The feeling of complete helplessness and confusion that James had tried so hard to forget like he had the happenings of the night in the doorway came back to him as he looked at the dark windows of the library. It was obviously closed, so Lily was not there. But where was she?
Just like he had felt like something was missing the night that he and Lily both had the inexplicable feeling of forgetting that you only get after an inexperienced memory charm, he felt like he was over looking some crucial detail that would tell him where Lily was, and why.
He was torn between going home and waiting for her, and giving in to the feeling that something just wasn't right when he first noticed the man that was walking his direction. James had a strange feeling that he had seen that man somewhere before. He was wearing a cloak, not unlike his own, but his large, black hood was up, hiding his eyes from view.
James knew as soon as the man spoke, even before he lowered his hood and relieved his pale face in the street lamps, that it was Tom, Lily's ex-boyfriend.
James nodded, and then continued walking, but stopped when Tom spoke to him. "I ran into Lily this evening."
James turned and eyed him suspiciously. "Oh yeah, when was that?"
"A little earlier. She's over at my place right now. I'm having a little get together, you should come by. I'm sure she'd be excited to see you there."
He knew better than to let it get to him, because he had a feeling that Lily was in trouble and that Tom would in fact lead him to her, but he was certain that it would only work out in his favor if he did it on his own terms.
"No, I don't think so. I've got other things to do." He declined, and did not try to hide his anger.
Tom took the bate, just as James had hoped. He asked one more time, and when declined, he moved for his wand. James beat him to it, though, and stunned him quickly, taking his wand and quickly grabbing his arm, before disappearing with a pop to Sirius' apartment.
James knocked once, and then tried the door knob. It was unlocked, so he didn't even wait for an answer, he swung open the door and shoved the stunned man in before him, not wanting anyone to see.
"Sirius!" He called, looking around the room. He didn't take his wand away from Tom, though, and when he began to wake, he muttered under his breath and ropes shot out of his wand, promptly tying Tom to a chair.
"What the hell are you doing?" Sirius came out of his room to see Tom tied to a chair.
"We have a problem. Hold on." He put a deafening charm on Tom, and then turned back to Sirius, his wand still pointed at Tom.
"I'll say we have a problem. What the hell did you do?" Sirius looked from Tom, who was struggling uselessly against the ropes that held him, to James who was panicked and shaky.
"He has Lily. She never came home. He knows where she is, and he was going to try and take me there, but I was too fast for him." He spit out the words so fast, Sirius could hardly understand him.
"So you brought him to me. Thank you for that."
"He can take us to her. I don't know where she is, I don't know what they are doing to her, and I don't know how many of them there are."
"Them?" Sirius asked.
"Death Eaters. Really Sirius, get your head in the game here."
"Oh, sorry, I was only sleeping soundly a minute ago, before my maniac of a kidnapping best friend showed up!"
James shot him a dirty look.
"Ok, ok," Sirius conceded. "How do you know there are more than one of them there?"
"He said he was having a get together with all of his friends." He can take us to her, I know it. We have to find out who is there and then I'm taking him to Dumbledore."
"Ok. Well, I guess we better get to work."
---
James and Sirius stood outside a rundown house under the old invisibility cloak they used to use to cause trouble.
"Well, I guess we better do it. No use waiting, who knows what is happening in there." Sirius said, stepping forward, half dragging the cloak off of James.
After shooting his friend a dirty look, he said "snugglepuff" and waited for something to happen. Just as he was about to go back and strangle Tom for lying about the secret word, the run down house suddenly jumped to the side, allowing room for another house to stand next to it.
"I can't decide if it's good or bad that that house is so big." Sirius said, as they walked up the front steps.
"Yeah well, you better hope that Snape has forgiven you for what you did to him because if he does answer this door, he could have us killed faster than you can say anything." James said, reaching for the huge serpant door knocker.
When prompted for the password, he offered up "Puffsnuggle", and waited for all of the bolts to stop clinking and watched as the door swung open to the not so pleasant face of Severus Snape, just as Tom had said.
"Get in here and be quiet. Don't move a finger until I come back." Snape shoved them both into a small closet, snapped the door shut and then swiftly walked away.
"Should we trust him?" Sirius asked quietly.
"Yes. Dumbledore said that he would cooperate with us. And besides, he's only been in love with Lily for how long now." James whispered back. He was silenced, though, by swift footsteps coming back toward the closet.
"You have fifteen minute until dinner starts. After dinner, someone will be down looking for her. Down the stairs, second room to the left. Don't use the untying charm, it will kill her. Wait twenty minutes and go."
"Thank you, Severus," James said kindly.
"I'm not doing this for you two. I'm doing it for Lily." He said, and snapped the door shut, leaving them to wait for twenty minutes in the dark closet, not daring to even breath heavy.
James lost track of the time, and he began to panic. Did they wait too long? How long had they been waiting to begin with? He was just about to burst out of the closet when there was a single, sharp knock on the door because they could hear Snapes footsteps retreating.
The sudden noise was calming to James, but it startled Sirius. He jumped, and hit his head off a shelf with a bang. They stayed silent for a second, hoping that no one had heard, but they could hear the footsteps. James closed his eyes, hoping that it was Snape that would open the door so that he would at least live to get the chance to save Lily.
"What do you want me to do? Go down stairs and get her myself? Can't you two fools manage anything?" It was obvious that Snape was angry as he called out, "Don't worry, my Umbrella slipped off the hook." He closed the door with a snap, but not before giving James and Sirius another dirty look.
James and Sirius didn't say a word as they tried to creep as quietly, and quickly as they could to the basement stairs. They took the stairs slowly, and on the least worn parts to keep the creaking quiet. They could hear the death eaters in the dinning room carrying on, so they knew they were safe for the moment. They followed Snape's directions exactly, and when Lily saw them turn the corner, her eyes lit up and she held up her roped hands to tell them to untie her quickly.
"Hang on, Lily. We can't cut them, or use the untying charm. Let me think." James was cursing himself for not thinking about it while he was in the closet with Sirius.
Sirius pushed him out of the way, though, and muttered something under his breath. "Come on, we don't have long because they'll be coming for you in a few minutes."
"Thank you!" Lily threw her arms around Sirius, and then James before they crept slowly up the stairs, listening for any noise from the dinning room. Satisfied that there was still pleanty of activity in the room, they walked quickly to the front door, but as soon as they reached it, they could hear the knocker.
"Quick, get in the closet. Snape will open the door. We'll be fine." James said, opening the door.
"I don't think so, Prongs. We better open the door and run for it." Sirius said, looking over his shoulder.
They could see the shadow of a large man coming around the corner.
"I like his idea," Lily said, unlocking the door.
Together, the three of them ducked their heads and ran full speed out the front door, practically knocking the woman on the other side over. They could hear the man and the woman shouting, as they turned the corner and continued running.
---
Hmm…and the plot thickens. I'm really glad that so many people are enjoying the story... Happy Holidays, everyone.
