AN: Just wanted to say thanks to all those that reviewed and say sorry if
the last chapter seemed somewhat confusing to read. I will go back and fix
it soon, but thought you all might prefer the next chapter first. Anyway
don't own Potter and Co, so don't sue and any flames will be used to toast
marshmallows! Thanks Sassy
Chapter 18
Harry unconsciously moved closer to get a better look at the woman that Sirius was hugging as if she might fade away if he let go. At first all he could see was her long flowing red hair and her small petite frame, but gripping Ginny's hand tighter in his own, as they both moved slowly closer, Harry caught a glance of her emerald eyes just as she fainted at the sight of him and Ginny suddenly appearing right behind Sirius.
Sirius felt Lilly suddenly go limp in his arms and quickly caught her up in his arms as he turned to see Harry and Ginny standing behind him with a look of total confusion on their respective faces. Moving toward the living room with Lilly in his arms, he gently laid her on the sofa before turning back to see Harry and Ginny hesitating in the doorway.
"Sirius who is that and where are we?" Ginny asked as she took in the shocked look on Harry's face and led him to a nearby chair.
"This is Lilly, Harry's mother." Sirius explained as he tried to wake Lilly by gently kneeling beside the sofa and calling her name.
"Sirius are you sure? I thought that they were ..." Ginny asked letting her voice trail off into nothing as Lilly began to moan softly before opening her eyes.
"You thought what?" James asked as he stood in the doorway with his wand pointed in their direction. Not at all liking the fact that there was a strange man hovering over his wife.
"James?" Sirius asked as he turned to look at his best friend for the first time in years.
"Sirius?" James asked in disbelief as he got his first good look at Sirius in longer than he cared to remember.
The next few moments were a blur as Sirius rushed toward James and threw his arms around him. Forgetting completely about Lilly's semi conscious state.
So many emotions overwhelmed Harry all at once that every move he made for the next few hours was automated. Even with Ginny by his side as he hugged his parents and looked into their eyes was not enough to keep him grounded. Although it helped a lot and he knew he would never have gotten through it all without knowing she was right by his side.
A few days later...
Harry sighed tiredly as he walked through the forest trying to sort out the mass amount of emotions clouding his mind. Guilt, anger, and shock were only a few of them he was struggling with. The worst however, was the guilt. He felt the worse kind of guilt possible every time he thought about his parents.
For as long as he could remember all he ever wanted was a kind loving family. Now that he had found his, he felt smothered and angry at the fact that they were already trying to control his life. First his mother by saying he should eat more, and then his father taking it upon himself to have 'the talk' because of Ginny's presence. He still blushed with embarrassment every time he looked at Ginny.
Swearing softly, Harry strode over to a large tree that had fallen and sat down. Burying his head in his hands as he tried to sort things out. Finally unable to get anything even remotely sorted out, he decided to just push it all aside and do something else.
Reaching into his the back pocket of his jeans, Harry took out the book that Godric had given him. It only took glancing through the book to realize that all of the spells required the power of an elemental or several elementals working together and that many of the spells had not been used in over a few hundred years as the magic was the rarest form of ancient magi's.
"Mind if I join you?" Ginny asked as she slowly approached where Harry was sitting.
"Sure." Harry said as he tucked the book back into his pocket, making a mental note to try some of the meditation techniques that he glanced over.
"So what's up?" Harry asked when it seemed Ginny had completely forgotten he was there.
"A lot of things." Ginny said as she twisted her hands together.
"I've been told talking about it sometimes helps." Harry said as he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders as it was beginning to cool a bit and she had on a sleeveless shirt.
"I guess most of all, I just miss my family." Ginny shrugged as she blinked back her tears.
"Don't know what you got till it's gone?" Harry asked.
"Pretty much." Ginny admitted as she rose restlessly to her feet.
"That's the biggest thing, but there's a few other things as well." She added as they begin to slowly make their way back toward the house.
"What else?" Harry asked as he took her hand in his as they walked along the path.
"I can't really do anything about missing your family, but I have been trying to think of a way for us to get back. Especially since school starts tomorrow." Harry said with a frown. Knowing that if the adults were trying to figure out a way for them all to get back home, then they had yet to say anything to him or Gin.
"I'm scared Harry." Ginny admitted as the large manor came into view.
"I feel as if something is about to happen. Something so unexpected and so horrifying that it will change us all in a way that we can never fully recover from. Forget it, I'm just being silly." Ginny said when she could find no other words to express her thoughts.
"Well if you're being silly than so am I because I feel the same way." Harry said giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
"I don't know if you have heard, but I have a feeling it has something to do with Hermione and Ron disappearing for a couple of days while you and Sirius were in the United States." Ginny said, more than a bit relieved that she had finally gotten that little bit of news off her chest, despite having promised everyone else that she would not tell Harry anything about what happened.
Unfortunately before Harry could voice his surprise at hearing that his friends had disappeared, he caught the sound of his mother's voice calling them inside for dinner.
"Harry promise me you won't say anything when we get back, because I promised everyone that I wouldn't say anything." Ginny pleaded softly as she stopped walking and refused to take another step until he did so.
"Okay, I promise, but only if you tell me everything after dinner." Harry agreed as he looked into her eyes.
Ginny simply nodded as his mother called out for them once again.
"We're coming!" Harry shouted in the direction of the manor.
"We better hurry or else they will come looking for us." Harry groaned as they both set off in a jog toward the house. Sending Ginny an I told you so look as they neared the house and found Lilly, James and Sirius on their way out the door.
"Where have you two been, I have been calling you for the last half hour." Lilly demanded as Ginny and Harry came running up the walk.
"We just went for a walk. Must have gone further than we thought." Ginny answered somewhat nervously. Still feeling somewhat nervous around Harry's parents.
"I thought I told you not to go into the forest." James said as they all made their way to the dinning room.
"We just went for a walk, give it a rest." Harry said as he sat down at the table, glaring at his plate.
"We're sorry, it won't happen again." Ginny said as she sat beside Harry and squeezed his hand beneath the table.
"Harry James Potter you apologize for attitude right now!" Lilly stated angrily as she finished sitting the last of the food she had prepared on the table.
"Lilly I'm sure Harry meant nothing by what he said." Sirius said as he glanced nervously between Harry and James who seemed to be in a starring contest with neither of the two in any hurry to give into the other. "Stay out of this Sirius." James stated angrily.
"You will do as your mother said or you will go to your and stay there until you are told your punishment is over." James ordered angrily as he glared at his son.
"Fine." Harry ground out between clenched teeth as he threw his napkin on the table and shoved his chair back so hard it hit the floor with a loud crash as jumped to his feet and strode angrily from the room.
Ginny listened in frozen silence as Harry's footsteps pounded up the stairs and a door slam so hard the windows rattled in their pains. Ginny wanted so desperately to speak up for Harry, but knew it would most likely make everything worse, so sat in silence waiting for the first opportunity to excuse herself.
"Honestly Sirius, didn't you teach that child any respect?" James asked as he began to fill his plate.
Ginny looked up at Sirius, whose only response was a barely noticeable shake of his head before sighing softly and adding a small portion of mashed potatoes to her plate.
Lilly watched the silent exchange between Sirius and Ginny with a slight frown on her face. There was something they were hiding and it concerned her son of that much she was sure. Making a note to find out what it was, she turned the conversation to what she thought would a better topic.
"Virginia, Sirius tells us that you and Harry are both on the quiddith team. What positions do you both play?" Lilly asked.
Ginny nearly choked on her potatoes as she struggled to find a way to tell them that Harry was no longer on the team and sent a desperate look at Sirius only the blank expression on his face told her, no one had told him that Harry had been banned from the team during the last school term.
"Seeker." Ginny sighed.
"We both play seeker, I am the reserve and Harry's the main player." Deciding that until Harry told them differently, than it couldn't hurt to tell just this one small lie.
"Did we win the cup this year?" Sirius asked.
"Yes. We have won it every year Harry has been on the team." Ginny replied as she absently played with her food.
"Four years straight, not a bad run." James said proudly as he took a bite of his roast beef, only to nearly choke at Ginny's next words.
"Actually Gryffindor has had the cup nearly every year since you all last played on the team except for the three years between my brother Charlie graduating and Harry beginning his first year. Everyone though Professor McGonagall had gone mad when she assigned the position to a first year, but after Harry's first match, Everyone thought her to be a saint." Ginny said with a smile.
"Minerva allowed Harry to play his first year?" Lilly demanded wanting to know who had given the child permission to play such a dangerous sport.
"Actually I think it was the headmaster who made the ultimate decision." Ginny said as she carefully folded her napkin and placed it on the table.
"May I be excused?" She asked suddenly feeling very uncomfortable with the entire situation.
James barely acknowledged Ginny's request with a slight nod, until her footsteps hurrying up the stairs jerked him back to the present.
"I think I am going for a walk." Sirius said politely as he rose to his feet and thanked Lilly for dinner before hurrying toward the front door.
"I think it's time we had a talk with our son and find out exactly what's going on." James said as he looked at his wife and rose to his feet.
"Honestly James, do you really think Harry is going to tell us anything right now?" Lilly sighed as she gave all pretense of eating and cleared the table with a wave of her wand.
"First thing in the morning then?" James asked.
"First thing in the morning." Lilly agreed.
Chapter 18
Harry unconsciously moved closer to get a better look at the woman that Sirius was hugging as if she might fade away if he let go. At first all he could see was her long flowing red hair and her small petite frame, but gripping Ginny's hand tighter in his own, as they both moved slowly closer, Harry caught a glance of her emerald eyes just as she fainted at the sight of him and Ginny suddenly appearing right behind Sirius.
Sirius felt Lilly suddenly go limp in his arms and quickly caught her up in his arms as he turned to see Harry and Ginny standing behind him with a look of total confusion on their respective faces. Moving toward the living room with Lilly in his arms, he gently laid her on the sofa before turning back to see Harry and Ginny hesitating in the doorway.
"Sirius who is that and where are we?" Ginny asked as she took in the shocked look on Harry's face and led him to a nearby chair.
"This is Lilly, Harry's mother." Sirius explained as he tried to wake Lilly by gently kneeling beside the sofa and calling her name.
"Sirius are you sure? I thought that they were ..." Ginny asked letting her voice trail off into nothing as Lilly began to moan softly before opening her eyes.
"You thought what?" James asked as he stood in the doorway with his wand pointed in their direction. Not at all liking the fact that there was a strange man hovering over his wife.
"James?" Sirius asked as he turned to look at his best friend for the first time in years.
"Sirius?" James asked in disbelief as he got his first good look at Sirius in longer than he cared to remember.
The next few moments were a blur as Sirius rushed toward James and threw his arms around him. Forgetting completely about Lilly's semi conscious state.
So many emotions overwhelmed Harry all at once that every move he made for the next few hours was automated. Even with Ginny by his side as he hugged his parents and looked into their eyes was not enough to keep him grounded. Although it helped a lot and he knew he would never have gotten through it all without knowing she was right by his side.
A few days later...
Harry sighed tiredly as he walked through the forest trying to sort out the mass amount of emotions clouding his mind. Guilt, anger, and shock were only a few of them he was struggling with. The worst however, was the guilt. He felt the worse kind of guilt possible every time he thought about his parents.
For as long as he could remember all he ever wanted was a kind loving family. Now that he had found his, he felt smothered and angry at the fact that they were already trying to control his life. First his mother by saying he should eat more, and then his father taking it upon himself to have 'the talk' because of Ginny's presence. He still blushed with embarrassment every time he looked at Ginny.
Swearing softly, Harry strode over to a large tree that had fallen and sat down. Burying his head in his hands as he tried to sort things out. Finally unable to get anything even remotely sorted out, he decided to just push it all aside and do something else.
Reaching into his the back pocket of his jeans, Harry took out the book that Godric had given him. It only took glancing through the book to realize that all of the spells required the power of an elemental or several elementals working together and that many of the spells had not been used in over a few hundred years as the magic was the rarest form of ancient magi's.
"Mind if I join you?" Ginny asked as she slowly approached where Harry was sitting.
"Sure." Harry said as he tucked the book back into his pocket, making a mental note to try some of the meditation techniques that he glanced over.
"So what's up?" Harry asked when it seemed Ginny had completely forgotten he was there.
"A lot of things." Ginny said as she twisted her hands together.
"I've been told talking about it sometimes helps." Harry said as he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders as it was beginning to cool a bit and she had on a sleeveless shirt.
"I guess most of all, I just miss my family." Ginny shrugged as she blinked back her tears.
"Don't know what you got till it's gone?" Harry asked.
"Pretty much." Ginny admitted as she rose restlessly to her feet.
"That's the biggest thing, but there's a few other things as well." She added as they begin to slowly make their way back toward the house.
"What else?" Harry asked as he took her hand in his as they walked along the path.
"I can't really do anything about missing your family, but I have been trying to think of a way for us to get back. Especially since school starts tomorrow." Harry said with a frown. Knowing that if the adults were trying to figure out a way for them all to get back home, then they had yet to say anything to him or Gin.
"I'm scared Harry." Ginny admitted as the large manor came into view.
"I feel as if something is about to happen. Something so unexpected and so horrifying that it will change us all in a way that we can never fully recover from. Forget it, I'm just being silly." Ginny said when she could find no other words to express her thoughts.
"Well if you're being silly than so am I because I feel the same way." Harry said giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
"I don't know if you have heard, but I have a feeling it has something to do with Hermione and Ron disappearing for a couple of days while you and Sirius were in the United States." Ginny said, more than a bit relieved that she had finally gotten that little bit of news off her chest, despite having promised everyone else that she would not tell Harry anything about what happened.
Unfortunately before Harry could voice his surprise at hearing that his friends had disappeared, he caught the sound of his mother's voice calling them inside for dinner.
"Harry promise me you won't say anything when we get back, because I promised everyone that I wouldn't say anything." Ginny pleaded softly as she stopped walking and refused to take another step until he did so.
"Okay, I promise, but only if you tell me everything after dinner." Harry agreed as he looked into her eyes.
Ginny simply nodded as his mother called out for them once again.
"We're coming!" Harry shouted in the direction of the manor.
"We better hurry or else they will come looking for us." Harry groaned as they both set off in a jog toward the house. Sending Ginny an I told you so look as they neared the house and found Lilly, James and Sirius on their way out the door.
"Where have you two been, I have been calling you for the last half hour." Lilly demanded as Ginny and Harry came running up the walk.
"We just went for a walk. Must have gone further than we thought." Ginny answered somewhat nervously. Still feeling somewhat nervous around Harry's parents.
"I thought I told you not to go into the forest." James said as they all made their way to the dinning room.
"We just went for a walk, give it a rest." Harry said as he sat down at the table, glaring at his plate.
"We're sorry, it won't happen again." Ginny said as she sat beside Harry and squeezed his hand beneath the table.
"Harry James Potter you apologize for attitude right now!" Lilly stated angrily as she finished sitting the last of the food she had prepared on the table.
"Lilly I'm sure Harry meant nothing by what he said." Sirius said as he glanced nervously between Harry and James who seemed to be in a starring contest with neither of the two in any hurry to give into the other. "Stay out of this Sirius." James stated angrily.
"You will do as your mother said or you will go to your and stay there until you are told your punishment is over." James ordered angrily as he glared at his son.
"Fine." Harry ground out between clenched teeth as he threw his napkin on the table and shoved his chair back so hard it hit the floor with a loud crash as jumped to his feet and strode angrily from the room.
Ginny listened in frozen silence as Harry's footsteps pounded up the stairs and a door slam so hard the windows rattled in their pains. Ginny wanted so desperately to speak up for Harry, but knew it would most likely make everything worse, so sat in silence waiting for the first opportunity to excuse herself.
"Honestly Sirius, didn't you teach that child any respect?" James asked as he began to fill his plate.
Ginny looked up at Sirius, whose only response was a barely noticeable shake of his head before sighing softly and adding a small portion of mashed potatoes to her plate.
Lilly watched the silent exchange between Sirius and Ginny with a slight frown on her face. There was something they were hiding and it concerned her son of that much she was sure. Making a note to find out what it was, she turned the conversation to what she thought would a better topic.
"Virginia, Sirius tells us that you and Harry are both on the quiddith team. What positions do you both play?" Lilly asked.
Ginny nearly choked on her potatoes as she struggled to find a way to tell them that Harry was no longer on the team and sent a desperate look at Sirius only the blank expression on his face told her, no one had told him that Harry had been banned from the team during the last school term.
"Seeker." Ginny sighed.
"We both play seeker, I am the reserve and Harry's the main player." Deciding that until Harry told them differently, than it couldn't hurt to tell just this one small lie.
"Did we win the cup this year?" Sirius asked.
"Yes. We have won it every year Harry has been on the team." Ginny replied as she absently played with her food.
"Four years straight, not a bad run." James said proudly as he took a bite of his roast beef, only to nearly choke at Ginny's next words.
"Actually Gryffindor has had the cup nearly every year since you all last played on the team except for the three years between my brother Charlie graduating and Harry beginning his first year. Everyone though Professor McGonagall had gone mad when she assigned the position to a first year, but after Harry's first match, Everyone thought her to be a saint." Ginny said with a smile.
"Minerva allowed Harry to play his first year?" Lilly demanded wanting to know who had given the child permission to play such a dangerous sport.
"Actually I think it was the headmaster who made the ultimate decision." Ginny said as she carefully folded her napkin and placed it on the table.
"May I be excused?" She asked suddenly feeling very uncomfortable with the entire situation.
James barely acknowledged Ginny's request with a slight nod, until her footsteps hurrying up the stairs jerked him back to the present.
"I think I am going for a walk." Sirius said politely as he rose to his feet and thanked Lilly for dinner before hurrying toward the front door.
"I think it's time we had a talk with our son and find out exactly what's going on." James said as he looked at his wife and rose to his feet.
"Honestly James, do you really think Harry is going to tell us anything right now?" Lilly sighed as she gave all pretense of eating and cleared the table with a wave of her wand.
"First thing in the morning then?" James asked.
"First thing in the morning." Lilly agreed.