The Way It Was Written
By Kyra
I stood in front of Fudge and Dumbledore, watching as they finished the spell. Something in me wanted to tell Dumbledore about the time traveling, and I almost did. But there was a sound in the hallway that stopped me. "Yes? In there?" The familiar voice asked. Then the door opened and my beloved Lily ducked in. In her arms lay baby Harry, his sweet little face alight with baby joy. "'Ello," she whispered, smiling brightly at Fudge and Dumbledore.
"Mrs. Potter," Dumbledore said, moving to embrace her. "Oh, my," he laughed, holding her as would a father. "That certainly is strange." Lily giggled, that sweet, innocent giggle. My Lily. "Let me see this baby of yours," Dumbledore said calmly, reaching for the boy. Lily handed him over. "This one will be a handful," he said, looking to me. "I suppose you'll hand down the cloak, James?"
I smiled at him, my father's Invisibility Cloak. Dumbledore had more fun with me and that thing then a Headmaster is supposed to have. He loved the pranks, used to take notes on them… Then give me "detentions". Spending the night with Remus under the Whomping Willow. "As his father, I can't." I didn't want to say that I thought I may not live to see him make it to Hogwarts.
"As Headmaster, I can't either…" Dumbledore said, smiling slyly. "But as an old man, who loves a good laugh…" he trailed off.
Lily shook her head. "You two shall not corrupt my son…" she said kindly, taking Harry back from the Professor. "His Godfather will do enough," she finished, nestling Harry close to her.
I gave Dumbledore a wink, and smiled at him. We exchanged a moment, and I knew he was expecting me to send him the cloak. "Come on, Lil," I said, reaching to slip my arm around her. "Let's go to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch."
* * *
Sitting in the smothering darkness, I felt positively entranced. Lily sat across form me, her hair swarming around her delicate features, framing her perfect face. I was straddling the chair, watching her peer over the menu, as if she didn't know it by heart. Harry sat in a booster chair beside us, giggling as various grown wizards and witches made faces at him across the room.
"Un Si'us," he babbled, reaching out with his baby fists. I turned to see Sirius striding toward us.
Sirius smiled at us, and bent to tousle Harry's already messy hair. "Hey, shorty!" he exclaimed. Harry giggled and stuck his fist back in his mouth, gumming it vigorously. "Looks like Harry's already eating," Sirius joked, pulling up an chair and mimicking my straddle.
After a moment, Lily set down the menu, and said, "I think I'll just go with spaghetti…"
Sirius grinned at me. "Same as every visit for the past three years," I replied, watching her inspect a split end judiciously. "You're a real wild girl, Lily Potter." Through her crossed eyes, she stuck her tongue out at me.
"I can't afford to be wild, I have a son," she replied hotly.
Before he could stop it, a snort escaped Sirius' lips. Lily flashed him a mock angry glare. "Sorry, Lil," he said, biting his lip. "But you weren't to wild when you were younger, either…" She fluffed her hair, and turned to Harry. Cooing with him, she completely ignored Sirius and I.
I leaned over and grabbed Sirius' arm. He looked at me with surprise. "Hey," I whispered, soft enough for Lily not to hear. "If what Harry told us really happens, get him out of there." Sirius went to protest, and I saw him trying to shake the words that Harry and Ron had yelled so angrily at on another. "Please, Sirius…" I begged, trying to make him understand. Finally, he nodded.
* * *
Sitting at home, I was perfectly content with life. No matter what went wrong outside, I always had Lily. We were on the couch, cuddling, holding Harry. He was so bright, so vibrant. A part of me wondered what it would be like to live with the Dursleys. All Harry had said was that he'd never been loved. How dare they not love my son. They hated my kind, they hated him. How could they hate a defenseless baby boy?
Lily's head rested on my chest, her breathing soft, delicate. For a moment, I felt completely at peace. Drifting to sleep, I felt a warmth overcome me, and I slipped away.
* * *
Standing outside Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 ¾, I watched for the final time as Harry returned from the school, wearing his Muggle clothes. Lily stood beside me, so small compared to him, so beautiful. She embraced him, saying over and over how proud she was. I clapped him on the shoulder, getting a bit misty eyed myself.
Off to the side, I saw Ron, standing with his entire family. Molly was embracing him, crying openly, and Ron was patting her back, rather red. Arthur nodded to me, misty eyed himself. Harry stood with us for a moment, then turned to look at Ron and the Weasleys. Waving good-bye, we crossed the platform and stepped through the wall.
On the opposite side sat Sirius, Remus and Peter. The moment we joined the Muggle crowd, they began to applaud, laughing at Harry's red ears. We made our way through the crowd, trying to make it to the car without getting lost within the commotion.
I saw Harry for the first time that day, as a man. He'd grown, even from the boy I'd known form our time traveling moments. I wanted so much to tell him how proud I was, and as he opened the door to get into the car, I stopped him. We didn't speak, but a moment passed between us as our eyes met. I knew he understood, without needing to be told. He was my son, always, forever.
* * *
Waking from my reverie, I glanced around the darkened room. The lanterns had dimmed, and I had a crick in my neck from how I lay on the couch. Lily was still curled up beside me, but Harry was missing. Jolting, I leapt from the couch and raced toward the bedroom, my heart pounding.
Sliding through the door, I spun so quickly that I fell, doing a 360. Sirius lay in the bed, his massive hand over Harry's back, both asleep. Smiling, relived, I moved Sirius' hand, and picked up the baby. Sirius groaned, and rolled over. "Hey," he whispered, as I sat Harry in his crib. I turned, then motioned him out to the living room.
Being completely silent, I touched Lily, and Apparated her to the bed. "Hey," I said to Sirius, smiling broader.
"Sorry about that," he said calmly, "I came over for dinner, and you were asleep. But shorty in there was wide away. So I moved him, and we fell asleep like that." He moved into the kitchen, searching the cupboards.
Amused, I watched him riffle through our food stuffs. "How would you survive without Lily's cooking?" I asked, jokingly.
Suddenly, Sirius eyes clouded over, and his voice got husky, as if he would cry. "Don't even joke about that!" He growled, turning to look at me. When he saw the look of astonishment on my face, he grinned, "I'd die of miserable hunger…" he said, trying to cover the outburst.
After eating, Sirius excused himself, and left the house. I glanced to the clock, and found myself staring at four a.m. A groan escaped my lips, I'd never get back to sleep.
No matter, I had to much on my mind, anyway. Sitting down at my desk, I pulled out a quill and a piece of parchment. Scribbling away, I barely noticed the time tick by. As I signed my name at the bottom, I heard Lily stirring in the bedroom. Smiling to myself, I folding the parchment, attached a note to it, and sent it with old Jesse.
* * *
The darkness had descended over my house by the time I returned home from work. I'd sent off a package to Dumbledore just that afternoon, and I was relieved that I had when I strolled up to my house. I didn't want to alert Lily of our future, so I chit-chatted about my day, listened to stories of Harry's antics, and kissed her frequently. I'd miss her so much.
It was while we were at dinner that I felt the first pang in my heart. Lily must have felt it too, because she dropped her fork, and stared at her plate. Suddenly, emerald eyes darted to mine, and she mouthed one word, "Why?"
That's the moment it hit me. The truth. One of your friends will give your life for his… The way they hadn't talked to Wormtail. The way they cringed when duty told them they must. The way Harry looked so forlornly at him. My body wanted to scream out, wanted to seize up.
"Take Harry," I whispered, turning toward the door, wide eyed. Lily went to protest. "Go," I hissed. Silently, she took Harry and ran for the bedroom.
The moment she left the room, the door burst open, and an icy breeze flew by me. Chilled to the bone, I reached for my wand. I knew it was pointless, watching the gnarled, bony hand lift. I knew that was it. It was over. A wand lay loosely in the hand, and a voice that sounded distinctly like McGonagall's nails on a chalkboard said, "Avada Kedavra!"
My whole body went numb with white hot energy, and I heard Lily screaming in the background. Stumbling to my knees, I prayed that she'd Disapparate. And as the world faded to black, I thought once more of Harry's last words. And I think you would make a really great dad." A sudden warmth came over me, and I felt as if I were floating.
The last thing that I ever thought, and I remember this exactly… No joke… Was, "That kids had better be one hell of a Quidditch player!"