A/N: Sorry! grovels I've just hit exam season and I've been busy with revision. This chapter will be followed by another half written one in a couple of days to make up for the huge delay. Good luck to anyone doing exams this summer, and my condolences to those British students who, like me, were doing Latin literature on Friday shudders .
Neither of them made it to supper that evening, nor breakfast the next morning. Albus noticed their absence with a smug little smile, shaking his head fondly at long past memories; the other teachers merely breathed a sigh of relief and a sent a prayer of thanksgiving to whichever kind deity had arranged the reconciliation. There had been moments when even the hardened war veterans amongst them had feared for their skins.
James didn't come out of his rooms again for another day, though Severus taught his lessons as normal, returned to his relatively good humour and passing on cover work for the Defense classes. When quizzed on this by Albus, he had returned a piercing look and informed him that his partner was currently in their chambers, soundly asleep and with access to a strong sleeping potion should he need it. Albus had taken one look at him and not pressed the matter.
The following Saturday afternoon, Albus called a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix in the chamber hidden within the castle. James, now fully recovered, made his way there with Severus, a heavy green cloak over his distinctive white robes. There was no ceremony this time as they passed through the door into the main chamber and approached the table.
Fawkes trilled a welcome to them, launching from his perch on Albus' shoulder and pulling James to the seat to the right hand of their leader at the head of the table. It was the seat he had always taken before, as Harry, the second in command of the Order. Now, it seemed that much less ceremony was attached to it, though a few members regarded the scene with interest: it was rare for the ancient phoenix to take this much interest in a relatively new recruit.
"Albus!" he hissed, glancing around to see who was listening. "This is too close - what if they recognise me!"
Albus twinkled at him, patted his arm and smiled.
"Gently there, dear boy, Fawkes has made his decision and who are we to question it when we all know who is really in charge here."
Severus slid into the seat beyond James and grimaced expressively at him.
"Now, I call the meeting to order," Albus said, looking sternly at them as they sat there pulling faces at each other like two first years. "Severus, I believe you have gathered some new intelligence for us."
Both of them became serious and Severus stood up to address the table. He paused for a moment, hands on the wood in front of him.
"As most of you know," he said at last, "since my . . . exposure . . . I have kept a small network of intelligence gatherers together and kept up with some of my shadier contacts. I will not disclose their identities, though some of you have asked, and will merely say that they have their own reasons for not being seated here with us. According to them, the next attack will be a large one on the village of Godric's Hollow."
James sucked in a breath and Severus' eyes flicked sideways to him for a moment before he continued.
"However, Lucius will not attend this attack himself. He has closeted himself away with his inner circle and is rumoured to be planning an even more ambitious raid, the target is unknown to me as yet."
"What forces can we expect from him?" Kinglsey Shacklebolt asked, lounging back on his seat between Nymphadora Tonks and Mad Eye Moody. The Aurors seemed to have a small faction of their own and always sat together at the far end of the table.
"Exactly, it is impossible to say. However, I would estimate a small contingent of vampires, the least valuable of his Death Eaters with maybe a couple more senior to co-ordinate them and, if he can get them, a number of Dementors. Lucius is nothing if not resourceful and he used his time at the Ministry well. Many of the Dark Lord's allies have given oath to him and, as a pureblood from a respectable family, he has brought in recruits from across the continent. Already it is believed that his forces rival the Dark Lord's at their height, although they are lacking in both power and experience."
"Thank you Severus," Albus said, standing up and taking the few steps back that led him to a blank board behind him. A wave of his wand and a map appeared on the surface. "While Lucius is undeniably powerful, he is somewhat rash at times, very unlike his previous master. His prejudices will also aid us against him. A large proportion of the population of Godric's Hollow are half blood families, those without ancestral family homes and who are uncomfortable within a fully Muggle settlement. In fact, I have been able to contact, through Alastor, those of the retired Ministry employees who were competent in combat and alerted them to the situation. One such will be in charge of the alarm that will alert us as soon as he makes his move."
"Should it be in the near future, most of us who are employed at the Ministry must be ruled out," Arthur said, glancing down the table at the Aurors. "It wouldn't do for there not to be an official Ministry detachment.
Albus looked at him for a moment, then nodded.
"The strike force will be made up mostly from snitch squadron, thus Bill, Hestia, Ron, Hermione, Fleur, Neville. Minerva and Alastor will not be going. James, you will be leading this one."
There were a few murmurs from further down the table, as James jumped slightly in surprise. Snitch squadron had been his personal command during the last months of the previous war, after his 'death' it had since been usually under the command of Neville. Albus was undeniably taking a large risk in putting him back in control, highly skilled or not, he wasn't believed to have as much experience as the others.
Looking at his future command, he saw Hermione with a small smile on her face, not that he'd expected any dissent from her. Ron too was looking satisfied: they'd made friends quickly after their meeting in October and he was convinced of James' competency. The older ones - Hestia, Fleur and Bill - were looking slightly doubtful, though they hadn't said anything. As for Neville, well, he looked perfectly content.
Someone had once told James that the best leader you could find was one who didn't want the job. Both Neville and he were embodiments of that: young men forced into a position that no one else could quite fill. With his trust in the headmaster, Neville was more than content to pass on the responsibility.
"If no one has any objections," James said quietly, feeling the burden of his true name beginning to settle on his shoulders once again, "I will accept."
There was a long tense pause. When it became clear that there were in fact no objections, it was as if the whole room breathed a sigh of relief. Albus, standing in front of them all, certainly did.
"Thank you, James," he said, smiling. "However, I must insist that you conceal your face so we can hold in 'in reserve' as it were. A mask is a little cliché but terribly effective. If you could somehow contrive to look more like poor Harry, that might strike a little fear into the hearts of our enemies."
For a moment, James considered objecting. Then he drew his wand and thought for a moment. A scrap of paper from his pocket was moulded carefully around the top half of his face and charmed to stay in place. When he was satisfied, the others watched in fascination as he delicately transfigured phoenix feathers to cover it in the unmistakable crimson and gold with a level of hard won skill that made Minerva smile in delight: if only she had had the privilege of teaching him at Hogwarts….
When they thought he must at last be done, Fawkes settled on his shoulder and dangled his tail feathers down James' front. He grinned, reaching up to run a hand through the feathers as if preening them. He then settled on a small one and gently drew it out. Freely given, a phoenix feather was a great gift and would serve to augment his powers still further.
That done, he conjured a pair of scissors and turned to Severus.
"Hair, please," he said with only a hint of reluctance. This was only a demonstration for now - after this raid he would grow it straight back out again with a potion or using his innate gift for growing it. Until then, the loss would be covered with a simple illusion.
Severus looked equally reluctant but hacked roughly away at it, leaving it cropped unevenly short. It was jagged, ruffled, messy, sticking up in all directions, just as it always had. It didn't matter - that had been the method Aunt Petunia had usually used. There was no way they'd have paid for a decent cut.
James put the mask on and turned to face them. It was a little surprising that they'd all paused to watch him but then they knew almost everything about each of the others, he was still an enigma.
"I trust this will suffice," he said, well aware that there was nothing else that could resemble Harry more.
They considered him for a moment, a couple looked doubtful although Hermione, Severus and Albus looked a little wistful. Ron frowned slightly.
"I dunno mate, you look, well, older than Harry. His face was kind of rounder than yours was and he wasn't nearly as tall, poor little midget," he said, with a hint of the teasing that James remembered enduring for so long.
"Boys grow up," was all James said in reply before he removed the mask, cast an illusion on his hair and returned to his seat, looking to Albus for further instructions.
"Ah yes, thank you James, I believe that will more than satisfy. Now, the main apparition point in Godric's Hollow is located here, on the green. Since many of the Death Eaters will not have been there before and Lucius will be taking no chances, this is where they will appear. Snitch squadron will enter the battle from here," he said, pointing to a point where a derelict house was marked. "You will assemble at this point and enter the fray as a group. This means that you must familiarise yourself with those coordinates and location as soon as you can. As always, the infirmary available to you will be at the school, each of you carrying an emergency portly to the infirmary on a chain around your necks. All of you except James should already be carrying one; I will equip him tomorrow morning."
He returned to the table, and sat down, taking a sip of water from the glass in front of him.
"Now," he said, taking a deep breath. "Hogwarts. It is unlikely that Lucius will ever dare to attack us before he is killed, however we must consider the possibility and prepare for it. Lucius does not have the natural caution and tactical ability of Voldemort and may take the risk. I will not leave the castle at all in the immediate future as this makes it instantly vulnerable. This being Lucius Malfoy, I would imagine that he would make his move during a mealtime where he has the largest audience and plenty of hostages who we must be careful of. Students will be informed of what they must do. Should I be killed. . . "
"You, Headmaster?" Molly Weasley asked incredulously. Surely the man who had defeated the dark lord Grindewald and survived two rises in the front lines against the dark lord Voldemort was not seriously suggesting that this upstart Malfoy might kill him?
"Alas Molly, I grow old and my powers are waning as my body declines. I am content as things are and my death, whenever it occurs, shall be no one's fault but my own. Should this happen, and I sincerely doubt that it will, the wards will immediately transfer to James. The chances are that this will mean a slight increase in strength as what he lacks in experience will be made up for in the short run by his greater energy. Wherever he is, the will undoubtedly Apparate back to Hogwarts and I have a feeling that if anyone defeats Lucius Malfoy, it will be him. This means," he said sternly. "That I don't want the rest of you to do anything except defend the children and try and evacuate as many as possible. As well as keeping you safe, it will most likely have the added bonus of making our enemy extremely confused. I believe that is all we need to say for this meeting of the Order. Kingsley, Severus, if you could come up to my office for a moment."
Hermione caught James as he left the meeting and dragged him down to his own quarters.
"So Fawkes thinks you should be taking up your responsibilities?" she said, nursing a warm cup of tea in her hands. "Quite right too, though I think you can do it just as well as James Evans. The mask was inspired and did you hear Ron?"
"I'm not sure mate," Harry said, doing a terrible impression. "But you look a bit too old to be a sixteen year old boy. It's not right, you know."
Hermione giggled.
"It would have been perfectly serious with anyone else but telling you that…. Priceless, absolutely priceless. I'll write it down in my journal and remind him about it when he can share the joke."
"I'm not intending on telling anyone else, Hermione," James quickly reminded her. After those days with Severus, he wasn't sure he wanted to take the risk.
"Fate does funny things with your life, Harry, and I don't think that you'll be able to manage for much longer now that the fight is getting more serious. You have a rather unmistakable style and I think Albus has a point. If anyone can kill Lucius, it's you, and since it is you, you'll do it quickly and thoroughly and blast him just the same way you did Voldemort and of course, that means that everyone will guess and I'm telling you, Mr Potter, that if you dare try and vanish again…."
"I'm not intending to, not without Severus anyway."
"You got together then? Professor Dumbledore was telling me about how you two were tiptoeing around each other a few weeks ago. He thought it was extremely amusing. It's not something I'd even considered when we were still at school but it makes quite a lot of sense now."
"He understands me, I think that's one of the main attractions, and I can trust him implicitly. He's got a wicked sense of humour as well and he's well, nice really. It feels right."
"Does he know about…"
"Who I am? Yes, he found out a few days ago and had a fit. It was . . . rough. Still, I think we're over that now. I probably should have told him much earlier but I guess I was too scared to."
"I'm glad you found someone," she said, curled up in the armchair and smiling as if she understood perfectly. "Apparently Ron and I were always clearly each other's match but we worried about you - it's not everyone who could live up to your reputation."
"I suppose. I was always more concerned about surviving when I was at Hogwarts."
"From a teacher's point of you, your prime purpose in life seemed to be to cause trouble," Severus said from behind them, having entered soundlessly, curious as to what they were saying.
They jumped, startled, and suddenly James was very glad that they hadn't been talking about something really odd or some embarrassing story from their Gryffindor schooldays, especially one that involved stolen potions ingredients.
"Severus," he said, standing to kiss his lover lightly. "How did the meeting go?"
"Nothing of great import, merely instructions to continue as we have been and what in particular he wants us to discover. Good evening, Mrs Weasley."
"Hello Professor."
"You mean to say you aren't on first name terms yet?" James asked incredulously. "You've only been working in the Order together for how long - eight years?"
Severus rolled his eyes and Hermione sighed.
"Very well, as long as you have no objections," he said, not sounding too reluctant. She grinned at him.
"I didn't like to be thought impudent. So, I hear you're now one of us who know."
"Indeed."
"And?"
"My questions have all been satisfactorily answered. He has grown up a great deal since we last met. Circumstances have led us to a greater understanding."
"You mean you're shagging and he's too hot to pass up?"
"Hermione!" James said, shocked. Hermione really had changed. He struggled for a moment before coming up with a viable objection. "Quit talking about me as if I'm not here."
"Sorry," she said, not sounding at all repentant. "I've got to go - Ron'll be wondering where I've got to. See you around."
She waltzed out, leaving them staring after her.
"Well, she's certainly changed a bit," James said after a minute. "I never expected her to come out with something like that."
"Quite likely she just said it to see our reactions," Severus said, amused. "It has an element of truth anyway. You have good choice in friends."
"As do you."
"And in lovers, of course."
"So sure?"
"Of course."
There was a pause.
"Are you sure you have to go on the raid?" Severus asked at last. "The others are all more than competent and you have . . . responsibilities here. With the mask, you'll be more of a target than any of the others."
James smiled, touched by the quiet concern he saw in his lover's face. No one had ever really been that concerned for him before: he'd been a weapon to those he'd fought alongside, his friends in Gryffindor hadn't understood what it really meant to be out there.
"Sev, I've been doing this since I was sixteen," he said gently. "I've had a hell of a lot of training since then. I can't possibly be more of a target than when I was out there as myself, can I?"
"Can't you let someone else take care of it, it's not your responsibility any more," Severus said but even as he said it, his face showed that he knew what the answer would be and that, in James' place, he would make the same decision.
"You know I can't because as long as I have the power, I have to use it to do what I can to help people. It might come that there was someone I could have saved but I wasn't there and they were killed. I don't think I could live with that and I know that you couldn't either."
"At least promise that you won't do something horrifically Gryffindor and life-threatening."
"The whole thing is life-threatening," James said with a morbid laugh. "Don't worry, I'm as Slytherin as you, I won't rush into a hopeless situation. I promise you that I'll come back every time that I have to go out there."