Spy in the Ointment Keeperoliver Chapter 7
When Sirius, Remus and Peter returned, the reception was well received. Not only did they have the means to destroy the Horcruxes, they finally had all of the evil objects. Lily had contacted Minerva, and had joined Lily, in expectation of the returnees. It was decided that each one bar Peter would destroy a Horcrux. They did not want Peter involved, in case of a spell that would implicate him. Sirius was first, and picked up the Locket. He was about to bring the Battle Axe down on it when a vision of Marlene was show, saying that she knew he didn't really love her, as if he destroyed the locket, he was destroying their relationship. Sirius fought the feelings off, and brought the Axe down on the locket, creating a large flash, and a black spectre rising out of the Locket, and dissipating into the air. Sirius was sweating, when he passed the axe onto Minerva.
Minerva took the Diadem from the collection, and brought the Axe up to bring it down on the Crown, but saw an image of Rowena rise up and say, "You would destroy a symbol of one of the houses of Hogwarts? A symbol that has been lost these thousands of years. You a Professor of Hogwarts, would destroy the last link to one of it's founders? Surely you are not that cruel as to do away with something that could give it's wearer brilliance beyond comparison. Think of the knowledge that could be gathered if you were to put it on." Minerva was about to put down the Axe, when she had a surge of courage, and slammed the Axe down on the Diadem, releasing the Flash, and the dark image of the soul. Minerva cried for what she had done, but knew that if someone had put the Diadem on, he or she would have been controlled by Voldemort. She passed the Axe on to James.
James took the weapon, and picked up the cup of Helga Hufflepuff. He looked at it for a minute, then turned as if he were leaving. He then spun around, bringing the Axe down on the cup, destroying the cup and releasing the blinding light and the dark shadow from it's home. He did not want to give a chance for the Horcrux to change his mind. He then passed the Axe to Lily, and she took the Diary from the two remaining Horcruxes.
She looked down on the Diary, wondering what to expect when she tried to destroy it. As she lifted the Axe to get into position, an image of a 16 year old Tom Riddle rose out from the book, and asked, "What are you doing, lovely lady? Why are you trying to hurt me. I have done nothing to you? All this is, is a memoir of my time in Hogwarts. It means nothing to anyone but me. All I am is an orphan, that did not know I was a wizard, until my eleventh birthday. I am nothing to you, yet you wish to destroy it, thus me also? Surely a woman as beautiful as you can see fit to let this pass without destroying mere notes, written in a journal, by a muggle born wizard. Can I not influence you to put down your weapon and reconsider your plan?" Lily brought down the Axe, before he could go on, and the image exploded into an array of colors, and A black shape rose from the book, and was absorbed into the air. Letting out a breath, she passed the Axe onto Remus, and he took the ring, and lifted the Axe.
The image coming out of the ring, was an image of a werewolf , Fenrir Grayback to be specific. It snarled at Remus and said, "Coward, can't you face me like a man. You have to hide behind these other cowards, for protection. You are a discredit to both races. You are not a Werewolf, you are a Hyena. You don't have the backbone to face me head to head, without your cronies to help you. Is that a streak of yellow running down your back? It must be, because you there is no courage running through your body, only fear. Did you soil yourself, you wretch? The smell of fear is rolling of you like fog through a valley." Remus had had enough. He brought the Axe down on the Ring. The flash this time was far brighter that the other four, and the darkness that rose from it smaller, almost like a baby, which soon passed from existence. Remus placed the business end of the Axe on the floor, leaned on the handle for support.
The seven people in the room looked at each other, with somber looks on their faces, and then they all broke out with grins. They had done it. As they were about to gather for a hug, Lily stopped and looked down at the ring, and saw that it had cracked open, and a stone fell out. A green stone, that was transparent. She picked it, and looked at it up close. She turned it in her hands to look at it on all sides, trying to figure out what it was. After the third turn, there was another blinding flash. Six wands were drawn pointed at the light. Standing there after the light dimmed, were Lily's mom and dad. Lily couldn't believe her eyes. She ran over to hug them, and realized they were astral images. She stood back, crying, wiping her eyes, she talked to them for a minute telling them how much she missed them. They told her how they missed her. She went to wipe her eyes again, but scratched herself with the stone, so she dropped it, and the images were gone. Lily was at her nerves ends. Where had they gone. " Mom, Dad, come back please, I didn't get to say good-bye.
Please come back, I love you both so much." Lily went to James, and cried into his chest, while he held her.
James looked to Minerva and asked, "What was that, where did they come from?"
"I have no idea James, they just appeared out of no where. I doubt if even Albus could tell you what happened. I will ask him about it, though."
While they were talking, Lily picked the stone up, and slipped it in her pocket. She would see if she could get it to do it again later.
Griphook stopped Lily before she left the room, and told her, "Miss Evans, it is not good to dwell on the dead. They are at peace, and to disturb them from that would make them very sad. The Resurrection Stone is not evil, but it is not a good thing either. After all, look what it did to it's previous owner?"
"What is it Mr. Griphook. I seem to remember the the Resurrection Stone from somewhere?"
"It is something I would rather not talk about, Miss Evans. If you can not remember it, it is best to stay that way. Perhaps in the future, you will come across it's meaning, but I must ask, that you do not attempt to use it again. Your parents will not be happy."
"Thank you Griphook. I will try to remember your words. I will get your weapon for you so that you may take it back." and Lily went to Remus, and took the weapon from him and brought it back.
Griphook said his goodbyes, and departed, thinking that was the easiest 300 Galleons he ever made. Plus he witnessed the return of the Resurrection Stone, one of the three Deathly Hallows. Merlin help us, if Voldemort ever finds them. To become the Master of Death would be the end of the wizarding world.
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Three months later, The Marauders were asked to join the Order of the Phoenix, by Albus. Attacks by The Dark Lord were stepped up, and the toll on the Order was terrible. Just recently, they had lost The McKinnons and Fabian and Gideon Prewitt. The loss of Marlene was devastating to Sirius, as he really was falling for her. Samantha Abercrombie was also killed during a visit to Diagon Alley, when the Death Eaters attacked. This was a blow to Remus, as she was one of the few that saw him as friend rather than as a Werewolf.
James and Lily decided to get married in the Fall of 1979, and got pregnant in December of the same year. The Marauders were over the hill happy for the couple. However the feeling was short lived, as they began seeing less and less of each other. It seemed someone was always on assignment for the Order, except for Lily. Albus thought it was a good idea for her and James to move to less populated muggle area of England. James remembered a cottage that was left to him in Godric's Hollow, that was owned by the Peverills, relatives of the Potters. James being that last living relative of either family, became the new owner. After they had moved in, James received a floo call from Albus, asking if he could enter their house. Albus was concerned for the safety of Lily, and asked James to not volunteer for any more missions. It seems that the Order was getting new members in, and James was not needed to do these missions anymore. He was to become a Reserve member of the Phoenix.
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On July 31st, 1980, Harry James Potter was born at 11:59 PM. He was 20 inches long, weighed 7lbs 3ozs, hard black hair. He was the spitting image of James except for his emerald green eyes, which took after Lily. James and Lily had made Sirius the God-father and Alice Longbottom his God-Mother. Remus and Peter could not make it for the birth. Remus was trying to persuade the Werewolves to join the light side. Peter was doing things both for Dumbledore, and Voldemort. Voldemort has still not asked him to kill, but he has been used to torture people, and he disliked that to no end. He would often go home and get drunk when he had to do these acts of regret. What Peter could not understand, was the way that Severus Snape was acting. He would show up for the DE meetings, and stay in the background. He was never asked to do anything, and never volunteered to do anything. He was never asked to stay behind, and never approached by the Dark Lord. However this night, Severus asked to speak to the dark Lord when the Meeting came to end. Peter left, and was going to find a place to change, but was diverted by Lucius, who wished to see him for a second. It was a trivial matter that was a waste of time, and cost Peter a chance to find out what Severus wanted to tell Voldemort.
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Albus had just interviewed Sybil Trelawney for the post of Divination Professor, when she made the prophecy. She had stated the first two lines, when he heard a ruckus outside the door. He didn't quite catch all of the Prophecy, when she stropped, and asked the Professor, if she got the job. To protect her, Albus gave her the job. He knew for the most part she was at the most, a terrible seer, but if what he heard was true, she needed the protection of Hogwarts.
As he left, he stopped and asked his brother, Aberforth, what the commotion was all about, and he said, "Sorry Albus, but I caught Mr. Snape outside your door, listening in on your conversation. I grabbed him and threw him out. I hope that was alright?"
"That was fine Aberforth. He was to be interviewed for the Potions Professor position, But I will talk to him later. You didn't hear what was being said in the room did you?"
"Na, to busy hauling the young guy off, and there was too much noise coming from the bar area."
"Oh well, thank you Abe, for your help. I will talk with you later, maybe I'll come around for a couple rounds Tuesday. With school getting ready to start up, I won't have much time to chit chat. Talk to you later Abe." and he left, to go back to Hogwarts, and retrieve the memory, and record and store it for prosperity.
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Christmas time had arrived, and the Potters were able to have all the Marauders there for Christmas dinner and the opening of presents. Harry enjoyed the time that the Marauders were there, their attention was always on Harry, and he loved all of their Animagus forms, but especially Wormtail. as he could pick him up and cuddle with him. Peter also loved the feeling of love that Harry transmitted through hugs. Not that harry didn't like Padfoot or Prongs, because they always gave him rides. It was just that he couldn't pick them up and hold them. And he never saw Moony in his animal form, or mommy. He still loved them though, they just weren't as fun to play with.
Wormy would crawl up on Harry's shoulder and go to sleep, tickling Harry's ear with his whiskers, as he breathed. This was a favorite moment for Harry. Most of the time, Peter wasn't sleeping, he just did it knowing Harry loved it, and to tell the truth, Peter enjoy the closeness that he and Harry showed. Wormy would sneak into the kitchen, and take two cookies, and bring them back to Harry, and they would eat their cookie, with Wormy sitting on Harry's lap.
For some reason, lately, Albus has not been using the Marauders for any of his missions, and it was kind of boring for them. They have been spending a lot of time together. They would go out for walks to the park, out for ice cream or dinner. This went on for six months, when Albus sent them a message via Fawkes. {Do not leave your house for any reason. Danger is a foot. I will tell you what is going on, but it may not be for a couple of days. Keep all of your friends close.}
They all did not like the sound of this.