"Harry Potter: A Prologue"
A/N: I decided to edit/redraft this a bit, because I felt it could be better without totally killing it (also wanted to see if I could make it a little more canon, as most of this was written pre-DH and went fanon as soon as it came out). Hope you like version 2.0!!!
Summary: Amid the 'dark times' of the first war, a little ray of light is born with baby Harry Potter. James and Lily couldn't be happier. Meanwhile, Sirius Black may have found true love at last. Remus Lupin is just beginning to find his place in the world…and Peter Pettigrew plots to destroy it all right before their eyes. Time span goes from July 31st, 1980 (Harry's birthday) up to Sirius' confrontation with Pettigrew after Halloween the following year.
Genre: Romance/Tragedy
A midsummer storm raged over the small hospital that afternoon. It wasn't just one of those strong-but quick showers that dumped half an inch of water on your front lawn and moved on. No, this particular storm had been drenching England since this time yesterday. The hospital itself seemed like it was built right underneath the very center of the storm. If the foundation weren't cement, it would have floated away by this time. But aside from the rain, there was no thunder, no wind. The atmosphere had an ambience of calm surrounding the hospital. The dark clouds had made the midday feel like dusk. The dank air was heavy with humidity.
No one would believe that in all places, the hospital victimized by this storm would actually be the happiest place on earth, at least for five people (the sixth was in too much pain to feel anything emotionally). Only a few more minutes, and the reason so much anticipation and joy hung in the air for them would be here.
On the last little room on the 4th floor of the hospital, were three people. A nurse, of course. A redheaded woman in the midst of giving birth, and her husband and the child's father standing on the left side of her bed, you could recognize him in a heartbeat by the way he had to push his unruly dark out of his eyes ever few minutes to see what was going on. Lily, while struggling to catch every breath she could, wasn't in a foul mood in the least. Her baby was almost here. As for James, well, so much was going on he could only think about being with his wife right now, and not much else (although he had to admit that his hand hurt quite a bit).
Just outside the room sat four other people, friends of the couple, pacing, wondering, worrying, looking at the clock every few seconds. Each person had a distinctive feature that could set them apart in a crowd in an instant, which shouldn't have come as a surprise, as they all were wizards. One was a short and pudgy man, with wispy thin hair and a somewhat large nose. His shoulders were tense, and his face wore a different look from the other three. Indeed, Peter Pettigrew, while, of course, here to support the only friends he had in the world in this special time, had an alternate purpose here as well. He looked at the clock more frequently than the others. Maybe if Lily could hold out past midnight…then it would be August first instead of July 31st…
The second man was a man of average height. A scruffy-looking man with the faint residue of scarring still on his face, he leaned against the nurses' desk nearby and was passing time thumbing through a book about the preliminary discoveries concerning a potion called "Wolfsbane" which could keep a werewolf from becoming dangerous during a full moon. He seemed very interested by the study. Of course, Remus Lupin was still concerned deeply about his two friends in the birthing room across the hall. But what else could he really do to pass the time?
The third man, taller than the previous two men, had his hand intertwined with the fourth person's, a woman's, hand. This third man had dark hair. Brown, but it was so dark many confused it for black. He wore a black leather jacket and a pair of baggy and ripped blue jeans, despite everyone else around him looking rather formal in their attire. Sirius Black tapped his foot on the ground in time with the ticking of the clock on the wall.
With every tick, the grip on the woman's hand got a little bit tighter. Bastet Pollux, with her small, squinty, purple eyes and hair the color of an orange crayon, noticed his fear, and gently touched the side of her lover's face with her soft, round finger. Sirius looked down at her (she was only an inch or two taller than Pettigrew) and smiled, but looked up again after only a second. Not particularly pretty, Bastet had big hips and a short torso, but her vivid hair was perfectly curled.
The four of them just waited. Waited. Waited for hours now. Lily had begun her labor in the early hours of that morning, and James had sent an owl to Sirius, who, in turn, sent one to everyone else. None of them had eaten. None of them had spoken to each other. All eyes had been on that clock since four that morning…
Suddenly, a baby's cry filled the hallway. As each of the four waiting outside heard the tolling of the newborn's wail, their shoulders dropped, their mouths heaved a sigh, and their tense arms fell by their sides once again. After a moment, the short, squat, jolly little nurse opened the door to the birthing room and gestured the four that they could enter the room now and see the baby. Sirius and Bastet charged into the room first, followed by a somewhat anxious Peter. Remus, who was the most passive member of the group, went in last.
When the four were inside, they saw an exhausted, but beaming, Lily and James Potter holding a bundle no bigger than a cereal box in their arms. The infant son was squirming around, looking desperate to get away, unhappy with its' new surroundings. It was beet red and wrinkled, not at all like the babies one saw in diaper advertisements.
"A boy," James said, proudly, standing up to meet Sirius' and Bastet's embrace. Remus, on the other hand, had crossed to the other side of the bed to hold the baby, Lily looked ready to cry in joy. James practically was. Meanwhile, Peter stayed at the foot of the bed, looking happy enough, but he didn't make a move to even offer his congratulations to the new parents.
"He's got James' hair and face," Remus remarked. "No, but definitely Lily's eyes," he added. Lily blushed, though one could barely see it behind her already rose-colored cheeks. Bastet laughed.
"What about a name?" she asked. Lily looked at James as Remus handed the baby over the Lily, who in turn passed it to Sirius. Sirius grinned, his crooked lower front teeth exposed.
"Harry. Harry Potter," Jams answered.
"Whatever happened to Sirius Black Potter?" Sirius asked jokingly, giving a mock pout.
Lily laughed. "I hardly think many Muggles would appreciate that 'fine, upstanding name,'" she answered. This made everyone laugh, even Peter. "We told you already we're living in the Muggle World. So my sister and her family can visit. They had a son recently too," said Lily. "So Harry's going to have a Muggle cousin to play with!"
Bastet shuddered. "I hardly think your nasty sister would let her beach-ball of a boy near this handsome young fellow!"
"Oh, before I forget, may I ask something of you, Padfoot? and Bastet?" asked James, his face turning serious. Sirius and Bastet looked at each other and nodded.
"Yeah?" asked Sirius.
Lily sighed. "Bastet, you were my best mate at school—"
James nodded. "—and so were you, Pads," he continued.
Sirius made another grab at Bastet's hand. "I think it's just wonderful you two are together," said James. "But Lily's sister Petunia IS a Muggle, and we'd prefer that Harry have wizard godparents—"
"—James, say no more," said Bastet.
"We'd LOVE to be Harry's godparents!" Sirius consented. Bastet gave James another hug before taking the baby from Sirius. Although she knew babies couldn't smile while only a few minutes old, she could have sworn she saw a smirk spread across Harry's face as she held him. He looked like that when Sirius was holding him as well.
Of course, the emotional bliss within the room stopped literally at the door. Outside the hospital, a war was imminent concerning a very dark, very powerful wizard, who was feeling his peek of power rolling in…yet he'd recently gotten a disturbing piece of news. That piece of news was precisely why Peter Pettigrew looked so tense in that hospital room while everyone else felt like flying without a broom.
"Wormtail, do you want to hold Harry?" asked Lily, taking back her son from Bastet. Peter, flinching at his nickname, shook his head.
"I'm falling sick," he said. "Wouldn't want to spread my cough around," he excused.
"You haven't coughed once all day," noted Remus. Peter sighed.
"It's coming on, though, I feel a bit faint," Peter said in defense. Remus laughed.
"Well, what better place to get sick in than a hospital!" he said. Bastet rolled her eyes.
James nodded. "Maybe you just need some rest. There'll be plenty of time for holding Harry when we come home at the end of the week," he said.
"Rest. Very good, then," Peter nodded. "I'll see you all in awhile…"
And with that, Peter left the room. Remus and Sirius looked at each other.
"Wonder what's gotten into him," Sirius muttered.