Author's Note:
All right, this chapter is different from chapter 22 in the other. Next chapter, which is completely alternate, will be coming soon. Give it a day or so.
Enjoy!
Chapter Graphic by Jeanie at The Dark Arts
*****
Michelle stopped counseling her meeting immediately and sprang forward. Walking to Lacy's side, "He wants the papers?"
"Yes. He was very clear." Lacy panted, "He wants to release Harry."
Michelle looked about the conference room for a minute before stuttering, "A-All right. He is the one with the right. We can't stop him. Give him the papers, Lacy..."
Lacy's lips quivered, but she nodded and left the conference room with a nervous apology. She sprinted back down the hall and back into her office where she began digging through her file cabinets until she found Harry Potter's file. She pulled out a stack of stapled papers and stared down at them in horror. There were statements all over the paper and then open spots for the rightful person to sign. Lacy cursed, "Shit..."
Sirius stared at her and only then did Lacy realize that her boyfriend was crying, gasping, "N-No. No, he can't. He can't kill him just like that!"
"I'm sorry, Sirius..." Lacy whispered, picking up the stack of papers and a pen from her desk, "You don't have a say in it. James is legally the one to let Harry go. I'm sorry, but we can't do anything about it."
She took the papers and pen and left her office, walking down the hall and into Harry's ward. Hermione was sobbing against Ron when Lacy entered and Ron was comforting her, getting teary. James sat by his son's side, Harry's hand in his own. Lacy took a step forward and choked out to James, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
James swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded, "Yes..."
She nodded and showed James the stack of papers, telling him what to do, "You must read everything and sign everywhere you see needs to be signed. Also, I don't think we should pull the magic today. You must schedule a time when you want it to be pulled. I think it would be best if you waited a day or two so Ginny can come back from Hogwarts."
James nodded, tears rolling down his cheeks and he took the papers, settling himself in a chair. Lacy watched him settle himself and begin to read. She walked over to Ron and Hermione and took each of their shoulders. Lacy whispered, "Come on. Why don't you two go home for the day?"
Ron nodded and whispered, "I think that is a good idea. Come on, love. W-We'll owl my sister."
"Oh, Harry..." Hermione sobbed, letting Ron lead her out. The couple left and Lacy looked over her shoulder, looking to James who was sobbing while reading the papers, slowly lifting his pen and signing his name slowly. She left the room, leaving James to decide Harry's fate.
There was always that chance that he wouldn't go through with it...
James sat for hours reading and signing. He finally came to the last line and he read it slowly and out loud, tracing the words with his finger, as if he touched them it became real, "I - " he signed his name, "James Harold Potter, give St. Mungo's Hospital permission to cancel the magic placed on Harry James Potter, knowing that this option will result in Harry James Potter's death."
He closed his eyes as he took the pen into his hands again and placed the tip of it down onto the paper. Slowly, he signed his name in the last slot. He set the papers on one of the end tables and then stood, walking to his son's bed. He leaned over and kissed Harry's forehead, whispering, "I'm so sorry, my son..."
It was a sunny afternoon at Hogwarts and Ginny sat with her friends in the Great Hall that night at dinner, talking happily. She hadn't been herself all year, but she had tried. The hall was loud with laughter, talking, and the clanking of the utensils being used, but then the hall quieted as one owl swept in and stopped in front of Ginny.
Ginny stopped eating as her friends stared at her, along with the rest of Hogwarts, wanting to know why the only owl was there to deliver something to Ginny Weasley. Ginny nervously, untied the piece of parchment and the owl flew out of the hall. She watched it go before opening it slowly, recognizing her brother's writing. She noticed that his handwriting was slightly different, almost as if he had been struggling to write it.
She dropped the letter and clamped a hand over her mouth, beginning to sob loudly. She moaned, "No, no, no! He can't do that! No!"
"Ginny, what is it?" Andrea asked her.
Ginny lifted her face as tears began to already streak down them. She sobbed, "They're going to kill Harry..." The whole hall heard her sob loudly and began to murmur. She rose from her seat and sprinted from the hall.
*****
Lily awoke in the middle of the night in a panic. James was wrapped around her tightly, his head on her growing belly which had gotten fairly large in the past couple weeks. She was frightened. She bit her bottom lip, feeling that the sheets beneath her thighs were wet. She could feel that her blood had soaked through her underwear and from her pajama pants, and possibly James' leg that was next to her thighs. She pushed James off of her and tossed back the covers to see blood.
She knew what that meant...
She cried loudly and began shaking her husband. James groaned sleepily as Lily said in a panicked voice, "J-James, get me to St. Mungo's! I need to go to St. Mungo's! T-The baby! Something's wrong!!"
"W-What Lily?" he moaned, turning to face her. His eyes were still closed and Lily gave him a hard push, screaming, "The baby!!"
James bolted up immediately and gasped at the blood pooling about Lily's legs. He gaped, "W-What's wrong? Why are you bleeding?"
She knew why, but she couldn't answer that. She shook her head, slapping the mattress of the bed, "Get me to St. Mungo's!"
He bounced up and ran to the other side of the bed, snatching Lily into his arms. He ran to the fire place as Lily sobbed against his shoulder and threw a hand full of floo powder into the grate, shouting, "St. Mungo's!" He stepped into the flames before being engulfed and seconds later sprinting out of another grate and into the waiting area of St. Mungo's.
He ran to the secretary and said in a rush, "P-Please, help! M-My wife she's pregnant and she's bleeding really bad!" James only then noticed the patch of blood on his pajama pants from sleeping against Lily and now blood was forming on his arm where he held her. It had already soaked through her pants.
The secretary's eyes widened at the couple and she immediately pointed down the hall on the right, "Quickly! Down the hall! Any room that is empty! A healer will be with you immediately!"
James nodded and ran off to the right, Lily clinging onto him in sobs. He sprinted into the first available room and lay Lily on the hospital bed. She was sobbing, holding her five month pregnant belly. James took her hand, ignoring her blood that was running down his right arm. He cried, "Lily, what's wrong?! Why are you bleeding?!"
She could only shake her head and cry loudly, "My baby, my baby, my baby..."
A healer dashed in and ran to the bed, inspecting Lily quickly. The raven haired healer quickly spoke, "I'm Healer Johnson. We'll get this taken care of, but, Daddy, I'm afraid I need you to step out into the hall while I look at your wife."
"W-What?! Why?" James stuttered, backing away from the bed but not letting go of his wife's hand, which she squeezed even tighter, "I'm not going to leave her side!!"
"I'm sorry, sir. You need to!" Healer Johnson said quickly as she brought out her wand.
"J-James," Lily stuttered, "D-Do as she says..."
James swallowed a lump in his throat and then nodded. He kissed her forehead as sweat beaded around it and slowly left the room, tears running down his cheeks. He watched Healer Johnson do many things to Lily through the window. He was crying and biting his nails as he watched the healer do things that only made James more worried.
When Healer Johnson waved her wand over and over Lily's stomach, coming up with nothing, James turned away with a sob. He didn't know what it meant, but it couldn't be good. He wanted to know. Was Lily all right? Was his daughter, whose sex had been confirmed at Lily's last check up, all right? He couldn't stand it.
He lowered himself onto a bench and took his head into his hands and sat there for what felt like hours.
A long time later, the door to Lily's ward opened and Healer Johnson slowly walked out, her face full of sorrow. James quickly stood and walked to the small woman, a look of questioning about his face. James asked, "Is she going to be all right?! What was wrong?!"
"It's all right, Mr. Potter." Healer Johnson said slowly, "The bleeding has slowed down, but Mrs. Potter will continue to bleed for awhile. Your wife will be fine, but - "
The woman cut off and bit her lip. James froze and stuttered, "W-What about our daughter?"
"I'm sorry, sir." Healer Johnson shook her head, "Your daughter has been miscarried. I'm sorry. She is gone."
James shot his head to the window into Lily's ward as tears ran down his cheeks. He covered his mouth with his hand, trying to stifle his sobs. He looked to Lily's large belly and shook his head, wondering how that large bump on Lily could have held his daughter, who had been perfectly healthy, who was now dead. James stuttered, "N-No, n-no, no."
Healer Johnson whispered, "I'm sorry, sir. Your wife is on a medication that has made her sleepy. She is asleep now, but we need to schedule a time when we can remove the baby from her body. She does not know that she has lost the baby."
James looked at the healer, frightened, "How do you do that?"
"She will have to undergo surgery." Healer Johnson said. James looked back into the ward where his wife now slept, not knowing that her baby was dead, "When is the best time for that?"
James closed his eyes tightly against the tears and whispered, "I can't tell you when. I'll give you an answer when she wakes up. May I see her now?"
"Yes, you can." Healer Johnson said. She placed her hand on his arm and whispered one more time before walking off, "I'm so sorry, Mr. Potter."
James covered his mouth with one of his hands and sobbed into it. He had wanted nothing more in the world than this baby and now she was gone. Their precious Annaleise Lily Potter was gone. He gained his courage and pushed the door to the ward open, stepping inside. He walked to her bedside and placed a hand over her large belly, running his hand along her stomach. He cried silently.
A blanket was draped over Lily's legs because her pajama pants and underwear had been removed from her and had something beneath her that would absorb her blood. She was still wearing the t-shirt she had been wearing when she fell asleep, one of James' to be exact. James hadn't bothered to clean his pajama pants and the bottom of his shirt of Lily's blood, nor from his arm. He stroked her hair, tears cascading down his cheeks and, unexpectedly, Lily's eyes fluttered open.
She smiled lightly before taking in James' appearance. She asked through a smile, "How's our Annie?"
James gave a small sob and shook his head. He whispered, his voice high pitched from the sobs, "I'm sorry, Lily. O-Our Annie is dead..."
Lily squeezed her eyes shut and let her head roll away from James. She began to cry loudly, holding onto her stomach. She wailed, "Ooohhh, Annie!"
James sat on the edge of the bed and lay down against her, holding her. He kissed her over and over as they both cried loudly. Lily whispered over and over, "Annie, Annie, Annie..."
"Oh baby..." James whispered through tears, "I'm so sorry. This is so horrible..."
"My daughter..." Lily sobbed. James smoothed back Lily's hair until the medication Lily was on put her to sleep again. His eyes red and cheeks puffy, he found a piece of parchment in the ward and sat down before writing with a quill. He owled Sirius, slowly writing.
Sirius,
I'm so sorry to wake you in the middle of the night, but I need you. Lily has been taken into St. Mungo's. Something horrible has happened. Could you please wake Remus and Peter and meet me here as soon as you can? You have no idea how much I would appreciate it.
James
Twenty minutes later, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were rushing down the hall. They spotted James in a ward and threw open the door. They all spoke in a rush. Sirius spluttered, "Why is Lily here?!"
Remus: "What's going on?!"
Peter: "Is she all right?"
James wiped at his eyes and then Sirius burst out, "Why are you crying?!" He sniffed and wiped at his eyes again as he felt them growing sore from tiredness and swelling from the crying. He looked to his wife, who hadn't stirred one bit. James slowly spoke, "Thanks for coming, guys."
"Well, sure." Remus said, shrugging his shoulders, "Anything thing for our best mate."
James gained his breath, shaking slightly, "L-Lily woke up a-and she was bleeding really bad, so I brought her here."
"Does she have a really bad cut or something?" Sirius asked. James quickly shook his head and whispered, "No. It's not that kind of bleeding. She was b-bleeding from h-her..." James cut off, embarrassed, but the other three understood immediately from where she had been bleeding. James whispered, "W-We lost our baby..."
*****
Ginny Weasley cried herself to sleep that night, sobbing loudly. She knew it was the best thing to do, but she just couldn't bring herself to face it. Harry would be dead in two days...
It was all official. They would be pulling the magic that Harry was living on at five pm on Friday. It was the early hours of Wednesday morning, and she was to arrive in London Friday afternoon. She couldn't believe it. After Harry being unconscious for four months, she began to think of him as already gone, but now that he would be leaving her life for certain, she felt so different.
Harry would be gone from her life, forever, in two days...
*****
That morning, Lily awoke with James by her side, holding her hand. She smiled sadly to him and kissed his hand. He looked rugged and she could tell that he had been up all night, worrying about her, crying. She saw Sirius, Remus, and Peter sprawled out on the hospital benches, snoring lightly. The door opened slowly and Healer Johnson stepped inside, walking to the other side of Lily's bed.
She spoke to Lily, "Mrs. Potter, you will have to undergo surgery to remove the baby."
Lily nodded sadly, "Yes, I know."
"When would be a good time for that?" the healer asked calmly. Lily looked to James for an answer and all he did was smile sadly, squeezing all of his love for her into her small hand. Lily swallowed, "W-When ever you're ready..."
James bit his bottom lip sadly, and looked at Lily with the highest amount of affection. Healer Johnson looked down to her clipboard and looked at the schedule, "All right, Mrs. Potter. We will move you at noon for your surgery." Lily nodded before the healer left the room.
*****
"James, are you ready?" Lacy asked James softly that Friday afternoon as Harry's friends and family filed in. Ginny had been clinging to Harry's bedside ever since she arrived that morning. It was eleven fifty-nine...
Just one more minute...
James closed his eyes and nodded, "Yes."
Lacy whispered to the ward, "All right. It's time.”
The guests nodded sadly and everyone who wanted to took a place next to Harry's bedside. Ginny, crying silently, lay her head against Harry's chest, listening to his heart beat. James, directly opposite of Ginny, did so too, placing his head on Harry's chest. Next to him, was Sirius, holding one of Harry's hands. Around the bed was also Ron, Hermione, Remus, Tonks, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
Ginny looked to James as their foreheads brushed against each other, their cheeks pressed against Harry's chest, still able to hear his heart beating so faintly. Everyone held hands and James brought his hand out onto Harry's stomach, his palm facing up, an offering to Ginny. Ginny bit her bottom lip and took it slowly, squeezing James' hand.
Lacy whispered, drawing out her wand, "The magic..." she squeezed her eyes shut, hating to be the one to let Harry go. Gold sparks shot from the end of her wand and she wrote Harry's name with them, and whispered, "...has been released."
James squeezed his eyes shut as Harry's heart beat slower and slower, growing more distant. Ginny was making his hand turn white. James whispered, "You'll always be with me, Harry..."
His heart beat once more, and didn't beat again...
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