Chapter 56: Fate

Sirius looked down at his wife who lay fainted on the floor. He crept over to the door, his wand raised. His jaw dropped though when he saw who was at the door.

The man standing in the doorway had jet-black hair that was awfully untidy. He wore a pair of thick, black rimmed glasses. He looked exactly like Harry…except for one thing…his eyes weren't green.

Harry sat up in his bed. He fumbled for his glasses and put them on. There had been a loud thud from downstairs and he feared the worst. He quickly reached for his wand and headed to go downstairs. As he neared the stairs he could hear Faith rambling and Sirius mumbling something. Harry began to descend the stairs but soon stood there paralyzed. At the front door was Faith with her arms wrapped around the neck of someone…that looked exactly like him.

Sirius turned and saw Harry standing on the stairs dumbstruck.

"Harry come here," Sirius called and motioned. Harry moved stiffly over to where Sirius stood. The man that looked like Harry tore himself away from Faith, his eyes never moving from Harry. He looked him square in the eye and asked,

"Harry?"

Harry nodded and there was silence as the two looked at each other.

"Harry," Faith babbled, "This is your father,"

"So let me get this straight," Sirius mused crossing his arms in front of his chest. "You are back from the dead-"

"Temporarily," James put in.

"Right. You're back from the dead to help with the fight against Voldemort…because its fate?" Sirius wanted to know.

"Yes, We can make our own decisions but our basic destiny stays the same. Only the little things change. Whether or not we come to term with our destiny is our choice," James commented.

"And how do you know this?" Sirius questioned

"The Fate Council…it's a council after death. They deal with all the things to happen in the living world. I actually had to fight a bit to get here," replied James.

"So, what was the choice that brought you here?" Faith inquired as she sat at the floor of Sirius's feet.

"Remus. When Remus decided to go after Voldemort it meant that I would have to come here. If Remus hadn't had gone after Voldemort than…well, I don't quite know what would have happened," James muttered as he leaned back against the wall.

"Do you know what's going to happen?" Faith wondered.

"Yes…but I'm not allowed to say. I know the things that are for sure going to happen. Fate is a confusing thing," James described as he ran a hand through his hair messing it up. "By the way, why did Remus go after Voldemort? And what happened after..you know…I died?"

"Well the short version is this," Faith began, "Sirius went to Azkaban for your murder. Sarah supposedly died and came back. I went to Azkaban for murder along wit-" Faith never got to finish her sentence because at that moment Severus came upstairs from the basement. He looked at James and then Harry, his jaw dropping.

"Oy! It's Snivillus! Whose house is this?" James grinned mischievously. It was if someone had transported the James from 17 years ago to the present. He looked and acted exactly the same as always.

"Ours," Faith said. James looked at her confused. His first thought was that she meant her and Severus's house.

"Mine and Faith's," Sirius put in when he noticed his friends confused look.

James looked back at Severus who still stood there thunderstruck, "Why is he staying in your house?"

"We are…sorta hiding from the Ministry," Faith whispered.

James slapped his palm to his forehead, "I leave for 17 years and the whole world falls apart. I suppose you're going to tell me that you're a deatheater next,"

"Well, technically…" Faith trailed off.

"You have got to be kidding me?" James demanded.

"This is Potter?" Severus asked suddenly pointing at James.

"Yes," avowed Sirius.

"But he's dead!"

"Yes, we know that,"

"How can we be so sure that it's him?"

Sirius looked at James and then made a face at Severus, "Sure as hell looks like him," Severus rolled his eyes and said, "I'm going to get some truth serum,"

"You do that," Sirius snapped.

"Ok, You're going to have to tell me everything. Because I am REALLY bloody confused," James advised. "What ever happened to Wormtail?"

Sirius, Faith and Harry –who had been very quiet- all stiffened considerably. "Wormtail…" Sirius trailed off, his voice getting very stern and full of anger. "He is the one that sold you out to Voldemort," Faith explained softly. Before James could open his mouth again, Severus returned with the serum.

"I'm going to go get Dumbeldore, Remus and Sarah," Faith noted before turning into a falcon and flying off. James looked out the window where she had just flown out and called, "When they hell did that happen?" Severus rolled his eyes. He passed a glass vial over to James and dictated, "Drink,"

Harry had gotten a short hour with his father after Severus was done interrogating him and before Faith returned with the others.

"Where is he!" A shrill shriek called from the other room.

James made a groaning noise and set his head on the table where he sat. "Never leave for 17 years. Life becomes very confusing," he moaned. Sarah came running into the kitchen. When she saw James sitting there she ran over and wrapped her arms around him. Dumbeldore and Remus then came into the room. Remus looked at James with a look of pure shock. Dumbeldore on the other hand looked at him as if he'd hadn't even been gone.

"Ok, I want some things explained to me," James added as everyone sat at the table.

"Where should we start?" Sirius bantered.

"At the beginning," Dumbeldore nodded with the same twinkle in his eyes. The group began to tell James how after he died Sirius was blamed for his death and sent to Azkaban.

"Damn Peter," James scoffed. They then told him about Sarah disappearing and Faith becoming a deatheater, then her getting caught and running away to fake being a muggle. Then Harry and Dumbeldore described all of Harry's adventures at Hogwarts. James beamed with pride at the thought of his son doing all of what Dumbeldore said. They continued onto where Sirius died and then came back from the dead.

Next they described Faith and Sirius's wedding and Catherine being born. Lastly was the death of Bill and Fred Weasley and Severus and Faith being sent to Azkaban for their murder. James just sat there in shock.

"Wow…" was all he could manage.

(A/N: I TOLD you that two people would be coming back from the dead. Most assumed it was Sarah and Sirius, but Sarah never died, everyone simply assumed she was dead. She wasn't though. Ha! How many of you honestly caught the fact that only one person had returned from the dead and there was still one left?)