Hell no
It was easier said than done. Dumbledore, then, gave his wand a flick and a book appeared. Now that they all had decided that they would read the books, no one seemed to be volunteering to actually do it.
Lily understood their hesitance. On one hand the book would reveal ways to end the war but on the other hand this book was supposed to be about the future. Their future. Who knew what the books would reveal? Lily knew they all had secrets. But if the book could help them, maybe it was worth the risk?
Not to mention it was a blatant invasion of some poor child’s privacy. But still, end the war. Lily was second thinking the whole thing, before a voice brought her out of her musings. It was the person she least expected to take this seriously, though she knew she had no room to judge him as she had never really gotten to know him.
When Regulus Black spoke every one turned to look at him. “How exactly did you acquire this book, Professor?” he said, his voice calm and low but still reaching. Everyone turned to look at Dumbledore, who answered, “The person who gave us this information asked for their name to be anonymous and since I found no treachery, I decided to oblige, Mr. Black”
Regulus looked thoughtful for a second and then shrugged. The gesture reminded Lily, so much of Sirius that she had to look away.
Arthur Weasley then let out a deep breath and reached out for the book. “If no one has any objections, I will start reading the book” he said calmly. When no one said anything, he opened the book and started.
CHAPTER ONE
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense.
The last time Lily had seen Arthur was when they both were at school. When she was in first year, he had been in Seventh year. Being friends with Gid and Fab, Lily had met Molly more often. Molly was sweet but could be a tad bit overbearing at times. Lily didn’t mind though, she thought Molly would make a remarkable mother.
Thinking about Molly and motherhood, Lily had not paid much attention to the book. So, when Sirius, Remus and James turned at once and stared at her, she could do nothing but stare back.
“What!?”, Lily asked in panic, maybe she had forgotten something?
“Did you pay attention to the book, Lils?”, Remus asked.
“It was talking about a couple, was it not?”, Lily said thinking hard, “A Mr and Mrs Durs- Hell no. No way.”
“Are you alright, Lily?”, Fabian Prewett asked, concerned.
“I’m fine, Fab” Lily said waving him off “It’s just, I know who these people are.” No one asked further, but there was a question in everyone’s eyes.
Seeing as she was supposed to answer, Lily opened her mouth, and closed it again, at loss at what to say. Sirius thankfully answered for her, “Lily’s sister got married to a Dursley recently”.
“My sister and I did not get along all that well”, Lily said, finding her voice again. “She um- only invited me to the wedding seeing as my mum and dad forced her to.”
James continued wincing slightly, “Lily’s sister had always been a little sceptical towards magic” (“That’s the understatement of the century” “Shhh, Sirius.”).
Understanding bloomed in everyone’s faces. “So, your sister’s child is supposed to help us end the war?” Gid asked, “The child of the sister who despises magic?”
“……We have no idea”, James said scratching his head. “It could be possible?”, James said looking at Lily.
Wouldn’t that be the sweetest irony? Lily thought, To learn to appreciate something you’ve always hated for the sake of love.
But, before she could get a word in, Gideon Prewett spoke up, “It seems unlikely,” he continued, “But it could be true.”
“Not necessarily,” said Emmeline Vance. Emmeline had been in Ravenclaw, a year below Lily, though Lily had never directly spoken to the girl, she was said to be incredibly smart and incredibly shy, at least back then. Everyone turned to look at her. Other than freezing for a second, Emmeline did not show any discomfort at being the centre of attention.
“I don’t know,” she said turning to Lily, “but she is after all Lily’s sister, is she not? Correct me if I’m wrong, but she still is related to magic, to all of this, through Lily. It could easily mean she is at a better relationship with her sister at this point in the book, than she is now, no offense. So, she could be a part of whatever is going on with the war without essentially taking part in it, right?”
It took Lily a few seconds to take that in. Maybe she hadn’t completely lost her sister yet. Maybe she shouldn’t give up.
“That’s an interesting perspective”, James said softly.
“But you do not believe it.”, said Edgar Bones.
“Believe me, I want to”, James answered, “I hope what Emmeline is saying is true, but there is also the matter of how Petunia has taken to magic so far. It’s hard to believe that someone would change their opinion on something so quickly.”
“Fear can act as an efficient catalyst,” Remus muttered. No one seemed to argue with that. “Continue Reading, Arthur”, Lily said when it became evident that no one was speaking up anymore.
“Mr. Dursley was the director of…………………… didn’t think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.”
Ah, Petunia had not changed much then, Lily thought, doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell.
“I’m sorry”, Emmeline said. Everyone Lily considered a friend, looked sympathetic. “Don’t be,” Lily replied, swallowing hard, “It’s not your fault.” And it wasn’t anyone’s, really. Not certainly Lily’s, though she had had a hard time accepting the fact that it was no one’s fault except Petunia’s, when she was younger.
James squeezed her hand gently, and that started a new chain of thought. Maybe the book wasn’t about Petunia or her potential child. Petunia was Lily’s sister. And the Potters had been introduced in the first chapter, so maybe… It wasn’t exactly far-fetched. Not wanting to speak up just yet, she motioned for Arthur to continue reading.
“Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley’s sister, …………… the Potters had a small son”
Oh, Lily sighed softly. A child, A son, Her son, Her child. A perfect mixture of her and James. Next to her, James looked shell-shocked. Whatever he had been expecting, it was clearly not that. But then the shock in his eyes were replaced with unbridled joy. He turned to Lily, his whole face lighting up. Next to him, both Remus and Sirius had similar looks of disbelief but it soon turned into ecstasy as well.
“A son”, Lily whispered. “A son”, James said, looking at her with wonder.
“Congratulations”, Molly said, face alighted with a genuine smile. Following her lead, a murmur of wishes arose from the other people in the room. “Thank you”, James replied at the same time as Lily, looking at her softly. She had no doubt that he was thinking the same thing as her. A son.
Arthur continued reading,
“, too, but they ………………………….they didn’t want Dudley mixing with a child like that.”
“The hell is that supposed to mean?”, Gideon asked, slightly offended.
Lily winced. “It’s probably because of magic”, she said meekly. Gideon relaxed but there was a slight tension in his shoulders.
When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up ………………………………….into his high chair.
Everyone looked slightly disgusted. “These are the people judging us?”, Edgar commented. Lily sighed again. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately -sighing, especially when it came to her sister. God, she was turning into her mother. Her child was not even born yet, and here she was, a budding Mrs. Evans. Her Mum would have been proud.
None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.
“What do you think-” someone started before Snape cut them off. To be honest, Lily had forgotten he was there and was rather surprised, “If you keep insisting on interrupting every few words, we’re all going to be here a long time,” Snape said nastily. As much as it pained Lily to admit it, he was right. Arthur continued.
At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, …………………………………….was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar — a cat reading a map.
Everyone turned to look at McGonagall, but no one said a word, Snape’s outburst still in mind. The woman in question herself looked surprised at being mentioned.
For a second, ………………………………………………….. toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.
Lily started to feel uneasy. If the story was about her son, then why where the Dursleys mentioned in such great detail. It didn’t add up. Okay, yes. It did add up but the conclusion, it wasn’t nice. It meant nothing good. And Lily didn’t know how to react. Hoping the book would prove her wrong, she turned her attention back towards the book.