Ex Intempestivo Pax
Chapter 11
A Wish To Protect
Even if Lily might disagree with the method, she cannot dispute that I am protecting her from Snape...
Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, nor do I own the Harry Potter Series.
"...Sirius, tell me what happened! I know that there weren't any bloody Acromantulas that night!"
"And you believe SNAPE of all people over James and I!?"
"In this case? Yes, yes I do. Now, James had to be lying to protect SOMEBODY, and Remus wouldn't have done anything himself and Peter COULDN'T have done anything himself; as such, what did YOU do, Sirius!?"
As Sirius and Lily shouted at each other back in the living room, probably nose-to-nose at this point, James moaned aloud from the kitchen where he had hidden himself early on in the argument. Although he would prefer letting Lily do the dishes most of the time, said dishes sure beat the hell out of being in the way of a Lily Evans on the warpath.
Apparently, When Snape had told him that he would love it if Lily could see what kind of 'scum' James was during Petunia's little party, he had clearly been quite serious based on what James was hearing now from the living room. Also obviously, James' warning that if Snape didn't leave Lily alone then he would use all the resources of the Auror department that he could muster in order to throw Snape behind bars had been ignored.
'It really isn't fair' James thought to himself bitterly as he charmed the dishes to go into the sink for a rinse one at a time, 'that WORM has been ruining my life from the moment I started attending Hogwarts, and even when he FINALLY leaves me and mine be, he just comes crawling back in to ruin me again!'
Intellectually, James knew that while Snape was indeed doing this to torment him, it was James himself who had given his hated Slytherin rival the weapons to do so by not revealing the whole truth to Lily so long ago. It galled James to think that he really had no-one to blame but himself for giving the man so much to hurt him with...
Still, it felt so much easier to simply blame Snape for what was happening now with Lily getting all worked up over minor technicalities that James had glossed over in order to protect his friends. Besides, it had happened YEARS ago...
On the bright side though, this meant that Snape was up to his old tricks, and James would truly love to give a beatdown to his ugly rival and said rival's oversized conk. Just like all the times before it, he would crush his wicked foe and return to the arms of his eternally fair and grateful maiden, grateful because he would explain to her how he was doing this to protect her...a thought that made James smile slightly as he started sending the silverware back into its proper drawer, making a nice little clinking noise as it did so.
It wasn't hyperbole either, as even though the Auror department hadn't managed to prove it yet, Snape was almost certainly a Death Eater and James knew it. Even if he had once been Lily's friend before, he was probably taking advantage of her once again in order to hurt her, and in a much deeper and crueler way than he had before when he had pretended to be her friend only to leave her in the lurch that time after O.W.L.s...
After all, James knew of several Death Eaters who had gone so far into their evil that they even killed their own families when they wouldn't support Voldemort, and he had no doubt that Snape was at least five times worse than they were... Letting Lily get into his clutches again would get her killed in a matter of days, James was sure of it, so he knew that anything he did to protect her was completely justified...
However, maybe it would be best if he revealed some of the truth that he had been concealing for a while, as a counter-measure to Snape at the least. For example, James could tell Lily about Remus' being a werewolf and how Snape ran into him during the night of the incident, leaving out Sirius' role for the sake of his friendship with Lily...
His musings were suddenly broken off when a silvery rabbit hopped through the kitchen window, through the dining room room and into the living room, before shouting frantically in Gideon Prewett's voice, "James, Lily, apparate to headquarters straight away! Dorcas' been captured by THEM!"
As the arguments broke off, set aside for the moment to focus on other issues, James walked into the living room in a state of shock before he apparated to Prewett Place in a dazed state of terror. When they arrived, he looked at Sirius and Lily and whispered, "Dorcas... Why did they take Dorcas...?"
While Sirius rushed ahead after sparing a moment to give James a comforting pat on the shoulder, clearly eager to get in on the action, Lily clasped James' hand in her own and held him tightly in an effort to help him regain control.
Knowing him so well, Lily could easily tell that James was beside himself with worry for the woman, and did her best to make him feel better. She knew that James was generally a man who preferred not to be coddled publicly, but sometimes Lily was sure it was necessary, much like with Severus. Besides, she didn't quite know what to say to make him feel better anyway...
After all, Although she and Dorcas Meadowes were friendly, Lily' friendship with the woman had never reached that of James'. Nonetheless, Lily felt that she owed the slightly-older woman alot, as her relationship with James might never have happened if it weren't for Dorcas...
In fact, James had once told her that it had been Dorcas' advice during his sixth year that had finally helped him get his head out of his rear end and see that his pushing around and hexing the other students had been pushing Lily away rather than impressing her. She had been the one who had helped James realize what Lily had been trying to tell him for years: he might be good-looking, charming, rich and popular, but she wasn't going to even consider going out with him if he didn't stop acting like a complete and total bully...
Holding onto James' arm tightly, Lily slowly lead him into the dining room of the Prewett family home, while whispering phrases like "Don't worry, James, we'll get her back safe and sound. I'm sure Dumbledore has an idea which could help...", "There, there, it'll be OK...", and "Don't forget, James, you're a Marauder; you can deal with this..." in an effort to cheer him up.
By the time they had arrived, Lily was pleased to see that her words had begun to have an effect, as James had already started looking more determined than broken. His confidence seemed to show a upswing though when Dumbledore walked into the room with his purple robes billowing behind him, which was something that Lily couldn't help but to agree with him on, as if anyone could save a woman captured by the Death Eaters then it was most certainly Dumbledore.
As the two of them walked over to their seats, Lily took a moment to glance around, never having been at the Prewett's home before. What she saw wasn't exactly the most impressive sight though; the walls were painted sickly green, with peeling paint, and the armchairs and couch were threadbare. Combined with the fact that many of the household belongings had been clearly removed recently, with gaps in the dust giving evidence to where they had lain, it gave a picture of poverty that only Severus' home could have matched.
Still, the house had a sense of comfort in it that Severus' home could have used when he was growing up, Lily was sure...
Speaking of Severus, Lily felt quite guilty whenever she looked at James, as Dumbledore had flooed her right before the aborted confrontation and told her that she had to cover for Severus and pretend that she had been with him during the time that Dorcas had been kidnapped. Trying to conceal thr truth wasn't something that Lily could say that she was going to enjoy doing, that was for sure...
After all, lying to her fiance was not something that she wanted to get in the habit of, and she doubted that Dumbledore would have her give Severus an alibi if he weren't involved somehow. Lily hoped for all of their sakes that Severus wasn't going to get into too much trouble, as although she planned on having a talk with James in the near-future to encourage him to act as maturely as he had his last years in Hogwarts when dealing with Severus, she didn't think it would go over too well if Severus had been directly involved somehow with Dorcas' kidnapping...
While Lily was pondering Severus' involvement, James occupied himself with looking around to see who was there and ready for when Dumbledore set up the rescue attempt for Dorcas; unfortunately, it seemed that not that many people had been at home when called, as only he, Sirius, Lily, both Prewetts, Moody, Lupin and Dumbledore himself were there.
Still, that would have to be enough, as James would never abandon one of his friends...although he really wished that good, old Wormtail had been home so that he could get in on the action. Peter could cast a pretty mean Depulso if it came down to it...
His train of thought suddenly came to an abrupt halt when Dumbledore started speaking, calmly enough, but with an underlying tone of steely determination, "I am sure that all of you are aware of how Dorcas Meadowes was kidnapped earlier tonight from right outside the Leaky Cauldron. Although we cannot be certain of whether or not she is still alive, I am glad to say that I have discovered where they took her, thanks to the efforts of our only spy..."
Startled, James' eyes widened and he turned to look at Lily in shock, with her mirroring his surprise. 'A spy? In the Death Eaters' ranks? Now THAT is something useful! But why is Dumbledore revealing this in front of Moony? Isn't he afraid that he'll tell them?' Confused as to why Dumbledore was revealing this in front of most of the Order, James focused on him and paid close attention...
Meanwhile, Dumbledore continued calmly, seeming not to notice the shock of those around him, "They are keeping Dorcas in the dungeons of Lestrangus, the Lestrange family mansion. We are quite fortunate in the fact that Lord Voldemort, as per his usual practices, has elected to only prevent his...uninvited guests from leaving via apparition, making it possible to apparate ourselves inside..."
Dumbledore paused for a moment, then said in a tone that made it obvious that he had been choosing his words with care,
"I want to make it clear to everyone that an attempt to rescue Dorcas will be exceedingly dangerous, to the point that some may consider it suicidal. However, if you should choose to go and attempt it, then I have something that might ensure that you come back safe and unharmed. I have taken the liberty of preparing several Portkeys which are set to return anyone touching them here in twenty minutes."
James looked around for a moment, weighing what the others' expressions indicated, then said with his usual confidence, "Count me and Lily in, Albus. Even if the rest of you don't want to join us, we're going!"
Sirius smirked as he saw Lily throw James a reproachful glare, to which James responded with an apologetic grimace; one thing that frequently rocked the boat of Lily and James' relationship in Sirius' opinion was how James had a tendency to try and make decisions for Lily. It frequently landed the man in hot water with his fiancee, that was for sure...
Noticing that everyone else had volunteered, Sirius pretended to ponder for a moment, then said loudly, "Well, if James goes, then I'm going too! He definitely needs someone to pull his butt out of the fire after Lily's through with toasting it!"
Sirius was particularly pleased at how most of the men, and especially both of the Prewett brothers, snorted at that remark while laughing at the couple. Meanwhile, Lily blushed scarlet and James hurled Sirius furious glare of his own, which Sirius returned with a laughing wink. Needling the happy couple was one of the high points of Sirius' day, and he hoped that it would help Lily forget about what she had been harping on earlier tonight...
Clearly trying to restore the situation to some sense of control, James then said in a serious tone of voice, "Well then, we only have about fifteen minutes or so until these Portkeys yank us back here, so let's get moving everyone! Follow my lead!"
Moody then coughed loudly, causing James to flush slightly in embarrassment, before correcting himself after remembering that he was Moody's junior in both the Order and the Ministry, "Err...follow Moody's lead!"
Everyone except for James laughed at that, but the laughter soon faded as the Order members prepared to apparate, Lily still rather annoyed that James had volunteered her for a mission without asking AGAIN...
Dividing into two groups so as to search for Dorcas faster, one led by Moody and the other by Gideon Prewett, the seven then apparated into the dungeons of Lestrangus with a crack. Lily, with Sirius, Remus and Gideon following right behind her, then took a look around only to find herself standing right in front of a Death Eater.
Lily barely had time to realize that dungeons really hadn't changed for pureblood families since about the twelfth century, still being grungy, damp and made of stone, before she had to duck to avoid being made shorter by a head by a hex that looked like a sawblade made of magic. Thinking fast, Lily hurled a bludgeoning hex at the rather brutish man guarding the cell nearby, catching him on the head and... 'Ew, pulverised brain tissue, not something that I'd like to see again...'
After shaking her head for a moment to clear it of that particular sight, Lily followed the rest of her group down the corridors of the Lestrange dungeons, everyone moving so quietly that Lily would have thought herself alone if it weren't for the sight of the three in front of her. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Lestranges must have had a lot of enemies when they built this place, as there were a great many cells for them to check through and the group had barely minutes left until the Portkey triggered...
As they checked, Sirius periodically smirked or winked at her or Remus, trying to do his usual job of entertainment without being able to utter a single word. Although she didn't laugh, Lily had a hard time believing for a moment that this winking, smiling man might have nearly killed Severus in the past, yet it brought to her mind images she had tried to forget when she had made her peace with the Marauders in her sixth year...images of four laughing boys tormenting an old, cherished friend for no reason other than because he existed...
Swallowing, Lily turned and opened the next door to reveal a rather exhausted and grungy-looking Dorcas Meadowes, who had clearly gone a bout or two with the Cruciatus. She was still twitching slightly from the aftereffects, and had some blood running down her face from a cut on her scalp, but Dorcas was clearly pleased to see her as she cracked a grin when Lily stepped into her line of sight.
Swallowing, Lily turned to motion the other three members of her group over to the room she was in, only to hear the sounds of an explosion suddenly roaring through the old dungeon corridors. Shouts could be heard coming from overhead, and Lily suddenly felt a jolt of fear rush through her while causing her to go a bit weak in the knees at the thought of what might be happening to James now, especially since the sounds of Killing Curses could easily be heard even from this distance...
Clearly sensing Lily's distress, Sirius put a hand on her shoulder and said in a low tone of voice, not quite a whisper, "Don't worry, Lily, they will all be just fine. After all, in only two minutes, their Portkeys will trigger and take them all to safety-"
"Speaking of which," Moody interrupted gruffly as he moved into a position where he had some cover as he guarded the door, "let's make sure that there are no 'presents' attached to Dorcas here before we try to spring her loose!"
Lily knew that Moody was only trying to take her mind off of things, but busied herself anyway with checking for any curses or Dark magic that might have been left on Dorcas to keep her from escaping, all the while hoping desperately that James was going to be alright...
Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long since my last chapter; I've been trying to finish up 'What if? The Purgatory of Lily', and my other stories have been put a bit on the back-burner. Still, I want to get at least a few more chapters done before my Master's program heats up again...
For those of you who may be wondering why Voldemort has made it possible for the Order to get inside of the Lestrange manor so easily, it's actually a matter of convenience and arrogance. After all, it's a lot harder to get out than it is to get in when your only options for leaving are fighting your way through the Death Eaters or taking a Portkey.
The problem with the latter option from my readings online is that there are two varieties of Portkeys. One version allows an infinite number of passages to and from one spot, but it triggers every time it is touched, making it rather impractical for carrying. The alternative would be something like what Harry and co. used to get to the Quidditch World Cup in the Goblet of Fire, with a time-based activation trigger.
Also, for those of you who are wondering why Dumbledore would mention that the Order has a spy so casually, let's just say that he has more than a few tricks up those purple sleeves...
As a small treat for your patience, here's a snippet from a story I am considering writing after I complete 'What if? The Purgatory of Lily'. Please include your opinion on it if you have time during your review! I'm not sure if the first-person tone is one that I'd be particularly good at, but I'll certainly try if you think it goes well with it.
Cursed To Relive
"Severus Snape, come up here, NOW!"
I sighed as Minerva shouted at me to come up to take my turn at the Sorting Cap...although she would probably be quite surprised to hear me call her that, considering my apparent age. I had managed to tune out most of the Sorting ceremony, an easy task after having suffered through it more times than I cared to remember, but this was the one part which I was unable to avoid.
Walking up to the grungy old hat while glaring at the deputy headmistress, I jammed it on my head as I sat down heavily, idly wondering if Dumbledore's opinions of my being missorted were about to come true. Still, I had absolutely no desire to be put there, that was for sure...
Although for me it had been in excess of thirty years since I had been forced to listen to this infernal head-covering, I recognized its voice instantly as it spoke to me with a flicker of amusement,
"Ah, interesting, if I didn't know better then I would say that you didn't belong here. Still, I've dealt with people like you before, even if you are reliving your life. Now then, where shall I put you...? There's plenty of courage there, oceans of it really, but also a level of loyalty the likes of which I have rarely seen before. Cunning and ambition too, oh yes there is. Lots of that I see..."
Although I had been mildly interested at first, the aged hat's voice soon began to bore me with its deliberations. Remembering how I had spent years trying to make sure that I would never meet Lily in this reality, so I wouldn't have to watch as she left me for Potter once more, I mentally chanted to it, 'Not Gryffindor, not Gryffindor...'
The Sorting Hat sounded quite amused as it replied, chuckling all the while, "Interesting, you would avoid Gryffindor for the sake of not meeting the girl you love? It's rather ironic really, all things considered but if you're sure..."
'Not Gryffindor!'
"Very well then, although I think that you might be quite surprised as to the results of this choice..." For a moment then, I felt a stab of worry and wondered if I had made a mistake, but the Sorting Hat continued in a shout before I could change my mind, "Better be...SLYTHERIN!"
Shrugging, I put the matter behind me as I left the Sorting Hat in the chair I had been sitting in, then walked over to the Slytherin table. Making sure to sit as far away from Malfoy as I could this time around, I quickly walked over to an open seat at the end of the table, then sat down and grabbed a plate.
Unfortunately, I was still as clumsy at eleven as I had always been, and knocked over the goblet of whoever was sitting next to me on my right. Rather embarrassed at my blunder as I still thought of myself as a grown man and not a clumsy child, I quickly mopped it up and apologized to my seatmate without even looking at him or her, "Err...Sorry about that. I didn't mean to, you know, do that."
"That's alright, it was an accident I'm sure." A sinking feeling made itself known in the pit of my stomach, as I recognized that voice instantly; How could I not when it was in every one of my most cherished memories? Turning stiffly to the right, I then looked into the most beautiful emerald, almond-shaped eyes and swallowed as the voice continued, "By the way, my name's Lily Evans, what's yours?"
It was then that I realized what I should have remembered would happen a long ago: life's one true purpose was to torment me. In spite of how much I had desperately tried to avoid having to watch Lily slowly fall for James once more, as she had in spite of all I had done to try and prevent it from happening in my original life, I was doomed to suffer anew.
After nearly a minute of staring, I said in a stiff, nervous tone, my cheeks heating up as I did so, "Hi...I'm Severus Snape..."
