A/N: Hi everyone, here's the next chapter. It took me a little longer than expected because school started and I suddenly had to do all the coursework I 'forgot' to do over Christmas. Thank you to everyone - this story now has over 300 REVIEWS!!!!! Wow, I've never managed that before. This chapter also gets me past the 30,000 word mark. With this one we're entering the second 'arc' of the story. Now, enjoy.

A few weeks later, having spent a few days completely unable to look Severus in the eye, James went up to breakfast in the Great Hall on time for a change, rather than oversleeping and getting a quick snack from the house elves.

"Morning James," Minerva said with a smile. Severus thankfully wasn't there, he was always the first to arrive and had usually finished eating and gone before anyone else had arrived. "I hear Quidditch try outs for Slytherin are this week, looking forward to it?"

"Naturally, I'm as mad on Quidditch as most of them are. I've seen some of them play, and even with a few novice players, they should be fun to train. How do you think the Gryffindor squad will do?"

"We're rather weak this year, I believe, after such a turnout last year. We have four vacancies to fill - two Beaters, a Keeper and a Chaser. We do have Miss Bell and Mr Parkinson though."

"They're both very impressive. Third years, aren't they?"

"Yes and they were on the team last year. Of course, Rosie plays with her aunt over the summer and has done for years, and I believe Jeffrey's uncle used to play professionally as a Beater for the Arrows."

"You're likely to be our main rivals then?" James asked, knowing that historically this tended to be true.

"Given that Ravenclaw tend to be less interested in sport and more on their books and Hufflepuff tend to prefer tamer things like Gobstones, yes. It will certainly be an interesting season, I think."

James looked up at the sound of wing beats to see the owls swooping in through the opening in the roof. It was a sight that he'd never really got tired of during his years at Hogwarts, and one that he'd missed while in the Muggle world. All down the house tables, students reached up to catch packages and letters, some owls staying to share their master or mistress' breakfast before returning to the owlery. An elderly tawny owl dropped to perch on the back of Minerva's chair and she took a rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet from him. James amused himself while she skimmed it by feeding the owl small pieces of bacon: whether this was a school owl or not, it could be useful to have an owl liking you. It tended to make 'private' messages properly private.

Just after Albus arrived at the table, Minerva's expression turned serious as she found an article very near the front. When she'd finished that article, seeing that the Headmaster had his own copy that he was perusing gravely, she turned to James.

"Have you seen the paper?"

"No, why?"

"Death Eaters, or that's what I'd suspect. You'd better read it."

Glancing over at Albus again, James watched as he pulled out his wand and, pointing it in the direction of the main door, sent a small, silvery dart shoot out of it and head out of sight. It was a familiar sight, the Order's primary method of communication, and was undoubtedly going to fetch Severus or any other member currently in residence at the school.

DEATH EATER ATTACK?

Early yesterday evening, a group of hooded and masked figures attacked the homes and families of Godfrey Galton and Nicolas Burke. Both men, born into 'pureblood' families married halfblood or muggleborn women, and this is suspected to be what provoked these attacks. Mr Galton was killed by the Avada Kedavra curse while buying time for wife, Elissa to escape with their children Terrance (6) and Dixie (3). They are now in hiding at a Ministry safe house. The Burke family all perished, mother Jessie first being tortured under the Cruciatus Curse. Aurors arrived on the scene approximately 30 minutes later, alerted by Elissa Galton to the events of the evening. None of the murderers were apprehended. This attack raises serious questions relating to the number of Death Eaters who survived the trials of 1997. If the Death Eaters have indeed reformed, none of us will be safe from their terrorist acts. We of the Daily Prophet offer our condolences to the families of the victims and call on the Ministry to begin investigations at once.

Colin Creevey

"So it's started again," James said flatly.

"So it seems," she said grimly. "I suppose you were a little young to see any action in the last war, but knowing the elder Mr Malfoy, I can guarantee this one is going to be nasty. Do you have any family you might be at risk? Hogwarts professors are entitled to have a family at the school, though it's rare."

"My parents were killed by Voldemort when I was very small," James said cautiously. "My father I believe to have been a pureblood but my mother wasn't, so they were a target for sullying the blood or whatever rubbish they were spouting at the time. They were both only children, so no, I just have Abe and my friends."

"I'm sorry."

"Did any of the victims have family at the school?" James asked, determined to get her mind away from his family. Even by adapting the truth slightly - in the eyes of the wizarding world, Lily Evans had been an only child - he would rather stay off the topic, especially if dates or particular attacks came up.

"Thankfully no. The poor children were all below school age, maybe why they were chosen. Lucius is a sadistic man, he'd deliberately choose defenceless children."

"I had better go to my first lesson. The children will have heard about it, I suppose?"

"A few of them do get the paper, by the time first lesson comes round, it will be all over the school."

"I might see if I can do a lesson on Death Eaters then, prepare for any possibility. Do you think Albus would mind? I might cover some of the darker curses too, maybe the Unforgivables with the NEWT classes."

"I think Albus would think that an excellent idea. If they know why they're facing, they won't be so scared, hopefully. At least we know that Death Eaters are human, not acromantulas or some other beast."

James got up then, nodded to her and headed for the door. Even the students in the hall were very hushed now. He noticed that immediately after he left, Minerva and Poppy Pomfrey moved up on either side of the Headmaster and began discussing it in hushed tones. Severus strode in a moment later to join the group. After a few minutes conferring, they separated as quickly and quietly as they had come together. James was sure however that the conversation would continue later in a more secure location.

As it happened, his first lesson of the day was Gryffindor and Slytherin fourth years. This was a slightly risky combination given the planned theme of the lesson, since the Gryffindors would undoubtedly make the well-known statement that all Death Eaters were Slytherins, provoking a full out war in the middle of his classroom. He would have to squash any signs of that very quickly.

There were relatively few of them in the class, only sixteen, the populations of both houses in that year being quite small. This could, in James' opinion, only be a good thing. When the whole class had arrived, he began.

"Take a seat please," he said, when they hesitated, uncertain whether to sit down or gather around the duelling space towards the back of the room. "Has anyone here not heard about the tragic events that have recently taken place?"

A few hands went up - presumably those who had overslept and missed breakfast.

"Yesterday, the homes of two 'half blood' families were attacked. One family were all murdered including three very young children, in the other, the father managed, at the cost of his own life, to buy enough time for his wife and children to escape. It is suspected by the Aurors that this was the work of Death Eaters. Regardless of anything the Headmaster chooses to do to remember these people, before we begin this lesson, I would like to observe a Muggle tradition, I know that this is unfamiliar to many of you. We will all observe a minutes' silence to remember them."

A few of the Muggleborns and half bloods looked almost as if they had been expecting something like this and immediately went silent as he glanced at his watch and they began. Most had bent their heads and some had their eyes shut. The purebloods, after a few glances around the room to check they weren't going to do something foolish, followed suit. James himself thought back to his own family, how, when they had been attacked, his father had attempted to buy time but had not been fast enough to save his wife. When they sat up again, he felt that most of them looked more serious and, his objective achieved, he continued with the class.

"Due to this event, I'm going to be telling every class a little about the Death Eaters and in your next few classes, we'll cover the main defensive charms and tactics you can use if you are ever attacked. If you are at home and are attacked, over Christmas for instance, you will be able to use magic to defend yourself, indeed you may have to. This is not something to be done lightly though, and I hope none of you will ever need to.

"The Death Eaters were originally formed by Tom Riddle, most of you will know him as Lord Voldemort and they were his servants. When he needed an ego boost, they told him how amazing he was. He bound them to him using a mark, which I will show you later. This allowed him to draw magical power from them and thus increased his own power levels.

"When they were first formed, they were called the Knights of Walpurgis, the name of a group led by Salazar Slytherin that defended wizard from persecution by Muggles. They are mostly pureblood wizards - that means that all of their family on both sides have been magical for generations. I believe that the Malfoy family can trace their ancestry back to the French wizards that came with William of Normandy in 1066. They believe that people who are like them are more powerful that those with Muggle blood and that they should be treated as superiors. I do not believe this to be true. I am one of the most powerful wizards of my age, and I am a halfblood and more powerful than Draco Malfoy, a pureblood. The only difference that I can see is that people from wizarding families will find it a little easier when they first start at Hogwarts because they will already know about wizarding culture.

"A Death Eater typically wears a long black, hooded robe and a white mask when they're on a raid. This is so they cannot be easily identified by the authorities, they may believe there is a ritual significance, but that is the main reason. Those who join voluntarily are often not particularly bright or slightly mad. Others join because their parents or friends make them. Some of you will remember that Professor Snape was a Death Eater because his father made him but he reported Death Eater actions to Professor Dumbledore and saved many lives in the process. Many Death Eaters were captured when Harry Potter defeated Voldemort just over eight years ago…."

That evening, after giving each of his sombre classes the same unplanned lesson, James sat in the staff room, composing some letters. He knew that the planned recipients would undoubtedly already know about the incident but he did want to hear their views on it and their recommendations for what he should do. The first was to Draco.

Dear Draco, he wrote, then erased it with a wave of his wand. That sounded far too formal to suit his friend. He tried again. Hi Draco! No, given the contents of the letter, he was starting to think his original salutation was better. It didn't really matter that much anyway.

Dear Draco,

I assume that you have heard about the recent attacks either from the paper or from your contacts at the Ministry. If you do have any information that wouldn't have been in the paper, I would be very interested in hearing it. I am trying to start preparing the students for another period of civil war and it is proving difficult with the limited information I have.

I would also like to urge you to come and stay at Hogwarts for a bit with Blaise and Harry. Minerva reminded me today, told me rather since I had no idea, that a staff member is entitled to have their family with them, and who can I call family if not you and Abe? You know as well as I do that you are going to be an important target of theirs as soon as they gather the strength since you turned away from Voldemort's service. Even if you don't want to stay permanently, at least come for the weekend and talk about it with me and Severus. I would far rather you were here and irritated about it than back home and dead.

Much as I hate to bring up the subject, I hope that you have considered the possibility that it is your father who is behind these attacks. Given what I know of him and his position in the ranks of the Death Eaters, I would say that this is almost a given conclusion. He would be particularly interested in killing you since your betrayal was personal and while he would undoubtedly kill you and Blaise, he might take Harry and raise him dark, something I know you would hate to see happen. While the wards of Malfoy Manor might offer you protection against many others, your father is of the Malfoy bloodline and has free access to the grounds and mansion.

I know you hate not to stand up to danger in a distressingly Gryffindor way but for my sake and Harry's if not for your own, please come to Hogwarts for a bit.

Your friend

James

With that James put down his quill and took out the next piece of parchment on his desk. He wasn't the only staff member involved in this sort of activity: James had no doubt that the next few days would see the more vulnerable family members of the Hogwarts staff arriving and taking up residence, either short or long term. Severus came in and walked over to him.

"Have you written to Draco?" he asked, no hint of sarcasm in his voice.

James nodded, passing him the letter. There was nothing particularly personal in it and if Severus would just add his own note to the bottom, they might manage to persuade Draco.

Severus was undoubtedly a fast reader and within a few minutes, had returned the parchment to the desk.

"That was more or less what I was intending to say to him."

"Feel free to add your own note. I know he respects your experience, it might make a difference to him."

The other man nodded, added two lines in his unmistakable scrawl. It was an unusually blunt instruction saying that Draco was going to come to Hogwarts even if Severus had to drag him back.

"Did you mean what you said about your family?" Severus asked, perhaps making sure that James hadn't been lying to get Draco to come and wanting to know whether there would be others coming to share the dungeon corridor. Aberforth Dumbledore could unquestionably take care of himself within the warren of Merlin House.

"Yes, my parents were killed in the last war and I'm an only child. Its . . . long enough in the past that I don't feel too bad talking about it, though I'd rather you didn't spread it around."

"I wouldn't anyway. Shall I take this up to the owlery? Knowing Draco, the sooner it's sent, the better."

James watched him go. Just as soon as he thought he had the man figured out, he came up with that. Whatever else he had suspected, he had not anticipated the open, honest ring to his voice that had been present. Was this how Severus treated Draco in private? They were very close, he could see that, despite the curt instruction he had sent. Only time could tell, really, and he still had one more letter to send.

Dear Abe,

I'm sure you know why I'm writing - please offer my condolences to anyone at the university who was connected to either family. Luckily, no one at Hogwarts was affected and for that we are all thankful, though it is unlikely to last. Tthere always have been innocent victims in war, and the Christmas Holidays aren't far off. I've been trying to get the students prepared to defend themselves and their families should it be necessary. I hope that it never is.

I am a little worried that now that it is all starting again, I will be asked to join the Order of the Phoenix. I know that Fawkes probably recognises me and as a former member of the Order, I'm not sure what would happen at the induction ritual. Besides, while I'm perfectly happy to put my energies to defending the school, I have a feeling I might end up something of a figurehead again, not as the Boy Who Lived, but as the young Quidditch star giving up his career to assist in the fight. You can imagine the press articles. I really need your advice about this.

I am also aware that, if Albus decides he can trust me completely, I am likely to be named as the holder of the wards in the case of his death - I am the most powerful wizard on the staff and younger than all the others as well. Who held them last time - Severus or Minerva? I would appreciate it if you would send me some information on what is entailed so that I can be prepared if it is necessary.

I would also appreciate it if you could try and persuade Draco to come to Hogwarts. We all know that he is going to be a target and he won't be safe at his home because of his father. Severus and I have sent him a letter but its possible he would listen to you more. Should you ever have need of me, send word and I'll come.

Thank you,

James

A/N: Please review everyone. i just looked at how many people have me on Author Alert - more than the number of reviews? Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, especially everyone who's reviewed every chapter - I really appreciate it. To everyone else, please give me at least one review puppy dog eyes