1Prologue
July 30, 1980
Lily Potter and Molly Weasley walked through Diagon Alley looking through shop windows. They were talking happily, their voices mingling in the warm July air. They kept looking over their shoulders making sure no one was following them.
"Lily, I think naming him after your father is a great idea," Molly said, staring at her best friend. Lily's face broke into a large smile but her bright green eyes were sad. She sighed.
"I know but I don't think I can name him Harold," Lily sighed, "maybe Harrison, or Harvey, or maybe Harry. But who knows I may choose Evans or maybe Alexander." Molly shuddered at the name Alexander.
"Don't pick Alexander," Molly cried, "please don't. Pick Harrison or Harry, they're nice, but don't pick Alexander. Evans is a nice name but too weak for such a strong boy and Harvey . . . well Harvey's OK but it's not as good as Harrison."
"Why can't I pick Alexander, Molly?"
"Alexander Parkinson remember, my stepmother tried to get me to marry him. Besides I like the name Harrison or Harry. And don't you think James will want to name him. Or are you doing my suggestion?"
"Your suggestion, he picks the middle name though. You know, and I like Harrison better than just Harry. We can still call him Harry, but his name will be Harrison. Now I'm worried about what James has decided ab-" Suddenly a large boom by Gringotts sounded. Wizards and witches ran trying to hide as the Death Eaters started bringing out their wands.
Lily grabbed Molly's hand with one hand and grabbed her stomach. Lily eyes bulged out as she looked down at her legs; water dripped simultaneously down her legs, but the water had a slight reddish tinge to it. Lily backed up into the alleyway wincing in pain. Molly knew what was happening, how could she not after being pregnant nine times and given birth to six live babies after all.
"Molly, please tell me that what I think just happened didn't," Lily pleaded, tears in her eyes wincing at the painful jabs of the contractions. Molly herself got tears in her eyes as Lily doubled up, pain ripping at her innards. She grabbed Lily as she wobbled the pain being too much for her fragile fatigue body to handle.
"I hate to tell you sweety but . . . " Molly trailed off as Lily's usually bright green eye's, now dulled to a greenish-gray, tears dripping out of them looked at her.
"Come on sweets, don't do this to me, the Death Eaters are gonna be here soon and I'm not the strongest person in the world you know that. We need to get you somewhere. Oh, I don't see the Order anywhere, all I see are the Death Eaters trashing the place. What are you trying to say?" Molly leaned closer as Lily's lips moved but no sound came out.
"Olive - Ollivanders, he has a fireplace we can use to get to Potter Manor," she gasped as more liquid came out. "Is that supposed to happen?"
"Not that I know of sweets, I don't see any Death Eaters that will be paying any attention to us as we pass by." Molly grabbed Lily under the shoulders and dragged her as far as she could before stopping to grab onto Lily better. She dragged her three shops away into a shop that had an ornate wand on the sign. Pushing the door open Molly dragged Lily in.
She put Lily gently on the ground as she went to the mantle piece where a flower pot full of what looked like regular ashes, she drew her wand out and shot bright purple flames out. She threw the ashes into the fire. "Phoenix Fire, Fortune favors the brave, the brave favor the intelligent, the intelligent favor the loyal, and the loyal favor everyone and everything," she whispered as the flames shot up turning navy, gray, and then finally bronze. She went back to Lily grabbing her and dragging her over to the fireplace. She slowly heaved herself and Lily into the fire and suddenly they were swept off.
They stopped inside of a large magnificent hall that was at least twelve feet in length and ten feet in height. Molly stepped out into the hall, the large white marble staircase stood in a corner twisting and winding. Molly turned back to Lily who was crouched in the fireplace tears running down her cheeks as she whimpered in pain. Knowing that the longer she waited the more pain Lily would be in.
She ran up the stairs, hoping and praying with each step that one of the
Marauders or Hestia were in the library. She suddenly ran back down the stairs,
remembering that the lounge, the large library had was on the first floor of the basement not the second story of the house. She ran down as quickly as quick as she could, trying not to waste any second she had. As she approached the entrance to the library, she heard Lily's husband James and her husband Arthur talking.
"Yeah, but it's completely different for me, I'm not ready to be a father," she heard James say, "you were ready to be one when you were seventeen. Here I am at twenty and I'm not ready, and as the due date comes closer I get more and more scared. But Lily's been ready since she had that miscarriage in our seventh year. How did you do it, at that young?"
"I didn't, honestly, it was all Molly she was always so maternal," Arthur said as he patted his friend reassuringly on the back. "I was at work so much when Bill was a baby that when Charlie was born I wanted to make up for how much I missed in those thirteen months without him. You'll be fine, trust me, the baby will love even if you don't know it. He'll never stop even when he tells you he hates you which is bound to happen, but he'll never mean it."
Molly walked in, her face as a pale as a ghost as she cleared her voice. The two men turned to look at her. James stood up.
"I hate to break this up, but Lily's in labor," she said slowly staring at James, "she's in a lot of pain, I couldn't carry her any farther so I left her in the fireplace, but she looks fine. Well, except for the contractions, but you need to carry her into the hospital wing. Or I can guarantee she'll have him there and now."
James ran through the open door and up the winding stairs to his wife. Arthur just walked over to his wife and took her into his arms. Molly wrapped her freckled arms around him tightly and pressed her face into his shoulder, her body shaking with the unshed tears that she had compressed the past two months. It hadn't been easy, the last few months, there was the war, Lily's pregnancy, and the fact that Molly could no longer have any more children.
They had only found out two months before hand, just after the two of them had been on an Order mission and Bellatrix Lestrange had tortured her terribly.
Well, she could have children, but it would just be a bad idea, on having more. It
wasn't like they had ignored something like that before, but now it was even more
of a risk than it had been then. The two jumped apart when they heard Lily scream something that sounded like, "bloody hell"
Molly and Arthur rushed up the stairs as Lily yelled again. When they reached the hall, Lily was leaning back in James' arms sweat and tears running down her cheeks. Molly suppressed a grin as James tried to carry Lily to the hospital wing down the hall.
"James," Molly called causing James to turn around, "do you want me to call Madam Pomfrey?" James nodded as he carried Lily farther down the hall. Molly turned to Arthur. "Well, you heard him go get Madam Pomfrey." Arthur just gapped as she followed her friends.
Thirteen hours, countless pushes, and several curses later, Lily (with Molly and Madam Pomfrey's help) brought a healthy baby boy into the world. But after Lily was able to look at him, she fainted. It took Molly and James ten minutes to revive her. Once they had Lily held the newborn baby she named him, completely forgetting she told James he could pick the middle name, Harrison James Potter.
But, unfortunately Lily didn't have enough milk to feed her baby so she had Molly who after having six living children had more than enough milk for baby Ron.
December 23, 1980
"Come on Molly, tell me what it is," Lily begged Molly as their sons rolled around on the floor. Molly shook her head, biting her lip as a smile formed on her face. Lily sighed, this was becoming downright impossible. The possibilities of Molly's secret was limited; she couldn't be pregnant, she couldn't be going to visit Billie - he had come home five days ago, so what was it?
"Okay, I give, I'll wait until Christmas," she guilted. Molly looked at Lily,
her face was bunched up in a pout and she was looking at her feet, Molly turned away. 'I might as well tell her, she told me first,' she thought to herself.
"Lily Brianna Evans-Potter, you are the world's most impatient woman, you know that right!" Molly cried. Lily smiled cheekily at Molly, the light in her eyes dancing happily. "Don't tell anyone, all right." Lily nodded, she was sitting on the edge of her seat with obvious anticipation.
"Well . . . I'm pregnant!" Lily shrieked at the wonderful news. "I'm not due until the end of August. But I am worried. More worried than I was when you fainted after Harry was born. Remember that I shouldn't have any more kids. But Lily I feel it's my time, I think it's a girl."
"Molly, I'm happy, for you and really scared at the same time," Lily said staring at Molly happily. "I think you'll be safe during childbirth. Don't worry I'll be your healer this time and I'll help you. It won't matter, I think you'll be fine, and I hope for your sake that it is a girl."
"Oh, thanks sweets, I hope it'll be a girl too. And hopefully it wasn't one of the miscarriages. That would suck. And aren't you supposed to be back at work in a minute." Lily spit out her tea and checked her watch. She stood up.
"Yeah, I do, you'll be fine with Harry, won't you?"
"No, Lily I won't be okay with watching him. God, Lily you know I'll be fine watching him." Lily laughed as she bent down and kissed Harry and Ron on the forehead. She left the house as swiftly as she could. After, she left Molly leaned forward and grabbed Harry.
"Hey baby boy, what are you doing? Are you playing with Ron? Well, are
you?" Harry giggled but nodded his head up and down.
"Well, I'm going to tell you something Harry. Something I didn't even tell your mum, you wanna know what that is? Of course you do, well. I'm going to have a baby girl Harry." Harry's toothless mouth smiled, amazingly understanding everything she said. "You'll love her, won't you Harry?"
August 11, 1981
Lily rushed into the maternity ward in St. Mungo's her heart jumping up and down in fright. She ran all the way through the sickness ward, past the Tanya Wilder ward, and all the way past the Ribwort Fitzgerald ward. Once she got to the room Molly was supposed to be in she threw herself in. Molly was laying on one of the hospital beds her chest rising and falling as one of the healers had their wand over her stomach. Arthur was off to the side sitting in a chair, his head in his hands. James sat behind them with the kids, she went over to James.
"What happened, you didn't tell me when you mailed me?" Lily asked her husband as she picked her son up off of the floor.
"She fell down the stairs after putting the boys down for naps," James said before sucking in a breath and continued, "Bill took her wand and mailed Arthur, and he mailed me, and then I obviously mailed me. They don't think her or the baby will make it."
"James, you think she will don't you? Oh, I can't imagine life without her she's been my best friend since I was fourteen What about the boys they need their mother, oh, what about Arthur, he'll be heartbroken?"
"I know, we'll all be hurt if she dies Lily, she's the heart of us all." The healer that was hovering over Molly walked over to them all.
"We believe the baby will be fine but we can't guarantee that she will live when we use the potion on the mother to induce the labor," the healer said sadly.
Arthur sat back down, but suddenly stood back up. "Did you say girl?" he asked the healer his voice shaking. The healer nodded and Arthur burst out crying. Lily walked over to Arthur and put her arms around him.
"Don't worry Arthur, she'll be fine they both will," Lily said as brave as she could. Arthur looked over at Lily tears in her eyes.
"I want to believe that but you heard her, a girl. We tried so hard so many times for a girl and now we get one. And now when she finally gets that daughter she always wanted she gets near death!"
"Arthur, calm down. I know she wanted a girl I remember her miscarriage before Ron and one of the ones before Percy. Don't worry Molly's a fighter, and she'll win this fight. She would want you to at least try to be happy."
Arthur nodded and sat back down as another healer entered. The new healer walked behind the curtain and the other followed. The curtain was shut around the bed to stop the others from seeing. Lily sat on the floor and played with the children to distract them from what was happening.
After four hours almost everyone except Lily and Arthur were asleep. They took turns on being worried until the healers walked out. Lily roused James from his sleep. He tried to wave her away but when he opened his eyes and saw the healer he stood up quickly. The healers looked at each other.
"They'll be fine, the baby will be fine and the mother will be fine," the first healer said, "well the mother won't be able to have any more children at all but that's the only thing that went wrong." Arthur flopped back down lazily in the chair.
"Can we go see her?" Lily asked the healers. The healers nodded and Lily, James, and Arthur rushed behind the curtain. Molly was sitting up feeding her daughter staring down at her, a great smile on her face. She looked up when Lily cleared her throat.
"How are you doing?" Lily asked Molly sitting on the bed as Arthur entered. Arthur threw himself at Molly kissing her fervently. When they broke apart Molly handed him his daughter.
"Me, how am I doing? I'm doing absolutely bloody terrible," she joked with Lily as Arthur wrapped his fingers in the baby's hand.
"We were really worried, you know, we thought we were going to lose you. I swore to myself that if you did I'd help Arthur take care of the kids. And I know you would do the same thing for me if I were to die."
"Well yeah I would, you know I love Harry. I would take care of him no matter what."
October 31, 1981
Molly Weasley ran down the long dirt road that led to Godric's Hollow. Her heart were heavy as and tears blurred her eyes as she ran. She ran quickly and swiftly down the road. When the cottage came into sight she screamed. The whole cottage was on fire. She ran into the cottage as quick as she could her heart beating wildly in her chest.
She ran through the cottage hearing a baby cry. She ran up the stairs into the nursery where her best friend lay still on the ground and her godson standing in his crib crying at the top of his lungs. She grabbed Harry and ran.
She ran as fast as she could before she apparated. When she landed she was in lower London outside of a very posh house. Molly gave Harry a sleep potion before walking up to the house. She put Harry down on the porch and kissed him on the forehead where a small cut in the shape of a lightning bolt sat blood trickling out of it. She put a letter in Harry's blanket.
She left the porch and walked to the gate. She stopped and turned back to Harry. She blew him a kiss. "I'm sorry Harry," she said before she apparated home.
And Harry lay there on the porch sleeping peacefully and completely quiet. He didn't know that he had people that loved him somewhere far away. And nor did he know that he was famous and that he was the defeater of the world's darkest wizard.