A/N: As it's never mentioned in the books, I took it upon myself to assign Moody's patronus. Hopefully everyone approves of the choice ;) I also made up a spell for the sake of the chapter. I hope nobody minds.

Also, sorry about the long wait. The rescue mission was harder to write than I expected, and work and life kept getting in the way. I'm still not particularly pleased with the rescue mission, as I feel like it's poorly written. But I went over it multiple times, and I can't seem to improve upon it in any substantial way. I could just suck at writing that type of stuff. Let me know what you think!

-*-Lily-*-

Lily stared at herself in the mirror, examining her blue eyes. Oddly enough, those were throwing her off more than her dirty blonde hair that was cut in a bob or her taller stature. Maybe it was because James had always complimented her eye color, which he described as a "brilliant emerald". Not that he hadn't complimented on her hair, height, weight, nose shape, lip size, ear placement, or whatever other ridiculous, random thing he could think of. But his favorite thing to compliment had always been her eyes. And staring at the very different blue eyes staring back at her made her just feel more separated from him.

She had to give herself a pat on her back, though. While she hadn't ever had her husband's flair at transfiguration, she did always consider himself competent in the subject (an O in both her OWL and NEWT in the subject would tend to give someone that confidence). But she still surprised herself with how effective the transfiguration was. Her first option would have been Polyjuice Potion (potions was always her go to), but a lack of supplies and time left that option as a distant second to transfiguring her appearance. She knew that the transfiguration wouldn't fool Voldemort, as a simple Revelio would ruin it. But, her goal was to blend in and not draw attention to herself. If Voldemort was present, yes, Revelio would be all that would be needed to ruin her disguise. But if he was looking for a "redheaded witch with a year old baby" (or simply Lily Potter, for the Death Eaters that knew her from school), then she would not cause anyone to bat an eye. She had even managed to whip up a solid aging potion (she had actually apparated to her friend Mary's recently abandoned home and stole some of her potions ingredients from her stores; she didn't feel guilty, as Mary would understand, and the place had been abandoned) to make Harry appear a year older. Not that she had given it to him yet. She couldn't bear to do so. Not until it was necessary, which would be when (or if) she ever had to take him out in public.

She had apparated into a random Muggle town in southern Wales. She managed to find an abandoned and derelict house there, and with a couple of Reparos and some of Mrs Potter's best housekeeping spells, it now functioned quite normally. Of course, it still looked abandoned and derelict to any passersby. She made sure of that. It also had every protective charm she knew on it. She was managing quite well, but she had reached a snag in her plans. Quite frankly, she needed money. She had to feed herself and Harry somehow. She had luckily had the presence of mind to have stuffed her money bag, which consisted of a couple of galleons, in her pocket before escaping their cottage that fateful night, so she could still receive the Prophet for quite some time. But she could not go anywhere to convert from Wizarding money to Muggle money without leaving a "paper trail", or whatever they called it in the Wizarding World. Parchment trail? It didn't matter. The point was, she could be tracked if she did that. So, her only option to make money would be to work a Muggle job. Which would be all well and good, if she could think of a way to take care of Harry while she would've been at work. A Muggle babysitter obviously wouldn't work, as Harry's random spurts of uncontrolled magic would certainly freak any babysitter out. She looked at her adorable baby, sleeping away in his section of the bed (she had boxed him in with pillows to make sure he couldn't roll off the bed) without a care in the world. She sighed. She would figure something out. She had to.

-*-James-*-

They had all grabbed school brooms (James did so with great distaste), gotten to just outside the Hogwarts gates, and spun into oblivion, arriving an instant later at a spot just northeast of Bristol. Emmeline Vance double checked to make sure no Muggles had seen them apparate, and that they were still in the clear, and nodded. They all twirled their wands around themselves, and soon, James couldn't see any of them. He looked down at himself, seeing just the slightest shimmer of the air as he moved his hand around. He still much preferred his cloak to this form of invisibility, but you had to work with what you had available.

"Everyone mount," Moody growled.

James smirked in spite of himself. He couldn't see Sirius, but he had a pretty good idea that Sirius's lips were curved into a smirk as well. Nevertheless, James mounted his broom.

"Let's go!" Moody commanded, and James kicked off, hearing four other boots hit the ground as well.

It was rather odd, not being able to see himself, the broom he was holding, or any of the others. And yet, they were all still supposed to stay in a tight group of five. It's a good thing they all grabbed the same type of broom. Otherwise, in a distance of five kilometers, there's no telling how much distance would be between them. He kept mulling over the oddness of it all until Moody finally decided to release them from the awkward situation.

"Okay, we're well outside of any possibility of any Muggle sightings now," he said, and a second later, he shimmered back into existence, in the process of stowing his wand back inside his cloak.

James tapped his own head to release the Disillusionment Charm. He was glad to see that all five of them had managed to remain in a group. It wasn't much longer before they spotted the building Dumbledore had described. Without any need for anyone to point it out, they all descended together. The landed about a couple hundred meters away from the building.

"Rescue mission only," Moody growled at James, Sirius, and Remus.

James held up his hands in surrender, and Sirius and Remus nodded. They then all proceeded towards the building silently. As they got closer, James saw what Dumbledore had said about its height. Only about two or three meters were above ground, even including the domed roof. And yet, James still noticed a window once they arrived. He got everyone's attention and pointed it out. They all made sure to get out of sight from the window, and James peeked into it. He was looking down into a rather dark room, with two chairs situated in the middle, facing each other. James's heart leapt into his throat when he realized it was probably an "interrogation" (most likely, more adequately described as torture) room. But both chairs were empty. In fact, the room as a whole was empty. He actually was rather curious as to why a window was in an interrogation room to begin with. He figured the building probably was co-opted as a safe house by the Death Eaters, not created to be one.

Regardless, this was their way in. He kicked at the window furiously a couple of times, but to no avail. Either the glass was extremely thick, or was protected by some kind of charm. Emmeline rolled her eyes, coming up to the window and made a show of taking out her wand, giving James a look that quite clearly said 'You're a wizard, you bloody idiot,'. James just grinned sheepishly as she carefully placed a noise dampening charm on the window, and then blew it up with a Reductor Curse. They then all dropped themselves into the room, examining the rather small space. There were stains all around the walls and on the floor, and James didn't think it was much of a stretch to assume it was blood. He shivered involuntarily, imagining what Sturgis had gone through.

Sirius was the first to make his way to the sole door in the room, slowly opening it and looking both ways into the corridor beyond.

"No one is out there," he whispered to the group.

They all filed out into the corridor.

"We'll have to split up. Emmeline and myself will go this way," he said quietly, jerking his thumb behind him, "and you three go that way," he said, pointing forward. "If you don't find anything, rendezvous back here in an hour. If you do find Sturgis, get him and rendezvous back here in an hour. If you run into Death Eaters, take em down and rendezvous back here in an hour. If we don't return, come find us. We'll do the same if you don't return. Any questions?"

Everyone shook their heads, and then started in their specified direction. James found it disconcerting that everything was so silent. If the building was inhabited, there should at least be some noise from somewhere. They passed multiple doors as they continued down the corridor. At each one, one of them would first press an ear against the door to see if they could hear anything, and then slowly open the door. Each one turned out to be empty. They were all interrogation rooms like the one they had originally dropped into, all with windows just like the other one.

They eventually reached a stairwell that, predictably, only went down. They continued down it for what seemed like a very long time, but was probably only a minute or two realistically. They emerged in another corridor, and finally, they started hearing noises. Unfortunately, it sounded like screams. They all shared a significant look, and sprinted down the corridor towards the screams. They eventually reached an archway covered by a curtain. James peaked around the curtain seeing a large room with a high, vaulted ceiling. In the room was a group of about ten death eaters, all laughing as they tortured Sturgis and another woman that James didn't recognize. James gripped his wand tightly, his fingernails cutting in his palms as he tried to calm himself down. However, he did register one happy thought in his mind. Sturgis was still alive. He retracted from the curtain and looked at the other two.

"There's ten of them in there. I don't necessarily like our odds, three against ten," he said quietly.

"Five against ten," Emmeline's voice rang quietly from the other side of the corridor. Her and Moody were walking towards them. Apparently, the other side of the corridor led to another stairwell that also simply led here. "And we've faced worse odds before."

"Can't argue with that," Sirius said with a chuckle.

"Plus, we've got the advantage of surprise," Lupin said.

"Well, no sense in any further delay. Prongs, I believe you have a spell perfect for this situation?" Sirius prompted.

"I do indeed. Everyone, shield your eyes." They did so. James slipped his wand around the curtain, aiming in the general direction of the Death Eaters. "Celemaco!"

A blinding flash occurred, disorienting the Death Eaters. The five of them took the opening and stormed into the room. They sent stunners at the Death Eaters, and only three of them managed to regain their composure in time to dodge or block. But the Order members were faster and now outnumbered them, and with some well placed wand work from Moody and Sirius, the other three were down in just a few more moments. Emmeline was massaging her shoulder where a stinging jinx had hit her, but other than that, they were no worse for the wear.

James took in the scene in front of him. All ten Death Eaters stunned, Sturgis barely conscious, as was the other victim. She was a woman with disheveled brown, shoulder length hair, and half open brown eyes. Once James got a better look at her face, he gasped.

"Marlene?!"

"What?" Sirius exclaimed, whipping around. "Merlin! We thought you had been killed!"

Sirius was clearly expecting an answer, but Marlene was in no state to give one. Neither was Sturgis. Neither even seemed to register that the Order members were there, or that the Death Eaters had been defeated. Emmeline kneeled next to each of them, examining them quickly. She had some experience as a healer.

"They're completely out of it. Merlin, I hope they haven't sustained any permanent brain damage," she muttered quietly as she looked them over.

"What should we do about the scumbags?" Sirius asked. Everyone looked to Moody, who was the most senior member there, and had clearly taken the de facto leadership of the mission thus far.

He looked around the room. There were multiple doors leading deeper into the building.

"We can't leave them here to be revived later and continue wreaking havoc. We'll wrap them up and bring them to Albus. He'll decide what to do in the end."

He flicked his wand and a silvery ferret leapt from his wand and darted out of the building to the north. He then directed his wand toward the Death Eaters, and with a bang, cords sprang from the end of his wand and tied up all the Death Eaters together.

They waited in silence for a long while, and James wasn't sure exactly what they were supposed to be waiting for. Just before he was about to ask, though, a silvery phoenix appeared through the wall.

"My office," Dumbledore's voice spoke.

Still bewildered, James looked at Moody, but he appeared to understand the cryptic message.

"Sirius, your cloak," he growled.

Sirius removed it and tossed it to Moody. He caught it and tapped it with his wand. It glew blue for a second, and then the glow faded. "Okay, everyone, grab the cloak," he ordered.

He checked the Death Eaters, making sure they were all tied tightly enough to all be making contact with each other, then grabbed one of their arms. Emmeline (making contact with both Sturgis and Marlene), James, Sirius, and Remus all grabbed the cloak, and a moment later, James felt the pull behind his navel, and started spinning rapidly. After a couple of moments, James's feet slammed onto the ground in Dumbledore's office, and he barely managed to keep his balance. Dumbledore had cleared a space in the middle of the office for the five of them and the large stack of Death Eaters. Dumbledore flicked his wand and the Death Eaters disappeared. James wondered disconcertedly where Dumbledore had vanished them to. But he had no time to consider for long, as Dumbledore immediately went into action.

"James, Sirius, Remus, get Sturgis and Marlene down to the Hospital Wing. Emmeline, Alastor, I need a mission report."

James conjured two stretchers and hovered Sturgis and Marlene onto them and walked out of Dumbledore's office as Moody started to elaborate on the mission.

"I can't believe she's alive," Lupin said as soon as they were in the corridor.

"I just assumed they were all dead. Her two brothers' bodies were there. I mean, her and her cousin's body were both missing, but we all just figured the worst," Sirius mused.

"Do you think this means that Joshua could be alive too, then?" James asked, referring to her cousin.

"Unfortunately, I doubt it. I don't see why they would've kept him at a different location if they did capture him as well. And they most likely captured her instead of killing her to try to torture information on the Order out of her. They only need one survivor for that," Lupin replied darkly. A disgusted tone filled his voice.

"Do you think it's really possible that they could have permanent brain damage?" Sirius asked timidly, referring to what Emmeline had mentioned.

"I don't know. Typically the effects of the Cruciatus aren't long term, but with constant exposure to it for as long as they've been detained...who knows?" Lupin replied again.

"Gosh, even finding someone alive that we thought dead is still shrouded in this dark cloud. Can we not get any good news these days?" James said disgustedly as they arrived at the Hospital Wing and pushed the doors open. The question went unanswered.

An hour later, Madam Pomfrey was still tending over Sturgis and Marlene and had not told them anything. At some point, Dumbledore, Moody, and Emmeline joined them in the Hospital Wing. Emmeline asked if there were any updates on their condition, Lupin told them no, and no other talking had happened yet. James stared out the window at the horizon. The sun was just starting to rise, and James realized it had been almost a full 24 hours since he had slept. And yet, exhausted and weary as he felt, he couldn't fall asleep until he found out if Sturgis and Marlene would get better. He hoped to everything he could that they would. There had been a ray of hope when he had seen Marlene. A close friend and powerful witch that they had all assumed was dead turned out to be alive. It was the best news that they could've possibly hoped for. If it turned out she was permanently going to be in this catatonic state, James would probably lose it. His wife and son were goodness knows where, he wouldn't get to see them for goodness knows how long, Sturgis was captured, and then hope in the form of Sturgis being okay and Marlene miraculously being alive dangled in his face, and then instantly jerked away. It was maddening. They had to be okay. They absolutely had to.

He looked over to Sirius, who was staring at Marlene resolutely. Marlene was very special to Sirius. When they were at Hogwarts, Sirius had pursued Marlene relentlessly. He had flirted with her every chance he got, even in the presence of (and to the extreme displeasure of) whatever girl he happened to be with at the time. Because none of them mattered to him, not really. He didn't ever have a serious relationship with any girl, because he only really cared about one girl. They never actually ended up together, but Sirius went from pursuing her and flirting with her constantly to seeing her as a true close friend near the end of their time at Hogwarts. If you asked James honestly, he thought Sirius still carried a torch for her, but, at least for the present, he was perfectly happy that they were such good friends. Sirius had been devastated when the McKinnons had been attacked. He had actually spent the night at the Potters' that night, and it seemed only a long play session with Harry was able to finally get him to smile again. If this disgusting game of dangling the hope of her being alive in front of James's face before cruelly snatching it away was eating him alive, he had no idea what Sirius must be feeling.

James looked around the room at his five companions, keeping silent vigil over Sturgis and Marlene as Madam Pomfrey bustled around them, muttering to herself, marking on a clipboard, and waving her wand. It was maddening to watch without knowing what was going on, whether the outlook was positive or negative. James felt like he needed to be doing something. He usually paced during times like this, but he knew it would just annoy the others and Madam Pomfrey, so he managed to contain himself. Just when he thought he was going to literally slip into madness, Madam Pomfrey set her clipboard and wand down, wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, and addressed Dumbledore.

"They will both make a full recovery," she said, and even the solemn and still somewhat grim tone of her voice didn't stop them all from cheering rather loudly. James couldn't stop the grin from taking over his face. This was the first real good news since Voldemort had shown up at their house, and he was relieved to know happiness was still a looked over at Sirius, who looked utterly relieved and exhausted, but there was a smile on his face. "But it will take a while. To avoid questions from the students, I'm going to have them sent to St. Mungo's. They will probably need to stay there for at least a couple of weeks, and there might be some amnesia that they'll have to deal with for the first week, but with the proper diet and potions, they should be back to full health in a month or two. I will let you all know what rooms they will be in at St. Mungo's once I get them transferred," she finished with a nod and headed to her office.

"Merlin! It feels great to finally hear some good news," Lupin said, mirroring James's thoughts.

"Is it alright if I stay here at the castle tonight, Professor?" James asked Dumbledore. He obviously didn't have a home to return to, and he wasn't sure he had the energy to travel anyway. Not when he'd have to walk all the way to Hogsmeade to be able to apparate.

"Of course. I trust you know of some place that's suitable for sleep other than the dorms?" Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye.

"I trust we may have a couple of ideas," Sirius said, his face breaking into a grin. It was a foregone conclusion that he and Lupin would be staying at the castle as well. James was grateful for that. He needn't even ask them; they knew he needed support and they were always willing to give it.

"I assumed as much," Dumbledore replied with a chuckle.

James got stood up with a yawn, and the three Marauders said good night (even though it was morning) to Dumbledore, Emmeline, and Moody, and walked out of the Hospital Wing. Then Lupin turned to them.

"The Room of Requirement?" he asked.

"Of course! Where else?" Sirius said with a grin, and they headed up the familiar staircases to the seventh floor.