A/N: Everyone thinks the Ministry leak is Peter? I can answer you this, it is not Peter. Peter doesn't work for the Ministry. He was training to become a Healer, a lousy one at that. In GOF it says who the leak is. Since no one knows before the trial who it is, it wouldn't be right for me to name it in the story. Casually glance at that chapter in GOF if you desperately need to know. We're not at the point in the story where Peter significantly sells anyone out. He's just passing the information he can to Voldemort, which isn't much. He's just on his side right now, not really active yet. Just so you all know that. Sorry it's taken so long to update. I've been working on my other stories. So, thanks for all the previous reviews. You guys are great. Keep them coming!

Catch My Fall

Chapter 8-Learning To Trust

"Well, who here works at the Ministry?" an angry voice shouted.

The members of the Order of the Phoenix were congregated in their usual meeting place, a large basement below James' home. This meeting had been conducted due to the newest piece of information acquired. Supposedly, someone at the Ministry was slipping information to Voldemort.

"Calm yourself, Hagrid," Dumbledore's calm, reassuring voice spoke.

James could understand why Hagrid was so upset. No one was more loyal than Rubeus Hagrid. James assumed it must be hard for him to understand why on Earth anyone would do such a thing. James knew this from first-hand experience as well.

He felt Lily tighten her grip on his hand. The two of them worked everyday at the Ministry and it was unnerving to know someone was betraying the Ministry's trust.

"Calm me self?" Hagrid roared. "Someone's doin' you in. Doin' us all in."

"'Agrid's right," Mundungus Fletcher's drunk voice rose. "Can't be dealin' with these scoundrels. Best to jus' do away with 'em."

"A scoundrel if I ever met one," Moody mumbled behind Lily and James disapprovingly.

As much as James enjoyed holding Order meetings in his basement, it was hard to be a peacemaker. Several members didn't trust the others. Loud, roaring fights often broke loose, even when Dumbledore was not around. It was his job to try and break them up.

It had been Sirius who had thought to use the spacious basement in the Potter manor as a location. Mr. Potter had been very careful in protecting his home. The basement used to be their 'safe place'. Now, with Dumbledore as Secret Keeper and every charm known to man placed upon it (due to Lily), the basement was the safest place for the meetings.

You could only gain entrance from Dumbledore himself. So, more times than not, James was locked out of his own basement. He didn't mind though. It was nice having a larger part in the Order. He was so busy training to be an Auror that he often didn't have time nor energy to help out in a significant way.

Sirius had been running all types of mysterious errands for Dumbledore, such as profiling all the workers at Gringrotts. He had been trying to do as much as possible for the Order since Halle's death, but had found himself lost in his own sadness, drinking himself into a permanent routine. James and Lily made sure to invite him over for dinner at least once a week, praying that maybe a little light could be brought into his darkness.

"The important thing to remember is that only one of us is leaking information," Dumbledore reminded the suspicious group. Nearly everyone was squinting their eyes with accusation. Lily's were the exact opposite; wide and fearful. She hadn't seen Dumbledore so stressed in her entire life. He seemed to be handling much more than any ordinary man should have. Then again, Dumbledore was no ordinary man.

"We don't even know if the source is a part of the Order," Lily announced.

Many heads turned her way. Lily rarely spoke out during Order meetings, choosing to listen instead. Yet, she refused to allow such distrust to leak it's way into the Order of the Phoenix. Voldemort was accomplishing exactly what he wished. He didn't want a strong, trusting group. He wanted a torn, semi-irrational army to fight. One by one they would be dropping like flies and the accusations would be unleashed.

"I am very aware that not every single employee at the Ministry is a member of the Order," Lily explained, her voice calm but low and filled with authority. "It is very possible that the spy is not even aware of the Order. Our job as a team is to find out who that person is."

"Miss Ev-I mean, Mrs. Potter is quite right. It is not good to weaken ourselves with suspicion. We aren't as strong without one another as are with. I have good knowledge that Lucius Malfoy is not aware of such classified information being passed to Voldemort. The information being passed is specifically from the Department of Mysteries. There are many Unspeakables working in this branch of the Ministry so at this time it seems near impossible to correctly assume who Voldemort's spy is. I happen to know that a certain prophecy is being looked into," Dumbledore informed the group.

James sighed. It all revolved back to him in the end. Voldemort was after him for some apparent reason having to do with a prophecy made by Sybll Trelawney. Sybll would be graduating next year, which made James wonder if her prediction had been correct. Yet, Voldemort knew what the prophecy held. Why did he need someone to feed him information?

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Lily sat in her office, her lunch lying abandoned on her desk in a brown paper bag. She was vaguely aware of someone speaking but she didn't quite place the words.

"Lily," the voice demanded. "Are you even listening?"

"You're bitching about Moody again," Lily replied thoughtlessly.

"Lucky guess," Katy reasoned, taking a bite of her apple and sighing.

"What's wrong with you?" Lily questioned. "Are things going alright at home?"

"Remus and I got into a fight. We've already made up and everything, but it's still been bothering me. He doesn't think that I should be participating in the Auror program any longer," she summed up.

Katy's blue eyes looked worn from stress and her lines around her eyes deepened. The bags underneath them shone as a light lavender color, making her look far older than nineteen.

"Why would he feel that way? He was supportive in the beginning," Lily wondered, her voice obviously worried James would feel the same way.

"He knows that I work hard and that it's a serious ambition," Katy mocked, using his words. "Remus just feels that the Ministry is too dangerous for me at this time. He's worried the spy will use me in some way."

"You can take care of yourself," Lily insisted.

"My reasoning exactly," Katy agreed, nodding her blonde head. "I don't think he's worried about my physical ability. I think he feels that all that's happened to us might affect how gullible I am. He thinks my emotions will prevent me from seeing the truth."

"Do you feel this way?" Lily asked.

"No," Katy responded. "He doesn't think you should do it either. He talked to James about it last week. Has he mentioned anything?"

The funny thing was that James hadn't even mentioned it in passing. Lily wasn't sure what to think about this.

"No," Lily whispered. "He hasn't."

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"We have two options," James announced, Lily's head resting on his chest. The two of them were lazily sprawled out on the couch after returning from a strenuous training day at the Ministry.

"And they would be?" Lily asked, looking up at her husband.

"We cook or we eat out," James deduced.

"I don't think my legs are functional to move at this point," Lily informed him.

James tried moving his own legs but gave up after a half-second.

"That presents a whole other field of options," James said. "Order-in."

"We could always eat the leftovers in the fridge," Lily reasoned.

James and Lily's eyes darted over to the fridge. The two of them tried to remember what was left inside of it. The two shook their heads together.

"Far too much of an adventure, leftovers," James explained.

"Can I ask you something?" Lily propositioned.

James stopped talking about food and stroked a part of Lily's hair.

"Do you really want to eat leftovers? We can if that's what you want-" James started.

"Why didn't you tell me about Remus?" Lily blurted out. Her cheeks burned crimson in embarrassment but she didn't take back the question. It had been bothering her all day.

"What do you mean?" James asked, looking at the ceiling and practicing his clueless demeanor.

"Give it up, James. I know your act oh-so well already," Lily insisted, flipping over so she faced him.

"I would have thought the reasoning was obvious," James said, his voice low and calm. He smiled although she knew he was nervous. "I know you can handle whatever the Ministry throws at you. I don't need to worry. If I'm not mistaken, you may make an even better Auror than myself."

"I thought you didn't say anything because you didn't worry about me," Lily said quietly.

"Don't ever think that, Lily. If you think I'm not worried, then you're wrong. I'm worried but I trust that you can take care of yourself. I'll be right there with you anyways. As long as I'm there, nothing will ever harm you," he said.

"You're becoming remarkably cliché," a voice said from the doorway. Sirius was smiling and had a handful of Chinese take-out in his arms.

"Padfoot!" James greeted merrily. He waited for Lily to move a bit and then he got up and relieved Sirius of the take-out. Lily kissed Sirius lightly on the cheek and gave him a quick hug. She always made sure to do so, just so he knew people cared about him.

"You're a miracle worker, Sirius Black," Lily said, over her Chinese food.

"I just have impeccable timing," Sirius reassured her. "If I had been a miracle worker, I could have made all this food."

"I'm glad you didn't," James said, in-between bites. "You're a horrible cook."

The three of them laughed over their food, embracing the strong friendship they shared. Lily knew that James had been right, with him she'd always be safe. With him, she'd always have friends and memorable moments. She would always have that dependable Chinese take-out. Even the small things and gestures made helped relieve Lily of her burdens. She truly was safe.

A/N: Sorry about the length and wait for this chapter. I had incredible writer's block. This chapter sucked in my opinion. Maybe you all felt differently. Please review.