Lily Potter stood on the doorstep of number 4, Privet drive on a clear august evening. In her arms she held a messy-haired baby boy that would have had her almond-shaped green eyes had they not been closed in peaceful sleep.
She mustered up her courage, reminding herself that she needed this, and Harry needed this, and James needed this. She couldn't take care of her baby if she was an emotional wreck, and she certainly couldn't keep passion with her husband. And Petunia was the only one who would understand.
She rang the doorbell, and for a few moments considered running back to Godric's Hollow. She knew she must have looked a wreck, with red-rimmed eyes and dried tear streaks down her face, wet lashes and her hair in a tangle.
Then, the door swung open, revealing her sister, who gasped. "Petunia…" she said meekly. Her sister looked puzzled. After her wedding to James, Lily had expressed the sentiment that she had never wanted to see her sister again.
"Lily…" the witch nodded.
"Can I come in?" she asked. Petunia nodded, tears shining in her eyes. Her older sister beckoned her in, and they seated themselves at the couches, while another baby slept in a bassinet near the fireplace.
"Lily… Why are you here?" her sister asked. Lily thought how to best answer this question. The stress it put on her…
"I need to talk to you. You're the only one who would understand." She said, looking at the peaceful baby in her arms, her little Harry with his messy shock of jet-black hair going every single way at once.
"Understand what?" Petunia asked, confused. Lily wanted to tell her that it was nothing, but she couldn't. She couldn't sit back and say that she was fine, it was obviously a lie.
"I have a son." She said, tears streaming down her face once more.
"Are you not ready for a son?" asked Petunia, concern for her baby sister in her eyes. Lily sat up.
"No, it's not that! I love Harry with all of my heart, but…"
"But what?"
"There was a prophecy made, Tunia. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not. And either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies." Lily recited. If possible, Petunia looked even more puzzled.
"What does it mean?" her estranged sister whispered, all hatred of each other forgotten in this surreal moment.
"It means that my baby boy is going to grow up with the power to kill the wizard who killed our parents." She said. "And I'm a wreck because of it. He's going to have to commit murder or be killed!" she shouted, stirring both babies. "You're the only one who will understand this, but my son could quite possibly be the one with the power to vanquish the dark lord! He's going to be a Messiah!"
Petunia tended to her son Dudley in silence. "So you're upset because he could be very much the equivalent of Jesus Christ to your people." Lily nodded. "You want him to grow up as a normal w-wizard child, but because of this prophecy he's got to be an exalted hero." Once again, she nodded.
"He's my booooy," she quietly wailed, sobbing. "He shouldn't have to go through with this! He shouldn't have to commit murder. He should just be… A child. How am I supposed to feel about this? I should be happy, but I'm not!" she said.
Petunia clucked her tongue. "No woman would be happy knowing her son had to grow up a celebrity. Is there any alternative?" Lily just held Harry tighter.
"Yes. Another boy could be the one to fill out the prophecy and save the world. But he's only a day older than Harry!" she said.
"And so the fate of your people rests on one of two children?" asked Petunia, as Lily nodded, making a small 'Mhmm' sound.
"Is this what it felt like for the Virgin Mary?" she whispered into the blankets of her son. "When the angel told her she would be bearing the Son of God?" she asked. "Did she know that her son was going to walk on water, heal the blind and then suffer in agony before being dead? Or did she simply know that her son was going to be the Messiah that had been awaited for four millennia?" Petunia listened to her rant, and then looked at the son in her arms.
"Lily… I don't know what to say. I'm sorry you have to bear this." Lily nodded, and gave a weak smile.
"That's why I came here. Because other parents would be thrilled to know that their son would free us from this reign of darkness. They'd love to think that their child would be famous. That's why they wouldn't understand. I just want him to be happy! He's better off not knowing that he's a wizard at all, Petunia! He's a baby!" Petunia nodded at this sentiment.
Two and a half months later, Petunia, her heart heavy and now cold after not seeing her sister ever after that, opened the door to find the previously discussed Messiah on her doorstep. She shrieked, because she knew what this would mean. She read the letter through, and sniffed. Her sister… Gone.
But then, Lily's words rang in her ears. "He's better off not knowing that he's a wizard at all…" if there was one thing she could do, it would be to keep the magic from him. Stop him from being a Messiah, and put her dead sister to rest.
I got the idea for this drabble from the Christmas-ish song "Mary, Did You Know?", and if you don't know it, google the lyrics. Tell me if you like it in a REVIEW!