The Last Home chapter is here. After this we will be on the Hogwarts Express and away. I would first like to give a huge thanks to kathryn518 forr agreeing to be my now full time beta...this chapter isn't done by her, but she has agreed to edit all my previous chapters and make them so much easier for you to read and iron out all the little mistakes I have made.

Again this is a shortish chapter. I could have made it longer but I didn't want to waste words for the sake of it. I just needed to wrap things up. I can always come back and add stuff if I REALLY want but I just want to get things to Hogwarts now. Half of the next chapter is done so again it shouldn't take a massive amount of time to post, however, I am working on my next Perfection chapter next, so that will probably come first.

Hope you guys like it...

Chapter 12

With each day that passed, Harry could only feel growing feelings of dread. It wasn't that he felt anything bad was going to happen. For once he felt entirely safe, the house itself acting as an immeasurable defence against anything that would want cause him harm. No his worries were more personal than that. Tomorrow was the day that he had to go back to Hogwarts and this was the first year he was dreading it. Why would he want to go back? He had everything he could ever need right here. He had voiced this thought to his mother but she had staunchly said that it was imperative that he go to Hogwarts.

"You'll miss your friends if you don't go" she had said only the day before. They were sat in the living room on the couch. Well Harry was. Lily was on an armchair the other side of the room reading a charms book. "Some time apart would do us some good anyway. You know what happens to kids that get too attached to their parents" she said with a teasing smile at the end

"I hardly think that is going to happen" Harry scoffed.

"You never-"

"No it's-"

"You did call me pretty once" she said with a wider smile. She was seriously enjoying tormenting her son.

"Mom! Stop...please for the love of Merlin stop. I hardly think calling you pretty is going to turn me into the next generation of Pureblood. It's just a statement of fact." Harry rebuffed, scandalised at the direction this conversation was taking. Ever since the restaurant incident she just wouldn't let it go and teased Harry mercilessly over the whole thing.

How he had still retained his sanity he didn't know, but he had put up with this for weeks. He resolved himself to remember these last few weeks the next time Lily managed to embarrass herself.

"So how is your Occlumency training coming along Harry? Any progress?"

"I'm not sure...before I had Snape trying to batter through my mind...I've created my own shields now and organised my mind properly but without anyone attempting intrusion I'm not sure how I can judge. I don't see why you don't-"

"No I'm not doing it. Even a gentle intrusion is likely to give you a headache. Plus with your connection to Voldemort I don't really want the risk of accidentally weakening your mind with my undeveloped mind magic skills. I'm no Legilimenser. I would run the risk of making a mistake. So no I won't and please stop asking me."

"How am I supposed to know to defend myself in the case of an attack though?"

"I'm sure your defences will at least last until you can break eye contact. At the end of the day that is all you need to do."

"I guess...sorry I just hate this. I'm glad you're not teaching me like Snape-"

"That wasn't teaching Harry-" Lily started but she was cut off.

"Nevertheless I'm glad you're not teaching me like him but I just feel like I'm not making any real progress. Sure my mind is more organised and I have a more tangible shield now but I just don't know how strong that shield really is." Harry said firmly, hanging his head in frustration.

Seeing how frustrated Harry actually was with the situation, she put her book down and walked over to where Harry was, sitting next to him. Putting a comforting arm on his shoulders, she manoeuvred his body so that he was facing her.

"I'm glad you're taking this training seriously but you need to relax. Not everything is going to come to you overnight. I'm surprised you've managed to learn at the rate you have to be honest. There are going to be some things you find difficult. Stop being so hard on yourself you're doing fine." She said soothingly. She could see an invisible weight being lifted off her son's shoulders as a ghost of a smile formed on his lips. Taking a few steady breaths he shook himself out of his doubt and started to slow his breathing. Seeing that Harry was going back into a meditative state and no longer needed reassurance, she flicked her wand to summon the book she was reading over to her and started reading it again.

Their months of training were almost at an end. It saddened her slightly but knew it had to be done. There was no way she was going to keep him cooped up indoors for the rest of the year, as much as she wanted to be with him. This was what happened when you had been away for most of your son's life...you just don't want to let go. It was times like these that made her wonder how parents could abandon their children. What kind of parent could leave their child? She couldn't imagine not talking to Harry for any more than a day let alone a lifetime. It still hurt her to think of the 14 years she was dead and unable to comfort him through his painful life. The only thing that made her feel slightly better, was knowing that there was literally nothing she could have done.

So she had made it her personal mission to make sure every moment counted and treasured every conversation for when the school year came, he would be gone again. It was painful to think that tomorrow, he would be gone again, and it would be just her again...well almost. She still hadn't told Harry what she suspected in case she was wrong, though every time she was sick in the sink for no reason or felt tired, her suspicions only grew more conclusive. She dare not say anything though. She didn't want to jinx it. If she were honest with herself, she was having mixed feelings about the whole thing.

Turning her attention back to her charms book, she quickly read through the myriad of spells depicted in its pages. She often did this; read books on charms or potions to distract herself from something that was causing her distress. It was one of the ways James could tell if she needed him. She smiled wistfully at the thought of those days. Times had most certainly changed.

She was currently looking for a way to keep in contact with Harry while he was at school. She was planning to make a set of mirrors rather like the ones that Sirius and James used to use during their detentions at Hogwarts but didn't know the spell work required which annoyed her to no end. It was a shame that Harry had broken one of the mirrors in his anger but it was too late now and to be honest she could hardly blame him. At the time he was distraught. He still wasn't fully over it and she was almost certain that it was her presence that stopped him from brooding and kept him upbeat. She was truly worried about what would happen once he went back to school. Oh well, no use worrying about it now she thought.

The more she looked through the book, the more irritated she got. This was something that the marauders invented when they were bored and desperate to find a way to talk to each other during McGonagall's detentions. They had caused so much havoc during their years that the strict teacher had taken to putting them in separate rooms as extra punishment, hoping to discipline them and turn them into 'respectable people'. Respectable people...she snorted at the thought. James was just as much of a scallywag as he was when she had just started Hogwarts, just less of a bully.

It took her years to admit to herself that she liked James...even more years to admit it to him. The sticking point had always been his arrogance and his bullying nature. She understood that Severus often gave as good as he got but at the same time James never relented in his attacks, often humiliating him in front of the whole school. It was only years later she learned why James targeted him so badly, and it almost made her laugh.

He was jealous of him.

He thought that Sev was stealing her from him. It was a ridiculous notion. James made no move to actually be her friend and instead spouted off cheesy pickup lines like they were ever in fashion and constantly sent derisive remarks towards anyone that would show her any sort of attention. For the entirety of year 3, no boy would ever go near her much to her chagrin for fear of the Marauder's ire. It almost made her cry at the time but Alice had calmed her down, explaining that if they were too scared to ask her out because of some teenage boy then they were not worth her attentions in the first place.

After that incident she rather kept herself to herself, trying to in vain to keep hold of the tenuous friendship she had with Severus. She hoped that over the years he would grow up and get over it but it only got worse, and his decent into the dark arts quickened. By the time it hit that fateful day where he spat that horrid word at her in a fit of embarrassment, there was barely any semblance of the man that she had befriended as a child.

It was Sev's actions that day that inadvertently caused her to grow more close to the Marauder and see the parts of him that she hadn't been shown before. Slowly, the bully in him started to lessen, and his kind and carefree nature decided to shine through. She would not fall easily though, and even after another year of pestering, she didn't once say yes to his advances. She knew it frustrated him, and she knew that she desperately wanted to say yes, but she wanted to see if this behaviour could last, and that he wasn't doing this just for her. When it became apparent that he truly had changed, then and only then, did she finally agree to go out with him. And what a good decision that was.

They were married barely a year after they were out of Hogwarts, and had a beautiful son 2 years later. They were young and in love. Everything was perfect.

Then it happened. In less than a few minutes, everything was taken away from them, ripped asunder by a stupid prophecy. Voldemort may have casted the curse but it was the prophecy's fault that they were targeted. She couldn't help but feel bitter at the knowledge that everything could have been so much different. She didn't care that Voldemort had been destroyed that night. That wouldn't bring back the last 15 years. That wouldn't bring her husband back. That wouldn't reverse the damage that her own flesh and blood had wrought on her only son. She hated the prophecy.

What many people didn't understand is that it was up to the belief of who the prophecy referred to, as to whether the prophecy would come true or not. If Voldemort ignored the prophecy then it would hold no power. If Dumbledore ignored the prophecy then it would hold no power. As long as those two believed in the prophecy, her son was in danger, and that made her angry. Everything could have been so different.

Meanwhile Harry was in a complete state of calm, burying himself deep into his own mind. Within himself, he could see the huge walls that made up the defences of his mind. It had been a long process but he had finally done it, creating an effective barrier to mental intrusions. He was still frustrated that there was no real way of testing them but his mother was right; really he only needed enough time to break eye contact from his attacker. He wasn't going to put himself through another weekly mind rape by his potions professor just to test his own barriers. He preferred this method.

Taking a look around he took pride in what he had achieved. Maybe it wasn't perfect but it would do. He was currently standing inside the walls, a large city representing his memories and experiences. He chose thisx setting for his memories, as only someone who knew his mind as well as he did would be able to find what they wanted. There were a lot of dead ends and secret defences set up inside the city. It would be hard to look for a specific memory as there was no real sense of organisation to an outside observer. To Harry, everything made perfect sense, as everything had a pattern, even if it wasn't obvious at first glance. For instance, all of his most important memories would be in the bank, hidden underground in the "Gringotts" section, though from the outside they all looked like Muggle banks. Anything about the Dursleys would be in the numerous residential houses lining the streets. Many memories were copied and a few of them he created himself out of scratch to throw anyone off the trail. He didn't do it many times though, as creating a fake memory was taxing and he still lacked experience. He doubted he would fool a master of the craft.

The walls themselves were the greatest defence however, as if they attacker couldn't get in it didn't matter where his memories were kept. The walls were made of giant blocks of concrete, some slabs as large as houses, though none of them an exact square. They were aligned like tetris blocks, different shapes locked together then sealed with concrete. They were thicker than the walls of Hogwarts and over 50 metres high. It truly was an imposing sight.

In front of that he created another surprise, an energy field that shimmered in wild energy. He had seen this kind of design on the film Star Wars one night when he and Lily sat down to watch a movie, and wanted to use it as a defence mechanism himself. He doubted anyone not versed in the muggle world would even know what it was, and would at first glance suspect it was a ward of some kind. They would spend so much time trying to find out how to take down the ward that he would have hopefully been given enough time to throw out the oppressor...at least that's how it worked in theory. He didn't really want to find out if he were honest, since that would mean actually having someone invade his mind.

There were other perks after all to being able to practice Occlumency, the number 1 being that he could now retain information better, as his mind was much more organised. His lessons were progressing at a faster rate and his enthusiasm was growing more steadily as a result. He found he could remember most of the things his mother taught him with ease, which made a world of difference in potions, as the way she was teaching him meant he had to rely on his knowledge of ingredient interaction and not a set of instructions he could easily read from. She would talk about a potion at the start of the lesson, and explain what was typically used to make it. She would then go on to say why each ingredient was used and what properties they had. Once that was done she would simply ask Harry to make it using the knowledge she had given.

The way she taught him meant that all the information he had used the previous lesson was all applicable, and often he would use different ingredients to the ones that Lily had explained about before the lesson, knowing they would do the same thing just as well or even slightly better. This was what she was trying to do; encourage him to innovate and do things his way. He knew he would never be anywhere near her level of expertise in potions but he would certainly be leagues ahead of his classmates now.

Within his mind he took in his surroundings, imaginary people littering the streets. All those people represented a particularly unpleasant memory and anyone stupid enough to talk to one would be temporarily trapped in one of his worst memories. A few of them were somewhat pleasant memories, put there to throw off pursuers but most of them were bad, and it was a testament to his childhood that there were so many "people" milling around the streets.

Taking one last look, he closed his eyes again and withdrew himself from his mind, taking care not to disturb the shields he had spent so long creating. He had been learning Occlumency since he first moved in with Lily, as she had impressed on him that while Snape's method of teaching was appalling, it was still an essential brand of magic for him to learn. Voldemort could do far worse to him than show him a fake vision of Sirius being tortured. Lily had told him he could essentially torture him using his own mind, twisting images and making him see things that were not there. It was a wonder that he hadn't done it so far she had said, and she practically begged Harry to give it another try.

It didn't take too much convincing if he were honest with himself.

After a few seconds he opened his eyes again to familiar surroundings. Beside him his mother was nestled comfortably against the side of the sofa, reading a charms book with a smile on her face. Light had started fading again outside, evening creeping in slowly.

It was always like this in the afternoon; Harry would meditate and lose track of time, losing hours in the process. Normally he wouldn't mind but this would be the last full day he spent with his mother and he felt rather guilty for spending hours of it stuck inside his own head.

"Sorry" he said to his mother next to him. She quizzically looked up from her book before he continued. "It's our last day together and I'm spending it in silence". To this she just smiled sweetly to him, like she had done many times. He could never get over how beautiful she looked, or how much just a smile from her could lighten up his day. Any guilt had melted in that second, and she closed the book quietly and placed it on her lap, her thumb still nestling inside the spine so she didn't lose her page.

"Don't be. Tomorrow is a big day for you. I can't tell you off for learning new things can I?" she said brightly. "

"I guess so" he said reluctantly "Still, from now until tonight I just want to spend time with you if that's ok?"

"Aww aren't you a sweetheart" Lily said with a smile before stroking the side of Harry's cheek. Before the summer started he would have felt embarrassed at this but it felt more natural and he had learned to welcome physical contact, rather than shun it.

"Enough of that mum" Harry said with a small giggle as he batted her arm away. She gave a mock pout but didn't say anything as Harry laughed lightly.

"So what do you want to do? We've got all evening." Lily finally asked.

"I'm not sure. I would normally say duelling but lately you've been getting tired very quickly. I wish you would see a doctor about that by the way."

"I'm fine...really I am"

"Is that why I catch you running to the sink to be sick most mornings"

Lily blanched slightly at this but quickly regained her composure. She didn't know that he had noticed that, though she hadn't really made an effort to hide it. She just didn't want to worry him needlessly over something he wouldn't understand.

"I'm fine really...I just feel off some mornings. I..."

"Come on mom. I thought we agreed no secrets. What are you hiding?"

"This isn't a secret, I just don't want to tell you yet. I promise you nothing is wrong and we'll talk about it when I'm ready. I'm just not ready yet" she said in a placating manner, gently putting her hand on top of her sons. It would do him no good to worry and she didn't want to tell him something that could be wrong to begin with. She hoped she was right though, otherwise there really was something wrong and she'd never hear the end of it.

"So what do you want to do? We could watch TV for a while?" Lily said, to which Harry just gave her an 'are you serious?' look.

"Well I don't see you coming up with anything" she said in a huff.

"How about a movie night? I didn't really get a chance to watch movies at my...other home." He said carefully. That was how he addressed the Dursleys these days, not even using their name. It was a part of his life he wanted to erase from his memory. He had new memories to make now, and a home where he felt safe and happy. There was no way he was ever going to consider those people family and downright insulting them didn't seem to fit either, so he just ignored their existence altogether, never referring to them by name.

"Sounds like a great idea. I remember how much you enjoyed Star Wars when I put that on a week ago."

"Yeah it was pretty amazing. What made you want to show me that anyway?"

"Seriously? You can't live your entire life not having seen Star Wars. That would be a travesty." She said dramatically, causing Harry to laugh slightly at her antics.

"Really? I'm pretty sure most purebloods haven't seen it."

"Purebloods are idiots...mostly."

"Agreed."

"There are a few good eggs I suppose...pity all that inbreeding as made their brains go funky. I mean not ever watching Star Wars? Or Raiders of The Lost Ark?"

"Somehow I doubt things like television cross their minds. I take it by your little mini rant that you have something in mind for me?" Harry said with a quirked eyebrow. It was rather amusing when his mother got like this, and reminded him that while she was his mother, she was still only 21, and as a 21 year old had a carefree side a mile wide.

"Indiana Jones trilogy" she said cheerfully. "Let's make it a marathon. We'll put on the trilogy and eat popcorn."

"Popcorn?"

"Oh...I forgot...never mind yes popcorn. It's lovely, believe me." She started off before composing herself. She still had to constantly remind herself that while he was muggle 'raised', if you could use such a term in this case, he had still missed out on most things.

"Sounds good. Want me to go to the shop?" Harry asked.

"No that's alright I'll make some" she said before getting up off the couch. She conjured a small marker out of thin air and slid it into her book, indicating which page she was on before laying it down on the small table beside the couch. Harry then made to move but Lily quickly stopped him.

"No you don't!" she scolded lightly "You stay there, I'll make the food. If you want to do something go through the DVD rack on the wall and get the films ready. I trust you remember how to use the DVD player?" Lily asked.

Harry nodded.

"Good." She said before leaving the room. Rising from his chair, Harry quickly moved over to where Lily's collections of DVDs were kept.

Over the last few weeks he had realised quite a few things about his mother, one of them being that she really enjoyed her movies. What started as only a small collection of films at the start had quickly evolved into hundreds, all lining the walls like books would a library. If it wasn't for the fact she had spelled the rack to automatically alphabetise and catalogue , Harry would have a torrid time trying to find anything he wanted. As it stood, all he had to do was say the name of the film he wanted and the disc case would glow a pale green indicating where it was. When Harry asked why she didn't just summon it to her hand she had replied that she didn't want to run the risk of damaging the discs in any way. It wasn't something that a simple reparo could fix, as it was data that would be damaged, not just the casing.

Not wasting any time, he found the DVDs and put the first disc in the machine before leaving the room to find his mom in the kitchen. She was humming merrily as she put a packet of popcorn in the microwave and poured crisps and snacks into bowls. She obviously had no intention of getting back up again once they were sat at the television, a sentiment to which Harry readily agreed with. If this was the last day he was going to spend with his mother for a while, he wanted to make it count, and that meant no distractions.

"Need any help?" Harry asked, getting his mom's attention. She visibly started slightly, not realising that Harry had entered the room.

"Sorry" he said, realising he had made her jump. She just waved him off in her usual 'don't worry about it' fashion and gestured her hand towards the kettle.

"You can make the coffee if you like." She said. That was another thing he noticed about his mother. He rarely saw her drink a magical drink. There was no butterbeer to be found in this house, and he often woke up to the smell of hot chocolate or coffee drifting up the stairs. To begin with he wondered why that was, until he actually tasted the muggle drinks offered. They really were so much more pleasant than what the magical world offered.

The same applied to the food if he were honest.

"Fair enough. Two sugars?" Harry asked, trying to remember how she liked it.

"Of course" she said with smile, before resuming what she was doing.

It didn't take long for the two of them to finish and pretty soon they were back in the lounge sitting on the couch in front of a tea table that Lily had summoned from another part of the house. On it were an assortment of crisps, sausage rolls and other buffet food. It reminded him of the times he stayed at the Weasleys except all this was muggle; there wasn't a Pumpkin Pasty in sight.

Lily had briefly gone upstairs shortly after she had brought the food in. At first Harry couldn't understand why but it quickly became apparent when she came running down the stairs holding a red fluffy blanket. Harry just smiled and got comfortable as Lily wrapped the two of them up in the blanket and snuggled close to his side. It would have felt natural and rather innocent if his father hadn't chosen that moment to enter his portrait and say in a mockingly sad voice how 'jealous he was of his position'. Harry and Lily looked at each other for a few seconds not quite realising what he meant until it dawned on them, at which point they quickly looked away, realising how close they really were. Neither made to move away though, as their newfound closeness wasn't something they were going to jeopardise over a little light teasing.

In reply, Lily glared at the portrait of her husband simply told him that she was sure that she could arrange to have the Fat Lady from Hogwarts give him a visit, which made Harry dissolve into a fit of giggles. Seeing the look of horror in his father's made him laugh even harder, which soon stopped him from saying any more, lest Lily embarrass him further.

Pretty soon they were sitting there wrapped up in blankets, eating and laughing together as the movies played. It was a wonderful experience. During the movie they talked about everything and nothing, making sure that they kept to unimportant subjects. Lily regaled Harry with stories of dates that she had with James and the times that he took her to the pictures, without even knowing what they were, and how he wouldn't stop talking about it afterwards, even though it was his idea to begin with. It was James's portraits turn to be embarrassed now, as he turned away and muttered something unintelligible under his breath, before becoming still once more.

Before long they had broken out the alcohol, under the protest of James (who didn't think she was setting a great example...coming from him that only made them both raise an eyebrow) and were paying very little attention to what was going on on screen. When Harry questioned his mother on why she didn't want to drink she just replied "someone has to be the responsible adult. Most children your age would never have a parent willing to let their kids drink so just enjoy it. Let your hair down and relax."

That was the end of that argument

Lily's stories of Hogwarts started to dip into more and more of the Marauders antics, and both her and her son almost fell on the floor laughing when she decided to tell Harry about the time she was on prefect duty and they discovered Sirius in the nude with another girl behind some curtains. The fact she came upon them wasn't the funny part. In fact the thought of his godfather with a girl made him squirm for some reason. It was was more what happened next. Apparently Lily got so mad from the embarassment that she accidentally got the attention of McGonnagall who had been patrolling a nearby corridoor. The thought of her coming across two naked teenagers who looked like a deer caught in the headlights was quite frankly hilarious and by the end of the story, Lily could barely talk, and Harry had to ask through rasped breaths for her to repeat herself as she was barely making any sense.

James wasted no oppotunity to tell his own embarassing stories, telling the story of how he once turned Snapes hair into a colony of snakes. Apparently he had cursed Sirius the day before so to get his own back be transfigured his hair into a group of serpents, and told him that it was an improvement over his usual greasy hair. He had wasted no time in attacking him, and even Lily laughed at her once best friend getting bitten by his own hair. He tried repeatedly to cancel the spell, and the teachers had to stun him in the end and wait till the spell wore off. They knew who had done but couldn't prove it, so James got away scot free.

By the time the third film was in the machine, Harry was rather drunk and Lily was chuckling at his antics as he started to slurr his words. She couldn't believe she had let Harry drink like this but she didn't want to be the responsible parent. This wasn't what her son wanted or needed. He just wanted a family...a friend...someone who understood him completely. She guessed that not even his best friends could say they could completely understood him. Sitting next to him under a nice warm blanket, listening to him laugh like like the teenager he was was the best thing she had ever seen. If it took whiskey to turn him into a teenager for an evening then so be it. He deserved it.

"Mom...why did you...come back?" he asked in a slurred voice.

"What? What do you mean?" The strangeness of his question caught her offguard slightly.

"Why come back? I understand...and am grateful...I just don't understand why" he said, leaning slightly into her.

"Why wouldn't I? You're my son. I was given the choice of coming back and I took it. So would any other mother."

"I know and I love you for it...but what I mean is why did you come back...and not Dad? You were both given the choice? So why was it you and not him...I'm glad you're hear...I just want to know why you chose what you did."

"Because you already had a father figure in Sirius...you don't need another one. Of course I know you would love your father...it's just not who you needed the most you know?"

"Don't ask me that again, because it's not something I want you to ever question ok? I'm here...that's it." She said with finality, closing the issue as quickly as it started. It was at this point she realised that she should probably get Harry to bed. He was at the "contemplation" phase of drinking, which meant that if he drank for too much longer he would start to get depressed and that was the last thing she wanted. It had been brilliant to see him lose his serious nature for a while and just be the fun loving kid he was always supposed to be.

"Come on...lets get you to bed Harry. Big day tomorrow"

"No bigger than the last 5 years mom"

"1st year- first year of magic, 2nd year flying car, 3rd year dementors, 4th death eaters at world cup-"

"Ok I get it" Harry said with a slight chuckle. "what about the film"

"Oh please! Like you were paying any attention at all"

"Hey! It wa fun..." Harry said enthusiastically

"Then what was the plot..." Lily asked skeptically.

"They were searching for the Holy Grail?" Harry said uncertainly.

"...Ok I'll give you that" she conceded reluctantly.

"I'll admit that I don't know much past that" Harry conceded to which Lily smiled.

"Alright come on go to bed. I'll leave a hangover potion next to your bed for tomorrow morning. That way tomorrow morning you won't feel like a Hippogriff has kicked your teeth in. I'm glad you had fun tonight. I certainly did". She said, ruffling his hair slightly before sending him on his way upstairs. She followed him upstairs incase his balance failed him but in the end there was no need, and he made his way into his bedroom and clambered into bed.

Lily gently placed the small vial of hangover potion next to the bed on his night stand, and gently stroked some hair away from his forehead as he drifted off to sleep.

"Goodnight Harry. Love you" she whispered before kissing Harry gently on the forehead and slowly leaving the room, being careful to close the door quietly, making no noise.

Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

There we go :) nearly time for Hogwarts and all the gang to get back together :)

Read and Review as always and as always questions welcome ;)