Separation

"Stop him!" one of the wizards hollered. Peter Pettigrew bolted into the ballroom with three dark wizards chasing him. Some guests shrieked in surprise, others attempted to grab Peter for the dark wizards. The mousy young man scurried through the grand room as he tried to break his pursuers' lines of sight. "You pathetic little blood traitor!" one of the dark wizards shouted as he waved his wand and sent red sparks toward Pettigrew.

As Peter ran past him, James broke away from Bellatrix, whipped out his wand, and quickly blocked the red sparks from hitting his friend. "Run!" Peter shouted.

Bellatrix's head whipped towards James and back at Peter. Her dark eyes filled with rage. "INTRUDERS! BLOOD TRAITORS! GET THEM! GET THEM ALL!" she bellowed.

All guests with skull masks drew their wands and started sending sparks of all colors flying at James and Peter. Some of the other guests took cover under tables, while others disapparated or bolted out the door. Sirius and Remus drew their wands and fired red sparks back, stunning at least five Death Eaters. "We need to get out of here! Now!" James barked as he bolted towards the door, frantically searching the area for his wife. Sirius and Remus trailed closely behind him, each sending red and blue sparks outward towards the wizards closing in on the trio. "Where's Lily?" James quickly asked his friends.

Lily gently placed Rabastan Lestrange behind a tree in the front yard of the manor. She dusted off her dress and adjusted her mask. "Sweet dreams, Lestrange," Lily whispered. She heard a rumbling from above and stared up at the cloudy night sky. Thunder. A storm is closing in, Lily thought.

Suddenly, a commotion of lights and screams erupted from inside the dark mansion. Lily's green eyes widened in panic. She drew her wand and rushed back towards the house, cursing herself for choosing high-heeled shoes for the party. The first drops of rain began to fall as a sea of black poured out onto the lawn. Lily pushed her way through the crowd of black, searching for red, white, silver, and green. "James?" she called. "Sirius? Remus? Wormy? Anyone?"

"Lily!" Relief washed over her as she collided with her husband. James wrapped his arms around her for a moment. "Thank Merlin, you're all right!" he smiled as he took her hand and led the group into a small corner. All of them knelt behind the hedges to hide as dark wizards began pushing through the crowd.

"What happened in there?" Lily whispered.

"Wormtail made a mess of things," Sirius growled.

Remus shook his head. "Don't blame Peter. You were about to blow the operation yourself."

Sirius glared at Remus. "What is that supposed to mean, Remus?" Sirius hissed.

"Stop it! Both of you!" said James. "This isn't going to help us. 'Doesn't matter how our cover was blown. What matters is how we're going to get out of here." He slowly raised his head above the thick hedges to scan their surroundings. Most of the crowd has dispersed. Some went back inside Malfoy Manor. Others took off on brooms or disapparated. But, to James's dismay, the lawn was still occupied by many men with black skull masks.

"Where's Wormy?" Lily questioned the boys.

Remus took off his mask and looked down at the grass, ashamed. "We all got separated before we left the house. I saw him run off in another direction. I don't know where he is."

Lily frowned and shook her head. "We can't just leave him! He's as good as dead if we do! You know what they're like!"

James lowered his head and turned to face the group. "You're right. Of course, you're right." The gears turned in James's head as he came up with a plan. "I can go after Peter. I bet that will distract the Death Eaters outside long enough for all of you to get out of here. Then, we meet back at the safe house. Easy enough."

"No! Not 'easy enough'! You're not going in there without any backup!" Sirius protested.

"Sirius," James placed a comforting arm around his best friend, "I'm giving you and Remus an important job, alright? If they find out Lily is a muggle-born and they catch her…" his voice trailed off for a moment. "Look, they can't catch her. And Moony, well, they want werewolves for the wrong reasons. We already know that. I'm trusting you to look after the group. I'm putting you in charge, mate. Make sure they all get back to the safe house in one piece."

"But who's going to look after you?" Sirius retorted. "And don't say Peter."

James smirked. "Well, obviously I can look after myself, right? I'm James Potter. Nothing will ever bring me down."

Sirius elbowed his best friend. "Now is not the time to be an arrogant little berk, Prongs!"

James shrugged his arm off of Sirius. "You got a better idea?"

"Yeah, I go get Peter. You go with your wife, and we'll be back at the house in an hour." Sirius offered.

"Bellatrix would kill you on site. At least she would hesitate if it was someone who just blocked a spell. I'm not a disowned relative. No offense, mate." James countered.

"All good; it was a fair point. My new family is much better." Sirius gave a wink.

Worry began to spread across Lily's face. "James, I don't want you to leave," she said, her eyes pleading for James to stay with her and their friends.

"I don't either, Lily. But I can't leave Peter. We'll be fine. I promise. Go with Sirius and Remus back to the house, and I'll meet you there." James tried to convince Lily to leave. He knew they wouldn't kill him, but he couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her.

Lily reluctantly nodded. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," James whispered back, giving his wife a quick kiss. The four friends rose to their feet. He looked at Remus and Sirius. "Take care of her, alright?" With somber nods from his friends, James turned and started to walk towards the mansion.

"James, be careful!" Lily quickly shouted.

James turned back briefly, an arrogant, boyish smile on his face. "Always." With a small pivot, he broke into a run and reentered the mansion through the front doors.

James crept through the halls and carefully made his way back to the ballroom, scanning the rooms for his friend. He glanced down at the floor, wondering if Peter was using his Animagus powers.

"HE'S OVER HERE!" he heard one of the dark wizards holler. James sprinted towards the voice, wand at the ready.

When he entered the ballroom, he saw ten Death Eaters surrounding Peter. Without hesitating, James hurled red sparks towards the figures in black masks. "Run, Wormtail!" James ordered his friend. One of the Death Eaters launched blue sparks towards him that hit James in the shoulder. He grunted as he felt his muscles and joints near his shoulder tighten.

Peter broke out from the swarm of wizards and darted towards James. "Prongs, look out!"

"Pertrificus Totalus!" Bellatrix screeched. Before James could react, he saw his friend's body stiffen and fall to the ground with a thud!

"Peter!" James knelt next to his friend, ready to perform a counter curse. "Fin-

Before he could get a single word out, Bellatrix shouted again. "Expelliarmus!" James's wand flew from his hand and into Bellatrix's. She pointed her crooked wand at the pair of friends. "There are two ways this can go. Surrender now, and possibly live. Or don't surrender, and we send your bodies back to your friends. In pieces," she snickered.

James's face went pale. He looked around and saw more Death Eaters pouring into the ballroom. He slowly raised his hands. Bellatrix approached the boys with a wicked grin. "Oh, we are going to have so much fun."