Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be sitting here typing away now, would I? ;) JK Rowling is one lucky brilliant woman. Hats off to her!

A.N. (Hello my faithful reviewers (and anyone else who is taking their precious time to read my fanfic), I am back and ready to continue this fan fiction. Thanks a million to all of you for waiting so patiently for me to continue! Without all of your comforting reviews, I don't think I would have been able to continue this story. But one thing I've learnt from my experience at …..if you're going to start a story, you'd better finish it. ;D I know how it feels when you're reading a story and the author quits it. It's just so annoying! So I promise all of you that I will finish this fanfic once and for all. I have summer break now, so I'll also try to update faster, but do bear with me if I take too long, okay? Thank you!

It has been hard coping with my grandfather's death, but I know that he wouldn't have liked me to mope and be sad about it all the time, so I'm not going to let that affect my writing. Thank you all so much for your comforting words. They helped a lot when I felt myself getting sad. Now…I'll stop blabbering and start the chapter. :D)

Recap (so that if you forgot what happened, you don't have to go back and read it if you don't want to): Lily, James, and Petunia win the court case too easily. They're suspicious that something is fishy, but don't dwell too much on it. James is called aside for a few minutes by Mrs. Abbot and something happens. When he returns, he acts different. When Lily, James, and Petunia return home, James hurts Remus's feelings by inviting him for dinner when he knows it's the full moon. Lily knows something is wrong but doesn't know exactly what.

Chapter 16: Deception: Part 2

One week later later

James awoke dazedly, groaning as he felt the cold hard floor underneath him. Where was he? Shivering as he felt sharp cold wind pierce him through the thin cloth of his clothes, he rubbed his eyes and looked around. He was in a small icy cellar type of place, enclosed on all four sides by large stone slabs. There was no window, but one small door on top of a small flight of steps. He must be in someone's cellar, he thought. James did not know exactly what happened, but he remembered being hit by a curse and slumping to the floor. That Jean Abbot had tricked him. She had lured him into being kidnapped.

'What if she's not really Abbot?' a voice in his head said. James agreed with the voice, though he felt stupid agreeing with himself. Jean Abbot was known for her strict adherence to law and justice. She would never join hands with a former death eater, even when threatened with her life. 'She must have been either under the Polyjuice potion or the Imperius curse,' he thought, finding that more likely, "And Charles Bullstrode must have concocted this whole plan. Of course! It all makes sense now. He must have heard about the upcoming trial in the Daily Prophet, went to Vernon in the guise of a distinguished lawyer, and 'worked' for him in order to get closer to me. What better place to carry out an abduction than a muggle court house? But why kidnap me? What exactly do they want me for?"

Just then, James saw the small door to the cellar creak open and two sets of thudding footsteps descend the stairs. He squared himself, though it was a bit hard since his hands and feet were binded by thick steel chains. Just as he had predicted, Charles Bullstrode came into view, accompanied by none other than –

"Quirrel!" he cried out in a shocked tone, recognizing the current DADA professor at Hogwarts.

"Welcome to my humble abode, Potter," Quirrel greeted in a smooth tone, no trace of his previous stutter visible.

"Why did you two bring me here? Let me go this instant and I may spare your lives!" James snapped.

"You are in no position to threaten us, Potter," Bullstrode sneered, drawing closer, "You are in our mercy now, and it would be in your interest to grant us what we want."

"What do you want?" James asked suspiciously, though not at all intent on giving them what they wanted. It would no doubt be something that would endanger not only his life, but others as well.

Nodding at Bullstrode, Quirrel too drew closer and said in a quiet but serious tone, "The Sorcerer's Stone."

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"Take care; don't get into too much trouble, and remember, study hard! We'll see you at Easter Holidays," said Lily, giving Harry, Dudley, and the rest of the children kisses and hugs. The Hogwarts Express was getting ready to return the kids to their second term of school, and everywhere parents were bidding goodbye to their children and wishing them luck.

"Mum, is Dad alright?" Harry asked worriedly. During rest of the Christmas holidays, James had barely been in the house, leaving early and returning late. He had told everyone that things were busy at the office, and Sirius, though confirming that to be true, had told Lily that James had been keeping his office door locked and had refused to talk to anyone unless it was important.

"Don't worry, sweetie; he's just a bit busy, that's it," said Lily, trying to keep the worry out of her face and waving to the kids as they boarded the train.

"Dudley dear, your mother sends her love; she's still house hunting so she couldn't come. Diana, Duncan, and Delilah are with her, so they too bid you good bye," Lily called to her nephew as the train began moving. Dudley nodded and waved goodbye, finally returning to his compartment when platform 9 ¾ was no longer in view.

Lily sighed and closed her eyes as she apparated home. She had been getting a nagging feeling in her heart ever since the day of the court case. James was acting just too weird, and her gut feeling was telling her that this was not her husband. Something had happened and she was intent on getting to the bottom of it. She had done nothing during the previous week because too many kids had been in the house and if Death Eaters were involved as she suspected, she had not wanted to endanger them. Now that most of the kids were at Hogwarts, she would put her plan into action as soon as she sent Anne, Emma, and Will off to stay at Remus's for the day. It was good that Diana, Duncan, and Delilah were with Petunia. The less she was responsible for more children's lives at the moment, the better.

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"Don't you guys think something's awfully wrong at home?" Harry asked as soon as he and the others had settled into a compartment. Fred and George had left moments ago to sit with their best friend Lee Jordan while Percy left to join the other prefects. Soon after, Neville and Justin Finch Fletchley had joined him, Ron, and Dudley.

"Wrong, what's wrong at your home, Harry?" came a voice from the compartment doorway. Hermione Granger stood there, a confused look on her face.

"Hey Hermione," Harry greeted as soon as she took her seat across from him and next to Dudley.

"Hello Harry, Ron, Dudley, Neville, Justin," Hermione greeted enthusiastically, "How were your holidays? Mine was absolutely fantastic but I cannot wait to go back to Hogwarts! My mum and dad took me to the museum the day after Christmas and then we went to visit my cousins in France. My cousin Jenna has the most awesome collection of books ever! I cannot wait to tell you all about it – wait, how did the court case go, Dudley?"

"Oh, it was fine," Dudley said amusedly, "My mum got custody of all four of us now."

"Congratulations!" Hermione said happily, then, "Wait…did you say something was wrong at your home, Harry? Is everything all right?"

"I was going to talk about that actually," said Harry, shaking his head, "My dad had been acting really weird the past week….ever since the court case. He came home being all…different. If it hadn't been for his appearance, I wouldn't know it was him. Know what I mean?"

"Hmm…" Hermione said, looking confused, "Did something weird happen during the court case?"

"Not exactly," Dudley said, "Everything was fine, but….Uncle James and Aunt Lily said that Dad's lawyer, Charles Bullstrode or something, was a former Death Eater. Apparently he was one of the first to return to the 'good side' claiming to be under the Imperius Curse."

"The Imperius Curse…" Hermione muttered, "I heard of that before…" She rummaged through her trunk and finally took out a thick book of Advanced Spells. Flipping through the pages, she stopped after awhile and said, "Of course! The Imperius Curse is one of the three Unforgiveables, the other two being Cruciatus and the Killing Curse. The use of any of these three curses can land someone in Azkaban – for life!"

"Wow," Dudley murmured, "I never heard of these before."

"I heard of them from Dad and Sirius a few years ago when they were talking about someone's trial in the Ministry," Harry said.

"What does the Imperius do?" Ron asked from his spot next to Harry.

"One using the Imperius Curse can control the minds of whomever they're casting it on," said Hermione, "They can make them do absolutely anything – for as long as they want."

"It sounds terrible," Ron said, a horrified expression on his face. They all then noticed Neville's silent form on the end of the seat.

"What's wrong, Neville?" Justin asked.

"N – nothing," Neville said, shaking his head and giving them a watery smile. They gave him suspicious looks but decided to leave it. Harry and Dudley bit their lips and looked away from the others. They knew of Neville's parents' condition, overhearing it from James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus's conversation one day a year ago, but they knew it wasn't their place to tell the others. If Neville did not want anyone to know, they had to respect his privacy.

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"The Sorcerer's Stone?" asked James, wondering how the Stone was related to his kidnapping, "What do I have to do with the Sorcerer's Stone?"

"Don't play fool with us, Potter!" Bullstrode snapped. With a flick of his wand and a silent incantation under his breath, James was on the floor writhing with pain. He bit his lip hard to stop the screams which threatened to escape his mouth. He would never give the two Death Eaters the satisfaction of seeing him in pain. After Bullstrode lifted the curse, James breathed heavily, trying to regain his breath and wiping at his sweaty face.

"Now tell us, what's your protection?" asked Quirrel, still serious looking.

"What are you talking about?" asked James, genuinely confused. But then it started to sink in.

"The protection you and Sirius Black are talking part in to protect the Sorcerer's Stone. We know that you two and a handful of the other professors (including me) are giving various protections to the Sorcerer's Stone," spat Quirrel, "It's simple passing the other teachers' protections, but I cannot get past yours and Black's. Now tell me, how do you do it?"

"What makes you think I'll tell you?" James spat back, dropping his confusion. Was Quirrel really so stupid to think that he'd just tell them part of one of Dumbledore's greatest secrets – just to escape? Quirrel looked furious at his answer but Bullstrode simply glanced at him calmly, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Perhaps the lives of your family members aren't so important to you after all, Potter," he said quietly, drawing forward and bending on one knee so that he was face to face with James, "I have to admit, I'm surprised. Here I was thinking you'd do anything to keep your precious wife and kids safe, but it seems you aren't so 'noble' a Gryffindor, are you?"

"You wouldn't dare hurt them!" James spat, dismay covering his face. He hadn't thought about Lily and the kids.

"Wouldn't we?" sneered Bullstrode, standing up and walking a few steps back. He then stopped abruptly and said in a business-like voice, "Lord Voldemort gives you two days Potter. It will be in your best interest, and that of your family's as well, to relinquish the secret of the last protection we need to know in order to obtain the Sorcerer's Stone for our master. If you continue to be stubborn and foolish, you may never see your family again – alive."

"And remember," continued Quirrel, looking more at calm now and sneering himself, "You son and nephew are at Hogwarts, where I will be shortly – and for the rest of the year. You do remember your – ah – dearly loved friend Pettigrew don't you? If I remember correctly, his animagus is a rat, and furthermore, I believe Mr. Ronald Weasley has a rat for a pet? I believe you are smart enough to make a connection? Both Pettigrew and I will be at Hogwarts, and Pettigrew will have access to Gryffindor Tower itself thanks to Mr. Weasley."

"And," said Bullstrode, chuckling at James's outraged expression, "We have sent one of our own members in your disguise – under polyjuice potion to be precise – to your home so that your dear wife will suspect nothing. No one knows you're here Potter, and no one knows that there is a Death Eater – Rodolphus Lestrange if you want to know who – with your wife and other kids in Godric's Hollow. If you do not submit to our request in two days, do not think we will hesitate to dispose of your family. Goodnight…" With that, both he and Quirrel marched out of the dark cellar room, cackling.

James was in shock. Rodolphus Lestrange was at Godric's Hollow? The Rodolphus Lestrange who was part of the group who had tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom? And Scabbers was Wormtail? Since when??? And how had he not known? How had Sirius and Remus not known? They were always in the house during Christmas Break, while Scabbers was there within their sight! And Lily…she didn't know about any of this. James bit his lip when he thought about Lily and the smaller kids. And Harry and Dudley…who were completely at the mercy of Quirrel and Wormtail at Hogwarts.

'Lily's smart,' James thought, 'Lestrange will never be able to pull this off for long. She's bound to notice something's wrong. But will she be able to notice and do something about it before the two days are complete? I'll try to stall as much time as possible. Never will I reveal the last phase of the protection Sirius and I worked so hard over! But if my family's lives are in line….I don't know how long I can hold out.'

A.N. (Well, that's it for this chapter. Please tell me if the length of this chapter is satisfactory to you or if you want me to write more for the next chapter.  I promise there will be more Harry and Dudley in the next chapter, and lots of drama! Please do review, and I once again apologize for the extremely long wait. I'll be quicker for the next chapter…promise!)