Getting ready for a top-secret mission was almost like getting ready for a blind date: it’s very nerve-wracking and you never have any idea on what to wear.

I stood in the living room, shaking a little. James came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I jumped and turned around. “Jesus, you scared me!”

“Don’t be so nervous,” he replied softly. “Just imagine… just imagine that we’re going to check up on your folks.”

“Not so reassuring,” I laughed. “You’ve met my parents; talking to them is like talking to a stiff board… they’re so strict.”

“All right… well, imagine that we’re just going to someone’s house to see how they’re doing.”

“Or to remove their dead bodies before the Muggle police find them,” I mumbled, and James looked at me sternly.

“You signed up for this. Don’t back out now.”

“I'm not backing out.”

“Listen… It’ll be okay, Lily. We’ve got each other’s back, not to mention an amazing team right by our sides.”

I nodded as purple flames erupted in our fireplace. “That’s the signal.”

James led the way out the front door and onto the sidewalk. He took my hand, bit his lip, and leaned up against the mailbox.

Suddenly, the ground jerked from beneath our feet and I felt myself swirling; James clutched onto me tightly and I tried not to scream. Then, with a crashing sensation, we collided into the ground and the world felt like it was still spinning.

A grim face appeared above mine. “Never traveled by Portkey?”

“No,” I said, taking his hand. Sirius lifted me onto my feet. “I so prefer Apparating.”

“Dumbledore doesn’t want us doing that.”

“Why not?”

“Because then we’ll know where we are at; if we were to be captured and interrogated then they’d know we were the ones who cleaned up their mess.”

My stomach turned. “We’re not just cleaning up after the Death Eaters, are we?”

“No,” said Frank, who’d come to my side. “We’re also looking for clues. Come on, Dorcas is leading us in the general direction… from what I hear, though, this ‘Dark Mark’ makes it pretty apparent on where we are heading.”

We followed the woman through the streets and Frank’s words quickly became true; a giant skull was floating over a house with a large snake coming out of its mouth. Green sparks erupted around the image.

I shuddered, and felt James do the same thing next to me.

“I'm glad it’s the early a.m.,” he whispered. “I wouldn’t want any of my family seeing this.”

“I think it’s about to get worse,” I replied, following Alice through the cottage’s door.

However, while I expected a mess, the area was actually very clean. There were no signs of a struggle.

“James, Sirius, and Alice, take the upstairs,” Dorcas instructed.

They nodded and I was left with her and Frank.

“Do you feel watched?” Frank asked, leading the way slowly into the kitchen.

Dorcas nodded, then signaled for us to be quiet. We continued our search of the bottom floor, but we didn’t find anything.

“Hey, guys!” A voice called from upstairs. “We found him.”

I slowly crept up to the next floor, trying to steady my breathing. We met with Sirius, who led us to the master’s bedroom. James and Alice were leaning over a corpse in the corner. Their bodies kept the deceased in a shadow, and I was relieved; I didn’t want to see anything.

We searched for clues and I constantly had to go out and gasp for breath; the stench of rotting flesh kept overwhelming me.

“There’s nothing here,” concluded James finally. “They came in, killed him, and left.”

“Or they’re still here,” I suggested.

“Yes, well, we shouldn’t be. We have no further business here,” said Dorcas, and led us out of the house. She glared up at the icon in the sky and it quickly began to disappear.

“Are we leaving the body?” questioned Sirius, raising his eyebrows.

“Yes,” she replied, and had James and I go lay our hands on a lawn gnome. “I’ll see you all soon enough.”

As I was lifted off the ground once more, I tried to push the night’s events out of the back of my mind. All I really wanted then was a hot shower.