When James finally regained consciousness, he was lying in a vaguely familiar bed. Early morning sunlight was filtering through the not completely closed drapes of the room and slowly banished the darkness. He felt terrible. His limbs seemed to be made of lead. Even keeping his eyes open required a conscious effort. At least he wasn't feeling any pain except for a dull pressure on his left shoulder. He had no strength to turn his head to see why it pained him, so he kept staring straight ahead at the starkly white wall. What little he could make out of the room was clean and strangely devoid of any personal items. He took a deep breath and a familiar sharp smell hit his nostrils. Disinfecting potions. A memory blazed through his mind and everything clicked into place: He was in St. Mungo's! Of course! He had been kidnapped. What had happened? Where was Voldemort? Who had gotten him out of the house? He needed answers! He had to get up and talk to someone! James screwed up all of his willpower and tried to sit upright. Rather than the forceful, but graceful movement, he had planned, his torso only rose for a few centimetres, before his strength left him again. He flopped back to the mattress in a rather undignified way. James cursed quietly, but before he could make another attempt, the pressure on his left should disappeared completely. Suddenly, a hand appeared on his chest and a blurry red mass entered his vision.

'James?' said a sleepy looking Lily Evans, 'what are you doing?'

'Lily?' said James in surprise. 'What are you doing here?'

'James, you are awake!' said Lily suddenly, her eyes widening. Before James could say anything, she had launched herself at him and was hugging him tightly. 'Oh, thank Merlin! I was so worried when I heard the news! The healers said the nerve damaged was quite extensive and they couldn't tell us when you would wake up! How are you feeling?'

'Terrible,' said James with what little air her tight hug left him. 'Lily, you are crushing me.'

'Oh I am so sorry,' she said, looking aghast. She quickly released him and settled next to him on the bed. James got a good look at her then. She was wearing a severely crumpled Hogwarts uniform and looked exhausted. Nevertheless, her smile was radiant. 'You need to take your potions!'

'Potions?' asked James. All of this was happening too fast for his sluggish brain. He could barely keep up with what Lily was saying.

'Yes, potions,' said Lily. 'Over there, on your nightstand.'

James turned his head and spotted various vials, containing a dark orange liquid standing on the nightstand. Instinctively, he raised his hand to grab one of them. It was almost impossible. His arm felt heavy and slightly numb and only by screwing up all his willpower, he could make it move at all. His hand shook as it moved through the air, but with a furious effort, he was able to reach the nearest vial. However, his hand was shaking too badly to pick it up properly. Instead, he accidently knocked it down to the floor where it shattered into a hundred pieces, spilling its content.

'Fuck,' cursed James, letting his arm fall back to the bed. 'What is wrong with me?'

'It's alright,' said Lily quickly. She grabbed her wand from the nightstand on her side of the bed and vanished the mess. Then, she summoned one of the vials, caught it deftly and uncorked it. 'Here drink this, you are going to feel better.'

She put it to his lips and tilted it gently. James obediently drank the rather thick potion. It tasted vaguely of caramel. When it reached his stomach a tingling sensation swept through his body. It was slightly unpleasant, but James immediately felt a little stronger.

'What kind of potion is this?' asked James. 'What is wrong with me?'

'It is a combination of a nerve tonic and a strengthening solution,' explained Lily. 'It is standard treatment for wizards who have been placed under the Cruciatus curse. Your nerves have been damaged which is why you have trouble moving. The potion will repair the damage, but it will take time.'

'Not this again,' said James. He vividly remembered the drawn-out recuperation he had needed after his last encounter with the torture curse. 'The last time it took me weeks to be alright again!'

'I am sure it will not take that long this time,' said Lily. 'I have spoken with the healer in charge and he told me that this potion is a brand new improvement of the old one and should be much better at repairing the damage. With a bit of luck, you will be right as rain again in no time.'

'So, I am in St. Mungo's,' said James. 'Who got me out of that house? I only briefly heard the fight before fainting. What happened to Voldemort? Did they get him?'

'No,' said Lily. 'I don't know any details, you will have to ask your father and Sirius about that. They accompanied the strike time of aurors which stormed the manor. I only know that Voldemort and his Death Eaters got away. They were outnumbered that badly, that they chose to flee rather than to fight. Even so, they managed to badly injure two aurors. I don't want to imagine what could have happened if the odds had been more in their favour.'

James shuddered slightly at the thought. He had gotten a small taste of Voldemort's vicious power and he had no desire to experience it ever again. There was a reason the Dark Lord was feared that much.

'Are Sirius and my father alright?' he asked.

'Oh, yes,' said Lily. 'From what Sirius has told me, your father is quite fit for a man his age. Both of them got out of there unharmed. Sirius was the one who found you.'

'It was foolish of them to accompany the aurors,' said James. 'They should have left it to the professionals. My father is old and Sirius is untrained. Things could have gotten ugly for them.'

'Yes, but something tells me that you would have acted just the same in their situation,' said Lily. 'So, I would not be overly harsh with them.'

James opened his mouth to contradict her, but realized that she was right an instant later.

'How long have I been here?' he asked instead.

'Three days,' she said. 'This is the first time you are properly awake through. You tossed and turned a bit, but otherwise you have been unconscious. The healer says this is a normal reaction to the nerve damage the Cruciatus has given you. Oh, James it must have been terrible! How long did they torture you?'

'I was only cursed once,' said James darkly. 'They were rather considerate for their standards.'

'One curse did that much damage to you?' asked Lily surprised.

'Voldemort is rather good at hurting people,' said James dryly. 'Will I be alright again? Did the healer say anything?'

'He will have to tell you yourself,' said Lily. 'He was rather tight-lipped about a prognosis. Apparently, they will have to run more tests first.'

'Fantastic,' said James. 'I have got something to look forward to then.'

'You are going to be fine,' said Lily in a tone that left no room for argument. 'You just have to be.'

'How is Peter?' asked James. 'The Death Eaters stunned him first. I couldn't do anything about it.'

'Oh, he is completely fine,' said Lily. 'A bit twitchy, though. I think the run-in with the Death Eaters has really scared him. He is probably going to need some time.'

'That's good,' said James distractedly. The tingling sensation in his limbs has faded and was replaced by a gentle wave of warmth running up to his fingertips. 'The potion seems to working, I feel a bit better.'

'That's great,' said Lily. 'You should probably eat something, though. Hang, on let me check the time... breakfast will be served in half an hour. I expected your parents and Sirius will be back then as well. Remus is going to come by later today, he wants to use the quiet in the house to get some studying done without Sirius distracting him all the time.'

'He has left Hogwarts as well, then?' said James. 'While we are on the subject: When did you hear and how did you convince McGonagall to let you leave?'

'Sirius sent me a letter the day they rescued you,' said Lily. 'It was afternoon till it reached me and I left almost immediately. Remus came with me of course. McGonagall was surprisingly easy to convince. She was ready to let Remus go immediately, but she seemed a bit surprised about how much I cared. I told her that we had gotten closer over the year at that I had to make sure my fellow head was alright.'

'Well, we certainly have gotten closer,' said James with a grin on his face. At least he hoped it was a proper grin, as he face like the rest of him, felt rather numb and stiff.

'Quiet, you,' said Lily, giving a gentle clap on the chest. 'I have no desire whatsoever to share any details about our love-life with McGonagall. Anyway, Remus and I got here in the evening. I could barely get a glimpse of you, before the healer kicked us out because visiting hours were over. I was rather upset about that.'

'They didn't let you stay?' said James. 'But you are here now and I doubt that visiting hours start in the early morning.'

'Well, I may or may not have violated that rule with Sirius's help,' said Lily coyly. 'It wasn't terrible difficult to be honest. They don't pay overly much attention to the comings and goings of the visitors. All I had to do was to cast a Disillusionment Charm on me and stay in the bathroom so that they wouldn't notice me when they kicked us out. It was a walk in the park.'

'There might be hope for you yet, Evans,' said James approvingly. 'That was decent Marauder work.'

'I am not sure if I agree with your definition of hope,' said Lily. 'A year ago, I would have been aghast at the mere idea of disobeying the direct order of a healer. Now, I merely shrug and find a way to it around it if it is in the way. It is a dangerous way of thinking.'

'This just shows that you are wiser than before,' said James. 'You have realized that sometime you have to bend the rules to do things the proper way. Critical thinking is a very important part of one's education after all.'

'Well, at least your wits have survived the encounter with the most dangerous wizard in the world.'

'I am glad they did: I wouldn't be the same without them,' said James. 'I going to take a quick tour to the bathroom.'

'Alright, do you need any help?'

'No, I will be fine,' said James. 'You should probably get some fresh air. They will bring breakfast soon and you will get in trouble if they discover that you are here. '

'That's probably a good idea,' said Lily. 'I could do with some coffee and a bit of fresh air. Are you sure you are fine on your own? I don't want to return here just to find you sprawled on floor, unable to move.'

'I am fine, watch!'

James slowly got out of bed and stood up. He swayed dangerously for a moment, but managed to stay upright. Nevertheless, he felt slightly unbalanced and his limbs still felt heavier than usual. He took a tentative step and discovered that while he could move, it was much more taxing than usual. Lily gave him a sceptical glance, but agreed to leave him alone nevertheless. She exited the room while James was on the surprisingly long journey to the bathroom.

After he had relieved himself, James washed his wands and his face. He took a good look at his reflection when drying himself off. He looked worn and tired. His normally bright eyes were rather dull and bloodshot. His hair was even more untidy than usual. Combined with the dark stubble on his chin, his haggard appearance made him look ten years older than he was. For a moment he considered searching for his wand to give himself a proper shave, but despite his long sleep, he was too exhausted to do it. However, the brief thought of his wand caused him to remember something: He had no idea where it was! The last time he had help it in his hand was during the battle with Macnair. He had never discovered what the Death Eaters had done with it. Had they took it as well when they had kidnapped him? Where was it now? He hoped that someone friendly had found it. Wands were replaceable, but James was rather fond of his. The thought of losing it forever stung sharply and also made him furious.

What had he done to deserve this? He had had no part in this war so far, but it affected him nevertheless. Voldemort's mere existence was enough to alter what he could do with his life. He wasn't even out of school yet and had been put under an Unforgivable Curse twice already. He was robbed of the chance of having a peaceful and normal youth! He couldn't fulfil his dream of becoming a Quidditch star without feeling guilty about staying out of the fight. Granted, that would only be a problem if Voldemort didn't kill him before graduation or found some hideous way of forcing him into joining his gang of murderers. It just wasn't fair! James banged his fist on the sink with all of his might, which wasn't much thanks to the damage in his nerves. Still, a sharp pain spread through his whole arm and he cursed loudly. It was a foolish thing to do, but at least it brought some clarity back to his thoughts. He was exhausted, weak, hungry, and had just been through a rather traumatic experience. He ought to rest and to recover. Things would look a lot brighter with some food in his stomach. Bolstered slightly by these thoughts, James made his way slowly back to his bed. When he had reached it, he was covered in a thin film of sweat and out of breath. He gritted his teeth at the feeling. It was same bone deep weakness he had felt after his last encounter with the bloody Cruciatus Curse. Having to go through all of this again, was a very depressing thought. He flopped back limply against his pillow and closed his eyes for a moment, feeling just tired and ground down to the stump.

Fortunately, he did not have too much time to wallow in self-pity. Only a few minutes after he had returned to bed, a nurse entered his room. She brought breakfast and seemed rather pleased to find him conscious and alert. She promised that the healer in charge would visit him soon and left him alone with his breakfast consisting off toast, eggs, ham and tea. James tucked in heartily, only realizing how hungry he had been when the food stood in front of him. He cleared his plate in record time and had just settled down again, when his door opened. James expected Lily to return on her own, but instead she was accompanied by his parents and Sirius. His mother wrapped him in a tight hug when she saw him awake. She looked older than James remembered and he felt a pang of irrational guilt. She had probably been worried sick about him! His father hugged him as well as soon as his mother had released him. He looked relieved, but also wary and alert. It did not make him look older, but suddenly James could picture his father as an on-duty auror more vividly than ever. The hard shine in his eyes seemed very fitting for a hard-boiled dark wizard catcher. Last in line was Sirius, who of course used this opportunity to act even more like a dog when usual. He jumped on James's bed and wrapped him in so tight a hug that James feared for his ribs.

'Get off, Padfoot,' wheezed James when he had enough air to do so. 'Get off, you bloody mutt.'

'Sirius,' chided Mrs. Potter gently. 'Let the poor boy breath.'

'Yes, mum,' said Sirius with a huge grin on his face. James had no doubt that had his friend been in his animagus form, his tail would have been wagging like crazy.

'You are completely mental, Sirius, do you know that?' asked Lily, seeming rather amused at his antics.

'Well, it runs in the family after all,' said Sirius, cheekily. 'But I don't see how I am mental for being happy to see James awake. We were so worried about you, sweetie!'

He gave James a rather sloppy kiss on the cheek. James, who was rather annoyed now, used the opportunity to shift his body abruptly, causing Sirius to lose his balance and almost toppling from the bed.

''I am glad to see you too, but you don't have to be a git about it,' he said. 'I am glad to see you too, but you don't have to be a git about it. Where is Peter? And where is my wand?'

'Peter is with his mother,' said Mr. Potter. 'The poor woman did not take it well that Peter was attacked. She has trouble coming to terms with it. I tried to tell her that Peter had been lucky and that nothing serious had happened to him, but I don't think I have reached her. She is keeping a very close eye on him at the moment. I just hope that she will let him return to Hogwarts without making a scene.'

'Unbelievable,' said James. 'I am the one getting kidnapped and she has kittens about Peter who only got stunned. It is too bad that he isn't coming. I wanted to thank him for raising the alarm. You arrived just in time.'

'Looking at you, I think we did arrive rather too late,' said Sirius. 'You look horrible, mate. I thought their potions were going to make you feel better. At least we managed to recover your wand. It is back home in the manor.'

'The healers need time to do their work, Sirius,' said Lily waspishly. 'You could be a bit nicer about it as well. James knows very well that he is not alright.'

'Can you tell us what happened, James?' asked Mr. Potter. 'Peter could not tell us much. He only told us that you were having some kind of panic attack in the Leaky Cauldron and wanted to leave early. Then you apparently were attacked outside the pub and taken away.'

'It wasn't a bloody panic attack,' said James, feeling rather annoyed. 'I just spotted Rosier and two other Death Eaters in the pub. They noticed Peter and me as well and suddenly two of them were gone and Rosier, who had remained, looked rather pleased with himself. I had a bad feeling about this and figured that I should get out of the pub. Macnair jumped us outside the pub and stunned Peter. I duelled him and had disarmed him when Nott showed up and stunned me. When I regained consciousness, I was in some kind of cellar and bound to a chair.'

'You know the names of the Death Eaters who kidnapped you?' asked his father sharply.

'Yes. Nott and Macnair were the ones who took me. There was another one in the house who they called Malfoy. I suspect that it is Lucius Malfoy, but I cannot be certain.'

'Very interesting,' said Mr. Potter. 'That ought to be enough for the Ministry to at least investigate them. I am not sure whether anything is going to stick though. You were stunned and cursed after all, so it would probably be rather easy to dismiss your testimony.'

'They can't just ignore it,' said Sirius, looking outraged at the very thought. 'How much proof do they need before they start acting against these gits? Should they confess before getting arrested? James knows their names and is a credible witness. That has to be enough!'

'Sirius the Ministry has to stick to the law,' said Mr. Potter. 'As long as there is no hard proof, they are only suspected of a crime. If the Ministry considers James credible enough, they will start a formal investigation, but even then the accused may still walk if the case against them is not strong enough. It is not easy to convict Death Eaters if they are clever enough.'

'Incredible,' said Sirius bitterly. 'We know for a fact that every bloody Death Eaters carries the Dark Mark. All we have to do is to take a look at their arms to know the truth for Merlin's sake!'

'You cannot force them to reveal their arms,' said Lily quietly. 'They would need to be ordered to do so by the Wizengamot and they are not going to issue such an order without a good reason to do it. It is a violation of the accused's privacy after all.'

'How on earth do you know that?' asked Sirius.

'There was a rather interesting series of articles on the subject in the Daily Prophet,' said Lily. 'The author argued for the abolishment of certain laws as long as the Death Eaters are not stopped. This rule was one he found particularly offensive.'

'Well, he is quite right,' said Sirius. 'It is pure and utter madness.'

'Maybe,' said Mr. Potter. 'But it is also a cornerstone of our rule of law. We cannot just throw it away when it becomes inconvenient! I was an auror for close to fifty years and there were times when the law got in the way of what I wanted to do. Nevertheless, I obeyed it because without the law my work would be pointless as there would be nothing for me to protect.'

'And if we stick too them too long the Death Eaters will win and we will have nothing left to protect either,' said Sirius hotly. 'Principles are great things, but we should make sure we win this war before we start getting picky about our methods.'

'I don't think this is the proper place to discuss this,' said Mrs. Potter as her husband and Lily both opened their mouths to respond. 'You can discuss this at length when we are back home. James here needs to rest and we do him no good by arguing about it.'

'You are right of course, dear,' said Mr. Potter, looking rather sheepish. James felt a small grin take over his face. His mother was a natural at castigating other people. It was a nice change to see it directed at other people, though. 'What happened in the cellar, James?'

'Not too much,' said James. 'I overheard the Death Eaters and quickly learned that Voldemort was on his way. The Death Eaters harassed me a little bit, telling me that their master was going to offer me to join them and that I should better accept if I wanted to stay alive.'

'Fools,' said Sirius. 'If they knew you at all, they would know that there is no way you would become a bloody Death Eater. It is a ridiculous idea.'

'Yes,' said James. 'But you have to remember that we have tried to convince them for the better part of a year that it could happen. Seems that our strategy has borne fruit.'

James's father look like he had eaten something unpleasant at the words. It had been his idea to blur the lines in the conflict after all and it seems that it had worked a little too well.

'What?' asked Lily looking shocked. 'What kind of ridiculous plan is that? Were you actually considering to join the Death Eaters?'

'Of course not,' snapped Mr. Potter. 'It was a gambit! I wanted the Death Eater to consider us potential allies, so we could stay neutral in the conflict for as long as possible. I did not want my family to suffer needlessly as I was sure that the Ministry was about to catch this maniac. It seems that I was wrong.'

'And what about all the poor families who don't have this option?' asked Lily hotly. 'Were you just going to hide behind your blood status and leave them to suffer on their own?'

'They are already in danger no matter who I publically support,' said Mr. Potter pointedly. 'Nobody in my family is in the position to fight the Death Eaters directly. James and Sirius are too young and Victoria and I are way too old. The Ministry will handle this problem in time.'

'It still is cowardly,' said Lily. She had crossed her arms over her chest and glared at James's father. 'You could publically support the Ministry or maybe at least donate some gold to the auror department. But you opt to do nothing. All that is needed for the Death Eaters to win is for people like you to turn a blind eye to their murders.'

'Oh, believe me, I don't intended to just sit by and watch them take over this country,' said Mr. Potter. His voice was carefully controlled and James was surprised that his father was still that calm. If he had talked back to him like this, his father would have castigated him by now. He probably had more patience with Lily, because she was Muggle-born and not a part of the family.

'The difference between a smart man and a foolish man is that the smart man knows not only what he must do, but also when he must do it. Recklessly jumping into action will do us no good, it will only hurt us in the long run. I have already lost friends to the Death Eaters, because they were too outspoken over their pro-Muggle believes. I will not replicate their mistakes. Should I die in this conflict, I want my death to be part of something meaningful and not just some random tragic footnote. What have you done for the Bones family, Miss Evans? They were strong protectors of Muggles and Muggle-born alike. They were good people and all they have reaped for the good deeds was the scorn of the purists as well as an early grave. Forgive, me but that is not that appealing to me.'

'Richard, be gentle with her,' said James's mother. 'What my husband is trying to say it that the most obvious path to take is not always the right one. However, our family knows where it stands and that is with the Ministry and in defence of Muggle-borns.'

Lily seemed slightly mollified by this clarification.

'If you are all quite finished with biting your heads off, I can continue my story,' said James lightly.

'Right,' said Mr. Potter. 'Please, go ahead.'

'Well, the Death Eaters left me alone rather quickly,' said James. 'So, for a while I had nothing to do but to wait for their master. When he finally showed up, he did indeed made me the offer to join the Death Eaters. He told a lot of rubbish about how the Muggles are keeping us trapped in our small part of the world and how Muggle-borns were not to be trusted. In short, he tried to tell me why he was in truth the righteous side in the conflict.'

'What an utter load of rubbish,' said Sirius. 'Do you think he really believes that? Maybe it is just a pretence to recruit all the purist.'

'No, I think he genuinely believes it,' said James. 'He was very passionate about the subject. It was the only time he actually seemed alive. Otherwise, he seemed like some kind of mockery of a human being. He has a very strange face and he does not move properly. He is fast and powerful, but there is just something wrong with him.'

'Interesting,' said his father. 'Dark magic is known to twist the ones using it. Maybe this is what happened to him.'

'I can't believe that you have spoken to the most dangerous dark wizard of our age,' said Lily. She was rather pale and looked horrified at his words. 'He must be a monster.'

'He is,' said James. 'Anyway, I tried to keep him talking, because I wanted to buy some time. I figured that you could use the ring to track me down and that I only needed to stay alive until you could get me. However, he pressed me for a decision. I considered lying, but he is very good at detecting that, so I had no choice but to tell him that there was no way I was going to become part of his gang of murderers. He took it rather badly.'

'The Cruciatus?' asked Sirius.

'Yes,' said James. 'He told that he would give me one chance to reconsider. Then, he hit me with the curse to give me an incentive to think about the consequences of my choice. The curse was insanely strong. When he was done, I was only barely conscious. However, then there was some commotion and Voldemort left me alone to investigate. I wanted to make something out of this opportunity, but I was too weak. I blacked out and woke up here. I assume that was when you arrived. Lily told me that Sirius and you, dad, were part of the rescue party.'

'Yes, they insisted on accompanying the aurors,' said his mother with obvious disapproval in her voice. 'Absolutely ridiculous if you ask me. Sirius is not even done with school and your father is way too old to duel anyone. I told them to leave it to Alastor and the rest of the aurors, but as usual they didn't listen to me. I am just glad that they got back in one piece. I would have never forgiven them if they got themselves hurt in such a foolish mission.'

'I told you that we would be fine,' said Mr. Potter. 'And I may be old, but I am not dead yet. I used to be quite a formidable auror back in my days as you probably remember.'

'Yes, but this was thirty years ago. You were quickly promoted and spent most of your time in the Ministry on your desk and not in the field. And you just said that you were too old to fight yourself.'

'So, you tracked me with the help of the ring and used your contacts to get Mad-Eye to help, is that right?' asked James. His parents could argue about whether or not it had been a good idea for his father and Sirius to chase after him at some other point in time.

'His name is Alastor Moody,' said his father sternly. 'And yes that is about what had happened. Peter showed up at the manor in the middle of the night in quite a state. He told us what had happened and I immediately contacted Alastor. Fortunately, he is a light sleeper and it did not take much persuasion for me to get him to help us. He is very eager to catch some Death Eaters after all. While he gathered a group of aurors, I used the heritage ring to find you. It was a bit tricky because the house where you were kept was heavily warded, but I managed to track you down nevertheless. As soon as I had a fix on the location, we moved out. Sirius insisted on accompanying me and I had no time to spare to convince him to stay at home. Alastor managed to rouse nine other aurors, so were twelve when we arrived there.'

'And what happened when you got there?' asked James. 'The Death Eaters must have put up a fight.'

'Yes, but we had the element of surprise on our side,' said his father. 'We encountered no resistance at first. When the Death Eaters noticed us, they could only slow us down slightly. We outnumbered them significantly. Everything was under control until Voldemort showed up. He unleashed a barrage on spells on us and forced us to take cover. Two aurors were injured by his spells and we can consider us lucky that no one his killing cursed hit their target. For a moment, I was sure that he was going to defeat us all by himself, but he only wanted to buy some time for his retreat. He summoned a thick fog which prevent us from seeing anything properly and disapparated together with his cronies. When we could see clearly again, we searched the rest of the house and found you in the cellar. Sirius and I got you to the hospital while Alastor and the rest of the aurors turned the house upside down, looking for any information about the Death Eaters. I don't think that they have found anything useful, though.'

'So, they all got away?' asked James. 'There will be no repercussions for them?'

'We will see,' said Mr. Potter. 'When you are feeling better, Alastor will send some men to interview you. Once they have your statement, they will follow any leads you give them. Maybe something will come out of it. You have some names after all.'

'In the meantime you should focus on getting better,' said his mother gently. 'Let the aurors do their job and try to enjoy the rest of your last year in school. The war will find you soon enough.'

'You are probably right about that,' said James. 'Dad, I am sorry for ending your attempt to stay neutral that abruptly. There was nothing I can do to stall Voldemort and joining him was never an option.'

'It is fine, James,' said his father. 'The plan was only meant to buy time after all. It has fulfilled his purpose even though the war has not ended yet. In fact, I am rather glad I can openly support the Ministry now. Toeing the line all the time is quite exhausting. You have done the right thing by standing up to Voldemort and I am very proud of you.'

'Yeah, Prongs has his moments,' said Sirius. 'I have to say, I am a bit disappointed that I missed most of the fun. I barely got to do anything during the raid. I think I got to fire one hex or so before Voldemort showed up and I had to take cover. Shortly, later all of them were gone. I would have loved to have a chat with the most dangerous dark wizard of all time. It properly was extremely interesting!'

Predictably, neither Lily nor his mother found that statement particularly funny. Both of them started to berate Sirius about the seriousness of the situation and about how impious his wish was to meet someone as dangerous as the Dark Lord. James settled back in to his pillows and let them talk. He felt positively full after his breakfast and just wanted to relax a little. He was still alive, safe and nobody had died during the rescue attempt. It was enough to be grateful for in these troubled times.