Chapter Text
“And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation’s owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern. Most mysterious. And now over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?”
“James!” Lily Evans Potter, who had been nodding off in front of the muggle television (a contraption still alien to her husband) sat bolt upright on their loveseat at the news reporters segment.
She heard the quick footsteps behind her that marked James’s entrance into the room, “What is it?” Without looking at him, Lily could tell that her husband's wand was drawn.
“It's the muggles,” she said, turning to him and pointing at the T.V. as the newscaster started exclaiming at the meteor shower they'd had that day, “Shooting stars, owls in the day time, something's happened, James,”
Her husband lowered himself slowly onto the loveseat beside her, watching the television. “We would have heard,” he said slowly.
“From who?” She asked, “Dumbledore? Wormy? You know Padfoot would be jumping into action without telling us anything! Remus doesn't even know where we are anymore, James,”
“I still think that was a mistake,” said James, distractedly.
Lily surveyed her husband, “Regardless, we’re not anyone's top priority!”
As if on cue, there was a loud crack from the kitchen, and a familiar voice, “Prongs! Lily! You alright?”
“Padfoot!” James got up and almost ran into the kitchen, Lily close behind him.
“Good you're here!” Sirius Black said when they were both in view, “Bambi’s okay?”
“Yeah, Harry’s fine, he's asleep upstairs,” James said, peering into Sirius’s eyes, “Padfoot, what's wrong?”
Lily studied her friend. She hadn't noticed it right away but Sirius’s eyes were bloodshot, his skin was paler than usual and he looked tired. “Sit down, Pads,” she said, gesturing towards the kitchen table.
The two men sat, James still peering at Sirius. Something big has happened .
“Water or firewhiskey?” She asked as she pulled three glasses from the shelf.
“Just water,” Sirius croaked. It must be really bad then.
Lily filled the glasses then joined the men at the kitchen table. “What’s happened?” James asked without preamble.
Sirius accepted his glass of water, took a sip, and said, “Voldemort’s gone,”
There was silence in the tiny kitchen.
“What do you mean?” James’s voice was low, cautious, warrey, “what do you mean, ‘gone’?”
Sirius shrugged, “Gone. Just gone. Dumbledore says he’s not dead, but there's definitely a body and the Death Eaters are disbanding. A lot have come out of imperius curses and a lot have fled.”
“How did this happen?” Asked Lily. There had to be a catch. There had to be a reason for Sirius’s somber mood.
Sirius grimaced. “That's the thing. No one's quite sure. The leading theory though is that he couldn't kill the Longbottom’s son,”
“What?!” James and Lily’s yells were simultaneous. Sirius was looking at his hands.
“Frank and Alice are dead. He- he killed them. Word is he tried to kill their son, Neville, but couldn't. No one is quite sure why, but he couldn't kill Neville. Dumbledore is talking to Frank's parents now, I think they’re going to look after the boy,”
There was a stunned silence, Lily could feel tears threatening to fall. Her and Alice had gotten pregnant around the same time, between that and the Order the couples had gotten reasonably close.
“But he's gone?” James asked, “he's really gone?”
Sirius nodded. James leaned back in his chair.
There was silence as they drank their water, each thinking about what had happened. Lily was thinking about Alice. Alice who had always been so kind and caring, so fierce and unapologetic. She’d been a few years older than Lily at Hogwarts, and for one reason or another, Lily had always looked up to her. Her and Frank’s relationship had been something of legend. They were both extraordinary people. They were extraordinary, Lily reminded herself. Were . Now they were gone. Killed by the greatest dark wizard to ever live. The greatest dark wizard who had met his downfall in a little boy. Lily’s thoughts drifted to Alice’s son, Neville. He was one day older than Harry, Lily’s eyes welled up in tears again at the thought of if it had been them . What if he had chosen them, the Potters? Lily’s breath caught in her throat, she didn’t like the idea. And then suddenly she was feeling guilty, guilty to have not been chosen, to not be ‘marked’.
James stood up slowly, and brought out a bottle of firewhiskey, his face was solemn, as he poured three glasses, and set them on the table. Lily and Sirius each took theirs, looking up at him. He took a deep breath and raised his glass, “To Frank and Alice Longbottom, who fought so bravely, and died for all of us.”
“To Frank and Alice,” Lily and Sirius chorused back, all of them taking a sip of their drinks. The alcohol burned Lily’s throat as it went down, the tears had finally begun to fall.
James wasn’t done, “To Neville Longbottom, who brought about the peace this world needed so much,”
“To Neville Longbottom,” they said, drinking again. James drained his own glass, setting it on the table. There was a moment of silence as Sirius and Lily drained their own cups.
“I think it's time, Prongs,” Sirius said after a moment, his voice was low but clear. The atmosphere in the room changed dramatically. Sirius had action in his voice. Lily looked at the two men. There was no mischievous glint in Sirius’s eyes, instead it was sad. Sad and determined.
“Time for what?” James was eyeing his friend curiously.
“We’ve got to talk to Moon- to Remus,” said Sirius, meeting James’s eyes.
Lily saw James’s jaw set. “I trust him,” he said, defensively.
“I want to, but we need to find out for certain if our theory is true,”
“Your theory,” James corrected him, “I never thought it was Moony,” Lily noticed the deliberate use of the nickname.
Sirius looked up at James, “Did you think it was me then?” It was not an accusation.
James shook his head, “I trust all of you,” he said, “I think we must have mis-information,”
“Shall we go find out?” Sirius stood up from the kitchen table, the determined glint back in his eyes.
“Yes, I say we shall,” said James, rolling up his sleeves, “you know where he’s staying?”
Sirius nodded as the men moved around the table to each other, “on the count of three then,” said Sirius as James took hold of his forearm, “One, two-”
“Wait!” The two men looked at Lily, confused.
“You can't go banging on Remus’s front door!” She snapped at the two of them, still frozen, there hands clenched together. “Sit down!” she commanded, the motherly instincts that had awoken when Harry had been born, kicking in.
They sat.
She stood glowering down at them, her hands on her hips. She looked at Sirius, “When is the next Order meeting?” she asked.
“It was supposed to be tonight,” he said, “but...” he trailed off.
“But what?!”
“But I don’t think it’s going to happen now, because of… you know,”
“Well, I think we should go,” she shot a look at her husband who somehow was looking both older and younger at the same moment. “We can regroup, we can talk about it. If Voldemort tried to kill Frank and Alice’s son, then it obviously wasn’t us he was after. Which means,” she said, looking between the two waiting for them to catch up, “Which means there might not have been a spy at all,”
There was a small silence, then James’s face broke out in a huge grin, “See!” he said, pointing an accusatory finger at Sirius, “You were just being paranoid!”
“Oi!” Sirius swatted James’s finger away, “We don’t know anything yet! And besides,” he added, less playful, “I do want to be wrong,”
“Let’s go and find out what the Order thinks,” said Lily, sitting back down at the table, with such finality that the men didn’t protest. “When does the meeting start?”
“Nine,” Sirius said, his voice still hoarse.
Lily looked at the clock in the wall. It was 8:45. Close enough .
“Let’s go then,”
They couldn’t apparate with Harry, so James went ahead, checking that all was well at Moody’s and then Sirius and Lily (with baby Harry asleep in a basket in her arms) flued to the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.
A loud chorus of cheers greeted her as she stepped out of the fireplace, and she quickly cast a silencing charm around Harry, praying he would stay asleep. Moody’s house was fully of people. Elphias Doge hailed her as she stepped into the room, half drunk with his stupid blue hat propped nonchalantly on his head.
“We haven’t seen you in ages !” cried Emmeline Vance, coming over and giving Lily a hug, “We’re all celebrating, c’mon, Moody’s this way, he’s talking to James,”
Lily followed Emmeline into the next room, skirting around Dedalus Diggle and Sturgis Podmore who were having an animated conversation about a broomstick, each throwing her a wave before returning to their conversation.
James, Sirius, and Moody were in the kitchen, Moody greeted her offering a nod towards sleeping Harry in his basket.
“Sorry about the noise,” he grumbled, scratching his nose. It was still healing from the wound Dolohov had given him on their last encounter.
“Don’t pick at it!” said Sirius, swatting Moody’s hand away. Moody glared at him but turned his attention back to Lily and James.
“It’s been a while,” he said, his voice gravely, “James was just telling me that the two of you had gone into hiding,”
“Did you not know that?” Lily asked, looking between the four of them. She had thought Dumbledore had kept everyone in the loop, but considering there had been rumors of a spy, maybe he had thought it best to keep quiet.
“We suspected,” said Moody, “But no one would confirm anything. Anyways,” he said clapping them both on the shoulder, “it’s good to see you again!”
“It’s good to be back!” said James, grinning, “who else is showing up, Mad-eye?”
“Just our usual crowd,” said Moody, looking around, “I think everyone who’s here is expecting a party, though I don’t think we should be letting our guards down this early yet,” he peered into the other room before shutting the door to the kitchen and looked at Sirius, James, and Lily (Emmeline had left to continue her conversation with Elphias). “With Voldemort gone, I suspect some Death Eaters will be wanting revenge, we cannot let ourselves get complacent,” He looked and Lily and James, “I don’t know if it was wise to for the two of you to show up here tonight, we still don’t know if there is a spy,”
James and Lily looked at each other, communicating through looks the way people who have known each other for years can. “Do you know who the spy is, Alastor?” asked James after a moment.
“No,” said Moody, gravely, “I know that you have your theory, however,” he looked at Sirius, then at James who frowned.
“I trust him,” said James, defiantly, folding his arms across his chest, “Unless someone has proof that they’re not sharing, I will not suspect him,” Lily frowned at her husband, she knew he was as stubborn as a mule, but she happened to agree with him. Remus was not a traitor, Remus was loyal to a fault, he would never betray them, she was certain, never.
“But Prongs,” said Sirius, his face stern, “That’s what makes a good spy, that you trust them,” he looked at Moody, imploringly, “Would it not hurt to… to check ?”
“How?” said Lily, before Moody could respond, “How do you suggest we check if Remus is secretly a Death Eater?”
Sirius squared his jaw, “Let me talk to him,” he said, “I know him the best, he trusts me, let me just talk to him,”
Lily looked at Sirius, “You haven’t talked with him?” She asked, concerned, “but I thought you saw him regularly still? Weren't you two on a mission together recently?”
Sirius sighed and pushed his hair out of his eyes, “Once it became clear that there was a spy-”
“It’s not clear!” James said, his voice raising, “it was a theory ! Dumbledore was sure that Voldemort would come after Lily and I, but he didn’t , he went after Frank and Alice!”
The kitchen was silent, James’s words rang through the room. Lily put a comforting hand on James’s elbow, he looked at her and grinned sadly before continuing, his voice lower now, softer, “I don’t know where Dumbledore got that information, but something was wrong, he went for Frank and Alice, not us, and … and to me that means there might not have been a spy at all. We had wrong information,”
“But James,” Sirius said, his voice calm too, “Just because no one’s come after you yet, doesn’t mean they won’t. Like Moody said, the Death Eaters will be angry and looking for revenge, they’re just as bad! Look at what Dolohov did to Fabian and Gideon! Look what Travers did to Marlene,” Lily closed her eyes at the mention of Marlene, “look at my cousin , for god’s sake! We can’t take them lightly. If one of us is… a Death Eater, we need to find out as soon as possible before they go on a rampage,”
Lily couldn’t deny that Sirius had a point, she looked at her husband who was glaring at Sirius, his jaw set, “Love,” she touched his arm, “Maybe we should at least go talk to Remus,” she looked at Moody, “Will he be here tonight?”
Moody shook his head, but it was Sirius who answered “It’s full moon tomorrow, I don’t think he’ll risk it,”
“Why haven’t you talked to him, Sirius?” asked Lily, after a moment.
Sirius took a breath, looking around the kitchen, “Once we thought there might be a spy,” he said, looking at James, “Remus was Dumbledore’s suspicion. You know how Greyback cornered him last year? Well, it really shook him up, I think Dumbledore thought that Remus might have been persuaded by the promise of… of retribution. He fears the end of the war just as much as the Death Eaters do, without the Order, he has no job, no livelihood, very few businesses will hire a werewolf, I think Dumbledore thought he would have found the promise of equal rights for werewolves enticing enough to turn traitor.
“I agreed,” Sirius continued, sadly, “I didn’t want to, but he was the best fit for that role, he had the most to gain by joining. We were-,” he swallowed hard, not looking at the rest of them, “we were talking about moving in together,” James inhaled sharply, this was news. Lily knew that they had broken up around that time, but Sirius had never shared the reasons with them, “I- I tried to confront him about it, and he got angry,” Sirius trailed off, still not looking at them, “I hurt him and upset him, but he also didn’t deny it,” he smiled sadly at the floor, “So, we didn’t move in together and we broke up and when I told Dumbledore about it, he told me I shouldn’t speak to him again, in case I let my emotions get the better of me, and I… I let something slip,” his voice was bitterly calm.
“What could you let slip?” James asked, “You’re not our secret keeper, you couldn’t have told anyone anything,”
“Except who your secret keeper is,” Sirius said, looking at James for the first time, “If there’s anyone he would trust without a doubt, it was Remus. So, Dumbledore sent Dorcus on the mission with Remus, and I haven’t seen him since,”
A small silence followed these words, then Moody said, “Well, he got back from the mission about a month ago. I think with… what’s happened, paying him a visit isn’t a bad idea,”
Sirius looked at Moody and nodded, then looked at James, “I want to be wrong,” he said, his voice small, Lily saw that his eyes were sparkling, “I so want to be wrong, but we need to know, James, we need to find out,”
James nodded, “Alright, we’ll go,”
Moody looked at the two of them, “Let us know?” he asked.
James nodded, kissed Lily on the lips, grabbed Sirius’s hand, and they were gone.
Lily turned to Moody, she had just remembered something, something so strange she was shocked she hadn't noticed before hand, "Where's Peter?" she asked. The man usually was at all of the Order meetings, though he had been acting strange when he'd visited them the previous month.
Moody shrugged, "I haven't seen him in a month or so. I assume he's on a mission," Moody took a swig from his hip-flask. Lily nodded thoughtfully.