A/N: I am back! Read the prologue if you haven't because you won't get what's going on if you don't. This is the first chapter. Many more to come.

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Chapter 1: The Cat and the Rat

Lily looked up in astonishment. She had never let herself believe that Severus would help her save James but Dumbledore had not been mistaken; how had Dumbledore known that Severus would be willing to help her? She was desperate but she was no fool, she needed some answers first.

'And why would you help me?'

'Because I don't like to be indebted to anyone and because I don't make promises lightly, Lily.'

The way he said her name shocked Lily, like it had taken him his last breath to force her name out. She had not looked in his eyes since she had come, for all her strength and bravado, there were things that were beyond her ability, but she suddenly looked up at him and he turned his back on her as he removed the kettle and prepared two cups of tea. Just then, there was a sharp knock. 5:00 pm. How could he have forgotten!

'You have to go now', Severus whispered to her,' you can disapparate from here. I will soon let you know the time and place. Quick!'

As Lily disapparated, Severus took a moment to gather his bearings, it was one thing to dream of a face every day and it was another to see it in flesh, and then with a flick of his wand cleaned their cups and opened the door.

It was the Dark Lord himself.

~x~

One Week Ago

It was supposed to be a fine July evening, but the air was sticky and hot. Minerva opened the windows to let the fresh air in as she prepared for the meeting. Hugging her robe tightly around her, she double-checked the doors and windows and made her way to bed to do some reading, there was still time for the meeting with Order members.

Minerva had decided to spend this summer break at Godric's Hollow. She normally spent it at the cottage she owned in Hogsmeade or Hogwarts itself but the Order needed her and James to do a job and as a result, she had shifted to this little cottage on Church Lane, just blocks away from where James and Lily lived. The cottage was dull red and had a little garden by the entrance where poppies and gardenias grew. It was sparsely furnished and the owners, a couple in their seventies, had relocated to a new place after their twenty-one year old daughter had been murdered in this very house, in front of their own eyes, by the Dark Lord when she had threatened to reveal the mole in the Ministry. Her photo still hung from the living room. Minerva avoided looking at the photo, like fate stuck like an epidemic did.

Minerva would have heard the soft sound of footsteps on gravel if she had not been deep in thought, the job she and James had been handed wasn't going well, or heard the low muttering of spells being chanted. But still looking at her problem from various perspectives, she lay on the bed, and felt a stinging pain go through her arms and legs. Trained to combat sticky situations, she quickly reached for her wand but found her arm immobilized. Trying to get up was not possible as her legs had been immobilized too. Be patient, she repeated over and over as she tried to assess her situation. There was little she could do without her wand and for a profound moment, she felt powerless. She wondered why the decoy sensors by the door hadn't gone off or why the attacker had not said anything. What were they doing in her house? Were they looking for something? Heck, she didn't even know who her attacker was.

Just as she started breathing calmly again, somebody grabbed her hair and dragged her down the bed and through the bedroom to the living room. The heat of friction burned through the clothes and she felt like her scalp would be torn to shreds. The powerlessness and the pain made her go dizzy and angered her, it was a heady mix but she wouldn't allow herself to scream, she wouldn't give the satisfaction to the bastard. She still couldn't see their face and it didn't even matter. She just wanted this to be over.

She was thrown to a wall by the sofa and she finally could see her attacker. Her eyes, like her hair, were dark and wild and seemed like a grave, which had seen gruesome things and buried them in. Her structure was strong and powerful and her gait purposeful. Her face was painted in scars, but far from covering them, she highlighted them with a sneer that deepened the scars and made her look more menacing.

Bellatrix Lestrange.

Minerva wasn't even surprised.

'Well, if it isn't my star pupil who has come to visit me. Bella, such a pleasure to see you,' Minerva bit.

'Shut your damned hole, woman. Rodolphus, have you found it yet?'

Rodolphus was plain and nothing else, 'Not a single thing, babe.'

'Hello, Rodolphus. I would offer you tea but your wife is in a mood today', Minerva knew that other members of Order would be there any moment; she just needed to buy some time.

Bellatrix's temper sky-rocketed at being called a 'babe' and by the nonchalance of Minerva; throwing a death glare at Rodolphus, she sat in front of Minerva on her knees and grabbing fistful of her hair, pulled up her face. The pain was evident in Minerva's eyes, even if her face didn't show it. The adrenaline rush excited Bellatrix and she broke into a maniacal laugh. The laugh would have given goose bumps to both the parties if they hadn't been accustomed to it.

'Want my hair, Bella?' Minerva breathed.

'You better not be scared Minerva. I don't like the stench of fear and I spit on people who reek of it.'

'Scared of who, Bella; this thick person who can't kill a dead rabbit or the junkie that can't even fight me fairly?'

As Rudolphus approached Minerva with his wand, Bellatrix spoke, 'Rudolphus, don't be thick. She just wants this. And it's the golden rule; never spoil your chickens. So chickenbaby, tell me where the Order Headquarters is and I will try to spare your shit life.'

'The Order? I will be damned if I have ever heard of such a thing, Bella'

'And damned your sorry ass will be when I will kill you,' she almost whispered the next part, 'or kill Dougal perhaps.'

Minerva couldn't help the shudder that escaped from her mouth. Dougal McGregor, the man she had so desperately loved and still continued to love. She had loved him enough to let her go, and he continued to love her even after she had broken his heart. Maybe he hoped she would come back, maybe that was what kept love going, hope.

Minerva's stomach tied in a knot and heart started racing as the thought came to her that nobody was coming, they should have been by her place fifteen minutes ago, so she decided to remain silent. Giving a cool stare to Bellatrix, she pursed her lips in a thin line.

'The thing is, Minerva, I am just terribly curious. And Dougal is just terribly - oh, how did you put it? Thick.' Rodolphus chuckled and Bellatrix grinned at him, 'I am feeling mighty generous today and I always grant my weak preys a choice anyway so chickenshit, will it be easy or the hard way?'

Ten seconds passed and as Minerva gave no response, Bellatrix got up, mumbled 'don't you say then that Momma didn't ask,' and turning, shrieked.

'Crucio!'

~x~

Lily lay on her bed and felt like a harbour must feel without ships, so desperately lonely, no, not even lonely, but so desperately wanting. The warmth that had once comforted her in the coldest days had now been siphoned out of her life and left a deep aching void in its place. She had not slept in fifty-four hours and the exhaustion lay damp on her. Taking a parchment and scribbling a quick note to Dumbledore about the evening's happenings, she stood up and tied the note to the owl.

Having spent eleven years of her childhood there, she wondered as she sat by a window, why she had felt no sense of familiarity. Maybe she wasn't the same Lily anymore, Lily who thought that being magical had to be the best thing in the world and that it must be so sunny in Magicville. Her home was just a stone's throw from the house she had stood in front of but she couldn't possibly go, she had no reason to visit that place anyways. She wondered what her mother and sister would say if they saw her like this, her mother would probably ask her to leave the magical world behind as if it was a phase in her life that they could box up and leave in the attic and her sister, Petunia, would finally not be jealous of her, because at least her husband, Vernon, wasn't a stubborn mess who always refused to listen or grinned like an idiot.

But that was not the thing troubling her about the evening. The thing that troubled her greatly was Severus' consent. Why would he help save a boy who he had left no opportunity to get expelled out of Hogwarts? Lily was aware of the… well, affection Severus might have towards her and that further complicated his decision which he hadn't even taken time to think over. She suspected something was amiss, and Dumbledore was aware of it with Snape, but she failed to come up with an explanation. She had an uncomfortable feeling, not much unlike to what a wandless Minerva had had a week ago, feeling of absolute powerlessness. Losing control over one's life, oh, what a terror it must be. No wonder people fight so hard for that one thing: Control.