A Life Worth Living Keeperoliver Chapter 1
A/N: Well, I'm going to give it a try. Here is the sequel to Excalibur. I know it's about time, but it still doesn't seem right. I hope I don't disappoint too many of you with this attempt. As always, Ollie the Keeper.
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Come to Life by Rita Skeeter:
My history has been of the sorted nature, and I have done many things that I am ashamed of. I am here to tell you all now, that it has come to an end.
I had a plan in the works to tear apart the tale of the Boy Who Lived. To prove to everyone that he was a fraud. How Albus Dumbledore planned to use him for his own rise to power. Well, after the past few days, I am here to tell you that I was wrong.
I have been with the most amazing people for the past three days, and if I wasn't a witch, and didn't believe in magic, the story I am about to tell you would be a fairy tale. And it all starts with the Boy Who Lived.
I was called to a meeting by his god father, Sirius Black. He told me that it would be worth my while to be there. Being the reporter that I am, I took the chance and went to this meeting. Of all places, it was held in Godric's hollow. Specifically, the home of the dearly departed James and Lily Potter. Did I just say dearly departed? Not quite the truth, as you will soon learn.
When I arrived at the home, I was brought inside to see for myself the damage that was done by the Dark Lord on that night of October 31st 1981. If you have not seen it, then take my word that it was devastating. Two whole walls in young Harry's room were blown out. How he was able to survive such a blast is beyond comprehension. Not a single stick of furniture was intact, including the crib that Harry slept in. The crib that he was found in. Believe it or not, there were burn marks on the mattress that resembled Harry's form, as if he blocked the unburnt area.
Harry explained to me how Sirius and Remus had found him and saved him from the inferno that was going on around him. Remus managed to put the flames out, while Sirius took Harry to safety.
Then Harry had me follow him to his mother and father's grave site. This is when it happened. When I made the promise to always write the truth and keep people's trust above all else. This is when Harry James Potter stood in front of his parents grave, and using a language I never heard before, made a pass over their graves, and a light started to glow, and in this light, bodies began to form. They took the shape of a man and a woman. They took the forms of James and Lily Potter. Harry James Potter had done that which had never been done before. He raised his parents from the dead. YES PEOPLE, YOU HEARD ME RIGHT. HARRY JAMES POTTER RAISED HIS PARENTS FROM THE DEAD.
Now, do you understand why I will never fabricate stories again. I have to get you to believe that everything I have just told you is true. In fact, if you tap the headline and repeat the words I DO BELIEVE IN MAGIC, you will see what this reporter saw. I will wait a few minutes, before I finish this story. DUM DEE DUM DEE DUM DEE DUM. YO HO HO, AND A BOTTLE OF RUM.
Well, that should be enough time for you to go back and look at what I saw. The Resurrection of James and Lily Potter by their son Harry James Potter. Harry told me that it was with the help of some very dear friends that he was able to do this. And the language was from a distant civilization. He would not divulge the information to who his friends were, or the origin of the language. Otherwise, there would be dead people popping up every where. Harry told me that dead people were meant to be just that, dead. But, his parents were killed for no reason what so ever. It was because of a prophecy made just a few months before they were killed, and the Dark Lord did not even take into affect that by doing what he did, he created his own executioner. Does this mean that the Dark Lord is to return, only to be defeated by Harry? After witnessing what happened, I can believe it.
This is Rita Skeeter, now known as the Herald for Truth, wishing you all a safe journey.
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The Potter family sat around the table listening as Lily read the story by Rita. After she finished reading the story, they all looked up and together said, "Thank you DATA, for the single use transporter." It seemed that future technology saved the day for James and Lily. It saved them hours of explanation. It was what was buried under the ground, and activated by remote by Harry as he waved his hands over the graves. They would later destroy the device since it would no longer function, and they did not want it to fall into the wrong hands for dismantling, and inspection.
They were soon to meet up with Molly and Arthur with their kids for dinner. It was to make up to Arthur for not bringing him with them on board the Excalibur. However, he was delighted with the trinkets they brought back with them. He worked for hours on the Galaxy Cube. A future child's toy that when placed correctly, would expand to the size of the room it was in, displaying a map of the galaxy. Somewhat like the Rubic's cube he was working on, except on a grander stage. He figured the rubic's cube, but that was just colors. With this, you had to align all the stars in their correct position for it to activate. Unless you happened to know the galaxy and the stars positions, you may never correctly align the cube. Even an astronomer would have problems.
Once the two families met, they headed for the muggle restaurant Sirius chose for their meal. They did this so that they could eat in peace. With the release of the story this morning, James and Lily would be big news for the wizard world. When Harry and Ginny met, they pulled each other into their arms and hugged for what seemed like just a second, but if you believed what Remus and Sirius said it was like 15 minutes. Neither of them listened as they continued to hug. It would be the last time they meet before heading back to school.
Fred and George stayed with Remus, James and Sirius during the meal getting ideas for some good pranks for the upcoming year. Lily stayed with Molly and Arthur, just talking and enjoying each others company. Harry and Ginny were in their own little world. Percy decided to pass on the evening, choosing instead to prepare for the upcoming year as a prefect. It would be his second year as one, and he wanted to keep sharp in preparation for his next and final year where he hoped to be Head Boy. Ron was with Charlie in Romania on the dragon preserve. He would be back in two days.
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The response to the news of Lily and James return from the dead was beyond amazing. The Prophet received thousands of letters wishing for their letters be printed so that the family could read them. Since she was the one to give them the news, the task was given to Rita to handle. She could not have been happier. She took it, with the condition that she have a column named after the Potters. She would add three letters every day, with her own personal comments. After one week, the paper became more popular than it had ever been. Circulation expanded by 15%. The letters continued to come in, and Rita looked like she had her job for the next three years or more. All the letters were scanned prior to getting to Rita, in case there was anything foul or amiss. So far the worst was a proposal to Harry from an 80 year old woman. Luckily Harry never found out about that, nor did the other family members. He might never live it down.
Another interesting thing to come out from it, was the interest of the Ministry of Magic. Minister Fudge wished to bring James and Sirius back into the Auror Department. James asked about Remus, but the Minister said he could not allow that, so, James and Sirius turned him down.
Instead, the three opened a Cafe in Hogsmeade and asked Molly if she would like to be their cook. Molly jumped at the opportunity, and was the head cook of the Full Moon Cafe. It took up shop right next to Madam Pudifoot's Love Nest.
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The second half of Harry's first year ended in near disaster, as the DADA Professor turned out to be as Jamie said it would. Professor Quirrell turned out to be the carrier of Voldemort's soul. When Harry and he finally confronted each other, it became the demise of the Professor, and the loss of Voldemort's body once again. Ron and Hermione joined Harry in his adventure, and Ron had been injured when the knight he was playing in the game was demolished by the Black Queen. He sacrificed himself so that Harry could win the game, and proceed on with Hermione. Hermione only made it to the last room before the chamber, and had to return to help Ron get to the hospital wing. But not before she wished Harry good luck, with a kiss to his cheek, and a hug.
It was this love that Hermione showed Harry that got him through his ordeal. Of course Harry did not know this. He didn't know what it was that caused the Professor to burn like he did at Harry's touch.
With the end of the year now upon them, Harry and his friends looked forward to the summer, and to get back to their families. Hermione was going to France with her parents for a vacation on the southern beaches.
The Weasleys thought they were going to be stuck all summer in their home, but Harry and his mum and dad changed those plans, as they invited them all to join them on a cruise of the Med Sea. And the Greek islands was a part of that cruise's planned stop.
Harry, Luna, Ginny, Ron, Fred, and George could not be found apart during the trip. The pool on deck, the dance room, the diner, the gift store, and the fishing were all shared by the six friends. For the whole month of June the cruise lasted and it was the best month they ever enjoyed. Harry loved the friendship they shared and he especially enjoyed the time he spent with Ginny and Luna.
When they returned, Hermione met up with them and did things together that included bowling, skating, movies, and just long walks in different places. Luna began to notice that she was receiving quite a few glances from Fred, and was beginning to enjoy the looks he was giving her. Finally, just before Harry's birthday, Fred asked her if she would let their next trip be as a date for the two of them. Luna had to ask her mum first, and Lily hugged Luna when she did, "OH sweetheart, you don't know how happy that makes me, that you would ask me as your mother if it was alright if you went out on a date. Now I can officially say NO. You are much too young to go on a date. However, if you two happen to hold hands while walking with the others, there is nothing I can say about that."
Luna laughed at her mum, and her comments. She told her no to the date, then said yes, without saying yes.
The very next outing happened to be Diagon Alley on Harry's birthday. It was the day that Gilderoy Lockhart would have a book signing at Flourish and Blotts, and Harry would receive the Diary from Lucius Malfoy.
As predicted, Fred and Luna held hands for the entire trip, and she was soaking it up. The smile never leaving her face. Fred had never looked prouder than he did right now. He held his head up, and nodded to people as they passed. He was surprised when Lee met them outside the bank where Harry went in to fill his bag.
When Lee approached, he saw Fred holding the hand of Luna Potter. He was thinking what a lucky SOB he was. Luna was one of the best looking girls in school. Even her first year had brought looks from a number of the male students from the fourth year down. Lee was considering asking her out himself, but it seems he was too late, as Luna looked like she was happy with the way things were. Very Happy indeed.
Lee got to the twins and Luna and pulled each in for a hug, as they always did. Luna was shocked when he included her in his hugs. She didn't hug back, and Lee knew it was a lost cause. But he enjoyed the hug anyway. Luna just seemed to share her happiness with any who were close to her.
Harry returned to the others, and made their way to all the places that needed visiting. Harry decided to give Ginny a treat, and bought her a beautiful Great Horned Owl. When he presented the owl to Ginny, she fell in love with her right away and named her Artemus. The owl accepted the name, and was soon nipping at Ginny's ear, which caused her to giggle. It was sending shivers up and down here spine, but it was a sensational feeling.
Next was the wand shop, which Harry took Ginny in, while Molly went to stand in line at Flourish and Blotts. The others decided to stand outside and wait, as the bookstore was too packed to try and enter. In her first year, Ginny used a wand that belonged to her great Aunt and it wasn't right for her, so Harry bought her a new one.
It took Ginny 30 minutes to get her wand which was made of Hawthorn with a Unicorn hair core, 13 inches long. It was said to be excellent for Charms and Transfiguration. Once they left the wand shop, they saw the others outside the bookstore waiting, and joined them.
They finally entered the store when they saw it was not going to get any less crowded, and went to find their books. They joined Molly who was near the front, and took their place in line. Harry was pushed out of the way, when a photographer made his way through the crowd and up to the front to take pictures of the famed author. This was when Gilderoy saw the boy who lived and called him to the front. He didn't want to go, but Molly pushed him forward, and he had his picture taken with the author. When he was given a free set of books, he gave them to Ginny, and made his way back to the entry. He watched as Lucius Malfoy pushed his son forward to confront Harry. Draco raised his eyes, but did as his father told him.
"So Potter, still looking for sharing the spotlight with the famous people, trying to steal their glory?"
Harry saw that Draco didn't want any part of this, but was pushed by his father. "No Malfoy, it's not like that at all. You see, I don't have to go looking for the spotlight, as it follows me every where I go."
"Then maybe you should try to stay in the background and try to blend in, rather than rush to the front when ever there is a gathering."
"Draco, be nice. Mr. Potter can't help the way he is. Being raised by Sirius Black has to affect him in a way others can't imagine. Isn't that right boy. Hmm, I see you share your glory with those less fortunate. How sweet of you. It could be the only way Arthur's kids could acquire new books. Let's see now, OH look Draco, they are even signed by Lockhart. Isn't that special."
Harry pulled the books from Lucius' hands and spat out, "Arthur's family may not be rich with gold, but they are richer than you, because they share their love with each other. I don't think you even know what love is, Mr. Malfoy."
Lucius grabbed Draco by the arm and started pulling him out of the store. Draco looked back and mouthed 'Thank You.' to Harry, to which he only nodded. He pulled the diary out of the stack, and handed Ginny the rest. Harry didn't think any of the adults saw the exchange between Malfoy and himself, but he was wrong. Arthur and Hermione's parents saw it. They were all quite proud of the way he handled himself, and Arthur was more than proud by what Harry told Malfoy of the love the Weasleys shared.
Harry had placed the book in his trunk as soon as he got home, hating the feeling it was giving him as he held it. The sooner he started this adventure, and got it over with, the better he would like it.
When the party for Harry began, he sat down to the table where his mum brought out a cake that equaled Molly's own creations. It was more than large enough to allow all to have two slices. Luna looked for the two slices that had the most frosting on them. She had two pieces, and was holding them up and examining them. She took the one that she thought had the most frosting, then gave Fred the other slice. She was surprised when Fred scraped the frosting off his cake, and pushed off onto Luna's plate. She smiled at Fred, then gave him a kiss on the cheek. She then turned and began eating her frosting, I mean cake.
After the cake, Harry opened his gifts, and thanked everyone for the gifts. After the gifts, the party began to break up, and people started to leave. Finally all that was left was Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Harry and Luna.
They sat there going over their plans for the upcoming school year. Trying to figure out when the best time would be to end this thing. Harry knew that the basilisk venom would kill the horcrux in his head and when Harry stabbed the diary, it would all be over. But he couldn't just go right to it, as he had to let the figure of Tom come out, so that it could be defeated.
Harry was going to use a Rooster to kill the basilisk, but felt it was not the most reliable weapon as it was not controlled by Harry. He hoped it was as Jamie said, and Fawkes arrives with the Hat and the Sword. Harry felt more comfortable handling a weapon, then he did a bird.
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Two weeks after Harry's birthday, Luna and Ginny shared their birthday, and Harry had to make sure their party was better than his own. He had to find the most interesting gifts for the two and since Hermione's was just around the corner, he looked for her a gift as well. He had to ask Remus to keep Luna's gift because she she was very nosy. It was the same thing for Christmas. It was her life's challenge to find all gifts meant for her and Harry. She liked to hold it over his head trying to upset him by teasing him about what it was. Harry learned to ignore her around his birthday and Christmas.
For Ginny he found a new overcoat with scarf and gloves. He also got her some new boots and some heavy socks. Everything was in Gryffindor colors and it matched perfectly with her hair and eyes.
For Luna, he got her parchment paper with the Ravenclaw emblem as the headliner and for the envelopes. He included a set of the finest quills available. There were also some edible quills for her to chew on when she was thinking real hard.
He thought Hermione would be the easiest to buy for, but when he looked, he didn't find any books Hermione didn't have. He was surprised when Remus presented him with some books he knew she wouldn't own. It was a set of first edition novels by Samuel Clemens. When asked where he got them, Remus said, "There are some things that should not be known, Harry. Just know that they were gotten legally and were paid for." and Harry took that as the end of the conversation.
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It was just before the summer ended that Remus and Sirius went back to destroy the single use transporter. They promised Jaime it would be taken care of. However, when they dug up the grave, they found it empty. They were shocked to see this and went right back to James and Lily to tell them what they found.
James was upset at this news, but it was Lily that took it the hardest, as she let her future grandchild down. She cried for over an hour at her disappointment. All she could think of was how much trouble Jaime would be in, in the future.
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After the ceremony which brought James and Lily back to life, the cemetery was still so full of treasure hunters, collectors and other people wishing for something to remember the evenings events. Jamie only saw the heat images of the people down there and couldn't see what was found and what was taken and by who. It was four days before he was able to send Data down to retrieve the Transporter and by that time it was too late as someone else found and took it somewhere.
With it being inoperative, they couldn't trace it to it's current location. Data was sent back down and began a search on foot locally and by using hand held equipment to try and find it. still nothing turned up.
For nearly a year they searched for the transporter, when an article in the Times caught Data's attention. It told of a device that was bought in a rummage sale that could be used as a means of sending articles across great distances in the blink of an eye. It hadn't been tested yet, but the company hoped to have it functional soon. Data once again left the ship and went to the company that had the transporter. He used his mechanical brilliance to gain entry. He gave the guard facts that the guard passed on to the engineer in charge of the project. Data was shown to the room with the transporter and checked it out to see if it could still work. It was much larger than it was originally and had hundreds of wires sticking out of it. He also saw where the machine was no where near completion. However, Data could not take the chance someone may see this as well, so he showed the engineer what he found and that the device would never work with the current set up.
For two more months Data worked with the engineer, trying to keep him from finding the correct alignment for it to work. Finally the project was put on hold and stored in a warehouse where the Excalibur could transport it back on board. It took over a year, but they finally got back that which they lost.
Now it was time for Jamie and Amanda to pay a visit to family and friends they never thought they would get to see. However, Jon Luc would not let them go. Not unless he could go as well. Jamie and Amanda grabbed him by his collar and dragged him to the transporter room. They would meet Data in a location Data selected for it's privacy.
Once they were together, Data took them to Black Manor where everyone was staying. Jamie thought either Jon Luc or Amanda should go first, and Jon Luc bowed to Amanda for her to go. She about passed out when the door was answered by something that was about two feet tall. Jon Luc had to hold her up. He looked to the little person and asked, "Is this the Black Residence?"
Kreacher was ready to hit them with a spell when Lily stopped him. "Kreacher, what is it?"
"It is an unknown, Missy Lily, wishing to gain entry. I was ready to refuse them entry when you stopped me."
"That was very smart of you Kreacher. Now, since I am here, why don't I take over and see what they want. Thank you for your diligence,"
"Missy Lily is always welcome." and Kreacher walked back to the kitchen.
"Now, how can I help you. My name is Lily Potter and this is the Black Manor." she stepped back to let them in, when she saw a face she never thought she would see again. "DATA!" and she rushed to pull him in for hug. Someone else heard her scream and came running. Luna was not stopping when she ran into Lily and Data. If it had been anyone else, they all would have went to the ground, but Data kept his feet and pulled Luna up into a gentile hug. Lily left data and went to the next face she recognized, but this time with tears. It was the person she failed to protect.
"Jaime, I'm so sorry. We failed to find the transporter you wanted us to destroy. How can you ever forgive us?" and she was in his arms, sobbing on his chest.
"Lily, please don't let it bother you. We have the device on our ship. It's a long story, and there are others you have to meet. Jon Luc, I want you to meet my so many times over yet younger than me, grand mother, Lily Potter. Lily, this is Captain Jon Luc Picard, of the Star ship Enterprise. And this beautiful woman is my wife Amanda. Amanda, meet your great grand mother Lily Potter." Lily had both Jon Luc and Amanda in a hug worthy of Molly Weasley. Tears still flowed from Lily's eyes, but who knew what they were for this time.