Several doctors worked on the paediatrics ward at St Samuel's Hospital for Supernatural Illness. And all of them were good at what they did. But ask any of their patients who their favourite doctor was, and there was only one answer - Dr Evans.

Felicity Evans was the youngest doctor working in the hospital, the best of it's kind in Britain. Her vivacity and flair for life were infectious, and her ready smile brightened her small patients' day. The first thing on her daily plan was to visit Amy Militaris, a five year old who was critically ill. The little girl had been an inmate of the hospital for six months, and she had a particularly deep rooted affection for her young doctor.

"Hi Amy! Where's your mum?" Flick asked. The child in the bed would have been very nondescript were it not for the gaunt face and sunken hazel eyes.

"Mummy went to get a drink." the voice was surprisingly strong and sweet.

"I 'spect I'll see her later." Flick told the child. "What about your Daddy?"

"Daddy's gone away." Amy said, sorrowfully. "He went out on Monday and didn't come back. Mummy's upset, I can tell. He will come back though won't he?" she was pleading for reassurance.

"I don't know sweetheart. I hope so." Flick, as always, was brutally honest. At that moment a woman entered the room.

"Hello Debbie." the hospital favoured an informal approach, and Mr Miltaris and Flick had become good friends. "If you'd like to, then we can go to my office, and talk about Amy's treatment," she saw Amy frown, and continued hurriedly, "once I've talked to you, I can let her know what's going on."

"Okay." Mrs Militaris was resigned, and followed Flick to the small office that the young doctor inhabited.

"Amy said your husband had gone missing. If he isn't coming back, then I think you need to tell her." Even though getting involved in patients' private lives wasn't advisable, Flick took an interest when she felt it affected her patients welfare.

"He'll be back." Debbie was firm. "I just don't know when. He's a tactician at the ministry. I got an owl, apparently he's been kidnapped."

"No!" Flick was shocked. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I didn't know counselling distraught parents was part of your job." Debbie said. "Besides, I couldn't say. It's top secret, I don't want to jeopardise him."

"Look, Debbie, if this has something to do with the Anti-Voldemort faction, you can trust me. My sister and I are orphans thanks to him. She was eleven months old when he murdered my father and stepmother.

Believe me, there's no one out there that could possibly hate him more than I do."

"So why aren't you an Auror? You must be intelligent enough, if you're a doctor." Debbie's point was valid.

"I couldn't go into something that risky. I'm all Kat's got, and I didn't want to risk her being left alone. And I was more suited to medicine than being a heroine."

"I'm going to trust you, simply because I have to tell someone. Paul, my husband, he's been taken prisoner by You-Know-Who and I'm petrified that Amy and I will never see him again. The ministry assures me that he'll be fine. A couple of Aurors are already on the case, but I've seen their profiles. They're awfully young. Apparently, they were both doing Auror work when they were still at school, and Trevallion - at least, I think that's his name - is particularly good at getting out of sticky situation with Potter's aid."

At the mention of a Trevallion and Potter, Flick had caught her breath. Surely there couldn't be any other Trevallion and Potter combinations in the Ministry. But Debbie Militaris had said that Trevallion was male.

"I don't suppose you know their Christian names?" Flick asked.

"No. Why?"

"My friends, James and Lily work together at the ministry, and the description fits them."

"Perhaps it is them. Are they good?"

"The best." she picked up a photo from her desk. "That's them."

"They look to be a bit more than partners to me." Debbie Militaris commented.

"They're engaged." Flick explained. "But don't worry. It won't affect their work. Now, on to-" before she could finish her sentence, Sirius Black entered the room.

"Sirius! What are you doing here? More to the point, who let you in?"

"A few nifty tricks Jimmy boy taught me. Muggle stuff apparently."

"Look, I'm in the middle of talking. Can you wait?"

"Not really. I'm looking for someone by the name of Militaris. Amy Militaris. I was told you know where she is."

"Perhaps I can help." Debbie entered the conversation. "I'm Deborah Militaris, Amy's my daughter."

"Sirius Black. I'm here on orders from the ministry." he turned to Flick. "How much do you know?"

"She knows everything. Right down to who got the case."

"Marvellous. In that case, I don't have to worry about details. Flick, Lily said our mate Voldie would probably go after Amy. Apparently she's a valuable bargaining chip. So our illustrious leader-"

"Lil or James?"

"James, apparently, but I reckon it's more likely to have come from Lily. Anyway, I've been told that I'm now an official bodyguard. All right?"

"Debbie?"

"Fine by me."

"Room 9. Oh, and Sirius?"

"What?"

"Don't wreck the joint." Sirius grinned at her, and then left.

"Right, now, Debbie..."

Chapter 4 - Rescue

"Shhhh!"

"What?!" James hissed at Lily.

"I thought I heard something." she informed him.

"Lil, we're in the middle of a Welsh moor, of course you heard something. But that something is almost definitely not human." Sometimes Lily's air of caution got on James' nerves. Not that she cared. There was a thud.

"Get down!" she hissed, and silently the two of them dropped on to their stomachs. A tall man came into view, and then disappeared.

"Crivis Nod. At least we know we've got the right place." Lily commented. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be - Are you sure this'll work?" James wasn't 100% sure of Lily's plan.

"Nope." she replied, happily. "But it's our best shot." and with that they apparated away.

Lily and James were on their mission. Rescue Paul Militaris from Voldemort, and get out as fast as possible. It was risky, the worst case scenario was a long and painful death. But the young couple wasn't where they were in the Ministry for nothing. The group of Aurors they were part of consisted of the best Aurors in the business. And Lily and James had turned stealth, subtlety and deception in to art-forms.

* * * * *

Earlier that day, Sirius had been with Felicity and Amy at the hospital. And one thing that patients had been quick to notice was the young man's gift at creating bedlam.

"I think you've got a rival." Debbie Militaris had said to Flick one day.

"What do you mean?"

"Amy's rather taken with your young man. At least, I'm guessing he's yours."

"Sirius? Just about. Not that I know why. Do you know, he was one of the best students in our year. You don't think he cursed me or something?"

"Why?"

"Because no one in their right mind would want to spend time with him. Sirius' idea of romance is infesting the house with spiders."

"We all have crosses to bear." Debbie had laughed. But Flick could see how the little girl appreciated his company. He made her laugh, and Flick was the first to admit that her brand of medicine worked much better if taken with a large dose of laughter.

"What're you two up to?" she asked.

"Sirius is going to turn Nurse Sesses' hair green." Amy giggled.

"Good for Sirius." Flick replied, without thinking. Geraldine Sesses was possibly the most annoying person Flick had ever met. "You can't do that!" she exclaimed, realising what Amy had just said.

"Why not?" Sirius asked. "You did it to Snape loads of times!" Amy looked at her doctor questioningly.

"Who's Snape?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter-" Flick began, but Sirius cut her off.

"Our mortal enemy." he told her, grinning wickedly. "Felicity's a bit more fiery than she lets on. She was always doing things to him."

"Cheek!" Flick exclaimed. "You were worse!"

"That, my dear, is because I was the master, and you were the apprentice."

After hitting him, Flick turned to Amy.

"Don't let him contaminate your mind." she told the child. "He used to have detention every night of every term. It got to the point where we didn't plan anything for the evening because either he or James or Remus or Peter - some of my other friends - would be in detention."

"Cool!" Amy exclaimed.

* * * * *

Lily and James had made it as far as the prison wing of the lair. Lily was proficient at Charms, and before long, she had them blending in with everyone else. Getting keys for the cells, on the other hand, would be a bit harder.

"We'll have to snatch them." James told her. It's the only way."

"That's all well and good." she informed him, "but what if they've got some kind of security system we don't know about?"

"We don't stick around and ask questions. We leg it." James said, brusquely. "You ready?" The two of them had done this before. She'd create a diversion while he got the keys.

"Does it matter?"

"Nope."

Ten minutes later and they had keys.

"You took your time." Lily said, cuttingly.

"Had to find the right bloke, and get them off of him. And when they're on his belt, it's not as easy as it seems." He nodded at her. In silence they began looking into the cells. It broke Lily's heart to see the state of some of the prisoners, and if she were in charge, then they'd all be free. But she wasn't in charge, and so Paul Militaris would be the only one to escape the torture that Voldemort's supporters inflicted on decent people.

"Over here." James called softly. Lily peered into the cell he was gesturing to, and saw a middle aged man, desolate and alone. James unlocked the door.

"Paul Militaris." he said.

"Not again!" the man exclaimed. "How many times do I have to tell you! I don't know!! And even if I did, I wouldn't let you in on the big secret."

"We're so glad of that." Lily said gently. "Luckily for you, we are in on the big secret, and I'm betting we know. Are you ready to go? I'm Lily, this is James, and we're leaving this joint about now. I'm guessing you want to see your daughter again."

Once they were out of the cell they could apparate away to the lodgings that James and Lily were using for their Welsh stay. Once they were in the cottage, nursing cups of tea, Lily explained everything.

"I expect Sirius'll be keen to meet you." she concluded. "From what I hear, he and Amy get on exceptionally well. We'll stay here tonight, and go back to the ministry tomorrow. You can go to the hospital from there."

The lights were smothered, and three very weary souls took to their beds.

Chapter 5 -

Even though Paul Militaris was now safely back at work, Amy was under constant guard. Voldemort did not take kindly to defeat, and those at the Ministry felt that it was in her best interest to protect her. Hospital staff had grown used to seeing Sirius Black in Amy's room, the two of them laughing at some private joke that inevitably resulted in mischief of one form or another.

Two weeks after Sirius had turned up, Flick walked into Amy's room and got another surprise.

"Lily?" Flick exclaimed in astonishment. For there, in a comfortable chair by the bed, sat her red headed friend, huge book in her hand. Which was about as different as you could get from Sirius, who sat on the bed and taught Amy all sorts of 'useful' things to get her into trouble.

"Hi Flick! Sirius and James went off on an assignment. Remus has some time off." Remus was Sirius' partner, "and I took pity on you and Amy and suggested that the two of them take this together. Which means that when I get back, they'll have blown up the entire building, but never mind. I'm here for a week, then Remus and I are off to do something, and Peter will stay with Amy. We were just reading The Borrowers weren't we Amy?"

"Lily says it's a muggle book." Amy explained. "She read it when she was little."

"I expect she was a bit bigger than you, though. Is your mum coming today?"

"She said she'd come and see me this evening with Daddy, but she's working today." Amy explained calmly.

"Great. Well, I'll do my professional bit, and then I'll leave the two of you to it. Only, I might pop back at lunchtime to have a gossip with Lily. Is that all right Amy?"

"Yep." the child agreed readily. She was enjoying the company of her young doctor's friends. Sirius had made her cry with laughter, and Lily had introduced herself and her book that morning. Amy, a bookworm, thanks to her time in bed, was gleeful at this chance to extend her literary knowledge.

So, for a week, Amy came to know Lily Trevallion. And during that week she found out that her doctor lived with the pretty young woman who was fast becoming her friend. And one day, Flick brought Amy a surprise.

"Kat!" Lily exclaimed, hugging the small child with the strawberry blonde curls and cobalt blue eyes. Katherine Evans was four years old, and as full of mischief as her sister had been at that age. And she was curious about the girl that Flick said Lily had been spending so much time with.

"Hello Lily!" she turned to Amy. "You must be Amy. Flick says you're really nice, and we'll get on really well."

"Well, I'll leave the three of you to it." Flick said, reluctantly. "I've got an appointment with Geraldine Sesses."

"Poor you." Lily said, sympathetically. She'd heard of Sirius and Amy's prank, and how Nurse Sesses now rated Flick Evans as her number one enemy.

Kat and Amy were soon the best of friends, but to their dismay, Lily had to leave all too soon.

"Couldn't you stay, and this Peter man do your job?" Amy pleaded.

"You're nicer than Peter." Kat added. She disliked Peter Pettigrew. He was too weak for her liking. Sirius she adored, Lily she idolised, she'd happily giggle with Cee and Ellie for hours, and James came high on her list of favourite people, but Peter she couldn't stand.

"Kat, Amy, you know I'd love to say, but I promised Remus I'd do this with him. And Sirius will be back soon."

Reluctantly, the girls let her go, and Peter took her place. But disaster struck before she could return. The morning she arrived back at the ministry after a strenuous assignment with Remus, James gave her some unwelcome news. As was usual, she entered his apartment, and saw him studying paperwork.

"Is that our next assignment?" she asked. "What is it?" James stood up and walked over to her.

"One I'd rather had never arose." he told her. "You might want to sit down." Lily did as she was told, and he joined her on the couch.

"It's another rescue mission." he explained. "But we need specialist help for this one. You, me, Sirius and Remus. And Felicity."

"Flick! Why?"

"Peter got sick a couple of days after he started guarding Amy. Some other guy took his place. Unfortunately, he was a Voldemort supporter. Kat and Amy are in Voldemort's hands."

"Right." Lily said, looking at him, eyes large. "Why Kat?" It was the last question he was expecting.

"Flick says the two of them had been playing with each other every day. Kat was there when he took Amy, so he took her too."

Lily looked at James, looked at the ceiling, and then rested her chin in her palms. Because, she knew that it was bad. Very bad. And for once in her career, she wasn't sure exactly what she was going to do about it.

Disclaimer - Everything that isn't mine is someone else's, nominally J.K. Rowling. The excerpt from the borrowers

belongs to Mary Norton.

PART II

Chapter 6 - Conference of War

Lily, Sirius, Remus and James were trying to plan a rescue. Which wasn't easy given that Felicity was pacing the floor in front of them, and Lily had given in to the nervous habit of clicking her biro on and off.

"Flick! Sit down!" Sirius exclaimed, exasperated. Felicity obediently sat on the seat next to him, and he turned to Lily, but James beat him to it, and tweaked the pen from her hand.

"Right," said James, "now we've got rid of all distractions we can actually work. Flick, how will Amy be if she doesn't get her medicine?"

"For a week, she should be fine. After that...look at it this way, if she isn't out of there in a fortnight, she'll be dead. And I'm not going to let that happen!"

"Neither are we." Lily soothed her. "Guys, do we know where they are?"

"I can tell you one place they won't be," Sirius began, "and that's Wales."

"I agree." Remus added his opinion.

"Where's Ellie when you need her?" Lily groaned. Ellie was an excellent tactician, a gift that she put to good use when fighting Voldemort.

"Here." came Eleanor's clear voice. The others looked at her, astonished. "Well, you didn't think I was going to stay away when Kat was involved did you? Anyway, the ministry asked me." She sounded quite proud of that fact.

"Well, now you're here, you can lend us your pearls of wisdom." Sirius told her. "Beyond knowing that Kat and Amy are gone, we know nothing, but we're guessing that they won't be a Voldemort's Welsh joint."

"Under usual circs., no." Ellie was pensive, her grey eyes showing the thread of steel that made her a formidable opponent. "But in this instance I think that it might just be the case. He's starting to think in the same way Lily thinks. No one chooses the most obvious course of action, therefore you use it. Whatever else you can say about Voldie, he's certainly good at learning form his enemies."

"Are you sure about this?" Lily asked. "Amy's seriously ill. We don't have any time to waste locating them."

"I don't have any concrete proof, if that's what you mean." Ellie admitted. "But I'm prepared to bet that that's where they are. It's a hunch."

"You're hunches are usually good to follow." Flick said. "What do you think guys?"

"I'm going to suggest something. And please don't shoot me down if you disagree. We don't know where

Kat and Amy are, but we do know where Voldemort's main bases are. I'd guess that the girls would be held in one of those. There are six of us, and four British bases. We split into groups of two, and take the mainland bases, the English, Scottish and Welsh lairs. If none of those are fruitful, then we move on to

Ireland, and then the minor bases. But we need to be methodical."

"For once, I actually agree with James." Lily concurred. "It makes sense. One night, and we get three bases covered. If we find the girls, we call the others in, rescue them, and off we go."

"That works." Remus agreed. Sirius nodded his assent, and Ellie was happy with the plan. Which left Felicity.

"This won't be a trap, will it?" she said doubtfully. "Because that's the reason I wasn't an Auror first time 'round."

"Flick," Lily began, softly, "in this job, there are no guarantees. For all we know we could be dead tomorrow. There's always a risk that someone, somewhere along the line will sell us out. It's not something you like to think about, but it's something you have to accept. You trust other people to keep you safe. Because that's what being an Auror is about. Trust."

"Well, it's all right for you. James is your partner, and he's hardly likely to kill you, is he!" Flick exclaimed.

"I don't know." James smirked. "The idea seems appealing occasionally." Lily thumped him before replying to Felicity.

"Flick, do you really have anything to lose? If we don't do this Kat dies." Flick gasped. "She's expendable eventually. It's a harsh reality. For us, there is no win, it's the degree of losing that we worry about. Every time Voldemort kills someone, we lose a little bit more. But that doesn't mean we give up. So, do you want to be a temporary Auror?"

"I don't really have much choice. If I don't come, Kat might die, Amy will die, and you guys will probably do something stupid."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Sirius said, wryly. "Now, who goes with who?"

"We've got four Aurors and two temps." Ellie began. "Logically Flick and I both go with one of you guys. The question is which partnership do we break up?"

"I'm going to be completely radical, and say this." Lily told her. "James goes with Sirius, I go with Flick, and you go with Remus." She got nods of assent from everyone. "Right guys, there's no time to lose. Flick and I'll take Wales, Remus and Ellie go to Scotland, and James and Sirius can take England. We report back at 16 hours tomorrow. Okay?"

"I'm marrying a sergeant major." James muttered on his way out.

"Never mind." Sirius told him. "Maybe she'll let you be commander- in-chief."

"Chance'd be a fine thing." James replied.

Chapter 7 - On the Move

Kat and Amy, meanwhile, were locked in a cold dungeon cell. Amy wasn't doing too well, and Kat didn't feel so great either.

"I'm cold." Amy complained. Kat may only have four years to her credit, but she wasn't a doctor's sister for nothing. She knew that whatever it may cost her, Amy must be kept warm. So she shrugged off her coat and spread it over her friend.

"It'll be all right Amy. Someone will rescue us just like they rescued your daddy. Maybe even Lily and James. You'll like James. He's nice. He's marrying Lily, did I tell you? Only they haven't set a date yet. Flick and me think they should get married really soon though. They've been engaged for three whole years you see. That's like forever." To Kat it was forever. She couldn't remember the days when Lily and James were just friends. "Maybe you can come to the wedding. You might even get to be bridesmaid with me and Flick. Lily said we would, and she promised that there'd be no pink. Well, Flick and me don't like pink." She was trying to hide her fear. Kat knew exactly what was going on. She'd heard her sister and Lily talk about Voldemort, and she knew that he had killed her parents. She didn't like to think about what would happen to them. Rather she clung with childish tenacity to the idea of a rescue by Felicity's friends.

* * * * *

That night Sirius and James began on their journey into Voldemort's English hideaway. They had arrived in the vicinity in mid afternoon, but had waited until darkness fell before making a move. It was a well known fact that Voldemort and his supporters were most active at night, so they would be less conspicuous in the twilight hours. Getting into the underground zone was an easy task for the two men who, in their younger days had been behind some of the most elusive escapades Hogwarts had ever witnessed.

By the time they reached the prison zone, James was concerned. It had been too easy by far. Still, single mindedness prevailed, and he wasn't going to ask for trouble. James stood guard while Sirius rifled through the paperwork on the desk to see if Kat and Amy were imprisoned in the compound.

"Cell 28." he hissed. "We've got to-"

"I don't think you'll be doing anything." a malicious voice informed him. Sirius looked around, startled, to see his friend held at knife point in front of him. Sirius could have escaped, but he wasn't going to leave James alone with these people. For one thing, Lily would probably kill him, and for another, his friend needed serious help. "You can drop the wand." a tall greasy haired man with sinister green eyes told him. "One false move and your friend here dies." He made a slicing gesture across his neck.

James and Sirius were moved along to a cell, dark, dingy, and cold, and the door was locked behind them. As the door slammed, they heard a scream. James was the first to spot them.

"Kat?"

"James!! You've come. Can we go home now?" Kat was almost hysterical. Sirius had moved over to her side the instant she had spoken, and he took one small hand in his. It was like a block of ice.

"Not going to happen, Kat." James told her. He could have mentioned that they would be out within a day, but there was no guarantee that no one else could hear them, and he wasn't going to jeopardise any rescue effort. He did wink at her, however.

"I don't think Amy's very well." Kat confided. In three strides, James had reached the other child, who lay sprawled across the floor, in the midst of a feverish sleep.

"Why don't you go to sleep Kat?" Sirius asked her. It was obvious from the circles beneath her eyes that the girl needed rest.

"It's too cold." she explained. Sirius sighed, and took her on his lap.

"You'll be all right now." he said soothingly, and within minutes she was asleep, exhausted from her vigil by her friends side.

"She's right." James muttered, turning to Sirius after looking at Amy. "Poor kid's frozen, feverish, and probably petrified.

"So what're we going to do?" Sirius muttered back.

"You're the one with a doctor for a girlfriend, you tell me." James responded.

"Keep her warm?" Sirius suggested.

"I think that was Kat's idea." James said. "She's given up her coat."

"No wonder she's freezing." Sirius said, angrily. "I knew it was bad, but I never thought they'd stoop to using innocent and sick children to make a point." He was disgusted. James used his cloak to cover Amy, and then sat anxious watch. Neither he nor Sirius dared to make too much noise, not wanting to wake the children or arouse suspicion. And so they began one of the longest nights of their lives.

Chapter 8 - Waiting

The next morning Sirius woke up feeling groggy. He had drifted in and out of slumber ever since they had arrived in the dingy little cell that they were currently incarcerated in. He looked over towards James. His friend was sitting on the floor, cradling Amy's head in his lap, fast asleep.

"Prongs!" Sirius hissed. "James! Wake up!" James woke with a start.

"Wha'? Where am I? Actually no, I don't want to know!" He rubbed sleep from his eyes.

"How's Amy?" Sirius asked anxiously. His predominant memory of the previous night was of a child who was rather worse for wear. Even Kat, as hardy and robust as they came didn't seem to be as well as she should have been. Perhaps there was more truth in the words laughter is the best medicine than he thought. One thing was certain, no one laughed in this place.

"Better." James told him. "Well, she's warmed up, and Flick said that she'd be all right for this week any way."

"This place is freezing!" Sirius commented.

"You're telling me!" James exclaimed. "Probably some psychological thing to weaken resistance. Even so, you'd think they might manage to leave children somewhere that was at least warm.

"We're talking about Voldemort, James, I don't think he makes concessions for anyone." Sirius said bitterly. "He kills innocent people, what makes you think he'd be sympathetic to a critically ill little girl? To him illness is weakness. And if there's one thing he won't tolerate, it's weakness."

"Sirius, you're in the wrong profession. You should be a psychologist." James said sarcastically. "Right now psychoanalysis isn't going to get us anywhere."

"Whatever we do we aren't going to get anywhere." Sirius informed him. "We're locked up in a stronghold of our worst enemy, do you think they'd just leave the door open and let us walk out?"

"No. And I see your point. I think I'm beginning to appreciate why Lily's worst fear is capture."

"It is? I didn't know that." Sirius was interested. "Why?"

"Do you remember when we were training we did an exercise so that we could deal with interrogation?"

James asked.

"Yeah. As I remember she came top of the class for that. Why?"

"Well, when they did all the interrogation stuff it was fine. But then they left you in a cell for a couple of days before trying again. And she hated it. She was practically up the walls. Fortunately there was no furniture, because if there was, Lil would have broken it all. As it is she kept punching the walls. She hates knowing that she's helpless."

"I don't blame her." Sirius said thoughtfully. "In two years she was subjected to more doses of the unforgivables than most people face in a lifetime. I'm only surprised that she actually decided to be an Auror. You'd have thought that with her experience she'd want a comfortable desk job."

"Can you really see Lily in a desk job?" James asked. "She'd blow up at everybody in a week. She's too intelligent to spend the rest of her life surrounded by ministry bureaucracy." Before Sirius could answer, Kat woke up.

"Hello." She said, warily. "I thought you were supposed to get us out of places like this."

"Morning Kat." Sirius said cheerfully. "We are, but it didn't exactly go to plan."

"Where're Lily and Remus?" Kat asked.

"Don't know." James replied. "Probably somewhere worrying about us."

"But don't you do your work with them." Kat liked to know exactly what was going on.

"Usually yes. But sometimes a change is as good as a holiday." James told her.

"Don't you like each other any more?" Kat was confused. In her world, if you were friends with someone you did as much as you could with them before they had to go home. It didn't dawn on her that neither Lily nor

James or Remus or Sirius had to worry about going home. As far as she was concerned, doing something without your partner meant that you didn't like them anymore.

"Of course we like each other." Sirius assured her. "But they had other things to do."

"But you didn't do the last thing together either, 'cos Lily looked after Amy and me, and then she did stuff with Remus."

"Don't worry about it too much Kat." Sirius smiled. "I'm sure someone will get us out of here soon."

"Okay. Do you think p'raps it'll be Lily or Remus?"

"Could be anyone Kat. There are millions of Aurors at the ministry." James told her.

"Yeah, but it would be best if Lily or Remus came." Kat informed him.

"What about Peter?" Sirius asked

"No. I'd rather stay here than go with him." Kat said. Sirius raised his eyebrows at her. "What?" She asked. "It's his fault we're here anyway. He couldn't even read us a good story or play any jokes, he just sat there. You and Lily were more fun."

"Lily was fun?" Sirius said in mock horror.

"It was a different kind of fun to you." Kat explained. "You were loud and fun. Lily was interesting and fun."

"Are you saying I'm not interesting?" Sirius asked, feigning hurt.

"No. But you're different to Lily. Lily's sensible."

"I don't think you're going to come out above Lily in this opinion poll." James told his friend wryly.

"That's what concerns me." Sirius informed him

Both men were aware that they were making small talk. It wasn't something most people did when they were being held hostage, but they were trying to keep their small companion's minds off of their current situation. And it seemed to be working. When Amy woke up, she joined the conversation, and the two girls were a lot more optimistic when they laid down to sleep at the end of the day.

Chapter 9 - Undercover Agents

Lily and Felicity were the first back to base. They looked slightly dishevelled, and a bit downhearted, but they were safe, and that was all that mattered. Ellie and Remus joined them soon after. But when, by 7 o'clock that evening there was no sign of James or Sirius they began to worry.

"They should have been back first." Lily worried. "They were closest to here."

"Well," Remus said, cautiously, "none of us found Kat and Amy, and they aren't back..."

"So it's fair to assume that Kat, Amy, James and Sirius are all in the English Lair." Lily finished his sentence for him. "Next time we do something like this, I'm going with James. Then maybe he'll stay out of trouble."

"Next time!" Flick shrieked. "There won't be a next time. After this I'm getting round the clock guards in! The stress is killing me!"

"Okay Flick, don't get hysterical!" Lily said hurriedly.

"Hysterical! You're not the one who's little sister is in that hell hole!" Flick yelled at Lily.

"No, just the man I'm going to marry, but that's not important is it? No."

"Stop it! Both of you!" Ellie commanded in a firm tone.

"Sorry." Lily said, softly. "I'm worried about Kat too you know." she told Felicity. "She's my little sister as well, as near as makes no matter."

"I'm sorry too." Felicity said, slowly. "I think I overreacted slightly. But I also think we need to start our rescue mission. Now."

"I'm not going to argue. And Ellie," Eleanor looked at her. "Voldemort's not as intelligent as you thought." Lily smiled. Remus and Ellie nodded, and the four of them got down to some serious planning.

Later that day, three girls arrived in the town closest to Voldemort's lair. To an onlooker they were no different to any other people of their age - laughing and joking. All three had brown hair, the tallest had eyes of brown, the shortest bright green, and their companion's eyes were clear and grey. They looked enough alike that they could be sisters.

"It's amazing what one simple charm can do." Lily murmured to Ellie. They had used the siblingus charm to distort their features so that they were similar to Felicity's. Lily had to admit that it felt strange to be devoid of her usual ruddy masses, and Ellie realised that as a brunette she was a lot less conspicuous.

"Do you think Robert is ready?" Ellie asked her friend loudly. For the purpose of the mission, all had adopted a new identity. 'Robert' was Remus. Felicity, Ellie and Lily alter egos were Victoria, Alexandra and Elizabeth respectively, on Lily's suggestion. They were named after three queens. Ellie said that Lily had themes on the brain because her parents had named both her and her sister after flowers. But as Felicity

agreed with Lily, purely because Vicky sounded near enough to Flick that she'd remember to answer it. So Ellie was out voted.

"Probably." Lily replied. "Hey Vic!" Flick turned to look at her 'sister'. "Do you think Robbie will be ready yet?"

"I don't know Lizzie." Flick admitted. "We'd best stay out though. We don't want to ruin the surprise."

"This is going to be the best birthday ever!" Lily exclaimed happily. Ellie and Flick looked at her. They'd never realised their friend was such a good actress. Then again, it stood to reason. Her whole career was based on pretending to be someone else. Protecting your identity was all part of the undercover experience, and Lily was clearly a master of the arts.

They finished their afternoon on the town, and returned to the hotel they were staying in. Remus was there waiting for them

"Robbie!" Lily exclaimed. "It's lovely!" Anyone who was spying on them would see the balloons in the room, and assume that it was a birthday party. That was the plan, anyway. In reality, the balloons were the only thing that was festive about the atmosphere. Once the door was closed, Lily reverted back to her usual self.

"I preferred it when you looked like individuals." Remus said, dryly.

"So did I." Lily admitted. "And the first thing I'm going to do once we're out of here is go back to being me. All this 'darling how lovely' stuff is doing my head in!"

"Have you got it figured out?" Ellie asked Remus anxiously. He had been in charge of establishing the whereabouts of the entrance to the lair.

"Yep. The moor's about 10 minutes from here, and the entrance is marked by a clump of deadly nightshade. Okay?"

"Marvellous." Lily said. "We can get on with it."

Chapter 10 - Freedom

Lily and Felicity entered Voldemort's English stronghold with outward confidence, and inward wariness. They were quickly joined by Eleanor and Remus.

"I knew there was a reason why I became a tactician." Ellie said, softly.

"Shhh!" Lily hissed.

"There are times when a floor plan would be most handy." Flick said wryly. "You know, the ones that say 'you are here' and have a little red spot showing where you are."

"I wasn't aware that Voldemort ran a shopping complex." Lily murmured. "Just follow Remus and I. We know where we're going."

Flick turned to Ellie, smiling wryly.

"You'd never guess they'd done this before." She said.

"I'd view it as a good thing." Ellie said. "I'm glad they know what we're doing, because I certainly don't."

"I think this is one of those improvisation exercises that Lil's so keen on." Flick informed her.

The four intruders hurried through the maze of corridors and passages, Ellie and Flick getting more and more dizzy as they followed Lily and Remus through twists and turns, over underwater streams and through tunnels designed to hide even the most conspicuous of occupants from view. Their was a tension in the air, all four of them knowing that what they were doing was incredibly risky. If James and Sirius had already been captured then their enemies would have been alerted. Survival instincts told Felicity that what they were doing was incredibly stupid, and the chances of getting out now that they were in were minimal.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours of foot slogging, Remus halted, Lily stopping just behind him. Ellie and Flick, who weren't expecting the sudden halt ploughed into her.

"Careful." She cautioned. "This is the brig. If there's one thing we don't want to happen, it's being caught here."

"Lil, I don't want to get caught anywhere!" Flick exclaimed.

"Who does?" Remus asked. "Just watch your back. Somewhere like this, nothing is as it seems."

"Well, that was comforting to know." Came Felicity's sarcastic tones.

"Why don't we just get on with it." Ellie suggested patiently.

"Best idea I've heard in a long time." Lily agreed. "Come on Remus, move it!"

Study of a chart in the corner told Remus that they were looking for cell 28. He was about to inform them of this when Ellie hissed that someone was coming. Which was when Lily produced James' Invisibility Cloak. The four of them squashed under its folds, silently, although Remus, Felicity and Eleanor were dying to know how she had come to have James' cloak. That could wait until the threat of discovery was over.

"Are you sure you heard something?" They heard a harsh voice ask.

"I'm telling you I heard something." A high pitched squeal answered.

"You're a nervous minded fool." The first speaker hissed. "Our master will hear of your cowardice."

There was the sound of footsteps which gradually died away, and then Lily pulled the cloak off of them, folded it and placed it in her bag.

"Later." She said. She looked at Remus questioningly, and he nodded. He took the lead, and they followed him to a nondescript wooded door, with a single marker telling them it was their destination. A wrought iron

28. Remus muttered a simple spell, and the door unlocked.

Sirius and James looked up when four people rushed into their cell. When they saw who the intruders were they scrambled to their feet, broad grins on their faces. Felicity snatched Kat, and Lily grabbed Amy. They were about to apparate away when James stopped them.

"What about my cloak and our wands?" He asked. "They took them when they got us."

"I've got them." Lily told him. "Now let's get out of this joint before something bad happens." She didn't need to say it twice. In a split second they disappeared, leaving no trace of their brief period of victory.

When everyone arrived back at Lily’s apartment, there were several minutes of emotional reunion, mostly between Felicity, Kat and Sirius. But when Felicity finally finished her show of emotion, she turned business like.

"Amy, you’ve got to get back to the hospital," she told the child.

"Couldn’t I just stay here?" Amy asked, reluctant to leave the cosy sitting room. Unlike James, Lily had taken time to make her apartment into a home from home, and consequently it was decorated to suit her tastes.

"I’d love to have you stay, Amy," Lily began, "but you must be tired, and you need to get your medicine. But I tell you what,"

"What?" Amy asked eagerly.

"When Flick says that you’re well enough to leave the hospital for the weekend, I’ll arrange for you and Kat to come here for a visit. Okay?"

"More than okay!" Kat said, happily. "That’s great! Will we be able to see the animals at the zoo, and go to the museum, and swim again?" Kat had stayed with Lily before.

"It depends whether Amy wants to or not." Lily said. "But I’ll send both of you an owl, and you can both tell me what you want to do, and I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out."

Whether it was the promise of mail, or the prospect of staying with Lily for the weekend, Amy was satisfied, and she and Felicity left for the hospital. Kat climbed on to Lily’s lap, and drowsed, sleepily.

"When Flick gets back we’ll send you off home to Mum and Dad." Lily said, brushing some stray curls out of Kat’s eyes.

"Will Aunt Evie and Uncle Hugo be mad at me?" she asked, worriedly.

"Of course not, precious. They’ve been really worried about you, and they’ll be so happy about seeing you that they wouldn’t dream of telling you off."

"It wasn’t my fault." the little girl yawned. "That man took us, and I told him he couldn’t that it would upset

Flick, but he wouldn’t listen." she nodded her head violently, blue eyes flashing with indignation.

"I know it wasn’t your fault darling." Lily soothed. "And Flick will be back soon, and then you can go home." And when Flick arrived that was exactly what happened. After hugging Lily and smiling at James,

Sirius and Remus, Flick and Kat disappeared from sight, Flick disapparating them back to the house of Lily’s parents. Before much time passed, Remus and Sirius also left, pleading fatigue, and James and Lily were left alone.

"And Thump thinks that you’re the brains behind the outfit!" Lily scolded James as soon as their friends had left. "Really clever you are. So intelligent that you managed to get yourself a night in a cell." She paced the room, hands on hips, green eyes darkened in anger. But the anger wasn’t directed at James, and he knew it. It was aimed at those that had left him, and Sirius, Kat and Amy in a freezing cold box for a night. So when she passed him, he caught her hand, and pulled her on to the sofa, next to him. Lily’s eyes softened when he looked at her for a split second, before she glared at him tiredly.

"Look Lil," he began, ignoring the look she was giving him. "While we were waiting for you, I was thinking."

"You thought?" she said, astonished. "Where’s my diary. I need to write this down. James Potter thought! The only thing you ever think about is playing jokes." but he knew she was teasing, and anything was better than a glare, even a joke at his expense.

"I’m serious Lily!" he exclaimed.

"Now I’m really scared!" she laughed. "Who are you and what have you done with the real James?"

"Well if you don’t want to know..." he was offended.

"Of course I want to know. Unless it involves dungbombs. Then I’d rather not, unless someone is aiming at me, and if they are, I may never speak to you again!"

"Have you ever thought about getting married?" he asked earnestly.

"I thought you’d already proposed!" she said, waving her engagement ring under his nose.

"I’m not talking about that," he explained. "I’m talking about the actual marriage part. You know, the bit where you walk down the aisle looking like a meringue, and everyone tells you how lovely you look, but they’re lying, because really you look like the fairy from the top of the Christmas tree. That sort of married."

"James, when I agreed to marry you it did cross my mind that I might be expected to wear a meringue for the day, so I have to say that yes, I’ve thought of getting married."

"When?" His next question stumped her.

"I don’t know," she admitted.

"Look, Lily. It’s like this," he explained. "The only people who aren’t tearing their hair out because we haven’t set a date are us. Even Sirius keeps going on at me about finalising some details."

"Bless!" Lily smiled. "It’s the softer side of Sirius that no one gets to see. I didn’t know he had it in him."

"Well he does. So I wanted to know what you thought."

"James, I’m perfectly happy to marry you tomorrow, if that’s what you want. But the point is this. We do what we want, not what other people want us to do. So if you want to discuss a date, then fine, we’ll discuss it. Otherwise, don’t bother. I don’t care when or where. I’m only bothered about one thing, and that’s that it’s you that I marry rather than some poor guy from the street." James realised then that she wasn’t going to make it easy for him. It was his decision.

"Why don’t we think about a date? At least then we’ve got something settled." he hesitated, and then continued. "When we were caught, one of Voldie’s guys held me at knife point. Dying doesn’t bother me.

But I didn’t want to go before you and I were legally together."

"I was hoping that you’d stick around for a while after that." Lily smiled. "Can I make a suggestion?"

"Go ahead."

"I’ve always wanted a May wedding." she began. "And it’s October now, so that gives us seven months to get things sorted. If I pick the month, then you can pick the date. Okay?"

"Fine. How about the last Saturday in May? That means that it’ll be closer to eight months."

"You got yourself a deal." Lily offered him her hand, but James had other ideas. He seized it, and then kissed her. She smiled at him.

"I suggest you may want to sleep. Go home, rest, and come back in the morning....or afternoon. Okay?" he nodded, and made from the door. But before he left Lily had one last thing to say.

"Oh, and James?" he looked at her inquisitively.

"I don’t plan on wearing a meringue."

Chapter 12 - Espionage

James was used to receiving unconventional mission statements, but this one was particularly so. He and

Lily were required to take a trip to America, where they had jobs at the Department of International Relations. While holding down these jobs, they were required to spy on the Senator for Sorcery, who was suspected of having an allegiance to Voldemort.

"Espionage?" Lily looked at him, startled. "I thought we were supposed to go off and rescue people from a fate worse than death, not travel around the world spying on people!"

"Obviously they got the job description wrong." James told her.

"But I don’t want to spy on people!" Lily exclaimed. "It’s rude!"

"True," James agreed. "But it’s even more rude to forcibly remove someone from their home and kill them. And that’s basically what being a Death Eater is. And if we’ve got this mission, then I find it highly unlikely that the Senator for Sorcery isn’t a Death Eater. So we basically have no choice."

"But-" Lily began, but James interrupted her.

"I know. We can refuse the mission. But do we really want to? He’s a bad man, and we need to collect evidence to stop him helping ‘his Royal Highness’ to world domination."

"I see your point." Lily was resigned. "Okay, I’ll do it. But I’m not happy."

"A fact that I’ll report to Thump." James said, solemnly, blue eyes twinkling.

"Don’t you dare!" Lily exclaimed. "If you tell him, he’ll think I was scared, and I’ll end up behind a desk in an unheard of department!"

They left for America the next day, and were quick to arrive at their accommodation, a house in rural Washington. The house was white washed and well furnished, and both James and Lily had to admit that it had a homey feel. The next day they began their work. Lily sat down at the desk she had been assigned, and then did a double take. Sitting opposite to her was a girl of her own age with nut-brown hair and grey eyes.

"Emily Samuelson! It can’t be!"

"Lily? What on earth are you doing here?"

"It’s the department of International Relations. I’m relating to you on behalf of the Brits!"

"But this is fantastic! How’re you? It’s been what, four years?"

"You said it." Lily smiled. "You haven’t aged though. Still the same Em. Flick’s going to be so jealous."

"How is Felicity?"

"She’s fine. She’s a doctor now. She lives with us - her dad and step mum were murdered by Voldemort just after we finished our NEWT’s. And Kat’s all grown up, and such a cutie. How about you?"

"Dad was voted out of office a couple of years ago," Emily began, "since then, I’ve been dabbling in this and that. I’ve been working here for six months. Where’s James?"

"How did you - Never mind. Do you want to meet up later?"

"Sure. Where do you live?" Lily gave Emily their address, and then set to work, smiling. Emily Samuelson had visited Hogwarts when she was in her final year. The daughter of the American Senator for Sorcery, her father had been in England on a business trip, and Emily had been a Hogwarts student for a term. She had known Felicity from the days when they both attended the School of Sorcery in America before Felicity had moved back to Great Britain. And unless Lily was mistaken, Emily was no more a member of the

Department of International Relations than she herself was. Emily Samuelson was the contact that she and James had been told they’d meet.

The bell to the house rang at 7:30 that night, and James opened the door.

"Emily! Good to see you! Come on in!" Emily smiled at him, and entered the house.

"Well I wasn’t expecting to see you guys!" she said happily. "Perhaps you Brits aren’t as snotty as you’re made out to be." she was joking, and Lily and James knew it.

"Well, to put matters in a nutshell, the vote against my father was fixed. Dad was running ahead of Richard Gordon in all the opinion polls, and I don’t see how there could possibly be a reason other than corruption for the sudden change of heart." Emily’s grey gaze hardened. "Well, I joined the American Auror Association as soon as I had finished school, so by the time Dad was ousted, I was fully trained. Well, I’m one of the few people that they haven’t traced. Incidentally Lil, don’t call me Emily when we’re at work - there my name’s Emma Johnson. They’d never let me near the Ministry if they knew who I really was. Too scared that I’d figure out what they really are, I bet. Anyway, I’m part of the Auror Underground. Those of us who know about the vote fixing want to stop it, so we applied to London for help. We figured we’d get it; they don’t want him to be in charge any more than we do. I’ll take you to meet the others tomorrow. Today,

I’m supposed to give you your mission brief. What are your aliases?"

"Too numerous by far." James told her, grinning, glasses slipping down his nose. "For this particular outing? I’m John Pitley and Lily is Geraldine Jones." Lily pulled a face.

"I thought Lily was a bad name until I started working as an Auror, then they started giving me all sorts of wacky names, and I realised that mum and dad hadn’t done so badly after all. Geraldine! Yuk!"

"I agree, Geri!" Emily smirked at her old friend. "Now, the basic plan is this. We need hard-core evidence that Richard Gordon is a Voldie supporter. The only way we’re going to get this is to get him to confess.

Which is where you two come in. You need to get in touch with the American Death Eaters, and join them. Then you’ll meet Gordon, that’s a cert. From what we know, he basically runs the movement over here. When you meet him, it’s a simple case of recording what he says. Okay?"

"Simple." James said sarcastically. "One very small problem. Neither of us particularly wants to join the Death Eaters. We’ve seen what they do, and believe me, it’s not pretty. I don’t think either Lily or I are particularly keen on the idea of participating in that kind of jaunt."

"And," Lily added, "you still have the death penalty over here. If we’re caught doing said acts of corruption and violence, what’s the chance of us making it back to England. Minimal. And I would like to make it to my wedding."

"You’re getting married? Who to? When?"

"Me." James told her. "In May."

"Ah! How sweet!" Emily gushed. Then she turned to business once more. "Point number one. You don’t go on the violent rampages, and you’ll be fine. Get Lily to pretend to be pregnant or something." Lily looked at her in shock. "What?" she asked, mildly. "And if you’re caught, then we’ll get you back to England somehow - as long as I’m invited to the wedding!"

"You’ve got yourself a deal."

Chapter 13 - The Auror Underground

After work the next day, Emily met Lily and James, and the three of them set off on the journey to the Auror Underground.

"Hi Geri, John!" Emily said, grinning wickedly. "Have you had a nice day?"

"Marvellous, thank you Emma," Lily replied, sarcastically. "Does any one here actually listen to what you have to say?"

"It’s beaurocracy honey, that’s how it works. You wait months for a hearing, and then you wait for ages more until a decision is made."

They turned a corner, and Emily grabbed Lily and James, apparating the three of them away from Washington. After a dizzying flight, the three of them arrived on a grassy plain.

"Where are we?" James asked curiously.

"Good old California." Emily replied. They came to a tree stump, and lazily she pointed her wand at it. The stump moved, and an opening was revealed. The three of them entered it.

"It’s actually quite nice down here." Emily admitted. "You know," she began in wonder, "it’s amazing what a little magic can do. This place is better than the official Auror residence by far. Anyway, I’m taking you to meet Harold first. He’s the chief here."

They entered a door, labeled with a brass number one, and came face to face with a man of about seventy.

"Harold, these our friends from Britain."

"Thanks Emily. Lovely hair you’ve got there dear," he said to Lily, making her blush. "My Joyce used to have hair just like that...before they got her. Well, when they did, I vowed that I’d work against them, and no one can say I haven’t stuck to my vow. How old are you?"

"Twenty one sir." Lily replied.

"Young. You all start so young nowadays. Why you’d want to be an Auror, I don’t know."

"Personal reasons." James said tightly. Lily nodded agreement.

"He got your family?" Both shook their heads. They had been lucky. "So why fight him?"

"Because he’s evil sir." James said. "And I’m not going to sit by while some arrogant prat tries to rule the world. He kills without need, innocent people, he doesn’t seem to care whether they leave orphans, or bereaved parents. It’s all one huge game for him. Him and his Death Eaters. They kill for sport. And I can’t condone that."

Harold looked startled, and then he smiled and clapped.

"Nicely said Mr. Potter. You’re a lot like your mother. Idealistic, some might say, but full of goodness. Don’t gape at me! I’m the one who organises all this stuff. Of course I know your names. Yours and Miss

Trevallion’s. And I’m guessing that the fate of Felicity Evans parents influenced your decision to join the industry."

"Actually sir," Lily began, "it was more a case of knowing what it’s like to be helpless than anything else."

"Of course. You would be the Lily Trevallion that testified at Endommager’s trial. Pity about that. I knew his parents. They were good people. I don’t like to think about what they would do, knowing that their son was in Azkaban. But I’m digressing. I have it on good authority that you two are among the brightest of Britain’s stars. Not from Horace Thump, I hasten to add. I don’t know how he ended up as a higher up. He’s

a barmy old codger if ever there was one. Oh, you may laugh, Miss Trevallion," Lily had covered her mouth with her hand, to hide her giggles, "but it’s true. He’s never done any practical work. Anyway, I do have a mission for you two, and I have no doubt young Emily has informed you of it. I appreciate its risky work, but you have my word that neither of you will come to any harm. And if you feel you’re in jeopardy, come here.

We’re more prepared than anyone knows, and you’ll be safe. No one with any evil intent can get here. I developed the rebounding spell myself, and I have to say, it’s incredibly effective."

"Thank you sir." James said, respectfully, although he couldn’t help but smile. This man reminded him of Albus Dumbledore, only Harold seemed to be slightly more serious minded. Not that Dumbledore wasn’t serious minded, he just hid his inner thoughts well.

"I’ll call Emily, and she’ll take you to see everyone." Harold told them, and within seconds Emily had appeared. She grinned at them as they left the room.

"What do you think then? He’s a dear, bless him, but terribly eccentric. He knows my dad, they’re school chums. I suppose that’s why he let me join the Auror Underground."

"He reminded me of Dumbledore." Lily admitted. James nodded agreement. "But I can see where you’re coming from. He does seem to be rather a love."

"We turn left here," Emily explained, as they came to a junction, "and then I’ll introduce you to some of the others. We have all sorts, and I’m the youngest of the regulars. Only Lily’s younger than me, so she’s temporarily the baby of the group. Here we are!" she opened another non-descript door, and James surveyed the scene before him. The people in the room ranged in age from slightly older than him, to ancient, and they were relaxing, some indulging in conversation, others in chess.

"Guys, these are Lily Trevallion and James Potter. They’re over from Britain." A man with eyes of a green that could rival Lily’s own smiled at her.

"Seems all those stories we hear about how much better looking our chicks are is wrong!" he said. "Daniel Adams." He extended his hand. Lily took it, and smiled back.

"How long have you been working here, Daniel?"

"Couple of years." He shrugged. "Don’t like Richard Gordon, he’s a two faced- well, let’s just say I don’t think highly of him. I’d just finished my training when he was voted in, so I joined the underground. Since then I’ve been trying to get him out of office."

Lily sat down at a table and conversed with Daniel while James went with Emily to meet some of the others.

"Hi!" a girl with dark hair and olive skin said to him happily. "I’m Kimberly Russell. Most people call me Kim. I work on the law enforcement team. We make sure that innocent people aren’t hurt when Gordon’s goons go on the rampage." Her eyes darkened, so that they were almost black. "Sometimes we’re too late."

"I know the feeling," James sympathised. "Lil’s best friend’s an orphan. Voldemort murdered her parents.

Now it’s just Flick and Kat left."

"You remember Flick Evans, don’t you Kim?" Emily asked. "Brunette, pretty, practical joker. She left after fourth year for Hogwarts." Emily turned to James. "Kim was Head Girl. Flick used to drive her nuts."

"That Flick! I pity you if you were at school with her." Kim said, in heartfelt tones. "I feel sorry for her though. Wasn’t her father going out with Margaret Jones?"

"They got married." James explained. "And Flick’s sister, Katherine was born. She was only eleven months old when Voldemort got them."

"Poor kid." Kim said, brown eyes filling with tears. "I know what it’s like growing up without parents."

James was about to reply, but the sound of a resounding slap cut of his words. There was sudden silence when everyone turned to see what had happened. Lily was standing nursing a red cheek, while a girl with platinum blonde hair and a face caked with make up pouted at her.

"Don’t think you can get away with it you stupid fool. He’s my boyfriend. I’ve seen you making moves on him. No one crosses me. I’m warning you."

"Poor man if he’s going out with someone like you." James winced on hearing his girlfriend’s icy tones. Lily was an incredibly warm person, but when roused she could become an ice queen. He knew it was only years of practice that prevented her from attacking her attacker. "And for your information, I have a perfectly good boyfriend of my own, I don’t need your cast offs." And with that she turned her back on the girl and returned to her conversation with Daniel.

"That’s Cynthia Rutherford. She’d be a good Auror if she weren’t so tarty, and didn’t go after all the male Aurors we have. Poor Daniel is no more enamoured with her than he is with his mother, but she’s decided they’re an item, and nothing he can says will stop her." Emily told James.

The evening that followed was uneventful, save for the evil looks that Cynthia shot at Lily. Lily ignored them, and when she and James left later, both agreed that the Auror Underground was all right, if a bit insane.

Chapter 14 — Result

"Why do I think this is a really stupid idea?" Lily asked James as she concealed the invisible flashless camera in her black robes, and propped a mask on her forehead. "More to the point, why do they insist on wearing this ridiculous face-mask? It’s not like we don’t know who they are. Is it just to intimidate people, because if it is, they really need to get out more."

"Lil, they need to get out more, full stop. They support Voldemort and have nothing better to do than terrorise unsuspecting targets."

After a month in America, Lily and James were ready to act. They had infiltrated the Death Eater Movement. It was difficult not to interfere, but they weren’t there to arrest the American Death Eater’s — that was the American Auror’s job. They just needed enough evidence to incriminate Richard Gordon. And it wasn’t going to be hard to get it. The man was keen to attend the next meeting, and Lily’s job was to get photographs of him with the Death Eaters. James, being the more ambitious, had gone for the more recording him admitting that he supported the Death Eaters. Although, as Lily pointed out, it wasn’t like Gordon was making a big secret of it.

"Come on James!" Lily exclaimed, looking at her watch, "we’ll be late!"

"And that would be tragic." James intoned, tongue in cheek.

"Absolutely devastating." Lily agreed in the same tone, then grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the house. Old habits die hard and it was ten minutes into the journey when James said;

"Why don’t we just disapparate?"

"Because that’s too simple, and I forgot." Lily told him sweetly. "But since you mention it, we could give it a go." So the two of them disappeared, and ended up in a rather dark and dreary room nursing glasses of champagne.

"Great decorations." Lily said to the Death Eater on her right.

"Wilsak spent all afternoon doing them," he informed her.

"Lucky old Wilsak," James murmured in Lily’s ear. She promptly choked in an effort to disguise her giggles.

Before either of them could speak again, the Senator for Sorcery appeared, and silence fell on the room. He began to speak,

"My fellow Death Eaters," he began, and Lily zoomed in of him using the invisible flashless camera, "we are here to help our Lord and Master to achieve his goal of world domination. We have the power to make that goal realistic. Please, raise your glasses to Lord Voldemort." Lily looked at James in shock as Voldemort appeared. James moved his head slightly, nodding towards the door. As Voldemort spoke, the two of them edged their way to the edge of the crowd of Death Eaters in the hope of escaping before they were compromised.

"…Even as I speak there are people who wish to undermine me," Voldemort’s harsh voice intoned, "but we will succeed. I am the heir of Slytherin, the most powerful of the Hogwarts four. Arguably the most powerful wizard ever to grace the earth. Fools like Albus Dumbledore and Joseph Samuelson don’t stand a chance. We will fight and we shall win. Use whatever force you feel is necessary, and if you face death, remember it is for your cause…" Lily and James didn’t wait to hear more. They disapparated. The news threw those at the Auror underground. Voldemort’s presence had not been anticipated.

"Have you got any photos Lil?" Emily asked, worried.

"A whole film," Lily informed her. "Richard Gordon is going to be just another Death Eater when the public gets hold of these."

"What about you, James. Have you got any audio?"

"The whole thing. You lot were all going on about how dangerous it would be! It was easy. Press record when he started, and let the tape run. Which means we probably have what Lil and I heard of Voldemort's speech on tape to. But never mind."

"That, James, my dear," Emily said to him, "makes the evidence so much more incriminating. Get your media to Michelle in room 14, and she’ll sort it into a report. Then, then we wait."

And wait they did. By the end of the week, the news was circulating the wizarding world. In hushed tones the magical community of America discussed how they had no idea that Richard Gordon was a back-stabber.

And in high places there were demands for impeachment. Demands that the Supreme Court of Wizardry were only too happy to grant. By the time Lily and James had to leave the USA, Joseph Samuelson was back

in charge. Their mission achieved, it was time to go home.

Chapter 15 - Proposal

Lily and James arrived back in England to find their friends in good health, and their in trays overflowing. One day in early February Sirius and Felicity were out in the English countryside together. Considering that neither of them were given to soppiness, as a couple they had their incredibly romantic moments. Their relationship was full of fireworks. One day they were best friends, the next neither of them could do anything right. Flick was leaning against Sirius contentedly, surveying the scene in front of her.

"Most people wait for summer before going on picnics." she commented.

"Most people aren’t us." Sirius replied. "Does it really matter what the weather’s like when someone invented a perfectly good charm to keep you at a comfortable temperature."

"Don't you ever worry about using magic too much?" Felicity asked. "I mean, people like Lil’s mum and dad manage fine without it. And Lily still does things the muggle way."

"It probably has something to do with habit. For instance Lily actually cooks, while some witches just mutter spells. Lily cooks ‘properly’ as she puts it, because that’s the way she was taught to. How about you?"

"I wasn’t taught to." Flick laughed. "I sort of picked up tips along the way. Aunt Evie taught me to bake though. So I suppose I bake the muggle way, and cook out of a magic cookbook."

"Right." Sirius looked confused. Then he brightened. "Flick. Will you marry me?"

"Sorry, I must have drifted off then." Flick apologised. "I thought I heard you propose."

"I did."

"You did what?"

"I asked you to be my wife?"

"You’re not particularly romantic are you?" Flick said.

"It depends." Sirius informed her. "Why?"

"I tell you what." Felicity smiled. "I’ll marry you if you propose properly."

"How properly do you mean?"

"I don’t believe this." Flick raised her eyes to the heavens. "First of all, I stand up, and you get down on one knee." Sirius did as he was bidden.

"Right. Now you say something along the lines of Felicity Elizabeth Evans, would you do me the honour of being my wife?’"

"Felicity Elizabeth Evans, would you do me the honour of being my wife?" Sirius repeated.

"I’d be delighted." Flick said, happily. "Not exactly a conventional proposal, but then we’re not conventional, are we?"

"Not exactly." They kissed, before Flick began to talk, worriedly.

"You do realise that if you get me, you get Kat too, don’t you?"

"I think I can cope with that." Sirius smiled at her. "She’ll be the best mischief maker Hogwarts has ever seen, with the exceptions of moi et mon partner in crime, James!" He spoke the last with a French accent.

"Heaven help us all! If you corrupt my sister, I’ll have to divorce you!" Flick laughed.

"You’re planning a divorce!" Sirius exclaimed. "We’re not even married yet!"

"I’m not planning anything just yet." Flick informed him.

"I love you." Sirius said, suddenly. Flick looked at him, and smiled. Those three words from Sirius meant much more to her than she’d ever admit.

"I love you too." she replied. "And we’re going to have the best wedding!"

"Don’t let Lily hear you say that." Sirius smirked. "Or she might never speak to you again."

"Hers will be equally great, but in a different way. Lil’s got different taste."

"Well I wasn’t planning on anything identical."

"I’m so glad, because if you were James, I might change my mind, and Lily may kill you for marrying the wrong woman. And I don’t think James would be too impressed if I were Lily."

"I doubt it highly." Sirius said.

The two of them sat on their rug, in silence, contemplating the future they had just agreed on.

"Do you like children?" Flick asked, suddenly, breaking the calm.

"Do I like children?" Sirius echoed. "As long as they go home at the end of the day, they’re great." he said.

Flick looked at him searchingly, and then she was silent. "Why?"

"I just wondered if you wanted any."

"Dozens." Sirius teased. "One for each month of the year. Then I can call them January and February and March and April and-"

"I get the picture." Felicity said, wryly. She smiled, and then went back to her daydream. The idea of spending the rest of her life with Sirius definitely appealed to her.