章 38: Dangerous Secrets
Bloody fucking hell," Severus muttered as they walked along the streets toward Spinner's End.
"Don't hold it all in, Sev," Lily snapped, "tell me how you really feel."
"That's not amusing, Lily," Severus snapped back. Lily frowned at him, but tried to keep up with his long stride.
"I don't understand what's going on. I'm really confused, and you look like you're three seconds away from completely losing it," Lily threw at him. He didn't stop, he just kept moving almost clutching Hermione against him.
"I need Lucius," Severus said finally. "I can't do this by myself. Does your house have a basement?"
"Yes, it does," Lily said uncertainly.
"Do you think you could sneak us in there if I got Lucius? He's graduated so he's legal and he could do disillusionment charms on the both of us." Severus said quietly. "In addition, I have just decided that there is no way in hell that Hermione is staying anywhere that isn't warded to within an inch of its life, and you and I aren't legal."
"Yeah, sure. I can send Eleanor to him," Lily said softly, referring to her owl. "What should I say?"
"Domina pericula est." Severus said shortly. Lily nodded and hurried to her house, with Severus following closely behind.
Lily heard the soft crack of Lucius apparating and then he and Severus were hurrying toward them, hiding in Lily's back yard. Lucius looked livid, and he appeared to be attempting control of himself.
"What the hell is going on?" He hissed at both of them. "I was in the middle of an engagement dinner with my damn family and the ancient and most noble house of Black. This had better be bloody good Severus, or I'm going to kick your ass."
"Hermione's a Seer," Lily said quietly.
With those words, everything changed. Lucius' dropped to his knees a look of horror and agony on his face.
"No," he whispered, staring at Hermione's unconscious form.
"Yes," Severus muttered, looking around them nervously. "And right now, she's staying in a house with no wards."
"What the hell is wrong with the Potter family? Are they insane?" Lucius was sputtering in rage.
"I don't think they knew, I don't think Hermione knows," Severus said quietly.
"I…I think maybe she does," Lily said softly, shifting from foot to foot uncertainly. Both men turned to glare at her.
"Just what do you mean," Lucius asked her in a silky, dangerous voice. Lily swallowed nervously and turned to look at Severus.
"First, you tell me what this means? I'm muggleborn, remember?" Lily pleaded. Severus ran a hand through his hair and looked at Lucius who was surreptitiously wiping a tear from his cheek. Lily blinked in surprise. Lucius cleared his throat and stood up, towering over her.
"Well, you may not realize it, but witches and wizards are rather rare," he began slowly, frowning to himself. "The majority still come from the pureblood families, but the percentage of muggleborn and halfbloods appears to be steadily increasing. I would hazard a guess that all the so-called muggleborns actually have a disowned squib or two dotting the family tree."
"Why would you guess that?" Lily asked in surprise.
"It isn't as though magic just pops up out of nowhere. It follows certain laws and rules. You need magical blood for a magical child, period. Anyway, compared to the human population, we are a tiny group of people, you do understand that, yes?" Lucius continued with a look of irritation.
"Of course, it's in Hogwarts, A History," Lily recited. Lucius rolled his eyes and she thought she heard Severus muttering something about Nimue's Innocence.
"Yes, well. There's a lot that book doesn't cover. Anyway, as rare as we are, among humans, that's how rare a seer is among us. You might have only one or two in a generation. Or at least, that's the way it would be normally, except that seers are so prized that they are usually in incredible danger. The Potters used to throw one every so often, but they haven't in at least a century, maybe longer," Lucius explained carefully.
Why would she be in danger if she's so precious?" Lily asked in confusion.
"It's the dark that wants them, the dark that wants to use them," Severus growled at her. "He's not the first dark wizard to hunt them down for his own ends."
"But…wouldn't he treat her really well then?" Lily said slowly, not understanding.
"Would she go to him willingly?" Severus asked dryly. Lily whirled on him, her green eyes snapping.
"No, she'd rather—oh. I see," Lily said, comprehension dawning in her eyes.
"Now, what did you mean, you think she knows?" Severus demanded, his black eyes smoldering at her.
"Erm, about that. Don't you remember when she flat-out refused to take Divination? It's a required course, and she pitched a fit and Mr. and Mrs. Potter spoke to the Headmaster and she never took Divination. Not even one class." Lily spoke urgently to Severus. Lucius' eyebrows rose. Usually the Potter family encouraged their offspring to rub elbows with the masses. They were fairly egalitarian and always had been.
"How do you know that?" Severus asked curiously. Lily flushed in embarrassment and hunched her shoulders.
"It was one of the only fights that Hermione and I have ever had," Lily admitted miserably, wringing her hands. "I…I said some rude things…I, well, I accused her of some rude things, and she laughed at me. I've always remembered what she said that night: 'the day that Divination class will tell me something I don't already know is the day that Centaurs decide they all want to serve mankind.' I didn't know what that meant, I had to look up wizard/Centaur relations, but it wasn't just what she said…it was the look in her eyes. It was like looking into an abyss. It made me cold all over."
"Wouldn't Mr. and Mrs. Potter know, too, then?" Severus asked with a frown. Lily shook her head.
"No. I mean, I don't think she did that weird eye thing to them, I think it was just around me. Hermione was probably afraid it would happen in class." Lily explained.
"The Seer's eyes," Lucius whispered, shivering in the relatively warm air of a July evening in London. "Bloody hell, Severus, how will we be able to protect her?"
"First off, we're going to ward this place so hard that nothing could get through. We can't make it unplottable because Lily's family has to be able to come and go. She's only here for a bit longer, but she needs to be safe. Then you and I are going to teach her Malfoy family wards and Prince family wards so that she can add them to her own house," Severus said firmly. Lucius seemed to think for a minute and then he nodded, reluctantly.
"Fine. Let's do this," he muttered under his breath.
HP/HG/HP
Lily's room was dark, the lights had been extinguished, and Hermione lay motionless in the bed. She was staring, unseeing at the wall in front of her. All she could see were horrible images playing over and over again in her mind.
A small cozy, cottage, which she knew belonged to James and Lily Potter. James was standing downstairs, nervous, tense. He was pacing back and forth. He hadn't slept well for months. You-know-who wanted him. At first, it had been almost like some sort of sick, twisted courtship. He tried to offer James what he thought he wanted. James shuddered. Lily's parents had been a warning. He and Lily had told you-know-who that he could bugger himself. His parents had been the next warning. Natural causes, his ass! They'd only been in their sixties. Dumbledore was a hundred and thirty and still going strong. That had been the threat, though. See how easy it is for me to kill, and make it look like an accident? James clenched his hands and fought for breath. Now, Sirius and Remus were doubting one another, circling each other like suspicious dogs. He was trying to take everything away from James, until there was nothing left. He could stop it, if he joined. He could save people from dying, if he just gave up. That was the insidious lie that you-know-who tried to spread. Thank Merlin that Lily was so much smarter than that.
"It never stops James. He'll keep killing and killing and killing. If you give up, he wins you like a prize at the fair, but he'll still kill people. He'll kill Remus because he's a werewolf. He'll kill me because I'm muggleborn. Giving in to him will change nothing," Lily had said dully, her arms hugging her middle.
"I know," James replied, staring out their window. Lily watched him warily.
"So we're not giving up?" she asked cautiously. James shook his head.
"Hell, no." He said firmly. Lily threw her arms around him and hugged him so tightly he thought she might crack a rib.
"I love you, James Potter," she whispered fiercely against his chest.
"I love you, too, Lily-flower," he muttered into her hair.
Now it was day time, but somehow she knew that it was a different day. Maybe it was weeks later, she wasn't sure. Sirius looked almost as haggard as James and they were arguing fiercely in the corner. Lily ignored them and bounced Harry on her knee.
"Who's the smartest, bravest, most handsome wizard in the land?" Lily cooed in his ear. He laughed and waved his chubby baby fists. "That's right! You are. My sweet, sweet love."
"Lily, talk some sense into your idiot husband," Sirius growled from their corner. Lily rolled her eyes at them both.
"It hasn't worked yet, I fail to see why he would start now," she said dryly.
"Look, Lils, I'm honored, okay? I'm honored that James tossed Dumbledore over and wants me as the secret-keeper, but everyone will expect it. What if we used someone else, someone no one would suspect as the secret-keeper? I could pretend I was hiding out, and they'd chase me, but the secret-keeper would be safe and cozy. Perfect, right?" Sirius was pleading, and it bothered Lily more than she could say. He was always handsome, arrogant, smooth. Sirius oozed confidence out of every pore. This desperate man was not their Padfoot.
"What about Remus, then?" Lily said. She loved Remus just as much as she loved Sirius, and the estrangement between them hurt her as much as it hurt James.
"No," Sirius said flatly, his grey eyes hooded. "I was thinking Peter might be better."
"Peter?" Lily asked in surprise. Sirius gave a sharp laugh that grated against Lily's nerves.
"See?" He asked James. "Even Lily didn't consider him."
"I don't know, Padfoot," James ran a hand through his hair.
"Please think about it," Sirius begged his blood-brother.
"Fine. Fine. We'll think about it," James muttered finally.
Now it was night…and it was days or maybe weeks later. It was Halloween. She could see the jack o'lanterns on people's porches. He was pacing again, her James. His face was contorted with worry and fear for all the people he loved. Lily was standing nearby, watching him. Her eyes tracked his every movement, her face pale and drawn.
The crackle and hiss of power made them both turn to the door. James turned to Lily.
"Run!" He yelled at her. "Run, Lily, now!"
"I love you," she threw over her shoulder, running up the stairs as fast as she could.
He stood there, facing the door, facing death. He knew what was coming, he had known for months, and he didn't fear death. He had Peverell blood, for Merlin's sake. When the wards were destroyed, they backlashed into him and he lost his balance for a minute, going down to his knees. The pain of the backlash made him lose his breath, but he was back to his feet after that. He and Lily had talked about this, she hadn't understood a lot of what Dumbledore was talking about, but he and Sirius had known, and they had explained it all to her in detail. The door blew open and Peter walked in behind Voldemort. Peter. The pain in James' chest was overwhelming. For just a moment, hatred and anger almost took control. Almost. He fought for precious seconds—releasing the hatred, giving up the anger. Lily. Harry. I love you. He let go of everything, for them. He looked at Peter, ignoring Voldemort completely.
I forgive you," he said. There was a flash of green fire and then nothing.
Now it was daytime again, and James lay there staring at nothing, his glasses askew on his face, his house in shambles around him.
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