Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lived

Chapter Twenty-Four - Survival

Chapter Twenty-Four: Survival

Meanwhile, on the other side of the veil, a boisterous crowd had gathered.

“Dear,” a familiarly insistent, yet playful voice called across the elegant room.

Every man in the room, whether he had been married or not in his lifetime, turned to glance at the attractive redhead settled on the overlarge sofa.

A man wearing glasses with a thin black frame, who was deep in conversation with a man who appeared to be easily twice his age, spoke up. “Of course I understand, it’s just that- I’ll be right there, Lily dear- was it all necessary?” The man had barely paused between his two conversations, smiling at the older man as he addressed his wife.

“Dear,” Lily called out more insistently.

Once again, the man barely paused his conversation to respond. “I can’t believe it’s all happening so soon- Really, Lily, I’ll be there in just a minute- Are they ready for everything in this new world?”

“James Potter! You can speak with Albus any time. Your son has already defeated the Dark Lord. Are you going to miss any more?” Lily’s voice boomed across the room, the humor gone, but her eyes twinkling merrily.

Smiling broadly, but shaking his head ruefully, James bid Professor Albus Dumbledore goodbye and crossed the room to join his wife on the sofa. As he sauntered across the room, he heard a low wolf whistle, followed immediately by the sound of a whip cracking.

“Sirius,” Lily admonished. “You should be over here too.”

“Sorry, Lily,” Sirius grinned, not looking the least bit repentant. “Let me finish this…”

The castle that he had been building on the low table promptly exploded. “Never mind,” Sirius announced jovially as he put out his smoking eyebrow. “I’m ready now.”

As he got up, he knocked his folding chair over accidentally on purpose. The chair clipped the edge of the table and scattered the remaining Exploding Snap cards. They ignited, blowing up in Cedric’s and Percy’s faces.

“Hey,” they chorused together, rubbing their singed faces and checking to make sure that their eyebrows were still intact.

“Sorry Percy. Sorry Cedric. What? You need me right now, Lily? I’ve got to be off, guys, can’t leave such a beautiful woman waiting for the scruffy likes of me, can I?”

And, with that, Sirius left the two young wizards looking completely flabbergasted and swaggered over to the sofa. He plopped down next to James, sighed loudly and pretended to be rather irritated with Lily.

“Prongs, would you mind asking your screeching bit of a wife why she had to drag me away from my almost completed castle to watch nothing at all?”

Lily, who wasn’t the slightest bit bothered by Sirius’ attitude, gave it right back to him. “James, would you mind asking your flea infested best mate to wait patiently? I believe that there is some news that we might all be interested in.”

James looked back and forth between his best mate and his cherished wife, trying to decide who was more dangerous. Making his decision, he clapped Sirius on the shoulder and whispered exaggeratedly, “Padfoot, I think you’re going to lose this one, it’s best you remain mum until we see what she’s blathering on about.”

“Hey,” Lily exclaimed. She swatted at her husband’s shoulder playfully. “I can hear, you know,” she reminded him.

Sirius turned to the white screen occupying the majority of the large wall, trying to ignore the pang in his heart as the lovebirds teased each other. Quite suddenly, the screen turned black and Sirius emitted a loud noise that sounded suspiciously like a bark.