The Alternate | A Harry Potter Original Fanfiction by Ameliapondicus

Chapter 11

The dining room was chaos.

Sirius sat at the table, sipping another beer as people shouted around him. Frank was holding Alice, who was shaking and whimpering. James was still upstairs with Lily, Harry, and Madame Pomfrey. Those Muggle people had yet to get up.

"Do you think it's time to start the meeting?" A soft voice murmured beside Sirius. Starting, he turned to look at Albus Dumbledore. "It might be a good time."

"I just need to drink, Professor." Sirius grumbled, reaching for another beer.

"Drinking away reality is no way to live."

"It is when your brother almost died." Sirius snarled. "James lost most of his blood."

"Madame Pomfrey and Lily are more than capable of healing." Dumbledore sat next to Sirius. "And we need to discuss this."

After thinking a moment, Sirius nodded slowly. Dumbledore raised his wand and shot up red sparks. The conversation stopped. "If everyone could grab a seat," he said gently. "We are beginning." He turned to Alice. "Might you go and grab the Smith's please?" She nodded and left the room.

Slowly, everyone pulled out a chair. "Wait!" Lily ran into the room. "James is coming down." Around the corner, Remus walked in with James on his back, and set him down on a chair. James was still pale, but grinning in the way only James could after almost dying. "James!" Frank smiled. "How are you, mate?"

"Oh, you know. Alive." He lifted his arms to defend himself as Lily swatted at him. "Wicked scars, though."

**********

Alice walked back into the room, leading a disheveled Phil and Eloise to two seats next to James and Lily. The mood turned from relief to worry again.

Dumbledore began. "Last night, at seven thirty-five pm Death Eaters attacked a Muggle home where James and Lily Potter having dinner." He looked at the Smith's. "This is Phillip and Eloise Smith, the Muggle's who were hosting James and Lily."

Everyone turned and looked at them. Phil and Eloise seemed to close into themselves. "Why are they still here?" Frank asked, not rudely. "Why aren't their memories wiped?"

"The Death Eater's found us at their house. To wipe their memories would be killing them." James said bluntly.

Phil opened his mouth, but everyone started arguing on whether or not to cast the memory charm or not. "Oi!" Sirius yelled. "Phil would like to speak."

The room quieted, and everyone looked at Phil and Eloise again. He shrunk further down in his chair. James nudged him. "Go on."

"I'm sorry, but we are still so confused," he said. "We keep getting called Muggles, and you perform tricks that defy science."

Dumbledore stood up quietly. "Of course, my apologies, Mr and Mrs Smith." He walked around the table. "You see, magic is real."

"Way to be subtle." Sirius muttered under his breath. James looked at him sharply.

"There is a difference between magic and non-magic people. The non-magic we call Muggles." Dumbledore smiled at the couple. "I am the Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He gestured at everyone around the table. "I have taught everyone at this table."

"There's a school?" Eloise asked. She turned to Lily. "Is this the private school in Scotland you were talking about?"

Lily nodded. "I first went there when I was eleven."

"So magic is real?" Phil asked. "How come we don't know about it?"

"The power." Sirius set down his beer bottle. "It possesses everyone."