Thank you so very much to Sara I Have No Profile, Special K the Great, Dinny93, sparklyshimmer2010, Duckyumbrella, vampirerule117, Gryffindor777, Death-Muncher, elvendork4sirius, Chloe, chiriko1117, every-rose-has-a-thorn, Victoria Alatamir Wan, and MaraudersMap for you lovely reviews. I sort of stopped this because I totally lost interest, but with all the wonderful things you've said to me I've picked it back up for you all, I hope some of you are still interested! My writing style has changed a bit since I wrote part one of this, so picking it up again was quite difficult, but I think I managed it…

This is going to be longer than a three-shot now, but not much longer I shouldn't think, and will be updated whenever I get the chance :') As ever, reviews are more than appreciated, and will be rewarded with virtual chocolate cookies.

Lots of love and thanks, ArwenJaneLilyLyra x

Part II

The horizon was empty of everything but oak trees and birds as the sun broke through the cracks in the sky, dawn commencing in a burst of coloured skies. The light was faint and weak, but still very much there, and it illuminated the young woman's tear streaked face and dark reds curls. Her emerald eyes shattered the light into a thousands glitters in her gaze, which was glazed with burning tears.

She watched the light grow stronger by the minute, observing the beauty as it unfolded from her unstable position on the balcony of the back garden porch. She clung to the wooden bars tightly, her freezing fingers trembling with both the cold and the effort to keep herself balanced. Her lips were tinged with blue, and her eyes were bloodshot; her husband would still have told her she looked like an angel, if only she could find him.

Her eyes scanned the horizon again, but she knew it was useless. She would not find James unless he wanted to be found. And knowing James as she did, she knew he would not want to be found for a very long time. Another lonely tear dripped down her face and she wiped it away mechanically, smudging the perfectly vertical track that her previous tears had made on their way down her face.

Sighing, she swivelled her legs back over the wooden post and hopped down lightly. She subconsciously dusted herself free of imaginary dirt and made to enter the house again with the intent of dressing in something a little more substantial than a nightdress, but she stopped outside the door. Out of the corner of her eye she saw an empty bottle had been left beside the old chair that resided outside through rain and shine. She was about to turn and go pick it up when she realised what it was.

The bottle was dark green, very similar to the colour of her eyes, and it had a white sticker on the front with its logo. The name of the brand – 'Stella Artois' – was a muggle one, and Lily couldn't help the sad smile as she stood looking at it for a while. She knew of only one wizard who liked Stella, and she couldn't bring herself to move such a nostalgic memoir of him. Though many would disagree, Lily found it hard to think of a more homely sight in that moment than a dark late night, with Sirius Black sat in the corner of the porch, his obnoxiously loud laugh ringing through the garden, a bottle of his favourite muggle alcoholic drink in his hand and his wand shooting pretty sparks up into the air to amuse his Godson.

So many little things left behind – of course Padfoot would never risk letting them forget about him, he would simply have to leave as many reminders of him as possible. Not that he did it on purpose of course, how could he have? No-one had expected him to…she closed her eyes and willed the thoughts from her head.

Before she could start weeping all over again, Lily returned to the house, relishing the warmth as she made her way to her son's bedroom to see if he was awake.

OIOIO

James stormed through the corridors of Hogwarts, his face contorted with rage and his fists balled in fury. The dungeons were gloomy and he marched through the penetrating darkness, all thoughts driven in one direction, and one direction only. With fire in his heart that shone through in his eyes, James threw open the door without knocking, expecting to find an empty room. But he was mistaken.

Sat behind his desk was the man he sought. His greasy dark hair hung in curtains around his face, and his leer was unpleasant and full of disgust as he looked up at James, who glared, frozen momentarily with shock. And then suddenly he grabbed the man by the robes and hoisted him up so his back was to the wall and his feet were barely touching the floor. Severus Snape didn't attempt to defend himself as he coughed a little at the wand digging into his throat dangerously. He raised a single eyebrow at the man, his dark eyes cold and unaffected by the disadvantageous position he found himself him.

James' breathing was heavy, his chest rising and falling rapidly as his face darkened with an angry blush that stained his cheeks. He couldn't bring himself to speak the words desperate to burst through past his lips. It was too hard. He couldn't say it. Because saying it would make it all the more real. Saying it would be like asking for confirmation of all his fears. And how could he survive that?

"Did you plan on speaking at all, Potter? Or were you just going to strangle me?" Snape asked hoarsely, his pallor slowly deepening as he struggled to breathe freely. His voice was icy and full of the hatred James had grown accustomed to over the years, but now it stung him.

"You…" he managed to whisper under his breath, his grip on the front of Snape's robes tightening.

"Me," Snape replied shortly, seeming to grow more and more impatient as still James didn't let him go.

But he never heard what James opened his mouth to say after a short silence, because a figure walked in the door, white fury radiating from him and an expression of shock on his face.

"James, release Severus at once."

James dropped Snape instantly, turning around to face Albus Dumbledore with deadened eyes. Dumbledore's crystalline gaze was sharp enough to cut diamonds as he pierced James with a hard look, scrutinising him with fierce intensity. And James stared back defiantly, as if he thought himself to be justified in his actions.

"I would appreciate it if you refrained from not informing me when you arrive at my school for a meeting. And I think it is to be expected that this…" he indicated the aggressive way in which James had acted with Snape, "Never happens at all. Nothing, I repeat nothing gives you the right to assault a member of my staff in such a way, regardless of any feuds between you."

James didn't say a word, but his lip trembled and his eyes were suddenly filled with tears that he wouldn't let fall. There was a hint of betrayal in his expression as he stared in disbelief at the old man.

"I mean it, James. And if you repeat what has happened here today, I shall be forced to stop you from returning to Hogwarts."

Rejection now joined the betrayal and clouded the bright hazel of James' eyes so it almost entirely masked the pain that lingered there. Not quite though.

"So…" James murmured, glancing between the man he'd admired all his life, and the man he had hated for over ten years. "You don't care." His voice was small and childlike. The tears that swam in his eyes collected on his eyelashes, still not yet falling. Dumbledore shook his head in the beginnings of a protest but James nodded. "You don't care that he's gone. Is that all it is, Albus? You just pretend to care until you no longer have to worry about us anymore?"

Albus sighed deeply, "James, you know that I-"

"But you don't care about Sirius!" James screamed, his furious tone echoing around the room, magnifying the pain within the words. "He's our spy!" James bellowed, pointing at Snape with an accusatory finger. "He knew where he was but he pretended not to so we were too late! And now Sirius is gone!"

"James I can assure you Severus did everything in his power to find out the whereabouts of Sirius."

James' laugh was loud and derisive, madness overtaking reason. "No he didn't! He hated Sirius! He hates us all! He'd watch us die rather than risk his neck and you know it! Sirius meant nothing to him. Nothing. And you're telling me he went to all costs to try save his life? You're blind if you believe him, Albus." James spat, but Albus simply stared sadly at the man, letting him rant and scream without comment.

"James?" he said calmly once the young man had calmed down somewhat. James refused to look at him, opting to gaze with dark hatred at Severus. Severus glared coldly back, saying nothing.

"James, I know you're upset. I know losing Sirius will have hurt you far worse than anyone else in the Order, but you can't go pointing the blame at people. You know it isn't Severus' fault. You know Sirius didn't die because of him."

He knew he had said the wrong thing before the words had even fully left his lips. He knew James was going to take them the wrong way. For all his intuition, James could often read meanings of words in completely the wrong way, often even purposefully to be obstinate.

"Well," James sighed, his voice wavering. "Thank you for reminding me that it's my fault my best friend is dead, Albus. I know perfectly well it was me and my family he died to protect."

Albus cast his eyes to the ground in regret, "You know that wasn't the meaning of my words, James."

James shrugged, his lack of caring as to whether or not Albus meant to hurt him evident in his expression. As the silence stretched, James felt the intense blue of Dumbledore's gaze boring into him, but still he didn't look up.

"Shall we retire to my office for the meeting? The others shall be arriving any time now," Dumbledore sighed after a while, knowing that there was nothing to be done that could remedy the situation, save changing the subject at hand altogether.

James stalked out of the room, nodding slightly to Dumbledore and pointedly not glancing at Snape. Albus sighed as he looked at the Potions Master, who looked surprisingly unperturbed by the encounter.

"I apologise, Severus. I know you did all you could, and James doesn't blame you, no matter how much he thinks he does. Guilt makes us do things that we later regret." He spoke as if Severus would be affected by his words, perhaps he hoped that the man would take them to heart. Severus merely nodded in a similar fashion to his old rival.

Albus sighed heavily as he turned and made his way back up to his office, not turning to see if Severus followed or not. Severus stood in his office, panic flashing across his face. As he fought for control of his emotions, Severus breathed heavily, trying desperately not to think of a young woman with dark red hair and a beautiful smile, and what she would think of all the secrets he was hiding from her.

OIOIO

Lily hoisted Harry up onto her hip and took a deep breath, as if she was planning to plunge into icy water; a part of her thought maybe that would be easier than any Order meeting she was supposed to attend. She rubbed her nose against her son's gently, causing Harry to giggle affectionately. Smiling at Harry, Lily tucked the child's head into her neck and grabbed onto the coffee cup that was starting to glow brightly.

By the time the world seemed to come into focus once more, Harry was mumbling in protest at all the confusion and she kissed his head softly before looking around the office of her old Headmaster. Everyone was waiting, and normally she would have blushed due to the embarrassment of being the last to arrive, but at that moment she spied a young man sat in the corner, staring at Severus Snape with a deadened expression.

Her eyes narrowed and sat down by his side without a word, not looking at him when he turned to face her. She knew she would only feel guilty if she looked into his eyes, so she kept her gaze on Remus, who was sat on a hard wooden chair at the other side of the room. Remus smiled gently at her, his eyes still a little guarded as they had been for the past few days.

"Well then," Dumbledore said in his slow, kindly voice. "Now that we're all here, it's time to discuss what is to be done next."

The atmosphere seemed to intensify and thicken as the man spoke, and Lily gripped her son to her chest a little tighter, where he nestled contentedly, quite happy to fall to sleep to the steady beating of her heart. She could see James' slumped figure out of the corner of her eye, but didn't turn, keeping her eyes directly on Albus instead.

"I know we've taken a serious blow, one that Voldemort hopes to knock us down with, but we cannot let it. As hard as it may seem, falling now would be a greater loss than ever; we must keep fighting. My suggestion would be to move Harry to another location altogether, start from scratch. That way we're eliminating all possible weaknesses."

"You believe he betrayed us before he died?" Alastor Moody asked gruffly, his expression one of uncharacteristic grief. Lily felt James' body tense by her side, and she placed a soothing hand on his.

"I believe we need to take every precaution necessary to ensure the safety of the Potter family," Albus replied calmly.

"We don't even know if he's dead," Kingsley Shacklebolt, a young Auror who was training under Alastor, said in a quiet voice.

"We saw him fall, it was Avada Kedavra," Ingrid Knowles, a middle aged woman with a grim expression and long black hair, said darkly.

"But there's no body!" Kingsley insisted, failing to notice the way several people flinched at the bluntness of his words. "We could be mistaken, he could be out there!"

"All the more reason to heighten our security," Albus said firmly, ending the series of mutters that was starting to erupt at the young man's words.

"So you do think there's a chance he'd betray us?" Dainis Carnwell asked, his voice deep with concern.

Lily winced as James removed his hand from beneath hers, instead gripping her fingers tightly, his lips pressed together to refrain from speaking.

"I think that Voldemort and his followers know no limits when it comes to extracting information from someone," was all Albus could say.

The office fell silent, each Order member contemplating their comrade's fate, some with concern, and others with expressions of pure devastation. Lily kept her face neutral, her lips pressed against her son's forehead and her fingers crushed in her husband's hand. Looking up, she caught Severus' eye for a brief moment, and it looked as if he was trying to communicate with her, but she returned her gaze to the floor quickly. She couldn't think about Severus right now, not with everything else going on.

"Where were you thinking, Albus?" Remus asked, simply to break the emptiness of the room that seemed to deafen its occupants.

"I think it would be better if you leave Godric's Hollow altogether," Albus said firmly, his eyes turning to the young couple on his right hand side. "I was thinking somewhere remote, out of the way."

Lily bit her tongue as she felt her blood circulation cease to reach the tips of her fingers. Of course Albus wouldn't move them somewhere crowded; he wouldn't move them to a city, not after how easily their Secret Keeper had been found.

"Sounds good."

Lily was impressed James had managed to form coherent words, albeit in a toneless voice.

"You'll need a Secret Keeper," Albus pointed out lightly, hoping that being among a crowd of people would prevent James from shouting anything too obscene at him for approaching the subject. To his surprise, the dark haired man simply nodded in agreement.

"I would suggest either myself or Alastor," Albus continued in the same delicate tone.

James shrugged; Lily looked up at her old Headmaster with grateful eyes, and then turned to the grim Auror sat at the opposite side of the room. Alastor nodded firmly, and the redhead allowed the briefest of smiles to grace her expression, gratitude filling her alongside relief.

"We can discuss that in private," Albus said pointedly, and Lily nodded. "Now I think we should move on to the spies, Severus, Ingrid, what information have you managed to gather since our last meeting?"

Lily zoned out a little, her eyes on her son, who had fallen back to sleep. James said nothing, his gaze locked with Remus as they seemed to telepathically console one another from across the room.

It was only then that Lily noticed Peter wasn't to be seen.

OIOIO

The woman's excitement was infectious, her hysterical laughter carrying throughout the house as she danced up and down the stairs, in and out of every room, rejoicing at the top of her lungs with songs of victory. Following her was a young man, his light hair wavy and damp with sweat, his milky skin flushed with excitement. He had never seen her so glorious before, her inky eyes shining and her smile positively radiant.

"What are we celebrating?" he asked, and she stopped in her tracks, turning around to reveal eyes wide with shock and expression horrified.

"You don't know?" she whispered under her breath.

"No, I've only just returned," he pointed uselessly at the front door from where they stood half way up the stairs.

"We've got him," Bellatrix Lestrange murmured, her voice low and passionate, full of the same adoration she always spoke with when explaining some great triumph of her master's.

"Who?" the young man asked, his intrigue captured instantly.

"My…little…baby…cousin!" she cackled wickedly, shrieking her joy up at the ceiling and grabbing the young man's hands as she led him in a prancing dance up the stairs and across the landing.

"Bellatrix!" the pair stopped immediately, and Bellatrix glanced at her brother-in-law, who though evidently unimpressed by the woman's wild display of emotions, looked equally pleased. "The Dark Lord requests your presence."

Bellatrix sighed deeply, her expression peaceful with content.

"Where shall I find him?" she asked breathlessly.

"In the dungeons, of course," Lucius Malfoy replied with a smirk, and walked back down the staircase without another word.

"Enjoy yourself, Auntie Bella," Narcissa Malfoy said from where she stood in the doorway of her bedroom, her son in her arms.

"Oh I will, my favourite nephew," Bellatrix replied, running a finger over young Draco's cheek lovingly. "I'll have lots of fun, you handsome young man. And if I see him, I'll tell our dear cousin Sirius you send your love." Narcissa smiled as her son began squealing with laughter, waving his arms at his Aunt, who proceeded to skip away delightedly.

"Has the Dark Lord given you any further instructions?" Narcissa asked the young man, whose name was Barty Crouch Jr, but rarely answered to it out of shame, preferring even disparaging words such as kid;he shook his head. "You must be hungry. There are house elves in the kitchen; go and tell them to make you something."

Barty Crouch nodded, thanking the hostess sincerely and jogging back down the stairs. He hoped once Bella had had her fun, his master would allow him the honour of meeting the new prisoner. He had met the infamous Sirius Black in battle once before, and looked forward to meeting him again…