metanoia

Chapter Ninety-two

"Where's my niece?" James asked as he and Lily walked into the flat Alex and Sirius shared.

When Alex realized she was pregnant, she decided that she couldn't continue living in the Order Headquarters. And conveniently enough for her, Sirius wanted to get out of there as well. So, the two of them found a flat big enough for them, Remus and Adhara.

Alex shushed her cousin, happily taking her nephew from his mother's arms as she nodded her head toward her daughter's bedroom, "She's napping. This is the first time she's actually fallen asleep without a fight in weeks."

"I wish Harry would fall asleep without a fight," Lily yawned, plopping herself down on the couch.

Alex nodded sleepily, smiling at her nephew as she crossed the room to follow her to the couch, "The joys of having newborns."

"Where's Sirius?" asked James, looking around the open flat to see that his best friend was nowhere to be found.

"He was running to the store to get some more diapers and formula. A God sent, he is," Alex breathed. She was grateful for Sirius, since Dumbledore sent Remus back undercover she couldn't have imagined how hard it would have been with a newborn by herself.

A knock came from the front door, confusing the three adults. James made his way to the door, opening it to reveal Albus Dumbledore. The old man pointed in the apartment, "May I come in?"

"Of course, Lily and Alex are in the living room."

Alex raised an eyebrow at the Headmaster of Hogwarts, wondering for what possible reason would he be coming to her home unannounced. She shifted her hold on her godson, feeling Lily sit straighter beside her as she greeted him, "Evening, Professor. What brings you here so late in the evening? Shouldn't you be at Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I should. But I actually needed to talk to you about your safety."

James furrowed his brows at Dumbledore, "I'm sorry, did you just say our safety?"

"What's going on?" asked Alex, looking between her cousin and Albus.

"See, Lord Voldemort believes the prophecy Alex gave is about your son," Dumbledore told the Potters, avoiding to look in the direction of the prophetic blonde rocking her babbling nephew in her arms.

Lily stared at the old man, dumbfounded by what he was telling them. In fact she was so shocked by it, she thought she'd imagined it. Like she was in the middle of one of her nightmares.

She blinked comically, trying to see if she would wake up and this conversation would be one from her imagination. When she wasn't waking up from what felt like a nightmare, she shook her head and narrowed her eyes at Albus Dumbledore, "Voldemort wants... our Harry?"

Dumbledore looked between the three young adults, nodding as he met the green eyes of Lily Potter, "Yes."

Alex met the old man's eye, silently testing the waters to see if she could enter his thoughts. To understand where this was all coming from. Dumbledore, understanding what she was trying to accomplish, let her in, showing her what happened.

Severus Snape stood on a hilltop, forlorn and cold in the darkness, the wind whistling through the branches of a few leafless trees. He was panting, turning on the spot, his wand gripped tightly in his hand, waiting for something or for someone... Then a blinding, jagged jet of white light flew through the air and Snape dropped to his knees and his wand had flown out of his hand.

"Don't kill me!"

"That was not my intention." he said simply, nearly inaudible through the sound of the wind in the branches.

He stood before Snape, his robes whipping around him, his face was illuminated from below in the light cast by his wand.

"Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?"

"No - no message - I'm here on my own account!"

Snape was wringing his hands. He looked a little mad, with his straggling black hair flying around him.

"I - I come with a warning - no, a request - please -"

Dumbledore flicked his wand. Though leaves and branches still flew through the night air around them, silence fell on the spot where he and Snape faced each other.

"What request could a Death Eater make of me?"

"The - the prophecy... the prediction... Worth..."

"Ah, yes," said Dumbledore. "How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?"

"Everything - everything I heard!" said Snape. "That is why - it is for that reason - he thinks it means Lily Evans!"

"The prophecy did not refer to a woman," said Dumbledore. "It spoke of a boy born at the end of July -"

"You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down - kill them all -"

"If she means so much to you," said Dumbledore, "surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?"

"I have - I have asked him -"

"You disgust me," said Dumbledore with an alarming amount of contempt in his voice. Snape seemed to shrink a little. "You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?"

Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore.

"Hide them all, then," he croaked. "Keep her - them - safe. Please."

"And what will you give me in return, Severus?"

"In - in return?" Snape gaped at Dumbledore, but after a long moment he said, "Anything.

"Why not the Longbottom boy?" James asked, looking between Alex and Dumbledore, breaking the silence that settled between them. "Neville. Why Harry?"

Albus' Adam's apple bobbed, clearing his throat, "Neville Longbottom is a Pureblood. Harry is a Halfblood... much like Voldemort himself."

"He marked Harry as his equal..." Alex breathed, letting Lily take her son from her arms and hold him close to her chest as he started crying, feeling the uneasy tension in the room.

"So, what do we do?"

Albus turned to find Sirius Black standing behind them with grocery bags in his hands. He looked between the four young adults, folding his hands together, "We put them in hiding."

"What does that mean?" Alex demanded.

"We'll put them in a location and only use the Fidelius Charm on the person who knows their location. The Secret Keeper. And they can only disclose the location willingly," Dumbledore explained, silencing every occupant in the room. Even little Harry stopped crying.

"I'll do it," Sirius and Alex offer together, which satisfied both Lily and James Potter.

Alex met her cousin's eye rather intensely, emphasizing every word as Sirius offered the possibility of Peter being the Secret Keeper since no one would suspect him to know, "No, if anyone will be their Secret Keeper it should be me."

"I agree," Lily cooed, rocking Harry.

Dumbledore nodded, having figured it would be simple enough to find their Secret Keeper. He made his way to the door, excusing himself from the apartment, "Very well, we'll find you a safe house and then perform the Charm."