The slamming of the front door startled Lily and Sirius out of a light slumber violently a few days after the ritual had occurred.
"Lil! Siri!" James' voice was urgent and hurried footsteps broke the silence once more, causing them to stiffen.
"In the living room," Lily answered while trying to suppress a yawn and sitting up.
Sirius was more alert as he swiftly moved from the couch to meet James at the living room door.
"James? What's wrong?"
"Voldemort," he answered gravely as he grabbed Sirius' hand and pulled him with him to Lily.
"We need to hide our location and do it now before I even begin to explain things," he said hurriedly as he grabbed her hand too to pull her from the couch.
"The Fidelius Charm?" Sirius asked as he looked at his best friend worriedly and Lily frowned to his pulling.
"Yes. For now we'll use Lily as the Secret Keeper as I'll have to be the one to cast it. We can switch to you after the baby is born to avoid any suspicion," James said as dragged them both into the garden before letting go of Lily's hand to grab his wand.
Lily shared a confused glance with Sirius but they both held their tongue as James cast the complicated spell before Lily immediately shared the secret with them both.
"Get back inside," James ordered as she turned to him for an explanation.
"Honestly James, you are scaring me. What's going on?" Sirius asked as he let James pull him back into the house again and onto the couch without struggling against his strong grip.
Quietly Lily took a seat beside him while looking at James worriedly.
"You both know Dumbledore called for me early this morning. Frank and Alice Longbottom were there too," he explained as he started to pace before them. "There was a Prophecy made a few days ago."
"I thought you didn't believe in Divination," Sirius asked confused.
"I don't, but Dumbledore says Voldemort knows about it too and he's certainly going to believe it."
"Okay, but what does that have to do with us?" Lily asked as she watched her husband pace.
"Because Dumbledore believes this prophecy is about either our unborn son or the Longbottom's and he thinks Voldemort will come to the same conclusion soon enough," James revealed.
"What was the prophecy?" Sirius asked, reaching a hand out to pull James to a stop so that he'd look at them.
"He showed me...here," James left the room to collect their Pensieve and placed it onto the table. He deposited a memory in there before probing it with his wand to activate the memory.
An unfamiliar female rose out of it, dressed in shawls and wearing abnormal big glasses which magnified her eyes. When she spoke her voice was harsh and hoarse.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ..."
As she dissolved again silence followed as all three of them stared at the Pensieve in shock.
"How does Dumbledore know about this?" Lily finally asked as she tried to work through her shock.
Discover moreBooks & LiteratureFan fiction booksComicsCartoonsFictionPress integration"It was made to him by an applicant for the position of Divination," James answered.
"How would Voldemort know about it then?" Sirius frowned.
"Because a Death Eater apparently overheard part of it before he was caught and thrown out of the bar where Dumbledore was interviewing her. And he said the Death Eater will have told his master by now."
"Why on earth would he hold an interview in a bar? Is Hogwarts not good enough for that sort of thing anymore?" Sirius asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Who cares? Why would it lead him to believe it is our child?" upset Lily turned to Sirius.
"Because the baby is expected at the end of July?" he offered uncertainly.
"Because only two couples fit the description," James answered. "At least, that's what Dumbledore said."
"Only two couples are expecting a baby in July?" Sirius asked sceptically.
"No, but he discovered that of all those expecting a baby in July only two have stood before Voldemort and lived to tell the tale thrice," James explained.
"That's not true, we haven't defied him three times," Lily argued as she realised something.
"I said the same thing, we only defied him twice but Dumbledore said that when we refused to join him after finishing Hogwarts we technically defied him too."
"No...I was counting that time. I've only come face to face with that monster twice," Lily argued, certain of it.
"Are you absolutely sure?" James asked as he looked at her.
"Yes. You faced him three times, I only faced him twice," Lily looked up to him, hoping this meant they had nothing to worry about.
"Then that means..." James sounding relieved before Sirius interrupted him softly.
"I have," they both turned to look at him immediately.
"You have what?" Lily asked.
"Defied him thrice," Sirius spoke without looking at her.
"Yeah, but you aren't the parent, the baby doesn't have your DNA so it doesn't ...," James argued.
"That's not what the wording said," Sirius interrupted once more.
"What?" both looked at him confused.
Sirius sighed. "Born to those who have thrice defied him...it doesn't say parents. It says born to those..."
"It's the same thing, "James exclaimed as he interrupted Sirius this time.
"No...It isn't," Lily whispered. "Prophecy is vague, but its wording is always exact. If she had meant parents she would have said born to parents who have thrice defied him. Sirius is right, the wording didn't say parents."
She turned to Sirius.
"How did you defy Voldemort three times? You and James have only defied him twice and he never asked you to join him like he asked us."
"Christmas of sixth year. My parents gave me a choice, join him or die. I refused and managed to get away before they killed me. That´s when I defied him for the first time," Sirius gave her an apologising glance before he turned his attention back to James, who seemed to have realised something, too.
"If you are right, then that explains why the Prophecy wasn't made before now. Dumbledore said it occurred during an interview in the evening five days ago. That was around the same time we performed the ritual. It only became valid because Sirius took over the pregnancy."
"Meaning that it is my fault your child is in danger," Sirius suddenly looked scared as he jumped up again. "I'm the reason you will be in danger..."
"No!" Lily interrupted him, grabbing his arm to pull him down beside her again. "Without you we would never be able to have this baby in the first place. This is not your fault, even if our actions will endanger us. I was willing to die to try and bring this baby into the world and I still feel the same way. I'll do anything to keep my baby safe, prophecy or not."
"But I..."
"Lily is right, Siri. Even if the ritual is the reason why the Prophecy was made, I don't regret performing it for a second. You gave us the chance at saving our own child and for that I can never feel regret," James lifted Sirius' chin so he had to look up to him.
"All three of us are targets of Voldemort and his lackeys for refusing to join him. Even if there was no Prophecy this child would still be a target too, simply because he could be used as a lever against us," James' eyes softened as he saw the emotion in his best friend's eyes.
Discover moreWriting workshopsApp download campaignscookiesApp store marketingMobile user analytics"You are giving us the most beautiful gift we could have ever imagined. Don't you dare to ever feel guilty for doing this for us. Don't feel responsible for endangering us by enabling us to have this child, our child. We all agreed to this, not just you. I would gladly give my life if it meant keeping him safe and you know Lily feels the same way as I know you do, too, or you would never have offered to do this, right?"
He smiled as Sirius gave a small nod to confirm his words. "This new information just meant that we had to go into hiding a bit more seriously."
"Which is why you cast the Fidelius Charm," Lily realised. "No one can find us now, meaning we are perfectly safe and it has added benefits."
"Such as?" James asked as he sat down on Sirius' other side.
"It keeps me and Sirius hidden. Unless I tell someone where we are, they won't be able to find us. I will give you a note to pass the Secret to your parents but we can use this as an added excuse as to why we remain out of contact with everyone. After all, any suspected knowledge of our whereabouts will endanger them."
Sirius glanced from her to James, his eyes still worried as he turned to James and grabbed his shirt.
"Swear to me that you will be careful if you go out there. With this hanging over your heads you will become an even bigger target than you already are and I can't watch your back," he pleaded.
James looked at him for a long moment before he wrapped his arms around Sirius' shoulders to pull him close, letting him rest his head against his shoulder.
"I solemnly swear I will be careful, that I will watch my back while you are unable to."
Sirius stiffened for a moment before he wrapped his arms around James' waist and relaxed against him.
"Don't you dare get hurt," he murmured into his shoulder while he tightened his hold for a moment.
James squeezed him a bit more tightly against himself before placing a kiss in his hair. "I'll try my hardest not to get hurt as long as you don't let these silly thoughts of guilt enter your head anymore."
"Actually, you don't have to leave at all," Lily softly broke the moment as she rubbed Sirius' back softly, trying to comfort him too.
"What do you mean?" James asked.
"We are in hiding aren't we? I'm supposedly not to have any stress. Knowing you are out there, risking your life is pretty stressful and thus dangerous for me. So for the safety of our unborn child you can't go on missions because it might mean I'll lose the baby," Lily spoke logically.
"And since they don't know it is Sirius who's carrying the baby..." James trailed off.
"You can safely stay here with us for the entire pregnancy?" Sirius asked hopeful as he looked up to him.
"Exactly," Lily smiled.
"But who'd do groceries and stuff like that? Get any weird cravings Sirius has in the middle of the night?" James asked.
"We could ask your parents if we could borrow one of their House Elves for the time being. They can travel freely to places without being in danger as many people send their House Elves for groceries and they will keep the secret to themselves," Lily suggested.
"It wouldn't endanger them?" Sirius asked as he turned slightly so that he could look at Lily.
"Not likely. We could always tell them to get to safety the moment they feel they are in danger," James answered for her before he turned Sirius back to him.
"Would it make you feel better if I stayed here while you are pregnant?" he asked softly.
Sirius stared into his eyes for a long moment before he nodded slowly.
"Then I'll have Lily write that note for mum and dad while passing along the request. I'll use the Floo to do so," he pressed another kiss to Sirius' forehead before releasing him back into a sitting position and gave Lily a kiss.
He stood up and made his way to the fire place before he paused.
"I guess it's a good thing we locked our Floo Connection so that only Potter Manor is able to connect after the ritual. Saves us some worries now."
"Hmmm...hey James?" Sirius asked, making him turn around.
"Yeah?"
"Could you see if mum has some of those nice watermelons lying around? And maybe an apple?" Sirius bit his lip as he looked at him hopefully.
James let out a snort at his hopeful expression. "Wow, your first craving is watermelon and apples? I had really thought you'd want tons of chocolate like Lily did."
"No...I just want those, and maybe some strawberries or cherries if she happens to have them."
"I'm sure that with mum's garden that won't be much of a problem. I'll just take a bag full of different kinds of fruit with me and you can choose what you want. Anything else?"
"A bar of white chocolate," Sirius replied immediately, making both Lily and James frown.
"You hate white chocolate," James commented.
"It's not for me but for you and Lily," Sirius grinned shamelessly.
"So we don't get any fruit?" James teased as he picked up the Floo Powder.
"Only if you bring enough," was the reply shot back and laughing James threw a handful into the fire before stepping into the green fires and disappearing to Potter Manor.