A/N: Chapter seven is here! YAY! Now we get settled in and start making plans….
Disclaimer: How many times do I have to say this? J.K. Rowling owns HP, not I!
Chapter 7: Getting Started
The next morning's sunlight shown through the slits in the boarded up Shack. Harry woke up to find Ron and Hermione awake discussing how they were going to set up base.
After a quick breakfast, they set to work. The first step was cleaning. They went throughout the Shack and using the cleaning spell 'scourgify' they tidied up. Dust and filth disappeared everywhere. There wasn't anything in the house except a few beds up stairs and a wooden chair downstairs.
In the study, Hermione conjured a few armchairs and a sofa to make the room homier. She put a big table in the middle of the room and lamps all around the walls. A small bookshelf was put in the corner for them to put their books, parchment, and quills on. The room sill looked gloomy so she conjured scarlet and gold fabric to put on the walls.
"It'll look more like the Gryffindor common room." She said.
After she had put the hangings up, the room certainly looked more cheerful. Feeling that they had done a good job, they continued to the dueling room. They put up a barrier from which one person could watch while the other two dueled.
The room with the fireplace became something like a kitchen. There was a table for eating and a few smaller tables were put up to prepare food on. Hermione came up with a makeshift pantry and ice box by taking two crates and putting shelves in them. In one of the crates, the one that was going to be the ice box, she put packs of ice to keep it cool. Pleased with the room, they continued up the stairs.
There was only one bedroom. It had a single bed with a broken frame. Hermione repaired the frame with a simple "Reparo" and set to work on trying to make two more beds. After finishing two more bed frames, Hermione transformed the broken door into two mattresses.
"I don't know how you do it Hermione," Ron said in awe.
Hermione grinned and placed the mattresses on the other beds. Then she put sleeping bags on them. The rest of the day was spent repairing most of the serious faults in the house. The stair case's steps had enormous cracks in them and were easily restored to a new looking plank of wood. The banisters were done too.
By the end of the day the friends had a cozy base to come back to after they left for the first horcrux. Feeling satisfied, the three friends flopped down in the study and discussed their plans.
"I want to go to Godric's Hollow tomorrow," Harry said, "After that we can try Voldemort's old orphanage."
"How will we get there?" Hermione asked, "We don't know what it looks like so we won't be able to apparate."
"Hmm…" Harry said, "You've got a point there. Maybe there are some pictures in my old album."
Harry got up and went over to his trunk. Ron and Hermione followed him and peered over his shoulder as he pushed aside his sneakoscope and ominoculars. Harry wasn't the tidy kind of type so it was nearly impossible to find anything in his luggage. Finally, he fished out the leather-bound album Hagrid had given him.
He opened the album and walked over to a chair and sat down, riffling through the pages. There were his mother and father staring up at him waving. Harry wished he could have gotten to know them better; but Voldemort had ensured that he would never be able to meet them.
He finally found a page with the Potters positioned outside a quaint little cottage.
"There you go," He said, handing the album to the other two. Hermione took it and looked at the picture.
"So these are your parents?" She asked, "Wow, people are right. You do look like your dad."
"Well of course—" Harry said but stopped short. It had dawned on him that Ron and Hermione had never seen his parents. Harry had seen them in the mirror of Erised, in the pensieve, and in the photos. It never occurred to him that he had never shown his two best friends these pictures.
"Yep," Ron said, "And there are the green eyes." He pointed to Lily's shamrock green eyes.
Harry smiled, the only difference between him and his dad was that he had his mother's eyes and the scar that Voldemort had given him.
Just thinking about Voldemort made his stomach clench. How could one person cause so much pain and suffering in the world?
It doesn't matter, Harry thought, we'll soon be rid of him anyways.
Then he started showing Ron and Hermione all the pictures in the album.
"There's their wedding…"
For a whole half-hour he showed them the happy lives of his parents. When the last photo had been observed, Hermione snapped the album shut.
"How could such happy lives be disrupted by so much pain?" She asked sadly, "Their lives were just… taken away from them. Cut short… dismantled… how could anyone do such a thing?"
Harry snorted, "How can anyone kill, kidnap, or torture? I'll tell you how. It just takes the knowledge and the will to do it. You have to know how to do it and be willing to do it. Voldemort doesn't care about anyone but himself. He has no friends. Allies, maybe, but not friends."
Hermione and Ron were astonished at his short speech.
"Well," Hermione finally said, "well, we have an advantage over him don't we?"
Harry grinned, "No one can beat the likes of us when were together right? No pack of enchantments, no monstrous creatures, and the Death Eaters can't seem to cope very well when we're around."
Ron and Hermione sniggered. It was true, that had been through a lot together. They had beaten a troll and a collection of enchantments in their first year. That in itself was amazing. Then they had faced many beasts and obstacles in their following years. Twice they had befuddled the Death Eaters and come out victorious. Nothing seemed to be able to penetrate their iron clad relationship. Nothing.
Feeling as though they had finally got somewhere, the three of them went to bed with light hearts. Harry could hear Ron snoring and Hermione breathing peacefully. But he couldn't get to sleep. He tossed and turned, thinking about all those people he was doing this for. Tomorrow they would really start their quest. With that in mind, he fell asleep.
He was in a yard now, outside a quaint little cottage. His mother and father were with him and Sirius was there too. He saw a baby sitting on the ground pulling up clumps of grass. Not just any baby… him!
"Come on Lily," James was saying, "Don't you want to even try the broom? It's quite a smooth ride."
"I don't know," Lily said, looking apprehensively at the broomstick in her husband's hand, "The muggles will see."
"Not if we fly low to the ground they won't." James contradicted her, "Come on darling, please?"
"Well…" Lily said, "Alright. But only because you insist." She smiled fondly at James and walked over to where he was standing holding his broom.
"What about Harry?" Lily asked, stopping and looking at baby Harry uncertainly.
"He'll be fine," said Sirius, walking over to his godson and picking him up, "he's got me here. Hey! You little squirt!" For Harry had smudged his grimy hands all over Sirius' face and cascaded him with freshly picked blades of grass. Little Harry squealed and laughed in a baby-like manner as Sirius tickled him for revenge.
Lily looked at Sirius doubtfully as if she weren't sure he could handle Harry.
"Go on!" Sirius said. Then he grinned, "If I can handle James I can handle anything this tyke can throw at me."
Present day Harry watched as his mother made her way over to his father, who was sitting on the broom holding his hands out to his wife. She swung her leg gracefully over the broom and held tight to James' waist.
"Why don't we bring Harry along?" James asked smiling down at his son, who was now wiggling in Sirius' grasp.
"Certainly not!" Lily said indignantly, "What if he were to fall?"
"Okay, okay," James said, holding his hands up in surrender, "have it your way." And with that he took off. He zoomed around the yard with his wife clutching desperately to him. Making sure he couldn't be seen, James flew a little higher.
Lily gradually relaxed and looked at the world from above. A smile broke out on her face and she laughed. A sweet, ringing laugh it was. Harry couldn't help but smile as his mother experienced, apparently for the first time, what he knew to be a glorious sensation.
James raised his eyebrows in delight at his wife's enthusiasm. Then he asked her, "Care to do something a little more difficult?"
Lily frowned, thinking. Then she gave her husband a smile, "Okay, but nothing too difficult."
James grinned mischievously and waggled his eyebrows at Sirius. Who returned his gesture with a cocked eyebrow.
James took a deep breath and dived for the ground, going into a loop-de-loop at the last possible second. Lily was screaming the whole way.
Harry saw James look over his shoulder at his wife and cocked his head innocently.
"Never… do… a stunt… like that again," Lily said, taking in breaths of the cool night air, clutching her heart.
"Whatever you say," James said, laughing.
They soared through the air a few minutes longer and then returned to the ground where baby Harry and Sirius were waiting.
Sirius was looking happily at the couple while he bounced Harry up and down. Lily soon took his burden from him and cooed to her beloved baby.
James put his hand on his wife's shoulder and leaned close to Harry, tickling his chin. Baby Harry gave a little giggle and reached up. Grabbing his father's shirt collar, he pulled James towards him.
"Oh ho," Sirius said with smile on his face, "Smart kid you've got there James. He already knows how to respond to his daddy's affection."
Then the dream started to fade as Sirius, his parents, and his baby self went through the back door into the house.
Harry woke up to find himself in his bed in the Shrieking Shack. He stared at the ceiling, wishing his dream would never have ended. Had it only been a dream? Or was it a memory? Obviously the dream had taken place at Godric's Hollow; probably at the beginning of all the tragedy.
At least they were happy, he thought. Harry sat up and leaned against the bed's headboard. Seeing his parents again made him think sorrowfully about the life that he could have had.
He clenched his fists. The life he would have had if Voldemort hadn't torn everything apart. Harry felt a tear slide down his cheek. How he wished none of this had happened. How he wished he could have had a normal, wonderful, Voldemort-free life.
Suddenly Harry realized he probably wasn't alone in this respect. He thought of Neville. Did he ever have memories spring up in his dreams? Of his parents and the times before Voldemort's supporters changed his life forever? Harry didn't know. It was likely that he did.
It was comforting to know that he wasn't the only one who had suffered the loss of parents because of the war. It was cruel, yes; but it comforted him all the same. Neville still had his parents, that was true. But they didn't recognize him or speak properly to him. Neville actually had it worse than Harry did.
Pity welled up inside Harry as he thought of Neville. What kind of a life could he have had if his parents hadn't been tortured to insanity? Neville didn't know about the prophecy that was a good thing; it would only make the whole situation worse.
But the Longbottoms hadn't been targets because of the prophecy, Harry reminded himself, They had been tortured because Death Eaters had thought they had information.
If Neville knew about the prophecy he might think that there was another reason his parents were insane. It all led down to Voldemort. It was because of Voldemort that all of this suffering started. It was because of Voldemort that countless people couldn't sleep at night because of their fear. Voldemort was a pitiless, merciless, vile creature who didn't give a toss about what his actions did to other people's lives.
Harry wondered if he had grown up differently, if Voldemort hadn't grown up in an orphanage, hating his father, if Voldemort would be different. Harry doubted it. But then again… would he be different?
It took a while for Harry's restless mind to stop thinking, but when it did, Harry was back asleep in no time.
-:-
A/N: How was the flash-back folks? Did you like Lily, James, and Sirius?
Be on the look out for Chapter Eight everybody! Coming soon to a certain fanfiction site near you! It just takes a click of the button to see it all!
-EveningSongEnchantment
