Chapter Twenty
Their Last Moment. "
by Empathicallychosen
A
"One's age should be tranquil, as childhood should be playful. Hard work at either extremity of life seems out of place. At midday the sun may burn, and men labor under it; but the morning and evening should be alike calm and cheerful." -Thomas Arnold
It was a sunny Monday afternoon and Olivia and her two best friends Lily Potter and Victoria Willoughby walked into Lily's kitchen talking merrily with one another. Each of the girls was steering a pram with the rather irritable child inside of it. Lily's kitchen was in Shambles. The reason for this was simple, it was the day before Lily and James were going to take the children and go into hiding.
Although Olivia, Victoria and Lily were doing their best to pretend nothing was out of the ordinary there was still an ominous shadow lurking among the friends. All three girls had kept themselves busy that day so they wouldn't have to discuss the fact that they didn't know when they would see each other again. The reason for all of their uncertainty could be summed up in two words, Lord Voldemort.
It was difficult for any of them to fathom why the most evil wizard in the twentieth century had chosen to target their beloved children. Despite the fact that Olivia and her friends were in denial about the Dark Lord's reasons the answer seemed quite obvious to everyone else. While it was true, the adorable toddlers didn't look it they were actually quite powerful which made them a threat to Lord Voldemort no matter how old they were. When Lord Voldemort decided someone was a threat to his rise to power chances were that person would be dead before nightfall.
Perhaps this was the reason emotions were running high for the self-proclaimed Marauder clan. No one wanted to admit they were afraid. If Severus Snape had been there, he might have said it was their foolish Gryffindor pride at play and he probably would have been right. Whatever it was that was stopping them from facing reality the fact remained that all of them were trying to act as though tomorrow would never come.
Everyone kept telling each other that this was only a minor blemish in their charmed lives. The friends had been bracing themselves for this day for so long that they had sufficiently deluded themselves into thinking their family would be back together before Christmas. None of them were aware it was the last time they would all be together as a group. At the time Olivia had no way of knowing that in just one week's time her life would be changed forever. She didn't know that three of her friends would be sent to Azkaban for killing another friend. Olivia didn't know that the children she helped to raise would be taken from her without a second thought and she had no way of knowing that the only friend she had left in the world would become more of an acquaintance than anything else.
Earlier that morning Olivia, Lily and Victoria had taken Harry, Ron and Hermione shopping because James, Sirius and Remus were so busy making preparations that they were up day and night. This was horrible for everyone around them since everyone who knew the Marauders knew that the three men were more than just a little grumpy when they hadn't slept. They were so irritable in fact that not even Harry, Ron and Hermione who hero-worshiped the Marauders wanted to be anywhere near them.
Nevertheless, the girls had concocted a brilliant plan. As the time for them to go into hiding grew closer and closer the Marauders had been so busy trying to protect the little fledglings, they hadn't even been enjoying their favorite activities with the children. Namely acting like children themselves and corrupting their sweet, innocent babies so that they would one day become mischief makers like their predecessors. This meant that the Marauders had a lot of pent-up mischief inside of them that was probably eager to surface. Olivia, Victoria and Lily knew that with the right incentive they would be able to revive the carefree attitude that had once reigned in the Potter household.
Moony, Padfoot and Prongs had done a lot of maturing over the past few years but it was still tremendously difficult for them to resist pranking one another. It was instinct, just as it was instinct for them to show off for their "Marauders in training." Olivia, Victoria and Lily were well aware that if they were to play the two instincts against each other the result was bound to be so comical it would rid the house of the dark cloud hovering above them. One of the children gave an impatient shriek signaling to the women that it was time to put their plan into action.
"All right Ronnie, you know what to do. Go find Mr. Moony and get him to play with you," instructed Olivia lifting the boy out of his pram and setting him down on Lily's gleaming marble floor.
"Okay Wibby," Ron chirped happily.
"How about you Harry, are you ready to go play with Daddy," asked Lily smiling as she watched her son nod enthusiastically. "Good, Mummy is going to need all of her little helpers to stop Mr. Prongs from being such a stick in the mud."
"Me too. Me too. Me too," squealed Hermione.
"Yes sweetheart, we could never pull this off without you," Victoria replied. "Everyone ready? You got your chessboard, Ron?"
Ron rattled the box labeled, my first wizards' chessboard in response before toddling down the hallway in search of his playmates. Lily, Olivia and Victoria smirked at one another and followed their charges at a distance so they would be able to watch what was sure to be an amusing scene without giving anything away. Most predictably James, Remus and Sirius were located in the den which was almost more of a disaster area than the kitchen. Which was not at all surprising given that the three men had spent every waking moment in this room for two whole weeks. Consequently the den currently gave off a rather unpleasant odor causing Olivia to wonder when any of the men occupying the room had last bothered to shower. Olivia was most unnerved by the drastic change in Sirius.
Before being adopted by the Potters he had grown up in a family of purebloods who considered themselves above everyone else. Even though Sirius rejected most of what his parents had tried to force on him, Sirius had maintained just one of his mother's ideals. The idea that cleanliness was next to godliness. For as long as Olivia had known him, Sirius had always prided himself on his good looks but now there wasn't so much as the slightest trace that Sirius understood the meaning of hygiene. Olivia was certain that if Walburga Black were to have seen the homeless appearance of her firstborn son the horrible old hag would probably keel over in shock.
The only thing that could possibly take Olivia's mind off of the most shocking appearance of her friends was the unfortunate state of the den. At the moment there were so many papers strewn around the room it was almost impossible to see the floor let alone the desk at which James was working. Large piles of books were currently stacked like barricades separating Remus and Sirius who sat at the same table they had been practically living at for days now. They were each so involved in what they were doing they hadn't even noticed the charges they so adored had waddled into the room.
"Having trouble finding those wards Moony," Sirius grumbled clearly annoyed by the fact that Remus was mumbling aloud as he read the instructions on a spell that would allow Harry, Ron and Hermione to use as much magic as they liked without giving away their position.
":No, not at all Padfoot," said Remus matching his brother's tone par for par. "Just because I'm not a hotshot Auror doesn't mean I can't - OW! Sweet Merlin! What was that?"
Sirius's first response to his brother sudden outburst was a look that plainly stated he thought Remus had finally gone batty from sleep deprivation. Remus glared at Sirius suspiciously before deciding he was just imagining things and turning his attention back to the massive spell book in his hands. As far as the girls could tell the children were doing a relatively good job of keeping hidden, for the moment anyway. It appeared all of the Marauders' efforts to corrupt the children were finally paying off.
A few minutes later Sirius jumped out of his seat spewing some very colorful expletives. Lily cringed but she knew she couldn't reprimand Sirius because he was obviously unaware that the children were present. Curiously Olivia stuck her head a little further into the room so she could see better. Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting together underneath the table at which Moony and Padfoot were reading, each of the toddlers was looking quite pleased that they were playing such a good trick on the grownups.
"You better not let Lily catch you using words like that in the house, Padfoot. She'll be after your blood and mine if she does. The last time one of the kids repeated something they heard you say Lily nearly blasted me into oblivion and I spent a week on the sofa," remarked James lethargically not even bothering to look up from the mound of papers he was currently buried under.
"SOMETHING JUST BIT MY LEG," exclaimed Sirius.
"Don't be ridiculous Pads," said Remus impatiently. "You probably just nodded off or something."
Grumbling loudly Sirius returned to his work. Outside of the den Victoria let out a snort that was quickly stifled by her friends. Olivia wouldn't have believed James, Remus and Sirius could be so dense if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes. Were these the same pranksters who rarely studied and still got top marks? Olivia decided to attribute their sudden obliviousness to the stress of trying to protect the Eternus Liberi. The abrupt lack of common sense among the Marauders simply proved as more evidence that things needed to lighten up quickly.
While Olivia was busy marveling over the effect stress was having on Moony, Padfoot and Prongs things in the den were starting to get out of hand. Harry, Ron and Hermione were having a hard time stifling their own amusement. Not to mention the fact that none of them was used to being ignored by the Marauders for so long. Seemingly unable to maintain their stealthy positions any longer the three of them began laughing at their brilliant joke. Eventually the giggles reached Padfoot and Moony's keen hearing. The two men then began looking for the source of the laughter only to have the children Apparate right into their arms.
"What were you three doing down there," Remus asked incredulously.
"We sneaky, we trick Mauders," Hermione declared happily.
"Did you just bite us," Sirius demanded irritably.
Hermione nodded proudly. On another day Sirius would've reacted by giving the girl a congratulatory cuddle. Today it seemed the girls may have overestimated their powers of manipulation. While Sirius was lecturing her about what a bad thing she had done, Hermione looked totally baffled. Olivia could understand her confusion. The poor girl had been trained for most of her life to believe that sneaking up on someone and dumping a pale of ice water on them while they slept was a good way to show someone that she cared about them.
Therefore, it was only natural that she couldn't understand why her childlike companion was angry with her for playing a joke on him. Olivia had half a mind to go in there and throttled Black. But just as she was preparing herself to go in there and hex him so hard that he would spend the rest of his life walking funny Sirius received a much harsher punishment. In his exhaustion he had finally done the thing which he promised himself he would never do, he made Hermione cry.
Immediately Hermione's eyes welled up with tears and she began to wail loudly. When Hermione started crying it created a chain reaction so that both Harry and Ron were crying as well. Olivia could practically see Black recalling his interactions (or lack thereof) with the children over the past few weeks. Cursing under his breath he beckoned for Hermione to come over to him but she didn't comply backing toward the door.
"Aw Ladybug, don't be like that. I'm not mad at you. How could I ever be mad at you? You are such a good little Marauder. Please don't cry anymore . . . pretty please? Padfoot didn't mean to snap at his best girl. I just missed my nap and you know what happens when Padfoot doesn't get his nap don't you?"
Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment before replying hesitantly, "Grumpy-head?"
"That's the child friendly term for it, yeah," said Sirius weary eyes suddenly a light with a glimmer of mirth.
Meanwhile James was trying to get a sobbing Harry to come play a game with him. But like Hermione, Harry refused. Shaking his head wildly Harry kept telling his father that he wanted his mother and no matter what James tried Harry just wailed louder. It got to the point where Lily had to retrieve him. In spite of herself Olivia felt sorry for the young father who was looking at his little boy as though he were being put through some kind of torture. It was a pitiful sight which only got worse the moment Harry spoke up.
Bathed in tears little Harry uttered the most dangerous phrase anyone could ever imagine, "Mauders no fun daddy."
Unable to stop herself Olivia looked back briefly as she carried Hermione out of the den. James, Sirius and Remus were flabbergasted. They were behaving as though Harry had just spoken a string of vile swearwords. All color had drained from their faces and their mouths were open so widely Olivia was almost certain she could drive a truck through them. At the same time Olivia recognized the ominous determination in James's eyes and knew something big was about to happen in the Potter household.
Half an hour later Olivia found herself in the nursery watching as Harry, Ron and Hermione played a magical variation of Ring around the Rosie. Suddenly the door burst open and the Marauders burst through the door cackling like the maniacs they were. Harry looked up only momentarily before returning to his game. Ron and Hermione never even bothered to stop playing. James, Sirius and Remus all shared rather wicked grins before turning their attention back to the children.
All at once they charged, James scooping up Harry, Sirius grabbing Hermione and Remus tackling Ron.
Laughing maniacally the men started tickling the children mercilessly. The sight and sound of the children laughing was so endearing it worked to lift Olivia's mood more powerfully than any antidepressant a Muggle doctor would prescribe her. The tickle attack as it was called lasted for what seemed like forever and by the end of it everyone had laughed so hard that their sides were aching. Olivia was at a loss to figure out how Remus ended up holding Harry, why James was now carrying Hermione or how Ron had found his way to Sirius.
When it was all said and done Ron grabbed his chessboard and toddled back over to his godfather, "Pay?"
Ron held the chessboard high in the air watching Remus hopefully.
"Sorry mate, I wish I could, honest," he added when Ron's face fell once more. "You know I love to play with you but Mr. Moony is very tired."
Remus punctuated his statement with a tremendous yawn. Olivia could see the wheels turning in the little boy's mind, Ron's internal struggle was written all over his face. On the one hand the little empath knew that moony was exhausted and in desperate need of a good nights sleep. Ron's first instinct was to attend to the needs of his godfather. On the other hand Ron had known Moony from the moment he was born and never once in his short life had he remembered being so overlooked by the man the way he had been over the past two weeks.
Little Ron just couldn't comprehend why Remus would rather sit in the musty old den all day instead of playing with his godchild. Ron looked so torn he wanted to play with Moony but he also needed to take care of his godfather who was clearly in need of a nice long nap. Ron's eyes instantly roamed over to the crib Lily and James had put in Harry's nursery for him. Olivia didn't have to use Occlumency to tell that the boy was wondering whether Remus would spend more time with him if he offered to take a nap with Moony.
Regardless of his desire for closeness with his godfather everyone knew that Ron hated taking naps. In the end the desire to be with Moony and the desire not to go to bed were too confusing for Ron to handle and his eyes welled up with tears once more.
"Aww, go on Moony, you know you really ought to play a game of chess with the boy," said Sirius lazily.
"You wouldn't want to neglect your duties as the boy's godfather, would you?"
Remus scoffed, "Look who's talking. You've been so busy chasing down dark wizards with Mad-eye. Harry hardly recognizes you these days."
Sirius let out a gasp of mock horror and clasped his hands over Harry's ears. Obviously unimpressed by his Godfather's dramatics Harry went right on playing with the stuffed owl he had located. Lily giggled and sensing what was about to take place she went in search of her camera. Thankfully she was able to find it quickly because when the Marauders decided to cause trouble chaos was liable to happen before anyone even had time to blink and looking back on it now the snapshots Lily had taken that day were worth their weight in gold.
"Blasphemy," Sirius shouted.
"It is not. Face it Padfoot, I am simply a much better godfather than you are," said Remus coolly.
"Is that so? Well then would you care to make a little wager," replied Sirius.
"If you insist upon handing me your hard-earned galleons who am I to stop you," smirked Remus.
According to Sirius the only fair way to settle the dispute was by splitting into teams and having a duel. Harry and Sirius against Remus and Ron. Somewhere in the dispute James had teamed up with Hermione claiming the two of them were clever enough to beat the others with their hands tied behind their backs. So it was decided, the three teams were allowed to use only wands and the most amusing spell would declare the winner.
Remus cast a charm on Sirius's hair so that instead of the luxurious locks Black was so proud of the hair on top of Sirius's head was now neon yellow with blue streaks and to make it even more horrifying Remus styled it in the Mohawk. Sirius did not think it was funny but Harry couldn't stop giggling. This upset Sirius even more because now Remus had brainwashed Harry and it was up to Sirius to deprogram his innocent victim.
Sirius responded by casting a charm meant for Remus, but Sirius was still so upset over his hair he misfired and hit James instead. There was a flash of yellow light and the effect had everyone (except for James of course,) in stitches when the light had dissipated and James looked down and found himself wearing a bright red cocktail dress paired with polkadot stockings and red satin sling backs.
Sensing James's annoyance and completely misinterpreting it, Hermione tried to comfort her guardian by stating that James looked pretty. When he heard this, James forgot all about his wand and tackled Sirius to the ground. Which while it was amusing to watch turned out to be a terrible mistake. The children were very eager to try out the forgotten wands that now lay only feet away completely forgotten.
There was a loud bang and somehow or another the children had managed to get all three Marauders stuck to the ceiling. Later once the girls had managed to get Moony, Padfoot and Prongs off the ceiling, it was declared that Harry, Ron and Hermione had won the duel hands down and they were each rewarded with a generous helping of Florean Fortescue's finest butterscotch ripple supreme.