Lily Potter and
the Worst Holiday
Chapter Two
Standard Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
WARNING: Harsh Language and adult themes
Chapter Two Summary: Lily and the others learn how the six visitors arrived and how her son survived in the other timeline.
Lily sat in Dumbledore's office staring daggers that that pretentious little girl. How dare she tell Lily that she couldn't see her own baby!
It made her blood boil; just thinking of what that little girl did when Lily's baby collapsed to the floor outside the Hospital Ward. That Granger girl had to audacity to stand between Lily and her baby, saying that Lily was doing "more harm than good."
That Granger girl was even hesitant to let Poppy give Harry a calming draught. The little girl demanded to run her own Diagnostic Charm on the draught to see if it was "safe."
To make matters worst, a normal dosage of the draught did nothing to calm Harry. Lily's poor boy had to be given triple the dosage before he was able to fall asleep.
"Lily, please drink your tea," Minerva said soothingly. "It will help calm your nerves."
"I don't need to calm down!" Lily replied harshly, without taking her eyes off of that little girl. The bushy haired witch sat in front of Dumbledore's desk, flanked by Ron, Neville, and Ginny. That Granger girl had decided that "their" Luna should stay by Harry's side in the Hospital Ward and contact her if anything should happen. "What I need is see my son."
What infuriated Lily even more was that the little girl would not look up. The rest of the children from the other time-line were looking around the Headmaster's Office with obvious curiosity. But that Granger girl refused to look up. She stared intently at the floor in front of her feet while ignoring everyone else in the room.
The tension in the office was palpable. Lily could feel James pacing back and forth behind her. Alice and Remmy stood nervously on either side of their mother, desperately wishing that they could comfort their parents but not knowing how to do it. Remus and Sirius stood patiently near the door, waiting for answers. The entire Weasley clan filled up the majority of the office, anxiously waiting to be reacquainted to their brother and son, Ron, and to get to know their spare daughter and sister, Ginny. Edward and Paullina Granger sat close to Lily; it was obvious that they just wanted to hold their eighteen year old daughter. Dumbledore had decided that Michelle Black and Emilia Granger were too young to be part of these proceedings, so Michelle had offered to baby-sit the little girl.
"Lemon Drops?" Dumbledore asked as he offered a tin of sweets to the people that filled his office. The ancient wizard sat behind his desk with Severus and Minerva on each side.
'Damn that insufferable man!' Lily thought irritably, 'just sitting there with his never-ending patience. Why doesn't he just end this absurd "meeting" so I can go to my baby?'
She had to go to Harry, to find out why he had looked at her with such fear and terror. Why did that little girl say that Lily was doing more harm than good? Did Lily's counterpart, the Lily from the other timeline do something wrong? Was she the one who neglected her baby? Abused him?
"I was quite intrigued by your costumes," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "Which one of you suggested that you should pick up such a quaint Muggle tradition?"
"It was Harry and Hermione's idea," Ron said innocently. Lily was taken back at the look Hermione gave the lanky red-haired wizard, but then, so was Ron. The tall boy shrunk into his chair at Hermione's glare.
"Wonderful, I take it that you were supposed to be Merlin, Mr. Weasley?" Dumbledore asked, ignoring Hermione's icy gaze. Ron nodded weakly, still trying to escape Hermione's eyes. "And Ms. Lovegood was a Crumple-Horned Snorkack, if I'm not mistaken. Mr. Longbottom, that was quite a 'Beaumont Marjoribanks' costume. As to the other three costumes, I am at a lost for what they represent."
"I was dressed as 'Moaning Myrtle,'" Ginny informed the Headmaster.
"Harry was 'Gilderoy Lockart' and Hermione was a 'House-elf,'" Neville added.
"Yeah, Harry had such a hard time with that git Lockhart when he was a professor," Ron said with a chuckle. "Harry had a blast imitating him…OW!"
Ron had cried out in pain because Hermione had stomped on his large feet.
"What did you do that for?" Ron asked as he rubbed his foot. Hermione did not respond but continued to glare at him. "Hermione, I'm not Harry; you're gonna have to use words with me."
"Shut up," Hermione said as if she were talking to a small child. "This could be a trap. And don't look any of them in the eye, especially Dumbledore or Snape."
"What makes you think this is a trap?" Lupin asked from somewhere behind Lilly; she wasn't certain as to Remus' location because she continued to stare at that pretentious little girl. "And who do you think is laying this trap?"
"Voldemort," Hermione said with barely a stutter. Lily looked around and noticed that the only other people in the room who did not shake at Voldemort's name were James, Remus, Sirius, Albus, and herself. Even the other three children from the alternate time shuddered in fear.
"And what makes you think that the Dark Lord would bother setting a trap for a few teenagers?" Snape asked with a sneer.
"He's done it before," Hermione answered as she returned her eyes to the floor. The other three children followed her example and stared at the ground. "Mind you it's never been this elaborate before," Hermione muttered.
"And what, Ms. Granger, what can I do to prove to you, and your friends, that this is not a trap?" asked Dumbledore as he steepled his fingers.
Hermione seemed to consider her options for a moment.
"Tell me the prophesy," the young witch demanded. "You can make the rest leave if you like, but tell me the prophesy Trelawney made."
"Would I be correct in saying that the contents of that prophesy are known to only a few people in your timeline?" Dumbledore asked.
"Only the six of us and our Dumbledore," Hermione responded.
"In this reality, the prophesy is common knowledge," Dumbledore stated.
"'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…'" Lily recited in a monotone voice, "'born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…'" Hermione had stopped staring at the floor and looked to Lily in wide-eyed amazement, "'and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…'"
"About two and a half years ago, our Mr. Longbottom was murdered at the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament," Dumbledore said to the children. "At that time, all three people mentioned to that prophesy, Lord Voldemort, the baby Harry, and Mr. Longbottom, were believed to be dead. So the Ministry saw fit to divulge the entire contents of the prophesy."
"I was… I mean he was… um, the other Neville was a Champion?" Neville asked perplexed.
"Yes, Mr. Longbottom, but at this point, I must ask that you tell us how the six of you arrived in this time," Dumbledore stated.
Ron, Neville, and Ginny all turned to Hermione, obviously expecting her to inform everyone.
"We were all in Hogsmeade when Harry felt Voldemort's presence," Hermione began. Lily was perplexed as to how her baby could detect the Dark Lord's presence and was about to interrupt to ask when the little girl continued her tale. "Harry ordered some members of the DA, that is, The Defense Association, it's a club where Harry tutors us in Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Harry is so good at Defense that he tutors other students?" James blurted in an astonished and yet somewhat proud tone.
"Well, you'd be good at it too if four out of your first five DADA professors tried to kill you," Ron said with a chuckle.
Lily gasped aloud along with most of the people in the room at Ron's off-hand comment. It shocked Lily to think that, along with Voldemort, four other full grown wizards had tried to murder her baby.
"Well, actually," Ron continued, oblivious to the shocked stares from the other people in the room, "all five of them tried to kill him. I wasn't counting Lupin, seeing how it was a full moon and…"
Without even looking at Ron, Hermione raised her foot and stomped roughly on Ron's foot again. The red-haired wizard cried out in pain.
Remus, Sirius, James, and Lily shared a concerned look. Clearly, in the timeline these children come from, it was common knowledge that Remus is a werewolf. And Ron nearly blurted it out, thinking that it was common knowledge here as well. Luckily, the Granger girl realized that Ron was about to make a grievous error and stopped him.
"As I was saying," Hermione said ignoring Ron, "Harry ordered some of the DA to escort the other students back to the castle. Before the majority of the students could escape however, Hogsmeade was swarming with Death Eaters. Scores of Death Eaters came from every direction, and three Voldemorts, as well.
"The Death Eaters weren't too much of a problem, but we were getting roughed up by the three Voldemorts. Harry had taken several more curses than the rest of us. It was then that I noticed the Time Turners hanging around each one of the Voldemorts' necks, seeing how I used one similar to it in my third year," Hermione continued her explanation. "I… signaled to Harry what was going on, and we came up with a plan."
"You mean:" Ron interrupted as he continued to rub his foot, "you two shared a look and, like always, he understood what you were thinking."
Hermione gave Ron an icy glare that clearly stated "Shut Up."
"We figured that Harry should distract Voldemort and I would summon the Time Turners and hopefully set things right." Hermione began again. "Harry launched a rapid series of Blasting Hexes at the feet of the three Voldemorts. While Voldemort was distracted, I Summoned the Turners. Unfortunately, one of the Voldemorts launched his own Blasting Hex at the Turners destroying them.
"The six of us were all covered in the Turners' sand, and the ground began to tremble. We were surrounded by a dust storm of some kind that came out of nowhere. I think that the destruction of the Time Turners initiated a paradox which caused the storm. I mean, all three Time Turners were the same item, just backed up in time. If the Turner was destroyed before being used to go back in a loop, how could the other Time Turners have existed to be destroyed. But since the Time Turner was duplicated through its time manipulation magic, it shouldn't have been able to be destroyed." Lily noted that Ron was rubbing his temples at this point; the young wizard had obviously developed a headache from trying to follow Hermione's theory. "This paradox must have caused the exposed sands from the Time Turners to become unstable. The sand covering us was throwing off powerful magics. It felt like I was being pulled in every direction. I looked around quickly, and noticed that only the six of us and the three Voldemorts were still in the Hogsmeade street. It was at that point that I saw the three Voldemorts get caught up in the storm. Each one's body was utterly destroyed by the magic; their bodies were literally torn apart. I think that we were protected from the storm that killed the Voldemorts by the sand covering our bodied. That's when everything went black," Hermione said. "The next thing I remember is waking up here, and you, Professor Dumbledore, was explaining that most of our counterparts were dead here."
"The initial examination revealed that you were all suffering from severe magical exhaustion as well as some minor injuries," explained Dumbledore. "I believe that the sands from the ruined Turners must have used your magical cores. They drained your magical reserve but managed to transport you to this timeline, rather than erasing the six of you from existence.
"Now that is out of the way, I must ask," Dumbledore added, "what do you think happened in your timeline that made it so different from ours?"
The four children shared a look, and the little Granger girl turned and faced Lily for the first time since entering the office. Lily was taken back at the utter sadness in the girl's eyes.
"Maybe it would be best if I were to start from the beginning," Dumbledore said after no one spoke for a minute, "from when our two realities appear to divert.
"Sixteen years ago, the Potters and the Longbottoms went into hiding. They were protected under the Fidelius Charm; do you happen to know of this charm?"
"Yes, sir; the same thing happened in our time," Hermione answered, turning away from Lily.
"Well, Amelia Bones was the Longbottoms' Secret-Keeper and Sirius was to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper," Dumbledore continued. "But, James and Sirius thought that the latter would be too obvious of a choice, and so the Potters decided to have Peter Pettigrew act as the Secret-Keeper."
"The same choice was made in our time as well," Hermione added.
"This next part is where our two times will differ, I believe," Dumbledore said. "On Halloween, Peter went to the Potters and lied to both Lily and James. He told them that I wanted to speak to them and that he would look after Harry. Shortly before Lily and James arrived at my office, Remus had stopped by to report the disturbing news that Madame Bones had been kidnapped. I was about to leave to check on the Longbottoms, when Lily and James entered this office. I instantly knew that Peter's message was a trick to get Harry's parents away so that Voldemort would face no resistance. James, Lily, Remus, and I went to Godric's Hollow. By chance, at the same time Sirius had gone to check on Peter. When he could not find Peter, Sirius knew something was wrong and he decided to go to Godric's Hollow as well. We met up with Sirius at the cottage, but, sadly, we arrived too late.
"Lord Voldemort had murdered young Harry just a few moments before we were able to stop him," Dumbledore looked at the Potters with unmasked sorrow. "But we could not mourn for the baby, because our Mr. Longbottom was also referenced in the prophesy, and therefore, he, too, was in mortal peril. Luckily, Madame Bones, the Longbottoms' Secret-Keeper, had told the five of us where Frank, Alice, and young Neville were hiding. So Sirius, Remus, James…." Dumbledore paused for a mere second and glanced quickly, almost imperceptibly, at Lily, before continuing: "…and I traveled to the Longbottom home."
Dumbledore turned his attention to Longbottom.
"I am very sorry to say, Mr. Longbottom, we arrived too late," Dumbledore said mournfully. "Voldemort had already murdered your parents."
"Oh, okay," Neville said simply and without grief. When he noticed the looks of disbelief on the people surrounding him, Neville continued, "In our time, my parents had been tortured by the Lestranges and Crouch. They lost their minds while I was still an infant. They've been catatonic ever since. The way I see it, it is more of a mercy for them to die quickly instead of suffering so much pain."
"That is a bizarre coincidence," McGonagall stated. "The exact same incident happened in our timeline, but to an Auror named Kingsley Shacklebolt and his wife."
"When we had reached young Neville's nursery, Voldemort was about to cast the Killing Curse on our Mr. Longbottom," said Dumbledore, and he paused for a moment before continuing. "I reacted, purely on instinct, and hit Voldemort with my own Killing Curse before Voldemort could finish his incantation."
Neville, Ron, and Ginny were obviously rapt with attention, but Lily noticed that Hermione had a look of disbelief on her face. The young witch stared incredulously at the Headmaster.
"Because Lord Voldemort died while trying to kill our Mr. Longbottom, the young man was heralded as a hero by the public; he was referred to as 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' by the press," Dumbledore stated.
Lily always despised that moniker. Every time she heard Longbottom called that, she felt as if they were calling her baby "The-Boy-Who-Died."
"You counterpart, Mr. Longbottom, reveled in the celebrity," Dumbledore said. "I can tell, from the short amount of time that I have known you, that you are a kind and brave young man. Our Mr. Longbottom was somewhat… less courteous and giving."
"He was a pompous git, is what he was," George offered.
"Yeah, he strutted around the castle like he was king or something," Fred finished.
"Oh, um, sorry about that," Neville said, feeling the need to apologize for his counterpart's actions.
"No need for an apology," Dumbledore said with a small smirk. His smile quickly faded as he turned to Ron and the Granger girl. Lily noticed that the girl wasn't paying as much attention as the other three children. Her brow was knotted as if she was concentrating on something. "In their first year, our Ron and Hermione were murdered by a troll in one of the girls' lavatories."
"Hold on a tic," Ron interrupted. "In our time, I didn't even think about Hermione that day, not without Harry mentioning her. It was Harry who decided that we needed to go look for Hermione when we heard about the troll. What happened here?"
"That would've been my fault," Percy spoke up. "As I was leading the first years back to the dormitories that night, I noticed we were one short. I found out that you… I mean the other Ron, had said something to make her cry. I demanded that we go search for her because the teachers were occupied with finding the troll.
"I also believed that if we were to 'rescue' the girl, that Gryffindor would receive awards and merits," Percy began to sob almost hysterically. "I made you go into the girls' bathroom to fetch Hermione. That's when I heard the troll… I tried to stop it, but it just knocked me into a wall. When I woke up a few minutes later, I saw it coming out of the loo… and its club was covered in… it was covered in…" Percy fell to his knees next to Ron. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you… I'm sorry I got you killed…"
Ron leaned towards his grieving brother and patted him on the back of his head.
"It's alright," Ron said simply and sat back into his chair.
As the rest of the Weasley family from the proper timeline surrounded Percy in a comforting hug, the alternate Ginny roughly smacked Ron in the back of the head and growled, "Teaspoon!"
Before anyone could ask Ginny about her bizarre reference, Dumbledore continued.
"In what was our Mr. Longbottom's fourth year, we hosted the Tri-Wizard Challenge." Lily was infuriated with Dumbledore, why did he insist on wasting time telling these children the history of this timeline? Her baby was in the hospital ward unconscious, in shock at the mere sight of his own mother. Lily folded her arms in front of her chest and turned away from the Headmaster. She saw that the Ginny from the other timeline was watching her counterpart menacingly.
"Sorry, Professor," Ron interrupted again, "But I gotta know; what happened with Quirrell and the Philosopher's Stone?"
"You know about that?" Dumbledore asked with a hint of amazement. "We have kept that a secret in this timeline. How did you ever hear about it?"
"Well, Harry, Hermione, and me stopped him," Ron said with a proud smile.
"What?" James blurted out. "What do you mean? You three would have only been in first year!"
"Yeah, I beat McGonagall's chessboard. Hermione bested Snape's logic puzzle," Ron explained. "And Harry faced Quirrell, who had You-Know-Who sticking out of the back of his head."
"Harry faced Voldemort when he was only eleven?" Lily asked completely shocked.
"Oh, Harry faced-off with You-Know-Who loads of times," Ron replied. Hermione was drawn out of her thoughts and held her hands up to Ron, as if to stop him, but the red-haired boy just continued. "In our first year, Harry confronted him in front of the Mirror of Erised, oh yeah; he ran into him in the Forbidden Forest before that, too. In second year, it was a shadow of You-Know-Who's memory. And then, Harry actually dueled with Ol' Snake Face after he was resurrected in our fourth year." Lily gasped loudly and began to cry at the horrors her son must have faced. "And Harry got possessed by him in our fifth…"
"Ron. Shut. Up!" Hermione commanded. Ron finally noticed the look of fright on James and Lily's faces. "And the obvious answer your question is that Quirrell and Voldemort couldn't have gotten the Stone because they would have wanted to use it. Dumbledore bewitched the Mirror so it wouldn't give the stone to anyone who wanted to use it. In our history, Dumbledore showed up shortly after Harry and Quirrell began fighting."
Lily paled as an image of Harry at a mere eleven years-old facing off with a full grown wizard entered her mind.
"That is quite astute, Ms. Granger," Dumbledore complimented the young witch. "I arrived in the Mirror chamber and discovered Quirrell standing there pleading with his master for one more chance. When I made my presence know, Lord Voldemort fled Quirrell's body, causing him a slow and painful death. And since Mr. Weasley said that Harry dueled with The Dark Lord in his fourth year, it is safe to assume that Harry was the Tri-Wizard Champion, and not Mr. Longbottom?"
"But why was I the champion?" Neville asked. "I mean, Harry's the Boy-Who-Lived."
"Ah, but as our Mr. Longbottom was the 'Boy-Who-Lived' in this world," Dumbledore answered, "he was targeted by Voldemort and was kid-"
"Why are you here?" Ginny's voice cut off the Headmaster. Lily turned and saw the red-haired witch from the other timeline stand up shakily, staring at her counterpart. "If Harry wasn't here to save this world's Ron and Hermione, and they died because of it, why are you here?"
"I... I don't know what you are talking about," the proper Ginny responded.
"Did you say something differently than I did?" the other Ginny demanded as tears welled up in her eyes. "Did you say something to him that I didn't, that made him like you?"
"Gin, it's okay." Ron said as he laid a comforting hand on his sister's arm.
"IF HARRY WASN'T HERE TO SAVE YOU," the other Ginny shouted as she tore her arm away from Ron's touch, "WHY ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?"
Ron and Neville stood protectively around the other Ginny as Mr. Weasley shielded the proper Ginny and demanded: "What's going on?"
The other Ginny collapsed into Neville's arms, Ron rubbed the girl's back, and Hermione held Ginny's hand.
"Um… Ginny," Ron asked looking at the proper Ginny, "where's the diary? Where's Riddle's diary?"
Ginny shot a worried look at her father then at Dumbledore. The Headmaster opened a drawer in his desk and removed a small red journal.
"Do you mean this, Mr. Weasley?" Dumbledore asked holding up the book. The other Ginny whimpered and hid behind Neville, who seemed to try and shield the girl from the book with his body.
"When Ms. Weasley started her first year, she discovered this book in her belongings," Dumbledore said, as he placed the book back in one of the drawers. The four children from the other timeline visibly relaxed as the book was put away.
"Albus, what is that book?" Arthur asked.
"It is a journal of a student who attended Hogwarts some time ago," Dumbledore explained. "The journal contains a magical copy of his memories, his shadow if you will."
"Is it dangerous?" Remus asked.
"Very much so," Dumbledore stated. "The student's name was Tom Marvolo Riddle."
"Voldemort," James said in a shocked tone.
"Yes," Dumbledore continued. "A few weeks after our Ms. Weasley started; she approached me and gave me this journal. She stated, if I remember correctly, that her father had warned her about objects that could think for themselves."
"I'm so stupid," the other time's Ginny buried her face into Neville's chest and cried.
"It's alright, Ginny," Neville comforted the red-haired witch as he held her to him. "I reckon that this Ginny was a bit more cautious 'cuz her brother had died, is all."
"I assume that the Chamber was re-opened in your timeline?" Dumbledore asked. Neville and Ron simple nodded their heads. "Was anyone harmed?"
"A few students were petrified, including Hermione," Ron explained. "And You-Know-Who tired to… he almost…"
It was obvious that Ron was having difficulty finishing his statement.
"He attempted to drain your sister's life-force," Dumbledore concluded. Ron nodded again. "And you mentioned that Harry confronted Voldemort's shadow, so it would be safe to assume that it was Harry who saved Ms. Weasley's life?"
Ron nodded his head once more.
"It would seem, then, that our two worlds are vastly different," Dumbledore stated.
"You don't know the half of it," Ron muttered. Lily could have sworn that Ron looked at his parents with a tear in his eye.
Albus took a sip of his tea before continuing.
"So, I believe that we can say that Harry is the main reason how and why our two timelines are different. Could one of you please tell me what happened to your Harry?"
Lily leaned forward in her chair, anxious to find out what had happened. What Lily truly wanted to know is why her alternate self, the Lily from the other timeline, had abused and neglected her son.
Ron looked nervously between James, Lily, and Sirius for a moment before turning towards the little Grangergirl.
Hermione stopped worrying her lip and looked into Albus' blue eyes.
"Before I answer, Professor, there are a few things I would like to clear up about what happen in this timeline sixteen years ago."
"No! You can ask you silly questions later!" Lily demanded. "Tell me what happened to my son!"
"You said that you cast the Killing Curse at Voldemort, correct Professor?" the little girl asked Dumbledore, completely ignoring Lily.
"Yes, I was forced to," Albus responded.
"Why?"
"Why? Because someone's life was in jeopardy," answered Dumbledore.
"But you knew that you wouldn't be able to kill him," the little girl continued. "You were the only one who knew the entire prophesy, and you knew that only Harry or Neville would be able to kill Voldemort. Because of this knowledge, you would've tried to restrain him or stun him."
Lily didn't like where the little girl's questions were leading, neither did James. She could feel her husband begin to tense up behind her. Lily noticed that she was unconsciously gripping the arms of the chair that she sat in so hard that her knuckles were white.
"Like I said, I acted impulsively," the Headmaster stated. "A person's life was at stake…"
"But when our Harry dueled with Voldemort in our fifth year, Voldemort launched several Killing Curses at Harry," Hermione countered. "Our Dumbledore tried to restrain Voldemort, not kill him, because he knew it would be futile-"
"Listen, just drop it!" James ordered irritably. The little Granger girl could tell that this inquiry was over. Lily took a calming breath as the little girl looked at James and then directly into Lily's eyes. After a moment, the Granger girl turned back to Dumbledore.
"My next question is when Voldemort attacked this world's Neville," the little girl continued, "did he hit Neville with the Killing Curse?"
"What kind of asinine question is that?" Snape said scornfully. Paullina and Edward stood up and began to berate Snape for insulting their daughter, but Snape ignored them much like Hermione ignored Lily. "The Headmaster clearly stated that the Longbottom brat wasn't killed until his fourth year. If he had been hit with the Killing Curse when he was a child, he would have died, you silly girl."
"Oi, greasy-git," Ron called out from his chair. "I take it that You-Know-Who found out that you were a spy. Is that why you got it cut off," Ron said indicating Snape's left arm, "to get rid of the Dark Mark?"
"What of it, you insolent whelp?" Snape asked defensively.
"I just reckon it must be difficult to make all those complicated potions with just one hand."
"I can do everything now that I could before," Snape hissed defiantly.
"Is that right?" Ron asked as he casually. "Clap."
Snape's face paled and his eyes bulged in anger.
"How dare you-" the Potions Master began.
"Climb a ladder," Ron added.
"Ronald!" Molly shouted. "Show some respect!"
"This git doesn't deserve respect," Ron said. "Not after how he taught Harry Occlumency."
"You little snot!" Snape snarled as he took a step towards Ron.
"Severus," Dumbledore said as he held his hand out to Snape. "Please calm down."
Snape grudgingly stood down. The Headmaster turned his attention back to the Granger girl.
"No, the Dark Lord was stopped before he was able to finish the incantation for the Killing Curse."
"So your Neville wasn't 'marked' then," Hermione concluded.
After a moment of silence where Albus was deep in thought, he stated, "I never took that part of the prophesy to be literal." Dumbledore stroked his long silver beard before continuing. "So young Harry was marked… are you saying that your Harry survived the Killing Curse? How is that possible?"
Lily was taken back when all four children turned in unison and looked straight at her in response to Albus' question.
"Did your time's Lily do something to protect young Harry?" the Headmaster asked noticing the children's' gaze.
"Wormtail didn't trick the Potters," Hermione began, turning her sad eyes to the floor again. "He just scurried to Voldemort and told him where Godric's Hollow was."
"Pardon me," Minerva interrupted, "who is Wormtail?"
"It was Peter's nickname in school," Remus informed the group.
"No one knows what really happened that night," Hermione continued. "Harry only recalls bits and pieces of it when Dementors attack him.
"Voldemort broke in, James told Lily to take Harry and run. But for some reason Lily couldn't escape," Hermione continued. "Maybe Voldemort set up anti apparation wards, I don't know. But Voldemort killed James after Lily had run up to the nursery with Harry."
Lily heard Remmy and Alice groan sadly at the mention of their father being murdered.
"While Voldemort headed to the nursery, Lily did something, some sort of blood ritual, before she, too, was murdered."
Lily gasped. She remembered finding an ancient book in the Potter family library before Harry was born. In the crumbling pages, she discovered a ritual in which one person's life-force could be used to protect another's. For months after Harry's murder, Lily wondered what would have happened if she sacrificed herself for her son, as the ritual described.
Her guilt ridden mind had often fantasized about what would have happened if she would have used that ritual on Harry. Lily had imagined herself biting down on her own thumb so hard that she would've drawn blood. She would then use her bloody thumb to hastily draw a simple rune on her baby's forehead, a rune that look something like a cross between an "S" and a lightning bolt.
A lightning bolt.
"It worked," Lily sobbed recalling the odd scar on Harry's forehead. She grabbed James' hand and looked into his eyes. "James, it worked, I saved him."
"But at what cost?" Dumbledore asked as he looked at Remmy and Alice.
"Mum and Dad are dead?" Remmy asked.
"In our world, yes," Hermione answered.
"Oh, Merlin," Sirius moaned somewhere behind Lily. "What did I do to him?"
"What do you mean?" Ron asked, looking perplexed.
"Harry was abused," Sirius replied while he started to cry. "I was to be his guardian if Lily and James died. That means I hurt Harry."
"Oh, no, you were chucked into Azkaban a few days latter," Ron stated flatly. "You went after Wormtail but the rat killed a load of Muggles and framed you, instead."
"But… but," Sirius stammered, "I wouldn't have gone after Peter if I had to take care of Harry."
After a moment, Hermione explained, "No one knew that you and Peter switched Secret Keeper duties. Everyone thought that you were the spy, not Peter. So Dumbledore told Hagrid to bring Harry back to him, and not to let anyone else take him."
"But, who hurt my baby?" Lily said softly.
Hermione turned her eyes back to the floor and the other three children were looking anywhere but at Lily.
"Please tell me," Lily implored.
Before Hermione continued, she wiped a tear away from her eye.
"Dumbledore knew that Voldemort wasn't dead, and that Harry could've still been in danger from him or any one of his followers. But your protection was more powerful than anything Dumbledore had seen. He believed that it was in Harry's best interest that he continue that same protection, your blood protection."
"Oh, god no!" Lily exclaimed. Tears began to fall from her eyes as realization dawned upon Lily: her blood.
"What do you mean?" James asked Hermione.
"My blood, James," Lily explained as she took her husband's hand in hers. "My blood was needed to continue the protection. He was given to the only other blood left in my family; he was given to Petunia."
James braced himself against Lily's chair as he felt his knees buckle under him.
Silence filled the room. Lily felt as if she was going to be physically ill. The thought of her baby spending a week, much less years, with that wretched woman made her nauseous. Lily felt the bile creep up her throat at the mere idea of her Harry having to live with those horrible people.
Several years previously, before Alice got her Hogwarts' letter, James and Lily had attempted to make amends with Petunia and her family. The Potters arrived at the Durselys', after Lily had used the Muggle post to give them fair warning. Vernon had looked like he was about to suffer a mild coronary as he "welcomed" them into his house. Petunia refused to speak and had looked like she smelled something repulsive the entire time Lily and her family were there. Their horribly obese son, Dudley, kept trying to intimidate and threaten Lily's children. The meeting was a complete and utter disaster.
"How bad could it have been?" Minerva asked noticing the shocked expressions on the Potters' faces.
"Bad," a red-eyed Ron answered simply.
"It couldn't have been all that bad," Snape interjected, patronizingly. Lily shot the bastard a cold look that made him take a step back.
"He never talks about it," Hermione answered and wiped tears away from her eyes.
"Sometimes, when he has nightmare," Neville said quietly, "he says things in his sleep…" Both Neville and Ron closed their eyes as if they were having an internal struggle with images that plagued their minds about whatever it was that Harry had said during these nightmares.
Before Lily could press the children for more information, the fireplace in the office erupted in flames and Poppy's head appeared, floating in the flames.
"Sorry for the interruption Albus, but you wanted to know when-" Poppy began, and then abruptly turned her head to the side to yell at someone behind her. "Would you two PLEASE be quiet!"
"Is there a problem, Poppy?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, these two girls… the two Lunas are driving me mad!" Poppy said a bit flustered. "They keep speaking in unison, it's quite disturbing."
"I am sorry to hear that," Albus offered, sounding slightly amused at Poppy's predicament. "How is your patient?"
"Well, he's awake, which is odd," Poppy answered. "With the amount of calming draught the boy took, he should have been asleep for a day.
"But the truly strange thing is that he was very restless before he woke up," Poppy continued, "like he was having a nightmare."
"Let me speak to our Luna," Hermione demanded.
Poppy looked to Dumbledore for his consent. The Headmaster nodded and Poppy disappeared from the flames. After a moment, Luna's face appeared in the flames.
"Hello, Hermione," Luna said.
"Was it a nightmare?" Hermione asked briskly, without greeting her friend.
Luna blinked once and withdrew her head from the flames. Everyone in the office looked at each other in confusion. Before long however, Luna's face returned.
"Harry says it wasn't a nightmare," Luna said in a dreamy voice. Hermione stood up rapidly. "He says that his Occlumency shields blocked most of it out, but he knows that You-Know-Who is upset about something and is anxious."
"I'll be right there," Hermione stated and began to walk to the door.
Lily stood and proceeded to follow Hermione.
"I'm coming with you." Lily commanded.
Hermione stopped in her tacks and spun to face Lily.
"No you will not!" Hermione barked.
"Excuse me?" Lily asked, shocked by the little girl's actions.
"He went into shock the last time he saw you," the little girl lectured. "I am going to explain to him what is going on, and when I feel that he can see you…"
"When you feel?" Lily seethed as she took a step towards the little girl. "When you feel I can see him? He is my son! My family!"
"He's my fiancé!" the little girl said, meeting Lily's glare.
"WHAT?" both Lily and Paullina shouted out!
"You're too young!" Paullina added.
"Harry's just a boy!" Lilly stated.
"No he is not!" the little girl said, not backing down. "He's more of a man than anyone I've ever met!"
"What makes you think-" Lily began to ask.
"I can tell that Voldemort is still lurking in the shadows in this world! Still in hiding," the little Grangergirl interrupted, "pulling strings and controlling events and people from the shadows. In our world, Harry dragged him into the light like a cockroach! Harry proved to the world that Voldemort was alive; but in this world, you let him continue to hide and manipulate people."
"Never the less," Lily said vehemently, "He is still too young!"
"In our time, we are at war!" Hermione argued. "Not some chess game where you try to block Voldemort's next move. We have to live every day like it is the last!'
"Don't give me that trite saying, little girl!" Lily hissed.
"By the time Harry was twelve, he had no less than four attempts on his life!" The little girl retorted. "It isn't a cliché for him… or for the rest of us. You have no idea what we've been through!"
Before Lily could argue more, the little girl quickly glanced at her parents and rushed out of the office repressing a sob.
Lily was about to run after her when James place his hand on her arm.
"Lily, let her go," James said, attempting to be soothing.
"WHAT?" Lily nearly screamed at her husband. James of all people should know how she felt. He should be at her side as they rushed to the Hospital Ward to see their baby, not restraining her.
"I believe that we should take a short break, seeing how it is time for supper," Dumbledore stated before Lily could yell at James for interfering.
"Albus, I-" Lily began to argue with the Headmaster.
"Lily, I cannot begin to understand what you are going through right now," Dumbledore said, "but please try to be patient."
"But, Albus…" Lily pleaded but Dumbledore simply gestured to the door.
Lily huffed as the rest of the people filed out of the office. Before James walked out with their children, he turned to Lily.
"Lily, we'll see him shortly."
"Fine," Lily said with barely veiled contempt. Sirius followed James out and Lily fell in step behind Sirius and was the last to leave the office. As she followed Sirius down the corridor, Lily saw something glimmering hanging out of his back pocket. It was James' Invisibility Cloak. She quickly waved her wand, muttering a Summoning Charm, and the Cloak flew into her hand.
Lily turned and dashed around a corner, whipping the cloak over her. She could hear Sirius curse behind her as he noticed the cloak was missing. No doubt he would tell James, and that the latter would go searching for Lily. But she didn't care; she needed to be with her Harry.
It took her under a minute or two to run to the Hospital Ward. She saw the two Lunas and their father leaving the ward, talking happily amongst themselves as they headed towards the Great Hall. Lily took a deep breath before entering the Ward.
Her son was still sitting in his bed and that little girl was practically in his lap! The hussy was talking to her son so softly that Lily had to walk up right next to them to hear what she was saying.
"I don't think your mum likes me very much right now," the little Granger girl said. Lily barely stopped a snort.
"She just met you," Harry argued. Lily was amazed at how much Harry sounded like James at that age. Although James was still a bit pretentious when he was seventeen, and there was no hint of that in Harry's voice.
"She's upset that I'm having my way with her son," the little girl said with a smile.
'Having her way!' Lily's maternal instincts screamed at the implication. That… that scarlet woman!
After a moment where neither Harry nor the little girl said anything, the latter spoke:
"It's so odd seeing Fred and George laugh again. I mean it's been months," Granger said softly. "And to see Arthur whole and Molly alive…" she trailed off.
Lily was stunned; Molly had died and for some reason, Arthur was not whole. What had happened in the other time line?
"It must be difficult for Ron and Ginny," Granger said as Harry caressed her hand. "Bill and Charlie had died so horribly… and Percy…"
Granger's lower lip began to tremble. Harry waited patiently, as if he knew what was about to happen, as if he had been waiting for some time.
"They're alive, Harry," Hermione sobbed and fell into Harry's arms. "They're alive…"
Harry lovingly stroked the girl's hair as she cried almost hysterically into his chest.
"Every time I look at my dad, all I see is him screaming under the Cruciatus Curse," Hermione said and Lily nearly gasped. The pain in her voice was almost too much to endure. "They made me watch, Harry, they made me watch… mum begged for mercy… they just laughed while they… hurt her…"
Harry cupped her face in his hands and placed a gentle kiss on Hermione's brow as he cried along with her. Lily could tell by the look in their eyes, that this was the first time that Hermione had shared this terrible event with anyone, including Harry.
"They made me watch…" Hermione sobbed.
Lily's entire body was shaking as she slowly backed away towards the Ward's entrance. In the world of these six children, Voldemort wasn't hiding; he and his Death Eaters weren't acting covertly and doing small, almost undetectable crimes. Trying to control the world from the shadows. They were at war just as Hermione had said; a terrible war that the poor girl witnessed first hand.
Lily backed out of the doors and bumped into James. Lily spun around and threw her arms around her husband.
"Lily, what's wrong?" James asked as he embraced his invisible wife.
"Oh, God, James, it's horrible," Lilly cried. "What those children went through."
The couple stood outside of the Hospital Ward listening to Hermione crying for a moment.
"Maybe we should leave them alone for a while," James said pulling the cloak off of Lily. "Besides, Remmy and Alice are a little disturbed at the thought of us dying in the other timeline."
Lily nodded her head in agreement and James led her toward the Great Hall. She knew that a little hot cocoa helped when Remmy got upset, just as she knew that Alice would want to fly on her broom to alleviate her stress. A mother knows these things.
Then it hit her like a ton of bricks: she didn't know Harry, not like a mother knows her son. She didn't know what types of food he enjoyed or hated. What made him laugh. Lily wasn't there to teach him how to read, or how to ride a bike. She wasn't there to help him shop for his wand or pack his trunk for Hogwarts. She wasn't ever there for him.
Lily began to cry anew as they approached the doors to the Great Hall. James pulled her closer and said, "Don't worry; we'll have plenty of time to spend with him." James always seemed to know what she was thinking.
"I wouldn't get the mudblood's hopes up, if I were you, Potter," a disembodied, cold, feminine voice said from inside the Great Hall. Lily and James froze as a dozen Death Eaters exited the giant doors in front of them.
"The Dark Lord has invited you to join us," the woman, whose voice Lily recognized as Bellatrix Lestrange, said with a cackle. Bellatrix gestured dramatically towards the double doors as two faceless Death Eaters shoved James and Lily into the Great Hall.
Lily gasped aloud at the scene that lay before her. Scores of Death Eaters were scattered about the Great Hall, pointing their wands menacingly at the students. At the head table, in his usual spot, was Dumbledore, unmoving as if frozen in place and in obvious pain. But what distressed Lily more than the world's greatest wizard in distress or the entire student body of Hogwarts under hostage, was seeing her children, Alice and Remmy, kneeling on the floor. Her children were kneeling alongside with the proper timeline's Ginny and Luna who was next to Ron, Neville, Ginny and Luna from the other timeline.
A tall and thin figure slinked from out of the shadows behind Dumbledore. Lily's blood chilled as the figure's cold, red eyes fell upon her emerald green eyes.
"Ah, the murderer has finally arrived," Voldemort hissed.
TBC
Author's Notes: Thank you for reading my fic. I would like to thank my beta sasqch.