Family

Family

Chapter Ten
Meet the Parents

"Ronald Weasley! For the love of God, wake up!"

"Go `way, Fred, `s still early."

"It´s George, idiot, and if you don´t wake up...."

Harry let out a loud grunt and groggily buried his head under his pillow, blocking out the noise. Then he heard someone opening the curtains of his four-poster.

"And you too, Mister. What kind of a boyfriend are you?"

Harry jerked awake when Fred pulled his pillow off his face. "Uh? What?" he groaned, still disoriented.

"Don´t you know what day it is?" Fred asked, his voice an imitation of Percy the Prefect´s stern drawl, though he was keeping the volume to a minimum--Neville, Dean and Seamus were still fast asleep.

Harry rubbed his eyes and sat up. Fred´s face, with his red hair still tousled, was a bit blurry.

"Ginny´s birthday," Harry mumbled.

"Exactly," said George, still bending over Ron. "Now you two get your lazy arses off those beds and follow me to the Great Hall."

Harry groaned once more and fell back on his pillows. "She´s not even awake yet," he said, his voice muffled, for he had covered himself with his blanket.

Fred quickly grabbed the blanket from Harry. "You´re getting up now, Potter, `cause you´re going to meet your in-laws-to-be today."

Harry slowly opened his eyes again and was attempting to work out what Fred had just said when Ron exclaimed, "Mum and Dad are here?"

"Precisely, little brain. Now move it, they´re waiting for us."

Harry sat up in a flash. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley? In Hogwarts? Right now? He gaped at Fred and George, who had both gone to the full-length mirror near the door, trying to tame their hair. Harry suddenly felt sick. He wanted to sleep all day and not wake up until tomorrow.

Ron, meanwhile, was grabbing a school robe from the closet--classes had begun yesterday. "I can´t believe it," he muttered distractedly.

"Me neither," George said. "But they wanted to see how Ginny´s doing."

Harry really felt sick now.

"Your face looks green, Harry," noticed Fred, grinning shrewdly. "Green as a fresh pickled toad."

Harry tried to smile back, but he felt his facial muscles working hard for it. He recalled the feeling he was having right now--it was like anticipating a Quidditch match, or a Triwizard Task, in a few hours. No--it was worse. Had Dumbledore told them what the curse was? Did they know that Ginny was...no, he didn´t want to think about that. Then he remembered the Howler. And by the look on Ron´s face, he seemed to have remembered, too.

"C´mon, Harry," Ron said. "I, er, think they´re okay with it."

The twins grinned at Ron. "Yeah, they are," said George in an assuring tone.

"Just watch out for Mum when she begins talking about...er, snogging at midnight," Fred said.

"And fornicating in a broom closet," George added helpfully. Neville suddenly grunted, then started snoring again.

Harry swallowed. "Er--you know we´re not--I haven´t--"

"Of course you haven´t," said Fred cheerfully. "Or else you´d be going down to breakfast today without arm bones. Remember Lockhart? Now get up."

Harry, slightly shuddering, obediently got up from his four-poster. His knees wobbled like jelly as he made his way to the closet, but he barely noticed. He was much too preoccupied on imagining Mrs. Weasley´s face when she finds him in a little while. He had a mental image of her eyes flaring, her build heaving, and her voice thundering in the Great Hall like one of her Howlers. And she was carrying a whip.

Fred´s right, he thought grimly, shaking his head. What kind of a boyfriend am I? Or am I a boyfriend already?

Somehow, the thought made him shudder again--and even more so, when he imagined Fred and George telling their parents what Harry was to Ginny already. And he thought, again, where do I stand now, really?

Harry, Ron, Fred and George went down to the common room, just as Hermione and Ginny were coming down. Hermione clearly knew that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley have arrived, and Ginny was evidently still oblivious--Ginny was still yawning, and Hermione looked nervous, not far from what Harry was feeling right then.

"What´s going on?" Ginny asked. "I was having a good sleep."

Good sleep? Harry suddenly realized with a great jolt that he had a good sleep too--but there were...no dreams.

The queasiness in his stomach started to double. He raked his mind for something--any dream at all--but he couldn´t remember. No, he knew there was none. Whenever he dreamed of his parents, when it came back to him the next day, he could see it--it wasn´t a perfect picture, but the details were there. In fact, the last one featured his parents, Sirius, Remus and--his chest heaved in disgust--Peter Pettigrew, celebrating Easter.

But it was the night before last. Last night, there was no dream. And he still hadn´t had a dream that featured his parents doing, or at least talking about, the counter-curse. It´s been a week, he thought. Just one more week... Harry shook his head to clear his head of those nasty thoughts.

Ron had gone to Hermione´s side and was whispering something, as far as Harry could tell, comforting, into her ear. Hermione bit her lip. And then, to Harry´s great amazement, Ron smiled, took her face in his large hands and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

It wasn´t as though it was an overdose of public display of affection, but seeing, for the first time ever, his two best friends do that made Harry duck his head and turn pinkish.

"Oh, please," said George, turning away as well, but grinning wickedly. "Not in pube-lic!"

Ginny snorted in laughter. Ron glared at them, turning scarlet; Hermione´s cheeks looked twice as red as she looked away.

Fred cleared his throat. "As I was saying about snogging, Harry--"

"Sod off, Fred," muttered Ron through gritted teeth. Ginny was still overcome with giggles.

"Well, come along now," George urged them. "They´re waiting."

"Who are?" Ginny asked curiously.

"You´ll see in a minute." George put a protective arm around her shoulders and winked at Harry. "Sorry, mate--I´ll have her in a while, `kay?"

Harry snorted. "No fair," he mumbled to himself, only half-joking, as the six of them squeezed out of the portrait hole. How in the world did she get to have six brothers? And with her parents mad at him--wrong question, he thought, how in the world did I ever get to be Harry Potter? He sighed heavily, looking up as if willing God to answer him.

For Harry, every step down Gryffindor Tower to the Great Hall felt like his very last steps before his own execution. In no time, they were at the entrance of the Great Hall--and there they were, talking to Dumbledore. The three of them turned around to find four Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione going down to meet them.

Ginny gaped at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Mr. Weasley seemed to have aged a bit since Harry saw him at The Burrow last summer, but his face showed that familiar welcoming smile upon seeing them. Mrs. Weasley, meanwhile, seemed to have lost a lot of weight, and there were dark rings under her eyes--but there still was that soothing motherly smile. And there was no whip.

"MUM! DAD!" Ginny squealed, running towards her parents and throwing her arms around her father´s neck. Ron, Fred and George, all beaming gleefully, joined them afterwards. Mrs. Weasley hugged every son tightly, mumbling something incoherent, then embraced Ginny the longest.

Harry watched them, and for a fleeting instant, a familiar feeling of longing fluttered in his chest. This was a family reunion--minus Percy, Charlie and Bill, the three eldest brothers, of course. Nonetheless, this was what he had been longing for all his life--a family.

They´re dead, he told himself again. Mum and Dad are dead.

"Harry?"

Harry snapped out of his thoughts. Ginny was calling him. Her face looked so ecstatic and alive--the first time she looked like that for more than a week now. For a while, he felt jealous. And he told himself firmly, you have no right to be. Why don´t you feel happy for her? This is what you want for Ginny, isn´t it? For her to be with her family, aside from wanting her alive, is the reason why you´re going through that counter-curse. You don´t want another family broken, and especially not this one.

"Hey--you coming or what?"

Resigning himself for the worst, Harry went over. Mr. Weasley was staring at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

Ginny must have sensed Harry´s nerves. She went over and took his hand, squeezing it slightly.

"Dad?" Ginny looked at her father. "Here he is."

Mr. Weasley nodded--then smiled. And his smile widened even more. There was no need for words, or nerves: Harry knew through the look in Mr. Weasley´s eyes that everything was all right, and he was...grateful. So he knew. And he knew about Harry´s plan.

"Harry," Mr. Weasley choked out. "I...thank you, Harry."

Harry smiled back. Then, to his surprise, Mr. Weasley enveloped him in a fatherly hug. Harry closed his eyes, feeling as though he was basking in the warmth of his own father´s embrace--

"Harry?"

It was Mrs. Weasley. And just as soon as Mr. Weasley let go of him, Mrs. Weasley took him in her arms. A familiar feeling washed over him--this was how he felt back there in the hospital wing, right after the Third Task, just last year--comforted, completely comforted.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice shaking. "And I´m terribly sorry."

"It´s all right, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said. "Please don´t cry. Everything will be okay."

Everything will be okay, he repeated to himself, closing his eyes again. Everything will be okay.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Dumbledore smiling at them, his blue eyes twinkling.

"So, Dad," Ron was saying, "things are getting all too worked up in the Ministry--how did you find the time to come here?"

Mr. Weasley cheerfully helped himself for a second serving of bacon. "Oh, it´s...well, connections," he said. He heaved his chest forward. "And being a Ministry official, I was given privilege."

Harry caught Ginny´s gaze, who was sitting across him on the Gryffindor table. They both knew it was a lot more than that.

"But you already knew Ginny´s okay, right?" George said. "You got our owl, didn´t you?"

"Of course, dear," said Mrs. Weasley evenly, though barely looking up from her plate. "But it´s Ginny´s birthday and all."

"I got hit by an overactive Bludger on the head my second year and you didn´t even come visit," said Fred, looking hurt. "I was in the hospital wing for a week."

Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes. "Bludgers are totally different from curses, Fred."

Beside Harry, Mr. Weasley knocked his goblet over, spilling pumpkin juice on the table. "Oh, damn--"

"Not in front of the table, Arthur," Mrs. Weasley quickly reprimanded.

"Yes, yes, dear," said Mr. Weasley, taking out his wand and pointing it to the mess. The juice instantly cleared.

Harry cleared his throat and changed the topic. "How is--er, how are the Hogsmeade residents doing, Mr. Weasley?"

Mr. Weasley set his goblet down, shaking his head. "We´ve evacuated them. Most are in farms scattered across Scotland. Others went to cities--Glasgow, Edinburgh, even as far down as London."

"But they´re renovating the place?" Hermione asked. It was the first time she´d spoken ever since they came down from Gryffindor Tower.

"No chance of that in the near future yet," said Mr. Weasley. "And even if we can, wizards wouldn´t want to settle in there yet, would they?"

The younger Weasleys all nodded gravely. Harry and Ginny caught gazes again.

"I had a talk with Adam Connolly," Mr. Weasley blurted out, still staring at his plate. "He and his wife...they find it hard to cope up with...with Mark...."

Harry began staring down his plate, too. So many losses already...so many families torn apart....

He felt a nudge on his shin. Ginny had kicked him slightly. She smiled at him, somewhat encouragingly.

"You don´t have to worry, though," Mr. Weasley went on. "Everything´s under control. And Hogwarts is perfectly safe--the safest place in the country--in all Europe, even. Dumbledore, he made sure of that. Great wizard, he is."

A few moments of silence lapsed before Ron asked quietly, "What about you? And--and Bill, and Charlie, and Percy?"

Mrs. Weasley smiled at him. "You don´t have to worry about us, dear. We know we´ll be safe. Now, how are you all doing with your O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s?"

Fred, George and Ron instantly groaned. Hermione lit up and enthusiastically told Mrs. Weasley of her progress on O.W.L. practice papers. Harry, however, had the impression that Mrs. Weasley had deliberately changed the topic.

"So, Harry," Mr. Weasley began in a low voice, "I hear you gave Ginny that ring."

Harry glanced at Ginny. The emerald ring glinted as her hand reached out for the plate of pancakes on the table.

"Yes," Harry said. The calmness of his voice surprised even himself, for he had put his suddenly clammy hands under the table and twisted his father´s ring nervously.

Mr. Weasley grinned. "Dumbledore told me how she had unclasped your parents´ wedding rings," he said. "I never realized her love for you runs deep."

Harry swallowed. His queasiness was staring to go back to him--not because of the curse, but because of...well, his present relation with Ginny, Mr. Weasley becoming aware of it, and the lecture that was sure to come. The one about snogging and fornicating--

"Mr. Weasley," he suddenly declared, "I love your daughter very much, too."

Ginny looked up at them, wide-eyed in shock. Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George, and a few other Gryffindors who were already there, stared at them.

Great. Just great. Harry felt his face grow hot and his heart pick up a bit of speed. Hang on there, something told him at the back of his head. You´re fifteen years and nine months old, Harry Potter, and you just sounded like you´re asking for Ginny Weasley´s hand from her dad already. What in the world were you thinking?

Shut your mouth, you great prat of a critic, Harry shot back mentally. It was the truth!

Then Mr. Weasley began to laugh. Harry didn´t know what to make of it--did Mr. Weasley actually think he was not serious at all? Ginny was pretending to resume eating, but her forehead was red and Harry knew she was listening.

"You know I don´t know what goes on in that young mind of yours, Harry," he said when he calmed down, his eyes crinkling at the edges. "But I trust your feelings just as I trust you with Ginny´s life."

Harry felt his chest heave as he drew in breath.

"You know I´d love to have you as a son-in-law," Mr. Weasley said, cuffing him on the shoulder. Then he looked at him sternly. "But not until five years or so, okay? And until then, my Ginny´s not going to be--you know--devir--"

"DA-AD!"

"YES!" Harry interrupted at the same time Ginny shrieked, as to not let Mr. Weasley finish the word. "I mean, yes, I know, Mr. Weasley."

Mr. Weasley was still smiling. "Good, then. You take care of her, all right?"

Harry nodded profusely. "I will. I promise," he added.

He glanced at a blushing Ginny across the table and smiled at her. Ginny didn´t look back, but there was a smile playing on her lips.

Whew. Harry wanted to throw off his robes and wipe the beads of sweat that had broken out of his back throughout the conversation with Mr. Weasley.

It was a quite subdued party, really, but to Harry, it could have been the best for Ginny. There were no lights or music, but Fred and George had brought in a lot of food from the kitchens that almost everyone in Gryffindor Tower had a full stomach by nine in the evening.

Ron and Hermione were talking quietly in a corner, drinking from goblets. Ginny, meanwhile, was carrying a plate of cinnamon cupcakes and pumpkin pasties, offering them to everyone who seemed a bit out-of-place. While Fred and George had set off Filibuster Fireworks, she stopped to talk to some first and second years, and to give the third years a hug or two.

It was so characteristic of Ginny--unendingly caring, thinking about others more than herself. She had been like that in Hogsmeade, and whenever she tutored the Gryffindors from the lower years.

Harry watched her discreetly through the rim of his goblet as he drank pumpkin juice from it. She looked even more radiant tonight than this morning, when she met her parents.

Ginny caught his gaze. Smiling widely, she sauntered towards him, carrying the plate.

"Hey," Harry said. "Having fun?"

"Absolutely," said Ginny, offering him a cupcake. "This could well be the best day of my life."

Harry smiled, but he didn´t fail to interpret Ginny´s statement as...somewhat morbid. As if she wasn´t going to last long.

Harry pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Um, Ginny? I hope you don´t mind me asking..."

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Ask what?"

"Well...did you--did you have any dreams last night?"

Ginny shook her head almost immediately. "No."

Harry cocked his head on one side, frowning slightly. "You don´t sound the least bit anxious."

Ginny looked up at him, looking innocently thoughtful. Then she smiled, shrugged slightly and said, "Well, I trust God."

Harry watched her grin and wander off to where Fred and George were motioning her over. And he realized, as he set his goblet down a table, that it wasn´t just the beautiful face of Ginny Weasley that caught him and made him notice her more this year: it was the simplicity of her being, the depth of her soul--her bravery, compassion, and unwavering faith--that captured his heart. He was suddenly overcome by love--so gentle, and yet so powerful, that it hurt.

"Oh, Fred, George!" Ginny cried, staring at something inside a box--the twins´ gift. She reached in and pulled out a black-robed stuffed toy...with round glasses and black hair. It was about the size of her arms.

The Gryffindors, seeing the stuffed toy, burst out laughing. Harry felt himself turn deep red.

"That´s not all it is!" said George, grinning wickedly. "Press his tummy, he´ll say something."

Ginny, rolling her eyes, obliged. What the stuffed Harry sang as it moved its mouth, in an uncanny likeness with the real Harry´s voice, made him blush even further.

"My eyes are green as a fresh pickled toad,

My hair is dark as a blackboard.

She´s already mine, for I´m truly divine,

I´m the hero who conquered the Dark Lord!"

"You silly git!" Ginny shrieked, swatting George´s arm. "I did not write that valentine!"

"Come to think of it," said Fred, pausing between breaths, "we could get a copyright infringement for using that song without the composer´s permission--"

"We don´t have to," said George, winking at Harry. "Ginny´s going to sleep with that every night anyway--argh!"

Ginny had grabbed George´s arm and twisted it with all her might, causing another burst of laughter in the common room. Even Harry couldn´t fight back a laugh. Small as Ginny may be, she still had incredible strength in her. He walked over to them, where Ginny was still wrestling George on the leather couch.

"Okay, break it up," Fred said, pulling Ginny and George apart. "Human Harry wants to say something."

Ginny abruptly stopped tearing George´s hair and looked up at Harry. She promptly blushed.

"Er," said Harry, shoving his hands into his pockets, "I have a gift for you, too."

"Oooh, let´s see it!" Fred jeered.

Harry came up with a small package, wrapped in glossy red paper, and handed it to Ginny. "Thanks," she whispered, still blushing fiercely.

She took off the small card attached to the gift and read it silently. Harry read his own words, in his own handwriting, upside-down as Ginny held the note, her hands slightly shaking.

Dear Ginny,

Believe in happy endings.

Love, Harry

"`Love, Harry?!´" quite a few people exclaimed. Harry hadn´t noticed that Ginny was surrounded by onlookers.

Ginny rolled her eyes at them. "Please, can´t I have a little privacy here?" She was redder than ever.

"`Believe in happy endings´," George read aloud. "What, are you Sleeping Beauty or something, Gin?"

"George, knock it off," Ginny snapped. However, save for Harry, no one else seemed to notice how Ginny suddenly felt tetchy at George´s words.

No one else...except Hermione. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw her look at him and Ginny, her eyes narrowed in the way they usually did when she was trying to figure out something.

"What...what´s this?" Ginny had opened the gift. "It looks like--"

"A wireless," Colin Creevey finished. "A Muggle one. Looks kind of battered, though--"

Harry looked exasperatedly at him. Colin wasn´t exactly a tactful one.

"You know that wouldn´t work over here," said Hermione, looking at the wireless doubtfully. "All the things Muggle use as a substitute for magic, such as electricity--"

"You´ve explained that one to many times already, Hermione," said Harry. "But no, that thing does work. I´ve...enchanted it."

Fred, George, Ron and Ginny raised their eyebrows at him.

"I mean," Harry went on, feeling a bit pleased with himself, "that thing needs batteries to work, so I looked up a charm that can be used as a substitute for electricity. It wasn´t so bad--I just twiddled a bit with the design and all, and it only needs three volts...then I also looked up a charm that´s able to filter the Muggle signals in, and tune them to just the right frequencies so that you´ll be able to play the thing. Go on, turn it on."

Ginny looked at the radio as if it was an alien spaceship that had fallen down the sky. Hermione, with a last dubious look at Harry, went over and pressed the "Play" button.

There was a sound of static. Hermione tweaked the tuning knob, and then--

"...I know a place where we can dance the whole night away,
Underneath the electric stars--"

Ginny burst out laughing, grinning at Harry amazedly. Harry grinned back. He had Dudley owl the hand-sized radio to him--Dudley had broken it the previous summer. It only needed a few adjustments to work, though.

"I knew it," Ron said despairingly. "I knew he´s going to turn into a nutter like Dad."

"We don´t need another one," groaned Fred.

"Don´t be silly," said Ginny, standing up and taking Harry´s hands in hers. "It´s music! Let´s dance!"

"Ginny!" Harry said suddenly. "I don´t know how to dance!"

"I know for one thing that Parvati taught you how, just last year," Ginny replied, grinning at Parvati, who stood at the back of the room, watching them with a small smile on her face. "Come on--it´s not so hard." She did something that was halfway between cha-cha and quickstep.

"Actually, you´re right, it is music!" Fred had grabbed Angelina Johnson, who was laughing hard as well.

"Feel the beat in the rhythm of the night--dance until the morning light,
Forget about the worries on your mind--you can leave them all behind--"

Harry could actually forget about his worries for that single moment, as he tried to copy Ginny´s steps. Everyone around them had got up, too, and danced. Ginny was flushed with laughing. She looked radiant, and her brown eyes sparkled the way they usually did. She wrinkled her nose when Harry accidentally tripped on her feet, and her freckles stood out as she did.

She was beautiful.

It was only until Professor McGonagall arrived to break up the party that Harry and Ginny separated that night. But Harry had brought something in their dormitory, and indeed, even as he slept that night: the soft, warm feeling of Ginny´s lips on his cheek, where she kissed him gently, and said, "Thank you, Harry," just before she broke away from his arms.

* * *

James, Lily and Sirius were walking at a familiar tree-lined street, with Sirius holding a baby in his arms. In the Muggle surroundings, no one would suspect that the four of them were...well, not normal by Muggle standards, for they just seemed to be a foursome paying a visit on a sunny April morning.

"Aww...look at him! He knows his godfather!"

Sirius held nine-month-old Harry at arm´s length, grinning stupidly at him. Harry opened his mouth, then let out a soft chuckle and swiped at Sirius´s arms with his small, pudgy hands.

"He has your eyes, Lily," said Sirius.

"So you´ve told her again and again," James replied, putting an arm around his wife. "You´ve never told me about how he looks like his father, though."

"You kidding?" Sirius looked at James in mock indignation. "Harry? Look like his Dad? No way--Harry´s cute!"

"So what am I? Not cute?"

"Do you really have to ask?"

James laughed and smacked Sirius on the shoulder.

"Careful there, James, or I might let go of your son."

"Just try that, and I´ll--"

Sirius suddenly let go of Harry, causing the baby to drop by about a foot or two towards the ground--before Sirius caught him again. Harry giggled out loud, as if wanting Sirius to do it again. This time, Lily had reacted.

"SIRIUS, YOU GREAT GIT! WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU THINKING? DO YOU REALIZE THAT HARRY´S BONES ARE JUST ABOUT AS SOFT AS--"

James laughed again and pulled Lily closer. "Come on, Lil--you´re just a bit nervous."

"I´m not!" Lily snapped. "I´m just--"

"Overanxious? Scared?" Sirius had begun cuddling Harry. "Lily, your parents haven´t seen you for ages, and they haven´t seen Harry yet! And they sounded thrilled in the letter, didn´t they?"

From far off, there was a wailing sound--a Muggle siren, James thought, used for things called fire trucks and ambulances and police cars. He wondered for a moment where they came from, until Lily spoke up.

"Yes...but there´s my sister and her husband."

James snorted. "Listen, dear--we can´t help it if they hate the things we do. I mean, we do stuff for reasons they won´t understand--they won´t even understand that what we do is for everybody´s good."

"No, actually, James," said Sirius, grinning impishly. "They hate you, not what you do."

"At least Lily´s parents like me," said James, thrusting his chest out. "You haven´t exactly had a girl´s parents like you, have you?"

"Shut up," said Sirius. He turned to Harry. "Repeat after me, Harry--your daddy´s a git. Your--daddy´s--a--git. Got that? G-I-T. Git."

"If you´re going to be a bad influence to my son, Sirius, I might take your honorary title back."

Sirius looked aghast. "No way, Harry and I have bonded! See? Okay, Harry, you´re as cute as your daddy. You´re--as--cute--as--your--daddy. Got that?"

Lily chuckled softly.

As they continued to walk, James had a sinking feeling that the sirens were growing closer. Lily was quiet for the rest of the walk, while Sirius went on cooing at Harry. "When you grow up, I´m going to buy you a broomstick! That´s right, Harry--you´re going to fly like no other! You´ll be the best flier England has ever seen--"

"Wait," Lily said all of a sudden. "Those...sirens...they--they´re coming from the direction of our house."

Lily suddenly broke into a run towards a clearing. Reaching the spot where no trees blocked the view of the sky, Lily looked up--and James watched her face contort in unspeakable horror.

James ran towards his wife, and looked up as well.

The Dark Mark was hovering above a spot about four blocks away.

"Oh, God!" Sirius exclaimed. "Come on!"

James sprinted to the direction of Lily´s house, Lily following close behind, and Sirius bringing up the rear. After what seemed like eternity, they reached the Evanses´ house--and James´s worst fear was confirmed.

The Dark Mark was right above the white-and-cream house, like an evil marker of the beautiful place.

Off the sidewalk, an ambulance had backed off with its sirens wailing. Lily vainly tried running after it, crying. "NO! MUM! DAD!"

"Miss! Hey--miss!" A policeman ran towards Lily and held her back. "Do you know the people who live here?"

Lily wasn´t able to speak. She just stared at the retreating ambulance with glassy eyes.

James approached them. Around him, people were staring, shriveling with fear at the Dark Mark, with the shape of the skull and that hideous snake protruding out of its mouth. Policemen were questioning a few neighbors.

"What happened here, officer?" asked James, his voice shaking.

"Weird thing," said the policeman. "The couple who lives here--the Evanses, I think--well, their daughter arrived this morning with her husband, and they found the house trashed and all...with that--that green thing hanging above. Damn, I haven´t seen anything like it."

"And...the Evanses?"

"Dead!" The policeman shook his head in disbelief. "But the thing is, we can´t seem to find anything wrong with them! They´re just dead!"

Out of the corner of his eye, James saw a couple of blue-cloaked figures approaching them.

"Potter--Black--we only got word of this very--"

"Excuse me!" the policeman snapped at them, "what do you think you´re doing, taking over?"

James hadn´t heard the members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad reverse the policeman´s memories, as well as all the Muggles´. Lily had slumped to the ground. She had fainted, her face horribly pale and wet with tears and sweat. Harry had begun crying, and Sirius unsuccessfully tried shushing him up.

"Voldemort," whispered James, cradling Lily´s head on his lap.

Sirius stared hard into James´s eyes. "You think it was him who did this?"

"No." James´s voice was shaking with anger now. "But it was his orders."

Sirius didn´t say anything. He quietly rocked Harry back and forth.

"We´ll be next," James went on. "And Harry."

"No," gasped Sirius. He held Harry closer to himself. "Not...Harry."

James simply shook his head, disgusted. "I won´t let him come near my son. I promised him a wonderful life ahead of him."

Sirius could only stare back at his best friend.

Author´s Notes: "Rhythm of the Night" is...not mine.
You know, "fornicate" is the weirdest, funniest English word I´ve ever heard! (Remembers Nicholas Spark´s "A Walk to Remember"... `Hegbert is a fornicator!´ MmmmLandon!)
Thanks to my Math teacher for the "not in public" quote. You know who you are... :)