A stag and a dog tore across the bleak no-mans land before the colossal mountains, side by side, with one thought in mind
Find out what’s going on.
Up ahead, they could see a group of Crackacks surrounding a group of children. They didn’t think, they just chased them away. It didn’t matter who the children were, they couldn’t let the Crackacks get them.
The dog grabbed one by the neck in his powerful jaws and shook it violently from side to side, a strident growl emitting from his mouth as the neck of the Crackack broke.
The stag, on the other hand, lowered his proud head, so that three or four Crackacks would climb onto the long, tough antlers, attempting to get to his head or throat. He then flung the ghastly creatures fifteen foot up into the air, were they landed with a sickening crunch.
The children watched in horror and fear, clutching hold of each other in one massive group hug, the three girls sobbing in terror. The last of the Crackacks sped away, yelping, into the distance. The stag and dog subtly morphed into two dark haired men.
“Merlin…” breathed Jamie, stepping forward, his mouth wide open.
“Whoa… this is creepy…” said his seemingly-mirror image.
“That’s not Harry…” said the other man. Jamie blinked.
“No, I’m his son.”
“Harry has a son!?” The two men yelled together, their faces lighting up with excitement.
“Um… yeah… are you… are you my grandfather?” James Potter beamed and nodded his head.
“Seems like it “ who’s your mother?”
“Ginny Potter.” Sirius gave out a bark of laughter then outstretched a hand to James.
“I knew it! I knew it would be her! Prongs here said that it would be Hermione.”
“My aunt?” replied Jamie showing a look of pure disgust.
“She’s your aunt? But who… she married Ron, didn’t she?” Jamie nodded at Sirius’ words. He knew he recognised this man “ it was his younger brother’s namesake.
“What’s your name, kid?” asked James.
“Jamie. And this is my twin sister Lillian and my younger brother, Sirius.” The two men grinned even wider, if that were possible, and pulled the three siblings into hugs.
“He named them after us!” James cried out happily.
“What about you lot? What are your names? Then we can get round as to why you’re here,” said adult Sirius. The children stepped forward in turn, introducing themselves. Danny was last.
“Danny Lupin. I think my Dad knew you two, didn’t he?” James and Sirius stood there, speechless.
“Moony… he… he said he’d never… too dangerous…”
“Who’s your mother?”
“Nymphadora Lupin, but everyone calls her by her maiden name, Tonks.”
“Tonks?! As in, my baby cousin?” Danny nodded. “Wow, bit of an age gap, but, wow…”
“So, Sirius-” began James.
“Yes?” Both Sirius’ replied. James groaned.
“This is going to get confusing. Call us by our nicknames, okay? Big Sirius here is Padfoot, got it? And I’m Prongs. Now, Sirius, could you kindly explain why you’re all here?” Sirius blinked; most people talked to Jamie first, as he was the natural born leader of the group. Sirius was just used to hanging around in the background.
“Well… do you know who Tom Riddle is?” A dark shadow passed over both men’s faces.
“Yeah, you could say that.”
“Oh, good. We have to find him “ d’you know where he is?” asked Nicolas brightly.
“Why, in Merlin’s name, do you want to find him?” asked Padfoot, bewildered.
“Well, Bellatrix Lestrange kidnapped us from school-”
“What?!” yelped Padfoot, his eyes practically popping out of their sockets. Sirius had to admit, that did sound pretty bad, but they hadn’t heard the whole story yet. Jamie continued.
“Calm down! It’s okay; she’s changed. She’s really sorry for what she did to Dad-”
“What did she do to Harry?” asked Prongs, sharply. The children exchanged nervous glances. Lily sighed.
“I think you two should sit down, this is going to take a lot of explaining.”
***
“Do you kids know just how entirely stupid you’ve been?” asked Padfoot bluntly. The tale had just finished, and both Padfoot and Prongs were left speechless.
“We haven’t, she’s really changed!”
“Listen, kid. People who torture others to near death, never change. I can prove it to you. Do you want to know who Tom Riddle really is?”
“We know who he is,” pointed out Camilla, “he’s Bella’s old boyfriend.”
“No, he’s not. Maybe for some unknown, disgusting reason, she wished he was, but trust me, he’s not. Tom Marvolo Riddle is actually Lord Voldemort.” There was a stunned silence after Prongs’ words. Before the group, bar Lily, burst into peals of laughter.
“Stop laughing guys!” exclaimed Lily, angrily, “I knew there was something going on!”
“Really, Lils, you don’t actually believe these two, do you? Bella’s changed “ you saw how kind she was!”
“It was all an act!” said Padfoot, gripping his hair in frustration.
“Do you really think we’d joke about this?” asked Prongs, frowning.
“My Dad always said that you were pranksters,” said Danny.
“Trust me, I’m not a prankster after finding out my son was tortured so much he spent three months in a coma,” said Prongs, frostily. The children were silent.
“We’ve been so stupid,” said Lily, struggling to keep control of the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. Prongs engulfed her in a comforting hug.
“No, you haven’t. She’s just tricked you. I think when I was your age; I would have fallen for it too.”
“But… h-he has to c-come back now,” she choked, now sobbing, “b-because, we can only get back h-home if h-he drinks the potion! H-he’s going to c-come back, and it’ll all be my f-fault!”
“It won’t be your fault, Lils. It’ll be mine. I should have listened to you,” said Jamie dully.
“Dumbledore and Lily are back at the hut, they’ll know what to do. Now, c’mon, we’d best get out of the shadow of the mountains “ the Crackacks might come back,” said Prongs soothingly, gently pulling Lillian and the rest of the group away from the mountains.
***
“Well, what are we going to do?”
“There’s nothing we can do, we’ll just have to let him go through.”
“We can’t do that!” Hushed, frantic voices woke Jamie from his slumber. Prongs and Sirius had led them far away from the mountains, to a small, hexagonal hut. It was more of a summer house, made out of fresh smelling timber with intricate designs carved into it. The only roof was a blanket of a beautiful creeper, which climbed up the pillars onto the roof from the soft grass, its pure white flowers giving off a truly intoxicating scent. The hut itself was raised about two feet off the ground.
The children lay on a soft, snowy white blanket covering the floor of the hut, all of them asleep after their long journey, all except Jamie.
He opened his eyes, but didn’t move. He could see a very old man with a long white beard talking to a beautiful young woman, with bright green eyes, on the veranda. He guessed that must be his grandmother, and that the old man was Dumbledore.
“What other option is available to us, Lily? We cannot allow them to remain here, neither among the living or the deceased. We must remember that time stands still in the world of the living while they are here. As a result, they will not age.”
“But there must be another way! Can’t some one else go through instead of Riddle? I will-”
“Lily, I know how much you want to go back and see Harry, but you must understand “ it would be like rubbing salt into an open wound. It would not give you peace of mind. Even if that were possible, I would not allow you to do it. The only way those children can get back is if Voldemort goes with them.”
“But, he’ll kill them! They’re only- Jamie! You’re awake, dear.” Lily smiled and walked over to him as he sat up, his limbs still heavy from sleep. Dumbledore smiled, and walked away, out of sight.
“I’m Lily, well, your grandmother, I suppose. How are you feeling?”
“Sleepy,” mumbled Jamie, honestly. He rubbed his eyes as Lily smiled and nodded.
“That’s the flowers “ this is the sleeping hut, you see. Come on, I’ll take you to the living hut, and we can have a chat.” She helped Jamie up and led him outside. It seemed to be dusk; a pale moon was in the sky, crickets were chirping and the soft grass was wet with dew. Dotted around were brightly lit beach torches, their flickering flames illuminating the beautiful, mountainous surroundings.
“Do all of the spirits live in huts like these?” he asked, gazing around, entranced.
“Well, kind of. We have quite a choice of where we can live, really. You can’t run out of space here, there’s always some more land past the horizon. This is mine and James’ set of huts, but Sirius lives here a lot of the time too. He has got his own, but he gets lonely.”
“Where’s Dumbledore gone?”
Lily shrugged. “Who knows? He always seems to be going somewhere. Here we are.” Lily led him into another hut, which was exactly the same as the other one, except the flowers were bright red, giving off a warm, welcoming fragrance, and there was a crackling fire in the middle.
“Now,” said Lily, seeming to produce two mugs of hot coco from nowhere, “I know all about why you’re here, James and Sirius told me, but why don’t you tell me a bit more about what you’re life is normally like?”
“Do you mean when we’re not bringing back insane murders?” joked Jamie, taking his mug of hot chocolate. She smiled, and spoke as she raised the mug to her lips.
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
The Third War by dumbledorefluertwins
Chapter Notes: I'm SO sorry for the long delay! I was busy with the gauntlet, then my beta said he couldn't do it anymore, then no one wanted to beta it for a week, then five people wanted to beta at once, then my beta said that in fact, he could do it. And I've had exams. So, yeah, sorry!!
Please R&R!
~Evie