Chapter 35 - March: Blood is Thicker than Water

"C'mon, c'mon…" James whispered anxiously, pressing his back against the cold metal wall of the shipping container as flat as he could. He could see his breath, as it was nearing midnight and close to freezing.

"We were supposed to get a signal ten minutes ago," whispered Dorcas, through chattering teeth. "Should we call it off?"

Gideon shook his head. "No, Just give them a little more time."

"Hey," James whispered to Marlene. "Wasn't Remus supposed to be here?"

"He was supposed to be in Emmeline's group," she responded. "But he got held up on some business for Dumbledore up north."

"Look!" whispered Lily. She pointed to the right, where about a quarter mile away the small, faint glow of a lumos charm could be spotted. Alice's signal.

In turn, Gideon raised his wand and lit a signal as well. "Now we just wait on Emmeline."

They stared intently off to the left at the rendezvous spot for the final group. There was no light.

"Give her a minute," Gideon reassured them.

"...Maybe I should go check on them," James offered.

"No, we're staying here until we see that light," Gideon whispered authoritatively, his wand still in the air.

"What if something happened?" James hissed back.

"Potter, if you move from this spot you could jeopardize the whole operation!"

"Your brother's over there!"

Lily stepped away from the wall with her hands out to get them to quiet down. "Both of you, stop it!"

Just then, they spotted Emmeline's signal off to the left.

Everyone froze. Gideon peered around the container's corner towards the port, waiting for Alastor's final signal.

In the distance, adjacent to the ship nearest them, he spotted a tiny beam of light.

"Move," Gideon ordered.

Half of the group peeled off the the left, while the other half peeled off the the right and began running towards the water of the Thames. As she ran, Lily turned her head and saw the company to the right running towards the port as well. But to the left, there was nobody.

"Stop!" she said as quietly as possible so that she could stop the group but not draw attention. "There's something wrong," she said, pointing to where the other group should have been making their way towards the water.

"Damn it all," cursed Gideon, deciding what to do: they had to make it to the port before the death eaters…

"I'll go back and check on them," offered James.

"I'll go with you."

"No, Lily, you stay with the rest of the group," said Gideon. "James and I will go. The rest of you go on ahead and stick with the plan."

James kissed his wife reassuringly before running after Gideon in the direction of the missing group.

When they again reached the rows of shipping containers, James and Gideon began searching around the general vicinity of where they had seen the signal, wands drawn.

"Emmeline signaled, they're here somewhere," said James.

Gideon turned to look at him, but his eyes focused on someone past James. "That wasn't Emmeline."

By the time James had spun around to see the hooded figure in the mask, he had to duck to avoid a jinx. He moved behind Gideon, where another death eater was waiting and began his own duel.

Suddenly James felt himself being pulled by the collar, as Gideon dragged him through another corridor in the maze of large metal containers to lose the death eaters. "What have they done with Emmeline and the others?!"

"I don't know, but we've lost the element of surprise! We have to get back and tell the rest of the group!"

"What about the missing company?"

"No time!"

They turned a corner and had the dock in sight, but were blocked when one of the shipping containers stacked atop the maze was propelled down into their path. The large metal container made an earth-shattering sound and nearly crushed them.

"This way!" James motioned for them to head down another corridor, but again, a shipping container was thrown down to block them.

Finally Gideon stopped and looked up, seeing a group of death eaters walking on top of the maze and peering down at them. "We're being herded."

The pair kept running, trying to outrun the maze-makers, changing direction, but were continually thwarted in their attempts to get back to the dock by falling containers. Not only that, but curses began raining down on them to further complicate their escape route.

James and Gideon were able to round a corner and lose the attention of the death eaters with an aerial view for a brief moment. "Wait! In here!" hissed Gideon, yanking James into a nearby unlocked container.

There they were met by wands pointed at them.

"Fabian?!" "Gideon!" said the twins simultaneously. When his eyes had adjusted, James realized that they had found the missing group.

"James!"

"Emmeline!" She ran from her place next to Dedalus and embraced him. Alert, Gideon turned away from his brother back towards the entrance of the container.

"Get ready, they saw us run in."

"Actually, they didn't. We've put up a concealment charm so nobody up above can see the entrance," Fabian assured him. "To them the door looks locked." Knowing this, Gideon relaxed.

"Were there any chasing you on the ground?" asked Peter, emerging from the shadows of the back of the containment unit where he hid himself.

"Not recently," James exhaled. He leaned himself up against the wall, finally able to catch his breath. "But it won't be long before they come down here looking for us."

"We didn't make it to the signal point," explained Emmeline. She looked back at Dedalus, who was sitting - blood was dripping down the side of his leg and onto the cool steel floor. "We were spotted by a patrol and they got Dedalus. It was too risky to send a patronus."

"He isn't fit to apparate and the death eater that spotted us called for reinforcements, so we've been stuck in here." said Fabian.

"One of the death eaters caught on and gave us a fake signal," explained Gideon. "Which is why we have to go. The others could be walking into a trap."

"How many did you count outside?" asked Peter.

"Dunno," said James. "Four? Maybe five?"

"What about Dedalus?" asked Emmeline.

"You lot go, I'll be fine here!"

"We're not leaving you," she assured him rather sternly. James and Gideon got the impression that this had been a point of contention before their arrival.

Gideon fell silent for a moment, looking back and forth between everyone. He then looked back at the door, cracked open slightly, letting in the only bit of moonlight illuminating the container. Then he looked at his brother.

"We've taken on five death eaters before, right?"

"...Not all at once," Fabian replied, an intrigued smile creeping across his face. A challenge.

"What are you suggesting?" asked James, coming away from the wall.

"A diversion," replied Gideon, sporting a similar smile. A challenge indeed.

"...What, just the two of you!?"

Emmeline shook her head. "Absolutely not."

Fabian turned his attention to Dedalus, assessing his leg. "Peter, do you think you could walk him out of here if the coast was clear?"

"I think so," he nodded, ever willing to get out of having to fight.

"Let me and Emmeline come with you, that will make it a more even fight."

"No, James, that will take to long," said Gideon. "Once we lure the death eaters away, you two will have to get to the dock as quickly as you can."

Having no other ideas himself, James turned to Emmeline in the hopes that she would have a better suggestion. But she was silent as well. After a few seconds, she nodded in agreement with the Prewetts. "They're right."

"Wait two minutes for us to clear the area," Fabian instructed them, readying himself at the door with his brother. "We'll see you after it's over."

"We'd better see you after," James said, half smiling, half concerned, and placing a hand of camaraderie on the brothers shoulders. With that, the Prewett brothers nodded to each other, then bolted out of the metal container with wands blazing and voices raised.