A/N: FINALLY FINISHED. Miracle miracle. It's a light ending, and hopefully you enjoy :) This is still for my lovely petalstofish

As the early morning sun pierces through the crack in the woolen curtains, Lily groans and attempts to roll over and steal a few more moments of shuteye. Only to find her face squished into a very male back – and then nearly get her nose broken with an errant elbow.

The male – Sirius – twists around with a groan, tugging his coat back over his lean shoulder, "Wha's happenin'?"

There's a thud, and then a moan from the floor, before Remus' head pokes up over the side of the bed, "First you steal the bed, then you kick me to the floor."

Sirius' mouth falls open to respond, pearly teeth glinting in the pale light, when the door bangs open with an entirely too loud slam that has the trio wincing, revealing James bearing feast enough for a party three times their size. As he kicks the door closed with slightly more care, James grins, "Steals the bed with my fiancé."

"I'm protecting her virtue," Sirius replies loftily as he saunters toward James' offerings with entirely too much grace for someone sporting a hell of a hangover, if the pounding in Lily's head is anything to go by.

Still, she's not too inhibited to let Sirius' comment go without tossing in her own, "You do realize you're not actually my brother."

Sniffing beneath one of the tray covers, Sirius quirks a brow in her direction, "More your brother than he is."

James tilts his head accepting the proposition, however strange, and bats Sirius' hand away from something that resembles oatmeal drenched in brown sugar and some sort of berry, "That's your sister's."

Not needing more of an invitation, Lily slips from beneath the covers and pads over in her rumpled shirt and trousers, hair a riot of waves around her face broken free from its loose braid. She hops and skips across the wood slats between the plush rugs that decorate most of the floor before claiming the expertly prepared bowl of piping hot cereal and settling into one of the overstuffed chairs. Lily blows James a kiss in thanks and he blushes, earning a groan from Sirius as Remus finally collects himself and lopes over, lank hair a mess around his angular face as he claims a rickety chair.

"I'm not sure if I'm nauseous from too much alcohol, or remembering Sirius' terrible gyrating," he sighs, spearing a salted bit of fish to taste it.

Sirius crunches into a hunk of crusty bread, frowning before searching for butter on the crowded table, "I am a danseur."

"I think a certain chair turned kindling at the pub would beg to differ, yeah?" James teases, pulling an empty plate toward him and scooping a few sausages onto it.

"Traitor."

James points his potato-laden fork at Sirius, "I know who ate my dinner while I was getting the next round last night."

"Turnabout's fair play, Black," Remus puts in, dragging a few hot cakes onto his plate and slathering them with butter.

A thud under the table and Remus' following jolt are fairly good indications that Sirius' skills as a danseur are now being used to exact revenge on uncooperative parties, but luckily Lily's quirked brow puts an end to any furthering of hostilities beyond a tossed forkful of eggs.

James clears his throat. "Anyway."

Lily smiles and pats James' hand. "Yes, on to serious subjects — how long do we need before we can be ready to go?"

Remus drags his pancake through the river of syrup running around the side of his plate, thoughtful enough that Sirius doesn't interrupt with any sort of hijinks.

"If I'm to be guide, we should probably hold off until I know the way."

Sirius snorts, "I do prefer not getting lost, yes."

Not responding beyond an eye roll, Remus answers, "I should say day after tomorrow will be adequate enough time to get our affairs in order."

"Bloody hell don't kill us just because Sirius is an arse," James says with a laugh, earning a grin from Remus.

Over the next days, Remus finds a few locals to stealthily consult while Sirius, James, and Lily divide their remaining supply list between them. They'd not liked the idea of shipping large amounts of food and transport overseas at large expense without even knowing which would even be necessary to their journey and the elements. It's a delicate balance they keep, asking enough questions to receive expert opinion without marking themselves as green foreigners to be cheated. Though according to Lily, anyone who did manage to cheat an Evans didn't normally have much chance to enjoy their spoils — a vague statement that coupled with a menacing flash of her teeth had all three men decide against questioning further.

True to schedule, Remus tucks his maps and notes away just before supper on the second day and droops back in his chair with a sigh.

James pats his forearm, "Perhaps you need some of these spectacles as well."

Remus huffs a laugh. "I reckon I'm alright — anyone would go blind after studying handwritten maps for nearly forty-eight hours straight."

They sit in silence for a bit, save the crackling fire in the hearth, wind beginning to pick up and rattling the panes.

After a moment, James stills his fidgeting fingers and replaces his glasses on the crooked bridge of his nose. "You know much about this Dumbledore fellow?"

Remus hesitates. "He's — controversial."

"Does that mean you don't trust him?"

"It means I often wish he was wrong."

The road is well travelled, filled with ruts from wagon wheels and muddy puddles from melting snow piles. As they jostle through the countryside after a brief break to feed and water the horses – and themselves – Lily shifts in her perch and lets her head drop to rest on James' shoulder. She can feel his smile when he presses it against her forehead and shifts his arm to wrap around her comfortably. By the time the carriage drifts to a halt, Lily's slept for long enough that the sun has already begun to set.

Swiping at the corner of her mouth with an embarrassed flush, Lily buries her face in James' chest, damp spot pressed against her cheek. "You should've woken me."

He brushes her hair back behind her ear fondly and kisses her temple, "You're fine darling. I've seen much worse."

"Because he's from a time where indoor plumbing didn't exist," Sirius teases with a smirk.

"Aqueducts, Black," James grumbles, kicking Sirius' shin decisively.

Lily squeezes James' knee lightly and sticks her head out the window, wind whipping her escaping hairs out and around her face. "Alright, Lupin?"

"Bloody Sirius had hand cramps, so I'm quite overdue for another break soon."

Ducking back inside, Lily narrows her eyes at Sirius and James, "What about Iacomus?"

The carriage rumbles to a stop and Remus drops down from his perch to answer, "We held a vote after James almost lost the horses and agreed he could help in other ways."

"I still call bull shite," Sirius grumbles, "Didn't you drive a bloody chariot or something?"

Before James can answer beyond a scowl, Lily shoos Remus away from the door and drops from the carriage with a two thuds of her boots in the damp earth.

"Won't be long 'til we've got to abandon our wheels," Remus answers the unasked question as he takes in the distant horizon, "Perhaps we should break here for the night?"

They work in tandem, the four of them, setting up camp and divvying up rations for the evening. James gets a fire going quickly, warm and inviting, within the first quarter of an hour despite the wet.

"How's your klippfisk?" Sirius asks from his seat near the blaze.

"Call it cod, tosser," Lily teases, jostling his knee with hers.

"She doesn't understand blending into the landscape," Sirius says as an aside to Remus, who buries his grin behind a bit of crusty bread.

When day breaks, they ready the horses and pack the scant belongings they'd unpacked for the evening, traveling a handful of kilometers before the road ends in an expanse of untraversable ice – at least by any easy means.

There's an outpost, a klick away from where their most difficult hike will begin, where they leave the horses and the carriage, leaving a deposit to ensure their care for the next fortnight. Once Sirius' business within has been finished, he returns and shoulders his own pack with a grin. "Ready lads?"

And so they begin, spikes clicking as they break the surface of the ice, as the rope sways between them while Remus takes up the lead. It's slow, tedious work, though the threat of danger tickles at the back of their minds, ensuring they don't forget the ease could quickly give way to terror.

Which they luckily to manage to avoid for the first three quarters of the journey across until a jarring crack sounds from somewhere behind and the rope pulls taught as Sirius lets out a shout.

Lily dives forward and grabs the rope with her leather-gloved hands, "Shite!"

In a trice, James' arms wrap tightly around her middle while his spikes dig into the ice with a crunch.

Before coming to their aid in a closer manner, Remus digs the pickaxe into a nearby ice cap deeply and tugs experimentally. While Lily and James strain at the rope, Remus picks his way toward them carefully, testing the edges of the crevasse for more loose bits before he drops to his belly and reaches his arms down to reach Sirius.

"Grab hold, Sirius."

With a grunt, Sirius gently swings closer and squeezes Remus' upper arms tightly. "Better be stronger than you look, you wiry git."

"I can still drop you, Black."

"Could you not?" Lily hisses through gritted teeth while she presses back into James' grasp more firmly.

Through their combined efforts and mindless supplications aimed toward the heavens, the three of them manage to finally bring Sirius back from the brink and collapse in a heap of heaving chests and flushed faces.

The wind whips overhead as Sirius finally murmurs against Remus' shoulder, "Just making sure you three are paying attention, yeah?"

Their nervous laughter mixes as it rises into the cloudless blue sky, until James sighs and shoves at Remus' shoulder, "Do a bloke a favor and untie his rope and shove him back over, eh?"

"Ungrateful, you lot are," Sirius grumbles over their joined chuckles as he props his head on his hand, grinning.

Once they've gathered themselves, they manage the rest of the trek before sunset and with little drama, chapped cheeks, and wind burned lips, only hiking a bit further after to find a roughly hewn cave of sorts to weather the evening.

After heating a pot of water over the fire, Lily makes her way to the back of the cave, to wipe down her bared skin. It stings a bit as she scrubs at her knuckles, stray bits of dirt coming away and clouding the water as she rinses her sudsy cloth. Not daring to fully wet her head, Lily simply runs damp fingers through her wild locks and tucks it back into neat plaits that dangle loosely over her shoulders.

By the time she's done and feeling refreshed, the inviting scent of sausages roasted over an open fire is beckoning from the section of the cave where the boys have set up for the night. "Loo's free," Lily says with a smile as she claims her seat beside James.

Remus fills the bucket again from the melting ice outside and makes his way to the back of the cave while James prods the sausages as they sizzle enticingly.

Once they've all gorged themselves – as much as you can on rationed meals – and cleaned up, they divvy up the evening hours into watch shifts.

The firelight flickers comfortingly as James and Remus make themselves comfortable at the mouth of the cave. The night is quiet around them, aside from the chilled wind and the irregular plip plop of the ice dropping from the stone surrounding them, until Remus tilts his face toward James.

"If we don't get some sort of chatter going, I will fall asleep."

James snorts, "What if I get you monologuing about your tragic past?"

Chuckling quietly, Remus tucks his coat more firmly around his neck and sighs, "Nothing particularly interesting. Grew up fairy poor in the countryside, but happy. Got a fever when I was about eleven – which is the explanation for the occasional wheezing you may have noticed."

"You're fine," James murmurs, nudging Remus' elbow, "Sirius doesn't have any childhood ailments to excuse his winging."

"He'd say terminal classism," Remus snorts, "But it got the two of us here, eh? He does use his powers for good."

"They just recruited you – how much did you know when you signed on?"

Pulling a bit of jerky from the pouch tucked in his pocket, Remus offers James a strip as he explains, "Not all at once, bits gathered here and there – but I'd have gone anywhere with those two."

"They are very convincing," James laughs, taking a large bite so his teeth flash in the dim light.

"I was hopping across the continent from one dead end to the next, but they just seemed like something I wanted to be a part of."

"Lily and Sirius seem to have a knack for adopting the lonely and downtrodden," James says after a moment, "If that's not a disturbing thing to say about my fiancé."

"Everything you and Evans say about each other is disturbing," Sirius drawls from his pallet.

"Get over here and carry your weight, Black," Remus grumbles, rising with creaky joints and tired eyes.

"Make me, Lupin."

James drops his head back against the stone behind him. "Bloody hell."

Travel is easier after the first few days, the craggy crevasses and uneven landscape left behind for green hills. They've been at it for almost a week by the time Remus utters those beautiful words – "We'll arrive tomorrow I should say – as much as you can arrive at an old and likely ruinous mead hall."

"Don't get us too excited, Mr. Lupin, you'll give me the vapors," Sirius drawls, eyeing the sun as it drifts lower in the azure sky.

Lily buried her snicker in James' neck, tightening her grip around his shoulders as they crest yet another small rolling hill. "D'you ever miss wearing skirts, James?"

He twitches the bridge his nose to shift his spectacles higher as he considers the question, Sirius and Remus bickering in the background. "They do allow for better air circulation — and my arms were free."

"I don't miss petticoats," Lily volunteers, bobbing her feet childishly, "Or corsets. But I could do with a nice breeze up my skirts at the moment."

She doesn't miss the flush that rises up his neck over the tips of his ears, but she doesn't acknowledge it beyond nuzzling his jawline. "S'pose it's lucky Sirius missed that opening."

"It was low hanging fruit, my dear sister. I am a connoisseur of the comedic arts."

"Is that why you laughed for a quarter of an hour coming up with new nicknames for James after he got his glasses?" Remus asks with a roll of his eyes.

"All high brow."

"Four eyes is the cream of primary school humor," Lily teases before whispering something into James ear that puts his previous blush to shame.

Sirius grunts. "You disgust me."

"Stuff it."

By their normal midday meal time the following afternoon, they've more or less reached their destination and Lily's practically chomping at the bit to actually get her hands on something ancient and untouched for hundreds – or thousands – of years. A concept she's really lucky remained a private thought, because Sirius could have gone all sorts of places with it, and her cheeks heat at the thought.

Which James notes, nudging her lightly with his elbow, "Alright? Too much sun?"

His fingers rise to toy with the end of her braid playfully, using it to tickle the places she's definitely gotten too much sun – red kissing her cheeks, the tips of her ears.

"Quite alright, thank you," Lily drawls, threading her arm through his.

Sirius takes the opportunity to jog up beside them, looping an elbow around Lily's neck and dropping a broad brimmed hat onto her head with the other. "Don't say I never gave you anything."

"I hate all hats on principal and this one in particular," Lily huffs, flicking at the brim, but at James' pleading look, leaves it otherwise in place. "S'pose a bit of shade can't hurt."

James lets his arm drop so their fingers can knit together and squeezes her hand gently as they crest the final hill before the ruined mead hall comes fully into sight.

Sniffing the air with a scowl, Sirius murmurs, "Smells like – burned dirt."

"Peat," Lily supplies, already halfway across the field and to the hall, "From the bog."

"Which should be," Remus squints at the map he'd been poring over for the better part of four months, "Just west of here."

"Don't you boys want to explore a bit first?" Lily asks with a mischievous grin, trotting ahead and ducking into the shadowed hall before they have a chance to respond to the contrary. They exchange varied combinations of shrugs and rueful glances before following Lily into the crumbling building.

The remainder of the day passes quickly as they pick their way through the ruins, searching for any clues or necessary tools before they make the trek to the bog. Lily has James copy down a few etchings and runes for study later on while Remus spends most of the afternoon re-drafting his map for accuracy. Sirius, in the meanwhile, takes it upon himself to set up their camp for the evening and prepare a hearty stew for supper that smells delicious enough to break through Lily's academia induced haze to draw her outside.

"When did it get so dark?" Lily asks as if she's been in some sort of stupor.

James smiles, "Since the sun started setting a quarter of an hour ago?" and when she doesn't seem enlightened, he laughs, "You asked for that lamp, the one in your hand?"

She glances toward the lamp that does in fact dangle from her dirt-stained fingers and frowns thoughtfully, "Perhaps a break would be in my best interest."

And just as James is ushering her outside, the stars begin winking to life and Sirius shouts, "Evans you'd better get over here and enjoy my food before I become a very salty housewife."

Dinner passes in a mix of work-talk and teasing jibes – mostly favoring the latter once Sirius' secret stash of rum comes out – until Remus begins nodding off against Sirius' shoulder.

"Why don't we head to sleep, eh?" Sirius murmurs, quietly, though Remus jolts awake at the utterance.

"Got to – take care of business first," Remus mutters, a bit confused, and stumbles off into the trees.

They've begun clearing their dishes and preparing for sleep by the time Remus returns, face tight and eyes wide in warning, "We've got company."

Before he can provide more information, a diminutive figure enters the clearing, rotund beneath layers of moth-eaten fabric and a felt cap. "Fancy meetin' strangers all th'way out here."

Remus tilts his head. "This is Maisy – a sort of groundskeeper for the area."

"Self-appointed," Maisy shrugs, "Not many interested in the position."

They exchange covert glances before Sirius lets his most tantalizing grin slip into place as he gestures to their meager leftovers. "We've just finished eating but you're welcome to as much as you like, Maisy."

Maisy accepts readily, tucking in to her fairly sizable portion, before letting her eyes wander between the foursome. "So. I assume you've all got questions about your strange evening visitor – though I was here first so technically you're the visitors."

She ends her rambling with a mischievous tick of her brow, spooning a large mouthful of stew and swallowing it gladly.

Remus shrugs and Lily eyes the other two before James finally speaks, voice low and calming in that honeyed tone that sends shivers up Lily's spine, even when he's placating an unknown elderly woman that drifted in like a will-o-the-wisp. "You've not given us any reason to think you're untrustworthy. Unless wandering about in the woods after dark counts against you," he glances around at the group, "In which case, we're all questionable characters."

"That's still up for debate," Sirius drawls, drawing chuckles from the others and lightening the mood considerably.

After brief – and mostly vague – introductions, Lily manages to finesse their most pressing needs into the conversation. "So what can you tell us about the land here? We've only heard the most academic of accounts, but I'm sure you've got a better expertise."

"Aye," Maisy agrees, "You've gotten the sanitized version I'm sure. None of the best legends make it past the ice fields."

Lily snaps the twig in her hand into small bits, tossing them each into the fire individually and sending sparks up into the dark night air. "We've heard the bog has some fascinating preservation capabilities."

"Even the ancients knew about it. You know how the ancient Egyptians stored away treasures and protection for the afterlife?"

All eyes snap toward her, and Remus leans to murmur in Lily's ear, "Dumbledore's warned of these types of curses in the past."

Maisy takes a breath. "Well Lords and Kings around here were more concerned about building unbeatable armies for their pre-death life. Concerned enough in fact, to attempt creating an undead army."

"For?"

"The great Beowulf, of course," Maisy answers with a grin, "Though he was bested by dragons long before the alchemists perfected the army – if they ever did," she chuckles lightly, "Or so the legends say."

"And if Beowulf had lived, how would he have controlled the army?" James finally asks, since his companions seem a bit lost for words and Maisy's particularly fascinated with the pile of dirt at her feet.

"Ah, the ultimate question," Maisy begins, winking at James so he blushes. "You must know the story of the great warrior – and his lost sword from the battle with Grendel's mother."

Lily nods, fighting to keep her face carefully blank, "Of course."

"Once the army was built – with more human sacrifices than we'd like to recall – they planned to retrieve the sword – which was imbued with the monster's venom – and re-cast it for Beowulf to guide his army."

Sirius scratches at the scruff slowly working its way across his jawline since they left town and bites his lip. "So Beowulf dies and they just dropped the whole idea?"

Maisy, for the first time since her tale began, gets a serious look in her eye and frowns thoughtfully, "They didn't trust anyone but him to wield that kind of power – not without getting drunk on it."

Maisy doesn't stay the night, taking her leave despite their protests about safety in the rapidly darkening landscape, and they spend the rest of their evening huddled on their pallets and discussing the truthfulness of the legend, until they drift off one by one.

As the fire sputters out, Lily's eyes drift closed as she assumes she's the last of the group to sleep.

Until James inches closer behind her and lets his arm wrap around her middle, the other propping his head so he looms over her in the darkness. Fingers grasping his, Lily twists onto her back and smiles softly, "Penny for your thoughts?"
His answering grin is a brilliant flash against the night sky, as his fingers brush over her dirt-smudged cheek. "I suppose undead army isn't much more odd than bringing a statue back to life after a few millennia, eh?"

Lily laughs quietly, mindful of where Sirius and Remus sleep only a few paces away. "S'pose not."

They make the short hike to the infamous bog early the next morning with a vague sort of plan in mind. Based on Maisy's information and Lily's prior research, the hoard and miniature army should all be located on the south end of the peat, which means they need only search a small segment of the murky waters.

"So who's going in first?" Sirius asks once they've gathered around the lip, nudging a rock into the dark water.

Before anyone else can volunteer, James has tossed his shirt to the side – leaving Lily's mouth a bit dry – and toed his boots off. "I know my way around a sword pommel best."

"Is that a euphemism – do I need to defend my sort of sister's honor?" Sirius teases, shoving James shoulder with a smile.

Lily recovers herself and presses a short kiss to James' lips and slips his glasses from his nose. "Don't die, eh?"

"It's fairly difficult to kill me dear," James answers lightly, "But I will be as cautious as my nature allows."

Remus snorts, "That's not particularly reassuring."

After a few unsuccessful deep dives, James reemerges with a victorious glint in his eyes, "Got a pommel down here, and then some."

"Treasure?" Sirius asks excitedly.

James shakes the dripping tendrils of hair from his eyes and sends Lily a wink. "Probably more exciting for the academics among us."

"Peat is an excellent preservative," Lily reasons, squatting low and squinting at the water, as if she could see through the muck and mire to James' bounty.

"Can you bring it up by yourself?"

"Depends on whether you're willing to wait for me to single handedly disassemble an entire village," James answers, delighting in the excited flush that rises on Lily's cheeks.

"The old man will be chuffed to bits," Sirius says after a moment, laugh coming out like a huff.

Once James has retrieved the sword hilt and tugged his slick body back onto relatively dry land, he drops onto his back and breathes heavily, eyes scrunched shut. While Sirius and Remus set about examining the sword and guessing exactly what Dumbledore will decide is next steps, Lily drops down on her side and presses her cheek to James' chest.

"Alright Iacomus?"

"Always, Evans."

Her fingers trail up his side, a shiver running through him more from her touch than the chill that rises in the air as the sun begins its descent. She sighs against his chest and presses up on one hand so she hovers overhead. "You know – once we're married – I never want to stop all this," Lily finally gets out, gesturing a bit wildly so she almost tilts herself backward.

Rising onto one elbow, James cups her jawline and smiles softly, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Her jaw relaxes and her set lips gentle into a half grin. "I know – I mean I'd hoped you understood."

Leaning close, James presses his lips to hers, kissing her 'til she's breathless and nearly speechless. Before she has a moment to let her brain grind to work again, James gets that playful glint in his eye that always means trouble, "Without a working, how will you keep me in my lavish lifestyle?"

"Ass."

And despite her words, Lily's eyes crinkle in laughter and she presses her forehead to his as he caresses the column of her neck. "But you love me anyway."

"I love you anyway."