REBECCA

Straightening up he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. A handful of minutes had passed since he had entered the room, yet he felt that he'd been fighting for hours.

"Jamie."

He turned to Lily, a smile ready. She stared at him; her head tilted to one side her eyes fixed on him with disbelief. Captivated he stared back; she was overjoyed to see him, he knew it because he could feel it as he felt his own joy at seeing her unharmed. Her large eyes shone oddly in the yellow light and James thought his heart would melt from the warmth that spread to the very tips of his fingers.

She moved and he opened his arms automatically to receive her. She took a step, and began to run-

James' grin grew broader…and turned into a grimace when she ran right past his arms to the door.

"Rebecca!" She cried. Lily went into the next room without a second thought. She and James could share their reunion later; first she needed to save Rebecca.

"Damn." James cursed. "It's because of this cloak." He reassured himself aloud. "She didn't see me hold out my arms to her." He muttered looking sadly at his invisible hands hidden under the cloak.

Lily had already run through the door and hadn't heard him at all. "Lovely to see you James. Hope you didn't hurt yourself James. Thank you for saving me James." He continued with humor and headed for the door.

A large room instead of a bathroom that he had been expecting greeted him. An eyebrow went up because the room was apparently empty except for a large ornate chair facing away from him in front of a fire that provided the only light in the whole room. Surprise gave way to alarm.

"Lily!" With his eyes fixed on the chair his hand went to his back pocket to grasp his wand.

"Not so quick." A young girl's voice said from the chair. Very slowly the chair lifted and rotated until its occupant was revealed. Surprise number two: James had been expecting a young girl in the chair but instead there was an unmistakably grown man that lounged in the green leather. One of his arms was wound around Lily's neck whilst the other held a wand to his throat.

"Hello James." His lips moved but the girlish voice came from his mouth.

James screwed his face in distaste. "Oh man! That's sick!" Lily would have nodded in agreement were she not held hostage by her neck. She was upset and hurt that Rebecca had been a fake, more than that she was furious that she had been cheated by David Tether.

"You…" she trailed off through gritted teeth. Hidden under her sleeve was the can of ant spray, her finger twitched on the head as she inched her hand upwards.

David pulled the wand away from his throat and laughed. "So innocent." He said in his own voice, his tone almost admiring. "Dumbledore always makes sure that his students remain innocent. Even till the day they graduate none of them have a clue of the wiles in the real world of magic. None!"

"Let her go, Tether." James growled. He had recognized David straight away.

"Not before you give me your wand, Potter. Actually, you can keep it for a while yet since I know that you wouldn't want to jeopardize the well-being of a fellow class mate would you? After all, you are one of Dumbledore's students."

"You were one of Dumbledore's students." James pointed out.

Instead of answering David said, "I heard that you might be arriving."

The corner of James' mouth twitched but he didn't say anything. Someone knew that he was no longer at Hogwarts, maybe he had been seen en route, but more likely than not the information had escaped from the school itself. He knew Remus would never betray him so it had to be someone else…with a mental shake he cleared his suspicions and put the intrigue of Hogwarts to rest so that he could focus fully on rescuing Lily.

"Hmm, your Father is a thorn in our side. An unfortunate but deliberate accident involving his only son might quiet him a bit."

James kept his poker face but Lily stiffened at the threat. She couldn't and wouldn't forgive herself if anything ever happened to James.

"You didn't like that did you?" David said smiling rhetorically at her. Lily gave him a dirty look and turned her face away from him as best as she could. "James Potter…Ah yes, I remember you. The popular first year, you've grown." His eyes flickered down to Lily, "and so have you Lily Evans."

James swallowed an uncomfortable lump and anger turned his vision red. "Let her go."

"Coming to think of it, I remember you two quite well." David said ignoring James completely. "Didn't you used to fancy her?" James didn't answer but his eyes remained pinned on David. It was a well-known fact that from day one James Potter fancied Lily Evans anyway. "Didn't you?" David repeated, this time he gave Lily's neck a shake that made her choke.

"Yes." James gritted out.

David shrugged conversationally. "She is pretty I grant you that."

James was practically steaming. If he'd ever gotten protective and territorial it was now. Never in his whole life had he felt so angry and scared at the same time. If Tether so much as laid a finger on her he swore that he would make every bone in his body disappear.

Tether ran his eyes down Lily although it appeared rather inspective than lascivious; more like he was looking at a specimen.

"Hm…"

David's eyes had taken a glazed look and seemed oddly matte looking, at least that's how it seemed from James' point of view.

"Oi!" James shouted out after a few more moments of vacant glazed staring. "Oi! Little girl psycho!"

Whether he'd been provoked or not David suddenly spoke as if he'd never stopped. "Now, tell me, what is it that Dumbledore thinks that he can achieve?"

James frowned. He hadn't a clue what David was talking about but maybe he could use this opportunity to get him to talk, maybe he'd let something slip.

"Still the stubborn one I see." David gave Lily a vicious shake that prompted the desired response.

"Wait!"

"Talk." Tether demanded.

"He…" If there was ever a time to bullshit, this was it. James summoned his natural flair for fabrication; if Tether wanted information then he would give him information, whether it was correct or not was another matter. "It's not what he thinks he can achieve, it's what he will achieve." He informed Tether smoothly. David shifted in his chair with interest whilst Lily gave him a wide eyed look that clearly said 'what?'. "

He's stronger than Voldemort you know." James said, fishing for more to say even as the words left his mouth.

David hissed in a way that was definitely more reptilian than man-made. "He is the DARK LORD! You will refer to him as LORD!"

Unfazed by David's snake-ish snap James continued to spout out whatever came to mind. "You know it's true, everyone knows that the only wizard in the world that Voldemort fears is Dumbledore. He's hunting for him right this very minute." James was lying about the latter part of course but then again, for all he knew it could be true.

"Don't be so naïve. Dumbledore would not deliberately seek the Dark Lord." Tether said although it was unclear whether he was speaking to James or merely clarifying things with himself. "Even if he found him it would not do any good, the Dark Lord's influence is too broad and wide. No, Dumbledore is up to something else. He's gathering people, don't think we don't know who he visits because we have eyes everywhere. Yes, we know he's trying to gather people, pathetic people like your Father. I would not be surprised if they tied themselves to trees with signs saying 'save the Muggles and Mudbloods.' It's disgusting!" David chuckled at his own joke.

"Isn't your Father a Muggle?" James thought aloud. David's smug expression faltered and for an instant he looked confused. "The Dark Lord owns me." He almost whimpered before the maniacal smile reappeared and he gave Lily's neck a squeeze. "Now James, the truth please. We know he's trying to gather people but what else is he planning?"

"Fine," James said taken aback but still thinking quickly. "He is trying to gather people but nobody is listening to him."

"Go on."

"So he's gathering Muggles."

"WHAT?" Tether began to laugh, a peel of maniacal yet amused laughter echoed strangely in the room.

James waited patiently for it to subside. "You may laugh now but you won't be when the time comes. Muggles outnumber wizards and witches."

To the point of tears Tether gasped for air. "Don't you know you're fighting for a lost cause when you see it? How does Dumbledore expect to win with nothing but Muggles to back him up against the most powerful wizards?"

"By sheer number." James said simply, his seriousness finally registering with Tether.

"He cannot expect to win! They'll lock him up in a loony bin! Magic is nothing but a fantasy to Muggles!"

"They'll listen. Dumbledore has a way. He always has a way." James replied with such confidence that David began to think twice. As highly unlikely and improbable it was…it was Dumbledore after all, the old man was as mad as a bat and certainly wasn't playing with a full deck; he walked around in purple earmuffs for goodness' sake! The Dark Lord had to know about this!

Don't be foolish! A foreign, cold, destructive voice seared across his mind. David visibly hunched under the power. The boy is nothing but lies! Finish them both! They are of no use!

"Your- your-your-your wand please. Kick it over to me." Tether rasped over the immense internal pressure. A pause from James elicited another hard shake on Lily's neck.

James released the hand that he had still rested on his wand and plucked out the second wand that he'd retrieved from the floor after the fight. He dropped it and kicked over the wand that had belonged to the other wizard. The wand rolled across the floor and David put his foot on it when it reached him.

"Good-"

Lily, temporarily a forgotten threat reminded him by thrusting her hand upwards and giving him a healthy dose of ant spray. At the same time James lunged at David and his wand. A loud bang flew out of the wand followed by a siren that kept going until James managed to get hold of it and toss it into the fire. The wand was silenced immediately as the flames hungrily ate it up.

Next James tore at David's fingers while avoiding his kicking legs as Lily continually dosed his face with ant killer. David screamed and yelled his free fist gave up on protecting his face from the spray and punched out blindly. With a determined pull Lily was in his arms and they fell back.

"Come on!" He grabbed her arm and they ran out aware that the house was no longer quiet but alive with running footsteps. They reached the top of the stairs but people were already running up them.

Left with no choice James turned and dragged Lily around and up the another flight of stairs. Up into a musty attic and then through the roof door they went.

"There's no where to run." Lily breathed when they emerged into the cold night air. For a moment the night was quiet and the angry shouting of pursuit from below could not be heard. James slammed the roof door and threw the latch on although he knew it would not hold for long. Together they edged away on the dangerously slanted roof.

"There's has to be a way." James looked frantically for a way for them to climb down the side of the house but the lip of the roof jutted out too far for them to even reach the wall. "We'll apparate!"

Lily shook her head sadly. "I tried earlier, to escape, but there's some kind of anti-apparating magic put up."

"Maybe I can get around the edge and then I'll help you climb down." James said although he could see how impossibly stretchy and flexible he would have to be if he were to do that.

"Jamie." She edged to him, taking pigeon steps to avoid sliding off the roof. He held out his hand and she held on. "I'm…sorry." She managed to say before her breath caught in her throat. "I didn't mean for-"

"It's okay, Lily! Really!"

"I-"

James gave her a little shake on the shoulders. "This is the way things have turned out and it is not your fault." He stated. Lily looked up into his honest face and knew that she was guilty and nothing but guilty, but more than that a feeling in her chest swelled. It left her overwhelmed and speechless. There was a name for this emotion but she did not care for it anymore. It was too consuming and it left all her other senses ringing.

Her hands reached up and slipped up his neck, her fingers almost touching each other at the base of his skull and she tiptoed and pulled his head down to hers at the same time. With a shock their lips touched for the first time.

A/N: Ultimate cheeeeeeese moment, but it had to be done. My editors/proof readers are threatening to stop reading if I didn't put in any mooshy bits.