CHAPTER 4
Disclaimer: Surprise surprise, I don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: Thanks to all of the reviewers! You guys mean a lot to me! I'm sorry for the long break! Please read and review!
In seconds, James and Sirius had arrived in the back alley behind the Leaky Cauldron, both of them having passed their apparation tests. James tapped the right brick and then they were in Diagon Alley.
"We still have ten minutes before we have to meet Moony, you want to get some ice cream first?" asked Sirius. Without waiting for a response he started to walk over to the nearest food-selling establishment, listing all the foods he would like to consume on the way.
James sighed and followed his friend. Twenty minutes later the two were having an ice cream eating contest when Sirius ceremoniously dropped his spoons in the bowl and announced, "Yet again, I have proven to be superior to you."
"In ice cream eating only," protested James. "But I have to hand it to you, only you could eat fifteen scoops of pond slime flavored ice cream with pus and algae flavored toppings in under fifteen minutes."
"But you didn't do to badly with your bat wing and fried fly chip sundae."
"Yeah, I'm going to have to get you back for choosing that for me."
"Why do we let each other pick the ice cream flavors and toppings again?"
"Because it's fun to see the look on our faces when we eat it."
Sirius smiled, "Oh yeah, I remember now. Do you remember that one time you picked troll boogey for me and I picked gnome brains for you?"
James grimaced, "Yeah I also remember when that came back up three hours later."
Just then James happened to glance at his watch. "Oh Merlin, we're in for it now! We were supposed to meet Moony fifteen minutes ago! He's going to lecture us for the rest of the day!"
Sirius didn't need to be told twice. They left the money for their sundaes on the table, shouted their good-byes to the owner, who had taken an interest in the boys when they had ordered such unusual sundaes years ago, and ran out of Igor's Unusual Ice Cream Parlor. They ran all the way to Gringott's, not even noticing that the street was deserted.
Outside of Gringott's they finally stopped. After catching his breath Sirius asked, "Do you see Remus anywhere? Is it possible that he is more late than we are?"
"I didn't think it was possible," replied James as he looked around. "But I also didn't think it was possible for Diagon Alley to be deserted and look at it."
"Where did everyone go?"
"I don't know, but I don't like it," said James as he pulled out his wand.
Sirius followed suit and the two young men looked left and right down the street. Shops were all closed and nothing was moving, save for an old newspaper that was blowing down the street. Then they heard a familiar female shriek.
"James, Sirius, thank goodness I found you," she huffed. "You-know-who was here!"
James and Sirius gasped. They had heard rumors about a dark wizard supposedly attacking muggle-borns and muggles, but they didn't believe it. The Daily Prophet and the Ministry had dismissed everything, saying that it was under control and not to be afraid. No one had thought that Diagon Alley would be attacked.
"Come on, we have to get out of here!" yelled Lily as she grabbed James and Sirius's hands.
"Wait," said James. "Where's Remus?"
"They got him; there was nothing I could do. I'm sorry," said Lily as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, impatient to leave.
"What do you mean, 'they got him'?" asked Sirius angrily.
James paled. In his daydream you-know-who had killed Remus. But that couldn't happen in real life, or could it?
Lily flipped her hair again nervously, "I'm not sure what happened. One minute Remus and I were standing right here and then the next there were these people in black cloaks everywhere swarming the place. Death Eaters is what they are called I think. Remus and I got separated. I saw him go down and get carried away and then I ran."
"So you don't know where he was taken?" asked James.
"I have a feeling I know where he is," said Sirius blandly.
"You do?" asked James and Lily at the same time.
"Yeah, my parents' house."
Lily was skeptical, "How could you know that already? I… never mind"
Sirius gave her a confused look but just explained his reasoning, "Because I left earlier this summer because I heard my family all talking about this dark lord guy and saying that they were supporting him and stuff. I didn't agree and my parents decided that that was the last straw. I believe their exact words were, 'Join us or be forever marked as a traitor and die.'"
"So why your mansion? Aren't there six other wealthy pureblood families who would be willing to donate their million galleon homes to the cause of killing mudbl- ahh muggle-borns?" asked Lily.
"That's true," said Sirius thoughtfully. "But I believe that they would take my best friend to the place I hated most because they know that I would come and rescue him no matter where he was."
"Very Slytherin-like," commented James as he starred at Lily intently.
"And besides, it would be easiest for me to break into my own manor, I've broken out enough, so if Remus isn't there we can just try another mansion," said Sirius.
"That sounds like a well-thought out plan! Let's go! We can all apparate!" said Lily cheerfully, as she once again flipped her hair.
Sirius and James nodded their heads and within seconds they arrived outside of 12 Grimmauld Place. Before Sirius could do so much as walk up to the front door, James grabbed his arm and pulled him behind the trashcans of a neighboring house.
"Padfoot, that was not Lily Evans we were just talking to," hissed James.
"Yeah it was Prongs," said Sirius lightly. "Who else do you know that has that color hair."
"But Lily doesn't flip her hair and I think she would have been a tad more upset over the disappearance of her boyfriend."
Sirius didn't get to comment on the latest revelations of James because just then, fifteen figures in dark cloaks arrived on the scene with "Lily." In a very harsh tone, one that James's had not even heard directed at him, "Lily" said, "Search the house. They have to be in there somewhere."
Ten of the cloaked people disappeared into the Black family mansion, leaving "Lily", a blonde haired man that threw back his hood and took off his mask revealing Lucius Malfoy, and four more hooded characters that were flanking either side of two prisoners.
"Lily," breathed James. "Remus."
"Narcissa, darling, I really don't like this new look you have, it's so common and filthy. It just screams, 'I'm a mudblood, come kill me!'" Lucius uttered the last few words venomously as he looked directly at one of his prisoners, the red-headed one. "But I suppose it could be worse, you could look like a wolf and be afraid of white balloons," this time the comment was directed to 'the half-breed' prisoner.
From their hiding place James and Sirius were clenching their fists and sending glares in the direction of Lucius and Lily, a.k.a. Narcissa Black, one of the many cousins that Sirius hated with a passion.
"What now?" mouthed James.
Sirius shrugged.
James held up six fingers and then two, meaning that it was a six on two fight.
Sirius nodded and furrowed his brow, deep in concentration. Then his face lit up. Very, very quietly, while Lucius was complimenting his darling Narcissa, Sirius whispered his plan to James. At first James frowned. It was a high risk plan and it was unlikely that they would be successful, but then he looked through the space in the trashcans and saw Lily and Remus. It was then that he knew he had to try; it was his duty as a friend and as a Gryffindor.
"Three… two… one," counted down James softly. Sirius smiled at him and then changed into his animagus form. James crawled over to the fence that separated the Black's house from their next door neighbor, so that he could have a better view of the dark lord's supporters.
As soon as James was safely out of the way, a big black dog bounded out from behind the trash cans and stood not five feet from the cloaked people and their prisoners.
"Where did that mangy mutt come from?" asked Lucius disdainfully.
No one replied, they all just looked shocked and scared. One of Remus' guards even "fainted" from fright.
"What is with you? It's just a dog."
"That's not just a dog Lucius," said Narcissa timidly. "That's the Grim!"
At the name of the dog, one of Lily's guards dropped down to the ground.
"Yes and…"
"It means that we're all going to die," said the real Lily.
"Shut up mudblood!" snapped Lucius with a trace of fear in his voice.
"Lucius! I don't want to die," shrieked Narcissa as she grabbed onto his arm.
"Don't worry Narcissa, it looks like the Grim favors your boyfriend over you," said Remus. It was true; the Grim was in fact starring directly at Lucius and was growling from deep in his throat.
Lucius and Narcissa's eyes were both trained solely on the big black dog in front of them. Lily looked at them and then decided that she could take on one guard, even without the use of her hands or her wand. She suddenly dropped to the ground and then kicked the legs of her guard out from under her. The guard went down and then Lily kicked him or her hard in the head. The person groaned but stayed down.
Just then, the Grim bounded and jumped up on Lucius, also knocking Narcissa, was who still clenching on to Lucius' arm, down. This allowed James to send a spell to Lily's guard to make sure he or she was really out and to take out Remus'. While Sirius was taking care of his beloved relatives, James ran out from where he was and assisted his friend and his friend's girlfriend with their bonds and taking their wands back from their captors' pockets.
"Alright let's go," said Sirius when he was satisfied that Lucius and Narcissa were not going to get up anytime soon. "We have to get out of here before…"
Then Narcissa screamed.
"Narcissa screams," finished Sirius.
"No, first we need to know if these two are really whom they look like," said James firmly as he glanced over at the Lily that was clutching Lucius' arm. "Remus, what is your favorite kind of chocolate?"
"Dark chocolate with milk chocolate filling," answered Remus.
James nodded and said, "Now ask Lily a question."
Remus thought for a moment and asked, "Where are you going on vacation with your family next week?"
"Greece."
Remus nodded and just as ten black cloaks came out of the front door, James hissed, "My house, now."
Remus grabbed Lily's hand since she didn't know where James's house was and then the three boys apparated.
They arrived in the front yard of the Potter mansion out of breath and scared out of their wits.
"That was a close one," said James.
Sirius just laughed. "What a thrill! That was awesome! I have half a mind to go back there just to see their faces again! Did you see their faces! The Grim indeed!"
Lily just looked confused, "Oh I get it, you're an animagus!"
The grin that had been on Sirius' face suddenly slipped off. "Oh no, definitely not. I'm terrible in school, remember? I can't even finish an essay on time; much less become an animagus before the age of sixteen. What is an animagus anyway?"
"That has got to be the worst lie I have ever heard," said Lily sternly. "So now I know where you four go every month. I must that that is awfully sweet of you guys to do that for Remus."
James just looked down at the ground and didn't say anything, but Sirius said, "Well yeah, we couldn't let Moony here keep all of the fun to himself!"
"Yeah, because becoming a werewolf is soo fun," said Remus sarcastically.
"Sarcasm really isn't your style Moony," said Sirius seriously.
"Come on guys, let's go get some food, I'm starved," said James quietly.
"Good idea Prongs, and then after some nourishment, you two can tell us what really happened back in Diagon Alley," said Sirius as he followed James up to the mansion. Remus and Lily made up the rear. Lily having never been to the Potter estate before; was strolling slowly, taking in all of the magnificent grounds and Remus was pointing out some of his favorite aspects of the grounds.
Once James and Sirius were significantly ahead of the other two, Sirius said, "James, mate, are you going to be ok?"
"No, Padfoot, I don't think I am," answered James without looking at Sirius.
"Maybe after some food, you'll feel better."
"I don't think food will cure a broken heart."
"Don't be such a drama queen. You'll get over this. You'll bounce back!"
"No Padfoot, you don't understand. I love her, I really do."
Sirius was shocked, that was the first time James had ever admitted actually loving Lily. "You don't mean that you love, love her, do you?"
"That is exactly what I mean," said James evenly.
"Why?" asked Sirius as he turned around hoping to get a glimpse of what about Lily Evans had bewitched two of his best friends.
"I don't know, I just do," said James tiredly.
"But why? Because she's the only one you can't have?"
"No, not exactly. She has an actual personality and isn't afraid to say what she thinks. She also has a fiery temper and is smart and pretty. She's just perfect, I guess."
Sirius scoffed at his friend's naiveté. "She is definitely not perfect mate. Just like everyone else, Lily has flaws and if you would just let yourself see them, dealing with this might be a little easier on you."
James pondered this bit of wisdom the whole ten more steps to his front door. A little house elf greeted them at the door.
"Hello Master James, and Master Sirius, is there anything I can get for you?"
"Yes please Maisy, we are expecting two more guests shortly, Master Remus and Mistress Lily. Please show them into the Northern kitchen when they arrive," said Sirius.
"Of course Master Sirius, it would be my honor!" squeaked Maisy.
Sirius smiled and he and James went off to the Northern kitchen.
In a few minutes Lily and Remus arrived in the front hall.
"Master Remus welcome back! And Mistress Lily how nice to finally meet you, Master James speaks of you highly indeed!" greet Maisy.
"Hello Maisy," said Remus kindly.
"Hello," said Lily, a little pink from when she blushed at Maisy's greeting.
"Come right this way! Master James and Master Sirius are in the Northern kitchen cooking up some monstrosity I'm sure!"
Lily smiled as the house elf guided them through the house to the very other side of the mansion, muttering about James and Sirius' antics.
"Remus," whispered Lily. "Why does Maisy wear real clothes? I thought house elves weren't allowed to."
"The Potters gave clothes to all of their house elves. All of the elves that are here, are here of their own accord. They can leave at any time they like, but I think that they all stay."
"Wow," said Lily softly.
"It wasn't always this way though," said Remus.
"Hmm?"
"No, this is actually a recent change. A few years ago James discovered that some people mistreat their house elves and he didn't want that to happen in his house, so he freed them all and let them be able to choose to stay or go whenever they liked."
"Really?"
"Yes, he said that they are people too and should not be forced to work under conditions where they were treated as less than people. They should have the right to leave if they wanted to."
"A person's a person no matter how small," recited Lily more to herself than Remus.
"Excuse me?"
"Just part of a story book my mother read to me as a little girl," said Lily.
Then they arrived at the kitchen and Maisy asked, "Master James do you require any help with anything?"
"No thank you Maisy, but you can have some of it when it's done if you like."
As James conversed with Maisy, Lily couldn't help but think something her father had said to her when she was a child, "Lily, don't judge men by how their treat their equals, but by how their treat those beneath them." And here James was, treating a house elf, someone far below him, as if she was a part of his family. Lily was rather shocked. James was actually a decent person.
When someone called, "Lily!" she finally snapped out of it.
"Sorry, she said, I was just zoning out. I have never seen such a big house."
"You should see the Malfoy's," said Sirius. "It's even bigger. I went in there with my parents once as a child for a party, and I got lost on my way to the bathroom. I didn't get out of there for a month."
"How did you survive?" asked Lily.
"Every so often I would stumble across a house elf or one of the kitchens and get some food and there were bathrooms every couple of hallways," explained Sirius.
"Alright then, what shall be the masterpiece of today's exciting venture into the magical world of James' walk-in refrigerator?" asked Remus.
"Well, I was thinking…" was all Lily heard of Sirius' idea before her eyes met James'. They were cold and unwelcoming. She saw no spark of playfulness or bravery, one of the two most distinguishing characteristics of James. Luckily James broke the gaze soon and Lily was able to catch the last couple of sentences of Sirius' idea so she wouldn't be caught unawares again.
"… and then we put brownies on top, with caramel sauce, more ice cream, potato chips, and chocolate sprinkles. Then on top of that we put some frosting, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and tofu. Finally, to finish it off, we put a ton of whipped cream, rainbow sprinkles and a billion of those cool cherry things. What do you guys think?"
"I think," began Remus with a stern face. "That there is not nearly enough chocolate in this equation!"
Sirius mentally reviewed his masterpiece and said, "You are so right Moony! How could I be so thick!"
"I believe it is just a gift that you possess," said Remus.
"Alright then, we put come chocolate cupcakes in between the layer of sugar and the layer of peanut butter."
"And I say that we add some bars of chocolate on top of the creamed corn and chocolate chips into the brownies."
"Ohh… and some hot fudge on top of the broccoli, next to the cheese sauce!"
"What do you think Lily?" asked Remus.
"I think that that is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard of… but I'll give it a taste anyway," she laughed.
"Good to have you aboard," said Sirius. "Now let's get cracking!"
Sirius and James walked over to the large stainless steel refrigerator that was built into the kitchen wall and opened it. Then they walked in and started pulling out all of the necessary ingredients.
"I can't believe that that refrigerator is stocked with all of these things!" gasped Lily as Sirius walked out of the refrigerator carrying hot fudge, tofu and a roasted chicken.
"It's magically enchanted to contain whatever the person who opens it wants or needs," explained Remus.
Lily just watched in astonishment as the two boys piled weird foods onto the counters. Soon every inch was covered, except for a large circle on the peninsula in front of where Remus and Lily were sitting on bar stools.
"What's the empty spot for?" asked Lily.
"The bowl of course," said Sirius.
"I'll get it," offered Remus. He disappeared into the pantry that was next to the magic refrigerator.
He soon returned levitating the biggest ice cream bowl that Lily had ever seen. It was big enough to have been a kitchen sink. It gave Sirius great pleasure to watch Lily's green eyes get wider and wider.
"Scared yet?" asked Sirius teasingly.
"I started to be scared when you brought out duck sauce, radishes, spaghetti and watermelon at the same time," returned Lily.
"Hey Prongs, why don't you get ol' Peter over here, he would be sorely disappointed if he missed one of our famous sundaes!"
James just nodded and left to go apparate to Peter's house.
"You call this a sundae?" asked Lily as she surveyed the counters.
Sirius shrugged, "What else would you call it? It has ice cream and toppings, followed by whipped cream and a cherry. Just because the stuff between the ice cream and the whipped cream is a little strange doesn't make it any less a sundae," said Sirius as he scooped some ice cream out of each of the fourteen cartons assembled on the table.
After Sirius was finished with each one, Remus waved his wand and returned it to the refrigerator. Once the ice cream was out of the way the real fun began. James returned with Peter in tow just as Lily was throwing some marshmallows on top of the graham crackers in the bowl. Without a word Peter and James jumped right in. Slowly but surely, the counters became more bare. Tortilla chips, salsa, buffalo wings, baked beans and pop rocks all found their way into the bowl, along with several other odd toppings. At last they were finished. James pulled five spoons out of a drawer and handed them out.
"You first Lily," said Sirius with a smile, "Since you are newest to this game."
Lily gulped and took a small amount of whipped cream.
"Ok, that doesn't count," said Sirius. "Just let us get this whipped cream out of the way for you and then you have to take a real first taste."
Soon (94 seconds to be exact) the whipped cream was gone, and it was time for Lily to once again take a taste. She took a bit of tofu and some frosting with a Bertie Bott's bean or two and put it in her mouth. The four boys looked at her expectantly.
She smiled and said, "As much as I hate to say it, that creation that you call a sundae, is actually good."
"How could you ever doubt us?" asked Sirius.
"Did you even see what you put into this thing?"
"Not really, no. I just kind of dump whatever is on the counter in."
Then everyone started to eat the sundae. Within ten minutes it was gone, every last morsel of the disgusting combination of food had disappeared into their stomachs. But before it had all been consumed, James had taken a smaller bowl and scooped some of everything into it. Then he had left the kitchen.
"Where's he going?" asked Lily.
"To give some of the sundae to Maisy and the other house elves," said Remus.
"Really?"
Sirius looked at Lily suspiciously, "Yeah," he said slowly. "He promised that he would give her some. Why would you think he would go back on his promise?"
"I dunno," said Lily quietly.
Soon James had returned and the eating that had ceased while James had been gone, resumed.
After the sundae was gone, the group retired into one of the many living rooms of the Potter house and Lily and Remus told their tale.
"We were waiting for you two outside of Gringotts when the Death Eaters attacked," began Remus. "People were running everywhere and somehow we got stuck within a circle of death eaters. I guess one of them recognized me as a friend of Sirius Black, Narcissa I think. And then a Death Eater who had been stationed down the street came running up and said that you two were on your way down, so they took us prisoner."
Lily continued on with the story, "They killed the rest of the people in the circle. But anyways, they bound our hands together and took our wands and pulled us into one of the shops of the street."
"So you were there the whole time?" asked Sirius.
"Yeah, watching from a store window," said Lily.
"What did you think of Narcissa's impression of you?" asked Sirius.
"It was so strange watching her steal a polyjuice potion, take one of my hairs and turn into me. And she was so unconvincing! I never flip my hair like that!"
"That's what Prongs said," said Sirius.
Lily looked over at James, who hadn't said anything in the last hour or so. His eyes still were dark and stern.
"Well you guys know what happened from there," said Remus. "Nice wand work by the way Prongs."
James nodded.
"I didn't know you were so skilled at silent spells," continued Remus.
James shrugged.
"Okay then," said Peter, trying to avoid an awkward silence. "I have to go home now and look after my, ummm, my ummm…"
"Gerbil?" supplied Remus.
"Yeah, that's it. Bye guys," said Peter as he flooed home, having failed his apparation test twice.
"I'd better be going too," said Lily. "Now if only I could remember how to get out of here…"
"I'll help," said Remus. "And then I'd better be going."
"Bye guys," said Sirius. James said nothing.
Once the couple had left Sirius said, "So does becoming a mute help your broken heart?"
"It's all part of the plan," said James quietly.
"I knew that you weren't completely gone!" shouted Sirius happily. "How can I help?"
"You can't," said James. "Sorry mate, but this is a mission I have to do solo. Sorry."
"I understand," said Sirius.