Chapter 20: Of Criers and Consequences

Sirius slowly began to breath for himself. Shallow and slow. James pocketed his wand and picked up a hand. There was blackness spreading under his friend's fingernails, poison, probably from a blood replenisher overdose, but the chalk could be blamed as well. They tried two more anti-poisons potions, some basic repair potions, pain potions, and James slipped one to Remus who had begun to shake from exhaustion at his side.

After a third anti-poison Melinda said she'd go on a search for a bezoar if he didn't show signs of fighting the chalk by nightfall, which James took to mean that his friend would make it to nightfall.

The warehouse had people trickling in and out, checking for news and continuing work as the end of the day drifted nearer. Lily had begun fielding questions and organizing. Remus, still shivering like a battered feather, was eventually forced by Lily to lie down. He did so, grudgingly, at Sirius's feet, and woke often to check on his friend's status. Peter eventually went to help Lily, feeling woozy at the sight of Sirius's blood now that he wasn't being directed into action every few seconds.

Another hour stretched by and when she thought the blackness was fading from Sirius's nails Melinda breathed her first sigh of relief. "I'm going to get a shower and check on my kids, but you know where to find me." She said in hoarse weary voice, looking James in the eye. James nodded and the woman got to her feet wiping bloody hands on her robes before cleaning them with a short spell.

Before she could make it beyond the first table, a gravelly voice called from above them. "Melinda, give Lupin a once over before you leave." It was Moody. He was suddenly a few feet from where Remus who was lying on the floor his arm covering his eyes. The auror didn't look happy about what he saw. His usually crinkled face was lined with worry and annoyance. The healer shook herself out of a stare at the door to glance in Remus's direction.

"Huh?" She asked coming out of a heavy daze.

"He beat himself up rather nicely last night." Moody stated. The auror looked like he was about to tap Remus in the side with his boot to wake him but quickly thought better of it and knelt heavily, and shook him awake. "Lupin. Get up." He ordered. "I've asked Melinda to check you out before she goes." Remus uncovered his face and looked lifelessly up at Moody. He thought about covering his face again and continuing his slumber. He briefly considered arguing, saying it wasn't necessary, that he was too tired, but that would involve energy he didn't have. Slowly he sat up and Moody helped drag him to his feet, where he stood swaying next to the auror, grabbing a chunk of his robes in a white knuckle grip.

"I assumed you were simply tired, sorry dear." Melinda said rubbing weariness from her eyes and walking over to where the pair were standing, careful not to bump Sirius. "What happened?" She asked reaching out to hold him steady as he peeled his fingers away from Moody. Melinda reached her hand up to brush a fever damp fringe away from his face, trying to assess some kind of damage.

Remus looked wearily at Moody. What hurt was indicative of his lycanthropy; bites on his arms and legs, bruises up and down his sides, he was weak and achy, and if she were any good at her job, she would figure him out as soon as he mentioned it. Did she know that last night was the full moon? Would she figure it out at that moment, or a month from now?

Remus looked guiltily at the floor, but considered Moody's words from months ago. Trust rang in his ears. He swallowed back the fear rising in his throat. He was so tired, everything in him wanted to hide or leave as quickly as possible. Instead he looked up, seeing the room was mostly empty he breathed out the truth in hushed tones, "I'm a werewolf Melinda, last night was the full moon." Melinda's hands dropped from his shoulders immediately and Remus flinched reaching instinctively for Moody to hold himself upright. The auror grabbed him tightly, bracing him with a sturdy arm. Remus waited for the curses but Melinda seemed to be too stunned to be vicious. After a moment she turned her scathing glare on Moody.

"The north?" She hissed, thinking back to Remus's mission. "He's a kid-" She snapped, to Remus's surprise before Moody cut her off.

"He's an asset" He corrected giving her a look that told her she shouldn't argue. Melinda glared for a few more seconds then turned her attention back to Remus pointing with a broken nail to the table where her potions still sat. He lumbered over wearily, noticing Melinda didn't reach out a hand to assist him, and sat down, thankful for the pain potion she placed in his hand.

She didn't look him in the eyes as she checked for broken ribs and patched more than a few scratches including the deep one, only half bandaged, on his leg that he hadn't noticed was red and hot under the crusted blood. She didn't speak another word to him and her demeanor, usually liberal with hugs and warm pats, was cold and clinical. It was a jarring change. When she left ten minutes later, leaving him a potion for fever, she barely managed a goodbye.

Remus placed a hand on his tightly wrapped ribs, the job was done better then Peter or James had managed in the last three months, but he wasn't sure the truth was worth the care. Melinda would never look at him the same. He had sensed her fear, her pinch of carefully concealed disgust.

He looked down at Sirius's still body. He imagined him and James going off at Melinda for the mere insinuation that she wasn't okay with what he was, but that wasn't going to happen. James had been awake for almost two days, his eyes were rimmed in dark black and his eyelids were slipping shut. He wasn't even aware anything was going on. The dark-haired boy didn't dare let go of Sirius's hand, and Remus could just catch words whispered under his breath as he fought to stay awake. Lily stood off the side, her arms crossed, eyeing James nervously. They couldn't drag James away to sleep anymore than they could make Sirius better.

Lily did, eventually, glance his way with a consoling frown before her vision bounced behind him. "Hey Pete." Lily finally croaked, "You should take Remus home. If you have time could you make some dinner? We should all eat." Peter was behind the table where Remus sat looking lost without his leader, and though he had also had little more than a wink of sleep in two days he nodded enthusiastically to Lily's suggestion.

Remus wanted to shrug Peter's hand off his arms when his friend reached out. He needed to stay with James and Sirius, but Peter would need a friend as well, and he could feel himself getting sick from weakness. A nap on a couch might do him some good.

He gripped Lily's shoulder on the way out, the only way he could think to try and impart strength, but there didn't seem to be enough strength in the world for this.

Peter returned an hour later with a casserole and a plate stacked high with warm sandwiches, Remus on his heels. Lily sighed at the sight of him, but didn't argue.

They ate bits of food, all too worried to dig in, and continued to wait. After an hour the last of the Order members, carrying maps and charts, left, either to guard somewhere, or snuggle up next to loved ones and slowly calm down from the day's events. The Marauders and Lily were suddenly left alone with only Alastor Moody for solemn company.

There was a vacuum of calm before a chair clattered in the back corner and Moody rose to his feet. "What the hell did you think you were doing?" the auror demanded in a deep rumble, unable to hold it in any longer. Remus blinked awake from Sirius's feet, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Peter backed into a table. There was a pulsing silence until James realized they were waiting for him to answer.

"Voldemort was there. We had a chance to stop him." He finally decided to state tiredly.

Moody welled with ire, his shoulder's broadening and his scarred face becoming more fierce and angled. He was towering over them, "No! You decided to run into a heated situation without immediate backup."

"Five Order members isn't backup enough?" James snapped in retaliation. He would be damned if Moody continued to ignore them.

"Wizards die when you don't follow instructions." Moody countered, bending down to James's level and staring him in the eyes. "I've buried too many aurors because of stupid decisions. I had to cut corners training you. You had to be better." He pulled away from James to look at the rest of them until his eyes settled on Lily and Remus, "I expected you to be better." His voice tapered out with a low growl as he rose again. The room grew quiet in the aftermath.

"On a situation we had been eyeing closely for months. More than that you were holding the tool they needed to make this mess!" He struck up again but this time toward the back wall.

"No one had been monitor-" James started.

"Elphias, Mundungus and I have been watching the movements of certain illegal substances onto London shores since July."

"Then why didn't you realize they had been brewing them right under Dumbledore's nose!" James replied testily. He was too tired for this. He was too tired and too upset at himself already without Moody's help.

Moody turned slowly and gahuffed at him. He didn't need to say it. James knew. The second they found the potions tools they should have turned them over to the Order, but they were waiting for more evidence, something concrete to turn over. To James's surprise Moody said, "We were expecting something to happen this morning. We were set up to stop the Death Eaters at their meeting spot, but we were called away. It didn't matter where the potions were brewed if we could cut them off before they were used."

"Then why didn't you tell us about it? If we knew we would have-"

"Demanded to be on the front line with us, fighting?" Moody cut knowingly. He knew them well enough to know they wouldn't have said "no" to a fight even with a rising full moon.

James's nostrils flared as he stared with anger at his trainer. "That's the point, that's why we're in the Order!" He yelled dropping Sirius's hand for the first time in hours to rise to his feet.

"You can't follow basic instruction, you don't share vital information with the Order. You sneak off and do whatever you want. I didn't feel we could trust you on a mission this vital!" Moody growled.

"We found out they were in Azkaban. They were already there when you got called away. We alerted you as soon as we knew! How is that bad?" James seethed.

"Because they got their hands on the chalk, freed Crier, and now Sirius is half dead at our feet." He motioned to the still body on the floor and James tensed.

"Sir-" Remus cut in quietly, and both James and Moody bristled before calming themselves long enough to listen, "We're an…impulsive lot, I give you that, but you have to understand we were under the impression that we could hold off whatever was going to happen until more Order members arrived, and I think we did. If James and Sirius hadn't gone to check on whatever was happening in the attic at the Shrieking Shack they would have been with Peter to take me home and Kitty would have gotten out unscathed with an entire bag of Chalk. All of Azkaban could have been freed." James suspected the only reason Moody was listening was because it was Remus talking. His magical eye had even swiveled to the floor where Remus had propped himself up on his elbows.

"There is a reason we keep information and give out assignments. If you want to get anywhere with us, you're going to need to trust some of our decisions." Moody explained, more disappointed than angry. "We didn't want you there."

James flinched, and looked away from the auror down at Sirius. He knew this was the nail in their coffin. If they screwed up this bad on a mission they weren't even supposed to be on, they would never get anywhere on fighting Voldemort. He couldn't think of a defense, he was too tired. He sat down and placed a hand into Sirius's once more. It felt limp and cold in his. It cut him deeper than he thought it would, "Clearly you were right" James said, defeated.

"Clearly I underestimated you." Moody's eyes both stopped on James. "You messed up," He glanced briefly at Sirius's bedraggled body before flicking his attention back to James.

Confusion bubbled up in James. Nothing about the day had gone right, Sirius was half dead, Crier had escaped, and Order houses had been compromised. He knew his, at least, had been ransacked the night before by Kitty's cronies. Sirius's was a likely other target.

"You shouldn't have been there, by any accounts, but when push came to shove, you fought." Moody eyed them all now. James blinked up at him. "That doesn't get you off the hook." He finished with a pointed grumble to temper the sudden seed of pride floating up in James. "The lot of you are still a heap of dimwitted trolls."

James fought a smirk. He tried to think of something to say, but without Sirius's snark nothing came to him. Remus slumped back to the ground and covered his face with a half-repressed groan.

"So we're not kicked out of the Order?" Peter whispered from beside the table. Moody glared up at him as if this were the dumbest thing he had heard that day.

"No, fer Merlin's sake." He reassured, against his will, as he crossed the room and kicked a chair out from the table where Melinda's potions ingredients were still sitting. He sat heavily.

He was still grumbling quietly to himself an hour later when the floo on the far wall leading directly to Dumbledore's office suddenly burned bright green. Remus sat up grimacing in time to see the Headmaster sweep into the room and quietly assess the situation.

"Alastor." Dumbledore nodded in greeting to the auror who waved a scarred hand in response. The Headmaster sensed the mood of the room and calmly walked to where the marauders were seated. He pulled a metal chair as silently as a floating feather away from one of the tables. James waited for him to transfigure it into a sofa or a wildly painted armchair, but he simple sat quietly onto the hard metal and asked seriously, "How is he?"

James throat seemed to pinch together as he looked into Dumbledore's kind blue eyes. "Not dead." He barely whispered. He thought this would be the first of many times he would have to answer this question and he hated it. Dumbledore continued to watch him. He should be more specific he realized. There was a hiccup in his voice as he continued, "Melinda thinks he will be okay. Poison's going away and he's stopped bleeding." Dumbledore nodded and let his eyes sweep over the other three appraisingly.

"Peter, I just got word from the Ministry, Avery will be put on trial. He will likely be added to the ranks of those serving time in Azkaban later this week." James and Lily blinked in confusion at the nervous boy.

"I caught him at the gate." He looked briefly at Remus. "Remus and I got him." He explained. Lily beamed at her timid friend.

"Peter that's amazing." James said, feeling a tingle of warmth first time that day. Before he could let the image of Remus and Peter taking down Avery sink Dumbledore was speaking to him again. He tuned in as best her could.

"-From what I've heard you and Lily defied Voldemort? That is no small feat either." James glanced to Moody before looking at Dumbledore. The Auror's arms were crossed over his chest, but he had turned to face them over the distance. He didn't look as disgusted as he had earlier. Indeed he almost seemed to agree with the Headmaster.

James looked back at Dumbledore. He had interlaced his long fingers together on his lap and James suddenly felt like he was back in his office, staring at him over an ornate desk. He had a calculated look on his face that told James he was deciding on the best way to explain a wrongdoing. There was a beat where James wondered if Dumbledore would offer him a sweat before the old wizard said. "We plan, and have strength as a team, not in heroics." he explained quietly. James's heart, already pressed with guilt, suddenly felt as if it had been hit by a crushing hex.

"We felt we had to." James whispered, temporarily unable to explain his actions even to himself.

"That being said, you stopped a great catastrophe." Dumbledore's deep stare lightened, and with it James's heart buoyed enough to allow him to breath.

"Crier's not the key then?" Lily spoke up, frustrated. "Why did they keep saying that? He wasn't the key, so why did they want him out so bad?!" She had gained back some of her courage in the face of the Headmaster.

"Unfortunately Crier was the key." Dumbledore began, readjusting himself in his chair before continuing. "The young miss Kitty Crier. She had the connections to make the chalk. She imported goods from rebels outside Tare, she got Mulicber and Avery to-" Dumbledore paused, "harvest some of the goods from the young Lilith. Unfortunately on school grounds." His lips puckered in disappointment. James remembered the screams they heard when they were coming back from their trap-setting in the tunnels under the Whomping Willow. Who was Lilith though? He glanced up and saw Peter's face twist in horror, and a fuzzy memory struck him. The girl with the missing finger Peter had flirted with at the party; dark potions often involved fresh human bone. James grimaced as Dumbledore continued calmly, "Kitty Crier was the key, in the end, to freeing her father."

"What?" Lily said, shocked. "Why would they want Crier? What's he got to do with anything?"

Dumbledore pinned her with two intense blue eyes. "He is, unfortunately, very powerful. We believe he may be their key to winning the Ministry."

"And we let him go." Peter exhaled falling into a chair.

"On the contrary you allowed us to discover the true purpose of the Death Eater's attack on Azkaban. If they had been able to free all the inmates they had wanted to, we wouldn't be able to narrow down their plan. Since their focus was mainly on Crier we know how they will execute their next step."

James blinked at the Headmaster in confusion.

"Crier has special skills." Was all the Headmaster said in elaboration. "We'll know more before the next meeting."

"Will we be allowed to attend?" Lily asked tentatively.

Dumbledore smiled. "Why of course, I expect you promptly at 5 tomorrow. I wouldn't want to do without a pair that has stared down Voldemort and survived."

Lily glanced over at James who blinked back, surprised that Dumbledore had agreed with Moody. They turned to Dumbledore together and nodded.

"Well then. I need to take my leave. There are issues to be sorted in relation to the current state of the Ministry and the Prison Azkaban. Until then I will see what I can do about more comfortable accommodations for those of you whose homes have been compromised."

"Thank you, sir." James exhaled.

"Is there anything else?" Dumbledore asked kindly. James shook his head and the Headmaster nodded in James direction and walked off to the fireplace to floo back to his office.

"Wow." James realized, the events of the day just now sinking in.

Lily agreed, "Wow."

A/N- I don't really like Moody (and Dumbledore's only okay) in the second half of this, the characterization isn't quite right. If someone could point out why I would appreciate it so I can fix it.

Also 1 short Chapter to go. All I have left are quick edits, so it'll be up soon.