Chapter II

Sirius Black nodded as he smiled at Ginny. "Yes."

Ginny stood up, pointing her wand at Sirius as she shook her head. "That's … that's not possible. You're dead! Harry saw Bellatrix kill you! Remus saw you die! Everyone knows it!"

Sirius shook his head. "I didn't die, Gin. I was hit badly by that curse and I fell behind the arch but I didn't die."

"I don't believe you! This isn't possible!"

Sirius nodded. "Ask me anything. Ask me something that only you and I would know?"

Ginny gulped as she searched her mind for something and then she remembered the first conversation that they'd ever had together at Grimmauld Place. "Alright, when I first met you we were in the kitchen at your house and Fred and George came downstairs to talk to me. What did they want?"

Sirius grinned. "They wanted you to hide their inventions so Molly didn't find them and skin them alive! You somehow agreed to it and finagled twenty percent of the profit out of them! Bloody brilliant!"

Ginny nodded. He was right of course. But then again, hadn't she secretly known that he wasn't lying as soon as she saw him. "How? Why hasn't anyone known?"

"Ginny, listen to me. Dumbledore found me and I was almost dead, I was pretty injured from the fall. But everyone already believed me to be dead by the time I was found. Dumbledore told me that it would be better for everyone to continue to think I was dead until Voldemort was gone. He said that I could do things for the Order this way and I would be well protected and kept safe. I disagreed at first because I knew how it would affect Harry. I fought against the idea but Dumbledore told me it was for the best. I finally relented and I've been living here ever since." Sirius explained.

Ginny shook her head again. "That's ridiculous! To pretend you've been dead for the last five years! How could you do this to Harry? He was heartbroken! You were the only father figure he's ever had! He needed you! He loved you! How could this have possibly helped anything?"

"Hey Padfoot! What's all this yelling about? Lily and I were trying to sleep?" A voice asked as a man with messy black hair and glasses entered the room followed by a sleepy eyed red head with familiar emerald green eyes.

"NO!" Ginny yelled. "NO! THIS ISN'T POSSIBLE!"

Sirius nodded. "Ginny, listen to me! This is James and Lily Potter and yes they are alive as well!"

Tears began to pour down Ginny's cheeks before she could stop them. How could these people do this to Harry? These were his parents! His parents were alive? After nineteen years of people believing that they were dead? How could they do this to their only son? She shook her head at them and kept her wand pointed as Sirius took a step closer to her. "Don't come any closer, Sirius."

Sirius nodded. "Ginny, will you let me explain? Will you let us explain?"

Ginny didn't know what to say. Yes, she wanted an explanation! But how could she trust these people! People who had abandoned their only son! "It better be a good one."

"It will be." Sirius replied quickly. "Let me tell you everything."

She nodded meekly and sat down as Sirius, James, and Lily all took their seats on the couch across from her. James and Lily were giving Sirius and Ginny odd looks; they obviously didn't know who she was or what she was doing here. "Explain."

Sirius took a deep breath. "Alright, first of all I want you to know that I did not know that James and Lily were alive until Dumbledore brought me here. I swear on my life that I didn't know. As I told you before, I almost died at the Department of Mysteries but I didn't, people just believed that I had. Dumbledore convinced me that it would be safer for everyone if the world believed me to be dead. He said that he would take care of Harry and that once the war was over and Voldemort was vanished forever well, then I could come out of hiding. While I've been here, I've done some spying for Dumbledore on some Death Eaters in my animagus form. I've discovered a lot of useful information and I've managed to help out the Order in more ways then I could before when I was hiding because I was a wanted criminal. Do you understand?"

Ginny nodded. "But how could you do this to Harry, Sirius?"

"I didn't have a choice. Dumbledore told me that it was the only way and that as long as the world thought that I was dead, Harry would stand a better a chance at destroying Voldemort. Yes, I know about the prophecy, Ginny. The thing with Voldemort is that he goes after all of the loved ones of his enemy, he takes them away because he knows that it leaves his enemy grief stricken and weak. Dumbledore knew this as well; which is why he insisted that I stay dead to the world so that Voldemort never found out about it. The same goes for James and Lily. But I think that they should explain their story. James?"

James Potter looked at Ginny carefully and he nodded at Sirius. He wasn't sure why she was here in the first place or who she was. All he knew was that Dumbledore had sent her here to be kept safe. But why? How did she know Sirius and Harry? But he knew now wasn't the time for those questions. He took a deep breath before he began.

"Ginny, is it?" When she nodded, he managed a small smile that made Ginny's heart flutter in her chest. It was Harry's grin. "Nineteen years ago, Dumbledore told Lily and I about the prophecy and he explained that it might concern Harry. Naturally we were both terrified and we did everything possible to make sure that our son would be kept safe."

"Like the Secret Keeper with Pettigrew, Gin." Sirius replied.

James nodded at Sirius before he continued. "Yes. Well, Lily and I had also been researching and experimenting with antidotes for survival of the killing curse. We hadn't actually found anything out yet, but we had some strong possibilities. We put the spells and potions on ourselves on a regular basis to experiment, but naturally we didn't know if they would work or not. There was no way for us to test them without the possibility of dying. However, Lily and I both felt that we had done our best and if our calculations were correct then we should survive. We then began to test the experiments on Harry as well. We worked on this for months and months but like I said we only had theories about the outcome of these experiments. Then Voldemort showed up." He closed his eyes for a moment as if he was reliving a painful memory. "I sent Lily upstairs with Harry. She had to protect our son. I began to duel with Voldemort. He was fast and he was toying with me and I knew it. We duelled for at least fifteen minutes before he shouted the killing curse at me. There was a flash of green light and then the world went black."

Lily Potter nodded at her husband before she turned to Ginny. "He came up the stairs. I knew it was him and not James but I didn't know what to do. I had no way of leaving with Harry and I was so worried about James. I didn't know if he was injured or dead down stairs. I placed Harry in his crib and kissed him as he grinned at me. That foolish grin that James had. The door to the nursery opened and Voldemort was standing there. He told me to move, he said that there was no reason for me to die. But I just thought that he was a stupid man if he really just expected me to let him kill my baby boy while I stood there and watched. I fought him, throwing myself in front of the crib. Then I too, saw a flash of green light before the world went black."

"It's not possible for you to both be here!" Ginny exclaimed. "Dumbledore specifically told Harry that he survived that night because his mother died trying to save him, which established old magic, something that Tom overlooked. Tom lost his body that night and Harry survived with only that scar on his forehead! Harry remembers that night clearly and he remembers you dying! How did that happen if you two didn't actually die?"

James shook his head. "No, see, we did die. But those experiments we had used on ourselves, they did work. We were actually dead for over eight hours and then we woke up. Our experiments brought us back to life. Our house was in shambles, almost completely broken to the ground. I ran upstairs to see Lily; she was just stirring awake herself. At first, we didn't understand what had happened and then the memories came flooding back. But Harry was gone. We panicked. We didn't understand what happened because if Voldemort had killed him then where was his body? We flooed Dumbledore immediately, who was in absolute shock that we were alive. He immediately came to the house and explained to us that Voldemort had tried to kill Harry but had failed and then disappeared. He said that he had brought Harry to the Dursleys where he would live until he started school because he was safe there. He explained that because Lily's blood ran in Petunia Dursley's veins, that Harry would be far from harm there. Lily and I both flipped out. We wanted to raise our son! We hadn't died and why should he be raised by muggles! But Dumbledore said no. He said that he wasn't sure what had happened to Voldemort, but that he was not gone. He explained that both of us had to go into hiding and not tell another soul that we were alive. That Harry would be fine and once Voldemort was gone for good we would be able to come out. Again we argued. Harry would of course be safer with us his own parents? But Lily and I both knew that Dumbledore was right. Harry would be safer in the muggle world. Lily suggested us becoming muggles. She said we could move to North America and raise Harry there as a muggle, where nobody would ever find us. Again, Dumbledore turned us down. He said that we were to go into hiding. He would find us a safe house and we would stay there until it was over. We've been here ever since. Dumbledore has had us working silently for the Order with Sirius, searching for things and ideas. We actually had the task of tracking down memories of Voldemort's life as a child and as a teenager, or at least destination points. I'm not sure exactly what Dumbledore did with the information we told him, but he said that it helped both him and Harry."

Ginny stared at the three of them in shock. How could Dumbledore insist on something like this? How on earth would the three of them being dead really help Harry? She could only see it hurting Harry. He had been forced to grow up with no parents. To live with muggles who had abused him both physically and emotionally. To lose his godfather only after two years of knowing of his existence. This was not in the best interest of Harry.

"Why would Dumbledore insist on this? How is this in the best interest of Harry? This is only hurting him!" Ginny demanded, her eyes flashing in her anger as she glared at the three of them.

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know exactly. But Dumbledore swore that it was for the best. He swore that by Harry not knowing that we were all actually alive that he would be stronger and more determined in the end and that he would actually defeat Voldemort." Sirius' eyes softened slightly as he looked at Ginny. "That Harry would destroy Tom once and for all, Ginny, not just a diary this time."

James nodded even though he didn't fully understand what Sirius had just said. "Dumbledore is a brilliant wizard. He knows what he is doing. Lily and I are heartbroken still that we've been forced to live without our son, without any contact with him, except for a few short things about his life that we have learned from Sirius. Even that we know next to nothing. Dumbledore has kept us in absolute darkness."

Ginny glared at them. "I DON'T CARE IF DUMBLEDORE IS A BRILLIANT WIZARD! I THINK THAT HE WAS DEAD WRONG ABOUT THIS! THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING! WHEN HARRY FINDS OUT WHAT HE HAS DONE! WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! I'LL BE SURPRISED IF HE EVEN WANTS YOU IN HIS LIFE LET ALONE FORGIVE YOU FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO HIM! HE'S BEEN THROUGH MORE THEN ENOUGH IN HIS LIFE! I THINK THAT ALL OF YOU ARE JUST SELFISH! YOU'RE JUST SELFISH PEOPLE AND YOU DON'T DESERVE HARRY IN YOUR LIFE!"

Sirius stood up, his fists clenching tight. "GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY, YOU WILL BITE YOUR TONGUE!"

Ginny's eyes flashed. "IT'S GINEVRA POTTER NOW AND IT HAS BEEN FOR TWO YEARS!"

Sirius' eyes widened as did the eyes of both James and Lily. "You married Harry?"

Ginny nodded. "Yes, I did. And as his wife I will speak to you anyway that I please, especially when it concerns the welfare and well-being of my husband!"

A small 'pop' caused for them all to turn to the doorway. Dobby the house elf stood there, silently wringing his hands together nervously. "Lady Ginny?"

Ginny smiled. "Dobby, what are you doing here?"

"Harry Potter, sir, did it, my Lady; he defeated He Who Must Not Be Named! It is over!"

Ginny grinned. "Where is he? Is he okay?"

Dobby nodded. "He is at St. Mungo's, my Lady. He will get better though. Professor Dumbledore says he will make a full recovery. Harry Potter, sir, is asking for you though. Your mum is keeping him company."

Ginny nodded. "I'll be right there, Dobby." She picked up her cloak off the back of the chair and turned when Lily grabbed her arm.

"I want to see my son. The war is over. Voldemort is gone. I want to see Harry."

Ginny's eyes narrowed. "Not now. He is in the hospital in Merlin knows what kind of condition. When he is better I will tell him everything that you have told me tonight. From there, I will leave the decision to contact you up to him. Now let go of me."

Lily nodded, tears pouring down her cheeks. "You'll tell him?"

Ginny felt her heart clutch in her chest. She wanted to hate the three of them. They had deserted Harry, hid when he needed them. But she knew that they loved him. She could tell that they really did care for him and that they desperately had been waiting nineteen years to see him again. "Yes. Not right away, but once he is recovered. Bye."

She smiled at Dobby as she pulled out the portkey that Dumbledore had given her, changing the destination on it. Then in a flash she was gone, leaving the Potters and Sirius to stare at her empty spot with tears of joy in their eyes.