From the Past, Chapter 5.
James looked quickly up at Remus Lupin with a somewhat surprised face. Remus Lupin simply stared back questioningly.
"You mean…my kid? He's here already?" James asked him.
"Yes."
James continued to look at Lupin for a moment, then at the younger Remus Lupin.
"You should go," the young Lupin said to him. "You should all go and see. Besides, I'm feeling quite tired."
"Are you sure you don't want any of us to stay here with you?" Sirius asked. The young Lupin shook his head.
"I'm fine," he answered. "Go on."
The group looked at each other, and stood up one by one. Sirius took the plate of food and set it on the cabinet. As they left through the doorway, the elder Lupin went back to his younger form to rest him back into a sleeping position. Soon after, he followed the other boys and walked down the stairs beside them.
"Does he…does he know we're here?" James asked Lupin, who nodded.
"He's just been told, in fact. Now, I must ask all of you to save any questions you may have for me, as I do not want you finding out anything about your futures. You will learn that in time."
"So…we can't ask him about who we are, or what we're doing now?" Sirius asked quickly.
"I'm afraid not."
"But…Remus gets to know about who he is!" Peter complained.
"That is simply by chance. It is also by chance that you all ended up in Grimmuald Place."
"Speaking of that," Sirius began. "Why is it that you live here and I don't? It is my family's house after all!"
"That is a story that I will leave to you to figure out…it's quite interesting, and it should happen to you on its own."
Sirius didn't look happy about this answer, but continued walking down the stairs anyway. Finally, they got to a doorway that led into the kitchen.
"Now, remember what I've told you," Lupin said to the boys.
"Now, remember what I've told you," Mad-Eye Moody echoed to Harry inside the kitchen. Harry had grown over the short summer, and looked more like his father than ever before. He looked much older than when he had left Hogwarts, due to the drama that had taken place the year before, though. He seemed older too. Depressed, angry, yet understanding of the world around him. Harry looked up instantly as the door to the kitchen opened, revealing men that he had only known for a short period of time, yet had made a huge difference in his fate.
James was the first to really notice Harry, yet Harry somehow noticed Sirius before him.
"Oh my gosh, James…he looks exactly like you," Sirius whispered to his friend, who walked straight up to Harry.
"So," he began. "You're my kid?"
Harry nodded. He took a very long look at his father. What people had always said to him was true - they were nearly identical. That was the only real thing he noticed. For some reason, seeing his father didn't really have the effect he thought it would have. He walked over to Sirius next.
"He really does look like you, James…" Sirius proclaimed again, an awestruck look on his face. Peter then walked closer to Harry. Harry looked at the boy, who seemed years younger than the other two. He tried to not look at this boy, and moved back towards his father.
"How old are you?" he asked simply. James looked at Harry with a mildly surprised face.
"I'm seventeen…half way through my seventh year at Hogwarts. Why, can't you tell?" James smiled at his…could you call it a joke? Harry didn't smile. After a moment, Harry walked away from his father towards Lupin.
"Professor Lupin? Where are Hermione and Ron?" he asked, to the surprise of everyone in the room.
"Harry…wouldn't you like to speak with James?" Lupin asked him back.
"I need to talk to Ron and Hermione…besides," Harry added, with a glance to Moody, "It's not like I've never seen him before."
The three time travelers were somewhat shocked at his statement, but before Lupin could answer Harry, they left, James looking rather angry.
"Harry-?" Lupin began, but Harry interrupted.
"Where are they, Professor Lupin?" Remus sighed.
"In the house library, Harry," he answered, frowning. Harry quickly left the room to look for his friends. The scene now shifts to the Marauders, back inside the sleeping Lupin's room.
"I can't believe that - how could I raise my child to be so rude!" James was saying to the other boys.
"Well, he learned from the best," Peter tried to joke, but when nobody found this funny, stopped laughing. There was a moment of silence.
"James…" Sirius began, but stopped before actually saying anything. James looked at him seriously.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Never mind."
"No, Sirius, tell me," Sirius tilted his head downward.
"Have you ever thought that maybe…" Sirius began.
"Maybe what?" James was beginning to get angry.
"Well, that maybe…you didn't?"
"Didn't what?"
"Raise him."
All of the boys fell silent, and the silence was broken by a noise coming from Remus through his sleep. It was like a low howl, and made the boys jump slightly.
"Sirius, don't be stupid," Peter said to him.
"Well…I mean…did you see that guy's reaction when he saw us? It was as if…he hadn't in a long time. You don't just start crying when you see somebody you know, unless they've been gone for a long time," Sirius tried to explain.
"Look, stop being an idiot. He told us why he got so scared…" James began. "Just shut it, Sirius," he finished, and looked away. The boys then got up and left the room, and decided to go to the kitchen.
"Oh, Harry! It's so good to see you!" Hermione ran to Harry when she saw him come into the library. She began to reach towards him, as if to hug him as she often did when they saw each other after a long summer, but he didn't invite this moment of affection. Ron stood up and also went over to Harry. Ginny was still sitting at a table in the small library, watching the trio meet each other again.
"Harry…how've you been?" Ron asked him quietly, not knowing entirely what to say to this seemingly new Harry.
"I'm fine…" Harry told them, simply. He then noticed something. Ron had taken Hermione's hand in his own. Harry smiled.
"Oh…god…Harry, there's something we need to tell you-" Hermione tried to explain, but Harry broke in.
"It's about time, you know that?" the trio smiled at each other, and they all walked towards the table. They sat down, Harry opposite Ginny.
"Hey, Ginny…" he said to her, and she smiled slightly. Harry looked at Hermione. "So, have you found anything?"
"What do you mean, Harry?" Hermione asked him.
"On the Horcruxes."
"Oh, yes, of course. Ron and I have been studying them all summer," Hermione told him.
"Good," Harry said. "So, what did you get?" Hermione seemed baffled that this would be the first thing Harry asked her, but began telling him.
"Well, we think that there might be one from Ravenclaw near London-"
"Have you seen your dad yet, Harry?"
It was Ginny that interrupted Hermione.
"Yeah, I have," Harry answered her. He had a slightly annoyed tone. "Continue, please Hermione. Where in London-"
"And what did you two do?" Ginny continued.
"We said hello. Now, keep going Hermione, please-"
"Just hello?" Ginny asked.
"Yes, JUST hello, Ginny," Harry replied. He motioned for Hermione to continue, but Ron broke in.
"You mean, you haven't talked to him yet?"
"That's right…now-"
"Why not? Aren't you happy to see him, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, seeing my dead father as a teenager is extremely exciting!" Harry yelled at the group. He quickly hung his head. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have yelled at you guys," he said to them apologetically.
"Harry, you should talk to him - it's important. Everyone should know there father-" Hermione tried to reason with him.
"No…it's not important," the room gasped. "Right now the most important thing to do is find the Horcruxes, don't you understand, Hermione?" she nodded, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"Harry - what if they send him back before you really get to see him?"
"Where in London do you think the Horcrux is, Hermione?" Hermione frowned, and explained the placement of the Horcrux through her tears. Harry listened, a harsh expression on his face. Ron held her hand as he and Ginny listened carefully.
Back in Lupin's room, the young werewolf had woken up. He was feeling hungry. Slowly, the half-human Lupin pulled himself up and walked towards the cabinet where his food was lying. Suddenly, a mirror sitting in an open drawer caught his attention. It made the light from the setting sun reflect into his eyes. He reached down and turned the mirror over, making something else catch his attention. A folder.
He slowly picked up the folder, and opened it on his lap. There were dozens of newspaper clippings from the Daily Prophet inside of it, the top one from about 3 and a half years before the current date. He slowly arranged them into a chronological order, then read each one to himself. The first one had this headline:
"James and Lily Potter Murdered By Dark Lord - Harry Potter Survives."
It was followed by many other headlines, each talking about the same topic, but focusing on Harry Potter. The next set read:
"Peter Pettigrew and Large Group of Muggles Murdered."
The next read:
"Sirius Black Sent To Azkaban For The Murders of Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, Lily Potter and Others."
Years seemed to pass on the dates of the articles, until the final two.
"Sirius Black Escapes Azkaban, Attacks Hogwarts."
"Sirius Black, Mass Murderer, Lost."
There were no more articles after this. When he heard footsteps, Lupin quickly threw all of the papers back into the folder and hid them in the drawer where he had found them, placing the mirror on top just as he had found it. He reached out for his breakfast as the door opened, revealing the other Marauders.
"Oh, Lupin!" Sirius yelled to him, carrying a new plate of food. "Don't eat that, we've got something even better for you!"
Lupin ate the meal that Sirius gave him in perfect silence.