There were two pops outside of the house, but they went completely unnoticed the occupants of the house. They were too busy….
Sirius and James wasted no time getting to the front door. This time, however, James found it locked. Had they assumed that they would be coming back to help Remus? Well they had been right, and he wasn't about to let a little locked door step in the way. Sirius was ahead of him, though; he pointed his wand at the door and with a bang it flew back off the hinges again, this time actually coming off and falling flat into the hall. It was far too quiet in the house. All sound had stopped once they entered the dark entrance way.
Sirius and James exchanged apprehensive looks. They might have to split up- neither wanted that seeing as neither were sure of the situation and what the other might face. However, they didn't have to ponder their next move very long. There was a loud whipping sound and before either of them knew what hit them, they were thrown against the wall.
James stood quickly and dove out of the way as sparks flew just over his head. He looked anxiously over at Sirius who had done likewise and was on the other side of the room, firing curses back and forth.
James quickly whipped his wand around the couch behind which he was hiding and followed Sirius's example.
Flashes of red zoomed over their heads, far too close for comfort. James looked over at Sirius and could have sworn he saw a smirk on his face as he fired back at the enemy.
Suddenly, curses from the other end ceased. James and Sirius looked at each other from across the room, confused.
"Well if it isn't the dynamic duo…." They heard a chilling voice say. Sirius knew as Remus hadn't… this was Lucius Malfoy. Sirius wasn't at all surprised that his cousin was in on this. He had been destined to be in this crowd since day one….
"Why don't you bright young boys just pace your wands over here and stand where we can see you." Lucius continued with that slick as ice voice of his. James knew this was a trick, but nothing could have prepared him for what they heard next.
"Let's put this simply. Come out or we kill the wolf." There was no more pleasantry in his tone. James saw his own terrified expression mirrored in Sirius's. Suddenly the room was filled with a bright red light followed by Remus crying out in horrible pain; the Cruciotis curse.
"No! Don't!" James shouted as Sirius lept up from behind his save zone behind the overturned recliner. Sirius didn't even get a chance to give the deatheaters a piece of his mind before a blinding blue flash hit him in the chest and he was thrown back slamming into a bookcase and toppling over it to the floor, all with a deafening crash.
"NO!" two voices shouted, after the noise. Remus and James didn't see any movement in the debris. Crap….
There was a loud thud and James knew that Remus had been hit for speaking out of turn. He'd had enough. James stood and started firing hexes and curses as fast as he could. He jumped over the couch he had been hiding behind and dodged what he could. He started using disarming spells, then got close enough to the men now without wands and started to physically fight them. He knew he had a better chance this way.
The adrenaline he felt seemed to block out all the pain from the opposition and he was doing pretty well despite the odds. He was lucky that it was dark in there, because if any of them saw that they were fighting James Potter, they would call Lord Voldemort in two seconds flat. The thought of it sent shivers down his spine. What if they found out where he and Lily lived? What if he didn't win this fight? Just that one simple thought of defeat was all it took. He lost focus and a fist collided hard with his temple and he fell to the side, slamming his head into the edge of the table.
James tried his best to open up his eyes, blinking past the white dots that were now drifting in and out of his vision… not a good sign. Not to mention, he could feel that his glasses were no longer on his face. Not that he could see even with them; it was too dark. But it certainly wasn't going to help his odds.
"Prongs, you okay?" A pained voice came from next to him. "You idiot, you should have just let it be and gone home-." Remus was cut off and from the sound of it he was getting kicked or beat.
"Stop it!" James shouted at the darkness.
Surprisingly, they listened. James thought at first that they were actually responding to him demanding them to stop, but one of the voices said, panicked, "He's calling! Leave them; the dark lord is more important than these rats…."
And they were gone with several pops, vanishing as quickly as they had come. James pushing himself up and walked over to the wall, groping the wall for the switch. He found it and the lights came on with a click. He squinted at the floor, looking for his glasses. He found them, slightly bent, but otherwise okay. However that was just about the only thing that was "okay". The place was a complete wreck. James also noticed a lot of blood. He realized that a lot of it was coming from him… and Remus. He looked over at Remus on the floor, unconscious- then across the room to the small pile of furniture and bookshelves where he knew Sirius was probably in no better state than Remus.
He didn't know where to go first. Suddenly, the bookshelf in the corner of the room shifted. James rushed over to it and tried to help pry the broken wood and such debris away from Sirius. He grabbed Sirius's hand and pulled him up slowly, carefully.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Nope." Sirius coughed, leaning on James slightly, before steadying himself on his own two feet.
"You look like shit." Sirius added, looking up at James.
"Thanks… not as bad as Remus though…."
At the mention of Remus, Sirius's head snapped in the direction of the kitchen. He saw Remus and made his way to the kitchen with James.
"Take it easy, man…." James told him, but Sirius wasn't listening. Remus looked beyond terrible, and certainly beyond any help that they could give him. He would need professional medical attention….
"Damn…. Oh damn." Sirius bit his lip. He and James knelt down next to Remus, trying to see if they could wake him, without hurting him. It wasn't much use.
"That's it… I've got to tell Lily about this. I'll send her a patronous and tell her to get help. St. Mungo's is pretty fast…. They'll get here quickly enough." James said this as though he were trying to convince himself of it. He wanted to be in control of the situation seeing as there was already so much panic….
Sirius merely nodded at his comment and sat with his back against the wall, head in his hands. None of them were looking good, and James was noticing more noticeable marks on Sirius. He saw that he winced every time he breathed… no doubt he had a few broken ribs. He also had a large gash just above his left ear.
James tried to keep his mind off of it and concentrate on getting a hold of Lily. He needed to sound at least remotely calm in his message. He didn't want to worry her, but in all honesty, how do you go about explaining something like this calmly?
After the patronous was sent, James walked back to the kitchen, and stumbled to sit by Sirius on the floor.
"You really don't look so good, man…." Sirius told James, wincing.
James now had a moment to really feel his own bruises. He realized his face was throbbing as well as his head where he had hit the table. He'd been punched in the gut a couple of times and that now felt incredibly sore. Not only that, but he was still seeing the white dots. Fatigue quickly washed over him.
"I'm fine." He murmured, hoping his sounded more reassuring than he felt.
Sirius made a sound that told James that he didn't believe him. Whatever… he just hoped that help would get there soon so they could make sure Remus would be alright.
"James! Oh lord, James! Wake up!"
James's eyes snapped open, "What? What's wrong? Where's Remus…. Sirius?" He saw Lily kneeling next to him. He had blacked out, he realized, before he could get her reply.
"Oh thank God… James I couldn't wake you… I thought the worst. What happened? Mungo's is one their way, but I didn't know what to tell them to expect. Lord… I didn't think it would be this bad…." Lily's voice broke. Her hand went to her mouth and tears streamed down her face.
"Hey… come here…. It's okay…. Well, no it's not, but it will be. I promise." James held her close. Lily was so scared she was shaking. James could hardly bear seeing her like this.
James looked to the side to see that Sirius was also out like a light. He smirked slightly and reached over to shake him.
"Hey, sleepy…. Come on, rise and shine." He said, and Sirius came around. Before he could even come up with a clever comeback to throw at James, they heard the sound of rushing feet coming toward the house. There was that initial fear that the deatheaters had come back, but then they realized it was the healers from St. Mungo's….
Remus didn't wake for several hours. When he did, he was completely fatigued. However, he still managed to be angry with James and Sirius.
"You should have left! I cannot believe you …either of you…. You could have gotten yourselves killed…."
"Remus, you're not really one to talk right now!" James interjected. "I wasn't just going to leave you there…. I knew they'd…. I knew they'd get rid of you."
"That would have been easier than watching you two get killed." Remus muttered, closing his eyes tightly, wincing.
"There's no way, man…. No way could they have killed us…." Sirius said as though he thought they were invincible or something.
"I thought you were dead to be honest…." Remus said to Sirius. "That was a really stupid move you made. You should have known they were trying to trick you…."
"They were torturing you! I wasn't going to just stand by! I know that curse, okay? I've felt it! I wasn't about to let you go through that when I could have stopped it!" Sirius said indignantly. Both Remus and James knew perfectly well that Sirius was telling the truth. He was the only one of them up until then that had ever felt the Cruciotis curse. His father got angry with his eldest son very easily. Sirius had been punished with the curse almost every day of summer vacation until he learned to stand up for himself….
"What did they want, anyway?" James asked, trying to change the subject, though he thought he already knew they answer….
"They wanted to recruit me… and to see if I knew where …." Remus hesitated not sure if he ought to tell James the rest, but he knew better than to try and hide it, "They wanted to know where you and Lily were…."
James just swallowed hard and nodded. This had been exactly what he had been afraid of.
Sirius stared at his hands. His mind was racing. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to hold up like Remus did tonight. What if he broke? What if Voldemort found Lily and James and Harry and it was his fault? Surely if they had made it so far as to assume it was Remus… surely he would be next in line to be 'interrogated'. Sirius normally wouldn't even second guess it, but after seeing what they did to Remus…. What if he broke down and gave them away?
Sirius wasn't afraid of death… not his own anyway. But losing Lily, James, and Harry… well that was like losing the only family he had left. And that was not something he was willing to risk.
It was a few days later. They had been reassured that Remus was going to make a full recovery. He had certainly seen worse injuries in his lifetime…. Once every month, to be precise.
Sirius had been thinking things over and had finally made up his mind. But he still felt a little uncertain as he stood at the front door of Peter's apartment.
He sighed before knocking loudly three times.
"Sirius?" Peter had peered through the eye hole and quickly opened the door. "What are you doing here? How's Remus doing?" He said it all quickly, as though he was nervous… but that was mostly normal for Peter, so Sirius didn't really take notice.
Peter let him in and they sat in the front room. Sirius looked around briefly. He hadn't been to Peter's often and was surprised for two reasons; one, it was so clean for a guy like Peter, and two because it was such a small space, even for a guy like Wormtail.
"So, what's up, Padfoot?" Peter said after a long silence.
"Oh…er… well, you know what happened the other night…. I've been thinking sense then…."
"Yeah? About what?"
"About being secret keeper. They thought it was Remus… I know they'll check me next…. And well, quite honestly, Peter, they would never think to check you." He hadn't meant it to be offensive; it was true, after all. No one would look at the four Marauders and expect Peter to be the one they entrusted with their lives.
"And?" Peter said, trying not to look hurt by this.
"Well, I was thinking that maybe it would be…. A better idea if it wasn't someone they would expect… if you get my drift."
Peter's heart was racing. He couldn't believe it. He should say no. Everything in his heart was telling him to just say no! But… this was just the opportunity he needed to save himself from Voldemort…. This was it, staring him straight in the face….
"Sure, Sirius. I'll do it. You're right. They'd never expect it to be me…."