CHAPTER 9 – ECHOES FROM THE PAST PART 2

Harry walked along the tree line of the forbidden forest. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and this could possibly be the happiest he had felt in his entire life. He looked out over the lake, seeing one of the squid's tentacles flop above water for just a second. There was a slight breeze and all the centaurs had come to the edge of the wood to greet them as they walked.

"Was anyone hurt Professor?" Harry asked to the man on his side.

"Not seriously," Dumbledore replied as he smiled and looked at Harry over top his half moon spectacles. "There were several injuries but they were cleared up rather quickly."

"And what about Malfoy?" Harry had wondered what happened after he passed out.

"He is just unconscious. I'm not surprised to tell you that your curse did not have enough strength to kill him."

"I'm not really too surprised to hear you tell me that Professor," Harry replied. "I don't really know why I tried to kill him. The words just kind of came out of my mouth."

"Harry, not a single person who knows you expected that curse to work. This is not a slight on you but rather a compliment. You see, the people who care about you know that you could never bring yourself to kill someone." Harry thought about this as they walked further and Dumbledore, seeing him in hard concentration, remained quite as they continued.

"Sir, how am I supposed to kill Voldemort if I can't bring myself to use the spell correctly?"

"Ah, Harry, that is the key isn't it," Dumbledore said as his eyes twinkled. "I am not quite sure as to how that final battle will play out, but I have great confidence that you will know what to do when you get to that point." He walked for a while deep in thought before his head snapped up.

"Now we've come to the reason I wanted to speak with you. Harry, last year I told you that you could trust Ron and Hermione completely. Do you remember this?" Harry nodded. "Okay, there is one more person I believe can be added to that list." Harry waited for him to tell but he didn't.

"Who is it professor?"

"Oh, I think you already know," Dumbledore replied with a smug grin on his face as if a plan had just come together perfectly. Harry was beside himself. Who was he talking about? Who can I trust as much as Ron and Hermione? And then the answer hit him.

"Ginny," he said.

"Yes, Harry, I believe Miss Weasley would be an excellent addition to that list." They walked on a bit farther down the tree line in silence. "Alas, my time here is finished I think. But before I take my leave I would like to give you one more piece of advice Harry. Trust in your heart. I told you once before that it was your heart that saved you. Let that part of you guide your decisions. You must do this for me. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir. Goodbye professor," Harry said as Dumbledore walked away.

"Harry, this is not goodbye," Dumbledore replied.

Harry looked up and noticed that he was far from the castle. He decided it was time to head back. As he walked towards the castle another man joined in stride beside him. Harry almost chuckled but caught himself.

"Hey snuffles," Harry said, suppressing a smile.

"Hi Harry, how are you doing?" His godfather Sirius looked down at him and smiled. It was not a general question but specific and he knew this.

"Okay I guess. I just don't know how I'm going to do it Sirius. How am I going to kill Voldemort?"

"I don't know kid, all that mental stuff is Dumbledore's job. I'm just here to make sure you're getting by alright."

"I'm just worried about everyone. There are going to be more deaths and it's not going to stop. People are going to die because of me." Harry seemed to have slowed down his walking and stopped by a tree. He was very familiar with this tree, spending many of afternoons camped out under it.

"Harry, I'm not going to lie to you. People are going to die. Possibly a lot of people, I don't really know for sure. But the one thing I can tell you is that it's not because of you." Harry looked up at Sirius who was staring out over the lake. He seemed to think it would be easier to tell Harry all this if he didn't look at him.

"But what about all the people I've cared about…my parents…you…Dumbledore. What about them? They died protecting me." Harry didn't think there was anything that could change his mind on this issue. He'd been through it so much in his head already. He was wrong.

"Harry, we did die protecting you. But that act was a part in a process. A process where Voldemort was defeated. Don't you see? We would've fought anyway, with or without you because that's who we are. But with you in our lives, it made the fighting mean something. It made us fight harder, better. It made our lives in time of turmoil just that much easier to cope, to smile, to live."

Harry smiled to himself. He found out exactly what Sirius meant last year in Dumbledore's office as he had the relevance of the prophecy explained to him.

"Yeah, Sirius, I think I understand now," Harry said as he returned to his journey towards the castle.

"Good, I didn't want to be here all night explaining this to you," Sirius said with a smile as he fell in step with Harry. As they approached the main doors Harry saw more people waiting for him at the entrance.

"Well, Harry, this is where we part ways. Just remember people can make their own decisions so just let them. If you try to force your will on a situation you become like Voldemort."

"Thank you Sirius. Goodbye," Harry said.

"Harry, this is not goodbye," Sirius called back to him.

Harry walked on towards the main entrance and saw two people sitting on the steps, waiting for him. His face grew into a huge grin as he ran to meet his parents. He ran up and flung one arm around each of them. They hugged him back in a joyful reunion. And then Harry broke as a terrible realization came to him.

"None of this is real, is it?" he asked in a quiet, distant voice.

"No sweetie, its not," his mother answered him. "But it's the only time we'll get to talk to you for a while."

"How 'ya been son?" Harry's father asked. "Been kicking butt in Quidditch have you?" Lily elbowed him lightly in his ribs and gave a quiet "James!" Harry smiled.

"Well I know you would not have raised me to openly boast so I'll just say that I'm doing okay." James returned his smile. "If this is not real then what am I doing here?"

"Technically, you're not here," his father told him. "Your body is down there at the Weasley's and I gotta tell you; it ain't pretty." His father was no longer smiling. "You gave us a right scare with what happened to you."

"Harry," his mother started, "do you have anything you want to ask us?"

"Um… No. Wait! Yeah, how did you ever get together? From what I saw, you," he pointed at his father, "were a giant prat and you," he pointed at his mother, "hated his guts."

"Harry! Don't call your father a prat," his mother snapped. His father just laughed.

"Lily, it's okay. I kind of deserved it. I did have a huge ego back then." She smiled up at him.

"I know, that's why I didn't even give you the time of day until your head shrunk a little," his mother replied. "See Harry, I always liked James, I just couldn't let him think he was as dashing and charming as he really was. But as soon as he started acting like a real person, then I opened up to him."

"That, Harry, runs in the family. Strong-willed women. Somehow I can't get enough of 'em."

"Excuse me. What do you mean you can't get enough of them?" James looked down at Lily and winked. All three of them broke out in laughter and it took them a minute to calm down.

"Harry," his mother said to him, "we are so proud of you. The way you've handled things and what you've done, we couldn't have asked for a better son. I'm just sorry we couldn't be with you." A tear started to fall down her face as James put his arm around her.

"Don't be sorry mum," Harry told her. "Besides, it's not like you weren't with me. I always knew you were. I felt it in my heart and knew that you were watching me."

"Our boy's grown up hasn't he Lil?" James asked his wife, who was on the verge of crying. She nodded her head in between sniffs. Then there was a gong as the bell started ringing through the grounds. Lily's face lit up and her eyes widened. She turned down to Harry.

"Look Harry, we only have another minute or so." She spoke to him a rushed tone, "when you go back into your body its going to be painful. I'm so sorry it's the only way." She was crying now and looked very distressed.

"Harry, you must be strong for us," James told him. There was a loud rumbling in his ears and he could feel his eyes watering. "There are going to be worse things ahead but you have to show the courage of a true Gryffindor. Can you do that?"

"Why can't I have more time?" Harry asked, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Harry you have to promise me," his father yelled as the rumbling became louder.

"I promise."

"Harry," his mother grabbed his shoulders, "Harry we love you. We know you can do this." She had lost control of herself and could barely speak between the sobs.

"MUM!" Harry shouted as the rumbling got louder. "Mum, don't cry. Don't cry mum. I'll be okay. I'll be okay." Harry was starting to cry now and his mother wrapped her arms around him. James came and enveloped both of them in his arms.

"Harry," James said loudly over the noise, "Trust in you heart, trust in your friends and trust in what's good inside of you. We love you Harry!"

Harry could feel himself being torn away from the parents he had just met for the first time. He began screaming.

"NO! COME BACK. I NEED MORE TIME!" He could barely talk now he was crying so hard. "I NEED MORE TIME!"

He heard a voice in his ear that sounded exactly like his father's. "Harry, this is not goodbye."

Then Harry sat up quickly from his bed. As soon as he did his muscles burned, his bones ached and his head felt like it had been crushed. He felt like he had been put under the Cruciatus Curse the pain was so terrible. The cuts that had started to heal all over his body broke open again as he shook uncontrollably. He felt like he was having a seizure and every moment was agony.

"HARRY!" There was someone screaming but he couldn't tell if it was real. "HARRY! HOLD ON! MUM! MUM! HARRY NEEDS YOU!"

"OH MY GOD!" Harry heard a second voice and he wasn't sure if it was real either. Both voices started to scream as he continued his convulsions. He felt hands on him trying to hold him down but it wasn't working.

"HOLD ON HARRY! HOLD ON! HARRY!" Harry now heard several more voices and it sounded like they were all shouting. He felt something building up inside him and he prepared for one last shudder. When it came, it came violently. Harry seemed to be lifted off of the bed by the force of it. He couldn't take it anymore and finally passed out from the pain. He heard a voice echo through his head. It was a voice that was familiar to him in his sleep. It repeated something Harry had heard a long time ago.

"Death is but the next great adventure."