A/N: This one got away from me. I wasn't even planning on this confrontation happening so early, but those damned Potter boys can be unbelievably stubborn when they want to be!

Chapter 11: The Truth

"Professor Potter! Professor Wilkins!"

Hermione sighed, closing her eyes briefly in disappointment. Her shoulders dropped when Harry let go of her hand and turned around. They were almost back at their private quarters, ready to spend some ahem alone time together before calling it a night.

She could see from the look in Harry's eyes that he was upset at their interruption too.

"How many times, James? Call us Harry and Hermione." Harry told him as the Head Boy approached. From behind him, the other three Marauders trailed behind. They were far enough to not be encroaching on their personal space, but close enough to still eavesdrop. "How can I help?"

"I saw dad's owl deliver a letter to you," James said, his voice barely holding back the accusatory tone he desperately wanted to use. His hazel eyes flicked over to Hermione, who was watching from beside Harry with moderate apprehension, before they met the green eyes of Harry. "I suppose I just wanted to know what he said."

"Bit personal, don't you think?" Harry asked, amusement dripping from his voice. Rather than being offended at James' bluntness, he was rather humoured by it. He would act the same if the roles were reversed, as James was clearly worrying over his parents.

There might have even been a hint of jealously that Charlus had owled Harry without responding to James' letter first.

"Harry," Hermione admonished lightly, frowning at him. She watched as the two stared each other down, one amused and the other offended, and was quickly growing annoyed at the pair of them.

Boys. Honestly.

"Why don't you come to our rooms?" Hermione offered. James and Harry raised their eyebrows towards her in shock, both unaware of how alike they looked. It was slightly unnerving to her and would take quite a bit of getting used to. "Oh, come off it. He's family. We're no longer in teaching hours. For all intents and purposes, this can be seen as some innocent family bonding with two cousins and their friends. I'll make a nice pot of tea and you can have your pissing contest over Charlus like adults. Agreed?"

From further down the corridor, Hermione heard Remus and Sirius snort in amusement. She resisted the urge to smile at them. Instead, she rolled her eyes and looked at the Potter boys – for that's what they were right then, not the adults they were supposed to be – with an impatient look on her face. She folded her arms across her chest, cocked a hip, then tapped a foot impatiently. Her eyes narrowed dangerously at them. "Agreed?"

"Agreed." Harry quickly stammered out, lest he fall victim to one of her nastier hexes. James, sensing the imminent danger, nodded his head in agreement.

"Excellent," Hermione smiled beautifully, then spun on her heel to lead the Marauders the rest of the way to their private quarters. "I'll ask for one of the House-elves to send cake with the tea. I know we've just had dinner, but you're all growing boys."

Harry subtly shook his head at James when he was sent a questioning look at Hermione's sudden change in attitude.

"I wouldn't mate," Harry whispered to him as the other Marauders caught up. He watched Hermione walk ahead of them, her skirts swishing around her knees. Merlin, he loved seeing her in a dress. "She's bloody scary when she wants to be. As an old friend once said; she's brilliant, but scary."

"Brilliant, beautiful, and scary. Gotcha." James nodded, slowly taking his eyes off Hermione's back to smirk at Harry. "That must be an attractive trait to all Potter men, no matter where they are in the family tree."

Harry barked out a laugh. Hermione turned her head, raising a brow questioningly at him. He merely shook his head back at her in response. That was a can of worms that he didn't want to open, thank you very much.

"Yes, it seems it." Harry said, thinking about what he's seen of Lily Evans over the last couple of days. She wasn't quite to Hermione's level in his very biased opinion, but there was no denying that the young Miss Evans was brilliant and scary too.

It was half a minute later when they met up with Hermione, who was stood in front of a portrait depicting the Black Lake at dawn. The new morning light shone on the surface of the water, giving the impression that it was shimmering. In the distance, a Hippogriff flew in the clear blue sky, drawing nearer to the group until it was right in front of them. As there was no bank for it to land on, the Hippogriff hovered above the water, occasionally dipping a claw into the surface.

It reminded Harry of the class Hagrid taught in Third Year where they met Buckbeak for the first time, and the flight the hippogriff took him on. Those memories of Buckbeak then led to what happened at the end of the school year, where he and Hermione went back in time to save the lives of Buckbeak and Sirius.

It was also the first time that Harry realised just how much Hermione meant to him. It wasn't romantic then, but it was definitely the foundation for what he felt now.

"Ronald." Hermione said softly to the portrait when the rest of the boys. The hippogriff bowed his head low, his nose skimming the surface of the water. The latch clicked, allowing the portrait to swing forward to allow them entrance.

"Ronald?" Remus asked politely as they followed Harry and Hermione through the portrait hole.

"A fallen friend," was all that Hermione said to him, giving the young werewolf a wistful smile. "He is greatly missed."

"I don't think it needs to be said that nobody is to know that you've been here, let alone that you know where we live." Harry said to the Marauders as he sat down in his favourite armchair. It was a deep red colour and reminded him of the soft armchair that he coveted in the Gryffindor Common Room back in their world.

"Marauder's Honour." James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter said to them, crossing their fingers over their hearts. "We do solemnly swear."

Hermione glanced at Harry, slightly unnerved that Peter had followed them. He offered a small smile and shrug of the shoulders back. Perhaps if they were in their world, they would react to Peter Pettigrew with a bit more hostility. As it was, they weren't in their world, and he was acting towards his friends exactly as he should; with utmost loyalty and respect. He was a Marauder. It was plain to see just how much the mousy haired boy loved his friends.

If that were ever to change, however, Harry and Hermione would be first to hex the little rat traitor into oblivion.

Hermione made her way to the small kitchenette and pulled down a small chalkboard that hung on the wall. Teachers were given them to make requests to the House-elves in the kitchen, usually tea and biscuits for when they were marking. Or something a little stronger for when the idiocy of students got a bit much. She wrote down her request for the House-elves with the chalk provided (enough tea for six people and a selection of afternoon cakes) and waited for them to prepare it for her. When it was ready, it would appear on the counter for her to collect.

"So, James, how can we be of service?" Harry asked while Hermione busied herself in the small kitchen. The Marauders managed to squeeze themselves onto the cream couch. "You wanted to know about the letter your dad sent me?"

"Yeah." James said distractedly, watching Hermione walk back into the room and perch on the arm of the chair Harry was sat in. He focused on Harry again. "I suppose I'm being a bit too nosy, to be honest."

"It's only natural to be this curious." Hermione said to him, smoothing the skirt of her dress so it fell over her knee. If anyone noticed the blood spots starting to appear on the bandages of her leg, no one mentioned it. "I would be too. A new family member arriving, one that I hadn't heard of before, and instead of getting an answer from my father, I'm ignored in favour of this new family member. Of course you're curious and want to know if this new family member is safe. We don't live in the safest of times right now, it's okay to be worried."

"It's just…" James began, hesitating. A faint flush rose up his neck as he sank back into the couch. He sighed heavily. "I used to sneak the family tree books when I was younger. I wanted to learn everything about the Potter family tree, ready for when I took over as Lord Potter from my dad. I knew everyone. Every Potter born, every wife or husband. Uncle Charlus and Aunt Dorea were on that tree, but Harry wasn't. There's probably a good reason for that, I understand that, but when I ask my dad what he knows, and he doesn't write to me first… I just feel like something is wrong here. And I need to know what it is. The fact that my parents aren't storming into the castle to demand an answer from you themselves speaks volumes. I just… I don't know. I need to know, I suppose."

Harry looked up at Hermione when James finished speaking. The younger Potter was breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath after his mini tirade. The flush hadn't left his face, but he still looked at Harry, determined for answers. Harry just wasn't sure which answer to give him.

Yes, Harry and Hermione had discussed telling Fleamont and Euphemia about the truth in their situation – they didn't want to hide anything from them but wanted to tell them in person at Christmas or sooner if they met beforehand – but they didn't think about telling James, the Marauders or Lily.

Nobody said they couldn't say anything, but they were selective of who knew.

The fewer, the better.

But surely the boys in front of them, and Lily, deserved to know the truth.

Didn't they?

"I think I'd best ask for something a bit stronger than tea." Hermione put a hand on Harry's shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze. With a secret smile, she stood up and made her way to the kitchen again.

Harry sank back into the armchair, took the glasses off his face, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. The Marauders shared a glance with each other, recognising this as something that James did when he was about to speak about something serious with them.

"There is something, isn't there?" James accused, sitting on the edge of the couch. He rested his elbows on his knees, his hands dangling in the space between his legs. "Do my parents know?"

"Not yet." Harry admitted. He cleaned the lens of his glasses with a handkerchief that was in the pocket of his suit jacket. Once he put his glasses back on, he looked at James dead in the eye. "Not until we meet face to face. I don't think this is something one admits with parchment and ink."

"So you're not a Potter."

"Oh, I'm a Potter all right. My name really is Harry James Potter."

Hermione came through with a tea tray in her hands. A giant pot of tea, six teacups and saucers, as well as milk and sugar had been placed on the tray. Behind her, another tea tray floated behind her, filled with all sorts of mini cakes. She placed the tea tray on the coffee table and waved her wand so that the teapot could pour the tea into each teacup. Another tray floated towards them from the kitchen, but this time a bottle of single malt whiskey was sat dead centre. Hermione plucked it from the tray and poured a liberal amount in each teacup.

"I figured we'd best start somewhat reasonably." Hermione explained as she handed out the teacups. The Marauders took them with a polite thank you, adding milk and sugar to suit their preference. Hermione fixed up Harry's tea and handed it to him, before she resumed her spot on the arm rest. "So, how much have you told them?"

"Just my name so far." Harry said, delicately blowing on the hot tea before taking a sip. He tried not to wince at the sudden burning the whiskey gave the tea. Even though it was muggle, it still had one hell of a burn. It must be the good stuff. Hermione was right. It was better to start like this than go straight for the bottle. He imagined it wouldn't take long before they were all glugging from it and asking for more.

"You don't tell anyone about this either." Hermione said to the boys, raising an eyebrow at them. "The whiskey or this conversation. I'll make you take a vow if I have to."

"Depends on what Harry has to say." Sirius said to her, speaking up for the first time. He'd been happy to watch from the side-lines, ready to come to James' aid when necessary. To see a teacher willingly give students some alcohol was alarming to him.

It was also something he greatly respected.

"Well, I guarantee that what Harry has to say is something you could never expect."

"Has it got something to do with Wilkins not being your real name?" Sirius asked innocently, sipping from his teacup. At the surprised look on Hermione's face, he smirked to himself in victory.

"How on earth… the map." Hermione breathed. She looked at Harry with wide eyes. "We forgot about their bloody map."

"Hang on! How do you know about the map?" James asked angrily, ready to jump to his feet. "You've only been here a few days."

"I think you'll find we've been here longer than a few days, James." Hermione barely spared him a glance, still looking at Harry. "I think we've got to tell them everything."

"Not everything, not yet." Harry disagreed. Despite the burning heat, he finished his whiskey tea in one go, not even wincing at the heat or the burn. "This wasn't how I planned on this going. Merlin knows I wasn't even going to say anything at all yet!"

"Yes, but you know how these things sort of get away with themselves." Hermione said to him, watching as he windlessly brought the whiskey bottle over and poured some into his empty teacup. "Show off."

"Excuse me!" James said loudly, jumping to his feet this time. He didn't appreciate the fact that Harry and Hermione had started to ignore them, nor did he like that they didn't react to his outburst.

If he knew about Ron Weasley and his famous outbursts, he would understand.

"I think you'll find that I've got some questions that I want answers to. And I don't like being ignored." James said to them through gritted teeth. Hermione merely raised an eyebrow and stood up. She might have been a clear foot shorter than him, but the look on her face demanded his attention. "Please."

"Sit down, James. Stop acting like a petulant child." Hermione darkly said to him, pointing at the space on the couch he had vacated in his anger. "Learn some patience."

"How do you know about the map?" This time, Peter was the one that asked the question, and he was a lot politer and calmer than James.

"It's rather a long story." Harry said, looking down at his whiskey. While he admitted that this Peter wasn't like their Peter, he couldn't quite look him in the eye. "Let's just say, it's a family heirloom. I'd prove it to you, if Hermione hadn't lost her bag when we got here. I'm not accusing, Mione, I'm just saying." He added when Hermione opened her mouth to retort back to him.

"I'll find it," Hermione said to him. She sighed. "I hope I can find it anyway."

"Is it some small purple bag? A gaudy little thing?" Sirius asked. He noticed Hermione perk up at the description and smiled. "Found it on the first night back on the Seventh Floor. Said 'Property of Hermione Granger' on the inside, but nothing else was in it."

"No, there wouldn't be." Hermione smiled at him. She couldn't believe it. All this time she spent worrying, and it was still outside the Room of Requirement. Until Sirius found it, that was. "It's heavily warded and charmed so that anyone but me can see what's inside. There's an Undetectable extension charm on it, too."

"Aren't they illegal?" Remus asked curiously, placing his empty teacup on the coffee table in front of him. Hermione merely smirked.

"There's a lot about our story that's illegal." Harry admitted to Remus, "But thanks to good ol' Albus Dumbledore, we've been let off the hook so long as we help him out." There was a bitter edge to his voice that the Marauders did not miss.

"What's this got to do with the map? And your name?" James asked, finally calm enough to ask a question without sneering at his teachers. This definitely wasn't how tonight was supposed to go.

"Might as well just say it, Harry. Like a plaster." Hermione said to him, peering at Harry through her lashes. "The quicker, the better. Then everything else will be easier to explain."

Harry had to admit that she was right. The longer he spent skirting around telling James the truth about their relationship, the harder it would be to actually say anything to him. Here he was, not knowing if he had the guts to admit anything to James and Lily, and he was about to blow James' mind with the truth. With everything.

"Okay. So, I'm Harry James Potter. I was born on July 31st, 1980, to James Potter and Lily Potter." Harry looked at the Marauders. They weren't showing any reaction to this information, not just yet. They sensed that something bigger was about to be admitted. "Hermione and I are from twenty years in the future."

"Oh, and from a parallel universe." Hermione added, a small smile on her face.

Silence.

For a full five minutes, the Marauders were silent as they digested this information.

Panic was forming behind James' eyes as he stared at Harry.

Harry Potter.

His son.

His son from the future.

His son from the future and a parallel universe.

"What the fuck?"

Hermione looked at the dainty wristwatch that hung on her left wrist and smiled at Harry.

"Five minutes. He lasted longer than I thought."

Harry didn't answer her, instead he kept his eyes trained on James, who was growing more and more panicked with each passing second.

"What the fuck do you mean you're my son from the future? Is this some sort of sick joke?"

"I assure you, this isn't a joke. Believe me, we've been asking that ourselves since we woke up in the Hospital Wing a few weeks ago." Harry said to him, trying to be as calm as possible. It wouldn't be good if both of them couldn't get a handle on their emotions. One of them was bad enough.

"I'm not exactly sure how it happened, either." Hermione admitted quietly. "We were in the middle of war when we came here. We were brough by broken magic from the Room of Requirement. We travelled across universes to one that was as close to ours as possible. I'm still not exactly sure why, but I think it has something to do with the war we had just left. Perhaps we're here to stop it before it begins here, which is what we're going to do anyway."

"You were in a war?" Remus asked, eyebrows raised. They'd all heard about how bad life was beyond Hogwarts' safe walls. They just didn't realise that this war would still be waging twenty years into the future.

"The Final Battle, some were calling it. There's a lot more to the story than what we're going to tell you today." Harry said to them, running a hand through his hair. "So much more. I'm not even sure if I want to tell you it all before you graduate, to be honest. But yeah. We were brought here, back in time and across universes to save the world. Again."

"Again?" James asked, frowning at him. He didn't know which emotion he wanted to latch onto. The more he heard talk about war, the more he wanted to know about it. He wanted to know how his son travelled through time and space to be here. How he was now Charlus and Dorea's son, and not his. His head was starting to hurt.

"Honesty, there's so much we shouldn't be telling you right now." Hermione sighed, filling her now-empty teacup with whiskey. She waved her wand and the bottle filled up the other teacups. It was definitely time for something stronger now. "You're taking the knowledge that Harry's actually your son rather well."

"Are you kidding? I'm shitting myself." James admitted to her with a humourless laugh. He ran his hand through his hair, just like Harry did a moment ago. "Me and Lily? When did that happen?"

"You two were quite the fairy-tale story. From what I gather, Sirius and Marlene in this world is a parallel to James and Lily in ours." Hermione smiled at him. "Not that there's any pressure to get with Lily. If you aren't romantically inclined towards her, there's no point forcing it. You'd only end up unhappy if you force a relationship with each other just because it happened in a different universe."

"And how does Head Unspeakable Dumbledore factor into all this?" Remus asked, remembering that Harry mentioned him a few minutes before.

"Well, in our universe, he was still Headmaster until last year. He died, rather suddenly, then we were on the run for about a year hunting Voldemort's Horcruxes." Harry said to them, rather blasé about the matter.

"Horcruxes? That evil scum made Horcruxes?" Sirius asked, his voice rising in pitch with disbelief. "I didn't think they were a real thing! That's meant to be some seriously dark magic."

"The vilest." Hermione told him, eyes darkening. "He made seven. One of them was Harry. I'm not actually sure why Harry still isn't a horcrux now, but I have my assumptions. We can talk about them another day. Dumbledore used Blood Magic to ensure Harry was tied to the Potter line in this universe. Seeing as he couldn't legitimately be recognised as your son again, he decided to tie him to Charlus and Dorea. They really did have a boy that was Harry's age, and they did all die in August. I suppose it was easier for Dumbledore to tie him to a dead strain on the Potter line than a living one."

"Don't worry," Harry said, sensing James was going to say something about it. "I'm going to be telling your parents exactly what I'm telling you now. Dumbledore might not want me to, but I can't lie to my family. Not when it's not truthful in the way we're connected."

"And who are you tied to here?" Sirius asked Hermione. He quickly noticed her sad smile. "Haven't you got family here?"

"No, I'm Muggle-born." Hermione helplessly shrugged. "My parents should be together by now, and they're not. I'll never be born in this world. And there isn't anyone in my bloodline magical enough to be tied to."

"But… what if you were sent back to your universe?" Remus asked, "If Dumbledore is trying to send you back, that is."

"Oh, I definitely think he's trying to send me back. I'll go, no matter how much I fight it. I don't belong in this universe, so I'll be sent back to the one I came from." Hermione had that sad smile on her face again. "Harry will stay here, as he's now magically tied to the Potter line."

"Dumbledore's using her instability in this universe as leverage to follow his rules." Harry bitterly spat out. Hermione put a hand on his head and ran her fingers through his hair gently, trying to calm him down. "If we do something he doesn't like, he could rip her away from he without batting his eyes. If he could."

"We're still not going to completely follow his rules." Hermione said to the Marauders. "He was a manipulator in our world, and he seems to be a worse one here. He raised Harry as a sacrificial lamb for slaughter, I won't allow anything like that to be done again. We're going to stop this war from happening in the first place. Before all that needless bloodshed. We're going to do it our way, not some meddling old coot's way."

"Well said, love." Harry whispered to her, grabbing the hand that was playing with his hair and placing a soft kiss on her palm.

"I feel like I've had a lot of information thrown at me, and I'm sure there's so much more than what you've said." James admitted to them. Harry looked his way and saw how emotionally drained the Marauders looked.

"There's probably some bits that we shouldn't have said to you yet, but it's done." Harry said to them. "Sorry, but I did say it was a long story. And we really are going to stop this all before it has a chance to ruin lives."

All James could do was stare at Harry. It was so obvious now, that he was his son and not a distant cousin. Not only did they look identical – really, they could be twins – but they shared a lot of the same mannerisms. They pinched their nose the same, ran their hands through their hair the same, even reacted to bad news the same. His head was hurting from all the information he had just received from his son, but he was glad to know of the truth.

There was so much that he wanted to ask Harry now. What was he like as a dad? How did he and Lily get together? What was their world like? What were horcruxes and why did Sirius look like he wanted to pack his bags and move far away?

Since when were Harry and Hermione together?

"Okay. There's a lot that still needs to be said, but it's getting late." Hermione said, looking at the time on her wristwatch again. The Marauders all began to protest, wanting to learn more about the world they came from. The boys immediately stopped at the glare she sent them. "Do I need to remind you that we are both your teachers and older than you? I know you've got questions, believe me, I would too, but it really is getting late. It's a school night."

"We can talk more, I promise." Harry offered to them, giving them a smile. "But I'll drip feed the dark stuff, okay? I'm not going to dump all of it on you in one sitting."

"You promise we can talk more about it?" James asked as the boys rose to their feet. Remus and Sirius stretched their muscles, both giving relieved smiles when their joints popped.

"I solemnly swear, Prongs."