Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Chapter 6: The truth

Lupin was released the next day and immediately he found his friends.

"James, Sirius, it was Harry!" he said. They looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" James asked. He and Sirius had dark bags under their eyes, as did Ron and Hermione.

"The bird! It was Harry."

"How is that possible?"

"He must be an animagus. He was with a werewolf that night, and Ron and Hermione were too, which is why they look so tired," he whispered. "One of the professors is the werewolf and one of them is…the future Sirius." Sirius and James looked shocked. "Remember how the dog's tracks smelled like Sirius?"

"Do you think Dumbledore knows?" James asked. Sirius was speechless.

"We need to talk to him about this," Remus said and they all walked to Dumbledore's office.

"Dancing fairy plums," James said and the gargoyle moved aside. "He hasn't changed it since our last prank apparently." They knocked on the headmaster's door.

"Come in," he said. They entered. "Hello, gentlemen. Did everything go well on the full moon, Remus?"

"Sort of," Remus answered and told Dumbledore all they had figured out.

"I see. Well you are correct. Harry is James' son, and Professor Lantir is the future Remus, and Professor Brown is the future Sirius."

"Who do I marry?" James asked eagerly. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"Lily Evans," he answered.

"What?" three voices cried.

"Surely you've noticed Harry's eyes?"

"Wait a minute; I remember Harry telling me his mum and dad were killed when he was one," James said slowly. Dumbledore nodded gravely. "I…I die?"

"You were killed by Lord Voldemort and Harry didn't die because Lily sacrificed herself for him. I'm afraid that's all I know that you can know."

"What happened to us?" Remus asked gesturing to himself and Sirius.

"Mr. Black spends twelve years in Azkaban for betraying James and lily, which he did not do. Then he escapes and his name is cleared two years later."

"Um, isn't it impossible to escape?" Sirius asked in horror.

"Everyone thought so."

"Who really did betray us?" James asked.

"Mr. Pettigrew."

"How could he?" Sirius exclaimed angrily.

"I'm afraid I have to modify your memory. This could change the future," Dumbledore said. The three boys started to protest but he already had his wand out. Before he made them forget everything that had happened in the past two days he said. "You will not be able to figure this out anymore no matter how many clues you get. And James, I hope you realize how you've hurt your son."

"What?" suddenly realization dawned on the boy. "Oh my God, I called my son a Death Eater. I can't believe it."

"I'm sure you'll patch things up," Dumbledore said. "By the way, Sirius, you're Harry's god father." As Sirius took this in the old man said "Obliviate!" and the three boys remembered only the fight between Harry, Ron, Hermione, and themselves.

Sam was asleep in his chair near Harry's bed. He had been there for two days, waiting for the boy to wake up. Richard had started going to class again; not that he had a choice with Sam spending all the time in the Hospital wing.

A stirring sound and a moan woke Sam up. He looked at Harry and saw him slowly opening his eyes.

"Harry?"

"Sirius?" Harry said groggily, sitting up. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure. When you left to see if they were following us, you didn't come back and I found you at the edge of the forest with your arm half torn out."

"That explains the pain," Harry mumbled. Sam smiled.

"Do you need anything to eat or drink? Or do you need more blankets or anything?"

"I'm fine, Sirius. Have you been here all this time?"

"Er…most of it... I mean, you lost a lot of blood and had a good chance of not making it."

"Thanks for your concern but you should really go get some sleep or something to eat." Sam ignored him.

"It's not fair, you know? Everything happens to you! You almost drowned, then you were attacked by some vicious creature, it's your destiny to kill some power crazy lunatic-" Harry interrupted him quietly.

"Sirius- I mean Sam- Remus attacked me," he said.

"What?"

"He felt like there was something different about me. I know it's not his fault; he can't control himself as a werewolf, but I think he might have killed me if he hadn't started retransforming." Sam swallowed.

"We can't tell him. He'd never forgive himself, and he'd possibly do something rash."

"I know." Before they could say anything else Madam Pomfrey came in.

"He's awake? How come you didn't tell me?" she cried.

"He only just woke up," Sam explained. The medi-witch took off Harry's bandages and he almost threw up when he saw his arm.

"That's disgusting! Is that really my arm?" Madam Pomfrey nodded.

"I have to clean it up. It's going to be painful so I have to give you some pain killing potion."

"Can you make it so I don't fall asleep? I want to talk to Sirius- I mean Sam." Luckily Madam Pomfrey had been informed of them being from the future and who they really were.

"Of course" she smiled and got the potion. He gulped it down and relaxed.

"So, how is everyone? And how long was I unconscious?"

"You've been out for three days and Richard said it was the most painful transformation he's experienced in a couple of years since there's no potion here."

"Have you been here for three whole days?" Harry asked.

"Um, no," Sam lied. The doors suddenly burst open and Lily, Mia, Hermione, and Ron came in.

"You're awake!" They all yelled at the same time. Harry smiled.

"Yup, I'm awake."

"That's your arm?" Ron asked incredulously, pointing at Harry's side.

"Yes," Harry sighed.

"What happened?" Lily asked.

"Yes we'd all like to know that," Madam Pomfrey said.

"I was taking a walk and something jumped out of the forest and attacked me." Harry said, thinking fast. Madam Pomfrey stiffened.

"Was it a wolf, or some sort of dog?" she asked.

"No, it definitely wasn't a wolf."

"Ok," she said skeptically and went back to wiping blood off of his arm.

"Why didn't you do that while I was asleep?" he asked.

"It hadn't completely stopped bleeding," she said.

"We brought you some food," Mia said and handed him a huge tray full of chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, bread, cake, and a goblet of pumpkin juice.

"Oh thanks." Harry suddenly realized how hungry he was. He started eating and in a couple of minutes the plates were empty. His arm was clean now, and was in a sling. Once Madam Pomfrey made sure the scratches on his legs weren't infected, she said he could go.

"Come back tomorrow after dinner!" she called after him. He nodded and happily left with his friends.

"I'm so glad you're back!" Hermione half hugged him, since she couldn't touch his left arm. He had to keep it in the sling for a while until the muscles and ligaments regrew since that couldn't be done magically yet.

"I'm happy I'm back"

"We've been so worried," Lily said "We came everyday, and Sam didn't even leave," she whispered.

"Really? He told me he did. Has he eaten?"

"A bit."

"Oh." Harry walked up behind Sam and started pushing him with his good arm. The others helped him and soon they were at the kitchens, Sam protesting the whole time. I house elf named Nira lead them to a couch, where Harry proceeded to force feed his god father.

"I can eat by myself," Sam said.

"Well then do it." Sam ate and finally Harry was satisfied. "Now time for some sleep."

"Oh but I really don't-" Sam's arguments were cut off when Harry conjured a bit of cloth and tied it around the man's mouth. They pushed him all they way to his rooms, passing many confused students and teachers. They got him on his bed and took away his wand, and left, locking the door behind them.

"It'll unlock when you've gotten enough sleep!" Harry yelled through the wood and they all ran off laughing.

After Dumbledore explained that they had been setting off dungbombs in the hallways, and couldn't remember anything because the Slytherins had hit them with a nasty spell, James, Remus, and Sirius left his office. They headed back to the common room and finished all their homework and went to sleep.

The next day they heard that Harry had been released from the Hospital wing. They were confused as to why he was there and went to look for him to see if there were any visible marks. When they found him they saw that his arm was in a sling but that was it. He was talking with his friends (excluding Lily and Mia) quietly and when he saw the Marauders he abruptly stopped.

"This calls for the Invisibility Cloak," Sirius announced and that night they listened in on Harry's conversation.

"If Voldemort would just die," he was saying, "I probably wouldn't be in this mess. Well I might, but I would be able to look forward to going back home. I mean really look forward to it, because aside from the being famous part, I would basically have a normal life. There wouldn't be any Dark Lord trying to kill me, you know?"

"It's your destiny to kill him Harry," Hermione said quietly.

"Or be killed by him," Harry pointed out. Remus gasped and Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked around. They didn't see anything but stopped talking.

"I'm going to go to bed," Ron said still looking around. "G'night."

"No, wait!" James said jumping out from under the Invisibility Cloak. Harry sighed.

"I should have known you'd be spying on us again. Sirius and Remus, you can come out." They did so, reluctantly. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Is everything you just said true?" Sirius asked.

"Yes."

"That it's your destiny to kill Voldemort or be killed by him?" James asked.

"Yes."

"W-were your parents killed by him?" Remus questioned. Harry stiffened.

"Yes," he said again. "Is there something you want now, or can we go?"

"I-I can't believe we called you Death Eaters!" James said. Suddenly it was as if the past week had never happened.

At breakfast the next morning the Marauders were forced to sit near Lily and Mia because of Harry and Hermione and Ron. James and Lily actually managed a civil conversation. It went like this:

"Can you pass the bacon?" James asked. Lily handed him what he asked for and continued ignoring him. "Listen I'm sorry for calling your friends Death Eaters." He offered.

"Thanks. So…how are you doing?" Lily asked, sounding a lot more pleasant. There was tension between them from all those years of hating each other but they were talking.

"I'm good, you?"

She smiled.

"Great!"

He chuckled.

"Good," he said and she blushed slightly.

"C'mon lovebirds," Sirius said, poking James on the shoulder. "We're gonna be late for class." James and Lily both blushed and stood up. James walked over to his future son and out his arm around his shoulders. Well, his right shoulder. Up at the teachers' table, Sam and Richards smiled.

"It's all back to normal," they said and headed off to class.

"Ok, Lily, truth or dare?" James asked. It was Friday night and Mia, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were playing truth or dare. James had just had to do the chicken dance wearing a purple and hot pink suit, and then parade it around the school.

"Dare," Lily said. James grinned.

"I dare you to kiss me," he said. Lily was shocked for a moment but leaned in. At the last moment James added "On the lips" Lily blushed because that was what she was going to do in the first place, and leaned farther. Soon their lips brushed together and James closed the little distance between them. Harry was grinning, along with everyone else. Lily had been planning on pulling away as soon as she did her dare, but found herself melting into the kiss. James pulled her closer and she put her arms around his neck. Suddenly Sirius did a cat call and they pulled away. Lily blushed deep red, and sat as far away from James as possible.

"No," Sirius whined "You two are supposed to be together now." He made James stand up. "Sit!" he commanded and pointed to the spot near Lily. He flopped down next to her. Then he put an arm around her shoulders.

"Hello," he said. Everyone was having trouble containing their laughter.

"Truth or dare, Harry?" Lily asked.

"Truth."

"Why do you talk like the boys described, in your sleep?" His nightmares were kept a secret from everyone except Richard, Sam, Ron, and Hermione.

"Nightmares," he said simply.

"Who's Cedric?" Remus asked. Harry paled.

"Only one question per truth. James, truth or dare?" everyone sensed Harry didn't want to talk about it and James answered.

"Truth," he said.

"Who do you have a crush on?" Harry asked, regaining his cheerful mood. James blushed. He had always asked Lily out, but everyone had thought he was kidding and only kept doing it because she kept saying no. the only people who knew how he felt about her were Sirius, Remus, Harry, and Ron.

"Lily," he mumbled.

"What was that?" Ron asked cupping his ear.

"Lily!" James said. Lily blushed and James looked at the floor, then looked up and smiled. "Lily dear, who do you have a crush on?" 'Please let it be me. I don't know what I'd do if it was someone else.'

"Remember the truth spell on the room? Don't even bother lying," Mia said. Lily sighed forgetting he hadn't even asked truth or dare.

"James," she said.

"When did you have time for that?" Sirius asked. They had only become friends a couple of days ago.

"One question," Lily answered. The truth was she had liked him ever since second year. "Hermione, T or D?"

"D."

"I dare you to run around the school in nothing but your underwear screaming about how coke and Pepsi are the same thing then get on the teacher table in the Great Hall and sing 'I'm a little Teacup' at the top of your lungs, with hand movements." Hermione was mortified.

"But… I can't do that!" After the look everyone gave her she said "Fine. It's not like there's going to be anyone in the Great Hall anyway."

"That's where you're wrong. We had a late dinner tonight, and we left early so everyone should still be there. So will Snape, if you're lucky." Everyone burst out laughing.

"Well…I won't be showing anyone more than in a bikini," Hermione said and stuck her chin out. "Ha." Then she stripped down and ran out of the door. The group followed her. "Coke and Pepsi are the same thing! Don't you people realize? You are all crazy!" then for good measure she put the Sonorus charm on herself. It was actually really fun. "Are you listening to me?" she screamed, her voice 100 times louder than usual. "Coke and Pepsi are the same thing! Aaaaaaaaaaah!" she ran around in circles outside of the Great Hall. Earlier they had bewitched a camera to work in the castle and right now Mia was taping this.

"This is great!" she whispered. Hermione took a deep breath and pushed open the doors. Everyone stopped talking to look at her. She strode up to the teacher table and climbed on top of it.

"I'm a little tea pot, short and stout! Here is my handle, here is my spout!" she sang, hand movements and all. Once she was done with the whole song she got off of the table and walked out of the Hall. Suddenly everybody erupted into laughter, Sam and Richard were, of course, laughing the hardest.

The group ran back to the common room where Hermione put her clothes on and, once she finally managed to take the Sonorus charm off of herself, burst into giggles. Soon they resumed their game.

"Truth or dare Sirius?" Hermione asked.

"Dare," he said proudly.

"I dare you to dress in drag tomorrow for the whole day, in a tube top and mini skirt." The next day was a Hogsmeade trip. "And you still have to go to Hogsmeade."

"Fine. Ron truth or dare?"

"Truth"

"What school did you used to go to?" Thankfully Ron was saved when Sam and Richard burst in.

"Harry! Harry, they found your par-" he noticed the Marauders, Lily, and Mia. "They found your parrot" he said. "Come on."

"My parrot! Good, he was really valuable; I nearly had a heart attack when I lost him. C'mon Ron, Hermione." They hurried out.

"His parrot?" Sirius asked. The others shrugged.

"What were you going to say?" Harry asked.

"They found your parents! Come on we have a lot to remember."

"What? This is a really cruel joke, Sam," Harry said.

"It's not a joke! Come on!" They were pulled into Richard and Sam's office and they sat down on the chairs there.

"What's going on?" Hermione demanded. Sam put a silencing charm on the room.

"Ok, we know everything about why we were sent to the past, and by whom. It was Dumbledore."

"Why would he send us to the past?" Ron asked.

"If you lot would stop interrupting me, I'd explain."

"Sorry," Ron said.

"Ok, before school you three were staying at Hogsmeade to help Dumbledore with freeing me. Madam Rosmerta believed my innocence and let me stay at the Three Broomsticks with you. A couple of days before school started, Voldemort attacked the village."

"I don't remember that!" Harry burst out. Sam glared at him. "Sorry, I forgot."

"Anyway Dumbledore gave you all memory potions that would last for a while. They're wearing off today. He gave them to you three so you would be able to have time to adjust before everything was dumped on you. Especially Harry. There would be too much for him to take in at one time, and he would have some sort of stress breakdown or something, so Dumbledore decided he needed time to rest before then."

"Wait a minute, I'm remembering something," Harry said. Hermione and Ron said they were too. In a minute they remembered everything.

"We heard there was a Death Eater attack on the village, and we, that is Remus, Dumbledore and all the teachers and I, headed down there. When we got down Hermione and Ron told us the Death Eaters had taken you, Sam said. "We couldn't find you until the end of the battle. I think you should explain what happened." Harry nodded.

"The Death Eaters came and started killing and torturing people. We came outside and they saw us…"

Flashback…

"Look, there he is! It's Potter. Grab him!" one Death Eater said. Harry tried to fight them off and so did Ron and Hermione. The Death Eaters bound Harry's friends and knocked Harry out and carried him somewhere. When he woke up he saw he was in the woods outside of Hogsmeade and it was dark and cold. The trees were all gnarled and he could hear the screaming coming from the village. Harry was surrounded by Death Eaters. He stood up slowly and then quickly pulled his wand out, and stunned the lot of them. There were so many he was surprised he had managed it. He bound them up with ropes. Suddenly a chilling voice chilled his bones.

"Well done Mr. Potter." He turned around and there was somebody in a cloak, with red gleaming eyes, and slits for nostrils.

End Flashback…

Hermione shuddered.

"That sounds horrible"

"It was."

Flashback…

"Hello Tom," Harry said evenly.

"Took some nerve to knock out all of my Death Eaters. I'm going to have to teach you a lesson. Crucio!" Harry fell to the ground in agony.

'No,' he thought 'I won't scream I'll wait for it to pass.' Soon it did, and Harry had cuts in several places.

End Flashback…

"He used the Crucatius curse on you?" Sam exclaimed.

"Well, yeah," Harry said. "He is Lord Voldemort, you know." Sam grinned sheepishly.

"Oh, right. Carry on."

Flashback…

"Little Potter. You've grown up, and it's really too bad I have to kill you. If there was no prophecy I'm sure I could persuade you to work with me. We could rule the whole world, you know. Avada Kedavra!" Harry dodged it and sent a stunning spell at his nemesis.

"Crucio!" he shouted when the stunning spell was blocked. He hadn't expected it to work, but Voldemort fell to the ground and screamed. It wasn't very loud but it was satisfying enough for Harry. Soon he lifted the curse, and immediately Voldemort sent a cutting spell at him, followed by the Crucatius. Harry was bleeding from various gashes in seconds. They kept exchanging spells, with Harry coming off worse, but still doing very good.

End Flashback…

"Come on Harry, hang in there." Richard said, as if he were watching a movie. They all laughed and he blushed.

Flashback…

This lasted for an hour at least (sometimes when he was incapable of doing anything else, Harry would try to punch Voldemort)

End Flashback…

Everyone laughed, picturing Harry punching Voldemort.

"I wish I could have seen that," Ron said "And I would have if Sirius hadn't sent me back up to the castle along with Hermione."

"It was for your safety," Sam explained and bade Harry to go on.

Flashback…

"You're going the same way as your parents, Potter. It won't be such a loss to the world though…just like they weren't," Voldemort sneered. Hatred rose in Harry and he pointed his wand.

"CRUCIO!" he bellowed. This time Voldemort was in agony. Harry took the curse off and pointed his wand straight at Tom's chest. "Avada Kedavra," he said quietly. A green light filled the night sky and a second later Lord Voldemort was dead.

End Flashback…

"Wow," Richard, Sam, Hermione, and Ron said at the same time.

"Keep going!" Hermione said.

"Ok," Harry obliged.

Flashback…

Harry bound Voldemort's fallen body, and made sure there were no Death Eaters left. He levitated them all in front of him and walked down the path towards Hogsmeade. He reached the end of the path and heard voices.

"The Dark Mark has faded from their arms. You don't think…" it was Sirius' voice.

"Possibly," came Dumbledore's voice."

End Flashback…

"I'll take it from here," Sam said.

"All right" Harry nodded.

Flashback…

Sirius looked up from the Death Eaters on the ground (they had caught all of them) and saw the bodies of 100 or more floating in mid air. In the middle of them was the body of Lord Voldemort. Suddenly they fell to the ground. Voldemort's eyes were wide open giving the person he had been looking at last a look of defeat. His scarlet eyes were lifeless. He was dead.

End Flashback…

"I couldn't believe it," Sam said.

"Neither could I, or Dumbledore or anyone for that matter," Richard said.

Flashback…

Sirius looked behind the bodies, and there, looking terribly hurt and cut up, was Harry. He was staring at the lifeless body in front of him. The others were beginning to stir, but he kept his gaze on the one in the middle. His emerald eyes suddenly filled with tears. Sirius was confused. Harry had just defeated the Dark Lord and he was crying. The boy fell to his knees, and his shoulders started shaking. Sirius rushed over and hugged him like a father would hug a son. It was all over.

End Flashback…

"After that Dumbledore modified your memories because it was too much. You needed time to adjust to it away from all the newspapers and people calling your name everywhere you went. You had to get used to the idea before the pressure could be put on you." Richard said.

"And now Dumbledore (this Dumbledore) has told us that in the letter he got from his future self, it explained that your parents were brought back to life because you killed their killer. People who you are friends with or close to also got their loved ones back. Neville's parents are sane again. Cedric is alive now. They all came to Dumbledore the day we left; before we left, so they'll still be there when we get back," Sam added.

"Cedric's back? My parents are back?" Harry exclaimed.

"Yeah. You have a real family now, Harry."

"I have two families now," Harry said, still trying to get over the shock but speaking all the same. "You guys were all my first family. Always there for me, and all of the Weasleys too. And now I've got parents."He couldn't believe it. Then he realized something. "That's why my dream didn't seem real."

"What?" Richard asked.

"I had a nightmare, about a week or so ago, and it was about Voldemort, but it wasn't like a vision. It was more like a real nightmare."

"Oh."

"Harry, you can live a normal life now! Like you were saying a while ago. Besides for the being famous part, you can have a normal life without worrying about Voldemort forever." Hermione said excitedly.

"You're right!" shouted Harry. "I am a normal kid! Well, besides defeating the Dark Lord and all." They all laughed, and happily left the room.