AN: I know, I know, I know. I have no excuse that I haven't offered already, I just haven't had the time to write/edit at all this month. Trust me when I say that it's been harder on me than it has on you. I get all antsy when I can't write/edit. But enough of this.

This chapter is full of new characters, mostly some not so great people, but still. Also, a part of the chapter is written in Bella's point of view. I love writing in her pov. Oh, and the Sirius sass is on point in this chapter as well. Honestly, I crack myself up.

Enjoy

EDIT: I noticed that my spell check on MW was auto-correcting Rodolphus' name to Rodolpus... While it may be a more accurate representation about how Bella and myself feel about him, it's still been corrected.

"But you can't make people listen. They have to come round in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up around them. It can't last."
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Chapter Twelve: The One Where James Finds Out

The ride into town was a quiet one. Lance rode in the back with Dory and Remus, who had, for some reason unknown to James, joined their camp in the middle of the night. Sirius seemed to be the only one in a good mood.

"If my fingers fall off," Arden rode up so he was next to James. "Will you promise to take care of me in my crippled state?"

"I'll take you in, Ardy." Gideon assured him.

"And where are we going to put him?" Fabian asked, riding his horse while his hands rested in his armpits. "Shall he share a room with Ann or Alissa?"

"I was thinking he would sleep on the floor with the dogs. He already smells the part." Gideon smirked, now mimicking his brothers riding style.

"You're both hilarious." Arden said, now trying to sit on his hands. "Someone should check on Amos. He's been awfully quiet."

"I'm sorry, do you wish me to contribute to this idiotic babble?" Amos muttered, continuing to not move, as though that would fool the wind into thinking he wasn't there.

"No one is going to lose their fingers." James said, not entirely sure if he meant that or not. It was extremely cold this morning, but they didn't have that much further to ride and then they could go into a tavern or someone's home to warm up. Wherever they ended up, James would make sure there was a fire.

"I think I've been here before." Sirius said. He had been riding at James' right the entire trip, and the longer he was there, the more James thought he might belong there. He was crude and loud, but he was also extremely loyal and brave.

"When?" James asked.

"Right before I came to Camelot. This is the last town that I stayed in."

"Did you notice anything?"

"You mean did I see anyone running around casting spells?" Sirius asked, giving James a dry smile. "If I did, it must have slipped my mind." He sniggered to himself and James shook his head. "The barmaids nice though. Emmaline Vance if I remember correctly."

"So he does remember their names in the morning." Arden laughed. "Good on you mate. I can't always say the same."

"It wasn't like that." Sirius scoffed.

"Did you say Vance?" Dory called up from the back of the group.

"Yeah," Sirius called back. "It's Emma, you Aunt."

"Aunt Emma? She was disowned about a decade before I was."

"I was wondering what a Vance was doing tending a bar."

Soon the town came into view and James heard a collective sigh emanate from his companions. "Is there room for all our horses at the tavern?"

"There should be. There was a barn right behind it."

"Again, if you're remembering correctly, right?" Fabian asked, "Because you were drunk."

"Not when I got to town." Sirius said curtly. Fabian and Gideon's pride had not healed entirely since Sirius had taken on both of them and won when he first arrived. James had tried a few times to temper things between them, but nothing had worked. So now, as long as they weren't throwing punches or trying to run each other through, he was just going to let it be. It probably wasn't helping that James kept showing Sirius favor over the other more senior, noble knights.

"You're sure there's nothing to be worried about?" Arden asked, his eyes darting around from building to building as they started making their way down the main road. Many people started peeking their heads out their windows to see who they were, and other's rushed towards their houses when they saw them coming, slamming their doors shut behind them.

"I did get robbed here." Sirius said, as he remembered waking up to find that all his possessions were gone. He still missed his old sword. "And then I found Dory, Mary and Lance about six or seven miles that way." He pointed in the direction of the castle.

"Did you all pass through here?" James asked.

"A few times." Dory answered. "Nothing strange ever happened."

"Your friend lives here with her mum, yeah?" Sirius asked, remembering the third girl that had never shown up to camp.

"You've got an awfully good memory." Lance sighed. "But yeah, Hestia Jones lives here. I think she's Mary's second cousin."

"Why didn't Mary come then?"

"It was my turn." Dory's response cut Lance off.

"You both could have come." Sirius said.

"Mary and Dory think you all get persnickety when both of them follow me around all the time."

"We don't understand it," Arden nodded his head. "But we don't really care one way or the other. If you want to have your girlfriends hanging around all the time, and they're alright with it, then ten points to you, Lance."

"Dory and Mary aren't Lance's girlfriends." Remus snapped. James turned his head over his shoulder a bit to see what was wrong with him, but Remus didn't look at him and James didn't know if it was the horses or something else that had him on edge.

"Let's everyone shut up now, yes?" Sirius asked, pulling James' attention back to the road. A small group of men had gathered up the road a ways and were eyeing them all rather ominously. James saw that they were all carrying swords and wearing armor and took a deep breath. He was really hoping to get through this trip without an incident. Despite what his father had told him, he hadn't heard of anything coming out of this town from any of his knights, and he wasn't quite sure why his father had sent him here in the first place. There were more pressing matters that needed James' attention, like Lily for instance. And Bella.

He wasn't surprised to see a group of men looking angrily in his direction. If there was one thing that his father was good at, it was infuriating people. He was so caviler about chopping people's heads off that he often chopped off innocent people's heads on accident and hardly apologized for it. Not that an apology would make a difference, but the king didn't even try to make amends, nor did he change his ways.

"What do we do?" Sirius asked quietly, fingering the hilt of his sword.

"We're not going to fight them."

"They look like they want a fight."

"Unless they pull their swords and try to run us through, we're not going to fight them."

"But we can intimidate them, yes?" Arden asked.

"No. Unless they actually attack us, don't do anything." James commanded. "Don't even think about doing anything. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Sirius and Arden muttered.

"Hullo, good sirs." James waved to the men when he got within hearing range.

"Your highness," The group of men bowed, but the man in front was the one doing the talking. He was of medium build, with long thick brown hair and crooked nose. A woman stood at his side, looking much angrier than he did, her matted locks pulled back into a messy bun and she seemed to have a layer or dirt covering every inch of her person. "To what do we owe this great honor?"

"Come to slaughter more of our child-"

"Contain yourself." The man reached over and grabbed hold of the woman's wrist. She flinched and took a step back. The man smiled up at James and bowed his head. "I apologize for my wife, she's not been the same since our son died."

"He didn't die, he was murdered!" The woman screeched, yanking her arm from his grasp and running towards one of the houses.

"He came down with a fever." The man said, looking after her retreating figure. "Afraid she came down with it too, she's never been the same since. Concocted some fantastic tale of the king murdering him for being a warlock though."

"And was he a warlock?" Amos asked, causing James to tighten his holding on the reigns. He couldn't publicly reprimand him at the moment, but he swore that the moment he got Amos alone-

"Do you speak for our prince now?" The man said, reprimanding Amos for James. James almost thanked the man, but instead he cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry to hear about your son. I can't imagine going through such a terrible loss."

"Thank you, sir."

"My knights and I were simply here to resolve a conflict that was brought to my father's attention a few days ago. As soon as we have completed our task, we shall be on our way. Though I'm afraid we may want to get in out of the cold for a bit. The taverns just up the road, yes?"

"Yes, my lord. Straight up this road. You can't miss it."

"Thank you. And I don't believe I caught your name."

"S'cause I didn't give it to you, sir." The man smiled and something about it sent chills down James' spine. "Names Dolohov. Lord Antonin Dolohov of Godric's Hallow."

"A nobleman?" James asked, giving the man a nod. "I might need to talk to you later, where can I find you?"

"My wife and I've been staying in that house just there since our son pass away. Can't really get her back in the manor, all she does is sob." James shifted about uncomfortably on his horse and nodded again, but this time for lack of something to say. "I don't want to keep you in the cold any longer, sir."

"Thank you, Lord Antonin." James said, glad that the man gave him an out. "I'll be seeing you later." Just as he stared moving his horse further down the road, a man shot out in front of him, tripping almost directly in front of James's horse. His black hair bounced around in clumps, and he had a large hooked nose, that was now covered in dirt.

"Get off the ground, you mulling twit!" Antonin shouted, reaching towards the man and yanking him to his feet. "You're in the presence of royalty." Antonin now forced the man into a bow.

"Let go of me," The man muttered, trying to maneuver out of Antonin's grasp.

"Let go of him," James said. He was not sure what his father had sent him here to handle, but he had a feeling that whatever it was, Antonin was most likely behind it.

"I mean no disrespect, sir, but I think I have a right to treat my servants however I see fit."

"I'm not your servant!" The man shouted, getting free at last.

"Your mother sold you to me because she couldn't stand to look at you any longer." Antonin spit back. "You're whatever I say you are." He turned to look at one of the other men standing behind him. "Take him back to the manor."

Before the man was dragged off, he looked up at James. James tried to give him an encouraging smile, but the man's face turned into a sneer and James had never felt more loathed in his entire life.

Without saying a word, he stared towards the tavern, knowing that his men would follow his lead. There was something off about this place, but he still needed to find somewhere warm for his men to rest. Last night had been rough on them no matter how close they tried to sleep to the fire. They needed to de-thaw.

oOoOo

Bella was sitting by the window brushing her hair and thinking about the man who had visited her a few weeks ago. He hadn't spoken to her since, in person or otherwise, but she was dreading their next encounter.

She wanted the king dead. She knew this, and she would be grateful for any help because she didn't really know how to go about killing someone, especially not someone who was so good at killing people himself. When she had been going about it alone, she had acted so quickly, and looking back, carelessly, because she had mostly been afraid of the king working out what she was trying to do and executing her before she was able to kill him. She had decided that she wasn't afraid of dying, she couldn't be afraid of dying while practicing magic under the king's nose, but she was afraid of dying before she could avenger her family. Before she was able to make him pay for all of the horrible things that he'd ever done to people like her.

The king needed to die.

That was not the man's only stipulation however. If she wanted his help killing king Charles, then she also needed to take out James. That's where Bella grew weary of accepting the man's help. She liked James a great deal, she may even love him. They had grown up together over the last five years, and many thought that they were like siblings, with their playful banter and his protective nature. Bella liked thinking of James as her brother, and she didn't want any harm to come to him…

But as long as king Charles sat on the throne, people with magic were going to continue to die, and Bella couldn't just sit around and let that happen. She couldn't prove to the man that James was different than his father, that he wouldn't persecute everyone he thought to be more powerful than himself, that if he was king, things would be different, but she was still planning on trying.

The king had sent James off on some witch hunt in Godric's Hollow, if he didn't kill anyone, and Bella was sure that he wouldn't, than maybe she could talk the man out of killing him. She didn't need to be queen, it wasn't the throne that she desired, all she needed was her revenge.

"My dear, sweet, Bella." Bella spun around and saw Rodolphus Lestrange standing in the doorway. Bella sighed, and offered him a tight lipped smile. He was yet another reason that the king had to die. For some reason, the king thought it was necessary to find her a husband before he forced James to marry, and Bella could not stand Rodolpus.

"I thought you were gone for another three months, exploring the sea and all that. Trying to make a name for yourself?"

"I missed you." He gave her a toothy grin and then took a few steps into the room. "Besides, I already have a name to be proud of."

"Your father's name." Bella muttered, standing up and setting her brush on the windowsill. "And let's not pretend that we do anything more than tolerate each other. We're both doing this because we've been told to."

"I wish you would stop pretending that you're not attracted to me." He leant over her vanity and admired his reflection as he spoke to her. "Nearly everyone is." Bella rolled her eyes, but it wasn't something that she could dispute. Rodolphus was, to her disdain, very attractive. He had a strong jawline, bright blue eyes, tanned skin and thick dark brown hair. He was tall and walked with the confidence of someone who had been told his whole life that he was beautiful. He was nice to look at, but Bella didn't like anything else about him, and she most definitely didn't want to marry him.

"Maybe if you're beauty was more than skin deep…" Bella pursed her lips and clasped her hands behind her back. Rodolphus turned his head away from his reflection long enough to grimace in her direction.

"I spoke to the king before I came up here." He was back to looking smug again.

"Yes? Did he ask you to marry James instead? I think you would make a wonderful Queen." He spun around and crossed his arms.

"He's moving up the date of our wedding." Bella froze, not sure if he was telling the truth.

"Why would he do that?"

"There was an attempt on his life." Rodolphus shrugged. "He wants to make sure that he's around to see you walk down the aisle."

"I don't find what you're saying to be at all entertaining. Someone did try and kill him, and the sooner that they're brought to justice, the sooner I can sleep through the night."

"Oh stop with the act." Rodolphus laughed. "Though, you are rather good at it."

"What are you talking about? Are you honestly suggesting that I'm not unnerved by the fact that someone snuck into the castle and attempted to poison a man who has become something of a father to me?" Another laugh from Rodolpus.

"You mean someone who has forced himself into your life by murdering your actual father? Yes, I am suggesting that you may be disappointed that he's still breathing. "

Bella blanched, though she quickly recovered, taking a sharp step towards him and putting her hands on her hips. "If you speak ill of our king, I can have you thrown in the dungeons; and I will. The King won't have me marry a traitor."

Rodolphus gave her a strange look and then sighed. "You actually hate me more than you hate him, don't you? Why?"

"I don't hate him! Stop saying that."

"Stop lying to me." This he said more forcefully than Bella had ever heard him say anything. She took a step back and gave him a reproaching look. "You're not the only one that the Dark Lord has been in contact with."

"The Dark Lord?" Bella raised her brows and chuckled, still a bit taken back at his drastic change in demeanor. "Who the bloody hell is the Dark Lord?"

Rodolphus sighed. "Lord Voldemort." Bella gasped, to which Rodolphus gave an even smugger grin. "And he seems to think that a union between the two of us is a good idea as well. And I heard that marrying you may come with a crown now, so I'm even more motivated for this to actually happen than I was before."

"He's wrong." Bella crossed her arms and turned away from him. "I'm not going to be queen because James isn't going to die."

"The Dark Lord did mention that you were being strangely adamant about that."

"There's nothing strange about it." Bella snapped. "He is my brother, and he's done no wrong by me. I will protect him."

"Look, I'll kill him myself if you try and keep me from the throne. The Potters should never have been on the throne in the first place, their family name is only a step above some commoners."

"Lady Bellatrix?" A mousy girl named Alice peeked her head into the room. She was Lily's replacement. When some of the other maids heard that Bella had let Lily go, they had all lined up at her door, as they were supposed to. Bella had chosen Alice because she had been off dusting while this was going on and she figured she could tell her to continue going about her usual tasks and she would listen. "The King sent me up here to ask you to join him in the throne room."

"Thank you, Alice." Bella smiled sweetly at her. It was nice having a maid that wasn't constantly around. Instead of sending Alice off to tell the king that she would be joining him soon, or just dismissing her, she took this opportunity to get away from Rodolpus.

He took hold of her arm as she walked past him, still smiling sweetly, but his tone relayed a different type of message. "We will be wed, and I will be king. Soon."

"Threaten me again, sir, and the king shall have your head." Bella said, just loud enough for Alice to hear. His smile faultered, and he released her arm.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" She asked when it was just the two of them in the corridor.

"Yes," Bella nodded. "He is my betrothed. I just had to make sure he knew who was in charge of our relationship."

oOoOo

"Ow, Evans!" Mary shrieked, more out of shock than pain. "Where did you learn how to do that?" Lily laughed, and threw her sword in the air, catching it with her other hand.

"My dad's a blacksmith, he did teach me thing or two about swords." Lily shrugged. "And I do catch a glimpse of the knights training every now and then."

"Visiting your boyfriend?" Hagrid asked from his seat on the porch. He was shucking corn and making sure Fang didn't maul anything. Or anyone.

"The prince?" Mary cooed, teasing Lily right along with Hagrid. The only problem was they were both teasing her about two different people.

"The prince?" Hagrid laughed. "I was talking about Remus."

"Remus?" Mary laughed. "I thought he was with Sirius." Lily laughed at this.

"Remus isn't with Sirius."

"They're living together, aren't they? With the old court physician? And they're hardly ever apart. Remus is always nagging Sirius, he's always giving Remus a hard time…I thought they were together."

"Well…" Lily paused for a moment, then she shook her head. "No, they're not together. And neither are Remus and I."

"Obviously." Mary rolled her eyes.

"I'm not with James either."

"That's not why it's obvious. I just still think Sirius and Remus are together." Mary shrugged.

"Wait, why would you be with Prince James?" Hagrid asked, his giant hand, holding four ears of corn at once.

"The prince has fancied Lily for ages now." Mary played with the hilt of her sword. "I'm surprised you haven't heard anything."

"But you brought Remus round. Ya' don't do that with just anyone. As a matter o' fact, you've never done that." Lily huffed and shook her head.

"That didn't turn out the way I planned." She dug the tip of her sword into the soft earth and started chewing on her lip.

"Did he hurt you?" Hagrid asked, standing up. "I'll sick Fang on hi-"

"He didn't hurt me!" Lily put a hand up and raised her brows. "I promise. I'm all good. I did kiss him though. Then he told me that I was his favorite person in the world, but we were better off staying just friends." She sounded more bitter than she'd meant too.

"You just said that he didn't hurt you." Mary said, looking confused.

"It hurt a bit at the time, but he was right. We are better off as friends. I was making something out of nothing."

"And he's with-"

"He's not with Sirius."

"Fine. Then tell me about the prince? According to Hogwarts gossip, you two are an item."

"Well that could not be further from the truth." Lily put a hand on her hip. Then she narrowed her eyes. "Though we did have to convince Bella that we were a couple the other day."

"You had to?" Mary laughed. "What possible reason could you have had for doing that?"

Lily took a deep breath and let it out through her nose, trying to buy herself some time to think of a good reason for why she and James had had to do that. She really needed to learn to think before she spoke. She didn't like that she had to keep lying to everyone. "Well-"

"You're not with the prince, are you?" Hagrid asked, looking rather concerned. "Because, I don't think that would be a good idea, lass. He's a right respectable bloke, I suppose, but he's the prince. His father's gonna marry him off to some princess o' something."

"I'm not with James." Lily repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time. "And I don't think he's going to let his father marry him off."

"Why? Did you ask him about it on one of your secret rendezvous?" Mary twirled a lock of hair around her index finger and batted her eyelids.

"They're not rendezvous, he's teaching me to read."

"What?" Mary and Hagrid asked simultaneously. Lily shook her head and then let it fall into her hands, dropping her sword to the ground. Mary hadn't known about that. She had just been teasing again. Lily really was terrible at keeping things to herself.

"I think it'd be best if I just stopped talking." She sighed.

"I don't think so." Mary laughed, jutting her hip out. "I've got a lot of questions for you."

"Yes, well, I've got a chicken at home and since it's not going to cook itself…" She lent down and picked up her sword. "Today was fun though, and we should do it again. When I've learned to control my mouth and the words that comes out of it."

"No, I think next time, I'm taking you to the tavern." Mary grinned. "Maybe then I'll actually get some information out of you."

"And then you come back here and explain all o' this to me." Hagrid said. Mary nodded, a mock serious expression on her face. "I'll see you later, Lils." He said, waving one of his giant hands at her. Lily smiled at him and started walking towards the road. Mary jogged some ways to catch up with her.

"But honestly," She said, no longer looking as though she wanted to mock every word that Lily might say. "What's going on between you and James?"

"Nothing." Lily shrugged, trying to look genuinely sorry for not having actual gossip for her. "I think we might be friends now, but that's all."

"Does James know that?" Mary asked. "Because blokes are generally clueless about that sort of thing, and while James seems like he can be a handful, he also seems like a good one."

"Yes, he knows." Lily said, honestly believing that he did. He did make jokes about his failed attempts to woo her, he wouldn't do that if he were still attempting to woo her.

"So he's teaching you how to read?"

"I've always wanted to learn." Lily said, grinning foolishly. "You should see the library they have in the castle. I can't read yet, but I'm going to read every book in there one day."

"Sounds like a giant waste of time." Mary slung an arm around Lily's shoulders. "But why did our prince offer to teach you?"

"I don't really remember how it came up, but when I told him I didn't know how, he insisted that I let him teach me." Lily tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I was a bit surprised, but like I said, I've always wanted to learn, so I wasn't about to say no. And that library really is to die for."

"So that's really all that's going on between the two of you?" Mary asked. "He's teaching you to read?"

"Sorry."

"And you're still denying that anything is going on between Remus and Sirius?" Lily rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Even though they've been having nightly sleep overs for almost a month now?"

"Even though Sirius has been staying with Remus and Dumbledore for about a month now."

"It doesn't sound dirty when you say it." Mary chided.

"That's because it's not dirty." She looked up and realized that they had reached her house. "Thanks for walking me home. Would you like to help me cook dinner?"

"Would I get to eat it as well?"

"If you want." Lily said. "I can't in good conscious make you eat any more of Hagrid's rock cakes."

"I know! I thought we were going to have corn tonight, because he's been shucking it since this morning, but no. It's for his heard of wild deer that live in the woods. Why he needs to feed wild deer is beyond me, but I would like some food that doesn't threaten to break my teeth every time I bite into it."

"Well, the Evans' would be more than happy to have you."

oOoOo

The Tavern was small and warm. James and his knights all fit in the front room, but only just. Remus was still off in a group with Lance and Dory, which James thought was strange, but not strange enough to mock him for it. His mind was mainly on that man that had fallen in front of his horse and the look he had given James.

He knew that his father was a horrible man who had done plenty of horrible things over the years, but he didn't think it was fair of the people to take that out on him. Did he understand it? Yes, but that didn't make it fair. He had never done anything too bad. And he'd even go so far as to say that he'd been the model citizen since Remus showed up and didn't let him get away with anything.

"What's on your mind, boss?" Arden asked, working his way through a second plate of mashed potatoes and chicken. Luckily, the Tavern had a fully stocked kitchen as well, or at least it started out that way. The knights were eating as though they had never seen food before.

"Just trying to work out why my father sent us here." James shrugged, not entirely sure why he was withholding information from Arden of all people. He shook his head and sighed. "I need to talk to Remus." He excused himself from the table and walked over to where Remus was seated between Dory and Lance. "Would you mind joining me for a moment?" He asked, noticing for the first time perhaps, the look of complete discomfort that Remus wore.

"Not at all." He squeaked, maneuvering himself in a strange manner to avoid touching Lance's legs. "I'd love to join you." Remus grabbed hold of James' arm and pulled him across the tavern and up a flight of stairs.

"What seems to be the problem?" James asked.

"Nothing's the problem- I mean the matter. There is no problem and nothing is- Why did you want to talk to me?"

"Well," James ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I don't know why we're here."

"Your dad told us to come here. That's why." Remus muttered, looking exhausted. "He's testing you. Everyone is bloody testing you. They want to see if you're going to be a copy of your father, or if you're going to rule differently. Whatever you do while we're here is going to set the tone for the rest of your life and I think that's awfully unfair."

"People should already know that I'm not my father!" James cried. "I have Lance and Sirius as members of my personal guard, neither one of them are noblemen and I've never even seen Lance's face!"

"They don't think you're as traditional, sure. But Sirius was a nobleman, and everyone was backing you on Lance joining the ranks. They would have thought you were a right swot if you hadn't made him a knight."

"Right." James shook his head and leant up against the wall. "So that's all this is? A test? Lord Antonin and that man from earlier?"

"What do you mean?" Remus asked.

"I know that we were on horses at the time, but you had to have noticed that something was off about that whole encounter."

"Just explain what you mean." Remus rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"I felt like they were threatening me." James shrugged. "First with Antonin's wife, she ran off crying and he acted as though he didn't care, but if my father had their son executed like the woman had said, than that means Antonin was lying to me. Why would he do that?"

"To spare your feelings." Sirius said, walking up the stairs. "I'd apologize for eavesdropping, but it wouldn't be sincere."

"You think he was just being kind then?" James asked, not surprised or upset that Sirius had followed them.

"Oh, no. He was threatening you." Sirius nodded. "I wasn't entirely sure until that sniveling man showed up. He just gave me the creeps."

"I feel as though they all knew that we were coming. And they shouldn't have because I didn't even know that we were coming until a few days ago, and I only told the lot of them yesterday. My father and myself and you two were the only ones who knew about this trip before we were already leaving."

"Glad we're on the same page." Sirius said.

"Wait, how did we get here?" Remus asked. "I thought he was just threatening you. Now it's some elaborate plan?"

"It wasn't an outright threat." Sirius said, leaning against the wall opposite of James. "It was more his smug attitude and he got really angry when his servant showed up out of nowhere. I don't think he wanted us to see him."

"Whatever my father heard about, they wanted him to hear about it. They knew that he would send me out because he's still too ill to travel, especially in this weather, and they have something planned." James started pacing the length of the hall. "They have something planned and everyone is watching me right now to see if I'm going to become my father. But whatever they have planned, is probably going to set me up to look exactly like him."

"Or worse." Sirius added unhelpfully.

"What do you think they're going to do?" Remus asked. "You don't think they'd go so far as to-"

"Kill me?" James shrugged. "Don't see why not. My father has killed a good number of people from this town. I wouldn't be surprised if they all want me dead, just to get back at my father. I have to convince them that once I'm king, things will be better for them. That I'm not just going to go around and chop off everyone's head."

Sirius gave Remus an extremely pointed look that James didn't think he was meant to see. "If only you know how unlike your father you really are." Sirius turned and gave James a smile. Remus's jaw clenched and he looked about ready to clock Sirius in the face.

"Alright, Remus." James crossed his arms. "Tell me what's going on."

Remus laughed humorlessly and shook his head. "I don't think it's all that relevant at the moment. Apparently this town went to great lengths to get you here so that they could kill you."

"I don't know. I think it could be relevant." Sirius gave Remus another look, and with everything else going on, James had about had it with their looks.

"If you two don't tell me what's going on, so help me God, I will send both of you back to the castle."

Remus and Sirius's eyes both went wide, and Sirius, for the first time in James' recollection, looked as though he regretted what he had said. "It's nothing, sir. I'm just giving Remus a hard time."

"I don't believe you." James snapped. "We have to be able to trust each other. I've already got one of my knights unwilling to show me his face, I don't want the two of you keeping secrets as well."

Remus started to shift about uncomfortably. "You said that this trip is going to define what kind of king you're going to be, yes?" James nodded and Remus took a deep breath.

"Remus, I don't think telling him is the best idea-"

"This is on you." Remus pointed a finger at Sirius. "I trusted you to keep this to yourself, and you wouldn't stop poking in front of him. Whatever happens is on you." He took another deep breath and turned to James. James didn't know what to expect, but he had never seen Remus this nervous before. "I only ask that you show me mercy." Another deep breath. "I have magic."

There was a stagnant pause where Remus looked at the floor, Sirius looked at James and James looked at Remus. "What do you mean you have magic? Where do you have it?"

"He means he's a bloody wizard." Sirius huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and still eyeing James.

"But you don't practice magic. Right?" He asked, shifting from one foot to the other.

"I can't help it. I either do it consciously and learn to control it, or it would happen sporadically and without warning. It still does sometimes, but I'm getting much better."

"You're getting…" James blinked rapidly and then rested his face in his hands. "We are here to- and you… You're a wizard?" He could hear the blood rushing in his ears, his stomach seemed to have dropped to his feet and his palms were all sweaty. "You can't be. You're just- You're just Remus. You're my servant. You're from bloody Ealdor, you're nobody."

"Watch it." Sirius took a step forward and Remus grabbed hold of his shoulder, pulling him back.

"Shut up, Sirius."

"You've lied to me." James said, the pounding in his head getting louder. "Why would you lie to me?"

"I lied to protect myself. My first day in Camelot I saw a man lose his head for being a wizard. I didn't think it would be wise to tell anyone what I was."

"You didn't think it wise?" James laughed and spun around, running his hands through his hair, one resting at the base of his neck. "You've got no idea the position you've just put me in."

"I'm making you decide now." Remus took a small step towards him. "What kind of king are you going to be? Are you going to persecute me for something I was born into? Something that I can't change about myself? Or are you going to overlook it? Are you going to accept it and know that I'm still the same man that I've been for the last half year? I've never used my magic to hurt anyone, nor will I ever use it to hurt anyone."

"It's true." Sirius said, standing next to Remus. "He's actually used it to save-"

"I told you to shut up."

James couldn't believe what he was hearing, he didn't think he wanted to believe it. Remus was a wizard? That didn't seem right. He had locked Remus in the dungeon, he had insulted him a countless number of times, given him a hard time about everything he possibly could have, forced him to spar with him, ride horses, hunt, clean… If Remus was a wizard, why would he do these things? Why would he allow people to treat him the way that James treated him? If he had the option of having an easy life, of having everything he wanted being handed to him through fear or intimidation, then why did he choose the thankless life of the Princes' servant?

Of course James' view of power and magic were a bit skewed because they had been constructed around his father's view of power and magic, but these were the things running through his head. These were the things he was trying to work out while Remus held his breath, hoping against hope that he wasn't about to lose a man who had become one of his best friends.

It had killed Remus, having to lie to James nearly every day, hiding the little unexplainable bits of magic he had accidentally performed in James' presence and playing the fool to the bigger things that James had noticed. He had felt guilty for lying to him when James' life had been so recently turned upside down and ripped open, Remus baring witness to its unraveling yet keeping his own secrets to himself.

"Who knows?" James said quietly, not quite meeting Remus's eyes.

"The three of us, Dumbledore…" Remus sighed and pushed his hair off his forehead. "Lance and Dory."

"Lance and Dory?" Sirius asked. "Why do they know?"

"Because I told them."

"Why do you keep telling people?" Sirius let out a humorless laugh. "It's like you want someone to cut your head off."

"Well, I didn't plan to tell Lance. That was an accident, and then I just assumed that h-he had told Dory… Look, can we talk about this later?"

"You lied to me." James repeated, still not looking at Remus.

"I know." Remus said. "I know that I should have told you sooner, but you have to understand that I was just trying to protect myself."

James finally met Remus's gaze and Remus wished he hadn't. "We were friends, I would have protected you."

"James," Remus said, taking half a step toward the prince. "We are friends. That's why I'm telling you now."

"No, you're telling me now because you had no other choice-"

"Of course he had a choice! He could have told you anything else and we would not be having this conversation right now." Sirius put a hand on each of the men's shoulders. "We have bigger problems than Remus not sharing all his secrets with you. We just walked into a trap and we need to be prepared to-"

"I think you should head back to camp, Remus." James said, turning around and heading back towards the staircase.

"W- what?" Remus started following him.

"I need people who I can trust beside me." He said, bouncing down the stairs. "Take Lancelot with you." He announced once they were standing near where Arden, Lance, Amos and Dory were still eating.

"Where are we going?" Lancelot asked, looking up, helmet still on.

"I want you to escort Remus back to camp." James said. "And then stay there with him."

Lance shifted slightly in his seat, noticing the harsh tone that James' voice had taken on.

"Yes, sir." He said, voice slightly thick. "I ask that Dory be allowed to stay behind. It's rather cold and she would be safer here at the inn."

"Like hell-"

"Of course." James nodded.

"What's going on?" Arden asked, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. "Why's Remus got to go back to camp? And why aren't you making Amos do it?"

"Oi!" Amos threw his empty tankard at Arden, who laughed and caught it quite easily.

"I need people who I can trust with me these next few days." James spoke sharply. "Because I'm quite sure that we just walked into a trap, and the last thing I need right now is something distracting me."

"Are you questioning my loyalty, sir?" Lance asked, shifting again.

"No. But as long as you continue to wear that helmet, I cannot fully trust you. Take it off and you can stay."

Everyone looked from James to Lance, even Arden had stopped smiling and sat up straight.

"I'll go and fetch the horses than." Lance said quietly. He started to turn around and then decided to address James once more, "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't try and tempt me into removing my helmet with false promises. I have now seen firsthand how you reward honesty. Come along, Remus."

AN: So, did you like it? Did you, did you, did you? It'd be pretty neat of you to leave a review if you did.