Disclaimer: Harry Potter was created by Jo Rowling. (My name isn't Jo. Or Rowling.)


That night, Harry had a very vivid dream. He thought that his mother was holding him in her arms, as she might have held him when he was just a baby, while his father stood near them both, smiling and ruffling Harry's already messy hair. When the morning drew near and the dream began to fade, he closed his eyes tighter, half-wishing, half-believing that it was real. And when he finally had to admit that the dream had gone, and opened his eyes, Harry still felt a desperate sense of longing and a deep sadness within him.

He knew as soon as he awoke that today he would be near his parents again - indeed, the knowledge that he was going to Godric's Hollow had never really left him all night. Glancing out of the window, he saw that it was still very early; the cold raw light of dawn illuminated the dingy road, where a starved-looking cat forlornly picked its way past a large, dirty builder's skip. Harry looked over at Ron. His mouth was slightly open as he snored, and Harry got dressed as silently as possible so as not to wake him.

At this early hour, Harry had not expected anyone to be up yet and so was surprised when he entered the kitchen to see Remus Lupin sitting alone at the table, drinking a cup of coffee and thoughtfully studying the Daily Prophet. Lupin looked up as Harry came through the door, and smiled.

"You're up early," he said, rising and picking up the kettle. "Tea? Coffee?"

"Er – tea would be good, thanks."

Lupin tapped the kettle with his wand; it immediately started to boil.

"Thanks," said Harry when Lupin handed him the teacup, and they sat down at the table together.

"There's been a breakout from Azkaban," said Lupin, gesturing at the front page of the newspaper.

"Has there?" Harry wasn't too surprised – since the Dementors had left there had been several isolated escapes. But when he looked over at the paper, Harry choked on his mouthful of hot tea. Even upside down, he had no problem recognising Lucius Malfoy, father of Draco Malfoy, Harry's schoolfellow and enemy.

"Oh, great." Harry scowled. "Now Malfoy's got his daddy back and Voldemort one of his slimiest followers. Bet it won't take him long to find someone to murder."

Lupin sighed, but said nothing, and the two of them lapsed into silence, reading the article and sipping their drinks. It was only when the first real light of morning began shining through the kitchen window that Hermione and Ginny came downstairs, a tousle-haired, yawning Ron slouching behind them.

"When are we going?" Hermione asked Harry as she buttered some toast for herself.

Harry started to answer when the kitchen door creaked opened again, and Neville wandered in looking as though he barely knew where he was. Last night's sleep didn't appear to have done him much good; if anything, the dark circles around his eyes appeared to have deepened.

"Hi, Neville." Harry pulled out a chair for him. "Toast?"

"I don't mind - whatever you've got - are you going to your mum and dad's house now?"

Harry was surprised that Neville had remembered last night's conversation.

"Yeah, we are. Why, do - d'you want to come?" he asked awkwardly. He didn't see why Neville would be interested but felt it would look unfriendly to deliberately not include him.

But Neville just murmured, "No - I'll stay here... Auntie Enid sent over some of Gran's things they found in the ruins. I think I'll have a look through them." His voice was very quiet, and a few minutes later he wandered out of the kitchen and back upstairs, leaving his uneaten toast on his plate.

Hermione gazed sympathetically after Neville.

"He'll be all right," Ginny assured her. "He can't go around like this forever."

"He was lucky not to have been killed," said Harry. "Lucky that someone raised the alarm before they could finish him off."

"Mmn...well, maybe," said Hermione thoughtfully, and she picked up her toast and began eating it mechanically, her eyes vague.

When Mrs Weasley came downstairs in a flowery purple dressing-gown ten minutes later, she looked surprised to see them all getting up, ready to leave.

"Are you going somewhere?" she asked them anxiously as Hermione cleared the table of the dirty breakfast plates.

"Professor Lupin's taking us to my mum and dad's house," said Harry, surreptitiously checking that his wand and the Invisibility Cloak he had inherited from his father were in his pocket.

"Oh – he is?" Mrs Weasley looked slightly surprised.

"We'll be back by lunch," said Ron.

"Oh," she said again. "Well – take care-"

"They'll be fine," Lupin assured her calmly.

"Keep them safe, Remus," said Mrs Weasley anxiously.

"We're only going to Godric's Hollow, Mum, honestly - you're getting paranoid," said Ginny as she gripped Harry's arm, ready to be Apparated.

Harry only half heard Mrs Weasley snapping at Ginny for being cheeky. He was getting butterflies of excitement in his stomach again as he focused his mind on Godric's Hollow – soon he would see his parents' last resting place, and their old house!

"Let's go," Lupin muttered, and together they turned on the spot.

Moments later, they had reached their destination.

Harry didn't know what he had expected – perhaps to feel a tingle of recognition, like he was finally coming home – but as he stared around, all he felt was an overwhelming sense of unfamiliarity. It was a pretty enough village from what he could see from where he had landed in the village square, but it all felt new to him. He gazed around at the cluster of small, red-roofed houses with their little flower-filled front gardens and wondered where his parents had lived, and if they had been happy here.

"Um, professor?" Harry heard Hermione whisper behind him. "I think that child saw us arrive."

Harry followed the direction of her finger and saw the curious face of a boy, probably only five or six years old, peeking at them from his bedroom window.

Lupin glanced up at the boy for a second, then shrugged. "We can't do anything. He's probably a Muggle child, anyway – I highly doubt that his parents would believe him if he said he'd seen a group of people appear from thin air. Luckily, it's still early," he added, glancing round. "I don't think anyone else saw us."

"Can we go to the house now?" Harry asked Lupin, who sighed.

"Don't be surprised if there is nothing left, Harry," he warned, as they began to walk in the direction he indicated.

They passed a row of small, cheerful-looking shops whose windows were mostly full of flower displays or had big jars of Muggle sweets against the glass. Harry noticed a tiny, insignificant little building on the end of the row that paraded rows of Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizzbees, and several other wizarding sweets that Harry recognised instantly. He guessed that Muggles would not be able to see this particular sweet-shop.

Lupin led them up a little path through a bare field and Harry thought that they were aiming for the woods that lay beyond when Lupin came to a sudden stop.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked. "Why are we stopping?"

"This is it." Lupin gestured sadly at the empty field. "This is where their house was."

Hermione looked embarrassed and glanced over at Harry, who barely noticed.

"This is it?" Harry repeated, looking up at Lupin. "The house used to be here?"

Lupin nodded. Harry looked at the grass, the wild flowers, the blackbird pecking busily at a fallen apple. Nothing was here to even suggest James and Lily Potter had spent the few happy years of their marriage in this spot; nothing remained of the place where Harry had lived for the first year of his life.

"Did the Muggles have the ruins cleared away?" asked Hermione quietly.

"Probably," said Lupin. Harry looked up and, seeing Lupin's face, wished again that he had never asked him to come. But Lupin suddenly bent down to look at a few flowers tangled in the grass, a strange expression on his face.

"These aren't wild flowers," he said softly. "Your mother planted these when she first came here, Harry – and this, see – " He knelt beside a delicate white flower which stood tall still, bravely fighting the weeds threatening to choke it.

"It's a lily… I remember James insisting she have them all over the garden. Lily said he was being stupid." And he smiled, looking all at once young again.

"Ron, what are you doing?"

Hermione's voice floated over to them. Harry, Ginny and Lupin all looked over to see Ron kneeling on the ground, tearing up great handfuls of grass. He looked up, a smudge of earth on his cheek.

"Here, see this." Ron beckoned to them to come over, and they crowded round.

In the space that he had cleared was a small, white stone slab, cracked down the centre by the weeds pushing up from below. Harry leant forward to read the faded, broken inscription.

James Potter

Lily Potter

Here gave their lives

In the battle against Darkness

"They were standard Ministry markers," said Lupin. "Laid wherever anyone died fighting Voldemort."

Harry stared at the simple words on the worn stone, and felt a rush of gladness that the place where they had lived and died had not been completely forgotten. He brushed away the last of the dirt covering the stone with his fingers, and cleared away the weeds. As a last thought, he lifted the side of one stone and fitted it back into place. To his surprise, the crack suddenly disappeared; the stone was whole. It wasn't until he saw Hermione tucking her wand back into his robes that he realised she had silently repaired it.

They sat there in silence for nearly quarter of an hour, Harry gazing around at the bare field and his mother's flowers and trying to imagine what this place would have been like sixteen years ago. After a while, Lupin's voice broke into Harry's thoughts.

"Do you wish to see James and Lily's graves?"

Harry's chest was painfully tight as he looked up and nodded.

Ron was looking around them. "Where's the church?"

"The church?" said Lupin. "Oh – they weren't buried in a Muggle churchyard, Ron. No - they are in the woods."

"The woods?" said Harry in surprise, looking over at the friendly cluster of trees at the end of the field.

"Yes, the Ministry arranged for them to be buried in a secluded clearing so that they wouldn't be disturbed by curious Muggles," said Lupin, as he motioned at them to follow. "The Ministry also laid quite a complex web of Muggle-Repelling Charms at the time of the funeral – it is possible they are still in effect."

The path they took through the trees was possibly just an animal track, for it was narrow, winding and overgrown with straggling plants. Several times they had to stop and push back the branches which blocked the way, and Harry was just wondering exactly how long this was going to take when the trees began to thin and he glimpsed a sun-dappled clearing through the branches. With a jolt, Harry realised that this must be it. The dead twigs under his feet crackled as he eagerly stepped towards his parents' final resting-place.

Harry's initial reaction was one of huge indignation. The place bore a distinct air of neglect – why, one of the tombstones had fallen right over so the inscription was hidden, and the other (his mother's) was crumbling at the base. Harry sank to his knees in front of the graves and ran his fingers over the weatherworn stone.

"Mum," he whispered. "Dad…." It was strange and terrible to think that his parents were so close to him – and yet, so unreachable. Harry stared at the long inscription, the delicate letters still startlingly vivid against the old stone.

Lily Potter
1960 – 1981

Loved by all who knew her
Mother of the Boy Who Lived
Wife of James Potter
Who died beside her as they fought against evil
May their souls rest together for all eternity

To Harry's sudden horror he realised that his eyes were wet, and he surreptitiously wiped them on his sleeve, hoping the others hadn't noticed. But it seemed they were tactfully staying back at the trees, giving him some privacy.

A few moments later, Harry felt rather than saw Lupin kneel down behind him, and they sat there for a while, neither speaking. On an impulse, Harry reached over, broke the stems of a cluster of wild purple flowers close by, and laid them gently on his mother's grave. There was little he could do for his father's gravestone, which lay grey and broken across the grass. All was still.

Then someone screamed – Hermione? There was a sudden crashing of leaves behind him, and another shriek, this time from Ginny. Harry stood up so fast that he twisted his ankle, staggered, and fell over.

"Ginny?" he yelled, as he struggled to his feet, ankle throbbing and furious with himself. A flash of white light seared through the air straight at him and Harry only just managed to get his wand out in time to shout "Protego!" The white light crashed into the shield he had created and it shattered. Harry was knocked to the ground again with the rushing force of the curse, whatever it was, and was jerked up again by a terrified-looking Hermione.

"What's happening? Where's Ginny?" Harry shouted at her. Seven or eight hooded, cloaked figures were suddenly emerging from the woods on all sides, closing in on them. With a sudden surge of recognition and fury, Harry heard the familiar malevolent cackle of Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Harry, get out of here!"

Lupin was gesturing frantically at Harry to leave, whilst locked in a duel with a huge Death Eater. The duel only lasted a few seconds – the Death Eater fell and Lupin sent a Stunner at the back of a Death Eater that Ron was attempting to take on by himself. The Stunner hit the man directly between the shoulder-blades, and he crumpled.

Harry just managed to deflect a Stunner that was aimed directly at him, and Ron came charging over to them panting and ducking a jet of yellow-white light that shot over his head.

"Harry, go, we can't fight them all!" he yelled. Harry barely heard him – he had just identified a slim woman with thick, shining dark hair firing off Stunners in all directions.

"Pyrashio!" Harry bellowed, jabbing his wand with furious intent. The Pyratus Charm was more powerful than he had ever imagined. Fire thundered out of the wandtip, crashing in waves towards Bellatrix, who screamed and fell, the Shield Charm she uttered barely protecting her. The backlash of the spell nearly caused Harry to fall again, and he would have done but was stopped by an arm that caught him from behind.

"Ginny!" said Harry, relief flooding him. But there was no time to think, no time to say anything else, for at that moment Harry's insides froze as he saw a tall figure step out from between the trees across the clearing, a figure with a face that had haunted his dreams for months – a chalk-white face, with slit-like nostrils and blood-red eyes.

Voldemort did not waste words. Harry threw bodily to one side as the jet of green light flashed towards him and heard Voldemort's angry scream – the curse had hit a Death Eater. Still amazed that he was actually alive and unhurt, Harry staggered once more to his feet.

"HARRY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Hermione screamed at him wildly, while blocking with the Inertius Charm a curse thrown at her by Bellatrix, who seemed to have recovered though her hair and face were terribly burnt.

Voldemort raised his wand again.

"Avada –" But the words of the Killing Curse never finished leaving his lips. Lupin was suddenly in front of Harry, battling Voldemort on his own. Stricken with fear, Harry ran forwards to help him, but before he knew what was happening a curse fired by one of the Death Eaters whooshed past him and smashed into Lily Potter's gravestone. Another Death Eater from across the clearing for some reason started shouting in fury as the gravestone splintered into a crumbled mess. Though the voice was familiar, Harry barely heard it through the sudden rushing noise that filled his ears. White-hot fury was roaring in Harry's chest and he turned on the Death Eater who had fired the spell. The man laughed.

"Oh, it seems I missed my target," the Death Eater taunted. Harry recognised the voice of Amycus, who he had met the night of Dumbledore's murder.

Harry didn't stop to think. "Sectum sempra!" he shouted, slashing his wand at the hooded figure, who screamed and crashed to his knees on the grass, clutching his face with suddenly bloodied hands. Harry felt a grim sense of satisfaction; then Hermione screamed wildly into his ear.

"Harry, if you don't get out of here this minute, we're all going to be killed!"

"What about Lupin?" Harry yelled back, casting a hasty Shield Charm to prevent a curse from blowing his head off. Ginny was fighting someone beside Harry, and Lupin was still locked in combat with a furious Voldemort. Though he was, amazingly, still standing, Harry was sure that Lupin couldn't hold off the Dark Lord for much longer.

"If you go, Professor Lupin will go!" shrieked Hermione. "He's stopping Voldemort so you can get out of here!"

But before her words could register Harry was suddenly aware of another familiar voice in all the noise and confusion – Narcissa Malfoy's? - laughing and saying silkily, even lovingly: "Crucio!"

Ginny screamed in pain and crashed to the ground beside Harry, yelling and thrashing her limbs around wildly.

"Stupefy!" Ron and Harry bellowed together, pointing their wands at Narcissa, who folded almost gracefully onto the grass, unconscious.

"Ginny!" said Harry desperately, throwing himself down beside her. But she was all right – her eyes flickered open after a few seconds and she started to struggle to her feet. It was this that brought Harry to his senses. What was he doing? If he didn't leave now someone was going to die, and it would be his fault. He knew that the others wouldn't leave until he was safe – they were too loyal to desert him now. Even now Ron was fighting off Death Eaters, letting loose another Pyratus Charm and in doing so giving Harry time to decide.

It was one of the hardest things Harry had ever done in his life. But he glanced at Hermione, who had a large gash across her cheek and blood running down her face, Ginny who was white and trembling from the Cruciatus Curse, and Lupin who had just flung himself bodily to one side to avoid a Killing Curse from Voldemort. Harry took a deep breath, turned on the spot, and Disapparated.

Leaving the noise and blood of the battle behind, Harry reappeared in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. It seemed eerily silent after the noise of the battle he had just been in. Within seconds the rest of them – Ron, Ginny clasping Hermione's arm, and Lupin who had somehow survived the duel unhurt – had joined him with a series of popping sounds. Harry immediately felt worried; Ron and Ginny both looked furious.

"Took you long enough!" Ron hurled at Harry, who was taken aback.

"What on earth were you playing at?" Ginny was still shaking, a tear sliding down her cheek. "Why didn't you just leave straightaway?"

Harry felt a gnawing guilt begin to burn at his insides. "I was – I saw Bellatrix… and Amycus – and…." Harry's voice trailed away. The reasons he had stayed for so long and risked the lives of his friends seemed pathetic now.

"Harry, we know you have reason to have a personal grudge against half of Voldemort's followers," said Hermione, who seemed to be trying to speak calmly. "But the important thing is to get rid of the Horcruxes and then –" she broke off suddenly in alarm, and glanced at Lupin, who raised his eyebrows. Harry looked daggers at Hermione, who covered her mouth with her fingertips.

Lupin looked from Harry to Hermione, one eyebrow raised, and sat down at the table. There was an awkward pause as Lupin carefully studied his owm hands. "I see," he said at last. "Now, do you wish me to know any more or shall we just pretend I never heard that?"

Harry didn't know what to say. A while ago he had wanted Lupin to know, wanted his help. But now it seemed that more and more people were slowly hearing things about what he was doing – Mundungus Fletcher, possibly Rufus Scrimgeour, and soon Dumbledore's brother Aberforth. Harry was becoming reluctant to let anyone else at all in on the secret. But Lupin had probably just saved his life by holding back Voldemort….

Lupin said quietly, "Harry, you don't have to tell me anything. But if you ever need any help – well, I'm always here, you know."

Harry nodded gratefully but before he could say anything they heard the sound of Mrs Weasley's footsteps padding down the stairs. Lupin's gaze suddenly flicked in alarm over them all – the blood, the gash on Hermione's face, the dirt on their robes, and he stood up hastily.

"What on earth have I been thinking!" he exclaimed in a horrified whisper, as with surprising speed he began healing the worst of their cuts and bruises, cleaning the blood, mud and grass off their clothes with a quick "Scourgify!" and motioning them all to sit down round the table. "Not a word to Molly - she'll never let you out of the house again!" he added hurriedly.

They had all just managed to throw themselves into chairs and arrange their faces into relatively normal expressions when Mrs Weasley came through the door.

"Oh, you're back!" she said, smiling. "How was it, Harry?" she added as she rummaged in the cupboard for some biscuits. Harry thought of his mother's broken gravestone and the encounter with Lord Voldemort, and noticed Hermione concealing a nasty bruise on her hand with the sleeve of her robe.

"Er – it was – it was lovely," he said, taking a Ginger Newt from the tin she offered him. Beside him, Ron coughed. Harry noticed Lupin shoot Ron a quick warning glance, and he shut up.

"Well, that's good, Harry dear," said Mrs Weasley, looking over at him sympathetically. "Oh, I have a message for you from Tonks, Remus," she added. Lupin looked over at her. "She says that Harry might need your help, so she'll get out of the way for a bit. She doesn't want to harm Harry's chances by taking up your time."

Lupin looked surprised, then chuckled. "Tonks believes I'll be that useful, hm? Well, Harry, what do you think?"

Harry was taken aback. If Tonks was going out of her way to allow Lupin to help him, surely he should accept his help. He could hardly deny Lupin could help them enormously - after all, their old teacher had probably just saved all their lives ten minutes ago, by holding back Voldemort.

"I – I dunno," said Harry awkwardly. "I mean, it would be great if you could help us, obviously, and that's really kind of Tonks – but –" The dangers were very great. Harry didn't want to be the cause of Tonks becoming a widow, though he didn't want to voice this aloud.

Lupin sighed. "Harry, I would have gone through anything with James if he had asked. I'll help you too, if you wish it. Don't worry for my safety, I am quite capable of looking after myself." His hands were folded on the table in front of him as he waited. Harry hesitated, then gave a short nod.

"Okay," he said slowly. "If we need you...we'll ask."

Lupin smiled and rose. "Good, good," he said cheerfully before Harry could change his mind. He clapped his hands briskly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a little work to do for the Order. Call me if you need help with anything." And he left the kitchen.

After a quick lunch, they went up to Harry and Ron's bedroom. To their surprise, Neville was in the room, sitting on Harry's bed and staring into space, listlessly twisting something between his fingers.

"Hi, Neville!" said Ron, plonking himself down beside him.

"Hi, Ron. How was the trip?" Neville spoke as if only out of politeness. He glanced down at the object he was holding – a dirty silver Sickle – and then stuck it into his pocket with a sigh.

"Uh, well, it wasn't too good. We got attacked by Death Eaters, but otherwise it was fine." Neville didn't look too disturbed by the news.

"Oh, right. But you weren't hurt." It was a statement, not a question, and they just nodded awkwardly. Harry didn't know how to talk to Neville when he was like this, and he found himself thinking sadly of the cheerful, round-faced boy he had known at Hogwarts. It was Voldemort who had done this, Harry thought bitterly. When was it all going to end?

Then Harry had an inspiration.

"Hey, Neville – I've got an idea – how'd you like to have a DA session?" They needed to practise some more spells, one afternoon certainly wasn't enough (though what they had learnt already had probably saved their lives that morning). Neville had loved the old defence class Harry had run in his fifth year, which they had named Dumbledore's Army.

But Neville just shrugged. "If you like," he said..

So that afternoon they dragged out Hermione's store of books and spent the hours happily jinxing each other and trying out some new spells. Not all were particularly useful, but in between the more serious stuff, they had fun watching each others' faces turn pea-green or spurting bogey-coloured goo from their mouths.


That night Harry lay in bed, enjoying rereading Quidditch Through the Ages yet again and listening to Neville's quiet snores in the next room. Hermione and Ginny walked in just as he got to one of his favourite parts.

"I've written another letter," said Hermione. Harry laid down the book slightly reluctantly and looked over at her.

"Who to?"

"Professor Dumbledore's brother – Aberforth," said Hermione, handing it to him. "We need to find that locket as soon as possible."

Harry took the letter and read it through quickly.

Dear Mr Dumbledore,

Sorry to bother you, but we've been told that you have in your possession an object which we've been looking for quite some time. I can't be explicit here in case the owl is intercepted but it was something you bought from Mundungus Fletcher two years ago. Is there any chance that we could come and have a talk about it? We also would like to ask you some questions about Professor Dumbledore, if you would be so kind as to help us.

Beneath, Hermione and Ginny had signed their names and Hermione held out the quill for Harry. He wrote his name thoughtfully on the parchment. "What sort of questions did you want to ask Aberforth?" he said, handing the quill over to Ron who scrawled his name untidily across the bottom of the letter.

"Oh, this and that," said Hermione. "I'm not really sure yet. But Professor Dumbledore might have told him some important things, you never know."

"Yeah, maybe," agreed Harry, getting out of bed and going across to Hedwig's cage. She blinked at him as he opened the door and settled on his arm, claws digging into his flesh. Harry rolled up the parchment, sealed it with his wand and tied it to her leg.

"Take it to the Hog's Head pub, okay?" he told her as he carried her over to the window. "To the barman, Aberforth."

Hedwig hooted softly in understanding and glided out of the window, soaring over the rooftops of London like a silent white ghost until she disappeared into the inky darkness of the night.

"I hope he doesn't mind us coming to see him." Hermione sounded slightly worried. "He didn't look very friendly when he came here a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, well, we have to get the locket, so we'll be going over there whether he likes it or not," shrugged Harry. "It'll just be easier if he agrees."

He slid back into his bed, suddenly feeling tired. And when Hermione and Ginny had gone back to their own room and Ron extinguished their bedside lamp, Harry didn't notice that the snoring noises which had been coming from Neville's room had now ceased.