A/N: I know I suck. I've been trying to update quicker, honest! But FF was being all weird and then my laptop broke and I had to start the whole thing again. Sorry guys! Anyway, thanks to SillyChicha14, MinutestoMidnight1997, eaglewings2peace, SkylerBlack, Cherry2, kellseyy, kitty-whiskers, ElEkTrA-fLuEr230 (God that was hard to type :P ), BeckyBoo12221 and PLKBerry for reviewing the last chapter :D I love you all!
4. The Keeper of the Keys
James grinned down at the title and gave a soft chuckle before beginning to read.
Chapter 4, he read, The Keeper of the Keys.
BOOM. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake.
"Go back to sleep," Sirius grumbled.
"Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.
Remus snorted.
There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle
"WHAT?" Lily cried, voice jumping up two octaves. "A gun? He brought a GUN?"
"Geez, Lily, cool it," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. "And what's a gun?"
Lily glared. "It's like the Muggle version of the killing curse," she said heatedly. There was a blink of silence, then –
"A GUN?" Sirius roared. Remus shook his head sadly.
In his hands – now they knew what had been in the long, thin package (Sirius snickered) he had brought with them.
"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you – I'm armed!"
There was a pause. Then –
SMASH!
Remus jumped and rubbed his ears. "Who was the genius who gave James the loud chapter?" he said, glaring at the other Marauder.
"Guilty," Teddy said, also grimacing.
Remus narrowed his eyes at him, and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "Go to your room." Teddy snorted.
The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash
Remus winced at the mere thought of such a noise. He immediately wished he hadn't when he saw the evil smirk on Sirius's face that said he was planning some elaborate, very noisy prank as they sat. Remus groaned.
Landed flat on the floor.
A giant of a man
"Whoo, Hagrid!" Sirius and James cheered, then laughed and high-fived. Peter laughed along with them.
Was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.
The Marauders and the future kids all smiled affectionately at the description. Sirius snorted. "He makes him sound so much scarier than he is," he grinned.
The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.
"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey ..."
Everyone, including the future kids who'd rest this already, snorted with laughter. James grinned and shook his head. "Only Hagrid," he chortled affectionately.
He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.
"Kick him!" Sirius pleaded.
"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.
"Couldn't have put it better myself," Rose grinned.
Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother,
"And how'd that work out for you?"
Who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.
"Ah."
"An' here's Harry!" said the giant.
"Harry, don't be rude," Lily scolded. "He's only half giant." James snickered.
Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.
"Of course, Hagrid's a real softie," James Jr grinned.
"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yet dad, but yeh've got yet mom's eyes."
Lily smiled softly to herself, and then saw that James was doing the same thing and promptly felt disgusted.
Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.
I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"
"Oh, shut up!"
"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune,"
Sirius grinned.
Said the giant; he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.
"Go Hagrid!" the Marauders all cheered.
Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.
Lily snorted.
"Anyway – Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here - I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."
"Uh oh," said Sirius and James in unison, and for the millionth time Lily found herself wondering how it was possible that they weren't brothers when they were so ridiculously similar.
"He's given him food." said James.
"Don't eat it, Harry!" said Sirius.
From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.
The two Lilys' and Rose cooed. "That's so sweet," Lily Sr smiled.
Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you."
"Mind your manners," Lily frowned. James chuckled but quickly turned it to a cough when Lily shot him a death glare. Man, she was good at those!
The giant chuckled.
"True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.
"Yes, he tends to do that," said Rose dryly.
"What about that tea then, eh." he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."
"Hagrid!" Lily said warningly, narrowing her eyes at the book. "You will not drink in front of my son." She said the words in that "and that's final" tone, and the other occupants of the room determinately avoided each other's eyes.
Finally, Remus (Who figured he was the least likely to be hexed for pointing it out) said, "Um, Lily? You do realise you're talking to a book right?"
Lily blinked. "Of course," she said, but she blushed pink and began to brush at an imaginary speck on her robes. "Of course I know that."
Sirius sniggered. "Sure," he said under is breath.
"What was that Sirius?"
"Nothing, nothing …"
His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shrivelled crisp packets in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.
The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight,
James chuckled affectionately. "Ah, Hagrid." He said.
And began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea.
"That's … normal," said Sirius, but he was grinning widely. He gave James a funny look which Remus and Peter had no trouble translating at all: Merlin, James, I just had a totally awesome idea for a prank!
Remus groaned. Peter kept watching their silent conversation: Seriously? Me too! Marauder meeting after this!
Sirius grinned: Sure thing!
Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage.
Sirius began salivating.
Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt
Sirius pouted. "Aww, they were sounding so good up till then!" his stomach rumbled. "How long till breakfast?"
Remus rolled his eyes, "We'll go right after this chapter Sirius," he said, and Sirius threw himself at him.
"Oh, Moony!" he said, fake-sobbing and clinging onto him as if his life depended on it. "What would I do without you?"
Remus cringed away from him looking horrified, and tried in earnest to throw him off. "Get off of me you stinking dog!" he cried.
The two James' snickered.
Sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."
James snorted. "Like you're fat little lump of a son needs any more feeding up, Dursley." Lily privately agreed.
The giant chuckled darkly.
"Yet great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."
James blinked, then – "Alright!" he said, giving Sirius a happy high five. "I have the same thoughts as Hagrid!" he seemed positively delighted.
He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful,
"So hungry," Sirius moaned.
But he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."
The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts – yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course.
"Ooh, this should be good," Sirius grinned, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
"Er – no," said Harry.
Hagrid looked shocked.
"Sorry," Harry said quickly.
James looked nonplussed. "What's he apologising for?"
The younger Potters shook their heads. "Beats me," said Lily. "Dad has a habit of putting all the blame from anything on himself."
Sirius snorted. "Wonder where he gets that from, eh Prongs?" James blushed. He didn't so it that much! Honest!
"Sorry?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry!
James nodded emphatically.
I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yet parents learned it all."
"All what?" asked Harry.
Sirius looked delighted.
"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!"
He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.
"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy – this boy! - knows nothin' abou' – about ANYTHING?"
"Ouch!" laughed Sirius, grinning broadly.
"Way to go, Hagrid," James sighed, shaking his head. "Seriously, you should know he's not going to take that well."
Sirius gave him a weird look. "Um, James? He's Hagrid. I'm Sirius." The Marauders groaned.
"Not that god-awful pun again!"
Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad.
James Jr sniggered.
"I know some things," he said. "I can, you know, do maths and stuff."
The future Potters were full out laughing now, and Teddy was chuckling affectionately and shaking his head.
But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents' world."
"What world." Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.
"DURSLEY!" he boomed.
James and Sirius looked gleeful.
Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble."
Lily Jr snorted. "Yup, that sound like great Uncle Vernon – a coward through and through,"
James Jr gave an exaggerated sniff and faked wiping a tear from his cheek. "So wise," he said and began to heave with false (but still very noisy) sobs.
Lily Jr shot him am exasperated look.
Hagrid stared wildly at Harry.
"But yeh must know about yer mum and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."
"What. My – my mum and dad weren't famous, were they?"
Albus snorted and shook his head reminiscently. "So clueless," he said, shaking his head.
"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.
"Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally.
"Yes, Harry, how could you possibly not know who you are?" Sirius exclaimed in a very overdramatic voice. "You must find out Harry! You must find out who you are!" Remus sighed and face-palmed.
Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.
"Of course he did," James grumbled.
"Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sit! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!" A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.
"You never told him. Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years."
"Kept what from me." said Harry eagerly.
"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.
"Oh, shut up!"
Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.
"Drama queen," James and Lily Jr muttered, then blinked and grinned widely at each other.
"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid.
"You tell 'em Hagrid!" Sirius cheered.
"Harry – yer a wizard."
Everyone stared.
"Well," said James at last, "That was … abrupt."
Suddenly Sirius was rolling on the floor laughing. "Only … Hagrid!" he got out between howls of laughter. Lily forcefully pursed her lips and tried not to laugh. It was Black and Potter after all.
There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.
"I'm a what?" gasped Harry.
Sirius chuckled affectionately. His godson was great.
"A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours,
James smiled happily, and Lily was disturbed to notice that, for once, there was no arrogance in his expression. She frowned and put the matter from her mind as she listened to him read.
What else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."
Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. He pulled out the letter and read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
"Doesn't change much, does it?" asked Sirius, pouting. "It's so boring!"
Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"
"That was his first question?" Remus snorted, grinning broadly. It was just such a James-like thing to do.
The children from the future grinned. "Typical Harry," Teddy said warmly, shaking his head a little. Lily Jr giggled.
"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse,
Sirius looked momentarily interested. "You reckon Hagrid's ever thought about sumo wrestling?" he asked, looking fascinated. "He could make himself a fortune." James scooted away from Sirius on the couch – the mental image of Hagrid in a pair of wrestlers' nappies a lot more than he wanted to see … ever.
And from yetanother pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl – a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl – a long quill, and a roll of parchment.
With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down:
Dear Professor Dumbledore,
Given Harry his letter.
Taking him to buy his things tomorrow.
Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.
Hagrid
Sirius sniffed. "It's just …" he said, making a show of wiping his eyes. "It's just such a … such a … lovely … letter!" and with that, he fell to the floor, where he shook with fake sobs, till James took matters into his hands and gave him a hearty kick.
"Traitor!" Sirius glared as he got up off the floor and sat back of the sofa, rubbing his bruised arm.
James looked smug.
Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.
"What's a telephone?"
Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.
James Jr snickered. "And he always told us it was rude to stare," he said to his brother and sister, grinning broadly. Lily Jr hit him.
"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.
"Oh, go away!" Lily and Sirius snarled, then turned to stare at each other, both looking horrified. Teddy smirked.
"He's not going," he said.
"Shut up, walrus," James snapped. He was shooting Lily and Sirius suspicious and slightly weirded-out looks. Sirius rolled his eyes at him and shook his head emphatically. James gave him a reluctant smile.
Hagrid grunted.
"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.
"A what?" said Harry, interested.
"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call non-magic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."
"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him!
The room went deathly quiet.
"Stamp it out?" James said in a deadly voice. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
No one answered him.
Wizard indeed!"
"You knew?" said Harry. "You knew I'm a – a wizard?"
Lily snorted. "Knew?" she said derisively. "Of course she knew! How could she not, her 'dratted sister' being what she was?"
James shot her a concerned look (which she ignored) before turning back to the book. He almost choked on thin air at what he saw. He shot Lily a strange look before reading.
"Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "Knew! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was?
Lily blinked, astounded, and stared at the book. This book was making her sound more and more like her beloved sister, and that could only be a bad thing. She swore to herself then and there to be better from now on. She'd have to apologise to Potter after this chapter. She groaned at the very thought.
Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that – that school – and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats.
"I think she's jealous," said Sirius, for once uncharacteristically quiet. It was easy helping others out with their sibling issues. It was a lot harder when your brother was a Voldemort supporter and set on the path to become a Death Eater. He felt a violent shudder pass through him and tried hard to ignore James's questioning look probing into his side. Sometimes, it sucked to be him.
I was the only one who saw her for what she was – a freak!
Lily winced.
But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"
"Yup, definitely jealous," said James, still shooting Sirius concerned looks.
She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.
"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as – as – abnormal –
Lily hissed.
And then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"
James cringed. No one deserved to find out how their parents died this way. He wished Lily would stop hating him soon so he could give her a hug. He'd deny it later of course but right now he could do with the support.
Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"
"CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter?
Lily winced. So maybe she'd decided to try to give James a chance – didn't mean she had to like how their names were coupled together whenever they cropped up. It made her skin crawl. Although … Lily Potter … it had a nice ring to it.
It's an outrage! A scandal!
James nodded forcefully.
Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!"
"But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.
The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.
"I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh – but someone's gotta – yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."
"That would be priceless," James Jr snorted, a look of pure mirth on his face. "Can you imagine what would have happened?" he said to his brothers and sisters. "Dad would've been so freaked out." Albus snickered.
He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.
James and Sirius followed his example.
"Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh - mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it ..."
He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with – with a person called – but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows –"
"Who?"
"Not going to work, Harry," said Sirius solemnly. "I've tried a million times to get Hagrid to say his name, but he wont budge. He's so stubborn!" he pouted. The future kids exchanged smirks.
"Well – I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."
"See?"
"Why not?"
"Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went ... bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was ..." Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.
"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.
"Nah – can't spell it. All right – Voldemort."
Sirius suddenly looked murderous. "WHAT?" he screamed, glaring from the book to the future children furiously, as if trying to decide who to be mad at. "Five hours! I spent five hours down at that hut trying to get him to say that god forsaken name and this kid comes along and it takes him two minutes?" He glowered at the other Potters. "Well? Answer me!"
"Um," said James Jr, looking honestly alarmed. His dad hadn't mentioned that Sirius was completely loony whenever he spoke about him. He searched for the right thing to say. "We're … sorry?" he tried.
Sirius huffed. "Bloody well should be," he said moodily, then went off into a strop, throwing himself onto the sofa cushions with unnecessary force. The strength of the move made James jump and fall over. He glared at Sirius through only half-irritated hazel eyes as he righted himself. He honestly looked quite amused.
Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again.
"Humph!" said Sirius.
Anyway, this – this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too – some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches ... terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him – an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.
"Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew.
Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day!
"WHAT?" this time it wasn't Sirius but James who spoke, mouth gaping open and looking honestly horrified. "Head boy?" he yelped. He looked like he wanted to puke. "No way!"
Sirius was staring at James as if he'd never seen him before. "Mate!" he exclaimed, thunder-struck. "We had a pact!"
Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before ... probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.
James nodded proudly, chin up and defiance shining in his eyes, although he was still a little pale after the head boy announcement. Lily privately thought the proud look rather suited him, but she wasn't going to let him know that, so she just rolled her eyes.
"Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em... maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old.
By now, everyone was looking thoroughly depressed. A hushed, unnatural silence was throbbing in the room.
He came ter yer house an' – an' –"
Sirius swallowed loudly.
Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.
"Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad – knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find – anyway –
Lily looked a little thoughtful at that. Generally she thought Hagrid was a pretty good judge of character. And Hagrid liked Potter. That had to mean something right?
"You-Know-Who killed 'em.
Sirius whimpered. James shot him a pitying glance and pulled him into a brotherly (and, of course, manly) hug. Sirius smiled weakly at him while Remus mimed retching into a bucket much to Peter's amusement. Once again, Al was baffled by the display of brotherly affection. How could Wormtail, who seemed as if nothing made him happier than being with his friends at the moment, be the cause of their deaths? It made no rational sense.
An' then – an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing – he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it.
Once again, all the present people looked baffled at how that was physically possible. Sirius thought hard, but stopped because it hurt his head.
Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh – took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even – but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age –
Everyone tensed, wondering how many of their closest friends had died at the hands of this evil maniac.
The McKinnons,
Lily gasped. "Marlene!" she choked out, then began to cry in earnest, a hand over her mouth and tears blurring her vision. Someone put their arm around her and she leaned into the touch, burring her face in the person's neck as she sobbed.
The Bones,
Lily began keening loudly.
The Prewetts –
"No!" groaned the Marauders, and James and Sirius felt themselves go deathly pale. They, in particular, were extremely close to the Prewett twins – or, as they called them, he pranksters of another era. Lily gave another sob. Not Molly, too! She thought, distraught.
An' you was only a baby, an' you lived."
Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before – and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life – a high, cold, cruel laugh.
Lily gasped. "He remembers that?" she asked. She was still crying, but her tears were beginning to clear a little. She pulled out of the person's embrace and looked up to smile gratefully at them. She froze. It was Potter. She blushed furiously and turned away, face burning and eyes still stinging with tears. She focused again on the reading.
Hagrid was watching him sadly.
"Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot ..."
Lily sniffed, partly disapprovingly, and partly because there were still tears leaking down her face.
"Load of old tosh,"
"Your face," Sirius grumbled, not in a particularly good mood after hearing about the death of the best friend he'd ever had.
Said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped, he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.
"Leave Hagrid alone!" James snarled.
"Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured – and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdos,
"Shut it, Dursley!" Sirius snarled, cold fury dancing in his grey eyes.
No denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion –
Sirius quite looked like he wanted to punch something.
Asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types – just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end – "
At this, Sirius leapt to his feet, and he wasn't alone. Remus and Peter were also standing, glowering at the book in such a way that James was afraid it would catch fire and burn his beautiful hands. Sirius stalked over to the punch bag in the corner and gave it a brutal swing that nearly knocked it off the wall. "Take. That. You. Little. Piece. Of. Sh-"
"Sirius!" Lily scolded, looking frankly alarmed. She felt a little awed. It was clear Potter's friends thought very highly of him, although she wasn't at all sure why. Maybe there was some hidden aspect of his personality that he was concealing from her …
But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley – I'm warning you – one more word ... "
"You tell him, Hagrid," Sirius growled. He'd got his fill of beating the punch bag to a pulp and had slouched back over to the sofa, where he slumped into his seat looking supremely mad.
In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.
James chuckled softly in an attempt to lighten the mood. It didn't work.
"That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor. Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.
"But what happened to Vol –, sorry – I mean, You-Know-Who?"
"No, Harry!" said Sirius urgently, "Don't let him stop you saying his name! Fear of the name increases fear of the thing itself!"
Lily stared at him, taken aback by this sudden display of wisdom.
"Dumbledore told him," James said, leaning over to whisper in her ear. Lily could smell his cologne in her nose. She didn't know what it was, but it smelt good. She stifled a giggle behind her hand and James raised an astonished eyebrow. That was new.
"Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see ... he was gettin' more an' more powerful – why'd he go?
"Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.
Remus nodded thoughtfully, trying to work it out. He sighed in frustration when no answer popped to mind.
"Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry.
There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on – I dunno what it was, no one does – but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."
Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake.
Remus chuckled. "I guess he's more like Lily than James then," he grinned.
"Ye – Hey!" James cut off mid-nod and pouted, glaring at his so called 'friend'. "Moony!"
Lily smirked and was alarmed when she realised that it lacked its usual bite. What was happening to her?
A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard?
Lily didn't know whether to glare at the first bit or giggle at the last and ended up looking quite constipated. But very beautifully so, James thought with a snicker.
If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football?
James and Sirius growled.
"Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."
To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.
"Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?"
"No, never!" Sirius exclaimed, mock-shocked. "That boa-constrictor? That wasn't me – that was my identical twin Bernie! You've got the wrong person!"
James gave him a strange look. "What?" said Sirius defensively. "It's not my fault I'm touched in the head!"
James grinned. "I know, but … Bernie?" he screwed up his face in distaste. "I would never name Harry's twin that."
Sirius chuckled.
Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it ... every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry ... chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach ...
"Which was seriously awesome by the way," said Sirius, a strange light in his eyes that Remus recognised all too well.
"Oh no," he groaned in mock horror, then fell to his knees. "Not the pun! Oh please, not the pun!"
Peter grinned broadly and helped himself to some more cheese, nibbling on it like popcorn.
Dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back...
"Potter hair," said James smugly. "It's a bloody nuisance but it does have its uses." Sirius snorted.
And the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him?
"I still say that was brilliant," Sirius grinned.
Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him.
"See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard – you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."
But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.
James mumbled something that Sirius couldn't hear. Moony however, with his werewolf hearing, was rolling around on the floor laughing. James just kept muttering. Sirius was fairly sure he heard the word "buffalo" but didn't know where that came into anything.
"Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish – spell books and wands and –"
"If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter' s son goin' ter Hogwarts!
There it was again! Lily sighed. 'Lily and James' Was it possible for anyone to talk about one of them without talking about the other anymore?
Yer mad. His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled –"
"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL To TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.
"Ooh!" Sirius said gleefully, rubbing his hands together. "He's for it now!"
But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER –" he thundered, " – INSULT – ALBUS – DUMBLEDORE – IN – FRONT – OF – ME!" He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley – there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain.
Sirius sat further forwards on the couch eagerly, grinning from ear to ear.
When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.
"HA!" a roar passed through the room. James had fallen off the sofa and was now rolling around on the floor shaking with laughter. Remus and Peter were holding onto each other for support as they howled, and Sirius was clutching at his sides in obvious pain as he laughed himself into stitches. But it was Lily whose reaction surprised them the most. She was rolling around on the floor, laughing hysterically like some kind of hyped up hyena. The future kids just bawled, laughter shaking through them, tears of mirth streaking down their cheeks.
Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.
Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.
Sirius grinned and shook his head. "Wonder if Hagrid's ever considered a career in pranking," he said, still chortling. "He's wasted as a gamekeeper."
"Shouldn'ta lost me temper,"
"Yes," grinned Sirius, "you really should."
he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."
James chortled appreciatively.
He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows.
"Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm – er – not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff – one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job –"
"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.
"He's not going to tell you," Sirius sang.
Remus smirked. "That's what you said about him saying Voldemort's name, too. Maybe you were wrong twice."
Sirius glared.
"Oh, well – I was at Hogwarts meself but I – er – got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore."
"Why were you expelled?"
"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."
"Ha! See?" Sirius grinned smugly. "He's not any better at this sort of thing than me!"
James Jr gave a small cough. "Um, actually, he does find out why Hagrid was expelled," he corrected. "Just not this year."
"WHAT?"
James Jr snickered.
He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.
"You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets."
"Breakfast!" Peter said eagerly, and Sirius, who was still fuming about the whole Hagrid-liking-miniProngs-more-than-him thing, perked up immediately.
"Food! Yum!" he said, and jumped to his feet and tore from the room.
Rolling his eyes, James stood up and made to go after him, but was stopped by a timid hand on his arm and a voice in his ear.
"Um, James?" he froze. "Can we talk?"
URGH! Sorry that took so long, but my laptop broke down and we had to pay some guy a LOT of money to transfer the files onto my computer. I hope you liked it. Review!