Chapter 32: Harry Potter
Lily cradled her newborn baby. He was finally here, a symbol for all the world to see of the love she shared with her husband.
“He’s perfect,” she said to James, who was sitting next to her with his arm protectively around her shoulder.
“He looks just like you, James. He’ll be just like his father when he grows up. Handsome, successful, caring…”
“You flatter me, Lils. This is all your work. He’s all you.” He kissed her, and they continued to simply stare in wonder at the tiny baby.
“What do you think we should call him?” James asked. “Did we settle on Charles, after you father?”
Lily studied the baby, who was making tiny noises as he sucked his finger. His big eyes, already starting to turn the beautiful shade of green of his mother’s, were staring in bemusement, flicking between the adoring gazes of his parents. He had a small tuft of soft, dark hair that stuck up on his tiny head, and his button nose was still a little squashed. Lily took in all this in a glance, and sighed peacefully.
“I’m not sure,” she remarked to her husband. “He doesn’t really feel like a Charles. He feels like…” the baby sneezed. “He feels like a Harry.”
James smiled. “Harry Potter. I like it.” He kissed her again.
***
They spent ten months in perfect bliss.
At two and a half months old, the baby boy was christened Harry James Potter. Sirius was named as his godfather. Lily had always planned that Yves would be the godmother to her children, but they hadn’t heard from her in over a year, since she had had to escape to South Africa with her family. James and Lily couldn’t think of anyone yet suitable to be Harry’s godmother, so they decided that Sirius was more than enough. The ceremony was simply, with the same priest who had married them christening Harry, which seemed to fit nicely. Many of their closest friends were there, but some, such as Frank Longbottom, could not make it, and others who had died fighting for the cause were there in spirit if not in body. It was a perfect day.
Harry grew happy and healthy, loved by his parents and their friends. James was trying to teach the ten month old baby to walk one morning in the sitting room in their house in Godric’s Hollow, with Lily watching from the sofa.
“Come on, Harry, its easy. Stand up, that’s right.” He let go of the baby’s hands and held his own out, ready to catch him if he fell.
“Now, come on, this way.”
Harry smiled at his father’s encouragement, and took one enthusiastic step towards James, before promptly falling on his bottom.
Lily and James laughed, and James scooped up the baby in his arms, giving him a big kiss.
“One day, my boy. You’ll get there soon,” he said.
There was a knock at the door, and Lily went to answer it. She returned with Albus Dumbledore at her side.
“He gets bigger every time I see him,” Dumbledore said, his eyes sweeping over Harry.
“It’s scary how fast they grow,” Lily said. “James was just trying to help him walk.”
“Unsuccessfully,” James put in.
The old man smiled and nodded. “All in good time.”
James stood. “So, are you here on Order business, or is this a social call? Can I offer you a drink?”
“No, no, thank you. I’m here on some rather sombre business, I’m afraid. Why don’t we all sit down? May I?” he said, holding his hands out to Harry.
James lifted the boy to Dumbledore who took him in his arms. He lowered his half-moon spectacles and gazed down deeply at the baby, who began playing with Dumbledore’s beard. Dumbledore had always had affection for the boy, and all the children of Order members, but the way he was looking at Harry now was more than simple affection. It was as if he was trying to decide something important, just by staring at him. Lily had always felt her old Headmaster had a knack for searching your soul with a simple glance, but she felt rather uneasy watching him do it to her baby.
Finally, Dumbledore smiled widely and handed him to his mother, saying “such a happy baby. Do you know “ it’s so nice to see you two settled down together. I do love a success story.” The baby yawned and snuggled into his mothers’ embrace.
“I need to put him down for a nap. I’ll be right down,” Lily said.
Once Harry was settled upstairs, and they were all seated, James spoke. “So what’s this sombre business all about? Has something happened?”
Dumbledore frowned slightly to himself, as if thinking where to begin. He sat up straight in the armchair across from the sofa, where the Potters were seated tentatively, and said, “do you remember, when Harry was born, I told you to stay away from the public eye?”
“Yes,” Lily said. “And we did just that. We haven’t been involved with the Order since that night when Sirius was hurt, just a couple of weeks before Harry was born.”
“That must have been … over ten months ago, now,” Dumbledore said. “And I thank you both for trusting me and following my advice, without questioning my judgement. I am deeply touched by it. I know it has been hard for you, James, to be away from the day-to-day involvement with the Order. And Lily, too.”
James put his hand on Lily’s. “It hasn’t been easy,” he confirmed. “But you had your reasons, right?”
Dumbledore considered them for a moment. Then he spoke. “I need to fill you in on some details. I ask, please, that you refrain from speaking until I have finished.”
***
It was almost an hour later that Dumbledore finished his tale.
James, who had stood and begun pacing round the room a while before, now stopped and looked to Dumbledore.
“So what does all this mean? This prophecy, it’s about Harry? It’s about our baby? This doesn’t make any sense.”
“As I said, the prophecy was not made specifically in reference to Harry. It needn’t have been anything to do with him, but Voldemort has interpreted the prophecy in such a way that places Harry at its centre. This puts Harry in great danger. You know very well the lengths that Lord Voldemort will go to in this war: he will stop at nothing to rid the world of any threat he sees, even a tiny, helpless baby, if he thinks he will grow up to defeat him.”
“Defeat him? My baby?” Lily said.
“I’m afraid there is no one on this earth who can fully predict Harry’s future. There is not magic strong enough to do so. But because Voldemort has assumed that Harry is the child referred to in the prophecy, Harry’s path is more marked out for him than any normal child. If he does grow up ““
“If?” Lily interjected, a terrified look on her face.
Dumbledore held up a hand of apology. “I will do my best to ensure his survival, Lily.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I get it,” James said, frowning with anger and resentment. “He’s marked, isn’t he?”
Lily looked from one to the other. “Marked?”
Dumbledore sighed. “Yes. I’m afraid to say that, because of this prophecy, Harry is now marked for death.”
“NO!” Lily screamed. She ran from the room and was heard rushing up the stairs to her baby. Moments later, the baby was heard crying, and she ran back down to the sitting room, clutching Harry in her arms.
“Take him!” she breathed, advancing on Dumbledore, who shook his head calmly and stepped backwards. “You must keep him safe! You have to help us! You said you would help him survive!”
James approached Lily and enfolded her in an embrace to calm her. “Lily, listen to me. This won’t help right now. The baby’s crying, Lily. Here, give him to me.” He took the screaming baby from Lily’s arms and held him close, whispering calmly in his ear and rocking him gently.
Lily looked to Dumbledore, her eyes red and puffy, but defiant and angry. ‘Tell us what to do!” she said.
”Of course,” Dumbledore calmly said. “If I thought for one second that my taking the baby would help him, then of course, I would offer my services as a babysitter. However, at such a time, he must stay in your presence, where he is loved and feels safe.”
He paused, and the baby stopped crying. Lily took him from James and cradled him.
James kneaded his temples. “So we’ll keep Harry safe.”
“Of course we will!” Lily interjected. “Its what we’ve always done. But I don’t understand how we can keep him away from the most dangerous wizard out there, if he has been marked for death! He’s just a baby! What harm can he possibly do?”
“Nothing, right now. But if the prophecy is true, there is one person who nicely fits Harry’s description who could be the one to stop Lord Voldemort. On the other hand …”
“What?”
“Neither can live while the other survives,” Dumbledore reminded them.
“But they’re both living now!”
“This doesn’t matter. You must remember that Lord Voldemort does not know the full prophecy, but only enough to make him suspect. As I said, he has drawn his own conclusions, and it is these that have put Harry in danger.”
“How do we protect him?” James asked.
“You must all be put under the protection of the Fidelius Charm.”
“The what?” Lily asked.
“It is a complex charm that allows someone to be hidden away for an indefinite period of time. The location of your whereabouts is a secret known only to one person, the Secret-Keeper: the only one with the power to divulge the information. Should your Secret-Keeper be trustworthy then you will be quite safe.”
“A Secret-Keeper…” James said.
“I must, of course, offer my own services here. Your secret will be kept within my very soul.”
“Thank you. For everything.” Lily said as she rocked Harry back and forth.
“I’m not sure,” James said. “It’s a little obvious, isn’t it?”
“What is?” Lily asked.
“Having you as our Secret-Keeper,” James replied, looking at Dumbledore. “Don’t you think, maybe Sirius-“
“This can be discussed later. I’m very sorry, but I must leave you, for the moment. There is something I have to do. I shall be back as soon as I can. Until then, stay inside at all costs. You must not leave this house.”
James nodded, a hard, determined look in his eyes.
“One more thing, before I go. I do not think it best that I be seen coming and going from here too often, especially before the Fidelius Charm is cast. I therefore ask your permission to Apparate within your walls, with, of course, a pre-warning from Fawkes to let you know of my arrival.”
“Of course,” James said, confused as to why Dumbledore would ask such a thing, but then he was, after all, the epitome of a gentleman.
“And now, I must go. Remember, be safe, and stay inside. The best to you all.” He nodded at Lily, who was still cradling Harry, and clasped hands with James, before swishing his long cloak round as he turned gracefully on the spot and disappeared from view.
Love Conquers by dumbly_dorr
Chapter Notes: The penultimate chapter. Harry is finally born, but the Potter family's happiness is short lived .... let me know what you think!