Summary: Alternate Universe to Destiny. Destined to be raised by the ghosts
of the Potters to know right from wrong, fate gets drastically changed when
the Potters live and Destiny must find her way alone.
Disclaimer: I own Destiny Black, Julia Snow, and any other character you do not recognize. I do not own the Harry Potter series and am making no money off of this story. The plot is mine and may not be borrowed, nor any of the characters that I own without my permission. Many quotes are not mine and come from various places and are being borrowed without permission.
A/N: This is an AU to the Destiny series. While it is not required to read Destiny and the sequel, The Phoenix's Fire first, it may help for you to understand some concepts. If you are reading this without first reading Destiny and don't understand something, e-mail me and I will explain to you what you missed.
"---"= Speech
'---'= Thought
Des is pronounced Dez
Necromancy- Conjuration of the spirits of the dead
Necromancy is the ability to see the dead, talk to the dead, make the dead visible to the living, and raise the dead from the grave. It is considered the darkest of dark arts.
Forsaking Fate
Prologue
Destiny is not a matter of chance but of choice. Not something to wish for
but to attain.
Time passes and things change, but one thing is always for certain. Fate, Destiny, Time; whatever you choose to call it, it always has a set course for what will happen. Yes, we have free will, but always are we shaped by what is meant to happen.
Unfortunately, sometimes what is meant to be is forever altered and another world arises and is formed. What is originally seen as good is often times misleading. Sometimes, bad things happen to farther the greater good. Sometimes though, the bad does not occur and new, unimaginable horrors arise.
Destiny Black
Chapter 1
October 31, 1981
Dusk was settling over Godric's Hollow when James Potter entered the kitchen of his cozy home. Shrugging off his coat and throwing it over the back of an ornately carved wooden chair, he moved to where a small baby sat scattering cereal onto the floor from its highchair. Pulling up a chair similar to the one he had thrown his coat on; James leaned forward, put his hands over his eyes, and called out, "Peek-a-boo!"
Giggling, the small child threw a cheerio at him.
"Hey, now, no fair throwing food when I don't have any to throw back!"
Grinning widely, the baby held out a piece to his father. Leaning forward, James allowed the boy to stick it in his mouth.
"You do realize," a sweet voice asked, "that he has been drooling all over those, don't you?"
Scrunching up his nose, the man playfully exclaimed, "Ew, Harry germs!"
Reaching out, he plucked the baby from the chair and swung him around.
"James, stop that! You're going to make him sick!"
"Oh, I am not!" Smiling mischievously, James walked seductively up to his wife and smirked. "I couldn't make anybody sick."
Laughing, Lily Potter was leaning forward to kiss him when the baby burped and promptly spit up all over the man's shirt.
Smirking, Lily replied with a simple, "You were saying?"
Laughing, James handed baby Harry over to his mother and left to change his shirt.
Wiping her sons face, Lily couldn't help but glance wearily out the window. A week had passed since the Fidelius Charm had been set and with each day that passed, Lily grew more certain that something was terribly wrong.
'Peter will not betray us,' she thought, trying desperately to make herself believe it.
Sighing, Lily carried her son up the stairs and began to ready him for bed. As she placed him in his crib, she turned to see James standing in the doorway, watching. Smiling, James walked over to her, wrapped his arms around his wife from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder, looking down at the small boy.
The boy was the most beautiful thing in the world to James. A head full of thick, wild black hair and large green eyes that now stared up at his father, were the child's dominate features.
Yawning, James reached up to rub his eyes before leaning down to kiss Harry's soft, downy head. Straightening, he squeezed his wife's hand before leaving and making his way to his own bed.
Flopping down on the large, red quilted bed, James smiled tiredly when he felt Lily curl up behind him. Rolling over, James wrapped his arm tightly around his beautiful, fire haired wife.
"James?"
"Hm?" he murmured in reply.
"I have this horrible feeling..."
"About what?"
". . . Something's going to happen. Something bad, very soon. . ."
"We're safe. All will be well."
"I hope so," Lily muttered. "For everyone's sake, I hope so."
As the night grew later and the witching hour arrived, stillness descended on the night. A loud rumbling noise filled the darkness as a bright light pierced the night. From high in the sky, a large black motorbike descended quickly, hitting the pavement and roared up to the house at the end of the street. The house was medium sized; not large, not small. With a flower garden, trees large enough to climb, and a white picket fence, the little cottage in Godric's Hollow was the home of dreams.
Leaping from the motorbike without bothering to halt completely, the young rider ignored the gravel being spit up from the tires and ran to the front door of the house. Banging frantically on the white door, the man screamed for the inhabitants to hurry. A few seconds later the door was thrown open.
"Sirius?" James asked worriedly, stuffing his glasses onto his nose. "What are you doing here?"
"Peter," Sirius snapped angrily, forcing his way inside, "he's betrayed you!"
"No. . ." James whispered horror plain in his voice.
"Yes!" Sirius snapped back. "We have to get out of here! Voldemort could be here any second!"
Nodding, James dashed back up the stairs, slid around the corner, knocking a picture off the wall as he crashed into it, and sprinted into the nursery. Coming to an abrupt halt, he caught sight of his wife rocking little Harry, who had awoken at the pounding on the door, and hurried over to her.
"Lily, Peter's the spy! We have to go!"
Squeezing her eyes shut in horror, she quickly grabbed some extra nappies for Harry, a few toys, and the most essential things before making her way downstairs. By the fireplace, James and Sirius stood waiting with some of the Potter's belongings.
Stopping next to her husband, Lily carefully handed Harry to James and turned to face Sirius.
"Thank you," Lily murmured, hugging the man.
"Well," Sirius grinned, "I couldn't just let you die. They may have blamed it all on me!"
Giving a small laugh, James was opening his mouth to reply when a great crash came from the front door. As pieces of wood flew into the living room, Lily shrieked. Panicking, James threw floo powder into the fireplace, shoved Lily in and screamed, "Dumbledore's office!"
A high pitched laugh resonated through the house as Voldemort came through the broken entryway.
Frantically, Sirius threw more powder into the fire and waved for James to go. Swallowing his guilt at leaving his friend to go last, James gripped his son to his chest, stepped into the flames yelling his destination and vanished.
Terrified, Sirius reached out for more floo powder from the little ceramic jar on the mantle and knocked it to the floor, shattering the pottery on the marble flooring surrounding the fireplace. Dropping to his knees, he began trying to brush the powder into a small pile. Finally having enough for a handful, Sirius threw it into the flames and rolled in. His last view of the house was Voldemort shooting a deadly green light at him.
----------
Landing in Dumbledore's office, James felt the wind being knocked out of him as he twisted his body to avoid landing on his son. Staggering to his feet, he hurried over to where Lily had stood waiting anxiously. Hugging her to him with Harry between them, they waited for Sirius.
Only minutes after James had arrived, Sirius came flying out of the fireplace, covered in soot. Sighing in relief, Lily went to Sirius and began brushing him off before hugging him close.
At that moment, Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, came through the door to his office. Smiling happily at the occupants as if he had known they would be there, Dumbledore asked them to have a seat.
"Well, now," he exclaimed, clapping his hands together, "this is a pleasant surprise. Oh, and you brought young Harry." Holding out his arms, he asked, "May I?" before taking the squirming child. Cuddling the boy to him, he just grinned when Harry began to pull on his long, flowing beard. Turning his attention back to the adults, he asked why they were there. "You shouldn't have left the protection wards around your home."
"A lot of good wards do when your Secret Keeper is a Death Eater," Sirius snapped.
Blinking at them, Dumbledore shifted Harry to his hip. "I beg you pardon, Mr. Black? That's quite a thing to say considering that you are in fact the Secret Keeper in question."
"No," James sighed, "he is not. We thought it would be the perfect bluff. Peter is our Secret Keeper."
Bowing his head sadly, the Headmaster whispered, "Mr. Pettigrew shall be arrested this very night. In the mean time, Sirius, I suggest that you contact Miss Snow and have her make her way here, as well as Mr. Lupin. They may not be safe where they are."
Nodding, Sirius went to the fireplace and floo-ed home to retrieve his girlfriend and then his friend.
----------
The next day dawned sunny and clear, with only the barest hint of winter in the air. At Hogwarts, in a large room decorated with paintings and beautiful curtains hanging from the windows, the Potters, Sirius Black, Julia Snow, and Remus Lupin gathered for breakfast. The tension of the room was almost palpable, the occupants not sure what to say. Clearing her throat, Julia finally spoke.
"It was in the Daily Prophet today that Peter avoided capture. People know that he is a Death Eater now and will be on the look out..."
"Huh," Lily replied absentmindedly, trying halfheartedly to get some hotdogs into her son's mouth.
Silence descended once more and nobody made an attempt to break it for some time.
Finally, not being able to take the tension that he knew he was causing anymore, Remus rose to his feet and muttered, "I should be going."
Jerking his eyes up from where he had been staring at his plate, lost in thought, James asked, confused, "Going? You can't go anywhere! Voldemort is after Lily and I and he'll go after you if he thinks it will allow him to get to us."
"Well, I'm sure that Peter will inform You-Know-Who that I'm not a close enough friend to be used as a hostage," Remus uncharacteristically snapped.
"Moony," James asked with confusion, "what are you talking about?"
"What am I talking about? WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT?" Remus shouted angrily, allowing the anger that had been building up for months to burst forth. "I am talking about the fact that you thought I was the one betraying you to Voldemort! Shut-up Sirius!" he growled, effectively cutting the other man off before he could get a word in edgewise. "You believed I was betraying you based on the assumption that all Dark Creatures would want to join with the Dark Side!"
"I know," James mumbled. Sighing in defeat, James ran his hands through his hair distractedly. "I know there is no way I can ever make it up to you, but I want you to know that I am truly sorry. I doubted you and I shouldn't have. Friends don't do that. I wasn't being a good friend. You did nothing to warrant our distrust."
"Why then?" Remus asked, cutting in as he paused to take a breath.
"Why? I don't know. The reasons you named I suppose. There was no good reason. The worst part, worse than knowing that I may lose your friendship because I fell victim to the Wizarding Worlds stupid prejudices, is that my distrust nearly cost me the lives of everyone I loved. I put everyone in this room in danger..."
"It was my fault too. I was the one who started the pointing of fingers. Prongs, you were just trying to protect your family; you shouldn't be at blame." Turning to the werewolf, Sirius said, "Blame me for it. Don't punish James for my mistakes."
Glaring at the two men, Remus finally replied slowly. "I cannot forgive you, not yet, but... I still want to be friends. Let's just forget about it and move on with our lives. There is enough suffering going on already. I will not be the cause of anymore if I can help it. I will be going back to my rooms now. I will see you all later."
As the door closed behind him, Julia breathed out a sigh of relief before turning to her boyfriend and smacking him over the head. "I cannot believe you suspected Remus! He's the nicest, most caring person I have ever met!" Turning back to her breakfast, she continued to mumble to herself about his idiocy.
Ten minutes later, after sitting in relative silence for a time, Julia laid down her fork and turned back to her boyfriend. "Sirius, I need to speak with you."
"You already are," he replied grumpily.
"No, I meant alone..."
"Fine," he muttered, rising to his feet.
Once they were outside the door and in the empty corridor, Julia smiled up at him nervously. At his questioning expression, she said, "I know that I should have told you sooner but I had to be sure first. When I finally was, all this Secret Keeper business began and you were stressed, and I just couldn't tell you."
Gently pressing his finger to her lips to still her rambling, he murmured, "Tell me what?"
Taking a deep, calming breath, Julia whispered excitedly, "Sirius, Honey, I'm pregnant!"
Staring at her blankly, he finally gasped out in disbelief, "You're what?"
"I'm pregnant."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm positive."
"Oh... I'm going to pass out."
Laughing at his stunned expression, she cupped his face in her hand. "Are you happy?"
Looking down at her, an excited smile crept onto his face, growing larger by the second. "We're going to have a baby?" At her nod, he let out a loud whoop of joy. "I'm going to be a father! I have to tell Remus and James!"
----------
That night, in the safety of the rooms that had been provided for them, Sirius and Julia sat together.
"Sirius," Julia snapped, rather annoyed, "the baby isn't even formed yet. You can't feel it kick if it has no feet!"
"Maybe I could if you would just hold still!" Sighing, Julia decided it was probably best to just stay still. "You know, I think I feel something!"
"You do?" she asked suspiciously.
"Yeah, there is a bump right," pulling something out of thin air, he finished with, "here." Looking at the small box held in his hand, she held it as if it were a bomb when he set it in her hands. "Open it."
Lifting the lid cautiously, she gasped in shock when she saw the large diamond that lay inside the velvet casing. Glancing back at Sirius, she was surprised to see him kneeling down in front of her.
"I know that it seem that I am just doing this because you're carrying my baby but. . . Julia, I love you. I've always loved you. I loved you when we were enemies; when I was dying you green and you were forcing me to confess my true love to McGonagall. I have always known that one day I would marry you, that you were the only one for me. I am asking you now, because I love you, will you marry me?"
Blinking back tears, Julia threw her arms around him, murmuring over and over, "Yes!"
----------
Sitting in the elegant rooms they had been given, Lily and James were playing on the floor with their son when two raven haired whirlwinds burst into the room. Used to this behavior, the Potter's proceeded to help Harry stack his blocks, completely ignoring the commotion. Harry though looked up at his Godparents and held up his arms.
"Up, up!"
Grabbing the little boy up, Sirius smiled at his Godson's exclamation of, "Pa-foo!"
Glancing up at the other couple, Lily sighed. "Isn't it a little late for you to be terrorizing people? Especially people who are going to have to put to bed a now wound up baby?"
"Oh, Lils," Julia squealed, her hazel eyes shining with delight, "I would have waited but I just couldn't!" Smiling with amusement, Lily waved for the other woman to continue. "Sirius asked me to marry him!"
Giving a loud shriek, Lily leapt up and threw her arms around her best friend.
"Congratulations! Do you know when it is going to be? Oh, this is going to be so much fun to plan! Do you have a particular time of year you want? Spring would be lovely, especially when the flowers are just coming into bloom."
"Lily," Sirius yelped, "Calm down!"
Grinning sheepishly, Lily turned back to the other woman. "Well?"
"Um... I was hoping to be married within the next month, before the New Year..."
"A month?" Lily asked incredulously. "You can't plan a wedding in a month!"
"Well, we're going to," Sirius replied defiantly.
"What's the rush?" James asked.
Grinning happily, Julia replied, "I want to still be relatively skinny for my wedding and Sirius and I thought it would be best if we were married before the baby came."
"Baby" Lily replied blankly.
Laughing, James smacked Sirius on the back. "Congratulations Padfoot!"
"Pa-foo!" Harry responded.
Ignoring his son, James continued. "Are you sure you're ready for such a big responsibility?"
"It's a little late if he isn't," Lily replied, finally catching on to what they were saying. Turning to her friend, she asked when she was due.
Grinning, Julia chirped, "Late March, early April."
"Oh!" Sirius exclaimed, "Let's go tell Moony!"
----------
December 24th dawned cold and clear, with only a light snow flurry raining down. In the Great Hall of Hogwarts, a small crowd of people gathered together in the beautifully decorated room. The house tables had been removed and down the center of the hall, a white clothed aisle had been laid, lined on either side by candles. The room was aglow in the candle light, the enchanted ceiling giving off a beautiful view of the winter wonderland morning outside. The guests inside lined the aisle, dressed in their best dress robes, eagerly awaiting the bride that would soon walk to the alter.
At the alter, Albus Dumbledore stood in sky blue robes embroidered with snow flakes, smiling happily, his eyes twinkling merrily at the nervous groom by his side.
"Sirius, it's going to be alright. Just take a deep breath. . ."
Remus Lupin, dressed in navy blue robes, was attempting to calm the terrified man. For the past ten minutes, the caramel haired man had been repeating similar phrases, each more ineffective than the last.
"What if she backed out on me?" Sirius hissed.
"She didn't," James replied. Dressed in bottle green robes, James Potter was a picture of calmness, an easy grin setting carelessly on his lips. "She probably just lost her shoe."
Grabbing his friend's shoulders, Remus forced Sirius to look him in the eye. Sirius Black, usually the carefree, unflappable member of the group was quickly falling to pieces. In stylish black robes, he was easily the handsomest of the group. The soft black hair that fell to the bottom of his ears lay artfully tousled from having hands run through it. Through dark blue eyes, Sirius looked nervously down at the slightly shorter man.
"I'll go find out what's taking so long. James, don't let him pass out."
As Remus walked off to find out why the bride was late, James turned to the groom.
"Hey, Padfoot?"
"Huh?"
"Are you excited that you're going to be a father?"
Seeming to have found a topic of interest to the jittery groom, James just stood by and let the other man talk.
"I can't wait! We've decided to decorate the nursery a yellow color since we don't know if it will be a boy or a girl."
"Have you chosen any names yet?"
"Names? Well, for a boy we were thinking Alec or Orion." At James' wrinkled nose, Sirius laughed. "We're still working on the boy names."
"What about a girl name?"
"We were thinking about Angel." The conversation came to a halt as Remus hurried back to the alter. "Well?"
"Julia was feeling sick."
Alarmed, Sirius asked worriedly, "Is she alright?"
"She's fine," Remus replied soothingly. "It's just a little late pregnancy morning sickness."
Nodding, a hush fell over the gathered crowd as the doors opened and Julia entered on her father's arm.
In a simple flowing white gown, Julia was stunning. Though there were no frills or lace to the gown, the bride managed to make it look wonderful with her long chocolate waves of hair cascading down her back and the small bump of her stomach showing slightly. At the bodice of the gown, the material had been gathered together, giving it just enough elegance to make a flawless wedding gown.
"Wow," Sirius murmured, stepping forward to receive his bride.
----------
"Ah!"
The quiet of morning was broken on March 30, 1982 as Julia Black let out an ear-piercing shriek.
"I know they hurt but must you scream so loudly?" Sirius snapped as he ran around the house searching for everything that would be needed at the hospital.
"Give me my wand and I'll make you feel my pain!" Julia snapped.
Shaking his head in exasperation, Sirius quickly called his friends and family through the fireplace, grabbed his wife by the arm, and apparated them to St. Mungo's.
In the months since 1982 had begun, Dumbledore had managed to set up a town near Hogwarts that had wards surrounding it to keep all who wished to do harm to the occupants, out. It wasn't a permanent solution by any means and wouldn't last forever but, at the moment, all who lived within the boundaries were safe. The Potters, the Blacks, Remus Lupin, and most of the Order of the Phoenix now lived within those wards.
Arriving at the bustling hospital, Sirius led his wife through the sterile, white corridors to the maternity ward. After settling Julia in one of the uncomfortable, puke green chairs, he hurried to the receptionists' desk. Minutes later, Julia was taken out of the waiting room and down the hall to the room where she would wait to have her baby.
Rushing through the corridors, the large group that had gathered to wait on the new infants arrival, hurried up to Sirius.
"Hey, Sirius, how are you holding up?" James asked, slapping the other man on the back.
"How do you think he's holding up?" Remus asked. "Probably as well as you were when Harry was born!" Putting his hands in his hair, Remus began to pace up and down in front of them, mimicking James. "Oh, no, what if the baby dies? What if Lily dies? What if something goes wrong? What if the baby ends up in Slytherin?"
Punching his friend in the arm, James muttered, "Shut up."
Smiling weakly, Sirius sank down into a chair. "I don't think I'm ready for this," he muttered.
"Hey now," Lily whispered, kneeling down in front of him and setting Harry in his arms. "You'll be a great father. Look at how good you are with Harry."
Glancing down at the small boy in his arms, Sirius smiled. "Our kids are going to be great friends," he replied decisively.
"I'm sure they will be," Lily smiled.
"Mr. Black?" an old witch with graying hair asked.
"That's me."
"Your wife is asking for you and your friends."
Nodding, Sirius hurried into the hospital room, the group of friends right behind him.
The next few hours passed quietly with little excitement. As morning became afternoon and afternoon became night, most of the people who had come to visit with the Blacks were forced to leave until only the Potters, Blacks, and Remus remained.
"This is taking forever," Sirius grumbled, flipping through the stations on the Wizarding Wireless, ignoring his wife's groan of pain as another contraction passed.
"Try to be a little more sympathetic, Sirius," Lily snapped.
"Can't. Hungry."
Shaking her head in exasperation, she looked up as a doctor came in.
"We're all ready Mrs. Black. Could any who are not the father please wait outside?"
Hopping to her feet from her perch on the side of the hospital bed, Lily smoothed the damp hair off of Julia's brow. "You're going to be just fine. I'll see you soon."
As he stepped out of the room, James gave Sirius a thumbs up.
----------
Two hours later, at 8:23 pm, a little girl was born to Sirius and Julia Black. A perfectly healthy child, the girl had a head full of wispy black curls and the largest pale blue eyes. At first, doctors feared that the child may be blind or be at risk for blindness due to the light color of the irises, but it was still too early to tell. The little girl could see at the moment though, this was known for certain.
The strangest thing is, when a child is first born, it cannot see immediately; this infant could most definitely see right after birth and knew what it was seeing. The most frightening thing was that, when born, the Black girl did not cry. Without a sound, the seconds old baby silently studied the world through eyes that held too much knowledge.
----------
Panting heavily, Julia took the newborn baby in her arms and looked down on her. Large blue eyes gazed up at her, seeming to bore into her with a knowing look. Feeling a slight shiver of fear, Julia tore her eyes from her child and looked up at the doctors.
"Why isn't she crying? Is there something wrong with her? Babies are supposed to cry when they're born!"
Shrugging, the doctor replied uncomfortably, "The infant first cries to force the mucus out and air into its lungs, and also, out of fear. Your daughter in breathing normally so I see no need to worry."
Sitting on the bed next to his wife and newborn daughter, Sirius reached out and allowed the little girl to wrap her tiny hand around his finger. Yawning tiredly, the baby closed her eyes, never letting go of her father's finger.
"She's precious," Sirius whispered, staring down at the tiny face. Looking back up at Julia, he asked, "What should we name her?"
Gazing down at the infant, Julia shivered. Something was wrong- different. 'No good is going to come of this girl. Bad things will always follow you.' Hugging the small body to her chest, she sighed. 'I will protect you though. Forever and always. . .' Looking back up at her husband momentarily, she glanced back down. "Destiny; her name shall be Destiny."
"Destiny?" Nodding, Sirius murmured, "I like it. Why Destiny though?"
Shaking her head in confusion, Julia lifted her eyes to meet his. "I just have this feeling, this horrible feeling that she will live up to the name."
Swallowing nervously, Sirius shifted his gaze to the child. Taking a deep breath to clear his mind, he whispered, "Destiny Black."
Disclaimer: I own Destiny Black, Julia Snow, and any other character you do not recognize. I do not own the Harry Potter series and am making no money off of this story. The plot is mine and may not be borrowed, nor any of the characters that I own without my permission. Many quotes are not mine and come from various places and are being borrowed without permission.
A/N: This is an AU to the Destiny series. While it is not required to read Destiny and the sequel, The Phoenix's Fire first, it may help for you to understand some concepts. If you are reading this without first reading Destiny and don't understand something, e-mail me and I will explain to you what you missed.
"---"= Speech
'---'= Thought
Des is pronounced Dez
Necromancy- Conjuration of the spirits of the dead
Necromancy is the ability to see the dead, talk to the dead, make the dead visible to the living, and raise the dead from the grave. It is considered the darkest of dark arts.
Forsaking Fate
Prologue
Destiny is not a matter of chance but of choice. Not something to wish for
but to attain.
Time passes and things change, but one thing is always for certain. Fate, Destiny, Time; whatever you choose to call it, it always has a set course for what will happen. Yes, we have free will, but always are we shaped by what is meant to happen.
Unfortunately, sometimes what is meant to be is forever altered and another world arises and is formed. What is originally seen as good is often times misleading. Sometimes, bad things happen to farther the greater good. Sometimes though, the bad does not occur and new, unimaginable horrors arise.
Destiny Black
Chapter 1
October 31, 1981
Dusk was settling over Godric's Hollow when James Potter entered the kitchen of his cozy home. Shrugging off his coat and throwing it over the back of an ornately carved wooden chair, he moved to where a small baby sat scattering cereal onto the floor from its highchair. Pulling up a chair similar to the one he had thrown his coat on; James leaned forward, put his hands over his eyes, and called out, "Peek-a-boo!"
Giggling, the small child threw a cheerio at him.
"Hey, now, no fair throwing food when I don't have any to throw back!"
Grinning widely, the baby held out a piece to his father. Leaning forward, James allowed the boy to stick it in his mouth.
"You do realize," a sweet voice asked, "that he has been drooling all over those, don't you?"
Scrunching up his nose, the man playfully exclaimed, "Ew, Harry germs!"
Reaching out, he plucked the baby from the chair and swung him around.
"James, stop that! You're going to make him sick!"
"Oh, I am not!" Smiling mischievously, James walked seductively up to his wife and smirked. "I couldn't make anybody sick."
Laughing, Lily Potter was leaning forward to kiss him when the baby burped and promptly spit up all over the man's shirt.
Smirking, Lily replied with a simple, "You were saying?"
Laughing, James handed baby Harry over to his mother and left to change his shirt.
Wiping her sons face, Lily couldn't help but glance wearily out the window. A week had passed since the Fidelius Charm had been set and with each day that passed, Lily grew more certain that something was terribly wrong.
'Peter will not betray us,' she thought, trying desperately to make herself believe it.
Sighing, Lily carried her son up the stairs and began to ready him for bed. As she placed him in his crib, she turned to see James standing in the doorway, watching. Smiling, James walked over to her, wrapped his arms around his wife from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder, looking down at the small boy.
The boy was the most beautiful thing in the world to James. A head full of thick, wild black hair and large green eyes that now stared up at his father, were the child's dominate features.
Yawning, James reached up to rub his eyes before leaning down to kiss Harry's soft, downy head. Straightening, he squeezed his wife's hand before leaving and making his way to his own bed.
Flopping down on the large, red quilted bed, James smiled tiredly when he felt Lily curl up behind him. Rolling over, James wrapped his arm tightly around his beautiful, fire haired wife.
"James?"
"Hm?" he murmured in reply.
"I have this horrible feeling..."
"About what?"
". . . Something's going to happen. Something bad, very soon. . ."
"We're safe. All will be well."
"I hope so," Lily muttered. "For everyone's sake, I hope so."
As the night grew later and the witching hour arrived, stillness descended on the night. A loud rumbling noise filled the darkness as a bright light pierced the night. From high in the sky, a large black motorbike descended quickly, hitting the pavement and roared up to the house at the end of the street. The house was medium sized; not large, not small. With a flower garden, trees large enough to climb, and a white picket fence, the little cottage in Godric's Hollow was the home of dreams.
Leaping from the motorbike without bothering to halt completely, the young rider ignored the gravel being spit up from the tires and ran to the front door of the house. Banging frantically on the white door, the man screamed for the inhabitants to hurry. A few seconds later the door was thrown open.
"Sirius?" James asked worriedly, stuffing his glasses onto his nose. "What are you doing here?"
"Peter," Sirius snapped angrily, forcing his way inside, "he's betrayed you!"
"No. . ." James whispered horror plain in his voice.
"Yes!" Sirius snapped back. "We have to get out of here! Voldemort could be here any second!"
Nodding, James dashed back up the stairs, slid around the corner, knocking a picture off the wall as he crashed into it, and sprinted into the nursery. Coming to an abrupt halt, he caught sight of his wife rocking little Harry, who had awoken at the pounding on the door, and hurried over to her.
"Lily, Peter's the spy! We have to go!"
Squeezing her eyes shut in horror, she quickly grabbed some extra nappies for Harry, a few toys, and the most essential things before making her way downstairs. By the fireplace, James and Sirius stood waiting with some of the Potter's belongings.
Stopping next to her husband, Lily carefully handed Harry to James and turned to face Sirius.
"Thank you," Lily murmured, hugging the man.
"Well," Sirius grinned, "I couldn't just let you die. They may have blamed it all on me!"
Giving a small laugh, James was opening his mouth to reply when a great crash came from the front door. As pieces of wood flew into the living room, Lily shrieked. Panicking, James threw floo powder into the fireplace, shoved Lily in and screamed, "Dumbledore's office!"
A high pitched laugh resonated through the house as Voldemort came through the broken entryway.
Frantically, Sirius threw more powder into the fire and waved for James to go. Swallowing his guilt at leaving his friend to go last, James gripped his son to his chest, stepped into the flames yelling his destination and vanished.
Terrified, Sirius reached out for more floo powder from the little ceramic jar on the mantle and knocked it to the floor, shattering the pottery on the marble flooring surrounding the fireplace. Dropping to his knees, he began trying to brush the powder into a small pile. Finally having enough for a handful, Sirius threw it into the flames and rolled in. His last view of the house was Voldemort shooting a deadly green light at him.
----------
Landing in Dumbledore's office, James felt the wind being knocked out of him as he twisted his body to avoid landing on his son. Staggering to his feet, he hurried over to where Lily had stood waiting anxiously. Hugging her to him with Harry between them, they waited for Sirius.
Only minutes after James had arrived, Sirius came flying out of the fireplace, covered in soot. Sighing in relief, Lily went to Sirius and began brushing him off before hugging him close.
At that moment, Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, came through the door to his office. Smiling happily at the occupants as if he had known they would be there, Dumbledore asked them to have a seat.
"Well, now," he exclaimed, clapping his hands together, "this is a pleasant surprise. Oh, and you brought young Harry." Holding out his arms, he asked, "May I?" before taking the squirming child. Cuddling the boy to him, he just grinned when Harry began to pull on his long, flowing beard. Turning his attention back to the adults, he asked why they were there. "You shouldn't have left the protection wards around your home."
"A lot of good wards do when your Secret Keeper is a Death Eater," Sirius snapped.
Blinking at them, Dumbledore shifted Harry to his hip. "I beg you pardon, Mr. Black? That's quite a thing to say considering that you are in fact the Secret Keeper in question."
"No," James sighed, "he is not. We thought it would be the perfect bluff. Peter is our Secret Keeper."
Bowing his head sadly, the Headmaster whispered, "Mr. Pettigrew shall be arrested this very night. In the mean time, Sirius, I suggest that you contact Miss Snow and have her make her way here, as well as Mr. Lupin. They may not be safe where they are."
Nodding, Sirius went to the fireplace and floo-ed home to retrieve his girlfriend and then his friend.
----------
The next day dawned sunny and clear, with only the barest hint of winter in the air. At Hogwarts, in a large room decorated with paintings and beautiful curtains hanging from the windows, the Potters, Sirius Black, Julia Snow, and Remus Lupin gathered for breakfast. The tension of the room was almost palpable, the occupants not sure what to say. Clearing her throat, Julia finally spoke.
"It was in the Daily Prophet today that Peter avoided capture. People know that he is a Death Eater now and will be on the look out..."
"Huh," Lily replied absentmindedly, trying halfheartedly to get some hotdogs into her son's mouth.
Silence descended once more and nobody made an attempt to break it for some time.
Finally, not being able to take the tension that he knew he was causing anymore, Remus rose to his feet and muttered, "I should be going."
Jerking his eyes up from where he had been staring at his plate, lost in thought, James asked, confused, "Going? You can't go anywhere! Voldemort is after Lily and I and he'll go after you if he thinks it will allow him to get to us."
"Well, I'm sure that Peter will inform You-Know-Who that I'm not a close enough friend to be used as a hostage," Remus uncharacteristically snapped.
"Moony," James asked with confusion, "what are you talking about?"
"What am I talking about? WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT?" Remus shouted angrily, allowing the anger that had been building up for months to burst forth. "I am talking about the fact that you thought I was the one betraying you to Voldemort! Shut-up Sirius!" he growled, effectively cutting the other man off before he could get a word in edgewise. "You believed I was betraying you based on the assumption that all Dark Creatures would want to join with the Dark Side!"
"I know," James mumbled. Sighing in defeat, James ran his hands through his hair distractedly. "I know there is no way I can ever make it up to you, but I want you to know that I am truly sorry. I doubted you and I shouldn't have. Friends don't do that. I wasn't being a good friend. You did nothing to warrant our distrust."
"Why then?" Remus asked, cutting in as he paused to take a breath.
"Why? I don't know. The reasons you named I suppose. There was no good reason. The worst part, worse than knowing that I may lose your friendship because I fell victim to the Wizarding Worlds stupid prejudices, is that my distrust nearly cost me the lives of everyone I loved. I put everyone in this room in danger..."
"It was my fault too. I was the one who started the pointing of fingers. Prongs, you were just trying to protect your family; you shouldn't be at blame." Turning to the werewolf, Sirius said, "Blame me for it. Don't punish James for my mistakes."
Glaring at the two men, Remus finally replied slowly. "I cannot forgive you, not yet, but... I still want to be friends. Let's just forget about it and move on with our lives. There is enough suffering going on already. I will not be the cause of anymore if I can help it. I will be going back to my rooms now. I will see you all later."
As the door closed behind him, Julia breathed out a sigh of relief before turning to her boyfriend and smacking him over the head. "I cannot believe you suspected Remus! He's the nicest, most caring person I have ever met!" Turning back to her breakfast, she continued to mumble to herself about his idiocy.
Ten minutes later, after sitting in relative silence for a time, Julia laid down her fork and turned back to her boyfriend. "Sirius, I need to speak with you."
"You already are," he replied grumpily.
"No, I meant alone..."
"Fine," he muttered, rising to his feet.
Once they were outside the door and in the empty corridor, Julia smiled up at him nervously. At his questioning expression, she said, "I know that I should have told you sooner but I had to be sure first. When I finally was, all this Secret Keeper business began and you were stressed, and I just couldn't tell you."
Gently pressing his finger to her lips to still her rambling, he murmured, "Tell me what?"
Taking a deep, calming breath, Julia whispered excitedly, "Sirius, Honey, I'm pregnant!"
Staring at her blankly, he finally gasped out in disbelief, "You're what?"
"I'm pregnant."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm positive."
"Oh... I'm going to pass out."
Laughing at his stunned expression, she cupped his face in her hand. "Are you happy?"
Looking down at her, an excited smile crept onto his face, growing larger by the second. "We're going to have a baby?" At her nod, he let out a loud whoop of joy. "I'm going to be a father! I have to tell Remus and James!"
----------
That night, in the safety of the rooms that had been provided for them, Sirius and Julia sat together.
"Sirius," Julia snapped, rather annoyed, "the baby isn't even formed yet. You can't feel it kick if it has no feet!"
"Maybe I could if you would just hold still!" Sighing, Julia decided it was probably best to just stay still. "You know, I think I feel something!"
"You do?" she asked suspiciously.
"Yeah, there is a bump right," pulling something out of thin air, he finished with, "here." Looking at the small box held in his hand, she held it as if it were a bomb when he set it in her hands. "Open it."
Lifting the lid cautiously, she gasped in shock when she saw the large diamond that lay inside the velvet casing. Glancing back at Sirius, she was surprised to see him kneeling down in front of her.
"I know that it seem that I am just doing this because you're carrying my baby but. . . Julia, I love you. I've always loved you. I loved you when we were enemies; when I was dying you green and you were forcing me to confess my true love to McGonagall. I have always known that one day I would marry you, that you were the only one for me. I am asking you now, because I love you, will you marry me?"
Blinking back tears, Julia threw her arms around him, murmuring over and over, "Yes!"
----------
Sitting in the elegant rooms they had been given, Lily and James were playing on the floor with their son when two raven haired whirlwinds burst into the room. Used to this behavior, the Potter's proceeded to help Harry stack his blocks, completely ignoring the commotion. Harry though looked up at his Godparents and held up his arms.
"Up, up!"
Grabbing the little boy up, Sirius smiled at his Godson's exclamation of, "Pa-foo!"
Glancing up at the other couple, Lily sighed. "Isn't it a little late for you to be terrorizing people? Especially people who are going to have to put to bed a now wound up baby?"
"Oh, Lils," Julia squealed, her hazel eyes shining with delight, "I would have waited but I just couldn't!" Smiling with amusement, Lily waved for the other woman to continue. "Sirius asked me to marry him!"
Giving a loud shriek, Lily leapt up and threw her arms around her best friend.
"Congratulations! Do you know when it is going to be? Oh, this is going to be so much fun to plan! Do you have a particular time of year you want? Spring would be lovely, especially when the flowers are just coming into bloom."
"Lily," Sirius yelped, "Calm down!"
Grinning sheepishly, Lily turned back to the other woman. "Well?"
"Um... I was hoping to be married within the next month, before the New Year..."
"A month?" Lily asked incredulously. "You can't plan a wedding in a month!"
"Well, we're going to," Sirius replied defiantly.
"What's the rush?" James asked.
Grinning happily, Julia replied, "I want to still be relatively skinny for my wedding and Sirius and I thought it would be best if we were married before the baby came."
"Baby" Lily replied blankly.
Laughing, James smacked Sirius on the back. "Congratulations Padfoot!"
"Pa-foo!" Harry responded.
Ignoring his son, James continued. "Are you sure you're ready for such a big responsibility?"
"It's a little late if he isn't," Lily replied, finally catching on to what they were saying. Turning to her friend, she asked when she was due.
Grinning, Julia chirped, "Late March, early April."
"Oh!" Sirius exclaimed, "Let's go tell Moony!"
----------
December 24th dawned cold and clear, with only a light snow flurry raining down. In the Great Hall of Hogwarts, a small crowd of people gathered together in the beautifully decorated room. The house tables had been removed and down the center of the hall, a white clothed aisle had been laid, lined on either side by candles. The room was aglow in the candle light, the enchanted ceiling giving off a beautiful view of the winter wonderland morning outside. The guests inside lined the aisle, dressed in their best dress robes, eagerly awaiting the bride that would soon walk to the alter.
At the alter, Albus Dumbledore stood in sky blue robes embroidered with snow flakes, smiling happily, his eyes twinkling merrily at the nervous groom by his side.
"Sirius, it's going to be alright. Just take a deep breath. . ."
Remus Lupin, dressed in navy blue robes, was attempting to calm the terrified man. For the past ten minutes, the caramel haired man had been repeating similar phrases, each more ineffective than the last.
"What if she backed out on me?" Sirius hissed.
"She didn't," James replied. Dressed in bottle green robes, James Potter was a picture of calmness, an easy grin setting carelessly on his lips. "She probably just lost her shoe."
Grabbing his friend's shoulders, Remus forced Sirius to look him in the eye. Sirius Black, usually the carefree, unflappable member of the group was quickly falling to pieces. In stylish black robes, he was easily the handsomest of the group. The soft black hair that fell to the bottom of his ears lay artfully tousled from having hands run through it. Through dark blue eyes, Sirius looked nervously down at the slightly shorter man.
"I'll go find out what's taking so long. James, don't let him pass out."
As Remus walked off to find out why the bride was late, James turned to the groom.
"Hey, Padfoot?"
"Huh?"
"Are you excited that you're going to be a father?"
Seeming to have found a topic of interest to the jittery groom, James just stood by and let the other man talk.
"I can't wait! We've decided to decorate the nursery a yellow color since we don't know if it will be a boy or a girl."
"Have you chosen any names yet?"
"Names? Well, for a boy we were thinking Alec or Orion." At James' wrinkled nose, Sirius laughed. "We're still working on the boy names."
"What about a girl name?"
"We were thinking about Angel." The conversation came to a halt as Remus hurried back to the alter. "Well?"
"Julia was feeling sick."
Alarmed, Sirius asked worriedly, "Is she alright?"
"She's fine," Remus replied soothingly. "It's just a little late pregnancy morning sickness."
Nodding, a hush fell over the gathered crowd as the doors opened and Julia entered on her father's arm.
In a simple flowing white gown, Julia was stunning. Though there were no frills or lace to the gown, the bride managed to make it look wonderful with her long chocolate waves of hair cascading down her back and the small bump of her stomach showing slightly. At the bodice of the gown, the material had been gathered together, giving it just enough elegance to make a flawless wedding gown.
"Wow," Sirius murmured, stepping forward to receive his bride.
----------
"Ah!"
The quiet of morning was broken on March 30, 1982 as Julia Black let out an ear-piercing shriek.
"I know they hurt but must you scream so loudly?" Sirius snapped as he ran around the house searching for everything that would be needed at the hospital.
"Give me my wand and I'll make you feel my pain!" Julia snapped.
Shaking his head in exasperation, Sirius quickly called his friends and family through the fireplace, grabbed his wife by the arm, and apparated them to St. Mungo's.
In the months since 1982 had begun, Dumbledore had managed to set up a town near Hogwarts that had wards surrounding it to keep all who wished to do harm to the occupants, out. It wasn't a permanent solution by any means and wouldn't last forever but, at the moment, all who lived within the boundaries were safe. The Potters, the Blacks, Remus Lupin, and most of the Order of the Phoenix now lived within those wards.
Arriving at the bustling hospital, Sirius led his wife through the sterile, white corridors to the maternity ward. After settling Julia in one of the uncomfortable, puke green chairs, he hurried to the receptionists' desk. Minutes later, Julia was taken out of the waiting room and down the hall to the room where she would wait to have her baby.
Rushing through the corridors, the large group that had gathered to wait on the new infants arrival, hurried up to Sirius.
"Hey, Sirius, how are you holding up?" James asked, slapping the other man on the back.
"How do you think he's holding up?" Remus asked. "Probably as well as you were when Harry was born!" Putting his hands in his hair, Remus began to pace up and down in front of them, mimicking James. "Oh, no, what if the baby dies? What if Lily dies? What if something goes wrong? What if the baby ends up in Slytherin?"
Punching his friend in the arm, James muttered, "Shut up."
Smiling weakly, Sirius sank down into a chair. "I don't think I'm ready for this," he muttered.
"Hey now," Lily whispered, kneeling down in front of him and setting Harry in his arms. "You'll be a great father. Look at how good you are with Harry."
Glancing down at the small boy in his arms, Sirius smiled. "Our kids are going to be great friends," he replied decisively.
"I'm sure they will be," Lily smiled.
"Mr. Black?" an old witch with graying hair asked.
"That's me."
"Your wife is asking for you and your friends."
Nodding, Sirius hurried into the hospital room, the group of friends right behind him.
The next few hours passed quietly with little excitement. As morning became afternoon and afternoon became night, most of the people who had come to visit with the Blacks were forced to leave until only the Potters, Blacks, and Remus remained.
"This is taking forever," Sirius grumbled, flipping through the stations on the Wizarding Wireless, ignoring his wife's groan of pain as another contraction passed.
"Try to be a little more sympathetic, Sirius," Lily snapped.
"Can't. Hungry."
Shaking her head in exasperation, she looked up as a doctor came in.
"We're all ready Mrs. Black. Could any who are not the father please wait outside?"
Hopping to her feet from her perch on the side of the hospital bed, Lily smoothed the damp hair off of Julia's brow. "You're going to be just fine. I'll see you soon."
As he stepped out of the room, James gave Sirius a thumbs up.
----------
Two hours later, at 8:23 pm, a little girl was born to Sirius and Julia Black. A perfectly healthy child, the girl had a head full of wispy black curls and the largest pale blue eyes. At first, doctors feared that the child may be blind or be at risk for blindness due to the light color of the irises, but it was still too early to tell. The little girl could see at the moment though, this was known for certain.
The strangest thing is, when a child is first born, it cannot see immediately; this infant could most definitely see right after birth and knew what it was seeing. The most frightening thing was that, when born, the Black girl did not cry. Without a sound, the seconds old baby silently studied the world through eyes that held too much knowledge.
----------
Panting heavily, Julia took the newborn baby in her arms and looked down on her. Large blue eyes gazed up at her, seeming to bore into her with a knowing look. Feeling a slight shiver of fear, Julia tore her eyes from her child and looked up at the doctors.
"Why isn't she crying? Is there something wrong with her? Babies are supposed to cry when they're born!"
Shrugging, the doctor replied uncomfortably, "The infant first cries to force the mucus out and air into its lungs, and also, out of fear. Your daughter in breathing normally so I see no need to worry."
Sitting on the bed next to his wife and newborn daughter, Sirius reached out and allowed the little girl to wrap her tiny hand around his finger. Yawning tiredly, the baby closed her eyes, never letting go of her father's finger.
"She's precious," Sirius whispered, staring down at the tiny face. Looking back up at Julia, he asked, "What should we name her?"
Gazing down at the infant, Julia shivered. Something was wrong- different. 'No good is going to come of this girl. Bad things will always follow you.' Hugging the small body to her chest, she sighed. 'I will protect you though. Forever and always. . .' Looking back up at her husband momentarily, she glanced back down. "Destiny; her name shall be Destiny."
"Destiny?" Nodding, Sirius murmured, "I like it. Why Destiny though?"
Shaking her head in confusion, Julia lifted her eyes to meet his. "I just have this feeling, this horrible feeling that she will live up to the name."
Swallowing nervously, Sirius shifted his gaze to the child. Taking a deep breath to clear his mind, he whispered, "Destiny Black."