Disclaimer I don't own a gosh darn thing so what are you going to do about it?

Authors note: I know I know it late but I can't help it I went out and got myself a life. It's heavier than I thought it would be.

Chapter Five

More Than They Bargained For

Written by: Empathicallychosen

Betaed by: Taint of Taia

Change is a challenge and an opportunity, not a threat. -- Prince Philip of England

"James, dear, go upstairs and get Harry. We need to do this before your father leaves for work," said a woman's voice, waking Harry from his dreams.

Immediately he started to panic. Accalia and Aidan had always let him sleep in as long as he wanted. They knew that Harry was feeling very sad after his parents left so they wanted him to feel comfortable. From what he could understand, something had changed. Forcibly Harry was reminded of his uncle. What did they want to do to him? Was he in trouble? What had he done?

Poor little Harry had no idea that he wasn't in trouble at all. He had no idea that today was even his birthday. He had never had a real birthday before. No one had ever thrown him a party. He only knew that once a year, Mr. and Mrs. Granger would stop by the house with the present and wish him a Happy Birthday. Uncle Vernon would get very mad and throw him in the cupboard for the rest of the day, while Dudley would get all of his presents.

When Harry heard the footsteps coming up the stairs, he quickly hid under the covers.

"Harry, are you awake?" Harry heard James's voice ask.

Harry whimpered.

"Mum and dad want to see you downstairs," James continued.

"I 'n trouble?" Harry asked timidly, creeping further back under the covers.

"No, of course not. We just have a surprise for you is all," James's voice sounded both bewildered and astonished.

"What is 't?" called Harry suspiciously.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise. Come on. I'll show you."

Harry heard footsteps getting further and further away. James had left the nursery. He didn't know why, but he trusted James, so, slowly, he removed the covers and crept out of his room.

James wasn't in the hallway. Harry supposed he was already downstairs. So Harry took a deep breath and crept downstairs. He wanted to stay with James, where he felt safe.

From the landing, Harry could smell something very appetizing coming from the kitchen. When he arrived downstairs, Harry couldn't believe what he's saw. The kitchen was decorated with red and blue balloons and in the center of the table was a small, chocolate cake.

"Happy Birthday," said Accalia smiling.

"Is i' my bir'day?" asked Harry, turning to Hermione for the answer.

Hermione thought hard and long, but she couldn't seem to remember knowing when her friend's birthday was. She shrugged, and Harry turned to Ron, who was just as clueless as she was. Harry was confused and crestfallen. If Hermione and Ron didn't know when his birthday was, who would? If it was his birthday, did that mean that the decorations and the cake were for him?

"Your mummy said it was," Accalia said assuredly.

"Oh. You t'ink she knows?" asked Harry innocently.

Everyone over the age of five laughed. For the life of him, Harry couldn't understand why.

"Yes, Harry," chuckled Aidan. "You know what else? Your daddy asked me to make sure you had a really great time today."

Harry hugged Hedwig close to him and began to tear up. Aidan and Accalia assumed that the little boy was sobbing because he missed his mother and father. This was partly true. But the main reason was that if Aidan was telling the truth, then that meant that Harry's parents cared about him the way Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon cared about Dudley. Harry didn't fully understand the role of grandparents, but if what Aidan was saying was true then Aidan and Accalia must have loved him too. That meant at least four adults cared about him and wanted to see him happy. That was more people than Harry could have ever imagined in his wildest dreams.

"Oh no, no don't cry. Everything is going to be all right you'll see," said Accalia soothingly. "Why don't you come on over here and we'll have some cake and open your presents?"

Much to everyone's dismay, this made Harry cry even harder. For several minutes, everyone tried everything they could think of to make Harry feel better, and only made the cries get worse.

"What in the world is wrong with this kid?" called Sirius, over the wailing, when Harry had reached the point of shaking his friends decided to answer.

"Harry's never had cake or presents before," said Hermione knowledgeably.

"Well, what do Petunia and Vernon usually do?" asked Accalia, wondering why on earth they had never given Harry so much as a cake on his birthday.

"Nothing," said Ron simply.

"Why not?" asked Remus.

"Dunno." Hermione shrugged her shoulders, clearly never having given it much thought.

"Didn't you ever ask?" questioned James.

"No," Ron replied, as though James had asked the dumbest question in the world.

"Why not?"

There was total and complete silence for a very long time. Then, to everyone's surprise, Harry responded.

"'Cause . . . 'cause," Harry tried to think of what his aunt and uncle would want him to say.

"Because day hit me ifs I do," Harry blurted out finally.

Harry didn't know what made him tell the truth. He had just been wondering what would have happened if he did, and all of a sudden the words just flew out of his mouth. Uncle Vernon had always told Harry that if he ever told anyone, they'd be angry and then uncle Vernon would just have to hit Harry harder. But Harry was finding out more and more that his aunt and uncle weren't always telling the truth about things. Still, he had never intended to repeat the words out loud.

Hermione and Ron were just as flabbergasted as Harry was to hear the words come out of his mouth. They weren't the only ones. Aidan, Accalia, James, Remus, and Sirius were all floored. Whatever they had expected Harry to say, it wasn't this. Aidan was very angry. It took a long time to calm him down, and Harry was terrified. He raced back up the stairs dived back into the nursery and hid himself in the wardrobe.

Moments later, he heard a voice. "Harry? Harry? It's me, Prongs."

Harry didn't answer. For several minutes, he heard James searching the whole room, getting closer and closer to the wardrobe. Then, all of a sudden, there was a knock and James pulled the door open. Without saying a word, James seated himself on the floor next to the wardrobe.

"Gandad hates me now," sobbed Harry.

"He doesn't hate you," James assured the boy.

Harry just stared at him disbelievingly.

"It's true. He just really, really hates your aunt and uncle . . . "

Harry stepped cautiously out of the wardrobe. James smiled at him.

"Now how about you and I go downstairs and get some of your birthday cake before Padfoot eats it all?"

James took Harry's hand as they walked down the hallway, but when they got to the stairs James jerked his hand away quickly. Harry stared at James. When no one was around, James was really nice to Harry, but when somebody could see them, all of a sudden he wasn't. For the next month, Harry tried to figure out why this was, but all he concluded was that grownups were very confusing.

-- -- -- -- --

As far as James could tell, Sirius was the only one asleep. He knew that he could not fall back to sleep, but James still wanted nothing more than to lie in bed and do nothing. In order to do that, James had to pretend he was in fact still asleep, because Peter came by around nine o' clock, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sleeping and decided to spend the night. James knew the moment he got out of bed that Peter would start clinging to him like an over excited Pomeranian. James didn't know why Peter had changed so much over the summer, although when discussing it with Remus, the lycanthrope said he had not noticed a change in their friend. So perhaps it wasn't Peter who had changed at all. Maybe it was he, James, who had done the changing.

James shook his head. It was too early in the morning for such deep thinking. He distracted himself by listening to the gentle patter of feet coming down the hallway. The footsteps stopped outside of James's door. There was a tiny, almost inaudible, knock, and James knew even before anyone called out that it was Harry.

"Pongs! Pongs? Po --" Harry kept calling out for James without giving him time to respond.

"Merlin! Does that kid ever shut up?" grumbled Peter.

"Can it, Pete. He might hear you," hissed Remus.

"So?" said Peter bluntly. "Clearly he's too thick to realize that he is annoying."

James felt the strongest and strangest urge to punch Peter in the nose.

"What is it, Harry?" James replied as he opened the door, trying to calm himself down.

Peter started, not having realized James was awake.

"Gwams say you gotta come fer br-- br -- eating," piped Harry.

"Okay. We'll be down just as soon as we wake up Padfoot."

It took so long for them to wake up Sirius that Accalia sent up Aidan, Hermione, and Ron to retrieve the boys. When Sirius finally did wake up, it was because of a pillow fight. They got so into the tussle that there were goose feathers from the pillows flying everywhere. Sirius accidentally knocked Remus against the wall, causing the pictures and knickknacks hanging on it to topple onto their heads. A truce was called and the marauders scurried around the room tidying it up before Accalia came up and saw the disaster area they had created. When the room had been brought back to an acceptable state, James picked up the rumpled calendar and was startled. It was August thirty-first . . .

At once, Peter started saying how relieved they must be that summer was ending. He went on and on about how glad he was that no one under the age of eleven had ever been allowed to stay at Hogwarts. According to Peter, they had nothing to worry about except for the important things like the N.E.W.T.s and humiliating Snape and, of course, for James to win over Lily. Peter had been testing James's patience ever since he had arrived at James's house. Not only with his constant hyperactivity, but ever since he'd walk through the door, he had nothing but awful things to say about Harry. So that even if James wanted to tell his friends about the strange new paternal side of him wanting to burst out, he couldn't. It would be too embarrassing. At least he knew how Peter felt. However this may have been why he was so confused and ashamed of his feelings to talk about them, even with his brothers. So he did not know that Remus and Sirius were willing to accept Harry's existence as a factor in James's life, and, even in time, welcome him. James had tried his best to ignore Peter when he made remarks about Harry, but when Peter talked about James's future wife as if she was a trophy of a sort to own, he saw red. Luckily, Peter was saved from a thrashing by Accalia's voice.

"IF YOU BOYS DON'T GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW, I'M GOING TO FEED YOUR BREAKFASTS TO THE GARDEN GNOMES!" she called from the kitchen.

When James, Remus, Peter and Sirius arrived in the kitchen a few minutes later, Aidan and Accalia were in the far corner of the kitchen next to the cabinets. They were having a heated debate. They were whispering, but they weren't quite whispering softly enough.

"Be patient, Accalia. He just needs to get more comfortable with us. At least he is eating, " said Aidan, trying to hide his own anxieties.

When James returned to the table with a bowl, he discovered what was alarming his mother. James was first alerted to this situation because Sirius was gaping across the table at Harry, who was happily chomping away at a charred piece of toast.

"Now you have to admit, that is weird," hissed Peter, a bit too loud.

"What was that?" Accalia snapped, returning to the table.

"Nothing, Mum," Sirius quickly replied.

Everyone except Harry, Ron, Hermione, and perhaps Peter himself, knew that Accalia's patience with Peter was wearing a lot thinner these days.

"Peter was just reminding us we still have to go get our school things this afternoon," said Remus, realizing that she knew Sirius wasn't being entirely truthful.

Accalia remembered at once that with all of the excitement in the house, she had completely forgotten that her sons would be leaving the next day. Her apologies were endless and she began announcing all the things that had to be done to give them a proper sendoff. Aidan, however, was not so accepting of Remus's excuse. Fortunately the brothers were saved further explanation of their friend by the ones Peter had so readily mocked.

Harry was trying to serve Hermione some more porridge, but somehow he had missed her bowl and had ended up serving a great big spoonful of porridge to the wall behind him. Ron wanted more milk and ended up pouring the entire quart into his lap. Aidan thought this was funny. Peter simply found it disgusting.

"Lighten up. One quick cleaning spell and everything will be back to normal. So they're a little bit sloppy. James was at their age and I'm sure that you weren't much different yourself, Peter," said Aidan as he handed Hermione a napkin so that she could remove a large amount of jam that had not made it into her mouth.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the morning playing with a midnight blue ball with five-point stars that rotated and called out the names of different constellations while they played with it. This could get slightly irritating at times, but today it was a lifesaver. While they threw it to one another, the marauders could prepare for their day at Diagon Alley. At the same time, Aidan got dressed and ready to take care of some emergency at work, while Accalia spoke with a nurse from Saint Mungo's.

"I'm afraid you boys are on your own for lunch. Your cousin, Karina, poor dear, caught a case of scofungulus and I have to go sit with her," said Accalia in search of her cloak.

"That's all right, Mum. We're on our way out anyway. We'll just grab something at one of the shops," replied Sirius.

It was at that moment Aidan came downstairs fully dressed and ready to go, "I really have to dash, Cali. Have fun boys."

Aidan and Accalia were thirty seconds away from apparating, and the flames were already licking Sirius's toes, when a small, gritty voice made them all freeze.

"Sagittarius, Cassiopeia, Cygnus."

They all whipped around to see Harry not even a fraction of an inch away from Aidan.

"We gonna go away, gandad?" he asked innocently, continuing to bounce the ball as he spoke.

Aidan looked up at his wife who stared back at him, feeling just as guilt ridden as he did. Harry was a very fragile child. Of course he had a right to be, given that he'd been abused for two and a half years, gone back in time and then spent a month tortured by the most foul wizards in existence. Being forgotten would probably destroy the boy. It took a few seconds for Aidan to regain his senses. Ron and Hermione had come along to see where Harry had gotten to. Aidan bent down to his grandson's eye level and started to explain that they had simply overlooked them in their haste and he couldn't. Harry's emerald green eyes twinkled innocently with delight at the prospect of being outside.

Aidan had trained the children that when they were in public they were never to mention who they a really were. At first, Hermione was surprised and offended that Aidan was asking them to lie. When Aidan explained that it wasn't a lie but a game of make believe they were playing, she had absorbed the information excitedly. Though Hermione and Ron could even recite fake addresses, and Harry had become quite accustomed to saying that James was his cousin whom he was visiting from Yorkshire, the toddlers hadn't been out of the house since they had arrived. Though the three friends were more than grateful to be away from their captors and that they were being treated so humanely, their boredom was becoming more and more apparent. Aidan could only imagine how awful it must be to be locked away in some stuffy old manor all the time with so little to do.

"You sure are. The boys thought it would be quite fun to show you around some wizards stores."

James glanced at Peter, who was looking absolutely appalled at the idea.

"Wha --" James started to protest, but Aidan glared at him.

The matter was closed for discussion. The children were going to Diagon Alley with the Marauders.

-- -- -- -- --

It took Sirius, James, and Remus (Peter had decided that he was going to head home so as to avoid spending time with the trio) another hour to leave, because traveling with a pack of four-year-olds is quite possibly the most difficult endeavor anyone could undertake. Actually being in Diagon Alley was much worse because there were all the shops and things to distract small children. By the time James, Remus, and Sirius finally made it to the bank to withdraw some money, they were exhausted to the point of leaving, but they had things to do.

Inside the entrance, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were again distracted by the burnished bronze doors and the strange little creature standing next to it wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold.

"That's called a goblin," said Mr. Prongs quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him.

The goblin was four foot and eight inches (142 cm). He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard, and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them.

"What's that say Mr. Padfoot?" asked Ron eagerly.

"Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there."

"I like that poem," Hermione giggled. "It's funny. Silly gob-goblins."

"Yeah ... er... that's goblins for you... silly," said Remus sarcastically. Fortunately, Hermione missed the sarcasm.

A pair of goblins started to bow them through the silver doors but stopped mid-bow screeching: "Eternus liberi!"

Alarmed, Padfoot, Moony, and Prongs hurried the trio through the doors so that they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. All of them stared at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, whispering breathlessly to each other "ETERNUS LIBERI! Eternus liberi!"

Harry jumped at the excited whispering and clung to Hedwig so tightly his fingers were white and tingly. But despite his nerves, he couldn't help but look upon the scene in the amazement. There were too many doors to count, leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. The teenaged 'grownups' made for the counter, but they were met halfway by one who could only be the head goblin in charge of the bank. He was very old, very wrinkled, very bald, and very warty.

"I am Guenon. Is it true?"

Guenon did not wait for an answer. He began to circle around the trio, muttering to himself about the three creatures whose devotedness and tenderness for others set them apart from the rest of the world. He did this while stroking his beard. Finally he stopped and smiled. Not one of the Hogwarts students, past or future, had ever seen a goblin smile. It was a bit frightening, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione giggled. Apparently Guenon was the most amusing Goblin of all.

"Have a good journey, young ones," he said softly.

"What kind of warped mess have we gotten ourselves into," muttered Sirius. "I mean, warmhearted goblins? What's the world coming to?"

It was then that Guenon looked up and round on James. "You possess the greatest treasure in the world in these three. You are truly blessed."

"Thank you," replied James awkwardly.

Guenon then began to speak more quickly, in a low rumble.

"Listen closely to what I am about to tell you. It is of the utmost importance. You must keep them away from Dementors at all costs. Now, I will have one of my most trusted goblins take you to vault 2014," said Guenon turning to the counter.

"No, no, wait a minute," said Remus quickly. "I'm afraid there's been some kind of mistake. We need to withdraw some money from the family Vault. Vault seven hundred and-"

"You must go to vault 2014. Your money will be waiting for you when you return," snapped Guenon, apparently annoyed that Remus did not see the significance of this.

The goblin Guenon had chosen to escort them to vault 2014 was a goblin named Pickerel. Pickerel held the door open for them. The tiny trio, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor.

"Are we going on a train, Prongs?" asked a bewildered Harry.

James made sure Remus and Sirius were busy with Ron and Hermione, then lowered himself to Harry's level.

"No way," whispered James animatedly. "This is much better than a train, Pronglet. Look!"

Harry watch wide-eyed as Pickerel whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. At first, they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. In the beginning, Harry was enjoying himself. The wind rushed through his hair as they traveled and there were so many interesting things to see. Soon, however, enjoyment turned to terror as the cart went faster and faster down one sloping tunnel after another. The turns were getting sharper and it kept getting darker and darker. The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Pickerel wasn't steering.

Helplessly, Harry clung to James for dear life. In the cover of darkness where no one could see, James held a trembling Harry tightly. "It's all right, I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you I promise," he crooned in Harry's ear.

"Are you young ones enjoying yourselves," asked Pickerel.

"Yay!" exclaimed Ron immediately.

Hermione didn't seem to be afraid either. In fact, she seemed fascinated by everything around her. Harry said nothing. Because James had let go of Harry as soon as they could see again, Harry turned to Hedwig for comfort. He was clutching Hedwig so tightly it looked as though her eye might pop out. Pickerel seemed to notice this and did something that absolutely floored Remus, James, and Sirius. Pickerel pulled from his pocket an emerald, a ruby, and a sapphire and he handed one to each of the tiny wizards. "These are for you, keep them close. They may come in handy one day."

Hermione and Ron were having much too much fun examining the jewels and pretending they were goblins to notice the odd looks Padfoot, Moony, and Prongs were giving their goblin. On the other hand, Harry couldn't wait for James to let Harry hold his hand again. Their eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but they kept them wide open. Once, Ron thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late -- they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor. They reach the high-security vault in record time. It was one of the highest security vaults the marauders had ever seen, and they had to admit they were a little disappointed when all that was inside were a few very ancient pieces of paper.

Neither Remus, James, nor Sirius cared to look at the document. Unlike Harry, who stayed close to James's side, they practically had to physically drag Ron and Hermione from the bank because they insisted on saying goodbye to each and every goblin. Remus, James, and Sirius finished their shopping as quickly as possible. They snapped quite a bit harsher then they ever would normally have done should any of the children slow them down for any reason. They were in such a rush to get home, they almost left Hermione behind in the process. Sirius relayed the story about what happened at Gringotts to his adoptive father, while Accalia tried to comfort a distraught Hermione.

"I said I was sorry already. Please just shut up," snapped Remus, losing his patience with the girl's loud weeping.

He did this at about the same time Sirius finished telling Aidan everything about the episode at Gringotts. Hermione sobbed even harder. Ron shouted angrily at Remus, but it was nothing compared to what his mother had to say. In the end, she sent Hermione (tears still streaming down her face) and the boys to play upstairs and Aidan took the ancient papers from James and read aloud.

The first piece of paper was just one line: WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ IS A PROPHECY MADE BY ONE HELGA HUFFLEPUFF SHORTLY AFTER THE DEMISE OF SLYTHERIN.

The next page held what was apparently the prophecy.

"A thousand years from this day,

Three brothers united not by blood

Shall be born unto this world.

A connection tight, woven and intertwined,

Will be that which stands between

Evil and the eternus liberi.

One of them a child of one brothers' blood,

Another of the fiery line,

While the last descended from great Rowena's way.

The brothers shall protect these three

Of whom shall be

The guards against the two made of evil."

Aidan finished reading and looked up at his family. James stared into the fire feeling as though he was going to be sick. This was much, much, more than he bargained for.

That's it for this chapter. Please thank the lovely, talented, Taint of Taia for the time and effort she put in the making this chapter so wonderful. Also Thursday is my birthday and I would really appreciate it if you reviewed by the way from this point on Harry's speech will be normal. So please don't send me any flames I wrote it like this for a reason

Next chapter summer ends (don't worry for the characters not for you)