"Don't be daft, Moony," James hissed, even as quiet was starting to settle on the house. That was ominous; he wanted to get out quickly. He shook his head vehemently. "You don't know the way out."
And that settled it, in his mind. If this came to a fight, if they ran into the man that had been holding Remus, they were all going to be in it, regardless of who went through the door first. What they needed was someone up front to get them the hell out of here safely, and he and Sirius were the ones who knew their exit strategy. With any luck, if they could do that quickly enough, none of them would need protecting.
He turned back around and started to move again, making more of an effort to step quietly now that the noises from the battle were lessening. Hopefully that meant the Death Eater had been subdued, not something more sinister.