Disclaimer: I do not own HP or anything you may recognize from the HP world
Chapter 17: Search for the truth
"James, I think that this would be a good opportunity to talk to Harry"
"But...
"No buts now hurry up and find him before he falls a sleep" Dumbledore scolded
"Yes" James said in defeat and left the room with his mates.
When they came to Harry's room Harry was nowhere in sight
"Ah look no one here, we should leave" James said
"He said that he was going to bed so he must be on his way, we can just wait, I'm sure he won't mind much" Sirius said and entered Harry's room
"Wow, why does Harry have such a big room? It's just like yours" Remus said as he sat in one of the chairs to wait
"I don't know. It's one of the Masters room, Teddy the house elf just gave it to him and then he kept calling Jameson Master Harry the first night we were here. He stopped though and the day after he just called him Mr. Harry" James said also sitting down
"Sirius stop snooping around and come and sit down" Remus said
"Don't be so boring Moony, maybe we will find something that can tell us if he is good or evil" Sirius said
"Padfoot, we shouldn't go through his personal things like that," Remus scolded but James stood up and asked
"What's that?"
"What's what?" Remus asked confused
"That" James said pointing at a light that came from the top drawer on Harry's nightstand
"Don't know, but there is only one way to find out" Sirius said and then he opened the drawer and gasped
"What is it Padfoot?" Remus asked concerned
"I-it's a-a-a-a-a-
"For the love of humanity Padfoot" James said and walked next to him and he also gasped
"What is it with you two?" Remus asked and also peeked in the drawer and gasped
"That's his pensieve. I knew I saw a pensive that night" James said.
"But most pensieves aren't so goldish and yellow" Remus said "And how did he get it anyway? Isn't there just like seven in the existing now? How could a sixteen your old that has lived with muggles for most of his live and doesn't even come from a big family own a pensive and such a unusual pensive at that?"
"I don't know but this is our chance though" Padfoot said existed
"For wh- No way, we can't just look through his memories Padfoot" Remus said
"Don't be such chicken Moony" James said grapping both Moony and Padfoot and then he touched the white thing and the next thing they knew they were standing in a classroom.
"Isn't this the potion classroom?" Remus asked
"Yeah but who are all these people? I haven't seen any of them before, hey look at that kid over there, he really looks like Frank but has Alice eyes and mouth"
"Is that Harry, Ron and Mione over there?" Sirius asked walking towards where they were sitting back in the classroom
"Don't they usually sit in the front? And were is Ginny and Draco?" James asked
"There's Draco" Remus said pointing to Draco who was sitting with the Slytherins "But there is no Ginny here. Hey is Draco wearing a Slytherin robe?"
"Ssss guys, listen to what they are saying" Sirius said and then he leaned closer to Mione, Ron and Harry
"No Harry, we can't do that. Don't you remember what happened to Fred and George? If the most dark wizards can't spy on the order then neither can we, if you really want to find something out we will just have to wait until Dumbledore decides to tell us" Mione whispered
"But I want to know what is going on. And if we wait until he decides to tell us then we will have to wait a long time. He'll never tell us anything and I'm sick and tired of everyone always keeping secrets from me. I think that I have earned my right to know what is going on. I mean who told everyone that Voldemort was back? I get to pay the prize from the public every single day but still Dumbledore refuses to tell me anything"
A new voice interrupted the threesome
"So is the golden Gryffindor trio planning something new? So scarface what is the adventure this week?" Draco mocked Harry
"Shut it Malfoy" Harry yelled back
But Malfoy ignored Harry and continued
"Don't you tell me to shut up Potter, I am a Malfoy and I don't need to listen to scarfaces and mudbloods,"
Ron wiped out his wand and was pointing him at Draco and said "Take that back ferret boy or I'll-
"Or you'll what weasel?"
"Or- But Harry couldn't answer because at that moment the door was opened and in came someone that looked remotely like Snape
"What is going on here? Weasley put that wand away. NOW. Twenty points from Gryffindor"
"But professor, Malfoy started it" the boy that looked like Frank and Alice said
"Did I ask for your advice Longbottom? Another twenty points from Gryffindor for your cheek
"That's so unfair" Harry said
"I will advise you to shut up Potter or I'll take another twenty points from Gryffindor" the man said
Harry looked like he was about to say something but stopped at the kick he got from Mione
The seen started to chance and finally James spoke up
"What the hell was that? Harry is a Potter and Milroy a Malfoy and Ron a Weasley? And was it just I or did that potion professor look exactly like Snape? And what about that Longbottom kid?"
"I have no idea about what is going on" Remus said just as confused "But shut up there is something else happening"
The boys were now standing in the headmasters office where a toad like woman, a short ugly dude, Harry, some red head girl, Dumbledore, another red head boy who looked like he could be Ron's brother and some ministry workers were. The ugly little dude who claimed himself to be the minister was fighting with Dumbledore and the toad like woman was saying something about expelling Harry and something. It was all real confusing and in the end, Dumbledore fought all the ministry workers and ran away and then the seen started to change again and the next thing they knew they in the Great Hall were everyone were taking their Owl tests. Sirius wasn't long finding Harry who was almost falling asleep over his test. Sirius checked his test and snorted
"What?" Remus asked
"It's the History of Magic test" Sirius just said, "This is obviously not Harry's best subject"
"Remus also looked over Harry's shoulder and saw half finished answers
"Well I can't blame him for not answering, I mean he is half a sleep" Right after Remus said that Harry fell a sleep and the seen changed again but it wasn't like the other times.
"Are we in his dream?" Remus asked
"I don't know" James said and then they started to follow Harry who was running after a hallway
"Hey isn't this in the ministry of magic?" Sirius asked James
"Yeah I think so"
Harry stopped all of the sudden and opened a door that reviled a lot of other doors, but Harry walked straight toward one of the doors and went inside. Inside were a lot of time turners and other stuff but Harry took no notice, he just kept running until he was facing another door, he opened it and kept running. He was now running in another room, which was full of some weird things that looked a lot like small balls, made of class. But none of the boys saw that well because they were busy running after Harry. Finally Harry stopped and what the boys saw then shocked the life out of them.
A man was lying on the floor being tortured by death eaters. The boys looked at Harry who was looking at the man in horror. The seen chanced again. This time they seemed to have gone further back in time. Harry was walking in they King Cross railway station looking confused
"Why is he alone?" Remus asked
"I don't know" James said shrugging
Harry all of the sudden looked at a bunch of read heads with interest and followed them. They stopped in front of the wall that they used to get to the train. An older looking red head went first through only leaving Harry more confused behind. Finally Harry stepped forward and asked the lady who was most likely their mom how to get on the train. The woman told him and soon Harry was on the train. He found an empty compartment and two identical looking red heads came to help Harry put his trunk in it. All of the sudden one of the boys asked if he was Harry Potter, and Harry nodded. The two boys gave a quick glance at Harry before leaving to say good-bye to their family. Harry just watched through the window as they talked about him.
"Hey is that Ron and Ginny?" Remus asked all of the sudden
"I think so, wow they are so small. Hang on I thought that Ginny was the same age as us" Sirius said as he listen the lady telling Ginny that she was too young to go to Hogwarts.
The younger version of Ron entered the compartment and asked if he could sit there. The three marauders thought the whole situation very funny. It was weird to see how the two boys became friends. When the train was about to leave a new sound was heard behind the three boys and the turned around and gulped when they saw Harry, Ginny, Ron, Mione and Draco glaring at them
"You find anything interesting?" Harry asked icily
"I- we. Look we- I- we" Sirius stammered
"Yes? You?"
"I'm sorry, we were just waiting for you in your room because we wanted to talk to you and then we saw your pensive and we just couldn't help ourselves. Sorry" Sirius mumbled shamefully
"You didn't answer my question. Did you see anything interesting?" Harry asked again with fake calmness
"I-no I mean yes I mean I don't know" Sirius muttered looking at his shoes.
The scene started to change again and now the teens were standing in the ministry watching Dumbeldore and Voldemort duel. Harry concentrated to let the memory chance, the seen chanced and now they were in the Quidditch field where Gryffindor and Slytherin were playing a match
"I cannot believe that you went through my memories. That is the lowest, most disgusting thing I have heard. How could you do that? These are my private thoughts that do not concern you in anyway," Harry said shaking with madness
"I-I"
"Save it" Harry snapped "just hold on to me so we can leave"
Everyone hold on to Harry and soon they were standing in Harry's room again
"What did you see?" Harry asked
"Er stuff" James said awkwardly
"Was the memory in the train the first one you saw?" Mione asked
James started to nod but Remus who was feeling guilty confessed
"No, that was the fourth I think"
"WHAT? How did you even get in it? No one except me and those with me can," Harry, said confused
"It must be because of James" Mione said
"What about me?" James asked confused
"Shut up and sit down," Harry just said curtly
"You have no right to order me around" James started but Sirius and Remus shut him up by pushing him in the couch
"Good, now you need to tell me what you saw" Harry said
"Why? You already know your memories," James said sulkily
"I need to know what you found out," Harry snapped
"And besides" Mione said "You probably want some answers and you can't get them anywhere else"
"Fine, first we saw a potion lesson, then we saw you in the headmasters office with a bunch of weird people where Dumbledore had to run away and then we saw you in your History OWL test where you fell a sleep and we saw your nightmare and then we saw you on the train and then we saw You-know-who in the ministry and then we saw a game" James said
"Well that was a short version" Harry muttered
"Harry?" Mione asked
"Yeah"
"When was that duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore?"
"It was when I followed that bitch after the battle" Harry said bitterly
"You never told us that Voldemort and Dumbeldore had dueled"
"I didn't want to talk about how Voldy possessed me and tried to get Dumbledore to kill me that very much" Harry said like it was a every day topic
"Voldemort possessed you?" Sirius said in shock
"That does not concern you, tell me about the potion memory"
"Er, you three were sitting in the back talking about how to find out Order information and then Draco stared to fight with you and Ron pointed his wand on him and then this man came in which I think was the professor but he really looked like Snape"
"I don't remember that one" Mione said confused
"It has happened so often that I am not surprised" Harry said "Explain the next one"
"Well it's like we said, we were in the headmaster's office. This toad like woman was holding you and trying to expell you, saying that the red head girl called Marietta or something like that was the evidence. Then there was also this little dude that said that he was the minister of magic and then there was another red head that looked a little like Ron and then there were a lot of ministry workers and that small man said something about the DA that stood for Dumbledore's army and then Dumbledore said that it was all his idea and something but I think he was just saying that because then you yelled no in a real dramatic way and well the next thing we know granddad is fighting and in the end he has to run away"
Harry just nodded uncertain and told him to continue
"Then it was you in your OWL test where you fell asleep and we saw your nightmare, where you were running a lot and then you saw some dude being tortured and then we just saw you meeting Ron in the train"
Harry paled a bit when he talked about Sirius but nodded anyway and asked" Do you have any questions about anything?"
James hesitated but then said" Yes, there were some stuff that you said an-
"Hang on it was the History test," Sirius yelled
"What?"
"You said a while ago that you had a vision in your History test so it wasn't a dream it was a vision" Sirius said happily
"You're a seer?" Remus asked
"Er no not really. I don't think so anyway. Look it's hard to explain and I'll try my best but first I think that you should ask your questions first" Harry said awkwardly
"Fine James continue"
"thanks, like I was saying you said some stuff that don't make sense. Like the potion class room it was the same we use but it was with different students and a different professor, I don't understand how that is possible, and the professor he looked really like Snape and then there was this kid that the Snape-look-a-like called Longbottom, and he looked really like Frank and Alice and...
James couldn't finish because the door opened and in walked Lily and Alice
"Hey, we were looking for you. Wait what are you doing in here?" Alice asked
"Er..." James said
"We found them in my pensieve and now I am trying to find out what they know. I suppose that you can hear this, you'll find out soon enough anyway" Harry sighed
"You were looking at his memories?" Lily said shocked and then she said "Hang on you have a pensieve?"
"Yes I do, just sit down and listen" Harry said tiredly "Continue James"
"Yeah anyway, then you and Draco really seemed to hate each other and he was wearing Slytherin robes"
"And your question is?" Harry asked
"Who were all these People? How could you have taken your OWL test in Hogwarts when you weren't a student here then? Is Ginny a year younger than you? Who was that toad woman and that man who claimed himself to be a minister? Was the red head Ron's brother? How do you know about the Order? Why were you alone on the train station? Why was Draco wearing Slytherin robes? Why did you call Darco A Malfoy, why did he call you a Potter? Why did he call Ron and Ginny Weasley? Why were the two boys that looked exactly like each other and Ron in so much awe when they first met you? What was the thing with that vision? Is Ginny really a year younger?" James asked really fast
"That's a lot of questions you have there and I don't know what to tell you. I suppose that I should tell you the truth but I am not so sure. You haven't really done anything to deserve them"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that if I answer you, you will find out the real secret I've been keeping and the reason you couldn't know. You do now know that I am not evil don't you?"
"You didn't seem so evil there but I don't know what to think anymore really" James confessed
"Teddy" Harry yelled
"Yes Master I mean Mr. Harry?" Teddy said and seemed to be just about to punish himself for almost calling him Master Harry when Harry stopped him
"Don't hurt yourself Teddy. But can you please go and bring Dumbledore here? It is urgent"
"Yes Mr. Harry" Teddy said and then with a crack he was gone
One minute later he appeared again with Dumbeldore, Harold and Mary
"What is going on?" Dumbeldore asked
"I barely know where to start" Harry said, "Why don't you have a seat so I can explain"
"Alright" Dumbeldore said conjuring chairs for him and his son and daughter in law
"Well, James, Remus and Sirius came here in hope to talk to me, but they didn't find me because I wasn't here...
"Where were you?"
"I went for a walk with my friends but anyway, they decide to wait until I come back and then they saw something they shouldn't have seen. When I tell you about this object you will want to ask questions but I ask not to because it is another story which I have not the time to explain"
The professor nodded
"You see they saw my pensieve"
If the situation hadn't been so serious Harry would have laughed at Dumbledore. He was utterly shocked and confused but Harry continued
"Anyway they entered it and saw some of my memories. They don't know what you know but he did hear some things that are going to be hard to explain"
"What did they hear?"
"They heard Draco call me Potter and me call him Malfoy, they saw me take my OWL test in the Great Hall they found out that Ginny is a year younger and number of other things" Harry said
"Ginny is a year younger?"
"Yes she is, but that is not the point, even if I did tell them what I told you I would still have to explain a lot of things, things I haven't even told you"
"I would at least try to answer his questions" Dumbledore finally said
Harry looked at the anxious James and Sirius, a worried Ron, Draco, Ginny, Hermione and Remus and very confused Lily and Alice and took a deep breath and said" Ok, I'll try and answer most of your questions, but I'm not promising anything"
"Ok, Harry. We understand, just say what you have to say and no more" Ron said gently to show his support
"Thanks" Harry said
"Hem, hem, is anyone going to explain what the hell is going on here? None of this makes any sense at all" Lily said confused and angry
"Fine, the thing is James that everything you saw hasn't really happened"
"It were visions?" Remus asked shocked
"No" Harry said shortly "What is it with you and these visions? I only get visions of Voldemort or what he is thinking about. It is painful but useful, but anyway none of it has happened yet because well I'm not even born yet, neither are Mione, Ginny, Ron or Draco"
"What? Is this some kind of sick joke or something?" James asked his son
"It is not. I come from the future, how else will you explain what you saw? Draco used to be a Slytherin, Ginny really is a year younger, the look a like Snape, really is professor Snape the potion master and the reason he called that kid Longbottom is because he is Frank's and Alice's son. And it's up to you if you believe me or not, I couldn't care less if you didn't really but listen and listen good for I'm only telling you this once. Under no circumstances ask me about the future, for I will not tell you anything and I will not answer any of your questions that concern the future in any way" Harry said harshly
There was silence for a few minuets and none of the teens seemed to be about to break it so Mary did it for them
"James, I am a ware that this is a shock to you but nothing justified snooping in a another persons memories. You had no right to enter that pensieve in the first place and mark my words that you will be properly punished for this and I expect you to ask for forgiveness from Harry for entering his pensive and for being so horrible to him the last few months"
Even if this did bring the kids out of a daze none of them seemed to have heard anything Mrs. Potter had said
"Huhh? Were you saying something mom?" James asked
"Ohh never mind, we will talk later" Mary huffed and Alice said
"I have a child?"
Harry chuckled at the tone in her voice and answered "Yes you have, I shouldn't have told you though and I'm sorry, I just forgot you were here that's all but I did tell you and we will just have to live with that"
"I know you said you didn't want to talk about the future but can you tell me about him? Just a little bit. Please" Alice pleaded
Harry looked reluctant but still answered "Well, you don't have to worry about Frank dumping you anyway because as I said he is the dad, your son name is Neville and he is a real softy. But he is not a Gryffindor for nothing I can tell ya. He usually never starts trouble and try's to get everyone to get along. He isn't exactly the super brain though. He is a little under average in everything but in potions he is WAY under it but that's just because his biggest fear is Snape, he also became rather good at DADA because of the DA last year but his best subject with out a doubt is Herbology, he is amazing in that one I tell you. Anyway, some say he belongs in Hufflepuff but I say that that is load of crap, he may not show to many but I've seen what he is capable of. I strictly remember in our first year when he went to look for us in the middle of the night besides his fears just to warn us that Malfoy was onto us but we all got busted and had to go to the forbidden forest but he didn't complain once, even if he shouldn't really be there. Yeah but anyway, you couldn't ask for a better son then him and I'm proud to say that he is one of my best mates" Harry said gently and by the time he had finished Alice was in tears "But I'm not saying anything more" He then added
"Hang on" Sirius said as he had just figured something out "If Longbottom is Alice kid and you're in his class, then that means that Mr. Potter would have had to have another secret child and you would have to be his"
"Don't be a daft Sirius, of course I don't have another son. And neither did dad of what I understand"
"Then how can Harry be a Potter?" Sirius asked dumbly. Lily, Alice, Sirius, Remus and James sat in silence thinking about it while the others just watched until Moony spoke up
"If neither the headmaster nor Mr. Potter had another son or brothers then you can't be James, nephew or cousin or anything like that which means that you have to be his son, but that doesn't make sense, I mean who in their right minds would have a kid with James?" Remus said
"Hey" James said smacking Remus on the head before he relished what he had just said and looked at Harry wide-eyed, "I am aren't I?"
Harry just looked down at the floor and he could hear James and Lily gasp
"I can't believe that I'll have a kid in the future. This is so cool. I bet that we do all kind of stuff together don't we Harry? You must be just exactly like your old man... but James never got to finish because Harry couldn't help him self glared at James and said
"I am not. I'm nothing like you James Potter. But sadly I still have to pay the price of everything you have done because I am your son and I have your looks. Everywhere I go, ohh Harry, you look exactly like your father, except you have your mother eyes. I used to be proud to hear that, I never used to listen to Snape either, always bashing you in classes, making me a fool because he couldn't get over the fact that you bullied him in Hogwarts. I had to suffer for that, but I didn't care. You were my dad, I didn't care what that greasy haired bat would have to say, but then I saw his pensieve, or rather Dumbeldores pensieve that he had loaned Snape. You know what I saw? I saw you after your OWL test last year bullying Snape for no reason at all, I couldn't believe it, but I reasoned with my self, I would have been told if you were like that but then I came here and I see for my very own eyes. I am nothing like you. I am not as self centered as you are, I do not only care for me, I do not enjoy embarrassing everyone around me, I do not enjoy attention I do not have a ego of the size of the planet like you do. You have done nothing but treat me badly ever since you found out what I was. Always that Jameson shit, you had no right to do that to me, even if I had been a death eater. You fool yourself James if you think we are even remotely alike" Harry said and then he stormed out of the room leaving a lot of stunned people behind
"He hates me" James finally said desperate
"What do you expect after what you have been doing for the last couple of months?" Ginny said shortly but then she said in a gentler tone "But don't worry, he doesn't hate you, he is just hurt and he is feeling betrayed. It's not too late to talk to him"
A little later everyone retired to bed to exhausted to think of this anymore.
The next day James was up and about before almost anyone. He was sitting outside and watching the sun come up when Dumbledore came up behind him
"Are you ok James?" He asked gently
James just kept looking ahead not answering. Dumbledore sighed and sat down next to James,
"I know it's hard but I'm sure that if you talk to Harry he will understand he will probably forgive you before he leaves. He has been hoping for months now that you would just say that you were sorry"
"It's not that I'm worried about" James said in a sad childlike voice and Dumbledore was shocked at James "I don't mean it that way grandpa. I really am sorry for jumping to conclusions and accusing him of that, but at the time I believed that I was doing the right thing. I was sure that I was right, I had never been more sure of anything before in my life in fact, I suppose the reason for that is because I was so unnaturally close to him before so he hurt me the more when I stopped being his friend. I suppose that this is why I felt so bonded to him. He is my son, or will be anyway. But I'm sure that in time Harry will understand, I mean we are at war after all, and he seems to understand how it is and should for he has apparently been raised in the middle of it for of all I can gather you-know-who is still at charge. So I'm sure he will forgive me eventually, for that mistake on my behalf if I talk to him" James said
"Then why are you so down?" Albus asked "You should be happy if you are so sure. He is your son James"
"I know that" James snapped before taking a deep breath and continuing, "I've been sitting here for ages now thinking, how I couldn't see it. My own flesh and blood and I didn't notice. I mean now that I know I see most of the signs, but that doesn't bother me either. I have never really thought that I would get married and have a child with someone, I mean the only girl I have actually ever really liked hates my guts. But I still always secretly wanted to have a lovely wife, who for some reason always looked like Lily when I was thinking about it but anyway, and bunch of children, six at the least. I hate how small our family is and I am going to expand it. Or so I wanted anyway, and then we were supposed to live in a medium size house, just big enough for the family, not a mansion like I live in or a huge castle or what ever it is that you live in. Then we were going to have a white fence around the house, and red windows and a small pond and a huge garden where L- I mean my wife would love to grow all kind of things. I would form the Potter Quidditch team with all my kids... James trailed off with a dreamy expression
Dumbledore looked at his grandson carefully before saying, "I never knew you cared that much about the future, I always thought that you and Sirius would open up a joke store and...
"I guess you all were right. I am a failure, I'm not going to have six children, my wife, whoever she is dies, I suck as a parent"
"Don't say that. I'm sure that you are a fine dad"
"Oh a fine dad I am. I just can't believe that I would do that to my own child. I could never have thought that I would be capable of such thing. I don't even know what goes wrong that changes me so much in the future, and I sure as hell don't understand why Harry wanted to make friends with me before after what I did to him"
"What are you talking about?" Dumbledore asked confused
"I'm talking about the fact that I hate my child in the future, that I hit my child in the future, that I use him as a slave in the future"
"What are you talking about, of course you don't do that. Where ever did you get that idea from?"
"Sirius, Remus and I heard Harry tell Poppy all about it once" James said quietly before staring in air again. At first Dumbledore seemed to be in shock and didn't say anything until few minutes later, he stood up with a angry glint in his eyes, and pulled James up, half carried him and half dragged him back in the house, yelled for Teddy and ordered him to go get everyone else at once before sitting James down in a couch and starting to pace until a sleepy Harry, curious Mione, Ron, Draco, Ginny, Lily, Alice, Sirius, Remus, Harold and Mary came in and as soon as they saw Dumbeldore they were very shocked at the anger, shock, grief and puzzlement that was in his eyes.
"You wanted to see us si- Alb- I mean granddad?" Harry asked slightly scared at how Dumbledore was looking and surprised at James previous presence
Dumbledore stopped pacing and looked right at Harry who didn't dare look back for he knew that Dumbledore was trying to read his mind. When everyone had seated himself or herself he spoke up "Yes I wanted to see you" There was something about that tone that told Harry that this wasn't a good thing
"Is something wrong?"
"I have been very patient with you Harry, I've taken Poppy's advice and not pressured you to tell me anything, even if you were my great grandchild and had tried to kill yourself. I never asked to know anything Harry, but now it is time you talk"
"What? Where is this coming from? You can't ask me of that. I can't talk about the future, I've said too much already. When I came here none of you were ever supposed to find out" Harry cried in shock
"But we did and now you will have to deal with it" Dumbeldore said harshly and he reminded Harry a bit on how he was when he first came here
"Now you listen, I don't know what has gotten into you and frankly I don't care. You have no right to ask me to talk about my private stuff to you or about the future. The future is not something you can control as you wish you know that as well as I do. It is just about the only thing that you cannot mess with Dumbledore. I know this must be weird for you, not being able to control and manipulate everything around you but the time is something you just don't mess with. It is not good for anyone to know the truth about what happens, and I don't want to tell you anyway," Harry yelled
"Don't you talk about my father like that? How dare you? He is a great man and he has given up everything for this world, and you ought to respect him more... But an angry Harry interrupted Harold
"I tried that once, but I find it rather hard to trust and respect someone who gives nothing in return but pain and distrust. I used to trust you Dumbledore, you used to be my mentor but you blew it on your own when you decided to take faith in your own hands. But Harold is right; you would give up almost everything for the greater good, so long as it doesn't have a bad affect on you in the way. You would kill innocents just save Hogwarts; you would let your own Order member rot in hell if it came as a use to you. You may have the greater good in mind, but have in mind that it is not always enough. I'm through trusting you, I took a huge chance by trusting you here and I know see it was a mistake on my behalf, I never should have become so close to you"
"How dare you say such a thing to my father? He is your family. How dare you accuse my father of such actions? He would never hurt a fly," Harold yelled
"Don't yell at him," James yelled at his father stepping up to Harry "You don't have the right to accuse him when you don't know the story behind what you are saying. I've already made that mistake and I'm not doing it again. Maybe something happens in the future that Harry misunderstands or something"
"I didn't misunderstand a thing James. I don't want to say this, but it is the truth. Dumbledore manipulated me for five years; he lied to me for five years. No he lied to me my whole life. He ruined my life and he didn't even care. I will work with you in this war, but I'm through with being your pet anymore Dumbledore. I say it again, I made a mistake by thinking that you were different now, you are not my great grandfather and you never were, and don't you ever pretend to be one. I'm through with playing games now"
"Harry" Dumbledore said weakly "I don't understand"
"Don't even try that. I will not feel sorry for you. I know that you have not done the things I dislike you for yet, but the fact is that you are still the same person and you will still do them. If I become to close to you it will juts hurt more when I go home"
"So you want nothing to do with him?" Mary asked in shock
Harry looked at her sadly and said, "I never said that. He is not my grandfather, he is not my mentor, he is not my idol and he is not my saviour and I am not his pet. I am a person with feelings that have a life on my own and I will not let him take that away. However, even if you are not those things, I am willing to work with you in the war and maybe be your friend. I know that you maybe care about me somewhat but the fact is, that if you knew all the things I knew, you would use it without caring what it would to me"
"I can't believe this. I take you into my home, into my family and this is how you repay me? Why do you hate me so much?" Dumbledore hissed angry
"I don't hate you, in fact, I love you in the granddad way I mean. But this is just how things have to be. You are you and you will always be you. If you are mad at me or if you can't understand that this is the best thing for us to do then I will leave"
"And go where?"
"I don't know. I will find some place, but my friends have nothing to do with this so please let them stay" Harry said
"Even if you don't care about the granddad thing, I accepted you into Hogwarts knowing that you had nothing so you are my responsibility and you will not leave this place except you know that you will be save. But however I demand that you tell me about the future" Dumbledore said his eyes hard
"I'm afraid I can't do that. Weren't you listening to anything I was saying? You can't know the future, not only because I don't want to say it but also because it is not yours to know. I cannot tell you anything you wish to know. I'm sorry" Harry said firmly but gently
"Now you listen Harry, James is walking around here lost because he thinks that he hits you in the future, now I demand to know if that is the truth or not"
Harry paled and stared at James and then at Dumbledore unable to say anything at all
"Harry, are you ok?" Mione asked running up to him and then she glared at the headmaster
"How dare you speak like that to him? Neither you nor James deserves to know what happens in the future. James, is a good, honorable man, he gets good grades, is always the sender of the attention, is rich, is light, hates evil with a passion but it Is not always a good thing with a sixteen year old. He thinks that he can get away with everything, have everything or everyone. He thinks himself a god, and god forbid that he can't ever make a mistake, and you know as well as I do that if he didn't know that Harry was his son he would still hate him. I have nothing against James, one day he will grow up and make a fine respectable man, father and a husband right now he is just a spoiled child that is finally getting a taste of reality and you. You are also a good man, you would give up almost everything for the sake of good and you are powerful. You are a lot like Voldemort really, except you are the Lord of the light. But when you feel necessary you betray people. You may do it for a grater purpose, but you are not a god either. You manipulate people in doing what is in your best interest, or you make them do what is yours to do, but you take the credit for it. Neither one of you have treated Harry how he deserves to be treated so don't you dare talk to him like that"
"Now you wait a minute here Hermione" Dumbledore said "I have been nothing but good and understanding ever since the night I found out about Harry...
"Exactly, you are only so nice to him because of that. He doesn't deserve that. He deserves that you are nice to him because of him not because of his name"
"I don't know who you think you are. I have taken you into my home, trusted you and I don't know what. But my grandson believes that he abuses his only child and I want to know if that is the truth and I think that we deserve to know it"
"No you don't" Harry said before Mione had the chance to say anything "But James does. You have never laid a hand on me James and I don't think that you ever would. You may not be it now but in the future you are a good man and you aren't so selfish either"
"I don't understand, I heard you, we all did" James said confused
"You heard wrong. I never mentioned my dad. You just assumed that I was talking about you; I mean who else could it really have been? But you can chill it really wasn't you, it only sounded like that" Harry said sounding so tired and old
It took James a few minutes to understand this but when he did, he grinned and said, "So I'm a good dad? I'm a good dad; I'm a good dad... James kept repeating
"Yes you are" Harry said smiling weakly at his father's victory dance but then he stopped and became serious
"I'm sorry I really am. Hermione is right you know, I probably would still think you evil if you weren't a Potter, but now I know that you are not and I really am sorry for not believing you sooner. I promise to try and listen to people better in the future and not judge so fast" James said looking apologizing
Harry thought for a moment before saying, "It's ok, you were at least able to admit the truth, and hopefully you will grow from this" Harry said trying to sound happy but failing miserably
"Who were you talking about in the hospital wing then?" Sirius asked
Harry looked at the floor
"And you said that you-know-who killed your mom, why would he do that?" James asked
Harry looked at Mione pleadingly but Dumbledore saw and said
"You are never getting out of it unless you answer Harry. They will forget anyway, so it doesn't matter. It's not like it is hard to talk about your life, you're fifteen what could possibly have happened in your live that is hard to talk about"
Maybe Dumbledore hadn't meant to be mean but Harry was furious at those words
"How dare you say that about my life, you know nothing of my life nothing at all. You know whom my mother is, so why don't you go and tell her and James. I bet that they will be super thrilled about that now won't they. You think it is easy for me to talk about my mother? How do you know that my live hasn't been hard? Why do you think I jumped of the Astronomy Tower? If you want to find out so much about my life then you will just have to find out differently then from my mouth for I won't tell you, not because I can't but because I won't" Harry yelled
"You really remind me of Lily when she's mad" James said without thinking first what he was saying and both Harry and Lily blushed
"And you have green eyes. Emerald green eyes" Alice said like it was a revelation
"So?" Harry said
"You said that you looked exactly like your dad, except you had your mother eyes. Now that eye color is very rare, and it matches Lily's. You are the only two in school who has that color. And you are a like in other ways to. You have the same temper; you write exactly like her, you have similar hands and stuff. She's your mom isn't she?" Alice said happily
Harry didn't say anything but he just looked down. It was no use to deny it, they would think so anyway. Everyone in the room gasped and Harry saw that James fainted. When he had been woken up Lily was still with the same shock look on her face.
"I marry Potter?"
"Yes you do, and you are very happy, or were anyway" Harry said
"Ohh, yeah, I die. But I don't understand Harry; I don't understand why on earth I would ever in my right mind agree to marry James. I was in Las Vegas and I met him and got drunk and that's how it happened, and the same night I get pregnant with you and that's why we continued to be married right?" Lily said almost pleadingly
"No, James grew up and you started dating, he proposed you said yes. End of story"
"And then Voldemort comes and kills me and poor you get stuck with James. You must feel awful," Lily said feeling more sorry for Harry being stuck with James then her for being dead
"Lily" Alice whispered harshly "Have you amnesia or something? Don't you remember when James came and offered his oh so generous offer for Harry?"
Lily thought for a minuet and then paled and said "Oh my god"
"Oh my god" Harry said also relishing what they were talking about "Please don't Lily, please, they don't know w- But Harry was cut short by Lily who had a dangerous glint in her eyes and she looked at the Potters and said
"You are sure you have no other relatives?"
Dumbledore nodded "The only living remaining are, me Harold and James"
"Ok fine, you are all only children and so are your forefathers, but what about your wife Dumbledore? Didn't she have any relatives?" Lily asked despair and to ask Dumbledore of that just showed how important to her this was. Dumbledore however answered shocked that the girl was asking about his late wife,
"She had no relatives, she was caring twins, Harold and his sister Anastasia, but Anastasia died and Karolyn got very sick, she recovered though but when Harold was ten she got sick again and passed away. Why do you ask?"
But Lily ignored his question and asked Mary, "What about you? Do you have other relatives?"
"I have a sister Betsy, she's seven years older then me why?"
"Is she married, or have kids or anything?" Lily asked feeling a bit reviled
"No she can't have kids, she had an accident when she was twenty six, and now she is blind, and she has a really bad memory and sometimes she gets these kind of seisures so she can't take care of a child. Why, what is this all about?"
But again Lily ignored their questions and asked in such a despair voice that everyone in the room felt sorry for her, even those who didn't even know what the deal was,
"So Harry's only living relatives are in this room, a part from my family I then mean?"
Dumbledore thought real hard back in time and then he slowly nodded, and Lily looked devastated and then she looked mad and said,
"It can't be, someone must have a secret child or something, and Harry can't be raised by her. He can't, he just can't"
"What are you talking about Lily? Harry is raised by me and partly you" James said confused
"Don't te- Harry started to say but was interrupted by Lily who snapped
"No he wasn't you're dead too" Lily didn't even seem to relish what she had said for she looked straight at Harry and asked,
"Who raised you? whose care were you placed in?"
Harry didn't answer
"It wasn't her, was it? Please tell me it wasn't her. Ohh what am I talking about, of course it was her, it has to be her, who else? You have no other relatives. Just please tell me that she has gotten over it?
Harry looked around the room and saw how shocked James was, but how he was still trying to figure out what was going on, just like the rest of the room and Harry also saw that Lily was not going to be satisfied until he answered her so he took a deep breath before answering her
"Lily stop please, you are scaring everyone here. They don't know what you are on about now do they? And you seem to be forgetting some things to. You know that Dumbledore is alive in the future and I never told you that my grandparents are dead. Isn't normal for your kind of religion to announce god parents anyway?" Harry said softly. He didn't want to lie to Lily but what else what he supposed to say?
Lily looked relieved and calmed down somewhat before speaking up again,
"But you said that your uncle had put you in that wheelchair and who is your god father then? I know that Alice will be your god mother, since we have long decided to be each other godmothers, but who is the god father?"
"I didn't mean it like that when I said it. I had an accident that was kind of my uncle's fault, but it was just an accident. And Sirius is my god father"
"So who gets you when we die? Sirius or Alice? Because I don't get why either one of them should move to the muggles"
"Wait why don't I have you?" Dumbledore asked, "It is in the Potter laws. I should have your custody"
Well you choose not to have me. I never knew you were my great granddad until that night in the hospital wing when you decided to tell the truth. You never told anyone, and since no one knew no one could make you take me so I went to the closest one in line" Harry explained
"I-I-I" Dumbledore kept saying shocked
"So who was it? Alice or Sirius?"
"Er, I'm thirsty so I think I'll head down to the kitchens see ya later" Harry said and was about to leave when Alice stopped him
"Harry. Who has you?" Lily asked again
"What does it matter really? The fact is that I'm alive and I'm well. This trip has given me something I'll always treasure in my heart. I don't want to ruin it by worrying you all but if it helps I mostly stay with the Weasleys but now I'm heading for bed"
I don't think that you understand what you are doing to him when you do that. He is a child, we all are and this is hard. He lost his family, the most important thing in the world to him. Dumbledore abandoned him so he isn't really a family and that means that he has no family except the one he lives with. And now he is here seeing you all over again, but still not. It is hard for him and you are not making it any easier for him. Just give him time"
Ginny said softly and then she and the rest of the time travelers left to find Harry.
James was sitting alone watching the night sky this time. This was not how he had thought he would be spending Christmas break. Lily came up to him all of the sudden and whispered
"It's beautiful isn't?" She asked looking at the moon
"Mmmm" James agreed, "I never really noticed before. "It's strange how you can change and see things in a new perspective over night" James said softly
"Well you just had some shocking news so it really isn't a surprise James. I my self am having a hard time adjusting to this" Lily said just as softly still looking at the moon
They stood in silence for few minutes longer before James scowled and turned away to leave just as he said
"Well it doesn't matter now does it? I was arrogant jerk, I am an arrogant jerk and I always will be an arrogant jerk and no one will ever be able to say otherwise" James said harshly and was about to walk away when Lily grasped his arm and turned him around and looked straight into his eyes and said
"You may have been a arrogant jerk, and maybe you will be again I don't know but I do know that you are not now. You can deny it all you want but finding out the truth about Harry and relishing that you were actually wrong has chanced you more then you will ever know"
"No it hasn't I'm still the old spoiled fool I was before" James said trying to get away
"Don't you realise what you just said? You just admitted that you were wrong, and more importantly that you were a selfish bastard...
"Well there is no use rubbing it in" James interrupted
"That is not what I'm meaning, what I am trying to point out for you is that the old you never would have admitted that. You didn't even try to get me to start dating you, you didn't ruffle your hair up, you didn't think so high of yourself you didn't call me Lilykins or Lils or my precious flower or any of those silly nick names you have for me. You were just yourself for a change"
James just stood there for a while again staring at the moon. I didn't even realise that you were well you," He finally admitted lamely
"It just shows what I was meaning. This has changed you; it has shown you that there are more things to live then popularity and money. You have a son now and it shows you things in different perspective" Lily said softly as she made her self-comfortable on the bench that was behind James.
"I guess you're right" James said sitting beside her and for about an half an hour they both sat there in silence until James finally spoke up,
"I can not just believe that you called me James, or that you were nice to me"
Lily smiled slightly and just shrugged, "I didn't even notice to tell the truth. Don't you find it bizarre that we actually get married and have a kid and are happy together? I mean I know you say that you are in love with me but that's just show off, you and me both know that, but sometime in the future we are actually going to be happily married" Lily said in disbelief.
"There are only two things that I find unbelievable about that. And one of them is why on earth you agreed to marry me. I mean you hate my guts" James said softly
"No I don't hate you James, I just hate that macho image you represent. And I hate the fact that you try so bloody hard to hide the real you. And besides I don't think that it's unbelievable that we got together if you stay like this, I mean I know you will forget this talk and the reason you have changed and everything but I just hope that you can still remember what you are feeling now so you won't change to much because I rather like the James you are now" Lily said shyly and blushing madly
"I hope so to Lils, sorry Lily I mean. You know you are wrong though, I'm not just showing off, I really do like you. I could have any girl in school if I wanted, and I'm not being macho about it, it's just a fact. But it's also a fact that I don't want any of them because I can't stop thinking about your beautiful smile, or that wonderful laugh of yours, and how cute you are when your angry, or your beautiful stunning eyes... er what I mean is that I basically can't stop thinking about you" James said blushing, embarrassed at what he had said and the two blushing people sat there again in silence watching the moon, until James broke it again.
"So tell me about this sister of yours, is she really that bad? You really freaked out when you thought that Harry was living with her"
Lily instantly had a mad glint in her eyes
"Let-s just say that it is best for your grandfather and Harry godparents that he wasn't put there. My sister is a human disgrace, especially if she is married to that awful excuse for a human"
"That bad?" James asked
"That bad?" Lily creaked "She is a monster that girl or that man I should say," Lily yelled but then she calmed down and became sad and said "We used to be so close, closer then most sisters...
"What happened?" James asked carefully
"I got a letter but she didn't. She's younger than me, so when I got my letter she wasn't upset, she thought that she would get one to when the time came, but she didn't. She really tried not to be jealous and support me. Sometimes it was hard for her, but we managed somehow, but then about year ago I think, that Vernon moves three blokes away from us. His parents are millionaires you now, and he has all the new and cool stuff so all the boys wanted to be his friends and all the girls wanted to become his girlfriend. Everyone but me that is, I saw straight through him, he plays so innocent but he isn't. I know what he does, uses every girl he gets and then he dumps them on the worst possible way; he never does anything except it comes out for his own good. But anyway, he makes everyone else serve him like he is god, he beads everything that is different, he bullies the younger kids, and I even think that he deals a bit with drugs. But anyway so he could get any girl he wants but then he meets Petunia and I knew that he was just going to hurt her. Finally they started dating, but unlike most times, he didn't just sleep with her and dump her. Although he treated her like dirt. Cheated on her and god knows what. Not that she believed me when I told her. Thought I was jealous. Anyway he turned her completely against magic and me. And now she detests me, she can't even stand to look at me. That's why I'm here, because otherwise I would have to spent Christmas with her, but that is impossible"
"That Dursley doesn't sound like good news and I don't think that I'm happy with him raising my son if he hates you and magic so much. And the same goes for your sister. Good thing he isn't living there" James said darkly
"I wouldn't be so surprised if he was raised there. There are just some things he has said that don't add up, like did you see his face when I told him that Alice was his godmother? He seemed so shocked and the thing with his uncle and the wheelchair. I just got the feeling that there was something more to it then he said there was. Maybe I'm just being paranoid"
"He would tell us, right?" James asked unsure
"I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't" Lily said darkly
"I just hope that he will learn to trust us enough to tell us about him before he leaves" James said feeling bad about how he and his son were distant
"If I wouldn't know any better I would say that you like the fact that you have a son, even if you are just sixteen" Lily said slightly amused
James blushed and muttered something that Lily didn't understand
"I just feel so bad that I blew everything up. I never thought I would say this Lily, but I envy you"
"Envy me? Why?" Lily asked surprised
"You have been so good to Harry, you almost blew things apart for you but you didn't and now you and him are so closed and you can be there for him but I can't. I screwed everything up and he probably won't ever talk to me again, not that I don't understand that. You know that I used to think that he was a coward for not standing up to me or that he was scared or something. But now I just understand that he was just trying to honor my memory in peace. How is he going to be able to that when he gets back now? He must hate me" James said devastated
Lily looked deep into James eyes and said softly "You are more like him then you know"
"What do you mean?" James said
"You can be kind, understanding, generous and funny and caring if you want to be. But don't worry he wont hate you. He loves you I know he does. I don't know what happens to us or when we die, but I know that the time he had with you was enough for him to love you forever. Talk to him and just find out"
"Thanks Lily, and er" James hesitative for a moment before saying "And I'm sorry for all the hard time I've been giving you all these years. I should have understood a no when I heard it" James barley whispered still looking into her eyes and then he leaned closer and kissed her softly and was pleasantly surprised when she kissed him back. Lily then pulled apart, slightly red but didn't seem too embarrassed and said, "Don't worry about Harry until you know for sure what he is feeling"
James just nodded and the two of them said there all night in each other arms just talking about live and death and all that they could think of. You can imagine how surprised Mary was when she saw the two of them sitting there together talking together, when she came looking for them but she just smiled a little and left them alone.
----------------------------------------------------
So what did ya think? Please review
A/N: I have news. I don't think it is necessarily good ones for me but if you like my story it is good news for you. The teachers are in a strike and therefore school has been cancelled for an unknown time. It may be a week or it may be months. But this means that I will have much more time too write...
volleypickle16: thanks :D I hope you liked the chapter, and thanks a lot for the review
danuschka: To tell you the truth I kind of forgot about that little fact. I didn't remember it until you mentioned it in fact. You are the first one to do so. Let's just say then that Vernon had made Harry send one letter saying that his uncle was going to treat him nice as long as he would behave normally and therefore he couldn't owl them every three days :-) Or something like that... Anyways, thank you very much for your review
gaul1: Thanks for your review
AuroraEvanstar: No, Dumbeldore already knew and the others didn't know who Umbridge was so... Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter and thanks for your review
Jaded Angel8: Thanks :-) Anyway I hope you like the chapter and thanks for your review :-)
fille-chica143: I hope this was quick enough for you ;) Thanks for the review...
Marauders-Lover: I believe you may have mentioned it, nah just jocking but thanks for the review :-)
Uten: Yeah I'm sorry I keep doing that :-S It should be better when he gets out of the chair though which shouldn't be to long. Are my spelling mistakes really that obvious? :( Here I am all happy because I think I'm getting better... Oh well, I'll just try harder then :-) Thank you for reviewing, it does help out when people point out what I am doing wrong so I can try and do it better :-) And I'm glad you liked the chapter, I hope you liked this one as well...
blaze potter: Don't worry, he'll be walking again soon.... Thanks for the review
babyHarry: Thank you. I'm glad you like it and I hope you liked this just as much :-)
Please review and tell me what you thought and if you have any ideas or comments!!!!!
Love
Cute-kittycat-in-love