Happy Monday!
Thank yous to all who Followed, Favorited and Reviewed last chapter. Raven that flies at night, Jily71102, StormWitch19851, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, B. SPooky, GhostWriter1864, and Siriusbarks; thank you so much for spending an extra minute to leave some words. It's ALWAYS appreciated.
This chapter is Lily, James and Sirius's perspective of last chapter. Enjoy!
"I promise that I'll look after them; don't worry," Lily hugged Hermione tightly and whispered in the other witch's ear.
Hermione smirked and nodded to the redhead, but Lily didn't think she looked reassured in the slightest.
Sirius had already said a proper goodbye to his witch, but Lily caught the man winking playfully before the trio walked toward the edge of the protective wards.
"Quite a shielding charm you've put up here, Sirius. Are we getting a bit paranoid?" James teased his friend as he caught Lily's hand and laced their fingers together.
"Better safe than sorry," Sirius shrugged as he glanced back at the cottage just as they were stepping past the many spells set around the house. "The safer it is here, the safer it is for Reg. Blondie's set up a shielding charm and a blood ward on top of the Fidelius Charm, so it should be virtually undetectable to anyone who I haven't specifically revealed the location to. If all this spy stuff with him goes to shite, I want him to have a safe place to hide out, since he won't let me ship him off to the continent."
Lily smiled sadly at her friend as James chuckled and patted his best mate on the back, "I'm kind of proud of you Padfoot. It's like you're all grown up now."
"Shut it, Prongs," Sirius laughed as they each turned on their heels and disappeared with a distinctive 'pop'.
They reappeared in front of a little roundabout in the middle of Godric's Hollow. The summer had brought on a beautiful array of country flowers, and birds seemed to be calling out all around them as the sun began its lazy decent in the early evening sky.
Lily led James and Sirius to the left and up a narrow street lined with little cottages.
The perfect little cottages were all very similar with just subtle variations in window count and color. Sirius and James joked about the white-picket fences until Lily shot a disgruntled look back at them. She grumbled about the need to be polite and something about how she liked the fences.
Lily stopped in front of a lovely brown cottage. There were impeccable yellow tulips and daffodils lining the walkway from the fence to the front door. She unlatched the gate, walked right up to the entrance and knocked on the door without even waiting for the others. The two wizards clumsily followed her after closing the gate behind them.
"Ah, Miss Evans," a middle-aged man greeted them solemnly after he opened the door for them, "I'm afraid that your visit may go unnoticed; she's having another one of her episodes today."
"Oh no, I'm so sorry Mr. Bagshot. Is there anything we can do to help? Could we at least sit with your aunt? The extra company has been said to help occasionally," Lily had been so hopeful that this visit was going to at least yield a clue as to where or who the locket may have gone to after Bathilda had received it.
So far, the Order had turned up absolutely nothing. Bethilda could remember receiving the locket, from her nephew, very clearly. But she could not tell anyone where she had put the piece for 'safe keeping'. Her nephew had been very helpful and supportive; but Alden had not been told about the Orders actual mission. He had been informed that Dumbledore recruited some of his best students to come visit the aging historian as a favor. The students were supposed to be speaking to Bathilda about recent life at Hogwarts and possibly gaining personal information about the older witch to compile a biography about the great historian.
Alden looked exhausted and strained as he led the small group into the sitting room. His eyes were a bit unfocused and there were dark circles under them as well. He sat down with some difficulty as he took the seat next to his aging aunt and stiffly motioned for the three recent graduates to make themselves comfortable on the sofa.
Lily immediately began speaking to the older witch in happy upbeat tones. She asked about her morning and what kind of things Bathilda did to keep her garden so pristine. When the questions went unanswered, Lily then went into a bit of a lengthy speech about Hogwarts and some of the small improvements that the castle had undergone recently.
But Bathilda did not seem interested in anything that Lily had to say.
She seemed out of sorts. Bathilda's eyes were roamed around the room aimlessly, only focusing on Lily when the younger witch had mentioned something about a new portrait that had been stumbled across recently, before graduation.
"I'm so sorry; she's been like this for a few days." Alden rubbed his tired eyes and gazed at his aunt, "I had hoped that today was going to be a good day; she woke up and recognized me immediately. That's why I didn't contact Dumbledore and reschedule your visit…"
"It's alright Mr. Bagshot, we don't mind. Dumbledore informed us of the situation and we just wanted to see if we could assist in anyway," James tried to sound as upbeat as Lily, but it proved to be very difficult.
Alden glanced at his watch, "Excuse me, I have to begin preparing her supper so that she can take her next dose of potions." The wizard stood and exited the room with more hustle than you would have thought possible with how tired the man had appeared and sounded.
"Well, he certainly seemed eager to escape the room…" Sirius mumbled under his breath as he watched the kitchen door swing shut.
Lily glared slightly at the door as well, "Yea… I'm hoping that's just from being exhausted. Remus and Peter described him as 'charming' and 'dotting' when I asked them about their visit. I'm slightly concerned by the turn in his personality." The witch wrinkled her forehead as she thought about the stark difference in the man that their two friends had described and the almost absent host that had greeted them.
"He's probably just bored and tired Lil; don't judge the poor man too harshly," James stood and began walking around the sitting room, admiring the old moving pictures that were displayed on the mantle place.
"I'm not trying to scrutinize, I'm just concerned. It has only been a week since Remus and Peter visited. Do you think things can change so drastically in such a short time?" Lily decided to join James by the fire place and smiled sadly at the photograph that had captured the wizard's attention. It was a small little picture of a slightly younger Bathilda with a very young man who looked could only be her nephew Alden. They both looked deliriously happy as they celebrated, what seemed to be, his graduation from Hogwarts.
Sirius glanced at the old witch across from him, "Well I have no bloody idea, so let's ask…" He moved to the seat that Alden had just vacated and sat down next to Bathilda.
As soon as Sirius had settled in the wingback chair, Bathilda had reached out and clutched his forearm. Her grip was actually quite tight and Sirius found that he couldn't pull his arm away without the fear of harming the fragile looking witch.
Bathilda then locked her eyes onto Sirius's gaze and stared at him with such a profound look of fright, that the wizard actually twitched with concern, "What's wrong Ms. Bagshot?"
The older witch didn't utter a word, but shook her head slightly. Her eyes shifted so that she was now looking at the door that lead to the kitchen; a few banging sounds and a small crash came from behind the door.
"Would you like me to fetch your nephew?" Sirius wasn't sure why, but he was whispering as he spoke.
Bathilda's eyes grew even wider as she shook her head again sharply.
Lily and James took a few timid steps forward to get a better view of the interaction between Sirius and Bathilda.
"Is there something I can help you with?" Sirius asked in slow measured words. He wasn't sure if the witch in front of him actually understood what he was saying. Why wouldn't she want her nephew to be called over if she was suddenly lucid again?
Bathilda, yet again, shook her head as she held Sirius's stare. Instead, the witch released her grip on the boy's arm and took his hand into her own. Sirius's own eyes grew a bit wide as she slipped a tiny piece of carefully folded parchment into his hand and finally spoke three words that made each of the trio shutter.
"Not my nephew."
BANG.
A spell hit the fireplace, right behind James and Lily. It sent them flying forward and forced them to their hands and knees on the colorful woven carpet.
Sirius stood so quickly that the chair he was seated on tumbled backwards. He grabbed Bathilda and pulled her so that she was standing behind him.
Alden Bagshot stood at the entry way of the sitting room with his wand held out in front of him, ready to strike anything that moved. The wizard was struggling to breathe and his whole body was trembling.
"Who are you?" Sirius asked as he grazed his fingers over the pocket that held his own wand. He needed a distraction if he had any chance of drawing it and shooting a spell back.
"Who am I? How slow are you, Black? I'm the old bat's nephew," the wizard clutched at his stomach as a loud grown echoed through the room.
Lily and James sat up slowly from the floor and watched as Bathilda's 'nephew' began to have severe skin issues.
The man's eyes never left the group in front of him and his wand didn't lower even a fraction as his skin began to bubble and blister.
"Polyjuice…" Lily muttered. They all watched as Alden Bagshot disappeared before their eyes. He was replaced by a more slender man, with dark hair, black eyes and a distinctive tattoo on his exposed left forearm.
"Not Alden!" Bathilda cried from behind Sirius.
"I could have stayed your precious little nephew if you hadn't poured my entire supply of potion down the drain! You insufferable, foolish, hag…" 'Alden' didn't seem very pleased by the turn of events. "All I needed was for you to tell me where you hid that locket and then I would have been on my way…. But no… You had to have some kind of mental break and refuse to speak to anyone… until they showed up."
Bathilda stepped out from behind Sirius and faced the man who had been impersonated her nephew, "You will never find the locket." Her voice was crystal clear and was one of those voices that demanded that you pay attention; it was a surprise to everyone in the room, to say the least.
With those very final words, Bathilda waved her hand in front of her body as if she was snatching something from the empty air in front of her. And when she pulled her arm back toward her body, an elegant black, scrolled wand was clutched in her hand. She tilted her head toward Lily, James and Sirius, nodded to them and disapparated away.
"NO!" The still unnamed wizard screamed at the spot that the old historian once stood. He rounded on the other occupants of the room, "What else did she say to you? Did she tell you where the locket is?!"
Sirius was a bit shocked by the desperation in the man's voice. He sounded more terrified than he did angry, "No; she only said that you were not her nephew. What locket are you talking about?"
The man grabbed his hair and screamed as he pulled at his dark locks.
Lily and James drew their wands as the man was distracted by his own agony; and Sirius took a step to the side to shield their movements from his gaze should he begin to pay attention again.
"No, you're lying. She had to have told you something... or… or she wouldn't have run off and disappeared. Tell me!" The man grabbed at Sirius's shirt and placed the tip of his wand against the other man's throat.
What he didn't notice though, were the other two wands that were pointed at his own head.
"Put the wand down… slowly, mate," James instructed as he pushed his wand a little harder against the other man's temple.
The man began shaking his head; stumbling over his words, "You… you don't understand… he'll… he'll kill me… Avada me… right in front of everyone…I need the locket… only way to appease him…"
The room was silent as the mysterious man's words hung in the air.
"If you come with us; we can help you," Lily saw the pain and fear in the man's eyes and it had reminded her of a close friend who had recently become just as lost.
"No one can help me. Now that the old witch is gone, he'll kill me on sight if I don't bring him the information that he wants... unless…" The man quickly ducked and flicked his wrist over Lily and James, sending petrificus totalus their way as he disarmed Sirius with another wave of his wand.
The man then began frantically searching his pockets. He pulled out a few odd knickknacks and used potion bottles before he pulled a pocket watch from his robe's inner pocket and began lengthening the chain, "Yes… I think this will work fine… just have to set it and make sure that you're all touching it so I can bring you to him in place of Bagshot…"
They all watched as the man looped Lily and James's immobile hands with the long gold chain. He then tapped the little button on the side of the watch with his wand and held it out the chain to Sirius, "Better grab on, or you'll be leaving your friends to the Dark Lord's unforgiving will."
Sirius took the end of the watch chain and wrapped it once around a finger. He stared at the man, "You really think dragging us along is going to keep your master from killing you?"
"Better than showing up empty handed. And if I at least bring you, maybe the Dark Lord will be distracted. He's talked about you and your smart little witch for ages now… almost admiring, if I didn't know any better… I think he'd like a chat with you about how you both got away," The man stared at the second hand on the watch as it made its way around the numbered face. "Any second now…"
Sirius pulled on the end of the chain and the man lost his balance and fell forward. The man stumbled as he tried to get back to his feet, and that gave Sirius enough time to quickly unwrap James and Lily from the golden chain. He was about to draw his own wand to disarm the unnamed man who was trying to kidnap them…
But he was too late.
The other wizard jumped up and lunged at Sirius as the little gold pocket watch began to glow.
Sirius felt the familiar hook pull him forward by the abdomen and the dizzying feeling of the portkey transporting him to somewhere unknown.
Fifteen minutes later Lily and James were unexpectedly freed from their full body binds.
James looked at his fiancé with an absolutely terrified expression. No one had performed the counter curse on them, "…Do you think… Do you think Sirius is dead too?"
Lily jumped up and grabbed his hand, "We can't think like that. Let's go." She led them back to the apparition point and they both disappeared.
"OW." Lily screeched as they landed right outside of the protection wards around Sirius and Hermione's cottage, "Damn…" The witch grabbed at her leg. When she pulled her hand away, it was covered in blood, "I guess I got hit with something when he blew up the fireplace."
"Why didn't it hurt earlier?" James crouched down and waved his wand around so that a clean white bandage wrapped around Lily's leg to temporarily stop the bleeding.
Lily shook her head, "No idea; perhaps the adrenaline is wearing off?" She pulled James arm around herself and leaned her hand on his shoulder so that he was supporting the weight on her left side, "Come on, no time to fix me up right now. We need Mia so we can get Sirius back."
"How will she know where we can find him?" James pulled Lily a little closer so that he could move them forward more quickly.
"I'm not sure, but I know she'll figure out a way."
James had to kick the door open since he was busy balancing the majority of Lily's weight.
"James; Lily? What happened?!"
I am sorry about the cliffhanger, but it is a commonly used literary device. And yes, it is always the 'easy' missions that seem to cause the most trouble. Love you all and hope you don't kill me for the 'same' cliffhanger.
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Misha
Ps. Check out the other stories by me: 'Begin Again,' 'The Bookworm and The Prankster' and 'Penelope Jackson: The Lightning Thief.'