Chapter 4: Trouble Is In The Air
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in the story, they all belong to J.K Rowling.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who is reading this story, I'm a very new fanfiction writer, so thank you for supporting me! This chapter will be about DH and will take us up to Ron getting Splinched.
Watching Harry's '7th year' was the hardest thing Lily, James and Sirius had ever done. They watched their friends and their son/godson travel from 4 Privet Drive to the Order safehouses, and there was a fleeting moment of cheerfulness in the air when Remus and Tonks broke the news that they were married. "Yes!" James yelled, punching the air with glee, and Sirius and Lily grinned wildly. It was a large comfort to know that his friend had found someone who truly loved him. Lily had to smile when her son refused to hand over his hair for the Polyjuice Potion, as it was such a Harry thing to do. When the Seven Potters and their partners walked outside, they saw hagrid sitting in-
"My motorbike!" Sirius yelled gleefully, and James grinned widely. He knew being on Sirius' bike would have some form of comfort for his son. Nerves were running high during the chase in the sky, and Lily sobbed at the death of Hedwig, knowing, as only a mother could, just how much that death would hurt her son. When Voldemort appeared, flying with no broomstick, Sirius swore violently and James gripped Lily's hand. They didn't dare draw a breath as they watched the seventeen-year-old and Hagrid battle the darkest wizard known to man. When they landed with a crash in Ted and Andromeda Tonk's back garden, they didn't dare be happy in case something fatal had occurred during the fall. When they found that both Harry and Hagrid were going to be fine, Lily let out a small gasp and started sobbing with pure relief. James hugged her and rubbed her back comfortingly. He too had tears running down his cheeks. Harry had escaped death again by only a hair's breadth, and James didn't know how much longer his son's luck was going to last. They witnessed many awkward moments between Ginny and Harry, but that was overshadowed by the number of portkeys returning person less. When Bill and Fleur landed, everyone breathed a heavy sigh of relief. But the worst was yet to come.
"Mad-Eye's dead," Bill said.
"How could he be dead?!" Sirius exclaimed, grief for the battle-scarred, invincible Moody washing over him in a crash.
"Mad-Eye- he couldn't be, it's not possible." James stuttered, disbelief flooding him. Moody had always seemed incapable of death, but it was a harsh reminder that everything, even the unthinkable, could happen in this war.
The days passed slowly, and the trio was glad for a well-deserved break from the stress in the form of a wedding. 2 days before the wedding, and coincidentally, 1 day before Harry's 17th birthday, Lily felt as though she was forgetting something important.
"What could it be?" She mused aloud as she sat on her own one afternoon. Sirius and James had gone for a walk somewhere, and Lily was left on her own. Suddenly she sat bolt-upright. "Oh…" She hissed softly. Tomorrow was the 31st of July, which meant that it would be "Harry's 17th birthday." Lily whispered, and the tears began to fall thick and fast. Not only had she forgotten her son's birthday was tomorrow, but it would be the day he lost the Trace and became an adult. She and James would have been giving him a customary wizard watch tomorrow, a sign that he was now an adult. Lily curled up in a ball, and her whole body heaved and shook as she sobbed into her arms.
"It's not fair, you should be down there for Harry. Instead, you let him and everyone else down by off and sying, and left Molly Weasley to look after another child. She hates you, for leaving her to fork her limited money over him. Harry deserves a mother, but you weren't cut out to be one!" A small voice in the back of her head said, and Lily tried to block it out, but it was taking over her mind.
"You should never have married James. If it wasn't for your marriage, you would never have died. You should have left him and his stupid friends to their dumb pranks, and never have fallen for that bullying toerag. Petunia was right. You're a freak. An ugly, weak, disgusting little freak. You don't deserve to have a son, who you left because you were too arrogant and stubborn to move away from his cot. You are an idiot, Lily Potter, trying to fend off Voldemort without a wand. You're just as stupid as James. You don't deserve a husband to grow old with, because you will never grow old. You're just a child who was thrown in the deep end by your 'friends, one of whom ended up being the mastermind behind your death. Harry is better off without you, you utter FREAK!" Lily slumped, overcome by grief and anger.
James and Sirus returned from wherever they had gone an hour later and were chatting merrily.
"Lily, we're back!" James called, quickening his pace slightly when his wife didn't answer. Sirius looked around with one eyebrow raised slightly.
"She's probably gone for a walk, she'll be back soon, Prongs," Sirius said amiably, but James wasn't listening. He had spotted his wife. Sirius made to follow his friend but stopped when he saw the state Lily was in. He caught James' eye, and nodded his head in the opposite direction, indicating that he'd let the couple have some time alone.
"Lil, honey, it's me, James," he whispered as he reached the crumpled heap on the ground. James stroked Lily's auburn hair softly and held her hand, paling slightly when he felt how violently she was trembling.
"You don't deserve me, James. I'm nothing but a freak who couldn't even stay around long enough for my son's 2nd birthday. I was so stupid I didn't even use my wand to fend off Voldemort, and now I've gone and given Molly Weasley yet another burden to carry. Get off me, James Fleamont Potter!" Lily screeched and threw off James' comforting hands. She stormed off, her hair swishing furiously. James sighed. He'd seen Lily in many of her rages before and knew the best strategy would be to let her cool off before talking to her. Whilst she could get very mad, Lily wasn't one to hold grudges, unless it was something serious. James walked slowly over to Sirius, wondering what had made Lily think she was a freak. Then he stopped dead, and his mouth formed a perfect 'O'. Tomorrow would be Harry's 17th birthday, the day when he became an adult in the Wizarding World. "That would explain why Lily was upset, but where did the 'freak' come in, and the part about 'not deserving me?" James thought to himself, as he sat down next to Sirius and told him what happened.
After half an hour, James was starting to get worried about Lily. He left Sirius and their discussion about Muggle motorcycles and walked in the direction his wife had run in earlier. He soon found her curled in a ball, and sat down gently next to her. "Lily?" He asked tentatively, fully aware that his wife could still be fuming. He relaxed slightly, however, when she grabbed his hand and sat up slightly. Lily's face was pale, and her eyes were swollen and red. Her hair was matted and was stuck to her cheeks, and her eyes were full of sadness and pain. "Do you want to talk?" James whispered, and she nodded weakly.
"When I realised that Harry's birthday was tomorrow, I was just overcome with sadness about… everything I guess." Tears began to roll down her cheeks and James reached up and gently wiped them away with his thumb.
"I started having horrible thoughts about how I was a f-freak, and how I didn't deserve you and Harry, and that I should have never have married you, and all I had done was give Molly another burden to deal with, and that I was dumb to try and defend myself and Harry from Voldemort, and that I didn't do Harry any good by dying for him, and that I'm a disgusting freak." Lily's voice cracked and moved to collapse into James, but someone beat her to it. James wrapped his strong arms around Lily and whispered in her ear.
"Lilyflower, sacrificing yourself for Harry was the bravest, most wonderful thing you could have ever done for him. Because of you, Harry survived to see his 17th birthday. If anything, I'm the one that doesn't deserve you. I ask myself constantly; what did I do to marry such a brave, fierce and independent woman? And, you are not a freak. You are the best potioneer I've ever seen, and there's no charm you couldn't do, but more importantly, you have the love and compassion to forgive me, Sirius and Remus for all the stupid things we did as teenagers, and to look past it and see who we truly are." Lily looked up at her husband as he finished his speech. He smiled at her, and Lily pulled him closer to her. "I was upset as you were when I realised that it is Harry's birthday tomorrow, and I know that tomorrow will be hard, but we'll get through it together," James promised, and the couple stayed together for hours before heading back to Sirius.
Harry's birthday was bittersweet, and Lily and James' hearts went out to Molly when she gave Harry the watch and smiled when he enveloped her in a tight hug. They watched as the contents of Dumbledore's will were read, and were just as confused as Harry, Ron and Hermione as to what they were for. The next day, they watched the beautiful wedding but were then shocked as they watched Harry, Ron and Hermione escape what should have been a perfect wedding, only to be tracked down by Death Eaters again. Lily watched as her son struggled mentally, and her heart broke every time he was overcome by a vision of Voldemort or got overwhelmingly angry at Dumbledore for not giving him enough information. It was extremely awkward for the threesome when Harry and Remus had their shouting match at Grimmauld Place. They all internally sided with Harry, but seeing the usually strong allegiance between the boy and his former professor broken was hard.
The break-in to the Ministry of Magic was almost scary to watch. Sirius was worried for James and Lily's sakes, because they had been having a lot of alone time lately, and at least one of them would return with red eyes every time. This had left Sirius with a lot of time to himself, and he had been thinking about Harry for most of that time. Sirius often felt an overwhelming sense of regret that he had left Harry to deal with all the hardships the Wizarding World put on his shoulders. He had also seen, when Lily and James had gone for a walk, Harry go into his room, and find one half of the letter and picture that Lily had sent to Sirius. It warmed his heart to know that his godson had some form of memory of his first year, which was probably the happiest year James, Lily, Sirius and Remus had ever had since graduating Hogwarts. Sirius hoped that Lily and James would be able to get through the horrors that this year would bring because he knew it would only get worse. They watched as the group got split up, and saw with groans of disgust as Harry pulled Mad-Eye's eye off Umbridge's door.
"That absolute cow!" Lily yelled, her cheeks turning a faint pink when she saw that Umbridge was in charge of the Muggleborn Registration Committee. "That's totally barbaric!"
"That's what Hermione's running from…" Sirius mused, genuinely worried for his godson's best female friend. They watched as Harry found Hermione, and they, along with Ron, tried to get all the Muggleborns out of the Ministry. When the real Reg Cattermole turned up, James winced.
"This is going to be awkward," James muttered, wondering what excuse his son and his friends could make up to explain the situation. The trio didn't have time to make up an excuse however and was ushering the Muggleborns into the Floo network as fast as possible. They watched as Hermione made to apparate, and Sirius saw movement out of the corner of his eye.
"Yaxley, no!" Sirius yelled. He recognised the Death Eater as a friend of his corrupt family and groaned when he grabbed Hermione's sleeve. It was a blur as they watched the trio get to Grimmauld Place, and then just as quickly leave it. Lily gasped.
"That's really dangerous! They could be-" but she was cut off by a thud as her son and his friends landed in an unrecognisable forest. They saw Hermione and Harry scramble up and then looked for Ron, who was lying on the ground bleeding severely. "Splinched." Lily finished. They saw Hermione and Harry panic, and Sirius noted how violently Harry's hands were trembling as he searched for the Essence of Dittany.
"Smart girl, that Hermione," Sirius said as they watched her fret about not wanting to do the more dangerous spells. Hermione and Harry brought Ron into their tent, and the scene blurred.
"Guess that means nothing dramatic happens for a while," James muttered. Lily looked up at him. His face looked perfectly relaxed, but she could see worry and concern flaring in his eyes, and she enveloped him in a hug.
"They'll be alright." She whispered gently. "They always find a way."
A/N: Sorry for the long wait for this chapter, I've been busy with school and assessments etc. The next chapter should be up mid next week! Thanks for reading!
