Chapter Two- Never Look Back- Part One
AN- This chapter switches around a TON. The scenes are short yet abundant, and this is for a point. It's to create the illusion that it's all happening quickly, and that you can correlate the two groups (you'll see) as to what they both are doing.
***
~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
***
From Chapter One...
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.
***
As the door moved, Harry caught sight of the one thing his dreams had held for the last fifteen years.
Lily moved from the house, and caught sight of James playing with Harry in the front lawn. She smiled and leaned against the unplaced shingles, watching the scene before her. Her husband grabbed Harry's hands and pulled him upright, then moved slowly in an attempt to make Harry walk.
His body froze up, and he was afraid even to blink. Next to him, Remus fell over and into a sprint, falling into the couch where the two of them were sitting; holding them and sobbing large tears, unlike any of them had seen, even at Sirius' funeral.
The sun blazed overhead, but Lily didn't mind. Her eyes danced over the lawn, where her husband and her son were off in their own little world.
Lily's eyes matched the boy's. She saw the familiar flickering, and gazed deeper. Pain, hurt suffering... she saw it all, within those green emeralds. Pain and suffering to match nothing she'd seen, even the war victims. How was it possible, for a boy that young?
"Come on then, Harry, take a step, it's not hard," James' voice echoed. His arms were up, holding the precious boy upright. "Just move, take a step..."
Harry's legs were reduced to jelly. His heart had about stopped beating. His hands shook with a white color fading into them. His mind raced; it couldn't be, it's not true... and he made up his mind. He took his first step.
It was a moment straight from Heaven. For the first time in years, there was no worry about the war. All there was, was a family. Nothing could take it.
And without one word, Harry was out the door.
***
Footsteps pounded like rain through the corridors. But Harry didn't hear about being heard, being seen; he just wanted out.
Only when he reached the lower levels of the castle could his feet carry him no more, and he collapsed into a ball on the floor, curling up like a kitten.
Words, memories splashed through his mind. Dumbledore telling him that no spell could reawaken the dead, in his fourth year. The dementors' effects on him in his third year. And last year, seeing them in Snape's pensieve; seeing them, almost as they appeared in the Headmaster's office just ten minutes ago. But how could it be true? Nothing could have brought them back. It was impossible. So why should he bring his heart up to be crushed?
Only this past summer, he had attempted suicide on three occasions. Because he felt he had nothing. It was only when his friends took him under their wings that he finally was brought new hope; so why the hell was someone playing at this? To tear him apart, once again. Thoughts raced.
You wouldn't let me run last year, Dumbledore. I want to run. I need to run. I need to get away, to fly, to leave this place where every day is a memory of what I've lost.
He fell into a restless sleep on the cold, hard floor.
***
Lily watched with horrified eyes as the boy turned and ran from the room. She stood to head after him, but Albus raised his hand half-heartedly to stop her.
He flexed his long fingers. "Give him time, my friends. He will come around."
"Who was he?" James asked heavily. But all that knew the answer turned away. "Who could he be, he looked like me, almost, but I'm an only child and my parents are too old..."
Dumbledore nodded, and opened his mouth. Before another word was said, Alastor Moody stood up.
"Albus, are you insane? We know it's them, but what'll happen if we tell them too much? It may change the past!"
Dumbledore nodded once more, and moved to the center of the room.
"From what I've gathered, it will not effect anything. The potion in question was the Potion of Erised, more commonly known as the Phoenix potion." He turned to Severus Snape, and gave a withering look. "It's seventh year material, but he and another boy were making it under the presence of the Potion's Master. The other boy made the potion wrong, by adding too many phoenix tears I believe. And that made the potion volatile, and the desire of the first person to look into the potion not only appeared in a shadow, but in the entirety," he concluded softly. James stood.
"Why would the other boy's desire be Lily and I here, Albus? Why not just call us, and have us come to Hogwarts?"
Dumbledore took a step towards the window, and looked out over the sky, to the rising sun. His eyes found the stars, still shining brightly, and he saw a single star falling. He made a wish on that star, a wish for the first time since the first war.
"It wasn't the other boy who looked into the potion, it was the one you saw a moment ago. And you are his greatest desire, the both of you. His greatest desire is for his parents to be alive once again."
***
The sun filtered through a high-placed window, and Ron blocked the light from his eyes with a groan. A quick glance over to the clock sported him with another; it was only four thirty in the morning. With a great sigh, he threw off the blankets and moved to the bathroom, stopping only to realize that Harry's bed was empty.
Neville, upon hearing Ron scuffling around, popped his head from behind the curtains. The two of them exchanged a look, and Ron pulled Neville from the bed. He sighed, then the two moved downstairs to the common room to talk.
"Where the hell would he be at four thirty in the morning, Ron?" Neville moaned, falling over onto the couch. "And why did you drag me down here? I'm sure it's nothing, maybe that thing Professor Lupin pulled him for is still going on."
Ron, falling just as ungracefully onto his chair, looked to his friend. "I dunno. Maybe. But with Harry, you'll never know. And I'd rather be waiting and beat him up then go to sleep and be worrying, wouldn't you?" Neville nodded, and the two of them sat up and began a game of wizard's chess to pass the time without falling back asleep.
It wasn't until around six when Harry finally arrived, looking thoroughly dead. When he spotted them staring at him with open eyes, he gave a weak smile and made a joke. "What in the name of hell are you two doing up this early, or are you just getting back from a midnight rendezvous with Luna and 'Mione?"
Ron didn't miss a beat. "We woke up to find you gone and nothing to tell us where you went. I was thinking then that you probably had stolen my little sister and ran off with her," both knew the other was lying, but neither was going to admit it. It was simply easier this way.
Harry nodded, and sat down to watch them play. But when either looked up, all they saw were two eyes not really watching the game, but somewhere far off.
***
Lily sat agape. "We have a son? A boy? As in, Lily and I?" James' voice was higher pitched than normal, and Snape let out a snort from the other corner.
"Yes, and most unfortunately, he takes after you."
James leapt from his seat. "What do you mean by that?"
"That he's stubborn as hell, shows off to everyone acting high and mighty, and has a bigger head than Gilderoy Lockhart. Not to mention the fact that he simply must be in the center of all circles, has to have all eyes on him, and appears daily in the Prophet. All in all... he is you, Potter." Severus Snape somehow managed to spit this all out with a deadly venom.
The younger man threw himself at the Potion's Master, and ended up knocking him from his seat. Screams pierced the room as the two former rivals rolled around, attempting anything short of the unforgivable curses to murder one another.
Albus Dumbledore, knowing and loving each of the men as a son, stepped into the fight and pulled them apart as easily as he had retrieved Dolores Umbridge the year before form the centaurs. In his left arm was Severus Snape; in his right, James Potter. The two glared daggers, not only at one another, but at the Headmaster.
James was the first to recover. "If he is like me, then I'm proud. Because he'll have a great life, and be able to realize when someone is an asshole and publicly humiliate them without retaliation, as I did to you, Snivillus. So yeah, it's a good thing he's like me." Snape gave a hollow laugh.
"True, but his head gets stuck in the widest of doorways."
While everyone's eyes focused on the two rivals, Lily quietly slipped from the room.
***
The common room filled with people, lingering and preparing for breakfast. Harry watched them all, laughing and smiling, in a world of his own. It was much like the end of the previous year- when Harry knew, for the first time, the world rested on his shoulders. He let out a deep sigh, stood, and moved to the door without much care to the people calling his name all around him.
He'd been alone, and this was all some obvious attempt for Harry to open up and enjoy life again. They'd tried it before; the Order, giving him a surprise party for his sixteenth birthday (Act surprised, then feign sickness- escape in five minutes), Mr. and Mrs. Weasley telling Harry that they were trying to convince Dumbledore to let him spend the next summer with them until he turned seventeen (a simple look away washed that attempt over easily- everyone knew that it was impossible anyhow), and even Remus, giving Harry all of his father and mother and Sirius' old school things. The only people who could make Harry come out of his shell were his five best friends, and only when the sic of them were alone.
Knowing that breakfast would only hold the members of the Order, or at the very least an adamant Dumbledore attempting to get Harry to go with him to see the two frauds again, he took a left turn instead of right and went to his first class an hour early; N.E.W.T. Potions.
He chose a seat close to the front, put his bag down, and then rested his head on the bench behind him, lost in not thoughts but memories. So much so that he didn't notice a figure, tall and dark, come into the classroom and stop dead when he caught sight of the boy.
Severus Snape was horrified to see the boy sitting in his classroom an hour early for class. And especially after this past night... he could definitely see now why he'd begun to hate Potter Jr. even before getting to know him. He was his father.
Moving deftly to the bench beside the boy, he cleared his throat. Harry's head smashed upwards, and his eyes flashed to match those of his Potion's Master. Overcome with grief from his thoughts, Snape found not the typical bright eyes, but ones filled with tears. He was floored. Never before had he seen Potter in tears, and never from emotion- he'd always thought him too big-headed. Potter laughed quietly.
"Come to gloat? Seeing the 'new celebrity' crying all too much for your head?"
Snape sat down, and kept looking at the boy with a mix of surprise and animosity. "No, Potter, it's just that I've never seen you like this. Even after you failed miserably in occlumency last year." The younger boy's eyes darkened, then suddenly brightened.
"You're a leglimens master, right?" Snape's expression lowered.
"I've told you to call me sir, but yes, I am, Potter." Harry grinned, finally, then leaned even closer, as though he were about to tell a secret.
"So you can choose memories to extract from someone, right, sir?"
Snape hesitated. He knew what he was going to be asked, and prayed to everything that Albus wouldn't kill him. "Yes, Potter, I can. And before you ask, I will. But after that you will not come to my class early. Ever." Harry laughed, this time with actual humor.
"Never would have though I've gotten in trouble for being too early too class. And whenever you're ready, I am." He shifted, so he was facing the older man with excitement written across his face. Wordlessly, he raised his wand, and said the curse.
"Leglimens."
There was a huge house, sitting on the largest spot of land Harry had ever seen. Outside the house, in the long grass, lay a man with untidy hair and a tall, built body. In his arms was a baby boy, playing with a miniature toy broomstick. James laughed, placed Harry to the side, and the view shifted... by the house, there was a woman with long, thick dark red hair. She smiled, and walked over to James, who promptly grabbed her, and pulled her into his arms, while the baby Harry watched with wide eyes. The two parents kissed for a moment, then gathered Harry and lay him between the two in the grass. A happy family.
Snape removed the curse and Harry stared blankly for a moment, reveling in the memories he never knew he had. He looked up hopefully, and his professor sighed. He spoke the curse once more.
What neither of them noticed was the young girl from his memories, who had walked into the room.
Lily was cooking dinner in a large, old fashioned kitchen. The clock stated it was near midnight, and James looked especially tired. Baby Harry slept quietly in a makeshift crib in the middle of the room. The husband walked over and wrapped his arms around his wife's shoulders. "You don't have to do this, Lil. I'm not terribly hungry, and we can go off to bed after putting Harry down." Lily smiled, then picked the bowl off the stove.
"It's almost done anyway, James. Don't worry." He nodded, and a shrill ring rang through the house. Lily looked up slowly and matched James' eyes. "What in Godric's name is Peter doing here this late at night?"
Knowing what it meant, Snape tried to end the curse. But there was something, deep inside- looking at Harry, he knew that this was something he needed to see, and wanted to.
"It's Him! Lily, take Harry and go! I'll hold him off!" Tears. Lily ran to the edge of the stairwell, and watched hopelessly as her husband fell. Red eyes danced, and faced her child. She ran, throwing things behind her to stop him. Anything, to be a family...
Lily reached her and James' room, and raced to the window. Throwing it open, she saw below darkness, and a small number of Death Eaters, waiting... Voldemort threw the door open. "Step aside, silly girl, step aside..." Lily shook, holding Harry, praying... "Take me instead..." Words were blurring, as the spell was ending... "Take me instead..." And he did, took her down, and far away, there was a scream...
Two heads snapped up, as Lily Evans came into view, hand clamped over her mouth, frozen.