A full silence had come over the bedroom. Baby Harry was sleeping quietly in a conjured crib. Lily and James Potter sat on one side of the room on a squashy love chair. Lily's head was resting against her husband's shoulder and their hands were entwined. Across from them sat another Potter, their son Harry. He stared at them and they stared back. Neither wanted to break the silence because doing so would open a flood gate from which there could be no closure.
James stifled a yawn. "So?" he said, nodding his head a little. "How about those Tornadoes?"
Harry smiled in spite of himself. He was still adjusting to what he was seeing and was still being swept up in the magic of it all. For seventeen years, he had wanted to speak to his parents. And now, here he was, sitting in the same room as them not saying a word. "I know you have questions," Harry said.
Both Lily and James sat bolt upright. "What's it like?" Asked Lily.
"What's what like?" asked Harry.
"The future," she said with baited breath.
Harry placed a hand on his head. His mother couldn't have asked a more general question. "I don't…really know how to describe it," he said slowly. "I mean…it's a lot really."
"Well start at the beginning," said Lily.
Harry looked up at her. "I can't really tell you everything," Harry warned. "It'd be best if you just asked more specific questions." Harry thought that Hermione would be proud of him for exercising some restraint in this situation.
"Ah, of course," Piped up James, "Lily he has to be careful. He could destroy the entire time line if he tells us something." He grinned and laughed loudly, though he was the only one doing so.
"Anyway," Lily continued on as if James had not spoken a word, "I'm guessing that me and James didn't make it past tonight." With her carefree tone, she could have been talking about the weather. "I knew there was something very off about Wormtail. Even when we were off at school, but I didn't think that he would do this."
James' eyes seemed to take on a new darkness. "I called him my friend," he muttered. "We took him in and made him our friend at school. When no one else would take him in, we did." Lily gave his hand a squeeze and he seemed to calm down a bit. "He'll have his day," James muttered.
Harry didn't know what to say. "You're right. You two didn't survive past tonight, but that's all been changed now."
"That's something to celebrate," James said. He smiled, and Harry was happy to see him do so. "So what happened that night? You said Voldemort vanished, but that's quite a feat to do. I bet I'm the one who took him down. I always knew I had it in me."
"Sorry, but no," Harry laughed. "Voldemort killed you both, and then tried to do the same to me. He couldn't do it though, and he…broke himself."
"Do you know how that happened?" Lily asked. She was always eager to learn some new bit of information.
"Yeah," Harry nodded.
"And that's one of those things you can't tell us," she said as a statement and not a question. Harry nodded, and she followed suit, hoping for him to continue.
"Hagrid took me away from the wreckage," Harry continued. "Sirius wanted to do it, but Hagrid was there on Dumbledore's orders. He took me to Privet Drive and…"
"No!" Lily yelled, and nearly jumped out of her seat. She woke the younger Harry who instead of crying, sat up in the crib and looked around. "He didn't take you to Petunia did he?"
Harry nodded.
"Oh Harry," she sighed. "I'm so sorry. I never wanted you to end up there. She's always been jealous of me. She went off and married that awful man and turned him against James and me." She looked quite peeved. "How did they treat you?"
Harry was happy that she had avoided asking about why he had been sent there instead of with his Godfather. "They let me live there," was all he could muster to say. "I don't really recall any fond memories from there. The best day of my life was the day Hagrid came to tell me that I was a wizard and I was going to Hogwarts."
"What?" James yelled incredulously. "They didn't even tell you that you were a wizard? What about us? Surely you had to have been told how he died."
"Actually no," Harry said. "They got angry whenever I would do something that they called "funny". They told me that you two had died in a car crash."
"A car crash kill Lily and James Potter?" James looked livid. "If I ever get my hands on that sister of yours, I'll have little something for her."
"I'm sorry," Lily said once more.
"It's alright," he said, "there was nothing you could have done about it, considering the fact that you were…you know…dead."
"Harry," Lily began, "I really want to thank you for all that you've done for us. If it wasn't for you being here right now, we'd be gone, and you'd be left to carry this burden all alone. I know we've got a rough bit ahead of us, but I'm glad that we'll have you hear with us."
Harry didn't know what to say. He felt some lump form in his chest and when he tried to speak, nothing would come out.
"Where were Sirius and Remus?" asked James. "Surely they visited you all the time."
Harry looked apprehensive about answering. "No, not really. I didn't meet Remus until my third year. He was our DADA Professor, and I didn't even know that he knew you all at first."
"Hmm," was all James could manage. "What about Sirius?"
"Sirius was in Azkaban," Harry said.
Lily and James looked at one another in horror. Their eyes widened. "How?" they both asked at the same time.
"He went because everyone thought he murdered Wormtail," Harry explained.
The door burst open. In walked a face that Harry hadn't seen for two years. His features had not been dulled and diminished by the many years in Azkaban. His eyes were vibrant and full of life. "Lily? James?" He asked. "Dumbledore told me that I'd be having guests, but I didn't expect you two." He then turned and looked at the elder Harry. "Who the bloody hell are you?"
000000000000000
"Professor," called Hermione from her seat. "Professor Snape."
"Yes Ms. Granger?" he responded rudely, setting down his cauldron.
"Professor, I know that you're making some sort of potion," she said.
"Whatever would give you that impression? Was it the cauldron? Or maybe the many ingredients spread out on the table?" It was clear his patience was running thin.
"I'd like to help," she said.
"Do I look like a fool to you, Ms. Granger?" he asked, his cold eyes focused on her. "The minute I let you up from that chair you'll try to escape. I do not have the time to recapture you."
"No," she said. "I promise not to," her voice sounded desperate. "We just want Harry back. I know that whatever you're brewing is going to help bring him back to us."
"Hermione, what the bloody hell are you doing?" asked Ron
"I'm trying to get Harry back," she said. "Professor, the ingredients that you have on the table…"
"What about them?" asked Severus?
"You've got thestral blood," she said. "I know for a fact that when mixing any potion with thestral blood, you have to continuously stir for two hours straight. While stirring, you have to add a few of the ingredients."
"Thank you for trying to enlighten me, Ms Granger, but I am afraid that I already know what you have told me."
"What if you get called away though?" she asked. "It'll be ruined, and I doubt that you'll be able to get more thestral blood. It's too rare."
Snape's eyes did not betray him. They remained as cold as ever but he was thinking about what she was saying. The Dark Lord was becoming more erratic with the meetings. There was every possibility that he would be called away for something. "I will let you out your seat on one condition," he said evenly.
"What?" she asked.
"I keep your wand," he said. His tone let her know that he wasn't asking for her approval. He had already hidden both of their wands.
"Fine," Hermione said, and Ron looked at her as though he didn't recognize her. Once free of her ropes, she looked at him. "We need to get Harry back, no matter what," Hermione said. Her quick mind was already moving, formulating a plan.
0000000000000
Albus Dumbledore sat in his office. He leaned back in his chair, fingers pursed together. He was trying to make sense of all that he had been through over the course of the past two days. He was trying to make pieces of a puzzle fit. It must have been some kind of fate that led Harry back to this day and this time. He had already deduced why the elder Severus Snape had created the portal. "What we do for love," he said quietly. There was a knock at his door. "Come in," he said. Minerva McGonagall walked in and took the seat directly opposite her old friend and mentor.
"Albus, what is so urgent?" she asked. "The students are all in bed now, but look at the hour."
"Minerva," he began, "something has happened. I believe that we may have just been handed the means by which we will end this war."
"What has happened Albus?" she asked.
"I cannot say fully," he said. "However, when the Order meets, there will be much to talk about." He sat up a little bit. "Has Severus left already?"
"Yes," she said. "He left an hour ago."
"Good, good," muttered Dumbledore. "Minerva, if you would be so kind, could you send an owl to Remus Lupin? Please tell him to contact me. After that, could you please contact the Order and let them know that the meeting has been moved up to tomorrow afternoon?"
"Yes, Albus," she said simply.
"Thank you," Dumbledore said quietly. Minerva left the room.
Dumbledore rose from his seat and headed over to a cabinet against the wall. He opened it and pulled out his wand. "I must remember this," he said as he began to empty memories into the pensieve.