The Riddle of Jim Lillian
Part Ten: Minerva's Tale
Standard Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
WARNING: Major Character Deaths
Part Ten Summary: Minerva tries to comprehend the Riddle.
13th August, 2005 (the present):
Minerva stared in disbelief at the man, Lillian, standing in front of her. The story he just told was something that Minerva was having trouble wrapping her mind around. The man who had been a mystery for Minerva for years had just revealed his secret: Jim Lillian was Harry Potter in disguise!
The green-eyed Lillian fidgeted with his shaded glasses that he held at his side as he looked around at Ginny, Remus, and Minerva. The young man had an unmistakable look of guilt about his face.
"I'm sorry," he said with regret. "I wanted to tell you earlier, but I reckoned that we should wait a bit longer."
"Now hold on, Jim," Hermione said resting her hand upon his. "Place the blame on me; I decided that no one else should know."
"Harry?" Ginny squeaked. She had been staring at Lillian with wide eyes and an open mouth ever since he had started his tale. Ginny turned her attention to Hermione. "You knew? You knew all along?"
"I'm so sorry Ginny," Hermione said as she got out of her chair and knelt next to the red-haired witch. "When Harry came to me in the Hospital Ward and told me what happened, I believed that Professor Dumbledore was right when he said that only a few people should know. Harry wanted to tell you and your family, but if someone noticed that you weren't grieving for Harry as much as you should have, it would have aroused suspicion."
"But you were a grieving wreck," Minerva stated to Hermione. "I remember you nearly collapsing as you lit Harry's funeral pyre."
"Do you remember when you visited me the day before the funeral?" Hermione asked the older witch. "The potion that I was brewing in the Common Room wasn't a sleep draught. It was a Weeping Potion. Simply put, it's designed to make the imbiber cry."
"And I think you over did it a bit that day," the man who Minerva had known until recently as Lillian said to Hermione. "You were supposed to look like you were grieving, but not like you were having a nervous breakdown."
"I did the best I could, Harry!" Hermione shot back. "Anyway, I took progressively smaller dosages of the Weeping Potion over the next two years, to make it appear that I was still in mourning.
"For the next three years, while I was in apprenticeship and Harry, I mean Jim, was at the Auror Academy, we kept in minimal contact, just letters," Hermione continued as she stood up and walked to Lillian's side. "Fawkes and Hedwig both must have flown so much that I think could have traversed the globe.
"But after that, we started to meet each other in secret; mostly over the winter and summer holidays. That's why I had that flat in muggle Edinburgh; we figured that was the best place to meet secretly."
Ginny's expression of shock and disbelief snapped into one of anger. She shot up out of her chair and stomped over to stand in front of Hermione and Lillian.
"You mean to tell me that you two have been together for years!" Ginny shouted at the pair. "Wait a minute! That was someone Apparating in your flat last Christmas! It was him!" She ended her tirade by jabbing her finger into Lillian's ribs. "Then you both pretended that you didn't know each other when I hooked you up on that blind date."
"I'm sorry, Ginny. I was just playing a practical joke on Hermione that day, not on you. Hermione didn't know that you were planning on putting us on a blind date. In truth, we had planned on telling you our secret on Christmas Eve," Lillian pled with Ginny, his green eyes begging for forgiveness. "But then that kid had to go and ask you to sign his book as 'Harold Potter's friend'…"
"We decided to wait just a while longer," Hermione finished his sentence with tears streaming down her face.
Then Ginny did something unexpected: she made a fist and slammed it into Lillian's chest.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Ginny screamed as she struck Lillian another time. "Do you know how many times I've cried myself to sleep because I never had the chance to tell you what you meant to me?"
Lillian winced in pain as Ginny hit him again. Tears fell down his face, but they obviously weren't caused by Ginny hitting him. They were tears shed for the pain that he cause the red-haired witch.
Minerva was suddenly struck at how similar this situation must have been to that dreadful time, the day of the Final Battle, when Ginny attacked her brother, Ron, on the Astronomy Tower. Whereas Ron recoiled from the beating that Ginny had given him, Lillian stood his ground like a man and let Ginny vent all of her anger and frustrations upon him.
"Tell me now, Ginny," Lillian said through his tears as Ginny hit him again.
"I never got to tell you…" Ginny sobbed as she hit him with less force than before. "That you were like a brother…" Ginny hit Lillian much softer this time, as she was starting to grow tired, both physically and emotionally. "I never got the chance to tell you that I loved you."
A dull thud sounded as Ginny weakly hit Lillian's chest with both hands. She left her balled-up fists on his chest and looked with tear filled eyes into his red rimmed eyes and said:
"Thank you, Harry. Thank you for saving me from Riddle and the Basilisk. Thank you for being my friend." Ginny let out a shuddering breath "And thank you for being my brother."
Her hands slid abound his body and Ginny buried her face into Lillian's chest.
"I love you, Harry," she cried into his chest.
"I love you too, little sister," Lillian said as he returned her embrace.
Hermione, who had been standing off to the side sobbing silently, walked over and threw her arms around Lillian and Ginny.
"Don't you EVER do that like that again without telling me straight away!" Ginny sobbed and laughed at the same time. The three people continued to hold each other and after a few moments, Ginny turned to Hermione. "Here you've been getting shagged for years and I just noticed it a few days ago. What kind of friend am I?"
"The best kind," Hermione said, and then kissed Ginny on the cheek.
After a few moments, Lillian broke away from the embrace and turned to Remus, who was still sitting in his chair.
"Professor?" Lillian asked hesitantly. "Professor Lupin…"
"When I lost James and Lily, I knew it," Remus said without looking up. "I could feel it in my bones that they had died. The same with Sirius; the instant he fell through the veil, I knew that he was gone.
"But when I saw your body… Harry's body, I didn't feel it. I was shocked and saddened, but it didn't feel like you were gone." Remus looked up with a smile on his face and in his red-rimmed eyes. "I knew somewhere deep down inside that you were still out there, still alive."
Remus stood up and hugged the younger wizard.
"Welcome back, Harry," Remus said with tears of joy.
"Thank you, Professor," Lillian said.
"For the last time, Harry," Remus said with a chuckle, "call me Moony."
"Yes, Professor Moony," Lillian with a mischievous smile. Both men laughed and Lillian wiped a tear away from his eye.
"Hey, what's the deal with your eyes, anyway?" Ginny asked, pointing at Lillian.
"Oh, that was another one of my ideas," Hermione answered. "Harry's eyes are such a unique color and since he can't alter them, I figured that too many people might be able to recognize them. So I charmed his glasses not only to be shaded but to make his pupils appear brown."
"Good job," Ginny said leaning into Hermione while staring at Lillian. "But I prefer them green."
"So do I," Hermione replied in a stage whisper.
The four of them laughed jovially.
"So, when are you gonna tell Mum and Dad?" Ginny asked meekly.
"After we're done here, we'll Floo over to the Burrow and tell them," Hermione said in a reassuring tone.
"I think we should tell Kingsley at the same time," Lillian added. "Otherwise he'll keep shadowing me, or rather us now, around Britain. I'll send Fawkes with a message, telling him to meet us at the Weasley's."
"Actually, it would be better if we have Minerva write it," Hermione added. "He would trust her rather than us right now. We will need to make sure that he doesn't ask about what happened on the Astronomy Tower in front of the Weasleys, though. We can tell him whole story later so he will drop his unofficial investigation; there is no need for anyone else to discover the truth."
After a moment, Lillian broke away from the others and walked up to Minerva's desk.
"Are you alright, Professor?" Lillian asked her. Minerva had not noticed that she was still staring dumbly at Lillian. She blinked then locked eyes with the young man.
Minerva got lost in his eyes. Those beautiful green eyes that Harry inherited from his mother. A tear escaped Minerva's eye as it all started to settle in.
"Yes I'm fine, Lillian…I mean Harry. I mean Jim," Minerva said a bit flustered. "This will take some time getting used to."
"You're telling me," Hermione said. "I've been trying to call him 'Jim' for seven years, and I still forget sometimes."
"It is good to have you back, Harry," Minerva said as she wiped a tear from her eye with a handkerchief.
"So, did I get it?" Lillian, that is to say, Harry asked.
"Did you get what, dear boy?" Minerva asked, slightly confused.
"The Defense Against the Dark Arts position," Harry replied with a grin. "Did I get the job?"
As Minerva looked at Harry, it suddenly dawned on her that this man could be the one to finally break the legendary "one-year curse" that has troubled the school for so long. She knew from when Harry ran the DA while he was in school that Harry excelled in teaching, and just as importantly, he could easily avoid any of the problems that have plagued the previous professors.
"Hogwarts would be proud to have you… Professor Lillian," Minerva said with a huge smile.
After Remus congratulated Harry with a pat on the back and he received a round of hugs from Hermione, Ginny, and Minerva, Harry said, "Of the three things I set out to accomplish today, getting the DADA job was the least important."
"What three things?" Hermione asked. "I only know of two: getting the DADA position and telling the others the truth about your identity."
"Well the third thing is a surprise," Harry said. "And I need a favor from you three," he continued, indicating Remus, Ginny, and Minerva.
"Whatever you need Harry," Remus answered for the three of them.
Hermione furrowed her brow trying to figure out what it was that Harry had in store for her.
"Well, as you know Hermione and I are going to be officially married in a couple of weeks," Harry said, adding quickly: "Which all three of you are invited to, by the way."
"Excuse me," Hermione interrupted, "what do you mean by 'officially,' Jim?"
"That's just it. I'm not Jim," Harry stated, as if that answered Hermione's question. "Try as I may, I'm not him."
"I don't understand."
"I would like for Minerva to perform an unofficial ceremony with Ginny and Remus as witnesses," Harry said as he took Hermione's hands in his. "Just for us, you and me, the real me."
Harry screwed his eyes shut and before everyone's eyes began to change. His hair shrunk back into his scalp until it was short and unkempt. It also darkened until it was raven black. His features slowly changed to resemble someone more familiar to Minerva and Remus.
For a brief moment, Remus and Minerva thought they were looking at a ghost of a 24 year-old James Potter. But both of them gasped when he opened his green eyes. The last remaining doubt that Minerva might have had as to validity of this man being Harry Potter was thrown to the wind.
"This is who I truly am," Harry said to a tearful Hermione. "This is who I want for you to be married to."
"Oh, Harry," Hermione sighed. "No matter what you look like, or call yourself, you will always be my Harry."
"But I want you to remember me this way on our wedding day," Harry said.
The couple leaned together and kissed.
"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said and then turned to Minerva. "Professor, if you will do the honors?"
Minerva wiped another tear from her eye, and nodded to the loving couple. She cleared her throat before saying:
"Harry James Potter, do you take Hermione Jane Granger…"
TBC