On the Flipside
A/N Sorry about the shortness of this chapter, I couldn't figure out where to go from here, on top of real life closing in, which coincidentally is why it took so long. This will not be the norm for further chapters, they will be longer, but I couldn't find the time to make this particular chapter go any further, and for that I apologize. Hope you enjoy it!
Ch:2 - Midsummer Nights Dream
As the Longbottom's Floo lit up, Alice was shocked as first Lily, holding Harry, came rushing out; followed by a tangle of limbs that Alice could only assume were Sirius, Remus and James. "Frank! Get in here now!" she screamed, trying to help Lily out of the way of the ball of limbs that was her extended family.
"Alice, what's wrong?" Frank said as he walked in holding a bundle of cloth. "Crap, I didn't realize you had Neville" She said softly, managing to get Lily out of harms way as the other three tried to untangle themselves.
"Frankie!" came a voice from the middle of the pile of limbs. "Get off mate, you're crushing my leg!" said the same voice. "What the-" was all that was heard as a massive stag pushed the other two aside, successfully disentangling the pile that was sitting in front of the fireplace.
"Jesus Prongs, you could have killed us!" Sirius practically yelled, only to wince at the scathing glares coming from Alice and Lily. "Sorry Lils, Alice, I'll be quiet now." Sirius walked away pouting while grabbing the suitcases that had come through the fireplace with them. James followed him putting his arm around his best mate and whispering something into his ear that had Sirius grinning like a loon by the time they walked back downstairs.
"Lily, I wish we had known you were coming tonight, we would have rooms set up", Alice said with a bit of a frown as she looked to Frank expectantly. "Tipsy!" Frank called out. A hyped-up house elf appeared with a silent pop, "Master bes needing somefin?" Frank nodded, "Please make 3 rooms in the west wing available for use, one outfitted for a child the same age as Neville." With much ear flopping the house elf popped away just as quickly as she showed up.
"I don't think I will ever get used to that", Lily stated quietly staring at the spot that Tipsy had just disappeared from. A soft whimper came from the bundle that Lily was holding and she started whispering softly "shhh, Mommy's here Harry, Mommy's got you".
Tipsy reappeared, "The rooms is ready Master." Frank motioned to his wife and Lily "Come on, lets get these tikes to bed." As Frank Alice and Lily made their way up the stairs, Remus turned to Sirius and James, "Do I even want to know what you said to him?" Remus deadpanned.
"Nothing like that mate," James chuckled, "Just telling Sirius here that he should put that big mouth to good use." At this James winked at Sirius and Padfoot suddenly found a spot on the ceiling just as interesting as the one he did in Godric's Hollow.
Just then, the Floo flared to life and Tom Riddle found three wands pointed at his throat. "Why was the Whomping Willow transplanted onto the Hogwarts Grounds" James asked with a hard glint in his eye. Professor Riddle chuckled and calmly stated, "We moved it there to help Mr. Lupin here with his, ah, 'Furry Little Problem', and after the two of you", he indicated to Sirius and James, "Discovered this, you became animagi; Mr. Black becoming a large black dog and Mr. Potter becoming a Stag. Does that prove I am who I appear to be?" They lowered their wands and breathed a collective sigh of relief "Sorry sir," Sirius leaned against the fireplace, "With everything going on, we can't be too lax in our judgment."
Riddle chuckled softly "Quite right, now I am the Secret-Keeper for the Longbottom family so we will be safe here for now, but I would advise that you all leave as soon as possible, because we cannot be to careful. The charm is not infallible and there are a few others who know of this location."
"But sir," James began, "If others know where we are, why did we come here instead of going somewhere else immediately?" Sirius and Remus nodded their agreement but before any other complaints could be voiced a cat patronus came bounding through the open window and landed in front of Riddle. "Headmaster, you are needed at the school; the Minister of Magic is waiting for you." Once the message was said, the cat vanished into a wisp of smoke. "Well gentlemen, it appears as though I am needed elsewhere, Sirius I would not recommend returning to work; I will inform Head Auror Moody that you will be taking an indefinite leave of absence. James, the same goes for you. Remus I know you are between jobs at the moment, so this should not be too difficult for you, no offense intended my boy." Remus nodded his acknowledgement and with that Riddle strode out of the parlor and beyond the ward line, disappearing with a loud crack.
James sighed, "Well it looks like we're gonna be stuck together for awhile boys." He put his arms around Remus and Sirius' shoulders and the three of them walked up the stairs, not knowing what was in store for them, but all three had a gut feeling that it wasn't going to end well.