We're so very sorry about the wait! We had major writer's block, then the real 6thbook came out, and then we started school! But no, it hasn't been abandoned! We'll shut up and let you read.

NOT OURS!

Chapter 43

The Deeper and More Complex Thoughts of Harry Potter

Chris and Ginny were still in Heather's office when they looked up suddenly from their rather depressing game of Wizard's Chess at the sound of other voices in the room. Searching for the source, they spotted Heather, Nikki, and company, along with another very familiar man.

"Sirius! You did it!" Ginny squealed, abandoning the chessboard.

"That's not all we did!" Nikki screamed, launching herself into Chris's arms and giggling hysterically. He patted her back in confusion.

"Um…okay…" he began. Tonks and Heather also started laughing uncontrollably, causing Ginny and Chris to think they'd had a bit too much Firewhiskey the previous night. Remus smiled widely at the two of them, and although he wasn't chuckling, it looked like he would be momentarily.

"Are you…sane?" Ginny asked, taking a precautionary step back.

"Never been better, Ginevra."

"Alright, then why is everyone…uh…crazy?" Chris questioned.

"The return of a certain someone," Bridget replied. At that point, Sirius stood up and turned to face them. In his arms was an unconscious, but obviously alive, Harry. Ginny gasped, her eyes wide open in shock, and immediately broke down into tears. Chris stood still, completely stunned.

"But…" he spluttered. "The Veil…dead…what?"

"Ask Harry, 'cause we're just as lost as you," Sirius remarked. "He can tell us more when he wakes up. Bridget, do you have anything you can give him?" She nodded in assurance as Sirius laid Harry down on the sofa. Bridget rushed off to the hospital wing, leaving the seven of them with strict instructions on how to care for him until she got back.

"Someone please explain this to me," Ginny murmured. "He's dead, everyone said so. And what happened?"

"We have no idea," Heather admitted.

"We'd just gotten into the room where Sirius was and Voldemort was going to kill me," Nikki continued. "All of a sudden, the Veil like, I don't know. It's like it blew up or something. Anywho, Harry's just standing in front of it, and he's glowing."

"You could feel the power coming off of him," interrupted Sirius. "He even shot fire at Voldemort, then got really weak. We fought some Death Eaters and tried to get out, but the Dementors came. Harry managed to transport us with the phoenix fire, but it left him magically drained, which is why he's out cold right now." Bridget then returned, bringing a single vial of some purple liquid with her.

"Here," she stated, thrusting it at Sirius. "He should drink this right now, but you'll have to wake him up first. And good luck with that."

"Great, leave me with the hard job," he muttered. "Harry. Harry, wake up. C'mon, I know you can hear me, wake up."

"That's not going to get anything done, Sirius. You've got to be a bit more forceful. HARRY!" Heather yelled, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. However, he still didn't wake up.

"Can't we just give the potion to him while he's sleeping?" Tonks yawned. "I'm tired too, you know."

"Fine," Bridget conceded. "Sirius, lift Harry up." She proceeded to pour it in his mouth, causing him to bolt up and start gagging.

"Finally awake, I see," Nikki smiled, on the verge of tears.

"Ugh," Harry coughed. "What was that? Tastes repulsive."

"Magical energy restorative draught," Bridget replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted."

"And understandably so," Heather nodded. "Think you can tell us what happened in the Veil?"

"No," he murmured. "Have you got a Pensieve?"

"Right here, Harry," Dumbledore had suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, blue eyes twinkling fiercely. "And welcome back."

"How long have you been here?" Remus asked.

"Long enough," he replied, dumping the Pensieve into Remus's arms and embracing Harry.

"Um…I missed you, too?" Heather cleared her throat loudly in annoyance at the Headmaster.

"I'm sorry about all of this, Miss Windling. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you…"

"There is actually," she interrupted, suddenly pulling Sirius close to her. "I do." Dumbledore smiled mischievously.

"In that case, I present you with Mr. and Mrs. Sirius Black. You may kiss the bride." The office broke into applause as Sirius and Heather leaned towards each other, but then hesitated. Remus sighed in exasperation and forcefully shoved Heather into Sirius. The pair held their ground for a good few minutes until Sirius finally gathered up the courage and drew her closer; their lips met and Remus let out a whoop of excitement, uncorking a bottle of champagne he had gotten out of Heather's desk drawer and drenching Sirius and Heather in it. Neither one, however, seemed to care that much, however and were both laughing hysterically.

"After almost sixteen years you're finally married!" Bridget cried.

"And they all lived happily ever after," Ginny quipped. "The end." Dumbledore left soon afterwards, stating that preparations had to be made, and he would return in the morning.

"Now," Harry sighed, "how do you work this thing?"

"Here, just think about it," Sirius instructed, putting Marcus Flint's wand to Harry's temple and extracting the strands of thought.

"Now that that's said and done with, I believe I'll go to home," mentioned Tonks. "Goodnight." She entered the fireplace and disappeared with a flash.

"Sirius, Remus, Heather and Bridget, you can have a look at my memories if you want. I think you might enjoy a fair bit of them," Harry grinned.

"And I'll stay here with him while you do," Nikki suggested. Chris and Ginny nodded, remaining as well.

"Right. We'll be back in a bit," Remus told them as they plunged into the Penseive. Ginny and Chris left soon after to get snacks from the kitchens.

"Harry, I was so lost without you," Nikki sniffed, snuggling closer to him.

"I'm sorry. I never meant to leave you alone and I'll never do it again, either."

"You can't be sure of that."

"I don't care," Harry announced with determination. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Nicole whispered back. When Ginny and Chris returned, they found both of them asleep. Nikki's head was lying on Harry's chest, while Harry had his arm protectively around her.

"That's so sweet," Ginny cooed. Chris searched the room for a camera, finding one eventually. He was able to snap a picture without even causing the couple to stir. "Think we can use it as blackmail?"

"Bet on it," Chris smirked.


"Go fish." A man with messy black hair was seated at an old wooden table, playing cards with a redheaded woman. The air around them was dark and swirling, but the two were able to see just fine.

"James Edward Potter, I know you have a five!"

"I said, go fish," the man repeated.

"Why should I? You asked me for a five just two turns ago! Now give it to me before I…" Another figure suddenly flew through thin air and landed spread-eagled on the table. "Uhhh…okay…" she trailed off, confusion etched onto her face.

"Is he…dead?"

"Of course he's dead!" the woman answered exasperatedly. "Why would he be here if he wasn't dead?"

"But he's not moving! Even if he was dead he should still be moving!" her husband argued.

"You have no idea how much sense that didn't make."

"But…."

"Hush," she snapped, for the person had begun to stir.

"Wha…? What happened?" he asked blearily, using his elbows to prop himself up. In doing so, James and Lily caught a glimpse of his face and froze in shock. It was him. It was their son. It was…

"Harry," Lily breathed as soon as she had regained her voice. He turned to look at her in confusion.

"What did you say?"

"Harry," she repeated, a little louder. "Harry!" His eyes widened in recognition, and he shook his head slowly.

"No…no, this isn't happening…I can't be here…."

"Harry?" Lily asked softly, moving towards him. James was still attempting to comprehend everything, and hadn't stirred. His wife, however, was now inches away from their son; both were examining each other. Lily reached out her hand to stroke Harry's face and went right through him. That seemed to be enough to jolt James out of his stupor, and he cried out in shock.

"Harry! What are you doing here?" With that, James lunged at his son, but Lily caught him by the back of his robes and stopped him short.

"James, something's wrong."

"Of course something's wrong!" he replied heatedly. "Our son has just died!"

"But James…I can't touch him."

"What's going on?" Harry interrupted. "What am I doing here? What happened? How do I get back?"

"Harry…you don't get back. You can't. Believe me, son, I've tried. I tried so many times…"

"No!" Harry protested, cutting his father off. "No! I have to get back, I can't be here! That means Voldemort…Voldemort…"

"Voldemort won," James finished softly.

"But…" Harry faltered, looking into his parents' eyes in desperation. "Can't I somehow…isn't there anything?"

"I've looked since we got here, trying to find a way back to you. There isn't, or I would have found one."

"I can't touch him," Lily repeated.

"What does that matter?" Harry asked dejectedly. "I let Voldemort win."

"You didn't let him win, I'm sure you fought…" James coaxed.

"Of course I fought, but that obviously wasn't good enough, was it?"

"I don't believe either of you realize the importance of this situation," Lily said slowly. James turned his gaze on her incredulously.

"What do you mean, we don't realize the importance of this situation! Our son is dead!"

"No, he's not."

"He's not?" James echoed.

"I'm not?"

"No, I don't think you are," she explained. "I can't touch you. If you were really dead, we'd be able to touch."

"So, does that mean I can go back?" Harry questioned hopefully.

"Well…"

"That guarded 'well' is never a good sign," James sighed in defeat. Harry looked back to his mother for some form of intense revelation that would get him home.

"Well…you're not dead, or we'd be able to touch you. But you're not alive either, or you wouldn't be here at all. So…I'm not sure what any of it means. I don't mean to destroy your hopes, but…I don't think there's anything we can do, even if you're not dead. I'm sorry."

"Don't say that!" Harry shouted passionately. Lily flinched from the sudden outburst, but let Harry continue. "You two have nothing to be sorry about! If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have grown up at all! You could have easily let him take me and save yourselves but you didn't! You protected me instead and…and I'm not really sure where that rant was going."

"We understand, Harry," Lily assured him. "We love you, too."

"And if we could actually touch you, we'd hug you," James added, earning him a smack on the head. "What? It's true!"

"Here's a lesson for you: ignore your father whenever he attempts humor."

"Hey! I do not attempt humor, I…"

"You're right, you don't attempt, you just fail miserably," Lily teased. "Now, Harry, before James goes off on a tangent about how funny he can be, we need to talk." Harry nodded mutely, and James sobered up enough to turn the table Harry was still sitting on into a couch.

"How'd you do that?"

"We're dead," James answered as he and Lily sat down next to him. "They have to give us something to amuse ourselves with. Now, first question: why in the world are you wearing a tux?"

"Oh!" Harry looked down at himself for the first time and laughed quietly. "Sirius's wedding."

"He actually got married?" James asked in amazement.

"Well…technically not, since the Death Eaters attacked before Heather could say her part of the vow, but he intended-"

"Death Eaters?" Lily interrupted. "Please, start from the beginning."

"Of the wedding?"

"No. The day we died. Everything after that."

"Are you sure you want…"

"Yes," James clarified. "Everything right down to exact time of day you got your Hogwarts letter."

"Just to warn you, you're not going to like it."

"It needs to be done," his mother murmured, James nodding in solemn agreement.

"Alright. After you died, Voldemort tried to kill me. But because you sacrificed yourself, the curse bounced back and hit him. All I got was this," Harry explained, pushing back his bangs and revealing the lightning bolt scar.

"Oh, that's all, is it?" James replied sarcastically. Lily elbowed him in the stomach.

"But then if Peter, sorry, Wormtail, had told Voldemort where we were, that means Sirius got to you before anyone else, right? He should have known, we made sure of that."

"From what he's said, he had a strange feeling and tried to check on Wormtail. He realized what was happening, but was too late."

"We should have figured it out. We should have seen right through that piece of scum, then none of this would have happened."

"Wait," Lily began. "You said that the curse bounced back and hit Voldemort, didn't you? Then wouldn't you have killed him?"

"I wish," Harry replied dejectedly. "I'm not really sure what happened. I half-killed him, sort of turned him into this bodiless thing, but no. He didn't die."

"Creep never knew when to give up," James growled.

"Too true," Sirius muttered, knowing full well that no one but Remus, Heather, and Bridget could hear him.

"Shut up Sirius,"Bridget reprimanded. "I'm trying to listen."

"But what happened to Wormtail? Tell me Sirius found him."

"He found him, alright," Harry mumbled dejectedly. Lily and James shared a nervous glance. "Only when he did, Wormtail framed him."

"You're not saying what I think you're saying…Sirius…he…"

"Sh, James, he'll explain."

"Sirius had him cornered, but Pettigrew shouted that Sirius had killed you, then blew up the street with his wand behind his back, but off his finger, and transformed, leaving Sirius in the middle of it with his wand out. They sent him to Azkaban without a trial."

"NO!" James roared, jumping off the sofa. "He's innocent! Innocent, you idiots! He'd never betray us!"

"James, just let him finish."

"WHY?"

"Because, if Harry knows Sirius was framed, they must have let him go at some point," Lily explained, pulling him back onto the couch. "How did Remus take it?"

"I didn't even meet Moony until my third year."

"But…hold on. Sirius is in prison, you didn't know Remus…who raised you?" James demanded. Harry closed his eyes and leaned back into the couch. He knew that question would come up, but he was in no way prepared to answer it. Lily did that for him.

"Oh no. Not her, please tell me you didn't-"

"Live with the Dursleys?" Harry replied darkly. "Why do you ask?"

"If I wasn't dead, I'd kill Dumbledore!" snarled James. "He promised not to take you there. We made him swear it!"

"In all truth, he had a legitimate reason."

"What the heck kind of reason could make him abandon that promise!" Lily screamed. "My sister-"

"Exactly," Harry interrupted. "Your sister. Because you sacrificed yourself in order to save me, a sort of blood protection was formed, and as long as one of your living relatives took me in, that protection would stay. I'm not in any way, shape, or form saying that either they or me enjoyed it, but at least no Death Eaters tried to off me before I even learned I was a wizard."

"She didn't even tell you?" Lily shrieked. "Then how did she explain us?"

"Do you really want-"

"YES!"

"Neither of you worked, and Dad, you were an alcoholic. You died in a 'car crash,' which is how I got my scar. I didn't know anything about magic or wizards until Hagrid was sent to personally take me to Diagon Alley."

"How did they treat you?" Lily asked, dreading the answer.

"Like a servant. They kept me in that cupboard under the stairs until the owls tried to deliver my Hogwarts letter, when they gave me Dudley's second bedroom."

"I hate Petunia so much right now,"

"Heather is Lily's sister, too. Why not let her take you?"

"Because everyone thought she was dead, that's why not. I didn't even meet her until this school year; she was my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"I feel so pathetic asking this question, but I have to know," James said miserably. "How old are you?"

"A month from seventeen. We just finished 6th year."

"Our son grew up and we never even got to see his first broom ride. You do ride, though, don't you?"

"Honestly, is that all you think about? What are you going to do if he says, 'no, I don't ride a broom, I hate Quidditch.' Disown him?"

"You don't have to worry about it, I play."

"Yes!" James cried in triumph. "There's one thing that went right in your life. What position?"

"Seeker."

"Now that you mention it, you do look a lot like a Seeker. You're thin – side-effect of living with the Dursleys?"

"How'd you guess?" Harry answered dully.

"Never mind that now," Lily suggested. "C'mon, tell us more. Anything exciting happen in your first year at Hogwarts?"

"Gryffindor?" James asked eagerly.

"Of course."

"Yes! That's two!"

"James!" Lily scolded. "What would you have said if he was in some other house?"

"As long as it wasn't Slytherin, I wouldn't have minded."

"About that…" Harry trailed off, chuckling nervously. "The Sorting Hat almost put me in Slytherin. It recognized the powers that Voldemort transferred to me when the curse rebounded…"

"What sort of powers?" James asked suspiciously. Harry looked to his mother in apprehension, who motioned for him to continue. Deciding it would be best to get it over with, Harry began talking in Parseltongue. And scaring the living daylights out of his parents.

"What. Was. That?" James whispered anxiously after getting back on the couch (he'd fallen off in shock.)

"Parseltongue. The ability to talk to snakes," Lily answered. "But why did it put you in Gryffindor?"

"I asked it not to. Ron had said-"

"Back up," James requested. "Who's Ron?"

"One of my best friends. Ron Weasley."

"Red hair, five brothers?" James asked.

"And a sister, but yeah, that's Ron. I met him on the train after Fred and George, his twin brothers, by the way, told him who I was. But Ron had said that Slytherin was where all the dark witches and wizards went, so I didn't want to end up there, and told the hat. It put me in Gryffindor."

"Alright, so Ron is one of your best friends. Anyone else we should know about?" James tried to nudge him, winking.

"James, we're talking about first year. I highly doubt that Harry had any romantic life when he was eleven. But what about your other friends?"

"I only really had one other, and that's Hermione. She's a Muggleborn, and the smartest student in Hogwarts."

"Sounds familiar, doesn't it?" James asked with a laugh.

"Did you ever meet Neville Longbottom? Frank and Alice were two of the best Aurors in the war."

"Yeah, Neville and I are friends. But you won't like what happened to his parents. After Voldemort fell, they were tortured to insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange, among others. Neville's lived with his grandmother ever since."

"Even after Voldemort was gone?" Lily questioned.

"They figured the Aurors would know where he was."

"Enough of that," James growled. "What else happened during your first year?"

"Well, I thought Snape was trying to kill me…"

"WHAT ON EARTH WAS SNIVELLUS DOING WITHIN 100 MILES OF YOU!" James roared.

"Teaching me Potions."

"Potions? POTIONS?"

"Yeah. But it turns out it he didn't have it in for me. Not yet, at least. It was my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Quirrell. He was serving Voldemort, so he tried to get the Sorcerer's Stone to bring his master back. In the process, he let in a troll that Ron and I had to save Hermione from. Then we had to get past a giant three-headed dog, a Devil's Snare, a bunch of flying keys, a giant chessboard, and a wall of magical fire, so I could go head Quirrell off and get the stone instead. But the good news is that I got on the Quidditch team."

"Hogwarts has indeed changed since we were students, hasn't…wait, Quidditch team? Yes! That's three!"

"Doesn't Snape teaching me cancel those out?" Harry asked.

"For your father, the Gryffindor Quidditch team has more importance than anything else, so I'd have to say no."

"Hey, it's not as important as you, Lily."

"Nice save," Harry muttered. Sirius and Remus nodded in agreement.

"I thought it was," James murmured back.

"Anyway, what about second year?"

"A basilisk tried to kill all the Muggleborns at Hogwarts because Voldemort had preserved himself in a diary which Lucius Malfoy gave to Ginny so she was being possessed and opening the Chamber of Secrets, but I killed it with Fawkes's help and Gryffindor's sword."

"Oh," Lily replied. "That's…"

"Wicked. My son is only twelve and he's killing giant snakes! Yes!"

"James, he could have been hurt!" Lily reprimanded.

"But he obviously wasn't!"

"Well, I would have been if Fawkes hadn't healed me."

"See!"

"Harry, get on to third year before she starts yelling!" James pleaded.

"Fine," Harry replied with a laugh. "I think you'll like third year. Murderers try killing me."

"What? Who?" Lily demanded, starting to panic.

"A certain escaped convict named Sirius Black."

"He escaped? No one's ever done that! Way to go Padfoot!"

"Yeah. It turns out that he saw a picture of Wormtail, or should I say, Scabbers, in the paper."

"Scabbers?" Lily asked.

"Ron's pet rat. Wormtail went to live with a wizarding family. Sirius saw him and escaped, but kept appearing everywhere as the Grim, making me and everyone around me (except for Hermione, who didn't believe in Divination) think I would die. Then Lupin helped me learn the Patronus charm to protect myself from the Dementors…"

"Hold your horse there! Moony-"

"Was my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"I thought that was Quirrell!" James said in confusion.

"It was, but he died. Then Lockhart lost his memory…"

"Gilderoy Lockhart?" James shrieked. "Pretty boy Gildy?"

"James!" Lily cried, smacking him. "Lockhart was a few years ahead of us. Very full of himself, he was."

"He tried to wipe my memory to keep me from saving Ginny," Harry put in.

"Really. In that case, I agree with James. But what were you were saying?"

"Moony came and taught instead. But since the Ministry thought that Sirius was trying to kill me, they put Dementors all around the school. Nasty things. Hated them. Anyway…"

"You heard us," Lily murmured.

"What?" James questioned.

"The Dementors. You heard us. The night he came."

"How did you know?" asked Harry confusedly.

"Call it mother's intuition. And I'm sorry again, Harry. You never should have gone through all this."

"No, it's not your fault, honestly. Don't say that."

"But please, third year," James prodded. "We've got a bit more of your life to get through yet." Harry smiled at him in relief; the subject was beginning to get uncomfortable.

"At the end of the year, Sirius as a dog, dragged Ron into the Whomping Willow, knowing I would follow, and explained everything, with Remus's help. But Wormtail got away because it was the full moon and Remus transformed, so Hermione and I had to use a time turner to rescue Buckbeak the Hippogriff and save him."

"Alrighty then," James spluttered. "But Sirius…"

"Was fine. Fourth year the Triwizard Tournament was reinstated, and the imposter Moody got me into the tournament to kill me."

"Wait, what would Moody be doing there in the first place?" Lily asked. "Last time I saw him, he was the Head Auror!"

"He was my DADA teacher."

"What happened to Moony!" James cried.

"He resigned when Snape let it slip that he was a werewolf."

"I hate that man," Lily snarled.

"I've never heard you say that before," James declared, looking at his wife in a new light. "Anyway, continue. Imposter Moody?"

"Yeah. It was part of a big elaborate scheme to get me killed and..."

"How many people are going to try to off my son?" screamed Lily. "What did he ever do to you!" James patted her arm coaxingly.

"My thoughts exactly," Heather said vehemently.

"I lived, that's what. I'm 'the boy-who-lived.' Though I suppose now they'll have to change that."

"But you thwarted that evil plan, did you not? I mean, you didn't die, at least."

"No, didn't die. Voldemort, however, was resurrected."

"No…" Lily murmured.

"Yes," Harry replied dejectedly.

"Does nobody have the decency to stay dead anymore?"

"I-I have to ask. That night…we dueled. Voldemort and I. Our wands connected because they share the same core: a feather from Fawkes. His wand was forced to show the last people he had murdered and…"

"We came out?" Lily asked in understanding.

"We did what!"

"Not us, James. Shades of our memories, imprints of us, yes. But not us. What happened?" she prodded gently.

"He killed Cedric – well, Wormtail killed Cedric. Right after the third task. The first task was getting past a dragon and the second was going into the lake to bring Ron back out, but that's beside the point. I saved Cedric from the Durmstrang champion, who had been bewitched, and he saved me from the skrewt-er, giant fire crab sort of things," Harry added at James's confused expression. "We tried to take the cup at the same time, to tie for Hogwarts, but it was a Portkey. Moody had rigged it up, but they hadn't counted on me coming back," he finished with a sheepish grin. "Turns out it wasn't Moody at all, but Barty Crouch, Jr."

"Thought that git was in Azkaban!"

"He got out, like everyone else. Mass breakout."

"This is getting increasingly depressing," Lily muttered. "Please tell me fifth year was better."

"Fat chance. Our new Defense teacher was a complete Ministry lackey; I had to form my own illegal Defense group to even learn the practical stuff. She read our mail, so I couldn't even talk to Padfoot, and Voldemort found a way to send me visions. Some were useful, and one almost got both Sirius and me killed."

"What?"

"What!" Lily repeated.

"He sent me a fake vision; he wanted me to go to the Department of Mysteries and get the Prophecy. Dumbledore hadn't told me about it, and I didn't understand what was so important, but I knew Voldemort wanted it." James growled out something about murdering Dumbledore, but Harry continued, eager to finish the rest of the story before he lost the nerve. "He made me think that he was torturing Sirius, and I was enough of an idiot to believe him. A group of us went to the Ministry, riding thestrals, of all things, and when the Order came to come rescue us…"

"Sirius came with them," James gathered.

"Everyone thought he'd died; he fell through the Veil. It wasn't real, though!" he added hastily. "It was a Portkey. Sent him to the Sahara of all places…But then, sixth year, Heather started teaching Defense, she and Sirius got reacquainted, Sirius was freed after almost dying because Snape, being the idiot he was, revealed where Sirius was hiding…"

"That man needs to die!" James roared.

"He did. Sirius killed him a few minutes before I…died. That sounds so weird. But he was about to hand me over to Voldemort. He said he knew all about Wormtail before you were killed."

"I. Hate. That. Filthy. Vile. Disgusting. Scum. Of. A. Man!" Lily ground out, breathing heavily.

"But…" James began in terror, "if Sirius killed him, that means he's…he's…here!"

"Be thankful he's no longer living and causing pain, James. But, the Death Eaters broke up the wedding, right?"

"Yeah. Who knows what Voldemort's doing to Sirius," Harry stated darkly.

"Sirius is strong, Harry. He can take care of himself. Trust me," James winked. "I've been caught in the middle of enough pranks with him to know. But before we get off this subject too far, you'd be in 6th year. Have a girlfriend yet?" Lily cried out in exasperation, but Harry grinned embarrassedly.

"Yeah, actually…she just transferred from America this last Christmas. Her name's Nikki and she's really…"

"Beautiful?" James suggested.

"Nice?"

"Wild?"

"Caring?" put in Lily.

"Perfect," Harry declared. "We had a lot in common; she moved here because her parents had been killed by Death Eaters, she's the best Beater I've seen since Fred and George, maybe better, she's as much of a fun-loving prankster as Sirius was, and she knows exactly what to say at exactly the right time. She's…"

"Perfect?" James offered.

"Yeah…"

"Sounds like somebody's in looooooooove."

"James, give the boy a rest," Lily admonished.

"Fine, fine," he sighed before his eyes lit up in excitement and he grinned mischievously. "Harry, I seem to recall you mentioning Padfoot and Moony. Does that mean that you have a certain alter-ego as well?"

"If you mean my Animagus form, then…"

"Another illegal Animagus in the family?" Lily cried in disbelief.

"What, did you think that Sirius and Heather wouldn't teach him to carry on the Marauder tradition?" James laughed. "Come on, Harry, let's see it!" Harry grinned and complied; a bright flash of light appeared and Lily and James found themselves in the middle of a bizarre mountain range. "What the - Harry, what did you do? What happened?"

"Where is he?" Lily asked, panicked. Their attention was turned to a pile of ashes in front of them, which proceeded to burst into flames and Harry suddenly materialized from within the fire.

"What just happened?" James repeated bewilderedly.

"Destiny," a low voice rumbled from behind them. Lily and James whipped around to come face-to-face with a wall of fire.

"Um…is that supposed to happen?"

"Yes, Mr. Potter, it is indeed."

"Harry, what's going on?" Lily asked.

"Spirit, how are you?"

"Not bad. Though I have to say, you haven't come to visit in awhile. It's left me rather lonely."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize I could," Harry replied.

"That's because you can't. I, however, have the ability to pull strings to get you out of trouble."

"Okay, Spirit-thing, are you saying what I think you're saying?" James questioned.

"That depends, Mr. Potter. What do you think I'm saying?"

"That you can take Harry back," Lily answered for him. "Oh, please, say you can!"

"I can indeed."

"What?" Harry yelled, his eyes widening. "How?"

"I really did hope that you hadn't forgotten your Animagus form already," the Spirit replied cheekily.

"Phoenix-when it dies it's reborn from its ashes! I can go back!"

"Be warned: you won't be able to access this power again. I suggest you be a bit more careful."

"You're not lying?" Harry asked, needing more confirmation.

"Not lying."

"Not even stretching the truth just a tad?" James clarified.

"I am an ancient Spirit borne of flame that dwells in the unknown expanses of a land few chosen mortals may view. I do not stretch the truth, thank you." Lily screamed in delight, throwing her arms around Harry and James and giggling in a very Lavender Brown-ish way. Both she and Harry broke apart quickly, realizing what had happened: Lily and James had become solid.

"You're…you're gonna go home Harry. For real," Lily smiled as James ruffled his hair like Sirius always did.

"I…I'm not so sure I want to anymore…" Harry admitted. James nodded knowingly.

"You have to. I'm sorry."

"But…I just met you…I've always wanted…"

"And we've always wanted to see you, grown up, Harry," Lily agreed. "But not like this. You've got a job to do. You've still got your whole life ahead of you-"

"And from what you've told us a good-looking girl, too," James added.

"That's not the point!" Lily cried, then softened her gaze. "We'll still be here, Harry. You have to go on. And you better not get back here for a long time, understood?" Harry smiled weakly, wiping his eyes on the back of his sleeve. Lily hugged him again, and James joined in.

"Tell Sirius and Remus that we're sorry and don't blame them in the least, okay?"

"And ask them to look after you," Lily requested. Harry nodded, stepping back.

"Oh, and tell Nikki to dye her hair red! Potter tradition!"

"James!"

"Ouch!"

"We love you, Harry! Don't ever forget that!" Lily called out.

"I won't! I love you, too!" Harry yelled, waving. In a flash of fire, he was gone. Lily and James shared a kiss and turned around.

"So," James began, his eyes locking with Sirius's, "I haven't seen you four in a while."

Trust us to leave you with a cliffie, huh? Oh well. Sorry once again and please review! We hope to be done before Christmas!