Chapter 26
After Neville and Harry's birth, their mothers went back to training to Dumbledore's Army. Grace watched them whenever she could. With the training, came more confrontations with Death Eaters. They jeered at the former Gryffindors and sometimes implied they wanted the gang to join the Dark Lord.
Tension with Voldemort was rising; he began recruiting more and more followers. He imperioed people to be under his control and he murdered those who were against him. His followers tried killing some of the Gryffindor gang, but in vain; at least until now.
Natalie was home alone. It was evening when she waited for Remus to come home. She was cooking, and she placed a kettle on the stove to boil. She opened the small kitchen window to let in some air. She resumed cooking until she heard rustling from the garden. She peered over to look at the garden; she didn't see anything. She waited for the kettle when she heard the door unlock. She turned around and pulled out her wand quickly.
She ran to the door to see two Death eaters pointing their wands at her. "How dare you enter my house?" Natalie sneered.
"You mean the wolf's house?" One of them smirked.
"Regulus. I should've known. You'll never be half as good as your brother." Natalie knew she hit a nerve; Regulus was Sirius' brother; he always envied Sirius. His low growl placed a smirk on Natalie's lips.
"Now, now, Regulus. Don't get too touchy. She's a traitor, she's nothing!" The other Death eater said.
"He's your family too, Malfoy." Natalie noted as she addressed the other Death Eater.
Lucius snarled "Never! I have no connection with that filth!" Lucius shot a curse at Natalie in fury.
Luckily, she ducked and ran out from the living room. She hid in her room in the closet. She closed it furiously and panted.
"Potter! Join us and we'll spare your life! Yours and your cousin's!" She heard Regulus' voice booming from the kitchen. She panicked; she didn't know where to apparate. She couldn't think of anything at the moment. She heard a hiss. She looked from the closet's slots and saw a huge snake. The snake stopped at the closet and hissed again. Something with pale white feet covered with a black gown, stood in front of the closet. 'This is it, I have nowhere to go', she thought to herself.
"Natalie Potter. I know you're in there. Come out and face your fate." A high cold voice addressed her. Tear-stricken, she wiped her face and opened the closet. She was facing Voldemort; the sorcerer whom she was prepared to fight with. Her hazel eyes glared at Voldemort. There was a pregnant pause. His red eyes blared at her "Join me or die."
Natalie snarled "Never."
Voldemort raised his eyebrows in fake surprise and said "Come again?"
Natalie repeated "Never." in the same tone.
Voldemort raised his wand and bellowed "Avada Kedavra!"
Remus finished his shift at the shop and disapparated back to his house. Arriving there, he slightly gasped. The house was tarnished, ruined, and unbelievably messy. "Natalie?" He asked loudly. He heard the kettle whistle and ran to take it off the stove. He saw she prepared food. He touched the pots to feel if they were warm and they were. "Natalie!" He called out again. 'Maybe she's asleep', he thought as he opened their bedroom door. When he opened it widely, he saw Natalie sprawled on the floor. Remus shook his head furiously.
"No, no, NO!" He crashed down on the floor next to her body. He sobbed and looked at her; she seemed so peaceful in her death. He cried harder as he hugged her body. He kissed her hands and he noticed that in her left hand was a scrunched letter. He kissed her forehead and laid her back on the floor.
After wiping his eyes, he opened the small note: 'You know what happened. Tell the others I love them, and remember that you're the man of my life and I want you to move on. Forever yours, Natalie.' He read the letter and lay beside her on the floor.
After a couple of hours, Remus woke up hearing a woman screaming. He woke up quickly to reveal Genevieve crying hard. "Nattie! Please tell me this isn't real!" She cried.
Remus looked down at Geneveive and was silent. "Voldemort! I'm going to murder him!" She sobbed harder when she kneeled in front of Natalie's body. Genevieve quickly informed the others about her death, and they instantly apparated to their house.
James screamed and punched a wall with fury; the girls sobbed and hugged each other. Frank and Sirius were both upset and angry. "Why Natalie?" Sarah cried.
Frank sighed and said "She's strong; obviously he wanted her on his side." They each said their goodbyes to Natalie Potter. James told his mother what happened, and Grace was very upset. They wanted to bury her immediately.
In the evening, the ceremony took place at Godric Hollow's cemetery. Sirius, holding Adam, wanted to say a few words "Nat was like a little sister to me. Since I was a young boy, I stayed over James' a lot and she was always there. She had a certain glow around her and she was always positive and vivacious. I'm sorry James and Remus for your loss. This is truly a deep loss. We love you, Nats." He threw a yellow flower on her grave.
The girls wanted Alice to conclude what they had to say "Our 'Pink Lady', we love you to bits. You will always be in our hearts and thoughts. We were so happy to have a friend and to meet an incredible person like you. We love you." Each of them threw a rose and Sarah whined "Why weren't we there?"
James sniffed and began "My dear cousin, I miss you. Where are you now to bring your dolls to play with me?" He shared a half- smile and went on "I hope you're not suffering as you suffered when that bastard murdered you. I love you." He threw a flower and returned to stand next to Lily.
It was Remus' turn. "My better half. I remember when I first met you. It was at The Potter's home. I never thought I would fall for a wonderful girl like you. Our time together was too short, but it's better than nothing at all. You were brave to stand up to him. To finish, I'd like to read your letter in front of the others." He opened the letter and read it to them, which caused them to cry harder. Natalie Potter was in a better place.
It took him months to overcome her death. He took out all of her clothes and personal belongings and placed them at Grace's house. "This is hard for me too, Remus. I lost my husband and his niece in an instant. Now you probably understand why we should fight back and not give in." Grace said.
Remus moved his hair from his eye "I understand." He was quieter than ever. He knew it will never be the same again.
Bo was very depressed for a while and moping around. She tried to be happy around Sirius and Adam, but the boys seemed to notice her mood. One night when Bo was in the kitchen, Sirius came up to her and hugged her from behind. "I already lost a close friend; I don't want to lose you or anyone close to me." Sirius had an idea to cheer her up.
"Adam's asleep. How about we take a hot bath?" Bo washed the last plate and went up with him to their bathtub. They quickly entered the tub. They faced each other. She stared intently at him; they weren't intimate frequently as they used to due to current events.
She noticed him licking his bottom lip and his gray eyes looking at her, eyeing her top to bottom. She felt a chill down her spine; she had sexual needs and she knew he did too. She pounced on him and kissed him fiercely "I missed you!" He moaned in her lips. Apparently making love was their way to deal with the loss.
Christmas had passed, along with New Year's Eve. It was 1981, again a year of anxiety, fear and yet still happy. In Valentine's Day, James, Sirius, Lily, Frank, Alice and Bo celebrated at a popular bistro; Harry, Neville and Adam were at Genevieve's. While they were eating, Bo announced that she was pregnant. Sirius choked on his meal and the others laughed.
James patted him on the back and said "Congrats, Daddy for the second time!"
Sirius was thrilled but surprised "When did you find out? How far long are you?"
Bo shrugged "Well, not that far long. 2, 3 weeks." Sirius was surprised but Bo continued with a smirk on her lips "Remember the kitchen?" She reminded him.
The others roared with laughter "I'm never eating in that kitchen again!" Frank chuckled.
Their children grew closer to each other; they practically grew up together. Harry and Neville were a year old and Lily and Alice wanted to throw a party for them. Bo was swelling up properly and came back with exciting news. They were at Lily's, preparing the boys' birthday bash. "She's doing fine."
Bo grinned, patting her belly. Lily and Alice gasped and cheered "Aww, a girl!" they squealed. "I told Sirius and he was ecstatic!" Bo beamed at her friends.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Sirius slumped on an armchair "A girl! Merlin, a little princess." He exclaimed.
Remus put his hands in his pockets and said "It's very different with a girl. They're more delicate and not to mention whiny."
James, who was holding Harry, snickered. Sirius shot them a look.
"Well, you're enjoying from both worlds, Padfoot." Frank said to Sirius.
Sirius straightened his back and nodded "You're right, mate."
"Happy Birthday, dear Harry and Neville! Happy Birthday to you!" The gang was around Harry and Neville, who were cooing happily. A huge "Happy birthday!" banner was hung. James and Frank helped their sons to blow out their candles. Genevieve and Sarah were kind enough to back the cakes: one for Harry and the other for Neville. Lily started slicing the cakes and handing out the pieces to the guests.
"Where's Daniel?" Bo asked Sarah.
"Working." Sarah stated.
"Is everything alright between the two of you?"
Sarah nodded and smiled "Sure. How are you doing?"
Bo patted her tummy and grinned "I'm doing great!"
The summer died away. Lily put Harry for a nap and thought about the prophecy. She wondered if Voldemort was looking for them and if others were getting hurt because of them. 'I never wanted all this to happen. Not what happened to Henry and Natalie,' She thought. She looked down at her son; he snored lightly and slept peacefully. 'At least I know if something happens to me or James, he will be taken care of.' She lowered down to kiss Harry's cheek and exited the room.
Lily went downstairs to see James weeping. "What's wrong, honey?" She approached him in the living room and kissed him.
"Voldemort's hurting more people we love. He wants information about us, Lily, about our whereabouts. He knows it's not Neville."
Lily gasped and covered her mouth.
After removing her hand, she asked harshly "Who did he harm now?"
James sniffed "Sarah. She's dead."
They arranged a quick yet respectable ceremony for Sarah. Everyone said their goodbyes and paid their respects. Genevieve sobbed "I can't take this anymore. When will this hell end?" Lily enchanted Sarah's gravestone an inscription: A dear friend, a sister and a beloved werewolf.
With all these deaths and attacks, they tried to be in closer contact and to protect each other. Sometimes, Remus would lose contact and desired to be alone, which made his friends worried.
"I think he's still grieving for Natalie." James said.
"Where's Peter? He hasn't been around for a while." With Frank's comment, they decided to take care of him. James owled Peter to come to Godric's hollow as soon as he got the letter. In several minutes, Peter arrived.
"What's wrong, my friends?" He asked quietly.
James sneered "Where have you been, Wormtail? You weren't at Natalie's funeral, and neither at Sarah's!"
Peter was surprised "They've gone? Oh goodness!"
"Like you don't know." Sirius snapped. Peter became even more alarmed due to that comment.
"Tell us what you've been up to." Remus said.
Wormtail bawled "I confess! I was away a lot because of my mother! She lives in Switzerland, you know. She's very ill and I'm staying there." The others internalized the information and parted from Peter.
"I don't trust him." Frank said.
James dismissed Frank's suspicion. "He won't do anything. He's afraid of everything." "He was always pathetic." Sirius chuckled. Little did they know, Peter never left; he listened to their conversation.
It was a week away from Halloween. Lily and James were having a silly argument. "You'll have many Halloweens to dress him up! Stop bickering already!" Genevieve exclaimed. Lily wanted to dress Harry up in a clown costume, and James wanted a lion costume. Bo rolled her eyes at the couple and decided to reconcile.
She got in between Lily and James and said "Listen, Lily can dress him up as a clown in the morning, and you can dress him up in the evening. That's what we did with Adam last year." After a swift silence, Lily and James knew she was right and agreed. "What's Adam's costume?" Lily asked curiously.
Sirius interjected smugly "Why a dog, of course!" James roared with laughter.
James went to check up on Harry. He went up to his room and slowly opened the door. He walked over to his son's crib and looked down to see him snoring lightly. Harry's black hair was unusually untidy and his mouth was slightly open. James watched him carefully and his eyes sparkled. "My little boy, I want you to be happy and well. Mommy and I promise we'll protect you, no matter what." He whispered to a sleeping Harry. Harry coughed and returned to his sleeping state. James smiled a wide smile and bended over to kiss his smooth pale forehead. After he did that, he walked over to the door, took another look at Harry's crib, and opened the door and closed it after him.