From This Day Forth

by HallieU

R/R please. I lost all of the reviews when I was chaptering it. I was too impatient. Four years after leaving school, the marauders face new challenges before they can witness their fairytale ending.

2. Part 2

FROM THIS DAY FORTH

Part 2

Chapter 6 - Conference of War

Lily, Sirius, Remus and James were trying to plan a rescue. Which wasn't easy given that Felicity was pacing the floor in front of them, and Lily had given in to the nervous habit of clicking her biro on and off.

"Flick! Sit down!" Sirius exclaimed, exasperated. Felicity obediently sat on the seat next to him, and he turned to Lily, but James beat him to it, and tweaked the pen from her hand.

"Right," said James, "now we've got rid of all distractions we can actually work. Flick, how will Amy be if she doesn't get her medicine?"

"For a week, she should be fine. After that...look at it this way, if she isn't out of there in a fortnight, she'll be dead. And I'm not going to let that happen!"

"Neither are we." Lily soothed her. "Guys, do we know where they are?"

"I can tell you one place they won't be," Sirius began, "and that's Wales."

"I agree." Remus added his opinion.

"Where's Ellie when you need her?" Lily groaned. Ellie was an excellent tactician, a gift that she put to good use when fighting Voldemort.

"Here." came Eleanor's clear voice. The others looked at her, astonished. "Well, you didn't think I was going to stay away when Kat was involved did you? Anyway, the ministry asked me." She sounded quite proud of that fact.

"Well, now you're here, you can lend us your pearls of wisdom." Sirius told her. "Beyond knowing that Kat and Amy are gone, we know nothing, but we're guessing that they won't be a Voldemort's Welsh joint."

"Under usual circs., no." Ellie was pensive, her grey eyes showing the thread of steel that made her a formidable opponent. "But in this instance I think that it might just be the case. He's starting to think in the same way Lily thinks. No one chooses the most obvious course of action, therefore you use it. Whatever else you can say about Voldie, he's certainly good at learning form his enemies."

"Are you sure about this?" Lily asked. "Amy's seriously ill. We don't have any time to waste locating them."

"I don't have any concrete proof, if that's what you mean." Ellie admitted. "But I'm prepared to bet that that's where they are. It's a hunch."

"You're hunches are usually good to follow." Flick said. "What do you think guys?"

"I'm going to suggest something. And please don't shoot me down if you disagree. We don't know where Kat and Amy are, but we do know where Voldemort's main bases are. I'd guess that the girls would be held in one of those. There are six of us, and four British bases. We split into groups of two, and take the mainland bases, the English, Scottish and Welsh lairs. If none of those are fruitful, then we move on to Ireland, and then the minor bases. But we need to be methodical."

"For once, I actually agree with James." Lily concurred. "It makes sense. One night, and we get three bases covered. If we find the girls, we call the others in, rescue them, and off we go."

"That works." Remus agreed. Sirius nodded his assent, and Ellie was happy with the plan. Which left Felicity.

"This won't be a trap, will it?" she said doubtfully. "Because that's the reason I wasn't an Auror first time round."

"Flick," Lily began, softly, "in this job, there are no guarantees. For all we know we could be dead tomorrow. There's always a risk that someone, somewhere along the line will sell us out. It's not something you like to think about, but it's something you have to accept. You trust other people to keep you safe. Because that's what being an Auror is about. Trust."

"Well, it's all right for you. James is your partner, and he's hardly likely to kill you, is he!" Flick exclaimed.

"I don't know." James smirked. "The idea seems appealing occasionally." Lily thumped him before replying to Felicity.

"Flick, do you really have anything to lose? If we don't do this Kat dies." Flick gasped. "She's expendable eventually. It's a harsh reality. For us, there is no win, it's the degree of losing that we worry about. Every time Voldemort kills someone, we lose a little bit more. But that doesn't mean we give up. So, do you want to be a temporary Auror?"

"I don't really have much choice. If I don't come, Kat might die, Amy will die, and you guys will probably do something stupid."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Sirius said, wryly. "Now, who goes with who?"

"We've got four Aurors and two temps." Ellie began. "Logically Flick and I both go with one of you guys. The question is which partnership do we break up?"

"I'm going to be completely radical, and say this." Lily told her. "James goes with Sirius, I go with Flick, and you go with Remus." She got nods of assent from everyone. "Right guys, there's no time to lose. Flick and I'll take Wales, Remus and Ellie go to Scotland, and James and Sirius can take England. We report back at 16 hours tomorrow. Okay?"

"I'm marrying a sergeant major." James muttered on his way out.

"Never mind." Sirius told him. "Maybe she'll let you be commander- in-chief."

"Chance'd be a fine thing." James replied.

Chapter 7 - On the Move

Kat and Amy, meanwhile, were locked in a cold dungeon cell. Amy wasn't doing too well, and Kat didn't feel so great either.

"I'm cold." Amy complained. Kat may only have four years to her credit, but she wasn't a doctor's sister for nothing. She knew that whatever it may cost her, Amy must be kept warm. So she shrugged off her coat and spread it over her friend.

"It'll be all right Amy. Someone will rescue us just like they rescued your daddy. Maybe even Lily and James. You'll like James. He's nice. He's marrying Lily, did I tell you? Only they haven't set a date yet. Flick and me think they should get married really soon though. They've been engaged for three whole years you see. That's like forever." To Kat it was forever. She couldn't remember the days when Lily and James were just friends. "Maybe you can come to the wedding. You might even get to be bridesmaid with me and Flick. Lily said we would, and she promised that there'd be no pink. Well, Flick and me don't like pink." She was trying to hide her fear. Kat knew exactly what was going on. She'd heard her sister and Lily talk about Voldemort, and she knew that he had killed her parents. She didn't like to think about what would happen to them. Rather she clung with childish tenacity to the idea of a rescue by Felicity's friends.

* * * * *

That night Sirius and James began on their journey into Voldemort's English hideaway. They had arrived in the vicinity in mid afternoon, but had waited until darkness fell before making a move. It was a well known fact that Voldemort and his supporters were most active at night, so they would be less conspicuous in the twilight hours. Getting into the underground zone was an easy task for the two men who, in their younger days had been behind some of the most elusive escapades Hogwarts had ever witnessed.

By the time they reached the prison zone, James was concerned. It had been too easy by far. Still, single mindedness prevailed, and he wasn't going to ask for trouble. James stood guard while Sirius rifled through the paperwork on the desk to see if Kat and Amy were imprisoned in the compound.

"Cell 28." he hissed. "We've got to-"

"I don't think you'll be doing anything." a malicious voice informed him. Sirius looked around, startled, to see his friend held at knife point in front of him. Sirius could have escaped, but he wasn't going to leave James alone with these people. For one thing, Lily would probably kill him, and for another, his friend needed serious help. "You can drop the wand." a tall greasy haired man with sinister green eyes told him. "One false move and your friend here dies." He made a slicing gesture across his neck.

James and Sirius were moved along to a cell, dark, dingy, and cold, and the door was locked behind them. As the door slammed, they heard a scream. James was the first to spot them.

"Kat?"

"James!! You've come. Can we go home now?" Kat was almost hysterical. Sirius had moved over to her side the instant she had spoken, and he took one small hand in his. It was like a block of ice.

"Not going to happen, Kat." James told her. He could have mentioned that they would be out within a day, but there was no guarantee that no one else could hear them, and he wasn't going to jeopardise any rescue effort. He did wink at her, however.

"I don't think Amy's very well." Kat confided. In three strides, James had reached the other child, who lay sprawled across the floor, in the midst of a feverish sleep.

"Why don't you go to sleep Kat?" Sirius asked her. It was obvious from the circles beneath her eyes that the girl needed rest.

"It's too cold." she explained. Sirius sighed, and took her on his lap.

"You'll be all right now." he said soothingly, and within minutes she was asleep, exhausted from her vigil by her friends side.

"She's right." James muttered, turning to Sirius after looking at Amy. "Poor kid's frozen, feverish, and probably petrified.

"So what're we going to do?" Sirius muttered back.

"You're the one with a doctor for a girlfriend, you tell me." James responded.

"Keep her warm?" Sirius suggested.

"I think that was Kat's idea." James said. "She's given up her coat."

"No wonder she's freezing." Sirius said, angrily. "I knew it was bad, but I never thought they'd stoop to using innocent and sick children to make a point." He was disgusted. James used his cloak to cover Amy, and then sat anxious watch. Neither he nor Sirius dared to make too much noise, not wanting to wake the children or arouse suspicion. And so they began one of the longest nights of their lives.

Chapter 8 - Waiting

The next morning Sirius woke up feeling groggy. He had drifted in and out of slumber ever since they had arrived in the dingy little cell that they were currently incarcerated in. He looked over towards James. His friend was sitting on the floor, cradling Amy's head in his lap, fast asleep.

"Prongs!" Sirius hissed. "James! Wake up!" James woke with a start.

"Wha'? Where am I? Actually no, I don't want to know!" He rubbed sleep from his eyes.

"How's Amy?" Sirius asked anxiously. His predominant memory of the previous night was of a child who was rather worse for wear. Even Kat, as hardy and robust as they came didn't seem to be as well as she should have been. Perhaps there was more truth in the words laughter is the best medicine than he thought. One thing was certain, no one laughed in this place.

"Better." James told him. "Well, she's warmed up, and Flick said that she'd be all right for this week any way."

"This place is freezing!" Sirius commented.

"You're telling me!" James exclaimed. "Probably some psychological thing to weaken resistance. Even so, you'd think they might manage to leave children somewhere that was at least warm.

"We're talking about Voldemort, James, I don't think he makes concessions for anyone." Sirius said bitterly. "He kills innocent people, what makes you think he'd be sympathetic to a critically ill little girl? To him illness is weakness. And if there's one thing he won't tolerate, it's weakness."

"Sirius, you're in the wrong profession. You should be a psychologist." James said sarcastically. "Right now psychoanalysis isn't going to get us anywhere."

"Whatever we do we aren't going to get anywhere." Sirius informed him. "We're locked up in a stronghold of our worst enemy, do you think they'd just leave the door open and let us walk out?"

"No. And I see your point. I think I'm beginning to appreciate why Lily's worst fear is capture."

"It is? I didn't know that." Sirius was interested. "Why?"

"Do you remember when we were training we did an exercise so that we could deal with interrogation?" James asked.

"Yeah. As I remember she came top of the class for that. Why?"

"Well, when they did all the interrogation stuff it was fine. But then they left you in a cell for a couple of days before trying again. And she hated it. She was practically up the walls. Fortunately there was no furniture, because if there was, Lil would have broken it all. As it is she kept punching the walls. She hates knowing that she's helpless."

"I don't blame her." Sirius said thoughtfully. "In two years she was subjected to more doses of the unforgivables than most people face in a lifetime. I'm only surprised that she actually decided to be an Auror. You'd have thought that with her experience she'd want a comfortable desk job."

"Can you really see Lily in a desk job?" James asked. "She'd blow up at everybody in a week. She's too intelligent to spend the rest of her life surrounded by ministry beaurocracy." Before Sirius could answer, Kat woke up.

"Hello." She said, warily. "I thought you were supposed to get us out of places like this."

"Morning Kat." Sirius said cheerfully. "We are, but it didn't exactly go to plan."

"Where're Lily and Remus?" Kat asked.

"Don't know." James replied. "Probably somewhere worrying about us."

"But don't you do your work with them." Kat liked to know exactly what was going on.

"Usually yes. But sometimes a change is as good as a holiday." James told her.

"Don't you like each other any more?" Kat was confused. In her world, if you were friends with someone you did as much as you could with them before they had to go home. It didn't dawn on her that neither Lily nor James or Remus or Sirius had to worry about going home. As far as she was concerned, doing something without your partner meant that you didn't like them anymore.

"Of course we like each other." Sirius assured her. "But they had other things to do."

"But you didn't do the last thing together either, 'cos Lily looked after Amy and me, and then she did stuff with Remus."

"Don't worry about it too much Kat." Sirius smiled. "I'm sure someone will get us out of here soon."

"Okay. Do you think p'raps it'll be Lily or Remus?"

"Could be anyone Kat. There are millions of Aurors at the ministry." James told her.

"Yeah, but it would be best if Lily or Remus came." Kat informed him.

"What about Peter?" Sirius asked

"No. I'd rather stay here than go with him." Kat said. Sirius raised his eyebrows at her. "What?" She asked. "It's his fault we're here anyway. He couldn't even read us a good story or play any jokes, he just sat there. You and Lily were more fun."

"Lily was fun?" Sirius said in mock horror.

"It was a different kind of fun to you." Kat explained. "You were loud and fun. Lily was interesting and fun."

"Are you saying I'm not interesting?" Sirius asked, feigning hurt.

"No. But you're different to Lily. Lily's sensible."

"I don't think you're going to come out above Lily in this opinion poll." James told his friend wryly.

"That's what concerns me." Sirius informed him

Both men were aware that they were making small talk. It wasn't something most people did when they were being held hostage, but they were trying to keep their small companion's minds off of their current situation. And it seemed to be working. When Amy woke up, she joined the conversation, and the two girls were a lot more optimistic when they laid down to sleep at the end of the day.

Chapter 9 - Undercover Agents

Lily and Felicity were the first back to base. They looked slightly dishevelled, and a bit downhearted, but they were safe, and that was all that mattered. Ellie and Remus joined them soon after. But when, by 7 o'clock that evening there was no sign of James or Sirius they began to worry.

"They should have been back first." Lily worried. "They were closest to here."

"Well," Remus said, cautiously, "none of us found Kat and Amy, and they aren't back..."

"So it's fair to assume that Kat, Amy, James and Sirius are all in the English Lair." Lily finished his sentence for him. "Next time we do something like this, I'm going with James. Then maybe he'll stay out of trouble."

"Next time!" Flick shrieked. "There won't be a next time. After this I'm getting round the clock guards in! The stress is killing me!"

"Okay Flick, don't get hysterical!" Lily said hurriedly.

"Hysterical! Your not the one who's little sister is in that hell hole!" Flick yelled at Lily.

"No, just the man I'm going to marry, but that's not important is it? No."

"Stop it! Both of you!" Ellie commanded in a firm tone.

"Sorry." Lily said, softly. "I'm worried about Kat too you know." she told Felicity. "She's my little sister as well, as near as makes no matter."

"I'm sorry too." Felicity said, slowly. "I think I overreacted slightly. But I also think we need to start our rescue mission. Now."

"I'm not going to argue. And Ellie," Eleanor looked at her. "Voldemort's not as intelligent as you thought." Lily smiled. Remus and Ellie nodded, and the four of them got down to some serious planning.

Later that day, three girls arrived in the town closest to Voldemort's lair. To an onlooker they were no different to any other people of their age - laughing and joking. All three had brown hair, the tallest had eyes of brown, the shortest bright green, and their companion's eyes were clear and grey. They looked enough alike that they could be sisters.

"It's amazing what one simple charm can do." Lily murmured to Ellie. They had used the siblingus charm to distort their features so that they were similar to Felicity's. Lily had to admit that it felt strange to be devoid of her usual ruddy masses, and Ellie realised that as a brunette she was a lot less conspicuous.

"Do you think Robert is ready?" Ellie asked her friend loudly. For the purpose of the mission, all had adopted a new identity. 'Robert' was Remus. Felicity, Ellie and Lily alter egos were Victoria, Alexandra and Elizabeth respectively, on Lily's suggestion. They were named after three queens. Ellie said that Lily had themes on the brain because her parents had named both her and her sister after flowers. But as Felicity agreed with Lily, purely because Vicky sounded near enough to Flick that she'd remember to answer it. So Ellie was out voted.

"Probably." Lily replied. "Hey Vic!" Flick turned to look at her 'sister'. "Do you think Robbie will be ready yet?"

"I don't know Lizzie." Flick admitted. "We'd best stay out though. We don't want to ruin the surprise."

"This is going to be the best birthday ever!" Lily exclaimed happily. Ellie and Flick looked at her. They'd never realised their friend was such a good actress. Then again, it stood to reason. Her whole career was based on pretending to be someone else. Protecting your identity was all part of the undercover experience, and Lily was clearly a master of the arts.

They finished their afternoon on the town, and returned to the hotel they were staying in. Remus was there waiting for them

"Robbie!" Lily exclaimed. "It's lovely!" Anyone who was spying on them would see the balloons in the room, and assume that it was a birthday party. That was the plan, anyway. In reality, the balloons were the only thing that was festive about the atmosphere. Once the door was closed, Lily reverted back to her usual self.

"I preferred it when you looked like individuals." Remus said, dryly.

"So did I." Lily admitted. "And the first thing I'm going to do once we're out of here is go back to being me. All this 'darling how lovely' stuff is doing my head in!"

"Have you got it figured out?" Ellie asked Remus anxiously. He had been in charge of establishing the whereabouts of the entrance to the lair.

"Yep. The moor's about 10 minutes from here, and the entrance is marked by a clump of deadly nightshade. Okay?"

"Marvellous." Lily said. "We can get on with it."

Chapter 10 - Freedom

Lily and Felicity entered Voldemort's English stronghold with outward confidence, and inward wariness. They were quickly joined by Eleanor and Remus.

"I knew there was a reason why I became a tactician." Ellie said, softly.

"Shhh!" Lily hissed.

"There are times when a floor plan would be most handy." Flick said wryly. "You know, the ones that say 'you are here' and have a little red spot showing where you are."

"I wasn't aware that Voldemort ran a shopping complex." Lily murmured. "Just follow Remus and I. We know where we're going."

Flick turned to Ellie, smiling wryly.

"You'd never guess they'd done this before." She said.

"I'd view it as a good thing." Ellie said. "I'm glad they know what we're doing, because I certainly don't."

"I think this is one of those improvisation exercises that Lil's so keen on." Flick informed her.

The four intruders hurried through the maze of corridors and passages, Ellie and Flick getting more and more dizzy as they followed Lily and Remus through twists and turns, over underwater streams and through tunnels designed to hide even the most conspicuous of occupants from view. Their was a tension in the air, all four of them knowing that what they were doing was incredibly risky. If James and Sirius had already been captured then their enemies would have been alerted. Survival instincts told Felicity that what they were doing was incredibly stupid, and the chances of getting out now that they were in were minimal.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours of foot slogging, Remus halted, Lily stopping just behind him. Ellie and Flick, who weren't expecting the sudden halt ploughed into her.

"Careful." She cautioned. "This is the brig. If there's one thing we don't want to happen, it's being caught here."

"Lil, I don't want to get caught anywhere!" Flick exclaimed.

"Who does?" Remus asked. "Just watch your back. Somewhere like this, nothing is as it seems."

"Well, that was comforting to know." Came Felicity's sarcastic tones.

"Why don't we just get on with it." Ellie suggested patiently.

"Best idea I've heard in a long time." Lily agreed. "Come on Remus, move it!"

Study of a chart in the corner told Remus that they were looking for cell 28. He was about to inform them of this when Ellie hissed that someone was coming. Which was when Lily produced James' Invisibility Cloak. The four of them squashed under its folds, silently, although Remus, Felicity and Eleanor were dying to know how she had come to have James' cloak. That could wait until the threat of discovery was over.

"Are you sure you heard something?" They heard a harsh voice ask.

"I'm telling you I heard something." A high pitched squeal answered.

"You're a nervous minded fool." The first speaker hissed. "Our master will hear of your cowardice."

There was the sound of footsteps which gradually died away, and then Lily pulled the cloak off of them, folded it and placed it in her bag.

"Later." She said. She looked at Remus questioningly, and he nodded. He took the lead, and they followed him to a nondescript wooded door, with a single marker telling them it was their destination. A wrought iron 28. Remus muttered a simple spell, and the door unlocked.

Sirius and James looked up when four people rushed into their cell. When they saw who the intruders were they scrambled to their feet, broad grins on their faces. Felicity snatched Kat, and Lily grabbed Amy. They were about to apparate away when James stopped them.

"What about my cloak and our wands?" He asked. "They took them when they got us."

"I've got them." Lily told him. "Now let's get out of this joint before something bad happens." She didn't need to say it twice. In a split second they disappeared, leaving no trace of their brief period of victory.