A/N: Please Read and review. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3

"Welcome to my humble abode." Remus said opening the door to the small apartment. To the right was a small kitchen with a table only big enough for two people to sit comfortably. On the left was a small area made smaller by all the full bookshelves that lined the walls. Two armchairs sat in front of the empty fireplace with a small table covered in books, a half finished chess game and Daily Prophets, Sirius's face prominent among them. The only window visible in the apartment was down the small hallway showing a brick wall of the building opposite the alley. "It isn't much… but its home."

"Thank you Remus." Harry said gratefully, ushering his kids into the small apartment. James and Lily looked around the apartment nervously, not sure what to do. Lily clutched onto the backpack she was holding like a teddy bear. The bag contained the only belongings the three of them had: a few extra clothes from the used store in Diagon Ally Mrs Weasley frequented, a couple bars of soap, a pack of spearmint gum (toothbrushes and toothpaste were out of the budget), and a pack of cards for the kids to play with. The rest of the galleons Harry had went to the room at the Leaky Cauldron for the two nights they had stayed and food for the kids. Harry had only eaten what the kids could not finish. Three sickles and five knuts were all that was left in Harry's pocket. He really couldn't thank Remus enough.

"The kids can have the bedroom." Remus said picking up some of the newspapers on the table and neatly stacking them as if tidying up the place but the room didn't look any more disorganized than Harry's office had been a few days ago. "There are clean linens in the closet next to the bathroom. We can transfigure the armchairs into cots until we can come up with something more permanent."

"Come on kids." Harry said placing a comforting hand on each of their shoulders and leading them down the hall. Harry stopped at the linen closet and got out some clean sheets while the kids continued into the bedroom. When Harry entered James was already stripping the sheets while Lily stood in the corner continuing to hug the bag close to her. Harry and James made the bed silently. When they were done Lily gave a big yawn.

"Go get ready for bed Lily." Harry said. It was still early but he could see how tired she was… how tired all of them were. Lily didn't protest, getting the pajama bottoms out of the bag she had been hugging and going across the hall to change in the bathroom.

"Here Dad." James said extending his hand. Harry took his offering curiously. It was six galleons and three sickles. "Tom gave me that for helping out. He said I could come back next weekend too if I wanted some extra spending money. I said I would have to talk to you first."

"I can't take your money James." Harry said offering the money back but James didn't take it. He looked at his father incredulously. Harry sighed before putting the money with his six sickles and five knuts. "Thank you."

Lily came back and quickly crawled onto the bed. James left now that the bathroom was free. Harry helped Lily get under the blankets and snuggled her in. The last time Harry had tried to tuck her in she had complained that she was too old to get tucked in, that had been four years ago. She didn't protest this time.

"Will you tell me a bedtime story Dad?" Lily asked. Harry smiled tucking one of her stray hairs away from her face. Telling their children bedtime stories was some of Ginny and Harry's fondest memories. They would sometimes argue about who's turn it was. Harry usually won since his job required late nights, sometimes coming home long after the kids bedtimes. "Which one do you want to hear?"

"The one with the little girl and the diary." Lily said. "I think that was mum's favorite." Harry's smile faltered a little. Ginny did tell that story to their children often, not because she enjoyed the story but because she wanted to make sure they did not repeat her mistakes. It was a harsh reality check for Harry.

"Okay." Harry said. "There once was a little girl who was very excited about going to Hogwarts for the first time. All her siblings had gone and told her marvelous things about the castle and all the adventure they had. But the little girl was nervous about making new friends. She had never been very good at making friends. When she told her mother this her mother reassured her that everything would turn out just fine. When it came time to go to Hogwarts the little girl found a diary tucked into one of her school books. Thinking that her mother had given it to her she began writing in it. She didn't expect it when the diary began writing back."

Harry continued the story even when James came back into the room. James settled into the bed and listened as well. He had heard this story many times as a child but it had been a long time since his mother or father had told him a bed time story.

"With the basilisk slain and the diary destroyed the little girl and the boy who saved her grabbed the tail feathers of the phoenix and flew out of the chamber together." Harry finished. Lily's eyes were closed and her breathing had become slow and steady. She was asleep. James, however, was not.

"You and mum always stop the story there." James said softly not wanting to wake his sister. "You never say that they lived happily ever after. The little girl still doesn't have any friends. How can there be a happy ending for the little girl after something so horrible happening to her?"

"Your right." Harry said recognizing the question for what it really was. "It's hard to get past some things. But as long as that little girl keeps moving forward the nightmares will fade. She will make friends that will stand by her side through all of her hardships. And who's to say she doesn't eventually fall in love with the boy who saved her and live happily ever after."

"Because that's not the way life works Dad." James said before rolling over, ending the conversation. And at the moment Harry couldn't contradict him because more then ever he wanted his wife to be waiting in the next room for him but she wasn't and she would never be again. Happily ever after for the little girl and the boy who saved her didn't exist.

Harry turned off the light and closed the door behind him. He stood with his back pressed against the door for a few minutes letting silent tears fall. How was he going to do this without Ginny? She was his rock whenever things got too hard. She was his voice of reason when ever he came up with stupid ideas that could get him killed. She was always awake when Harry came home after those late missions covered in cuts and bruises, helping him heal before the kids woke up.

Harry's heart clenched as he thought about his children, more specifically, the son who wasn't behind that door. He and Albus may not have been on the greatest of terms at the moment but now Harry would never be able to figure out how to make it right between them. Ginny and Albus were both gone.

Wiping his eyes, Harry entered the kitchen/living area of the apartment. He did not care if Remus knew that he was crying, it was not Remus he needed to stay strong for. Remus was sitting in the kitchen with two mugs of something hot in front of him. Harry already knew what it was; hot chocolate.

"I don't think I've ever heard that bed time story before." Remus commented as Harry sat down.

"You heard that?" Harry said feeling a little uncomfortable at what Remus may have heard.

"Thin walls." Remus shrugged looking a little sheepish. "Sorry." Harry took his wand out and put up a privacy ward. He did not need his children to hear everything Remus and he discussed.

"It wasn't a story." Harry sighed blowing on the hot chocolate to cool it down a little. "It was all true." Remus looked shock, worried and curious all at once. "They don't know it of course, but the diary, the basilisk, the phoenix, it's all real. Their mother always told them that story in hopes that they would learn from her mistakes."

"Merlin," Remus commented. "Something like that should never happen to any child. Do you plan on changing it?"

Harry shook his head taking a sip of the hot chocolate. It was the perfect temperature and did make Harry fell a little better. "That year made my wife into who she was, made her stronger, made me stronger… gave us the strength to do what we would have to do in the future. Even if I could change it, I wouldn't. It's a mote point anyway. It happened two month ago."

"Right now my future wife is afraid to go to sleep. Afraid that when she wakes up she'll be covered in her families blood. Meanwhile, Harry Potter is having nightmares about giant snakes and shadows with red eyes." Remus stayed silent but continued to look horrified at the thought of an eleven year old being possessed and a twelve year old fighting a basilisk on his own.

"So far you have asked me to help you protect your children, told me the ministry is corrupt and act as if killing a basilisk on your own at the age of twelve to save your future wife is not the most traumatizing thing you have experienced." Remus broke the silence. "I'm starting to think I need some more details of exactly what the future holds."

"He didn't die that night." Harry explained simply. "The night He killed my parents was just the first move in a game that Fate put me in. A game, it seems, that Fate wants me to play over again only this time the stakes are a lot higher." Harry glanced down the hallway toward his sleeping children.

"Wars are easy to win if you already know how to beat the other team." Remus said stoically trying to processes the return of a nightmare. "If you stop him from coming back there is no war, if you imprison his allies or make them yours to begin with he has no legs to stand on." Harry considered his words for a moments but shook his head in defeat.

"Some battles have to be lost in order for a different battle to be won and a better future to be built." Harry thought about all the progress the Ministry made to keep corruption from taking over, all the precautions that Harry's generation put in place so that another Voldemort would never be. "This war is larger than just Voldemort and it can happen now or in a few decades with some other dark lord but it will happen. What I know is that this generation is smart enough, strong enough, and has the will to see it through."

"So you don't plan on changing anything?" Remus asked still trying to process this new information. Harry sat silently for a few moment sipping his drink before answering.

"If you would have asked me a week ago… what would you change if you could do it all over again… my response would have been 'nothing'. There are a lot of things that I regretted about my life Remus, but not once have I ever regretted where it ended up. The lives that were lost, the homes that were destroyed meant something because in the end we won. It took me a long time to come to terms with that after the war."

"I love my wife. I love all three of my children. I am proud of the legacy I have left behind and continue to forge." Harry continued. "And I know that one small detail, one stroke of luck that didn't come my way, could have changed all of that. I don't want to change anything Remus," Harry paused for moment thinking about all the lives lost in the war, including the man in front of him, then whispered, "but I would never forgive myself if I didn't try."

A/N: Hope you liked it. Please read and review. Been working a lot on this story which means the next chapter is already done. Hoping to get this one out of my system so that I can continue my work on Fred's story. If you haven't read Meddling With Time: Weasley Edition you should check it out... A lot of people seem to like it.