Harry, we're going to be late," James said impatiently at his son's bedroom door.

"Why do I have to go? It's not like I remember anything anyway," Harry returned, not standing up from his desk. His parents had assigned him a nasty charms essay to write, and even slaving over it was better than getting asked stupid questions by Derek.

"Harry, please," Lily whispered from the doorway. Harry turned to look at her. Her eyes were red, and there were dark patches under her almond shaped eyes.

"Mum," Harry began, but Lily interrupted him.

"We're going whether you like it or not," she said firmly. She walked into the room and held onto Harry's arm tightly. Before Harry got a chance to get away, he felt the spinning sensation he had felt when he side-along apparated with Dumbledore. Or, he dreamed he did.

"Ah, so glad you could make it, Harry!"

Harry groaned as he limply shook the over-enthusiastic healer's hand.

"Now, we'll just go back to the room you were in on Monday, and we'll get started," Derek said cheerfully. Harry rolled his eyes, but followed the young man.

The three adults and Harry settled into the sterile room. There was an awkward silence before the healer shifted and looked at Harry. Harry looked back at the healer, desperately wishing Dumbledore were here, or even Madam Pomfrey. But they were terribly busy at Hogwarts. Harry had overheard snippets of conversations, something about them trying to sort out a mess containing dungbombs and redheads. "Remember anything yet?" the healer asked. Harry shook his head, but Derek just smiled. "No worries," he said.

"So then, what are we going to do? Certainly not sit here and ask a bunch of pointless questions?" Harry asked sarcastically.

Derek chuckled. "No. Actually, I've found a few spells I'd like to try—with your parents' permission, of course."

"What kind of spells?" James asked doubtfully.

"Oh, you know, an assortment, most of which must be cast directly on Harry, a few potions for him to drink, and I was even fortunate enough to find a rare spell that I cast on you and Lily," the healer said, perusing his scrawled list on a bit of spare parchment.

"And when was the last time you performed any of these?" James asked.

Derek shifted uncomfortably on his stool. "Well, uh, you see," he stumbled.

James looked at Lily, his look clearly saying 'I told you so,' but Lily ignored James and smiled at Harry. "If Harry doesn't object, I think it's worth a try," she said forcibly while smiling.

Harry looked between his parents. His dad was shaking his head no while his mother was nodding, her eyebrows raised. Unable to pick a parent, Harry shrugged and muttered incoherently. The reaction was instantaneous. James slumped his shoulders in defeat, Lily smiled happily, and Derek looked like an excited little boy. The latter reaction made Harry feel a little nervous. What would happen if Derek couldn't perform the spells properly?

Derek rolled his sleeves up and pulled his wand out of a pocket inside of his robes. Harry closed his eyes, waiting for... something. But nothing came. Derek spoke the incantation, and still nothing happened.

"Harry, can you tell me why you're here?" Derek asked after a few silent moments.

"Because I can't remember anything from before my fall," Harry said, opening his eyes.

"And is that true?"

"Yeah."

"So you don't remember anything?"

"No," Harry said, his shoulders slumping slightly. He had been hoping against all hope that the spell would work, and he'd be able to go back to his normal life.

Lily looked dismayed, but Derek smiled encouragingly. "Not to worry, we'll just try some of these others," he said, his eyes scanning the page. Harry sat up straighter and tried to read the incantations, but he couldn't read the healer's handwriting. Maybe that was the problem, Harry thought. Perhaps the healer couldn't read his own handwriting.

Derek pushed his fallen sleeves back up and waved his wand elaborately, and Harry closed his eyes. Once again, Harry's hope and tension built, the healer said the spell, and nothing happened.

Harry opened his eyes and looked skeptically at the healer.

"Harry, can you tell me why you're here?" Derek asked after a few silent moments.

"Because I can't remember anything from before my fall," Harry said, annoyed that the healer would bother asking the same question again.

"And is that true?"

"Yeah."

"So you don't remember anything?"

"No," Harry said flatly, while restraining himself from sighing too heavily at the irksome healer.

"Not to worry," Derek said, though he didn't sound as confident as before. "One of these spells has to work," he added, beginning to sound desperate as he crossed a second spell off of the list.

Harry looked at his dad. James shot a look that said 'I told you so,' to Lily. Lily rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the healer. Harry looked at Derek as well and saw the young man mumbling to himself.

"No, no, no. It's a jab at the end...oh dear, how is that pronounced?" the healer muttered out of the corner of his mouth. Derek's brow was creased in concentration.

Harry looked, alarmed, to his dad. James met Harry's eye and shrugged, saying 'it's out of my control.'

"Okay, I think I've got this one. Let's give it a try," Derek said brightly. Harry looked at the wand tip and at Derek, who didn't look too confident of his own skills. Harry's mind churned. There was no way he was going to let Derek try a new spell on him. Suddenly, Harry had an idea. It wasn't fully formed and was bound to have flaws, but it was better than letting Derek experiment on him.

"Oh," Harry said, his hand reaching to his head.

"Are the spells giving you a headache?" Lily asked, concerned. "Can they do that?" she asked Derek apprehensively.

Derek put his wand down, seeming a little disappointed, and looked at his piece of parchment. "It's a possibility, everyone has different reactions to healing spells," he said, still reading something on his paper.

Harry rolled his eyes; they weren't exactly quick on the uptake. He rubbed his head a little harder.

"Are you all right?" James asked, leaning forward in his chair. He seemed genuinely concerned and looked Harry in the eye. Then Harry saw it. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he could have sworn he had seen his dad wink.

"It's... I'm seeing flashes," Harry lied.

"Of what?" Derek asked excitedly. He pulled his tablet from the desk drawer and dipped his quill in an inkpot. "Are you remembering things?" he questioned eagerly.

"Did...did Pet and I play quidditch in the backyard?" Harry asked, trying to sound uncertain.

Derek looked at Lily. She nodded her head ecstatically, her eyes brimming with tears of happiness. Derek looked surprised, but quickly overcame it and began scribbling furiously on the notepad.

Maybe my memory was supposed to come back more certain than I was pretending, Harry thought. Well that was too bad, he couldn't chance making up too much stuff; he'd get caught.

"Do you remember anything else?" Lily asked, now kneeling at Harry's feet, looking up into his eyes.

"I remember the fall..." Harry said. He rubbed his forehead again. "Can I have a headache draught?" he asked. He needed more time to think before he started making up memories. Derek opened a cupboard and pulled out a large container of the purple sludge. He poured a small portion into a plastic cup and handed it to Harry. Harry drank the potion in one quick gulp.

"Can we go home?" he asked his parents. Luckily, Pet had supplied him with a memory; he wasn't about to chance making one up on his own.

"Certainly, dear!" Lily said happily. She then turned to Derek. "Thank you so much!" Lily gushed over the young man. She hugged him, and Derek blushed. James' jaw stiffened, but otherwise gave no indication that he had even seen the hug. She then steered her son out of the room, half-hugging him as he walked. James followed them out, a large, somewhat forced grin on his face. He ran his hand through his hair and offered his other hand to the healer.

"Thank you," he said a little stonily. The two men shook hands, and James followed his wife and son. The trio walked to the fireplace and threw a bit of floo powder into it. All three of them stepped into the enormous fireplace at once and went home.

"James, we have to owl Dumbledore and tell him the good news!" Lily said the second they were out of the fireplace. "And I'll cook Harry a big lunch with all his favorites! We have to celebrate!" James laughed at his wife's giddiness and walked out of the living room in search of Epona. Lily went into the kitchen, and Harry followed her.

"We probably ought to invite Sirius and Remus—they'll want to know. Oh, Harry likes mashed potatoes...I wonder if we have any potatoes...I should probably invite them over before I start cooking...I don't want lunch to get cold..." Lily muttered to herself as she moved around the kitchen.

"I'll call them," Harry offered. Lily jumped and spun around, her hand on her chest.

"I didn't know you were there, sweetie! You startled me," she exclaimed.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled.

"Oh, no, it's not your fault." Lily looked at Harry happily for a moment. Harry shifted his weight from foot to foot while waiting for her to tell him if he could call Remus and Sirius. "It's good to have you back to normal, sweetie," she said happily. Harry smiled noncommittally.

"So, do you want me to call them?" he prompted his mother.

Lily looked like she was about to say something else, but she seemed to change her mind and instead asked, "Do you know where they live?"

"Can't I just stick my head into the flames and say their names?"

Lily beamed. "Yes, of course. Must've slipped my mind." She got a distant look in her eye and reached out a slender finger and brushed aside a lock of hair from Harry's forehead. "You're a wonderful boy. I'm very proud to be your mother," she said quietly before stepping back from her son.

Harry smiled uncertainly at his mother's behavior and left the kitchen. It was very odd to have someone fuss over him.

Once in the family room, Harry knelt beside the crackling fire and threw a pinch of floo powder into the flames. He stuck his head in and enjoyed the tickling sensation before calling out, "Sirius Black." Harry closed his eyes as he began to feel nauseated with his head spinning but his knees firmly planted on the hearthrug. Harry opened his eyes when he felt the spinning stop and looked out into a messy, but cheery kitchen.

"Sirius?" Harry called, nearly certain he had gone to the wrong fireplace. This didn't look anything like Grimmauld Place.

Sirius came striding into the room with a smile on his face. "Harry! And how are you today? Keeping active?" the man prompted.

"Mum wants you to join us for lunch," Harry said, ignoring Sirius' questions.

"Gee, and why would that be?" Sirius asked, though he sounded like he knew exactly why.

"How did you know?" Harry asked, perplexed.

Sirius winked. "I've got my ways. Tell your mum I'll be over in a bit. I just need to finish up some paperwork."

Harry smiled at the man once more before pulling his head out of the fireplace. He closed his eyes again as the spinning sensation began. Harry looked around the living room and smiled at his dad. "You had to tell Si...Uncle Sirius didn't you?" Harry asked, barely remembering to call his godfather Uncle Sirius.

James pointed at himself and asked playfully, "Who, me? I don't know what you're talking about. I was off owling Dumbledore."

"Your mirrors, Dad," Harry reminded the man. "The mirrors from your Hogwarts days." James frowned, and Harry was immediately worried that the mirrors didn't actually exist.

"How did you know about them?" James asked speculatively.

Harry looked around the room for inspiration. His eyes lit upon a picture of James, Sirius, and himself when Harry was but a toddler. "You showed them to me when I was little, didn't you?"

James looked uncomfortable, but Harry couldn't guess why. "Maybe I used it in front of you when you were little... your memory must be back a thousand percent," James said uncertainly. "Just don't tell your mum I've still got it, deal?" Harry nodded his head and father and son shook hands. Harry turned back to the fireplace, but saw his father shake his head as he walked into the kitchen.

Harry flooed his head to and from Remus' place, this time genuinely surprising his father's friend. Remus was very pleased and came over almost immediately.

Within twenty minutes, Harry, James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus were sitting around the kitchen table, enjoying a hearty lunchtime feast. Harry thought he would explode with all the good food (who knew Lily could cook?), and he was leaning back sleepily in his chair when Remus spoke up.

"So, when are you going back to Hogwarts?" Harry sat bolt upright in his chair. He hadn't thought about having to fool all the students, and surely they wouldn't be as restraining in asking Harry questions as his parents were. There wasn't any doubt in his mind that his friends—and even the people that knew him merely by sight—would bombard him with questions he couldn't answer.

"Remus," Lily reproached.

Remus shrugged and mumbled his apologies.

"No, I'd like to know too," Sirius said. Harry looked uneasily around at the adults that were peering at him. Harry was worried for a moment that maybe they knew he was faking the return of his memory, but when he looked into their faces, it seemed that they were genuinely curious about his decision. When Harry looked to his dad for help, the man merely leaned back in his chair and shrugged his shoulders slightly.

"It's your decision. You can keep waiting if you want to," he said quietly so that only Harry noticed.

"Can I- Can I wait another week?" Harry asked, not sure he wanted to continue the facade of remembering everything at school. He wanted to see his friends; after all, it had been nearly four months since he had seen them in real life, but he didn't want to botch anything.

"Sure, honey," Lily said reassuringly. "Though, James, you really ought to start going to work at your regular hours," she said as she spooned herself another helping of corn.

James looked at Sirius nervously. "Well, you see, Lils..." he began.

Lily put her fork down with a clang and looked at James commandingly. "You're not about to tell me that you quit, are you, James Potter?" she demanded.

James shifted in his seat uncomfortably, and Harry watched as Sirius and Remus averted their gazes, looking around the familiar settings.

"You didn't get fired, did you?" Lily asked, leaning closer into James, her eyes narrowed.

"But I needed to stay home with Harry," James said. "You didn't want to be alone with him," James said, his hand reaching out to comfort his wife. Harry stared at James. James had lost his job because of him... because he was a prat and said stupid things, his father had been fired. For the first time in his life...for the first time since his dream, Harry wished he had grown up without parents, or rather, without the guilt of everything being his fault – Lily's unhappiness, James getting fired, Lily and James arguing last week, the list went on and on. It was not a pleasant feeling having his stomach tied in knots because he couldn't make things better.

Lily knocked James' hand away and stood up. "James, you loved that job!" she exclaimed.

"We have plenty of money. We don't need jobs to get food on the table," James said.

"No, but you enjoyed going to work everyday, and we were saving that money," Lily said exasperatedly.

"Well, we'll put the money you earn into that fund," James said, looking at Harry.

"That's not the point, Potter," Lily said. James winced at the tone of her voice, but stood up to meet her glare.

"I made a choice, Evans. And that choice was to stay home with my son," James said, his hazel eyes beginning to narrow. Harry felt a tug on his sleeve and looked away from his parents to Sirius' amused face. Remus beckoned to Harry from behind Sirius, and the three of them crept out of the kitchen.

"They seem to argue a lot because of me," Harry said glumly.

"Don't worry about it. James'll get his job back in no time. It wasn't really a hard job to get. How many people want to spend their days flying brooms to make sure they don't kill people, only to earn a few galleons anyway? Besides, Lily's just upset about the principle of the matter. She really doesn't care that James got fired," Remus said calmly, sitting down on the loveseat. Harry still felt guilty, but plopped down in an armchair, resting the arches of his feet on the edge of the coffee table.

Sirius looked at Harry and added, "Don't worry, James can hold his own in an argument with Lily." Harry still looked unconvinced, so Sirius winked at him and said, "Tell you what, mate. You go in there and give your mum a hug and tell her you really loved spending time with your dad the past few days, and Lily will dissolve in front of you and completely forget that she originally didn't like the idea of James losing his job. Suddenly, it will have been really sweet of James to give up his job for you."

"You sure?" Harry asked.

Sirius shrugged and flopped down onto the loveseat. "Absolutely."

So Harry stood up and started to walk to the kitchen. He stopped short when he heard Lily calling James names—names he knew she would wash his mouth out for saying. He looked back to Remus and Sirius. They both nodded encouragingly, so Harry took a breath and stepped into the kitchen.

"What?" Lily snapped.

"I... er...just wanted to thank Dad for, uh, spending so much time with me," Harry said, looking at Lily warily. She looked at him appraisingly, and Harry rushed up to her and hugged her tightly. "And I don't want you to be mad at him for doing that, because I really loved spending so much time with him, since I usually can't," Harry said.

"Oh, sweetie!" Lily cried. She held Harry at arm's length and looked him in the eye. "I could never be mad at your dad!" she told him. "Besides," she said, her eyes flicking upward toward James. "That was really sweet of him to give up his job to spend some time with you," she said. Lily let go of Harry, and Harry smiled to himself. It was a little unnerving how well everyone seemed to know Lily and James, but it was definitely nice.

Lily walked up to James. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I didn't realize how much it meant to Harry, for you to give up your job like that," she said quietly. James tucked a piece of her red hair behind her ear and looked at Harry and winked.

"Hey, Evans," James said softly, his forehead touching hers.

"Hey what, Potter?" Lily murmured, her eyes closed.

"Will you go out with me?" he asked, grinning. Lily looked up and rolled her eyes.

"Not even if it were between you and the giant squid," she said playfully. The two leaned in to kiss, and Harry took his cue and went back to the living room.

"How did you know that would work?" Harry asked Sirius.

Again, Sirius shrugged nonchalantly. "They're pretty easy to predict when you've known them since you were eleven," Sirius said. Harry laughed and sat down on the armchair and pulled a Quidditch book towards him. He had to start making plays if he was going to go back to school soon. He suddenly felt much more anxious to get back to the friends he had known since he was eleven. He could always tell them his memory was a touch-and-go thing still, despite being back for a few days. Besides, he still had to hold Quidditch try-outs and get caught up with his girlfriend.

AN: Well, this is now chapter four of this story. I hope you're enjoying it thus far. First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for reviewing, and I REALLY want to thank my amazing beta, inky216. She's been an absolute Godsend!

However, I am kind of confused about this one part... I've had over 100 hits on each of the three previous chapters, yet I have a total of 12 reviews... Actually, I have a total of 506 hits! That means that for every 42 hits, I get one review... Okay, so I know that not every hit actually reads the chapter, so I'll move onto another statistic. 5 people have this story as a favorite...shouldn't you read it if it's a favorite? (Don't get me wrong, I'm very flattered that people list this story as one of their favorites...but would it kill you to review) Then there are the alerts... 11. So that means that they're probably reading this story too...So please, a couple more reviews each chapter would be really appreciated!
Coming Soon: So, what's happening next chapter, asks you. Well, I'll give you a little hint...

Harry's now missed the first few weeks of school and he's written only one letter since he woke up. You remember, the one to Pet.

Hmm...I don't know if that's too much of a hint... but I suppose I'll let it go.