A/N: So here's chapter 30. enjoy! Oh, and nice summer songs, guys. I think mine is that Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" song...it's just so fun--well, sort of, you people know what I mean. This week's poll--If you could do one thing to change the world--anything--what would it be? Anyways...read, review, and enjoy these last few weeks before our fate is sealed in the Deathly Hallows!

Chapter Thirty: False Alarms Vs. Real Threats

James Potter pulled his wool cloak tighter around his neck and then stuck his hands in his pockets, trying desperately to grasp onto some of the limited heat escaping his body. It was the second week of December, and it was cold, and the last thing he wanted to be doing was what he was currently doing—walking outside in the cold air in the rainy winter night. But James had work for the Order he was trying to accomplish—his task assigned to him from Dumbledore. So far James had been relatively successful in his efforts, but the people Dumbledore had asked him to investigate were getting farther and farther up the ladder in the Ministry, and therefore, it was getting harder and harder for him to track and spy on the people with out being detected. It was easy to discover that David Balmer was a Voldemort sympathizer, if not an outright supporter, but David Balmer was only the custodial worker in charge of keeping the Ministry lavatories spotless—a job he had done well, James admitted. But Dumbledore had assured James that every person James could discover and track would help build cases against them that could land them in Azkaban, and not out supporting Voldemort. However, James could tell that when he had been able to overhear a conversation Yvonne MacNair had been having with known Death Eaters Dumbledore had been noticeably more pleased. Yvonne MacNair was one of the junior ministers of the Department of Magical Transportation. She had been watching over certain ministry fires and making other ones conveniently private for Death Eater activity. She was currently in a cell in Azkaban, awaiting her trial. So James kept his head up, and worked on his latest—and last, at least for now---person. A person relatively high up in the Ministry—a person James was eager to out as a Death Eater. Ingemar Mulciber, Head of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad. However, the case on Mulciber was just now forming, so it was vital that James find accurate information without disclosing that Mulciber was under investigation.

James sighed and kept on walking, trying to not think about all of the things he would rather be doing. Eating dinner with Lily, for example, or playing a game of Exploding Snap with Sirius and Remus and Peter…inside, where it was warm…

Suddenly James' thoughts—the ones he was trying not to have, at least—were halted. He saw two men in thick black cloaks coming towards him, unaware of him, for the most part, talking to one another in hushed voices. They did not even glance at James as they turned and entered a pub on the corner. James was on their tracks; sure that one of them was Mulciber, going to his casual meeting with a few Death Eaters, probably just to have a few drinks and shoot the breeze, talk and smile about the latest muggle killings, no doubt. James felt his insides curl with a mix of anger and anxiety. He waited a few moments before entering the bar, in case he looked suspicious. Unfortunately, as soon as he entered the pub—a shady place in Knockturn Alley that he had never been in before, the grubby-looking barman immediately walked up to him.

"No underage wizards tonight." He said forcefully, wearing a scowl as he wrung the rag he had been cleaning glasses with aggressively, squirting brownish water on to James' new trainers.

James was indignant. He didn't look under seventeen…did he? He should have grown out a beard for the occasion.

"I'm not underage." James replied, honestly, attempting to be discrete. The last thing he wanted was for the group of what he knew must be the street-clothed Death Eaters meeting in the corner to notice him.

The barman laughed. "Yeh, right. Well even if you turned seventeen two weeks ago and your testicles have dropped, you don't belong in here. So get out."

James racked his brain for something to reply with, something charming and winning, something that could tell this man that James really was a down-trodden hard-working, shady man like him, just eager for a drink after a grueling day. But James wasn't stupid, and he could tell that not even his superb bullshitting skills he had gained over the years of being one of Hogwarts' most notorious trouble makers was not going to get him a seat at the bar. So he nodded.

"Fine." He said, trying to look not too disappointed. "I'll get a drink somewhere else. And mind, I'll tell my friends that the service here is something to be desired."

James didn't wait for the barman's response, he was sure it would be sarcastic and infuriating, so he turned and left, thinking hard for another way into the pub.

Once outside, he looked around the dangy building, but there weren't any accessible windows…just a backdoor. James sucked in his breath. As improbable it was at being successful, he should at least try.

He approached as quietly and discreetly as possible, checking the alleyway for anyone approaching. He turned the knob, it didn't turn a millimeter. James pulled out his wand.

"Alohomora."

It unlocked.

Unfortunately, he also heard two sets of feet scuffling against the ground. One approaching the back door from the inside and one coming from the street. James cursed himself for not bringing his invisibility cloak—Lily had asked to borrow it, or rather, James had forced it upon her to carry around at all times—and he made the quick decision to back out casually into the streets. It wasn't worth it to be rash and reckless. He made his way back out of the alleyway before any questions could be asked, and he apparated back to Muggle London.

James arrived on the outskirts of his flat building. It was just as sopping wet in London as it had been in Knockturn Alley, and even colder, as the night was getting darker, and when James looked up he could see large, billowing snow clouds forming. He shivered and then made his way inside to the warmth and dryness of his flat.

Nothing could have really prepared James for what awaited him. After a long day of training and then right on to Order business, he was tired and just wanted to get into the safety of his home. It wasn't so much the disarray of the flat that sent shivers down his spine, his possessions flung all around his room, his furniture smashed…it was that no one was there. It was nearing eight-thirty, and it was a Tuesday. Sirius was supposed to be home, undoubtedly as tired and worn out as James was. At the threat of his best friend being in danger yet again, James apparated to the first place on his mind, panic setting in, although he tried to reason with himself, Sirius couldn't be dead, there was no Dark Mark hovering over the complex…

The urgent, relentless pounding at the door alerted everyone in the sitting room, and the conversation and laughter immediately stopped. Lily sucked in her breath, anxious at who would be at her threshold and what news they had. She knew James had Order duties tonight, and she had been on tenterhooks all evening, therefore, she had distracted herself with charming company.

"Lily—let me answer."

"I'll get it."

"No, I've got it." Lily said forcefully, a blazing look in her eyes so fierce that no one bothered to argue with her.

"Who's there?" she asked in a half-whisper.

"It's James! Let me in!" came her fiancé's voice, in such a panic that she didn't hesitate to open the door without asking anymore questions.

"James!" Lily cried at the state of the man in front of her. The color had left his face and his hair was sticking up even more violently than usual.

"I think they have Sirius!" he said, not even greeting her with his usual kiss, and striding past the threshold. "We've got to find him, they've—"

"James! James!" Lily tried to get his attention, finally resorting to lunging herself at him, grasping him around the shoulders and holding him straight so that she could look him dead in the eye. "He's here, James. Sirius is here. He and Charlotte and I were all just having some tea, everything's fine."

"He's here? He's all right?" James said, his breathing slowing and his face relaxing. He seemed to take in his surroundings for the first time, and he noticed Sirius standing with Charlotte in the corner.

"Padfoot!" James exclaimed, relief setting in at the site of his best friend. Sirius approached him eagerly.

"Are you all right mate? What's wrong?" Sirius asked, anxious from his friend's frantic behavior.

"Our flat…it's completely trashed. It's been ransacked…I thought they had gotten you…there wasn't a Dark Mark, but I don't know, you weren't there, I figured you would be, I'm glad you weren't…" James then embraced Sirius for a few solid moments before releasing him. "I'm glad you're okay."

Sirius nodded. "I am too. I wonder what they wanted, what they were there for…"

"I thought that was obvious enough." Lily said. "They were looking for one of you, or both, it's not like either one of you are on Lord Voldemort's good side."

"You didn't hear?" James replied, smiling with relief. "We're going to be playing Quidditch together. Yeah, we had a bit of a chat---well, at first he wanted a Chaser position, but I think he really fit better as a beater."

Lily couldn't laugh.

"James don't joke, this is serious, someone wants you, and it looks like when they get you they won't be very happy."

"Well loads of people want James, Lily." Sirius said, smiling slightly. "Or have you forgotten Hogwarts?"

Lily folded her arms. She couldn't believe James and Sirius were being this dismissive about the situation. "This isn't the time for that, Sirius. There is quite a big difference between the hormonal teenage girl population of Hogwarts and the murderous Death Eaters."

"But we're okay, Lily, we're all right, we've escaped them." James said, trying to sound calm and soothing. It wasn't working.

"ARE YOU BLOODY KIDDING ME?" Lily shouted, letting her arms break free from each other and fly in the air with forceful exasperation. "WHAT'S THIS WE'VE ESCAPED THEM HORSESHIT! IT'S VOLDEMORT, JAMES. HE DOESN'T LET SOMETHING ESCAPE HIM AND GO 'OH, DAMN! BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME, LET'S PUT ON A KETTLE!' HE DOESN'T LIKE BEING OUTSMARTED, JAMES! QUIT BEING AN IDIOT!"

By the time Lily was yelling at the boys, her cheeks had a healthy red flush and her nostrils were flaring.

James was speechless. He hadn't had Lily's full wrath directed towards him in a long time. It was as humbling as it always had been, and James immediately sobered up.

"I'm sorry, Lily." James said quietly, preparing for another attack. Sirius had slipped back into the corner with Charlotte—both of them looked rather apprehensive. James, however, stood his ground, like he always did.

Lily's anger ebbed, and her lips quivered as she folded her arms together, bringing them close to her body, as if they alone were security enough against the evils of the world. "James, someone is after you, or Sirius, and they aren't going to stop until they find you. And if it is the Death Eaters, they won't take rejection well. They will try and kill you…"

James nodded and he walked towards Lily, putting his arms around her and holding her tightly against his body.

"We're going to go back to the flat—" He paused as Lily began to protest, but he continued. "Sirius and I, we'll go back, see if we can find anything to tell us what they wanted, then we'll meet you back here, and we'll stay here the night. Then tomorrow we'll go to the house, hardly anybody knows we've bought a house. It'll be fine." James said all this with a strong, confident voice, and it eased Lily, although she didn't really feel like any of her worries had gone.

"You can't go back there, they've just—"

"They won't come back tonight, it's too soon." James said, as if he really knew how the minds of Death Eaters worked.

Lily sighed in resignation. "I want to come with you."

"No, you'll stay here." James retorted.

"If they do come back to your flat they'll have more, and the two of you will be no match for all of them…"

"Half of them are currently at a meeting in a pub in Knockturn Alley, Lily, they must have hit up my place hours ago, when they thought I'd just be back from training, unaware. You need to stay here, with Charlotte."

Lily wasn't going to give up that easily, so she continued they're subtle argument. "I'm going with you, James. If you're going, I'm going. I'll be worried sick until you get back, and besides, they know I live here, no where is safe. We're both going with you two." Lily chanced a look towards Charlotte, making sure she was up for the adventure. Charlotte nodded defiantly at her cousin.

"Fine." James said tersely, he could never resist Lily. "Let's hurry up, I want to get back so I can send an owl to Dumbledore, let him know what's up."

"That's the first good idea you've had all night." Lily said, giving way to a small grin.

They ended up at the mess and devastation that was James and Sirius' flat.

"Merlin." Sirius said, his eyes falling on the mess. He knew it would be bad, but nearly everything was destroyed—even his favorite chair. It was a good thing that he had never cared much for material possessions.

Lily gave the smallest of whimpers as she imagined what it would have been like if James had come home straight from training.

Charlotte followed closely behind Sirius, waving her wand in an effort to tidy up a bit, although she would admit that it was rather pointless.

James ignored the remnants of his belongings for the most part, determined to find a clue or a message or anything that would tell him who was there and what they were looking for.

He didn't have to look long. Once he had entered the kitchen it was clear who had come and what their purpose was. Floating in the air as if it had been spray painted on an invisible wall were the words:

We've come for you, Potter. Join us, or we'll be back.

There was no signature, but just under the writing floated a neon green skull, a snake moving through its mouth and around its head.

Behind him, James heard someone gasp. He knew it was Lily. He put an arm around her and looked from the writing to her, watching her face as she stared at the message.

"Well that clears that up." He said. "I'll just grab a few things and we'll go back to your place, Lily."

Lily nodded, turning her gaze to James and letting her burning green eyes meet his defiant hazel ones.

"We're really going to have to be careful now."

James nodded and went to gather his things before he could think too much about it.

An hour later, after returning back to Lily's and Charlotte's and having a drink to relax themselves, James lay in Lily's bed, exhausted but unable to sleep. He lay with his arms folded behind his head and gazing straight ahead, moving his foot slightly under the covers and watching Lola, Lily's now full size cat, chase after the possible prey. She attacked his foot, biting and scratching at the thick comforter covered foot, not inflicting too much pain on James.

Lily stood at her dresser taking out her earrings in her process of getting ready for bed. She soon joined James, pulling the covers up to her chest and sitting up beside him.

"Are you all right?" Lily asked quietly.

James nodded as he took off his glasses and put them on the night stand.

"How did it go this evening?"

James smiled and rubbed his tired eyes. "Do I look at least seventeen to you?"

She raised an eyebrow and looked him over. "Yes, you look older than you are, actually. At least I've always thought so."

"Well the barman at the pub thought I was underage and he wouldn't let me in." James said, chuckling softly.

"Oh no! So you weren't able to see—"

"I saw Mulciber go into the pub with another wizard, I saw him in there with a group of people, probably Death Eaters, before being kicked out, at least. It's all right though, I'll have plenty of chances to out him for what he is…although I'd rather it is sooner than later…"

Lily nodded. "You'll get him—and look at it this way…if they were there, and they had just come back from your flat, they don't know you're tracking him."

"That is a good point." James agreed, as some of the tightness that had built up in his chest relaxed. He turned to Lily and put a hand on her cheek and stroked her skin softly with his thumb before kissing her. "How is your task coming along?" he asked when they parted.

Lily smiled brilliantly.

"I was able to finish my file on Nott today during my lunch break…I've got five years worth of information that ties him to financially backing the Death Eaters…"

"No way!" James cried, pleased and smiling. "How did you get that much information so quickly…surely you had to go to Gringotts…which is controlled by those terrible goblins who wouldn't give information to anyone!"

"Who said anything about having to go through the goblins?" Lily asked, grinning slyly.

James raised his eyebrows and Lily continued.

"Alls I had to do was persuade the translator to give me the information, and you know how charming and sweet I can be." Lily grinned at the sight of James' face—a mingled expression of admiration and disbelief. "In the end, Burt Stevens thought Nott was my dying brother, and that he had requested me to get his files and statements before he made out his last will."

"Did you cry for effect? Let a tear fall dramatically down your cheek?" James questioned, fully sitting in bed now, gazing at Lily, smiling.

Lily beamed. "Well it really added to my performance, I think." James laughed, before springing up and pouncing on her, laughing still as Lily tried to fight against his body hovering over hers.

"We've got to go to bed, James…it's really late and we have to be up early tomorrow—" Lily tried to reason, but failing, as James had resorted to tickling her sides, two of her most ticklish spots.

"No really!" she yelped, tears of mirth rolling down her cheeks before she managed to kick James in the knee.

"Ow!" James exclaimed, trying his best to look hurt and injured, but unable to keep the grin off his face. "Fine, fine…we'll go to sleep."

Just as James was moving away from Lily in his attempt to get back over to his side of the bed, Lily had yanked him by his shirt back down on top of her.

Poll: If you could do anything to change the world, what would it be?

Much thanks to my readers and especially my reviewers:

LazyLilies, grannyHPfan, glowing-ice, dancergrl19, WhiteCamellia, An Aspiring Author, elise bentwin, and Princess Elcipse.

And of course, thanks to my beta, who I appreciate greatly even though I forgot to thank you last chapter. Mucho love!