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letstrythisout4 · 3 months ago

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Mary and Harry Pt. 2

April 1982

Bright green eyes stared into Mary’s deep brown, and Mary could hear Peter in the back of her mind.

He’s very…aware.

That was what Peter said when he held Harry for the first time. Everyone had laughed at how concerned he sounded and looked, arms held all the way out holding Harry as if bringing him any closer would hurt.

The comment was the first of many. Everyone loved Harry, more than anything, but he was…different. He just knew things. Remus had refused to baby-talk to Harry, claiming that Harry understood and it seemed that he did. He would babble back at Remus as if speaking, expressions appropriate to every story that Remus laid out.

Mary had never seen these moments herself, always getting the long-winded retelling from James and Sirius. After years of knowing the boys Mary had learned not to believe anything they said unless it could be proven, and it had just felt like another exaggerated story.

But now it made sense, it hadn’t even been a year since they had been together and Mary could see exactly what they meant.

The pair both sat at their small dinner table, Harry staring knowingly at Mary as if he were a proper Legilimens. Then Harry’s hands appeared from where they had rested below the table of his high chair, in his hands were Mary’s keys.

Mary’s head dropped on to the table and she let out a loud groan.

This baby was going to be the death of her.

Mary stood, reaching across the table to pry the keys out of Harry’s strong baby-hold. “Enough with the keys, Harry.”

Mary had been told her whole life that she was patient. She didn’t feel very patient as she opened and slammed closed the nearest drawer in their kitchen, keys trapped inside.

The urge to slam her head into the wall almost took over Mary as she watched Harry’s eyes water. “Don’t start, Harry.”

He started.

First it was slow, tears silently streamed down his chubby face, his chest rising and falling with the wails that were preparing to escape his lungs. “WAHHHHHHHHH!”

For the most part, Harry was a quiet child. The most sound he made routinely was giggling whenever Mary forgot to tie up her hair, he would laugh and laugh tugging on her curls, finding immense amusement in how Mary would repeatedly say “Ow ow ow ow, stop it, you damn gremlin or I’ll put you up for adoption, do not test me.”

“What do you want now, Harry? And don’t ask for the keys, I’m sick of hearing them chime.” Mary rubbed her forehead, how people could possibly have multiple children was lost on her.

He did the impossible and started crying even harder, “Mama, Papa, Pads, Moo, Pet” and he repeated and repeated, tiny fist wiping his face.

Mary sighed, “I miss them too.”

Sometimes Harry would just do that, start repeating the broken names that he knew. He wasn’t even two and yet he knew that people were missing in his life. “Come on, we have things to do.”

The pair of them got ready, falling into their short morning routine. Harry was dropped into his play pen, or cage as Mary liked to call it, and played noisily with blocks and sensory fidgets that Mary had bought. Sesame Street was already playing, Big Bird was on an adventure to find a friend, “Alright, I’ll be right back, don’t break anything.”

Harry looked over his shoulder and jutted his thumb towards her to acknowledge he understood.

Mary didn’t know much about babies but it didn’t feel like he should be able to do all of this.

“Alright, then.” Mary was off, practically running into the bathroom (Harry always found a way to get into something he wasn’t supposed to if she left alone for too long) , pulling off her satin scarf and shaking her curls out. She dressed as quickly as she could, a simple red shirt and dark-washed jeans, and hopped back into the living room, putting her shoes on as she went. Sneakers now tied, she swooped up Harry and dressed him similarly, though his shirt was blue. The final touch was a tap to Harry’s head, the chill made him shiver and hum disapprovingly at her, his disappointed glare was worth it when his eyes were brown, nose wider and hair curlier; he now looked less like a mini-Potter and more like a mini-MacDonald, it was almost disturbing how much he looked like her cousins.

Her cousins… Merlin, she hadn’t seen them in years.

A tug and the sound of stomping feet got her to walk.

The duo walked out of the apartment, Harry stood patiently beside Mary as she fought to lock the apartment door, looking very adorable wearing his baby glasses and book bag as big as him.

That was another thing Mary quickly realized was, James wasn’t lying about ‘Potter terrible eyesight trait’. It wasn’t very noticeable until a few weeks into their new lives and when Mary had been calling for Harry to look at her when she was standing across the kitchen and he couldn’t make eye contact. An immediate red flag because this boy did barely anything other than make eye contact.

And so big chunky high-powered glass sat on Harry’s nose, not unlike photos Euphemia had proudly shown James’ entire friend group every Christmas, she would say it was a “curse” placed on all Potter men since the dawn of time to have terrible sight, Mary could remember Fleamont’s hearty laugh filling the room whenever the topic came up.

It never failed to make the patriarch laugh.

There was another tug on Mary’s jeans and she was back in 1982, staring unseeingly at the wall of the hallways of her apartment building and not in 1979 snickering with Lily at baby James’ glass that made him look like a bug.

No, now instead of a photo bug-eyed James below her was bug-eyed Harry looking concerned. as if he knew.

“Come on.” was all she said, one hand taking his hand in hers, the other patting her wand which was concealed in a pocket sewn on her jeans.

The pair started their walk, through the elevator and lobby, Harry waving to the doorman as he always did, chirping out “Hi!”.

When they had first moved to D.C. Mary had been worried that she wouldn’t be able to find the magical sections of the district, but it was rather easy. Americans weren’t nearly as strict on secrecy as Britan was. Mary had been lucky to find an apartment on the outskirts of the district, a nice historical town, mixed with apartment, townhouses and shops. The best part -other than the safety- was that just down the street was a Magical Emporium, the front half was for muggles who seeked out the services of the witches who ran the stores. Most muggles were skeptical, some were believers, some were just desperate and willing to try anything. The back half was what interested Mary, in the back of the hole in the wall store was an entire shopping village filled with everything a witch could ask for.

Mary and Harry walked through the store, Mary covered Harry’s ears as a muggle in a suit started begging if there was anything that the counter could do to save his business. With a nod to the witch, they walked to the back through one curtain, then through another to find the village. Witches and wizards were apparating and disapparating in and out, filing in and out of shops and restaurants. On days where Mary missed her Hogsmead days she would bring Harry here, the two of them sitting on a bench watching as people milled around.

But today wasn’t a day for people watching, today they were on a mission. The duo walked to the owlery, Harry stood patiently in line for a total of five minutes before he started repeating “Up! Up!” Mary stood with Harry in her arms.

For a baby, he looked very smug.

“Next in line please.” They approached the wizard's station that had called them, “Owl preference?” a dark-skinned wizard asked, hand hovering over bins of owl treats.

“An Elf Owl, please.”

“Been here before?”

“No.”

He smiled, “It’s simple really. Take the treat, extend your hand over the ledge and the owl will come to you. See the treat is charmed to attract whichever owl you ask for, tie the letter as you would any other and they’ll fly off. Whatever you’re sending weighs less than 3 pounds, correct? Traveling domestic or international and if international where?” he asked, handing over the circular treat.

“International, Britain.” Mary stated simply, the less information given the better.

“Hm well, I am required to tell you that because of the war letters may be intercepted, our owls are top notch but” he shrugged “things happen. And as with all flights we do not do long term stays, meaning the owl will not stay with the recipient. Do you wish to get an owl that will stay for a total of 10 minutes, allowing for a response?”

“No, no I don’t need a response.” Harry gurgled unhappily at that.

The wizard raised an eyebrow at her, “He seems to think otherwise.”

Mary pinched Harry lightly, “He just likes to disagree with me.”

Once the payment was finalized they walked to the ledge where several feet in front of them were multiple trees, owls occupying almost every branch. (One of Mary’s favorite aspects of the village was that nobody asked for names unless absolutely necessary, making purchases much simpler for Mary) Mary perched Harry on the ledge before holding out her hand with the treat. A small Elf owl flew to them and Mary tied her letter to his presented talon.

The letter was simple,’I have him, I was right about Dumbledore, stay safe’ was all it read. Mary gently stroked the owl's head, “This goes to Remus Lupin, give it to no one else.” The owl blinked and flew away.

—

Mary was proud to call herself a decent chef, at least when she paid attention.

Which wasn’t frequently.

She walked around stirred the pasta she was boiling and allowed herself to get lost in her mind.

Remus Lupin.

There were some days where Mary regretted not bringing Lupin with them to the states. She typically dismissed the idea quickly, there were plenty of valid reasons to leave Lupin. It wasn’t a secret he Dumbledore was looking for Harry, he and Milicent Bagnold -the current Minister of Magic- were all over the papers, stating that someone had stolen away Harry Potter. They stated that they had “good reason to believe” that the boy was alive and somewhere out there in the world.

Mary had already been in hiding for a month before the attack on Lily and James, hiding that Dumbledore recommended.

So when Mary had disappeared it was nothing to worry about, but if Remus disappeared, they might as well have handed over Harry right to Dumbeldore. Remus’ description was too unique. But most importantly, Mary didn’t think he’d have gone willingly.

Dumbledore was very…trusted. Everyone adored him, everyone owed him, so everyone listened to him. So when Mary spoke out against him there had been concerns.

Mary never really trusted him. He was too… politically correct. He never wavered, always preached love and light and forgiveness, but it never resonated with Mary.

But everyone else agreed, at least agreed enough. Nobody was quite as starry-eyed but everyone still trusted him. Even as people started dying left and right.

Mary was sixteen when she was attacked by wanna-be Death Eaters in the halls of Hogwarts. She was sixteen when Dumbledore told her that he “couldn’t do anything” about the attack and that “ we are all in a delicate position”. She was sixteen when she officially didn’t trust Dumbledore. She was sixteen when she started whispering her doubts to her friends. She was seventeen when she started noticing that her friends were lying to her. She was seventeen when she and her friends joined the order. She was eighteen when Moody had casually mentioned that he was “impressed” when Dumbledore told him that “she was willing to go on missions alone”, when she had never said that and had thought it was a coincidence.

She was twenty when Lily had whispered to her about a prophecy that Snape said “no one was to know about”.

~~~~~

“Who else knows?” Mary whispered, griping Lily’s arms tightly.

Lily shook her head, red hair spilling from her bun, “I don’t know. I haven’t told anyone…” she trailed off and guilty added “not even James.”

Mary’s mouth opened and closed before spitting out, “Why tell me?”

That was the first time in a long time that Mary had felt one of her friends had been truly honest with her. Ever since the night in the hospital wing years ago, where she whispered to them that she thought Dumbledore was a coward for not punishing Muliciber, honesty was quietly non-existent. Her friends would dance around any details concerning their work for the Order, she would only get vague descriptions.

They never stopped loving her, no, Sirius’ hugs were still strong and grounding and Marlene never stopped smiling with teeth, but it was different.

It broke Mary's heart to see Lily fold into herself at the question, “I don’t think anyone else will believe me.” Lily gasped, tears flowing.

Peter had said years ago “A fairy loses its wings every time Lily cries.” and it had never felt more true. There was no better way to describe how wrong it was.

All these tears for a letter. Mary hugged Lily tightly, “I believe you.” she whispered and Lily only cried harder. The letter had Snape's cramped spidery handwriting, scribbled out was a prophecy and a warning to “tell no one, no one knows”.

“James and I went,” she sniffled. “We went to my parents' old house and it was there waiting on the kitchen table. I hid it before James could see.”

“I won’t tell anyone.”

~~~~~~

The night had ended with many tears and the burning of the letter, neither girl was going to forget the haunting words ever.

And even now, Mary couldn’t confidently say Remus would believe her. Remus was a practical man, never fond of Divination. And denial…denial was a strong thing. Even Mary struggled to believe all of this came from a flaky form of magic.

Lily hated Divination, nobody hated Divination more than Lily Evans. But desperation too was a strong thing.

Mary shook her curls, Remus wasn’t here and it was too late to get him, the past was the past. She looked down at the noodles she had been stirring and…they weren’t boiling anymore.

‘Oh no…” Mary thought to herself, head falling back as Harry began to cry.

The lights in the apartment flickered, the ice machine started pouring ice out of the fridge, and Harry’s toys started levitating.

“ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! ENOUGH, I’M COMING!” Mary yelled to Harry as she began searching for the keys that she had once again hidden away.

Keys in hand, Mary jumped over the couch right into Harry’s playpen all but throwing the keys at the baby.

Suddenly everything stopped, the faint sound of boiling began again, ice stopped falling on the floor and the lights were consistently on. Harry began waving the keys around, listening to the jingling they made. Mary slumped on the floor beside the one year old, “Aunt aunt aunt” he chanted using his hand without the keys to pat Mary’s curls from where they were in reach.

“All this for a snotty, green, bug-eyed one year old” Mary muttered under her breath before gently pushing Harry over, much to his amusement.

#harry potter #mary macdonald #marauders era #the marauders #james potter #sirius black #remus lupin #lily evans #marlene mckinnon #alastor moody #mad eye moody #hermione granger #ron weasley

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lulublack90 · 8 months ago

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Prompt 22 - Mountain

@jegulus-microfic March 22 Word count 854

Previous part First part

James was fretting. It couldn’t be a good thing that both Black parents were at Grimmauld Place. He worried when Regulus was at Death Eater meetings as Voldemort was liberal with his use of the Cruciatus curse when his followers displeased him, but at least Regulus had a house to go to and didn’t have to keep up the facade for long. But with Orion and Walburga, he would always have to be on guard. Then there was also the selfish side that James tried not to think about too much. With Lord and Lady Black in residence, Regulus would never be able to slip away and see him, and James had gotten used to seeing him on a regular basis, what with all their adventures and Thestral meetings.

Sirius, on the other hand, was trying to convince himself that everything was absolutely fine because if he didn’t, he was going to end up breaking the door down of number 12 and yank his boyfriend and his brother out.

For now, though, James had to calm himself as they had an order meeting. No one else in the order knew about their true mission apart from Dumbledore and Mad-Eye.

Most of the Order was already sitting at the long table of whoever’s house they were using. James knew better than to ask. He and Sirius took their seats and chattered with the members they were friendly with. Frank and his new wife Alice sat quietly, whispering to each other and by the blush that kept creeping across Frank's cheeks, James didn’t want to disturb them. Mary had no such qualms.

“Oi, Alice, stop telling Frank what you’re going to do to him after the meeting and say hello.” It was Alice’s turn to blush.

“Sorry, honeymoon period.” She giggled sweetly. “How is everyone?”

James had to grit his jaw as Peter greeted him, chatting happily about his promotion within the Ministry. Sirius kept a tight hold of his arm under the table to keep him from ripping Pettigrew apart. They had to keep that secret. They’d deal with him in the end.

Lily wandered in just as Mary finished telling everybody about the disastrous cake she’d tried to make.

“Nearly burnt the flat down. I don’t know how Mum does it.”

James slipped her a note as she settled herself into her seat. He didn’t think anyone had seen as they were still enraptured in Mary’s description of the insanely fit fireman who turned up after she panicked and forgot she was a witch.

“Right, can we get started then?” Mad-Eye grunted, stopping all talk of the way the fireman’s biceps stretched his t-shirt so much that Mary was surprised it didn’t just rip apart. “So, I’ve gathered you all here because—” He was interrupted by Marlene banging the door off the wall as she entered late.

“You’ve got exactly 20 minutes of my time, Mad-Eye. Dorcas is waiting for me, and she’s said she’ll start without me if I’m not back on time.” James watched as Alastor Moody closed his eye and took a few deep breaths before he confronted Marlene.

“McKinnon, you’re late. Sit down and listen up.” His growling words were barely audible, but everyone in the room heard them. Marlene hurried over to Mary and took her place around the table. “Right as I was saying.” He glared at Marlene, who wasn’t embarrassed in the least. “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a spy.” The room went silent.

Dumbledore had already told him they needed to alert the others that there was a spy. They needed the other members to be more careful with what information they told whom and more secretive with where they were talking. Dumbledore didn’t want to reveal that they knew it was Peter, but he wanted to limit what true information he was able to glean from the others.

James watched as Peter squirmed in his seat. He wanted so badly to just out him now and let the order have at him. But he knew how much Dumbledore wanted to use him. It made his blood boil.

Moody had a list of new rules that had to be followed in the letter. They were now under strict instructions not to tell even other order members what any of their assignments involved. “Now get out,” Moody ordered once the meeting was over. “I’ve got a mountain of paperwork to get through, and you’re all keeping me from it."

“I wish we could go to Evan’s.”James huffed at Sirius once they’d left the meeting, “I need Barty to describe his plan on how to deal with Peter.” The bubbling anger was still just beneath the surface, and he was having trouble keeping it in. If Sirius had had his dog ears at that moment, they would have perked up. He suddenly apparated, leaving James standing alone in the alleyway entrance.

A few moments later, Sirius’s dog patronus appeared. It opened its mouth, and Sirius’s voice called out. “Come on, loser, we’re waiting.” James felt the smile spread across his face as he apparated to Rosier House.

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