A/N: Hey guys! Hope you like this chapter. Anyway, I'm working on the next chapter so it should be up soon. Review?

Chapter 27: Safe

Dorcas slowly walked up to the house that had been the Potter Manor. It was so quiet without anyone living in it. Dorcas went back to a time when the Potter Manor had been a joyful place.

"Dorcas, please, no, I don't want to be here," Lily pleaded. "It'll be awkward."

"You're being ridiculous!" Dorcas proclaimed. "James won't mind."

Lily had come to stay with Dorcas in the summer before her 7th year. What she didn't count on was Dorcas living two houses down from James Potter. Lily would have been content to stay home, but Dorcas insisted that Lily come.

Dorcas pushed the Potter's door open.

"Knock, knock," Dorcas called pleasantly.

"In here!" someone called back.

Dorcas dragged Lily into the kitchen.

"Hey, there, Dorky. . . . ." Sirius trailed off as his eyes fell on Lily.

He let out a low whistle.

"You look good, Evans."

Lily blushed, but rolled her eyes all the same.

"You better not say that in front of James or he'll kick you're arse," Karen told him. "Hi, Lily."

She got up and walked over to Lily then gave her a hug.

"I missed you," she said. "You have to tell me all about your summer so far!"

"Um, sure," Lily mumbled.

"Lily!" a blue-eyed girl shouted, as she opened the door.

Marlene ran over to her and hugged her tightly.

"I missed you so much! I have so much to tell you!"

"Mars, you're hurting me," Lily breathed out.

"Sorry," Marlene said letting her go.

"Padfoot. . . ." James looked at Lily wide-eyed, "Am I dreaming?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "No, Prongs, you're not imagining that Evans is standing in your house right now."

Karen reached over and pinched his thigh.

"Ow!" he cried out in pain. "What was that for?!"

"Now you know you're not dreaming," Karen said cheekily.

"Remind me why I invited you over here again?" he asked.

"You didn't, Marlene did," Karen told him.

"Of course she did," James mumbled. "How did you get here again, Evans?"

"More like why are you here?" Sirius amended.

"Ok, if we're going to be friends, please, don't call me Evans," Lily instructed.

James' and Sirius' mouths fell; Karen nearly choked on a grape she had picked up; Dorcas and Marlene looked oddly at Lily.

"Ok, I think we are dreaming," Sirius mumbled to James.

Lily rolled her eyes.

"Do we have a deal or not?" she asked.

"Yes," James answered hurriedly.

She stuck out her hand for James to shake. He took her and pulled her to him and tried to hug her. She swiftly pushed him away.

"Not cool with the whole touchy thing," Lily said.

"Well I had to try," James replied cheekily.

Dorcas smiled at that thought. She wished they were here. The living room seemed so empty without them. First Mr. and Mrs. Potter, then James, Lily, Karen, and Sirius. She sighed. Suddenly the front door clicked. Dorcas pulled out her wand and pointed it at the intruder. Remus looked at her wide-eyed.

"Oh, it's just you," Dorcas sighed.

"Who else would it be?" Remus asked.

Dorcas just shrugged and turned away from him. She didn't want to face him right now. He had hurt her more than he could imagine. She thought she might have been in love with him. Is this how James felt when Lily broke up with him? It was one of the worst feelings in the world. It ranked right up there with the Cruciatus Curse.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I just came to see this place again," Remus answered. "You?"

"Same reason," she said. "There's just so many memories here."

"I know. It's like they're really here."

"I can't believe they're gone."

They both stood there for a minute not saying anything. Each of them staring into space, lost in a time when they didn't have to worry about anything. Dorcas sighed and turned to Remus.

"We should go," Dorcas suggested. "Maybe Alice and Frank have some news on Lily and James."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Remus said numbly.

Dorcas slipped over to Remus and slipped her hand into his. It was cold and clammy like he was ill.

They Apparated to Alice and Frank's house.

Dorcas let go of Remus' hand immediately and knocked on the door. When there was no answer, Dorcas knocked again this time louder. There was shuffling of feet and the door swung open.

"Remus, Dorcas," Alice looked uneasy. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to see if there was any news about Lily and James," Remus explained.

"Alice, are you ready for the raid?" Frank called from somewhere in the house.

"Raid?" Dorcas echoed.

Alice sighed. "We finished our Auror training. Frank and I and some other Aurors are going to the Malfoy Manner. A muggle reported seeing three young kids going in there and never coming out. One of their descriptions matched James'."

"What?!" Dorcas yelped. "Well, we're going with you!"

"No," Alice protested. "You can't. It's an Auror mission which means Aurors only."

"Alice, please," Remus begged. "You have to let us come. It's James and Sirius."

Alice looked at Remus' face. She sighed before closing her eyes and rubbing her temples.

"Please," Dorcas tried again.

"Fine," Alice sighed. "But you have to do exactly as we say and don't do anything foolish."

"We won't, we promise," Dorcas replied.

Alice turned and walked into her house. She left the door open so Dorcas and Remus could follow. When they got to the living room, Frank was standing in the middle of the room with his head in the fireplace. After a moment or two, he pulled it out.

"Dorcas, Remus, what are you doing here?" he asked surprised.

"They're coming with us," Alice explained.

"What? This is an Auror mission," Frank stated.

"I know, but they have to come. James and Sirius are Remus' best friends and if I was in Dorcas' position then I would want to come too."

"Fine," Frank sighed, knowing he wouldn't win the argument. "Let's go. Mad-Eye and Hodges are meeting us there."

"That's it?" Remus asked. "Just four Aurors?"

"Yes, the Ministry's low on Aurors right now," Frank informed them. "It's all we can afford to send out right now."

"Now you've got two more good wands," Dorcas said.

"Let's go." Frank grabbed Alice's and Dorcas' hands and Remus grabbed Dorcas' other hand.

They appeared a few meters in front of the Malfoy Manner.

"What are they doing here?" a voice growled.

Dorcas turned around to see Alastor 'Mad-eye' Moody.

"Hello, Alastor," Frank said, brushing himself off. "We thought we could use some extra wands."

"Are you mad?!" Moody yelled. "They aren't Aurors! They don't know what they're doing!"

"Sir, please, my best friends are in there," Dorcas explained. "I have to make sure they're ok. I won't get in the way."

"Alright fine," he agreed, begrudgingly. "Just remember you must have constant vigilance!"

Dorcas jumped as he said this.

They walked up to the front door and Moody didn't even bother with knocking. He banged the stick he was carrying and the door flew off the hinges, down a long hall. They started down the hall, but some man came running toward them.

"You're under arrest," Moody growled before banging his stick on the ground. The man fell backwards with invisible ropes binding him.

As they made their way deeper into the house, Dorcas got more and more nervous. Suddenly she was being pushed to the ground. "Are you alright?" Remus asked. "A curse almost hit you."

"Yeah. Sorry," she replied. She moved up against the wall as Alice, Frank, and Moody battling four Death Eaters. The other Auror was no where in sight. Dorcas saw a door next to her and slipped inside.

Remus followed her. "Dorcas, what are you doing?"

"Shh," Dorcas reprimanded him. "I wonder where this staircase leads."

"Dorcas, what about Frank and the others?" Remus reminded her.

"They can take care of themselves," she waved him off. "Lumos."

"Dorcas, please, we have to get back to them," he begged.

"Shh."

Dorcas started down the stairs. They spiraled until they came to a barred door.

"This must be where they keep prisoners," Dorcas mumbled.

"Dorcas, let's go," Remus pleaded. "We don't know this house or how to get out of it. We need to stay with Frank and Alice."

"Lumos Maxima," Dorcas whispered.

A light went into the prison door and revealed what was inside.

"Lily! Karen!" Dorcas shouted pressing herself against the door.

"James! Sirius!" Remus yelled doing the same.

"Dorcas! Remus! What are you doing here?!" James asked moving forward.

"Hold on," Dorcas told him stepping back. "Get back. Bombarda!"

The prison door flew back and hit the wall with a bang.

Dorcas ran over to Karen and Lily.

"I missed you guys so much!" Dorcas told them hugging them both tightly. "Don't ever do that again."

"How did you find us?" James asked after he untangled himself from Sirius and Remus.

"We didn't," Dorcas said. "Frank and Alice got a tip about you from the Auror Office."

"See, they did it the right way," Karen exclaimed. "They went to the Auror Office."

"Shut it," James snapped.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Can we just get out of here?"

"You sure can," a cheerful voice said from behind them.

Frank stood in the doorway with Alice by his side.

"Frank!" Lily shouted.

"Alice!" Karen yelled.

"We can catch up later, but right now we have to get out of here," Alice explained, quickly.

"Wait," Karen protested, "we need our wands."

"Oh, right," Frank said.

He pulled out two wands.

"Which one of these is yours?"

"Is there a Mahogany wand in there?" James asked.

"Yep!" Frank replied. "Here. The other looks like Willow."

"That's mine," Lily spoke up.

"I've got Aspen and Apple, I think," Alice told them.

"The Aspen is mine," Sirius said.

As soon as everyone got their wands, Frank and Alice turned back to the door.

"Alright, we have to be careful. There's still Death Eaters up there," Alice warned them. "Alright, let's go."

They started up the flight of stairs. Dorcas got a better look at her friends. Sirius' hair was a bit matted and he was thinner than he was before; Karen looked the same as before, but was noticeably thinner; Lily looked the worst out of all of them, her hair was matted at the bottom, she had lost weight, and her eyes had a sort of haunted look in them; James had lost some of his coloring, his face was paler and his shirt hung loosely around him.

They reached the top of the stairs and the door was pulled open.

"I see you found them," Moody noted. "Well, let's get out of here before the whole building falls down."

James and Sirius looked at each other with amazement. They both looked up to Moody.

They made their way through the house. The Death Eaters seemed to have disappeared. The man who Moody had first attacked still lay tied on the floor. He scooted away from Moody as he passed.

When they got outside, Moody looked around.

"Where are those two," he mumbled to himself.

"Looking for us?" a pleasant voice rang out.

They turned and saw two women strolling towards them. One of them had short blonde hair that reached her chin with brown eyes. She looked like she was in her late forties or early fifties. She smiled at the young group, her eyes traveling up each of their bodies. The other was a young witch about twenty with long brown hair that hit her waist. Her eyes were a beep blue. She looked around nervously.

"We just arrived," the older witch said. "How are they?"

"Why don't you ask them yourself?" Moody barked.

The woman just rolled her eyes.

"Hello, dears, I'm Healer Crane," she introduced herself, "and this is my assistant Milly Fleck. I'm going to look you over for injuries if that's alright with you."

Dorcas stepped back as the healer began to check James and the others. She hoped there was nothing seriously wrong with them.

"Well, everything seems to be fine," Healer Crane told them. "They don't seem in too bad of a state, but I insist they stay the night at St. Mongo's just to make sure everything is alright."

Dorcas sighed with relief. They were ok. Her best friends were safe.