Disclaimer – The world of Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling and various publishers. I make no claim to ownership. I'm just here, living in her world.
The Founders Return
by blackrhino
Chapter 4
The looks on the remaining marauder's faces was priceless! They stood, rooted to the spot. The four squirmed under their stares.
"Harry?" choked Lily.
"Umm… Hi mum?" whispered Harry apprehensively.
Lily stumbled forward but James held fast to her arm.
"No Lily. That… dirty snake is not our son. Our Harry was murdered all those years ago. We mourned over our son. Don't you remember?" snapped James.
"Dear Merlin! He looks so much like you Prongs! But with Lily's eyes. There's no doubt about it…" mused Remus.
"Hey! He's got Jamie's rats nest! Poor kid!" beamed Sirius.
"HE is not my SON! My son would never be the… the reincarnation of Slytherin!" James bellowed.
"Umm, hello? I'm still here you know!" called Harry.
James went livid. He glared at the boy sat in the bed, grasped Lily's hand and dragged her from the room. The others stood in a stony silence.
"Well, that went better than I expected!" chirped Harry happily.
James thundered through the halls of Hogwarts, Lily on his heels trying desperately to calm him down. He rounded the corner to the hallway where the Potter's quarters were. He snarled the password to the painting and stomped through the portrait hall.
The room was simplistic yet elegant. There was a main sitting area, a dining room and a kitchen (just in case Lily felt like cooking). There were 3 rooms off the main area. They were just bedrooms. Lily and James had re-decorated the past summer. They still had Gryffindor red, though it was few and far between. All the colours were neutral and calming.
James flopped down on the sofa in the sitting area. Lily stood over him, her face like thunder.
"How DARE YOU!"
"How dare I what?"
"Talk to him like that! He's your own SON!"
"No" he snarled
"YES! He HAS to be our son... James, I… I've got something I need to tell you… Please forgive me… Please…"
"Lily? What are you talking about?" Lily slumped down on the sofa and put her head in her hands.
James had immediately calmed down. There was something wrong with his wife. His persuasive, strong-willed wife was about to break down in tears. Something was definitely up.
"James, that boy has to be our son because… you know I did all that research into my family tree, to find out if I had any magical relatives?"
"Yeah… You never did tell me if you found any… Lily, where is this going?"
"Well, I managed to… to trace my family back a long way. A very long way… You see… I'madistantrelationofSlytherin!"
"What? Can you repeat that! Slower please!"
"Oh James!... If you trace my family back, it goes all the way back to Slytherin himself. A true Slytherin always has green eyes… You see, the Slytherin line fell into squibs, and then into muggles. The Gaunt Slytherin line was never that strong. That's the line Voldemort came from. The Gaunt line was pure, but not direct. Mine however, is. I'm the first person with magic in the main Slytherin line since Salazar himself… I'm sorry James… I'm so sorry… Please don't hate me! Please…" Lily pleaded. She broke down in tears.
James tentatively put his arms around his shaking wife and pulled her close. She burrowed into his chest.
"I'll never hate you Lily-love. Never. Don't ever think that. I don't care who your ancestors are. I was just a bit… shocked, no very shocked. I… I never quite believed Harry was dead. Our beautiful, wonderful son was snatched from us. I… I couldn't bring myself to believe he was gone. Not at the funeral, not when Roxy was born or seeing all the kids his age… And seeing him there… All grown up I, I didn't know what to do. I want to know what his Lily and James did to save him and watch him grow up. I'm jealous of them… What am I saying? Poppy said he wasn't treated well as a kid. What did we do to him?"
"I don't know James. I just don't know…" sighed Lily.
"We've got to go back… I, I need to see him again…" James whispered.
"Then we'll go back. You, will swallow you're pride and apologise. James… We've been given a second chance. We can't muck it up…" choked Lily.
"Let's go and see our son."
Back in the hospital wing…
The four, Sirius and Remus were left in the hospital wing. Dumbledore swept away after James left.
"I'm so sorry for James' behaviour! He must have been so surprised…" started Remus.
"Is it really you?" questioned Sirius.
"Umm… Yeah. It's definitely me!"
"Look at you! All grown up! The last time I saw you…" started Remus, but he remembered the last time he saw baby Harry, dead, in Lily's shaking arms.
"I remember you when you were little! You used to be so sweet!" cooed Sirius, after Remus stopped mid-sentence.
"Err… Thank-you, but I'd rather not talk about my childhood. You can continue talking about your Harry's childhood if you want. I'd rather forget my childhood…"muttered Harry.
"It couldn't of been that bad! You must of grown up with the mighty marauders! I can't think of anything better!" said Sirius.
"Nope. Wrong and, wrong again!"
"What?" asked Remus after he and Sirius exchanged a worried glance. Harry looked uncomfortable and Remus decided to drop it.
"Sooo… What year are you four in?" asked Remus, trying to soften the mood. It seemed to work as the four started to talk.
"Well, Me, Harry and Ron are in 7th year…" started Hermione
"But I'm in 6th year" finished Ginny.
"Do you like quidditch?" chirped Sirius. "Please, James' son can't not like quidditch! What position do you play? What broom do you ride?"
"You do know Sirius, that life doesn't revolve around Quidditch?" asked Remus. Ron's face fell.
"What do you mean life doesn't revolve around quidditch?" he asked. The other five started laughing.
"To answer your question Sirius, I love quidditch! Like you said, how can James' son not love quidditch? According to a lot of people back home, I was born with a snitch in my hand!"
"A seeker eh? James was always a good seeker. A better chaser though. He's gonna be so pleased… when he calms down!" said Sirius excitedly.
"What are your favourite subjects? Were you in your own house?" asked Remus.
"Always the academic one!" laughed Hermione. "We were all Gryffindors. The Gryffindor Four! That's us."
"But Hogwarts sort of ruined that. She put us all in different houses when we started our last year" said Harry
"My 6th year" added Ginny.
"Yeah. And as for favourite subjects, well I think 'Mione likes everything, I love DADA, Ron… What subjects do you like Ron?" finished Harry.
"Well… I like Astronomy. And DADA, but I'll never be as good as you…"
"You're far better than me now, Ron. I don't defend against the Dark Arts anymore. I just fight fire with fire."
"What?" asked Remus worriedly.
"Remus. Calm down. Don't worry about it." whispered Sirius hurriedly. Sirius didn't mind the whole 'Dark Arts' thing. He was a dark wizard himself. He just hoped James wouldn't mind.
The mood in the room darkened considerably. Ginny sighed and laid her head on Harry's chest. He stroked her hair lovingly, a smile on his face. Ron and Hermione backed off into a corner and started to talk in low whispers.
The double doors to the hospital wing burst open and Lily strode in, a determined look on her face. James followed, his eyes set on the floor.
Ginny sat up and Ron and Hermione looked round. Harry stared, interested.
Lily seemed to be waiting for something. She looked around and coaxed her husband.
"James? I believe you have something to say?" she soothed. Her voice was soft.
He glanced up. He caught Harry's eye and stared deep into the emotionless green pits.
"Harry?" he choked. "I'm… I'm sorry. I, I didn't mean it, it's, it's just you've been gone a long time…" James came to a stop as his throat constricted.
"It's ok… Dad" smiled Harry.
A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! I've been ill, had tons of homework, read a lot of new books and been far too tired to write! Thank you to everyone who reviewed! It's nice to know that so many people are interested in my writing! It makes me feel special. Sorry the chapters aren't that long. If I made them longer, I wouldn't update so often! Hopefully chapter 5 should be up soon, but I have art homework, english homework, maths homework, biology homework, chemistry homework, german homework... You get the picture!
blackrhino