Chapter Text
October 31, 1981
The happiest day of James' life was quickly turning into one of the worst.
He was in St Mungo’s, holding baby Jasmine. Lily was fast asleep in the bed next to him, exhausted from giving birth. James was smiling down at his daughter, noticing how her scalp was already covered in dark fuzz.
Just like your father, he thought, gently kissing her forehead.
This quiet moment of happiness quickly dissipated when Dumbledore entered the room. The old wizard’s eyes were downcast and lacked their usual twinkle. Instantly, James felt a pit open in his stomach. Whenever Dumbledore himself came to give news, it always meant something terrible had happened - usually a death.
"James, a word in the hallway, please?" whispered Dumbledore. James nodded, placing Jasmine down and walking outside, frantically running through the reasons why Dumbledore could be here. Was Sirius or Remus injured? Worse, were the twins? He and Lily had left one-year-old Harry and Oliver playing with Neville under the watchful eye of Alice and Frank Longbottom while they went to hospital. It was the longest he'd been away from the boys for their entire lives, and he felt strangely exposed without the quiet security of the Fidelius.
"What's happened?" James asked urgently.
"There's been an attack at your home by Voldemort himself. The twins are alive," Dumbledore added hastily after seeing James’ face. "We've taken them to the children's ward to get looked over."
Before Dumbledore could say another word James started running, all sorts of possibilities flashing through his mind. He’d been to the aftermath of quite a few Death Eater attacks on muggle children and had seen all sorts of awful things that had been done to them. James had always made sure to hug his boys a little tighter each night afterwards. It was almost impossible to believe that it was happening to his own family.
As James ran, Dumbledore began updating him on the details of the situation. He had been betrayed to Voldemort. The man had murdered Alice and Frank. When Voldemort had tried to turn his wand to the children and kill them, however, the spell had backfired. James could barely take in any of this information, too busy panicking over Harry and Oliver.
Luckily, the children's ward was only one floor up from the maternity ward, so James found himself facing a row of doors before even more awful possibilities crowded his head. "They’re in Room 8." Dumbledore informed him.
James pushed the door open to find his two sons on neighbouring beds, crying. James felt his heart break as he saw a Healer frantically trying to soothe Harry, who had a jagged cut on his forehead. It had been plastered with all sorts of healing ointments, but still looked red and angry. James rushed over to Harry and picked him up, bouncing him and patting him on the back.
"It's okay Harry, Daddy's here," soothed James. Harry's crying weakened as his small fists gripped James’ robes. "Let's go see your brother, okay?"
Oliver was lying flat on his bed, while a Healer waved his wand over the boy’s chest, muttering spells. A large v-shaped cut sat just under Oliver’s collarbone. James sat down on the chair next to his son, and held his tiny hand. He wanted desperately to snatch up his son and never let him go, to protect him from Dark Wizards and Death Eaters and anyone who could ever hurt him.
I'm going to kill Peter for this.
Finally, the Healer stopped casting spells over the cut, applying a large bandage to the wound.
"Can I give him a Calming Draught?" The man asked. James nodded, feeling numb. After taking the potion, Oliver's cries began to soften and he soon fell fast asleep. Harry had also dozed off in his father's arms.
Dumbledore, who had been waiting by the side, came up to James.
"Young Oliver has saved the wizarding world, you know,” The man commented.
"How on earth has he done that?" James asked wearily.
"That V on his chest? Voldemort has marked Oliver as his equal. Tonight, Alice Longbottom put herself between Voldemort and Oliver and that sacrifice has saved his life. The power of her love caused the Killing Curse to backfire and kill Voldemort." The words of the prophecy flashed through James’ mind. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal… James was in disbelief. He’d never thought the prophecy was actually true…he’d always thought Divination was a load of rubbish. He and Lily had only gone into hiding because Voldemort seemed to believe the damn thing and had decided to go after his children.
"You-Know-Who is actually gone?" James felt dazed. He couldn’t really believe that the war was finally over.
"He really is. All thanks to your son, James." The twinkle that had been missing for so much of the war was finally back in Dumbledore's eyes. "I'm so sorry, but I really must go. I have to inform the Minister of this. I'll be around to speak as soon as I can, but for now I hope your boys heal quickly." James nodded. Dumbledore walked out, his plum robes billowing out behind him.
He still felt completely shell-shocked. The world as he knew it had changed, and his son, sleeping next to him, was responsible.
How am I going to tell Lily?