Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Fate.

A warm feeling was surrounding Harry. He didn't know where he was at the moment but he knew that he was safe and there was no reason to wake up just yet. As he slowly became more aware of his surroundings, he noticed that he was lying on something soft and that a light blanket covered his thin form snugly, keeping him warm. A soft hiss finally managed to bring him back to consciousness. Opening his eyes slightly, he noticed he was in his own room, in Professor Villjé's house. A stab of sadness crossed his heart when he remembered the still body of the woman he had come to love as his mother.

The soft hiss rang again across the room, and this time he was able to understand what Slyth was saying.

"Young massster. Are you finally awake?"

Harry groaned slightly and sat up, his head was pounding painfully and his mouth felt dry. Without thinking, he conjured a glass of water and drank a bit from it. "Yesss, I'm awake."

The little snake hissed happily. "You're finally awake!"

Harry smiled a bit at the small snake, but then grimaced. His head was hurting him more and more, and soon he was forced to lie back on the bed and close his eyes, even so, he continued to talk with his pet in soft tones.

"How long hasss it been?"

"It'sss been three daysss sssince you went downstairsss and two daysss sssince you appeared back here." Slyth paused for a moment before adding. "There'sss strange people walking around."

Harry frowned and opened his eyes a bit, regarding the snake curiously. "Ssstrange people?"

"Yesss, one of them isss that man that wasss ssstaying with you before."

Harry frowned a bit and quickly supplied the name. "Sssiriusss?"

The snake nodded his head slightly, which would have made Harry laugh if he hadn't been hurting so much. "Yesss, that'sss hisss name." He paused for a moment, looking intently towards the boy lying in bed and then added. "I don't know the other three, but two of them sssmell rather sssimilar to you."

Harry closed his eyes again and frowned. Smelled like him, there were only two people who would smell like him. Softly, he groaned and extended his senses, afraid of what he would find. He easily located four auras in the kitchen. Moving closer, he was greeted by the familiar aura of his godfather. After a few moments, he was also able to recognise Professor Lupin's. With a small sigh, already guessing who the two other people were, he turned his senses towards them and was not surprised to recognize the auras of his parents. Groaning softly, he sank deeper into his pillow. If there was one thing he didn't want to deal with right now, it was his parents. He debated whether he should try to get up and get it over with, or just try to ignore their presence until he was thinking more clearly. Finally, the second option won after a rather painful hammering in his head.

He was just on the verge of falling back asleep, when he heard soft footsteps walking up the stairs. Opening his eyes a bit, he listened carefully as the footsteps entered a room, Griffin's by the sound of it. Whoever it was left after a few minutes and then Harry heard them approach his door. Quickly, the boy closed his eyes and relaxed against the pillows; he really didn't want them to know he was awake yet. Not until he had the chance to talk to his friends and to figure out why on earth his parents were there.

The door to his room opened slowly and two people came in. His senses immediately picked up his mother's and Remus' auras. And even if he hadn't figured it out himself, the hisses that were coming from Slyth would have informed him to the identity of his two visitors. Suddenly, a soft hand was pressed against his cheek and he was able to smell his mother's perfume. With great effort, he managed to stay still as the hand moved from his cheek to his forehead. A soft voice broke the silence.

"He still has a fever, Remus."

Harry heard the man come closer and suddenly, the soft hand was replaced by a cold cloth, which made some of his headache go away. Harry suppressed his sigh, knowing that Remus would hear him if he made any sound. His mother spoke again.

"When do you think they will wake up?"

Remus' voice sounded a bit cold when he answered. "I don't know, Lily, you know I don't know it any more than you do."

A soft sigh followed his statement. "I know, Remy, I'm sorry."

After his mother's hand brushed his cheek one last time, Harry heard her move away from the bed and out of the room. Harry listened carefully, waiting for Remus to leave too, but it seemed that the man wasn't going to move from his place near him.

"Harry?" Dragon didn't move, making Remus sigh. "I know you're awake, Kid, please, just open your eyes."

Allowing a soft sigh escape from his dry lips, Harry opened his eyes slightly. Remus was bending over him, his soft brown eyes looking down at him worriedly.

"Are you ok, Harry?"

Harry shivered a bit from the cold coming from the cloth. "Hurts."

Remus sat down next to him. "What hurts?"

"Everything. My head especially."

Harry didn't see his professor nod since he had closed his eyes again. "Try to go back to sleep, Kid, I'll see if I can get Madam Pomfrey to give me some potion."

Harry nodded, but he was barely aware of the man, quickly falling back to unconsciousness.

Once Remus was sure Harry had fallen back to sleep, he stood up and left the room. Lily was waiting for him outside, leaning against Hermione's door. She looked at him intently but didn't say anything. The relationship between the four of them, Sirius, James, Remus and herself was strained to say the least, and she knew that before she could approach her son again, she would have to regain the trust of Sirius and Remus. She wasn't stupid enough to think that either Sirius or Remus would allow her or James to come too close to Harry, knowing how much they had hurt him.

With a slight movement from his head, Remus motioned towards the door she was leaning against.

"Come on, let's check on Hermione and we can go back downstairs. I need to call Madam Pomfrey for a potion."

To be continued.

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and a lot of thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie.