This is going be the lighter than I thought because even I felt sorry for dear Harry, and just to cut him some slack. He's going to have lots of love and support before all the bad things happen. ^_^ Oh! And adding in small pairings, or going-to-be pairings: Ron/Hermione, and Blaise+Harry. Mwahahaha... Don't worry- it's still going to be Harry and Draco. ^_^
Shamera
"James?"
Lily entered the room quietly, her footsteps making not a sound as she made her way over to the oversized chair that her husband was currently resting in, his face buried within his hands. She pursed her lips in a moment of contemplation before kneeling before the man she loved, letting her hands slowly tug at his so that she could see his face. She wanted to know what he was thinking… needed to see his eyes.
James gave in to the gentle tugs after a few moments, not wanting to disappoint Lily, yet also not wanting her to find his internal battles. She already had enough to think about… he didn't want to add to her burden. Especially when she needed to figure things out for herself as well.
"I know that you're feeling confused right now." Lily said sincerely. "It's the same feeling that I'm experiencing, if a bit more negative. You don't know what to do now, don't understand what's going on and the consequences this is going to bring. I know you, James. You won't act unless you're completely sure about something, and you're too confused right now to see the entire picture."
"And I suppose that you can see the entire picture?" James asked, and grimaced when he realized it sounded a lot harsher than he intended it to be. Thankfully, Lily paid that no heed as she cupped his face in her hands. "This… this is just too personal, Lily-love. It's not just the fact that I don't understand what's going on here… I also don't understand why. Who is this person who claims to be our son? If him being here is such a blessing, such a miracle, then why isn't our own son alive today? Why must something like this happen?
"This… doesn't make sense. It's so complicated. Instead of our son, we have someone who we don't know. You might think that this is a good omen, Lily, but I just don't understand…" James struggled for words. "I don't understand why Harry had to die in the first place just to get replaced by someone from somewhere else!"
"Maybe it doesn't have any connection at all." Lily suggested, her voice tinged with sorrow. "Maybe we were just caught up in all this, that's all. Just dragged along for the ride. It doesn't all have to be about fate or a set course of destiny. Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with us at all. But we should be glad that we are involved in this." She smiled up at him, seeing his eyes focus on her with a fierce intensity that hadn't been there for months. "I mean… I remember wishing to see Harry again the day before Dumbledore called us in. I remember wanting to know what Harry would be like had he survived, had lived to be sixteen. Would he be dating someone? Playing pranks? How would the professors take to him? I wanted to know… and now I get the chance."
She carefully stood up, pulling James up with her. Looking at him intently, she continued. "So you should see why I think this is a miracle. You can't tell me that you haven't wished for the same thing… that you hadn't wanted to see what Harry would be like… how he could grow up. It might not be the same as the real thing, but at least we have the chance to see a possibility of what could have happened. I… want to know if his favorite color is still a deep Prussian blue."
James made a small noise, reminiscent of something between a choke and a cry. Looking at his beautiful wife now, he remembered the madness that resided within Lily. Remembered her screams of grief and horror when she found out that her son had been kidnapped, had been killed.
Looking at her smiling eyes now, he felt the slightest tinge of fear for her. She looked so happy, so much happier than she had looked for years.
"I don't know how to act around him." James admitted, still staring at Lily's green eyes. "He's not our son… we know this, and he knows this. You can tell that he knows this by the way he looks at us."
"Act natural, then. Act supportive." Lily wrapped her arms around James's shoulders and pulled him look to her. "Act whatever you want to act, whatever you feel like. Don't be fake just for him. How would you have acted if you had a teenaged son? Don't think about how you're going to act around him, just act."
"You say that so easily, Lily…"
She gave off a small laugh as she rested her head on his shoulder, his arms coming up automatically to surround her. "But it is easy. You'll see."
And not for the first time, James worried for his wife's sanity; hoping that she would survive this experience unscathed.
Because not only did he remember her grief ten years ago, but he also remembered the crazed massacres of Death Eaters, and how the Potter name had gotten to be so feared by the Dark. It was a well-known fact that if the Auror Lily Potter caught a Death Eater, they had no chance of survival.
Remus had watched his partner pace along the inside of the Headmaster's office for long enough. He would have been the one to fight and die alongside Sirius, as his trust in his partner was nothing but explicit, but he would be the one to throttle said partner if the man didn't stop that nervous pacing!
"Would you please stop that, Sirius?" Remus said through gritted teeth. The sentence would have contained many swear words in it had it not been for Dumbledore's presence, as the Headmaster was smiling widely at Sirius's blatant concern.
"I don't understand why we had to be called out of a mission." Sirius was ranting, completely ignoring Remus' pleas for sanity. His pacing only became fast as he continued, making Remus wonder if his friend would have to pay to get the floor replaced soon- he was wearing it down so fast. "And… called out not because there's something wrong with James and Lily." He stopped for a moment, staring at Professor Dumbledore. "You're sure there's nothing wrong with James and Lily?"
It was always that way, especially after Peter's death. Sirius had blamed himself, berating himself about just getting there a little bit earlier, taking out a few more Death Eaters… but he kept to the honor that Peter had died protecting his friends. And Sirius had taken it upon himself to make sure that no other Marauder would be hurt in the war.
"James and Lily are fine, Sirius." Dumbledore reassured him again, looking as if he were hiding a smile. "If not more than fine, in fact."
Remus' interest grew. "What do you mean, Headmaster?"
The partners had been called off a secret mission just the day before with an urgent message for them to appear at Hogwarts. The message was vague enough to make sure that anyone who intercepted the letter would know nothing of what was going on, but it also made sure that Sirius and Remus didn't know what was going on either.
And so they had gotten to Hogwarts as soon as possible and had been sitting in the Headmaster's office (or in Sirius' case, pacing) for the last three hours.
"It's something for them to tell you, I'm sure." Dumbledore replied gravely, but smiling nevertheless. "A… miracle, if I do interpret Lily's words correctly."
"Miracle…?" Remus questioned, only to hear the quiet knock on the door.
"Come in!" Professor Dumbledore called out cheerfully. In fact, more cheerfully than Remus could remember in the last year or so.
"Professor…? Oh! Remus! Sirius!"
Both Sirius and Remus were shocked as they were bombarded with quiet hugs from Lily Potter, whom they remembered as quiet and unobtrusive for the last few years. She was beaming at them, eyes filled with a light that hadn't been there for years, they were sure.
"You really are here!" She was proclaiming, taking the hand of each one of her childhood friends. James appeared behind her, looking tired but peaceful nevertheless.
Remus and Sirius both shared a look. What in the world was going on here?
"I suppose you haven't heard the news yet," she was gushing, green eyes shining with happiness. She stole a look at Dumbledore, and beamed even more when he shook his head, indicating that he hadn't told them yet.
"We got an urgent call in yesterday," Sirius said, looking quite shocked at Lily's mood. "We figured something was wrong and came immediately…"
"Oh, nothing's wrong." Admonished Lily. She was nearly spinning with delight, and both Remus and Sirius could easily see James watching her worriedly. "In fact, everything's going right for a change!"
"Well, then," Remus said, wondering if he had to pick at words around her again, just like everyone had to do ten years ago. "What happened to make you so exited?"
She stopped her movements and smiled gently at him, reminding him greatly of a young girl who she hadn't been for the last ten years. "What's happened? Why, Harry's back, of course!"
Harry watched amusedly as Blaise leaned over the table to tease Hermione, the boy waggling his eyebrows suggestively. They had finished their homework ages ago, seeing that almost everyone studying were extremely smart, and if anyone had trouble with one class, someone else would be a whiz in it.
The only problem barring, of course, was that he had to stop Draco and Blaise from hexing Neville just for the heck of it. Despite the fact that he remembered being friends with Slytherins, he also remembered just they loved to torment those who couldn't exactly defend themselves. He remember having to physically push Draco away from-
"What do you think, Harry?"
Harry blinked furiously for a moment, barely caught up in what was happening. He stared at Blaise, who gave him an expectant smile. "I'm sorry- think of what?"
Draco managed to snort while writing down some test notes for Potions, and Harry tilted his head to look at the blonde boy. "He was talking about how he thinks that Granger and the Weasel would make a good couple."
Harry blinked, and Neville shifted uncomfortably from where he sat besides Hermione, whose hand was twitching at the mere thought.
"Hermione and Ron?" He questioned, and pretended to take a long time pondering this. Well… he was a bit biased. He had already seen the two together romantically, after all, and he personally thought that it worked out just great. "It could work."
Hermione gave a squawk of surprise and threw her quill at him, while Blaise roared in laughter at Harry's agreement. Draco had to hide a smirk as he leaned closer to Harry and whispered that he hadn't seen how those two fight. Harry only rolled his eyes, not telling Draco that he had seen the two of them dish it out before, many, many times. And it was usually about him.
But he only laid down his parchment, and stretched, enjoying the cooling of the outside air. The small group had been kicked out of the library not long before they finished their homework, due to Harry yelling at the Slytherins to not pick on Neville so much. While the Slytherins had gracefully backed down due to Harry's wishes, Neville had only become more withdrawn, stealing nervous glances at Harry every few seconds.
The raven-haired Gryffindor almost itched to smack someone, most likely the two Slytherins that were sitting next to him. Those two had been complaining about sitting on the grass from the very beginning, until Hermione finally got tired of their whining and conjured up a few benches. Harry finished off the act by creating a table, so that they would have to write on their laps.
Yet after the whole session was over… it had gotten to the teasing. Inwardly, Harry was extremely pleased that everyone would get along this well. He was almost sorry that he hadn't invited Ron, Seamus, and Dean as well. But outwardly, he was starting to get tired of the entire name-calling and innuendoes.
"Ronald Weasley has to be the most irresponsible, careless slob out there in the universe!" Hermione was exclaiming. Harry almost grinned. He recognized that tone. It was the same tone that she would use on him and Ron when she lectured them or scolded them. It meant she was only faking her anger, but was actually enjoying her company.
"But think of it, 'Mione," Harry said with a grin. "Opposites attract, right? And the school slob going out with the smartest and most organized witch at Hogwarts certainly doesn't seem so far-fetched."
She threw him a withering glare, but fell silent at that. What could she say against that compliment/insult?
"What do you think, Neville?" Harry asked, determined to bring the shy, quiet boy into the conversation. "Don't you think that Ron and Hermione would make a good couple?"
"They'd probably kill each other off within days-" Blaise was silenced by a hard nudge in the ribs by Harry.
Neville looked around, quite nervous at the attention he was getting and the pleasant smile on Harry's face. Well… Headmaster Dumbledore did say that Harry Potter was in Gryffindor, right? And if he could tame the Slytherins who had been plaguing him since first year, well…
"It's… plausible." Neville admitted, not really thinking about it.
"Traitor!" Hermione gave Neville a friendly swat on the shoulder, and shook her head at him. "Why in the world are we talking about my love life anyway?"
"Because we're sad, sad people?" Blaise suggested.
"What about you, then, Zabini?" Hermione said, turning the tables on the auburn-haired Slytherin. "Do you have someone special?"
Blaise sniffed with dignity while Draco tried to contain his laughter. It was easy to see that the russet-eyed boy didn't have anyone at the moment. "I have someone in mind." He said carefully, tossing a grin over at Harry. "What do you say, Harry? Feel like taking a ride with a Slytherin?" He leered at the smaller boy.
Had Harry been eating anything, he would have choked and probably died due to that comment. Fortunately, he had only been copying notes from Draco and the only reaction from the jab was his widened eyes. "Very funny, Blaise." He managed out weakly.
Draco was frowning at his Slytherin friend while Blaise managed to fake a look of extreme hurt before turning back to Hermione. "Don't you worry," he told her. "I'll snag him yet."
"And you, Malfoy?" Hermione managed to ask before Blaise could say anything more, effectively changing the conversation slightly. "Anyone you have in mind?"
The blonde looked at her dumbly for a second before shaking his head slightly. "I'd like to think that if I wanted someone, I wouldn't be the number one bachelor at school." He grinned.
"What?" Harry asked, pretending to be taken aback. "No Pansy Parkinson as a girlfriend?"
Both Draco and Blaise looked slightly sick at that one.
"Pansy?" Draco exclaimed after a moment of gagging. "She's like… my sister! It's bad enough that our parents want us to be sweet on each other, but honestly…" He hesitated. "Do we act like we're together? Because honestly, we're not. She's just…" He struggled for words there.
"Just…?" Harry coaxed, nudging the blonde teasingly.
"…Like a sister." Draco finished lamely.
Harry smiled, somehow feeling quite relieved. Then he turned to Neville and asked, "What about you? Anyone special in your line of sight?"
Neville sputtered for a moment before Hermione replied for him, eyes twinkling. "I reckon Neville is sweet on Ron's sister Ginny."
As if proving what she said, Neville blushed deeply.
"Well, good for you, Neville!" Harry encouraged. "You seem the have the first answer that actually points to someone. Not like everyone else, who doesn't know who they like."
"I'm certain of who I like!" Blaise protested, and wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders.
The green-eyed boy managed to make a face at Blaise before shaking the arm off.
"What about you, Harry?" Hermione asked. "Did you leave a sweetie behind to come to Hogwarts?" Her tone was sickeningly sweet, but Harry felt nervous nevertheless.
"A sweetie?"
"I'm just worried about you, love." Soft kisses on the brow. "You're getting careless. You do remember how much I love you, don't you? How I can't live without you?"
A quiet laugh. "Don't be so over-dramatic, Drake. We're just teenagers."
"But I mean it." A kiss. "You fighting Voldemort scares me, Harry. What would you do if I were the one to face the Dark Lord?"
"I probably wouldn't let you out of my sight."
"Then you would understand how I feel." Hands gripped tightly, fingers entwined. Nose to nose, breaths mingling. "I would never have thought it a year ago, but… I love you too much to live without you. When this all blows over, if we both survive…" the thought was left hanging, not daring to hope but hoping just the same.
A silence. Then a sigh.
"I love you, Draco. I don't know what I would do without you." A soft touch. "I wouldn't be able to live without you either."
"…Harry? Are you alright?"
Harry startled at the light touch on his shoulder, and stared back up at concerned gray eyes. He blinked, trying to clear the moisture in his eyes. A connection with his past…
"Yeah, I'm alright." He smiled. "I just remembered something, that's all."
It was at that moment that Draco and Harry were staring at each other that they heard Lily Potter call out for her son. Harry looked up immediately and his smiled wavered for an instant before strengthening again at seeing his parents. He stood up from where he sat on the benches, and waved to where James and Lily were, as well as a large black dog.
As both James and Lily came over, Harry could see the shock on James' face at seeing the Slytherin badges on both the boys that sat besides his son, and Lily beamed brightly at Harry's quiet smile and enthusiastic wave.
"Padfoot!" Harry's eyes lit up at the sight of the large dog, and he left the table as Blaise protested. The dog in question backed away, bewildered by Harry's recognition of him. Padfoot let out a low, warning growl as Harry got closer, making everyone else tense up.
"Pad…foot?" Harry paused at the dark menace in the dog's eyes, and then his memory came back to him, letting him know that he wasn't home, that things were different here. With that thought, the happy and expectant light in his eyes dimmed and he withdrew his reaching arms.
Lily saw that immediately and reached over for her pseudo-son. She wrapped over arms around him gently and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Harry. Padfoot just hasn't seen you in a while, that's all."
But Harry's eyes were fixed on the large dog, and he stared with wonder at the distrust and suspicion in those watery depths. Sirius had never looked at him like that before, with such obvious dislike. The look was… alien to Harry.
You'd think, he thought to himself bitterly as he continued watching those eyes. You'd think that after a few days of that, I would get used to it.
Lily was pulling away from him, her smile never lessening as she looked him over. "How about you say good-night to your friends for right now? Your dad and I wanted to talk to you for a bit…"
Slowly, Harry forced his eyes to focus back to his mother, back to someone who he had only met a week ago, yet he knew her face better than his own.
She brushed his hair away from his glasses, an act which would have embarrassed most sixteen-year-olds had Harry grown up with affectionate relatives. Yet he only blinked at the tenderness and marveled at how he looked more like her than most people thought.
Everyone had always remarked on his uncanny appearance to his father, and barely ever commented on his mother. Before, he had only known that he got his eyes from his mother, but now standing up close- he could see he inherited much more from her than previously thought.
There were both about the same height, Harry's small and lithe physic coming from her. Their bone structures matched almost exactly, them both looking small boned and deceptively fragile. And while he had most of his father's features, as well as the messy black hair, Harry could see that they had the same curve of the cheek, the same hands, and the same quiet movements. It was… enlightening to see their similarities. At the same time, it made his heart ache even more.
She was still beaming at him, taking in his features as much as he was taking in hers. Harry had the distinct feeling of nervousness, but that was only faintly impressed in the back of his mind.
"We want to know all about your first day at Hogwarts, of course." She smiled brightly at him, eyes wandering over the faint lightning shaped scar on his forehead before dismissing it for later talks. She had noticed it before, had noticed the huge amount of power gathered in that scar, sometimes leaking out with magic. But as it was mostly covered by the messy bangs, she ignored it for the moment. "And there will be a lot to tell your Godfather about as well."
Hints for next chapter: James and Harry finally have their talk... a certain snake makes a guest appearance, and Harry's starting to get nervous around Draco because of the flashbacks he gets... Dumbledore also gets strange news from McGonagall, and Sirius, Remus, and Lily have a Talk.
Back
Next
Home