Author's Note: I don't really have anything boring, witty, funny, or wise to say to you before moving on to write this chapter, so I'll just leave you with these words and then off I go, "Licking doorknobs is illegal on other planets."

Dedications: Actually, there are none for this chapter! Unless someone does something nonsensically dedication-worthy, then perhaps I might reconsider.

Chapter Five: Long Awaited Answers and the Burrow

(An underground house. Surrey. August 14th 1996. 9:33p.m.)

"Why were you going through my things?" questioned Anna, staring her granddaughter straight in the eyes, looking far from happy. Alexa was seated at the kitchen table, hands folded nervously together in front of her, trying to avoid her grandmother's piercing stare. How could she have been caught? How could she have lost track of time? And that lead her to the question she had asked herself a little over an hour ago 'Why am I doing this?'

Alexa, who preferred not to look Anna in the eyes when she was enraged, lowered her head a bit and said, quite softly, so she couldn't hear the remorseful tone in her voice, "I was looking for information about my family."

Anna's eyes flashed angrily, and, for the moment that Alexa locked eyes with her, she thought that she was going to be yelled at, and/or subjected to a very long lecture. Even though she didn't like anyone asking her questions about James, she rather felt that she had been hiding too much from the child, and owed her an explanation. Especially after what she'd been told by Dumbledore earlier this evening. It seemed that her elder grandchild had had quite an eventful school year.

Surprising both herself and Alexa, Anna took the empty chair across from her at the table and assumed a serious disposition.

"We have a lot to talk about tonight," she said, "I will tell you as much as you want to know, as long as you show me patience and cooperation." Alexa nodded, surprised that she wasn't in trouble, and also wondering what had changed her grandmother's mind.

"Well," said Alexa, hopefully and slowly, "I suppose you'd better start out with why I'm here."

"Your parents brought you here," said Anna, although Alexa already knew this. "You needed to be away from their house. They knew that they didn't have too much time left."

"Why?" she questioned. "And why did my brother stay with them, then?"

"Voldemort was after your brother. It all has to do with a prophecy made quite some time ago. Harry, who is your brother, was, and still is, the only person who can get rid of him for good. Of course, Voldemort didn't like the sound of that, and planned to dispose of the boy as soon as possible."

Something dawned on Alexa. "His name is Harry?" she asked, giving Anna the impression that she wasn't paying much attention. "Harry Potter?"

"Yes," said her grandmother, slightly irritably, "what has that got to do with anything?"

"I know who that is!" said Alexa. "His name was in the papers a few weeks back! They called him 'The Boy Who Lived.'"

"We'll get to that," said Anna grouchily, "in a bit. Now let me finish my story." After a few seconds' pause with no interruptions from Alexa, who had gone silent and was waiting patiently, Anna cleared her throat and continued. "Your parents, who had heard about the prophecy and the fact that Voldemort was after their son, had the Fidelius Charm placed over them and their house, and they were safe. Their secret-keeper was Sirius Black."

"Who's that?"

"A friend of your father's. But two days after the spell had been performed, Sirius went to your father, James, with an idea. You see, they had this other friend called Peter Pettigrew who was, well"--Anna struggled to find the right word to describe him without sounding too harsh--"sort of weak. And unpopular. So Sirius figured that if they changed the secret-keeper to Peter, then they would be safe longer since no one would expect Peter to be carrying such a secret. James, who had thought it was a good idea at the time, agreed, and the switch was made. But to their own costs."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Alexa avidly, interrupting.

"If you'd stop interrupting," said Anna, coolly, "I'd get to that part." She waited again for Alexa to go silent before continuing. "Like I was saying, it was to their own cost that they changed it to Peter, because he had been working for Voldemort the whole time. He disclosed the information to his master, and a week later he showed up at their house in Godric's Hollow." Alexa shifted slightly in her seat; she knew that her parents' deaths were going to be described to her next. "He killed your mother first, and then your father. Little Harry was upstairs in his crib at the time. I think he only wanted to kill the real Potters, because he offered to let Lily live if she handed Harry over--"

"What do you mean 'real Potters'?" asked Alexa, fairly defensively. "My mum was a Potter!"

"But she wasn't blood," Anna pointed out, "she only married in. Now quit interrupting me." Alexa nodded. "But Lily wouldn't hand him over," she continued, "so he killed her. Then he went upstairs to find Harry. When he did, he raised his wand on the child and cursed him. But something happened and the spell did not kill Harry, but shot back at Voldemort, who nearly died, and he fled the house."

"Is that why Harry has that mark on his head in that picture you gave me?" asked Alexa, assuming she was finished with her story.

"Yes. That was all the curse managed to do."

"You never told me why I'm here and Harry isn't," Alexa reminded her. "I mean, I know why I'm here, but why did he go live with the Muggles instead of us?"

"Because, like I've told you many times before, only five people know about this house, and I like to keep that number small."

"Who are those five people?" she asked, "And why wouldn't you want him to stay here?"

"Well, you know three of them," said Anna, "you, me, Dumbledore, and then your parents know, too, of course. And I never said that I didn't want Harry to come live here. I'm sure he would have liked it better than the Dursleys anyhow."

"Then why doesn't he?"

"Because on the night your parents died, he was picked up by a man named Hagrid. Hagrid, we'll say, is not the tiniest person on the planet, being half-giant and all. He would have been very easy to follow. It was much safer for him to be taken to your Aunt Petunia's house."

"But there had to be some way to get him here!" said Alexa, rather whinily.

"Oh, sure there were ways, but Dumbledore had already made the necessary…arrangements…for him to stay there. Petunia Dursley is not the easiest person to get along with, you know. He had already convinced her into letting Harry stay there, so pulling him away, and breaking the enchantment, would really tick her off. Besides, what happened worked better anyway."

"Not for me!" wailed Alexa. "I would much rather go to Hogwarts with him. I really don't see why I couldn't before."

"We didn't need to attract too much attention," said Anna, "we already had to ensure Harry's protection while he's away from home, and we didn't need to fuss over you when it was unnecessary."

"How was it 'unnecessary'?"

"Harry didn't have someone at home to teach him," Anna pointed out. "Like you said, he lives with Muggles."

Alexa couldn't really argue this point, and moved on to her next question, "When will I get to see Harry?"

Anna, who Alexa expected would sigh and tell her 'never,' straightened up in her chair and became serious again. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Dumbledore shared an interesting little tidbit of information with me this evening." Anna paused dramatically, and Alexa held her breath, waiting. When she said nothing, Alexa said,

"And?" sounding quite eager and impatient, so Anna continued.

"Well," she began awkwardly, "this summer, for Harry's birthday, he received something that the Ministry of Magic had been working on last year. They needed to get rid of it, though, after they realized how dangerous it would be if placed in the wrong hands."

"So they gave it to my brother?"

"Well, yes and no. Dumbledore asked Fudge, who, if you didn't know, is the Minister of Magic, if he could keep the time-turner for someone who really needed it, and he agreed."

"I thought he didn't trust Dumbledore?"

"Oh, they've cleared things up," said Anna. "Anyway, I think Fudge knew what Dumbledore meant when he said 'someone who really needed it,' so he won't mind so much when he finds out what happened."

"What happened?" she inquired curiously.

"Well, when Dumbledore sent him the gift, he included a letter with a few clues for young Harry," she explained.

"What was the gift?"

"A new kind of time-turner. It works sort of like a time machine would, only much simpler to use. Harry used it to go back in time to rescue your parents."

(Fourteen fifty-seven Maple Oak Lane. August 14th 1981. 11:44 p.m.)

"Hey, Harry," said James, walking from the kitchen to the living room, where Lily and Harry were playing Wizards' Chess, mug in one hand and a letter in the other, "your owl's just come by with this." He handed the letter to him. "It seems your friend Ron has invited you over tomorrow for dinner." James raised an eyebrow at him and Harry grinned.

"I guess I'll have to tell the Weasleys about you two," said Harry, rising to depart, "I don't want any awkward questions while we're over there."

"What about our game?" called Lily as he jumped up the stairs to his bedroom.

"Later!" she heard him call. James took his seat where Harry had been. "I'll play."

And Harry spent the better part of two hours exchanging notes with Ron, telling him what had happened over the summer break.

(An underground house. Surrey. August 14th 1996. 11:53p.m.)

Alexa gasped softly. "H-he did?" Anna gave her a confirming nod. "So they're here? Why hasn't the future changed?"

"We're not exactly sure," said Anna. "They must have kept things the same, although I don't see how they could have if Lily and James are still alive."

"There has to be some logical explanation," conceded Alexa, sounding a lot like Lily.

"Indeed," Anna agreed.

After a long pause of awkward silence, Alexa asked, "Am I going to see Harry and our parents soon?"

Anna surveyed her seriously for a moment and then spoke. "Would you like to go to Hogwarts next year?"

"YES!" Alexa exclaimed, standing up so quickly that her chair collapsed to the floor behind her. Anna jumped back a bit in surprise, but chuckled at her granddaughter's enthusiasm all the same. "Do I really get to go? Why are you risking it now? Isn't Voldemort still after Harry and me?"

"Yes, but we, that is, Dumbledore and I, have figured out a way to make it possible for you four to live together as a family. You and Harry will both be able to attend Hogwarts next year."

Alexa's heart soared. "How?"

"They're going to come and live here with us," said Anna, "it's safest here."

"WOO HOO!" Alexa yelled gleefully, and began skipping around the kitchen.

(The Burrow. Somewhere outside of Ottery St. Catchpole. August 15th 1996. 8:12p.m.)

After a long and windy broom flight, the three Potters touched down in the front yard of Ron Weasley's house, the Burrow. To tell the truth, Harry was quite nervous, for the first time in his life, about going to the Weasleys' house.

Even though he had explained everything to Ron, and he had taken it quite well, and had shared it with everyone in the family (minus Percy, of course), including Fred and George, who were taking a vacation from the Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezies, Harry couldn't help but feel that something bad was going to happen.

But he pushed those thoughts out of his mind and knocked three times on their front door, his parents standing behind him, shifting slightly, James clutching both broomsticks. (He and Lily had shared one.)

The door swung forward and Mrs. Weasley appeared before them, trying to force a smile, when really, she was surveying Lily and James, looking a mixture between horrified and impressed.

"Hello, Harry dear," she said, opening the door wider, "And you too, Mr. and Mrs. Potter."

As James stepped inside, he reddened and said, "C-call me James." Molly nodded.

For the first time since his second year at Hogwarts, Harry saw all of the Weasleys, (minus the three elder brothers) seated around the kitchen table, which, if it were alive, would be groaning under the weight of all of the dishes lavished upon it. Mrs. Weasley had cooked at least twice as much as she had the last time Harry had been over for dinner. He could see all of his favorite foods including roast chicken, corned beef, peach cobbler, treacle tart, all sorts of vegetables, and corn bread.

"Take a seat," said Mrs. Weasley kindly, gesturing to the three seats across from where she was seated. All of the other Weasleys smiled at them, but at the same time, also looked very curiously and somewhat frightened at the two new Potters.

The meal went rather smoothly. Fred and George only managed to ask a few stupid questions ("What does it feel like to be dead?" asked Fred.) and a handful of crude comments such as ("I see dead people!" tittered George.), but luckily everyone, except Molly, who threw a roll at his head, found it funny.

The part Harry liked best was when they were finished with their dinner and got to go out back for dessert where they weren't in such close quarters. Lily and James took their dessert over to the picnic table with Arthur and Molly and they commenced their discussions about the Order and such, while Harry preferred the other table with Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George, to listen to other people talk, which he much preferred over keeping the conversation alive himself. Fred and George told them all about the business at their joke shop--it was booming---and Ron and Ginny talked about Quidditch. Mostly about the Tornadoes, who were top in the league these days.

When they got bored of talking, they laid down in the tall grass and stared up at the stars, drifting off into their own worlds. Harry had nearly fallen asleep when he heard the back door swing open and shut in quick succession, and he jolted awake.

"Nice of him to knock," muttered Ron, annoyed, at the sight of his Potions Master. Harry ignored him and fervently watched the adults.

"Molly, Arthur," said Snape, sounding rather flustered and in a panicky hurry, "we have a problem." He walked quickly over to the table and the four adults stood up promptly, awaiting his words. Even James, despite the fact that he and Snape had been enemies for years, took on a serious tone and did not made any snide remarks.

"What's wrong, Severus?" asked Arthur. "Were there any attacks?"

Snape shook his head. "No," he said, "we have a bigger problem than that." Molly, Arthur, Lily, and James looked even more concerned than before, and Harry, still watching, mumbled, "What could be worse?"

"Well?" prompted James, tired of the silence. "What is it, Snivelus?" Lily stepped on his foot and he glared at her. Snape gave James a horrible look and took a step towards James, hand clenched tightly around his wand. Not wanting any involvement, Arthur moved out of the way, gently pulling Molly with him.

"Just the same as you always were, Potter," said Snape coldly. "An arrogant bastard."

Lily was always prepared to defend Snape from her husband's antics, but she now felt that Snape had gone too far. Arrogant, James might be, but he was definitely not a bastard.

"OI!" said James. "My parents were married, I'll have you know!"

Everyone laughed at this, except for Snape, who just seemed more annoyed, and Lily, who rolled her eyes.

"Just stop your fighting, you two," said Lily waspishly. "Now what was so important?"

As if on cue, the back door swung open and a very familiar looking man stepped out, looking sheepish, and as if he was trying to avoid someone.

"I got your note, James," said Sirius, trying to avoid eye contact, sticking his hands in his pockets and rocking tensely from his toes to his heels.

(Percy's Flat. London. August 15th 1996. 11:02p.m.)

After a long, hard, stressful day of work at the Ministry, Percy Weasley collapsed, clad in his pajamas, into his bed and pulled the covers over him, ignoring the summer heat. His job, which he used to enjoy and take pride in, was becoming rather tiring lately. Cornelius Fudge, his boss, had quite lost it, in Percy's opinion. For the past year everything had been wonderful; they had expertly dealt with Harry Potter's cock-and-bull story about the Dark Lord returning to power and took all the necessary precautions to stop Dumbledore, who fervently supported and believed Harry, didn't frighten the Wizarding public into believing such lies.

But now, ever since a month or so ago, things had gone terribly wrong. Somehow, Dumbledore had convinced Fudge that he and Harry had been telling the truth, and now they were mass-producing home protection guides, printing useless articles praising Harry and Dumbledore in the Daily Prophet.

Percy had, of course, confronted Fudge about his sudden change of mind, to which his boss responded with the story of how Voldemort and his Death Eaters had broken into the Department of Mysteries over a month ago, and he, Cornelius, had seen them himself. Fudge had then told Percy that "one cannot deny what they have seen with their own eyes."

This had only irked him further. He, Percy, did not have any proof that Voldemort was, indeed, back. And firmly believed that Dumbledore had performed some kind of charm over his boss and issued a few memory charms to alter his beliefs. It was exactly the kind of thing a crazy, senile old man would do, he thought viciously.

Another thing he had a hard time believing was the fact that his parents continually supported Dumbledore and Harry Potter, who, Percy believed, was far from mentally stable himself. They ran around with him and his organization members for over a year, defying the Ministry's wishes, not to mention the law.

It was people like them that disgusted him.

Oh, if you're wondering why I used the expression 'hand him over' to describe the nights of their deaths, it was because when he asked her, in the revised version of Halloween, where Harry was, she wouldn't tell him, and, in the Canon of Harry Potter, J.K.R. uses the same expression to describe what Peter did when he told Voldiekins where the Potters were hiding. To me, it's used correctly to fit in with my revision and makes sense. If you would like to argue with this, please take a large metal rod--such as the one George Weasley threatened Zacharias Smith with--and kindly shove it up your ass. Thank you. : D

On a happier note, let's thank the reviewers! Not individually, but as one! THANK YOU!

Oh, and I've also decided to leave out the part about Snape and James being former friends. It's very minor, and not worth my time.

Megan