White Knight
There was nothing more annoying, James decided, than rescuing someone who did not want to be rescued.
It should have been an easy mission. Well, easy was a relative term. Straightforward was probably a more accurate description. Get in, find the mark, get them out. Do it as quietly, discreetly, and quickly as possible.
Simple.
That the place he was getting in was an extremely secure, exceptionally well guarded safe house for Lord Voldemort. It was said that the man himself resided there often. Presided over meetings of his Death Eaters. Many an Order member had gone in, never to be seen again.
Dumbledore had acknowledged the precariousness of the mission when he’d asked it.
“I wouldn’t normally ask something like this,” his eyes didn’t twinkle, his face sombre and his tone gentle. “But we need them.”
He hadn’t said who, exactly, James would be extracting. In case he was caught, in case the worst happened, it was better that he didn’t know. But he knew where they would be, that they had some combat experience, and that Dumbledore thought them valuable enough to risk James’ life for.
“You are the only one I trust with this, James,” the use of his first name surprised him. He wasn’t sure his former headmaster had ever used it before. “But it is unfair of me to ask this of you.”
“You’re not asking,” James replied firmly. “I’m offering.”
He’d said goodbye to the boys. As they did when any of them went out on a mission. Hell, the way people were disappearing they should probably do it every time one of them left a room.
“Come back, yeah?” Remus had clasped his shoulder, so tight James had almost winced at his werewolf strength.
“Be safe,” Peter had squeezed his arm.
“Don’t fucking die,” Sirius had hugged him, extra to the last. “Or I’m drinking the last bottle of Dad’s whiskey.”
“You will bloody not,” James had choked a laugh as he thumped his brother on the back. “It’s mine.”
“Ours, as Dad would say,” Sirius shook his head sadly as James pulled back. “You never were great at sharing, Prongs.”
How he wished he was sitting at home, drinking that whiskey with his friends now.
Getting in had gone to plan. He’d taken down most of the security wards, taken out numerous guards in a way that spoke to the ample practise he’d had in recent months. Being proficient in sneaking had been honed at school, something to be proud of. Being proficient at hurting people, even Death Eaters, was something he struggled with on a daily basis.
James had made his way to the cell block Dumbledore had described. The masked man they’d captured in the last battle had come up trumps under Veritasium. It was exactly as he’d intoned, right down to the solid door on the final cell, behind which sat the person James was here to rescue.
It took him longer than he wanted to admit to get the door open. Several spells, unlocking spells, blasting spells, a few curses, a hex or two. He swore several times, counting the seconds it took, knowing each one would reduce the amount of time he had to escape. Hopefully, the person he was rescuing could move quickly.
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
“Of all the gin joints, he had to walk into mine.”
James' jaw dropped as he took in the figure before him. “Evans?”
“James Potter. Fancy seeing you here,” She stood up, casually, as if they had all the time in the world. Twirled her wand around her fingers, just like she had in school. “I take it you’re the cavalry?”
“What the fuck -” He stopped. Swallowed. Tried again. “We need to go.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Lily shook her head, moving toward him and the door. “Thanks for getting the door open though. They spelled the inside of the room to be impervious to magic. It’s why they left me this.”
He ignored the wand tip she tapped against his chest, “Come on.”
“Still not a good listener, huh, Potter?” She stepped even closer to him. He could feel heat radiating from her. “I’m not coming with you.”
“You don’t have a choice, Evans. You can’t exactly stay here.”
“Oh, I’m not staying,” she smirked at him.
“Then let’s go,” James shifted uneasily, his ears pricked for any sounds outside the cell.
“I have a job to do.”
“No, I have a job to do. We need to go.” He took her wrist, trying to ignore the electric shock that coursed up his arm when he touched her. By the way her eyes flicked down, he was sure she felt it too.
“I need to finish what I started,” she tugged at his hold, frowning when he didn’t release her. “Come on, Potter. It was cute when we were younger, but surely you’ve learnt by now how to take no for an answer.”
“I’m not asking you on a date, Evans. I’m trying to rescue you. Now, let’s go,” James couldn’t help the tension in his voice. Any moment now they were going to be discovered. While it was always going to be a stressful mission, it was so much worse now that he knew it was her.
He needed to get them both out.
“It seems we’re at an impasse, Potter,” she’d moved forward again, coming shoulder to shoulder with him. He could smell her familiar scent at this distance. It brought a wealth of memories. “You have two choices,” she continued, while he told himself to focus. It wouldn’t do to lose his head over her, like he had when he was young.
“And what are they, Evans?” He looked at her properly then. He’d been avoiding it. As if he would ever have been able to get out of this without looking at her.
Lily was more beautiful than he remembered. Either his memory wasn’t as good as he thought, or she’d improved with age, like a fine wine. His expression must have changed as he took her in, for her brow furrowed before she answered.
“You can go back the way you came. Get yourself to safety. You’ve done your job, you’ve freed me. You can leave.”
“I’m not going without you,” his voice sounded gravel, even to his own ears.
She didn’t look surprised. “Option two it is then.” She moved her hand, pulling her wrist from his grasp and placing her fingers in his instead. “You’re coming with me.”
Before he could protest, she’d started to move, tugging him along behind. James stumbled the first step out of the cell, before his brain caught up and switched back into mission mode. He crept silently behind her as they made their way out of the cell area and up the stairs into the manor itself.
She knew her way around it, James gave her that. Lily didn’t hesitate as she ducked them down a long hallway and selected the third room on the right. She braced her back against the door, hand on the doorknob, wand ready. He nodded, she opened the door for him to lead through.
Their preparation was in vain. The room was empty. James lowered his wand as Lily pushed past him to the benches and cauldrons set around the room.
“What is this?”
“Snape’s lab,” Lily answered distractedly, lifting books, opening draws, pushing scrolls of parchment around.
“Snape’s?” James looked around him again, half expecting the vile man to appear at the sound of his name.
“You remember Snape, don’t you, Potter?” She didn’t even look up, her voice dry.
“Unfortunately,” he muttered. “So he really is a -”
“Death Eater,” Lily finished his sentence. “Yeah. Since just after school I think.”
“I’ve never run into him,” James knew he wouldn’t have missed the greasy git, even behind a mask.
“He doesn’t really do duels. He’s more of an inventor.”
“I remember,” James would never forget how he’d suffered at the end of one of Snape’s inventions. Werewolf gashes had nothing on the slicing spell that had seen him nearly bleed out in the middle of a corridor during rounds.
Lily’s face implied she was also thinking of that night. If not for her quick thinking, James might not be standing here now. “Right. Of course.”
“So, what is all this? What is he doing for them?” James was eager to move on from that memory. If he lingered too long, he’d recall what had enraged Snape so much that night. As vivid as the pain of Sectumsampra still was, even more clear was the feel of his lips on hers moments before.
Their first kiss.
Also their last.
“Creating potions. For cursing, for destroying. For blowing us all to bits,” Lily opened a notebook, scanned several pages before shrinking it and shoving it in her jacket pocket. “He’s trying to win them this war without needing to cast a single spell.”
“That bastard.”
“That about covers it.”
“How do you know all this?” James couldn’t help asking, even as he moved back toward the door to check for signs they’d been followed. The manor was curiously silent.
“Research. A chance meeting. Some well timed Legilimency.”
“You saw into his mind?”
Lily almost grinned at the disgust in his voice, “I washed several times afterwards, don’t worry.”
“You should get hazard pay.”
“Oh, believe me, I asked.”
“Who are you working for?” James’ curiosity wouldn’t settle, despite the circumstances. He hadn’t seen her since school. She’d run a mile after the incident with Snape, blaming herself for him ending up in the Hospital Wing. There hadn’t been enough time left in the year to get them back on track before she’d vanished completely.
“Same person as you, it would seem.”
“You’re not at the meetings.”
“Not enough snacks.”
“Evans.”
She sighed, still searching. “I’ve been working on my own. Dumbledore agreed. It was the only way I’d help.” She looked up at where he stared at her. “I couldn’t let anyone else get hurt.”
“That was not your fault. Lily -”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she snapped the book shut and pocketed it. “All done. Let’s go.”
“Not a moment too soon,” James could hear noise at the far end of the hall. He pulled his cloak out and waved it invitingly. “I trust you remember this?”
“Only because it broke my poor Prefect heart when I found out.”
Despite her sarcasm, Lily moved swiftly to him, ducking under the cloak with a practised ease. And she did know it well. When they’d become friends in seventh year, they’d taken many an enjoyable stroll down to Hogsmeade, and made midnight raids to the kitchen for study supplies.
Her back pressed against his chest as they shuffled slowly down the hall. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist as he pulled them back against a wall to avoid a patrolling goon. Her hair tickled his nose as her head rested just under his chin for several breaths before they edged down the stairs. His lips brushed her ear as he bent to whisper.
“The door is unlocked, but we can’t open it without suspicion.”
Her hand rested on his at her waist, as her chin tilted up to reply, “So, what’s the plan?”
“In about thirty seconds, a diversion will happen upstairs. I set it before we left. We go then.”
Lily nodded. James felt her twirl her wand in her hand, despite the small space. Then she did something he never expected.
She relaxed back into him.
Her hands smoothed along his forearms. Her body melted into his until he wasn’t sure where he finished and she began. Her cheek turned to brush against his chest, nose nuzzling into his neck. He never wanted this moment to end.
“Evans,” his whisper was a question, a plea.
“Shhh,” she murmured back. “This has to get me through the next few years.”
Before James could ask what she meant, several explosions went off upstairs. Footsteps from all over the manor thumped against the floor, all heading for the sound. A masked Death Eater came through the front door, and charged past them.
“Go,” James pushed Lily, but she was already moving.
The cloak slipped as they moved through the open door. James tore it off them once outside, shrinking it and shoving it in his pocket as they ran. They were almost out of the ward zone, almost safe to apparate, when a shout came from behind. James felt a curse hit him square in the back a second later. He fell over the ward line.
“James,” Lily had gone several feet before she realised he wasn’t beside her. She came back, falling to her knees next to him.
“Get out of here, Evans,” he growled. “I’ll be right behind you.”
“Yeah right.” She made to pull him to his feet.
“Lily, just go. You’ve got the information.” He could feel strength draining out of him by the second. He was dead weight.
“Quiet, Potter. I’m being a white knight.” Lily pulled his arm over her shoulders, wrapped hers around his waist, and pulled him into a side along apparition.
His head spun, his stomach lurched, and when they landed in an empty field, his worthless legs gave way, pulling her down on top of him. His eyes stayed closed as he groaned, a sound loud enough that he didn’t hear the words she muttered next. But the relief was instant.
“Thanks,” he sighed.
“All part of the service.”
He expected her to get off him, and was pleasantly surprised when she didn’t. Instead, Lily shifted her weight to her elbows, freeing her hands to gently cup his face. He opened his eyes to see her blinking down at him.
“Alright, Potter?” she asked.
He smiled, “Alright.” He brought a hand up, shifting her hair back from her face, mirroring her hold of his head. “But maybe you should stick around, make sure I’m okay.”
“I only left to keep you safe,” Lily’s thumb brushed across his cheek, his lip. “But it looks like you need me here to make sure that happens.”
“I’ve always needed you, Evans. Stay. Please.”
“Well, seeing you asked so nicely.” She smiled as she said the words, but James never saw it. Her lips had pressed down on his, and he was only too happy to oblige with a kiss of his own.