Challenge #75: One Small Moment
Title: A Boy Who Lived
Rating/Warnings: PG, none
Characters/Pairing: James, Lily, Sirius, Harry
Summary: Sirius changes Secret-Keepers at the last minute.
Word Count: 905
Author's Notes:
Registered purchases?: None.
"James!" Sirius shouted, bursting into the small house in Godric's Hollow like the whirlwind of energy that he was. "Prongs, I have it! I know how to fix it!"
Lily came out of the kitchen, holding a mixing bowl and tailed by a small, dark-haired boy. She laughed. "What're you up to now?"
Sirius grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eye, a manic gleam evident. "I did it. I figured it out. I know who you should make Secret-Keeper."
"You mean other than you?" James said dryly, emerging from the small room beside the kitchen that housed the laundry facilities.
"Yes, other than me. I know exactly who and he already said he'd do it, so don't try to talk either of us out of it."
James sighed. "You're serious about this. We've had this plan in place for months, Padfoot! Months! And now at the eleventh hour you want to throw everything off?" He grinned. "I love it. Who?"
Sirius paused, relishing his moment with a devilish grin on his face. "Moony."
The implications took a while to sink in, but as he slowly realized how brilliant this was James let out a surprised yell, making baby Harry start. "Why didn't I think of that? Bloody hell, Padfoot! It's perfect!" He started pacing the living room, his hands flying around his face in wild gestures as he talked. "We know that Voldemort will suspect you, and of course he'll go after you. Sorry, buddy."
Sirius shrugged. "Can't be helped."
"Yeah, but he's so mistrustful of half-breeds that there's no way he'll think that we made the werewolf Secret-Keeper. Of course!"
"My thoughts exactly."
Lily looked back and forth from one excited and agitated man to the other, unsure of how to say what had to be said. "But don't you both think that's kind of . . . obvious?"
James blinked. "What d'you mean?"
"Well, don't you think it makes sense that he would expect you to choose someone unlikely? Someone you've known for years and years?"
"Someone like Sirius, not Remus. Remus and I never really had the same bond, you know."
"It's true. Moony had a habit of being distant, with all of us. It's just his way, I guess. Nobody was as close as James and I and everyone knows that."
Lily sighed. "Well, of course. And everyone who knows anything about us knows that. But I just don't want to try to set a trap and wind up in one, anyway."
James saw the distress in her eyes, in the way she started stirring the mixing bowl with renewed vengeance. He held her against him, taking the bowl from her and setting it on the counter. "Baby, nobody is going to hurt us. Or Harry." His eyes hardened. "Not now or ever."
To Sirius, he said, "Let's make it happen."
Sirius hesitated. "Well, there's one catch."
"And that is?"
"We'll have to wait a few days."
Casting a quick glance at the calendar revealed all that James needed to know about Remus' whereabouts - it was the full moon. He wouldn't be himself and wouldn't be found to anyone's benefit for about a week.
Lily cast worried eyes at her husband. "Can we wait that long? What if something happens?"
To Sirius, James said, "We'll have to."
***Eleven Years Later***
Harry Potter was on his way to Hogwarts for the first time, and as he stared out the window of the Hogwarts Express he had a lot of things on his mind.
His mother had seen him off, of course. From her wheelchair she waved, her long white hair woven in a braid down her back. His father had been there in spirit.
There had never been any official word that his father was dead, but he hadn't been seen in over six years, either. It was suspected that he had either died in the last valiant fight against Voldemort or had gone to find his friend, Remus Lupin - a fool's quest. No one had seen him for ten years.
He knew the story, of course - of how his godfather had discovered Regulus Black's locket in his mother's house after her death - of the many months of research by Dumbledore and the Order that had revealed the horrible truth of the Horcruxes. He and his mother had had bits of news funneled in over the years they'd spent in hiding.
James Potter had grown weary of sitting idle after only a few months, but he waited nearly five years before leaving the safety of their home and venturing to join the cause.
He'd never returned, but Sirius had - his face grim as he delivered the bad news first, and then the good.
Lord Voldemort had been destroyed.
On his first Hogwarts Express journey, no one had known his name or stared at his scar. He was any other first year - scared at the thought of the unknown.
Another first year - Ronald or Randolph or something like that - was sitting across the compartment from him. His clothes were shabby and he was kind of shy, but he was a nice enough kid. They talked about what house they wanted - both were expecting Gryffindor. They talked about their families and the magic they already knew.
Harry felt like - for the most part - he was a normal, 11-year-old boy.
905/50 = 18.1 points for Ravenclaw
Faythe//Ravenclaw
Rating/Warnings: PG, none
Characters/Pairing: James, Lily, Sirius, Harry
Summary: Sirius changes Secret-Keepers at the last minute.
Word Count: 905
Author's Notes:
Registered purchases?: None.
"James!" Sirius shouted, bursting into the small house in Godric's Hollow like the whirlwind of energy that he was. "Prongs, I have it! I know how to fix it!"
Lily came out of the kitchen, holding a mixing bowl and tailed by a small, dark-haired boy. She laughed. "What're you up to now?"
Sirius grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eye, a manic gleam evident. "I did it. I figured it out. I know who you should make Secret-Keeper."
"You mean other than you?" James said dryly, emerging from the small room beside the kitchen that housed the laundry facilities.
"Yes, other than me. I know exactly who and he already said he'd do it, so don't try to talk either of us out of it."
James sighed. "You're serious about this. We've had this plan in place for months, Padfoot! Months! And now at the eleventh hour you want to throw everything off?" He grinned. "I love it. Who?"
Sirius paused, relishing his moment with a devilish grin on his face. "Moony."
The implications took a while to sink in, but as he slowly realized how brilliant this was James let out a surprised yell, making baby Harry start. "Why didn't I think of that? Bloody hell, Padfoot! It's perfect!" He started pacing the living room, his hands flying around his face in wild gestures as he talked. "We know that Voldemort will suspect you, and of course he'll go after you. Sorry, buddy."
Sirius shrugged. "Can't be helped."
"Yeah, but he's so mistrustful of half-breeds that there's no way he'll think that we made the werewolf Secret-Keeper. Of course!"
"My thoughts exactly."
Lily looked back and forth from one excited and agitated man to the other, unsure of how to say what had to be said. "But don't you both think that's kind of . . . obvious?"
James blinked. "What d'you mean?"
"Well, don't you think it makes sense that he would expect you to choose someone unlikely? Someone you've known for years and years?"
"Someone like Sirius, not Remus. Remus and I never really had the same bond, you know."
"It's true. Moony had a habit of being distant, with all of us. It's just his way, I guess. Nobody was as close as James and I and everyone knows that."
Lily sighed. "Well, of course. And everyone who knows anything about us knows that. But I just don't want to try to set a trap and wind up in one, anyway."
James saw the distress in her eyes, in the way she started stirring the mixing bowl with renewed vengeance. He held her against him, taking the bowl from her and setting it on the counter. "Baby, nobody is going to hurt us. Or Harry." His eyes hardened. "Not now or ever."
To Sirius, he said, "Let's make it happen."
Sirius hesitated. "Well, there's one catch."
"And that is?"
"We'll have to wait a few days."
Casting a quick glance at the calendar revealed all that James needed to know about Remus' whereabouts - it was the full moon. He wouldn't be himself and wouldn't be found to anyone's benefit for about a week.
Lily cast worried eyes at her husband. "Can we wait that long? What if something happens?"
To Sirius, James said, "We'll have to."
***Eleven Years Later***
Harry Potter was on his way to Hogwarts for the first time, and as he stared out the window of the Hogwarts Express he had a lot of things on his mind.
His mother had seen him off, of course. From her wheelchair she waved, her long white hair woven in a braid down her back. His father had been there in spirit.
There had never been any official word that his father was dead, but he hadn't been seen in over six years, either. It was suspected that he had either died in the last valiant fight against Voldemort or had gone to find his friend, Remus Lupin - a fool's quest. No one had seen him for ten years.
He knew the story, of course - of how his godfather had discovered Regulus Black's locket in his mother's house after her death - of the many months of research by Dumbledore and the Order that had revealed the horrible truth of the Horcruxes. He and his mother had had bits of news funneled in over the years they'd spent in hiding.
James Potter had grown weary of sitting idle after only a few months, but he waited nearly five years before leaving the safety of their home and venturing to join the cause.
He'd never returned, but Sirius had - his face grim as he delivered the bad news first, and then the good.
Lord Voldemort had been destroyed.
On his first Hogwarts Express journey, no one had known his name or stared at his scar. He was any other first year - scared at the thought of the unknown.
Another first year - Ronald or Randolph or something like that - was sitting across the compartment from him. His clothes were shabby and he was kind of shy, but he was a nice enough kid. They talked about what house they wanted - both were expecting Gryffindor. They talked about their families and the magic they already knew.
Harry felt like - for the most part - he was a normal, 11-year-old boy.
905/50 = 18.1 points for Ravenclaw
Faythe//Ravenclaw