Hallowe'en
Sirius and James fell absolutely in love with Harry as soon as they saw his little face, Harry seemed equally as amused with the idiots, obviously abusing his cuteness. Poseidon and Remus both shared a few laughs over James and Sirius’ stupidity while Lily cradled Harry closely to her chest.
James seemed equally as interested in Harry’s state as Remus – looking carefully between Poseidon, who was fast asleep on the sofa in Lily’s cottage, and Harry, swaddled in a blanket.
“They take after each other,” James observed.
“Both hopeless when it comes to sleeping.” Lily asked. “Well, Harry has an excuse, he’s a baby. Poseidon, however, doesn’t have an excuse.”
Almost as if he could hear what Lily was saying, Poseidon let out a sleepy protest. The two of them chuckled softly, Remus sighed and folded his arms while Sirius kissed his neck.
Remus glanced over to Sirius, and smiled. “Yes, love you too Siri.”
Sirius barked a laugh, “Don’t even have to say the words to you, Moony.” He said.
“I don’t know who’s worse, you, James or sleepy-head crashing on Lily’s sofa.” Remus scolded, jerking his head towards an affronted James and Poseidon.
“Seriously?” James demanded.
Remus grinned, “We’re cousins, James, I’m allowed to tease you.”
Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus’ waist, resting his head on his shoulder. “It’s a nightmare, isn’t it?” he asked softly.
Lily rolled her eyes and sat next to Poseidon’s sleeping form, keeping Harry in one arm and gently brushing a stray strand from Poseidon’s face, his brow was furrowed – like he was troubled by something, Lily thought that she could faintly guess what, likely the prophecy about Harry that Lily had heard everything but also so little about. Harry’s tiny hand clutched her shirt, he was as deeply asleep as his father. Lily took Poseidon’s hand and he sighed, almost contentedly, like her touch satisfied him.
James placed a hand on Lily’s shoulder. “You’re really content with this?” he asked. “Your life is at so much risk, not just because of Remus and I, but Harry now too.”
Lily smiled. “I’m fine with it. I don’t care about how much danger Harry will put me in – I love him with every part of my heart.”
James nodded. “You do know Poseidon won’t be here to deter monsters forever, he must leave for Olympus soon.”
Remus caught Lily’s eye, he nodded solemnly. “If you’re so set on this, James and I will take rounds protecting you and Harry from the monsters – until Harry can learn himself.”
Lily wanted to hug the werewolf. “Thank you two so much.” She bounced little Harry on her leg. “We all appreciate it.”
~~~
Months passed and Lily’s love for Harry grew, even when he started to teethe, Lily had forgotten how bad teething could get, but Harry started to bite anything he could fit in his mouth, mostly fingers or clothes. Remus was a godsend.
He brought Lily teething toys for Harry that entertained him greatly and stopped her clothes from being covered in baby saliva. Poseidon, was rarely able to stay with them for a day, but he tried to keep Harry entertained as much as he could before he had to worriedly leave. Lily was just glad that he was trying to be present in Harry’s life.
It was around Harry’s first Christmas that Remus, Lily, James and Poseidon all agreed it was time for the sea god to leave, James and Remus had both sworn on the Styx to promise to keep Harry safe unless death or something equally worse could stop them, and that they would do it until Harry can keep himself safe. Harry wasn’t happy with Poseidon’s final visit; Lily was startled at how much he seemed to understand and it hurt her when he threw a tantrum about Poseidon leaving. She could tell that Poseidon was hurting to leave her and Harry, especially since the last time he’d see his son was during a tantrum over him leaving for good.
Lily gave a tearful Harry over to Poseidon, who held Harry close to his chest and whispered something in Ancient Greek, Lily was surprised to see both Remus and James seemingly struggle to figure out what Poseidon was saying. Harry sniffled and looked sadly into Poseidon’s eyes, like he was trying his best to plead with Poseidon to not leave.
“You’ll be safe, Harry.” The god whispered. “We all promise you that.”
Lily kissed Harry’s black hair and wiped away some of his tears. He protested loudly as Lily gently took him back and rested her forehead on his chest.
“You will watch over our son if anything happens to James, Remus and I.” Lily ordered. “You promise me that, Poseidon.”
He lifted Lily’s chin and softly kissed her lips. “I promise you that, Lily.”
And he vanished.
“What a shit start to Christmas, eh?” James said after a long minute.
“James Potter don’t you dare swear in front of my baby again.” Lily threatened.
James raised his hands in surrender.
~~~
Harry’s first birthday was approaching when Lily realized she was developing feelings for James. Ever since Poseidon left, Remus had encouraged her to find a regular mortal man (or woman) to settle down with.
“Marrying a regular mortal is a good way at covering a demigod’s scent.” Remus had said. “But I won’t force you into a relationship so soon.”
Truthfully, Lily hadn’t been interested in getting into a romantic relationship so soon into Harry’s birth, no matter what her parents proudly proclaimed, talking about Petunia and her success in getting a partner who didn’t abandon her with a new born baby, something her sister and mother wouldn’t shut up about. Whenever that happened, the four Marauders would leap to Lily’s defence, something she was very glad for. By the fourth argument, Lily had half a mind to cut her ties with her mother and Petunia, which Sirius and Remus fully supported, Lily was about done with her family’s constant grating about her settling down with a “proper man”, but before she could do that, Severus arrived with heavy news.
“You and Harry are being hunt down.” Her ex-friend said gravely.
“What?” Lily and Remus had both demanded.
“A prophecy about Harry and the Dark Lord leaked – he wants Harry dead as soon as he can.” Severus explained.
Lily’s entire body flooded with fear, her Harry, her innocent little Harry who couldn’t even string a cohesive sentence together was being hunt down by Voldemort? Remus’ face had gone a pasty white, making his scars almost invisible. Sirius and Peter looked horrified, and James looked… suspicious, almost disbelieving.
“A prophecy, connecting Voldemort,” James interrupted. “and Harry? A child! A child who’s only just started teething?”
“It’s incomprehensible,” Severus agreed. “But it’s true.”
“But why, what’s so important about Harry? Can’t we at least hear this prophecy first?” James demanded.
Lily felt like slapping herself, how had she forgotten James’ dad was the god of prophecies, and James himself was scarily good at figuring out a fake prophecy to a real one.
Severus took a deep breath before reciting the prophecy: “The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...”
Lily glanced at James, praying that the prophecy was a ruse, a lie, something someone had made up to scare the dark wizard, but the solemn look in his eyes said otherwise.
She wanted to scream.
Why, why her Harry? Why was it her son when he already had the potential of a prophecy about razing or preserving Olympus itself? When his own father had sworn an oath on the most sacred of rivers to delay it as much as he could? A prophecy that had arrived during Grindelwald’s reign of terror in America?
“We need to discuss this, privately.” James said, with Remus’ nod of approval.
Severus’ eye twitched but he turned dramatically and strode out of the room.
“Surely it’s not true.” Lily begged, looking at James.
He sighed. “Lily, you, Remus and Sirius all know how accurate I am at telling a real prophecy from a fake.” James said. “That prophecy is as true as Harry’s existence. Voldemort wants to hunt him down.”
“Why? When he already has the Great Prophecy that scared Olympus so much the potential sires of children who could fulfil it swore to never have children again because of it as a potential risk already?” Sirius asked.
“Harry might not be suitable for the prophecy,” Remus interrupted. “Think about it, the potential gods who could have children relating to that prophecy is Poseidon and his two brothers. We can’t keep tabs on all three of them, they’re gods. For all we know, the other two might have children older than Harry and more likely to be the one to fulfil the prophecy.”
Lily sighed. “You’re right.” She said. “I just overreacted because it’s Harry, who’ll already have so much on his plate because of his dad. He doesn’t need a prophecy and potential prophecy to deal with too.”
“It was a rational reaction.” Remus said. “You’re worried for your son.”
James sighed. “There’s still one line in that prophecy I can’t fully figure out.”
“What is it?” Lily asked.
“Born to those who have thrice defied him,” James recited. “Poseidon, to my knowledge, hasn’t defied Voldemort at all.”
“I think for Poseidon it’s more cryptic. Before he and Lily met, she was one of the best fighters in all of the Order, she’s taken down enough Death Eaters I’m surprised Ares didn’t notice her.” Remus said. “But from what I’ve heard through my mother, Voldemort is desperate to be immortal, something Poseidon has but Voldemort can’t obtain, Poseidon has endless power, Voldemort doesn’t, and finally, Poseidon has the authority and status Voldemort craves.”
“So, it’s more a thorough analysis of both Poseidon and Voldemort.” James said bluntly.
“Well, yes, it’s exactly that.” Remus agreed. “But if you think about it, that ‘defiance’ that the prophet mentioned is about Poseidon having what Voldemort wants, with little amounts of effort.”
“That’s not fully what defiance is though,” Sirius said. “Lils defies him because he’s offered her status as a Death Eater that could rival even Bella’s and she refused, instead of helping him, she fights him and she’s one thing he despises: Muggleborn. No offence, Lily.”
“None taken.” Lily said.
Remus shook his head hopelessly. “I don’t know then; I can’t say I understand either Poseidon or Voldemort.”
“Well, defiance is a word with a lot of meanings and prophecies are often incredibly vague.” James countered. “So, Remus could be onto something. It could be literal or figurative defiance.”
Lily heard the door to the living room creak, a problem she still needed to fix but had to exhausted and preoccupied by Harry to deal with, but it only creaked if someone or something moved it. She got to her feet and forced to door open.
“Severus?” she demanded.
He looked taken aback, surprised that Lily had figured out he was eavesdropping.
“What the fuck Snivellius?” Sirius demanded. “Eavesdropping on a private conversation? Is this how the prophecy about Harry leaked?”
“Lily – I, I’m sorry, I was just inter–” Severus was cut off.
“I don’t give a shit about why, Sev, only that you get out.” Lily said.
“But–”
“Piss off.” James and Sirius both interrupted. “Now.”
Severus fled before it could escalate.
Remus sighed. “Shit… Lils, he knows about Poseidon, he knows about the gods.”
“If Poseidon honours his promise to me, Voldemort won’t know anything about Olympus or the gods until he faces the Fields of Punishment in the Underworld.”
James nodded approvingly. “There’s the Lily Evans we know.”
~~~
Hallowe’en came soon, and Lily was pacing nervously in Harry’s nursery. Her son watched her curiously while gnawing on one of the few gifts Poseidon had left for him. She trusted their Secret Keeper, Peter would definitely value his promise, and besides, James was downstairs on high alert. If they were lucky, nothing wrong would happen.
Lily sighed when she caught Harry’s eyes before sitting down and singing the lullaby Poseidon had hummed to him the night he’d been born. Remus had translated it into English and Lily had spent days memorizing it to keep Harry satisfied, the baby only seemed to like Ancient Greek lullabies, whether in English or the old language, it probably sounded the same to his little ears.
Midnight was fast approaching, and Lily prayed that she’d manage to spend one more night with her son.
Every night was like this.
Every night Lily would go into Harry’s room, hoping to spend the last hours of the day with Harry lest she never got to spend another with him again. It wasn’t that Lily didn’t trust Peter, but she was terrified that something horrible would happen to him, or her, or Remus, or James, or Sirius or even Harry. Lily hadn’t been outside in months, she’d just been huddled up at home, terrified and trying to calm herself with Harry, hearing his happy little laugh, or watch his peculiar ‘games’ with his toys, which mostly looked like him just throwing them, listening to his steady heartbeat or breathing.
Harry was what kept her sane.
Well, Harry and James and Remus’ constant visits. While James kept Lily happy and laughing with his ridiculous jokes, Remus always managed to help Lily deal with a new problem as Harry grew, he was adorable but a nightmare to deal with some nights. On the worst days, Remus and James offered to babysit Harry while Lily got some rest, it was a kind offer, but it rarely worked, Lily just ended up spending her hours worrying about Harry, the prophecies about him, Voldemort and just what Peter was doing.
Lily was nearly done with the lullaby when the front door squealed open, Lily frowned. “James, did Remus or Sirius say they were coming tonight?” she called.
James didn’t respond for a long minute and dread began to fill Lily’s body. No, no, no…
“Lily!” James bellowed up the stairs, startling Harry awake and causing him to burst into tears. “It’s him! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off! Just get somewhere fucking safe!”
No, no…
Lily quickly pulled Harry out of his crib, bouncing him carefully as an eerie green glow emanated from downstairs.
James was dead. She knew it before she heard his body hit the floor.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
The thud of James’ body stunned Harry before he wailed louder, like the sound of James’ death alone was enough to terrify him.
“Harry, I can’t Apparate with you crying.” She hissed.
And the door imploded.
~~~
There was a shuffle of debris as someone heaved the fallen door upwards, the explosion in the cottage, the explosion that had taken half the cottage off, had caught his attention instantly.
He noticed ruined pictures first, a woman and her baby together, both smiling warmly as the picture moved, the woman’s body shook with laughter.
Then he saw the corpse.
A man, that much was visible, but his body had been almost crushed by the rubble, caused by the explosion, or something else? Blood pooled on the stairs underneath him as unseeingly wide hazel eyes stared at something, fuck, was it terror? Or the relief of dying?
He climbed over the rubble and the corpse underneath it, striding up the stairs, had anyone survived? Then, a small sob, someone. Someone very, very young.
There was another corpse, a woman this time, the same one in the picture, her leg was bent oddly, and it didn’t take a genius to guess it was because of the imploded door, with the way the wood was digging into her thigh, almost completely exposing the muscle covering the bone. Glazed grass green eyes looked at the nursery wall unblinkingly, the explosion hadn’t done this.
“Fucking Voldemort.” He hissed, seeing the puddle of robes in front of the crib.
There was the source of the cries. A young baby, sat upright in his crib, watched him with a watery gaze, sharing the eyes of the woman dead in front of him. He walked over to the crib, worriedly checking the baby for injuries. On the baby’s forehead was a zig-zagging scar, exactly in the centre, the man began to rock the crying baby, completely uninjured by any of the destruction around him.
“I will murder you, Peter.” He whispered, glaring at the baby’s scar.
The baby cooed curiously.
“Oh Harry, if it wasn’t for all the questions that would come, I wouldn’t let Dumbledore anywhere near you.” He said softly. “No one can know about your dad, okay? Even if I’m not around to tell you, you will remember.”
Harry gently grabbed his nose, like taking in every detail possible about the appendage would bring Lily back, would take the pain of her death away.
He placed Harry back in the crib and carved an arrow into the nursery wall.
“But I can’t take you in,” he said to the baby. “I have a job to finish. Something I promised Lily I’d do.”
And he vanished, a whip-like crack cutting through the mournful atmosphere. Harry whinged sadly.
~~~
“Peter!” he shouted. “Peter, I fucking know you’re here!”
Silence, he clenched his jaw and fists, practically trembling with sadness, with rage.
“PETER!” he bellowed, earning questioning looks from people around him.
A sniffle and scuffle and Peter’s rat-like face came into view, he wanted to throttle the bastard, just standing there like he didn’t sell out Lily, sell out James, sell out Harry. Tears streamed down Peter’s face and his stomach twisted – something felt wrong.
He pushed the hesitance away, practically charging at the traitor, he wanted to slit Peter’s throat, but Peter spoke.
“Why?” the traitor bawled. “Why did you sell them out, Remus?”
“What…?” Remus asked softly, faintly, before his rage begun to build. “What the fuck did you just say?”
“Why did you tell him where Lily and Harry were?” Peter begged. “They were our friends, Remus!”
Remus’ breath hitched. “You don’t get to fucking call Lily and your friends.”
“Why did you spy, why did you tell?” Peter continued, like Remus was just standing there silently, seething at the rat.
Remus opened his mouth to defend himself and accuse Peter –.
A blinding flash of light, searing heat, the roar of flames and screams.
Instinctively, Remus raised a powerful shield, his blood pounding while his brain acted on auto drive, trying to simply keep him safe from the explosion.
The scene died down and Remus found himself in a field of charred bodies, a lone finger where Peter had been, the blood fresh and pouring from it, the white of the joint visible. The monster in Remus’ body found the whole scenario fantastical, delicious even, Remus himself promptly threw up. The coopery tang of blood filled his mouth and nose, the smell of burning flesh barely trumped by the smell of blood. Soot made his eyes water and from the wet feeling on his arm, debris had found its mark in his body.
And in the carnage, Remus begun to laugh. Not from delight, from confused terror, his mind grasping desperately at everything that had happened.
He was so numb to his surroundings that Remus hardly felt the pulse of a spell hitting his back.
And his world faded to black.