If I Could Have One Wish by aspifgnfu
A/N: I own nothing, not the characters or the 2 songs both of which are Brad Paisley songs.
James and Lily Potter were sitting in the armchair next to their son's crib. For some reason they just couldn't make themselves leave his room tonight. So they sat there holding each other and watching their son sleep. As night starts to fade and the sun starts to rise, Lily lifts her head off her husband's chest and looks out the window.
"Look James! A shooting star! We should make a wish."
"That's easy we both want the exact same thing. To see our son as a full grown man and let him know that he is loved."
"You're right if I could have one wish that would be it."
"Ron, seriously unless you want to explain why we were late to your sister, you have to get out of bed."
The tall man that was suddenly standing in the middle of the room removed the towel from his face. His face showed a moment of shock, and then he had his wand out of his back pocket and pointed at the couple. The man was tall, maybe 6'1"; he had messy black hair and vibrant emerald green eyes. He was wearing only a pair of pajama bottoms, no shirt, and no shoes. He had the towel in one hand and his wand in the other. Random scars crisscrossed his bare chest and arms and there was a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead above his eye.
"Who are you and where am I?" the man demanded. James' first thought was that this man had the look of a warrior, someone who has seen many of the evils of this world and isn't fooled or tricked easily. Lily's first thought was that this man looked extraordinarily like James.
"Calm down. We mean you no harm," said Lily softly. "You are in the nursery of our home, though how you got here we don't know. My name is Lily Potter and this is my husband James."
"Nice Try. Nevertheless, Lily and James Potter were my parents and they are dead. So either you are lying or I have time traveled. And since I don't travel through time vary often, I think we need to test that claim. The Marauder's Map; who made it, what is it a map of, and what is the pass code to shut it down?"
"The makers were Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, also known as Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James. It is a map of Hogwarts and to shut it down you tap it with your wand and say mischief managed," said James.
The man lowered his wand. He reached into his back pocket again and removed a set of glasses that he then put on. The man looked from James to Lily then back to James, smiled and said, "Time travel it is."
"Harry?" asked Lily
"Yeah mum. It is really me. Though judging by your faces you didn't expect me to show up any more than I expected to be here," he said.
About that time, Lily grabbed him into a hug, though it was a bit strange to hug her son and realize that he was taller than she was. "Harry" she said quietly. Then it was James who had Harry in a hug. When the hugging was done, Harry looked slightly pink but very pleased.
"So does anyone want to tell me what year it is?" "1981" said James. "Yes. January of 1981" put in Lily, still not able to take her eyes off the man her son had grown into.
"Why what time did you come from?" James asked. "January 1999" he replied. "And no offense, I mean it's great to see you and I would love to stay and chat, but we really need to try and figure out a way to get me back as quickly as possible."
"Why? Who is the Ron you were trying to wake up?"
"Ron is my best friend and I need to get back so I can try to get him over his hangover before the ceremony. He over did it a little at the stag party last night" Harry said with a laughing smile.
"He's getting married?" James asked.
"No. I am" said Harry.
"You're getting MARRIED? TODAY?" asked Lily, looking extremely shocked. "But you're just a baby."
"Mum, look at me. Do I look like a baby?" He very gently took his mother's shoulders in his hands. "Mum don't worry. Ginny and I love each other very much. We have been friends for 6 years and dating for the last 2. We have been through hell together and when I was gone for an entire 10 months on a mission during the war, she waited for me, knowing someday I would come back. We aren't rushing into anything and she isn't pregnant… I don't think…It's just time. We are ready."
Lily had tears in her eyes. James came over and gently pulled her into his arms. "She sounds great son. I wish we could meet her."
Suddenly there stood a stunning redhead with flashing brown eyes wearing what looked to be a pair of men's boxers and a tank top.
"Harry?" she said, "What's…"
"Hey love. Come meet my parents," he said with a gentle smile.
"Harry, your parents are dead," she said in the same manner a parent might use to tell a child that the monster in the closet wasn't real.
"We have been transported back to 1981, Gin."
"Really? You're sure?" she asked. When he nodded his head she walked over to him saying, "Wicked!" When she reached his side, she put an arm around his waist and turned towards his parents. "Nice to finally meet you."
"And you. You seem to be taking this rather well," said James.
"Around Harry you pretty much have to expect weird and unexplainable things to happen. Besides, I have 6 older brothers. You learn to take things in stride," Ginny said.
"6 brothers? Well no one could ever say you lack courage son," James said with a smile that kind of laughed.
"What do your parents think about you getting married so young?" asked Lily.
"They love Harry. If it were anyone else, they might have problems with it but to them Harry is already a member of the family. I think mom started planning our wedding as soon as we started dating," said Ginny with a twinkle in her eyes. They stood there talking until baby Harry woke up.
"I should take care of him," said Lily.
"And we really need to figure out how to get back" said Harry.
"I'll floo Sirius and Remus, maybe they will have some ideas," said James.
"Let's all go down to the living room" said Lily, now holding baby Harry.
"Oh, look how cute you were," squealed Ginny. Harry just shook his head at the mystery that is Ginny.
"Hey Harry."
"Yes Gin."
"Do you remember that thing we used to do when things got really bad, or we were nervous? You know back when we were in school."
"Of course."
"Do you think they would mind? I mean once we get back we won't see each other again until the actual wedding and for some reason I keep thinking about it."
"I think they are both busy right now so we probably have a little time."
Harry conjured a guitar. "What song do you want to do, my love?"
"How about that American song 'Whiskey Lullaby'."
"Really? That is kind of a sad song for today isn't it?"
"Yeah I suppose, it is just stuck in my head."
"Alright."
As the song finished she leaned back against Harry, both of them had their eyes closed. "Feel Better?" He asked her. "Yeah, Much! Do you think we have time to do one more?"
"Oh please do. That was great," said a familiar voice.
Both of their eyes shot open. "Remus, Sirius" they both said at the same time. All 4 of the adults plus baby Harry were standing in the doorway watching them. Ginny and Harry got up to give Sirius and Remus a hug. Both men seemed a little surprised at this but returned the hugs. When they had all sat back down, Remus said, "I meant what I said. Please do sing another. That really was great."
"Yes and it seemed to relax Harry some" said Lily, hugging the baby to her.
"Well that would make sense," said Ginny. "I used to find Harry doing this down in the common room really late at night, when he was all alone. Especially when he was nervous about something or something was wrong or he had a nightmare. Eventually, instead of just listening from the couch next to him, I joined in and we found that it didn't just calm the nerves or clear our heads. It also was a way to relax. It was peaceful. So we started doing it more and more often after we started dating."
"Please we would love to hear you do another," said James.
"Harry? What do you think? Maybe something a little less depressing? How about another Brad Paisley song?" she suggested.
"Which one?" he said look at her with a small smile, as if he already knew what she was going to say.
"Would you sing me the song you used to sing me when I had a bad day?" she pleaded.
"The song is called 'Little Moments'. But then again you already know that and I thought this was going to be a duet."
"It was but… PLEASE..." she begged. He shook his head with a sardonic smile and said, "You have me completely wrapped around your little finger don't you?"
"Thank You" she said immediately with a huge smile on her face.
And he started to play.
Yeah I live for little moments When she steals my heart again and doesn't even know it Yeah I live for little moments like that
By the time he finished she was leaning back against him her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed with one of his arms wrapped around her to reach the neck of the guitar. He looked down at her a kind of half smile on his face. Then he leaned down, kissed the top of her head, and shook his head. He looked up at his parents, Remus, and Sirius.
"I really ought to know better by now; she does this every time I play that song."
The others just smiled at him. "So does anyone have any ideas on how to get us back to our own time?" he asked.
"Don't you want to wake her up?" asked Sirius.
"Nah Just let her sleep for now. She and her mom have been working hard on the wedding. Plus she is in training to be an Auror and Hermione threw her that party last night. So I imagine she is pretty worn out. I'll wake her once we have come up with an idea, to ask her opinion," he said.
"She is in training to become an Auror?" asked Lily.
"Yeah, she didn't have enough battle experience in the war or high enough N.E.W.T. marks to skip training, like I did. So she and Ron are both in the training program," he replied.
"You skipped training," James asked in amazement.
"Yeah, the minister and the head of the Auror's office figured that with 5 outstanding and 2 exceed expectations N.E.W.T.s and as much real world experience as I have it would be okay to just let me take the final exam. When I passed it, they went ahead and put me on active duty. Ron had the experience but not the grades. Ginny had the grades but not the experience. So they are both doing an abbreviated version of the training program," he said. "So I was thinking while I played. Ginny showed up when you wished that you could meet her. Did you make a wish before I showed up?"
"You know, I think we did," said James.
"Do you think maybe all we would have to do is wish us back? And if so, do you have to wish us back or do we do it. Or are we here to fulfill your wish and will automatically go back when we do?" Harry asked as if he was thinking aloud.
"It could be any of the above. I think the original wish was that we would be able to see you all grown up and knowing that we love you. Then that we could meet the woman that you are so in love with and going to marry" said James.
"Well you have accomplished all that so I think we can safely say it won't be automatic," reasoned Remus.
"So how about all four of you make the same carefully worded wish at the same time and see if that works?" said Sirius.
"Okay but how to word it?" asked Harry.
When they got back, it was the exact same time as when they left. Instead of immediately waking Ron, Harry went looking for Ginny. She met him in the hall halfway between the 2 different rooms.
"It wasn't a dream was it?" asked Harry.
"No, I don't think it was. We really just saw them. I wished for this you know," she admitted.
"For time travel?"
"No, that you could see them today."
"Hunh, funny I wished for that too, and that they could meet you." The couple smiled and held each other. Then they separated to get ready for their wedding.