Chapter Text
Epilogue, Pt. II: October 31, 1981
All day, Minerva had felt a sense of uneasiness permeate her bond with Albus. His emotions seemed to fluctuate between discontentment, anger, fear, and nausea.
The constant turmoil had made Minerva feel ill, and despite her best intentions to grade papers, she had found herself snuggled in bed for the entire day. She was worried about her husband, but could also glean that he was safe and uninjured. Albus was on Order business, she knew, and he had told her he would likely be gone all day.
Albus had not bothered to satisfy his wife's curiosity about where he was going or with whom.
Later that night, Minerva had cause to wish she had never wondered the cause of her husband's turbulent emotions.
She heard the door to her quarters slam, causing her to sit up and take hold of her wand. "Hello? Albus?"
"Minerva, are you here?" Albus' frantic voice bellowed from her sitting room. "Minerva, come quickly!"
Minerva dropped her book, leapt out of bed and rushed into the next room. She drank in the sight of her husband's hunched shoulders and felt anxious herself. "What is it? What's happened?"
A flicker of regret showed on Albus' face before he said, "It's Lily and James. I've heard word that Tom is defeated and met his demise at the Potter house."
Minerva suddenly felt even more ill. "Al, what do we know? Are..." She closed her eyes and forced the question from her throat. "Are there any survivors?"
"I'd like us to get there and determine that before we can hear from anyone else," Albus said slowly. He met her eyes. "I thought that this was something we should discover together."
She nodded and held out her arm. "Of course. Let's go."
Albus Apparated them to a side street near where he knew Lily and James' house in Godric's Hollow to be. To Minerva's surprise, Albus kept hold of her arms and looked at her intently. "Minerva, you need to prepare yourself. If we can't see the house, the Fidelius charm is still intact. If we can see it, then—"
"Then something catastrophic enough to blow up the house and all its protective enchantments has happened," Minerva said crisply. She softened her voice and lightly touched his arm. "I know."
Together, hand in hand, they walked to the Potter's house.
When Minerva saw half of the house in smoke, she screamed and ran to the rubble.
"Minerva!" Albus yelled after her. "Please, be careful!"
Minerva paid him no mind and entered the house. She took four steps before she saw James' lifeless body on the floor, and she wailed.
"No, no, no, no!" Minerva crouched to the ground and clutched her son's body to hers. "No, James! Please, no! Wake up, darling! It's Minerva—your real mother. Wake up, and I'll tell you the whole truth. No, Dalton, please. No, mo mhac, no!"
Albus closed his eyes as he heard his wife sob. "Min...my love, what can I do?"
"Find Lily and Harry. See if they're...see if they're here," she rasped, not taking her eyes off James. "Go."
Recognizing that she needed the privacy, Albus nodded. He surveyed the rest of the ground floor before heading up the stairs. Like his wife, he knew what he was likely walking into, but nothing could have prepared him to see the sight of his daughter's corpse on the nursery floor.
He couldn't determine if the swell of nausea that coursed through him was his own or Minerva's, but the sobs that bubbled out of his throat were all his own grief.
"I will kill you, Tom Riddle," Albus vowed. "No matter the cost, you will die for this." He felt tears slip down his crooked nose as he knelt down. "I love you, Athena. For now and forever. I will avenge you, my angel."
He kissed his daughter's forehead and closed his eyes, willing everything to be different.
"Alba?" The quiet voice of his grandson caused Albus to look up. He saw Harry's tiny fingers grip the side of his cot, and his heart wrenched in relief and heartbreak. "Alba? Ma?"
"Come here, my boy," Albus whispered. He rose and took Harry in his arms. "I don't know how you did it, but you're fine. You're safe, little one."
"Al?" Minerva croaked as she climbed the stairs. "Is..." She caught sight of Lily and wailed. "Oh, Merlin."
"Athena's gone," Albus said unnecessarily, "but Harry survived."
"Harry," Minerva whispered. Her heart swelled so much that Albus could feel it, too. She held out her arms. "Can I hold him?"
Albus wordlessly handed over their grandson.
"Oh, Harry," Minerva sobbed. She peppered kisses all over the toddler's face. "I'm so glad you're all right, baby. It's okay. Grandpa and I will take you home to Hogwarts, and we will take care of you."
His wife's remark made the grief in Albus sit back as his brain took over.
"Minerva, we can't take him back with us."
She looked at her husband incredulously. "Are you kidding me? We're not going to leave him here."
"We have to," Albus said sadly. "No one can know we were here—besides, no one knows we have any ties to Harry. We can't just take him!"
"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, you cannae be telling me we are going to leave our grandson to be raised by Merlin knows who!" Minerva screamed. She clutched Harry to her chest as his tiny fingers scrunched around her robes. "I am not leaving him here. Do you understand me?"
"I will have someone pick Harry up within an hour," Albus promised. "He seems fed, and he is in no danger—"
"Like hell he's not! What if some of Riddle's followers show up?" Minerva looked fiercely at Albus. "We're not leaving him here—and who would you have raise him, if not us?"
"I was thinking someone in the Order," Albus admitted. "At least in the interim. We can't exactly take him back to Hogwarts."
Minerva quirked her eyebrow. "We could, but if that's the reason for your reticence, I can easily take him back to the Manor."
"How will you teach from home?"
"You'll have my resignation in the morning, Albus, if that's what concerns you."
Albus pulled on his beard in agitation. "Min—my dear—you know we cannot take him. Not right now. We will return to Hogwarts, and I will send for someone to come and collect Harry tout de suite. I cannot be seen here before the Minister informs me."
"What about me?" Minerva asked defiantly. "Why can't I be seen here?"
"I'll need you to inform Filius that we'll be away for the next twenty-four hours while I see to the Minister." Albus kissed her temple. "We need to do this properly. Otherwise, we'll be called into questioning, and Harry will be thrown into Ministry care. As much as we want to, we can't just take him. We need to give him up now so we can convince the Minister to let us decide what happens to him."
Minerva whispered, "Lily told me that she and James determined we were to decide what happened to Harry if Sirius wasn't around. We're in their will. You can tell the Minister that—you won't need to convince her. Their will is in their vault at Gringotts." She paused, and then reiterated, "We decide what happens to Harry if Sirius isn't found, Albus."
Albus raised his eyebrow at the depth of conversations that his wife had apparently had with his daughter. "Lily mentioned us in her will?"
"Yes, they did," Minerva corrected softly. She kissed the crown of Harry's head. "And since no one has seen hide nor tail of Sirius in weeks, I'm sure Minister Bagnold will let us decide what happens to Harry."
"Okay," Albus acquiesced gently. "Okay, I understand. But in order to strengthen our case, my dear, we need to go now."
Minerva shuddered. "You'll have someone from the Order come and get him right away?"
"Yes. I promise. Then, it'll look all the better to the Minister if Lily and James' will holds true." Albus knew he was telling a half-truth—he could feel Lily's sacrifice in the air around him and had suspicions about what that meant for Harry's future guardianship—but he needed Minerva to remain calm.
"All right. With any luck, you can keep our involvement in this a secret," Minerva agreed softly. She placed Harry gently down in his cot and kissed his forehead. "Gram loves you, Harry James." She looked pointedly at Albus. "I'll meet you outside. I'm going to take one more minute with Jam—Dalton."
Albus nodded and watched as Minerva left the nursery. He, too, kissed Harry and whispered, "Harry, my dear, dear boy. If I'm right, your mother shielded you with her love. That means her blood will keep you safe. I just don't know if that means I can keep you safe." Albus ran his weathered hand over his face and scrunched his nose to prevent more tears from falling. "Your mother didn't know I was a blood relative when she died—does that change the blood magic? I don't know, Harry. I just don't know. And no matter what Minerva says, I don't think you'll be safe living with us."
Albus sighed and made to leave the room. He looked back at Harry and Lily once more and murmured, "I hope you can forgive me."
Whether he meant that for his daughter, his grandson, or even his wife, Albus didn't know.
He rolled his shoulders back and went to meet Minerva so they could face the future together.
FIN.
It feels strange to finally come to the end of this—it took a year and a half after posting the last chapter of The Way It Should Have Been to finish this story. Yet, I must admit that it also feels very, very good.
I appreciate everyone who has commented/reviewed, bookmarked/favourited, alerted/bookmarked, or simply read this story. I hope it didn't disappoint, and to those of you who have left weekly feedback, I send my most heartfelt gratitude.
I am happy to say that I am in the process of writing a novella for this story to bridge the gap between 1981 and 1991. It will be shorter—think max. 30k words instead of *gulps audibly* 120k or 350k. I am very pleased to say that the first four chapters are done, so, if you're willing to see me next Wednesday, as per usual, I'll be there with the first installment of The Way It Was In Between.
Thank you,
Margaret.