The Potters and the Choices Made

Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. I'm making no money out of this.

That night ended up being extremely painful to all of them. Even though they took quite a few potions to cure them from the exposure to bubotuber pus, the boils refused to diminish, as well as hurt every time they got near near anything, including their beds.

Remus had decided to spend the night at Potter Manor, since he knew it was too late for him to go back to his bosses' house as Dan, his student, was probably already sleeping by then. He tried to sleep, but it was an unfruitful battle: he couldn't stay long on his bed, and the short moments he did stay, the boils hurt too much for him to doze off for more than a couple of minutes.

It was still dark when he finally decided he wouldn't get any sleep that night. He took a shower carefully, so as not to touch the hurtful boils, changed into the loosest robes he could find and went downstairs. When he entered the bright kitchen, he found James, Sirius and Lily sat around the table, each of them holding a mug with coffee and looking terribly exhausted. He couldn't hold his humorless chuckle, which made his three friends turn to look at him as he entered.

"I would like to know what's so bloody funny, Lupin." James said, trying to sound harsh. He had a small smirk on his lips, though.

"James, language." Lily whispered tiredly. The redhead was balancing her head on her fist, while she had her elbow on the table. She seemed so worn out she didn't even have the energy to tell him off properly.

"Yeah, just fuck the fuck off, Moony." Sirius playfully retorted.

"And you!" Lily tried to glare at Sirius, but with her eyelids closing every second, she failed miserably, which made the three men and even herself laugh a little.

"Not much sleep tonight, uh?" Remus said as he filled a mug with coffee as well and sat with them. Sirius shook his head once, while James and Lily didn't even answer him and kept on staring at their mugs.

After a few minutes of silence, James sighed heavily. "I wish I could say the boils were the only thing that kept me up." He said, darkly. Tension tightened a bit again, as the events of the previous night lurked around inside their heads. James didn't have to say it, the reason why they all were worried was simple and a well known fear for all of them: Harry's safety was, once more, in check.

The rest of the night, or rather, the rest of the sunrise, they spent immersed in their own thoughts, barely talking to each other. The elves prepared some breakfast, and they ate silently. When the tension in the room was getting unbearable, Sirius stood up, stretching himself.

"I should get going. I have tons of paperwork to go through." He said, making a face.

"I'm leaving as well." Remus said, as he finished his mug of coffee. Remus hated coffee, but how was he going to keep himself awake through the day? "Dan's probably about to get up, so I should be there to start today's lessons."

After their friends had left through the fireplace, James decided it was time for him to leave as well. If the other three hadn't slept much during the night, James had slept even less: While Lily and his surrogate brothers had gone off to bed, James spent almost two more hours checking all the wards around Potter Manor, trying to see gaps or cracks on them. He found neither, of course. The wards would keep anything harmful outside the Manor, but it wouldn't exactly stop the owl. Still, the poor bird must have struggled quite a lot to enter with a letter filled with pus. James himself checked the bird up and found it had been the target of some compulsion charms so it could force itself to enter the wards, which probably ended up killing the bird.

"James?" Lily's voice snapped him from his turmoil of thoughts. He focused on her sat on the chair next to him. Even if she had boils covering her face, and hadn't had a good night of sleep, she was still the beautiful woman he had fallen in love with all those years ago. It still seemed quite incredible to him that he had managed to get someone so amazing to be with him. He couldn't control himself and smiled brightly at her. She smiled back at him, which made her look way better than she had. He moved over the table so he could give her a small peck on her lips, being careful not to touch any of the painful boils.

"What are you thinking of doing today, love?" James asked, getting back to his chair.

"I was considering talking to your parents..." She said, carefully. James bit his lip.

"But Lily, they are going to worry." He said, tiredly.

"They might, love." Lily said with a sigh. "But they might know something to help us understand what's going on. And they might be able to give us some suggestions regarding the wards."

James seemed to think for a couple of seconds before nodding. "Yes, I think that may help." He sighed. "Would you inform Dumbledore of it as well?" Upon seeing his wife nodding, James stood up once more. "Alright, I'm leaving then. I'm going to St. Tiagus to inform them Harry won't be going back, and to get Ms. Granger's address." They kissed softly and James left, leaving his wife alone with her thoughts in the kitchen.

The manor where the Oxenstierna lived wasn't that far from Potter Manor. Of course, Remus wasn't really sure of that, as he was pretty sure both manors were unplottable. Still, the smell of the sea was similar to the 'wolf within', like his friends used to joke, and he could see that the vegetation around the manor was the same as the one around Potter Manor.

The Oxenstierna were an old Swedish family, apparently part of the Swedish Noble and Most Ancient Houses, a counterpart of the Blacks or the Potters in Sweden. They didn't seem to be worried about being pureblooded, nor did they seem to care about the fact that Remus was a werewolf, although he hadn't actually met anyone else other than Dan and his father (and Mr. Oxenstierna had only been there when he hired him). Remus didn't have any contact with Mr. and Mrs. Oxenstierna, as they normally didn't stay in England, and when they were there, they would give Remus a few days off so they could spend those days alone with their son.

Being part of such an exquisite family, they were, as usual, very concerned about safety, so Remus only had access to the Manor by flooing to a barn-like building outside the Manor itself. This other house was nothing more than a room with a fireplace in it, and absolutely nothing more. No decorations, no furniture, nothing.

Upon arriving, Remus straightened himself up and used a glamour to hide all the boils covering his body. He really didn't want Dan to see him in such a state. He left the barn and headed to the Manor, taking his time to enjoy the view of the meadow that there was between the barn and the manor itself.

It was a big, mansion-like house. It surely wasn't as cosy as Potter Manor, but it didn't ooze evil and darkness like Grimmauld Place, which Remus had the displeasure of visiting once. It had quite a lot of rooms, but not again as many as Potter Manor. It's entrance actually reminded Remus of Hogwarts, as it had only a small entrance hall before leading to an enormous dining room, were most of his classes were held.

"Good morning, Dan." Remus said, with a smile as he entered the dining room. The large table had lots of food on it and Dan was sat on the end of it, on the right side, completely alone.

Now, explaining Dan Oxenstierna might not be the easiest thing to do, simply because there isn't much to say about him- that Remus knew of, of course. He wasn't exactly short, but he wasn't tall yet. He had a short blond hair and could be considered of medium build (according to James, Scandinavian wizards think being a bit chubbier helps developing the person's magical core, which would explain his lack of interest on mantaining a strict diet like the purebloods they knew). He was calm and silent, rarely starting a conversation himself. Although he wasn't necessarily shy, he seemed quite introverted.

Dan was extremely intelligent and disciplined. Remus rarely had to repeat something, as the boy would understand things perfectly the first time they were explained to him. He was very competent with magic as well, considering he could perform, effortlessly, every single spell or transfiguration for N.E.W.T. exams being only 14. On the other hand, he was terrible with potions (according to James, once more, Swedish wizards, albeit very good with spells and curses, were not exactly fond of potions), he knew nothing about muggles and he couldn't fly to save his life, which meant those were the areas his parents asked Remus to focus on.

"Good morning, Prof Lupin." The thing about Dan Oxenstierna, though, was not his body or his intelligence. Even if he wasn't exactly ugly (Lily said he would be handsome when he grew), and could be considered very bright, those two things wouldn't make you think too much about him. It was his eyes that were something else entirely. Deep blue eyes that shone like the ocean, sometimes changing for ice blue to a light purple. Staring at Dan's eyes would make you calm and at ease, happy and comfortable. Those were the eyes that stared at Remus when he received the answer to his greeting. "You have just missed my parents." The boy said, calmly. "They were hoping you'd join us for breakfast."

"It's okay, I've had some at home." Remus chuckled. "Are you done? We have to work on the Calming Draught." Remus chuckled again as the boy groaned. "I'll be waiting for you in the lab."

Lily rarely went to the 'Family Pot-tree' corridor (the ridiculous name Sirius used to refer to the corridor that had the paintings of the deceased Potter men had stuck), mainly because a woman married into the Potter family much like herself visiting the old patriarchs was rather frowned upon. That was something James' mother was slowly changing, though, always saying that was 'chauvinism of the worst kind'. Still, Lily tried not to anger the older paintings, so she only went there on very special occasions and always with James.

This time, though, she entered alone. The corridor, normally full of noise of the portraits chatting amongst themselves fell under complete silence. Lily always wondered how these men had so much to talk about after so much time having only themselves to talk to. She knew most of them had other portraits around United Kingdom (and even in other parts of the world), but James' parents said they seldom visited them.

As she walked through the corridor, some of the men frowned, others didn't even look at her, some nodded a greeting. Some smiled, though, and a couple said something to her.

"Good morrow, my lady." Frederik Potter was a somewhat chubby man who lived in the fourteenth century, being one of the oldest paintings there. He was considered very friendly and kind. He had a very thick accent and wore a crown. Lily bowed to him before continuing.

"Thy gown! It is most beauteous!" Victor Potter, Frederik's youngest grandson, smiled at her. He was so obviously gay that Lily could only giggle, muttering a 'thank you'. She couldn't help but think what a waste that probably had been: the man was extremely handsome.

"Madame, cumprimento-lhe com apreço." Theodore Potter didn't smile. Lily had no idea what he had said, so she didn't answer. According to the small plaque under the painting (she had checked once), Theo lived in Lisbon during his life, being part of the discovery of Brazil in the beginning of the 16th century.

She was finally getting closer to the recent Potters. The mischievous and handsome smile was common since the first paintings, but Lily started seeing a few men who had the typical Potter messy hair, the handsome angular face and the almond shaped eyes. She saw Donn Potter, James' great-grandfather, and one of the first Potter men who looked almost like a copy of their father. Lily always thought that Harry would look like him, as Donn had green eyes. They wouldn't be equal as Donn had blond hair and his eyes were a bit lighter than Harry's, but the resemblance eventually would still be uncanning.

"Good morning, Lily Potter." He said. His eyes shone with mischief and intelligence. He had a painting in the library, and he knew a lot about the Potter family (and their ancestors), so Lily always had nice conversations with him to get to know the family better. She almost couldn't breathe laughing when he told her a story involving Raymond Gryffindor, Godric's grandson and one of their ancestors from before Potter becoming their surname, a mermaid and the Giant Squid (which wasn't giant then, by the way). Apparently, the Potter interest in pranks was older than their surname.

"Mr. Potter, sir, it's very good to meet you." Lily replied with a smile. He was probably one of the Potter ancestors she liked the most, even if his stories were, sometimes, quite barmy and they sounded unreliable. Every time he told the Raymond's story, he tried to convince her that Raymond's great-granddaughter married one Ignotus Peverell. Needless to say, she refused to believe it, as she knew it was just a children's bedtime story. She always thought he wanted to make fun of her because she was muggleborn.

"Good morning, Lily, my dear." Lily had finally arrived. While James' mother greeted her warmly, his father only nodded, always sporting the mischievous Potter smile. As Lily replied accordingly, Lucile Potter checked the corridor. "Aren't James and Harry with you today?"

"No, Mrs. Potter- I mean, Lucile." Lily rapidly corrected herself when she saw the woman's sour expression. "Harry's probably still sleeping, as it is early, and James had to sort some things out of the manor today."

"M'dear..." Harold Potter's thick but beautiful accent showed how Scottish the Potter family really was. He frowned and got as close to the frame as possible, adjusting his glasses to try to take a better look at his daughter-in-law. "Why are you covered in boils?" Lucile, upon noticing the large boils, gasped.

"Do tell, Lily. Did anything happen?" Lily couldn't help but feel embarrassed of the large marks all over her body. She tried to cover some of the boils, but they were far too many for her tiny hands. Feeling self-conscious, Lily sighed.

"Well, this is exactly what I came here to talk about." Lily told them everything that had happened the previous day, including the dementor and the howler. As she told her story, her in-laws' expressions gradually changed to one of fear, anger and worry. "I really thought the wards would stop something like this." Lily added, when she finished.

"Probably not." Harold said, thoughtful. "The wards might stop something that will cause harm to the people inside Potter Manor, but pus, even if hurtful, is much more of a natural resource, and can hardly be considered a danger."

"That's basically why, dear, I told you to be careful with those presents you children always seem to get." Lucile continued. "There might be poison or some kind of potion in the chocolate, for example, but the wards will see it as chocolate, not as a threat. It might try to slow the owl from getting in, just like the pus, but it wouldn't really stop it."

"James told me he reinforced the wards." Lily said. Lucile and Harold nodded.

"It might be for the best." Harold said. "Now, you say the howler chanted some kind of poem?" Lily nodded, taking a piece of parchment from her dress pocket. Although she might not be able to forget the ominous words, she thought it would be better to write it down so she wouldn't get anything wrong. As she read it, the older Potters gasped, looking at each other worriedly. Lily finished reading it a looked at his in-laws with curiosity. Lucile bit her lower lip while Harold had a sour expression on his face.

"Does this mean anything to you?" Lily asked. Again, the older Potters looked at each other, having one silent conversation, much like the ones she had with James. After a couple of seconds, they looked back at Lily.

"Edgar Allan Poe." Lucile whispered. Her beautiful face showed she was really shaken by this.

"The muggle author? He wrote this?" Lily asked, lifting her brow.

"Yes, m'dear, he indeed wrote this." Harold replied, serious, which was as weird as James saying anything serious. In fact, considering they were practically copy carbons of each other, it was just like her husband saying something serious. "But he wasn't muggle. He was an American wizard. And almost a Dark Lord himself." Lily's mouth gaped. She had no idea.

"Indeed." Lucile continued. "He was a specialist on rituals, and most of his early works involved dark magic or dark rituals. He eventually decided dealing with dark magic was not worth it, but then, all his rituals had been mistakenly published by the American muggles. They have always been attracted by magic, making their Ministry have doubled work on trying to keep them from discovering everything. Their ability to recognize magic is outstanding, bless them."

"Yes, lots of dark wizards used his rituals back when we were young." Harold said, pointing at himself and his wife.

"James said it would be a nice idea to talk to Dumbledore about this." Lily said. She couldn't help but feel amazed with all this.

"Oh, he's quite right, dear." Lucile said. "Why, one of the most famous practitioners of Poe's Rites, that's the name they gave it, was Grindelwald himself." While Lily nodded, Harold turned to his wife.

"Lucy, do you remember those students who also loved to mention Poe when we were at Hogwarts?"

"Of course, everybody was afraid they were up to no good. Headmaster Dippet wasn't happy."

"Yes, the Defence professor tried to explain how negative they were, but they still used them." Lily listened avidly while the other two seemed too absorbed by their conversation to interact with her.

"What did they call themselves again?" Lucile asked, tapping her finger on her nose absent-mindedly.

"Wasn't it Knights of Walpurgis?" Harold replied. Lily had the impression she knew that name, but decided not to say anything and wait.

"Yes! Yes!" Lucile said. "Oh, they were terrible. That leader of them, Tom Riddle, gave me the creeps." Lucile shuddered. "It seems I felt what he was going to become..."

Lily waited for them to say something else as the feeling she had to remember something important grew. They seemed to be lost in thoughts, which made Lily clear her throat to get their attention.

"I have a feeling I should know what you are talking about..." She said, as they looked back at her. Lucile nodded.

"Oh, yes, you should." She said. "Why, the Knights of Walpurgis and Tom Riddle changed their names." Lily's mind started to solve the puzzle as her face adopted a shocked expression. Harold nodded darkly.

"Yes, now they are known as Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort."

It had been the second time in two days that James had entered St. Tiagus. It was funny that, while in the first time the school seemed comfortable and cozy, this time it had felt unattractive and repulsing. Just standing in front of it had given him an eerie feeling that had matched perfectly to the one he had felt the last time he had been there.

The once inviting building had seemed cold and empty. Empty it had been, indeed, as it had been far too early for students to be there: By that time, they were probably still waking up. Sorting things out with the Headmistress hadn't been a problem. Of course James had said it had absolutely nothing to do with the events from the previous day, but Mrs. Smith made it quite clear she didn't buy it. Regardless of that, he managed to cancel Harry's enrollment.

Getting the Grangers' address had been something else entirely, though. The only way to describe the Headmistress' reaction to James' request is hostile. She didn't even listen to his explanations, as soon as he mentioned Hermione Granger's name (Harry had told him her name), the meeting had come to an end, and Mrs. Smith left.

James wasn't about to give up, though. He had a feeling. He 'could feel it to his magic core', as his father normally said. He had to go talk to that little girl, and he had to go talk to her parents. And it didn't take his Marauder mind long to find a way to get their address.

"Hello, there!" said a cheerful voice. The Headmistress' secretary stopped writing on the administrative journal and sighed. Parents? At this time of the morning? She couldn't stop herself from thinking she must have been a murderer her previous life. That was the only explanation to why she had to work long hours for an old hag and get minimum wage for it, and still have to deal with fat old parents who thought their kids were the best thing since electricity had been invented hitting on her at an ungodly hour like that. She put her best frown which suggested 'how can I not help you today' and turned to face whoever kept her from doing her tedious job.

"Sweet mother of Jesus!" Wait. Did she say it out loud? "C-can I h-help you?" GOD, was that man hot! Shiny hazel eyes which sparkled with intelligence and mirth. A soft (how did she know it was soft?) skin which had the perfect tan: not too dark, not too pale. A clear, perfect smile which showed perfect teeth that seemed to fry everything she had inside her head. Muscles that screamed 'I EXERCISE' or 'I PLAY A SPORT EVERY DAY' that only made her imagine what he had underneath his T-shirt. A carefree, relaxed attitude, as if the world was his own private amusement park. Messy black hair that made it seem like he had just gotten out of his convertible, top model car. Or rather, (and she got tingles on a silly place just for thinking about that) he had just gotten out of bed after spending some amazing time on it...

"Miss?" James was no longer smiling. Using the Potter charm wasn't one of his proudest tactics, but if it worked... But this was ridiculous, even when he was an arrogant teenager he didn't think he was so irresistible that he would leave the poor woman speechless, staring at his chest as if it were food and she was really hungry. And yet, there she was, frozen, doing exactly that. "Hey, miss?" he tried again, a little louder. That seemed to snap her out of her thoughts, which made her focus her gaze on his eyes again. She blushed madly and he gave her a small grin. It only made her redder, if that was even possible, as she returned a shaky smile. 'Blond people' he thought.

"I was wondering if you could help me." James put his arms on the counter that separated the entrance from the place she was. He took the chance to flex his muscles, making her eyes bulge a bit more.

"S-sure." She replied. "W-with anything you want." She blushed harder. 'Where did that courage come from?' she thought.

"Well, you see..." James' smile didn't waver and his eyes were locked on hers. "My son Harry studies here and he has a good friend. I was wondering if you could get me her address, so I can take my son there for a visit." His smile grew. "Her name is Hermione Granger."

The secretary could only nod. She had to use all her will to stop looking at that Greek god and give him her back as she turned to the archives. Damned be the moment when she chose that the archive and her table would face the wall, not the entrance. Just then she realized the opportunity she had. Her friend Chelsea always said her... uh... behind was her best asset. She bent as far as she could to pick the file named after the little brat, taking as much time as possible. (She didn't see James' uncomfortable look, nor did she listen to his snort).

She got the file and one of her special pink perfumed pieces of paper (the ones she only used with people she really liked). She copied Hermione Granger's address and gave it to the father of her imaginary children, of course, using the opportunity to gently touch his fingers. "There you go." She purred (yes, purred!). "Her address, her telephone number and..." Her eyes sparkled with mischief. "My telephone number. In case you get a bit lost."

James grabbed the piece of paper, thanked the girl and turned to leave, not even glancing behind. As he was closing the door, he heard her shriek 'my hand on that bum!'. He stood in front of the door feeling embarrassed and (he would never admit it) quite objectified. He shuddered, thinking 'muggles are weird'. He also couldn't help but think 'if that was her reaction to me, I wonder what she would do if she saw Padfoot'.

James was glad that the Grangers didn't live too far away from the school. He took a cab, as he wasn't too used to moving around muggle London alone, and got really surprised when the driver stopped not even 5 minutes later. He couldn't for his life understand those pieces of paper muggles called money, so he just grabbed a bill (was that a fifty?) and gave it to the man. It must have been more than enough, as the drive thanked his profusely for the generous tip.

The Granger's house was quite big and seemed very cosy, immediately reminding James of the cottage they had in Godric's Hollow. That made him feel sad, but he shook that off. He had to focus. He moved so as to stay in front of the door of the house, and pressed the button of the doorbell. He heard a child's voice shout 'I get it!', and five minutes later, the door opened.

A.N.: There you have. This was a hard chapter to write, even if it's just a filler. Plot bunny ran away from me. I hope you didn't hate this too much, though, and managed to enjoy it. Please, if you can, leave some thoughts to me, review or PM? It will surely will help me continue... =)

I know the most accepted theory regarding James' parents says that they were Dorea and Charlus Potter. This has not been confirmed, and that's mainly the reason why I toyed with this small fact, making Charlus James' uncle instead of his father. I did this in the 6th chapter. If I were doing it now, I wouldn't. But I did. So there it is. Please, 'bear with me'. haha