Epilogue Part 1:

October 31st, 1981

Albus Dumbledore popped a lemon drop into his mouth with a sigh.  Muggle sweets, he admitted to himself yet again, were simply not duplicable.  He felt infinitely grateful that he'd gone with intuition that one time at the Muggle candy store.

He had always trusted his intuition.

Which was why he was sitting there—for no explicable reason at all, and during the traditional Halloween Feast, no less—in a torch-lit, drafty room, watching the Hogwarts Quill scribble down names of magical children.  An endless roll of filled parchment wound around the room in rather messy piles.  As soon as the children entered Hogwarts, their section of the list would be magically detached and compiled into Hogwarts yearbooks. 

The wind howled outside; there was a light patter of rain on the windowpanes; the quill scratched easily on yellow parchment, pausing now and again to dip itself in a self-refilling ink bottle.

"Creevy, Colin," the quill swirled, ending with a flourish.  Dumbledore reached for another lemon drop and popped it into his mouth.  He watched the quill dip into the ink once more, then continue to scrawl names on the list.  He took the time to read some of them; he'd probably be seeing them in a few years.  What was ten years, after all, in a wizard's time?

"Weasley, Vir—" The quill froze mid-letter.  Dumbledore swallowed his diminished lemon drop in surprise and inadvertently sat up a little straighter.

It was several long, silent minutes before the quill began to move.  It drifted over the massive length of parchment accumulated about the room as though searching for something.  Dumbledore rose and followed it.

Finally the feather stopped above a name, and Dumbledore halted.  As he looked down at it, a tremor passed over his face:

Harry Potter.

There it was, where it had been for over a year now, written in sure spidery writing with many a curly-cue and never a blot.  Even now, the ink, though dry, shone iridescent in the torchlight.  Why was the quill stopping…?

With a sudden quick movement, the quill moved downwards and—time to cross out a mistake?—began to make a slashing motion toward the parchment and the name written there…

…and just as suddenly, the quill stopped once more and bounced back off the surface as though repelled by some powerful force, leaving barely a mark—

The rain had stopped outside.  Thunder rumbled in the distance one more time before dying out.  Albus Dumbledore, face ashen, rushed from the room.  The sound of lemon drops rolling unheeded across the floor echoed softly until they, too, came to a stop.

***

I don't like this feeling, something's wrong, something's wrong, something's wrong, something's wrong—

Oh, Merlin—if it is—if something—if he—if they—

No.  Nothing's wrong.  I'll go.  They'll be fine.  I'll set off some Filibusters in front of the house.  Harry will like that.  Lily will scold and James will take her side—but I won't care, I won't care, because they'll be fine and Harry will be fine and if I could only make this stupid bike go faster—

THEY WILL BE FINE.  But it didn't look like there was forced entry…no scuffle—he was supposed to stay hidden!!  Where could he have gone??  NONONONONO This is my fault, it's all my fault, I might as well have handed them to him, I would have died, why do things happen this way—

Closing in on it—why can't this sodding bike go faster?  FASTER!  I put those charms on it for a reason!!  There it is—

OH MERLIN.

***

A lone bird sang a strange song in the distance, its voice echoing through the woods faintly and setting a pace for the rushed footsteps that crackled the underbrush.  There was a gasp, a loud thump, and a sudden break in music; the bird silenced and a blur of wings whirred away into the darkness.

In a small clearing, the just-rising moon peered warily down at charred heaps of splintered wood.  The trees around the spot bore dark tortured scorch marks, and bits of brick and stone masonry were flung about in open pockets of crumbling dust.  Withered remnants of once-verdant flora wafted a heavy, noxious perfume into the air.

It had obviously been a shelter of some kind—probably a house, and a decent-sized one at that; the materials and shapes bespoke a cottage, but it was hard to be sure.  Sturdy bearing walls lay shattered on the ground and the wind, creeping through the site with a low moan, carried away their fine powder in hazy traces.

The silence was pierced by a feeble wail, muffled but insistent.

Footsteps lumbered over clumsily, picking their way through the rubble.  A whispered word, a burst of wind—large pieces of debris were lifted and carried away by invisible hands.  Underneath it all, the cries increased in volume until they could be distinguished quite clearly as a small voice calling for its mother.

A black-haired, green-eyed baby lay cuddled up in a mess of blankets, little fists clenched, mouth wide open as he gasped for air between earsplitting wails.  The large, imposing figure of Rubeus Hagrid pushed away several offending pieces of brick and reached out tentatively.  He bent and plucked the child from his bed of gravel, taking care to wipe off the cloths and to tug the edges more securely around the little face.  He bounced the baby awkwardly a few times, and the cries gradually ceased as little Harry stared up at him with bleary green eyes.

Distant rumbling made Hagrid raise his shaggy head; a speck in the sky rapidly grew in size until it became the figure of Sirius Black on his monstrous motorbike.  He directed the vehicle to the brush a short space away and took a flying leap off it before it even hit the ground.  As soon as he touched down he was running pell-mell in Hagrid's direction.  Several times, he nearly tripped and fell over protruding roots and clumps of shrubs.  This wasn't the cool, coordinated Sirius Black of Hogwarts and pub-world reknown; this Sirius was pale and shaking, his features a mask of haunted incredulity.  His hair, still in spikes, was sticking up in all directions.  His shirt fluttered untucked behind him, and his leather jacket was dragging off one shoulder, thrown on in obvious haste.

He arrived at the edge of the clearing, gasping and panting for air.  Standing frozen, breath catching in his throat, his dark eyes traveled over the scene, taking in the heaps of wreckage, the burnt wood, the scattered stones.  His body seemed still poised for flight; he was leaning forward, slightly off kilter.  Then, just as abruptly as he had stopped, something in his face seemed to collapse from within and his body likewise crumpled in on itself.  He shrank into a pathetic, huddled heap, first on his knees, then completely onto the ground.  He emitted no sound, but Hagrid, from at least fifteen yards away, could see the violent trembling of his shoulders through the thick dragonhide of his jacket.

He lay there for a long minute; shaking, without making the slightest noise.  Then he bolted upright.  His eyes were open wide, unblinking, and his face had a deathly pallor to it except for two distinct spots on his high cheekbones, which were stained red.  Feverishly, he leapt into the midst of the ruins and began digging through them, his hands working in a frenzied blur.  Hagrid watched in confusion as Sirius flung boards and bricks aside.  His jaw was set in a stiff line; he was biting his lips so hard that they had completely lost color.  It took Hagrid several minutes before he noticed the thin trickle of blood that was trailing from Sirius's mouth.

Suddenly all motion stopped.  With a half-stifled cry—a sound that made the huge gamekeeper shudder involuntarily—Sirius again fell to his knees.  This time, he remained kneeling in a pile of dust; his hands reached out and clasped something limp and bulky to his chest, and he buried his face in the mass he held in his arms and began to rock slowly on his haunches.

It was the body of James Potter.

The mess of black hair, the lanky length, the deep blue casual robes that Lily had bought him just prior to their engagement—they were all there.  Hagrid watched as though he were a spectator of Muggle silent cinema, transfixed by the soundless flashing images.  Moonlight briefly illuminated Sirius's face, showing his wide-open eyes, unseeing and glazed over with a mixture of horror and disbelief as he held James's head and rocked him gently.

It didn't seem—right—to interrupt such an agonizing personal moment.  Hagrid would have turned away, retreated to a greater distance, had Harry not chosen that moment to cry out in a muffled rendition of "Pafoo!"

Sirius's head snapped up and his entire being seemed to hold its breath as he waited for assurance that he had not just been hallucinating.  Harry repeated his plea, whimpering a bit.  It was then that Hagrid realized the baby had a jagged cut across his forehead.  Blood was still oozing from the bottom of the injury, but the top of it near Harry's messy hairline had already begun to clot and scab.

The moon once again escaped its black-cloud confines and thrust Hagrid into a spotlight of sorts; Sirius, looking frantically around, caught sight of him and set James back down on the ground, jumping up and breaking into a desperate run towards Harry.  He stopped in front of Hagrid and held out his arms.

"Give him to me," Sirius rasped.  "He's my godson, I'll take care of him.  Give him to me."  He swallowed.  "I'm all—all that he—" he choked.

Hagrid slowly shook his head, his beady eyes glinting with tears.

"Can't," he managed to croak out.  "Can't.  Dumbledore's orders.  Hafta take 'im to th' Dursleys."

Sirius froze.  A dangerous look crept across his face; his jaw clenched again.  Then, as he gazed down at Harry, who was blinking up at him with trusting green eyes, his features relaxed into a softer expression of pain.  His arms, which had at first gone from their entreating position to a near-fighting stance, gradually lowered to his sides.  He looked at Harry for a while longer; love, confusion, and despair doing battle in his eyes.  Then he stepped backwards.

"Take the bike, then," he said quietly.  He waved his wand, and the motorbike levitated from the brush and flew through the air to rest before them.

Hagrid looked from the bike to Sirius dubiously.  "But—"

"Take it, use it, Goddamnit!!" Sirius burst out, half angrily, half hysterically.  "I won't be needing it anymore."

Without another word, Hagrid nodded and with Harry tucked securely in the crook of his arm, he straddled the bike and took a good look at the levers.  He lowered his head as he glanced at Sirius again, then reached out a large hand and placed it on his shoulder.  Sirius cringed slightly, but did not shrink away.  After a split-second of hesitation, he leaned into the older man's touch.  Both men's faces were wet.

They stayed like that for a long time.  Harry looked questioningly from one to the other.

Finally, Hagrid took his hand away.  Tucking Harry securely into a fold of his overcoat, he kept one hand on the precious bundle as the other took hold of the motorbike handle.  With a flick of a lever, the engine roared to life.  He shifted the bike into gear, and with a last poignant look of sadness and sympathy towards the man who stood with bowed head before him, he kicked off into the air and disappeared from sight.

***

Sirius turned back to the ruins with his head still down.  He slowly picked his way back to where James lay, eyes open, a resolute, desperate look frozen forever on his face.  He passed a hand wearily over his own face; then, kneeling, he removed the glasses and smoothed a hand gently over his friend, calming his features into tranquility.  It seemed like a mockery of all that had happened, but he couldn't bear to see those open eyes.

A glimmer of silver caught his attention.  He stumbled closer, let out a weak gasp, then dropped down to begin digging.  Little by little, ignoring his bleeding and broken nails, Sirius scratched away at the earth with his bare hands until, with a sinking heart, he found it—the dull glow of red hair in the moonlight—

The wind picked up, rustling through what was left of the trees on the site's periphery.  It carried with it the musty smell of smoke and the hollow echoes of voices, which increased in volume as Sirius sat back slightly and listened…

"LILYYYY!  WHERE DID YOU PUT MY BLUE DRESS ROBES??"

"I NEVER TOUCHED YOUR STUPID DRESS ROBES!  WHY CAN'T YOU KEEP TRACK OF YOUR OWN THINGS!!!???"

"EVANS! WHERE DID YOU BANISH MY HAIR TO?"

As the wind subsided to a breeze, the voices faded slightly, speaking in softened tones.

"Do you know, I'm glad his eyes are such a lovely green…"

"Oh shut it, you.  You said that just to get back in my good graces."

"Well, it worked, didn't it?"

He drew in a sharp breath and lifted the last piece of stone.  Shining silver earrings and ruffled red hair aside, Lily's arms were spread defensively.  Her eyes were open, the same resolute look in them he'd seen in James's.  Carefully, Sirius lifted Lily's body and kicked dust aside as he made his way across the site.  He lay her down next to James, shutting her eyes, and just watched them as they lay there in a semblance of sleep.  Then he lay down in the dirt in between, encircled them gently in his arms, and closed his eyes.

Notes:

Have I rated high enough on the corniness meter yet? ;)

Not too sure I've dealt with this situation as well as I'd have liked.  It might have been more poignant had I left it at its original vignette-ness, but I couldn't resist squeezing in more stuff.  Agh.

I particularly liked the idea behind the Dumbledore scene in the beginning of this chapter.  And the conversations floating on the wind.  For those who agree, they were actually plot bunnies presented by everblue3  (oh dear, dear, you should be my muse), just so I don't get any undeserved credit.  Sigh.  Why can't I ever think of cool things? :P

Anyway, I'm sorry for not giving more warning in the previous author's note about the ending of this story.  It's due to a lack of good planning…for some reason I wasn't expecting the end to come so soon either.  And this chapter wasn't initially an epilogue, so…it just sort of…happened?  (Embarrassed laughter)  So just so you all know, there is only one more chapter left…the second part of the epilogue.  Then it's on to my next piece, which I've begun to plan…:D  Well, not really.  But from what I've got so far it should be fun.

One last note of sappiness—it's been great to have something resembling a steady following of readers :D  I really love getting these reviews from you all every time I post a new chapter.  It really brightens my day, and I'm so impressed and happy that some of you have actually been reading this from the beginning!  (I guess I'm relieved that I haven't bored/scared anyone away!)  Anyway, I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all you reviewers, regular or not.  You guys are awesome and I really appreciate the feedback, no matter what length.

On to individualized notes:

everblue3:  Why hello. :)  I've been pestering you so with all sorts of whiny messages and emails….you must be getting sick of this chapter!  Heheh, so sorry?  I looove youuuuuu!  [insert cheesy smile]  It's just that I think your critiques are extremely worthwhile and working with your advice is a huge help and challenge.  Thank you!!!!!  And dear, dear, the Dumbledore idea…and the conversations echoing idea…they were genius, pure genius.  Which was why I just couldn't leave it at the original length…I just had to add the scenes!  The plot bunnies'd grabbed me and wouldn't let me go!

So anyway with that said, I really liked your chapter 10.  :D  I'm still impressed you managed to pull through with such a nicely lengthy chapter so soon after finals.  Go you!!! ;D  Okay I should be studying for finals right now instead of writing these.  ::shrugs::  Oh well.  Will talk to you online. :)

Hedouwi: I'm flattered that you picked my fic.  Now, just answer me one question…why mine?  There are so many better fic out there……..  But anyway, as I said, I'm incredibly flattered and I want to see the finished product, please.  :)  Thanks for reviewing!

Princess pixie ice:  There you are again.  :D  Hahaha…I love babies.  They're so adorable…I can totally imagine Harry being a cute little baby, too.  I think my friends are getting sick of me "Awwwwwww!"ing over babies in the park or on the street…one of my best friends asked me wryly, "Do you feel your ovaries pulsating?"  Haha.  I can't help it.  Anyway I agree with you about it seeming like there're only girls on ff.net.  It's becoming very bad form in me…I just assume that authors are female, even if they have androgynous pen-names.  Heheh…I should stop doing that.  But yeah.  Thanks so much for your review!  Don't let school get you down…

KirbeeDesirae:  Thanks for reviewing again!  :D  I liked the Harry floo scene as well.  ;D  I'm such a sucker for cute little babies…which I think Harry was.  As for Lily and James's work, I had planned for them to be working from home at that point, not only so that they could be with Harry more, but also because it's getting dangerous for them to be out and about.  Not many people knew where they were living, and they'd disconnected from the Floo Network and most other things.  I didn't really go into that in the fic, did I?  But it's all clear in my brain, really!  :D  Hehe….

Why must I be Omelette:   Haha, I love your pen-name.  And thank you for reviewing, and thank you even more for adding this to your favorites list!  I'm very very glad you like.  Hopefully you've gotten to read the other chapters…and hopefully they haven't scared you away!  ;)

Mistocean:  Hope you got a chance to read the rest, too!  Thanks so much for reviewing!  :)  I'm glad you like!

ljpottafreak:  Hm…I hope I didn't disappoint _  As you can see, this wasn't one of those "the Potters…are…alive!!!" fics…unfortunately.  :(  I wish they lived.  But then again the inner cynic can't help thinking that if they had lived, they would have had more problems…and maybe Harry would have grown up all spoiled and disagreeable…and…yeah, whatever, I'm just comforting myself.  ;)  But yes, I didn't want to write about the Voldemort-killing-Lily-and-James scene.  It's been done.  Many times.  Much better than I could have done.  As, probably, have the scenes I've just written about.  Oh well?  Anyway, thanks so much for your review!  It cheered me up immensely (I'm in the middle of finals season right now….gaaaah).

ta-tiana258: Thank you for reviewing!!  Good to see you back, haven't heard from you in a couple chapters (or so it seems to me anyway).  I am glad you like :D

kellie:  Thanks for the review!  And I *am* writing something after this…hehehe.  It's not going to be a serious piece…I'm just amusing myself writing it.  It'll take place after the events of this fic…and…hm, you'll see.  I'll post it when I post my last chapter of this fic, yea?  :D

yoriko sakura-chan:  Out of curiosity, where did you get your name?!  Hehehe.  Wellllll, I could have changed the story, I guess, so that Lily and James didn't get killed.  But…well…to put it simply, I'm just not creative enough for that.  I think it takes a lot of imagination, planning, and skill to be able to pull of something like that successfully while still trying to keep most things in canon, and I just didn't want to deal.  Hehe, I'm lazy.  Anyway, it's not over yet!  I still have one more epilogue part and my next fic to post!  Haha!

parselmouth majere: Thanks for reviewing!!  I wish it didn't have to happen, too…but it does.  Sigh.  But…just wait for my fun piece after.  Haha, I'm really enjoying that…