Lily's jaw was still quivering as she accepted the book from Remus, her fingers trembling with nerves as she fumbled for the page. The harsh reminder of Harry slipping so easily into Voldemort's head, or worse Voldemort going through Harry's, was somehow an even worse outcome to this year than any of them would have guessed. They would have thought he was safe from at least this one thing!
Harry wished he had something better to offer those around him than his silence, but he couldn't come up with anything. He'd tried to warn them it could always get worse, now he had to sit here and watch his mother endure it with him. It never seemed fair, even when he knew if he brought it up they'd still promise it was worth it.
"That part's the hardest to get used to," Remus quietly agreed. They'd lost members of the Order in the same way, and it never felt quite right to have an empty seat again.
His parents smiled proudly at him, they'd felt as if they'd been living in that state constantly until Lily had become pregnant and they'd have something more to focus on. A reason for the fight to end, rather than the next battle.
"We are not calling them that!" Sirius said instantly. "Voldemort," he put special emphasis on the name, "gives himself enough anonymity without parts of his soul getting their own special not really names."
"As if you wouldn't do the same if you could," Remus smirked.
"The real question is, would he name them after other stars, or states of emotion," James agreed.
"Oh, I'm so surprised," Lily giggled.
"The shock will surely be the death of us all," James snickered.
"I'm sure Bill wouldn't be too pleased either," Remus said fairly.
"Just, you know, pummeling his kid brother into the ground instead of killings," Sirius admitted.
"You know this Harry," Lily looked to him in honest confusion. "You seemed to be continuing Dumbledore's advice in not sharing this with anyone," her mind still on the last conversation he'd had with McGonagall, a worthy person if ever there was one to share this with.
"They all know I'm doing something important," Harry still scowled. "Can't they trust me I know it needs to get done sooner rather than later, not sitting around for parties."
"You've got to enjoy the moments life offers," James disagreed.
"That doesn't surprise me, about Moony at least," James looked just a tad disappointed otherwise.
Harry flattened his hair for a moment, wondering what his dads mind had gone to, and afraid he knew the answer. He had a bad feeling about Lupin knowing of this mission, or at least asking into it.
"He always did have a thing about respecting others secrets, beyond me why," Sirius smirked in agreement.
"Must admire her for that," Lily sighed, though she'd always hold some level of depression she couldn't be there for her son in this same way, it would always be equal to how much she loved Molly for doing this when she couldn't.
"I wonder how often Ron does that and nobody notices," Sirius chuckled.
"Right, yes, because of course he packed socks along with his most priceless possessions," James snorted.
Harry didn't respond, his face dropping a bit as he remembered a treasured pair of Quidditch themed socks Dobby had once gifted him. They were still in his school trunk along with his uniform, and he was now hoping for no reason he could ascertain he had gone back for them.
"I'm sure she took the news just the same way the first time," Lily muttered with a genuinely terrified expression.
"I can't believe Ron lived through it," Sirius agreed, wide-eyed.
"I know I wouldn't have!" James shivered at the very idea of such a thing. "I'd have let my parents walk me straight onto the train, than ditch in Hogsmeade to wherever I'm heading. I don't care how far out of the way it would take me, it would still be safer than my mum's wrath of me dropping out of school."
"I'll keep that in mind for next time," Harry tried to laugh.
"Articulate as always pup," Sirius snorted.
"Ouch, low blow," Lily muttered. Harry did indeed look especially guilty.
"I can imagine," James agreed softly, staring into his wife's eyes mirror imaged into his sons face. The resemblance left him completely positive he'd no more ever be able to lie to his son than he could his wife, as if he'd ever want to.
"Would she prefer them wait till they're thirty?" Sirius asked sardonically. "Possibly with a stable job, wife and kids bouncing around, that would be the perfect time! Oh no, wait, how about after they're retired, that would be a great last harah!"
Harry didn't laugh, he was half worried he'd left his time with this mission still intact and possibly could die before it was completed.
"How did we miss that!" Remus clapped himself on the forehead. "Of course that's what those lessons were for. Dumbledore needed his laundry done, and for you to get to this when you could, telling as many people as possible."
"It's not Molly's fault," Lily sighed, "this could be a perfectly reasonable explanation she's come to if we didn't know what we did."
"Nah, I'm still positive Harry would have a better explanation, she's just trying to make them question it, and she's not even close," James rolled his eyes.
"Oliver will be so disappointed," Sirius said with the utmost certainty.
"So, what team did you choose?" James asked casually.
"Never actually picked one," Harry shrugged. "I chat about them all, plaid referee a few times between Ron and his brothers when they got into it. There was this one time with Fred and George-" he began, but stumbled off and finished with a sigh.
The others understood, George's injury so fresh in Harry's mind must put a damper on conversations surrounding the twins for a time.
"That's a woman's own personal kind of magic," Sirius huffed.
"And that's a mothers," James chuckled.
"Not even after dinner?" Remus asked in surprise. "Surely she can't have you busy from dusk till dawn."
"Have you ever done color-matching favors?" Harry asked deadpan. "It never ends."
The others snorted with laughter, while Harry rolled his eyes, muttering he was glad they thought it was fun. He still swore he could smell the polish from those utensils.
"Brilliant plan, why didn't McGonagall ever think of such a thing," James nodded along.
"Don't put ideas in their head!" Sirius mock hissed. "Maybe they might start implementing something worse than homework!"
"Well, yes, actually I'm sure that's exactly what she's hoping for," Lily sighed.
"Remind me why you want to be an Auror again?" Sirius snickered. "It's clearly to nurture this stellar on the spot lying habit of yours, yes?"
"You'd make the best one around if that were the case," James snorted.
"Not the best time to be thinking of such things, in a heavily Weasley populated area," Remus muttered.
"Or, you know, just inviting friends over for dinner," Remus said with pure innocence.
"Yep, of course nobody will suspect such a thing, as welcoming as the Weasley's are," Sirius chuckled.
"Such unwieldy magic, who would be fool enough to use it," James said with a very forced smile.
Lily squeezed his hand rather than answer, they wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
"Good riddance," Sirius muttered darkly. The one good thing that house had been used for, and even now the place haunted him.
"Such a wasted opportunity, didn't anyone teach you proper manners is to cut hers up for her," Remus happily mocked Harry rather than letting everyone's mood sink so low.
"She's my ex-girlfriend, not my toddler," Harry protested.
"Ah, yes, my mistake. I still see that hyper-fan-girl in my head sometimes," Remus relented, but the scowl Harry had on him and the others suppressing laughter was entirely worth the fib.
His efforts were in vain anyways, nobody could hide the flinch of unease this caused in them all.
"Oh, I'd almost forgotten about that," James blinked, before blanching in worry for the last time that had come up.
"I hadn't," Lily admitted with full dread. "Though I took some comfort they hadn't shown up that night to arrest you."
"But, if they were just going to ignore underage magic happening round my place, they could have just Apparated me out of there anyways!" Harry burst in frustration. He could not get the idea out of his head Moody should not have died in this way.
"The Order didn't want to take that risk," Sirius briskly reminded. "You're damn lucky no one is pursuing this pup, for the sake of the oh so mighty press," he finished bitterly.
Harry clenched his own hand now, knowing no one needed the reminder, but unable to help himself as the scar still gleamed faintly, unintelligible now, but the memory would always live.
They all grew somber for that unpleasant reminder.
"That's fair," Lily sighed, wishing this wedding was a happier topic, thinking of her son having to be in disguise during it wasn't helping.
"That's not!" She instantly corrected herself, her temper spiking at once. She would not condone anyone taking this out on Hagrid without unwavering proof, and even then she knew in her heart he would be forgiven.
All the boys burst out laughing, Ron really was the best distraction one could ask for, always knew how to fix the mood.
Lily pressed her lips together hard to stop herself joining in.
"Perhaps?" Lily went wide-eyed, fighting back twitching lips even more. "The reception would look lovely from the attic room, staring down at the rest of the property-" She didn't get any further and fell into her own giggles.
Remus couldn't have finished even if Ron hadn't been cut off, he was laughing too hard.
They all instantly sat up with infinite intrigue for what Arthur was up to. Nobody in doubt this was going to be interesting, more Muggle things? Sirius hadn't thought much about it, but he probably hadn't been using the garage since the Anglia incident, and now they'd found where he'd switched locations.
Sirius looked torn for a moment, before elation finally won out. "Honestly, I think Arthur should have had it even before Hagrid. I know he'll get a lot of fun out of her."
"I'm proud of you Sirius," Remus said genuinely, before snickering for a moment and finishing with, "though I doubt it'll last."
Sirius didn't deny that, no one was prying his bike from him any time soon...even if he would consider offering to teach Arthur how she worked. Under his supervision.
"So he's made enormous progress then," James said earnestly. "He hasn't made it worse!"
"It's more than you can say for any given situation," Lily smirked.
Harry winced and did not look at Click in the corner again at the mention of pets. Ron had thankfully located Pig down to the kitchen with Errol the first night, so thankfully he hadn't as much of a reminder Hedwig wasn't around.
Sirius noticed, cleared his throat, and asked, "So, what's happening with him? I presume you're not taking the cat along, the litter box maintenance would be hell."
"S'far as I know, he's staying at the Burrow." Harry shrugged. "Think I heard Mrs. Weasley talking about it, he's great for keeping mice away, though he has a bad habit of chasing the chickens as much as the gnomes."
"You'd think she'd check off this giant list of hers," Remus snorted.
"Why am I not surprised Hermione frequently sorts through her books," James said solemnly.
"You mean you don't rank all of your books from best to greatest!" Sirius demanded.
No one could think of anything to say to that. They all certainly wanted it to be true, but had too much experience knowing otherwise.
"That's a fair point," Remus agreed kindly, though not as if he meant it. Surely if Moody had survived, he'd find some way to get in contact with the Order by now, who would have no reason to hide this from Harry and his friends.
"That's not, impossible to survive," James countered, rubbing his hair into even more of a mess.
"Now that's definitely a detail one could get wrong," Sirius agreed with a sigh, as if just saying it out of obligation.
Harry and Lily exchanged unspoken looks. They knew what the Marauders were doing as well as Ron. No one wanted any such thing, but they had to find some way to live with it, and hope was lighter to carry.
"That can be plenty detrimental to life," Sirius sighed.
"Is that why you never are?" Remus asked politely.
"I'm plenty realistic!" Sirius shot back. "Like I know realistically, if you keep mouthing off, you're head's going to come off!"
Remus didn't look particularly impressed, and Harry was wondering if there was really a spell for that.
"Accurate," James nodded with a straight face, refusing to indicate which was winning in him.
"Harry!" Lily squealed.
James cuffed him over the back of the head, that really had been pushing it too far.
Harry nodded with a sheepish expression, he had regretted letting his mind out of his mouth.
"I can't imagine why, that one was quite helpful to me in class," James said with a straight face.
Lily swatted him lightly, still brushing at her hair. She knew her boys coped with copious amounts of humor, and even knowing this fate hadn't befallen Moody yet, she still mourned at the loss, as this only served to remind her of all the friends they couldn't save.
Then Lily snorted, a watery noise true, but she looked so amused no one even noticed. "Oh, that was the sweetest thing I've ever heard Ron do!"
"Give me one moment Moony, I'm going to go clean the oven out and be back," James chuckled. She smacked him again.
Sirius ignored them, he looked interested in this turn of events. "Are they actually together then?"
Harry considered the question, before answering slowly, "I mean, they never snogged in front of me, or did anything much really. Sometimes I think I'd catch them holding each others hand, but it never seemed like they were hiding it either. I suppose it's certainly leading that way, but they haven't declared it yet."
"Makes sense to me," Sirius shrugged, looking pleased for the two.
None of them could joke their way out of that, they'd all been in the same delusion before the start of this mess. Somehow, between learning of all their futures, they'd lost the innocence anyone was safe.
"Constant vigilance," all five of them said at once.
"Priorities," James agreed darkly. That little imp would get a piece of his mind, which was more than the man already had.
"Well that's one way to thank him," Remus raised a brow and didn't bother to hide more laughter.
"Moony, are you implying something?" Sirius asked curiously. "I could always charm all of your books to attack you when you make me feel better."
"Thanks Padfoot, I'm now loath to ever cheer you up again," Remus rolled his eyes.
"Oh," James blinked in surprise. "I legitimately thought she did do this every year."
"Yeah, the one time we weren't joking about her obsession with books," Sirius agreed.
"In style then," Remus smirked.
"More importantly, I think that's the first time Ron's said his name!" Sirius cheered. "Only took him seven years."
"He said it that morning at breakfast too," Harry agreed.
"I still think we should be calling him Tom," James huffed.
"Better safe than sorry," Lily agreed.
"I honestly can't imagine there being a second pile now," Sirius said with still twitching lips. "Surely all books have their uses," he insisted with a straight face.
"Sure, as pillows, kindling, spit-ball material," James prattled off, before the two dissolved into giggles.
"You are a tad predictable love," Lily shook her head. She'd really thought Harry had gotten it through his head he wasn't shaking his friends, but clearly he hadn't learned that lesson enough.
"I think if Hermione were picking her favorite book, that one would win," Remus smirked.
"Moony, how could you!" Sirius gasped. "That's like telling her to pick her favorite child!"
"That is true," James nodded with a faraway look. He loved nothing more than hearing of his sons life, even all the perils he could have done without. Ron and Hermione were so intertwined with his sons life, he may as well adopt them now.
"Clearly, you have a different understanding of the word shut up," Sirius chuckled.
"Yeah, the same kind you do," James returned.
"Any Lockhart book deserves that," Remus sniffed.
Lily whistled in genuine congratulations for that. James almost burst into a round of applause for such sneakiness.
Lily's mouth began turning down in confusion and surprise, but she kept going for the rest of Hermione's explanation.
"Oh dear," Lily finished with a deep sigh of sorrow for this girl and her parents. She couldn't imagine such a thing happening, forgetting her child! It was as if remembering what had happened to Alice and Frank all over again. Yet she understood Hermione of course, why she'd done it. To keep them safe, that's all anyone wanted for their family.
"I, never got the impression Hermione liked her parents very much," Sirius ruffled his brows in confusion for such a drastic act. "This is, extreme."
"She cared about them a lot," Harry rebutted at once. "She, she just," it was true Hermione didn't talk about her parents much, but he'd never gotten the impression there was anything bad between them. Just, distance. "I, don't think they ever found a way to, connect."
Lily nestled into her sons side, clutching the book tight as if she could to Hermione as well. That little girl trying too hard to make friends her first day and it all backfiring had grown into one of the most formidable people Lily could imagine. She'd found another kind of family along the way, but it didn't mean she'd wish her to forget the one she had. She could only hope things would get better when Hermione found them again.
They all managed a genuine laugh for that, each one having their own instance coming to mind of Ron's level of tact.
"Having a girlfriend will do wonders for yourself really," James said, tweaking his own nose.
Lily rolled her eyes and didn't bother to suppress another giggle.
"The hell?" Remus spluttered in concern.
"Whatever Ron's cooked up, I'm instantly impressed," Sirius said at once.
"Can't hardly ship his entire family off to Australia, so I hope it's good," James said with worry lines already appearing for the family who had done so much for his son.
"Ooh, I never thought we'd get to see their attic," Lily said with some measured excitement, better than dwelling on other depressing topics. She had no idea what Ron had stashed up there to help his family though and was eager to find out, while the boys all had calculating expressions on their faces, clearly trying to concoct their own scenarios already.
Sirius snorted almost painfully in surprise. James instantly clutched his chest from laughing too hard.
"That is, interesting," Remus had his nose scrunched up as if he could smell this already he was thinking so hard. "I'm mildly disappointed we never thought to let one loose in school now-"
"In pajamas!" Sirius finished in a breathless voice.
"Oh you lot," Lily sighed. She thought it silly more than anything, thinking it sounded like a kids book, or something Lockhart would write. Did their minds always have to jump to causing trouble first? "How does this help Ron?"
"Not sure yet," James gasped, waving her on pleadingly, "but please let us know!"
"Oh," the Marauders said in understanding, while Harry and Lily exchanged exasperated looks.
"Care to fill us in?" Harry asked impatiently.
"I'm sure Ron can explain it better," Remus smirked.
"Yeah, wouldn't want to spoil the surprise." Sirius smirked.
Lily turned to James with the most open, curious expression in place, and James crumbled at once. "They're going to pretend that ghoul's Ron, and he's sick. Not sure of the disease personally that causes giant purple pustules, but I'm sure it's quite horrible."
"See Prongs, this is why we stopped telling you about our pranks in advance the last year of school," Sirius sighed in disappointment at his best mate. "You would have told the Head Girl!"
"So instead you just informed him of his part at the last second and he went along anyways, oh the tragedy," Lily rolled her eyes at him.
"We missed him deeply during the strategy sessions," Remus pouted.
"I regret nothing," James shrugged, slinging an arm over the back of the couch to catch at her hair and playing with it as she continued with a pleased smile.
"Quite, yes," Remus nodded along, that was something for the books!
"I'll bet the twins cooked this up," Sirius smirked.
"Ron's plenty capable of causing this kind of trouble all his own," Lily rolled her eyes.
"Oh, I remember where I've heard of Spattergroit!" James suddenly brightened. "It's suspected to be the reason why no one can remember the Quidditch Cup of 1877!"
"Maybe that's where Ron heard of it, some edition of Quidditch Through the Ages," Harry agreed.
"Sounds awful," Lily swallowed painfully at the idea.
"I can't get over how great this story is! Ron should be a writer," Remus chuckled.
"There it is," Sirius nodded finally in understanding, he'd been very confused about that part.
"I'm sure they already know," James promised, gripping Harry's shoulder tightly. He always took comfort his son had never really been alone because of such great friends.
"Trash," all five of them muttered at once, unsure of Hermione not just chucking it out the window for all the good it was. It didn't matter if Lockhart had actual facts in that book, the parchment was tainted by his name.
"That one was a no brainer," Harry rolled his eyes, as that's essentially what he'd done with his.
Lily and James flinched particularly hard at that reminder, though there wasn't a relaxed face in the room in that moment.
Lily's whole jaw was chattering by the end of having finished that, though she wasn't cold, not really. Harry longed to say anything to take that presence from her, but there was nothing he could say to alter his reality they were enduring themselves through.
"I, don't think he'd automatically assume that," James tried his best to say in an offhand voice. "Who's to say you haven't visited before? Had the Weasleys, or even Dumbledore take you? Before Voldemort even came back to power."
"Yeah," Harry whispered, but there was no force in his voice for or against the idea. His eyes were completely distant as he stared at his parents, as if suddenly he couldn't see anything but tombstones. Lily put even more force into her voice as she swept past this gruesome topic.
Sirius didn't quite manage to swallow past the lump in his throat, so his voice came out shotty. "Too bad Prongs couldn't have whispered that to you then?" He hadn't meant to say it like a question, it should have been a statement, but none of them could even answer honestly if they wanted to hear of Harry doing such a thing. It had never been a question to them, because Harry had all the memories of his parents right here in this room, even one in another graveyard. Why go see the place where body's with no life would be buried?
They'd always swore they wanted to hear of everything in Harry's life, but could they really get through this one? Lily still wouldn't dwell on it when she didn't have to, she wasn't going to say anything for or against the idea either way and kept going.
Sirius flinched and sunk low into his seat, while Remus and James very obviously didn't look at him. Lily didn't even notice, she was so focused on trying to change the subject and eagerly continued now that it had. Harry did, his mind tingling with something as he watched his godfather, but couldn't quite place why.
"Great, that's like running an errand backwards," Remus rolled his eyes.
"Best to not gamble with those odds though," James sighed. He had every intention of going out to that lake and somehow checking the Horcrux when they got out of here, hopefully it hadn't been taken by this person yet and they wouldn't have this problem.
"He says it with such surprise," Lily managed a giggle that was only slightly hard to force out. "After all this time, I don't ever question how Hermione got her hands on any books."
"As if anyone said it was," James snorted with an honest eye roll. This was making him feel better, Hermione acting silly over something like that.
"That girl, is the absolute definition, of brilliant," Remus blinked for a few moments before they all laughed. It was rather subdued after such a grim topic, but none of them would pass up the opportunity to laugh when it was needed.
"I'm sure he's applauding you for your effort, I am now," Sirius said, and indeed even began to do so just so someone would for the girl.
"Gross," James said with chipper.
"Sirius holds all books like that," Remus smirked.
"That's disturbing," Lily muttered, going wide-eyed at the thought. It would have been removed by the time she'd stepped into school, but that wasn't much comfort of how many others could have put their hands on it in the meantime. A school be damned, some things shouldn't be available to learn in there.
"Is, that why he looks so-" Remus grasped at words to describe the despicable creature Voldemort had become.
"Part of it might be from being reincarnated after his body was destroyed," Harry offered.
"But you're probably right Moony, I imagine ripping your soul up like that would do something to you physically as well," James nodded along. "Surely your body would suffer some effects from that as well."
"I bet they didn't even come with a warning label for the cosmetics part," Sirius shivered.
"Didn't see that one coming!" Lily said, straightening up with hope.
"As long as it's only to the person being put back together, and not the one doing it to them," James stated with an unpleasant smile.
They all fell back in their seats with disappointment, none of them had even realized they'd sat up in anticipation for some easier way to fix this. Now it was gone before they could even hope for it.
"Maybe," Sirius drew the word out in disbelief. "It would have to be some fantastical event though, like kicking a puppy."
"Should I be worried you consider that a higher crime than murder?" Lily asked.
"Nah, you can't use those to make Horcruxes anyways, it was specifically said murder," Sirius returned with a straight face.
Lily scowled at him for the mock threat.
"Trelawney's specialty perhaps?" Remus snorted.
"I, I don't know whether to scream luck, or fate?" James blinked in confusion. Lily shushed him while she got out the whole explanation, just to make sure.
"Actually if you think about it, the Basilisk down in the Chamber is kind of dumb. The very thing that could kill his horcrux is the guardian?" Remus suddenly realized.
"I don't think Riddle put it down there, I thought Slytherin did?" James returned.
"Nah, Basilisks don't live that long. Riddle most likely put it down there when he discovered the Chamber." Sirius shrugged.
"Actually if you remember," Lily pointed out, "he had no plans for his diary to go back to the school without his knowledge, he was mad when Lucius did it, so most likely when he went back to let the Basilisk loose he was either going to dispose of it so it couldn't be a danger to him anymore, or move it elsewhere."
"Let's just be happy he used Nagini instead of that thing as his final horcrux." Harry shivered.
"You do know where a large supply of them are though," Remus helpfully reminded him.
"Would they still work after all this time?" Harry asked eagerly, wondering if that wasn't the hopeful feeling he had for this being mentioned.
"Absolutely," Remus cautioned with clear warning. "Like with Aragog, many a venomous beast are still dangerous after their death. Even the basilisk eyes would be a problem if Fawk hadn't taken care of that."
"Great, now Harry has a reason to go back to school again," Sirius tried to say with disgust, but really it was more disappointment. They all wished for just one more peaceful year of him not having to worry about anything rather than dealing with all this.
"Thanks for the reminder," James interrupted again anyways with a shiver he still couldn't shake for that memory.
"That, sounds far less complicated than I was worried about," Lily finished with a torn expression. She somehow felt she was missing something, that sounded almost easy.
"What on Earth are you on about?" Sirius demanded. "Sounds bloody complicated enough to me! Do you have a few basilisk fangs on standby?"
"No," Lily corrected with an eye-roll, "but it's not too hard to break something beyond repair either, even with out magic at hand. Burning something usually does the trick, or simply shattering something. So long as the pieces could never be put back together."
"I was always hoping the snake would be easy enough to kill," James said slowly, "but does the same apply to the body as it would Riddle's diary? Isn't she venomous too?"
"Not the same kind as basilisk venom," Remus corrected. "Arthur lived through one of her bites."
"So did Harry, so clearly the venom's not, beyond repair," James countered.
"I think you lot are stuck on the semantics," Lily insisted with hope in her eyes. "All we have to do is find some way to break them, and the problem's solved. I really thought there would be more complicated magic involved than that."
"I'm worried your downplaying Voldemort's ability dear," James sighed. "Surely he'd enchant these objects to be as unbreakable as possible."
"Ginny already tried my idea of flushing them down a toilet, so I'm out," Sirius chuckled.
"I'm worried Hermione didn't give an exact answer besides a basilisk fang," Remus sighed. "Surely there is some fool proof way you can stop and have these things destroyed?"
"I still say fire is the best way to go," Lily insisted. "I'm sure we'll find some way to test the theory." She finished with slight dread, they all had no doubts it wouldn't be an easy road ahead, for Harry or them making Voldemort as vulnerable as possible.
"That is a very valid question," James thanked.
"What a lovely thought!" Remus snorted.
"I think you've imagined doing that to me one too many times to be saying that," Sirius muttered in concern.
"I haven't gone through with it," he told with a straight face.
"Yet," James smirked.
"That's comforting," Lily sighed with even more relief. This finally sounded doable now that they even had the slimmest form of an answer on hand.
James gave a savage nod of remembrance, even as his skin crawled for how close that had come to being his son.
"Well then let's keep that locket away from Sirius when we find it, Merlin knows how emotional he gets attached to his jewelry," Remus snickered.
"I do agree, it doesn't seem much of a problem in the general sense. That diary was unique," Lily nodded.
"Oh Harry," Lily sighed, reaching out to squeeze his hand for a moment. There was always more one wished they could say to those lost, she certainly had a mountain of them to put in her old friends face. She wasn't sure if she'd ever see him again either though, he may as well be dead to her by this point. Everyone had regrets, but why did her sons always have to be so heavy?
"It's not as if it's entirely your fault!" James insisted with belligerence. "The man certainly never helped you out any! You've practically grown up figuring out everything by yourself!" He was nearly shouting at the end. He'd mourned the idea of Dumbledore's loss, but it had not smothered everything he'd grown angry at their old headmaster for over Harry's life.
Harry couldn't think of anything to say to that. He didn't think it would help any to remind them of all the good Dumbledore had done, all he'd tried to do for his life.
Sirius had to blink a few times for all of that to come together in his head, before he stated blithely, "well that was fun, any chance I can get an instant replay?" Remus chuckled while Lily ignored him.
They all got some sort of laugh out of that, though they wished Harry would find some way to relax more. He wouldn't be getting the chance to at all very soon.
Nobody in here did, if anything it doubled at the look on Harry's face.
"Molly really is being a bit of a beast," Remus sighed.
"She's putting more into this than I'm sure Fleur or Bill, and she never wanted this in the first place," Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Matching socks, honestly," James snorted.
"Sounds a bit depressing," Lily pouted. "I liked the energy hearing about this place before."
"Yeah, weddings are supposed to be expressing who you are," James agreed.
"I'll be sure not to pass that along to Molly," Sirius said with a straight face. "I like my head not blown to France thank you very much."
"I don't even blame him," Remus agreed, having just closed his mouth after such a ridiculous statement from what they'd heard about this.
James snickered heartily at the idea, while Lily rolled her eyes affectionately.
James laughed harder, and Lily had to fight off the urge not to join in this time.
"No competition there," Sirius snorted. "Harry didn't bat an eye at Ginny until she was sixteen."
"Though you must admit, it is a good thing she never went to Hogwarts. Then Harry's fan club would have three whole members," Remus smirked. Harry chucked a pillow at him, still grumbling about that absurd joke.
"Wishing they'd been there the whole time after the first hour," Harry chuckled. "Mrs. Weasley was so distracted by them, she hardly batted an eye at us after that, though it did have it's drawbacks," he finished, not needing to explain further when his mum went on.
"I can imagine," Lily went faintly cross-eyed as she suddenly tallied it all up in her head.
"She's nothing if not a multitasker," Lily couldn't help but laugh at Harry's put out expression realizing he'd spoken too soon.
"Try doing it around these two!" Sirius said with an exaggerated look of horror as he jabbed at the married couple present. "Harry, back me up on this, would it not have made more sense to compromise than deal with both having mounted suits of armor singing and hiring some piano man to fake it!"
"Those were at my parents wedding, it's tradition," James pouted.
"My parents were there, and I wanted as little magic as possible, they're always a bit skittish," Lily said without remorse.
Harry was too busy laughing at them to pick a side, while Sirius was still sighing with delayed exhaustion from being the middle man of a dozen more such occurrences.
Remus' friends smiled especially for that, though he just grit his teeth and glared at the carpet. He'd rather just vanish from this story at this point.
Lily finished with an admittedly dejected feeling. Her sons seventeenth birthday should be celebrated with every detail managed and a million people there to celebrate it like each of them had at the Potters. It was as much an occasion as Bill's wedding, if a different one, but still her son could not have this because of such a life. She'd always be grateful to Molly and everything the Weasley's did for him, but it didn't stop her wishing for more for him.
HPHPHPHP
Hermione's parents always fascinated me. I honestly expected them to show up in this book, even after this chapter. Someone somehow got a hold of them and they'd have to go save them, but no, they never actually appear in series! We never even get their real names from Hermione, she never talks about them! Ron's mentioned plenty about a brother who only appears twice, it just baffles me! I'd love to hear some of your thoughts and headcannons for the Grangers. Mine consist mainly of two very busy parents, and a very lonely little girl sitting in her parents office waiting.
*Some foreshadowing I never took notice of before, Umbridge being mentioned not moments after talk of Moody's body, or specifically, his eye.