Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Thanks for the reviews! Love them, please keep sending them.

Dogsby: That's a very good idea and it would turn out very interesting. But it would mess with my plan for the story lol. Have you written something like that?

SuperHeroFanGurl: How embarrassing that I didn't notice that, or even typed it. With all the proof reading I've done, I can't believe I missed that. Thanks so much for pointing that out!

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After a good amount of time and a hot cup of tea, Lily decided she'd better start with the questions. So she put her best foot forward, clasped her hands together, and started with her first.

"So you knew this whole time I was your mum…and you didn't say anything?"

Harry looked down guiltily, "What was I supposed to say? 'Hey Lily, I'm your future son!' You'd think I was crazy, probably have me locked up in St. Mungo's. Besides, I wanted to take this chance to finally get to know you." His last sentence came out in a whisper.

Lily didn't say anything at first. She seemed to be waiting for the right moment, and when she realized there wasn't one, she moved on.

"You can't tell me anything about that night, can you?"

He ran a hand through his hair and tried to unclench his jaw. He failed miserably.

"No." She had to strain to hear it.

Lily nodded. "I thought so."

"You're not even supposed to know." He laughed nervously, "But I figured someone would find out…I thought it would be Remus, though."

She nodded again. "The article…said that you were raised by your aunt and uncle. I wasn't aware Potter-" Harry winced, "-had any relatives." The last bit was rushed.

"He doesn't, or at least any that he had, died before I was born." He paused and Lily noticed he was suddenly frowning. She gave him a significant look and he reluctantly continued. "Your sister raised - brought me up - took me in -" It didn't matter how Harry put it, he was lying in some shape or form because his aunt hadn't done any of these things. She had simply put up with him.

"I lived with her and her family." He finished lamely.

"My sister? My sister hates anything magic. Anything! Why didn't you go to my parents? Or Potter's?"

Harry looked up with a pained expression and it dawned on her. Their parents hadn't made it, either.

She quickly looked away. It took her a little while to be able to breathe normally again.

"When?"

"I don't know." He whispered, "And even if I did, I wouldn't, couldn't tell you. Please understand."

She looked down and fumbled with her fingers, weaving them in and out of each other. Lily tried not to be mad at him, tried not to be upset. But for what it was worth, it was easier said than done. She felt like he was cheating her out of something, something important, and it made her feel like he somehow took part in her parents' murders. It was wrong, but anger was better than pain. So, so much better.

"Ron and Hermione, are they your friends?" It was an awkward attempt at a failed conversation, but she gave herself points for trying. Salvaging this was possible, right?

"Yah," A bright smile broke across his face. "Since my first year."

"So you've always gone to Hogwarts?" She pressed, genuinely curious now.

He looked at her before answering, "Yah."

One word answers weren't going to get them anywhere.

"Do you like it?"

"Sometimes."

"Sometimes?" She couldn't help but compare herself to a reporter or a stranger. She sure sounded like one.

"Yah," He sighed and Lily wanted to kick him. "It's…hard sometimes, but not in a bookish sort of way. I wish, but my life just isn't that simple." And he decided that his mum had died long before his adventures had started, so what harm was there in telling her?

"I met Ron on the train, and Hermione, but Ron and I didn't really like her. All three of us got sorted into Gryffindor," He decided he wasn't going to tell her about his almost being sorting into Slytherin. "Ron and I, we were immediately best friends, and he was mean to Hermione. I wanted to do something, I really did, but he was admittedly my first friend and I -. Being me, being the Harry Potter, I never knew if people wanted me to be their real friend, or if I was just their ticket to fame." He said bitterly and then whispered, "He was my first real friend and I was afraid if I stood up for Hermione, I'd lose that friendship. How cowardly of me, how Malfoy of me."

Lily's heart broke at the thought of her son never having a real friend at the age of eleven. She reached over and squeezed his hand, smiling encouragingly for him to continue.

And he told her everything, or just about. He told her about their potions professor who hated him, (leaving out that his teacher was Snape), the troll and Hermione becoming an important part of his life. And even the mirror and what it showed. But when he got to the end, his mother started crying, for what reason, she wouldn't tell him, and he decided that his first year was enough, at least for today.

He smiled at that. His mother knew, and he was finally getting a chance to know her. To really know her without the friend rubbish.

She excused herself saying something about talking to Alice and that she wouldn't breathe a word about Harry.

Harry got his stuff and walked out as well. He was hungry, after all, he had been in that blasted room for over a day.

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Dumbledore, along with the rest of his staff, watched the students and talked in-between.

He sighed. One missing student had turned into two. And once again, school had been cancelled.

He noticed movement at the front door.

Lily Evans was desperately trying to set a smile on her face. It looked more like a grimace.

His eyes curiously followed her as she ignored James' ridiculous flirting and sat down beside her best friend, Alice.

Alice seemed to be yelling at her, though the words were lost to Albus, and Lily was talking back furiously.

And then, an immensely tired Harry Nelson walked in, much more composed than his fellow escapee.

He sat down on Lily's other side which unfortunately happened to be next to James. The Marauders stopped talking and all turned to stare at Harry.

Like a fluid movement of a single body, the Marauders got up and walked away, well, except for Remus. But Dumbledore knew when the four, or rather three this time, were planning something. And he figured it had something to do with Harry's trunk.

He sighed again and thought about the type of tea he would have before bed.

He was fairly sure a good sleeping draught would work just as well.

(10 minutes earlier)

"Where the hell have you been?!" Alice screeched as her friend sat down with a horribly fake smile on her face.

Lily blushed, though she didn't know why, "I've been in the library." She said shakily.

"Don't lie to me, Lily Evans! The staff has searched the school more than once. Don't make me ask again!"

She felt like her mother had caught her with her hand in the cookie jar.

A plausible answer, Lily! "Harry and I went to Hogsmeade. We were buying presents for Christmas."

Alice raised a questioning eyebrow. "Hogsmeade? We have a trip there two weeks before Christmas Break."

Shoot. "But you guys would be there."

Alice ignored her friend's pathetic excuse and decided to 'go with it'. "So…how did you get there?"

"A secret passage." She said mysteriously.

Alice rolled her eyes.

"Lily, I-"

"Hey Lily, Alice, Frank." Harry said, pointedly ignoring James on his left.

Lily sighed in relief. She was saved, or so she thought.

"Oh good, you're here. Care to tell me why you and Lily were at Hogsmeade?"

Harry looked confused and glanced at Lily who was waving her arms around in attempt to get him to agree.

He gave her an odd look, "Buying you a birthday present." Lily was frantically shaking her head and with her fingers, drawing a …triangle? No, a Christmas tree in the air.

"And Christmas shopping, of course." He said as sincerely as he could. He was supposed to be sorted into Slytherin, right? Time to bring out the cunning.

"What's the point of it, if everyone you were getting a present for knew about it? Totally pointless and it's no fun at all, no element of surprise that we Gryffindors are so well known for." He said, smiling roguishly and looking even more like his father next to him. It was a bad attempt at cunning but at last, Alice's face lit up, obviously believing him and lecturing him and Lily for not telling anyone about it.

The Marauders were looking at him suspiciously and when Harry turned to meet their gaze, they abruptly got up and left. Except Remus. Always kind, that one.

Harry briefly put his head in his hands, and for once, Lily understood why, now that she finally knew. Everyone else just thought he hated being hated.

"So what did you get me?" Alice's face looked remarkably like a two year old's and Harry couldn't help but laugh.

"If we told you, what would be the point of sneaking out, facing expulsion, and then marvelously hiding them from you?" He winked at her before grabbing a plate and piling a mountain of food on top of it.

Alice shared a look with Frank.

Lily was impressed that he could pull this off without any trouble and knew that if she opened her mouth to add to his excuse, she would ruin the effect completely. So she wisely kept it shut.

Harry was mildly shocked he hadn't been called to Dumbledore's office. He had a sneaky suspicion that he had been 'eavesdropping'.

Harry shrugged and climbed into his bed. Amazingly ignoring the Marauders ignoring him, closing his curtain, casting a silencing charm around his bed, and falling asleep almost immediately.

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Back in Transfiguration, the lately oddly acting Marauders sauntered in fashionably late, as usual and took their seats next to each other.

McGonagall tapped her foot menacingly. "Should I even ask?"

"Minnie!" Sirius said as he walked up to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "We were simply getting you an early birthday present."

"Sirius Black, if you value your arm, you'll kindly remove it." She said calmly and Sirius quickly extracted his arm before he lost it. "This is the eighth week in row that you've been late. I only have one birthday, Mr. Black." She was quickly losing her patience.

Sirius nodded and presented her with a cute, fluffy, brightly stuffed kitty. "Happy eighth week in a row birthday!" He shouted as his fellow friends charmed mini fireworks to go off around the room.

Her lips thinned.

"I'll go sit down now, Professor."

Even as mad as he was at the Marauders, Harry couldn't help but laugh at the outraged look on McGonagall's face. She was trying to hide it, but if he looked close enough, he could see the corners of her mouth twitching up.

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Harry had stayed away from the room of requirement for a week, and so far, he had no desire to go back.

He was currently sitting in the Common Room, in his favorite chair by the fire, with Lily in the chair across from him. He had a Transfiguration book in his lap on top of his black notebook and a half filled scroll, his failed attempt at a decent essay.

He suddenly felt an odd sensation run through his legs. What the-?

And then he remembered he had charmed the note book to vibrate whenever Ron or Hermione wrote to him.

He very sneakily took it out, looked around, and opened it.

'Harry?'

'Yah?'

'Professor Dumbledore wants to talk to you…'

'Oh.'

'Hello, Harry. Lemon Drop?'

Harry laughed. Some things never change.

'No thank you Professor.'

'I thought not.

You need to be aware of some things that may help you. So I must ask you, Harry, do you know what a Horcrux is?'

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Lily sighed and looked around the common room. She had just gotten back from the library and was eager to talk to her best friend and even more, her son.

She smiled. She had a son and he was far better than anything she would've dreamed. Her smile grew as she thought about him for a moment. He was definitely more like her than his father. They were alike in nothing but their looks. And even she had admitted to herself that James Potter was handsome, his personality on the other hand…

Lily shook her head to clear it and glanced around the room again. A few people were finishing up some last minute homework, some were talking, but most were outside enjoying the last night's snowfall.

She frowned. James was by himself, lying on the couch. Where were the rest of his friends? She took a deep breath and walked over. What could she say? What was she supposed to say to the boy she would eventually marry and have a child with? But once she was right in front of him, she noticed the lightning bolt scar, her frown disappeared. She had mistaken Harry for James.

He looked so innocent in his sleep. Like this, he looked like James. He looked so much like his father, as many people had told him, but he didn't have the carefree persona James seemed to have. He was always on edge, ready to jump up and whip out his wand. His eyes were always guarded. And she wondered if he was like this with his friends and the people he considered family back home.

Lily grabbed a book from her bag, sat the bag down, and then sat down herself. She decided she was going to stay here until he woke up. After all, how many times had his mother, herself, sat beside him watching him dream? Not many. She couldn't have.

She opened To Kill a Mockingbird and waited for him to wake.

"Evans!" A familiar voice called her name and she mentally groaned.

"So," Potter said as he draped his arm around her shoulders, "How are you today, Lily Flower?"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. For Harry….For Harry.

And then he did the last thing she had expected. He swept her off her feet (literally) and into his arms, making room on the arm chair for him before setting her on his lap. She blushed a deep, deep red and gathered her voice for the loudest scream in Hogwarts history.

He panicked.

"No Evans – it's not like that! Please, I mean - Sirius told me it would work! Please don't be mad at me." He looked so cute, like a confused child asking forgiveness for something he wasn't even sure he did. And she was feeling a little bad for him, after all, he wasn't getting the point. He really shouldn't be listening to Sirius anymore.

"Evans, I swear - Lily," He stopped. He liked the sound of her name on his lips, the feel of it was like nothing else. Just Lily. It sounded wonderful and beautiful and, and-

"James," And that sounded even better. He heard the most beautiful woman in world, sitting on his lap, take a deep breath. "I'm not mad. It's not your fault you're not smart enough to not listen to Black."

His heart sank and it must've shown on his face.

"No! No, let me try this again?" As if she even had to ask to speak to him. He would take anything he could get if it meant hearing her voice… "I'm sorry, here you are being nice, and here I am being rude." Her emerald eyes ran over his face, taking him in. "Here's some advice. Act like yourself around me, not an arrogant prat." He winced, looking shameful, and she continued, bracing herself for what she was about to do, "If you do that, then I'd like us to go to Hogmeade together."

He jumped up, face lit up with joy, and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, "You won't regret this, Lily Evans, I promise."

She smiled, "Don't let me."

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When Harry finally did wake, he sat up and saw an empty common room look back at him. He glanced at the clock. It was dinnertime.

He remembered snippets of some conversation from earlier that day. A smile graced his lips as he thought about his mum asking his dad to Hogsmeade. He didn't know if that's how it happened in the original timeline, but really, with the way he was headed, it didn't matter. This was the only timeline as far as he was concerned.

As far as his conversation with Dumbledore went, it hadn't gotten far as the notebook had mysteriously stopped working and spontaneously burst into flame. He figured it meant that what he was choosing to do was now irreversible and that the future he knew no longer existed. He felt a pang of loss at all the people he knew and loved. But he was comforted in the thought that if his plan worked, he would see them all again, just much happier.

What he had gotten out of it, though, was that he needed to look for some things called Horcruxes. He found out what they were and their connection to Voldemort. Dumbledore also gave him some ideas as to where and what some of them might be. He was very specific about looking for the House of Gaunt. So specific that Harry suspected he must've already found it.

"Harry!"

"Mmm?"

"James asked me to Hogsmeade!"

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"He asked you?"

"Well…no. I asked him. But that's not the point."

He noticed James looking over at them, paying close attention.

"You asked Him?"

She swatted his shoulder.

"You already asked that." She wined before saying, "You were awake, weren't you?" She accused.

Harry burst out laughing.

"That obvious?"

She frowned.

He looked at his mother, her cheeks were pink. "You're excited." He deadpanned.

"Gee, thanks for asking."

"It's not like I don't already know you are."

"Still, would it kill you to ask?" She whined, rolling her eyes

"I did."

"No, you didn't. You stated."

"Are all women this difficult?" His green eyes were alight with humor.

She huffed.

"You could've asked."

"But I already knew!" He protested, "What would be the point of asking?"

"It would be nice."

He threw her a look.

"If that's what you want, go tell Alice."

"Harry! I thought you would like to know…"

"Thank you, Lily. I'll try to remember asking next time."

"If there's a next time." She said ominously.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm still here, aren't I?" The people closest to the pair looked at them oddly.

"You're happy. I can tell." She said defiantly.

"Of course I'm happy; I just don't have to be jumping for joy about it. I'm a man. Men don't do that."

It was Lily's turn to roll her eyes.

"Really? Because I could've sworn James was jumping for joy after I asked him."

"Well," He started, much louder than necessary, looking the desperately trying to eavesdrop James in the eye, "Some of us are manlier than others."

She started laughing. "What?" He asked, looking back at her.

"That was incredibly immature."

"He deserved it." He angrily flicked his newspaper straighter in front of him.

"Honestly. How old are you?"

"Not old enough to stop getting back at other people. Especially when said people act like 5 year olds." He said bitterly.

"I thought you were above all that."

"I can't help it." He smirked. "It runs in the family."

She frowned and looked away.

"Indeed." She said, wondering if going out with Potter was worth all the trouble that seemed to follow him around.

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Sirius looked up as James burst through their dorm door, "Padfoot!"

"Yeah?" Sirius said calmly, wondering what all the fuss was about.

"Oh good, you're all here." He looked around their dorm. Not for the first time, he was happy Nelson wasn't here to ruin the 'moment'.

"Lily-"

"Whoa, since when do you call her, 'Lily'?" Sirius asked, looking extremely surprised.

"Doesn't it sound amazing?" His friend answered dreamily.

Sirius looked at the rest of the Marauders, thanking many things for his still remaining sanity.

"Um, sure, Prongs."

But his friend's tone didn't dampen his mood. "She asked me to Hogsmeade!"

Sirius started laughing and then stopped when he notice no one else was, especially James. "Seriously?"

James nodded enthusiastically.

"Congratulations, Prongs."

"Thanks, Moony." Sirius was sure that his friend's face was going to split in two from the size of his smile. He was shocked. He had finally gotten his girl. Or at least he was at the first step.

"Padfoot? Why aren't you jumping with me?" James asked with a slightly hurt tone.

He blinked. Why wasn't he jumping with him? He wasn't jealous, he knew that. Or at least he wasn't jealous of James. He was jealous of Lily. She would get more time with his best friend, his brother, more time than he would.

He was jealous of a girl over a boy. If it had been anyone else, he would've laughed.

But it wasn't. It was him and his best friend, the only family he had besides Wormtail and Moony. And they understood that he was closer to Prongs. What was he supposed to do now?

"You ok, Padfoot?" Remus asked, concerned for his brooding friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't have to pretend nothing's wrong." Remus paused, looking at Sirius, "I know you. I know what this is about."

"Where's Wormtail?" Sirius asked, avoiding the werewolf's gaze, and changing the subject.

"Sitting by Prongs."

"What's Prongs doing?"

"Trying to listen in on Lily and Nelson's conversation."

Sirius sighed.

"Want to talk about it?"

"I don't get touchy feely moments, so if that's what you're waiting for, go away." He was fully aware that he was being rude, but he just wanted to be alone.

"Of course not, Paddy, but seriously, something's bugging you and it has to do with Lily."

Sirius scowled at the pet name, "You won't tell Prongs?"

Remus shook his head. "If you don't want me to, no."

Sirius nodded. "I'm scared." He answered and let his shoulders drop as he admitted it to himself. He was scared. More than just not seeing his friend as much.

"Scared?"

He looked at Remus. Remus was different than James and it was times like this that he appreciated it. James would've laughed and joked, 'Scared? Of what? The pillows attacking you in your sleep?' And he would've laughed, too. It would help, but sometimes it wasn't enough. Remus didn't question, he didn't even look unsure.

"Yeah. I don't know how to say it, but, now that there's a chance he can be with Evans, I get this feeling that something's going to happen to them, because they're together. Something really bad."

Remus sat down on the bed next to his friend, a sinking feeling in his stomach. He, too, had the same feeling. What worried him even more was the fact that Sirius was worried, scared even.

"Nothing will happen to James or any of us. I won't let it." The werewolf said fiercely, vowing to protect the only family he had.

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Favorite HP character and why?