Thank you all so much for all the positive feedback! I never imagined such a good response. You guys rock my world. THANKS!
The next morning Vernon woke to the smell of coffee and bacon pouring up from downstairs. He sleepily stood and, after pulling on his robe and slippers, he padded down the stairs into the kitchen.
When he entered the room and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Once he could see again, he found a man standing where his wife usually made breakfast. James hair was standing up in odd directions, even more so than usual. He wore an old green robe of Mr. Dursley's which was so big it hung down to the floor and the sleeves hung vicariously over the pan of bacon. Matching green slippers peeked out through the opening in the front of the robe.
He looked up at Vernon and nodded a greeting. "Morning," he said.
"You're making breakfast?" Vernon exclaimed, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes?" James said, voicing it as a question.
Vernon's mouth dropped surprised and annoyance. Why would a respectable man be doing this? This was women's work. It took him a second to remember that this was not a respectable man. Smiling at his thought, he shook his head. "I guess for your type this is quite normal, right?"
"My type?" James asked, turning from the sizzling bacon. At that moment Lily ran into the room, Harry in her arms.
"James, dear," she cried, running over to him. "It's okay. They don't understand." She whispered so only he could hear. He let go of his grip on the edge of the counter and nodded, his irritation evaporating. Petunia joined the trio in the kitchen, a robe covering her bony body. She immediately saw the atmosphere in the kitchen was undesirable but couldn't back out now that she was seen.
"Good morning," she said, looking around at the adults. They nodded but Vernon didn't take his eyes off James.
After a second of silence, James took the bacon from the frying pan. "I made breakfast!" He sang sliding the strips onto the plate waiting on the table. Lily sat at the table and placed Harry into a chair beside him. James and the Dursley's joined her at the table but not before running upstairs to grab screaming Dudley from his crib.
Once they were all seated and eating the meal and drinking the coffee James had made for them, they heard a banging from the front door. Dudley began crying even harder and James stood to stare at the entrance hall. Suddenly, as Mr. Dursley rolled his eyes and stood, muttering about how they'd never heard of someone knocking on the door, a large ball of talons and feathers flew through the kitchen window. Glass shattered and fell to the ground. The Dursley's screamed and covered their faces. Lily stared at the owl now sitting, shaking her small head from the sudden impact with the glass. "Jean!" She cried once realizing who the owl was. Two letters were attached to her left leg.
Lily took the letters in her precise fingers while James fingered the feathers on the small bird. "She's injured!" He cried. Lily gasped and looked at the scars her husband was fingering.
"How?" She inquired.
"I'm not sure. Claw marks, they look like, but have been healed by someone. Dumbledore probably." James exclaimed, stroking the beak of the owl. After Lily had looked at the owl herself, James asked, "What did the letters say? And who was the second one from?"
"Padfoot. Dumbledore must have contacted him." It was then when they seemed to remember they were in the presence of two muggles.
"What the hell are you two blithering on about? And where did that bloody bird come from?" Mr. Dursley's exclaimed immensely irritated.
"Oh, you wouldn't understand," James drawled.
"James!" Lily scolded.
"Well, they wouldn't," he said defensively.
"Tuney," Lily said soothingly, "I'm sorry but it is rather complicated." Petunia was still staring at them but didn't say anything.
"What do the letters say?" James asked, getting annoyed once again.
His wife unrolled the scrolls. "It's in code." She pulled out her slender wand and muttered out the decoding spell the Order had made. Petunia gasped as she did and covered her mouth. However, Lily began to read. "Dear James and Lily, I'm glad you are both safe. However, take caution. When your owl arrived in my company there was no letter on her leg. I suspect she was attacked by one of Voldemort's birds. I have no doubt you wrote your first letter in code but from the Order members he's taken he's most likely tortured the code out of them. If Voldemort finds you could be lead him right to the Dursley's. Your presence in the muggle world could bring unspeakable acts on the people there. I haven't much time so I will leave you with this. Take care of yourselves and little Harry. Don't let Voldemort hurt Lily's sister and family; we can't let anymore causalities in this war. Including Jean, I healed her as best I could so she should have no permanent damage. I will try to keep in touch. Sincerely yours, Albus." Once she'd finished reading Lily looked at James, her eyes wide.
"They found our letter. They know where we are!" She gasped. He took her in his arms.
"It's alright! Albus has the order looking out for us, remember?"
"Those who will listen." The voice came from over in the living room. Petunia screamed and nearly fainted. Vernon stared at it, his face growing red, to green to gray within seconds. There, sitting in the fireplace, was a man's face. It was Sirius Black's face.
"Padfoot!" James cried, dashing across the room to sit by his friend. Lily sat beside him.
"Hey, Prongs. It's good to see you again. Hello Lily," he said, beaming at her. She smiled and waved slightly.
"Oh, what have you been up to, you dog faced, rascal?" James smiled, laughing.
"It's been tough since you two, or should I say three counting little Harry, have left."
"I bet," James joked. "We were the star members."
"Oh there would be a few lot who'd disagree with you. A lot of the Order is getting stressed. They don't like how we're risking our lives for you. Mind you, most of them don't know about the prophecy. They don't know how important you are."
"Oh you flatter me sir," James said in an artificial high voice.
"James, this is serious!" Lily admonished, pushing him slightly.
"I know, I know. Who's saying this?" He said, his face still wearing a cracked smile.
"I can't say here. They're monitoring the fireplaces. And, before you ask, I can't apparate. Dumbledore doesn't want us drawing to much attention to the area you're in."
"Dumbledore's smart," James agreed. "So they're these buggers rumoring about us and you can't do anything about it?"
"Afraid not, mate," Sirius said. "Now, enough about that. I better get back to work." James nodded and smiled. "I guess I'll see you once this all clears up."
"So, I'll see you by the end of next week?" James asked and the two laughed together.
"Tell Harry I send my love. Bye Lily," he called and then disappeared from the flames.
Once he was gone, Lily looked through the letter. "Well, this is useless now. He just told us everything." James nodded and looked over at the Dursley's. They both stood in the kitchen, shock and fear on their faces.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" Vernon screamed, pounding his fists on the table.
"My friend. Harry's Godfather. Sirius Black," James exclaimed. When they didn't say anything he shrugged. "I told you that you wouldn't understand."
"Oh I knew you Potters were bad news from the moment Petunia told me about you lot. You're all bad eggs. Bad eggs that'll end up killing us all!"
"You think I suggested coming here? You think I want to be here? I'd rather be back where I live, back where there aren't people like you who call people whatever you like just from the first two seconds you're around them." James yelled back.
The two were inches from each other's faces when Lily pushed them apart. "Jamie, please. Calm down." James slowed his breathing and finally sat at the table to pick at the now cold bacon. "Now, why don't we all calm down and James, let's go upstairs and write Moony as well."
They all let out a smooth breath of air and, once James and Lily retreated upstairs, the atmosphere in the kitchen dissolved immensely. "Well," Lily said, pushing the door behind her, "Not bad for nine in the morning."