A/N: Dear all! Deepest apologies for not updating for sooo long! Uni work got unbearable and then exams came up! I promise to be more constant from now on! Some of the earlier chapters are a bit scruffy so I'll be trying to rework them too!

Summary: Lily has been captured by David Tether a Death eater (an ex Hogwarts student) who now works for the Ministry. James has snuck out of Hogwarts to find Lily and follows Tatty his owl. Meanwhile, Remus, Sirius and Peter have cast a spell that's gone a bit pear-shaped.

Sirius' little bro has also been introduced.

James has reached the house where Lily has been held captive and has found what he assumes is Lily but she's actually downstairs in the kitchen searching for weapon. So who has James found?

---

By opening the door and switching on the light, James had already announced his presence whether he was invisible or not. Cautiously approaching the bundle, he said, "Hello?" James heard a little snort escape from Tatty (who was apparently following his progress at the window) but he was too wound up to offer a remark not to mention that it had sounded pretty stupid to himself as well.

Under the sheets the figure froze. James picked up a piece of a chair leg and nudged what might have been the foot...or head if the person was somehow sitting upside down. The hidden form began to twitch again, as though ants were attacking it. The door that might lead to the closet was closed, as was the one that might lead to the bathroom. One glance back at the hallway showed that there was nothing there.

James' hand twitched and he half leant over to yank off the sheet but his senses were going haywire and screaming. It was not right, it could not be right. Still, he was wasting precious seconds while he pondered over what to do. It felt like a trap, like someone was lying in wait under the sheet. It was too easy for him to just walk in, save whoever was there and walk out again. Too easy.

Distressed with the decision James swiftly leant down and whipped the sheet aside before he could give himself another thought. The sheet fell away to reveal a woman, Her pale blue eyes stared at him with fear and she continued to shake from where she sat huddled against the wall. She looked like she was paralyzed with fear. Deeply regretting his delay James brushed back his hood to reveal his head and held out a hand.

"Come on, I'll get you out of here."

She shook her head and refused to move. The hairs on James' neck rose and the chair leg in his hand half rose. He was acutely aware of the open space around him and the open door as well as the two closed ones.

"T-They're H-here!" she said through chattering teeth. Her eyes flickered to the door that James assumed led to the bathroom. James swung smoothly to face the door. He took a few steps but his senses went haywire again as the floorboards from behind creaked. He spun to see the woman half risen, her fear no longer present. In one hand she held a wand, in the other she held a knife.

---

Lily was one her way back to the room. She hadn't found anything to open the door but she had already been out for quite a while and she knew she had to reassure Rebecca again. However, when she reached the room she froze at the door and stared at the scene in front of her. James' head and only his head floated above invisible shoulders near the far end of the room she had been held captive in. He had his back turned away from a woman who was getting up and pulling a knife and a wand from her sleeves.

Lily's mouth opened to scream, but James reacted quicker than she could scream and a leg shot out and the knife clattered to the floor.

The blonde haired woman faltered for a split second and brought up her wand hand. "CRUCIO!" She screeched, her wand pointing at James! Lily lunged forward from the door covering the short distance and leapt directly into the path of the spell.

There were two settings on the can of spray: Stream and Spray. Earlier on, she had flicked it on the Stream that according to the label had a ten-foot reach. She was a lot less than ten foot away from the crazed woman.

Whether it was by sheer luck or her true aim, the powerful spray erupted from the nozzle and straight into the woman's mouth and nose. She reeled away, dropping her wand at the same time as the Crucio spell exploded from the end. The spell went over Lily and narrowly missed James before hitting the wall behind.

Although super instant ant death had a less notable effect on a full-grown woman, it suitably rendered her out of action as she knelt on the floor gagging and spluttering. A moment of pride and triumph warmed Lily at having taught someone a good lesson for trying to cast an Unforgivable spell on her boyfriend.

The triumph didn't last long. "DUCK LILY!" Lily threw herself into onto the floor at James' command. A spell went over her and James ran past her and collided heavily into a wizard that must have emerged from the locked door. Rebecca's locked door.

Rebecca!

Lily scrambled to her knees unsure of how she could help James or reach the door beyond the grappling pair. Movement on the floor caught her attention and she saw the woman sliding on the floor reaching for her wand. Lily shot up and her heel landed with a satisfying crunch on her hand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She echoed unintentionally and held up the can. The woman blanched and cradled her hand protectively to her chest and burst into fits of coughing again. She stared at Lily with such hate that Lily thought it might burn her. "That's what you get for messing with my boyfriend." Lily said coolly and snapped the wand in half before throwing it back on the floor.

James had clamped a hand on the wizard's wand wrist and had twisted it back. With all his strength he fought to bend it back further until the wand was dropped. His own joints protested against the sheer effort it took to twist a limb back against someone's will. His other hand was similarly engaged in a silent fight of strength.

"Drop-it!" James told the stubborn wizard. His command was responded to with a hiss. Seconds passed and the two remained locked in a vicious embrace, each fighting against the strength of the other.

Lily gave the can a decisive shake, the mixer inside the canister clicking audibly and she approached the two. The sound alerted the Death Eater and James could see the fear rise in the eyes of his impending doom of ant spray. With inhuman effort the man yanked his arm back but James wasn't about to let him go. With a dull click the man's shoulder joint cracked, telling everyone that one more pull would probably dislocate it. James winced and Lily paused, the man let out a scream and swung James around so that he became a barrier to Lily.

James seized the distraction and pulled the man closer, at the same time he drove his knee upwards into his solar plexus. With a faint oof the bruising grip loosened and he crumpled to the floor pulling James with him. As suddenly as it had started the scuffle had finished.

Detangling himself quickly James grabbed a length of abandoned curtain rope to tie up the wizard. The woman allowed herself to be tied up as cooperatively as the unconscious man, mostly because James had a wand pointed at her, he didn't really have any intention of using it but he wasn't going to tell her that.