That Which Can't Be Seen

A Harry Potter Alternate Universe fic

By: Shadow Chaser

Started: 6/29/03.

Prologue – Godric's Hollow, October 31, 1981

"WAH!"

James Potter groaned into his pillow, muffling the sound of his annoyance.  He blearily opened his eyes and squinted at the still dark windows.  It wasn't even a proper morning, as the sun wasn't still up, and yet his one-year-old son decided to wake him up with his cries.  He turned slowly over to let the back of his head rest against his pillow.  And he was having a good dream about Quidditch…

"Lily…" he whispered, fighting the urge to open his eyes as his body tried to wake his brain up, "go see what Harry wants…"

Beside him, on their king-sized four-poster bed, his wife Lily made a small noise of disagreement.  "It's your turn…I took care of him the last time he woke up…" she murmured sleepily before a shift in the bed told him that she had turned away from him and was already fast asleep.

James sighed and finally allowed his brain to cooperate with his body and opened his eyes slowly.  The room he and his wife shared was dark, but the dim light cast by the full moon shone in all its glory, giving the room an ethereal quality.  He smiled slightly as he propped himself up from his bed and glanced at the moon.  Remus, or Moony as was his good friend's nickname for him, would be resting up in his own house, having been one of the first few to take the newly formed Wolfsbane Potion.

Another burst of crying came from the room adjacent to theirs and it brought James out of his musings.  "Coming Harry…coming…" James muttered underneath his breath as he slipped on a pair of fuzzy rabbit-skin slippers and wrapped his robe around him, cinching it tightly around his waist.  He rubbed his face and stretch, suppressing the urge to yawn and picked up his glasses from his table next to him.

Blinking sleep away from his eyes, he padded his way towards the adjacent room and peered over his son's crib.  The scrunched up, tear-streaked face of his son looked back at him and another cry escape Harry's lips.  James sighed then picked his son up gently from the crib, patting his back gently and saying soothing words.

"Hey there…you okay?" he whispered mostly to himself as he sniffed Harry's bottom…there wasn't any foul smell.  Making a mental check, he knew that Lily had fed Harry two hours ago…so then it had to be that his baby son was just cranky.  He walked over to the rocking chair that Remus had given to them as a baby shower present (along with about hundreds of charmed stars that pasted themselves to Harry's wall and twinkled like the night sky), and sat down, gently holding Harry to his shoulder and rocked him back and forth.

Eventually after a few minutes, Harry's crying stopped and his son hiccupped slightly.  James looked down at the wisps of black hair that set themselves in unruly waves and smiled slightly.  He knew that Harry was going to look like him when he grew up, except he had Lily's eyes…those bright emerald green eyes that right now were closed.

Harry suddenly made a small noise and James watched as his son shifted in his arms, sucking on a thumb and suddenly those emerald green eyes stared back up at him, a curious, innocent expression in them.  "Hey there Harry…have you been dreaming?" he asked, smiling at his son.

Harry immediately responded to the smile with a gurgle of contentment and the hand with the thumb he had been sucking on suddenly popped out of his mouth and made a grab at his glasses.  James pulled his face back, startled at the reflexes of his son…or was he still sleepy (he didn't really know).  "Now, now," he chided him, engulfing his son's small hands with his own and pressed it back to Harry's face where once again the thumb was back in his mouth, "no swiping at Daddy's glasses, okay?"

"Da!" Harry gave a grin, his small baby teeth just coming in.

"Yeah…Dad…" James couldn't help but smile at his son's antics.  He watched for another few minutes as Harry looked around his room, his bright green eyes taking in everything, before turning his gaze towards the window were the full moon shone a bright cast into the room.

A niggling sense of worry filled him…he knew that Voldemort was still out there…hunting him and his family.  He knew of the prophecy that Dumbledore spoke of…and he wondered if having his best friend Sirius be their Secret-Keeper was such a good thing.  Granted he trusted Sirius with his life and with the lives of Lily and Harry…it was just that, like him, Sirius was an Auror and they were bound to be killed during their fight against Voldemort and his followers.  He briefly wondered if they should have switched Secret-Keepers…Peter had said that he would be willing to take the job, but Lily had refused, saying that Sirius was a good choice…

Still, James knew that there was a chance that Voldemort would be hunting another wizarding family like his.  The Longbottoms' son, Neville, after all, was born on the same day Harry was and the Longbottom's too, defied Voldemort and were a part of the Order of the Phoenix, like him and Lily.

Except Dumbledore disagreed…he said that Voldemort was the Heir of Slytherin…and would pursue the Heir of Gryffindor to the ends of the Earth and perhaps beyond.  It was that rivalry between Godric and Salazar that gave James and his family the greater potential to be attacked by the Dark Lord.

But James still wasn't convinced.  He did some research and found out that the Longbottoms were a part of the Twelve Families of the United Kingdom, signifying that they too had ties with the original Founders of Hogwarts and were of Pureblood, like the Potter's (barring the fact that James had married Lily who was Muggle-born).  But the Longbottoms lineage was fuzzy to say the least…and he didn't know to which Founder their origins came from.

But even so, James kept the fact that he was directly from Godric Gryffindor a secret…only his four best friends, Lily, and Dumbledore knew, and he was determined that it stay that way.

A gurgle of contentment brought him out of his musings and he glanced down to see his son sleeping peacefully, a hand curled, gripping the folds of his pajamas and sucking on his thumb.  Reaching over to the table next to Harry's crib, he grabbed the edge of the spare blanket Lily kept folded on the table and covered both him and his son in its folds.  He glanced once more out of the window, and hoped that everything would turn out all right…and soon...

Closing his eyes, he let sleep engulf him and his hand unconsciously drifted to where he usually kept his wand in the folds of his robes if he was wearing them.

                                    *                      *                      *

The bright cheerful day of Halloween was filled with candy and decorations in Godric's Hollow.  Kids of all ages living in the small Muggle community ran around, some pretending to flying on miniature brooms, as it was a cheerful holiday.  Owls flew about, delivering messages back and forth.  In a part of Godric's Hollow that no one knew about stood the Potter house.

James and Lily were forbidden to leave the house or risk their Secret being flung out into the open, so they kept to themselves, playing with baby Harry or writing letters to other members of the Order of the Phoenix.  James was absolutely restless, having been cooped up in the house for over a year and wanted badly to go back to work.

He wondered how Moody was faring with out him…after all he knew that he was one of the Dark Force Defense League's top Auror operative, but he didn't really let the fame go to his head as much as he would have wanted it to when he was younger.  James shook his head silently as he let his thoughts wander back to the days of his teenage years at Hogwarts.  He had to admit, he was a selfish, arrogant bastard back then…but those were also the fun years.  He knew that some of the pranks he pulled on Snape and a few other unfortunate students were childish, but now knowing his fellow Order of the Phoenix member's dire situation…he felt kind of sorry for the old greasy-haired chap.

 But that certainly did not mean he could poke his fun into Snape at times.  Right now, he wished Snape was here so he could give him a good hex or something…he really needed something to do!  He had briefly considered breaking Dumbledore's order that they do not leave their house, but every time he tried to, his thoughts always reverted back to his infant son…and the dangers that preyed upon the world were weighed heavily upon him.

No, he couldn't leave…he couldn't betray the trust Dumbledore had put into him and Lily.  He couldn't break the promise of his best friend Sirius…who so willingly became their Secret-Keeper, even though he had made a target of himself to his family and Lord Voldemort.  He would be faithful to the cause and to the Order of the Phoenix…

"James?" Lily's voice floated from their kitchen and he turned from polishing his broom to see her stick her head out of the flapping door…obviously a Muggle thing.

"Hmm?" he answered, his hands absently stroking the polish onto his Comet Fifty-two…one of the finest brooms ever to be made in his opinion.

"Sirius is on the telephone…" Lily replied and James raised an eyebrow.  As far as he was concerned, Sirius wasn't really adept in using a Muggle telephone and rather used the fireplace to do his calls, but recently, he and Lily had been given a warning that Voldemort knew how to capture and detect people using a Fire Call…so Lily had installed a Muggle phone in their house.

"Uh…sure…be there in a second," he replied, then turned back to his broom and placed his cleaning kit away, gently placing his broom against a wall.  He got up and went into the kitchen where Lily was busy trying to feed Harry who looked absolutely revolted at the spoonful of baby food Lily was trying to feed him.

"Lily?  Where's the fellytone?" he asked.  After even a few months of living with the Muggle contraption he still had trouble finding it…much less use it.  His wife had tried to teach him, but he really just didn't get the purpose of touching little numbers and listening to voices on the other end when you could just see and talk to the person…even feed him or her.

"Telephone," Lily replied, a bit exasperated, "honestly James…you'd figure by now…"  She pointed to a rectangular thing on the wall.

"Sorry," James replied a bit sheepishly and headed over to the wall and picked up the phone which was off the "hook" or so Lily liked to say.  Tentatively and remembering how Lily said to speak into the phone he asked, "Hello?"

"Jamesie-boy!" Sirius' voice boomed over the other end and James quickly pulled the phone away from his ear.  "HOW ARE YOU?!"

"Sirius," he replied a bit louder than normal, but the noticed the glare from his wife, "lower your voice…I can hear you, ya know…"

"Oh…sorry," Sirius had apparently forgotten how to speak in a telephone but probably just remembered.  James put the phone back close to his ear just as Sirius said, "Um…is Lily mad at me?"

"Sort of…good thing Harry didn't cry this time," James replied as the last time Sirius "called" they had both yelled at each other over the telephone that Harry began to cry from all the noise.

"Oh…good…tell Harry his Uncle Sirius said hi," Sirius' voice was full of amusement.

"Okay…" James replied, grinning at his friend's statement.  "So…what brings you to call us?"

"What?  I can't wish my best friend and his lovely wife a Happy Halloween?" James could almost see a mock wounded expression on his best friend's face and he laughed lightly.

"A Happy Halloween to you too, Snuffles," he replied.

"But in all seriousness…I bring a warning," Sirius began and James could sense the abrupt mood change in his friend and he instinctively turned away from Lily and Harry.  In ways, he was glad that Lily installed the Muggle device…it ensured privacy that wasn't really associated with Fire Calls.

"Yes?" he dropped his voice a bit lower as not to startle his wife or son.

"Dumbledore senses that something's going down…something big either tonight or the next few days.  He and Moody told me to tell you to be on guard…don't trust anyone…period.  Who knows who's using Polyjuice Potion these days…" Sirius warned.

"All right," James replied, "I'll see you on the flipside okay?"

"Prongs…you're already on the flipside," Sirius replied before hanging up the phone.

That confirmed the message that James got.  He knew that with those coded words, there was no way in any falsehood that it was his best friend Sirius Black talking to him, passing on the message from Dumbledore and Moody.  Only four other people knew of his nickname, Prongs.  His wife, Remus, Peter, and Sirius.  And he trusted all of them with his life.

"James?" Lily's concerned voice brought him back around and he gave a false smile in hopes that his wife would buy it.

"Sirius wanted to wish us a Happy Halloween and to say a hi to Harry," James replied in a cheer that he most certainly did not feel before he walked quickly out of the kitchen and headed upstairs to their bedroom.

Closing the door to their bedroom tightly, he knelt down in front of his trunk and popped it open.  On top of his invisibility cloak which was a gift passed down through the males of his family to each firstborn was his wand…mahogany with the core of the tail feather of a griffin, eleven inches, pliable…good for transfiguration…he could hear Ollivander's wizened voice speaking about his wand…

Taking the wand out, he pocketed it neatly in his robes and closed his trunk, locking it securely.  The niggling feeling of trouble was growing stronger in his mind and he knew that something was going to happen…the question was…when.

Standing back up, James headed back downstairs…if things were going to happen, then by whatever gods ruled this world…he was going to be ready to defend his family.

                                    *                      *                      *

Night had fallen peacefully on their part of Godric's Hollow…and the Muggle children who lived there were now out to their costume parties having fun.  James had to admit seeing little children attempt to dress up like goblins, witches and wizards was quite a feat…especially with their garish costumes…  If they only knew…

Lily had made a normal dinner consisting of steak and kidney pie, drumsticks and to finish off with dessert treacle fudge.  He had eaten everything with relish and had even tried to feed Harry some of his treacle.  Of course that lead to Harry spitting it back out at him…which in turn made Lily laugh so hard that she nearly choked on her treacle…and led to a giant mess on their dining table.

Now, James sat by the fire, reading from a Muggle book…Peter Pan, to his son who was looking at the pictures with curiosity.  He and Lily had decided that their son was to be brought up in both the Muggle and wizarding ways…and every other day was for them to read Harry a Muggle picture book.

"So why did Sirius called this afternoon?" Lily suddenly asked while James was in the midst of reading about Peter Pan's adventure with Princess Tiger Lily.

"Uh…to wish us a Happy Halloween," James nearly messed up the excuse he had made earlier…and avoided his wife's emerald eyes that always made him melt on the inside and confess everything.

"James…" her tone went up ever so slightly, "you're not telling me everything…"

"Look…Peter Pan saved the Princess from evil Captain Hook, right Harry?" James decided to ignore her for the moment and pointed out a few colored pictures of Peter Pan and Tiger Lily.

"James…" Lily's voice rose slightly.

"And there's Wendy-"

"James Edward Potter…" Lily's voice was near anger and James finally looked up from reading to Harry to see her glaring at him.

"All right…" he sighed, running a hand through his unruly black hair before adjusting his glasses…a habit for him when he was nervous about something, "Sirius-"

Suddenly there was a knock on their door and he froze, as did Lily.

"Door," Harry gleefully broke the silence with his baby talk.

Knock.  Knock.

James stared at Lily, seeing the fear in them and he nodded to her.  She got up quietly and he handed Harry over to her, barely missing the imperceptible flick of her getting her wand out and hiding it underneath Harry if she needed to use it.  He himself took out his wand from the folds of his robe and held it up…his Auror-trained senses alert to everything around him.

Only two people knew where they were…Dumbledore and Sirius…  Maybe it was just some kid who stumbled across their Unplottable…maybe on a dare from the kid's friends…he hoped it would be…after all it was Halloween.

He cautiously approached the door, his senses fully alert to any kind of spell, his mind running through the various jinxes, hexes and protection spells he could cast…  Taking a deep breath he opened the door and readied his wand…

"Sirius!" James blinked in surprise as his friend stood in the doorway, his body hunched over.

"James…" was the hoarse whisper coming from the battered body that was his best friend and James reached out and nearly staggered to the ground from the weight of supporting Sirius.

He dragged him in and made a move to shut the door behind him when Sirius reached out with a hand and gripped his arm painfully.  "Don't…" he whispered, sounding like he had screamed his voice sore, "must…leave…"

"Sirius…?" James looked at him, concerned and apprehensive, "what's going on?"

Sirius didn't answer and instead looked up to where Lily and Harry were and James followed his gaze to see a horrified expression on his wife's face, while a curious expression his baby son's.  "Danger…you're all in danger…"  He suddenly made a move towards the door, but James grabbed onto him tightly as a hissing sound escaped his lips.

"You're injured!" he exclaimed, trying to hold back his friend from moving, "don't move…"

"I can't…you have to…escape…now…"

"Sirius?"

"James…they're after you.  After you, Lily, and Harry…"

"The Secret?" James was worried…extremely worried and a pit of uneasiness began to spread from his stomach through his body.

Sirius shook his head…before he cried out, "I'm so sorry James!  I couldn't…they…" he hesitated as if remembering something terrible, "they…tortured me…I-I don't really remember…but…"  He seemed to close in within himself and was reduced to shudders that James had never seen him do before.  He wondered if this was his friend…but then again, torture and the war could change people, he knew that from experience when he worked with a few of his colleagues in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Sirius…" there was no answer except for a muffled sob coming from the broken body that was his best friend, "Sirius!"

"Yeah?"

"How far behind are they?" James tried to keep his friend talking…if they were in trouble and it seemed very likely as the uneasy feeling grew stronger.

"I…I-I don't know…"

"All right…" James glanced down for a moment before looking up and at Lily, "we'll head to Lupin's…he's not far away…We'll use tonight to blend in with the costumed children…"

Lily nodded and James looked back down at the hunched form of Sirius, "Sirius…can you walk?  We'll be going to Lupin's and then try to contact Dumbledore from there, okay?"

"Okay…" was the hoarse reply and James peered out the door once more and seeing that it was as clear as he could make it out to be, he gestured to Lily to take Harry and move forward…

As his wife brushed past him, James helped Sirius up and taking one last look around the cozy home of Godric's Hollow that had been his house for nearly a year and half he turned back around and stepped out into the night.

                                    *                      *                      *

They had been walking for the last hour or so, occasionally hiding behind buildings or ducking into opened doors as unfamiliar people passed by, some just harmless costumed children and adults coming back from parties, other times, shady characters.  James was already noticing that Sirius seemed to regain some of his strength while they were walking and they had stopped only once when he needed a drink of water from a flask that he had been carrying with him.

Surprisingly, Harry had been silent the whole time they were walking and was just looking curiously at everything around him.   He was proud of his infant son…for being able to put up such an innocent and brave front even when danger was all around them.

Suddenly a prickling sense told James to stop and he held up a hand to warn Lily and Sirius who stopped behind him.  He cast a scanning spell on his wand and detected dark forces moving towards them.  He didn't know what was moving towards them, but he sensed that it was probably Death Eaters, looking for them.

"I think Death Eaters are about…" he whispered before looking around for any shops or buildings they could hide until the danger passed by.

"Here!" Sirius' voice was still hoarse but seemed to be getting better as time went by, and James turned to see Sirius pointing at a decrepit building that seemed unstable but it was also a logical place to hide.

"Come on," he grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her with him and together, they all ran into the building.  "Lumos," he whispered as his wand lit up with a small light.  He bit back a cry of surprise as he looked around…  Bones laid everywhere, some with rags of cloth still attached; others looked like they had been chewed on.

"What the…"

"WAH!  WAH!" Harry began to bawl at the grisly sight and James turned to see Lily trying to hush their son from giving away their hiding spot.

"Come on…down here…it'll be safer," Sirius pulled on the sleeve of his robe and he stumbled, trying to keep his wand high up so he could see where he was going.

"Sirius, where the hell are you taking us?" he asked as he quickly grabbed onto Lily's hand for the fear of losing her in all of this…

"The basement is a good place to hide," Sirius said as he led them through rooms.

Alarms suddenly went off in James' head and he stopped forcefully pulling back from Sirius' grip on his arm.  Something wasn't right here…something didn't add up…  "Wait hold on Sirius…"

"What's the matter James?  Do you want those Death Eaters to find you?" Sirius looked at him oddly.

"No…wait…" James shook his head, trying to sort through his jumbled thoughts, "just…wait…Sirius…  How…did you know of this place?"

"Dumbledore had me scouting a few places near Godric's Hollow for contingent plans if your Secret was ever out in the open," Sirius replied in an off-hand manner, "now would you come on!  I don't want Harry to be captured."

James knew that it was logical for Dumbledore to see for any contingent plans…but the Fidelius Charm was nearly unbreakable…only through the death of their Secret-Keeper or if they left Godric's Hollow…  But Sirius was alive…and he did say that they were in danger…were they?

Suddenly it dawned on him…  They had walked straight into a trap…not only did they leave Godric's Hollow, but their Secret was broken and out in the open…and the one to do that to them was…  No, Sirius would never do such a thing; they were almost-brothers the best of friends.  Sirius would never betray them.  James made up his mind…

He lifted his wand and pointed it at Sirius, his eyes narrowed, "No.  I've had enough.  I'm not playing your game.  You'll have to kill us before you get my son."

"James," Sirius, or the person that was Sirius stared at him like he grew another head, "what the hell are you talking about?  Do you think I'm some kind of shape shifter or something?"

"Yes," James let a bit of a dangerous edge he always had when he was an Auror bleed into his voice, "you're precisely that.  Except you're only using Polyjuice Potion.  You're not Sirius Black…You're just an imitation of him…"

There was a moment's pause before Sirius threw his head back and laughed, not the laugh that James was used to, but a more deeper and sinister laugh.  He stepped back and readied his wand, keeping himself in front of his wife and son to shield them.

"Very perceptive James Potter…very perceptive…" the man that was not Sirius stared at them malevolently, "it took you a while, but you finally figured it out…  I applaud you…" he clapped mockingly and James tensed.

"But now…I am dreadfully sorry, but you and your lovely wife must hand over your son to the Dark Lord," the false Sirius thrust a hand out, "now."

"No," James stepped back further and pushed Lily behind who was holding a silent Harry, "you want them…you'll have to go through me."

"I think not…" an oily voice spoke from behind them and James whirled around to see twelve masked Death Eaters approach them from all around, surrounding them.

"Oh…shit…" he muttered underneath his breath as he faced them all…

"You see James Potter…you cannot win…no one can win against Lord Voldemort," James turned to see Sirius' feature melt slightly…but other wise the man that now stood before him looked startling close to his best friend, "I am Regulus Black, Lord Voldemort's most ardent supporter…"

"I can and I will win…there are those who defy him…and we will not falter," James held his wand up in a mock salute, "Lily…take Harry and run…don't look back…"

"James…" he could hear the fear in his wife's voice.

"I love you…" he whispered behind him.

"I love you too…" she replied and he took a deep breath, prepared to die in this battle.

"Coronum!" he shouted, blasting back a couple of Death Eaters as he leapt at Regulus.  He tackled him to the ground and rolled to his feet, pointing his wand over his shoulder, "Impedimenta!"

The Death Eater that had been waiting to ambush him fell back with a thump and James attempted to kick Regulus in the temple to knock him out.  But Regulus ducked his attempt and retaliated with his wand.

"Crucio!"

James felt the force of the curse breeze past him as he ducked and then jumped over a pile of bones and rags.  He barely caught a glimpse of his wife fighting her way past other Death Eaters, her arms wrapped protectively around their son.  He had to help her.

"Incendio!" he let loose a blast of fire from the tip of his wand, knocking aside and setting aflame two Death Eaters who ran away shrieking at the top of their lungs.

Running towards his wife, he pointed his wand to his right, "Stupefy!"

"Colloportus!" the spell knocked James off of his feet and he crashed into a support beam, breaking it.  He hissed in pain as splinters from the broken wood dug into his skin and he landed hard on the ground.

He blearily opened his eyes and suddenly rolled to the side, ignoring the fiery pain that protested with his movement.  Lashing out with a foot, he tripped a Death Eater over and got to his knees…

"Crucio," the word was so simple, but James' world exploded into pain and he doubled over, screaming.

He could feel tendrils of pain rake all over him, and he writhed in agony and curled up against it.  It was as if someone had ripped his heart out and stabbed him all over the place.  "No!" he screamed as he watched through hazy eyes his wife stumble and fall, the Cruciatus Curse also being put on her.

He reached out vainly, trying to reach his son who had fallen beside her.  "Harry…" he whispered before he screamed again as another wave of pain assaulted his senses.  The last thing he saw before he passed out was a pair of red silted eyes staring at him before turning their gaze onto Harry who looked up with curious eyes.

"Avada…Kedavra…"

A jet of green light filled the room…and James Potter passed out…

                                    *                      *                      *

Author's Notes:

            And so ends the prologue of what looks to be a very long fic.  Hope you enjoyed it so far!  Thanks bunches to Nessie and Algae for beta-reading this!