Sirius Black and James Potter knew they had a narrow escape from the pursuing Death Eaters. Each also knew there was going to be some fallout from the Ministry of Magic over the two policemen they left in the narrow side street. It wasn’t their intention to be chased by Muggle policemen. Their only thought was simple; to try to get away from the dozen or so Death Eaters who had discovered them spying on their activities.
Neither man tried to speak as they flew north to the outskirts of London. Sirius landed the motorcycle in the back yard of a small house. They both walked silently into the kitchen of the house. Simultaneously, each grabbed a bottle of Butterbeer from the cabinet before they sat down at the table. Still, neither spoke.
Only after drinking half the bottle of Butterbeer did they even look at each other.
“You know we are going to be in trouble over this?” James asked Sirius.
“Albus will take care of it. He has never let us down before,” Sirius said smugly.
“I don’t know,” James said. “I think we pushed the Secrecy Decree a bit too much this time.”
Sirius didn’t answer; he merely lifted his bottle and tipped it towards James before he finished the bottle.
James shook his head and likewise finished his drink. Setting the bottle down, he looked over at Sirius. “Well, Elvendork, I think our narrow escape calls for something stronger than Butterbeer.”
Sirius burst out laughing followed by James. Soon both men were laughing uncontrollably. They were laughing so loud, they did not hear the slamming of the front door.
As Lily Evans walked towards the kitchen, she could hear the laughter. Her temper already on edge was pushed beyond her control. Pulling out her wand, she quietly snuck towards the kitchen.
Knowing she only had one shot at this, she prepared to jinx both men. “Langlock, Langlock!” She hexed both men before either knew she was there.
James and Sirius did not even have enough time to draw their wands before being hit by the hex. They both looked at her with shock. Neither expected her to hex them when their guard was down, if at all.
Lily could see the shock on both men’s faces. That look alone was enough to take the edge off her temper. She murmured the counter-charm which allowed both men to be able to speak again.
“Lily! What did you do that for?” James asked.
“Good one, Lily. Never would have expected that of you,” Sirius said smiling at her.
“I want to know,” Lily said very slowly as if she was speaking to a child, “just what in Merlin’s name you two were thinking?”
“Well, Elvendork here-’ James’ words were cut off by a look from Lily as she raised her wand.
Sniggering, Sirius tried a different approach, he played dumb. “What are you talking about? We were just sitting here having a Butterbeer and sharing a few laughs.”
Lily looked from one man to the other. She found it very hard in that instant to keep her temper in check. James recognised instantly the flash of temper in her eyes. He knew he had only seconds to stop her before he and Sirius would find themselves victims of another hex.
Jumping up from the table, James rushed over to Lily. He grabbed her wand in one hand while he wrapped the other around her back and pulled her close to him. He then did the only thing he could think of to stop her, he kissed her.
“Well Prongs, that is one way to calm an angry woman,” Sirius said as he stood and walked over to the cabinet where he had a bottle of Firewhisky and glasses. He took out three glasses and poured them each a drink. He took the glasses to the table. After setting them down, he turned and grabbed the bottle. He sat down at the table, and set the bottle down with more force than necessary.
The sound echoed through the kitchen causing James and Lily to break apart. James whipped around holding Lily’s wand in front of him.
“What did you do that for?” James asked.
“I don’t know. I thought it was a good way to get your attention. It worked, didn’t it?” Sirius said with a smile on his face. “Now that you two have come up for air, would you like a drink?”
Lily and James each sat down at the table. James picked his glass up and took a sip. He turned to Lily and asked her, “Would you like to hear what really happened tonight?”
Before Lily could answer, Sirius asked her, “How did you find out anything happened? We only just got back here about fifteen minutes before you showed up.”
“I was at the Hogs Head with Albus discussing the plans for tonight’s meeting when he received an owl from the Ministry. It told him of ‘an incident’ involving both of you and a couple Muggle policemen. He left immediately to go to the Ministry to sort it out. I came here because I knew this is where you would go.” Lily looked at both of them waiting for their explanation.
“So that’s why we haven’t gotten an owl from the Ministry yet. Albus probably straightened it out. So there’s nothing to worry about just like I told you.” Sirius had a knowing grin on his face.
“I don’t know, Padfoot, I think we may have something to worry about. I’m not sure he can make this on go away.”
Before Lily could again ask them what had happened, there was a knock on the back door. Rising, Sirius went over and opened the door. Sirius didn’t speak, he just stood back and gestured for the man to come in.
Albus Dumbledore entered the kitchen quickly taking stock of the empty Butterbeer bottles as well as the three glasses which undoubtedly had contained Firewhisky.
“Having a party?” he questioned.
Neither James nor Sirius answered. “Would you like something, Albus?” Lily asked.
“No, I cannot stay long,” he replied. “I just came from the Ministry.” He gave James and Sirius a sweeping glance. “I am here to find out exactly what happened today. I then have to report back to the Minister as to why there has been a need to modify two Muggle policemen’s memories.” He looked at them expectantly.
Sirius felt like he was back in school. Though he, James and Lily had graduated a year ago, he still felt as if he had been caught doing some misdeed in the hallowed halls of Hogwarts.
“We were being chased by several Death Eaters, we were looking for a place away from Muggles to make our escape. We didn’t know those policemen would follow us down the alley.” Even to James’ ears, his explanation sounded like a poor excuse.
“How did you come to be chased by Death Eaters?” Albus asked.
‘We were out scouting around on my bike, sir, when we ran into a group of them. We had taken the bike so we would look like Muggles. We didn’t expect to find any of them.” Sirius wondered if his explanation sounded as bad as James’ did. And why, after over a year working for the Order, he felt compelled to call Albus, sir.
Albus looked from one man to the other. “I do not believe this is the whole truth. However, what you have told me should satisfy the Minister. I expect a full accounting of your actions at tonight’s meeting. Until then, it would be best if both of you remained in the house and out of trouble.”
Albus stood and walked over to the door. Turning he smiled and said, “I shall see all of you tonight. Please don’t be late and come together.” With that, he calmly strode out the door and quietly closed it behind him.
Neither man spoke as the silence spread through the kitchen. They also, did not look at each other.
James was the first to speak. “Lily, what time is tonight’s meeting?”
“Why? Trying to figure out if you two have enough time to go and cause some more trouble?” she asked angrily.
“Lily,” James pleaded, “we didn’t mean for all that to happen. It just…did.”
“You never mean for it to happen. That is the problem. When we the two of you realise you are not invincible? What will it take before it sinks in to your thick skulls, you could have died out there?”
As Lily’s voice broke, James realised there was something else fuelling Lily’s anger, fear. Turning to Sirius, he said, “Padfoot, give us a few minutes, please?”
As Sirius walked out of the kitchen, James pulled Lily into his arms. He knew her fears were justified. The sad part was, there was nothing he could say or do to alleviate her fears. Working for the Order was dangerous, just as it was the right thing to do, and he planned on continuing.
***
Sirius was about to sit on the couch when there was a knock on the front door. He went over and opened it.
“Moony, Wormtail, what are you doing here?” he asked as he turned from the door and went to sit down as he had been about to do.
“We thought we would come over and all of us could go to the meeting together,” Remus replied.
“And, we wanted to hear from you exactly what happened today. The whole story, the real story,” Peter said sitting down next to Sirius.
Sirius smiled. “I’ll tell you. James is currently trying to calm Lily down. She’s a bit upset with us.”
Sirius leaned back comfortably on the sofa and began his story, never once wondering how Peter knew something happened.
***
“So, there we were facing a dead end with two Muggle policemen behind us. It was a few minutes before we realised there were Death Eaters sneaking down the alley behind the policemen.” Sirus looked at his friends expressions. Peter looked excited but Remus had his prefect look on his face.
“Moony, honestly, with the Death Eaters behind those Muggles, what else could we do?” he asked defensively.
“Was it really necessary to not only blast your way out of there, but to fly off on your bike?” Remus asked.
“Well, at the time, it seemed the best course of action. We needed to get out of there quickly so…” he said and seeing the disapproving look on his friend’s face, sighed heavily.
“Okay, okay. So maybe we could have found a more subtle way of leaving, but at the time-”
“At the time, you were having too much fun to worry about secrecy,” Remus said knowingly.
Sirius grinned broadly. “I guess we were.”
Remus shook his head. “Next time, try to be a little more prepared,” he said wearily.
“I know we weren’t really in all that much danger, we did have the bike,” he said. “The true danger came when we got back here.”
“True danger?” asked Peter. “What do you mean? Did the Death Eaters follow you here?”
“No,” Sirius answered. “Lily found out what happened.” At the knowingly look from his friends, the three men started laughing. Each had been on the receiving end of Lily’s temper and knew she was not a witch to mess with.
“So, you think it is safe to go into the kitchen?” asked Remus.
“Why?”
“I don’t know about you Padfoot, but Wormtail and I have been busy all day and we haven’t eaten yet. We are hoping we can get Lily to make us something before tonight’s meeting. Aberforth isn’t the greatest cook in the world.”
This statement brought more laughter and the three men stood as one to go beg Lily to feed them.
Throwing an arm over the shoulder of each of his friends, Sirius thought, What more could a man ask for then to have best friends like these?
Love Beyond Forever by mudbloodproud
Story Notes:
This story is dedicated to my future brother-in-law, Michael. He was upset at the shortness of the Prologue J. K. Rowling wrote and wanted more. He also wanted a story with wizard battles, and dragons. So, Michael, this one is for you.
Chapter Notes: I wish to thank my two beta's for this story. Serena (Rena) and Alyssa (Harry4lif). Thanks to both for being honest and supporting me in this story.