Authors Note: Thanks for all the reviews.
Harry's heart pounded as the door seemed to take an eternity to open. When it finally did so, he was met with the face that he had never seen in person. A face that he was so often told that he mirrored so closely.
"Stupefy!" yelled James, his wand pointed at Harry.
Harry had expected this and quickly conjured a shield. The force of it knocked his father back into the house. Harry quickly ran forward and grabbed his wand from the floor as James stood and put up his hands as though to fight Harry. There was desperation in his eyes and Harry knew that he would do anything to protect his wife and son who were upstairs; the trouble was that he didn't know that he was trying to kill and protect his son at the same time.
"D…James," Harry stammered, his wand pointed at his father. "You have to listen to me."
"I knew Wormtail would betray us," yelled James, never taking his eyes off of Harry. "Lily always said she never felt safe when Peter was around, I should have listened."
"You're wrong, well not about everything," Harry tried to find the words. "I'm not here to hurt you."
"Of course not," James retorted, "the Killing Curse doesn't hurt."
"Bloody hell," Harry muttered. "If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't be standing there right now. I'd have done it already, wouldn't I?"
Though James did not put his hands down, or even move for that fact, Harry noticed something in his eyes. He didn't know what it was, but he waited with baited breath for James to speak. When he did so, his tone had calmed down a little. "So are you here to take us to Voldemort so he can do it himself?"
"Look, if I wanted to do any of that, I would have made a move already," said Harry, trying to reason with his father. He wanted his parents to come with him because they wanted to, not because he stunned them and forced them to go.
"Tough words from a man holding my wand," said James.
"Fine," said Harry, tossing James' wand back to him. James caught it in midair and pointed it at Harry once more. "You have your wand back. If I wanted to cause you any harm, do you really think I would have given it back to you?"
"I guess not," said James, trying to make sense of the situation in spite of himself.
"If I wanted you dead, do you really think I would have knocked on the door?" Harry paused, trying to figure out what to say next. "Dumbledore…I'm here and Dumbledore knows it."
"You know Dumbledore?" James asked incredulously.
"Everyone knows Dumbledore," said Harry smartly.
"Humph," was all James could muster. He surveyed the youth in front of him, and for the first time, he truly looked at him. He registered the fact that it was almost like looking into a mirror. The two looked so very much alike that it was uncanny. They varied in one place though. "You're eyes," was all James.
Harry blinked several times. He noted that James seemed to finally calm down. "Yes?" He was trying to play coy, but he knew exactly where James was going with his statement.
"Nothing," he said, though he continued to stare at Harry strangely, never dropping his wand or taking his blue eyes from Harry's emerald ones. "You haven't given me any reason to trust you. What is it that you want from us?"
"I just need you, and you're wife and child to come with me to the Leaky Cauldron. Once there, we're going to meet up with Dumbledore and he will tell us what to do from there."
"You expect me to just blindly follow you? You could be leading us to our deaths for all I know."
Harry's patience was growing more and more thin. He sighed heavily. "James, if I wanted to kill you or do you any harm, I'd have done it already. Please, just do as I say and Dumbledore will take care of the rest."
"James…," came a new voice from the top of the stairs. Both heads turned, neither moving their wands, to look at who the voice had come from.
Lily Potter was standing at the top of the stairs, wand in one hand and baby Harry in the other hand. Her deep red hair seemed to have a shine about it. Harry thought that it was just the fact that he was seeing her properly for the first time, but she seemed to have some sort of glow about herself. Her eyes shone against the dark backdrop of the unlit hallway.
"James?" she asked, looking down the stairs. "Why does it look like there are two of you? Is that Sirius playing another joke?" she half smiled yet never dropped her wand.
"No, Lily," said James, walking up the stairs to his wife and child. "I don't know who he is. He claims that Dumbledore sent him to bring us to him."
The three began to walk down the stairs to Harry. He saw himself in his mother's arms, watching the whole thing. "If Dumbledore wanted to see us, why didn't he just come himself?" asked Lily.
"I can't tell you that right now," said Harry. "If Dumbledore says it's alright, you'll know the truth soon enough."
Lily walked right up to Harry, pointing her wand right at his chest in the process. "Why should we trust you?" she asked.
"Lily look," said James. "Look at Harry."
Baby Harry was smiling as he looked at his older self. He pushed himself away from his mother and tried to reach for Harry.
"He doesn't do that for just anyone," said James quietly. "He certainly didn't do it the first time he met Peter."
"Harry is a very good judge of character," said Lily, talking about her infant son.
Elder Harry felt his own face grow hot and knew that he was turning red. "Do you believe me now?"
Lily and James looked at one another. They didn't speak to one another; instead they looked into one another's eyes. They both nodded after about a minute or so.
"Since Harry here seems to like you," began James, "we'll trust you for the moment."
"We will go with you to the Leaky Cauldron on one condition," said Lily.
"What condition?" asked Harry.
"We'll hold onto your wand. If Dumbledore does indeed show up, then you'll get it back."
"Sounds reasonable enough," said Harry. He handed his wand over to James who took it and put it inside his robes. "Can we go now?"
"I see no reason why not," said Lily.
"Apparate to the upstairs hallway in the Leaky Cauldron," Harry explained. "I'll take you to my room."
They both nodded. Lily pulled Harry closer to her and vanished with a pop. James did the same a second later, closely followed by Harry.
The group reappeared in the hall out side Harry's room. After making sure that they were alright, he led them to his room. He opened the door and ushered them in quickly. Once he turned around, he was met with a surprise.
"Sir?" He asked, looking at the tall frame of Albus Dumbledore. "I thought I was supposed to owl you once I got them here."
"I know, but I thought it best to be here when you arrived. There is much to be done," he said.
"Albus, what's going on here?" James asked, handing Harry back his wand.
"For your own protection, I think it is best not to discuss it here," said Dumbledore. "If you would all be so kind as to touch this portkey, I will explain once we arrive at our destination."
The group grabbed onto the old boot Dumbledore was holding and each felt a familiar tug behind their navel. They landed in a dark room that looked quite old. It had the makings of a bedroom, but it just appeared to be quite dirty.
Harry recognized the place immediately. They were at Grimmuald Place. He could tell from the stench in the air. He had been here just a few weeks earlier with Ron and Hermione, but upon looking at himself in his mother's arms, his head began to ache upon realizing that he had not been there yet
"Dumbledore," said the voice of James, now quite firm as he took a seat, prompting Lily to do the same, "I want answers."
"And indeed you do deserve them," said the Headmaster. "You have been kept in the dark about many things over the past few weeks. I thank you for having such trust in me. To follow me so blindly shows that you truly believe in what must be done. In a few minutes, someone will be joining us to fill you in on something. As to what has happened to you in the last hour or so, I believe that he may be able to fill you in," said Dumbledore, nodding at Harry.
Harry choked on his own saliva. He didn't know that Dumbledore was going to put him on the spot the way he did.
"Sir?" Harry stammered.
"I understand that you may be a little…put off, but I cannot tell this tale. There are some parts that you and you alone know," said Dumbledore. "Remember though; though some of us cannot see the forest because of the trees, sometimes the forest is all that needs to be seen and not the trees themselves."
Harry looked perplexed at the Headmaster's words. He knew that it was a warning of some sort. Details, he thought. Dumbledore didn't want him to go into too much detail about anything.
"Well, out with it," said James.
"My name," began Harry in a very serious tone, "is Harry James Potter. I'm seventeen years old, and I am your son."
There was silence in the room as though the strongest silence charm had been cast. The silence seemed to go on forever, and Harry wished that someone would talk. He looked to Dumbledore, who only nodded his approval and then back at his parents. Harry gave a little start as a sound broke the silence.
James began laughing like a mad man. He was slapping his knee and tears were forming in his eyes.
Lily silenced him with a very vicious look. James stopped, mid laugh and looked at Harry. "How do you expect us to believe that you are who you say you are?" she asked.
"I know that it will be a very hard pill to swallow, and I know you have no reason to believe me, but just look at me, and you'll know I'm telling the truth," said Harry. "James, you noticed it."
"Yes," said James slowly. "You look just like I did when I was 17. You have Lily's eyes though."
"But…how?" asked Lily.
Harry went on to explain that he and his two friends had been on the trail of a Death Eater. He explained that Voldemort was powerful in his time and that they went after the Death Eater for information. He then told them how he slipped in a puddle and found himself thrown back in time. He made sure to leave out as much as possible, but left in enough for them to know that he was telling the truth.
"Dumbledore, what did he slip through?" asked Lily. "I've never heard of such a Potion and I was top of our class for N.E.W.T's."
"I am afraid that I too am in the dark as to what potion was used. We will have to find out in order to send Harry back to his time."
James opened his mouth to ask a question. He was silenced by the sound of a knock at the door. The door knob turned slowly and in walked a face familiar to all inside.
"Snape," spat Harry, drawing his wand.
"Snivellus," muttered James, drawing his wand as well.
"Sev?" said Lily, now staring curiously at the man framed in the doorway.