A/n: wow. How long has it been since I've worked on this story? I apologize for the delay…I agree with MidnightGremlin, though. This last chapter I wrote struck me as "forced," and though I love you guys for enjoying it all the same, I've been trying to get back in the swing of the whole mystery thing, which is what is making these last few chapters so difficult. Oh well. Let the characters write themselves, right? I hope that's the case in this chapter! ~Jerry.
Harry wandered his way through the hour, listening to his mother telling him stories of her life growing up with Petunia. She then proceeded to stories of how she met James and when they got married.
There were photo albums…piles of them. Harry looked at many moving photographs that contained hundreds of faces and names…Ron even caught a glimpse of his mother (a much younger and thinner version, but nonetheless, Ron's mother) in a few photographs. Harry listened to his mother with pretended enthusiasm, but there must have been something in his eyes that showed he was not listening, because Hermione looked at him with furrowed brows and excused herself to talk to him.
"Are you all right?" she asked when they were in a private room, presumably a den of some sort.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Great, in fact. I have a mother. Let's be joyful." Harry feigned a smile.
Hermione studied his face. Harry stared back at her.
"Now I know where I have seen that look on you," she said. "It was the same look you had in the Shrieking Shack when you nodded to Sirius, telling him that you believed his innocence."
Harry shrugged. "Don't you worry so," he said. He smiled again, a rather glum smile. "I'll be all right. I'm happy she's alive and that I do have a mother. It is almost as if she is reborn. Now please let us go back to the kitchen."
Hermione watched as Harry went back to the kitchen. There was something Harry was not saying aloud, something he would not say that might have meant the world to him. He'd just grin it out, she told herself bitterly. He would never admit something was bothering him, because Harry could be stupid like that. It annoyed Hermione, because she liked to think of herself as one who could read Harry better than anyone. She should know what was wrong simply by looking at him, and she didn't.
Hermione frowned.
Harry got into the kitchen, where Lily was feeding Jessica again while talking to Ron. Ron was giving her a few updates on his mother and father – apparently the Weasleys were close friends with the Potters. Harry probably should have known, based on the way Ron's family treated him as an equal or part of the family and not just some kid or wizard friend. He stood at the doorway, watching for a few moments. Then he decided to incise the conversation.
"Mum?" Harry said. The words still sounded foreign on his tongue. He hesitated.
Lily looked at Harry tentatively. "Yes, Harry?"
Harry closed his mouth. He waited. "What will happen, then? Am I to just skip back to Hogwarts like a good little boy and keep my studies until a later time?" The words tumbled out of his mouth.
Lily paused. "I don't know, son," she said. "I honestly don't. It is quite a decision to make. If you stay with me, we will put ourselves at risk. On the other hand, I love you and want you to be living with me more than anything. You are my son and need a mother. So we must choose: do we want to be safe or do we want to be happy?"
Her words hung in the air. Harry eventually shrugged and looked away.
Lily looked at Harry, a look of pity on her face. "Perhaps we shall decide another time," she said. "In the meantime I think it is time you three went back to the school anyway. Let me get you my story before you leave."
Lily picked up Jessica and exited the room with her. She returned in a few moments, three copies of a book in hand. She passed them out to Ron, Hermione, and Harry.
The cover had a cartoon picture of a red train on it. The train had a green sign on its front that said in gold lettering, "Hogwarts Express." There was a cartoon-Harry looking at the train, and a white sign above him that said "Platform Nine and Three Quarters." Harry looked puzzled, and his scar was drawn far out of proportion. His cartoon glasses clouded his green eyes, and he his hand rested on his chin as though afraid to face the world ahead of him. On the top was a great HARRY POTTER marquis, and a cursively handwriting underneath said, "and the Philosopher's Stone."
Ron laughed. "It looks like Hogwarts Express is going to hit you!" he said.
Hermione grinned. "Better look both ways next time."
Harry laughed, too. "Why is there a Muggle train right next to the wizard train?" he asked. "Seems a little obscure to me."
"Yeah. And who is that guy on the back supposed to be?" Ron asked.
Harry turned over the book and saw a man with a brown beard and yellow-striped pants smoking a pipe. He wore a purple coat and a stupid hat that had a great star on the side. In his hand was a schoolbook with a great star on the cover. Harry had no clue who he was supposed to be.
"All right, I admit the cover art is pretty bad," Lily said with a laugh. "The whole thing is rather hokey, to be honest. But, I think you will enjoy what I wrote about you three. Mind you, I did have to change around a few things, like give Platform Four and Three Ninths a new name. In later books some of the changes are rather large, though. I am still wondering what to do when just James comes out of the wand in Book Four." Lily paused, as though thinking. "I'll figure it out when the time comes, I guess. Wow. By then you will be done with Hogwarts. Maybe by we can live together safely."
"I do hope so," Harry said. He stared down at the book cover. Somehow looking at the book made him feel eerie, in a way he could not describe. The book had the scent of magic about it; Harry wondered if any Muggle would notice such a phenomenon. He doubted it, though, and he even doubted the book's success. An all-time flop, Harry told himself. Who would want to read about me?
"J.K. Rowling?" Hermione asked. "Where did you get that alias, by the way?"
Lily laughed. "J.K. stands for 'just kidding,' and the 'Rowling' is for 'rowling with laughter.' Get it?"
Ron laughed. "How punny," he said. This only made the group laugh harder.
Harry looked at his watch. "Seven-thirty," he said. How did the time go by so fast? Perhaps it went with all the photo albums….
Hermione jumped up. "Already?" she asked. "We better go, it's a two-hour walk from where we're going to meet Dumbledore."
"I'll go with you," Lily said.
Harry looked up. "It's kind of a walk, are you sure you want to go?" he asked.
"Of course!" she said. "Let me get my jacket. And Jessica." She disappeared to the back of the house.
Not even ten minutes later everyone was walking at a turbo pace to a Muggle park, way outside the neighborhood. Dumbledore mentioned a very secret cave where he could Apparate everyone to Hogwarts. Lily kept balancing Jessica from one shoulder to the next. Both Harry and Hermione offered to take her, if only to give Lily a break, but she insisted on carrying Jessica. So everyone kept turboing.
They reached a park that had very few lights. It was almost nine; Harry couldn't believe the good timing the group had.
They walked about a hundred feet off the sidewalk to a little hill, and in the hill was a cave that Harry saw first, which he pointed it out. He wondered what made it so secret; it was so obvious to him that he saw it right away, as did Lily, Hermione, and Ron.
As they walked inside, Harry realized that it must be a secret cave, for wizards only and surrounded with Muggle repellant spells. Harry saw a great beautiful room about him, with a rich red couch on one side and a bookcase on another. There was a sign above the exit door that said on it, "Station Nine," which meant nothing to Harry.
"This is a wizard station," Lily explained. "You can Apparate here without worrying about Muggles seeing you, and underage wizards can use Floo Powder…it was an achievement of the Department for Secret Transportation, at the office next door…" she smiled fondly, as though remembering.
Harry continued to look about him. Beneath him was a parquet floor, shiny and new. It was quite a spacious room, actually. He could hear water flowing from somewhere underneath, presumably some sort of fountain, but he could not find the source.
Lily looked about her. "Wow," she said. "I have not experienced magic outside my own powers for a long time."
Hermione gave Lily a puzzled look. "You did not use magic while in the Muggle community, did you?" she asked.
"Of course not," Lily said. "But, adult wizards, like young wizards, can loose control, even though a rarity."
Hermione nodded. "I see," she said.
Harry yawned. It was not until they had a moment of peace did he realize how tired he really was. He had experienced too many ups and downs earlier…too many emotions in such little time is not a good thing, he learned.
Just as Harry was collecting his thoughts, Dumbledore Apparated in front of the red couch with a soft pop. He stopped, brushed himself off, and then looked up in the room.
"Oh, good, you're here," he said. "I'm so sorry I was late. You see, a certain pair of brothers thought it would be rather…er…amusing…to replace every Cauldron Cake at the Slytherin table with a set of Mice Pies…"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stifled a laugh.
Dumbledore turned then to Lily. "Ah, Ms Potter," he said cordially. "I know it has been awhile."
"How have you been, Albus?" Lily said. She was turning a little red, presumably out of embarrassment at having her former headmaster acknowledge her.
"Living, Lily. Living. How has your day been?"
Lily turned to Harry and smiled. "Amazing," she said. "He's an extraordinary child."
"That, my dear Lily, is an understatement," Dumbledore said.
Now it was Harry's turn to turn red.
"Are we ready?" Ron asked. He, too, seemed tired.
"Yes, yes, you're right, Mr Weasley, it is of course time for us to go…I still have to discipline the culprits…" Dumbledore said as he pulled a great vase out of his robes. He waved his hand at the fireplace, and as he did a great conflagration illuminated the room. Dumbledore reached into the vase and the flames became blue.
"All right…Mr Weasley, you first," Dumbledore said.
Ron stepped forward. He turned to Harry and Hermione. "See you in a bit," he said. He cast an unreadable look at Lily and Jessica, and then he turned to the fireplace. "Hogwarts!" he shouted as he jumped in.
"Hermione?" Dumbledore said.
Hermione didn't hesitate. She jumped in the fireplace, and with a whoosh she was gone, too.
"Harry?" Dumbledore said gently.
Harry started to step forward. He then looked at Lily. My mother.
For the second time he went to her, and hugged her. Balancing Jessica on one arm, Lily hugged Harry with the other. Harry felt wet drops on his shoulder, and he heard Lily sniffle.
"Don't you worry, Harry," she said softly, into his ear. "You are safe there. Remember you have a mother who is alive and loves you very much."
"How will we keep in touch?" Harry asked. His voice started to waiver.
Lily broke from the embrace. She then wiped her eyes. "We can always keep in touch through our emerald eyes, my dear. All you have to do is concentrate, and you will see me through my own eyes. I will be watching you, my son, as you will be watching me. And whatever the Dark Lord does to pain your scar…remember that I feel it too, and it tears away at my heart just as it tortures your mind."
Harry nodded. He stared at Lily as he started to back towards the fireplace. He wanted to keep every part of her in his mind…her deep green eyes…her red hair and freckles…her tear-streaked face…the way she balanced Jessica on her waist…and how she stared back at him, with an eternal, patternless love. Harry kept this picture in his mind as he turned and faced the fire. Then he, too, jumped in, not even aware of his dislike for Floo Powder until it was too late to turn back.
