Hi! Thanks for your great reviews; they really give me the motivation to write more!

Of course, because of the fact that James and Lily have returned, some aspects of the 'Harry Potter' story will change, but I am dedicated to keep to the original story as much as possible because you really can't improve on such a great idea and the characters themselves shall be exactly as Jk Rowling wrote them.

Harry Potter belongs to the amazing JK Rowling.

Chapter 3

Forgiveness

James entered Dumbledore's office alone. Lily was showing Harry around the castle. Apparently Harry couldn't be present for whatever Dumbledore wanted to say and James had a suspicion about what exactly that could be about.

He shut the office door behind him and walked towards the desk.

"Am I right in believing that you know what I need to talk to you about?" Dumbledore asked with a slight smile.

James sighed sinking into one of the arm chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"Only if you want to talk about old 'Voldy'," James said dryly.

"As always James, your powers of perception are uncanny," Dumbledore said his eyes twinkling slightly.

"You don't think he's gone," James said bluntly.

"No," Dumbledore sighed, "I don't."

"And you still think Harry's…the one…in the prophecy?"

"I am more certain of that than I was when we last spoke of it."

James ran a hand through his hair anxiously.

"So, what's being done?" he asked urgently, "If Voldemort's out there somewhere people must be out looking for him, he's been weakened right? Surely if we got him now-"

Dumbledore shook his head gravely.

"Firstly James, no one wants to go searching for a person they all sincerely desire to be gone," he said calmly, "I think it's time you knew that most members of the Order…well…"

James understood from the look in Dumbledore's eyes what he meant and shook his head sadly.

"And," Dumbledore continued after a few moments, "The prophecy I heard, the one I related to you and Lily years ago, makes it clear who the only person is that can and, I believe, most likely will defeat Lord Voldemort."

"But how, Dumbledore?" James asked frustrated, "How? Harry, he's just a child…who knows when Voldemort'll be back…we can't leave this kind of thing to fate, I'm not leaving my son to fate, I'll kill Voldemort myself before I let my son face him alone!"

"Harry won't do it alone," Dumbledore said simply, "he wouldn't be able to, there's still time James. Time enough to ensure he knows all that he will need to face Tom Riddle…face him and win. Yes…I'm sure there's much time before then, but Harry will have help, he'll need it from all of us."

"Tell me what I can do and I'll do it," James stated, "I'm not afraid of him, and I'll make sure my son isn't either."

"That is important," Dumbledore said, "but even more important is the fact that Harry must differ from Voldemort in every way, it is up to you and Lily to make sure of that."

"I'm sure Vernon and Petunia did a great job of it."

"Actually, as horrible as living with them was, I believe it may have been beneficial to our cause," Dumbledore said pensively, "if he had grown up in our world, all that attention, admiration…well it would have been no good for him."

"Yes…I suppose it wouldn't be good to give him an opportunity to inherit my big head…" James said thoughtfully, "although, so far he seems really…well shy, quiet and, well, not very much like me at all, in fact he seems to be embarrassed by the very idea of fame…he's a lot more like Lily, I had hoped he would be."

Dumbledore smiled gently. "It is truly amazing, yours and Lily's return; my only regret is that we had not found you sooner."

"Let's not think too much on that, we're here now."

"Hmmm, James, I just want to ask you again to recount what happened that night, I'm trying to understand and it's proving to be difficult."

"Well…like I told you before sir," James started, " I was in the living room with Harry, he used to like when I made smoke rings with my wand," Dumbledore smiled, "Then Lily came in, I set my wand down on the couch, she wanted me to check something for her…said she had a bad feeling," James paused, his mouth became a tight line, "I checked the wards, there were no problems, I told her she was just being silly, well, that's when the alarms went off, I knew who it was immediately. I told Lily to take Harry, she ran upstairs, there wasn't any time for me to get my wand before the door was blasted away, I faced him anyway…told him to get out. Of course he laughed, just laughed.

"Just as I was sure it was the end, Lily was there beside me, I was angry, angry with the situation, angry that she had come back. And then she started pleading with him to take her instead, she just wanted Harry to live," James' brow furrowed, "actually, now that I think about it, he didn't seem to want to kill her…told her to step aside, I wanted her to, I wanted her to run away but Lily was so brave, she would never run and hide. She grabbed my hand and I pulled her behind me, Voldemort raised his wand and then it all just went black…next thing I knew, I was waking up in a Muggle hospital with a bloody needle in my wrist."

"Hmm, interesting…very interesting," Dumbledore murmured, "How long before this did you switch secret keepers?"

"Only about a month," James said quietly, "Sirius suggested it, everyone knew he was my best mate and one of the bravest people you could find, he would be the first choice…he was my first choice but he thought it would be safer if we switched for a while to someone no one would ever suspect. Peter Pettigrew…I can't believe I trusted him with my life, with Lily's and Harry's lives. And then…he let Sirius take the blame…I still can't believe it…"

"The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, has agreed to come here tomorrow," Dumbledore said, "It would be best he saw you with his own eyes, once you tell him the truth I am certain Mr. Black will be cleared of all charges."

"Wait…did you say Cornelius Fudge…that idiot?" James asked incredulously, "Surely he's not the new Minister of Magic!"

"It's very true…gladly, the nation has not dealt with any severe problems thus far in his term in office, he is a good man, Cornelius, though I'm not sure that appointing him Minister was the best decision ever made…but alas, that is that."

"Blimey."

"Oh, I had almost forgotten," Dumbledore reached into a drawer in his desk and pulled out some silvery, folded material, "I can finally give this back to its rightful owner."

"My invisibility cloak!" James grinned as he took it from Dumbledore, "did you find what you were looking for?"

Dumbledore merely continued to smile tranquilly. "I have proven nothing except that it is an exceptionally old cloak, but you knew that already, it has been sitting here in this drawer for nine years, it should be used once again to live up to the glory of its younger days, what did you used to do James? Sneak into the kitchens at night?"

"Sir," James said shaking his head slowly, "I would say you have no idea, but I have a feeling you do."

oOo

"And this, Harry, is where we used to have our meals," Lily said brightly stepping into the great hall. Harry gasped loudly.

"There's no ceiling!"He said in astonishment, his head tilted all the way back and his mouth wide open.

Lily laughed.

"Actually, there is, it's just enchanted to look like the sky," she said smiling up at it, "I can't believe I'd almost forgotten how beautiful this place is." She sighed softly.

"I can't believe it's really a school!" Harry said excitedly, "A school for magic! Can you do some magic mum? I'd really like to see it!"

"Oh," Lily frowned, "I can't really do much right now, you see, I haven't got a wand and I've actually always found it a little difficult to do wandless magic…"

"Can you try?" Harry asked with round eyes, "Please?"

"Hmm…"Lily said smiling, "I suppose I could try…ah right, you see that goblet there?"

"Yes."

"Watch it."

Harry stared at the unassuming silver goblet. It sat there on the long wooden table looking completely normal. Suddenly, it wobbled slightly. Harry's eyes widened and he glanced at his mother. Her eyes were narrowed slightly as she focused on the goblet. Harry gasped as he returned his gaze to the goblet, it was rising steadily into the air and as he watched it began to sparkle and flash in all the colours the rainbow.

"Showing off Lils?" came a voice suddenly from behind them.

Lily started and the goblet dropped with a thud back to the table, once again silver and unassuming.

"James!" Lily cried rounding on him, "I was just showing Harry a bit of magic and you had to go break my concentration, didn't you?"

"Sorry," James chuckled not looking very sorry at all.

"That was amazing mum!" Harry said as he picked up the goblet, turning it this way and that in his hands, "How did you do it?"

"Well, like I said, its loads more difficult to do magic without a wand," Lily explained, "but I just charmed it to float and change colour…Charms was one of my best subjects at school."

"Transfiguration was mine," James said carelessly, at the same time there was a squeak. Harry looked down to see that he was clutching a small mouse. With a cry of surprise he dropped it, gasping when, before it hit the ground, it was once again a silver goblet.

"Now who's showing off," Lily muttered.

oOo

James and Lily held hands in the center of the room. Both of them watched the fireplace anxiously. James was stiff, rigid, he held Lily's hand tightly in his own, almost too tightly, but she did not pull away. She knew he needed her support for this, and she knew about the guilt he felt.

She rubbed soothing circles on his hand with her thumb. His hand loosened slightly around hers.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly running his free hand through his hair.

"It's alright love," Lily said gently, "He'll understand, you know he will."

"I still feel like crap about it," James muttered gloomily, "If I hadn't been such an idiot Padfoot wouldn't have gone to Azkaban and Harry never would've had to live with Petunia…I should've known…Mooney would never…"

"You thought the same about Peter James," Lily said, "It was an awful time…no one knew who to trust…you don't know what he'll say until you…until we…apologise. I had as much to do with this as you and Sirius."

James shook his head but said nothing. Lily sighed looking over at the door through which their friend would enter.

oOo

Remus Lupin had had a tiring day. He was in search of a job, which should not have been difficult considering his qualifications, but was due to the fact that Remus would turn into a highly dangerous and infectious wolf on full moon nights. He, by law, had to state this in his job interviews. Of course no one hired him after that.

Remus had been out job hunting all morning and was happy to be returning home for some rest. He slowly made his way up to his front door, noting with a groan that the paint on it was peeling and needed to be redone. He let himself in and made his way to the tiny living room where he collapsed on the rather old and broken down couch.

He was just about to doze off when he heard an intent rapping on the front room window. He opened an eye to see a brown owl, a letter clutched in its beak, sitting on the window sill. With another tired groan Remus stood and walked over to the window, letting the owl in.

It flew inside, dropping the letter on the coffee table and waiting beside it. Remus picked up the letter, turning it over he recognised the Hogwarts seal. He wondered what this could possibly be about. As he opened the envelope he glanced down at the owl, it stayed waiting for an answer.

Remus unfolded the letter inside and smoothed it out; he immediately recognised the swirling script.

Dear Mr Lupin,

I hope this letter finds you well. It has very recently come to my attention a matter of great importance in which I am certain you would have much interest. I am asking you to visit me at Hogwarts at 8:30 tonight, come discreetly as this matter must remain a secret for the time being.

Once again hoping you are in good health,

Albus Dumbledore.

Remus stared at the letter wondering what on earth Dumbledore meant by this 'matter of importance'. He was probably taking a bit long to respond because suddenly he felt a hard nip on his finger.

"Ow!" he cried jumping back, the bird had bit him, "alright then, you impatient thing." Remus muttered looking around for a piece of paper. Quickly he penned his reply and placed it carefully in the bird's beak.

It immediately took off through the window. Remus stared after it, beginning to feel a bit worried about what news Dumbledore had for him. Could it be something about Harry? Remus knew he was living with Lily's muggle relatives somewhere but could he be in danger again or hurt in some way?

Remus glanced at the old couch again but even though he was tired he found he could not stand to fall asleep.

oOo

It was 8:30 when Remus Lupin arrived in a swirl of emerald flames at Hogwarts School. He stepped into Dumbledore's office dusting the ash off his robes.

"Ah Remus," Dumbledore said walking towards him, "it is wonderful to see you again, it has been too long."

"Yes, er, it has," Remus agreed awkwardly, he was anxious to find out what Dumbledore had meant in his letter.

Dumbledore sensed his impatience. "Come with me," he said with a mysterious smile, leading Remus out of his office and into the darkened corridor below. Dumbledore opened a door half way down the corridor and gestured for Remus to enter before him.

It took Remus' eyes a few seconds to adjust to the light inside the room but when he could see properly once again he gasped in amazement. Inside the room were two people, a man and a woman, and they looked remarkably like his friends Lily and James. But that was impossible, Lily and James had been dead for over nine years, were these impostors?

"Who are you?" Remus said, his voice cracking slightly.

Lily and James stood and stepped towards their old friend.

"Remus…" Lily said tentatively, "it's us, we're back…somehow…we didn't die…"

Remus shook his head.

"It's impossible," he said to himself, "It must be some kind of trick."

"I assure you Remus," Dumbledore said gently, "It is no trick, Lily and James have indeed returned to us, although I am not quite sure why or how. I sense that perhaps you have a lot to discuss, I'll leave you."

Dumbledore left the room quickly and silently, closing the door gently behind him. The remaining people in the room stared at each other warily.

"If you really are James…" Remus trailed off.

"Yes?" James asked, eager to prove himself.

"Well, if you really are James then you could become prongs," Remus narrowed his eyes, "can you?"

"I can," James said firmly and in an instant he morphed into an impressive beautiful stag, the markings around its eyes vaguely similar to the shape of James' glasses.

"Prongs," Remus whispered, then he turned to Lily, "Lily…it's really you, how…I mean…"

Suddenly he could contain himself no longer and rushed forward to embrace his two long lost friends. James quickly turned back into his human self, so he could return the fierce hug.

"Oh Mooney," James sighed when they had all broken apart again, "We've got a lot of explaining to do."

Beside him Lily nodded solemnly.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked unable to wipe the grin off his face, "you're back! This is incredible! Wait…Harry, have you seen him yet? Oh James, Lily…I wanted to take him when you…well disappeared…but I wasn't allowed by law to accept guardianship of a child and well…Sirius…"

He broke off, the name leaving a bitter taste in his mouth, even after all those years.

"Sirius is actually part of what we need to explain," Lily said softly.

"Yeah Mooney," James took a deep breath and sighed, "Padfoot didn't betray us…"

"What do you mean?" Remus asked confused, "he was your secret keeper, he-"

"No…he wasn't," James stared at the floor, "Do you remember what it was like then? How you were afraid to trust anyone, people were joining Voldemort every day, everyone was scared and we were depending on Sirius to keep us safe. He found out there was a spy in The Order."

"What?" Remus asked, "Who was it?"

"We didn't know for sure…" James looked up briefly before shaking his head and continuing, "Sirius came up with the idea that we should change our secret keeper, he thought that people would suspect him and target him for information about our whereabouts. I agreed to his plan and…we made Peter the new secret keeper…"

James clenched his fists angrily and gritted his teeth.

"You mean…it was Wormtail?" Remus asked in disbelief, "but…"

"He swore to protect us, I trusted him and he betrayed us!" James exclaimed, "He was the spy, he was the coward…and it's his fault that Sirius is in Azkaban!"

"I can't believe this," Remus said softly, "why didn't you tell me that you switched to Peter?"

James looked up at him finally; Lily took his hand in support.

"I didn't tell you because Sirius and I…we thought it was you," James said weakly, "You were always away somewhere, we never saw you, and when we did you always looked so …out of it, you weren't acting yourself, we thought you were the spy."

There was a long silence then, "I was on a mission."

"What?"

"I was on a mission," Remus repeated, "Dumbledore wanted me to get close to other Werewolves…see what side they generally planned to choose in the war, try to get some of them over to our side…it was stressful…the mission."

"I shouldn't have thought it was you," James said, "I'm so sorry Remus…so sorry."

"We both are," Lily said, "I was there…I'm as much at fault as anyone and looking back…I should've realised it was Peter."

Remus looked both of them in the eye.

"I understand," he said, "and I forgive you."

Ok…really hope you liked this one, tried hard to get it out, hopefully the next chapter should be up by the weekend. Plz review and tell me what you think!

Next chapter will include a meeting with Fudge.

Till then….