Chapter 4: Bedside Chats and Nightmares

In Harry's bedroom (which was really Sirius') a few hours later,

Harry was holding a pillow tight to his chest with his back toward the headboard when he heard a knock on the door. Within the few hours, he had heard his parents yelling in shock as his life story was revealed. Or at least, parts of it.

"Go away." Harry said.

"Harry. May I have a word with you?" Dumbledore's voice came.

Harry sighed.

"Sure."

The door opened and Dumbledore stepped in.

"Your grandfather told me what happened." Dumbledore said.

He held the pillow tighter.

"I believe I owe you an explanation." Dumbledore said. "When you were in the hospital wing after your encounter with Voldemort during your first year, you asked me a question that I felt it wasn't time for you to know the answer. Your parents, their friends, and your grandparents convinced me that you are now old enough. You asked why Voldemort tried to kill you in the first place."

"I'm listening." Harry said looking at the bed.

"A prophesy had been made concerning you and Voldemort. I have it in my pensieve, but the gist of it is a boy, with the ability to defeat Voldemort, will be born at the end of July to parents who are in the Order of the Phoenix. .And this boy would be marked by Voldemort as his equal and shall have powers that Voldemort does not know of. Your grandmother told me that you know about the Order."

Harry nodded.

"THAT is why Voldemort went after your parents that night." Dumbledore said. "The Death Eater who overheard the seer and myself that night only caught the first part."

"So…it's MY fault Mum and Dad died in the first place."

"You misunderstand me Harry." Dumbledore said placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Your parents made the decision to bring you into this world. The Death Eater who overheard the prophesy made the decision to tell Voldemort. Your godfather made the decision to suggest the switch. Your parents made the decision to go through with the switch. Peter Pettigrew made the decision to betray his friends. Voldemort made the decision to go after you and your family. Sirius made the decision to go after Pettigrew before coming to me. You had no say in the events whatsoever. After all, you were only an infant."

Harry was silent.

"Here is a ray of hope in light of these recent events." Dumbledore said. "Because of the return of Lily Potter, the blood protection has been transferred. You no longer have to return to the Dursleys. I shall send some members to retrieve your belongings."

"Can you tell them to look under the floor board under the bed?" Harry asked as Dumbledore started to leave. "If they find a blank piece of parchment, tell them to just pack it."

"Would this be the map Mr. Crouch was talking about?"

"Yes sir." Harry admitted.

"Wish you had it your first year?"

"You have no idea." Harry told him remembering how he had been late to his first Transfiguration class.

Dumbledore left Harry to his thoughts.

0000

An hour later,

KNOCK KNOCK

"Who is it?" Harry asked.

"Sirius."

"Come in."

"You're supposed to say "Sirius who?"" His godfather told him as he entered.

Harry managed a smile.

"I thought I could get you laughing." Sirius said.

"I'm not laughing. I'm smiling." Harry told him.

"There's a difference?" Sirius joked.

"You seem happy." Harry told his godfather.

"Of course. You're here; I have my best friend back; He doesn't blame me. To think, today, I went from depressed, to panicky, to happy, to shocked, to worried, then to ecstatic."

"Why all those?" Harry asked.

"Because I was stuck in this…place." Sirius told him. "Then I got word that you vanished, then you showed up which made me happy. I was shocked because of the revival of not only your grandparents, but also your parents. Worried because I didn't think your dad would forgive me for suggesting the switch. Ecstatic because he's forgiven me, even though he said there was nothing to forgive."

"I could have told you that."

"That's not the best part. Now with Prongs back, he's going to try to get my named cleared."

"That's good." Harry said looking at the bed.

"What's wrong, Prongslet?" Sirius asked.

"With Dad back, you have no reason to care about me anymore." Harry told him.

"Where did you…Oh. This is one of those self-degrading moments courtesy of the Dursleys. Harry. I will ALWAYS care about you."

Harry hugged his pillow tighter.

Sirius tried to think of something to say that would cheer the boy up.

"Hey. Did you know that when your Dad pounded on the door a few hours ago, it reminded me of when he, Wormtail, Moony, and I were locked in the girls' bathroom?"

"Really?"

"To make things worse, it was Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. We should go back to Hogwarts and do it to him again. Maybe even to you."

"I know a way out." Harry told him.

"Do what again?" a second voice asked from the open door.

James Potter was standing at the door leaning on the frame.

Harry buried his head in his pillow. He wasn't ready.

"Lock you and your son in Myrtle's bathroom." Sirius told his best friend.

"Please no." James Potter shuddered as he walked in. "Last time, Myrtle started crushing on me."

"I thought you liked it when girls threw themselves at your feet."

"Yeah. But I preferred them my age, redheaded, alive, and named 'Lily'. Although I have yet to see Lily throw herself at my feet."

He suddenly saw his son with his face buried in the pillow.

"Is…" James started to asked pointing at the boy.

Sirius nodded.

"Harry?" James asked.

Harry just tensed as he worried about being rejected.

Sirius climbed around Harry and made room for James so he could sit next to Harry on the bed.

James hesitated, but eventually managed to put a hand on Harry's back. He felt the boy tense even more at the touch, but he left his hand there and started rubbing Harry's back. Déjà vu hit James like an anvil as he remembered doing the same thing to Harry when he was younger.

Harry relaxed at the soothing motion.

"Be careful Prongs." Sirius warned him. "Remember the last time you did that? If you rub too long…"

It was too late. Between the relaxing motion of his father's hand rubbing his back and how tired he was after a long day, Harry fell over into his father's arms as he fell asleep.

"Still have the magic touch." Sirius teased as he remembered Harry falling asleep on James' shoulders fourteen years ago after James rubbed Harry's back to calm the crying infant.

James wasn't listening. He was too enthralled at how much Harry looked like him. With Harry relaxed, he wasn't holding onto the pillow as tightly. Sirius had taken the pillow away to reveal Harry's face to James.

"Let's get him to bed." Sirius suggested. "He had a long day."

After a few minutes, the two Marauders got the sleeping boy into some pajamas and tucked under the covers. Glasses on the nightstand.

"We'll move him in with Ron tomorrow." Sirius said. "He needs sleep right now."

James wasn't listening again. He was caressing his son's face. Suddenly, his eyes fell on the scar. He fingered it curiously.

"That's the place." Sirius told him. "That's where the curse hit him."

"He's been through so much." James sighed.

"You don't know the half of it." Sirius said.

0000

Three in the morning,

"NO!" Harry yelled in his sleep. "NO! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

"Harry!" Sirius called as he ran into the bedroom. "Harry! Wake up!"

"No!" Harry whimpered still asleep. "Cedric."

"What's wrong?" Cedric asked sleepily as he entered.

"Nightmares about the Third Task." Elizabeth explained as she, Charles, James, and Lily came into the room. "He's had them all week. I could never comfort him because I was in the cage."

"My poor baby." Lily cried as she went to join Sirius in trying to wake Harry up. "Harry. Wake up."

"Mum. Dad." Harry said in his sleep. "No. Don't go."

"We're not going anywhere." Lily said. "Why won't he wake?"

"NO!" Harry called in his dream. "RON! HERMIONE! GINNY! GET OUT OF HERE! REMUS! SIRIUS!"

"JAMES!" Lily cried out.

"I'm right here." James told her with a wince. She had yelled practically in his ear.

"Get your son calmed down." She ordered. "Sirius said you still had your magic touch."

James pulled his son into a sitting position and held the sleeping boy in his arms while laying Harry's head on his shoulder.

"No." Harry whimpered. "Don't do it."

"Shh." James said rocking the boy while rubbing his back. "It's okay Harry. Lils. We might need your part as well."

She nodded and stroked Harry's hair.

"It's okay." She whispered to her son. "We won't let anything happen to you."

Harry relaxed as the voices brought back a lost memory in the form of a dream.

"Shh." A twenty-year old James said holding a crying baby Harry. "Don't cry. I know you don't feel well. But you need to take a nap for the medicine to kick in."

"We won't let anything happen to you, Sweetheart." A twenty-year old Lily added as she stroked the baby's head that was lodged on his father's shoulder.

"How did you do that?" Ron asked as he saw his friend relax.

"Parental touch." Molly told him. "Back to bed, everyone."

James started to lay Harry back down, but Harry subconsciously grabbed on to James' robe.

"Um. I think I'm stuck here." James said.

"You guys go onto bed." Lily told the others. "We'll stay with Harry."

They nodded and left.

James and Lily continued to comfort their distraught son.

"Don't go." Harry said in his sleep. "Don't leave me again."

"We won't." James answered.

"I still can't get over how much he looks like you." Lily whispered.

"Except for the scar and he's a bit thinner." James corrected. "And from what I've heard, he still has your eyes."

"From what you've heard? You came here earlier to check on him."

"He had his face buried in a pillow." James explained. "Then he fell asleep."

Silence

"Why don't you go onto bed?" James said

"I'll go when you go." Lily told him

TBC