Prologue

"Remus, look out!"

Remus Lupin turned to look behind him just in time to watch a high brick wall come crashing down. He dove for cover, the cries of crushed friend and foe alike calling out amongst the crash. Dust showered him, and for a moment he paused, just long enough to catch his breath. Then a flash of green light whizzed past his ear and something exploded behind him, propelling him back into action. He had no idea who'd called his name, or where any of his friends were. The colors of the spells being cast meant nothing; it was impossible to tell whether they were friendly fire or some Death Eater's Killing Curse. Either way, he avoided every flash of light he could, trying to find his way through the utter pandemonium before him.

He stupefied a few Death Eaters and helped some of the people he did recognize, but in the melee . . . No order existed in this. He tripped over something he didn't stop to investigate. It was best not to know. He had no idea where he meant to go, but he had to go somewhere. Suddenly, a sign from one of the buildings came crashing down just beside him and a familiar voice cried, "Lily!"

Remus whirled around. Through the cloud of plaster that rose from the fallen sign, he could just make out a woman's form, mercifully between the sign and the building it leaned against. A man with jet-black hair dove to her side. Remus ducked down under the sign, too.

Lily lay on the ground cradling her wand arm, which bled profusely through a long gash running lengthwise along it. James lifted her head to help her up into a sitting position. Remus knelt by her legs.

"Are you okay?" asked James desperately, checking the rest of her body for injuries. She nodded, and something hit the sign they were huddled behind with enough force to bring more plaster raining down upon them. James laid a protective hand on Lily's lower abdomen. She was five months pregnant and just starting to show. Remus took hold of her injured arm and examined the wound. It looked magical. It was too deep to be a shrapnel wound, and when he tried to heal it nothing happened.

"You shouldn't have come with me," said James as he gently rubbed the small bump on Lily's stomach with his thumb. Lily scoffed.

"Let you do something like this on your own? You're mad."

Another blow threatened to topple the sign over on them. Remus reached up to steady it, blinking against the dust. Lily suddenly cried out in pain, clutching at her stomach. When James spoke again his voice was rigid.

"You shouldn't be here," he said. Lily made a negative sign.

"No," she gasped, still holding her middle. "I'm staying with you."

"Stop being stupid, Lily, you're putting our baby in danger."

"You're putting his father in danger!"

James took her face into his hands strongly. "Damn it, Lily, if this was any other time, you know I'd have you right here with me," he said affectionately. She smiled at him weakly.

Before anyone could say anything, Lily gasped and doubled over. More explosions surrounded them. Remus looked to see if anyone knew their spot. It didn't seem so, and he thought that maybe he could get out without being noticed . . .

"Prongs, what does the other side of this sign say?" he asked.

"Ollivander's, why?"

"Ollivander's . . . James, we can get to the Leaky Cauldron from here," he said. James held tightly to Lily's hand and seemed to have an inner battle with himself. Finally, he looked away from his wife and shook his head.

"No. I have to stay."

Remus understood, but they had to move. He held Lily under her injured arm and helped her to her feet. She didn't protest, but she also didn't let go of James' hand until she had stood as much as possible in the small space.

"I'll see you," she said firmly. He nodded.

"Always."

James took off. Lily leaned her weight against Remus as they ducked out into the battle.

Remus led the straining Lily through an alley beside Ollivander's shop and they weaved their way through the back paths of Diagon Alley and into the heavily guarded side entrance to the Leaky Cauldron.

Upon seeing Remus, the guards stiffened, but when they saw Lily, her arm dripping with blood and her breath quick and shallow, they immediately stepped aside. Remus led her into the pub and up the stairs. Hogwarts' Madam Pomfrey greeted them on the first floor.

"What's happened to her?" she asked, taking Lily's arm from across Remus' shoulders.

"Her arm was hit by something, but she's pregnant and I'm afraid she—"

Madam Pomfrey made a derisive noise and steered Lily into an unoccupied room. "She shouldn't be here! This is madness. We'll put her here and I'll set her right."

A young, blonde witch poked her head in the door, her face red with urgency. "Poppy, we're going to need restraints on that poor bloke who—"

"Get one of the Mediwizards!" interrupted Madam Pomfrey, taking the shorn sleeve off Lily's robe. "I'm busy here!"

The blonde looked frightened, but she nodded and disappeared. Remus watched as Lily's breathing grew deeper and less labored.

"Is she going to be all right?" he asked.

"Yes, she should be fine. It's the stress that did it. Of all things . . . a pregnant woman here! In a battle! I'll have words with her husband if he makes it through, Merlin willing."

"It was my choice," snapped Lily. "Now leave me alone, I'm better."

Madam Pomfrey pushed her back down in the bed. "No, you don't. You're staying here. The Death Eaters might claim this generation, but they won't get the next one as long as I have something to say about it."

With that she dabbed a bright green potion onto Lily's wound, gave Remus the bottle, then swept off to deal with her other patients.

They could still hear the fight raging outside. When Dumbledore had gotten wind of Voldemort's plan to take over Diagon Alley, most of the Order of the Phoenix had been sent to set up sentry. But it had been a trap. The Death Eaters were already waiting for them.

He raised a hand to wipe at his eyes as he remembered the slump of his friend's body against his shoulder. Peter had been so stupid. Why did he ever join with the Death Eaters?

A great blast rocked the foundations of the Leaky Cauldron, breaking Remus' trance. Something bad had happened.

Everything remained eerily quiet for a few moments before there was suddenly a rush of footsteps and a barrage of voices downstairs. Someone pounded up the staircase and past their room. No one else followed, but a few moments later, he was back.

"They've got us outnumbered," he gasped, standing in the doorway. "We can't hold them back. Dumbledore says to . . ."

"Retreat," finished Remus grimly. The young man in the door nodded, then ran on to tell others.

Remus looked at Lily, who looked absolutely petrified. She thought of James . . . and so did Remus.

The noise downstairs only grew in intensity as wizards rushed out into the safety – how bizarre did that sound? – of Muggle London.

Remus helped Lily off the bed and she made it down the stairs of her own accord. Even though he knew he wouldn't find them, Remus' eyes scanned the crowd for signs of James or Sirius, and before he could stop it, he was swept out through the door and away from the possibility of finding his friends.

The two of them stood close to the pub's entrance while different Order members cast memory charms on unsuspecting Muggles passing by. Aside from the mass of bloody witches and wizards dressed in robes, it might as well have been a normal day here. It was almost like stepping through a curtain from a nightmare back into reality. Except that this was the dream, and the nightmare was the reality.

James and Sirius came flooding through the door as the crowd started to thin. Wizards were Apparating all around them, getting as far away from the battle site as possible. James caught sight of Lily and came rushing to her, Sirius not far behind. The two of them clasped hands and looked at each other grimly. They both thought the same thing: The Death Eaters have taken Diagon Alley. What do we do now?

--

Months passed, and the battle now known as the Great Defeat had dropped morale low among the Order of the Phoenix and the wizarding community on the whole. Remus sat on the Potters' sitting room couch fingering a half-empty wine glass thoughtfully. Sirius was on the floor taunting Lily and James' six-month-old son Harry with a tiny flying broomstick. Remus blinked and looked over at Sirius, who was now watching Harry attempt to stick the toy in his mouth.

"Don't, Sirius, he'll choke on it," he admonished. Sirius took the toy away and both he and Harry gave Remus the same shamed look. Remus laughed and rolled his eyes, sipping his wine. Lily and James came into the room, Lily bearing another wine bottle and James placed a large plate of iced Christmas biscuits on the table before the sofa.

"How is the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?" Remus asked any of the other three adults, reaching for a biscuit.

"Recovering. It's hard, you know. Losing most of the Aurors to . . ."

Remus nodded. There was no need to explain. The size of the Order of the Phoenix had been reduced by nearly half after the Great Defeat. Dumbledore had grown uncharacteristically silent since, contributing very little to what meetings the Order got to have. Dark circles had appeared under his eyes, and he seemed to bear a great guilt. He spent a lot of time to himself, though he was always visible. Some of the wizarding community was angry at him, blaming the casualties of a few months ago on him. But to those who remained loyal, which was still a large number, he continued to be a guiding and inspiring force.

They sat in silence, watching Harry giggle as Sirius pretended to pull Sickles from behind his ears. The fire burning gaily behind them made a pleasant backdrop for the scene of warmth and innocence. As they watched, however, the fire turned bright green and everyone stiffened. Sirius scooped up Harry and sat back from the flames, just in case someone wanted through . . .

Frank Longbottom's head appeared in the fire. Remus relaxed, but only slightly. The look in Frank's eyes said there was something terribly wrong.

"What's up, Frank?" asked James.

"I tried your houses, but no one was home," said Frank, addressing Remus and Sirius. "I thought you might be here. All of you, I mean."

His voice was strange, stuck on something. He cleared his throat a few times before James asked him, "Is there something wrong?"

Frank blinked, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was going to say. "Well . . . James, Sirius, Remus, Lily . . . Dumbledore's gone."

"What do you mean? Is he dead?"

Frank's shoulders shrugged up next to his ears. "I don't know. But he's gone. No one can find him and . . ."

"And what, Frank?" demanded Sirius.

"Fawkes is gone, too."

Remus' heart fell. Fawkes was gone? That meant that Dumbledore was either dead, or had really gone somewhere . . . left, for a long time, perhaps. Why would he leave? What purpose did that serve?

"Well, I just . . . thought you ought to know," said Frank lamely. He didn't know anything, which was frustrating to everyone involved. No one knew what to say.

Silence lasted for quite a while before Frank left. Afterward, the air in the Potters' sitting room was heavy with questions. Questions, Remus knew, that would have to wait to be answered.

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A/N: Here's that explanatory Author's Note I promised. Things Undone is set in 1996, Harry and co.'s sixth year, but in a completely, utterly alternate universe. Because of this battle in 1980, many things didn't happen that were supposed to. Namely, the prophecy. So, really, this is an experiment in what would happen if the prophecy had never happened. I won't explain the whole plot to you here (besides, wouldn't a good author be able to fill in any holes just through narrative?), but I just thought I would introduce you to it, since the summaries on the front page can only be so long. This is a first version (even though it's a twenty-sixth version in my head) to be posted, so it will go through many changes once I finish it, put it up, and take all the feedback from you guys! Thank you all so much for reading . . . feedback is very much appreciated!

Disclaimer: All property above and herein belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Brothers, and anybody else that has a piece of the Harry Potter Universe. No money is being made and no credit is being taken. Anything you don't recognize is probably mine, although it might not be, so let's just say I don't own any of it. :-)