This chapter is the start of the really depressing stuff, but don't worry, it'll all work out in the end so don't threaten me with the Cruciatus curse. It's also the start of some pretty long chapters.

Also thanks for the reviews…keep them up. They make me happy and a happy writer is a good writer.

And Thanks to Emily who got this chapter done really fast to make up for the long time it took for the last one.

And as a bit of a side note, it was Emily's idea to make a bloody Mary bloody Morgana. So that's what that means. J

Chapter 7

Accusations

Little Harry seemed to be growing and learning more everyday. And as often as possible, Sirius was there to help him along in his process. Lily only went to help Dumbledore one day a week and took Harry along with her. Remus was working more now to cover for Lily, which he enjoyed.

James and Sirius were experimenting with a spell. It was called the No ægrotus

Spell. Arabella Figg had the idea for it. Mundungus Fletcher, a wiz at arithmancy, helped plot it out. And now Sirius and James were trying to find out how exactly to cast it. They put a healing spell on rats, then performed their experimental No ægrotus. The healing spell would keep the rats safe in case No ægrotus didn't work or had some bad side effects it wouldn't hurt the rats. The first time they performed the spell one rat turned bright orange and ran backwards. James reversed it, much to the dismay of Sirius. "It would be a great prank to play on some Muggles," he said. "Let that loose in their home and see what would happen."

On September 1st the few remaining Potters were moved once again. Lily and James joined them, feeling that since had added Harry to the Potter clan they had to be more careful. They moved out of their flat in London and set themselves up in a two-room hut off the coast of Kingston. The rest of his family was just a few feet away in similar huts. It was cold there this time of year, and Harry seemed to sense the tension and fussed quite a bit.

Daily, James and his father would walk half a mile to a hillside and touch a Portkey that would bring them just outside the grounds of Hogwarts. There they met Sirius, Mundungus and Dumbledore to work on their defense. Though they were still blowing up dummies, they felt that maybe the combination of the explosive and the sow brains were causing adverse effects. Now they wanted to see what would happen if they substituted the sow brain with monkey brain.

Remus had felt he stumbled on something, but wasn't quite sure if it would work, or if it even was useable on humans. He propped a giant book open in front of Arabella.

"Here," Remus said pointing to a paragraph in an ancient book in the Hogsmead library. The book hadn't been checked out since 1437 according to the date in the back.

Arabella read aloud, "Fidelius Charm. A charm used to hide objects from anyone except the person known as the Secret Keeper. The object could be sitting in front of you and you would not be able to see it. The Secret Keeper holds the secret within him and cannot divulge the object that has been hidden unless he or she chooses to. It is mostly used to hide toys or gifts but has been used to hide larger objects like trees. It is unusable on live animals, and is so difficult that it hasn't been used on anything since 1280." Arabella looked up at Remus. "This won't help us, it can't be used on people."

"But what if we alter it. What if we change it so that it would be safe for people? Safe for the Potters?" Remus had a gleam in his eye. If this hadn't been used in over 700 years, he reasoned, it would take ages for Voldemort to figure out that was what was protecting the Potters.

"Remus, this spell looks incredibly difficult. I've never seen anything like it. It will take months to dissect these ingredients and figure out what can be substituted for what. I don't think half these ingredients are even still legal."

"Can you think of a better solution?" Remus asked, grasping for anything.

"No. I'll see what I can do with this, and you give a copy to Lily. Maybe if the three of us work on it together we can come up with something."

~@~

The Hog's Head was dark and lightning flashed from the storm outside. In the back at a small round table Sirius pounded down another dirty martini.

"You shouldn't drink alone," a friendly voice said. Peter sat down across from Sirius.

"Hey Wormtail," Sirius said groggily.

"Are you alright?" Peter asked, motioning the waitress over for a drink himself.

"Just stressed. I wish this whole thing with Voldemort was over," he looked into his empty glass and ordered another drink as the waitress brought a Bloody Morgana to Peter.

"It'll be over soon," Peter said stirring the celery stalk in his red drink. "There has to be a weakness in Voldemort he doesn't know about. The Death Eaters tried to kill James and couldn't. So obviously there's something he's not getting." Peter sipped his drink.

"That's just from the spell," Sirius said as he gulped his fifth dirty martini that night.

"Spell?" Peter asked; trying not to sound too interested.

"Portus Salus," Sirius said slurring his words. "Remus found it." He blinked his eyes hard.

"What is this spell?" Peter tried to imagine all the glory Voldemort would give him when he relayed this information.

"It protects him." Sirius rubbed his forehead. "I can't think what it does now," he said putting his head down on the table. Peter grinned.

The next thing Sirius knew he was waking up in his bed with Remus bringing him some coffee. He didn't remember any of the conversation he had with Peter the night before.

~*~

It was the first day off for both Remus and Sirius in three months, and they had planned to spend it together, trying to rekindle a dying flame. Remus let Sirius sleep in. He tapped the coffeepot with his wand. It whistled then poured itself into a small china cup. Remus sipped the black coffee and looked at the world outside. It was already three nights since the full moon, yet Remus was still feeling the effects from it. Remus transformed in a shed in the back yard with a locking spell and a silencing spell on it. When Remus was transforming alone, which was almost always now that Sirius was working constantly, he would emerge the next day with broken skin and usually in a great deal of pain. Sirius looked in the shed in the mornings before he left for work. The walls on the inside would be so scratched up a repairing charm had to be used.

Remus had read in the Wizards Medi Journal that there was an experimental potion called Wolfsbane that would make transforming werewolves nearly harmless and would relieve most of the pain associated with transforming. Remus wanted to try it. He would be more then happy to let them experiment with him.

He sat at the table and wrote on a piece of parchment. "I have been a werewolf since I was a small child. I would be interested in your experiment. Please consider me. You can contact me by return owl. Thank you." He signed the letter and tied it to the leg of his barn owl, then let the owl go.

"What was that?" Sirius asked standing in the doorway.

"Just a note to someone," Remus said. He didn't want to tell Sirius about this just yet. He knew it could be risky and that Sirius would try to dissuade him. Remus was determined to try it. Since he no longer had his friends to transform with, he dreaded the full moon more now then he ever had before.

Sirius looked at him suspiciously. "A note to who?"

Remus changed the subject, "How is work going?" He asked.

"Fine," Sirius said, still eyeing him. He sat down at the table and looked at the Daily Prophet. "I'm going to be late again tonight," he said, summoning a cup of coffee to him. "I'll get dinner somewhere, don't worry."

"I thought you had the day off," Remus said, disappointed.

"I did, but then last night I got called in to cover for James." After a small sip he stood up and disappeared, leaving Remus feeling abandoned.

A pale man with a long face sat in a tall chair. His nose was snakelike and his long thin fingers tapped the arm of the chair morbidly. "Wormtail," he hissed.

Peter stood in front of Voldemort, shaking. "M-my Lord," he said in a whimper. "The P-p-portus S-salus spell is what is helping James Potter, sir." He tried not to look into his red eyes.

"Very good. That charm is an easy one to break and will work to our advantage, since he won't know it's been broken. Lestrange here will teach you how to do it," Voldemort pointed to the smiling woman who stood in the corner.

"M-m-me, sir?" Peter asked.

"Well, who else would it be? They trust you. Potter will let you near him; he will let you touch him. He won't even know what you're doing. You aren't thinking you made a mistake by helping me are you, Wormtail?" he asked in a raspy voice.

"N-n-no sir," Peter said while trying to control his shaking.

"We came after you all those years ago for a reason, Wormtail," Voldemort said, in a slightly gentler voice as to pursuade Peter. "We knew you would be the best person to help us. You would get us closer to Potter. We need you." Voldemort shaped his mouth into an evil grin and his eyes narrowed

.

Peter remembered the night a beautiful young woman cornered him on his street. He was 18. It was only two weeks after he'd finished at Hogwarts. The woman was the loveliest he'd ever seen. She had blonde flowing hair and lips as red as a cherry. Her voice sounded like a song to Peter.

"Come with me," she said smiling. She took him to an abandoned park. Her sweet scent still resonated in Peter's senses. She leaned in and caressed his hair. "I want to know all about you," she said in a whisper in his ear. Peter had never had such a beautiful woman so interested in him. Her lips pressed against his cheek as he told her nervously about his boring life. "Fascinating," she said, moving her lips to his. "Can I take you somewhere we can be alone?" She asked in between kissing his lips and moving to his ear. Of course Peter told her yes.

He didn't know where they were since the girl said it would turn her on more if she could blindfold him. She busied one hand below his waist as her other hand tied a cloth over his eyes. "It'll be more sensual this way," she said in a quiet tone. She took his hand and led him inside before removing the blindfold and leaving his side. They were in a dark cavelike place. When Peter opened his eyes he saw the one person he'd always feared meeting—Lord Voldemort. The beautiful woman walked to his side and transformed into a long slithering snake. Peter's legs went weak. He couldn't move. Voldemort promised he wouldn't hurt him as long as he helped. "We need you," he said, in the same tone he did this night. "They put you down cause you are such a great wizard. They can see it, they just don't want you to," Voldemort said in a voice quite dissimilar to the one he used regularly. This voice was gentle and persuasive. Voldemort promised Peter he would be one of the best know wizards and would be at his side when Voldemort reached ultimate power. The things he told Peter seemed to make sense to him. Peter seemed to understand why James had to die and was beginning to think it may be for the best.

"They are holding us both back," Voldemort said to him. "Once we are both free to practice as we wish, we will be the greatest wizards in the world. But I can't do it without you." Voldemort smiled as Peter nodded in agreement. Then was told that he mustn't tell anyone what he'd seen tonight. And most of the other Death Eaters would never be known to him, just as he would never be known to them. Voldemort told him he wanted to call him Wormtail, a nickname James had given him, as a reminder of the one they are out to destroy. It all made sense to Peter. Once he had agreed, Voldemort burned a scar in his forearm that would make Peter's whereabouts known to Voldemort whenever he needed him. He would simply press a piece of flesh in his own forearm and it would alert Voldemort to where all his followers were. When he was finally done, hours later, the snake slithered to Peter and transformed back into the blonde woman. She blindfolded him again and walked him out of the cave. Peter woke up alone on the street he'd met the woman, thinking it could have all just been a dream. It wasn't.

~@~

James and Peter had arrived by Floo powder to the Leaky Cauldron. It was busy and nobody seemed to notice the two of them get a booth in the back except of course for the witch who was serving them. "What did you want to talk about?" James asked, handing her the menu.

"I haven't been able to talk to you alone recently. I'm wondering how things are going," Peter asked trying to sound nonchalant.

"Fine. They're working us like mad, but other then that it's going well. We seem to be making progress against Voldemort," James sipped his ginger ale.

Peter flinched at the sound of Voldemort's name. He fidgeted with something in his robes. "Well, that's good then," Peter said. The small talk continued for several more minutes. Peter had to find a way to distract James. He was saved when a loud crash sounded from the back of the pub. James turned to look. Peter quickly pulled a clear potion out of his robes and poured some in James' drink. Not sure how much he was supposed to put in he poured as much as he could until James started to turn around. James didn't seem to think anything was amiss when Peter quickly pulled his hand away from the table.

James asked reaching for his drink. "Wonder what that odd noise was?"

Peter shrugged and kept his eyes closely on James. James put the glass to his lips and took a drink. Peter mumbled quietly, "abrumpere."

"What?" James asked.

"I didn't say anything," Peter said nervously.

James looked at him disbelivingly then shuddered. "Whew, did you feel that draft?" He asked taking another sip of his drink.

Peter knew the potion had worked. He was told James would feel a shudder. James didn't seem to think anything of it. James was now free of the Portus Salus charm, and all Voldemort had to do was capture him.

~@~

However pleased with himself Peter was, months later Voldemort was still unable to capture the Potters due to the protection that continued to surround them. Dumbledore seemed to always be aware of their whereabouts. Voldemort knew he had to hurry, in one months time the Potters would once again be spending the summer at Hogwarts, and several of his spies had told him they were getting very close to finding something to bring Voldemort down. It was crucial to act now.

Remus sat alone, yet again, at dinner. He looked down at his tuna casserole and shuddered. It was terrible. Remus had lost his touch in the kitchen. He also was not feeling well. The full moon was three nights away, but he could already feel the effects. He banished his plate to the sink, where it washed it and put itself in the cupboard. Remus looked down at the piece of parchment he was studying.

Dear Mr. Lupin,

We would be pleased to have you enter in our experimental study of Wolfsbane potion. Please meet the study group at the location below one night before the full moon. You will be required to stay for three days during which we will monitor your transformation and recovery. If you cannot make it please notify us by owl in no less then five days. We will be holding your place.

Sincerely,

Joseph Jergens, Medi-wizard

He had taken the Wolfsbane potion like he was instructed last week. Everyday at 9 in the morning he Apparated to a laboratory and was given a thick smoky potion to drink. It was foul and bitter. He gagged it down, then returned home, never letting Sirius know what he was up to. Now he had to come up with something to tell Sirius about why he would be gone for three full days. Perhaps he could say he was with his parents. That seemed like the best response. Yes, that's what he would say. Remus sighed. If this potion worked it would make his life much easier. He only hoped it would.

~@~

Harry gurgled at a beaming Lily, as she dipped a spoon in a green mashed food. They were sitting in the Leaky Cauldron waiting to meet James for dinner.

"Lily," came a voice just feet from her. She looked up and jumped when she saw who it was. Her first instinct was to call for help.

"Wait, please, hear me out." Severus could tell she was nervous. And rightfully so.

Lily shot a quick glance at Harry then looked up at Snape, not speaking.

"I don't expect you to believe this," he said, sitting down amidst an uncomfortable look from Lily. "But I'm helping Dumbledore now. I'm going to lead him to Voldemort, and they will battle," He paused for a moment and closed his eyes. "And I will probably die."

Lily's defensive wall started to edge down. She started to speak but he silenced her with his hand.

"I want you to know why I did this." He took a breath; it looked like this was going to be something very difficult for him to get out. "It was when we were fifteen. We had just started our fifth year at Hogwarts. I don't know how, but you started to suspect that I was getting into the Dark Arts. We were sitting on the grounds at Hogwarts, just by the lake, when you said something to me that always stuck with me. Do you remember?"

Lily looked regretfully and shook her head.

Severus sighed. "You told that you thought even the worst wizards in the world had good in them. You said you had to believe that even Voldemort had some shred of decency in him somewhere. That stuck with me. Even after he promised me all the power and everything I could ever want Voldemort never said that he thought I did good. I was his pawn. He was only using me. He was using me to hurt you. You. The one person who, I had to believe, still thought there was good in me."

"Severus," Lily said. He silenced her again with a glance. There was silence for a minute.

"I should probably go," he said. "If James and Sirius and Remus knew I was here I wouldn't have to worry about Voldemort. They'd kill me." He forced a small smile. He stood up, not moving his eyes off Lily. Then glanced at the baby sitting in a high chair right next to her. He looked just like James. There was Potter in every inch of him, so he thought, until he met the baby's eyes. He stared into his eyes and he saw Lily staring back. They were her eyes. Every part of them. He had the look of James Potter, the person he would never allow himself to like. But he also had the look of Lily Evans, the first woman, the only woman, he ever loved. A strange sense of protection came to him. There was something special about this little boy, Severus thought—his mother. He turned and left the room.

~*~

There was a look of concern in Sirius' eyes as he sat with his family and the Potters in their secured house. His thoughts were with Remus. He'd left abruptly, leaving only a note for explanation. Sirius pulled the crumpled note out of his pocket and glanced at it.

Sirius,

Something came up; I had to go to my parent's house. Will be back in three days.

Love,

Remus

He couldn't help but wonder what he was up to. He glanced at his family trying to see if they were aware of his distant thoughts. They didn't seem to notice, however as the center of the show was a now one year old Harry trying his hardest to stand up. He would put his diaper-clad bottom in the air and try to balance himself on his feet before stumbling to the ground. When the whole room started laughing Harry took on a grin and did it again, getting the same results until Lily picked him up and carried him out of the room. "Time for bed now. Say goodnight," Lily said to him.

"Goodnight, Harry," the people in the room called, then they heard laughter again.

"What is this?" Mr. Potter picked up a stuffed fuzzy bunny off the floor.

"It's from Lily's parents. It's a stuffed animal," James said.

"What does it do?" Mr. Potter shook the toy expecting some kind of reaction out of it. Nothing happened.

"It doesn't do anything," James said.

"How peculiar," Mr. Potter replied. He pointed his wand at it and moments later the stuffed animal bound out of his hands and crossed the room where it sat in a corner chewing on a piece of the carpet.

James hardly had time to voice his objection to the change in his son's toy, when they heard a loud bang outside. The room fell silent and everyone stared at each other. They all reached for their wands and started for the door. Even young Melly Potter was closely behind her mother, wand drawn. "Lily, stay here. Keep Harry safe," James shouted and followed everyone outside.

The scene that met the group was more terrifying then they could imagine. At least fifty Death Eaters met their group. As each person stepped out of the house, a curse was put on them making him or her completely immobile. James stepped out last. Just as the curse was uttered, he jumped out of the way and knocked over Sirius, who was cursed from the neck down. He stood up, realizing that with the Portus Salus Charm in him he was the only one that could help. He raised his wand just as someone shouted, "Crutacius", and pointed their wand at him. James was hit with the worst pain he'd ever felt in his life. He screamed and fell to the ground, reeling from unbearable pain.

The next scene was mayhem. The Killing Curse was shouted at least four times and bodies were laying everywhere. James had to get them away from there. He had to keep them away from Lily and Harry. He grabbed Sirius' arm and pulled him along, crawling on the ground to avoid the sparks flying at eye level. Sirius was stunned, but seemed to know what James was doing as he shouted, "Uncurse me, Prongs. I can't get my wand." But James didn't had time to stop, he kept dragging Sirius along with him. His plan seemed to be working; four Death Eaters stepped away from the others and started closing in on James. "Mortificus," He shouted pointing his wand at one, not caring that killing someone he wasn't sure was acting on his own free will would get him into serious trouble with the ministry. He had to keep as many away from his family as possible. "Mortificus," He shouted again. Another one fell to the ground.

"James, uncurse me," Sirius shouted lying helplessly on the ground. James still didn't respond, and kept dragging him farther.

What James didn't see was all the bodies lying on the ground, even his father, who tried to fight his hardest, was lying dead. He also couldn't see at least fifteen of them go inside the house, where Lily and Harry were. Lily heard the people coming inside and grabbed Harry. She had to get out, but she couldn't Disapparate with the baby, it was too dangerous. She thought as hard as she could, then ran to the cupboard in her room. She pulled a silvery cloak out of James trunk and threw it over herself and Harry, then ducked in the cupboard. She had to muffle Harry's coos and gurgles. "Shhh," she hissed in his ear. He seemed to understand the importance of being quiet because he stopped making noise and sat perfectly still in his mother's arms. She heard footsteps enter the bedroom.

"There's nobody here," a voice said. Lily shrunk farther back in the cupboard.

"The baby has to be somewhere," another voice said, walking to the other room in the house.

"I tell you, he's not here," a more forceful voice said. "The place is empty."

To Lily's horror the cupboard door to where she was hiding shot opened and she held her breath, praying Harry didn't make a peep. She could see the masked person standing, wand drawn, looking into the small cupboard. "They aren't here," his voice shot back.

"Alright. Go back outside. Maybe they're out there." The one who seemed to be in charge walked out of the room, then, almost as an afterthought, said to the wizard behind him, "burn the house down."

"Yes sir," came a reply. Lily tried not to panic. She had to get out of the house with Harry, but she didn't know how to do it. She could wait until all the Death Eaters were out then go under the cloak, but by then there may be way too much fire to get past. It was her only choice; she had to do it. She waited, holding her son close to her. She heard a rumble outside. She didn't want to think what it was. She didn't want to imagine where James was. She wondered when she was going to smell the fire. When she would know it was okay to make a run for it. She leaned forward trying to hear anything. Any sound of fire. Any crackle of burning wood. She heard nothing. Then a booming voice that startled her so much she jumped shouted, "abolere !"

The ground outside crackled, she heard more rumbling, and then the door to the house shot open and James screamed, "Lily!"

"James," Lily said, pulling the cloak off her and running out of the cupboard, Harry still tightly in her arms. She was greeted with such a firm embrace from James she couldn't remember the last time she felt so secure. Harry let out a sound telling them they were squeezing too hard. James looked down at his son and laughed, releasing his embrace around Lily a little. Lily looked up into his blue eyes and asked what she feared. "Are they dead?"

James looked defeated and nodded his head. Only a second later Dumbledore came through the door. Sirius was behind him, scrape marks all over his body from being dragged across the ground.

"Dumbledore?" Lily questioned.

"Yes, I was told of the attack here today, but only just seconds after it happened. My source didn't know in advance what they were doing. I'm terribly sorry I came too late."

Lily looked at Dumbledore. His "source"? Could he mean Severus? And what did he mean he came too late? "Too late?" Lily said fearfully.

"They're all gone. All of them. Melly and my parents. Everyone," James tried to hold in tears, but he was unsuccessful.

Lily looked at the baby boy who was in her arms. He looked questionably up at his mother and his father who were still in an embrace. Lily now held all the Potters in the wizarding world in her arms.

~@~

Remus Apparated into the living room and knew immediately that something was wrong. Sirius was sitting in front of a stack of books looking profoundly distraught. Sirius lost his mother and several aunts uncles yesterday when the Death Eaters killed them. Plus he now had suspicions. There had to be someone close to James who was relaying information to Voldemort. There was no other way anyone could have known where they were. It made sense now. That's how they knew how to find the Potters at James and Lily's wedding. That's how they knew where Lily was when she was pregnant and they captured her. There had to be someone. And Sirius thought he knew whom. He glared at Remus.

"Where were you?" He asked suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked, fearing the tone he used.

"I don't buy the shit about you being at your parents. If you really were there you would have owled. Where were you!?" He asked more forcibly.

Remus took a breath and threw the article he had in his cloak to Sirius. "They are testing a new potion. I didn't want you to worry so I didn't tell you."

Sirius glanced briefly at the article. "They're gone, Remus."

"What? Who?" Remus asked, stepping closer to Sirius.

"My family. James' family. We're all that's left." Sirius told him in a tone that suggested Remus already knew this.

"James and Harry?" Remus asked.

"They're alright. Miracoulsouy." Sirius narrowed his eyes at Remus. "Someone has been passing information to Voldemort. Someone close to them. How else would they know where the Potters were?"

"Oh God," Remus said. Not sure how to take what Sirius was saying.

"I don't feel safe anymore, with anyone," Sirius looked into the eyes of his lover, and they seemed to look back hurt and confused.

"You are safe with me. Always," Remus said putting his hand on Sirius' shoulder.

Sirius moved so it fell abruptly. He crossed the room breathing heavily.

"Sirius," Remus said in a calm soothing tone.

"There are too many secrets," he said.

Remus got a look of fury in his eyes. "Why don't you just say what you're thinking?"

"Is it you? Are you passing information to Voldemort?" Sirius asked in an accusing tone.

"How can you even think that?" Remus asked disgusted. "Think what you are accusing me of."

"You're not denying it," Sirius remarked through gritted teeth.

"I don't have to. I can't believe you would think I could do something like that?" Remus shouted.

Sirius stared madly into Remus' eyes. They had a look Remus had never seen in them before. He looked like he'd lost all reason. "I don't feel safe. Not with you. Not with anyone," he said, looking directly in Remus' eyes. "Except James. I think you should be gone when I come back." He turned to leave then shot back and said, "Stay away from them. If anything happens to James, I swear I'll kill you myself," His eyes narrowed. He was totally irrational. Sirius Disapparated. Remus knew where he was going. He knew he'd be better off with James at that moment then with anyone, even himself. Heart broken, he went to his room and started putting his things in a trunk.