Nothing Stays the Same

By jessebelle

A/N: Okay, this is a shorter chapter then usual, but it was the perfect place to stop. I promise more will be coming right away though; I've already started the next chapter and it should be posted in a week or two. Hope you like it.

Huggles and Snuggles,

jessebelle

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"Mr. Potter, please sit down, you'll see nothing from there; he's covered by a screen." Madame Pomfrey had nearly forgotten how exasperating the eldest Potter could be.

James was standing, peering out the window in hopes of getting a glimpse of his son. All he saw were the backs of Dumbledore and Sirius' heads. He sighed and turned around, taking his glasses of and rubbing the bridge of his nose as he did so. "Sorry; I just… want to see him.

Poppy hummed in response as she continued her checkup of Lily. "Well my dear, you're as well as you can be in this situation. I see no lasting damage but if you have any discomfort, come to me immediately." Lily smiled and hopped off the bed she'd been sitting on. Madame Pomfrey tapped the end of the bed with her hand. "Up you go, James."

Replacing his glasses, he kissed Lily as she walked past then sat up on the bed. Poppy began her examination immediately. Like James, Lily tried peering out to see her son. Poppy clucked her tongue, but said nothing. Finishing, she backed away from the bed and wiped her brow. "Same as your wife, Mr. Potter. Any discomfort-"

"-see you immediately. I know Poppy, I know." He was off the bed in a flash. "Can we see Harry now?"

The matron of the hospital wing sighed. "About that, I must make something clear. Your son just went through huge amounts of trauma. Coupled with the stress of last year and his normal stressors, his mental state is cause for alarm. While I realize that seeing and being with your on is important to you, seeing you; his parents who are back from the dead, well, it will cause set backs in his health we can't afford."

The truth of her words stopped the Potters cold. "What does that mean then? We can't see our son?" James wrapped his arms around his wife.

Poppy shook her head. "Yes…and no. You can see him, you can go out there and hold his hand, but under no circumstances is he actually to see you. If he does…I don't want to think about that."

"How long then?"

"What?" Poppy turned to Lily, who'd asked the question.

"How long until he can see us, until we can become a family again?"

Rubbing her head, Madam Pomfrey sighed. "I don't know for sure. We'll start right away on his treatment and I'm hopeful that he'll be receptive to the idea of your…return as soon as possible. We all agree he's gone without his parents for so long that having you home for one of his harder struggles in his life should only do some good. Now," she wiped her hands on her apron and smiled at the couple, "go meet your son. Stay quiet and don't disturb him, but make your presence known. If you need me I'll be sleeping. It's good to have you back, Lily, James." She nodded and left for her office.

"Well, this is it." Lily and James stood nervously in front of the door. "Are you okay with this?" James looked worriedly at his wife.

Lily sighed. "No…and yes. I understand what she's saying and I know she's right, but I'm still so…"

"Disappointed…sad? I'm right there with you. All I want to do is go out there and hold him like I used to, to make all the bad stuff go away, but we can't, because he doesn't know us, and his pain is too bad that we can't just kiss it better."

Lily smiled sadly as a few tears escaped her eyes. "Exactly."

James returned her smile and wiped her tears away. "Okay," he took a deep breath, "let's go meet our son." He linked arms with his wife and walked her to the door. "We'll be there for him, even if he doesn't know it." Then together they opened it and stepped out. NSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTS

Dumbledore, Remus, Sirius, and Severus looked up as the couple approached. Standing up, they shielded Harry from view. "Lily, James; we need to prepare you for what you're going to see. At the moment Harry is quite…"

"Beaten up? Yes, we got that from the description." James shot a look at Severus, who turned away.

"Well then, if you're ready, I'd like to reintroduce you to your son, Harry James Potter." Dumbledore moved away, followed by Remus revealing Harry in all his glory.

Hearing about it, preparing themselves for it was nothing compared to actually seeing it. The boy on the bed was, simply put…broken.

"Oh my!" Lily's hand flew to her mouth as she started to cry. James' knees buckled and it was lucky that Remus was there to catch him. "No, NO!"

"Shhh, James, its okay, he's just sleeping. I promise he'll be up and about in no time. Harry hates the hospital wing even more then you do." Remus did his best to comfort his friend who appeared to be catatonic. He pleadingly looked up to Lily for help, but she was caught in her own horror. "My baby, my sweet little baby." Severus was now in front of her, trying to comfort her to no avail.

Dumbledore saw what was going on and turned to Sirius for help. "Get them to a bed." Together they worked with the wizards trying to comfort the couple and moved Lily and James in the bed next to Harry. As soon as they were together, they instinctively reached out and clung to each other protectively; both in a state of shock.

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"He looks so much like you." Lily picked at the buttons on James' shirt. They lay together on a hospital bed next to their son. Dumbledore had left needing to catch up on sleep. Sirius and Remus were on the other side of the hospital wing and surreptitiously keeping an eye on Harry. Severus had gone to sleep in the bed on the other side of Harry's. The couple had panicked, seeing their son, and had just reached an eerily calm state.

"He has your eyes, though." James' voice was soft, not wanting to disturb the rooms' occupants.

"How do you know? He was asleep." Lily gave her husband a look.

James just smiled sadly. "I remembered. He used to look up at me with those eyes of his, just like yours. Even as a baby those eyes were so powerful, so intelligent. I'm positive they haven't changed."

Lily just smiled and played with his shirt. "I wonder how the girls like him. They must be all over him. Your looks, my eyes…I just wish he hadn't gotten that hair of yours."

"What's wrong with my hair?" James propped himself on his side and looked down at him.

She patted stomach condescendingly. "Nothing, dear."

James just glared. She gave a little laugh and attracted the attention of the two marauders. "Well, look who's decided to grace us with their presence."

James looked up at Sirius, a panicked look on his face and the ex-convict began to worry. "What is it Prongs?"

James gave him a look. "Lily said my hair was ugly!" His voice was so pathetic it took Sirius aback; then the elder man just laughed, sharing a smile with Lily.

"So I take it you're doing better?" Remus ignored his two 'friends' and looked to Lily, who nodded.

"Yes, it's horrible; I'm still upset, but I don't need to be on bed rest."

"Why don't you take a nap? You haven't slept since you've woken up." Remus was in his element, with his 'mother hen' instincts.

Lily shivered. "No, I'm afraid if I do I won't wake up…again." She watched as Remus' face contorted in horror, so she made a joke around it. "Don't worry, I've been sleeping for fifteen years, I've had enough sleep." She smiled weakly, but when she saw what she said hadn't had the effect she'd hoped for, the smile on her face dropped and she sighed. "Look, Remus, I can't sleep…not now. Don't worry."

"But-"

"No, and even if I wanted to, I can't right now. The only time James and I can be with Harry is when he's sleeping. We don't know when he's going to wake up, so we need to spend all the time we can with him."

Running his hands through his hair and exhaling loudly, Remus nodded. "All right, but as soon as he wakes up, you're going to sleep." She opened her mouth to respond, but he cut her off. "No, if we have to give you dreamless sleep we will, but you need rest. James, Sirius; Quiet! People are sleeping."

The two 'grown' men turned to their friends. "But Remus!" and they started to pout. Remus couldn't take it anymore and began to laugh.

A hoarse voice then came from one of the hospital beds. "Quiet! People are trying to sleep here!" Severus had been woken.

James and Sirius shared a look then turned to Remus, wide grins on their faces.

"Moony!" "Look what you did!" Even after all his time they could speak in tandem.

"And you said-" "-we were supposed to be quiet!" Then in sync they gave him disappointed looks. "We're ashamed!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "James; go sit with your son. Sirius, stop that!" The ex-convict had transformed into his animagus form of a dog and was now scratching his head with his hind legs.

He transformed back and gave his friend a look. "What?"

But the werewolf just sighed, walked over to him and grabbed him by the shirt collar, and dragged him to the door. Turning back he addressed the couple. "Go on, have some time. Call us when you're ready to sleep, or when he wakes up. This mutt and I are going to get some breakfast." Then he smiled and left; Sirius stopping his chatter in mid-protest as he was dragged away.

Once alone, James turned to Lily. "Well, ready to try this again?" She nodded so he helped her off the bed. Together, they walked over to the bed that held their son. They couldn't stop their winces, but they didn't pass out again. Lily smiled sadly and sat as close to him as she could. She took his hand and rubbed it, the only spot that wouldn't hurt him James sat next to her in a chair and did the same. "Hey there buddy…. so, I hear you're pretty accident prone. I'm afraid you get that from your mother." He smiled conceitedly. "You get your flying skills from me, though." He mimed buffing his fingernails on his shirt.

"James!" Lily turned around to lecture him when a voice interrupted them.

"Mum? Dad?" they froze and looked down at the, now awake, boy on the bed. They'd been caught…