Glenda looked around the group, calculations and ideas running through her head. It was a good idea to start out in at least pairs, wandering alone into the forest wasn’t a good idea. “Potter and Black - you’ve been working together since the first year.” It only made sense to send them together, no matter how close James and Lily had become.
“Lily, Alice - you two work well together. When we find her, you can go back an get the aurors. The three of us will keep hold of her until they get here.” The pairings left her on her own, but she wasn’t about to change it. She was strong, she knew that, and she would make it through. She took a moment to look around the group, daring anyone to challenge her, before nodding. “We should get going, then.” Without giving anyone time to disagree, she began walking towards the forest.
Sirius wasn’t always the best at coming up with plans- he was more used to reckless decisions along the way. However, the Marauders had come up with plenty of them over the years and they were…usually able to somewhat stick with them. He nodded when Glenda said he and James would go together. Even if he was a bit riled up about the Map, he and James knew how to work together.Â
He didn’t oppose any of Glenda’s plans. A part of him realized she’d be alone in the plan, but she looked like she’d be able to handle it. “Got it. Let’s do this.” Sirius was already relatively near James, but he moved so they’d be able to walk together, and followed right after Glenda. He pulled his wand out of his back pocket, gripping it tightly. The groups made their way through the trees, getting closer to Charlotte with every turn. “We’re near her,” He spoke, uncharacteriscally quiet.Â
Lily wanted to argue against Glenda - anyone going by themselves seemed like a less than stellar idea, and she wasn’t a fan of the notion of her and Alice leaving the others behind. The other girl left very little room for disagreement though, and before Lily could get anything out, the group was on the move. Alright then. She gave James’s shoulder a quick kiss before moving to be beside Alice.
They started into the forest, and it wasn’t long before she heard Sirius’s voice. Nodding, she pulled out her wand, before motioning for Alice to follow her. Glenda moved even further, and the group was in the position to be able to hit Charlotte from any angle she might come from. As soon as they had her, Lily and Alice would go. Hearing a rustling in the leaves, Lily turned, wand raised and ready.
Glenda’s idea, again, seemed the most logical. James and Sirius had years of history so they knew pretty instinctively what to do to cover for each other - and James was glad to think that Lily would be one of the ones to go back to the castle to get the Aurors. It would be safer for her there, and while he would never try to keep her from a fight, neither would he be upset with anything that kept her safe. He cleared the map and folded it up; now that they were so close to their goal, they didn’t need it out anymore and he needed his hands free to fight.Â
He sent a quick look after Lily as she moved to stand with Alice, trying to quell the nerves he felt at the thought of even such a brief separation. They’d been together through the whole attack at Hogsmeade and he hadn’t realized how reassuring that had been. Somehow, though, he managed to wrench his thoughts back to the present, especially when Sirius spoke and he heard the leaves rustling. He shifted into position so that as soon as he caught sight of a body, he would be ready to cast a spell. And not a moment too soon - there was a flurry of movement and he flicked his hand, muttering “Levicorpus,” as he did so.
The idea of Glenda being by herself was worrying, but it wasn’t like she was actually going to be on her own. Even after Alice and Lily left, James and Sirius would still be nearby with her. So that was enough to calm her worries about it, plus the other girl was plenty capable of handling herself. Once Lily walked over to her, she sent her a confident smile. They had a solid plan and it was sure to go well. It had to go well.Â
The movement had them all ready to move, wands at the ready. James was the first to go though. For a moment Alice wondered if they reacted to quickly and now had some poor bunny levitating up into the air. She couldn’t help but smirk at the sight of Charlotte, happy they’d reacted before before she could. “Incarcerous!” She shouted, happy to have the woman tied up. It was simple, two spells and they had her caught. “Ok, as long as you guys have her me and Lily will go ahead and let the aurors know that you guys are on your way.” She smiled, before nodding to Lily and began their walk back to the castle.Â
How easily Charlotte managed to get captured by a bunch of teenagers only further displayed her incompetence, and he knew he was making the right choice. After silently trailing behind the group until they’d done their task and sent two of their members running back towards the castle, he knew there would not be a more opportune moment, and stepped out from the shadows behind them, his mask carefully hiding his identity, and only Charlotte, levitating in the air between them, seemed to notice his arrival. He enjoyed a good fight - but there were plenty of things left to do today, so this was going to have to be quick, disarm them, knock them out, and steal away the prize before they even knew what hit them.
Swiftly and silently, he moved closer to the group, ensuring that his presence was unknown. Nary a twig or leaf was stepped on as he adjusted his stance into one prepared to fire. However, he wasn’t ignorant - the numbers simply weren’t on his side. He would need to free Charlotte first. The poor woman was tied up in the air - he noticed her glaring down at him, and nodded at her, as if he was indicating what was to come. The Death Eater silently shot the counter-curse in the air, bringing a foot back to prepare for when the kids turned around. “Expelliarmus,” The incantation spilled out of his mouth slowly as his wand whipped to fire at Potter first. His presence was known now, and he had to move fast. Quickly stunning the boy while running at him, he kicked Potter’s wand at Charlotte, then spun to face the other boy.
Assuming that Charlotte would take down Glenda with her newly acquired wand, the masked Death Eater sneered, pointing his wand directly at Sirius. He needed to be quick and decisive about this. It was only a matter of time before Evans and Fortescue brought the Aurors out here, and he planned on being gone long before then. Still riding the benefit of surprise, he quickly yelled out, “Expelliarmus!” and sent Black’s wind flying many meters away. Before there was any time for recovery, he followed up with a Knee-reversal Hex, which sent Black sprawling to the ground unable to walk. Sneering, he whirled around to see if Charlotte had managed to take down her victim. To his dismay, she hadn’t. Glenda Chittock was still standing. For a moment, neither one of them moved, and they stared each other down with both wands pointed at their opponents. He was angry at Charlotte, because even when he gave her everything she needed, she still proved to be an incompetent fool. Snarling, he decided to get this over with quickly, so with his eyes still firmly on Glenda, the masked man cast, “Crucio!”Â