A/N: Thank you wicked1 for giving me my 200th review! I know my updates haven't been as good as they used to be but guys!!! Keep reviewing! They make all this much more worthwhile! Hint!
Disclaimer: I haven't written one of these for a while. I don't own any of the HP characters or anything else HP related that you recognize.
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James changed out of his uniform as soon as he could and left them in a room he'd rented at the Leaky Cauldron. He tried to blend in as best as he could in Diagon Alley although this proved to be a difficult task because the streets were practically empty. It was late, but Diagon Alley was the heart of the Wizarding Community and it had been lively every time he'd previously visited at ungodly hours of the morning. Now only a handful of people went about quietly and most of the lights were dimmed as if people were afraid to draw attention.
With his head down James left and as soon as he was out of Diagon Alley he let Tatty soar up high and he followed on his broom.
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Thump. Thump. Thump.
Lily slid to the floor with a whimper her fists sore with the pounding. Both doors were locked and neither had a keyhole, which meant that the lock mechanism was on the other side of the door.
So fresh in her mind was the man with the cold face that she half expected him to emerge from behind one of the sheet covered chairs to sneer at her helplessness. He would stand, taller than her, and much more powerful; his aura darker than the deepest of seas and his ill will stronger than the best of wishes.
Lily began to shake in her huddled position, her eyes darting from silhouette to silhouette fearful that her fears were a reality. Hysteria was fast rising and she wanted to laugh at her paranoia until she realized that the strange strangled cry that she could hear was herself giggling uncontrollably.
"Oh, Lily Evans. What has become of you?" she said surprised at how steady her voice sounded when she had finished her desperate laughter. "You've completely lost it. You're talking to yourself!" Again the laughter seized her, this time subsiding quicker. "What would your Mother and Father think of you if they saw you now? Their youngest daughter has finally become what their eldest daughter had predicted all along…barking mad!" This time she did not feel the need to laugh but a kind of horror spread across her features. "I'm not mad." She said with conviction but jumped when a childish voice spoke from the other side of the door she was leaning against.
"Hello?" All the hairs on the back of Lily's neck rose. "Is someone there?" The young girlish voice said this time louder yet fearfully.
In an instant Lily was on her feet. "Yes! Who is this?"
"Rebecca." Came the childish reply.
"Rebecca, I'm Lily. I'm locked in this room. Can you open the door?" Lily said with a lot of effort as to not scream and scare the little girl off.
"I can't."
Lily's heart dropped. "Why not Rebecca?"
"Because I'm tied up."
Lily's anger flared. How could anyone tie a little girl down? David Tether had a lot to answer to when she got out. If she ever got out. With much of her hope deflated Lily dropped back to the floor.
"Hello? Don't leave me. I'm scared." The girl said with such an open honesty that Lily began to feel angry with herself for being useless.
"Don't worry, sweetie. It'll be all right." She said with more confidence than she felt.
"Are you going to save me?"
"Of course!" Lily responded automatically. "I'll be with you in just a bit. I've just got to get through the door first." She was on her feet again this time with anger helping her as she tossed the sheets aside and turned furniture in search for something that would help her break open the door. But there was nothing to be found in the room. With a scream Lily picked up the chair closest to her and began to slam it against the door. It bounced of upon first contact and she swung again this time much harder. Again and again the chair went into the door until it splintered to bulky pieces in her hands.
Defeated and sweating she collapsed onto the floor her hand spotted with blood where splinters had pierced the flesh. She had merely succeeded in scratching the door.
"You won't be able to get in will you?" Rebecca said rhetorically in an adult tone that belied her age.
"Sure I will, Sweetie. I just need some time." Lily replied her mind desperately searching for a solution. "Rebecca, is there another door in your room?"
"Only one."
Right, Lily had two which mean that the other untouched door led to a way out. Upon closer inspection it looked a little less sturdy than the door she had just battered but it still seemed highly unlikely that she would be able to hit her way through.
"Are we going to be here forever?"
"No, we won't."
"Why are you so sure?" Rebecca said again in a very adult way with her childish voice.
Lily thought for a minute. "Because people will realize that we are missing and come looking for us."
"They might realize that we are missing but that doesn't mean that they will come look for us." She replied with a kind of sadness that scared Lily.
"Of course they will, Sweetie." She reassured.
"Why?"
"Because they'll miss us." The little girl went silent for a while. "Rebecca?"
"Will somebody miss you?"
It was Lily's turn to go quiet. Her immediate thoughts went to her parents…yes they would have missed her. "Yes." She replied her voice thick.
"Who?"
"My Mum and Dad."
"Mine are dead." Rebecca replied as a statement.
Lily's throat closed. "M-mine too."
"How can they miss you then?"
"Because I know they love me." Rebecca fell silent again and Lily could almost hear the little girl's mind work as she thought over it herself.
"Mine do too." She said finally. "Is there anyone alive who will miss you?"
Lily sighed sadly. "Yes I think there are."
"Who?"
"Well, there's Cerise, Yoanna…James…" James…Lily thought longingly, what she wouldn't give to see him again. He was probably in a panic right at the moment because she hadn't returned, or maybe he still doesn't know that she'd left? But surely he would have noticed her absence by now?
"Where are they?" Rebecca asked, her childish curiosity endless.
"Hogwarts."
"Are you a witch?"
The longest silence yet passed between them. "Yes…yes I am." Lily answered finally. She rose to her knees and shuffled to kneel in front of the other door. "Rebecca? I'm going to be quiet for while because I need to concentrate. I'm still here, don't worry I'm not going to leave without you."
"Okay."
Lily faced the door with determination. "I'm a witch." She breathed and concentrated on summoning magic that she had been able to use so effortlessly before.
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James felt like he'd been on his broom for ages before Tatty began to descend. Excited James also descended. Tatty flew silently down; her velocity seeming to increase and James followed until he realized that she had honed in on food rather than Lily.
Disappointed James landed and looked away while Tatty had her fresh dinner. Tatty didn't realize that her task was different tonight. James had scribbled Lily's name and had handed it to her but the note was blank. To her she was simply delivering a note to Lily and like normal, she could stop if she wanted and continue as she pleased as long as she got the note to the recipient in the end.
Enveloped in the darkness of the field they had landed in James looked up at the sky with a sigh. He could hope that Hogwarts was going to be all right and that Lily was somewhere safe waiting for him to turn up.
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Sirius woke up as usual and did not notice anything amiss until mid morning when he realized that he hadn't seen James once that day. Puzzled he'd asked Remus but the answers he received were unsatisfactory so he continued to pester him all day until he grew angry and dragged Peter and Remus into an empty classroom.
"It's late, I'm tired. Where is Prongs?" Sirius shouted. Peter flinched back and kept his head down, fearful of Sirius' explosive anger. Remus continued to flick through a thick tome of spells without so much as a glance at his fuming friend. "I know something's up. Don't lie to me!" he yelled and snatched the book away to get his attention.
Remus looked up from his seat, his warm brown eyes giving nothing away. "I haven't said anything, Padfoot, so I haven't lied." He stated and crossed his arms.
For a very brief second Remus thought that his best friend was going to punch him. He saw the split second where Sirius temporarily lost control of his rage and reached for something deeper that ran through all the Blacks in his family. "Don't you dare play games with me." His voice lower and somehow more dangerous than before.
A light knock interrupted them. Peter looked at Sirius and when he gave a nod he went over to the door quickly and opened it. Rosie stepped into the classroom.
"What do you want Amiral?" Sirius snapped, clearly not in the mood.
"I'm just passing by." Rosie said with a frosty smile.
"Are you spying on us?" Sirius said suspiciously.
"No, you were shouting loud enough for everyone to hear."
Remus sat up. "There are others outside?"
"No, there's only me. Your little secret meeting is safe with me." She replied.
"What do you want?" Sirius repeated, impatient for her departure.
"Is that the way you treat a person who has some information to offer?"
Brows went up. "And what information have you got that we would possibly want?"
"I know where James has gone." She smiled.
Remus felt his muscles tense but he kept his face straight. Sirius' eyes narrowed. "And how would you know that?"
Rosie leaned against a desk and flicked a bit of lint off her skirt. "Because I saw him last night." She leaned forward and stared straight at Remus. "I saw everything."
"What did she see, Remus?" Sirius crossed his arms.
"And I wasn't the only one who saw." She continued.
Remus' jaw tightened. "Who else?"
"Lestrange."
Remus took in a slow breath and leaned back into his chair. Of all people, Lestrange had to be a witness. Sirius had always suspected him to be a Follower and with the recent rumors of Hogwarts being the next target wouldn't a rogue student be a good place to start? Rosie straightened up and came closer to the threesome.
"He hasn't told any of the teachers yet." She held his gaze steadily.
"What-?" Sirius started but Remus cut him off.
"James left last night to go find Lily." Remus said rubbing his temples.
"WHAT? By himself? I'm going to kill that damn pony when he gets back!" Sirius exploded. "Oh shit! Lestrange saw! Bloody hell, he's gonna get Prongs into right trouble if he…" he trailed off.
"But he hasn't." Remus said.
"If not to Dumbledore, who would he report this snippet of information to?" Rosie said directing the conversation to the point she was trying to make.
"Shit." Sirius exhaled sharply. "So Voldemort knows that James is out there?" He dropped into a chair. "Fuck."
"So what if he knows?" Peter asked. "It's not as if he's going to write a letter to Dumbledore to tell him that he's got a runaway student so he can get James' excluded."
Sirius covered his eyes with a hand. "Moony, explain to him because I don't think my heart can take it."
But Rosie spoke instead. "Being naïve can be a blessing sometimes." She said almost to herself before turning to Peter. "Voldemort has been threatening Dumbledore throughout the past year by killing off the parents of his Muggle students, but up till now that's all he's been doing. Now, something has happened and he's suddenly powerful enough. He's planning on taking Hogwarts down and where else better to start than to kill off one of his best students?"
"Oh." Peter's eyes went wide and he fell quiet.
Sirius looked up, his expression pained. "What worries me is how you knew about that attack. In fact, how the hell do you know so much?"
"You knew about it." Rosie replied pointedly. "I also listen a lot."
At that moment Sirius couldn't give a toss about her and certainly wasn't in a good enough mood to humor her over evasive answer. He was spurred into action. "Right, Thank you Amiral but we must get going now." He picked up his bag and reached the door but was surprised when only Peter followed. "Ur, Moony, this is you cue to move your ass." He said mildly surprised.
"We can't leave." Remus said quietly.
"What? Of course we can! We need to…ahem…" he flicked a glance at Rosie and apparently gave up on being discreet. "We need to go get Prongs back, and Evans too."
"We can't leave." Remus repeated.
"Mate, have you gone deaf? We need to get Prongs back." Sirius said incredulous that his friend wasn't cooperating. "Didn't you hear the girl? Dark evil wizard might kill our friend off. We need to get going!"
"We need to be here." Remus stood up. "Voldemort is ready to strike at any time. Dumbledore needs us to be here to protect the students."
A mixture of emotions passed across Sirius' face. At first he felt outraged that Remus wasn't leaping to James' aid, then he understood why Remus refused to go, then he tried to argue the reason. But Sirius wasn't stupid, he knew what Dumbledore's weaknesses were, which parts that could easily be exploited by someone with a bad agenda. In the end he settled with an angry outcry. When he was done with his strangled yell he regained his composure.
"This just takes the deepest piss." He said. "We can't help Prongs."
Remus smiled, knowing that his friend would not and could not leave Hogwarts but not being able to help James was killing him. He'd been through exactly the same emotions and thoughts just seconds before. "We have to stay, but that doesn't mean that we can't help Prongs." He tapped the thick book he had been reading. From the moment James had left Remus had felt uneasy and so he'd been reading up methods that they could use as a form of…remote assistance.
Sirius stared Remus and then at the book. "Good man, you got a plan. I like that."
"Problem."
"Not good."
"Yeah, I need three Great Pearls for it to work."
"Shit, urm…" Sirius' mind whirred on quickly. "But we can go ask the mermaids at the lake. I think they might still have a soft spot for me."
"How soon can you get them?"
"I'll go now."
Rosie cleared her throat. "I don't know what you have in mind, but what if I said I can get you the three Great Pearls right now?"
Sirius and Remus exchanged a look. "If you said that, I would kiss you."
Rosie backed away warily but she did leave and return five minutes later with the pearls. "I want you to remember that you owe me one on this." She said and left quickly.
"That worries me." Remus commented.
Sirius shrugged. "I owe her a kiss, nothing more, nothing less." Remus laughed at his friend. "How soon can this be done?"
"Give me an hour, but I do need you to go get someone."
Sirius's eyebrow rose. "Who?"
"Someone you absolutely love."
"Wicked."
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A/N: I lied, this isn't my fav chapter, this one I added on second thought. The next one is good! Does anybody remember the pearls??? And where did Rosie get them from? What about Rebecca? Why is she also captured??? Reviews would be appreciated and keep guessing!
