Chapter 52
The next morning, all the students went about their days like normal, getting up early and heading off to breakfast before going to their first class of the day. Since the marauders and Lily were seventh years, they went with Ginny to Defense against the dark arts first, and were they in for a surprise. When they walked into the classroom, who else but Sirius Blake, former marauder, and Harry Potter, the future son of a marauder and Lily, were standing at the front of the class, talking quietly and ignoring the entering students.
"Ginny, who is the professor for this class now?" asked Lily hesitantly, dreading the answer
"Sirius and Harry teach the upper years, and Remus teaches the lower years, and Harry helps him out too whenever he needs it" she answered as she took her seat near the middle of the room, the others sliding in beside her "Why do you look so worried?" she asked when she saw the faces of all but the younger Sirius who was grinning like a maniac.
"We're not worried, per say, just a little frightened" answered Remus and upon seeing her still confused expression, he continued "Just look at it this way, Padfoot here might mature a lot when he is older, but right now, the idea of him teaching anyone anything is just downright scary, no offense Padfoot" he added hastily
"None taken, I'm kind of scared myself, who would have thought that I would ever be teaching anything, Remus I can understand, but me?" he asked in astonishment as he pointed to himself, but before the others could say anything else, Harry and his godfather turned and faced the class, and none of them could miss the tired expression on either of their faces.
"Good morning students" began Sirius with a tired smile to the class "Today we are going to study some of the curses that can be used to ward off dark creatures. Helping us out today are two people who are in the middle of their auror training, who some of you might already know, Ronald Weasley and Draco Malfoy. Now, you will be split into four groups of five and will be placed with either myself, Harry, Ron, or Draco" he said just as the door opened to admit a red headed boy and one with platinum blonde hair who both strode up to the front of the room and spoke quietly with Harry "Now, as I call your name, I will place you with your leader" he finished before he began calling names and putting students into groups. When it was all said and done, Ginny, Remus, Sirius, James, and Lily were in a group with Draco, while Harry took a group that was weakest when it came to their magical ability.
"Hello" greeted Draco as he strode up to his assigned group
"Hi Draco" said Ginny kindly "Guys, this is Draco Malfoy, Draco this is Lily Evans, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Sirius Black" she said as she pointed to them in turn.
"Well, it is a pleasure to finally meet you" said Draco, trying to ignore the nervous and almost hostile looks he was receiving from the four new students. "Well, why don't we get started then" he said as he turned away and began to lead them to an empty corner of the room, but before he reached his destination, Harry called for him to join him for a minute, leaving Ginny alone with the four very upset students.
"Hey, Draco, I thought I might warn you that those four don't get on to well you're your father" said Harry quietly, and Draco's expression darkened
"Great, do you think there is any way they will believe that I'm not like him anymore?" asked Draco hesitantly
"Maybe, it looks like they are receiving a dose of the Weasley temper from Ginny, I would recommend that you stay over here until she is done" suggested Harry with a smirk, and when Draco looked to his group of students, he noticed that sure enough, Ginny was looking furious
"I think I'll take you up on that suggestion" muttered Draco as he continued to watch the group, glaring at Harry when he started to laugh.
"Ginny, how can you trust him?" hissed Sirius angrily as soon as Draco had left "He's a Malfoy, probably the son of Lucius" he muttered darkly
"Yeah, I have to agree with Padfoot on this Ginny. Clearly you don't know what kind of people you are dealing with here. First Snape, who you and Harry were both treating like a friend" he almost spat out the word "and now you are both acting chummy with a Malfoy, what is going on?" he demanded, almost backing away from the cold fury that was beginning to build in the girls eyes.
"First, there are a few things you need to get straight here" she said icily "Malfoy is not his father, in fact, his father is dead, he has been for over a year, Harry killed him himself, and for your information, we are friends with Malfoy because he is nothing like his father, he was willing to sacrifice himself to try and save me when you-know-who attacked the castle, even though we were far from friends and he hated Harry at the time.
And secondly, Snape is not the same person you remember from when he was a student here. He was a spy in you-know-who's inner circle until he was found out and almost killed himself, and if it weren't for him, a lot more people would have died. He has also been very supportive and protective over your son since his first year here, even though Harry didn't realize this until recently and thought he was just a bastard before that.
So, I would advise you not to jump to conclusions about things you don't know anything about unless you can support your allegations. These people have fought too hard to build up these relationships, and the last thing they need right now is for them to fall" she said, breathing heavily after her rant, and seeing their shocked expressions, her own softened somewhat and she spoke in a gentler tone
"Listen, I didn't mean to explode like that, I'm really sorry, but I have a lot on my mind right now, between everything Harry is having to deal with and school and my own problems, I just get a little short tempered" she said with a shy smile.
"It's all right, I understand" said Lily with a grin as well "It's a curse that all red headed women are forced to deal with, short tempers and problematic men" she said playfully, earning herself a gentle punch on the arm from an indignant James.
"That is hitting below the belt, Evans" he said with a hurt, but playful expression on his face.
"Yes, but it is the truth love, and you know it. Between you, Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail, I think I will be insane before I even graduate, and I imagine that your son is ten times worse. Just think about what poor Ginny has to deal with, Harry and an older brother always on her back" she said with a consoling smile on her face directed to the other girl who returned it before correcting Lily.
"Actually, I not only have Harry and Ron, but five other older brothers as well" she said grimly "I'm the baby and the only girl"
"Oh, how I pity you. All I have is one older sister, and she is plenty, we have never gotten along" said Lily, and Ginny couldn't help but pity her as well for having to grow up with Harry's horrid Aunt Petunia, but before she could say so, Draco returned.
"Sorry guys, Harry needed to ask me something, now let's get started" he said eagerly, and within minutes, they were all learning and casting spells around the room, causing the hour to pass very quickly and before they knew it, it was time for lunch.
The rest of the day sped by for the seventh year students, and once dinner had come and gone, the three marauders and Lily were more than ready to go to sleep, even though it was still early. Wearily, they got to their feet and had just started to walk toward the exit of the great hall when Ginny called to them
"Hey, where are you going?" she asked as she jogged to catch up with them
"Bed, its been a crazy couple of days, and we have to be in the potions classroom at midnight, we might as well try to sleep for a couple of hours before hand" said Lily as she shot glares at the three boys, clearly blaming them for the detention
"Don't you want to come to the dueling club meeting tonight? It starts in about twenty minutes, and we always have a lot of fun" said Ginny, hopefully
"You have a dueling club! Wicked!" exclaimed Sirius, all previous weariness forgotten in his excitement, and to Ginny's pleasure, the others seemed to share that excitement as well.
"Yeah, we meet every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday night after dinner" she explained
The four other students looked at each other for a moment, as though they were holding a conversation in their heads with each other before James gave their answer "Sounds like it could be fun, as long as Snape isn't the one teaching it" he said with a smile that was so similar to Harry's that Ginny was forced to return it
"No, Snape doesn't teach it, Harry does" she explained, and upon hearing that, their expressions grew even more excited
"Great!" exclaimed Sirius happily as he sat back down at the Gryffindor table to wait for the lesson to start, and all but Ginny were surprised by the number of students who remained, nearly every student from fifth year and up was there, as well as several from the other years, all houses equally represented, and the presence of so many Slytherin students confused Lily immensely.
"Hey Ginny, Harry was a Gryffindor, right?" she asked hesitantly, and hearing her question, the three boys turned and waited anxiously for the answer.
"Yes he was, why do you ask?" asked Ginny hesitantly
"Well, if he was a Gryffindor, then why are there so many Slytherins willing to take lessons from him? The other houses I can understand, but why so many Slytherins?" she asked "I thought they hated all Gryffindor students, Draco might be the exception, but all the Slytherins I have ever met before now went off to become dark wizards or death eaters" she said quietly, not wanting any of the milling students to overhear her words, and the three boys all nodded their heads in agreement, and began to wonder the same thing.
"Like I told you all earlier, a lot of things have changed, especially in the past two years" began Ginny "Before that, we all felt the same way about the Slytherins, and they all hated us, but during my fifth year, Harry's sixth, you-know-who and a huge army of death eaters and dementors attacked the castle" she said quietly, and the others all saw a shadow pass across her face as though she were remembering a rather terrible memory
"Harry and I were outside when they came, and Harry knew they were there because his scar starts to burn anytime he is near you-know-who. I went into the forest to hide, and he went out to face him, after he had already been under the cruciatus curse from four death eaters and you-know-who at the same time. All of the students, including the Slytherins, were attacked, it didn't matter what house you were in, or who your parents were. The only ones who were spared were those who began to fight on the dark lords side.
I think this caused most of them to see that the side they thought that they supported was the wrong one, and caused them to start fighting alongside the rest of the houses" she said with a small victorious smile on her face "they also saw that it meant to be truly brave, when Harry fought against you-know-who, and then was willing to sacrifice his own life in order to save me and Draco. Ever since then, the old hatreds between houses have almost completely disappeared, except on the quidditch pitch" she said with a grin.
Lily, Sirius, Remus, and James could only stare at her in amazement for what she had just told them. They had seen firsthand just what Harry was capable of, but there were so many things they didn't know about him, and they just kept getting surprised. They now realized that a powerful thing it was to be truly united for a single cause, as the school was now, and they wished it could have been so in their own time, perhaps then Voldemort would never have gathered as many followers as he had, but old prejudices die hard, and that is just what Gryffindor house had always felt toward Slytherin house, prejudice, and until that changed, they would continue to be on opposite sides of the great battle field of good versus evil.
Before they were able to contemplate their thoughts any further though, the hall fell silent as Harry walked in. He walked quickly to the head table and turned to face them with a smile on his face.
"Good evening, I trust you have all recovered from Monday nights meeting?" he asked, and when he was met with no objections, he continued "Now, if you could all please move to the back of the hall, we need to move these tables" he said, and the students all obeyed and gathered along the back wall, and when they were all clear, Harry lifted his arms, and at his command, the four large house tables vanished and all the chairs were lined up neatly along the side walls, leaving the middle of the hall empty "Ok, now as promised, tonight we are going to have a little competition. I will put you into pairs based on your ability, and you will duel until one of you is either stunned or unarmed, the winner will then be paired with the winner of another duel, and those two will fight, and so on until there is only one remaining, and that person wins. Now, if you loose, please quickly take a seat along the edge of the hall and watch your classmates.
Ok, as I call your name, please take your position with your partner, and once all of you are ready, we will begin" he said as he looked down to the roll of parchment and began to read off names and students began to find their respective partners. There were nearly four hundred students present, and it took quite some time to partner then all up, but once it was done, he looked back to all the students "Ok, now the rules are simple, any spell or curse may be used, except the unforgivable curses, or any that cause physical harm, and no physical contact, or weapons other than your wands may be used" he said with his face stern "Ok, on the count of three, bow to your partner, and begin. One, two, three" he said, and the hall was immediately filled with multicolored light, and he stood his ground and surveyed the organized chaos intently, making sure no one was injured.
Ginny was partnered with a seventh year Slytherin named Jasmine Boyens, and it took her only a few spells to disarm the other girl, who smiled and took her seat with a few others who were defeated quickly. James was dueling a boy named Steven, and he too won in only a matter of minutes and went to stand next to Ginny and the two spoke quietly
"You were right, this is fun" he said with a wide smile on his face just as they were joined by Sirius
"Man, that was easier than I thought it would be, that Kristen girl looked tough, but she was really slow to dodge spells" he said, and a few minutes later, Lily and Remus also joined them, grinning from ear to ear with excitement. About five minutes later, all the duels had been completed, leaving only two hundred students still standing in the middle of the great hall, the others all sitting in chairs surrounding them.
"Very good, all of you" said Harry as he surveyed those that had won "Now, listen up, you partners for the next match are" and he again began calling out names and within a few minutes, the second round was under way, this one lasting a little longer than the previous, but the five Gryffindors were still some of the first to win. Again, Harry partnered the remaining hundred or so students up, and again they dueled, and again, the Marauders, Lily, and Ginny were among those victorious, and to this, Harry looked very pleased. They continued until there were only ten left, and then Harry called them up to the stage where he could speak to them without the rest of the students overhearing him
"Ok, first I want to say congratulations to all of you, you have all done very well so far. Now, this time, I want Ginny to go against Daniel" he said as he nodded his head to a seventh year Ravenclaw "Lily against Ian" and the Hufflepuff moved to stand next to his partner "Sirius, you will duel Jacob" he said as he pointed to the Slytherin "Remus, you and Michelle" and the Gryffindor moved over to the Ravenclaw "and James, you and Andrew" he said and the last student, a Slytherin moved next to James "Ok, now spread out around the hall, and begin when I give the word" he said and the ten students obediently did as he asked, and a few moments later, they had started to duel again, for the sixth time that night.
These particular duels lasted for nearly ten minutes each, and Harry watched with pride and no small amount of amusement as the five Gryffindor students outwitted their opponents, jumping and dodging so quickly while still firing spells that he was amazed at their talent. He had seen Ginny duel on numerous occasions, but even she was doing far better than he would have ever imagined tonight, and his heart swelled with pride to know that she was able to take care of herself if the need were to ever arise, and he was even rewarded with some pride to know that his parents must have given Voldemort a run for his money when he had attacked them, they were both excellent duelers as well and he knew where he had gotten the talent from now.
When the five mini battles had finally ended, he couldn't help but smile to see that it was the Gryffindor students who had won.
"Good job guys" he said happily as he descended the stairs from the stage that the head table was on.
"Thanks" said Ginny breathlessly as she put her hands on her knees and tried to regulated her breathing, and he noticed with amusement that all five of them were panting rather heavily "What, don't tell me that you're tired already" he joked and earned himself five very unhappy glares in response "All right, you can take a little brake" he said as he turned and faced the rest of the students who were all talking quietly among themselves
"First, I would like to congratulate all of you for a job well done" he began "Now, as soon as these five have regained their breath, they will face off to see who the winner is, but since there is an odd number, they will all fight against each other instead of one on one like they have been doing, and the last one standing with a wand will be the winner" he said "Now, if they will get into a circle" he said as he looked to them and they did as he asked "Ok, on the count of three, you may begin, and the same rules apply as always" he said "One, two, three" and the final match began.
At first, it was each person for themselves, but when they realized that they were getting nowhere with that tactic, they began to focus on one person at a time, and poor Remus was first, and received stunning spells from four different angles. He managed to dodge those from everyone except for Sirius who was directly across from him, and it hit him squarely in the chest, knocking him unconscious and earning a loud yell of victory from Sirius, which I turn earned him the same fate as Remus as three disarming spells were aimed at him, and Lily ended up with his wand in her hand as she sent him a smug smile.
Then, the couple from the past turned their attention onto Ginny, who was able to defend herself for several minutes before a cheerfulness charm hit her and James saw his opportunity and disarmed her, sending her to take a seat beside Sirius and the now awake Remus on the sidelines. Lily and James then went head to head, sending curses faster than could be seen, and dodging them even faster, but after about five minutes, the duel was beginning to tire Lily and her reflexes slowed enough that she was hit with a leg locker curse and dropped her wand as she fell to the ground, declaring James the winner and a great cheer went up from the other students who gave him a standing ovation.
"Congratulations, James" said Harry as he walked up to the younger version of his father "Now I know where I get my dueling talent from" he added with a wide smile that James tiredly returned.
"Now, I believe that that is enough for tonight. Friday night we will be working on some advanced shield charms, so between now and then, I want each of you to come up with one that you would like to work on" said Harry "Again, good job tonight, and congratulations to our winner" he said, and the students began to file from the hall, still talking excitedly about the duels, and Ginny, Remus, and Sirius joined Harry, James and Lily in the middle of the hall as Harry began to move the tables and chairs back to their proper positions.
"Congratulations, Prongs, I knew you had it in you to beat your girlfriend" said Sirius with a grin, and for the comment, Lily slapped him hard on the back of the head "Sorry Lil's" he mumbled as he massaged the sore area, while everyone else laughed at him.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but we still have three hours until our detention, I'm going to go take a nap" said James, but before he had even taken two steps, Harry had grabbed his shoulder.
"Sorry James, but Dumbledore wants to meet with all of us now, your nap will just have to wait" said Harry, and they all got the impression that he was not looking forward to whatever meeting they were about to go to, considering that his previous cheerful expression had been replaced by a frown.
"Oh man" muttered James as he grudgingly turned and faced the other five "Well, what does our esteemed headmaster wish to se us for at nine at night?" he asked
"He'll explain everything when we get there" said Harry "Come on" he said crisply as eh spun around and began to lead them from the hall, all the lightheartedness he had possessed only moments before gone completely and replaced with a cold stone of indifference. Apparently, Ginny sensed his unease though, and hurried up beside him and took his hand in hers and leaned up to say something in his ear.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine" she said, not intending the others to hear, but they did anyways.
"I'm not sure, Gin, what if they won't help?" he asked her, and the marauders and Lily all turned to each other in confusion, what were they going to ask them to help with?
"Don't even think about that, Harry" scolded Ginny gently
"I can't help it, Gin" he said heavily, but instead of saying anymore, he wrapped his arm around her waist and they walked in silence the rest of the way to the headmasters office, the other four Gryffindor students a few paces behind them and silent as well, but curious about what was about to happen.
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While the dueling club had been meeting in the great hall, Dumbledore, Snape, the older Sirius and Remus, Pomfrey, Hermione, Ron, and Draco were all sitting around the headmasters' office and going over everything they knew about the spell and potion that would be needed to destroy Voldemort for good. Sirius had brought the book that Ginny had given Harry for his birthday, and Dumbledore had found three others that contained the same information.
"Sir, if you don't mind my asking, is there any way that this could fail?" asked Hermione tentatively
"No, as long as the potion is made correctly and the spell is cast properly, then both will do what they are designed for" he answered, and all present breathed a sigh of relief.
"How exactly does it work, and what do the spell and potion do? I read what the book said, but I don't really understand it" said Draco
"Well, the potion is used first, and it is used to separate Harry's magic and spirit form that of Voldemort, but doing so will cause one of them to become stronger than the other since Harry won't be able to use his own powers to control Voldemort any longer, and it is the only variable that I can see that will either make this work or cause it to fail. If Harry can keep control, the spell can be cast on the first day of the new moon, exactly nine days after the potion is taken, and as soon as the two are separated, Voldemort will be destroyed" he said as he looked around the room. Of those present, Hermione, Draco, Ron, and Remus already knew the entire process of how the spell and potion would be used, since they had all discovered it, on two separate occasions, Remus first, and the other three while Harry and Sirius were in the past. The others all knew about it, but until now they had not been told the entire story of how it worked.
"So, if Harry is able to keep control for nine days after he drinks this potion, without using his powers, then we can cast the spell?" asked Sirius quietly
"Yes" answered the headmaster, but then the ex-convict asked the question that was on all of their minds, but no one else wanted to ask themselves.
"What if he can't?" he asked quietly, locking eyes with the old man
"We can only hope that it doesn't come to that, but even if it does, we can still cast the spell, but it will work the opposite. If Voldemort is in control when it is cast, then Harry's spirit will be the one that is destroyed, leaving Voldemort in complete control, and with his strength, and his followers, I doubt that there would be anything we could do to stop him. The only consolation to this, is that he would only have Harry's body, and not his powers, because those are connected to a persons spirit, and once the spirit is gone, so are their powers" he said darkly and everyone else was silent, praying that it would not come to that in the end. They sat in silence for nearly twenty minutes, until they were all brought out of their own thoughts by a knocking on the door "Come in" called Dumbledore, and the door was pushed opened to reveal Harry, Ginny, Lily, James, and the younger Sirius and Remus.
"Sorry we are so late, sir" said Harry as they entered
"Quite all right, Harry, who won the competition?" he asked with a slight twinkle in his eye, already sure of the answer, and he was proven right when everyone pointed at a beaming James "Congratulations, James, now if you could all take your seats, we can begin" he said, and Harry conjured six more chairs and they all obediently sat down and looked at the headmaster expectantly. "Now, I'm sure you four are curious as to why I called you here tonight" he began "We need to ask a favor of you James, and you Lily, but first, we should explain what is happing and why we need your help"
"Lily, how much do you know about your family?" he asked as he faced the red haired girl in front of him who looked decidedly confused
"Well, I've grown up with my sister, Petunia, and my parents Eric and Candice Evans, why do you ask?" she asked hesitantly, her eyes darting from the headmaster to Harry who had his own green eyes trained at the floor and refused to meet the gaze of anyone else in the room.
"Well, Lily, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but what you have grown up believing is not the truth" said the headmaster heavily, and upon seeing her shocked expression, he continued "Your mothers name was Susan Evans, and Eric is her older brother, your Uncle. Susan was married to a man named Tom Riddle, who was a wizard, and a very powerful one. Together, they had you, but for some reason, your mother gave you her maiden name instead of her married name for your last name, Evans.
Now, Tom began to meddle in the dark arts, and he had always seen muggles as inferior to magic people, until he met your mother who was a muggle. They were quite in love, but one day, he came home to see your mother punishing you for using magic, you were probably two at the time. He tortured your mother with the cruciatus curse, and when she was unconscious, he left you and her behind. When she woke up, she was frightened, and took you to her brothers' house, a man that Tom had never met, he didn't even know where your uncle lived or his name, so you were safe, even though Tom wanted to find you. He tortured and killed your mother, and your maternal grandparents looking for you, but he couldn't get them to tell him where you were, and he eventually gave up and continued his dark activity" he said, pausing here to give Lily the opportunity to ask any questions, which she readily did.
"So, my father was a wizard" she said quietly "What happened to him? Did he die?" she asked hesitantly
"I'm afraid not, Lily, he turned dark, as dark as he could possibly go, and he has been responsible for many deaths over the past three decades, including your own" he said quietly, and recognition struck Lily like lightning
"No!" she screamed, jumping to her feet "That monster is not my father!" she bellowed, tears coming to her eyes "Eric Evans is my father, not him" she cried as the tears began to spill down her cheeks and her hands began to tremble "not him" she mumbled as she squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to stop the flow of tears from her eyes.
"Lily, I'm sorry, but you need to know the truth" said Dumbledore heavily
"Why! I was doing just fine without knowing this!" she screamed, nearly hysterical now "I would have been perfectly content never knowing this" she added in a quieter tone as she collapsed back into her chair, and James looked angrily toward the headmaster.
"Why did you tell her this? You have no right destroying everything she has ever known in her life!" he exclaimed as he pulled the crying Lily into his arms.
"I am sorry, but she needs to know the truth in order for her to understand what we will be asking of her, it is only right" he said in a weary tone, the others in the room just watching in silence and Harry continuing to stare at the floor.
"What is so important that you have tried so hard to find her? I assume that she was the girl Harry was looking for while he was in the past" said the younger Remus as he looked in concern to his two friends
"Yes, Harry went back to find Voldemort's daughter, though he had no idea who she was, and as for why we needed to find her, we need her to help destroy Voldemort once and for all" said Dumbledore, and his words caused Lily's head to shot up and James to look at him in shock
"What? What do you mean that you need her to help destroy him? Why bring her here if that is what you wanted, why not do it in the past, before he kills so many people?" asked Remus in confusion
"It is not that simple. In your time, he is strong and whole, but right now, he is but a spirit and we are able to destroy him" said Dumbledore
"If you want me to help you kill the man that fathered me, you are going to have to explain more than that. He may be a monster, but you are asking me to help kill my own father" said Lily shortly
"Very well. I trust that you have heard about the attack on Hogwarts by Voldemort a couple of years ago?" he asked, and seeing their nodding heads, he continued "Now, I don't know if you heard about the ending of it, or the aftermath, so I will tell you. While protecting Ginny and Draco, Harry was hit with the killing curse, but obviously it didn't kill him, and he was able to use wandless magic and cast a spell to send the dementors back to Azkaban, and take Voldemort and the death eaters away from the grounds, to a place they couldn't escape from, but he was brought to the same place. When he was hit with the killing curse, Voldemort was separated from his body, so he began to live off of his death eaters, using their powers and bodies to sustain him, but he could only last a short period of time in each one before they died from the stress and he was forced to move onto another host.
They were in this place for three months, during which, Harry was tortured mercilessly by Voldemort and his followers, desperate to find a way out, but they never did, and finally, Voldemort ran out of followers, so he then bonded his own spirit to Harry, and began to use him the same way that he had used his death eaters, but unlike his followers, Harry was able to control him and prevent him from taking control of his body or powers, but his strength is steadily increasing, and it is only a matter of time before Harry looses control for good and Voldemort has control of Harry's powers, and with them, the entire wizarding world, and there is only one way to stop him, and this is where you Lily, and you James come in.
The only way to stop him requires Harry to drink a potion with one drop on blood from his closest blood relative and the closest blood relative of Voldemort, nine days before a new moon which would separate their magic as well as their spirits, making the second part possible. On the first day of the new moon, the two of you would need to cast a spell that would remove Voldemort from Harry's body, and in doing so, destroy him for good" he concluded as he looked over his half moon spectacles at the two students in front of him before his eyes traveled over to Harry who was still looking at the floor unblinking, lost in his own thoughts.
"Is that why the dark mark on your arm is always so black?" asked Lily suddenly, looking intently at Harry, her tears gone
He looked quickly to meet her eyes, so like his own before nodding once, not saying a word, so Snape began speaking "The dark mark is more visible the closer a death eater is to you-know-who, and seeing as Harry is as close as is possible, his is always very dark and visible, but it becomes pitch black when Voldemort is in control of his body" he explained, causing all four of the students from the past to look to Harry in shock.
"He's taken control of you before?" asked James quietly
"He's come close a few times, but he has only succeeded three times, once when I was in a defense lesson with Remus and Sirius, working on the imperious curse, once while I was in the past, during transfiguration, when I turned into that jaguar. That was not one of my animagus forms, it was Voldemort's, all of mine have my eye color and a mark somewhere on them in the shape of a lightning bolt" he explained "And then last night when I found out that I was Voldemort's grandson, but the only time he did any damage was in the defense classroom, he used my powers and cursed Remus, Sirius, and Professor Snape, and tied up the other students. He was about to kill Sirius when I was finally able to take control again, but the damage was done. The explosion of power shattered every window in the castle, and made one entire wall fall down in the defense room. That was the worse things have gotten so far, thankfully" he said as he starred intently at the faces of his future parents, praying that they would see how desperate the situation was and be willing to help.
James looked at Lily for a few moments, neither saying a word, but then Lily gave the barley perceptible nod of her head and James turned to face Harry "We'll do it" he said quietly, and everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief before small smiles began to break out on all of their faces.
"Thank you" Harry whispered back as he gathered both James and Lily into a tight embrace to show his gratitude for what they had consented to do for him.
"Excellent!" said Dumbledore, some of the twinkle returning to his blue eyes "Now, Severus, how long will it take to make the potion?" he asked as he turned to the potions master
"About two weeks to make, and a couple of days to gather the ingredients" he said after some thought
"Good, the next new moon is twenty-five days away, right at the beginning of the Christmas holidays, so that would be perfect Severus, and until then, you four can continue to attend classes with the rest of the students, and once everything is finished here, Harry will be able to send you back to your proper time" he said
"How will you send us back? I thought you had to use the same method to get back to your own time as you used to be brought to a different time" said Lily in concern, afraid she would never get to go home
"You do, but remember that I cast the spell to bring you here, I just need to cast another one to take you home" explained Harry
"Oh" said Lily
"Now, it is getting late, why don't we all get to bed" suggested the headmaster as he looked at his pocket watch, and the marauders and Lily all turned to leave, but the sound of someone clearing their throat from behind them made them all stop and turn around to look directly at Snape.
"Aren't you forgetting that you have a detention?" he asked in his silky tone, and all four of them groaned in frustration, and Snape seemed to notice their weary looks "I have decided to reschedule it until I am done gathering the ingredients needed, seeing as some must be gathered by moonlight and I must travel quite far for others. You will report to my classroom at seven in the morning on Sunday, you will serve your detention then" he said as he swept from the room without another word to anyone.
"Well, who would have thought Snape had a heart hidden somewhere in there?" said James in amazement, and he was met with amused chuckles from the others in the room before they left and went off in the direction of their own rooms.
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A/N: Hey guys, I hope you like this chapter, I know it took a little longer than expected, but the good news is that I found a job! I start tomorrow, so the next chapter probably won't be out until this weekend since I haven't even started it yet. Please review and let me know what you think of this! Oh yeah, Jenna James, I have been brainwashed by A&M since as long as I can remember, I have always been an aggie at heart! Sorry!
The next morning, all the students went about their days like normal, getting up early and heading off to breakfast before going to their first class of the day. Since the marauders and Lily were seventh years, they went with Ginny to Defense against the dark arts first, and were they in for a surprise. When they walked into the classroom, who else but Sirius Blake, former marauder, and Harry Potter, the future son of a marauder and Lily, were standing at the front of the class, talking quietly and ignoring the entering students.
"Ginny, who is the professor for this class now?" asked Lily hesitantly, dreading the answer
"Sirius and Harry teach the upper years, and Remus teaches the lower years, and Harry helps him out too whenever he needs it" she answered as she took her seat near the middle of the room, the others sliding in beside her "Why do you look so worried?" she asked when she saw the faces of all but the younger Sirius who was grinning like a maniac.
"We're not worried, per say, just a little frightened" answered Remus and upon seeing her still confused expression, he continued "Just look at it this way, Padfoot here might mature a lot when he is older, but right now, the idea of him teaching anyone anything is just downright scary, no offense Padfoot" he added hastily
"None taken, I'm kind of scared myself, who would have thought that I would ever be teaching anything, Remus I can understand, but me?" he asked in astonishment as he pointed to himself, but before the others could say anything else, Harry and his godfather turned and faced the class, and none of them could miss the tired expression on either of their faces.
"Good morning students" began Sirius with a tired smile to the class "Today we are going to study some of the curses that can be used to ward off dark creatures. Helping us out today are two people who are in the middle of their auror training, who some of you might already know, Ronald Weasley and Draco Malfoy. Now, you will be split into four groups of five and will be placed with either myself, Harry, Ron, or Draco" he said just as the door opened to admit a red headed boy and one with platinum blonde hair who both strode up to the front of the room and spoke quietly with Harry "Now, as I call your name, I will place you with your leader" he finished before he began calling names and putting students into groups. When it was all said and done, Ginny, Remus, Sirius, James, and Lily were in a group with Draco, while Harry took a group that was weakest when it came to their magical ability.
"Hello" greeted Draco as he strode up to his assigned group
"Hi Draco" said Ginny kindly "Guys, this is Draco Malfoy, Draco this is Lily Evans, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Sirius Black" she said as she pointed to them in turn.
"Well, it is a pleasure to finally meet you" said Draco, trying to ignore the nervous and almost hostile looks he was receiving from the four new students. "Well, why don't we get started then" he said as he turned away and began to lead them to an empty corner of the room, but before he reached his destination, Harry called for him to join him for a minute, leaving Ginny alone with the four very upset students.
"Hey, Draco, I thought I might warn you that those four don't get on to well you're your father" said Harry quietly, and Draco's expression darkened
"Great, do you think there is any way they will believe that I'm not like him anymore?" asked Draco hesitantly
"Maybe, it looks like they are receiving a dose of the Weasley temper from Ginny, I would recommend that you stay over here until she is done" suggested Harry with a smirk, and when Draco looked to his group of students, he noticed that sure enough, Ginny was looking furious
"I think I'll take you up on that suggestion" muttered Draco as he continued to watch the group, glaring at Harry when he started to laugh.
"Ginny, how can you trust him?" hissed Sirius angrily as soon as Draco had left "He's a Malfoy, probably the son of Lucius" he muttered darkly
"Yeah, I have to agree with Padfoot on this Ginny. Clearly you don't know what kind of people you are dealing with here. First Snape, who you and Harry were both treating like a friend" he almost spat out the word "and now you are both acting chummy with a Malfoy, what is going on?" he demanded, almost backing away from the cold fury that was beginning to build in the girls eyes.
"First, there are a few things you need to get straight here" she said icily "Malfoy is not his father, in fact, his father is dead, he has been for over a year, Harry killed him himself, and for your information, we are friends with Malfoy because he is nothing like his father, he was willing to sacrifice himself to try and save me when you-know-who attacked the castle, even though we were far from friends and he hated Harry at the time.
And secondly, Snape is not the same person you remember from when he was a student here. He was a spy in you-know-who's inner circle until he was found out and almost killed himself, and if it weren't for him, a lot more people would have died. He has also been very supportive and protective over your son since his first year here, even though Harry didn't realize this until recently and thought he was just a bastard before that.
So, I would advise you not to jump to conclusions about things you don't know anything about unless you can support your allegations. These people have fought too hard to build up these relationships, and the last thing they need right now is for them to fall" she said, breathing heavily after her rant, and seeing their shocked expressions, her own softened somewhat and she spoke in a gentler tone
"Listen, I didn't mean to explode like that, I'm really sorry, but I have a lot on my mind right now, between everything Harry is having to deal with and school and my own problems, I just get a little short tempered" she said with a shy smile.
"It's all right, I understand" said Lily with a grin as well "It's a curse that all red headed women are forced to deal with, short tempers and problematic men" she said playfully, earning herself a gentle punch on the arm from an indignant James.
"That is hitting below the belt, Evans" he said with a hurt, but playful expression on his face.
"Yes, but it is the truth love, and you know it. Between you, Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail, I think I will be insane before I even graduate, and I imagine that your son is ten times worse. Just think about what poor Ginny has to deal with, Harry and an older brother always on her back" she said with a consoling smile on her face directed to the other girl who returned it before correcting Lily.
"Actually, I not only have Harry and Ron, but five other older brothers as well" she said grimly "I'm the baby and the only girl"
"Oh, how I pity you. All I have is one older sister, and she is plenty, we have never gotten along" said Lily, and Ginny couldn't help but pity her as well for having to grow up with Harry's horrid Aunt Petunia, but before she could say so, Draco returned.
"Sorry guys, Harry needed to ask me something, now let's get started" he said eagerly, and within minutes, they were all learning and casting spells around the room, causing the hour to pass very quickly and before they knew it, it was time for lunch.
The rest of the day sped by for the seventh year students, and once dinner had come and gone, the three marauders and Lily were more than ready to go to sleep, even though it was still early. Wearily, they got to their feet and had just started to walk toward the exit of the great hall when Ginny called to them
"Hey, where are you going?" she asked as she jogged to catch up with them
"Bed, its been a crazy couple of days, and we have to be in the potions classroom at midnight, we might as well try to sleep for a couple of hours before hand" said Lily as she shot glares at the three boys, clearly blaming them for the detention
"Don't you want to come to the dueling club meeting tonight? It starts in about twenty minutes, and we always have a lot of fun" said Ginny, hopefully
"You have a dueling club! Wicked!" exclaimed Sirius, all previous weariness forgotten in his excitement, and to Ginny's pleasure, the others seemed to share that excitement as well.
"Yeah, we meet every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday night after dinner" she explained
The four other students looked at each other for a moment, as though they were holding a conversation in their heads with each other before James gave their answer "Sounds like it could be fun, as long as Snape isn't the one teaching it" he said with a smile that was so similar to Harry's that Ginny was forced to return it
"No, Snape doesn't teach it, Harry does" she explained, and upon hearing that, their expressions grew even more excited
"Great!" exclaimed Sirius happily as he sat back down at the Gryffindor table to wait for the lesson to start, and all but Ginny were surprised by the number of students who remained, nearly every student from fifth year and up was there, as well as several from the other years, all houses equally represented, and the presence of so many Slytherin students confused Lily immensely.
"Hey Ginny, Harry was a Gryffindor, right?" she asked hesitantly, and hearing her question, the three boys turned and waited anxiously for the answer.
"Yes he was, why do you ask?" asked Ginny hesitantly
"Well, if he was a Gryffindor, then why are there so many Slytherins willing to take lessons from him? The other houses I can understand, but why so many Slytherins?" she asked "I thought they hated all Gryffindor students, Draco might be the exception, but all the Slytherins I have ever met before now went off to become dark wizards or death eaters" she said quietly, not wanting any of the milling students to overhear her words, and the three boys all nodded their heads in agreement, and began to wonder the same thing.
"Like I told you all earlier, a lot of things have changed, especially in the past two years" began Ginny "Before that, we all felt the same way about the Slytherins, and they all hated us, but during my fifth year, Harry's sixth, you-know-who and a huge army of death eaters and dementors attacked the castle" she said quietly, and the others all saw a shadow pass across her face as though she were remembering a rather terrible memory
"Harry and I were outside when they came, and Harry knew they were there because his scar starts to burn anytime he is near you-know-who. I went into the forest to hide, and he went out to face him, after he had already been under the cruciatus curse from four death eaters and you-know-who at the same time. All of the students, including the Slytherins, were attacked, it didn't matter what house you were in, or who your parents were. The only ones who were spared were those who began to fight on the dark lords side.
I think this caused most of them to see that the side they thought that they supported was the wrong one, and caused them to start fighting alongside the rest of the houses" she said with a small victorious smile on her face "they also saw that it meant to be truly brave, when Harry fought against you-know-who, and then was willing to sacrifice his own life in order to save me and Draco. Ever since then, the old hatreds between houses have almost completely disappeared, except on the quidditch pitch" she said with a grin.
Lily, Sirius, Remus, and James could only stare at her in amazement for what she had just told them. They had seen firsthand just what Harry was capable of, but there were so many things they didn't know about him, and they just kept getting surprised. They now realized that a powerful thing it was to be truly united for a single cause, as the school was now, and they wished it could have been so in their own time, perhaps then Voldemort would never have gathered as many followers as he had, but old prejudices die hard, and that is just what Gryffindor house had always felt toward Slytherin house, prejudice, and until that changed, they would continue to be on opposite sides of the great battle field of good versus evil.
Before they were able to contemplate their thoughts any further though, the hall fell silent as Harry walked in. He walked quickly to the head table and turned to face them with a smile on his face.
"Good evening, I trust you have all recovered from Monday nights meeting?" he asked, and when he was met with no objections, he continued "Now, if you could all please move to the back of the hall, we need to move these tables" he said, and the students all obeyed and gathered along the back wall, and when they were all clear, Harry lifted his arms, and at his command, the four large house tables vanished and all the chairs were lined up neatly along the side walls, leaving the middle of the hall empty "Ok, now as promised, tonight we are going to have a little competition. I will put you into pairs based on your ability, and you will duel until one of you is either stunned or unarmed, the winner will then be paired with the winner of another duel, and those two will fight, and so on until there is only one remaining, and that person wins. Now, if you loose, please quickly take a seat along the edge of the hall and watch your classmates.
Ok, as I call your name, please take your position with your partner, and once all of you are ready, we will begin" he said as he looked down to the roll of parchment and began to read off names and students began to find their respective partners. There were nearly four hundred students present, and it took quite some time to partner then all up, but once it was done, he looked back to all the students "Ok, now the rules are simple, any spell or curse may be used, except the unforgivable curses, or any that cause physical harm, and no physical contact, or weapons other than your wands may be used" he said with his face stern "Ok, on the count of three, bow to your partner, and begin. One, two, three" he said, and the hall was immediately filled with multicolored light, and he stood his ground and surveyed the organized chaos intently, making sure no one was injured.
Ginny was partnered with a seventh year Slytherin named Jasmine Boyens, and it took her only a few spells to disarm the other girl, who smiled and took her seat with a few others who were defeated quickly. James was dueling a boy named Steven, and he too won in only a matter of minutes and went to stand next to Ginny and the two spoke quietly
"You were right, this is fun" he said with a wide smile on his face just as they were joined by Sirius
"Man, that was easier than I thought it would be, that Kristen girl looked tough, but she was really slow to dodge spells" he said, and a few minutes later, Lily and Remus also joined them, grinning from ear to ear with excitement. About five minutes later, all the duels had been completed, leaving only two hundred students still standing in the middle of the great hall, the others all sitting in chairs surrounding them.
"Very good, all of you" said Harry as he surveyed those that had won "Now, listen up, you partners for the next match are" and he again began calling out names and within a few minutes, the second round was under way, this one lasting a little longer than the previous, but the five Gryffindors were still some of the first to win. Again, Harry partnered the remaining hundred or so students up, and again they dueled, and again, the Marauders, Lily, and Ginny were among those victorious, and to this, Harry looked very pleased. They continued until there were only ten left, and then Harry called them up to the stage where he could speak to them without the rest of the students overhearing him
"Ok, first I want to say congratulations to all of you, you have all done very well so far. Now, this time, I want Ginny to go against Daniel" he said as he nodded his head to a seventh year Ravenclaw "Lily against Ian" and the Hufflepuff moved to stand next to his partner "Sirius, you will duel Jacob" he said as he pointed to the Slytherin "Remus, you and Michelle" and the Gryffindor moved over to the Ravenclaw "and James, you and Andrew" he said and the last student, a Slytherin moved next to James "Ok, now spread out around the hall, and begin when I give the word" he said and the ten students obediently did as he asked, and a few moments later, they had started to duel again, for the sixth time that night.
These particular duels lasted for nearly ten minutes each, and Harry watched with pride and no small amount of amusement as the five Gryffindor students outwitted their opponents, jumping and dodging so quickly while still firing spells that he was amazed at their talent. He had seen Ginny duel on numerous occasions, but even she was doing far better than he would have ever imagined tonight, and his heart swelled with pride to know that she was able to take care of herself if the need were to ever arise, and he was even rewarded with some pride to know that his parents must have given Voldemort a run for his money when he had attacked them, they were both excellent duelers as well and he knew where he had gotten the talent from now.
When the five mini battles had finally ended, he couldn't help but smile to see that it was the Gryffindor students who had won.
"Good job guys" he said happily as he descended the stairs from the stage that the head table was on.
"Thanks" said Ginny breathlessly as she put her hands on her knees and tried to regulated her breathing, and he noticed with amusement that all five of them were panting rather heavily "What, don't tell me that you're tired already" he joked and earned himself five very unhappy glares in response "All right, you can take a little brake" he said as he turned and faced the rest of the students who were all talking quietly among themselves
"First, I would like to congratulate all of you for a job well done" he began "Now, as soon as these five have regained their breath, they will face off to see who the winner is, but since there is an odd number, they will all fight against each other instead of one on one like they have been doing, and the last one standing with a wand will be the winner" he said "Now, if they will get into a circle" he said as he looked to them and they did as he asked "Ok, on the count of three, you may begin, and the same rules apply as always" he said "One, two, three" and the final match began.
At first, it was each person for themselves, but when they realized that they were getting nowhere with that tactic, they began to focus on one person at a time, and poor Remus was first, and received stunning spells from four different angles. He managed to dodge those from everyone except for Sirius who was directly across from him, and it hit him squarely in the chest, knocking him unconscious and earning a loud yell of victory from Sirius, which I turn earned him the same fate as Remus as three disarming spells were aimed at him, and Lily ended up with his wand in her hand as she sent him a smug smile.
Then, the couple from the past turned their attention onto Ginny, who was able to defend herself for several minutes before a cheerfulness charm hit her and James saw his opportunity and disarmed her, sending her to take a seat beside Sirius and the now awake Remus on the sidelines. Lily and James then went head to head, sending curses faster than could be seen, and dodging them even faster, but after about five minutes, the duel was beginning to tire Lily and her reflexes slowed enough that she was hit with a leg locker curse and dropped her wand as she fell to the ground, declaring James the winner and a great cheer went up from the other students who gave him a standing ovation.
"Congratulations, James" said Harry as he walked up to the younger version of his father "Now I know where I get my dueling talent from" he added with a wide smile that James tiredly returned.
"Now, I believe that that is enough for tonight. Friday night we will be working on some advanced shield charms, so between now and then, I want each of you to come up with one that you would like to work on" said Harry "Again, good job tonight, and congratulations to our winner" he said, and the students began to file from the hall, still talking excitedly about the duels, and Ginny, Remus, and Sirius joined Harry, James and Lily in the middle of the hall as Harry began to move the tables and chairs back to their proper positions.
"Congratulations, Prongs, I knew you had it in you to beat your girlfriend" said Sirius with a grin, and for the comment, Lily slapped him hard on the back of the head "Sorry Lil's" he mumbled as he massaged the sore area, while everyone else laughed at him.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but we still have three hours until our detention, I'm going to go take a nap" said James, but before he had even taken two steps, Harry had grabbed his shoulder.
"Sorry James, but Dumbledore wants to meet with all of us now, your nap will just have to wait" said Harry, and they all got the impression that he was not looking forward to whatever meeting they were about to go to, considering that his previous cheerful expression had been replaced by a frown.
"Oh man" muttered James as he grudgingly turned and faced the other five "Well, what does our esteemed headmaster wish to se us for at nine at night?" he asked
"He'll explain everything when we get there" said Harry "Come on" he said crisply as eh spun around and began to lead them from the hall, all the lightheartedness he had possessed only moments before gone completely and replaced with a cold stone of indifference. Apparently, Ginny sensed his unease though, and hurried up beside him and took his hand in hers and leaned up to say something in his ear.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine" she said, not intending the others to hear, but they did anyways.
"I'm not sure, Gin, what if they won't help?" he asked her, and the marauders and Lily all turned to each other in confusion, what were they going to ask them to help with?
"Don't even think about that, Harry" scolded Ginny gently
"I can't help it, Gin" he said heavily, but instead of saying anymore, he wrapped his arm around her waist and they walked in silence the rest of the way to the headmasters office, the other four Gryffindor students a few paces behind them and silent as well, but curious about what was about to happen.
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While the dueling club had been meeting in the great hall, Dumbledore, Snape, the older Sirius and Remus, Pomfrey, Hermione, Ron, and Draco were all sitting around the headmasters' office and going over everything they knew about the spell and potion that would be needed to destroy Voldemort for good. Sirius had brought the book that Ginny had given Harry for his birthday, and Dumbledore had found three others that contained the same information.
"Sir, if you don't mind my asking, is there any way that this could fail?" asked Hermione tentatively
"No, as long as the potion is made correctly and the spell is cast properly, then both will do what they are designed for" he answered, and all present breathed a sigh of relief.
"How exactly does it work, and what do the spell and potion do? I read what the book said, but I don't really understand it" said Draco
"Well, the potion is used first, and it is used to separate Harry's magic and spirit form that of Voldemort, but doing so will cause one of them to become stronger than the other since Harry won't be able to use his own powers to control Voldemort any longer, and it is the only variable that I can see that will either make this work or cause it to fail. If Harry can keep control, the spell can be cast on the first day of the new moon, exactly nine days after the potion is taken, and as soon as the two are separated, Voldemort will be destroyed" he said as he looked around the room. Of those present, Hermione, Draco, Ron, and Remus already knew the entire process of how the spell and potion would be used, since they had all discovered it, on two separate occasions, Remus first, and the other three while Harry and Sirius were in the past. The others all knew about it, but until now they had not been told the entire story of how it worked.
"So, if Harry is able to keep control for nine days after he drinks this potion, without using his powers, then we can cast the spell?" asked Sirius quietly
"Yes" answered the headmaster, but then the ex-convict asked the question that was on all of their minds, but no one else wanted to ask themselves.
"What if he can't?" he asked quietly, locking eyes with the old man
"We can only hope that it doesn't come to that, but even if it does, we can still cast the spell, but it will work the opposite. If Voldemort is in control when it is cast, then Harry's spirit will be the one that is destroyed, leaving Voldemort in complete control, and with his strength, and his followers, I doubt that there would be anything we could do to stop him. The only consolation to this, is that he would only have Harry's body, and not his powers, because those are connected to a persons spirit, and once the spirit is gone, so are their powers" he said darkly and everyone else was silent, praying that it would not come to that in the end. They sat in silence for nearly twenty minutes, until they were all brought out of their own thoughts by a knocking on the door "Come in" called Dumbledore, and the door was pushed opened to reveal Harry, Ginny, Lily, James, and the younger Sirius and Remus.
"Sorry we are so late, sir" said Harry as they entered
"Quite all right, Harry, who won the competition?" he asked with a slight twinkle in his eye, already sure of the answer, and he was proven right when everyone pointed at a beaming James "Congratulations, James, now if you could all take your seats, we can begin" he said, and Harry conjured six more chairs and they all obediently sat down and looked at the headmaster expectantly. "Now, I'm sure you four are curious as to why I called you here tonight" he began "We need to ask a favor of you James, and you Lily, but first, we should explain what is happing and why we need your help"
"Lily, how much do you know about your family?" he asked as he faced the red haired girl in front of him who looked decidedly confused
"Well, I've grown up with my sister, Petunia, and my parents Eric and Candice Evans, why do you ask?" she asked hesitantly, her eyes darting from the headmaster to Harry who had his own green eyes trained at the floor and refused to meet the gaze of anyone else in the room.
"Well, Lily, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but what you have grown up believing is not the truth" said the headmaster heavily, and upon seeing her shocked expression, he continued "Your mothers name was Susan Evans, and Eric is her older brother, your Uncle. Susan was married to a man named Tom Riddle, who was a wizard, and a very powerful one. Together, they had you, but for some reason, your mother gave you her maiden name instead of her married name for your last name, Evans.
Now, Tom began to meddle in the dark arts, and he had always seen muggles as inferior to magic people, until he met your mother who was a muggle. They were quite in love, but one day, he came home to see your mother punishing you for using magic, you were probably two at the time. He tortured your mother with the cruciatus curse, and when she was unconscious, he left you and her behind. When she woke up, she was frightened, and took you to her brothers' house, a man that Tom had never met, he didn't even know where your uncle lived or his name, so you were safe, even though Tom wanted to find you. He tortured and killed your mother, and your maternal grandparents looking for you, but he couldn't get them to tell him where you were, and he eventually gave up and continued his dark activity" he said, pausing here to give Lily the opportunity to ask any questions, which she readily did.
"So, my father was a wizard" she said quietly "What happened to him? Did he die?" she asked hesitantly
"I'm afraid not, Lily, he turned dark, as dark as he could possibly go, and he has been responsible for many deaths over the past three decades, including your own" he said quietly, and recognition struck Lily like lightning
"No!" she screamed, jumping to her feet "That monster is not my father!" she bellowed, tears coming to her eyes "Eric Evans is my father, not him" she cried as the tears began to spill down her cheeks and her hands began to tremble "not him" she mumbled as she squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to stop the flow of tears from her eyes.
"Lily, I'm sorry, but you need to know the truth" said Dumbledore heavily
"Why! I was doing just fine without knowing this!" she screamed, nearly hysterical now "I would have been perfectly content never knowing this" she added in a quieter tone as she collapsed back into her chair, and James looked angrily toward the headmaster.
"Why did you tell her this? You have no right destroying everything she has ever known in her life!" he exclaimed as he pulled the crying Lily into his arms.
"I am sorry, but she needs to know the truth in order for her to understand what we will be asking of her, it is only right" he said in a weary tone, the others in the room just watching in silence and Harry continuing to stare at the floor.
"What is so important that you have tried so hard to find her? I assume that she was the girl Harry was looking for while he was in the past" said the younger Remus as he looked in concern to his two friends
"Yes, Harry went back to find Voldemort's daughter, though he had no idea who she was, and as for why we needed to find her, we need her to help destroy Voldemort once and for all" said Dumbledore, and his words caused Lily's head to shot up and James to look at him in shock
"What? What do you mean that you need her to help destroy him? Why bring her here if that is what you wanted, why not do it in the past, before he kills so many people?" asked Remus in confusion
"It is not that simple. In your time, he is strong and whole, but right now, he is but a spirit and we are able to destroy him" said Dumbledore
"If you want me to help you kill the man that fathered me, you are going to have to explain more than that. He may be a monster, but you are asking me to help kill my own father" said Lily shortly
"Very well. I trust that you have heard about the attack on Hogwarts by Voldemort a couple of years ago?" he asked, and seeing their nodding heads, he continued "Now, I don't know if you heard about the ending of it, or the aftermath, so I will tell you. While protecting Ginny and Draco, Harry was hit with the killing curse, but obviously it didn't kill him, and he was able to use wandless magic and cast a spell to send the dementors back to Azkaban, and take Voldemort and the death eaters away from the grounds, to a place they couldn't escape from, but he was brought to the same place. When he was hit with the killing curse, Voldemort was separated from his body, so he began to live off of his death eaters, using their powers and bodies to sustain him, but he could only last a short period of time in each one before they died from the stress and he was forced to move onto another host.
They were in this place for three months, during which, Harry was tortured mercilessly by Voldemort and his followers, desperate to find a way out, but they never did, and finally, Voldemort ran out of followers, so he then bonded his own spirit to Harry, and began to use him the same way that he had used his death eaters, but unlike his followers, Harry was able to control him and prevent him from taking control of his body or powers, but his strength is steadily increasing, and it is only a matter of time before Harry looses control for good and Voldemort has control of Harry's powers, and with them, the entire wizarding world, and there is only one way to stop him, and this is where you Lily, and you James come in.
The only way to stop him requires Harry to drink a potion with one drop on blood from his closest blood relative and the closest blood relative of Voldemort, nine days before a new moon which would separate their magic as well as their spirits, making the second part possible. On the first day of the new moon, the two of you would need to cast a spell that would remove Voldemort from Harry's body, and in doing so, destroy him for good" he concluded as he looked over his half moon spectacles at the two students in front of him before his eyes traveled over to Harry who was still looking at the floor unblinking, lost in his own thoughts.
"Is that why the dark mark on your arm is always so black?" asked Lily suddenly, looking intently at Harry, her tears gone
He looked quickly to meet her eyes, so like his own before nodding once, not saying a word, so Snape began speaking "The dark mark is more visible the closer a death eater is to you-know-who, and seeing as Harry is as close as is possible, his is always very dark and visible, but it becomes pitch black when Voldemort is in control of his body" he explained, causing all four of the students from the past to look to Harry in shock.
"He's taken control of you before?" asked James quietly
"He's come close a few times, but he has only succeeded three times, once when I was in a defense lesson with Remus and Sirius, working on the imperious curse, once while I was in the past, during transfiguration, when I turned into that jaguar. That was not one of my animagus forms, it was Voldemort's, all of mine have my eye color and a mark somewhere on them in the shape of a lightning bolt" he explained "And then last night when I found out that I was Voldemort's grandson, but the only time he did any damage was in the defense classroom, he used my powers and cursed Remus, Sirius, and Professor Snape, and tied up the other students. He was about to kill Sirius when I was finally able to take control again, but the damage was done. The explosion of power shattered every window in the castle, and made one entire wall fall down in the defense room. That was the worse things have gotten so far, thankfully" he said as he starred intently at the faces of his future parents, praying that they would see how desperate the situation was and be willing to help.
James looked at Lily for a few moments, neither saying a word, but then Lily gave the barley perceptible nod of her head and James turned to face Harry "We'll do it" he said quietly, and everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief before small smiles began to break out on all of their faces.
"Thank you" Harry whispered back as he gathered both James and Lily into a tight embrace to show his gratitude for what they had consented to do for him.
"Excellent!" said Dumbledore, some of the twinkle returning to his blue eyes "Now, Severus, how long will it take to make the potion?" he asked as he turned to the potions master
"About two weeks to make, and a couple of days to gather the ingredients" he said after some thought
"Good, the next new moon is twenty-five days away, right at the beginning of the Christmas holidays, so that would be perfect Severus, and until then, you four can continue to attend classes with the rest of the students, and once everything is finished here, Harry will be able to send you back to your proper time" he said
"How will you send us back? I thought you had to use the same method to get back to your own time as you used to be brought to a different time" said Lily in concern, afraid she would never get to go home
"You do, but remember that I cast the spell to bring you here, I just need to cast another one to take you home" explained Harry
"Oh" said Lily
"Now, it is getting late, why don't we all get to bed" suggested the headmaster as he looked at his pocket watch, and the marauders and Lily all turned to leave, but the sound of someone clearing their throat from behind them made them all stop and turn around to look directly at Snape.
"Aren't you forgetting that you have a detention?" he asked in his silky tone, and all four of them groaned in frustration, and Snape seemed to notice their weary looks "I have decided to reschedule it until I am done gathering the ingredients needed, seeing as some must be gathered by moonlight and I must travel quite far for others. You will report to my classroom at seven in the morning on Sunday, you will serve your detention then" he said as he swept from the room without another word to anyone.
"Well, who would have thought Snape had a heart hidden somewhere in there?" said James in amazement, and he was met with amused chuckles from the others in the room before they left and went off in the direction of their own rooms.
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A/N: Hey guys, I hope you like this chapter, I know it took a little longer than expected, but the good news is that I found a job! I start tomorrow, so the next chapter probably won't be out until this weekend since I haven't even started it yet. Please review and let me know what you think of this! Oh yeah, Jenna James, I have been brainwashed by A&M since as long as I can remember, I have always been an aggie at heart! Sorry!