Harry continued to trudge up the path alongside his big friend, Hogwarts castle looming against the dark pink sky, a hint of sunrise. He was bemused at Hagrid's confusion; Hagrid must have spent the night at the Three Broomsticks and had just a touch too much firewhiskey. However, Hagrid, being a large half—giant, could down a gallon of alcohol without even getting tipsy. For him to become so drunk to forget Harry's existence he must have downed Madam Rosmerta's entire stock.
The pair climbed the great stone steps. Mercifully the huge oak doors were unlocked.
"I'll leave yeh here, James. Don't let meh catch yeh out this late again. If Filch found out, he'd skin meh alive!" With that, Hagrid turned and strode towards his little cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Harry's eyebrows knitted in confusion as he glanced around the Entrance Hall. Empty and silent, as it should be at 4 o'clock in the morning. He pulled his Invisibility Cloak from beneath his robes and flung the heavy material over him, noticing his toes peeking out from under the invisible fabric. Harry had grown five inches over the last year, and the Cloak was getting a bit small.
Harry climbed the marble staircase and took a familiar short-cut to Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady was snoozing peacefully in her frame, and Harry had to shout to rouse her, which she did not appreciate.
"Hinkypunk," said Harry confidently.
"No," The Fat Lady said derisively.
"Wha?" Harry asked. The password had been "Hinkypunk" for the last week. "But- but that was the password this morning!"
"No, it wasn't," The Fat Lady replied. "And if you don't know the password, I'm going back to sleep. She re-settled her long pink robes and closed her eyes. Immediately, fake snores filled the empty corridor.
"Wait!" Harry whisper-yelled, but the Fat Lady just continued to pretend to be sound asleep. No one's REM sleep is that complete, Harry thought to himself as he settled him self on the cold marble floor. Adjusting his back to better accommodate the sharp corners of the wall, he closed his eyes as well, thinking about the confusion of the night.
He dozed off, but all too soon a loud female voice brought Harry harshly back to reality.
"James! Don't you dare tell anyone about tonight!"
"Ok, ok, chill out!" came a second voice, deep and strangely familiar to Harry.
Harry threw the Invisibility Cloak over himself again just as two figures rounded the corner, passing under a bright torch lamp.
A very pretty girl of about 16 with waist-length dark, wavy red hair and bright, almond-shaped emerald green eyes was marching purposely towards the portrait hole. With a jolt, Harry recognized her. She was a younger, more solid version of the ghost that had come out of Voldemort's wand that night at the graveyard. It was Lily Evans, Harry's mother.
Next to her was a boy, almost a man. If there had been another set of eyes there, the outsider would have thought that this boy was Harry's twin. Harry stared at the man whom he knew to be his father. He was almost exactly the same height as Harry, had the the same rumpled jet-black hair. The only difference was his eyes, which were a warm brown tone.
Harry was completely mystified. Why were his parents here, at Hogwarts, when they had died more than 16 years ago? They were definitely solid people, not ghosts. And they looked so young, not the age that they had been when they were murdered.
"Seriously James, Mary would never stop taunting me if she knew that I had been out all night doing… well, out all night with you." Lily paused, looking at James, who was having immense difficulty hiding his grin.
"Alright, Evans, take it easy," said James. He grabbed her hand, and whistled loudly to wake up the Fat Lady, who looked extremely cross. Harry doubted whether she had actually fallen asleep yet.
"Again?" the Fat Lady asked imperiously.
"What do you mean?" James looked puzzled. "Who was out at 4 in the morning?"
"Never you mind. Do you have the password or not?"
"Mandrake," said James carelessly. The Fat Lady swung open, revealing the empty Gryffindor common room. Harry snapped out of his reverie and jumped through the portrait hole after Lily. The common room was exactly as it had been this morning. Harry was becoming more baffled by the second.
"Well, good night then James," said Lily.
"Good night? I think you mean good morning," said James, grinning. He leaned into Lily, clearly hoping for a kiss, but she just turned and ran up the steps that Harry knew to lead to the girl's dormitory. James, unfazed, flopped down into a squashy armchair by the smoldering remains of the fire.
"Just wait till I tell Sirius," James muttered, smiling to himself.
Harry watched his father critically from his invisible vantage point. In his fifth year, Harry had taken an excursion into Snape's penseive and seen his father in a memory. In that memory, James had not been portrayed well. More of an arrogant, stuck-up pretty boy, in Harry's opinion. Right now, James just looked tired and happy. Harry's vast resemblance to James struck Harry once again.
James gave one last content sigh, and headed up the stone stairs towards the boys dormitory. Harry, making sure that the common room was really deserted, flung off the Invisibility Cloak and stored in back in his robes. He flopped down onto the chair that his father had just vacated, and thought.
Harry thought long and hard about tonight's bizarre occurrences. First the amazingly close shave with Nott and Mulciber. Then the high-speed ride in the Weasley's old Ford Anglia. Then Hagrid not recognizing him. Finally, seeing his parents. The night's events ran over and over in his mind, blurring like the thought's in Dumbledore's penseive.
A long time ago, Dumbledore had asked Harry if he ever felt like there was no room in his head for new thoughts. Harry had privately said no. Now, however, Harry understood exactly what Dumbledore had meant.
Then suddenly, it came to him, in one brilliant stroke. He had been transported back through time. He was now at the Hogwarts that his parent's had known. James, Lily, Sirius, Lupin, Pettigrew, Snape, they were all students right now. Harry did not know how he had time traveled.
Confused thoughts swirling around in his head, Harry was not sure when his imagination turned into dream, but very soon someone was poking him and saying fervently, "Hey, wake up!"