So in case you missed the note at the end of Chapter 10 and had not weighed in your input, do so right now, but right now, enjoy this new snippet.
Are You Mad?
Lily Evans-Potter had always thought that Albus Dumbledore was a bit insane, perhaps a bit out to lunch, perhaps a bit quirky but there was no question about it, the thing he was suggesting right now, it was completely and utterly pure lunacy.
"You want me to do what, Dumbledore?" Lily asked, not sure if she managed to develop a hearing disability in her young age of twenty one years old. It was November 2nd 1986, two days ago on Halloween Night, Lord Voldemort had come calling. She had been stunned by Voldemort, after he killed James and Sirius who happened to be downstairs visiting them, to let them know that he was going into hiding. Sirius was at the wrong place at the wrong time and James had been killed as well.
"Lily, I understand how hard it might be to be a single mother with two children," Dumbledore said in his normal gentle favorite grandfather voice. "I can assure you that Alexandra was the one that was spoken of by the Prophecy. Both of you need to go into hiding, but I'm afraid that the protection wards can only be stable in a dwelling with one magically powerful child. Therefore, I'm afraid that it is prudent that you will send young Harry to your sister and her husband. I think that they will be able to take good care of him."
Being a charms mistress, Lily had seen several flaws with Dumbledore's reasoning. For one, Alex and Harry were both marked by the curse, although Alex's was all the way down her right leg, while Harry only had a small indistinguishable mark on his forehead. Both of them were a lightning bolt. And for one, she was skeptical about this entire ward stabilizing thing.
"You want me to hand over Harry, my son, based on some theory that you have, and send him to the Dursleys," Lily said to Dumbledore coolly.
"You will be able to see him when it comes time for him to attend Hogwarts," Dumbledore said to her with a twinkle in his eye. "If you will, I have made the arrangements to take him there…"
"Oh, you've made arrangements, have you?" Lily asked as her voice dripped with icy coldness. "You talked to Petunia and Vernon, and asked them if it would be okay to leave Harry there, did you? Perhaps checked to make sure that they had the space to accommodate a child, perhaps checked to see if they could afford it. Checked to see if they had any intentions of moving from their current residence any time soon."
"Well, I figured that it would be less shocking if I were just to leave a note, to explain the circumstances as I drop Harry off," Dumbledore said to Lily.
Lily stood there, silent.
'The man must be strung out on Meth,' Lily thought to herself as she shook her head.
"So now that it's settled….."
"Nothing is settled Dumbledore," Lily said as she looked at the Headmaster. "My husband is dead because of your protection, what makes you think I'm going to trust your protection regarding my son, daughter, or me, or even my sister and brother-in-law or nephew?"
"Now Lily…."
"Albus, you might have gotten me mistaken for one of your boot lickers," Lily said as she looked at him. "I'm not letting you take Harry, I'll take my chances….."
"Harry is a heir to a pureblood line, one might say that you don't have any say so regarding his living arrangements," Dumbledore said calmly. "I'm only doing this to protect you all…."
"No, you're driving a wedge in my family so you can look like the hero, and I'm not going to put up with that shit, in fact, you can get out of my house, now!" Lily yelled at the top of her lungs.
"You know, Lily, you're unstable, perhaps it would be the best….."
BANG!
Lily disarmed Dumbledore, he was not expecting being caught off guard by a Muggleborn witch, a fact that she used to her advantage. Dumbledore's wand flew into her hands and the automated defenses around the dwelling registered Dumbledore as a threat, so he was given das boot to the outside.
It was a few seconds where Lily realized that she needed to leave, right now and she needed advice on what the worst possible thing was first. The protections around the house would keep people out for a couple of hours than they could break them down.
"Tonks Residence!" Lily yelled in the fire and suddenly Andromeda's head stuck out of the fire.
"Lily what is it…."
"Oh, I just threw Albus Dumbledore out of my house when he tried to get me to send Harry to the Dursleys," Lily said and she paused before adding. "And I took his wand."
"You didn't?" Andromeda asked to her, she looked impressed, although she knew the seriousness of the situation where she put herself into.
"I don't care what happens to me, but I do care a lot about what happens to Harry and Alex," Lily said to Andromeda. "What can Dumbledore to me legally?"
"Well he can obtain an order from the Wizengamot saying that you're an unfit mother and have one or both of your children taken away," Andromeda said and she explained more, knowing that time was of the essence. "And given the fact that you're not of magical parentage, it will take Dumbledore less than a hour to get the order."
"Fuck," Lily cursed.
"You did what any mother in your position would do, don't beat yourself up for it," Andromeda said sternly. "Lily….we need to work fast, get the twins, and anything you can pack in a bag, and meet me at Gringotts in ten minutes. Before Dumbledore has a chance to dust off his ass, we need to get you out of the country."
"You're putting your neck on the line, you know," Lily said and she paused. "This is secure….."
"Being a daughter of an ancient and noble family, I know charms to secure the Floo Connection from the Ministry, although it's technically dark magic, given that it's beyond the capabilities of everyone in the Ministry of Magic," Andromeda said to Lily. "But, let's not leave anything to chance, Nymphadora and I were planning on disappearing anyway, because I got more than a few threats…..you do have somewhere to go?"
"Yes, I've got family, I should have left when the prophecy was told but I let James talk me out of it," Lily said.
"The goblins are good at making people disappear if the price is right," Andromeda said quickly as she waited for Lily to leave and gather up her things.
"Alex, Harry, we're going somewhere, it's going to be alright," Lily murmured, as she managed to scoop up the sleeping twins without them waking up. She quickly stuffed a few personal belongings in her bag, including a crystal that was the only thing that she had left from her birth parents.
It was time to move before Dumbledore and the cronies at the Ministry decided to do something stupid. Although she was not sure how far Dumbledore was going to go without his wand.
It was off to Gringotts to clean out the Potter Family Vaults before the Ministry tried to seize it. James had made Lily his proxy after they got married, so she still had legal control of the vaults until the Ministry said differently.
She wondered what Martha would say if she and the twins showed up at the door unannounced but she figured that she would understand given the circumstances.
End of Snippet.
