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Author: Archimedes Story: The Vaults of South Bridge Rating: Everyone Setting: Pre-HBP Status: WIP Reviews: 0 Words: 5,912
Chapter 3 Ah, back again. Thanks for the Ogden's, as I think I'll be needing it for this part of the story. Let me tell you a little about James' situation. You see, James had a great deal of grief to deal with, understandably so. Grief is a funny thing sometimes. It takes several forms, and often it consumes the person feeling it, but in this case the grief was palpable. You could actually feel how sad this man was. It permeated every pore and every place, and it was terrible. Never in my long life have I felt sadness that deep and that true. When James and Lily Potter were murdered, there was a very special and beautiful thing destroyed, and there will always be repercussions for a thing such as that. What Voldemort failed to realize is that he had disrupted fate. Magic is powerful, some Muggles are powerful and some Wizards are very powerful, but there is no force, save love, in this world that is stronger than fate. When Voldemort killed Lily and James he destroyed a path. When a path is destroyed, another must take its place. That was the reason for the famous prophecy. Harry's fate had been redirected due to the death of his parents. What Voldemort also failed to realize is that fate revisits you in the forms that you force it upon others. By that reasoning, Harry's fate was to kill Voldemort. Prophecies are not always to be taken literally. The Universe has a way of trying to say that the playing field is level, but most of the time it is not. So Harry had his new fate, Voldemort had his, and James and Lily were dead. That much is true. This is the part that no person knows. We all have to make a choice when we die. We can choose to remain on earth in our present form, that is, as a Ghost, for eternity, we can be reborn into the form of another with our former life being nothing more than a slight hint of deja vu, or we can choose to pass to the next realm. The night James died he made a choice to remain in his present form in order to help Lily. What he failed to take into consideration was fate. He figured that he would be able to be with Lily again in some way. He figured she would make the same choice, but alas, it did not seem so. The popular belief is that Voldemort destroyed Lily and James' house in Godric's Hollow, but that is not the case. James destroyed the house. He returned too little too late to help Lily. By the time he had returned, she was dead and Voldemort was gone. He saw Lily's prone body lying next to Harry. After Voldemort has disappeared, Harry had crawled into his mother's arms and fallen asleep one last time. The small child was only glad that the ordeal was over. He felt safe in his mother's arms. That would be the last time he would ever be held by Lily Potter. James was immediately overcome by grief at this sight. It coursed out of him as though he were alive again. He knelt down over the two bodies and sobbed the cry of the dead. He shielded them while he let forth raw energy in the form of sorrow. This sorrow was so powerful that it shook the very beams of the house to the point of breaking. The roof began to topple, the walls began to crumble and the floors began to buckle. By the time he had cried out every bit of energy that he possessed the house was in ruins. His body lay in the back kitchen, untouched by the destruction and the body of his wife lay beneath him, their son cradled in her arms. Lily Potter died in fear and out of love, but she passed on to her next existence very happy because she knew she held her son one last time. James was beside himself at this point, and he had no idea what to do. He was under the impression that Harry was dead as well. He wafted through the trees around the house, and he watched as Dumbledore Apparated to the house. Dumbledore went over to the bodies, and a soft cry escaped his lips. Dumbledore was overcome as well and went down on one knee. Dumbledore cursed towards the sky and began to cry. When he heard the small Dumby? come from Harry, he cried again, but this time out of slight joy. One of the Potters was alive, which meant that there was hope yet. James wanted to go to Dumbledore and tell him what had happened, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. It was all too new to him, and he couldn't find the strength to go over and look at his dead wife and son again. When Dumbledore picked Harry up and James heard Dumby! come from Harry, he was overcome again, but since his wife was dead and his son was an orphan, he was even more confused. James just sank into the ground and sobbed. He couldn't believe what was happening. He didn't think it was supposed to be like this. He figured Lily would come back to be with him. A million sad thoughts went trough his head for quite a while until he started to hear more voices. As he stuck his head up to see the commotion he noticed Hagrid, Alastor, Aberforth and other Order members all crying quietly to themselves. They all knew the situation. They all knew the magnitude of what had happened. The only difference being that James did not know that Voldemort had been defeated by Harry. James heard Hagrid's booming voice suggest that the bodies go to Hogwarts, but Dumbledore was firm. They would go to the Ministry, and he would hear no more. James had a thought. He willed himself invisible and headed towards Dumbledore. He whispered the idea that he had come back and that they should see if Lily had too. Dumbledore gave a slight nod and told the crowd to disperse, but unfortunately he had to do it with some very raw power. Wizards in mourning and celebration at the same time are not likely to move easily when asked. He gently handed Harry to Hagrid and asked him to be in Surrey no later than 5 a.m. As Hagrid was going to leave, Sirius Black pulled up on his motorcycle and began crying immediately. He sobbed on his knees, and as he rose he offered the bike to Hagrid. James knew that his friend had been his Secret Keeper, but James would never believe that Sirius had given them up. That was something else James couldn't deal with. James floated away towards the Ministry as Dumbledore gathered up Lily and James' bodies into sheets and Disapparated all three of them to the Ministry. Once at the Ministry James and Dumbledore had a discussion. Dumbledore told him of the defeat of Voldemort, and he told him that Harry was very much alive and well. James now knew that Harry was alive, and he told Dumbledore that he wanted Harry to go to Petunia and Vernon. His exact words were "He's much better off growing up away from all of that". Dumbledore argued, but James was insistent. He would not have his son exposed to this kind of fame at one year old. He also made Dumbledore promise not to ever tell Harry about his ghost. James thought he was doing what was right. He thought he was saving Harry from false hopes of a parent. He thought Petunia would be kind to Blood, and he also thought that Dumbledore would keep his word. Once things had been decided upon, they both went to look at Lily's body. In the Chamber for the Dead in the department of Grievous Affairs, James cried over his dead wife again. Dumbledore looked on as sobs wracked James' form. James knew there should be a funeral and a visitation and a marked grave, but he didn't want all of that. He asked Dumbledore for a simple memorial service. James knew that Lily wouldn't have wanted anything else. James suddenly stiffened and told Dumbledore his thoughts. James knew that Lily had either crossed over or moved on, and he couldn't bear the idea of being without her, so he insisted on private burial with only Dumbledore present as a witness. James also knew that the Death Eaters would want to pillage their bodies, so he had a plan. He asked Dumbledore to ensure their burial under the South Bridge in Edinburgh, in the Vaults. He knew no one would bother them there. He knew they would be safe there. Dumbledore agreed reluctantly, and he made the arrangements. He would keep every promise to James that he made that night. He never told Harry where his parents were buried, he never told Harry that his father was a ghost and he never told Harry that it was James' idea for him to live with the Dursleys. Dumbledore thought it better for Harry to be angry with him rather than his father. The only thing Dumbledore did was to make sure Harry heard the right parts of a story. Dumbledore never told Harry any of the events of that night, but Al, the St. Andrews pub-hopper may have gotten loose in the lips one night. Dumbledore saw no harm in setting Harry on the path to finding his parents. Sit another spell while I tend to another round of drinks for us, will you? I think you'll enjoy the next part of this story. Sadness is part of every good tale, but there is always an element of surprise as well, yeah? I'll tell you why James sits there, and why he's concentrating so hard. Don't think I've forgotten about young Harry either. He has more story to tell as well. Back in a flash...
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