A Traitor in the Ranks

The Christmas holidays quickly passed and so did the remainder of the winter. Spring approached rapidly brining with it beautiful flowers, warmer temperatures, and fresh green leaves on all of the trees. The grass sprang back to life after months hidden under piles of leaves left from the fall and huge piles of snow that had accumulated over the winter.

Lily and James, however, were both so busy that they had little time to notice, let alone appreciate the change of seasons.

Lily was back in school and still working both of her jobs, while James was entering the last stint of his Auror training. This part was particularly grueling. He was constantly working with a drill team to improve his reflexes to help him avoid disarming and stunning spells.

With both of them working long hours, they had pushed everything about Christmas to the back of their minds. That wasn't the only thing they forgot about though. The apartment had fallen into disarray because both occupants were too tired and too stressed to clean and keep up on the house keeping.

The dishes had stacked up in the sink and the mail on the kitchen table. Lily and James hardly even saw each other anymore.

It was a Monday night and James was free to go home early from training. He walked into the apartment and looked around. It was like he hadn't even seen it before. There was a half folded basket of laundry on the couch and there were crumpled up pieces of parchment littering the mantle and the end tables. He sighed and told himself that he would definitely clean up a little after he rested for a while.

He pushed the laundry basket to the floor where it made a soft thumping noise. He laid down and stretched out on the couch with his head on the armrest and his feet hanging over the edge. A few hours later, he woke up when he heard the lock on the front door clicking open.

He sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes just in time to see Lily letting a bag laden with books slide from her shoulder to the ground as she shut the door. She had her eyes closed as she leaned back against the door. When she opened them, she was surprised to see James watching her.

"Fancy meeting you here," she said with a small, tired smile. Her eyes had large black circles under them. Her hair was up in a messy ponytail and her clothes were wrinkled.

James didn't look much better. He was covered in cuts and bruises. There was a deep purple bruise about the size of a golf ball on his arm. It looked almost black compared to his skin that was more pale than usual because he hadn't been outside in so long.

"You look lovely today." He said, and she rolled her eyes before going to sit in the overstuffed chair next to the couch.

"Of course," she said, "because everyone finds the bride of Frankenstein attractive."

James lay back down on the couch. "To each his own."

Lily didn't respond, she just looked around the edge of the chair and, upon seeing her bag resting by the door, let out a groan.

"We need to do something fun," James said decidedly. "We need to just forget about school and work and training for a while."

Lily just waved her arm dismissively. "I've got too much to do."

"So what? You can afford to be a little late for one assignment." James said, sitting up again. "We're going out tonight."

"It's midnight." Lily stated simply, not making any move to get up, where as James was already pocketing his wand and heading to open the door.

"All the better, then." Lily looked at him appraisingly. He was completely serious.

"I don't know…"

"Yes you do. Come on. Do you remember that time in seventh year when I wanted to get you to go to the lake with me and Sirius?"

"Yes," Lily said. She did remember that night quite well.

"And wasn't that fun?" James asked, nodded his head, trying to coach her.

"No! You got me into so much trouble that night." She stood up and stretched. "I was in detention for a week because of you two block heads."

James just laughed. "Yeah, but you still had fun before Snape turned us in."

Lily paused for a second thinking this over. "Promise we won't stay out too late?"

"It's midnight." James said just as simply as she had a moment before.

----

"It's kind of cold out for April, don't you think?" Lily asked as she pulled her cloak around her tighter and shivered a bit in the chilly air.

James didn't answer her. "James. I asked you a quest—"

"Shhh!" James hissed. Lily was getting a little irritated. It's not like she was being loud.

"Wha—" James clamped a hand firmly over her mouth and gave her a look that clearly said that he was being serious.

He removed his hand, and to his great relief, Lily stayed quiet. He bent down and began fiddling with his shoe laces. Lily couldn't help but notice that they were already double knotted. In all the years she'd know James Potter, he had never untied his shoes to take them off or put them on. She was sure that something was up.

Before Lily could ask him what he thought he was doing, he was pushing her into a dark, shadowy doorway.

What is going on, Lily thought. She couldn't think of any reason that she needed to be shoved into a doorway in the middle of the night. She was just about to leave the shadowy cover of the doorway when James' hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

All she could see were his eyes, which were gleaming oddly in the darkness. Not two seconds later, two people dressed entirely in black rounded the corner of the nearby alley way.

"Stop whining, Pettigrew. You knew that it was going to happen eventually," the taller figure said. Lily had to keep from letting out a surprised gasp.

"Why does everyone say that? It's like you all thought I was incompetent from 'go'." Peter snapped angrily at the taller man. He had to speed up just to keep pace with him. He pulled his hood down and revealed his features.

Whatever thoughts that James was having about cursing who he assumed to be Peter's cousin suddenly disappeared with a sharp exhaling of breath. There was no mistaking him. His features stood out under the bright light of the street lamp. His sandy hair was sticking up a bit in the back from the hood that had previously shielding his face from the world's eyes. His blue eyes flicked to the doorway for a second, his ears prickled with an unknown stimulus.

Lily looked from James to Peter, and then to the man who had not yet noticed his companion was missing. He kept his swift pace, and his footsteps were fading off into the eerily quiet night, each fall off his foot harder to detect than the one before it.

James' eyes were wide with panic, and Lily was sure hers were too once she saw what he was staring at. Clutched in Peter's pale hand was a mask. She couldn't see all of it, but she could see enough of the white contours that mimicked that of a skull to know what it was. It was a Death Eater mask.

She felt herself flinch as he started to approach the doorway, the other man still unaware -or uncaring- that Peter had strayed from him, leaving their conversation unfinished. As he grew closer, she felt James' hand close around her own and squeeze. His hand was cold and clammy.

Come on, Lily thought angrily as she fished around in her pocket for her wand. She almost swore when she couldn't find it. Then another thought occurred to her. The door! Maybe the door was unlocked.

She was too busy frantically feeling the door behind her to notice that Peter had backed off and James had relaxed slightly beside her. She found the knob and wiggled it a little. It was locked!

Peter heard the sound and spun immediately back to the doorway. He strode with determination and muttered "Lumos", lighting the end of his wand.

James blinked in the light waiting for his eyes to adjust. Before him, was Peter Pettigrew staring back at him in a trance of bewilderment. James didn't see one of his best friends, though. He saw a rat, a Traitor.

Just as he was about to open his mouth, Peter flicked his hood back up, pointed his wand and muttered something that James couldn't quite make out. There was a flash of light, and then another.

Soon, the fog of the moment cleared and he looked around him.

"James," Lily whispered. He jumped. Where had she come from? "What are we doing in a doorway?"

"I don't know." He whispered back. He ventured out onto the sidewalk, but all he saw were two men walking briskly into the night. "Strange…" he muttered to himself. He turned and found Lily standing beside him, watching the men retreat.

"It's late…we should probably get home."

James nodded his head. He couldn't shake the feeling that something important had just happened, and he was angry that he couldn't remember it. Last thing he remembered, he had badgered Lily into going out that night.

Maybe, he thought, I've just had too much to drink. He tried to convince himself that he had in fact become intoxicated over the night, but he didn't feel drunk at all.

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Well, that was certainly better than the last chapter. Hope you enjoyed it!