6-7

Chapter 6: The Plan Starts

July 31, 1985

It was the boys' fifth birthday and they were throwing their first semi-public birthday party. They had celebrated their birthdays with Neville the day before with just the two families. They wanted to throw a party with a few kids the kids' age. So they invited the Weasleys, the Abbots and the Bones to come over for a few hours. Everyone that was invited was told that it was a party for Neville as well.

The Potters were going to try and brave Diagon Alley again, to get the supplies they needed for the party. The few times they had gone since the twin's last birthday those trips were better. They had been slightly crowded, but people were learning after a few well-placed hexes by Lily. Now they simply called out their thanks and such, but the attention it still frightened the boys. Hopefully, they would soon be able to walk in public with only a few people annoying them.

"Okay, I know the last time we went to the Alley was still a bit scary for you boys, but you were very brave so I think we'll try again," Lily said that morning as she straightened hair and tugged on shirts. "I want you to remember that Mummy and Daddy are with you and we won't let anyone harm you. If you get separated; you find an Auror or go to the nearest store and tell the shopkeeper. Don't go wandering around Diagon Alley, stay where you are until we come and get you. Okay?" she said to the boys, again. It was something she had repeated many times in the last few days. However, she knew that kids needed to be reminded of things all the time and her boys were no different.

"Okay, Mummy, we will 'member," the twins said together. They looked at each other and snickered. They had no idea why the spoke the same words at the same time, but it was fun. Lily and James shared a look and smiled. That twin bond was coming along nicely.

They went through the same procedure they always did and soon were on their way. When they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, there were only a few people drinking and eating, and they only pointed and whispered. Most of them remembered Lily's temper from the last couple of times and didn't want to make her angry again. There were a few that crossed their legs, just in case she thought they were looking too hard at her children.

Lily just smiled politely and said, "Thank you for letting us pass unmolested. The boys are grateful for you letter to the paper. They want you to know that for their birthday, if you are inclined to give a present that they would prefer that you donate to St. Mungo's. Thank you again and good day." And with that she moved to the alley in the back.

"Mummy, why are some of those men scared of you?" Harry asked innocently.

"They are not scared, they are worried that I will cast a stinging hex on them," she said with a small smirk. James causally put his robe in front of his manhood.

"Oh, okay," the older twin stated.

"You'll understand when you get old," James said as he mussed up Harry's hair.

"Let's go shopping," Lily sighed, and smacked at James' hand. She worked so hard at making the boys' hair presentable.

The Potters had only made it a few feet into the Alley when the bane of their existence was suddenly in front them — reporters. They converged on the family like a pack of vultures on a dead rabbit.

"Mr. Potter, how does it feel…?"

"Mrs. Potter, do you remember…?"

"Mr. Potter, today is your birthday what…?"

They all started shouting questions at the same time. Lily huffed and grabbed up her children and stomped back to the Leaky Cauldron. She wasn't giving those scavengers anything to work with. She was done trying to explain things to them, they never listened. She would hex them, but that way laid lawsuits. For now it was better to flee and fight another day, when the boys were fifty or so. She rushed to the Floo and made it back to the manor in no time. It took a while to calm down the twins though.

While she was working on that, James stayed behind to get the supplies they needed. It was a good thing the press wasn't really interested in the parents. He had to answer the same questions they always asked of him. 'Do you remember that night?' or, 'What is Gary like?' and 'Is Harry jealous?' To which he normally answered 'no comment,' and move on. He used to answer all of their questions, but they wouldn't listen and printed what they wanted, so why bother.

The birthday party went off without a hitch; they put the day behind them and moved on to the night. The kids all had a great time with the non-magical games and party favors. The presents the three boys got were simple toys that most children their age had, though the sweaters from Mrs. Weasley were quite warm and comfy and a bit large so they would fit for the coming winter and perhaps the next one. The kids had a huge chocolate cake and rippled strawberry ice cream. They played broom tag in the back yard with kiddy brooms rented for the day. All but Ginny, her mum thought she was too little to play. She cried and threw a fit, until her dad said she could join the boys. The festivities lasted until dark and everyone went home happy and full.

August 4, 1985

Summer was coming to an end and the boys were enrolled in a non-magical primary school that was close to the manor. The Potter parents felt that they would learn better among their peers, and they might make some friends. James had taken his position on the Wizengamot and was trying to get as many kids as he could to join the same school the boys would be attending. He remembered growing up all alone. He had had no idea how other than a few families worked. He was raised a pure-blood, without the blood bigotry. He was also homeschooled like many other pure-bloods. If he could get the other parents to remember this as well then maybe his plan might work.

His wife had pointed out that Muggle schools only accepted students that lived within the area that the schools were located. He figured that they could magic up some paperwork and put a mild Confundus Charm on them to make it seem like all the children were within the area then they could bypass this. It wasn't Muggle baiting, since it didn't harm the Muggles, just confused them as to what was on the paper then they would fill in the blanks in on their own. He needed to work fast as the deadline for enrollment was coming up soon. So far he only had a few families interested, but while he didn't want to do it, he would play the Boy-Who-Lived card to sway people to listen to his plan.

What the senior Potter was trying to accomplish, was to get as many of the kids in the same school as the boys so they would all be friends and would share what each other's home was like. He figured the other kids could be invited back to the house to wait for their parents, and have sleepovers. They could also use the time to explorethe Internet and learn about the non-magical world.

Lily had found the charm that nullified magic in a Runes text. The charm had Runes that had to be put on all the surfaces outside the room you wanted to nullify magic in. Then you would cast the charm to charge them. The original purpose of the charm was to create a safe room where spells couldn't reach you. She tweaked the charm so that electricity would work in the nullified rooms. She was disappointed that she wasn't the one to discover it, but happy enough now that they had solar powered electricity, at the manor.

They had sectioned off two large sitting rooms on the bottom floor of the west wing of the manor. The adults had purchased a TV, a VCR, a stereo, and two computers to be shared between the four of them. Lily had satellite hooked up for the TV and Internet. The parents were planning on expanding all of this if their plan to get the kids together worked. Then Lily could teach the children all about the non-magical world.

Oh, they knew there was a different kind of prejudice in that world, but they were going to try and nip the blood bigotry that plagued their world in the bud and it had to start with the children. The Potter adults, with the help of their friends, would also teach the children theoretical magic and meditation while they waited for their guardians to come and get them. They had made a good start with the party they had thrown a few days ago.

So far, the eldest Potter had convinced the Weasleys, the Abbots and the Bones when he had invited them over for the twins' and Neville's birthday. When they had shown the Weasley father the computer, the man was in heaven. His obsession with all things Muggle had made it easy to sway him. Lily had shown him how to look things up on the Internet that would help him in his job for the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, which he was the head of. She also let him know that there were computers in most Muggle libraries and they were free to use. Since that day the Weasleys had been constant visitors. The Potter twins were overjoyed to finally have more friends, though they seemed a little leery of the two youngest.

Ron, the youngest boy, didn't want to learn with them, he was kinda lazy, and all he really wanted to talk about was Quidditch, play and eat. Maybe, when he attended school and learned about non-magical sports that might change. Ginny, the youngest child and only girl, seemed to have a crush on Gary, and would blush and hide whenever he said anything to her. Still, they had convinced Arthur and Molly to enroll the three youngest boys in primary school. Ginny would start next year.

James did feel better that young Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones only treated the boys like any other kids they would play with. Hannah's parents and Susan's aunt were excited about the school and said they would talk to other parents about the great opportunity to educate the children.

It was a start.

August 20, 1985

Harry was conflicted, he remembered when Voldemort had tried to kill him and had hurt his mummy. Sally told him that she had made his mummy all better after that evil man had injured her. He remembered what that man had said about the other man, Sev'rus, who wanted to save his mummy and daddy. What was confusing him was he didn't know who Sev'rus was, or whether he should tell his mummy what he remembered. He talked it over with his brother and Sally, and they said that he should talk to his mummy in case he was a good man.

"Mummy, who is Sev'rus? And can I have a glass of water?" Harry asked as he walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. He saw her there and just blurted out the question.

Lily was shocked enough that she almost dropped the glass she was holding. As it was, she had to put it down so she didn't drop it. She then turned to her son and asked, "Honey, where did you hear that name?" She picked him up and sat him on the counter so they would be eye level. She made sure to keep her hands on his arms, since children were wont to move around on high places. She didn't want him to fall.

"I 'member when the bad man hurt you. I 'member he was saying that a man named Sev'rus begged him to not hurt you or Daddy. The bad man said that Sev'rus wanted 'evenge. But he said he knew that Sev'rus was lying and he hurt him and was going to make him watch while he killed you and Daddy. I think Sev'rus might be a good man. So I wanted to know who he is," Harry explained, keeping eye contact with his mummy.

"Severus was a friend of mine in school. We knew each other before we went to Hogwarts. He was the one who told me I was a witch. We were great friends, until we had a little fight and stopped talking to each other. Severus thought the bad man was a good man, so he stayed with the bad man and did what the bad man told him to do, which was not nice things. We knew the bad man was bad, so we don't talk to Severus anymore because he listened to that man," Lily explained as best she could, rubbing her hands up and down his arms in a calming motion, not knowing if this memory was upsetting her child, like it was her.

"Mummy, I think you should write Sev'rus a letter and axe him if he still thinks the bad man is a good man. I think if Sev'rus begged the bad man not to hurt you or Daddy then he still likested you. You should write him and axe him," Harry said with an understanding far older than a five year old should have.

"Okay, sweetie, Mummy will write Severus and ask him. I'm sorry you remember that night," Lily said giving Harry a big hug and a kiss on the head. "You may be right and he might not think the bad man is a good man anymore. Why don't you go play with your brother? Or find your daddy and you can go flying. Remember you're not to go flying without your daddy or in the house," she cautioned as she put Harry back on the floor, gave him his water in a plastic tumbler, and watched thoughtfully as he left the kitchen.

She was going to have to talk to James about this. She knew what James thought of Severus, but if he had truly begged for their lives it was the least she could do. After all she had heard that Dumbledore had hired him to be the potions professor and if the boys were going to go to Hogwarts, she didn't want him hating the boys for what had happened when they were in school.

She knew Severus and she knew how he could hold a grudge and just how petty he could be. He was that way when they were younger. She always liked him, even when he was being an arse. She would definitely be talking to James and maybe Sirius and Remus as well. Maybe, if she got them all together they could fight it out and get it all in the open or kill each other, it could go either way. If she did that she would have to take their wands first.

She didn't know what happened in their fifth year, but Severus really started fighting back that year. His anger knew no bounds and he used the darkest curses he could get away with at school. That had been the year he called her a mudblood. She felt kind of bad because he had repeatedly tried to apologize to her and she blew him off. She was so immature back then, but then again they all were, well except Remus. He always seemed more mature then the rest. Probably because of the werewolf in him, it seemed like he was constantly fighting the wolf to stay calm and in control. Now that she thought about it, Severus also seemed very cautious of Remus that year and the following years as well. Perhaps he had found out the poor man's secret.

Lily knew James hated her childhood friend, but she would try to make him understand that a truce with the Potions Master would be best for the boys. They could hate each other all they want, but be civil. Well, Sirius and Remus were coming over to see their godsons today, maybe after the boys went to bed she would sit them all down and talk this out. Either way she was going to write a letter to Sev, thanking him for trying to save their lives and asked why he didn't try to save the boys. His answer would define whether or not he could be trusted.

September 7, 1985

The boys were now attending non-magical primary school. They had managed to convince fifteen families to let their children attend. The children were having a lovely time learning and playing together with all their new friends. After school they would all come back to the manor and play in the entertainment room, mostly watching movies, sometimes Lily would go over magical theory, while they waited for their guardians to come and pick them up.

The other parents and guardians liked this arrangement, because they had a hard time finding someone who would tend their children while they worked. That and with them attending primary school, which was free, they didn't have to pay for tutors. They were overjoyed that their children had so many friends. They, like James, grew up alone with only one or two people their age. With what the Potters were trying to achieve, well it helped everyone in the long run. They saved money and the kids got an education and friends. That and they learned all about non-magicals, which was something that most pure-bloods were woefully undereducated about.

Lily was happy for her twins, she was positive that most of these kids would be sorted into different Houses when they attended Hogwarts. They had even convinced two families that traditionally were sorted into Slytherin. And Lily felt that this was great progress. Now the boys would have friends no matter where they were sorted, and they might break the House barriers.

A house elf popped into the room, "Missy Lily Potter, ma'am, there is being a letter for you," she said and handed Lily the letter. "Taffy is making sure the letter is being free of all curses. Taffy is not wanted Missy Lily to be hurt again." The elf nodded her head to show that she had done her job.

"Thank you, Taffy," Lily said kindly. She looked at the letter, and when she saw it was from Severus she asked, "Will you go and ask James to come here?"

"Taffy will be doing that right away." And with a pop she was gone.

She turned the letter over in her hands a little afraid of what it might say. She wanted James there just in case it was bad news. Or maybe she was worrying about nothing. Her letter to Severus had been heartfelt, and that gave her a little hope. Then again, her old friend might be a bitter man. His life had been hard before, and now he had no friends to rely on. She just hoped that he took this olive branch, and that peace between them could be found.

James came into the room with a confused look on his face. "Taffy said you wanted me and mentioned something about a letter that upset you. Who is the letter from?" he asked as he sat beside her.

"It's from Severus. We've already discussed this, James," she said when he started to sneer. "We need to make sure that the boys won't be mistreated when they take his class. That and I feel bad for the way I treated him the last two years of school." She turned the letter over in her hands once again, and then looked at her husband.

James put a neutral look on his face. He would do this for is family, no matter how much he hated that man. Lily was always blind when it came to her friend. So what if he asked for them to be spared? He didn't ask for the boys' lives. The older Potter felt that the bad blood between the two men may never be sorted, but Lily would always come first in each of their eyes. "Okay, Lily-flower, for you I'll try. Let's see what he has to say," he said aloud, but silently thought that if that man hurt his wife again, then they wouldn't have to worry about him anymore, because James would kill him and he could make it look like an accident. Dumbledore be damned.

Lily opened the letter and quickly scanned through it and sighed in relief. "He's agreed to come and talk. He states that he's willing to hash things out with you boys; however, you will never be forgiven. He states that Dumbledore told him that Voldemort isn't gone, and he has confirmed this with the dark mark. However, since we may have to fight on the same side, he feels we may need to work together. He explained that he knew Voldemort would not spare the boys that night, so he only asked for our lives. He also states that unless the boys are sorted in to Slytherin, he would have to treat them harshly to maintain his cover as a Death Eater. He says if you men can come to an agreement, then the best he could do is ignore the boys, but he can't interfere with the house rivalry," she concluded with a sigh, letting the letter fall to her lap.

James mulled all of this over in his head as he held his wife. She was more precious to him than his rivalry with Snape. He still could't believe that that man was teaching children, but he did understand that Hogwarts was probably the only safe place for him. That and Dumbledore's constant belief that everyone deserves a second chance would make it so that Snivellus had a place to hide. He signed as he hugged his wife close.

Lily, on the other hand, was glad that something could be worked out. She would tell the boys why Sev had to act the way he would. Hopefully, they would understand. She hugged James and sighed again. "I know how hard this is for you. Thank you, for doing this for me," she said as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and then settled back to his side.

James hugged his wife and thought, 'The things I do for family. Damn, now I can't kill the bastard. I will have to tell Sirius not to kill or prank him either. If we did that then the first people they would blame would be us and then any truce we make would be broken.' He hugged his wife tighter. "Okay, Lily, make the arrangements and I'll tell the guys," he said and kissed her back. He really loved this woman.

He only hoped this would work, every single one of them were hotheadsand each felt the other was right, well expect Remus. Even though Sirius felt bad for almost getting Snape killed, didn't mean he like the man. James hated Snivellus, because he kept trying to keep Lily from him the first five years of school, though it could be said that he had done the same thing.

He always felt that that greasy-haired git was a Dark wizard, even back on the train ride. He could feel it in the boy's dark aura, Sirius felt the same. Yeah, they were young and stupid, and didn't really give the boy a chance, but as the years went by they felt themselves justified. Especially, after Snape joined the Death Eaters. They didn't once even think that the bullying they did in school might be what pushed the man into doing just that.

He sighed and hugged his wife harder. He would do this for his family.

Chapter 7: My Son Is Not Evil

September 9, 1985 (while the kids were in school)

James, Sirius, Remus and Severus had come together for a long day of yelling accusations and apologizing. With the tension that was in the air, Lily was glad she took their wands. The shouting and fist fighting was enough. She had to intervene on many occasions and point out that they were all being stupid, except Remus, and that they needed to work together. She yelled, screamed, hexed, and cajoled until they finally came to a very terse understanding.

The men would have no contact with each other, unless it was necessary for the downfall of Voldemort. Lily made no such promise; she and Severus would start a cautious friendship. It was only cautious because Severus had become quite bitter over the years, not that he wasn't in childhood, but he was more so now. That and he was firmly in Dumbledore's pocket. She was going to try and get him to see that he was his own man and not indebted to the Headmaster. Sure Albus testified that he was a spy, but he should have done it because it was the right thing to do, and not to hold over Snape's head.

Lily now understood where her friend's bitterness came from after finally hearing that Sirius had almost killed Severus by sending him to Remus on the full moon. She was pissed at learning that Dumbledore just sweep it under the rug. It was no wonder that the men in her life were so arrogant when they were teens, except Remus, they could get away with attempted murder. She scolded the two responsible, not the innocent werewolf, and she apologized to Severus for not seeing that something had happened that year. Her husband could be said to be innocent as well, but for the fact that he and Sirius had never once let up on Severus, making as though it was quite okay to lead a man to his death.

James agreed to not prevent or even comment on their friendship, well not to her anyway. What he said to his mates was his business. He knew there were going to be many sessions at the pub when he would bellyache about his wife's friend; there was just too much history for it not to happen. He also knew that Sirius would be on his side.

All of the men agreed that if they had to be in the same room together, they wouldn't antagonize each other. There would be no snide comments or pranks. Oh, they knew that they wouldn't even speak to each other unless they had to, since none of them were known for their control, except Remus.

Severus agreed that he would not demean the boys too much when they attended Hogwarts. However, he couldn't be seen giving them any special attention and would more than likely make snide comments on their brewing skills no matter how good they were. Unless they were sorted into his House. He had to make sure that the Death Eater families thought he was still a spy for Voldemort. He told them how he had kept in contact with some of those families to spread that lie; telling them he had used Dumbledore's policy for second chances to keep himself out of Azkaban.

Snape left the meeting feeling a tad better at getting most of his old emotions out in the open and off his chest. The right hook he threw at Sirius Black helped that immensely, it was something he dreamed of for years. However, he kept his darkest secret to himself, praying they never found out that he was the one who told the Dark Lord the prophecy. It was the only reason he bowed to Lily's pleas for this meeting. If their friendship grew to what it was in their youth, or perhaps stronger, then he would tell her, but right now there was too much going on. If she left him again, then he would not blame her, for he blamed himself. This time he would leave Britain and go abroad, Dumbledore be damned.

Unknown to everyone, even himself, Severus toned down his habit of belittling his students, now he simply snapped at them if they mess up, instead of bemoaning them as morons and dunderheads. His lesson plans even changed, so that more theory was taught. The students noticed, but they weren't going to tell.

Because of his dark mark, the Potions Master would be better equipped than the werewolf for getting things in Knockturn Alley. Plus, that might give him an edge to the Death Eaters thinking he was trying to find a way to get his false master back. So, Lily asked him to get her some more research material and to not tell Dumbledore. If the Headmaster knew she was looking into some of the Dark Arts, to find out why Voldemort was still around, he might go to the Wizengamot and tell them she was a Dark Witch and try and take her children. That was something that she could not afford, with her being muggleborn, well who knew how that would play out.

December 24, 1985

Since it was so close to Christmas and the boys had worked hard in school, Lily and James decided to take the twins, Sirius, Remus and the Longbottoms to the London Zoo. It was a common trip for them, since before the boys turned five they were still mobbed in the magical world. They would use the non-magical world as a means to escape the manor and had a great time exploring London and other sights in England. They made sure to drag their friends along whenever they were off work. Remus, who was always between jobs until they hired him, came with them often. They usually went to theme parks. The look on all the pure-bloods faces the first time was hysterical. Sirius, being the speed junky he is, loved the rides.

This time however they were going to the zoo. Harry had seen the advert that there were new animals housed, including some snakes from Africa, and he and Gary wanted to go. Since it was Christmas Eve, everyone was off work, so they decided today was a good day. As a group they met at the entrance and each got tickets, and made sure they had non-magical money.

The zoo was lit up with fairy lights and there was Christmas music filling the air. The workers were decked out in costumes and the whole place was like a winter wonderland. The kids loved it and the adults thought it was well done. They went to all the shows, had some lunch and picked up many souvenirs for all their friends from school.

"Well, where should we go now?" Lily asked, it was getting close to closing time, which was early given the day, but they had an hour to see one more exhibit.

"I want to go and see the snakes, please. There is supposed to be that one from Africa that is new, I think it's called the Black Spitting Cobra, and it looked cool, please," Harry said almost pleadingly. He had heard the snakes talking on the Internet and they were funny. They complained about everything, and they did it in such a way that made the young boy laugh.

They had learned a month ago that Harry could talk to snakes, but Sally told them not to tell anyone, because they would think that Harry was a bad wizard. She said the reason for that was because the bad man that had hurt them could talk to snakes and he would tell the snakes to hurt people. She made sure to tell the boys that Harry was not a dark wizard, and the people who thought that were stupid. Their invisible friend was also coaching Harry on how to use parseltongue for his magic. It was slightly stronger than Latin and quicker too. The boys felt bad for not telling their parents, but they didn't want them to think that Harry was evil.

Gary was a bit jealous that he couldn't talk to snakes; however, he knew Harry was special, so he let it go and supported his brother in learning this new magic. If the Wizarding World ever found out that Harry could talk to snakes and called him a bad wizard, well… then Gary would yell at them and call them stupid, even if his mummy would punish him for it. He would stand by his brother.

"Okay, sweetie. Is that okay with everyone else?" Lily asked as she looked at everyone to see if they were in agreement. Everyone nodded their heads or gave verbal confirmation. So they headed to the reptile house.

There were snakes and lizards of all kinds in glass displays. When they got into the exhibit Harry started giggling. Gary leaned to his twin and said, "What are they saying, Harry?"

"They're complaining that they're not getting enough to eat, and they're making fun of all the people staring at them," Harry whispered back. He pointed to a snake that was coiled like it was going to strike and said, "See that snake over there? The big green and black one? He just called the fat man in front of him a walking walrus with a mustache." He giggled again and shared a look with his brother, who was trying to hide his laughter. The man did look like a walrus with a mustache, much like the one he'd seen on the telly in that cartoon about the girl who fell through the mirror. That walrus looked just like this man.

"Boys, why are you laughing? Did you see something funny?" Lily asked, looking around to see if there was something going on, when she didn't see anything she sighed. She had a feeling that Harry was a parselmouth, she had hoped she was wrong, but if they were laughing at nothing than it was more than likely that she was correct. She had listened to Harry giggle and whisper to his brother when they were doing a research project for school. It was on the habits of reptiles and when the snakes hissed and Harry chuckled, well… it was an easy conclusion to come to.

She was going to tell her husband, but wanted to do some research first. Maybe she could ask Severus to get some books on it next time he was in Knockturn Alley. She would tell him she was still doing research on Voldemort. This was not information she wanted to get to the Headmaster, and since Sev was still in the man's pocket, she was going to lie. She would use whatever he could find and gather up all the history on parselmouths and present it to the Marauders. That way she would have solid evidence that her son was not evil.

'Hopefully. Not everyone who could speak to snakes had to be evil. Right?' she tried to convince herself.

"I just heard something funny, Mummy," Harry said, breaking her from her thoughts. "Someone said that man over there looked like a walrus," he whispered with a small chuckle, trying to get over the guilt of sorta lying to his mum.

"Okay, sweetie," Lily said, looking at the man and doing a double-take. He looked just like Petunia's husband, only not quite a fat. She was absentmindedly patting her son on the head, and going over her thoughts on how to handle this situation. She would have to talk to Harry in private later to see if he would tell her the truth. "Let's go see the snakes. I think the one you wanted to see it having a show in about five minutes so we better hurry," she said, taking the boys hands and leading the way. "Try not to laugh when someone is making fun of someone else. It is not nice," she reprimanded. She didn't want her boys to think that was proper behavior.

The show was great and Harry giggled the whole time they were there. The cobra was just so funny and he was angry that he was lazy enough to get captured. The threats he made were funny and some were cringe worthy. Though, Harry did take his mum's word to heart and tried not to laugh when the cobra cut down someone, like calling his handler a walking monkey that was too skinny to eat. But the snake was creative in his rude suggestions that it was hard not to laugh.

Hphphp

Later that evening when the men were outside flying in the snow, and the Longbottoms had gone home, Lily took the boys to the entertainment room. She sat them down and looked at them for a minute. "Boys, is there something you want to tell me?" she asked with a stern mum look.

The boys looked a little guilty staring at their feet. They really wanted to tell their mummy.

Sally whispered behind them, "I think she already suspects so it's okay, you can tell her about the snakes, but not about me."

Harry looked at his mummy, afraid she would think he was a bad wizard, but felt guilty that he didn't tell her sooner. He sat close to Gary for comfort and courage. "I can talk to snakes," he whispered as Gary put his arm around his shoulders and gave him a squeeze. The younger twin sent his brother love through the bond to let him know that he was there for him. If his mummy called Harry bad, then Gary was going to yell at her.

"How long have you known you can talk to snakes, sweetie? And why didn't you tell me? I hope you know you can tell me anything," Lily asked gently, not wanting to make Harry anymore afraid than he already was. It broke her heart that he felt he couldn't trust her.

"We knew in November when we were doing that project for school. We were going to tell you, but we had heard Daddy say that it was evil to talk to snakes and we didn't want you to think that Harry was an dark wizard," Gary said as he glared at his mum, just daring her to make a big deal out of it.

"Oh, sweeties, Mummy will never think you are evil wizards. I raised you to be good boys. And even if you ever did go bad… well, I'd still love you. That's what mums are for," Lily said, getting up from the sofa and giving her boys a big hug to make sure they knew she loved them. "I'm going to tell your daddy —later. I don't want you to tell him. Let Mummy make sure he understands. Okay?" she said decisively with a firm nod of her head.

"Okay, Mummy," both boys intoned, just happy that at least one parent was on their side. They were also glad their mum said she would always love them, even if they were bad, which made them feel much better.

"Okay, why don't you boys go and get ready for bed? Santa is coming tonight and you need to be asleep, or he won't leave you presents," Lily said, giving them a gentle push out the room, frantically going over in her mind how she was going to tell James.

"Okay, Mummy. We love you," the boys said, again together, both feeling lighter now that one of their secrets was revealed. They were going to have to talk to Sally about their other secrets. If their mum didn't think Harry was bad, then she would accept that the embodiment of Death was friends with her sons, probably.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth and wash your hands and face. When you are done getting ready come back down and say good night," Lily called to them as they ran up the stairs. "And quit running in the house."

"Okay, Mummy" they said, slowing down, but walking very fast.

"It's kind of creepy when they do that," Lily said to herself as she got off the couch and went to find the men. She shook her head at the fact that they thought it was fun to fly in the snow. But, boys will be boys, even when they are men.

Her thoughts went back the twin-speak. She remembered the talk she had with Molly, when she found out that it was normal for twins talk together. The Weasley mother said they'll start finishing each other's sentences soon. That just showed they had a really strong bond. The other woman told her that the reason one boy had more magic than the other, thinking Lily was talking about Gary, was because magic was more like souls than anything else.

The boys looked alike and sounded alike, but they each had different souls, and magical cores. She pointed out that George and Fred might be pranksters, but it was George that made the plans and Fred that carried them out, and that Fred's magic was just a little stronger than George's. Not by much, but enough that when he stole her wand it worked better for him. Her brothers had been the same way. So it was normal that 'Gary' was more powerful than 'Harry'. She said as they grow older and the bond firmed, then they would share magic and it would make them both powerful, though 'Gary' would always be more powerful than 'Harry'.

Lily decided that she had better write Severus tomorrow and see if he can help with books on parselmagic. Since Harry had this skill, she would try and train it as best she could, she didn't know that he already had a trainer. If her friend figures out why she really needs those books, well she hoped he would keep it to himself. Now all she had to do is figure out how to tell James. She took herself outdoors to call the men in so the boys could say goodnight, then let them know she was going to go and research something. She kissed her husband and promised him that if he was good, then she would treat him well that night.

January 20, 1986

Less than a month had passed, but Lily had been very busy. Severus had come through with the books and she spent most of her free time researching. She was very happy with what she found and knew that she would prove that her boy was a good child. With that in mind, she sent the boys to go and play with their friends in the entertainment room when they got home from school.

She then went and gathered her notes from the library; she had as much information that was available. She took a deep breath, now was the time. When she was done getting her things, she asked a house elf to go and get the men, and tell them that she needed them in the sitting room on the east side of the manor. She didn't want to take the chance that Harry and Gary's friends would overhear. She set another house elf to watch them and let her know if any of the kids left the room. She settled on one of the couches and waited. It was about ten minutes later when the men entered the sitting room.

"What's up Lily, you look serious," James said as he sat down next to her taking her hand in his. He knew she was frantic over something, but she would just smile and say she would tell him later when he asked. Now it looked like the time for that secret to be shared was here. He was a bit nervous as to what could make his wife so uncomfortable.

"Oi, she is not me," Sirius exclaimed, sitting on the other sofa next to Remus. Everyone groaned at the old joke, though it did lighten the atmosphere.

"That joke is getting old, Sirius," Remus said, shaking his head as he nudged his friend's shoulder.

"I've something very serious to talk to you all about. I need you to listen to me before you start exploding. I have done a lot of research on this so I know what I'm talking about." Lily straightened her papers, took a very deep breath and looked her husband dead in the eye. He frowned and nodded for her to continue. "Harry is a parselmouth," she said succinctly.

"My son is not an evil snake-talker," James said as he jerked away from his wife. That caused her to glare at him and take his arm and shake it.

"You will listen to me!" she yelled, giving her husband's arm another shake before dropping it. "You will pay attention to what I have to say, or I will make you sorry you ever said anything bad about my son," she hissed, making them go quiet.

They all dropped their heads, a bit shamed that they would even for a second think that the kind boy they all loved was evil.

Lily gave a nod of her head. "Now I know what you all are thinking. Harry is not evil. I think he got this from Voldemort," she said, ignoring the flinches. "I don't know how, but I'm pretty sure that is what happened or Gary would have it too. I've done some research and found that there were many grey and light wizards who could talk to snakes. There are some countries than respect and admire parselmouths. The only reason we don't is because of Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort. But I have found some parselmouths in British history that were never dark.

"This one in your Chocolate Frog card collection; *'Phillipus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (1493—1541), more commonly known as Paracelsus, was a secretive alchemist about whom very little is known. He also contributed to the field of medicine, having been a notable physician. Paracelsus's bold theories challenged medieval thought. Paracelsus was credited with the discovery of parseltongue.*" She flipped through her notebook, determined to make these guys understand that her son was not evil. So she started her lecture, not once pausing until she was done.

James opened his mouth to stop her. He would take her word for it, but she glared at him, so he sat back and let her go on.

"Then there's, Jordan Tomlinson, who lived in 1658, who helped keep the snakes from his home village. There was a forest that held poisonous snakes and he helped them stay away from the village and also collected their venom for the local potion master. He was considered a Grey wizard.

"And also, Joel Coxhead, who lived in 1759, who was also a collector of venom for potion masters. He made his living doing that and as a traveling healer. He was considered a Light wizard.

"There are many more, I listed them in this research, and you can look them up yourselves. I want you to know I will stand by Harry no matter what. I want all of you to do the same. You need to read the research I've collected before you go off halfcocked. Don't you love Harry as much as I do? Don't you want to protect him from anything that will come his way? He is just a little boy. He is terrified that you will all think he is evil and hurt him. Or worse leave him or take Gary away from him. Do you really want that?" Lily asked sternly. She would make these pure-bloods understand if she had to beat it into their heads.

"Lily can I see the research you've done?" Remus asked, holding out his hand. "I want to be prepared to defend Harry if this somehow reaches the public. They might not listen to me because I'm a werewolf, but if we all have the same facts and stand together then it might work," he said, with some admiration in his voice for the well thought-out lecture. He was firmly on her side from the beginning, and he would do anything to protect his godson. That and the Potters, and Sirius, were the first to accept him as he was. They had hired him to teach the twins, and all their friends, theory magic so he could afford to pay his rent, knowing that he would never accept charity.

Lily handed the papers to her quiet friend, and he and Sirius started to read them over. James reached over and brought his tense wife into a hug. "Lily, why didn't you trust me enough to tell me sooner?" he asked, he could sort of understand, but he wanted hear her reason.

"Oh James, I wanted to, but I've heard what you've said about parselmouths and I didn't want you to shun Harry or think he was evil. You said that snake-talkers were evil, when I first brought it up. Can you imagine what it would have been like if he had been in the room?" she asked with tears in her eyes at that thought. It would have been a nightmare, if Harry and Gary had been there.

That caused the man to flinch; it had been a kneejerk reaction. Now he was sorry he let his mouth get ahead of his brain. "Yeah, I can just imagine," he stated, knowing that it would have deeply impacted his son, in a bad way.

"You didn't see the fear in his eyes when he told me about talking to snakes. He was terrified. I needed to make sure you all understood that the public opinion on parselmouths was wrong," his wife cried, feeling bad that she didn't trust her husband, but her boys came first.

"It's okay, Lily-flower, I mostly understand. I've said some pretty hateful things about parselmouths so I get where you're coming from," James said, hugging her tighter.

"I'm sorry, James," she said, leaning into his shoulder, "its human nature to fear the unknown. I didn't know how you would react after everything you said. And judging from your initial reaction, well…" Lily said, drying her tears. "Let's just say that I'm now happy that you listened to me and are taking this well."

"We stand together, no matter what. As long as you don't cheat on me, you can tell me anything. That is what family is for," he said, kissing her on the top of her head and holding her close. What he said was true, he could forgive anything, except disloyalty.

"Hear, hear," Sirius said after reading the papers. Those had been an eye-opener, he now knew that everything he had been taught was wrong. "We stand together."

"Okay," Lily said as she sat up, wiped her eyes, and beamed when she saw the acceptance in their faces. "We'll sit the boys down after supper, and tell him that we're all on the same page and that we love him no matter what."

That night they did sit the boys down and explain it to them. The relief in Harry's eyes was enough to know that he had been really scared. The month of waiting for the shoe to drop hadn't helped his nerves at all. Sally and Gary tried to tell him that family would stick together, but the memory of the venom in his dad's voice gave him nightmares. He never wanted that kind of negative feelings to be directed at him, not by his dad. The rest of the world could feel what they want, but family and friends needed to stick by each other.

The adults did remind the boys that the public will think he was an evil wizard, and that he needed to keep this a secret. He couldn't tell is friends, yet. Maybe when they were older and could understand better. That was the conclusion they had already come to, so the twins just nodded their heads and agreed to keep it a secret for now.

The boys were really happy and felt safe in the knowledge that they were loved. However, they were feeling guilty that they couldn't tell them about Sally. They would talk to her tonight, or tomorrow, and plead with her to let them tell their family.

After all she had been wrong about this.