Disclaimer:
I solemnly swear that the literature and works of the Harry Potter Verse belong to JK Rowling, Bloomberg and Warner Bros. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...
Mischief Managed Damn It!
Title: Lily's Solution (Working Title)
Posted Date: July 12 2020
Tags: Badass Lily Potter, Harry not going to Hogwarts, alternate schooling, Hogwarts standards failing, MOB Dumbledore, selective bashing / character death
"Damn it!" Lily cursed quietly as she entered the safe-house, thanking Nelly the elf for taking care of Harry and then throwing herself into a chair, placing a hand to her head and silently applied a cooling charm to ease the headache that she was suffering from the latest meeting done for the day.
The meeting that occurred earlier in the day could only be summed up as a disaster; what with reports coming in about people disappearing and dying, the Aurors being overrun by Death Eaters, their own members getting systematically taken out through their missions or assassinations, everything was going into a blender to be mixed and spat out like every day rubbish. And if that was not bad enough, Albus Flipping Dumbledore insisted that they only use stunners and hexes to fight! Like that would help considering every time they stun one of the Death Eaters, the next one would just revive that guy and they would end up tag-teaming their group until they are dead. Lily kept pushing for more permanent solutions, but the damn wizard would just go on about 'giving them a chance to redeem themselves to the Light', and how she was going 'dark' with her actions. Her 'oh-so-dear' husband James Potter would listen to the man like some devoted follower and berate her for even thinking of such a 'dark' deed. To boot, only Alastor Moody and a few other hardened veterans, along with Alice Longbottom and other like-minded women, would agree with her on this matter, and that was after a lot of death when they arrived. Many of the women would think about their own children when they gazed upon the scene and would gladly end the Death Eaters in their tracks.
Oh, and for the cherry on top, Albus decided to throw in the bit that her son was apparently being targeted by the Dark Lord for being part of a prophecy supposedly to end his dark reign. This was only after Lily and Alice managed to strong-arm him into revealing the reason they had been stuck in warehouses for the past few weeks.
Now that was just bloody fantastic! And yes, she was being sarcastic about it!
It was with some heavy guilt that Lily felt partially relieved that she was not the only one to be stressed about the prophecy as Alice came soon after with tears pouring down her face and fearful for her Neville. Frank did his best to comfort the two while James did not seem that concerned on the idea that they could die, rather he appeared to be excited at the idea of his son being prophesied to end the dark lord. It was only with Remus, Sirius and Frank giving him a big knock on the head as one that he got his act together to try and consider options to save their children.
"Damn that blasted old man! To withhold this for so long, that habit of his would be the death of us all at this point!" Lily took a deep breath just as Nelly brought in a tea-set with a small of Fire-Whisky to add, knowing that Lily was tempted to have a drink. Lily held back for now, preferring the tea blend to control her senses, not to mention she needed her faculties to think this through.
This war was taking too long; it had been going on when she entered Hogwarts and erupted around her sixth year when Voldemort came out into the open, moving to an ongoing assault when she left and married roughly three years later. It felt like she barely finished her marriage ceremony with James when she had to grab her wand and start fighting the Death Eaters invading the wedding area. After that, it was an ongoing struggle to take them down, not helped when Albus "Must Redeem All" Dumbledore limited their attacks to non-lethal. Okay, she might understand one or two that might redeemable provided they genuinely meant it, but there was no way on this planet that she would allow someone like Bellatrix Lestrange walk free to be redeemed!
With the prophecy added on, it just added a complexity that she really did not need at this point. Frank and Alice were worried sick about the idea that Neville would be targeted, and that Dumbledore evidently had no intention to tell them until they bullied him into talking. The worst part was when Lily had to seal the room off for privacy, she had found three listening charms that led to somewhere. No wonder they had so much trouble with their missions when they could not even secure their own meetings! There was too much to go on at this time.
As much as she wanted to say that James was reliable, she was not sure if he was truly up to the task. It appeared that with the war going on, it became a coping mechanism for James to regress a little back to his old self from Hogwarts, which while entertaining at times, was also a distraction at the worst of times. Sirius was no better, what with him constantly goofing around and having a trigger temper that made him suffer tunnel vision. Peter Pettigrew was also an odd one in the Order who might be a touch more useful than Mundungus Fletcher, which was not much to say the least. Remus would be her best bet, but he was sent out again to deal with the werewolf packs on Dumbledore's orders. She would like to consult with Alastor, but with how Dumbledore was keeping an eye on them, there was a chance that he would find out and restrict their actions, or worse, obliviate them.
No, she needed someone who was able to operate on the levels of Alastor Moody and Bartemius Crouch combined without too much of the ruthlessness; someone who could get in and out of warded areas without hassle; someone who was unconnected to the Order and in turn Dumbledore; someone with proper common sense and the ability to think out of the box.
Someone like…
Lily sat up straight as the metaphorical bolt of lightning hit her mind hard and lit the light bulb in her brain. There was someone who matched all those qualities and more importantly, could help her with protecting Harry.
Now where did she put her old address book?
~ooOOoo~
'Ding-Dong!'
Lily looked around her surroundings as she prayed that her fellow muggleborn was available. It took a bit of time to recall his old residence considering he had dropped off the grid sometime after graduating and joining the British Army, and then there was the matter of finding his new address and telephone number through the yellow pages. He was someone that Alastor Moody approved upon their first meeting for his amount of preparations and personality when it came to fighting; her friend did not subscribe to the ideal of stunning their opponents, he believed that such a thing was only meant for formal duels, training or minor crimes. For their war, he adopted a policy that could be summed up as 'You try to hurt me, I will kill you tenfold.' Something that Dumbledore definitely disapproved and tried to get him stopped through his proxies, going on about 'he would be killing their chances of being redeemed to the light' and then tried to label him as a vigilante 'for ending family lines'.
Too bad for the old man, her friend had figuratively flipped the bird towards him and in his absence somehow gained a role as a hit-man slash wizard, and as a liaison for the British Government, making him a very dangerous person to piss off. He used that and his military skills to his advantage by taking down as many Death Eaters as possible while providing information to the DMLE, often 'gift-wrapping' the few he captured alive with a bow on top and a note to Bartimus Crouch or Alastor as a joke.
Contrary to people's beliefs, Crouch and Alastor actually appreciated the humour. At one point when her friend delivered a member of Voldemort's Inner Circle to the DMLE, Crouch laughed out loud and yelled out his thanks before heading back into the office with a chuckle. The latter had laughed himself to the point that he needed a calming draught from Madam Pomfrey to control his laughter.
It was this set of skills and his knack for creating spells on the go that made him one of the deadlier fighters for the magic world, thus saving a good number of their members and families despite objections from Dumbledore on his methods. It was also those attributes Lily was now wishing heavily that he got an idea to help her save Harry.
It took her a bit longer than necessary to get in contact with him since his old number was removed and she had to contact Saul Croaker, the Unspeakable from the Department of Mysteries, to deliver the message to him since Saul was the only person connected to the two and she did not want to risk exposing her friend to the Death Eaters or Dumbledore. It then took another few days (unnecessary in her honest opinion) to actually go to him, due to more missions and Dumbledore's rather forceful attempts to get her family in another safe-house and under a Fidelius Charm. She had a few arguments with James on the security, choice of secret keepers and her attitude against Dumbledore, before slamming her way out of the house to avoid hexing him. It was only a few minutes later that she realized she was moving in the general direction of her friend and decided to capitalize on the moment, giving him a quick heads-up by a Messenger Patronus.
From what little she gathered, her friend apparently took up residence in a neighbourhood that was just before the boundary to the outskirts, and she would have likely missed it if not for the subtle wards testing her when she arrived. There was a well-hidden ward that would disable her magic if she came with ill intent, and with her temper on high, she forced herself to a brisk walk to his house and took the time to calm herself. She was really praying that he had a plan if only to flip the bird at James and Dumbledore's ideas of safety.
The sound of the door opening attracted Lily's attention only to have a glock pistol pointed at her head by the very person she was seeking. The young man certainly changed a lot from the scrawny kid since their days at Hogwarts, what with him having grown taller than her with a big frame straining his shirt, military pants that Lily could tell were woven with rune protections, his tanned skin and his hair having been given the military crew-cut treatment. The only thing that still remained more or less the same were his pair of mismatched eyes, his right eye having a bright sea-color blue while his left was a distinct yellow to the point of appearing gold.
"What was the first spell we discussed about during our third excursion of the library?" He asked with a deep baritone voice that briefly made Lily nostalgic since the last time they spoke to one another and thankful for her Occlumency as it was rather distracting to say the least, to the point of temporarily dispersing her ill temper.
"Hello, it is nice to see you too." Lily rolled her eyes but smiled at his bluntness while putting a hand on her hips. "It was the warding spell meant to guard small properties instead of houses. It was advanced even for fifth year students, let alone two first years starting on our education. You attempted to cast it with incorrect formulas and ended up with blue hair and purple polka dots on your skin for a week. Professor Flitwick was torn between taking points off you and laughing his head off. He ended up doing both and having to visit Pomfrey for busting a gut, while you took that week to curse those who made fun of you."
The man snorted as he lowered his gun. "Not one of my finest moments. Want to have a go?"
"My turn then." She flicked out a wand out at the ready while she considered her security question. "What happened in the month of November, third year?"
"A fourth year Ravenclaw named Klaus Benedict attempted to curse you with a disembowelling spell after you rejected him to go to Hogsmeade. While James Potter and Sirius Black took him and his buddies out with curses and a month's worth of pranks, you saw to it personally to almost end the Benedict line by kicking him in the jewels after reinforcing your leg." The man answered with a straight face. "He sucked at magic for his years but made a killing as an opera singer after your treatment. Albus Dumbledore then tried to pull his patented 'disappointed in you' grandfather routine to which you just ignored and ended up with detention for 'attempting to end a family line'."
"Too true." The young woman chuckled as she kept her wand and opened her arms. "Thanks for seeing me Derrick."
"Likewise, dear Lily, it has been a while." The now named Derrick holstered his gun and stepped forward to hug her tightly. "I barely get much chances to see you in the past few years, I will take what I can. Want some tea? I am lucky enough to have some blends including your favourite, not to mention some scones fresh out of the oven." A sudden growl made Lily wrap her arms around her stomach which decided to make itself known to the two of them, her face flushed with embarrassment as she glared at the offending organ.
"Not. A. Word." Lily let out a growl of her own to which Derrick merely smirked in mischief.
"Same old Lily. Come on in." Derrick opened the door wider to let Lily through and then shut the door. The moment it was closed a light orange glow appeared on her body before dispelling with a loud crack, followed by a brief glow of green.
"What was that?" Lily looked down in confusion.
"My security system if you would. It was to check if you have another tracking charms or compulsions that might made you come here unwillingly or you were carrying without knowing." Derrick answered while locking the door and pointing a thumb at the nearby counter where a pen was currently writing itself on a piece of paper. "While I doubt that any would stick to you once you entered the area, that will tell me if you have been under any recently. And that loud snap means that there was at least one that hung on until you step through."
"Still following that paranoia, I see." Lily raised an eyebrow. "Though I guess I should be thankful if what you just said is true."
"One way to find out." Derrick reached for the paper and looked at it, a frown appearing as he read on. "Oh boy."
"Let me guess, very bad?" Lily sighed heavily. Derrick replied by handing her the paper. Lily looked at it and in a few seconds her hair started rising due to the static generated from her magic. "That bloody goat wanking son of a bitch!"
"Eloquent as always." Derrick winced at both the volume and her choice of words. Lily ignored him as she glared at the paper as though she could awaken a power to burn the offender to ashes. That blasted old man kept on saying how some people could be so thoughtless as to place spells on others, yet he had no problems doing the same to her, using a combination of compulsions and partial memory wipes along with location spells on her. That hypocritical bastard!
That was not the only reason she was angry. Based on the placement of some of the spells being on her undergarments, they could only be applied in her room, which meant two possibilities. Either Dumbledore was so blatant and arrogant enough to walk through their house on the few times he visited and into her room to place them…
Or what was more likely as days gone by, her 'dear' husband James Bloody Potter would have placed them himself. The nerve of that man!
"And that would be enough."
Lily blinked at the choice of words before realizing that she was feeling a little calmer suddenly. She noted the odd scent of oranges before looking to Derrick who had an eyebrow raised. "Aerosol Calming Draught. Not as effective as taking the actual potion, but it does lower tempers enough to get things moving. Your magic was getting too agitated and I did not want to have my security take you out by mistake." Lily looked at him briefly before snorting and shaking her head, her anger being washed away by the hilarity of his preparations and slight melancholy of her situation. "Want to talk about it?"
"Some of the spells placed on me are very recent, roughly an hour or two." Lily began while Derrick guided her to his living room, one that was minimalist at first glance but with tasteful decorations and plants to give it a homely feel. "Not to mention the placement of the other location spells made it clear that James was the one who did them. He knows very well how I feel about those spells on my clothes without my knowledge. Maybe he wants to do this for safety but as of late it does not seem to be the case."
"I am not quite the person to speak in favour of Potter, so I won't say it." Derrick gave her a chair to sit in before going to the kitchen to grab a plate of scones and a pot of tea which he placed on a ceramic plate and pressed a rune to begin heating the tea leaves. "And if I am correct in guessing, the compulsions are from Dumbledore."
"Yes." Lily growled in irritation. "That damn old man is honestly pushing things too far. He is part of the reason I am here to see you."
"Very well." Derrick took a sip of his drink before leaning back in the chair and looking to her, summoning a notepad and pen to the table and then pressing a rune, creating a field of magic around the two that Lily could sense to be harmless. "I understand you are on a tight schedule, so I have just activated a time ward. We now have about 5 hours in this ward while 5 minutes pass outside. Lay it on me." With that provision, Lily had effectively unloaded all the activities she had done with the group, her frustrations and more importantly, the prophecy targeting her Harry. She was ever so thankful that she faked the taking of her oath which Dumbledore insisted they took when entering the order to supposedly help protect the citizens, but clearly meant to swear allegiance to him. Since it was done in a group, all she had to do was mouth the words, spell a lumos, shook her limbs slightly, and she pretended to have the oath enforced on her.
She did not go through Saul Croaker's lessons in the department just by looking pretty, thank you very much.
On his part, Derrick kept silent as he listened to her, only interrupting at brief points to confirm some bits of information that he did not know of from his own fights. After two hours of talking, Lily sagged in her chair and drank her tea, looking like a huge weight was removed from her shoulders, while Derrick was looking at the notepad that had their conversation recorded, deep furrows evident on his face as he scribbled at the sides.
"This is quite disturbing." Derrick eventually spoke out as he placed the pen down.
"Understatement of the year." Lily huffed at his words, but he shook his head.
"You know that I never liked Dumbledore even when we were in Hogwarts. I always felt something was off about him, even when everyone was saying that I was paranoid." Derrick took a bite of his scone with a touch more force than required. "But given what you have told me and how this war is heading, I am really getting bad vibes from this."
"Before I give out any ideas, we must confirm if this prophecy actually exists." Derrick looked to Lily. "Have you managed to confirm this with Croaker?"
"I did ask if there was a prophecy regarding Harry, and he replied that he would check. But they are having security issues on their end." Lily paused to give a wry smile. "He wanted me to pass on a message that he is torn between thanking you and hexing you for showing up with the traitor in their ranks."
"Tell him he's welcome." Derrick snorted. "Augustus Rookwood was one loose end that could not be allowed to live, what with him being one of the higher ranking Unspeakables. I know for a fact that he was after some of the other scrolls containing elder magic to aid the Death Eaters, at least I am letting Croaker deal with that."
"Yes, and the only thing I got from him is that Rookwood was going to spend some quality time as their new crash test bitch." Lily remarked. "But we are getting off track."
"Indeed." Derrick tapped the notepad at a particular sentence. "This prophecy also applies to Frank's and Alice's kid, Neville was it?" Lily nodded while Derrick tapped a bit harder while thinking.
"So Dumbledore has withheld the prophecy until you guys wrestled it out of him, and now he is insisting on placing you and the Longbottoms into another set of safe-houses, this time with Fidelius Charms attached to them. And rather than have yourselves or each other as the secret keepers, he wants himself or others to take up the role." Derrick looked at Lily grimly. "Tell me I am crazy, but it sounds like he wants you guys to be more vulnerable by removing any sources of interactions and help along with outside information and the possibility of keeping each other safe at the same time."
"I wish I could say that, but it does feel that Dumbledore is trying to kill us." Lily gripped her hands tightly. "I really do not want to think of the worst-case scenario on this."
"Then let me voice out my thoughts, if only to have some idea to cover our bases." Derrick took a big gulp of the tea before sighing. "First and foremost, I find it suspicious that a Death Eater just happened to be at the time when Dumbledore hears the prophecy. Where did he hear it?"
"You won't believe this. Dumbledore was evidently performing an interview at the Hog's Head with someone regarding the Divination Course when it was given, and that the Death Eater was listening outside the door when Aberforth threw him out of the pub for eavesdropping." Lily could only nod at the incredulous expression on Derrick's face. "That was my reaction."
"That makes it even more suspect about the situation. I understand the course has not been updated for some time and that he was going to abolish it. What are the odds that the prophecy is phony?" Derrick asked after shaking his head.
"Exactly, not helped when I figured out who took the post." Lily let out a snort of derision. "It is Sybill Trelawney."
"Trelawney... That is a family of Seers if I recall. But isn't the line almost Squibbed out?" Derrick asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Her mother was often called 'The Last Seer' since she was the one with the Gift. Sybill on the other hand is known to be dramatic with less-than-stellar grades, and a bit of a drinker. Considering the interview, there is a chance that she could have faked it." Lily answered.
"If that is the case, this makes things worse as she could be screwing you guys over just so she could hang on to a job." Derrick made a note that Lily read upside down about checking Sybill's authenticity. "We will get to that in a short while. Did Dumbledore tell you who was the Death Eater?"
"Nope, and this is one bit that he was really tight-lipped on. The only thing he said was that the Death Eater who had heard it regretted his decision and had turned spy for us. I still find that suspicious but he would not budge on it." Lily looked at Derrick who had an unreadable expression at her words. "You know who it is."
"Not so much of knowing, more like good guessing. Although in this case I am praying to be wrong." Derrick sighed and stayed silent for a moment before looking up. "It could be Severus Snape." Lily felt a pang of pain, anger and light regret hearing that name. She and Severus Snape were once friends growing up, but the few years after being sorted into two houses known for their rivalry, their differing opinions on the Dark Arts, his choice of companionship with those who would now be known as Death Eaters, the bullying done by James, and other smaller issues, it all came to a head around their fifth year when she tried to help him from James's bullying only to have it returned by him snapping at her and calling her that foul name. She broke their friendship off on that day and did not look back on it too much, only briefly falling into a light depression at how her once friend have fell into the tough crowd and been seduced by the Dark Arts to become one of them.
It was in a way, very hurtful for her memories of him.
"... Is there a chance that you could be wrong?"
"I am thinking so, if only for your sake." Derrick answered bluntly, knowing about her relationship with the person in question. "The problem is the timing. I know that Snape was a junior Death Eater around that period and has been seeking an incentive to be brought into the Inner Circle. While I highly doubt that he knew about Harry at the time, that supposed prophecy would be a good ticket to his entry." He took another sip of the tea to quench the thirst. "It would only be after the birth of Harry and Neville that he would realize his mistake, and considering you will be the likely casualty, he would have gone to Dumbledore in hopes of saving you at least."
Lily sighed again, knowing that was likely to be the case with her old friend. There was 'something' that did make her feel a little uncomfortable back then but she had ignored it to stay friends with him. It was only after she broke off their friendship that the 'something' became a bit more defined in the form of Snape following her in attempts to reconcile, and a light in his eyes that made her feel that he was somewhat looking through her clothes. And he did not hide his increased hatred for James when they got married.
"Moving on. There is also the odd location to do a job interview. It is weird doing it in a bar where people can overhear conversations even in a private room, at a time where secrecy is required, and the fact that a job interview for a course should have been done in Hogwarts." Derrick tapped the pen on the paper thoughtfully. "He can't very well say that he was doing it out of convenience of Sybill, there is something else going on." Derrick shook his head after a while. "I might come back to that later."
"Considering what little you gathered from Dumbledore, this prophecy, if it exists, likely refers to Harry and Neville as possible candidates to beat the Dark Lord, possibly based on their births given the time range from when you started hiding in safe-houses. He is limiting your mobility to go about your missions, your options to be hidden and in turn makes you completely dependent on him to keep you safe. Options that are reliant on people that may get caught or turn traitor and give out your secrets." Derrick gripped his fists tightly as the cogs in his head churned out an idea that was very unpleasant. "I am hoping that he is not this bad; I think he is setting you guys up."
"You had that thought as well?" Lily sounded resigned. "You want to walk me through your thinking? Maybe there is something we can prove otherwise?"
"Dumbledore is not doing enough to stop this war, people are dying and demanding immediate results yet he is limiting your attack options to stunners. The Ministry is pretty much divided between the Death Eaters and the defenders, with Crouch serving as the main protector for his ruthlessness. Dumbledore wants to end the war quickly on his own terms, but that is not working with his usual modus operandi. And while Crouch's methods are working, the fighters on our side are dropping and they are getting pushed into a corner." Derrick talked out loud his thoughts on the matter, his mind going through scenarios that could happen at any moment. "Now in this dark hour, along comes a prophecy that supposedly states that a child is meant to go against the main villain. Depending on the wording, it could be something along the lines of 'only the child being able to defeat the bad guy', the person that so far no one else can. What do you think will happen in that scenario?"
"Considering the current state, such a child would become the rock star of the magical world." Lily cupped her face in her hands in frustration. "Either Harry or Neville would be famous overnight."
"Exactly, and with both children being of 'Light' Families" - Derrick snorted at the labels given - "they can become targets for both sides, either for control or to eliminate." He raised a hand to stop her potential retort. "I know it is unpleasant, but hear me out first. With that much riding on the kids and the potential to rid the world of the bad guy and shape the world in whatever manner they want, it does point to Dumbledore wanting to gain control of them or something related to them. The only ones standing in his way of ending the war on his own terms?" He pointed to her with a single finger to give the answer.
There was only one thing Lily could say to that.
"Fuck!" She threw her arms up in the air. "I was afraid you would give that answer. This is exactly how I am thinking as a worse case. Especially with the compulsions that were on me, it is like he primed them ready for the event the bloody death eater come knocking on my front door."
"I am only basing this on what I got. Again, we need to hear the actual prophecy to get the wording. I will try to get Croaker; you do the same but try with the others as well. Think you can force Dumbledore's hand again?" Lily shook her head at his query.
"We managed to wring it out of him but he did not give the wording, and considering how close lipped he normally is, he might consider obliviating us just to keep his secrets, and maybe add his own twist to it."
"I see… Croaker would be our best bet." Derrick hummed before raising a finger. "Dumbledore is trying to install a Secret Keeper for you guys, have you made your choices?"
"Well I would like it to be either James or myself, or even Alice or Frank." Lily admitted with a sigh. "But Dumbledore insist on a different person altogether. I know that Frank and Alice are willing to let Augusta be their Secret Keeper, because let's face it, no one wants to go against one of the Five Battle Axes of Scotland." Derrick unsuccessfully stifled a snort at the title. "They should be safe to some extent. For us, James wants to get one of the others to do it, against my better judgement."
"One of his Marauders then." His lip curling lightly gave away Derrick's thoughts on the matter. "Well logically, it would be either Black or Remus. Those two should be ideal." He paused with a thought appearing. "Then again, with their penchant for pranks and misdirection, Potter or Black would go with the unlikely choice." Lily look confused before comprehension dawned on her.
"Peter?! You think they would use Peter for the secret keeper?!" Lily exclaimed at that, to which Derrick shrugged.
"I am thinking how they would go about about it. Sirius Black, the 'white' sheep of the Black Family. Known prankster and sworn brother to James Potter, to the point of running away from his house to the Potters. His loyalty has been known since Hogwarts and carried on to their jobs as Aurors." Derrick started talking. "Remus Lupin, the smart and quiet kid who knows how to get away with pranks. If Potter and Black are the front-runners, he would be the brains and silent partner, rarely getting caught. With his strengths of the lycanthropy, he has an added advantage to pick out anyone trying to catch him and thinks of Harry as his pack. He would be my first choice honestly."
"In a way, he can be, especially after you helped clear the air on his allegiance and loyalty." Lily gave a smile at that.
"Honestly, just because he is a werewolf and not in contact for a while, does not mean he is turning 'dark'." Derrick rolled his eyes and did the finger quoting action. "And I find it very odd that Dumbledore did not defend one of his pet students considering he was the one sending Remus to all those areas outside Britain to contact the werewolf packs."
"It did bug me about that. The others were too ready to blame him for some reason." Lily agreed on his words before pausing. "Wait a minute, would this tie in to earlier?"
"In a way, yes. I believe that Dumbledore is trying to limit your options for protection, including a werewolf who has been doing all he can to aid you but gets sent out to far-off locations where communication would be limited, and would you bet that the old man would tell him to not make contact on grounds of 'protecting information'?" Derrick raised an eyebrow before continuing. "We can continue on that later."
"Finally, we have the last member of the Marauders, Peter Pettigrew. Honestly speaking, he is the least notable member of the group, the small one and the most skittish. The first one to get frightened easily, he seeks protection from those with power." Derrick took another sip of the tea to quench his throat. "With all of that, whom would one believe to be the Secret Keeper for a Fidelius Charm? Sirius Black, sworn brother to James Potter? Or Peter Pettigrew, the nervous kid and odd one out of the group?"
"... James and Sirius would probably do that, for some bright idea of getting one over You-Know-Who." Lily palmed her face at the idea of her husband doing that. "It is possible to work, certainly crazy enough of an idea to work, but I do not know about the success rate. There is too much riding on that to work without issues."
"It depends on who is casting the charm and who are around." Derrick pointed to her again. "From what I know, you have the capabilities to cast the charm, and then we have Dumbledore. Considering his insistence, I would bet that he wants to know who would be the keeper, and likely he would perform the charm itself. He could even insist on knowing the secret on grounds of protection."
"Yes, on that bit, he really wanted the secret on paper." The frown got grimmer on Lily's face. "Shit, it does seem that he wants us under his control and maybe out of the way. Normally a charm like that is effective by word of mouth or a cipher spell, anyone can grab the paper and say the secret out provided it is freely given." She took a big gulp of her tea, not caring that it was lightly scorching her throat as she needed to process her thoughts on this.
"Lily, this might sound very paranoid of me, but have you written out your will?" Derrick asked with a major frown. "And per chance does Dumbledore know about it?"
"We did the initial orb-wills in Gringotts when Harry was about to be born and then another revision after his birth, I think Dumbledore knows about James's orb. Mine has been updated at least five times times since then." Lily answered. "Though if we are going under a Fidelius Charm, we may need to update it again."
"When you do update your wills, make sure to have copies and include whatever details relating to the circumstances. See if you can get a copy of it sent directly to Barty Crouch as one of the contingencies. Also, if you are forced into hiding, try to find a way to double-check on your wills. With how you guys would be cut-off from the world, there is a possibility that your wills could be subverted." Lily looked at Derrick with horror at his words. "Yes, I know that this sounds unbelievable and stinks of conspiracy, and I really hope to be wrong and not want to put undue stress on you right now. But I am thinking out of the box on this; I rather go overboard with your protection and not need it, than to be left wanting when it could have been implemented." Lily could not help the chill down her spine as she considered his words and the ideas that had popping in her mind since she heard of the prophecy. There was a fair amount going on that she was having issues trying to wrap her head around, and it did not help with Dumbledore acting more cagey than usual. She wanted to refute Derrick's words, but something held her back.
A memory of when Dumbledore came to visit them after Harry's birth…
A memory of the old man asking oddly specific questions about Harry…
A memory of an odd light in his eyes as he looked at the boy performing unusually strong accidental magic with a rather hungry look…
"Lily!"
Lily blinked as the face of her friend filled her vision, concern evident on his face. It was when she realized that she was now on the ground with him holding her tightly, the cup of tea having been dropped to the ground.
"Deep breaths, Lily! Take them slowly!" Derrick carried her to the couch to lay her down on it. "Here, take the draught." Lily took the draught handed to her and took a sip, immediately calming down from the panic settling in. "I am so sorry. I did not mean to unload that type of information on you."
"A little bit, but I think I needed it." Lily took another gulp of the draught to better control her emotions. "Something about your thoughts reminded me of the times Dumbledore came to check on Harry sometime after his birth. I did not think too much at the time, but there was something about his eyes and behaviour when he visited Harry and Harry performed magic, it was a bit… disturbing. That was what got me thinking about another bit."
"Alice is Harry's sworn godmother while Sirius is his godfather. In the event something happens to James and me, they are the first ones to gain custody of Harry. I am Neville's godmother in the same manner." Lily took a deep breath to steady herself. "If what you say is true, if Dumbledore wants to gain some influence over them, the worse he could do would be to eliminate us all to ensure no one can gain custody." It was clear even with the calming draught, Lily was on the verge of bursting into tears. "He would also need to have some control over our wills. If he were to use the Wizengamot to seal off our wills, no one will know anything as he could easily declare himself magical guardian with all the crap going on. Then again, if he tries to subvert the wills with his own version, Harry could be placed under the control of one under his command."
"And that is why you need to confirm about your wills." Derrick sat down by the chair next to the couch so that he could look at her while she laid down. "Look, I did not mean to frighten you. You know my style; I am practically pulling an Alastor Moody out of my ass just to keep people alive. I don't want you and Harry to die, as well as Frank and Alice. And I suppose" Derrick grumbled lightly "James Potter should be protected as well." His words meant a lot to Lily, and at the same time put a light smile on her face despite the situation.
"You still do not like him all these years, do you?" That question earned her a deadpan expression from Derrick.
"You know very well that my relationship with the Marauders are not that great. With the exception of Remus, the rest of them are not people I would associate on a daily basis." Derrick huffed. "No matter how much people tell me they have changed from Hogwarts, I have a better shot being friends with Snape, and that guy hates my guts almost as much as Black." Lily winced at that answer, knowing that to a certain extent it was true. For whatever odd reason, Snape hated Derrick on a level he reserved for James and Sirius, a behaviour that made many wonder why he hated the Ravenclaw considering his attitude was very different from the Maruaders.
"Anyway, that does not matter right now." Derrick shook his head. "We need to do as much prep-work as possible before you leave, for I know, I may not get a chance to see you in person any time soon."
"Agreed, what do you have in mind?" Lily asked. Derrick looked at the notes one more time before nodding.
"Here is what I got so far…"
~ooOOoo~
(Halloween, 1981)
Lily panted as she got up the stairs and made her way to Harry's room, activating the multiple runes that littered the corridor leading up to it. She reached the room and closed it shut, reinforcing and barricading the door before going to the dresser and leant on it, silently trying to contain her tears and pain while mentally thanking Derrick for the backup plans they made for the occasion.
It was about a day after her discussion with Derrick that the Potters finally went about selecting their Secret Keeper for the Fidelius Charm, and right off the bat, James and Sirius suggested the ruse of using Peter as the real keeper while Sirius acted as the decoy. Lily had kept an eye on Dumbledore as they spoke of it, and barely held back the shiver at the gleam of light in his eyes. It was a further test of her Occlumency when they did the ritual, and while the others did not see it, Lily had a good look at the smug satisfaction on his face before he wiped it off. It was a good thing that she had haggled James into updating their wills again in order for her to insert the extra details to ensure people know about their secrecy. She even took the chance to ensure that one copy of the will was to be sent to Barty Crouch along with one vial containing the memory of the ritual conducted.
After that, it was a couple more months of exchanging ideas and equipment with Derrick and Croaker who had been brought in to help out (not before hexing Derrick for the paperwork the young man gave the Unspeakable for exposing Augusta Rookwood, much to Lily's amusement). It was amazing and a touch scary seeing two people with very different methodology discuss ways of taking down their separate enemies in the most efficient, if not downright insane, methods imaginable as they gave her all sorts of items to booby-trap her residence.
On the home-front, things have gotten very tense between her and James. He did not like how Lily kept disobeying Dumbledore's orders to stun or disarm their enemies, or how she kept questioning him on their protections. Ad perhaps one of the more silly notions in Lily's opinion, James did not like how she was 'getting closer to the silly Ravenclaw' as he referred to Derrick in the past. Their arguments had been getting louder and a couple of times Lily had to spend nights alone with Harry to ease him into sleep. Even at a young age, Harry was quite in tuned to his surroundings and knew something was making them upset.
Lily had gone through with the plans to ensure that Harry was safe and their orb-wills were to be read upon their deaths. It was a good thing that she got a chance to get out of the house and visited Gringotts as she had discovered, much to her anger, that Dumbledore had attempted to replace their orb-wills with a handwritten version that stated that he was the only one to gain custody over Harry and all of his assets, along with a notation that upon his death all the money would be split evenly between him and the Weasleys. It was with some pain and effort that she got James to come along to fix this, playing with the idea on how he was acting strangely around their last fight with some Death Eaters and urged him to go and see a healer for any mind-altering charms.
It was perhaps with a great deal of relief to Lily to have James acting somewhat normal after the curse-breaking and healing sessions that saw the removal of multiple potions and compulsions. James was understandably worried and pissed at Dumbledore having done this to him, and sought to get their wills fixed and updated to the latest, before helping Lily with the preparations of the traps. He was however still reluctant to work with Derrick, and only did so at her insistence. There was also the issue of his attitude that was still there even after the removal, which meant that James had actually regressed and it did not help her mood much.
Their preparations were completed in the nick of time, as on Halloween night, Voldemort had appeared on their front yard in Godric's Hollow and blasted the front door down, not before setting off the traps that engulfed the area in fire. James had stuck behind to grant her time, but from the sound of it, he had fallen to the mad man. Lily could only pray that the next set of traps were ready.
The sounds of explosions rocking the corridor and cursing broke her thoughts, making Lily go to the corner to avoid the obvious attack coming. Just in time as the door got blown off, hitting the wall at the far end as Voldemort walked in with his robes torn and some cuts bleeding. With his hood removed, Lily could see how the years of dark rituals had ravaged what could have been a handsome face, his crimson eyes looking and settling on her with glee and a touch of rage.
"Good evening , Lady Potter. I must say, your welcoming could use some improvements." Voldemort spoke with the air of one commenting on the weather. "As much as I enjoyed that, I have better things to do." His cursory glance made his eyes narrowed in suspicion before focusing back on her. "For starters, where is your son?"
"If you wanted to meet my son, you have to make an appointment." Lily smiled defiantly at him. "He is not here for the time being, sorry for the wasted trip." She barely answered before jumping out of the way from the torture curse he sent her way. Rolling across the ground, Lily fired off a few curses at the man who flicked them away contemptuously and sent out a wave of energy that sent her flying to the wall, lightly cracking it from the impact while she gasped in pain. Before she got a chance to move, a sharp pain went through her body like electricity going through her spine and she was squirming on the floor in agony, her wand rolling to the side.
"Really, women." Voldemort released the spell and rolled his eyes at her. "I am actually being generous right now. Normally I would end your life by now, but you have been promised to someone, a person with rather greasy hair in my opinion. I don't grant requests that often, so I would really appreciate it if I did not have to hurt you too much."
"I see, so Snape had asked for me huh?" Lily spat partially to clear the blood out of her mouth from biting too hard, and in part to curse her once old friend in contempt. "He really has lost it."
"Not my problem, my dear." Voledmort raised his wand again, ready to fire off another curse. "Now time is wasting, tell me where is your son?"
"Well away from you." Lily answered and got another Crucio for her troubles, mentally praying that the next trap would be sufficient to buy time for the next bit.
"My patience is growing thin." Voldemort snarled while the tip of his wand glowed green. "Where. Is Your. Son?" Lily could not answer even if she wanted to; the pain coursing through her body was excruciating indeed to earn the curse its title. She panted heavily as her eyes flicked to the cupboard behind him before going back to him.
"Oh…" Voldemort noted her action and turned slowly while maintaining the wand on her. "A classic I see. Hiding your child in the cupboard." His eyes flicked back to her while a smirk grew on his face at the sight of her wide eyes of fear and her increased struggle to move. "I might as well let you see the last moments of your son." With a flick of his wand, Lily was levitated and stiffened against the wall, her eyes wide open at the cupboard upon which Voldemort made his way to. With deliberate movements, he laid his hands on the door handles, paused for a moment, and with a flourish threw them open…
'CRASH!'
Only to get a jar swing down from the top and smashing him in the chest, covering him in a tar like potion.
"GAH!" Voldemort cursed as the liquid went into his eyes and gave it a burning feeling. With a snarl, he turned to face Lily only to find her released from his binding spell and holding a lighter in her hand.
"As Derrick would put it." Lily lit the lighter with a smirk. "Yippee Ki Yay, motherfucker." She flicked it before activating her shield rune on her necklace. A spark appeared between them before the entire room exploded in a fireball of flames, blowing the windows and parts of the ceiling off from the force. Lily herself got knocked off her feet and sent flying out of the room, through the wrecked corridor and down the stairs, finally coming to a stop at the bottom. Lily groaned as the shield flickered and broke down, the rune stone on her necklace crumbling from the over-exertion to protect her. She may have underestimated the force of the blast that came from that potion mix of whatever combustible ingredients she could get her hands on along with some nitroglycerin courtesy of Derrick's military connections, but it should at least injure Voldemort greatly if not kill him outright.
She was just glad that Harry was placed somewhere else under another Fidelius charm to protect him.
Lily slowly got up to her feet and made her way to the front door, pausing to see the body of her husband on the ground, his eyes wide open and glazed over and a small trail of blood from his mouth. Lily went to him and checked for a pulse, scrunching up her eyes at the lack of it. Even if he was still alive, the cuts and curses on his body along with the bleeding made it impossible for him to live long enough for her to get him to Saint Mungo for treatment. She did feel sorrow for her loss, but a small part in Lily's mind felt the loss was not as painful as one would think; despite appearances, they had their arguments on and off, and even with the potions and compulsions removed from James, his attitude towards certain people and his ignorance to anything muggle was grating to say the least.
Lily decided to worry more on that later, she needed to get to Harry.
With that thought and a hand closing James's eyes, Lily got up and went out of the front door and to the front yard that had definitely seen better days, what with the craters in the grounds and bushes on fire. Lily did do a double-take at seeing Peter on the ground, bleeding out from the stumps of what used to be his legs. Lily did not fight the compulsion to go and kick him in the jewels, getting some sense of satisfaction from hearing his yelp of pain. Oddly enough, this may have saved her as her second kick went high and caused her to fall to her side just as a green beam of light flew past her head. With a touch of dread, Lily turned to find Voldemort barely standing on his legs, with a fair amount of his robes destroyed from fire or the shredding effects, his body bleeding heavily and missing an arm, and a good deal of rage keeping him upright.
"You. Damn. Mudblood!" Voldemort seethed as he made his way to her, the rage and adrenaline giving him strength to move and firing a spell at her to stop her movements. "That was your worst mistake. I am going to make you suffer a great deal for what you did to me. First, I will tear the location of your son out of your mind, then I will make you watch as I demonstrate how I would keep torturing him and keep him alive enough to last until I end him, and then I will hand you over to my men for their enjoyment." Voldemort stopped at where she laid and directed the wand at her head. "I will at least try to keep my promise to Severus to have you alive, but he did not state that I have to keep your mind intact." The wand glowed a crimson red in preparation of hurting her. "Any last coherent thoughts?"
"Not from her, but I do."
'BANG!'
A loud gunshot reverberated in the night, followed by a scream of agony as Voldemort dropped to his knees and looked at the stump of his wand hand, his wand having become splinters among the blown off flesh. Lily did not look for too long as she got lifted and sent to the arms of Derrick who caught her while maintaining a gun on Voldemort. After a quick check on her, Derrick handed her to a man who was next to him in military slags and took her to safety. Without hesitation, he fired his gun to have two severing spells hitting the dark wizard in the legs, forcing him to have no limbs to move about.
"Who dares to attack me!" Voldemort roared as Derrick got into his view, the mirrored shades reflecting the light of the fire around him.
"That would be me." Derrick pointed the gun at him. "I doubt you know me by sight, but some of your Death Eaters do from my little hunts."
"You…" Voldemort growled like an angry animal. "You are that hit-wizard who acts as messenger boy for the British Muggle Government, you have been taking down my men for all this time."
"Got it in one. Now if you don't mind, I will need you to be silent so that I can read you your rights." Derrick fired off a silencing charm before reciting his rights, just in case he got arrested and needed to show that he had followed procedures. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can, and will, be used against you in court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you." Derrick paused before smirking as he removed the charm. "Anything you want to say?"
"You cannot hold me. The Dementors are under my command, Azkaban would merely be my next home." Voldemort boasted with a sneer. "And even if you managed to keep me behind bars or consider killing me, it would be futile. I have studied and undergone rituals that transcend life-and death. I alone have gone beyond what most would deem acceptable. I have achieved true immortality! You may have stopped me now, and perhaps would send for my death." Voldemort looked Derrick in the eye with a dark chuckle. "But you are but a small particle of sand in time. You will grow old and perish, whereas I can live forever. I am patient enough to wait for you all to fall, and then I will return to destroy everything you hold dear, and I will get my hands on the boy. So go ahead, do your worst." At that Derrick leaned forward slowly, until Voldemort could see his reflection on the mirrored shades.
"That's fine with me, because just like you, I can be very patient myself." Derrick maintained his tone and expression while speaking. "I figured you would do something to maintain your longevity, you are not the first dark lord to do this. Based on your words, I can think of a few." Derrick straightened himself while taking out a medallion. "Thank you for confirming my suspicions though. With that, I can afford to be a little heavy-handed in dealing with you. I will be seeing you in the near future. Until then." Derrick fired off a petrification charm to freeze Voldemort before dumping the medallion on him, transporting him to a safe location with a loud pop.
"Sir, we have taken into custody one Peter Pettigrew and retrieved the available evidence." The man from earlier came forward. "Our officers are already setting up a perimeter and going through the area for other suspects. Philip and his team are now handling the house to retrieve James Potter and any other people inside."
"Good work, Carlos." Derrick checked his gun before holstering it. "Get someone to transport Lily Potter to the safe house and ensure that she gets medical care. If she asks for communication to get her son, do so but ensure no one can listen in. After that, set up the checkpoints and the marshallers. Expect people to come here within the next few minutes. Prepare for the ones of the Order to force their way."
"Right away sir!" Carlos gave a quick salute before rushing off to complete the orders. Derrick sighed and cracked his neck before looking back at Godric Hollow where Philip's team were preparing to move the body of James Potter out. Derrick knew this was not going to be the end of the matter; Lily and his crew may have dealt with Voldemort for now, but there was still the issue of Death Eaters out there wrecking havoc and likely a lot more with Voldemort out of the picture, not to mention the possibility of Dumbledore doing something to get his hands on Lily and Harry. He would need to make contact with Frank and Alice Longbottom to at least ensure Neville was safe before moving on with other plans.
"I am so going to need a drink after this."