Alright everyone. This is my first multi-chapter fic! Woot! Anyway, this will not be completely canon. I always wondered what would've happened if James and Lily had never died…
Disclaimer: I am not, nor will I ever be, JK Rowling. I'm still waiting on my Hogwarts letter. They must've sent it with a dumb old owl, like Errol…
Even though she was a young mother, Lily Potter knew the meaning of sacrifice. When she had just turned twenty-one, Professor Dumbledore had ordered her little family to go into hiding. He could only back his actions with a prophecy, told to him by one Sybill Trelawney. Lily did not question the wizened old man, although her husband did. He often called the professor "mental", "off his rocker", and even a "complete lunatic." Her baby boy just gurgled every time the professor came by the house, often tugging on the man's beard.
It was October, 1981, and James Potter was starting to grow restless. He hadn't been outside of their home in Godric's Hollow for months, and was getting fidgety. However, Dumbledore insisted that the Potters stay inside, for fear that Voldemort would find them and—
Stop it, James thought to himself. Our family is not going to die. He would rather die than his wife and son. Dumbledore had often explained to him the prophesy, but it was such an enigma to James, that he just let the old man ramble and nodded his head as if he understood. Lily understood it. She understood everything.
One night in the middle of October, James was tucking his young son, Harry, into his crib. The child slept so peacefully, that James wondered if the war was even real. How could there be peace in the middle of war? He gazed at the one-year-old lovingly, bent down, and kissed his forehead lightly. "I love you, Harry," he whispered. "I love you so much."
A crack downstairs startled him, and he gripped his wand as he flew down the stairs. A man stood in the middle of his hallway, holding his own wand in front of him. James held his wand in a threatening position. "What do you do for our friend?" he asked cautiously; he had to make sure this man really was Sirius.
The man replied, "I am an illegal, unregistered animagus. I take the form of a dog."
Satisfied, James hurtled forward until he and Sirius were hugging. "I've missed you, mate. There are only so many days you can go with only Dumbledore coming 'round."
"What's wrong with ol' Dumble-dee?" Sirius wanted to know. "I always thought he was pretty cool. He always did appreciate the Marauders' pranks!" By this time, they were in the kitchen, where Lily was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking tea. She looked up and unceremoniously said, "What are you doing here, Padfoot?"
He gasped and put a hand on his heart. "I can't just come and visit my favorite Lily-flower?"
"Not without wanting something."
"What makes you think I want anything?"
Here, she gave him a pointed look, and he sat in a chair across from her. "Okay, so I was thinking that maybe you should make Peter secret-keeper."
"Are you mad?!" Lily exclaimed. "Peter? He's—you know he's—just—argh! NO!"
"Why not?"
"Because he's Peter! He doesn't always make me feel safe. And he's been acting shifty lately—don't look at me like that—and I just…I don't…I don't trust him!"
James walked behind Lily and massaged her shoulders. "Lils, calm down. You'll wake Harry."
To which she replied, "I don't want Peter Pettigrew to be secret-keeper!" James nodded.
"We've established that, love."
Sirius butted in. "It's not like he's going to tell anyone. And anyway, I'd be the first one people would go to for the location. I'm James' best mate! Peter—well, he's Peter, people would look the other way."
Lily sighed. "I know that, but—"
Here, she was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Only one person ever rang the doorbell.
Dumbledore.
James and Lily looked curiously at each other. Only last week, Dumbledore had said that he would only come if there was bad news concerning the Order or any of their friends or family. Sirius stood, looking between his friends.
"I'll get it."
He ran out into the hallway and opened the door, holding his wand in front of him. The old man stood out on the porch, wringing his weathered hands together. "How many times did I get detentions at Hogwarts?" Sirius asked his former professor.
"I believe the last count was 892, Sirius, and that is far too many," Dumbledore sighed. "Are James and Lily here?" The question was quite unnecessary, as the husband and wife duo had followed their friend into the hall.
"Professor!" Lily cried. "Why are you here? What's happened?"
The professor did not answer right away, preferring to pinch the bridge of his long and crooked nose. "Please, have a seat. The news is…quite shocking." Lily glanced at the man, worried, while James guided her into the living room. Sirius and Dumbledore followed. After they were all seated, save for Dumbledore, who preferred to stand, he clapped his hands together and said, "Now, on to business. We've had a traitor in our midst, for a while now. The man came clean and confessed after a rather large brawl in the eastern part of London, where he was, at the time, curiously, unharmed. He was, ah, fighting on the opposing side, but at the time, no one saw it or understood it, as he was wearing one of the infamous masks."
James held up a hand. "Professor, hold on, you're saying this man has been…betraying us to Voldemort?" Lily's eyes grew big as something clicked in her brain.
"Professor, it was—is—Peter, right?" Her husband and Sirius looked at her as if she had lost her mind. She shifted uncomfortably. "I mean—it only makes sense. In school, towards our last years, he spent more time away from the Marauders, and only Merlin knows where he went. And lately, he's been acting…different, like he's been doing something bad."
The professor's silence was all she needed to confirm her theory. James and Sirius spluttered, trying to form coherent words and phrases. Finally, Sirius succeeded. "WHAT!?"
Dumbledore turned his ice-blue eyes to look at him. "Peter Pettigrew is no longer an ally. He has been corrupted by Voldemort, in his sixth year, to be exact. He was, as I understand it to be, very close to you, including Remus. It was a very logical recruit, to put it plainly. Gain a follower close to James and Lily. And, in that way, close to Harry."
"But, Professor," James interrupted. "Peter hadn't even come to see Harry at all since he was born. He only saw him in St. Mungo's."
Dumbledore nodded with this piece of information. "I understand that, James, but he was everything Voldemort ever needed, which brings me back to what else I needed to say."
Lily squirmed, trying to find a comfortable position in James' arms, which were squeezing her very uncomfortably.
Dumbledore looked at her as he said, "We need to move you and Harry to Hogwarts."
James frowned, trying to process this. "Professor, not meaning to be rude, but why would we go to Hogwarts?"
"It is by far the safest haven in the Wizarding world. Unless you'd rather that we move you to Muggle London or Surrey to live with their way of life. I assure you, with all my heart, that your family will be safe at Hogwarts. There are, in fact several empty classrooms that we can prepare for you to live in there, or perhaps an abandoned teachers' suite." Here, he started exiting the room. "I believe, though, that Mr. Pettigrew will not be a suitable secret-keeper, given his status at this moment. Goodnight, and please ponder my invitation."
Suddenly, he was gone.
The little cottage in Godric's Hollow was silent, save for the cat's mews. The Potters and Sirius gazed at one another in complete and utter shock, as the weight of the words that Dumbledore had said came crashing down upon them. Sirius sighed and stood.
"Lily, do you mind if I sleep on the couch tonight? I, ah, don't really feel like going home, if you know what I mean. I might hurt someone." She nodded and gestured towards the pile of cushions and blankets in a corner.
James started stumbling up the stairs, the shock of finding out his former best friend was a Death Eater finally hitting him. Lily looked up as she heard his clunking footsteps and followed him upstairs and into their bedroom. "James?"
His eyes held an empty look as he sat on the edge of their bed. "Lils, I trusted him to be Secret-Keeper. I had almost led him directly to our front door. I can't believe I put you and Harry in danger. I—I can't—I'm not a good husband or parent." He said the last sentence so softly that Lily had to strain to hear him, but nevertheless, she did.
Fury welled up inside of her, and she had a hard time keeping it under control. She kept her voice low, but James could hear her anger in her tone. "You listen to me, James Potter. I couldn't have asked for a better man to be my husband, and Harry has the best father in the world. Just because you almost make a mistake doesn't mean that you're the worst man in the world. The worst man in the world is in hiding, trying to take over the world. He's murdering people left and right, and you can not possibly think that you are more evil than him! So, just get your head out of the gutter, and—"
He cut her off, saying, "Calm down, Lily, you'll wake Harry. And you've proved your point. It made me realize just how much I love you and Harry, and makes me want to rip Voldemort limb from limb."
She padded over to the bed and slipped her arms around his waist, tucking her head into his chest. "I love you too, Potter." He smiled and slowly, they both drifted off to sleep.
.:*:.
The bright sunlight filtering through his filmy curtains woke the little, black-haired baby. He opened his tiny mouth and yawned. Birds started singing outside his window and welcomed the new day in early November. Halloween had passed a week ago, and the baby had tasted his first butterbeer, against his mother's wishes, but Sirius, his godfather, and almost forced it down his throat. Lily had voiced her displeasure by hexing him with a very powerful Bat-Bogey hex, which had made his nose fill with bats and had amused Harry to no end.
His vibrant green eyes shifted from his little mobile above his head to the man standing in the doorway. "Hey, Harry, sleep good?"
He gurgled and laughed, reaching up to grasp the glasses adorning his father's face. "Dada!"
James laughed and tickled the baby's tummy underneath his snitch-adorned jammies. "You wanna go see Mama?" More giggling affirmed his question, so he lifted Harry out of his crib and carried him downstairs.
The little family was in the middle of breakfast when a knock sounded on the door. "James?" Lily gestured towards the door, and he got up, coming back with Dumbledore. The old man had a genuine smile gracing his crinkled face.
"I have the most wonderful news, and I am sure you will agree with me."
"Professor?"
"Just note, before I begin my tale, that it comes with a terrible price." The Potters nodded, and Harry gazed at them cluelessly. "Voldemort has disappeared, and his forces have…dissipated." At this, James leapt up, grabbed Harry from his mother's arms, and swung him around the kitchen, whooping loudly. "James," Dumbledore warned. "I think you should hear the rest before you commence to celebrating." At this, the lively attitude in the kitchen diminished rapidly. Lily looked at the professor warily, as if gauging his expression.
Dumbledore sighed and sank into the chair that James had vacated. He took his half-moon spectacles off of his long nose and wiped them with a sleeve of his robes. "Lily, this will come as more of a shock to you, not to say it won't shock James as well." Here, he paused, "There has been a fatal casualty, with the result that Voldemort is vanquished. He and several followers, Bellatrix Lestrange, Peter Pettigrew, and Severus Snape, to name a few, paid a visit to the Longbottoms' home in Surrey, not very far from your sister, Lily." Tears welled in Lily's eyes as she anticipated his next words. "Needless to say, it was quite a disaster. We had to wipe many muggle memories; what will interest you is that there was only one casualty—Frank's father. It seems that my research from the past few years has paid off."
Lily broke in. "Pardon me, but you said research?"
He chuckled good-naturedly. "I did indeed, Mrs. Potter. Research. I assume you know all about horcruxes and the dastardly consequences they have?" Both Lily and James nodded. "Well, Voldemort had made several of them: a small diary he had as a boy, the lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, a small goblet owned by Helga Hufflepuff, a locket owned by Salazar Slytherin, and an old Gaunt family heirloom owned by his late mother."
Lily's mouth was hanging open. "He made five?!"
Dumbledore nodded. "Indeed he did, Lily, and I found and destroyed all of them. That is how Frank and Alice were able to destroy him, but with a terrible price."
James suddenly spoke up. "How, sir, did you manage to find all of them?"
Dumbledore chuckled. "As I said, I had been doing research on this for several years, James. And by several years, I mean ten. Continuing my story, the Death Eaters were furious when they saw their leader die at the hands of Frank Longbottom. So, naturally, they, ah, tortured him into insanity. He is at St. Mungo's as we speak."
Lily was so shocked that she was as still as a statue. James was the opposite. "HOW COULD THEY DO THIS? HE HAS A WIFE AND KID! HOW COULD THEY JUST—"
"James. Calm down." Lily spoke, surprisingly the calm one in the room, excepting Dumbledore. Harry whimpered at his father's loud words and started crying. Lily bounced him on her knee to quiet his wails. She took a deep breath and said to Dumbledore, "When can we see Alice and Neville?"
Dumbledore sighed. "Right away. Alice needs all the help she can get right now."
.:*:.
"Alice." Lily shook her friend's shoulder. "Alice."
Alice awoke, and sat up in the plastic chair outside the mental ward at St. Mungo's, startling Neville, who sat in her arms. Her appearance was very disheveled. Her brunette hair was tangled with many knots, she had streaks of dirt everywhere, her clothes were rumpled and torn, and her eyes were bloodshot and rimmed with red. Overall, it was a very startling sight. Neville didn't look much better. Alice's eyes suddenly filled with tears. "Oh, Lily, I just can't do this. Frank's —" here, she started crying too much to continue. Lily handed Harry to James and sat next to Alice, pulling her into a firm embrace. James pulled Neville out from between the two women and took he and Harry to a chair a little way away from the distressed Alice. He sat the two babies on the floor so they could play.
This was the sight that the healer saw when he opened the door to the mental ward. Clearing his throat, he let Alice and Lily walk into the room to see the lasting damage. James followed, juggling the two giggly babies. The sight that greeted him would never leave him. Frank Longbottom lay on a bed, machines surrounding him, pale as the sheets he was laying on. There were many cuts on his face from his own fingernails as he was tortured; his eyes were closed, and he looked dead. Only the slightest lifting of his chest would tell you otherwise. Alice let out more wails upon seeing her husband's form. The sound struck James in the heart, and he realized, I could be the one lying on that bed. That could be Lils screaming.
The next few hours flew by quickly. Alice opted to stay at St. Mungo's for the night, and Lily and James flooed home with Harry and Neville. The two toddlers fell asleep in the same cot, and Lily and James both had a restless night of worrying about Frank. He had always been one of the nicest students at Hogwarts, and there was nothing more that James wanted to do than hunt down every Death Eater until there were none left. He knew, however, that all his efforts would be in vain.
So, instead of acting on his rash wishes, he gripped Lily tighter and fell into a fitful sleep, hoping that when he awoke, it would all be a dream.
There you have it, folks! Feel free to leave a review! Thank you for taking the time to read all of this!
CravingHoneydukes