3 - The Worst Summer Ever
"Stop squirming, James! You're not a three-year-old." It was cute in the beginning, now Lily was just exasperated by her husband's antics.
"But these are too stuffy, love! The ones I wanted looked much better..." He muttered the last part since he still loved being alive, thank you very much.
"I know you liked those better, but they simply wouldn't do. Muggles don't usually dress like that. Well, not normal ones anyway."
"Why sell them then?"
"For the same reason robes like Dumbledore's are sold." She rebuked with a pointed look that brooked no arguments to finishing the topic. Not that James would have a better argument than that.
"We could have just apparated, you know."
"I know. It's just... I don't like apparating blind and I don't know how my sister will react. Last time we actually saw each other was so long ago, and she already didn't want anything to do with me anymore..."
"Sorry for bringing that up, Lils." James wanted to hug his wife but held in the desire, she was driving after all. Muggles were really ingenious; cars were one of his favourite muggle things.
"It's okay... Do you think he still looks like you?" Good going, Lily! You change the topic from one pit to another... This is at least a good one. I can't believe how close we finally are!
"Who knows? I'm sure no one would give a damn about what he looks like with those eyes of yours on him." He grinned brightly at his wife. He could not believe that after so many years the old codger slipped up and revealed something about Harry's location. He had to admit it was really smart to put him with Lily's sister, even they never thought to look there. Definitely safe for Harry, or so he hoped. From the way his Lily-flower was acting, he assumed there was more to it.
OoO
Lily pulled over in front of one of the many houses on Private Drive, even for a muggleborn like her this neighbourhood was terribly nauseating. Every house was the same, the gardens were a bit different, though – not much, mind you. This was the type of place her sister liked the most, utterly normal, nothing freaky like she liked to call anything to do with magic.
"I think I'll never understand muggles, love, or at least not fully." James couldn't believe his eyes; how could anyone live in a house that was the same as the next one?
"Well, then, you should be happy that even they can't understand one another at times. I think that's called being human, dear." She smiled sweetly at him.
He just snorted. Lily always got a bit caustic sometimes, especially when anyone said something along the lines of wizards are better than muggles and muggles don't make sense. She was always very sound with her arguments, and James loved the gobsmacked faces people would have whenever she was ranting.
"This is it, James. Are you ready?" She said taking a fortifying breath.
James pulled his wife closer to support her better, she was trembling a little he noticed. "As much as we can get, love." He smiled a little, maybe it came out a bit like a grimace, and knocked on the door.
It wasn't long before they heard a woman's voice telling someone, her husband maybe, she would get the door. James wasn't so sure any more about this lead. This couldn't possibly be Lily's sister! Sure, he didn't remember her much, but this couldn't even count as a human being, it was so large.
"Whatever it is you're selling, we're not interested." She said quickly and made as to close the door. Thank Merlin his Lily wasn't as stunned as he.
"Sorry, we're not selling anything. I'm Lily and this is my husband, James Potter. I was told my sister used to live here. Maybe you could help give us some light?"
"Well, I don't know much about these parts. What did you say was her name again?"
"Petunia, Petunia Dursley." Seeing the woman's face brighten at her sister's name, she decided to go on. "Do you know her?"
"Yes, yes. She lives here, she's my sister-in-law! Come on in! I think I remember you from their wedding, too sad your parents couldn't attend."
They followed the woman inside and Lily couldn't, for the life of her, remember the woman's name. "Yes, a pity really. Mum would have been so happy... The ceremony was beautiful."
"It was, it was. Vernon, Pet's sister came for a visit. Come on, sit down, sit down. Pet doesn't talk much about you, what is it that you do?"
Before the purple man could say anything, and James launched on an extensive tale of his dealings in the muggle world, Lily decided it was best if the conversation stirred a certain way. If she remembered correctly Tuney's husband liked money as much as she. "I do some research, a bit of an academic if you will, James manages the family's business."
"Oh, what type of business?"
This time James was faster, he liked talking about his muggle investments too much. "Well, I like to invest in various business. I have shares in many different companies, now I'm looking to enter the car sector."
"Yes, lately he really got into researching them. Good thing your manager gives you sound advice." James at least had the decency to look sheepish and Vernon perked up at the mention of money and investment. Thankfully, they were interrupted by the arrival of her sister.
"I'm home!"
"Good! Sorry to leave so soon, but I have to get back to my business, too." She said her farewells to Vernon and Petunia, who was shocked still seeing Lily there. She recovered quite fast when they heard the car leave outside.
"You! What are you doing here? And with him?"
"It's nice to see you too, Tuney. Thank you for the tea, it's always a pleasure talking to you." James noticed Lily's drawl was familiar, he just couldn't pinpoint it yet.
"Pet, why didn't you say your brother-in-law invested for a living?"
"I didn't know that, dear." Just then the phone rang and Vernon left the room to talk in private with his employee. Petunia waited for the sound of the door closing before speaking again. "What are you freaks doing here?"
A sense of dread filled Lily hearing her sister call her that word. "Tuney..."
"Don't you dare act all familiar now! I don't have anything to do with you freaks! Now, out! Out of my house! Both of you, OUT!"
James took the lead this time. If she treated grown-up adults like this, he dreaded thinking how she treated his son. "Look, we just came for Harry. As soon as we see he's alright, we'll leave." He didn't want to leave his son behind but could never rip him away from a place he was perfectly happy to be. Now, if he wasn't happy...
"Who's Harry?" Clear confusion on Petunia's face only served to add to the sense of dread.
"Our son, Tuney. He was supposed to be with you. Or so we're told..."
Petunia frowned at them; confusion still clear on her face until it changed to one of final understanding. "So that brat was yours." She made a few pondering sounds and Lily closed her hand in her husband's, waiting in bated breath for the conclusion that didn't seem all that good. Better than nothing, I guess. "If I tell you, do you promise to leave us alone?"
"Tuney!-"
"No, Lily." James stopped his wife mid-rant, they had to respect other people's wishes and choices. "You have my word, Petunia."
"I don't know what happened to him. One morning I went out to pick up the mail and a baby was there. A baby in a thin blanket in a basket. I brought him inside, he was cold... Probably there all night. He looked familiar enough, but only when he opened his eyes it occurred to me why. He had eyes like yours. Rummaging in the basket I found a short note telling me to take care of it for a while." Petunia was disgusted with her sister. She only knew the child was hers because of a single photo she sent her a bit after they were born. She had twins. What was it that she was able to keep one and not the other? And why was any of it Petunia's problem? Well, she made sure it wasn't.
"Out of the goodness of my heart, I took care of it for a while. I tried to reach you to take it away. Since you never answered my letters or my calls..."
"What did you do, Petunia?" Lily's voice was flat. Nothing was given away; she was prepared for the worst.
"Don't use that tone with me. I merely did the same as you... We took it to an orphanage first thing on the new year. We left him there the same way you did. Though I admit we didn't leave any note."
Again, James cut in before Lily threw a fit. "I see. And where is this place? What's the name?"
Petunia just scowled at them scribbling away the general area of the orphanage; of course, she didn't remember the name anymore. She couldn't care less about the freaky brat.
James thanked her for her time and left just as her husband was coming back to the living room. Not wanting anything to do with them anymore, he rushed his wife out and into the car to go back to their hotel room.
OoO
"Alright. Time to regroup and research. At least, wherever he is, I'm sure he is better than with your sister."
Lily gave him a look,but let it pass since she thought the same. "It's not that far from here, still it'll be a few hours before we get there. Maybe we should try to find a hotel around there. It'll be difficult to find it if we have to come back here all the time, even with apparition. I only hope he's well..." She still felt dejected from the earlier encounter with her sister.
James made quick work of packing while Lily studied the map better. As soon as they checked out of the hotel, they went to a nearby alley apparating away to the neighbourhood Petunia pointed them. It had the feeling of a forgotten place, like those places that are utterly unimportant and unnoticeable. It felt normal. Not the forced and faked normalcy of Privet Drive, but of a real regular normal neighbourhood, much like the one she grew up in. Maybe there was a kid like her childhood friend here, even a silly girl like her fortunate enough to have become his friend. In her heart, she knew her Severus missed her as much as she did him. How she wished the day she could tell him everything would come soon; the day she could properly explain why their Harry was sent away. Back then, even James had to admit they were good together...
"Love?" James put a supportive arm around his wife, knowing how hard it was for her. James loved their son, he did, however, his love for their Harry would never come close to Lily's. That was what he loved most about her; she didn't half do things. If she loved you, it was everlasting and fierce. She would go to any lengths to protect those she loved. And James would also go to any lengths to be one of those people she loved, he was already fortunate enough for being deigned the pleasure of becoming her husband, he wouldn't lose that for the world!
Lily shook herself out of her stupor with a weak smile, she was sure this time it was a grimace, though. They trudged up the streets side by side looking for the places her sister mentioned. It was hard to find any semblance of the area where they were supposed to find the orphanage. By night-time, they had found nothing yet and had stopped at a cosy looking family restaurant to rest. They sat near an old lady who was enjoying some kind of roasted meat, the lady was nice and made a big deal of them just having to seat with her. Lily thought maybe she just wanted some company (eating alone is depressing), moreover, her old age must make it all the worse to be on her own.
"We don't receive many visitors around here. Are you planning on moving in?" The lady asked as they progressed the meal to desserts.
"Not exactly. We are looking for an orphanage... My wife's sister told us she knew one around here but was not sure of the address. We've been searching the whole afternoon..." After seven years of concocting stories to get out of detention back in his Hogwarts years, this was child's play. A good lie always has some sort of truth in it.
"Oh, dear! We don't have any orphanages around these parts, at least not in the last few years."
"Not in the last few years? So, there was one before. What happened? Why did it close down?" Please, don't let this turn into another dead-end.
"A few years back there was a fire, a big one, burned the whole place down. The poor dears... The place was falling apart, but at least it provided them with a place to live. Thank God, no one was hurt. The actual bad part was the loss of all the documents and the children's possessions, well, what little they had. I used to volunteer there, such bright and lovely children..."
"It's a relief nothing happened to them. What became of them? Where did they go?"
"Hmm... I think some of them ran away to try and live on the streets, the others were split up and sent to other orphanages. Most of them went to St. Mary's, I think."
"I see. Where is this St. Mary's orphanage, then?"
"It's not very far, about two hours by car. Here let me get you the address." As the old lady scribbled on the paper napkin, Lily shared a hopeful smile with her husband. With some luck, their Harry would be there just waiting for them. Their luck was on the high side today, surely it would last until Harry was back with them.
OoO
"This place is awful," James whispered to his wife for the tenth time since they had entered the orphanage. Actually, he thought awful was an understatement.
"You've said that already, James. Now shut it, she's coming back." She really had no time for his antics now and, sure as hell, she wouldn't be thrown out because of him. No, not when they were this close. She could feel it.
"Sorry for the wait. Where were we?" She sat again on her chair after making sure the children would behave.
"We were about to tell you about the child we've been looking for." Lily sounded nervous and knew it wasn't all that helpful to their cause, but it was beyond her at that moment. This was the best she could do.
"Ah, yes. Your kidnapped son." The woman sounded very sceptical. It was a very fantastical story. She was actually prone to believing the couple, however, she knew something wasn't right.
"Yes. We don't know what he looks like now. He used to look like my husband, only with my eyes. Same shape, same colour. Please, we are desperate. We've been looking for almost thirteen years." Lily tried pleading with her out of pure desperation.
"Look, your story was very elaborate and I'm sure there's some truth in there, however, I can't go around sharing private information on the children. My job is to care for them, both for their well-being and for their privacy. Now, if you don't have proof or anything legal that would make me disclose such information, I'll ask you to leave. Have a good day, Mr and Mrs Potter." She dismissed and accompanied them to the door just to make sure they wouldn't come in contact with the children.
OoO
"It's been two days already, Lily. He's not here." Lily had insisted on a feeling that this was the place. Since the woman hadn't given them any information at all, James went with it and staked the orphanage out all day to see if they could catch him outside. The idea would have been brilliant if not for the fact he was pretty sure they had seen every child currently living there – none looked like him nor had his wife's green eyes.
"James, please. I just know this is the place. It has to be." Lily tried pleading again to her husband. It grated on her that he didn't believe her, but she couldn't explain this feeling, it was a mother's thing. She knew in her gut this was it, they were so close.
"Alright, Lily. Then let's do it my way. We go there, I'll use a mild compulsion spell and we're done. If there is information, she will share. Nobody will know, not even her."
Lily was torn between finding anything on their son and not abusing their magic. She knew she should have objected right away to such a crude use of magic, even in the wizarding world it was some sort of taboo, and to use it against a muggle, someone who couldn't protect herself... She just gave in to the desire to know and nodded her agreement; she followed her husband once again into the orphanage. Each time she put her eyes on the building, she found a new appalling thing to make the place worse.
James went straight to the office the woman in charge received them the last time. After his wife entered, he used a wandless nonverbal locking spell and a notice-me-not charm to be on the safe side. He sat beside his wife resigned to do what he needed. He had a firm grip on his wand inside his sleeve and chanted the words with enough conviction to overpower the woman's will, making her more susceptible to answering their questions. This wasn't an Imperio, so if her reservations to sharing were a bit stronger than normal, she wouldn't share them; her thoughts and actions were her own. He nodded at his wife signalling it was done, there was no going back now.
"I'm sorry for barging in like we did. We simply want to know what happened to our son. I know he was sent here; I just do. Please, help us." Lily was about to cry. Not only because of her son but for what they had to do; there was nothing light about compulsion spells. She had ripped into Severus over and over again for even reading the subject back then, saying it was evil. Now, look at her, depending on it and even welcoming the mere fact that they existed and would help her find her son.
"Look, it's just like I said, I have to protect the children's privacy. I can't act if you don't have an official document saying your claims are true. I don't know what is it you're going through, I can barely understand how these children feel not having a family. No matter what I imagine other people's pain to be like, I'll never truly understand. I'm not them, just like I'm not you, so I won't judge." She paused a bit to look more closely at this couple, somehow, she knew it wasn't a lie. She wanted to help, she really did, but they didn't have even the basic description of the child. Of course, being kidnapped as a baby he wouldn't look the same now, moreover, the probability of the real name being lost was almost a hundred per cent.
She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose deciding to help a little, this would be her good deed of the year. "Okay. I'll help. But you have to understand that their privacy is important. That being said, I won't be giving any names before you recognise your child. Every summer and Christmas, we take a group photo of the children, staff, and our volunteers. Take your time looking through it, this album has pictures of the last twenty years. There are others you can look through as well, but all our children are there."
Lily did just that. Taking her time, she started from the oldest ones until she caught a familiar face with a familiar mop of a hair. She marked the page and saw him growing up into a beautiful boy with her eyes and almost nothing from her husband except the hair colour, and his overall shape. Suddenly a drop of water fell over one of the pictures, the place was really run down...
"I see you found him." Lily nodded and gave the album back pointing which child was her Harry. Her hope was crushed when she noticed the wide eyes of the woman, her sense of dread returning full force. "I'm so sorry. Are you sure this is him?"
"We are. Did something happen to him? We noticed he isn't around... Is he-" James brought his wife closer, he had to be strong for the both of them. So long looking for him, he couldn't bring himself to say the words echoing in his head.
"No! Gods, no. He's perfectly fine, and happy I believe. He was adopted just last week."
"Adopted?" No. They were so close! Lily couldn't take it anymore. She was on the verge of breaking down.
"Last week? Who?" James was in shock, if only they had been a little faster...
"Well, I can't really say names, neither his nor the couple who adopted him... All I can say is that he's a really intelligent child. He got a scholarship in a private boarding school and is so bright he caught the attention of a man involved in running the school. This man and his wife came to pick him up last week, even he was surprised by it." The couple's disheartened faces made her squirm with guilty – which she definitely shouldn't, though she relented and decided to do at least something for them. "I really shouldn't do this, but I can only imagine what you're going through right now. I hope this can help at least a little..." She handed them a picture, the only picture she had of the boy smiling – taken just last year. It was really smirk-like, however, it was the closest thing she got. Maybe seeing a reminder that he was happy would help them get over it.
"Thank you," James answered in his wife's stead. She could do nothing but clutch their Harry's picture and sob.
OoO
"So, you'll be here all summer?" Ginny asked him with that dreamy look on her face, the one which annoyed Darren the most.
"I don't know. Maybe?" Really, Darren thought Ginny should be over her crush already. It wasn't like he ever gave her hope... It was hard to deal with that and still keep his friendship with Ron, he couldn't treat her bad or break her heart like he would do with anyone else. Besides, she wasn't attractive to him, not her fault, most girls weren't. He didn't like only boys, but it was certainly a preference, and after growing up seeing Lily Potter, aka mum, his standards for girls were set pretty high. Maybe some veela girl could compare, nothing less than that.
"Yeah, you have your answer. Now, get out of my room." Ron pushed his sister away and locked the door. "Sorry about that, mate." He grimaced.
"It's okay, one day she'll get over her crush." He grimaced.
"I sure hope so. You saving her back in our second year didn't exactly help." His friend pointed out grinning.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Ron. Maybe I should have left her there so the monster would be able to come back and eat her." Only a year and Ron was already joking about it. He didn't know if that was a good or bad thing, really.
"Alright, alright, sorry. Thanks for saving her oh great saviour of the wizarding world!" He said grinning.
"Prat."
"But seriously, how long do you think you'll stay?" Ron asked laying on the bed sideways so they could still talk looking at each other.
"I don't know, mate. Last time they said they had a strong lead, they spent months tracking it down. I think this time it looked more certain, but I'm not getting my hopes up. So, how about another round of exploding snap?" Darren wasn't giving up on his little brother, never would. It just was bad for his heart to get his hopes up only to get them crushed when they came back saying they didn't find him. Thankfully, Ron was a great friend and didn't push him on this matter. He thanked Merlin every single day for not having to deal with Hermione now. He loved her, he considered her even more than a best friend, she was his sister, but he couldn't deny she was pushy sometimes.
OoO
"Hey, Darren, that your dad over there?" One of the twins called pointing down the door to The Burrow.
Darren was surprised to see his dad back already after only two weeks into summer break, he expected to be staying with the Weasleys at least until his birthday. He apologised for leaving mid-game and went down to see his dad.
"Hey, dad. This was fast, another lead to nowhere?" As he saw his father's face close off, a bad feeling started growing. He could only hope nothing happened with his little brother. He followed his dad into Mr Weasley's office and saw his mother there, sobbing. That did it, he knew something bad had happened.
"Sit, Darren. I know this will be a lot for you to take in, so I'll try to get straight to the point." His face was serious, not a common sight on James Potter's face.
"You didn't find him and are giving up." He knew this day was coming, he just thought that he still had some more years to hope for the best.
"We did find him, love, only we were too late..." The hoarse voice (probably from crying) of his mother answered and for the first time in his short life, he understood how appealing denial was. His father put his arm around his mother bringing her closer. Darren noticed she was clutching something, some kind of paper, a picture maybe.
"You'll give him the wrong idea, Lily." He caressed her face before facing Darren again and dedicating his full attention to him, or as much as he could with a sobbing woman in his arms. "We did find your brother, and yes, he is alive. From what we could gather he is happy, or should be. He grew up in an orphanage and was adopted."
"Oh. So, we don't get to even meet him?" Darren didn't know how to react to this news. On one hand, he wanted his baby brother to be happy, on the other, he felt betrayed that he wouldn't even give them the chance to know him. He knew deep down that it was a bit selfish to be mad at his brother, but after all their parents went through, he could at least try to know them.
"I don't think we should keep looking for him." Seeing a frown marring his son's face, James explained with a bit more detail what happened; his son already knew his muggle aunt didn't get along with them and wouldn't tell the Ministry about the compulsion spell, he could understand the situation. At the end of the tale, he knew his son was as shocked and frustrated as he was; they were that close after all.
"And that piece of paper mum is clutching for dear life is the photo? The only thing we'll have from him aside from his baby stuff?" He really didn't know how to feel. For such a long time the only way he could imagine his brother was the same as the kid on their baby photos. Now he would at least get a more real image of him.
James brought him close in a family hug. They stayed there in silence, the only sound being the sobs and hiccups of his wife. She was the one to break the spell offering the now crumpled photo of their youngest son for Darren to see what he looked like. James couldn't stop thinking how handsome he looked with his long hair; well, not that long, but compared to his bird's nest it was very long. He gave his attention back to the people present finally noticing his son was once again shocked silent. "He doesn't look much like me anymore, but he still has your mother's eyes."
"This can't be my brother," Darren said flatly.
"I know it's difficult to accept we have to give up. I feel it too." Lily thought she should get a hold on herself again, all she was accomplishing was upsetting her son even more.
"No. I mean, this can't be right. There's no way he's my baby brother. It just can't be." Just as his parents were about to say something else about denial, he shot out of the room. Thankfully, they were at the Weasleys and he would have the confirmation to his suspicions. There was just no way this was his beloved baby brother.
"Hey, mate! How did it g-" Darren shoved the photo at him looking pointedly to it. His parents were just behind him asking what was wrong with him. The other Weasleys were also in the living room with them.
"Why do you have a photo of that git Doe? Don't tell me you have a thing for him?" Ginny, sweet Ginny, Darren could kiss her now if that wouldn't make her hero crush on him worse. One more person to see that wasn't his baby brother. It just couldn't be.
Ron snapped out of the shock of seeing his best friend hand him a picture of their school nemesis. "She's right. Why the hell do you have it? I mean, I'm not against it, you'll always be my mate, even if it's a snake... But does it have to be him? Really?"
Before Darren could defend his honour, his father cut in. "You know this boy? You know the boy from the picture?"
The twins took the photo from their brother to look it over, it wasn't everyday one got to be part of family drama. "Yep, we know him."
"This is John Doe."
"He goes to Hogwarts with us." They understood right away the seriousness of the situation, so they toned down on the twin talk. Besides, they wanted to know why the Potters had a photo of him, even they didn't have one. And they had photos of lots of people.
"See, Dad, you're wrong! This isn-"
"Molly, please take care of Darren for a bit longer." James cut in. If their son was attending Hogwarts under a different name, then the ones who adopted him could only be wizards.
"Wait! Where are you going? They just confirmed it. This is not my brother!"
Lily picked up on what her husband wanted to do. Of course, if their Harry was adopted by wizards, they had to go through the Ministry, so there was still hope. "To the Ministry, of course." She picked up some floo and went before her husband did. In a matter of seconds, the Potters were gone leaving behind three shocked faces, two calculating ones and one in denial.
-OoO-
Author's Notes:
Thank you for your patience in waiting for me! For the new readers: welcome!
This is part of my New Year's resolve of posting a fanfic chapter every week (together with A Wizarding Family). This means that this story will be posted every two weeks (fortnight or biweekly, whatever term you prefer).
Thank you for follows, faves and reviews, they are very much appreciated.
For those who think or review saying that I could/should do a grammar check, I do (twice in different softwares). I also self-edit my work since I have no beta. So, if you find some mistake (grammar or otherwise) please be specific on what it is. I would like to grow as a writer and generally telling me I should better my grammar is not enough. As a non-native speaker of English I know I will never get a few thing unless I spend some time in the specific country I want to emulate without heavy research (which for this would totally get me off writing).
By the way, if you want some great grammar, plot and great linguistic combo, go for AndrewWolfe. Any story by this person is 200% great.
