Swallowed in the Sea

SWALLOWED IN THE SEA:

Chapter One: Closing Walls and Ticking Clocks

'I realise that this is a lot for you to cope with,' Dumbledore sighed. 'If there had been any other way to tell you this, I would indeed have told you in that manner. However, I believe that keeping things from you -certainly at this point- could be dangerous to more than yourselves.'

James and Lily Potter both had tears in their eyes and Harry, on his mother's lap, had become uncharacteristically quiet. James lovingly put protective arms around his wife and child.

'I'm sorry.'

'No, Albus,' Lily whispered, 'this is not your fault. It's a shock indeed, but you are right. We're better off knowing. At least now we can prepare ourselves.'

'I must admit, I'd never expected this,' James croaked, holding his family even closer. 'I mean, we knew he would come after us- that's why we thought you wanted to see us in the first place, but Harry... he's just a baby.'

'And yet he's old enough to draw Voldemort's attention,' Dumbledore answered. 'That's why we must decide how to handle this quickly. Ever since it has become clear we have a traitor in our midst, it's not wise to delay decisions.'

'Yes,' Lily agreed. 'James, Harry and I are going into hiding, as soon as possible.'

'I don't think going into hiding is necessary,' said Dumbledore. 'I advise you to use the Fidelius Charm- it's very complex, indeed, but I think between the three of us, there's enough magical capability.'

'With you taking up three quarters of the capability, I assume,' James said with a sad smile that Dumbledore returned.

'I think I've heard about that one. It involves secret concealment in someone, right?'

'Yes, Lily, that is the idea,' said the Headmaster. 'Someone, who will be named by you to be Secret Keeper, will keep the exact location of your family locked inside him or her. Unless the Secret Keeper divulges that knowledge, Voldemort himself can search your house and he will not find you. I believe this is our best chance at keeping the both of you and Harry safe from all harm.'

'Is there no way to break the spell?' Lily asked. 'A way to break into the Secret Keeper or something and steal the information?'

'Not unless he or she lets them.'

'It sounds like something that could work,' James admitted. 'Does it take long to do the spell?'

'Half a day for the preparations, I think. The spell itself won't take longer than an hour, at most,' answered Dumbledore serenely. 'We could even do it today, if that's what you want. If it's not too presumptuous of me, I would gladly be your Secret Keeper.'

'Thanks, Albus,' James said, 'but we don't want to trouble you with our problems. You have enough work as it is. This would endanger your life even more.'

'There would be no trouble in it for me, James,' the Headmaster told him.

'I know that's what you say,' Lily said, 'but James is right.'

'Yes, Albus,' her husband continued. 'We'll ask Sirius.'

'Are you sure? We have very little certainty when it comes to trusting people, and even if he were not untrustworthy, would you ask this of him? He would have to go into hiding himself.'

'With all due respect, I trust Sirius with my life,' James said vigorously, 'and I have no problem entrusting that of my wife and son to him.'

'Very well.' Dumbledore sighed, took off his glasses and took some powder from the mantelpiece. He threw it in the fire and called for the Auror division.

'Goodmorning, Miss Podmore,' he said, as a blond girl's head appeared.

'Morning, Headmaster. James, Lily,' Miss Podmore answered.

'Morning, Belle,' Lily said.

'Would you please ask Mr Black if he would be so kind as to Apparate into Hogsmeade and come to my office immediately? Tell him it is very urgent.'

'Yes, Headmaster,' Belle said, 'but I must warn you. Captain Moody is rather displeased with everything and everyone today. More so than usual. Sirius might have trouble getting out.'

'Tell Alastor that Mr Black has had his orders from me and that if he feels that I was wrong in calling one of his Aurors away on business that concerns most of England, that he should contact me.' Dumbledore sounded weary, old. Tired. 'But whatever he says, make sure Mr Black gets to my office.'

'Yes, Headmaster.' Belle looked shaken. 'I'll get Sirius immediately.'

With a soft pop, her head disappeared from the fire.

'I'm afraid you gave poor Belle quite a scare,' said James.

'Miss Podmore will live, I can assure you.' Dumbledore smiled. 'And if I remember correctly, it usually takes quite a shock to get a swift reaction of her.'

Lily let out a short laugh. 'True, Belle's the best when it comes to procrastinating.'

'James, Lily,' said Dumbledore severely, 'I will only ask this of you once more before Sirius arrives. Are you -both of you- one hundred percent sure that he is the best choice for a Secret Keeper? Remember that we're not only talking about your lives, but also the life of your child and even the lives of other people all around the world.'

'Yes,' James said before Dumbledore even finished his sentence. Lily, still in James' arms, took a bit longer to answer, but eventually nodded as well.

'Albus, I understand your concern and I know that Sirius has done stupid things in the past.' James sighed. 'I know just as well that his family doesn't plead for him, certainly not now that we know one of us is working for Voldemort, but he loves Harry. He's the best godfather you've ever seen. Even if he would consider ratting us out -which I am more than sure of he wouldn't- he couldn't, not for the life of him, do something like that to Harry.'

'It's true,' Lily chimed in. 'He's wonderful with Harry and it's clear that he loves him, maybe even more than he loves anyone else. I think he feels bad about not being able to have children himself, being with Remus and all. He would've been a good dad.'

'Yeah, he would,' James agreed. 'Listen, Albus, do you have any idea who the traitor might be?'

'Well, as I'm sure you know, James,' the Headmaster said slowly, 'everyone has something pointing to them. Remus undeniably carries darkness in him, he is a creature of the night and therefore a sure target of Voldemort's; Sirius has his family's reputation working against him, not to mention that he has taken important missteps before and Peter; even though he is magically of not much use to the Dark Lord, I believe his need of protection by the strongest might encourage him to spy for others.'

'I can't believe that one of them is working for Voldemort,' James said, perplexed.

'I think all of us have problems believing that,' Dumbledore answered.

'Count me in,' a voice suddenly said. 'James, Lily, Headmaster. Belle said it was a matter of life and death. What's going on? Did someone die?'

'No, Sirius, fortunately, no one has died.' Dumbledore smiled and gestured him to sit down. 'I have something important to tell you.'

*

Sirius sat and stared. He looked bewildered, desperate and it pained James to admit that his best friend -who had never feared anything- indeed, looked very scared.

'So, what we, Lily and I, want to know is,' James said slowly, not sure if Sirius even heard him, 'how do you feel about being our Secret Keeper?'

'We understand if you don't want to,' Lily said hastily. 'I know we're asking a lot of you. You'll probably have to go into hiding yourself and you will be putting your life on the line-'

'What? Even more than an Auror who has repeatedly thwarted Voldemort's plans does?' Sirius asked, still staring at the floor. 'Of course, I'll do it. Anything I can do to help, I'll do it gladly.'

'Sirius, I strongly advise you to think about this a bit longer,' Dumbledore tried, but Sirius cut him off.

'I don't need to think about it,' he said. 'This is my best friends and my godson we're talking about. I'd rather die than not help them when they need me.'

'Voldemort will be sure to come after you, Padfoot, you realise,' James stated.

'I know, but-'

At that moment, Harry started crying very loudly. Sirius gestured Lily to give her son to him. He took him in a way that looked as if he'd been holding children for years. In a matter of seconds, Harry was quiet again. Sirius and Harry looked at each other for a few more moments and then Sirius started to talk again.

'I know you think I'm the traitor, Dumbledore,' he said quietly. 'I know my rash actions have caused a lot of problems in the past, but I love these people and I could never in my whole life betray them.'

Dumbledore sighed.

'And I think that I've shown I'm responsible as Harry's godfather. I'd do anything for him, I swear, I'd break out of Azkaban if it was necessary. I couldn't love him more if he was my own son.'

'And I don't doubt that, Albus,' James finished.

'Very well, then might I ask, Sirius,' Dumbledore said, 'who you think is working for Voldemort?'

'I don't think I want to answer that question,' Sirius answered. 'I don't like badmouthing my loved ones.'

'So you still consider that person a loved one, even though he works for the Dark Lord?'

'I'd like to,' Sirius said, after kissing Harry on the head. 'We've been through so much, the four of us and I can't believe any of us would do this willingly.'

'Do you think he's under Imperius?' James asked.

'Don't you?' Sirius replied.

'Am I much mistaken,' Dumbledore intervened, 'when I say this sounds as if you've already decided on who the traitor might be?'

'We haven't decided on anything,' said Sirius harshly. But when he saw James' look and Harry stirred once more in his arms, he sighed. 'It's just that... Remus seems to avoid us, lately, and maybe even especially me. He stays away for days and days and when he gets back home, he's so different. He's gone again after a few hours. I don't know... Maybe it's because he thinks I'm the bad guy too.'

'Different how, would you say?'

'I can't really describe it,' said Sirius slowly. 'It's just not like Remus. Staying away for days without an owl is very unlike Remus, to start with. James and Lily have noticed as well.'

'It's true, Albus,' said Lily silently. 'He's very emotional whenever he visits us, and I don't think that's bad or anything, but Remus has never been someone to show his emotions. Usually, we have to plead for days before he lets us in, even now he's known us for years.'

'And I've done some extra reading on Imperius,' Sirius said, 'in some cases one's character changes drastically.'

'And have you ever considered Peter as the traitor?' Dumbledore asked, seemingly unperturbed.

'Of course we have,' said Sirius, sounding insulted. 'But Peter's so busy with his job, he's away on business so often, he just can't have time for double-crossing.'

'Are you sure he actually is abroad or away on Ministry business?'

'Yeah, he brings us and Harry souvenirs every single time,' answered James. 'Last week he brought Harry a candy Eiffel Tower, it's enormous.'

'Besides,' continued Sirius, 'it's Peter. He's scared to death of us. He knows we'll kill him if it turns out he's the traitor.'

'Sirius!' Lily gasped.

'I will if he is,' stated Sirius. 'But the fact is, he knows that and even if he'd had the time, I'm not sure he'd risk his life for whatever Voldemort says he'll give him.'

'Do not forget, Sirius, that Voldemort can be very persuasive, especially to people such as Peter,' said Dumbledore. 'But you are right about Remus' change of character. We'll have to pay more attention to him.'

'Should it turn out Remus really is under Imperius,' asked Sirius worriedly, 'what will happen to him? He can't be blamed for anything he's done then, right? He won't be sent to Azkaban, right?'

'I'm afraid the worse punishment Remus will have to endure then-' Dumbledore sighed, 'is the torture he'll put himself through.'

Sirius smiled sadly. 'That sounds like Remus. But we haven't decided on anything. We haven't said Remus is the traitor, we're just looking into every option, remember.'

'Yes, Sirius,' Dumbledore said, 'and now I will ask you once more, are you sure about being Secret Keeper for Lily and James?'

'More than you know.'

'All right,' agreed the headmaster. 'We will perform the spell on Saturday, here in my office. I will make sure we have all things necessary. I need for you to be here at ten o'clock exactly.'

'Thanks, Albus,' James said, shaking his hand and helping his family and his friend out of the office.

*

'D'you want to come in for a cup of tea, or something?' Lily asked Sirius.

'Sure, it's not like I've got anyone waiting for me at home.' He sighed. 'If that's all right with you, of course.'

'I wouldn't ask if it wasn't.' smiled Lily. 'You know what? I'll make us some hot cocoa; I haven't done that in ages.'

'Sounds nice, darling,' James said, as she took Harry with her into the kitchen. 'Listen, Sirius, I can never in a thousand years repay you for what you're willing to do for us. I can't even express how grateful I- we are.'

'Don't mention it, Prongs,' said his best friend. 'I'm sure you would do the same for me and- and Remus.'

'I've been meaning to ask you: are you all right?' asked James. 'This must be incredibly hard on you. I know I've got a horrible lot of trouble dealing with it, I can't imagine how you must feel.'

'Neither can I, really,' said Sirius absently. 'I know how I should feel, Prongs, but I don't feel anything. The only thing I can think of are ways to help Remus. And none of them are good enough... He just stays- he just stays away...'

He swallowed hard and turned to examine the bookcase to his left.

'We're here for you, Padfoot,' said James.

'I know,' his friend answered, his face still turned away. 'But you've got a lot to worry about yourself and I suggest you do that. We've got some troubled times ahead of us.'

'Hadn't noticed.' James smiled.

'There we are,' said Lily gently, as she floated a tray into the living room. 'I made it the Muggle way.'

'Thank you so much.'

'Our door's always open for you, Sirius, you know that,' she answered. 'And I know James has already thanked you, but I want to say thanks as well.'

'As I said,' said Sirius, while blowing the steam off his cocoa, 'I'd do anything for my godson.'

'We know.'

'And so would Remus,' he added, while staring at the floor.

James had to admit something had changed in Sirius ever since they'd started suspecting Remus. He didn't seem to enjoy everything as much as he used to. He seemed troubled all the time.

'And so would Remus,' Lily agreed as she sat on her husband's lap and put a hand on Sirius' shoulder.