Chapter 6:
"Harry, what are you going to do with that memory?" Hermione asked quietly, looking between the phial and Harry's pale face.
"He's going to pour it down the nearest sink, of course." James said at once, looking at the phial with distaste. "Nothing Sn-Snape could tell you is worth that."
Harry chose to ignore the stumble, sure that James was trying to not call Snape by his old childhood nickname in light of the man's fate. He held the phial in the air, the opaline contents swirling within in the dark, dusty room. "He died to give me this memory. I'm willing to take the chance that he's giving me information. I'm going to use the Pensieve in Dumbledore's office."
"I'll go with you." James said at once. Harry looked at him in surprise. "Two is better than one when going into an unknown situation."
"Good luck, we've been trying that for seven years." Ron muttered, shaking his head.
"A Pensieve memory can't physically hurt an interloper, James." Hermione pointed out.
"Actually, I would love for you to join me in this." Harry answered, shocking both Ron and Hermione. "Don't be surprised," He added, looking at Ron and Hermione. "I haven't been able to spend much of this time with him since we've been fighting for our lives. This is a chance to do something with him. Go see if the other fighters need help defending the castle. We'll meet up later."
"What about us, Harry?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Go with them. Just be aware that not very many people know you're alive." Harry nodded to them and led James through the castle to Dumbledore's office. Harry gave the password and the two ascended the spiral stairs. As the spiral stairs came to a stop at the door to Dumbledore's office, Harry paused, looking at James. "Ready?"
"Ready." James nodded.
Harry pushed the door open and entered the ornate office. Directly behind the headmaster's beautiful high backed chair, Dumbledore's empty portrait. Beside it was a new large, silver frame that had not been there the last time Harry had been in the office, and with a surge of anger, Harry knew at once it was Severus Snape's headmaster portrait. Fighting down his anger, Harry took out the stone basin from the cabinet and set it on the desk. He poured the phial of memory into the bowl's liquid contents, and prodded it with his wand. The contents swirled rapidly for several seconds before it turned completely transparent, showing a sunny scene within the depths. "Follow me."
Harry leaned forward until his nose penetrated the depths of the liquid and felt his stomach lurch as he plunged headfirst into the liquid. He landed silently in a sunny play park where two girls played on the swings. James landed silently beside him a moment later.
As Harry and James watched, the younger of the two girls swung higher and higher, giggling as she did so. Harry noticed that she had waist-length vivid red hair that shone coppery in the sunlight. Her mousy-haired sister scowled moodily in the swing beside her. As the red-haired girl swung higher, she leapt off at the apex of landed far too gracefully to be normal, landing on the balls of her feet.
"Lily!" The mousy-haired girl snapped, stopping her swing with a dig-in of her heels. She jumped up at once, planting her small fists on her hips. "I told you Mummy and Daddy don't want you to do that stupid nonsense!"
"'Tuney, you worry too much, I'm not hurting anything." Lily responded at once. "Check this out."
"Wow, is that who I think it is?" James asked, his eyes on Lily.
"That must be my mother and aunt when they were kids. But why are they in Snape's memory?" Harry asked aloud, looking around. Behind a bush, he spotted a sallow-faced boy with shoulder-length filthy hair crouched, watching the girls with fascination. "Snape is over there." Harry pointed out.
"Slimy git." James muttered in a disgusted voice. "Creepy even as a kid."
"You're talking about a dead man, remember?" Harry reminded.
"Sorry, old habits die hard." James admitted, looking sheepish.
The memories shifted of their own accord around them, showing various scenes from Snape's life: Snape meeting Lily, telling her about who they were and about Hogwarts, the group going to Hogwarts together.
James was particularly amused by the train scene. "That seems like it happened just yesterday." He chuckled. "Well, I guess for me it happened only six years ago."
The memories continued to progress, shifting more rapidly as they passed. As they flew back out of the Pensieve at the end of the memories, Harry moved to stand at the window. "I can't believe Dumbledore lied to me all these years."
"I can't believe I owe your life to my worst enemy." James sounded annoyed. "And he had a crush on my girlfriend, I mean wife!"
"Concentrate, James. I know how to end this. I need to go. Right now." Harry headed for the door.
"Oh no you don't!" James snapped, hurrying over and blocking Harry's path. "I can't let you go out there to die."
"James, I have seen enough people die for me these past seen years. Including your best friends and your wife. I'm the only one that finish this. You and my mother taught me the meaning of sacrifice. I would think you, of all people, would understand."
James was silent for a moment, gazing into his son's eyes, which reminded him so much of Lilys. Finally, he said, "Fine, but I'm going with you." When Harry opened his mouth to protest, James cut him off. "We can go there under the Cloak. When it's time, you can slip out from under the Cloak and meet your destiny."
"James, what if they catch you?" Harry pointed out. "They could torture you for information about me, or mistake you for me."
"You-Know-Who has killed me once, I have nothing to lose, especially if you're dead." James pointed out, a cocky grin playing across his face. "Besides, I would be honor to do a little mischief with my son. I ran around as a stag with a werewolf, I'm used to facing danger often."
Harry couldn't help but grin. "Good point."
Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and tossed it over the pair of them. They snuck out of the castle and across the grounds to the Forbidden Forest. They moved quietly through the forest. A sudden noise sounded to their right. A pair of Death Eaters were talking in a clearing nearby.
"The Dark Lord was sure he'd show up." One of the men muttered, shivering in the cold early morning air.
"Might as well head back. He's not going to be happy, but we need to have our orders what to do next." His companion responded, and they set out through the trees.
Harry and James crept after the pair of Death Eaters. After about ten minutes, a clearing appeared. Giants sat around the edges of the clearing and a fire crackled in the middle. Death Eaters stood in a circle, with Voldemort at the head, pacing before Nagini's enchanted cage.
"My Lord, no sign of the boy." One of the companions announced, and everyone in the clearing turned to him.
"I thought he was going to come." Voldemort's soft voice sighed, almost a hiss.
Harry signaled to James under the Cloak and slipped out from under the silky fabric. As Voldemort turned away from the fire, Harry stepped into the clearing. "You weren't wrong, Tom."
Every eye turned to look at Harry. Almost at once a creaking noise sounded, followed by a familiar bellow, "HARRY, RUN, IT'S A TRICK, GET AWAY FROM HERE!"
Harry turned and saw Hagrid tied tightly to a tree, struggling to free himself so violently that he threatened to rip the tree by the roots.
"Quiet!" Voldemort snapped, pointing his wand Hagrid. Hagrid fell silent as if gagged. He turned back to Harry, regarding him as though a child regarding a fascinating new toy. "Harry Potter…" He hissed. "The Boy Who Lived."
Harry forced himself to stay put, waiting for the end to come. He saw Voldemort raise his wand, the lipless mouth move, and then a flash of green light that caused everything to go dark at once.
