Disclaimer: Yet again, I do not own these characters; they belong to JK
Rowling. The plot is mine, though.
Summary: It's at the beginning of the previous chapter. If you really want to read it, go back and do so.
AN: My story starts before Harry is born but after Lily and James are married. Some of my author's notes could be put in every chapter, but for everyone's sake, they will be just in the first chapter they appear in, unless I forget. This is not a romance-romance, but I still think it fits the category. It's also not the biggest mystery in the world, but it works. You will see what I mean as the story progresses. This is my first fic, so please be nice. Hope you like it. Also, pay attention to the dates, some earlier dates will appear later on. And in this chapter, *** will signify a flashback. Last, I'm sorry, but I can't get my story to appear with indents, italics, and such. I'm really sorry about that!
First, in the last chapter, I said that Lord Voldemort had been feared for eleven years, but my story takes place in 1979, so it should be nine years. Thanks, Darkpurpleflame!
Second, I was told that digital watches were not invented when my story took place, but I researched it and found that the first one came out in 1972. You learn something new every day! Thanks anyways!
Third, there is a reason that Voldemort went from wanting an heir to wanting to kill it. It will be hinted at in the October 31, 1981 chapter. If you still don't get it after that, tell me. Now, to the story!
Shadow Child
Chapter Two: Peaches and Cream
London, England and Phoenix Cottage, Godric's Hallow Saturday, October 27, 1979, 6:00 P.M.
The setting autumn sunrays were streaming through the drawn curtains when Lily awoke. She sat up quickly, confused. She was lying in a bed positioned on the back wall of a London flat that had peach wallpapering and carpet with cream-colored bed sheets. The clock on the wall said that it was almost 6:00, and guessing by a quick glance outside, it was nightfall. With a shriek, Lily leapt out of bed. She had to get home; James would be worried sick.
Lily scrambled around looking for her briefcase, but it was gone, along with her extra files and the notes she had taken on Tom's dragon egg. Hell, she was going to have to rewrite all those papers. And this had happened just as the trial for the hippogriff case she had been working on for five months finally went to court. Perfect.
Lily groaned, took a deep breath, and apparated to the house she shared with James Potter, her husband of seven months. She blinked and found herself in the kitchen. It sounded like someone was pacing in the living room, which was right beside the kitchen. She peered in. Sure enough, James was tracing his own footsteps around the room, over and over, his untidy, midnight black hair looked even more messy than usual, rubbing a path through the soft lavendar carpeting. However, when he saw Lily, his navy blue eyes lit up, and he dashed over to her, enveloping Lily in a humongous hug.
"Where have you been, sweetie? I've been so worried!" he said anxiously, ruffling her fiery red hair.
Lily did not speak.
"Are you alright, darling?" James sat her down on the pastel green couch and brought her a glass of lemonade. Then he told her to relax and tell him what had happened.
Lily took a deep breath, summoning her Gryffindor courage, and removed her hands off the necklace that she had been fingering. She started at when she left work, telling him everything she knew, looking shyly down at her feet. When she was finished, James asked her to analyze the details, see if she could think of anything that would explain something. She repeated the story for James again and again, until it was possible that James knew the tale better than his wife. Lily answered all the many questions that he asked, and he was patient with her, waiting as she racked her memory for any information that might help. His face mirrored hers, full of fears and worries.
"So you have no idea who this Tom guy is?" he questioned.
"Sorry, none," she replied meekly.
"You really shouldn't have let him take you to the pub alone, dear," James said kindly. "He could be dangerous."
"I know," Lily sighed. "That's been going through my mind since I got back."
"We should go to Dumbledore," he said. "You know he told us that Voldemort wants my family dead, since our heritage goes back to claim this house from the original owners. It's possible that the man you met was a follower of the Dark Lord. He could have done anything to you. Poisoned you, for instance," James told Lily. "We'll ask Dumbledore for help."
"I definitely feel better now," Lily said with icy sarcasm. "I could be poisoned; thanks for the thought. But that is a great idea," Lily admitted kindly, trying to make up for her previous comment, which James hadn't taken too well. He was wringing his hands. "It's comforting, too! Dumbledore will help us. You're brilliant James!" Lily told her husband apologetically, who waved it away modestly. But her mind flipped back to the cold February night of this year, when Dumbledore had told the Potters what he figured about their situation.
*** "Lily, James," Dumbledore said, nodding his head at both of them in turn, "I'm not sure what to say. When your parents died in your fifth year, James, I figured it had something to do with your relationship to Godric and myself. So that summer I took you in as my great-great-great- great-great-grandson, which you truly are. I knew that you did not know this and found it fit time to reveal it to you. When you married Lily, I knew that Voldemort would rejoice, since her muggle relatives would be easy to kill off because they were not magical, even though the magical blood in her runs strong.
"You were an only child, James, and since Voldemort has killed off all your relatives, however distant," he added when James furrowed his brow, "all he had left to kill was Lily's family. Lily," Dumbledore started, turning to face her, "I assume that your only living relatives now are the muggle sister and brother-in-law?"
"All except my cousin in Ireland and my aunt and uncle over in Blackpool," Lily remarked quietly, holding back the tears she wanted to release, tears of pain for her family, the most recent death of her parents, having occurred three weeks prior, was still a fresh wound. She fiddled with her moon necklace, avoiding Dumbledore's blue eyes.
"Voldemort cannot kill me easily; I have many spells and charms that protect me, and you two should consider it."
"No," replied James, without hesitation. He was too stubborn and over- protecting. "I couldn't. That's how my uncle Jeffery died. The spells he cast were too strong; they overcame him."
"I would not put you and Lily in danger," Dumbledore persisted reasonably. "I don't want my only remaining relatives to die. It is more important than it has been since Grindelwald, to have the spirit of Godric Gryffindor remain. This is only possible through his relatives. We will need your help. Voldemort wants to kill you two off more than ever. The three of us are the only things that stand in his way to complete power. The way he is trying to achieve power, it will only happen when the remaining relatives of Godric Gryffindor are dead, since Godric was the one of the founding four who stood up to Salazar's want for only purebloods at Hogwarts. He is after you." ***
The rest of the memory was unclear and hazy. They had continued to talk about ways to protect the last two Potters, but could find no way that both Lily and James would agree to.
Just then, Crookshanks hopped onto Lily's lap, shaking her from the memory. She took her hands off her necklace again to pet him. This cat was six years old- Lily had received him from her parents at her sixteenth birthday, an important age for muggles. Lily had then brought the cat with them in their marriage. Crookshanks had a bottlebrush tail and a smashed- in face. Although the cat was getting on in his years, he showed no sign of it. James thought that the cat possibly had magical powers, and upon researching it, found out that he was one-fourth Kneazle. [AN: For more about Kneazles, check out pages 24-5 in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.] His fur was slightly flecked and his ears were rather large, but his tail did not resemble a lion's at all. It was probably a result of interbreeding.
Lily smiled down at Crookshanks. "Well hello, Crookshanks," she said to her furry friend. "Might I add that you look a bit off color today."
James grinned sheepishly. "He used up his third life this morning. If he's not careful, he'll be dead before we are." He liked joking about that. But Lily and James both knew that sooner or later Crookshanks would finally come to his senses and outlive them by a long shot.
Lily gave James a quizzical look.
"He fell off the roof and landed in the pool," he explained.
"Ahh," Lily said wisely, her emerald eyes twinkling, "of course." It was just like Crookshanks to go out and do something stupid, resulting in a loss of one of his nine lives. The last year, he had almost lost a life by finding a way to crawl into Lily's father's car engine from beneath when her parents were visiting for Christmas. Apparently Crookshanks had found out that it was warm in there. He had barely hopped out when her father started the car, and would have been dead, if he hadn't moved to greet the owner of the footsteps he heard. [AN: My cat did that once. My cat would have been dead, too, if my sister hadn't asked what the strange meowing sound she heard was.]
Another time, Crookshanks had seen the smoke blowing from the chimney and gone over to investigate. Upon stepping on the flimsy wiring over the chimney, Crookshanks fell through and landed in the traditional Christmas fire. He almost his first life that way, but luckily, his Kneazle blood helped him, as he had inherited her grandparent's thick skin and quick reactions. That had been at Lily's parents' house, after graduation from Hogwarts in June 1978. Lily had spent the year with her family, working at her dad's bank firm before James asked her to marry him. Lily and James had been dating since their sixth year, so she immediately agreed and they were married on March 24 of 1979. Lily then moved in with James, bringing Crookshanks along. How the cat had lost his first and second life they did not know, but it had to have been when he was out wandering in the woods. They just knew he lost one by the dazed look on his face when he returned.
James had owned a Crup named Caleb who had lived with James' parents during the year, but who had died in 1976 [AN: For more info on Crups, see pages 8- 9 in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them].
Now Lily snuggled up to James' warm body, and he pulled her slender body close. Her small frame was cold in the chilly room and not even the fond memories that were going through her head would keep her warm. James was muttering quietly, "Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle."
James stood up, pulling Lily with him. "I know I've heard that name before. But that's okay Lily darling. Come on," he said. "Let's go play chess."
Lily smiled at his attempt to cheer her up. He knew that she loved chess. James was horrible. "Sure," she replied, "let's."
So Lily and James went to play, forgetting about the strange encounter that Lily had the other day and also about the cat that jumped off the sofa hissing. The incident was brought up towards the end of the chess match. They decided to deal with it the next day, and headed up to their bedroom for the night.
Yeah! My second chapter. Isn't it birdiful! It's a little cheesy, yes, and not quite as good as the first chapter, which will probably be one of the best, but it is good enough for me. I hope this was posted quick enough for everyone's liking. My thanks to everyone who reviewed:
Rosie Sinistra- Thank you so much! I'm glad that you like my story and way of writing. I know the situation is odd, but oh well. I left it open to flames so that I can see what other people think of my plot from two sides of the line. I hope book five comes out soon, too.
Otaku freak- The story is going to be slow going, but you know, it'll get to the end at some point. Hope the chapter is to your liking.
Darkpurpleflame- Thank you so much for the long and critical review! I have put most of the notes about what you wrote at the top.
__________- What an original name! I have written more! I hope it is to your liking.
If you have any questions, put them in you review! I am more than happy to answer them for you!
Another AN: I had created my own time line for my story, but I went back and looked at the timeline at the Harry Potter Lexicon (http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/lily.html) and decided that it would fit my story, too. So the time line is: school from 1971-78, married in 1979, and the birth of Harry 1980. I decided that they did not want a child that soon, and that the rape is why they got Harry. Then (please tell me you know this) the parents died in 1981. Okay, enough about that. You can review now. Hint, hint; wink, wink; nod, nod.
Summary: It's at the beginning of the previous chapter. If you really want to read it, go back and do so.
AN: My story starts before Harry is born but after Lily and James are married. Some of my author's notes could be put in every chapter, but for everyone's sake, they will be just in the first chapter they appear in, unless I forget. This is not a romance-romance, but I still think it fits the category. It's also not the biggest mystery in the world, but it works. You will see what I mean as the story progresses. This is my first fic, so please be nice. Hope you like it. Also, pay attention to the dates, some earlier dates will appear later on. And in this chapter, *** will signify a flashback. Last, I'm sorry, but I can't get my story to appear with indents, italics, and such. I'm really sorry about that!
First, in the last chapter, I said that Lord Voldemort had been feared for eleven years, but my story takes place in 1979, so it should be nine years. Thanks, Darkpurpleflame!
Second, I was told that digital watches were not invented when my story took place, but I researched it and found that the first one came out in 1972. You learn something new every day! Thanks anyways!
Third, there is a reason that Voldemort went from wanting an heir to wanting to kill it. It will be hinted at in the October 31, 1981 chapter. If you still don't get it after that, tell me. Now, to the story!
Shadow Child
Chapter Two: Peaches and Cream
London, England and Phoenix Cottage, Godric's Hallow Saturday, October 27, 1979, 6:00 P.M.
The setting autumn sunrays were streaming through the drawn curtains when Lily awoke. She sat up quickly, confused. She was lying in a bed positioned on the back wall of a London flat that had peach wallpapering and carpet with cream-colored bed sheets. The clock on the wall said that it was almost 6:00, and guessing by a quick glance outside, it was nightfall. With a shriek, Lily leapt out of bed. She had to get home; James would be worried sick.
Lily scrambled around looking for her briefcase, but it was gone, along with her extra files and the notes she had taken on Tom's dragon egg. Hell, she was going to have to rewrite all those papers. And this had happened just as the trial for the hippogriff case she had been working on for five months finally went to court. Perfect.
Lily groaned, took a deep breath, and apparated to the house she shared with James Potter, her husband of seven months. She blinked and found herself in the kitchen. It sounded like someone was pacing in the living room, which was right beside the kitchen. She peered in. Sure enough, James was tracing his own footsteps around the room, over and over, his untidy, midnight black hair looked even more messy than usual, rubbing a path through the soft lavendar carpeting. However, when he saw Lily, his navy blue eyes lit up, and he dashed over to her, enveloping Lily in a humongous hug.
"Where have you been, sweetie? I've been so worried!" he said anxiously, ruffling her fiery red hair.
Lily did not speak.
"Are you alright, darling?" James sat her down on the pastel green couch and brought her a glass of lemonade. Then he told her to relax and tell him what had happened.
Lily took a deep breath, summoning her Gryffindor courage, and removed her hands off the necklace that she had been fingering. She started at when she left work, telling him everything she knew, looking shyly down at her feet. When she was finished, James asked her to analyze the details, see if she could think of anything that would explain something. She repeated the story for James again and again, until it was possible that James knew the tale better than his wife. Lily answered all the many questions that he asked, and he was patient with her, waiting as she racked her memory for any information that might help. His face mirrored hers, full of fears and worries.
"So you have no idea who this Tom guy is?" he questioned.
"Sorry, none," she replied meekly.
"You really shouldn't have let him take you to the pub alone, dear," James said kindly. "He could be dangerous."
"I know," Lily sighed. "That's been going through my mind since I got back."
"We should go to Dumbledore," he said. "You know he told us that Voldemort wants my family dead, since our heritage goes back to claim this house from the original owners. It's possible that the man you met was a follower of the Dark Lord. He could have done anything to you. Poisoned you, for instance," James told Lily. "We'll ask Dumbledore for help."
"I definitely feel better now," Lily said with icy sarcasm. "I could be poisoned; thanks for the thought. But that is a great idea," Lily admitted kindly, trying to make up for her previous comment, which James hadn't taken too well. He was wringing his hands. "It's comforting, too! Dumbledore will help us. You're brilliant James!" Lily told her husband apologetically, who waved it away modestly. But her mind flipped back to the cold February night of this year, when Dumbledore had told the Potters what he figured about their situation.
*** "Lily, James," Dumbledore said, nodding his head at both of them in turn, "I'm not sure what to say. When your parents died in your fifth year, James, I figured it had something to do with your relationship to Godric and myself. So that summer I took you in as my great-great-great- great-great-grandson, which you truly are. I knew that you did not know this and found it fit time to reveal it to you. When you married Lily, I knew that Voldemort would rejoice, since her muggle relatives would be easy to kill off because they were not magical, even though the magical blood in her runs strong.
"You were an only child, James, and since Voldemort has killed off all your relatives, however distant," he added when James furrowed his brow, "all he had left to kill was Lily's family. Lily," Dumbledore started, turning to face her, "I assume that your only living relatives now are the muggle sister and brother-in-law?"
"All except my cousin in Ireland and my aunt and uncle over in Blackpool," Lily remarked quietly, holding back the tears she wanted to release, tears of pain for her family, the most recent death of her parents, having occurred three weeks prior, was still a fresh wound. She fiddled with her moon necklace, avoiding Dumbledore's blue eyes.
"Voldemort cannot kill me easily; I have many spells and charms that protect me, and you two should consider it."
"No," replied James, without hesitation. He was too stubborn and over- protecting. "I couldn't. That's how my uncle Jeffery died. The spells he cast were too strong; they overcame him."
"I would not put you and Lily in danger," Dumbledore persisted reasonably. "I don't want my only remaining relatives to die. It is more important than it has been since Grindelwald, to have the spirit of Godric Gryffindor remain. This is only possible through his relatives. We will need your help. Voldemort wants to kill you two off more than ever. The three of us are the only things that stand in his way to complete power. The way he is trying to achieve power, it will only happen when the remaining relatives of Godric Gryffindor are dead, since Godric was the one of the founding four who stood up to Salazar's want for only purebloods at Hogwarts. He is after you." ***
The rest of the memory was unclear and hazy. They had continued to talk about ways to protect the last two Potters, but could find no way that both Lily and James would agree to.
Just then, Crookshanks hopped onto Lily's lap, shaking her from the memory. She took her hands off her necklace again to pet him. This cat was six years old- Lily had received him from her parents at her sixteenth birthday, an important age for muggles. Lily had then brought the cat with them in their marriage. Crookshanks had a bottlebrush tail and a smashed- in face. Although the cat was getting on in his years, he showed no sign of it. James thought that the cat possibly had magical powers, and upon researching it, found out that he was one-fourth Kneazle. [AN: For more about Kneazles, check out pages 24-5 in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.] His fur was slightly flecked and his ears were rather large, but his tail did not resemble a lion's at all. It was probably a result of interbreeding.
Lily smiled down at Crookshanks. "Well hello, Crookshanks," she said to her furry friend. "Might I add that you look a bit off color today."
James grinned sheepishly. "He used up his third life this morning. If he's not careful, he'll be dead before we are." He liked joking about that. But Lily and James both knew that sooner or later Crookshanks would finally come to his senses and outlive them by a long shot.
Lily gave James a quizzical look.
"He fell off the roof and landed in the pool," he explained.
"Ahh," Lily said wisely, her emerald eyes twinkling, "of course." It was just like Crookshanks to go out and do something stupid, resulting in a loss of one of his nine lives. The last year, he had almost lost a life by finding a way to crawl into Lily's father's car engine from beneath when her parents were visiting for Christmas. Apparently Crookshanks had found out that it was warm in there. He had barely hopped out when her father started the car, and would have been dead, if he hadn't moved to greet the owner of the footsteps he heard. [AN: My cat did that once. My cat would have been dead, too, if my sister hadn't asked what the strange meowing sound she heard was.]
Another time, Crookshanks had seen the smoke blowing from the chimney and gone over to investigate. Upon stepping on the flimsy wiring over the chimney, Crookshanks fell through and landed in the traditional Christmas fire. He almost his first life that way, but luckily, his Kneazle blood helped him, as he had inherited her grandparent's thick skin and quick reactions. That had been at Lily's parents' house, after graduation from Hogwarts in June 1978. Lily had spent the year with her family, working at her dad's bank firm before James asked her to marry him. Lily and James had been dating since their sixth year, so she immediately agreed and they were married on March 24 of 1979. Lily then moved in with James, bringing Crookshanks along. How the cat had lost his first and second life they did not know, but it had to have been when he was out wandering in the woods. They just knew he lost one by the dazed look on his face when he returned.
James had owned a Crup named Caleb who had lived with James' parents during the year, but who had died in 1976 [AN: For more info on Crups, see pages 8- 9 in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them].
Now Lily snuggled up to James' warm body, and he pulled her slender body close. Her small frame was cold in the chilly room and not even the fond memories that were going through her head would keep her warm. James was muttering quietly, "Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle."
James stood up, pulling Lily with him. "I know I've heard that name before. But that's okay Lily darling. Come on," he said. "Let's go play chess."
Lily smiled at his attempt to cheer her up. He knew that she loved chess. James was horrible. "Sure," she replied, "let's."
So Lily and James went to play, forgetting about the strange encounter that Lily had the other day and also about the cat that jumped off the sofa hissing. The incident was brought up towards the end of the chess match. They decided to deal with it the next day, and headed up to their bedroom for the night.
Yeah! My second chapter. Isn't it birdiful! It's a little cheesy, yes, and not quite as good as the first chapter, which will probably be one of the best, but it is good enough for me. I hope this was posted quick enough for everyone's liking. My thanks to everyone who reviewed:
Rosie Sinistra- Thank you so much! I'm glad that you like my story and way of writing. I know the situation is odd, but oh well. I left it open to flames so that I can see what other people think of my plot from two sides of the line. I hope book five comes out soon, too.
Otaku freak- The story is going to be slow going, but you know, it'll get to the end at some point. Hope the chapter is to your liking.
Darkpurpleflame- Thank you so much for the long and critical review! I have put most of the notes about what you wrote at the top.
__________- What an original name! I have written more! I hope it is to your liking.
If you have any questions, put them in you review! I am more than happy to answer them for you!
Another AN: I had created my own time line for my story, but I went back and looked at the timeline at the Harry Potter Lexicon (http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/lily.html) and decided that it would fit my story, too. So the time line is: school from 1971-78, married in 1979, and the birth of Harry 1980. I decided that they did not want a child that soon, and that the rape is why they got Harry. Then (please tell me you know this) the parents died in 1981. Okay, enough about that. You can review now. Hint, hint; wink, wink; nod, nod.