Hi! I'm back again. Thank you for your reviews! When I started writing, I didn't expect them to make such a difference, but they really encourage me to keep going! Harry finally meets his parents.

Disclaimer: Fanfiction is joyful play with words. The world I'm playing in is J. K. Rowling's.

Chapter 2

Harry felt something wet against his forehead. Squinting against the light, he could make out the figure of a woman. She was sponging his face. Harry knew that there was something important that he should remember. What was it?

Suddenly, he remembered. He hadn't been able to tell very well last night, lightheaded from blood loss, but he had known the people.

Harry struggled to open his eyes. He blinked several times, and the face of the woman came into view. What he saw made him start, and he tried to sit up. His head swam, but he managed to pull himself upright.

She was the exact image of Lily as he had seen her in the pictures of his parents. She had the same shade of dark red hair. Her nose and her cheekbones were the same. But it was the eyes that held Harry. They were, as many of his parents' friends had told him, the precise shape and color of his own.

"Who are you?" Harry asked hoarsely, looking into her face.

Lily, as Harry thought of her—could she be anybody else?—gasped.

"James, come here!" she cried.

The tall man with messy hair that Harry had seen earlier ran over.

"What is it? Lily, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she said, "But look at him! He…"

"What about him?" asked the man—was he James?

Looking closer, he sucked in a small breath of surprise.

"He has my eyes," said Lily.

Without warning, James pulled out his wand, and pointed it at Harry.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

"James, he might be a muggle!" exclaimed Lily.

"No," he replied grimly, "I found his wand on the porch after he passed out. Though for a second there, I thought he could have been a cousin of yours."

Lily broke in,

"He looks like you, James. He could be related to you."

Harry was not sure what he should say. He was in shock, and was not sure how, but it seemed that he'd been transported back to when his parents were still alive. He couldn't tell them the truth. It was too late to disguise himself, but should he give himself a false name?

James continued,

"We don't know why he's here or what he's planning. He could be a Death eater in disguise! How likely is it that somebody looking like him, would turn up bloody on our doorstep?" he turned to Harry once again,

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"Give him a rest; he's still dizzy from blood loss!" Apparently, Lily was championing their mysterious visitor. Harry could only be glad for his mother's soft-hearted nature, which had led her to even befriend Snape in the face of opposition.

Just then, the pounding of Harry's head became unbearable. Did time-travel give you an early hangover? He couldn't think of a fake name, much less a cover story. Harry groaned, and unthinkingly asked if they had any aspirin.

James looked slightly confused, but Lily's eyebrows shot up, and she looked at James.

"He's a muggleborn. Aspirin's a muggle headache reliever."

James's hold on his wand relaxed slightly.

"I guess he's not likely to be a death eater then. We'll keep your wand for the time being though. For safety's sake, you understand?" Now, he addressed Harry.

Harry nodded.

"James, go get me some of that Headache Relieving Draught that we have in the potions cabinet."

James soon returned with a dark green potion, which Harry swallowed. Immediately, his head felt a hundred times better.

"Thanks, that was the worst hangover I ever had." Harry said in relief.

James looked amused. Lily, on the other hand, looked rather disgusted.

"You mean to say…" she began,

"That I splinched myself because I apparated while drunk? Yeah, it was one of my worse decisions." Harry said in embarrassment, casting his eyes downward. What would his mother think of him?

James laughed out loud. Lily sighed.

"I should have realized," she said, "you smell like a brewery."

"I think you were more pre-occupied with the blood." said James.

"Anyway, my name is Harry, Harry…Peverell." said Harry. It was true enough, he supposed.

"I'm not actually a muggleborn, but I'm muggle-raised; my parents were both killed when I was still a baby. I'll let you know now though, that I am against Voldemort, and anybody that sides with him."

Harry suddenly realized the ramifications of his statement. Did this mean that he would have to fight Voldemort all over again? Could he change the timeline? Would it be the right thing to do? He would have to think carefully.

James was looking at him with new respect.

"You used Voldemort's name." he said, "Not many people do that."

Harry replied,

"A wise man once told me, 'Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself'". He smiled a little inside to himself. He wondered whether Dumbledore had said that to his parents as well.

Lily abruptly said, "I think we should trust him." James looked at her, and she continued, "I just have this strong feeling that we can trust him. Anyway, it's possible that he might be a Voldemort supporter, but he can't be a Death eater. He doesn't have the Dark Mark. Polyjuice would have worn off by now, and I cast the usual glamour-detecting charms."

James said slowly, "If you're sure…"

"I'm positive," she responded.

Harry was overwhelmed. He hadn't done anything for them, and his parents, especially his mother, had trusted him on sight. He felt his eyes burning.

"Thanks for trusting me," he said huskily, "I'll do everything I can to prove that you're right. I can't repay my debt to you. First, you saved my life, and now, you're trusting me with only my word to back me up." Harry reflected that this wasn't the first time that they had saved his life. This thought was too painful, however, and he shoved it to the back of his mind.

"Don't worry about it," said James. "You've got to trust some people—even if there is a war going on, we can't just hide like scared rabbits, and suspect everyone we see. And I've got a good feeling about you."

Just then, the doorbell rang, and James got up to answer it, holding his wand ready. But when he saw who was at the door, he flung it aside, and slapped the newcomer on the back, delightedly exclaiming,

"Padfoot!"

For a moment, Harry's mind froze. It was one thing to meet your long-dead parents whom you had known only in stories and photos. It was another to see your godfather, who had died a bit over two years ago. Harry had mourned Sirius, knowing that he would never see him again. But here is was in the flesh, alive, as if he had never gone through the veil in the Department of Mysteries.

Lily turned to the door with a warm smile,

"It's nice to see you Sirius."

"Feel free to come by anytime." This was James.

"I'll take you up on it!"

By now, he had noticed the figure on the couch.

"Prongs, who's this? You never told me that you had an illegitimate brother!" he said humorously.

James grinned as Lily rolled her eyes.

"Nope, no relation. But you should take a look at his eyes! They're the spit of Lily's here."

Sirius looked closer.

"Sweet Merlin," he exclaimed, "You're right!"

James broke in, "But I'm forgetting my manners. This, Padfoot, is Harry Peverell. Harry, this is Sirius Black, the white sheep of the black family, and as hot-blooded as they come!"

"Peverell?" When he heard the name, Sirius frowned. Harry suddenly wondered if that name choice might have been a bad idea. "Weren't the Peverells a pure-blooded family that died out a few centuries ago?"

"You're right." James replied, "I think I've seen it in a genealogy somewhere."

"Of course, my genealogical education was much more thorough than yours," Sirius said with a look of distaste on his face. "My parents were all for upholding the pride of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black."

He fixed Harry with an unfriendly look.

"You're not one of those scum upholding pureblood superiority are you?"

Lily protested immediately,

"He'd hardly be in our house if he was!"

"Don't worry, he's on our side. He even says Voldemort's name!" James reassured his friend.

Sirius turned to Harry.

"I guess you must be alright then!" he said, and with a swift change of attitude, gave Harry a brilliant smile. It was the smile of the man that had laughed at the Potter's wedding. This Sirius had never gone to Azkaban, never endured the Dementors.

Harry unsteadily smiled back.

"Nice to meet you," he said after a barely noticeable hesitation.

Sirius was invited to dinner, and Lily insisted that Harry join them. The dinner was lively, James telling Sirius of their discovery of Harry on their doorstep, and the circumstances behind it. This led Harry to be heartily teased by both James and Sirius. James also told Sirius about Lily's defense of Harry, commenting mischievously,

"You'd better not get too attached to Harry, Lovely Lily, for all he shares my stunning good looks!"

Lily rolled her eyes and kissed him on the cheek.

Later, it was decided that Harry could stay the night—"There might be some complications with the alcohol and the blood-replenishing potion"—and leave in the morning if he was recovered.

…..

The next morning, Harry was woken by light streaming in through his window. That's strange, he thought, I was sure that I'd finally installed those blackout blinds. Strangely though, he didn't have a headache, which didn't make sense considering all he had to drink the night before. Last night! Then, Harry finally realized where he was. He wasn't sure whether to shout for joy or to groan.

Silently, he crept downstairs. He saw Lily and James eating breakfast in the kitchen. They were talking, and he couldn't but help overhearing what they were saying.

"I believe that he's against Voldemort, but you have to agree, he's got a murky background." This was James.

"I'm sure he'll tell us if we just ask him. Anyway, if he's on our side, what does it matter?"

"It's just that I'm certain that there's a mystery about him, and I want to know what it is!"

"Don't let your curiosity get the better of you! He'll tell us if he wants to, and I won't have you pestering him!"

"You've really taken a shine to him, haven't you? This was said almost jealously.

Lily laughed and said,

"You know that you're the only man for me! It's just that I feel that Harry is going to be a very good friend of ours, and if that's true, there's no time to waste!"

Harry thought that he had been listening long enough, and deliberately put his foot down hard on the next step.

Lily looked up and catching sight of Harry, gave him a big smile.

"Harry, you're up! We didn't want to wake you, but please come down and have breakfast with us!"

"Now that you're recovered, you can tell us more about yourself." James said cheerfully, ignoring a warning glance from Lily.

"There's nothing so interesting about me," said Harry evasively. "Actually, I'm a bit hazy about what's been happening lately, do you think could catch me up on the news?"

Harry listened as they described the situation with Voldemort. It seemed that although he had begun stepping up his game, the situation hadn't become nearly as serious as when the Potters had gone into hiding with the Fidelus Charm. This made sense. His knowledge about aspirin notwithstanding, the Potters would have been far more wary of a stranger if things had been that dangerous.

Although Harry would have loved to stay much longer talking to his parents, he realized that they only saw him as a friendly stranger who they had rescued, and it would be rude to overstay his welcome.

After drinking the last sip of his tea, he stood up.

"Thank you James, Lily for rescuing me last night. I owe you my life. I would have died without your help," he started out uncomfortably. "It was really great meeting you. I guess I should get going now." Harry swallowed, a lump in his throat. Could this possibly be their last meeting? Harry felt desperate to see them again. He tried to think of something.

"There was nothing else we could have done." James answered him seriously.

"We're glad that we could do something to help," added Lily.

"We'd love to see you again," she continued, "please visit us again."

"Just don't apparate sloshed!" James said with a laugh.

"If you really want me to." said Harry, uncertainly.

"Of course we do," replied Lily.

"I will, then." Harry answered. A feeling of overwhelming happiness washed through him. He felt happier than he had in months.

Harry stepped out the door and walked to the street. He looked back. James stood with his arm around Lily's waist and both were waving at him. He waved back, and apparated away.

That's it for now. If you ever spy any characters acting out of character, let me know, and I'll try to fix it. Please review!