Chapter twelve

The following morning Kingsley, his aurors and Claire, the woman who would organise Lily's divorce from Snape arrived at the house. So while Lily sat with the woman, Harry filled out his statement in regards to his treatment from Snape during his detentions, then he removed some of his memories of those times. The auror, Marcus, put the memories and his statement in a folder then they waited until Lily could do hers.

'So while we're waiting Charlie, have you decided what you want to do?'

'Yep, I'll go work for the department for the regulation and control of magical creatures. As long as I can go out and do some work, I'm not the office type.'

'You can, you just make sure there's someone always running the office while you're out in the field.'

'You won't have to kill creatures, will you Charlie?' Harry asked looking concerned.

'It's rare Charlie would need to do that. Normally once an investigation is done it turns out either the owner or unusual circumstances are the reason behind the creatures attack.'

'Like what happened with Buckbeak when Malfoy refused to listen to Hagrid then insulted the hippogriff.'

'Exactly and if you didn't use the time turner to save Sirius, Buckbeak would have been killed.' Kingsley said.

'How did you know about the time turner?' Harry asked in surprise.

'Albus explained after he set up Grimmauld place for the order. Sirius and Albus were talking about how you rescued him, I got curious, so they explained.'

'It was luck that Hermione had been using the time turner all year for her extra classes or Sirius could have had his soul sucked out. Again something Snape brought about. But we knew nothing about the time turner until that night, Hermione never revealed anything.'

'She knew it wasn't allowed, anyone could have asked her to use it.'

'Yeah, I wanted to actually, to stop Pettigrew escaping. Remus felt terrible for that since it was him changing that let him escape. I give Snape one thing though, he did try to save us when Remus transformed. So when do you think he's trial will be?'

'A couple of weeks.'

'Have you told him what we're doing?'

'Yes, he said his wife can't testify against him. I explained she can if she wanted to but couldn't be forced to and Lily does want to testify because she found out how much he lied to her about you. But mainly that she found out he could have worked on saving you and your father. There's something I've always been curious about so I need to ask, did your old mattress have blood on it?'

'Yeah, I never realised even though my other one bled.'

'Excuse me, other one?' Kingsley's brow furrowed.

Harry shrugged, so Charlie answered, 'Voldemort hit him with the killing curse again, he's got another lightning shaped scar,' Charlie put his hand over Harry's heart, 'Shocked the life out of me the first time I saw it.'

'I bet it would. I saw you the following morning, apart from looking exhausted, you seemed fine though.'

Harry sighed and figured he'd just get it out, 'He tortured me for a while, I knew he would. Maybe you can answer this Kingsley because I'm confused. Okay, first he uses the killing curse, I get knocked out. When we woke up, he refused to come near me and I actually heard fear in his voice when he asked if I was dead. I kept still hoping to get to the snake, so old lady Malfoy was made to check, like I told you. When she said I was dead he used the cruciatus curse on me, but I was able to stay silent, I kept my body limp as he flung me around. How could I do it with that curse because he's used that on me before and I screamed in pain like you're supposed to, like that curse in designed for.'

'Look, you mention things that is way over my head, but with that, I'd say you got a power boost during that time. Albus explained how you never had the use of your full power but once all his horcruxes were destroyed you did.'

'Okay, you're dropping enough hints Kingsley, he told you didn't he?'

'Yes, but I knew you didn't want to talk about it. So you see, it was destroyed, you got your full power in one go, that let you handle that curse. Remember what you did in the great hall when I got blasted into the wall?'

'I remember shielding Mrs. Weasley because he was going to kill her for killing Bellatrix. I didn't get time to shield you, McGonagall and Slughorn.'

'Think Harry, you were able to shield from the killing curse, no one can do that but you did. You couldn't now but then you still had all that power flowing around you. There is something else Albus told me, his portrait that is, something you might not realise.'

'When Dumbledore has thoughts or idea I usually have no idea. He used to confuse the shit out of me. So just tell me.'

'Okay, you know why you can speak parseltongue, can you still speak it?'

Harry's brow furrowed, then started speaking, 'Yep.'

'Normally once it was gone you wouldn't, but because of how long it was, it became part of you. It's more though, his magic, light magic Harry not his dark magic, but all magic is connected to your soul. Do you understand what I'm saying?'

'Okay, yeah, I've got his light magic on top of my magic. So what you're saying is apart from the power boost I tapped into two lots of magic?'

'Exactly, you still have that by the way, the magic would not have been destroyed.'

'That's probably why everything has been so easy and why I can block others magic.'

'What do you mean block others magic?'

'Well, let's say you want to disarm or bind me, I can block it without raising my wand. But if you tried it on Charlie, same thing, it's like a shield. Hermione tried to petrify me when I attacked Snape. I couldn't see her but the shield went up instantly without me even thinking about it. But it's more as well, if I do a spell only I can undo it. So if I was to bind you, no one could unbind you, only me.'

'Tell me when you're going to finish resting and join the aurors.'

Harry and Charlie laughed, but so did the two aurors standing behind Kingsley. 'Soon, let me get to know my mother then I will. But I've met Marcus and Liam, is there more and who will be my boss?'

'Marcus, and there is only a couple of trainees at the moment.'

'Oh, well, it's nice to meet you…boss,' Harry gave his cheeky grin making Charlie and Kingsley laugh, Marcus and Liam both tried to act like aurors, but they ended up chuckling. Lily and Claire walked back in to join the men, saw all of them laughed which made Lily smile at her son's laughter, seeing the joy on his face. That made Lily's heart swell with love, the love she used to feel for her little boy. Even though she knew Harry was an adult, he was her baby, her baby boy, little Harry who she loved dearly and now had a chance at a life with him.

It was only two weeks later that a large envelope was delivered to Lily by owl. It dropped the letter in front of Lily before flying off. Lily saw Harry and Charlie staring, so she opened the envelope and pulled out a large sheet of parchment.

'It's the divorce papers, it's done.'

'Are you sorry?' Harry asked quietly.

'No, I do appreciate that he saved me Harry and I did care about him. But when I found out the truth about you and your father, also how he hurt you and then lied, no, I'm glad he's out of my life. I don't know what James would have thought about us being married.'

'He manipulated you Mrs. Potter, none of it was your fault. So I'm sure James will be waiting for however long it takes to kick Snape's arse to hell where he belongs,' Charlie smiled.

'If the stories I heard about dad and Sirius are true, they will both make sure that greasy haired git suffers on the other side. Even though this is not a nice thing to say, I wish he was there right now.'

'We understand why you think like that Harry, he hurt you, he lied to you, he kept me from you and from everything I've heard, he really gave you a hard time at Hogwarts. It's a wonder he didn't see how much you were already suffering.'

'He knew, he wanted me to suffer because of dad, he seemed to blame me for losing you. I know dad gave him a hard time but none of it was my doing, he just couldn't get past my looks.'

'Yes, you are your father all over, except my eyes, the same shape and colour as my eyes.'

'Sirius was the first person who told me that, then I kept hearing it. You look like your father but have your mother's eyes. I used to wish that people would stop seeing my parents and see me, but all they saw is that my parents were murdered. That's why I refused to read certain books at Hogwarts. When Hermione said if it was me I would like to learn as much as I could. I said what kid wants to read about how he got his parents killed. Hermione was so shocked that she hardly spoke all day. Finally she said I never got my parents killed, my parents did what any parent would do, protect their child.'

'We did and nothing would ever make us stop protecting you, it's a natural instinct with any parent, they want their child safe. Even before we heard the prophecy Harry, we always kept you from hurting yourself, especially when you flew around the house on that blasted broom Sirius got you. If your father wasn't home I would be running beside you to make sure you didn't fall off. But you know what you did when you did fall off because I tripped over Pepper, the cat and didn't get to you in time?'

Harry chuckled, 'No, what did I do, cry?'

'No, you laughed, you sat on your sore backside and laughed. I sat beside you, first checking to make sure nothing was broken, then you just kept laughing which made me laugh. You were such a tough little boy, even then.'

'He still is, all the accidents I've heard Harry had at Hogwarts, especially with quidditch, some people would never get on a broom again.'

'I loved to fly and I loved playing quidditch, it was the only time I could really let my guard down and have fun, even with everything that happened to me.'

'I know I'll regret this, a mother never likes to hear that her child was hurt, but tell me all of it.'

Harry stared at his mother wondering if he should keep certain details to himself. But then he figured if he and his mother were going to get on and get to know each other, he couldn't hide that stuff from. This it was different, anyone could tell her what happened so it was best if it came from him.

'Okay, first year, first game actually, I was a little scared. I only had one flying lesson when McGonagall gave me the seekers job, then had Oliver Wood teach me about quidditch as I knew nothing about it. For weeks we practiced and even though I enjoyed myself it wasn't until just before the first game that I realised that the team's chance of winning was on me, mostly. So anyway, we get out on the pitch, the Slytherin's were playing dirty, like always. I wasn't doing much, mainly looking around for the snitch, then I saw it. I took off after it with the Slytherin seeker on me, he kept bumping me, finally I bumped back, then we lost the snitch. As I was heading back to my spot, my broom started to vibrate, then it got worse, shaking violently. I ended up hanging from it by my hands, trying to climb on. I could hear the screams from the crowd, but the broom just kept shaking, trying to get me off. I had no idea why it happened or why it stopped, but I was able to climb back on. Finally I dove for the snitch again, I was so low that I stood on my broom, reach out to grab the snitch, my broom tipped and I went head over heels. But I stood and choked up the snitch, winning the game.'

'Why did your broom act like that? It's like it was jinxed or cursed.' Lily asked in a very nervous quiet voice.

'We thought Snape was jinxing it, Hermione saw him muttering so she snuck across and set his robes alight. When he realised he was on fire he stood up suddenly, that's when I ended up having control of the broom. Quirrell was sitting behind Snape, he was jinxing my broom, Snape was actually muttering the counter curse trying to save me. Even all the times I found out that he did help me in some way, none of that could make me forget what he used to do to me in those detentions. Anyway, the rest of the year the games were normal, a few small bumps and bruises. I won every game I played and I loved it, catching that snitch before the other seeker, especially over the Slytherin's. But we lost the last match of the season because I was unconscious in the hospital wing having Voldemort's spirit, soul, whatever, pass through me when he tried to get the philosophers stone. The hospital wing ended up like my second home, I spent so much time in one of Madame Pomfrey's beds, drinking her shitty tasting potions, like skele-grow. Madame Pomfrey designated one bed as the Harry Potter bed, I'd spent so much time there.'

Lily sighed, 'That is just your first year, I'm dreading hearing about the rest. But why did you need skele-grow?'

'Lockhart, my arm got broken during my second year by a rogue bludger. Lockhart was our defence teacher, and he tried to mend it, ended up removing all the bones from my arm. I stared down at my arm and it was like rubber, flopping around all over the place. He was such an idiot, so another trip to the hospital and more potions. You know, it's a wonder I'm not immune to those potions now, the amount of times I've had to drink that stuff.'

'Then tell me why you kept playing, it sounds like you could have died playing quidditch?'

'Like I said, I loved flying and quidditch let me think about something other than Voldemort, it gave me time to be just like any other kid. I would get on a broom and lose myself, so much so that I wouldn't even hear the crowd yelling or screaming. It was just me, my broom and the game, exhilarating, it really was.'

'That is your father all over, he loved playing quidditch and was told he was good enough to play professionally. He talked about quidditch all the time, would fly as often as he could, any excuse he would be up in the air. He used to fly you around, not high, he knew I would hex his parts off or deny him sex for a long time if he flew higher than the first floor. Sex is a wonderful tool women could use on our men to get them to behave.'

Harry and Charlie laughed, 'If we did that to each other, it wouldn't last an hour, but men are like that, we can't go without it, where woman, they are good at controlling those urges.'

'Yes we are. But thank you, I wasn't sure you were going to tell me. Even though I don't like to hear my son was hurt, it's good to sit and listen to what your life was like, even just small ways,' Lily kissed Harry's cheek then stood up and went into the kitchen. Harry's eyes stayed on his mother, Charlie's eyes stayed on Harry. He could see the love there, the love a son had for his mother.