A/N: Hi everyone. For those who are wondering what happened to the other seven chapters, don't worry, am just rewriting them so they fit in with where the story is headed now. I've plotted and outlined the remainder of the story so there were some things I had to fix. Don't worry, the chapters will be out in a quick succession once I've finished editing them. For now, enjoy and let me know what you think. Much love and thanks for the support.
-Lioness Amythest
Disclaimer: JK Rowling's.
Information Gathering
Chapter Two
Out of Boundaries
Lily had decided to go head home after the hearty pub food with Remus and Sirius. Her mind was brimming and humming with thoughts of James, intrigued by the mystery of how he had come to be a Death Eater. Why was he working for the man who had killed his parents? And then to immerse himself so deeply into the Dark Arts? Something didn't add up.
She walked quietly along the dimly lit road in the direction of her flat in London, humming softly to herself. Remus and Sirius had been proper gentlemen's and dropped her off at the corner of her street but not without trying to first convince her to come to Sirius's flat for a round of fire whiskey.
The moon shone mysteriously like an opaque crystal orb against the dark navy sky speckled with twinkling shards.
"It's so beautiful out tonight." She said softly, walking up to her flat and unlocking the door with her key.
Her foot collided with something hard. She looked down at the potted plant next to the entrance of her door and cringed guiltily at the parched limp plant. Her mum had always been the one in the family to have the green thumb. Lily had tried, hoping she possessed this gift, but sadly didn't. She often forgot about watering them and this plant was evidence of that.
"It was temperamental anyways. I'd water it and the next day it would be dry again. Too needy." Lily snorted and closed the door behind her.
Her flat was a one bedroom apartment. She'd painted the hallway and living room a rich cocoa with complementary beige decor and an old fashioned turquoise couch was the central piece. She kicked off her shoes and headed down the hallway, pausing for a moment to look at her tired reflection in the lattice framed mirror.
Her kitchen walls were painted a soothing mint green and adorned with a pair of twisted cherry wood wall hangings that her best friend, Amerila, had created for her. There was a small circular table in the corner with a neat pile of the Daily Prophet's and a surviving spiky green cactus.
She tapped her one-cup coffee maker with her wand. It coughed and sneezed then started to drip coffee into a round olive green mug. The strong aroma of coffee filled the kitchen and Lily sighed happily, feeling perked up just from the scent.
She headed into her lavender and white themed bedroom and shrugged off her work clothes. After sliding into loose sweatpants and a sports bra she dragged her workbag over to her desk and pulled out her notepad, itching to get started on her case.
She hadn't felt this inspired in a long time. Her assignments at the Ministry had just consisted of written reports and stealth and disguise workshops. Of course all useful but this had really perked her interest. It was probably due to the personal nature of the project. For the sake of her friends, who both looked haunted when discussing it earlier that evening, she wanted to find out what happened.
Flipping on her rustic table lamp she pulled out her wand and yelled, "Accio Coffee!" The cup came floating into her bedroom and she grabbed it midair before it slopped all over the place.
Lily looked at the name she'd written on the otherwise blank page in her notebook and wondered how significant this case would be. Would she find out what happened? Was he really a Death Eater by his own accord or was there something more? Shrugging her shoulders she began to summarize in point form what Remus and Sirius had told her that evening about James.
Five minutes later she'd summed up this,
Name: James Potter
Age: 22 – 23
Occupation: Death Eater, before this was a student at Hogwarts
Traumatic life event:: Parents were murdered by YKW, James witnessed it.
-Shortly after disappeared in Nov. of his fifth year at Hogwarts.
-Lost complete contact with best mates
First sighting: Three years later, seen at a muggle raid of YKW's.
-Conjured the dark mark.
Lily bit her lower lip and placed her pen down. Now she needed to do some digging to help her theorize how he went from Hogwarts to Voldemort.
"Amerila!" Lily breathed, an idea igniting in her mind.
Her best friend, Amerila Owens, was a journalist for the Daily Prophet and might know some facts about James Potter. If she didn't she could help Lily get her hands on some old editions with stories on him. Lily checked her watch to read ten pm.
"Not bad." She said with a grin. Lily locked her front door and then apparated to Amerila's house.
C
Lily managed to apparate in Amerila's kitchen and found her curly brownish blonde haired friend propped up on her counter eating some dessert that looked delectable. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun with a bright pink headband and she had her work glasses on, black rimmed but decorated with pink roses.
"Hey. Bad day at work? You're binging." Lily commented, grinning at her friend when she walked over to see what Amerila was munching on. It was their favorite, chocolate caramel cheesecake.
Amerila stuck her tongue out at her. "For your information, this is a perfectly innocent and guilt free session of eating cheesecake. No breakups, no crotchety people at work or periods."
Her face brightened and she adjusted her glasses. "In fact, I'm celebrating! I interviewed the hottest bloke today. What a body! You know the match in a few weeks between Ireland and Bulgaria? Guess who got to interview the famous Irish chaser, Niall Stone? Me! Although they didn't tell me in advance. I was wearing minimal makeup and the drabbest outfit but what can you do?"
Lily laughed. "I'm sure you two had a perfectly charming time and exchanged numbers afterwards."
Amerila's eyes sparkled. "Better than that. We're meeting for drinks early next week."
"Are you kidding? You have all the luck with men." Lily said, cutting a slice of the cheesecake and leaning against the counter.
"If it goes well I'll introduce you to some of his mates. The Irish accent is to die for. And anyways, look whose talking. Ever since you've started work at the Minstry I know for a fact Gideon Prewett wishes he could be your cuddle buddy."
"Cuddle buddy?" Lily quipped. "He's fit and all but not my type."
Amerilla groaned. "Lily, what is your type? You haven't been with anyone since Hogwarts and that stint with Jeremy was more of a fling."
Lily winced, flashes of the final party at Hogwarts, her night of too much tequila and lowered inhibitions.
"I don't think I've met the right bloke." She said thoughtfully. "Anyways, I haven't come here to analyze my love life or lack of. I have my first case and you're going to help me!"
Her friend just stared at her blankly. Lily raised her eyebrows at the silence. Amerila took another bite of her cheesecake then opened her mouth to speak.
"I don't see how I, a journalist could help you, an Auror. Completely different professions." Amerila commented, waving her fork.
Lily smiled. "You're burnt tonight. I should have just waited till the morning."
"Go on then." Amerila said a cranky tone in her voice at being called burnt.
"Well, I have to dig up some information on a certain Death Eater."
"His name would be most helpful. And question, any reason for your lack of clothing?" Amerila asked with a wink. "Late night shag session?"
Lily ignored her last comment and proceeded. "James Potter."
Amerila's dark blue eyes sparked with interest when Lily said his name and she nodded.
"James Potter is You-Know-Who's top Death Eater." Amerila said, placing her empty dish on the counter beside her.
"Really? Interesting." Lily mused, her thoughts jumbling together at this new addition, but Amerila shook her head.
"Potter is one hell of a good Death Eater, and that's the bad thing. On a completely unrelated matter, he is one steamy bloke. He's like the ultimate bad boy."
Lily looked at her friend. "Oh yeah? Well what information can you give me on him other than that he's hot? I know you've only been working at the Prophet for a year but you must have heard little tidbits."
Amerila nodded with a small smile on her face. "Yes, I have heard things about him. Come on then, I'll show you a picture of him."
She nodded for Lily to follow her to her writing room. Amerila's flat was about the same size as Lily's. Instead of having a living room she converted it into an office for work.
There was a white desk inside the room that was littered with crumpled papers and pictures. Above the desk was a large bulletin board spread across the wall with a large calendar pinned to it. The room was painted a vivid electric blue and billowing white curtains sprawled from above the windows.
Amerila went to her desk and started shuffling through several of the different compartments and pushing past various documents.
"Aha." Amerila said triumphantly and she pulled out an old Daily Prophet that was dated three years ago. She handed it to Lily and pointed to the front picture.
To Lily's surprise Amerila was spot on. He was handsome, much too handsome. His build was tall and lean. He had dark black messy hair with a few lopsided curls that shaggily went past his ears. Her breath slowed when she looked into the moving picture's face. It wasn't his smooth pale skin or the brown stubble on his jaw that made him look so dangerous. It was his eyes. His eyes looked to be a shadowy brown or hazel but it was the raw emotions swirling in his eyes that made her catch her breath.
"Damn." Was Lily's only response and Amerila snorted.
"Here, let's go in my bedroom and you can have a turn at being the journalist. Ask away." Amerila said with a wink and Lily followed her friend to her bedroom.
She pulled out her purple notepad and black pen. "What are the theories about him, why did he become a Death Eater?"
"Well some idiots said that he was frightened by You-Know-Who into becoming a Death Eater after his parents' death. I don't believe that for a second. Others believe that You-Know-Who brainwashed him or blackmailed him into becoming a Death Eater. That has a little more plausibility. You-Know-Who knew James Potter was a bright student; he was at the top of his class at Hogwarts and was especially gifted in the DADA. No one really knows why You-Know-Who didn't kill James when he killed his parents." Amerila said.
"Good point. Now, any news of James lately?" Lily asked as she scribbled down points of what Amerila had said.
Amerila furrowed her eyebrows thinking. "Well, we haven't spotted James or You-Know-Who. Those are the only two we know in their band of Death Eaters. Course everyone has their suspicions of who is in the group, like that slime ball Lucius Malfoy and Rookwood. No one sees James except when he's in action during raids. Maybe he has a disguise when he needs to go out in public or maybe he just lives in a hole with all his other Death Eater buddies."
Lily nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, Lucius is definitely suspicious. He hates me, I can tell. I always make a point to wear Muggle clothing to work to piss off all the racist wizards and witches. But they're nothing compared to him. Lucius is a nasty piece of work."
The two of them talked a little longer about who else they thought were probable Death Eaters. By midnight Lily was ready to head home and Amerila had loaded her up with old Daily Prophets to look through.
"Thanks, sorry about randomly popping in and eating all your cheesecake." Lily said with a cheeky grin.
Amerila just rolled her eyes. "No problem. I'll send you an owl next week, the girls at work found this new club in London and they all want to check it out. Oh and we must go for coffee so I can fill you in on how my date with Niall goes!"
Lily hugged her friend and then apparated back to her flat. Exhaustion was setting in fast so she dropped her work on her kitchen table and dragged her tired body to her bedroom.
Before she fell asleep a picture had formed in her mind. His face loomed in the darkness and she could see his eyes, his shadowy hazel eyes, and they were watching her.
C
It was Monday morning and Lily was ready to hand in the information to Mad Eye about her case.
"Moody! I've found a ton of information." Lily said enthusiastically, shifting her weight from one side to another on the heels of her suede baby blue ankle boots.
Moody took one look at her and then barked out, "Evans, quit moving around! Sit still for a moment would you? Come to my office in ten minutes. I need to go take care of something first."
Lily pretend saluted him and then walked upstairs back to her office humming softly. She nearly bumped into Sirius outside of her office. He was reading a letter of some kind with his eyes furrowed.
"Hey Sirius, I have a meeting with Moody in ten minutes." She said happily.
Sirius turned around and his eyes brightened. "Read this. I just got this memo in my office a few minutes ago. We're beginning a serious case. Go and see if you have one in your office."
Lily unlocked her office door and there floating midair was a green envelope. She took it and opened it quickly. Her heart leaped when she saw Moody's name on the top of the letter addressing her.
She read it quickly and summed it up. They were going to start investigating the Death Eaters and their whereabouts. They were also going to try and find out what their upcoming plans were. There had been so many surprise accidents lately dealing with You-Know-Who that the Minister of Magic had decided it was time that the Aurors go into some undercover work.
She was paired with Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Gideon Prewett.
"Wow!" Lily exclaimed, her eyes wide with excitement.
Remus slipped into the office and said, "Brilliant eh?"
"And what a team." Sirius said, clapping his friend on the back.
Lily laughed. "What a dear Moody he is, he put us all together. He is a dear Sirius. You can't deny it."
Sirius just rolled his eyes. "Dear is not a word I would use for Mad Eye."
"Evans. Come to my office" Moody barked from down the hall.
Lily waved to the two and followed Moody up to his office with her purple notepad tucked under arm. She was ready to show him all the information and show him the report she had about the devastatingly handsome James Potter.
Moody waved her to sit down in the chair in front of his desk.
"Moody, these chairs are so rigid and uncomfortable." Lily said as she gingerly sat down.
"Whoever I'm talking to will hear everything I say Evans. Constant vigilance!" He barked out but Lily was so used to this phrase that she didn't even jump. When you had worked with Moody for a year you got used to certain disconcerting things about him. She even found was less nauseated by his whirling eye.
"Right. Well here's the report." She said nervously, handing him the notebook.
"It's purple, Evans." Moody said gruffly, eyeing the outside of the notebook.
Lily narrowed her emerald eyes at him. "Come on; don't judge a book by its cover Moody. You alone should know that."
"Yeah, yeah."
Moody's eyebrows furrowed as he began flipping through the pages of information. She rubbed her cold hands together and looked around the room while he read to distract herself from the many different expressions on his face. There were many Dark Arts detectors in his office that created an eerie feel to the room. Pictures of You-Know-Who were pinned on a small bulletin board and Lily noticed at the edge there was a small one of James.
"You've done good work Evans. I've managed to get a hold of some information of where the Death Eaters meet. I haven't told anyone but you, Sirius, Remus and Gideon. That will be your responsibility to go and try to find out if what I have is accurate." Moody said gruffly as he finished reading the report and handed it back to Lily.
"Thank you." Lily said and she left his office feeling elated. She felt like jumping in the air like a schoolgirl but was fairly certain Moody would fire her on the spot if he ever caught her doing that.
She headed down to Remus's and Sirius's offices to share the good news when she caught sight of Gideon walking towards her with a grin on his handsome face.
"You've heard the good news I presume?" Gideon inquired and Lily nodded her head. Sirius and Remus popped up from behind Lily and shook hands with Gideon.
"Should be an interesting time with Black and Lupin." Gideon said good-naturedly and Lily laughed.
A/N: So there it is. I encourage you ALL to review, never know, you might see chapter three crop up soon and you all know whose going to be appearing in that one ;)
REVIEW! Please leave comments, criticisms and suggestions. Much love.
