There is a hornet in the room
and one of us will have to go.

Buried at Springs

James Schuyler

"Avada Kedavra."

Sirius grimaced, casting a wordless Protego. For a glorious moment, Harry thought dully, it worked, his mouth hanging open at Sirius' cringing form. He made for catching him but before he could reach him, Harry saw Sirius fall backwards. Through the archway. Swallowed in a whitish piece of fabric.

Harry's stomach dropped to his shoes and he instinctively took three big steps. The unknown danger didn't matter. Didn't even register.

However, before he could pass through the archway, something solid — someone — collided hard with him. Sirius, Harry thought relieved, his heart beating hard in his chest.

"Sirius!"

"Sirius!" A twin scream came from the solid form holding onto Harry. He frowned, wondering why Sirius would shout his own name, only to come eye-to-eye with a stranger. No, not a stranger, his own father staring down at him. Or at least what Harry knew to be his father through the pictures and the image in the Mirror of Erised.

Harry jerked away from his fath— no, the man's arms like it burned him. Obviously, that was a trick. Someone, a Death Eater of course, was trying to get to him. But how could they remember James' face so well to replicate him in so much detail?

Before Harry or the James replica could close their mouths and say something, Remus put himself between the two, his wand raised and ready to Stun the intruder.

"Stand behind me, Harry!" Harry noticed his wand arm shaking despite his firm words. "Drop the illusion before I make you, I assure you it'll be much more unpleasant."

The man — in truth only slightly older than a teenager — in front of Remus was anything but threatening, Harry thought. He stayed there with both his hands raised and wearing a surprised face until something like a lightning bolt went through his eyes.

"M-moony, is that you?"

Remus' wand faltered just a little before he took a better hold of it. Harry could only see Remus' back straightening, making him stand taller as if preparing for the worst.

"I see," he said in a hard tone. "Don't say I didn't warn you, this is going to hurt," he said with a trace of sarcasm in his voice.

"What the hell is going on, Moony? Where are we anyway?" Remus seemed to cringe every time the James copy used the nickname. While the young man seemed completely oblivious to the situation. He was looking around the room, making a show of looking completely surprised.

Harry felt unsure he was really a threat to anyone or maybe that was exactly the tattiest he was going with. Making himself look non-threatening.

"I have had enough of this. This has been a very trying day, so I will simply deliver you to the Aurors. They'll be glad to put away another Death Eater."

"Oh. Right, right." His lively eyes seemed at odds with the situation."First and foremost the identification. Almost forgot. Let's see…it was 'Lupin? Are you sure you're Welsh?'"

Harry thought the bloke had either took a blow to the head or was a complete idiot. But Remus faltered again.

"What did you say?" Remus said in a small, stunned voice. He let his wand arm hang this time, like the weird words coming from the James copy sapped every ounce of strength from him. Fed up with being in this absurd situation, Harry took a step forward, coming side by side with Remus.

"What does that mean?"

Remus acquired his senses back just in time to extend an arm to push Harry forcefully behind him, only this time Harry dug his heels in.

"Please, Harry, stay behind me until I sort this out."

"I'd like to know what is this exactly." Harry grabbed Remus' forearm, trying to meet his eyes without success.

"Harry? Your name is Harry?"

The James copy took a step forward, his earnest hazel eyes trained on Harry. The gesture looked so natural it made Harry stare and then look away. Too real.

Remus' raised wand was eloquent enough to the James copy, who immediately took a step back, his arms raised in the air in a gesture Harry had seen only in muggle films.

"Leave him out of this. Don't you have any decency." The disgust was dripping from Remus' firm voice.

Harry inhaled and reminded himself what he was trying to do before he had collided with…that man. Sirius. He was going after his godfather who might as well be very alive. Waiting. Waiting for someone to free him. If this Death
Eater's ploy was to get to Harry, disguising as James to confuse him and bring him to Voldemort, it wasn't a very smart one. The rest of the Order's members were just outside the rectangular room, delivering the Death Eaters they had caught. The man was trapped, Harry reasoned, he wouldn't try anything now. He thought it was worth it to take a risk.

"Yes, my name is Harry. Siri— the man that went through the archway. Did you see him as you came through?" said Harry, his mind focused on only one thing, ignoring with all his might he was having a conversation with his father. The important thing, he reminded himself pointedly to stay on subject to keep from thinking too much, was that this man maybe knew where the archway sent people. He could still save Sirius. It was just a magical archway like a Portkey probably, nothing bad could have happened to Sirius. Harry was sure. He had to be sure.

"Oh, you know Sirius, then. I wanted to ask you the same thing. One moment I'm in Godric's Hollow, the next I hear someone shouting Sirius' name and here I am."

Harry bit his lower lip. He couldn't get anything from him. Whatever they were playing at, only made Harry angry. Furious, actually. He needed the information now. The Death Eater had to know he was caught, why was he still going along with this farce anyway? It was over for him.

"Whoah, whoah, Moony. I just proved to you I really am James. Won't you point that wand away?" The man raised both his hands up in the air in alarm as soon as he saw Remus start to cast Incarcerous.

"I don't know who told you the code we used during the war, but the miraculous resurrection is a bit of a stretch, Death Eater." A red spell came from Remus' wand and robust ropes wrapped around the man in front of them.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Moony. This is getting ridiculous—"

"I agree."

"I have no idea what you're talking about! I am not a Death Eater in disguise," he sighed, trying to pass a hand through his messy hair and forgetting his arm was currently glued to his thigh. "I don't know why you're acting like this. I proved—"

"Why do you think?! The real James Potter has been dead for over fourteen years!"

The man's head snapped up so hard he almost lost his balance in his current tied-up state.

"What—what's that supposed to mean? I am here. Alive. Moony, what are you talking about—"

Harry had to give it to him. He was putting up quite the show. Whoever he was. If Harry didn't know better, he would have thought he was some kind of actor. Were there even actors in the Wizarding World? Probably not. Just a skilled liar.

Suddenly, Remus, who had stopped paying attention to anything the James replica was saying, waved his arm as soon as he saw Tonks enter the room. "Over here! I've got a nasty one here."

As she approached, Harry noticed Tonks' bubblegum hair was all over the place and a portion of it was singed. Otherwise, she looked okay as she came towards them jogging a little, only to immediately lose her balance when she saw who exactly had Remus caught.

"What in Merlin's—"

"Exactly," Remus said before she could finish the sentence. "I would dispel his disguise before interrogating this one, Tonks. Might cause a tumult."

"Tonks? The bloke that married Sirius' cousin?" Tonks raised an eyebrow, curious and a little disturbed all at once while Remus simply let out a breath.

"You can drop it," Remus said firmly, barely sparing him a warning glance.

"You're not going to convince anyone."

"Alright," he sighed, rolling his eyes like this was a huge waste of time. "If you're not convinced, do what you must. At least this thing will be over and done."

"You can bet on it, arsehole," Tonks said, her mouth in a twist as her wand aimed directly in between the man's eyes, who visibly gulped a little.

"Revelio."

Even if Harry couldn't get a word out of him, he was looking intently at the tied man, more than a little curious to see the face of the arsehole trying to impersonate his father.

But when the white light dissipated, James Potter was simply looking back at them with his lively hazel eyes that seemed to say I told you so.