chapter//ten

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Lily and James slept together on the floor that night, leaving the bed for a drugged Remus to sleep on. James had his arms wrapped protectively around Lily, his hand cradling her stomach as she slept. James didn't sleep much that night, he was still going back and forth, debating whether or not he should report what those people were doing. Surely... surely he should? He would if it was just his life on the line, but it was Lily's and his child's life too, he couldn't risk it. He'd do anything to keep them safe.

Wizard or not, he thought to himself, pulling Lily closer to his chest. I can't protect myself from everything. He kept wondering, thinking, because just like muggles, wizards could be deceiving, too. And why would she tell him something like that in the first place? Surely she knew the risks she was taking? Did she have an ulterior motive? Probably, if she didn't she wouldn't have said anything, right? That's how those kinds of things worked, he'd watched too many muggle movies with Sirius to think otherwise.

After many, many hours of sleepless debate with himself, he heard a knock on the door and a sleepy groan. James slowly untangled himself from Lily and opened the door, revealing a scared looking Peter. "I waited for you guys and fell asleep and when I woke up Remus still wasn't there so I got worried, and thought I'd come see what was going on." James felt a pang of guilt. He'd planned to tell Peter what was going on but he was asleep when he'd peeked in and thought he should let him sleep.

"Sorry, you were asleep when I came to tell you. Come on." Peter hurried inside and sat on the bed where Remus was now starting to wake up. "Someone slipped something into his drink," James told Peter. The smaller boy's eyes widened, horror slipping across his face.

"He was roofied?" Peter gasped.

"Yes, Pete. It's a long story but we're leaving here first thing in the morning because it's not safe here. Once Remus wakes up I'll tell you both, I already told Lily," James explained, sitting on the floor in front of the bed. He hoped they didn't wake Lily, she needed all the sleep she was given, after all being pregnant must be very exhausting.

"I'm awake." That reply came from Remus, thankfully, versus Lily. "What the bloody hell happened? I feel like I was hit by a truck." James scrambled back to his feet and sat on the bed, next to both Peter and Remus.

"How much do you remember?" James asked.

"I remember going to a bar, meeting this guy... I can't remember much after that. How drunk did I get?"

"Someone slipped something into one of your drinks, you hardly drank anything at all." The werewolf's eyes widened just like Peter's had. "The man you spoke too was into some illegal stuff, I talked to his friend. He sells drugs and wizarding items on the black market, as well as... well, human organs. I can't report it because I think that if I did, they'd find out and everyone who knows us would be in danger, and I cannot let that happen."

"Are you sure it wasn't a bluff?" James hesitated for a minute. Because he was one hundred percent sure but he didn't want to worry his friends, so he didn't say anything. At least, not at first, he was too focussed on a stray string on the hem of his shorts. "Prongs?"

"Yeah, pretty damn sure. The look on her face said all I needed to know about it. I still wasn't one hundred percent sure but after dragging you back here while you were completely out of it, I kind of put two and two together." Remus felt his palms grow moist with sweat, and a chill ran down his spine.

"I mentioned my ex, Sirius," Remus began slowly, his voice shaky. "Said he left me for some girl named Marlene. Which isn't technically true, but as a werewolf I can't... anyway, he asked if her last name was McKinnon by any chance, and I said yes. He said he worked with her... oh Merlin, what if Sirius is in trouble?"

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