Secret Keeper

Chapter Two:

October 25, 1981

James Potter stood deep in thought in the Headmaster’s office, almost as if he were in a daze. He still couldn’t believe how much danger he was in, how much danger they were in, how much danger they were putting Sirius in.

Why? Why would anyone want to kill a baby, for God’s sake, James thought to himself. It was almost ridiculous. Little Harry Potter, barely a year old, next target of one of the most feared wizards ever to walk the earth.

He had just informed Dumbledore of their decision to use Sirius as their Secret-Keeper. As Lily had predicted, the Headmaster did not approve of this plan, but reluctantly gave them approval to activate the charm anyways. Not that he really had a choice about it, James thought with a slight tinge of bitterness.

He sighed. No sense in brooding about it, not at Hogwart’s anyways.

“Thank you for all your help, Professor Dumbledore,” James said gravely to the man sitting in a desk across the room from him. “We appreciate it. A lot.”

“Yes, well, I wish you three the best of luck,” Dumbledore said, peering at James over his half-moon spectacles. “You’ll certainly need it.”

“Yes, well, thanks,” James mumbled somewhat awkwardly. “I should get going now, Lily and Sirius might be worried...”

“Yes,” agreed Dumbledore, “and I’ll contact you by Floo if something new comes up.”

James nodded as he turned his back on the Headmaster and reached for a small flowerpot sitting on the mantle over the fireplace. He scooped a small handful of Floo Powder out of it and threw it into the fire, which promptly turned bright green.

“Godric’s Hollow,” he called out clearly. “Bye, Professor,” he added over his shoulder as he stepped into the flames. The heat engulfed him; it felt uncomfortable, but did not hurt. He squinted his eyes closed, and when he opened them again, he was back home, standing in his own fireplace at Godric’s Hollow. Brushing soot from his robes, he stepped out of the fireplace, calling “Lily! Sirius!”

What he saw next made his heart stop and his eyes widen in shock.

There, sprawled on his own living room couch, was a stranger, a tall thin black-haired man wearing sunglasses and baggy black pants, obviously a Muggle judging by how he was dressed. And leaning over him, apparently unbuttoning his shirt, was Lily.

“Wha – what the hell?” James could feel the rage pulsing through his veins.

“Oh, hello James,” said Lily absentmindedly.

“Hello? Hello?! Would either of you mind explaining to me exactly what is going on here? WHAT THE HELL ARE TWO YOU DOING? And who are YOU? What are you doing in my house?” he asked, staring at the black-haired Muggle.

Lily and the man looked at each other with puzzled expressions on their faces. James was just about to start yelling again, when suddenly, much to his bewilderment, the two of them burst into a fit of hysterical laughter.

“What is so funny, may I ask?” James snapped dangerously. “And what are you doing here?” He looked at the man with narrowed eyes, and then at his wife.

Lily was still rolling from laughter, but the man seemed to have recovered slightly. “Well,” he said in a voice so deep James was sure it was a fake, “your wife here seemed to think that since-”

“Oh shut up!” interrupted Lily, still gasping from laughter. She sat up and kicked the man on the shins, and then, leaning over, quickly snatched the sunglasses off the man’s head.

James’ jaw dropped open. He stared at the man’s face for about five seconds, almost not believing what he saw, before he too began laughing uncontrollably.

“What-” he choked, “the – hell are you doing – here – dressed in those?”

Sirius’ eyes twinkled as he replied, “Yes, I did good job, didn’t I? Didn’t even recognize me!”

Lily had recovered from her laughter by now, and was now looking at James with a somewhat injured expression on her face. “What did YOU think we were doing, James?” she asked, feeling somewhat hurt. “I can’t believe you thought-”

“Lily, don’t blame him,” Sirius chortled, “after all, he knows how irresistibly sexy I am, right Prongs?”

“Shut up!” Lily hissed. “Honestly, you’re just as bad, what was all that nonsense? ‘Your wife seemed to think’ – what was that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you just ruined a perfectly good prank, Lily! He actually believed that you – me – you know?” Sirius was now laughing so hard that he was in danger of choking on his spit.

“So anyways, what were you guys doing?” James asked casually.

“Lily was dressing me like a Muggle,” Sirius explained. “And if I were you, I wouldn’t talk about these clothes so condescendingly, Prongs, you know that this,” he plucked at the half-buttoned shirt he was wearing, “is actually one of yours?”

James rolled his eyes. “Keep going, why were you trying to dress like a Muggle?”

Sirius sighed. When he spoke again, he seemed quite serious this time. “Well, I was thinking about what you said, about how Voldemort would look for me first, how if I was given Veritaserum, your secret wouldn’t be safe anymore.” He paused here. “So I’ve decided to stay in a Muggle neighborhood for a while. Stay low-profile, you know?”

James nodded, understanding and appreciating his friend’s good logic and reasoning.

“The problem is, in order to live in a Muggle neighborhood, I sort of have to look like a Muggle.”

“Oh, I see,” James nodded. “That’s why you had to talk to Lily.”

Sirius nodded back. “Yeah, she was helping me put together a disguise. Being Muggle-born and all, I thought she would know. She was just showing me how to button that cute shirt of yours when you walked in,” Sirius added devilishly. “Man, you should’ve seen yourself! You had steam coming out of your ears.”

James felt slightly guilty for the accusations he had inadvertently made. “I thought you were a Muggle! How was I supposed to know?”

“That’s pathetic,” Lily said simply. “Can’t even recognize your own best friend…”

“Yeah, well I wasn’t exactly expecting to see a Muggle sitting in my living room with my wife, now was I?”

“Oh!” Lily groaned dramatically, flinging her hands to her heart in a gesture of mock hurt. “How could you think such things, James Potter? How could you accuse me-”

“Yes, well, I’m sorry, alright?” James flung himself onto the sofa between Sirius and Lily. “Anyways, Padfoot, where are you planning on staying?”

“Well, one of my friends has an aunt who’s a Muggle,” Sirius explained. “She’s got this spare house, never managed to sell it, that she said I could stay in. Number six, Chester Lane. That’s the address.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” James asked his friend. He was worried. “You could always stay here with me and-”

“No, I couldn’t,” Sirius interrupted. “I’d be putting all three of you in danger and we all know it. My stuff’s already packed, as soon as we have lunch, I’ll leave. I’ll still visit you guys though.”

“Okay,” James nodded solemnly. “I assume Dumbledore knows about this?”

“Nah, I was planning on telling him right after I left your house.”

“Right.”

Lunch passed quickly and quietly. None of the adults had much to say. All three were looking worried and grim. James in particular was nervous, especially about Sirius’ safety. Would he really be all right, staying in a Muggle neighborhood? Knowing his best friend’s fondness for mischief, James wouldn’t put it past Sirius to wreak some havoc around town, which was the last thing that Sirius needed to do. It would draw unnecessary attention towards him.

Lily had cleared the last of the dishes of the table, and with a flick of her wand, the sponge automatically began scrubbing the dishes with soap on its own.

There was an awkward silence.

“Well, I supposed I’d better be going,” Sirius said finally. “And there’s no reason to look so depressed, I’ll be back, you know?”

Lily rolled her eyes. “That’s hardly a reason to be happy,” she said jokingly.

“Very true, Lily, very true,” Sirius agreed. He grabbed his trunk and began pulling it towards the door. He was nearly there before he turned around.

“Lily, James...” he began, his voice slightly hoarse. “I – I’ll see you later then, shall I?”

They both nodded solemnly. Sirius thrust open the Potter’s front door and dragged his trunk outside. Immediately, his face was hit with a gust of cold wind. He put the sunglasses on. Slowly, he began trudging outside, taking slow heavy steps and dragging the trunk along with him. He was just about to close the door behind him, when-

“Bye, Sirius.”

Sirius grinned at the sad expression on Lily and James Potter’s faces before shutting the door behind him. He had already gone down the front steps when he heard a shrill voice calling his name from the house he just left.

“Sirius Black! Get back here and button that shirt properly!” Lily’s voice rang out.

Chuckling to himself, Sirius doubled back and re-entered the Potters’ house, allowing Lily to properly button his shirt. Before leaving again, he grinned down at Harry.

“Bye Harry,” he said, looking down at the baby.

Harry stared back up at Sirius. “Bye Pafoo.”

Smiling to himself, Sirius walked down the Potter’s front steps yet again. Harry had said his name. Pafoo. Padfoot.