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Wednesday, 3:24 a.m.It was three o’clock on a Wednesday night, and James Potter was sitting alone in the second floor boys bathroom.Well, to be more specific, it was 3:30 on a Wednesday morning and James Potter was pacing the second floor boys bathroom. His partner was a half hour late.James wondered for the hundredth time if this was a trick. How was he supposed to believe that the Lily Evans, the star student of Hogwarts, wanted to meet her own self-proclaimed arch nemesis, James Potter, at three in the morning? It just sounded ridiculous.So, for the hundredth time, he checked the note that he had found sticking out of his transfiguration book this morning;James,Second floor boys bathroom tonight, 3:00. It’s important. Please don’t tell anyone, I don’t want to get in trouble.-LilyThe note was in her swirly handwriting, and she did sit near him in Transfiguration. And he had gone to the bathroom during class, which would have given her enough time to stick the note in without anyone noticing. But still, it was odd. Not only the fact that she wanted to meet him at three, but also that she was late. In all the years of knowing Lily, James had not once seen her late. And she wanted to meet in the boy’s bathroom? It all seemed too strange.Nonetheless, James remained. He didn’t have any sort of… bright ideas… mind you, but if Lily wanted to meet with him for something, he would stay there all night if he had to. Lily may despise him, but since the end of their fifth year, James had begun to feel a different way.Not that Lily cared. Not that she should, anyway. James had grown up a considerable bit the past summer, what with Sirius running away from home to stay with him and his family. With Sirius at his house, the state of the wizard world became a lot more real, and James was forced to take a good look at the crumbling society around him. Suddenly, school boy pranks became a lot less amusing to him.Consequently, James had stopped bothering Snape. Which was what he began to think (and hope) this meeting was about. Perhaps Lily had noticed, and wanted to give James a second chance? However, that seemed pretty far fetched, even for James’s active imagination.He checked his watch once more, 3:38, before sitting down on the cracked tiles. No use in wearing a hole in the floor any longer. He resolved to wait another half hour, and if she didn’t show by then he would head back to bed.He began to think more about this past summer, and all that had happened in it. Sirius coming to the Potter’s had been a happy thing, but again, a wake up call. Not only for James, however. Mr. Fleamont Potter had seemed to take inspiration from Sirius’s rebellion, and had decided to become an active participant in the fight against the rising followers of Lord Voldemort.However, James was not supposed to know this.His parents had tried to keep it a secret from him, most likely for safety purposes, if he were to guess. In fact, he found out much by chance.Many nights in the summer, Sirius would wake up either screaming or crying, often tormented by dreams of his mother either coming to get him, or hurting his brother, Regulus. James never mentioned them, just wordlessly got up and fetched him a glass of water. He didn’t think Sirius’s pride would be able to handle a conversation like that, so he supported him as best he could.On a particularly bad night, as James headed down to get the water (and maybe some of his father’s Firewhiskey), he heard his parents arguing.“You can’t be serious!” James paused at the top of the steps as he heard his mom whisper-yell.“This is serious! This whole damn world is serious! It’s not safe to walk the streets anymore! We are being called blood traitors for saving a boy from an abusive family! Something has got to be done, Euphemia!” James heard his father retort, an anger in his voice that he rarely let loose.James could practically hear his mother throwing her hands in the air. “And you think you are making it safer by inviting it into our home? You aren’t some superhero, Fleamont! You aren’t an Auror! This isn’t your job!”“It’s my job as a wizard! And if I can make some potion that can help the effort, then I will! What kind of man would I be if I didn’t?”“A safe one!” James’s mother’s voice broke on the last word, and he heard her pull out a chair and sit down heavily. “We have two boys in the house, Fleamont. Two sweet, innocent boys. What if they target our home, like they did the Clutter’s, just last week? What if you get hurt? They know your name.”“”Euphemia,” James heard his father sit down, “I hear you. But the boys will be off at Hogwarts soon, the safest place for them. And, honey, let’s be honest. Who is gonna target me? As far as they know, all I make is Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion, and sometimes stop by Order meetings for the free coffee.” His mother gave a tearful chuckle. “Honey, you know I wouldn’t do this if it would put our boys at risk. But I can’t just sit by. Something must be done.”There was a long pause, and James considered going back to his room. Finally, his mother whispered, “Just stay safe.”At that, James quietly retreated back to his room, softly closing the door as he went. He of course told Sirius everything, who was equally as shocked. The next morning at breakfast, everything was back to normal, and no mention of it was ever made again.However, James began to notice how there were two more locks on every door in the house, and how his father seemed to be taking longer and longer business trips. Every time his father would leave, his mother would sit by the window and worry her lip, sometimes for hours.On those days, James and Sirius would take care of the house work, and attempt dinner. They never told them that they knew, but they tried to help as much as possible.And now, almost two months later, James and Sirius were back in the “safest place for them,” just like James’s father had said.James checked his watch again, 4:09. He stood up and stretched his back, shaking off the Invisibility Cloak as he prepared to leave. He would just have to ask Lily what this was all about tomorrow.Just as he began making his way to the door, it slammed open. James barely had time to react before a jet of blue light struck his chest, sending him sprawling on his back, the wind completely gone from his lungs.He looked up, half expecting to see a smiling Evans in his vision, when his stomach dropped. In the doorway stood three robed figures, with swirled silver masks obscuring their faces. James had read enough of the Daily Prophet to recognize them as Death Eaters.James rolled to the side just as another spell struck where he had been laying. Barely able to breathe and unable to locate his wand, he didn’t stand a chance. Fear snaked up his spine. He again twisted out of the way just as another spell flew past him, hitting the sink instead, a stream of water jetting up.“Who are you?” James yelled, but no answer came from the hooded figures. Two more jets of blue light shot at him, and this time he was unable to dodge the attack. The combined force sent him flying into the wall, and whatever air that had made its way back into his lungs was expelled immediately. The first figure, taller than the others, stepped forward and waved his wand, and suddenly James was pinned to the wall, unable to move.He felt panic creeping into his throat, but he had to remain calm. There had to be a way out of… whatever was going on here.“Hey, fellas, sorry if you guys were meeting here! I, uh, just needed to pee! I can just get out of your hair-“ He was cut off as their apparent leader punched him right in the jaw. His head wrenched to the side, and pain blossomed up his face.“Shut it,” Death Eater Number One said, his voice obviously altered under some spell.Now, many people thought James to be dull. And, being fair, he sometimes could be. But if the Death Eater felt as though he needed to alter his voice for this encounter, which was obviously planned, seeing as the short one was casting silencing charms around the room, then he must know the Death Eater.James slowly looked back, peering into the empty eyes of the mask, “Who are you?”Another punch to the face, this one straight on and to his glasses. The one lens shattered, and the frames flew from his face, instantly making his whole world blurry.The loss of sight made the situation much scarier, and James decided to stay silent for now, to avoid the punches. He squinted his eyes to try and figure out what was going on exactly.The tall one in front of him was overseeing the others, so he was obviously in charge. The short one continued casting his silencing charms, and then moved on to the door, most likely to cast a locking charm. The last one, tall yet skinny, was checking under the stall doors, making sure no one else was in there. When the leader was satisfied that they were alone and not to be disturbed, he turned back to James.“Oh my, Mr. Potter. I’ve heard that Daddy has been making some rotten decisions lately,” the leader said while wagging a spindly finger in his face. “And bad decisions, well, they need to be punished. Not that you would know anything about that,” he finished off bitterly.James’s mind spun. So this was about his father helping with the Order. And this specific Death Eater happened to know him well, well enough to have a grudge against him for getting off easy in school. And- and… That was it. That was all James had to go off of.The skinny one in the corner chuckled. “Potter, for once, speechless? Have you wet yourself?” His voice, too, was altered, so James must know him as well.“Guys, let’s get on with this. We don’t want Filch coming ‘round and interrupting us, n-now do we?” The short one said, his voice nervous and altered.Great, so these were all people he knew. Most likely students.James decided to take a chance. “Yeah guys, if we could just get on with this, that would be great. I actually have a Potions test tomorrow, so I really have to get back and study.” James fought to keep the panic out of his voice, to seem level-headed and unbothered. That’s how the one guy in that muggle movie Lily had showed him had acted.Instead of answering, the skinny one just raised his wand and shouted “Crucio!” James’s whole body immediately erupted in pain, his skin feeling like it was on fire. His mouth let loose screams that he never thought he could make. The pain seemed to last forever, his mind completely overtaken by it. Finally, days or moments later, the pain ebbed, faded to a dull ache that pulsed through him. His throat burned. When he finally picked his head up, he realized that his shirt had been torn open.“James, James,” the tall one started. “Like I said, your blood traitor father has been conspiring against the Dark Lord. And treachery like that simply must be punished! However, your father, sniveling coward that he is-““Don’t you dare call my father a-“ James was cut off by another bout of pain, this one worse than the last. His entire body ignited, though he thought fire might be less painful. It felt as though his muscles were ripping themselves apart and then stitching themselves back together.Finally, mercifully, the pain subsided again, leaving James gasping against the bathroom wall. The skinny one had taken the tall one’s place at the front.“As my associate was saying, your absolute disgusting excuse of a father has run away from the repercussions of his actions. Which means, James, that the punishment falls to you,” the skinny one finished off with another spell, James again sent into the now familiar agony of the Cruciatus Curse. It seemed to take longer and longer to come out of it each time.The tall one, now standing off in the back, spoke up. “Don’t worry, dear James, we aren’t here to kill you. Just send a message to your father, and the rest of the Order, about what is going to happen if they continue to defy the Dark Lord. And, lucky for you, we have a new recruit tonight.” He gestured to the short one, who took two nervous steps forward, twiddling his wand in his hand.“This will be our little friend’s sort of… initiation… into the command of the Dark Lord. You should feel honored, James Potter.” The skinny one spit his name out like it left a bad taste in his mouth.The short one took too more steps forward, drawing his wand. James was panting, panicking, scared out of his mind. He was helpless, no one knew where he was, no one would be in the bathrooms for hours. He was on his own.“Now, please transcribe,” the tall one said, “Don’t worry James, I’ll keep it short,” he said with a laugh, the end of the short one’s wand lighting up like a match. James’s head spun, slow from pain, unable to catch on to what was happening. “FP, next time we won’t be so gentle. Does that seem threatening enough?”The skinny one nodded, and the short on went to work.He took his wand like it was a quill, and began burning the note into James’s chest. Each letter was agony, the smell of burnt flesh filling the room. Blood ran down his chest, spilling into the cuts of the words below it. James assumed he was screaming, but his ears were ringing so loud that he wasn’t sure. He needed to vomit, needed to pass out, needed to use die, but he was stuck. He was suspended on the wall, in this pain. He couldn’t escape it.The process was a long one, as the short one spent time making each letter neat and deep. They wanted it to scar. By the end of the letter, James was too weak to even scream, his mouth frozen open in a look of absolute agony.The short one, when finished, slowly turned and looked to the leader, who nodded thoughtfully. “Very nice work, easy to read, easy to understand. Now, just to sign it.” He took a step forward, practically pushing the short one out of the way. He pressed his wand into James’s stomach, right beneath the newly etched message, and whispered a spell. If possible, James screamed louder than before, as a ball of fire seemingly burrowed under his skin, the smell bringing tears to his already dripping eyes. When he looked down, he nearly passed out, a mercy, however, he was not granted.His chest was marred, the letters criss crossing across his torso, leaving trails of blood and chunks of burnt skin. Underneath it all was a writhing Dark Mark, his blood used as the ink used to paint it on his skin. The snakes twisted and turned, the burning on his skin a constant.The tall one took a step back and admired the trio’s handiwork. “Alright,” he said, looking to the skinny one, “time for you to set the scene. Make it… dramatic. I want Dumbledore to drop to his knees when he sees this.”The skinny one gave a curt nod and began, first waving his wand, causing James to slump to the floor. He cast another spell, and James’s limp body hovered in the air, slowly rotating. Another swish of his wand and James was completely immobile, suddenly able to relate to the mannequins he saw in shop windows. His torn chest was on display for whoever entered the bathroom next.The tall one again examined the scene, giving it another once over. Deciding it was sufficient, he motioned to the short one, who stepped towards James timidly. James nearly scoffed. As if he could do anything now.The short one pulled what looked to be a burlap sack from his cloak. James recognized it from the kitchens, it’s what the elves stored the potatoes in. The stout Death Eater reached up and covered James’s head with it, cutting off his already blurry vision.“H-how does th-that look? Would the D-dark Lord be p-pleased?”There was a hum of approval, and James heard the short one retreat, one of the others approaching. On his left leg, he felt a wand tip come to rest on his knee.“Just in case the spell should wear off, we wouldn’t want you running off to tell anyone too early, right Jamesy?”With that, James’s knee exploded in pain, feeling as though it had split into a million pieces. Had he been able to move, he thinks he would’ve just crumpled and died on the spot.He heard the group preparing to leave, and his eyes began to droop. Of course, just as the problem was leaving, that’s when he would pass out, be granted relief. Before they left, one of the Death Eaters came right up to him and grabbed his hair through the sack, pulling his head down.“You know Potter,” they whispered, “the Dark Lord thought we should obliviate you. Thought we should erase ourselves from this story, let them wonder how on earth Death Eaters got in and got to the James Potter like this. But I told him no. Because think of how much more your father will suffer, how much more you’ll suffer, knowing that you aren’t even safe within the walls of the great Hogwarts. Watch your back, blood traitor.”With that, the door to the bathroom swung shut, and James was alone. He knew that voice, and his pain-filled mind tried to place it, tried to place the sneer. But his brain was slow, and his breathing was slower, and before he could even begin to process what had happened, his eyes slammed shut, and he drifted away from his tortured body.