Harry's Wish
Disclaimer: Me: Come on, Severus, please?
Severus: Fine! Mirlin, you are one of the most annoying people I've ever met.
Me: Thanks!
Severus: Anna doesn't own Harry Potter. Who would want to?
Me: SEVERUS! Take that back!
Severus: *mumbles* My apologies.
Chapter 9: The Reaction
"James?"
James blinked and rubbed his eyes. He looked up and saw Dumbledore standing over him, looking at him in concern.
"'M sorry." James murmured. "I don't know what happened. I just lost it back there. I couldn't breathe. I just..." He got to his feet and glanced sheepishly at the two older wizards. "Is it pathetic that I came out here to cry?" He mumbled, embarrassed.
"No." Dumbledore said, while Snape said "Yes." James snorted.
"You haven't changed at all, have you Severus?" He chucked humorlessly.
Dumbledore walked over to Snape and whispered something in his ear. Snape nodded and said, "Alright, we should go. Let's go, James."
James grimaced a little. His name sounded foreign coming from Snape. But he followed the two wizards to the staff room.
There were a lot of teachers in the staff room. James recognized many of them. Most had been teachers when he attended Hogwarts. A few, like Severus, had been students with him. The rest, James didn't recognize.
Then there was a small boy. He had to be a first or second year. He was a short, scrawny thing. He had untidy black hair and round, wire-framed glasses. "Just like me." James whispered.
James felt a nudge. Dumbledore guided him to a chair. James sat down, and stared at his fingers, which he was nervously twisting in his lap. He glanced up when Dumbledore began to speak.
I'm sure you are all wondering why I have called for you to be here." He began. "Honestly, I don't really know what to tell you. Nothing I say will make this easier to believe. It will sound impossible."
James couldn't listen to this. He decided that it would be best if he explained everything. And worse case scenario: he could take veritaserum and be bombarded with questions.
"Professor?" James said quietly. He actually sounded quite pitiful.
"Yes, James?" Albus said.
"I'll tell them." James said.
"Are you sure?" Albus asked quietly, concerned.
"Yes." James said. "I still have the veritaserum from earlier. Unless you want it back, Severus."
"No." Snape replied. "Keep it."
"Thanks." James mumbled. He got to his feet and took Dumbledore's place at the podium in the front of the room.
"Would you prefer if I did my speech under veritaserum, or not?" James asked. "You're going to get the same information either way, but the three people I told this information to needed proof, and veritaserum is the best I've got." His voice sounded lifeless.
"This is not the James I know." Dumbledore said. "Are you alright, my boy?"
"I don't know." James deadpanned. "We'll see how many people accuse me of being a Death Eater when I'm done."
There was a chorus of murmurs. James noticed that the small black haired boy- his son, James realized with a shock, even though he knew about Harry,- and Albus, were the only ones not murmuring.
"Please listen to me before you start shouting and hexing, or whatever it is you do to Death Eaters. Alright. Here goes nothing…
"A month ago, I woke up... In a coffin. This is not a joke!" People were chuckling. They immediately stopped. James continued.
"At first, I panicked. I've never liked small, dark places, and so I was kind of freaking out. When I realized I was in a casket, I got scared. Was I buried alive?
"I used a spell to get out and saw the tombstone. I saw my wife's tombstone as well, and I cried. She was so important to me. But now she was dead. Then memories of before I died came back to me and I began to panic again. Where was my one year old son? Did he die?"
Some of the female teachers sniffed and dabbed their eyes with tissues. Harry watched him with wide eyes. James swallowed and continued.
"I couldn't imagine my little boy dying." His voice was tick with unshed tears
"But there was no tombstone with his name on it. I felt slightly better. I had to find out for sure if he was alive. So I went to Diagon Alley. I went strait to a bookstore and found a book that contained all information on my killer. I learned that my son was, in fact, alive, and that I had been dead for eleven years."
"That is impossible." Snape said.
"I know that, Severus. Trust me on that." James sounded one hundred years old when he said that. He was so tired.
"Anyways, I decided to find my best friends and attempt to get then to believe that I was alive. Remus took a lot of convincing. I didn't go about it the right way. But eventually he believed me. He cried, said he missed me a ton, and apologists for calling me a heartless bastard, and a Death Eater in disguise." James wiped his eyes and cleared his throat.
"Next, I went to the Ministry and set Sirius free-"
"WHAT?! Are you fucking SERIOUS?! That bastard KILLED JAMES AND LILLY POTTER!" Severus screamed.
"WHAT?!" Screeched Harry.
"NO! Wait!" Tears streamed down James's face. "He didn't!"
"SILENCE!" Bellowed Dumbledore. The yelling ceased. The only sound was Harry's sobs.
"He killed my parents!" Harry cried, his voice was pitifully small. James longed to scoop Harry up in his arms and tell him that his daddy was right here and they he wasn't going anywhere ever again.
"Harry," Dumbledore said in the gentlest voice that James had ever heard. "Everyone," he used a normal voice. "Sirius didn't kill James and Lilly. He didn't sell them to Voldemort. Peter Pettigrew sold them out. Now PLEASE let James continue!"
"Oh shit! Is he-!"*
"Severus!" Dumbledore interrupted. "Quiet."
"Um, okay." James said. "So I freed Sirius because he's innocent. And it took less time for him to believe me, which was nice.
"We spent a month hunting down, uh, my killer, but we came up empty. So I decided to go to professor Dumbledore. He would know what to do." He paused, cleared his throat, and continued.
"Today, I reached Hogwarts. I had a desperate urge to find my son, but to his knowledge, he had no parents, and I didn't want to frighten him. So I headed strait to Dumbledore." He grinned a small, sarcastic smile.
"Because I am so lucky, I had to get noticed. He yanked me back by my robes and I panicked. If he started interrogating me, I would be in so much trouble. But he let me go. I went to Dumbledore and was confused for my son." James gave a genuine smile at this. "It made me feel good, hearing that we looked so much alike. I soon realized that I would need proof of who I am. So I went down to the dungeons. I needed veritaserum. I asked the same man I ran into in the hall, Severus, for the potion and went back to Dumbledore. I told him that I was going to take the serum and he was to ask me my name, and any other questions he felt the need to ask. He asked me the questions and accepted my answers. I told him how, more than anything, I wanted to see my son." The women wiped away more tears.
"He made me an offer. He told me how your DADA teacher turned out to be a fraud, and said that taking the Defense job would allow me to see my son. I agreed. So here I am.
"Eleven years ago, Voldemort killed me. I tried to protect my family and I died. I spent last night hunting down Peter Pettigrew I wanted that rat to perish for what he did to me. For tearing my family apart. I know you don't believe me, but... Oh here." James took out the bottle of veritaserum and poured three drops in his mouth.
"Are you insinuating that you are James Potter?" Minerva gasped.
"Yes."
"What happened during fifth year involving me and your friends?" Snape questioned.
"Sirius thought it would be funny to prank you to going into the Shrieking Shack while Remus was transforming. I didn't know until I saw you going in. I stopped you just in time. I knew that if you went in there, you wouldn't come out again, and I couldn't let you die, especially at the hands of my friend, so I had to save you."
Snape nodded. "That's what happened."
There was absolute silence. Then Harry stood, his legs shaking horribly, and made his way to James. James's eyes filled with tears as he saw his son approach him. When Harry was directly in front of James, he stopped. His eyes traveled from James's feet, up to his untidy hair.
"Dad?" Harry whispered. James smiled and nodded, tears streaming down his cheeks. Harry's legs gave out and he tooled into James. James instinctively caught him and pulled his son against his chest. James ran his fingers through Harry's thick locks and Harry's arms wrapped tightly around James's midriff, as if he would never let go.
"Harry." James whispered. "My son. I love you so much."
"I missed you, Dad." Harry said, his words muffled by James's chest.
"I will never leave you ever again. Ever. I promise you, Harry."
"I love you, Dad."
A/N: Awww... Isn't that adorable? Next chapter: Harry tells Hermione and Ron.
*Because everyone knows that Severus would catch on before everyone else...
