Disclaimer-I don't own Harry Potter
Shout-outs:
Aihjah-You're probably right about the age differences. I just like to mess around with the ages to put everyone in the same boat. I'm just strange like that. BTW, the Petunia thing is fully explained in Harry Potter and the Bonds of Hearts. And thanks so much for reviewing, you've been so faithful. Good luck on your exam!
A/N: I'm just gonna list my HP timeline for you
1959-Bellatrix and Rodolphus born
1960-Andromeda, Ted, and Rabastan born
1961-James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily, Molly, Hestia, Diana, Emmeline, Alice, Amelia, Marlene, Frank, Arthur, Apollo, Gilderoy, Mundungus, Kingsley, Gideon, Lucius, Narcissa, Severus, Damon, Owen, Evan, Rapier, and Petunia born
1962-Regulus and Fabian born
1968-Belinda and Jennifer born
1969-Rowena born
1972-'61 babies attend Hogwarts
1978-Current time
1979-Andromeda and Ted marry, '61 babies graduate
Out of the Past
Peter breathed in the cold night air. Wormtail had managed to get him out of the castle but he really did prefer his human form. Master, however, seemed to take amusement with Peter's nickname, and frequently—scratch that, INSISTED on calling him that.
"Why the Devil are you always so late, Pettigrew?" a harsh, female voice snapped at him.
Peter winced. He should've known that he'd be seeing Bellatrix again. He had been thanking God for her graduation two years ago, and now he was one of her partners.
"It was difficult to sneak out," he said, with as much dignity as he could muster, which, apparently, wasn't enough, as Bellatrix was smirking at him patronizingly.
"Bella', don't waste your time on the rat," a male voice said. Rodolphus Lestrange, her fiancee, was standing not far away from her, with his brother, Rabastan. Sending another glare at him, she walked away from Peter and into the waiting arms of Rodolphus.
Peter glanced around at everyone else. Evan, Rapier, and Augustus Rookwood—who had graduated a year before Bellatrix—were in heavy conversation. Narcissa was sitting on Lucius's lap and you could barely see half her face, as they were making out. Damon and Owen were standing guard over the two of them. Severus stood apart from everyone, staring stonily at the entire room. Aaron and Belle were also talking to each other. Peter briefly recalled that Aaron Granger had a brother named Paul, who was a Squib, and wondered what had made Aaron hate Muggles and Mudbloods so much that he would betray his own brother.
"Hey, Peter," another male voice said, but this one seemed just slightly nervous.
"Hello, Regulus," Peter answered.
Sirius's younger brother approached Peter. "I heard that they're planning a huge massacre. Do you think we'll be part of it?"
Peter noticed the panic that Regulus's attempt at a macho voice was covering.
"Maybe," Peter answered, trying to sound mature and cool.
"Don't bet on it," Rabastan called. "You two are newbies. You'll be lucky to shine Master's shoes."
"Ah, and I quite remember when it was YOU doing the shining, Rabbit."
The clearing suddenly quieted the instant Rabastan's baby name was heard. Narcissa and Lucius stopped playing tongue tennis and stood up. Narcissa brushed out her clothes and then sunk into a deep curtsey, spreading out the dress of her robes. All the girls were doing the same, and the men were bowing at the waist.
"'Twas quite amusing, watching little Rabbit make my shoes sparkle," the voice said again, and now it seemed like all warmth had been sucked from the area.
"Master, we've awaited eagerly for your arrival," Bellatrix said.
"I know that, Bella', otherwise you would not be here. Do you insult the Dark Lord's intelligence?"
"No, Master, never!" Bellatrix gasped. "I beg you, please don't even insinuate that I feel anything but loyalty to you!"
"Than kindly refrain from less-than-bright remarks, Bella'."
She flushed pink and curtsied again. "Yes, sir."
"Good, good. Now, our meeting tonight is of the utmost importance. There is quite a large gathering of werewolves to take place on Halloween in Diagon Alley. This information brought to us courtesy of our good friend Wormtail."
Peter felt a rush of blood to his face. He didn't like having his name mentioned. Scolded or thanked; either way he would be tormented by Bellatrix later for either being an idiot or a suck-up.
"This gathering of werewolves is a perfect opportunity. When we, as Muggles say, "crash the party", we will be killing three birds with one stone. First of all, their moronic Ministry will have yet another dark splotch on its name. Second of all, we can kill off some of those flea-ridden werewolves and manipulate it to look like the Ministry was behind it. And, in a combination of the previously stated, gain some werewolf allies. Wormtail, you are currently comrades with a werewolf, aren't you? Name of…ah…"Moony", I believe."
"Also known as Remus Lupin, Master," Peter said quietly.
""Moony" will do nicely, just as you are "Wormtail". So tell me, Wormtail, do you think he would be keen on joining us?"
"I doubt it, Master."
"Pity. We could've done with another major division in the magical world. Que lastima but c'est le vie." He smiled mirthlessly at his use of Spanish and French. "Severus, know you the particulars about this gathering?"
"I beg your pardon, Master?" Severus returned. His thoughts seemed to have been on other things.
"Severus, have you in fact been paying attention to this meeting?"
"Maser, of course I have," Severus said, but Peter thought he saw an expression on the Slytherin's face that said he'd rather be in Hell than here.
"I'll thank you to look alive, Snivellus."
Severus visibly winced.
"You are our spy, Snivellus. If you can't do your job, you know what the consequence will be, don't you?"
"Yes, Master."
"Good. Well, since our spy is useless, we'll have to improvise, won't we? Go in Ministry garb. A senior Death Eater will signal you to start our massacre. I'll leave it to your imaginations of what jinxes and curses to use. I'll inform you of our next meeting via your Marks. Meeting adjourned."
With a pop, Voldemort disapparated from the grounds, leaving several Death Eaters, stunned at his shortness, in his wake.
James tossed and turned on his bed, unable to sleep. It was partly because of Arthur's snoring—God only knew what those kids of his would sound like—but mainly because every time he shut his eyes Lily's angry green eyes tore into his brain.
He probably should not have yelled at her, but even though he'd adored her for 7 years straight, he always thought her a tad controlling. Her sister had been like that, too, and God knew what their parents were like. And today had not been the day to get in his face.
His hands itched to punch Severus again. How dare he throw Belinda and Jennifer's condition in his face. A birth defect is not something to laugh about.
He remembered September 1st, 1972, the day before he started his first year. Belinda and Jennifer had been 4 years old then, and they had come to him as he was stowing away his luggage, crying that a 10-year-old boy on the station had been calling them "freaks". James immediately went out and punched the guy in the face.
The 10-year-old turned out to be Regulus Black, and that was how he had first met Sirius, who watched from the sidelines and cheered when it was over. Sirius was taken aback by the twins' appearance—everyone was—but he'd been nice to them, and he didn't comment about them on the train ride. This was part of the reason James and Sirius were so close.
Still, James had to admit that his anger at Severus was no reason to snap at Lily. Normally when she got in his face, he gave her hair a tug, flashed her a smile, and made some stupid remark. He certainly didn't shove her aside, have a huge fight outside McGonagall's office, and get slapped during the process.
He'd have to talk to her, he decided, and tomorrow morning.
"I have never, EVER seen James Nathaniel Potter so angry," Emmeline said seriously. She and the other girls had piled into Lily's dorm. Hestia and Emmeline sat on one bed together, Amelia and Marlene on another, Lily and Molly on another, Diana and Alice on another, and the extra was piled up with the girls stuff. Hestia, Emmeline, and Diana had another dorm, and Marlene and Amelia were Ravenclaws, so they'd had to sneak in.
"Well, I can understand why," Hestia said. "If Diana and I had that condition and someone told us off about it, you can bet your wand that we'd lay him flat."
""Condition"?" Lily asked. "I thought James was just doing a JPDOP."
"A what?" Amelia asked.
"James Potter Display of Power," Lily explained, emphasizing the first letter of every word.
"You really are a dork, Lily," Marlene said.
Lily stuck out her tongue. "So, what's this about a condition?"
"It's James's little sisters," Molly explained. "I've had to baby-sit them over the summer sometimes for extra cash, so I should know."
"What about them?!" Lily yelped, exasperated.
"It goes like this," Molly began. "Y'know how James is normal?"
"I don't know the context in which you're using the word "normal" but for the sake of time, I'll say yes."
"He has a little sister named Rowena, she's 9 years old, and she's normal too. But his 10-year-old twin sisters, Belinda and Jennifer…well, you'd have to call them his 10-year-old twin SISTER."
"What…?"
"Stop beating around the bush, Molly," Amelia ordered.
"All right, all right," Molly shot back. "Lily, Belinda and Jennifer are Siamese twins."
"They're WHAT?!"
"Siamese twins," Molly repeated.
"So, wait. Are they like two people joined at the hip, or…?"
"They look like one person with two heads. They share a heart, intestines, two arms, two legs, everything. They have separate brains, and each have use of only one arm, but that's where their differences stop."
"And they can't have surgery," Diana added, "because each twin would have only half an organ, and that's not nearly enough for someone to survive, and thus far there have been no organ donors with their blood type."
"They're the sweetest little things," Molly said sorrowfully. "All they ever want to do is play with Rowena, because God knows the trouble they have making friends. Oh, I can just imagine how horrible their first year will be. James won't be here to stick up for them."
"When are they coming in?" Lily asked.
"'79, next year, after we all graduate. And Rowena's coming in '80."
"Well, maybe some of the older students will remember that James is still there to call upon should they pick on the twins."
"Yeah, but the fellow first years won't. And for some reason, it's worse to be picked on by your own age group than by older people," Emmeline said.
Lily looked absolutely flabbergasted. "I never thought of James acting the big brother."
"Oh yeah, why do you think he's always sticking up for the rest of his gang?" Alice asked.
"Even that annoying little Peter," Amelia added. "It's in the Potter blood to look after everyone."
"Hmm. I guess I didn't know that about him."
"Gasp! The great Lillian Veronica Evans admits she is wrong! Someone call the Daily Prophet! The world is flat!" Diana exclaimed, and ducked—though not in time—to dodge Lily's pillow.
"What, am I a know-it-all?" Lily asked, putting on a slightly hurt face.
"Lily, what's clause 3 of the Statute of Secrecy?" Marlene asked.
""Any and all underage wizards or witches found guilty of breaking the Statue of Secrecy shall have their wands snapped without"…" She stopped. "Okay, okay, I get it."
"I'M supposed to know that. I'M the one who wants to work in the court system," Amelia said.
"Sorry, Ames," Lily said. "All right, I'll apologize to James in the morning, are you all happy?"
"We're happy," Molly said, grinning. She bounced on the bed and squealed. "Oh, God, I can't wait for Arthur to ask me to marry him!"
"I know, it's so amazing," Alice said. "You're the first in our gang to get married."
"Now, now, Miss Gunther, I'm pretty sure I accidentally overheard Frank say something about how much he can't wait to marry you!"
"Are you serious!?" Alice's hands covered her reddening face.
"Of course I am, have I ever lied to you? And may I inquire, Diana, about a certain Mr. Apollo Lovegood?"
Diana blushed and shrugged modestly. "Guys, do you think the name Luna Diana Artemis Selena Phoebe Cynthia Gwendolyn sound for a girl?"
""Name" or "Names"?" Lily asked.
"Name."
"Obsessed with the moon much?"
"I wanna teach Astronomy."
(A/N: Diana, Selena, Cynthia, and I think Artemis are Greek moon god/desses, Luna and Phoebe are Latin moon goddesses, and Gwendolyn is the Irish moon goddess)
"All right, for couples, there's me and Emmeline, of course," Hestia added.
"I think a certain Mr. Remus John Lupin might have a thing for you, Amelia," Alice said.
"Really?" Amelia said, amused.
"And what, Sirius has a thing for me?" Marlene asked.
"No, I think it's Gideon Prewett for you, but I'm not sure," Alice said.
"Okay, so that's Hestia and Emmeline, me and Arthur, Diana and Apollo, and Alice and Frank who are together," Molly said. "Remus fancies Amelia and Gideon fancies Marlene. Now, who fancies Lily?"
"Gilderoy Lockhart!" Hestia squealed.
"Please. The day Gilderoy fancies anyone but himself is the day Severus Snape fancies my sister," Lily said.
(A/N: Author turns and whistles innocently)
"Severus Snape! He fancies you, too!" Alice hooted.
"Lucius Malfoy!" Amelia yelped. Lily's other pillow went flying at her head.
"Regulus Black!" Emmeline announced.
"Sirius Black!" was from Marlene.
"Peter Pettigrew!" came from a giggling Diana.
"James Potter!" Molly said finally.
An immediate hush went over the room, and Molly looked mortified.
"Oh, um, sorry, Lily," she apologized meekly. "I forgot…"
"What are you sorry for?" Amelia asked. "Blind and deaf people know that James is in love with Lily! Dead people know! My owl knows, for God's sake!"
The thought of Amelia's old, feeble owl, who could barely fly without smashing headfirst into the wall, knowing somehow made the girls giggle madly.
"But, we're very serious, Lily," Emmeline said, wiping happy tears from her eyes. "James is so into you, he'd fall though you if it got any more intense."
Lily sighed. "Well, maybe if he wasn't such an arrogant, pigheaded, stupid prankster, I could like him."
"Oh, so there are some things you like about him, eh?" Molly pressed. "Do tell, do tell."
"This won't leave the room, right?" Lily asked. As the other girls nodded, she sucked on the inside of her cheek. "Well…I do like the fact that he sticks up for his friends and his little sisters…except when it turns into a fight. It helps him that he's really smart, and I guess he's just a millimeter more mature than he was 1st year."
"And he's hot, right?" Diana flung at her.
"Fine, he's really hot, happy now, Diana?" Lily snapped at her.
"Deliriously."
"Anything else, Lily?" Amelia asked.
"All right, all right, I guess you could say he's kinda sweet when he wants to be. Like how he picks up something that someone's dropped and gives it back to them. He's only started doing that since 6th year, though."
"Still, that's a lot better than you can say for most teenage boys," Amelia pointed out.
"True," Lily mused. "And he's not all into the Dark Arts, either. His only problem is that…"
"He's an arrogant, pigheaded, stupid prankster," the other girls chorused back at her.
"Well, I was gonna call him a troglodyte, but your description is okay."
"A what?" Hestia asked.
"A caveman."
"Lily, you need help," Alice announced.
Lily cocked her head to one side and smiled innocently.
-Petunia
This is the last you will ever hear from me. Read this letter before you burn it, that's all I ask.
The incident in 5th year was a horrible mistake. You probably won't believe me when I tell you that I was lying about my part in it, because to give you the truth would be to put both of us in danger. I only wish you to know that our year was not wasted, as you most likely believe it was. Why I say this you will never know the reason, because you will be safer that way.
So, here is where I must say good-bye for good.
Good luck to you in life.
-Severus A. SnapePetunia crumpled the letter in her hand.
"You were right, Severus," she said, her eyes filling with tears. "I don't believe you."
"Petunia, dear?" Mallory Evans knocked on her daughter's door. "Dylan is here, darling."
Petunia swiped at her eyes, took a very deep breath, and forced a smile for her new boyfriend. "I'll be right down, Mom."
She looked at the letter in her hand. With a grimace, she chucked it into the wastebasket.
She was sick of living in the past, sick of living in the shadow of her failed relationship with Severus. It was over. He had left her heart, bruised and broken, and she'd had to pick up the shattered pieces. She'd done it; she was free.
She looked at the crumpled letter in the trash and for a moment, just for a moment, wanted to reach in after it and hold it to her heart. But the moment passed, as she ran her fingers through her hair, checked her eyes in the mirror, shut off the light, slammed the door behind her, and ran down the stairs.