They'd kept their first names, and changed the surname to Peverell, moving their savings to America. The goblins were only too happy to oblige, for a hefty fee. They lived in a little flat in New York City, and were completely and utterly happy. Although America was aware of the threat Voldemort had posed it hadn't been a reality to them, just a bogey monster across the sea. She'd taken an internship with a law firm, while James was a stay at home dad. He didn't understand the Muggle world, and they were staying away from the Magical one, for the most part.
Every day, on the way home from work, she brought home a large collection of newspapers, magical and muggle. The Cold War was a very real threat that James didn't understand, and the more she read, the more grateful she was that she'd escaped her masters.
They still got British papers, of course, but infrequently, and that was why it took Lily three weeks to discover that Sirius had chased after Pettigrew and ended up getting himself arrested. The Ministry believed he'd been their Secret Keeper, and she couldn't find any evidence he'd even had a trial.
At the very top of the pile of papers was a picture of Sirius, locked away in Azkaban. She left them on the kitchen table and entered the living room. Harry was jetting around the room on a broom James must have bought him when he'd snuck off to New York's wizarding district.
"Hello sweetheart," she said, catching him as he looked up, smiled, and waved with both hands, subsequently falling off the broom. James grinned sheepishly. She arched a brow.
"Lilyflower! Don't worry, there's a cushioning charm." He gestured, overextended and demonstrated that fact wonderfully by toppling to the floor, only to gently bounce a few centimetres above it.
"Darling." She pecked him on the cheek. "You need to check out the Prophet. Don't freak out." She tilted her head toward the kitchen. He narrowed his eyes and nodded.
"Alright trouble. Nap time I think?" Harry blinked his gorgeous green eyes at her.
"Mama," he agreed. She settled him into his cot, giving James time to process, then joined him in the kitchen. He was sitting at the table, face in his hands. He looked up, haunted. His hazel eyes had lost all hints of their usual mirth.
"We have to help him," he whispered.
Lily stretched, and nodded. "I'll go this weekend," she said, already formulating a plan. She almost jumped when James smacked his hand down on the table, not normally prone to any sort of violence.
"This weekend? That's three days away!"
She crossed her arms. "I can't take the time off work. You know that. We have to appear normal."
"I'll go!" James declared.
Lily laughed, bitterly. "Really? Do tell me how you plan to break into Azkaban. You know I have a better chance of doing it, and who would look after Harry?"
"But, but…" he stuttered. "It's too risky."
They fell silent. She glared at him. "I think we already had this conversation," she said quietly, dangerously.
His eyes flashed. "What, because you're a spy, an assassin? You're my wife, and it's my job to look after you."
"Yes, and it's mine to look after you! If I were a man I know this wouldn't be a problem."
James rubbed his eyes, pushing his glasses out the way, the fight deflating out of him.
"Okay. Okay, I'm sorry. I know we have to wait until the weekend when you're not working. I just hate seeing you go into danger and leaving me at home with the child. I hate being so helpless. I hate leaving Sirius in that god damn place for another three days."
She walked around to the back of the chair and massaged his shoulders.
"I know. I'm sorry too."
He leaned back against her, his head bumping her stomach. "Okay. What's the plan?"
Three days later
Lightning flashed, and thunder boomed as she approached Azkaban, the perpetual storm raging about her. She pulled her cloak tighter over her shoulders, clutching the tiller of the muggle motorboat she managed to charm close to her side. She could see the edge of the wards, a translucent bubble that shimmered every time the sea spray crashed against it. She lashed the tiller on course, and shifted into Brighteyes as they passed through the wards, before changing back to steer the boat the rest of the way in. It was a flaw in most wards she gratefully took advantage of.
So far the dementors had not been paying her any attention, and she practised Occlumency to keep her mind clear, her torturous years in the hands of the Red Room ever present at the back of her mind, but supressed, for now. Despite herself she shivered, and focused on the mission at hand.
She pulled the boat ashore, having made berth at the rear side of Azkaban. A massive cliff towered over here before she could even reach the walls of the prison. Lily pulled on a mask, and rid herself of the cloak. She quickly cinched herself into a rock climbing harness, then began scaling the cliff face. Every couple of meters she secured anchors, ensuring that if she fell she would be able to catch herself. It was gruelling work, the rock slick with rain and moss, and her fingers were bleeding by the time she made it to the top.
She scanned her surroundings. Barren land stretched between her and the prison walls. She stripped herself of the rock climbing gear, and set up two harness for a quick escape. Turning back into her animagus form, she trotted toward the fortress, slipping from shadow to shadow.
Imposing gates blocked her entrance, but she was able to slide through the bars. She sniffed, and followed the stink of humans to the entrance of the inner compound, changing back when she reached it. She could hear the whisper of conversation behind the door. Two, maybe three people, max. She armed her stingers, wrist bands charmed to give a magical electric shock, banged on the door then jumped, holding herself in the archway above it.
A guard exited the room, and peered around. He turned back, pocketing his wand.
"All clear," he said. She fell silently onto him, pinning his arms with her legs. She wrapped one hand over his mouth, and the other arm tight around his neck. He choked, staggering about, obviously unused to physical assault. Within moments he stopped struggling, falling to the floor. She caught him, took his wand and bound his arms and mouth with duct tape.
Lily peeked into the room. The other two guards were playing cards, one with his feet on the table, tilted back on his chair, the other yawning and scratching his head. She slid in, catching the two grounded chair legs with a kick and sending the man onto his back with a thud. She tossed a stinger at the second and he fell to the floor with a yell. Lily kicked the table at the first man as he staggered to his feet, following through with a punch to the solar plexus. He wheezed and she smacked his head into the wall, knocking him out. She dragged guard number one in, bound his legs, confiscated the other two wands from their guards and bound and gagged them as well.
She swiped the keys from guard two, ignoring their groans, and strode through the corridor, checking each cell. Most prisoners barely moved, although Bellatrix Lestrange rushed the bars, cackling before falling to the ground. Screams echoed the halls, and she only hoped that Sirius had managed to find a way to keep his sanity. The stench of excrement and despair was heavy in the air. She was utterly disgusted by the inhuman conditions the prisoners were kept in.
Finally, she found Sirius' cell.
He was alert and suspicious, hunched in a corner, eyes narrowed as he noticed her.
"Who are you?" he rasped.
She held up the keys, then put a finger to her lips. He nodded. She carefully drew up the front of her mask. His eyes widened, and his fists clenched.
"How?" he said, desperately.
"It's me. I promise, Padfoot. I'll explain later, okay?"
Lily drew the mask back down, and opened the door. Immediately the prisoners began howling.
"Let me out too!"
"Take me instead!"
"Free us!"
She ignored them and began a steady jog back toward the entrance.
"Come on. The dementors won't miss that noise," she said. They ran into the guard's room, and she realised there were a line of dementors before the outer gate, several others floating ominously above.
"Shit," Lily muttered. "I wasn't planning on using any magic."
"Become Brighteyes," Sirius said. "They don't react to animals." She eyed the guards, hoping they hadn't heard, and tugged him out of the line of sight.
"Alright, ready? Follow me, okay?"
He nodded, and they shifted. Lily slinked toward the far edge of the gate and slid through. Padfoot fitted, barely, and she had to slip back and give him a nudge in the arse. She raced toward the cliff edge, leading the way to the abseiling point. The dementors had ignored them, and were busy terrorising the excited prisoners, taking advantage of the lack of guards. A lucky break. She changed back.
"Put this on." She showed him how to put on the harness. "Wait for my signal, then slowly lower yourself off the side of the cliff. Using pulleys I can lower you down from below." His eyes were wide. She suspected most purebloods had no idea the sort of activities muggles got up to.
"How will you get down?"
Lily grinned. She grabbed her own rope, fixing onto her harness and jumped, slowing the descent just before she hit the ground. She liked to think that she could imagine Sirius' awed grin. She pulled her rope off, and harnessed into Sirius'.
"Ready? Just lean back, and walk down backwards, pushing off carefully from the rock. Keep both hands on the knot at your waist. I've got you." She belayed him down, his descent speeding up as he got used to it.
"Awesome!" he exclaimed. She snorted, and began packing away the gear, chucking it into the boat. She'd have to leave the anchors in the rock, but she'd expected that, and had bought them from a generic store.
"Get in the boat. We're not away yet."
Lily finished up and spelled the boat into action.
"Turn into Padfoot!" she shouted as the approached the wards, rain lashing against their faces and disguising their voices. She shifted once he did, then back again the moment the wards tingled against her. Lily packed all the gear into a rucksack, which she then donned. Sirius clutched the edge of the boat, looking rather green.
"Is this a muggle boat?"
She rolled her eyes, and withdrew a scarf. "Hold on this. It's a portkey. I'm going to flood the boat, then activate it."
"What!" he screamed as she pulled the plug on the bilge drain. The boat immediately began filling with water.
"Hold on!" Lily grabbed the scarf, making sure Sirius had a firm grip. "Mischief managed."
There was tug and the boat fell away from her feet as she was whirled through the wormhole. She rolled with the landing, and paused, leaning against the wall, enjoying the feeling of warmth. Sirius slowly got to his feet, glancing around their living room. James raced into the room.
"Surprise!" he said weakly. Sirius fainted.
Three weeks later
Sirius was cuddling Harry to his chest, looking far less malnourished than after the prison break. Lily was examining the papers. The Daily Prophet was screaming about Sirius' escape, but nobody knew a thing. They were entirely bemused as to how what seemed to be a muggle had broken in and broken Sirius out. Lily's lips twitched in amusement.
"Your mummy's scary." Sirius was singing to Harry. "Scary, scary mummy. Aren't you lucky to have such a scary mummy looking after you?" She heard the faint rustle of James entering the kitchen. He slipped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder.
"Hey scary mummy."
Lily twisted round and grabbed his belt loops, pulling him closer. "Hey sexy daddy," she murmured against his lips. He smiled against her mouth.
"I like that one."
"My eyes!" Sirius groaned from the other room. She smirked and they joined him in the lounge. She reclaimed her son who was giggling away, waving a fake wand.
"Silly uncle," she said, pointing at Sirius who pouted. "Silly daddy. And silly mummy."
"Sexy uncle!" Sirius corrected.
"Sexy!" Harry cried. She glared at Sirius while he high fived James.
"I'll get you for that," she said without even a hint of humour. Sirius gulped and nudged James.
"Save me Prongs! She was your wife and scary even before we discovered she was an assassin."
She snorted a laugh. "I was scary before I was his wife."
Sirius nodded, eyes wide. "Don't I know…" he agreed. Lily tickled Harry, who grinned up at her.
"Harry's going to be terrifying after the combined effects of you and Prongs. Mischief combined with talent."
She smiled. Harry was going to grow up to be the most loved and protected child in the world. After all, he was hers. He was going to be clever and funny and deadly. She examined Sirius and James with a critical eye as they wrestled around. They were battle hardened, sure, but only against wizards.
"Right boys. I know you think your lives are just going to be fun and games now we're free, but I'm afraid you've got some severe deficiencies that need to be corrected." They both jumped to attention.
"You need to be able to understand the muggle world, and then I'm going to teach you to fight like muggles. Harry's going to get the best protection we can afford him, which includes you two learning how to kill someone with a pen or your pinkies." They gulped, but she could see determination on Sirius' face, and pig headed stubbornness on James'. They'd be alright.
"Right. We've been thinking…" Sirius exchanged a glance with James, and nudged him.
"We should get Moony."
"Moony!" Harry cried. Lily sighed. She'd known this was coming.
"Okay. But not for another six months so it doesn't look connected to Sirius' disappearance. We might need someone who can traverse the Wizarding World that's not 'dead' or an escapee." She fixed them both with a steely glare.
"Yeah, okay," they mumbled. And that was that.
Six months later
Remus' flat was a pigsty, so she'd set James and Sirius to packing up his house while she went to wake him. He was curled up under the covers, and Lily bit back a laugh as he snored. She shut the door, covered his mouth and flicked him on the forehead. His eyes widened as he awoke. She carefully removed her hand.
"I'm hallucinating," he muttered to himself. "Just my luck." He looked awful. She couldn't blame him.
"Actually, I'm as real as you are, Remus. This is no dream, nor hallucination. Myself, James and Harry are alive and well. Sirius wasn't our secret keeper, Pettigrew was. We set a trap for Voldemort because Pettigrew was the spy, and then moved to America. I'm the one that broke Sirius out of prison."
Remus began laughing. "Fuck, I'm mad. But this is the best dream I've had in six months, so I'll roll with it."
She grinned. That would do.
"Alright. You're moving to America with us, and the boys are sorting out your flat. You'll tell anyone who asks you heard their anti-wolf laws aren't as harsh as here. Now, here's a trunk. Get packing." Remus nodded, a wide grin upon his face. He flicked his wand and items began marching into it. She left him to it and helped James with the lounge. A couple minutes later she heard an exclamation.
"Guess he found Sirius," James muttered.
"You!"
"I wasn't the secret keeper!" Sirius cried.
There was a pause. "I just had a dream Lily told me that," Remus said.
"In here!" Lily called as the last of Remus' items were packed away. She shrunk the trunks and pocketed them.
"You're alive. You're actually alive," he said breathlessly as he raced into the room. His gaze flicked from her to James and Remus swept him into a hug.
"Oh Merlin, I missed you." Remus was shaking and she joined the hug. Sirius wrapped his arms around the lot of them and they all squeezed together.
The Marauders four were reunited.