Nothing Stays the Same

By jessebelle

A/N: Okay, I am so sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter up. I've had a major case of writer's block. Believe me, if I could've written I would've. Anyway, I'm currently visiting my sister and my two nephews waiting for the birth of my third. I'm so excited; he's going to be born on July 31st sharing his b-day with the fabulous JK Rowling and Harry Potter. Can it get any better? You have my boys to thank for breaking the cursed writer's block, watching a two and four year old really puts life in perspective. Now, I've done my best to plan out this story a bit more, not a lot, but enough that I know where I'm going and what the next few chapters will be about. So hopefully I won't get stuck like this again. Now without further adieu, the next chapter…

Toodles,

jessebelle

Oh, and this chapter and all the rest of my writing is dedicated to my angel and second mother, Gay Pelock, whom recently passed away after a long, long battle with breast cancer. Without her there would be no jessebelle or any stories because she was the one who taught me to read and write.

May you continue to be my muse.

You'll forever be missed.

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

James came to his senses first. Examining his, now awake son, he smiled and turned to his wife. "Told you he had your eyes!"

Lily's mouth was hanging open in shock, but she didn't hesitate to turn to her husband and swat him in the chest. "James!"

On the bed, Harry watched his parents fight in shock. The medicine hadn't worn off and his glasses were gone, so his vision was blurry around the edges; besides his parents, everything looked very bright and white, which led to only one conclusion. "Am I dead?"

The question stopped his parents in their tracks. "What?" His mother looked at him in shock.

"Am I dead?" He watched as his parents exchanged looks. He shrugged, not feeling the pain thanks to the multitude of potions in his system. "It's okay you know, I won't get upset."

His dad turned to him. "No, Harry, of course you're not dead. Why would you think something like that?"

Harry shrugged again, and didn't notice Lily wincing at the damage he'd just done to his healing injuries. "Well, it's bright, there's no pain, and you're here. But if I'm not dead, then where am I? How can I be talking to you?"

Once again his parents shared a look, then his mum turned to him. "Well, right now you're asleep. Due to all that happened…recently," she said it and he flinched, knowing they knew. Lily saw that and smiled sadly, unable to continue, but James had picked up on her line of thought and continued for him

"Well champ, we know all about the crappy stuff going on right now and are being given a chance to be with you, to talk to you. We're not sure if it's a one time thing, but it might be. If you need us though, we'll be there."

Harry stared at his hand, he noticed his arm; how it was injured and wondered how it didn't hurt. A different hand placed itself in his. It was a feminine hand, his mother's hand. "Honey, we know what happened, and we don't think any less of you."

Harry looked up, disbelievingly. "Really?" His voice was sarcastic.

James nodded, ignoring his son's skepticism. "Yes son, if anything we're proud of the way you handled yourself. What happened was Not-Your-Fault! Vernon Dursley is a-a…I can't think of anything bad enough right now, but when I do that's what he is and you'll be the first to know."

Harry gave a slight smile at his father's words. Seeing this, Lily continued. "Honey, what happened was horrible and if we could change it, we would. You've been dealt a hard hand, but I know you'll beat this because you're our son, and you're you. You're going to make it through."

"Your mother's right, champ, and we'll be by your side. Watching, helping if needed."

Lily smacked his arm subtly so Harry wouldn't see; they didn't want to give too much away. She looked up and saw Severus starting to stir. They'd be in trouble if they were caught. "Harry, it's time for us to go now."

"Already? We didn't get a chance to talk!"

Lily ignored his protests and sat on the bed. Smoothing his hair back and calmingly running her fingers through it, she talked with a low, soothing voice. "We'll stay with you as you sleep. Close your eyes, we'll be here."

James gook the hint. He messed up Harry's hair, earning himself a glare from his wife. "Talk to you later, champ. Sweet dreams. And remember to trust those to want to help. Talk to Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore, even…Snape. They're here to help."

Harry nodded, getting sleepy and loving the feel of his mother so close. The medicine and soothing motions were taking their toll. Yawning he turned to his mother. "Will I ever see you guys again?"

Lily and James shared a look above his head. Stalling for time, James leaned down and kissed Harry's forehead, noticing the scar. "We'll be here when you need us, okay?"

Harry nodded, and then he was asleep. Lily stayed on the bed continuing to run her fingers through his hair. "I don't know if that was a blessing or a curse. On one hand we have the perfect opening to help him. On the other we could do more harm then good."

James nodded and flopped back into his chair. Sighing, he ran his hand down his face in frustration. "Luckily he believes it was just a dream. Look at the bright side, Lils, now when we 'come back' he'll believe it's because of magic or something, and he'll know he needs us and we're there to help."

Lily just gave her husband a sad look, then turned her attention back to the boy on the bed. "I sure hope you're right."

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When Harry woke the next time it was dark. The pain numbing potion had worn off a bit, so he was fully aware of the pain enveloping his body. It was his hiss of pain that alerted the men next to his bed of his consciousness.

"Well look who's awake. Have a nice nap, Harry?" With a groan the boy-who-lived turned toward the voice. Without his glasses, the figure was blurry, but he was able to identify the speaker by his voice.

"Professor Lupin?" His throat was scratchy and his winced at the sound of his voice, making him hurt all over.

"Yes Harry, but it's Remus or Moony. I'm not your professor any more."

"Don't forget about me."

"Sirius? What are you doing here? If you're seen you could be caught!" The animagus registered the panic in his godson's voice and immediately went to sooth him.

"Shh, kiddo, don't speak. Don't worry about me, just concentrate on getting better. You want some water?" He held out a blurry hand that held, what Harry assumed was a cup of water. Harry nodded and the glass was put to his lips. It hurt to move, but Sirius placed a hand behind his head to support his so he could drink. The water felt heavenly and cool as it ran down his throat. When it was taken away, he felt Sirius begin to run his hands through Harry's hair. It was comforting and reminded him of his dream.

As soon as it registered, his eyes popped open and the memories came flooding back. Seeing this, Sirius' hand stilled and he shared a look with Remus. "Harry, are you okay? What's the matter."

The boy on the bed suddenly looked up in the direction of his godfather and friend. "I remembered my dream."

"Was it Voldemort?" Remus sounded worried. Harry had been through too much to have to worry about You-Know-Who.

Harry went to shake his head, but though better of it. "No, it was about my parents," He continued not noticing the alarm on Sirius and Remus' faces. "They were here with me, taking care of me, and telling me it'd all be all right. It was nice."

"Oh, did they say anything else?" Remus' voice sounded weird, but Harry dismissed it.

"No, not really. Just that they'd be there when I really needed it." Harry yawned, exhausted from just talking.

Sharing another look, Sirius patted Harry on the hand. "Well it sounds like a nice dream. You still need your rest so I'm going to call in Madam Pomfrey to get you a mild pain potion, okay kiddo. We'll talk more when you're better."

"Okay."

The matron of the hospital wing was called and in a matter of minutes Harry was painless and in a deep sleep. Only when he was sure the boy couldn't hear him did Remus call in Lily and James.

"Do you mind telling us why Harry is dreaming of you two? Because I remember you being told he wasn't to know about you until he was recovered." The werewolf was upset. While he loved his friends and understood their dilemma, Harry was his cub and was hurt. His cub came first, no questions asked.

James opened his mouth only to close it a second later, he repeated this a few times before Lily spoke for him. "Harry was asleep, but he woke up, saw us, and came to the conclusion he was dead. We couldn't have just walked away and left him thinking that, so we told him he was still asleep and it was a dream. No harm was had and if anything it helped him calm down. We briefly touched on how he got his injuries and tried to make it clear it wasn't his fault, but I don't think he was fully convinced."

"He thinks it's his fault?" The pain in Sirius' voice let everyone know the problem was dropped.

James nodded and answered his friend. "Yeah, I have a feeling he's got a bad guilt complex."

Sirius nodded. "You have no idea."

The four friends were silent before Lily moved to Harry's side and took his hand.

"Lily, what are you doing? You just-"

Lily stopped Remus before he could get going. "I know, but he's asleep now and won't be waking up for a while. I'm going to spend as much time as I can with him, then you can send me to bed."

The werewolf nodded in resignation. "All right. But if he shows any signs of waking up again…"

James picked up on his thought. "Make ourselves scarce. Yeah, yeah, we got it Moony." Remus didn't look convinced, but didn't say anything else.

Sitting down around the bed, the four friends descended into silence before James couldn't take it anymore. "Okay, it's been bugging me for a while. Now that we have the time, fill me in. I want to know everything that's been happening with quidditch." And with a laugh Sirius and Remus began to talk. After all, quidditch was a serious subject. NSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTSNSTS

Severus Snape was reading the latest potion's journal by Harry's bedside when the boy showed signs of waking. Putting down the magazine, he watched as the boy woke up; the twitching in his limbs, the fluttering of his eyes, the groan of pain as his body registered his injuries. Like a flash he was up and getting a pain potion and another healing potion. He returned to the bed just as a pair of emerald eyes came into view.

"Good morning, Mister Potter. Before you move I want you to take these." He knew the boy was weak and didn't hesitate to help him to drink as he placed the potions to the boy's lips. After helping him with both potions, Severus sat back and waited. Sure enough, the first words out of his mouth were…

"What are you doing here? Where's Remus and Sirius?"

Severus tried to hide his grin. "I am here because you needed someone to watch over you and I volunteered. You'll find that many things have changed since you've been asleep. I was the one who found you in the entrance hall, if you remember. And together with Poppy, we did our best to fix you up."

He watched the boy's eyes as he remembered. A flush of his skin followed the memory. Harry cleared his throat and then spoke. "Uh, what about Remus and Sirius?"

Severus rolled his eyes. "Off causing trouble, no doubt. Don't worry, they haven't left. I realized that when I found all my robes had been charmed pink."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle at the visual, but soon stopped and winced in discomfort. The potion's master nodded. "I'm afraid we can't numb all the pain. It became clear to us that you didn't realize the extent of your injuries, and without any pain you kept moving around. While you won't be in agony, this potion limits the pain so you'll know not to move."

Harry nodded. "Sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for. Now, would you like to explain how you came about these extensive injuries? I know it wasn't Voldemort and I'm really most curious how you seem to find trouble even away from Hogwarts." He knew how the boy had gotten the injuries, but also knew it was detrimental to the boy's mental health if he was able to admit to being abused. He kept his voice light, not wanting to alarm him and cause another panic attack.

However, at the mention of how he got his injuries the boy's eyes widened considerably. Harry quickly cleared his face of all emotion, wearing an emotional mask so well that it would've fooled most of his Slytherins. "I don't find trouble; it just always seems to find me."

Severus nodded, it was clear the boy wasn't ready yet. "Very well then, I'll try to remember that when I'm subtracting points from Gryffindor after catching you out after curfew." The flushing of the boy's cheeks was worth a little humor. It was time to get down to business though. "Pott-Harry, you do realize that you're going to have to explain your injuries sometime, right? Nobody's going to push you, but you will need to tell us what happened."

Relief flooded the Gryffindor's features and the boy nodded gratefully. "Okay."

"This does not mean I'm giving you time to come up with a suitable lie, I want the truth…when you're ready."

Some of the boy's enthusiasm disappeared, but acceptance was dominant on his face. "Okay."

"Very well. Your things have been brought to the Hospital wing and so you'll have no excuse for not completing your homework."

Harry nodded. He was definitely not looking forward to a long stay in the hospital wing with nothing to do but homework.

"All right, anything in particular you'd like to do right now?"

"No, I think I'm gonna get some more sleep." He yawned to prove his point.

"That would be a wise thing to do. Try to relax, get some rest. I'll be back later." And Severus left the boy to sleep.

Harry watched him go. 'Try to relax' easier said then done. Hoping for another dream of his parents, Harry closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He had a feeling he'd be in here a while. Nope, definitely not looking forward to his stay.

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Author's Note: Yay! I finished the chapter. The beginning has been done for a while, it's just taken me a while to work out the ending. Again, sorry for the wait. I hope you all enjoyed the Potter family action, though. Too bad Harry just thinks it's a dream. Now, for the next chapter…Weasleys! I figure it's time to bring in my favorite red heads, and Hermione of course. So, I hope you'll all stick with me and I'd appreciate if you tell me what you think. I'm not too sure if my writing is up to par, so let me know, okay?

Toodles,

jessebelle

Chapter finished July 29, 2006