Lily turned to James later that night. "Are you still awake?" she whispered.

James grunted and faced her. "I am now."

Lily began tearing up. "I knew she hated me," Lily said. "But I never thought she hated me so much that she'd be a witch to her own nephew!"

James rolled over completely and brought Lily to him. He kissed the crown of her head. "I know, Lily Bean."

"My baby is almost a man. He doesn't even need me anymore," Lily cried.

James wiped the tears off her cheeks. "He'll always need you, Lily. Never doubt that."

"I hate her," Lily spat. "I want her dead."

James sighed. "Lily, please don't make me have to bail you out of Azkaban, again."

Lily snorted. "According to Mrs. Weasley, that won't be necessary. If Voldemort's goons can escape, I know I can."

"That's the spirit," James deadpanned.

Lily giggled and pressed a kiss to James's face. "I love you."

"I love you, too," James said. He nipped her ear. "Still want to talk about Harry?"

Lily smiled widely. "Nope!"

The next morning, Lily and James didn't bother with breakfast. They just set up to apparate when Harry popped up.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked.

Lily exchanged a look with James. "Er-."

"You're going to visit Aunt Petunia, aren't you?" Harry accused.

"Er-," James said.

"I'm going too," Harry declared.

Lily broke out of her stupor. "The hell you are."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so!"

Harry said nothing.

"Hey! I'm still your mother whether or not I raised you! So what I say goes," Lily snapped. Then she blanched. "Merlin and Agrippa, I sound like my mother. I'm sorry, darling."

Harry nodded.

"But you still can't come," James said.

Harry looked angry and ready to argue.

"Can you just do that for me?" Lily asked. "I know we have no right to just jump and take over your life, especially since we've been dead for a while. But, please?"

Harry wanted to argue but he conceded. "Fine."

Lily kissed Harry. "Thank you. Now, go eat. You still look rather peaky."

The moment Lily and James left Harry grabbed Hermione and Ron and went straight to the fireplace.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sirius asked from the doorway.

Harry looked up, alarmed. "Er-."

"We just want to go for a walk in Diagon Alley," Hermione lied smoothly.

"Uh huh," Sirius said unconvinced. He turned to Ron. "Is this true?"

Ron turned red and began to stutter. "Er-we-that is to say, I-no."

Harry slapped his hand on his forehead and Hermione almost growled.

"Your parents don't want you there," Sirius reminded Harry. "Just trust them, huh?"

Harry looked away but nodded. "Fine."

Lily and James stopped on the doorstep of Number 4 Privet Drive. Lily's hand was frozen over the bell as she stared at the door as if it contained life's secret.

"I-," Lily croaked.

"You can do this, Lily," James promised her.

She took a deep breath and nodded. Then she rang the bell.

A young boy, strangely resembling a whale, opened the door.

"Hi," Lily smiled. "Is your mum available?"

The boy only grunted and pointed in the general direction of the kitchen.

"Thank you," James said. He looked around, wondering why the Dursely's favored beach balls as decorations.

Lily stalked to the kitchen and came to a screeching halt when she saw Petunia sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of tea. "Lovely morning, isn't it, Petunia?"

Petunia whitened and let out a loud shriek. She stood so fast from her place that the chair nearly toppled over. "What are you doing here?" she cried, pointing at Lily and James.

Lily smiled slowly. "Oh, you know, death wasn't for us."

Petunia swayed on the heels of her feet. "Get out," she croaked.

"Following directions was never my strong suit," James said. He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What do you want from me?" Petunia whispered.

Lily pulled up a chair. "Let's talk about how you treated my son," Lily said cheerfully.

"Your son is a freak," Petunia spat.

"My son is a person!" Lily shouted. "He is person; no human could hold so much hatred for a baby. He is family. He is your flesh and blood and you left him to grow up by himself. For that I hate you, and for that I actually want you dead."

Petunia paled. "Have you come to kill me?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "No. If I killed you then I'd go to Azkaban, and then I'd have to break out, and it's just such an unnecessary hassle. However, I am not above maiming you."

"I don't have to listen to this," Petunia said raising her hands.

"Yes," Lily said dangerously. "You do. Because I can turn you and your family into pigs and eat you. So why don't you get off your Merlin-damned high horse and makes us some tea so we can talk?"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione escaped. As everyone fretted about Mundungus, they slipped out and traveled to Surrey on the Knight Bus. Now they stood in the garden, listening to the conversation.

James looked out the window and caught sight of a bush of brown. He rolled his eyes and walked out. "What are you doing here?" he asked when he reached the three teens.

"Not really," Harry said blithely. "You want to explain why Mum is spouting fire out of her ears?"

"Not really," James said before catching himself. "Hey! I'm the adult; I ask the questions. Why did you follow us after we told you not to?"

"Curious minds want to know," Hermione said, fumbling with her hands. "Damn me and my insatiable need for knowledge."

James almost smiled. These kids were good.

"Does Mum really want to kill Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked worriedly.

"'Course not. She's just upset. I cannot count how many times she's threatened to kill Sirius or me. Still breathing. Not counting the past fourteen years, of course."

A crash from the kitchen was heard. The four of them swiveled their heads towards the kitchen window.

"It's your fault," Lily was shouting. "If you had just let me levitate it, it wouldn't have fallen!"

"I don't want that abnormality in my home," Petunia screeched.

"That's just too bad for you now isn't it?" Lily shouted back. "You are not the boss of me."

"No," Petunia sneered. "You killed them didn't you?"

James paled. "Get to Grimmauld. Now."

He left without another word, leaving the three teenagers awash with curiosity. They didn't dare speak of it until they reached Harry and Ron's bedroom.

"I don't understand," Harry exclaimed. "My mum is completely different than I thought she'd be."

"I know," Hermione said in awe. "She's you!"

"She is not," Harry snapped.

Ron nodded sadly. "It's true, mate. You have your mum's temper and personality. You look just like your dad, but everything else is your mum."

"She's probably just very upset," Hermione explained. "It comes down to the Mama Cub explanation. A mum will do anything to protect her cubs, and as your parents refer to you as 'cub' anyway…"

"What are you?" Ron asked incredulously. "God?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Ronald. Don't you read?"

"Why should I when you tell us whatever you read, anyway?" Ron asked.

"You're such a prat," Hermione said, throwing a pillow at him.

"I guess your precious Vicky isn't like that," Ron said bitterly.

"His name is Viktor," Hermione said, flushing.

"It doesn't-."

"Will you two stop having a go at each other?" Harry exclaimed. "Hello? Problem? My mum? Thank you."

Hermione rolled her eyes and stood. "I refuse to explain anything else to you two. You never absorb anything, anyway."

She left.

"What's eating her?" Ron asked.

"No bloody idea," Harry assured him.

Petunia sat at the further down the table from Lily as she possibly could and sipped her tea through pursed lips and glared silently at her sister.

"First of all, Petunia, you are an Evans. We're Irish…you're not blond," Lily retorted. She picked up her wand and colored Petunia's hair back to normal. It was a light red almost strawberry blond. "Not all charms can be winners. I'm still a little rusty."

"I liked my hair, Freak. Turn it back," Petunia commanded.

"Sure, when we're done talking and you still want blond hair I'll turn it back. But right now I'm talking to Petunia Evans, not Petunia Dursley," Lily replied.

"They are one and the same," Petunia spat. "Just because you turned your back on who you are doesn't mean I did too."

"Excuse me?" Lily cried. "Who the bloody hell dyed their hair blond? It sure wasn't me."

"Yes, but who turned their back on their family and left?" Petunia shot back.

"Do you know how many kids have attended Hogwarts? Some wizarding schools are year-round, me, I was home four months out of the year. Wasn't that enough? You didn't even like me that much anyway," Lily muttered.

"You were my sister. Of course I loved you," Petunia said. "But you went and left me, Lily. You left me behind."

"You hated me and my son because I was accepted into some stupid magic school and you weren't?" Lily cried. "That's ridiculous! I understand for you to hold a grudge when we were kids, but Petunia, you are almost forty!"

"You don't know what was like," Petunia snapped.

"So maybe I don't, but is that any reason to take your hatred out on my innocent one year old son?" Lily spat.

"Vernon didn't want him," Petunia whispered. "We only took him because I begged. If it wasn't for me your son would be dead. Be happy he's alive."

"Barely," Lily shot back. "You never fed him, he needed love more than anything else and you couldn't even do that could you? I mean a smile once in a while. A little pet name? Why Petty?" Lily cried.

"Because I hated him," Petunia cried. "Do you think that it was easy seeing what was left of my sister every day of my life? I was scared that you'd pop out of nowhere and kill me. I was afraid that he would turn my son into a freak! Can you blame me?"

"Yes I can! He was a kid. He didn't know what he was. That's no reason for your actions. As for me killing you, you're lucky I don't feel like going to Azkaban or you'd be eight feet under by now, bitch.

"What happened to his muggle trust fund we left behind for whoever took care of him?" Lily asked.

"Do you really think I stole the freak's money?" Petunia snapped.

"Yes," Lily retorted. "Drills don't make that much money. Besides I saw what your whale was wearing. Designer labels? Come on and get real."

"I didn't steal his money," Petunia screeched. "I used it to feed and clothe him. You should be damned grateful."

"For what?" Lily asked. "For dressing my son in rags? For feeding him whenever you felt like it or whenever he was close to death? No, I don't think so."

"If you cannot appreciate the fact that I took your orphan child into my home at my family's risk then this conversation is over," Petunia commanded.

"Why'd you take him in?" Lily asked.

"What?" Petunia asked.

"Why did you take him in if he was such an inconvenience to you?"

"We…he-…I…," Petunia stuttered.

"That's right," Lily patronized. "You kept him for protection. No one has ever broken to your house, no illness has befallen your family and it was all because of his magical aura. You are a spoiled selfish bitch Petunia, and the only reason I will not sue for the money you stole from him, is because you're family. And unlike you, I believe that blood is thicker than magic." With that last comment, Lily reversed the spell on Petunia's hair and disapparated.

Harry stared at the ceiling for the rest of the afternoon in thought. Life seemed so bizarre now. How was he supposed t live with his parents now? He was used to being alone and fending for himself. Now he had parents that take care of the hard-life stuff. How was he supposed to act now?

"Knock, knock," Lily said, coming into the room, that evening. "Can we talk?"

Harry nodded. "Sure.

Lily sat next to him. "Scooch." He did and she made herself comfortable.

She ran her hand through his hair and began to talk. "I heard through the grapevine that you think I would really murder your aunt Petunia. I wouldn't kill her. I don't have that in me. You have to be full of hate for a killing curse to work. And even if you did levitate her out of a two story window, you'd still be pretty heartless. I hope that's not what you think of me."

"I don't know what to think of you," Harry admitted.

Lily nodded. "I thought so. I make mistakes. I do bad things sometimes. Okay, just once: I levitated Snape into the lake when we were first years. But, in my defense, he was being really mean. So, that's not bad, right?"

Harry produced a ghost of a smile. "I guess not."

"Good. Now, I also heard that you heard what Petunia said," Lily continued. "What do you think?"

"I thought you were pretty cold and heartless," Harry admitted. "What does Aunt Petunia mean when she said 'you killed the boss of you'?"

Lily sighed. "When I was seventeen, about a month after I started liking your dad, Voldemort came to my house looking for me."

"Why did he look there? Shouldn't you have been at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"No, it was Christmas break. He didn't know that I stayed at school to study for NEWTS. He didn't find me but he did find Mum and Dad," Lily answered her voice breaking. "He killed them out of boredom to say the least. Petunia was so angry at me that she didn't even tell me when the funeral was. I never got to say good-bye."

Lily closed her eyes for a moment before opening them blinking furiously. "Okay, enough with this death and morbid stuff. Why don't you go apologize to Sirius for disobeying him, and I just might forget that you thought I was a potential murderer?"

Harry grinned. "Deal."

FAQ/FYI:

Why'd it take so long for you to update?
I was busy. Homework. Studying. Hanging out with friends. Reading. Stuff like that.

Why didn't you include the scene where Harry told his parents?
I did last time, but it was so blotched up and I got way frustrated becuase it wouldn't come out the way I wanted it to. Plus, plagerism is bad, so I couldn't go and copy someone else's interpretation. So, I decided, for the sake of the story, and my sanity, that I'll leave it out. Maybe I'll stick it in later, and if I do, I'll et you know so you can read it.

When are you going to update next?
Hmm. No idea. I have midterms coming up, so I'll be busy studying for that. Plus, homecoming, and all that stuff coming up, so maybe next weekend if I get a chance to write. Hopefully. No promises.