Chapter 3: What is done is done

The Potters are still reeling in shock along with Sirius about everything that has happened. With the aid of the Head of House Winthrop, they take Emeri and Harry and all settle in Massachusetts. Meanwhile, back in England the Order tries to piece together what happened. Most choose to believe that the Potters all died in defeating Lord Voldemort.

James' POV

He gazed with Lily in fondness while she rocked Harry to sleep. In the corner of his eye, he could see his best mate and his wee cousin Emeri fast asleep. It was a different world in America, he understood the appeal for the first time! It was truly beautiful, Boston still holding the same colonial charm that lured so many Britians before them to the New World. There was nothing to be heard about blood purity here! It was refreshing, and a whole new start for his son! Here, he would not have to face constant danger as soon as he showed up in the magickal world. Here, he could be just simply Harry, avoiding the stigma of being the Boy That Lived until he was trained and ready to take up the mantle. He and Sirius would be taking a personal approach in preparing him for that confrontation. Neither of them believed that the Dark Lord was entirely gone. This time all of them had more time! In the meanwhile, they will get to enjoy being a family, away from the madness in the UK. Enjoy not having a famous name. He smiled at that thought. Their new Patriarch gave them all new names. He and Lily were Charles and Lilah Winthrop, Harry became Harold, Sirius excited to finally be rid of the Black name became Atlas Winthrop.

He still did not know what quite to think of the whole situation. Evie could only show them what most American magicals knew at the time about what happened during her time line with his son and his friends. It was all terrible! It was the kind of shock that even long after the so call 2nd war, most of wizarding Britian had not yet recovered, and that haunted look, in his boy, who looked so much like him, and his poor friends! No, things would be very different this time. He decided that he very much liked being an American, and the new start away from so much death and destruction it provided for his family. They had already lost too much and now that he knew the truth about the phrase "the Greater Good" he would never utter it again! To know where Dumbledore had got that phrase… It sent shudders down his spine! Never again would he trust someone outside his inner circle! His best mate's cousin had the right of it! To hell with the Dark Lord, to hell with Dumbledore! He could never look at the man the same! He was no better than the Dark Lord, just as manipulative, using all of them as pawns in the chess game between the two of them, nothing more than cannon fodder! His son in the previous time line nothing more than a walking, talking weapon, a means to an end!

Well, now he would have the chance to just grow up! With a cousin/sister who would take one of the American schools by storm! They would both have the same care free youth that he and Sirius had, pulling pranks, making friends, learning about different magicks that even Hogwarts no longer taught. In the meanwhile he was actually excited about learning about the kind of magick that Evie weilded, that brought them back from death and saved all of them. Lily was more interested in warding and protection spells not for buildings, but on people. Afterall, in the original timeline, she had done something that provided a powerful ward against Voldemort, and it appears it was still there, as she did die. When she wasn't looking after the children she was digging in the Winthrop library. All of them loved the colonial home that their new House Head gave them! It was an actual, fully restored home from the time of the American Revolution, and had belonged to an ancestor. It was grand and yet humble in a way that many Manor homes failed to be back home. And the differences between Boston and London was stark and fascinating!

Here the magickal and muggle were not so seperated from one another! It was the same world for both muggle and magickal alike, weaved as layers, one on top of the other, interacting with each other at times. He and Lily were already planning a trip to Coney Island, as a chance to relax and to get supplies. There was also coming up the Family Dinner. Apparently it was a Winthrop thing that every Sunday one of the Winthrop homes would host a dinner for the whole family, a tradition that went back to the colonial days. They would be introduced as long lost British cousins who "finally came to their senses" to the rest of the extended family. And from the sound of it, it was a very large family! James wasn't much use to that! He only ever had his parents, and then the Marauders, then Lily and Harry. "Come to think of it, I actually do have some idea what it will be like." he thought to himself, disturbing Lily with a laugh. "Thinking about all the changes, aren't you Charles?" she said with a wink. They had all decided that to get use to their new identities they should start calling each other by them. James smirked. "I'm wondering why we didn't think to do this sooner, after Harold here was born, Lilah. Would of saved us alot of trouble, I think!" he stated.

"I have had that thought as well. The Dark Lord's arm may be long, but it has not the capability to reach here yet. I wonder why something was not set up here as soon as the prophecy was made! It makes far more sense! Why put the target directly under his nose! No wonder it was so easy for him in the first timeline! We all but drew a map and delivered ourselves to him wrapped in a bow! I do worry for the other boy, Neville. I hope Augusta will be able to take care and stay safe!" and that was one of the many reasons he fell so hard for her. Always putting others before herself. "I am hoping that she decides to do what we have. Britian is not the best place for our children to be right now. We should all face that Dark Wanker on OUR TIME, on OUR TERMS, not his, or the Order's! Those two boys got pushed into a war made by adults when they are only toddlers! They are supposed to get to be children Lils! To be safe, to learn, to prepare and grow so that when the time comes, if they DECIDE to fight, they will be ready too!" he ran a hand through his hair, fustrated and sickened. How could they not see how they were all being used? Everyone in that Order was being used. And while he agreed that the Dark Lord needed to be dealt with, coming to America put the threat into perspective for him in a way that he never thought of it before.

Evie had called the Dark Lord nothing more than a terrorist, who's reach could only go so far. And now he could see it! The numbers had never been on the side of the Dark! The truth was, there is simply more muggleborns than there were Purebloods! They outnumbered, and therefore, as Lils had said, outgunned them! Since coming to Boston, he was also learning to never underestimate the capability of muggles ever again! They had done things without magick that even the most powerful wizard would not dare to attempt! They sent a man to the moon! But the scariest of all, they had harnessed the power of the Atom! That thought still terrified him in all his dreams! There was no magickal defence against the Big Bomb! Their technology, their science continued to advance and reach new heights, while for the most part, in many places, the magickal world was stuck in the time of the Dark Ages. The most curious part of the Americas here was that they had found a harmony between technology and magick. Electricity ran, and ran without interruption throughout their new home. They had a tellie, electric lighting, a radio, they had three cars, which Lils would have to teach them how to drive!

"And now they will get that chance! Without Harry there, while regaining his power, the Dark Lord will not constantly be coming after them, as he thinks we are all dead! He always thought it was Harry, so he will have no reason to go after Frank and Alice's son, and he too will hopefully have the chance to be a child. I don't think we need to worry about the original timeline anymore. Only raising our dear Harold and Emeri and preparing them for what is to come. That way, like you said, they will be able to CHOOSE whether they want to fight or not. I imagine they will, but on THEIR terms! I think being here, in America, will teach them alot about refusing to be led around and making their own decisions." she replied. "That is very true. The Winthrops, for all the other things they are, are a Light Family, but they do not trust Dumbledore at all. They remembered what the UK was only to quick to forget. I hope that independent streak settles right down into the little ones." he gazed again at both Harry and Emeri. Originally, James had thought that he and Lils would raise Emeri. But over the last few days it became quite clear who was going to be her adoptive parent when Sirius was utterly enchanted by her and doing everything for her. "Between being the children of not one but TWO Marauders and growing up in the US they will be a handfull by the time it is time for us to go back to Britain and finish this, should they decide they want to." she replied.

They had discussed that as well. Now that they were out of the war, now that they had a new perspective on it, they decided whether or not Harry and Emeri decided to go back to fullfill the prophecy or not, to fight or not, would be their decision. There would be no Dumbledore here to lecture him about the so called Greater Good. And the truth was, it would be just as viable an option to destroy most of the Horocruxes and make the Dark Lord vulnerable enough to cage him in Azkaban as destroying him. The Runemauls showed them that anything was possible, including making a cage that even the Dark Lord couldn't crawl out of! The fact that he actually shred his soul to make the cursed items actually made it that much easier to cage him, the man himself had already made the sacrifices that could be used against him. Such beautiful irony. "That's fair enough. I suppose we shall have to get use to being Americans, and being out of the conflict. It feels so strange. We should by all rights be dead. Instead we get a second chance and instead of flying back to Dumbledore, we decided not to hide, but walk away. I can't say I am still happy about that, but knowing what we know, we have to prepare them! I guess we all never had the choice to join the fight or not, and now that we do, it's hard to turn my back on our friends." he voiced the guilt he had been feeling.

Lils sighed. "I know, I know. But they also have 10 years of peace, remember that! For now, everything is on hiatus. Our friends will be safe for the time being. I refuse to feel guilty knowing what I do now! And now we have a new start, I think it is best that we start thinking about what we want to do with ourselves. I am not the stay-at-home type dear!" and so they circled back to the conversation they had with Max Winthrop, their new Head. "Still thinking about opening your own Potions shop?" he asked. She had more than enough finacial backing to pull it off, and she was very excited about the idea. "I am indeed. There are so many potential customers here, and I could do so much good that way! You know how I always enjoyed Potions!" he smiled at that. "That I do. I am still at a loss though. I always thought I and Sirius would be Aurors but now that we have seen horror, I am not sure what I would like to do anymore." he said sheepishly. "You and Sirius always had more talents than just Defense Against the Dark Arts! You are a Marauder! Surely you two can put your thick skulls together and come up with something!" she said, eyeballing him. He nervously scratched the back of his head. "Well, we both have always been tolerable artists…..maybe we could design advertisements?" it was an idea that had been growing in his mind. After all, somebody had to come up with them, and between the two, they could make something incredibly eye catching!

"Well there you are then love! Ask around, see who hires for designing advertisements in Boston, show them what you and Sirius can do!" she said. "Now, in the meantime, I am exhausted so I think its time we put our Harold to bed!" she said with a smile. He gave her a small one back. "Right you are love." and he took his son from her arms and took him back to his crib. He gently shook Sirius' shoulder. "Hey, Atlas, time put the little one to bed." after making a grunting noise he slowly woke up. He put Harold to bed and turned around to see Sirius kiss the little girl's forehead. "Goodnight Little Blackbird." causing him to smile. Finally, a girl had stolen the notorious playboy Sirius Black's heart. As they left the room James clapped his hand on his back. "This is truly a new start, the world we wanted! So now that the world is our oyster, how about we introduce these Americans to the Marauders?!" they both shared a wicked smile, each with a gleam in their eye that could only mean one thing, trouble! "Well Prongs, that sounds like a plan to me!" and as he went off to bed he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief and contentment he had not felt in a very, VERY long time. They had gotten one over on the Dark Lord! They had won the battle! In time, perhaps, they would see who won the war.

Lily's POV

She listened with a small smile, and a small amount of concern while Sirius and James bantered as they made their way to bed. She owed Sirius a life debt! Because of him neither her son or his little cousin would ever know want. Because of him, they were alive and well, getting the chance to start the kind of lives that they chose, instead of waiting for death on every corner, living life on the run. She could have never predicted this while they were hiding away, never knowing when they would be found. It would have been truly awful, even if Peter had not betrayed them all, to spend the rest of their lives under the Fedelius charm! She was going to make the most of this new opportunity! And she was going to make sure that they did the same, even if she had to drag them into said opportunities kicking and screaming.

Albus Dumbledore's POV

Albus Dumbledore was not sure what to think when he got to the Potter Safe House. When he saw there had been an attack, he expected bodies, not ashes on the floor! But it appeared they had done what it had been said was impossible! Because next to those ashes was a wand that could only belong to one Tom Riddle, and on top of those ashes black robes. All he could think of is that the Potters had used unknown magick to vanquish the darkest wizard since Gridenwald. However, inspite of the evidence in front of him, he did not feel that they were dead. It was being said that there was no trace of Sirius Black either, which for him only confirmed it. However, every time he tried to reach them, it was like none of them even existed anymore! Strange, very strange it all seemed to him. A mystery, and in this time of war, he didn't like for there to be a mystery! In a short time, other Order members, including Remus Lupin arrived to the home were the Potters had been hiding since that prophecy had been uttered. It was he who showed up in a panic. "But what could have happened? If it is true, and the Dark Lord is gone, what happened to Lily and James? And where is Peter and Sirius? There has been no trace of them either! I don't understand!" the werewolf stated. The sandy haired man was deeply worried, and Dumbledore was at a loss as to what he could even tell him. He could feel old magick in the air, of a kind he had not felt since his youth. But he could not put a finger on it.

More pops were heard as Alastor Moody and Minerva showed up as well. All of them took in the scene sadly. "I think it is very clear what has happened here. The Potters and Mr. Black had to have done something here. Something in desperation as the wards were being dismantled. Maybe they had prior warning. But whatever they did, they took down the Dark Lord, more than likely at the cost of their own lives to do it. Poor Harry must have got caught into the magick too. Perhaps this is what the prophecy was saying would happen. After all it did mention the boy would defeat him with a power he knows not." the clear headed head of Grypphindor stated. It was a cold take in of all the facts, the very few clues left them that had the logical, no nonsense woman come to that conclusion and if any looked closely enough they would have seen tears in her eyes. Alastor looked at him very closely, clearly he thought that was not the whole case either. But nothing showed that the Potters or Mr. Black were still alive. It appeared they had won, in the end. But at what cost, he doubted even he could have calculated. Remus was shaking his head. "No, I don't believe it! I don't believe they are gone! There are no bodies! I know of no magick that would not leave at least a body!" he exclaimed. Unfortunately, Dumbledore did, but kept silent on the matter.

It was Minerva who put her hand on the werewolf's shoulder. "I am sorry Remus, but there is no other explanation! We can all take heart that they were brave to the very end, and that good triumphed, and because of them, we all can live in a world free of fear! Because of them, we may all have faith again, and we will always honor their heroism!" she said. "No, I'm sorry, but no one can know what happened here. Not entirely. There are still Death Eaters out there, which means that the young Longbottom heir and muggleborns are still at risk. No, there are still things to do. Until we can change the hearts of the young and round up the few that would still bring terror upon our world, what happened here tonight must remain amongst us. All they need know is that the Dark Lord is gone. And I am afraid that Albus and I will need your Vows not to reveal what you have seen here tonight." Alastor spoke up. Dumbledore nodded sadly. He was of course right. Dumbledore knew deep down that the Dark Lord was not entirely gone. And there were to many questions about what happened here to let out into the open. He wanted to study further, see what kind of magick could have caused this. And the old magick that he felt here, it was not the kind that would have killed the Potters or Sirius Black, it was not harmful or dark. And so he got vows from everyone not to reveal what they had seen.

All the wizarding world needed to know was that the Dark Lord had been defeated. Until he knew more, they would not learn anything else.