Chapter 17: The Way Things Are
Again Lily and Blake didn't recognize where they were, for they hadnever been here before. They were in a room, and finally, Blake realized where they were; they had been here before, though only once. He said,
"Lils, this is where Mum and Dad's anniversary party was!"
"So, we're still here?"
"No, don't you see, this is a time-altering event, it caused us to go back in time; so we're reliving it, though hopefully it's different than before." The door opened, and Ron was standing in the doorway. He grinned and said,
"Get back alright?" He laughed at his godson and goddaughter's faces.
"Do you have any idea how hard it was to keep your secret for almost seventeen years?" The twins grinned and Ron said,
"C'mon, come join the party, you might be surprised."
"Surprised in a good way, or in a bad way?" Blake said.
"You'll find out." They followed their godfather to the ballroom-type room where the party was. The mood was definitely brighter than it had been before; everyone was talking, laughing, and having a good time, including the guests of honor. Lily and Blake were shocked, based on what the party was when they left, to see Harry and Hermione on the dance floor dancing, smiling, and laughing. Saying they were ecstatic would've been an understatement to how the Potter twins felt. Their jaws dropped and they looked at each other and grinned. Blake said to his sister,
"Mission accomplished, little sister." And they did their brother/sister handshake. Hermione spotted her son and daughter standing over by the door with Ron and she smiled and got her husband's attention and nodded towards them. Harry grinned and took his wife's hand and they came over to speak with the Potter twins. Hermione said,
"So, everything go alright?" Lily grinned, wrinkling her nose and said,
"You have no idea." Harry said,
"I'll tell you it's been hard keeping this secret from you for sixteen years." Blake said,
"Are we still Blake James and Lily Anne?" Their parents nodded, and Blake said,
"Good, I was afraid that you might have named us differently."
"No, you're names are the same." A song started up and Hermione started to pull Harry back to the dance floor. Harry said as he was leaving,
"Glad everything worked out." Blake nodded and said,
"We're happy."
"Good." With their parents back on the dance floor, and their godfather off standing by his wife, Lily and Blake wandered around. They noticed a table that wasn't there before they went back in time. It was full of photo albums and memoirs of the past fifteen years of Harry and Hermione's lives. Lily noticed a photo album she had only seen once before, though it was hidden in a closet of old stuff from Harry's years at Hogwarts. She had looked through it, and saw there were pictures of her grandparents, and of her parents and godfather up until their sixth year. But she noticed that it had more pictures in it, and looked like it had been enchanted to fit more pages in it. Blake looked over her shoulder at the photo album and they flipped through the pages. There were the pictures of Lily and James Potter, at their wedding, after Harry had been born, pictures of their school years. As they flipped through more pages, there were pictures of Harry, Ron and Hermione at school. One picture was of the trio standing in the Gryffindor Common Room, in front of the window, grinning and waving. Ron made funny faces every once in a while, and Hermione would smack him on the back of the head and turn back to the camera. There were more pictures of at school, and then they got to the ones after they had graduated. Pictures of a pregnant Hermione, wedding pictures, pictures of Lily and Blake, and anniversary pictures. They looked at more albums, and then someone tapped Blake on the shoulder. He turned around and looked into the blue eyes of his girlfriend, Julia. He said,
"Jules!" He gave her a hug, which she gladly returned. She laughed and gave him a kiss. She turned to Lily, still smiling and said,
"Hey Lils."
"Hey Julia."
"Blake, are you planning sometime tonight on asking me to dance, or am I going to have to ask you?"
"Do you want to dance, Jules?" Julia pretended to think hard about it, then said,
"Of course." They went out onto the dance floor, and Lily took a seat in a chair at a table. There were glasses and a bottle of champagne on the table. She looked around and grinned evilly. She picked up a glass, poured some champagne into it, and just as she was to take a drink, she heard someone say,
"You've been caught, Lily." Lily jumped, and disappointed, set the glass on the table. Harry came and sat next to his daughter and said,
"You're sixteen, Lily."
"So?"
"Too young for champagne."
"So?" Lily said, unable to keep a straight face. Harry, also unable to keep a straight face, said,
"So don't drink it."
"Oh c'mon, dad, pleeeease?" Harry shook his head and said,
"No." Lily crossed her arms and pretended to pout. They were silent for a while until Harry said,
"I want to thank you, Lils."
"For what?"
"For you and Blake helping like you did."
"Your welcome."
"Remember what you told me, what I need to live for when dueling with Voldemort?"
"Yeah?"
"I did." Lily nodded. Blake came back from the dance floor, and said,
"Tomorrow..."
"Tomorrow, what?"
"Tomorrow. Quidditch game. You, me, and twelve other people." Harry grinned, and Blake said,
"I told you I'd hold you to it."
"And I promised."
"Good." Harry looked back at his daughter and noticed she was looking away, trying to hide a guilty grin. He looked at the champagne glass and noticed it wasn't as full as it was before. Harry smiled and shook his head. Lily looked at him and said,
"What?"
"So, uh, how's that champagne?"
"Don't know what you're talking about."
"Uh-huh." Just then, Lily gave a small burp. She had put a hand to her mouth, hoping to stifle the sound, but her father had heard it. He poured himself a glass of champagne, and offered his daughter her glass. She took it, looking at Harry, confused. He said,
"Well, I'm not gonna fight you with this. Cheers." He took a drink, and so did Lily. Harry said,
"You're mother's gonna kill me for this." Lily grinned.
"I won't tell."
"And don't come crying to me tomorrow morning if you drink too much tonight and have a hangover tomorrow morning."
"I won't."
"And don't tell your mother." Lily put her hands up and said,
"Hear no evil, speak no evil." Harry got up, and said,
"Don't over do it."
"I won't. I'm responsible."
"Ok. Don't do anything that would cause me not to trust you."
"C'mon dad, I am a responsible girl, I'm like mum." Harry laughed and said,
"Then I'm worried."
"What would you rather have me say I'm like you?"
"You're right." Harry left, and Lily poured herself another glass. As she was about to take a drink, she heard her name, her full name. She knew the voice, and knew she was dead where she stood.
"Lily Anne Potter!" Lily muttered,
"Shit." Hermione came to stand in front of her and said,
"What are you doing!"
"Sitting here."
"Why are you drinking, you're only sixteen!"
"I know."
"Did anyone say you could do this, or is this your own doing?"
"Both," Lily said hesitantly.
"Who told you?" Harry was standing on the other end of the room, talking with Ron, when he heard,
"Harry James Potter!" Ron looked at Harry and Harry mouthed,
"Shit."
"Uh-oh, somebody's in trouble. You always know when you're in trouble when you've been middle named." Harry saw Hermione coming towards him, an angry look on her face. Harry stuck his hand out for Ron to shake and said,
"Well, it was nice knowing you, Ron. Hey, I made it to thirty-three, and I'm going to be killed by my wife."
"Yep, nice knowing you, mate." Blake watched the funny looking argument between his parents and said to Lily,
"I take it your next?"
"No, she's already ripped into me."
"You nark, you sold Dad out."
"I didn't mean to, she got it out of me!" The argument was nothing like the ones that Lily and Blake remembered growing up with. Even though Hermione was mad at Harry, you could still tell that she would forget about it later and nobody would think it happened. Blake and Lily laughed and Lily poured another glass and offered it to her brother.
"Well, since we're twins, we normally don't do something without the other right?"
"Naturally."
"So, naturally, if one of us gets into trouble, the other usually gets in trouble later for the same thing, right?"
"Right." Lily grinned.
"Champagne?" Blake took the glass and Lily said,
"To...our handy work. Thanks to us, we have parents with the perfect marriage."
"Cheers." They clinked the glasses together and took a drink. Blake said,
"You're going to be hung over tomorrow morning aren't you?"
"A little bit."
"You should stop, I'm counting on you tomorrow to help beat Dad at Quidditch."
"You know I will, hangover or not. Have your players yet?"
"Not yet. Think we should be considerate of Mum and Dad on their fifteenth anniversary and stay at someone's house tonight? Like Ron's?" Lily smiled and said,
"You'd like that wouldn't you?"
"Oh yes."
"Maybe we should stay somewhere else tonight. But I don't think Ron would let you stay over night in his house when his daughter is home, Blake."
"Well, then, who do you suggest?"
"I don't know." Blake said,
"Screw it, it's worth a try. Oi, Ron! Can we borrow you for a minute?" Ron came over and said,
"What's up?" Lily said, rolling her eyes at her brother,
"Can we crash at your house tonight?"
"Why?" Blake said,
"We figured Mum and Dad would want some "alone" time on their fifteenth anniversary."
"Ah, I see. Why do you want to stay at my house?"
"Well, we all know why Blake wants to. And that's probably why you won't let us."
"If he promises to behave, I don't care."
"I promise."
"You try anything, Blake, I won't be happy."
"He'll be the protective father he is and curse you to the end of the earth."
"What she said."
"I swear on my name that I'll behave."
"You'd be thick to take the word of a Potter that he'll behave, Ron," Remus appeared and joined the conversation.
"Especially one who is like James." Lily said,
"Can I swear on my name that Blake'll behave?" Ron shook his head and said,
"Not good enough."
"Well, damnit, this isn't fair, it's not my fault the men in my family aren't trustworthy. I shouldn't have to be compared to them, I'm a girl!" Ron said,
"Who was it that just got into trouble for drinking champagne at sixteen?" Lily grinned, pointed at Ron and said,
"With the permission of my father, so I can't be blamed for that." Blake mock sighed and said,
"Tsk, it's a shame you've disgraced the Potter name such as you have, little sister." Lily looked at her brother and said,
"Shut up, Blake. You have no room to talk, you're worse than I am!"
"Well," Remus said, "I guess you wouldn't be Potters if you didn't cause trouble."
"See, exactly." Lily said,
"See what?" Blake opened his mouth to reply and said,
"I dunno."
"This isn't giving us our answer to whether we're staying at Ron's or not tonight." Remus said,
"Tell you what, stay with me tonight, then Ron doesn't have to worry about any untrustworthy things he thinks his godson might do with his only daughter." Ron joked,
"And then someone can help Lily with her hangover tomorrow."
"I am not going to be hung over tomorrow. I haven't had that much to drink." Ron said,
"Yeah, but you're not used to it. Trust me, I'm talking from experience." The party ended at two o'clock, everyone headed home, Blake and Lily heading to Remus's house. While trying to fall asleep that night, Lily stared up at the ceiling, thinking. Blake saw her still awake and said,
"Can't sleep?"
"I'm thinking."
"Well don't hurt yourself." Lily stuck her tongue out at her brother.
"Well, big brother, are you happy now?"
"With what, little sister?"
"Mum and Dad."
"Of course, aren't you?"
"Ecstatic."
"Ok, help me finalize plans for tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"Quidditch? C'mon, I'm gonna get to do this, I've been deprived of sixteen years of playing a Quidditch game against Dad because he never wanted to play, nor would Mum let us."
"Who are you going to have on your team?"
"How about, Jules..."
"Go figure."
"You...who else?"
"How do you know these people will play?"
"I'm sure they will. I mean; it's Quidditch. I bet if Ron plays he'll be on Dad's team, and..."
"How about this, get the twelve more people you need, and you can pick teams."
"Good idea, little sis."
"I know, I'm brilliant."
"That's going a little too far there, I think."
"Bite me."
"Fine then, I'm going to sleep, finalize my plans for tomorrow."
"God, you act like this is the biggest game of the season. Like it's for the Quidditch Cup and against Slytherin."
"It's pretty damn close."
"I'm glad you get to play Quidditch with Dad. It's a sign that we've succeeded."
"Ok, Lils you know what?"
"What?"
"We shouldn't talk about how things used to be."
"Why not?"
"It's not like that anymore. Things are way better."
"I know."
"It's just all a thing of the past." Lily turned over on her side, and the last thing she thought about before falling asleep was that her brother was right. The way things used to be was all a thing of the past.
A/N: -Sniff, sniff- (Tear rolls down cheek)- I'm sad that this story ended, I liked writing it. Hope you all enjoy the REALLY long chapter (or long by my standards of writing a chapter) to end the story. Please, please, please review, it'd be sooooooooo appreciated. I need ideas for another fanfic or songfic. I'll keep thinking, any ideas??? I was thinking about doing a sequel to What the World Would Be Like, but I don't know, what do you all think??
Love y'all. -Blows kisses-
Husker-fan-2006
Again Lily and Blake didn't recognize where they were, for they hadnever been here before. They were in a room, and finally, Blake realized where they were; they had been here before, though only once. He said,
"Lils, this is where Mum and Dad's anniversary party was!"
"So, we're still here?"
"No, don't you see, this is a time-altering event, it caused us to go back in time; so we're reliving it, though hopefully it's different than before." The door opened, and Ron was standing in the doorway. He grinned and said,
"Get back alright?" He laughed at his godson and goddaughter's faces.
"Do you have any idea how hard it was to keep your secret for almost seventeen years?" The twins grinned and Ron said,
"C'mon, come join the party, you might be surprised."
"Surprised in a good way, or in a bad way?" Blake said.
"You'll find out." They followed their godfather to the ballroom-type room where the party was. The mood was definitely brighter than it had been before; everyone was talking, laughing, and having a good time, including the guests of honor. Lily and Blake were shocked, based on what the party was when they left, to see Harry and Hermione on the dance floor dancing, smiling, and laughing. Saying they were ecstatic would've been an understatement to how the Potter twins felt. Their jaws dropped and they looked at each other and grinned. Blake said to his sister,
"Mission accomplished, little sister." And they did their brother/sister handshake. Hermione spotted her son and daughter standing over by the door with Ron and she smiled and got her husband's attention and nodded towards them. Harry grinned and took his wife's hand and they came over to speak with the Potter twins. Hermione said,
"So, everything go alright?" Lily grinned, wrinkling her nose and said,
"You have no idea." Harry said,
"I'll tell you it's been hard keeping this secret from you for sixteen years." Blake said,
"Are we still Blake James and Lily Anne?" Their parents nodded, and Blake said,
"Good, I was afraid that you might have named us differently."
"No, you're names are the same." A song started up and Hermione started to pull Harry back to the dance floor. Harry said as he was leaving,
"Glad everything worked out." Blake nodded and said,
"We're happy."
"Good." With their parents back on the dance floor, and their godfather off standing by his wife, Lily and Blake wandered around. They noticed a table that wasn't there before they went back in time. It was full of photo albums and memoirs of the past fifteen years of Harry and Hermione's lives. Lily noticed a photo album she had only seen once before, though it was hidden in a closet of old stuff from Harry's years at Hogwarts. She had looked through it, and saw there were pictures of her grandparents, and of her parents and godfather up until their sixth year. But she noticed that it had more pictures in it, and looked like it had been enchanted to fit more pages in it. Blake looked over her shoulder at the photo album and they flipped through the pages. There were the pictures of Lily and James Potter, at their wedding, after Harry had been born, pictures of their school years. As they flipped through more pages, there were pictures of Harry, Ron and Hermione at school. One picture was of the trio standing in the Gryffindor Common Room, in front of the window, grinning and waving. Ron made funny faces every once in a while, and Hermione would smack him on the back of the head and turn back to the camera. There were more pictures of at school, and then they got to the ones after they had graduated. Pictures of a pregnant Hermione, wedding pictures, pictures of Lily and Blake, and anniversary pictures. They looked at more albums, and then someone tapped Blake on the shoulder. He turned around and looked into the blue eyes of his girlfriend, Julia. He said,
"Jules!" He gave her a hug, which she gladly returned. She laughed and gave him a kiss. She turned to Lily, still smiling and said,
"Hey Lils."
"Hey Julia."
"Blake, are you planning sometime tonight on asking me to dance, or am I going to have to ask you?"
"Do you want to dance, Jules?" Julia pretended to think hard about it, then said,
"Of course." They went out onto the dance floor, and Lily took a seat in a chair at a table. There were glasses and a bottle of champagne on the table. She looked around and grinned evilly. She picked up a glass, poured some champagne into it, and just as she was to take a drink, she heard someone say,
"You've been caught, Lily." Lily jumped, and disappointed, set the glass on the table. Harry came and sat next to his daughter and said,
"You're sixteen, Lily."
"So?"
"Too young for champagne."
"So?" Lily said, unable to keep a straight face. Harry, also unable to keep a straight face, said,
"So don't drink it."
"Oh c'mon, dad, pleeeease?" Harry shook his head and said,
"No." Lily crossed her arms and pretended to pout. They were silent for a while until Harry said,
"I want to thank you, Lils."
"For what?"
"For you and Blake helping like you did."
"Your welcome."
"Remember what you told me, what I need to live for when dueling with Voldemort?"
"Yeah?"
"I did." Lily nodded. Blake came back from the dance floor, and said,
"Tomorrow..."
"Tomorrow, what?"
"Tomorrow. Quidditch game. You, me, and twelve other people." Harry grinned, and Blake said,
"I told you I'd hold you to it."
"And I promised."
"Good." Harry looked back at his daughter and noticed she was looking away, trying to hide a guilty grin. He looked at the champagne glass and noticed it wasn't as full as it was before. Harry smiled and shook his head. Lily looked at him and said,
"What?"
"So, uh, how's that champagne?"
"Don't know what you're talking about."
"Uh-huh." Just then, Lily gave a small burp. She had put a hand to her mouth, hoping to stifle the sound, but her father had heard it. He poured himself a glass of champagne, and offered his daughter her glass. She took it, looking at Harry, confused. He said,
"Well, I'm not gonna fight you with this. Cheers." He took a drink, and so did Lily. Harry said,
"You're mother's gonna kill me for this." Lily grinned.
"I won't tell."
"And don't come crying to me tomorrow morning if you drink too much tonight and have a hangover tomorrow morning."
"I won't."
"And don't tell your mother." Lily put her hands up and said,
"Hear no evil, speak no evil." Harry got up, and said,
"Don't over do it."
"I won't. I'm responsible."
"Ok. Don't do anything that would cause me not to trust you."
"C'mon dad, I am a responsible girl, I'm like mum." Harry laughed and said,
"Then I'm worried."
"What would you rather have me say I'm like you?"
"You're right." Harry left, and Lily poured herself another glass. As she was about to take a drink, she heard her name, her full name. She knew the voice, and knew she was dead where she stood.
"Lily Anne Potter!" Lily muttered,
"Shit." Hermione came to stand in front of her and said,
"What are you doing!"
"Sitting here."
"Why are you drinking, you're only sixteen!"
"I know."
"Did anyone say you could do this, or is this your own doing?"
"Both," Lily said hesitantly.
"Who told you?" Harry was standing on the other end of the room, talking with Ron, when he heard,
"Harry James Potter!" Ron looked at Harry and Harry mouthed,
"Shit."
"Uh-oh, somebody's in trouble. You always know when you're in trouble when you've been middle named." Harry saw Hermione coming towards him, an angry look on her face. Harry stuck his hand out for Ron to shake and said,
"Well, it was nice knowing you, Ron. Hey, I made it to thirty-three, and I'm going to be killed by my wife."
"Yep, nice knowing you, mate." Blake watched the funny looking argument between his parents and said to Lily,
"I take it your next?"
"No, she's already ripped into me."
"You nark, you sold Dad out."
"I didn't mean to, she got it out of me!" The argument was nothing like the ones that Lily and Blake remembered growing up with. Even though Hermione was mad at Harry, you could still tell that she would forget about it later and nobody would think it happened. Blake and Lily laughed and Lily poured another glass and offered it to her brother.
"Well, since we're twins, we normally don't do something without the other right?"
"Naturally."
"So, naturally, if one of us gets into trouble, the other usually gets in trouble later for the same thing, right?"
"Right." Lily grinned.
"Champagne?" Blake took the glass and Lily said,
"To...our handy work. Thanks to us, we have parents with the perfect marriage."
"Cheers." They clinked the glasses together and took a drink. Blake said,
"You're going to be hung over tomorrow morning aren't you?"
"A little bit."
"You should stop, I'm counting on you tomorrow to help beat Dad at Quidditch."
"You know I will, hangover or not. Have your players yet?"
"Not yet. Think we should be considerate of Mum and Dad on their fifteenth anniversary and stay at someone's house tonight? Like Ron's?" Lily smiled and said,
"You'd like that wouldn't you?"
"Oh yes."
"Maybe we should stay somewhere else tonight. But I don't think Ron would let you stay over night in his house when his daughter is home, Blake."
"Well, then, who do you suggest?"
"I don't know." Blake said,
"Screw it, it's worth a try. Oi, Ron! Can we borrow you for a minute?" Ron came over and said,
"What's up?" Lily said, rolling her eyes at her brother,
"Can we crash at your house tonight?"
"Why?" Blake said,
"We figured Mum and Dad would want some "alone" time on their fifteenth anniversary."
"Ah, I see. Why do you want to stay at my house?"
"Well, we all know why Blake wants to. And that's probably why you won't let us."
"If he promises to behave, I don't care."
"I promise."
"You try anything, Blake, I won't be happy."
"He'll be the protective father he is and curse you to the end of the earth."
"What she said."
"I swear on my name that I'll behave."
"You'd be thick to take the word of a Potter that he'll behave, Ron," Remus appeared and joined the conversation.
"Especially one who is like James." Lily said,
"Can I swear on my name that Blake'll behave?" Ron shook his head and said,
"Not good enough."
"Well, damnit, this isn't fair, it's not my fault the men in my family aren't trustworthy. I shouldn't have to be compared to them, I'm a girl!" Ron said,
"Who was it that just got into trouble for drinking champagne at sixteen?" Lily grinned, pointed at Ron and said,
"With the permission of my father, so I can't be blamed for that." Blake mock sighed and said,
"Tsk, it's a shame you've disgraced the Potter name such as you have, little sister." Lily looked at her brother and said,
"Shut up, Blake. You have no room to talk, you're worse than I am!"
"Well," Remus said, "I guess you wouldn't be Potters if you didn't cause trouble."
"See, exactly." Lily said,
"See what?" Blake opened his mouth to reply and said,
"I dunno."
"This isn't giving us our answer to whether we're staying at Ron's or not tonight." Remus said,
"Tell you what, stay with me tonight, then Ron doesn't have to worry about any untrustworthy things he thinks his godson might do with his only daughter." Ron joked,
"And then someone can help Lily with her hangover tomorrow."
"I am not going to be hung over tomorrow. I haven't had that much to drink." Ron said,
"Yeah, but you're not used to it. Trust me, I'm talking from experience." The party ended at two o'clock, everyone headed home, Blake and Lily heading to Remus's house. While trying to fall asleep that night, Lily stared up at the ceiling, thinking. Blake saw her still awake and said,
"Can't sleep?"
"I'm thinking."
"Well don't hurt yourself." Lily stuck her tongue out at her brother.
"Well, big brother, are you happy now?"
"With what, little sister?"
"Mum and Dad."
"Of course, aren't you?"
"Ecstatic."
"Ok, help me finalize plans for tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"Quidditch? C'mon, I'm gonna get to do this, I've been deprived of sixteen years of playing a Quidditch game against Dad because he never wanted to play, nor would Mum let us."
"Who are you going to have on your team?"
"How about, Jules..."
"Go figure."
"You...who else?"
"How do you know these people will play?"
"I'm sure they will. I mean; it's Quidditch. I bet if Ron plays he'll be on Dad's team, and..."
"How about this, get the twelve more people you need, and you can pick teams."
"Good idea, little sis."
"I know, I'm brilliant."
"That's going a little too far there, I think."
"Bite me."
"Fine then, I'm going to sleep, finalize my plans for tomorrow."
"God, you act like this is the biggest game of the season. Like it's for the Quidditch Cup and against Slytherin."
"It's pretty damn close."
"I'm glad you get to play Quidditch with Dad. It's a sign that we've succeeded."
"Ok, Lils you know what?"
"What?"
"We shouldn't talk about how things used to be."
"Why not?"
"It's not like that anymore. Things are way better."
"I know."
"It's just all a thing of the past." Lily turned over on her side, and the last thing she thought about before falling asleep was that her brother was right. The way things used to be was all a thing of the past.
A/N: -Sniff, sniff- (Tear rolls down cheek)- I'm sad that this story ended, I liked writing it. Hope you all enjoy the REALLY long chapter (or long by my standards of writing a chapter) to end the story. Please, please, please review, it'd be sooooooooo appreciated. I need ideas for another fanfic or songfic. I'll keep thinking, any ideas??? I was thinking about doing a sequel to What the World Would Be Like, but I don't know, what do you all think??
Love y'all. -Blows kisses-
Husker-fan-2006