I have been happy, tho' in a dream.

I have been happy- and I love the theme:

Dreams! in their vivid coloring of life,

As in that fleeting, shadowy, misty strife

Of semblance with reality, which brings

To the delirious eye, more lovely things

Of Paradise and Love- and all our own!

Than young Hope in his sunniest hour hath known.

- From Dreams by Edgar Allan Poe

Family

oO0Oo

Albus felt another sick feeling in his stomach. This time from nerves. He'd bet his broomstick he knew who that voice belonged to, even if he had never heard her voice before in his life. He peaked through the curtains. The woman had her back turned towards him, walking towards Madam Pomfrey's office door, but the auburn hair was a clue as any. Lily Potter was here. He was about to meet his grandmother.

oO0Oo

He must have made a noise of some kind. If he had to guess, he probably gasped, because the woman with auburn hair obviously heard something coming from behind the curtained hospital bed. Mustering up the courage his family was so famous for, Albus sat up in bed and drew back the curtains. Besides, it would have been damn awkward if he hadn't, and he'd sure as hell wasn't going to hide behind the curtains like a scared little kid!

For the longest moment they just stared, each taking in the other's appearance. Lily Potter of this world was not the grandmother he had imagined. He had always pictured her as old, with grey hair and wrinkles. She would smile at him through her wrinkles, her green peeping through heavy eyelids. She would even be wearing an old robe that had been out of style for years. That was how he had always thought his grandmother would look like if she had still been alive.

Instead, this Lily Potter was very different. She was young, with short auburn hair just brushing her shoulders, and very few wrinkles. She didn't dress in old lady robes, but robes he expected to see his own mother in.

Albus didn't know if he should say something or wait for her to make the first move, so he chose the later.

Lily Potter, for her part, was just as dumbstruck as her would be grandson. For one thing, this boy looked extraordinarily how she had imagined her son to look if he had lived. Another thing that was surprising was his age. This was her grandson, and yet if Dumbledore was correct, the young man in front of her was older than her son would be if he was here. It was hard to reconcile the radical idea within her mind, but it didn't really matter.

The only thing that mattered was that the boy in front of her was the child of her son. Maybe not exactly her Harry, but a Harry Potter that could have been her son nonetheless. They shared the same genetics, and so did this boy. This boy was her grandson. He was a part of Harry and therefore a part of her. Lily had never been so thankful or so in awe of magic than she was at that very moment. This was truly a blessing, and she was not going to let the opportunity escape.

Albus was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable under his grandmother's gaze. He could literally see the longing in her eyes as she looked at him. He was the spitting image of his father, so it wasn't too hard to figure out why she would look at him in such a way. He was just sorry that his dad wasn't in his place. Albus knew how hard his father had it growing up without parents. Albus had always known the love of a mother and father, and so he wished his father was sitting on this bed instead of him.

"I'm sorry," the woman said softly.

Albus blinked. What in the world was she apologizing for? He should be the one apologizing! Merlin only knew what the poor woman was going through.

Seeing his confused look, Lily elaborated.

"I mean, I'm sorry for staring. You . . . I, I mean, well, you just look so much like I had pictured Harry to look like," she finished helplessly.

Albus nodded. "It's okay. I get that a lot."

His voice seemed to be the final straw for his grandmother. She burst into tears, and sat herself hard on a bed two down from his own.

"Oh Merlin," he groaned quietly to himself. He hated it when women cried.

Glad that he was wearing pajamas in lieu of the standard backless hospital dress, Albus hobbled his way over to his grandmother. He sat himself awkwardly next to her. He made to pat her shoulder, but stopped. He was afraid that if he touched her she'd just cry more.

"Hey, it's okay. Don't cry," he tried, giving up and awkwardly patting her shoulder.

Instead of this having a mitigating effect, it just made the woman cry harder to Albus' undying horror. And then she did something even more unexpected. She grabbed him in a death grip like hold, hugging him close and crying on his shoulder. She would mumble nonsense into his shoulder, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what she was saying, so he chose instead to pat her back and wait it out.

Around this time, Madame Pomfrey walked into the room, no doubt investigating the blubbering his grandmother was doing. He threw a pleading glance in her direction, motioning with his eyes to the crying woman and mouthing 'Help!'

She didn't even stop. Hell, she walked out of her office, took one look at the scene, and the looped right back into her office, shutting the door quietly.

He huffed silently to himself. For the love of Merlin wouldn't someone help him! He didn't know what to do in this kind of situation! So, defeated, Albus just kept patting his grandmother on the back, telling her that it was going to be okay.

It seemed to work. His grandmother's tears subsided almost as quickly as they had come. She pulled herself out of his embrace, wiping away tears and laughing at herself. Merlin! He would never understand women!

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I'm acting like a complete baby! Bawling all over your robes . . . you must think I'm a complete fool!" she hiccupped, waving her wand to clean off Albus' pajamas.

"No, no! Don't apologize! If I was in your spot I'd probably be doing the same thing!" he hastily reassured her.

Lily finished wiping her tears away on a handkerchief she had conjured and blew her nose. With a wave of her wand, the handkerchief was effectively banished.

"You wanna try again?" asked Albus.

Lily laughed and nodded her head. She stuck out her hand.

"Hi. My name is Lily Ann Potter. I'm your grandmother," she smiled.

Albus returned her smile and shook her hand. "Albus Severus Potter. I'm your grandson. Pleased to meet you, at last."

"At last," Lily agreed.

oO0Oo

James Potter was brooding. When he returned home tonight, his grandson would be there. But it wasn't really his grandson. It was just some kid that had fallen into this world. It wasn't like his son was alive somewhere. It wasn't like he had a long lost grandson or something. It was just some kid that could have been his grandson. It wasn't like his baby boy was back from the dead.

He was currently pacing the worn patch of carpet in his office. James kicked the side of the desk, causing a pile of paperwork to wobble precariously. He just didn't know what to think! So James Potter did what he did when he didn't know what to think – he didn't think. He just paced. He had been pacing this particular track of carpet for years now. Every failed raid, every escaped Death Eater, every thing that went wrong – it was all worried right into the carpet by his feet.

Running his hand through his hair, he stopped, and leaned against the desk. He stared down at the threadbare carpet, but did not see it. Instead he saw the face of his beautiful baby boy, smiling up at his father.

A knock at the door interrupted the vision. With as shake of the head to clear his scattered mind, James called for the person on the other side.

"It's open!"

Remus stuck his head inside. "Hey, mind if I come in?"

James just waved him in, going around his desk and plopping himself into his chair.

"So what's going on? Any emergencies?" he asked tiredly, rubbing his eyes under his glasses.

"Oh, no. It's nothing work-related. I was just dropping by, you know, thought I'd just . . . stop by and chat," said Remus nonchalantly, taking a seat in front of James' desk.

James narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"And what do you want?" he asked.

Remus smiled. "James! You know me so well! I was actually wondering about your cousin. I heard he was coming to stay with you."

James lifted an eyebrow. Cousin? He didn't have any – oh. Cousin.

"You know what they said about curiousity and cats don't you Moony?"

"Good thing I'm a canine then," Remus shot back.

James just shook his head in defeat.

"Yeah, the kid's name is Albus Dowling. Didn't even know I had a cousin until I heard about good old John Potter and his womanizing ways. Well, I mean I knew he had been quite the ladies man, but you would have expected him to at least charm himself before he got down to it. I'm just surprised I'm related to Dumbledore, in a roundabout way," replied James.

"So that's how you are related. I was wondering. I knew you didn't have any relatives on your mother's side, but I wasn't so sure about your father's side. I remember you telling me about your promiscuous forefathers. I'm not surprised to see long lost Potters crawling out of the woodwork," Remus chuckled.

James nodded. "Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised either."

"Say, didn't you mention the kid is related to the headmaster?" asked Remus.

"Yeah, that's where the name comes from. He's Dumbledore's great nephew or great great nephew. I'm sketchy on the details, but Dumbledore asked us to take him in for awhile seeing as he's busy with the Order."

Remus nodded. "Makes sense. So have you met him yet?"

James shook his head.

"Not yet. Frankly, I'm a bit hesitant. Dumbledore says the Potter genes are strong in him. He said that Albus could probably even be passed off as my son . . . "he trailed off.

"Oh," said Remus, suddenly understanding why his friend looked so worn down.

"Oh," Remus repeated.

James just gave his friend a look. "Cut it out Moony! I'll be fine!"

Remus just shrugged.

"Well, don't take it out on the kid or anything. I ran into him in the hospital wing. Seems like a good kid to me. And besides, you of all people should know that we can't help what we are, or what we look like, or even the circumstances of our birth. I'm just staying Prongs, as a friend to a friend, don't do anything stupid. The poor kid's probably going through a lot. He's lost his family too."

With those parting words, Remus left, leaving James to his thoughts.

What Remus had said did make sense. James snorted. Out of all his close friends, Remus had always been the one to make sense in seemingly senseless situations.

With a sigh and a glance at the clock, James gathered up his cloak. It was time to face the music, whether he wanted to or not.

As James threw the Floo powder into the fireplace, only one thought made itself clear among the jumbled mess of his worries.

'But what if the family that Albus has lost is the same that I have lost? What then?'

oO0Oo

"Well, how do you like it?"

Albus was, to put it mildly, shocked. He had always known that he and his family had lived in the same town that his father's parents had lived, but he didn't know that they lived in the exact same house.

"Erm . . . it's . . . " he trailed off, at a loss for words.

Lily looked worriedly at her grandson.

"What is it Albus?" she asked.

They were standing on the front lawn were the headmaster have provided a portkey for them. Lily glanced at her home. There didn't seem to be anything wrong, just her normal house. So why was her grandson so wide-eyed?

"Oh, it's just, this is my house," said Albus, gesturing to the house in front of him.

Lily was confused. "It is?"

He nodded and then explained. "This is where my family lives, or lived, or, uh, lived in, you know, in the other world."

Sudden understanding dawned upon Lily.

"Oh, of course! If James and I had died in your world, then of course we would have left the house to Harry! So this is where you grew up?" she asked.

Albus nodded, his eyes still locked on the house.

"Well, you should be feeling right at home then!" smiled Lily as she gestured for him to follow her into the house.

Albus hesitantly returned her smile and followed.

However, when Albus walked into the house that was and wasn't his, he felt anything but at home. The first thing he noticed was the smell. It just smelled different. Not like anything bad, but Albus had noticed that different homes had different smells, and this house did not smell anything like his did.

The second thing he noticed was the wallpaper, and then the carpet, and then pictures, and of course the furniture. No, Albus didn't feel at home here. It still felt like a stranger's house.

"Well, as you probably know, there's four bedrooms upstairs. Which one was yours in your world?" she asked.

"The third door down on the left."

"Oh, good. That's perfect. It's the guest room here. But I suppose the house is a bit different from yours, hm? How about a tour?"

Albus shrugged. "That sounds good."

Lily showed Albus the house that was his and wasn't his. It was like someone had come into his house and totally redecorated. The one thing that really stuck out though, besides the obvious differences, was the gigantic stuffed deer head over the mantle piece. It's antlers were huge!

"Pretty impressive, huh?" asked Lily when she noticed where Albus' gaze rested.

"Uh . . ." Albus didn't quite know what to say.

Yes, it was impressive, but at the same time, he hadn't expected something so . . . tacky. It just didn't fit in with the rest of the house, and from what Albus had seen, the house was pretty tastefully put together.

Lily laughed at his expression, and Albus had the graciousness to blush.

"Oh don't worry. I hate it too, but it was the only thing James had really wanted in the living room. I figured it was a fair trade if I got to decorate the rest of the house. But can you imagine what any guests we had would think if they saw that monstrosity in my living room? I made him promise that if we were ever entertaining guests that he would put it in the attic," she said.

"But then why isn't it in the attic now? I'm here?" asked Albus. Surely his grandmother would have though about putting that away before he got here.

Lily just smiled. "Oh, sweetie, don't be silly. You're not a guest. You're family!"

Albus returned her smile, surprised as his grandmother made him realize something. He may have been separated from his family, but that didn't mean that he was completely alone after all.