It had started out as a good day. James hadn't run into any blood purists who were intent on cursing him, or taunting him, based on the day. He hadn't punched Sirius even once yet, and Lily had smiled at him again. She had even waved at him! Peter was halfway done with the map drawing, James had found and mastered the spells that would be necessary to semi-animate it, and password protect it, and Remus had finally slept for more than 4 hours. He didn't have detention, there were no crazy illegal trips to Knockturn alley with magical creatures and certainly no trade of illegal books on dark arts that he had participated in.

Of course, that's why James should've known the day would go bad.

It all started, as most things did, with the owls arriving with the post. Students were chattering as usual, laughter and jeers rising from around him, conversation ebbing and flowing. James was too tired that morning to participate in the conversations, but that didn't mean he didn't pay attention.

"It's not like you can do better," Sirius said, pointing his fork at Remus. They were arguing about non-verbal spells James assumed, but the tension between them belied more trouble. "I could hear you muttering the spells under your breath."

Remus lifted his knife up, to combat Sirius' fork no doubt and said, "You wouldn't know silent and non-verbal if it shit on your face."

James put another bite into his mouth so that he didn't laugh at them. Peter was laughing at them, but Peter had actually managed to blow up something with a non-verbal spell. James was sure that it hadn't been his intention, even if Peter swore that had been his aim.

"How would spells shit on my face, you arse?" Sirius asked, before shoveling a few bites worth of food into his mouth.

James bit his tongue. Sirius and his manners were sometimes the most entertaining thing James had seen. Sirius couldn't speak with food in his mouth, mainly because he found it disgusting and under his pureblood self, but he could and would shovel food into his mouth like he was starved because he didn't understand that people could choke on their food and die.

James almost spoke then, except the whole hall fell silent. Rushed murmurs and whispered conversations took place, but the terror and horror threaded through the words wasn't normal. James didn't know what had happened, and neither did Remus or Sirius.

He turned to Peter, who had got hold of a newspaper.

"What happened?" Remus asked, quiet as he usually was. "What's wrong?"

Peter's hands were shaking. James reached over and pulled the paper out of his hands, and placed it in between Sirius and himself, so they could read it together, when the heading forced his mind into action.

Children kidnapped by death eaters in Diagon Alley, last Sunday.

Last Sunday. The day they had been in Knockturn Alley. The day Malfoy and Narcissa Black were in Knockturn Alley. The day Lily was there.

"What happened?" Remus asked, slightly more panicked and forceful.

James ignored him and turned back to the paper. He had to find out anything he could. Could they have done something to help? Had he seen any of the children? None of them had seen death eaters, James knew that. They would've mentioned it if they had, right?

Sirius had a death grip on the newspaper, even as his eyes flashed with anger. "How dare they kidnap children?"

Remus stilled across from them. "Children?"

"Death Eaters have kidnapped 5 children from Diagon alley," Sirius said, dropping his voice as he added, "the day we were there."

Remus was holding onto the fork so hard that James could see his knuckles turning white. He didn't know what was going on, only that Remus and Sirius were hiding something from him once again. This was really getting old. Standing up, like most of the students in the great hall, James grabbed Sirius' arm and pulled.

"We need to talk," he said, voice deceptively light. He could barely control his temper at the two of them. Why were they lying to him again?

Sirius tried to pull his arm out of James' hold and his grip tightened. "Now, Sirius."

His best friend's eyes narrowed, but James didn't relent. Remus followed them out of the hall with the air of an exasperated child, and Peter was scrambling to follow them still looking very shell-shocked.

'I'll speak to him later,' James thought, focusing more on Sirius and Remus because they knew something.

Flashes of the newspaper kept running through his mind.

Five children. Attack on Diagon Alley. Hidden for security purposes. Wards not activated.

He knew what the last part meant. The wards at Diagon and Knockturn alley only activated when foreign presences invaded. They were designed for protection against foreign wizards, not people who had visited since they were eleven or even before. Anyone who was registered in the British Ministry of Magic as a British witch/wizard or graduate of Hogwarts wouldn't activate the wards. There was a traitor, or a group of them, in their midst. A civil war had been brewing in magical Britain for years now, and this might be the tipping point.

James knew what this meant for the ministry as a whole. For the aurors and hit wizards and their families. For his father, who was an auror, and his mother who was one of the best in the intelligence department.

So, he pushed Sirius into their dorm room and locked the door behind the four of them. Remus obligingly threw up privacy spells.

"What are you hiding from me?" He demanded, shoving Sirius onto his bed. "Why are you lying to me?"

Sirius' eyes flashed. "That's none of your business, James. It's family business, and I can't tell you that."

"Your family practically disowned you," James spat back, knowing that was a sore spot for Sirius. "You ran away from your family."

"I'm still the heir," Sirius yelled, pushing back against James and standing up.

James had to look up to look Sirius in the eyes and he hated that Sirius was taller than him. He hated that he hadn't noticed that Sirius was so much taller than him now. When had that happened? James didn't want to think about it. He couldn't.

"What happened at Diagon Alley that day, Black?" James asked, hating that Sirius refused to speak to him. He didn't know what he had done to deserve this. He couldn't understand why Sirius was pulling away now, even though he knew this had been building for months now, ever since Sirius had turned up on his doorstep, covered in rain.

"We met a couple of my mother's friends," Sirius said. James could see the tightness around his eyes, in the way he had taken a few steps away from him. Sirius hated this just as much as James did, so why wasn't he just telling him? Why couldn't Sirius let go of that goddamn pride of his and just allow him to help? "And I might have threatened them a little bit, before we left."

Remus snorted. "A little bit? You threatened to tell your grandfather and the rest of the Wizengamot on them because you didn't get your way. Then, you proceeded to do the same to Borgin, who is the owner of that shop, because he gave you something counterfeit, which you should have expected the first time. And then, you practically ran from the scene."

James took a breath to calm himself. He couldn't make their argument worse than it already was by punching either of them in the face. Remus and Sirius obviously had something to get out of their systems as well, if their hissed words were anything. They weren't revealing anything more to James though, even as they argued.

"Do you know anything about the kidnapped children?" James interrupted them. "If you do, then I'll have to tell my father. We can't just ignore the fact that children are kidnapped, and we might be witnesses to hide the fact that we broke the rules."

"We weren't going to do that," Remus said, calculating eyes telling another story.

James knew that the two of them had worse morals than Peter and him. Remus would hide anything and everything if it would allow him to have a relatively normal life, even as he tripped himself up with guilt over it. And Sirius, he was a Black, and even being in Gryffindor wouldn't erase years of living in a family that was drenched in secrets and lies.

"There were no death eaters that we saw," Sirius said, voice sharp and cutting. "I would continue to explain the whys and hows, but you aren't the only one with family affected by this, James, and I need to send a letter to some of them."

"We don't know anything about the kidnapped children," Remus added, turning his back to them and closing his curtains. He was done with the conversation.

Sirius glanced over Peter, before meeting James' eyes. His expression was hard and cold, emotionless and so unlike the best friend and brother James had come to know. Sirius pushed past him on the way to the door and left without another word, pulling down the spells as he did.

James sighed, wanting to do nothing more than bury his face in his hands and sigh. Instead, he turned to Peter. His oldest friend was pale, hands still shaking and eyes wide. "Hey, Pete."

Peter turned to him with a watery smile. "James."

He sat beside him and ran his hand through his hair. "Are you doing alright?"

Peter shrugged. "I'm fine."

James sent him a look, and Peter slumped slightly. He didn't know why Peter had been affected so badly; he didn't understand how Peter could be so scared when nothing had happened to them, but he knew that he would help Peter if he ever needed it. "If you want to talk…"

"I'm fine, James," Peter said, taking a deep breath. "I will be fine."

And despite the fact that his best friends wouldn't talk to him and the sinking feeling in his stomach, James hoped that it would be the truth.