And I now have a plot for this ending! Yay! No threats to lynch me, please. Thank you and have a nice day.
Aimee
Christmas was spectacular; the children spent the day running around the house with tinsel in their hair and candies clutched in their fists. Harry and Ethan fought again; this time, Ethan brought out the big guns and shot Harry down not having the same blood as him. Harry had immediately punched Ethan in the face, leaving two black eyes and a broken nose.
Ethan denied the whole thing, of course; Harry, however, wouldn't have made something up like that, especially since he was becoming incredibly sensitive on the subject of James. I had wondered why it took him so long to completely absorb the subject; however, as he was only eleven when he was told and could not quite completely register the idea of his father being someone he had no memory of and someone who had abused his mother… If it was myself instead of him, it would have taken me much longer than three years to absorb it.
He and I decided on December 27th, two days after Christmas, he and I would travel to London and perhaps Wales for a few hours. He was anxious to see Godric's Hollow, although Lily didn't want me to bring him to the location of James' death, in fear it might traumatize him slightly. It was one of the first arguments we ever had; I insisted on bringing him to Godric's Hollow, saying he was old enough to handle the truth. The house had been occupied by Muggles for the past fourteen years, so it wouldn't matter anyway. Lily finally caved in after nearly an hour, making me promise to take full responsibility for Harry if he ended up even remotely scarred by the visit.
It went as well as I could have hoped for; Harry and I went to Diagon Ally first, he admired the Firebolt broomstick as I went into Flourish and Blott's for a few books. We then ate lunch together at the Leaky Cauldron, avoiding stares from various hags, wizards, and witches.
Harry insisted we leave early for Godric's Hollow, as he wanted to take as much time as he needed. For what, I was clueless, but as he kept on insisting, I finally gave in and we left for Wales.
Godric's Hollow was never anything spectacular; to Harry, however, it was if he had found himself. He gazed up at the home Lily and James lived in as if he could see the events of fourteen years ago play out in front of him. He was standing in the exact spot I had stood in while standing guard for Voldemort, and I toyed with the idea of telling him that for a while. However, before I could speak, he turned to me and smiled one of the biggest smiles I had seen on him in years.
"Dad, thanks for taking me, but can we go home now?"
I nodded, checking my watch. We would be nearly three hours earlier than I had anticipated. I told Lily we would be back between the hours of six and eight; it was barely even three in the afternoon when we started making our way back, by train.
"Did you enjoy Godric's Hollow?" I asked Harry, who was sitting in the seat next to me.
"Yes, thank you." Harry said, "It was almost as if I could remember what happened… strange." He shook his head.
"Yes…" I said quietly, "The events were fairly clear in my mind, also. Considering you were barely a year old, even a slight remembrance is a huge accomplishment."
Harry nodded, "Could you tell me what happened?"
I sighed, "If you must know… But your mother will have my head if I tell you."
"So she doesn't have to know." Harry suggested, "It could be our secret?"
I smiled in spite of myself, "If you absolutely must know… But I have to warn you, the events aren't quite… Pleasant. After I tell you, I can almost guarantee you you'll have a different perspective of both your mother and I."
Harry nodded, "I understand."
I nodded back, "There is a way to show you… literally. But you would only get my recount of the events and my emotions to go along with them. I could show you as I remember it… But I daresay it'd be a bit too dramatic."
Harry shook his head vigorously, "No, no... I want to know. No one's really explained it fully before."
I sighed, then touched his shoulder gently. "Close your eyes." He obeyed, and soon I felt a surge of electricity go into him as my memories were transferred over to him and back to me.
A moment later, he opened his eyes, trembling slightly. "You were a Death Eater?"
"A spy." I said quietly, "For Dumbledore, not for Voldemort. The man next to me – Peter Pettigrew – is the man who betrayed your mother and James. He was their secret keeper… He's currently rotting in Azkaban. I believe he received the Dementor's Kiss shortly after arriving, as Sirius Black informed Dumbledore that Pettigrew was an Animagus."
"He was?" Harry said incredulously. "What did he turn in to, a cow?"
I smiled, "No, true to his name – Wormtail – he was a rat."
Harry nodded, "He deserved it."
"Yes, he did." I sighed, "He nearly got your mother and you killed. If I had found him before the Ministry had, I can assure you I would be in the cell next to Pettigrew's dead body."
We arrived at the Snape mansion fifteen minutes to
four, to the children playing together in one of the living rooms. I hugged
each individually after asking Ethan where his mother was.
"She's upstairs with Mr. Lupin." He informed me.
I thanked him, partially glad Remus was keeping Lily company. I quickly
made my way upstairs to the Master Bedroom, turning the handle and opening
the door fairly quickly.
What stood before me was something I would never, even in my wildest dreams, have imagined. Remus Lupin was lying in Lily's spot on the bed, Lily on my side, cradled in each other's arms, naked.
The moment I saw them, Lily jumped up and pulled the sheets over her body, which had suddenly gone pale and was shaking slightly.
"Severus… you – you're home early." She said quietly. Remus sat up, looking at me with a blank expression on his face.
"Lily… you… him… how could you?" I spat out, backing out of the room slowly. Lily jumped up and threw on her robe, running towards me.
"Severus... please…" she started. I shook my head and held up my wand, pointing it first at her, then at Remus, then back at Lily.
"Don't you dare move." I then turned around and ran
back down the stairs and out the door. I Apparated to the first place I
thought of: Hogwarts.