Accio wand!’ His wand flew from his hand and landed in front of her. James immediately stopped convulsing but began to moan instead. Lily quickly leaned down to grab the stray wand.

‘You’re a stupid little girl,’ said Bellatrix. ‘You don’t know what’s good for you, do you? Give me back Rodolphus’ wand or I’ll hit you with the Cruciatus so hard you’ll—’

‘Stupefy!’ Sirius shouted, his wand aimed at Rodolphus. The wizard fell backwards, stiff as a board.

‘You stupid little boy,’ snarled Bellatrix. ‘We don’t even want you. Your family isn’t the threat.’

Lily’s eyes widened. They were after James – her James! Because his family was a threat to Voldemort. She swallowed, trying to think of what to do.

‘Rabastan! Take him!’

Lily jumped in front of James, who was now breathing heavily and trying to sit up. ‘No!’ she shouted. ‘You take him, you have to take me as well.’

‘Don’t be stupid, we don’t...’ Bellatrix’s voice trailed off. Then, her face twisted up in a horrible smile. ‘The Dark Lord tried to kill you once, didn’t he? And you escaped. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to kill you now.’

‘Bellatrix Lestrange!’ a deep voice bellowed. Lily recognised the voice immediately as Professor Dumbledore’s. Bellatrix and Rabastan turned quickly around and looked at Dumbledore and immediately hexes and curses went flying. Lily didn’t pay them any attention, though; with help from Sirius, they got James up off the ground and ran down the street. With Sophia right behind them, they made a detour in the alleyway between Zonko’s and Gladrags. James’ breathing seemed laboured, heavy and wheezy.

‘Are you all right?’ asked Lily.

James nodded. ‘Sure, never better.’

‘Stay here,’ said Lily. ‘I want to make sure we weren’t followed.’ But as Lily made her way back to the street, James grabbed her arm to keep her back. ‘Let go of me.’

‘No,’ said James. ‘You were right... we are being targeted. I should have stayed at school where it’s safe.’

‘Stop talking, will you?’ snapped Sirius. ‘We need to get you two back to the castle before Bellatrix and Rabastan come looking for you.’

‘Wait, how do you know those Death Eaters?’ asked Lily, truly bewildered.

‘Bellatrix is my first cousin,’ said Sirius. Rodolphus is her husband and Rabastan, her brother-in-law. I should have known they were part of You-Know-Who’s people.’

James’ body was still twitching and every time he moved, he grimaced.

‘Does it still hurt?’ asked Lily.

‘Yes. I ache. Everywhere, I ache.’

‘We need to get you to the castle,’ said Sirius in an exasperated tone.

‘Okay,’ James consented.

‘Can you walk on your own?’ asked Sophia.

‘Yes, I’m not an invalid,’ snapped James.

‘You don’t have to be a prick about it!’

‘Hey!’ shouted Sirius. ‘Stop bickering and shut the fuck up! James, we’ll cut behind Zonko’s and make our way to the Shrieking Shack, then we can use the passageway to the castle.’

‘But the Shrieking Shack is haunted!’ cried Sophia. ‘Isn’t it?’

‘Uh, sure, but we know the ghosts there,’ said Sirius with a slight chuckle to his voice. ‘C’mon.’

The four of them turned around and went further into the alleyway. They made a left at the back of Zonko’s and headed across the snowy hills towards the Shrieking Shack. It was visible from behind the stores, but it seemed so far away, and Lily noticed James was limping, his mouth clamped shut in a firm, straight line.

‘Are you all right?’ she whispered.

James didn’t answer, just nodded once.

Their feet sunk into the snow covered ground as they made their way towards the dilapidated building. Screams echoed through the air, carried to their ears by the wind. Lily was sure that there were more Death Eaters in Hogsmeade. Surely Voldemort hadn’t sent three to do his bidding. They had come after James... because his family was a threat... Such an idea made her sick to her stomach.

‘Look out!’ Sophia yelled.

Lily turned around quickly. From in between Honeydukes and one of the bookshops, Bellatrix was running towards them. Even from such a distance away, Lily could see the sneer upon her face. The evil hag pointed her wand at the group, shouting something Lily couldn’t quite hear, and a beam of purple light spot from the end of her wand. It hit Sophia and she flew back as if she’d been given a rather hard push and landed in the snow, her eyes closed.

Bellatrix shouted out another spell, her wand pointed towards Sirius, but he was too quick for her. He threw up a shield as he yelled, ‘Protego,’ and whatever Bellatrix tried to hit him with hit the invisible wall around him and bounced off.

‘Fuck!’ cried Lily. She hardly ever swore, but it felt necessary at this point. The shack was still several metres away.

‘Take James,’ said Sirius.

‘But—’

‘Just do it. They’re not after me.’

Lily nodded. She pointed her wand at Sophia and said, ‘Molbilicorpus.’ Sophia’s body levitated up off the ground. With one arm helping James and the other one levitating Sophia, Lily moved quickly towards the shack. Once there, she heard the moans and creaks it made. She shuddered; it was hard to think of this place as not being haunted.

‘Here, I’ll open it,’ said James.

Even though Lily knew it was sealed tight from the outside, she wasn’t surprised when James opened the door. She figured he knew the spell Dumbledore had used on it to seal it up in the first place. They went inside and James sealed it up again so that no one would be able to get inside the shack.

Lily used her wand to set Sophia on the floor. She checked her over; the younger girl was still breathing and seemed to generally be all right. Then, she turned to James and threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

‘Oh, thank Merlin you’re all right,’ she said into his shoulder.

‘I’m fine,’ said James. ‘I’m just sore.’

Lily pulled back and looked her boyfriend in the eye. ‘What did it feel like?’

‘I can’t describe it,’ said James. ‘It was awful. The worst pain imaginable.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ whispered Lily.

‘No, don’t be. You didn’t want to come to Hogsmeade in the first place, but I insisted.’

‘No, we’re not going to play the blame game. It’s nobody’s fault. We have to be careful, though. That awful witch said they were sent there to get you. Your family’s a threat to You-Know-Who. She recognised me and said she wanted me as well since You-Know-Who tried to kill me over Christmas holiday, but wasn’t able to.’

‘We’ll have to stay on the Hogwarts grounds from now on,’ said James.

‘What about when we leave school? We can’t stay here forever.’

‘That’s still months away. Let’s not worry about that until June comes around, yeah?’

Lily nodded. ‘All right.’

‘Good. Now, let’s get Sophia to the hospital wing to make sure she’s all right. And I could do with a nice pain relieving potion myself.’

‘Wait,’ said Lily softly. ‘James... I’m glad you’re all right. I was so scared when I thought... I love you.’

James face seemed to soften and he smiled. ‘Thanks. I love you, too.’

XXX

As Lily, James, and the unconscious Sophia made their way as fast as they could towards the Shrieking Shack, Sirius gripped his wand tightly and ran towards Bellatrix. Cousin or no cousin, Sirius wasn’t going to let her get away with cursing his girl and best mate.

He had use Protego again as Bellatrix tried to curse him with the Cruciatus.

‘I don’t want to fight you,’ said Bellatrix, ‘but I will if I have to. There’s still time to join the other side, little cousin.’

‘I’d rather date the Giant Squid.’

‘Crucio!’

‘Protego!’

‘The Dark Lord accepts converts.’

‘Converts? Voldemort is not a religion!’

Bellatrix gasped. ‘How dare you speak his name with your unclean lips! You do not deserve to speak his name aloud! You’re a nasty, disgusting little twit! You are a disgrace to the Black name! Never say his name again!’

‘Voldemort, Voldemort, Voldemort,’ said Sirius mockingly.

Something in Bellatrix’s eyes flashed dangerously and taking in a deep breath, she yelled out for each time Sirius said the Dark Lord’s name – ‘Crucio, Crucio, Crucio!’

Sirius dove out of the way of the first curse and threw up another protection charm around him to deflect the curses. His heart was racing; that was a very close call.

‘You are a—ahh!’ Bellatrix stopped talking and gave a short cry of pain. She clutched at her left forearm with a pained expression on her face. Then, she Disapparated with a faint crack.

Sirius stayed on the ground for a minute, catching his breath, and waiting for another Death Eater to appear. Still feeling slightly confused, Sirius got to his feet and walked slowly back towards the main road of Hogsmeade. He went around the corner of Zonko’s and saw Dumbledore standing in the middle of the street, talking with Professors Kettleburn and McGonagall. Sirius went up to them.

‘What are you still doing here?’ asked McGonagall, a surprised look upon her face. ‘We sent all the students back up to the castle.’

‘We saw them first,’ said Sirius. ‘The Death Eaters, I mean. They were here after Lily and James... because James’ family is a threat to You-Know-Who.’

Dumbledore looked very grave as he nodded. ‘I was afraid of something like this. Voldemort does not give up easily. I daresay vengeance is one of his greater weaknesses. He won’t stop until Lily and James are dead.’

‘But what can they do?’ asked Sirius, very, very concerned.

‘Nothing at the moment. Keep them at the castle at all times.’

Sirius nodded.

‘No outside trips,’ continued Dumbledore with a slight twinkle in his eye. ‘No playing in front of trees.’

Sirius gulped. Professor Kettleburn looked thoroughly confused, but McGonagall looked as stern as always.

‘Yes, sir,’ said Sirius.

‘Ignatius, if you would be so kind as to escort Mr Black back to the castle?’

Kettleburn nodded. ‘Of course, Professor.’

Before Sirius turned to go, he looked at Dumbledore and said, ‘They were my family.’

‘What was that you said?’

‘The Death Eaters today. Bellatrix Black. Her husband and his brother.’

‘They let you see their faces?’

‘I recognised her voice,’ said Sirius, ‘but, yes, I saw their faces. All four of us did.’

Dumbledore nodded. ‘I see. That is not good... not good at all. For them to let you lot see them...’ there was a long pause. ‘You should get back to the castle,’ said Dumbledore. ‘I don’t think they’ll be back today; they were called away, back to Lord Voldemort. They’ll be reporting about their planned attack. We can talk about this later, if you would like, Sirius. Come around my office any time. The password is Bertie Botts.’

Sirius nodded. ‘Yes, sir, thank you.’

Sirius turned and followed Professor Kettleburn back to the castle. What if Dumbledore was right? What if the Death Eaters were just going to continue coming after James and Lily until they were dead?

He didn’t have much time to dwell on James and Lily, though, for as soon as he reached the castle, he raced up the stairs to the hospital wing, to check up on Sophia.

XXX

To Be Continued...