Priori Incantatem [HARRY POTTER FANFICTION]

Chapter 55: Surprises, Schemes, and Strangers

Chapter 55: Surprises, Schemes, and Strangers

Lily adjusted the dark sunglasses over her eyes and made certain the hood of her Muggle coat and Harry's blankets were secure before stepping out of the car. James, also clad as a Muggle, extended his hand to help her, then kept his arm round her as they hurried through the rain to the front door of their new building. He held the door for Lily and Harry, then turned to look once more for any suspicious figures and nod to Benjy Fenwick and Sturgis Podmore, the two Order guards who had been assigned to the front of the building.

It had been two weeks since the attempted Death Eater attack on Harry, two weeks since Dumbledore had told Lily and James about Sibyll Trelawney's prophecy concerning their son and the Dark Lord. It had been the longest two weeks of Lily and James' lives.

Dumbledore had told them everything he knew about the prophecy. He'd recounted the events of the day he had gone to interview Sibyll Trelawney for the Divination position last June and repeated the story his source had told him: one of Voldemort's spies had overheard his interview with Trelawney and all that had come afterward. He'd then explained that there were just two children born at the end of July who'd fit the criteria in the prophecy: Neville Longbottom and Harry.

Lily and James had sat in stunned silence throughout Dumbledore's explanation and had continued to be silent for long moments after he'd finished speaking. Dumbledore had waited patiently for them to recover from their shock, which had taken a rather substantial length of time. Then the three of them had discussed the best course of action while Harry sat contentedly on his mother's lap playing with James' wristwatch, blissfully unaware of what was going on around him.

After much discussion, they'd agreed that the other Order members should know; they could help Lily and James keep Harry safe. Lily, James, and Dumbledore had also agreed unanimously that they should tell Harry's grandparents, but everyone else should be kept in the dark. The fewer people who knew about the prophecy, the better.

Finally Dumbledore had risen to go. "The Order ought to be assembled by now," he'd told them. "I'll go now and tell them about the prophecy, but I think it best that you stay here with Harry. Until we can find a safe location for you, it's better that no one knows where to find you." He'd left then, smiling gently at them one last time before closing the door behind him.

Without a word, Lily and James had turned toward each other, and suddenly James was crushing Lily and Harry against him. Lily had pressed herself as tightly to James as she could, struggling not to cry. Squished uncomfortably between his parents, Harry had begun to whimper in protest and broke into all-out tears when he dropped the wristwatch.

Slowly Lily and James had pulled apart. "Sorry about that, mate," James had said to Harry, struggling to sound normal. He'd gotten the wristwatch off of the floor and handed it to the baby, his mind still reeling from all of Dumbledore's news.

"He's probably hungry," Lily had said, trying to sound as normal as possible. She'd felt like collapsing into a screaming, crying heap on the floor, but James and Harry needed her to be herself, and she couldn't let them down. Crying wouldn't have solved anything and would only have scared Harry (and probably James as well) further. Her mind made up. Lily had reached for her wand and conjured a bottle for Harry, whose tears had immediately subsided.

Once they'd finally gotten Harry fed and in his cot, Lily and James had stretched out on the bed together, clinging as tightly as possible, while Lily had told James about the attack on the flat. Then, together, they'd made more plans for keeping Harry safe.

Both Lily and James had decided to take leaves of absence from work again so that they could both be with Harry if anything happened. Until Dumbledore could find a new flat and put protection spells on it, they'd stay here in the Hog's Head. Morwenna and Sirius already knew they were here, but they wouldn't tell anyone else, not even their parents or their friends. "We can't give anyone any information that could be tortured out of them," James had said, his Auror training fresh in his mind.