Halloween 1981
Vega couldn't believe she was pregnant again, she was just thankful that her morning sickness this time wasn't anywhere near as bad as it was four years ago when she was pregnant with Aries.
God Vega couldn't even believe that baby was four years old, it seemed like yesterday when Vega first had to leave Aries at home with Andromeda and Ted while she returned to Hogwarts with Sirius to finish their seventh year.
She looked down at the sleeping child in her bed and she instantly smiled, Aries was completely oblivious to the troubles that faced their world and that was how her and Sirius wanted it to be. They didn't want to worry Aries any more than what was needed, it was hard when Vega's twin brother Castor had been killed because Aries was constantly asking where he was but she wasn't able to understand that he wouldn't be returning home.
Vega heard a loud smash from the other room, she looked at Aries for a moment glad she was still asleep before rushing out to see what Sirius had done now.
Sirius had left early in the afternoon to go and check on their friends and had yet returned while another friend of theirs who had been living with them, Remus, was out for the night. Dumbledore wanted him to check on something and he had not yet returned.
Vega found Sirius in one of the guest rooms throwing things against the wall and she knew it wasn't good, the last time Sirius was like this was when Castor had been killed, actually they were both pretty bad off.
"Sirius!" Vega scolded and Sirius stopped mid throw and dropped the vase before looking at her, all the anger Vega held towards Sirius for potentially waking Aries up was gone at the look on his face.
"What is it?" She walked over to him and grabbed his hands to prevent him from throwing anything else but he just wrapped his arms around and held her close before speaking.
"It's so bad babe, so so bad." Sirius muttered against her hair and it wasn't long until Vega felt the wetness from his tears on her head.
"What's wrong Pads, what's going on?" she questioned again hoping this time she would get a response.
"It's James and Lily…" Vega's stomach fell at that, Sirius saying James instead of Prongs wasn't right. That only ever happened when something bad happened, when they were fought or when someone was dead. It was the same when Castor died, the minute it happened they stopped referring to him as Mane.
"What happened, are they alright?" she pulled away and looked at him but he just shook his head. "No they can't be dead…" she put a hand over her mouth to hold back the sob but her eyes welled up anyway.
"I couldn't even take Harry because Hagrid said Dumbledore wanted him, I didn't know what else to do. I had to tell you but damn, I need to find that stupid rat."
"What rat? What's going on?"
"It was fucking Peter, we switched you know? You don't know I didn't tell you, James thought it would be easier if no one knew we switched. I'm so sorry for lying but damn it, I want to ring Peter's fucking neck for what he did. Voldemort found them, they found James and Lily and killed them, the house was destroyed."
Vega didn't know what to say, she just stared at him as he began pacing in the room muttering to himself about how he wanted to kill Peter.
"You need to tell Dumbledore about the switch, he will believe it was you that betrayed them. It could go badly if you don't go and say anything, if I've lost them I can't lose you as well. I need you here, you need to be here and watch Aries grow up. Do you want to lose that option?" she looked at Sirius, pleading with him. She didn't want to think about her having to raise Aries and this unborn child on her own.
"Damn it you're right, please don't leave the house. No matter what happens please don't the house baby, just stay here with Aries and Moony should be back soon enough. With Voldemort gone I don't know what is going to happen with his followers, they can't get in here. Please don't leave the house Vega, I can't lose you as well, I would be at a complete loss on how to raise Aries without you." Sirius cupped Vega's face pleading with her as well and she slowly nodded.
"I love you Vega, don't forget that. I will be back when I can."
"I love you too Sirius." Vega kissed him and it wasn't long until Sirius was gone, leaving Vega alone. She was terrified and had no choice but to go and check on Aries again, making sure she was still asleep.
Sirius appeared in Hogsmeade and just hoped that anyone of the secret passages he had discovered years ago were still available for him to get onto the grounds, he needed to see Dumbledore, he needed to tell Dumbledore the truth. Sirius didn't want to get all of the blame for this, he didn't do this and as much as he hated himself for convincing everyone that it would be better to have Peter as the secret keeper, because honestly who would think it was him instead of Sirius?
Sirius had even been kidnapped not long ago to be questioned over where the Potter's were located but it was a failed attempt on the low ranking Death Eaters and Sirius shortly returned home.
"Sirius you've done a foolish thing tonight." Sirius was startled at the sound of Dumbledore's voice, he turned around to face the older wizard.
"It wasn't me, I didn't betray them. We ended up switching, I told them it would be smarter on our part to have Peter has the secret keeper. We thought they wouldn't suspect it because I was James' best friend, it made sense to us but yet Peter was the traitor we had amongst us all these years."
"Let's go into my office and we will discuss this, maybe you could share the memories with me and then we will find a way to track down Peter." Sirius nodded before following Dumbledore down the corridor.
Vega was pacing in the kitchen the following morning, Sirius had still not returned and if her information was correct Remus would be returning any minute. She hated that they would have to eventually tell Aries that James and Lily were gone, she wouldn't understand, she still didn't understand that Castor was gone but as time went on she asked less questions about him.
"Mummy, where's daddy?" Vega turned and looked at her daughter and gave her a sad smile.
"He's taking care of something, I promise he will be home soon." Vega hated seeing her daughter pout like that, it wasn't her trying to get her way, no this was her upset about something and it broke her heart because she couldn't fix it, she just hoped that maybe Remus returning could elevate Aries mood.
"What about Jaime and Moony?" Vega's eyes welled up again at the mention of James, no one understood where Aries had gotten the name Jaime from but she wouldn't drop it.
Vega turned around and focused on the dirty dishes in the sink, unsure of how to answer Aries' question.
"Mummy?" the young girl called out again and Vega just dropped the bowl before gripping the counter.
"How about we go play in the other room and give mummy some space?" Vega was grateful at hearing Remus' voice, knowing he was okay.
"Moony!" Aries squealed in excitement and it wasn't long until Vega was left alone in the kitchen.
"V are you alright?" Vega spun around and faced Remus, shocked that he left Aries alone.
"You left Aries alone? Why would you do that!" she yelled at him, shocking him before she run into the living room finding Aries laying on the floor with her books and toys surrounding her.
"What's going on V? You've never panicked when I've left Aries alone for a couple of minutes, especially now that's she a bit older." Remus whispered when he stood next to Vega but she shook her head.
"It's so bad, Sirius doesn't want us to leave the house till he gets back."
"How bad is it V?"
Vega looked to where Aries was, hoping the young girl wouldn't hear the next sentence. "James and Lily are dead…"
"No way…" Remus was in disbelief, he knew that they had a Fidelus Charm on their house and that Sirius was their secret keeper but if they were dead it meant something happened to Sirius or he betrayed them.
"I'll explain or Sirius will if he returns but I can't right now, not with Aries around and I can't leave her alone."
"I'll watch her, you go take a shower and then we can wait till Sirius returns." Vega just shook her head as she walked over and took a seat on the floor beside Aries giving Remus the opportunity to go and take in the information he was just given in peace, he had now lost two best friends to this war.
Vega didn't know when it happened but she must have fallen asleep as some point, someone was shaking her shoulder to wake her up. When she opened her eyes she found Sirius leaning over her, she looked around and noticed Aries was gone.
"Aries?" Vega asked in a panic but Sirius just softly kissed her first.
"Moony has her, she's fine." Relief instantly washed of Vega.
"Did you find Peter?"
"Not yet, I just came home to shower and get changed. I need to be at the Ministry to handle some things while they search for him but I promise you I'm not going anywhere, they've seen my memories and seen that we did in fact switch secret keepers." Vega nodded before wrapping her arms around his neck and letting the tears fall freely knowing Aries was preoccupied.
"Hey please don't cry babe, come on I need you to watch Aries while I tell Moony what happened because the glare I got entering the house was enough to make me realise that he doesn't know what happened."
Vega nodded before the two of them stood up and headed towards where Remus was playing with Aries in a part of the backyard that was protected by the wards around the house.
"Come on baby, it's time for your bath." Vega spoke picking up Aries leaving Sirius and Remus alone.
"You know it looks really bad on your part, I hear that James and Lily are dead and last I heard you were the secret keeper but Vega also tells me not to leave the house until you returned." Remus spoke and Sirius let out a sigh before scratching the back of his neck.
"I know but Moony it wasn't me, Peter and I switched. We thought it would be the smarter thing, they wouldn't consider Peter. I feel so bad for suggesting it and not telling anyone but we thought we were doing the right thing." Sirius couldn't help but fidget under Remus' gaze, the silence was too long.
"As much as I hate admitting it, it makes more sense. You would never betray James, he was a brother to you. There have been too many instances where we didn't know where Peter was and all those raids that went wrong, it makes sense but I hate thinking that it was one of us, someone we considered family."
"It's weird because Aries never liked him, it's like she saw something in him that we all ignored because we had known each other for so long."
"Aries doesn't know does she?"
"I assume not, I didn't ask V but this will crush her. She adored James and Lily and even though I'm Harry's godfather Dumbledore doesn't know if it's best for him, he's convinced that Harry should grow up away from our world."
"We'll get him," Remus spoke and Sirius only nodded.
"I need to go shower, I have to go back to the Ministry. Please don't let V leave, I know she had a habit of visiting Frank and Alice but she can't, not today, not until I know what is going on with the Death Eaters."
"I'll keep them both safe Padfoot."
"Thanks Moony…"
Sirius didn't return for five days, for five days Vega was filled with worry as to what was keeping him, for five days Aries was constantly questioning where he was and for five days Remus began to worry about Vega because she was acting weird.
"V are you alright?" Remus questioned as he entered the living room late one night to find her still awake.
"I'm just worried about him."
"I know I am too but there is something different about you, what's wrong?" Vega gave him a small smile.
"I'm pregnant."
"What?"
"I said I'm pregnant Moony and he's picked the worst timing to not come home for days." Vega pulled a face before staring at the fireplace.
"He doesn't know?"
"No, I haven't had the chance to tell him. I saw Andromeda before he left."
"You can't call him anything either?"
"No, I don't know what's going on and I'm sick with worry. What if he was lying to us?"
"V you can't believe that, it makes sense as much as we hate admitting it. Why would he betray James like that?"
"This is Peter we are talking about, where the hell did he get the courage to do something like this? To the people who accepted him, who always had his back when everyone else picked on him?"
"I know V but you love him yes?" Vega nodded still refusing to look at Remus. "Then trust him, you two have been through so much. I remember a time when you two were still dating but you refused to talk to him, or what about when you were pregnant with Aries? You were actively avoiding him in fear of his reaction. He will come home to us and he will be there to watch Aries and this new baby grow up."
"What new baby?" they both jumped at the sound of Sirius' voice, Vega instantly rushed over to his side and threw her arms around his neck. "I'm okay, just exhausted but what baby?"
"I'm pregnant Pads." Vega smiled at him and a smile instantly appeared on his face before he picked her up and spun her around.
"It better be a boy," Sirius growled playfully causing Vega and Remus to laugh at him.
"We'll see but I'm not taking any chances this time, I can't lose another baby." Vega spoke softly causing Sirius to frown.
"We won't lose another one,"
"Where's Harry?" Remus questioned and Sirius instantly scowled at the question.
"With Lily's sister, Dumbledore honestly believes that Harry will be better off with muggles. For now I'm not allowed to question it or go against his wishes no matter what James and Lily's wills say, the Ministry wants us to get past our grief and for our world to get past this before we can have Harry back."
"I have to check on Aries…" Vega muttered before pulling away and heading upstairs.
Neither Sirius nor Remus said anything but they were both worried about her, they didn't know how Vega was going to be without Lily and they were unsure of how Aries will be without being able to see the Potter's anymore.
7 years later
Aries POV
"Daddy…" I yelled while jumping up and down on the bed, I knew I would get in trouble for doing it, they always told me off but mummy told me to tell daddy that breakfast was ready.
"Gotcha," I squealed as daddy all of a sudden moved and I was on the bed being tickled.
"Please stop!" I begged during squeals and laughs but it didn't work, he didn't stop until I had tears in my eyes. "Your mean daddy," I pouted at him but he just laughed before leaning over and kissing my forehead.
"Happy Birthday princess." I grinned at him, I was finally eleven. It meant today I was getting my Hogwarts letter and I couldn't wait to show off to Fred and George about my letter because they still had six months until they got theirs. Fred and George Weasley were my best friends in the whole world.
"Mummy said breakfast was ready and I had to wake you."
"Sure she did, is Moony awake?"
"I'm not allowed in his room," I complained and crossed my arms over my chest, I didn't understand why there were times when I wasn't allowed in his room, it didn't make sense.
"I didn't say go wake him up, I just asked if he was awake Aries." I heard the warning tone in his voice but I didn't budge, I just grumbled a response before climbing off the bed and heading downstairs.
"Happy birthday sis," I spun around and came face to face with my grinning brother, I was a little cautious about the way he was grinning, it also didn't help that he was holding a box.
"What's wrong with it Cas?" my brother was named Castor after our uncle, he had been killed during the war.
His grin didn't slip, even when I frowned at him knowing there had to be something wrong with it. "Nothing Aries."
It didn't matter if he was younger, much younger at that. Growing up in this house being raised by three trouble makers when they were at Hogwarts pretty much made my brother and I doomed from the start, we usually stick to each other every now and then working together to get mum and dad but that rarely worked in our favour, it only worked if one of the adults helped us.
"Fine, maybe I will go open it with mum. She would love to see what you got me," I flashed him a smile and that's when the act dropped.
The one rule they had when it came to pranks was no birthdays or holidays, especially Halloween.
I went to reach for the box but he just moved it out of my reach before running off leaving me standing there laughing.
"Happy birthday Aries," I heard Moony's voice before I turned to face him giving him a smile, my uncle Moony, or Remus Lupin was friends with mum and dad when they were at Hogwarts. No one understood why Moony lived with us, but we never questioned it because he was always there growing up.
"Thank you Moony, are you feeling alright?" I scrunched my face up at the emotion that flashed through his eyes before he gave me a smile.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be? Come on I heard breakfast is ready." Moony walked off before I even had the chance to state that I wasn't allowed in his room once again.
I had a frown etched on my face as I entered the dining room where mum had set up breakfast, not even caring that it was my all-time favourite for breakfast.
"What's wrong baby?" she questioned but I just shook my head before I began picking at the chocolate chip pancakes in front of me.
I continued to stay silent throughout breakfast, ignoring the questions that came my way. I wanted to know what was with my parents and their demands as to why I couldn't be in Moony's room.
"What's wrong princess?" dad's voice broke the silence that was sitting in the Quidditch Pitch, I had escaped to here as soon as I was allowed to leave the table. Everyone wasn't turning up until this afternoon.
"Why aren't I allowed in Moony's room? You and mum make it seem like he's sick all the time but this morning he claimed he was fine." It was a while before he responded and the two of us were sitting on the grass ignoring what little sun we had.
"I promise you there is a reason for that but now isn't the time to tell you, someday soon though."
"That's not good enough," I snapped at him before storming off.
"You know there are a lot of people downstairs,"
"But yet you are hiding up here…" I turned around faced my best friends giving them sad smiles.
I knew everyone, or if not everyone nearly everyone, had arrived and were downstairs. We weren't having a party as such, it was just everyone coming around for dinner to help celebrate but after the events of this morning I wasn't the least bit interested in spending time with everyone now.
"I just want to be alone."
"It's your eleventh birthday, your Hogwarts letter is most likely sitting downstairs waiting to be opened." I looked at Fred as he spoke, before shaking my head and turning around to look out the window.
"Why are you shaking your head, we've been talking about Hogwarts for years, ever since Bill started."
"I have incredibly big shoes to fill…" I spoke softly as they sat down beside me and I automatically leaned into Fred.
"It won't be that bad, you won't be alone, we will be there right beside you." George spoke as he smiled at me and with that knowing I had my two best friends standing beside me meant everything.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read this, at the moment it might just stay as a one shot. It may become more if enough people are interested, the idea struck me while I'm stuck in the middle of writers block for one of my other stories.