The Almost Prank

Chapter 16 Revelations

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts" - (Act II, Scene VII As You Like It).

Original quote: The allure of nobility is great. Those who ignore it are truly great and humble. Let us all be humbled as others seek nobility.

A week and half later found our wonderful heros in the famous Kings Cross Station making plans for the upcoming wedding. None of them was paying any attention to the scene around them until Lily let out a scream. A burly man with dark blond hair had grabbed Lily around the neck and was dragging her over to a deserted corner of the station. "We have had inquiries," The man whispered harshly into Lily's ear. "I do not take kindly to this. I told you before what would happen and now you will pay."

"I do not know what you are talking about, uncle," Lily responded struggling against the choke hold that her uncle had on her.

"I told you when that freak of a baby was born two years ago not to say anything to anyone," the man stormed. "I told you that you would pay if anyone found out about it. Now you have people asking me all kinds of questions."

"It is funny how they are asking questions now," Lily replied smartly. "Instead of before when the signs were all there."

"There you are, Evans," Snape called walking over to the couple with an amused look in his eyes. "I believe we have a two week long appointment."
"Ah one of my better costumers," the blond haired man muttered joyously. "Although I do not recall you having an appointment."

"The slip is right here," Snape reasoned waving his wand and producing a slip of paper. As he handed the other man the slip of paper and a handful of money he grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her over to the Marauders. "Potter, you owe me 30 galleons, 20 sickles and three knuts," Snap sneered as he got to the group.

"Lily," James exclaimed hugging Lily. "Why do I owe you that, Snape?"

"I just had to do your job," Snape snapped. "I would think you would keep better track of your precious Lily. She just had a run in with her uncle. From which I had to save her. You are just lucky that my father is a good friend of her uncle's."

"Fine," James responded throwing a handful of money at Snape. "I suppose you expect a thank you in return."
"No, this will do," Snape sneered picking up the money and walking off. "By the way we're even for the bathroom incident."

"So noted," James muttered holding Lily close to him. "Are you alright?" James asked Lily when Snape had walked off.

"I'm fine," Lily muttered turning to leave the platform. "Severus, took care of it."

"Where is that bloody git of an uncle of yours?" James exclaimed looking around the platform. "I believe it is time that I had a little talk with him."
"He is gone," Lily murmured pulling James after her. "He always stays around just long enough to get his money then leaves. Unless of course my parents are around. Then he waits until they leave for work the next day. It has always been this way. Usually Severus or his dad took me for the first day or so. He liked it that way. It was always less work for him."

"Just one more reason to hate him," Sirius interjected. "Taking advantage of our poor Lily."

"It was never like that with Severus," Lily whispered. "He was always the gentleman. All he ever wanted to do was talk. We never did anything else. I swear. If you hurt him I will never forgive you. Any of you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," all four of them replied at once. They all feared Lily's wrath and the hexes she could throw at them.

(a/n: Lily has been declared an official Marauder. So in away she is their Lily. After all it is one for all and all for one. Slight three musketeers moment. Oh I do not own the Musketeers either. Drat.)

"Prongs, look," Sirius called pointing down the platform at three figures one of which was holding the hand of a red haired toddler. "You don't think..."

Sirius was cut off by Lily who had looked in the direction of his finger. "It couldn't be," Lily muttered her face going white. "Padfoot, stop staring. He wouldn't. How could he?" Just then as if feeling their stares Snape looked over to the group and smiled.

The Potter Mansion was nothing but majestic. She knew that James family was rich, but no one had prepared her for what see saw. The exterior of the hose was white and the front had no less then eight columns reaching to the balcony on the third floor. This balcony expanded the whole front of the house. There were lions and griffins carved into the white plaster columns with groups of five intertwined ostrich feathers at the base of each of the columns. There were rose bushes and cherry trees lining the walk up to the house. It seemed that Voldemorts reign had not been able to touch this place. The castle, this could not possible be defined as just a lowly mansion, consisted of no less then seven stories. "James, how many people live here?" Lily asked in amazement.

"Counting you and Sirius five," James replied with a smile. "We have a couple of house-elves. They basically take care of the cooking and some miner cleaning. Mum expects us to clean our own rooms. At least keep them tidy. Do you want to go on a walk around the grounds first?"

"I have a feeling I am going to be getting lost quiet a bit," Lily mumbled. "Might as well get a tour out of the way."

"Great," James exclaimed leading Lily to one of the many statues. It was of Merlin with his wand in one hand, and a book in the other. James then showed her the maze made from more rose bushes. Lily wanting to explore the maze left James and promptly got lost in the maze. After wondering aimlessly in the maze for a while soon found the center where there was a pond with a statue of a unicorn and pegauses fountain. There were stone benches around the pond and Lily found James sitting on one of the benches. "Glad to see you finally made it," James muttered with a smile. "I see I will have to show you the point me charm before I bring you out here the next time. We better head back before mum gets worried. Besides Sirius and the others should be here any minute. Mum wants to go over some plans for the ball."

James and Lily left the maze and got back to the house with just enough time to change for dinner. "I'll take you to your rooms so you can change," James said smiling down at Lily. "Your rooms are in the same wing as mine. So if you need me at any time you can just call. I convinced mum to put you in the same wing as me. She was going to give you your own wing but I was unsure as to how you would feel about that. If you would like to move I would not have a problem with that."

If the front of the house was breath taking the inside was even more so. The ceiling in the entrance was lost as it rose the full seven stories of the house. It had a small walk way that ran around it on the third level making an inside balcony to match the one on the outside. This was also adorned with the griffin and lion engravings with the five intertwined ostrich feathers. There was a flight of wide stairs that lead to a landing half way to the second floor which lead to two staircases leading in two different directions. When they reached the landing they took the stairs to the left and went to the second floor. "This is our wing," James murmured to Lily. "Sirius stays in the rooms to the right. He was sharing this wing with me but mum figured we would like some privacy. Plus the fact that he has been living with us since last summer. Mum figured she would give him some privacy." Lily followed James down the hallway taking in all the sights she saw. Lily couldn't believe what she saw. There was a large room that Lily took to be a living room another that was full of books and had a desk in it, this could only be a library. The wing was as large as her parents house.

"Here we are," James exclaimed as he opened a door to revel a large room in which a couch and king sized four poster bed were. "The bathroom is behind the door. Mum does not do casual attire at supper. You will find everything you need in the wardrobe. If you need anything feel free to call Blinky. She will help you. If you would feel more comfortable you can call me. My room is right across the hall. I'll see you in about half an hour. Will that be enough time. Mum expects us in the small dining room in a hour."

Lily walked over to the wardrobe to find an appropriate outfit and was surprised to find that besides many of her own clothes that James had bought, some of her favorite shirts of James were also in the wardrobe. Apparently Linda and Richard Potter did not mind the fact that she had been wearing their sons clothes. She also found a number of new items she did not remember buying. She chose one of these items, a dark scarlet gown adorned with gold specks. She hoped that this outfit would be acceptable for super. She then walked into the bathroom to take a nice relaxing bubble bath.

The bathroom was yet another testament to the wealth of the Potters. It had a bath tub that would easily accommodate five people at the same time and a double shower. Lily could easily lose herself in the bathroom. As she turned to examine the sink and vanity she noticed that there were in fact three sinks with gold lion head handles.

James walked into Lily's room half a hour later to find her just getting done getting ready. "I take it you like it," James murmured from the door frame he was leaning against. "Are you ready?"

"I guess," Lily replied putting the last gold earring on. "This is going to take some time to get used to."

James smiled as Lily walked up to him and drew her close to him. "Lil, I wanted to give you this later but I think you might want it now," James exclaimed taking a box from one of his pockets. As he put it into Lily's hand the box grew slightly. The box was wrapped in gold and red wrapping paper that fell off of it as Lily turned it over in her hand. When she opened the box she gasped at the sight. It contained a diamond and ruby necklace with a matching tennis bracelet. The pattern of the five intertwined ostrich feathers could be made out if you looked at it closely. "I'll help you put them on if you want," James offered as Lily fingered them lovingly.

"Their beautiful, James," Lily exclaimed. "I would love your help." James retrieved the necklace and fastened the clasp dropping a few loving kisses on the back if Lily's neck. He then retrieved the bracelet and repeated the process.

"We should probably get downstairs," James whispered dropping a kiss an Lily's lips. "Everyone is probably here by now. Besides if we stay here we might never go."

Remus had just entered through the double doors as James and Lily got to the bottom of the stairs in the entrance hall. From the noise coming from the archway it appeared that Remus was the last of the group to have arrived. James lead Lily into the room that was right off of the entrance hall, for with all it's elegancy it could only be described as a hall. If the entrance was elegant this room was astonishing. While it did not lose it's ceiling in the many floors which made up the mansion it did have the rich scarlet and gold colors that Lily had found throughout the other rooms with a smattering of black. There were thousands of wizarding pictures depicting many battles with every kind of magical creature you could think of. In all of these pictures Lily noticed that the wizard carried a shield with the ever present five intertwined ostrich feathers and the great lion and griffin surrounding the feathers. As Lily walked around the room she did however come to one where the shield was slightly different. This shield had a stag on the outside and to the bottom right of the ostrich feathers. For reasons that Lily did not care to think about at the time she was not all that surprised by this. "You look to be in awe," Remus muttered into Lily's ear.

"The place is a little awe inspiring," Lily muttered back. "One could get lost in this place and never be found."

"I have often thought the same," Remus replied. "Have you been to the library yet?"

"No. Although when I saw the one in James and my wing from the hall it looked as if I could spend many hours in it and not get bored."

"Talking about books again are we, Moony," James exclaimed coming up behind Lily and wrapping his arms around her. "You really shouldn't bore our little flower with that." When James called Lily a flower she tensed and the ever present smile left her face.

"Don't ever say that again," Lily demanded through clenched teeth. "Don't ever call me flower again. You can call me anything else just not that."

Noticing the swift change in Lily's mood Remus felt it best to make a hasty retreat and backed off joining Sirius and Peter who were engaged in a masterful game of wizard chest. "Why Lil?" James asked perplexed. "I didn't mean to hurt you. It has something to do with that beast of an uncle of yours, doesn't it?" As Lily nodded her head James pulled her into yet another deep embrace. "Don't worry he can not touch you here." The two were interrupted by the soft tinkle of a bell.

"Saved by the bell," Sirius exclaimed rising from the chest game. "Supers ready."

As the group were just finishing their dessert there was a knock at the front door. Shortly after the knock Happy the house-elf entered the dinning room with the headmaster in tow. "Happy, sorry," the house-elf exclaimed. "Sir wants to see young Mr. Potter and friends. Happy very sorry."'

"Don't worry, Happy," Linda exclaimed raising to great Dumbledore. "Albus, you know what time we have supper. Why did you not come sooner?"

"I had business to attend to," Albus Dumbledore replied sitting at an empty chair. "I wanted to stop by here to conclude said business. Although I do regret that I have interrupted your dessert. Perhaps a drink would be in order." With this Dumbledore conjured a fresh bottle of brandy and poured eight glasses. He then pulled four boxes from thin air. "As I have spoken to you all before about the Order I feel that it is free to mention them in this house."

"Albus, you can't be thinking to ask them," Linda muttered. "They are so young."

"Actually, Linda," Dumbledore exclaimed. "I have already asked them. But that is not what brings me here tonight. While not entirely anyway. I have come to give them some thank you gifts from the order. As I remember your sons broom was stolen about two weeks ago. I have come to replace it. Your future daughter-in-law is also in need of a certain item that we have agreed to bestow on her. After what she saw when you first arrived at Hogwart's mum would more then likely hang me up to dry if I did not give it to her. I have brought her a pensive. As for Sirius, Remus and Peter, I had problems discern exactly what would be the appropriate gifts. I do however think you will approve of what I have found for you."
"Professor," Lily began staring at him. "I do not understand the meaning of these gifts. Certainly the Order does not go around giving gifts to everyone that faces the Death Eaters."

"You are correct," Dumbledore replied with a twinkle in his eye. "However most people do not get attacked three times in two months. Nor do they face Voldemort himself and live to tell the tale. Which brings me to the other reason for my visit. As much as Linda dislikes what I am about to ask I must ask it."

"You want to know if we will join the Order of the Phenoix," James jumped in. "We have talked about it at great length's. We have all agreed that since it seems that we are already prime targets for... What did you call him, Lil?"

"Lord Moldybutt," Lily supplied with a smile. "Hey if he wants to be the lord of something he can be the lord of that."

"Yea," James continued. "Mum, we will not be in any more danger by joining then if we didn't."

"Besides it is time to take the fight to him," Sirius muttered. "I am tired of always having him bring the fight to us."

"You are just so young," Linda broke in. "You have your whole lives ahead of you."

"Yes, but if we do not fight for what we believe in," Remus spoke up. "We might not have a life to live."

"Spoken as true Gryffindor's," Richard Potter said with pride in his voice. "May we all lift or glasses to their show bravery. Linda they are right. They are no less a target by staying out of the Order."

"They could all go into hiding," Linda reasoned. She knew she was being unfair but she could not bear the thought of losing any of the young people gathered around the table.

"I would not feel right," Lily muttered. "I could not go into hiding when their is a war going on. We have made our decision and we stand by it. We a wait our assignments."

"Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once."

--From Julius Caesar (II, ii, 32-37)

a/n: Sorry this is short. But as this seems to be a good spot to leave this chapter and as We am having a hard time deciding exactly were to go from here that would make since with the rest of the chapter We will leave it here.

Also we have decided for the interest of the story and the importance of the distance of the character of Lily's uncle not to give him a proper name in the story. If any of you have read "The Color Purple" you will see the resemblance and hopefully the significance of not naming him. He shall just be referred to as uncle or Lily's uncle. We hope this does not confuse any of you. As always thank you for reading and reviewing.

"The world is grown so bad, that wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch". - (Act I, Scene III King Richard III).

Let me know what you think of the quotes. However be it known that if the spelling in the quotes is wrong we can not change them for they would not be quotes if we did. Most of them are Old English and should be looked upon as such. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

For those of you that are interested Mother's Love is up. You are more then welcome to read and review it. However be it known that it is not the easiest to read as it is dealing with a very emotional experience. As such we had to take liberties and make it confusing. It is also written in first person. Which if you have read any of my other stories you will know We do not normally write in. As always feedback is welcome and appreciated.

harry-an-ginny : Thank you for the review. We am glad you are continuing to read. Thank you for the vote on the name change.

WhiteTiger1992 : Thanks for the review and the vote on the name change.

Lily and James Love 4 ever : Give me a couple more chapters. We will be there by then. We had to fortify the friendship between Lily and the Marauders first. Yes we are getting there. More surprises a wait, and of course turmoil.

moonys-witch : Sorry about the confusion. We hope this will help with it. As always thank you for the review and the vote on both the next story and the name change.

EboniteEvans : Thanks for the review. The best praise a writer can receive is that a story as inspired a certain amount of feeling.

Scott Adams: Thanks for the vote on the name change.

Lexy Granger: Thanks for the vote on the name change.
Toasts to all that reviewed last chapter. You all brighten our otherwise dismal day.

We have taken it upon myself to change the whole name. James dad's name is now and for the rest of the story will be: Richard Charlie Warrick. If anyone is interested the meaning in is powerful leader, brave one, manly, strong one. This would seem to fit the father and grandfather of James and Harry respectfully. We just thought you would like to know. We are truly sorry that we could not use all of the suggestions. However they all were appreciated. Thank you to all who took the time to vote on the name change. If anyone is interested in the results they were: Richard received five votes, Charlie received two votes, Warrick received two votes, Flinley received one, and Howard received one. As we said before we are sorry we could not use all of the suggestions. However even though we am one who likes two middle names we feel that four middle names is quiet a lot.

We will be leaving the voting for the next story up for one more chapter. So far "Snapes Revenge" has been the only one that has gotten any votes and that was only two. We will have to do a little back tracking at the start although we are not sure if we will do it as flashbacks or just start the story at a certain point. If you have a feeling one way or the other please let know.