In the boys dorm Harry looked around at the 3 people he knew would be his godfather, professor and enemy in the future. Harry pushed the latter out of his mind, he couldn't change anything; too many lives were at risk. This was Peter, not the Wormtail of the future. Remus broke the silence
"How did it happen this time", Harry looked panicked. Last time there was a trigger, the potion, but this time it had just happened.
"I don't know," he muttered, still scanning possibilities through his head. He was in history of magic, not even a practical class. A realisation dawned on Harry; this was going to probably keep occurring spontaneously. At least one thing eased his mind; he didn't feel ill this time when it happened. Maybe eventually it would just occur in a snap; maybe Dumbledore would do one better and be able to stop the whole switching as soon as he returned from his trip. Another thought settled deep in Harry's stomach though, it was only 2 weeks until the six-week holiday. How was he meant to tell his Dad he didn't live with them because they were dead? Uncle Vernon would no doubt bring it up at some point and it does look bad that he doesn't live with his parents without the 'We've raised you for 16 years' speech.
Harry must have looked sad and withdrawn "What's up?" Sirius asked, he was so grateful the rat wasn't conversing with him. It made it all easier.
"I was just thinking, there's some stuff in the future which my dad can't find out. It would change everything but it's inevitable that as long as we keep swapping he'll find at least some of it out. Even if it's just looking through my stuff and realising who my mum was." Shit, he'd done it again. He was so used to referring to his parents in past tense that he was finding it odd to change the habit of a lifetime. This time the others picked up on it.
"Was?" Remus asked looking concerned. Harry said nothing, but the silence revealed enough.
"She's dead isn't she?" Harry nodded, tears forming in his eyes. He wanted to tell them everything but he couldn't. This was going to hurt him so much, but at least he'd get a chance to know her, sort of.
"Sorry," Sirius mumbled. Harry just smiled and wiped his eyes; he wasn't going to cry here.
Walking back to the common room James was amazed at how many people stared at him. He had always been in a rush before but dawdling through the corridors he noticed most people where looking his way or muttering, "It's him" as they passed. It was justified really, no one had ever survived avada kedevra and Harry was so young when he did it. James was knackered, and looking at Ron it appeared he was feeling the same. After having a quick shower James went up to bed, no one else was up there as Ron had decided to stay in the common room with Hermione; they would make such a good couple James thought to himself while looking through the trunk at the bottom of his bed for something that would suffice as sleep wear. While rummaging in the crevices of the trunk he realised all Harry's muggle clothes were old and must be at least 2 sizes too big for him, yet he had an international standard broom. James brushed off his concerns; he had probably just not changed. Quidditch gets priority. End of. He eventually reached for an oversize tee shirt and threw it on. He continued to examine the contents of the trunk for something of interest, and then he found it, a photo album hidden at the bottom of the trunk. He pulled it out and retired to bed.
The first picture was of the marauders all together, there were loads of them and some of Lily Evans' crew too, James wondered why Lily would feature in here so prominently. He wouldn't give the thought of her being Harry's mother houseroom, they hated each other. Their joint project in muggle studies had been successfully avoided for 3 solid weeks and counting, they would not spend time in a room together unless absolutely necessary. Flicking through James eventually found one from outside his schooldays, it was a wedding photo and stood next to him was a red headed green haired woman...Evans. 'That's a turn up for the books' he thought to himself as he continued flicking through, eventually there were a couple of the 3 of them. Lily, James and baby Harry. He looked so cute and it appeared that they were the perfect family, some on the beech, some having a picnic. James continued until he saw one of Ron and Hermione and a young boy who looked just like him, bar the eye colour and the scar, Harry. The resemblance was scary; he could pass as his twin. That's why he was getting away with it here; their own mothers would have a hard time telling them apart. Then it dawned on James, why did the photos of the three of them stop when Harry was only a baby? Why were there no photos between the ages of about 1 and 11? James continued to look through the book, there were pictures of the three of them growing up through Hogworts. One with a red haired family James took to be the Weasley's. There were no family photos at all. At that moment Ron entered the room.
"Hi James, you alright?" looking up at Ron it was clear that something was wrong, it was then that Ron noticed Harry's photo album open on the bed next to him.
"Are we a bad family?" James asked, pleading in his eyes, "Why doesn't he have photos of us? Are we horrible to him?" Ron paled and sat next to James on Harry's bed.
"No, it's just that you couldn't always be there for him. You were occupied, you loved him so much though and so did his mum." James noticed something else, past tense.
"You used past tense, does he not keep in touch with us anymore? Are we dead?" James was quite amazed how easy this last phrase came to him; it would be easier for him to come to terms with dying young than him being poor father.
Ron didn't know what to do. Hermione would tell him to bullshit James, but Ron knew he would find out the truth anyway. He decided for a different tact, if he provided solid evidence that the Potter's were a close family surely that would ease the grief a little bit. Finally Ron decided his plan, "Get changed James, we are going to the library."
James wondered why they were doing this, he half wanted to shout at Ron for being insensitive but he gave him the benefit of the doubt. Throwing on Harry's robes Ron wrapped the invisibility cloak round them and they advanced to the deserted library. Ron walked over to the DADA section and pulled out a book, 'The Rise and fall of the Dark Arts', and passed it to James.
"It will tell you the story," Ron said. Sitting on a chair and gesturing for James to join him. James reluctantly sat down and looked in the index for Harry's name. He was sure everything was connected to Harry's scar. He found the page he wanted, 217, and turning to it found a full chapter dedicated to his son. He read it, and it there it was in black and white "James Potter (1959 - 1981)" right next to "Lily Potter (nee Evans) (1960- 1981)", James read with deep fascination. Harry had destroyed the dark wizard Voldemort, the same Voldemort who was killing so many people in the 1970s. James and Lily had died trying to protect their son from him.
"Come on, let's get back". Ron threw the cloak back over James and took him to the tower. The pair collapsed into bed, but neither slept all night.
