Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Twins

7/28/05

The Potions Master stormed down the empty corridor, his black cloak billowing behind him as he headed towards the Headmaster's office in search of Albus Dumbledore. The information that he had just received from the Death Eater's meeting, composed of the Dark Lord's most trusted servants, left him both confused and agonized.

"Hey Sevy, what's the rush? Going to torture some muggles on your beloved Master's orders?" taunted Sirius Black, one of Hogwart's former, infamous troublemaker and prankster.

"What are you doing here, Black?" Snape snapped, scowling at the sight of one of his archenemies. "I thought you graduated six years ago. Back to retake all the classes you failed? Where's Potter – oh right, he's going to be a father. It's a joke to think the idiot can take on the role of a father when he can barely take care of himself."

"For your information, I'm strictly here on Auror business, unlike a certain Death Eater." Sirius hissed, eyeing Snape disdainfully. "And James will be a great father if not the best – you're just jealous because you can't even snag yourself a decent girlfriend." At this, Sirius grinned devilishly. "The closest person you had to a girlfriend was Fatima – a brainless, sniveling girl. I still remember her trailing after you like a pathetic puppy, moaning, 'Oh Severus, wait for me!' or 'Severus, you're so gorgeous with your slimy hair and…'"

"I see both of you managed to stay together for more than five minutes without loosing any body parts." interrupted the headmaster, an aged man with kind, sparkling eyes that contradicted his age. "Let's go to my office so we can have more privacy." he suggested before taking the lead.

Snape and Sirius, after sharing a murderous glare, made sure there were several feet between them before trailing after the oblivious headmaster. Once they entered the office, the headmaster offered them lemon drops which Snape coldly declined.

"I'll take some." Sirius grinned before grabbing a large handful.

"Disgusting." Snape sneered, his lips curling upwards in an outward show of repulsion.

"Please take a seat." the headmaster suggested, motioning to the two chairs that resided side by side across from his comfy, leather chair. "No hexes, jinks, or pranks." he added for safety measures when both Sirius and Snape looked like they were going to curse one another.

Once everyone was comfortably seated (on the edge of their seats and fingering their wands), the headmaster began by directing his first question to Sirius.

"Is James and Lily safe?"

"Yeah, they're fine." Sirius answered distractedly. "You-Know-Who and his follows attacked a nearby muggle town – about 6 miles away from where Lily and James was – but thankfully they haven't been discovered." he paused for a second before adding, "Lily's in the hospital." At the headmaster's alarmed look, Sirius quickly explained, "She's going to have the Junior Prongs - twins."

"That's wonderful," Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling merrily. After promising to visit James and Lily, he turned his attention to his Potions Master, who was none-too-pleased at being ignored in favor of his archenemy. "Severus, I believe you have important information for us?"

Shooting Sirius one last, dirty look, Snape turned his attention to the headmaster. "I just returned from a Death Eater meeting and I have some…troubling news…if not a little unsettling."

"Out with it already." snorted Sirius, who was impatient to return to James and Lily.

Deciding to ignore Sirius, Snape continued, "A prophecy was made by the late Helena Trelawney, mother of Sibyll Trelawney, who passed away just before she made this last prophecy. No one knows the prophecy word by word except the Dark Lord. However, he has imparted some of the prophecy details to us – the inner circle of Death Eaters."

"You like that position, don't you?" Sirius asked, unable to stop himself from taking a poke at Snape.

"Sirius, please, not now." interrupted Dumbledore. "Real prophecies are not things to be trifled with. Severus, please tell us what you do know."

"The prophecy concerns the children of the Dark Lord's mortal enemies, who have defied him three times."

"You mean this prophecy concerns Junior Prongs?" Sirius interrupted; eyes wide with horror.

"We can't be sure this prophecy is for the Potters yet." Snape replied. "The prophecy states that the two born exactly at the same time on the night of July 31 are the Chosen Ones. Then it continues to say that the younger of the two, who wields immense powers, will bring the fall of the Dark Lord – for neither can live while the other survives…or something along those lines. However, the elder of the two, who is said to have a soul as old as time; knowledge that surpasses Merlin; and a heart as black as coal, will be the final factor in deciding the outcome of the war between Dark and Light. Everything depends on if he chooses to aide the other prophesized child or the Dark Lord. If he chooses the former, then the Dark Lord will be brought down to his knees. However, if he chooses the latter, the world will be plunged into darkness."

Everyone was silent as they processed the information. Finally, Dumbledore broke the silence by clearing his throat. "Not a word of this prophecy is to be spoken to anyone else." he stated, leaving no room for arguments. "Unless the prophecy is directed at Lily and James' children, you are not to breathe a word to them." he added when Sirius looked like he was about to argue.

Sirius and Snape cringed slightly at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, but nodded their heads in understanding.

"The elder of the prophesized twin will have to be watched carefully and killed if he shows signs of taking the Dark Path – he will have to be annihilated even if he is James and Lily's son. However, the younger son must be protected at all costs." Dumbledore stated before adding, "There haven't been many people who has defied Voldemort three times and lived to tell the tale. Actually, only two of them are in existence, which narrows down our search considerably. They are the Potters and the Longbottoms. Strangely enough, both Alice Longbottom and Lily Potter are pregnant. We know for sure Lily is having twins, but we don't know when. As for Alice, not much is known. We'll have to keep an eye on both of them tomorrow, which I must remind you, is July 31, the prophesized date."

"What do you want us to do?" Sirius asked, his hands trembling slightly.

"Snape will keep an eye on Alice. Sirius will watch over Lily. I want you to report to me as soon as they give birth." Dumbledore concluded before turning the conversation to a lighter topic to dispel the tension that had been created by the prophecy.

D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y. &&& D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y

"How's Lily?" Sirius asked, slightly out of breath as he crashed through the door, trailed by several medi-nurses.

"You can't just barge in without signing in!" cried a frantic nurse.

"She's in…" James began, but was roughly interrupted by a shrill cry.

"JAMES POTTER!" Lily screeched from within the room.

"No…please ask Lily to hold it till morning." Sirius begged, his blood-shot eyes widening considerably.

"She can't really control when the babies come." James replied. "And what wrong with having the babies tonight?"

"It's July 31!"

"Yeah, I know…" James trailed, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

Before Sirius could reply, the door opened and a nurse poked her head out. "Which one of you is James Potter?" she asked kindly.

"I am," answered James, stepping forward. "Is she…?"

"Congratulation Mr. Potter, you are the father of two healthy baby boys."

James stood stock still for a few seconds, allowing the information to sink into his head before shouting, "Sirius, isn't this great?" He jumped up and down while clapping Sirius on the back. "I'm going to be a dad!" Without further notice, he rushed into the room to congratulate his wife.

"Why?" Sirius whispered sardonically, a dry smile on his lips. As much as he wanted to be happy for James, he couldn't…not with the prophecy hanging over his head in a constant reminder of how potentially dangerous the elder Potter boy could be.

"Sirius, come inside and meet my boys!" James hollered, successfully snapping his best friend out of his depressing thoughts that revolved around death, destruction, and desolation.

As soon as Sirius stepped into the room, James gently handed him one of the two boys that Lily had been holding. Sirius looked down at the little bundle in his arms and immediately cursed the prophecy for the umpteenth time that hour for ruining his best friend's children's lives.

"That's Harry," supplied James proudly. "He's the elder."

The small smile that had stretched across Sirius's lips quickly disappeared.

"Dylan, the younger, is with Lily." James continued, inclining his head towards his wife, who was gently cooing over her younger son. "I had been thinking," James added as an afterthought, "I want both you and Moony to become my sons' godfathers. You can take Dylan and Moony can take Harry."

"No, it would be better if I watched over Harry." Sirius interrupted, catching James off guard.

"I'm okay with that, but why?" James asked, slightly confused. "You've been acting pretty weird today, Padfoot, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sirius replied distractedly. "It's just better for all of us if Harry is my godson – my responsibility."

"Hello James, Lily, I'm terribly sorry for being late." apologized Remus Lupin, James and Sirius's other best friend. "I got held up at the Ministry."

"It's okay," James assured his friend. "Sirius and I were just discussing something that concerned you too. I want you two to become one of my sons' godfathers."

"I would be honored." Remus grinned before congratulating Lily.

"I wanted you to take my older son, Harry, but Sirius insisted that you take Dylan, the younger, instead. Is that all right with you?" James asked, even though he knew Remus would be fine with Sirius's decision.
"Yeah, that's fine." Remus smiled. "But I'm curious as to why Sirius chose Harry over Dylan. Sirius, are you showing favoritism already?" he laughed lightly before picking up Dylan and cradling him in his arms.

Sirius forced on a small smile as his friends joked and laughed. Taking a resigned sigh, Sirius prepared to tell his friends the prophecy that had been haunting him nonstop since he heard it the day before.

"What's wrong Sirius? Aren't you happy for James and Lily?" Remus asked lightly, prodding his friend lightly in the ribs.

"James – Lily – Remus, I need to tell you something." Sirius began gravely.

"You flooded the toilet?" James suggested with a small grin.

Sirius had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at James' insinuation.

"What did you do to Snape?" Remus sighed.

"Nothing," Sirius replied. "Much."

"You're going to get married?" Lily asked hopefully.

"Um, no…" Sirius licked his lips, trying to think of a soft way to break the news to his best friends. "It's a prophecy…about your…sons."

"What is it?" Lily asked, the smile melting from her lips.

James and Remus immediately stopped laughing and looked at Sirius expectantly. Sirius groaned before running his hand through his hair. This was going to be a lot harder than he had previously imagined…How do you tell your best friend that one of his newborn sons is destined to kill Voldemort while the other is destined either to aid his brother or end the world?

D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y. &&& D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y

Sirius found himself in Dumbledore's office again for the second time in three days. If it wasn't for the prophecy, he would have found the situation oddly funny because it reminded him of all the times he had waited in this very office, waiting for his punishment for pulling potentially dangerous pranks. Of course, his companion in crime wouldn't be Snape…
"The prophecy isn't for the Longbottoms." Snape stated. "Alice gave birth to one son on July 31 in the morning."

"Then that leaves…" Dumbledore trailed off, pinning Sirius with a sympathetic look.

"Lily and James had twin boys, Harry and Dylan, yesterday night at exactly 11:59…a minute from midnight." Sirius replied dully. "They didn't take the news of the prophecy very well." he added, cringing slightly at the memory of a weeping Lily and a furious James.

"I'm assuming Harry is the elder?" Dumbledore asked.

Sirius gave a small nod.

"We'll have to keep an eye on him. I think it might be wise if he doesn't learn magic at all. His name will be taken off the Hogwarts' student list." Dumbledore concluded before looking towards Snape and Sirius to see if they had any objections. Dumbledore was slightly surprised when it was Snape who vetoed the idea instead of Sirius.

"I doubt you can keep magic from Potter – especially since he'll be surrounded by it. The more you keep it from him, the more likely he'll try to dig deeper into the Arts. The prophecy said nothing about Potter being powerful – just intelligent and evil." Snape explained.

"I understand what you mean, Severus." Dumbledore sighed. "But we can't risk the fact that Harry could turn out to be potentially powerful. After all, knowledge and power usually come hand in hand. The less magic Harry knows, the safer everyone will be if he decides to join Voldemort."

This time, Snape didn't comment, knowing Dumbledore was unlikely to change his decision. However, though he didn't voice it, he had a terrible feeling in his gut that told him they were missing a horribly important detail…and that what they're doing now…might not be the correct course of action. He just hoped Dumbledore's decision was the right one – for everyone's sake.

D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y. &&& D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y

TBC

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Next time:

"Why can't I learn magic? I know I can do everything better than Dylan if you just give me a chance!"

"The boy is dangerous…how he got his hands on this Dark Arts book is anyone's guess."