Summary: Two and a half years ago, James Potter's life ended when his wife was captured and declared dead. After intense mourning, his friends forced him to move past it, and resumed living without Lily. But an anonymous tip that brings Lily home sends his life into a tailspin once again.
Disclaimer: I own Penelope and St. Hubert's but that's pretty much it. I'll let you know on the rest. So, until further notice, JK Rowling owns pretty much everything in this fanfic except the plot, which isn't entirely mine either(see dedication).
Dedication: The idea for this fanfic is from the case of Lt. Commander Michael Scott Speicher, a United States naval pilot, who has been missing since January 16, 1991. His status has been changed from Killed in Action to Missing in Action. This by no means is a representation of his life, only of a presumed dead soldier. This is for all the soldiers who haven't made it home yet.
Author's Note: Revised 5 May 5, 2003
The Haphazard Ruse
By the time the sun peaked in the sky that day, the hospital was a swarm of reporters for various magical newspapers, hoping from comments from doctors, Aurors, Lily's former colleagues, or even Lily herself. James was consistently pestered for comments, as was Penelope. Penelope wisely declined a comment, as she would be made to be the villain, and James merely said that he 'was very glad that Lily was home again.' The doctors reported her physical condition was 'stable, but her emotional condition was 'as good as could be expected'.
The most they got out of Lily herself was some rather interesting photographs, and that was entirely by chance.
In the early afternoon, the milling crowd in the waiting room was interrupted by a small child darting in and out between adult legs, giggling madly. Soon after her, came an adult in pursuit, talking loudly but still sounding calm. "Celestina Marlene! This is not an appropriate place to be playing!"
"But Mummy, we are loose!"
"Our freedom will do you very little good if you are squashed."
James, seeing no help for it, nabbed the little girl as she ran past him. Celeste giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Mummy, he won't squash me. Will you?"
"No I don't suppose I will." James was very aware of the silence screaming in the room, and the eyes of everyone on him and Celeste, and Lily battling her way through the heavy crowd. She drew up in front of the two and promptly reclaimed the girl. James looked at her, and for the first time, got a really good look at the woman who had returned. He had wondered before what Lily would have looked like if she wasn't always smiling, and now he knew.
"What have I told you about strangers?" Lily had never even glanced at James, and now she had turned away from him and started walking away from the crowd just as the hospital attendants finally got up.
"Never, ever, go to strangers. Because….they can hurt us. And I should 'specially never go to man strangers, they are very, very bad.
"Then why did you do it, Celeste?"
"Because he looked like a nice man. Remember that one nice man who brought us-?"
"Yes, I remember, Celeste." Lily glared royally at a large orderly who was trying to lead her back to her room.
Celeste, seeing the glare said, "Leave my mummy alone! She'll put things in your food to make you sick."
Lily smiled, and the entire room murmured. "You shouldn't tell my secrets. That was a secret."
"I'm sorry, Mummy. I've been a bad girl today."
"No, you're just excited. I'm excited too."
"But you aren't being a bad girl."
"I'm just slightly better at containing my excitement."
"Mummy? When can I get a kitten?"
Lily faltered at the abrupt change in subject. "I suppose when we have someplace to live. You'll have to be thinking about what sort of kitten you want."
"But, I-I-I don't know what kittens look like."
There was a gasp from the crowd, and reporters immediately snapped to life, as if they had been awakened from a dormant state. "Mrs. Potter! Where were you held captive?" "Mrs. Potter, who was there with you and the child?" "Mrs. Potter, were you harmed in any way?" "Mrs. Potter! Whose child is that?"
"Please, no questions!" The same bulky orderly yelled, guarding the two from view. "She is not ready for questioning." After Lily and Celeste were ushered out of sight, the crowd turned on James, who was standing there with a haunted look in his eyes.
"Mr. Potter! Is that your daughter? What are your intentions for Lily?"
James, having dealt with press, either sneaky or open, all his life, knew the appropriate comment. "I don't have a public comment at this time." He speedily exited the room, and located Penelope at the doctor's lounge area, where he easily made himself at home.
"Press?"
"Millions of them. I don't suppose you would like to go out there with me next time?"
"Hell no."
James inwardly winced. "So, do you have any inside information?"
"Here." Penelope dumped a thick folder in his lap. "As legal next of kin, you're allowed to see it. Besides that, you're still the person who's signed on her forms as allowed to make medical decisions."
"Hmmm." James opened the heavy stack of papers, and started glancing through…no open wounds….few scars…only three signs of physical abuse…apparent miscarriage…high levels of vitamins found, except vitamin D…allowed relative freedom within confinements…severe emotional abuse indicated. He closed the folders, deciding he would be better off not knowing the gory details of his wife's captivity. "Penelope?"
"What, James?"
"She was pregnant when she was taken. Do you know what happened to the baby?"
"No, we don't know. She's had a miscarriage at some time, but it's inconclusive as to the time period. We don't know Celeste's exact age either. She looks somewhere between two and three, but as you know, that leaves much room for fathers. Lily's the only person who could tell us, and as you know she's not talking. I've heard that You-Know-Who has black hair like you do, so that doesn't tell us much. The child is very smart."
"I've noticed. She seems to love Lily very much."
"I'm sure any child would love the only adult that wouldn't beat the living hell out of them. Anyway, she shows advanced thought processes. It appears our Celestina Marlene is mildly precocious."
"What's her medical status?"
"She's in better shape than Lily is, apparently."
"That's to be expected. Do you honestly believe Lily would let anybody hurt a child while she was still comprehensive?"
"I don't know, you'll have to tell me." Penelope replied evenly.
James rolled his eyes, trying to avoid the melancholy he could feel coming back. It was like a dog that didn't know how to let go, and he had to constantly sprint to fend it off. . Action was necessary. "I'm going to go visit Sirius. I need to talk to him."
"He's probably sleeping."
"Then I'll have to wake him up. He's done it to me on more than one occasion." James returned promptly, and got out of the hospital as soon as possible. He went to Sirius Black's small house, and was surprised to find his friend awake. "You're awake?"
"I knew it would only be a matter of time until you came. Come in and have some coffee. Scratch that, I think you need something a little stronger. Ogden's?"
"Put a little in my coffee."
"Yech. No wonder you're so twisted." Sirius smiled and let James in, both of them looking disreputable. James and Sirius both had messy dark hair, James's due to genetics, Sirius's to the lack of a comb that day. "So where do you want to start, good buddy?"
"Can we skip right to the part where you tell me what to do?"
"Not on this one. I'm very sorry that I pushed you to forget her."
"That makes two of us." James took a drink of the coffee/whiskey and put his forehead on the table. "I'm so lost. I don't know what to do. Either way, I'll feel like an intolerable arse."
"Just do what feels right for you."
"If you can't give me some good advice, I'd prefer you keep your mouth shut."
"Relax."
"How can I relax? Lily isn't dead! Granted, I don't want her to be dead, but I sure do wish you people could have found her two years ago! For the love of God, Sirius! I got married again! What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do?"
"Remus and Peter are better at making these sort of decisions than I am."
"But I like you more than I like them."
"Maybe you could make a list of pros and cons of Lily and Penelope and use that."
"I'm not buying a dog."
James and Sirius bickered back and forth for the rest of the afternoon, James not coming to a decision even though Sirius did.
James wasn't the only Marauder with a soft spot for Lily.
Since he didn't come up with an answer he liked, James talked Sirius into one of the more irresponsible things they could have done: take a trip down to The Leaky Cauldron for some not-so-light drinking.
*~*~*
Author's Note. Next chapter will have James and Sirius at the bar, and you'll find out more about James, since we don't know a whole lot about any of them yet. That will be remedied as this goes along, and be mostly in what you gather from their actions and words. I realize the chapters are short, but I'd rather write short chapters frequently than long ones every once in awhile. Thanks for all the reviews, I loved reading them, and some were very helpful, I hope I'll be addressing your concerns ASAP: Strawberry Gashes, Christa, The Elfin Child, Erriy, ljpottafreak, Strawberry Gashes(again), KeeperOfTheMoon, princesslucy91, Nicole Christine Potter, pumpkinpiebaby, Julie, Muah-Baby-Muah, LaughOutLoud, Eleanor, NattyNatterz, unicornjewel, mooncancer, Kellie, Nicole, cpssoccergurl, Kait, dolphingurl, DownwiththeDursleys, selloutsociety, torifire126, everblue3, JazzyNStu, RBFfreak, Julie Anna, One Bright Star, Bobby Jo, Rainfire.