The Unforeseen: Book 1: Stage Set

By: Bookitis

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Since it has been so long, I no longer have a beta. I do apologize for how long it has been,and I make no promises to be consistent in my updates.

Enjoy!

Chapter 3:

Evening of September 26th, 1978

A large man burst through the Potter's front door bellowing, "PROOOOOONGS—!"

Before he had a chance to finish, the man had to quickly duck as a spatula came flying towards his head.

Lily turned her head to face the loud intruder and scowled. "Sirius, what have I told you about yelling in my house?"

Sirius, eyes still wide from his brush with death, probed "How did you do that? You almost nailed me without even looking! How is that even possible?!"

Lily, now joined by a snickering James and Remus, deadpanned "Magic."

At Sirius' blank stare, she continued. "You come here so often, that I've taken notice as to where you stand as you enter. Then I just grab something hard and aim for your head. I'm quite surprised how fast your reflexes are. Curious. Next time, I'll throw faster."

By now all three men had quieted and were staring at Lily in a mix of horror (from James and Sirius) and amusement (Remus).

James coughed, breaking the silence. "Well, uh. Why don't you come over and join us in the living room, Padfoot?"

Sirius nodded and slowly walked towards them, his eyes trained on the smirking redheaded she-devil.

Remus snorted at his friend's caution.

Once everyone had sat down, Lily and James on the love seat with Sirius and Remus on the recliners, James and Lily looked at each other. The couple seemed to converse silently before Lily spoke up.

"We have gathered you two here to tell you about what happened this morning." Here Lily paused, not sure how to continue.

James resumed for her. "After a brilliantly played prank from my amazing wife, there was a knock at the door." Here James smiled, and looked at Sirius, "She thought it was you, man. And boy was she ready to gut you!"

Sirius shot his eyes towards the aforementioned wife. Lily held a stern face but her amused eyes calmed Padfoot down.

Lily gently slapped her husband in reproach, "Anyway, James went to go answer the door and we found a…" Lily hesitated. "We found a child, around two months old, on our doorstep." Lily whispered.

Sirius and Remus' reactions were polar-opposite. While Sirius jumped up, yelling profanities at the people stupid enough to leave a baby outside in the cold fall, Remus froze in his seat becoming as still as a statue, his eyes wide in shock.

Remus sniffed, and jerked. His eyes slowing turning to the couple. "Is the child upstairs now?"

Sirius stopped his pacing and dramatically faced everyone.

"Yes, he is." Lily breathed, clutching James' hand, knowing what question Remus would ask next as he sniffed again.

Remus' face paled. "He smells like Sirius... And Lily. Why?"

The standing man, Sirius, looked as if he had taken a blow to the chest. "What?" he inquired, voice catching.

Lily's eyes watered and James rubbed her back in support. "He is my child now. I gave a vow to look after him as my own. "

Sirius staggered back into his seat. "What… How…" He trailed off staring in shock at Lily.

Lily smiled sadly. "He is not your child Sirius, he is your brother's, Regulus'."

Sirius violently jerked back up. "NO. No no no no no! That SCUM. Who the hell does he think he is, abandoning his child! HIS HEIR!" Sirius' face twisted into a derisive sneer.

Lily quickly jumped up and pulled the torn man into her arms.

"Shhhh, oh Paddy. Your brother did not purposefully abandon his son. He gave his son to parents who would love him and watch over him since he cannot." whispered Lily into Sirius' ear, gently stroking his hair, knowing it would calm him.

Sirius' body sagged, dragging both of them down. "Why can't he?"

Lily looked to James, cuing him.

James bent down to pick up the letter which had come with Harrison and began to read it aloud.

Dear Lord and Lady Potter, of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter,

I draft this correspondence with the knowledge I may not come back from my mission alive. It is not widely known, but I married Ms. Victoria Riddle. We were happily married, nothing would separate us. We both were burdened with our own demons, though, and hers got her killed. I did not know until after her passing that her mother conceived her very young, at age 15.

The man who got her pregnant was 16 at the time. He was an orphan during WW II, they fell in love only for him to leave her once he turned 17. This man went to Hogwarts, and his name was Tom Marvolo Riddle. My Victoria's mother was a squib, who was abandoned when she was a baby by what I can assume was a Pureblood family. She grew up on the streets, and met Riddle while he was home during the summer. Riddle had no idea he fathered a child and soon became a distant memory. Or so they thought. I met Victoria while I was home for the summer after my fifth year. I was wondering the streets of London and I almost toppled over her. It was comical, both of us floundering.

She was home schooled by her mother and taught a little magic. Victoria was a witch, and I was the first male to treat her kindly. I went back to Hogwarts, but we kept up correspondence. I steadily grew to love her. To follow my mother's ideal as her perfect son I was forced to become a Death Eater. I am not proud of what I did while enlisted, but I kept my love safe. We married, and I became obsessed with bringing down my Master. While he lived, my wife would never be truly safe. I research him, Voldemort. And what I found shocked us both to our very cores. Tom Marvolo Riddle, her father is Lord Voldemort. I knew our son would not be safe once my Master found out. And so began my mission to end him.

My wife died in childbirth with my little Harrison Orion Black, and two months later I… I found out the Dark Lord's secret to immortality. I could not stand by and let that monster continue on. I know I may not make it back alive, so if you are reading this now then I have passed. Hopefully I had enough time to send Kreacher to drop off Harrison to you.

Please, I beg of you, keep Harrison safe. He is the grandchild of the Dark Lord, but please do not let that discourage you. For he is merely a child. Please, as my dying wish, keep my Harrison safe. Let Sirius know that I never blamed him for leaving me to the mercies of our parents. At least he freed himself. Tell both my brother and my son that I love them very much, and that I did this for them.

Sincere Regards,

Regulus Black

Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

Toujours pur

James looked up from reading the letter and bowed his head.

Remus was still silent and Sirius looked a broken man.

"Why?" Sirius' voice rasped, his eyes glistening, "Why didn't he tell me?"

Lily cradled the giant man as silent tears ran down his face.

No one said anything for a while until Remus broke the heavy atmosphere. "So, Voldemort's real name is Riddle? And his grandson is upstairs?" Remus questioned, bewildered.

James nodded his head, "Yep. The grandson of Lord—Freaking—Voldemort is indeed upstairs. And now he is essentially my son because of Lily's vow. We're practically related to old Voldie. Great dinner conversation, don't ya think?"

Sirius snorted from Lily's lap.

Lily glared at her husband and Sirius. "SO DAMN WHAT. Harrison is MY child now. And you had best get over whatever resentment you have towards him. Because if you so much as lift a finger to harm him, I will divorce you."

James coughed, chocking in surprise. "What? Lily, don't you think that's a bit drastic?"

Lily coolly glanced at her husband. "No. My vow would not allow me to keep my life if I lived with you abusing him. So for my sake, love him as your own."

James nodded weakly, while the other two men were stunned into silence.

Lily stood, bringing Sirius up with her. "Now, let's have dinner, by the time we finish Dumbledore will be here."

The three men shared a look as she left to the dining room, and then proceeded to follow her.

Dinner was an awkward affair to say the least. Sirius was still reeling from the revelations he had received concerning his brother; Remus was still trying to process the that the Dark Lord's apparent heir was sleeping just upstairs; James shot looks at his wife, still uneasy with her threat of leaving him; and Lily ate, purposefully oblivious to everything. Even though dinner was over and everyone was sitting down waiting for Albus to arrive, an uncomfortable silence prevailed.

It was this strained atmosphere to which Albus Dumbledore walked into.

"Come sit down with us Albus." James offered as he led his pseudo-grandfather through the house.

Trying to ease the tense atmosphere, Albus spoke up "Would anyone like a lemon drop?"

Sirius snorted while James smiled. "Thanks for the offer Albus, but we'll pass."

Albus nodded his head in acknowledgement and gracefully took a seat.

James walked back next to his wife and dropped into his seat. He looked to Lily to start off.

"Thank you for coming so promptly, Headmaster." Lily spoke softly with respect seeping into her voice.

James looked at her sharply, not expecting the woman who distrusted Albus to defer to him with such respect. He would have to ask her later about her attitude, but now was not the time.

The Headmaster motioned her to continue giving a small nod.

"This morning around eleven James and I found a baby on our front porch." Here Albus' eyebrows raised in surprise. "There was a note which came with the child. From Heir Regulus Black." By now Albus' eyebrows had disappeared into his hairline.

Albus glanced sharply over at Sirius who nodded grimly in agreement.

"This is an interesting development." James snorted at Albus' statement. "That's not even the half of it. He's Voldemort's grandkid."

Albus sat there in shock. Before jumping up to race upstairs. If the situation hadn't been as dire, seeing an old man run would have been greatly amusing.

Lily glared at her husband, anger and frustration in her eyes, before racing up after Albus.

Both Sirius and Remus sat, looking at James in disbelief. James turned to them, confused. "Was it something I said?"

Lily rounded the corner of the stairs just as Dumbledore started casting an unfamiliar spell. Lily's stomach clenched in fear.

"Headmaster, please put your wand down. That it my son you have raised a wand against. The son of two Ancient and Noble Houses." Lily stepped towards the old man with her wand at the ready and her voice full of steel.

The Headmaster whipped around, a slight hysteria in his eyes. "This is the grandson of Lord Voldemort; I can't risk it."

Lily's eyes narrowed as she caught hold of the unspoken threat. She raised her wand. "I have vowed to protect him with my life as I would a child borne from my own loins. Touch a hair from his head, and I will not hesitate to strike you down from where you stand, Headmaster."

Dumbledore's eyes widened in panic, "Do you know what you have done?!" His voice rose with each step he took closer to her.

Lily stood her ground and slipped into a dueling stance. "I know that he is just a babe, and I refuse to let him become anything but an eventual student of Hogwarts to you. You will watch your tone with me, Mr. Dumbledore. I am Lady Potter of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, and I will band you from this House if you so much as lift a finger against my child or me."

Dumbledore froze in place as Lily's voice grew regal and formal. His eyes narrowed as he felt Magic support the words of Lady Potter. He slowly lowered his wand. "Lily," he pleaded. "Don't do this. Do you have any idea what would happen if the Dark Lord found out he had an Heir? He would either kill him or groom him to be deadly".

Lily straightened up, "I know exactly what that bastard would do. But I am Lady Potter and he will never find out. I have become quite the recluse these days, so no one would be surprised if I had a child. It is dark times and having a child would not be flaunted by Lord Potter. So, you see Headmaster, I know exactly what I am doing. And, as it is none of your damn business, I am bidding you to leave it alone."

Lily stood to the side and signaled him to leave. Dumbledore's eyes narrowed further and his magic stirred. But Lily showed no signs of waiving, and flared her own magic at him. Dumbledore's jaw clenched, before slowly leaving the child's room.

As she felt his magic leave the house, Lily's body sagged. She hurried to Harrison and picked him up and cradled him in her arms as she slid to the floor. Harrison's eyes blinked awake and peered into hers.

Pulling him even closer to her, she whispered, "I will never let anyone harm you, Harry. I swear it."

After a few moments of silence, Lily heard the noise of footsteps climbing the stairs.

James burst into the room first, seeing his wife on the floor he rushed over to hug her, "Lily! Are you okay?"

Lily's eyes hardened as she looked at her husband, "If Dumbledore ever comes near Harrison again, I'll kill him myself."

James blinked in surprise. His eyes softened as he really looked at his wife. Her body was tenser than he had ever seen it and she had a slight shake. He maneuvered his wife into his lap and held her and the child. James was beginning to realize how close he had come to losing Lily. Had the Headmaster done anything to the kid, then Lily's Oath would have kicked in.

Whispering in her ear, James vowed "And I would help you."

Lily relaxed into his hold. Everything would be okay.

End of the chapter! Any comments, questions, or concerns? Just review!