-1Hello fellow authors and Potter fans, The Horsey welcomes you to his first fan fic. I've wanted to be an author on thissite ever since my friend Silverlocke980 told me about it and I read some of his stuff. Now that I finally have a computer, I can start writing fan fics. I had this cool idea in my head for a Potter fan fic about James and Sirius's work for the Order Of The Phoenix for a while so I figured I may as well post it as my first story. Please read and review this story so I'll know whether or not to keep going with it. Thanks for your time.

The Weapon

Remote forest location in Ireland, 8:30 p.m

All was calm as two trench coated figures with black hair stepped into a small pub at the base of a range of hills. These two were the only patrons at the bar that night, the bar keep was all alone. There could not be a more perfect time for the two of them to be here. One of the men went and sat down at a table at an angle to the bar, the other went to order drinks.

" Hello," the man said to the bar keep, " two beers please." The bar keep grunted in recognition and set to rummaging about for some glasses. " Get much business around here," the trench coated man continued.

" Nuff to get me by," the bar tender grunted. He was a very ugly man. Half of his teeth were missing and he was bald save for a ring of gray hair that circled the bottom of his head. From the state of his tattered brown robes, he obviously made just enough to get by.

The customer spoke again," My brother and I are out on a little camping trip. We left our stuff sitting outside. Some poor old muggle we met along the way told us to be careful about coming up here. Said there were some really strange people that lived in a village in these hills. I guess he was just talking about the wizards that live near here.

" Mmm hmm," the bar tender grunted again, he had finally found the glasses and was beginning to fill them with beer from the tap.

" He told us that lately though, some folk even stranger than normal had moved to the village. Wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you. You know, dangerous times we live in. It would be good to keep safe you know."

" Let's see," the barkeep said, setting the glasses down on the table, " poor old thing could have just been bein' paranoid but uh-"

Bang! There was a scarlet flash of light and the man staggered backwards a few feet, tripping over a small box and the wand he had been hiding flew out of his hand and across the room. The man who had been sitting at the table came running to his comrade.

"You alright there James," said the man who had been at the table. He noticed the look of alarm, not panic but alarm in his friends eyes covered by round glasses.

" Yeah," James replied, " bloke almost got me. Thanks for that one Sirius." James marveled at the way his friend wore a grin on his face even at that moment. Sirius was just like that. Even in some of the most critical moments he remained his normal relaxed, cheery self. Not that he didn't take the situation seriously though.

" I could see him drawing his wand from the angle I was sitting at," Sirius said, " Poor idiot never had a chance."

The barkeep scuttled towards the door but James was to fast for him. With a quick point of his wand, the door was magically locked. The barman's only exit had been shut off. He rested his back against the door an sat there terrified, waiting for the two wizards to do their worst. Both of them were coming towards him with their wands pointed directly at his heart.

" Alright hot shot," James said, "Obviously you have us figured out and we have you figured out too. So tell us what you know, and don't try to lie either because like I said, we have you figured out. What do you know about the Shades Of Death?"

" Okay, okay," the terrified man croaked, " They were here a few days ago. I overheard them talking about hiding something for their master. They paid me a large sum to keep quite and to keep a lookout for people trying to find them. They said they would come back and check in on me in a few days to make sure I was doing my job."

" Their master," Sirius barked, " who did they say their master was?"

" HIM, The Dark Lord, " the old man cried in terror, " He is their master."

" And what were they hiding," James inquired.

" They didn't say, only said that it was very important that it was hidden. Actually, I think their hiding more than one thing."

" Tell us where they are hiding out at, then we will modify your memory and let you go free," Sirius told the man.

" They're in the village up in the hills, follow the dirt road and take the first left you come to. That will take you straight to the village. They said if I needed to contact them they would be at a building called-"

Just then there was a noise like a gunshot. James and Sirius turned around and saw a figure in a hooded black robe with a metal mask painted with the face of a green demon, he had his wand pointed at them. The two of them dove in opposite directions out of the line of fire and the hooded man bellowed in a deep voice, " Cardio Ceasius".

There was a noise like someone being shocked by an electric fence and the old man slumped over dead. Sirius and James jumped up for a counter attack but they were too late. The dark wizard had disapparated.

" Damn," Sirius said under his breath, " Well at least we know they're in the village."

" Yeah," James replied, " Did you here that incantation? Cardio Ceasius, that's definitely not the killing curse we're used to seeing. From the sound of that incantation, it sounds like it stops your heart.

" Must be a spell of their own," Sirius said, " Bet they've made it harder to track than the Avada Kedavra curse."

" Probably," James muttered. He knew what he was getting into when he accepted this mission but he had no idea the Shades Of Death would be that dangerous. Who knew what other custom spells they had in their arsenal. James could still remember Dumbledore's words as he briefed him on this mission: " James, I have selected you and Mr. Black to carry out a very important task for the Order Of The Phoenix. You see, for quite some time I have had the Prewett brothers Gideon and Fabian tracking an elite group of Death Eaters known as the Shades Of Death. Alas the poor Prewetts were lost in service on that very assignment. However they managed to take down five of the Shades and according to a journal found in Fabian's coat pocket after we found the bodies, there were ten Shades Of Death to begin with. So now there are only five which is good news. However there is an entry in the journal that disturbs me. Apparently the Shades Of Death are in possession of some powerful weapon crafted by Lord Voldemort himself. The journal states that one of the Shades said this weapon was one of the Dark Lord's most valuable assets. Oddly enough the Shades did not seem to be as interested in using the weapon as they were hiding it. This is where you and Sirius come in. I want the two of you to finish the Prewetts' work. Find the Shades Of Death and find out what kind of weapon they have. Bring it back with you if you can and destroy it if at all possible. Otherwise, just find out what it is they plan to hide. Our sources say that they were last headed towards a small range of hills at the base of the Donegal Mountains in Ireland. Now make haste, time is of the essence.". These words still rang clear in the mind of James Potter. He remembered the look of genuine worry on Dumbledore's face, Albus Dumbledore was actually worried. That was not something you saw too often. At least, he didn't show it very often. James felt honored that he had been selected for this mission.

" Hey Prongs," the voice of Sirius brought James back to reality, " Come on we best get going if we plan on getting to that village tonight."

" Right," James replied, " Let's get moving.".

And with that, the two comrades unmagicked the door and stepped out into the night. Picking up their packs that had been sitting outside the door to avoid attracting too much attention to themselves, they set off into the forest. Neither one of them had any idea of the danger that waited for them.

R&R Please!