Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any characters therein contained. I do, however, own the plot line of this story and any original characters herein contained.

Author's Note: No Slash, I actually don't think there will be any romance in this either, that's something new for me. This is my second Harry Potter fanfic, I really like where my first is going but no one seems to have read it ::pouts:: Anyway, read and review!

A Fateful Awakening

Chapter One: Mostly Dead

Pale blue eyes opened very slowly to the dim light of a room that refused to focus. A stinging sensation flowed through his eyes, an ache in his head, testifying to years of being unused. He painfully closed his eyes again and attempted to move his hand through his hair. The pain spread through his arm the moment he attempted to move the muscle, a searing pain that enveloped the skin and made him utter a low groan. With the groan his throat constricted tightly, an agonizing ache that led him to try to open his eyes again in shock. He thought better of that at the last moment. He refused to allow himself to get caught up enough to start the cycle over again. He took a deep breath, the only act that seemed to ease rather than upset whatever condition he was in.

He tried to think of how he had gotten there but drew a blank, an empty space in his memory that left him somewhat drained just attempting to remember. He wanted to cry out in frustration but couldn't. The last thing he remembered was early morning on Halloween, he had just entered the living room of his home to find his one year old son laying on a blanket attempting to crawl while making burbling noises. He remembered scooping the baby up into his arms and laughing with the child as he walked into the kitchen where his wife was preparing breakfast. His son pointed at a jack o' lantern, which sat on the table, and squealed with delight. That's all he could remember. And then the rest came, as suddenly as if a floodgate had been opened. Voldemort had attacked.

Footsteps reverberated off the walls of the room he was in. He shifted his head with great discomfort to hear it better. He uttered another agonizing moan. The footsteps became hurried and approached him quickly. He forced his eyes open, ignoring the pain it caused. A blurry face looked down at him. He could tell it was a woman with dark hair but that was it, it was too fuzzy to determine who exactly stood there. She uttered words of amazement before finally calming down.

"You're awake." She said in a whisper.

"Where…" his voice died off as the ache in his throat cut off his ability to speak.

"You're inside the main building of the Ministry of Magic's headquarters." She said nervously.

"No, where's Lily, a-a-and Harry?" At his remark he noticed her take in a swift breath as if stung and reply in a shaky voice.

"Mr. Potter I'm going to go get someone to help you." She tentatively and nervously patted him on the shoulder before turning and leaving.

*************

Harry Potter, the boy who lived, exited the Great Hall after breakfast alone. A night of walking around the school under his invisibility cloak had left Ron and Hermione to tired to get up that morning. Thankfully, it was Saturday and they didn't have to be up for classes. Harry was now sixteen years old, in his sixth year at Hogwarts. The previous year had gone by with little of the usual strange occurrences that surrounded the teenager. There had been very little activity from Voldemort all year and all summer. It was somewhat disconcerting, to have the Dark Lord biding his time, but by the end of the year they had decided to enjoy the time they had in peace.

Harry saw a familiar face enter through the large doors before him. He inwardly grimaced at the Minister of Magic. He was not fond of Cornelius Fudge, nor did he respect the man.

Fudge saw him after closing the door behind him and was so startled that he stammered a moment. Harry raised both eyebrows in surprise at the flustered man.

"Hello Harry." He said with a great deal of uncertainty.

"Hello Minister, what brings you to Hogwarts?" Harry said quizzically back.

"Oh, Ministry business, nothing to worry about. Is Professor Dumbledore in his office?" He asked, quickly dismissing his question.

"No, he's in the Great Hall." Fudge was walking quickly toward the hall as fast as he could as soon as the words left Harry's mouth. "Strange…" Harry said quietly as he continued on his way back to Gryffindor Tower.

****************

Headmaster of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Professor Albus Dumbledore, entered his office followed by a nervous looking Minister of Magic. Dumbledore took a seat behind his desk, carefully taking his time to calm the other man's nerves. He slowly got himself comfortable and looked at the other man with a curious expression dancing in his light blue eyes.

"Well, Mr. Fudge what brings you to Hogwarts?" Dumbledore began when it didn't look like Fudge was going to.

"I think I may have made a mistake." His said, his voice quavering.

"I see," Dumbledore considered the man closely. "and what mistake was that?"

"I toyed with a life." He said with a tinge of something, not really remorse, more like regret and fear.

"I don't think I quite understand?" Dumbledore said patiently back.

"James Potter's alive."

Dumbledore looked sharply at the Minister of Magic. Unable to move or breathe, he simply stared at the younger man in complete shock.

"Fifteen years ago when you-know-who attacked the Potters, James did not die. I mean, not really." He shook his head clearing away clouds.

"How can someone not really be dead Mr. Fudge?" Dumbledore said, not quite as composed as he would have liked.

"He was brain dead. He would have died had we not made a point of keeping his heart beating. We didn't conceive of the possibility that he wasn't really brain dead, I mean the test must have been done wrong…" Fudge faded as Dumbledore raised his hands for silence.

"Wait, why, if you thought James Potter was brain dead, would you keep him alive?" He said in a tone that was bordering on panic.

"We wanted to utilize the magical energy inside him to power the wards around the Ministry. He was brain dead, an empty shell, we weren't hurting anything or anyone by keeping him alive but… but he woke up." Fudge could no longer keep eye contact with Professor Dumbledore, he deliberately looked away.

"He woke up?" Dumbledore said in a deathly quiet tone.

"I couldn't even talk to him. I took one look at him and imagined a man with a fifteen year long nightmare about the deaths of his wife and son and couldn't tell him that it was half true. That's why I'm here, I thought it would be better for him if he learned the truth from a friend."

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed, "You didn't considered what would be best for him, you thought of what was best for you. He should have been told the moment he woke up. How long has he been awake?"

"Four days." Fudge said in a submissive tone.

"Four days!" Dumbledore bellowed, "What has he been doing for four days? Asking questions you refused to answer?"

"Not all that much, all him muscles have atrophied, he could barely speak." Fudge responded in a slightly louder tone.

"And you thought that made everything alright?" Dumbledore stood at this, striding purposefully toward the door.

"Where-where are you going?" Fudge said as he too stood.

"I'm getting Madame Pomfrey and going to talk to James. I want you out of my school before I get back." As he said this he opened the door and walked out through it.

******************

The room was dark, windowless, and the torches that lined the walls did little to spread light through the room. The room was cold, in both appearance and actual temperature, with stone walls and floor and a single metal framed bed in its center. Dumbledore felt his eyes mist as he looked down at the occupant of that bed. Ink black hair spilled out over the stark white pillow, eyes closed tightly as if in pain and thin drawn frown.

"James?" he breathed very softly.

The person in the bed stirred, face tightening in pain as he attempted to move. "Who?" he voice was harsh from not being used.

"It's Albus Dumbledore, James. I'm… I'm here with Madame Pomfrey. We are going to help you." Dumbledore said as he took a step closer to the bed, close enough to touch its occupant.

James visibly relaxed. Madame Pomfrey moved around Professor Dumbledore to James. Dumbledore watched in silence as she worked. She touched the muscles of his body with the tip of her wand and spoke softly, an incantation. She walked to his face, touching his throat and saying a different incantation than the last. Then she moved to his eyes, she took a deep breath before waving her wand over them and saying something new. His eyes opened slowly almost the instant the incantation was done, his brow furrowed for a moment before he lifted his hand to where a bedside table would have been. Professor Dumbledore and Madame Pompfry where both confused for a moment, then Dumbledore remembered what had been handed to him when he entered and he pulled the round framed glasses from his pocket and put them gentle in James' hand.

"Thank you." He said, voice now clear, but still somewhat groggy. As his vision cleared he looked up into Dumbledore's eyes.

"Madame Pomfrey will you please wait outside." Dumbledore said without breaking eye contact. She turned and left the room without a word spoken, in some sort of daze.

"What happened Professor? Did he get them?" James asked as soon as the door was shut behind the nurse. He sat up in his bed and looked earnestly at his former professor.

"James," he took a deep breath, "a lot has happened since that night." He broke eye contact for the first time and sat on the edge of the bed near James' feet. "On October 31, 1981 Lord Voldemort broke into your house and, we thought, killed you. We know that after you he moved to the upstairs bedroom where Lily was trying to protect Harry." Dumbledore stopped when he looked back at James. The young man had tears in his eyes already, anticipating what would come next. "When Lily sacrificed her life to protect Harry it left a mark on him, one that not even Voldemort predicted, so when he used the killing curse on your son it, sort of, bounced off and hit him instead. Harry lived, a livid lightening shaped scar on his forehead, the curse having hit Voldemort. However, there wasn't really enough human left in Voldemort to die, so he lived on, without a body, and bided his time until he could arise again." A few tears fell down James' cheeks but he made no move to hinder them.

"So, Harry's alive?" he said a note of hope in his eyes and voice.

Dumbledore smiled reassuringly, "Unless something has happened since I saw him at breakfast this morning, yes he's alive."

James looked thoroughly relieved by this, but also confused, "At breakfast?"

"Ah," Dumbledore said, somewhat nervous again, "James you have been asleep for over fifteen years. It is now 1996 and Harry is a student at Hogwarts."

James eyes widened in surprise, "You mean my little baby boy is sixteen years old."

It wasn't a question, but Dumbledore nodded anyway. "Harry thinks you're dead, we all thought you were dead. I only found out after breakfast today that the Ministry was keeping you alive. I'm not sure how Harry will take the news. Though I know him to be very strong in character, so I don't perceive a big problem."

James looked confused again, or perhaps merely curious, "What's he like? I can only imagine what being raised by a troublemaker like Padfoot would do to a child." James laughed at the joke, but sobered when Dumbledore didn't.

Dumbledore had the urge to look away but kept eye contact through sheer willpower. "No one knew that you switched secret keepers. They thought Sirius betrayed you, and then Peter faked his own death, taking the lives of twelve muggles, and framed Sirius. Mr. Black spent twelve years in Azkaban prison before escaping."

James didn't speak. His eyes had darkened and he looked ready to explode, or cry, Dumbledore couldn't tell. "So, who raised Harry?"

Dumbledore was afraid to answer, "His Aunt and Uncle."

James looked horrified, "THE DURSLEY'S!" he yelled. He seemed to loose what strength he had, falling back onto the pillows and closing his eyes tightly as tears pushed there way through the closed lids.

"Listen James, I can't leave my school unattended for any longer than I already have. With Voldemort in power and after Harry's life, I need to be close. I'm leaving now. I'm going to tell Harry you're alive, then I'll tell Sirius and Remus. Though Remus will have to take great pains in keeping Sirius from breaking in here to see you, they need to know." James nodded numbly as Dumbledore stood. He turned from the bed and headed for the door. "I'll see if I can't have you transferred to Hogwarts, it's safer for you there and you'll be able to see Harry."

"Dumbledore?" he turned back to look at James. "Thank you."

He smiled softly as he continued out the door.

****************

"So how did he find out?" Ron asked Harry as they walked by the lake with Hermione after lunch.

"It slipped." Harry said as he blushed, still looking at the letter in his hands.

"How could you let it slip to your exceedingly overprotective godfather that the three of us have all become Animagi?" Hermione added indignantly.

Harry turned, shrugging his shoulders, "I guess I, kind of, forgot that he didn't already know." He stopped at the lake's edge and sat on the grass looking out over the cool water. He remembered in his third year when he had been on the ground, only a short ways from where he now sat, surrounded by Dementors, thinking he saw his father conger a stag Patronus from the other side. He remembered how he had waited, after using the time turner, for his father to appear again to save him and Sirius. Then realizing that he had only seen himself on the other side, it was disappointing, but oddly amusing, as everyone continued to tell him how much he looked like his father and then he had to admit the same.

"Harry, are you listening?" Ron said as he sat to Harry's right, bringing him back to the present.

"I'm sorry Ron, what was that?" Harry said, embarrassed at being caught not paying attention.

"Where were you just them Harry?" Hermione asked thoughtfully as she sat on his other side.

"I was thinking about our third year, when I thought I saw my dad on the other side of the lake."

They were both quiet, having stumbled into a subject they did not want to stumble into again, they tried to change the subject. "Anyway," Hermione went on, as though ignoring his words, "you should have been more careful. I mean have done something illegal."

"Harry." A voice said his name from behind and they all jumped. Harry stood and looked at the unusually pale face of the Headmaster, who had just startled him, with curiosity.

"Yes Professor?" Harry said, pretending that Dumbledore hadn't just overheard something he shouldn't have, but looking very guilty at the same time.

"Don't worry Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley, I have known about your exploits into the world of the Animagus for some time. Harry will you please join me for a walk, I need to talk to you about something very important." He smiled reassuringly at them, but Harry could tell that the smile was forced.

He moved to walk next to Dumbledore, shooting a glance behind him at Ron and Hermione who looked both relieved and confused. Dumbledore began to walk away, further from the school, and Harry followed beside him.

After they were out of earshot of all those around them, Dumbledore spoke. "So what animals have you three become, if you don't mind my asking?"

Harry would have smiled at this, but the undertone in Dumbledore's voice told him he was stalling. "I become a stag, like father like son I guess, Ron becomes a fox and Hermione becomes a hawk. But if you don't mind me asking, Professor, why are you stalling?"

Dumbledore smiled almost wistfully, but a moment later that smile had faded. "A very good thing has come to my attention Harry. Very good indeed, but with bad circumstances." He sighed. "I'm going to be blunt with this Harry, I don't want to string you along. Your father, James Potter, is alive."

Harry stopped dead in his tracts. He looked at Dumbledore with an expression of mixed confusion, fear and hope a startling contradiction that made Dumbledore regret his bluntness.

Harry outstretched his hands as his mind went fuzzy, looking for something stable to keep himself standing. Dumbledore immediately reached out his hands to steady him but to no avail, Harry pulled away as though burned, slumping onto the cool grass with a thud and looking back up at Dumbledore with eyes that showed nothing but anger and confusion, the other emotions gone.

"How could you?" he said in a soft, yet demanding tone.

Dumbledore was confused for a moment, but then realized what the sixteen year old meant and quickly rebutted. "This is no joke Harry. I found out this morning from the Minister of Magic himself. They have been keeping James alive all these years under the pretence that he was brain dead. They never imagined that he would wake up."

Harry looked away again, the anger gone from his demeanor, all that was left was confusion. "Why? Why keep him alive if they thought he was brain dead?"

"They were using his magical energy to power the wards that protect the Ministry headquarters."

Anger flashed again in Harry's eyes again and he directed his gaze at his Headmaster. "You found out this morning, I saw Fudge enter the school looking for you. Why didn't you tell me then?"

"Because I thought James needed to know that you were alive first. Fudge hadn't told him anything, almost refusing to answer his questions. He had been awake for four days and no one would talk to him about his wife and son. I thought you'd agree that that was cruel and he deserved to know the truth as soon as possible." Dumbledore said this part in a way that pointed blame solely on the Ministry, not on Harry for not seeing immediately from his perspective.

Harry's eyes softened again, and tears obstructed his vision. He tried to blink them away but a few fell down his cheeks. Those that fell he ignored, looking up at Dumbledore with hope filled eyes. "So, my dad's alive."

It wasn't really a question, but Harry seemed to need to be reassured of the truth. "Yes Harry, your dad is alive."

(A/N: please review!)