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Chapter 2:
The Potters and the Longbottoms relayed the prophecy to Sirius Black; James Potter's best friend and brother in all but blood and Remus Lupin, werewolf and close friend to James and Sirius, as well as Lily and the Longbottoms. They neglected to tell their other friend Peter Pettigrew since he was a very weak minded individual and they feared he would not be able to withhold torture for information.
James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew are known as the Marauders with a penchant for pranking and breaking the rules, and have been roommates and the best of friends ever since their first year at Hogwarts; since their first night when they were all sorted as Gryffindors.
After a year of noticing that Remus would be missing one night every month, coming up with the most ridiculous excuses, they found out about his lycanthropy and did the opposite of what Remus Lupin expected them to react. James, Sirius and Peter never stopped being his best friend, taking a step further in accomplishing becoming animagus by their fifth year in order to keep him company during the full moon, as werewolves do not harm animals and are immune to their bites.
James Potter was a stag and his marauder name was Prongs, Sirius Black was a black grim and his marauder name was Padfoot and Peter Pettigrew was a rat with the marauder name, Wormtail. Even though Remus Lupin could not become an animagus due to his lycanthropy, they dubbed him the marauder name, Moony.
On July 30th, Alice Longbottom and Lily Potter went into labor and were sent to St. Mungo's by their frantic husbands.
At 8 p.m., Neville Francis Longbottom was born.
Frank carried his newborn son to his friends James, Sirius and Remus and they admired the chubby little boy with tufts of blonde hair and soft brown eyes that he inherited from Alice. They named James Potter as godfather and Lily Potter as godmother, which reduced the hormonal and still heavily pregnant Lily to tears of joy.
The Potters were not as lucky and Lily's contractions were as slow as ever.
Lily Potter spent the night suffering from heavy contractions and the whole next day until July 31st at 11:55 p.m., Charlus James Potter was born followed by Odette Arielle Potter at 11:59 p.m., to everyone's greatest shock.
Odette was the first girl ever to be born into the Potter line, and a baffled James held his little daughter in his arms, completely mesmerized by her beauty.
James already knew that Odette Arielle Potter would be a heartbreaker; they christened her with the name Odette for two reasons: it has the meaning of fortunate heroine in Germany as well as the French baby name for Wealthy and seeing as she was the first girl Potter they deemed it appropriate.
The Longbottoms, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin crowded around Lily, who sat in her hospital bed holding baby Charlus in her arms and James, who sat by her side and was gently rocking baby Odette.
Charlus had jet black hair like his father and milky blue eyes that they instantly knew would become hazel in a few days – all in all, Charlus James Potter would be the spitting image of his father.
Frank, Alice, Sirius and Remus went to look at the baby in James' arms, expecting an identical boy to Charlus, but gasped when they saw it was in fact a little girl with ruby red hair – a mixture of Lily's auburn hair and James' jet black hair. Odette sensing all the attention was on her slowly opened her big, doe-like eyes and blinked repeatedly. All the occupants in the room gasped and cooed admiringly; it seemed that she had inherited her mother's gorgeous eye – for big, bright emerald green eyes was staring back at them.
"Prongs, this little girl is going to be a heartbreaker, I can tell you that, I don't envy you trying to get the males away from her," Sirius laughed as he punched James in the arm playfully.
"Well it seems that you are going to suffer with me in wrestling away all the boys from her, seeing as you're Odette's godfather, Padfoot" James smirked.
But instead of Sirius being disappointed, his smile grew wider and he beamed at his best friend and brother in all but blood as he grabbed Odette from her father and cooed at her, "She's a real beauty James and Lily, and I would be honored."
"Her name is Odette Arielle Potter and we would like Alice to be her godmother as well," Lily smiled brightly at Alice, who smiled back and fondly cooed at Odette from behind Sirius' back.
"Such a beautiful name for a beautiful girl," Alice cooed before looking at Frank and saying, "Next time, we're trying for a girl." Frank nodded immediately as he said, "Yes, Ally."
"As for this one here," Lily said as she pointed at Charlus, "WE would like Remus to be his godfather and Ally we would like you to be his godmother as well." Remus and Alice smiled and said that they would be honored to.
The next day, after Lily was released from St. Mungo's; there was a party held at Potter Manor for Neville, Charlus and Odette. The Tonks, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, the Weasleys and the Prewetts were all invited as well as Headmaster Dumbledore and Professors Minerva McGonagall and Filius Flitwick. Peter Pettigrew couldn't make it as his mother was sick again and he was tending to her needs.
Everyone cooed over the three newborns, especially over Odette since she was the first girl born into the Potter family.
"You are so lucky you have one of each gender Lily," Molly smiled warmly as she rocked Odette in her arms, "I do hope for a girl."
Lily smiled back affectionately as she said, "You never know Molly, maybe seven is the charm."
Suddenly, the fireplace flared green and Albus Dumbledore stepped out, beaming at the Potters and the Longbottoms. "Let me have a look at them my dears, see how strong their magic is."
Frank, Alice, James and Lily crowded around Dumbledore as he examined Neville first. He probed him lightly with Legilimency and then smiled at the Longbottoms before saying, "I see he has great magical power, he will grow up to be at the same level as you Frank, perhaps a tad bit stronger." Frank and Alice beamed before taking Neville from Albus, heading back to the party.
Lily handed Charlus to Albus; Albus probed him again with the same power as he did for Neville, not wanting to ruin the baby's fragile mind. Albus saw a silver light with a few white tendrils floating around. Albus beamed as he looked at James and Lily and said, "Charlus has great power but he is still young. He will grow to be a very powerful wizard, possibly mage level – I think that there is great possibility that he is the child of the prophecy, but let me see his twin and not get too hasty."
Lily hugged Charlus tightly to herself as she and James shared proud looks. James held his daughter out proudly to Dumbledore and tried with all his might not to laugh at the shocked look on the old man's face.
"It's a girl!" gasped Dumbledore.
"Yes it is. The first girl born into the Potter line," James beamed proudly after he had managed to stifle his laughter, "Our pride and joy."
Albus smiled fondly, he always had a weakness for little girls and he hoped beyond hope that she was not the prophecy child, seeing as he did not want to have to kill her.
For the third time, Albus Dumbledore probed Odette gently, but he saw nothing but black dust – he was met with a hollow emptiness and was baffled by the turn of events. Meanwhile, Odette was gurgling and wiggling frantically in his arms, a sure sign that she was about to cry – she did not like this old man; he gave her a bad vibe. But either Dumbledore did not notice, or he simply didn't care – he started to probe harder and was satisfied with victory when he saw a few tiny pink and yellow dots, before frowning at her low magical level.
James and Lily noticed the lines on Dumbledore's face and at that exact moment, Odette began wailing loudly at the top of her lungs, shocking James and Lily to the core – ever since she was born, she hadn't cried once and unlike her brother Charlus, she was a very quiet baby.
"What's wrong Albus?" James demanded as he took Odette back into her arms, holding her protectively in his arms.
To Albus, James and Lily's amazement, Odette abruptly stopped crying and started giggling as she poked her father's chin and tried to reach out for his glasses with her tiny, pudgy hands. Albus waved it off as her being a daddy's girl; after all, all babies loved him.
"I barely detected any magic in her, unfortunately. From what I have seen, Odette has a low magical core. Alas she could be a late bloomer, or there is a possibility that she gave most of her magic to her brother from inside the womb and would only gain a tiny smidge of magic over the years. Only time would tell, I'll have to keep examining her," said Albus somberly.
James and Lily were shocked and a tiny bit disappointed. Potters were a very powerful line and had produced many mages and sorcerers. But they held hope that she, unlike her brother would develop her magic as she grows. They thanked Albus and went back to the party, continuing the celebration for the three little babies.
After the party had ended and everyone went back to their respective homes, only Sirius and Remus stayed back in Potter Manor to discuss James and Lily's meeting with Albus. They informed their two best friends of what Albus said and although they were proud of Charlus' magic and aura, they were shocked at the news about Odette.
"It is a possibility that Odette transferred most of her magic to Charlus in your womb, Lily and that it would take time for her to gain her magic back," said Sirius as he stroked his thin mustache.
"Maybe this is magic's way of gifting Charlus as the prophecy child – he has his own plus his sister's magic," said James thoughtfully.
"That is a possibility, right now all we are doing is guesswork," Remus pointed out.
"Look whatever! No matter what, Odette is our baby as well as Charlus as we will love them equally," Lily said vehemently as she placed Odette in the crib besides Charlus.
"Hey don't look at me like that, I'm her godfather and I'm going to spoil her rotten no matter what," said Sirius as he put his hands up defensively. Remus nodded frantically in agreement in his place beside Sirius.
James smiled lovingly at his wife and then stood in front of the two cribs. He caressed Charlus' hair and then moved on to Odette. Her tiny plump lips were sticking out and her little tufts of ruby hair were shining in great contrast against her pale and soft skin. James stroked Odette's cheek lovingly and gently with his index finger; she was his little princess and he would be damned if he or anyone would treat his daughter differently, no matter what the outcome was.
It was unfortunate that all the occupants in the room's mind could be swayed so easily.
Two years from now, the four of them would definitely be eating their words.
Tides can change continuously like the sea after all, and magic, the spirits, death, the deities, the All and the powers-that-be were all frowning from their different positions in the heavens, underworld, planets, the void and many other places as they took a glimpse into the future.
A/N: What do you all think? I know it doesn't seem like much yet, but I'm just warming up for when the real action begins.