"An Ending is Just an Allusion to a Greater Beginning"……….(myself)

Maybe someday when I'm famous, this quote will appear by my name and people will say, "Wow, that was one amazing woman…."

Anyways, I regret to present to you the final chapter in my first Lily and James story. It wasn't always easy to write, and I imagine it wasn't always easy to read. I cried, I laughed and I learned…..

Thanks to all my reviewers, who loyally reviewed, leaving me feeling a sense of self worth.

At the end of this chapter will be my surprise, so read the author's note…….I promise, if you liked my story, you'll be glad you did.

With out further ado. ….

(nothing is my own)

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Chapter Nineteen: Warnings

Fall approached like the dreaded plague, the darkness on the wizarding world was a heavy veil of fear. Nobody was safe from the wrath of the Dark Lord, and nobody could control the developed situation. Purebloods who once thought they were safe had to watch over their shoulder in fear they would be struck down if they had a squib or a muggle marriage in their lines. Half Bloods were struck down in crowded street in broad daylight. Perhaps the Muggle Borns were in the greatest danger. Most of them had gone into hiding fearing for their very lives, some had even abandoned the wizarding world, turning in their wands and returning to their former muggled life.

Lily stared out the window as the setting faded into the horizon. It was the night before All Hallows Eve, the one night of the year when it was said the veil between the living and dead was at its thinnest point. It was also destined to be the last day Lily Potter and her husband would ever see.

She walked over to the Potter family pensive and carefully removed her thoughts from her temple. She watched memorized as each thread disappeared into the silvery liquid.

The next morning was like every other lonely morning. Lily awoke with the heavy arm of James draped over her chest. She careful moved it and freed herself of his hold. She let her feet carry her down the wooden stairs and into the kitchen where she pulled out her magical cook book.

Lily hadn't seen an owl in month, perhaps that's why she was so startled when she turned around and saw a large barn owl staring at her. He was perched still as a statue on the kitchen table with a letter held securely in his beck.

"Is that for me?" she asked the owl as she reached out her hand, he turned his head and moved the letter out of her reach.

"Is it for James Potter?" she asked the owl.

The bird didn't respond and Lily gave a frustrated huff. She looked around the kitchen counter and found a raw piece of bacon which she tossed over to the owl.

He immediately dropped the letter and seized his treat, and Lily was quick to snatch it off the table.

The owl chocked down his meal and hooted an unhappily as he flew out the window. Lily smiled to herself, feeling she had outsmarted the bird.

She glanced down at her fingers starting at the peculiar gray paper. It had no name on the front of then envelope. She carefully tore the top of the envelope and pulled out the letter which was written on the same type of bluish gray paper.

Leave your house tonight, it is not safe. This letter is all I can do, my hands are tied.

You have been warned.

Sincerely,

Anonymous

Lily turned the letter over expecting an explanation, and shook her head. It wasn't the first time the Death Eaters had tried to lure them out of their hiding place. Dumbledore had told them not to leave the house, and she had no intentions of disobeying his orders.

She shoved the letter into her pocket and made a mental note to tell James about it later.

James wandered into the kitchen shortly afterward, awaken by the smell of Lily's breakfast. He began to build up his plate as Lily headed toward the kitchen door.

"I'm going to get Harry up," she said.

James smiled as he watched his wife disappear from his view, then a terrible anxiety filled the pit of his stomach. He had a bad feeling something wasn't right.

Lily rejoined James in the kitchen when he was finishing up his food and she passed Harry over to him as she began to prepare their son's food. She cut up some sausage pieces and mixed them with some white gravy. James passed Harry back to Lily and made his way into their living room, he pulled out his wand and started a fire in the fireplace.

He stared into the fire watching it dance in front of his eyes, trying to pin what was bothering him He remained in deep thought until Lily entered the living area with Harry covered in white gravy.

"I think he's wearing more than he ate," Lily joked as she attempted to clean him up with a wash cloth.

James normally would have smiled at the sight, but he couldn't shake this feeling of dread from his stomach.

Lily wound up a playing baby snitch when she had finished clean up her baby and sat him on the floor to play. The tiny golden play darted above he young boys head barely out of his reach.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked noticing James had something on his mind.

"I've just got a funny feeling," James confessed.

Lily walked over to James and curled up in his lap pulling her legs onto her chest, "James."

"Yes love," he asked wrapping his arms around her.

"Do you think this darkness will ever pass? Do you think we'll ever be able to walk on the streets and watch our son play outside with his friends?" Lily asked.

"Oh course I do. We can't give up yet. We've made it this far," James assured her.

Harry let out a huge scream as he caught the golden ball above his head.

"Looks like we've got a seeker in the family," James laughed.

"I hope so," Lily said desperately.

James turned his head to her and let his eyes get lost in those familiar green eyes.

He closed his eyes as his lips neared her and they embraced for their last kiss.

The day passed slowly for the Potters, and if they had known what the night was destined to bring they probably would have done more, but they didn't. They had no visitors and except the owl from the morning that James was unaware of had not interaction with the outside world.

It was like de ja vu as Lily looked out the window and watched the gigantic orange ball fall from its place in the sky. She watched it as it creped lower and lower and finally was gone.

She walked over to the silvery pensive and began to empty her memories one by one watching them fade into the bowl. Her hand reached down and felt the letter in her pocket from the morning a cold shiver raced up her spine. She pulled it out and reread it two or three times.

"James?" Lily yelled down the stairs.

She looked towards the window and it seemed everything outside had stopped, it was an unnatural silence. It was as if something evil was approaching.

She turned to go downstairs, but something stopped her.

She put her wand to her temple one last time and withdrew a silvery strand and everything went black.

December waited for the blackness to end, she waited for the next memory that would never come. She slowly felt herself rising and again she was in that cold office. Her lips were dry and her eyes swollen. She had just relived the worst memories of her life. She stared into the silvery swirls of Lily and James's pensive. It was given to her by Dumbledore, and she was told to keep it safe until Harry was ready.

She tried to absorb it all, everything that she had seen, everything that happened. She closed her eyes trying to remember the events that followed Lily's last memories. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind.

It was a cold October night, that 31st. She had just arrived at her flat after a hard day of training and her Auror graduation was approaching.

She almost fell off her chair as the loud pop of an apparation broke the quietness of her home.

"Have you seen Peter?" Sirius cried.

"No, he's not here why?" December asked confused by Sirius sudden appearance.

"I have to find Peter," Sirius said quickly.

"Why, what's wrong?" December said now feeling very concerned, Sirius was scaring her.

"Their in danger" Sirius blurted out quickly.

December stared at Sirius's face wondering what he was thinking.

"I just came from the Order, Snape told me to find Peter," Sirius tried to quickly explain.

"Why would Peter be in danger, you're their secret keeper," December cried.

Sirius looked like he wanted to tell her something, but didn't.

"If you see him tell him to go to James and Lily, tell him I'm looking for him," Sirius instructed her as he apparated away.

That evening had been one of the worst of December's life, she didn't want to leave her flat in case Peter showed up, but she wanted to go see Lily and James also. It was about 10:00 when the news had arrived.

"THE DARK LORD IS GONE!" came a voice from the street.

December stuck her head out her front door to see what all celebration was about.

Witches and Wizards were dancing feverishly, celebrating the happiest day of their life.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" December yelled out feeling a warm sensation of happiness in her stomach.

"HE ATTACKED THE POTTER'S TONIGHT, AND THEIR YOUNG SON, HE VANQUISHED HIM!" a happy wizard yelled back at her.

December felt her heart stop and she ran out and seized the young wizard by the shoulders, "the Potters?"

"Yes, he tried to kill the young boy and it spell backfired or something," a young man said confused why December was so anxious.

"Are they okay, all of them?" December begged.

"No, I heard only the boy lived," he told her.

December felt her blood freeze in her veins, she couldn't breath she could think.

"No," she cried as she tried to apparate but couldn't. She fell to her knees as the celebration continued around her.

It had taken nearly two hours before she had enough strength to go to the Potter's destroyed home. As she looked around the ruins of it she felt a part of herself die.

She'd pick up a plate or a picture and sob. The ministry had already taken the bodies, so they had spared her the misery of seeing their corpses. She couldn't figure out where Sirius and Peter were, surely they would come.

A tiny gold ball shined from under a board and she picked it up, it was James snitch.

She almost collapsed, but a pair of warm arms caught her. She expected to see Sirius, but didn't.

"It's okay," Remus cried tears streaming down his face.

"Remus, their dead," December whispered.

"Where is Harry?" Remus asked desperately.

"I don't know, Dumbeldore has him I think," December said as she tried to stop her tears.

The celebration was still loud and all around them and December just wanted to scream at them to shut-up.

"What happened?" Remus asked, "how did he find them?"

"I don't know, Sirius was their secret keeper," December answered.

"Sirius?" Remus said surprised, "he'd never betray them."

The morning came, but the tragedy of the night was far from forgotten. December and Remus had desperately questioned everyone trying to figure out where Harry was, but nobody knew.

"I demand to know where Dumbledore took Harry!" December screamed as she seized Alastor Moody by the arm.

"He's with his family," McGonagall said suddenly appearing behind her.

"His family?" December said confused.

"That is correct, Professor Dumbledore believe it is the safest place for him." McGonagall continued.

"You don't mean with Lily's sister?" December asked desperately.

"Yes I do."

"Their the worst muggles imaginable!" December cried.

McGonagall gave her best sympatric smile, "I agree."

Remus pulled December into a hug as McGonagall and Moody walked away.

It was then that the horrible news got worse.

"Sirius Black just killed thirteen people with a single curse!" yelled a ministry official to the group who had gathered around the remains of the Potter place.

"Sirius Black!" December yelled hoping she had heard wrong.

"Yea, some wizard cornered him and confronted him about being a Death Eater and he blew him away taking twelve muggle in the curse," the official yelled back.

"Who was the wizard?" Remus asked desperately.

"I don't know, somebody by the name of Pettigrew."

"Peter," Remus said faintly.

"Peter why did you go after him alone?" Remus asked as the tears began to fall once again. December pulled her arms around Remus and tried to comfort him.

The days that followed were numb. Sirius was thrown into Azkaban without a trial.

Severus Snape had told the Order that he had confronted Black about being a traitor the night the Potters were killed, "I told him that the Potter's secret keeper was the traitor, and everyone knew he was the secret keeper. He must have delivered the news that night to the Dark Lord knowing it was only a matter of time till he was caught."

As Snape spoke December starting thinking about the last time she had seen Sirius.

"I've got to find Peter. Snape told me to find Peter."

It wasn't until now, fifteen years later that she finally understood. Peter was the secret keeper, not Sirius.

December opened her eyes and willed those memories from her mind but they wouldn't leave.

"He was innocent and I condemned him. If I had only been strong enough to look into this pensive then I would have known years ago. This is the evidence that he was innocent," she cried to herself on her cold office floor.

She slammed her fist into the stone floor screaming and crying with all her might.

"I'm sorry," she repeated over and over as the tears engulfed her.

Why hadn't she just been strong enough.

After several hour of exhausting tears she stood up and walked over to her desk and the letter Remus had sent her.

Dearest Remus,

I am sorry I have been absent from your life. I have accepted the teaching position at Hogwarts this term, and wish to meet with you and discuss the old times. Please let me know when you might be available.

Faithfully Yours,

December

December wiped the tears from her eyes, she wasn't going to cry anymore. She had an introduction in her future. It was time for Harry to meet his parents.