Summary: On October 31st, 1981, what if James Potter remembered his vision with his best friend in a ratty prison uniform? What if Remus Lupin remembered his kidnapping in the Forbidden Forest? What if Sirius Black realized the truth about Peter Pettigrew, before it was too late? What if Lily Potter never sacrificed herself to save Harry? An alternate ending written remorsefully for the readers of Hogsmeade Kiss. R/R
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JKR (aka pure brilliance) does. Don't sue me because I'm imaginative. :-)
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It took a while for the shock to set in that a) Lily, James, and Harry had almost been killed and b) that Peter, their best friend since they were eleven, betrayed their whereabouts. "How did we not see he was with them?" James asked for the hundredth time while conjuring a crib for Harry to sleep in.
Shrugging, Remus replied, "We should've seen a change from absolutely pathetic to power hungry, no offence." Then after a short pause, Remus added, "Actually I take that back, I want to offend him."
Growling under his breath, Sirius said, "If I ever get my hands on that little rat I'll rip him apart."
"Don't," Lily said quietly. Lily had the ability to silence a room and she did; all three men turned towards her. "You were close to getting sent to Azkaban tonight, Sirius. No one but us knew you were Secret Keeper. What if we were killed tonight, huh? You would have been immediately carted off."
The Marauders reflected on that for a moment, none of them had realized the impact that night could've had. "I almost didn't tell Remus we switched to Peter," Sirius said, running a hand through his hair, "What if I had just told him I was going into hiding?"
"You would've taken your motorbike instead of Apparating to Peter's hideout," Remus said, running a sequence of events through his mind, "That would take twice as long. Peter wouldn't be there, you would go to James and Lily's house and find them dead."
Shuddering, James finished, "And then you would be arrested. God, think of what could've become of us…"
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There were various conversations being passed around a rectangular table in the Room of Requirements among the Order members, but all came to a sudden halt when Dumbledore arrived. "Thank you all for responding to this impromptu meeting so efficiently. I know our next meeting was scheduled two weeks from now, but an incident occurred last night that confirmed my suspicions on a very sketchy subject.
"But first, let us welcome to new members to the Order. Allow me to introduce Arthur and Molly Weasley." The group turned to the two chairs sitting nearest to Dumbledore and smiled graciously at the tired looking couple. "Arthur works at the Ministry in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department and can help us with any strange muggle pranks that could be traced back to Death Eaters. Molly is mother of seven children—"
"Seven!?!" James, Sirius, and Lily all said in unison, for they seemed to be the only ones who didn't know who the Weasley's were. Remus had worked with Arthur on one of his missions.
Smiling courteously, Dumbledore said, "Yes, seven. In fact, her eldest, Bill, will be attending Hogwarts next year."
With a small 'tut', Lily turned toward Molly and said admirably, "I don't know how you do it. I have one and that's hard enough. What are their names?"
"Let's see, I have six boys and one girl," Molly said, ticking off children on her fingers. "Ginny, she's our youngest, almost three months old and her brother Ron who's nineteen months. Then we have twins, Fred and George, who are three and an absolute handful. Then Percy, an angel, is five and his older brother Charlie is eight. And as Dumbledore said, Bill who is ten, will be starting Hogwarts next year," Molly finished, tearing up slightly at the last bit.
Lily was looking at Molly as if she was the Queen herself. "How do you do it? Our son, Harry, is fifteen months and that's hard enough."
Molly smiled kindly at the new mother and said, "It's tiring but we love it."
Picking up where he left off, Dumbledore said, "We've been working with Molly and Arthur for the past few months and they are finally able to join our group.
"Now, down to business. As I said at the beginning of the meeting, there was an occurrence of sorts last night. Everyone knew at least the basics about the situation with the Potter's, correct?" Slowly, the members nodded their heads in turn. "Sirius was their Secret Keeper but two days earlier they switched to Peter Pettigrew in hopes no one would guess him to hold such a secret, intending to inform me today. Peter was the spy in our group and he told Voldemort where Lily and James were hiding."
Murmuring broke out among the group members. "How do you know Peter told Voldemort?" asked Dedalus Diggle.
The whisperings ceased and all heads turned towards Dumbledore. "Because Voldemort attacked the Potter's last night. Luckily Remus and Sirius caught onto what Peter had done and helped the Potter's escape."
Dead silence followed Dumbledore's words. "Attacked?" asked Sturgis Podmore. Lily and James nodded in unison. "And you escaped?" The couple nodded again. Sturgis whistled and said, "You two are bloody lucky."
"Wait a minute," said Emmeline Vance, holding a finger up as if to silence someone, "We know you went into hiding, but we never knew why Voldemort was targeting you."
Lily and James glanced at each other, then looked at Dumbledore as if asking permission for something. "I think it would be wise if you shared, that way we can get fellow friends insight on the problem," Dumbledore said with a slight shrug, sitting down.
James let out a small breath and said uncertainly, "Well, uh, I know this doesn't sound very reliable, since this branch of magic isn't taken extremely seriously, but it's enough to make Voldemort come after us, after Harry."
"Harry?" chuckled Elphias Doge with misgiving. "What would You-Know-Who want with an infant?"
"Well," Lily said, "There was a prophecy predicted in Dumbledore's presence, basically saying there was someone who would have the power to defeat Voldemort-" many people around the table cringed "-who would be born at the end of July to parents who had defied him three times. And Voldemort would know about this and pick him as his equal but this person would have a power that Voldemort won't know about. The last bit said neither can live while the other survives," Lily finished shakily.
"Voldemort somehow found out about the prophecy but only heard the first part," James picked up, "and discovered our family and Harry held the requirements and picked our son as his equal."
Huffing, Mad Eye Moody adjusted himself in his seat and spoke to the disbelieving faces. "It makes perfect sense. Even if this prophecy isn't true You-Know-Who won't take the chance of an enemy being in his path to world domination. He would want to kill Harry when he was young instead of waiting until he was older and stronger. Two other wizards wouldn't stand in his way."
Dumbledore inclined his head thankfully to Moody and said, "Exactly. And we won't take any risks either. We will base what course of action we take next on the trust that the prophecy is accurate, which I believe it is. In that case their son, Harry, is the key to defeating Voldemort, for he has grown to powerful to stop at this point."
Lily made a scoffing sound, interrupting Dumbledore. The heads around the table turned toward her. Looking embarrassed, Lily said, "Sorry, but…well, it sounds like you plan on using my son as a weapon." James shot Lily a look that plainly said he thought she spoke her mind a little too much.
Smiling, Dumbledore said, "Not as a weapon, as a savior for all of us." Lily nodded sheepishly and James grabbed her hand with a squeeze.
"Now," Dumbledore continued, "We need a place for the Potters to hide, if anyone has any suggestions…"
Murmuring broke out as the members discussed places they knew amongst themselves. "Albus," Arthur Weasley said loudly over the babble, which quieted slightly as he spoke, "If it's okay with the Potters, we would be happy to offer our home for as long as they need protection."
Dumbledore turned to the Potters for conformation. "You would do that for us?" James asked, very surprised. Molly and Arthur nodded, Molly smiling. Lily stood, tears in her eyes, and gave Molly and Arthur each a warm hug.
"Things are going to change around here," Dumbledore said as Lily went back to sit down. "We are going to be more prepared, more cautious, more organized…anything we can do to get better will happen. We will make Voldemort believe we have disbanded and given up when in reality we are getting stronger. We need one hundred percent from each member with complete and total secrecy. I hope you are all ready."
A few minutes later the meeting was dismissed and Dumbledore told Lily and James to get Harry and meet him in his office while Sirius and Remus were assigned to go with Molly and Arthur to magically expand their house. But Sirius and Remus came up to Dumbledore after the meeting was over, signaling Molly and Arthur to wait for them. "Albus, we have a favor to ask," Remus started.
"Of course, Remus, what is it?" Dumbledore asked, looking tired.
"We want to start a new mission, we want to devote all of our time to try and find Peter," Sirius said plainly.
"Sirius and I know him better than anyone else, the Ministry couldn't do any better," Remus said quickly, "and Sirius is an Auror, he has the training and experience to find him."
Sighing, Dumbledore said, "You may, but Sirius, you must ask the Ministry for permission and you cannot let them know Remus will be accompanying you. I will still pay you Remus and under no circumstances are you to kill him, no matter how tempting it is. Bring him to the Ministry." The friends looked at each other and nodded. "Molly and Arthur are waiting. Good luck to both of you."
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"Go quickly," said Dumbledore, withdrawing his wand with the arm not holding Harry up, "Take only what you need. There could be Death Eaters assigned to watch the house." Lily and James nodded and ran inside the house at Godric's Hollow.
James ran upstairs, shrinking their bed, dresser, amore, end tables and Harry's crib. He then conjured a bag and stuffed Harry's mobile, his little broom and some of his favorite toys inside. Next he ran back to the bedroom and into the closet, taking work, dress, and casual robes out with a few of his favorite muggle attire. Lastly, he ran into the study and grabbed their Gringotts vault key and shrunk most of the books in the study, casting a charm on the bag to make it seem weightless.
Meanwhile Lily was downstairs, getting family photographs and heirlooms out of the living room, picking up some of Harry's toys lying in front of the fireplace that he had been playing with last night. She heaved the bag up the stairs and ran into the bedroom, shoving her jewelry box inside along with the star box that James gave her in school. Lily grabbed a great deal of clothes out of her closet then rushed to Harry's room, seeing the crib and toys mostly gone. She grabbed a few more toys and stuffed animals she thought Harry would want and stuffing handfuls of baby clothes into her sack.
Lily skirted to a halt in the entrance hall where James was grabbing their cloaks and his broomstick out of the hall closet. He saw Lily struggling with the bag and breathing heavily. With a laugh, James cast a the same weightless charm on her bag, saying, "I can't believe you didn't think of that, Miss Valedictorian."
Rolling her eyes, Lily said, "Just get outside, Dumbledore's waiting."
"Good," Dumbledore said as the couple arrived back outside, Lily taking Harry from the old man, "We need to get a move on." Dumbledore quietly relayed the Weasley's address and all three Disapparated, appearing moments later in front of the Weasley's house.
Hurriedly, Dumbledore said, "I trust you have everything you need, but if not please owl me so I know you're going back to Godric's Hollow so I can be on full alert. If that is all then…" Dumbledore made a move to Disapparate but James stopped him.
"Sir, if I could speak with you for a moment?" James asked.
Lily nodded slightly and handed Harry to James. "I'll just take these inside then," said Lily quietly, picking up the two bags and walking inside the Burrow.
"I am in rather of a hurry, James," Dumbledore said patiently with kind eyes.
"I know, Albus, but I just want to apologize for something," James said with an ashamed air about him, "We should've picked you as Secret Keeper in the first place. It's not that we didn't trust you or anything…I don't even remember our reasons for not choosing you. But we wouldn't be in this predicament right now and you wouldn't have more work to do and Sirius and Remus wouldn't be heading off to God knows where, hunting down Peter."
Smiling, Dumbledore pocketed his wand and placed a hand on James' shoulder warmly. "No need to apologize, I'm just relieved your family is okay. I don't know if you realize how close you were to disaster last night, but it is truly a miracle you, Lily, and Harry did make it. All these events happened for a reason, even though we may not see it just yet. Apologies are not needed."
"Thank you, sir," James said, shaking Dumbledore's hand in farewell, then headed into the house.
The Burrow was very cluttered, rambunctious, and homey. There were four red haired children running around screaming as Sirius acted like a monster, growling and stomping after the munchkins. The oldest of the four was feebly punching Sirius leg in attempt to fight him. Sirius just slung him over his shoulder and chased the other three. One was very young, around Harry's age, toddling away and screeching in laughter. The other two looked just a like and were running in the same circle, waving their hands in the air dramatically. Another child was sitting at the shabby yet large kitchen table, reading a book that seemed slightly advanced for his age. The eldest of the red haired children was in the living room, dancing around with a red haired infant. James spotted Lily with Remus, watching the chaos and laughing with Molly and Arthur.
James carefully made his way through the kitchen and to the living room, laughing as Sirius waved excitedly to him as the kid on his shoulder pounded his back and giggling. "Hey there," Lily said when James survived the battle and met his wife and best friend, "Don't you love it here? I was just telling Molly this is exactly what we've always wanted, a huge family."
"Well it's not exactly what we wanted, I never wanted a Sirius terrorizing my kids," James said with a laugh as Sirius turned and glared at him.
"Harry seems to be very unsure of himself," Remus said, staring at Harry. Lily and James looked down and smiled at Harry's confused yet curious expression.
"So James," Arthur said, "Where exactly do you work in the Ministry? I know Sirius is an Auror."
Passing Harry to Lily, James stepped closer to Arthur and said, "I'm an analyst, same department as Sirius."
"Dad!" said a young voice and James looked as the kid holding the infant came running over to Arthur, "I'm tired of holding Ginny, can I go ride my broomstick?"
Taking the infant named Ginny out of his son's arms, Arthur said, "You'll have to sneak out now if you don't want to be bothered by Charlie. But first, I want you to meet the people who will be staying with us for a while. This is James Potter, his wife Lily Potter, and their son Harry. James and Lily, this is Bill, our oldest child, oh I mean, young man." Arthur had to switch his words quickly, for Bill gave him a reproachful look at being called a child.
"Do you play Quidditch?" James asked interestedly.
"A little, but not too much, I just like to fly. Charlie is the Quidditch expert," Bill said simply, then turned to his dad and asked, "Can I go now?" With a nod, Bill sneaked out the door.
Lily scooted next to Arthur and held Harry close to Ginny, who was gazing at the ceiling. "Harry this is Ginny, a baby."
Harry looked at Ginny inquisitively and then pointed and said, "Be!"
As Harry and Ginny were getting to know each other, Molly said, "Sirius and Remus helped us expand the living room and the kitchen. We added a bedroom for you two and we figured Ron and Harry could share a room since they are about the same age.
"I want you two and Harry to meet all the boys." Molly began to break up the craziness and got all the boys settled. "This is Percy," Molly said, pointing to the boy reading at the table, "These two are our twins, Fred and George, Charlie is the one who was on Sirius, and Ron is the littlest one, around Harry's age."
Setting him on the ground, Lily gave a Harry a slight nudge to go talk to Ron. Harry waddled over to Ron and waved to him, saying, "Hi!"
"What's your name?" Molly prodded Ron.
"Ronald Bisus Weasley!" Ron said triumphantly, throwing his arms in the air.
Smiling, Molly said, "It's really Ronald Bilius Weasley, he just can't say his middle name properly."
"Harry!" Harry said his own name, mimicking Ron and throwing his hands up in the air the same way Ron did.
Ron eyed Harry suspiciously and said loudly, "Ron!"
"Harry!" Harry screamed, liking the new game.
"Ron!"
"Harry!"
"Ron!"
"Harry!"
"Oh dear…" said Arthur exasperatedly as he left the kitchen, James following suite while the two mothers looked on proudly.
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Author Notes: I am so so so unbelievably sorry for taking four months to update. Color guard just finished and I'm in my junior year of high school with a ton of homework. I'm looking for a job so I can buy a car and I'm learning how to play guitar. It's hard to find time to write but since this is Thanksgiving weekend and I'm off school I'm going to try to finish up this story and start on an L/J love hate that I've been planning for some time. Like I said I'm so sorry and I hope someone is still out there, enjoying this story.
I'm so out of practice writing HP and I don't think this chapter is good at all and the next one will be little short glimpses of Harry's life growing up, so I of course wont be satisfied with that either. I'm just relieved I can say goodbye to this Hogsmeade Kiss storyline. I've been writing like this for three years and I can't wait to start anew.
R/R!
