Story Title: The Righteous and the Wicked
Chapter Title: One – The Beginning
Author: Orion in the SkySummary: With Harry's fifth year comes the exposure of secrets that have been desperately kept. How far will Harry's adversaries go to keep him in the dark? New allies are found and friendships are solidified as people formerly deemed trustworthy show their true colors.
Warnings (this chapter): Alternate universe, non-graphic slash (Remus/Sirius), character death(s), an OC, and three seconds of an uncommon pairing.
When it Begins: After Sirius played The Prank on Snape but before James and Lily get together. Sirius and Remus have broken up because of the prank and the Marauders are growing further and further apart as the days pass. (This is one of very few chapters that will show the past in detail.)
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with anyone who has any claim to anything related to Harry Potter.
November, 1976 – Lily and the Marauders' Sixth Year
"Hey, Evans! Did you see that last goal I made?" yelled a drunk James Potter from across the common room. Lily Evans, also drunk, rolled her eyes.
"Go bother someone else, Potter!" she yelled back. She normally wouldn't have indulged quite so much, but the win against Slytherin came as a very large (yet pleasant) surprise.
Well, pleasant for everyone but the Slytherins, that is.
"Sorry, Prongs, looks like Evans isn't falling for your charms today," said James's best mate and top partner-in-crime, Sirius Black. His tone was far from sympathetic—being as drunk as (or possibly more than) James, he thought Lily's reply was quite possibly the funniest thing he had ever heard. Merlin knows that he needed something to be funny right about then. Whether Gryffindor had won or not, Sirius's performance in that day's match had been well below average. The reason for his dismal performance went unsaid amongst the Marauders, as the same issue had been causing friction between Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs for nearly two months.
Sirius was still being blatantly ignored by Remus Lupin, and that hurt more than any bludger he may have let hit him during the game. He had made a mistake—tried to play a prank that he now knew wasn't at all funny—and it cost him the best relationship he'd ever had. After two months of begging and pleading, Sirius had resigned himself the fact that Remus had simply given up on the black-haired aristocrat who had messed up the werewolf's life one too many times. The fact that the two couldn't share a conversation anymore caused problems between not only themselves, but also the other members of the formerly close group.
"Shut it, Padfoot. It's not like you're ace at dealing with love either," said James.
"It's not love," said Sirius passively, not noticing the throbbing vein in James's forehead.
"Prongs," warned Peter, recognizing the less-than-friendly undertone of James's words. The last thing the barely together group needed was a fight between the two closest members.
"In fact," continued James, ignoring Peter altogether, "you couldn't even keep Moony for more than—"
"That's enough!" yelled Sirius. He gave James a venomous glare before storming out. The common room quieted as people turned to stare.
"What did you do to him, Potter?" asked Lily angrily. "You couldn't think of enough horrible things to yell at him during the game?" Lily, whose knowledge of recent events was only missing the fact that three of the Marauders were Animagi, couldn't help but feel a small amount of pity for Sirius. He had been so—so off, lately, and a Hogwarts without a bouncing-off-the-walls Sirius was just wrong (even if the reprieve had been welcome at first). She didn't think that spilling Remus's secret should be something he could get off scot-free for, but the guy was so depressed lately…
Feeling bad for him and worried over his defeated manner, Lily followed Sirius out of the portrait hole. By the time she caught up with him he was on the top floor in an empty, dusty classroom.
"Black?" she asked as she sat down clumsily next to him. I am going to have the worst hangover tomorrow…
"Do y'wanna yell at me too, Evans?" asked Sirius, not looking at her. When she didn't answer, he turned to her. She looked so concerned (and drunk, he thought in the back of his mind), that he just started to talk.
"Remus still won't talk ta me," he said glumly, "and James 'n me fight all the time now, and Peter's started to hang out with some Hoofle—Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, because we're all jus' fightin' and he's not much for conflict…"
Lily just let the desolate man talk, giving him comfort when he sought it from her. An hour later the two returned to the common room where the suspicious glances of James, Remus, and some of Lily's friends awaited them.
The next morning she awoke with a throbbing headache, along with the unfortunate realization that the rest of the night was a total blur.
December, 1976 – The Day Before the Christmas Holidays Begin
"Black!" Lily shouted sharply. Sirius and the rest of the Marauders had just returned from their last class, and Sirius felt like a happy and worry-free man. James and Sirius were well on their way to becoming as close as they had been, Remus would say a few words to him now and then, and Peter was around more than he had been during the worst of the fighting. Sirius turned around and found Lily looking angry, distracted and worried.
"Yes, Evans?" asked Sirius warily, reluctant to have his mood broken. The two had been skirting around each other since the day of the last quidditch match. Both had enough vague memories to be heartily mortified and regretful.
"I need to talk to you. Privately." James raised his eyebrows at Sirius and Remus and Peter wore questioning looks on their faces.
"… Okay. Lead the way." Sirius followed Lily as James and the rest went up to the their room.
Lily found the closest empty classroom and cast so many privacy spells that Sirius couldn't help but let his jaw drop.
"Do you remember what happened after the game against Slytherin?" she asked.
"No… Yes… Sort of, I think." Lily didn't say anything, so he continued in the direction that he thought the conversation was going. "Look, I didn't mean anything by it, and I don't really date girls anymore, so—"
"Oh, honestly, Black, I'm not asking you for a date!" she snapped.
"You're not?"
"No!"
"You don't have to get so defensive, Evans," said Sirius with a slight smirk. Lily's face was red and he assumed that she was embarrassed. "There are a lot of people in this school who have fallen for my charms; it's understandable, as I am a very attractive—"
"Black! You are the most repulsive—"
"Okay, okay, you don't want a date… What do you want?"
"… Christ, I'm pregnant, you idiot." Sirius had enough presence of mind to not ask if it was his; he highly doubted that Lily slept around enough for him to question the kid's paternity.
'The kid… a baby… my baby. Lily and mine's BABY. Lily Evans is carrying a kid that's half mine. James's Lily is carrying my kid. I don't want a kid! I'm not even seventeen yet…'
"How…?" he asked weakly. It still wasn't completely comprehensible.
"Well, when two people are incomprehensibly drunk and one is equally as depressed—"
"I know the mechanics," he snapped, "but how could you be pregnant?"
"D'you think that either of us was in a state to cast a contraceptive charm? And I certainly don't sleep with people on a regular basis, so I'm not on any potions regimen."
"Well what are you going to do? Get rid of it?"
"You can't do that!" shouted another voice.
"Potter," growled Lily softly. "What the hell—"
"Look, I'm sorry, but I was worried about Sirius… and you," said the disembodied voice of James Potter. He pulled off his invisibility cloak (causing Lily gasp with surprise before she narrowed her eyes).
"You don't have any right to—I should memory charm you!"
"I'm not going to tell anyone," said James indignantly.
"How am I to know that?"
James then did something that Lily didn't expect. "I, James Charlus Potter, do hereby swear on my magic to never reveal what I have learned in this classroom on this day to a single soul without the approval of Lily Meredith Evans." A white light surrounded him after he finished. He was so shocked, Sirius didn't even take the time to marvel at James knowing Lily's full name (which really shouldn't have been a surprise, he thought later, the poor bloke had it bad).
"James—"
"Lily, you can't abort the baby," said James seriously. He may have been a prankster and somewhat irresponsible, but he couldn't stomach the idea.
"I'm not going to," said Lily. "Which is what I would have told Black if you hadn't interrupted," she added, glaring at both of them.
"What's your plan, then?" asked James.
"I don't have one. Yet."
James resolved that he would help Lily and Sirius as much as he could, even if Evans hated him and his best mate didn't seem to care all that much about what Lily had said.
James came back in January with a plan that had come to him on Christmas Eve, during his parents' annual party. Sirius, who now lived with them, had asked that James's parents invite the only people in the Black family he could stand—his Uncle Alphard, his cousin Andromeda, and Andromeda's husband and daughter. At the party Andromeda had made an offhand comment that she and Ted eventually wanted more children. Later, he had heard Mrs. Tonks telling his mother that she had some trouble when little Nymphadora was born and things didn't look good for a second child.
'And adoption in the wizarding world, with the right rituals, is just like having your own child. Lily's baby will be a Tonks—if Andromeda and Ted want it. And if Lily wants to let someone adopt it.
'Perhaps I need to ask before I plan this out any more.'
January 1977
"What do you think of adoption?" asked James. He had politely asked Lily to talk with him privately, and Sirius had met them in an empty classroom.
"I'm not sure," said Lily. She sighed sadly. "I don't want to make this decision… Even if she—"
"She?"
"Yes, she. I'm of age; I performed some charms over break… I suppose adoption is one of the best options. I'm only in my sixth year, and I can't just leave and come back, can I?"
"Sirius?" asked James, looking at his silent friend.
"Whatever you'd like, Lily," he replied, looking at the floor. "I don't know anything about babies, what to do with them, or anything like that. If you want to keep it, I'll try to help, and if you want to let someone adopt it then I'll give my consent." Lily and James each had surprised looks on their faces—Sirius seemed to have thought this out. "I took some time over hols to think about this."
"Oh," said Lily. "Well, I'll—I'll have to think about it, James."
"All right. I heard my mum talking with Andromeda Tonks—Sirius's cousin, the disowned one, she graduated before we started here—and they want another kid, but they're having a hard time with it. I thought that we—er, you two, I mean—could approach them about it, see if they're interested and whatnot. And if they are, then we'll need to talk to Dumbledore about it, right? 'Cause he's the Headmaster?"
Lily nodded and left.
'James gets more surprising every day, doesn't he?'
Albus Dumbledore's Office – February 1977
"Professor McGonagall said that you asked to see me, Miss Evans?"
Lily nodded at her headmaster. McGonagall had been upset that the sixth-year hadn't wanted to talk to her head of house about whatever was troubling her, but ultimately gave Lily the password to Dumbledore's office.
"Sir, there's a… Well, this is very hard to talk about…" She held a long pause, but with a sigh finally admitted "I'm pregnant."
Lily would forever remember the look on Dumbledore's face. For once he seemed surprised, and then disappointed and sympathetic. She gave him the barest details—when she was due, who the father was, and what her plans for the baby were—and he, just as to be expected, offered to help however he could.
Over the next few months, Lily, James, and Sirius continually met. She didn't know quite how it happened, but James seemed to be as much a part of the situation as she and Sirius were... perhaps even more than Sirius was, to be honest.
One day, she found herself wishing that he were the father of her daughter. Immediately she shook her head and seriously considered asking someone to obliviate her. James Potter, the father of her child? Please.
'Though I can say the same about Sirius, can't I? Of all the unexpected things to happen…'
During the Easter holidays, Lily and James accompanied Sirius to visit Andromeda, Ted, and four-year-old Dora. Sirius asked Ted and Andromeda to speak with him, privately, leaving 'Prongs and Tiger Lily' (as they had been dubbed upon arrival) to play with Dora in the informal sitting room of the Tonks' home.
Later, Ted and Andromeda walked out of the other room, followed by Sirius.
"Sirius told us about your situation," said Andromeda. "If you are willing, we would love to adopt the baby." Lily nodded. She hadn't expected them to accept.
"That's… great."
"Lily, I'm a Healer at St. Mungo's," said Ted, "and Sirius said that so far you've been doing all of the tests yourself. If it's all right with you, I'd like to perform some tests myself, just to be safe."
"Um, yes, okay." Ted stood up and pulled some parchment from the desk in the room. He then chanted a long string of Latin, causing pink ball of light to attach itself to the end of his wand. It grew to the size of tennis ball before he tapped his wand on the parchment. The light disappeared and the parchment was filled with the results of the test he had run.
"One baby, a girl, and she's perfectly healthy in every way. There are some more tests that are conducted with spell, and all of the results are on this parchment," he said, handing over the document. Lily looked at the document, trying to ignore the longing she felt for the child. 'This is what's best… Right?'
Lily's daughter, whom she had privately taken to calling Daisy, was due on August 29th. On July 15th she received two separate invitations to spend the last part of summer before school away from home. One was from the Tonks family, and one was from James.
James's parents had fallen ill in May, and as they were much older than most other students' parents were it wasn't entirely unexpected. They passed in the beginning of June, and James was excused from exams that year. Lily knew that he was home, alone, and decided that she would feel more comfortable at June's Lake (James's parents' home) than with the Tonks family, who she didn't know very well.
It was a relief to be somewhere else. At the Evans' house Lily's sister had been degrading her nonstop, leaving Lily to wonder what Petunia would have said if she'd known about the baby. Lily was also tired from maintaining a concealment charm on her heavier size twenty-four hours each day. And, you know, she was also eight months pregnant. At James's house she could let the spell drop, spend hours reading the unique collection of books in the library, and have surprisingly stimulating conversations with her host. She was thirty-eight weeks along when Sirius flooed in, looking nervous.
"Lily, I'd… Well, you know about Remus and me?"
"Yes…"
"Well… I think we might get back together, but before we do, I think I should tell him. About the baby."
"Oh. Er… Okay? I mean, I trust Remus, so, well… But you're only going to tell him, yeah?"
"Yes. Only him."
"Peter couldn't keep a secret to save his life," said James after a moment. He laughed slightly and Sirius flooed out with a tentative smile. Three hours later Remus came over and saw Lily without her concealment charm. His reaction was not wholly expected—to hear it from James, Remus 'acted like a right girl, chattering about names and other gooey baby stuff.'
Lily was glad that she had another friend to confide in, and it showed. She hadn't told any of her female friends. She might've told her two closest friends, a set of half-blood twins, but they been withdrawn from school and brought into hiding by their father after Lord Voldemort had ordered their Muggle mother killed. She felt that she couldn't trust any other people, and she knew not to share it with anyone else. Remus had been her friend since first year, and although she appreciated James and Sirius's support it was nice to have an old friend around.
August 31, 1977
"She's beautiful," said Lily as looked at her newborn daughter. She was ten days late, but perfect. She had dark red hair, almond-shaped eyes (that, although they were blue at the moment, everyone strongly suspected that they would be green soon). The rest of her was 'pure Black,' according to Andromeda. Ted had delivered her. Andromeda had been in the room while James, Sirius, and Remus had waited outside.
"That she is," said Andromeda, who was holding the little girl.
"Have you—have you chosen a name?" asked Lily. Please say no, please say no… Her name is Daisy…
"Nashira," said Andromeda fondly. She then glanced at Lily, who looked a little sad. Andromeda looked thoughtful for a moment. "Lily?"
"Hmm?"
"Would you like to choose her middle name?"
"Oh… Andromeda, that would be lovely!" Lily immediately suggested Daisy with a hopeful look. Ted's face went into a smile, and Andromeda smiled as well.
"I love it," said Andromeda, and Ted agreed. "Nashira Daisy Tonks."
With Dumbledore's governmental experience and Ted's Healing experience it was almost too easy to create a false birth certificate for Nashira. The real one was hidden in the Potter family vault, and the only people who would find it there would be any children of James and Lily's, once they came of age. As it had already been decided that James, Lily, Ted, and Andromeda would tell Nashira (and any future half-siblings she might have) the truth sometime before she came of age, this didn't present a problem. The certificate for Nashira Daisy Black was buried under a pile of older Potter family papers, not to be seen for almost two decades.
The only issue arose in James, Lily, and Sirius's small amount of knowledge of adoption rituals. For the most comprehensive one to be performed the child's biological parents would have to be dead and the child's former identity would have to be on file at the Ministry. Since this wasn't an option, no ritual was used. Andromeda felt that if the girl continued to look like Sirius—and, arguably, like her adoptive mother—then it wouldn't be a big deal. Lily piped in that red hair was a recessive gene and that no immediate redheads could easily be explained. Unfortunately, her mention of genes and recessive genes started a quick discussion on heredity, which ended before it began because no one was in the mood to have it.
Thanks to the wonders of magical healing, Lily was ready to go to school the next day. Her seventh year seemed to pass by in a blur. It led to many great things—a romance with a former rival, being named Head Girl, Outstanding grades on her N.E.W.T.s, and, eventually, a wedding that took place not one year after the birth of her daughter, where little Dora was the flower girl.
Lily, along with her husband and his closest friends, quickly became involved in the war that was tearing apart the wizarding world. Soon after their marriage ceremony the Potters were approached by Dumbledore himself. He asked them to join the Order of the Phoenix, and they accepted heartily. Lily entered the Department of Spell Creation and Refinement in the Ministry (focusing in Charms) and James started Healer training. James was apprenticed to Ted, though not through the efforts of either man. It gave both families a good reason to hang out, and James and Lily became like a second set of godparents to Dora and Nashira ('Nasha' for short).
The group eventually evolved to include a larger group of Ministry and St. Mungo's employees. Besides Ted, Andromeda, James, and Lily, there was Sirius (an Auror trainee), Remus (who had a job in a Muggle bookstore), Peter (a Ministry temp), two more Aurors, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Kingsley Shacklebolt (Ted's best friend from his time as a Ravenclaw and Nashira's godfather), Gideon Prewett (one of Ted and James' coworkers), Fabian Prewett (Gideon's brother and another Auror), Marlene McKinnon (Gideon's long-time girlfriend who was a secretary in the DMLE), and Dorcas Meadowes (Fabian's sometimes-girlfriend that the rest met through the Order).
It was at one of the group's frequent get-togethers that James and Lily announced their biggest piece of news.
December 15, 1979
The fifteen men and women (and two children) were in Gideon and Marlene's flat. Dora, who was almost seven, was reading a comic book, and Kingsley was playing games with the two-year-old Nashira. The rest of the group couldn't help but laugh at the large man's baby talk.
"I don't see what's so funny," Kingsley defended himself.
"It's just… people wouldn't expect it from you, that's all," replied Dorcas with a smile. "You're kind of intimidating, sometimes."
"Intimidating? How in the world would you come to that impression?" asked James sarcastically. "He's only twice the size of everyone else, and bald." Kingsley laughed, remembering running across James in his first year. The Ravenclaw prefect had tried to help the young boy find his way to class but the boy had run away, terrified.
Lily waited for people that conversation to slow before nudging James. "We have an announcement," she said to the group during a lull. Everyone was instantly attentive.
"We're going to have a baby!" said James, beaming. He kissed his wife as the group celebrated.
"Gid, where's your firewhisky?" said Sirius. He, Remus, and Peter had already known but he had no problem re-enacting his earlier reaction to the news (which was, of course, to drink heartily and toast the Potters). Marlene laughed and grabbed some firewhisky and sparkling cider to celebrate with. After about an hour the celebration was winding down. Dora was getting cranky and Nashira was already asleep, though from the time Lily and James had announced the newest Potter's pending arrival she'd been passed through three more people, finally ending up with James.
"I don't want to stop at the store with Nasha asleep and Dora tired enough to throw fits," said Ted. "We have enough diapers to last until tomorrow, yeah?" he asked Andromeda.
"No, we're completely out," his wife replied. "I said that before we left, which is why I wanted to leave early." She had tried to get her family early enough to stop at the store on the way to Gideon and Marlene's but getting two little girls ready to leave had taken too long.
"I'll help one of you get the girls home," offered Dorcas, who had been hovering nearby, "and the other can go to the store, okay?"
"That'd be great," said Andromeda. Ted said he'd walk to the closest open place near Gideon and Marlene's flat, get what they needed, and then meet his wife and kids at home. The group said their good-byes, left, and Andromeda said goodbye to her friend and quickly put her kids to bed. She waited for Ted to come home. Much later than she'd been expecting him, she heard a knock on the door.
'Who would be knocking on the door? It's nearly twelve… No. Ted's fine, he's just late. Actually, I bet that's him, he's probably just forgotten his key. Yes. He's forgotten his key.'
Andromeda grabbed her wand and opened the door. Instead of Ted, she saw Frank, Alice, and one other man in Auror robes. They all looked solemn.
"Frank? Alice?" she asked. The two had refrained from drinking at the party because they had to be on duty that night. "What are you doing here?"
"Andromeda, can we come in?" asked Frank. The news was terrible, and it pained Frank greatly to share it. Death Eaters had killed Ted, right at the apparition point near their home. He had been one of six witches and wizards slain that night.
After it became apparent that Andromeda was not fit to watch her children all on her own, she moved into the Potters' home, June's Lake. It was smaller than the Potter ancestral manor, but it easily fit two families. Andromeda took time off work and, for the most part, sequestered herself in the guest suite she shared with her daughters. Lily started working from home and spent most of her day balancing work, Dora's schooling, and minding Nasha (along with dealing with her pregnancy).
The funeral was quietly held. Surprisingly, some members of Andromeda's family showed up. Narcissa, with her husband, and Andromeda's parents came, as did Bellatrix. It was only after the funeral that the reason for their presence was explained. After Narcissa, Lucius, Druella (her mother), and Cygnus (her father) had left, Bellatrix wandered over to Andromeda. Bellatrix reached out and put a cold hand on her sister's arm.
"Dear Andie, I was so sorry to hear of poor Ted's death."
"Thank you, Bellatrix," said Andromeda roughly, though Bellatrix was already turning her gaze to Dora and Nashira.
"Really, though, what was a mudblood doing out so late, and by himself? You really must have your family take care, dear sister. You and your children are, of course, next. Half-bloods and blood traitors will not be welcome in the New World. Watch your back, Andie."
"Get out," growled Sirius, who had come over. "Get out, and don't talk to us again." Bellatrix smirked and walked away, waving one hand behind her. "I'll kill her," said Sirius. "I will break every bone in her—"
"Not now," hissed Alice, who wrapped an arm around Andromeda, and led her out to the car. Frank was trying to entertain Dora, and James was holding Nashira, who had fallen asleep. The group went into the expanded car and rode, almost silently, back to June's Lake. As soon as they arrived Andromeda excused herself.
"What about the kids?" asked Frank as soon as Andromeda was out of sight.
"We'll take care of them," said Lily. "Andromeda's just… she needs time, which is why she's here."
"Is she spending any time with them at all?" asked Alice, frowning.
"She reads to them," said Lily, but before she could continue, James interrupted.
"Sometimes," he added. "But she's usually asleep."
"James, she's just lost her husband—"
"I get that, Lils, I really do, and I love Dora and Nasha, but she needs to take care of her kids. It's not—"
"We should talk about this later," interrupted a new voice. The group looked at Remus Lupin, who was pointedly looking at a curious Dora.
"Er, yes," said Frank. "Later. Right. So, Dora, what're you in the mood to eat for lunch?"
May 1980
"Poor Molly," said Alice as she sat down on a sofa at Longbottom Manor. "Ginevra Prewett died just last year, and now her younger brothers, at the same time? Marlene was practically family as well." The tight group of young witches and wizards had recently lost more of its members—Gideon, Fabian, and Marlene had been attacked at the beginning of the month. Marlene had been killed at the start, but the Prewett brothers had managed to take a fair numbers of Death Eaters down before the odds became too skewed. Alice, Frank, James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Andromeda, and Dorcas had stopped at Longbottom Manor after the Prewetts' funerals that morning. Marlene's had been the day before.
"Excuse me," said Dorcas, who fled up the stairs that were outside of the sitting room. Andromeda, to the surprise of the rest of the guests, went after her. The widow had been increasingly reclusive in the months since her husband's death, not leaving her rooms at June's Lake more than twice each week.
"She does know best what Dorcas is feeling," said James uncertainly. "But maybe someone should…"
"I think that a talk might help both of them," said Lily. "Give them a while." She rubbed her stomach. The baby boy she and James were expecting was an active one—he never seemed to stop kicking. Alice, who was also due at the end of July, claimed the opposite was true of her Neville. Lily envied the Longbottoms, who already knew their child's full name. She and James had yet to agree on any name for more than a week. Their son had been called Ethan, Aaron, Roger, Ben, and all sorts of names that had, for various reasons, been deemed inferior.
"Decided on a name yet?" Kingsley asked Lily.
"I was just thinking of that, actually. And no, we haven't," she replied.
"Not for lack of trying," said James, who sounded a bit exasperated. "James Junior would work just fine and make this whole ordeal easier, but apparently that's not right either."
"He doesn't feel like a James," explained Lily patiently. "Or a Ryan, or a Gregory…"
July 31, 1980 – Enter Harry James Potter
"Poor kid," said Sirius in a jolly tone, "he's got Prongs's hair!" And he was right, for young Harry had been born with a full head of untamable black hair, just like his father's.
"That makes him…what?"
"Prongs the second?"
"Nah… a little Prongslet!"
"No, no—Bambi!"
"Do hush up," said Lily impatiently. "He's stopped crying and I'd like to keep it that way." She turned from her husband and his two closest friends and looked at her new son. "Isn't that right, Harry-bear? Mummy likes the quiet, doesn't she?" Lily's voice had taken on a distinctly odd tone. (At least, it sounded odd to the three men in the room. Anyone else would recognize it as the 'mother-to-her-newborn-son' tone. You know the high-pitched, cooing, 'oh-my-god-is-he-not-the-most-beautiful-baby-ever?' tone.)
"I don't think he understands you just yet, Lily."
"Sirius, shut up."
"Say 'Nasha' Harry, you can do it!"
"Nashira, dear, I don't think he'll say it just yet," said an amused Alice Longbottom. "Just like Neville can't. They're just not old enough yet."
"I bet I was talking when I was five months old!" shouted the three-year-old. She had a tendency to shout just about everything. (It didn't help that her godfather and various surrogate uncles encouraged her.) Five-month-old Neville giggled.
"No you weren't," said Dora, who was sitting nearby and playing with a five-inch model broomstick. "You didn't do anything back then, you were so boring and—and smelly."
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Was n—aah! Aunt Alice, Aunt Alice, Uncle Frank gots me!" And, indeed, the little girl had been turned upside down by Frank as her sister received similar treatment from Kingsley.
"'Has' you, dear," said Alice mildly. "And you'll have to take it up with him."
"Let me down, you slimy git!" Frank laughed as Alice tsked.
"Nashira, little girls don't model their language after Aurors," said Alice, thinking not of herself but of Sirius and Kingsley, who tended to forget the monitor their words around the kids. "Please apologize to your uncle, and remember to say please and thank you when you should."
"Sorry, Uncle Frank."
"It's all right, Nasha," replied Frank, though he still hadn't put her down. Nashira, ignoring her older sister's laughs, waited a moment before trying again.
"Let me down, you bloody wanker!"
"Nashira Tonks!" scolded Alice. "What did I just tell you about manners?"
"Sorry. Um… let me down, you bloody wanker, please?"
February 1981 – June's Lake
"We don't wanna leave!" Dora shouted at her mother. "We like it here with Uncle James and Aunt Lily!"
"Yeah!" agreed Nashira with a stomp of her foot. Andromeda shook her head, exasperated.
"Well, unfortunately for you, I am the mother here and I make the decisions. We're moving into our own house today, and that's final, girls." Dora opened up her mouth to protest again. "Nymphadora Andromeda Tonks, you will shut your mouth, understand?" Dora glared but didn't say anything. Nashira started to cry and ran off, finding a group of her surrogate aunts and uncles waiting to help move the Tonkses.
"Uncle Kingsley, I don't wanna leave!" she screamed, jumping into the arms of the person closest to the door. "I like it here, with the garden that has lots of flowers all the time and the squirrel that likes me to give it popcorns and the portrait of Uncle James' Uncle Albie who tells funny jokes and—and—and I don't want to move!"
"Oh, sweetie, I know," said Kingsley helplessly. He wasn't entirely sure how he was supposed to comfort a distraught little girl, and one who tended to be very irrational at that.
"And what if everyone forgets about me?" she asked, although her voice was almost unintelligible because of her sniffles. "What if mummy doesn't bring us over here a lot and you all still come over here and forget about me and Dora and mummy?"
"No one's going to forget about you and Dora and your mum," said Kingsley. "We love you all too much, okay? And did you let your mum finish explaining what would happen when you moved?"
"No…" said Dora, who had walked in soon after Nashira and was holding Lily's hand.
"Your mum's going to bring you over here every day to play with Harry and Neville," explained Lily. "And Uncle Gideon's nephews are going to be here too. Do you remember meeting them?"
"Yes!" said Dora. "One of them pulled my hair," she added petulantly. Most of the grownups hid their laughter well. Her demeanor changed. "So we're coming back here a lot?" Lily nodded.
"And you won't forget about me?" asked Nashira.
"We could never," said James solemnly.
"Okay," said Dora. "But keep my room for me, would you? I might want to come back if the new house isn't as cool as this one."
March 9, 1981 – The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix – London, England
Albus Dumbledore looked out at the group he had gathered; the wizarding world's best and brightest. In preparing for this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix, he had thought long and hard about what to say. Based on everything that had happened recently, he had only been able to come to one conclusion: there was a spy among them. It was a thought that simultaneously angered and saddened him.
As he surveyed the group, his eyes were not twinkling. "To start with, I have some grave news," said Dumbledore. "There is a spy in our midst." Everyone began talking at once. Perhaps you should have handled that with a little more tact, old boy.
"Please, my friends, calm down. Yelling and sniping at each other does no one any good." He fielded questions from the group and answered as best he could. The meeting ended soon after that, as he didn't think that most of the members would be able to concentrate well. As they walked out of the meeting room of an old Dumbledore family home, he noticed that suspicious looks were already being traded.
This
cannot end well.
A/N: Thanks to Sam and thegoodmustard for being awesome beta readers and for just listening to me blather on about this! The next chapter, entitled 'Halloween,' should be up soon.
Thanks for reading! I'd love a review if you have the time. :)
- Orion in the Sky