AN: Thanks to my reviewers. This is only a shorty really but it was in my head and needed to be written! Hope you enjoy and please review!

Chapter 3

"Across here," James whispered grabbing hold of Annemarie's hand and pulling her safely over a small stream which ran through the garden and into the trees, he could hear her ragged breathing as he pushed her against a tree and backed himself against her. She was whimpering slightly and he squeezed her hand to try and reassure her while holding up his wand in the other hand and waiting for anyone who might have seen them disappear into the trees. "Shh," he murmured to her as his body covered hers protecting her from anyone who might find them, two bodies came dangerously close to finding their hiding spot and whizzed past the clump of trees, they were covered in dark cloaks and barely visible against the dark night. "Stupify," James whispered and a jet of red light shot from the end of his wand catching one of the bodies in the back and sending him forwards onto a patch of grass. The sound the body made as it hit the grass alerted the other person to their presence and he turned around and stared at the clump of trees where they were, Annemarie sobbed a little when she realised that they had been spotted and James backed himself even further into her desperate to keep her out of the fight.

When Blaise had not returned after the statutory sixty minutes James knew he had to go after him and had ordered Annemarie to stay hidden in the tent but she had refused to follow his order even though she knew she should have. This was the first time Blaise had not returned to the tent after his daily evening sweep of the outskirts of the manor they had been watching for almost a month. On a daily basis Annemarie had sent a report to the auror department stating that nothing out of the ordinary was happening in Surrey but tonight they had heard a commotion shortly after Zabini had left and when he did not return within the hour James had got himself ready to go into the fray. His order to Annemarie had been to stay in the tent and if he had not returned contact either by coming back or sending a patronus within the hour to contact the auror department as was standard practise and request back up, but Annemarie had been more terrified of staying alone in the tent when it was obvious that something was going on and she was terrified that she would be found while waiting to hear from James. It was at her terrified insistence that he had agreed against his better judgement to her coming along but only after she had promised to follow his every order without question. James had known that he was taking a risk but had had to set out after Zabini as was ministry protocol before requesting any back up.

Now they were both stuck in the middle of the manor's acres of garden unable to call for assistance and James was kicking himself knowing that he had endangered Annemarie's life and was now unable to alert anyone to their plight, "Incarcerous," James shouted pointing his wand forwards at the second hooded figure who was advancing upon them alone, ropes flew from the end of his wand and fastened themselves around the man who struggled against the bonds. "Petrificus totalus," he added causing the body to bind itself together so that he could not call for help or attempt to signal any of the other men patrolling around the manor. James looked wildly around from where they were trying to figure out how they could get back to the tent without being seen, they could not apparate into it as it was protected by enchantments, the only way was to run on foot and hope they were not seen by anyone.

"Come on," James whispered pulling Annemarie through the trees and in the direction of their haven, even though James knew it could now be only a matter of time before it was no longer safe. She followed him without question stumbling a little as they ran down the side of the small stream whose banks were littered with pebbles and stones. James was ever alert and looking around for any sign that they had been followed but they looked to be somewhat in the clear and after one mad dash they were over the hedge and the spot where the tent was hidden came into sight. "Go," he shouted to her as he noticed another hooded figure along the hedge, "get inside," he screamed as the figure spotted them and began to advance in their direction.

"James," Annemarie called as he turned on the figure.

"Just get inside," he shouted at her, "and don't do anything." She ran at full speed in the direction of the tent and disappeared from view as she was swallowed by the enchantments protecting their hideout. Once inside the tent she noticed how wildly her heart was beating and she suddenly began to sob uncontrollably as she realised that James was still outside and there was nothing she could do to help him. The terrified woman stood stock still by the entrance listening to her own breathing and trying to regulate her heart, she had never been so scared in her life and did not know what she should do next, James had said not to do anything but surely she needed to contact the aurors and request back up. Looking around the tent for inspiration as to what to do she saw the transmitter which they used every day to send their reports, however it needed to be done from outside the tent and if she went back out there she could be caught by whoever James was now duelling. No doubt others would have joined him by now and she was suddenly afraid again for the safety of her friend and team member. A patronus, she thought gasping suddenly, could send a patronus from inside and tell the ministry what was going on, grabbing her wand from inside her pocket she prepared to cast the spell but instead screamed loudly as the wand was knocked from her hand mid wave and she was grabbed from behind by a pair of strong arms which wrapped themselves around her.

"No," a voice bellowed and her heart relaxed as she realised that it was James and not one of the other wizards who had been chasing them back to the tent. "You can't cast anything," he added releasing her from the firm grip and trying to catch his breath he still had his arms around her and she leaned into him a little in relief that he had come back unscathed. "They know we are here," he went on releasing her completely and walking over to the transmitter to disable it, "they'll be watching the whole area for any signs of magic which will let them know exactly where the tent is, if they find the exact location they can remove our enchantments and we'll be caught," he heard Annemarie catch her breath and James looked back around to see her standing shaking still near the entrance to the tent. "No, it's okay," he added quickly jumping to his feet, "they can't find the exact location unless we use magic, otherwise all they can do is patrol the outskirts of the manor until we do."

"What...what about that last one, he saw where I disappeared didn't he?" she asked in a scared voice.

"I confunded him," James replied, "he won't be able to tell them anything for a few days."

"But what...what can we do now?" she asked still shaking and he tightened his hold on her to try and comfort her.

"Nothing," he said and a small sob escaped her lips again. "We wait, when we haven't been in touch with the office by the morning they will send back up immediately and then we can get you back to safety," he reassured her.

"But what about you?" she asked suddenly.

"I'll be in the fight," he went on, "with back up of course."

"So we just have to wait?" she asked in a timid voice, "All night?"

"Yes," he said trying not to betray the fact that the auror department might not realise who had not been in touch for a couple of days and he knew that he might need to come up with a better story in the morning. However his only concern at the moment was getting Annemarie to calm down and sit tight as that was the only thing they could do until the auror office realised what was going on, "Shh," he said soothingly as he stroked her back.

"James?"

"Hmm?" he replied distractedly scanning the room to ensure that there were no weak spots in the enchantments.

"Will they find us?" she asked weakly.

"Not if I can help it," he replied guiding her over to a chair in the centre of the room so he could double check all the enchantments, "just wait here while I run over the tent," he said leaving her in the chair and dashing from one side to the other checking through the flaps with his wand to make sure everything was still holding up. He turned back to look at Annemarie who was sat in the chair with her head in her hands, she was suddenly so vulnerable and he felt for the girl who should never have been put in such a position. What they had seen tonight, what she had been through, she wasn't trained for that, she was a clerical worker and nothing more and he should never have allowed her to accompany him in the search for Blaise. He could see her shoulders shaking and he walked over to sit beside her in another chair.

"I should have stayed here," she whispered, "I should have stayed and then I could have alerted the Ministry, we were gone for more than an hour, I should have stayed here and waited until you didn't return and then contacted the department, they would have come and helped but now...now, I'm sorry James, I should have followed your orders," Annemarie looked up then and stared at him through enormous eyes, she was scared and he knew it.

"It's not just your fault Annemarie," he said soothingly taking her hand in his to try and offer her more comfort, "I agreed to let you come instead of insisting you stay here as I should have. I knew that something must have happened and that you weren't trained for what was out there, you should never have been a part of it but I gave in easily, allowed you to join me, maybe because I wanted a bit of support for myself." He smiled weakly, "Don't blame yourself Annemarie, it was both of us."

"But now we are stuck, and...and...Zabini's...Zabini's body," she stuttered dropping her head into her hands again. They had managed to creep up to the manor house unnoticed and entered through a secret doorway that Blaise had told them about, it had brought them out into a long marble floored corridor which ran the length of the house and they had slunk along it keeping to the shadows to avoid detection. Following the sound of muffled voices they had come to stop by a large oak door which was open and James had peered around the side to see what was going on, in the middle of the room was a large mahogany table around which were seated a whole host of hooded figures and suspended in the air above the table was Zabini's limp body. At the head of the table sat MacNair who James had immediately recognised from the pictures stuck up in the tent and he was twirling his wand around in his hand casually while pointing it at the hanging body. There was a discussion going on around the table but after a few more minutes MacNair asked in a deep drawling voice, "You are not alone auror, you are never alone, where are the others? Where are they spying from?"

James had then noticed that Zabini's eyes were open and that they were staring at the dark haired ugly faced man who was speaking to him but Blaise had not responded. MacNair had then proceeded to cast the cruciatus curse on the dangling body and he had watched in horror as the senior auror's body had contorted into bizarre and impossible shapes as it attempted to turn itself inside out. They had cast a muffliato spell over his body so the screams of pain could not be heard but James could see the pain in his eyes and he knew there was nothing he could do to help. Ministry protocol was to send for backup and he knew that they had to get back to the tent and contact the department immediately, they were outnumbered by many and would have no chance at fighting to release Zabini from his position. As James was deciding on his course of action however Annemarie put her head around the door to see what he was looking at, when she saw the strangely contorted body in the air a short sob escaped her lips, it was muffled but enough to alert the hooded figures in the room to their presence. All the heads had swung in their direction and as James grabbed her hand and hurtled back down the corridor he had heard MacNair's drawling voice utter, "Ahh, the others, I knew you were not alone auror, they have given themselves up!"

However he had heard no more as the footsteps of the cloaked figures clattered behind them on the marble floor and they ran for their lives back out into the grounds of the manor heading in the direction of the clump of trees where James had managed to thwart the first attacker.

"I know," James said still gently stroking her hand, "you shouldn't have seen that, you are not trained for the horrors that this job entails."

"What will we tell the Ministry?" she asked.

"That I told you to come with me-"

"No James, no you can't say that, it's not true you told me to stay here but I wouldn't and then you relented, you never told me to go with you, if you tell Abery that they will fire you for endangering me."

"They should fire me," he replied quietly.

"NO!" she bellowed making his head snap up, "You wanted me to stay here, that's what I should have done, we know that, it was my fault that this happened, tell them that I refused to follow your orders, that I followed you instead and that I jeopardised our mission," she went on, "I'm the one who was wrong, they'll give me a wrap on the knuckles and I won't be sent out again but they won't fire me, I'm not actually contracted like you to give or follow orders, if you say you ordered me to come you'll be sent to slaughter, you'll lose-"

"Shh," he interrupted jumping to his feet, he had heard a noise outside and ran towards the flap of the entrance to investigate.

"What is it?" she asked, eyes wild and voice shaking with fear. He ignored her question for a moment as he checked again that their enchantments were holding and it was another minute before he felt her presence near him, "James," she whispered.

"It's alright, they're gone," he replied turning back to find her almost touching him, "they've moved the confounded body and are doing a sweep trying to find where we are but Zabini set up other enchantments around the area so they won't know which one we are concealed beneath, we're safe for now," he added watching her eyes grow even bigger at the comment.

"James, I'm scared," she trembled looking up a his face, he kept glancing around the tent and then back to her anxious to avoid detection and on the alert for any noise from outside, at her words he turned his gaze to her and saw that her whole body was shaking.

"Annemarie," he whispered in a concerned voice, "you're trembling," and he pulled her forwards so he could put his arms around her in comfort.

"I know," she whispered allowing him to hold her close to him, she felt better just being in his arms, safer somehow. She had not forgotten that all the time they had been out there tonight his primary concern was for her safety, when they had hidden in the trees he had pushed his body against hers to shield her from any spells or curses and when they had almost been caught outside the enchantment he had made her run for cover while he fought in the dark with a cloaked figure. He had been professional and done his job but he had been gallant as well and whether because of fear or the way he had behaved she suddenly saw James Sirius Potter in a completely different light, "you make me feel safe," she whispered moving deeper into his arms and wrapping her own around him, his chin rested on her head as he continued to scan the room.

"Listen to you," he tried to joke remembering what their usual banter was like, "never thought Annemarie Watson would be talking about me like that!" she smiled at his comment and lifted her head to look at his face then without thinking about it or even realising why she was doing it the terrified woman pushed herself up on her tiptoes and placed her lips onto his. They locked together and for a second James was too shocked to respond but then his instincts took over and he returned the kiss softly and tenderly. Kisses for James were more often about initiating sex or saying goodnight but this one was different, this one felt reassuring and he didn't have an overwhelming urge to foist himself upon the recipient. His mouth parted and Annemarie's tongue began to explore the inside of his mouth as he started to echo the movement with his own, James' arms were still wrapped around her but had loosened a little and he suddenly realised that her hands had slid up his chest to the top of his shirt and she was slowly unbuttoning it.

Pulling back his head he whispered, "Annemarie," but she put her finger to his lip and continued to unbutton the dark green shirt that he wore, within seconds her hands were inside it and exploring his body he groaned softly at her touch, the feel of her fingernails gently scratching his chest made him feel aroused but not ready to satisfy his own needs. They began to kiss again as she slowly unbuttoned the shirt that she wore and it fell to the ground behind them as she took his hands from her back and placed one of them over her breast. He held it tightly in his hand and squeezed gently running one finger and thumb over the nipple which he tweaked lightly and she leaned into him groaning and pushing her tongue even deeper into his mouth. Annemarie stepped back for a moment and James just gazed at her, in the soft glow of the single candle lighting the tent she looked almost like a goddess, her long dark hair was messy, some of it fell down her back while a few stray sections covered her large breasts which sat soft and peachy in her bra. Without taking her eyes from his face Annemarie pulled down the loose blue jogging bottoms which she wore and stood in the candle light in just a bra and thin cotton pants shivering from a mixture of fear, cold and desire. "Annemarie, what are you doing," James whispered to her still standing stock still and staring at her resplendent body.

"I want you James," she replied.