Tara's POV
A year since that call. A year of non-stop missions, attacks, killings. Over and over again, it repeated. I kept in touch with my friends from Durmstrang, made sure that I knew if one of them was killed. I attended funeral after funeral. And yet, somehow my spirits had yet to drain entirely. Sirius and James and Peter and Remus and Lily. Marlene and Dorcas stayed with all of us for a time before they found their own place in hiding together. Tonks graduated and joined us in our communal home.
And then one night, Sirius and Remus and I returned home to find Lily and James clutching at each other, James crying silent tears of joy. It took me seconds to figure out what had happened and I joined their embrace whispering silent congratulations.
Nineteen. James had proposed.
A week later, they called us into common room with looks of excitement and fear on their faces and announced they were pregnant. I began making connections in my head. They were married a month later, Lily barely beginning to show. Mum and Dad were so proud, sitting up at the front row. I stood as one of Lily's five bridesmaids. Sirius, Remus, Peter, Frank and Arthur were James's groomsmen.
At the reception, Sirius got roaring drunk and I dragged him home as Lily and James left on their brief honeymoon to some place in the Caribbean.
They returned, happy, unscathed. And I was happy for them. But scared. Frightened by the things I was thinking of, knowing what was to happen.
A week after they returned, Mum and Dad were announced by healers to have dragon pox. And that at their age, they wouldn't last the week. I held James to me, stone-cold, staring at my father who laid in the bed next to my mother at the Potter Mansion.
That night, I went back, as James was comforted by Lily in their bedroom and Sirius stared blankly at the wall. He did not ask where I was going or what I was doing.
My father put his hand on mine when I sat down on the chair next to his bed.
"You should not be here," he said.
I shook my head," It is my choice. I am immune to the disease as it is."
He looked at me," I do not know why you have come, Tara."
"There is a storm coming, Dad. A storm that will rip apart families and destroy my brother and Lily. And it will leave their child alive."
He wheezed, smoke trailing from his mouth," That storm is already here, Tara, darling."
"No. These are just the warning breezes, the smell in the air that signals rain. The storm has yet to come."
"Why are you telling me this, Tara? There is nothing your mother and I can do."
"I know. But I needed to tell someone."
He settled back on his pillow with a groan," So it seems your brother may be joining us with the gods sooner than I thought."
I looked down," If it does come to that, Dad, I want you to say hello to him for me because I will not be able to visit for a time."
He nodded softly, eyes beginning to droop," I want you to stay strong, Tara. You have always been strong. But you must stand strong and hold your brother up and hold Sirius up. I have never met someone as strong as you are, Tara. I want you to know that. It will not be until tomorrow when I have succumbed to the disease more and am no longer able to speak to you or them. Your mother succumbed to that portion of the disease faster than I did. Listen, Tara, I love you and your mother loves you, despite being unable to tell you. We love all of you, but you must be reminded of that, Tara. You cannot shut them out now or when we die. You must stand strong for them because what is to come will hurt them more and more."
I nodded and stood, looking down at him," When you leave, you will meet the gods and become part of them, to live eternally, should you wish it, with all your friends and, in the end, all of us. When you see them, do not fear them, embrace them. I will meet you there when I can."
He sighed," Thank you Tara. You will be there? When it happens?"
"When you die?" he nodded. "Of course. And I will bring the god of the Underworld, himself up to receive you."
He gave a soft smile," That doesn't sound too bad."
I kissed both of them on the forehead and bid my farewell. They raised their hands, saying goodbye. My father rasped a goodbye out. I wiped a tear away as I left. Strong. I could stay strong. I cried when they died, face buried against James shoulder as he shuddered against me with huge sobs. Sirius joined us, having been their son just as much as James. I did not cry at the funeral. True to my word, Hades himself attended the ceremony.
We were given a month to recover from the blow and then Dumbledore called us in.
"I want to swear to all of you that I am not lying when I tell you this, not twisting the truth. And I am so sorry for what is going to happen," he said as he paced along the way in front of us as we sat in his office.
Alice and Frank sat on Lily and James's left side. Sirius and I sat on their right.
"In the hiring of a new teacher of Divination, I was given a prophecy. Sybill Trelawney, our new Divination Professor had unfortunately not shown much potential for the job she wanted until she went into a trance. These were her words:
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-"
I spoke quietly, continuing the prophecy for him," 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-"
"How is it that you have come by this prophecy?" Dumbledore asked, curious.
"I know the god of prophecy personally. I knew of that prophecy five months ago. I also know of the second portion that was not given to you through Sybill Trelawney. The portion where I come in."
"And that is?"
I closed my eyes, standing quietly and walking over to a small object which I touched briefly, shaking my head slightly," And should the mortal body of the Dark Lord be defeated, the Betrayers will rise from his ashes... and the Heir shall take their lives or they shall take hers for their own."
"Have you determined what this prophecy means, Tara?"
I turned a little," I have a basic idea. But it does not end well for me."
Dumbledore nodded, then continued with the first half of the prophecy, informing Alice, Frank, James and Lily that their children would be at risk due to the prophecy and that he highly recommended going into hiding after the birth of both children. He offered to be their Secret Keeper. They shook their heads, insisting that the job go to Sirius when the time came. I was still suspicious. When the others left, I indicated that I would stay for a while and sat down in the Headmaster's plush chair.
"You know, Headmaster, that avoiding a prophecy only ends up making things worse in the end? I have learned that the hard way."
He shook his head," I want to try and give them a chance, Tara, what else would you have me do?"
I shrugged and kicked my feet up on the desk.
He held a finger up suddenly," Unless..."
I looked at him.
"I believe we should know fairly soon who the Dark Lord will decide to pursue. Should this happen, I implore you to take every action necessary to stop the death of the parents in order to give them the life they deserve with their child eventually."
I stared," You wish for me to take them from their child, should they be pursued?"
He nodded," It must be done."
I stood," That is cruel, even to your standards, Albus."
"Should one of them be attacked, they cannot have the parents around in order for them to retain the same personality we desperately will need them to have when the war continues on."
"They will develop that personality either way, Headmaster."
He shook his head," No. No. It must be done this way."
I shook my head," Find yourself a kidnapper, then. I won't do it."
"But you must. They trust you. And they will not trust anyone else."
I glared," I do not take orders from you, Headmaster. I do not take orders from anyone."
"I am not ordering you, Tara. Just simply informing you that should you refuse to do this, there is a high possibility that your brother and Ms. Lily Potter may both die in vain."
I hesitated," You are asking me to tell them to leave their child behind."
"Yes... I am afraid I must."
"Then you inform them of what I am to do."
"That ruins the trust piece in this. Tara, dear, if you are going to fight a prophecy, then you must find the loopholes in it."
I stalked toward the door," You have had me do many, many vicious, awful things, Albus. This is by far the worst."
I slammed the door on my way out and stared at the wall as I was taken by the moving stairs back into the hallway. The others waited for me there.
"What did he say, Tara?" James asked after a few moments of silence.
I looked at the floor, shaking my head and reaching up to wipe away a tear that somehow streamed down my face and breathed," I'm so, so sorry."
A/N: Hey guys, I know I've been missing for a while, sorry for such a short chapter, I promise I'll get the next one out soon. I've been working on the sequel because I've been having writer's block with this one. Love you guys! Bye!