Chapter Text
Restoration At The Dawn
WBWL
Sirius was fuming, his best friend’s family had survived a horrific attack by the Dark Lord Voldemort a month ago and barely made it through with their lives.
James, his brother in all but blood was seriously injured but was left in a coma that the healers didn’t know if he would wake from.
Poor Lilly was not coping after the attack, she would cling to one of the twins, Alex, and was always seen sobbing or looking lost, she was barely keeping it together for her family.
Currently, a very small group of the Order was meeting in the headmaster’s office at Hogwarts, going over once again the events that led to the end of the war and the reason Sirius was so pissed off.
“And you are very sure Lilly dear that you saw Alex defeat Voldemort?” questioned the aged wizard from behind his desk, getting a flinch from the members before him.
“Yes Headmaster, I saw everything. Alex protected me.” The redhead said sobbing into the hair of the child who sat in her lap.
“When I got there, you were unconscious face down Lilly, are you sure you saw anything?” Sirius asked gruffly.
He had lost count of how many times they had been over it with the woman, the story had changed a few times, but the only consistent thing was her insistence that Alex defeated the dark wizard, with how outrageous the stories were, the group was inclined not to believe the distraught woman.
He was so fed up with the witch, she was refusing to bring his other Godson Harry to any of the meetings always claiming the toddler was sleeping and she didn’t want to disturb him with the trip, always saying he was safe and being cared for.
Sirius knew there was no one there to care for the child with Lilly gone, she had demanded James get rid of all the House-elves when they married. Who was caring for the boy? Lilly wouldn’t say when questioned, just kept insisting he was fine.
“I saw everything before I got knocked out Sirius” Lilly persisted yet again. The woman was getting agitated with the constant questions. It wouldn’t be needed if the witch would just stick to the one story and not change it all the time.
“My dear, we just need to make sure, due to the contents of the prophecy. We need to make sure Alex is the child the prophecy spoke of.” Dumbledore stated calmly.
“And I have told you again and again, Alex is the one who saved me from he-who-must-not-be-named when he was about to kill me why don’t you believe me?” Lilly screamed, waking the sleeping child she held.
“It would be a lot easier to believe if last time you didn’t say Alex hurdled out of his crib and jumped in front of you, taking the Killing curse himself.” Sirius snarked, each time was just as ridiculous as the one before.
This time there was no bright light shining around her beloved baby or miraculous feats of acrobatics. She was just very insistent that it was Alex who defeated the dark wizard and was not offering any proof to go with it.
She had refused to give the memory to the headmaster or allow him to view it via Legilimency, and she had also refused to allow the twins to be seen by a healer, something that was extremely odd for the women.
“If you would just bring young Harry here, I can do a simple check on the boys that won’t take any time at all. I know I’m not a Healer, but I do have some training from my years as a teacher, and having them seen by myself or Poppy will help to ease your mind” Dumbledore interjected, the aged wizard was beginning to show his frustration at the woman’s lack of care for her other son.
They had all been through an ordeal but only James had been seen by healers when he was rushed to St Mungo’s, Lilly had refused to be seen herself and was not letting anyone check on the twins.
It was upsetting to think that little Harry could have been injured in the decisive moments of the war and Lilly was refusing to give him the care he might need, a bright witch she might be but a trained healer she was not.
Lilly had no training in the art of healing whatsoever and anything she claimed to know would have come from books not a trained professional, book smart could only get you so far in life.
No matter what anyone said she was refusing to bring Harry Potter out of the Potter manor where she was staying after the destruction of the Godric’s hollow cottage. She was also refusing to allow anyone entrance to the manor, saying it wasn’t safe for her family.
“I can’t do that” Lilly gritted out through clenched teeth, she was overly frustrated, and beginning to be worn down, it was showing increasingly, and the other members of the meeting were hopeful that she would break soon.
“Can’t or won’t Lilly? We can help you if the twins have grown too big for you to carry alone,” Remus offered. The wolf was on edge still, having just gotten back from his mission with the werewolf packs to find his pack had been attacked and their lives forever changed.
“I can’t bring him.” The woman stated deathly calm now like a switch had been triggered. Sobbing in distress and frustration one second then eerily calm the next.
“WHAT DID YOU DO!” Sirius bellowed stepping forward, frightening the woman and toddler into tears.
“WHAT. DID. YOU. DO. LILLY?” he asked again enunciating each word clearly after taking a deep breath, screaming wouldn’t get anywhere here. It hadn’t in the last month, so Sirius had to remain calm, even if he just wanted to grab the witch and shack her until she spilled the truth.
“I can’t bring him because I don’t have him” Lilly explained in her harshly calm tone. She began to try to soothe Alex while the toddler continued to cry.
“Where is young Harry, Lilly?” Dumbledore asked watching everything going on over his half-moon spectacles, the aged wizard was tired and just wanted to make sure the Potter family would remain safe from the copious amounts of Death Eaters out there, looking for answers about what happened to their leader.
The war might have ended but the Wizarding world still had lots going on besides the celebrations.
Catching Voldemort’s supporters was a job that would take months still to come. Weeding out the supporters from the ones who actively committed crimes was another job as well. There would be lots of trials taking place soon, and Dumbledore would be ever so busy.
“Alex needed me more, and Harry is barely even magical. He is more than likely a Squib anyway and would only grow jealous of his brother’s fame. They are already dubbing him the Boy-Who-Lives and praising his name for what he did, Alex will need all my attention now.” Lilly explained the woman was hugging her child close as she spoke as if she feared someone would snatch him away from her arms.
“Where is he? I can look after him Lilly, you know Remus and I love him and Alex like our own kids, tell me where he is so I can get him and raise him.” Sirius pleaded; James would be so heartbroken to know what was happening with his family, it was tearing Sirius up inside not knowing what the redhead had done to his youngest Godson.
“He is safe, he can be raised as a Muggle and not get jealous of our magic, not get jealous of the attention on his brother,” Lilly stated not giving up the location of the youngest Potter.
“What proof do you have that Harry isn’t magically gifted Lilly? After all magic can present itself at any age before eleven.” Dumbledore enquired of the witch, some children didn’t present till the year they got their Hogwarts letter, he even knew of some who didn’t show any accidental magic till they had started at the school and had begun their magical training, even though they were of an age accidental magic usually stopped some had continues well after they had gotten their wand to focus the magic.
“He had never done magic before headmaster, but Alex had.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it, Lilly, I was there when James rushed in to tell you about Harry summoning his bottle before James could give it to him.” Sirius objected.
It was a day to celebrate, a baby’s first magical achievement, and not one any of them should have forgotten, let alone Lilly.
“Harry has never used magic; it must have been Alex just looking after his brother’s needs” Lilly defended, almost to the point of delusion.
“Lilly, if you believe Harry hasn’t done any magic so far, it does not mean he won’t in the future, and you know how James feels about Squib, he wouldn’t ever remove his own child from the family for something as trivial as no magic.” Remus reasoned.
“There is still plenty of reason to keep young Harry in the family Lilly, I’m sure James will be quite disappointed in you when he wakes.” The headmaster sighed.
Poor little Harry would be moved from one place to another, confusing the little boy more. They had to find him and return him to the wizarding world where he belonged.
James wasn’t dead, and would wake at some point, Dumbledore reasoned, and as a noble pureblood who was raised with the belief, that family means more than magic itself, there was no telling what the man’s reaction would be once he learns the fate of his youngest son.
“I won’t tell you where he is, he is safe and he will be loved, he is with his own kind now, it was a mercy to give him to muggles.” The witch proclaimed; the assembled wizards all stood in silence shocked at what the woman had just said.
“And would it be a mercy to demand Remus go live with his own kind and never return?” Sirius asked.
“That’s different Sirius. Besides, the werewolves have proven during this war that they are nothing but beasts.” Lilly stated.
“So that’s how you view me is it, a beast?” Remus questioned; Lilly was digging herself a hole she would struggle to get out of.
“You know I don’t see you like that Remus it’s the others of your kind.”
“Have you ever met another werewolf, Lilly?” the wolf asked, fully knowing the answer but still feeling the need to get a response.
“No, but there is a reason you are the only one that has been welcomed in Hogwarts” Lilly stated as if she was talking to one of her children. Remus just growled in response causing the red head to clutch her child tighter to her chest and move away from the irritated man.
“Mrs Potter, Remus was accepted to Hogwarts before he was turned, his parents had paid for his schooling outright upon his first sign of accidental magic like most pureblood families do, including James.
Most if not all wolves are disadvantaged and unable to afford school fees and rely on packs to teach the young what they need.
The Ministry, unfortunately, will not help them with this cause, due to prejudice, meaning they do not grace us in Hogwarts halls. I myself had to vouch for and take any responsibility for Remus's actions while here just to get ministry approval. Now if you don’t mind, please tell me where young Harry is so he can be seen by a trained healer and left with his new guardian, Sirius.” Dumbledore said, the headmaster was looking well over his one hundred years of age, the war had been hard on many.
“I cannot tell you headmaster” Lilly replied with her head down, she could feel the headmaster’s displeasure, but she would not tell them where the other twin was placed.
“You disappoint me, Lilly, James will wake and when he does, I hope he might find it in his heart to forgive you” Remus stated having conceded that the witch would not share with them the location of the young boy, they were going to have to find him themselves. They could have already been out looking, if it hadn’t been for Lilly’s lies, saying he was at home. They were all beginning to think they couldn’t trust anything the witch said ever again.
Lilly hadn’t told them right away; it was like she knew what she was doing was wrong deep down but still she continued to lie for a whole month. A month that little Harry had been out in the world, with complete strangers, probably scared and wishing desperately for his mum and dad and not knowing why they weren’t there.
With nothing more to discuss, the group all left to go their separate ways. Lilly returned to Potter Manor and shut it down so no one would bother her and her son.
Remus followed Sirus back to the Animagus flat so they could come up with a plan to track down their lost Godson.
Dumbledor rubbed his eyes tiredly, he was very exhausted after being run ragged by the ministry and the running of Hogwarts, it was time to call it a night and hope that everything was brighter and better in the morning.