One Last Decision
By Kyra
Dawn overcame me as I stood on the street corner, dressed in Muggle attire. I rubbed my head slowly, waiting for the familiar sound of his heavy footsteps. Remembering the look on Fudge's face as I told him my decision, I felt my heart leap. I'd done poorly, someone had seen me in the fortress, and now I was going to suffer. But I would keep Lily and Harry safe, I would die before I let him touch them.
A pounding on the pavement made me smile to myself. Only seconds later, Sirius Black moved along beside me, his hair pulled back in a ponytail, his eyes darker then usual. "You wanted to see me, Prongs?" he asked, leaning against the pole beside me.
We looked so nonchalant standing there, as we were supposed to. I tried to straighten my unruly hair, to no avail. "Nice day, huh?" I asked, stalling.
"Quit," Sirius said calmly. Shoving his hands in his pockets and shuffling his feet for a minute. "What's up?" he asked finally, and I heard the fear in his voice.
I choked on the words, I didn't want to say them. "Fudge thinks it's be a good idea if I got a secret keeper," I said finally, staring at the ground.
The sun breached the horizon, as I felt the man beside me die a little. He'd been my best friend for as long as I could remember. Our fathers worked together before we were born, I moved in with him after my parents died. And now I stood there, telling him that I may be headed toward Avada Kedavra. "Will you?" I asked, softly, refusing to look at him.
I felt him breathe in, almost as if I was within him. He pondered it for awhile, as if trapped in limbo between two worlds. So much of me wanted to tell him I was joking, but I wasn't. I wouldn't be, ever again.
That's the moment the words spoken by Harry and Ron flashed into my head. One of your friends is going to sell your life for his. I held my breath. Not Sirius. He wouldn't, he couldn't. We shared everything! We were blood brothers! We were best friends! No, it wouldn't be Sirius… Would it?
"James," he whispered, staring straight ahead. "I can't. If I was responsible for what Harry said, I'd kill myself. Pick someone else." I sighed. It couldn't be Sirius. He'd rather die then betray me.
* * *
Sitting at home, with Lily, I watched as our son grew a bit older everyday. Amazing, that. Everyday you have this little creature, needing to you hold him, care for him, love him. I almost forgot my problem. Sirius was over everyday, Remus more then Peter, Peter never came around. He was off doing something, but not working for the Ministry.
I pacified myself by playing with Harry, teaching him how to fly a broom, from the ground of course. Something in me knew that something was bound to change, but I pushed it to the back of my mind.
* * *
It wasn't until Sirius showed up at my front door that I realized that it was bad. Normally, Sirius showing up at my front door wouldn't be any big thing. We'd invite him in, have a bit of dinner, and maybe a game of Quidditch for old times' sake. After all, Lily was still the best damn seeker you'd ever meet. But what scared me about this visit was the fact that big ol' Sirius Black was crying. And not the macho cry, where you sniffle and whine about dust in your eye. I'm talking baby sobs.
Lily brushed right past me, pulling him inside our little cabin retreat. She pushed him down on the couch, and magicked a strong glass of butterbeer for him. "Shush," she said softly, brushing straggly hair form his eyes. "What's wrong, Padfoot?" she asked, pulling his head up to gaze in his eyes.
He sniffled, still shaking. "Voldemort," he choked out, "Killed seven Aurors today…" Lily stared up at me, my heart all but stopped. "Asking them about you…"
My legs went rubbery, and I gripped the side of the chair violently. "Harvey got out alive… Barely. Died in Fudge's arms. Said Voldemort wouldn't stop until he choked out that no one knew where you were," Sirius said. "Prongs, you need a secret keeper… Someone not in the ministry… Someone Voldemort can't know about…"
Lily stared up at me, her emerald eyes filled with silent tears. She'd known for some time about the hunt that Voldemort was conducting, but she'd never thought it would go this far. She shared my thoughts, people died for us. Not out friends, not our relatives, but people we barely knew.
"Peter," Sirius whispered, hoarsely. Lily stared up at me, then her eyes clouded over with thought. "He's been like a little brother to you," Sirius continued, ignoring our faces. "He'd do it."
Lily nodded to me. A part of my heart thought of what Ron had said… One of your friends is going to sell your life for his. I couldn't be Peter… Wormtail had been my little brother, the one I'd protected. For a moment, I thought of Remus… The werewolf. It must've been him. I'd change it, I'd save myself and my wife.
"Peter," I whispered. "I'll tell Fudge in the morning."
That night I dreamt of standing outside the boys dormitory, but not as the young man that listened in on a conversation between his son and his son's best friend. But I stood outside the dormitory, listening to Ron and Harry crack jokes, jokes that Sirius and I had told. I wasn't out there as a child, I was out there as a father.
The door opened and Harry stepped out, his trunk in his hands. "You ready?" I asked, calmly. He nodded, "Your Mum's waiting downstairs. We better get to her before Dumbledore does, she'll tell him everything the Marauders did in my time…" I smiled at my son, as I took the trunk from his arms.
"Hey, Dad," he said to me, glancing over his shoulder to Ron, who had just emerged from the room. "Can Ron maybe come over this summer?"
Smiling at him, then glancing back to Ron's eager smile, I replied, "Tell you what… When your Mum and I go to Transylvania, he can some stay at the house with you and Sirius." Harry's beaming smile told me that was what he wanted to hear, and I grinned in return.
I awoke that morning to a soft gurgling. Getting up, I leaned over Harry's crib and said, "I will see you graduate Hogwarts, boy." He giggled up at me. "And you and Ron will spend every summer here. That's a promise."
Glancing to Lily, sound asleep on the bed. She was curled into a ball, her hair fanned out around the pillow, and the light gave her that angelic appearance. Moving from the room, I strolled toward the shower. A new day, a new secret, and a friend to protect me. Everything was going to be different for Harry Potter. I just didn't know how different.
(A/N: More to come… One more chapter… Yup, you guessed it. The night Voldemort (gasps, "Don't say that name!) shows up for the Potters. What's the last thought in James' mind? I'll give you a hint, it's about Quidditch.)