Chapter One- With Nothing Comes...
A potions accident leaves Harry with his greatest desire—James and Lily, as they were before the fateful night of their death. However, he learns in time that this accident will be reversed in one week; so he has only a short time to get to know—and let go of—those he has once loved and will again.
***
~It does not do well do dwell on dreams, and forget to live.
~Do you think the ones we love ever truly leave us?
~Albus Dumbledore
***
Minerva McGonagall was not one to take her job lightly.
Though it was nearly one in the morning, she was in her study planning out lessons for her older classes and trying to balance the remainder of her time into aiding a number of seventh years who, already, needed NEWT help. Needless to say, the effort was taking its toll, and the older witch was getting more and more moody as the early morning hours went on.
During the war, Minerva served as the backup to Dumbledore—he trusted her implicitly. She and Alastor Moody were his second in commands; so she was kept in Hogwarts, with the job of having an eye on the students. She actually worked hand in hand with Severus Snape; if a student seemed to be into the Dark Arts, it was her duty to inform Snape and have him deal with it. If one seemed to be on the Dark Lord's prospect list, Snape would inform her and she would work with the student. The two of them had successfully narrowed the channel of students joining the Death Eaters out of Hogwarts, but it meant one other thing that Minerva seemed to live with—paperwork. She would make charts and graphs, detailed analysis's on each student in the school, family trees for purebloods and muggle-borns alike; basically anything to aid the two Head-Of-Houses in completely closing the channel. And since Severus Snape had his duty as a Death Eater which basically controlled his life, Minerva got stuck with all of this work.
She hadn't slept in three days, and was gradually loosing her edge. However, it was only when Fawkes burst unexpectedly on her desk and burned the plan that she'd been working on the past two hours, when she truly lost her temper. Seizing her walking stick and brandishing it (knowing full well that the appearance of the phoenix meant that Albus needed to see her) she began to mutter incessantly.
"I personally don't care what emergency has befallen the school, unless there's a Death Eater raid in the Great Hall Albus is going to hear from me..." When her late-night temper calmed, she shooed the bird and walked briskly to the door with the aid of her walking stick. Even though she had made a near-full recovery, she felt a great sense of duty when looking at the stick and remembering its last stand with Dolores Umbridge.
All she could think about while walking to the Headmaster's office was her papers, and how she would be able to re-create the plans.
Ten minutes later, lessons would be the least of her worries.
***
Albus Dumbledore surveyed the two people before him with great interest, as well as fear. They had seen him and recognized him (not terribly shocking, as if they were truly spies or Death Eaters then they would know him) but then had followed him silently when he had asked them to (shocking, as Dumbledore was expecting resistance of some, of any sort). He hadn't said one word except for a quiet 'Come with me' which he didn't even realize he had said until the three of them were halfway to his office.
There was no doubt about them being the appearance of Lily and James Potter, none at all. They looked as they did their first year out of Hogwarts—James; with a tall and full body, the trademark untidy hair and the smirk that Albus was so accustomed to seeing; and Lily, with a small stature but unmistakable, unmatchable, fire-red hair. People always had said that if you mixed James' body with Lily's eyes and added a scar you would have Harry; and he was starting to see why everyone said that. They both looked nervous at the way Albus was acting, but they knew it best to remain silent with the way that their former headmaster was staring intently at them.
It was James who broke the silence, giving Lily's shoulder a squeeze and then leaning forward and whispering as if they feared being heard. "...what is going on here, Al...Headmaster?" Albus noticed that he had switched the name halfway through, and remembered the occasion years ago, at least for him, when this had occurred.
It was near midnight on June 21, 1977, and the seventh-years of Hogwarts had just had their graduation. Everyone was milling about the grounds, and Albus was watching them with a mix of pride and fear. This was the first group of students to graduate into the real portion of the war, and he truly wished that it would end soon. So many in this class had destinies pre-written for themselves—Snape, Rookwood, and Bagman were probably going to another ceremony on this night, Dawlish was to take his entrance exams later that week to become an Auror, and a number of others—Lupin, Pettigrew, Shacklebolt, Black, Evans, and Potter—were to be initiated to the Order of the Phoenix tonight. The most of a class ever. And it was this that made Albus fear.
He found the four Marauders and Lily Evans sitting by the lake under their favorite tree. They all were enjoying the nighttime breeze and talking in hushed tones about the future that had snuck up on them; Albus listened quietly for a moment before sitting down near them. They all gave him a weak smile, and looked back up to the stars. Albus spoke with them for a few minutes about the Order, about what would come; they all seemed interested, but afraid.
"Headmaster, if this war keeps going... we all know that tonight, practically half of our class is to be initiated into the Death Eaters. What do we do? How can we stop it?" Lily shook slightly. "How are people so different, so pure, so few ever going to stop him?"
The truth was he didn't know. No one did. But he did know one thing. Nothing was for certain. But to get to the end, they had to be more than just teacher and pupil. They had to work together. And unity was their only hope.
"Call me Albus, Lily. All of you. Call me Albus."
Minerva McGonagall threw the door open without warning, and Fawkes let out a screech. She turned to Albus without taking notice of the two very unique guests, then raced on a tirade about her desk. "You do know, Albus, that I have ten times more paperwork than any other staff member, and when you send that phoenix to my room, he burns the papers that I have on my desk..." She trailed off, noticing that his glance wasn't on her. She turned, slightly, and noticed the two people staring at her, with open eyes.
"...oh..."
***
The four people sitting in the Headmaster's room didn't even notice that breakfast and lunch had come and gone. For the first time in her life, Minerva McGonagall had missed classes, but it didn't matter. What mattered were the two people sitting next to her, who had just finished explaining what had happened.
"So what you're saying, is that you two were just driving home from a date, and you somehow appeared here, in Hogwarts?" Minerva shook her head slightly, wishing that Albus would say something. "How is it possible? You look nineteen, you act nineteen, but I know firsthand that the polyjuice potion can do that to a person..."
"If we were under the polyjuice potion, Minerva, then how would we know all this information? How, after almost," He looked over at the small clock in the corner, then answered with a bitter note in his voice, "thirteen hours of sitting in this room would the potion still be working? Or any glamour for that matter? If the physical aspect doesn't matter to you, how would I know to call you by your first name? So maybe you should explain to us, why we're here in your office, and you're acting as though we don't exist?" James looked furious. "We're all partners in the Order, Minerva, so why the hell are you acting as though we're your students again, who've done something wrong and are about to get detention?"
Before Minerva could snap back, Albus raised his hand for silence.
His voice was cold, not like any of them had ever heard before. "There is a simple test we can conduct to prove their identities for all, Minerva. If you would kindly retrieve out potions master and ask him to come to my office with a small bottle of veritaserum, I would thank you most kindly." Minerva's eyes raised quizzically, to match his own. "And I believe that his appearance will clear up many questions that these two will have." She understood. There were ways (few, but still there were) to hoodwink veritaserum. However, the animosity between the head marauder and their new potions master had never sunk quietly, even in death. The meeting would judge the identities perfectly fine.
She walked silently to the door, and slammed it shut in contrast.
Lily looked up to match his eyes, and Dumbledore had to look away. They reminded him so much of Harry's; of how much suffering he had endured, of what was to come... "Headmaster, I don't understand... please, tell me what you think is going on. I don't understand why Professor McGonagall seemed to hate us so much... what did we do?" Her eyes pleaded, and Albus felt the guilt about their son rise in his mind.
"Minerva is angry because she doesn't believe you can be here. As a master of transfiguration, she comprehends near everything—and she can't comprehend this. So she gets angry, making threats, yelling... all to help her understand. You didn't do anything, Miss Evans, Mr. Potter. She just can't understand. And I hope that we all will soon." The note of finality in his voice was definite.
Minutes passed in more silence, and the portraits on the wall began to stir. Dumbledore had placed a charm on them to sleep, but was too tired to attempt to place another—but his glare to each of them in turn kept them from saying anything. Silence reigned.
A quarter of an hour later, there was no silence.
Two pairs of footsteps echoed into the office from the stairwell, and the headmaster braced himself for an explosion. Lily and James turned slightly, curiosity splattered across their features. The door slid open.
It took a moment for anything to happen. Severus Snape, looking angry enough for having had to let his sixth year NEWT potions class leave early, stepped into the light of the room. Lily forced a sinking feeling down her stomach and swallowed hard, being the first of the two to realize who she was looking at. She stood slowly and faced him, eyes slowly looking up until they met his own. It clicked for Severus at that moment, when his eyes saw those he was forced to look upon each day in class, and he turned quickly to James who still was oblivious. James seemed curious, and knew he knew the man before him from somewhere...
Severus Snape turned and paced to the Headmaster, and grabbed his shoulder with a pale hand. He spoke in a voice that everyone could hear, and was definitely strained. "What the hell are you playing at, Albus?"
The voice did it. The reaction was instant.
James leapt out of the chair he had been sitting in for nearly thirteen hours. A look of absolute disgust and non-comprehending crossed his face, and he moved to hit the potions master. Snape turned and made move towards his wand as James grabbed him. Lily, realizing that the old rivalry would amount in a fight even in front of the Headmaster and with one member somehow older than the other, grabbed her boyfriend's arm and pulled; the result was that James was turned towards Lily with a look of more anger than she had ever seen. Snape raised his wand, but didn't say anything. She backed off, fear lining, and looked to Dumbledore for aid on what to do.
The headmaster stood, and placed a hand on the potion master's shoulder in hope to calm him. He then walked to the younger man, who stared at his girlfriend with a mix of hatred and concern, and turned him. He looked older than they had ever seen him, and his voice was masked with a heavy sense off foreboding.
"So you are indeed James Potter..."
***
Lily rested her head on James' shoulder and fell asleep in the next few hours as Albus, Minerva, and Severus called upon members of the Order to come to Hogwarts. By the time that ten o'clock rolled around, the room was chalk-full of various Aurors and people that Lily and James knew... or once knew. And they were no closer to understanding how the two of them went from driving home form a date to somehow being what they found out was about seventeen years in the future. At first everyone was afraid that it would somehow change their time if the two of them gained knowledge, but a simply slip of the tongue on Nymphadora Tonk's part proved to them all that they could say whatever they wanted—it wouldn't effect their time.
Everyone had gathered in a corner of the room in a small circle of chairs and couches, and were talking in hushed tones. Glances flew, but nothing came of it.
As Lily slept, James watched the people in the circle with wide-eyes. People who, just yesterday to him, he had been at a party with for the Order. People who, yesterday, were seventeen years younger.
Everyone had stared at them incessantly but no one dared to talk to them, even after Albus' insurance that noting said could change the future. He understood they were afraid, but it was getting silly. And the three people he wanted to see, the ones he knew would talk to them, were missing from the group. Finally, he shook Lily awake and walked over to the circle in the corner where everyone fell silent. He looked to the headmaster, and saw Severus glaring from next to him; with swooping anger, James focused his eyes on the older wizard.
"If
this is the Order... where are Pete,
Siri and Reemy?" His question was met
with many gasps, turned heads, and one or two sobs. Lily caught this, and walked over to
James. "Where are they, Albus? If time isn't gonna change, where are
they? Come to think of it..." He paused for a moment. "Where are the two of
us?"
This time even Dumbledore looked down. Fear struck the two of them; something had happened, and they needed to know.
"Please... someone... where are we? Where are they? Just tell us..." Lily's voice was quiet, and finally the witch with the wild hairstyle answered.
"Moony will be along in a few minutes. He's just getting someone. He'll explain."
***
The Gryffindor common room was empty except for five people; Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, who were finishing a game of wizard's chess; Hermione Granger, who was dozing off while reading her new arithmency book; Neville Longbottom, who was sitting back in his chair writing a letter to his girlfriend Luna Lovegood; and Virginia Weasley, who was half watching the game and half watching Harry.
Though Harry was losing completely, he was happy for the first time since Christmas the previous year. The six of them (including Luna) had stayed out late visiting Hagrid, flying, coming inside and getting some hot cocoa from the kitchens, saying goodnight to Luna (and laughing their heads off at a blushing Neville as he kissed her goodnight), then coming up to the common room and hanging around. It was odd, knowing that he and Ginny were the only two single in their group (Ron and Hermione had finally given in to the inevitable and gotten together, though no one but the six of them knew, they weren't very public or open about it), but the two of them took it well. Both of them did have feelings for one another, but Harry just wasn't ready to care for someone else after the loss of Sirius the last year. Both of them knew it would happen in time, and were prepared to wait it out.
With a small bang Remus Lupin, their Defense Against the Dark Arts half teacher (with Nymphadora Tonks, to ensure the student's safety) walked in through the portrait, looking ten times older than he ever had. The five students looked up blankly, and he beaconed for Harry to follow him wordlessly. Mystified, Harry followed him outside to the corridor where he finally spoke.
"We're to go to the headmaster's office, there's something there that... well I can... you'll understand, Harry." Harry had never heard his friend at a loss for words before, and he followed silently. Taking the lead and walking to the office of the headmaster, he noticed Remus' footsteps were almost as heavy as his breathing.
They walked in silence, and Harry couldn't help but notice that the portraits were more...full... than ever before. They kept running after him and whispering; Harry couldn't help but feel a bit of trepidation. What was the headmaster hiding?
After a few minutes they reached the stairwell guarded by statues, and Remus said the password (Wizarding Wheezes) and began to walk up the winding stairwell before Harry in almost hurried strides. Upon reaching the top, Remus knocked thrice, and footsteps came closer to the door.
Footsteps that became mingled with the sound of an ancient clock ticking midnight.