Disclaimer; still don't own even a tiny part of the Harry potter universe.
A/N the last chapter was naff. I know. I had the idea and had to get that chapter on ff.net that night so I could see if anyone was interested in the story. Apparently not as I didn't get any reviews. I will post this chapter because there might not have been enough to review for in the last chapter. Last chapter was rushed and I can normally write much better than that. I didn't have time to check it through or owt. I will repost it soon with corrections. For the purposes of this story, Dumbledore does not yet know that the marauders were animagus. There isn't really any spoilers but there is bits of info used from at least 4 of the books.
Chapter 2, Ohh Right, That Makes So Much Sense, Not
In the living room they all sat down and looked to Lily and James for a more detailed explanation.
Lily and James looked at each other and linked hands. With a deep breath that resulted in a wince from Lily, she began to relate what had happened only 20 minutes previously.
"I was putting Harry down in his crib and trying to calm him down, he's sick, when I heard the front door crash open and Peter Pettigrew rushed into the nursery." She sounded normal enough, like she telling everyone what she had for breakfast. After a short pause she started again, sounding shakier. "He was acting sorta funny and I asked him what he was doing here and then this man stepped into the room and he was wearing black robes and I couldn't see his face and I asked who he was and then Peter.Peter.he.!" she was rushing her words and has started hyperventilating.
"It's ok, he's gone. Calm down and breath!" James combed the fingers on his free hand through her hair and tried to comfort her. James knew that whilst Lily was emotional now it wouldn't compare to the anger he would experience when the night's events finally hit him.
"'K!" Lily sniffed. "He shouted at me, Peter did. The other man pulled back his hood and it was.it was.Voldemort!" She had tears streaming down her face, but was determined to carry on. "Peter hit me and I hit the wall. I could see Voldemort going for Harry and I was pleading for him to stop and leave Harry alone. That was when Peter kicked me and I passed out, I can't remember anything until James woke me up and went to get you guys." She finished in a dead sort of voice like she was blaming herself and dried her eyes on sleeve.
"Can I have Harry?" she said to Remus. He obligingly handed her the sleeping boy who it seemed, at least, did not suffer any emotional trauma. The child however had a gaping wound on the right of his forehead.
Lily reached for her wand and went to heal Harry but Dumbledore interrupted, "No, Lily let me heal you first." He said.
She nodded and handed Harry to James who looked on, worried.
Dumbledore waved his wand over her body and muttered a spell, which caused Lily to breath a sigh of relief as the pain from her broken ribs abated. Turning to Harry Dumbledore waved his wand over him too; the edges of the wound on his head visibly moved closer to each other and sealed the skin. A bright red lightening shaped line remained on the child's forehead.
"Ahh! A scar like that is left only by a powerful dark curse!" Dumbledore commented in his calm voice. He looked at James as a sign that it was time for him to relate his recollections of the evening.
"I ran downstairs when I heard Lily scream. I got here to see.to.err.see." he rubbed his eyes under his glasses before carrying on. "I saw him perform Avada Kedavra on Harry!"
Gasps came from everyone in the room, even Lily. Sirius was outraged with fury and Remus paled in disbelieving horror. Dumbledore's periwinkle gaze narrowed in anger that anyone, even such a Dark Wizard as Voldemort had become, could attempt such a terrible curse on an innocent child.
"Thank god it didn't work!" Remus breathed as he sunk into the sofa with shock.
James nodded and carried on "It bounced off Harry, I have no idea why!" he hugged his son closer, more for his comfort than Harry's. "The reflection hit Voldemort and his body sorta, umm, crumbled and all that was left was this black cloud. It just screamed and flew out of the house. Peter was still in the room and I saw him transform, so I stunned him and put him in a box. That's when I revived Lil and called you." James finished with a look in his face that suggested he never wanted to recall this evening again.
As James finished everyone looked at Dumbledore, just as they had when they were at Hogwarts, for further explanation.
"As I said a scar like that is left only by Dark Magic. The question here is why and how did Harry withstand that curse. He has powerful parents, both with extraordinary skill; I do not believe that that is the entire reason for this miracle. There is a reason why Harry was able to defeat such a powerful dark lord but I also believe it will remain a mystery for many years." He paused as the other adults in the room absorbed this information. "One question I would like to ask you, however, James, is to explain the situation with Peter?"
James stood and walked out of the room, he returned a second later holding a metal box. He thrust the box into Dumbledore's hands and said with a venomous tone, "In there!"
Dumbledore opened the box and an unconscious rat slipped into his hands.
"James?" he questioned.
James looked at Remus and Sirius, who nodded at him.
"You know Remus is a werewolf, of course." Dumbledore nodded. "Well what you don't know is that Sirius and I, and Peter, learnt to become animagus." He paused and watched Dumbledore who raised his white eyebrows. "When he went down to the shrieking shack at the full moon we went with him to stop him hurting himself. The forms Sirius and I take are large enough to control him." Dumbledore looked impressed. "Peter," James said jerking his thumb at the filthy rat "Was small enough to push the knot on the Whomping Willow that allowed entry to the tunnel." He looked at his old headmaster, half expecting detention for not telling him.
"You did this when you were still at school? I am impressed."
"Thanks sir." Sirius addressed Dumbledore as he used to at Hogwarts.
"Anyway, I bound his arms and legs but when he transformed they were useless so I stunned him and locked him in that box in case he woke up and transformed again." James looked at Dumbledore.
"Peter was your secret keeper, am I correct?" Dumbledore said.
Lily and James nodded. "We thought that Voldemort would expect us to use Sirius or Remus and we thought Peter would be a safer option." Lily explained.
"It appears we all misjudged Mr Pettigrew and he was working for Voldemort." Dumbledore added gravely.
"I can't believe it! How could he do something like that?" Remus sat shaking his head in disbelief.
"The no-good, lying little piece of ...!" Sirius stood and paced in anger.
"Sirius calm yourself! I will call the Ministry of Magic immediately and he will be dealt with appropriately. I believe that this is the end of these dark times. The death eaters can now we captured by the aurors." Dumbledore stood with Pettigrew's rat form still held in his hands and moved to the fireplace.
"I will contact you shortly, may I suggest that you stay together tonight. You always were better off when you in each other's presence. If you feel unsafe here you are welcome to go to castle!" Dumbledore stated and looked at each person in the room individually.
"I think that we'll be OK here. You are right. This is the start of something much better!" Lily said smiling.
"I suggest you all get some sleep!" Dumbledore bid them all goodbye and disappeared through the fireplace.
The rest sank back down into the comfy chairs and sofas in the Potter's living room and stayed silent for several minutes.
The war was finally over.
A/N changed my mind; this chapter was no better than the last. Next chapter will be probably stuff like the Ministry getting back on it's feet and then I will start the happiness bit where Harry can grow up with his mum and dad.
A/N the last chapter was naff. I know. I had the idea and had to get that chapter on ff.net that night so I could see if anyone was interested in the story. Apparently not as I didn't get any reviews. I will post this chapter because there might not have been enough to review for in the last chapter. Last chapter was rushed and I can normally write much better than that. I didn't have time to check it through or owt. I will repost it soon with corrections. For the purposes of this story, Dumbledore does not yet know that the marauders were animagus. There isn't really any spoilers but there is bits of info used from at least 4 of the books.
Chapter 2, Ohh Right, That Makes So Much Sense, Not
In the living room they all sat down and looked to Lily and James for a more detailed explanation.
Lily and James looked at each other and linked hands. With a deep breath that resulted in a wince from Lily, she began to relate what had happened only 20 minutes previously.
"I was putting Harry down in his crib and trying to calm him down, he's sick, when I heard the front door crash open and Peter Pettigrew rushed into the nursery." She sounded normal enough, like she telling everyone what she had for breakfast. After a short pause she started again, sounding shakier. "He was acting sorta funny and I asked him what he was doing here and then this man stepped into the room and he was wearing black robes and I couldn't see his face and I asked who he was and then Peter.Peter.he.!" she was rushing her words and has started hyperventilating.
"It's ok, he's gone. Calm down and breath!" James combed the fingers on his free hand through her hair and tried to comfort her. James knew that whilst Lily was emotional now it wouldn't compare to the anger he would experience when the night's events finally hit him.
"'K!" Lily sniffed. "He shouted at me, Peter did. The other man pulled back his hood and it was.it was.Voldemort!" She had tears streaming down her face, but was determined to carry on. "Peter hit me and I hit the wall. I could see Voldemort going for Harry and I was pleading for him to stop and leave Harry alone. That was when Peter kicked me and I passed out, I can't remember anything until James woke me up and went to get you guys." She finished in a dead sort of voice like she was blaming herself and dried her eyes on sleeve.
"Can I have Harry?" she said to Remus. He obligingly handed her the sleeping boy who it seemed, at least, did not suffer any emotional trauma. The child however had a gaping wound on the right of his forehead.
Lily reached for her wand and went to heal Harry but Dumbledore interrupted, "No, Lily let me heal you first." He said.
She nodded and handed Harry to James who looked on, worried.
Dumbledore waved his wand over her body and muttered a spell, which caused Lily to breath a sigh of relief as the pain from her broken ribs abated. Turning to Harry Dumbledore waved his wand over him too; the edges of the wound on his head visibly moved closer to each other and sealed the skin. A bright red lightening shaped line remained on the child's forehead.
"Ahh! A scar like that is left only by a powerful dark curse!" Dumbledore commented in his calm voice. He looked at James as a sign that it was time for him to relate his recollections of the evening.
"I ran downstairs when I heard Lily scream. I got here to see.to.err.see." he rubbed his eyes under his glasses before carrying on. "I saw him perform Avada Kedavra on Harry!"
Gasps came from everyone in the room, even Lily. Sirius was outraged with fury and Remus paled in disbelieving horror. Dumbledore's periwinkle gaze narrowed in anger that anyone, even such a Dark Wizard as Voldemort had become, could attempt such a terrible curse on an innocent child.
"Thank god it didn't work!" Remus breathed as he sunk into the sofa with shock.
James nodded and carried on "It bounced off Harry, I have no idea why!" he hugged his son closer, more for his comfort than Harry's. "The reflection hit Voldemort and his body sorta, umm, crumbled and all that was left was this black cloud. It just screamed and flew out of the house. Peter was still in the room and I saw him transform, so I stunned him and put him in a box. That's when I revived Lil and called you." James finished with a look in his face that suggested he never wanted to recall this evening again.
As James finished everyone looked at Dumbledore, just as they had when they were at Hogwarts, for further explanation.
"As I said a scar like that is left only by Dark Magic. The question here is why and how did Harry withstand that curse. He has powerful parents, both with extraordinary skill; I do not believe that that is the entire reason for this miracle. There is a reason why Harry was able to defeat such a powerful dark lord but I also believe it will remain a mystery for many years." He paused as the other adults in the room absorbed this information. "One question I would like to ask you, however, James, is to explain the situation with Peter?"
James stood and walked out of the room, he returned a second later holding a metal box. He thrust the box into Dumbledore's hands and said with a venomous tone, "In there!"
Dumbledore opened the box and an unconscious rat slipped into his hands.
"James?" he questioned.
James looked at Remus and Sirius, who nodded at him.
"You know Remus is a werewolf, of course." Dumbledore nodded. "Well what you don't know is that Sirius and I, and Peter, learnt to become animagus." He paused and watched Dumbledore who raised his white eyebrows. "When he went down to the shrieking shack at the full moon we went with him to stop him hurting himself. The forms Sirius and I take are large enough to control him." Dumbledore looked impressed. "Peter," James said jerking his thumb at the filthy rat "Was small enough to push the knot on the Whomping Willow that allowed entry to the tunnel." He looked at his old headmaster, half expecting detention for not telling him.
"You did this when you were still at school? I am impressed."
"Thanks sir." Sirius addressed Dumbledore as he used to at Hogwarts.
"Anyway, I bound his arms and legs but when he transformed they were useless so I stunned him and locked him in that box in case he woke up and transformed again." James looked at Dumbledore.
"Peter was your secret keeper, am I correct?" Dumbledore said.
Lily and James nodded. "We thought that Voldemort would expect us to use Sirius or Remus and we thought Peter would be a safer option." Lily explained.
"It appears we all misjudged Mr Pettigrew and he was working for Voldemort." Dumbledore added gravely.
"I can't believe it! How could he do something like that?" Remus sat shaking his head in disbelief.
"The no-good, lying little piece of ...!" Sirius stood and paced in anger.
"Sirius calm yourself! I will call the Ministry of Magic immediately and he will be dealt with appropriately. I believe that this is the end of these dark times. The death eaters can now we captured by the aurors." Dumbledore stood with Pettigrew's rat form still held in his hands and moved to the fireplace.
"I will contact you shortly, may I suggest that you stay together tonight. You always were better off when you in each other's presence. If you feel unsafe here you are welcome to go to castle!" Dumbledore stated and looked at each person in the room individually.
"I think that we'll be OK here. You are right. This is the start of something much better!" Lily said smiling.
"I suggest you all get some sleep!" Dumbledore bid them all goodbye and disappeared through the fireplace.
The rest sank back down into the comfy chairs and sofas in the Potter's living room and stayed silent for several minutes.
The war was finally over.
A/N changed my mind; this chapter was no better than the last. Next chapter will be probably stuff like the Ministry getting back on it's feet and then I will start the happiness bit where Harry can grow up with his mum and dad.