Fate's Manipulation

Chapter 1

London, England

James Potter closed a notebook and sighed heavily. He ran a hand slowly through his unruly hair and reached for his glasses before realizing that he was wearing contact lenses. He hated the little plastic disks, but after misplacing so many pairs of glasses his wife had insisted upon using disposable contacts. Her reasoning was that it was cheaper for him to lose the contacts instead of the glasses.

As James glanced at a clock he was shocked to see the time. There were so many times where he just got lost in his work. Dinner would be served soon if he was not present, his wife would likely get annoyed and that was just what he didn't need after an arduous day of work. He glanced around the stone tower for a moment. It was so easy to remember in this place, with it's stone walls and classically styled furnishings. Perhaps, it was why he chose this place as his home.

"Papa?" James' head shot up suddenly. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he had not even heard the door open. He smiled at the two children that stood before him.

"Hello there Amanda, Adam." He reached down to pull both of the children close. As he touched them, he could not hide the feeling of loss that suffused every pore of his body. He may have had to move on but he would never forget....

"You worked hard today." The six year old boy gave his father a sunny smile. "Mummy wants to eat now."

James ruffled the little boy's hair. "I lost track of time again. How was school? Did you both have a good day?" He directed this question to the eleven year old standing next to her brother.

"We had a great day. Our teacher read to us in the free period. Mummy bought the books so that we can all read them together. They're about magic and wizards and good people and bad people and..."

James favored his children with a sad smile. What a travesty for them to be in a world where no magic existed, where everyone was relegated to a life much duller.

"That sounds great." He gave the children a small smile. "Maybe I can read along with you."

"You will." His children chorused. James allowed them to lead him downstairs into a life much different from the one that he could only remember wistfully.

"Hello dear." James stood stiffly as his blond wife gave him a gentle hug. "Did you have a tough day, luv? Dinner is ready. Children go wash up." As the children scampered off, the blond leaned in closer. "James? You seem as if you are a million miles away."

He blinked a few times and focused in on the woman. "Claire." His voice was even, though emotion barely touched his flat tone. As she stood close, James could hardly control himself; all instincts were telling him to push her out of his personal space. Swiftly, he realized that she would not step away until he responded to her embrace, so his arms came up mechanically to hug her. She looked quizzically at him and he realized that she was waiting for an answer. "I'm all right. Just a bloody long day." He hoped that she would accept his excuse; lying to her held little appeal and any further prodding would easily lead to stony silence.

"Well then." His wife spoke in a tone that conveyed her disappointment in his lack of attentiveness. "We're to begin a family project today. The children have picked out some books that they are very excited to read. I thought that we could all read them together."

James sighed, preparing to speak. He arched an eyebrow when his wife put up a hand to stay any protestations that he was forming.

"Do not even consider saying that you cannot do this, James. You work far too hard. You've changed and I don't much like it. You used to be happy go lucky and full of mischief. You used to be involved in all our activities. I hate that you're retreating and I know that work is just your excuse."

"I don't want to argue..." James began.

"Good, then don't." his wife replied crisply.

As she walked off to see to their meal, he stood contemplating his circumstances. Guilt was tearing him apart. Claire wasn't a bad woman and he hated distancing himself from her, but he couldn't live a lie anymore.

Perhaps he had never loved her in the traditional sense. In the darkest of days after he found himself in a world that he did not yet understand, James had met Claire. He had been attracted to her as a friend and they had married after a yearlong courtship. James has always known that she had fallen madly and passionately in love with him, but he had been in too much emotional distress to give his heart over to anyone. His heart had and always would be property of Lily. Anything less would be a betrayal of the worst sort and in those darkest of early days, James had not been prepared to offer over anything of himself. His part in the marriage had been a panicked gasp for security and friendship, for support in a world turned upside down.

How else was he supposed to cope in this new world? He had gone from being a husband and a father, from being comfortable as a wizard to a very different existence. There was no place for magic in this world and indeed, James had been stripped of his powers that horrible night so many years ago. He had no job skills, no friends and family in this realm and needed to rely on his charm, looks and wit to survive.

Those qualities had brought him far. He was in a comfortable though not romantic marriage. He had two wonderful children, a great home that reminded him so much of his other life, and a job writing concepts for a leading computer game company. He enjoyed stretching his creative mind and combining a world that he knew with the one that was still sometimes a confusing and overwhelming place.

He rocked back on his heels as his wife beckoned him for dinner. The meal looked succulent and the children were happily eating. Before being seated, he reached out and wound an arm around his wife's waist. "I love you, do you know that?" Though his voice was low, warmth and affection had finally entered his tone.

Claire gave him a gentle smile and ran a hand through his hair. "I love you too, James and I'm content with what we have." Her smile faded just slightly. "Even if I did love you differently from the way you love me."

James gently pulled her into the living room. "We might as well have a chat now, then." He settled her down in an easy chair and knelt beside her. "Claire never doubt that I adore you. You are my best friend, the mother of my children, my rescuer so long ago."

She brushed a hand along his cheek. "Don't apologize. I know that you were never in love with me. It is enough that you have been my husband and a wonderful friend and father to our children. Please James, no regrets. I love you darling, but my heart isn't yours anymore."

James gave her a long look. He wasn't sure if relief or guilt was the prevalent emotion. "But you never looked outside our marriage for solace?" He asked this question knowing the answer.

"I never needed to." Claire pointed out gently. "You are everything to me, James. Though we are not physically intimate you meet every need as my friend and husband. And I am happy this way." When he looked unconvinced. she stroked a hand along his jawline. "I really am, James. If someday that changes, I will seek a divorce, but right now, I am happy as we stand." She glanced toward the kitchen. "Now that we're settled and adjusted with this, shall we eat? The children are so very excited about reading these books tonight. I have never seen them so taken with a book series before."

James nodded. "I am adjusting." He stood and offered his hand to her. Their brief chat had somehow broken down the barriers against him touching her and had pushed some of the guilt back. He considered his wife's comment about the books. "With two readers for parents they have been slow to develop. What is the name of this series?"

Claire tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Something or other. I don't recall right now, but it's about a little wizard and he's little wizard friends. It sounds cute."

"Cute." James echoed sadly. Once upon a time that had been his life.

~*~

Another place entirely

Hogwarts

"So what have you found?" The older man with the long white beard and hair looked at the large dog and two men in front of him.

"Is the door locked, sir?" The less severe looking of the men asked quickly.

"Yes it is. Sirius you are safe here." Professor Dumbledore couldn't hide his smile as the dog quickly became a man. "So what news do you have for me?"

The three men shifted uncomfortably and looked at each other. As the silence extended, a dramatic sigh could be heard from the man behind the large wooden desk. "Severus, you first then. Have you news of Lily's fate?"

The severe looking man sank onto a velvet-upholstered couch. "Shouldn't Professor McGonagall be present as well?"

"Don't worry about that Severus. She is working on something for me and I will be certain to inform her of what has transpired here. Now onto the news please."

He looked around at the men he neither liked nor respected until his gaze fell upon the headmaster that had helped him many a time. "I have indeed found her. She is in a small wizarding village just outside of Birmingham. She has had a memory charm placed upon her and works as a bit of a glorified nanny. The charm should be removed easily once we have her back here."

"Is she being hurt in any way?" The tall black haired man couldn't hold his tongue as he turned to look at Severus.

"No, it doesn't appear so. She is free to come and go with little difficulty. I can bring her back here immediately if you like."

Dumbledore nodded sagely and stroked his beard. "Shall we finish the meeting and get the information before we frighten the poor woman?" He paused, blue eyes twinkling as he pondered the joyousness of this day. "So all we need to do is to find James, then. Remus, Sirius, have you had any luck there?"

The two men shook their heads in unison. "We have tried everything and he is just not to be found. Are you sure that he's alive professor?"

Dumbledore nodded. "He is out there somewhere." He stared out into the early evening sky for a long moment, a mist covering the brilliant blue of his eyes. "We will find him. We simply must." His voice was low, yet heartfelt. After a few pensive moments, he turned to the men that awaited his advising words.

"Severus, please collect Lily Potter for me. We have the enchanted cottage ready for her. As soon as she arrives here, I will send an owl for you Remus, Sirius. I must stress to all of you that your problems remain between you all and must not impact Lily at all. She must not be stressed. The same goes for James and..." He trailed off and looked Severus deeply in the eyes. "Harry must not be told until the time is right. There will be severe consequences if word slips out accidentally. I trust that your will heed my words, Severus?"

Snape met his steely gaze. "Yes sir."

"Remus, Sirius, please take heart. We will locate James. Keep working on it until I summon you again." All three men nodded as the man waved his hand and chanted a few ancient words.

As Snape rushed off on one direction Sirius again resumed his dog form. Remus didn't speak until they were at his small home a short distance from the castle. He set to brewing some tea while his friend resumed a more human form.

"Can it really be true?" Remus' hand shook as he put the kettle on the warm coals. "Can James really be alive? And Lily.... I can't quite accept that she's coming home now."

"I know." Sirius replied with a small sigh. "What do we tell her about James. That he was thought dead but now he's just lost? We have to find him. For Lily, for Harry...."

"And for ourselves too." Remus finished, slipping a steaming mug into his friend's hands. "There has been a hole in...us since that horrible night."

Sirius leaned back against the wall and nodded. "But how could there be anything else? One friend of a group of five betrays the rest and Lily and James were taken from us. Even if he hadn't succeeded in his betrayal, everything would have changed that night. We went from trusting each other and working as a team to...."

"To this. I know. We lost a part of our innocence that night and we can never regain that. James and Lily being alive won't make that disappear. It still means that they were taken away from their infant son when he needed them the most. It means that you were taken from Harry when he needed you the most and that you were imprisoned for a crime that you didn't commit. It still means that we have a lot of healing and mending to do."

Sirius sipped his tea slowly and regarded his friend. Remus and he had swiftly grown closer as the truth had come out. They were a team now, as close as brothers were, bonded together by their love care and respect for the Potters. "We can't fix it all, my friend. The Marauders may rise again but it will be different. We can't give Harry and his parents all the years together that they missed. We just have to help them all to get through and beyond all the hurt."

Remus settled down next to his friend and regarded his tea in silence for a few long moments. "And we're strong enough to do this? We're strong enough to be there for them instead of getting Pettigrew and ripping him to shreds. We're strong enough to focus on what they have now instead of what was taken from them?"

Sirius patted his friend's shoulder gently. "We have to be. Sometimes friendship tests the bounds of our wants and needs. I need vengeance as well, old friend, but I feel that we should wait for James. Bide our time, then we'll kill the little rat. Wormtail has a lot to answer for." He shook his head back and forth a couple of times. "Come on then. This is getting us nowhere. Let's try to find a spell that will tell us where James is. The rest will come later."

~*~

James Potter house

London

James had eaten his dinner in silence. For some reason he couldn't resist the lure of the past and even as he ate, he mentally compared the food of this place with the food that he had consumed at Hogwarts and elsewhere in his wizarding life. While Claire was an incredible cook, the food tasted barely palatable. James consumed only a few bites before pushing his plate away.

"Not hungry?" James focused in on his wife.

"It was great, " he managed. "But I'm full already."

Claire looked unconvinced but accepted his excuse. "All right then. I'll clean up while the children change into their pajamas. We'll start reading those books when they come downstairs."

James had forgotten about the reading session with his children and sighed inwardly, feeling guilty about doing so. He was at the most vital part of the plotline for the company's new computer game. In truth, he also wanted to reason out his memories. He couldn't very well do so while listening to his wife reading some insipid story about phony wizards.

"All right." He said evenly. "I'll wait in the family room." His patience was gone for the night but he wouldn't argue the point with Claire. He sank down onto the overstuffed sofa and wondered where his patience had gone. His children were wonderful people, so why was he uninterested in spending any time with them? Was it because they reminded him of what he had lost when he lost Harry? Was he rejecting them as much as he had Claire? When had he become such a bastard?

"Papa, we're ready!" A small boy sized missile launched itself onto James' lap. Adam wriggled until he found the proper position and grabbed a fuzzy blanket from its folded position. "Cuddle time. Reading time!"

The ice surrounding James' heart melted as he watched his son's antics. "All right then. As soon as your mother and sister get here we'll read, but you have to promise me something."

Adam looked solemnly into his father's eyes. "What papa?"

"You have to stay awake until we finish for tonight. Can you do that?" When Adam nodded eagerly James found himself chuckling.

"We're here daddy." Amanda was tugging a battered pink blanket behind her. "And so is Mr. Blankie. He wants to hear all about Harry Potter too. Daddy do you think we're related to Harry Potter?"

James could barely breathe as he absorbed his daughter's words. She couldn't have said what he thought she had. "Let me see those books." James said in a strangely tense voice. Adam slid gently to the floor as he leapt up and scanned the cover.

The train there...it was the Hogwarts Express. He blindly reached for the assorted paperbacks and hardbacks until he saw what he had feared. The young boy in the car in one book shared a passing resemblance to James at that age. He read the back of the books as his panic grew. "Oh no, how...." He crumbled back down on the couch and looked at his shocked family. "How...." He asked again.

"How what James?" Claire asked in a concerned tone of voice.

"I...." James tried to regain his composure for some long moments then just shook his head. How could he explain this? "Nothing."

"If you say so." Claire looked at his suspiciously then settled at the other end of the sofa. Amanda cuddled up next to her, but Adam returned to James' lap.

"Are we ready to read then?" The children chorused their assent and Claire began reading about a world that James knew all too well.

~*~

Enchanted Cottage

Hogwarts grounds

Sirius and Remus arrived at the cottage just after finishing their tea. They had originally been content to wait for further instructions from Dumbledore and McGonagall, but the as if propelled by some unknown force, had been quite anxious to beat Lily and Snape to the cottage.

"We're doing the right thing, aren't we?" Remus asked quietly. The cottage was only visible to the few that Dumbledore had charmed while in his office. He knocked timidly, then when there was no immediate answer, he pushed the door open.

"Oh it would be you." The severe countenance of Minerva McGonagall came into view. She was sitting in a rocking chair and looked to be deep in thought. "Did Professor Dumbledore send for you already?"

"No." The tip of Sirius's ears glowed bright red. "We just couldn't wait back there. James and Lily meant so much to us. We just wanted to be here."

Her expression softened just slightly at Sirius' declaration. It didn't require much energy to remember how this man had been such a loyal friend to the Potters and he did have every right to witness Lily's homecoming. "Have you any leads on James' whereabouts yet?"

Remus shook his head. "Not yet. We have tried everything."

"And Dumbledore is sure that he's alive?" She spoke to the men in a quieter manner. When they nodded, she seemed to gather herself. "Lily will be here soon. Maybe she can shed some light on all of this. If not, fear not, we'll locate him somehow."

Both men nodded. They didn't dare speak as a sense of apprehension stole over them. Lily and Snape's arrival was imminent. Sirius moved from foot to foot anxiously while Remus paced.

"Hello gentleman. I am entirely unsurprised to see you here." Dumbledore moved into the room slowly, nodding at Minerva. "I have just received a special dispensation from the Ministry of Magic to reverse the memory charm on Lily. There is no guarantee that it will work or that she will regain her memories. You do all understand this."

Sirius and Remus looked at each other uneasily. They had been unwilling to deal with this fact and with a significant look, they both decided to ignore this possibility. "We do" Remus finally replied.

"Very well then." The headmaster wasn't fooled by the pair's looks, but resolved that they had to deal with the consequences of their denials themselves.

A hush came over the room as they strained to hear two voices. Dumbledore pressed his face to the glass and was soon joined by Sirius Remus and Minerva. They watched Snape land his broomstick with a gentle touch. He reached for the stunning redhead's hand and led her to the enchanted cottage.

"She's still as beautiful as the last time we saw her." Sirius whispered.

As they approached the door, everyone in the cottage could see the confusion and strain evident in the lines that surrounded Lily's eyes and mouth. "Remember to give her room." Dumbledore advised gently.

"Hello." Severus Snape called as he opened the door. The four people inside tried in vain to act as if they had not been watching every movement. He led Lily to the comfortable bed. "Why don't you sit here?" His gentle tone was an interesting counterpoint to his normal voice.

"Hello, my dear." Albus Dumbledore approached the stunning redhead. "My name is..."

"I know who you are." The woman replied. Though her voice was hesitant it held a tone of certainty. You're professors Dumbledore and McGonagall. The man who brought me here is Severus Snape and those two ccowering in the corner must be our dear friends Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Now, where are James and Harry? I would like to see them immediately."