Fickle Fate: Chapter 54

Ugh was this chapter stop and start! But hey, it's finished! Not much to say except I hope you enjoy! Also, I'm just gonna apologize now: I'm absolutely exhausted and didn't proofread this chapter very well before posting.

Warnings: Just...a lot of feels. Yeah, that's it.

Disclaimer: I wish I did...but I don't.

Please enjoy!

Reunions Part 1

It was so bright when Harry opened his eyes. He groaned and rubbed harshly at his eyeballs as if that would make the light dim to a more manageable level. He tried to remember what was going on. Had he taken a nap in the Common Room? Did he fall asleep in the backyard doing chores at the Dursleys'?

"Honey, it's time to get up. Come on, Love." Harry's face scrunched up in confusion at the new voice. It sounded familiar though he wasn't sure why. It certainly wasn't a voice he was used to hearing. With considerable effort Harry opened his eyes.

Harry flinched back from the figure leaning over him until his vision cleared. Kneeling next to where he lay (the ground it seemed) was a beautiful woman with fiery red hair and bright green eyes that matched his own. Harry didn't want to blink in case it was just a dream and he'd wake up if he closed his eyes again. Lily smiled at her boy.

"Hello, Harry." Harry choked down the sob that wanted to break free of his throat and instead threw himself at his mum, tackling her in a bear hug. Lily laughed into his hair though she clung to him just as tightly. One of her hands came up to pet his hair and she slowly started rocking him back and forth as they hugged on the ground. "Oh my beautiful, brave boy. I'm so proud of you, Harry."

Harry didn't say anything. After so many years wishing he could speak to his mother he didn't have any words left for the moment he actually met her. He didn't even notice that tears had been sliding down his cheeks the whole time until they finally released each other and Lily gently wiped them away. He closed his eyes when she kissed his forehead.

"Now, come on, Harry. Let's get off the ground. There's someone else here who'd like to see you." Harry didn't take his eyes off of his mother even as he took her hand and stood. What he could see from the corners of his eyes was all white, like an empty vast space without end.

"Harry." Harry finally took his eyes off of Lily to see the person who had called for him. There standing in front of him was James Potter, smiling as bright as Lily had when she had seen him. Harry opened his mouth to cry "Dad!" and yet...he hesitated. He knew the truth now and he wondered if he was...allowed to call this man Dad. He had believed James Potter was his father for most of his life and had always referred to him as such.

James seemed to understand his dilemma and instead of waiting for a reply, simply pulled Harry into a strong hug. Like with Lily, Harry clung to James as if he was the only thing holding him together. Eventually James pulled away but he held onto Harry's shoulders, his eyes scanning every inch of the boy in front of him.

"You've grown up well, kiddo. I couldn't ask for a better godson." Harry jolted for a minute, having forgotten that Remus and Severus had told him James had performed the godfather ritual when he was born. It was an odd shift in his mind, moving James into the same category as Sirius, however he found it wasn't as hard as he thought it would be. It also helped that it meant he could keep his fatherly feelings towards James without feeling terribly guilty.

"Honey," Lily said close to his ear. "I can tell you that Severus wouldn't be upset if you continued to refer to James as Dad. I've been keeping an eye on both of you and he understands that you were raised believing James was your father. It would also honor the sacrifice he made when you were a baby." Though she meant it to comfort and soothe his inner turmoil, the mention of their deaths sent Harry realing into a pit of shame and despair.

"I-I'm so sorry," he suddenly blurted out. "I'm so sorry you died because of me." For some reason it was only at that point that it actually hit him. "Merlin, I'm dead too, aren't I?" For just a moment that brought its own wave of despair bit then he realized, "Does that mean I get to stay with you two?"

Lily and James looked like they had a severe case of whiplash trying to keep up with Harry's intense mood swings. Lily was the first to break out of her stupor and put on her best irritated mom look.

"Now you listen to me, young man, we did not die 'because of you'. We died because of some ridiculous prophecy and a war that should never have been." She stepped forward and cupped Harry's face in her hands. "You were an absolute gift to your father and I, and then later to James as well. We did not die because of you but for you. We wouldn't change a thing if it meant you still got to live." James came over and wrapped an arm around Lily and one around Harry to pull them all together.

"Your mum is right, Harry. We love you and you shouldn't be carrying our deaths around like a noose. Do you understand that?" Once he got Harry's nod, James cleared his throat and stepped back a bit. "Right, now as for your other questions...you're not really dead."

"What," Harry asked, face scrunched up in confusion.

"Well, you're only mostly dead and-" James was cut off by Lily's sharp elbow to the gut.

"Do not quote that ridiculous movie. I never should have let you watch that with Cedric," Lily scolded.

"You can watch films here? Wait...Cedric?" Harry's head was spinning. A bench suddenly appeared and Harry found himself sandwiched between Lily and James, two hands rubbing up and down his back in comfort.

"Deep breaths, Honey. It's okay. Deep breaths," Lily uttered soothingly. Once Harry had calmed down, they all sat in silence for a bit, everyone gathering their thoughts.

"I don't suppose we're doing a great job of this, huh, kiddo," James asked in a self-deprecating tone. "Harry, there's so much we want to tell you and while we'd love to have you stay here with us…" James looked to Lily for support.

"It's not your time, Baby," she said. Harry let out a shuddering breath and tried to speak past his tightening throat.

"A part of me figured as much." He almost said that he knew it was "too good to be true" and then realized that staying with his parents (for lack of a better word) meant he'd wouldn't see Ron or Hermione or Sirius or Severus or even Draco again until they all died as well. It was in that moment that he truly realized he wanted to keep living.

Lily saw the change in her boy and a sad smile graced her face as she gently brushed some hair away from his face.

"You have so much more to do, Harry. We love you but you need to live your life without our shadows darkening your smile." Harry smiled at them both, a small sad thing, and nodded. Then he took a deep breath and cleared his throat.

"So what did you mean I'm only 'mostly dead'? Also, I'm assuming you have some suggestions as to how I should live my life? Specifically right when I get back?" James winked at Lily over Harry's head.

"Gets his smarts from his mum, I see." Lily rolled her eyes in fond amusement. She laid an arm over Harry's shoulders and tugged him into her side. Harry didn't fight it at all though he seemed unsure what to do with the physical affection. Not for the first time, Lily cursed Petunia and Vernon for what they'd done to her boy.

"Well, Darling, what James meant is that when that fool Dumbledore hit you with the Killing Curse he killed the horcrux shard inside of you and your soul...came along for the ride, more or less. Since you're not truly dead, you can't stay here. We've been granted special permission to speak with you for a bit and explain some things." Harry nodded along as his mother spoke.

She sighed and bit her bottom lip as she tried to organize her thoughts in her head. After a few moments it came to her. She would get to do what she hadn't done in years: tell her son a bedtime story.

"Harry, are you familiar with The Tales of Beedle the Bard?" She wasn't surprised when Harry shook his head, though a bitter pang resounded in her chest. If she hadn't...well, those thoughts wouldn't help anyone or change the past. "Well it is a very popular children's book in the Wizarding World and contains a lot of different stories."

"Your mother and I used to read stories from it to you every night before you went to sleep. You didn't understand a word of it but there were nights where you absolutely refused to go down unless we read from it," James said, a nostalgic smile on his face. A similar one bloomed on Lily's face.

"It's true. Now, while most of those stories were made up, fairy tales if you will, one in particular was true: The Tale of the Three Brothers." Harry listened in rapt attention as his mother and James traded off telling him a fantastical tale of how three brothers sought to cheat death and only one prevailed. However, the more he listened the more things started to click in to place.

When Lily finished Harry's brows were pulled together in thought.

"My cloak," he suddenly said, looking to each of them for confirmation. "Dumbledore has it. I don't know about the wand, though Hermione told me once Dumbledore won his wand in a duel against Grindelwald. And before that Grindelwald was considered unbeatable." Again Lily and James nodded. "But...the stone…" Harry thought hard about the third "Deathly Hallow" when it came to him. His hand automatically reached up to his chest where the ring had been sitting all semester. "The ring Tom gave me. I've stared at the strange insignia inside it for hours; I just never knew what it meant."

"You got it, kiddo," James smiled as he nodded. "That is the symbol for the Deathly Hallows." Harry let that information sink in for a minute.

"So that ring...can bring back the dead," he asked quietly. Lily and James both grew sombre and drew Harry close, knowing what their boy was thinking.

"Not in the way you want it to, Love. And the longer you keep the dead with you the more you wish you could join them," Lily said in an equally soft tone.

Eventually Harry nodded and turned back to the more important conversation.

"So these three objects...they are what Luna was talking about in her prophecy? The whole 'No One must hold Three' thing? So no one person must hold all three Deathly Hallows because it would make them the Master of Death?" Lily and James nodded emphatically.

"Yes! Exactly that, Harry," James said. "No one, especially Albus Dumbledore, should have that much control over death. It would be the end of the world as you know it," he said solemnly. Harry raised an eyebrow at the rather dramatic declaration and looked to his mum for confirmation. Lily shrugged and nodded.

"I mean he's not wrong. Humans weren't made to hold such power. You can't know the ins and outs of death until you are truly dead and giving that knowledge to someone who has yet to crossover would be devastating." Harry was, perhaps understandably, disturbed by the whole conversation.

"Right. So...don't let anyone, especially Dumbledore, keep all three Hallows. How do I stop him though?" Lily grimaced.

"Unfortunately, you will have to use one of the Hallows to defeat him. The stone. Harry, when you return, you must take hold of the ring and call forth Ariana Dumbledore. She is Albus's sister. Once she's crossed over to your side, only you and Albus will be able to see her. Just point her in the right direction and she'll take care of Albus," his mum explained. Harry looked a little skeptical.

"I just hold it and call for her? You're sure that will work," he asked. James nodded.

"Just like that. You don't know it but when you used the stone to call for help against Dumbledore, you didn't just call for Tom and the others." Harry whipped his head back and forth to look at them both, mouth hanging open.

"I didn't? But...but who came? I didn't see…" Lily brushed some of his unruly hair back from his eyes again.

"It was me, Darling. I stayed out of sight, because I knew it would put you in danger if you suddenly saw me appear. I followed you to the Astronomy Tower and realized what was going to happen. I made myself appear before Fawkes and insisted he be there to catch you. Thankfully it didn't take much convincing on my part." Lily winked at Harry making him smile. "Fawkes likes you."

"Well, I like him too so I guess I should thank him personally next time I see him. So is that it? I just use the stone and get rid of Dumbledore and end the war?" Harry didn't like the sudden mischievous sparkle in James's eye.

"There is one more thing we'll need you to take care of, Harry," he said as he stood and walked off into the bright light, disappearing from view.

"Don't worry, Harry," Lily tried to reassure him. "It's nothing terrible. James is just...still a child at times," she said as she rolled her eyes.

Harry didn't have to worry long. Soon enough James returned with someone else in tow. Harry's jaw dropped and he couldn't help tensing up and reaching for a wand he didn't have.

Standing in front of him and beside a brightly grinning James was a young Tom Riddle who looked identical to the one that was attacking the school his second year. Lily put a hand on Harry's shoulder in comfort and told him it was alright. Once Harry actually took a moment to look at this new Tom he realized the other boy looked different...not quite as evil. Honestly he just looked like an irritated teenager.

"Seeing as this is simply a conglomerate of some of Tom Riddle's soul, he cannot stay here. He has to be returned to the other part of his soul." Trying to speak despite his suddenly dry mouth, Harry swallowed and nodded along to his mother's explanation.

"Okay," he said hesitantly. "And how do I...rejoin them?" James's grin took on a slightly sharper edge.

"Oh, Harry, you're going to love this."


I just really wanted Harry to be able to hug his mum! At least once! Also, Princess Bride reference anyone? ;)

Please review! :)