It was a fairly ordinary house, not impressive in anyway. It was a stereotypical country cottage that was two storeys high and had stone walls that were slightly wonky. It had a solid-looking mahogany door with a little round window that had some kind of mythical creature painted on it. The mossy stone was starting to look a bit worn and was crumbling away in places. All in all the house didn’t really look as though it could withstand much; it gave the distinct impression that one good gust of wind might knock it down. A three-foot high wall, that wasn’t in much better shape than the walls of the house itself, outlined a tiny patch of greenery through which the front path meandered. The small front garden was very neat; the grass had been cut with such uniformity that every blade must surely have been measured with a ruler. There wasn’t a weed in sight and despite the season the flowers were still vibrantly coloured, there was a special kind of glow about the garden that suggested it was basking in an eternal summer.
The village wasn’t very big; it only had a dozen houses, a post office that doubled as the local shop, and a Fish and Chip place. It was a decidedly unspectacular area. The houses had been cleverly arranged in a crooked sort of circle so that they created a ring of safety around the grassy park area that was in the middle. It was quite a picturesque little spot at the minute; autumn was drawing to its close and winter was already starting to press in upon them. The trees that had been leafy and green during the summer were now standing naked against the stormy sky. Their leaves had turned orange and then yellow before they finally flittered off in a light breeze one day. In the middle of the village green there was a Muggle play park, complete with a slide, swings, climbing frame and sand pit. It had rained fairly hard during the last two days making the ground wet and rather slimy looking. There were droplets of rain that had landed on the handles of the slide and were now dripping slowly on to the shiny metal surface of the incline. They hovered for a second before they began winding their way down the slope, trickling off the end and being soaked in to the earth beneath it.
Who knows how long James Potter watched the scene from the front window of Potter House. He wanted to be a raindrop. It was such a simple yet exhilarating life. You started off by living in a cloud; very nice. Then you get to plummet towards the earth at an amazing speed, which struck James as a lot like chasing after the Snitch, and after that you just got to ooze around without anybody to bother you. Yep, he thought, it’s the rainy life for me. He wasn’t enjoying his day so far; it had been one of the most boring days of his existence. Halloween was traditionally a big night for his family and friends but this year was very different. In the last six months he had lost his brother and sister-in-law, and his mother and father. On top of that his best friends weren’t allowed to visit because Dumbledore was fairly certain that one of them wasn’t his best friend anymore.
He didn’t know how many times he had run over the events in his head trying to work out who the traitor was. He couldn’t believe that it was Sirius, they were like brothers, and they were as good as family. At the same time he refused to believe that it was Remus. As far as he was concerned seeing the quiet man’s face when he saw Ellie’s distressed state was proof enough that he wasn’t the spy. Quite simply he loved the little girl too much. However, James couldn’t imagine that it was Peter; the short, tubby boy was fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of life. But the traitor was definitely one of them; they were the only people who could have known that Ellie was staying with her grandparents. It could have been chance, he argued with himself. Maybe Voldemort had used his common-sense and assumed that she would automatically be given to her grandparents. Or maybe it was just that Voldemort had decided that he wanted to kill the Potters. There could have been a million different reasons for the attack and James felt terrible for distrusting his friends when it might not be necessary.
He remembered his argument with Albus Dumbledore vividly. He had always had a huge amount of respect for Professor Dumbledore but when he had heard the news that his mother and father were dead he had known what he had to do. Ellie had to come and stay with him and Lily. He had contacted Dumbledore by owl several times with no reply and after three days of silence from the headmaster James had put himself and his family at great risk to go to the school and meet with the elusive man. He waited in the headmaster’s office for nearly five hours before its inhabitant had returned. “Hello, James,” Dumbledore had said in a tone that suggested he had been expecting the young man before him much sooner.
“Yes, hello,” he replied shortly.
“What can I do for you this afternoon?” he asked with nonchalance.
“I want my niece.”
“As much as I would like to accommodate your wishes, I cannot.”
“Yes you bloody well can!” James shouted.
“I would appreciate it if you kept your voice down, James,” Dumbledore replied calmly.
“No I won’t! I want to see Ellie and I want to see her NOW!”
“That will not be possible. I have sent Elizabeth somewhere she will be safe…”
“Then you had better bring her back.”
“I will not put my granddaughter at risk,” Dumbledore replied evenly.
“You listen here; I will not have the last piece of my family pulled away from me. You bring her back here and you do it now!”
“I don’t think that would be an appropriate course of action, the situation is far too dangerous at this time.”
“Lily, Harry and I are in hiding, she’ll be just as safe with us as she would be anywhere else!” James was not letting the headmaster away with this one; he would do everything in his power to bring Ellie home.
“I am not open to negotiation on this matter,” Dumbledore said with finality.
“Neither am I, and I’m not going anywhere until you agree to bring Ellie back. Ellie’s guardianship was passed on to my mum and dad and they passed it on to me, I think you’ll find that a very valid case for the Wizengamot.” The two men sat in silence for a very long time before either had the inclination to be civil with the other.
“If she were to return we would have to strengthen the wards around the house, I will not allow harm to befall her,” Dumbledore said quietly.
“Do you think that I would? For Merlin’s sake, she’s like a daughter to me; I’d die for her.” It was only when he said these words out loud that the truth of the matter hit home with him, he would die for her. He would have died for any of them but he didn’t get the chance, he wanted to make sure that he did everything possible for his niece.
“That is precisely what worries me. I do not want her left defenceless within Voldemort’s reach.”
“And would the people she’s with be able to do any more for her?”
“I suppose not…”
“Then wouldn’t she be better off amongst family?”
“I have been persuaded; I will collect Elizabeth and return her to your care. I happen to like you very much, James, as you are well aware but if anything happens to Elizabeth during her stay with you then you might find yourself on the receiving end of a rather vicious attack. Do I make myself clear?” Dumbledore said indifferently. James was taken back; he had never heard the old man threaten anyone before.
“I understand perfectly. How long will you be?”
“I shouldn’t be more than an hour,” he replied coolly. He stepped in to the fireplace and called something that James couldn’t make out. As he swirled around in the green flames Albus couldn’t stop himself from wondering how he had let all this happen. He had always considered that he was something of a great man and he remembered his father once saying that to be a great man you had to accept defeat when it stared you in the face. He had accepted his defeat at James’s hands but he could not and would not accept defeat at the hands of Voldemort, far too much relied on that fight.
So at the end of August Ellie had been delivered to Godric’s Hollow and into the waiting arms of Lily Potter. That was over two months ago now and life had been peaceful ever since. There was the odd occasion where a slip of the tongue had Ellie calling Lily mummy, they hadn’t drawn attention to it and in the next moment she would be back to calling her Aunt Lily. She and Harry were getting on like a house on fire, they played all the time and Ellie loved nothing more than helping bath and feed him. Although Harry made the latter a little bit more difficult, his personality was really starting to take shape and he was quickly becoming very independent. He also had quite a sense of humour. He found it very entertaining to flick his food at his mother and cousin, especially mashed potatoes and gravy.
“James?”
“What’s the matter, Lily?” he called as he climbed the stairs.
“Can you put Harry to bed? I can’t find the Calming Draught instructions that Severus sent over, have you seen them?” Lily was sitting on her bedroom floor with a collection of parchment pieces around her.
“Don’t you know that recipe off by heart?” He knew that in her work as a Healer Lily made the potion fairly often.
“I can’t remember whether I need to stir it anti clockwise five or six times…”
“‘Fraid I can’t help you and I’d like to remind you that I’d never touch anything that had passed through the horrifically greasy hands of Snivellus Snape!” he said disgustedly at the thought of the pallid boy that had blighted his school years.
“Hehe “ Snivellus “ hehe!” James turned around to find Ellie sitting cross-legged in the middle of the landing. She had her tiny hands up at her mouth to try and contain her giggle.
“Well done, James, are there any other horrible names that you’d like to teach our niece?” Lily said irritably.
“Well…” he said teasingly.
“Don’t you dare! You’ve taught her enough bad habits. It’s nearly bed time, Ellie,” she said in a much more kindly tone to the girl who was now jumping on her uncle’s toes.
“No! I won’t go!” Ellie turned to her aunt Lily with her arms crossed firmly and her bottom lip thrust upwards. It was quite possibly the most Potter-like thing she had ever done.
“If you don’t go then you won’t play with Harry at all tomorrow,” Lily bargained.
“But I don’t want to go! I don’t like sleeping!” she protested. James and Lily shared a significant look, they had previously had trouble getting Ellie to bed, and once or twice she had said that she didn’t like to sleep.
“Why don’t you like sleep?” James asked as he kneeled down to eye level with the girl.
“Because…”
“Come on, Ellie, its Uncle James, you can tell me anything,” James encouraged her.
“That bad man comes when I’m asleep,” Ellie said tearfully.
“Oh, sweetheart! The bad man isn't going to come again, I promise.” James wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. He had to admit that Ellie’s confession made him feel rather emotional; she had never really specified why it was that she didn’t like to go to bed.
“There it is!” Lily’s relieved voice rang through the tense air. She waved a piece of parchment in front of him. “It’s okay, I’ll put Harry to bed, why don’t you sort Ellie? You’d like that wouldn’t you?” Ellie nodded.
“Right we are then. Hhheeeaaavvvee!” he called as he lifted Ellie up. She laughed once again. He deposited her on her bed with the instructions to put on her pyjamas while he went to give Harry a goodnight kiss. “Okay there, kiddo?” he said ruffling Harry’s jet-black hair. Harry just looked at him.
“Snitch!” he replied, holding a golden cuddly toy up for his father’s inspection. James beamed down at his little boy.
“You’ll be a star Quidditch player yet!” he declared. He kissed his son on his smooth forehead and then did the same to his wife on the way out of the room. When he got back to Ellie’s room she was sitting on the end of her bed with her pyjama top buttoned oddly, she had missed several buttons. “Jump in!” he called as he pulled back the bed covers for her.
“Tell me a story.”
“What one would you like?” He had a feeling he knew what she would say.
“The one about the boys who turn in to animals and have lots of fun!” she replied eagerly.
“Okay then, are you ready?” he asked her, and she nodded diligently. “Right, once upon a time…” He barely made it to the part where the boys turned in to different animals before Ellie drifted off to sleep. He brushed a stray hair out of her face and couldn’t help but think that she looked like a miniature angel with her porcelain skin and her golden hair splayed out on the pillow. He smiled to himself; kids really did bring out the best in him. He looked in on Harry and Lily to find that she was still reading a Muggle story about a bear named Pooh. He crept down the stairs as quietly as he could and settled himself down in the sitting room with a bottle of Butterbeer.
He had nearly drifted off when there was a quiet tap at the front door. That’ll be Peter, he thought. After some serious consideration they had chosen Peter as their secret keeper. No one would ever have believed that they would choose him because he was so weak. It was arranged that every night he would stop by and check on them. James answered the door but instead of finding Peter’s pasty, rat like face he found the sharp features of Lord Voldemort.
He slammed the door shut again. He wasn’t really sure why, it wasn’t like it would make much difference but at least it bought him an extra second or two.
“Lily he’s here, get out!” he shouted up the stairs as he quickly grabbed his wand.
“What did you say?” Lily appeared halfway down the stairs with a towel wrapped around her shoulders; she had clearly just washed her hair.
“He’s here. Take Harry and Ellie and GET OUT!” he bellowed. Lily took one look back at him.
“I love you, James,” she cried. The door suddenly exploded inwards.
“I love you too, Lily. Now, GO!” he bellowed at her. He was now standing face to face with his enemy. Lily pelted back up the stairs.
“Tell me, Mr Potter, where is your son?” he said in a startlingly cold voice.
“You won’t get him,” James said defiantly.
“I most certainly will," Voldemort replied simply.
"Never!" James shouted back. In a move borne from many years as a Quidditch player James dived into a roll, disappeared behind a couch and pounced up at it's other side with his wand in his hand.
"Was that really necessary?" The older wizard was evidently unimpressed.
The two started firing off various curses, most of which only marginally missed their mark. James quite cleverly used several items of furniture to deflect spells away from him and into other things. Unfortunately this survival tactic was proving to be very detrimental to his home and furnishings. Both the couches were smouldering wrecks and a big hole had been blasted in the wall above the fireplace. The banister from the staircase was now scattered everywhere after having been blown apart by a Reductor Curse that had missed Voldemort's face by a Hippogriff's feather. The structural damage caused to the house was severe to say the least; the whole building was beginning to rumble in the aftermath of absorbing a dozen or more spells. James could tell the end was coming and did nothing but pray that Lily and the kids had managed to leave by now.
"As invigorating as this has been, Mr. Potter, I have other things to do this evening and it will be necessary to end our battle sooner rather than later. I must admit that I have been impressed with the valiant fight you and your family have offered. You would have been very useful allies, I see that now."
"We would never have joined you, you power hungry psychopath!" James yelled almost in desperation. If he was going to die then he was at least going to make sure that the man who had murdered his family knew what he thought of him. "You don't honestly believe you'll get away with it do you? Dumbledore will stop you; just you wait and see. You're no match for him! Stupe..." the young black haired man, with his whole life before him, never got to finish his incantation.
Avada Kedavra!” Voldemort said almost lazily. James went rigid as a board and fell backwards with a look of horror on his face.
Upstairs at the same time….
“Ellie, wake up!” Lily tried not to shout. “Ellie, please,” she uttered desperately.
“Aunt Lily?” the young girl mumbled sleepily.
“Up you get, we’ve got to go now. We’ve got to go get Harry,” Lily told her urgently as she began to pull the girl from her bed.
“The bad man’s come back, hasn’t he?” she began to sob.
“It’s all right, come on, we have to go and get Harry.” At the mention of her cousin, Ellie’s demeanour changed dramatically, she was suddenly all business and ran towards Harry’s room. Lily felt so sad, a three year old had the instinct to save someone else, it was the definite sign that so much had been wrong with Ellie’s life. She followed the little girl through to the nursery and pulled her son from his bed. But she was too late.
“Put the boy down, Mrs. Potter,” sounded a dangerous voice from behind her. Lily whipped round and saw the tall figure of Lord Voldemort in the doorway. She handed the now awake Harry down to Ellie and stood in front of the pair.
“Please, leave Harry, take me instead,” she pleaded.
“I have no use for you, you filthy Mudblood, now, stand aside and let me have the boy.”
“No,” she said courageously.
“This is your last chance girl, move away.” Voldemort’s wand was now out and pointing directly at her.
“I’m not moving!” Lily pulled her wand from her robes and pointed it at the man in front of her.
“Very well, Avada Kedavra!” he muttered. Lily fell to the ground dead. Ellie was sitting on the floor with Harry wrapped tightly in her arms.
“You must be Elizabeth, I have been looking for you, my dear,” he said to the small girl in a light-hearted voice.
“You’re a bad man,” Ellie shouted at him.
“You’re quite right of course, I am a terrible man. It really is an awful shame, you sound like you might have made a fine woman. Goodbye, Elizabeth, and you too, Harry. Avada Kedavra!” There was a blinding green flash and then Ellie and Harry were left alone in the room. The house was shaking violently so she grabbed a blanket out of a drawer near to her, wrapped Harry in it tightly and lifted him in to the wardrobe where she pulled the door shut.
Half an hour later Rubeus Hagrid returned to his cabin within the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry after a long evening of tending to the Hippogriffs. He was just sitting down to a steaming plate of hotpot and a cup of tea when Fawkes the Phoenix materialized into the air above his table and deposited a letter right in the middle of his dinner. Hagrid immediately knew that this was some important correspondance from Professor Dumbledore and ripped open the wax seal urgently.
"Hagrid,
There has been a disturbance at Godric's Hollow; the wards have been breached. I have been in contact with the Improper Use of Magic Office and they tell me that 3 Killing Curses were used there a short time ago. Please hurry and do what you can. On my desk there is a small statue of Gryffindor that will act as a Portkey to take you there. I will be along as soon as is possible. Fawkes will greet you there and return to me with your assessment of the situation. Take any survivors to the Burrow.
Albus"
Hagrid quickly grabbed his large moleskin coat and pink umbrellas before he rushed to the headmaster's office. Not ten minutes later he was standing in front of the crumbling ruins of Potter House.
In all honesty he didn't know where to start. The building was still rumbling slightly and threatened to cave in on itself. He scoured his memory for a Strengthening Spell that he had once heard Professor Flitwick use. When he remembered the incantation he gave the wall nearest him a tentative tap with his umbrella. The bricks seemed to pulse for a minute and Hagrid cringed, fearing that he had performed the spell wrong but after a second the pulsing and the rumbling ceased. He pushed the ajar front door further open to allow his enormous form access to the house and nearly cried out with the sight that met his eyes.
What had once been a quaint living room was now a disaster zone, debris lay everywhere, with nothing untouched by the brutal fight that had taken place. Lying amidst all the destruction was Jame's Potter's rigid body. He lay in the exact place that he had fallen with that look of sheer horrer etched into his handsome features. "Oh, James!" Hagrid sobbed as he reached a massive hand forward to slide the young man's eyes shut. "Yeh were a good 'un, jus' like yer father. 'E'll be proud o' yeh, we all will."
He rose from the still form knowing that there was no more that he could do for James now. He picked his way through the debris - something that was extremely difficult because of his large feet and ascended the staircase that lead to the upper floor.
Plaster and bricks coated the floor and in a couple of the rooms the large beams that supported the house had splintered and now poked through the air menacingly. He shifted furniture and chunks of caved in roof in his search for any life but found nothing. When he came to what he recognized as young Harry's nursery, he found poor Lily Potter half hidden under a pile of broken bricks. There was no look of horror on her face, merely an expression of satisfied peace. Hagrid kneeled by her for a moment and cleared the bricks off her while the large tears seeped out of his eyes and fell into her blanching hair. As he pressed a gentle goodbye kiss into her cheek he became aware of a strange noise.
It sounded almost like howling, no sqealing. It was followed by a desperate shushing noise. He glanced around the room and followed the noise to the place it appeared to becoming from. A large pile of roof tiles had fallen on the wardrobe, which had tipped flat on it's back during the chaos. He pressed his ear closely against the side of the large wooden object and listened carefully. Sure enough, he heard the noise again. It was baby crying. Hopeful that Harry might have survived the ordeal, Hagrid swiped one log like arm across the wardrobe and managed to clear the tiles in one swoop. He then carefully lifted it back up on to its end and reached for the handle.
There, crouched in the bottom of the wardrobe, under a collection of Harry's tiny clothes, was Ellie. She was still wearing the little pink pyjamas that she had buttoned wronglly only a few hours earlier and she had her little cousin Harry wrapped tightly in a blue woven blanket. Tiny Harry was screaming as loud as his little lungs would let him while Ellie shook him gently in an attempt to calm him down. When the wardrobe door creaked open Ellie's gaze snapped up.
There was a furious look in her eyes and her jaw was set firmly. The air around her was golden and crackling dangerously. Before he knew what was happening Hagrid was thrown backwards forcefully and speared on one of the splintered beams. He roared in agony before he calmed enough to pull himself off the weapon. "Come on now, Liza, yeh know me. It's 'Agrid, remember?" he said quietly as he crawled back over towards the wardrobe. Ellie was still glaring at him angrily.
"You're not going to hurt Harry!" she shouted and pulled her cousin closer. Her little brown eyes dared Hagrid to try and take him from her.
"I don't want to hurt 'Arry, Liza, I'm 'ere to take yer away from all this. Yer granddad said to take yeh to Molly Weasley's." Hagrid said softly as he massaged his injured shoulder.
"Grandpa?" Ellie said suspiciously. "Aunt Molly?" she surveyed Hagrid carefully.
"Tha's righ', I'm a friend o' yer grandpa. He wants me to take yeh to Charlie's. Yeh'd like tha' woudn' yeh?" He said carefully. He knew that she was fond of Charlie Weasley and thought it might be a good way to bargain with her.
"Hagger?" she said in recognition. Her gaze changed completely.
"Tha's me. I work a' Hogwarts. Come on, let's get yer ou' o' 'ere." He reached a large hand towards her and she gripped one small hand around his finger while she carried Harry with the other. He swept her up carefully and headed back downstairs. Half way down the staircase he heard loud sobbing, he shifted Ellie into his other arm and drew his wand out.
Sitting in the middle of the living room, with James' dead body clutched to his chest, was Sirius Black. At frequent intervals he let out a wail of agony and tightened his grip on his surogate brother's lifeless figure.
"Uncle Sirius!" Ellie squealed and began kicking her legs against Hagrid. Sirius whirled around at the sudden noise.
His face was deathly pale; his eyes bloodshot and raw with tears. He scrambled up from the floor quickly and addressed Hagrid. "Where's Lily?" he said urgently.
"She's in the nursery, Sirius, yeh don'..." but before the half giant finished Sirius steamed past him and bolted up the stairs. A few minutes later howling ripped it's way through the house's empty shell. When Sirius came back into the living room his face was void of all emotion, there was nothing but shock left there.
"Let me see them," he said quietly as he reached out for the squirming Ellie and the finally calm Harry. He took a child in each arm and cradled them protectively against his chest. He gave them both a kiss on the cheek and muttered into Ellie's ear, "It'll okay, nothing's going to hurt you now. I'll make sure of that. Thanks for coming, Hagrid, but i'll take them from here." He said to Hagrid.
The large man was about to reply when Fawkes once again materialized, the phoenix dropped a letter into Hagrid's hand and waited expectantly. Completely ignoring the fact that Sirius was wandering out the door with the two children, Hagrid dug and enormous mitt into his even larger coat pocket and pulled out a quill. He scratched a quick note that Ellie and Harry were safe but James and Lily had been lost. He then handed this note to Fawkes who disappeared in a flash of fire. It was only then that he realized he was standing in an empty living room. He rushed outside in time to see Sirius conjuring a basket on the front of his bike for Harry to lie in.
"Sirius, yeh can't do tha'!" he shouted through the darkness to the young man.
"Harry's my godson, Hagrid, he's my responsibility," Sirius snapped slightly.
"Yeah, well..." Hagrid began but was once again cut short by Fawkes's arrival. He tore yet another letter from the headmaster open. This one contained instructions to take Ellie to leave Ellie with the Weasleys but to take Harry on to Little Whinging. Hagrid nodded to Fawkes who disappeared again. "Dumbledore says i've to take 'em, Sirius, Liza's his granddaughter, 'e knows whats best for her." Hagrid nodded as he took Ellie from her perch on the motorbike's seat. She wasn't very happy at this and began trying to hit him.
"Look, Hagrid, I realize that..." Sirius began trying to pull Ellie back.
"No, Sirius." Hagrid said firmly. "I'm followin' Dumbledore's orders. They're comin with me." Sirius was about to continue the argument but he realized that seeing him agitated was beginning to upset Ellie. In a rare moment where he considered someone elses wellbeing above his own, he decided to let Hagrid follow the orders he had been given.
"Fine, fine," he snapped quietly. "Take the bike, i won't be needing it anymore." Sirius waved a hand over the motorbike and Apparated away with a pop!
"Make uncle Sirius come back!" Ellie yelled and punched Hagrid's sore shoulder with surprising force for a three year old.
"But we're going to see Charlie," he said quickly. Ellie considered this for a moment and ceased her assualt. Hagrid swung a leg over the bike and used his coat to button Ellie in against him securely before the bike roared to life and soared into the night sky.
A/N: So that’s the last in this series, what did you all think? Don’t be afraid to be honest!
I once again have to give my amazing beta Magical Maeve enormous thanks. Despite the fact that she had just been on holiday and must have had a million other things to do she managed to beta two chapters for me in a heartbeat. You rock, Maeve! If you guys wanted to be really nice you could go and read her fic Harry Potter and The Daughter of Light and the new sequel Harry Potter and the Severed Souls.
Everybody be good and if you can’t be good be careful!