Run For Cover

PETUNIA

“It's time for you to leave,” Petunia stated firmly.

Lily looked up from the paper she was reading at the breakfast table. Her long hair she refused to ever dress properly was hanging over her shoulders, its auburn colour clashing horribly with the nice pink floral pattern of Petunias old dress.

“Today,” Vernon added, stepping next to Petunia and putting his hand in her shoulder. He had agreed to go to work late today so he could support her with this conversation. Well, to make sure the conversation happened, really, because Petunia had avoided it for two days already.

Lilys scrubby boyfriend (Roland? Ruben?) continued to munch the porridge Petunia had served for breakfast, as if the news didn't concern him. Petunia hated him. Not only did he leave cigarette studs in her geranium pots, he also listened to such filthy music in the evenings she had to close every window in the house out of fear that the neighbours would hear it.

“Okay,” Lily said now. “But we have nowhere to go.”

“Then get somewhere to go!” Vernon argued reasonably. “Rent a place, if you can't afford to buy one. It's not that difficult.”

“We can't afford rent,” Ronald said unhelpfully. Petunia glared at him.
“Then work,” Vernon pressed through gritted teeth.

“We can't work,” Robert claimed.

“Every decent human being can work,” Vernon rumbled. He really was very patient.

“He means,” Lily said now, “we are not allowed to work.”

“And why aren't you -”

“Because my parents mug – aren't wizards.”

“And you!” Vernon snarled at Ralph. “Why can't you work and provide for your girlfriend? Are your parents also not – are they also normal?”

“Just my mother,” the boy stated, continuing to gobble up the porridge.

“See!” Vernon said triumphantly. “So why can't you -”

“Because I'm a werewolf,” the scrubby boy answered.

Petunia gasped for air. Vernon stared at their uninvited guests.

“There are werewolves!” Petunia repeated shrilly.

“Yeah,” Lily answered, seemingly unstressed by this horrid fact. “But the full moon was a few days ago, so don't worry.”

“Don't wo -”

This nightmare of a conversation was interrupted by the door bell ringing loudly.

“I'll get it,” Petunia said. “Get them out,” she whispered into Vernons ear when she passed him.

She used the way from the kitchen to the small corridor to smooth out her nice, lime-green dress. She should never have let her sister and her filthy attachment enter the house. You are too nice, Petunia, she told herself strictly. Vernon was right, she cared too much for others and not enough for herself.

When she opened the front door, it was not the milkman she had expected. Instead, she looked into the faces of two young men, probably even younger than herself. Petunia stared at them. Both of them were wearing proper pinstripe suits and polite smiles on their faces. But one had long, black hair like a hippie, curling down to his shoulders. He was also not even freshly shaven, dark stubbles covering the lower half of his face. The other had at least managed to get his hair cut to the correct length, but it was sticking to all directions like a scarecrow. Also, a pair of wired glasses was sitting lopsided on his nose.

“Good morning, Ma'am,” the hippie said with a bright smile. “We are working for the local Conservative Party and we are collecting signatures against the planned music festival in our beautiful town. Would you allow us to enter for a quick chat?”

Petunia wanted to say that she would allow no such thing (even though this initiative sounded rather reasonable), but something about the mans smile made it hard to say no. So she nodded shortly and stepped aside, letting the two young activists pass.

Too late she realized that her terrible sister and her umkempt boyfriend were still sitting in the kitchen, which would undoubtedly make a bad impression to two representatives of the conservative party. Spontaneously, Petunia squeezed past the two young men and pulled the kitchen door shut just in time. The one with the glasses blinked in surprise.

“Let's sit down in the living room, gentlemen,” Petunia said hastily. “It's much cozier there. I'll get some tea from the kitchen and my husband and I will be right there with you in just a second.”

With these words, she shoved the two young men into the living room and closed the door behind them.

SIRIUS

“That's the daughter, right?” James asked with a yawn. “From the photographs in the Evans house?”

“I think so,” Sirius agreed, eyeing the pastel furnishing of the living room.

“Do you really think she would take her in?” James asked, inspecting the ruched pillow cases and the framed wedding photograph on top of the chimney. “She seems very ... muggle-ish.”

“I agree,” Sirius said, wandering towards the window and peeking through the white lace curtains. The garden looked as spotless and boring as the rest of the house. “But we have to check out every possibility -”

Sirius fell silent. His gaze had dropped to the window sill in front of him. Laying there was a well-thumbed edition of The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

„What is it?“ James asked and stepped next to him. Sirius skimmed through the book and thoughtfully inspected the dog-ears and marked passages.

“Mrs. Dursley didn't strike me as a literature lover,” Sirius mused and handed James the novel.

“No, not really,” his partner agreed.

More awake now, Sirius quickly overlooked the room. His gaze got caught at the small, electrical record play in a corner, right next to the small couch. With a few long steps, he crossed the room and inspected the record resting on the turntable. It was an album. T-Rex: Electric Warrior (1971).

A smile curled his lips. “They're here.”

LILY

“Who is it?” Lily asked as Petunia came back into the kitchen. Remus put his spoon away and gave her a quick look.

“That's none of your business,” Petunia snarled and put the kettle on.

“Did you let them in?” Lily pressed, a bad feeling rising in her chest.

“Young lady,” Vernon bellowed, “this is our house and my wife can decide herself who she lets in and who she kicks out!” The last words he underlined with a evil glance towards Remus.

“If you must know, it's two very polite young men who came to talk about that horrid music festival the town's been planning,” Petunia informed her and put some biscuits on a plate.

The bad feeling in Lilys chest turned into blank panic. She turned her head to the side slightly. “Do you have your wand?” she asked Remus quietly. He nodded.

“They'll want to talk to you too, Vernon,” Petunia said, pouring the tea. “Why don't you go to the living room with the biscuits already and I'll follow. They don't have to see -” She nodded to Lily and Remus with a meaningful look on her face.

“Really, you're right, Tuney,” Lily said quickly, rising from her chair. “We have used your hospitality long enough. We'll leave.” She kicked Remus under the table to make him stand up too. “Now.”

“Oh,” Petunia looked surprised. “You will?”

“Finally,” Vernon stated. “Took you long enough then. Well good luck with – whatever.” He said, grabbing the plate with the biscuits and leaving the kitchen without looking back.

“Thanks for everything, Tuney,” Lily said, grabbing the backpack she had hung over the back of her chair. Now that she was actually leaving, Petunia looked very surprised. But she regained her composure very quickly.

“Alright then,” she said, finishing the tea tablet. “I'll give mum and dad you greetings.”

“No need,” Lily said hoarsely. She grabbed Remus by the arm and they both left the kitchen quickly, watching as Petunia turned to the living room with the tea tablet. They could hear Vernon talk to another man inside, his roaring voice loud and boisterous.

Lily and Remus took a few silent steps back through the corridor, until Petunia had closed the living room door again.

“That was close,” Lily stated and turned around to open the entrance door.

The backpack almost slipped off her shoulder because she flinched so hard. Leaning against the entrance door was a young man in a pinstripe suit, with messy hair and a pair of framed glasses. He was grinning from ear to ear.

“Oh, you are not leaving yet, are you?” Potter asked.

REMUS

Remus had been in a fair share of problematic situations in his life, running from Ministry workers, chained up in cellars, on bar toilets with guys he had told a fake name. But this current situation was equally ridiculous and dangerous and he didn't quiet know how to feel.

“Biscuit?” Sirius Black asked him innocently, handing him a plate of Petunia Dursleys citron cookies.

Remus gave him the most arrogant look he could manage and took a cookie.

On the other side of the living room table, James Potter was conducting a relaxed conversation with the Dursleys and Lily, the latter sporting an expression of bottomless horror. After James had herded them into the living room, where Sirius had already waited (teapot in hand and a manic grin on his face) Remus had been pushed down into a chair and the Auror had hissed into his ear “If you try something we'll arrest you and your girlfriend in front of her sister”.

“Do you think there will be biscuits in Azkaban?” Remus asked Sirius now, fairly sure that the Dursleys couldn't hear him.

“Probably not,” Sirius answered, pouring himself another cup of tea. “If you ask nicely, I'll visit and bring you some.”

“Why did you hang up last night?” Remus asked quietly, biting into his biscuit and looking Sirius directly into the eyes. The Auror blinked in surprise. He probably did not expect Remus to talk about their nightly conversations so openly, but Remus had absolutely nothing to loose by now.

While Sirius struggled to find an answer, Remus couln't help but notice that he was even more handsome than he remembered. The lucious black waves were shimmering in the light of the Dursleys electric living room lights and the pin-stipe suit was emphasizing his figure.

Have a good look, Lupin, he told himself. I don't suppose the Dementors in Azkaban will be quiet as fit.

JAMES

“You must know”, Vernon Dursley said, “that I am not unemployed. I just took a day of today.”

“Of course,” James answered with a bright smile, not having any idea why the muggle mentioned this.

“And what about you,” James asked, turning his head and looking into Lily Evans shocked face, “Do you have a job, Miss?”

Lily looked back at him, silent for a moment. Her green eyes were boring into his and James grinned even wider. It felt good to finally have the upper hand.

“I write,” she finally said, ignoring the tea her sister was offering to her. “I am a writer.”

“Fascinating!” James exclaimed, leaned forward and put a hand under his chin. “What do you write?”

“I write -,” Lily continued, shooting a help-seeking glance over the table where Lupin and Sirius were ignoring the rest of the conversation completely and practically sitting in each others laps, “I write essays.”

This actually caught James attention. He frowned. “Essays?” he repeated. “For a magazine?”

Lily nodded slowly. James blinked. Could pure chance really be that fantastic?

“And what -,” but the question got stuck on his tongue. His gaze had been caught on the window leading to very very tidy garden of the Durselys. The cloudy, but warm weather that they had arrived with had suddenly changed. Darkness crawled down from the sky and a bitter wind made the window frames rattle.

“Sirius,” James said alarmingly. Sirius finally ended his little tête-á-tête with a wanted werewolf (really, they had to talk about that later) and followed James look. The atmosphere in the room changed, as the electrical lamps suddenly were the only source of light.

“Did you tell anyone we would come here?” James asked, standing up and peeping into the garden.

“No,” Sirius said slowly. He looked at Evans sharply. “Who knows you're here?”

“No one!” she assured.

“What is happening?” Vernon Dursley asked in bewilderment. “Do you know each other?”

“Is that chimney connected to the Floo Network?” James asked, crossing the room with long steps.

“Yeah,” Lupin answered, rolling his eyes. “Because we are fucking idiots.”

“What are you talking about?” Petunia Dursley asked in a shrill voice. Then, she saw the wand in James' hand and gasped for air.

“You belong to them!” she shrieked and tried to faint, which didn't really work because she was still sitting on the couch.

Suddenly, there was a flash outside. But no lighting bolt enlightened the dark sky, but the vibrant image of a skull, entangled by a snake.

“It's them,” Sirius said hoarsely. He had stepped next to James, wand in hand.

“Who are they here for?” James asked. Sirius shurgged.

“Could be both of them,” he answered. “We must protect them.”

“And the muggles,” James added. “They won't care about collateral damage.”

They exchanged a look.

“Good luck, Jamie,” Sirius said with a lopsided grin, then turned around.

SIRIUS

“Alright,” he said. “I need everyone in here to remain calm. We're being attacked.”

Petunia Dursley started to scream hysterically.

“What are you standing there for!” her husband bellowed. “Call the police!”

“We cannot call the police,” James answered patiently and handed the sobbing muggle woman a napkin. “We are being attacked by Death Eaters. They are an underground organisation of wizards who are after muggle-borns and half-humans.”

“Half-humans,” Petunia repeated. Then she extended her arm dramatically and pointed at Remus. “He is a half-human! He is a werewolf!”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “We know that,” he said.

“And I am muggle-born, Petunia, so you can calm down now,” Lily added, standing up and walking around the couch.

“Is that why you two can't work?” Vernon Dursley asked, with an expression as if he had just been enlightened.

“Yes,” Lily confirmed.

“So you have to be living off the family? That's a rubbish arrangement.”

Strangely enough, Sirius found himself agreeing with Vernon Dursley on social justice matters.

“We are not talking politics right now,” James said loudly. “We are trying to survive first, okay?”

“They are here to arrest us,” Lily informed her sister. Petunia stared at James.

“Arrest you?” she repeated. “What for?”

“Because Mum and Dad are muggles, like you and Vernon.”

“What,” Vernon Dursley spit out in agony, “now people are being arrested for having decent families? No wonder the country is going to the dogs!”

“But if you are here to arrest them,” Petunia said slowly, “Then you must be from law enforcement.”

“I don't know what that is, but yes, we are from the Ministry of Magic,” James said.

“But then,” Vernon fulminated, “you have to protect us!”

“That's what we're trying to do!” Sirius yelled.

There was a loud bang from the other side of the house. Petunia screeched highly and hid her face behind her hands.

“We should call enhancement,” James said.

“No!” Lily and Remus yelled in unison.

Sirius just opened his mouth to tell them that they had no say in this, when the electric lights started to flicker and then died down completely. Door was torn open and crashed against the wall loudly, when a sharp wind blew through the corridor and into the living room.

Sirius felt the hairs on his arms erect and shivered. He exchanged a short glance with James. To have his best friend as a partner was a soothing and frightening thing at the same time.

“Who's there?” James bellowed and approached the open living room door, his wand raised.

Sirius mimicked his steps from the other side of the room.

“I am a representant of the Ministry of Magic,” James followed the protocol. “Identify yourselves!”

They were standing on either side of the door now, their wands raised on eyes level. Sirius wished he had his own wand. The hazel one was warm and supple, but right now, he didn't need warmth. He needed heartlessness.

The Dursleys were pressed into a corner of the room, Petunia burrowing her face in her husbands broad chest. Lily and Remus were standing in front of them, their wands lifted, looking determined. Sirius knew there was a good chance they'd use the opportunity and run once he and James were busy in a fight. But something about the way Lily Evans arm was pressed against her trembling sister told him they wouldn't.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light shooting through the open door. Sirius quickly moved forward and blocked the curse with a firm wand gesture before it could reach inside the room.

A quiet chuckle rung out, followed by another curse. Sirius blocked it again and sent a blending jinx ahead, which fizzled into the dark corridor like a bee and then exploded with a bright flash.

He could see three dark, bulky figures ducking their heads to protect their eyes from the blinding light. For s split second, he thought that there were living skeletons in the Dursleys corridor, their white skull faces distorted into nightmarish grins. But then he realized that they were wearing masks, formed like human skulls, and his heart started to beat again.

“Three,” he mouthed at James, who nodded.

“How does is feel?” a sluggish, arrogant voice asked from the corridor. Sirius heart skipped a beat. It was a female voice, painfully familiar. “Having to crawl in there to protect muddbloods and muggles? Is that all what your Ministry is good for?”

Sirius felt the corners of his mouth twitch. James stared at him, his brown eyes widened in horror. He was beseechingly shaking his head.

“Did you in the end get tired of being a housewife, Bella?” Sirius answered loudly. He could practically hear James curse internally. “Why don't you try a book club first?”

Another curse scudded through the open door, smashing an ugly little porcelain figurine on the Dursleys mantel piece. Petunia screamed highly.

Sirius didn't hesitated any more, he shot around and through the door and into the corridor, firing curses under his breath. Right behind him he could hear James do the same.

LILY

Lily saw the two Aurors plunge through the door and into the corridor and then, colourful flashes of light started to illuminate the living room and loudly bellowed curses echoed off the walls.

She shot around and grabbed Petunia by the shoulders.

“You need to get out of here!” Lily told her resolutely. “To the patio door, quick!”

But when she turned back around, drawing Petunias wrist with her, a tall, dark-cled figure blocked their way to the other side of the room. Even though Potter and Black were both fighting, one of the Death Eaters must've gotten past them. Lily could see his eyes glistering behind the mask, narrowed and evil.

He (Lily was pretty sure it was a man) lifted his wand and shot a flash of green light at her. Her own wand was hanging in the air, but she had never been good a duels, her reaction was too slow. For a split second, Lily was sure she would die.

Then, something hard and heavy hit her in the side, threw her against the wall and out of the way of the curse. Her shoulder felt numb from where it had hit the hard wall and there was a shrill ringing in her ears.

“Help me, for fucks sake,” Remus growled and shot something at the Death Eater, who parried it easily.

“S-stupefy!” Lily shrieked, but her curse only hit the wall above the Death Eaters shoulder. He laughed coldly, but then had to duck away from another curse from Remus.

On her own, she wouldn't stand a chance, Lily realized. But together with Remus she managed to at least keep their opponent busy, while Petunia and Vernon hasted to the patio door behind their backs, fumbled it open and ran into the night without looking back.

Lily was just about to follow them, when one of the Death Eaters curses hit Remus right in the chest. Thin ropes appeared out of nothing, tying him up mid-air, his wand clattering down uselessly.

“Oppugno!” Lily shrieked and all five of their former teapots lifted up from the coffee table and fired themselves at the Death Eater. The first smashed into the side of his head and Lily could see a strike of blood appearing in his collar. But the following ones he already made explode mid-air with a swing of his wand. Lily froze in horror. How were they supposed to fight people like that, who knew so much about dark magic and seemed trained to fight?

There was a loud bang and when Lily turned her head, she saw a fuming hole where the living room door had been before. Crawling on his back in front of that was another Death Eater, his skull mask laying next to Petunias shattered coffee table. A tall figure was standing in the hole, his wand pointing at the crawling Death Eater.

“Stupefy,” Potter said almost nonchalantly. His stunning spell hit the Death Eater right in the face and he slumped down with a quiet oomph. Lily stared at him. James Potter had honestly occurred like a proper idiot to her during their previous interactions - but he seemed to be an actual Auror after all.

The Death Eater who had constrained Remus was now turning towards Potter, firing another bright red curse. Potter parried it wordlessly and shot something back, his glasses reflecting the flashes of the curses like two round mirrors on his face. Lily ducked down and crawled to Remus, who was twining on the floor now, fighting against the ropes that were tying him down.

“Don't move,” Lily hissed and sliced the ropes with her wand.

“Holy shit,” Remus panted. There was a loud shrieking sound and another explosion. A figure came flying through the hole in the living room wall, rolling off on the plushy carpet and bouncing back to his feet easily.

“Come on, you can do better than that, Bella!“ Sirius Black laughed and then skillfully parried a curse that was shot after him through the hole, where a slender, dark-cled figure with a lot of curly hair and a skull-mask appeared.

“Are they fucking mental?” Remus voiced Lilys thoughts, watching Black and Potter duel the remaining Death Eaters, dodging dangerous curses with almost dancing movements, firing jinxes and curses at an incredible speed.

“Probably,” Lily answered, freeing Remus of the last bits of rope. “Let's leave.”

“My wand,” Remus reminded her. They looked around frantically, their vision impaired by the smoke and the dust that filled the air by now.

“There!” Lily finally saw it, laying in front of the overthrown couch.

Just as they watched, the Death Eater witch with the curly hair stepped in front of it, her own wand clutched with both hands like a sword. She had lost her mask and Lily could see that she wasn't much older than herself, maybe in her late twenties, with a pale, symmetric face and heavily hooded eyes. There was a undeniable family likeness to Black and Lily suddenly realized why he had called her Bella.

The witch caught Lilys gaze and a wide, mental grin distorted her face. She lifter her wand and made a sudden slashing movement with it, causing a streak of purple flames to shoot across the room. Lily lifted her own wand, determined to defend herself and Remus, who was still standing next to her wandless. But suddenly, Sirius Black stepped in front of them with an air of casual elegance, making a complicated swirly motion with his wand and the flames took a tight turn around his head and shot back at their creator. The Death Eater witch screeched and took a step back, which made her stumble over the sofa and disappear behind it.

“I could've taken that,” Lily told him with a trembling voice. Black grinned haughtily. There was a thin cut on his collarbone and a blood droplet was running down his cheek.

“Nah, you couldn't,” he answered. Lily fell silent. He was probably right.

“Where's your sister?” Black asked, overlooking the room. Potter and the remaining Death Eater were still duelling furiously.

“She and Vernon fled into the garden,” Lily answered. Black lifted an eyebrow.

“Let's hope there are not more of them outside then,” he said. Lily felt her stomach flip. Stupid.

“You two are alight?” Black asked, turning his head to look at Remus. He frowned. “Oi, where is my wand?”

Remus and Lily exchanged a look above Blacks shoulder.

“Stupefy!” Lily yelled, but Black was too fast for her. He shot around, blocking her spell with a quick movement and returning a silent incantation. Lilys wand was snatched out of her hand and Black caught it with ease, pointing Lilys own wand at her. His pretty face looked furious now.

“Don't try this again,” he growled and Lily felt her limps go numb from what must've been another silent spell.

“And you don't talk to her like that,” Remus snapped behind him and Black whined when Remus' foot kicked him in the shins, hard. The numbness in Lilys limbs slowly faded while she watched Remus and Black fight over the wands in Black's hand.

“Expelliarmus!” a loud voice shrieked and Lilys auburn wand was snatched out of Blacks hand. His grey eyes widened in almost comical surprise when looked after it, spinning through the air across the room and landing in a pale, long fingered hand.

SIRIUS

There was no denying it: the situation got decidedly out of hand.

Sirius wans't a big fan of his oldest cousin at the best of times, but right now, as she was slowing crossing the muggle living room, one hand lifting up her own wand and the other clutching both, the black and the auburn wand, it was safe to say that he wholeheartedly hated her.

"Hands up, little cousin," Bellatrix piped and Sirius grit his teeth and lifted his empty palms.

To make matters even worse, James was stumbling into the fireplace to Sirius' right, wandless and with a nasty laceration on his temple.

“Well done, honey,” Bellatrix purred, when the Death Eater James had fought against stepped to her side. He was still wearing his skull mask, but Sirius could easily guess who was hiding under it. He was holding James' wand.

“Now let us see,” Bellatrix said almost gently, her blue eyes wide and greedy. “The piggys seem to have escaped. What a shame. But there will always be a next time.”

The Death Eater James had stunned earlier was now starting to stir. Rodolphus leaned down to him, but Bellatrix didn't even spare him a glance. She looked at Sirius, tilting her head slightly.

“We're just here for the mudblood and her boyfriend,” Bella explained. Sirius could feel James' stiffen next to him, and in his back, Remus' tall figure was straightening up, undoubtedly to cover Lilys frame. “We don't need to fight about this.”

“Great,” Sirius answered. “Give me back my wand then.”

She grinned. Rodolphus had helped the third Death Eater back on his feet and Sirius felt panic rise in his chest now.

“I never understood why you insist to be so difficult all the time,” Bella sighed. “This is my last offer. You and your partner step aside and your dumbness won't be held against you.”

Sirius heart was pounding in his chest. Why not? he wondered. A muggleborn and a werewolf. Would it be such a tragedy?

Then, he caught James' glance and instantly felt shame wash over him. James brown eyes were narrowed in determination, the right side of his face now sticky with blood from the wound on his temple. He was slowly shaking his head. Next to him, Lily Evans was standing between the two taller wizards. Her auburn hair was messy and her face was pale. When she caught his eye, she lifted her chin the tiniest bit. Proud until the end.

Finally, Sirius' gaze wandered up into Remus' determined face. He was clenching his teeth, which made the pale scar over his Adams apple tremble. For a split second, Sirius wondered how he looked like on full moons. What colour did his fur have? Did his eyes change too or did they stay like this? He grew stronger every month, Lyall Lupins voice echoed in Sirius' head. I was scared for my own safety. Sirius could see

Remus' hazel wand shake in the taller mans hand, half-hidden behind his back. When he looked up into his eyes again, there was a spark there, small and confused.

Sirius turned around again and, in the process, discreetly moved his own empty wand-hand behind his back. He looked at his cousin again and lifted his eyebrows. Something thin and hard slid between his fingers.

“Fuck you, Bella.”

Then, he drew Remus Lupins wand out from behind his back and made the room explode.

REMUS

For a short moment, Remus was sure that Sirius Black would turn at them. The look in his stormy grey eyes had been utterly unreadable and when the moment he had slipped his wand in Sirius' hand, Remus had felt like he made a horrible mistake.

Then, when Sirius lifted the hazel wand, a firm hand gripped Remus' shoulder and Lilys wrist and yanked them down. An earsplitting bang shook the room and the ceiling gave in. Wreckage fell down around them, crushing the fireplace and the surviving porcelain figurines, the couch Remus had slept on for the last few nights, the record player that still held his favourite record, the ugly standard lamp with the tassels.

James Potter kept pressing them down until the rumbling around them stopped. When Remus finally shook off his hand and carefully lifted his head, he saw that the living room was completely wrecked. There was a huge hole in the ceiling and obviously, various pierces of furniture had slipped down from the first floor. An aquarium had crashed a few metres to Remus' right and small fishes were jiggling on the dusty floor.

The centre of the living room was completely covered in rubble and stones. Electrical wires were protruding out of the walls, emitting sparks into the air and a pipe must have broken, because there was water running down the opposite wall.

“Thanks for the wand,” Sirius Black said, looking down at Remus with a grin. He must've cast some kind of protection charm to keep them all save, because the wreckage had miraculously avoided them in a neat circle.

“You must already be familiar with it now,” Remus mumbled. Sirius laughed barkingly and put his hand out. After a moment of hesitation, Remus grabbed it and let the Auror pull him upright again. Next to them, Lily refused James Potters help and stumbled up on her own.

“Will you give it back now?” Remus asked, his brows furrowed. Sirius looked up at him and for a moment, Remus actually expected him to agree. His aristocratic face was covered in dust and dirt, but his cheeks were rosy and his eyes sparkling. He seem to burst with energy.

“No,” Sirius then answered with a shrug. “Sorry. Can't.”

“Of course,” Remus grumbled, angry about his own stupidity. “After all, you must arrest us still, right?”

“Yep,” Sirius agreed. He almost looked – sorry? Remus was probably imagining that.

There was a suffocated groan from the pile of rubble in the centre of the room.

“Quick,” Potter said. “We must disarm them while they're still knocked out. The Ministry will be here in a moment, after that bang.”

“Accio wands,” Sirius said hopefully, pointing Remus' wand into the room. Nothing happened.

“Right,” he sighed. “By hand then.”

Remus exchanged a quick glance with Lily and then followed Sirius into the wreckage. This was probably their last chance until the other Ministry workers arrived and they were hopelessly inferior.

And for once in his life, he actually was lucky. After just a moment of rummaging around the stones and crushed furnitures, Remus hoved what was left of the plushy couch and under it, he caught glimpse of a head full of curly hair.

“Here!” he called over his shoulder. The Death Eater witch groaned silently. Her black cloak was torn and blood was dripping down her neck, but she seemed to be concious. Her left hand was still clutching two wands. Quickly, Remus bent down and wound the wands out of her hand. She opened her heavily hodded eyes and stared at him dizzily.

“Filthy half-breed,” she mumbled, but it sounded more like a formality than an insult. Remus snorted and straightened up again, quickly pushing his loot up his sleeve just in time.

Sirius appeared next to Remus and pointed his wand at the witch. A silvery thread shot out of its tip, winding around the witches wrists and tying her underarms together behind her back.

“This is a dream come true,” Sirius informed Remus with a wide smile and beamed down at the witch, who seemed to wake up a bit more and glared back at him full of hatred.

Remus laughed shakily and took a step back. Where was Lily?

Suddenly, a series of loud popping sounds was coming from the garden, clearly audible through the crashed windows.

“That must be reinforcement,” James Potter said and climbed over a pile of bricks to join them. With bated breath, Remus noticed Lily following him, her hair covered in a layer of white dust. Remus threw her a

glance that he hoped was equally prompting and discreet.

“Seems like this shit show finally finds a good end then,” Sirius said good-humoredly and turned around to look at Remus, who had now firmly grabbed Lilys arm.

“I agree,” Remus said.

Sirius gaze dropped down to his hand, which was holding the black wand he had wrung off Bellatrix.

“Don't,” Sirius said. But Remus had already spun on his heels and pulled Lily into the torrent nothingness of apparation.

JAMES

Sirius spat out a series of curses that would've gotten James a week of house arrest ten years ago. James just sighed and put a hand on Sirius forearm.

“They have gotten away again,” Sirius hissed, looking as if he wanted to bite off someones head.

“I know,” James said tiredly.

“And he still has my wand!” Sirius added accusingly, as if that was James' fault.

“And you have his,” James argued. There were voices bellowing outside now, boots stomping through the garden.

Sirius looked like he would happily argue with James, but at that moment, Barty Crouch rushed through the Dursleys patio door, his robes ironed neatly and a face like thunder.

“What happened here?” he bellowed, looking over the field of battle that had been a tidy muggle living room half an hour before.

“Bombarda Maxima, Sir,” Sirius answered grumpily. Crouch shot him a mad look.

“Thank you for this impromtu charms lesson, Mister Black,” he snapped, his pale eyes flickering over the wreckage. “Let me rephrase. Why am I looking at something one could only describe as a blatant disregard of the statue of secrecy?” His voice grew louder with every word.

“I had to, Sir!” Sirius defended himself. “We needed an element of surprise to overpower the Death Eaters and- “

“Death Eaters?” Crouch snapped. “What Death Eaters?”

“Over there, Sir,” James said and nodded towards the three tied up, groggy figures next to the shredded couch. Crouch gave him a sceptical look and climbed over the wreckage towards the Death Eaters.

“Pull yourself together, Sirius,” James whispered through gritted teeth and gently pushed his partner to follow their boss to the captives.

Crouch however had suddenly frozen on the spot. Then, he hurriedly took the last few steps and kneeled down next to the figure of the last Death Eater who was still wearing his skull mask. The black hood of his robes had slid down however and revealed a shock of straw-coloured hair. Crouch now hunkered over the Death Eater, seemingly peeking through the holes of his mask. The captive murmured something and James could see Crouch answer, but didn't hear a word.

“Has he muffliato'ed us?” James whispered disbelievingly. Sirius only shrugged, still in his bad mood.

After a short moment, Crouch stood up again. He pointed his want at the Death Eaters bonds and said “Evanesco.”

“What in Merlins name -” James stuttered, as Crouch did the same to the other two Death Eaters. Then he mumbled a vitalising charm, causing the three Death Eaters to open their eyes and cough miserably.

“Mister Potter, the wands,” Crouch said without looking at them. His eyes were still fixed to the blond Death Eaters, who was now gently stirring.

“I – Sir -” James stuttered, but Crouch gave him an angry look and James handed over the three wands he had collected upon fining the Death Eaters. Crouch dropped the wands to the tallest Death Eaters feet.

“Hurry,” he said with a cold look. The Death Eater gave him a disbelieving look, but the Bellatrix didn't seem that hesitant. With an evil glare towards Sirius she grabbed one of the wands and apparated with a loud plop.

This seemed to shake some sense into the tall Death Eater. He took the other two wands, grabbed the arm of his still almost unconscious fellow and looked up at Crouch.

“Why?” he croaked.

“Don't make me think about it,” Crouch answered coldly and the two Death Eaters disparate with another loud plop.

“S-Sir,” James whispered. Did he just hallucinate? Had he really just watched the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement voluntarily let go of three violent Death Eaters?

“No questions, Mister Potter,” Crouch buzzed. “Where are the muggles living in this house? The Obliviators will need to see them.”

“I – I have no idea,” James answered, still in shock.

“Well then I propose you do something useful and get your partner home,” Crouch said shortly, as if the last five minutes did not happen. “And I expect you two to keep absolutely silent about the events of tonight, have I made myself clear?”

James stared back at him and nodded. Sirius only made a choked noise.

“Very good,” Crouch said. “I need to talk to the Leader of Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes now, and I need to find someone from the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. Maybe we can call it a gas leak again. You two are dismissed.“

And with these words, he gathered his pinstripe robes to avoid the dust in the floor, and walked towards the Ministry wizards and witches officials who were now carefully entering the living room.

“Let's go home,” James said to Sirius, who was still staring at the spot where Bellatrix had disappeared moments ago.

“Come on,” James repeated, nudging his partners shoulder with his own. “The Obliviators need to do their job. There is nothing we can do here.”

“I know,” Sirius answered between clutched teeth and finally lifted his gaze. The rage in his eyes made James flinch. A witch in a blue robe with turquoise lining was coming closer, frowning.

“Please leave the place of accident,” she said in a sharp voice. “We need to clear the area.”

“Yes, we know, sorry,” James said appeasingly. “We are practically gone.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sirius bend down and pick up something from the ground, then wordlessly and with a loud plop, he disapparated.

“Yeah, no need to wait for me, you stupid git,” James mumbled, gave the Obliviator witch another bright smile (she was quite pretty) and turned on his heels himself.