A/N: Alright guys, here's the next chapter. My first action-chapter, so be nice when reviewing…as for last chapter's poll…it seems most people found Valentine's Day to be a little depressing given recent breakups and such…but I hope you all managed to enjoy yourselves…I know I did. I got the complete works of Jane Austen with pictures and stuff. Yeah, I'm a dork. And as for goundhogs day….do you people realize how many of you had dad's born on that day? So yeah...this chapter's poll…go to this site and answer http/arcadeonlineDOTCOM/games/movie/end-of-the-world/ . (substitute the dotcom..if you will)…do you think the world is coming to an end soon? Personally, I don't think soon, but I do worry for the lives of my future children…I mean with ozone depletion, idiotic leaders ruling the world, only a limited supply of fresh water and las vegas using all of it….well I just worry. So check out the site if you want…answer the poll….but more importantly, read and review.

Chapter Nineteen: When Duty Calls

Lily looked up at James, her mouth opening slightly, her eyes wide open with alert.

James swallowed the piece of sandwich he had been chewing on and smiled awkwardly.

"What's wrong, Lily?" he asked, careful not to let his panic show.

Her green eyes looked down at her watch and James' smile vanished with his realization.

"Oh—Lily, where does it say to go?" he questioned.

Lily shook her head as she suddenly came to her senses, she read the watch face.

"Surrey, a primary school in Surrey." She said, standing up and fishing for something out of her purse.

"I've got it." James said, standing up quickly and throwing a handful of sickles on the table. He guided Lily out of the café.

"You okay, Lily?" he asked as she pulled out her wand, he followed suit.

"Yes—it's just, this is the school Petunia and I went to when we were little. It's a small private school, we've got to go, James." Her voice was frantic and it unnerved James like nothing else.

"Lily, yes, we'll be there in seconds, but before we go, I need you to take a deep breath. Come on, relax." James cooed softly with a demanding edge.

She inhaled for a moment and exhaled. "Okay, I'm ready."

James nodded and watched her apparate before following.

They appeared outside a tool shed a moment later. Both looked around, searching for any familiar faces.

James caught sight of Sirius and Dorcas in the street, both appearing to be studying the situation with apprehension.

James dug in his pocket and pulled out a mirror Lily had seen him use to contact Sirius before.

"Sirius Black" he whispered.

Lily watched Sirius dig inside his cloak pocket as three more people apparated beside him. Benjy Fenwick and Grace Melbourne. A middle-aged woman came bustling out of the school at them, Grace, Benjy, and Dorcas all pulled their wands out. The woman didn't seem to be intimidated by the people standing in front of her, waving sticks.

She spoke a word with Sirius, before the entire group made it to the shed.

"Right." James said as they appeared.

"James, this is Ms. Figg, she's a teacher here, and a Squib." Grace said calmly. "She reported the situation to Dumbledore."

"Yes—yes, I did." The woman started. "Funny things started happening—owls floating about, and then, a few people with dark cloaks appeared. Well, I read the Prophet and my family has been friends of Dumbledore for years, and I knew something was wrong."

"How many are there? Where did they go and how long ago did they appear?" Lily asked, a powerful, urgent tone in her voice.

The woman seemed to recognize Lily, her eyes widening slightly, but she otherwise gave away no sign of recognition. "They arrived ten minutes ago, the owls fifteen. I've seen about six of them, they've sealed off the dining room, the seven and eight year-olds were having lunch, the nine and ten-year old classes were on a field trip today, and the five and six year-olds are having a nap in one classroom. I don't know if anyone has penetrated their room, I put on my cloak when I saw what was happening and was able to get out of the cafeteria and get help."

"An invisibility cloak?" James asked.

"Yes, my family gave me one for protection." She replied easily.

"Right. Lily, Sirius, I want you two to go to the five and six year olds, Lily knows the way."

James looked Sirius straight into the eyes and a sense of communication seemed to pass between them. Sirius nodded and James went for his cloak pocket and handed Lily his invisibility cloak.

"You two take this, and do what ever you can to keep them out of that room. Dorcas and I will go to the dining room with Ms. Figg here—keep your invisibility cloak handy, Ms.Figg--, and Benjy and Grace can keep outside, in case more come."

Benjy looked at James. "Don't you think you'll need more help—if there are six in there, and only two of you…"

Dorcas cut in as Sirius draped the cloak over Lily and himself. "We will be fine, but if we need any help, we'll send blue sparks into the sky, all right?"

Benjy nodded and his face became stony with seriousness. "Grace, come with me."

Sirius and Lily stealthily made it their way to the back of the school.

"Do you know where we're going?" he asked in a hushed whisper.

"Yes, we're going through the custodial closet, I'm hoping they didn't know about that entrance, we can easily get to the other rooms from there." Lily replied, as they stopped at a very old looking door.

Lily pulled the handle, and the door easily opened to reveal the very cluttered, dirty closet.

"Follow me, and keep quiet." Lily said, holding the invisibility cloak up with Sirius closely following behind her.

She heard a light crash and Sirius inhale sharply and guessed that he had stubbed his toe. Years of sneaking around the Hogwarts' castle had given him great subtle slyness, although Lily hated to admit it.

They reached a hall and Lily ignored the posters around the school, celebrating the end of summer and beginning of fall.

They finally reached a door—Lily peaked in and saw two dozen youngsters napping soundly in a dimly lit room, with two teachers reading in the corner. She realized that this classroom probably had no idea of what horror could be happening in the cafeteria at the moment, the Death Eaters had probably put a silencing charm on the room, and they were probably unaware—for the time being—of there being any other children in the building.

"Okay." Lily whispered. "These are Muggle school children, Sirius. They probably don't know why we're here, and we're probably going to have to explain ourselves to the teachers. I'll do that. You distract the children, entertain them…I know you're good at that." Here she smiled kindly at him before continuing. "Just don't blatantly use magic in front of them, we don't want to have to do too many memory charms."

Sirius nodded. "All right." Lily smiled, this was the most serious she had ever seen Sirius.

Lily didn't bother knocking; she merely opened the door as quietly as possible. The sudden influx of light caused the teachers to look up, as well as a few of the children that had only been pretending to nap.

Sirius immediately shut the door behind them and quickly performed a locking and silencing charm on the door as subtly as he could, and Lily headed to the teachers, who were opening their mouths with questions. Sirius then headed to the group of children that had begun to stir.

"May we help you?" the older woman said, eying Lily's odd garb—she had a black cloak over a skirt and blouse.

"Excuse us." Lily said, as politely and calmly as she possibly could. "But we have a situation. You're going to need to listen to me…and believe every word I say. You're going to have to trust me."

The two women stared at her fixedly, prepared for whatever this odd looking young woman had to say.

XX

"All right. The dining hall is down this way, follow me." Ms. Figg said, although she couldn't be seen, Dorcas and James followed the sound of her hushed voice.

She led them to a pair of great, polished oak doors.

"There." Her voice quavered. "They're in there."

James and Dorcas looked at each other. They had studied methods of surprising and attacking enemies, but they had never really been tested. Now, here they were, the only people around that could save a bunch of Muggle school children.

Dorcas peered in through one of the windows in the doors.

"They have the kids lined up and facing them. There're two that appear to be the leaders, and there's four just sort of lurking in the back. About six members of staff seem to be bound by invisible rope…"

"Okay. Chances are, this is just a fun killing." James said.

"No one is dead yet!" Ms. Figg replied anxiously from a corner.

"No." James corrected himself. "Ms. Figg, thank you for your help, but I think it would be best for you to go into one of these classrooms." He pointed to one of the doors across the hall. "For your safety. I'll put a locking charm on it."

Ms. Figg seemed to think this was a good idea, and a moment later, the door open and closed quietly, without any sign of a perpetrator. James cast a locking charm and then nodded at Dorcas. "On the count of three."

Dorcas nodded her brown bobbed head, looking extremely fierce.

"One."

"Two."

"Three!"

Together, they whipped out their wands and cast the strongest unlocking charms they used, causing the doors to burst open.

The children, petrified as they were, they turned to the intrusion, as well as the group of Death Eaters, uniform in black cloaks and hoods, their identities protected.

"Ah." Came an oddly familiar voice, the leader of the group. "I see we have company."

The four Death Eaters in the back had the nerve to laugh.

"You can watch I suppose." The voice said in a cocky, roguish manner. James tried to pin the voice. It sounded like someone he remembered bumping into once or twice.

"We didn't come for a show." James said, holding out his wand, his eyes scanning the room quickly, the oddest sensation came over him, and he suddenly felt like he was back on the Quidditch pitch, trying to win the game.

"But you have such good seats." The leader cackled, before pointing his (or her, James decided. The voice was definitely female) wand at Dorcas and flicking her wand.

Dorcas lazily cast a shield that deferred the spell over to the wall, causing it to crack.

This seemed to queue the entourage of the lesser Death Eaters, all who had suddenly left their stations in the back corner and plunged at Dorcas and James, casting spells every which way. The two by the children carried on with their business of interrogated the petrified school children.

"Now, can anyone tell me what you all are?" James heard the voice ask again as he dodged a poorly cast unforgivable and attacked with the leg-locker jinx, effectively paralyzing his attacker and causing him to fall on the floor.

Dorcas had stunned two of the Death Eaters that had assumed she would be an easy target.

In the background, James heard a small, brave boy attempt to answer the question.

"British?" he squeaked nervously.

He heard the loathsome cackle before a scream of pain. The boy was coiled on the floor and thrashing, as if he was in some sort of epileptic seizure.

If only I could get to him. James thought he tried to make his way to the child when the fourth Death Eater sent a silent jinx on James' back, who turned around just in time to have a deep gash form in his left arm. His hazel eyes were didn't look down at the wound, only at his attacker. He knew that curse.

"Snivellus!" he spat venomously.

The Death Eater staggered back slightly, but raised his wand again, preparing to attack.

The boy's blood curdling screaming had stopped.

James was quick, however and sent him in the air, his ankle holding him up as if he was on a hook.

"You never did learn how to defend that one properly, Snivellus." James said before moving his wand again and stupefying him, causing him to crash onto the floor, causing an unpleasant thud to echo throughout the room.

James turned around as he heard the sound of clashing glass. Dorcas was now taking the two remaining Death Eaters on by herself, the one that had been lurking behind the leader had clumsily sent a curse at her, which she had easily deflected towards a tray of glasses.

More screams rung through the room, and James deflected as many cruciatius curses as he could as the leader moved her wand lazily, causing the unprepared children to fall to the floor, twitching a crying out in agony.

Soon James had distracted her by a duel, and Dorcas was dueling the remaining hooded opponent in the corner.

"Crucio!" the voice cackled, James ducked to miss it and sent back the first thing that came to his mind.

"Tarantallegra!"

The hex was deflected, but James had yelled out another. "Expelliarmus!"

The Death Eater stumbled backward slightly but quickly recovered, sending a ray of green light at James, which he deflected with a shield charm.

"I see Dumbledore has taught you well." The voice taunted. "Going to try an Unforgivable, Potter? I hear the Ministry has almost stooped to our level."

"You aren't worth it." James countered bitterly. "And the Ministry could never get lower than a bunch of blood-obsessed lunatics."

The Death Eater laughed horribly again.

"I see, Potter. You Mudblood lover. You could have been great you know, coming to our side. You can still be great, if you make the correct decision soon enough. The Dark Lord can forgive a few mistakes if you join us now, Potter."

James grinned. "Oh well then that settles it, if the powerful, great Dark Lord will forgive what he considers mistakes immediately, I'll join right now. Bellatrix, if you had told me sooner---that I could be forgiven for not joining a bunch of murderous crusades—I would have put on that fashionable hood long ago!"

His sarcastic reply returned no response from Bellatrix Black, instead a ray of green light was cast---James lazily deflected it, yet again—and Bellatrix ran for the window, apparating as soon as she got outside. A few moments later, James saw the Death Eater Dorcas had been fighting follow his leader out the window. James sent a quick bat-bogey hex at him, and he immediately shrieked as his face was attacked by a flock of bats. Dorcas then paralyzed him, sending him crashing to the floor.

James turned to see what had happened to the first four, only to see that Snape—or the cloaked man he assumed to be Snape—had vanished, along with one other formerly stupefied masked villain.

He swore loudly as Dorcas reached his side.

"It's okay. We'll just gather these three and then untie the teachers. We could possibly get a confession of their accomplices. We've done well, Potter."

James nodded slightly, although he still felt angry at the thought of Snape getting away. His thoughts drifted to Sirius and Lily. His stomach clenched at the thought of his two best friends and he prayed they were okay. Deep down, he knew they were—Sirius would take care of Lily—well, Lily could take of herself, but he felt better knowing his best mate was with her.

Lily and Sirius had been lucky for the last half an hour, no Death Eaters had come to the door. It was as she had expected—they had not counted on their being any other school children in the building—of course, she doubted that they were here for any particular purpose other than Muggle torture, and didn't care if there were any more kids there were, as long as they were able to kill a good dozen or so.

Sirius was busy doing card tricks for a group of the children—who had never seen such magic in their entire lives—and Lily found herself engulfed in a group of little girls, asking her to play house and drink tea with them. The teachers were merely trying to look as if they were reading (they had explained to the class that their guests were from a local college and they were studying to be teachers and wanted to play with them) in the back of the room, exchanging apprehensive looks every few moments.

"This is Josie." A small girl with blonde hair and bluish green eyes said, holding up a doll with the same golden locks.

"Josie's very pretty." Lily replied, to the girl's delight.

"Play house with us again, Miss Lily." One of the other girls said. "You can be the mother."

"But we need a daddy." One of the others insisted. "Let's get Sirius to play."

Lily looked highly amused at this idea and checked her watch. Thirty-three minutes had passed since they had become elementary entertainers. Her thoughts wandered to James and she prayed that he was okay.

A knock came to the door just as the group of girls dragged Sirius to her, giving him the guidelines on how house was played.

Lily looked up and caught Sirius' eye, he nodded at her and she headed to the door, her wand handy.

She peeked through the glass window on the door and saw James, grinning stupidly at her, waving his hand for her to come out.

She nodded at Sirius before unlocking the door with her eyes and snuck out.

James grabbed hold of her and gave her a loving embrace as soon as she was within reach.

"You're okay." He said, taking in the scent of her hair before letting her go.

"You're not." She said, her smile dripping off her face. "What happened to your arm?"

She reached his left sleeve, which was soaked in blood and torn.

"Oh, well, I'll give you the specifics in a minute. I wanted to tell you that the dining hall is secure—Dorcas called Ministry officials and they're sending some Healers for the minor injuries, but I think they're going to have to send two of the kids to St. Mungo's. They're going to have to do a bunch of memory charms as well. Benjy and Grace stopped two more Death Eaters from entering, but they both escaped. We apprehended three ourselves…but three escaped." James reported, sounding slightly disappointed and irritated with his last words.

Lily reached for his uninjured arm and caressed it. "But no one is dead. You did a good job, James."

"You did too." James replied. "Sorry to keep you and Sirius back here—I know you two wanted to be in the actual action, and you would have been brilliant." He said, smiling at her, and pulling a strand of red hair out of her face. "But I just felt you two would be the best handling the children if anything went terrible."

Lily nodded and smiled slightly. "It's okay, James. We had a good time. Speaking of which, I'm missing a game of house. Are the Ministry officials here yet?"

James shook his head. "No, they should be here in a few minutes."

"Make sure you get your arm looked at, or I'll tell your mother." Lily replied reaching for the door handle. "I better get back, the kids think Sirius and I are students from the local university—future teachers that wanted to play with them today."

"Good story." James smiled. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

As Lily returned to the room, a pack of wizards and witches in Ministry robes entered the building, ready to perform dozens of memory charms.

Not five minutes had passed when two Ministry officials and one mediwitch entered the classroom. Sirius addressed them and explained the situation, before both he and Lily were dismissed—the children, not prepared for their new playmates to leave, said goodbye rather tearfully—and they went out to the front of the school, where three stern looking guards apparated with the three stupefied Death Eaters. James and Dorcas were being told to apparate to the Auror Headquarters when Lily greeted them.

"We need to dress your wounds." One man explained "And we can't risk doing it in a Muggle village." He turned to look at Lily. "And you should probably be checked out as well. And where's Black? He needs to be sent. Fenwick and Melbourne have already gone."

James looked rather grudgingly before nodding.

"I really don't think it's necessary for Sirius and I to go get checked out, we had no contact with Death Eaters." Lily interjected, she needed to get back to work, she was suddenly remembering her promise to Madam Bones to put the finishing touches on a few cases.

The man gave a stern look, his gray hair falling into his eyes. "You had no direct contact. You still need to be looked over. Ah. There's Black." He headed over to Sirius and left Lily no chance to debate him any further.

"Fine." She mumbled.

James grinned at her. "Come on, Shnuckums, maybe I can persuade the nurse to put us in the same room together." He waggled his eyebrows at her and Lily playfully hit his chest.

Before she could reply with a witty remark, Dorcas interrupted them.

"Let's go." She said, in her usual forceful manner.

A sour-looking Sirius appeared just in time to apparate with James, Lily, and Dorcas to the hospital wing of the Auror Headquarters.

Thanks to my reviewers: ggyy, IAMSOAP, missing summer, riduculoslyriddikulus, sharp-tongued, Jude Harrison, Scooter5710, Zippy-Wings, heather Gernenz, chikichiki, luv24+Alias, Kaean, glowing-ice, White Camellia, and melochicmoonstar89…thanks!

And of course, thanks to my beta.