A/N: I know, it's been absolutely ages since I updated this, but I've finally had an idea as to where I could go with it so I've written a bit more. The timelines might seem to jump around a bit in this, but I hope everybody can still follow it. Thank you to everybody who's reviewed, I hope you like this next chapter!

Disclaimer: Is it really necessary to say it again?

Chapter One - A Bad Situation

July 1981

When the knocks sounded on the door in the middle of the night Peter woke with a start. His initial reaction was one of panic: it must be the Death Eaters, he thought, they're hunting down the Order, they've come for me. But then he realised that Death Eaters wouldn't knock. But still, it was one in the morning. Who would be calling on him this hour? He thought it was possible it might be one of the Order members, but he was still nervous. Maybe they'd come to warn him about something, but that was what the painting of Edgar Stroulger in his hallway was for. They didn't normally call round in person.

The knocks continued to sound, getting louder and more urgent, and Peter realised he was going to have to answer them. If it turned out that whoever was knocking was hostile after all then he'd just have to turn into a rat and try and make it back to Order HQ. He got out of bed and pulled on his dressing gown, before heading downstairs to answer the door of the cramped little terraced house he called a home. As well as the relentless knocking he could hear the sound of the rain falling heavily outside. Once he'd reached the door he opened it just crack and peered out nervously, but when he realised who was standing there he opened the door fully and stood gaping in surprise. On the doorstep was stood a woman who appeared to be in her early twenties, with long blonde hair that was plastered to her face from the rain and wearing a thick woollen cloak that she held tight around her. Peter could tell immediately that something was wrong. She was staring at him with a terrified expression, her blue eyes wide with fear. And even more worryingly, he could see the right side of her neck was stained crimson as blood poured from a deep gash there. He stared at her in shock. "Emily?"

"I'm sorry, Peter," she stammered, her voice shaking with panic, "I…I didn't know where else to go."

"No, don't be sorry. Get inside," he said quickly, ushering her in and shutting the door behind her. "What happened?" he asked urgently as he led her into the living room. He sat her down on the sofa and took his wand from the pocket of his dressing gown to jab it in the direction of the hearth, where a fire immediately ignited. Emily was still shivering, and he took the sodden cloak from her shoulders and threw it on the floor, before taking the throw blanket from the back of the sofa and wrapping it round her. She didn't move all the while he was doing that, simply continuing to stare blankly at the space in front of her. He tried to get a better look at the cut on her neck, but immediately felt squeamish. Stop it, Peter, he told himself, she needs you to help her. Trying not to think about the blood, he brought up his wand to start the healing spell, still watching her face with concern. She still hadn't answered him. "Emily, please tell me what happened," he asked again.

"Evan," she said abruptly, and Peter immediately stopped casting the spell and simply stared at her. His hands balled into fists as tried to work out what she meant.

"Did he…" he began, his tone livid, but Emily quickly spoke again.

"He's one of them."

A sense of horror began to grip Peter. "What?" His voice sounded strangled.

Emily looked ready to cry. "He's…he's a Death Eater!" she sobbed, finally breaking down into tears. Peter wanted to put an arm round her to comfort her, but he was too stunned to move. "All those nights he'd go out and wouldn't tell me where he was, and I was worrying about him seeing another woman. Well, I turns out I was wrong about that," she cried hysterically, and then she made a sudden movement with her arms. Peter watched her move her right hand to forcefully pull off the engagement ring she was wearing, and even though he'd been wanting to see her do that for months the situation was just too serious for him to feel any sense of satisfaction. "The bastard!" Emily screamed as she flung the ring across the room, and then broke down in another fit of sobs.

Peter finally made a move to envelope her in a comforting hug. Gently, he put up a hand to touch the partially healed cut on her neck. "Was it him who did this?"

She shook her head. "No, it was Moody."

The moment she'd said that he felt even more panicked. "Moody?"

Emily nodded. "He came after Evan with two other aurors, and I just happened to be there. If he hadn't shown up I never would have found out the truth, but he thought I was in on it as well. He and Evan got into a fight, and the others tried to arrest me, but I didn't know what to do. I panicked and tried to escape, but Moody got me with a cutting curse just before I disapparated."

She was sobbing into his shoulder, and Peter really didn't know what he could say that would make things any better. So Moody thought she was a Death Eater? But he knew Moody, he could talk to him and explain…

Except that wouldn't work. His friendship with Emily had been a secret for years. He'd never told James, or Sirius, or Remus for fear of them ridiculing him, and he'd certainly not mentioned it to any of the Order. He wanted to believe that if he told them now they'd still trust him, but he knew full well what Moody was like. Peter was barely brave enough to talk to him as it was, but if he said anything about this then Moody would no doubt only begin to suspect him as well. The mad auror would probably think Peter had been keeping her a secret all this time because he was in on it too. And if Peter went up against Mad-Eye Moody, then he knew it wouldn't end well. But surely though, there must be someone he could go to for help?

"It'll be alright," he told her, not really believing it but still trying to cling onto hope. "We can clear your name. There's no proof you've done anything wrong."

"But what if there is?" she wailed, "Evan managed to completely fool me. He must have used memory charms, maybe even used the Imperius Curse. For all I know I have done something!"

"Emily, we can't know that for sure," he said soothingly, but with a growing sense of dread he knew that it was more than likely to be the truth. Why else would a Death Eater show an interest in her? Rosier must have been using her for something, trying to cover his own back so that the aurors would go after her instead. And now it seemed like the aurors had gone after them both.

Emily was clinging onto him now in complete terror. "I'll go to Azkaban!" she sobbed hysterically, "You know what Crouch is like, I won't even get a trial. I can't go there, Peter. Please, I don't want to go there…"

She broke off into another fit of sobs, and he hugged her even tighter to him. "You won't go to Azkaban, I promise," he muttered to her, praying that was a promise he could keep. He couldn't bear the thought of her being in there: it wasn't fair, she'd done nothing to deserve it. All she was guilty of was being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he wasn't going to let her pay for it with a prison sentence. It was all Rosier's fault; the lying, manipulative bastard. He was the one who deserved a life sentence in Azkaban, not her.

But what could Peter do about it?

He was desperately trying to think of something, but his mind was drawing up a blank. He hated not being as smart as James or the other Marauders; it was always them he'd relied on to come up with good ideas and tell him what to do. But now he was on his own, and it was him Emily was relying on. It was up to him to think of a way to save her.

Finally, she stopped crying and managed to calm down, but Peter was still sat with her arms around her. He didn't want to let her go, not until he'd thought of something that could make everything alright, but he still couldn't see any way out of this. He didn't think he could go up against Moody and there was no way anyone would believe him over the esteemed auror, but surely there was some other way they could avoid her having to go to Azkaban?

"Peter," he heard Emily mutter softly, giving a slight sniffle, "What do we do now?"

"I don't know," he whispered, hugging her tighter, "But we'll think of something." Although in all honesty, he had no idea what.