A/N: Next chapter up. I send love to everyone who reviewed. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Everyone has questions, but I'm afraid this chapter will raise more questions than it will answer.
Lily was exhausted. She was beyond exhausted after the party that afternoon. Sighing, she bent over and picked up another piece of wrapping paper off the ground. James had started to laugh at her when she starting cleaning up the 'muggle' way. She just told him he was too lazy to do any real work, relying on his magic for everything. He shot back that magic had no point if you didn't use it. Sirius, surprisingly, had stayed silent through the entire exchange, though he had a smirk on his face. Remus, bless his heart, tried to get James to leave her alone; telling him that Lily had the right to clean how she wanted and that exercise like that was good for everyone. Finally, he left, saying he was going to take up all of Harry's presents to his room, before leaving to meet with Dumbledore to get the Cloak back.
Harry was asleep in his parent's room, having passed out after everyone had left. Lily smiled, thinking back to her son's first birthday party.
"SURPRISE!" Everyone shouted at Harry when Lily brought him into the living room from the kitchen. Harry was startled; pressing his head into his mother's chest, while Lily looked around at everyone's smiling faces. The Bones' had their smiling daughter, Susan, by the hand. She was laughing and giggling, hopping up and down while her mother and father held tightly to each hand. Frank and Alice were standing right next to the Bones' with little Neville in his mother's arms. Neville was looking around at all the noise, not sure if he should laugh or cry. Augusta was standing next to her son and daughter-in-law, surveying the scene with an eagle eye.
With the Bones' and the Longbottoms' there were questions about the phoenix, but neither family had known that Dumbledore was missing his familiar. So there were no awkward questions to dodge. They just told the truth in the fact that the phoenix had shown up one day and just stayed on with the family, but they wanted to keep quiet about it. No reason to draw any more attention to them, was there?
The largest, and loudest, group was the Weasley brood. They were the only guests at the party that Lily and James had connected to the floo. True to the Weasleys form, it took the entire five minutes to get the whole family through, even going so far as to only make it with 5 seconds to spare. Lily was just glad that Fawkes didn't make the trip. She was certain that he would have had to make two trips. Not even a phoenix would have been able to carry that entire family in one shot!
Because it was July 31st, none of the children were in school. Bill was the oldest child at 10 and was excited to start Hogwarts next year. He was going to turn 11 in November, and had to wait the additional year to start Hogwarts. Charlie was only 8 and looked up to his older brother for the answers to life. Percy was going to turn 5 in just a few weeks and the twins, Fred and George, were only 3. Lily couldn't see how Molly could tell the two apart; they were identical down to the last freckle. Privately, Lily thought that Molly only pretended she could tell the twins apart. She had caught the woman calling the twins by the wrong name. They only laughed at her and ran away. Ron was her youngest child, and had just turned a year old a few months ago. He seemed a little surly, always whining to get some attention. Probably came from just having a large family.
And their large family seemed to be growing. Molly was already 8 months along with their seventh child. It was a girl, which was cause for celebration in its own right. According to Arthur, this was to be the first girl born in several generations. The man was so happy, he seemed to be glowing more than Molly. Molly was just ready for the child to come out. She loved her children, but she told Lily that she didn't want any more any time soon.
"Come on, Harry," Lily said to her son, shifting him in her arms to face the crowd. "We have to say hi to everyone! They are here for your birthday! You're one year old today!"
Everyone started walking, or running in the kids' case, outside where the table was set up. Lily didn't want to make a huge spectical of the yard or the house, telling the other's that Harry wouldn't even remember the party when he grew up. But Black didn't listen, as usual, and made it his mission in life to have as many balloons and streamers and signs hanging all over the place as possible. Lily did have to grudgingly admit that he did a great job. She even told him so, in clipped tones. He just gave polite thanks and looked at her with sadness in his eyes. Turning her back on him, Lily walked back to where Harry was sitting on the ground, surrounded by Susan, Neville, and Ron. The older kids were having fun with an enchanted piñata under one of the trees.
Susan, Neville, and Harry were all sitting there 'talking' to one another. Only one work out of every five was able to be understood. Ron was on the fringes of the group, trying to talk, but whining when the others didn't listen to him.
"No, 'On!" Harry exclaimed when the younger boy tried to grab his hair. "Uan! Help 'Arry!" Susan heard Harry's cry for help, and promptly smacked Ron on his hand. Ron turned red in the face and went to try to smack Susan on her head, but Lily intervened.
"Ronald, you never try to smack a lady! I don't care what they try to do to you!" Lily scolded, before depositing the child in Arthur's lap. After telling the gentle man what had transpired, Arthur turned a stern eye upon his youngest son. Shaking his head, he knew too much time had passed to properly punish the child. If he were to get spanked now, he wouldn't understand what it was for.
James, Black, and Remus were all over at the present table, whispering over a rectangular package laying there.
"I hope my hairy sprog likes it," Sirius told the other two, causing them to chuckle.
"If he's anything like his old man, Sirius, have no fear," James soothed. "He will love it. And he will love what Remus got him. Lily will wholeheartedly approve of Remus's choice, as well."
Remus turned beat red. "Who said that learning can't be fun and educational at the same time?"
James shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder how you and Lils didn't get together before me and she did. You two would have been perfect for each other, what with your love of books and all."
"Birds of a feather, James. We wouldn't have had a good relationship. You're temper matches hers perfectly. Plus, my wolf recognizes her as your mate. I could never try to take her. We are much better as friends."
James's reply was cut off when he heard his wife's voice amplified.
"Okay everyone; let's gather around the table to light the cake!"
Across the yard, Alice went to grab Neville from his little play group. Frank walked with his wife, whispering to her. Augusta was sitting at the table her family just vacated. She knew they were trying to get the Potters' on their own to talk to them. She resolved to get to Lily before Alice could.
"How are we going to get together with James and Lily to talk to them?" Alice whispered to her husband while they were walking.
"I don't know, dear," Frank replied just as quietly. "But I believe that if we wait until the end of the party, we should have a chance to talk to them after all the hullabaloo is over with."
"Okay, Frank. Let's go give the birthday boy his present."
"Here you go, pup!" Sirius crowed, handing over his package to James, who was helping Harry unwrap all his presents. It was Harry's last present, and Lily was looking forward to the party being over. Harry's nap time was already passed and she still had to do all the clean up. Lily's heart sank as she saw that it was the same rectangular package that the boys were whispering about on the table earlier. Two seconds before Harry pulled off the paper, she knew exactly what the present was.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" Lily's voice echoed over the entire yard, causing everyone to turn to her. "What were you thinking, buying my one-year-old son a broomstick for his birthday!? I can answer that for you! You WEREN'T thinking, obviously! Take that sorry excuse for a present back and don't give it back to him until he's 30!"
Molly stood nodding her head approvingly, while James, Remus, and the others were staring in shock.
"But, Lils!" James jumped to his best mate's defense. "Look at Harry! He loves it!"
Turning her head, Lily saw the cute scene of Harry, who was surrounded by all his other presents, turn his brilliant smile on to the broomstick box, before he tried gnawing on one corner of the box. Lily approached her son, who looked up at his mother and yelled, "Mine! 'Arry's boom! Mama, 'Arry's boom!"
Lily sent a death glare at her husband and Black. She knew that there was no way for her to take the broom away now that Harry had seen it. Maybe while he was sleeping, she could hide it…
Turning her ire back onto Black, she hissed quietly, "If you ever get my son a gift of that magnitude without consulting me again, I will make every prank played on you at Hogwarts feel like a cloud of feathers exploding on you.
Sirius paled and just mumbled, "I asked James. He's his dad. I thought it was okay."
Rounding on her husband, Lily spat. "You knew about this?!"
"Of course I did. It's high time Harry have his own broom. You should see him when I take him flying with me. He loves it, Lily! This is a child's broom. It doesn't hover more than two feet off the ground. We carry him higher than that! What could happen?" James regretted the last sentence. He wanted to take it back as soon as he said it.
"What could happen? What could happen?" Lily was broken out of her rant by Remus placing a hand on her shoulder and whispering into her ear.
"Lily, everyone is watching. You might want to continue this conversation after everyone else leaves."
Taking a deep breath, Lily shot one last parting remark at her husband. "I'm taking everyone in to help send them home. Start cleaning up and find some rocks to transfigure into a bed. Because the living room is your room for the foreseeable future."
The Weasleys' were the first to leave. She hooked the Burrow back up to the fireplace for another five minutes. The smallest children went through after Arthur. Molly watched the rest of her brood leave before turning to Lily.
"I wholeheartedly agree with you. A child that age shouldn't have a present so dangerous. I was going to say something to you in private, but I see that you have good sense after all." Before Lily could reply, Molly went through the floo and the fire died back to a red-orange color.
"Goodness gracious, that woman wants to make me give the broom to Harry out of spite." Lily sighed to herself, then turning back to the Bones' and the Longbottoms' she called Fawkes to her. In a flash of fire, he appeared at Harry's side. Harry was sitting on the floor with Neville and Susan, holding onto the box that had the child's broom. Fawkes nuzzled Harry, trilling softly.
"Fawkes, do you mind bringing the Bones' home for me, please?" Lily asked the bird, who bobbed his head. Susan's mother bent over to pick her up. She waved bye to her new friends.
"We have to get together again soon. My little Susan has never been happier."
"We sure will. Just remember how you got here for the party. Grab hold to his tail feathers. But don't pull on them. He doesn't like that. I'll put your owl on the update list, so we can keep in touch. Bye, Susan. Say bye, Harry"
"Bye, 'Uan! Bye!" Harry called out to Susan before turning his attention back to Neville.
"Bye 'Arry! Bye bye!" Susan called back.
The Bones' disappeared with Fawkes in a shower of flames. Turning to Frank and Alice, Lily opened her mouth to tell them the same thing, before Augusta caught her attention. Waving to her from the kitchen, Lily excused herself to see what Augusta wanted. James started talking to Frank about what was going on within the Auror ranks while he wasn't there. Alice looked questionably at Lily's retreating form, before tuning into the discussion the men were having,
"Is there something I can help you with, Mrs. Longbottom?" Lily asked, cutting to the chase as soon as she was inside the kitchen.
"First of all, Mrs. Longbottom is now my daughter-in-law. Please call me Augusta. And I feel that I need to warn you. My son and Alice have been talking to Dumbledore recently. They said that Dumbledore is anxiously looking for you, having to tell you something of grave importance." Augusta waited to see what Lily's reaction was. She was purposely setting up the young woman, seeing what side she rested on.
"Oh, is he now?" Lily mused, looking Augusta in the eye. She felt as if she could trust the woman, so decided to tell as much of the truth as she could. "Well that old fool can keep looking. You need to warn Alice and Frank about him. He has known...information about Voldemort for the past year that he has been withholding from us. We figured it out with a little help, which is why we went into hiding. If we had listened to Dumbledore, that rat of a man, Pettigrew, would have sold us out to Voldemort as soon as we performed the charm."
"Ha, so you do have some brains, girl! Sometimes I think muggleborns are the smartest of wizarding kind because they grow up away from all these notions of who's good and who's not. Every pureblood is raised to either worship Dumbledore or hate his guts. But muggleborns can learn to respect the man while seeing his flaws as well." Augusta was positively delighted with Lily's answer, though she didn't allow it to show anymore than the smile that crossed her face and the light in her eyes.
"What would you suggest, Madam Augusta? I want to protect Alice and Frank, along with little Neville, but I don't know how to make them see the truth about Dumbledore," Lily pleaded. She didn't want anything to happen to this strong family.
"I cannot say for certain. My Frank and his Alice are very loyal, thinking that Dumbledore does no wrong." Lily coughed suddenly. Something sounding like 'James' reached Augusta's ears, but she ignored it. "The only thing I could say for certain is-"
"There you are, Mum and Lily. Mother, we are almost ready to leave, but Alice and I just want a word alone with James and Lily for a second. Do you mind keeping an eye on Neville for us?" Frank had opened the kitchen door, halting Augusta mid sentence. Shooting a look that said 'I warned you' at Lily, Augusta rose from her seat.
"Certainly, Frank, though we must discuss your atrocious manners when we get home. Barging in on a personal conversation without so much as an 'excuse me'. I raised you better than that, young man, though it seems you need a refresher course!" Augusta turned her stern eye off of her blushing son, to look at Lily once more, who was fighting to hide the smile crossing her face. "Lily, dear, as I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted, the only thing I can say for certain is that the truth will always find a way out. You mine as well start there and save the trip."
With that, Augusta strolled out of the living room, and Frank walked in, still blushing, with Alice and James following.
"Okay," Lily sighed, "before you and Alice start talking, Frank, James and I think it prudent to tell you what we know." James shot and incredulous look at Lily, not knowing anything about the plan she had, but didn't say anything with the look she glared at him.
"We had someone helping us, who we cannot name, but we have to tell you what happened…"
She had insisted on a magical vow that Frank and Alice not tell any of what they were about to hear to anyone. Especially not Dumbledore. It took a while to convince the Longbottoms, but James convinced them to agree, asking if a small vow was worth more than Neville's life. Lily told a shortened, edited version of what had transpired for them to lose their trust in the Headmaster. She left out Severus's name, knowing that they would lose all credit for trusting a 'Death Eater' over the headmaster. The turning point was when Lily recited the first half of the prophesy. She could tell that Frank and Alice were starting to think through their story. In the end, though, they just couldn't convince the Longbottoms to be more wary.
"I vow upon my magic that what I just told you was the truth as I have found it to be." A bright light flooded the kitchen before Lily summoned a cup of coffee to her.
"We will think upon everything you told us," Alice said amicably, while Lily just nodded her head.
"That is all we can ask of you. I just don't want to see you or your family hurt or worse because of information that wasn't given to you."
"Before I forget, Dumbledore wanted me to give you this letter," Frank said to the couple. He held out a letter to James, who went to take it. With a musical screech, Fawkes appeared and shot a blue flame at the letter. The letter hovered in midair, with a reddish glow seeping out of the seams.
"Huh," James was the first to speak. "An unauthorized portkey. Thank you, Fawkes, though it wouldn't have worked. The wards around the house would have negated it. But thank you all the same, my friend." James bowed to the phoenix, who just trilled a sad note before flashing back to Harry's side.
Turning his attention back to the gob smacked Longbottoms, James said in an even tone, "The only reason I am not hexing you is the fact that I know that you didn't know about the portkey. If you had, the wards would have never let you through, phoenix or no phoenix. And, yes, to answer your question, that is the Headmaster's phoenix. He has left Dumbledore to bond to Harry."
"James, Lily, we are so sorry! We didn't know anything about that! Why would the Headmaster do that?" Alice's voice was getting a little shrill, so Lily laid a hand on her arm.
"Alice, we told you why. I hope you believe us now. Or at least will think a little harder about it."
"Yes, we will think harder. That he would use us like that and not even tell us! Thank you, James and Lily. We hope to see you soon." Frank took his wife's arm, before the pair walked into the living room. They picked up a smiling Neville before grabbing a hold of Fawkes's tail feathers and disappeared in flames.
"I hope they see things our way," Lily said to James, who just nodded.
"I believe that they will now that they have that portkey as evidence. I knew that he was going to try something. I'm just glad that they were a witness."
James watched while watching Lily start to pick the paper up by hand.
"Why aren't you using your magic, Lils?"…
In the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, Albus looked on in rage as his portkey activated, but was demolished. "How did they know? That blasted phoenix!"
Miles away, in a Unplottable location, a man was bent over several simmering cauldrons. Steam and potion fumes joined to make an oily mess of the man's shoulder length black hair. Severus Snape was finishing up the latest round of potions that were due for an owl-away business. He now called his mother's old ancestral home his own. The fact that he knew the Prince family line would be rolling in their graves with a half-blood like him using their facilities, bothered him not. He was safe, hidden away from a war that he didn't want any participation in. He truly did not care who won, as long as he was left in peace.
A/N: There you go, people. Snape is safe, hidden away. He wants his peace, and he deserves it. But peace, as we all know, has a way of just shattering. I hope you all like it!