UPDATE Aug -15- 08- Chapter three BETA- I hope you like it!
Thank you so much for your Great Reviews! They are the thing that keeps me going!
If anyone is OOC in this chapter, I apologise, this was a hard one to write. Enjoy!
Lily Potters POV
Rose! We're saved!
Relief, soaring relief, was what I felt as I saw my cousin topple into the room. She stood up and glanced around the room, narrowing her eyes after a while.
"Rose?" I whispered.
She came over to me with her usual determined-and-concentrated look on her face.
"Um, Lily… what in the world is going on?" she asked through gritted teeth.
"Well actually, I was hoping you could tell us that."
Rose rolled her eyes. "James, Al: go back, and talk to the others as if… um, well, as if everything is normal. Lily: follow me."
I followed Rose to the side and leaned in to hear the whispered lecture I knew I was about to hear.
"What did you tell them?" Rose sighed.
"That we're from the future and that our names are Paul, Lawrence and Dunbar," I said sheepishly.
"Honestly, Lily. Look- there is no point in lying to them. Firstly, because you're a terrible liar-"
"Hey!" I said indignantly.
"-Under lots of pressure. Secondly, lying leads to questions, questions lead to more lies, and that leads to utter confusion for everyone. We can't have confusion. We have to get back to our time ASAP. Understand?"
"Yes, ma'am," I said. She rolled her eyes again. I was quite proud of her; she was handling the stress very well.
"Do you have any sort of plan?"
"We were going to try and find Dumbledore."
She nodded, and looked over my shoulder at the older Lily and James, who had changed their hair respectively to red and black.
"Lily," Rose whispered, "Talk to Harry, and get him to tell them that he's their son."
"What? Are you mad? I can't let Dad do that!"
I glanced at my young Dad. I wasn't going to let him tell his parents that! But of course, someone had to tell them, and he really was the best person, he wouldn't want it to be anyone but him…
I sighed. "Fine, you're right."
"Harry?"
He looked round at me.
"Um … I know, well… I think… no, you need to tell your parents who you are. Don't go into details; just tell them that you're their son."
He looked confused for a moment, and then he said, "Wait how do you know-"
"I just know. Look, I'll explain in a minute, can you just tell them first?"
"How am I meant t-?"
"Slowly. And kind of… make it sound like they're alive."
"Okay…" he said slowly, turning to look at his parents.
Lily and James were standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, and each was looking away from the other.
"I can't… I can't tell them that! They'll-"
"Don't worry about it, just act casual. They'll be fine." I really wasn't sure whether they'd be fine or not, but I was just following orders… sometimes I was pathetic.
Dad sighed.
"All right, I'll do it," he said with finality.
He walked over to his parents, where he said, "James, Lily?" and both their heads snapped up. Everyone turned their attention to him, in fact.
"Erm… I need to tell you something…" He looked at the floor and scratched the back of his head.
"What is it?" asked Lily quietly.
"You," he took another breath. "Umapants," he mumbled.
"We're your… pants?" said James with a hilariously confused look on his face.
"What?" Lily asked sharply.
"You- are- my-par-ents."
They stared at him for so long that I started to count. Neither of them moved for two and a half minutes. Then James grinned hugely.
"So… we get married then?"
Dad nodded.
"See, Lily? I told you we were meant to be together after all."
"No," she said, so menacingly that James jumped. Lily looked down and shook her head. After a minute of that she shrieked, "What?!" at Harry.
"Erm, I know it sounds strange now, but it really will happen. You'll er, fall in love, get married and have me."
"I…I... give me a moment." She slid to the floor at stared at the ground.
"Okay, well then…" said Rose. She cleared her throat and looked at my parents. "I wish I didn't have to do this, but unfortunately, it's mandatory to our progress in this situation." She looked at James. "Do you want to do it?"
"Do what?"
Rose, Al and I rolled our eyes. James wasn't paying attention, as usual.
"Never mind. Al?"
"Okay… Erm… Er… Harry and Ginny? Erm, you…" Mum and Dad were staring at him, Dad looking confused and Mum looking concerned.
"What is it?" asked Mum when he didn't say anything. I noted that that was the same thing Lily had said to Harry. Al tried to look casual, erase the formal and nervous expression in his face.
"Er, well, you see… I'm, er well we… I mean, you are um… You're our parents."
"What?" asked Mum and Dad quietly.
"You – Harry and Ginny – are the parents of James, Lily and me. Weird, I know, but it's true."
"We're you parents?" Mum whispered.
"Both of us?" murmured Dad.
"Yeah," Al said softly back.
"Whoa," Mum and Dad said together. They looked into each other's eyes, very lovey-dovey expressions on their faces, and didn't stop staring until James II cleared his throat.
"So, you mean…" started Mum awkwardly, trying to ease over the moment she was faintly embarrassed about.
"Really?" finished Dad.
"Really," said James, Al and I.
Mum and Dad contemplated this for a moment, and then each of them seemed to accept it. Grins appeared on each face and I knew then that they were head-over-heels for each other. I just hoped they wouldn't start kissing in front of us.
"Okay. Can you all see how this works?" Rose asked the room at large. "I'm sorry I don't know why. I'm sorry I don't know more. All I know is that it can be done; we can get back to where we came from."
"Thanks, Rose," I murmured.
"Oh, by the way, this is our cousin," said James to our parents.
"It's the fifteenth of March... has my Dad come out of the Hospital wing yet?" asked Rose abruptly.
"How did you know the date?" asked Al. "Who's your Dad?" asked Harry.
"I know the date because it's on Professor Dumbledore's desk. Harry, just guess who my parents are."
"Um... Hermione?"
She nodded.
"And... er..."
"Ron!" shouted Mum and Rose.
"They finally came to their senses then?" He said smilingly.
"Yes, in their seventh year."
"Excellent, I was getting worried."
"All right. When Lily is ready, we'll go out all together."
"You're a lot like Hermione, aren't you?" said Mum as Dad started talking to Al and James.
"Mm-hmm, or so they tell me," said Rose with pride. "Actually, every time we have family 'get together', Geo-" she stopped and looked for a cover-up. "Georgia points out how much like Mum I am."
What happened to 'Lying leads to Questions'?
And then it dawned on me; she couldn't mention George, because that would mean Fred. And how were we supposed to explain Fred's death to them?
"Who's Georgia?" asked Mum.
"She's Percy's oldest girl," improvised Rose, trying to change the subject.
It worked.
"Percy," Mum said darkly. "What's he like… in the future?"
"Gryffindor-ish: Loyal and very brave," I answered, remembering the time when Uncle Percy had saved me from a pack of evil, angry Chihuahuas.
"You're my daughter…" Mum said softly.
"Yeah, I am. That must be weird for you, mustn't it?"
She smiled and shook her head, not exactly answering my question. "You really look like me, although you kind of… don't look like me at all…"
"Oh!" I said. Duh. It was weird for me not having her know why I didn't exactly look like her. "I do look like you, but everyone says I have dad's expressions. See." I grinned and then frowned, and I felt my forehead wrinkled up the way Dad's did.
Mum's eyes were wide. "You do look like him," she observed, awe-struck.
"You look like me!" exclaimed Dad.
"I know. My facial expressions are my one tie to you. If it weren't for them, no one would believe I'm your daughter!"
Dad mouth twitched and then smiled, revealing an expression exactly like the one I was wearing. Mum smiled too, she liked the way the words "I'm you daughter" sounded.
"This is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me, but I like it," I announced.
We all smiled around at each other. Being in the same room as my teenage parents was great. I felt light and happy and I wanted to laugh my head off for some reason, as well.
Rose was looking at her watch.
"We have to go. We're already six minutes behind schedule."
"Schedule?" asked James, looking apprehensive.
"Yes, James: schedule. Someone has to be organized."
"Lily," Rose said to my grandmother, touching her lightly on the shoulder, "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
She got to her feet and we left without anyone else tumbling through the door.
