Disclaimer: JKR owns all characters, plots, etc. that you recognize.

Summary: It seems love just isn't what's in store for Lily Evans and James Potter. After two years in a relationship, they couldn't see why they were still together. Now they try to convince themselves and everyone around them that breaking up really was for the best, even though deep down they are heartbroken. They struggle to find some sort of happiness, sort through confusion, and end up realizing that they were meant for each other. Then all they have to do is put aside their pride and tell each other the truth. Eventually LJ! R&R Please!

Chapter Started: Friday, January 30, 2009

Chapter Finished: Saturday, January 31, 2009

Chapter Posted: Saturday, January 31, 2009 3:10pm

Chapter 14

"No, no, no. There are so many flaws with your plan--it's practically a death trap. We should go in from both the front and the back. And we should do so quietly," I interrupted.

"And why is that, Evans?"

"Because," I drew out, "storming in, first off, will let them know we're there, giving them an opportunity to call the other death eaters--"

"Isn't that the point?"

I shot him a look, before answering his question.

"No. This is a rescue mission. Capturing a few death eaters is a plus. But as I was saying, if we go in quietly, from the front and the back, we'd be able to catch them off guard and would be able to stun and capture the death eaters that are residing in the building. Doing it your way--there is a possibility that more would come, but I feel that it would only cost us more time and we might lose more death eaters than we'd be able to capture. That or we'd become severely outnumbered."

James stayed silent, pondering my statement. I figured now would be best to continue explaining.

"And, by splitting up, we'd be able to cover the building faster, resulting in us finding Rowell and Griffins much quicker."

I looked around, hoping the others agreed with me. Everyone seemed hesitant to go against James, even Sirius. From what I could tell, James had always been the leader of this team and made most of the decisions.

"Look, this isn't about us right now, James," I said quietly, looking in his direction. I continued, though he wouldn't look at me, "This is about those two hostages who have been through only Merlin knows what. You know that I want to put these scumbags in Azkaban as badly as you do, but Griffins and Rowell are our top priority. And we should go tonight, not tomorrow. They only have so much time."

"Lily, you are so naïve. There's no way they are still alive. And besides, even if they are, they have probably been tortured into madness."

I could only gape at James' statement. Sirius took a step towards me, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"He's right," Sirius said, gently.

"Even so. I'm not going to have it resting on my conscious, knowing that I had the chance to save them, even if that outcome is very unlikely."

"Fine," James replied to my little outburst. "What else does your plan involve?"

"Well, how opposed are to you breaking one of Moody's rules?"

"Excuse me," I called out, in an American accent. "Do either of you speak English?"

I felt slightly silly for asking this, but it was all part of my distraction. They both stared at me with no acknowledgment. Though it was dark, I could see there were slight movements in their arms.

I continued, "I was hoping you'd be able to help me. You see, a few of my friends parted ways with me for the day. But we made plans to meet up at this little café for dinner and you see, I got lost on my way there."

I grew uncomfortable as their hands disappeared into their pockets--they were reaching for their wands. What in the world were James and Sirius waiting for?

"I guess you don't speak any English then. Sorry to have bothered you. I'll just be going--"

One of the guys pulled his wand out, pointing it at me. Suddenly the two guys dropped to the ground, unconscious--the one guys' wand fell down the steps, shooting off a few sparks.

"Cutting it a bit close, don't you think, guys," I asked, my eyes narrowed as the invisibility cloak fell of James and Sirius.

"Maybe just a bit," Sirius grinned.

"Hey, you can blame it all on him," James said at the same time, pointing at Sirius.

"Whatever. Let's just get them bound so they can't escape."

-EricPOV-

It was repulsive to be crouching behind a few trash bins--they smelled absolutely rank. I didn't even know why the other two decided the trash bins were a good idea, but now there were three death eaters standing around outside.

"The stupid bitch won't talk. It's too bad he won't let me have my way with them--they'd definitely be talking then," the one closest to the door said.

The other two laughed in response.

That was it--I couldn't take it anymore.

"Let's go. I bet the others are already inside," I whispered.

Frank and Kingsley looked at each other before looking back and nodding. We shot off our spells hitting our unsuspecting targets. All three dropped simultaneously. We shot a few more spells to make sure they wouldn't be going anywhere.

"Let's move them over behind the trash bins we were behind. That way, if more happen to come, they won't find them," Kingsley said.

It took a minute to get them situated before we went through the back door into the kitchen. We survey the dark room before determining there was no one hiding in there.

"This must lead down to the basement. Maybe Rowell and Griffins are down there," Frank said.

Kingsley threw the door open and his hand plunged into the dark.

"Damn, the lights aren't working," he sighed.

We each lit up our winds and began to head down the stairs. As we made it to the bottom, we smelled something worse than the trash bins out in back. I noticed there were many small cells. A lot held skeletons and a few held dead bodies that had begun to rot. The one's that were rotting had been people that had been termed as missing long before I had started Auror training. I was having a hard time keeping the contents of my stomach in--this was just so sick.

"They aren't here. Let's go back upstairs," Kingsley said.

-LilyPOV-

It was dark and dusty in the building. There were stairs to the left and the room to the right was the living room/dining room.

"John, Mike, what are you guys doing? You're supposed to stand guard out front until we come get you," the death eater called out from his spot on the couch.

"Who are you," he questioned in confusion when he saw us.

As he was pulling his wand out, James reacted quickly by stunning him and binding him.

"Come on. This way," I whispered, taking the stairs cautiously.

We reached a narrow but long, dark hallway with three doors, one we had already determined was the washroom. Sirius and James pushed past me. Sirius opened the first door, while James stood behind him, ready to strike. I stood there watching them for a second--they really did work well together.

They both loosened their stance when they found no one inside. Before making their way over to the other door.

My heart was pounding and there was a lump in my throat when James and Sirius told me to be ready. Of course I didn't need to be told this--I was already prepared. I was praying that the hostages were really here.

Sirius kicked in the door as a bloodcurdling scream was heard. We could see the three men look up as we came in, wands raised out. It seemed like forever before someone moved.

In my peripheral vision, I could see the girl, Griffins, laying there. Rowell was laying in front of the death eaters. Both were severely injured.

I couldn't tell who shot off the first spell, but curses and hexes were being thrown in every direction.

"Go check if they're okay," James yelled at me. "Watch your back."

I nodded before making my way over to the girl. I had to avoid several spells, but was hit with a few. My should was now split open and blood was pouring out everywhere.

The girl wasn't moving--she had cuts and bruises all over her body. I put my fingers to her throat, searching for a pulse.

I couldn't find one--she was dead.

I felt frozen with fear, but was quickly shocked back into reality when a green light streamed past me by only a few millimeters.

I grabbed her body and pulled her out into the hallway. I dragged her body into the bathroom, just in case any death eaters came up. Then I went back into the battlefield. I fell to the ground after being hit with another spell I didn't recognize.

I crawled over to where Rowell was. I looked up to see Sirius dueling with one and James had the other two. One fell to the ground as I went back to checking Rowell. He was barely alive, but I knew that if he didn't get help soon, he wouldn't make it.

It felt like he was almost twice as heavy as myself and I had a difficult time dragging him from the room. Somehow in the misted of the fight, I had dropped my wand--I couldn't just levitate him away. So I grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him to the washroom where Griffins lay. I found my wand lying right by the door.

Sirius and James could finish the duel up themselves I thought to myself as I crawled back to the bathroom. I shut the door, so the death eaters wouldn't know I was in here. I began to heal him, but I knew I wasn't doing a very good job. I was growing weaker by the minute.

-EricPOV-

We ran up the stairs as we heard several thunks. We had been cautiously exploring the first floor and had seen a death eater knocked out and bound at the foot of the stairs. At the top of the stairs, we could see sparks shooting out of one of the rooms, signaling to us where the rest of our team was. James and Sirius were dueling and then both guys fell over.

We helped them gather the guys up when I noticed Lily was missing.

"Hey you guys. Where's Lily?"

"She took Rowell and Griffins out of the room. You mean you didn't see her?"

"No. She wasn't out there."

Both James and Sirius became panicky and were calling out her name.

"Lily!"

"Lily, where are you?"

-LilyPOV-

I had healed Rowell to the best I could under the circumstances. So now I was trying to heal myself. I had two large gashes--one on my shoulder, the other on my side. I had been hit with so many different spells; I couldn't remember what they were.

The rate of the increase of my growing weakness was alarming. I managed to close up the gashes but there was still incredible pain radiating through my body.

Suddenly, I could here the guys calling my name out so I threw the door open.

"I'm here you guys. Griffins is dead, and if I don't get Rowell to the hospital soon, he will be too," I called out weakly.

"Lily, Eric, do you guys think you can manage getting Griffins and Rowell to the hospital," James questioned.

Both Eric and I nodded in confirmation.

"Okay, we'll lower the anti-apparation spell so you guys can leave, after you do that, can you go to the department and tell Moody what--"

"James, sorry to interrupt you, but I think everyone should know. We were down in the basement and there were cells with some of the people that had gone missing a long time ago. This is much bigger. I think that when you guys," Kingsley directed towards Eric and I, "go back, you need to inform Moody that we're going to need a few teams out here to close this."

Again, Eric and I nodded.

"Well, then you guys get to that. Kingsley and Frank you guys go round up the guys you caught and bring them into the living room downstairs. Sirius and I will go get the ones we caught. Then we'll go down to the basement."

"I'll take Rowell, if you want. Do you think you can manage with Griffins?"

"I'm perfectly capable, Eric," I grinded my teeth together, hoping that what I said was true.

"Okay. Sorry. I was trying to make sure you were okay. Come on."

He disappeared with Rowell. So I took Griffins hand that was growing colder by the minute and followed his lead.

There was a problem though--I shouldn't have overexerted myself.

A/N: hey readers! How is everyone? I can't believe that the last time I posted an actual chapter was back in august. I actually was planning on writing this chapter because I've had major writers block, but lately, I've actually come up with new story outlines. I'm working on one of those and I'm having a hard time with the dialog so then I opened this chapter up and just began writing. So here you go. It's a belated Christmas present. : ) anyways, reviews are always appreciated, even if it's just an 'I'm reading this'. Thanks for sticking with me.

--jenn

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