Secret Keeper

Chapter Three:

October 25, 1981

Lily Potter sighed. “It’s going to be so lonely around here without Sirius.”

“You weren’t really doing anything with him, were you?” James asked teasingly.

“Don’t you dare suggest that, James Potter!” Lily said sharply. She rolled her eyes. “It’s just so – so quiet here without him.”

“Yeah, well, don’t enjoy the peace too much. Remus and Peter are having dinner here tonight, they should be coming any minute now,” James informed his wife.

“Really?” Lily asked, her eyes brightening. “That ought to be fun. A nice reunion for the lot of us,” she said cheerfully.

“Yes, we haven’t really seen either of them for a while, haven’t we? Especially Remus,” James said.

“Yeah,” agreed Lily. “And we certainly could use some company, couldn’t we, Harry?” Lily turned toward her infant son, who was sitting in his crib gurgling happily.

“Pafoo,” said Harry.

Lily and James both laughed. “No, Harry, Padfoot’s not coming again, at least not any time soon, but I’m sure Moony and Wormtail will be happy to see you,” James said, plucking his son from out of the crib and holding him in his arms.

“Lily! James!” a pleasant voice called out jovially. Lily and James turned around to see Remus Lupin stepping out of their fireplace. “Lily, you look lovely as ever. James, why, I do believe that your head has grown even larger since the last time I saw you!”

Lily snickered softly as James replied lightly, “Yes, and it’s lovely to see you too, Moony. How are you?”

Remus shrugged. “I’m all right, I guess. Say, where’s Peter?”

“Oh, I expect he’ll be here any mo- Peter!” Lily exclaimed, turning once again to the fireplace. This time, a short man stepped towards them, peering at them with watery eyes.

“Lily, James, how are you two doing?”

“Well, now, at least that’s a nicer greeting than the one Moony gave us,” said James. “We’re doing as well as can be expected, nice to have some company though.”

“Yes, yes,” Peter said airily. “And speaking of company, Sirius coming tonight?”

“Nah,” said James as Lily shook her head quietly. “You heard about the business with the Fidelius Charm, right? About Voldemort wanting us dead? Well, Sirius is our Secret-Keeper, and I guess he seemed to think that it would be safer for us if he isolated himself.”

“Isolated himself?” questioned Remus. “Where?”

“He’s staying in a Muggle house, got a disguise and everything-”

“And an awfully good disguise it was too, wasn’t it, James?” Lily said, smirking.

James blushed slightly as Peter and Remus looked over at Lily.

“Care to explain that remark, Lily?” asked Remus. James’ face seemed to have gone even redder.

“Yes, well, you see-”

“Let’s sit down for dinner, shall we?” James interrupted quickly. He glanced at his wife. “C’mon Lily, I’m hungry, you can tell them while we eat.”

“Yes, yes,” Lily agreed, chuckling. With a wave of her wand, she conjured numerous plates that floated above the dinner table for a few seconds before dropping down with a thud. The four friends sat around the table.

Remus glanced over at Lily. “Anyways, you were saying?”

“Oh yes, quite an interesting story,” said Lily, shooting a nasty smile at her husband. “Well, Sirius was here earlier, you see...” she said as she began telling the story to a very amused Remus and Peter. When she finished, she looked at both of them with a warm smile.

Peter sniggered. “Prongs, I can’t believe you’d actually be that thick! Seriously, who else would be in your house other than Sirius? Or Remus or me?” he added.

Remus looked at James. “Where is Sirius staying?” he asked.

James shrugged. “Some Muggle house, I think. Belongs to his friend’s aunt, or something like that. Here, I’ll give you his address in case you want to owl him,” he said, dashing off to grab a bit of parchment. He hastily scribbled the address twice; then, tearing the parchment into two pieces, gave one each to Remus and Peter.

Remus glanced at the slip of parchment briefly before slipping it into the pocket of his robes. Peter’s eyes glazed over the writing on the parchment interestingly before he too stuffed it into his robes.

“Thanks,” Peter said, nodding towards James, “I’ll want to keep in touch with him.”

“Well,” said Remus lightly, “we’d best be going now, right Wormtail?”

“Yes, I suppose it’s getting late, Moony,” Peter agreed. “Well, we’ll visit again, alright mate?” he said, looking at James. “And Lily. Take care of yourself.”

“Thanks Peter,” she said, nodding solemnly. “Make sure you do the same for yourself.”

“Yes, well. Bye Lily, bye James.”

The four friends murmured their good-byes as Remus and Peter stepped towards the fireplace. Within seconds, they had both gone.

As soon as they disappeared, Lily turned towards her husband and whacked him sharply on the head. “You great prat!” she hissed venemously at James. “What on Earth compelled you to give them Sirius’ address?!”

“W-well, I thought they’d like to keep in touch with him, seeing as they – they’re-” He faltered, seeing the dangerous look on Lily’s face. “Wha – What’s wrong with that?”

“Don’t you remember?” she whispered fearfully, staring into her husband’s bewildered face. “Dumbledore told us that someone was passing information to Voldemort.”

“Someone close to us.”