Run Boy Run!
The alarm blared almost deafeningly, causing numerous individuals to slam their hands down onto their ears in an attempt to drown out the unexpected noise.
People’s eyes darted around nervously as Dumbledore flicked off the alarm with an unsettling amount of calm and turned to the door. A man - who James hadn’t bothered to learn the name of - rushed in, panic evident on his face as he anxiously bounced on his heels, “The Death Eaters have found us, sir.”
Dumbledore nodded, as if expecting this. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by yet another man barging in. “There are hundreds of them, sir! Far too many for us to fight!”
Almost all of the unofficial Order members present stood at this, not even attempting to conceal the fear-stricken expressions on their faces.
James and his friends stayed seated though. While they did not agree with everything Dumbledore had said or done; they trusted in his leadership, and had faith in his capability to guide them to utmost safety. They knew how this worked, and therefore were not so fast to leave without direct instructions.
James spared a quick glance over to Sirius and Remus, who, despite their recent fluctuation in arguments, stood hand in hand, not daring to let go of one another.
“Very well. If there are too many of them, then we have no choice but to run. Stay in as large of groups as you possibly can and then send a patronus once you are certain of your safety. Only then, will I inform you of our next move. Understood?”
Everyone inclined their heads in acknowledgement, the remainder of them rising from their seats and swiftly filing out the door, each of them bolting in different directions as they dodged the copious amount of spells sent their way.
Out of the corner of James’ eye, he could see Pandora and Mary catching up to him, both of whom were not official Order members, but were still extremely trusted and powerful friends.
Without looking back, he lifted his wand and threw a couple spells behind him, grinning to himself when it clearly hit its target, a loud shriek being heard close by.
They didn’t falter. Not once.
Minutes passed of near silence - the only sound being the array of shoes battering against the ground whilst they raced around a sharp corner which led to a fairly secluded street.
James skidded to a stop, positive that no one was actively chasing them, and leaned against the wall as he gasped for air. Marlene, along with Sirius and Dorcas, who had appeared to have been with them the whole time, almost fell to the ground dramatically as she panted in an attempt to regain her breath.
Dorcas snorted and pulled her onto her feet, nudging James to move. “Keep walking. We need to stay on the move.”
He rolled his eyes playfully, internally cursing her when he noticed how much his feet ached.
“The traitor’s still here then.” Marlene frowned, eyebrows furrowed in thought as she stared blankly at the cold wet ground. When the silence drew on for a moment or two, she spoke again, “I just don’t get it. They haven’t done anything in months, yet all of a sudden…?”
Sirius hummed grimly, “It’ll have been to give us a false sense of safety, I imagine. Like, to catch us off guard.”
“Unluckily for them, we’re never off guard.” Mary grinned, spinning the wand in her hand quite impressively.
Sirius nodded in agreement. “I still don’t understand why we couldn’t have just had that meeting at the regular meeting spot. Death Eaters wouldn’t have been able to interrupt it then.”
“Because, Sirius, unofficial Order members aren’t allowed to have that kind of information, regardless of how little or how much we trust them.” Dorcas explained with a sigh for maybe the fiftieth time in the past two hours.
“Mary and Pandora know!” he argued, gesturing wildly towards the two in front of him.
“And that’s because you don’t know how to keep your big mouth shut.” Mary huffed a laugh, skipping forward to sling her arm around James’ shoulder.
“I do!” he argued defensively, only to back down when everyone simultaneously turned to look at him, eyebrows raised in clear disbelief. “Well, I do sometimes.”
Dorcas’ lips quirked up at the corners to create the illusion of an almost-smile; a rare thing to see from anybody nowadays, James realised with a grimace.
“Where are the others? Lily, Remus, Pete and Xeno?” he voiced, having been questioning it for the past few minutes.
“Got split from us when a Death Eater almost grabbed me. They’re with Alice and Frank.” Mary reassured him, a soft smile making its way onto her face.
Dorcas had seemed to have been wondering this too, for she had nodded at Mary’s words, “Good. Do you think we should-”
“Sh!” Pandora hissed suddenly with urgence. She had completely frozen in her tracks and appeared to be listening for noise. The group copied her, straining their ears searching for any strange sounds, however finding nothing.
After about thirty seconds, Dorcas inched closer, reaching out to the blonde. “Dora, what is it? Did you hear something?”
“No.” she whispered in return, her voice only just perceivable to the group. If anyone were to move even a centimetre, they would not have heard her. “But I can sense someone following us.”
Everyone had learned very early on into befriending Pandora not to question her. More often than not, her senses and instincts were correct and she typically had a way of knowing things she should not. They also knew, by the way Pandora walked on and lightly nudged Marlene, to not turn back, and carry on just as she was.
“What’s the plan?” Sirius was first to mumble, naturally moving forward to link arms with James.
“Keep walking until that corner.” she said, bowing her head to point in the direction ahead of them. “Then once we turn it, we hide behind something - see what we’re dealing with.”
Dorcas nodded thoughtfully, “If there is a little amount of them; we grab ‘em. Their wands too. Try and get any information out of them.”
“Like who that bloody traitor is.” Marlene said under her breath, crossing her arms as she resisted the urge to turn her head.
James muffled a laugh and tugged himself away from Sirius, who made a noise of mock hurt, and leaned back to grab Marlene’s arm, pulling her to the front and around the corner.
The six of them scrambled to hide behind one of the cars closest to them - James, Marlene and Sirius hiding behind a large red one, while Dorcas, Pandora and Mary squeezed to fit behind a rather small silver one.
They all waited with immense anticipation, prepared to pounce at any given moment - like a predator meeting its prey. Their grips on their wands tightened, patiently lingering prior to Dorcas’ signal. Dorcas, whose remarkable intelligence and skill went undoubted by all, was frequently placed as the designated leader when it came to situations such as this. Due to not only her own confidence, but also the colossal amount of trust her companions had for her.
Footsteps neared, and James watched intently as three pairs of feet rounded the corner, Pandora’s eyes widening instantly with recognition as she sucked in a sharp breath.
When the trio came to a stop, evidently taking a moment of confusion to figure out where the group had gone, they all looked over to Dorcas, who had continuously proven her ability to stay calm under any circumstances. She nodded, the six of them jumping up in mere milliseconds, giving the three Death Eaters almost no time to be startled.
James grabbed the one closest to him, his hand gripped tightly over the mysterious man’s mouth, who was shockingly still in his hold. Unlike the other two, who had been snatched by Dorcas and Sirius and were thrashing violently in their grasp.
Dorcas smirked and ripped the mask off of the one she was holding’s face, James’ gasp muffled by Sirius’ and Marlene’s.
“Now tell me, Barty Crouch Junior, why exactly have you, Evan Rosier and Regulus Black been following us?”