A/N: Wow, I didn't realize how much a Sirius/Olivia-centric chapter would bother some people! But, no worries, Lily and James will make a triumphant return in this chapter! And please have patience…everything, including Laura's health problems, will be explained in time. Thanks again for reading and reviewing! Enjoy!
I don't own Harry Potter.
Secrets Revealed
You think that I can't live without your loveYou'll see
You think I can't go on another day
You think I have nothing
Without you by my side
You'll see
Somehow, some way
- You'll See, Madonna
"Have you seen him again since that first date, then?"
"Not yet, but we've made plans to go out again this weekend," Olivia beamed.
Stephanie Webster, one of Olivia's officemates, grinned. "That's fantastic! I'm so happy for you, Liv!"
Olivia's smile faded a bit. "He didn't kiss me, though. Not even a kiss on the cheek when we said good night."
"Some guys are a bit slower than others," Stephanie said sagely, nodding her head.
"Sirius and I were snogging on our first date."
A slight frown creased Stephanie's brow. "Liv, not every guy is just like Sirius."
"I know that," she replied in surprise, frowning slightly.
"Don't get upset! I'm just saying you have to let Greg be different, that's all. Sometimes different is good."
"True," Olivia murmured. She and Sirius weren't together anymore. Maybe the fact that Greg wasn't like him was a good thing.
A knock sounded on the door, ending Olivia's musings. She looked at Stephanie, who shrugged.
"I certainly hope that isn't someone with work for us," she said.
"Me, too," Olivia laughed. "Come in!"
The door opened, and Sirius came in. "Hey, Liv, can we talk?" he asked tensely.
"Sure," Olivia said, her eyes wide.
"I'll just be leaving," Stephanie said quickly, gathering up her things.
"Sorry to kick you out of your office, Steph," Sirius said. "Good morning, by the way."
Stephanie smiled. "Good morning to you, too. And I'm not offended. I'll just have to avoid anyone who will try to give me work out there."
"Hide in the lounge," Sirius suggested.
Stephanie shook her head. "They always go there to find us." She grinned. "I can't wait until we're older, and we can give work to the new Aurors. I'm going to make them file every piece of parchment I can find!"
Sirius laughed, and Olivia looked at him sharply. That wasn't his usual laugh. Something wasn't right.
"Well, I'll see you guys later today," Stephanie said. "Liv, if you want to talk later, find me."
"I will," Olivia replied, forcing a smile. Sirius was looking at her with an unreadable expression, and it was making her nervous.
As soon as the door closed behind Stephanie, Sirius put a silencing charm on the room. Olivia looked at him with questions in her eyes.
"What's going on?" she asked.
Sirius drew a deep breath, and put his wand down on Olivia's desk. His eyes flashed with barely controlled anger. "Leave Rebecca the hell alone."
Olivia flinched. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play stupid with me!" he yelled, his anger exploding. "She told me about what happened when she waited on you at the Three Broomsticks! There is no need to treat her that way!"
"I'll treat her however the hell I want!" Olivia yelled back, her own temper, the one she had promised Greg that she would try to control, boiling over. "You're not her father, Sirius, and you're certainly not mine. You have no right to tell me how to treat her!"
"I have every right!" he yelled. "She's a sweet girl, and the only reason you're treating her like that is because she's my girlfriend!"
"And just why would I care who you date?"
"Because you can't handle seeing me with someone who isn't you!"
Olivia's eyes widened. "You think rather highly of yourself, don't you?"
"No. I just think that you're not over me, that's all. But there's no reason to take your frustration out on Rebecca, who has never been anything but nice to you!"
"I'm not going to be nice to her just because you told me to!" Olivia snapped.
"Damn it, Olivia!" Sirius yelled. "Why do you always have to be so stubborn? Can't you see past your own wants for three minutes to consider someone else's? She's upset by the way you're treating her! I'm not saying that you have to be her best mate, I'm just saying that you should treat her with some respect. She deserves that much."
"She doesn't deserve anything from me!" Olivia spat. "And she certainly doesn't deserve you!"
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized her error. Her eyes opened wide, but she refused to let her cheeks flush. She wasn't going to let him know that she regretted her words.
Sirius let out a barking laugh. "As I recall, you were the one to give up the right to decide who deserves me and who doesn't. You couldn't wait for me to be ready to get married. You made the decision to end our relationship. You chose this path, Olivia. Now you get to live it. If you have a problem with me dating Rebecca, take it up with me. Good ness knows we're going to see enough of each other at work. Just leave her alone."
Olivia glared at him. "You can date the bloody Minister of Magic if you want to. I don't give a damn. Stop thinking that you're the bloody center of my universe."
He gave her the coldest look she had ever seen. "Then stop acting like I am."
The door swung open, and Moody limped into the room. He looked from Sirius to Olivia, noting their flushed faces, glittering eyes and angry expressions.
"Well," he said, closing the door behind him, "I can see that this partnership will be more of a challenge for you than I had anticipated."
"Didn't I lock that?" Sirius asked distractedly.
"Impossible," Moody said. "Locking charms don't work in this department – it's a security issue. You might want to work on your silencing charms, though. That one was exceptionally easy to break."
Sirius looked at him, running his hand through his hair distractedly. "You broke it?"
"When Miss Webster told me I could find you in here together, I got a bit nervous. I know you would never discuss anything that you shouldn't, but I also assumed that you weren't making plans to get together this weekend. I'm glad to see that you're working at leaving your personal lives at home."
Both Olivia and Sirius had the decency to blush scarlet. Moody suppressed the smile that wanted to stretch across his face.
"That will be your greatest challenge. Once you overcome your past, I'm sure that you will be the greatest Auror team this department has seen in years." He pulled a piece of parchment from his robes. "Here is your first assignment. It's not the most exciting battle you've ever seen, but it will give you some practice. We've had reports of Death Eaters torturing someone, and we need you to stop it and bring them in. Have fun."
He gave the parchment to Olivia, then turned and left the room. Olivia unfolded their instructions, and stepped closer to Sirius so they could read them together.
"Diagon Alley," Sirius muttered.
Olivia nodded. "Let's go."
With two cracks, they were gone.
Sirius and Olivia appeared in the middle of Diagon Alley. They looked around tensely, searching for the situation their instructions had described. Both held their wands in front of them, ready to defend themselves and anyone else that was caught in the crossfire.
"There," Sirius said quietly, indicating a building at the end of the street.
Olivia looked to where he was pointing, and saw light that could only have come from a spell illuminate the windows. She frowned slightly.
"Isn't that building abandoned?"
"Yes," Sirius said as they began to move down the street. "Makes it a perfect place to torture your victims, doesn't it?"
Olivia shuddered. "Let's hurry."
They took off at a run, holding their wands at their sides. When they reached the building, Sirius held up a cautioning hand.
"Let me go first," he whispered.
"You don't think I can handle this?" Olivia hissed.
He rounded on her, his eyes flashing dangerously. "I think that our instructions said that at least one person is being held captive in this building. I think that if you can't stop fighting me on everything I do, we're going to let that person die. Now, just swallow your pride, stop thinking that I don't trust you, and let me go in first. Back me up."
Fully chastised, Olivia fell behind him. Sirius drew his wand, and muttered a spell that blew the door off its hinges. That obstacle removed, he charged into the building with Olivia right behind him.
They both stopped short at the sight that met their eyes. Two children, not even old enough to attend Hogwarts, were cowering in a corner. Two Death Eaters, both wearing masks to conceal their identity, were obviously taking turns hurling spells at them.
"Accio wands!" Sirius and Olivia yelled together.
"Stupefy!"
"Petrificus totalus!"
Both Death Eaters hit the floor, one from each spell thrown by the Aurors. Sirius immediately bound both Death Eaters, while Olivia went to the children. They looked up at her with fear in their eyes.
"Please don't hurt us," the little boy whispered. "We're sorry, and we promise that we'll never do it again."
"I'm not going to hurt you," Olivia said gently. "And you don't have anything to be sorry for. Everything that happened was their fault."
"What happened to them?" the little girl asked fearfully.
"We used spells that will make sure they can't move for awhile," Olivia said. "I'm Olivia, and that's my friend, Sirius. Can you tell me your names?"
"I'm Bobby and this is Christie."
She nodded. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Bobby and Christie. Can you tell me if you hurt anywhere?"
The children both nodded, and began displaying bruises and burns. Burns? Olivia's stomach turned. What had those monsters done to these children?
Sirius made his way over to join them. "Hi, guys," he said with a smile. "I'm Sirius."
"She told us," Bobby said, pointing at Olivia.
"Good," he said.
"This is Bobby, and this is Christie," Olivia said.
Sirius nodded. "Well, those two over there won't be moving for quite some time, so I think we'll have a chance to get you two home. Do you live here in Diagon Alley?"
"No," Christie replied. "We live in London."
"London?" Sirius and Olivia exchanged a glance.
Olivia held out her wand. "Can you tell me what this is?" she asked.
"It looks like a wand," Bobby said, looking at the strip of wood critically.
"That's right," Olivia said.
"Do you know anyone else who has one of these?" Sirius asked, holding out his own wand.
"No," Bobby said.
"I've seen them on television!" Christie exclaimed. "I watch all the magic shows. They're my favorites."
Sirius and Olivia looked at one another again.
"Should I get Laura and a team of Obliviators here?" Olivia asked. "We're going to need some memory charms."
"We can do those ourselves," Sirius said. "But we do need Laura. We're going to need a statement, and we have to make sure everything we do is totally legal. Those bastards are not going free."
"We're going to need a Healer, too," Olivia added. "The spells I know aren't going to go very far with these two."
Sirius looked at the still-exposed wounds on the children's bodies and nodded. "I'll alert St. Mungo's. None of these look life-threatening, but you can't be too careful."
He took a crystal in the shape of a cross from his pocket, and tapped it with his wand. It glowed gold for a moment, then changed to blue. Sirius nodded.
"They're sending someone. Hurry, Liv. We need to get them home."
Olivia nodded. "Right. Bobby, Christie, Sirius is going to stay with you for a minute. I just need to get one of my friends for you to talk to. I'll be right back."
Without even giving them time to reply, she Disapparated. Sirius looked at the children, who were looking at the place where Olivia had been standing only seconds before. Their mouths were slightly open.
"How did she do that?" Bobby asked in an awed whisper.
"It's magic, silly," Christie replied. "I've seen them to that on tv loads of times."
Sirius grinned. "Right you are, Christie. That most certainly was magic. Would you like to see some more?"
Olivia Apparated into Laura's offices within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Laura was in the lobby when Olivia appeared, and looked at her in surprise.
"Hey, Liv," she greeted with a smile. "What brings you down to our neck of the woods?"
"I need you," she said urgently.
Laura's smile faded at the desperation in Olivia's voice. "What's happened?" she asked tensely.
"Sirius and I were just sent in to investigate some Death Eater activity in Diagon Alley – it turns out that they were torturing two Muggle kids."
The color drained from Laura's face. "What?" she whispered in horror.
Olivia nodded. "They're in pretty bad shape, so I'm going to need a Healer, too, but we really need you to get a statement from them before they start forgetting details. Sirius and I want to make sure that these bastards pay for what they've done."
Laura nodded. "I'm there. Just let me grab my bag, and tell me where I'm Apparating to."
By the time Laura and Olivia arrived at the building in Diagon Alley, two Healers were already at work on the children. Sirius was there as well, transformed into the great black dog, chasing his tail to amuse the children. He immediately transformed back when he saw Olivia and Laura.
"Do it again!" Christie begged. "That was so cool, Sirius! How did you do it? Can you teach me how?"
Olivia gave him a half-exasperated, half-amused look. "Providing the entertainment this evening?"
He shrugged. "I wanted to get their minds off everything that's happened."
Olivia smiled. "It was a good idea."
"Thanks," he replied, returning her smile.
As soon as the Healers were done with the children, Laura stepped forward.
"Hi," she said with a smile. "I'm Laura. Is it all right if I ask you a few questions about what you saw today?"
"All right," the children agreed in unsion.
Sirius and Olivia stepped back, and let Laura do her job. The Healers joined them.
"That could have been far worse," the first one stated. "It's a good thing you two got here when you did."
Olivia felt a bit ill. Perhaps if she and Sirius had spent a bit less time arguing earlier, they could have arrived sooner.
"It's a good thing you called us so quickly," the second Healer added. "We were able to fix all the damage before it went too far. Congratulations on your first mission, you two. This was a job well done."
Sirius looked at him curiously. "How did you know this is our first mission?"
"We've been on-call Healers for the Auror department for about five years. We're only one of the Healer teams, but we know all the Auror teams. If this wasn't your first mission, it had to be one of the first."
"You've done well," his partner added. "Keep it up. We'll see you again – hopefully not too soon."
With parting smiles, the Healers Disapparated. Sirius looked at Olivia with a smile.
"Well, how about that?" he asked. "We already have the seal of approval from the Healers."
Olivia looked at him reproachfully, and stepped toward the door. Sirius followed her with concern in his eyes.
"What's wrong, Liv?"
She turned to him with bright eyes. "Sirius, these children nearly died."
"But they didn't," he stated firmly. "Because we got here, they'll get to go home."
"They're just kids, Sirius," she said softly. "They aren't even wizards. What did they do to deserve this?"
"It was bad luck," Sirius said. "They don't deserve it, it isn't right, and it should never have happened. But we can't change the fact that it did. We can only try to make it as right as we can. That's what our job is all about, you know. We fix things that have gone wrong." He looked at her curiously. "You've been doing this ever since we left Hogwarts, Liv. You've seen torture victims before. What happened to shake you up so much this time?"
"It's never been kids before," she said softly. "I know that others have had to deal with kids – Laura and Lily had that one awful case with the child being tortured as a way to hurt the mother – but I've never seen anything like this before."
Sirius nodded slowly. "Well, love, you're just going to have get the hang of it. I can guarantee you right now that this isn't the last time that we're going to see child victims. Just remember that we're here to fix it – we're here to make it better for them. We have to do our best to distract them."
Olivia looked at him, wondering why he had called her "love." Was it old habit, or did her really mean it? She shook her head slightly. She couldn't think about it now. She couldn't handle trying to figure out the implications of one word. "Is that what your transformation was all about? Distracting them from what had happened?" she asked.
"Yes. I thought it might take their minds off the pain."
Olivia nodded. "Well, it worked. Although, did you really need to show more magic to the Muggle kids?"
Sirius laughed. "We're going to wipe their memories anyway. They might as well have some fun first."
Olivia laughed in spite of herself, and shook her head. "You really are just a very tall child, aren't you?"
"So Lily always tells me," Sirius grinned.
Olivia sobered. "You know, if we hadn't been arguing, we could have been here sooner."
"We had to wait for Moody's instructions."
"Yeah, but I didn't have to fight you about who was going in first. You were right; it's about them, not us. I'm sorry. I won't do it again."
Sirius smiled. "I'm sorry, too. I promise to try harder to get along with you."
"I promise to think of work and only work while we're on missions."
"Me, too." Sirius looked over at the Death Eaters who were still lying together in the corner. "I'm going to take them to Law Enforcement, and then I'll come back to help you take the kids home to London."
Olivia nodded. "We're taking them right up to their houses."
"Definitely. We're not letting anything else happen to them again."
"I'm not ready to give up this tropical paradise," Lily moaned.
"But we must," James said, giving an exaggerated sigh. "Work beckons."
Lily wrinkled her nose. "There will be no discussion of work until we're back at home."
James grinned. "Isn't it fantastic to go back to normal life?"
Realizing what he meant, Lily gave him a smile. "It's good to have you back, James."
"It's good to be back," he grinned. "Now, shall we Disapparate?"
"I suppose," Lily sighed. She smiled. "After you."
James winked at her, and Disapparated. Lily looked out the window at the ocean one last time, then closed her own eyes and headed home.
"Surprise!"
Lily opened her eyes and felt her mouth drop open. Her friends were in her living room, all looking at her with expectant smiles. She looked from Remus and Laura to Peter to Dana and Aidan to Sirius and Olivia. Sirius and Olivia? They were standing closer together than they had in a long time. Lily smiled, taking that as a good sign.
"What are you all doing here?"
"We all wanted to see you, and this seemed like the easiest way," Sirius said. "But don't worry. This isn't a party, and it isn't going to last long. We just wanted to say hello." He looked pensive for a moment. "We haven't had a good party in ages. What do you say we plan one?"
"You have time to plan a party, Sirius?" Laura laughed.
Sirius nodded. "Party at my place. Details to follow."
Remus shook his head. "Are you planning to let James and Lily tell us about their trip?"
"Sorry," Sirius said with a sheepish grin. "Right you are, Moony. How was the trip, guys?"
"Paradise," Lily sighed. "I didn't want to leave!"
"It was fantastic," James added. "And Lily was right about it helping me."
"You mean -?" Sirius began, not really knowing how to phrase his question.
James nodded. "I feel like myself again."
Sirius grinned. "Welcome back, mate."
"Thanks," James said. "But what's been going on around here? Have you missed us?"
"Loads," Laura grinned. "Dana, Liv and I missed Lily the other day when we went out."
"You went out without me?" Lily exclaimed.
"I didn't think you'd want to be out drinking," Olivia said in defense of their evening on the town.
"Well, I could have had something nonalcoholic," Lily replied. "Although, I do have to admit that I've been going to sleep earlier recently. This pregnancy is exhausting!" She smiled at Laura. "Be prepared for some early nights."
Laura smiled. "I think I can handle it."
"Did you girls have fun?" Lily asked.
"We did," Dana said with a mischievous smile. "Liv met a man!"
Lily's eyebrows shot up as she turned to Olivia. "Really?"
Olivia nodded with a flush to her cheeks. "His name is Greg Wilson. He went to Hogwarts, but was in Ravenclaw and a few years older than us."
"Seeker for Ravenclaw?" James asked.
Olivia looked at him in surprise. "How did you remember that?"
"I never forget the competition," James grinned.
While Olivia began recounting her first date with Greg, James looked over at Sirius. He was clenching his jaw, and his eyes were unreadable. After several moments of listening to Olivia, he stood up and went to the kitchen. Without hesitating, James followed him.
"Are you all right, Padfoot?" he asked as he entered the room.
"Yeah, I guess," Sirius replied. He opened the refrigerator and took out a butterbeer. "You want one?"
"Sure," James agreed.
They both opened their bottles, and drank in silence for a moment. James glanced at his friend, who had an uncharacteristically pensive look on his face.
"Are you going to talk to me, or are we going to sit here in silence all night?"
Sirius gave him a smile, and put his drink down on the counter. "I can't believe she's dating that prat. Do you remember him? Greg Wilson had nothing going for him."
"Aside from being in Ravenclaw, and therefore being pretty intelligent," James said. "And he was their Seeker, so that shows rather impressive athletic ability."
"Are you trying to make me feel better or worse?" Sirius grinned.
"Sorry," James smiled. "I'm just being brutally honest. Look, if it bothers you that much that she's dating him, why don't you just go talk to her?"
"I can't," Sirius said miserably. "I hate this, and I want him as far away from her as humanly possible, but I can't interfere."
"Who are you, and what have you done with Sirius Black?"
Sirius smiled. "First of all, I'm dating Rebecca now, so I'm not supposed to care about who Olivia dates. Second, I told her off yesterday for being mean to Rebecca, saying that she doesn't have any right to get involved in my love life anymore. Either way, it would be extremely hypocritical for me to get involved in this."
"But you do care," James said.
"I have Rebecca now," Sirius said stubbornly. "Olivia can do whatever the hell she wants with her life. That's what she wants. That's what she decided when she broke up with me. I told her yesterday that she has to live with it. Well, so do I."
James sighed. When Sirius got into moods like this, there was no talking him out of them immediately. He'd just have to wait before trying to bring this topic up again. "All right, so you're fine with Olivia dating Greg. Shall we join everyone else, then?"
"All right," Sirius agreed, still scowling slightly.
Taking their butterbeers with them, they reentered the living room, where Olivia was just winding down her story of her date with Greg.
"Anything new other than the new beau?" Lily asked as Olivia stopped talking.
Olivia glanced at Sirius, who had sat down with James on the couch. "Sirius and I are working in the field now."
"Really?" James said with interest. "That's great! They usually don't let new Aurors out of the office so early."
"They made an exception for us, given our Order training," Sirius said. "We're the only two allowed to do field work."
"Are you a team, then?" James asked.
Olivia nodded. "We just had our first case yesterday."
"How was it?" Lily asked.
Olivia shuddered. "Awful. We found two Death Eaters torturing a couple of Muggle kids."
Peter grimaced with the knowledge that he would have to relay this information – that the Aurors now knew about the torture of Muggle children – to his master. Why wouldn't they stop talking about things like this in front of him? One way or another, the Dark Lord would get all this information from him. He didn't want to know what they were planning, or what they were doing at work – in his position ignorance was the best path.
"The thing is, we don't know what they were after," Sirius said. "I mean, torturing kids? It doesn't make much sense. We told Moody about it, and he said he'd launch an investigation. Even so, we were thinking that some extra investigation wouldn't hurt . . ." He looked at Olivia, who nodded slightly. "Little Flower, we thought if you were bored at work . . ."
Lily nodded. "I'll tell Minnie. We'll start investigating tomorrow."
Peter wanted to groan. He really was better off not knowing what his friends were doing.
"Hey!"
"Well, welcome back!" Minnie exclaimed as Lily walked into her office. "How was your trip? Look at your tan!"
Lily laughed. "You mean my lack of tan? I've never tanned well, Min, and I know it. There's no need to pretend for the sake of my feelings."
Minnie laughed. "Well, I wasn't going to say anything, but you still look a little pale. It is a darker pale than usual, though."
Lily laughed again. "Thanks, I guess."
"You haven't missed too terribly much," Minnie said. "We've had activity all over the place, but nothing that required intense work. The Death Eaters appear to be getting bolder. They aren't as worried about covertness as they once were."
"I guess that makes our job a little easier."
"I suppose. I just hope it's making the Aurors' jobs easier, too."
"Oh, speaking of which, I have a lead for us," Lily said, pulling a piece of parchment out of her pocket. "Liv and Sirius came over to visit last night, and told James and I about a case they were on the other day. They stopped two Death Eaters from torturing a couple of Muggle kids."
"Bloody hell," Minnie muttered. "They're torturing kids? Were adults involved?"
"No, just kids," Lily replied. "That's the part that concerned Sirius and Olivia. They thought that we might want to start investigating to see if they have further plots that involve kids, and what exactly their purpose is with them."
"Good idea," Minnie agreed. "Let's run it by Dorcas, and get working."
"She's not going to let me go out to do any field work, you know," Lily said, wrinkling her nose.
"That's okay," Minnie assured her. "You can get in contact with all our sources, and see what you can uncover with them. I'll do any reconnaissance we need."
Lily sighed and nodded. "I suppose it'll have to do."
"Welcome back," James smiled as his Ravenclaw fifth years fell silent. "I hope you all had a relaxing break."
The students laughed and made faces, pulling the essays he had assigned from their bags. James grinned.
"Accio essays!" He deftly caught the rolls of parchment, and put them on his desk. "I'm sure these are examples of your best work, given the amount of time you had to work on them."
The students laughed again, although some looked genuinely concerned. James smiled, trying to put them at ease.
"So, no one had time for anything but homework since the last time we had class?"
His question was met by blank looks, and he shook his head. These Ravenclaws truly were too studious.
"Did you have a relaxing break, Professor?" one of the girls asked.
"Yes, it was very nice," he smiled. "I went to the Canary Islands with my wife."
"That's so unfair!" another girl cried. "I want to go to the Canary Islands!"
"Well, eliminate Professor Potter's wife and marry him, and maybe next time, he'll take you," one of the boys offered.
"Don't discuss murder plots in front of me," James laughed. "I think I'm legally bound to turn you in."
The students all laughed.
"Right, let's get to work," he said. "You have your OWLs rather rapidly approaching, and we want to make sure that you're prepared."
After a review of the theory behind the spells they had been working with before Easter, James put them through a rather rigorous practice session. By the time the bell rang, the students looked exhausted.
"You've all done excellent work today," he grinned. "For homework, please review and practice your shield charms, and read the chapter on intermediate jinxes – that's what we're going to work on next time. Have a good day, everyone."
He walked out with them, stationing himself by his door to watch this class leave and his next class come in. The Ravenclaws all grinned at him as they walked out the door.
"Bye, Professor!"
"See you!"
"Thanks!"
"Thanks?" a new voice sneered.
James looked over at the source, and saw his least favorite coworker coming down the hall. "What's wrong, Professor Snape? Your students don't thank you for teaching them? With all that knowledge you have to impart, I'd think that they'd be very grateful to have you as their teacher."
"I'm glad to see that your little trip has brought back your sarcastic attitude," Snape snapped.
"And I'm glad to see that your attitude hasn't changed a bit," James said cheerfully. "It would be incredibly odd to have you here being pleasant."
"Good morning, Professor."
"Hi, Hayley," James smiled as the girl walked into the room. "Well, Professor, if you'll just excuse me, I have a class to teach. I'm sure you understand."
"Hi, Professor Potter."
"Good morning, Jordan."
Snape knew that he couldn't insult James in front of the students; he settled for giving him a glare that would have intimidated most people, and swept off down the hall. James grinned as he watched him go. It was great to be back at work. It was great to be a part of what he was doing again, rather than just going through the motions of teaching. It was great to feel alive again.
Lily made her way into her office, shutting her door behind her. She put locking and silencing charms on the room in preparation for her meeting with her source. One of his stipulations in meeting with her was that only she and Minnie could know his identity. As Minnie was currently out gathering any information she could find regarding abuse of children by Death Eaters, Lily was on her own for this meeting.
Promptly at five o'clock, the room glowed bright gold. The initial bright light faded away, leaving the face of her informant in a glowing halo on her communication wall.
"Hi, Lily," he greeted with a smile. "It's been awhile."
"Hi, Carl. I've been on vacation," she smiled. "How are the kids?"
"Great. They're thrilled to be this close to summer. They keep telling me that your husband is giving them too much homework. They said they barely had time to eat over the Easter holidays because of all the work. They want you to tell him to lighten up."
Lily laughed. "I'll tell him, but I'm not sure how much good it'll do."
He grinned. "How are you feeling?"
"Pretty good at this point."
"That's good. Still planning on an August baby?"
"I am," she laughed. "But it's not really up to me, is it?"
"Not at all," Carl grinned. "My first was two weeks late, and my third was three weeks early. The second was on time to the day, though. You never know with these babies."
"Well, this one will be on time," Lily grinned. "I can feel it."
Carl grinned. "Well, I wish you luck on that one."
"Thanks."
"I suppose you called me here because you need some information?"
"Yeah," Lily said, picking up her recording quill and parchment. "We've gotten some word of Death Eaters torturing Muggle kids. Any news on that front?"
A pained expression crossed Carl's normally jovial face. "Is Minnie around?"
"Minnie?" Lily asked in surprise. "No, she's out meeting with another source right now. Why? What's up?"
"I'd just rather talk kid stuff with her – I don't want to upset you. And this is Muggles and kids, so . . ."
"Carl, I'm a professional. I can take it."
He shrugged, but the pained expression remained. "All right, here goes. Torture of Muggle children is happening, it's condoned by You-Know-Who himself, and it's planned. They're currently watching the Muggle kids. They're studying their habits, waiting to find a good time to capture them. They've studied their lives enough to know what will be the best thing to use to lure them away. It's all very well thought out."
Lily frowned. "But why?"
Carl drew a deep breath. "They want to torture them either to the point of death or sterilization – they want to destroy the Muggles from the youngest members up. If the kids can't survive, or can't reproduce, once the adults die off the Muggles will die off with them. But you know how the Death Eaters are. They're going to have their fun with the kids first. The ones that your friends saved were lucky that they got there when they did. Not all the kids are that lucky."
Lily looked at him in horror. "Carl, are you sure?"
"I'm as sure as is humanly possible," he said firmly. "Believe me, the Death Eaters weren't happy to know that Sirius and Olivia discovered that this is going on. They knew it would get back to the Aurors, and to you."
"They knew that we'd open an investigation," Lily murmured.
"Yeah, they saw that coming," Carl said. "Watch your back, Lily. Once this story hits, you and Minnie are going to be in a lot of danger."
"I'm always in a lot of danger, Carl. You've read what I write."
"Yeah, but I don't know how much more they're going to take from you. Just be careful, all right?"
"I will."
"Promise me, Lily. Promise me that you'll be careful."
"All right, I promise," she said, surprised by his concern. "What aren't you telling me, Carl?"
He sighed, and ran his hands over his face. "You're one of their most hated, Lily. I don't know what you've done in your life, but you're on the list. So is your husband, and so are most of your friends."
Lily's eyes widened. "Why would they be on the list? I'm the writer, not them."
"I don't know yet. I'm still trying to figure that out."
"It just doesn't make sense . . ." Lily said, trailing off into silence.
"I didn't think so, either," Carl admitted. "If it were just you, Sirius and Olivia, I'd understand, but to add all the others . . . I'm going to figure it out, Lily. I'll do anything I can to keep you and your friends safe."
Suddenly, everything clicked into place. Lily understood exactly what they had all done to earn the Death Eaters' ire. "The Order," she mumbled. "They know who the Order members are."
"What?" Carl asked, frowning slightly.
"Nothing," she said quickly. "Any other information right now?"
"Nothing now," he said. "But I'll be sure to give you anything else I uncover as soon as I can."
"Thanks, Carl," she smiled. "Once again, you have been invaluable."
"So you always say," he grinned. "Talk to you soon, darling. Take care."
"You, too," she said.
Carl disappeared, and Lily ran to grab her Floo powder. She needed to talk to Dumbledore.
Despite the fact that she wanted to talk to Dumbledore, James's fire was the only one she had access to. She Flooed into his office, and found him sitting at his desk.
"Lily!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? This is a fantastic surprise!"
"Hi, love," she smiled, crossing the room to kiss him. "I don't want to act like I'm not glad to see you, but I really need to talk to Dumbledore."
James's eyes widened. "What's happened?"
Lily glanced around the room. "I'd rather not discuss it here."
James nodded. "I'll take you to his office."
They walked quickly through the halls. Many students greeted James, who grinned and said hello to each of them. In spite of her concern over their present situation, she was pleased to see how well respected James had become. He obviously had developed good relationships with his students.
They reached the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office. No longer knowing the password, Lily looked at James expectantly.
"Acid pop," he said.
Lily grinned, remembering the professor's love of all sweets. The gargoyle sprang to life, and they stepped on the moving staircase that would take them up to the office.
Dumbledore's door was open when they stepped off the staircase. James knocked on the open door, and the Headmaster looked up from this desk.
"James! Come in."
James stepped back to let Lily pass before him. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he smiled at her; he looked as if he had never been so excited to see anyone walk through his door. Lily couldn't help grinning at him. She loved the way the Headmaster could make absolutely anyone feel like the most special person in the world.
"Lily, hello," he said, giving her a delighted smile. "It's been far too long since I've seen you. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," she said with a smile. Despite her concern, she immediately felt herself relax in Dumbledore's presence. He had such a calming aura about him; it was as though any problems solved themselves just by his listening to them.
Dumbledore waved at the parchment on his desk. "It looks as though I'm going to need to find a new Divination professor," he commented.
"Has Professor Turner resigned, then?" James asked, not the least bit surprised.
"Yes," Dumbledore said. "She says here that the time has come for her to retire."
"Will it be difficult to find a replacement for her?"
"A replacement?" Dumbledore asked. He smiled. "It is exceptionally difficult to find a true Seer. If I am unsuccessful in my quest, I may just eliminate the class from our schedule. We offer plenty of other courses of study without it. And, to be perfectly honest, it's better not to offer Divination if it isn't taught by a true Seer."
James nodded. "I suppose you're right."
Dumbledore placed the letter of resignation in a stack, and turned to Lily. "I assume that you did not come here to listen to me talk about my staff," he said, folding his hands. "What seems to be troubling you, Lily?"
"It's a conversation I just had at work, sir," she said. "I was talking with one of my sources within the Death Eater circle, who informed me of something rather disturbing."
"Is it about the Muggle children?" Dumbledore asked heavily. "We've been working to undermine that for about a month. Now that the Aurors and the Daily Prophet are joining the battle, perhaps we'll be more successful."
Lily shook her head. "No, that's not what I came about. That is horrifying, but I'm sure that with all the resources we have at our disposal, we'll be able to do something to stop it. I'm actually more concerned about something else he told me."
"And that is . . .?"
"He was really worried about me – he kept telling me to be careful, and that my life is in danger. When I asked what he was on about, he said that my name is on some sort of list. He said James is on it, too, as are most of my friends."
Dumbledore's forehead creased slightly into a frown. "Which friends?"
"He didn't give me specific names, but I'm thinking –"
"The Order members," Dumbledore finished.
"Yes," Lily said quietly. "There's no other reason for James to be on the list. Sirius, Olivia and I work in fields that put us in danger, but James is a teacher. There's no reason for them to target teachers."
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes," he said. "I suppose our suspicions have been confirmed, then."
"What suspicions?" James asked.
"Alastor Moody and I have been concerned about this for some time, but this list is the confirmation we have been awaiting," Dumbledore said. He looked straight at Lily and James with a penetrating stare. "There is a source that is informing the Death Eaters of our members' names."
"You mean -?" James asked fearfully.
Dumbledore nodded. "One of our Order members is a spy for Voldemort."