Unforeseen

By Neurotica

Three

Less than a week after Harry's birthday, Sirius and James were let out of their jobs at the Ministry early for a meeting at Hogwarts with Dumbledore. James had come down with a full-blown bout of Wizard Flu. It differed from the Muggle Flu only in one way: it drained a witch or wizard of their magical abilities until they were able to throw it off. The Flu had only been affecting James a few days (it usually lasted seven to ten), but he was already seeing his abilities fade.

Sirius suggested they put off the meeting until James was feeling better ("I'm sure Dumbledore wouldn't appreciate you puking all over his magnificent study," Sirius said), but James wouldn't allow it. Their schedules as Aurors were unpredictable at the best of times, and they probably wouldn't be able to meet with the headmaster for another month.

And so, this was why James and Sirius were arriving by Portkey just outside the Hogwarts gate on a stormy afternoon in August. James wavered a bit when he landed and Sirius caught him before he could fall.

"Lily's going to murder you for not putting this off, mate," Sirius said lightly as they walked across the Hogwarts grounds.

James grunted in response, carefully stepping up the front steps of the castle. "Told her I'd be home right after this," he said quietly.

Sirius rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like "whipped" as they entered the dark Hogwarts corridors.

It'd only been four years since they'd graduated from Hogwarts, but both wizards looked around nostalgically, recalling some of the better times they'd had in the school. They walked silently down the very familiar path to Dumbledore's study – they'd been there hundreds of times in their youth – and Sirius muttered the password ("Ice Mice") to the stone gargoyles. The gargoyles immediately moved aside, revealing the spiraling stone staircase that would take the two wizards to Dumbledore.

Before either of them had a chance to knock on the oak study door, Dumbledore called for them to enter. The two friends raised an eyebrow at their former headmaster's ability to know they were at the door before they'd even alerted him. Sirius entered first, followed by James, and greeted the smiling headmaster before sitting.

"Are you feeling all right, James?" Dumbledore asked concernedly.

"Fine, sir, just a bug," James replied. Sirius noticed his best friend growing paler by the minute, but didn't say anything.

"On your way out today, you may want to see Madam Pomfrey; perhaps she can give you a potion, hmm?"

James nodded. "I'll do that, sir."

Small talk commenced. Dumbledore inquired as to how Lily and Harry were fairing, how work at the Ministry was going, and if the two younger wizards were keeping out of trouble. Sirius assured him that they were being perfect angels, but had a bit of trouble keeping his lips from twitching.

They began discussing the war with Voldemort, and any light feelings that had been in the room when James and Sirius had arrived disappeared immediately. The war had grown steadily darker and more dangerous over the more recent years since Voldemort had first gained power during James and Sirius' first year at Hogwarts. He was recruiting to his ranks in mass numbers. This meant the chances of spies within the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix were greatly increased.

Apparently, Dumbledore had finally reached his reason for asking the two younger wizards to join him that day. According to the headmaster, Voldemort and his Death Eaters were gaining access to information they shouldn't have been able to get. Dumbledore believed the Order had been infiltrated by a Death Eater. He also believed the spy was an established, trusted member of the Order.

"Who do you think it is, sir?" James asked quietly.

Dumbledore sighed and had never looked as old as he did at that moment to James. "I do not know for certain," he said regretfully. James thought he was avoiding something. "I would like for the two of you to keep your eyes open and to be careful what you speak of with one another and your friends." Sirius and James glanced at each other, their eyebrows raised again. "Our greatest allies could turn out to be our worst enemies in this war, boys. One of Lord Voldemort's strongest characteristics is that he is highly manipulative and is not above tearing apart families, or the strongest friendships, for the sake of his cause."

Lily was cleaning the living room with the stereo blaring a Muggle rock song from its speakers while Harry played with his building blocks on the floor behind her. Mother and son were singing together – well, Harry babbled incoherently, but Lily liked to pretend he knew the song.

"Ma!" he yelled happily over the guitar solo. Lily turned around and smiled. It looked as though all Harry had done with his blocks was scatter them all over the floor Lily had just picked up. He seemed to think he created a work of art.

"It's beautiful, Harry," she said, sitting beside her son. He crawled into her lap as she began to gather the blocks in front of them. "Let's see if we can build Hogwarts, hmm?"

Before Lily could arrange any of the blocks, there was a knock on the front door. For a moment, Lily only stared in the direction of the door; no one they knew ever knocked. Sirius, Peter, and Remus always invited themselves in, and Lily's friends always Flooed before coming over.

Trembling slightly, Lily dropped the green plastic block back to the pile. Harry looked up at her questioningly, and she tried to smile back as she removed her son from her lap. "Stay here, baby," she said quietly, picking up her wand and standing from the floor.

It was only four in the afternoon – what harm could come to her and her son before nightfall? You'd be surprised, said a cynical voice in her mind that sounded suspiciously like Alastor Moody.

Lily approached the front door slowly, her wand held tightly in her hand, and peered out the curtained window beside the door. She released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding when she spotted Remus on the front porch, shifting around nervously. Lowering her wand, she opened the door and smiled. "Hey, you gave me one hell of a fright, Lupin. Thought you were a Death Eater."

"Hey, Lily," he said. "Sorry about that. I wasn't sure if walking in unannounced was such a good idea anymore. James probably would have hexed me."

Lily raised a pale eyebrow. "James isn't here, and even if he was, why would he hex you?"

Remus shrugged, and then furrowed his brow. "James isn't here?"

Lily shook her head. "No, he and Sirius went to meet with Dumbledore today. Why aren't you with them?'

"Oh," Remus said, looking crestfallen. "I didn't know that was today…"

"They didn't tell you," Lily said flatly. Remus shook his head. "Gits," she muttered. "Well, come in, don't just stand there all day." Remus entered and Lily closed the door behind them.

"Mooey!" called an excited voice.

Remus' face lit up. "Hey, buddy!" he said, reaching down to pick up Harry. "How are you?" Lily smiled as Harry started to giggle when Remus bounced him in his arms. "So he's walking now?" Remus said to Lily.

"Yep. He started that a few days before his birthday."

Remus' smile faltered at the very accusatory look Lily was giving him. "I'm sorry I haven't been in touch, and I'm even more sorry for missing Harry's birthday which is partly why I'm here."

Lily nodded, accepting his apology, and led him and Harry to the kitchen. "Tea?" she asked, taking a sippy cup from the cupboard and filling it with apple juice for Harry; it was the only thing he would drink.

"Yes, please," Remus said, placing Harry in his highchair. "Oh, I almost forgot…" Lily turned around and watched Remus take something from his robes. It was wrapped perfectly in shiny emerald green paper. "I got this for Harry," he explained to Lily.

Lily smiled. "Well, don't make the boy wait any longer."

Remus chuckled and sat the gift in front of Harry. "Happy Birthday, Harry," he said kneeling beside the highchair and giving Harry an affectionate ruffle of his hair. Lily and Remus laughed when Harry grinned and started to tear the paper to shreds.

"It was pretty," Lily said with a grin as she waved her wand to pick up the mess.

The one-year-old squealed with delight at whatever it was Remus had gotten him. "It's not much…" Remus muttered embarrassedly. Remus was quite uncomfortable when it came to money; he'd never had much of it.

"He seems to love it," Lily said, moving closer to her son.

Remus had bought him a junior Quidditch set. The small versions of the Quidditch balls were charmed to fly around but to keep a good distance away from the child. Lily released the small Golden Snitch and watched in amusement and pride as Harry's eyes darted back and forth with every move it made.

"He's going to make a hell of a Quidditch player," Remus said in awe after Harry actually reached out and grabbed the Snitch. The child was giggling madly as the little wings beat gently against his hands.

Lily laughed. "Yeah, that's what Sirius and James are always saying. I never thought you'd be the first one to give Harry Quidditch toys," she added thoughtfully.

"Well, I was going to get him a pet grindylow, but I thought he as too young, so I had no choice, really," Remus grinned.

Lily and Remus sat at the kitchen table once their tea was finished and talked about everything they could think of. The two of them had been good friends since fifth year, when they were both named Gryffindor Prefects. When the conversation turned to James and Sirius, Remus did his best to hide the fact that he was upset that his best friends hadn't been speaking to him. He admitted that he wasn't making much more of an effort, but he had attempted to speak with them when he visited the Ministry a few days back. Both of them had given him the silent treatment until he left Auror Headquarters.

"Well, that's a bit childish," Lily said angrily, inwardly planning to slap James the moment he arrived home.

By six o'clock, James still hadn't returned home, and Remus announced he had to leave. He thanked Lily for the tea, and promised to come back around another day to see James.

"Take care of yourself, Remus," Lily said, knowing the Full moon would be in just a few days. She kissed Remus on the cheek and added, "If you need anything at all, let us know."

Remus smiled. "I will. Bye, Lily."

"You've been oddly quiet today," James observed as he and Sirius walked through the Hogwarts corridors after their meeting with Dumbledore.

Sirius shrugged. "Thinking," he grunted, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.

Normally, James would have made some sort of joke about Sirius thinking, but he could tell something was bothering his best friend. He could always tell. "Care to share?"

Sirius didn't answer for a minute as he stared at his shoes, his brow furrowed. "I think it's Remus," he said suddenly.

James stopped in the hall. "You want to run that by me again?" he asked slowly.

Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his long hair. "The spy… I think it's Remus…" James only blinked at him. "Think about it… Everything he said a few weeks back – he said it like he knew more than he was letting on. And the way he's been avoiding us…"

"We've been avoiding him too, Sirius," James said flatly, almost challengingly. "Remus isn't a spy. He's our best friend, unless you've forgotten."

"You heard what Dumbledore said about friends and enemies, and Voldemort's power in manipulation. Remus wouldn't be that hard to manipulate-"

"We couldn't even manipulate Remus! He's too bloody intelligent for that! He's-"

"He's a werewolf."

James stared open-mouthed at his best friend for what seemed like hours. Never before had Sirius said anything derogatory about Remus' condition, but here he was, standing in the middle of Hogwarts, accusing their best friend of being a Death Eater because he was a werewolf. James was starting to feel a bit dizzy, and was about to reply to Sirius' ignorant comment when the Hogwarts corridors faded to black around him…

Sirius smirked as he watched James try to open his eyes. The effects of the wizard Flu were finally catching up to James, and he'd passed out in the corridor. Being the dedicated friend he was, Sirius had floated James' unconscious body to the Hospital Wing for Madam Pomfrey to look at.

"Mmm…" James groaned, his eyes still closed. "Lily…"

Sirius' eyebrows shot up and he fought hard not to laugh at the look on James' face – one which told Sirius that his best friend was having a rather interesting dream about his wife.

"Speaking of Lily," said an amused voice from behind Sirius. The wizard started and turned to face Dumbledore. "Perhaps it would be wise to inform her of James' whereabouts. She has quite the ability to worry."

"Right," Sirius said, still trying to keep from laughing at James. "May I use your fireplace, sir?"

"Of course," Dumbledore said with a smile.

Sirius left the Hospital Wing and rushed through the school again to get to Dumbledore's office. Now that he thought about it, he was surprised Lily hadn't Apparated to Hogwarts an hour ago to find out where her husband was. Lily wasn't at all controlling of James - just very protective. He was the same way with her. In these times, you had to be protective of your loved ones; you never knew where or when Voldemort would strike next.

Sirius made it to Dumbledore's office and took a pinch of Floo powder from the golden bowl on the fireplace mantle. He tossed it in, called the Potters' address, and stuck his head in the green whirl of flames. Just as he was about to call Lily's name, he saw something that made his jaw drop.

Remus and Lily were standing at the front door, quite close to one another. Lily whispered something to him and leaned up to kiss Remus' cheek. The wizard smiled and left the cottage. Sirius waited for Lily to close the door and pretended he hadn't seen a thing.

"Oy, Evans!"

Lily jumped and turned to face the fireplace. "Hey," she said coming into the living room. "Where are you guys?"

"Still at Hogwarts," Sirius answered. "James isn't feeling too well, so Pomfrey's making him stay. It's nothing to worry about," he added hastily at the look on Lily's face. "Just the flu… but I thought you'd like to know."

"Should Harry and I come up there?" Lily asked.

"Nah, I'll take care of him. With any luck, I'll have him home by tomorrow morning. Speaking of my godson, where is he?"

"He's in the kitchen making a mess of his dinner. I should probably get back in there, actually."

"All right, then," Sirius said. "See you tomorrow. I'd like pancakes and bacon for breakfast, by the way," he called as Lily stood and started towards the kitchen. She made a very unladylike gesture over her shoulder before disappearing around the corner.

Sirius pulled his head from the fire and sat back on his heels. Why had Remus been there? And why was Lily kissing him? He couldn't recall Remus having anything but platonic feelings towards Lily… Maybe Remus really was a Death Eater and trying to either covert Lily to joining the Dark Side, or scoping out the house for when James wasn't home so he could attack Lily and Harry when they were defenseless. Or maybe Lily and Remus were having an affair… No, Lily would never cheat on James, and Remus knew James would murder him if something like that was going on with him and Lily…

Sighing, Sirius got up from the floor and went back to the Hospital Wing. He'd have to tell James what he'd seen in the fireplace – it was unavoidable. James needed to know that something odd was happening in his home, something that could potentially harm his family. Sirius would never allow anything to happen to the Potters. James was more of a brother to him than his own blood brother; Lily had become like a sister to him. And Harry… well, nothing could make Sirius' heart melt faster than hearing Harry yell "Pa-foo" at the top of his lungs.

Unfortunately, the Potters were quite a large threat to Voldemort, and the Dark Lord felt they needed to be eliminated. Well, Sirius didn't know if those were his exact thoughts, but Voldemort definitely wasn't cheering for the Potters to live through this war…

All he could see were blurred outlines and colors. The voices sounded like distant echoes, but he still recognized them easily. They were the voices of his wife and son. James' heart swelled when the blurs sharpened and he could clearly see his family asleep on the large sofa in their living room.

He loved them both more than even he knew. There wasn't a thing in the world he wouldn't do for them…

Slowly he approached the sofa and knelt down beside it, moving Lily's dark red hair from her face. She smiled softly in her sleep, and pulled Harry closer to her chest as if protecting him from every evil thing in the world.

There was a sound in the front yard… The wrought-iron gate was being opened. James turned to the fireplace and looked at the clock on the mantle-

Why the hell would someone come over here at 12:30 in the morning? He wondered. Sirius was his first thought, but he had a very bad feeling that his best friend wasn't outside.

Another sound… This time the front door was being blown of the hinges. Lily and Harry were jolted awake, and the witch didn't even have time to grab her wand before He found them.

"Well, well," Voldemort smirked. "Mrs. James Potter, and little baby Potter… How good it is to see you again."

Lily sat up slowly on the sofa, pushing a crying Harry behind her. "What do you want?" she asked, her voice trembling with fear.

"I want what everyone wants, Mrs. Potter. I want this war ended," Voldemort said softly.

"Please, leave us alone," Lily begged.

Why am I not helping her? James thought wildly. I have to save her! James tried to yell, tried to tell Voldemort to get the hell away from his wife and son, but his voice seemed to have forgotten how to function.

"You know what I really want, Lily? May I call you 'Lily'? Good. What I really want, Lily, is your husband and son out of my way," Voldemort growled.

Lily's eyes widened. "What have they done to you?" she whispered fearfully.

Voldemort laughed coldly, and Harry's cries grew louder. James wanted nothing more than to hold both of them for the rest of his life. "Your husband, James… he's been a thorn in my side for years," Voldemort said dismissively. "But your son, Lily… he's quite interesting… Do you know what I speak of?"

"The Prophecy…" Lily whispered hoarsely.

"Ah, good, so I won't have to get into all those nasty little details. Now, if you don't mind, Lily, I should like to get this over with; I have much better things to do than stay in the company of Mudbloods," Voldemort said. "Step aside, that's a girl…"

"NO!" Lily shouted.

"No?" Voldemort questioned softly.

"No, leave Harry alone! He's done nothing to you! He's only a baby!"

"He's a baby now, Lily," Voldemort corrected. "But he will grow up, and I fear that I don't wish to wait. I'm quite an impatient man."

"Not Harry! Please, have mercy. Take me, kill me instead," Lily begged with tears streaming down her face, shielding her son.

James wanted to yell for her to run, grab her wand and curse the son of a bitch, anything!

"Now, now, Lily," Voldemort said. "There's no need for all this commotion. Just hand over the child, and I'll leave you be. I may even let your worthless husband live, as well."

Lily shouted, cried, begged for Voldemort to have mercy on her son. Nothing Voldemort could say would get her to give the bastard her baby boy… Voldemort grew more impatient, and gave Lily one last chance to change her mind.

"Insolent girl!" he shouted. "Very well… If I have to dispose of you to get to the boy, then so be it!" Before James could do anything, Voldemort shouted, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

"NO!" James shouted, sitting straight up in his hospital bed, panting and sweating heavily. Sirius, in a chair beside him, was jolted from his sleep, and Pomfrey ran out from her office. "Lily," James began to mutter over and over, tears streaming from his eyes. He pushed the blankets covering him away from his body and tried to get up. He had to get to Lily! He realized moments later that he couldn't move the upper half of his body – Sirius had pushed him back to the bed, pinning his shoulders down. "Geroff me!" James shouted. "I have to get to Lily!"

"James! You have to calm down!" Sirius shouted back. "Relax! I told you that Lily's fine!"

"NO! She's not! Voldemort… The Prophecy… HARRY!"

Sirius' eyebrows shot up again. "James, you're talking nonsense. Look, Poppy's got a nice dreamless sleep potion for you. If you take it like the good boy I know you can be, I'll check on Lily and Harry for you, all right?"

James tried to push the goblet Pomfrey was trying to give him away, still fighting to get Sirius off of him. "I don't need it!" he cried loudly. He freed one of his arms from Sirius' grip and hit his best friend in the eye hard.

"DAMMIT, JAMES!" Sirius yelled, pinning James' arm down again. "Take the damn potion already, or I'm going to stun you!"

James continued to fight, yelling about horrible things happening to Lily and Harry. In the end, Sirius was forced to stun his best friend – it was for his own good, really… Pomfrey poured the goblet's contents into James' mouth, careful not to make him choke, and offered to get rid of the black eye James had given Sirius.

"No, that's okay," Sirius said with a slight grin. "Not the first time it's happened."

Pomfrey went back to her office, and Sirius thought that perhaps he should firecall Lily, just in case. He barely made it to the Hospital doors when Dumbledore entered looking horribly sad.

"We need to talk," Dumbledore said hoarsely.

Sirius' heart dropped somewhere past his knees and he nodded, going back to sit in his chair.

AN: Please take note of the genre this story has been placed under: Angst/Mystery. That's about all I have to say at the moment... Oh, and isn't that the nastiest cliff hanger you've ever seen? Oh, and one more thing - well, two - thank you for the reviews thus far; please keep them coming!