Author's Note: This story has been in the works for a while now, probably since Deathly Hallows was released, so my memory's a little fuzzy. Please excuse any timeline errors and the like; I tried my best to make sure this was as chronologically sound/plausible as possible. It also began as a 1/1 and grew into a 2/2. There's really not much else to say except that I clearly do not own Harry Potter or anything remotely related to Harry Potter. Enjoy :)
Part One
"You're sure about this Wormtail? You wouldn't be trying to double cross me, would you? Because you know what happens to people who lie to me…"
The stubby informant bowed lower and visibly shivered. "I know, my lord. I would never, ever think about trying to deceive you. That would be impossible. I wouldn't dream of being able to lie to-"
"Enough. I'm not interested in your flattery Wormtail. I know you're here out of fear and a desire to serve yourself, not because of a loyalty to me. I care nothing for your sniveling- even less for your worthless life."
Whimpering could be heard from the mass that had managed to huddle so close to the floor that he might as well have been kissing the cold stone.
"However, your cowardice has proven useful in the past. I hope I will not be disappointed this time."
A horrid face was lifted from the floor. "You won't be my lord. You won't be."
The tall figure waved an arm and the treacherous creature was lifted into the air. "Now. Get out of my sight."
There was a thud as the man was dropped to the ground before he quickly scampered away.
"A filthy excuse for a wizard… His animal form suits him much better, don't you agree Severus?"
The young man who had been in the shadows of the room for the length of the conversation stepped forward, his hands buried in the pockets of his robes.
"What do you think? Do you believe Wormtail was telling us the truth?"
The dark eyed young man, barely out of his teen years, tossed a greasy lock out of his line of sight and looked the menacing figure in the face. "I don't believe he has the courage to tell us anything else."
"I'm inclined to agree with you."
The older male, obviously in charge, dropped his head and placed the tips of his fingers together, thinking. "I've been keeping you close for some time now Severus. Perhaps too long… These aurors will be meeting somewhere. Where would you say that would be?"
The younger man raised an eyebrow slightly, evidently surprised at being asked his opinion twice in one audience. "I don't know my lord."
"Think Snape." The daunting figure hissed, sounding irritated with the dark young man for the first time.
"I- Outside of Hogsmeade. Near Hogwarts."
"My thoughts exactly. Severus, go to Lucius. Contact the Lestranges. Create a plan. I will bring the others."
Severus nodded slightly, taken off guard at the thought of so much responsibility.
"And don't disappoint me Severus. If this goes well, we'll have the strongest members of the Order out of the way."
"Yes, my lord."
With the final whispered words, the dark, pale young man bowed low and swept out of the room.
"I'm telling you James, you can't come!"
"Since when have you been able to order me around Moony?"
"Since you've become a father, that's when!"
The scene in the sitting room of the little household was disconcerting. Normally mild mannered Remus Lupin was engaged in a shouting match with James Potter while Sirius Black sat unusually quiet in a nearby chair.
"You need us Lupin! Lily and I have been invaluable to the Order! Besides, Harry is no reason to keep us from coming. We've come on missions at least twice since Harry was born."
"And I haven't liked it a bit! And they keep getting more dangerous, especially for you and Lily! You don't think Voldemort knows you're becoming invaluable to the Order? You don't think you and Lily rank high on his list of who he needs to be rid of? You have a son, James. You have to think about him!"
"Damn it Lupin, I am thinking about him! I'm thinking about how I'm going to keep my son safe as he grows up!"
"If you don't stay put like you're supposed to you won't be there to watch him grow up!"
"What are you yelling about?"
Both Remus' and James' heads spun in the direction of the quietly seething female voice. Sirius glanced up for a second before staring back into the fire.
"I just put Harry to bed and here you are causing a commotion! What can possibly be that important?"
"They're going to attack the Death Eaters! They're probably going to be outnumbered by who knows how many! And they weren't even planning to tell us!" James thundered, lowering his voice a notch now that his angry wife had entered.
"And James thinks it would be a good idea for the two of you to risk your lives out there with the rest of us when you have a young son to worry about! Besides, we have reason to believe that we'll be the ones outnumbering the Death Eaters."
There was a pause.
"What if you're not Remus? What if you and Sirius and Frank and Alice and the rest get killed? What'll the Order do then? How can it possibly defeat Voldemort without its strongest members?"
"Lily," Remus turned his attention from James to the red head. "You can't possibly be in favor of this. You and James weren't even supposed to know about this mission, and you wouldn't have if Sirius hadn't opened his mouth. You need to think about Harry."
The woman was dumbfounded for a moment. She glanced from her husband, to her friend, pleading with her, to Sirius, still motionless in the chair.
She took a deep breath and looked Remus directly in the eye. "If James and I don't go, and something does happen to you all, what kind of a world will that leave Harry to grow up in?"
Remus frowned and sank down into a chair. "I don't believe you two. You have a child. You're probably in more danger than any of the rest of us."
"If you're worried about them getting killed because of who they are," Sirius spoke quietly for the first time since the argument broke out. "Then you have no reason to be concerned."
Remus glared at him, obviously angry that everybody was against him. "What do you mean?"
"Polyjuice potion Remus." Sirius smiled wryly. "Geez, I thought you were the smart one. All we need to do is get them a hair from a couple of Muggles and they're as good as hidden."
"Sirius, that's brilliant!" James breathed, clapping him on the shoulder.
Lily glanced at Sirius and then back at Remus. Carefully, she knelt down in front of him and grabbed the hands sitting limply on his lap. "It's a good plan, Remus. Please give it a chance."
He sighed. "Fine. I obviously can't change your minds. We need to hurry then. We're supposed to be meeting the Order in Hogsmeade in one hour and we need to find a couple of Muggles."
Lily squeezed his hands. "You won't have any reason to regret this Remus. Don't worry."
"There they are." Rudolphus murmured, his grip on his wand tightening. "Do you think that's all of them?"
"Wormtail said a small group." Severus whispered back.
Bellatrix scanned the gathering, counting. She finished and chuckled softly. "The Potters aren't here. Must be nursing their brat."
Bellatrix's statement shook Severus up slightly. When he'd been told he was going to be sent to battle the Order for the first time, he hadn't even considered that Lily would be among them. The news that she could've been startled him. And the news that she wasn't there after all… Well, he wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about that. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about a girl he'd been in love with as a kid, and one that he hadn't spoken to for close to five years.
"Severus!" Bellatrix hissed at him, jabbing him in the ribs with her wand. "You fool mutt, send the signal before they leave."
Roused from his thoughts, Severus touched the Dark Mark on his arm. Within seconds, the air was filled with curses flying towards the Order members from every direction. Just as quickly, the Order began to return fire. Severus was dazed for a second. He was startled by how abruptly absolute chaos had broken. Soon, not even five minutes after he had given the signal, one of the Death Eaters was killed. Whether it was by an Order member, or a poorly aimed curse of one of the dead man's fellows was impossible for him to discern. Shaking off the shock, Severus sprang from his hiding position and into the fray, trying his best to stay out of the way of rebel curses while doing his best to correctly aim his own.
"How did they know?"
James and Sirius had momentarily taken cover from the fierce battle in a nearby cluster of trees.
"I don't know!" Sirius answered frantically. "I don't know! Damn it, half of Voldemort's bloody followers must be here!"
He ran a hand through his thick black hair and set his gaze on James. "You need to go back to headquarters to get reinforcements."
"What? Why me? I didn't drink sludge and turn myself into a Muggle just so I could be sent back! And I won't leave Lily."
"James, you have to go. You have less than half an hour before you turn back into you, and we can't have that happening in the middle of a battle. Leave and get some help!"
"Then I'm taking Lily with me. I can't leave her here!"
"Mate, who knows how long it will take to find her in this mess! We need help now. I'll find Lily before her time's up and get her out, but you need to contact the rest of the Order!"
James seemed to be struggling for a moment, before finally relenting. "Fine. Just don't let anything happen to her."
"Don't worry." Sirius said, preparing himself to face the chaos once more. "I won't."
Lily was starting to panic. She'd been in practically identical situations on several occasions before, and she'd kept her cool, but despite her best efforts she was starting to worry. Her mind wasn't on the task at hand. She was barely keeping herself alive in the midst of the struggle; she hadn't fired a curse for a good ten minutes. She kept thinking about Harry, wondering how long she had until the polyjuice potion wore off, and more recently, desperately trying to locate James.
She hadn't seen him since the battle had begun, and even now, when she was actively trying to find him, she couldn't locate him in the crowd. She kept telling herself that it was dark, that he had an unfamiliar face, and that she shouldn't be surprised that she couldn't pick him out in the midst of everything. But her attempts at self-consolation were becoming less comforting with every second that ticked by.
"Move!"
Lily barely had time to register Moody's gruff voice or the fact that the command was directed at her before she felt a spell glance off her arm, leaving a gash in it. Before she knew it, she had been shoved out of the way, and had landed on the ground, her injured arm pinned beneath her. Dazed, she scrambled from the hard earth, only to be caught halfway up by a hand on her forearm.
She slowly raised her eyes, first finding a wand directed at her throat, next, a figure covered in black. She narrowed her eyes defiantly and began to move her wand arm, only to be stopped by an excruciating level of pain. She gasped and felt her wand slip through her fingers.
"If you value your life at all, I would recommend you stay completely still."
And she did. For half a second, Lily felt paralyzed. Then, once again, she raised her eyes, now wide with shock, and looked her captor directly in the face. Stunned, she mouthed the only word she could think of, his name, and before her lips had finished forming the last syllable she saw her own astonishment reflected in his face.
