Chapter 1
‘Okay Red, we’re going to go slowly and see if they keep following us’ said James while ducking in between the back seats of the car.
‘Oh sure, it’s not like I’m driving my car with someone who broke into it without my knowledge. Of course, he also wants to give orders... typical men’ spit Lily through her teeth with an annoyed tilt of the voice.
‘Well, I asked but you said no; what was I supposed to do?’ the amused tone James was using would have led Lily to claw her eyes out if it were any other day, but they were, indeed, being followed and she could keep the quick remarks at bay for a little bit longer.
Huffing and muttering under her breath she waited for more instruction from the man, noticing with the side of her eye that the car that was following them had stopped right beside hers.
‘You need to tell me how many people you see in the car’
‘There is only a person driving’ whispered Lily back trying to seem nonchalant.
‘Do they have only one hand on the wheel?’
‘hmh hmh’ talking trying not to move too much your mouth is really not as easy as it seems. The panic that seeps into your veins when you realise you are being stalked and cornered by someone armed, may still be a little higher on the scale of what is bothering Lily right now though.
‘Alright, the plan is, when you hear gunshot sounds you drive’ and without even giving Lily the time to grasp the meaning of this last sentence, James was shooting through the car window, aiming for the driver of the other car.
Let’s call survival instinct what kicked Lily into action and made her press on the accelerator, driving without minding any of the street rules she was actually very fond of.
‘Shit, shit, shit, shit’
‘Lils there’s no need for the mantra, it’s going to be alright, I don’t even see him any...’ stopping mid-sentence because, as it seems, James did not kill the driver and they were now into some kind of car race.
‘Lily, I need you to stop zigzagging so I can shoot at his tires’ ordered James with a flat tone to his voice, collected, ready.
Lily did just that and after a couple of misses, due to James need to skive the other man’s shots, a tire got punctured and the other car spiralled into a trashcan giving them time to get away.
‘Woo Woo, what a driver you are Evans I didn’t know you had it in you’ said James, practically bouncing on the back sit. Incredible how his playful side would pop back out the second they weren’t in immediate life risk. Lily already despised him, and she was praying to get rid of this man-kid as soon as possible.
^^^^^
-Previously that day-
James’ phone buzzed in his pocket, by the sound of it he already knew it could only be his work phone, he could count on the palm of one hand the number of people who had his personal number and they all had personalised ringtones.
Dumbledore the screen read. Great, a new assignment. It had been a quite boring month for James so he should have been ecstatic at seeing his boss’s name flash on his phone, somehow though talking to Dumbledore always made James’ stomach sink. He picked up.
‘Animagus?’ the voice of the old man croaked on the other side of the phone.
‘Deer’ this personalised password thing has always seemed pretty stupid to James. It also got him a stupid nickname from Remus, since James had mistakenly answered his phone saying when Remus had called him at six in the morning on his day off. He has to admit though that he grew pretty fond of ‘Prongs’ after a while that his best friend had started calling him that.
‘Agent Potter, your new assignment is Lily Evans, Boston. The details have already been sent to you, collect information and bring the target to the safe house listed in the information we gave you. She’s the informer.’
The informer, oh
James had known that something big was about to happen; everyone could feel the tension in the office, the secret meetings that the higher ranks of The Order were often making, people disappearing for days and popping back out going straight to Dumbledore’s office without acknowledging anyone else.
Apparently, the bureaucratic part came to an end, and they finally needed someone to act on the information gained. James was very pleased to be that someone.
‘Rem I have a work thing, should be back in a couple of days maximum’ James shouted, trying to overcome the sound of the shower, informing Remus that he was heading out.
‘Bye Prongs have fun’ shouted Remus back just as loudly.
Remus John Lupin, the most unbothered human on hearth and best housemate James could ask for.
It may seem difficult to live a double life while having a roommate, but Remus was a person like no other. The two of them understood each other from the first second they met, it all worked because of the great respect for boundaries the both of them shared.
Remus understood pretty quickly that James’ job was a sensible topic and avoided asking questions ever since. When asked James said he was an accountant, his best friend probably thought he was an escort but better that than him suspecting he worked for CIA.
In the same way, James understood that health was a topic Remus didn’t want to talk about, especially the hip that has been bothering him and may or may not lead to him having to use a walking stick. Oh, and the scars, they don’t talk about the scars either.
That doesn’t mean James is not curious though.
Other than that, they’re friendship is pretty open. They have been living together for about a year now, they share meals and have lazy Sundays together. James especially loves when Remus tells him about the gossip at his workplace; he’s a quiet person and when he wants, he can make himself invisible, people simply seem to share all their deepest, darkest secrets when he’s in earshot.
James also really enjoys giving him shit about his love life, because the real hoe of this house is Remus fucking Lupin.
^^^^^^
Waiting in someone’s living room with no idea of when the person will get home is quite…boring. That’s how James ended up looking through everything in Lily Evans’ flat. It’s a pretty normal apartment for someone who was born in a noble family, a bit quirky but cute and homey. Especially the red cat that has fallen in love with James, he considers himself more of a dog person, but he can’t refuse the cat a little rub on the head.
At the sound of keys working the lock James went back to the kitchen and waited patiently while pouring two cups of fuming tea.
‘Good evening, Miss Evans’ said James with a welcoming voice, as the door opened.
No response, nothing moves and then footsteps sounds can be heard coming towards the kitchen.
In the doorway James can see a red –haired, fierce looking young woman, holding a Glock G46.
‘I don’t think we’re going to be needing that Miss Evans’ said James with a condescending tone.
‘I think I’ll be the one deciding if we need it’ answered swiftly Lily, trying to sound as put together as possible.
‘Your hands are shaking’
‘No, they are not’
‘Yes, they are’
Sighing James moved forward sliding one of the cups on the table in her direction.
‘Tea?’
^^^^^
‘I don’t know what else you want from me Agent Potter...’
‘James’
‘..as I’ve already told you my sister got engaged to Vernon Dursley, he gave me a bad feeling, so I looked into him, and I think I found proof of him being involved with the trafficking of nuclear weapons’ said Lily exasperated.
‘Yes, I’m well aware of the situation, but I need you to come with me so that we can move you to a safe house and question you to see if we’re missing something’ answered James trying to calm her down.
‘I’m not hiding anything and I’m not coming with you because, as I said, I don’t want to be involved in any of this’ shouted Lily back.
‘We are just trying to keep you safe; you could be in danger and also your sister’ this made Lily pause. How could Petunia be in danger? She was okay, she was going to get married, even if that man was dangerous, he would never hurt his fiancé, right?
‘Okay’ Lily whispered.
Oh, he actually managed to convince her, this was unexpected.
‘Great we can ride together to the safe house, my car’
‘No’
‘Your car?’
‘I’m not ready to go yet, I’ll call you and then we’ll be going, now I want you to leave’
This is not ideal for James, since he was ordered to not get her out of his sight, but it had already taken too long to get her to agree and loosing time in another argument was really something he’d like to avoid.
He could always just wait in the car for her, so that he could be sure she wasn’t leaving.
‘Sure’.
^^^^^^
After waiting for about an hour in Lily’s car, James had noticed two things:
1. The emergency snacks in the car’s compartment were delicious and he would have to ask Lily for the recipe
2. The same black car had rounded the building at least four times
This is exactly why James should have followed orders and forced Lily to follow him, instead of being nice and waiting for her like a polite person.
When the car door opened James was ready to greet Lily
‘Going somewhere Evans?’ asked James with a satisfied smirk.
‘God! Potter what the hell do you think you’re doing in my car?’ startled Lily, almost jumping out of her seat.
‘Waiting for you to be ready to go, what do you mean? Anyway, someone is circling your building we have to go’ said James as a matter of fact.
‘What?’ her eyes popped out.
‘Okay Red, we’re going to go slowly and see if they keep following us’ …
^^^^^
-Back to present time-
‘Here you turn to the right and at the end of the street there is a closed coffee shop, that’s the entrance to the safe house. You can park outside; we’ll deal with the car later’
Entering the coffee shop and going straight for the stairs, James and Lily arrived at a small apartment with a big yellow couch on which they both seated in uncomfortable silence.
‘He was there to kill me’ Lily broke the silence first.
‘He could have been there for me, but yes it was probably you’ James said in a kind voice.
‘But why? Why do they want me death?’ she was shaking all over.
‘Well, you did hack into ‘Dursley’s Technologies’ system and shared private information on a very powerful man with the Secret Services’ he was trying to be funny and make her feel better, he was doing poorly.
‘So, what am I supposed to do now?’ her voice was numb.
‘Just wait here, I have a meeting with my boss tomorrow morning and after that I will probably have more information for you Miss Evans. I’m really sorry’ James tried to reassure her, looking at her with those puppy blue eyes.
‘You can call me Lily, James’ her smile was trembling, but it was there.