Author's Note: My comeback piece! It's been almost a year since I've written something for this site, and I'm pleased to say I've made my comeback with this Harry Potter piece. Be gentle, but definetly honest, and constructive criticism/suggestions encouraged as always! :D
Flurries of snow whipped through the air, the first snowfall of December.
A lone figure traipsed through the ankle-deep snow, a scarf shielding her face from the harsh wind. She carried a heavy burden, her arms wrapped all the way around the giant stone basin she carried. Struggling, her face was pink by the time she reached #12 in Godric's Hollow. A festive wreath hung on the knob, adorned with miniature ice faeries.
She knocked.
There was a shriek from inside. "MUM! DAD! THEY'RE HERE!" a high-pitched, little girl's voice squealed.
"But that can't be then, McGonagall said they were coming by Floo!" a male voice called.
The door to #12 opened to reveal a pretty young woman with startlingly thick red hair. "Albus! J—" The greeting died in her mouth as her brown eyes surveyed the woman in front of her, looking puzzled.
Ginny's eyes were autmoatically drawn to the giant basin in the woman's arms. It appeared to be a birdbath of sorts, though instead of water, the innards were swirling with thick masses of silver. She turned her attention to the woman herself, who looked to be in her 50's or even her 60's. Her hair was nutmeg brown, but streaks of gray were mixed in, and her eyes were pale blue and tired-looking.
"Ginny? Is that them?" a voice called from inside the house, whose warmth was wafting out into the cold, carrying the scent of gingerbread. A male figure appeared next to the red-haired woman, and Mary Macdonald was stunned. The resemblance…it was uncanny.
"Harry Potter?" she croaked, her eyes suddenly gleaming with emotion.
"Yeah, that's me," Harry said curiously, the puzzlement in his face matched only by his wife's.
"Lily," the figure sighed, and she suddenly looked very, very sad. "You have Lily's eyes. Exactly her eyes. And you look so like James, Harry, so very much like him. You have his hair," she added, her lips quirking up into a smile. "He was always messing up his hair, giving it the 'windswept' look as he said..."
Harry, who had heard this spiel a hundred times already, wasn't very surprised. He was, however, surprised to have this woman mention his long-dead parents.
"You knew my parents?" Harry asked quietly.
"Yes," the woman replied, shifting the basin to the other side of her hip. The movement was not missed by Ginny's sharp eyes, and she said: "Please, come in. It's cold, and that must be heavy."
"Yeah, come in," Harry added, his head whirling. It had been so long since he had talked about his parents…not since the Hallow had brought them back, ghostly apparitions that were not quite smoke and not quite solid...
"JAMES! ALBUS!" a girl shrieked, and Lily Potter she came pelting out into the living room, her bright green eyes ablaze. She stopped short, abashed, in front of the old woman. "Who're you?" she asked bluntly.
"Lily, manners," Ginny chided. "This woman...is a friend of your father's."
"Lily," the old woman mused, looking short of heartbroken as she took in Lily Potter the second. "You look so much like Lily," she murmured, obviously talking about the first Lily, Lily Evans. She shook her head as if trying to bring herself back to the present.
"Of course I look like Lily, I am Lily, silly!" the little girl laughed.
"Lily, go to your room," Ginny said quickly, nudging her daughter.
"But mum, James and Albus'll be here any moment!" Lily protested.
"Lily, go to your room," Ginny repeated sharply, and the redhead did so, protesting and grumbling all the way, stomping up the stairs.
"Now," Harry said quietly, looking at the woman in awe, "who're? How d'you know my parents?" He sat down, his eyes gazing at the stone basin. He knew immediately what it was; he had seen it so many times in his sixth year, when Dumbledore had been giving him private lessons.
The woman sat down opposite him, with a heavy sigh. Ginny took the seat beside Harry. "My name is Mary Macdonald," the woman began quietly. "I went to school with your parents, Harry. I...I was Lily's best friend."
Ginny inhaled sharply, but Harry was listening more intently than ever.
"Your mother was very popular at Hogwarts, Harry," Mary continued, looking very tired in the light from the fireplace. "She had many friends. Everyone had memories of the beautiful red-haired girl who was smart, kind, and considerate. So we decided to give you this." At this point, she gestured to the basin that she had placed by her side; it was swirling with a thick, silver mass and giving off an eerie glow.
"What is that?" Ginny whispered.
Harry answered for her. "It's a Pensieve," he said hoarsely. "People can put their memories inside of one and examine them later." He could remember Dumbledore telling him about the Pensieve so clearly, he could pretend it was just yesterday he was in fourth year, and had stumbled upon Dumbledore's own Pensieve.
Mary was nodding. "Exactly," she agreed. "I sent owls off to everyone who knew your parents at school, and we pooled together our memories into this Pensieve. Most of these memories come from your parents' schoolmates and their teachers."
Harry felt himself growing excited now, felt his heart thudding in his chest. Only twice had he seen his parents in the Pensieve before, and both times were in Severus Snape's memories, which didnt' exactly view them in a pleasant light. "Why are you giving this to me?" he asked suddenly.
Mary looked puzzled. "Why? Because there was a terrible price to pay in becoming the Boy Who Lived. You lost your parents, Harry, and you have no memories of them except the horrible event in which they died. I thought you should have more than that; you should know what kind of people they were, and you deserved more than stories. You deserved to see the memories firsthand; just how kind and beautiful Lily was on the inside and the outside, and just how talented James was, both on and off the Quidditch field. Your parents were wonderful people Harry, and it's a shame you never got to know that."
Harry felt a hard lump rise in his throat, felt Ginny's warm hand on his arm, her sympathetic expression. "Thank you," he said hoarsely, almost as if in a daze. He gave himself a little shake. "Thank you, Mary," he repeated, more firmly. "You'll stay for dinner?"
The old witch smiled. "No thank you, Harry," she said kindly, "it appears as though your boys will be coming home any minute now. I don't want to intrude."
"It's no intrusion," Ginny said quickly, "the boys will be delighted to meet you. They love to hear stories about their grandparents, they'll be fascinated. Do stay," she said appealingly, smiling in such a warm way that Mary could hardly refuse.
Suddenly, the fire flared, glowing brightly, the flames suddenly green.
"MUM! DAD! WE'RE HOME!" James bellowed, falling out of the fireplace and scattering soot everywhere.
"James, they know, they're not blind!" Albus retorted, appearing in a flurry behind James, tottering with vertigo.
"James!" Ginny scolded, jumping to her feet and slapping the soot from his robes. "Honestly James, can't you come home without ruining the carpet? Scourgify!" she exclaimed, pointing at the soot with her wand.
"James! Albus!" Lily screamed, flying down the stairs and cannoning into her brothers.
"Oomph!" Albus grunted, knocked flat on his back. "Hullo, Lily –"
"Dad, whose this?" James asked curiously, looking at Mary. He was trying (in vain) to resist Ginny's attempts to get the soot off of his robes. "I've never – OUCH – seen her before in the – OUCH – house – that was my nose, Mum!"
Harry grinned from ear-to-ear, embracing his youngest son. "Had a nice term, Albus?" he greeted, his eyes running up the black-haired boy as if making sure there were no missing limbs.
"Yeah dad, it was fantastic!" Albus exclaimed, and Harry saw the flush of excitement in Albus' eyes. "I made a friend – his name's –"
"POTATOES!" James howled, fighting free of his little sister and his mother, his eyes falling on the bowl of steaming mashed potatoes. "Great, Mum, I'm starved…!"
"—Scorpius Malfoy!" Albus bellowed.
The five syllables effectively silenced the entire household.
"Aah, what a way to break it to them, Al," James said contritely, shaking his head.
"Scorpius Malfoy?" Mary repeated, and her voice was full of disgust. "That's not Lucius Malfoy's grandson, is it?"
"You know Lucius Malfoy?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Mary snorted, "he was a few years above Lily and I at Hogwarts. He was made prefect in fifth year, the stupid git, he was always trying to order everyone around."
"You knew Gram and Gramps at Hogwarts?" James yelped, potatoes instantly forgotten.
"Boys, boys, boys!" Ginny exclaimed, looking amused and pained at the same time. "We have a guest!"
"We can see that, Mum," James snorted.
"Manners, James," Ginny retorted, frowning. "Lily, James, Albus – this is Mary Macdonald. She went to school with Harry's parents."
A simultaneous three voices exclaimed: "Cool!"
Ginny laughed. "Right, so we're going to have dinner now. Wash up, you three!"
"AWW, MUM!" James exclaimed, "Mary's going to tell us about dad's parents!"
"It's Mrs. Macdonald to you," Ginny replied sternly, "and go wash up!"
"Oh, there's no need," Mary replied.
"See, there's no need to wash!" James said triumphantly.
"Er, no, I meant there's no need to call me Mrs. Macdonald, but you probably have to wash," Mary laughed.
"Damn!"
"Language!"
While this was going on, Harry was thinking, his brow furrowed. He found himself glancing constantly at the Pensieve, and knew there was no way he was going to make it through dinner without being utterly distracted. Memories of his parents...he could see them again...not the odd, ghostlike mist he had seen come out of Voldemort's wand, and not the insubstansial figures the Hallow had brought back; real, flesh-and-blood memories.
Ginny caught his expression. "Oh, Harry!" she sighed. "Go and look at it now if you must. Honestly, you're like a little child with a new toy!"
"No, it's the boys' first night back," Harry protested, obviously resenting being called a child.
"We both know you're not going to pay attention to anything said at the dinnertable," Ginny said, with a small smile. "Go upstairs and look at the Pensieve. I promise I'll call for you if James sets the table on fire…again. That boy is a pyromaniac, I swear..."
Harry grinned broadly, getting up to kiss his wife on the cheek. "Thanks Ginny," he said, hoisting the Pensieve up to rest against his hip. "Thanks for dropping by, Mary," he called over his shoulder, starting up the stairs.
As her husband disappeared upstairs, Ginny shook her head and gave an indulgent smile.
Mary found herself smiling as well. "That's one lucky boy," she chuckled, tightening the scarf around her neck.
Ginny looked at the older woman, her eyes bright, and remembered how she had lost Harry after her 5th year. "Nah," she said, "it was me who got lucky."
.:x:.
Harry set the Pensieve on the dresser, looking into its swirly contents with his heart beating hard in his chest. He was going to see his parents. He was going to see Sirius and Remus. Jumpy with excitement, he put his whole face into the Pensieve, holding his breath.
There was the familiar tumultuous sensation as he went flying into another world – another memory – and then it righted. He straightened, regaining his balance; he had gotten used to seeing things via Pensieve after the amount of times he and Dumbledore had used it.
The Hogwarts grounds was just as inviting and immaculate as Harry remembered them, absolutely unaltered. The Hogwarts of his parents' time, his time, and his sons' time seemed to be all the same: it seemed as though Hogwarts castle was the very testament to the fact that time could not wear down everything. Not a blade of grass was out of place, and he could swear that he, Hermione, and Ron were about to come out of the castle and flop down under their favorite beech tree by the lake.
Glancing around, he searched for the familiar faces. He wondered whose memory he was in; could it possibly be the Herbology teacher's? She was a long, wiry woman with a mass of brown hair that was clipped short, about as different from stout, curly-haired Professor Sprout as you could get. She was in Greenhouse 4, pruning an odd, tentacled plant that Harry recognized as the Venemous Tentacula.
Suddenly, two figures came flying out of the castle, running as if for dear life, though laughing and almost falling over themselves in mirth. From this far away, he could only see vague characteristics; one boy had glasses and a mess of ruffled hair; the other was clutching a book and had a very mischievous expression on his face. Panting after them came a short, stout boy, his face very mousy and his eyes very anxious. He was obviously afraid of being left behind.
Harry's stomach lurched as he realized this was the Marauders; James, Sirius, and Peter. But where was Remus? Harry edged away from the greenhouse and as close to those familiar figures as he could. No sooner had the boys (Sirius and James, he could tell it was them now) pelted away, when...
"OY!"
A bellow shattered the peace of the day, causing several students to look up from their textbooks and conversations with alarm. Remus John Lupin came pelting into the grounds, robes flapping out behind him and an expression of utter frustration on his face. "OY! YOU BLOODY GITS GET BACK HERE WITH MY BOOK!"
"Oy Prongsie, he's gaining on us!" Sirius yelped, a very doggish grin on his face.
"Shall we give him the slip, then?" James panted, his grin matching Sirius'. "Quick mate, up this tree!"
Sirius had just vanished up the beech when Remus skidded to a halt below, panting and glaring in all directions. "Come back here," Remus glowered, "with my book!"
"YARR!" came a sudden screech from above.
"What the – " Remus gaped, looking about, and then… "ARRGH!"
Sirius flew out of the tree, cannoning down into Remus and utterly driving the breath from the poor boy.
"DOGPILE!" James roared, throwing himself out of the tree and landing on top of the two wrestling figures, leaving Remus utterly squashed underneath the weight of two boys.
Chaos ensued.
"Oww, Prongsie!" Sirius howled, beating his fist frantically against James' leg. "Gerroff me you stupid git! Since when were you this heavy?!"
"I'm muscling up for Quidditch," James grinned, sitting smugly atop his friends.
Sirius wriggled, gasping for breath, then resigned himself to his fate. "Oy, Peter, come on, have a seat – there's plenty of room for you! Here, the Spot of Honor!" he called, merrily spanking Remus, as James howled with laughter.
"SIRIUS! Sleep with one eye open!" Remus bellowed in vain.
"I'm scared now," the gray-eyed boy laughed, his eyes flashing mischievously.
"Err, you should be, mate," James replied apprehensively.
"Yeah, remember the time Remus turned your hair turquoise after you threw his book out the window?" Peter cringed, indeed sitting atop the "spot of honor" – Remus' ass.
"Oh yeah!" Sirius exclaimed, grinning at the memory. "S'allright, turned out turquoise was Alicia Goldstone's favorite color, it turned her on – AAUGH!"
Something exploded out from underneath him, and Sirius, Peter, and James found themselves flying into the air amidst charred strips of black cloth and a few tattered pages from a burnt book.
"Merlin's beard!" James yelped, landing perilously near a rhododendron bush. "What're you playing at, Moony? Was that the Reductor Charm?!"
"Hell no, we're still alive, aren't we?" Sirius winced, hobbling to his feet. "Moony, that was cold, we're just trying to get you to lighten up!"
Remus gave a little sigh, the last of his anger draining out with it. There was no staying mad at a sulky James and Sirius, the two were more than a match against him. "We have a Herbology final in five minutes," Remus groaned, sounding a little desperate. "Won't you at least try and study?" He brandished the book in front of James and Sirius, knowing full well they were probably going to get full marks anyways. How those two were so smart without ever cracking open a book was beyond him.
Sirius rolled his eyes carelessly. "I don't need to read that rubbish, I know it all."
"All right, what's this one called, then?" Remus prompted, pointing to a picture of gillyweed.
Sirius took one look and snorted. "Looks like bloody cow bollocks t'me."
James roared with laughter.
"Bloody cow bollocks, I'll give you bloody cow bollocks," Remus growled.
"Bloody cow what?"
Harry's stomach gave a pleasant jolt of excitement as his eyes found the voice's owner, a green-eyed, auburn-haired girl.
"Evans!" James exclaimed, leaning casually against the tree and ruffling his already-windswept hair.
"Sod off Potter," the redhead growled, and Sirius barked with laughter.
"Aw, Lils, you abuse our boy," Sirius laughed, smacking Lily lightly on the shoulder.
"Ouch!" Lily scowled, smacking Sirius back.
"That wasn't even that hard," Sirius whined. "Ouch!" he bellowed, as James smacked the back of his head. "What was that for, Prongs?!"
"Don't hit my girlfriend, Paddy!"
"I am not your girlfriend, Potter!"
"OUCH! Why'd you smack me, Evans?!"
"Because you're a great arrogant git, Potter!"
"Ouch! Padfoot! What was that for?!"
"You smacked me, Prongs!"
"You smacked Lily!"
"OUCH! Why is everyone hitting Padfoot today?" Sirius whimpered, putting on his pitiful face. "I just want somebody to love!" he protested.
"Merlin's beard," Remus sighed. "Lily, why'd you come over here?"
"I'm starting to wonder that myself," Lily scowled, crossing her arms.
"It's okay Evans, there's no need to lie about coming over here to ask out a godly, handsome person with amazing hair," James said earnestly.
"But that means she came over here to ask me out," Sirius pointed out.
"Oh, will you two shut up?" Lily cried exasperatedly. "I came over here to see, er, Peter."
"Peter?!" James squawked.
"Peter?!" Sirius gaped.
"Peter?!" Peter squeaked.
"Yes," said Lily coldly, turning her attention to aforementioned Marauder. "Hello, Peter!" she said brightly, her eyes telling him to play along.
"Hello," Peter squeaked, cowering under James' glare.
"Oh Evans, just admit you came here to see me," James said modestly.
"Fine," Lily said coolly, her eyes flashing. "I came over here to see you, Potter. To tell you what an arrogant, moronic git you are!" And smacking James hard, she stormed off.
"Aah," Sirius shrugged sympathetically. "Bad luck, mate."
"Yeah," James said, looking slightly crestfallen.
"Aw," Sirius cried, "we'll always love our Prongsiepoo, even if Lils doesn't!"
"Buggar off," James growled, but a hint of a smile tugged up his mouth.
"Blimey! We have our Herbology exam in three minutes!" Sirius yelped suddenly, glancing at the huge clock tower. "Moony, didja know?!"
"Yes – I, unlike you, carry a watch and check it," Remus said dryly.
" Then why didn't you tell us?!" James exclaimed, scrambling to his feet and dusting off his frayed robes. "Blimey Moony, what'dja hit the robes with? They're ruined for sure, Mum's going to kill me…"
And suddenly, the world soared around Harry; he felt the familiar jerking sensation…
…when he next opened his eyes, he was in the familiar dim room - his and Ginny's bedroom. He found himself grinning broadly, not able to stop, although his face was beginning to hurt. Even Lily's coldness toward his father could be found laughable, seeing as they got together in the end anyways. He wondered if anyone had a memory of Lily finally agreeing to go out with James, it would have been worth watching.
There was a gentle knock on the door. "Harry?" Ginny peeped inside, her bright brown eyes glowing in the gloom. She had a tentative smile on her face. "Is everything all right?"
Still grinning broadly, Harry wrapped her in his arms and planted a big kiss on her lips. "Never been better."
And with the memory of James, Sirius, and Remus fresh in his mind, he headed downstairs for dinner with his family.
End Note: There's a debate between making this a continued story and keeping this as a one-shot; let me know what you want this to be in your review! (Now I tricked you into reviewing, HA! Okay, probably shouldn't have told you that xD) Hope you enjoyed the story!
