Chapter three:

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Chapter three:

Revelations and Explanations

"I can't believe Voldemort is really back." Annie sat down in a chair Amy Black had quickly conjured. Had she not, Annie would be having an arse-ache right now.

Almost a year ago Annie had been called for an emergency meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. She was worried when she had been called, after all, she hadn't heard of them for almost a year, so she feared they had figured out about Harry. Boy had she been wrong.

The news she had gotten was much worse.

Dumbledore believed Voldemort to be back. Evidence of dark magic had been found in a muggle village. Ever since, the Order had been on the lookout for more evidence of Voldemorts return, although most of the members were convinced he was back anyway. Dumbledore had tried talking with the minister to warn the wizarding people, but the minister had refused to believe he was back because he was afraid of losing his job. Between the minister refusing to believe, and the Order trying to prove he was back, there had been attacks and disappearances, and frankly Annie was surprised Voldemort had not yet attacked Fairfax. Though that would probably give away Harry's location to the Order, and if Voldemort wanted to use Harry he would be better off to manipulate him silently.

Severus Snape, spy for the Order, was of little help to them. Apparently Voldemort worked with his most trusted from his inner circle only, so it was unfortunate Snape wasn't a part of it, or else the Order would have known straight away that Voldemort had returned.

So the last year the Order had mostly worked to protect Voldemorts targets. One being the prophecy, the other being Harry Potter. The Order had worked very hard to find him, but hadn't succeeded, which was of course because of Lily's and her enchantments. They had also tried to protect the prophecy, which was inside the Ministry of Magic. Just days ago Voldemort had made a huge attempt to uncover it: he sent a few of his most trusted followers to retrieve it. The Order had kept them at bay, so then Voldemort showed up, and seconds after Dumbledore, and there had been a huge fight between them. The prophecy had been destroyed in the fight, and no one had been able to hear it. Seconds after the fight between Dumbledore and Voldemort, the aurors had shown up and witnessed Voldemort fleeing the Ministry. The next day the headlines of the Daily Prophet read 'HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED RETURNED'.

And now here was the first Order meeting since that fiasco. It was definite, Voldemort was back. Even though she already knew he was back, it was still a bit of a shock to actually know for sure he was back. It was definite there would be a war now. And they would have to fight it. Harry would have to fight it.

She remembered that at that first Order meeting she had asked how Voldemort could come back from the dead.

Dumbledore had explained to them that Voldemort had never really been dead, but almost. That he had probably been less alive than a ghost. He had told them that the night Lily died, she probably died trying to protect Harry, and that that act left Harry with a protection. A protection of love. Voldemorts killing curse of hate could not penetrate that protection, so the curse rebounded and hit Voldemort instead. But since Voldemort wasn't fully human anymore because of all the dark rituals he had done on himself, he couldn't die. Or didn't die wholly or something like that. The first part she already knew, but she didn't quite understand the second part, but she had a feeling Dumbledore knew something about it that the rest didn't.

She was still processing the information, when Harry came to topic.

"We must find him. If Voldemort does before us, he could taint Harry beyond repair. And if Harry is lost, in the long run so will we."

"But Albus, how do you propose we do that? It's all the order has been doing for nine years!!"

"What I don't understand is how Harry got away from that house. Unless he had outside help."

"The poor dear has been living alone for so long, he's got to come back!"

"I don't see why we need the brat. Probably just as arrogant and self-centered as his father."

After that everything turned quiet. Everyone turned to look at Snape, who had made the comment.

Sirius, who had always had trouble keeping his temper in check, especially when it came to Snape, yelled:

" Can't you for once in your good-for-nothing life keep your trap shut?? No one is interested in what you think snivellus!!"

Snape was about to retort, when James said something, for the first time since the meeting started.

" Why do you judge my son without knowing him? I didn't raise him, he's probably nothing like me." He said the last part bitterly.

Ever since Lily left, something had changed in James. Everyone saw it. It had made him grow up, more serious and much less his hyper, energetic, and funny self. Only with Sirius and Remus he was his old self, and even not always in public. This change had hit everyone who knew him hard, because they all thought he was so full of life, nothing could ever get him down. People felt for him. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending how you look at it, Annie was a very compassionate person who was currently too wrapped up in everything, and forgot for a moment she was supposed to keep Harry a secret.

"He's a lot like you. You'd be surprised. He got all the good quality's of you and Lily, he's practically the definition of 'perfect'."

She only noticed her mistake when everyone turned to look at her with stunned, disbelieving faces. She went beet-red. If there was one thing she wasn't good at, it was being stared at by so many people! When caught sight of James' face, she suddenly felt immensely guilty for keeping this a secret, and looked down at the floor. 'Damn me and my big mouth!' she cursed 'there go eight years of hard work, occlumensy and breakdowns!'.

"Annie?"

She looked up to see Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.

"Is there something you feel we need to know?"

She was about to retort, telling him he was just imagining things. But when she saw James' eager and hopeful face, she didn't have the hart to say she new nothing.

"Yes, I do." She then proceeded to tell them about how she had ran into Lily, Lily begging her not to tell anything, and her hiding Harry after Lily's death. At the end of the story most people looked at her with either disbelief, or betrayal. Some with both.

But not Dumbledore, he still had that damn twinkle in his eyes.

"I wonder though" he started "why Lily was so keen on Harry staying hidden."

A lot of people looked at her again, though this time with curiosity in their eyes. 'Well, you asked for it.' She thought.

"Because of the prophecy." She answered, as if being asked what two plus two was. Most people got a confused look on their face, and Annie could read one question on all of them:

'How did Lily know of the prophecy before anyone was told about it?'

There was a moment of silence, until. "How did Lily find out about it? She hadn't been informed of it at the time of her departure." Dumbledore asked.

The prophecy had been made somewhere during March, and Lily had left in September. No one could figure out why, not even Dumbledore. After all, Lily and James had always been madly in love with each other, even when al the new stuff of a marriage had worn off. And they had Harry, and Lily being the protective mother she was, could practice all of her mothering skills on him. James always spoiled him, and one look at Harry always made him crack a smile, even after a hard and tiring day of work. They had the kind marriage you only read about in fairy tails, so everyone was enormously surprised when Lily had left without a reason.

Dumbledore only told them about the existence of the prophecy after the 31st of October, after Lily was murdered. She winced, thinking back to how James had lost his temper. That had been the real reason they had to find a new headquarters, and Sirius had chosen that exact time to happily announce his mother's death. Hence why they now had this house as headquarters.

But back to the main subject. Dumbledore had not told them the contents of the prophecy, but he had told James (and therefore, she knew Sirius, Remus, Amy and Aeris where aware of it too) that the prophecy spoke of a child born at the end of the seventh month, and that he would be a huge threat to Voldemort in the future.

But now she had a problem. She also didn't know the contents of the prophecy, Lily wouldn't tell her, but she did know how Lily knew. It was a talent few owned, and Lily, as well as Harry, was one of them. Lily hadn't told anyone about it, for fear that it would get out, and that Voldemort would want to use it to his advantage. And people would bug her, ask her to touch objects and tell them what she saw. That was the talent. To touch objects that had a connection to an important event. Anyway, when touching said object, one would get a vision of sorts, and see said event. The event was usually something that had yet to come, and it would be an important clue (in this case the prophecy) or something else that would put a change in current events, or history.

The problem was: Lily had sworn her to secrecy, for Harry's sake.

"Annie?"

"…"

"Annie, I really want to know the reason Lily left. Let alone the fact that I have the right to know." James pleaded her.

"Well… I don't know. Lily swore me to secrecy." She answered. He looked at her with his puppy dog eyes. 'So that's where Harry got it. Why am I surprised?'

"Well, you see..." and she proceeded to tell them about Lily being able to get premonitions, how she had seen the prophecy being made, and how she had fled in hopes of protecting Harry and James.

After she had told her story, there was a deafening silence. You could have heard a pin drop. She looked around the room. She saw Remus Lupin, staring very hard at a certain place on the table, and his wife Aeris, had her hand covering her mouth. Amy Black had tears in her eyes, and was opening and closing her mouth. Her husband, Sirius Black, didn't bother closing it. It was hanging open; he looked rather unintelligent this way. James Potter sat at the end of his seat, staring at the table. 'I can't imagine what's going through him right now. How is he taking this? Is he reliving the feelings he felt with Lily's departure and her death? Or is he thinking about Harry, and taking him here, getting to know him?' That thought jolted her out of her musings. What was going to happen to Harry?

"What happened the night Harry became the Boy-Who-Lived?" 'Sometimes that man can be so insensitive!' She thought as she looked at Dumbledore and answered him.

"I don't know. I don't think Harry ever told anyone what exactly happened that night. All I know is Lily died protecting Harry, and thanks to that protection Harry lived. All he has left of that night is a lightening bolt-shaped scar on his forehead, and the memory."

"Wait." Aeris said "Harry was there? He still remembers it?"

"Yes"

Looking around the room again, she found Dumbledore looking thoughtful. There was no twinkle present in his eyes.

"So you knew about Harry all this time, while we were out searching for him? While I began to think he had died after all!?" James asked.

She guiltily looked at him. "I had promised" was her excuse.

"I want to see him." Was his reply.

"He'll be in school now."

"So get him out."

"I can't just give a call telling him to get his arse down to my office because the father he never met is demanding to see him!" emphasizing the word 'demanding' trying to make him see reason. He was quiet after that. But she did notice something different about him. He had the determination, the reason to live back in his eyes. It was something he had lost when Lily had died.

"Then when can I see him?"

She thought about that. Harry would be coming to visit today after school. With a bit of luck he would touch something, and see this meeting. Of course, that would be with a lot of luck. He would most probably be coming the day after tomorrow, like she had asked. Making up her mind, she answered.

"The day after tomorrow."

Thank you!

Harry and James will meet in the next chapter, also Harry will see Sirius and Dumbledore, and an interesting decision will be made! Three guesses what that will be.

Anyway, I need some help from my favorite readers! After Harry and James meet, they'll have to do some stuff together to get to know each other. For example: going to the zoo and James tells stories about the Marauders. The problem is, I don't know what they can do together, or where they can go, so if you could please help me out, I would very much appreciate it!! Also, if anyone knows some really funny marauder fics please send them to me, I think I'll need the inspirations!!

P.S. One of you asked if I am going to pair Harry with anyone, and the answer is yes. I don't think it will be Ginny though; instead I will take a leaf out of one of my favorite stories!

I love your reviews by the way! And if you guys have anything you want to see in the story, just put it in a review and I'll see if I can work it in. ( In other words, REVIEW!!:P)