Jily Oneshots (pt2)

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty!

by beesinabiscuit on archiveofourown.org

James Potter was pretty sure he was dead.

Now, he’d never been dead before, so he wasn’t 100% sure, but he’d also never stared down at his own body like this before either. It was an odd feeling, looking at his body laying on the floor, eyes closed, glasses askew, and hair fallen back from his face as he…floated? Hovered? Merlin, he was a foot off the ground. And, he looked down at his now-flying-body to confirm, he was see-through. Definitely dead then, he thought, though why am I a ghost? I never particularly wanted to be a ghost. Also, wait, how am I dead?

~

He and Remus had been on a mission for the Order, staking out a home that they suspected was a Death Eater hideout. Their suspicions were confirmed when a group of them apparated in, one at a time, until four of the idiots were crowded in front of the building. That wasn’t what got James’ attention though. What got his attention was the fifth person that was with them, a woman about his age, dressed in muggle clothes and being dragged along by one of the Death Eaters.

“Shit.”

“James, we have to call Sirius, he’ll bring backup,” Remus said, pulling a mirror out of his pocket.

“We don’t have time, Remus, they’re gonna kill her.”

“You don’t know that, James, we have to wait for backup.”

“Yeah, well I’m pretty fucking sure,” James said, pulling his invisibility cloak out of his jacket pocket as their marks went into the building. “And I’m pretty sure that if we wait for backup, it’ll be too late. You call for backup, I’m going in there. If something explodes, be a dear and come help me out, please.” And with that he threw the cloak around himself, hurried across the street and left Remus to call their friends.

The Death Eater hideout was appropriately dingy, decrepit, and sinister. The exterior of the two story home looked like it had been set on fire, and as James pushed a window open and slid into the building, he realized that the interior was just as charming. The room he crept into had a brick fireplace that was falling apart and had a couple of empty frames whose occupants had long since rotted away, hanging on walls that were held up more by mold than by wood at this point.

Charming. Every Death Eater hideout they broke into was disgusting, either because of the building itself, usually damp and moldy, or because it was filled with Death Eaters, who were usually damp and moldy themselves. Or both. 9 times out of 10 it’s both.

A thunk in the room to the left of the one he currently occupied got James moving. He moved out of the doorway, careful to not trod over anything that would make a noise and give him away. Like broken glass. Or a baby. The hallway, blessedly bereft of shards of glass and babies, led to a kitchen, which was filled with the four Death Eaters, their captive, an oven missing its door, a sink, and not much else. James slid through the doorway and inched himself along the wall, closer to the assholes with the dumb little masks.

Gotta get closer to the assholes with the dumb little masks.