A/N: Who hasn't updated in over 4 months? Yeah, me. I'm so sorry, UNIVERSITY IS CRAZY HARD. I have so little time to think, let alone write. Anyway, I'm on a short break, so I'm doing my best to give you SOME updates before I am back into the all-consuming black-hole that is university.To ALL of you who have reviewed, followed, and favourited this story, it's you guys that have kept me going. Mad love for you guys! xx
If you're reading this right now, thanks for coming back, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: Do I really need to tell you that I don't own the HP-verse?
p.s: you might be wondering who the fuck 'the-sassy-mango' is, but i've just changed my handle away from 'cinnamonandcoffee' (:
When James comes down that morning, she's at the kitchen counter again, in a position almost identical to the one he returned home to yesterday. The fight seemed to have left her, and she was casually leaning on her forearms, her hands gripping a steaming cup of tea as she perused the newspaper. James hadn't slept much last night, wracking his brains on how they had fucked their situation up so much, wondering – and desperately hoping- there was something left that he could salvage. He hesitated to approach her, lest they end up in a shouting match before nine in the morning. He didn't want to fight with her anymore. He didn't want to hurt her anymore than he had already done.
He looked at her from where he stood, at how her dark hair fell over one side of her face, how she pursed and unpursed her lips as she read, the way she tapped her fingers against her cup to some unheard rhythm. No, he definitely didn't want to fight. He just wanted to hold her and touch her and kiss her and just… he just wanted her. James started to leave the room, unwilling to disturb her when she was looking so relaxed but just as he turned to leave, something caught his eye and he stopped.
A second cup of tea on the counter, steaming opposite Lily.
He smiled and went over to the counter, wrapping his hands around the cup, reveling in the warmth against his cold fingers.
Lily glanced up and smiled, straightening, and watched as he took a sip of the tea. "Uhh James?"
"Mmm?" he looked her questioningly, swallowing.
"That tea wasn't meant for you."
James was momentarily shocked but his features quickly settled into his trademark grin. "Oh YEAH. Thought I would fall for that one did you?" he asked, pointedly taking another sip.
Lily grimaced at him, her features scrunching up. "Dumbledore actually just went to the bathroom."
James spluttered, sending tea all over the counter. He set the cup down and mopped up the mess as best he could with his bare hands before he glanced back at up and Lily to see her whole body shaking with mirth.
He grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and threw it at her. "Git." He smiled though as Lily grabbed the edge of the counter to steady herself as her laugher wracked through her. "Did you spend the whole morning thinking that up?"
Lily wiped her eyes and threw the apple back at him, meeting his eyes. "No. Just the while that you spent debating whether you should come over or not."
James moved to sit back down, his mood sobering slightly. "You saw me?"
Lily sipped her own tea. "James. I'm a spy. It's part of the job."
He sipped HIS tea. "Hmm good point." He face turned somber. "I wasn't sure if you'd..." he trailed off. "Lily. Last night was…"
She dropped her gaze. " James, stop. Please. Hear me out." She wouldn't meet his gaze. "I've given it a lot of thought. I don't know what we were doing or almost doing and I don't want to think about what we could have done but... I think we should just keep things professional."
James' heart plummeted, the disappointment seared through every nerve. He reached out and caught Lily's hand, causing her to meet his gaze. "Keep things professional" He echoed. "Lily. It's not…I know...Is this what you want?"
The raw emotion on his face was too much for Lily, and the infinite possibilities that had her lying awake at nights flashed through her mind. She set her jaw and shoved the thoughts away. "No, James. It's not what I want. But it's what I need. Please."
She implored, her eyes glistening, and defeat was James. He pulled his hand away from hers, and stared away, biting his lip. "So, now what? We just go back to despising each other? That what you want?"
"No. Not for a second. Not at all. We're colleagues. And hopefully friends?" she smiled at hopefully at him, reaching her hand out.
James made a face and groaned, grabbing her hand. "Well, at least we're on a first name basis again."
Lily grinned at him, and he grinned back.
"Agent Potter." Dumbledore nodded at James then at Lily.
"Agent Evans. Thank you for coming today. It's just as well, I couldn't visit your home without raising quite a few suspicions." He chuckled lightly then fixed them with a stern gaze over his half-moon spectacles. "We have a number of things to discuss today, each with escalating importance. Let's start with the attacks, shall we? Riddle seems to be attacking civilians much more frequently than before. We're not sure why, and Agent Lupin is looking into it. Thankfully yesterday, you, and the other agents managed to discover that Nicolas Flamel was at risk. And I have reason to believe that this discovery was made not a moment sooner. Agent Black is on his way to Flamel's home at this very moment, to protect him until I can dispatch a division of the Order to relieve him."
Dumbledore paused, and leaned forward, clasping his hands together. "I realize for the both of you, this is potentially distracting. Riddle is a vile being, murdering people, destroying innocent lives all for a mere cash-back. Greed will always try to get the better of us. And that is what I implore you to withstand. Agent Evans, Lily, I understand you have discovered painful information regarding the deaths of your parents."
Lily trembled, nodding curtly. James hand caught hers reassuringly, but released it after a brief moment.
"I am deeply saddened to hear of it. And this means, that you wish, now, more than ever, to see Riddle fall. I am right, aren't I?"
Lily swallowed. "More than ever. He murdered my parents."
"And yet, I must ask this of you. Do not let this anger sidetrack you. Use it as fuel, to power you, to complete your mission. But do not lose sight of precisely what your mission entails." Dumbledore addressed James too as he continued. "We were hired to recover Nicolas Flamel's stone. That is our primary objective. Keep that in mind at all times. I can assure you, Riddle's downfall has become a pertinent issue that I will be concentrating substantial energies on. Recovering the stone is pertinent to bringing this about. Do you understand Agents?"
James and Lily nodded. "Yes, sir."
Dumbledore relaxed in his chair. "I understand you narrowed down the location of the stone to two possible locations?"
"Yes. Malfoy Manor, or Riddle Inc. Headquarters"
"I see. Well done then. And you plan to search Malfoy Manor during their anniversary dinner?"
James nodded. "Yes. We believe they are already suspicious of us, but this is a chance we have to take."
Dumbledore nodded grimly. "I quite agree. Do you have a plan of action yet? Care to run it by me?"
Lily cleared her throat and sat forward.
"Two teams. James and I, and Sirius and Marlene."
"It is safest. If they are already suspicious of Lily and me, they'll be keeping an eye on us. What they won't expect is another team."
Dumbledore nodded, encouraging them to continue.
"James and I would be with other guests. Mingling, hoping to hear something about Riddle or the stone. Keeping an eye out for anyone who might discover Marlene and Sirius. We'll have their backs until they are out of the building."
Dumbledore held up a hand. "Ahh about that. How are Agents McKinnon and Black going gain entry?"
James grinned. "The classic. Through the bathroom window."
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind his spectacles. "I'm sure Agent Black had a few choice words to share proceeding that decision."
"Quite a few, yes". Lily agreed, and both she and James laughed.
"Your plan sounds stable. Refine it further with Agent Lupin and Pettigrew. And I wish you the best of luck."
James and Lily thanked him and made to the door.
"One more thing, Agents." They swivelled around to face him. "It would be devastating to kill something so beautiful and brimming with potential even before it has had the chance to bloom."
As Sirius marched towards Nicolas Flamel's house, a sudden suspicion wrapped around his insides. His gut hadn't let him down before, so he squared his shoulder gruffly and quickened his pace.
Knocking on the Flamel's front door until he was greeted by the frail looking man and his equally frail looking wife, Sirius jerked his head up. "Dumbledore sent me. Go upstairs and lock yourselves in the bed room until I come find you."
The man nodded frantically and disappeared into the house, shutting the door with a click.
Sirius rounded the house and to no surprise, three hefty men stood waiting in the backyard.
Time stopped for a moment as they sized each other up. He loved a good challenge. Smirking arrogantly, Sirius cracked his knuckles as the men started advancing.
As the middle man took a swing, Sirius dropped, punching the assailant in the crotch. The man doubled over, falling over Sirius and Sirius rushed at another man, tackling him to the ground. The man grunted at the fall but recovered quickly, and delivered several blows to Sirius' face, causing it to throb uncomfortably. The other man heaved Sirius off his accomplice and flung him across the backyard, and the rickety shed crumbled against Sirius' back.
"Fuck." Sirius swore as he got to his feet, pressing his fingers to the deep gash on his cheek where blood was streaming out, while picking up a piece of wood using his free hand. The assaulter that threw him across the yard began running towards him, as the other two stood up, shaking themselves off. Sirius crouched and threw the man off him, listening to the satisfying thump of him landing in the rubble of the shed. One down. His vision blurred and Sirius blinked, growing more and more disoriented by the second. Not missing another beat, he charged at the other man, colliding the piece of wood with his head. He stumbled, and Sirius shoved a fist into his jaw and furiously thrust a foot into his abdomen, sending him hurtling backwards. Two. The third captured Sirius in a headlock, and Sirius struggled for air against the man's meaty forearm. Kicking off the ground, Sirius backed them against the wall of the house and threw his head backwards head-butting his assailant. He turned , twisting the man's arm and threw his elbow into his face, knocking him out as well. Three.
Sirius spun around, surveying the damage and checking to see that no one was left advancing. His body burned with fight and his head spun dangerously. Swaying on his feet, Sirius stumbled towards the house, collapsing before he could enter.
He felt something cool being pressed against his jaw as he came to. A blurry image swam before him and he blinked, dazed.
"Sirius?" an anxious female voice lilted through the fog of his mind, and a hand pressed against his sore chest.
The image focused, and Marlene's face came into view, her blond bob swaying around her features etched with worry. Sirius reached a hand up to cup her face. "Marls."
"Oh thank heavens." She surged towards him, catching his lips with her own.
"ERHHH" Sirius' protest of pain was muffled by the kiss, but Marlene broke away nonetheless.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." She said, touching the splits on his lip but Sirius just smiled.
"Gently, Marls" he said, pulling her in again.
When they finished, Marlene go to her feet. "I'm going to go get James. He's been worrying himself sick."
By the time James and Lily had scaled the steps, Sirius was attempting to get out of bed.
"Mate, mate." James rushed to him. "Not so fast. You were beaten up pretty bad. What happened?"
Sirius waved away James' hand. "I'm fine" he said, but he swayed on the spot.
Lily grimaced at Sirius. "Sirius. We're literally forcing you to sleep, why are you saying no?"
Sirius narrowed his eyes at her and allowed James to push him back onto the bed. "I like the way you think, Lily Evans."
James shook his head. "What happened, Padfoot?"
Sirius pulled the blanket over himself. "They were waiting for me."
"THEY?" Lily echoed, from the foot of the bed. She and James shared a look.
"Ow, fuck." Sirius winced as he pushed himself up. "Yeah. Three of them."
"THREE?" Marlene echoed from the doorway.
"Yeah. They were clearly there for a while. They could've taken – killed – Flamel and his wife at any moment but they didn't. They knew I was coming. Flamel and his wife weren't their target. I was."
Heavy silence fell in the air following Sirius' proclamation.
James shared a look with Sirius.
"We have a mole."
A/N: DUNDUNDUN 10 points if you can guess who the mole is (like its not obvious pshh). Follow me on tumblr for updates at the-sassy-mango.
How was the chapter? I'm not sure whether I'm very pleased with it, but it was finished and I was hella excited to give you all another chapter. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought! It's really what inspires my updates. x
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