AN: I had to edit this one pretty fast, so please forgive small mistakes when you find them. But anyway, I started doing campnano, so I have next weeks chapter done too, and I'm kind of relieved to be ahead again. My plan from the beginning was to stay ahead, but that stopped being the norm a few weeks into the story.

I hope you enjoy this chapter! Don't forget to leave a review!


Chapter Eleven: Our Lucky Star

"I'm a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it"

― Thomas Jefferson

They hadn't known that they were coming this time, and so the element of surprise worked for them instead of against them. They went into the city, first surrounding it and then going in toward the middle, taking out Riddle's men quickly and quietly. By the time they reached the middle of the city, there hadn't even been an alarm sounded, and they had taken three noblemen hostage, so they could be questioned.

And what James thought was even better news, was that they hadn't lost a single life on their side. It was nothing short of a miracle.

"I can't believe we did it!" Sirius said, a large grin splitting his face as he let out a bark of laugh and threw his arm around his younger brother, who looked equally as thrilled.

"I can't believe it either." Regulus said, shaking his head. "Your plan worked." He laughed again. He had laughed when he first saw the small town come into view earlier that morning, telling James that he was clever. A few of the other men had been a bit disgruntled, but after how successfully they'd managed to pull off this mission, James didn't think they'd be upset with him still for long.

"Has anyone seen Peter?" Sirius asked, looking around for the quiet man who was usually not too far from his side. James looked around and shook his head.

"He'll turn up," He assured him. "We've still got work to do." He grabbed Remus's elbow and pulled him along after him, knowing that Sirius would follow.

"Where are we going?"

"The jail," James said. "Everyone has been telling me how innocent people have been locked up for not supporting Riddle, or for supporting my family, or for not being able to pay taxes. I think it's time someone let them out, yeah?" Remus smiled at him and nodded.

"What are we doing?" Regulus said, jogging to catch up with them.

"Breaking people out of jail." Sirius laughed.

"A specific person, or everyone?"

"The innocent."

"And how do you know that they're innocent?" Remus asked. "I'm sure there are a few people who are in there for good reason."

"Well, we'll have to ask the locals then, won't we?"

It was dark in the jail as there were no windows, and so James needed a lantern to walk into the small stone building that was used as the jailhouse despite the morning sun being rather high in the sky. There were four cells, two on each wall, and they were far more full than they should be. In one of the cells, people didn't even have enough space for all of them to sit down at the same time.

And the smell…

James cleared his throat, trying not to let the smell have a visible effect on him. "Where are the keys?" He asked no one in particular.

"James Potter?" A small voice came from the cell in the back-left corner. James walked in further and nodded.

"Yes, it's me."

"With Robinhood?" James looked back at Sirius and then grinned.

"Yeah,"

"I thought for sure that was just a story." He could see her now. She was small, a least a foot shorter than he was. Her brown hair was matted, her eyes were framed by dark circles. James didn't know if someone had hit her, or if she just hadn't slept in a very long time.

"We've taken back the city and we'd like to let you all out of here. Where are the keys?" There were many murmurs shooting throughout the room, back and forth, too many quiet questions for him to try and answer.

"They're with Dolohov." The girl said. "So, they're wherever he ran off to."

"We've got Dolohov." James said. "Regulus, run back and grab the keys from him. Quickly, we need to get them out of here." His eyes were stinging, and Regulus seemed all to glad to run from the building.

"I knew Robinhood was a story, but I didn't think the Black brothers were going to be behind it." This was a different voice, closer to the front this time. James turned to see a bald man with a few missing teeth. He was older than James by a couple of decades and he was in the especially crowded cell.

This had been the town of James' childhood, this was where he'd spent his summers. And he knew the face of this man. He was more haggard now, looked as though he might be injured, but still, James knew him. "Gerald Fortescue?" He asked, taking a step toward him. "Why are you here?"

"That'd be my fault," The matted girl spoke up again, and James suddenly remembered who she was as well.

"Alice?" He clenched his fists at his sides.

"I don't think I like that you recognized me." Alice sighed, pushing her hair away from her face.

"I told you to stop blaming yourself for what happened. I'd have been disappointed in you if you'd done it any differently." Gerald said firmly, still leaning against the bars of the cell. He looked at James, trying to straighten himself, but it looked painful for him to do so and James felt himself flinch before he could stop himself. "They were trying to take some of the kids. Alice got in their way. They threw us both in here for it."

"What about Abigail?" James asked.

"I'm over here, love." He turned quickly to see an older woman just as battered as her husband and daughter. "It's good to see you again. Especially if you're going to get us out of here."

"Oh we're going to do more than that," Sirius promised. It was the first time that he'd spoken since they walked in and James could hear the anger in his voice. He could sense the frustration and the wrath lurking just below the surface. This was despicable. This was not the way you treated other people, no matter what they did. There was no justification for this other than extreme cruelty and evil.

Regulus ran back in and went straight for the bars of the cell that Gerald was in. "Is anyone in here for a good reason?" He asked quietly, "Like, no one in here killed anyone, right?"

"You think there'd be a murderer in the Hollow's?" Gerald let out a soft laugh. "No, dear boy. This building was empty before Dolohov showed up. Well, it was empty most of the time."

"I wish we'd brought Molly with us." Remus muttered from James' side. James agreed with him as all the men and women and children started filing out of the cells and into the streets surrounding the building.

A pair of knights fell to their knees in front of James, which startled him more than anything else, since he'd thought these two men to be dead before he'd been run out of the castle. "Amos? Reginald? How are you two- I was told that you were murdered by marauders." But even as he asked the question, he realized that he'd been told this by one of Dolohov's reports. He also realized that he was very lucky that Dolohov had not done more than throw these two men in jail.

"We saw what he was doing to the townspeople and refused to keep it to ourselves after returning to the castle." Amos stood from his knee, holding out his hand to help Reginald up as well. Amos was from a noble family, and he'd never gotten on with Reginald, who James had promoted around the same time he'd promoted Remus. Reginald was from a similar background as Remus and Amos felt slighted by both of their appointments at one point. It seemed that whatever animosity that had once lived between the two men had finally died.

"Well I thank you for not folding to Riddle's will, though I'm forever sorry that you were treated this way." He looked around the room again, making sure that the cells were completely empty before he started for the door himself.

"It wasn't all bad," Reginald shrugged one of his shoulders. James noticed that he was leaning against Amos slightly, limping as they walked. "They didn't think there was anyway that we'd get out of course, so they didn't really do much to prevent us from overhearing them."

"You've got information then," Sirius moved to help Reginald. And then looked over at James. "We've got the town, we need to send some men back to get the camp. We need Molly, Mary and Lily especially, but they all need to start packing and moving out here before they freeze to death."

"It hasn't snowed yet, there's no need to be so dramatic."

"The camp is real?" Amos asked, and James answered in the affirmative as he had every other time someone had asked him that question.

"Have you found Peter yet? I need to speak with him about the horses." James looked around for Peter again, but there was still no sign of him.

"No, I haven't seen him and I'm getting worried. What if one of the men got away? Hurt Pete or something?"

"We'll find who Peter was with and ask them." James said. "And send riders back to collect the healers. They'll need to get here as fast as they can. The rest of the camp can follow."

"I'll arrange that," Remus said, walking off to do just that.

"We also need to find a place to keep all the injured and sick." James said, looking over around at the building available.

"The tavern has a dance hall," Amos said, nodding at a large building up ahead. "It's large and clean. Everyone should fit in there far more nicely than they did in the jail." James nodded and they all started toward the tavern, James directing the people around him to move as well.

After they emptied out the jail, people had started coming out of their homes. There were many shouts of joy when families were reunited, either with men from the camp or the jail. There didn't seem to be a single person there who had supported Riddle or his men. That made something in James ease.

His people hadn't chosen this. They weren't turning against one another at large. Riddle only controlled a small faction, and if they had the majority behind them, then it would be easier to cut Riddle down.

oOo

Lily's fingers were numb, and she was praying to anyone who was listening that the overcast above them, wasn't going to lead to snow. They didn't need snow, not now. The children were getting the last of the berries, Hestia and a few other women were digging up the last of the turnips, and anyone who could shoot one of the bows that were still at the camp, was trying to find an animal that they could eat and then use to keep warm.

It had only been three days since they left, and Lily knew that it was likely that whatever was going to happen, had already happened. It only took two days to get to Godric's Hollow, though everyone else thought that they'd be traveling a week to get to Hogsmeade. Lily was a ball of nerves all day, knowing that that was when James was in danger.

She was sitting at the fire with Harry and Grace, trying to keep them warm, and regain feeling in her fingers, when two horses came flying toward the camp. She stood up, clutching Grace to her chest tightly, and reached one hand down, wrapping her fingers around Harry's shoulder.

It was Benjy and Bertram, and they looked a bit worse for wear.

"Daddy?" Scarlett had been sitting on the same log as Lily, next to Mary, who had grown used to the attachment that the girl had for her.

Benjy slid off the horse and pressed a kiss to the top of Scarlett's head as she wrapped her arms around him. "Where's Molly?" He asked, looking around.

"I'm over here," Molly called, her voice tight. Everyone was on edge as they waited for one of the men to tell them why they'd rushed back like they had. Lily needed to know where everyone else was.

"We need you and Mary and Lily. We took Godric's Hollow, and everyone is fine, but there are a lot of sick and injured people that were being kept in the jail."

We took Godric's Hollow.

Everyone is fine.

That was a lot of information to process.

"You took Godric's Hollow?" Lily dug her hand into her hair and tried to wrap her head around it.

"We took the Hollows." Bertram confirmed. There was a beat of silence and then cheering erupted all around them. Lily covered her mouth with her hand and sat back down on the log. She took a few deep breaths, trying not to let herself cry. She could hear people asking questions about what town they'd actually taken, asking for confirmation and why they'd kept it a secret, but she wasn't going to answer any questions right now.

She pulled Harry close and kissed his head. "Dad's alright?" He asked.

"Your dad is alright," Lily nodded. "Everyone is alright." She added, kissing him again and then pressing a kiss to Grace. She hadn't realized just how truly terrified she'd been that something was going to go wrong until she realized that nothing had gone wrong. They'd taken the city, they'd freed some of their people, they were going to help them.

She looked up so that she could ask the men some more questions, but Molly beat her to it.

"So what is the plan?" She had her hands on her hips, Ginny clinging to her skirts and Ron not far from her side either. "You said you need me, Mary and Lily?"

"We need healers. The rest of the camp can start packing and follow in a day or so. But these people need help as soon as they can get it. I'm not sure they'd last a week if you were to come with everyone." Benjy said softly, his hand running through Scarlett's curls. Lily realized what he was saying then, why he was talking like that. They needed to go fast. They couldn't bring their children with them.

And for some reason, her heart went out to Scarlett more than her own children.

Emmeline was already walking toward her before Lily could even come up with a plan. "I've missed watching after the young prince." She said, ruffling Harry's hair as she sat down next to him on the log. "And I was quite excited to care for the princess as well." And then Marlene was there as well.

"I'm not as good with babies as Em," She said honestly, "But then again, few are."

Lily smiled at the two of them. "Marlene, don't you think you should go to Godric's Hollow as well? They need healers, and you've good with medicine." Marlene sighed and then looked at Emmeline.

"You should go."

"I suppose."

"Well I can help look after the children." Amelia Bones stepped forward and Lily's brow shot up.

"There's quite a few of them who'll need tending too." Lily said. "My two, Molly's seven and Scarlett of course."

"Ten?" Amelia blanched and then cleared her throat, standing up straighter. "Well, still. I'll help however I can."

"Thank you, Amelia." But she handed Grace to Emmeline. Looking back at Benjy she asked, "We need to leave now, I take it?" He nodded. Molly was talking with Bill and Charlie, who looked mortified to learn that neither of their parents were going to be around for the first time in their lives. Harry was used to being with someone other than Lily or James, and so many people had held Grace since they'd been here, that Lily was sure that she'd be fine as well. But Bill and Charlie, who were thirteen and eleven, had never had to take care of their little siblings without a parent around them.

Scarlett gave Benjy another hug and then rushed over to do the same to Mary. "I'll see you in a few days, little one." Mary said, holding her tightly. "And I'm sure you'll be so busy that it'll go by very quickly."

"I'll do as much as I can to make sure we leave as soon as possible." Scarlett promised.

Mary nodded and nodded toward Ginny, "You think you can help out the lass as well?" She asked. "I don't think she'll be too fond of Molly not being around."

"Of course I can," And then Scarlett was rushing over to where Ginny was. Molly had kissed each of her children a couple of times and Lily could feel herself starting to tear up, so she had to tear her gaze away.

"I can't come with you?" Harry asked, his little brow furrowed.

"I'm afraid not, love. You'll stay here with Emmeline and help everyone pack up to leave."

"Somewhere warmer?" He asked.

"Well, we will be warmer there. Hopefully." She pulled him close to her chest and kissed him goodbye. "Keep an eye on your sister please. And keep the Weasleys company."

"I will, mum." He promised, kissing her cheek before pulling back.

Lily said a quick goodbye to Grace, keeping in mind that she would see both of her children again in only a few days, and then she stood up again and started toward where they kept the horses. They didn't have too many, but they had enough.

"It'll be a long and hard ride, but we don't have bulky supplies to worry about," Bertram was telling her or Mary, or maybe Molly. Lily ran her hand down the neck of the closest mare and tried to calm herself. They had brought good news. Even if they had to rush there to help the people that had been being mistreated, Benjy and Bertram had brought good news.

James had taken back the town. They were one step closer to going home, to freeing the rest of their people.

"You know how to ride a horse, Lila?" Benjy said, grabbing a saddle and moving toward the horse that Lily was standing near. She turned and smiled at him when he used her fake name.

"Grew up in the country, didn't I? Though I'll admit that it's been a while since I've rode one properly."

"You'll be sore tomorrow then."

"Are you pretending that you won't be?" She asked, raising a brow. He chuckled and shrugged a shoulder.

"I was pretending that I wasn't already sore, actually."

Soon, the horses were all ready to go, and it felt like Benjy and Bertram had only been in the camp for ten minutes before the six of them were rushing back out toward Godric's Hollow, the rest of the town left to pack up what they needed and get ready to move out as well.

oOo

It was long after dark when James and Sirius were walking toward Arden Weasley, who had somehow managed to get injured even though he'd been scouting the city with Peter and some others to make sure that they hadn't missed anyone.

Arden hadn't told anyone what had happened yet either, he had said that he was waiting to talk to James first. And so after James had helped everyone into the tavern's dance hall, and made sure that his the Fortescue's were going to be alright, he grabbed Sirius- who still hadn't managed to locate Peter- and steeled himself for bad news as he walked up to Arden.

Arden was Arthur's brother, and they looked very similar. Arden was slightly taller, younger, and scruffier, but their general build was the same, and their eyes were the same color blue. Arthur was sitting with him on the steps outside of the town's church and they were talking quietly to one another, both looking quite distressed. Arden held his side and his breathing was labored, but he didn't look in danger of passing out, so James didn't think he needed to worry about him immediately.

"What happened to Peter?" Sirius asked, walking up to the brothers and crossing his arms over his chest. As always, James didn't agree with the way that Sirius went about talking to people, and so he walked up and put a hand on Sirius's shoulder.

"Are you alright, Arden?" He asked, crouching down so he could get a better look at the area around his wound. He knew nothing about medicine or healing people, but he could tell that there wasn't too much blood gushing out, and that seemed like a good thing.

"Peter stabbed me." He said quietly, and James had the wind knocked out of him. "I didn't want to start telling people before I told you. Both of you," He looked over at Sirius.

"What do you mean he stabbed you?" Sirius asked, his voice cold. "He tripped over something and his knife fell into you? I mean, whatever he did, I'm sure it was an accident." He didn't sound sure, just angry, and James thought that had something to do with the look of pity that Arden was wearing.

"Hear him out, Sirius," Arthur said, putting a hand on his brother's back.

"He started acting all skittish when he realized that we were coming here instead of Hogsmeade. He kept muttering something under his breath and then we got here and he kept saying that we couldn't get caught." Arden shook his head. "I didn't know what that meant. But then he saw that you'd captured Dolohov and he kept asking me if I thought you were going to execute him. I told him that you were probably going to question him for information." He took a deep shaky breath, it was clear that talking this much was taxing, but James needed to know how this story of his was going to end. The sinking sensation in his stomach told him that he already knew though.

"I told him that everything was going to be alright. That things were looking up for us, and that we were going to have quite the advantage now- he just kept getting more panicked and shaky. I don't know if he meant to kill me, or if he knew that if he didn't do something then I would have followed after him." He coughed, and then winced, pressing his hand against his side slightly harder. "But he realized that we'd taken the town, that you had Dolohov, that we'd tricked Riddle's men, and then he took off."

"Are you suggesting that Peter- Peter is the traitor?" James couldn't disconcert the emotion in Sirius' voice.

"That's the only thing that makes sense, isn't it?" Arden asked quietly, leaning against his brother now.

"No. That doesn't make sense at all. Peter has been with me from the beginning. We've been traveling around together saving people from towns like this, he wouldn't turn around and put everyone in harm's way." He was shaking his head and then he locked eyes with Arden. "Why are you lying? What did you do to him?" James stood up and put a hand on Sirius's shoulder.

"Enough," He said, "Arthur, get Arden to the infirmary. Molly and the others will be here soon enough."

Arthur nodded, not sparing another look at Sirius before helping his brother to his feet and walking toward the tavern.

"I don't believe him." Sirius spat, his arms tightening over his chest as he looked after their retreating figures. "I don't believe him for a second."

"Then what do you think happened?" James asked, trying not to sound as though he'd already written Peter off.

"I don't know what happened! But I know that Peter wouldn't turn on me like that. I know he wouldn't throw away everything that we've done and go and work for Riddle. He wouldn't do that."

"He had been awfully interested in what our plan was going to be to find out who the traitor was." James pointed out.

"A lot of people were interested in that." Sirius almost shouted at him. "He was worried about it, same as everyone!"

"Sure, but the rest of them haven't just been accused of stabbing someone and running off."

"This isn't the army, running away isn't a crime."

"Stabbing someone is though," James said, but then he sighed. "Look, how about we go and talk to Dolohov, see if he's got any answers for us?"

"That sounds like a bloody brilliant idea." Sirius muttered, and started toward the jail. James took a deep breath and then followed him. He wasn't sure how this was going to go, but it made sense to him that Peter was the traitor. Not emotionally, he didn't understand it emotionally. But logically, he could line everything up and see that it was Peter. Hopefully Dolohov could give him some of the 'why.'

The smell of the jail had greatly improved simply by taking all the people out of it, but that was a shame since James would prefer the three men in front of him to be as uncomfortable as possible. Definitely more uncomfortable than they'd made the people that they'd shoved in here.

"Ah, there you are," Dolohov said from his cell. All three of them had been given their own cell. James didn't think that it was possible for them to break out, but he didn't want to give them the opportunity to come up with a plan. Moody had been sitting in here with them, so they couldn't say anything without him hearing this way.

"I was wondering when you were going to grace us with your presence." Another man that went by the name of Nott said. James was surprised to see them both here in the same town. They were both high nobles, and to have captured both of them in one go was quite lucky he believed.

"I want to know everything you know about Peter Pettigrew." Sirius snapped, looking at Not and Dolohov and the third man, who James didn't recognize.

"Peter? He's a bit of a rat, isn't he? Always scurrying about. I don't trust him." Nott shrugged.

"Especially after this morning." Dolohov sighed. "Did he just come out and tell you that he was giving us information? Or did you somehow work it out for yourselves? Is that why he told us you were going to Hogsmeade?"

Sirius's face was pale, and James heard Moody's wooden leg crack against the stone floor.

"Peter told them? It was Peter?" Moody said, sounding bewildered. James could have sworn that he heard Sirius growl.

"Why?" James asked, looking back and forth between the three men. "Why would he work for you when he's been nothing but helpful to the common people?"

Nott shrugged, and James didn't believe his nonchalance or his play at being ignorant. "Perhaps he wanted to be on the winning side."

"Says the man in the cage," James could keep the sneer off his face. He didn't want to be in here anymore, it was even darker now that the sun had gone down, and despite the fact that the smell had dissipated, it was somehow more unpleasant than before.

He put a hand on Sirius's shoulder and nodded toward the door. Sirius moved quickly.

"I don't know why he would do it." Sirius said, his voice still sharp.

"Perhaps they were holding something over him." James suggested, though he couldn't think of something they could be holding over him that would justify what he'd done. He knew that there was no reason he'd ever turn his people over to Riddle without putting up one hell of a fight. Especially if he were still able to live among his people. Why had Peter done this?

"I'm going to find him, and I'll get an answer out of him." Sirius promised, and James was glad to see him walk off toward the tavern instead of the woods. Because he really wanted to wait for Lily to show up, and didn't much want to follow Sirius around the woods after dark, chasing after someone who they just learned wanted to do them both harm.

oOo

Lily was glad to find that riding a horse had come back to her pretty quickly. Which was good, as they were riding rather fast. It wasn't too far to the Hollows, it only took James and his men two days because they traveled on foot mostly, and the horses they did, had to pull heavy carts.

But Benjy told them that they were almost there after the sun set. It had only been a few hours, though her legs would protest her use of the word 'only.'

The moon was in the sky, shining brightly, when the town came into view. Lily had only been here a handful of times, but it had a picturesque quality to it that made it hard to forget. From this entrance of the town, she could see the small pond growing out of the surrounding forest, willow trees that still had many of their leaves despite the frost let their branches sway in the breeze. The white church stood in the middle of town, and the houses that had been built around it, were lovely and looked more like homes than manors, despite the fact that this was a popular place to stay among the nobles.

She started scanning the streets as soon as they slowed their horses. Benjy was looking about too, he said something about the Tavern and a dance hall, but Lily wasn't paying attention, not completely. She knew that she wouldn't have a chance to say more then 'hullo' to James before she needed to rush off to help with the injured as much as she could, but still. She really wanted to say 'hullo.'

But she didn't see him before they reached the tavern and Benjy got down, tied his horse to the post and then turned toward Lily to help her down as well. She held onto his forearms as he lowered her to the ground, and was embarrassed to say that her legs shook when he let go of her. It had been a very long time since she'd last rode a horse.

She followed Molly into the temporary infirmary, Marlene and Mary close on her heels.

She was slightly overwhelmed, not only by the number of people who were laying on the floor of the large room that they'd been put in, but by the smell of the room. By the look of these people. They had not been taken care of in the least. None of them had been bathed, none of them had been fed properly. As her eyes fell over a ghost of a girl who couldn't have been more than a few years younger than her, she thought it was a miracle that these people were still alive.

Lily sighed and ran a hand through her hair before accepting a hair ribbon from Molly and tying it up to keep it from her face. "We'll need a lot of water." She muttered.

"We might need the whole bloody pond." Mary agreed.

Marlene seemed the most disturbed by the room. Molly, Mary and Lily had been there to take care of the wounded after the first time they'd tried to take the city, but Marlene had never seen injury in this quantity.

"Take a breath, Marlene." Lily said, reaching out and rubbing her back. "Go and instruct some men to start boiling water, and then come back and help when you can." Marlene blinked at her and then turned on her heel to do as she was asked. Molly gave Lily a nod to let her know she had done well with Marlene, and then the three women walked into the room and started to do what they could.

"Lily?" It was almost an hour after she'd arrived before she heard James' voice calling out her name. She turned around and saw him standing at the edge of the room. He looked like he wanted to smile, but this wasn't a place where one could wear a smile, the atmosphere just seemed to steal them away.

Lily turned back to the young boy that she was helping, quickly finished tying his bandage, patted him on the cheek and then stood up and walked across the room.

It felt odd for her to walk across the room to greet him so somberly. Though, she knew that it would be in poor taste to act as excited as she felt. She reached over and took his hand and he started walking out the door, into the tavern portion of the building, making sure to get entirely out of view of the dance hall before he pulled her by the hand and wrapped his arms around her.

She smiled widely as she buried her face in his chest, her arms going up to wrap around his neck. "You did it," She said quietly, her hands clutching at the collar of his tunic. "You took back the town."

"It's only one town of many," He said, though she could hear the smile in his voice. "We still have a long way to go."

"Sure, but now we have much more than we did yesterday. We don't have to worry about freezing in the middle of the woods either. And we have more people- you saved our old friends."

"I couldn't have done it without help,"

She pulled back, still smiling. "Just let me tell you that I'm proud of you."

His eyes darted around her face, and she didn't know what he was looking for, but she let him search for a moment before she stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him.

She'd been so worried that something bad was going to happen again, that this time he wasn't going to get out of it with only a dislocated shoulder. But here he was, perfectly and wonderfully unharmed.

She knew that there were many people around them, and that she couldn't kiss him for too long, as that would be inappropriate. James seemed to have a harder time remembering that however, because when she decided that it was probably time to end the kiss, he only tightened his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. And of course, that made it a bit more difficult for Lily to remember that there were people around them, even if the majority of people were out of view.

She moved her hands to his chest and reluctantly gave him a slight push, "James," She said quietly, trying to remind him to keep it chaste. He moved his lips from hers and peppered her cheeks with more kisses.

"Sorry," He said, "I forgot myself." He turned his head and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I don't really mind," She chuckled, biting her lip. "But for everyone else' sake…"

When he pulled back, there was something about him that seemed calmer. "Are the kids alright?"

Lily nodded, "I told Harry that he should help the Weasleys, because I don't think any of them have ever been without both of their parents before. Harry knows Emmeline, and he used to be without both of us quite frequently, so he'll be fine. And I'm not too worried about Grace, though it does feel especially strange to not have her around."

"It's only for a few days." He assured her.

"I know, but I've gotten used to having her right here," She put a hand on her chest. He took her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it.

"It's been nice having them with us all the time."

"I am very glad that I can help these people though," She said, entwining her fingers with his and letting their hands drop between them.

James looked around the room and then back at Lily. "We found out who the traitor was." He sighed, running his free hand through his hair, which was already sticking up in every direction.

"You did? Good, I'm glad that the plan worked."

"It was Peter." He said quietly, and Lily flinched.

"Peter?" That didn't make any sense. She hadn't spoken to the man that often, but she knew that he was close with Sirius and Regulus, and that he'd helped almost all of the people get to the camp.

"Yeah," James sighed, "He uh, he was with Arden scouting the perimeter of the city to make sure that no one got out, and when he realized that we were going to take the city, he- he stabbed Arden and ran."

"Stabbed him? That's how he got hurt?" She looked over her should, but she couldn't see Arden through the wall. "He and Arthur wouldn't tell Molly and she was getting frustrated with them."

"Sirius is angry." James said, and Lily thought that it was probably unnecessary to say that, of course Sirius was angry.

"Of course Sirius is angry," She said aloud this time. "Peter was a very close friend of his. I'm angry and I didn't even know him that well."

"I almost told him that we were coming here," James looked down at his feet. "I almost told him because he was so close to Sirius. The only reason that he didn't know, was because he just happened to not be there when Sirius, Moody, Dumbledore and I came up with the plan. Otherwise…." He trailed off and Lily knew exactly what would have happened. It would have been worse than the first time.

"Well then we need to thank our lucky star that he wasn't there."

"Lucky star? I think it's supposed to be 'stars.'"

"We haven't really been lucky enough to have more than one star looking out for us," She gave him a small smile and sighed. "But we'll get there. We'll get the stars on our side again." James nodded and looked around the room.

"I think everyone here could use a bit more luck."

"I agree." Lily squeezed his hand. "I suppose I should get back in there."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" She shook her head.

"Marlene's already recruited quite a few people. You can sleep," She reached up to brush her fingers over his cheek. "I think you've earned a good night's rest."

He shook his head, "I'll sleep when you do." He shifted from one foot to the other and then looked her in the eye. "Haven't been able to sleep much the last couple nights. Not without you." She felt her cheeks warm and she quickly leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"I love you, James."

"I love you, Lily."

oOo

The next morning, a good-sized party of men and women, James and Lily both among them, started back toward the camp so that they could help to pack everything up and move everyone here. They had many more horses available now, so they took as many as they could. They didn't need to ride like that had the day before, but still, it seemed like it took hardly any time at all now that they weren't all walking.

James didn't know how far along everything was going to be, but when they rode into camp, all of the hammocks had been taken down, all of the firewood had been loaded, and all of the remaining food had been packed away as well.

"We're still working on packing up the clothing." Hestia told Lily as she walked up to the king and queen. "And bedding. Is there enough room for all of us in this town?"

"Oh most definitely." Lily nodded and looked over to James.

"Yes, many of the houses have been abandoned when their occupants fled for safety, and a number more because they are owned by Riddle's men." There was also the house that James' family would stay in when they came on holiday. "I've never seen this town so empty."

"It won't be that way for long," Lily smiled at him. "I'm going to go and find Emmeline and Grace."

"Em is feeding the kids lunch up at Molly's I think," Hestia laughed and shook her head. "You should have seen Amelia trying to help her out with all of the little ones. Ginny threw quite a fit after Molly left and Em's hands were full of course, so Amelia went to pick her up and Ginny tried to bite her." Lily's eyes widened.

"Ginny's never tried to bite anyone before."

"No she hasn't," Hestia agreed. "Amelia is not very good with the children."

"I don't know if that's fair," Lily shrugged. "I mean, she probably just wanted her mother. It's hard to work a small child down from that."

"Harry didn't have a problem with it," Hestia cocked a brow. "He just walked up, pulled at Amelia's skirts and told her to put Ginny down. Then him and George took Ginny's hands and started walking her up to the house. It was completely adorable." Lily smiled softly and clenched at her skirts. She was glad that Harry had been helpful.

"Good, I told him to help out."

"Well he's been very helpful." Hestia grinned.

"Did he give anyone a hard time?" James asked. "Or Grace?"

"No, all the kids did very well. Em even got Grace to sleep real quick. That was the only thing she was worried about."

Lily nodded, "She's not nearly as fussy as Harry was." Then she nodded at Hestia and started off toward the house.

"Are you both staying?"

"Until everything is packed up. Hopefully we'll head out tomorrow morning. The faster we get all the kids in out of the cold, the better."

"It was pretty brutal last night," Hestia nodded. "I was glad that Em asked me to help her with the kids in the house. That fireplace keeps everything nice and warm."

"Good. There will be lots of fireplaces in town, I'm glad someone thought to pack the wood."

And then they started packing up the rest of the necessary materials. The rest of the medical supplies had their own cart, blankets and coats had their own cart- though there weren't many coats to pack because almost all of them were being worn.

James was in the process of carrying an armload of bedrolls toward one of the carts when he realized he had a shadow. When he looked over, he expected to see his son, but was instead greeted by the bright and smiling faces of two young girls. He recognized them as Scarlett and the little girl who had shouted out about the princess in the crowd. Grace.

"Hullo there, you two. Can I help you with something?" He was glad to see that Scarlett had found a friend her own age. Lily had told him that when Benjy wasn't around, she had tended to stick with either Mary or Lily. But with the three adults absent, it looked as though someone her own age had found her.

"Well, where's my dad?" Scarlett asked, though she didn't seem worried.

"He's back in town. I promised him that I would make sure you got to him in one piece." He smiled at her, hoping that she'd be alright with that answer. She nodded.

"He's very helpful, I'm not surprised he stayed in town."

"Molly put him to work taking care of the sick people." James grinned.

"Is there a lot of sick people?" Grace asked, her brow knit together.

"Not too many, most of them just have scratches and the like," He shrugged, setting down the bedrolls in the wagon.

"Scratches?" Scarlett gave him a look and put a hand on her hip. She didn't believe him.

"Some of them are bigger than others, but yes."

"Did those men hurt them?" Grace asked, and James looked at the two of them. "The one's with the mask."

"Where is your mum, Grace?"

"She died." James blanched and looked around the camp.

"Well then who's that women you're always with?"

"My aunt. Mum died a while back. She got sick and then they took her." James shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and then ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm very sorry to hear that."

"Your mum and dad got sick too, didn't they? That's how they died?"

James nodded, not sure what to say to this little girl. He knew what it felt like to lose a parent, and she was acting as though she was unbothered, but he knew that couldn't be true.

"I love Aunt Carrie though," She said. "And she's having a baby soon! She helped Ms. Emmeline take care of Princess Grace." She smiled a bit extra when she said the princess' name, and James smiled, remembering how excited she had been to learn that she shared a name with the princess.

"Well then I'm going to have to thank your Aunt Carrie." He started walking back to one of the huts, and the girls just bounded along after him.

"Are there other children to play with in town?" Scarlett asked.

"There are a few, yes," James nodded. "And a pond that you can all play on once it's frozen over." Grace 'oo'ed' at that.

"I haven't skated on ice in a long time," Grace giggled, walking into the hut behind James and heading over to roll up one of the bed rolls without being asked. James grinned at her.

"It's been since last year, yeah?" He guessed.

"Definitely at least that long." She agreed, scooping up the roll in her arms and handing it to Scarlett and then walked over to fold up a few blankets. James started working on the larger mat. He wondered what was going to happen to all of these huts. Would someone come across them in a few years, find plants growing out of the cracks, animals taking shelter under the barren tops?

The three of them made their way back to the cart when the hut was clear of all cloth material.

"Daddy!" And there was Harry. James turned toward the sound of his voice and dropped to his knees, so he could catch his son in a hug. "I missed you so much!"

James held him close and stood up, keeping him in his arms. "I missed you too, Harry." He pulled back, so he could look over his face. It hadn't been as long as last time, but he still wanted to make sure that he hadn't missed anything. "You didn't grow too much while I was gone, did you?"

"I don't think so," He shook his head and looked down at his hands, as though that would give him some indication. "I don't feel any bigger."

"Good." James kissed his cheek. "You've been getting too big lately."

"You sound like, mum now." Harry cocked his head to the side. "She said that I grew too big and she saw me yesterday. I don't think I grew much last night, but maybe I did if you both think so." He looked down at his hands again, frowning. James laughed at him and ruffled his hair.

"I'm proud of you, buddy." James said, and Harry looked up at him.

"I helped everyone as much as I could," He said, a big smile coming over his face. "Mum told me to, so I did." He pressed his lips together for a moment. "I played a lot too, but I made sure that Ginny was playing with us."

"I'm very glad that you were kind to her," James said. "It's important to be kind."

And then He caught sight of Lily walking down the pathway with Grace, chatting pleasantly with Gwen and Emmeline. James had known that he was content back in town, when he had Lily in his arms and knew that all his men were safe for the time being. But just then, his heart felt fuller than it had in years.

Things were looking up.