Hello new readers. So this is, technically, a sequel to "Maurad" a multi-chapter fic covering the time from Lily's 18 birthday to her 19th, though not necessarily about Lily in between. I'm not certain there is much to say to catch you up (It's the first wizarding war, you know how that went) but I thought I might let you know a few important pieces of information for this particular world, if you wish to read this without backtracking.

Spoilers, I guess, if you're planning on reading "Maraud"

1) Characters- You'll recognize most of the names, but here are some OC's

Melinda Bones is married to Edgar Bones. They have three children. Melinda is a healer and one of the few people in the Order who know about Remus's Furry-Little-Problem. She is uncomfortable about it.

Peter's Parents- His mother is teetering on the brink of dementia. He just found out that the man who raised him (and died when he was around 10) wasn't his biological father.

You'll catch on about the rest. (I hope?)

2) Villains and plot synopsis of "Maraud".

Crier- A death eater. Context: At the end of "Maraud" the Marauders are involved in a battle at Azkaban that ended with Voldemort and fellow Death Eaters being able to break Crier out. He is apparently a key figure in the Death Eater's future plans.

I think that's about it. Message me with questions. Hope you enjoy.

And to all my continuing readers, welcome back! Thanks for reading.

"We are not letting Sirius pick the wedding music!" Lily argued, briefly poking her head out over the short brick wall that separated the house they were guarding from the Death Eaters who wanted to burn it to the ground- muggle family crouched inside and all.

"I'm just saying he's good with music. He picks the music for all of our birthday parties." James ducked a stinging curse, "WHERE THE HELL IS ELPHIAS!" He added from the ground, panting. Elphias, and an auror in charge of relocation were the muggle family's exit strategy. James and Lily were just there to hold off the Death Eater onslaught until they could get them out and to safety.

"He said midnight, I double-checked with him... Count of three?"

"Yes."

Together they yelled, "One, two, three." before popping over the hedge and sending a barrage of spells back at their adversaries. James took a moment to strengthen their wards before dropping back behind the safety of the bricks, "So what about getting Remus to come up with a spell to make the player go on its own?" James suggested.

"Remus is swamped and he's looked like death since he got back, I'm not making him do that."

"Then let me, let Sirius help!" Sparks flew over their heads.

Too many sparks flew over their heads. In a flurry of light and sound their boundary had finally fallen.

James cursed as Lily blocked a spell that was burning a hole through their protective brick wall. James sprung up to return fire just as the crack of an apparition spell sounded behind the house. "Elphias?" James wondered as Lily turned to counteract whatever spell the Death Eaters had used to break through their boundary. James crawled away from her to glance around the edge of the house, where he supposed the other Order member would have arrived. James saw a whisp of a cloak before he saw Elpihas and Harrington come out from the small woods behind the home. Elphias had set up an anti-apparition ward to protect the house and as far as James knew he was the only one who would be able to apparate through it. James looked over his shoulder. His and Lily's ward may have dropped but the Death Eaters still hadn't crossed Elphias's barrier.

Thought the window James saw the lights in the house suddenly flickered on, then off, then on for four seconds then off again. "House Lily." James called over the sound of spells. He reached out for her hand in the dark and together they darted toward the front door, staying low and throwing spell after spell over their shoulders.

James's hands were steady and practiced as he unlocked the front door. They burst through to the sight of a small family of four huddled nervously on the living room floor. Elphias hovered before them, but turned immediately at the sound of Lily and James's entrance. His wand shot up threateningly, "What did I bring to your first Order meeting?" he demanded of them both.

"Cheap champagne." James replied with an air of calm.

"Lily?" Elphias prompted pointing his wand evenly at her now.

"A card for everyone to sign for Evana Wagner. What were your first words to me?" Lily's fingers twisted at her wand, even though it was down at her side.

Elphias smiled warmly and lowered his wand. "How do you feel about the color green?"

"He safe?" James asked, nodding toward a man in maroon robes scanning the edge of the living room.

"This is Harrington from the Auror department. He is who he says he is." Elphias nodded. Lily and James relaxed at Elphias's reassurance, but the group's relief didn't last long. Elphias was back to the task at hand almost immediately, "The wards are breaking up, we only have a few minutes." Just as he spoke a string of sparks crashed against the window. Lily dove toward the family and put her body between them and the cracking window. The panicked parents were holding their children under them, hoping against hope that nothing would happen to them. When Lily looked up the she saw cracks like a spider's web crawling out to the window frame.

"The next step is the Longbottom's woods." Elphias explained. He pulled the two young children and Lily to their feet. He scooped up the younger of the two and placed her in Lily's arms then shuffled the other over to Harrington. She had only met Harrington once before but at that time he had seemed like a jovial man. His lightheartedness must have been dampened by the seriousness of the mission. Elphias reached out for the mother's hand while James held tight to the father's shoulders. Unlike James, Lily was still relatively new to side-along apparition, but she could do this. She didn't have a choice.

"When I say 'go', the shields will drop, and we'll apparate right after." Elphias explained as another rash of sparks hit the front window sending shards of class into the air. The mother screamed and her children reached desperately for her. Harrington and Lily struggled against their charges as Elphias prepared to drop the anti-apparition wards inside the house. Glass shook from his robe as he waved his wand in a series of meticulous turns, still holding the mother tightly against him. A second later he yelled, "go" over the sounds of screaming, crying and the sudden cracking of wooden beams. They dissaparated as the ceiling crashed down.

Then there was sudden silence.

The woods were deafeningly quiet, it took several breaths before the ringing in Lily's ears stopped, before she could detect the soft rustle of the forest. She waited for more familiar forest sounds but the birds must have been asleep and the furry creatures who would normally be moving around had scattered at the sound of apparation. The silent forest was eerie in the chilly march air.

"Follow." Elphias whispered, beginning his walk down a barely marked path toward the home of Alice and Frank Longbottom. A hand reached out and the small child clinging to her neck was softly lifted away and into the arms of her mother. Lily couldn't look into the woman's eyes, there was enough fear there to shake the Earth from under her feet. James shuffled the father around himself and Lily so the family was marching between Elphias and Harrington in the front and Lily and James at the back. All four wizards kept their wands at the ready. Twigs and branches cracked under their feet and Lily watched the children cry nervously at the sounds as they hugged tightly to their parents.

The path was winding and long. Briers pricked at their robes, and logs tripped them up, but within an hour they found themselves in clearing near an old, neatly painted farmhouse. James's heart pounded nervously as they walked across the open grass to the building. It had always been like this. To him, forests, especially the Forbidden Forest, were cover, as were the tunnels of Hogwarts, but the grass between the Forest and the castle always made him nervous. Open spaces were the places where they could be caught, those were the places where they could be found out. He breathed in and slipped a hand into Lily's just to make certain she wouldn't leave him. She gently squeezed back as they all darted to the Longbottom's back door.

Alice Longbottom, her chestnut hair long and unbrushed, was at the door to greet them, a stern look on her face, "Dumbledore has authorized a portkey for fifteen minutes from now, that should scramble them off the trail." Alice ushered them hurriedly over the threshold and they fumbled into the warm house.

"Where to?" Elphias asked off the cuff, but Alice meerly shook her head, letting them know that not knowing would be the safest measure in this instance. Instead they quickly went through the ritual of checking to make sure everyone was who they said they were.

When they were done Elphias steered the family into the cozy living room and Alice mumbled to James and Lily, "Frank's out, auror shift tonight." as they followed behind.

The family huddled by the Longbottom's couch, staring wide-eyed at the family photos around the room where parents, aunts, and cousins chatted and moved freely from frame to frame.

"What should we tell them?" James wondered aloud.

"We should disclose everything." Lily sighed.

Alice crossed her arms trying to close in some warmth, "war time or not, the Statute of Secrecy stands." She reminded. If her auror training taught her nothing else, it was that.

"No one will know but us." Lily countered, but Alice only shrugged.

"Their house was attacked by a dozen wizards." James reminded. "At this point they know about us. Who's going to fault us for contextualizing?"
"Richard Rochester for starters." Alice ground out, referencing the head of the Auror department, but her eyes said she agreed with them. "You should do it Lily, you've got some experience with non-magic folk." Alice jerked her head in the family's direction and Lily followed the movement with her eyes.

It would be a hard thing to explain, the world being torn apart and not having any say in it.

Lily stuffed her cold hands into her pockets and walked over to the coffee table. "You all should sit for a moment" she said kindly. She cleared a few old Daily Profits from the coffee table as the family settled themselves onto the paisley cushions. She dropped herself onto the coffee table and waited for words to come to her. She wondered if she should reach out to touch the family's knees to comfort them, or stay back. They remained shivering and unsure and she stayed put.

"I know this is scary." Lily began quietly. "And I know it's confusing." She tried to dredge up memories of her life before knowing about magic. It was too long ago, long before she had met Severus, gone to Hogwarts, or joined the Order of the Phoenix, but it was there. Should she rip off the bandaid or explain magic gently? She remembered a flower petal opening and closing and slowly an idea came to her. She reached to her side, to the discarded Daily Profits and tore the cover off one, Avery's smiling face leered at her under the headline "Avery acquitted of Death Eater Charges: is set free." She sighed and held the paper flat in her hand.

"Magic can be really scary. There's a lot of power inherent in it, and some people choose to do horrible things with that power…but just like with muggles- I mean non-magical folk- there're good witches and wizards too." She pulled out her wand and whispered a spell as she tapped the sheet of paper. It folded and crinkled. The father held his child tighter, nervous of what was happening, but the paper's movements were slow and intricate, the black ink was soaking into the paper delicately. There was nothing to fear. When the spell finished Lily held a soft white rose in the palm of her hand. "We're here to protect you." Lily said quietly holding the flower out for the mother to take in trembling hands, "We're here to protect you from those who want to hurt you…" for no other reason than you're not magical. Lily added sadly to herself.

"You two should head out. I think we've got this covered. The portkey will leave soon anyway." Alice told them

Lily could feel James perk up beside her, "Alright. Let us know if you need anything."

"Of course…Now where's Elphias?"

Lily turned, expecting to see the Order member and the auror standing off to the side, but there was no sign of them.

"Elphias?" Alice called in confusion. Lily and James didn't move toward the door. The house was quiet but the floorboards creaked as Alice took a few steps toward the hall. Lily rose to her feet and found herself gripping her wand a little tighter. Surely they had just slipped out for a chat, or perhaps they needed to contact Dumbledore. She shot James a questioning look and he too turned to look around the house.

Another floorboard creaked under Alice's feet. She ducked her head into the kitchen, and cursed. Lily's wand arm shot to a defensive position, and her other was suddenly held out unconsciously, to protect the family.

"Alice what's going on?"

"Elphias was stunned." Alice answered, far too calmly. Alice returned to James and Lily and asked, "Where's Harrington?"

There was a heartbeat of a moment before the question was answered, "Right here." Harrington was behind them in the living room.

Lily spun on her heal just in time to hear the youngest child's blood curdling scream. She was thrashing and wailing against Harrington's grip. The mother moved to tackle Harrington but was taken down with nothing more than a stun to the forehead. She crumpled into a heap at Harrington's feet. Lily looked at the auror's face, expecting a curled smile, some indication that he had won, but his face was set in a determined stone stare.

"Drop her." James demanded. There was no way Harrington, though a trained auror, could beat three of them. They were going to fight.

"I'll kill her first." Harrington corrected pressing his wand into the child's neck.

The father of the family pulled his other child into his arms and tumbled behind Lily.

"I need them." Harrington repeated, "as examples."

"Examples of what!?" Alice's voice demanded attention. She stepped further to his right, expanding the area he would have to cover to keep track of the three of them. James began a slow walk to his left. Harrington would be fully surrounded in a few steps.

"Stop moving!" He flustered. Sparks snapped on the child's fair skin, and Lily could see red marks appears across her tear stained cheeks.

"James stop." Lily begged. The footsteps on the loose floorboards beside her stopped abruptly. She couldn't see him but she suspected James was silently arguing with her. Nonetheless she knew wouldn't do anything to harm the child.

"Harrington." Alice's voice was dangerous.

"Let me take them Alice. You know as well as I: One spell and the kid'll be dead."

"Harrington she's dead if you take her!"

Harrington blinked slowly, like he was fighting back a headache, and Alice didn't wait another second, but took a gamble and struck out against him. Harrington's wand moved to block the simple curse, but James attacked in that moment with a forceful stun. Harrington and the child both tumbled to the ground. Lily flew to the child and pulled her from the man's loose grip. She was still very much conscious.

"Lily, the portkey!" Alice tossed a set of muggle keys in the air. Lily fumbled with the projectile then dropped them into the still-stunned mother's hand.

"Come here." She instructed the fear-frozen father, "Everyone touch the keys."

"Wha—" The father began to ask, but he didn't have a chance to finish. Lily had taken his hand and that of the second child and forced them onto the portkey. She swung the young girl around so her finger was similarly laced around the object. A moment later Lily felt a tingle in the air and knew they were about to leave. She just caught the father's fearful eyes before she threw herself backward away from the portkeyeing family. All four disappeared safely.

"Alice what was that?" Lily's voice wavered on the words, confusion ruffled her.

"I don't know." Alice walked the length of the room to help Lily to her feet, "but I'll handle it. I'm sure you both have places to be."

"No Alice. We can't leave you here with-" Lily motioned at the unconscious auror on the floor.

"Lily- The guys are expecting us." James reminded quietly. Lily knew visits with them had been few and far between for James in the last few weeks. She released a heavy sigh and nodded to her fiancé.

"Okay…Alice are you sure you're okay with him?"

Alice was just about to answer when they heard a loud groan from the kitchen. "We'll be fine." Alice affirmed. "I'll see you both later."

"See you then."

As soon as their feet were over the threshold Lily sucked in the night air. James came up behind her and wrapped a warm arm around her shoulder. "You amaze me." Lily moaned and turned her head to bury it in James's side. He turned and enveloped her in a hug long enough for Lily to be reminded that there may be a light at the end of the long dark tunnel.

"Okay." She breathed into his arm. "Okay." He leaned back to hold her at arms length and looked her in the eyes.

"Okay."

Lily wiped away the threat of tears and asked over the suddenly overwhelming night sounds of crickets and birds, "Where was the gang going to meet us?"

"Hogs Head, but we should get going."

"And so I had my wand at his throat and he says 'fancy a drink?'… Idiot, so I blasted him into next week. Now he's in Azkaban." Sirius hiccuped jovially at the end of his story but across the table Peter's attention was still on a stack of papers. "Hey pay attention to me." Sirius slurred. He reached across the table and poked the blond tuft of hair atop Peter's head. "Hey, hey, hey-" he continued until the front door of the Hog's Head creaked open. Both young men snapped their attention to the door, but were immediately relieve at the sight of Lily and James pulling their hoods off.

Sirius broke into a wide smile. "Oi over here!" He beckoned unnecessarily, "Two more butterbeers, Abe" Sirius ordered. Lily and James smiled thanks at the innkeeper and slipped over to join the others at their booth. James fell into the seat next to Sirius and Lily sat down across from him, weary but still graceful. "What took you so long? Peter's been ignoring me all night and Remus is dead to the world." Sirius jerked his thumb at the pile of rags on his right. Remus was curled up against the wall and snoring slightly.

"I haven't been." Peter protested still not looking up.

"He hasn't been, but he's been doing paperwork all night-"

"It's important Ministry of Health stu-"

"Is not!

Peter finally raised his head, "I have to get it done. I've been out with Mundungus every night this week-"

"Why did you leave me here alone with him James?" Sirius demanded.

"We got hung up with Order business, as always." James smirked before Peter had a chance to retort.

"Ignore him, James. Sirius is just upset that his stakeout yielded nothing." Peter pointed out.

"Nothing?" Lily was surprised, "The Lestrange's place was supposed to be a hotbed tonight."

"Either their security has gotten better since our last break-in or their meeting place moved." Sirius said dryly, dropping his argument with Peter. "Fabian and Gideon took over about a half hour ago, but I don't think they'll get much either."

"Maybe not, but there's always hope." James sighed.

"I was hoping to catch sight of Crier." Sirius moaned. What they all wanted was more information about the man. Anything at all, his whereabouts, his plan, his loyalty and more importantly why had the Death Eaters gone through so much trouble to break him out of Azkaban four months ago.

"Face it Sirius, no one has seen him since the breakout, if he is still alive he's deep undercover, or missing." Lily grumbled.

"Lily he's the key, 'Crier is the key.' How many times did we hear that last year, we can't just give up on him, especially when we know their final goal is the ministry!"

"Sirius! I know how important this is. I also know that until we get more information our efforts should be on keeping people safe. Four people have been murdered just this week, two of them by people who had been imperioused. I think we have a bigger problem than one missing Death Eater."

"Guys." James intervened before the old argument could be replayed. "Both are important. We can't keep dealing with the symptoms," He directed at Lily, but before Sirius could get a smug smile plastered on his face James turned to him, "but we can't focus all of our efforts on the root problem when there are lives at stake." Sirius face sunk. "Anyway we weren't getting together to discuss work, we're here to relax, so relax." James insisted, in possibly the most stressed out tone in which anyone could speak those words.

Lily choked back a response and turned her attention to Remus, "Is he okay?" She asked Sirius and Peter.

Peter waved a dismissive hand and Sirius grumbled, "He's sleeping off Moody's last mission. Lucky bastard's always away on important Moody missions." Sirius tone was touched with jealousy, but from the look of the dark circles under Remus's eyes she wasn't sure she understood why.

"Should we order him some food?" She wondered.

"Nah. He's tired more than anything, and there's cold pizza back at your place." Sirius reminded.

It took Lily a second to smother her worry but she managed to look away from Remus and back to the table, "So anything fun happen lately?" She asked, trying to lighten the conversation.

To her dismay Sirius was the first to answer her question, "I went on a date the other day!"

"Ah yes, the latest in your long line of women. Still trying to wash the taste of Death Eater out of your mouth?"

"Oh, Lily you wound me!" Sirius faked insult and covered his heart before conintuing, "For your information I've always run through women at a dashing speed." James and Peter nodded in agreement without saying a word or meeting Lily's eyes. "So this clearly has nothing to do with Crier's demonic daughter."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Do you even remember this one's name?" She couldn't help but ask.

"I'll have you know her name was Mouriah." Lily stared at him waiting for the other shoe to drop and Sirius didn't disappoint, "Which is why I had to sneak out a bathroom window halfway through appetizers."

"For her name?" Lily bit.

"Her name was Mouriah. If that's not a bad omen I don't know what is."

"So?" Lily persisted.

Three surprised looks followed. After a beat the three conscious Marauders quoted, "Mouriah with the two faces." They all did the same loose motion with their right hand that mimicked moving a mask off to the side.

Lily unconsciously looked to Remus who usually at least understood her confusion, even if he didn't always share it. Often he was quick to explain wizard terms to her but his calming eyes remained stubbornly closed.

"Okay, whatever, you dumped a girl because of her name, what else is new in the petty world of Sirius Black?"

"Actually I was thinking of changing my name to Sirius Orion Potter, you know at your wedding. You get to change your name. I thought I would as- ouch." Lily had kicked him under the table and the others were now snickering.

"Peter, give me something here." Lily groaned. "I now need to wash both the evening and Sirius's conversation topics out of my head."

Peter fished around for something to say, fluttering over a few thoughts and quickly dismissing them until he shrugged and slumped back into the booth seat. He dropped the quill he had been holding, officially giving up on getting work done.

The group of four looked at each other searching for a discussion topic that wasn't Order related. Lily struggled then plucked an almost neutral topic from the air. The closest thing to a not work related conversation she could come up with, "Any word from Hagrid about the giants?"

"That's Order adjacent." Peter pointed out.

Lily rocked her hand back and forth, half protesting his assessment.

"Hagrid going north isn't Order business. He's just visiting family?" Sirius mocked over Lily's quiet protest, "Lily this isn't a vacation for him." Sirius snapped and next to him Remus groaned.

Lily's eyes creased in surprise at the annoyed tone in his voice. "I know that. When's he supposed to get back?" She asked, "Maybe we could visit him out at Hogwarts. Have tea?"

"Dunno." Sirius grumbled.

"Padfoot." James scolded, "at least try to be civil."

"I'm being civil!" Sirius insisted.

"Sirius." Remus's croaking voice stopped his friend from further argument. Peter sat up a little straighter with and the frown line in his brow deepened.

"Sorry Moony. Go back to sleep." Sirius apologized.

Remus didn't heed Sirius's suggestion but slowly sat up. Lily was shaken to see he was swimming in his thin brown robes. Since leaving Hogwarts his face had become thin, but now he was also scruffy and unshaven.

"Well then. Good morning sunshine, would you like a butterbeer?"

Remus grumbled "no" at the offer and before they could think to order him a tea Aberforth appeared at the table holding two crusty butterbeers. He placed one each before Lily and James, didn't say anything else then wandered back off behind the counter.

"Friendly guy isn't he." Peter chimed in trying desperately to make a joke to break the tension.

"I'm sorry, Lily." Sirius finally said, backtracking in the conversation. Lily appreciated it though. He began worrying the label off his own bottle of butterbeer and Lily knew she couldn't stay mad. Instead she gave him an unimpressed look. Sirius was as stressed as the rest of them, but for him it usually manifested in reckless behavior and misjudged pranking. It was less likely for her to see him so openly angry or frustrated. She could tell she was stressed in the way she kept arguing with him. She loved Sirius, via James who she knew couldn't live without him, but she found him receiving the brunt of her disproval, and he didn't deserve it.

"It's fine Sirius. Chalk it up to stress." Lily said, letting him off the hook for his outburst.

Sirius flicked his drink from one hand to the other and visibly pushed back whatever was turning his mind into a stormy sea. Another silence swept the table until Peter found he couldn't help but ask, "I'm sorry I have to know, what kept you both?"

James glowered into his drink as Lily wearily answered, "Harrington was working the other side, we had to take him down once we reached the safe house."

"Shit." Sirius coughed up. "What'll happen to him?"

"Dunno. Alice and Elphias will probably take him to the Ministry, they let us go so we could catch up with you two."

"Wow, that's terrible." Peter frowned, "I guess we can never be certain about who someone is."

"Not in this world of imperioused fruit vendors and Auror impersonators." James mumbled.

"I can be certain about you all." Sirius snapped in opposition. Four heads turned in his direction. "What? I can." Then with a cheeky smile he added, "I know who you are." He leaned arrogantly back in his chair and pointed in a circle. "A terrifying duelist and walking encyclopedia."

"Werewolf." Remus corrected under his breath.

"Ministry Suck-up, but hopelessly loyal." Sirius kicked Peter under the table who looked up from his paperwork long enough to roll his eyes.

"And what's the phrase you use for Lily, James?"

"The thing I love most in the world?" James suggested.

"Ah right, Lily is the thing James loves second-most in the world."

"After you?" Lily raised and amused eyebrow.

"After me." Sirius confirmed receiving a whack in the chest from James before continuing, "and James of course is the best man in the world." Sirius smirked, but before anyone could must the energy to dispute him he continued, "And speaking of best a man… did you two decide about the reception music?"

"You're DJing." James said, but at the same time Lily was protesting,

"Nonononono."

"He has to DJ." James cried overtop of Lily's wails.

"Lily calm down, I'm a fantastic DJ!" Sirius soothed.

"He is good." Peter called over the noise.

"I don't want to listen to the Jack-o-Lanterns and Hungry Skeletons all night." Lily whined.

"You won't- I promise to play one Celestina Warbeck song an hour."

"No."

Sirius fake pouted, but Lily stayed resolute, "I would rather listen to the Lovegood's bongo music."

"I could make that work." Sirius considered.

"Sirius! This is -" Lily cut herself off before she could say "serious" and completely upend the conversation. She was too late though, James and Sirius were already sharing a conspiratorial stare, and snickering into their drinks.

As soon as he regained his composure James explained, "Problem is Lily I already told him he could." He smiled innocently from Sirius's side and Lily let out an exasperated, but amused breath.

"Always the same with you two."

"Always." Sirius toasted, "Now drink up, we need to head back home before curfew." he reminded. "With you two being late we're already cutting it close."

Lily sighed and glanced out the window to the darkened streets. When she thought about it of course she knew who she was, and who the others at the table were, but this war was proving long and hard, and she worried about how much longer they would really be themselves. The world was changing, and them with it, she could only hope it would be for the better.