Chapter 15 (Together)

He came in front of the door, stopping his way.

"James!" All of them shouted.

"What are you doing, Prongs?"

"Show it." He shouted, pinning Peter to the wall.

Last time he had found out someone was a death eater, he was calm. Because, he didn't know the risks then. But, now he did. He knew what these people could do. He hadn't lost anyone then. But, now he knew what it meant. He had too much to lose. And, he didn't want to lose anymore family members.

"Tell them." He shouted. "Tell them how you betrayed them! How you betrayed me! And, LEFT ME TO DIE THERE!"

"James, what are you talking about?" Sirius asked, bewildered.

"This rat knows exactly what I am talking about." He snatched Peter Pettigrew's arm and ripped his sleeve off.

Lily gasped. So did Rainie. But, Sirius…..he was in a state of shock. That dark mark…….Sirius had heard so much about but never seen. It was the ugliest thing he had ever seen.

"Sirius…." Peter squeaked.

Sirius recoiled away in disgust.

"Lily…." He turned towards the women who might save him from James's wrath. "Rainie."

"Not her." James snarled, pulling him away from Lily and Rainie. "Not her either."

"Forgive me, James." He squeaked.

"Get out!" James grabbed him by the collar and pushed him into the wall. "Out!"

"Give me your wand, Lil." He said, suddenly. Remembering something.

"James….."

"YOUR WAND, LILY." He shouted.

Lily gave him her wand quietly. He pointed to the Dark Mark. A green light scanned the mark and he threw Pettigrew out of his house.

James tapped the wall softly and a small panel came out. Lily and Rainie watched in amazement. It was a security system James had installed a few months ago. There were a few names on a screen.

"James Potter

Sirius Black

Adriana Black

Remus Lupin

Peter Pettigrew."

He erased Pettigrew's name from the screen and entered 'Lily Evans' on it. She smiled a little proudly. He entered the moving picture of the Dark Mark on the small blank screen. It was a new invention James had found and modified. Anyone with a dark mark wouldn't be able to enter this house. He had been meaning to get an imprint of the dark mark for ages now. Ever since he had Rainie in this house, he worried about her. He worried like a father worried about his daughter.

"I have to go tell Dumbledore about this." He said, shaking his head. "Coming, Padfoot?"

"Yes." Sirius said, still a little shaken. "I am…. "

"Don't open the door for anyone." He turned towards Rainie. "Don't let anyone in…."

James left the same detailed instructions as he always did. And, this time she didn't say 'I know, James'. She was too shaken up by the Pettigrew incident.

"Lock the door, the muggle way and our way." He ended the sentence the same way.

They both disapparated.

"Let's make some dinner." Lily said, putting her arms around Rainie. "We can have dinner together and invite Remus too."

She nodded,"

"I have to go home then," She explained. "My mom was…It's not like I live here or anything."

"I wouldn't believe that if I were you." Rainie grinned.

"What?"

"Nothing." She shrugged.

Rainie and Lily started preparing dinner. Rainie didn't know how to cook, she only helped around the kitchen when James or Sirius cooked. Lily didn't cook either because her mother did. They took out an old cookbook of Mrs. Potter's. They tried making a dish she used to make. It was for James. He had gone through a hard time and Lily wanted to do something once for him.

James and Sirius reported Pettigrew to the Order of the Phoenix and bought a new wand for James and didn't return home until sun down with Remus with them.

"Hello!" Remus shouted, coming inside, "Rainie? Lily?"

"In here." Rainie shouted back. "The dining room."

They all walked into the room,

"Oh….who made dinner?" James asked, smiling.

The angry face, the vicious man Rainie saw a few hours ago was gone. She wouldn't ever admit it, but she felt a little scared of James then.

"We did." Lily smiled.

"Ah…..She did." Rainie raised her hands in the air as if to step away from all the claims. She knew how much James loved his food and how he couldn't tolerate bad food.

"What?" Lily was a little confused.

"It was all Lily's doing." She grinned.

"Well, I am sure it'll be great." James kissed her cheek and took a seat next to Lily.

"Yeah, thanks. Lils." Remus and Sirius sat down too.

James picked up a fork and took a bite.

"Oh god…" He stopped.

"What?" Lily looked at him.

"Nothing." He said, taking a huge gulp of his fire whisky. "It's good."

His eyes watered.

"Oh, God! Lily….What is this?" Sirius Black had never been able to keep his mouth shut.

"Is it that bad?" Lily looked bewildered. "Remus?"

Remus Lupin shook his head, "I am sure it's good."

He, too, took a bite and choked.

"Rainie?"

"I am afraid to eat."

Sirius laughed.

"It's fine." James took another bite and swallowed it with his fire whisky.

"James….How are you eating this?" Sirius asked, surprised. "He must really love you, Evans."

Sirius stood up and picked up his coat.

"I am getting some chicken from the Chinese place downtown." He said, "Anyone else want anything?"

"I'll have one." Remus put his fork down, so did Rainie and Lily.

"You don't have to eat it, James." Lily said.

"Oh, thank God." James drained his fire whisky in one go, "Get the red chicken with the szechuan sauce, sides not touching the chicken. And, check if they have some sticky rice. Sweet but not so sweet. And sour cream with the chicken. Sour but not so much that I need to drink something in between bites."

Lily listened to everything he said in amazement. Rainie wasn't kidding when she said that James was very particular about most things, especially his food.

"You will have to cook all the time when you two get married." Rainie told James.

"Married?" Lily turned.

"Nothing." Rainie said quickly as James shot an angry look.

After dinner, James and Lily went out for a walk. They were silent for a while. Lily's mind was on the terrible dinner she made that was thrown out even though James was going to suffer through it. James's mind was on his great-grandmother's ring in his left pocket. He wasn't sure how to ask her. He would have made a big surprise but he was scared to set up anything where he had to be alone or had to leave her alone somewhere. He wasn't sure where to start.

"By the way, your parents are coming over for dinner next week." He said. "As a thank you for taking care of me."

"Oh, you didn't have to do that." She shook her head.

"Yeah, but I wanted to." She said, "You should invite your sister if you want."

"I don't know, James." She didn't want to see Petunia anymore. "I don't think it'll be a good idea."

"If that's what you think." James shrugged.

It wasn't like he liked Petunia. He was just trying to be a nice person.

"And, now that you have invited your parents over." James teased her, "I think we might have something to celebrate."

"Yeah, like what?" She didn't mind the teasing.

"I was wondering…." He said, "If you would.."

He came in front of her.

"Marry me?" He took out the box from his pocket and opened it.

(HAPPY READING, Y'ALL!)