Harry Potter: A Different Past

Prologue

Professor Dumbledore paced the study anxiously. It was mere hours since he’d been in Hogsmeade, interviewing a teacher. During the interview, some important information had come to light. This information regarded the lives of six people; those six had been sent for immediately. This meeting would regard their safety in the future, and the safety of the two children involved.

He checked his watch. The evening sunlight crept into the room as the doorbell rang through the house.

“What’s going on, Albus? Why the sudden meeting?” James Potter led his wife into the study. She held their young son in her arms.

“There is a matter of some urgency to be discussed with you, but we must wait for Frank and Alice to join us first.”

Within half an hour, the other couple had arrived. They too had a son, a few days older than that of James and Lily.

“Something has been brought to my attention this afternoon that jeopardizes not only your lives, but the lives of Harry and Neville too.”

“What do you mean, Albus?” James asked, wrapping a protective arm around his wife and child.

“I heard a prophecy being made mere hours ago. I am certain, that one of Voldemort’s followers has heard some of its content. Voldemort will, by now, know of that knowledge.”

“How does this affect us Albus?” Alice finally asked: the question on everyone’s mind.

“He will be targeting either Neville or Harry. You must go into hiding. It is the only way you all can survive.” Lily held Harry tighter, a nervous fear creeping into her body.

Dumbledore turned his bright blue eyes on her, raising a hand to the tip of his very long beard. He didn’t want to be the one to tell them that their sons might not survive to be adults. “I hate to have to tell you this, but we must act immediately for your safety.”

“What can we do?” James asked, his eyes wide and alert.

“We must use the Fidelus Charm at a different location from where you currently reside. I’m getting them set up at the moment, by Filius. You may choose one person, and one person only to know this location. If you wish for others to know, the chosen person must tell them. The fewer people who know about this, the better.”

Lily glanced at James, she knew whom he wanted to choose. He didn’t need words to say who was on his mind. She had someone else in mind, but her choice would be risky. His may be better, but not by much. As for Frank and Alice, she had no idea who they might choose.

“I can be your Secret Keeper, if you so wish. However, I must make it clear to you that we have a betrayer in our midst; therefore the person you choose must be completely trustworthy for both of you. I will give you an hour to discuss this and decide upon which person you want to be your Secret Keeper. For added security, it would be safer if this is sorted out separately.”

James grasped Lily’s hand and led her to the living room. “How can this be happening?” Lily sat on the sofa trembling slightly. “I thought we were safe.”

“Albus did say he’s only come across this information today.” James stood by the window with his back to the room.

Lily gazed at Harry’s innocent face. His green eyes, much like her own, gazed right back at her. “I don’t want to lose him,” she whispered.

James leaned against the windowsill with both hands, his back still to his wife. Outside the house life went on as normal. Something he could only dream would happen for them. Whatever it takes, I’m going to make sure Harry lives to be an adult, even if I have to die for him. “Which is precisely why we are doing this.”

Lily glanced at her husband’s back. “I know who you want our Secret Keeper to be, James.”

“How? I’ve not given any names.”

“You don’t need to. I’ve seen the two of you together since Hogwarts. You hardly ever used to do anything without Sirius.”

“I know that. I also know you have someone else in mind. Who?” James turned to face her. She looked a lot calmer than she sounded. He wasn’t sure how she managed to keep such a clear head in a crisis sometimes, not every crisis perhaps, but a fair few of them. Maybe that was part of what he had fallen in love with all those years ago.

“Remus.”

James sighed quietly and joined Lily on the sofa. “You know it wouldn’t be safe to use Remus, don’t you?”

“I do. His monthly problem…”

“Which is why I think Sirius might be better.”

“But you know how he has trouble keeping secrets,” Lily pointed out. She could remember only too well the time Sirius had almost gotten a Slytherin killed when he’d betrayed Lupin’s ‘condition’.

“I think this one, he’ll keep. After all, three lives depend on it.”

A soft knock on the door disturbed them. Dumbledore looked around the door as the young couple turned to face it. “Have you made your decision?” he asked.

James glanced at Lily; she nodded slightly.

“We have. We want it to be Sirius.”

Dumbledore slipped inside the room and shut the door quietly. He didn’t speak for a moment. Lily looked at James: neither saw this as a good sign. “I have to remind you that somewhere, information is leaking out of the Order.”

“It wouldn’t be Sirius!” James protested, standing up suddenly. “He’d never do that. How can you be sure?” He had always trusted Sirius; nothing they would say could change his mind. There had been times when they’d argued over something, and not spoken for a few days, but they’d always made it up later. “Sirius ran away from his family. He couldn’t stand them.” They had to understand.

He stared right at the professor, determined to get him to understand. It’s not Sirius. It can’t be Sirius. He was surprised to see the similar disbelief in Albus’s eyes. “Sirius was the only one to go into Gryffindor, the rest went into Slytherin.”

“Someone close to you is the betrayer. I don’t want this to be in vain.”

“It won’t be,” James said defiantly. “It’s not Sirius, I know it isn’t.”

Lily caught Dumbledore’s eye. She was startled at the worry showing in his normally calm face.

“Maybe we should discuss this some more,” Lily muttered.

James turned to her. “What more is there to discuss? We both agreed to make it Sirius.”

“Perhaps you have forgotten I had Remus in mind.” Lily too stood up.

“While Remus is a good choice, Lily, he is not suitable,” Dumbledore pointed out.

“It should be Sirius.” James refused to back down.

“I can see we’re not going to get anywhere with this.” Dumbledore sighed, “Very well, I’ll call Sirius; we’ll get this sorted out now.”

Lily bit her lip as the professor left the room. “Don’t look at me like that, Lily.” James turned away, back to the window. No longer sure if Sirius was the ideal choice.

---

Sirius was sitting in his own study when Dumbledore made the fire call. “Albus, this is a nice surprise.”

“Sirius, there is a matter of some urgency that I need you for.”

“What’s up?” Sirius looked over his shoulder at the headmaster. It was rare for anyone to need him for anything urgent. He was known as someone to take time over things, including the more important orders he was given.

“I need you to come to Headquarters as soon as you can.” Dumbledore looked directly at Sirius, a slight frown on his face. He still didn’t think Sirius was quite the right choice; he could be a bit too relaxed regarding rules and secrets. Unseen to Sirius, he twisted his hands around each other.

“Of course, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“We’ll be in the living room,” Dumbledore finished, his face vanishing from the ignited flame.

Sirius frowned. It wasn’t normal for the professor to be so on edge about something. He personally hadn’t seen Dumbledore this tense since he’d shouted at him back in his Hogwarts days. Of course, Sirius had somehow, managed to get out of severe punishment from this, even though he had deserved it.

Thinking back, he had been lucky just to escape with a detention. But then again, it had been Snape’s fault, sniffing around with his abnormally large nose, trying to find out where Lupin had been going once a month. Well, he deserved it, Sirius thought as he hurried up to his room, grabbing his cloak and proceeded to the house through the Floo connection.

---

The Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix had a very limited Floo connection. Only certain buildings were linked to it, and none of them public. This made the security measures better, and only members of the Order knew where these buildings were. Although each member was only told where two were. One for main use, one for back up in case the main one was inaccessible for some reason.

“When Sirius gets here, we can begin with the charm.” Dumbledore’s voice drifted out into the corridor.

Sirius took a deep breath and entered. The atmosphere in the room was so thick he thought he could cut it with a knife. “What’s going on?”

“We have to perform the Fidelus Charm. James and Lily have chosen you to be their Secret Keeper.”

“What does that mean, exactly?” Sirius asked, cocking his head.

“They will be relocated to a secure location. The building they move into will be under the charm. This means that one person, and one person only can tell others where this building is. The building cannot be found, unless the Secret Keeper releases its location to another,” Dumbledore explained.

“Wouldn’t this make the Secret Keeper a target for whoever was after the people he was keeping the secret for?”

“The Secret Keeper need not tell anyone that they are a Secret Keeper. In fact, it is safer if this knowledge too is kept to a minimum.”

“And it’s perfectly safe for this charm to be performed?”

“Yes. It has been done many times without any side effects for anybody involved. You may have this evening to consider accepting this responsibility.”

“I don’t need an evening.” Sirius stood up as straight as he could. “I’ll do it.”

“Thank you, Padfoot, old friend.” James whispered. He looked right at his friend, seeing, not just the boy he’d met on the school train, but the boy who’d been there to help his friends; the teenager who’d risked life to be with a friend in his time of need; the young man who had been his best man at his wedding; the man he’d named Godfather to Harry. They always knew what the other was thinking, even without Legimency. Lily could sense the connection they shared; she hoped it would be enough to see them through.

---

An hour later, the charm had been performed. James and Lily were collecting their belongings together before they went to their new home. Sirius too was moving to a new house: to the Headquarters with Lupin to be exact.

As they stood before the house, Lily couldn’t help but feel apprehensive. What if it failed? What if Voldemort found out? She couldn’t bear to think about the consequences.

James took her hand and squeezed it gently. She smiled at him, and together they made their way into the house to begin their new life.

Sirius, meanwhile was unpacking in his new bedroom. He knew how important it was to keep his friends safe, but he was such an obvious choice. He knew some of the current Death Eaters were those from his year. They were bound to tell Voldemort about the closeness he shared with James. Sirius then pondered on Lupin, but he quickly brushed it from his mind; Lupin too was thick as thieves with James.

His thoughts turned to Peter Pettigrew, the fourth member of the Marauders, a group they had created at Hogwarts. Peter had always been on the outskirts of the group, the weakest one… the quietest one. He had always longed for some honor, and never received it.

I’m a target, even more so now that I’m their Secret Keeper. Sirius glanced at a photograph on his desk. He’d been so happy when James and Lily had named him Harry’s godfather. I can’t let them down. I can’t tell anyone. But what if I’m caught and tortured until I speak. I can’t risk that. James and Lily’s wedding day flashed before his eyes. James had made him Best Man.

He thought back to when he ran away from his home at sixteen. James and his parents had been so willing to accept him as a second son. They accepted me, even though they knew what my family was like. I don’t want to have them in more danger than they all ready are.

Sirius’s thoughts returned to Peter. He’s better for Secret Keeper than I am. I can’t keep a secret forever, even though their lives are dependant upon it.

“Hey, Padfoot. Is everything all right?”

Sirius quickly turned his back on Lupin and wiped the tell tale dampness from his face. “Yeah, it’s never been better.” He knew his voice sounded deceitfully cheery.

---

Sirius managed to slip from the house without being seen. He hurried down the road to a sheltered spot the Order regularly used for Apparating. Mugginess hung in the air. Dark clouds obscured the otherwise beautiful evening. Sirius located the correct road that would lead him to Pettigrew’s dwelling. It wasn’t far, but before he’d gone ten steps, he wondered how anyone could stand to live in such a dank, gloomy place.

Peter’s house stood alone in the lane, set back from the road, but visible from a distance. Sirius made his way up the overgrown path to the front door, trying not to breathe in too deeply, for fear of being poisoned purely on the air. He raised his fist and knocked on the door. It creaked loudly as it opened.

---

Sirius trod the familiar route to Pettigrew’s house. It was only the fourth time he’d visited Peter at home. Every time he had set foot in this village, he wondered how anyone could possibly stand it for more than five minutes.

The path leading to the front entrance was as overgrown as ever, and the door itself seemed to have several years’ worth of dirt covering it. Sirius raised his hand to knock upon it. At the slightest touch, the door swung open. Sirius stepped cautiously over the threshold, drawing his wand at the same time.

“Peter, are you there?” he called, treading carefully along the hall.

The dining room, living room and kitchen were all deserted. Days worth of dirty crockery laid on the table and work surfaces.

After a quick search upstairs, Sirius realized he was quite alone in the house. He found the lack of destruction unnerving.

…Peter’s not here, and it looks like he went with whoever came calling, rather willingly. I’ve got to warn the others.

Sirius ran from the house, along the lane to the secluded spot he used for Apparating. One thought fixed firmly within his mind.