Fate

Chapter 19 - Nothing to Lose

Harry had never had a whole lot of experience with babies.

Well, scratch that, he had never had any experience with babies.

Though, he supposed that even if he had, this was a slightly different situation.

Staring into the bright green and wide eyes of little 'Harry James Potter', Harry's first thought had been somewhere along the lines of how cute he had been as a baby.

James had then broken in, laughing as he asked Harry what had happened.

Lily, thankfully, had stepped in and saved her from-the-future-son by reminding James that he and Harry were practically identical.

He had been startled at their request to look after 'Harry' as they both separated for their tasks for the day, everyone splitting up that morning in an attempt to reorganize themselves after they found out about Peter's escape. Harry had never pictured himself a babysitter, and was put out for a little while when he was not given an assignment. But, not knowing what else to say, Harry had agreed and watched as his parents waved goodbye, leaving him with...himself.

The first few hours had been relatively easy, as little 'Harry' had immediately taken to Harry, becoming enamored with his hair and glasses. Harry couldn't decide if that was because he looked so much like James, or that 'Harry', having that mysterious baby intuition, was able to tell that they were one and the same person.

Whatever it had been, 'Harry' was content for about two hours to just sit on Harry's lap and watch him make funny faces and pull on his glasses and hair.

One of the first things Harry had noticed was that he must have been a relatively easy child, which led him to understand another reason why the Dursleys hated him so. Dudley must have been an absolute nightmare. Harry wondered vaguely if he had even cried the first time he had been shoved into the closet.

They had played with a few of 'Harry's' wizarding baby toys, which Harry, not having any experience with, was probably more fascinated with than 'Harry' was.

The most fun part, however, was Harry's attempt at feeding his younger self.

So that was the catch.

He had often wondered why he was always so skinny. It was probably because he never ate anything as a child, even as a baby. Every single speck of 'Harry's' food had ended up on the floor and Harry had a wonderful time cleaning it up as 'Harry' waddled around him, making gurgling noises and trying to communicate in a language that Harry wondered how he learned.

Never having watched kids before, Harry was exhausted after lunch and thankfully so was little Mini-Me, as Harry had taken to calling him. 'Harry' fell asleep almost instantly on Harry's chest and Harry was content just to sit quietly, watching the little boy sleep.

Sure, it was still rather strange and Harry kept pinching himself to make sure he wasn't really dreaming, but it was oddly...comfortable. Harry supposed it was because he had always imagined that he would have a son with the same untidy black hair. It wasn't that different.

Besides...Harry thought as he gently lifted up little 'Harry's' bangs revealing a smooth forehead, the scar's not there yet.

This little boy wasn't The-Boy-Who-Lived. He was just Harry Potter.

Harry managed to drift in and out a few times over the next two hours, but tried not to sleep too hard as he wasn't sure when 'Harry' would wake up.

A soft pop sounded from inside the kitchen and Harry groggily turned and saw Lily walk in, smiling as she saw them.

"He's quite a handful, isn't he?" she asked with a smile, sitting down next to him and relieving him of the warm weight on his chest. 'Harry', as if sensing that he was now with his mother, burrowed his head into her chest, gripping her cloak with one of his tiny fists and falling asleep again instantly.

"Oh, I don't know," Harry grinned over at his mother, "I thought he was quite good."

Lily smiled wider and glanced down at 'Harry', smoothing his hair out very motherly-like and kissing his head.

"Well you would," she replied, standing up. "I'll go set him in his crib. Be right back."

Harry nodded once and Lily hurried off upstairs. Almost right after she had gone from sight, another pop was heard in the kitchen and James Potter strode in right after it, looking rather frazzled. He froze slightly when he saw Harry and managed a small smile.

"How was he?" Harry's dad asked kindly, throwing his cloak over a chair and shuffling through some pieces of parchment he had brought with him. "Not too bad I hope?"

"Well it's not like I could really get mad at him," Harry said with a smile, liking his father more and more as each moment he experienced with him passed.

James laughed. "Yes, I suppose that's true." He started to rift through the parchment again, frowning.

"Did you find anything out?" Harry asked curiously.

After learning only a few hours ago that both his father and godfather were Aurors, Harry had become quite curious as to what they both really did in their work. Splitting up that morning, James had been assigned the ministry and had left to go cover as to why Sirius wasn't going to be in work and also find out as much as he could about Peter's escape. Dumbledore himself couldn't get as much information out of the ministry as James could. It seemed he was close to being the head of the Auror department and being from an already prominent Wizarding family, it was easier for him to get around the rules than Dumbledore.

James sighed, an exhausting sound that Harry winced at when he heard. He had never pictured his father as a serious worker, being so involved with his job and with, surprisingly, politics, but Harry could already tell that James was very dedicated to his job.

"James - whatever else he may have appeared to you, Harry - always hated the Dark Arts."

Harry thought of Sirius' words as he saw the lines already in his father's youthful face but with it the sheer determination to keep going. He was in the middle of a serious war at the moment, the kind of war that Harry was sure he was going to be facing in his last couple of years at Hogwarts.

"Not really," James admitted, frowning even more as he looked through the parchment. "I did, however, find out that Peter did escape in his Animagus form, though no one really understood that since he was unregistered."

"What's that?" Lily asked, coming in, frowning at her husband's exhausted stance.

James looked up quickly, once more managing a tired smile, but it dropped quickly. "The Dementors apparently saw Peter disappear after they lost their grip on him and one of the guards that was stationed nearby saw a rat running away from the scene." James shrugged. "It's not like he thought much of it. There are rats everywhere there." Pulling a face, James smacked the papers down on the table and turned to Lily. "Ready to go?"

"He just fell asleep, James!" Lily pouted and Harry snickered a bit as James turned to him.

"Hmmm...you're better than I though," the marauder said with a twinkle in his eye as he seemed to look Harry over. "By Merlin you are my clone."

Harry chuckled. "Yes, we've already established that."

"I swear, it's like looking into a mirror," James shook his head in exasperation and turned back to Lily. "He can sleep at Hogwarts. We're supposed to meet the others at Hogwarts in a half hour and we're going to have to go the long way since Harry can't apparate."

"What's the long way?" Harry questioned as Lily gave up and went right back upstairs. "Why not floo powder again?

"I asked Dumbledore to disconnect us until more protection was put around the house," James explained. "We can't take any chances now."

"Why did you leave me here, then?" Harry frowned. "Is it not safe?"

"Oh, no, we're plenty safe," James said hurriedly, shoving the parchment back into his cloak. "The Floo system was the thing that we were unsure of. But as we're no longer connected, it's not a problem."

"So what's the long way then?" Harry asked as he went for his own cloak and put it on.

James, who was in the process of looking into the mirror and trying to make his hair lie flat, cocked his head back to Harry.

"Driving," he said simply.

Harry gaped at him. "You can drive? Sirius doesn't even know what car's are!"

James snickered. "Oh, he does, he just doesn't like to admit it; afraid he'll start to enjoy muggle contraptions." He frowned through the mirror at Harry's reflection. "You know about his motorbike, right?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, but I've never actually seen it. Well, I guess I saw it when I was little, but I don't remember."

"That's his one and only muggle obsession, besides television, of course, which he finds hilarious." Giving up on his hair, James started pulling on his cloak again. "We have a car mainly because Lily refused to give it up. Her parents gave it to her for her sixteenth birthday."

Harry's eyebrows shot up. "Really? Even though she was a witch?"

James shrugged. "She's apparently wanted one forever and she loved it anyway."

"Where is it though? I didn't see it when we came in..."

James was prevented from answering by Lily coming back down with a rather fussy 'Harry' in her arms who she dumped into James' arms.

"You're making me wake him up, you can deal with it," she said haughtily, watching with satisfaction as 'Harry' wiggled in his father's arms, his face squishing up and whimpering as James held him firm, not letting him down.

"Not now Pronglet, we're going for a ride," James soothed the little boy and Harry couldn't help but watch with rapt fascination as 'Harry' immediately calmed at hearing his father's voice and turned to look up at him with big eyes.

"Oh no you don't," James said quickly, moving 'Harry' onto his hip as he went for the door. "That look only works for your mother, even if you do have her eyes."

Harry didn't realize he was staring until he felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped slightly, looking over at Lily who was smiling at him kindly.

"Alright?" she asked.

Harry nodded dumbly and went back to looking at James and 'Harry' who seemed to be having quite a fascination conversation, on both sides, about the finer details of Quidditch. Lily's eyes followed his gaze and he saw her face drop slightly and she moved her arm up around Harry's shoulders.

"I don't know how much you know about your father," Lily started, leading him out the door, her arm still around him, "But you should know that he is, possibly, the best dad I have ever seen."

Harry looked up at her in surprise and frowned slightly. "You're right, I don't know very much...about either of you," he added as an after thought.

Lily managed a melancholy smile and Harry saw that she was watching James and 'Harry' again. James was currently trying to do something about making 'Harry's' hair lie flat, but wasn't having much success.

Harry grinned. "He should know better. Not even the Dursleys could find a way to make my hair flat. Even tried to cut it all off once and it was all back by the next morning."

Lily laughed lightly. "Oh, I wish I could have been there when Petunia saw that."

Harry, of course didn't mention the punishment he had received after that particular incident.

"Yeah," Harry said soft enough that Lily didn't hear, "me too."

----

A small and prematurely balding man was shoved forcefully into the ground by two larger men, both of them wearing black robes and masks that hid their identity. But Peter knew who they were, even if he could not see their faces. Snape and Malfoy both seemed to radiate that 'don't-mess-with-me' aura wherever they went. He knew that up to this point, neither of them had known him to be a Death Eater, and the fact that their master had commanded them to go break Peter out of prison must have made them upset.

"Pity our master does not seem to want to let you die yet," Malfoy sneered, taking off his mask and revealing his perfectly defined pureblood face and white-blond hair. Snape followed suit, but did not say anything, merely glared and wrinkled his nose at Peter as if he was a fowl smelling sock.

"I-I have informat-"

Peter was cut off by Snape kicking him in the stomach, making him double over again.

"You were not told to speak," Snape sneered. "I must confess, Pettigrew, you were playing your part quite well. A shame you messed up, once again."

Peter tried to glare defiantly back at Snape, but his chest was burning and he was still having flashes of his experience around the Dementors. He knew he had felt something akin to relief when he saw that Malfoy and Snape coming to get him, but they had done nothing but make him want to go right back to Azkaban.

"Now, now, Severus. Be kind to our guest," the chilling voice of Voldemort cut in. Peter dared not move as he heard his master's voice but managed to flicker his gaze over to where Voldemort's billowing robe had just entered the room. Voldemort's piercing eyes seemed to bore into Peter and he felt himself shaking even more, as he always did whenever he was in the Dark Lord's presence.

"Well done Lucius, Severus," Voldemort continued and the two Death Eaters bowed to him slightly before he turned his attention back to Peter.

"Peter, Peter, Peter..." he mocked, coming closer and closer until he was standing right in front of Peter's withering form.

Peter was shaking like mad now, fearing the Dark Lord's anger.

"Lost all his friends...does not even have Dumbledore's trust anymore..." Voldemort ticked mockingly. "No, this will not do, Peter..."

"I would ask what has happened, but I already know most of it..." Voldemort reached down, roughly grabbing Peter's arm and making him scream in pain as he felt the Dakr mark begin to burn. "You assured me that you would not be found out....Peter, Peter, Peter...how shall I get the Potter's now?"

"Forgive me...my Lord..." he screamed in pain again until Voldemort finally let go and stood back up, glaring at him evilly again.

"Lucius informs me that you have information for me, Wormtail."

Peter felt a small surge of hope.

"Is it enough to make me spare your life for your idiocy?"

"It is about the-the P-P-Potter's, my Lord."

He saw Voldemort raise an interested eyebrow. "Really? You know where they are hiding?"

"N-No my Lord-"

Voldemort cut him off with a Crucio Curse making Peter twitch and scream on the floor again, this time his whole body coursing with pain.

"I am not interested in your childish games with your so-called friends!" Voldemort spat at him once the curse was lifted. "Where are the Potter's hiding!?"

"At H-Hogwarts," Peter replied meekly, knowing that that was the wrong answer.

"Wormtail..." Voldemort said, his patience running thin. "Tell me what you are hiding from me."

"The people....the ones who exposed me..." Peter began.

"Ah, yes, the mysterious three who appeared at Hogwarts for some unknown reason," Voldemort drawled. He turned to Snape. "Have you come across them, Severus?"

"No, my Lord," Snape said apologetically. "I have only heard rumors, which are the things I have already informed you of."

Voldemort looked thoughtful and then turned back to Peter.

"Well, Wormtail? What about these people? How were they able to find out your secret?"

"M-My Lord, they come from the future..."

Silence followed his words and Peter felt his hands become sweaty again and his heart speed up. He dared not look up.

"Do you take me for a fool, Wormtail?" Voldemort finally hissed out. "Do you mean to tell me you have no logical explanation for your secret being revealed?"

"No! My Lord I would not lie!" Peter said hurriedly, cowering even further as he felt Voldemort begin to probe into his mind, searching for the truth.

There was silence again and it was broken only by Voldemort letting out a low hiss that seemed to echo eerily off the walls of the hidden room deep in Voldemort's stronghold.

"Well done, Wormtail," he finally stated and Peter began to breath again. "This is indeed an interesting twist in the battle thus far..."

No one spoke for several seconds.

"I assume you still have the information about the werewolf's girl and the mudblood?"

Peter nodded meekly, hoping that James, Remus and Sirius had not been coordinated enough to step into action that quickly and hoping that he could still predict how they would think. Arianna would of course be in hiding, but they hadn't been expecting Peter to be around to tell Voldemort that he knew all of the Marauders' hiding spots.

"Excellent. This could be our chance to get the elder Black's to join our cause. Cetus has been most enraged that his son has chosen a mudblood for his wife..." Voldemort drawled again. "Lucius, Severus, get what you need to know out of this maggot and place him down in the cells until I decide he has learned his lesson. Contact Cetus Black when you have the information that he requested and bring the hiding place of our dear friend 'Emily' to me..."

And with a billow of black robes, Voldemort was gone. Peter was gasping for breath, holding his chest. He wasn't comforted for very long before Malfoy and Snape both advanced on him.

"Well, Pettigrew? Where are they hiding?" Snape asked shortly.

Peter took a deep breath and told them everything, not holding anything back.

He had nothing to lose now.