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The baby was finally here.
He was so, so, small.
Harry.
Harry Evans-Potter.
He was younger by a few months to Neville Longbottom, who somehow looked exactly like Frank even as a baby. James only saw photos that he received in the mail, considering they were supposed to be in lockdown till Dumbledore found a way to defeat Voldemort.
But Harry had turned three months old, and since today was Halloween, James had wanted to dress him up, but Lily had thought he was joking, well, until she came back and found Harry in his crib wearing a brown suit and antlers on his head.
Remus and Sirius and Peter had come to meet Harry, and Regulus had come too, albeit begrudgingly, and Lily had apparently met Aquila as well when she had taken Harry out for a stroll under a disguise. Lily had fought vigorously with Dumbeldore claiming she didn't want her child to look pasty just because he couldn't see the sun. So Dumbledore himself had conjured a disguise and Lily was allowed outside for an hour only.
And Aquila being Aquila, had recognised her and warmly met the small child, congratulating Lily and not saying anything about James.
When Lily told James that she met Aquila, he sat Lily down and milked every single detail from her, from the things she said to the shoes she was wearing.
Peter had claimed to be very flattered when he was made Secret Keeper, and had since then gone into hiding with his mother, who had been sick for quite some time.
Now it was dusk, and Lily and James knew something was wrong, they had placed even stronger charms around the house because even though the Fidelius Charm was unbreakable, they still felt a bit safer with the protection of their own spells.
Regulus had crafted various items, buried around in their backyard that emanated a soft blue around the house, rendering the house invisible even if one knew the location, and the only way to enter into the house was to be accompanied by the secret keeper.
- - -
Bad weather on Halloween.
James didn't know whether it was an omen or not.
Harry was on a crying spree and Lily was at her breaking point and James was about to burst with the amount of pressure building up because something was about to go dreadfully wrong and he couldn't for his life figure out how to stop it.
There wasn't any rain, but the constant lightning and thunder seemed to be omen enough. If Sirius' letter was to be believed, the Longbottoms had gone in hiding about the same time Lily and James had, and they were under even more threat as everyone knew that young Neville was the prophecy child, and Dumbledore had refused to allow them another Secret Keeper, and Alice had nearly bit his head off for taking that choice away.
Sirius mentioned that Aquila was ready to bite his head off too, considering Frank wanted Regulus to be their secret keeper.
James read that line again and again until he could perfectly imagine Aquila fuming about this.
"Hey, James?" Lily said, popping her head in the doorway of James' room. "Are animals supposed to get past the charms?" she asked, her face scrunched in a frown.
James immediately got up with his wand. "No, why?"
Lily's eyes widened in horror. "A rat got in."
James' shoulders relaxed slightly. "It could be Peter?"
"Why would he enter as a rat?"
Oh right. She didn't know.
"His Animagus form. It's a long story," he said, noting the confused look on her face.
She shook her head. "Anyway, even if it is his Animagus, why would he enter in that form?"
James did grow worried then. Because Peter was supposed to be in hiding, and if he was here, that meant something bad had happened.
A loud crashing sound came from the gate. They shot alarmed looks at each other, and James carefully approached the window to see what had happened. All he saw was a dark cloaked figure approaching the front door of the house.
Dread creeped up James' spine. This was it, then.
"Lily, grab Harry and run," James said calmly. Lily furiously shook her head.
"Lily, grab Harry and run!" he shouted at her.
"Are you mad? I'm not leaving you here to die!" she shouted back at him.
James went and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Would you rather three of us die tonight or just one?" he said, glaring at her. She let out a sob, but nodded and ran to fetch Harry.
James quickly summoned his Patronus and sent a message. One last message.
With that, he ran down the stairs to confront the Dark Lord.
- - -
Help.
Help.
James' begging voice through his Patronus echoed in Aquila's mind. She'd never heard him like that. She thought she forgot what his voice sounded like, but, all it took was one word before she left a small message for Regulus, who was over at Frank's, and ran outside to disapparate to Godric's Hollow.
One look at the ruined house was all it took for Aquila to break down.
It was completely ruined, a Dark Mark in the sky above casting a green halo around everything. She quickly rushed into the house, and for the first time in seven months, she saw the face of the beautiful boy she had fallen in love with. His mischievous smile, his twinkling and bright eyes. Now dull and lifeless as he lay on the staircase, holding his wand in a defensive stance.
Here he was.
Dead.
And Aquila couldn't remember how to breathe. All the memories, all the times in the past seven months when she had cursed his name and screamed at the memory of him, it choked her neck and refused to allow any air through.
A child's cry broke her out of her shock.
She turned into her Animagus form to avoid going over his body to go up the stairs and changed back at the top of the staircase.
Her eyes scanned over the destruction of the room, the small child crying in the corner, and. . .the black robed man cradling Lily Evans' dead body.
Hot, burning anger made her vision red. Pulling back the Snape from his greasy hair, she gave him a loud smack in the face. He stood up with a glower, his face stained with tears.
"You have the audacity to step over a dead body and ignore a crying child while the mark you carry on your arm floats above this house?" Aquila asked, her eyes bright and dangerous as she took him in.
Snape sneered.
"They died and you couldn't even have the decency of a normal human being!" she screamed. Snape flinched, opened his mouth to reply, but a loud shout of 'NO!' in a voice that sounded like Sirius' echoed around the silent house. When she turned back to Snape, he was gone.
She rushed downstairs, carrying a crying Harry, to find Sirius cradling his best friend's body in his arms, telling him to wake up.
Sirius looked up at her, sniffling, his eyes softening as he took Harry from her. "He's gone, Aq. I don't know how to do this without him. I don't know how to live without him."
Sirius' eyes, for the first time in a while, were dim. Then suddenly, they were alight. Anger. "It was Peter. That slimy arse, I trusted him!" Sirius shouted, kicking the steps he was previously sitting on. "James wanted me to be Secret Keeper, but I told him I was too obvious, too loud, and I was the one who told him to switch, Aq, I told him to switch, I'm no less of his murderer than Voldemort, no less of a traitor than him," he said, running a frantic hand through his hair. Then, determination. "Enough is enough. I'm going."
The sound of footsteps halted them. Sirius and Aquila immediately stood in front of James, Aquila quickly taking back Harry from Sirius. Hagrid appeared in the doorway, ducking his head to get in.
"Oh, Merlin. Look at the state of the house. Oh dear. Where are they?" he muttered, trying to avoid debris. Suddenly, he spotted Sirius and Aquila, their wands raised, glaring at him. "Yer here!" Hagrid said loudly. "Of course yer here. Now, give me the baby," he said, holding his hands up and voice getting calm, as if he was talking to a rabid dog.
Well, in Sirius' case, he was.
Sirius lowered his wand slightly. "Why should we trust you?"
"Dumbledore sent me. I'm to take little Harry here for safety," he said, his eyes going soft at the child nestled in Aquila's arms.
Aquila turned to Sirius. "We can't trust Dumbledore, Sirius, you know there's more to this story than he tells us. Don't let him take Harry," she begged.
Sirius nodded. "Harry comes with us," he said firmly. "I'm his godfather. I can take care of him."
"You can take him after Dumbledore sees him. I'm just following orders here, Black," Hagrid said, sounding more firm than Aquila had ever heard him.
Something in Sirius' eyes broke. Aquila vehemently shook her head, and clutched Harry to her chest. "I'm not letting you take him away from me, keep away, Hagrid, or I swear to Merlin, I'll shoot a spell at you, I'm not joking," she said.
Sirius gently pried her fingers apart from Harry, the little boy crying as soon as removed from the comfort of Aquila's arms. He quietened down as soon as Sirius took him. "I'll take care of him, Hagrid, I'll take him to see Dumbledore."
A phoenix patronus came through the door, speaking loudly in Dumbledore's voice. "Hurry back, Rubeus," it said, and disappeared.
"See? Give me 'Arry, Black, you can see him with Dumbledore later," Hagrid insisted.
Sirius nodded slowly, and Aquila fought the urge to scream. Didn't they see how Dumbledore could not be trusted?
Sirius gave him the keys to his motorbike, and handed Hagrid the baby.
Aquila rushed forward, taking a last look at Harry. She brushed a finger down his cheek, his eyes fluttering with the motion. Dropping a small kiss on his forehead, she spoke. "We'll meet again soon, Harry," she promised, and with one look, Hagrid was off.
As soon as the roar of the engine died down, Sirius' eyes held a new type of anger. The reckless kind. "I'm going after the rat."
Aquila stood quietly as Sirius went by, still processing her shock. Then, his words registered. "Sirius, no!" She ran after him. "Sirius, he's probably got a plan, think carefully, brother, come on, I know we're all shocked, come on, we'll think about this, come on, come on," she shouted down the road Sirius had disappeared. She followed him down, but there was no trace of him. She was about to take her Animagus form, when suddenly, Regulus' voice came in her mind.
AQUILA, HELP!
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im so sorry
i genuinely cried while writing sirius' part
but aquila holding baby harry has my heart <3
this update is early and so will the next one be
im sorry :(