"Harry, Harry," Ron shook him, "Mom says to come to down for breakfast. We'd better get up, mate, because if Fred and George are up and they see you sleeping, they'll sic talking toy goblins or giant spiders on you."

Harry rubbed his eyes. Both he and Ron had fallen asleep as soon as they came back to Ron's room, but inspite of getting a good amount of sleep, he didn't particularly feel like getting up at that moment.

"Come on," Ron continued to prod him as he saw Harry's laziness, "Dumbledore's going to get here soon."

Harry sat straight up, all sleepiness gone. Dumbledore coming meant that today, he would be meeting his parents. He would be meeting parents that weren't clear substances coming out of wands or stones, but real, live parents. These would be people that Harry could see clearly and people that Harry could touch. A lump rose in his throat. For as long as he could remember, Harry had been an orphan, and in just a little bit he wouldn't be.

"Are you okay?" Ron gave him a slight jab near his shoulders.

Harry looked at his best friend. It was weird that Ron was waking him up since it was usually impossible to get Ron out of bed in the mornings.

"Yeah," he nodded, "I guess we'd better go down before Fred and George, huh?"

So, the two friends brushed their teeth, took a shower, and bounded downstairs.

"G'morning, Harry," Mr. Weasley greeted him, "Sleep alright?"

"Yes, Mr. Weasley," Harry responded and looked at the clock, "Do you know when Professor Dumbledore's going to come here?"

Mrs. Weasley shot him an incomprehensible look, but one that was definitely laced with pity. "He'll be here soon, dear. Would you like some pancackes?"

Harry had been too nervous to think about food until then, but the smell of the pancake batter was making his stomach churn with hunger.

"That'd be great, Mrs. Weasley," Harry replied, "Thank you."

Mr. Weasley set down the paper he had been reading and sighed. "Another calm day, Molly."

Harry was eager to wolf down the pancackes Mrs. Weasley had set in front of him, but paused at Mr. Weasley's comment. Ron had told him the night before that the Order didn't believe that Voldemort's sudden leave of absence was actually such, but it seemed rather crazy to feel such worry that nothing horrible has happened.

"Isn't that a good thing, Mr. Weasley?" Harry asked as he took his first bite.

"It would be if we knew why things were so quiet. After all, Harry, Dark Wizards don't just decide to take a year off. If he's planning something and we're totally unprepared for it, then all the lives that were supposedly saved during this time of calm won't matter because he might do double the damage."

"I still don't understand, Mr. Weasley," Harry continued, "I mean, are you sure that Volde—I mean, You-Know-Who isn't hurt or anything? Maybe he hasn't just disappeared. Maybe it's that something stopped him and he does not have the power to continue."

Mr. Weasley shook his head. "You are correct in that we don't know exactly where he's been or what he's doing, but Dumbledore thinks that he's up to something. He wants something, but we don't know what."

Harry remained silent.

"So, when did you say that Professor Dumbledore would be getting here?"

"It's nice to know that I am welcomed, Harry," Dumbledore's voice came from behind them as the great wizard walked in, "Good morning, Arthur, Molly, Ron. Fred let me in."

"Oh hello Professor," Mrs. Weasley fussed around, "Can I make you some pancakes?"

Dumbledore patted his stomach. "I wouldn't mind a couple, Molly. Never can satiate my sweet tooth, apparently. Thank you."

Mr. Weasley fetched him a plate onto which Mrs. Weasley dropped a heap of pancakes. For a person who just asked for a couple, this did not seem to deter Dumbledore.

"The meeting is going to be at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, Harry. We're going to first meet James and Lily and the others will follow an hour later. I understand that an hour isn't a long time for you all to get properly acquainted, but I'm sure that there will be plenty of time to do so later. Is that alright with you?" Dumbledore asked as soon as he swallowed his first bite.

Harry nodded.

"The Headquarters is a secret location," Dumbledore continued, "So you will not be able to repeat it after you've heard it from me."

Harry understood the nuances of Secret-Keeping.

"Alright then, if you have no more questions, we'll leave in 20 minutes," Dumbledore finished, "If you don't mind though, boys, I'd like a few minutes with Arthur and Molly."

Harry and Ron looked at each other, shrugged and left the room.

"You could have asked him anything!" Ron exclaimed soon as they were out of hearing distance.

"I know," Harry admitted, "I just didn't know what to ask. I have so many questions, but there are way too many and I coudn't decide which direction to go."

His own Ron would have badgered him a lot longer, but this Ron seemed to drop it at that. They walked into the family room, where they could look up to see Fred and George hanging Extendable Ears from the corner of the top of the stairs from where they could hear everything that was being said in the kitchen.

"….looking for something….weapon, perhaps….." Dumbledore was saying.

"What more….want…half….already," Mrs. Weasley's response came.

"….afford….lives…..children……" Mr. Weasley contributed.

"Well, there's nothing…..panicking…..win," Dumbledore concluded.

The voices stopped and the three adults walked out. Harry had to appreciate the twins' quick reflexes because they pulled up those Extendable Ears so quickly that the adults who had come out unannounced didn't seem to suspect anything.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, but said nothing. Harry wanted desperately to discuss what happened, but it didn't seem like Ron had anything to say particularly. It was a frustrating situation for Harry, who in the last two years, had become used to being privy to all information, and then discussing it with Ron and Hermione. It wasn't like this Ron wouldn't talk to him, but they didn't know each other that well. It was one thing discussing Quidditch and Ron filling him in on current events, but to share personal thoughts and ideas are usually reserved for friends. And as weird as it was, Harry supposed that you couldn't exactly count Ron and him as friends.

Harry, Ron, Fred and George went downstairs as if they hadn't heard anything, but Harry caught the ever present twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes that showed him that maybe the Headmaster knew they had been listening in. However, he just looked at Harry and said, "Are you ready to go then?"

Harry nodded. His heart was pounding, he wasn't sure that he'd get through the day without passing out, but he was ready. It's been sixteen years in the making, and he was ready.

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley," he said to his surrogate parents, "I'll see you then, I suppose."

Dumbledore looked the Weasleys. "Yes, we shall see you in a short time. I assume Bill, Charlie, and Percy are coming too?"

Mr. Weasley turned to Harry, uncertainly. "That's okay with you, Harry?"

"Of course!" Harry exclaimed. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to the Weasleys being this formal with him.

Mr. Weasley smiled and shook his hand, and Ron, Fred, and George followed suit. As per her motherly self, Mrs. Weasley gave him a hug—something he was very grateful for since it calmed him just a little.

"Can you apparate Harry?" Dumbledore checked.

"Yes," Harry replied.

"Alright then," Dumbledore responded, "I'd still prefer if we could side apparate so we can go to the same place with no confusion. I just wanted to make sure that it's something you have at least apparated before because it can be somewhat uncomfortable."

Harry was reminded of the time when Dumbledore had side apparated him to Slughorn's house, so he definitely knew how uncomfortable it was. If it was up to Harry, he'd never do anything but fly.

"It's fine," he said, "Thank you."

So, Dumbledore and Harry bid their goodbyes and disappeared with a loud pop. The next thing Harry knew he was looking at a row of apartments in what looked to be London.

"This is the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, Harry," Dumbledore explained, "But, you won't be able to see till I tell you the exact address."

Harry nodded. His voice was stuck in his throat and even if he wanted to, he wouldn't have been able to talk.

"The address is," Dumbledore leaned towards Harry's ear, "1321 Davinwood Dr. #16, London."

And as they had almost three years ago, the apartments around him shifted to show a small, regular door with the number 16 etched on to it. For some reason, Harry had still expected it to be 12 Grimmauld Place even when he realized they weren't in the right neighborhood, so this new place came as a surprise, especially since he had never been there before.

"We're just a few minutes late, Harry," Dumbledore stood at the door, "So James and Lily might already be here."

Although Harry had been prepared just a minute earlier, and decided he was ready, now that the opportunity of seeing his parents alive, the parents who had been dead for sixteen years, he wasn't sure if he could do it.

'No," he chided himself, 'They're not the same people. Just go in, meet them, and get half the chance that you've never gotten.'

Perhaps Dumbledore could see that Harry was giving himself a pep talk because he just waited patiently until Harry took a deep breath and nodded. Dumbledore turned the knob and opened the door and Harry was able to see the inside of the Headquarters, which was entirely different from the one in his own world. Whereas Grimmauld place had been dirty and grimy, but still opulent, there was simplicity to this Headquarters. The decoration was modest, as though its owner did not really live there, and Harry could see why it would be an ideal place for Headquarters. There was everything they'd need—room to fit large number of people, a ton of informative books, but without the screaming pureblood maniac, so that they could actually get work done in peace.

Dumbledore and Harry stepped inside and Harry could immediately hear the light sound of conversation in the background. Harry's heart leapt. For the very first time, he'd see his parents in corporeal form, and he was hearing their voices, not pleading for anything, not taunting anyone, or giving him advice on how to get out of a deadly situation.

Dumbledore glanced at him through the side of his eyes, and Harry almost had the urge to reach out and take the old wizard's hand for support, but fell back behind his former headmaster. Dumbledore shot him a quick smile and opened another door to what looked to be the dining room, and Harry could hear the people that had been sitting in the room, get up.

"Hello, Professor," Lily Potter came into Harry's obstructed view and smiled at Dumbledore.

"Hi, Albus," James came right after her and shook Dumbledore's hand.

"Hello, Lily—you can call me Albus, you know," Dumbledore returned her smile, "James, how have you been?"

"Alright, but you know, Lily's been nagging me as usua--," James began and caught wind of the Harry who had literally been hiding behind Dumbledore, and addressed him, "Hi."

As though he were a small child too shy to come out from behind his mother's skirt, Harry peeked at James from behind Dumbledore's robes. "Hi."

"Ah yes," Dumbledore nudged Harry forward, who was flaming red with embarrassment, "Here's our guest of honor."

Harry looked at his parents and wouldn't have been able to describe the surge of emotions with him if his life depended on it.

"Hello," Lily smiled at him, "I'm Lily Potter."

It suddenly occurred to Harry that the only time he'd ever seen his mother smile without tears in her eyes was in photographs and he was blown away like only a child who had never really known his mother could be blown away. He looked into her emerald green eyes and was startled at how much they were like his own. He could tell she felt the same way because she gave a jerked glance towards Dumbledore and looked back at him with confusion. Harry looked to James, who had a stony expression on his face, as though he wasn't sure he liked where this was going.

"What's going on, Albus?"

Dumbledore just went on serenly. "I think we should sit down for this," he motioned towards the dining room chairs, "It might take a while."

James and Lily looked at each other and hesitantly followed Dumbledore, but Harry remained stuck to his position in the room. He had definitely not been prepared to meet parents that didn't recognize him and he wasn't sure he really wanted to be there.

"Harry," Dumbledore said kindly, and beckoned him to come forward.

Harry reluctantly moved his feet but avoided the unwavering gazes of Lily and James.

As soon as Harry took a seat, Dumbledore turned back to the elder Potters who grudgingly looked at Dumbledore again.

"What I'm about to tell will to you as a shock," Harry heard Dumbledore say, "and I ask that you just listen before you say anything."

The Hogwarts headmaster paused. "This boy here might look extraordinarily familiar to you. That is because he is a Potter."

"I have no family left, Albus," James protested, and Harry could see out of the corner of his eye that his father was confused beyond all reason. James looked at Harry who immediately lowered his eyes again.

Dumbledore shook his head. "Let me explain, James. This is Harry James Potter," Dumbledore went on before Lily or James could interrupt him again, "He is your son."

This time there were no protests, no exclamations, nothing. The room just stood in an absolute silence.

After about five minutes of pin drop silence, Lily burst out into laughter.

"Are you kidding me?" she said in between trying to catch her breath, "Is this a joke?"

She turned to her husband. "Very funny, James. You got me. I bow down to you, etc., etc. ,etc."

But James Potter did not seem to find this amusing at all.

"Lily, I have no idea what's going on here. This is not a joke," he told his wife and looked back at Dumbledore seriously, "What is going on here, Albus? What's the meaning of this?"

"It means exactly that, James" Dumbledore replied, "It seems that Harry here…"

"Professor, there's no way! I mean, I know my kids. I pushed them out!" Lily interrupted disbelievingly.

"Lily, just…" Dumbledore tried to appeal to her before getting interrupted again by the other adult Potter.

"This has got to be a scam, Albus," James shook his head, "Even if you believe whatever story is being sold to you, this is a scam."

Harry resisted the urge to laugh. After all this time, all his nerves, his greatest wish was becoming his worst nightmare. Harry must have made some sort of sound because all three adults looked at him at the same time. This time, however, Harry did not look down, and looked at his parents straight in the eye.

"This is not a scam," Harry never expected that those would be the first conversational words he'd ever say to his parents.

But James and Lily turned back to Dumbledore.

"This is just not possible, Albus. I think we'd know if he was our son," James tried to convince Dumbledore.

"Let me explain first," Dumbledore said firmly and sent a reassuring look towards Harry, "This boy here is not lying. His allegiances are true and to the Light and only to the Light. I trust him."

He ignored Lily and James' contesting looks.

"Furthermore, he is your son. It may be hard to believe, as this whole situation will be hard to believe, but it is, nonetheless, real."

James looked up to say something, but Dumbledore continued.

"If you give me the chance to explain, I will," He looked at the Potter parents, and when he received no response, he went on, "Harry is from another dimension."

"What?" Lily and James cried out at the same time.

Dumbledore motioned to them that he would explain everything, but James was still shaking his head.

Dumbledore turned to Harry. "Would you like to tell them how you got here, Mr. Potter?"

James turned to Harry hearing Dumbledore refer to Harry as Mr. Potter. Harry caught his father's eye and realized he definitely did not want to explain, but that's what he would do anyway.

"Uh, yeah, I was at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's house at the Burrow," he cleared his throat, trying to sound normal, "and Ron and I were trying to clean his room, but he threw a box at me and when I woke up, I was at St. Mungo's."

"I was alerted by Auror Zambershan that there was a person of interest at St. Mungo's that could be a threat to our security, so I went at St. Mungo's where Harry was a patient," Dumbledore added, "He had been found by Dedalus and Diddas Diggle in the Macara woods, who saw that he had a wand, and brought him to St.Mungo's before muggles could take him to one of their hospitals."

He signaled Harry to continue.

"So, when I woke up, the Medi-Witch told me that they could find a registration on me or something like that and so they alerted the Aurors and Dawlish and Zambershan came in to ask me questions," Harry said, trying his best to go on and do what needed to be done. Dumbledore seemed to recognize that Harry had no interest in telling this tale, because he picked up the story again.

"After I got there, it was clear to see that there were many anomalies with the situation. First, St. Mungo's identification system could not identify him, and as you know, the system is designed to at least name any person of wizarding blood," Dumbledore explained, "So either Harry had to be a muggle, which cannot be since he had a wand, or he must not have existed, which is also unlikely as he was right in front of us. Second, Harry referred to things that have not happened in our world. He said he was with Ron Weasley and immediately asked for Arthur when he realized he was at St. Mungo's, but neither Arthur nor any of the other Weasley family members had ever met this Harry before. Also, Harry seemed to think that Voldemort had been defeated."

"Wha..?" James gasped and Lily turned to look at Harry with an unusual look in her eyes. Harry turned away—he could not do this.

"Yes, I'll be getting to that later," Dumbledore went on, "So, there were a lot of hints that something was not right. Then, we examined Harry's possessions that he carried with him from his own world. He just had his wand on his person as well as a small box that lay very close to his proximity when found in the woods. When we opened this box, we found a Deluminator inside it, which I'm sure you know, Lily, has many uses that we still do not know."

Lily nodded slightly.

"I, myself, did some research on inter-dimensional traveling and recognized that the Deluminator does have quality, in very rare cases, to be able to support such traveling, which is how we came to the conclusion that Harry is from another dimension, unlike our own where he is your son, and where Voldemort is dead."

But Lily and James were no longer looking at Dumbledore. Instead, all of their attention suddenly landed on Harry. In the strangest of ways, Harry, who had been disappointed just a little while ago that his parents did not seem trust him, was now uncomfortable with the awed way they were looking at him now.

For a while, there was no movement and there was nothing said. Everyone was just processing the information and trying to gather enough brainpower to form a cohesive sentence. If language were ever a barrier, certainly it was now. There was no possible way to explain what it is like to see your son, a son you never knew you had, but who was still your son, and there's no way to put into words what it means to be able to see parents when all your life you have craved for their love and presence.

It was James that finally broke the silence. "So, Harry Potter, huh?" he almost heaved out, and looked at his wife, "We thought about naming Chris Harry, didn't we?"

But Lily did not respond. She was still looking at Harry with such an odd expression that Harry desperately wished she would stop.

"So, is Harry our Chris then?" James asked hesitantly and Lily finally reacted and looked at Dumbledore for a response.

Dumbledore shook his head. "I do not know," he said, and suddenly moved towards Harry as if he had an idea, "When is your birthday, Harry? How old are you?"

"July 31," Harry was confused, "I'm 17."

"But Chris turned 17 on June 12," James was also puzzled.

"I do not know the significance of this," Dumbledore stroked his beard, "But this does mean that Harry and Chris are not the same person."

"Who's Chris?" Harry asked. He'd heard Ron talk about Chris so this was obviously something.

Dumbledore, James, and Lily all looked at him at the same time.

"Does Chris not exist in your world?" James asked in a strange voice.

"No," Harry shook his head.

"Chris is the eldest child of James and Lily, Harry," Dumbledore looked at him with a questioning expression, "Chris, Dahlia, and Grant."

It made a lot of sense. Ron thinking he might be related to Chris, Zambershan saying that the Potters did not have a Harry. Harry could not believe that he didn't put two and two together, but he never had any siblings in his own world, so it didn't even occur to him that his parents might have other children.

"No," he finally said, "I don't know any of them. I am an only child."

James stared. "Huh."

"That's very curious," Dumbledore laid his arms on the table, "Very curious."

"It's not that curious," Harry blurted out and the three adults, lost in their own thoughts, were startled, "I mean, there can't have been any brothers and sisters."

They continued to just look at him, and it occurred to Harry that they did not know that James and Lily had died. He contemplated not telling them for a moment, but then realized that the truth would come out regardless because a part of the Order would be coming in soon, and he told Dumbledore that he would tell them about Voldemort's defeat, which was so inextricably linked to Harry, and thus, his entire family. He couldn't let them walk into that not knowing anything.

"My parents died," he said simply, not knowing of any other way to say it.

There was a sharp intake of breath.

"Dead?" James whispered.

Harry nodded. "You were killed by Voldemort when I was a baby."

For the third time in less than an hour, another silence fell over the room. For a group of people filled with a million questions and comments, they could not figure out a way to communicate what they needed to say.

"But you lived?" Lily finally spoke, barely above a whisper.

Harry nodded, the knot in this throat getting heavier.

"Oh, thank God," Lily let out a huge breath, with tears in her eyes, "Thank God."

Harry looked up at his mother surprised. They stared at each other for a moment and Lily got up and took a couple of steps towards him. To Harry's further shock, she came up to him, took his hands into hers and hugged him. Whatever tears Harry had been holding in threatened to tumble over, as this was the first real hug he'd gotten from his mother. James got up and patted Harry on the back, awkwardly.

"It's good that you say Voldemort's name," he said to Harry, as though there were a lot of other things he'd rather say, but didn't know how.

"Yeah, thanks," Harry pulled back.

After a moment of hesitancy, James spoke again. "Did you have a good life?"

Harry didn't quite know how to answer that, so he just nodded. "Yes."

"That's good," James swallowed.

After that, it seemed like no one knew quite what to say. The accepting and loving mood of just a second ago vanished as the three Potters became strangers again.

"Uh, I'm sorry for doubting you in the beginning," Lily said, and James nodded.

"No," Harry shrugged it off, "It's understandable."

"Where have you been staying?" Lily asked.

"At the Weasleys," Harry responded, "Mr. Weasley was there when we figured everything out, so…."

"Yeah," James repeated, "That's good."

"You'll come stay with us now, of course," Lily stated and looked towards Dumbledore as if daring him to contradict her.

"By all means," Dumbledore answered her nonverbal statement.

Harry was pleased that they wanted him to stay with them, but dreaded the awkwardness that was sure to ensue. After all, this conversation was the most awkward he'd ever had to endure in his life. Other than the few minutes when Lily hugged him and James patted him, this was an extremely formal situation with no comfort in sight. The rational part of Harry knew that this was a lot to process in such a short period of time. This Lily and James never had a Harry, they never lost a child, they never went through a process of having grieved for kin the way Harry had, so what could they do? Other than the fact that they shared blood with this person in front of them, they had no connection to him, so he can't just all of a sudden become their son. Yes, Harry understood all of this, but damn if he wasn't miserable all the same. It wasn't just James and Lily either. For some reason, he'd always expected his reunion with his parents to be filled with hugs and kisses and comfort like it was with Mrs. Weasley, but even more than that. Of course, Lily's hug was everything he'd ever imagined a mother's hug to be, but it had been so brief that now he couldn't even remember if it actually happened. He thought he'd have a million things to say, but he couldn't think of a single thing to say to the people in front of him right now. It didn't mean that he didn't long for it, far from it, but he didn't know how to express what he wanted to express.

"The Order will be coming in soon," Dumbledore stated, cutting into Harry's thoughts, and apparently James and Lily's as well, considering the looks on their faces, "It will be us, Sirius, Remus, the Weasleys, and Alastor Moody. I thought that this first meeting should be kept among as few of us as possible."

"Sirius? Sirius is coming?" Harry couldn't even figure out why he was so surprised.

"Yes, of course," Dumbledore said, alarmed at Harry's expression, "Should he not?"

"No, no, no," Harry said quickly, "Of course he should."

James, Lily, and Dumbledore relaxed and Harry forced himself to be the same.

Of course Sirius was coming. After all, out of the fifteen people that would be present for this meeting, seven were dead.

Except that they weren't. Not here.

Author's note: This was, by far, one of the hardest things to write. Ever. There's some things you may not understand—about the plot, about Lily and James' behavior, but I hope you stick with it because things will be clarified. Thanks for reading! Please review!