The Past and the aftermath

Chapter - 5

Flashback Boxing Day 1999: Lafen Hall

Mr. and Mrs. Evans were eagerly awaiting the arrival of their youngest daughter with her family. It has been months since they have seen their youngest grandchild and ages since she spoke to Lily. They celebrated Christmas with Petunia, and her family and hence Lily, James and Harry could not join as Petunia had made it clear that under no circumstances would she allow Lily (though Petunia referred to her as a freak) anywhere near her Dudders. As their relationship with their elder daughter was already strained due to her elopement to that hateful man Dursley the Evans acquiesced. To say that the dinner was only made tolerable by the presence of their cherubic grandchild Dudley (what kind of name is that?) would be an understatement. With Vernon always looking greedily around the house, dropping hints of how good a director he is (a job he got only because of her husband) and complaining about everything under the sun had Edgar and her stretched thin. So it was with relief that they said goodbye in the morning. Though they love Petunia there is no denying that somewhere they went wrong which resulted in Petunia growing up to be a very vindictive and resentful person.

She broke out of her reverie at the sound of the butler announcing the arrival of the Potters. A moment later Lily, James carrying a sleeping Harry in a beautiful blue baby carrier entered the informal sitting room.

"Mum! Dad!" Lily ran towards her parents and hugged her mother tightly and then moved to her father. Edgar held her for much longer, clearly missing his daughter. Adora in the meantime greeted James with a hug and a kiss on the cheek and then swiftly moved the baby carrier from James to place it on the table and take the sleeping baby out. Holding onto little Harry closer she gazed upon the sleeping baby and pressed a kiss on his smooth forehead. He has grown a lot in the last 3 months. She then moved to sit next to her son-in-law as Lily had taken a seat next to her father.

"Merry Christmas Mum. I hope you liked the gift we sent." Adora smiled and touched the simple white gold chain with a small pendant made of blue sapphire in the shape of a Delphinium, the flower of July. "I love it" said Adora and nodded towards her husband who was sporting a new watch which he loved.

Lily beamed, but there was a tightness to her smile which did not go unnoticed. "Is everything alright dear?" asked Adora. Beside her James sighed and said,'' we want to talk to you about something very important to us but can we do it after dinner? Just for a few hours we want to enjoy the company and forget about everything going on in the other side of Britain." Unease bloomed in both the elders' stomach but looking at the imploring face of Lily and James they nodded.

The rest of the evening the four adults spent, trying their best to keep the unease at bay. The Evans dotted on Harry getting joy and laughter from the several everyday anecdotes of the baby from the young parents. After dinner they moved to Edgar's study on James' request and Lily pulled out the small crib and her wand from her pocket and enlarged the crib where Adora placed baby Harry, having rocked him to sleep. She pressed another kiss on his head and watched as Lily put some sort of charm around his crib. At Adora's raised eyebrows Lily smiled "noise cancel spell".

They took seats beside their spouses where the 2 elder couples looked towards the young ones with expectations.

"We are targeted by the Dark Lord." The statement that rushed out of Lily chilled the bones of both the parents. Adora and Edgar had always tried to keep up with the ongoings of wizarding world as much as they could with the little means they had. Regular correspondence from her Lily (which has been not so regular since Harry's birth) a subscription to the magical newspaper - Daily Prophet- kept them abreast of all ongoings but they only know what the prophet is publishing, which is very less. So it is with increasing trepidation they learnt the horrors of the magical world. That Wizarding Britain is in the middle of civil war is an open secret amongst all wizarding nations. Everyone knows but no one comes forward to support in fear of retaliation against their own ICW (the wizarding UN) was plainly monitoring the situation. They were aware of the discriminations against people like their daughter- first generation witch/wizard or as is commonly known muggle born. They also know how under the leadership of one wizard whom many refer to as You-know-who or as his supporters called the Dark Lord many of the old pureblood families are rallying against the muggleborns and half-bloods, something Lily explained to her parents at the end of her 5th year to explain why she was no longer friends with Severus. To think that her daughter, son-in-law are targeted by the same group raised terror in their hearts.

"But...but..James is...he..is.not...Lily must have some protection being married to you?" asked Edgar to James.

James and Lily looked at each other and then poured out all their fear, grief and uncertainty to the two people who can only sit still and listen to their story. A story straight out of someone's nightmare. A story of prophecies, of being scared for the life of their mere months old baby, of fighting a civil war which they have very little hope of winning. A story of waking up to the news of losing loved ones, friends and family everyday.

The Evans listened, getting pale with each word uttered by Lily and James.

"Leave Britain. Why are you still here? Leave and don't come back till it's all over. Why haven't you done so yet? You two now have a child to take care of." exclaimed Edgar suddenly his face now white in fear.

Lily sobbed, "We can't. they won't stop hunting. We are target number One now or at least part of it." she choked on her own poor attempt to joke. James smiled sadly and looked to his father-in-law. "We have decided to go into a long-term hiding in an unknown place but till now haven't succeeded. We also moved out of Potter Hall 2 weeks ago."

Astonished at this new information and remembering the majestic mansion that was Potter Hall from their memory both the Evans asked why.

"Though the place is protected under several ancient wards, and people who are only told about its location can find it, it's still not 100 percent secure. Also, the place is very near to quite a few non magical settlements. A few weeks ago, a village was razed down to ashes by magical fire few miles from our home. There were several casualties"

"You fear they will find you." whispered Adora fearfully. James nodded. We are currently in my parents' townhouse and except for a few of our friends no one knows its location, but we have to move again soon. It seems information about our general locality has been leaked. We saw a few of their people lingering. We fear a mole amongst us but have no better way to know who. And Dumbledore refuses to get an unbreakable vow from anyone working with us nor would he allow us to use any lethal counter curse even for self-defence." ended James bitterly.

"So, what are you going to do?" asked Edgar defeatedly.

"The same thing any parent does. Making sure my son is safe and living life long even if I have to die for it." said Lily with so much conviction and determination that any protest died in Adora's throat over her daughter's declaration.

"But we need help," added James looking towards his in-laws who are now the only parent figure left in his life.

Anything you want we would do, Edgar responded and Adora nodded.

James looks pained for a moment and it seems he is fighting an internal war which he lost. Lily's nimble fingers brushing his wild mop of hair in encouragement made him smile. He looked up "Lily and I have decided to take some precautionary measures to ensure that if anything happens to us then Harry will be taken care of by you."

"Don't say that." admonished Adora, but Edgar, a man of practicality knows that all scenarios have to be considered simply nodded, his heart breaking already at the prospect of any harm coming to Lily and her family.

"We don't want to but that doesn't mean that it's not necessary. Under Dumbledore's leadership we aren't winning, just merely surviving one day at a time. We do not understand why the wizard hailed as one of the greatest of our time is okay with simply being on the defensive, but we now understand that he believes in that thrice damned prophecy as much as the Dark Lord does. So, no matter what happens Harry's life would not be jeopardized for it. Add to that being a Potter is as much a privilege as it can be a burden sometimes. We need your help. We are so desperate for our plan to succeed that we have not divulged it to any other 3rd soul before today. Not even Sirius."

The fact that Sirius Black, best friend and brother in all but blood to James, was kept uninformed of the plan drove home to the Evans of how desperate Lily and James were to ensure the continuous survival and well-being of their son.

Present time, No 4 Privet Drive-

Vernon and Petunia sat in silence as they listened to this fantasy-like story which revolves around their nephew and how they both were unwillingly dragged in it. Bitterness and anger welled inside Petunia. But she remained silent knowing her father is yet to finish his story.

Mr. Evans, who paused to get himself some water lost in his thought, suddenly continued in his hoarse voice, "The plan Lily and James came up with was to utilize the arrogance and ignorance of the Wizarding world to its full advantage."

Petunia was surprised at the slight disdain heard in her father's voice for the same wizarding world which once filled him with wonder. She only cocked her head sideways to indicate she was listening.

"The reason why the letter addressed you as Harry's only living relative is because to the wizarding world Lily Potter nee Evans parents' died in a car crash earlier this year.

"WHAT" shrieked Petunia despite herself, startling Harry who started fussing, Adora stood up and took the baby with her towards the backyard without another word.

Mr. Evans continued ignoring the interruption "She supposedly also received an angry and grief filled letter from you informing her that you are leaving the country for an indefinite period and under no circumstances Lily is to contact you. A letter which I might like to add Lily received during some secret meeting of theirs which means quite a few people knew of it.

At this both the Dursley's looked at each other flabbergasted and asked why. Mr. Evans smiled sadly and replied, "So that we all are spared from being hunted down. Who would care to verify the death of 2 nondescript "muggles" as James put it or to find the location of equally unimportant people who want nothing to do with Lily Potter? The company holiday to Paris that you and Vernon took in the spring this year and the subsequent extended onsite project that Vernon was offered was arranged by me. During that time Lily visited your home to give it as much protection as she could by doing some complex spell which I cannot explain. How Dumbledore found you I have no idea but Lily was stubborn that no one from the wizarding family could find her family and hurt them. ``

Petunia's stomach lurched in guilt and sorrow hearing this, she tried ignoring that unpleasant feeling, whereas Vernon was just trying to get out of the responsibility of raising the freak's spawn.

The stifling silence was broken by the soft footsteps of Adora who was now carrying a sleeping Harry with her and placed him in the crib.

At last, she turned to her daughter and spoke, "We are not asking you to raise Harry, nor do we want you to do so."

Both the Dursley's eyes widened at this blunt statement. "You don't?" asked Petunia with some uncertainty.

Smiling softly Adora replied, "No Tuney. It would not be right for us to thrust onto you the responsibility of Lily's child. Lily whom you once loved dearly but whom you grew up to hate for being something she could not help."

The feeling of guilt and sorrow returned tenfold, harder to ignore, Petunia whispered in a soft voice, "Then why is he here?"

Both Evan's face hardened at that question. Mr. Evans furrowed and replied, "That is what even I want to know. As per the plan if anything was to happen to...Li..ly, choked Mr. Evans gulped a few deep breaths and continued, "If anything was to happen to them Harry was to be given to his Godfather who would have been contacted by the wizarding bank for a private will reading that they arranged which would have guided both Sirius and Harry to us. The fact that my grandson has been dumped on his aunt's doorstep the very next day...of...of (as if saying it will make it more real) in the middle of the night is ringing all kinds of wrong bells in my head. Till we resolve this I have only one request. Allow us to stay the night and by tomorrow if I am not contacted by the Potter's Account manager, we will fix the mess our own way. Either way I would not burden you and your family with an unwanted responsibility, even though he is as much your blood as ours.

Petunia agreed silently. Vernon was happy at the prospect that the freak would not be with them for long. That night except the two small toddlers no one slept at the Dursley's No 4 Privet Drive. While Petunia was fighting an internal battle between grief and bitterness for her sister, Vernon lay awake thinking of how he could milk this situation to his advantage. The luxurious car that is now parked in his garage has already piqued many interests of the other residents of Privet Drive and surely it would make them hold him in higher regard being related to such affluent in-laws.

On the other end of the house in the guest room Adora and Edgar are wrapped round each other's embrace tightly, body wrecking in silent sobs for the loss of their child. They cried for their beautiful daughter Lily, their son James and they cried for Harry who would now never know the lullaby of his mother, the playfulness of his father. Their grandson would never know his parents.

On the other side of the night, beyond magical barriers, the wizarding world is still celebrating their freedom. But there are some who are seething at rage of their defeat after being so close to victory, some are hiding their darkest secret, their dark cloaks and silver mask under a protected vault. At another corner of this world a large black dog is running frantically in search of something or someone.