A/N: Quick note before you head on, I've redone chapter 33 because I was missing stuff--go check it out before you look at this.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: THE FIRST DEFIANCE

"You should have stopped going out after that."

"I don't care. Moony didn't mean it. I didn't even tell him about it because he would've gone berserk if he knew...besides. Ole' Siri and I would never let him sit around in the dark all that time...by himself..."

-x-x-

Wormtail was going to be a good servant for the Dark Lord. He knew it already. He could see a sort of fatherly admiration in his Master's eyes already. His Master had said that he had actually been the one to help bring him back to full strength after a very trying time. So he was useful as a Death Eater.

Nothing could change his mind now.

Oh, his dear mother would be furious if she ever found out.

Wormtail laughed as he took the stairs two at a time to the alternate door out to the patio. He didn't want to pass anywhere near Moony on the way. In any case, it probably wouldn't matter since his Master had given him this stone. It was black. Voldemort had called it a calling stone.

Find Potter, he'd said, then summon me with this.

-x-x-

"Where did you come from?" James said, eyebrow raised, when Wormtail seemingly turned up out of nowhere. Wormtail smiled at him and looked at them all.

"I found a different door out to here." He said with a grin.

"Ah."

"Hey, Wormtail." Harry said abruptly, everyone looked at him. He was suddenly frowning, green eyes fixed on Wormtail, who was standing alone. "What's that in y--"

They never found out what he was going to say, however, because at that moment Harry gasped and clapped his hands to his forehead as if suffering a terrible headache. Then he began to laugh shrilly.

No one seemed to want to step any nearer to him as he laughed and laughed. They just stared at him.

When the laughter was suddenly cut off Harry was left breathing shakily, crouching on the ground. He looked up and all around suddenly, moving so fast that James felt he must be using some spell to do it.

-x-x-

Peter Pettigrew barely hesitated before opening the cell door of Weasley and Granger's cell. They looked up, dazzled by the sudden light, weak as it was.

As soon as they realized who he was they scowled. Weasley jeered at him, "Come to bring us the evening meal, old chum?"

Peter didn't know quite what to say. He swallowed, at loss for words.

They were uncomfortable when he didn't say anything.

"Why did you open the door?" Granger asked.

He looked at the floor. "Go up. You'll find Potter there." Then he went on, hurrying upstairs. He flinched as he heard Remus screaming as he bit himself.

-x-x-

It was difficult to describe what Harry and Voldemort's duel looked like. James couldn't see half of what they were doing. Then again, he might not even have understood what it was they were doing if he could see it. It was like watching one of his own sad duels, only put on fast forward and with much more advanced spells.

Harry was a year younger than him and it looked like he could be a senior auror.

James was so enwrapped in this fight that he didn't notice when the rest of the bad guys arrived. At least not until Sirius let out his bark-like battle cry.

Harry and Voldemort might've been an interesting sight, but James now had other things on his mind. He pulled out his wand and started sending spells everywhere. The whole thing quickly turned into a blur of sounds and movements of his own that he didn't have time to pay attention to much else. He took in the fact that he, Sirius, and Lily were outnumbered by at least ten to one before someone sent him flying into a wall some twenty yards away from the main battle.

"Fool." James looked up at the voice, rubbing his hip and elbow where most of his body weight had collided with the very sturdy wall. Snape stood there, looking very furtive and small. The guy was just standing there. James scowled and stood up, grabbing Snape's wrist forcefully.

"Come help." James said, anger blazing.

"No, this is stupid."

"We could die."

"Yes, you certainly could." Snape said, leering.

They glared at each other, unnoticing of the chaos around them for just a moment. James came back to his senses first.

"Fine." He muttered, throwing Snape's arm back at him as if it were a rotten fish.

"Should've been smart like Pettigrew–he ran off." Snape said as James began running back. "Who said Gryffindors were brave?"

"Coward! You sack of--" James abruptly got control of himself as he dodged a reductor curse. "I don't care if Peter ran away, I know he's more of a coward than any of us. I was asking you to come, not him. You're worth more than him anyway!"

When James turned back, face burning, pulling out his wand, he was surprised to see Snape by his side.

"Wha--" James said. But Snape wouldn't look at him or talk to him other than a quiet utterance that he didn't hear.

James smirked and looked back to the battle, where he was shocked to see thirty more wizards and witches fighting.

"You really thought your little speech got me up, Potter?" Snape said as he went to join in. James turned red and followed at a run.

-x-x-

"We found Harry." Ron said, looking frightened. He and Hermione nodded to each other, then ran in to join the rest of the lot in a strangely organized chaos.

-x-x-

James had spotted Ron and Hermione. It hadn't been a very merry meeting, but he did see them. In the process he might've been nearly killed since someone had hit him with an Impediment Curse. But someone had helped him. He didn't know who, didn't quite care. It was the sort of passing notice that didn't really matter at the moment, but certainly wouldn't be forgotten in the long run.

Snape was beside him. Snape. He was incredible–or at least better than James. James couldn't be sure, but he expected that Snape was trying to stay by his side, rather than hanging in the general area by the power of some weird twist of fate. The two made a surprisingly good team. James snapped off jinxes and hexes that were known by most of his year, and Snape went ahead and finished the job with things he'd never heard of. James knew that he would never be so grateful of the Dark Arts again.

James kept seeing Harry through the crowd. He wouldn't have noticed the boy if it hadn't been for the fact that, whether he liked it or not, Harry was losing spectacularly. James felt his heart pumping and he wasn't sure if it was because of all this exercise, or because he was afraid for his son who might die any second.

Harry screamed and James' heart stopped, but he was only hurt.

Only hurt?

Voldemort was baring down on Harry, triumph in his eyes. James was watching, horrified, unnoticing of anyone or anything else so that it must've been a miracle that he wasn't hit by a deflected curse.

"Move, James, come on!" A young woman close to him yelled as she passed. Didn't she see that Harry was going to die?

He couldn't...

James looked around as if confused by the events rolling around him. Lily was screaming something at him. She'd seen too. He couldn't hear her.

He made his decision quickly.

"SIRIUS! GET THE DOOR!" James roared.

"What?" Sirius yelled back, confused.

"JUST DO IT! LET OUT MOONY!"

Lily was still yelling at James. Her yelling quickly subsided when James became what he'd been named Prongs for, galloping at top speed toward her.

"Everyone move!" Sirius yelled, running toward the door where Moony was scratching, ready for the first person he could get his teeth around. Sirius unlatched the door, letting out a storm that ran for him first.

Lily grabbed onto Prongs' neck, gasping as she lifted herself halfway onto the stag's back. They headed for Harry, who lay below Voldemort like a human sacrifice.

When Sirius turned into Padfoot the dog Moony's attention on him dwindled and branched out to everyone around him. Everywhere, people scattered.

When Lily gave Harry an almighty wrench, lifting him onto Prongs' back as if he were a rag doll, she did not feel his weight. What she felt was fear of the man who'd suddenly turned his attentions on Lily and James, snarling–only to find that something else snarling was gamboling his way toward them.

"James!" Lily screamed as they galloped right through the spot where Lord Voldemort had been standing a moment before. Moony had collided with the Dark Lord right before Prongs had, knocking him flat.

Her scream turned into laughter as they galloped onward.

-x-x-