Chapter 5

As Harry was slaving away at the Dursleys, Sirius Black and the Tonks family appeared in Potter Manor in a flash of green fire. There were a few hours before the party was due to start and yes, it was Jack's birthday, but he wasn't their only reason for being here, or even their main one in truth. None of them had seen Harry in over a week; Andromeda and Ted had decided to a have another go at sending Nymphadora to muggle school again, now that she had more control over her metamorphmagus abilities. They had had quite a bit of trouble over her hair changing to suit her mood last time, it was lucky Andi was good at Oblivations. Sirius had been out of the country, dealing with trouble at a Black family business in Italy. He had thought he would never be Lord Black, being under the impression that he had been disowned by his mother, but his Grandfather hadn't allowed it. Arcturus Black had always been a cold and shrewd man, and had seen the benefit in having a son of House Black on both sides of the war. That way, House Black would win whichever side won the war. Arcturus had died just before the fall of Voldemort, and Sirius had a new found respect for him after having to be the Lord since then. He certainly understood his grandfather's perpetual irritation much more now.

But Harry would improve his mood, even the thought of him had lifted it from its previous state of wanting to blast off the head of the vineyard manager and be done with it. Nymphadora was positively giddy, she had been begging to come and play with Harry instead of going to school all week. Harry is much more fun, she would say.

Exiting the entrance hall, they saw the Potters, noticing they seemed tired and worn out, but supposed that was simply from organising a party that was effectively a public spectacle. After the round of familiar greetings and hugs, Nymphadora's patience finally wore out.

"Where's Harry?" She chirped.

At the mention of Harry, they seemed to pale and Lily slumped slightly, the shuffling of their feet betraying their nervousness. What had they done?

"He's not here."

"Then where is he?"

"We sent him away"

The expected shouting did not come straight away, for the sole reason they were all shocked. Why in Merlin's name would they send Harry away? When the reaction did come, it was not what they expected. Instead of the angry shouting, Sirius replied in a voice none of them had ever heard before. His voice was tight, coiled like a viper about to strike, and colder than any of them could ever imagine the normally friendly Sirius could ever sound. His hands shook slightly, as if he were making an effort not to reach for his wand. But worst was his face. It was emotionless, as if it had been carved out of ice. Andromeda was reminded of her grandfather, whose blank stare could break anyone's strongest convictions. They were no longer looking at Sirius; they were looking at Lord Black.

"Where."

"We couldn't tell you even if we wanted to. He is safe. That is all that matters." James replied. Lily was barely holding herself together as it was.

Sirius façade cracked slightly then, to show the mask of betrayal he was hiding underneath it. They had sent Harry away without even telling him, his Godson gone and he didn't even say goodbye. Nymphadora was crying and Ted looked like he was still in shock, while the shock on Andromeda's had given way to anger.

"Why?"

"He was not safe here, and it would be cruel to keep him here anyway. He's a squib, Sirius! Can you remember even one instance of accidental magic? He would be looked down on, hated even. This way, he can grow up in the muggle world, find a job and a woman he loves and be happy."

Finally, Sirius snapped.

"I would have taken him! Sent him to the best schools in the world, wherever he wanted to go, whatever he wanted to do, I would have made it possible. And you, you send him away from everything he has ever known and everyone he has ever loved without even a goodbye? He is alone now, and you did it!"

"Are you ashamed? Ashamed of your squib son? Is that why you sent him away?" Andromeda asked scathingly. Lily immediately cried her denial through her tears, but the slight pause in James rebuttal did not go unnoticed by any, and Lily looked at her husband in disbelief.

"You disgust me."

With that parting statement, they all turned and left through the floo, the sobbing of Nymphadora being their only sound until they were gone.

Lily's mind was stuck on that last comment. Ever since Harry had been born, she and Andi had been close, bonding over their children, but that relationship had clearly been broken beyond repair. Would the rest of her friends abandon her, just for wanting to keep her son safe? Was she going to lose all the rest of her friends, people she cared about?

James' mind was also on what everyone else would think, but wasn't just thinking about those close to them. The majority of the Wizarding World would understand. The purebloods would look on in approval; to them, a squib son was a disgrace to the family name. When they said it was for his safety and so he could grow up in the world he would live, the more conservative people would be on board. The purebloods would see it as excuse, so that wasn't a problem. Admittedly, he did feel a bit of shame for fathering a squib. A powerful wizard and a powerful witch with no blood relation producing a squib, was there something wrong with him?

He winced when he realised that Lily had caught his hesitation to Andromeda. He was in trouble. He only hoped she waited until after the party. The absence of the Tonks and Sirius would not be overlooked, and if she was clearly angry with him, or even refused to speak to him during the party, the vultures from the Daily Prophet would have a field day.

~Scene Change~

Throughout the entire party, Lily tried to avoid her husband without being obvious about it, but the more perceptive people noticed. Wanting to get it out of the way, she had asked all of their friends to stay behind for a bit after everyone else left. While doing so, she again realised just how few friends she actually had. She had Alice, and she was friendly enough with Emmeline Vance, but while she had known Alice since Hogwarts, she only met Emmeline through the Order. Her thoughts turned to Dorcas and Marlene; Marlene would have understood to an extent, coming from a pureblood family, but Dorcas was muggleborn, which only made it more impressive that it had taken Voldemort himself to take her down. Neither of them would have allowed her to give Harry to Petunia though, they knew what she was like when they were younger. But if Albus said she had changed, then she must have. Albus Dumbledore was the leader of the Light and one of the most influential wizards in recent history, and had always been kind to her; he wouldn't lie to her about this when it concerned the happiness of her own child.

And so, all their friends were crowded into the expansive living room, some sitting on the luxurious burgundy sofas that made up a ring around the burning fireplace, some standing behind them or sitting in separate chairs. Dumbledore was stood near them, slightly away from the others, which peaked everyone else interest.

Deciding not to tiptoe around it and just get it other with, Lily went straight in with what she wanted to say.

"We sent Harry away."

The response was much the same as it had been that morning: shocked silence. This time though, she wanted to tell them why before they had a chance to get angry or shout out questions.

"He is a Squib, so it would not be safe for him in the Wizarding World with no means to defend himself. And don't you think it would be cruel to keep him here, taunted by the magic he couldn't do and looked down on by almost everyone else? He would be unable to get a job in this world, and would have to go to the muggle world anyway. This way, he grows up and is totally comfortable in the world he will live in and he can become anything he wants to be," By the end, she was shaking and crying slightly, while some of those gathered were nodding their heads in agreement while others looked as if they didn't know who she was anymore.

"How do you know he's a Squib?"

"He has never showed even the slightest indication of accidental magic, even when He came. There is no spell to check, but Jack was summoning things across the room when he was 8 months old and Harry showed no magic in 5 years."

Minerva McGonagall surging to her feet drew everyone's eyes, and the look on her face told her she was far from understanding.

"So you send your son away simply because he is a Squib? I suppose you'll just have another one, and if they are a Squib get rid of them too? The two of you were always among my favourite students, but you are not them anymore. They Lily Evans and James Potter I knew would never throw away their own child!"

"Minerva, maybe if…"

"You be quiet Albus Dumbledore, I know full well they wouldn't have done it if you didn't suggest it, or at least approve of it. Do NOT try and defend them." Turning on her heel, Minerva stalked angrily out of the house while muttering scathing comments under her breath in her native Gaelic.

Minerva McGonagall had once been married to a Scottish Wizard by the name of Boyd Matthews. She had met him during her years with the Department for Magical Law Enforcement prior to joining the staff at Hogwarts, and he had been her instructor, though only 4 years her senior, because of an injury he had sustained during an attack on Hogsmeade. They had married 2 years later, just after Minerva left for Hogwarts, and Boyd had been planning to leave the Aurors so that they could start a family. He even had a new job lined up as a defence tutor to the MacMillan family for a year, before he would apply for the defence post at Hogwarts to be closer to her. It wasn't meant to be however, as Boyd was killed a week before he was to leave the aurors during a raid on an illegal potions factory. One of the potions was an extremely volatile one, and had exploded and killed him as well as several others. After that, a heartbroken Minerva shut her personal life down completely, and buried herself in her work. When she was given the Gryffindor Head of House position, she saw every Gryffindor as her own grandchild. To her, children were the most precious thing one could ever have, and yet the two students she had been so fond of just threw theirs away.

Several others followed her out, Alice being one of them. She too valued Neville above all else, and could not imagine giving him up for any reason. Lily, she believed had genuinely wanted Harry to be safe. James, however, she was not so sure with. He would go against every pureblood tradition and custom, but yet at times he behaved like the perfect pureblood heir. She honestly wasn't sure which one was the act at times.

Remus too followed her out. While he wasn't anywhere near as close to Harry as Sirius was, he still couldn't believe that his best friends would give up their own child. Oh he understood their reasoning, objectively it was the best thing to do, but he couldn't quite believe any reasoning would make them do it. He knew he would get over it and forgive them, though, but it would take a little time. They were his pack after all.

Those that remained said they understood and patted their backs or hugged them in a silent show of support, before trooping out into the warm summer night and apparating away back to their homes.

The look on Lily's face told James that she had neither forgotten nor forgiven him about that morning, and he readied himself for the inevitable fight.

A/N: Chapters should be getting longer from here on out, and the last chapter was like that so that I could kind of sync it with this one in time. The Dursleys will not be long, drawn out and the complete events of every single day as I have sometimes seen – that gets boring pretty quick. I'll try not to make it too long but there is a few things I want to happen that can't be rushed. I've got the next couple chapters done so I will upload another one either tomorrow or the day after as this one is so short.