Chapter 1: The Boy Who Lived
"You're SURE this is about Harry?" Charlie interrupted.
"Trust me. This is. Who'd write a book about the Dursleys?" Tonks said to her old classmate.
"That's Petunia alright" Snape muttered under his breath.
"I can think of seven boys off hand that are finer" Arthur said thinking about his loyal sons, Harry, and Neville. Percy was treading on a THIN line…and leaning on the opposite side at that. Arthur could have SWORN he taught his middle son that family comes first always.
"What's wrong with the Potters?" Sirius demanded.
"I can name a NUMEROUS amount of things" Snape said.
"Can we get through the first chapter?" Remus asked.
"Well, Lily didn't want Harry mixing with Dudley." Sirius snapped at the book.
Everyone looked around at each other.
McGonagall jerked in shock as she recognized that moment. If she had been at Privet Drive reading a map in her form, then that was the day after James and Lily had been killed.
"Professor?" Sirius asked wondering if that cat had been her.
"Ever heard of the law of secrecy!?" Moody yelled at the book.
"Alastor. If I'm not mistake, the date this chapter is set in is November 1st, 1980" McGonagall explained "I'm sure you recall that day."
"Yeah. Most amount of memory charms I had to perform on TOP of catching rouge death eaters."
"That would be fun" Tonks mused.
"Yes. The nerve of him!" Tonks joked in a stiff manner much to Remus' amusement. Especially since her own emerald green cloak was laying across the back of her chair.
"I think cleanup from the celebration was worse than cleanup for the war itself" Arthur sighed as he recalled those days.
"He doesn't know the name of his own nephew?" Molly gasped.
"I met your sister." Sirius said to the book. "I'd go with Lily over HER."
"How'd you meet her?" Arthur asked.
"Lily BEGGED her mother to allow her to bring a magical date to the wedding" Remus said. "But James wouldn't go without us so Petunia made an agreement: no 'funny stuff' and we could come. James was well behaved, but Padfoot on the other hand…"
"So I put some Tabasco sauce in the punch. Made it taste more like firewhiskey."
Dumbledore picked back up the reading.
"He did NOT just say that!" Flitwick gasped.
"Actually Professor, he sounds a bit like you" Bill pointed out.
"Probably my older brother then." Flitwick mused.
"I wasn't aware you had a brother" Sprout gasped.
"Fillius feels about Felix much as I do about Aberforth" Dumbledore explained before continuing.
"Yep. That's Minnie" Sirius chuckled.
McGonagall gave him the same stern look the cat had given Dursley.
"It is if the cat's an animagus" Sprout chuckled
"I remember the first times you two used that word" Arthur chuckled while addressing his two eldests. "You two were scared of your mother for a week."
Bill and Charlie went bright red grateful the younger six weren't in the room. Fred and George would NEVER let them live that down.
"Was it that bad?" Remus asked Arthur.
"Show them the look you gave them" Arthur told Molly.
"Arthur…" Molly said.
"Peaked my interest" Dumbledore said indicating that it was alright.
Molly sighed and gave Remus a glare that read 'Excuse me Mister? WHAT did you just say to me? And it better not be what I heard clearly or else your rear is going to hurt for a month when I'm done spanking you.'
"Oh my goodness. That's the same glare Lily gave us after we would blab a prank to her" Sirius gasped.
"I wonder if he's a squib" Bill mused.
"It was mutual" Snape and Sirius chorused before looking at each other horrified that they had agreed on something.
"I told them" Sirius said holding up his hands in defeat.
"Unfortunately." Those who had MET Vernon and Petunia Dursley chorused.
"Is this when you…?" Molly asked Dumbledore.
"Yes Molly." Dumbledore answered the unfinished question.
"But…" Arthur realized. "This was the night AFTER. Where was Harry between?"
"It was the full moon that night. I don't know" Remus said before noticing the look on Sirius' face.
Sirius was looking at the floor with tears in his eyes
"I'll explain after the chapter." Sirius said shivering at the memory and no longer looking like the Marauder Sirius Black, but more of the Azkaban Convict that had lost EVERYTHING that night.
The teachers looked at each other concerned.
"All day?!" Bill, Charlie, and Tonks asked the Professor. They had distinctly remembered all the parties.
"Got that right" Moody said.
"We wish" the crowd chorused.
As did everyone except Dumbledore, Moody, Sirius, and Remus.
"Only because you're too noble!" Molly told him.
Molly blushed bright red.
"I could have lived my whole life happy not knowing that" Bill said.
"That was the worst moment of my life" McGonagall sighed as she thought back on how painful it was. James' parents had been good friends' of hers and James was like a godson to her though it was never official. And Lily had more teacher/student chats about personal stuff than McGonagall had with any other student so she had been like a daughter to her.
And James trying to get the baby Harry to call her 'Grandma' had NOT helped ease the news of the deaths.
"It can't all be explained in a letter!" Remus exclaimed.
Sirius gave his werewolf friend a weak smirk at the fact that the Marauder and the stern professor agreed on something. However, he knew that by that time this conversation had happened, he had gone off to corner Peter.
"Memo to self," Bill said to Charlie unaware of Snape's wince at that day. "Don't let Fred and George hear that."
"Why not? It'll be fun. We can watch Harry squirm the way Ron does when we tease him about his crush on Hermione" Charlie said.
"Good point" Bill said before turning to Dumbledore. "Hey Professor. Instead of Halloween this year, think you can announce it as 'Harry Potter Day'?"
"That is the LAST thing the boy needs" Snape answered for the headmaster.
"And chances are Hermione's read all of them" Remus chuckled.
"And Harry hasn't" McGonagall added.
"Actually, Harry was already walking and talking" Sirius said. "Not very well, but he always got where he needed to go and communicated what he wanted."
"But not with a secret" Sirius whispered to Remus.
"He still needs to give that back to me" Sirius recalled.
"Almost?" Sirius interrupted as he lunged a bit as if the understatement was an insult. "The entire side of the house and the roof had caved in!"
"Really?" everyone asked stunned.
"Yes." Sirius said. "Took me all day digging to find the bodies. Luckily, Harry had managed to put up a small accidental shielding charm to keep himself safe. I had found him shortly before Hagrid showed up. I was so scared."
Remus placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder wishing it had been any other phase of the moon but what it had been that horrific night.
"Was it really that bad?" Arthur asked having not been to the monument yet.
"When I found Harry, the crib had collapsed due to the weight of the roof and it looked as if he was in a cage. He was screaming at the top of his lungs and he made an even bigger fuss when I handed him over to Hagrid. That's why I lent him my bike. Harry loved to fly on it and I knew it would sooth him."
Sirius then turned to Dumbledore.
"I trusted that you would keep him safe while I went to go settle that score" Sirius added "But first I had to dig out Lily and James' bodies."
"Keep reading Sir." Remus told Dumbledore as he gripped Sirius' shoulder tighter believing the sooner they ended the chapter, the better.
"Another thing I could have lived without knowing" Bill muttered.
"YOU LEFT HIM ON THE DOORSTEP!?" Molly exclaimed. Remus noticed that Sirius looked ready to join her, but was still hurting from the memory of the damaged house and seeing the body of his best friend.
"Never did get it back" Sirius repeated.
"I guess I'll read next." Arthur said when the chapter was finished.
