A/N: This chapter is a little choppy and I apologize for that. But there were several little tiny scenes that needed to be thrown in and they all fit together to create this chapter!
Disclaimer: I own nothing
WARNING: language and sexual content in this chapter.
….
"There is a potion," said Charlus Potter ominously as James and Dorea looked to him for an answer as to what they should do about the issue of Luna being related to them. "That will reveal any living close relatives of a person. By 'close relatives' I mean siblings, parents, grandparents, and perhaps aunts and uncles."
"Cousins?" inquired James hopefully.
"I'm not sure, but it's possible. However, that particular potion requires some ingredients that I cannot procure immediately. If you want me to make this potion to confirm what we already suspect, then I will. But the results will not be in until you are all back at Hogwarts."
"Make the potion," said James firmly.
"But we already know that Luna is a member of the family. She can get through our wards…"
"Mum, she could be…it's possible…I don't want to believe…"
"What James is trying to say, dear, is that it is likely she could be a Dark wizard."
"Nobody but Lord Voldemort himself can get through our wards without being a Potter, Charlus!" snarled Dorea who had grown very fond of the girl.
"Dad," said James with an odd disbelieving look on his face. "Is there a reason why you don't want to brew this potion? I mean, er," his cheeks flamed red but he continued on. "It's not a possibility that she's my – uh – sister, right?"
"James!" cried Dorea as she clutched at her chest in shock. "Your father would not have done that to me!"
"Of course not," said Charlus firmly. "James, I've never been with another woman. Unless I was put under the Imperius Curse and then later Obliviated, to my knowledge there is no way Luna could be your sibling; half or otherwise."
James nodded in relief. "Alright then, brew this potion and we'll see what happens. If it turns out that she is my cousin, should we tell Aunt Cynthia?"
James's Uncle Castor, Charlus's brother, had been dead for almost a decade and his Aunt Cynthia was still considered a close member of the Potter family. They had never had any children together. "I'm not sure," replied his father seriously. "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
…..
"I really don't want to leave," said Luna as she packed her trunk with a wave of her wand. "I've enjoyed my time here so much, Sirius. The Potters are wonderful."
"Yes," agreed Sirius, "of course they are. They're your family, remember?"
"Ah, but they don't know that," she reminded him with a sad wistful smile.
"Look at the bright side though. When we get back to Hogwarts Moony and Wormtail will be there, along with Lily, Alice, and Mary."
"I guess," she shrugged but her shoulders shook when she exhaled. Sirius frowned. He knew how much she hated to go back to the castle. As much as she loved Hogwarts, she loved Potter Manor much more than that.
"We'll come back. We can visit as often as you'd like," he promised.
"Easter holiday?" she asked while wiping at the tears spilling from her eyes. "Because I don't know what will happen after that. Dumbledore gave me until graduation…"
"Stop," he took her hands in his and brought them up so he could kiss her palms chastely. "We'll do whatever we can with all of the time that we have."
….
"We will miss you," Dorea Potter whispered fiercely as she hugged Luna. "Take care of our Sirius."
"I will. Thank you so much for everything," Luna wiped at the tears in her eyes as Charlus and James exchanged a communicating glance. "What did you do with my trunk?"
Sirius smiled down at her, "Already at the station."
….
"…so they liked him then?" asked Alice as she nibbled on the end of her licorice wand. The four seventh year Gryffindor girls were in their own compartment on the train back to Hogwarts.
"My parents were more charmed by him than I am," grumbled Lily as if this were an unfortunate turn of events.
"What about Petunia?" Mary wrinkled her nose as she said the name of the girl she'd never met but only heard bad things about.
Lily tried and failed to stifle a laugh. "She – er – brought Vernon, her boyfriend, to dinner that night also because Mum basically made her. Apparently Mum thought it would be nice for both of us to be there with our boyfriends."
"James didn't tell us about this," Luna noted. After James Potter had returned from taking Lily Evans home and meeting her parents he hadn't said much about it to Sirius and Luna; just that he thought he'd made a good impression and he actually really got on well with Mr. Evans.
"Probably because he wouldn't want his mum finding out what he did."
"Oh no!" Alice, Mary, and Luna all said at once.
"Oh, yes," Lily corrected with raised eyebrows, "James thought it would be amusing to talk a lot about the magical world. Of course, Vernon is a muggle and knows nothing of the magical word so he just thought James was a complete nutter going on about werewolves and brewing potions. Then Vernon was looking at me like I had something wrong mentally for dating a bloke who was obviously out of his gourd. Toward the end of the evening James thought a practical demonstration would be appropriate. He transformed into his Animagus form. There was a fucking giant stag in my kitchen. Mum screamed. Petunia nearly fainted. Dad laughed and thought the whole thing was rather hilarious. Vernon panicked. He picked Petunia up and ran with her out of the house. When she finally arrived home several hours later she announced that Vernon had proposed and promised to get her out of such a dangerous and abnormal environment."
"No!"
"Yes. My sister is the future Mrs. Petunia Dursley."
"Ugh."
"Yuck."
"I can't believe she'd want a man who didn't like her family…"
"What did we miss, ladies?" at that moment James, Peter, Sirius, and Remus entered the compartment to join the girls.
"Just a rather humorous reenactment of James's visit to the Evans home," said Luna innocently. James smirked in amusement while his three comrades looked to him in confusion.
….
James,
It's a girl! Surprise, Son! The potion results say that Luna is indeed a close relative of ours. But we already knew this. I wonder if she knows this? Perhaps you should tell her. I think she'd want to know that she's your cousin. If you do decide to talk with her about this please let her know that your mother and I are ecstatic to have her as a member of our family.
How is school going so far? You have been back for a week already and not a single letter from Dumbledore has reached us. It is a rather sad day when you're proud of your son for going a whole week without warranting a letter from the Headmaster to his parents about his misdeeds. I imagine you're just getting better at getting away with your shenanigans.
Your mother and I will be attending our first Order meeting next week. We're very anxious to do all we can to help. Especially now because of your Lily. She's a wonderful girl, James, and a fascinating witch. We think that you have definitely picked a winner. Tell her that we said hello.
Love,
Dad
James didn't know what to think of this letter. On the one hand he was happy to discover that Luna was indeed his cousin. On the other hand he was apprehensive about revealing the truth to her. How did one tell a friend that she was adopted?
Deciding it would be best to get Sirius's opinion, as he got Sirius's opinion on everything, he made plans to catch him early the following morning before classes. Sirius never left Luna's side except for when he was sleeping or showering. Even then she was occasionally with him. Peter had found this out the hard way when he ran screaming from the lavatory the previous day with his hands clapped over his ears. Thankfully the lavatories at Hogwarts had individual shower stalls so you could not see the people showering, but you could still hear them.
James woke up early the following morning, hearing Sirius get out of bed and head quietly toward the loo. Lily was wrapped around James and he disentangled himself from her vice grip to accompany his best mate. "Morning," said Sirius with a yawn when he glanced up in the lavatory mirror to see James behind him. "You're up early."
"Yeah, I reckon I am. I wanted to talk with you about something kind of important," James scratched the back of his head and set his round glasses delicately on the sink.
"Of course, mate, what's up?" Sirius stripped out of his boxers and kicked them to the side before crossing the room and entering an empty shower stall. James heard the water turn on and knew that Sirius was waiting for him to talk.
"Er – it's about Luna."
"What about her?" Was James imagining it or did Sirius sound a touch…nervous? Guilty? Did Sirius know? Had Luna told Sirius about her relation to James? Maybe they'd kept it a secret because they were worried James wouldn't be happy about Sirius dating his cousin. Yes, that might make sense.
"There are enchantments around my house," James said in a rush, fumbling around to grab a towel and throw it over his own shower stall before beginning his own shower. "The enchantments keep out anyone who isn't a Potter. You've never noticed, of course, because I've always been with you whenever you enter the grounds around Potter Manor. But Luna should not have been able to get through them and she did. Worried, I told my parents about it and my dad brewed a potion that would divulge any close relatives Luna has in the wizarding world. Turns out she is closely related to us. We believe that my Uncle Castor had an illegitimate child, Luna, with someone and never knew about it."
"That would make her your…cousin?"
"Yes," James breathed a sigh of relief, feeling good to get this off of his chest.
"Why didn't you tell me your suspicions sooner?" asked Sirius as James turned on the water in the stall next to Sirius's and scrubbed his hair vigorously.
"Because if it turned out that she wasn't related to us and was still somehow getting through our wards then that would mean that something was really dangerous about her. I didn't want to tell you because I knew you would stick up for her and if it turned out that she was working for Voldemort…well…"
Sirius snorted. "Does it bother you that I'm dating her?"
"Nah," James was only half-lying. It didn't bother him that Sirius was dating his cousin. But there was still something about her that was unsettling to James. "Sirius, do you know if she knows about this already?"
Sirius paused to think about how to answer this. He didn't know what would happen if James confronted Luna with the information, wrongly assuming that she was his cousin, so he did the only thing he could think of. He lied to his best mate to protect his girlfriend and keep her secrets. "Yes, she does. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I figured it was her decision. She didn't want to upset your family if they found out they had an illegitimate relative who was a half-blood. I'll tell her later that you know now. I'm sure she'll want to talk to you about it, but I want to be the one to warn her that you and your parents know now."
"Okay. Are you going to Hogsmeade with her today?"
"Yeah. We only have a few more Hogsmeade days before graduation and I'm excited to get out of this blasted castle. Aren't you going?"
"No," James said as he shook out his hair under the showerhead and let the water rinse the soap from his body, "Lily and I are staying here. I was actually thinking about shagging her for the first time in her dormitory."
"What's so exciting about that? What does it matter whose bed you're in?"
"I'm sure there's a difference. Lily's bed will smell like her and it's more intimate when you let someone into your space. I want to know that she's comfortable with having me in her space amongst her things."
"I'll talk to Luna today while we're out. Have a good day with Lily, mate," James heard the water in Sirius's stall turn off and his friend exited the lavatory. The conversation had gone so much better than James had anticipated. But then why did he feel like Sirius was still hiding something?
…..
Luna and Sirius waved goodbye to Lily Evans and James Potter as the latter couple was staying at Hogwarts instead of going to Hogsmeade on the beautiful Saturday morning. Despite the cold, it couldn't have been a more perfect January morning. Sirius took hold of Luna's hand and they began walking with the other Hogwarts students. She caught sight of Sev and waved toward him. He nodded his head in acknowledgement toward her.
"Still friends with Snivellus I see," said Sirius with distaste.
"He's only here long enough to take his NEWTs then he'll be gone," she reminded him.
"Thank Godric for that."
"I still think that if you two would just look past your differences, you would get along really well. He's quite brave, you know. I'm surprised that the Sorting Hat didn't put him in Gryffindor."
Sirius feigned a shiver of disgust, "Don't even joke about that!"
Giggling, she leapt in front of him, and then jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. She whispered in his ear, "Why do you think James and Lily wanted to stay in the castle today? It's beautiful outside."
"First of all, the way your body is moving against mine when I walk is thoroughly distracting, and second of all I imagine they will take advantage of the empty dormitory."
Lily considered this, letting her head rest on his shoulder. Each time she exhaled, her warm breath tickled his neck and he loved it. He gripped her bum and pulled her hips against his so she could feel for herself just how much effect she was having on him.
"Is that a wand in your pocket, Mr. Black?"
He snorted in amusement, "Why don't you find out?"
Luna contemplated it for a moment before shaking her head at him. "Do you really intend to waste our time in Hogsmeade shagging when we could actually be enjoying the village?"
"The village will be here long after you've left me, baby, I want to enjoy you as much as I can. Sod the village."
"Could we please at least go to the bookstore? It's not there in my time and there's a first edition of a book they have that I need because it's rare and valuable in the future. If I can take it home with me, in mint condition, I could give it to my favorite aunt the next time a holiday or her birthday rolls around."
"Sure, love, Jots and Tittles it is," after saying this he released her arse and she dropped down to stand on her own two feet with a surprised squeal.
He watched with amusement and affection as she perused the shelves at her leisure. Despite her claim that she'd only wanted the one book, she currently had four in the basket draped over her arm and was inspecting the spine of a fifth. While Lily Luna Potter was no bookworm, she could still appreciate a good book.
When she unconsciously licked her lips as she flipped the book over to read the back Sirius gave up trying to be patient. After glancing around to make sure they were far back enough in the store that no one else was near, he wrapped his long fingers around her wrist and spun her around to face him, causing her to drop the basket and the book. "Sirius, what –"
His mouth claimed hers in a way that left no room for arguments. She wasn't complaining. Her small hands grasped at his broad shoulders and gave a shove. With a grunt he complied and let himself fall back against a bookshelf. Luna jumped so that she was once again wrapped around him but this time she was grinding against the hardness in his trousers wantonly.
Sirius moved so that his shoulders and upper back were still pressed firmly against the bookshelf, supporting him, but his hips and lower back were away from the dusty tomes so that Luna could more easily straddle him. "You're going to hurt your back, love," she protested breathily.
"It will be worth it," he smirked at her cockily as he guided a hand under her skirt and began to rub her through the thin silk material of her knickers. "Fuck, you're already so wet."
"Of course I am," she panted, "I've been thinking about you."
"I need to be inside you. Now."
Luna's eyes widened at the command in his tone but found it quite thrilling. If they were caught they could be banned from the store and possibly even expelled. Too far gone with lust to worry much about the possible consequences she merely nodded and hurriedly unzipped his trousers.
Sirius pushed her panties aside and impaled her immediately on his cock. With a soft cry she stuffed her hands into her mouth so no nearby customers would hear her and come to investigate. However this almost threw her off balance as they were currently shagging in the most awkward and precarious position Luna had ever engaged in. Sirius put his hands on her waist to keep her study as he continued to pound into her at a merciless pace.
Wanting to have some control herself, she bent forward and braced her hands on the books on either side of his head to give herself leverage so that she could thrust downwards to meet the frantic movements of his hips. "Shit. Lu-Lu, I'm not going to last much longer if you keep that up," he warned through gritted teeth.
"Good. I want to make you cum," she told him as she nipped playfully at his neck.
With a growl Sirius firmed his resolve and promised, "You first." Then he rotated his hips in a motion that sent her careening off of the edge into bliss. "That's it, love, cum for me," he urged as she fought to hear him over the roaring in her own ears. "Godric you're always so fucking tight," he groaned before his hips broke rhythm and slammed up into her hard three times as he met his release.
His cock was still buried deep inside of her, both of them panting, sweat dotting both of their foreheads as they were fully clothed, winter cloaks included, when Sirius said, "Luna," his slightly calloused fingertips were stroking her jawline lovingly and she lifted her big brown eyes to look into his stormy grey ones. "I think that we should get married."
…..
James Potter and Lily Evans had been dating for almost a few months and neither had ever been happier. They were supposed to go to Hogsmeade with the rest of their friends, but had opted to stay behind to spend time together. It was so rare for them to have alone time with Remus and Mary shagging all over the place and Luna and Sirius always cuddling and whispering sweet nothings. But now they would have most of Gryffindor tower to themselves aside from a few first and second year students.
After everyone was gone, Lily Evans pulled James Potter up to her dormitory. "I thought the stairs would turn into a slide," he mumbled in confusion.
"That only happens if you try to come up here uninvited. But since I invited you…" she trailed off, pulling him to her and kissing him as they stumbled into the seventh year girls' dormitory. James pulled back and leapt onto the closest bed, wondering if it was hers.
Giggling, she said, "That's Luna's bed," and reached out to him. James grabbed her hand and pulled her down to him, both of them rolling around on the bed, when suddenly they heard tinkling glass and several vials fell from underneath of the pillow onto the floor.
"What are these?" Lily Evans asked as she reached down and picked one up, inspecting it's silvery contents.
"Memories," said James at once.
"She really is trying hard to hide something from us, isn't she?" Lily asked with a scowl. Over the past month she had grown to really care for Lily Luna Granger, but what was she supposed to think when she found such strange things in the girls' bed?
"My dad brewed a potion that confirmed that she is my cousin. But that doesn't explain why she's so secretive about everything. Do you think that she could actually be a spy for Voldemort?" James asked as he shifted his weight, sitting up higher on the bed.
"No, I don't think so. Something about her is just so innocent and good. I'm glad that she's your cousin, James, I think it means something to have a close family. But it is definitely not normal to take out your memories and keep them in vials."
"What we need is a pensieve."
"There is one in the library that is open for student use. It's in the restricted section."
James looked at her with reverence in his eyes, "And here I thought I knew more about this school than anybody else. You never cease to astound me, woman," he pulled her to him for a quick kiss and then they were running to the library, with their pockets laden with all of the vials containing Lily's memories.
They moved the pensieve to a study room, closing and locking the door so they wouldn't be interrupted. Lily uncorked a vial, spilled the contents into the pensieve and prodded them with her wand. A face floated to the surface that looked almost identical to the James Potter standing in front of her, except he wasn't wearing glasses.
"What the devil is going on here?" James mumbled.
"Only one way to find out," Lily Evans reached out her hand, and James took hold of it. Together, they dipped their faces forward and broke the surface of the memories. Together, they fell with a rush and landed in the living room of a home that was entirely unfamiliar to them.
A very small girl with raven black hair sat at a grand piano, plucking away at random keys. She wasn't very good, but she was at least keeping a steady rhythm which wasn't bad for a girl who looked to be about ten years old. "There's Lu-Lu," James pointed out unnecessarily. It was easy to figure out who the girl at the piano was. For a moment she was alone in the room, until a small black-haired boy came running in.
"Come on, Lils, do you have to practice the piano so early in the morning?"
"Mum says that practice makes perfect!"
"Why do you want to play so badly anyway? I didn't think you liked the piano."
"Oh, Albus," said Lily Luna, wrinkling her nose at the boy, "you know why I want to learn to play the piano. Dad told us that his mum used to play it, remember?" she scooted over, and the boy who looked maybe a year or two older than the girl sat on the piano bench beside her.
Lily Evans walked closer to the boy and gasped out loud when her suspicions were confirmed; he had her eyes; exactly her eyes. "Bloody hell, where are we?" Lily Evans sounded on the verge of tears and she was more confused than she had ever been before.
That was when they heard a loud screech come from upstairs, and then, "JAMES SIRIUS POTTER!" Luna screamed, "IF YOU ARE TORTURING MY CAT, I WILL CURSE YOU INTO OBLIVION!"
A boy whose hair matched both of his siblings' came trotting down the stairs, scratching the back of his head and yawning, looking uncannily like the seventeen year old James Potter standing beside Lily Evans watching this memory unfold.
"Keep your knickers on, sis, I accidentally stepped on her tail, but she's fine. Stupid bloody cat."
"Kids," a voice groaned coming from an adjacent room, "It's too early to argue. Blimey, can't an auror in training get some rest?" just then a boy who looked to be around twenty years old came into the room clad only in a pair of pajama trousers. He was holding a cup of coffee and looking rather tired.
"Teddy!" Luna squealed, jumping up from the bench and running to tackle the boy in a hug. "Edward Remus Lupin," she reprimanded, "where have you been? I haven't seen you around here in ages!"
"Sorry, Lils," he ruffled her hair affectionately, yawned again, and before their eyes, his hair grew to almost shoulder-length and turned a bright turquoise, "I've been busy training. Somebody has to catch all of those dark wizards out there!"
"You should leave the dark-wizard-catching to dad," said the oldest raven-haired boy confidently, "Dad is the best auror in the world! He even defeated the darkest wizard ever!"
"Don't I know it?" Teddy teased as he plopped down onto the couch, Luna sitting beside him, watching him with interest, "he's training me personally, you know."
"Of course he is," said Albus, "he's the head of the auror office and you're his godson."
"Teddy," Lily asked timidly, as if she were afraid. He looked down at her kindly and she asked, "Do you ever wonder what your own parents were like? Can you remember anything about them? Do you miss them?"
"Of course I wonder what they were like," he told her, still smiling, "your dad has told me a lot about them. So has my gran. My mum was an auror, you know."
"She was?" Lily Luna seemed really excited about this. She rarely heard about female aurors, and it was secretly her dearest ambition, even at such a young age, to follow in her father's footsteps and become an auror.
"Yes, she was. She was also a metamorphamagis like me," he motioned to himself as he shook out his hair and turned it to a raven black, matching the three children in the room, "My father was a werewolf," here, James Potter sucked in a deep breath, his suspicions being confirmed.
"Evans," he hissed to the girl at his side, "I think we're in the future. I think…I think Luna is from the future. Blimey, I don't know how, but you are seeing and hearing everything I am! That bloke, his last name is Lupin and he just said his father was a werewolf."
"I heard, but James…he is talking about his father in the past-tense. And these kids," she motioned to them, "you can't possibly think that they are ours? That's absurd! I wouldn't name my daughter after me. Nor would I ever name a child after the Headmaster. This doesn't make any sense!"
"Look at that one though," James motioned toward Albus, "he has your eyes, Evans, you know he does."
Just then, a middle-aged man came striding in, his raven-black hair mused and bright green almond-shaped eyes sparkling with happiness behind his round glasses. Lily Evans felt her stomach drop. This man looked like he could be the son of her and James. But they were barley even dating! Would they really end up married? With children? And grandchildren? It was too much to take in.
"Morning, you lot," said the man who had just entered.
"Morning, Harry," said Teddy Lupin. Lily Evan's stomach filled with butterflies at that name and she knew. She didn't know how, but in that moment she knew that this man was her son.
"Daddy!" Luna bounded up to the man and he scooped her up into his arms easily.
"Careful, Dad, she's asking a lot of questions this morning," said James Sirius Potter in a warning as he walked past his father into the kitchen.
"What sort of questions are on your mind, Lily?"
"Daddy, do you remember what your parents were like?"
The man visibly paled, but managed to quickly regain his composure and said, "Not really. Most of what I know about them I didn't learn until years later. My godfather-"
"Sirius?" asked Lily in excitement. She had heard many stories about Sirius Black and pictured him often as a sort of knight in shining armor, stepping into her father's life right when he had needed him the most.
"Yes, my godfather, Sirius Black, he used to tell me stories about my parents. Your grandmother played the piano like you do, which is fitting because you have her name. He told me that her favorite flowers were-"
"Snapdragons," said Lily Evans just as Harry Potter said the same thing.
Harry Potter continued, "…and she had a temper, not unlike your own mother," they giggled. "My father was very brave-"
"Of course he was," said Albus, who was still sitting on the piano bench, "he was a Gryffindor after all."
Harry chuckled, "Yes, he was a Gryffindor, so he was very brave. He played Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team and he loved my mother from the first time he laid eyes on her in their first year at Hogwarts."
Lily Evans looked shyly up at her boyfriend, "You've loved me for that long?"
"I thought you knew," he told her with a smirk.
Suddenly the scene before them wasn't terrifying or confusing or scary, it simply felt right. This was their future. They had a son, and he had a family. They had grandchildren. Remus even had a child. But where were they? Why didn't their son know anything about them except what he had heard second-hand?
The scene changed then and they were in a spacious bedroom. The room was decorated in red and purple, and Lily Luna Granger, who they now knew lied about her surname, was snuggled up in her bed. She looked like she was older than she had been in the previous memory.
A woman entered the room with fiery red hair and chocolate brown eyes. She smiled warmly at the little girl in bed and sat next to her. "Mum," said Luna, "I'm scared."
"Don't be scared, darling," the woman said as she bent down to place a kiss on her forehead, "Tomorrow is your first day of Hogwarts. You should be excited!"
"I am excited, but mum, what if I'm not in Gryffindor?"
"Whatever house you're put into won't make any difference to us, Lily."
"I know, but James is in Gryffindor, and Albus is in Gryffindor, and Rose is in Gryffindor, and-"
"Lily Luna Potter," her mother interrupted, "your family members each have individual traits that are different from each other, just as you do. Just because they all have a few similar dominant traits, like bravery and chivalry doesn't mean that you do as well. Maybe the Sorting Hat will find you more intelligent and put you in Ravenclaw? Or more hardworking and put you in Hufflepuff?"
"Or more evil," said Luna glumly.
Her mother laughed, "Not all Slytherin's are evil, Lil, you know that. Students are sorted into Slytherin House when they are crafty, sneaky, cunning, and goal-oriented. There is nothing wrong with that."
"Why wasn't James sorted into Slytherin?" asked Lily.
Again, her mother laughed, this time saying, "Only the Sorting Hat and James know the answer to that question. The man Albus is named after was a Slytherin."
"I thought Albus was named after Albus Dumbledore? And he was a Gryffindor."
"His middle name is what I was referring to. Albus Severus."
James Potter froze. His grandchild was named after Snivellus? What the hell? Was this some sort of sick twisted joke? Why in hell would his son name his son after his arch enemy? Lily Evans sucked in a breath in surprise. She would have a grandchild named after her childhood best friend? But how? And why?
"Severus…" Luna looked thoughtful before saying, "Severus Snape, right, Mum?"
"That's him," the red-haired woman nodded in agreement, "Severus Snape. He was the Potions Master when I went to Hogwarts and then he became Headmaster in my sixth year."
"But that was when Dad wasn't in school."
"That's right," her mother nodded, "Sometimes your father tries too hard to protect you, but Lily, there are some things you have to know before you start Hogwarts. The worst year of my life was during my sixth year of school when Severus Snape was Headmaster. For detention, students would have the Cruciatus Curse performed on them, muggleborns all over the country were being hunted down, imprisoned and killed."
James Potter and Lily Evans gasped in shock. Voldemort would really get that strong? Would he ever be stopped? The red-haired woman continued her story, "Your father was in hiding. Voldemort wanted him more than he had ever wanted anything. As long as Harry Potter lived, then there was a chance that the Dark Lord could be overthrown.
"For an entire year, your father, your Uncle Ron, and your Aunt Hermione were on the run. They kept hidden in the English countryside for months. But eventually the time came when your father had to face Voldemort. There was a terrible battle," the woman's eyes filled with unshed tears, "it took place at Hogwarts. Voldemort had giants and dementors and Death Eaters all at his command, and all we had on our side were a few scared teenagers and a handful of aurors.
"We were losing, it was true. We had staked everything on this one final stand, and we were going to lose. But because of Severus Snape, we won."
"I don't understand," said Luna, "what did he do?"
"He had been Voldemort's right-hand-man for years. He carried out every command he was given from Voldemort, but at the same time, he was taking orders from Albus Dumbledore. He was a triple-agent. Severus Snape tricked Voldemort and died trying to bring him down. When your father faced Voldemort, he won because of Severus Snape.
"So you see, dear, that even though Severus had been a Slytherin, he was the bravest man your father ever knew. Just because you are put into a house other than Gryffindor does not mean that you are not brave. Nor does it mean that you are evil."
"But how did he become so brave? Why would he do all of that?"
"For love," the woman said in a voice that was barely above a whisper, "Severus Snape had loved your grandmother, and in her memory, he gave his life protecting her son."
"Daddy is really lucky," said Luna as she yawned, "to have so many people care about him so much."
"Yes, I am," said a voice from the doorway. Harry Potter entered, looking from his wife to his daughter, smiling, "And so are you. You have so many people who love you, Lily. Now get some sleep and don't worry about what house you're put in, because it won't change how anyone feels about you."
"Goodnight, Daddy. Goodnight, Mum."
"Goodnight, sweetheart," Harry Potter bent down, kissing his daughter's cheek, and then he and his wife left, turning off the light as they exited the room.
"I've seen enough," said Lily Evans, wiping tears from her eyes, "I want to go back," but the scene around them was already changing. "Our son, James, our son…our grandchildren…Severus….this is terrible."
"But wonderful," James countered, "it looks like we will never have the chance to get to know our family, why not see as much of them as possible through our granddaughter's memories?"
"Our granddaughter? Sweet Merlin, James, Luna is our granddaughter!"
"It fits," said James with a chuckle, but then he suddenly scowled, "and she's dating Sirius! Fuck! We need to get back to the present and get them away from each other!"
"James," Lily grabbed the front of his robes, "Sirius really cares about her. We can't just go back and break them up, it wouldn't be right or fair to either of them. We've talked about this before; their relationship. They're in love, James. I know the timing is terrible, but let them have peace while they can."
James sighed, not wanting to accept her words as truth, but they were. He snapped his head up to look around and found himself in the Great Hall. "Albus Severus Potter!" Luna was there, running, and she jumped onto her brother's back, clinging to him.
"Geroffme, Lils!" he cried, trying to fling her off of him.
"No, I think I'll just stay here, thanks," she replied, tightening her grip.
"Blimey, if you two don't stop horsing around, you're going to make me fail my NEWTs! I can't concentrate with you two acting like this." James was there, running a hand through his hair nervously.
"You're not going to fail your NEWTs, James, and you know it. You're the most brilliant seventh year in all of Hogwarts!" Luna assured him as she slid from Al's back and gave her oldest brother a hug.
"Lily is right," said a tall, thin red-haired girl as she entered the room.
"Morning, Rosie!" said Lily in a chipper voice as the four of them sat at the Gryffindor table.
"Morning to you, too, favorite cousins of mine! Here, James, eat some toast, you look like you're about to be sick," Rose shoved toast at James, but he let it drop to his plate and didn't eat a bite of it.
"Oh look, Rose! It's Malfoy!" Albus gave Rose a knowing smirk and motioned toward a boy with silvery-blonde hair who had just entered, wearing Slytherin robes and laughing with a couple of his friends.
Rose blushed furiously and looked down at her plate, "Don't be so shy, Rosie, he fancies you, too!" Lily assured her cousin. Rose looked up hopefully, and Lily nodded in encouragement.
Obviously steeling herself, Rose stood up and walked right up to the Malfoy boy, her long red hair swinging behind her. They talked for a few moments, and Malfoy was even brave enough to reach up and tuck a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, then he slipped his hand into hers and led her toward the Slytherin table where they were going to eat breakfast together.
"Great, now I am going to have Scorpius bloody Malfoy for a cousin-in-law," Albus groaned as he dug into his oatmeal.
"You don't even know him, Albus. He seems like a good guy, and Rose really likes him, so shove off," Lily growled. Albus grumbled a bit, but obeyed his sister. James didn't look quite as pale anymore, but he still wasn't eating with much vigor.
"Maybe Dad won't be too disappointed if I fail History of Magic. After all, he failed History of Magic when he took his OWLs. At least I got into the NEWT level!" James said hopefully.
"Dad might not care, but Mum will. Not to mention, Dad only failed his History of Magic OWL because he had a vision of Voldemort torturing Sirius Black. That would be enough to make anyone fail a test. Imagine having a vision of your godfather getting tortured!" Albus shuddered at his own words.
"Blimey, I forgot about that! Wasn't that the day Sirius died?" Lily asked, looking solemn, as if she had known the man personally, even though she hadn't yet.
Albus nodded and said, "There was a fight in the Ministry of Magic, remember? Death Eaters were supposed to get a hold of a prophecy and take it to Voldemort, but the Order of the Phoenix showed up and fought the Death Eaters. Sirius died protecting Dad."
"Bloody hell, everyone who died in the Second Wizard War died protecting our father," said James with a shake of his head.
"Can you blame them?" asked Luna quietly, "I would die for someone if I loved them enough."
Her siblings nodded in agreement and the scene changed again, but this time, they were at a house. A house that looked like it should've fallen over years previously but was obviously held up with magic. There were so many people that Lily Evans and James Potter couldn't keep track of them all.
They caught sight of their son, their grandchildren, Lily Luna scurrying around with people who were obviously her cousins. Most had flaming red hair, but there were others who were blonde, and a few who had raven-black hair, and then even fewer who were brunettes. The family settled down, seated at one gigantic table in the backyard.
"To family," said a balding red-haired man at the head of the table, "Molly and I were blessed with seven children. Even though one of them is no longer with us, they are all cherished and loved more than they know. As are all of their spouses and children. We are so blessed to have a family like ours."
Harry stood up then and said, "I will never be able to thank you enough, Arthur, Molly, for taking me into your home, for practically raising me during my years at Hogwarts. For rescuing me almost every holiday from my Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon's home. Blimey, I can't believe that I used to live in a cupboard under the stairs at their house," he shook his head at the memory, "thank you for becoming my family."
Everyone toasted their glasses and drank. James Potter and Lily Evans landed back in the library study room at that moment, both looking thunderstruck. "My sister…" said Lily, anger rising in her, "kept my son in a cupboard under the stairs after I died? How did that happen? I would never leave my children in her care! Sirius was Harry's godfather, why didn't Sirius gain custody of him? What happened?"
"We will have to ask her," said James. They didn't bother looking at any of the other memories, they simply took them all back up to the dormitory and tucked them back under Luna's pillow. "Our granddaughter," said James as he ran a hand through his unruly hair, "Bloody hell, we're her grandparents, and she knows this! She's known it ever since her first day here and she never said a thing!"