Disclaimer: see previous chapters.

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Lily slammed the door as she came in the house after James.  The only way she could show her fury without screaming her head off was to use up as much energy as possible without actually hitting him with anything.  He hurried upstairs while she straggled in the kitchen and tried desperately to look for a cocktail.

After about a minute of tearing through the fridge she found an old bottle of Kahlua that dated back to 1970.  She surveyed it briefly and remembered that it was a wedding present from Sirius and Diana, as a joke.  She snorted, but brushed it off anyway and then began searching for a glass.  She forgot about her little bad liquor experience and cheerfully threw some ice into her wedding goblet and poured eagerly. 

It tasted old and bitter, and her throat burned with every gulp she took.  Then she caught her reflection in the window.  She saw herself, 23, alone in her kitchen with an ancient bottle of Puerto Rican rum and disgustingly unsatisfied expression on her face. 

"What are you doing?" she asked, out loud to her reflection.  This wasn't her.  She was not going to get drunk twice in the same day, especially after such a bad reaction the first time.  There were other ways of dealing with this, she thought.  She wasn't going to act middle aged and depressed before her time.  She refused.

"What?" she heard a voice behind her say.  She turned around and saw James leaning against the doorframe, oddly pleased.  He flicked on the light switch.  She hadn't seen him come downstairs.  Since they lived in a Muggle flat, it had electricity.

"Um, nothing." Lily replied quickly.

"What is that in your hand?" he asked, referring to the rum.  "Is that—" he started, walking over to get a better picture.  He grabbed it and started to laugh.  "Where did you find this?"

"It was in the back of the refrigerator." She muttered, uncomfortably scratching her head.

"God, this must be ten years old." He said, looking at the label.  "Sirius gave us this."

"On our wedding day.  It was a gag gift." She said, taking it back.  She gently placed it in the sink.

"Yeah.  It was funny." He said, remembering.  "Well, now that you've opened it how bout pouring me one." He said, taking his own glass.  She shrugged and did so. 

"You're not going to like it." she warned.

"I'm sure I'll be able to handle it." He took a sip and quickly spit it back into the sink.  "Oh, that is ghastly." He said, spitting every essence of it out of his mouth.  "Why on earth would you want to drink that?" he said, filling the glass with water.

"I told you so." She laughed.  "Besides, I try not to be sober around you for too long."

"And why is that?" he asked, amused. 

"You see, I start thinking really hard, and that's dangerous." She was half kidding when she said this.

"Dangerous huh? I see." he said, wiping his mouth.  "What sort of things do you think about?"

"Things I shouldn't be thinking about." She said evenly.

There was a pause, and he looked into her eyes, trying to uncover her emotions without letting her know it.  "You're mad at me." He sighed, and ran his hand through his hair.  "I can tell."

"Yes I am." She said, honestly.

"Well, I am sorry to hear that, Lily, I really am.  I don't know what else to do, what else to say—"

"I don't want to hear it James, I really don't." she said, drained already of the conversation.  "You don't have to say anything.  Just give me few days.  Then, I'll see you the way we both want me to see you.  It just gets harder every time I think for too long.  It always goes back to the same thing."

"What do you mean?"

"I know you try James, I know you do.  And I adore that you love me that much, I really do.  But right now, I want nothing better than to take this glass right here, and jam it right between your eyes." She said, with callousness in her voice.

"You know, honey that—"

"Hurts you does it?  Well good, I want it to.  I hope it hurts like hell, and do you know why?"

"Because I deserve it." he said, unquestionably.  He just stared at her, expressionless.

"Precisely." She said, and hopped on the counter.

"But, Lily, you know…..you know how sorry I am and that I honestly would never—We were doing so good--"

"Stop it! Stop it!" she yelled frustratingly.  He just didn't get it, and she was growing impatient.  "You're caught, and I caught you!  You cannot talk your way out of this, do you hear?  I don't want an apology.  I don't want sympathy, or affection.  In fact, honestly, I only want one thing from you, and right now I am afraid I may be too angry to even enjoy it!"  She didn't really know what she meant by this, but she let it pour out anyway.

James smiled at her, letting her rant on as she pleased.  As long as it makes her happy, he thought, she could say whatever she liked.

"So what you are saying, my love, is that you can't even look at me……but you can sleep with me?"

She thought about this for a moment.  "I'd say that was about right." She said, coldly.

"So you could just sleep with me, without feeling any emotion, not love or tenderness, or even general partiality?"

"Well, why not?  You do it all the time."  He voice was getting lower.  She hadn't the energy to yell like she had intended.

"That's not true." He spit out, rather hurriedly.

"Sure it is, don't deny it.  You are a man after all." She said, airily.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" he said, curtly.

"It means whatever the hell you want it to mean."  She felt weary; she wanted to go to bed.  This day was over as far as she was concerned.

"Mm hmm." He said, rolling his eyes at her.  "Get down from there." He commanded, childishly.  If they were going to talk he wanted them to be eye to eye, even though he was eight inches taller than she was.

"What for?" she answered, and began swinging her legs to bother him.  "I like it up here.  I have authority up here."

"You could think that if you want." He said, shrugging and walking over to her.  "If it makes you happy."

"It does." She said, evenly.  "It doesn't take much."

"Well I would rethink that one." He said, and grabbed her hand.  He intertwined her fingers with his and she let him.  "You're pretty high maintenance."

"No I'm really not. You should know that—"

"I'm kidding." He said, looking into her eyes.  "But do I make you happy, Lily?"

"If you didn't you wouldn't be here, James.  Well, I wouldn't be here."

"But you hate me right now, don't you?  This morning you didn't."

"No, but, I don't know.  It doesn't matter. You've been so…..well, I have enjoyed your company tremendously lately.  Sometimes you just bother me." She said, almost fondly.

"So what is it then? I don't really understand.  You were fine until you came back outside that first time.  Did Diana say something to you, about me?  Did Sirius?" he was getting frantic.

"No, no, don't worry, he didn't betray you." She said, hopping off the counter and heading upstairs.  "He kept your little secret."

"Hold on, Lily, wait." He pleaded, going up after her.  He didn't even want to think about what she had meant by this, but he was certain she knew.  How could she not, by now, he thought.

She turned around in the middle of the stairs.

"What is it?" she replied hotly.  He caught up with her and crouched down on the step she was standing on.  She had no choice but to join him there, leaning against the banister.

"Please, Lily. Don't be this way now.  You know that if I don't have you I've got nothing." He whispered.

"Yeah, so you tell me." She said, unflinching.

"Lily…" he said, wanting her to soften

"I know." She sighed, complying.  "I'm sorry.  So…..what is it, why am I sitting here?" she said, noticeably changing the subject.

"Oh….yes." he said, smiling.  "I never did get the chance to give you your present.  That is, if you want it."

She had no choice but to smile back.  "Well, of course I want it silly.  Where is it?  We don't have to apparate to it do we?"

"No, no.  But come upstairs and I'll give it to you." He said, getting up and walking into the bedroom.

"There is an awfully unnecessary amount of set up for this you know.  It had better be worth it." she said, getting up and following him.  When she entered the room she was somewhat touched by the decoration.  There were a dozen roses on the bed and a few candles were lit.

She was almost in tears at this hopeless attempt to win her affection. "Oh James, you really are clichéd."

"Thanks for ruining it." he said, smirking.  He came up behind her and put his hands around her waist.  He guided her to the bed and she sat down on it lightly.  James walked over to his dresser drawer and she saw him rummage through it, searching for something.  When he found it he tried to hide it but she wasn't fooled.

"Let me have it." she said, rather impatiently.

"Ok." He said.  "But first……Lily, do you remember that night, when we first got back together, when we had that ungodly fight and you stormed out of Sirius' house?"

"Um, yes." She said, wondering what in the hell this had to do with anything.

"Do you remember what you said?"

"Vaguely." If he kept this up, she thought, they were never going to get anywhere that night.  She couldn't think of a worse way to set this up then bringing up one of the worst painful days she had ever experienced.

"Well, you called me a hypocrite and said I was selfish and that I was the stupidest man you had ever met in your life."

"Get to the point James." She said, rolling her eyes.  "I know what I said."

"I'm getting there.  Anyway, you threw your wedding ring at me, do you remember that?"

She nodded.  Then she glanced at her left hand.  It did appear unnaturally bare without her wedding ring.  She had forgotten about it this whole time.  She was absorbed in other things, more vital things, it seemed.  "What about it?" she asked. 

James pulled out a little black box and placed it on the bed in front of her.  She looked at him strangely, then picked it up herself.  She opened it, and sure enough, there it was.  It had been polished, she could tell, but when he put it on her finger it felt right, like it had never left.

"Re- gifter." She said trying desperately to hide a smile.

"Hold on, there's more.  I just felt that I should give this to you, to show you that I don't want to go anywhere, and I don't want you going anywhere." He said.

"Oh, so it's a leash too? Clever."

"No, darling, not a leash.  But it's different this time."

"The ring?" she asked.  "Looks the same to me."

"Look inside the stone and you'll see." He said, eagerly.

"It's too small. I can't see anything." She said, peering into it.

"Rub on it."

"What? Is a genie going to pop out?" she said, cutely.

"That'd be kind of creepy, wouldn't it?" he chuckled.

"Mm." She said, nodding.  Then she looked at him, shrugged and began to rub on the stone.  Instantly, an image came out of it, like a hologram.  She jumped back in surprise, but then stared closely at what seemed to be the image of people, like the stone was a movie projector.

As she stared closer the images became clearer and she could tell who they were and where they were.  They were in the Hogwarts courtyard, by the lake.  It was everyone she would have wanted to see.  She saw herself first, soaked and wet in her weekend clothes.  She was shivering but laughing.  She picked up a bucket that was carelessly thrown to the side and she dipped it in the lake.  She saw herself sneak up on her seventeen-year-old husband and dump it over his head with all her might.  He screamed and started chasing her.

In the background she could see Diana and Sirius lying down on the grass, Diana trying to get a tan, while Sirius tried to analyse the clouds.  She saw her laugh at him and kiss him, taking her sunglasses off, while he pushed her hair away from her face.

Katrina and Peter were playing Gobstones a few feet away from them while Remus and Nicole had their feet in the water, hand in hand.

Lily saw James catch her and throw her to the ground while she childishly tried to fight him off, not expecting to win.  He started to tickle her and she laughed like a hyena, all the while getting grass stains and dirt all over her clothes.

She heard Sirius yell, "Shut up Prongs!" before getting up.  Diana followed as they tried to pry James off of her.  When he was off Lily pulled Diana down on the ground beside her, giving her a sisterly hug, which Diana didn't understand.

"What's this for?" Diana asked, and it sounded like an echo.

"I just love you Renton, that's all." Lily said, beaming. 

"Well Lily, you know what they say, God made us friends, but fate made us sisters." She answered.

"That's exactly right." Lily said laughing.  "You are my sister, and I'm glad you're home."

"Me too honey." She said.

"You look happy."

"I am." Diana said, beaming. "Bout time right?"

"Perfect timing too, with all of us together now. This is what I missed. This is what I wanted."

"Me too, I guess." She smiled, again.

"Isn't this nice?" Lily said.  "Being in love with best friends."

"It's nice to not get treated like shit is all I can say." Diana said, looking around.  "Wait, where are our stupid boyfriends?" Diana asked, and before she knew it they heard two roars and they were drenched again, from head to toe with lake water.  Lily and Diana tried to get up but they slipped and fell down again in a fit of hilarity.

James and Sirius picked them up, only to be attacked by them again, and the boys running for their lives.  They hid behind Remus and Nicole who had no choice but to join in.  They kicked and splashed to get away but Nicole was forced up by James, creating a puny shield for him.

"Portman, whose side are you on?!" Lily shouted playfully.

"Leave me out of this—" she shouted back, until she too, was covered with water.  "Lupin!" she screeched.

All Lily saw after that was water flying, people laughing and playing, until it became one giant water park and they were soaked to the skin with lake water.  By now, even Katrina and Peter joined in, their game trampled while the boys were being chased by their girlfriends.

Lily had never seen herself so happy, with wet hair, which was frizzy now, and sagging clothes, finally catching up with James and him grabbing her and kissing her all over.  She remembered that day.  It was a week before graduation, and it was the hottest day of that year.  It was the time when they couldn't get enough of each other.  They were intimate by then, and she loved him.  It was probably puppy love at the time, but she felt he could do no wrong, that he was perfect, and he felt the same way about her.  She even respected him, and he took her seriously.  It was, in her opinion, the best part of their entire relationship, when James had to fight for her.

The reel ended and Lily was taken back to her world now.  Her eyes felt salty she was so touched.  She looked at her hand again, and then at him. He looked like he was about to cry too.

"Oh babe." She said, trying not to crack her voice.  She sniffed once and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly.  "How—How did you know?" she whispered. 

"Because." He answered.  "It was the same for me."

She let go and stared deep into his hazel eyes.  "You're good." She said, before she leaned in and kissed him.  "How did you do that? Put a Pensieve in a ring?"

"Now that's my secret.  I have to leave some mystery for you."

"I think I've had enough mystery for one day, ok?"

"Ok. Happy Birthday, Lily. And I want you to know, anytime you think I don't love you, or don't respect you, I want you to remember. Because I am that same guy, I really am. Just like right now, I see you as that girl."

"Why do you have to do that?" she asked.  "Make me all softy when I really want to be mad at you."

"See, then it worked." He said.  "You know you adore me, even if I can be a pain in the ass."

"Yes, but you're my pain in the ass." She said, jokingly.

"Lucky you." He said, and adjusted his position on the bed so that he was lying down.  It was dreadfully late, Lily noticed, and she began to yawn.

She crawled to her pillow and took the same position.  He grabbed her hand and drew her closer to him, resting her head in the nook of his arm.  She liked it there.  She felt safe there.  It didn't take long for the both of them to fall asleep.  Lily stayed awake longer, thinking about the day in general, and what she had discovered. 

Then she realized.  It didn't matter who she was, James' mistress.  It didn't matter because Lily knew that knowing would just make her more insecure.  But she did know, although she was relieved, yet hurt at the news, that he wasn't faking anything.  She always knew he loved her and she never really did know why.  She figured that after all the shit and all the fights and useless arguments and accusations, that they had once been inseparable.  They had once been James and Lily, one word.  He was her first, and would be her last, she knew that.  And she remembered how happy she was, fully confident about their relationship.  She trusted him then.  He was so hard to trust now because of how many times he had lied to her. She didn't know he was capable of such deception. 

This is what made it so confusing, because if he had changed, then she must have, because she never loved him less.  And if they could survive each other and they could survive this, then they could survive anything, really.  The past months, she noticed, he had tried exceptionally hard to made her happy, which showed he wanted her and he loved her and that they could be as they were, even for a little while.  Sure he was a bit cocky and naïve, but he was brave and smart and funny too.  He had never lost those qualities, even when they fought.  She knew Narcissa would show herself too, in time.  She knew Narcissa to be clingy and she knew James didn't end things well.  But that was another time, and not that night, she thought.  I am allowed to love him tonight…

4 a.m……….The Black Residence.

Diana woke up in a cold sweat.  She hadn't had a nightmare, and the baby wasn't in distress.  She didn't feel queasy or sick, but she by no means could go back to sleep.  She had only been sleeping for two hours but now she was as wide awake as she could ever be.

She hurried out of bed, careful not to wake her sleeping husband, and went into the kitchen.  She could feel it.  It was faint at first; so faint she thought she imagined it, that she was just being paranoid and overreacting.  It could just be an itch, she thought.

I'm just hungry, that's it, she reasoned.  I just need some food. I am imagining things.  She went to open the refrigerator door and when it was halfway open she felt it again, stronger than the last time.  She let out a painful squeak and jolted backwards onto the counter, clutching her left arm.

"No, not now." She whispered.  The burn intensified and as she looked at her arm she saw the faint outline of it.  It was read with a throbbing sensation.  "No, no, no, no….." she muttered, lightly pounding her fist on the table.

"Diana, are you alright?" asked a yawning and slightly puzzled Sirius.

"I have to go." She said, straitening up.

"What? Go where?" he asked, edgily.

"Work." She said, simply, walking past him and throwing off her nightgown.

"Nice try." He said.  "Why now?" he said, getting irritated.

As she grabbed the nearest thing in her closet she shot him a disbelieving glare.  "You know what Dumbledore said." She said.  "I—I'm going to Lily's. We have to leave from there." She was dressing hurriedly, not stopping to look and see if she matched.

"You're not going to—to one of those things are you." He stressed slowly.

She looked at him.  "I have to."

"Oh no you don't! You are pregnant and I'll be damned if I let you deliberately put yourself in danger.  Lily can go by herself"

"Don't be stupid Sirius." She said.  "Lily doesn't know where she's going—"

"I don't like this Diana. I don't want you to go—"

"Well it's not your decision." She said, flatly.  Then she sighed, fully dressed, and putting her hair back.  "Baby, I know that this is hard, and believe me I have more care to stay than will to go, but I also know, that if it was you, you wouldn't go back on your orders and stay in the house like a good boy.  You would fight, which is what I have to do now." She said, extremely professional.

He sighed. "Are you sure?"  She nodded.  "Be careful."

She smiled and put her hand on his cheek.  "I will. If I'm not back before tomorrow morning, go to James' and stay there." She warned, her voice cracking with anxiety.

"Jesus Diana." H said, worriedly.  "Don't say shit like that."

"Bye." She said, and opened the door waving him goodbye.  He waved back and she apparated on the front lawn.  When she got to Lily's she didn't bother ringing the doorbell or knocking.  She said a simple "Alohomora" half-heartily and ran upstairs.  When she got there Lily jolted up at the sound of the intruder, grabbing her wand from her bedside, which jolted James awake.

"Get up Lily." Diana said, rushing into her room.

"What the—" James started, rubbing his eyes.

"What the hell is going on?" Lily said, unnerved by her sudden wake up call.

"We have to go." She answered.

"What do you mean? Go where?" Lily asked, forcing herself out of bed.

"Good, you're dressed." Diana said, not listening.  "It'll make this quicker."

"Is there a mission Di?" James asked, as he instantly became more alert.

"No, James, you stay here." She answered.

"What is this Diana? What happened?" Lily said, still clutching her wand.

"Well Lily." She began.  "Lets just say we are missing a very important meeting……." She said eyeing Lily closely, hoping that she understood.  She did, and nodded silently. 

"Now?" Lily whispered. 

"I don't understand." James said, looking back and forth form Lily to Diana.  "Where are you two going?"

"We'll be back later, James." Lily said, searching frantically for her invisibility cloak.  When she found it she sighed out of relief.  Diana already had hers in her robes.

"Is this for the Order?" he asked.  "Just tell me and I'll shut up."

"Yes." Diana said.  He nodded, although he looked very troubled indeed.

"Don't worry James." Lily said, noticing his expression.  "I'll see you tomorrow."

"And if we're not back by tomorrow morning." Diana said.  "Sirius is coming here to stay, alright."

"Why would he need to—"

But it was too late, Diana and Lily had already dashed down the stairs, ready for whatever they were required to do.  When they got outside, Lily looked to Diana for directions.

"Well?" she asked.  "Where do we go exactly?"

"Well we're supposed to apparate there, but we can't that would be a death wish.  We're going to walk." Diana said, the sweat on her brow becoming more apparent.  She wiped it away with her sleeve.  It was summer after all, and it had to be at least 90 degrees.

"Yes, but walk where?" Lily asked frantically.

"It's not far." Diana said, picking up her pace.  "I'm not going to wait for you, we are late as it is."

"Oh shit Diana." Lily said.  "Um, I'm a little—"

"Don't be silly.  You know I can't do it by myself. I'm scared Lil, I'm not going to lie.  But, if we can accomplish something without being killed, then, well, I think we should stop it and move on.  It's different now, and they won't be expecting anything.  Its not like they'll see us."

"But what if they do?" Lily asked, trying to keep up.  For a pregnant woman she was walking unusually briskly.  Then she stopped.

"If they do. Well, then we just curse until we can't speak anymore.  I—well, I sort of know what I'm doing.  If he's there, which I doubt, then…….we just have to be careful, Lily." Diana took two deep breaths, calming herself down, and continued walking.

They rounded on a street, one that Lily recognized.  It was the street she had crossed months ago, when she had battled the Death Eaters in the middle of this very street.  It was a dodgy street, and there were no cars or people.  The buildings were unfinished and condemned.  It was a dead end too.  Diana looked around, closing her eyes and thinking with all the energy she had.  When she opened them she looked determined and scared at the same time.  She stopped abruptly in front of a particularly shabby door, one that Lily felt she had recognized.

"This is it." Diana said, noticeably shaking.  Lily saw her trying so hard to stand her ground, but she felt she might cripple if she didn't keep her mind centred on what they were supposed to do.  "Alright, get out your cloak." Diana ordered.

Lily did as quickly as she could, looking around her frantically, not wanting to be seen.  When they both were successfully invisible they looked around again.  Diana was the first up to the door.  It creaked open slightly, and Lily followed.

"Silence yourself." Diana whispered.

"But what if I need to speak to you?" Lily asked.

"Don't. Just listen.  When it's over we will wait behind and be the last to leave, do you understand?  We can talk after.  We can't risk it Lily, we just can't."

"Alright." Lily said.  "I love you Renton." Lily said, shakily.

"Don't be silly." Diana said, slightly chuckling.  "But I love you too.  Silencio." Diana whispered, and that was the last thing Lily heard her say.

As they entered the building, slowly and cautiously, Diana stuck her hand out of the cloak so that Lily could see it.  She groped for Lily's hand and Lily gave it to her.  The cloaks were joined and they could see each other under their own protective tent.  Diana tried to smile at Lily, but Lily could tell she was by no means comfortable in this desolate place.  She hoped to God that they would get out of this, for it was incredibly dangerous.

They rounded a particularly dark corridor when they both saw a light, a dim one, at the far end of the hallway.  Silencing their footsteps as well they drew closer, fearful that their hearts were beating too loudly that they could be heard.  The door was open, obviously and Lily's heart stopped at the sight that met her.

There weren't many, only ten or so by the looks of it, and as she scanned the room, it appeared that Voldomort was nowhere to be found.  This relaxed her a little bit.  Death Eaters she felt she could handle.

They were masked and robed and no one was speaking except for one person.  They were standing, listening fixedly. As they drew closer, but careful enough to stay to the back, they recognized the voice, and from the far corner, they could see the face of Rodolphus Lestrange.  Lily looked at Diana once, whose chest was heaving.  She squeezed Lily's hand tighter for support.

"Now then!" Rodolphus said.  "As I was saying…….." he paused for emphasis.  "What has been happening has been a total and utter disgrace! His Lordship was not pleased." He said as he gulped at the thought, and they saw the crowd shift uncomfortably.

It was then that Lily and Diana noticed that he had a scar than ran down his face, from the bottom of his earlobe to the beginning of his shoulder.  It was only seen when the candlelight flickered a certain way.  It was clear to both of them, that Rodolphus had been punished.  His eyes were also droopier than last they saw him.

"Now, he does not know about this meeting." He continued, his voice trying to sound stronger.  "It is for us only, the original inner circle, all twelve of us—"

"Eleven." They heard a woman say.  It was Bellatrix.  "One of us is missing, well, voluntarily so anyway."

Diana swallowed loudly.

"Right." Rodolphus said, smirking at the thought.  "But no matter……" he dismissed the interruption.  "We had one job to do, and one only.  Now it wasn't difficult.  In fact, it was rather easy.  All we had to do, this one miniscule thing……..kill the Aurors, capture them……." He said, with feeling.  "Make them suffer as they have made us suffer.  Wipe them out, torture them, rape them, anything….." he said.  Then he shook his head.  "And what did we do? We failed.  They wiped the floor with us, why? Because we were careless that's why.  We took our Dark Lord's wishes for granted, didn't we?"  There was another uncomfortable rumble in the crowd.

"Must you speak to us in this way Rodolphus?" the voice of another man spoke, sounding ostensibly bored.  "No one appointed you leader of the circle did they? We are not children.  We don't need to be spoken to in questions." He said, uniformly.

"Well Lucius, when you call a meeting you can speak to everyone any way you damn well please." Rodolphus shot back.

"I'll remember that." Lucius replied sarcastically.  "If I ever royally screw up."

"Boys." Bellatrix said with a sigh.  "Can we get back to the point Rodolphus? I would like to get home before sunrise if that's alright."

"I agree." Scattered people said. 

"We're exhausted." One man said.

"You can sleep when your old, Avery." Rodolphus answered coldly.

"Or when you're dead." Lucius muttered.

"Get on with it Lestrange." Another voice said, one that Lily found unmistakable.  She looked at Diana in surprise, and Diana avoided her eyes.  "Unless you all would like to continue bantering, like children. I say we let him finish, we'll say what we must, so that we can all retire somewhat peacefully to our residences."

"Excellent point Severus." Rodolphus said.  Lily shook her head at Diana, hoping it wasn't true.  Diana rubbed Lily's hand and nodded.  Lily wondered how could he look her in the face knowing something like that, after he made it clear that he cared for her.  Diana firmly placed her finger over her mouth, fearing she might do something moderately stupid.

"As I was saying….." he continued.  "These Aurors are trained extremely well, even harder than we are.  They are intelligent, let's admit, but most of all, they have Dumbledore on their side……..and the Ministry.  Which brings me to my point." He said.  "We, and I think all of you will agree, took the orders a little too lightly, and as you can see, we have paid dearly for it." He was absentmindedly rubbing his neck.  "This cannot happen again, we lost too many over something so ridiculous."

"We got distracted." Bellatrix added. 

"I know, my dear, but you see, we can't let ourselves get in the way of what we must do—"

"Let me get this strait." Lucius interrupted.  "How exactly, Bella, did you get distracted?"

"You weren't there Lucius.  I was thinking of you though." She said, suppressing a laugh.

"Charmed." He said.

"You'll have to excuse him." Snape said.  "He and I had other orders, Bellatrix.  But I doubt you will mind summarizing it briefly so we understand a little bit better."

"Not at all." She said and walked to the front.  She threw off her mask and dropped her hood, presumably so the sound could travel faster.  "Yes, we were thwarted," she began.  "But not before we put up one hell of a fight.  I found it quite enjoyable myself.  But, what my husband neglected to mention was the fact that these little Aurors, these intelligent well-trained beings, are none other then the annoying little twits we all had the pleasure of attending school with.  They neglected their disguises, you see. They were careless as well--"

"Hurry up, Bella." Snape said.

"No need to be rude Severus." She snapped.  "They are unmistakably the most aggravating people, at least, that I have had the pleasure of duelling with.  They are, and this is in no particular order, Frank Longbottom, Alice Ferguson, Lily and James Potter, my dim-witted cousin Sirius Black, and his pretty wife……" she said, smirking.

"I thought we all knew that." Lucius said rudely.

"Maybe you did." She spat.  "But neglected to tell us, hmm?  Like say, she is doing for you."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lucius said.

"You know very well Lucius that you are only here because she has neglected to inform anyone of your identity, and you have been cautious enough so as to not get caught." Rodolphus said.

Lily shot Diana another look, which she safely ignored.

"That's why we're all here." Snape mentioned.  "Because she hasn't opened her mouth……yet."

"Oh will you all be quiet!" Bellatrix impatiently yelled.  "I don't want to discuss our obligatory gratitude for that blasphemous, unappreciative traitor!  Besides, she won't open her mouth.  Not as long as we have enough filth on her to land her and her unborn child in Azkaban for the rest of her life. Well that, and we'll kill her." She said, offhand.  "And the rest of her faithless family."

"Unborn child?" Lucius said, through his teeth.

"Don't tell me you didn't know." Bellatrix said, smirking.  "I saw her and the Mudblood walking around Diagon Alley the other day.  She looks a she's been hit by a bus." She laughed.

"Ugh, revolting." Lucius said.  "Why she would ever have the baby of someone so, so—"

"Not like you?" Snape spat.

"Anyway…."Bellatrix stressed, shaking her head in irritation.  "Where was I? Oh yes.  They disillusioned us, but not before we had fun playing with them." She said, smiling to herself.  "Nosy little wretch, our Arabella.  She tried to play the hero, but I made sure she was unable to fight back.  And she was oh so generous enough to give us a little bit of information, which is why I still have some respect for the little whore.  So I guess, in a way, we weren't totally without merit on this mission."

"What did she say?" someone eagerly asked.

"Excellent question Nott.  Well, apparently, in addition to being Aurors, these little pains in the asses are part of something bigger.  That great old fool Dumbledore actually trusted them enough to form this little club.  It's secret, supposedly, but their mission, get this, is to get rid of the Dark Lord."

A few people laughed, some just shrugged in a subdued manner, knowing it was impossible.

"That was precisely my reaction." She said.  "They, and a bunch of our other old schoolmates and business partners in everyday life seem to be a part of it, but unfortunately, we didn't get any names.  She is trained harder than we thought to fight Imperious, but we got what we needed to know.  Cruciatus finished what Imperious did not." She said, smiling.  "Not to mention my very own brand of torment."

"So what, you, beat the shit out of her?" Lucius said.  "You're not exactly the first to come up with that." He said, sardonically.

She glared at him. "No, I believe that was you as far as that brat was concerned."

"You're the brat." He said.

"How dare—"

"Bellatrix!" Snape yelled, trying to end the clash.  They both silenced.  "Did we at least walk away with anything?"

She paused to think for a minute, when her husband grunted, and pointed to her robes.

"Oh yes!" she said, getting all giddy again.  She reached into her robe pocket and pulled out a large piece of fabric with silver strands embroidered into it.  "This, my friends, is something I pulled off of that ignominy, Alice Ferguson.  It's a pretty thing isn't it?" she laughed.

"Show them what it does, precious." Rodolphus encouraged.

"It's a cute little trick, really." She continued.  Then she held it up so everyone could see, then, a tad too dramatic she swooped it in the airs and embraced herself in it, erasing her image from sight.  There were a couple of claps, but mostly praises and sounds indicating awe.  Diana and Lily exchanged one quick look of shock and disappointment, in themselves.

"I think this will come in quite useful." She said; although her voice was the only thing they heard.  Then she took it off, admiring it again.  "We'll be able to do a little bit of spying on our own with it." she said, mischievously.  "The Dark Lord was very pleased--"

"Are you sure about that Bellatrix?"

She gasped, and so did everyone else.  Lily put her hand over her heart in surprise while Diana widely rubbed the sweat off of her forehead.  She was hungry, and the baby was kicking furiously, creating actual pain. 

"M—My Lord." Bellatrix wheezed, glancing at the fireplace.  People started to move away form it, except a select few.  Lucius, Severus, Rodolphus and Bellatrix stayed firmly in place, even though she started to move about uneasily.

"Now tell me Bella….." he began in a hoarse whisper.  "Why, pray tell, are you all here, meeting, without me?  Are you trying to hide something from me?"

"No—never my Lord!" she said quickly.  "We just—"

"You just nothing!" he boomed, and Bellatrix backed away slightly.  "Insolent fools! Did you think I wouldn't find out that my so called 'devoted' servants were all away from their homes at the exact same time?! Did you think you could hide from me, or that I simply would not find out?"

"My Lord, we were just discussing the problem at hand.  We were just simply—"

"Problem, what problem? You were given specific orders.  If they were not comprehensible then you should have come to me!"

"Yes, but, my Lord, we were afraid that, well, we want everything to go as planned sir, and we figured if we met privately, that it would only benefit your genius sir.  Never would we not include you, oh Dark one.  We simply, are carrying out your orders by planning ahead, as you so cleverly advised us." Lucius said, choosing his words enormously carefully.

"I see….." he answered.  "Now what is it then, that you are planning ahead Lucius?"

"Well, my Lord." Rodolphus butted in.  "We were trying to recount the events of the last attack, to see where we might improve."

"There is nothing to recount." He said bitterly.  "You failed, that is all there is to it!  It was disastrous, disgraceful…….you were defeated, by a bunch of swaggering children with fancy robes and sharp intellect.  I thought I had a stronger army, but no.  You made me out to be unfair, and savage." He then glared at Bellatrix especially, and when he turned his head, Lily could almost make out what he looked like.

"Did you want to play, Bella?  Did you think you were correct in doing what you did? Going against all I have taught you and unmasking yourself in front of an Auror!"

"But—but my Lord, she knew anyway, you know who she is—"

"Silence!" when he screamed this, the entire room shook.  Lily wondered why the whole street didn't hear, and why no one seemed to barge in.  "I don't care who she is Bella! And…. you also neglected to inform me what exactly that is you are holding! Now if you're going to withhold more information from me at least have the decency not to talk about it with such indifference!

"No! My Lord I would never—I had planned to—"

"Well it's too late, Bella, now isn't it?" he roared.  "What is it?!"

"It's, um, an invisibility cloak, my Lord."

"And whom did you get it from?" he asked, as if she was a child.

"One of them." She answered.  "One of the Aurors.  Ferguson."

"Ah….very usefull.  Excellent work, even though it was incredibly overdue!  Now that wasn't so difficult now was it Bella?"

"No, my Lord." She stuttered.

"Good……although……..there has been something that has been even more valuable to me.  What is the status on Dumbledore's little fellowship? Has anyone been keeping tabs on anything lately?" he said, curtly.

"Well, um, well—" Bellatrix began.

"We have spies stationed everywhere, my Lord." Lucius said, finishing her sentence.

"Good……and the girl? What of her, is it finished yet?"

"What do you mean, my Lord?" Severus joined in.

"I mean……has she been terminated, or do I have to do it myself?!" he said, angrily.

"But, my Lord, you said, well, that she must be punished, and death would be too easy sir.  You said that." Bellatrix muttered hurriedly.

He chuckled evilly.  "So I did…..no matter, you know what you must do, correct? I am done giving her chances.  Lord Voldomort shows mercy to no one.  I was lenient, too lenient.  It is a pity.  She had such potential……."

"What about her child, my Lord?" Rodolphus asked.

"The child? The heir of Ravenclaw?" he chuckled.  "Kill the child.  I realize now I have no use for it.  Only the followers of Salazar Slytherin shall live on, as I have said, over and over, but yet again I seem to be speaking to myself!" he yelled.  "Do what you want with her, I couldn't care less…….torture her, rape her, mutilate her, I don't care.  But, I want one message clear.  She will be sorry she deceived me.  She will be sorry she chose the wrong side. But keep her alive.  She has proved useful to me whether she is on my side or against it.  And as for the other Aurors, who have sent so may of you to Azkaban, proceed with caution.  The Potters are quite difficult….the Longbottoms shall be quite easy……it is a loss, not having our second Bella, but we have enough Blacks than I would care to mention….." he said, as his face twisted in disgust.

"We are deeply sorry, my Lord, to have angered you so.  We didn't mean any disrespect…." Bellatrix said.

"Fine." He said cutting her off.  "Go, all of you, I am ending this meeting."

"Very well, my Lord—"Lucius said.

"Oh, and all of you…. keep on the lookout for Dumbledore's little clan, won't you? I am positive they have spies of their own, who have the ability to intervene in our secret affairs.  Be careful for disguises, potions, ancient magic, methods of concealment……….invisibility cloaks…." He said, stressing the last item so coarsely and letting his eyes wander through out the entire crowd, stopping especially at the space where Diana and Lily were standing, immobile by fear and astonishment.

"Yes, my Lord." Everyone said at odd times, and in a small flash of green smoke he was gone.  There seemed to be a giant exhale in the room as his presence had left.  Bellatrix practically fell as Rodolphus went to her side, linking her arm and leading her out the door.

People began to chat as they left, about the meeting and their plans for the next day, and the ones following it.  Their masks were off, and being held firmly in their hands.  Lucius and Severus were the last to leave, lingering a moment longer than the rest.

"Narcissa at home?" Severus asked.

"Yes, asleep I expect.  I didn't feel the need to wake her." He replied casually.

"Has she begun speaking to you yet?" Severus asked.

Lucius huffed. "No, but you know women."

"What's bothering her?"

"I don't know, but I'm certainly not going to force it out of her.  She can huff and priss about whining and complaining about how this is 'not what she wanted' and how I am a tyrant who doesn't love her." He said, as if he didn't care in the slightest.

"Well, do you love her? You married her for Merlin's sake." Severus reminded him.

"I married her because she is a pure blood.  You of all people should understand that. I can barely tolerate Narcissa, always moping about, snapping at me.  But I set her right when she needs it.  All women need it once and a while, to remind them of their place. As for love, well, no woman is good enough for me to love her the way she wants to be loved."

Lucius started walking while Severus lingered for a moment.

"Let's go." Lucius said.

"What about Renton?" he asked.

"What?" he replied irritably.  "Oh her.  Severus, old boy……Renton wasn't a woman, she was a desire, temptation.  She couldn't be controlled.  She was a whore and made it very clear to me.  She wanted me to love her and when I did, what did she do? She let Black fuck her.  No, Renton was by no means a woman, which is why I had to resort to violence to tame her, the creature that she was."

"But you almost married her."

"Yes, well, we all make mistakes.  That was hers.  Now lets go, before the sun rises.  This building isn't exactly bringing me comfort."

Severus and Lucius left, and when their footsteps could no longer be heard Dian jolted forward from their hiding place and threw the cloak off of her head.  Lily stood there, and slowly removed hers too.  They were both drenched in sweat.

"Oh my god." Lily said, breaking the silence.  Her voice echoed slightly in the empty room.  "Diana……"

Diana's knees gave way and she sprawled herself on the floor, clutching her stomach. 

"Diana, he knows……..about the Order."

Diana nodded uncomfortably.

"How could you have done that?" she whispered loudly.

"I didn't exactly do it willingly!" she wickedly spat.  "I'm sorry Lil." She said shaking.  "I wanted to tell you but….."

"Forget it." she sighed, and crouched down next to her.  "They're after us…..all of us, and they know who we are."

"I know." Diana said.  "This is bad, Lily, really bad."

"They have Alice's cloak.  This means that at any time, anywhere—"

"I know."

"That's so creepy, that he knew.  They wanted it to be secret."

"I told you Lily, he always knows.  I'm fairly certain he sensed us here today.  This will be difficult.  We cannot do this again like this.  We have to come up with something else.  Something riskier, but more foolproof."

"Diana……" Lily said, cautiously.

"What?"

"Doesn't it bother you?" Lily asked.

"What?"

"Those things they said? It was awful.  The threats—"

"I'm used to it, this is nothing new.  I told you, they want to make me suffer.  It doesn't matter." She said, getting herself up.  She felt incredibly weary and she needed something in her stomach.

"No, it does matter.  To me.  I'm worried, you should be too." Lily said, getting up also and looking Diana in the eye.

"I didn't say I wasn't worried Lily, I just said I was used to it.  It just sounds worse when it comes from his actual mouth."

The walked through the hallway, their cloaks tucked under their arms, and the sunlight streaming through the boarded up windows.  The door creaked open as it had done before, and they felt a surge of relief as their feet touched the pavement. They started towards Lily's flat with eagerness, not stopping until they reached the door.

"So that's what it's like then huh?" Lily asked.

"Yep.  But that was nothing…."Diana said, seriously, shuddering at the thought of past meetings.

Before Lily could reach for the doorknob it had already been opened quickly by a very worried and tired looking James.  And right behind him, to Diana's delight, stood Sirius, who didn't look like he had breathed since she last saw him.  They both lunged at their wives and hugged them as tightly as humanly possible.  Diana laughed as she saw Sirius' face, so full of relief that he planted kisses all over her face, as if she had just returned from some endless expedition.  Lily thought she saw James tear at the sight of her, as he rubbed her back and whispered to himself, things she couldn't make out.  No one spoke, but James and Sirius hurried Diana and Lily into the flat, thinking there might be the slightest possibility that things weren't that safe outside.  The door was slammed and locked, and no one could tell who was happier to see each other, the apprehensive husbands, or the dazed wives.  But as they clumsily made their way through the house to the kitchen, Lily and Diana were flooded with the questions and conjectures of what had happened, no one knowing who should speak first.

(Whew, done. It I so late right now, you have no idea. I was worried about this chapter, and I didn't reread it so I really don't know if it turned out the way I wanted it to.  Whatever. Sorry for the wait and everything, but I had to read Order of the Phoenix, you get it.  hope you all enjoyed it!,, oh, and don't forget to review…..ALL of you…Bye then, and thanks!)