"What do you think you're doing?" shouted an indignant Snape.

"Shut up," snapped Sirius. He was busy magically binding Snape's hands and feet.

"You can't do this," argued Snape. "I'm expected back."

"That's why we're doing it," replied James. "If you think we're going to give you a chance to rat us out to your little friends, you better think again."

"I've come all this way to let you know where Hermione is and you still doubt me?" asked Snape angrily.

"Just shut up," Sirius repeated, waving his wand and making the knots tighter. "Done."

"Good," said James. "Let's get going."

"Wait," said Lily. "Do you really think we should leave him here? Alone?"

"You're not suggesting we take him with us?" asked Sirius.

"No, but maybe one of us should stay here with him?" said Lily.

"Are you volunteering?" asked Sirius with a smirk.

"That's actually not a bad idea," said James slowly.

"James," began Lily warningly.

"No really," he continued. "You're right. We can't leave him in Sirius's apartment alone."

"When I suggested someone staying here, I didn't mean me," said Lily. "I was thinking maybe Sirius." Both boys laughed. "I'm being serious," said Lily indignantly. "It is Sirius's apartment."

"Love," began James gently. "You're a brilliant witch, but Sirius is a trained Auror. And I'm not going to apologize for wanting you safe here."

Lily sighed, realizing she had backed herself into a corner. "Fine," she said. "I'll stay with him. But the two of you better come back very soon or I'll come looking for you."

James went to his wife, folded her into his arms and held her tightly. "I love you so much," he said into her hair.

Lily hugged him back, unable to return the words because of the lump in her throat.

James released Lily and joined Sirius at the door. "Don't trust him, Lily," said James.

She nodded. "Sirius," she called out.

Sirius turned expectantly.

"Keep my husband alive please."

He nodded and shut the door behind him and James.

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Hermione paced the small confines of her cell with increasing anxiety. It had been a while since she had sent Snape to Sirius's apartment and she was getting worried. Part of her knew she shouldn't underestimate James and Sirius's hate for Snape, but the other part of her knew that it was their only chance.

Her only hope was that they believed the message she sent with Snape. It had been the best thing she could think of on such short notice. Snape had asked her what it meant, but she had told him that it was none of his business. He hadn't liked her response, but there wasn't time to argue and there was no way she was telling Snape she was from the future.

At her feet, Remus moaned. Hermione quickly walked closer and knelt down next to him. She stroked his forehead. "Are you in pain?" she asked softly.

"No," he groaned. "Not at all, I could run a mile if they'd let us out of this damn cage."

"Liar," she laughed gently. "Do you want to try to sit up?"

He nodded and she helped him up. Remus leaned back against her in a sitting position. "Some help I am," he said bitterly.

"Shh," she silenced him. "None of that."

"It's true, Hermione," he said. "I tried to rescue you and all I ended up doing was making things worse. We're running out of time."

"No we're not," she lied.

"I can feel it coming," he replied. "Tonight's the full moon."

"We haven't been outside in a long time. You've probably lost track of time. I'm sure we have more time," she insisted.

Remus didn't respond. They both knew that they were out of time. He took her hand in his and squeezed it tightly. "I've never been so afraid in my life," he confessed quietly. "The thought of me hurting you, I can't stand it."

"Don't think about. Someone will come."

"I'm going to tell them whatever they want to know," said Remus.

Hermione's body tightened at his words. "You can't," she protested.

"I will. I can't let you get hurt," he said stubbornly. "I don't care what happens to me. I don't care what happens to anybody as long as you're safe."

"Remus," began Hermione trying to reason with him. "There are so many things bigger than me here. You can't tell them anything about the future. It would mean so many deaths."

"I don't care," said Remus. "I only care about you."

"Do you really think Voldemort will let me live once you've told him everything we know?" asked Hermione pointedly.

Remus pushed away from Hermione and stood with a lot of exertion. He grabbed onto the bars of the cell to hold himself up. "I can't do nothing," he said, his voice full of anguish. "Don't you understand? I can't control it. I won't be able to stop myself. It'll be my fault."

"No it won't," said Hermione, jumping to her feet and going to him, but he pulled away from her comforting hands. She stood with her hands outstretched, aching to comfort him. "It's not you. It won't be you."

"God damn it all," he yelled out in frustration, gripping the bars even tighter.

"Please Remus," begged Hermione. "Please don't pull away from me now." She touched him lightly on his back. "I'm scared too, you know." Remus turned back to Hermione and she started to tear up at the heartbreak she saw on his face. "Please just hold me," she whispered.

He folded her into his arms and held her tightly. "I love you so much," he said into her hair.

Hermione hugged him back, unable to return the words because of the lump in her throat.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

James and Sirius circled Malfoy Manor cautiously underneath James's invisibility cloak. As far as they could see, Malfoy Manor appeared relatively empty.

"You don't think they would have been kind enough to leave a window open," muttered James under his breath.

"Fat chance," replied Sirius. "We're going to have to go in the old fashioned way." He pulled out his wand so just the very tip was exposed. "Alohamora," he said.

They heard the lock on the door click open and the door swung inward a few inches. Sirius quickly pulled his wand back into the depths of the invisibility cloak.

"Shall we?" asked James.

"After you," replied Sirius sarcastically.

Together, they entered Malfoy Manor and silently closed the door behind them. There was no one in the first part of the house which made getting around easier, but certainly didn't make them feel at ease.

"Snape said they were being held in the dungeon," said Sirius unnecessarily. "Let's get them and get the hell out of here."

"Not so fast, Sirius," cautioned James. "Don't forget what Moody always says. 'Nothing is ever like it appears, especially when it appears easy.'"

Sirius nodded, having heard that particular bit of advice more times than he cared to count.

"Let's do a perimeter check and make sure no one will walk in on us while we're down there," said James.

They moved slowly, but deliberately through the first floor of Malfoy Manor. A few times they had to make a quick escape when they ran across a Death Eater, but overall the mansion seemed nearly empty.

"I have a bad feeling, Prongs," said Sirius. "I think Snape's setting us up."

"We have to risk it," said James. "Besides, there's no way he could know about Harry and Ron if she didn't tell him."

"But that doesn't mean she's here. Who knows what they did to get that information out of her," replied Sirius and then he shivered at the thought.

"She's too strong," said James trying to reassure him, though he felt the same chill run through his own body. "They couldn't break her, especially not that sniveling weasel Snape. Come on. Let's go check out the dungeons."

Their move down the stairs was awkward, but they didn't dare take off the cloak until it was absolutely necessary. When they reached the final door they each held their breath and Sirius pushed it open.

Hermione and Remus were sitting together on the floor, holding each other and talking quietly. When the door opened they each looked up apprehensively.

Sirius sucked in his breath. Remus looked a wreck. His face was cut and bruised and his body was tight with tension. One look at his eyes told them how close it was to the full moon. Hermione looked much better than Remus, although she was sporting a nice sized purple bruise on her cheek.

"Who's there," said Hermione threateningly.

"Shh," hushed James pulling the cloak off him and Sirius.

"Oh thank God," cried Hermione.

"Shh," repeated James.

"Hurry," whispered Hermione loudly.

Sirius pulled out his wand and opened the cell. He rushed inside helped Hermione to her feet, and pulled her into his arms. "We were so worried," he said hugging her tightly. When he pulled back he touched her cheek, just below the bruise. "Who did this?" he asked through gritted teeth.

She gave him another brief hug, but didn't answer him. "Help Remus up," she ordered.

James was already beginning to lift him. Sirius quickly went to Remus's other side and helped James.

"I'm fine," protested Remus weakly. "I can get up by myself."

"Honey, let them help you," said Hermione.

"Now's really not the time to argue about this," said James. "We need to get moving." He moved forward with Remus and Sirius. "Hermione stay close," he ordered.

"Put her under the invisibility cloak," croaked Remus. "And send her ahead."

"Good idea," said Sirius. He extricated the cloak from around his arm and tossed it at Hermione, who caught it easily. "Don't argue, just get under," he said sharply.

"I wasn't going to argue," said Hermione softly. "One of you, give me your wand. I'll go out ahead of you and make sure no one gets in our way," she said stepping forward and holding out her hand.

Sirius handed her his wand. "Just make sure you stay hidden."

"I will," she assured him. "Wait sixty seconds and then follow me." They nodded. Hermione made sure she was entirely covered before she walked up the stairs. It felt wonderful to have the freedom to move again. She held Sirius' wand tightly and moved deliberately through Malfoy Mansion. No one seemed to be around and for a brief moment she entertained the thought that it might actually be easy to get out of Malfoy Mansion when she heard an indistinct sound behind her. She froze hoping that whoever it was would move around her, but then she felt the cloak being tugged and before she knew it, it had been pulled off her. She whirled around, with Sirius' wand outstretched.

"Expelliarmus," cried Peter Pettigrew. He caught the wand easily. Hermione's eyes went wide. "Where's Remus? Don't tell me you've abandoned him," he sneered. Hermione's gaze flickered behind Peter, but the boys weren't yet coming.

He grabbed Hermione and turned. "And if I'm not mistaken, James or Sirius should be around here somewhere." He laughed. "There are advantages to my animagus form. From that point on the ground you can see the bottom of your heels every time the cloak sways." He paused and listened. They could both hear someone approaching. Within seconds James, Sirius, and Remus were standing in front of them.

"Oh God," groaned Sirius. "This is getting ridiculous. Can we just kill him please," he begged.

"Sirius," warned James.

"Let her go, Peter," said Remus warningly. "And maybe we'll let you live."

"I've got your girlfriend right where I want her and you're threatening me, Remus?" asked Peter. "That's a bit bold, don't you think."

"What do you want, Pettigrew?" asked James.

"More than any of you could possibly give me," he returned.

"What happened to you, Peter?" asked James sadly. "What made you turn from us?"

"Forget it, James," said Sirius angrily. "It's not worth asking. Peter's always been the weak link in our group. We should have never befriended him."

"Sirius, shut up," hissed Remus. His eyes were locked onto Hermione who was standing very calmly in Peter's embrace.

"You always thought you were better than me," said Peter. "You thought you were better than everyone. I don't think Hogwarts ever knew a more arrogant lot than you three."

"You four," piped up Hermione.

"Shut up, mudblood," said Peter tightening his grip around her.

"Oh come on, Peter. You know it's true. The four marauders were the most arrogant group of Gryffindor's to ever grace Hogwarts halls. But you were a part of that too," said Hermione.

"I said shut up," said Peter again.

"You could be a part of it again," said Hermione quickly. "You don't have to stay here. You could come home with us, now."

"You're just trying to get me to let you go," said Peter.

"Of course I am," answered Hermione quickly. "I don't want to be here anymore and we all know Remus can't afford to stay. But even more, I know you don't want to be here."

"You don't know anything."

"Peter, you're going to die here. You'll make a mistake and they will kill you. If you come with us now, we'll protect you."

Sirius turned his head, looking weary, but he didn't say anything.

Peter looked over at James, Remus and Sirius. "No they won't," he said bitterly.

"We will if you come with us right now," said James. "Just let Hermione go and walk out of here with us."

Hermione could feel him lessening his grip on her. "James won't go back on his word," she said softly. "You know he won't. Take a risk Peter."

Nobody moved for several seconds.

"All right, I've had enough of this," said Sirius. "Peter, if you still don't trust us, then just keep a hold of Hermione and start walking. Otherwise, we're sure to be caught any second now and we'll tell your boss that you were the one who told us where to find Hermione and Remus."

"But I didn't," protested Peter. "He'll never believe you."

"Right," said Sirius sarcastically. "He'll believe you because you've never betrayed anyone before."

For a moment there was definite fear in Peter's eyes. He looked at James only. "Do you swear you'll protect me?"

"Yes, if you move now," said James through gritted teeth.

Slowly, Peter began to back toward the front door with a firm hold still on Hermione.

"Faster, Peter," said Hermione. She held her breath until they were all out of the house. Once outside, she breathed in the fresh air for the first time in days. Then she glanced over at the horizon. The sun was beginning it's descent in the sky.

She could hear the boys struggling behind them and she stretched around to glance at them. Remus wasn't even walking anymore. Both James and Sirius were holding him up.

"The full moon's close," said Hermione unnecessarily. "We have to get him back to Hogwarts."

"Just keep moving, you two," said James from behind. "We're not in the clear yet."

When they were far enough away from the house to be undetected, Hermione wrenched away from Peter and went to Remus. James and Sirius set him down, trying to catch their breath.

"Just leave me," he said weakly. "We'll never make it to Hogwarts in time."

"Yeah, I'm going to leave you," said Hermione, rolling her eyes. "Take a minute to rest and then we're going to move."

"Hermione," began Remus warningly.

"Oh hush up," she said. She moved away from Remus to chat with James and Sirius. "He's right, we're not going to make it to Hogwarts, but we can't risk letting him transform and run around England by himself. We're going to have to chain him to keep him from hurting himself."

"We'll take him back to Godric's Hollow," said James. "We can all apparate there."

"I'm not sure if he's strong enough to apparate."

"I'll manage," said Remus.

James, Sirius, and Hermione looked up guiltily.

"I'm hurt, not deaf," he said with a smile.

"All right," said Hermione with a smile. "Let's try it." She turned to Peter. "We're apparating to Godric's Hollow," she told him. He nodded. "Okay, let's go," she said before concentrating hard and apparating. When she arrived at Godric's Hollow she turned quickly to make sure the others had made it. James and Sirius were next to her as was Peter. A little further away from her was Remus. The apparition seemed to drain him of what little strength he had left. He was sitting on the ground, trying to push himself up.

Sirius and James rushed forward to help him. They each took one arm and hauled him up. "To the cabin," ordered James. "Hurry there isn't much time." They half walked half ran with Remus between them into the woods surrounding Godric's Hollow. Hermione and Peter followed them.

When they reached the cabin, they pulled Remus inside and quickly began conjuring chains. They did their best to secure Remus just as the sun was dipping below the horizon.

James and Sirius were securing the last chains over his wrists, while Hermione secured the ones over his chest. She paused in her work and looked into his eyes. "We made it," she whispered.

He nodded tiredly, grimacing at the pain beginning to course through him. "Do me a favor, Hermione," he said. "Stay out of trouble for the next twelve hours, will you?"

She laughed and touched his face. "I promise," she said.

"Hermione, go now. I'm not safe," he said groaning against the pain. "It's almost time. Take Pettigrew with you."

She nodded and moved away from him. "Peter, come on," she ordered. She pulled him by his sleeve out of the cabin.

Once outside she immediately looked up into the sky. She could see the full moon cresting and heard the beginnings of the transformation. Several times she made a move back toward the cabin, but forced herself to stop.

After what seemed like an eternity, Sirius emerged from the cabin. He was breathing heavily, but looked unhurt.

"The chains are holding," he said. "But James is going to stay with him all night, just in case. In our animagus forms, he's the strongest."

"Okay," agreed Hermione.

"Now," said Sirius, stepping toward Peter. He grabbed him roughly. "We're taking you back to the house."

"What are you doing?" whimpered Peter.

"Giving you what you deserve," said Sirius. "There are some Aurors back at the house that I'm sure would love to make your acquaintance."

"B… B… But you promised," stuttered Peter.

"Sirius, you can't," protested Hermione. "James and I gave our word."

"I didn't," said Sirius, dragging Peter with him.

Hermione ran to catch up. "Sirius, wait," she began.

"Hermione, I'm not going to argue with you," said Sirius. "We've got to get back to my place and I have no intention of dragging Pettigrew along for the ride." There was a large commotion when they arrived at Godric's Hollow. There were several Order members at the house including Hagrid and Professor McGonagall.

As soon as he saw her, Hagrid pulled Hermione into a massive embrace lifting her clear off the ground.

"Hagrid," scolded Professor McGonagall. "Let the poor girl down."

Hagrid immediately released Hermione and set her back down on the ground.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" asked the Professor.

"Yes professor," Hermione replied.

She turned toward Sirius. "Foolish boy," she said, but she was smiling widely. "The Prewitt brothers are none too happy with you." Her smiled faltered when she realized who he was holding. "Pettigrew," she gasped.

"Hagrid, could you hang on to him for awhile. I've got to get back to my place."

"Why?" asked Hermione.

He shook his head, clearly not wanting to explain anything in front of Hagrid or McGonagall.

"Right," she said. "I'm coming with you. We'll be back."

Before either McGonagall or Hagrid could protest, they were both out the door.

"What's going on?" asked Hermione. "Why are we going back to your place."

"We left Lily alone with Snape," explained Sirius.

"What?" exclaimed Hermione. "You held him there?"

"Of course," said Sirius.

"But they'll know he's gone," moaned Hermione.

"Who?" asked Sirius.

"Voldemort," said Hermione. "He can't know Snape's betrayed him."

"We couldn't be sure he wasn't trying to trap us," explained Sirius. "I'm still not sure he wouldn't have double crossed us if we had let him leave."

"He wouldn't have," insisted Hermione. "He was helping me and now we may have signed his death warrant. Let's hurry." She closed her eyes and apparated to Sirius' apartment.

Sirius apparated a second after Hermione and was greeted by a horrifying sight. The apartment was a mess, furniture was broken and glass was shattered everywhere. "Lily," he yelled.

"Lily," shouted Hermione. "Where are you?" They ran from room to room, searching for her. "Lily, Severus, are you here," called Hermione.

"Hermione, over here," yelled Sirius from back in his living room. Hermione hurried toward his voice and gasped when he saw him kneeling on the ground, cradling Lily's body.