Chapter 3...
The First Duel

A/N: Another chapter emerges from the depths of my computer. Sorry for the year-long hiatus! Not that I think anyone was breathlessly anticipating my next release. If you were, I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience, and I'm most hopefully back for good [or at least to finish this story]. I own nothing but any special names/characters I invented. They are all JK Rowling's [bless her... and come out with the 5th book already!!!], or, in the case of Jo Gilles [see special disclaimer where she comes in], Tropical Fishy's. She is an amazing writer. Check out The Flower and the Stag, and its sequel, Just as Long as We're Together. That's where I'm taking Jo from. Read them, they're good!! Thanks, and read on!!!

Rushing down the hallways of the school, though not without first taking his daily concoction of Polyjuice potion to retain his appearance of Dumbledore, James followed Hagrid to the empty Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, where the real Moony lay dead. It was most obviously the real Moony because his fake eye and prosthesis were missing.
"So who's the culprit?" Hagrid boomed. "'Ere's the dirty bugger's wand!"
"No. I'm afraid that must be Moony's. If I'm not wrong, it will also register the last spell performed by it is the one that killed my friend." Indeed, the wand showed The Killing Curse when "Priorio Incantra" was uttered upon it. "Wizards and witches with enough Dark Power can use anyone's wand for their evil purposes."
"What shall we do with the body?" Minerva asked. "None of the students are aware of this impostment [A/N: I don't think that's a word but you know what I'm getting at here...]."
" We simply bury it. Moony's impostor will not be foolish enough to try and assume his shape again, and Alastyr had no living relations." James answered her.
"Wot's this?" Hagrid inquired, standing up suddenly from where he had been stooping. He held out a short, stubby, mass of flesh, undeniably a pale and wrinkled finger that was disgustingly still oozing blood. James stared. It was the unmistakable clue he had been waiting for, though it looked like his enemies had taunted it in front of his face.
James answered,
"It's Pettigrew's."
"What?!" Professor McGonagall screeched.
"He wanted to show us that he still can elude us..."
"What's that supposed to mean?" McGonagall shot back, but James was staring into space, remembering another time quite like this one...

******

Jo Gilles [A/N: This character is entirely Tropical Fishy's. Please don't hurt me physically or financially. I think she's a great character in the story and I wanted to have her in my fic. Thanks!] and James crept through the offices of the Unspeakables in the Ministry of Magic headquarters, army-style. Even when James stubbed his toe on a chipped coffee mug, they could not utter a sound. As they reached the room occupied by Helga Prewett, they heard hushed voices inside. In the distance, a clock chimed the witching hour.
"Have you gotten the directory?" one of the voices whispered.
"Yes, my love," a male voice answered. Thrilled at their victory over the Ministry, the two figures embraced passionately. Halfway through their snogging, Jo risked a glance at James and raised her eyebrow.
"Now!" he mouth, carefully. She nodded with caution in response. They leapt up, rushed in through the threshold of the office, and disarmed the two very bewildered Lestranges. A string of curses came out of their mouths, but they were held tightly by hexes uttered by James and Jo, trained Hit Wizards from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Their bodies totally petrified, James said,
"Mobilicorpus," and the two bodies floated out of the building, flanked by the two Aurors-in-training.
Once back inside the Auror compound, department head Alastyr Moody congratulated James and Jo on their first successful capture of Death Eaters. Simon and Mercedes Lestrange had been looking for a magical directory of all of the known giants in the wizarding world, found only in the top secret offices of the Ministry administrative building.
"What you did today was highly commendable," Moody expressed as the two criminals were hauled off. "Unfortunately, it will be years before enough "gathered evidence" and the waiting period in the laws will allow them to be tried and sent off packing to Azkaban. However, this will be an excellent first step in your careers as Aurors." The two beamed. "Good work to you. You are dismissed for tonight, but be prepared to be at work at 2pm tomorrow."
James wished Jo goodnight and apparated home to Godric's Hollow, where Lily was waiting for him. Though her job at Wenwick's Store of Charmed Offices was long over for the night, she always stayed home for James, no matter how late he arrived home.
"Busy night, Prongs?"
"As always, my lily of the valley." Though their nicknames for each other were used by everyone, they still used them together at home. He curled up on the sofa, and was asleep before she could even bring him his mug of hot chocolate. Sighing, she set the cup down and snuggled up next to him, enjoying that familiar scent he always had about him, of nothing in particular, but lovely just the same. He woke up, and pulled her closer to him. Giggling, she kissed him on the nose, and then on the lips, and pulled the blanket over them both.

When James arrived for work later that afternoon, he received some disturbing news. A memo taped on his desk read that a memorial service would be held the next day for the Prewetts. Surprised and shocked, he leapt over to Jo's cubicle.
"Did you hear about... this?" he asked anxiously. Jo nodded seriously.
"Another Dark Mark, another dead family."
"They really decided to take out every bit of the Prewetts, or at least they tried to..."
"We're not safe anymore then, I reckon..."
"No. James, do you still love Lily?"
"Every day of my lucky life, I thank my stars that she is with me." James sighed.
"Cut it out with the poet crap. You always were a sap at it, getting Sirius to write it for you..." she winced, and trailed off.
"It's ok, Jo, it's ok."
With a toss of her raven black hair, she thrust forward saying, " That's all in the past. I'm done mourning over the man I once loved..."
"But you've got to go into hiding." She continued.
"You mean the Fidelius Charm?"
"Yes. Go see Flitwick about it."

At the memorial service the next day, Jo stood with James, Lily, and Peter Pettigrew as they listened to the speakers talking about the lives of the Prewetts.
"None of this matters," she hissed. "Unless we stop sitting here and crying, we need to be out doing something. If we don't soon we'll be sitting at memorial services every day as He kills more good people." Jo went on. She was given some dark looks.
Lily said,
"Jo, stop being so brave. We're all scared here. Let these people grieve, or their fears will only get bigger. You needed time when..." she trailed off but it was too late. They all remembered the time when Jo got the message at school that her family had been killed by the Dark Side. She had cried for days, until Sirius had- stop! Don't think about Sirius! Why was it that being at a funeral made everyone think of all the dead people they had ever know, or been close to.
Just then, as the reverend was announcing the final prayers, a loud shot rang through the air, and a commotion was raised. Sweeping though the air on their brooms like the evil monkeys in The Wizard of Oz, Death Eaters poured over the cemetery clearing and began throwing hexes and curses down at the crowd below. A panic ensued. James and Jo, along with any of the other wizards and witches that had advanced training in the defense against the dark arts from the Ministry began regrouping and retaliating, but they were soon being targeting with Unforgivable curses. Screams echoed loudly in the cemetery, headstones blew apart, and the ground became littered with people not buried in graves. As soon as they had come however, the Death Eaters left. James marveled at the fact that Voldemort wouldn't even respect a service for the dead, even one he had been the cause of. As He rushed over to Lily to see if she was ok, he found her staggering around, vomiting, a victim of the Hurling Hex in the most literal sense.
"Are you ok?" he held her tight.
"I'm-fine," she coughed out. "Squeezing-me-too-hard."
"Oh." He let her go and she fell to the ground. Despite the circumstances, she kicked him in the shins and he collapsed next to her. They barely suppressed laughter, but managed to do so. Jo ran over to them.
"Are you two all right?" She asked alarmingly.
"Fine," they answered in conjunction. The love between them ran across their faces as they looked into each others eyes."
"Typical." Jo said. "Just typical. They're surrounded by the dead, the decaying, the injured and the fearing, and all they can think about is how much they love to be with each other." She almost laughed herself, in spite of everything. Then, thinking of something, she turned back.
"Where's Peter?" They all looked around. He was gone.
"Has he been... killed?" Lily asked with a quiver.
"No... look!" James found Peter's handkerchief lying on the ground, a cheap one like those found in a common store.
"Was he kidnapped? Taken prisoner? Hostage?" Jo wondered aloud.
"Wouldn't he have yelled for help? Alerted everyone that he was in trouble? He wouldn't just go with them, now would he?" James questioned.
"I just don't know..." Jo said, her dark eyes sending concerns throughout all of their minds.

Later that evening, after all of those at the memorial service had checked in at the Hospital of Magical Maladies, and after those in the ministry had filed extensive paperwork about the attack in all departments that it applied to, Jo came over to James' desk, littered with folders.
"Have you talked to Flitwick yet?" she asked him.
"No, I haven't. It's only been a day, Jo!" he snapped. "Here, I'm sorry. I'm just not that important. Why would Voldemort want to take me out?"
"It's been one more day where he could have killed you. Molly Prewett wasn't that important, and look what happened to her, a girl of 13! You just never know what You-Know-Who might do, or why he goes after the people he does!"
"All right, all right, I'll make a point of trying to reach him soon."
"Good."
"Have you?"
"No. I'm not in love, I'm not strong, or cunning; the Ministry can last without me; there are more important people that need the Fidelius Charm than I do."
"Like me?!"
"Yes, like you."
"Bullshit," he answered her.
"Well, I've got to go on patrol, have a nice night, contact Flitwick ASAP, say hello to Lily for me, bye!" She changed the subject cheerfully.
"Bye," he said gloomily, too absorbed in his thoughts about who Peter really was and what he might be doing to notice her leaving much. He regretted it later, for it was the last conversation he ever had with Jo. On patrol that evening, Jo and her partner, an older man by the name of Steve Dahlgren, were killed by a Death Eater apprentice.

******

"James? James?!" Flitwick shrilly sounded into his ear. "We've got work to do." James snapped out of his reverie of better times, times of love and passion and laughter. For months his work fighting the Evil One, preparing forces and leading Hogwarts kept him busy, his mind too cramped to dwell on his one true beloved, the only one he could ever truly feel for. He didn't want to be hurt again, and he knew that getting close to someone else would only put her in danger of being abducted by Death Eaters. He was so lonely, though.

He was walking through Hogwart halls one day before winter break, the students all anticipating the holidays. Snow swirled lightly outside as he passed a window overlooking the South side of the premises. On the pretext of checking to make sure all of her supplies
for teaching were stocked, James walked up to Professor Trelawney's tower and knocked on the trapdoor. A silvery rope ladder snaked down through the opening and a soft voice announced,
"Hello? Wo comes to visit me in the physical presence?"
"It is only I, Professor Dumbledore, come to see you."
"Oh. How nice of you to come. Please, please come in and sit yourself down- James."
"Please, Sibyll, not where there may be students." Yet he still entered the stuffy room and disdainfully sat himself down in one of the overstuffed chairs, almost relaxing until a fresh wave of incense swept under his nose, intoxicating him. He coughed.
"You are sick, your aura plainfully says so," she said, her misty voice barely above a whisper.
"Please, I am fine. I came here to see if you were in need of any supplies for the second term, to keep you, er, up-to-date, in a matter of speaking." He became painfully aware of the amount of perfume and glittery jewelry she was wearing as she bent forward, her eyes batting in a way he assumed was seductively in her mind. It looked rather to him as if she was trying not overpower the urge to cry. Ever since he had revealed himself to the professors as not truly the famed Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, but rather as James Potter, Sibyll Trelawney had been descending from her high perch into the main life of the school, if only to see him more. She had never been married, and James had the revolting feeling that she was trying to come on to a man some thirty years younger than her. He felt slightly nauseated.
"I need nothing, if only someone to keep me warm at night in this drafty tower during the winter." James looked shocked. This was being genuinely blunt!
"I d-d-don't q-quite know what you're implying, Sibyll, b-b-but if I do I don't think that's p-polite," he stammered out quickly. It had been years since he had last been hit on. What was she thinking? But, then again, years up in this tower, alone and isolated for periods of time would make anyone a bit deranged after long enough. She shed one of her many shawls, and draped another one around his neck. He felt his flesh crawl at her, but at the same time he had been lonely for all these years since Lily...
The sex was rough, to say the least. Gross and uneven might be more appropriate. Though it had been years since he had last made love to a woman, James was still quite good at it, though he never kissed her once. This is nothing like Lily, who lit him on fire, for Sibyll left him almost unaroused at all. When he was done, he put a Sleeping spell on her, and she tried to pull herself into his arms as she began to snore. She failed miserably. Dressing quickly and leaving the tower before she woke up, James began to hurry down the hall, brushing his unruly black hair down flat. Wait- black hair? With a shudder of despair, he realized that while he was dwelling over the most remorseful thing he had just done, he totally forgot about the fact that his daily dose of Polyjuice potion had worn off. He dashed into an empty broom closet, breathing heavily. How was he supposed to get back to his office and take the potion again? If anyone who didn't already know about him found out, the secret weapon against Voldemort would be useless and revealed. He couldn't just Apparate back to his rooms- the spells protecting the school prevented that. There was no fireplace in the broom closet, and he had no Floo Powder. It was only just around 6 o'clock. With a sigh, he realized that he would have to go back to Professor Trelawney's classroom, grab some Floo Powder from her stores and reach his office before she woke up again- hopefully. He was so ashamed of how low he had sunk, he didn't feel that he could face her again. He just might vomit. Dashing through the halls and crouching in the shadows, he made his way back up to the North Tower's pinnacle. Up through the trapdoor he went, unlatching the opening with a whisper of "Alohamora." He rushed over to her desk, through open a drawer, and-
"Is that you again, dear? Back for more of this, already?" His heart sunk and his stomach churned. He had no wishes of incurring the wrath of someone who could spill his dirty little secret to the whole school.
"I wish I was, but I have important business to attend to in my office and have only a need of some Floo Powder to get down there immediately.
"But you'll be back?" she asked, her voice sounding both hopeful and sickening.
"Oh, oh, yes- I will," he wrenched out, wishing immediately that he could have thought of an excuse to end their brief relationship here and now. "I've- I've got to go." And with that, he sent himself packing to his office. Once there, and after changing back into the Dumbledore-impostor, James practically ran down to the Great Hall, eager to get to the two things that could get his mind off of what he had done- food, most importantly, and people that weren't trying to seduce the old man he appeared to be. When he reached the head table, McGonagall looked up at him, questions in her eyes.
"Where have you been?" she asked, somewhat suspicious. Could she tell? James thought, panicked.
"Uhh, sleeping, Minerva." Her eyes narrowed and she gave him one of those looks she reserved for students she felt may have cheated on a homework assignment. Mustering all of his strength, her gathered an impassive but yet serious Dumbledore face that clearly told her to stop wondering. They stared each other down in a wrench of wills for what seemed to him as a long time, but was really only a matter of seconds. Finally, she averted her eyes.
"Tripe, Albus?" she ask pleasantly, in an almost all-too-cheerful voice. The conversation was not soon forgotten by either of them, though they put it behind themselves in the face of both their daily difficulties and their challenges against a growing Dark Arts side, poised and ready to fight. A battle was coming soon, and every one in the wizarding world could smell it with fear.

Not long before the Easter holidays, a mass slaughtering by some unknown force- mainly, Death Eaters- nearly made unicorns in the Forbidden Forest extinct. Indeed, when Hagrid talked to his giant spider friend living there, Aragog, the ancient arachnid reported that inter-species communication was down to almost nothing. A centaur had not been seen for weeks, and they feared the worst, but Hagrid could find no bodies.
A week later, the body of a centaur was sent to Hogwarts- a male, by the name of Firenze, along with a note bearing the cryptic words "We are coming." It could be avoided no longer. Dumbledore sent every student home quickly with an armed Ministry guard on the Hogwarts Express. He advised anyone in Hogsmeade who valued their life to flee immediately, and called all of his allies to him at the school.
A few mornings later, daybreak dawned bright. When all of the castle's odd assortment of inhabitants- dwarves, goblins, centaurs, gnomes and the like had risen, they were awakened to the sight of a large black mass flying to meet them, seen only by wizarding eyes. No matter how evil Voldemort was, he wanted to capture the wizarding world first before he launched into taking over the entire planet. He did not want to alert the Muggles, but the Ministry- acting wisely under the orders of Dumbledore, aka James, had already alerted any of the higher-ups in the biggest countries who were smart enough to listen and believe. Many were, but still some were not.
As Voldemort led the charge on to Hogwarts Castle, the air became a bedlam of spells, curses, hexes, charms and everything destructive under the sun. Bodies flew everywhere as the two bodies took their positions. Riding on hippogriff, James took to the skies looking not for Voldemort but rather for Peter Pettigrew. This was one score he had to settle first. With a cry of "For Lily! For Harry!" he took off in search. It was not hard to find him, cowering in the back of the battle lines, unprepared and unwilling to fight for his "true cause." James yelled loudly, a chilling tone, and began attacking in a duel so fiercely that he could barely contain himself. Peter was taken by surprise, and could barely block the blows, let alone strike at James himself. Within a couple of minutes, he was dead. A hollow sort of triumph filled James, for he had just killed a former friend to avenge the deaths of the two he loved most in the world, his wife and son. Before he could dwell, he was brought back to his senses by a band of flying warlocks, bent on his destruction. James fought without fatigue, pausing only to scout the conditions of the battle. He could see none of his fellow professors in sight, and it looked as if his side was suffering heavy losses. He knew he should pull back, but retreating in the first battle would not bode well for morale or for pulling in potential allies that had not yet chosen sides. Besides, all of his allies had pledged to fight to the death, so why shouldn't they. With a toss of his mental head, he realized that he was being selfish. Not all of the brave men and women, creatures and humans alike had nothing to lose as he did. They had families and loved ones. Putting a hand on his wand to call the retreating sound, he was about to haul back when a melodious fog sound noise was echoed. Dark Arts followers swooped around and began sweeping back to wherever they were encamped, for no reason apparent to James. With feeble cries of both victory and mourning for comrades lost, Dumbledore's army flew back on whatever magical beast they were riding upon or had conjured up to the castle.

Days later, after the bulk of the injured had either died or recovered from their wounds enough for the rest of the army to stop acting as nurses to them, James sat outside near the lake where the giant squid's grave lay, freshly dug. It had been killed cruelly, unable to defend itself in any magical way. The students would all be disappointed, but they would be gone from the grounds until the next school year, at best. James was determined to keep the students learning, to create a new batch of wizards and witches soundly opposed to the Dark Arts and ready to defend and fight for the Bright ones, in classic Dumbledore fashion. Sometimes it amazed James just how much he had actually developed into Dumbledore over the years at Hogwarts.
James had decided to bury Pettigrew, for he both pitied and despised his former comrade. In a private act inside the Forbidden Forest, a mound was piled as a carne over Pettigrew's body and a blank headstone marked the spot where he lay, the resting spot of a lifelong coward.


******

James stood in front of their graves, blinking furtively, trying not to collapse, though he was alone and no one would have seen him. How was it that those he cared for the most were gone from him, both killed by the same man that only he himself could kill. James could almost smile over the irony life had handed him. Though he could still only ever love Lily, he found himself gradually ebbing away from his own wishes of death to be with him again. He knew she would always be waiting for him, and that if they had an eternity of time to spend together anyway, she would be disappointed in him if he abandoned his job as a leader in the here and now only for her. It would be selfish. And Harry... well, he could just see Harry now, happy at last to knowingly be with at least one of his parents. Life had in a way gotten easier for James as Dumbledore since Harry died because he wouldn't have to worry about showing favoritism, or Harry finding out about his true identity. It had been hard not to show emotion too much so many times, when he gave Harry the invisibility cloak, when he won the Quidditch cup, when he confronted him about the Mirror of Erised... Yes, it was much easier knowing Harry was finally totally safe from Voldemort. He sighed, the sigh of a man much older than he actually was, and bent down to leave a flower by Lily's grave and a miniature broom by Harry's. They at least knew who they really were. Trapped in two worlds of reality, James felt for now that he would always be an impostor no matter who he made himself to be. Before he left the cemetery, he paused to read their tombstones just once more.

Harry J. Potter
He grabbed our hearts
As he flew through life
Always a winner
1981-1996

Lily E. Potter
Fire in the Sun
Flower of our Hearts
May you rest peacefully
True to yourself
1957-1982


A/N: Well, did you like it? Like it or not, please review. I'm a starving author that lives off of reviews. No, Juanita, not really... Thanks to all of my reviewers and all of you that waited patiently [I don't think anyone did] and then actually read the last chapter instead of not reading it just to get back at me. I'm thinking this is the end of it, but if I get enough reviews [key word there- enough] asking for more, then I'll add to it. Thank you, thank you, thank you!