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James' teeth were on edge. He couldn't explain why he felt the crackle of nervous energy or what it was exactly that was making him check over his shoulder repeatedly, but it was there. Hanging heavy in the air as the fog in London after rain and he couldn't shake the feeling.
Something in him kept thrusting his memory backward, reviewing the highlights of his life in a contemplative way that he didn't understand. James had never been a person to spend time locked in his head, thinking about the past. But, there he was, his beautiful son in his arms as the light outside faded from gold to indigo, thinking about his wedding day.
He could hear Lily downstairs bustling around the living area. She was probably reorganizing her bookshelf for the tenth time or refolding the blankets that lay across the back of the sofa. James smiled to himself as he kissed the top of Harry's head and breathed him in. They had both gone a bit stir-crazy months ago and while James didn't understand Lily's compulsion to rearrange the furniture every other day, he did understand that it was movement. It was the act of doing something—even if that something seemed frivolous.
They weren't used to sitting still for so long, and nothing lasts forever.
So, James was trying to enjoy it. He had been trying desperately to enjoy the time with his new son—watching him grow and change by the day—but, he couldn't help feeling like they were missing out on something huge. Something that would change their lives as they knew it. And, if he were to be honest with himself, he missed the fight. He missed feeling needed and important. Of course, he knew he was needed and important when it came to Harry. But, that was in completely different ways. He wanted to be needed in a way that didn't make him a burp cloth or a nappy changer.
He stared out the window again, his mind straying once more to the past.
He couldn't help but think of her the way she'd looked then with her face flushed from dancing and champagne, her eyes alight with happiness and the magic of it all. James had spent his entire life surrounded by magic and had never seen a sight more enchanting than she had been then. Standing in the setting sun, her red-painted lips split in a smile as she grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the billowing sashes of the tent to somewhere private.
Even in that moment, everything had felt so fragile, he realized. It had been a welcome break from the stress and fear surrounding them all the time, but it hadn't felt solid. I hadn't felt real. Everything about James' life since Lily took his hand and made a vow to love him forever had felt completely impossible.
Harry broke him from his reverie with a coo and a gurgle as he bounced in his arms, reaching for James' glasses. James smiled down at him and gently pried his chubby little fingers off the frames.
"No, no, Harry," he said quietly, kissing his little hand. "Daddy needs those to see how cute you are."
Harry smiled, his chin slobbery and his mouth full of tiny white teeth that had recently popped through. He made another squealing sound of delight as he grabbed the front of James' shirt and tugged his face to it, wiping every bit of that drool on the front of the fabric without a care in the world.
James held Harry to his chest tightly, his fingers slipping through the mop of fine, black hair that stuck out in every direction on his head. He swayed back and forth as he stared out the window, watching as the sun dipped down below the rooftops and trees of Godric's Hollow. He smiled to himself, a bit sadly, as he watched the last of the children in their costumes disappear into their homes. The carved jack-o-lanterns blinked from the candles within them as the night took hold.
Next year, he thought, next year they'll be able to take Harry out to collect sweets and see the decorations. Nothing lasts forever. This will pass.
James leaned in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, watching as Lily straightened the pillows on the couch and moved around the living room. She stopped abruptly, looking questioningly over her shoulder.
"Get him down?" she asked.
James nodded, "Out like a light."
She sighed in relief, collapsing onto the sofa with a tired smile on her face. James spent a few more seconds just looking at her. Merlin, she really was gorgeous. Even in her stained, old sweats and one of James' old shirts that was just a bit too baggy in the shoulders. But, he loved the way it clung to her curves and her belly. He pushed off the doorframe to stride over to her, falling into the spot next to her. He stretched out, laying his head in her lap and pressing his face to her soft thighs.
Lily laughed lightly, "Are you going to be out like a light too now?"
"Mm, maybe," he admitted, turning to his other side to snuggle his face into her belly.
She ran her fingers through his hair, her nails scratching gently against his scalp. They sat like that for quite some time and James did very nearly let the drowsiness that never seemed to ebb away claim him.
"Things feel off," Lily whispered, her hands stilling in his hair.
James blinked a few times, realizing with a little slowness that Lily wasn't talking about the position they'd been sitting in for the last half hour.
"What do you mean?"
He asked the question, but he knew the answer already. It was the same feeling he'd had upstairs. The feeling of unexplainable wrongness that seemed to settle over him the last week. The tension in the air that he could cut through, though there'd been no change in their relationship or anything else with the house. It felt intangible. Unexplainable. A hair raising chill that lingered around them without any reason for it.
"I don't know," she said. "I can't explain it. I just…I feel it, you know?"
James sat up, regrettably removing himself from the warmth of her body pressed against him.
"Yeah," he agreed. "I don't know what it is either. It's like the magic of the house isn't right, d'you know what I mean?"
"Yes," she nodded. "Something isn't right. Should we write to Dumbledore, do you think?"
James shrugged, "Or Moody. Maybe something went wrong with the charm."
Lily's face hardened. "No. It's not that. I know we did that charm correctly."
Something uncomfortable squirmed in James' belly. "You don't think…" he trailed off for a moment, staring into space to find the words to say what had been niggling in the back of his mind for a while now. "Do you think Peter…?"
Lily's face fell, her brows creasing in thought. "I don't think he'd tell anyone. Do you?"
James closed his eyes, letting his head fall to the back of the couch. Not for the first time, the ache of regret surged through him. They shouldn't have listened to Sirius. They should have gone with their gut and had him be the secret keeper. James didn't want to believe that Peter would do anything as heinous as tell someone where they were at, but there was something in him that knew Peter. That knew how twitchy he could get under pressure and given the right incentive…
He should've seen how this would end before it ever began, and there was a feeling pounding in his chest, screaming in his head, that told him they needed to leave.
"I don't know," James answered honestly. "I don't want to believe that he would. But, I don't know. If someone offered him something he couldn't refuse..."
"What could be so precious to him that he would turn us over? We're being silly, don't you think? Going a bit mad being trapped in here."
James shook his head, alarm bells ringing loudly in his head. "I don't think we are. Not if we're both feeling it. I'm going to…" he took in a sharp breath, jumping up from the couch to search through the side table drawer.
"What are you doing?" Lily asked, worry evident in her voice.
James rifled through the drawer, flinging aside bits of broken quill and empty inkpots before he found the sliver of reflective glass tucked in the back beneath a few pieces of old parchment.
He took a steadying breath and looked into the mirror, his own face staring back at him. He looked exhausted with dark rings beneath his eyes and his brown skin ashy and lifeless. It made him look old, much older than his twenty-one years. He grimaced and cleared his throat, ignoring his reflection.
"Sirius?" he called out, his heart thrumming beneath his ribs. "Padfoot? You there?"
Lily's reflection peeked from behind his shoulder, her large, green eyes staring intently at the glass. Her hand pressed against his back, comforting and warm.
"Does he still carry it?" she asked quietly, her teeth worrying at her bottom lip.
"Dunno. Hopefully." James stared into the mirror, willing Sirius to appear. "Pads? Come on, I need you. Padfoot!"
"Hold your fucking hippogriffs for a minute Prongs, I can't find the fucking—aha! Alright, here we are!"
Sirius' face appeared in place of James' reflection, his grey eyes piercing and his grin crooked and wicked as ever. He looked disheveled, a purple bruise blooming on his right cheekbone and a nasty cut across his jaw.
"Jesus!" Lily gasped, grabbing the mirror from James' hand. "What happened to you?"
"Oh you know, just a rough night out on the town with the pals—a duel, Lillian. What the fuck do you think happened to me? I just got home not even ten minutes ago."
"I thought things were calming down?" Lily asked, her voice pitched a bit higher than normal.
"Yeah, so did we. But, apparently Voldemort's cult following has decided that they were going to cause as much mayhem as they could in the spirit of Halloween. How fucking festive."
"Wait—" James snatched the mirror back from Lily's grasp "—they've been quiet for a while and now all of the sudden they're causing trouble again? That doesn't make sense."
"Tell me about it," Sirius groaned a bit as he slumped down into a chair and rubbed a hand over his face with a wince. "Moony said—"
"Remus is back?" Lily took James' wrist and thrust it toward her so she could see Sirius again. "Where is he?"
"Yeah he got back last night."
"Where is he?" Lily asked again, more urgently this time.
"Merlin you lot are demanding tonight," Sirius muttered, turning his head to look over his shoulder and shouting for Remus.
A few moments passed and Remus' face was on the mirror. Lily sucked in a sharp breath as James said "Holy shit, mate. You alright?"
"Dandy," Remus replied.
His face was shredded; three long claw marks slicing from temple to his collar, his nose crooked and swollen, and two dark greenish bruises flooding from the bridge of it to under his eyes.
"What happened?" Lily demanded, "And I swear to god if you get sarcastic with me, Remus John, I will climb through this mirror and end you."
Remus let out a breathy laugh, "Werewolf packs, innit? And then the duel in the streets a while ago. Broke my nose, I think."
"You think?" Lily shrieked.
"Alright, stop accosting him," Sirius said, scooting into frame. "Why are you calling on the mirror, Prongs? I thought we agreed it was probably dangerous to do that and I don't think you called just because you missed my beautiful face."
"I do miss you," James said honestly, his chest heaving a bit as he spoke.
Because, god, he did miss them. Desperately, so. He missed having his friends with him and the way they joked and laughed and bickered. He missed the way Lily and Remus would get lost in conversation about something far more clever than he could ever follow. He missed the comfort of Sirius next to him, knowing he'd always be on his side no matter what.
It was this that made James a bit sick. Because in this daydream of how things would be after the war, after this hellscape had ended and they were able to all be together again, Peter wasn't there.
He wasn't a missing puzzle piece in the life James wanted with his family. He was a slot created and forced to fit. And admitting that to himself made him feel terrible.
"I miss you too, Jamie," Sirius murmured, a small smile dancing on his lips. "But, we'll see each other soon, yeah? I mean, this can't go on forever. And I have a mountain of stuff I didn't send to give Harry for his birthday—though at this rate I may as well keep it until Christmas."
James smiled at that before the reason he dug up the mirror in the first place came back to him.
"There's something funny going on," James said, moving from the middle of the room to sit on the couch again. Lily sat next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder so she could see.
"I'm not sure funny is the right way to put it," Sirius waved a hand around his face. "If this all scars up I'm certainly not going to be laughing—" he shot a look off to the side and scrunched his face up. "Sorry, Moons."
"No, no. Please, do go on about how frightful facial disfigurement is," Remus' voice rang out.
Lily snorted.
"You guys," James' voice rose above their bickering, though he couldn't help the amusement on his face. "I did have an actual reason to contact you."
"Oh, right. Yes, well what is it then?" Sirius asked, an eyebrow raised expectantly.
"I need you to pop over for a moment."
Lily looked up at him, confusion etched across her face. "James, that won't work… they don't know where we live anymore."
"Yeah, I haven't been able to remember your address since we did the charm," Sirius said.
"Nor have I," Remus chimed in.
"I'm aware of that," James said, his patience running a bit thin. He knew his friends and his wife were smarter than this. "But, I want you to try anyway."
"So, if I try and end up splinched…?" Sirius asked.
"Then you won't have to worry about that ugly mug being disfigured, will you?" James said.
"Oi! Rude."
"Will you just try?" James nearly begged. "Please? Just try and apparate over and if it doesn't work then we'll know this feeling we've been having is just us going cabin mad. But, I need you to try."
"For your peace of mind, Jamie, I will risk splinching my perfectly crafted face," Sirius laughed, clearly not understanding what James was getting at.
The mirror went dark and then it was James' reflection staring back at him again.
"What are you on about?" Lily asked, picking her head up from his shoulder to look at him.
"I'm scared, Lils," he admitted, gnawing at the inside of his cheek. "I think we've put our trust in the wrong person and you feel it, too. Something isn't right and if something's happened and Peter's given us up…"
"He wouldn't," Lily insisted, though her voice wasn't as unwavering as James was sure she'd meant it to be.
"I think there are a lot of things we would all do with the right incentives," James spoke slowly, getting up from his seat to pace. He stopped in front of the window, pulling the curtain back to look outside.
"But what could possibly be a good enough incentive to—"
"Fear," James said plainly. "Pete has always been afraid of everything. We've joked about it—you know that. But, I think it's real. If Pete is terrified enough…he has a family, too. His mum, his sisters…he'd want to protect them. If they were threatened…"
James' stomach churned uncomfortably, his throat going tight at the thought of it.
"I don't want to think he would. But, I know if it were me and you and Harry were in danger, I would do just about anything to make sure you were safe."
"There has to be a line you wouldn't cross though," Lily was standing now, her arms wrapped around herself. "Otherwise, you're no better than any of them."
He didn't have to ask who the "them" was she was talking about.
"Of course there's a line. I wouldn't give up anyone I cared about. But, I'm not afraid to look Voldemort in his nasty face and tell him as much."
"We're worrying for nothing," Lily crossed the room to look outside. "We have to be. Remus and Sirius aren't here yet and I can't imagine they'd take their time. We're going a bit mental and we're scared, that's all. We trust Peter. He wouldn't—"
Two loud sounds cracked the air around them, making both James and Lily jump. James squinted his eyes to look through the darkness and felt his stomach drop through his arse when he saw Sirius charging up the stone path to the house, a manic look of fury on his face.
The door burst open, the handle slamming into the wall hard enough to go straight through it. Sirius stood in the doorway practically foaming at the mouth as Remus loomed behind him, seething.
"That fucking rat," Sirius hissed.
"Get inside," Lily barked, grabbing Sirius by the wrist to yank him forward. Remus followed behind, his chest rising and falling with fury.
"That absolute jellyfish of a human," Sirius continued ranting.
"James," Remus' voice was deep and even as ever and had James not known him as well as he did, he'd think he was calm. But there was something beneath the lilting Welsh baritone that sent a shiver through him. "We need to get Harry and get out of here. Now."
"We can't just leave," Lily looked horrified, her eyes wide and shining. "All of our stuff—all of Harry's stuff is here and where are we meant to go?"
"It's just stuff, Lily," James said. "We can replace it."
"That fucking bastard! I'll kill him. I hope he shows up because I swear on my fucking motorbike I will chop him into bits and dump his cowardly arse into the fucking Thames."
"Sirius, please," Remus held up a hand to him. "Stop for one fucking moment so we can get this sorted. If the charm is broken, we don't have much time."
"It's been days," James turned to Remus. "We've felt like this for days, Moony. How do we know he isn't already watching us? They could be outside right now."
"Go get Harry," Remus repeated. "Now, James. Lily, pack a bag of what you'll need for the next few days. We'll figure out something longer term once we get out of here."
"But—"
"Lily, just do it," James urged.
He gave her one long, imploring look before she finally nodded to him. James grabbed Sirius by the elbow and tugged him along up the stairs.
"There's a bag in that closet there," he pointed to the linen cupboard outside of the bathroom. "Throw some clothes in it for Harry, yeah?"
"James, I should have done the charm. It should have been me. I don't know what I was thinking but—"
James grabbed both of Sirius' shoulders before pulling him into a tight hug. "It's not your fault. Your idea was solid. We wouldn't have agreed if we didn't think so."
Sirius pulled away and James didn't miss the way he wiped at his eyes before Sirius snatched the bag from him and bounded into Harry's room.
James followed behind him, stepping up to the crib and looking down at Harry. He seemed so small in his bed, his lips moving to suckle every so often, his little fingers twitching.
"There's a carrier just there on the rocker," James said, not looking away from Harry's sleeping form. "Can you hand it to me?"
He held out a hand and felt the rough material slide into his palm. He took a deep breath and slid the carrier over his shoulders, fastening the buckle at the waist. He carefully slipped his hands beneath Harry's back, shifting him gently to pull him up from the crib. Harry let out a small cry of protest and then quieted once again the moment James had the baby against his chest, snug and secure in the little carrier.
"Shh, it's okay mate," James whispered into Harry's hair, kissing the top of his head a few times for good measure. "It's alright. We're going on a little adventure, is all."
James looked up to see Sirius staring at them with his mouth slightly open.
"Merlin, he's gotten so big," Sirius' voice shook. "I've missed so much with him. And you. And Lily. I'm sorry. I want this to be over."
"It will be," James assured him. "Soon, hopefully. We should go back downstairs."
Sirius nodded sharply and stuffed a few more toys and tiny socks into the bag.
Lily had a backpack strapped to her back that Remus was fiddling with, his wand out and his eyes intent.
"Should do the trick," he said, flourishing his wand over the bag. "How's that feel?"
"Better." Lily looked up at James and he could tell she'd been crying.
"Alright?" James asked.
She nodded, "I'll be fine."
He held his hand out to her and she took it, her fingers instantly lacing through his, filling the gaps of his hands as easily as she filled the gaps of his heart. He took a deep breath and turned to Remus, who had Sirius in a tight embrace.
"Where do we go?" James asked.
"There's not a lot of time to explain," Remus began, "But we've been sort of planning for something like this. Lily, you'll go with Sirius—"
"No," she shook her head. "I'm not leaving James and my son."
"Listen to me," Sirius pulled away from Remus and stood before Lily, gripping her upper arms and staring her directly in the eye. "I am not going to let anything happen to you or to them. Remus has a plan, and we all know you trust Remus more than just about anyone on the planet. You have to go with me, Lily. They'll expect Harry to be with you and for you to be with James or Remus. They won't expect you to be with me."
"You said that about having Peter as our secret keeper," Lily protested. "If we're wrong about that—"
"That isn't fair, Lily," James cut in, watching how Sirius' face twisted in something like agony. "We all agreed no one would suspect Peter. And chances are they didn't until he gave them reason to."
Lily inhaled shakily and sniffled, blinking away tears. "Fine. Fine, yes. I know. Okay, I go with Padfoot."
"You go with Padfoot," Remus agreed. "James, you'll come with me. Apparating two takes a lot of power and I have a bit more to spare."
"Furry little problem finally coming in handy," James joked.
"Indeed it has," Remus agreed. "We have several apparition points we're going to hit. I won't lie to you, it's going to be terrible."
"Is it safe for Harry?" James asked.
"Safe enough," Sirius shrugged. "It'll have to be."
"That's not as reassuring as you think it is," Lily laughed hopelessly.
Sirius opened his mouth to speak when another crack of apparition sizzled through the air. Followed by another, and another, and another… They were here. They were coming and James felt his entire body go cold. He shoved Sirius out of the way and grabbed Lily, pulling her to him and kissing her hard.
"If we don't make it out, you'll remember me," she said. "Tell stories to Harry about me."
"We will," James promised, though the house shook from the force of a spell hitting the wards around it.
James' feet hit the ground and he stumbled, grabbing onto a tree to support himself. He felt nauseous. His head was pounding and his stomach rolled at the thought of having to apparate again. Harry had already gotten sick on him more than once and the baby wailed in protest every time they went through the inside-out feeling of apparating again.
"Once more," Remus panted. "Can you do one more?"
"I don't know," James croaked.
"You have to, James."
"I know."
"Then, one more."
James wanted to cry. He didn't think he'd ever recover from this and if he'd known the toll of apparating blindly a dozen times, he wouldn't have agreed to it. Well, he would have if it meant Harry's safety, but he'd have tried to figure out something else.
Remus held out his hand and James grasped it, both of their palms clammy and cold. And then, they were gone again. Shoved through the ether in a stomach-twisting tube of existence before they were dumped out the other end onto a gravel drive in the middle of nowhere.
"Come on," Remus said, heaving James up from his knees where he'd landed. "This way."
James jogged behind Remus as they headed up the path and into a small copse of trees. There was a large boulder sitting in the center, completely out of place but covered in moss and ivy like it'd been there for decades. Before James could ask what it was, Remus waved his wand and the boulder transformed into an old, green car.
"A car," James laughed.
"A car," Remus confirmed. "There's a seat for Harry in the back, strap him in."
James did so, spending a bit too long on the muggle contraption before giving up and sticking Harry in the seat with a sticking charm. If it could keep the boy on a child's broom, he assumed it would do just fine to keep him in a stationary seat.
Remus opened the passenger door for James before making his way around to the driver's side, slipping in like he's done it thousands of times. James stared in a sort of confused awe as Remus started the engine and it roared to life, the vehicle shaking and vibrating.
"You know how to drive?"
Remus shot him a small smile and turned in his seat to look behind him as the car lurched backward and grumbled out of the hiding spot.
"Mum taught me. Said I might need the skill some day."
"How long ago was that?"
"Eh…I was fifteen I think."
"And you know what you're doing?"
"Well, I've driven a bit since," Remus shrugged, shoving the stick between them up a few notches before the car started going forward toward the gravel road they'd landed on. "It really is a useful skill. Particularly when you're trying to stay hidden from purebloods. They can't wrap their heads around it."
James laughed a bit and turned to check on Harry. He was fast asleep in the seat, the exhaustion of apparition and the ambient movement having lulled him, James suspected.
They drove for a while, moving on the dark road beneath only the light of the moon and stars as the shadows of trees flashed across the wind screen. James wanted to ask where they were headed, but there was a strange fear that if it was spoke aloud someone would overhear. Someone who wasn't supposed to know would find them.
"I can't believe Peter's done this to us," James said after a while, exhaustion heightening his anger and upset at the whole thing. "I can't believe he'd—"
"He'll get what he deserves," Remus' voice was low and vicious. "Just because we didn't give it to him, doesn't mean his mate Voldemort won't."
"But, that's the thing," James slumped down in the seat, stretching his legs out the best he could and leaning his head against the cool window. "I don't want him dead. I don't want…" he trailed off with a sigh. "I just want to know why."
"I doubt we'll ever know that," Remus said.
They drove on in relative silence after that. Remus humming along to the quiet crackle of the radio as James fluttered in and out of a dozing sleep. His arm was shoved behind him now, between the door and the seat, so that he could brush his fingers against Harry and feel his breath on them. It had long gone numb, but he couldn't bring himself to move it.
Harry was the most important thing in the world. The most wonderful thing. And, he wouldn't let anyone harm him. He couldn't. Harry had to be safe—no matter what.
The wee hours of the morning broke through the blanket of night with watery light and the weak songs of birds that still hadn't fled to somewhere warmer. They rounded a green hilltop with long grass dancing in the wind and came upon a little cottage, the chimney sitting crookedly atop the roof, puffing wisps of smoke through the stack.
"Here we are," Remus mumbled, pulling up to the cottage and cutting the engine. "Wait here a moment."
James went to protest but was stopped by a severe look from Remus. He shrank back into the seat and watched as Remus got out of the car, limping around the side of it with his wand raised.
Long, curling tendrils of magenta swirled from the tip of his wand, interlocking around the property and brightening with reinforcement. James watched with his mouth open as Remus cut the palm of his hand and placed it against the dirt path leading up to the house. It was a strange mixture of ritual magic and charms and James had never seen anything like it.
Within the blink of an eye, the house was shrouded in a thicket of trees heavy with autumnal leaves and blankets of moss and ivy. A small forest had grown around them, shielding them from the empty path of the road. The magic in it shimmered and crackled against the air.
"Alright," Remus opened James' door. "We're good now."
James gaped at him before finally pulling himself up out of the car. "What is this?"
"My grandparents' cottage," Remus said simply. "No one will find us here. Sirius and I have made sure of that."
"I thought your grandad lived in Yorkshire?"
Remus waited patiently as James stumbled to the back door to pull Harry out from his seat, laughing at himself when he remembered he was quite literally stuck to the thing and drew his wand to reverse the spell.
"My Da's family does, yeah," Remus nodded, holding his arms out to take Harry. "But my Mum's family lives here. Let me have him a moment, it'll be easier if I take you both across."
James handed Harry over without hesitation and watched as Remus pressed his son against his chest, murmuring something into his ear. Something glowed bright from the center of Harry's forehead before he passed the baby back to James.
"Now your turn," Remus placed his bloodied palm to James' head and murmured words in a language James knew to be Welsh but couldn't for the life of him understand. He'd only ever heard Remus murmur it in soft little lullabies he sang to Harry before they went into hiding.
James' face felt hot for a moment before he felt a cool drip of magic slide over his skin and creep its way through him. He took in a slow breath and looked at Remus with wide eyes.
"What is that?"
"Old magic," Remus answered with elaborating, tugging on James' elbow. "We should go in. Lily and Sirius should be waiting."
They walked up the path as James' heart seemed to beat through his chest. He felt nauseous from adrenaline, sleep deprivation, and worry. Harry had woken and was staring up at him, his green eyes blinking sleepily.
Remus touched his wand to the door and then motioned for James to repeat the pattern with his own. Once he had, the door sprung open, revealing a small sitting room crammed with comfortable looking floral couches and potted plants.
Lily sobbed the second his eyes landed on her. She sprang up from her seat and rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist to bury her face into his chest, kissing Harry over and over.
"You're alright?" He asked, holding her close, breathing her in.
"I'm alright. You?"
He nodded, "Yeah."
She tugged him toward one of the sofas and he caught Sirius' eye, incredibly tired and bruised as he was, Sirius still smirked up at him. A cocky little "I told you she'd be fine" across his face. He smiled in return, sinking onto the lumpy cushion.
"Now what?" Lily asked, after some time had passed and they'd all sat in silence staring around, working their way through the shock of the night.
"Now, we have some planning to do," James said, something fiery and bright burning in the pit of his belly. "We have a fight to win."