Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of J.K. Rowling's characters etc.

A/N- Thanks for all the reviews, you guys:D

You all make a spot on my "Awesome People" list. I'm still planning out how this story's going to turn out, and it looks like its going to be looong. By the way, the story is going to have a lot of spoilers from the 6th book.

Read and Review!

p.s. I noticed a plot hole in the second chapter actually. There's no way that James could've known the password to the portait hole. Oh well. I'm just going to say that Neville left it open or something.

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Chapter 3

Growing Suspicions

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Ron walked down to the Great Hall alone. Harry and James had left and gone to the headmaster earlier to figure out how to get James back to the past.

As a matter of fact, apparition lessons were starting on this particular Saturday. The rain outside beat against the tall windows of the hall as Ron entered. Proffesors McGonagall, Flitwick, Snape, and Sprout stood at the end of the room with a thin man. Ron suspected that he was the apparition instructor.

A while later, Hermione and Harry entered. They took their places a few feet away from Ron. Ron had tried to ask where James had gone, but at that moment the ministry wizard stepped forth.

The hour of apparition lessons went by very slowly, and no one had been able to apparate to the destination they were supposed to. In fact, the only person who had managed to apparate at all was a girl from Hufflepuff named Susan Bones, but she nearly lost her leg when she did.

Harry started to become increasingly suspicious of Draco during the lessons. He kept on whispering to Crabbe and Goyle about something, but Harry was too far away to hear what it was.

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"Harry! Hermione! Wait up, will you?"

The two stopped and waited for Ron to catch up.

"Mind telling me where your dad's gone?" He asked after catching his breath.

Harry paused. "Well, when me and my...er... When me and James went to see Dumbledore, he told us that we ought not let anyone else see him. Wizards can get into a heap of trouble when they go messing around with time."

"Where did you put him then?"

"He's going to be staying around the Dark Forest until we can figure out what happened to the time turner."

Ron looked at him incredulously. "You're making your own father stay in the Dark Forest?" He paused and looked at either of them. "Are you mad? What if someone finds him? What if someone attacks him?"

"Don't you remember, Ron?" Hermione spoke up. "James is an animagus. He can transfigure himself into a stag. We told Hagrid to look after him. He'll be fine."

"I didn't think it was that great of an idea either." Harry said after seeing Ron's worried expression. "But it's the best chance we've got for him not to get found out." He continued. "Do you have any idea what could happen if Snape, or even Voldemort, found out that he was here in the present?"

"You've got a point, I suppose." Ron shrugged.

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Once they got to the common room, Harry remembered something.

"Did either of you two notice Malfoy acting a bit... strange during Apparition Lessons?"

They both shook their heads.

"I think he may be up to something."

"Probably trying to figure out a way to get us into trouble." Ron said absent mindedly as he reached for his Potions book.

Potions was especially irritating this year for both Ron and Hermione. You'd think it would have been a lot easier to stand now that Snape was teaching something else, but at the beginning of the school year Harry came into the possession of an old potions textbook. Apparently, a previous owner who called himself (or herself, according to Hermione) The Half-Blood Prince had left hundreds of tips and tricks written through the pages. Now Harry was at the top of the class. It made Ron feel rather stupid being around a brain like Hermione and someone as lucky as Harry.

"Well, whatever he's doing, I think I should keep an eye on him from now on."

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The end of February came very quickly. Harry often visited James in the forest. He had a thirst to find out as much as he possibly could about his parents. There was something else that was bothering him as well.

"Proffesor, that mirror that I found in my first year... the one that shows what we desire... Do you think that... Does it really show the future?" Harry asked Dumbledore during one of their private lessons.

Dumbledore focused his eyes on the pensieve on the desk and furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "When I had first heard the story about the mirror," he began. "I was told this: 'There are many desires that each human has. The ones that are most likely to occur are shown within the mirror'." He looked up at Harry before continuing. "When I found out that you had seen your parents in the mirror, I immediately discarded that story. Now I realize, that there is a strong chance that it could be true."

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The first of March came and went. Ron had nearly died after having a poisoned drink in Proffesor Slughorn's office. He and Harry were there to get an antidote for Ron who had accidentily eaten a love potion from Romilda Vane. It was actually given to Harry in the first place. Romilda was very jealous of Hermione for being Harry's girlfriend.

Harry was quickly becoming obsessed with matters concerning Draco. Whenever he looked at The Marauder's Map, Malfoy was no where to be seen and Crabbe and Goyle often stood for hours in the same spot away from everyone else.

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"Draco... Is that the prat that attacked me a month ago?" James asked during one of Harry's visits. Harry nodded. "Perhaps you should leave the map with me? After all, I'd have a lot more time to watch what he's doing."

Harry had agreed and left the map with him. He walked out of the Dark Forest and pulled on his invisibility cloak. Harry had to visit James at night. It was starting to arouse suspicion in his classmates when he left the castle for hours at a time.

Harry trudged up the front steps and slipped through the door. How am I going to keep my parents and Sirius from getting killed? I know there has to be a way.

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The next day, Harry had Defense Against The Dark Arts right before lunch. Class was highly uneventful, which was rather strange since Proffesor Snape usually took every chance he could to make a fool of Harry. In fact, Snape hardly said anything at all during class. He gave them a pile of work to do and sat down at his desk, occasionally glancing up at the students and more often at Harry. After class, Harry found out why.

"Potter. Back here. Now," called Snape as everyone got up to leave. Harry was nearly out the door, but trudged back sullenly. "Now then," He began once the rest of the class had left. "Would you mind telling me what you were doing in the Dark Forest last night?" after seeing Harry's face turn pale, he continued. "Unless I'm mistaken, the forest is off limits to all students."

"I, I wasn't in the forest," Harry had decided to play dumb. It didn't work.

"I'm not a fool, Potter. I saw you at the edge of the forest last night through my window. I never saw you come back to the castle."

"I was in my dormitory for the whole night! Even ask Ron."

"Really now, Potter. I know for a fact that Weasely isn't going to give you away. Perhaps I should take a look down in the forest for myself?"

"No!" Harry shouted. "I, I mean...er..." he stuttered and bit his lip. Nice going. Now he's going to find James.

Snape raised an eyebrow at him. "Maybe we should take a trip down there now then." Snape got up and walked towards the door. Harry followed behind trying to think up some excuse, but to no avail.

They walked by the Great Hall where the other students were enjoying lunch. A few people eyed Harry and Snape, but didn't seem to think anything of it.

The two swept across the grounds to the spot where Snape had seen Harry the previous night, before he had put on his invisibility cloak. They stopped and looked into the forest.

"You first," said Snape as he pulled out his wand. Harry had only taken a step inside before hearing a familiar voice.

"All right there, Harry? You usually don't visit here until night time." Harry froze. Then he relaxed a bit when he saw Hagrid passing through the trees towards them. "Oh, hello Professor. I didn't see yeh there."

Proffesor Snape looked curiously at the Care Of Magical Creatures teacher. "Do you mean to say that Mr. Potter has been down here after curfew often?"

"What? Oh no. Not after curfew." Hagrid attempted to defend Harry. "Harry just comes to visit me sometimes in the evenin'."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "I saw him entering the forest last night." He wasn't letting Harry get away this time.

"Oh, well...Harry likes ta help me with some of me duties in the forest."

Proffesor Snape looked down at Harry, then at Hagrid and the forest. "Are you keeping anything in the forest, Hagrid?"

"'Course not," Hagrid said confidently.

Snape looked around once again. Realizing he was beaten on this matter, he said "Very well then. You're dismissed, Potter." and he walked back towards the castle. There must be something in there. I just know it. Perhaps I'll come by later tonight to see what Potter's up to.

Harry turned away from Snape's retreating back to look at the half-giant. "Thanks a lot, Hagrid."

"Anytime, Harry. You just be a bit more careful around Snape, all right?"

Harry nodded and hurried back across the school grounds to get some lunch. I just hope Snape doesn't start looking into this more. I'll warn James about him when I visit tonight.

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"We can't let him find me Harry. I think I need to find a better hiding place."

James was sitting on a boulder in the clearing where he visited with his future son. It was tough enough for him to be living alone as a stag for long periods of time. How could he possibly detatch himself even more from the world?

Harry crossed his eyebrows. What other place was there that he could hide his dad?

"Maybe the shrieking shack?" suggested James.

"If anything, that would be even more suspicious. I have an excuse to come to the forest to see Hagrid. What excuse could I have to go to the Whomping Willow?"

"Point," James noted.

There was a long silence where both 16 year olds wracked their brains trying to think of a new spot. Then Harry had an idea. He knew for a fact that the spot he was thinking of wasn't exactly the safest, but it was somewhere that Snape would never be able to go.

"It's perfect!" said James after considering the new spot for a moment. "You must have gotten Lily's smarts, Harry, because I never would have thought of that!" he laughed.

"Well, we'd better get you there, then. Here get under the invisibility cloak. Snape might be coming soon."

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"Snape might be coming soon." said a far off voice.

Aha! Got him! Or so Snape thought as he entered the clearing.

"Potter!" he shouted. Harry spun around wide eyed. Snape walked around the clearing, then back to Harry. "Who were you just talking to?" he questioned.

Harry sighed inwardly. That was way too close. But he wasn't safe yet. "I was talking to...to..." he stammered and looked around. "Er...I thought I saw Hagrid in here, so I tried to call out to him. I guess I was just seeing things though." He ended lamely.

"You're not getting out of this one, Potter. Now what, or who, are you hiding out here?"

But Harry didn't even have time to make up a response. A bush near Proffessor Snape had just rustled violently. Harry's eyes grew wide. Oh bloody hell, James. Why did you have to move? He wondered. Snape looked at the bush, then back at Harry curiously. He wandered over to the bush and peered over it.

Before either of them had a chance to react, a wolf jumped out from the bush at Snape. Harry took this opportunity to get as far away from the clearing as possible. He was nearly out of the forest when he bumped into something he couldn't see and toppled over.

"James! Is that you?" He asked quietly. The boy pulled off the invisibility cloak to reveal himself.

"Quick! Get under! We have to get away from here. Snape will have figured it out by now."

"Right," replied Harry as they both dove back under the cloak. "Wait. What? Did you make that wolf appear?"

James chuckled. "An old prank that Sirius used on Snivelly once. The wolf jumps on you and just as it's about to attack, the entire thing turns into bugs. Mind you, it nearly got old Padfoot expelled."

Harry laughed. "You'll have to teach that to me sometime. Now come on, we have to get there before Snape finds out that I've gone."

The two boys ran as fast as they could (or as fast as possible when one is sharing an invisibility cloak) back to the castle.

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A/N- Why does the word suspicion look like it's spelled wrong?

Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter. I bet you're just dying to see where the hiding place is eh:P Well you don't get to find out until I feel like writing another chapter! haha!

Well, you shouldn't be worried about that. I have no life so it shouldn't take too long for me to write Chapter 4.

Please review!