Author's Note: I know I know, it's been awhile since I've updated and for that I am truly sorry. Life got in the way, but I am hoping to post more often! I just sent the next chapter onto my betas, and I'm already working on the chapter after that as well! Anyway I hope you enjoy this update. As always I'd like to thank bookworm4life0812 for her help on this chapter!! Please read and review!!
James Potter left the Hospital Wing not actually planning on going to the Great Hall like his headmaster suggested. He didn't think he could face everybody just yet, or explain what happened the previous night. Normally he talked through everything with his best friends, but this was something he needed to work through on his own. He simply wasn't ready to share the mysterious girl yet. Though he wasn't sure she was all that mysterious. He felt as if he knew her; she felt….familiar. He was protective over her in a way he couldn't describe. Not in the same way he felt about Lily, nobody could compare to how he felt about his Lily-flower, but more….something. It seemed as if the word was just on the tip of his tongue, he just couldn't reach it quite yet.
Maybe, though, he didn't need to keep her completely to himself. He always had a close relationship with his parents, and they've always been able to help him make sense of things. Hell, he told his parents he wanted to propose to Lily before he even told Sirius. His mother even helped him pick out her ring. Maybe they would be able to make sense of this pull he felt towards the witch.
So instead of making his way to the Great Hall, he headed to the Owlery to write to his parents. As soon as his owl, Geronimo, was off with the instructions to get the letter to the elder Potters as fast as he can, James rushed to his dorm to shower quickly and grab his school bag before popping into the kitchens for a light snack, and then headed back to the Hospital Wing as he promised earlier. Unfortunately what he got when he arrived was a teenaged witch in absolutely no mood for company.
Though she didn't want the company, he adamantly refused to let her out of his sight. So instead they came to a compromise that he would leave once she fell asleep. What she didn't know was he had no intention of leaving whatsoever. He had his invisibility cloak with him and was not above spying on the younger witch if it kept her safe. If she found out, she could hate him for it later, but at least he would have his own peace of mind.
To pass the time, the messy haired marauder revised for his upcoming NEWTs. He really shouldn't be skipping his classes, but he truly believed this was more important. Before he knew it though it was already lunch time and he heard the doors to the Hospital Wing creak open.
"Prongs!"
James whipped his head around with a glare for his best friend, "Shh! Be quiet you idiot. Don't wake her up!"
Sirius Black sauntered into the Hospital Wing without a care in the world. "Don't wake who? And where the bloody hell have you been? We've been worried sick, and Lily is on a rampage that she can't find you," Sirius at least had the good sense to lower his voice to a whisper.
"I've pretty much been here all night and day. As for who she is….I have no idea. She actually hasn't told me her name yet," James responded with a sigh and rubbed his hands down his face. "It's complicated. I'm not ready to talk about it just yet. I'm probably going to be here for a few days though. Could you please run interference with Lily? And tell Remus and Peter….I'm not sure just tell them something, but please don't mention her."
Sirius gazed at his brother in all but blood with a concerned look. "James? I don't even know who she is. I need a little more to go on. Come on, talk to me mate. We don't keep secrets from each other."
"Padfoot, please. I promise I will explain when I can, and hopefully soon," James implored his fellow marauder. Hopefully his parents would get back to him soon.
After a moment of hesitation, Sirius nodded his head. "Okay. I'll deal with Lily for now, but you need to talk to her soon. You've been avoiding her for weeks trying to plan this proposal. She's starting to get suspicious, and now you're sleeping in the Hospital Wing and skipping class, refusing to leave the side of some other girl. All I have to say is you better have a damn good explanation for her if you want to keep your bollocks."
"Oh don't worry. I think Lily will forgive me...eventually." James informed his best friend with a small chuckle.
Sirius clapped his friend on the shoulder and gave him one last inspection before making his way out of the wing, trying to come up with some excuse to give the head girl as to why her boyfriend had gone missing.
James spent the rest of the day revising for his NEWTs without any interruptions, and the witch spent the rest of the day in a deep sleep. It wasn't until well after dinner time that she had any other visitors.
The Headmaster had spent the majority of his day researching in his extensive library for reasons as to the young witch's time travel. He didn't seem to get anywhere until he received a Floo call around 10PM from a troubled Charlus Potter requesting an immediate meeting. Upon agreeing to the normally level headed Lord Potter, Albus opened his Floo and both Charlus and Dorea Potter emerged.
"Charlus, Dorea. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" The headmaster greeted the older couple jovially.
Charlus was the first to respond. "Albus, thank you for agreeing to meet with us so quickly. We were hoping you could help us."
"Well I will do what I can. What is it that I can assist you with?"
"We received a letter from James earlier today. Dorea and I have been discussing if we should even bother in visiting, but our curiosity has gotten the better of us and we need to know either way."
"I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you are asking for," the headmaster questioned.
"James said he found a young witch last night. He's quite concerned about her. He's also confused as to why he feels such a pull towards her, and stated that he won't be leaving her side until he can be assured that she will be okay both physically and mentally."
"Yes, James has seemed unusually attached to her. He spent the night in the Hospital Wing and as far as I know hasn't been to any of his classes today. Poppy hasn't said anything because he apparently has spent the day studying at least. Are you concerned about his NEWTs?" Albus inquired.
For the first time since entering the office the normally formidable Dorea Potter spoke with tears in her eyes. "Could we see her? The girl. James said he felt pulled towards her. It could be his magic calling out. Please, it could be Charlotte. What other explanation could there be that he's so drawn to her? It could be my baby. I need to know."
Charlus pulled his wife close, with tears in his own eyes, to comfort his wife. "We just need to see her. It's been twelve years but we would know our own daughter. Perhaps we could perform a familial spell?"
Albus gazed at the grieving couple. He had known Charlus and Dorea since they were both in school, and had in fact been good friends with Charlus's father. He had known that James had been their last chance to have a healthy child, and when only a little over a year later Charlotte had been born, well it was nothing short of a miracle. Then when Charlotte had been kidnapped, his heart broke for the Potter family. He knew that despite all of the investigations around Charlotte's disappearance and her eventually being declared dead after there was no evidence to the contrary, both Charlus and Dorea had never given up hope that their daughter, their little miracle, would return home to them. He knew James, though young when his sister had been taken, had also taken her disappearance hard.
The headmaster couldn't deny there were similarities in regards to appearance between Hermione Granger and James Potter, and through his research he had discovered there was a spell to thrust someone forward into the future….as well as a counter spell to return somebody to their rightful time. So it wasn't inconceivable that Hermione Granger and Charlotte Potter were one in the same, but the chances of that being the case are astronomical. He didn't want to give the couple hope in case the young witch wasn't their daughter but he couldn't outright deny them their request. After all if she was Charlotte Potter, nothing would keep Charlus and Dorea from her.
The old headmaster sighed in defeat. "I will agree to let you see her but there are some conditions. We will not perform the Familial Spell until I have had the chance to speak with her again. I've been conducting some research on her behalf and would like to go over my findings with her first. You also need to prepare yourselves. Miss Granger is not well. She has been through a great trauma and needs time to rest and recuperate. I can not have you upsetting her and setting back her healing. Lastly, I do not want you getting your hopes up. If she is Charlotte, she is not the same little girl you remember; she is much changed."
"We understand Albus. Please can we see her now? " Charlus implored, while Dorea looked at him with pleading eyes.
"It is getting late. Are you sure you don't want to go home and sleep? You can return in the morning for breakfast and the both of you can speak with James while I speak with Miss Granger," Albus lightly suggested.
Dorea was the one to respond this time, having composed herself and was no longer crying, her voice strong, "No. I for one know that I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing she could be so close. We do this tonight and if she is Charlotte we will be taking her home."
Despite her momentary loss of control at the thought that her daughter was alive, Dorea Potter was born a Black and was not a witch to be trifled with. What Dorea Potter wanted, Dorea Potter got.
It seemed that all Albus Dumbledore would be doing that night was sighing in defeat. "Very well. We will go down to see her now. Though I do insist that if she is Charlotte, Madame Pomfrey be the one to determine when she is released."
The Potter parents glanced at each other before both nodded in agreement. Then the three left the office to begin making their way to the Hospital Wing in silence. One praying to Merlin her little miracle had returned to her. Another trying to focus on his son rather than get his hopes that his daughter had finally come home. And the third wondering if the impossible happened and maybe, just maybe, there was now a way to end this war.