A/N Yes, I am aware that Harry doesn't have a sister. But don't you think he should? I mean Hermione must be just a LITTLE lonely as the only female in their happy little gang! Beyond the addition of Harry's twin, I tried to make my fic as true to JK Rowling's world as possible. If you spot any inconsistencies between my story and the books, e-mail me and I'll look into it. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: Ok, we both know that if I had anything to do with the creation of Harry Potter, I wouldn't be living in Smalltown, America writing fan fiction and suffering from extreme writer's block. But I don't want to get in trouble so….
The creation of the Potters, the Weasley's, Hogwarts and all its occupants, and most everything else in this story is completely JK Rowling's work. I think the only thing in this story that is original to me is Heather Potter and Patricia McLean. I'm not making any money off this; it's just for fun. Thank you and enjoy.
Long Lost
Lily Potter sighed happily and stared down at her two babies lying asleep in their twin bassinettes. The children were twins - a boy and a girl named Harry and Heather. Harry had his father's thick, black hair, his mother's bright green eyes and the sweetest smile Lily thought she had ever seen. Heather, on the other hand, had inherited her mother's red hair and her father's large gray eyes.
Yes, it was official; she had the two most perfect children in the entire world.
For the first time in many years, Lily wished she could see her sister, Petunia. Lily would love to show Petunia Harry and Heather, just to see the look on the older woman's face. That'd show her. If she could only see what her 'good for nothing' sister had amounted to – good job, great husband, perfect children…
Petunia had never approved of Lily's school, Lily's husband, or even Lily herself. Petunia prided herself in being perfectly normal. And if you asked her now, she'd tell you that something had always seemed just a bit off about her younger sister.
Perhaps the problem was the difference in their ages – Petunia was 6 years older than Lily and the two had never grown very close. Ever since Lily was born, Petunia had been jealous of the attention the new baby received. Everyone in the family always cooed over how lovely Lily was. It made Petunia sick. And unlike others might have done, Petunia never forgave her sister for being the favorite.
Perhaps they would've grown closer in adulthood, but they were never given the chance. When Lily was 11, she received a letter from Hogwarts School informing her that she was a witch and Hogwarts would like her to come and spend the next 7 years at their school learning magic.
Petunia had been mortified by the news. What if her friends found out? What would they say?
To add insult to injury, the girls' parents were simply thrilled. They were so proud of their little Lily for being accepted to a school she hadn't even applied to. It made Petunia's grudge even stronger. She would never forgive her sister for being so good. After the girls' parents passed away, Petunia had decided that she didn't have a sister – and that was that.
When Lily had graduated from Hogwarts at the age of 17, she'd been offered a job at the Ministry of Magic in the Anti-Dark Arts Department, and she had taken the opportunity. Although her father had been nervous about the danger of the job, Lily had insisted. The Anti-Dark Arts Dept. was the largest in the Ministry. The Dark Lord Voldemort had been in power for nearly a decade, and people were panicked. Voldemort killed without mercy and sometimes without reason. People were even afraid to speak his name, instead calling him 'You-Know-Who' or 'He Who Must Not Be Named'. Lily, James, and their friends had never thought this necessary, but they usually did it out of courtesy for others, who would always flinch at the name.
Now, nine months after the Potter twins had been born, Voldemort was still in power, and stronger than ever. Lily had never really known a Voldemort-free magical world - he'd risen to power in Lily's second year at Hogwarts. The main reason she'd joined the Ministry was to ensure that her children didn't grow up to live in daily fear of death. So far, things didn't look good. The headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, had spies in Voldemort's inner circle that reported that the Dark Lord had been zeroing in on the Potters since they had caught one of Voldemort's favored followers, Patricia McLean. Voldemort had rescued Patricia from Azkaban after she'd been there for several years, but Dumbledore's spies reported Patricia's mind was permanently damaged by this experience and she was slowly dieing.
Word was that Voldemort wanted revenge. Dumbledore was suggesting (begging actually) that Lily and James go into hiding, but they were determined to help as much as possible. Both of them hated the idea of protecting themselves when so many others needed help.
In times like this, Lily liked to think back to the simpler days as a student at Hogwarts. Despite the fact that Voldemort had been terrorizing the country even then, people said Dumbledore was the only person 'You-Know-Who' feared, and therefore Hogwarts was relatively safe.
The happiest times of Lily's life had been at Hogwarts. She'd made her best friends there: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettegrew – although she'd never really felt she knew Peter as well as the others. While Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius had been friends since they'd come to Hogwarts at the age of 11, Peter had latched on to the group some time during their second year. Lily was actually sorry now that she hadn't known him better, he'd always had a bit of a crush on her – or so James said.
Remus was a werewolf. During their first year at Hogwarts, Remus had kept this to himself, but his friends had always wondered where he went once a night every month. Surely his mother couldn't be so sick so often? Then Sirius had realized the pattern to it. Remus left every month on the night of the full moon, and was gone for two days after. Lily had never really questioned it. She'd only found out during their fifth year. As she stood in the babies' room thinking about it, she vividly remembered that night.
Lily was lying in bed in the girl's dormitory, fast asleep. Suddenly she woke up, remembering that she'd left her Charms book in the common room. Groaning, she got out of bed, wrapped her dressing gown around her, and pulled on her shoes. Quietly, as not to disturb the other girls, she crept down the winding staircase to the Gryffindor common room. Just before she stepped into the dim light of the dying fire, she heard a thud and paused, hand resting on the doorframe. Hushed voices could be heard coming from the common room, but Lily didn't see anyone. The voices spoke again.
"Give me a break, alright? It was an accident."
"Hey, would both of you just calm down? We're not going to get caught. It's midnight. We're the only ones up."
That last voice was James, Lily knew it. She recognized the other voice as Peter, and she was willing to bet Sirius was with them. Remus was with his mother again. They were all clearly under James' Invisibility Cloak. But what were they doing?
More importantly, what were they doing without her? She decided to follow them. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done, because of course she couldn't see them at all and they were being careful not to talk anymore. But after spending five years with people like her friends, who were only happy when they were causing trouble, she'd learned to hear even the slightest sound of footsteps in a darkened corridor.
She followed them past the Library and the Great Hall, and through several sliding panels and secret passages, before they led her to the kitchen, the doors of which were hastily picked by a quick spell from one of the boys. They closed the doors behind them before moving away once more. Lily peered into the kitchens to see a door at the opposite end of the huge room close. This one led outside.
Careful not to wake any of the house elves that were dozing on just about every flat surface in the room, Lily crossed the kitchen. She slipped out the door as her friends had done and ducked behind a bush, painfully aware that if a teacher spotted her, it would mean serious trouble. Peeking out around the leafy branches of the hedge, Lily saw James, Sirius and Peter appear suddenly less than three feet ahead of her as they pulled off the Invisibility Cloak. They hurried on a bit and stopped just out of reach of the flailing branches of the Whomping Willow.
Lily held her breath – what were they doing? Then there were three quiet pops, and Sirius, James and Peter turned into animals. For a moment Lily was too stunned to move. In Peter's place sat an overweight rat. Where Sirius had stood crouched an immense, black, vicious looking dog. And where James had been there was a magnificent stag. Then Peter made for the writhing branches of the enormous willow. Suddenly, Lily stepped out from behind the bush and called out to the trio of animals.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" she snapped sharply, sounding a great deal like their Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall. Startled, the animals hesitated for a few seconds, and then reluctantly morphed back to human form. There was a moment of silence, then everyone started to speak at once.
"Lily, What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing!"
"Lily, it's not important! Go back to bed!"
"Don't you dare tell me what to do, Sirius! You have no right-"
"Quiet down, all of you! We'll be caught!"
This last remark from Peter seemed to bring everyone to their senses. Lily walked towards the three so they could talk more quietly.
"Peter's right," Sirius said, firmly, " Lily, go on back-"
"NO!" Lily hissed forcefully, "I am going to stand right here until you tell me what is going on!"
The boys glanced at each other. James looked ready to give in. Sirius had a warning look on his face and Peter shrugged helplessly. Lily raised her eyebrows impatiently.
"Oh, alright," Sirius growled, making Lily think once more of the fierce dog he had been just seconds ago. James nodded and took a deep breath.
"Remus is a werewolf, Lily."
At first Lily had refused to believe them, but they had explained it all. Remus' monthly disappearances, his bad moods around the full moon - all of it. James, Sirius and Peter had become Animagi to keep Remus company while he was in wolf form. It all made perfect sense. Except for one thing.
"How could you keep something this important from me?" Lily asked angrily.
"Don't you see?" Sirius replied. "Everyday we worked to become Animagi, we broke rules. We ran the risk of being expelled! We know how much you care for Remus – but we also know how important Hogwarts is to you. If you'd known about Remus, you'd insist on helping him! But if we got caught, we'd never forgive ourselves for you getting kicked out." All three boys looked embarrassed, yet firm. Lily couldn't help smiling a bit.
"Well, thank you. I think. But next time something like this happens, tell me about it, okay? I'm a big girl. I like to make my own decisions."
Her friends nodded, smiling sheepishly. "Now, does anyone have any secrets they want to share with me? Sirius? Is there some torrid love affair you have with a mermaid that I should know about? Peter? You haven't befriended the squid in the lake, have you?" They all grinned at each other. And if it was possible, that night brought all five of them closer together.
Back in the present, Lily thought about this memory fondly. Peter and Remus – she hadn't had a good talk with either of them for quite a while. Everything had been so hectic lately. She'd heard that Remus was having trouble finding a job, due to the fact that he was a werewolf. Peter was often gone, but whenever Lily saw him, he seemed to be well off and rather unconcerned about the current problems with Voldemort. At least one of them was doing all right.
And then there was Sirius. Lily had met him on the Hogwarts Express on the first day of their first year at school. Lily grinned to herself, thinking back.
Eleven-year-old Lily Canton stepped onto the Hogwarts Express nervously. She turned and waved to her beaming parents. They were so proud of her. But what if she wasn't good enough? What if she got there and the headmaster realized he'd made a mistake? From the frightened looks on many other first years' faces, Lily could tell she wasn't the only one thinking about that. Taking some comfort in this, she wandered down the center isle of the train, looking for an empty compartment. It wasn't hard to find one – her parents had insisted on being early, so Lily was one of the first people there.
After setting her new caged owl on the floor in front of her, Lily gazed out the window at the growing crowd on Platform 9 ¾.
She saw her parents were chatting happily with another family. Petunia was standing slightly apart from the group, sulking annoyingly. She had loudly complained about being forced to come and see Lily off, and right now she was glancing around warily at the smiling people milling about the platform as if they might contaminate her. Lily rolled her eyes in exasperation.
Well, Mum and Dad can have fun for all four of us. Lily thought as her mother laughed at something someone said. Personally, Lily felt like she had giant butterflies with fangs gnawing on her stomach. What if she was the only – what was the word for it? Muggle? – at the school? What if everyone hated her? What would she do? Probably no one will sit with me on the train, she thought gloomily, And I'll have no friends. As if on cue, a boy carrying a caged owl walked through the compartment door. He had black hair and brown eyes.
"Is it okay if I sit here?" he asked, hopefully.
"Definitely," Lily answered quickly. The boy grinned his thanks and set his owl cage next to Lily's. Both owls eyed each other for a moment, and then promptly fell asleep.
"I'm Sirius Black," the boy said, sitting across from Lily.
"Lily Canton."
"Are you a first year as well?"
"Yes," Lily said, smiling. Thank goodness – another first year! "Are you nervous?"
"Not really," Sirius said, shrugging casually. "Are you?"
"No," she lied. Then she shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "Completely terrified is more like it."
"Don't worry," Sirius said reassuringly, "You'll be fine, everyone starts off new at Hogwarts. I've been looking forward to coming here for years!" he grinned enthusiastically.
"Oh, are you a – a pureblood, then?" Lily asked hesitantly. 'Pureblood' was the right word, wasn't it? Those two boys in Madam Malkin's at Diagon Alley had been talking about it… 'Purebloods', 'Mudbloods', and 'Slytherin' – whatever that was.
One of the boys, the one with greasy black hair, had asked her what she was, but she'd been rescued from answering by Madam Malkin's assistant taking her into a back room to be fitted.
"Yeah," Sirius replied carelessly, shrugging as if it didn't matter. "What about you?" he asked kindly, not at all like those boys from Diagon Alley. Lily was sure she liked Sirius much better.
"I'm Muggle born," she replied, frowning. Some of her feelings must have appeared on her face, because Sirius gave her a piercing look and said,
"That doesn't matter to me, you know. It doesn't matter to most people at Hogwarts. Only the Slytherins, and they're all rotters anyway."
Lily smiled gratefully at him, then paused. He seemed very nice… surely it would be all right to ask him? "Sirius…what's Slytherin? I've heard some people mention it, but…"
"Oh, Slytherin is one of the four houses at Hogwarts; you'll hear more about them once we get there – during the Sorting Ceremony," he said helpfully. "The houses are Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and-"
"And Gryffindor." A new voice finished. Lily looked up to see the compartment door slide shut behind a new boy. He had large gray eyes that sparkled behind his glasses and thick, untidy black hair. He had the aura of a rebel about him, and Lily was intrigued by it.
He and Sirius seemed to know each other. "James, old boy!" Sirius bellowed, leaping to his feet and grinning broadly. "Where've you been? I was looking all over the train – I would've waited for you on the platform, but I discovered that I really didn't care."
The James-boy choose to ignore this last bit and just smiled at his friend, setting his own owl cage down and collapsing into a seat, sighing heavily.
"Mum wanted to take some pictures of me leaving the house, of me in my robes, of me with my dad…" he sighed again and rolled his eyes, although he was clearly not completely displeased by all the fuss his mother had made over him.
"Awww…ickle Jamiekins is all grown up and off to Hogwarts, how sweet," Sirius teased in a sickly sweet voice.
"Shut up," James said good-naturedly. He then glanced across the compartment at Lily. "Who are you, my good lady, and how did you fall into such bad company?" he asked, grinning charmingly.
Lily smiled back, blushing slightly. "I'm Lily Canton."
"James Potter. It seems you've already met Sirius, how unfortunate."
Sirius ignored the insult and started talking to James again, in a normal voice this time. "Lily's a first year as well. She's Muggle born, so I was explaining about the houses."
James gave Lily an appraising look. "I bet you'll be in Gryffindor," he said finally. Lily got the impression that he was paying her a complement. He confirmed this suspicion when he continued with, "It's the very best house, you know. The new headmaster – Dumbledore – he was Gryffindor, and my dad says he's the best wizard of our time."
"James here is quite the expert on placing people in houses on sight," Sirius informed Lily solemnly. "Fancies himself the Sorting Hat." Sirius turned and gave James the most insulting smile Lily had ever seen. In the years to come, they would all call it 'The Slytherin Smile'.
James seemed completely unfazed by this. "That's right," he said, looking at Sirius. "And I can tell you're going to be…" he screwed up his face in concentration "a Hufflepuff!"
Sirius put on a face of mock-indignation. "Lily, avert your eyes, I'm going to kill James and I'd hate to offend you with the sight of him crying like a little girl."
James rolled his eyes, obviously not expecting Sirius to actually do anything, but at that moment, Sirius knocked him to the floor, and then they were rolling around the compartment, wrestling furiously with each other.
They obviously weren't trying to do each other any real damage, and Lily couldn't help laughing. Although she had no idea why being in Hufflepuff should be so offensive, she was pleased to have been included in their joke. One thing was for sure: Hogwarts was looking more and more appealing to her.
Sirius had always been like an older brother to Lily. Since their first day of school, he'd looked out for her. As they all got older, Sirius had got rid of any unwanted attention that came Lily's way. He'd also beaten up Severus Snape, a greasy haired Slytherin, whenever he called Lily a 'mudblood' - even if it got Sirius detentions. Sirius had been James' best man in Lily and James' wedding, and was now both Heather and Harry's godfather.
It was easy to see how close Sirius was to the Potter family, which raised Voldemort's interest in him. Lily and James were aware of this and felt truly awful. Sirius, however, had always waved their concerns aside.
'Well, if he decides to kill me, at least I'll have had friends like you, and godchildren like Harry and Heather. I'm not going to stop seeing you because Lizard Eyes shakes his fist at me.' Sirius had said when James had suggested he distance himself from the family for a while.
'Lizard Eyes' was Sirius' name for Voldemort, and though Lily didn't like to admit it, every time Sirius said it a chill went up her spine. If Voldemort heard Sirius say that…
But that was being silly. Voldemort wouldn't hear it, and if he ever got close enough to do that, he'd have killed them all before the words could have left Sirius' lips. Not a very comforting thought, but it was all they had.
Lily reached up a hand to her throat and fidgeted with her necklace, as she always did when she was nervous. Touching this particular necklace always seemed to calm her down. She could still remember when James had given it to her.
It was Christmas vacation in their sixth year at Hogwarts, and Lily had been at home with her family. They had just finished opening all their presents when James' enormous eagle owl had tapped politely on the window, dropped a package on the doorstep, and sailed off over the rooftops.
The necklace the box had contained was beautiful; a net of fine silver threads studded with pearls. Pulling absently on one of the tiny chains, Lily couldn't help smiling.
"Hey, Lily," Sirius said, grinning broadly as his friend Lily Canton walked into his dorm room. "Welcome back. Here to see me?"
"Nope," Lily replied cheerfully, walking over to James, who was beaming at her.
Remus sighed heavily, although he couldn't keep himself from smiling a bit. "Come on," he mock-grumbled to Sirius and Peter, hauling them up by their collars, "Let's give Lily and James some privacy."
"Oh, yes," Sirius said, grinning evilly, "Mr. and Mrs. Prongs need some privacy."
"What?" Peter complained loudly, "Why do we have to leave? Why don't they leave?"
But Remus was already pushing them both out of the dormitory and, after casting one last, indulgent smile over his shoulder, closed the door behind himself.
"Have a seat," James offered innocently, gesturing to his lap.
Lily grinned and took the offer, sighing contentedly as James put his arms around her waist and hers went around his neck. She could sit like this for hours.
"I see you haven't used a comb since I left," she observed, running her fingers through James' messy black hair, "Honestly, James, you're completely helpless – it's amazing you even made it to sixteen!" she teased.
James sighed with mock ruefulness. "It's true. It's a good thing you're back, really – I've been forgetting to bathe."
James grinned as Lily tried to laugh and look disgusted at the same time.
"So how are you doing?" she asked finally, gently stroking his hair.
"Loads better than I was ten minutes ago," he replied truthfully.
"Me too," Lily snuggled closer to him.
"How was your Christmas?" James asked.
"Lovely," Lily replied with a grin, "Do you want to hear what I got?"
"Of course," James said, playing along.
"Well, I got some books and some clothes and – oh – these boots," she held up her foot for inspection of the new boots.
"Nice," James said, approving.
"But all my gifts paled in comparison to just one of them. It's a beautiful necklace – I have it on right now, in fact," she pulled aside her scarf to show him a silver necklace studded with milky pearls.
"Oh, well, that's very nice," James said, as though he'd never seen it before, "Who gave it to you?"
"Well, it's funny you should ask," Lily said in a voice so serious that James couldn't help chuckling.
Lily leaned forward so that their faces were just a few inches apart.
"I got it from the sweetest," she leaned further forward and kissed him softly, "smartest," she kissed him again, "most handsome Quidditch captain to ever walk the earth," she finished in a whisper as her lips brushed his once more.
"Well, he sounds like an excellent chap," James whispered hoarsely before clearing his throat, "I'd like to meet him."
"So would I," Lily said with a sigh as she straightened up, voice full of depressed longing.
James laughed out loud at that; he loved it when Lily was in this playful mood.
"Seriously, James," she said, turning her beautiful green eyes to his gray ones, "this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Thank you so much."
"I'm glad you like it," James said, smiling.
"I don't like it, I adore it," she corrected firmly, "And I can't thank you enough."
"Maybe if you start now…" James said with a suggestive grin.
Lily laughed her beautiful laugh and they kissed again – gently, lovingly, and carefully.
James loved Lily's laugh more than any other sound in the world. It was sweet and light – it was his dearest ambition to make her laugh like that every day for the rest of their lives…
Then their kiss deepened and became more passionate, and James stopped thinking about anything other than how Lily fit into his arms and how soft her lips were and how he felt when he kissed her – like he could fly all over Hogwarts without his broomstick.
It was official – James was in love.
Padfoot would be so disappointed in him. Somehow, that thought didn't bother him a bit.
Back in the present, Lily Potter turned away from her sleeping children to face her husband, who was standing in the doorway, smiling at her.
"Back already?" she asked. James walked into the room and wrapped his arms around her.
"I couldn't keep away from you three for very long," he answered, kissing her on the cheek.
"What did Dumbledore want? He didn't sound very happy in his note," Lily asked, looking him in the eye. James had just been to see the headmaster of Hogwarts, who had sent them an owl asking one of them to come and meet with him as soon as possible.
"He was asking us to go into hiding again. He said he's found a charm – the Fidelius Charm."
"How does that work?" Lily asked, curiously.
"We go into hiding somewhere and only tell one person – the Secret-Keeper. Our location is hidden by magic and only the Secret-Keeper will be able to find us. Voldemort could be watching us weed the garden and he wouldn't know we were there. Unless the Secret-Keeper comes forth with our whereabouts, no one else would ever know."
"James, we've been over this. I thought we agreed we wouldn't hide as long as others need us!"
"I know we did, Lily, but I think Dumbledore's right. We're too high profile! I hate leaving you and the children here whenever I go in to work. I'm afraid that I'll come home and find-- please do this Lily. After a few months in hiding, when Voldemort's stopped bothering to look for us, we can come back out and start working again. But right now, the risks are too high!"
Lily sighed and looked down at their two sleeping babies – Harry and Heather were completely unaware of the danger surrounding them. They didn't deserve to grow up without parents. Wearily, Lily sighed and gave in.
"Ok," she agreed, nodding, "You're right. Let's do the charm. How long will it take?"
James' face broke into a grin.
She barely remembered that face. They didn't have reason to smile much anymore. They both deserved a rest.
"Roughly three months. I'll send an owl off to Sirius asking him to be Secret-Keeper," Lily nodded, smiling softly. James rushed off and his wife turned back to Harry and Heather.
"You'll be safe now. I promise," she murmured to them.
~*~
Three months later…
"I just don't think we should have switched is all!" Lily said, frowning.
"Lily, I trust Peter. Our secret is safe with him. And Sirius thinks it's all right! Everything will be fine. Voldemort won't have expected us to change Secret-Keepers."
Lily and James Potter were standing in the front room of their safe-house, a tiny, one story building in Godric's Hollow. The couple was arguing in hushed voices on the matter of choosing Peter Pettegrew over Sirius Black as their Secret-Keeper for the Fidelius Charm. At the last moment, Sirius had convinced the Potters to change to Peter. 'Voldemort will be expecting it to be me!' he'd pointed out. 'And if he catches me, he could use a truth potion or something like that. But he won't be expecting Peter. We've hardly talked to him in the past two years!' Lily and James had argued, but eventually given in. Now, however, Lily was having second thoughts.
"I know you and Sirius trust him, James, but we haven't hardly seen him in two years! Sirius said so himself! I'm not saying he's crossed over, it's just…I don't know. We should've gotten Dumbledore's opinion. Or Remus'."
"Sirius thinks Remus is on Voldemort's side," James pointed out.
"Well, I don't see why!" Lily said, more shrilly than she'd meant to. "Remus has always been a good friend."
"And so has Peter. Lily, I trust him. We can count on him."
Lily rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"Honestly, James. You're too trusting for your own good," she informed him, annoyed. But her voice had lost much of its edge. "And don't try that look on me, I won't fall for it," Lily warned as James looked at her with a whipped puppy expression. "No one would ever guess you're 23, you act like a child," she went on, but she was smiling now.
"Ah, I'm just young at heart," he replied, pulling his wife into a hug. He kissed her forehead. "Things will turn out right. You'll see."
~*~
Peter Pettegrew trembled slightly, his forehead touching the cold stone he was kneeling on.
"What is it you want, Wormtail? I have no time for trivial matters," a high, icy voice rang out and echoed against the cold and dark stonewalls of the underground enclosure. Several torches gave a flickering light to the scene, and two men in long, black, hooded robes stood on either side of the only door, their faces hidden in shadow. They were Death Eaters – the followers of Voldemort. And although the sight of them would send chills up the spines of most wizards, they were nothing compared to the sight that was before Peter.
This person was the reason Peter Pettegrew was shaking so badly. On a raised iron throne sat Lord Voldemort, the most feared Dark wizard in over one hundred years – worse than even Grindelwald himself. Peter had never actually looked the Dark Lord full in the face; that would be terribly disrespectful. But from a year of sideways glances and hurried glimpses, he'd gathered that the Dark Lord was tall, very thin, and very pale, with hardly any nose and slits on his face for nostrils. He had flat, almond shaped eyes that were the sickening color of dried blood with thin, black, slit pupils like a cat's. He had long, thin, bony fingers like pale spiders that slowly massaged the wooden wand he held.
Finding his voice at last, Pettegrew answered the creature (he could no longer be called a man) in front of him.
"M-master," he began, stuttering badly, "The P-Potters have g-g-gone into hiding. They are using the F-Fidelius Charm."
Voldemort let out a sharp, annoyed hiss. Peter closed his eyes, expecting to be punished for being the bearer of bad news. "I was expecting this," Voldemort said, slowly. He seemed to be thinking for a few moments before he remembered Peter was there. "I suppose they used Sirius Black as a Secret-Keeper for the charm. Do you have any idea where Black might be hiding, Wormtail? He was a friend of yours at Hogwarts, was he not?"
"H-he was, my Lord. But he is not their Secret-K-Keeper…. I am."
There was a pause where everything seemed to stop, and Peter closed his eyes tightly against the flood of self-loathing that was suddenly sweeping over him. It was far worse now than it had been when he had first given in to Lord Voldemort, though Peter hadn't thought that was possible. He was betraying his friends, who had always been there for him; never turned on him.
No! They weren't really his friends; they had never really been his friends! They were too strong, too brave – how could he have ever even pretended to be their equal? He was only doing what came naturally to him – giving up. Giving in to pressure. Doing things he didn't want to do. He'd learned that skill in school, when he'd allowed Sirius and James to bully him time and time again into participating in one of their dangerous adventures. Adventures he'd wanted no part of…
Or had he? They hadn't been hurting him; they'd been including him! They had been his friends all along, and now he was betraying them! But they had always teased him – especially Sirius. Sirius teased him all the time…but James…James had always defended him.
What was he doing? He had to get out; he had to leave before he betrayed James! But it was too late…he could hear himself, as if in a dream, giving Lord Voldemort James and Lily's new address, he could hear Voldemort laughing…oh, how Peter hated that laugh…he could faintly see Voldemort sweeping off out of his throne chamber, followed by his Death Eaters.
But Peter didn't follow. He hadn't been asked to come along. In his entire life, there had only been three people who had ever asked him to come along.
Alone in the cold chamber full of flickering shadows, Peter Pettegrew lay on the ground and started to cry.
~*~
Lily Potter stood in the kitchen, making tea for her husband and herself. James was in the front room, reading an article about the capture of the LeStranges – a couple working for Voldemort.
Even though they'd only been in hiding for a few days, Lily could already feel the stress leaving her. They were nowhere close to as tense as they'd been before the Charm was performed. This had definitely been a good idea. Lily smiled happily as she pulled out her wand to boil the water for tea.
Quite suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Lily glanced through the open kitchen door to exchange a nervous look with James, who had gotten out of his chair quickly at the sound. The only person who knew where they were was Peter, and he shouldn't be coming anywhere near them so soon after the charm had been completed. He should be in hiding himself!
At the same moment, Lily and James realized who must be behind the door, and Lily saw her husband's eyes widen in horror.
"Lily, take the children and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off-"
Without warning, the front door was blown off it's hinges with a blast so powerful it ripped the door frame out of the wall and knocked both James and Lily off their feet. Lily fell backwards, striking her head sharply on the edge of the counter. Pain shot through her skull, making her eyes water.
James coughed softly as he regained his breath and the dust around him started to clear. He looked up at the figure in the doorway. Although he'd never seen the man before, there wasn't any question in his James' mind who he was – Voldemort. The creature let out a high, mirthless laugh.
"James, James, James. You didn't really think you could hide from Lord Voldemort did you?" James felt cold panic shoot through him. He didn't feel like he was in his body, but more like he was watching the scene from someone else's eyes, oddly detached from it. He could do nothing but lay there, frozen with crippling fear. Voldemort was talking again.
"Patricia was most adamant that we come here tonight, James. She wants revenge for what you and your wife did to her. You and your whole family will pay for your crimes," James' eyes darted to the right and he saw a dark form step forward from behind Voldemort.
At first he didn't recognize the woman, her skin was yellowed and sick looking, her hair wasn't silky anymore, but dull and tangled; her lips were thin and creased and her eyes held a wild look. She seemed to have aged about fifteen years, but James finally realized who it was – Patricia McLean, the woman he and Lily had put in Azkaban. Recognizing Patricia seemed to jump-start James' nervous system. He leapt to his feet and pulled out his wand.
"LILY, GO!!" James bellowed.
Lily had been watching from the floor of the kitchen where she'd fallen when the door was blown in. She hesitated for another instant before scrambling to her feet and running down the hallway to the bedroom door.
James faced Voldemort. "I won't let you do this," he said icily. Voldemort widened his eyes.
"Are you going to stop me? Your friend Peter realized it was pointless to resist me. You must see that as well now. Join me now, and you can be on the winning side of this battle."
James' mind exploded with thoughts. Peter? Oh, no – Voldemort must've caught him and tortured the information out of him! Oh, Peter, I'm so sorry! He quickly pushed these thoughts aside. If he wanted to save his family, he had to act fast.
After what seemed like years, Lily slammed into the bedroom door. She could now hear the twins wailing loudly inside the room. The explosion had obviously woken them. She turned the knob and shoved at the door violently, but it wouldn't budge. Oh, God, now is not the time for the door to be sticking! she thought, almost bursting into tears. She kept pounding on the door and shoving at the knob, but it didn't work. She was trying very hard not to go into hysterics, but it wasn't easy.
"I'll never betray my friends." James stated firmly. "If I have to die to save them, then I'll die. Expelliarmus!" James shouted this last word, the Disarming Spell. Unfortunately, Voldemort had anticipated this move. He was just a second too fast for James, and blocked the spell before it hit him.
Then, Voldemort raised his want once more. "Avada Kedavra," he hissed. There was a blast of green light from Voldemort's wand that shook the house. Shaking obviously wasn't what this house needed. The front windows broke as part of the ceiling collapsed. A tall bookshelf toppled over, smashing the table and chairs cleared from supper hours ago. James leapt away just in time, landed on the floor, and rolled quickly back to his feet and raised his wand again.
"Petrificus totalus!" He yelled, but Voldemort blocked that as well. Under normal circumstances, James would have been happy to see the hint of surprise in his opponents' eyes. Voldemort obviously hadn't expected James to last even this long.
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort shrieked. James tried to dodge again, but he wasn't quite quick enough. Another tremendous blast rocked the house as cracks ran up the wall and more windows shattered.
James Potter lay on the floor, without a breath of life. His empty eyes stared into eternity as his last thought vanished from his mind along with his life – "I love you, Lily."
The third blast knocked Lily from her feet again. The flash of green light that had burst from the front room momentarily blinded her.
James was dead.
The realization hit her like a blow to the stomach and she couldn't quite understand what it meant. James was dead.
But he couldn't be gone! He was still there; he couldn't die! She decided it was impossible for James to have left her so completely, and thought of it more as that he had gone on a sudden, very poorly timed holiday. Settling on this conclusion, she attempted to open the door again, pulling back on the knob first to gain leverage. As she leaned back, the door creaked and jerked open at last. Lily mentally cursed her stupidity. The door was to be PULLED – not PUSHED!
Patricia let out a squeal of delight at the sight of James' dead body. "Let's do it again!" she begged, rather like a young girl asking for sweets.
"Alright," Voldemort agreed, his lips pulled back in what looked like a horrible grimace, but was meant as a smile. Patricia seemed to take pleasure in this response, however, as she laughed and banged the end of her broomstick sharply on the floor.
"Little Lily!" she called out in a high voice. "Come out and play! We've a lovely surprise for you!"
Lily shuddered as the voice from the front room reached her ears. She dashed to the other side of the bedroom where the children were still wailing at the tops of their lungs. "Shhhhh…" she whispered comfortingly as she made to pick up Harry.
"Ah, ah, ah, Lily!" said a cruel, high voice from the doorway. "I'll be killing those children. Stand aside."
"Stand aside, Lily!" Patricia echoed gleefully. Lily stood in front of her children who, apparently realizing the importance of the moment, had stopped screaming.
"I'm not moving," she said, coldly.
"Stand aside, silly girl! I have no time to play games!"
"No!" shouted Lily, desperately wishing she hadn't left her wand in the kitchen. "Please! Not my children, please! Take me instead! Please, I'll do anything!" She was rapidly losing her composure as tears streamed down her face.
"Stand aside, you silly girl…stand aside, now…"
"Not my children, please no, take me, kill me instead-"
Voldemort laughed again, a high, painful noise that held no humor. "Very well," Voldemort said, smiling. He raised his wand. "Avada Kedavra," he hissed once more.
Avada Kedavra – the Killing Curse.
An interesting curse, really. No block, no remedy, no way to save yourself. But there is a way to save another.
Because the strongest thing on Earth is not the Killing Curse. It's the one thing Voldemort could not understand - love.
Love so deep you would sacrifice yourself for someone without any regret for what you've lost in return. The instant before Lily Potter died, she realized this. And she willingly gave her life for those of her children. She had no remorse, no second thoughts. She only knew that she was going to be with James, and that although their children might grow up without their own parents physically with them, they would never be completely alone.
Now you'll be safe, like I promised.
~*~
Albus Dumbledore woke with a start and the intense feeling he'd forgotten to do something very important. He jumped out of bed and hurried into his office, pulling a chain from around his neck. Hanging on the chain was a small silver key, which Dumbledore shoved into the keyhole of a storage cabinet standing in his office. Instead of the usual files and papers one would expect to find in such a cabinet, the shelves of this one were packed with glass orbs and jars labeled with strange names. There was also a medium sized bowl filled to the brim with silver smoke that spun slowly, twisting in on itself.
Dumbledore pushed several things aside and found what he was looking for – a small wooden box. He pulled this out and set it on his desk, flipping open the lid to reveal two small, glass bubbles. They floated about a centimeter above the bottom of the box and were translucent with a tinge of blue to them.
One orb contained what looked like blue powder spinning slowly in the center. But Dumbledore wasn't paying attention to this one. He moaned softly and beckoned the empty bubble forward; it floated up until it was level with Dumbledore's eyes.
"No," he whispered. "James."
The two orbs were Life-Monitors. They could be set to view the life force of nearly any person you wanted, and these specific Life-Monitors were monitoring Lily and James Potter. Dumbledore could see that James was dead. He had died recently, too – the blue powder that had settled at the bottom of the bubble looked as if it had just stopped moving. Dumbledore glanced down at the other orb in time to see the spinning powder stop moving and crumble to the base of the bubble.
"Voldemort has found them," Dumbledore said mournfully. If Voldemort had found them and killed them, the Fidelius Charm would have been broken, and Dumbledore would be able to find them with a Locator Spell. Dumbledore crossed the office to a map of England mounted on the wall and murmured a few words under his breath, waving his wand. A silver spark shot out of the end of the wand and hovered over the map for a moment before settling on a single spot. Dumbledore squinted at the name of the town just above the spark, which was still gleaming brightly.
Godric's Hollow. The Potters were in Godric's Hollow. Without wasting a moment, Dumbledore dashed out of his office, hurrying along the corridors of the school until he reached the front doors. He opened them and ran down the steps to the front lawn where he saw a huge figure leaning over, pruning a large, night-blooming hedge. This figure was Rubeus Hagrid, the Gamekeeper of Hogwarts School.
"Hagrid!" Dumbledore called. The huge man straightened up and turned.
"Professor Dumbledore! Wha's wrong?" Hagrid asked, brow furrowed.
"James and Lily Potter," Dumbledore said, quickly. "I fear the worst. Go to Godric's Hollow, the children might have been spared. Bring them to me. I can send you there quickly, will you go?"
"O' course, sir! But wha's happened-?"
"Sorry, Hagrid, no time for questions. Voldemort should be long gone by now, we can only pray Heather and Harry are still there. I'd go myself, but I must go straight to London and inform the Ministry of Magic of this event. Now, are you ready?"
"Yeah! O' course!" Hagrid said quickly.
"Thank you Hagrid. Be as quick as you can," Then Dumbledore waved his wand once more and Hagrid vanished. Dumbledore hurried off once more back to his office to dress before he was off to London.
~*~
On the edge of a small town there was a small, stone house. This house was nothing interesting – in fact, you probably wouldn't notice it unless you were looking for it. But Sirius Black was looking for it as he shot through the sky on his huge flying motorbike.
He'd always been very proud of this motorbike, but right now that was the last thing on his mind. He was going to the hide out of his friend Peter Pettegrew.
Due to recent events involving the Dark Lord Voldemort and Sirius' two best friends, the Potter family had been forced into hiding. Peter was the only one who knew where they were – he was their Secret-Keeper in a complex and difficult hiding charm. Because of this, Peter had also gone into hiding, so that Voldemort couldn't find him and get the Potter's whereabouts out of him. Sirius had been asked to be the Secret-Keeper at first, but he had persuaded his friends to use Peter instead – Voldemort wouldn't expect that.
Now, Sirius was going to check in on Peter to make sure he was all right. And his house should be right about … here.
Sirius flipped a switch on his bike and felt himself loosing altitude as he dropped towards the ground. The motorbike landed with a solid thud as it hit the street in front of Peter's new house. Sirius turned off the bike and started up the front walk to the door, glancing about nervously to see if anyone was watching. Upon reaching the door, Sirius knocked heavily.
No answer.
He knocked again and waited for several minutes. An unexplainable fear passed through him and he couldn't figure out where it came from. He tried the handle of the door and it opened easily.
Hesitantly, Sirius called out, "Peter! Peter, are you here?" He shrugged and walked into the front hall, closing the door behind himself. He went into the living room and saw that it was completely empty. No chairs, no nothing. Just four white walls and a fireplace. Sirius thought this was a bit curious, but he didn't worry too much about it.
That was until he searched the entire first floor and found the dining room and kitchen all just as empty as the living room. His breath coming a bit quicker now, Sirius dashed up the stairs.
The upstairs was the same as the down stairs – all empty. Glancing into the last room, where Sirius was still hoping to find Peter and an explanation for the total lack of anything in the house, he found the only piece of furniture in the entire building – a bed frame. No mattress, no sheets – and no Peter.
Sirius paused, staring into the bedroom. What could it mean? Peter hadn't even moved in! Why wouldn't he be hiding? It was for his protection…
Then it hit him – Peter didn't want protection from Voldemort because he didn't need protection from Voldemort. They were on the same side. And that meant…
Sirius cursed loudly and ran as fast as he could out of the house, taking the stairs two at a time.
~*~
Heather and Harry's cribs shot across the room from the force of this last blow, slamming against the opposite wall. More chunks of plaster fell out of the ceiling of the house, raining down on the floor. Patricia giggled and clapped as she saw Lily Potter lying still on the floor. She could hardly be heard over the noise the babies were making by now.
"And now," Voldemort said, "We finish this."
He stepped towards the two twin children and stared down at them for a moment. "No need to waste time doing a curse for each of them. They're so small, one curse should finish them both. Then, no one will stand in my way," he added in a low whisper.
"Do hurry, their wailing is giving me a headache," she said, rubbing her forehead.
"Step back," Voldemort commanded and raised his wand, unaware of the protection placed on the twins by their mother. Patricia pouted, but complied, taking several paces backwards.
"Avada Kedavra duos," he murmured.
The green beam of light shot once more from his wand and split into two identical rays, hitting both the children on their foreheads. The green beams struck the twins in the head at the same instant, and for a moment, it seemed as if time had come to a grinding halt as the rays etched two identical lightning bolts into the children's foreheads.
Everything stopped. There was no noise, no movement – even the world itself seemed to have stopped turning as every living being on the planet held its breath.
Suddenly, time snapped back to normal speed and the light bounced off the babies and rocketed back at Voldemort himself, hitting him squarely in the chest and knocking him back through the air.
Patricia screamed, but she was the only one who did, it appeared the children had both been knocked unconscious.
Just before he hit the opposite wall, the Dark Lord simply vanished, his scorched robes falling to the floor and laying in a crumpled heap. The beam that had carried him blasted into the wall, sending a deep crack up to the ceiling, a large chunk of which fell to the ground on top of Voldemort's things.
There was a moment of stunned silence. The children were both still unconscious with thin, lightning shaped gashes on their foreheads. Patricia just stared at the wall – the last place she had seen her Master. Then she fell to her knees, threw her head back and let out a long, piercing scream that sounded more like a banshee than a woman, and echoed through the neighborhood.
Lights clicked on up and down the street; it seemed that the spell hiding this house from the neighbors had been broken at last as dogs joined in with Patricia's long wail, barking and howling mournfully. When Patricia finally ran out of breath, she started choking and sobbing in gasps and whimpers.
"M-master!" she sobbed. "Master! Don't leave me! Please!" She wrapped her arms around her stomach and started to rock back and forth on her heals, whispering to herself. "When the other Death Eaters find out, they won't believe me! They won't believe that two babies stopped the Dark Lord! They'll think I did it! And they'll kill me! I have to get away before they come!"
She had gotten up, grabbed her broomstick, and was halfway to the back door before she stopped and started to talk to herself once again. "Can't leave the scene of the crime. Look suspicious. Master wouldn't like me to leave him," she mumbled. "When he comes back, he must know I was always loyal to him."
Patricia paused, then darted suddenly back to the children's beds, peering down at them. "Of course! I'll take them and give them to Master when he returns! I'll be his favorite and no one will think I hurt him!"
She reached down and scooped up Heather, who was heavier than she looked. In her weakened condition, Patricia had a hard time holding Heather in one arm and holding her broom in the other – not to mention carrying the boy as well.
Patricia was beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea when she heard footsteps pounding up the front stairs. A man's voice bellowed out, "James! Lily!"
Patricia hissed angrily and clambered onto her broom, still clutching the girl child, but leaving the boy behind. She didn't have time to figure out how she could carry both children and fly her broom properly. Besides, she could see a bit of the person who had just burst in bending over James Potter's body in the front room, and he was huge. It was now or never.
Patricia McLean zoomed off into the inky black sky, still holding the little red haired child in her arms. She soared over the neighborhood, over the town, over the country – off and away, taking Heather Potter with her and away from her twin brother.
~*~
Hurrying down the hallway of the main Ministry of Magic building with several other officials, Dumbledore felt as if a weight had suddenly been lifted from him. A weight so old he had forgotten it wasn't supposed to be there in the first place. He wondered what it was for only a moment before realizing – Voldemort. Either he had been killed or badly injured.
But how? What could have possibly stopped him? Had Hagrid done him in? No, Hagrid couldn't use magic. What then? But whatever had done it, Dumbledore was sure that some great tragedy had befallen the Dark Lord, and he wasn't sorry a bit.
Turning, he saw that the other witches and wizards in the hallway had stopped too, some were glancing around with confused looks on their faces, others were starting to smile – they had all felt it. Wizards all over the country should be feeling it too – and now Dumbledore had another important thing to discuss with the Ministry.
~*~
Rubeus Hagrid stopped dead in the middle of the street and stared at the sight before him. The Potter house was a wreck. The front door was gone, leaving a jagged hole in the wall. The roof was falling in and the front windows were shattered.
When Professor Dumbledore had asked him to go to the Potter's hideout and bring the children back because Lily and James were dead, Hagrid had hoped Dumbledore had been mistaken. He hadn't known what to expect, but he truly hadn't expected this.
He dashed towards the building and had to stoop low to get in the opening in the front of the house. Hagrid was a very large man – huge, actually. He was nearly two times as tall as a regular person and several times as wide. He had bulging muscles, wild black hair and a long, bushy beard. He was an astonishing sight – especially in the Potter's tiny hide out.
"James!" he bellowed, "Lily!" He looked around in horror – the dinner table was crushed by a fallen bookshelf, chunks of plaster had fallen to the floor and deep cracks ran through the walls. Then Hagrid's eyes fell on the body of James Potter and he gasped. There was no mistake – James was dead. Hagrid bent down next to him and checked for a pulse, even though he was sure what he'd find.
Forcing back the lump in his throat, Hagrid stood and ducked into the kitchen – nothing much in here except some broken glassware on the floor and a half full tea pot with a wand lying on the counter next to it.
Hagrid sniffed, again trying not to cry. He'd known Lily and James at Hogwarts – he'd been Gamekeeper then, too. Lily and James and their gang – Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettegrew. They'd been quite a bunch of troublemakers, but they'd never given Hagrid any problems - in fact, they'd been rather friendly with him. Sweet kids, all of them. And now…
Two tears ran down Hagrid's cheeks and dripped into his beard. Walking slowly, Hagrid went through the hallway and into the open door of the bedroom. Seeing the sight in there, he let out a low moan. Lily Potter lay on the ground, also dead. But the Dark Mark hadn't been in the sky over the house…
Hagrid looked around wildly, as if expecting to see Voldemort still lurking in the shadows - but no one was there.
The Dark Mark was a huge green light image of a skull with a snake for a tongue. Voldemort left it in the sky over all his victims, and Hagrid saw no reason why this should be any different. Still glancing around, Hagrid saw something glittering under a large chunk of fallen ceiling. Taking a step towards it, he bent down and picked it up. It was an iron ring that looked like someone had started to melt it down but had stopped after a few minutes.
Squinting, Hagrid was just able to make out the symbol carved into it: a skull with a snake for a tongue. Hagrid gasped and dropped the ring – Voldemort's ring - wiping his hand on his pant leg as if the ring had poison on it. Could Voldemort be under the chunk of fallen ceiling? Hesitantly, Hagrid lifted the piece of plaster and looked under it. It was just a pile of black material.
Tossing the plaster to the side, he lifted up the black rags and realized what they were – Voldemort's wizard robes, badly burned and torn, but definitely his robes. Voldemort's ring and robes – all badly burned and without their owner. Hagrid knew what he thought this meant – but how was it possible? He was so entranced by all this that he didn't here the distant roar that was growing louder by the second.
Sirius Black dipped his flying motorbike under the clouds, searching the ground beneath him. He remembered James saying something about Godric's Hollow; perhaps that was their hiding place.
Then he saw it – a crumbled wreck of a house on the outskirts of the town. This couldn't be it, could it? He flipped the switch on his bike and dropped to the ground. Sirius was off the bike and up the stairs front in the blink of an eye. And there he was. James, his best friend of twenty-three years, was lying dead on the floor.
"No," Sirius begged quietly, though he didn't even know who he was praying to. He fell to his knees and shook his friend's shoulder weakly. James couldn't be dead - he just couldn't be!
"Prongs," Sirius whispered, using James' old nickname. The nickname Sirius had given him. "Get up, Prongs, come on!"
But James didn't move. Reality sinking in, a lump rose in Sirius' throat. He tried to force it back, but he couldn't. A sob escaped him and he leaned forward over his best friend's body, his face buried in his hands. "I'm so sorry, James. I'm so, so sorry," he sobbed. "It's all my fault. I convinced you to change to Peter…I should have seen him for what he was. I'm so sorry!" Sirius sat there crying for several minutes before a gruff voice spoke from the kitchen.
"Who's there?" it demanded. Sirius jerked himself to his feet and raised his wand, just in case. The speaker stepped into the front room and Sirius recognized him at once. It was Rubeus Hagrid, the Gamekeeper of Hogwarts School.
"Sirius," Hagrid said, looking a little relieved, "I thought you was some one else. I'm sorry," he added softly, glancing at James. Sirius nodded, face pale, again trying to fight back tears and again losing. "It's the same sight in there," Hagrid pointed towards the bedroom, voice cracking.
"Lily-?" Sirius asked, voice trembling. Hagrid bowed his head, more tears leaking out of his black eyes. Sirius moaned and hurried into the bedroom.
Lily – his Lily, who was like a little sister to him – lay crumpled on the floor. Sirius knelt beside her and stroked her face gently, his tears falling silently into her hair. All he'd ever wanted to do was protect her, and instead he'd killed her. "I'm so sorry, Lily. Please forgive me. Please…"
But she didn't say anything. Hagrid came into the room behind Sirius.
"Where are the children?" Sirius asked quietly without turning.
"Harry's over there by the wall…" When he didn't go on, Sirius turned around to face him.
"And where's Heather?"
Hagrid hesitated. "I dunno. She's not in her crib." Sirius jumped to his feet and was across the room in a flash, looking into the bassinettes. Hagrid was right. Heather was simply gone.
But Harry was there, and lay dead with a thin, lightning shaped cut reaching from his hairline to the center of his forehead. Sirius looked away, swallowing hard.
"Help me look for Heather," Sirius called to Hagrid, starting to look around. Hagrid immediately joined him. They searched everywhere - under heaps of fallen plaster, under the bed, in the closet, in the kitchen, even in the front room under the fallen bookshelf. Sirius avoided looking at James while he was there. He just couldn't bear it. He'd finally stopped crying and didn't start again. He was in shock. How could his friends be dead? It simply wasn't possible. He was looking under a chair for Heather when Hagrid called out.
"Uh…Sirius?" Hagrid's voice was nervous.
Sirius leapt to his feet. "Did you find her?" he asked urgently.
"No, I'm sorry. But take a look at this," Hagrid led Sirius into the bedroom again and showed him the heap of scorched material that seemed to be all that was left of Voldemort. "This can' be wha' I think it is, could it?" he asked uncertainly. Sirius spotted the ring and picked it up, squinting to see the engraving on it.
"Voldemort's ring," he murmured. Hagrid automatically opened his mouth to reprimand Sirius for using You-Know-Who's name but stopped himself quickly. Sirius looked at the burned robes again and was about to speak when they heard a faint whimper. They looked around quickly, searching for the source of the noise.
A baby's cry filled the room and Hagrid jumped, which was a bad idea in a house so un-sturdy. The floor gave a loud groan but thankfully stayed intact.
Slowly, almost as if he thought moving too quickly would shatter the ray of hope reaching out to him, Sirius crept towards Harry's crib and looked inside. Harry was squirming around, trying to push off his blankets and wailing pitifully. Sirius hesitated only an instant before picking up his godson and hugging him, careful not to let the baby see his dead mother.
"Shhh…" he whispered comfortingly – not unlike Lily had done only an hour ago.
"How-?" Hagrid started, bewildered, after Harry had calmed down a bit.
"I don't know. But it looks as if something bad has happened to Vol – sorry – You-Know-Who," Sirius replied, seeing Hagrid flinch at the sound of the Dark Lord's name. "This lightning shaped cut on Harry's forehead – it's no normal cut. I think it's the mark you get when an evil spell touches you. So if You-Know-Who tried to kill Harry but couldn't do it, and those are his robes and his ring over there, burned…" he paused, letting Hagrid draw his own conclusions as he remembered something he'd felt while flying here. He'd had a sudden lightness in his chest, as though something had finally gone right. He'd forgotten it immediately when he saw the house nearly destroyed, but maybe it had meant something.
"I can't see any other reasonable explanation," he said finally. Sirius' eyes fell on Lily's body once more and he quickly looked away. He had to make this up to them somehow.
But how could he make up for something like this? He'd killed them! All he could do was try. He'd start by finding Peter and making him pay. And he'd find Heather. If Harry was alive, she should be, too. Moony would help him with all that…
Remus.
How could he have ever thought that Remus, of all people, was the traitor? When had Remus ever hung around people who were stronger, and smarter, and braver than himself? When had Remus ever been weak? And still, Sirius had suspected him.
Sirius had been the weak one, and had given in to the prejudice that Moony had feared since he'd received the bite. That was Sirius' third order of business: apologize to Remus. And then… He'd look after Harry and Heather. Provide them with anything they needed. Lily and James would've wanted it; they'd made Sirius the children's godfather, after all. That was it. That was what he had to do; the things Lily and James would be most worried about were their children. "Hagrid, let me take Harry. I'm his godfather – I'll look after him."
"Well…" Hagrid looked uncertain. "Professor Dumbledore told me ter bring him straight back…"
"Hagrid, I'm sure Professor Dumbledore would agree that as Harry's godfather, I'm his legal guardian now," he felt like a fist of ice was squeezing his heart. He shouldn't have ever had to say those words. It shouldn't have been like this. It wasn't fair. Not for anyone.
Hagrid paused for another moment and then shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sirius, but I have orders from Dumbledore. I'm sure he just wants to see Harry's alrigh'. He'll return him ter yeh as soon as everythin's in order."
Both Sirius and Hagrid looked up as they heard sirens in the distance.
"Wha's that?" Hagrid asked, nervously.
"Muggle police. They're coming here," Sirius paused, thinking about what Hagrid had said. He was right. Dumbledore would give Harry back to Sirius as soon as he was sure it was safe. And it would give Sirius time to find Heather. Provided she was still alive… She couldn't have gotten far. And then he'd find Peter. Sirius was sure Dumbledore would help him. And so would the Ministry. They'd be furious-
And then a horrible realization struck him. Dumbledore and the Ministry would be furious – but not with Peter. The only people who knew that the Potters had changed Secret-Keepers were either dead, evil, or Sirius. And of course no one would believe him. He was framed – perfectly and completely. It was just too much, on top of everything else that had happened to him.
He'd have to go into hiding for a while. Maybe forever. Sirius struggled with himself for a moment, then made a decision. He'd give Harry to Dumbledore, find Peter, use Peter to clear his name, find Heather with Remus, and then he'd take care of his godchildren – like Lily and James had asked. Sirius reluctantly handed Harry to Hagrid. "All right, Hagrid. Take him to Dumbledore. And will you ask him to try and find Heather for me?"
"O' course," Hagrid said, nodding as he accepted Harry into his arms.
They would have to get away fast; the Muggle police sirens were getting closer and soon the neighbors would be getting over their fear and coming to investigate for themselves. Sirius couldn't take his bike. Soon the entire wizarding world would be after him and a huge flying motorbike tended to stand out in a crowd.
"Take my bike, Hagrid. I won't need it anymore," Sirius said, though the words stuck in his throat. He and James had worked on that bike together during the summer after sixth year. In his mind, he could still hear James telling him that the motorbike was nothing compared to a broomstick, really, and Lily demanding that Sirius wear a helmet or a parachute or something. He'd never hear their voices again…
"Hurry, there'll be trouble if the police find us here. And take the robes and ring to Dumbledore. See what he thinks."
Hagrid nodded unhappily. He'd hoped never to have to touch that filth again, but it seemed that there was no way around it.
A minute later, the roar of Sirius' motorbike faded to silence just as the Muggle police cars pulled up in front of the Potter residence.
Sirius Black took one last miserable look around and vanished, Apparating miles away.
~*~
Patricia didn't know how long or how far she flew before she and Heather finally landed in a dirty little alley in some Muggle city. All she knew was that the sun had risen and set again while they were in the air and that they'd spent almost the whole time over a huge body of water, which appeared to have been the Atlantic Ocean.
It wouldn't have taken nearly so long to reach land if Patricia hadn't kept changing direction. She'd be going west, then suddenly jerk her broom around and fly south for an hour or so, then head back east, then northwest, then west once more, and so on.
The result was a very twisty and complicated path that Patricia hoped no one would be able to follow. She was so weak with hunger and muscle cramping on top of the fact she was already dieing from her experience in Azkaban that the minute her feet touched the ground, she toppled over and couldn't get back up. The end was near, she could feel it. Before she died, she had to do something about this baby. She was convinced that every Death Eater in Britain was hot on their trail, and if they found her with the baby, they might think she was protecting it.
The child had fallen into a fitful sleep during the flight and woke up as Patricia hit the ground, dropping the baby next to her. The girl started wailing once more and Patricia growled, annoyed. The screaming was giving her a headache – or maybe that was the exhaustion.
Patricia wasn't going to live long enough to present this child to her Master. She'd have to kill it herself. Patricia reached up and wrapped her hands around the baby's neck, about to strangle it.
Before she could start to squeeze, however, she fell into a dead faint. She didn't wake up when lights from a nearby apartment clicked on, or when she was raised onto a stretcher and put in an ambulance ten minutes later.
A half hour after that, Heather Potter was sleeping again in the nursery section of a hospital in New York City. Patricia McLean lay in a hospital room, attached to all sorts of Muggle machinery that was humming and beeping quietly. A young woman with brown hair hovered over Patricia's bed, a frown on her face. "Ma'am?" She asked softly. "Ma'am, can you hear me?"
Patricia slowly opened her eyes. The woman spoke again, in an accent Patricia didn't recognize.
"My name is Cynthia Burk. I need to ask you a few questions, okay?" Patricia started to nod, but quickly stopped, her head hurt too much. She could feel her death coming – and soon. She had to do something about that child! She wouldn't be alive to hand it over to her Master – the most she could do was avenge his death. She tried to get up, but found that moving of any kind was a bad idea, and she suddenly felt as if she was about to faint.
"Where is the child?" Patricia asked Cynthia harshly. Her voice came out in little more than a whisper.
"Don't worry," the woman said, smiling reassuringly. "She's safe. You'll be able to see her soon. Now," she went on, pulling a pencil from behind her ear and touching the tip to a pad of paper, "Are you the girl's mother?"
"I'm her nanny," Patricia invented. If she couldn't hand the child over to her master, and couldn't kill her, the only thing she could do was shield her from all questions and the searching eyes of the wizard community by confabulating a story that would explain everything. The girl child would remain hidden here in this Muggle city until the Dark Lord came for her himself. He was all knowing. He would find the child and realize what Patricia had been trying to do. He'd honor her memory; perhaps even raise her from the dead. After all, Patricia's Master could do anything.
Comforted by this thought, Patricia told Cynthia a wild tale involving Mr. and Mrs. Evans, who had died in tragic accident overseas and had left their only child – Heather – to the nanny, as they had no relatives they spoke to. She said that she had been taking a walk with Heather when a man had chased them and knocked Patricia down, stealing her gold.
"Gold?" Cynthia asked, looking surprised.
"My gold jewelry," Patricia amended, covering her mistake. Her breath was coming in short gasps now, and the room was out of focus. "Anyway, that's probably where Heather got that cut. When I fell I must have dropped her. But she's all right, you say?" she asked, with false concern.
"How did you know she had a cut?" Cynthia asked, apparently oblivious to Patricia's question and her worsening condition.
Patricia paused, racking her brains for an answer. "I don't feel well," she said sharply. "I need to see the doctor."
Cynthia looked at Patricia as if seeing her for the first time. She nodded quickly and dashed into the hall, calling for a doctor frantically. She truly had not noticed how sick Patricia looked. Perhaps the robber she had described had done her more harm than she thought.
Despite all attempts made by the hospital, Patricia was dead within the hour, and, in a way, Heather Potter died with her, leaving homeless, helpless Heather Evans in her place.
The next morning, Heather Evans was taken to a Muggle orphanage where she began the first day of her new life.
~*~
The day after the attack on the Potter house, Sirius found Peter. But Peter framed him yet again, this time by staging his own death. Sirius had him cornered in the middle of a crowded Muggle street and Peter started loudly accusing Sirius of murdering Lily and James. He'd then slipped his wand around behind his back and blown up the entire street, killing a dozen Muggles in the process.
In the confusion that followed, Peter transformed into a rat (How fitting. Sirius realized for the first time.) and scurried into the sewers. Ministry officials had arrived in seconds, but it hadn't mattered at that point; Sirius wasn't going anywhere.
He had stood there, in shock. It had finally struck him that his best friends were dead, that their daughter was dead, and that his godson would never know him or his family.
And it was all Sirius' fault. He deserved what he got. He deserved it and so much more. He let them cart him off to Azkaban, where he would remain for years and years, while the Dementors slowly sucked his life away.
~*~
Almost ten years after the murder of the Potters and the arrest of Sirius Black, Minerva McGonagall sat in her office staring at a roll of parchment. She was a rather severe looking woman with a sharp, beak-like nose and dark hair pulled tightly into a bun. Silver rimmed square glasses framed her beady eyes, which traveled quickly down the paper in her hand.
She was the Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and, as such, it was her job every year to send notices off to the new group of Hogwarts students, informing them of their acceptance to the school.
The scroll she held in her hands was a list of the names for the students she was to send letters to, but one of the names didn't belong.
'Heather Potter'.
Professor McGonagall stared at the name for a few long moments, her eyes welling with tears. Blinking furiously, she pulled a yellowed Daily Prophet clipping from the top drawer of her desk. It was dated seven years ago, but she could still remember reading it for the first time.
TWO-YEAR SEARCH FOR HEATHER POTTER ENDS
'When Harry Potter was discovered alongside the bodies of his parents, Lily and James Potter, he became a hero who will live in our hearts for ever. But as the magical community knows, the Potters had another child, Harry's twin sister Heather. The one-year-old girl was not found at the scene and a desperate search headed by the Ministry of Magic began.
Over the past two years, our reporters have followed this search closely, as our readers are aware. Yet after all this time, the Ministry has still failed to discover the little girl or any clues leading to her whereabouts.
Horatio Featherstone, the Minister for Magic, said today, 'Our officers have not yet found the child and are now completely convinced that she, in fact, never left the Potter house.' He stated that Dark Arts experts have been investigating the properties of the Killing Curse – the one that murdered Lily and James Potter and attempted to kill their son. These experts say that it is most likely that Heather, unlike her brother, did not survive the Curse and (as she was so small and the Curse is designed to kill adults) her body was simply 'vaporized'.
This theory is believed to be fact by all Ministry officials and all other prominent wizarding groups. Heather Potter was pronounced dead and the Minister himself signed her Death Certificate early this morning. Mr. Peter Stratton, a researcher for the Ministry of Magic, informed the crowd…'
The article went on to describe the properties of the Killing Curse and had a very touching paragraph at the bottom about the tragedy of a child's death, but the Professor wasn't reading anymore.
She knew the entire article by heart, but she didn't wanted to believe it. The Potter twins had been on the Hogwart's student list since the day they were born. Professor McGonagall never thought she'd have to do this, but she didn't have a choice. Slowly, her eyes brimming with tears, she lifted her quill and crossed out Heather's name.
~*~
James and Lily Potter lay dead and Sirius Black, their best friend, sat rotting in the most terrible prison in the world. The Potter twins were an ocean away from each other, both living with people that would never understand them. And the Dark Lord Voldemort was hidden away, biding his time, still weakened by his run in with little Harry and Heather Potter.
Years later, all that started to change.
~*~
A/N Well? What did ya think? You could tell your computer screen, but it'll be a while before it answers. I suggest that instead, you fill out the little review box directly below. It'll be more appreciated by me, anyway.
Praise is always welcome, so is constructive criticism, and flames if you just can't resist.
I'd also like to say that, while doing my editing on this piece, I made Peter a bit less of an evil rat than he was before. I know, I know – I hate him too (boy, do I ever!) but I just didn't think it was logical for the Marauders to have been friends with him if he was an evil little back-stabber by nature. He's weak, obviously, and selfish – certainly. But maybe not innately evil. Don't worry – he gets a little eviler in the next part.
Speaking of which, I feel that the next section is better, so don't completely give up hope if you didn't like this. In any case, thank you for making it this far, and I hope to meet you in the review section!