3: Oath.

Lily Potter, née Evans, was a Muggle-born witch, but don't doubt for a second that she was weak or stupid. She was a woman of strong temperament, powerful magic, and above all, intelligent. If it weren't for her blood status, she could have easily ended up in Slytherin.

She was an excellent potionist, a woman skilled in charms, but above all, she had a hidden gift that made it easy for her to understand rituals. Of course, the latter skill was hidden because rituals were somewhat forbidden, at least in magical Britain, all because of how dangerous they could be. 

She didn't like it at all that Dumbledore forbade them and wanted to use his position to do it in the other countries, but he was starting. Even though he was the most powerful wizard in Europe, many didn't look favorably upon him, added to that the fact that there were wizards in America, Africa, and Asia who were just as formidable as he was, well, he wasn't at the old man's beck and call. 

Lily might be allied with the Light, but she wasn't stupid and naive, one thing that distinguished her from the Muggle-born was that she hadn't been completely sucked into the magical culture, one where logic was lacking and people seemed to see only one path instead of several. 

It didn't help that her husband was a bit naive, yes, James Potter was an amazing athlete, a powerful pureblood wizard, but only a naive boy like him would undergo the Animagus ritual without consulting his transformation teacher to go for a walk with a werewolf. 

And as good as Remus Lupin was, Lily was not afraid of him but had a certain animosity that Lupin himself acknowledged. She, who was going to be a mother, didn't want her son to be around a guy who could get a lot crazier than she did on certain days of the month. 

There was also Sirius Black, a handsome young man who might have been Lily's choice if it weren't for the fact that he was just as immature and naive as James, if not more so. It also didn't help that her former friend Severus Snape almost died because of him.

Oh, that's another one, Severus had been obsessed with her, as a woman it was obvious that she could see the crush in her boyfriend's eyes, but she didn't see it as anything more than that. What could a careless Snape give her? Potions, no, she could do that herself, it didn't help that the boy had a serious lack of self-esteem and she didn't like that. 

Well, Lily wasn't surprised that he'd insulted her like that the last time they'd spoken. She wasn't offended, she was a waspish girl who understood how screwed up magical society was, the only thing remotely good about wizards was that they didn't discriminate based on skin color, but on 'purity of blood'. 

She took the opportunity to sever that unhealthy friendship, just as she had severed ties with her jealous sister, an ungrateful bitch who couldn't stand the fact that she was a witch; it helped, of course, that Petunia Evans had once destroyed a potion she was making just because 'it was all dirty'.

All Lily wanted to do was give birth to her precious son, protect him, spoil him, raise him like herself, and send him to a Muggle school so that at least he wouldn't get sucked into the illogic of the magical world. 

She didn't like the way Dumbledore looked at her when he told her about this supposed prophecy, and from the Medi-Witches' predictions, it looked like her son would be born on just the right day to qualify as Chosen. There was also Alice Longbottom, one of her friends from school, whose son would also be born at the same time.

Hearing Dumbledore's plan to isolate herself and live in one of the Potters' properties under the Fidelius Charm, a supposed protective spell that would hide a place under an almost impenetrable secret, was not something she wanted to do. She didn't like leaving everything to mere protection, and even though she knew the Headmaster wasn't a bad subject, she wanted to take charge. 

That's why she always wore a small vial around her neck with a dose of Felix Felicis, which she had made herself since the day she found out she was pregnant. That, and the ritual of the protection complex she was studying, would ensure that everything went through the right place, but she had to make sure of one tiny detail. 

"James..." Lily called to her husband, who was sitting at his desk taking care of some things in the Potter household. 

Since his parents had died and he was now Lord Potter, he had to take care of the tedious paperwork his father always complained about, and remembering that, he felt a pang of sadness. They say that pain makes you grow, and James seemed to be a living example of that right now. 

When he heard his wife calling him, he looked up. They were in a room at Hogwarts that the Headmaster had offered so that Lily could give birth in peace. Sure, they could go to St. Mungo's, one of the few neutral places that even Voldemort wouldn't attack because no one attacks doctors, a golden rule that not even a Dark Lord would violate. 

Why attack a group of people who are sworn to heal and cure anyone, regardless of alignment or side? And for those of you who think that doctors can't defend themselves, a healer might take actions that even a dark wizard would consider dangerous. 

"Is something wrong, dear?" asked James, his gaze shifting to his wife's belly. 

His heir was about to be born and excitement flooded him, he only wished his son didn't inherit his unruly hair, but that was a trait even his ancestors had, they even had to create a magic shampoo to fix it, not that it did any good anyway, but at least the family coffers were filled with gold.

"Do you love me, James?" asked Lily with a smile. 

"Yes, I tell you that every morning, or have you forgotten?" replied James, somewhat confused. 

"Even if I turn into an old sock?" this question made them both burst out laughing, a happy moment between them in such a gloomy time as acting was comforting. 

"I'd love you just as much even if you turned into a Canute sock," James replied with a chuckle, causing Lily to scrunch up her face.

Sirius was a sloppy guy, except when he had to play pranks or hit on girls, Lily had once been unlucky enough to smell one of Sirius' dirty socks and felt like she threw up more that day than she had in her entire pregnancy. 

"Don't remind me of that! By Merlin, even Minsy couldn't resist the smell," Lily covered her nose as she remembered how the poor Potter house elf had even joined her in vomiting when she smelled Sirius' horrible socks. 

"You know how we men are, we're very careless when it comes to girls," James replied, shaking his shoulders.

"James Potter! I'm not going to let my little Hadrian turn into a filthy pig like Sirius, even if he is his godfather," Lily's temper, exacerbated by her pregnancy, erupted. 

James swore he could see his wife's red hair fluttering in anger, so he walked over and sat down next to his wife, taking her in his arms. Lily huffed angrily but leaned against James' chest, which, though it didn't look it, was quite wide from all the Quidditch he played, perhaps one of the perks of the sport that was so rare for Lily.

"It's okay, calm down, we'll teach our son not only to be tidy but also to fly on a broom, I can do that when he's old enough. You can teach him about potions, I'm sure he'll have your extraordinary talent for them. 

Sirius might want to teach him how to dress nicely for girls, or how to play practical jokes. Oh, by Merlin's beard, I can already see Sirius helping our teenage son by teaching him how to pick up girls," James snapped out of his reverie as he felt his wife's pinch, but only burst out laughing. 

"If you think my son is going to turn into a womanizer like his godfather, you are sadly mistaken, James," Lily retorted, though it was more feigned than anything else.

As she rested her head on James', her green eyes glistened with a hint of guilt that was suppressed by the determination of not only a powerful witch but also a loving mother. 

"James..." Lily called softly. 

"Yes?" her husband replied. 

"With all that is going on, will you protect me and your son?" she asked, it was obvious that there was a hint of exhaustion in her voice, but in James' naivety, he did not notice the other nuance in her words, there was also a hint of pain. 

"Yes, I will protect you both even if I have to go to the end of the world, I would give my life to protect you and my son," James' words were solemn because the moment demanded it, but what he didn't know was that his words triggered something else. 

A magical vow, an oath that Lily would use when things got bad. It hurt, but she knew she had to keep her unborn son alive, and she had to be there for him so he could grow up happy. 

'I'm sorry James, but as much as I love you, my son is much more important, I will keep your memory alive through him,' Lily thought as tears of pain ran down her eyes, but James thought she was crying at his words, so he hugged his wife tighter. 

"Don't worry Lily, I'm here for you," James whispered as he hugged his wife tighter, hoping that all this chaos would end soon. 

Astreo, who was enjoying his free time patting Ron's head while the mothers talked and laughed, sensed a strange movement in the magic of the castle. 

'Someone has done something important at Hogwarts... damn, I never expected to feel such a strong fluctuation of fate' Astreo was no seer, but he could sense not only magic but also a bit of fate, if only indirectly, by seeing its effects on the free magic in the air. 

The magic in the castle seemed to be responding to something; it seemed as if someone had sworn a magical oath whose effects extended into future time frames that he would never be able to guess or comprehend. Fortunately, Dumbledore was not present or he would have noticed.

Astreo could sense that Dumbledore was like those records from his second life, a powerful wizard who had reached heights that normal wizards did not, an Archmage proper. Surely he, too, would sense such a disturbance in magic, and could even work out the approximate location of its origin. 

Pandora Lovegood, who was chatting with Aurora and Molly Weasley, also watched the magical disturbance with her eyes and even looked in the direction of where it originated, though the walls were in the way, she knew something important had happened in that direction.

"What are you looking at, Pandora?" asked Molly, also looking at the wall, and came across a drawing of clouds on the wall. 

"Nothing, I thought I saw... no, forget it, tell me more about your twins," Pandora replied, dismissing the subject as unimportant, though she did give a subtle glance at Astreo, who was looking over to where she had just done so. 

'It seems the little one has felt the magical disturbance as well,' Astreo's action only reinforced the idea she had in her head, something she was very happy about. 

The centaurs of the Forbidden Forest looked toward the school, sensing the changes that had occurred. A soothsayer in Austria burst out laughing as he looked in the direction of Hogwarts. 

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, ALBUS! Everything is changing! What I saw has unraveled! Too bad your school's resident soothsayer is drunk, so you won't know anything...How will it feel to have your well-laid plans ruined? Let's see if you learn that you can't just throw everything on your back like a legendary hero," the fortune teller, an old man with white hair and different colored eyes, burst out laughing. 

How good he felt! Even though his body was decaying from the low magic in the environment due to his ex-partner's ritual, he felt so good now. Things were taking new turns, the future he saw, that unchanging destiny, seemed to crack as his eye kept looking at it. 

Though fate and time flowed with many currents, it was hard to change a fact by an event, but before Grindelwald, that unchangeable fact now had a crack in it, there would be more paths, more currents, and that was what he wanted to achieve from the beginning. 

He may have lost his final battle with Albus, but his goal was still on track, so he decided to get to work; whoever it was that was stirring the waters of the world, they deserved his attention and help. However, every time he tried to use his meager magic to visualize it, all he got was a giant sun. 

"Better start planning again, let's learn from past mistakes and Albus' mistakes, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Grindelwald continued to laugh, his laughter even heard by the security guards who reported him to their superiors. 

The world was about to change drastically, and hardly anyone suspected it.