Chapter 56 Surprises, Schemes, and Strangers
Lily adjusted the dark sunglasses over her eyes and made certain the hood of her Muggle coat and Harry's blankets were secure before stepping out of the car. James, also clad as a Muggle, extended his hand to help her, then kept his arm round her as they hurried through the rain to the front door of their new building. He held the door for Lily and Harry, then turned to look once more for any suspicious figures and nod to Benjy Fenwick and Sturgis Podmore, the two Order guards who had been assigned to the front of the building.
It had been two weeks since the attempted Death Eater attack on Harry, two weeks since Dumbledore had told Lily and James about Sibyll Trelawney's prophecy concerning their son and the Dark Lord. It had been the longest two weeks of Lily and James' lives.
Dumbledore had told them everything he knew about the prophecy. He'd recounted the events of the day he had gone to interview Sibyll Trelawney for the Divination position last June and repeated the story his source had told him: one of Voldemort's spies had overheard his interview with Trelawney and all that had come afterward. He'd then explained that there were just two children born at the end of July who'd fit the criteria in the prophecy: Neville Longbottom and Harry.
Lily and James had sat in stunned silence throughout Dumbledore's explanation and had continued to be silent for long moments after he'd finished speaking. Dumbledore had waited patiently for them to recover from their shock, which had taken a rather substantial length of time. Then the three of them had discussed the best course of action while Harry sat contentedly on his mother's lap playing with James' wristwatch, blissfully unaware of what was going on around him.
After much discussion, they'd agreed that the other Order members should know; they could help Lily and James keep Harry safe. Lily, James, and Dumbledore had also agreed unanimously that they should tell Harry's grandparents, but everyone else should be kept in the dark. The fewer people who knew about the prophecy, the better.
Finally Dumbledore had risen to go. "The Order ought to be assembled by now," he'd told them. "I'll go now and tell them about the prophecy, but I think it best that you stay here with Harry. Until we can find a safe location for you, it's better that no one knows where to find you." He'd left then, smiling gently at them one last time before closing the door behind him.
Without a word, Lily and James had turned toward each other, and suddenly James was crushing Lily and Harry against him. Lily had pressed herself as tightly to James as she could, struggling not to cry. Squished uncomfortably between his parents, Harry had begun to whimper in protest and broke into all-out tears when he dropped the wristwatch.
Slowly Lily and James had pulled apart. "Sorry about that, mate," James had said to Harry, struggling to sound normal. He'd gotten the wristwatch off of the floor and handed it to the baby, his mind still reeling from all of Dumbledore's news.
"He's probably hungry," Lily had said, trying to sound as normal as possible. She'd felt like collapsing into a screaming, crying heap on the floor, but James and Harry needed her to be herself, and she couldn't let them down. Crying wouldn't have solved anything and would only have scared Harry (and probably James as well) further. Her mind made up. Lily had reached for her wand and conjured a bottle for Harry, whose tears had immediately subsided.
Once they'd finally gotten Harry fed and in his cot, Lily and James had stretched out on the bed together, clinging as tightly as possible, while Lily had told James about the attack on the flat. Then, together, they'd made more plans for keeping Harry safe.
Both Lily and James had decided to take leaves of absence from work again so that they could both be with Harry if anything happened. Until Dumbledore could find a new flat and put protection spells on it, they'd stay here in the Hog's Head. Morwenna and Sirius already knew they were here, but they wouldn't tell anyone else, not even their parents or their friends. "We can't give anyone any information that could be tortured out of them," James had said, his Auror training fresh in his mind.
Lily had shuddered at the idea, blinking back tears. Only a few hours ago her biggest concern had been finding ways to get enough sleep, and now her baby's life was in danger and she was trying to prevent her friends and family from obtaining any information that could be tortured out of them. The change was too terrible to contemplate; it all had to be some sort of nightmare.
But the nightmare refused to go away, and Lily and James had spent the next two weeks hiding out in their little secret room in the Hog's Head. The barman, Aberforth, brought them food three times a day and Morwenna and Sirius visited daily, bringing news of the outside world. Dumbledore came as often as he could as well, updating them on the Order's progress in finding Lily, James, and Harry a new flat and installing safety measures. Finally, Dumbledore came to inform them that the flat was ready and that the Order would be ready to escort them into it the day after tomorrow.
Lily and James had been both extremely relieved and terrified at the notion of leaving the Hog's Head and moving into a flat. On the one hand, it would be wonderful to live in more than one room again; there was only so much family togetherness one family could take, even in extenuating circumstances. On the other hand, moving out of the Hog's Head meant moving out into the open; Harry was safe in this little room, and leaving it meant that the Death Eaters would once again be able to find him.
And so here they were, in the outside world again. Once inside, James and Lily made directly for the lift, their wands concealed but easily accessible. It was only when they were inside the lift with the door firmly shut that James and Lily pushed back their hoods and unwrapped Harry.
"Made it," Lily said, attempting to be cheerful.
"Yeah," James replied, trying not to think of all of the opportunities the Death Eaters had to take Harry between here and the relative safety of their new flat. He shifted restlessly, his eyes on the numbers above the lift's door. Before they'd left the Hog's Head, Dumbledore had assured him several times that Order members were stationed on each side of the building and in the flat across the hallway, but James still felt a bit uneasy. Anything could happen to any of the guards, or some of them could be Death Eaters using Polyjuice Potion, or a Death Eater hiding in the furze bushes could cast the Imperious Curse on someone….
James shook off his negative (he refused to admit to paranoid) thoughts as the lift doors slid open on their floor. Quickly James drew his wand, then made sure the corridor was clear before allowing Lily and Harry to leave the lift.
Lily rolled here eyes at Harry over James' behaviour, but she couldn't really fault him for it. It was pretty difficult not to be paranoid these days. While Lily believed Dumbledore when he said that he'd done everything possible to make this flat safe, she still found herself glancing over her shoulder.
James unlocked the door with a flick of his wand and, making sure that Lily and Harry were safely behind him, stepped into the flat, trying to locate candles or even one of those Muggle lamp things.
"SURPRISE!"
The room was suddenly flooded with light as Sirius, Morwenna, Alice and Neville, Frank, Dorcas, Peter, Remus, and Lily and James' parents stepped out of various hiding places.
"Gah!" James shouted, jumping a few feet in the air. A stream of sparks shot from his wand, leaving tiny charred marks in the ceiling.
"Told you the surprise bit was a bad idea," Morwenna said, nudging Sirius.
"They weren't that scared," Sirius protested, his usual confidence noticeably lacking.
"Oh really? Poor James looks like he's lost ten years off his life," Dorcas put in.
"Sorry," Alice added, smiling sheepishly in Lily and James' direction. "We just wanted to welcome you to your new place." She gestured toward the table, where an enormous cake emblazoned with the words "Welcome Home James, Lily, and Harry!" sat, surrounded by various other snacks and drinks.
"That's all right," Lily said a bit faintly, relaxing the death grip she had on Harry, who was beginning to make squashed sounds.
"You made it here all right, did you?" Mr. Potter asked anxiously, leading the cavalcade of grandparents toward James and Lily.
"No problems," Lily confirmed. James didn't yet seem capable of speech.
"Er, maybe we ought to get James to a chair," Mrs. Potter suggested tactfully as she took Harry from Lily.
Peter, Sirius, and Remus had also ventured over, concerned expressions on their faces.
"I think you've scarred him for life, Sirius," Peter, announced, peering closely at James, whose was white-faced and seemingly doing his best to take deep breaths.
"I did not scar him for life!" Sirius snapped, scowling fiercely at Peter.
"Yes you did," Peter persisted, not knowing, as usual, when to keep his mouth shut. "He hasn't said a word since we jumped out at him and he's shaking like a leaf….he's probably gonna faint…"
"I am NOT going to faint!" James practically shouted, effectively snapped out of it. He and Sirius were both glaring now, which did not, in Lily's opinion, bode well for Peter.
"Well, you looked like you were going to," Peter maintained. "Didn't he, Remus?"
Remus just shook his head. "I'd shut it if I were you," he advised Peter.
"'S'not like there's any shame in it," Peter muttered. "None of us would blame him if he did…"
"I need a drink," James said, his disgust plain. "Merlin's beard…" He and Sirius ventured off toward the kitchen, talking in hushed voices.
"You never know when to quit, do you Wormtail?" Remus asked, nudging Peter in the ribs.
"Ow!" Peter yelped sharply, cringing away from Remu's touch.
"Are you all right?" Lily asked Peter, concerned.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine, it's just – I was – I had a bit of an accident," Peter explained lamely.
"What sort of accident?" Remus wanted to know.
"Er – on a broomstick," Peter was flushing now. "Look, it's a bit embarrassing, and it was entirely my fault, and – could we not talk about it?"
"Sure," Remus replied. "Sorry I hurt you – I didn't know."
"It's all right," Peter mumbled. "But please don't say anything to the others. I'm just going to – " he scurried off, not even finishing his hasty excuse.
Lily and Remus exchanged concerned glances. "What –" Lily began, only to be interrupted by Harry's crying. Casting Remus one last glance over her shoulder, Lily hurried to her baby.
The party progressed uneventfully, and Lily found herself relaxing for the first time in two weeks. It was good to be among friends again, not to mention to talk and think about things besides Voldemort and keeping Harry safe.
By tacit agreement, the former Gryffindors laughed and joked like old times, determined to keep Lily and James' minds off of things. They'd all, with the exceptions of Sirius and Morwenna, who'd seen them at the Hog's Head, been amazed by how terrible Lily and James looked. It was clear that neither of them had had a decent night's sleep in a long time, or eaten properly. Neither of them ever strayed far from Harry, and they tensed at unexpected sounds.
So Sirius and Peter dusted off their ever-popular imitations of Lily and James' more memorable fights at school and of course James' infamous proposal, and everyone did their best to be amusing and comforting. It was clear that Lily and James needed all the support they could get right now, not to mention a few laughs.
And every single guest at the party made it a point to spend some time with Harry, passing him round from person to person. Each of them silently wondered at the fact that this tiny, seemingly ordinary baby would be the one to bring down the Dark Lord when the most powerful witches and wizards of the day had failed to do so. But it was strangely comforting to know that someone would be able to, and that that someone was in the very room.
No one said any of this aloud, of course, but as each one of Lily and James' friends looked down at baby Harry, the assembled Order members had hope again, hope that they had been losing steadily as they were killed off one by one, constantly outnumbered by the enemy. No matter what else happened, Harry had to be safe.
It was some time later when Lily stood watching Harry as Remus held him. Worn out by the party and all of the unfamiliar faces, Harry was peering drowsily over Remus shoulder as Remus carried on a conversation with Morwenna and Frank, who held a sleeping Neville in his arms.
The party had begun to wind down; most of the butterbeer and food, including the cake, had been consumed, and the crowd was beginning to thin. Peter had made his excuses and left, Mr. and Mrs. Potter and Mr. and Mrs. Evans, after extracting promises of future visits from Lily and James, had taken their leave, and Dorcas had gone to take the Order guards outside (particularly Sturgis) some cake. Sirius and James were in deep conversation in the kitchen, James glancing at Harry every so often, and Lily didn't know where Alice had gone –
"Lily?" Alice tugged at her sleeve.
"There you are," Lily turned to smile at her friend, but frowned instead as she caught sight of Alice's serious expression. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," Alice said, smiling very unconvincingly. "I just wanted to – see how you were holding up."
"All right, I guess," Lily shrugged. "We're basically making it up as we go along."
"If you ever want to talk about anything, I'd be glad to listen," Alice fidgeted with her sleeves. " You know, if you ever want to talk mummy to mummy – we've done pretty much this whole thing together, haven't we?"
"Yeah," Lily replied, smiling faintly as she glanced again at Harry, who was blinking owlishly at Sirius and James over Remus' shoulder. "We did. It was nice to be pregnant with someone else, wasn't it?"
"I was relieved when Dumbledore said it wasn't Neville," Alice blurted. Lily blinked at her in surprise, but before she could muster a response, Alice had plunged ahead.
"Dumbledore told us about the prophecy, and he told us who the two possible babies were, and when he said he thought it was Harry I was so relieved." Alice had started to cry now, her voice cracking. "I mean, I hate that it has to be Harry – I hate that it has to be anyone – but I was so, so happy that it wasn't Neville. I still am. I don't know what I'd do if it were my baby. Every time I think about it, I'm just relieved that it isn't Neville, and I'm so, so sorry, Lily. I'm so sorry. You probably hate me now, I think I'd hate, me, but I REALLY don't want you to hate me –" Alice cried harder, blowing her nose fiercely on a hankie she'd conjured with her wand.
"Stop being a prat; you know I don't hate you," Lily sighed. She hated having this conversation, maybe, but she didn't hate Alice. "Of course you're relieved; if things had been reversed, I'd have been relieved too."
"Really?" Alice's voice was a bit muffled, as her nose was still buried in her hankie.
"Really," Lily confirmed.
Alice emerged, red-nosed and watery-eyed, from her hankie and enfolded Lily in an enthusiastic hug. "Thank you."
Not sure what to say, Lily settled for patting Alice's back..
"I hope you know you can count on me to do anything in my power for Harry," Alice said, rubbing her eyes.
"I know," Lily said, summoning up a slight smile. "I appreciate that; James and I both do."
Alice opened her mouth to say more, but just then Neville began to cry, a loud, unhappy wail. "He's hungry," Alice said instead. "I'd better go feed him. But I meant it; I'm always here if you need anything."
"Thanks," Lily repeated. Alice smiled over her shoulder and was gone, turning her attention to the crying baby.
Lily's smile faded, and she felt strangely bereft as she stood there, watching Alice walk away. She'd always been specially close with Alice, particularly since they'd been pregnant together and had their babies at the same time. Throughout Hogwarts and after, they'd always shared most of their experiences, and if it was an experience one of them couldn't share, then they at least tried to understand.
But now, for the first time in Lily's life, talking to Alice about the biggest situation in her life had only made her feel worse.
Fighting back a profound depression, Lily glanced restlessly round the room. James had reclaimed Harry from Remus during the uproar with Neville and was now talking softly to the baby, who smiled happily (but sleepily) up at his father.
James felt Lily's gaze on them and smiled at her, a wide, not-completely-arrogant grin that made Lily's heart skip a beat.
Returning James' smile, Lily crossed the room to the only two people who did understand.
Peter breathed a sigh of relief as he Disapparated from the front garden of Lily and James' flat, glad to be away from everyone for a bit. Peter was a little bit afraid that he was going mad; he wasn't coping well with the pressure of his double life, and each of those lives seemed to become harder to get through every day.
Sometimes, like today, Peter felt like he was going to explode with his secret. It was hard watching James and Lily and Harry, seeing how terrible his friends looked and knowing that it was in large part due to him. There were some days where he could convince himself completely that everything they'd suffered and would suffer was all due to their blindness; Lily and James and Sirius and Remus couldn't see that the Dark Lord was the future and they had to pay the price for their bad decisions. But today just hadn't been one of those days, as much as Peter wished it could have been. His stomach churned with guilt as he remembered the party.
Like I need more guilt right now, Peter thought indignantly to himself as he reappeared in his mother's garden and made his way to the house. The Dark Lord was not at all pleased with him these days. His master had been furious that Peter hadn't told him about Lily's car and even more upset when Peter hadn't been able to find out where Lily, James, and Harry had been for two whole weeks. Peter had spent hours paying for his incompetence, as the Dark Lord called it.
Peter was definitely on shaky ground; his last chance, his master had said. And in his current state, Peter believed him. None of the Death Eaters, or the ones who would still talk to Peter anyway, had ever seen Voldemort in such a rage. He'd ordered Regulus Black killed for attempting to disassociate with the Death Eaters despite his old and powerful bloodline and was personally participating in Muggle baiting on an almost nightly basis. He'd also ordered a few of the Death Eaters to learn about Muggle cars: how to drive them and how to tamper with one, and he took great delight in torturing the ones who'd protested. Peter still winced at the memory of telling the Dark Lord about the virtually impenetrable security measures on Lily and James' new flat and the twenty-four hour Order vigil all around it. That tete a tete had taken place only last night and the Dark Lord's wrath at Peter's report was the reason for his sore and bruised ribs today.
Quietly, Peter eased open the back door and slipped inside the house; he was in no mood to deal with his mother just now. He practically held his breath as he tiptoed down the corridor and into his bedroom, then shut the door and leaned against it with a long sigh, his brain still whirring at top speed.
It was time to face facts: Peter was mucking up both of his lives. He was drastically out of favour with the Dark Lord and his friends weren't confiding in him as much as they used to. Peter experienced a little stab of hurt; why were Lily and James keeping him in the dark? Remus probably didn't know much either since he'd been gone for so long, but Sirius and James were as close as ever, maybe more so. Peter had never done anything that Lily and James knew about to make them not trust him.
Frustrated, Peter flopped onto his bed, then winced at the pain in his ribcage. He arranged himself more gingerly and concentrated on the problem at hand.
Since the beginning of his association with the Dark Lord, it had never been any secret to Peter that his life depended on his ability as a spy. If his friends didn't trust him with their personal and Order secrets, he'd be disposed of. So, Peter reasoned, he'd better do something to earn his way back into Lily and James' confidence.
"Sirius," Peter whispered aloud. He was willing to bet that Sirius was in Lily and James' confidence, way in their confidence. He and James, Peter recalled with a little pang of jealousy, had always been best friends, sharing things that they hadn't shared with anyone else. If Sirius trusted Peter, James would too.
The best thing, Peter decided, would be to stick to Sirius like glue, do what he did, and go where he went, get Sirius to confide in him.
And the best way to get Sirius to tell him his secrets would be to tell Sirius a secret himself, Peter reasoned. He knew that Sirius suspected that Remus was the spy, and judging from the way Sirius had avoided Remus at the party today, his suspicions had gotten worse. If Peter went to Sirius and told him that he'd seen Remus doing something untrustworthy, Sirius would no doubt jump at the chance to discuss his suspicions with Peter.
Peter sighed, savoring his plan. Not only would he be back in the Marauders' confidence, he'd be able to make someone else look suspicious. It was perfect!
Maybe I'll talk to Sirius tomorrow, Peter thought, growing sleepy for the first time in days. He could easily think up something that he'd supposedly seen Remus do; maybe he could even plant Kathleen's notebooks somewhere and show them to Sirius, after he'd removed certain incriminating evidence, of course. Peter was suddenly glad that he'd gone to the trouble to sneak back into Remus and Kathleen's flat to get them instead of burning them like Rookwood had told him to……
A few minutes later, Peter drifted off to sleep, a small smile on his face
Slowly but surely, Lily and James were adjusting to their new life, with all of its new problems, in their new flat. It had taken some time, but they no longer jumped at small noises, recast Shielding Spells on the windows and doors twenty times a day, or (in James' case) slept clutching their wands. (after hearing about this, Mad Eye Moody had told James again about the wizard who lost a buttock, effectively scaring James out of the habit).
True, Lily and James still kept their wands within reach at all times, received frequent reports from the Order guard stationed round their flat, and slept with Harry between them in their bed every night, but if any of this was paranoid, they elected not to notice.
It had been impossible for James to take a complete leave from work; he had to take the occasional assignment when Aurors were in short supply, but he managed to be home most of the time. And Lily had extended her leave from her own job, but she was doing some charm experimentation from home, wanting to do something to help, no matter how small.
"It's just until we feel a bit safer," James had said.
"Absolutely," Lily had agreed, privately wondering when exactly they'd feel safer.
And though they'd expected to be irritated about not having anything to do, both Lily and James were shocked to discover that they enjoyed it. In some strange way it was a huge relief not to have to worry about going to work; they could play with Harry all day and ignore the outside world.
Since they had nothing but practice, both Lily and James began to feel much more confident about being parents. They no longer panicked completely when Harry cried, got the hang of the whole nappy changing bit, and figured out a few sure-fire ways to get Harry to laugh. But no matter how hard they tried, Lily and James still couldn't seem to stay dry during Harry's baths.
"I think there's more water on me than there is on Harry," James observed, walking gingerly out of the bathroom in his thoroughly drenched robes.
"How do we manage this every time?" Lily wondered, holding a towel-swathed Harry in one arm and wand-drying her hair with the other hand.
"Well, Harry does like to splash," James pointed out wryly. "I think that's what starts the whole thing." He came to take the baby from Lily, making funny faces at Harry all the while.
"Maybe we shouldn't let him splash," Lily suggested grinning at James' ridiculous faces and Harry's giggles.
"But he loves to splash," James pointed out, crossing his eyes at Harry as he reached over to pick him up.
"He really does, doesn't he?" Lily smiled fondly at the baby, hugging him a bit before she allowed James to take him. "And I guess I don't really mind a little wat – OW!"
Harry, apparently not quite ready to give up his mother entirely, had attempted to take a handful of her hair along with him as he went with his father.
"If you weren't ready to leave you could've just said so," Lily pointed out to Harry resentfully, shooting the baby a filthy look. James did his best not to smile as he extracted Lily's hair from Harry's grip.
"It's not all his fault, you know," James said once Lily's hair was free.
"How is the hair pulling not his fault?" Lily wanted to know, fetching some clothes for Harry.
"No, the water," James explained, setting Harry carefully on the floor so that Lily could put clothes on him.
"Huh?" Lily, trying to prevent Harry from rolling over, wasn't quite following.
"It's not all Harry's fault that we get as wet as he does during his baths," James explained, going over to a chair by the window to remove his soggy shoes. "I mean, we keep testing the water and picking him up, and –"
Realizing that James had stopped talking Lily glanced up. "And?" she prompted.
"Lily," James said quietly, his voice deadly serious, "take Harry and get away from the windows. I'll send the emergency signal to Dumbledore and alert the Order members outside"
"Why? What's going on out there?" Lily asked, a lump in her throat.
"There's a strange man outside," James explained quietly. "I think it's a Death Eater disguised as a Muggle. He's wearing the stupidest outfit - clearly he has no idea what kind of clothes Muggles wear – and he's rummaging around in a big bag…."
"Let me see," Lily said, hurrying to the window.
"Wait – we can't leave Harry alone on the floor with a madman outside –" James protested, but Lily was already peering out the window next to him.
"He's just there, standing near that 'Give Way' sign, by the mail boxes," James whispered, pointing. "See what I mean? He has no clue –"
"Er, James?" Lily interrupted, fighting not to laugh, "that isn't a Death Eater dressed up as a Muggle."
"You can't honestly tell me that Muggles run round in those stupid short pants and a matching shirt," James protested. "If he isn't a badly dressed Death Eater, then who is he?"
"That's –" no matter how much she bit her lip, Lily couldn't keep from smirking "- that's the postman."
Author's Note: Okay, I'm really, REALLY sorry that it's taken me so long to update. School, combined with visiting family members and a bad cold, have kept me rather busy. Thanks, everyone, for being so dedicated to this story, not to mention patient.
I also wanted to mention, since a few people seemed a bit confused, that Voldemort attempts to kill Harry in Godric's Hollow in October 1981, not 1980; so yes, there is still a year to go in the story. Hope that clears things up a bit.
Happy reading!