Chapter eleven
That afternoon, Harry answered a knock on the door, 'Kingsley and aurors,' Harry grinned moving aside to let them in.
'Marcus and Liam,' Kingsley introduced his two aurors, they both shook hands with Harry.
'So are you here about him?' Harry asked as he led the way into the living room.
'Yes, we need your statement and memories about the detentions. We need your mother's statement and memories about how he treated her.'
'What about her divorce?'
'I spoke with a woman in the legal department, she said if Lily is serious then she can start the paperwork straight away. I explained that Lily isn't leaving the safety of the fidelius charm until Snape has been locked up. She did offer to come here and see your mother.'
Harry turned as Lily stepped into the room, 'I heard Harry,' she took his hand, 'I would like this done as quickly as possible. Harry and Charlie have been telling me things all morning, none of those stories are anything like Severus said, especially about Sirius. So I want to divorce him as fast as I can.'
'Then I'll have Claire escorted here,' Kingsley looked at his aurors who held out two pieces or parchment, 'You both need to fill these out, then we can get your memories. We saw Minerva this morning, she did her statement and gave us her memories of what Lily told her.'
Harry nodded, then summoned quills and ink before they sat at the table with Kingsley. 'You two can sit, it's safe here.' Harry said to the aurors.
Kingsley nodded and they both sat, 'Where's Charlie?'
'Went to the dragon reserve, he's still considering your offer, but he wanted to go see what they would offer. He really has too much experience to just work with breeding dragons.'
'Is that what Charlie does? I did see a lot of burns over his hands and wondered,' Lily said.
'Yeah, he's a dragon handler, usually works with the big ones, like horntails,' Harry shuddered.
'Even though we were scared for you Harry, you were brilliant against that monster,' Kingsley grinned.
'I was scared facing the damn thing, my broom never flew right after that,' Harry rubbed his neck.
Lily gently ran her finger down Harry's neck, 'That's a burn scar, is that from a dragon?'
'From a Hungarian horntail I had to get passed it when I was fourteen.'
'Did Severus tell you about the triwizard tournament that was held at Hogwarts?' Kingsley asked.
'He said Harry entered some competition even though he wasn't supposed to. He said Harry liked to break the rules and show off all the time.'
'A death eater put Harry's name in the goblet of fire, it was to get him to Voldemort. Harry never entered, he was just as shocked as everyone else.'
'Shocked, I was fucking scared to death Kingsley. All the others were a lot older than I was, I had no idea what I was doing.'
'You're admitting you were scared, that's surprising Harry.'
'I might not show my fear, but I have been quite a few times.'
'Facing Voldemort?' Lily asked quietly.
'Actually, no, never against him, I knew I could die at any time, I had resigned myself to that, so he never scared me. Well, he did but it was fear from all my friends. They would have been slaughtered if he got hold of them,' Harry stared down at the table then pulled his wand from his sleeve, 'Kingsley, do you remember what I told Dumbledore about that night?' Harry held up his wand, then pointed it at his mother, 'How was that still possible?'
'Okay, now you're pushing my knowledge. The wands connected, priori encantatem, the reverse spell affect happened. The last murders his wand did brought echoes of those people, Cedric Diggory, the Riddles caretaker, Bertha Jorkins, your mother and your father. I can only assume that since he killed who he believed was Lily Potter, she believed it, and she looked like Lily Potter, so that's why she appeared. Even in the afterlife, she still believed she was Lily Potter so she spoke with you like her son.'
'But wouldn't my father have known who she really was? Aren't the dead supposed to know things the living doesn't?'
'Blimey Harry, this is way over my head. I think that's a question for Albus' portrait. You said you spoke to him that night, he's soul appeared to you as you remembered him. He could only tell you what he knew. I think since James Potter believed his wife died that night, that's why it was her that came out of his wand.'
'Okay, but there's something else that no one knows. Um sorry, but I don't know you two and what I need to say has to be kept private. So can you give me your word you won't repeat anything?'
'You have it Mr. Potter, as the minister's auror guards, we cannot repeat anything we hear or see while in his presence,' Marcus said.
'Okay, sorry, I don't mean to say you would, I'm just very cautious,' Harry blew out a huge breath, 'Have you heard of the deathly hallows Kingsley?'
'Yes, those items are believed to be the three items from the story of the three brothers. It's a story, a myth Harry.'
Harry shook his head, then summoned two items, 'The elder wand and the cloak of invisibility, I had the resurrection stone as well, got rid of it that night, after I used it.'
'You have the elder wand, the death stick?' Kingsley gaped at the wand that was sitting on the table.
'Yes, don't you recognise it though?'
'That was Albus' wand,' Lily said.
'Yes, it was, he was disarmed the night he died, by Draco Malfoy. I disarmed Malfoy at Malfoy manor, so the wand now recognises me. But the stone Kingsley, I used it that night. I called my parents, Sirius and Remus to help me, they were with me in the forbidden forest. They stayed with me while I walked to Voldemort. My mother said they were always with me and that I was brave. I asked Sirius if it hurt to die. I apologised to Remus because of Teddy. Dad said they were going to stay with me right until the end. They were there, mum was there, but she wasn't was she?'
'Okay, I think it still comes back to what I said before. He believed she was Lily, she, the death eater believed she was Lily, she was buried as Lily Potter. So when your mother appeared to you that night, it was that woman but her belief was still Lily Potter. I think I'm right, but speak with Albus' portrait about this, he knows more about all this type of magic than I do.'
'He knows the deathly hallows as well, he had been looking for them since he was a kid, him and Grindlewald,' Harry ran his fingers over the wand then the cloak, 'He had this cloak on him, he asked my father if he could borrow it. But he told me that he didn't need a cloak to become invisible. He knew it wasn't an ordinary invisibility cloak, he wanted to study it. He had the wand at the time, then the cloak. When he found the stone, he became reckless through excitement of having found the third hallow. The stone was in a ring that Voldemort turned into a horcrux, that's what cursed his hand. He put it on forgetting about the dark magic that surrounded the stone,' Harry banished the wand and the cloak back to his office and his hiding place but his thoughts were still on the woman he saw those two times, a woman he believed to be his mother. The woman beside him was his mother, the real Lily Potter. Realisation was finally hitting him that his mother was alive and before he knew it, tears were flowing fast down his face.
'Harry, sweetheart,' Lily put her arms around Harry, she was surprised when he hugged her, 'Oh my boy, what is it?'
'You're alive, you're here, for real. Oh god, please tell me this isn't a dream.'
'It's not a dream Harry, I am here and we've found each other.'
Kingsley saw Charlie staring into the dining room, so he gets up and hurries toward him with his two aurors following.
'What's going on, why is Harry crying, he never cries?'
'It's just that's it's finally hit him, that his mother is alive and here.'
Charlie stared at Harry holding his mother, 'He seemed a bit easy going, like it never meant anything when we were talking this morning.'
'It really didn't hit home for him until now.'
'What started this though?'
'Do you know what happened in the graveyard the night Voldemort returned?'
'Yeah, Ron mentioned it a year or so ago, so I asked Harry about it a few weeks back. Oh shit, he saw his mother that night, but she's here so it wasn't her. Okay, now I get why it's finally sunk in.'
'There's more but Harry will need to tell you about that, but it seemed she appeared to him again, along with his father, Sirius and Remus. Anyway, tell Harry and Lily we'll get the memories and statements in the morning. I don't think he's really up to it right now.'
'I'll tell them,' Charlie waited until Kingsley and the two aurors left before he sat on the other side of Harry but gave Lily a sad smile, 'Harry.' he said softly.
Harry slowly let go of his mother, then turned to Charlie, 'She's alive.'
'Yeah, she is love,' Charlie wrapped his arms around Harry and held him, 'She's here now, for good.'
'I'm not going anywhere Harry, you're my son,' Lily wiped tears from her own face as she watches her son holding the man he loved.
Harry sniffed, moved back from Charlie and wiped his face with his sleeve, 'Sorry.'
'You should never say sorry for showing your feelings sweetheart, they make you who you are. Crying helps you heal if you unhappy, sad or grieving, sometimes it helps if you're happy. You need to show your emotions, everyone does.'
'I've never cried like that,' Harry took hold of Charlie's hand in one of his and his mother's hand in the other.
'Even after Sirius died?' Charlie asked sadly.
Harry shook his head, 'I was so angry, then I heard the prophecy, so I had no time to grieve.'
'That's half your problem Harry, you never took the time even after Voldemort was gone. You went to every funeral, you rested at the Burrow, then you repaired this place. Everyone needs to take the time to grieve,' Charlie said sadly.
'I wanted to be there for your family, they supported me through everything and were suffering because of Fred.'
'I know you did, I saw how you were trying to help mum and dad, it was you that helped me through that. You'd lost people before, so you knew how we were feeling. But it's time for you to think about yourself for a change. Bottling all these emotions up will make you worse if you don't.'
Harry nodded, 'Everything just seemed to hit at once, mum's here, alive, what he did, Sirius, everything,' Harry blew out a huge breath, 'I'm good.'
'You're not but you will be sweetheart, now I'm going to start dinner.'
'Mum, you don't have to cook, I did learn you know?'
'Yes, Charlie told me, but I enjoy cooking,' Lily kissed Harry's cheek then went into the kitchen, 'It'll be about an hour, why don't you spend some time with Charlie while I'm busy?'
'I think that's your mum's way of saying we should go shag,' Charlie chuckled making Harry laugh.
'At least she didn't come right out and say it.'
'I will if you want me too,' Lily said but the two men heard the amusement in her voice.
'No, I do not want to hear my mother telling me to go have sex. But we will, come on Charlie,' Harry took his hand and pulled him up the stairs to Lily's laughter and Charlie's.
An hour later Charlie with Harry on his back walked down the stairs to much laughter from Lily. 'It's lucky Charlie's strong, but why are you on his back Harry?'
'I love being wrapped around him, anyway I can,' Harry moved his legs as Charlie lowered him to the ground before they both sat, 'You don't mind seeing us like that, do you?'
'No, I think it's sweet. So I heard you ask Charlie to marry you, have you thought of when you want to?' Lily placed plates and drinks on the table then sat down.
'Not yet, but we will and knowing my mother she will be on us all the time to start the plans. That's one thing my mother has always wanted, for her kids to marry and give her grandkids.'
'Would you like to help Mrs. Weasley with the wedding plans mum? You are the mother of one of the grooms.'
'I would love to help if you want me to. Normally the mother doesn't do much when it's her son, only with daughters. But since you are both men, I get to help.'
Harry looked down at his plate, 'Was I an accident?'
Charlie and Lily looked at Harry's lowered head, 'No Harry, you weren't an accident. Why did you think you were?'
Harry slowly looked up, 'It was during the first war, and you and dad were really young. I figured I was an accident.'
'You're father and I planned to have you Harry, we talked about it for a while. At first he thought we were a bit young to be parents, but he really wanted to be a father just like I wanted to be a mother. Why didn't you ask Sirius about this? He knew because we told him that he couldn't come over that night.'
'We never got time to talk about anything personal, but I only got to see him a handful of times and those times there was a lot of people around. That wasn't really a conversation I wanted anyone to hear.'
'Okay, but you know now, I had the potion right before your father and I made love. I found out two weeks later that I was pregnant. Is there anything else you want to ask?'
Harry nodded, 'Lots of things, but we'll take our time. That was the one thing I really wanted to know, mainly because of what was going on during that time.'
'We've got all the time in the world now and I'll tell you anything you want to know,' Lily kissed Harry's cheek and even though she had been hearing a lot already about her son, some things that saddened her, some things that made her angry. She thought he looked and sounded so sure of himself, but now, he looked so vulnerable and so unsure of anything. It made her realise that Harry really was young in a lot of ways, he was just older in all the wrong ways. But hopefully now he had Charlie and her, he could finally be and act his age and be the young man he's supposed to be, not the one everyone looked to for hope and for Harry to save them. Harry needed time to find himself now that Voldemort was dead, hopefully the two people that Harry loved will help him do that.
