Disclaimer: All people and places belong to J. K. Rowling
Life Had Just Begun
By Terra
Chapter Twenty-eight: The Perfect Bluff
It was now October. Our research, although interesting, had gone nowhere except in circles. Harry was still working on walking but he could stand on his own. He just had to stay put once he stood up.
We were rather surprised when Dumbledore sent us an owl saying that we had to come to Hogwarts. He wouldn't say why except that it was urgent and to tell no one that we were going. We were concerned. What was wrong?
So, the day after we received the owl, October 21st, after leaving Harry with Sirius, we Apparated to Hogsmeade and went up to our alma mater. It was very windy and cold, as it always is in October in Scotland. It was during lunch that we came in through the massive front doors. We heard the sound of children eating and chatting with friends from the Great Hall. We couldn't help but smile.
"Harry in ten years," I said.
"Us nearly ten years ago," Lily replied.
"Don't make me feel old."
"Don't remind me that Harry will grow up."
We suddenly heard the tapping of footsteps. "Mr. Potter! Mrs. Potter!" We turned around and saw Bill Weasley with two other boys.
"Hi, Bill," Lily greeted.
"What are you two doing here?"
"Visiting Dumbledore. We want to thank him for his kind words when we were worried about Harry," Lily lied. Smooth, I thought. "Are your friends?"
"This is Teddy Broker." Bill tilted his head back to the boy on his right. "And this is Michael Long." Bill tilted his head back to the boy on his left. "We're all in Gryffindor."
"The best house," I replied.
"Want to see Ginny?" Bill asked with wide eyes. Ginny (or Virginia, after the late Virginia Lenore, but no one called her that) Weasley had been born on September 17th. I had been too preoccupied with my mother's passing to really give it much thought.
"Oh no!" Teddy said in not-so-fake horror as Michael rolled his eyes. "Not again!"
"Run away while you still can!" Michael added. "I mean, doesn't your family ever stop? How many of you are there?"
"Seven, not counting my parents, which brings it to nine. And shut up already! Ginny's cute, and the Potters care about these sort of things!" Bill declared, reaching into his pockets for a small photo. We generously looked at Ginny's photo, who was very cute in a pink sleeper, and then managed to convince Bill that we had to go, which was good because the three boys had to be heading to Potions.
"With Slytherins!" Bill protested. "Why Slytherins?"
"It makes you grow, now go to class," Lily ordered.
"But Professor Bowzer is so prejudiced! And he's like ten billion and one years old or something. He's going to keel over and die any day now!"
"And he'll land on me because he loves tormenting me," Teddy added.
"Or he'll do what Professor Binns did and just become a ghost and never leave!" Michael suggested. The boys shivered with disgust.
"Go to class before he has an excuse to take points off Gryffindor house!" I commanded. The boys walked away after saying their good-byes as we continued to Dumbledore's office.
"Bowzer is ancient," Lily said as we walked. "He has to retire someday. Who do you think will replace him?"
"Dumbledore will place an ad, like he did when he took up as Headmaster and needed someone to teach Transfiguration. Hope they get a Gryffindor this time. They've been Slytherins since Slytherin was one."
"Actually, Slytherin was never the Potions Master, contrary to popular belief, it's been said that he was actually terrible at brewing potions. It was his daughter who became the Potions Master and that was after he left. Also, it hasn't always been Slytherins, it's been equally divided between all four houses."
"Alright!" I shouted, covering my ears. "Forget I said anything." I paused. "How did you find that out?"
"During our research. Dumbledore told me that Lord Voldemort used to be a man named Tom Riddle and he's the last descendant of Salazar Slytherin. I tried to find anything about the family that would prove a weakness."
"Is there?"
"No, of course not. I can't remember where I found out about how all four houses gave at least a few Potions Masters, it was there somewhere in the shuffle of research." We reached the entrance to Dumbledore's office. "Peppermint Frogs." The gargoyle leapt aside and we climbed the staircase.
*** ***
The office looked the same. The previous Headmasters and Headmistresses snoozed in their frames, Fawkes was still on his perch, although he looked dreadful, it must have been near his burning day, and Dumbledore had added a few knick-knacks. Dumbledore was seated at his desk, reading something. Without looking up, he said, "Yes, come in, James, Lily. Have a seat. The others will be offering shortly." We raised our eyebrows at each other. Others? We were finally going to meet the others in the "Crowd"? We both took a seat in the chairs provided and nervously waited for someone to show up.
Within a few minutes, we heard someone coming up the stone steps. The door opened. In those minutes of waiting, I had imagined many scenarios of who would be coming and none of them had included who actually did.
It was Snape.
Snape had barely changed, except grow older. His black, limp hair still was greasy and he was still ugly. I still hated him.
"Snape?" I demanded.
"Potter," Snape stated. He then scowled at Lily. "And his darling wife, Lily."
"What is he doing here?" Lily asked Dumbledore.
"All in good time, my dear. Do not worry, Severus is on our side now," Dumbledore replied smoothly.
"Now?" I repeated. "That implies there was a 'then' and during that 'then', he was not on our side!"
"He has reformed."
"Oh, has he? Really?" I demanded. "What next? Is Lord Voldemort coming here too?"
"No, just me," the next guest answered. It was Olivia Longbottom but she was no longer the simple, befuddled florist wife of the brilliant Auror Frank Longbottom. Now, she had hard, focused eyes and upright posture. This was the true Olivia. "And although it is nearly impossible to believe, Severus is now on our side and he has proven to be a wonderful asset. If there was any sign that he was playing double agent, we'd kill him." She Summoned a chair for her and Snape and sat down. Snape sat down more reluctantly, he always liked to be a giant in a world of midgets.
"Now that we are all here," Dumbledore began, "it is necessary that we all know why we are here."
Olivia and Snape looked at each other. "Should I tell or you?" Olivia asked.
"I will," Snape answered and then turned back to us. "You have a traitor in your midst."
"A what?" Lily demanded.
"Someone close to you is on spying on you and reporting every little detail to Lord Voldemort. I have reason to believe it's one of your precious little friends, Potter," Snape hissed.
"Who?" I asked.
"I can't tell you. Not I won't, I simply can't. You're lucky I even know it's one of those three. I only managed to get that much recently. I don't even know his codename."
"You have codenames?" Lily wondered.
"Yes, we do. How stupid do you think Death Eaters are? They don't want anyone knowing who's who so no one can bargain with the Ministry."
"You mean, someone like you?" I replied.
"Oh, very funny. I could have very well kept this information to myself and just let you die but no, I'm risking my soul, life, and mind to save you all. Next time, I'll leave you in the dark, how would you like that?"
"Severus, this is not the time for squabbles and grudges," Dumbledore said.
"He started it," Snape replied angrily.
"Well, it's very hard to believe you when you have 'Death Eater' written all over you and...!"
"Both of you!" Dumbledore snapped with something resembling irritation and impatience. "You are no longer schoolchildren battling over House Points. You are both adults and this is a serious matter."
"Sorry, sir," we both mumbled.
"Severus, continue."
"Anyway, Lord Voldemort wants you and your son dead," Snape said darkly.
"Why?" Lily asked.
"Seers all over the world are receiving the same message," Olivia explained, "It says that a Potter will lead to the downfall of the Dark Lord."
"But how?" I stammered. "Our research has led nowhere! How am I or my son, who's only fourteen months old, going to defeat the Darkest wizard ever known?"
'The prophecy doesn't say," Snape answered. "Only that a Potter will do it."
"But what do we do about it?" Lily moaned.
"Kill Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore answered.
"We knew that," I said. "But no one has any ideas on how."
"No, we don't and we still need time. Time for you to research. Perhaps you are the one to find the solution but it won't be found if you're dead." Dumbledore stood and paced around the room. "You must go into hiding. We'll put a Fidelius Charm over your hiding place so no one can find you. I shall be your Secret Keeper."
"How long will we have to hide?" Lily asked nervously.
"Until Lord Voldemort is no more." Dumbledore sighed sadly. "Whenever that will be. There is little else we can do. I will not reveal your location, I can assure you."
"No!" I shouted, startling everyone, including myself.
"No?" Dumbledore repeated.
"I don't think you should be our Secret-Keeper. You're too important, you're the only person who was ready to fight when he first appeared. The cause can't lose you over us."
"Then who do you suggest to be your Secret-Keeper, Potter? There aren't many candidates to choose from," Snape reminded in a bitter tone.
"Sirius Black," I answered, the name flying out of my mouth before I had even really thought about it.
Snape began to laugh. "Black? Did you not hear me? One of your three closest friends is the spy! Why don't you just hand yourself in to Lord Voldemort, save us all some time?"
"I hear what you said," I barked back. "But I know Sirius better than I know myself and I trust him with my life. And Lily's and Harry's. Sirius would never turn his back on me and my family. He's like a brother to me. I want Sirius to be my Secret-Keeper."
"Ah, denial, a man's best friend. Black was capable of murder at age sixteen, using his so-called close friend as an accomplice, what makes you think he isn't a Death Eater?"
"The same way I know that there is still a moon above the Earth even when I can't see it. I just know." I turned to Dumbledore. "Please, let me use Sirius as our Secret-Keeper. Look, if Sirius says no, then we'll use you. It's not that I don't trust you, I don't want to lose you, Professor Dumbledore."
"Are you certain you want Sirius Black to be your Secret-Keeper?" Dumbledore asked, sounding as though he was sending us to somewhere dangerous.
"Yes."
"Lily?"
Lily looked at me and then at Dumbledore. "I trust Sirius too. He'll keep us safe."
"Severus, prepare the potion that goes along with the Fidelius Charm. Do it quickly and give it to the Potters as soon as it is ready. James, Lily, you must gather one strand of hair from you, Harry, and three from Sirius. These will go in the potion shortly before you take it, yours in his, his in yours. When you three drink, he must cast 'Fidelius'. Once this is done, you must tell him your exact location of your hiding place. I suggest not using your own home and using somewhere isolated. Then he must drink and you will cast 'Fidelius' on him three times, one time for each of you that he must protect. As long as he does not speak of your location or does not die, you will be completely unfindable. I suggest that Sirius go into hiding as well, the Death Eaters will wish to kill him in order to break the charm. Is there any questions?"
"I'm wondering," Lily asked meekly, "I know this sound silly but I have a cat. Will it work on the cat?"
"No, it will not. I'm sorry."
Lily looked completely crestfallen. "Poor Crookshanks, I only just got him." Although Crookshanks was an annoying pest at times, I didn't exactly want to give him away. Yeah, he grew on me, shut up. I'm not proud of it.
"That is all. Unless something comes up, this may be the last time we meet," Dumbledore stated. He turned to us and held out his hand. We shook his hand.
"Good bye, Dumbledore... Albus," Lily muttered.
"Thank you for everything," I said.
"Good luck," he replied. We left the office. Once we reached bottom of the stairs, we four stared at each other. Suddenly, Olivia pulled Lily into a big hug. Lily began to cry.
"Oh, Lily! I'm so sorry!" Olivia cried tearfully. "There's nothing more I can do!"
"It's not your fault!"
"I promise you, Lily, I swear it on my Gran's grave, if something happens before the charm is in place, or Sirius dies, or he's... he's..."
"He's not!" Lily raised her head and shook her head. "I know it."
"But, if you... aren't around anymore but Harry survives... he might be satisfied with just James, who knows? But if Sirius is dead or worse and Harry is still there, I'll raise him alongside Neville. I'll love him like you do. He'll be one of my own, I swear it! I swear it, Lily! When I agreed to be his godmother, I meant it!"
"Thank you, Olivia! I'll... rest easier knowing that he'll be with you and Frank... and Neville and him will be just like brothers! And they'll grow up together and go into Gryffindor together... and Olivia, Neville's going to be a great wizard! I can feel it!" Lily sobbed into Olivia's chest again as Olivia, with tears streaming down her face, rubbed her back.
Snape and I stood awkwardly to the side, shuffling our feet as the women cried in each other's arms. I suddenly remembered what Whetstone told me and I muttered it aloud, "'There's a viper in your nest. Kill it before it kills you.'"
"What?" Snape asked.
"It was something Whetstone said to me, a year back. Maybe this is what he was talking about."
"You saw Oliver?"
"Yes, I did. Why?"
"How is he? How is Alyssa?"
"Shouldn't you know? You're his friend," I replied.
Snape looked down at his feet again. "We haven't spoken or even seen each other in eight years." I was stunned. They had been so close, thick as thieves. I had a good idea why though. A Muggle-born wouldn't want to hang around with a Death Eater. "So, how are they?"
"They're living as Muggles. Alyssa doesn't know about magic, apparently it caused problems at school. She's seems like a happy-go-lucky kid. Oliver..." I nearly said that he looked dreadfully ill, coughing blood and everything but I felt a stab of pity for Snape. There was no need to torture him further. "Oliver... looks good. He's a Muggle English professor at some secondary school."
"Ah. I see. I knew he would," Snape replied. He suddenly looked very lonely and sad.
"You should go see him," I suggested.
"You'd react worse than you. No, best to let him and his daughter be."
"Snape, why did you come over to our side?"
There was a long pause. Snape seemed to be debating with himself whether to tell me or not. Finally, he answered, "We killed some people. A girl, a ragged, dirty little girl, came in. She couldn't have done anything. My partner," Snape took a shuddering breath, "wanted to use the Killing Curse but I said no because if you use it against children younger than eleven, they shrivel up and have a terrible odor and I didn't want to deal with that. So, he picked her up and smashed her head repeatedly against the wall. She just kept screaming and screaming. Finally, he dropped her and cursed her eye, causing it to explode and bleed. And then, he said that she would die soon enough and we left. That girl died for no reason at all. She was probably only slightly younger than Alyssa. It could have been Alyssa. I just couldn't take it anymore, I turned myself in to Dumbledore. And he made me his spy."
"Snape, where did this take place?"
"In Dumbledore's home, why?"
"No, the attack. Where did the girl die?"
Snape gave me an odd look. "Why?"
"Just tell me."
"Quesera." I gasped. "What? Now you react?"
"Snape, the girl didn't die. A man happened to be walking home from work and heard her screams. He saved her and adopted her." His eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "Her name now is Clarissa Turner."
"She'll find me. She'll kill me when she realizes..."
"No, Snape. She was your savior. I think she'll feel somewhat redeemed when she realizes that her sacrifice led to you helping the forces of Light. And in a way, you are her savior. I know this is cruel, but if her parents hadn't died and she hadn't been injured, she would still be homeless and dirty on the streets. Now, she's getting an education and the whole world is open to her. You owe each other your lives."
"Well, I am staying far away from her, savior or not," Snape snapped. He was back to old Snape, the git. He straightened up and said, "Now, I have a potion to make and a Dark Lord to spy on. I'll see you when it is finished. I hope you are grateful, Potter."
"Just go already," I replied. Snape turned on his heels and headed to some unknown location to make the potion and to do evil spy things. At this point, Lily had dried her eyes and was looking at me for inspection.
"Do I look okay?" Lily asked.
"Perfect. Let's go home."
*** ***
"Okay, little Prongs, we understand the stepping forward thing. Uncle Sirius is going to let go now," Sirius was saying when we Apparated into his flat, "and you're going to walk all by yourself. Okay? 1, 2, 3..." Sirius let go of Harry's hands and rose very slowly up. Harry took a wobbly step forward with his left foot. "That's right. Now the other one." Harry lifted his right foot and fell promptly on his butt. "We've made progress!"
"We're back," Lily interrupted softly.
"Did you see that? We've been working on that the whole time," Sirius said in a tired but satisfied voice. "Another day or two, he's walking. He's getting it. He understands the concept but the execution is a little shaky."
"Mama! Hug!" Harry chirped. Lily went over to him and picked him up, holding him in her arms.
"You're getting a little too big for this. You'll have to pick me up soon," Lily teased.
"So, how was lunch?" Sirius asked. For a second, we were baffled. Lunch? Then we remembered that lunch was our story for leaving Harry with him. We looked at each other. Lily sighed and sat down on Sirius' couch and said, "You tell him."
"Tell me what?"
"You'll need to sit down," I told him, sitting down myself. He shrugged and followed suit.
"Are you pregnant again or what?" Sirius asked. Lily shook her head.
"Lord Voldemort wants to kill us. Me and Harry especially," I explained glumly.
"What? When did this happen?" Sirius demanded. "Why would he want to kill you especially? How did you find out?"
"Slow down! Now, apparently there's a prophecy that a Potter is going to bring Lord Voldemort down and he knows about it and he wants my family dead. Remember Snape?"
"Yes, the Death Eater poster child?"
"Well, he's not a Death Eater anymore, he's actually a spy so he found this out. He says..." I couldn't get it out. It stuck in my throat like a toothpick.
"He says that one of you three is the one spying on us," Lily finished softly. "And before you ask, no, we don't think it's you."
"Why not?" Sirius asked.
"Because if you did, Clarissa would rise from the grave and beat your skull in," Lily joked with a wane smile.
"Oh, that's a pleasant thought," Sirius replied and then mimicked his aunt, "Sirius, eat your vegetables! Sirius, do your homework! Sirius, it wasn't very nice to sell your friends out to Lord Voldemort!" He turned solemn again and wondered, "But what are you going to do?"
"We have to go into hiding," I explained. "We're going to do the Fidelius Charm, Snape is making the potion right now. I hope."
"You're going to drink something he prepared? Do you have a death wish?"
"We're not the only ones. You're going to have to drink it too."
"What? Why?"
"You have to be our Secret-Keeper, Sirius."
Sirius gave me a hard look. "What is it with you and giving me these all-important tasks? First, you make me your best man. Then, you make me Harry's godfather. And now, you're making me your Secret-Keeper?"
"Because we trust you!" I answered. "Why is this so hard to comprehend?"
"I'm just astonished. I thought you would want Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore did offer to do it," Lily interrupted, "and he tried to convince us not to use you but James insisted."
"Please say you'll do it," I begged.
"I will but I'm warning you, when this is all over, I'm going to give you the most all-important job ever. You will be crushed by the weight of its all-importantness."
"We'll tell you when it's time. Keep your schedule free," Lily said and then added, "You'll have to go into hiding too to make we're not found."
Sirius groaned. "I was liking my job. I was on a roll! Ah well, maybe he'll take me back after this is all over."
*** ***
The next day, we received an owl from Snape saying that the potion would be ready for the hairs on the 24th and we must go into hiding on the 25th. On the 23rd, we dashed madly about trying to put our affairs in order. However, the Longbottoms had already covered everything. They had put in an order for extended leave of absence at work "due to painful circumstances" so Lily and I were sent home. In the wish that Harry would live should we die, we combined our two accounts and added it to Harry's personal account, which already contained his one thousand Galleons that I put in there when he was born plus whatever interest they had acquired since then. I didn't bother to check. We then went through our personal possessions to find out what we could feasibly bring with us, what we had to store somewhere, and what we had to toss or sell to add some more money in the mutual account. The things that had to be put into storage, including most of our photos and my Invisibility Cloak, were sent to Dumbledore for safe keeping with a description of their value, what they were, and why we wanted to keep them. We also sent him a copy of the key for the vault, with a label saying which vault was ours.
In the afternoon, we went to Diagon Alley with Crookshanks in tow. Lily was extremely depressed. We went into Magical Menagerie and placed Crookshanks on the desk.
"What's that you got there?" the clerk said.
"He's our cat. We're going on a trip and we have nowhere to put him. I hear that you sometimes keep pets."
"Up to a year, that's right. After a year, he'll be back on the market and will be sold to whoever wants him."
"Yeah, I know. How much is it?"
"A Galleon to get him in here. A Sickle for each month he's in here when you collect him." Lily nodded and paid the Galleon. The clerk took the hissing feline in his carrying cage and went into the back. He came back into the main room and asked, "Anything else?"
"No," Lily answered glumly. I rubbed her shoulder.
"Well, then, enjoy your trip. Bon voyage and all that," he said, pronouncing "bon voyage" wrong.
*** ***
Around six o'clock, we were playing with Harry on the floor, pretending that we were not in mortal peril, when the phone rang. We looked at each other, perplexed. No one called us on our phone, we only had a phone to call anyone in Muggle society and only Mrs. Evans ever called us on it, when she remembered the number.
"Must be your mother," I said.
"Do you think Dumbledore told her anything?" Lily wondered. I shrugged. She rose and answered the ringing phone. "Hello? Yes, this is she." There was a long pause. "You don't know?" Another pause. "I suppose... that happens sometimes. No, I don't know what could have scared her so badly. You say there were green lights in the sky?" Another pause. "Yes, I'm still here. Does my sister know? I see. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. No, I'll talk to my sister about it. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Okay. Thank you. Good-bye." Lily hung up. She didn't move, just held the phone in the cradle.
"Lily? Is everything alright?"
"My parents are dead," she answered in monotone.
"Both of them? When?"
"This morning. They couldn't find our number because they didn't know who I was married to. Not that we're in the book or anything."
"How? How did they die?"
"They don't know what killed my mother. I have an idea. They said she was perfectly healthy except the being dead part. They think she may have died from fright from the expression on her face. Add that to the green lights in the sky forming the shape of a skull, it must have been the Killing Curse. My father found her when he returned from a business trip. He was so horrified that he had a heart attack as he called the hospital. He died later on the table."
"Oh, Lily. I'm so sorry."
"I have to plan the funeral. I'm sure Petunia is already on it but I want to help."
"You do realize when that funeral will take place, right? Lily, we can't go. We have to go into hiding the day after tomorrow!"
"MY PARENTS ARE DEAD, DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?"
"Lily! Do you think it's a coincidence? They want us dead. If you go to that funeral, we'll be planning a funeral for you next. You can't go! Think of where you'll be, surrounded by Muggles. It will be a massacre!"
"Why can't I just be a Muggle?! Why do I have to know about all this horror?! Why did I go to Hogwarts in the first place?! I should've torn that letter up! I'M IN HELL!" Harry started to wail.
"Lily, stop it! You need to calm down!"
"Why did I ever marry you?! He's just wants you dead, not me! I should've never met you! I should've thrown that letter away!"
"Lily, you don't know what you're saying!"
"I CAN'T EVEN ATTEND MY OWN PARENTS' FUNERAL!" Harry started crying harder. "SHUT UP, HARRY! THIS IS YOUR FAULT TOO!"
"Lily! That's your son!" I exclaimed.
"Good God, I hate you! I hate you both! I hate this world of magic where everyone has to keep secrets and friends spy on each other! I hate this! I hate this! Most of all, I HATE YOU!" Sobbing, Lily dashed up the stairs, leaving me staring at the space she was before, open-mouthed. Harry was still screaming at my feet. I picked him up and rocked back and forth as I hushed him.
"Mama," Harry whimpered.
"I know, you want Mummy but Daddy is all you've got right now."
"Dada," he mumbled, burying his face in my shoulder.
"Don't worry, Daddy's here now. Daddy's always going to be here."
*** ***
Thirty minutes later, I put Harry down in his crib and went to our room. The door was ajar and I could still hear Lily weeping. As quietly as I could, I opened the door. Lily was lying face down on the bed, crying into her arms.
"Lily?" I whispered. She didn't respond. I sat down on the bed next to her and stroked her hair.
"James?" Lily mumbled.
"Would you like me to leave?" I asked. Lily shook her head. "You know that I love you."
"I didn't mean those things."
"I know. I understand."
Lily raised her head to look at me. Her eyes were all red and puffy and her face was tear streaked. "James, I'm glad I met you. I'm glad that I had Harry." She flipped on to her back.
"I'm glad too. You're the most wonderful woman in the world. I'm so sorry this is happening."
"It's not your fault, you didn't ask for this." I kissed her and she relaxed. "James?"
"What?" I mumbled as I kissed her on the lips again.
"When's the last time we made love?"
"Ages ago. Harry's asleep, no one is going to come." She took off my glasses and I began to undo her buttons. I kissed her again.
"James! Lily!" We bit back a scream and looked in each other's eyes with the same thought: Kill Sirius. "Where are you two? I need to talk!"
"Oh, he needs to talk," I hissed sarcastically, "couldn't he wait an hour?"
"It's just as well. It is rather crude to get it on when my parents have just passed away." Lily redid her buttons and I put my glasses on. "How do I look?" Her eyes were still puffy and blood-shot.
"Like you've just been crying. Wash your face."
"Hello? Is anyone home?" Sirius shouted from downstairs.
"We're coming!" I answered angrily. I walked down the stairs to find Sirius pacing madly in our sitting room.
"There you are! I was beginning to think you already went into hiding," Sirius answered. "Where's Lily?"
"In the toilet. What do you want?"
"No, I want to tell it when Lily comes down." We waited for Lily to finish washing her face and come downstairs.
"Okay, what's the big thing you had to burst in here for?" I demanded.
Sirius' eyes lit up. "I have a perfect plan!"
"For what?"
"To ensure that you all come out this alive."
"We have one. The whole Fidelius Charm thing."
"Yes, but there's a major flaw in it," Sirius argued. "Lily, when James went on that drinking episode after his father died and he didn't come home, who did you call first?"
"You," Lily answered.
"Why was that?"
"You're his friend?" Lily suggested, nervously.
"Exactly! Everyone who even remotely knows James knows that I, Sirius Black, is James' best friend and that he would trust me with his and his family's lives."
"What's your point? There's no other way!" I reminded.
"I still think that the Fidelius Charm is a good plan but I want to make a little change," Sirius suggested and then concluded proudly, "Don't use me."
Lily growled. "Sirius! So, we have to use Dumbledore after all, why didn't you just..."
"Wait! I'm not done yet! Use someone else but tell everyone that I'm the Secret-Keeper." He looked at us for approval. He was obviously very proud of himself.
"That makes no sense," Lily replied. "Don't use you but say you are anyway?"
"Right! See, the entire planet could know where you're hiding but as long as the Secret-Keeper keeps his mouth shut, no one will ever find it! Here is how it works: If and when they find me, even if I tell them where you are, they'll go there and won't be able to find you! Even if they kill me! So, when they do find the real Secret-Keeper and he says the same place, they'll think he's lying and won't go. It also buys the Secret-Keeper more time if they have to deal with the fake Secret-Keeper first! It is the perfect bluff! No one would think that you would use anyone other than me!"
"Okay, that's great but who are we supposed to use if we have you as the bluff?" I demanded.
"We'd need someone close enough that we could trust and not someone too obvious, so that leaves out Dumbledore too," Lily answered.
"We should use Remus," I suggested.
"NO!" Sirius snapped venomously.
"Why not Remus?" I asked angrily. "What is the matter with Remus? You've been on his back for over a year now! Do you mind telling me why?"
"I think that Remus is the spy," Sirius answered coldly.
I laughed bitterly. "Remus? Mr. Too Good To Be True Remus Lupin? Are we discussing the same person?"
"Remus isn't the same boy he was in school! I'm telling you, he is the spy!"
"Oh, really? Oh, then tell me, how did you find this out? Because it's news to me!"
Sirius sat down on the couch and crossed his arms in mock calm. "Fine. I'll tell you. Have you ever noticed that Remus is always home when bad things happen to us? Strange how that works, isn't it?"
"It's just a coincidence, Sirius!" I replied.
"Or how Remus, who is always on top of everything and has an excellent memory, suddenly leaves his license at Customs? And he spends an awful long time there?"
"You know how Customs are! They're nuts!"
"And it just so happened to be the same day that Marguerite got attacked and he noticed the so-called missing license an hour before her attack? Or, try this, how come he asked for her address that night as well?"
"Peter did too! Are you saying they're in cahoots?"
"Remus asked first. What did he need her address for? I didn't exactly ask for any of his co-workers addresses, did I? And as for Peter, one of his mother's students lives down the street from her so of course Peter asked."
"This is ridiculous, Sirius! You could say the same things about Peter and he's not a Death Eater, is he? I mean, he was gone too."
"Blithe backed up his story. He has an alibi and a witness. Remus has neither."
"I fail to see the defining difference between Peter and Remus!"
"The difference between Remus and Peter is that Remus is a werewolf."
"You did not just say that! I thought you were better than that, Sirius!"
"I'm not saying that Remus is a werewolf therefore he is evil. I am saying that Remus is a werewolf therefore he does not get steady work or have a nice life, which makes him mad. We both know that Remus is a smart person but he can't get the jobs that suit his abilities. We both know Remus would like to start a little nest of his own but the minute women find out about his affliction, they run for the hills. I mean, what happened to Hilda? I bet you anything that she found out what he was and split. And you saw how Remus reacted to Blithe. He can't stand it when someone does better than him because he knows he deserves better than what he's got. If I was him, I would be mad too."
"It's not true," I whispered.
"It is true. What does the world have to offer him? Loneliness, poverty, and prejudice. Woo-hoo. He's made his choice, he's told the world to go to Hell. Believe me, he has the talent and motive to change sides. Peter doesn't have that."
"I think we shouldn't use Remus, James," Lily muttered.
"Don't tell me you believe that Remus is a Death Eater!" I cried.
"No. I was just thinking, Remus is too obvious as well. Peter might be a better choice. He's close enough that we trust him but not so close that he'll be the first or second person they think of. I mean, people think he was just a tagalong. We all know he wasn't but that is what people believe." Lily glared at Sirius. "But I refuse to believe that Remus has betrayed us. I think that Snape is just making a wild guess."
"Fine, don't believe me, even though it's perfectly obvious."
"So, should we tell Peter now?" I asked.
"No, I'll tell him tomorrow morning and he'll get back to you. Just don't tell anyone about the switch, not even Dumbledore. Furthermore, we should both write a letter to Remus saying that I'm the Secret-Keeper. If he's not the spy, then oh, well, he won't do anything. If he is, then he'll turn me in and prove his guilt."
"We'll do it after Peter has agreed," Lily stated. "If Peter says no, then we'll go back to the original plan of just using you, Sirius."
"Fine." He got up and laughed. "Sometimes, I'm so clever, I could just scream."
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Of course, you probably want to scream right now. "DON'T USE PETER!!!" See, I told you that chapter 17 was important. I spent a lot of time thinking, "How can I make Remus look guilty?" It was basically the set-up for Sirius thinking that Remus is the traitor. I bet you saw that "Snape attacked Clarissa" thing a mile away. The bit where Sirius is making fun of Clarissa's rising from the dead and scolding him is actually from a Ron/Hermione parody I saw once. Basically, Ron complains that Hermione always nags him and those are the examples he used, even the "selling out to Lord Voldemort" although in the parody, it's his family that he betrayed. He concludes with, "God, you're not my mother!" to which Hermione replies, "You're right, I'm not your mother" and they kiss each other. Even though I'm a huge Ron/Hermione fan, that was the best parody I had ever seen. If you're the author of that parody, please stand up and tell me. I'll add your name to this little author's note. I think it was on a message board at Fictionalley.net. Sorry for that scene with Lily screaming at Harry, she still loves him. There, are you happy now, Naisumi? I killed Mrs. Evans. Naisumi does not like Mrs. Evans and kept begging me to kill her. "Is she dead yet?" "No." "Is she dead yet?" "No." "Is she dead yet?" "No." "Is she dead yet?" "I'm getting to it!" I had always planned to kill her but Naisumi was so adamant about it. I'm thinking two more chapters for us, depending on how long the next two are. It might spill over into three but I doubt it. We'll see. Review! Please! Press the button or e-mail at destinyplot@lycos.com! See ya later!