Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: I still need a beta reader, and any offers would be deeply appreciated. I've got a new title, courtesy of my sister. Also, the rate at which I'm updating is unusual for me and I don't know how long it will last. Lastly, Beddgelert is a real place, but all the details are going to be made up, because I've never been there. I apologize in advance to any Welsh people I may inadvertently offend, either by my misrepresentation of various locales or by the butchering of the Welsh language which will almost certainly happen in later chapters.

Once they were all seated at a hastily conjured conference table, Millicent began to speak. "I realize that you all have lives outside of the magical world, with the exception of you, Mr. Potter." She nodded to him, with a slight smile on her face. "I can understand why Mr. Lupin, Mr. Pettigrew and Mr. Snape would wish to avoid the magical world, but I am at a loss as to why Ms. Evans and Mr. Black are living as Muggles."

Lily raised her hand tentatively. "Minister, why would they have reasons to avoid the magical world?"

"Yeah. I'd like to know that as well." added Sirius.

Millicent's eyebrows shot up. "I thought you would have known; the Malfoy Manor raid made them into living legends. There's even been a book written about them."

Lily and Sirius turned to stare at the three individuals mentioned, who were all blushing to one degree or another. "It was nothing, really." denied Remus.

"For Merlin's sake, wolf-boy, don't be so modest. We only got rid of the most dangerous Dark Lord in a century." Severus snapped. "I, at least, think we deserved those medals they gave us, even if you tried to turn it down."

"But all we had to do was get rid of the guards and inscribe the runes on the doors!" protested Remus.

Peter sighed. "Remus, how many guards were there?"

"Three per door." Remus hedged.

"And how many doors were there?" Peter pursued.

"Umm... Six or seven?"

"Actually, it was twelve." interjected Severus.

"See?" said Peter. "We each took out a dozen Death Eaters, so stop trying to be humble. There were barely twenty left alive when the place was bombed."

"Yes, but we didn't exactly do it honorably, did we?" Remus didn't want to admit that he was a hero; it was just too alien a concept for someone who had considered himself to be a natural pariah for the majority of his life.

"Remus," Peter said, with growing impatience, "you broke their necks and I knifed them in the back. They had quick, easy deaths, which were more than they deserved. Alright, so Severus played with them a bit, but I'm sure he had his reasons."

Severus grinned bloodthirstily. "Oh, I certainly had my reasons. It was so gratifying, to hear them scream the way they made me scream when I was the school punching bag. Shouldn't be a Slytherin, they said. Mud blood, freak, aberration, they called me. I showed them." He seemed lost in pleasant memories, the exact nature of which no one wanted to speculate on.

"Be that as it may, Mr. Snape, we must return to the matter at hand. There has been a series of abductions in Northern Wales, in the area surrounding Dinas Emrys, and the shade of Vortigern was seen. We, that is, my aide Arthur and I, believe that the missing people have been sacrificed to summon the shade. Several churches have also been desecrated, and in one instance, burned to the ground."

"Minister, please tell me about the people who are missing." Remus leaned forward intently.

Millicent leafed through the folder in front of her. "Six young girls and eleven young men are missing. The oldest girl was," she looked down, "Twelve, the youngest girl was seven, the oldest man was twenty-five and the youngest man was nineteen. Other than the general age range, they have nothing in common."

Remus thought for a moment. "Severus, you know more about the Dark Arts than I do. What type of blood sacrifice is needed to temporarily summon a shade? And what would it take to permanently bind a shade?"

Severus closed his eyes briefly, then looked at Remus grimly. "It takes the blood of a virgin to summon a shade, and the blood of twenty-one strong young men to permanently bind one. At least, that's according to the Grindelwald manuscripts; some of the medieval grimoires say three virgins and thirty-three young men."

Remus sighed. "That's not as concrete as I would have liked. So they have summoned or will summon a shade either six or two times, and they're either halfway or a third of the way to having the sacrifice needed to bind the damned thing."

"So, obviously, " interposed Lily, "We need to prevent them from getting the rest of the sacrifice. Minister, what's the nearest town to Dinas Emrys?"

Millicent smiled at Lily indulgently; she'd always been Millicent's favorite. "Beddgelert, I believe."

Lily nodded. "Minister, I request permission to set up a base of operations in Beddgelert, for the purpose of investigating the disappearances in the area, with an eye to bringing them to a halt." The formal phrasing came back to her easily, and she smiled slightly in relief.

"Permission granted, Auror Evans." Millicent's smile widened. "You have carte blanche to do as you see fit, as do you all." She reached into her pocket, and withdrew six gold badges, which she tossed to each of them. "Your badges. Now go and make your arrangements."

Lily picked up her badge and examined it, and a wide grin spread slowly over her face. Special Auror Agent First Class Lily Evans. "A promotion, Minister?"

The others, who had merely tucked their badges away, took them out and stared at them. Millicent reveled in the looks of astonishment they gave her. "I received quite a bit of criticism for not giving you those ten years ago. I'm rectifying my mistake now. And Aurors?" They all looked at her. "To you, it's still Madam Bagnold. It sounds strange hearing my best agents calling me 'Minister', and I don't like it."

Sirius grinned, and gave her a mock salute. "Very well, Madam. Permission to depart?"

Millicent gave them her first honest grin in years. "Out, you scamp. And get some proper Auror's robes, the lot of you; I want you to look the part."

They got out, grins on their faces.

Having adjourned to a private dining room at the Leaky Cauldron, they began to plan. Or, more accurately, Lily and Severus began to plan. Having been the respective tactical officers of their teams, they were, by default, in charge. "So," Lily began, "How are we going to do this? We could go in as Aurors, we could go in with some kind of cover story, or we could try to do it from a distance. What do you think, Severus?"

"Well, I think that going in as Aurors would make whoever is doing this much more circumspect, and our jobs that much harder. It would be insanely difficult to do a job like this from a distance, so I think we should devise a cover story or cover stories."

"That's what I thought, too." agreed Lily. "Should we each have own individual cover story and stagger our arrivals, so that we look like mutual strangers, or go as a group, with a single pretext?"

"Actually, I think a combination of the two might work best." Sirius said. When they turned to look at him, he began to explain. "There must be at least one pub there, and I can easily persuade whoever's in charge of it that having a live singer is a good idea. James has a Ministry clearance that's separate from the Auror Division, so he can access the local archives without drawing much attention. Peter and Snape are going to be difficult, given how well-known they both are, but Peter can just spend most of his time as a rat, so that's no big deal. I've got a few ideas for Snape, but I don't think they're very good."

"Well, out with them." Severus demanded. "The other ideas are very practical, very workable, so whatever you've come up with for me can't be that bad."

Sirius shrugged. "Well, all right. This is where the group part comes in. I thought that maybe you and Lily could pose as a couple on a romantic getaway." He paused, waiting for a reaction, which he promptly got.

"That's horrible!" James proclaimed.

"That's perfect!" chorused Lily and Severus.

"No it isn't!" argued James. "It's perfectly appalling!"

"You're outvoted." Severus said curtly.

James lapsed into a glaring, resentful silence, arms crossed and lower lip protruding. The others knew all about the infamous 'Potter sulks', and ignored him in favor of continuing to plan.

"So, what's my cover going to be?" asked Remus.

"Hmm." Sirius thought for a moment. "Is drawing still a hobby of yours?"

Remus looked puzzled. "Yes, occasionally. Why?"

Sirius grinned. "From now on, you are Remy DuBois, an illustrator for a French history magazine, doing sketches of the fort on Dinas Emrys. I hope you haven't forgotten your accents."

"But of course not!" Remus declared, with exaggeratedly proper diction. He sounded as if he spoke English well, but not natively.

Lily nodded her satisfaction. "Very nice. I learned some Welsh from my grandmother; enough to get by anyway."

Severus nodded. "That will help a great deal; people are more willing to speak to people whom they don't perceive as outsiders."

"I think Sirius should go to Beddgelert first, so that he can do a little reconnaissance, and scope out bed and breakfasts or rental cottages for us to stay in. Remus should go two or three days after him, and keep an eye on Dinas Emrys itself. James should go down next, and start taking a look at property deeds, to see if there are any known Dark Magic users in the area; I'll pull the list from the archives for him. Peter can go with him, and do a little eavesdropping. I and Severus will go last, acting all lovey-dovey and going for long walks, which will just happen to be on the properties that James has marked as suspect."

"That sounds just fine." Severus said. "I do think that Black should leave as soon as possible, though."

"Yeah, all right. I can be ready to leave by tomorrow. Just let me have a word with Nicola and pack up my guitar and some clothes. I'll start now, actually." Sirius stubbed out his cigarette and got up. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm thrilled to be doing this again."

Remus grinned at him. "I think we all are, Padfoot."

James stood up. "I should go."

"Me too." added Peter. "We should let Lily and Severus get their story straight."

The former Marauders all left, to go to their respective homes, leaving Lily and Severus alone. "So, what is our back story?" she asked.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it? We were Aurors together during the war, we met each other again recently, and sparks flew. I was in London last month on business, so that's when we met, and we've been talking to each other over the floo every day since then. A nice romantic story, but not too over done. It's close enough to the truth that we won't easily forget it. Do you see any flaws?"

"Not really. Are you going to have any trouble pretending to be besotted with me?"

"I doubt it." He knew he wouldn't; all he'd have to do was stop pretending that he wasn't. "Are you?"

"I don't think so." She smiled at him, glancing up from under her eyelashes, and immediately felt like a fool. What am I? A schoolgirl with a crush? Get a hold of yourself.

Oh God, she was flirting with him; maybe he had a chance with her. Severus nerved himself and asked, "Shall I walk you home?"

Lily's heart thrilled, then she realized he didn't mean it that way. "Certainly. We should get in character as soon as possible."

Oh. Getting in character. Right. Not flirting, then. A smile concealing his disappointment, Severus stood and offered her his arm. "Shall we go then, dear?"

Lily forced a smile, and took his arm. "Certainly, darling."