Disclaimer: the Usual.
A/N: A lot of time has passed since that Christmas day, so prepare yourself. I did cover so much time in the first few chapters just so you could see relationships between people. The reason why I don't include Lily's parents, for those of you wondering, is because of Petunia. Petunia refused to meet Harry, and her parents were afraid of leaving her alone, for fear Petunia might follow through with one of her many threats to "run away and be with a normal family". Her parents were really thrilled, and Harry will end up spending time with them, but they aren't included until after the time Petunia is married and out of the house.
Harry, unarguably, was in his prime. At the age of twenty-three, and Ginny at twenty-two, the pair was unabashedly blissful. Only a few months earlier had Ginny given birth to their first son, James Sirius Potter was born.
Lily at the time was living with the Potters, out of the way of Petunia and her disapproving eyes. Soon though, Petunia was to be married to Vernon Dursley, a man she had only met once before.
The night was a disaster. Petunia was willing to give this "Potter" a chance, and decided it would be alright for her sister to meet her fiancée. By the end of the night, Vernon, purple-faced and angry, had marched out of the small restaurant with Petunia on his heels. The sisters had not spoken since.
Lily and James were also on their way to having a wedding, and the arrangements were made. Both Harry and Ginny agreed though, for the sake of the pictures that were sure to be taken, they would disguise themselves. Both knew if Harry saw a picture of himself at his parent's wedding, he would surely be driven to madness with curiosity.
Not too much later, Ginny became pregnant with their second child, and Ginny was beginning to worry.
"Harry," she was sitting on their bed in the Potter house, with little James asleep in his crib. "Our children can't go to Hogwarts!"
Harry's brows furrowed. "Why not? They're bound to have magic. Little James makes the lights flicker when he screams."
"No, Harry. We have to go into hiding. They would have no way to go. Nobody can know who they are, either. Our children would only be able to learn Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts from us, because that's all we're good at! Harry, our children won't have any friends!" Tears began to run down her face, and she put her hands over the child growing inside of her.
"I see what you mean. Should I go to the Ministry and see if they can make a time-turner that can take us back to the future?" his brows came together even more.
"Harry, that is so dangerous! Voldemort is close to taking over. What will happen to me and the babies without you?" She was to the point of uncontrollable sobbing.
"Darling, calm down. Your hormones are everywhere right now. I will go to the Ministry right now. Can you handle James while I'm gone?"
"I'll manage. Plus your grandma should be home soon."
He swiftly kissed her, grabbed the time-turner from the beaded bag and ran to the fireplace.
"Ministry of Magic!" he said before he tossed the Floo Powder into the fireplace and disappeared in a rush of green flames.
Many fireplaces were whirring before his eyes before he finally landed in the Ministry of Magic.
Harry suddenly saw why Ginny had been afraid. The Ministry was not the same as it had been a few months earlier. Voldemort was visibly on the rise.
Normally, everyone would find someone to talk to. These days, everyone kept their head bent down. Their eyes were glued to the floor in front of them. Their hands were always on the place they kept their wand. Everyone was afraid.
Harry followed suit with everyone shuffling around the entryway towards the elevator, and he was not the only one who got out on the Minister's floor. Three others followed him off, and he recognized two to be Death Eaters. Yes, he needed to be very on guard.
He went to the desk at the front of the room, expecting the same curly-haired witch, but she had been replaced by a Quick-Quotes Quill that would listen to whoever spoke to it.
"Potter. Emergency." Harry spoke to the quill and sat down.
As he did so, he listened carefully to what the two Death Eaters had to say.
"Dolohov, Secretive information needs delivered." He and his partner sat down next to Harry and said nothing more.
"P-p-potter!" shouted the Minister from behind her door.
Harry leapt from his seat, aware of the eyes on his back. When the door clicked closed behind him, the Minister ran to it and immediately put protective charms over the door.
"Wouldn't want anyone barging in on your emergency, would we, Harry?" spoke she as she quickly sat behind her short desk.
"I need another time-turner to take us forward in time." he said urgently. He shoved the golden necklace onto her desk. "Obviously, I can provide one, but I am nowhere near that advanced with Charms to make that happen."
"Potter, this could take some time. And severe difficulty." her voice hushed to a whisper. "Harry, there are Death Eaters in my Ministry. There are two outside that door. They will not question my wanting such a device made, but they will find the answers they want. I fear, though, my time as Minister is coming to a close, Harry. But not of my own accord. You-Know-Who is rising, and I will be his prime target. I will attempt your request, Potter, but do not be surprised if it does not happen. And this will not have been because of me. Watch your back. Put protective guards on your home and fireplace. Trust no one."
Harry nodded, shook her hand and stood. She released the charms over the door, and before Harry's hand touched the latch, it was swung open, and the pair of Death Eaters walked in.
"This is rather urgent, so I would appreciate it, Potter is it? If you would kindly leave us and the Minister to important business." With a flick of his wand, the smaller of the two Death Eaters flung Harry out the door, slamming it behind them. Harry had never seen that man before, but he figured he was killed in the first war. He Apparated on the spot and appeared on the street in front of his grandparent's home in Godric's Hollow.
But something was definitely wrong. All the windows were black, and the front door was cracked open. His father wouldn't be home from work, and the only person that had been home was Ginny and James.
He walked as silently as he could up the porch steps and through the doorway.
"Lumos." he whispered, and the tip of his wand emitted a soft light that filled the front room. It looked exactly the same as it had, except the floor in front of the fireplace was completely coated in soot. There were no footsteps from the fireplace, so if someone had come in, they had definitely entered from the front door.
Had this person been invited in? Were they a friend?
He quietly went towards the kitchen, where he knew Dorea was bound to be at this time of day.
When Harry opened the door, his stomach flipped.
She was there, and she was dead.
And Ginny and James were nowhere in sight.