Potter | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 188

James closed his eyes, ready for the pain to hit him. But the pain never came.

      Instead, just then, Jenna jerked around and in a quick motion pointed her wand at Macnair, shouting, "EXPELIARMUS!"

      Everything happened at once. Jenna caught his wand in midair and before the others could get the chance to take out their wands, Jenna pointed hers as James's ropes tied around his wrists, yelling, "DIFFINDO!"

      On cue, the ropes were cut and James's hands were free and so Jenna threw Macnair's wand at him and James caught it and got up in time to cast a shielding charm against Rookwood and Amycus's curses.

       A battle soon took place. Jenna stunned Macnair who was defenseless and caused him to hurtle back into the house's wall, falling down unconscious.

       Jenna had to transform back to her own form, because if she wanted to be able to fight properly and save her energy for dueling, she had to put aside her Metamorphic abilities, seeing as it took too much of her magical power.

      Amycus's shock at that turn of event was used to their advantage as Jenna easily blocked him and attacked in return.

      "It's good to see you again, J.P!" James yelled through the sound of crashes, as he tried to block out Rookwood's spell.

      "PROTEGO!" Jenna yelled as Amycus sent a curse at her direction, but he dodged hers by a few inches. She then smile sideways at her brother, saying playfully, "Wish it was some other time, though."

       But just then, their smiles faded and their eyes widened as they heard crashes coming from outside the house. And moments later, the doors to the house exploded and many Aurors burst into the hall, their wands at the ready.

      It all happened so fast. Their eyes fell upon Jenna and they hesitated for a split second, at first not believing that she was in those well-known dark robes, but then thought that she was now a Death Eater.

So without another moment of hesitation, three of them started fighting the other Death Eaters, as the other two raised their wand at Jenna, ready to attack her as well, assuming that she was now one of them.

       "NO, DON'T —!" James was trying to stop them, but he didn't get to, because the next moment Jenna had taken a hold of his arm and Dissaparated out of that house.

***

Soon, James and Jenna Potter appeared in Godric's Hollow, moving fast toward James and Lily's house, still not having the audacity to utter a single word as they were still shocked over how everything had happened so quickly and just wanted to get into safety as soon as possible.

      James knocked at their door and Lily opened it moments later, jumping into James's arms at the mere sight of him.

     "Oh God, James! Where were you!? I was so wor —" But she stopped in mid-sentence as she saw Jenna standing right behind him in the dark of the night. "Jen..."

     "Can we get in first?" Jenna said urgently. "I'll explain everything later. But it's not safe out here right now."

      Wordlessly, Lily stepped aside from the doorway and the two got inside, closing the door behind them. For long minutes, they all sat around the kitchen table, unable to speak, until Lily finally broke the silence.

      "Where have you been all this time, Jen!?" Lily asked, bursting into tears as she finally got the courage to look up at her friend.

      "It's a long story." Jenna sighed.

      "Good, because I want to hear this! All of it!" Lily snapped sharply, wiping the tears away quickly with the back of her hand.

       "I... I've been undercover as a Death Eater," Jenna finally said, pointing down at her dark cloak. "As Alecto Carrow, more precisely."

     Lily's eyes widened. She turned to glance sideways at James, as if to make sure she had heard her right, to which James nodded.

      "I've been prepared for this mission for years now," Jenna went on, throwing down her gaze. "And around six months ago, Dumbledore finally told me that it was time for me to leave. I knew what was coming. I knew what to expect."

      "But — why!?" Lily asked breathlessly, her eyes still wide in horror.

      "For information," Jenna explained. "I've got so much on them now; from their names to all they've done or what they're planning on doing next. And remember when Dumbledore told all the Order members to go into hiding? I was the one who had sent him the warning. I knew Voldemort was planning to send his Death Eaters after you all."

      "But what happened tonight!?" Lily questioned impatiently, glancing between James and Jenna with a frown. "James, where were you!? I was worried sick!"

      "W-well..." James sighed guiltily, looking away from his wife. "I — I'd got tired and frustrated of staying in the house for months. I had to get out, even just for a few minutes. But those few minutes were enough for me to be attacked by Rookwood and Macnair. I was outnumbered."

      Lily gasped at that, clapping a hand over her mouth as James went on.

      "They took me to a deserted house and — and tried to get information out of me, but I didn't budge. But then..." his eyes wondered toward Jenna. "I saw her coming in the house as Alecto Carrow, and I recognized her immediately."

      Lily frowned in confusion. "But how could have recognized — hang on!" she snapped, glaring at James. "You knew!? You knew all along where Jenna was and you never told any of us!?"

      "She'd made me promise not to tell anyone, Lily," James tried to reason gently. "She's my sister. She trusted me."

     Lily opened her mouth to retort, but before she could say anything, they heard a knock at the door. Lily went pale, as if realizing who it was.

      "I — I'll get it." And so she went out of the kitchen to answer the door.

       But moments later, Jenna's heart sank when she heard a familiar voice say from the living room, "I came as soon as I received your Patronus, Lily. How long has James been missing?"

      "W-well, he's back now." They heard Lily say as their footsteps approached the kitchen. "Actually... he didn't come alone."

     Just then, Jenna slowly got to her feet when Lily entered the kitchen with Sirius standing right next to her, his eyes widening at Jenna's sight and the color draining from his face.

"Jenny..." Sirius muttered under his breath in disbelief.