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Ch.39: Sad and Angry, yet strong

Lily and James arrived back to school with the book in hand. Langston, Ledford and Dumbledore were there waiting.

"Evans, Potter, good work. Dumbledore I think your assistance will be needed to destroy this article." Langston said turning to Dumbledore.

"Yes, If I may?" he asked reaching out to the book James was holding.

James handed the silver case over to Dumbledore. Dumbledore took it to the table and set it down, he opened it carefully and examined it. He pulled out his wand and everyone gathered around, including the others: Sirius, Alicia Emily and Remus.

Dumbledore pointed his wand to the book and said "Vlascotian" . . . nothing happened; he said it once more with more force "Vlascotian," . . . nothing.

"Something wrong Albus?" Langston asked.

"There has been a seal put on it, this isn't it," Dumbledore said.

"What do you mean this isn't it sir, this is the same book we found in India two months ago?" Lily asked

"Like we did they must have made another copy on they didn't distort the cover slightly, just as we did." He stated.

"So who do you suppose has it?" Ledford asked.

Dumbledore looked up, either Rockwell, or Riddle, it can't be Greyback because he has the distorted one, the one we switched." Dumbledore explained.

Dumbledore looked up in thought as did everyone else. Suddenly the portal door opened and in came Agent Burns.

"Burns?" Langston asked shocked to se her.

"Hello Sir, I apologize for intruding, but something has happened." She stated firmly.

"What is it?"

"It's agent Croft sir,"

"And?"

"He left for Cairo, yesterday as you know for the trafficking intervention,"

"Yes, to up hold the drugs ring in Cairo, what about it?"

"we received a call from Agent Davis just an hour ago, of an accident that occurred. Both of them were sleeping and then Davis woke up to smell of smoke . . ."

"Was Croft . . .?"

""Agent croft over heated, do to his Pyromecian status, he passed away in his sleep do to dehydration and active fire, active fire meaning, he caught his elf on fire, Davis tried to stop the fire but was unsuccessful as Davis is not a wizard."

Langston lowered his head. And tear began to fill Lily's eyes.

"Thank you Burns, I will return shortly." Langston said in a low tone.

"Yes sir," Burns responded and left.

There was silence for several moments.

"Where were we, I'm sorry," Langston said getting back to reality, the reality that they didn't have the book.

"This is not the book of Vlasco, apparently." Ledford said.

"Well, Lily call up Riddle arrange a meeting with him, find out where the hell that book is," Langston said firmly and began walking to the door.

"Dumbledore, now would be good time to choose those two agents for the other job, now that we have our main connection to Riddle gone, we need to start training them now." Langston said then left the room. Ledford followed with the silver case and book inside.

Silence came over every one once more. Lily wiped away a tear that began to stream down her face. James pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry to hear of the loss of a fellow agent and a close friend of yours Ms. Evans; my sympathies go to you and the agency." Dumbledore said. He bid goodnight and left the common room.

The group sat on the couches and thought, thought about life, the wizarding world, Voldemort, but most importantly what all this meant for their future, would they see more death, hear of more death, continue to fight for the right cause, get into danger, be in danger, kill, cry, die? They just didn't know and that's what scared them the most, the thought that they may be caught and die under the hand of Voldemort.

Sirius and Remus made beds appeare out of nowhere for themselves and Alicia and Emily, they were staying in the heads room that night. James took lily upstairs and took her to her room. He set her down on her bed.

"I cant' believe he's gone . . ." Lily sad slowly and softly. James sat beside her.

"I'm sorry; I know how much he meant to you." James said. He wiped a tear from Lily's face.

Lily looked up.

"I never had the chance to say good bye and we didn't even get the book, I suppose I'll write to him tomorrow morning. And then I'll see what needs to be done about Ben's funeral."

"Okay, let's get to bed it's quite late." James said as he got up and kissed lily on her forehead and started to walk towards the door.

"James?" Lily asked softly.

James turned around.

"Will you stay with me tonight?"

James smile softly and strode over to Lily.

"Of course," James went to his room to get a change of clothes and Lily and he changed in to their night clothes. They under the covers and let sleep take them away into darkness.

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The sun light reflected off the white covered grounds of Hogwarts and the sun streamed into lily's room, Lily winced at the light and began to squirm. She then realized he head was resting on James's chest and then reality hit her of what had happened the previous night, the switch, the book, Ben. Ben lily's oldest friend, Ben was dead all because of a condition he had, he had gotten over heated do to his mission in Cairo and he had died in his sleep. Lily couldn't believe it.

Lily slowly got up trying not to wake James. He got out of bed and grabbed a towel and headed to the bathroom. She turned the hot water on and got in; she let the hot water cascade down her back.

James felt the stinging light reach his eyes and he squinted at the bright yellow light that filled his mind. He turned over and felt nothing, his eyes shot open and he saw the other side of the bed empty with the covers turned over.

"Lily?" he muttered. He waited, then the sound of water filled his ears. He got up and walked to the bathroom door, he knocked; then he heard the water turn off and the shower door open.

Lily opened the shower door and wrapped a towel around her self; she heard knocking at the door. She ran her fingers through her hair and went to the door. She opened it gently and saw James standing outside in nothing but boxers and a pair of old sweat pants.

James looked up as the door opened and saw a very wet Lily with only a towel on and drenched, dark auburn hair falling down her front over her towel covered breast.

"Hey I woke up and I didn't see you." James said

"Oh sorry, I'm almost done, give me five minutes." Lily said with a small smile.

"Alright I'll be downstairs." James said. He went to his room and put on a t-shirt.

He then headed downstairs and stood on the stair landing. He looked down and saw two large beds one with Sirius and Alicia cuddled up in each others arms and the other with only Emily. James looked around and saw Remus sitting by the window with a large mug in his hands. James watched him as he took a long sip. From the cup steam flowed out of it. James descended the stairs and walked over to Remus.

Remus looked up at the sound of someone's foot steps.

"Hey, James how are you, how's lily?" he asked softly.

"Alright I think, she's upset about Ben, but I figure she feels how it would feel to lose Sirius, for me at least, he's like my brother and Ben was like Lily's brother." James said sitting down on the ledge in front of Remus.

Remus took another swig from his mug.

"Your right, but it's awful, she has lost everyone outside of the wizarding world who has really cared for her, her parents are gone, Petunia kicked her out and basically said flatly that she never wanted to see her again and now Ben is gone, plus just imagine all the bull shit she's been through with the Firm." Remus said

"She is a strong young woman, I' know she'll get through this." He said.

"Yeah I'm sure she will, she just needs some time." James commented.

Silence fell between the two friends. James looked at Remus, he was staring out the window blankly.

"What are you drinking, it smells good?" James asked curiously.

Remus looked away from the window and looked down at his mug.

"It's just coffee, a muggle drink. Would you like a cup?"

"Yeah, sure,"

Remus pulled out his wand swished it around, suddenly a full mug of freshly brewed and hot coffee appeared. James took the mug and took a sip; the coffee warmed him up instantly. He looked up and remus was smiling.

"I put a spot of warmth in there, like butter beer, so it would warm you up." He said.

"Thanks."

Suddenly Lily came down; her hair was dried and very curly, but not frizzy. She wore a pair of jeans, a maroon long sleeved, stretched shirt and a brown hoody with brown chucks. She came over to Remus and James rubbing her hands vigorously.

"Is that coffee?" she asked looking down at their mugs.

"Yeah would you like a cup?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, thanks,"

Remus conjured up another cup and lily sat on the other side of James but faced Remus.

"How are you, Lily?" he asked as he handed her the cup.

Lily took the cup and took a sip, warmth spread through out her body.

"Better, now." She said smiling.

"I meant about what has happened." He said.

Lily looked up and Emily getting up and coming over to where they were.

"Morning everyone," She said wiping her eyes.

"Morning, I'm alright. I knew Ben had been sick from his status, but I didn't know how soon he would become really sick."

Emily pulled up a chair and sat down.

"I'm sorry about Ben Lily; I know how much he meant to you." Emily said, she gave Lily a hug, which she appreciated.

"Thanks."

James looked up and saw Sirius get up, Alicia soon followed and now they all were up.

"Well I suppose I should write to you– know- who," Lily said and got up; she finished her coffee and left her mug on the table. She went into her Portal room. She walked to the storage room and tried to open it but she couldn't, she figure it was too early for her muscles to be working properly, or something was blocking it. Lily had left her wand upstairs so she stood back away from the door. She then ran to the door and kicked it in.

Lily's action caused a loud commotion which caused the group to run to the portal. Lily had left it open.

"Lily are you alright?" James asked worriedly. Lily looked up.

"Yeah, sorry the door was stuck." Lily looked through the whole in the door. All of her belongings had fallen in front of the door.

"All of my stuff fell in front of the door so it wouldn't open."

Lily opened the door and the stuff on the floor began to move with the movement of the door. Lily got in and reassembled all of her things in to the far corner of the room.

Lily walked over to the desk and pulled out a blank sheet of paper and began to write to Riddle. The others looked around the room and rummaged through her spy gear.

Lily finished the letter and re read it to herself. It read.

Dear, Mr. Riddle

The whereabouts of the Book of Vlasco are unknown, but it has come to my attention that either you or Mr. Rockwell have it, May I remind you just how valuable this book is, it is indefinite that you keep your end of the bargain or else severe consequences will be made, Meet me at the Clock Tower Café, London tomorrow at two o'clock. Be there promptly. Bring no one with you.

Sincerely,

Bernice Snave

Lily nodded at the letter and folded it up, she put it into an envelope and went out of the room they all followed her. She transformed her hair brush into an owl skillfully and then sent the letter on it's way. She turned around and nodded.

James and Lily and the others sat in the common room, Lily knew that going back to MI-5 would not only be sad but also worthless, she knew Ben had already emptied his desk from the Field unit and that he probably didn't have much with him in the tech unit, she would call in later to see about the funeral arrangements. Emily and Remus rehearsed their duet for the talent show and the others watched.

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Voldemort's Hide out

The owl flew into the hide out and was captured be a tall thin man

He took the letter and went to the dark lord. Voldemort sat in his office behind a large cherry wood desk with snakes carved into it entwined up the legs and base of the desk. He looked up. He was annoyed, pissed off, and most of all not int the mood for company.

"Sir?" the tall man asked as he stood in the door way.

"What is it?" he asked angrily

"A letter sir, an owl dropped it off."

"Is it from Rockwell?"

"I'm not sure."

"Come in,"

the man entered and handed him the letter. Voldemort took it and opened it. He looked up.

"You can leave," He said ushering him to the door with a wave of his hand.

The man left and Voldemort continued to open the letter. He opened it and read it.

He stared at it, either him or Rockwell had the book.

"Tribon!" he bellowed

The tall man reappeared.

"Send to death eaters to find Rockwell. Now." He ordered. The tall man vanished.

"We'll see who has that book." Voldemort muttered to himself.

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