Disclaimer: I only own the plot .
0 - 10. Choosing the Way
Petunia and Lucius decide to keep their relationship a secret. Even Lily is unaware of it.
Remus's excuses were now becoming useless, Lily was the only one who knew the truth. There Marauders had now stopped doing pranks on specific people. They now did their pranks only on death eaters. Their hatred towards Voldemort was increasing. At the same time they were now working on finding out the truth about Remus. In the last 3 months, they found out with the help of Lunar cycle that Remus is disappearing only on selected days. Now they were very close to the truth.
"Will I need help from Dumbledore?" Lucius asked. Petunia answered, "I don't know!" Actually Lucius was going to talk to Dumbledore a long time ago but last month he got the news that both his parents had been infected with Dragonpox, a deadly disease. Now it was up to him to kill both of them. "But still Lucius, who do you know? You are a Death Eater, and that too of the highest order. If you turn your back on him he will not hesitate to kill you. I am very scared Lucius." Petunia showed concern. Lucius hugged her and said, "Don't worry, I'll talk to him soon. Before the Christmas holidays." "Petunia, but if we stay together, your life will be in danger. I don't want to lose you." Petunia smiled, "Me neither, but I can take care of myself."
James is worried. What is the matter? He has started getting jealous of Severus. He and Lily spend a lot of time together. Those two? No!! But then what is the matter? One day Lily was going to the library with her sister Petunia. Lily and Petunia were sitting and talking about Severus. But luckily James was sitting near the shelf behind them and was reading about the Werewolf. Those three friends suspected that Remus was a werewolf and so, to get concrete proof, they decided to hunt Remus on the night of the full moon.
In the middle of all this, James heard Lily's voice. "Petunia, I'm scared. This Voldemort is just not right." "Don't mention his name, Lily." Petunia said authoritatively. "I'm not scared of him!!!!! It's just the name, and that too seems very made up, do you think that is his real name?" Petunia was very impressed on hearing this. "I'm just afraid of how he's preying on Muggles. He even attacked Cokeworth last week." Lily began to cry. "I don't want to lose my mom and dad like Severus, Tuny. I've seen Sev. He's not happy at all. He's just reading up on the Dark Arts so they can find a way to get Mrs. Snape out of her coma." Petunia hugged Lily. "This is a bad time Lily, but this will pass. I have heard that Dumbledore has formed his own army. After seventeen years of age, I too will became a part of it." Lily complained, "I want to join now." "I also want to do it now but first we have to become worthy of it. So work hard." James heard all this through another way and came out of Library.
James was now feeling ashamed. He used to bully an orphan. He decided that he would never tease Snape again. But he would not apologize either. He has become an orphan now, but he was no less before. He told everything to his friends. They all decided that they will all become part of Dumbledore's army. Their hatred towards Voldemort was increasing now.
"If he is really a werewolf, then we have to be careful. The three of us will follow him today under my dad's invisibility cloak." James said. "And yes, I remember the spells, several might be needed." Sirius said. The truth would be revealed tonight. At night they saw that Madam Pomfrey was taking Remus somewhere. They wore the cloak and began to follow. After some time, they saw that Madam Pomfrey went near the Whomping Willow and pressed a button near the charm. All the three friends were shocked to see the weakness of the willow.
Then Madam Pomfrey sent Remus to the secret path. After some time she left from there. Then the three of them went and found the button and went inside the secret path. After some time they saw that the path opened, to the Shrieking Shack. The most haunted place in Britain. They were waiting. And then they saw.
During the transformation, once came a moment when any part of the skin with clothes on it will leave a burning sensation that involuntarily caused the werewolf to remove the clothes ferociously tearing them away. The bones of the werewolf broke and reshaped in an unnatural manner as to shift to form a wolf skeleton, causing him immense pain. Later, he grew excessive body hair and became feral with huge glowing amber or red eyes and fangs, then in minutes, the werewolf became a wolf.
The transformation was so painful to watch. Remus's painful screams settled in their minds. The three stood there quietly. No one knew how Remus was enduring all this. It was good that they had learned a spell that would make their scent disappear for some time, otherwise they would have finished by now.
With the first rays of the sun, Remus turned back into human form. His condition was very bad. Today was Sunday. So those three were not even bothered about the classes. Remus fell asleep in deep sleep. In the evening when he opened his eyes, he found that someone had lit a fire in the fireplace which was making him feel warm. He could hear some noise. He woke up slowly. He found that someone had dressed him. He rubbed his eyes and then a cup came in front of him, which contained hot chocolate. "Drink it, you will feel good." This was James's voice.
Remus was stunned. "James!!!" He looked around and saw that Sirius and Peter were also there. "You guys are here!! How?" He was stammering. Now everything was over. Will they support him now? Is this the end of their friendship? James seemed to have read Remus's mind and said, "Don't worry, we have known for the last 2 months. And we don't care. We are your true friends." Remus started crying. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Sirius asked lovingly. "I thought you guys wouldn't stay with me. And you had also made a promise to Dumbledore. I am a monster, I can ruin your lives..." Remus started speaking. " You can do it, but you won't do it. " Peter said smiling. " Listen first Remus,It won't be like that. You're not some monster, you're a good person who loses control once a month. And we'll always be with you . " Remus realised that this was the same as Lily had said.
Remus happily took James' hand and stood up. Peter asked. "Now if you want, can you tell us how this happened?" Remus suddenly looked sad. "There is no compulsion," Sirius said. "No, the sooner I tell you the better." Remus decided. "If that's what you want, then it's alright." James patted his back. "I was five when my father made derogatory comments against Greyback. To take revenge, he sneaked into my room one night. He wanted to kill me, but Father came in time and saved me. But his job was done. He had bitten me." Remus said sadly. James's hatred for Greyback grew. "Who is this Greyback?" Peter asked. "A barbaric, cruel and demon. He's also a werewolf, but he's not just limited to the full moon. He's thirsty for blood. I've heard he wants to side with Voldemort as well." Sirius replied.
"Then what, at first I did not understand what was happening. In the beginning I used to have a lot of pain. Slowly I got used to it. But due to this condition my father did not allow me to meet anyone. I searched for a lot of treatment but nothing was of any use. When I was about to turn 11, I still did not have any friends. My parents were worried about how I would study now?"
James was very sad. Now he understood why he had not told anyone. He did not want to lose his friends.
"Mummy had decided to study at home, so both of them went to seek advice from Dumbledore. But Dumbledore gave me a place in Hogwarts. Made all the arrangements. And took a promise from me that I would not tell anyone." Remus completed his story.
Sirius understood, "How do you bear so much pain, I saw you!!" Remus was stunned, "What does saw mean!!!! How? You all were here. No matter how much danger there was, I could have taken your life. Or I could have bitten you." He got scared. "Calm down. Nothing like that happened. We were under the invisibility cloak." James reassured him. "Anyway, we had come fully prepared." Peter said.
"And yes, we will also stay with you." Sirius said. "No!!!! I won't do that." Remus shouted. "Don't worry, we will stay under James's cloak." Peter said. "But..." Remus started saying. "This is our decision and you cannot stop us." James said. "And we will find a permanent way soon. We have decided to read all the books about the werewolf." Sirius said. Oh my god!! Sirius wants to read the books. Then for some time the four friends started talking amongst themselves. Finally Remus started saying, "Hey James! Evans also told me the same thing that you said." James blushed, "But it means..." "Yes, she recognised it beforehand. And it doesn't matter to her either. If you want to be with her then stop hunting people. And become her friend first." James said, "But I won't spare these Death Eaters." And everyone went back to the common room.
"You have to go there today." Petunia requested. The thing is that Voldemort has decided to give Lucius the place of Abraxas this summer. "But what will I say to him? Please you also come with me." Lucius begged. Petunia thought for a while. And then said, "Okay." Both of them had decided to go to Dumbledore's office after classes today. On the way, they were talking about how Petunia would get selected in the Quidditch tryouts next year. In fact, this year she had been selected as the reserve chaser. And next year, after a seventh year chaser passes, she will become a part of the main team.
Usually the students didn't know the address of the Headmaster's office but Petunia had found out about it because of an accident that happened last summer. After going face to face with the Gargoyle, Petunia started naming different types of Muggle and Wizarding sweets. Lucius thought that maybe she had lost her mind. "Marsbar." And on this the Gargoyle opened and the secret was revealed. "Dumbledore loves all these sweets so he keeps them as passwords." Lucius's trust in Dumbledore was decreasing. Then both of them came in front of a door. Lucius knocked on the door and a calm voice said "enter".
Dumbledore was preparing for the next meeting of the Order when someone came to his door. "Good Evening, Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Evans" What a strange pair. Dumbledore thought to himself. Then he saw that both of them were holding each other's hands. "So why are you meeting me on such a beautiful day? Lemon drop?" Petunia took a candy which Lucius politely refused. "Er... Professor... actually..." Lucius was stunned. "I am telling you Professor. The thing is that Lucius was forcibly made a Death Eater by his father." Petunia said gesturing to Lucius. Lucius rolled up his shirt sleeve and showed the Death Eater the mark. Dumbledore was shocked. Yes Lucius had been behaving well the last few years but the fact that he would not want to become a Death Eater was something new. "Sir, the thing is that father has Dragon Pox so the Dark Lord is going to give me his place in his group till this summer. That's why I have come to ask for your help." Lucius continued. "If he joins then you know who will ruin his life and if he doesn't then he will end his life." Petunia said sadly.
"I understand what you are saying. But Lucius, there is something different about you. You have made a mistake. So I want to ask you an important question. Can you openly go against him?" Dumbledore said in a humble voice. Lucius was now in a dilemma. If he went against him, he would be able to stay with Petunia, but then Petunia's life would be in danger. And if not, he would have to torture innocent people. What should he do? Petunia was also waiting for Lucius' decision.
Dumbledore understood his dilemma and said, "I understand, my boy. It's a difficult task, but there is a middle way. You join their group, and return to the Light Side when Voldemort is fallen." Petunia said angrily, "You mean to use him as a spy?" "No, Petunia, Lucius will show it there and nothing else, but I need to have both Legilimency and Occlumency to prevent Voldemort from reading my mind." Lucius agreed. "And Petunia, this must have been a secret before Voldemort's fall. That's why you too will have to learn all of them." "But if you know who is never defeated?" Petunia asked. "That won't happen, we are working hard. Every evil has an end." Dumbledore said. "Are we both part of the Order now???" Lucius asked. "So you know about the Order. But no, you are only under my protection. Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Evans are too young to join the Order. If you all agree?" Dumbledore said. Both approved. "Then please come to my office on Saturday and Sunday at 6 pm."
This year Lucius found an excuse not to go home during the Christmas holidays. Lucius chose the beach route. Petunia is with him so he is able to do this.
Voldemort had called his close servants during Christmas. But not to celebrate the festival. "Actually I was going to give this to Abraxas but he is not here and Lucius also could not come. That is why Goyle, you keep it." Voldemort said while giving a diary to Goyle. Goyle understood that there was dark magic in it but he did not know what to do. "Keep it under control." Goyle bowed his head. "And Lestrange's my most loyal. You keep it under control." Voldemort gave him a cup. The Lestranges decided to keep it in Gringotts, while Goyle kept it in the basement of his house. Voldemort was now happy, his five Horcruxes were now safe. The diary was with Goyle, the diadem was in Hogwarts, the ring was in the Gaunt shack, the locket was in the cave and the cup was with Lestrange. Now only the last Horcrux was left to be made. And he wanted to make his last Horcrux by killing Dumbledore. Then no one would be able to say that he was scared of him.
The year was going well. Lucius and Petunia's Occlumency skills were getting better. However Severus was getting more and more into the dark arts and away from Lily. Lily was saddened by this and was getting closer to Remus and Marlene. The Marauders now only pulled pranks on potential Death Eaters. And yes, sometimes on teachers as well. Despite Sirius' many attempts, his relationship with Regulus never worked out. James was now becoming a good boy in Lily's eyes. To be honest, she had such feelings for James but never for anyone else. He was not a friend like Remus or Marlene, but not a brother like Severus. Yes, Sev was like a brother to her. In the midst of all this, Peter began to feel a little different and inferior to others and was slowly moving towards losing his way.
" I found it, I found it." Peter shouted. Just then Madam Pince asked him to keep quiet. "Look." He showed that page of the book to his other friends. Werewolf is not dangerous for animals. "But we are not animals," Sirius said. "But we can become one." James said after thinking. "No, you said...this can be dangerous." Remus tried to stop him. " We will decide this." Sirius said. The decision has been made, but how to become an Animagus. For this, we will have to get the book. "We can ask Pr. Kettleburn if we wants to know the difference between a real animal and animagus, and he'll sign it," Sirius said. And that's exactly what they did. They had received the book before the year was over, and the first thing they had to do was make a potion. They spent the night thinking about all the ingredients and the recipe, and decided that they would spend the holidays mastering the art of brewing. "The materials will be available at Potter manor. We just have to learn how to make it," James said. They would make the potion next year.
The last day of the year had arrived. Now when Lily and the Marauders were friends, they went out together. Then they also met Marlene. Alice and Petunia bid them goodbye. Lily asked Severus to come to the compartment, but after seeing James he left from there. Lily sighed. Making another excuse, Petunia went to meet Lucius. "We won't be able to talk through letters this year." Petunia said sadly. "I know." Lucius answered. There was less time. So Lucius kissed her. Petunia returned the kiss. The kiss was deep and passionate. "Keep your guard up." Petunia said as she hugged him. "You too" Lucius said and then he took leave for two months.