a foul place is where i love you

Six

Update for week May 17 through May 24.

—————

"What is it?" James demanded as Sirius led them down the hall, Lily not far behind.

"We need to regroup," his friend simply replied, heaving open a heavy, metal door.

James was all too familiar with the room beyond from his experience as both an Auror and Order of the Phoenix member. It was as cold and musty as the rest of Nurmenguard Prison, but when compared to the many dark, damp cells spread throughout, it was easily the nicest room. A large, stone table littered with papers and files and candles rested in the center, surrounded by metal chairs. The only decoration adorned the left gray wall—a thick pocket of mist shaped like a rectangle, showing footage of one seething Harry Potter in his cell.

Besides James, Lily, and Sirius, six others were there: Isaac Colbert and Amelia Jackson (who both had aided Sirius in Harry's capture, apparently), Gawain Robards (the head Auror), Remus Lupin (one of their best friends), Kingsley Shacklebolt (Auror and Order of the Phoenix member), and ... Albus Dumbledore.

James didn't know how Dumbledore had gotten here so quickly, nor did he question it. He'd known the Hogwarts headmaster since he had been a First Year student at his school, and after joining the Order of the Phoenix, James trusted Dumbledore with his life. He would be lying if he said he wasn't relieved to see him there—not while he knew of his great wisdom and power, and especially not after Harry's reappearance the year before.

"James, Lily," said Dumbledore solemnly, his blue eyes sad and face appearing older than ever, "please have a seat."

James and Lily did as he said, seating themselves in two chairs nearest to them, while Sirius closed the door and took up a third on James's right.

"If you would be so kind as to start at the beginning, Gawain," said Dumbledore politely, quietly, as he adjusted his half moon spectacles.

"As you all already know," began Robards, his balding brown hair gleaming in the candlelight, "Potter was captured today in a clearing just off the Forest of Dean at roughly 15 hours. My Aurors had been answering to another Death Eater heist on the town of Ross-on-Wye, although now we know that they hadn't attacked any Muggles and had robbed some of the hidden wizard businesses in the area."

Robards sighed heavily, then waved his wand at a paper in front of him. The mist footage of Harry's cell got smaller as several images of obliterated buildings and shops appeared in the remaining space. "We aren't entirely sure if Potter had taken any part in the heist, although I have a hunch that it was mere coincidence. Usually Potter is apart of ..." he shot an apprehensive look in James and Lily's direction, "larger crimes. He's too close to You-Know-Who for a foot soldier's job. But we aren't ruling out the possibility; things have been strange these past few months.

"We've been carefully monitoring his activity these past five hours. He woke approximately two hours ago, and was immediately interrogated by Colbert"—he nodded in the direction of said Auror—"and continued to monitor him throughout that."

Robards waved his wand once again, and the mist pictures swirled into another scene of Harry in his cell, this time accompanied by Colbert. "We ... weren't expecting any of what we heard," he finished quietly.

With another wave of his wand, the image of Harry and Colbert began to move.

"Listen, Ebenezer Scrooge," mist Harry hissed, jerking his torso backwards to release Colbert's grip on him, "Voldemort took everything from me at the age of one. He murdered the only family that loved me. He left me as a lonely, miserable child, and then proceeded to kill and hurt the people I'd carefully gathered and grown to love." Nausea welled in James's guy as he tried to wrap his head around Harry's words. "It is because of that bastard that I became a warrior, a soldier, at age fourteen - or, hell, really it was age eleven - and never had more than a year to be a child in the years prior. And now I've killed him, and he'll never hurt me or, most importantly, anyone else ever again."