Yea! Look, I want to just tell you guys that you truly are awesome. I really appreciate all the people who has added this story to their Favorite list or Story Alert list. I means so much to me, it really does. I also want to thanks those who reviewed. I may have looked like an idiot from dancing when I received emails saying how much you guys love me, but I couldn't help being an idiot for you guys!
Alright. Before you start reading, I think that I should tell you that this chapter is actually going to be a mash up of Chapter 3 and 4. I want to say that it is because I love you guys so much (which is true) but, actually, when I wrote the story, I had written it in one document, then cut it up into chapters. Chapter 3 and chapter 4 were just so small compared to chapter 2. With that being said, there will only be five chapters of this story. (Which is good. 6 is just an awkward number).
Okay, shut up Vicki! Here we go!
What If?
I immediately grabbed my watch. It was connected with James. I pulled out the hands knob, turned it clock wise, then counter-clock wise, before pushing the knob back in. It would send a distress signal directly to James. I then raced home, swerving cars, and got home in record time. Pulling into the garage, I grabbed Harry and ran into the house. Realization didn't hit until I put Harry down and let out a sigh of relief.
We could have been trapped inside.
What if Harry didn't cry? I would have gotten there sooner.
We would have been trapped. I slumped to the ground in disbelief. Harry got up and stumbled over to his toy chest, banging on the top of it. "Boom boom."
I walked over to the toy chest and grabbed Harry, starting to cry. I almost failed my one and most important job. I almost put Harry in danger. I pulled Harry away to look at him. He smiled and touched my cheek.
"Love you mama." I couldn't help but smile, and even laughed when he gave me a slobbery kiss on the cheek. I kissed him back, and pulled him into a hug.
"I love you, too, Harry!"
We stayed like that for a few minutes, and I eventually pulled out toys for Harry to play with. He sat on my lap, his toy truck banging into my leg when I heard the familiar sound of an apparition pop.
I stood up, Harry still in my arms, and pulled out my wand until I heard him speak.
"LILY! HARRY!"
"Se se!"
Sirius Black raced into our living room, after hearing Harry call his name.
"Oh God!" He pulled us into a tight hug, and I heard him sniffle as I broke out crying again. He pulled us away to give each of us a kiss, then pulled us together again. After only a moment, he let go to grab his mirror in his back pocket.
"Prongs, they're safe!" I looked at the hand held mirror both men had in a way of communication. But all I could see was the top half of the mirror, as if the other part was blocked by his own back pocket. I saw split boxes of cereal in the bit of view I had. Then I heard grunts, screaming and blasts, as if a battle was going on. Then I realized there was.
"No, I can't look or hear that, Sirius. Please, don't." Sirius and I both pulled away. He moved into the hallway to try and get James to respond, while I went back to the toy chest, in my crying corner. I hadn't thought of James in danger, which I usually tried to ignore thinking about that. I am such a horrible wife. He is my husband, and I refuse to think about him.
Sirius came back into our room, his mirror blank. I panicked as I saw that, but he shook his head.
"He turned it off. He wanted to say he loves you and he will be home soon."
My chin quivered and I nodded. I wanted to hear him say that, but I couldn't listen to the other sounds in that battle. 'But I will hear him say that,' I forced myself to think. 'He will be home soon.'
Sirius took Harry from my arms, and played blocks with him. After watching for a few moments, I heard the front door slam open.
"JAMES!" I ran up to him and leaped into his open arms. He wrapped his arms around me, pushing my head into the nook of his neck. I cried more and he swung us in a turn, and then planted the most intense kiss we ever had. We stayed like that until Sirius walked over to us, carrying Harry. James let go of me to kiss Harry and squeeze him. I joined their hug, completing our family. Well, almost. As if James shared that same thought, we both grabbed one of Sirius's arms and pulled him into our hug.
After a moment of bliss, Sirius pulled away. "How bad is it?"
Sirius was part of the "clean up" as he darkly liked to joke. Though he and James had both completed auror training, James got pushed to first defense, while Sirius was second. It was because Sirius hadn't completely passed the background inspection. Or rather, because of the fact that several "family" members were known Death Eaters, the Ministry is a little cautious. James passed with flying colors, much to do to the fact that the Potter's life was an opened book.
"… A lot of people … " Sirius sighed, and gave both me and Harry another kiss, gave James a hug, and left. James and I made our way to the couch, with Harry in between our laps.
"I thought … I couldn't find you … you sent that distress message … I couldn't find you… "
I weakly smiled at James and leaned in for another kiss.
"You were suppose to be there. At Micheal's. Why weren't you there?" I smiled again, only wider.
"Harry." I said weakly. "He told me to get you your favorite ice cream. So we went to Smith's. We were going to go to Micheal's, but Harry … Harry saw the Dark Mark." James leaned in to give Harry a kiss on the top of his head.
"Harry, huh?" I nodded and snuggled close to my family.
"There was something that is bothering me." I looked at James' worried face, confused.
"One of the guys I was … fighting. He kept saying, 'He lied. He lied. She should have been here."
I shrugged, not knowing what he was implying. He sighed deeply. "He said, 'She and that potty training son of yours! "
I gasped and my hand flew to my mouth. "They were looking for us?" Tears sprang to my eyes, as James cuddled with his son. Then, my face was emotionless.
"James," he looked at me worried, but I just looked straight forward. It couldn't be him. Why would he try to betray us like that? But it made sense. There was a spy in the Order. He helped organize the patrols in the villages. He refused to fight in battles, but that was because I thought he wasn't good, not because he was already there.
James kept staring at me, waiting for an answer.
"Who," I started slowly, not knowing how to tell my husband that one of his best friends, and possible new Secret Keeper, was the traitor. "Who knew about potty training Harry?"
"Pe pe!" I looked at Harry, with surprise. Though he isn't even two, he is the smartest boy I ever met. James instantly grabbed for Harry's diaper, to see if he needed changing, but I grabbed his hand and shook my head.
"Pe pe? Harry kept saying it. I thought he was excited for his potty chair. James, Harry is saying 'Peter'! Peter! He told the Death Eaters to attack Frank and the other during patrols two weeks ago! He won't fight in battles because he is already there! HE knew about Harry this morning! He is afraid of Harry because of the prophecy that he isn't suppose to know about. James, what if Peter is the SPY!"
James stood up, and handed Harry to me.
"Where are you going?"
James stared angrily at me. I knew it wasn't directed towards me, but I couldn't help but to flinch at such hatred.
"I'm going to kill him."
"James!" Before I could stop him, he vanished. I looked to the spot on the couch where he sat, and sure enough, there was his mirror.
"Sirius!"
I heard rustling, and saw his face. "Lily, what's wrong?"
"James! Go to Peter's and make sure he doesn't kill him, but don't let Peter go! NOW!" I closed off the mirror, hoping that he would get there in time.
Harry brought me to focus. He pat my hair, trying to comfort me. James often brushed my hair to calm my down and I almost laughed at the idea that my 15 month old was trying to take care of me.
"Ice?"
I nodded slowly. "I guess I should get that out of the car, huh?"
Harry laughed and clapped his hands.
Our kitchen was complete silence that night. Harry was already asleep and we had company, our closest friends, trying to comfort us. But really, how can they? They feel just as betrayed as us; Peter was all of our friends.
I slowly sipped my coffee as my eyes flickered from person to person. To my left, was Alice Longbottom. Her mascara had smeared from her obvious tears. Her eyes looked tired and blank, as if it was easier not to think of anything.
Next to her was her husband, Frank Longbottom. He had a protective arm around his wife, but he just stared sadly at his untouched coffee cup.
Normally, Peter would sit next to Frank. Normal … what is considered normal now? This guy was so close to having been entrusted with our lives. What if … what if we had made him Secret Keeper?
I choked on my drink when this thought came to mind and I let the tears sting my eyes. I squeezed my eyes, though I could feel eyes on me. I felt my right hand being squeezed and I looked to my husband. James tried to smile at me, but it never reached his eyes. I felt Sirius behind me rub my shoulders comfortingly. I sighed; someone had to say something.
"He could have been our Secret Keeper."
Immediately, Sirius stopped rubbing my back. I heard him move behind me, but I couldn't look at him. I glanced at James, for support, or something, but he just glared at me.
"Why? Why would you bring that now? Or at all?"
I gasped a little at his yelling; I was hurt, but I tried to remember that his friend for the past eleven years could have killed us. It didn't make that behavior towards me any easier.
"What?" I choked at a sob as I determinedly stared at my husband. "I want to talk about it!"
"Well, not now!"
"When?" I stood up, and glared down at James. I knew everyone could feel the tension in the room, but remained silent. James glared at me too, until my chin started to quiver. He softened his eyes and grabbed my hand, pulling me onto his lap. I curled up into a ball, and cried into his shoulder.
It was silent until I heard Sirius speak. "I … I was going to suggest Peter be your Secret Keeper. I mean," he chuckled in disbelief as he paused. "No one would have that of Peter. Everyone knew I was the Secret Keeper. I was going to go into hiding, too."
I turned my head to face him and saw he had taken my chair. His elbows were on the table, with his head in his hands. I felt James shift as he turned to his brother.
"That's … that is what Dumbledore said."
"Albus wanted you guys to change Secret Keeper?" Frank spoke for the first time, and, though I didn't look at him, I nodded my head into James' chest.
"Why?" Alice asked.
"Because … because,"
"Because he felt like Sirius would be endanger. He wanted someone no one would expect." James finished for me, and right there, I knew we would never tell the truth. We didn't want to put more doubts into our friends minds.
We all remained quite until crying upstairs broke our silence. Alice and I both turned to each other. Our maternal instincts to comfort the crying outweighed our selfish desires to waddle in self-pity.
"Yours or mine?" She joked as we both stood up.
"Probably both," I said as I lead the way to the stairs. When we walked into Harry's room, both Harry and little baby Neville, Alice and Frank's son, were sitting up and crying. There was no telling who woke up who, but when we reached our sons, they both stopped crying. I bounced Harry in my arms as I softly hummed. Alice picked up Neville and walked out of the room. I don't know how long I stood there, but just when Harry fell make asleep, James called up to me.
"Lily?"I put Harry down and quickly crept to the door.
"James, shh! Harry is asleep!"I whispered-yelled from the top of the stairs. James waved me down so he wouldn't have to yell up again.
"Everyone is going to leave now." I nodded as I walked over to The Longbottoms. Frank was putting Neville in his carrier while Alice put on her jacket. I smiled at her and gave her a hug. When we pulled away, Frank stood there with open arms. I briefly gave him a hug while James gave Alice a hug. When Frank and I pulled away, James and Frank gave each other a "manly" hug. I smiled at how James and his dorky ways could instantly lighten the mood.
"Be save," I called out as they made their way to the front door. They waved back when James said, "Good night," and closed the door.
As soon as he did, he sighed heavily and looked ten years older. I walked over and hugged him tight around his neck. He stiffened for a moment before tightening around my waist. We stood there for a moment before we heard something break in the kitchen.
We released and ran to the kitchen and found Sirius pulling out alcohol. One bottle was all ready smashed on the ground and he was pulling another bottle out from the cupboard above the stove. I opened my mouth to yell at him, but I stopped myself. Instead, I used my wand to clean up the mess.
Sirius didn't say anything as he uncorked the bottle and drank straight from it. After his third swig, he turned to us.
"Sorry," he mumbled as he put the bottle on the counter. Sirius knew I really didn't like it when they drank and only let James have a stash of it in the house because he said he was a man and that is what a man has. A stash of alcohol hidden in the house.
I quickly shook my head reassuringly. "There is a time to drink in celebration and sorrow. It's fine. But you will be staying here tonight. I'm not going to let you try and fly that motorcycle of yours home."
Sirius nodded as he reached for another swig. I looked at the clock behind him and winced at the time. 11:24. Too late for this mama. James must have noticed this because he walked over to Sirius and gave him another "manly" hug. They stayed here longer than Frank and him had, but Frank isn't his brother.
"Don't stay up too late, you here me? Don't drink too much," he warned as he pulled away. I went and hugged Sirius, too. He kissed he on the top of the head and I heard him sniffle as I pulled away.
"Good night, Sirius. Try and get some sleep, okay?" He nodded as slowly took another drink. I turned back around to James to see he finished up the wards we put around the house before we go to bed every night. I grabbed James' hand and began to walk upstairs to our room and saw Sirius plant himself on the couch, in the family room.
When we got into our room, James plopped himself on the bed, while I ran to the bathroom to quickly get ready for bed. When I returned, James had stripped, removed his glasses and laid under the covers, but stared at the ceiling. I quickly climbed into bed, but as soon as I laid down, James grabbed me around the waist and started crying. My instincts came back and I found my self murmuring quite nothings into James ears as he slowly fell asleep.
There you go! Chapter 3 (and 4) is uploaded and ready for you guys to enjoy, read and *cough, cough* review.
Just kidding! I don't really need you guys to leave a review. I still feel loved! Lol! It's just, I'd like to know what you think, you know? Makes me know if I'm doing an okay job at this, but oh well!
The next chapter is ready for upload! Just tell me you want it, and you can have it!
Love you guys!
TheKikGeek
