1.1 A/N: Wow! Thanks for the reviews! And Sirius Lover, good job figuring
out my identity! hehehhe
Oh yah, keep in mind…. Everything that sounds familiar prolly is… thanks for everything JKR!
1.2
1.3 Chapter 7: Waking Hours
Over the course of the next few days, Lily and James tried to be more careful about their living arrangement. This didn't last too long though. Soon James was back to pretty much living in Lily's room, and she didn't mind one bit. She had grown used to sleeping next to him, and actually had a hard time of it without him there.
Life for the 4 roommates continued as usual, but with Lily working less hours (trying to plan a wedding) and Remus spending more time in the kitchen. They had even gotten their full moon routine down to a science. This all changed though early one morning in October.
There was someone pounding on the front door of the house. James jumped out of bed and threw on his robe, rushing down the stairs. He ran into Sirius and Remus in the hall and on the staircase, each of them doing exactly the same thing. Sirius got to the door first and threw it open, not sure of what would be on the other side. James and Remus had their wants ready, just in case.
The three boys looked around frantically, but didn't see anything. It took them a minute to notice the small boy crumpled on the ground, leaning against the doorframe crying his eyes out.
"Can I help you?" Remus asked carefully.
"I- Can- Miss Lily- Talk..." he could barely speak through his sobs.
"Of course. James, go and get her, now." Remus rarely took control of any situation, but James obeyed him immediately and ran upstairs. Remus leaned down, picked up the trembling boy, and carried him inside. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
"Lily..." he sobbed.
Lily rushed down the stairs so quickly she looked as though she was flying. As soon as she saw Remus holding the boy she exclaimed "Aaron!"
Lily ran over to Aaron and Remus. "What happened?"
"Bad people," Aaron gulped. "Everyone's dead... they killed everyone..." he started crying again.
"What?" Lily couldn't understand what was going on. "Aaron, who? What do you mean?"
"Black robes, hidden faces..."
"Oh no! They couldn't..." Lily buried her face in James's chest, and he in turn wrapped his arms around her.
"Sirius, get to the Ministry and find out what's going on. I'll be there as soon as I can, but send me an owl or something to let me know."
"Ten steps ahead of you," Sirius said, already dressed. He immediately apparated to his office.
James looked at Remus who nodded knowingly. It could only be one thing: Death Eaters, the followers of Voldemort. Looking at it from a logic standpoint, it made perfect sense. They had attacked a place known to care for children of Muggle families, or mudbloods, as they called them.
Lily was still sobbing into James's chest when an owl came flying into the house with a copy of the Daily Prophet. The headline on the paper read "Children's Cries Lost In the Dark Night." Just then Sirius appeared.
"James, you've got to come to work. They're calling in every Ministry worker they can get their hands on, Auror or not."
"Don't go, James, don't leave me, not now..." Lily pleaded.
"It's ok, Lily, I'm here. James needs to go and help," Remus said, trying to comfort her.
"I'll be back as soon as I can, Lil. I swear," James whispered.
She nodded tearfully. James then got up and joined Sirius in rushing off to the office. "I love you!" he yelled before disapparating.
"I love you too," she whispered.
Remus had his hands full that day. Lily refused to eat and kept pacing around the house, nervous about whether or not James would come back to her, and mourning the loss of her friends and the children she cared so much for. Aaron took a while to get calm, and once he was, he fell into a troubled sleep. He kept calling out for his parents, but of course they weren't there. Instead, it was Remus who answered his cries. Lily would have, but she could barely concentrate. She did lie down with him for a bit in the afternoon, but that didn't last. They each kept waking the other up with their nightmares. Remus eventually separated them, perhaps more for his own sanity than theirs.
It was dark outside by the time Lily was able to make it back downstairs.
"Has there been any word from them yet?" she asked Remus. He shook his head in response. "And Aaron? Where is he?"
"He's asleep in my room."
Lily collapsed into one of the recliners. "Remus, what would I do without you?"
"Don't worry about it. That's what I'm here for."
"No, really. I appreciate this... I- for whatever reason, I just couldn't get a hold of myself... and now, poor Aaron..." she trailed off.
"I was thinking, actually. I mean, if you think that it might be possible... I've got money, you know, and I think I've found a place to live..."
"Remus, what are you saying?"
"I'd like to adopt him." Lily stared at him with wide eyes. "It's not as though I will ever have any children of my own, and as long as I can count on all of you to help me when there's a full moon..."
"Of course we would," she said, breathlessly.
"I'd really like that."
"I swear to you, Remus, I'll do whatever I can to help..."
He smiled. "I know you will. Now, how about we clean this place up a bit and wait for James and Sirius to come back."
Once the house was clean, Lily sat down on the rug in front of the fire. She bundled herself in a blanket and had a mug of hot cocoa in her hands. She didn't say a word to Remus, instead choosing to simply stare into the flames. Other than occasionally taking a sip from her mug she didn't move at all. And then she saw it. In the flames. It was one of the dementors from Azkaban. She couldn't tell where it was, but what she could see was that it was about to administer the most horrifying of all punishments: a kiss.
Who is that? Who is it about to kiss? She wondered. "James?" she whispered. It can't be, she thought. Just then she saw James, in his animagi form, Prongs. He was galloping around several people, and causing the Dementors to back away. He was protecting those people. Lily squinted. One of them looked rather like Sirius, but drained. Another, the one she thought was James, she recognized as the son she had seen in her last vision. "Harry..." she whispered. Then everything went black.
Two days went by and Lily still had not woken up. The wedding was just over a month away and James was beside himself. He would never leave Lily's side for more than 5 minutes at a time, and on those rare occasions, he made sure that someone was there to take his place. This was generally Remus, as Sirius was still working on the orphanage case at work. Even Ocran, James & Sirius's boss agreed to let James take the time off to be with Lily, not that James really gave him much choice in the matter.
Now, in addition to Aaron, there were three more near permanent fixtures in the household. In addition to Marilyn practically moving in, Kayla Black, Sirius's mother, was there as well. The third was someone who everyone trusted above anyone: Professor Albus Dumbledore.
As soon as they had all realized it would be impossible to revive Lily on their own, Remus sent Scarlet, Lily's owl, off to Dumbledore at Hogwarts. He replied instantly, saying that he was more than willing to take time off from the new school term, and that he would help in any way possible. He arrived within an hour.
"James," said Dumbledore's soothing voice, "Do please get some rest. It will do none of us any good for you to wear yourself ragged."
"Professor, with all due respect, no," James said, quite simply.
Dumbledore sighed, but smiled slightly. "I did not expect that you would give in."
When Lily still didn't wake up on the third day, Dumbledore insisted that she be taken to the hospital. Nobody wanted to stay behind, so everyone gathered some things together and either apparated or traveled by floo powder (Remus & Aaron did this) to the wizards hospital.
Despite the magical overtones, the emergency room here was much like any normal muggle hospital: they were told to wait. That of course changed when Dumbledore appeared. The entire staff knew that if he was there trying to help this poor girl that it was serious.
Lily was then admitted almost immediately and taken back to an examination room, accompanied only by Dumbledore and James, in addition to the doctor, Dr. Handwerger.
"Is she gonna be alright?" James asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.
"She will be fine, James. You two still have much to accomplish together," Dumbledore replied.
James was getting fed up with Dumbledore's cryptic speaking. "You have been telling us that for years! What does it mean?!" he yelled, not really meaning to.
Dumbledore understood that James was simply overcome with grief at his current circumstances and didn't really mean him any offense. "You will see in time," he replied. "But for now, let us all concentrate on getting Lily well in time for your wedding."
James knew that he was right, and was about to apologize but then he noticed the doctor fixing a potion for Lily. "What is that?" he asked.
"It is a very powerful potion that I discovered during my time in the Congo. It should restore her consciousness almost instantly," Dr. Handwerger said. James noticed that he was adding a baby mandrake to it.
"This will work, right?"
The doctor and Dumbledore both nodded.
Dr. Handwerger leaned over Lily's motionless body and opened her mouth. Careful not to lose a drop of the potion, he poured it down her throat. She started to cough, and then sat bolt upright on the bed. She turned to James.
"You saved him! All of them!" she yelled, looking as though she was about to cry.
James looked concerned. "What are you talking about, baby? Saved who?"
"Our son," she whispered, falling back onto the bed.
James looked to Dumbledore for help, but this time he had none to offer.
"You saved him," she whispered again, before drifting off into a gentle sleep.
"What was that? I thought you said she'd be awake! What is she talking about? Who did I save? How?"
"She is fine," Dr. Handwerger said. "The potion worked, and now she will sleep comfortably for just a few hours. I would recommend leaving her here for the night, as I would like to keep an eye on her, but she should be fine."
"But what about what she said?"
"We can only guess at this point, James. The answers will come though. You can be certain of that," Dumbledore assured him.
James nodded, and sat silently, staring at Lily for a few moments before speaking again. "Will you tell everyone she's alright?"
"Of course, James. You stay in here, and I shall return momentarily," Dumbledore told him.
Lily never was one to follow the rules or do exactly what she was told. So it was no surprise that she woke up again about 5 minutes later.
"James?" she whispered.
"I'm right here," he answered.
"James, I saw you... in the fire... as Prongs... you saved him?"
"Who, Lil?"
"Our son."
"You had another vision?"
"I guess so. All I remember is I couldn't sleep, so I sat by the fire waiting for you and Sirius to come home, and then I saw you in the flames, and Sirius. I sound a little like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, don't I?" she laughed a little. "Anyhow, after that, the next thing that I remember is waking up here."
"Lily, it's been 3 days..."
"Really?" He nodded. "I'm so sorry, James... to put you through this..." Her expression suddenly changed. "How's Aaron?"
"He's fine, he's with Remus. They're quite the pair, those two," James smiled.
"Remus is very taken with him, isn't he?"
Just then the door flew open and everyone flooded into the room.
Dumbledore smiled as he walked into the room, after everyone else. "There was no point in trying to stop them," he said.
"Stop us, indeed!" said Marilyn. "How ridiculous."
"Is Miss Lily ok?" asked Aaron.
"I'm fine, everything is going to be fine," she said calmly.
"You poor thing," said Mrs. Black. "Is there anything that we can do?"
"What she needs is some rest," said Dr. Handwerger, obviously not happy that everyone ignored his advice and came into the room. "If you would all please give her some air."
"Doctor, nobody here wishes any further harm for Miss Evans. Please do let them have their visit, and then she will be left in your capable hands," said Dumbledore.
Dr. Handwerger muttered something under his breath before leaving the room and practically slamming the door behind him. Sirius started to laugh, but Remus quickly silenced him. Other than that, the rest of the evening went by smoothly. Everyone was concerned about Lily, and asked her how she was feeling every 2 minutes. The doctor returned a while later and everyone finally agreed to leave, except James.
Lily was released the following morning only on the condition that she would take it easy on herself. She was also not supposed to be left alone for any length of time. This of course presented no challenge, as James refused to leave her side unless Sirius or Remus were there to take his place.
Oh yah, keep in mind…. Everything that sounds familiar prolly is… thanks for everything JKR!
1.2
1.3 Chapter 7: Waking Hours
Over the course of the next few days, Lily and James tried to be more careful about their living arrangement. This didn't last too long though. Soon James was back to pretty much living in Lily's room, and she didn't mind one bit. She had grown used to sleeping next to him, and actually had a hard time of it without him there.
Life for the 4 roommates continued as usual, but with Lily working less hours (trying to plan a wedding) and Remus spending more time in the kitchen. They had even gotten their full moon routine down to a science. This all changed though early one morning in October.
There was someone pounding on the front door of the house. James jumped out of bed and threw on his robe, rushing down the stairs. He ran into Sirius and Remus in the hall and on the staircase, each of them doing exactly the same thing. Sirius got to the door first and threw it open, not sure of what would be on the other side. James and Remus had their wants ready, just in case.
The three boys looked around frantically, but didn't see anything. It took them a minute to notice the small boy crumpled on the ground, leaning against the doorframe crying his eyes out.
"Can I help you?" Remus asked carefully.
"I- Can- Miss Lily- Talk..." he could barely speak through his sobs.
"Of course. James, go and get her, now." Remus rarely took control of any situation, but James obeyed him immediately and ran upstairs. Remus leaned down, picked up the trembling boy, and carried him inside. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
"Lily..." he sobbed.
Lily rushed down the stairs so quickly she looked as though she was flying. As soon as she saw Remus holding the boy she exclaimed "Aaron!"
Lily ran over to Aaron and Remus. "What happened?"
"Bad people," Aaron gulped. "Everyone's dead... they killed everyone..." he started crying again.
"What?" Lily couldn't understand what was going on. "Aaron, who? What do you mean?"
"Black robes, hidden faces..."
"Oh no! They couldn't..." Lily buried her face in James's chest, and he in turn wrapped his arms around her.
"Sirius, get to the Ministry and find out what's going on. I'll be there as soon as I can, but send me an owl or something to let me know."
"Ten steps ahead of you," Sirius said, already dressed. He immediately apparated to his office.
James looked at Remus who nodded knowingly. It could only be one thing: Death Eaters, the followers of Voldemort. Looking at it from a logic standpoint, it made perfect sense. They had attacked a place known to care for children of Muggle families, or mudbloods, as they called them.
Lily was still sobbing into James's chest when an owl came flying into the house with a copy of the Daily Prophet. The headline on the paper read "Children's Cries Lost In the Dark Night." Just then Sirius appeared.
"James, you've got to come to work. They're calling in every Ministry worker they can get their hands on, Auror or not."
"Don't go, James, don't leave me, not now..." Lily pleaded.
"It's ok, Lily, I'm here. James needs to go and help," Remus said, trying to comfort her.
"I'll be back as soon as I can, Lil. I swear," James whispered.
She nodded tearfully. James then got up and joined Sirius in rushing off to the office. "I love you!" he yelled before disapparating.
"I love you too," she whispered.
Remus had his hands full that day. Lily refused to eat and kept pacing around the house, nervous about whether or not James would come back to her, and mourning the loss of her friends and the children she cared so much for. Aaron took a while to get calm, and once he was, he fell into a troubled sleep. He kept calling out for his parents, but of course they weren't there. Instead, it was Remus who answered his cries. Lily would have, but she could barely concentrate. She did lie down with him for a bit in the afternoon, but that didn't last. They each kept waking the other up with their nightmares. Remus eventually separated them, perhaps more for his own sanity than theirs.
It was dark outside by the time Lily was able to make it back downstairs.
"Has there been any word from them yet?" she asked Remus. He shook his head in response. "And Aaron? Where is he?"
"He's asleep in my room."
Lily collapsed into one of the recliners. "Remus, what would I do without you?"
"Don't worry about it. That's what I'm here for."
"No, really. I appreciate this... I- for whatever reason, I just couldn't get a hold of myself... and now, poor Aaron..." she trailed off.
"I was thinking, actually. I mean, if you think that it might be possible... I've got money, you know, and I think I've found a place to live..."
"Remus, what are you saying?"
"I'd like to adopt him." Lily stared at him with wide eyes. "It's not as though I will ever have any children of my own, and as long as I can count on all of you to help me when there's a full moon..."
"Of course we would," she said, breathlessly.
"I'd really like that."
"I swear to you, Remus, I'll do whatever I can to help..."
He smiled. "I know you will. Now, how about we clean this place up a bit and wait for James and Sirius to come back."
Once the house was clean, Lily sat down on the rug in front of the fire. She bundled herself in a blanket and had a mug of hot cocoa in her hands. She didn't say a word to Remus, instead choosing to simply stare into the flames. Other than occasionally taking a sip from her mug she didn't move at all. And then she saw it. In the flames. It was one of the dementors from Azkaban. She couldn't tell where it was, but what she could see was that it was about to administer the most horrifying of all punishments: a kiss.
Who is that? Who is it about to kiss? She wondered. "James?" she whispered. It can't be, she thought. Just then she saw James, in his animagi form, Prongs. He was galloping around several people, and causing the Dementors to back away. He was protecting those people. Lily squinted. One of them looked rather like Sirius, but drained. Another, the one she thought was James, she recognized as the son she had seen in her last vision. "Harry..." she whispered. Then everything went black.
Two days went by and Lily still had not woken up. The wedding was just over a month away and James was beside himself. He would never leave Lily's side for more than 5 minutes at a time, and on those rare occasions, he made sure that someone was there to take his place. This was generally Remus, as Sirius was still working on the orphanage case at work. Even Ocran, James & Sirius's boss agreed to let James take the time off to be with Lily, not that James really gave him much choice in the matter.
Now, in addition to Aaron, there were three more near permanent fixtures in the household. In addition to Marilyn practically moving in, Kayla Black, Sirius's mother, was there as well. The third was someone who everyone trusted above anyone: Professor Albus Dumbledore.
As soon as they had all realized it would be impossible to revive Lily on their own, Remus sent Scarlet, Lily's owl, off to Dumbledore at Hogwarts. He replied instantly, saying that he was more than willing to take time off from the new school term, and that he would help in any way possible. He arrived within an hour.
"James," said Dumbledore's soothing voice, "Do please get some rest. It will do none of us any good for you to wear yourself ragged."
"Professor, with all due respect, no," James said, quite simply.
Dumbledore sighed, but smiled slightly. "I did not expect that you would give in."
When Lily still didn't wake up on the third day, Dumbledore insisted that she be taken to the hospital. Nobody wanted to stay behind, so everyone gathered some things together and either apparated or traveled by floo powder (Remus & Aaron did this) to the wizards hospital.
Despite the magical overtones, the emergency room here was much like any normal muggle hospital: they were told to wait. That of course changed when Dumbledore appeared. The entire staff knew that if he was there trying to help this poor girl that it was serious.
Lily was then admitted almost immediately and taken back to an examination room, accompanied only by Dumbledore and James, in addition to the doctor, Dr. Handwerger.
"Is she gonna be alright?" James asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.
"She will be fine, James. You two still have much to accomplish together," Dumbledore replied.
James was getting fed up with Dumbledore's cryptic speaking. "You have been telling us that for years! What does it mean?!" he yelled, not really meaning to.
Dumbledore understood that James was simply overcome with grief at his current circumstances and didn't really mean him any offense. "You will see in time," he replied. "But for now, let us all concentrate on getting Lily well in time for your wedding."
James knew that he was right, and was about to apologize but then he noticed the doctor fixing a potion for Lily. "What is that?" he asked.
"It is a very powerful potion that I discovered during my time in the Congo. It should restore her consciousness almost instantly," Dr. Handwerger said. James noticed that he was adding a baby mandrake to it.
"This will work, right?"
The doctor and Dumbledore both nodded.
Dr. Handwerger leaned over Lily's motionless body and opened her mouth. Careful not to lose a drop of the potion, he poured it down her throat. She started to cough, and then sat bolt upright on the bed. She turned to James.
"You saved him! All of them!" she yelled, looking as though she was about to cry.
James looked concerned. "What are you talking about, baby? Saved who?"
"Our son," she whispered, falling back onto the bed.
James looked to Dumbledore for help, but this time he had none to offer.
"You saved him," she whispered again, before drifting off into a gentle sleep.
"What was that? I thought you said she'd be awake! What is she talking about? Who did I save? How?"
"She is fine," Dr. Handwerger said. "The potion worked, and now she will sleep comfortably for just a few hours. I would recommend leaving her here for the night, as I would like to keep an eye on her, but she should be fine."
"But what about what she said?"
"We can only guess at this point, James. The answers will come though. You can be certain of that," Dumbledore assured him.
James nodded, and sat silently, staring at Lily for a few moments before speaking again. "Will you tell everyone she's alright?"
"Of course, James. You stay in here, and I shall return momentarily," Dumbledore told him.
Lily never was one to follow the rules or do exactly what she was told. So it was no surprise that she woke up again about 5 minutes later.
"James?" she whispered.
"I'm right here," he answered.
"James, I saw you... in the fire... as Prongs... you saved him?"
"Who, Lil?"
"Our son."
"You had another vision?"
"I guess so. All I remember is I couldn't sleep, so I sat by the fire waiting for you and Sirius to come home, and then I saw you in the flames, and Sirius. I sound a little like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, don't I?" she laughed a little. "Anyhow, after that, the next thing that I remember is waking up here."
"Lily, it's been 3 days..."
"Really?" He nodded. "I'm so sorry, James... to put you through this..." Her expression suddenly changed. "How's Aaron?"
"He's fine, he's with Remus. They're quite the pair, those two," James smiled.
"Remus is very taken with him, isn't he?"
Just then the door flew open and everyone flooded into the room.
Dumbledore smiled as he walked into the room, after everyone else. "There was no point in trying to stop them," he said.
"Stop us, indeed!" said Marilyn. "How ridiculous."
"Is Miss Lily ok?" asked Aaron.
"I'm fine, everything is going to be fine," she said calmly.
"You poor thing," said Mrs. Black. "Is there anything that we can do?"
"What she needs is some rest," said Dr. Handwerger, obviously not happy that everyone ignored his advice and came into the room. "If you would all please give her some air."
"Doctor, nobody here wishes any further harm for Miss Evans. Please do let them have their visit, and then she will be left in your capable hands," said Dumbledore.
Dr. Handwerger muttered something under his breath before leaving the room and practically slamming the door behind him. Sirius started to laugh, but Remus quickly silenced him. Other than that, the rest of the evening went by smoothly. Everyone was concerned about Lily, and asked her how she was feeling every 2 minutes. The doctor returned a while later and everyone finally agreed to leave, except James.
Lily was released the following morning only on the condition that she would take it easy on herself. She was also not supposed to be left alone for any length of time. This of course presented no challenge, as James refused to leave her side unless Sirius or Remus were there to take his place.