I forget all about the storm outside
Dark clouds roll their way over town
Heartache and pain came pouring down like
Chaos in the rain
Crossfire by Brandon Flowers
"James!"
Sirius Black checked his appearance in the hall mirror as he always did before walking through the cottage.
"Prongs! Lils!"
"What do you need, Paddy?"
James Potter appeared in the hall, newspaper now hanging at his side.
"You old dog!"
Sirius enveloped his surprised friend in a hug.
"What's this about?"
Sirius pulled away and dug through his coat pocket. "Alice told me you two were trying so I got something."
"Merlin, Sirius, I didn't want to tell people."
"Tell your wife that before she gossips with her birds. Ah, here it is!"
He held up a white onesie that had the plain black outline of a stag with Prongs Jr. written inside it.
James groaned and took the tiny clothing from his friend. "Mate, we just decided we wanted kids, not that we were having one right now."
"Still in times of crisis, we must look to good things such as this."
"Don't mention the crisis would you, yeah?"
James turned and walked back into the den, his friend following.
"Sorry, James, but it's as bad as ever and you know it." Sirius fell into his usual armchair and sighed. "You two will make it to the meeting tonight?"
"Of course." James responded absentmindedly as he flipped through the paper.
"Stop looking at it, there's no good news."
"I know, it's just habit, you know that."
"A habit you must break. Especially if we're going to start calling you Dad."
"Which won't be until times are a little brighter. A child is the last thing we need right now."
"I disagree. We know I'm never having kids, so I need godchildren to spoil and corrupt."
"Lily will be pleased to know you're on board then."
"I was talking to Moony earlier."
James looked up with a grimace. "He still think we're suspicious of him?"
"Yes, though he won't admit it. I trust Remus with my life, as do you, but when he acts like this..."
"It makes you think he's given up on the world and no longer gives a damn."
"Yeah." Sirius sighed. "So, think you'll name the kid Sirius?"
"Never."
"Shame, it would truly help with his upbringing. He could be Sirius Junior."
"I thought he was Prongs Junior?"
Sirius was about to respond when golden light filled the room in a great flash...
"Are you sure you have enough in there?" Ginny followed her sons out the door to the backyard.
"Mum, this is camping, we're roughing it." James pointed out.
Lily appeared at her mother's side. "Yeah Mum, he only packed six pairs of Jean Pierre designer jeans."
Jamie gave his sister a playful smack on the arm; Ginny stepped between them before a real fight broke out.
"Where's your father?"
"Who knows..." Albus stated plainly. "Teddy's late too. Shocker."
"I am not late."
They turned to see the wizard coming around the side of the house, his hair a deep purple. "I couldn't find my boots." He lifted one foot to show the black dragon hide before closing the distance between them.
"Where's Harry?"
"Good question." Ginny sighed, looking back at the house. "This is his trip, right?"
"Yeah, I don't see why we have to go." Al complained. "None of us like camping."
"Yes, well, don't tell your father that. Give him a weekend to pretend everything's normal."
Teddy groaned. "Why do we have to keep that up? We should be looking for treatment options, not mucking around the woods."
"I completely agree, which is just what Aunt Hermione and I will be doing while you're gone. Just try to have fun and don't let Harry try to wrestle a bear or something. I don't trust his judgement at the moment." She said the last part to Teddy who nodded.
"Auror instinct would kick in, Gin, he'll be fine." Ted gave his surrogate mother a peck on the cheek which she smiled at appreciatively.
"Hello?" A voice sounded from inside.
Ginny grinned. "Out here, love!"
Harry emerged from the house with his battered rucksack swung over his shoulder. He was still wearing the slacks and button-up he typically wore to the office and he had pulled a knit hat down to his eyes, his identity covered up rather well.
"Do you have my coat, Ginny?"
His wife held up the brown coat and he gratefully pulled it on. "Right, you lot ready?"
"Of course." Al nodded.
"Be careful, I love you." Ginny called after kissing her husband.
She watched them disappear with their individual cracks, Al going with Teddy. Ginny wrapped an arm around her daughter. "They better be careful."
Teddy found himself face to face with his godfather when he apparated to the campsite. Jamie and Al immediately threw their bags to the ground, looking expectantly at their father.
"The tent." Harry scoffed. "All you want is the comforts of home."
"Well duh." James said.
Ted let go of Albus and moved forward to help his godfather. The tent only took a few waves of their wands and soon they were claiming their bunks while Harry assessed the structure.
"Looks good." He nodded. "We can set up the chairs and get a fire going. I brought marshmallows!"
Once he left the tent Jamie shook his head. "This will be a long weekend."
Ted sighed, motioning to his brothers. "C'mon, maybe we can go for a hike and fight a mountain lion or something."
He watched his two brothers gather stray sticks and logs for the fire before looking at his godfather, worry coming over him.
Harry seemed fine, he did. But Ted knew better. He did research of his own on the cancer. It was more than a brain tumor. He knew that with a curse like this, the cancer would spread through his body. Soon he would suffer from more than just brain symptoms. He would become paralyzed possibly. He would grow weak and feeble, something Harry Potter had never been in all of Ted's life.
Al and Jamie had a fire going already as Teddy sat down, sighing. He thought about Vic, wondering what she was doing.
"Hey, Ted, what are you thinking about?"
He looked at Albus. "Life. A word of advice. Never grow up."
"A little late for that, don't you think?" His green eyes went to his father for a moment.
"Maybe not."
James sat across the fire, casually pulling out an old, wood pipe and stuffing a wad of tobacco into it.
Teddy laughed. "You think he will let you? Besides, if I remember correctly, you cough like crazy every time you try."
James glared as he lit the pipe with his wand and took a deep breath. Albus nudged Ted, laughing at Jamie's face as he attempted to hold his breath and hide the fit of coughing that was boiling up.
"Really James? You're my son. I couldn't even be around it until I was twenty-five."
Harry rolled his eyes, taking the pipe as James dissolved into coughs. Teddy and Albus howled with laughter as Harry tucked the pipe between his lips, smoking effortlessly.
"Your Grandad Arthur gave me my first pipe. The night this one was born." He gestured to James who was conjuring water for himself. "Said that one day I would come home from a stressful day of work to find the house in ruins, the baby crying and Ginny on the verge of threatening me with divorce. He told me to kiss my wife, get the baby to go to sleep and then sit down and let a good smoke calm me down."
He released a cloud of smoke and grinned. "Boy, was he right."
"Probably shouldn't smoke. You know..." Ted told him softly.
Harry nodded, dumping the contents of the pipe. He looked at the three boys he had raised so carefully and lovingly.
"I know you all are scared. I am too."
"Dad, you don't have to try and make us feel better." Al said softly.
"Yes, I do. I'm still you're father, aren't I?"
"You always will be."
Harry smiled at his youngest son before looking at Teddy. "You concern me the most."
"Why me? I'm the oldest!"
Teddy felt his anger rising up at his godfather's accusation.
"Because, you are my first. I was seventeen years old when I was told I had to help raise a small baby. I may have wanted to, but that didn't make it any less scary. Boy, your grandmother taught me a lot."
Ted smiled, thinking of his Gran, the tough old witch. "You've always been great, Harry."
"Yes, but because you are my first, it's like everything effects you first. You are the oldest, the responsibility will fall mostly on you when I'm gone. That's why I'm trying so hard to make sure everything is taken care of for you all."
"Do we have to discuss this?" James murmured bitterly.
"Yes, we do. You are my boys. You will have your uncles and your mother will always be there-"
"No she won't." Albus spoke gently. "Dad, Mum will fall apart. Everyone knows it but you. Sure she'll take care of us, probably smother us more, but we're growing up. She'll cope with your death while we're at home because she has to. But once Lily graduates and leaves, Mum will have nothing."
"That's not true."
"Yes, you and I know that. Mum probably knows that too. But that doesn't mean she'll be able to truly believe it."
Harry looked up, not wanting to see his wife's features that shine through their sons. The mere thought of Ginny not being with him made his breath stop. But to know the pain she would feel, the loneliness...it was so much worse.
"Dad, we will be okay. You know that, right?"
He looked to his son's eyes; the reflection of his own and his mother's. "Yeah, bud, I know that."
It was completely dark and the four men sat with their eyes on the fire, their thoughts overwhelming them. Harry felt so much pain and worry for all his children. The lost look in his sons' eyes took him back to his teenage years, filled with angst and confusion.
"This reminds of one time when I was sitting with Sirius and Remus." He glanced at Ted fo a second to see him smile at the mention of his father.
"It was the only Christmas I got to spend with them and we stayed up late one night by the fire, talking. They decided I needed to a man to man talk. Particularly about girls." Harry chuckled. "Now, Remus wanted to use the time to explain how complex relationships were and that I needed to be careful. This was when your mum was threatening to murder him if he didn't commit and accept the fact that he was stuck with her." Teddy laughed.
"Sirius thought he should carefully go over all of his Hogwarts conquests, and might I say there was a lot."
Jamie sniggered. "Were there a lot in Harry Potter's romancing days?"
Al kicked his brother with a smirk, their silent brother communication.
"Well, I took a girl to the Yule Ball my fourth year, barely paid her any attention. I had this huge crush on Cho Chang."
"Seriously, her name was Cho?" Al snickered.
Harry ignored him. "We kissed once my fifth year, but it wasn't that great because she was crying."
"You were that bad of a kisser?" Ted was obviously biting the inside of his cheek.
"No!" Harry started defensively. "She was talking to me about her old boyfriend who had died."
"How romantic."
"Anyways, that was it. The next year I realized I liked your mum and painfully watched her snog her boyfriend all over the castle."
Al furrowed his brow. "I thought she liked you first."
"When we were younger, yeah, but then she moved on and dated a few blokes. Then I opened my eyes and kissed the daylights out of her." Harry smirked at his sons. "Next thing I know I'm chasing three small kids around."
"So, you and Mum started dating when you were sixteen?" Albus was awfully quiet.
Teddy answered for his godfather. "That's how it worked back then. You typically met your soul mate by third year."
"Not really. Bill was nearly thirty when he and Fleur got married. Teddy's parents were older. It just depends. I got lucky."
Harry paused, watching his younger son fidget. "This about that girl you were asking me about earlier?"
"So he finally 'fessed up about Lauren Green?" Jamie ducked as his brother threw him a light punch.
Teddy howled with laughter. "Lauren Green, eh? What's she look like?"
Al blushed a deep crimson and mumbled his responses. "Blue eyes and really pretty brown hair."
"No red hair? Huh." Harry pondered.
"What's with the red hair thing?"
Harry looked at Jamie. "Potters just go for red heads. I did some research on it. My mum had red hair, my grandmother had red hair. My dad's grandfather was one of three boys and while his wife was a blonde, his other two brothers married red heads. It's a fact. One of you boys will marry a girl with red hair."
"She'd just remind me of mum." Jamie grimaced.
"Al, don't sweat this girl." Ted ignored the red hair topic, looking at his brother. "It's time you got a girl anyways. Now this Lauren, do you have fun with her?"
"Loads."
"She's smart and pretty?"
"Definitely."
"Get along with your friends and vice versa?"
"Pretty well, yeah."
"Why aren't you dating her?"
"It's complicated." He mumbled, looking away.
Harry pulled out the sandwiches Ginny had packed them and passed them around. "Well, like I said before Albus, you never know unless you try."
Albus looked up at his father and nodded.
"Now, we all know James can't keep his hands to himself, so we're skipping him."
"Just because I have no problems getting laid..."
Harry tried to pretend he never heard those words from his wildest son. "Teddy, planning on dating anyone?"
His godson shot him a dark look. "Seriously? Must we talk about this?"
Albus chuckled. "Yes, we really must."
"Teds, you broke up with Vic. That shows that you want to see other people."
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't."
Harry couldn't help but notice James had become very interested in the ground suddenly.
"You, what do you know?"
His head shot up, glancing from his father to Teddy who was watching him curiously now too. "Nothing."
Ted barked. "As if! What do you know, and why do I have a feeling it's something about Vic that I don't want to know?"
James sighed. "I may or may not have heard Dom saying Vic was dating some guy in the office."
Ted ground his teeth together. "Daniel Benson."
Harry blinked. "So you know him?"
"Been after Victoire forever."
Al whistled low. "Sorry, Teds."
"No. It's fine, really. We broke up months ago, it's time she saw other people."
"Which brings me back to what I said before. Are you going to start dating anyone?"
James cut across his father. "Or at least getting some action?"
Harry glared down at his son. "How did I raise a womanizer?"
"Not a womanizer, Dad. They all want a piece of this good stuff and I am a perfect gentlemen all the way through."
Albus nodded. "I don't know whether to be disgusted or happy but he's right, girls think he's a dream with the best manners."
Harry rolled his eyes, focusing back on Ted. "One day, Teddy, I'm telling you..."
A scuffle in the trees caught everyone's attention.
Harry pulled out his wand and turned around. "Who's there?"
No one saw it coming as light engulfed them.
A/N: Shorter than I would have liked, but that's how it ended up. I apologize the updates are so much slower on this story, but I write multiple stories at once (otherwise I'd be bored to death and you'd be reading nonstop cliches)
Anyways, please please please review and give some input! If you're sitting there going, "Wow, if (blank) happened, that'd be amazing!" please TELL ME!
Much love as always (:
6-26-11 EDITED