Lives in Ink: Book 1

by Dalanalira

After finding a series of interesting books in the restricted section the marauders and Lily decide to see what the future has in store for them, spoilers book 17.

1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: As much as we would like to take credit for everything this story contains we can't, all refered to characters are property of J.K. Rowling and her genious mind.

Enjoy :-)

Lives in Ink

Chapter One

The halls of Hogwarts were still and silent as pale summer moon light filtered through its many ancient windows. On any other night the castle would seem peaceful, even serene but not this night, for things were not peaceful outside the walls of the proud standing school.

In the outside world, a war was in full swing. Death, destruction and suspicion reigned supreme as the forces of darkness led by Voldemort were continuing their campaign to spread chaos among the wizarding population. The forces of light, led by Albus Dumbledore were left scrambling to catch up, trying to save as many lives as possible in the mad dash to find a way to bring the war to an end. But despite their best efforts, many were still dying, whole families were being wiped out and muggleborns were among the top of the list of targets. It was for this reason that Dumbledore opened the doors of Hogwarts to any student that wanted to stay, or simply had no where else to go.

Inside the peaceful settings of the castle however, one could barely notice the gloomy atmosphere. The halls were quiet, the fires in the common rooms were growing dim and all the remaining students were tucked safely in their beds, or at least so everyone thought.

---

The library was dark, quiet and as still as it always was. The high stacks of books cast long shadows and the quiet hum of magical knowledge filled the air. Everything was as it should be until a sudden yelp of pain rang out in the darkness.

"Ouch Sirius that was my foot!"

"Sorry Prongs but its hard to walk under here! We're not exactly first-years anymore you know."

"I know but shhhh! Keep your voice down we don't want to get caught,"

"Caught by who?" Suddenly two boys materialized out of thin air. The taller of the two straightened out and stretched his cramped back muscles looking slightly annoyed.

"Why are we even wondering around under the cloak anyway?" After stretching properly, Sirius turned and glared at his slightly shorter friend. "In case you haven't noticed its summer holidays and the library is deserted. The only person who comes here now is Evans and she's in her dormitory probably sound asleep."

James ran a hand through his short, messy black hair and glared. "Lily Evans is the last of our worries, if that new crazy librarian catches us we're in big trouble. Besides we don't know if Evans is sleep, she might not be, we don't know because someone forgot to grab the map before we left"

"Oh come on Madame Pince isn't so bad! And if I recall correctly I didn't forget the map! I said I was going to grab the cloak and you were supposed to grab the map!"

"Actually I was supposed to grab the cloak and you the map but it doesn't matter now, let's just find this book and get out of here, I really don't want to get caught before we can get this prank organized" The boys moved through the stacks of books until they reached the roped off section that marked the restricted section. They jumped the rope and started to scan the rows and rows of dusty volumes.

"Fine by me, what's the title again?…something potions?"

James snorted. "Brilliant deduction Padfoot… it is a potions book after all. I thought you were going to ask Moony for the title before we came here?"

"No you were going to ask Moony,"

"Great so now we're looking for a book that we don't even know the name for…I think it was something like Most Poisonous Potions… or maybe Most Preposterous Potions.." James said as he pulled out a volume covered in cobwebs and blew the dust off.

Sirius rolled his eyes and climbed up a ladder to look at some books higher up in the shelves. "Now who's being brilliant, we're looking for the polyjuice potion which isn't poisonous."

"It could be if you added bits of Slytherin to it,"

"Ewww...Good point, Mr. Padfoot wishes to make clear his displeasure at having to consume anything that has come from a Slytherin's person." Sirius swung the ladder further along the wall and climbed to the top to look at the most distant volumes.

James chuckled and placed yet another volume back on the shelves "Mr. Prongs concurs with Mr. Padfoot and suggests that we make Mr. Wormtail the guinea pig."

"Agreed!" Sirius was about to come down the ladder when something colorful caught his eye. Turning back to the shelves he pulled out a book with a bright red cover. Examining it closer, he spotted a picture of a train that looked like the Hogwarts express along with the drawn image of a young dark haired boy baring a lightning blot shaped scar.

"Hey Prongs! Look at this,"

"What is it? And if you tell me you found an old copy of witch weekly in the folds I'll kick this ladder out from under you." James said dryly as he walked over and stood under the ladder.

"No something more interesting then that, check it out." He passed the book down and rested more comfortably against the rungs. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, some relative of yours?"

"Nope, don't know of anyone in the family with the name Harry," he turned the book over in his hands "looks like some kind of muggle book; wonder what it's doing in the restricted section…"

"No clue" Sirius looked back where he found the book and saw more of them in various colours and thicknesses. "but it looks like there's a whole series of them, seven books in all…" James opened the book and looked at the copy right date in mild interest until the date registered in his mind. His eyes widened.

"Padfoot, what year is it?" Sirius turned to look at him and snorted before turning back to the other books.

"Don't be Daft, you know its 1977, I think all the dust is getting you your head."

"Then maybe you can explain why I'm holding a book that isn't supposed to exist yet."

"Wha?" James passed Sirius the book for him to inspect. " 1997? But that's impossible…" his words trailed off as a tantalizing thought occurred to him. "Prongs, what if this book is from the future... Hell this Harry Potter could be your son! The time is right!" His words lit a fire of excitement in the bellies of both boys.

"And that would explain why they're in the restricted section! Padfoot lets grab them, we'll take them back to the common room and find out what our futures have in store for us." But Sirius was already putting the rest of the books in his back pack. They started heading out of the library when Sirius slowed down.

"Bugger, I thought we came here looking for a book to help us prank Snape? Shouldn't we grab it?"

"Forget Snivellus, this looks more interesting, besides I got the book anyway, I found it when you found the other books."

"Brilliant! Then let's get out of here, I don't think I want to be caught by Madam Pince, She's still a little cross with me about the hot chocolate incident." James shook his head and threw the cloak back over them both and with that they made the long silent trek back to the Gryffindor common room.

---

The boys quickly dashed into the common room after hearing several complaints from the Fat Lady about disturbing her slumber (It's bad enough I have to keep working during my off season but to be awoken at all hours of the night! When are you boys going to learn some responsibility?!).

"Where is everyone?" Sirius wondered aloud. James shrugged, walking further into the room intent on finding a good place to start reading. He stopped immediately when a voice spoke up from the darkened room.

"Most sensible people are in bed, it is after 1am, what the hell took you so long?…" there was a rush of sound as the dying fire was rekindled and light flooded the room, temporarily blinding the two boys. When they're sight returned it was to find an amused looking young man with sandy colored hair sitting on a comfy couch near the fire place. His amber colored eyes twinkling with mirth at the sight of the two trying to adjust to the light.

"Aww Moony, you didn't have to wait up for us," Sirius said when he could finally see right, he moved over to the chair across from him and made himself comfortable as James flopped down on the other end of the couch. Remus quirked an eyebrow.

"Someone had to make sure you didn't run into that new librarian or Filch," he said dryly, gesturing to the open Marauder's Map resting on a table in front of him. "There were a few times when I was sure you were going to get caught. Peter was so shaken by one close call that he decided to go to bed rather then watch anymore and I was left to watch your butts and make sure nothing went wrong." He stated matter of factly.

"Aww Moony you shouldn't have," James said smirking.

"You're right and I wouldn't of had to if you two had remembered to grab the map!" Remus said slightly irritated," what were you two thinking going out without it! You twits might as well have walked out of here without the cloak too!"

"Not my fault, James was supposed to grab the map," Sirius said as he crossed his arms behind his head.

"No I wasn't, you were supposed to grab the map!"

"No! I was—"

"Anyways!" Remus called out before an argument could start that would wake what was left of the whole house "did you get what you needed,"

"We did indeed" Sirius said pulling the battered book out of his book bag and handing it to Remus who started flipping through the pages.

"But wait there's more, we also found something better, show him Sirius!" James excitedly started bouncing up and down on the spot. Remus didn't even look up from the book in his lap.

"Must be good if it's got Prongs this excited," Commented Remus dryly, still scanning the potion ingredients that they would need.

"What's that supposed to mean?" James said with a raised eyebrow. Remus glanced up at him and sighed.

"It means that you get excited over some weird things, remember when we started non-verbal spells in Transfiguration? You were giddy for a week, or when professor Twellend brought that Hinkypunk into class? You laughed for a straight ten minutes every time the thing made that weird squelching sound against its tank…" Sirius was reaching into his bag and pulled out the first of the books he found earlier.

"Non-verbal spells are pretty interesting and very practical, they give the element of surprise to your opponent when dueling, and come on! The Hinkypunk was hilarious! I swear it was making sounds on purpose every time old Twellend tried to explain the damn thing." James stated with a grin. "Besides, you guys were just as interested in the non verbal spells as I was, and good thing too, considering the reason our folks made us stay here this summer."

"Yeah, you got a point there, if we hadn't learned them, that attack at King's cross could have turned out worse then it did. But anyway we're getting off topic! Here Remus take a look!" Sirius said as he shoved the book into his friend's hands. Remus looked at the two of them weird before turning the book over in his hands and reading the title pensively.

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone… any relation to you, James?"

"We think there is, check the copy write date inside the cover" James scooted closer and practically forced the book open in his excitement. Remus scanned the page until his eye fell on the date where his eye widened.

"1997? But that twenty years from now! How is that even possible?!" Remus said looking at the book more closely.

"We're not sure; we found them when we were looking through the restricted section in one of the old corners. We think this Harry Potter bloke is James' son," Sirius jumped in before James could comment "Think about it Remus, the date would be about right! We could have the answer to what the future has in store for us right here in our hands!"

"And look there's more!" James grabbed the bag Sirius was holding and dumped its contents onto the floor for Remus to see. The six other books fell out in a pile of colorful covers and Remus bent and picked some of them up looking at each of them.

"Judging by these books" He said "it looks like this kid of yours, if that who this is about… has had some harrowing adventures Prongs,"

"I agree now come on! What are we waiting for?! Let's find out about the future," Sirius grabbed the first book out of Remus' hands and flopped down with intentions to read.

"Wait! Hold on Padfoot, it's nearly two in the morning now why don't we wait till we wake up? We'll feel more refreshed and we'll be able to read it all day tomorrow without the risk of being over heard."

"But Moony I want to read it now,"

"But we should at least wait for Peter, I'm sure he'll want to know his future as well," James said wisely, " After all he's bound to be in there too, you guys are my best mates, so any kid of mine is bound to now loads about all of you. It's only fair we're all there to find out how well we do in the future."

"Prongs is right Padfoot we should wait for Wormtail, besides I don't know about you but I'm exhausted, all those close calls tonight wore on my nerves…"

"Oh alright we'll wait until morning," Sirius said dejectedly as he closed the book and, slipping it back in his back pack, headed for the dormitory stairs. James and Remus followed behind him slowly.

"I never thought I'd have to ask Sirius to put down a book that wasn't for a prank…" Remus said as he settled himself into his comfy four poster.

"Well, you know what they say Moony, there's a first time for everything,"

With that, the three boys settled into sleep, each wondering what adventures and wonders would be revealed to them as they opened the books to their futures.

---

"Oi Potter! Get your lazy butt out of bed!" A feminine voice bellowed, accompanied by a firm connection of a bundle of socks to James head. He shot bolt upright in shock and started looking around the room in a confused sort of way, looking around the room for the source of the offending socks. He then noticed that the door to the hall was open and there, framed in light, was the form of a slender woman with fiery red hair who was leaning against the door frame. "Finally! Get up! We have patrols to do."

"Patrols? What are you on about Evans? What patrols?" mumbled James, his voice still rich with sleep as he wiped his eyes then fumbled on the night stand for his glasses. He pressed them on his face and glanced at the pretty but annoyed face of Lily Evans who sighed in exasperation.

"Oh Merlin, please don't tell me you've already forgotten about the conversation we had with Dumbledore yesterday," Lily said with an exasperated glare. "I swear Potter, if this is how thick headed you're going to be all year I have no idea how we're going to get anything done!"

"Conversation… And what conversation was that again?" He said as he got up and started searching around for his robes. Lily cleared her throat and turned her back as James moved around in only his boxers before continuing her rage against his obvious disregard for responsibility.

"For the love of Merlin Potter" She said exasperated. "You're Head Boy for Merlin sake! WE, as in you and I, have to patrol the halls and make sure everything is under control!"

"Oh right that conversation," He said as he pulled his robes on and ran his hand through his hair.

"What's going on?" A sleepy voice asked from the darkness of one of the now fluttering bed curtains.

"Go back to sleep Black this is between Potter and I,"

"Evans?! What the hell are you doing in here! Hold on...Is it morning?" he asked as he finally managed to get the sheets pulled back.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "No Black, it's the middle of the night, Honestly! why else would I be in here?" Lily said sarcastically. "Now come on Potter move!" but as James grumbled about pushy women and moved towards the door He was forced to come to a complete stop to avoid Sirius' suddenly flying body.

"It's morning!" Sirius sprung out of bed and jumped right onto Moony's without even touching the ground.

"The hell? Padfoot!"

"It's morning Moony, time to read the books!" Sirius said as he jumped on the mattress then turned and jumped on Peter's bed "get up Wormtail come on! time to read the books!" The short portly boy in the bed squeaked as he rolled and landed hard on the stone floor as he attempted to avoid Sirius jumping on him again. He sat up groggily, rubbing his head and scowled at the hyperactive teen jumping on his bed.

"The books? Sirius, what the hell are you talking about, James, Remus what's wrong with him? And why is Evans in our dorm room?" he said as he grabbed his curtains and hid behind them.

"I'm certainly not here to spy on you Pettigrew trust me, I have enough nightmares as it is." Lily said with a sneer that would have made most Slytherins proud.

"The books, the books," Sirius then turned again but instead of successfully landing on James he missed and landed where James had been previously having just moved closer to the door to leave for rounds.

Peter grumbled. " But what is Sirius going on about, What books! Why the hell is he dragging me out of bed this early!"

"Yeah Black, have you been inhaling too many of the fumes in potions class again?" Lily said as she straightened up and raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Nope, I just really want to start reading that book!" Sirius said as he dove for his backpack to retrieve the book from where they had kept it the previous night.

"Did…did you just say you want to read a book? Sirius Black is bouncing off the walls to read a book?" Lily said looking flabbergasted.

"Oh yeah the books, everyone up we got reading to do!" Remus said as he emerged from the bath room where he had slipped off to after being so rudely awoken.

"Not you too Remus, I thought you were the only sensible one here."

"Well you know me lily; I'm always up for a good book." Remus said with a slight smile.

"What books?" asked a confused Peter "you woke us all up to read? Are you sure you're not smelling the fumes in potions class Sirius?"

"Trust me Wormtail he's not, but you wouldn't know about the books, you were already in bed last night. James and Sirius found a bunch of future books in the library last night."

"And just what were you two doing in the library last night?" asked a further annoyed Lily rounding on the two boys. Sirius and James turned to her with two completely identical looks of innocence.

"Clearly we were looking for a bologna sandwich, what do you think we were doing in the library last night Evans?"

"With you, one never knows Potter, but I would like to see these books that's got you so excited,"

"I've got the first one here," said Sirius handing it over to Lily.

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," she read aloud "Any relation…"

"We think he's James' son," Lily's eyes widened as she turned to James with her mouth wide open.

"What poor woman would be out of her mind enough to spawn with you Potter?"

"Hey! I resent that," James said looking hurt.

"Well soon we'll find out, come on everyone let's go read about our future!" Sirius grabbed James' arm and started to drag him past lily and out the door.

"Hold it a minute Potter, you and I still have rounds to do. When that's done then we can read this book Black is so obsessed with,"

"We?"

"Yes we, I want to find out who the poor soul was that married you so I can warn them ahead of time. I'll meet you in the common room and be quick we're already 30 minutes late for our rounds," He sighed and rolled his eyes.

---

After thoroughly checking over what seemed to James as every centimeter of the castle and many arguments later, Lily and James both made it back to the common room in one piece.

"About time you got back," yelled an annoyed looking Sirius "Moony took the book away from me for some unknown reason and refused to give it back,"

"I took the book because you kept trying to read it, we all agreed to read it together Sirius which means no peaking,"

"I wasn't peaking I was familiarizing myself with the words,"

"That means you were peaking,"

"Whoa calm down, I'm sorry we took so long. Would have been here sooner but Evans insisted that we check every broom closet,"

"Well excuse me for being thorough Potter but Professor Dumbledore asked us to do a job and I'm not about to not give it my complete attention. If you don't like it so much you can go back to Professor Dumbledore and ask him to pick someone else. In fact please do it would save me a lot of trouble this year,"

"No way are you getting off that easily Evans, I'm sticking with this no matter what you do or say I just don't see the need to check the Astronomy Tower four times,"

"Four times? Isn't that a bit much?"

"Shut up Black, nobody asked for your opinion!" snarled an angry Lily "besides everyone knows how often people sneak up there and I for one would like to put a stop to it,"

"Well good luck with that Evans because you're fighting a losing battle,"

"We'll just see about that Potter!"

"When you two are finished, some of us have been waiting patiently for a while to start this book and would like to get a move on,"

"Peter's right, now I figured we'd take turns reading aloud and since I'm holding the book that I'd start, unless someone else really wants to read," Remus looked around at everyone in the room. Lily and James had finally taken a seat far away from one another and looked ready for this to begin. When no one spoke up Remus opened the book to start.

THE BOY WHO LIVED

"The Boy Who what?"

"The Boy Who Lived Black, were you not listening?"

"No I was listening but I thought this book was about this Harry Potter bloke, you know James' potential future son? What's all this 'Boy Who Lived' nonsense?"

"Maybe it's a nickname,"

"I don't think so Wormtail, I'd have to be inhaling a lot of potions fumes to nickname my kid something like that,"

"Are you sure he isn't already?"

"Yes Evans we're sure, I know my best mate and he's as likely to be sniffing the fumes as I am,"

"That's not that unlikely Black,"

"Besides!" Sirius continued as if he hadn't been interrupted "No way would I ever let James get away with calling his kid that, even if it was a nickname,"

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,

"Dursley…where have I heard that name before?" Lily wondered out loud, the others just shrugged and nodded for Remus to keep reading.

of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

"Why would you want to be normal?" Sirius asked the others who once again just shrugged.

They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

"Urg, they sound unpleasant, kind of like my sister actually" Lily said with a frown.

Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.

"What are drills?" Peter asked turning to Lily who was the only muggleborn of the group.

"They are these tools that muggles use when building something, they make holes in solid objects"

"Ah"

He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache.

"That sounds attractive," muttered James

Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.

"That sounds even better," snickered Sirius

The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

"Why do I doubt that?" muttered Sirius

"Honestly Black are you going to mutter something after every sentence?"

"Actually Evans I wasn't going to but since I now know how much it annoys you I think I will," Sirius added with a mischievous smirk.

"Actually Sirius has a point, he sounds like a brat to me." Peter said sagely.

The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.

"I would be the same if it was me..." Lily sighed.

"What's wrong with the Potters? We're a very nice normal wizarding family once you get to know us," James said defensively

"Damn straight! Nicer people you couldn't find anywhere!" Sirius nodded.

"Oh okay so it's just James that's the prat then"

"Oi! I'm not a prat!"

Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.

"Oh no," Lily whispered so that no one could hear her "why do I have a very bad feeling about this,"

"Is undursleyish even a word?" Peter asked.

"I don't think so…."

The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.

"Well I wouldn't want my son mixing with a child like yours either,"

"Very funny Evans, I'll have you know there's nothing wrong with my son!" James said defiantly.

"How do you know? You haven't even met him yet!"

"Then count it as coming to his defense for when I do!"

When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country.

"Define mysterious," commented Remus dryly

Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.

"Brat!" everyone all said at once.

None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.

"Probably off to deliver some morning post, nothing unusual about that," smiled Sirius

"It is if you're a muggle," Lily said. "Most muggles don't see owls very often."

"Weird..." Sirius said turning his attention back to the book

At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.

"Brat," they all said again

"Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house.

"I got a few other names for your son," James commented dryly making sure to put extra emphasis on son.

He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.

"Before you ask," Lily started quickly shutting up Sirius before he spoke "a car is a contraption muggles use to get around, sort of how wizards use brooms,"

"Actually Evans, I know what a car is, I was just going to comment on how he got into his car if he's so beefy,"

"Well excuse me for trying to be nice Black, remind me to never do it again!"

It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar -- a cat reading a map.

"Must be an Animagus," muttered Remus

"But what would an Animagus be doing in a muggle neighbourhood, let alone this muggle neighbourhood?"

"I don't know Evans but why don't you tell us since you seem to know everything,"

"Shut up Black,"

For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen -- then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight.

"Well of course not, you really think an Animagus is going to be that obvious as to let you get a second look?" James said chuckling

"Well you never know what's going through the mind of an Animagus when in animal form; I've heard the animal senses can mess with peoples perceptions of rules if they're not careful." Lily said sagely. James shared a meaningful grin with Sirius and Peter and Remus quickly changed the subject.

"It might not be an Animagus though, could have been a trick of the light"

"Whatever you say Remus"

What could he have been thinking of?

"You mean he's actually capable of thought?" Sirius smirked,

"Not everyone is as dim as you Sirius."

"Oi!"

Peter laughed

It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive -- no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.

"Definitely an Animagus,"

"But how can you be sure?"

"Do you know of any cats in your neighbourhood that sit and read maps or street signs Evans?"

"Well no..."

"I rest my case," James smirked triumphantly. Lily scowled and looked like she was going to retort but decided against it and nodded for Remus to keep reading.

Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.

"He's probably not capable of thinking about anything else," smirked Sirius

"And if he tried his brain would probably explode," laughed James

"Now really, what do you two have against muggles?"

"We've got nothing against muggles, we've just go something about this muggle"

"And why do you say that Black?"

Sirius just shrugged before James continued "there's just something about him, does anyone else see it?"

"He seems a little odd, I mean what kind of person doesn't get interested in mysterious things?" mumbled Peter quietly feeling somewhat intimidated by a slightly annoyed Lily sitting next to him.

"I agree with you Prongs, there's just something about him that doesn't seem right," Remus said with a slight nod.

"Well Evans, what are your thoughts on this?"

"He reminds me a lot of my sister's boyfriend and I know for a fact that I don't trust him as far as I can throw him,"

"Do you finally see where we're coming from then?" James let put a small triumphant smirk that annoyed Lily further.

"Don't go having your head enlarge anymore than it is, just because I see your point doesn't mean I approve of your tactics,"

"Wait I'm confused are we still talking about this Dursley bloke or has the conversation switched to someone else?"

"Who do you think they're talking about Padfoot?" whispered Remus dryly

"Well my tactics seem to be working just fine at getting my point across," James snapped.

"Your tactics are childish immature pranks and its about time you grew up and learned some responsibility," snarled Lily slightly raising her voice.

"Uh Lily, James?" Peter started while Remus and Sirius were both whispering no and shaking their heads at him "can we continue on with the book please?" Peter was slightly quivering when he finished speaking and waiting for one of them to lash out at him for interrupting their argument.

"Fine," snapped Lily "I think I made my point,"

James snorted but didn't respond even when Lily glared at him.

But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.

"What's wrong with cloaks?" Peter asked defensively

"Nothing Pete, just that muggles don't wear them." Remus said patiently.

"Ah"

Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes -- the getups you saw on young people!

"Not all of us want to wear boring ties," joked Sirius

He supposed this was some stupid new fashion.

"Only if you count the past few hundred years as new." James said

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak!

"A wizard no doubt," smiled Remus "But the Statue of Secrecy says you're supposed to wear muggle clothes in muggle areas,"

"Looks like the lot of them have taken the Statue of Secrecy and thrown it out the window," laughed Sirius

"But why would they do that?" asked Lily "The Statue of Secrecy was put in place for our safety, why are people jeopardizing that?" the others just shrugged.

"Something Big must have happened…" Sirius said rubbing his hands together excitedly.

The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt -- these people were obviously collecting for something... yes, that would be it.

"Yes, that a good muggle, just explain everything away and go about your business," James said as if her were talking to a child, Lily began to retort but Remus' reading cut her off.

The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.

"This Dursley sounds very boring, him and Binns should get together,"

"Except that he's a muggle Padfoot and seeing a ghost would probably freak him out," pointed out Remus

"Yeah you're right, let's show him," Sirius smiled mischievously

Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open- mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead.

"Geesh they act like they've never seen an owl before," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Of course they've never seen owls before, at least not ones that behave like that, they're muggles Black!"

"Oh right…"

Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime.

"See what I mean," She said triumphantly.

Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.

"Sounds like an excellent morning," muttered Sirius sarcastically

"Real pleasant guy this Dursley isn't he?" James said dryly.

He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.

"I'm hungry," complained Peter "when are we going to eat?"

"Later Wormtail, after we read a bit more," James shushed him with a wave of his hand

"After this chapter we'll go get some breakfast ok Wormtail?" Remus asked kindly while Peter just nodded his affirmation.

He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut

"Just what the beefy man needs," James muttered sarcastically

in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.

"What were the wizards saying?"

"Shut up Padfoot and I'll tell you!" Remus yelled exasperated

"You're so mean to me Moony…" Sirius pouted

"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their son, Harry"

"What about me and my son?" James asked sounding excited while everyone else shushed him

Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.

He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary

"What did your secretary ever do to you? Poor woman's going to need therapy after working with you,"

"Probably not as much therapy as we're going to need dealing with you Black,"

"Ouch Evans that was harsh,"

not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking... no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name.

"The only Potter I know is James," mumbled Peter

"I'm sure in the wizarding world there aren't any outside his family but in the muggle world there's more than one family of Potters,"

He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy.

"Good, I don't want you anywhere near my son,"

It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.

"Same name you git," laughed Sirius

There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her -- if he'd had a sister like that...

"Like what exactly?" snapped Lily

but all the same, those people in cloaks...

He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.

They all laughed at that.

"Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare,

"Think that could be Flitwick?" asked Remus, the others just shrugged.

"Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"

"Who cares who he is; he just gave us the greatest news ever! You-Know-Who is dead!" yelled Sirius jumping up and cheering, everyone followed his example except Lily.

"What's the matter Evans? Not happy about You-Know-Who's death?"

"Of course I'm happy about Voldemort's death Black, I'm just thinking about the time period is all!" she snapped back.

"Time period?"

"Yes Potter the time period, this book wasn't punished until the late 90's if I remember correctly that's 20 years from now. What kind of destruction could and would have been done in that time period?"

Everyone was silent for a few moments until Remus spoke up breaking that silence "Just because this book was published in the late 90's doesn't mean that it took that long for these events to happen. I have a feeling that this point in time if closer to our time period than the publishing date,"

"What makes you say that Moony?"

"Just a feeling Padfoot, can't really explain it," Remus shrugged his shoulders and continued reading.

And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.

Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger.

"How horrible, then again who would want to hug you?" questioned Sirius

He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was.

"It means you're abnormal,"

"Did you just call my family abnormal Black?"

"Not your family Evans just this Dursley bloke,"

He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.

"What's wrong with imagining things? I do it all the time,"

"That's not something to brag about Padfoot,"

"Shut up Moony,"

As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw -- and it didn't improve his mood -- was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.

"Wait a minute doesn't McGonagall have markings around her eyes when she's in her Animagus form?"

"Yes she does Remus, but think about it logically, why would McGonagall be sitting outside this Dursley bloke's house?"

"No idea Lily,"

"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.

"Definitely McGonagall, I'd know her 'stern look' anywhere even without actually seeing it," muttered Sirius as he shivered.

Was this normal cat behavior?

"Nope just normal McGonagall behavior..."

Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.

"Because you wouldn't want your wife to think you'd gone mad or anything," James laughed.

"Well odds are if her sister is a witch she'd know he hadn't gone mad. Mine knows about a lot of the stuff that wizards do" Lily reasoned.

"Touché." James said. "Then I guess it's just safe to call this guy a coward then, he's afraid of the consequences of upsetting his wife.'

"Well you know what they say, hell hath no fury..."

Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!").

"Brat," they all said

Mr. Dursley tried to act normally.

"And I'll bet failed miserably" James said and the others nodded.

When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:

"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today.

"That's what you think," smirked James

Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin.

"He's got to be a wizard or something; why else would he grin like that?"

"Not necessarily Padfoot, he could just have a magical relative,"

"I guess Moony, but no doubt about it he's related to the wizarding world somehow,"

"Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going

to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"

"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars!

"Wizards," they all mumbled

"Well considering Voldemort is powerful now and this is in the future, it sounds like people haven't had much to celebrate till then…" Remus said the others agreed

"And let face it Wizards party hard when things are going good" Sirius said doing a little dance on the spot that had the other looking at him in fear

"Padfoot please never do that again…" Peter said leaving Sirius to pout.

Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early -- it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."

Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...

"Well we're very popular people,"

"Deflate that ego Potter before I do it for you!"

Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good.

"That's not nice to say about you wife's cooking" Peter said

"Not what they meant Pete."

He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er -- Petunia,

"Oh no," mouthed Lily but thankfully for her no one saw

dear -- you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"

As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.

"No," she said sharply. "Why?"

"I want to see her, I've taken a fancy to her," Sirius said huskily while the other boys laughed

"Sirius!" screeched Lily

Sirius at first looked shocked at Lily using his first name but quickly looked embarrassed and mumbled a quick apology

"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."

"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.

"So clearly it's all your sisters doing and he wants you…"

"I'm warning you Black!"

"What? I wasn't doing anything honest," Lily just glared at him

"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you

know... her crowd."

"Oh sure blame the wizards, something strange happens in a muggle neighbourhood and it must be those nasty wizards again,"

"That's because it usually is a wizards fault when something strange happens in a muggle neighbourhood Padfoot,"

"Damn it Moony why must you always be right,"

Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare.

"Wuss!" James said only to quail under Lily's glare.

Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son -- he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"

"Who names their kid Dudley?"

"Who names their kid Peter?"

"Shut up, it's better than Sirius,"

"Is not,"

"Is too,"

"Is not,"

"When you two are finished!"

"Sorry Evans," they both mumbled looking embarrassed

"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.

"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"

"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."

"I happen to like my son's name,"

"It's better than Dudley at least," snickered Sirius

"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite

agree."

"Prat," they all said

He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed.

"Kind of early for bed isn't it?"

"Not everyone likes to stay up until all hours of the night Padfoot,"

"Nope, that's just you Moony," Sirius said with a wink.

While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there.

"Why is McGonagall stalking these muggles?" asked James, the others just shrugged

"We still don't know if it's McGonagall…" Lily said crossing her arms

"What ever you say Evans" Sirius said rolling his eyes "if you weren't such a good two shoes you'd know her glare anywhere too." Lily glared.

It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.

"Maybe she is waiting for something or someone,"

"But what Moony?"

"No idea Prongs,"

Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters?

"Potter probably did something stupid and got himself blown up,"

"Ouch Evans that's harsh, besides…" James ran his hand through his hair and put on his most charming grin "You know you'd miss me"

"Keep telling yourself that Potter" Lily said rolling her eyes.

If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of -- well, he didn't think he could bear it.

"Trust me you're not the only one trying to keep that quiet, I don't want people to know my family's related to yours either,"

The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind...

"And what's wrong with our kind? We're much better than your kind," mumbled James

He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on -- he yawned and turned over -- it couldn't affect them...

"And because that was said, it will affect them," muttered Remus

How very wrong he was.

"See what I mean?"

Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness.

"McGonagall should've become an owl instead of a cat,"

"Why's that Padfoot?"

"Because she's obviously a night owl Prongs,"

Everyone groaned while Sirius laughed.

It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive.

"Psst!"

"What Black?"

"I think someone's coming,"

Lily slapped him across the back of the head "What was your first clue?"

It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.

"Psst!"

"What now Black?"

"I think that person is closer,"

"Shut up you git!" everyone else just rolled their eyes as Lily proceeded to slap Sirius again.

A man

"Told you!"

"Shut up!" yelled everyone else.

appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground.

"Apparition," they all muttered

"That means he's a wizard,"

"Brilliant deduction captain obvious,"

"Captain who?" Sirius looked around confused.

"It's a muggle saying,"

The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.

"That's definitely McGonagall, not that we needed anymore proof," said James.

Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.

"That sounds like Dumbledore!" said Sirius excitedly

"But what would Dumbledore be doing in this Privet Drive?" asked Lily, everyone else just shrugged.

He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked,

"See it has to be Dumbledore,"

"But still why?"

as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.

"Ha! I told you it was Dumbledore Evans! I was right and you were wrong!" cried Sirius while doing some strange dance.

"I never said it wasn't Dumbledore I just asked why he was in Privet Drive, so you weren't right and I wasn't wrong," Lily said with a smug smile. Sirius just flopped down and pretended to pout.

"But like Evans said why is Dumbledore there?" asked Peter.

"Something big must've happened for Dumbledore to appear," said James

"Why don't we just find out?" asked Remus before continuing.

Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.

"Why wouldn't he be welcome there?"

"Because it's a muggle neighbourhood Pettigrew!"

"Oh,"

He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him.

"It would amuse almost anyone who knew McGonagall to see her there," smirked James.

He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."

"Is it just me or does it seem like Dumbledore expected her to be there?" asked Remus while the others just shrugged.

He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter.

"Dumbledore smokes!?" gasped Lily

"I don't think so Lily, it says it looks like a cigarette lighter not that it is one," said Remus

"What are cigarettes anyways?" asked Peter

"The muggle equivalent to potion fumes," answered Remus before Lily could respond. Peter looked confused by this answer but didn't question any further.

He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.

"See Lily I told you it wasn't an actual lighter,"

"No seems more like a Put-Outer," laughed Lily lightly.

He clicked it again -- the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him.

"Why would he want the street to be in darkness?"

"Probably because he's not truly welcome there Padfoot and doesn't want anyone to know he was there,"

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Remus just smiled in response.

If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.

"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."

"So it was McGonagall!"

"Was there any doubt Prongs?"

"Not really Moony but confirmation is nice,"

He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.

"Sounds like she just had a run in with James and Sirius," smirked Remus while said boys just stuck their tongues out at him.

"How did you know it was me?" she asked.

"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."

"You weren't exactly acting very cat like Professor," Lily confessed softly.

"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.

"If you say so, can't say I've sat on too many brick walls for a whole day," laughed Sirius

"Maybe Professor McGonagall should make that your punishment the next time you decide to prank someone," smirked Lily "That might teach you to behave,"

"Not likely," muttered Remus.

"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."

"Everyone should be celebrating! You-Know-Who is dead!" yelled Sirius

"And they're throwing the Statue of Secrecy out the window in the process!" snapped Lily.

Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.

"Seems like old Minnie thinks the same way you do Evans, you should loosen up a bit sometimes," smirked Sirius.

"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no -- even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news."

"I don't think I've seen her this angry since you gits decided to see what happens when you put one of Dr Filibuster's Fabulous No-Heat, Wet-Start Fireworks in the second floor girls lavatory after Moaning Myrtle had flooded the bathroom again," said Remus looking directly at James and Sirius while said boys both snickered at the memory.

She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls... shooting stars... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent -- I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."

"Hey didn't he graduate last year?" asked James

"Yeah, he was a rather strange bloke, always got excited over the little things,"

"Look who's talking Padfoot,"

"Shut up Moony!"

"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."

"Hold on, eleven years…" Lily stopped a minute to add some numbers in her head "That means that this conversation is taking place in 1981!"

"What makes you say that Evans?"

"Well Black just add the numbers together, it's currently 1977 and we've been fighting this war for 7 years already, add another 4 years to that and it equals 1981,"

"But that means that it didn't take 20 years for this war to end, so you were panicking for nothing,"

"Shut it Potter, this war is still going to go on for another 4 years, do you know how much damage could be done in that amount of time?"

"No but…"

"How about we stop dwelling on the what ifs and keep reading, hopefully this book will be able to tell us that we all came out of this war unscathed," Remus interrupted before a full out argument could commence.

"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."

"And if it wasn't for those people we wouldn't know that You-Know-Who is dead!" said Sirius indignantly.

She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all.

"She's got a point you know," said Lily looking slightly frustrated "people are being careless," she then turned and glared at Sirius.

"What are you glaring at me for, I didn't do anything,"

"Not yet, this is just the kind of stupid thing you would do though,"

I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"

"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore.

"Well that confirms it, You-Know-Who is definitely gone!" yelled James, this time everyone cheered.

"We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"

"A what?"

"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of"

"Dumbledore and his candies," laughed James

"We get offered one every time we're sent to his office," smiled Sirius

"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -"

"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You- Know-Who' nonsense -- for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort."

"Dumbledore's right, we should all stop being afraid to say his name,"

"I'm not afraid of anything just like a true Gryffindor!"

"Then why don't you say his name Black?"

"Because I was told not to,"

"By who Sirius? Your mother? Since when did you listen to what she said?"

"I don't James you know that! Alright…V…Vol…Voldemort," Sirius breathed out a sigh of relief, while Lily let out a small smile and turned to look at James.

"Voldemort," he said after taking a deep breath, her smile grew a little as she turned to Remus.

"Voldemort," he said at once and smiled back at her. Now it was Peter's turn and everyone turned to look at him.

"Vol…Vol…Voldie," he stuttered "Voldie…Vol…how about I just stick with Voldie, I can't say his full name," Peter whispered shuttering slightly. Sirius went and put his arm around him in comfort.

"It's ok Wormtail, just keep working on it; someday you'll be able to say his name,"

Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name.

"He's right you know," said Lily with a triumphant smirk.

"I know you haven't, said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring."But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."

"He even got McGonagall saying his name!" gasped Peter.

"Well duh Pete, it is Dumbledore after all," said Sirius with a slight roll of his eyes.

"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."

"Only because you're too -- well -- noble to use them."

"Good thing too, can you think what would happen to the world if Dumbledore was to turn on us?" James said with a shudder.

"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."

The whole group laughed.

"The stuff you learn when the teachers don't know you're listening." James said snickering

Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls

are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what

everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally

stopped him?"

"Now we're getting to the good part," said Sirius while rubbing his hands together eagerly.

"Good thing too I was getting sick of waiting and for the love of Merlin Black if you start with your 'Psst's again I'll hex you into next week!"

It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now.

"I bet she gave James and I a look like that once though," mused Sirius. The others glared at him to shut up and let Remus continue.

It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.

"There must…" Sirius never got to finish that sentence because at that moment 4 pillows came sailing through the air at him sufficiently shutting him up.

"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James

"No!" screeched Lily "it can't be true,"

"Yes!" James started doing some strange happy dance around the common room "to answer your question Evans you were out of your mind enough to spawn with me,"

Lily was all set to yell at him when her attention was drawn to a distraught looking Remus. "What's wrong Remus?"

"N-Nothing!" he said closing the book quickly. "Listen maybe we should leave it there for now go and get something to eat... Peter must be hungry..."

"Remus you're babbling and a horrible liar…come on what's got you so upset?" James said as he stopped his happy dance long enough to look concerned. Remus swallowed nervously.

"Are you sure you want to know it's not good…"

"Oh come on Remus out with it! I want to know how it happened. I'll bet Lily and I dueled old Moldywarts right into the ground" James said triumphantly while Lily was just too shocked that he had called her by her given name.

Alright but don't say I didn't warn you…" he cleared his throat and read on.

Potter are -- are -- that they're -- dead. "

Everyone suddenly went very quiet, it seemed as if all sound had been sucked out of the room despite the fact that students were starting to make their way downstairs. James stopped his dance and just stood there in complete shock. Sirius was the one to break the eerie silence.

"They can't be, it has to be a lie, my best mate can't be dead!"

James went over and patted Sirius on the back trying to reassure him that he was still alive and well. He looked over at Lily who was near tears, he went over to try and comfort her only to have his hand slapped away.

"Don't touch me Potter, its bad enough you seduced me with a love potion!"

"Excuse me? I would never give you a love potion!"

"You're right; you never were one for potions. You probably put me under the Imperious curse,"

"I would never use an unforgivable on you or anyone for that matter! Who do you think I am a Death Eater?"

"No," Lily's voice suddenly got very soft and the boys had to listen intently to hear her

"Despite our difference and how I may not like your attitude towards certain things I know that you would never become a Death Eater, you're too much of a good person for that,"

Once again the group was silent.

"I know what you're all thinking, I haven't lost my mind and I don't think the world's coming to an end but I do respect your courage to stand up for what you believe is right James, that was made quite clear to me at King's Cross and I never did thank you for saving my life,"

"What makes you think you have to thank me?" James said seriously. "Besides while we might not be close friends, I know you'd do the same."

Lily smiled a little and nodded "Yeah well thanks anyway…"

"No problem, Anytime you need me" he said calmly, His deep Brown eyes locked with her emerald ones and to Lily's eternal embarrassment she blushed slightly before clearing her throat and turning to Remus.

"Well let's keep moving…I want to know what's happened to my son…"

Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.

"Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it... Oh, Albus..."

"What do you know, she did care," James said at a lame attempt at humor and was met with a few weak chuckles for his effort.

Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know... I know..." he said heavily.

Everybody suddenly looked at the floor saddened. Sirius could be seen fight off tears.

Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry.

"Bastard!" yelled James

"You stay the hell away from my son you arsehole or I'll show you how fragile your wand really is!" At this Peter let out a squeak and ran behind the couch while the other boys just cringed.

But – he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy.

"That's a relief," sighed Lily "but why couldn't he kill my son?"

"Harry's some super child with the ability to be immortal!"

"That's not funny Black this is serious!"

"No, I'm Sirius," everyone just groaned while Lily threw a pillow at him.

No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke -- and that's why he's gone.

"What are they saying that Harry, who is supposed to be a baby stopped Voldemort!?" yelled James slightly hysterical.

Dumbledore nodded glumly.

"Looks like that's exactly what they're saying Prongs," said Sirius grimly all sense of humor gone.

"It's -- it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"

"Maybe Harry is some super child," whispered Remus.

"But he can't be! Think about it there has to be some logical explanation for why this happened!" cried Lily.

"We understand that Lily, there probably is a logical explanation for what happened but you need to calm down getting hysterical isn't going to help any," James said soothingly which seemed to help a bit.

"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."

Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge.

"Cool it's his lunar watch," muttered Remus

"How did you know what it was?" Lily ask curiously

"He showed it to me once when we were in his office, Thought I might have an interesting in it."

"But why—"

"Moving on! Come one Moony I want to know what's going to happen to Harry!" James said quickly and loudly while Sirius elbowed Remus in the side, causing Lily to give him weird looks.

"Right!"

It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"

"Hagrid's coming?" asked Peter nervously; he has always felt intimated around Hagrid for reasons unknown to the others.

"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"

"Now we're getting to the goods," Sirius rubbed his hands together almost greedily

"I thought Dumbledore arriving was getting the goods?"

"Oh it was Moony but this will be good too,"

"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle.

"WHAT!?" boomed Lily "No way is any son of mine going to live with my sister and her good for nothing husband!"

"Wait you mean to tell me that this Petunia Dursley is your sister?" after Lily's nod James jumped up and started yelling at the book "no way is any son of mine going to live with those people! He's going to live with Sirius!"

"Why him?"

"Because he's going to be his godfather of course!"

"You mean to tell me that I'm supposed to trust my son to Black?"

"What's wrong with Sirius? He's better than these people!"

"Snape is better than these people!"

"No son of mine is going to be looked after by Snape!"

"Obviously not! But why Sirius? Why not Remus? He's more responsible!"

"Uhh I'm not that great with kids, but if it would make you feel better Lily I'll help Sirius raise Harry that way he won't be with Sirius all the time,"

"What's wrong with me raising Harry?" Sirius said looking affronted.

"Why would I trust you with my son when you can't even go 2 hours before getting yourself into trouble Black?"

"I'm not that bad," at Lily's glare and raised eyebrow shut him up quickly.

They're the only family he has left now."

"Define family," muttered Lily.

"You don't mean -- you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four.

"Looks like McGonagall agrees with us," smirked James

"Never thought I'd see the say where she sided with you lot," muttered Lily

"Dumbledore -- you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son -- I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets."

"Brat"

"Harry Potter come and live here!"

"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly.

"My arse it is," muttered James

"His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."

"A letter?! Dumbledore honestly thinks that my sister will listen to a letter?! Honestly! I thought after the trouble he had had with her that he would understand!" Lily said exasperatedly

"Trouble with your sister? What trouble? I thought she was a muggle why would Dumbledore even know her?" James wondered.

Lily sighed. "It's long and complicated and I'm not going to get into it right now."

"Yes ma'am" Sirius said with a mock salute.

"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous – a legend -- I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future -- there will be books written about Harry -- every child in our world will know his name!"

"My son's going to be famous and I won't be there to see it," sniffed Lily.

"Not going to cry are you Evans?"

"So what if I am Black! You try finding out that your son is going to grow up without you and see how you like it!"

"Yeah come on Padfoot, be serious for a second this is important." James said sadly.

"But I'm always Sirius!" Remus groaned and smacked him over the head with a pillow.

"Grow up!"

"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses.

"But I'm—" four pillows then collided with Sirius head again until he shut his mouth and pouted.

"It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"

"I guess I see Dumbledore's point on that but why these muggles? Sirius would be able to make sure the fame didn't go to his head?"

"Dumbledore must have a reason for all this Prongs or else he wouldn't do it,"

"I guess Moony,"

Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes -- yes, you're right, of course.

" NO!!!! And here I thought you were the sensible one professor! What the hell are you two thinking! They'll hate him! They already hate me! Putting a wizarding child with them is like giving Voldemort the ability to adopt!" Lily said desperately. James and the others looked equally as angry and horrified.

But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.

"Umm what possible reason would there be for my son to be beneath Dumbledore's cloak?" James Asked uneasily.

"You never know prongs, you never know..." Sirius said barely containing his bark-like laughter. Remus snorted beside him, falling helplessly into quiet chuckles.

"James—I don't know your middle name Potter! How could you say something like that about my son!?" Lily yelled horrified. James looked confused as did Peter.

"It's Edward by the way, and what did I say?" James said helplessly. This only further increased the laughter from the other two marauders while she continued to glare at him in a horrified manner.

"Think about what came out of your mouth prongs..." Sirius said between chuckles. James thought about it for a minute before his face went bright red and he proceeded to drop his head in shame.

"I really have been hanging out with Sirius for too long…" He said dejectedly.

"Hey!"

"I still don't get it…" Peter said confused. The others shook their heads.

"Don't worry Pete; we'll explain it when you're older." Remus said smirking while Peter pouted.

"Hagrid's bringing him."

James looked on in horror "My family is doomed…"

"Oh come on James, Hagrid's not that bad. He's really good at looking after young ones" Remus said.

"Young Animals maybe! Not Babies! What the hell is Dumbledore thinking!?" Lily screeched in panic.

"You think it -- wise -- to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"

"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.

"No offense Professor but it sounds like you're developing trust issues"

"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to -- what was that?"

"Pssst…"

"Black if it's not life threateningly important I'll hurt you" Lily said dangerously

"But it is important" Sirius said seriously.

"Fine then what?"

"Something's coming…"

"James how important is Sirius to you?"

"I'm not sure exactly what you're asking," James looked at her a bit confused "but he is my best mate,"

"Then you better do something because in about 5 seconds you're not going to have a best mate anymore!"

"Now Evans let's not do something rash," said Sirius jumping up and hiding behind Remus.

"Stop acting so nervous Sirius we've got Peter for that," James smirked slightly "besides it's not like she's going to hurt you,"

"Are you sure about that James?" Lily smiled evilly. The boys all shuddered slightly but when she didn't move for some time deemed it safe to continue.

A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky – and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.

"Cool! I want one!" Sirius said excitedly.

"Sirius you want everything…" Remus said exasperated. He looked over at Lily apologetically. "He always like this…It's like hanging around with a small child." She snorted and Sirius turned to Remus and Started to tug on his sleeve.

"Moony!" He said in a child's whiny voice "I want one! Can I have one Please moony! I promise I'll be good!" James had to turn his head to hide his laughter.

"No Motorbike for you till you finish you chores…" Remus said dryly and Sirius turned and pouted.

"You're so mean to me…"

If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild – long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.

"Well at least we know that Harry made it safe and sound," James looked somewhat relieved with that thought.

"How do you know it's Harry in those blankets? He might have stopped off at a pub and traded him for a baby Chimera or…OW!" Lily stood over Sirius looking murderous.

"Don't even joke about something like that Black or you'll be sorry!"

"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved.

"See even Dumbledore was thinking it!" Sirius said as he hid his head beneath his arm to shield from Lily's next attack which came in the form of a slap to the back of the head.

"Not another word or you'll regret it!"

"At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"

"Yes where? So I know where to get one,"

"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sit," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."

"YES!! I do get one!" Sirius cried as he started doing a happy dance around the common room. James however looked puzzled.

"Hold up…Sirius if you gave Hagrid the bike then you must have been there when they pulled Harry from the wreckage…" Sirius stopped for a second.

"So? What are you getting at?" Lily had caught on to James' thought however.

"So if you were there why is Harry with Hagrid on his way to live with my sister? Why isn't he with you? Black what the hell did you do!" She said glaring at him. He backed up a step and put his hands in front of him for defense.

"Whoa! Easy I swear I have no idea, how the hell am I supposed to know what my future self did! I don't know why Harry isn't with me but maybe there's a good reason. Maybe I told Hagrid to watch him while I went after the Death Eaters that were at your place! And maybe it was taking too long so they thought that he'd be alright for a while with his Aunt until I get back!"

"I hope so Sirius for your sake…" James said worriedly. "Just promise me that if this happens you'll think about Harry and that you won't do anything stupid…"

"James honestly if this happens I promise Harry comes first." Sirius said solemnly. James nodded satisfied while Lily still looked unsure.

"No problems, were there?"

"Other then our house being blown up and Lily and I being dead, and our son being an orphan and going to live with the despicable muggles things are just peachy! Thanks!" James said sarcastically

"Don't worry James, I'm sure I've dealt with the Death Eaters by now, I'm probably on my way as they speak." Sirius said soothingly.

"No, sir -- house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair

"Oh God that poor Kid got my hair…" James said running his fingers through his own mop of messy black hair.

"Well maybe he has my hair just your coloring..." Lily said trying to be helpful

"Not likely, my family has been cursed with it for generations; it's a common trait…" James said sighing.

"Well it could be worse… after all your hair's not that bad…" James blushed slightly at this and ran his hand through it again.

over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.

"Is that where -?" whispered Professor McGonagall.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."

"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"

"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground.

"Sorry Professor we really don't need to know anything else about what's under your cloak" Everyone including Lily dissolved into Laughter.

Well -- give him here, Hagrid -- we'd better get this over with."

"Oh come on! Get your minds out of the gutter!" Lily said as the boys roared with further laughter.

Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.

"Could I -- could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.

"I thought Hagrid was half-giant not half-dog," said Peter

"Hey! Leave the dogs out of this Wormtail,"

"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"

"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it -- Lily an' James dead -- an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"

"Live with Muggles? Sirius where are you!?"

"I'm on my way James, I promised you I'd look after Harry nothing short of me getting chucked into Azkaban could stop me from being there for Harry,"

"You better not get yourself chucked into Azkaban, you promised not to do anything stupid!"

"And I won't, I promise," Sirius said determinedly.

"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two.

"Now wait just a minute," cried Lily looking furious "you're leaving my son on the doorstep!?"

"Makes it easier for me to take him back," said Sirius

"That's not the point Black, what if he needs something during the night, what if someone else takes him before you get there?"

"I'm sure Dumbledore's put some sort of a protection charm on him Lily,"

"You better be right Remus,"

For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.

Lily could be heard grumbling something indistinguishable that the others thought best to ignore.

"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."

"Yes go and celebrate, never mind the fact that you've just left my son to sleep on some retched muggles doorstep!" snapped Lily looking over to glare at Sirius.

"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall -- Professor Dumbledore, sir."

"Maybe that's what I'm waiting for, once Hagrid brings me my bike back I'll head off and get Harry,"

"You better!" growled Lily

Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.

"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.

Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.

"I hope your conscious bugs you for years about this professor…" Remus said seriously. "Leaving a child on a door step, that's just cruel." The others all nodded in approval.

"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone. A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen.

"Sirius…' James said slowly. Sirius fidgeted

"I'm sure I'm on my way Prongs, come on you know me, I wouldn't screw up when it's this important…I'm sure I'll be there any minute."

"You absolutely sure about that?"

"Come on James I'm not so horribly irresponsible to leave my godson with those people."

Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk

bottles,

"James…"

"Not now Sirius,"

nor that he would spend the next few weeks

"James…"

"It says weeks, weeks Sirius, where are you?"

"I…I don't know…but I have to be coming, I just have to be," James said nothing but refused to look Sirius in the eyes.

being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley... He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter -- the boy who lived!"

"…James…." Sirius said quietly. James just put up his hand to stop him as he got up and walked out towards the porthole without saying a word. Lily watched him leave with surprised eyes, never in all her years at Hogwarts had she seen James Potter with such a look of fury etched on the angles of his face, nor had he ever walked with the stiffness in his shoulders that he had now. Looking at the others she made to get up when Remus reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Remus I should go and talk to—"

"Not now Lily, trust me, it's not a good plan. Give him time and a little space…" He then stood up and put his hand on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius in turn was looking towards the porthole that his best friend had just left through with a lost and helpless look. Turning his saddened eyes on Remus he finally spoke.

"Remus I don't know what happened…"

"Neither do I Padfoot, but I'm sure there's an explanation, let's all just go down to breakfast then we can keep reading and find out." He then turned and motioned Peter out from behind the couch that he had hid behind when he had seen James' face. Lily then stood and all together they left through the portrait hole, following the wave of gloom that seemed to have permeated the air in James' wake.