The Marauders and the Untold Stories

26. Life at Hogwarts is......

*Potter's Manor*

"So you're telling me you didn't find who it was. Not even a hint?" Lily paced nervously.

The Potters, Marauders and the Longbottoms were all gathered in the Potter's living room.

"Lils, you don't really think this has to do with Voldy, do you?" Sirius asked.

"I do. Don't you all?" She looked at them confused.

"Lily, Voldy is gone," Sirius assured.

"Gone? You really think he's really gone?!" Lily scoffed. "Then why were we all hiding all these years?"

Sirius sighed. "Because his followers think he is not gone."

"But you think he is?"

Sirius looked around. None of them looked sure that he was gone. "I think we are all forgetting who fought him. There is nothing like unfinished business when it comes to Pryde. Especially when she wants to win."

"We know that. I personally know that," Lily replied seriously.

"The vault was emptied that very same day. By Hagrid," Alice added. "That is not a coincidence." "Anyone could have tried to rob the bank!"

"Yes, but we can't just ignore. Especially when it's linked to Dumbledore," Frank added. "We've been hiding all these years and everything was calm. And these boys turn 11 and things restart. We ought to be careful, Sirius."

"We cannot ignore any minor movement," James patted on Sirius' shoulder.

Sirius nodded. "I know, I just don't want to believe that something is going on. The war has taken everything from us. I'm not ready for another one yet." He got to his feet and walked out.

"He's still in denial, isn't he?" Alice asked, concerned.

"It's... It's been years," Frank sighed. "So..." He turned to James. "Planning on getting back to the Ministry? Moody would love to have you."

"I'm not sure," James glanced at his family. "We need to think about it."

"It'd be really nice to get back on track. It took us a while. But, we'd be okay," Alice smiled. "Now that the kids are at school, we don't have to worry much about anything."

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"What do you think?" James asked, massaging Lily's shoulders. "Last time you said we'd talk about this later."

She was cleaning up after dinner.

"I... I don't know," she sighed.

"Lily," James turned her to face him. "You know. You think you aren't ready. You don't have to push away your dreams. I'm sorry we had to go through all this –"

"It's not your fault," Lily cut him off. "It wasn't our fault. None of it was, or is, or will be. We made our choices. But no matter what, we are in this together."

James smiled and kissed her. "Exactly my point," he looked straight into her eyes. "We are all in this together. None of us like to sit at home doing nothing. And we've been hiding for a long time. Now that Harry is at school, I think we should go back to our normal lives. Our normal selves. We had our dreams."