The Boy Who Lived

Wizardrynet’s Advent Calendar: Day Eight

it is of course possible that Draco would have gotten the Death Eaters into the school some other way if the Vanishing Cabinet hadn’t created the perfect opportunity, but it wasn’t looking likely.

so like, it’s reasonable enough to assume that Dumbledore’s death (at the hands of Snape specifically, obviously I know he was going to die soon enough from the curse, but the timing does make a difference so I’m still focused on this) occurred because of the Death Eaters getting into the school. the reason the Death Eaters were able to get into the school was because of the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement, which Draco repaired.

the Vanishing Cabinet ended up in the Room of Requirement over the summer of 1996, presumably (reasoning for this is in the next paragraph), and Draco discovered it there sometime in his 6th year. but the only reason he had even known what it was, and what it could do, was because he had spoken with….

Graham Montague, a Slytherin who was in 7th year in 1995-1996 (when Harry & co were in 5th year). Montague was shoved into the Vanishing Cabinet in that year by Fred and George Weasley, because he was a part of the Inquisitorial Squad and was presumably about to take points from the Weasley twins for doing something disruptive. and we know that Montague got stuck in a limbo between the two connected cabinets, due to one of them being broken - he could hear things being discussed in Borgin & Burkes, which is how he was able to let Malfoy know that the other “end of the tunnel”, or basically the other cabinet, was in Borgin & Burkes (which, Draco would already have seen as a 12-year-old, in the summer before his 2nd year, when he visited the shop with his father - fun fact, Harry hid in that exact cabinet while Lucius Malfoy was transacting with Borgin).

Montague would never have had this experience at all if the cabinet hadn’t been broken in the first place. but in fact, we know exactly how, when, why, and by whom the cabinet was broken.

it was in the fall of 1992, when Nearly Headless Nick observed that Harry had gotten in trouble with Filch, and prompted Peeves to drop that very same cabinet from a large height in order to cause a distraction for Filch, allowing Harry to get out of trouble.

why was Harry in trouble in the first place? because he was “tracking mud” in the corridors.

why was he tracking mud in the corridors? because Oliver Wood had had him out on the Quidditch pitch all day even though it had been literally storming outside. so Harry came into the castle drenched and splattered with mud.

Dumbledore literally died because of how obsessed Oliver Wood was with winning the Quidditch Cup.

to clarify:

the bits about the Vanishing Cabinet being the only real way he had to get the Death Eaters in, having heard about it from Montague and how that made him realize he could use them as a passage, etc - that was all clearly laid out in HBP, chapter 27 (The Lightning-Struck Tower).

Montague being shoved into the cabinet takes place in OOTP, chapter 28 (Snape’s Worst Memory).

Draco seeing the cabinet and Harry being in the cabinet is all in CoS, chapter 4 (At Flourish and Blotts).

and the entire situation with the Quidditch practice and the mud and Harry getting in trouble and Nick getting Peeves to drop the cabinet is in CoS, chapter 8 (The Deathday Party).

Voldemort died because Harry was the master of the Elder Wand that Voldemort was trying to use.

Why was Harry the master? Because he overpowered its previous master, Draco, and won its allegiance.

Why was Draco master of the Elder Wand? Because he disarmed Dumbledore in the precise sequence being discussed, which relied on the vanishing cabinet.

Woke: Oliver Wood caused Voldemort’s death

Bespoke: Neville’s Remembrall caused Voldemort’s death

The flat was empty. Sirius could tell as soon as he stepped in. There were no sounds of a squeaking floorboard or a person’s breath. Nothing.

He called out anyway. “Peter?” 

No answer. Sirius called again. “Peter, are you here?”

Something bad must have happened, Sirius could tell, but he didn’t know what. Did something happen to Peter? Was he hurt? Had they found out he was the secret keeper and kidnapped him? Perhaps they were torturing him for information right now. Information on where to find James and Lily. And Harry. 

Sirius turned around, bolted out of the door and ran as fast as he could down the steep stairs. He knew where he needed to be: Godrics Hollow. Something was wrong and he could feel it. He had to make sure James, Lily and Harry were okay, which of course they were. 

They had to be. 

And once he got there, they could figure this out together. Maybe they could help Peter, wherever he was. 

-

In his hurry, Sirius landed on the other end of the street instead of in front of the Potters’ house. 

The atmosphere at Godrics Hollow was strange. Sirius thought he could hear a baby crying in the distance. It couldn’t be Harry, could it?

He got off his motorcycle ran. Ran towards their house as quick fast as he possibly could. And the closer he came, the more obvious it became that something was wrong. 

A vast, dark figure stood right outside James and Lily’s house. Sirius drew his wand before continuing right towards the door which was for some reason open.

 Why was the door open?

“Sirius?” 

Sirius recognized the voice as Hagrids and wondered briefly what Hagrid was doing here, but he didn’t stop or turn around. 

“Listen,” Hagrid told him, voice shaking. “Yer don’ wanna go in ‘ere!”

“Why?” Sirius’ voice was shaking too. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer but at the same time, he had to know. 

Hagrid had an arm out to prevent Sirius from going in, but he quickly ducked under and through the door. 

“Lily?” he called. “Ja-” He stopped. His mouth hung open, but no sound left him.

James was there, right there in the hallway, sprawled out by Sirius’ feet. His glasses were lying next to him, broken. 

“No,” Sirius whispered as he dropped down next to his best friend’s lifeless body. “James, no. Wake up!” With trembling hands, he grabbed James by the shoulders and shook him in an attempt to wake him up. 

But James did not wake up. He stared up into the ceiling without seeing anything, his eyes, once so full of light even in the darkest times, now lifeless, rid of any sparkle or glow.

“Please,” Sirius whispered, barely audible. 

His throat was tied up in a tight knot. Only a sob managed to escape. It ripped through him, shook his whole body. 

“Please, you have to wake up!”

“I’m sorry, Sirius.” Hagrid sounded like he too was about to cry. “He won’ wake up.”

Sirius felt as though his heart had been ripped out of his chest, like he would never be able to smile or live or breathe again. 

“What about Lily?” he whispered shakily, even though he dreaded the answer.

Hagrid met the question with silence and that was answer enough-

Sirius slowly got to his feet. In the midst of all his grief, all the pain, there was something else: deep, hateful anger, rising slowly in his chest. Pettigrew had betrayed James and Lily. It was his fault they were dead.

“It’s a miracle the little one survived,” Hagrid muttered.

The little one? Sirius spun around.

“Harry!”

There he was, sleeping peacefully in Hagrid’s arms. How had Sirius not noticed him before now?

The anger that Sirius had felt disappeared, replaced by relief, hope, gratefulness. Harry was okay. 

He stumbled out of the door, over to Hagrid to hold his godson. But Hagrid didn’t let him.

“I’m sorry, Sirius, I got strict orders from Dumbledore,” he told him, holding the sleeping child just out of Sirius’ reach. “I have ter bring little Harry ter him, yer see.”

Sirius shook his head. “No, Hagrid, you don’t understand,” he pleaded. “I’m his godfather!” He didn’t mean to yell but his words ripped through the otherwise silent night, echoing through the street.

“I know,” Hagrid told him. “But I’m not ter leave Harry to anyone else. Dumbledore’s order.”

“Just let me hold him,” Sirius whispered. Really, he knew it was hopeless, even before Hagrid shook his head no.

The hope that had filled him, for just a moment, was again overruled by anger.

Anger towards the man who had cost him everything, betrayed his best friends, deprived Harry of his mum and dad.

Maybe after all of this, he could find Dumbledore and convince him that he, Sirius, was supposed to take care of Harry. But first, he needed to get revenge. For James and Lily.

Peter Pettigrew had betrayed them, his best friends, the people who trusted him and loved him, and Sirius couldn’t let that go unpunished.

“James, I am telling you, they’re together.” Peter groaned.

He’s had his suspicions about his best friends Sirius and Remus for a couple of months now, but wanted to be sure about it before he said anything to either them or their other friend James, who was unbelievably oblivious to everything around him. Except for when it came to Lily. Whenever she was around, he would be on the look out for any sign that she maybe felt the same way about him. Unluckily, he hadn’t noticed anything to indicate that yet, but the other day, he could’ve sworn he saw heard her laugh at a joke he said that was actually a joke someone else told him while she was within earshot. Did she only think it was funny when he said it?

“Pete, give it a rest already. We’ve all been best mates for like five years now, nothing’s changed.” James sighed back to him. “Now hurry up and help with this potion. I tried to get Lily to tutor me but she’s not having it.”

“Well, of course she’s not. And yes they are, I swear! Look at them!” Peter hunched over slightly and discreetly pointed over to the table next to them where Sirius and Remus were working on their own potion together. James looked over to see what Peter was going on about, and saw Sirius stirring the cool, bubbling liquid with a swift movement of his wand. As he did so, Remus was leaning on one arm and staring up Sirius with stars in his eyes, his other hand slowly inching closer and closer to Sirius’. He stroked his pinky finger against his forearm to which Sirius gave a heartwarming smile, before remembering where they were and quickly snapped back and began writing something. “You see?”

“Holy Merlin...”

“I told you! Honestly, I thought you’d never-“

“They stole the last of our prune juice! Guys, give that back!” James was off his stool quick as a flash, ignoring what Peter was trying to tell him.

New Story! FFN and AO3

Christmas always comes early to the Potter home, but will Lily be able to love it as much as James does? ~~~Marauders One-shot. Christmas Jily Fluff.~~~

More stories from my life. ;) My mom puts up six trees, not ten, and I have two. Yes, I’m in the process of setting up right now, I should be done by Sunday. Then my kids and husband and I, along with the rest of the family, are helping my parents set up all next week. You don’t have to like it, but there is something so very magical about turning a home into a Christmas wonderland and I love it!

Seasonal

James had never thought much about it. As a child, he figured it was just a part of what his family did. As a teenager, he never thought of it until Sirius moved in, but when Sirius came home with him for Christmas he loved it and James didn’t think on it again.

Until today.

Another ancient prompt!!

This actually just happened to my friend which was so sweet so I decided to immortalize him within this crappy ramble. It’s like…99% dialogue so sorry.

~

“Okay,” James says.

Remus just laughs, rolling over so that he lay on his back. James hung off the bed across from him, hair sticking up wildly; he had obviously run his hands through it. Peter sits on the floor, legs stretched out in front of him, Sirius next to Remus on the bed.

“Okay,” James says again. He’s shaking almost, from excitement or nervousness he can’t tell, almost bouncing off the bed. There’s a huge smile on his face, the light reflecting off his glasses and Remus has to suppress a smile of his own at the sight. “Right.”

“Jesus, James,” Sirius says; his legs are flung over Remus’, head resting against his shoulder. “Just tell us already.”

“I know I know,” James sucks at his bottom tooth. “Alright. So. You know Lily right?”

“No,” Peter says. “I don’t know Lily. None of us do.”

“Fuck off,” James grumbles, tossing a pillow at him. “Wankers.”

“Hey!” Sirius shrugs. “You’re the one jacking off to her, not us!”

“Oh shut up.” James shoots him a scathing look. “As if you don’t wank off to Remus every fucking night.”

Remus rolls his eyes. “I would hope he’s not jacking off, especially when I’m in the next bed over.”

“Anyways,” James says, speaking over Sirius. “Lily. So they were having the party - “

“I didn’t bother going,” mumbles Sirius. “I had to do too much homework.”

“More like you had to do Remus,” Peter says. Remus shoots him an evil look.

“Stop ignoring me!” James throws his hands up at the ceiling. “Jesus! Okay, what happened was that I was down there, and there were all these drinks - “

Sirius laughs. “If she kissed you it was because she was drunk, Prongs.”

“ - and she was standing by the table and she was wearing this - I don’t know what it was but like it was short! Like a tiny skirt and then this really small top which was tied up at the back - “

“You should try wearing that, Sirius,” Remus whispers.

“ - and her hair was down and it was all braided and everything and she was wearing this scrunchie, right? One of those thick hair tie ones? And I walked up to her and I was like, ‘Thought you didn’t go to parties, Evans.’ And she said, ‘You think this is a party?’”

Remus rolls his eyes. He tilts his head back, staring up at the stone ceiling. Beside him, Sirius rests his hand on Remus’ arm, fingers cold against his skin.

“So I was like, ‘Oh gosh, do you really think my standards are this low, Evans? We invented parties, not that you would know about them - ‘“

Remus smirks, shooting a mock glare at Sirius. Sirius just gives him a wide, guileless grin back, even as his hand slowly crept underneath Remus’ shirt.

“And she was all, ‘Oh, right, like you have secret parties without me knowing. In your dreams - ‘“

“Stop it!” Remus hisses. Sirius just smirks, his hand brushing against Remus’ stomach, thumb pressing into the hollow at his hips. Remus just swallows, hard, bites down on his lip and refuses to make a sound.

“So I told her that we did! We have huge parties, that she’s not invited to because she’s just not cool enough, and you know what she said?”

James looks up; beaming. The look quickly turns to a face of disgust as he saw what Remus and Sirius were doing. “Jesus fucking Christ you two. Can you keep your hands off each other for one fucking second?”

“Sorry,” Sirius says. He doesn’t take his hands out from under Remus’ shirt though. “Get to the fucking point James.”

“She gave me this!” James holds out his hand. There’s a yellow scrunchie around his wrist, cotton patterned with white butterflies. “She gave me her scrunchie and invited herself to our next marauders party!”

There was a silence. Remus glanced over at Sirius - his face was blank, though amusement danced over his features.

“Sorry,” he says. “You’re getting all worked up because she gave you her fucking scrunchie?”

“Well excuse me!” James fired back. “You’re fucking gay. You don’t understand what it’s like when a girl gives you her scrunchie - “

“I dated Marlene!” Sirius splutters. “She never gave me her scrunchie!”

“Well Marlene also happens to be fucking gay as well!”

“She shares her scrunchies with Dorcas,” Peter says. James makes a triumphant noise.

“See? I’m getting somewhere with her. Mark my words, we’ll be dating by Spring.”

“Bet,” Sirius says immediately. “5 galleons.”

“10,” Remus says.

“I’m in,” Peter grins.

“Deal.” James laughs, lying back on the bed, a delirious grin on his face. “God, this is amazing.”

One-shot. 4,512 words.

Lily uses all the Marauder nicknames casually, except for James’s. He’s rather upset about it…until she tells him the reason why.

Based on headcanon.

FFN

“Interesting.”

“Interesting good, or interesting my girlfriend is going to be a crank all morning?”

Kissing her temple, her boyfriend breaks the news, “Love, you’re already a crank this morning.”

Although he deserves a sharp elbow for that cheek, resorting to physical violence, Lily knows, would only prove his point. Besides, even she can admit that she’s nobody’s idea of a morning person.

They’d come down half an hour before, breakfasting rather earlier than usual. She’d normally protest this, loudly and obnoxiously, but as it had been her idea, however, it would be bad form. She’d spent the first ten or so minutes staring, trance like, into her cup of warm tea, willing the steam to wake her up. 

lupin: showing everyone your worst fears is a fun group activity!

lupin: wait all these kids have pretty tame worst fears what's up with that

lupin: oh yeah not all teenagers are as horribly traumatised as i was

lupin: shit

lupin: oh shit harry

Remus: Truth.

James: How many hours have you slept this week?

Remus: Dare.

James: Go to sleep.

Hermione:

Ron: