Chapter 17

Albus opened yet another letter. He had shown all the other letters he had already read to his father to read as well. Mainly because those letters talked a lot about his father's parents but also because he was trying to find clues of what had happened to Rose and where she could be now. So far he had had no luck though.

28th January 1980

Dear Albus,

I have good and bad news for you today. I'll start with the bad news and then cheer you up with the good ones, alright?

The bad news is yesterday, Lily's parents, Ivy and Richard Evans, died in a car crash. Lily is devastated. She loved her parents very much and was shocked by their sudden death as we all are.

Of course Lily always feared for their lives because they were muggles with a witch as daughter but their death was still unexpected and surprisingly had nothing to do with Voldemort - that monster is still running around killing everything in sight.

Now on to the good news! Lily just announced her pregnancy a few days ago. I can't wait to see a little baby Harry! Of course they haven't actually decided on a name yet. They don't even know the gender and Lily said she doesn't want to know so I am not allowed to tell her either. James and Lily are both over the moon because of the pregnancy – or at least they were before Lily's parents died in that car crash.

Their time is running out. They might not know it yet but I do and it gets harder every day to be around them and act as if nothing is wrong. Merlin, I wish so much I could warn them and prevent it all, but it would change too much. Sirius will hate me for not telling him! Actually, I hate myself, always sticking to the rules – stupid rules! But it's the right thing to do, isn't it?

I wish I could really talk to you.

Love

Rose

Albus sighed. It really wasn't an easy decision Rose had to make. On the one hand it would be great if she could save his grandparents but on the other hand he understood the risks. He would rather not have grandparents than live in a world ruled by Voldemort. Would he even have been born if Voldemort had not died when he did? Probably not. That was a scary thought and he discarded it quickly. No, Rose wouldn't risk all their existence to save her two friends. Or would she?

15th May 1980

Sirius was at the Order's Headquarters for an important meeting. Only a small part of the Order was assembled and Dumbledore stood in front of them with a serious expression on his face although his eyes still twinkled like they always did.

"What is this about, Albus? Do you have any new information?" Alastor Moody growled.

"Indeed I have. Sybille Trelawney, Hogwarts new Divination teacher, has made a true prophecy. A prophecy about a child that will be able to defeat Voldemort," Dumbledore told them with twinkling eyes though he looked troubled. How was a child supposed to defeat an evil Dark Lord?

"Do you know who the child is?"

"Does You-Know-Who know about the prophecy?"

"We need to protect the child!"

The Order members were all talking at the same time. Dumbledore called them to order and started answering their questions.

"I only know that the child will be born at the end of July. Voldemort probably knows about the prophecy but his spy only heard the first part so he does not know everything. Yes, we will need to protect the child as soon as we find out who the child is. Voldemort will probably go after it to eliminate the threat."

Sirius could see that James was worried. Their child was due at the end of July and therefore a possible candidate for being the prophecy child. Frank Longbottom looked similarly troubled. His wife was expecting their first child around the same time.

Their worst fears were confirmed when the two children were born on the 30th and 31st July. Lily had opted to have the child at Potter Manor with only her mother-in-law and Dora to help her. James, Sirius and Henry had to wait outside the bedroom. They could hear Lily cursing James through the door though and James winced at some particularly imaginative threats.

After hours of labour Lily finally gave birth to a little son. As soon as James heard his cry he stormed into the room, Sirius hot on his heels. The young father gazed lovingly at his wife and son before he slowly extended his hand to touch his son for the first time. His face showed wonderment as if he couldn't believe that the little baby in Lily's arms was real.

"Congratulations James, you have a healthy baby boy," his mother said with a watery smile.

"What's his name?" an excited Sirius interrupted the tender moment.

"His name will be Harry. Harry James Potter," Lily answered and smiled tenderly at her little son.

"You two will be his godparents, won't you?" James asked and looked expectantly at Sirius and Dora.

"Of course mate, we'll make a true marauder out of him," Sirius grinned excitedly and Lily and Dora groaned.

Only a few days after little Harry was born the Potters got a visit from Albus Dumbledore. He told them they needed to go into hiding in case Voldemort decided to go after them or Harry. He had told Frank and Alice Longbottom the same to protect little Neville. Dumbledore suggested the Fidelius Charm and offered to cast it for them and be their secret keeper. Lily and James accepted his offer to cast the charm for them but insisted on Sirius as their secret keeper.

They didn't want to cast the Fidelius Charm on Potter Manor though so they first needed to find a new house. Sirius and Dora offered their own house for two reasons. Firstly it was close to Potter Manor and secondly no one would suspect them to live there. Of course Lily and James insisted on giving them the money for the house, which they in turn used to renovate the decrepit house in France where they had hidden Regulus.

Since Sirius and Dora didn't have enough money to buy another house or even rent a flat they moved back into Potter Manor. Henry and Frances didn't mind at all, they were glad for some company. It could get pretty lonely in the manor with only two inhabitants and they were used to share their home with the rest of the family.

For a year everything went fine. Lily, Harry and James were safely hidden under the Fidelius Charm with Sirius as their secret keeper. Dora and Lily finished their healer training and became full healers. Sirius had finished his auror training as well and continued to work as an auror at the ministry.

Harry's first birthday was a happy affair. Sirius had given him a small, children's broom and Lily and James had a hard time getting little Harry off of his new toy. He zoomed around the room, sometimes knocking into things with a bright smile on his baby face.

But only a few weeks later everything started to go downhill. Potter Manor was attacked and completely destroyed. Henry and Frances had been completely surprised by the Death Eater's attack and died trying to defend their home. The only fortunate thing was that Sirius and Dora had not been there at the time of the attack. They had been visiting James and Lily and were devastated when they returned only to find Potter Manor destroyed and their surrogate parents murdered with the Dark Mark glowing ominously over the place.

Sirius was extremely shaken and blamed himself for what had happened to the older Potters. He was convinced that Voldemort had found out about his role as the younger Potters' secret keeper and was actually targeting him. Therefore he persuaded his friends to change their secret keeper so he wouldn't be able to betray them even under torture. He was willing to set himself up as the decoy to keep his best friend and his family safe.

Dora could only stand by helplessly and watch the tragedy unfold. They chose Peter as the new secret keeper and Pettigrew ran straight to his new master, betraying his only friends. On Halloween all their lives fell apart as Dora knew it would.

Sirius had noticed Dora's agitation over the last few days, which only increased his own bad feeling. He decided to go and check up on his friends and Dora insisted on accompanying him. When they arrived at the house it was already too late. The house was partly destroyed and inside the house laid the lifeless bodies of James and Lily. The only living thing in the house was their crying godson with a bleeding wound on his forehead.

Sirius picked him up and rocked him gently. "Hush, everything will be alright, Prongslet," he promised his godson with tears in his eyes. He hugged the little boy tightly to his chest, relieved that he had somehow survived.

Slowly Harry calmed down and stopped crying. He knew Paddy and felt safe in his arms.

Just as they stepped outside the house, Hagrid appeared.

"Hello Hagrid, what are you doing here?" Sirius asked the half giant.

"I'm 'ere on Dumbledore's order. 'E said the wards fell and t' brin' little 'Arry t' 'im," Hagrid explained, all the while sobbing.

Sirius was reluctant at first but then he thought of the rat that had so obviously betrayed them and his heart screamed for revenge. His godson would be safe with Dumbledore, or so he hoped. Carefully he handed Harry over to the still sobbing half giant.

"Take care of him Hagrid," he said.

"I will," Hagrid promised.

"Here, take my bike. I don't need it anymore," Sirius told him.

Hagrid thanked Sirius and then left quickly for wherever Dumbledore was.

All the while Dora had watched from the shadows in her animagus form without interfering to avoid changing the future. But oh how she wished she could. She knew Sirius would now storm off to confront Pettigrew which would result in his imprisonment in Askaban for the next twelve years.

She couldn't. Dora had lost so much in the last few weeks she just couldn't bear to lose her husband, too. She just couldn't. There had to be a way to save Sirius from this fate without altering the future too much. And she would find it.

When Sirius started to apparate Dora returned to her human form, rushed forward and grabbed his arm to hold him back.

"Please, Sirius, don't go. Don't go after Pettigrew," she begged him, tears streaming down her face.

"Why not? That rat betrayed us! He deserves to die!" Sirius raged and tried to break free from her grip.

"Please, he will escape anyway and you will end up in Askaban for something you didn't even do! Please listen to me! Don't go," Dora begged him desperately.

"I won't get him?" Sirius hesitated for a moment.

"No, he'll turn into the rat he is and escape. And you will be blamed for all the crimes he has committed," Dora repeated.

"So what do you suggest I do?" he asked his wife.

"Go into hiding. We could stay with Reg until it's time for us to return," Dora voiced her thoughts.

"Alright, we'll go there and see what happens. I thought you weren't allowed to change the future. That's the reason Lily and James are now dead, isn't it?" Sirius said bitterly. He loved Dora but at the moment he hated her for allowing their best friends to die.

"It was necessary. Their deaths were too important to change. Voldemort will be gone for the next thirteen years thanks to Lily's sacrifice and Harry will be able to defeat him once and for all because of what happened tonight. Your disappearance hopefully won't change much," Dora tried to explain although she felt incredibly guilty and unsure of herself.

Sirius sighed and nodded in defeat. Lily and James were irrevocably dead and he really didn't want to go to Askaban if he could avoid it. It seemed like he was a fugitive now, just like his brother. Great.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed!