A Legacy of Love

Chapter 8: Dragon Pox

Breakfast had become a dreaded event in Hogwarts during the years of Voldemort's terror. Every morning there was the tension and the wait for the post owls to bear the first tidings of news. And news was not good at all those days, to say the least. Every student's ultimate nightmare was to receive notice of one or more of their family members' deaths. Which was why, on the morning of the third of February, James choked on his toast when his owl landed in front of him, bearing a letter with Mr. James Potter, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry written in block letters on the front. The handwriting was unfamiliar. It wasn't from his parents then. Uh oh.

Next to him, Lily unfurled her daily edition of the Daily Prophet and started reading it, feeding herself porridge absentmindedly. Sirius and Remus glanced at the letter uneasily while Peter, minding his own business as usual, just continued shoving down breakfast at an alarming rate. James examined the letter. It did not bear the official stamp of the Ministry of Magic, so it wasn't about Death Eater murders. So far, so good. Tentatively, James turned the letter over to open it. The envelope flap was stuck down with purple wax bearing a crest with a bone and a wand crossed. It was from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

Seized with a sudden wave of foreboding, he ripped the letter open in such a frenzy that Lily looked up from the perusing of her paper, startled. James took up the letter with shaking hands and read it so fast his eyes were blurred. He had to read a second time before he understood what was going on, and a third time before the full impact of the letter hit him. Without offering any explanation whatsoever to his friends or his girlfriend, he jumped up from his seat and left the Great Hall in a hurry.

Mystified and scared at the various possible possibilities of the contents of the letter, Lily took up the letter and read too. As soon as she did, she, too, leaped to her feet, exited the Great Hall without further ado, and took off after James. Sirius and Remus seized the letter which both of them left behind.

Dear Mr. James Potter,

We are sorry to inform you that both your esteemed parents, Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Potter, has been admitted to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries late yesterday evening, on the second of February, due to an outburst of Dragon Pox. It is still unknown how the disease was transmitted to your parents, but we at St. Mungo's have taken the liberty to send a team of Healers to disinfect your house in order to prevent the disease from spreading further.

We are doing all we can to save such excellent wizards and witches as your father and mother, but we are afraid that, due to their advanced age, they are not likely to survive the week. Even if they did, which is highly unlikely, as we have no prior records that showed aged patients surviving Dragon Pox, they are likely to be permanently scarred and would probably suffer from weak antibody for the rest of their lives. Therefore, we suggest that you make a trip to St. Mungo's today so that we would be able to arrange for you to meet your parents for the last time, should you wish to. You may bring along two visitors at a time with you, but we must warn you that they might be unconscious by the time you arrive.

We are sincerely sorry to be the bearer of such news, and for the illnesses of Mr. and Mrs. Potter. We are praying and hoping against hope that they will make a full recovery.

Yours truly,
Laura Cresswell
St. Mungo's Hospital of Magical Maladies and Injuries

Sirius barely finished reading it before he practically flew out of the Great Hall while Remus, remembering Peter, dragged him forcefully from the Gryffindor table. Peter protested loudly until Remus silenced him with a "Quiet, Peter! James's parents are dying. We have to be there for him." Peter, understanding the gravity of the situation, fell silent immediately. They set off in a run towards the only place that made sense: Dumbledore's office.

The pair reached the stone gargoyle just as Sirius finished reciting the password ("Chocolate Frogs"). Out of breath, they managed to jump onto the revolving staircase with him before the stone gargoyle sprang back into place. They almost jumped onto the top landing, as they were extremely frustrated with the slow revolving speed, and hammered loudly on the Headmaster's door. Before waiting for the Headmaster to speak, they opened the door with a loud 'bang!' and, while taking note of the presence of the extremely pale James and Lily, started speaking all at once.

"Professor, we need to go with Pr-, I mean James, too! Mr. and Mrs. Potter are the nearest thing to parents to me," Sirius hollered loudly before the Headmaster had a chance to interrupt. Remus and Peter, too, protested that they should go. Albus Dumbledore, seeing that these youngsters were not in the near future going to stop ranting, held up his hand to ask for silence.

"Perhaps it will be quicker if you let me speak, Misters Black, Lupin and Pettigrew. I have already been made aware of Chris and Sophie's illnesses and I have given Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans permission to visit. You three would also, of course, be able to visit. I shall tell your teachers to save your assignments for you, to be given when you come back. You are excused for the rest of the week. I trust you all have your Apparition licenses?" When all five of them nodded in confirmation, he continued, "Very well, you may Apparate back to Hogsmeade when you are ready to return. But for now, Floo to St. Mungo's from here. There is not a moment to lose."

He offered a pouch full of powder to James, who was the nearest to him. Without further ado, he took a pinch, threw it into the fire, which turned emerald green and rose higher than his head, stepped into the flames, shouted "St. Mungo's!" and was gone. Lily, Sirius, Remus and Peter followed suit, and soon all of them were tumbling one after another through the grate of St. Mungo's reception centre.

Lily, who had the sharpest eyes, scanned the floor guide hurriedly and saw their destination was "Second Floor: Magical Bugs (Contagious maladies, e.g., dragon pox, vanishing sickness, scrofungulus)". She turned to tell James, but he was already at the help desk, pestering the plump blond Welcome Witch to tell him his parents' whereabouts. The witch's eyes grew round when James demanded for the Potters. She immediately flipped through the pages frantically, which was saying something, as she was usually quite lazy. But then, the Potters had always held great respect in the magical world.

"Second floor, Ward Twenty-One, first door to your left as you enter the second floor corridor. We hope…" but she never got to finish her sentence as the five teenagers were already hurrying towards the staircase. Healers and patients jumped out of the group's way, for fear of getting injured as the Marauders and Lily were practically crashing their way through the hospital. They would have hurried into the designated Ward without so much as a warning, but the Healers-in-charge stopped them at the beginning of the corridor and insisted that they wear the hospital gowns and masks, as was the custom for visitors to the second floor.

"Bloody hell, woman! Just let us through, will you?" James roared impatiently at the unfortunate Healer who was trying in vain to persuade him to don the prescribed apparel, while attempting to push his way through. "It's my parents dying in there! Now move over!"

A warm hand rested on his left forearm and Lily's voice, clear as glass, spoke up, which calmed him down immediately. "James… It won't do you any good if you disobeyed. If you just wear the damn thing, she would be able to let us in. Isn't that what you want?" She spoke to him gently. James relaxed and nodded. The Healer looked relieved.

"No more than three at a time. We don't want the ward to get too crowded," she instructed, and waited for their decision as to who would go first. The group looked at each other.

"I think it ought to be family first. James and Sirius must go first, and Lily too. They'd want to meet her. I'll wait out here with Peter," Remus decided. The others nodded their ascent. So James, Sirius and Lily followed the Healer into the ward.

As soon as James and Sirius saw Chris and Sophie Potter, they raced quickly to their bedside and took their hands. Lily felt like an intruder, interrupting the family reunion. She remained in the shadows as James and Sirius spoke softly to the Potters.

"Mum… Dad… It's me… Please get well… I… I can't live without you…" James pleaded. His parents were covered in horrible looking greenish boils, which looked incredibly nasty, and he could do nothing about it. These boils were sapping out his parents' lives, and he could do nothing about it. They gave life to him, and he couldn't stop them from dying. Beside him, Sirius was talking endlessly to Sophie Potter, who miraculously, was still awake. "Mama P, please don't die. I promise I would be a good boy. You must get well soon, you promised to bake my favourite cake for my eighteenth birthday…"

Christopher Potter opened his eyes with great difficulty. He squinted at his replica sitting by his bedside and smiled. "My James… you came…" he managed to say. James tightened his grip on his father's hand and said eagerly, "Yes, dad, I came. I came to see you, to make you feel better. You'll be all right. You're always strong."

"Not this time, James… Dragon Pox will kill me… beyond a doubt… at my age…" Chris gasped out, his breath coming out short. "We all have to die… sooner or later… it is one thing magic can't change… and with good reason too…"

"Please, dad… Please don't…" James begged his sick father, tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. You have to live to see me graduate with the highest honours from Hogwarts, see me get my first job, my marriage, name my children…" At this, he remembered Lily and turned a light shade of pink. He was ashamed that he forgot all about her when his parents took his attention. He turned to Lily and said, "Lily, come on over. I want you to meet my parents. Now is as good a time as any other."

Lily nodded and advanced towards them slowly. Sirius moved a little aside temporarily. James took her hand and introduced her to his parents. "Mum, dad, this is Lily Evans, my girlfriend. The one I've told you about." Lily smiled at them and said politely, "Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Potter."

Chris and Sophie, despite their weak bodies, managed to smile back at the woman with auburn-locks standing in front of them. "So this is the girl… our boy has been talking about… non-stop…" Chris said amusedly. "I'm sorry… we couldn't meet you… under better circumstances… like we planned to… Lily… Don't you think… they would make… a great couple, dear?" He put this enquiry to his wife, who was also very happy to see his son with the girl of his dreams. She nodded weakly and said, "Yes… of course… She's a charming young lady… No wonder James fell for her…" She coughed slightly. Her husband turned his gaze back at Lily and said, "Reminds us… of our courtship… doesn't it dear? We Potter men… really do have a thing… for redheads… Dear? Are you all right?"

For Sophie couldn't stop coughing. She was gagging, choking, her face a deep shade of puce. James and Sirius froze on the spot. Lily did the only sensible thing she could think of. She ran out of the ward and bellowed, "HEALERS! MRS. POTTER IS IN TROUBLE!"

The effect was instantaneous. Every Healer in charge of the second floor who wasn't busy at the moment came rushing in after Remus and Peter, who ran past Lily as she shouted down the corridor. They were trying in vain to stop Sophie's coughing, but they knew that there was nothing they could do against dragon pox when it infected aged wizards and witches. In the end, they resolved to give her a potion to reduce the pain, and Sophie Potter died with a smile on her lips. In the midst of all this confusion, only Lily, while rushing back to Sophie's bedside, noticed that Chris had difficulty breathing. Conjecturing that it was probably caused by his beloved Sophie's passing, she turned to the Healers and diverted their attention to Chris, who was losing consciousness faster than you can say "Quidditch". In a minute, Christopher Potter was no more.

James and Sirius were devastated. In five minutes, they had lost both their parents. Remus was extremely sorry that he didn't get to see them for the last time. Peter just felt wrong-footed as he always did. Lily walked over to James and embraced him while Remus engulfed Sirius in a brotherly hug. Sirius's unshed tears swam and sparkled in his eyes. James, however, broke down completely and sobbed unrestrainedly on Lily's shoulder.

"…Dearly missed by a loving son, beloved friends, and the wizarding community," concluded the minister who was officiating the funeral service. James barely heard a word as he clung to Lily for support. Bright white flames suddenly erupted from the bodies, jerking him back to reality. Higher and higher it went, until at last it dimmed, and the two bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Potter were encased in their tombs.

James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily were all there, wearing mourning dress robes and sitting in the front row reserved for the surviving family members of the deceased. It was two days since the Potters' death, and they decided to bury James's parents on Sunday before returning to Hogwarts the next day.

As they exited the graveyard, a neat-looking man hurried towards them. "Mr. James Potter?" He asked James, who looked so like his late father, there was no difficulty in recognising him. James nodded absentmindedly. The man continued in a reedy voice, "I am your late father's lawyer. Will you please step up to my office so that I can read you your father's last will? Your friends may come as well. In fact, a certain Sirius Black, I do believe, is also one of the beneficiaries."

James raised his eyebrows, but merely grunted his assent. They followed the lawyer in silence. A few blocks away, the man turned into a respectable looking building. They filed past his door quietly and closed the door behind them as the lawyer searched around for the will. He straightened up seconds later and, with a nod, told them the contents in summary.

"I know you lot want to go back and get your sleep, so I'll make this real quick," read the reedy voice of the lawyer. "The entire Potter estate will be inherited by Mr. James Potter, son of Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Potter, except for five thousand Galleons, which will be left to a Mr. Sirius Black. Mr. Potter also left two personal letters in my possession, one each for Mr. James Potter and Mr. Sirius Black. That would be all."

James and Sirius both signed whatever papers needed for the transfer of assets and received their respective letters. It looked freshly written. Before they left, the lawyer told James, "I admired and respected you father and mother very much, son. They were great people. I'm sorry they died." James nodded to show that he had heard it, and headed outside, followed by the others. Together, the five of them Apparated without a word back to Godric's Hollow, where they all sat in the living room and stared blankly into the roaring fire built by the Potters' house-elf. They felt the lost acutely, even Lily, who had the least contact with the goodness of James's parents. They were known to the wizarding world as respectable, prominent people, but to the Marauders, they were nothing but kind, loving and responsible parents.

It was Lily's tender voice that roused them gently back from their thoughts. "Well, I guess we'd better get some sleep. We need to wake up early tomorrow to Apparate back to Hogsmeade before the afternoon classes," she said softly, knowing that James and Sirius would like to read their letters in private. Nodding, the Marauders filed up to their respective bedrooms that James and Sirius had assigned for their stay. Once they were safely locked in their bedrooms, James and Sirius took out their letters and read them. It was dated the previous month, which explained the parchment's fresh look. James's letter ran in this manner:

My dear son,

If this reaches you, James, then I will already be dead, though I pray, for your sake, that it won't be anywhere in the near future. But James, I will never be truly gone. Your mother and I will always be there, watching over you. Never for a moment doubt our presence around you.

We all must, in some point of our lives, come to terms with that mysterious thing called death. So I've always known, and so must you understand now, that everyone must one day leave the earth to journey beyond. One fateful day, we would all be called forth one by one to embark on our next journey in another world, once our sojourn here is considered completed and finished.

I've known your Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, for a long time. We have been, and are still, long time friends, and I know him well. He, and his friend, Nicholas Flamel, the only known keeper of the last Philosopher's Stone, have always said that "to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure". And so it is, son, so it is.

I'm sure, by your forceful recommendations and how you talk about nothing but Lily Evans when we ask you about school, except your Marauder friends, which, by the way, have been very informative about your pursuit of her, that she is a very fine young woman, one whom we would certainly like to get to know better, and would not object to call her daughter-in-law, should she be the one you choose to make your wife. Life is short, James, so live it to the fullest and always prepare for the unexpected. Your mother and I have both lived thus long, have experienced life to its fullness, that we will have no regrets, except not being with you longer, that we will bring forth to the next world.

Before I go, I would like to say this to you, if I didn't say it often enough before. I love you son, and so does your mother. Try not to forget us, but try also to move on with your life. No Potter should spend his time moping around for a father and mother who have only gone on to another world. We would not have liked you to ruin your life because of us. In time, you will understand that the only reason we fear death is because of the unknown we face in death, and not death itself.

Always,
Dad

James couldn't help it. He put his hands in his face and cried silently, bitterly, lamenting for the lost of his most beloved parents. This would be his father's last letter to him. They would never come back again. They didn't live to see him marry the woman of his dreams. They won't live to see their grandchild placed before them anymore. James never felt more alone than he did right then and there.

In the next room, Sirius was also crying like James by the end of his letter. The only parents he had known were lost to him forever. And they had remembered him! He was so grateful that Mr. and Mrs. Potter cherished him like their own son. He lowered his head and read his letter again, wanting to bring back every happy memory he had with James's parents.

Dear Sirius,

You should know very well by now that we have always looked after you like our second son. Very few people, like you, are able to break out of the mould that the Black family has been trying to impose on you, their eldest son. Despite being born in a family that advocates the Dark Arts and the so-called purity of blood, you have managed to realise that its lure of power is not all that decent after all. For that, I'm prouder of you than I can say.

Ever since we started receiving letters from Hogwarts about James's numerous pranks, we've always wondered about this mysterious comrade-in-arms who, presumably, caused the havoc with him. Imagine our surprise when James brought you, Remus and Peter home for Christmas during first year and introduced you, his best friend, as a Black! We were so astonished, but after the first five minutes of our acquaintance, we were immediately satisfied that you are nothing like the rest of your family and welcomed you with open arms, like we always will.

I hope we have treated you well, especially during your short stay when you were sixteen, and we thank you for bringing joy into our lives. Lastly, never give up on life, my boy. There are so many good things in the world, which we mustn't overlook just because of other events like death. You yourself is living proof that we are all able to live life on our own terms and that every cloud has a silver lining.

We won't ever forget you, but, like everyone else, you must come to terms with death and learn to let go. I wish you all the best for the future. Try to move on for our sake. We wouldn't have liked to see our surrogate son waste his life away because of the lost of his parents.

Forever yours,
Chris Potter a.k.a. Papa P

– To Be Continued –