Chapter 48


Harry woke the next morning as the Healer came in to check on him.

"Well, Mr. Potter, it seems you are fully healed. You need to take it easy today, but tomorrow you can return to your everyday activities. If you feel any discomfort on the bitten areas for the next couple of days, you can rub this ointment on the affected area as many times as needed. Any discomfort after seven days, you should come in and get them checked out again. Take it easy today and probably tomorrow too. I hear you're in Auror training?" he asked. Harry nodded.

"Okay then, I can send a Healer's note to your supervisor today to get you out of work, and I'll add on to it and say that when you return tomorrow you should sit out any physical training unless you feel your body is up to the strain. Any over exertion on your body could leave you feeling weak for several days longer than necessary. I believe that's all. If you have any questions, feel free to Owl me. My name is Healer Antonio Chie."

Harry stood up and shook the Healer's hand and thanked him.

"Might I add, Mr. Potter, it was a pleasure to be your Healer. I'd like to thank you for your part in ending the war. You are a true hero," said Chie. Harry blushed and mumbled his thanks. By the time Chie left the room, Harry was grumbling under his breath about just doing what he had to among other things. He finished getting dressed and walked out of his room.

He wasn't sure if he needed release papers or something so he waited until a Healer in Training walked by.

"Excuse me, where can I find out if I'm free to leave?" he asked. The woman paused and looked up. Harry could see a badge on her robes that said HIT A. Jenson with the Healer emblem under her name in orange. Full Healers had green emblems.

"Eh? Oh, you just go…you-you're Harry Potter!" she exclaimed. He sighed inwardly.

"Yes, that's my name. Where do I go?" he prompted.

"Oh! You just go down to the front desk. If your Healer signed the release forms, they'll have them ready for you to sign with your bill." Harry thanked her and turned to leave. "Mr. Potter, could I…ask you for your autograph?" she asked daintily. Before turning back around he closed his eyes and groaned silently before putting on a smile and turning to her again.

"Sure, what's your name?" he asked as she handed him a piece of parchment and Never-Out quill.

"Abigail Jenson. I just want to say, Mr. Potter I admire you so much. I remember hearing about You-Know-Who's downfall all those years ago as a fourth year in Hogwarts. Then a few years ago I read an article about you competing in the Tri-Wizard tournament. I thought that was so brave of you to do in memory of your parents," she said shyly.

He found himself getting highly annoyed and handed the parchment back to her before quickly saying goodbye and turning around and coming face to face with his parents. Instantly he knew they had heard what Abigail had said, and just as instantly Harry knew he was in for a long discussion later.

"Harry, are you okay to leave now?" asked Lily with a strange look on her face.

"Uh, yeah, I was just heading down to the desk to sign the paperwork. Come on," he said. He turned and said quickly, "It was nice meeting you Ms Jenson." The three of them walked down the hallway to the stairs in silence. Harry walked over to the desk and saw the receptionist, Ariel, from when he, Ginny, and Sirius came to find the Healer who had taken care of his parents all those years.

Harry groaned internally and walked to the desk.

"Hello, Healer Chie said I'm able to leave now. I was told I had to sign some paperwork?" he said quickly, hoping against hope she wouldn't say anything that would embarrass him. He knew the way he'd acted the last time he'd seen her wasn't exactly very nice.

"Oh! Mr. Potter, it's nice to see you again. Did you have a nice birthday?" she asked with a seductive smile on her face as she Accio'd a file with his name on it.

"Er, yeah, it was one of the best I've ever had, thanks," he said.

"Well isn't that wonderful. I need you to sign here, here, and…here," she said. The last place she pointed to she pulled her shirt down and revealed part of her bra, this time it was black lace over dark blue satin. Harry instantly flushed deep red and glanced behind him at his parents who were gawking at Ariel.

"Er, I'm sorry; I think I'll have to pass on that last one, my girlfriend would kill me," he mumbled as he quickly signed the paperwork. He noted that one was a bill for fifty Galleons to be directly withdrawn from his vault into the hospitals.

"That's a shame Mr. Potter, I remember your girl…I would have thought a man like you would want someone a bit more mature," she said with an alluring smile. He baulked at her and started to shake his head, horrified.

"I'm sorry, I really have to go now," he said before turning around and booking it towards the Apparition point. His parents followed, James bright red from laughing silently and Lily torn between humour and horror.

"Bye Harry, if you change your mind, you know where to find me," Ariel called out from behind her desk. Harry stumbled and waved his hand back at her with a smile that was more like a grimace before popping away. James and Lily both followed and found Harry sitting at the kitchen table banging his head against the surface.

Lily waved her wand at him and sent a cushioning charm under where his head was hitting. James was laughing too hard to notice Harry's glare but Lily smiled sympathetically at him.

"I. Am. Going. To. Destroy. Witch. Weekly," Harry said each word as he hit his head on the table.

"Why's that? They got it so cute girls throw themselves at you, I'd think you'd want to thank them," said James. Lily slapped the back of his head.

"Harry has Ginny, he doesn't need slutty girls throwing themselves at him," she said angrily.

"Slutty girls throwing themselves at Harry? Where was I?" asked Sirius from the doorway.

"The receptionist at Mungo's practically flashed Harry and asked him to sign her chest, and then she practically told him to break up with Ginny and go with a more mature woman. It was appalling," said Lily. "Harry, you handled it wonderfully, by the way. You let her down nicely and didn't hurt her feelings either."

"Oh, was it the blonde bird with the lacy red bra again?" Sirius asked, bouncing his eyebrows.

"Again?" howled James. "Oh, Padfoot, you have to share the details about the last time Harry ran into her." He and Sirius both laughed loudly and shared the 'details' of his Ariel-encounters. Lily watched Harry moan and bang his head one more time.

"Ignore them, Harry. They're just immature prats. What did the Healer say?" asked Lily. Harry talked with his mother for a while as they all ate breakfast. Harry yawned and stretched as he squinted across the room at the clock.

"I think I'm going to go upstairs and read my homework for tomorrow. I should have a few chapters done by then to make up for missing two days. How about later we go over to Godric's Hollow and work a little over there?" he asked. James and Sirius shared a glance before turning to Harry.

"We actually have something to do before we allow anyone else to go back there. We're going to clear out the Doxies and any other things; I believe there is a Boggart in the dinette in the kitchen," said James.

"I can handle a Boggart. It's one of the first things Remus taught us all to fight in third year. Do you think I'm not capable of helping out because of one stupid accident?" Harry asked angrily. In truth he'd seen past his dad's reasoning and was hurt that his own father thought he was weak.

"No! Of course not Harry, I think you're very capable of taking care of yourself and helping out. I just…think…your mother wouldn't want you to—"

"Don't you pin your mistake on me, James," Lily said warningly. She turned back to Harry. "Didn't you just tell me the Healer said to take it easy today, young man?"

Harry looked at her, caught off guard.

"Well, yeah. But…"

"Don't you 'Yeah, but,' me. You scared the living daylights out of your father yesterday when he came in and found you laying there unconscious. You have no reason to get snippy and defensive if he's trying to protect you. We've had precious little time with you and yesterday was a rude awakening for both your father and I. Now, you are going to spend today resting just like the Healer said, and I will hear no arguments from you. Understood?" she said sternly, but not angrily. Harry could see the difference between Angry Mum and Motherly Mum already and knew not to argue.

"Yes, mum," he said. "Sorry dad." James smiled at the conciliatory tone Harry had used. The boy learned quickly he had to admit.

"It's alright Harry. I understand how you feel, my dad used to do the same things to me during the first war. I know I hated it but I can't help it though. Seeing you like that yesterday…I never want to see that again. I know your training to be an Auror and you will get hurt again, I just…don't like seeing you like that," said James. Harry suddenly felt very bad for his outburst. They all sat in silence for several minutes until Sirius spoke out.

"So Remus taught you how to repel a Boggart? What shape does yours take?" he asked lightly.

"I'm not really sure. In third year it took the shape of a Dementor, but after that I'm not sure what it might take the form of now," Harry said.

"Dementors, huh?" Sirius asked with a grimace. His attempt to lighten the mood had failed.

"Yeah, but that's how Remus taught me the Patronus charm. He found a Boggart and it turned into a Dementor for me then," Harry said trying to lighten the mood.

"That's pretty clever actually," said Lily. "But I can't believe Remus would have allowed you to face down a Dementor so many times just to learn a spell." She looked a bit flustered which caused Harry to laugh.

"He didn't like the idea either, but he made sure to shove brick after brick of chocolate in me after each session and he'd only allow me to face them a few times a lesson. The rest of the time was spent talking about you guys."

The rest of the morning was spent chatting with his parents and Sirius about meeting Remus for the first time on the train, the Dementors during his third year, and Remus' teaching style and his focus on Magical Creatures. His homework lay forgotten for the time being.

"So let me get this straight, you blew up your aunt like a balloon, thought the Ministry was after you so you ran away from your home, saw Sirius in his Animagus form, tripped and nearly got run over by the Knight Bus?" asked James, who was chuckling.

"Yep," said Harry with a laugh. "I got on the bus and introduced myself as Neville Longbottom and got a ride to Diagon Alley where I met the Minister of Magic who was waiting for me to get there. Oh man was I scared. I thought the Ministry was after me and then got caught by the Minister himself." Harry, James and Sirius roared with laughter.

"Were you in trouble?" asked Lily when they calmed down.

"Nah, they were so worried about Sirius having escaped, finding me alive was enough for them to forgive me for my accidental magic at the Dursleys'. Marge doesn't remember a thing, and I got to spend the rest of my summer living out of the Leaky Cauldron. One of the best summers of my life, until now that is," he said with a smile. They all smiled at him also.

"Did you say Neville Longbottom?" asked James with a grin. Harry's smile faded. He knew Alice and Frank suffered their fate after his parents 'deaths' and they didn't know what happened to them. Sirius' smile also faded.

"Oh, I remember Ali coming to visit and bringing little Neville with. You and he were the best of friends toddling along in your nappies," said Lily laughing. "We'll have to get a hold of them to see how they're doing."

"Um, that's going to be kind of difficult," Harry said. James and Lily looked at him and then frowned.

"Why is that?" James asked worriedly. Harry shared a glance at Sirius who nodded.

"You two know the Prophecy could have meant Neville too right?" asked Harry tentatively. They nodded slowly and Harry sighed.

"Shortly after you two were declared dead, a group of Death Eaters found the Longbottoms and tortured Neville's parents trying to discover where their Lord was. They… were under the Cruciatus Curse for too long, and now they live in the permanent spell damage ward in St. Mungo's." Harry finished and watched his parents faces crumble and tears fill their eyes.

"Frank and Alice are…" Lily muttered. "Who…raised little Neville?" she asked tearfully.

"His Gran, and I think his Uncle Algie sometimes," Harry said. "I didn't know the two of us were friends before Hogwarts, but he's the same year in Gryffindor as me so we've known each other since first year. He's always been really shy and a bit nervous around others, at least when we were younger. He kind of grew into his own after fifth year. He's also a whiz at Herbology," Harry finished.

Lily snorted at that. Harry looked at her questioningly and she answered.

"Ali hated Herbology. I remember telling her once she would be cursed with either a husband or a child who became a Herbologist one day. She…never believed me, and usually laughed it off. I know Frank was pretty good at Herbology class, but he never really cared that much about it. He was more one to just do well in all his classes." She shared a sad look with James.

"We should have Neville over and share some memories of his parents with him while we have the Pensieve," Harry said. They all looked at him with surprise. "What? I know how he feels not being able to know his parents personally, and I would have jumped at the chance to see good memories of you guys. I think he deserves it. He helped defeat Voldemort and is as much of a hero as I am."

"I think your right Harry. We will share some memories with him. Ali and I were pretty good friends in school, though Frank was a year ahead of us," said Lily.

"I knew him pretty well since he was on the Quidditch team with me and Sirius. The three of us were chasers, and unbeatable!" cried James with a grin while he and Sirius high-fived. Harry chuckled at their foolish antics.

The four of them sat and talked well into the afternoon and before Harry knew it, he was practically nodding off at the table.

"Harry, dear, why don't you go upstairs and take a nap, okay?" said Lily with a smile. Harry nodded sleepily and left the room while the four adults made their own plans for the afternoon.

James and Sirius were going to Godric's Hollow armed with a few bottles of Doxycide and their wands. Lily had a few more things to get at Diagon Alley but was reluctant to leave Harry home alone. Sirius convinced the parents to not coddle the boy and they reluctantly agreed. So Lily planned on visiting Diagon Alley again and getting the rest of her shopping done.

They left a note on the table for Harry and went their ways. A few hours later Harry woke to find the house empty besides Kreacher and himself and decided to do some class work. He read up on Wizarding Laws and discovered some of the laws were quite ridiculous. Such as one invented in 1918 that states that it is unlawful for a person to ride a Thestral under the Influence of alcohol after three in the morning. Another law caused Harry to snicker for several minutes while he tried to think of a reason why anyone would need to drive two thousand Jarveys down Diagon Alley at any given time. He also wondered why anyone thought it was necessary to lawfully state that a kneazle that viciously chases passers-by is a 'bad kneazle'.

After chuckling over laws for an hour he finally got down to some learning and did an essay on a law that states why adding spells to the List of the Unforgivable Spells is so difficult. He re-read what he wrote and sighed in satisfaction. Laws were almost as dull as Binns' History classes.

He looked at the time and saw it was close to dinner time. He'd slept for a good long while and felt almost as good as new. He had woken with a slight tingling in his wrist so he'd rubbed on some of the ointment the Healer had given him and the tingling was gone in seconds.

Harry stood and stretched and headed down to the kitchen to see if Kreacher was cooking anything. When he arrived he saw his dad and Sirius sitting at the table looking dirty and exhausted.

"When did you guys get home?" he asked. He could smell pork chops sizzling on the stove and his mouth started to water.

"Only a few moments ago, is your mum home yet?" asked James.

"Not that I know, but I've been busy with homework for the last couple hours," he shrugged. "How's the house coming along?"

"Well, we got rid of the Doxies and two Boggarts. But there's still so much to do. I don't think that house will be habitable for quite some time. Not to mention the gaping hole in the ceiling over the old nursery. It might just be easier to tear it all down and rebuild. We're going to work a bit longer first before we make that decision. Right now I think our best bet is to clean out all the stuff we want to save. Photo albums, books, old toys, and so on, you know?" said James. Just then Lily Flooed into the kitchen and stumbled. Harry jumped up and grabbed about twelve heavy bags from her and she sighed.

"Oh thank Merlin. I didn't think I was going to make it. Those bags weigh a ton!" she exclaimed.

"No kidding," grunted Harry.

"Let's get the up to the Drawing room, I can organize this stuff after dinner," she said. The mother and son exited the room each carrying a dozen bags of random things. James chuckled quietly to himself.

"I don't know how it happened, Sirius, but my son grew up to be quite the gentleman. Probably not the easiest thing to do, knowing who his role models were all his childhood. I'm so proud of him," he said softly. Sirius smiled too.

"Yeah mate, your kid turned out very well rounded. It's easy to be proud of him. Now all we have to do is teach him how to be an Animagus and he'll be a true junior Marauder," laughed Sirius.

Lily and Harry returned to the room laughing. The four spent dinner chatting and talking about their days. Most of the conversation circled around Godric's Hollow and the house repairs. As dinner was being cleared away the Floo blazed green and Hermione stepped out.

"Hello, everyone," she said. The others returned greetings and soon Ron and Ginny showed up also.

Harry took this as his cue to speak, "Er, so I thought we could do a quick chat about third year tonight. Not too long. Besides, I kind of already told them all about Remus and the Dementors and all that's left to talk about is Sirius."

"You told your parents what you hear when you're around Dementors?" Hermione asked quickly. Harry glared at her.

"What do you hear?" asked Lily. Hermione had the decency to look abashed.

"Er…Well, it's kind of a long story," Harry started. Ron, Ginny and Hermione all sat down at the table and grabbed a tart off the plate in the centre. Harry told his parents what he heard and reluctantly told them about Hermione's 'discovery' from the day before. To say his parents were mad would be an understatement. They were infuriated with Dumbledore for allowing Voldemort to curse Harry in his cradle. Harry actually found himself explaining why Dumbledore did what he did and why it was important.

"See, Dumbledore already knew if you had sacrificed yourself for me, the curse would bounce off of me and that I would live. To make it so the timelines weren't disturbed he had to let it all work out the same way. I can understand why he had to do it that way, I know that to mess with time is a huge deal," he finished.

"But that does not excuse him for standing aside and allowing that mad man to curse you! He stood there and watched as the Killing Curse was cast at you! He's practically a criminal himself for allowing that!" cried Lily. James, acting the more rational of the two parents, put a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Lils, I understand why you're so angry, but consider this, he knew what he was doing. He'd seen what would happen if it went wrong in the other timeline. He knew what happened then, and he decided to keep us alive. In order for us to stay alive and Harry to remain alive as well, it all had to play out the same way to the outside world. For all we know, Dumbledore didn't know he'd gone back in time and had done all those things, and this is the way things were supposed to turn out."

"What?" asked Harry. He could tell this confused everyone else too.

"Look at it like this. Perhaps Dumbledore always went back in time at that moment. He was meant to do it, so that we'd live and Harry would be protected in this way. When he came to the house after the whole…thing happened he saw Harry cursed and bleeding and me and Lily…dead. He makes the decision to go back and change things and does so. What he didn't know was there was two Dumbledore's there that night. If we assume that this is how things are supposed to be, then Dumbledore was there already and had changed things. When Dumbledore arrived on the scene he saw a dead Lily and James, but really if he had checked he would have found two dead animals transfigured to look like us even before he made the decision to come back in time. Get it?" James asked enthusiastically.

"Yes, I can kind of see what you mean," said Hermione nodding her head.

"I'm still a little confused," replied Ron. Harry nodded his agreement.

"Well Harry, think of when we went back in time to rescue Buckbeak and Sirius—"

"YOU DID WHAT?" shouted Lily, James and Sirius. Harry and Hermione shared an amused glance. Ron had told Ginny at some point so the two of them just smiled as well.

"I think we should take this upstairs. This will probably be another long night," said Harry with a grin. They all trooped upstairs, when they arrived they saw Kreacher had popped ahead and left plates of biscuits and Butterbeers for them all and had cleared all the shopping bags to a corner.

"Well, let's start off with this: Hermione is one of the biggest over achievers in the world," Harry said. Hermione reached over and slapped his arm, he just grinned and continued. "That said, in our third year she was secretly given a Time Turner in order to attend pretty much every class available. She was pretty much in about three classes at any given time, and spending so much time on homework that she hardly ever got any sleep, and never had any time for fun."

Harry went on to tell them all about meeting Sirius for the first time, Remus' change after they left the tunnel, Pettigrew's escape, and Sirius' howl of pain that drew Harry into following him to the lake where a hundred Dementors closing in on them. He told them all about trying so hard to conjure a Patronus and failing, seeing the face of a Dementor and nearly getting kissed himself. At this revelation everyone, even Sirius, gasped.

"You never told me that kiddo," Sirius said weakly.

"Yeah well, this part of the story ended well. We were saved by a mystery Patronus and a little while later I woke up in the hospital wing. That's when we found out they had captured Sirius and had called for the Dementors to come and perform the Kiss on him. Dumbledore came in and told Hermione a bunch of things that really confused me and then locked us in the room. Almost immediately after that Hermione wrapped a chain around both our necks spun an hourglass attached to it and…we went back three hours in time to before Buckbeak was executed." Suddenly Harry had a look of comprehension and he looked at Hermione.

"We heard the swing and the axe hit something, we assumed it was Macnair executing Buckbeak, but when we were rescued Buckbeak we heard the same noise. Maybe…maybe that's the same thing we heard the first time. You and I were already in the forest with Buckbeak when you, Ron and I heard the noise and Hagrid cry out the first time. We just assumed—"

"That what we heard was an execution because we didn't know you two went back in time. Buckbeak never actually died, and you were meant to save his life all along," Ron finished with the same look of comprehension on his face as Harry.

"Exactly!" said James.

"Wait, explain what you did in the past because I'm still a little confused," said Lily.

"Well, we arrived three hours before that moment, Hermione explained what was going on, and we went out to Hagrid's house, waited for the Minister and executioner to see the hippogriff before we untied him from his post, and dragged him into the forest. Then we waited for a while, and I realized I wanted to see what happened at the lake. I had seen the person who cast the Patronus and thought he was you, dad. I wanted to see if I was right, so I headed down there while Hermione waited in Hagrid's empty house. I realized it was me all along who cast the Patronus and did it right on time to save me, Hermione, and Sirius. Then Hermione, Buckbeak and I watched Snape gather us all up and bring us inside, and we waited a little bit longer, then flew Buckbeak up to the Charms window and rescued Sirius. He flew off on Buckbeak and we ran back to the Hospital wing just as Dumbledore was locking us in from the start. He let us in and no one was any wiser."

"Actually, Harry, Snape was furious. He figured you had something to do with Sirius' escape. Man was yelling so loud spittle was flying everywhere," Hermione said with a chuckle.

"So that's it, you saved two lives and broke several important laws in the process, and you didn't get into trouble, or anything?" asked Lily.

"Ah, lighten up Lily-pad, he saved his old Godfather's life and he broke the law and didn't get caught. You should be proud!" said Sirius with a grin.

Lily smiled coyly at him and replied, "Sirius, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? Do I have to use your middle names?"

Sirius gaped and jumped off the sofa and down on his knees.

"Lily Evans Potter, if you never speak those names again I will be your manservant until the end of time," he said seriously. Everyone burst out laughing.

"Hmm, manservant? Keep talking," Lily said while stroking her chin.

"I…I will rub your feet every night," he added.

"I'm liking, I'm liking, keep going," she replied with a nod.

"Er, I'll…serenade you as you fall asleep," he said with a grin.

"Hmm, no, I've heard your voice, not serenading me would be more of a gift," she said.

"How about…" he leaned up and whispered in her ear. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened into an 'O' and she gasped.

"You wouldn't dare," she growled.

"Oh I would." He had an evil grin on his face. "Shall we call a truce?" he asked getting to his feet. She heaved a sigh and nodded as she crossed her arms.

"I was so looking forward to foot rubs every night," she said with a frown. James reached over and grabbed her foot and pulled off the sock.

"That's what you have me for, love," he said with a smile.

She smiled back at him and moaned as he pushed his thumbs into the pressure points on her foot.

"Oh yeah that feels good," she said. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

The others watched this with smiles on their faces, but no one had a bigger grin on his face than Harry.

"I love you too," he replied as he kissed her. "And I would love it if you could possibly tell me Sirius' middle names?" James asked slyly.

"Nope, part of the truce. Neither of us can share our blackmail with anyone else or the truce was broken and the other can freely share their blackmail. You know that James," said Sirius. He turned to Lily and said, "I would like to know how you found out my middle names though. Even Minerva doesn't know them. It's my biggest secret, and I honestly do not know how you found out." Lily shook her head.

"Nope, that's for me to know and you to never find out," she replied in a sing song voice.

"Shall we continue the story, then?" asked Sirius with a frown.

"Well that's pretty much the end of our story. No, we didn't get into trouble; I even got a permission note to visit Hogsmeade for my fourth year from Sirius. I've always wondered though, where did you go Sirius? I remember those huge exotic birds you sent your letters with, but you never told me where you were," replied Harry.

Sirius smiled widely and said, "I never told you about my island?"


A/N: Okay so I'm going to try and keep this authors note as short as possible but there's lots to say.

1) I made a website for people to go to and talk about my stories, challenges, and my blog. This is posted on my profile as my homepage, I'd post it here, but FF[dot]net doesn't like to post URL's. I please ask that everyone check it out! PLEASE! I worked really hard on it. Thanks to Pari for being the first person to join! I also posted a challenge if anyone wants to try their hand at writing, I have me and Pari who will judge the stories submitted. Just make sure you check out the Discussion Forums for the challenges to get the specifics on each challenge.

2) I posted a new One shot titled Promises a few weeks ago. It's a One year anniversary of Fred's death and how George is doing. It's got a small amount of reviews, and I'd like to hear more feedback. It was a Quick-Write-In-Between-Finals story and I tried to post on May 2nd, but that didn't happen. Oh well.

3) ...crap there was something else I wanted to say...Oh well, If i remember I'll post it in my blog on the new website! Thanks to Teufel1987 for beta editing this beast, i hope you all liked it. It's almost double the size of Surprise!'s average chapter. Please review and let me know! Now that I'm done with school for the summer, i should be updating more often! As always, reviews motivate me very well! Like giving a mouse a cookie...and all that. ;) REVIEW! Thanks!