A/N: I won't do a lot of these, but I'd just like to point out a few things. First, I'm not a writer. I don't think I'm very good but I read a lot and have lots of ideas buzzing around my head. This isn't beta'd (hey, if you feel like you like my story so far feel free to PM me!) so there may and probably will be mistakes. I'll fix them though. Anyway, please let me know what you think, I'm interested to know. The world is Rowling's, I'm just borrowing it a little, not for profit; of course.
Unexpected Visitor
Chapter 1
"James Potter!" Came the distinct shout of his wife from downstairs.
James was currently in his son's room, changing the colour of the walls with a flick of his wand; to his sons great amusement. The little 1 year old's head quickly looked towards the semi-open door that led out onto the landing at the sound of his mother's voice. His father on the other hand jumped slightly and dropped his wand.
He knew that shout, it was the 'you're in a whole world of trouble' shout. It scared him a little, if he was honest; not that he would ever tell his wife. Lily had a temper that could rival a dragon if pushed.
"If your mother asks, it wasn't me." He whispered to Harry as he picked him up and carried him towards the stairs at the end of the landing. Harry just gave a little laugh and started playing with his father's hair. As the pair got to the bottom of the stairs James stopped suddenly, looking towards the end of the living room where Lily Potter was standing. It wasn't large by any means, but it was warm and homely. With a small plushy sofa in front of a red brick fireplace and a small high back matching chair to the side. The Potter's didn't need much, they had each other and more importantly they had Harry.
Lily was glaring daggers in James' direction, arms crossed and a stance of 'you're in trouble'. James, wanting to try and diffuse it quickly walked forwards slowly. "Hey Lily, what's the-" He started, quickly clamping his mouth shut as Lily made towards him, wand in her hand.
"Don't you 'what's the matter' me James! What have I told you about leaving that stupid mini-broomstick floating around the place?!" She yelled. "I almost broke my neck, again!" She added, glaring harder; if that was possible.
James paled, he had forgotten about that.. He was trying to teach Harry how to hold on to the broom on his own, he was sure he was going to be a natural. James had a big fantasy about Harry being a Quidditch star and going to all the games to watch him and cheer his son on. It was a father's dream. Lily chastised him constantly about it, women would never understand.
Pulling his thoughts back to reality he gave his wife a winning smile. That usually did the trick, the Potter charm nearly always worked. Well, most of the time. On others that weren't Lily.
"Oh, Harry must have been playing with that.. Little man can't keep away-" He was saying until the look on this wife's face once again shut him up. His smile slowly crumbling. Harry on the other hand had stopped playing with his father's hair and turned his small head to look at him, a clear look of traitor written on his face.
"Don't you dare blame his on Harry. Quit trying to force your idiotic fantasy on him, he's 1 years old James." Lily said, her temper already seeming to disappear as Harry looked over when she said his name. His face instantly lit up and he held his small hands out to her. Lily smiled and lifted him from James' arms and moved over to the sofa. James, who was apparently instantly forgotten by the other two followed and sat on the small comfy chair to the side, watching Lily play with Harry; all anger and annoyance at him gone in an instant. Often when Lily got mad at him he would go grab Harry. Lily couldn't resist him and her mood always brightened just at the sight of her son.
Lily had Harry on her lap facing her, wiggling his hands up and down making Harry laugh and then letting Harry repeat it using her hands. James loved watching them both, Lily would sooner give up her magic then let anything take Harry away. Harry took after James, with his black messy hair but he had his mother's bright green eyes. They both carried on for a while, doing more silly hand gestures or making weird faces at each other. The blissful sounds of Harry laughing and trying to talk to Lily was great. He couldn't ask for more. Well.. Maybe he could, being hunted by the darkest wizard of their age was something he'd rather not have over his head.
They were currently in hiding, Dumbledore had found them a small cottage on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow and with his help had set up the Fidelius charm. Dumbledore had wanted Sirius, James' best friend to be the secret keeper but James and Sirius argued that it would be too easy for Voldemort to work out and track Sirius down, he was a big target anyway. Sirius was a strong dueler, he wouldn't go down easily and could probably run for a long time before they finally caught him.
So they picked their other friend, Peter; he was less of a target. He wasn't very good with magic to begin with which made him less of a target. Why would you pick someone weaker than someone else to protect a secret? James just wished they didn't have to pick anyone, that they didn't need to be hauled up in here with only the occasional visitor. No one had visited in awhile either, James wasn't one to be stuck inside for long periods. He was an Auror, a fighter. He should be out there fighting Voldemort. He instantly felt guilty thinking that, what would Lily do if something happened to him? Who would keep her safe? It was a nightmare he had every now and then where he would wake up in a cold sweat only to look down next to him to see his sleeping wife, safe and sound.
"James?" A distant voice said quietly, pulling him from his thoughts.
"Mhmm..?" He said, lifting his tired eyes up to meet his wife's bright green ones. He must have zoned out in the chair watching them.
"There's someone at the door." She whispered to him.
James was instantly awake, standing up quickly reaching from his wand. Only to find it not on his person. Realising he didn't pick it back up when he brought Harry down he made for the stairs. Only he didn't get very far when a very worried Lily Potter stopped him and pressed her own wand into his hand. She was holding Harry tightly to herself, her face full of worry. He was fast asleep pressed into her shoulder, a small hand curled around a little lock of her hair.
"If I tell you to run, do it. No questions. My wand's up stairs in Harry's room, take it and apparate to outside Hogwarts. Don't look back, OK?" He whispered to her. He saw the conflicting emotions on her face, he knew she didn't want to abandon him. A brief flash of his nightmares crossing his mind. "Keep Harry safe." He added. Lily looked into the sleeping face of her baby boy and nodded, moving back towards the bottom of the stairs; ready to run at a moment's notice.
Clutching Lily's wand in his hand he slowly approached a small hallway on the other side of the living room where the front door was. The wand felt warm in his hand, then again it always had. Lifting it to eye level and straight at the door James stopped.
"Who's there?" He said, putting some confidence into his voice, as he stared at the redwood door. Frankly he didn't feel very confident, but he didn't want his guest to think that. For all he wanted them to know Merlin himself lived here.
"James, it's Sirius, open up." A rough voice from the other side of the door said.
Lily made to move forward but James lifted his hand motioning her to stop. Knowing it was best to listen to James in these situations he stopped and then moved back to the bottom of the stairs again. The brief relief she felt gone.
James turned back to the door, moving a little closer this time.
"What was the last thing I said to you when you were last here?" He asked. This was the test, if the man on the other side of the door didn't know then they would run instantly. Only someone who had been to the place before could know where it was, and if that person didn't know the answer to the test that meant they were compromised.
A few seconds passed where the stranger seemed to be thinking. James gripping the wand more and Lily moving a little further up the stairs.
"Stop pacing and sit down you dumb mutt." Came the reply from the other side of the door followed by a small laugh.
He sighed in releif, it really was him. He cast a few spells on the door before moving forwards to unlock it, pulling it open slowly and looking outside to see a tall man with shaggy black hair who was also sporting a huge grin.
"Miss me?" Sirius said, opening his arms.
James hugged his best friend, patting him on the back. "You idiot, you nearly gave us a heart attack." He said. "Come inside, it's freezing out here; what's kept you?" He added, moving into the house; Sirius trailing behind and shutting the door behind him.
"Sorry, it's been a little crazy lately." Sirius said, having slumped into the chair James was sitting in before. "There's been more attacks, and they're happening a lot more often too. The ministry has got us Aurors running around the country, barely have time to sleep anymore.." He said sadly looking at his best friend. Sirius noted James didn't look that much better, he guessed perpetual worry did that to a person.
"Where's Lily and the little nightmare?" He asked.
James was about to reply when he was cut off from behind.
"Harry is now asleep in his room." Lily said as she made her way down the stairs. She had run up to put Harry to bed as soon as James had confirmed it actually was Sirius. "Here." She said, padding James his wand that she picked up from the floor of Harry's room.
"And if you call him a nightmare once more I'm going to curse your hair straight and short."
Sirius just laughed while James smiled and thanked his wife for his wand, handing hers back. Lily moved over to give him a small hug on the sofa. Her way of saying nice to see you too before making her way over to the kitchen in the other room. A few minutes later she was back with some tea and biscuits, putting them on the small coffee table in front of them.
"So what's been happening, Sirius?" Lily asked once they were settled in.
"I was just telling James, it's not good Lily. Really not good.."
"But I thought you had more Aurors under you now, you had teams right?" She asked, a little worry in her voice. After all, if the war was going badly out there; it meant they were getting less and less safe if they managed to track Peter down.
"I did.." Sirius said sadly, looking at them both. "It's not been easy." He added with a sigh.
"How many?" James said, knowing whatever the number it wasn't good for the war; or the familiar it was tearing apart.
"57." Sirius deadpanned.
Lily paled. So by 'not great', he meant absolutely terrible.
Sirius and James carried on talking about the efforts to fight Voldemort and some news about what's been happening on the outside. They had been stuck in this house for months now. She didn't ask anything else, just listened. She was worried. Worried about her friends, her family. What was going to happen if Voldemort really did win? She shuddered to think. As long as Peter keeps hidden Harry would be safe. It wouldn't be the best life, being stuck in 1 place but at least they would be alive.
"Lily?"
Startled a little, she looked up to Sirius. She had her hands in her lap, one of them clasped around one of James'. She had been looking down on them, slowly rubbing their wedding rings with her thumb.
"Sorry Sirius, I zoned out a little.." She said quietly.
James gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and she smiled a little. Stupid softy.
"I was saying I hadn't heard from Peter in a while." He said, trying not to show any worry.
Her smile was short lived, instantly replaced by fear. She looked over to James who was trying not to show how scared he really was too. She knew he was worried sick though. He wasn't one to be cooped up to begin with, let alone having the constant threat of an evil wizard landing on your doorstep to kill your whole family. James gripped her hand a little tighter.
"I'm sure he's just had to relocate, it's not the first time it's happened." James said to Lily, trying to keep the redhead from worrying to much. The last time it happened they thought that was it, that he'd been found by Voldemort.
"How's Harry doing then?" Sirius said quickly, trying to defuse the solum tension in the air.
Lily smiled sadly, looking back to Sirius. "He's doing good, I just wish more people could visit or we could go places.. We're all feeling a little trapped." She said.
"Learning more words by the day, he can say 'mum' and 'dad' now; it's great!" Beamed James.
"Still get's into too much mischief because of his no good father." Lily said, shooting a glare at James who just smiled wider. Sirius was laughing too and soon Lily followed suit. They enjoyed Sirius company, it always cheered James up to no end and having James happier meant Lily was happier. Even Harry loved his uncle, when he was awake.
"I was going to bring some stuff for you all but I literally just apparated straight from the ministry." He told them. "Didn't have a chance to grab them, they're still at home." He added, giving an apologetic smile. He wanted to give Harry some new things to play with but he's been so busy. He didn't know when he's next have time to visit.
Lily waved him off. "It's fine Sirius, we know you're very busy. We're just glad we've got you on our side and looking out for us." She said as she got up, picking the empty plate of bisquits up.
"More tea Sirius? She asked.
"Please, wouldn't mind some more of your lovely biscuits too.. Haven't had the time to get something to eat today." He said, a little embarrassed.
James just laughed, causing Sirius to scowl.
"You could just admit you love her cooking." James said with a grin. Sirius just ignored him and handed Lily his empty mug.
They both watches as she walked back into the kitchen, laden with plates and cups. As soon as she was around the corner and out of sight Sirius turned to James.
"So how is she really doing?" He said in a whisper.
James smiled sadly at his best friend. He didn't think Sirius would buy anything Lily was selling at the moment in regards to how she felt.
"Honestly, not good.. She get's more worried by the day and she's clinging to Harry more and more. Like he's going to disappear any moment." James replied, watching the door. If Lily catched him talking like that he'd be through the wall faster than he could apologise. Lily didn't want anyone thinking like that, apart from herself of course.
"Mhmm.." Sirius said. "Dumbledore is worried too, he actually told me to pay you a visit as soon as I could; he hasn't heard anything from you guys and you know he doesn't like to come here often. Hi presence would be noticed." He grumbled the last few words out, he wasn't a fan that Dumbledore couldn't visit the Potters more.
"You can tell dumbledore we're fine." Came the reply from kitchen door.
Lily walked in carrying 2 mugs of tea and another small plate of biscuits balanced on top, setting them down in front of Sirius and James who took a mug each with a chorused thanks.
She sat down, looking at Sirius. "We're grateful for everything he's done but there's no need for him to worry. As long as Peter is safe, we should be safe." She said with slight nod. As if confirming it to herself more than them.
They all talked more for another 20 minutes about what was happening outside and if they knew anyone that had been killed. Thankfully not. It wasn't James went to take another sip of his tea when Lily realised she had left her's in the kitchen when she brought everything else out.
Saying she'll be back in a second she got up and headed towards the kitchen. Once there, she grabbed her mug only to realise it was cold now, she had put a warming charm on the two she carried out. Muttering to herself how forgetful she could be she put the kettle back on and waited for it to boil.
She could hear James and Sirius laughing in the other room, it was good them both. They were the best of friends, being separated like this was doing a lot of damage between the two. Sighing she moved to pick up the now boiled kettle under the window and poured herself another cup of tea, humming a little as she did. Putting the kettle down and picking the mug up she was about to head out of the kitchen when something caught her eye out of the small window above the sink.
It was dark, so it was hard to tell what it was but something was moving down the street. They were sort of off the beaten track in Godric's Hollow but they could see the other houses in the street a little ways down. Squinting a little to see better into the darkness she could make out a dark black cloak with the hood up. Panic already filling her entire body she started to move back to the living room to ask James when she stopped dead, eyes wide.
The figure in the cloak had looked up, red eyes gleaming in the darkness even from her distance. The problem was the man was looking straight at her. Their Fidelius was broken.
Lily dropped her mug into the sink, where it smashed loudly. Seconds later James and Sirius were right next to her asking her questions. She couldn't speak, she was frozen. It couldn't be happening she thought. Not now, it had only been months. How was Peter found so soon? What about Harry.
Instantly her thoughts sobered a little. "Harry.." She muttered, causing James and Sirius to stop talking.
"What about Harry, Lily?" James asked, he was scared; easily evident in his voice.
Lily looked to them both, a tear already streaking down her face. "He's here.. Outside. I'm getting Harry." She said very quickly and running out of the room causing them both to move to the sink and look outside. Sure enough, a lone figure was still approaching the house. Looking at them with deathly red eyes and a hand held out to the side. It had to be him, Voldemort. He'd found them. That meant 2 things, one they were no longer safe; and 2, Peter was most likely dead or dying.
"James." Sirius said. "He'll come through the front, we'll hit him with everything as soon as he's through the door."
James nodded and they moved ran back into the living room, wands drawn. They stood shoulder to shoulder with their wands raised and fixed on the door. Any minute now, the most feared dark wizard was about to enter his house. James was honestly not a fan of the idea. Their knuckles both white from gripping their wands as they waited. It was mostly silent save for the few mumbled that could be heard from upstairs. Lily was obviously talking to Harry, about what he may never find out. If he had to die to make sure they lived, well; it wasn't something he even needed to think twice about.
Suddenly the door flew off it's hinges and came crashing to a halt in front of the living room having been slowed by Sirius. There was dust in the air now, they couldn't make out where exactly the doorway was. Sirius was still next to him, pointing his wand this way and that in case of a flank or trickery.
There was no need though, James knew the man would be in front of him and soon enough a green light shot out through the mist and straight for him. He wasn't an ex-auror for no reason and reflectively summoned a small flowerpot that Lily and Harry had made together off of the table and in the past of the curse. The flowerpot shattered into dust on contact. Sirius was already on the offensive, throwing every curse he could think of that could harm someone at the location of the where the killing curse had come from.
A sickly laugh that made the hair on the back of your neck stand on end caused Sirius to pause. The dust soon settled and there before them stood Voldemort. Dressed in only a black cloak with the hood up. Red eyes still gleaming out at them.
"You think you can beat me?" Was all he said, a mocking tone to his voice.
Sirius raised his wand again and fired another spell but it was easily blocked by Voldemort who turned his eyes on him.
"Ah, the dog. By his master's side, how convenient." He said. "Well that saves me a trip, now doesn't it?"
"Go to hell, or wherever place will take you." Was only Sirius reply. How did Voldemort know about his animagus form? He must have tortured Peter into telling him, Peter would never be able to stand up to torture.
Voldemort's only reply was to fire a sickly orange spell their way. James quickly raised a shield and held it strong. Voldemort kept sending curse after curse at it, waiting for it break as it eventually would. James was thinking quickly now. He knew Voldemort has put up an anti-apparition ward before they knew he was here otherwise Lily would be already gone, but he could hear her upstairs still. There was only one way.
"Sirius," James said suddenly. "Take Lily and Harry and go, protect them until you're outside the range of the ward and go to Dumbledore."
Sirius was still firing curses at Voldemort while James had the shield up but it wasn't doing any good, Voldemort was either shielding himself against the curse or deflecting them back at them. He looked over at James quickly, a look of 'don't argue, just go' on his best friends face. He knew they were no match for Voldemort, even if they were the best Aurors the ministry had. He lowered his wand and squeezed James' shoulder. "Good luck old friend." was all he said before darting up the stairs towards Harry's room.
"Abandoned already? By a filthy pet noless," Voldemort sneered. "How terrible."
James' shield finally broke and was sent flying back into the wall, crawling back up to his feet he dodged another spell; making sure to position his body to block the stairs. There was no way he was letting this thing up there. Thinking quickly he realised he wasn't going to win, that was obvious. But how to slow him down?
"Bombarda" James shouted, a dark red light coming from the end of his wand. Voldemort put up a shield against it but was thrown back a little at the force of the spell. The explosive spell blasted a small hole in the wooden floor and pieces of the wall and ceiling were missing. More dust floating about in the air causing the light to bounce this way and that.
James ducked quickly as a black streak of light flew past him, missing him by inches where it impacted the staircase behind him which slowly started to rot. Not wanting to be on the receiving end of any of the spells in the man's mind he started actually attacking back. Firing spell after spell, making Voldemort shield himself. The only problem with this was Voldemort was laughing, he wasn't tiring either holding his dome-like shield around himself. James, who had to hold a shield up for Sirius and himself had drained him quickly.
Eventually, after 5 minutes of constant attack by James, Voldemort seemed bored enough and sent a blast of wind his way knocking him into the stairs where he hit the back of his head on the note rotten wood. "You thought you had a chance?" He mocked, looking down at the beaten and bruised James Potter.
"You won't win.." Came the hoarse reply from James as he tried to stand. Voldemort just flicked his wand and James was sent back down hitting the wood hard again. Blood now flowing out the side of his head.
"Oh I'm going to win, but first I'm going to kill you, your family and then anyone that you were friends with. How's that?" Voldemort sneered, flicking his wand again at James' body. He was rewarded when a loud snapping noise sounded from James' right arm as it was broken. He let out a muffled cry of pain, lifting his wand in his left arm to point at Voldemort.
Voldemort simply smiled and pointed his wand one last time against the foolish wizard that would dare oppose him.
"Avada Kedavra" he said, the killing curse hitting James in the back. Never to move again.
Upstairs Lily was sitting in the corner of Harry's room with Harry on her lap. Her arms around him as she said soothing words into his ear. She jumped as the door suddenly flew open and there stood Sirius, looking around the room for where they could be.
"Pad!" A small voice said from the corner of the room. Sirius looked to the sound of the voice and his heart dropped when he saw Lily in the corner holding Harry with tears in her eyes.
He moved over to them quickly, ruffling Harry's hair. "Hey kiddo." Sirius said affectionately. Harry put his arms out for Sirius to pick him up but he gently pushed his arms away towards Lily. "Not today kiddo, we can play later; OK?" He said with a smile which Harry returned. Sirius turned to Lily and there was a silent understanding of what was happening downstairs. James was holding him off, they needed to get out of there.
"We can't.." She said suddenly. "Everything is blocked off, the windows, everything." She was crying now. Harry was looking at her with a look of confusion on his face. Noticing Lily just brushed his hair out of his face and smiled at him.
"Don't worry Harry, everything's going to fine." She said though she knew it wasn't true.
Suddenly there was a crash from downstairs and the house shook. James must be giving it all he's got then, Lily thought.
"He can't hold him forever Lily, we need to find a way out." Sirius urged. He was scanning the room, there was only 1 window and if Lily said it was blocked then he was struggling to come up with ideas himself.
Sirius got back up started hitting the windows with some blasting spells, disappointed when nothing happened apart from making Harry cry. He sent an apologetic look to Lily but she was already busy with Harry, calming him down. Sirius watched for a minute as his best friends wife smiled in the face of certain death so her son would be happy. She knew she was going to die there. She knew her son would never grow up, that they would never see each other again. She was a strong woman.
Harry stopped crying once Lily calmed him down, but the problem now was downstairs was silent. They both noticed, now not paying attention to Harry's jumbled words he was spouting. Lily was crying silently now, Sirius knew but didn't look. Inside he was already grieving. He didn't think his best friend was weak, but when it came to the Dark Lord he couldn't last long. It pained him to think he had just lost of best friend, but at least he would be joining him soon enough.
Sirius slowly made his way to the door that he had closed when he entered after seeing Lily sitting in the corner with Harry. He slowly reached out and started to turn the handle when the door was blown backwards, sending him flying into the wall with the door crushing him against it. The door fell to the floor with a crash and Sirius slid off the wall to land on top of it, blood flowing out of his head. He didn't move again, his hand falling limply out of her hand.
Watching it all happen, Lily held Harry tighter, unable to do anything in her current state. She couldn't think, all she could think of was Harry. She couldn't think of spells right now, or how to save herself. She knew she was going to die. The only thing she could do left was to hope he would spare her son.
"Please.." She whispered to Voldemort. "Please, not Harry." She had tears all down her face as she looked up into the cold, red eyes of Lord Voldemort.
"Don't kill him, please." She begged. "Take me, kill me. Not Harry. Please.."
Voldemort didn't move, instead of sneered down at the girl. "Give me the boy and stand aside." He said, his eyes hungry and now looking at Harry.
"Please.. Please.." Lily repeated to him.
"Stand aside you foolish girl. Give. Me. The boy." He said, pointing his wand at them both.
At the gesture Harry started to cry, the stranger in his home; making his mother cry. His uncle possibly dead on the floor in front of him. Lily was still looking at Voldemort, not releasing his gaze.
"Pleas-"
"Avada Kedavra" He said, the green light streaking towards them both.
And then the strangest thing seemed to happen. It was like the spell slowed down. Infact the whole room seemed like it was slowing down. Voldemort gazed downwards to see Harry looking directly at the green light now slowly approaching him. He wasn't crying anymore, just faint tear tracks on his small face.
The room suddenly turned gold as a spider silk like shield of glowing gold appeared in front of Lily and Harry, shielding them from the curse. Lily, eyes wide with astonishment didn't understand what was happening, instinctively holding on to her son tighter. Everything sped up again and the curse hit the shield and deflected back hitting Voldemort square in the chest. His face was in pure shock at what had just happened. The next second was followed by a huge explosion that tore out half of the room and ceiling being where Voldemort was last standing.
Once the dust has settled a little, Lily seemed to regain control of herself and looked around the room. It was a mess. Only their little section and where Sirius were was unaffected, albeit slightly worse for wear. The rest of the room was like a train had ploughed through it. Most of the roof was gone, only some of the beams not visible. The 2 outward facing walls were no longer there, letting the cold air flow over them.
Shivering slightly as the wind picked up Lily turned her head down to see a small mess of black hair in her arms. She quickly paused, praying he was OK. She tentatively moved her arm from around him and moved the hair out of his face. He was sleeping, thank Merlin. She sobbed quietly into his hair, thanking anyone she could that he was fine. Running her hands over his face, checking every part of him.
She paused again, having reached his right arm, was that a normal cut? Maybe it was some back fired splinters of wood from the blast. It was the like a jagged line running from his palm down to his elbow. Now she looked at it she realised it was the shape of a lightning bolt and had a paint green glow to it. This wasn't normal, she thought. Something had happened, he's not fine.
Thinking quickly she scanned her surroundings while she tried to come up with a plan. St. Mungo's would be the best bet, but what if people asked questions? How could she explain it? Her eyes finally fell on Sirius, slightly buried in rubble. She placed Harry in the corner gentle where she had been sitting and made her way over to him, having to move pieces of rubble and eventually she dug him out. Lily let a sigh of relief when she noticed he was breathing, although very shallowly. She checked him for injuries and silently screamed when her hand came back covered in blood from moving his head slightly. He needed help, and quickly.
Dumbledore. That's where she had to go, he could fix this. He could explain what happened. And the most important part, he could tell her if Harry was actually fine and healthy. It wasn't safe to apparate him, but what choice did she have? They didn't have an owl, and the floo was most likely blown up in whatever James had done.
"James.. Oh Merlin.." She thought, tears starting to build up but she kept them back, now was not the time. She would grieve when she got everyone to safety.
Moving back over to Harry who was sleeping soundly on his back in the corner she picked him up, and then move quickly back to Sirius. She had misplaced her own wand in her panic so she had to use Sirius' which thankfully had fallen next to him.
Checking Harry was pulled tight to her chest she grabbed Sirius' hand, it hanging awkwardly in her hand as he was propped up against the wall. She then turned on the spot and with a soft crack she appeared just outside the hogwarts gates. Stumbling to the ground with Harry safely in her arms and Sirius on the floor next to her she let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the intricate iron gates of Hogwarts. It was a fairly large jump from Godric's Hollow to Hogwarts, and it had taken a lot out of her.
"Dumbledore.." She said to the cold air in front of her, hoping whatever magic the castle was made of would help her.
Not a second later a bright flame appeared beside her. Shielding her eyes she waited for it to die down to reveal Fawkes, Dumbledore's pheonix. It looked at her with its black beady eyes before seemingly looking at the other 2. As if making up it's might Lily was suddenly engulfed in fire. Looking to her side quickly she could Sirius was too. The next second she was on the floor of the hospital wing inside Hogwarts.
The sound of smashing glass brought her head quickly up to see the figure of Madam Pomfrey quickly making her way over to them. Her last thought before passing out from exhaustion was handing Harry over.
A few hours later Lily woke up slowly, aware she was in a soft bed. She rubbed her eyes sleepily, where was she? Then it all came back to her. "Hogwarts." She thought. She started to climb out of the bed but was instantly stopped when a pair of hands pushed her back into the pillows.
"Rest, Lily. You've been through alot." Came the soothing voice of Madam Pomfrey as she placed a few bottles on the bedside table next to her.
"Harry? Where is he?" Lily asked immediately, the first thing her groggy mind should focus on.
"He's fine," The matron said, smiling. "Dumbledore is just examining him, he seems to be in perfect health but I couldn't heal the large mark on his arm." She seemed to pause for a moment, contemplating what to say. "What happened, Lily?" She eventually said softly.
There was silence for a minute and Lily looked away. The memories of a few hours ago coming back in full force. The red eyes, haunting her vision.
"He found us, we don't know how but he came to the house. He.. He killed James," Lily said, a tear falling down her face. "He's gone.. James is gone.." She was opening crying now, the matron having brought her head close to comfort her, slowly stroking her head with her hand.
"Shh.. It's OK now. You are Harry are safe, even Sirius will pull through, I'm not sure death could even take that man seriously enough to let him die. He's lucky."
This brought a muffled laugh from Lily as she cried still. "I'm sorry Lily, we all know what James meant to you".
Lily pulled away, wiping at her eyes with her hand. "He's still at the house.. Or what's left of it anyway-" Lily began to say only to have the matron cut her off.
"Don't fret, Dumbledore already had members of the order sent there. They'll bring his body back to headquarters. We can all grieve properly then." She said with a sad smile.
Sighing Lilly let herself fall back into the sheets and stared up at the ceiling of the infirmary.
"I want to see Harry." Lily said, looking over to the matron who was collecting some empty bottles from the next bed over.
"Of course my dear," Came a different voice from her other side. Lily quickly turned over and saw Dumbledore standing there in elegant Wizard robes, purple with gold stars. "I wouldn't dream of standing in the way. He is asleep currently, I've just finished examining hm. I also don't doubt that you'll be getting a lot of this, but I'm very sorry for your loss; Lily." Dumbledore said, giving her the same sad smile she had gotten earlier.
"What happened Dumbledore?" Was the first question out of Lily mouth, looking into Dumbledore's eyes. She wanted answers and this was the man to give them to her.
"Ah, well I was hoping you would be able to answer a few of my questions first; if that's OK?" He asked, looking at her over his half moon glasses.
"I.. Yes of course, was did you want to know?" Said Lily, slightly taken aback. She didn't think he would be asking questions so soon.
"What happened to Voldemort?" He asked. "The order reported not finding his body."
"I'm- I'm not sure exactly, it all happened very quickly; or slowly.. I'm not quite sure what happened, honestly.." Lily said as she looked down at her clasped hands in her lap. "One second, he had blasted Sirius against the wall with the door and the next he was aiming his wand at Harry and I and then.. Then he was gone."
Dumbledore seemed to be waiting for more, as he had not spoken; letting Lily think.
"There was this shield.. Gold, it looked like it was made of spiders silk," she started. "It sent the curse back at him. Have you ever heard of that happening before?" There was some hope in her voice, that Dumbledore could explain what exactly happened.
"Hmm.. A golden shield you say?" Dumbledore replied, stroking his long white beard. "There are no spells that I know of that could produce such a shield, but then their are ancient magic that we either do not know about or have been lost"
Internally Dumbledore's brain was in overdrive, trying to figure out the puzzle that was Harry surviving the killing curse. He was staring off into space, thinking when Lily spoke again.
"It was Harry.. He, I don't know how but he had his arms up as if he wanted to push him back," She said, eyes closed in concentration as she tried to remember every detail. "I was begging him not to hurt Harry, to take me instead but leave Harry. I think Harry saved us."
She settled on that conclusion and looked up to Dumbledore again to find his blue eyes twinkling and a small smile on his face. Lily looked confused, did he know what happened? Had he figured it out already? Dumbledore let out a small chuckle and gave his wand a slight flick. A chair appeared out of thin air next to Lily's bed and he sat down and pulled himself up to the edge of the bed, resting a hand on top of Lily's.
"My dear, I believe it not to be just Harry that saved you; but the both of you that saved one another."
He was still smiling at her, she wasn't sure why. They saved each other? But she didn't do anything, all she had done was beg for his life, she didn't even have her wand. "What do you mean?" She asked, a puzzled look clearly on her face.
"Let me try and explain," He began as Pomfrey started getting Lily to drink the potions next to her. "When the love for someone else is so great that you're willing to give your life for that person it produces an incredible are some documented events in history that lead us to believe in this force. That force being love itself."
"Love, what does-" Lily began but was silenced as Dumbledore held a hand up for her to be quiet, still smiling.
"Love is an incredible strong force, stronger than anything a wizard or witch could produce. Even myself. It's only in very rare and extreme situations that a witch or wizard could use this power; most often or not if they tried themselves they would be killed from the sheer amount of power. There is a door in the Department of Mysteries at the ministry that is locked at all times."
"But how are Harry and I alive?" Lily asked, simply not believing what she was hearing.
Chuckling he continued with his explanation. "Did I not say it only ever showed itself in rare or extreme situations. Your's would fall certainly fall into that category don't you think? A mother and son are able to be murdered in cold blood. Your begging for Harry's life showed how much you loved him. You would rather have seen yourself killed as long as little Harry lived. That is an incredibly strong bond." He paused, letting that sink in a little before explaining the rest of his theory.
"Now while that power was there, there was no way for it to be used; you did not have your wand on you as you know. So, we must ask ourselves what other magical tool that could have been used to produce such a powerful shield as you so elegantly explained."
Lily thought for a moment, eyes going wide at the realisation. "You don't mean.. I-I used Harry as a wand?" Her voice hitched slightly as she asked the question. She didn't think that was possible.
"While that's certainly a theory, I don't believe so. My theory is that young Harry himself channeled the magic from you, creating the shield. The cursed scar on his arm would certainly give evidence to it. Such a raw feat of magic, combined with it touching the killing curse would certainly leave lasting evidence of the toll on the body. He'll unfortunately have that for life, there is no getting rid of it." With this Dumbledore let his smile drop, it was an unfortunate thing. To be marked, maimed so early in life.
"But, he's only 1 Dumbledore!" Lily said, shouting a little. "He couldn't possible know how to use magic yet, especially like what happened!". She was a little unnerved, what had happened to Harry? Was he honestly fine?
Almost sensing what she was thinking Dumbledore smiled again. "I assure you, Harry is perfectly fine, if not a bit exhausted." He said. "And to answer your question, I believe it an incredible display of accidental magic. Even at his age, he sensed something wasn't right; that the person in front of him was going to harm his family and mother. Magic works in incredible ways after all."
"I can't believe it, this is crazy." Lily deadpanned, was Harry a genius or something? No, it was just luck. A rare moment like Dumbledore said, he was just a baby after all.
Dumbledore got up from his chair, vanishing it and inviting Lily up. Lily accepted the offered hand and stood up from the bed. She needed to see him now, to hold him.
"Now I will warn you," Lily paled, what now.. "That tonight's events were only known to members of the order; so naturally the entire wizarding world seems to know about it somehow. Up and down the country people are celebrating that Harry has defeated Voldemort." Dumbledore said, making Lily sigh. Well that was fine, let them think that. Well, it was sort of true actually. Moving over to where Harry was sleeping she pulled back the curtain and stood there, shocked. Was she still feeling the effects of a potion Madam Pomfrey had given her?
"You can see objects floating, right?" She asked quietly to Dumbledore.
Eyes twinkling again, Dumbledore made his way into the screened off area. "Yes, well. When I said he was perfectly fine, I meant physically. This.. Is a bit different, I've personally never seen it but I can imagine what's happened." He said, looking back over to Lily who had slowly walked in behind him. She grabbed a glass that was floating near her and let it go again, sure enough it carried on floating and slowly moving around the room.
Her eyes fell on Harry finally, fast asleep in the small bed Pomfrey had produced. His eyes shut tight and breathing softly. She made her way over and kneeled down beside the bed. She moved a few hairs out of his face and softly stroked his cheek.
Dumbledore watched in silence. It was a sad thing indeed, here were the only 2 Potter's left on the planet, having just miraculously done the impossible.
"I believe this is because of the influx of magic his core has taken, most likely having also expanded a lot". Dumbledore said, still watching them sadly.
"Is it a problem?" Lily asked, she tried to hide the worry but her voice betrayed her slightly when it hitched.
"A problem? I don't believe so, if anything he will just have to learn to control his magic a lot more than others." That was his theory, he had more ideas but that was for another time. Lily could only take so much in one day, she was at her limit he could tell.
The room was silent for awhile only for the occasional whisper from Lily into Harry's ear while he slept.
"Sirius, what happened to him?" Lily asked suddenly, drawing Dumbledore out of his thoughts.
"Ah, he's been sent to St. Mungo's for treatment. He lost a lot of blood to his head and their much more equipped to handle those kinds of injuries than Poppy is. He will be fine though, he's expected to make a full recovery in a few days or so."
Lily sighed. "Thank you, for everything." Lily said, looking over her shoulder to Dumbledore.
Dumbledore merely smiled brightly, eyes twinkling again over his glassed.
"My dear, it is I and the country that should be thanking you and Harry."