I do not own Harry Potter.

After the main course was eaten Harry excused himself and made his way to the Potter table. Everyone stood and Hermione kissed him on the cheek before heading to the Malfoy table to join Draco, giving her seat to Harry. At the same time Daphne moved from her table with the Malfoy wives to the empty seat Harry had left at the Black table. Blaise then took Daphne's place while Luna took Blaise's with the Potter wives. The musical chairs helped to make sure that everyone got to talk to someone new during dessert and also helped keep everyone on their toes.

Harry was pleased to meet his grandparents, great grandparents and cousins and finally sat down between Henry and Fleamont, across from his father.

"Lord Peverell," started Henry but Harry cut him off and said, "Sir, please, call me Harry."

Henry nodded and continued, "Harry, then. This is some story you've told tonight."

Harry stiffened, "It's not a story, sir, I assure you. It's already happened, but by some stroke of fate we've been given a chance to fix it."

"And you think that's wise?" asked Henry.

Harry opened his mouth, then closed it, obviously surprised by the question. He took a minute before he sat back and rested his hands on the table and spoke clearly, "You're asking me if I think it's wise to save everyone in this room? No, I don't. But I think I've already made that clear. Lucius Malfoy is a vicious bastard that deserves to die… but I can't kill him. Not yet at least."

"You can't kill him because he is the father of Draco Malfoy," asked Charlus?

"Yes."

"But why do you want to kill him in the first place… besides upsetting your future mother," continued Charlus?

Harry's eyes flashed dangerously at the diminishment of what was done to his mother as if it wasn't a big deal. He leaned forward and snarled, "Besides his assault on my mother, and I assure you it was an assault, dear old Lucius grows up to be one of Voldemort's most loyal and trusted followers. Not only does he help fund the cause, including bribing politicians, but he's also responsible for the death of hundreds of witches, wizards, and muggles. Furthermore, he's responsible for planting a dark artifact in Hogwarts, which results in the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, which releases a basilisk into the school, putting all the children in mortal danger. He's also tried to kidnap, incapacitate, or kill me on multiple occasions in my timeline. And that's just a few of the things that come to mind."

Harry sat back, fuming.

Charlus looked appropriately chastised while the others just looked shocked.

"I apologize if we've offended you, it all just seems so far-fetched," said Fleamont, trying to calm everyone down.

Harry nodded, but the damage had already been done. These people just didn't get it and he wasn't sure how to make them understand. He looked around and saw the rest of his pack staring at him, they must have sensed his anger. He scraped his chair back and stood up, "If you'll excuse me," he said without waiting for a response before he walked away.

Draco and Hermione both stood as he moved towards them and met him in the center of the room.

"What's wrong," asked Draco?

"They don't get it," said Harry frustrated.

"We knew it was a possibility," said Hermione, grasping his hand and squeezing it.

He huffed and nodded, looking around at everyone watching them. Then he caught Bella's gaze, "I have an idea."

Draco groaned and said, "What is it?"

"Let's show them."

"Show them what," asked Hermione?

But he was already walking towards the Malfoy table, "Lucius, would you mind joining me on stage for a minute?"

Lucius looked like he would rather die than join Harry but Abraxas nodded and Lucius was forced to follow Harry, who then stopped next to Bella and asked, "Bella, Narcissa, Andi, would you mind joining me on stage for a moment?"

Bella stood without pause but Narcissa and Andi looked toward their mother first and when she nodded, they both followed.

The rest of the pack had moved to see what was going on, but Harry just told them to stay to the side of the stage for now. He motioned Lucius, Narcissa, Bella and Andi up onto the stage and then asked, "Draco, can you join me?"

Draco nodded and Hermione moved to the side with Daphne, Blaise, and Luna.

"What are you doing," asked Draco, quietly?

"You'll see," said Harry, before he turned to the room and amplified his voice.

"I know what I've told you is difficult to believe. Hard to wrap your head around. So, I thought it would be helpful to see for yourself."

He moved next to Lucius, pulling Draco with him, "In 1996 these are the only Malfoy's still living. Just Lucius and Draco. Two Malfoys total."

He then moved to the three sisters and said, "In 1996 these are the only Black's still living. Three Blacks. All witches."

He then moved away from all of them and said, "In 1996 I am the only Potter still living. Just me."

He let that sink in for several minutes and then said, "Think about that. Every single one of you is dead in 20 years. Every. Single. One. Of. You."

There was general outrage as this finally settled in.

He sighed in relief. Maybe they weren't beyond saving. He moved back to the three sisters and pulled Bella to the side then said, "You may wonder how the Blacks were so lucky as to end up with three surviving members? I wouldn't call them lucky. Andi was disowned, Bella spent over a decade in Azkaban and Narcissa had to share her home with Voldemort himself."

Here he motioned to Draco and said, "Perhaps you can enlighten them Draco about life living with Voldemort."

Draco narrowed his eyes at Harry briefly before he stepped forward and said, "As Harry mentioned Voldemort returned at the end of our fourth year. Because my father," here he motioned to Lucius, "was one of his most loyal followers he offered up Malfoy Manor to host him. From that moment on, there were all manner of criminals coming and going. Rapists, murderers, werewolves. The worst of the worst. Your worst nightmare comes to life. Werewolves, so many of them, that enjoyed killing even when they weren't transformed and that enjoyed turning children when they were. No space was off limits, no time too late or early. The ballroom was turned into a place where torture of prisoners became the norm… the dungeons housed muggles, muggleborns and blood traitors at all times. But don't think that purebloods escaped unscathed, Death Eaters loyal to the cause were tortured just as often as prisoners. Killed just as easily. Anyone who brought news that didn't please him was subject to torture. It was like living in a nightmare. There was no way out, other than death. That's what the future holds if we do nothing. Death. Destruction. The end of us all."

There was complete silence in the ballroom, and many had their hands over their mouths in shock.

Harry moved to Draco's side and squeezed his shoulder in support before he asked everyone, "Which of you will help us prevent this future from becoming a reality?"

One by one the chairs started to scrape as they stood, until finally, everyone was standing.

Harry felt the others on the stage move to stand beside him and Draco. He looked over when someone grabbed his hand and squeezed it. It was Bella, smiling sadly at him. He squeezed her hand back, he really wanted to change their fates.

"Right, then here's how we start…"

…..

The pack arrived back at their suite in Hogwarts uptight and exhausted. Lily, Sirius, and James had opted to head back to Gryffindor to give Harry some space.

As soon as the door closed behind them Harry let out an exhausted sigh, practically falling into the couch. The rest of the group followed, and they enjoyed some peace and quiet for several minutes.

"Merlin, that was exhausting," said Hermione finally.

"Yeah, I don't think I genuinely appreciated how much work it was going to be to pretend to be a confident, unemotional pureblood prick," replied Harry, rubbing his face with his hands.

Draco snorted and said, "You missed the mark on the unemotional bit. Honestly, I think everyone in the room could feel your anger when you were at the Potter table. What the hell did they say to you anyway?"

Harry frowned thinking of the arrogance again, "Charlus referred to what Lucius did to my mother as merely upsetting her."

There were gasps and curses in response.

"Yeah, he's a fucking bastard," agreed Harry.

"Do you think today will help change their minds," asked Hermione?

"Or at least help change our fates?" asked Daphne.

Draco and Harry shrugged, and everyone looked to Luna.

"I suppose we'll know soon," she replied vaguely.

"Well, one thing is for certain, both Dumbledore and Riddle are going to be pissed that they've lost their financial backing. I would expect to hear from both, sooner rather than later," said Blaise.

"I'm less concerned about Dumbledore. We're going to have to work out what to do about Tommy boy though. My Slytherin head of house status will only put him off for so long… I'm going to need all of us using our Slytherin cunning to come up with a plan."

Everyone nodded.

"I'm going to go take a long bath and try and soak all of the tension from today away," said Hermione standing up.

"That sounds like a fantastic idea," agreed Daphne, standing up as well.

Everyone watched them head to their own rooms, then Luna and Blaise both stood and headed to their rooms, with just a nod at Harry and Draco.

When it was just the two of them Harry rested his head against the back of the couch and let out a long sigh.

"You okay," asked Draco?

Harry chuckled and said, "I could really use a joint right now."

Draco smirked and said, "Well I happen to have one I put aside for the next time I pissed you off."

Harry moved quickly and pulled Draco into a passionate kiss, surprising him. He pulled back after a bit, grinned and said huskily, "Merlin, you're the best."

Draco laughed and said, "Wait here, I'll go get it then we can go for a walk outside."

Harry stood, giving Draco room to get up. He then looked down at what he was wearing and rolled his eyes, taking his cloak off, then his tie and his belt before he unbuttoned the sleeves of his shirt and rolled them up. He then toed his shoes off and moved to the bedroom to change his pants and find a more comfortable pair of shoes. A minute later he met Draco back in the living room in a pair of jeans and trainers.

"Ready," asked Draco?

"You bet," said Harry, before he pulled him in for another kiss.

Draco smirked as he grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him through the door.

…..

James, Lily and Sirius all sat in the common room thinking about the day.

"How do you think it went today?" asked Lily

Sirius looked around and put up a privacy ward as well as muffliato before he turned back to them. "It's hard to say."

James rolled his eyes and said, "You sound like a Slytherin."

Sirius huffed but didn't disagree.

"I don't think they really got it until Harry brought only who was left on stage. That seemed to be enough to convince them," said Lily.

"Yeah," agreed James.

"James, what happened when he was at your table? Everyone could feel his anger… And I have to say I was surprised. I expected the Blacks to be the ones to piss him off or the Malfoys," said Sirius.

James cringed and looked at Lily then back to Sirius, "My uncle, Charlus, he asked if Harry should really be trying to change what happened, then as if that wasn't enough he implied that Lucius only upset Lily, so why was Harry so fixated on making Lucius pay."

"Merlin," said Sirius.

"Yeah," agreed James.

"It's a fair question," said Lily. Then when they both stared at her like she was crazy, she asked, "What?"

"Lily, from the moment Harry arrived he has been absolutely possessive of you and completely obsessed with your safety. Surely, you've noticed," asked James?

"He…I mean… I wouldn't say possessive," she stuttered.

Sirius chuckled and replied, "Call it what you want, but he absolutely will take no shit when it comes to you. It's why James was so jealous of him."

James rolled his eyes and muttered, "I wasn't jealous."

Lily laughed heartily and reached over to squeeze his hand, "Of course you weren't."

James frowned as Sirius laughed too.

"I'm going to go get washed up, you two should probably talk about things," said Sirius, before leaving them alone.

Lily and James stared at each other for several minutes before they both started to talk at the same time.

James chuckled and motioned for Lily to start…

"I wish I knew how we came to be together in the other timeline… it's not that you're not attractive, James, but you must admit, until Harry arrived we never spent any time together. In fact, I don't think I ever considered you as someone I could seriously date," said Lily.

James flinched at her honestly.

"I'm sorry, that was cruel, I just meant that… you must admit it's surprising…"

James shrugged and said, 'I've always had a thing for you Lily."

"Yes, but you're a serial flirt James. You give attention to all the witches."

James shook his head and said, "It's not the same."

Lily frowned and said, "How do you mean? It looks the same to me. It's why I've never taken you seriously. You give me compliments, but you give everyone else compliments too. Never mind that you have dates with a different girl every Hogsmeade weekend. And don't think I haven't heard about exploits in broom cupboards. My Runes study group on several occasions have wasted time talking about what a playboy you are. I think you've dated each of them at least once per school year. They obviously don't mind but that's not who I am, James."

James sat back and frowned, trying to think of what to say.

"It's okay, you don't owe me an explanation. I just don't know where we go from here. I don't understand how we ended up together in the first place and even if that doesn't matter now, how do we form a relationship based on what we have now? Do we even try?"

"What do you mean? We have to, because of Harry…" asked James?

"We could still have Harry even if we're not together. We could be with someone we love and explain it to them. Have Harry together and then have the rest of our children with our respective spouses. Or we could have Harry first and then when we find someone we love, marry them. It's not beyond possibility," said Lily rationally.

James felt like he had been punched in the gut and held his hand up to make her stop talking.

She sat back and waited for him to say something.

He took a deep breathe and grabbed her hand, pulling her closer, "Lily, please give me a chance. Let me try and show you how much I care for you. How much I want you to be Mrs. Potter. I promise, there will be no one else, I'll stop flirting, hell, I'll stop speaking to other witches if that's what you want but don't deny us of the opportunity to be something great. I don't know how it happened the first time but happen it did, and we created an amazing son. We can be happy, Lily, I know we can. All I'm asking is for a chance. Will you give me a chance?"

Lily looked at him for a long time, sizing him up before she finally clarified, "No other witches. And that goes for me too with wizards. We date exclusively."

He nodded.

"I want the real deal James. Not some half assed attempt to wine and dine me to get into my knickers. I know we must have Harry but that doesn't mean that I have to marry you. You're going to have to win me over. Show me you're serious about me, what I'm interested in and building a life with me. Understand?"

He nodded again.

"I'm muggleborn James, and I'm not ashamed of that. I won't lie and say I haven't thought about walking away from the wizarding world after Hogwarts. I want to continue my education and I want a spouse that supports me. And I don't care if that spouse is wizard or muggle."

"I … wow… okay."

They sat in silence for a bit before Lily said, "Will you tell me what you want in a spouse?"

He sat back and considered her question for a moment before he replied, "I want someone that is interested in me for me, not just because I'm the Potter heir and I have a lot of money. Someone that isn't just interested in being seen on my arm at social events."

Lily nodded motioning for him to continue.

"I want a witch that has a brain and her own life, someone who wants to do more than throw parties. Someone who believes in something, cares deeply about it and will use the wealth and influence of the Potter name to make things better. Someone who doesn't look at providing an heir for me as an obligation…"

Lily was smiling now.

James took a deep breath then finished, "Some who will love me, someone who is willing to have a large family and someone who will love our children and help me raise them to be good citizens, deserving of the Potter name."

"Wow," whispered Lily.

"Too much?" asked James.

Lily shook her head and said, "No, not at all. I'm just surprised is all. I had no idea. You've hid that very well."

James blushed a little and said, "Well, I've never had a need to be so transparent before."

Lily nodded then smiled and asked, "How about we try and spend some time alone just the two of us every week, then have our first real date the next Hogsmeade weekend?"

James smiled and said, "I'd like that a lot."

"Okay, then. I know you have Quidditch practice a lot and I have a few study groups I'm part of, plus Slughorn's club. Friday nights I usually spend with the girls but right now I have Saturday nights free. Would that work for you?"

"Yeah, I can make that work if we meet later. I have Quidditch 'til six then by the time I shower, change and eat dinner, eight is usually when I'm done."

Lily nodded and said, "Okay, sounds good."

James smiled wide, he just setup a weekly date with the girl of his dreams.

Lily took a deep breath and asked, "Do you need time to cancel any dates or break off any liaisons with anyone else before we start?"

James sat back and thought about it, but he was never big with making advanced plans, usually being more spontaneous with his affections. "No, I'm good." Then he added, "What about you?"

Lily bit her lip and nodded, "Yeah, I did agree to go to the next Hogsmeade weekend with …someone. I'll talk to them this week and let them know I won't be able to go with them."

James frowned, jealousy stirring in him, but he simply replied, "Okay."

Lily smiled at him, then leaned over and kissed his cheek, whispering in his ear, "You're adorable when you're jealous." She then stood and said, "Good night, James," before heading to the girl's dorms.

He watched her go, grinning like a loon.