Chapter 131: Family Fun

"Ok, now what?" Sirius asked bluntly. They had arranged to gather after dinner and discussed about strategies to defeat Voldemort.

"Padfoot, can't you see we're thinking?" James told him again. Sirius would keep asking the same thing after five minute of silence among the group.

"Well, we've to get the root of this doing." Remus reminded them again. So far, they had been thinking a superficial level.

"What is the root of this evil except Voldemort?" Sirius asked in a frank and even mildly candid tone. They had similar discussions before but to no success.

"Slytherin." Harry suggested. After all, Voldemort was a descendant of Slytherin.

"Do you mean that we go back to thousands of years ago to revert the history?" Lily asked.

"And if there're any mistakes, the results could have been disastrous." Remus pointed out. No one would have known it better than him.

"Are we going to travel back through time the way Harry and Ginny did?" James frowned at the thought of it.

"Actually that sounds like the only way." Stefanie spoke up. "Even Dumbledore can't defeat him. And besides we had tried many ideas and haven't been successful."

"It is the what-ifs that sound daunting." Arabella stated. "Any bit of meddling with distant history can magnify the results thousands of times." She was frowning slightly as she spoke.

"Let's say if we proceed with this, what do you think will happen to the present time?" Ginny asked. Everyone remained silent, not knowing what the answer was.

"I'll try to check it out." Remus said. "Let's say that we decide to go back to ancient times and change Slytherin's opinion on muggleborns."

"Let me go with you." Stefanie placed her hand on Remus' lap.

"It might be dangerous." Remus disagreed. "And you're not in the best conditions."

"I'm in the condition as well as you are." Stefanie argued. Remus just had his transformation two nights ago and was not in his best shape.

"I agree with Stef, you need to rest now."

"James, Sirius, both of you know that I'm as fit as any other day." Remus gave a very determined look. "And I'll be fine."

"I won't stop you." James told Remus. "But do let Stef go with you just in case."

"Take this Light Compass along with you, just in case." Harry took out the triangular disk with three rounded-edges from his pocket and handed over to Stefanie.

"Thanks." Stefanie nodded to Harry. "We'll be back soon." With a nodded, both of them vanished from the couch they were sitting on seconds ago. The rest remained silent for quite some time before Sirius broke the silence.

"Shall I get us some finger food while waiting?" Sirius stood up and popped the question. James chuckled at Sirius blatant outburst.

"That would be nice." Arabella responded while no one else said anything. Sirius went straight to the kitchens immediately.

After what felt like fifteen minutes, Sirius reappeared with a large tray of food floating behind him.

"I've got everything, from fried nuggets to egg tarts." Sirius announced as he magicked the oversized tray onto the coffee table.

"Let's dig in. We need more energy to get better ideas." James said light-heartedly and scooped a chicken pie into his serving dish for Lily.

"No point sitting here in silence. They will be back before we know it, like always." Lily said optimistically.

Within five minutes, Remus and Stefanie reappeared on the couch once again, looking windblown.

"So how is it?" Sirius asked immediately.

"I don't know. We didn't manage to find anything." Remus said in a rather disappointed tone. "The actions are too vague to determine what could have happen." He took out the Light Compass from his pocket and placed it lightly on the coffee table.

"The changes we saw didn't look very significant." Stefanie continued for Remus. "But there might be hidden modifications that could be more disastrous."

"Bell had made a very good point about changing history." James pointed out. "We can't afford to make any mistakes that could jeopardize the current times."

"But then if we don't try, we won't know what will happen." Lily frowned.

"Who agree with me to go to the past and change our history?" Sirius asked as he raised his right hand. The rest looked at one another, each of them deep in their thoughts. For several minutes, nobody spoke.

"As long as we believe, miracles can happen." Arabella said suddenly. "I will go to the past with you."

"We've to give it a try." James said with determination. "There're no other choices."

"Of course we're all here to create miracles." Lily said positively. "What are we waiting for?" Remus and Stefanie looked at each other, debating between their rational self and friends' persistence.

"Well, we won't know unless we give it a try." Stefanie said after a few moments of silence. "Shall we?"

"Sorry, I don't mean to be un-cooperative or something. I just feel that we should have a better idea of what we intend to do there first. Any slight mistakes will lead to a greater catastrophe." Remus insisted on his point. "Do you get what I mean?"

"Yes, we understand your point." James said empathetically. "But then, don't you think the current situation our community is in now is considered a catastrophe?"

"I know what you mean." Remus sighed. "We don't really have much of a choice but to take this gamble."

"That's it then." James took the lead. "Have a good rest tonight and we'll set off tomorrow morning." He stood up and stacked the emptied plates together.

"I'm not too sure about all these." Stefanie and Remus walked out of the hall talking in low voices about their insecurities and doubts in this plan.

Arabella followed and walked slightly behind them. Let's hope this works. And then I may just get my magical abilities back. With a glimmer of hope of becoming a witch once more, she picked up speed in returning back to her bedroom.

"Bell, why are you walking so fast?" Sirius called out from the back. Apparently it seemed like Arabella had not heard him calling her.

"You get some rest too." Lily told James as she helped him with the plates. Before they had managed to finish clearing, two house elves came into the hall and cleared the plates magically. "Have you forgotten that you're officially allowed to use magic outside Hogwarts?"

"Actually, I've forgot about that." James laughed at himself. "I must be tired."

"I realized." Lily chuckled. "Harry, Ginny, aren't you two going to bed yet?"

"Erm, yeah, soon." Harry mumbled incoherently. "Actually I haven't really talked to both of you since I came back." He looked on the floor as he spoke. Ginny seemed to sense that he wanted to share some private moments with his parents and said a quick 'Good night' before disappearing off to the hallway.

"That's true." Lily said softly and took a seat beside Harry. "We've been too busy. Sorry about that."

"It must have been terrible growing up without parents." James took a seat back at the adjunction couch next to Harry.

"I'm afraid I might not be a good mother to you since you are almost my age, but I'll try my best." Lily admitted. It was really quite strange to have your future son sitting next to you at your future husband's house somewhere late in the night.

"Both of you have been great." Harry said. "It's just that all these years, I've always been hoping to meet both of you." He relaxed as he spoke. "I remember the first time I actually saw my family was in my first year, in the Mirror of Erised."

"That's the mirror where you can see your deepest desires." James commented. The Marauders had several encounters with the mirror occasionally in their late-night wanderings back in Hogwarts.

"Then after Christmas, Hagrid gave me an album full of your pictures - magical photos – it was wonderful." Harry remembered when he first seen the album, he was ecstatic. "And Dumbledore gave me your invisibility cloak."

"Oh no, he didn't." Lily was not sure why she said that.

"How did my cloak ended up with him?" James asked. "I still have my cloak with me right now."

"I remembered I packed in my bag before we came back, but somehow it had vanished." Harry told them. "Perhaps the same cloak can't exist in duplicates or something."

"Right." James nodded, as a signal for Harry to continue.

"Then in my forth year when I faced with Voldemort." Lily shuddered at the thought of her son facing Voldemort at the age of fourteen. "Our wands met and created a Priori Incantatem."

"You saw us." Lily knew what the spell meant.

"That was probably the closest time when both of you were standing by my side, other than now." Harry recalled. "It's a wonderful feeling if not for the situation I was in."

"Oh, we're so sorry that we can't be there with you when you were dueling with Voldemort." Lily gave Harry a bone-crushing hug.

"Erm -" Harry started, "Mum," as he tried to calm Lily down by patting her back gently.

"Lily, you're crushing Harry." James chuckled. It was strange seeing the maternal side of Lily for a change.

"Oh, am I?" Lily released Harry instantly. "Oops." She grinned sheepishly. "Oh, do continue."

"Well, there's isn't much really." Harry waved off his life-threatening events through his life.

"How did you ended up facing Voldemort?" James frowned. It would not be possible for Harry to be exposed to such dangers in the safety of Hogwarts.

"It's a long story, but the Triwizard cup-"

"What Triwizard cup?" Lily interrupted Harry again. "You didn't attempt to take part in the Triwizard Tournament or something, did you?"

"Actually I did, not willingly of course." Harry tried to summarize the whole ordeal about the Triwizard Tournament for his parents' understanding. "Wormtail killed Cedric Diggory with the Killing Curse and somehow I won the tournament."

"Diggory, as in Amos Diggory's son." James assumed. There had been rumors around the Hogwarts graduates that Amos had proposed to his girlfriend but none of them had been bothered to seek the truth.

"That's him, alright." Harry confirmed.

"He'll be devastated to learn that." Lily said sympathetically. "Anyone would."

"That's why we need to change the course of events, so all of Harry's future will not come true." James narrowed his eyes in determination.

"Actually there're parts that I still hope will come true." Harry grinned, and winked as James. Both wizards laughed at the same time.

"Okay, is there something I'm not catching?" Lily crossed her hands at her chest.

"Nothing much actually." James gave a similar lopsided grin. "Now what other life-endangering events have my brave son faced?" He quickly changed the topic before Lily would start bugging them for it. That was, after all, a male's joke.

"Honestly, I've lost count." Harry snorted. "I don't exactly enjoy keeping in track how many times I was nearly killed, to put it mildly."

"Alright, it's getting late." James' watch was showing 0022 hours. "We need ample rest to prepare for tomorrow."

"Harry, it's really nice learning more about you." Lily patted his upper arm since she was not tall enough to pat his shoulders normally. "We can do this again some other time, maybe when we're back there." They all knew what the 'there' meant - the distant past. They started heading back to their bedrooms together, making small talks about food and jokes.

"Thanks." Harry smiled, this was the time he had longed for all his life. To walk together, to talk to them and to see them as real people. "Oh – and one more thing." Harry paused by his opened room. "Do you want me to call you by your names or by - er.. relation?" James and Lily shared a bemused expression.

"Whichever you want." Lily tilted her head a little, smiling fondly at him.

"Up to you." James said what he thought was the most fatherly sounding.

"Alright, good night - dad, good night - mum." Harry said a little slowly, it was really weird but yet wonderful.

"Good night, Harry." James and Lily said at the same time. They chuckled at their synchrony.

"So Harry, do you want us to tuck you to bed or something?" Lily joked when Harry was still not going into his room.

"That would be nice." Harry played along with his mother.

"Alrighty." Lily laughed and turned to shove Harry back into his room. James caught up and pulled up Harry's comforters, waiting for him to lie down before throwing it above him.

"Aad, you're covering my head too." Harry flipped the sheets over and exposed his head on the large pillows.

"Not experienced in this field." James joked and straightened the sides. It was certainly a funny sight to see three eighteen-year-olds behaving in such a manner.

"Okay, good night sweet dreams." Lily climbed onto Harry's bed and gave him a good night kiss on his forehead.

"Sleep tight, son." James ruffled Harry's hair, making it a lot messier than before. "It would be strange if I kiss you on the forehead."

"Yeah." Harry grinned. "But I don't think I'll mind that." Lily looked up at James expectantly, shooting him a look as if challenging him if he dared to kiss his son good night.

"That's it." James bent down and gave a quick peck on Harry's forehead. Both Lily and Harry burst into laughter while he turned a few shades redder. "Good night and stop laughing." This only made Lily and Harry laughed even louder.

"Alright, if we carry on any longer, it probably gonna go all the way to breakfast." Lily tried to stifle her laughter. "We all need some rest tonight. James, let's go." Both of them climbed out of Harry's bed.

"Thanks for your time." Harry said appreciatively.

"Anytime for you, Harry." Lily smiled warmly at Harry before pulling a red-faced James out of his bedroom.

"That was so embarrassing." James muttered once they were out of earshot from Harry.

"That's a very – how should I put it, fatherly – side of you." Lily laughed. "You couldn't have done it better, or funnier."

"Yeah, thank you very much for the vote of confident." James mumbled, not in a bad way. "You better get some rest too. See you tomorrow morning, or should I say later?"

"You too. Nitey." Lily tiptoed and gave James a peck on his lips before returning into her bedroom with a lingering gaze.

What a night. Totally embarrassing. Sirius better not know this or I'll never live it down. James thought as he closed his bedroom door behind him. Taking off his top and flinging it onto the armchair, he went straight into bed and falling asleep almost instantly.

X

"Oh, Daddy James, good morning." Sirius said in this off-key high-pitched tune. Harry, Ginny and Arabella burst into laughter again at Sirius' animated being. "Aren't you going to kiss me good morning?" He continued taunting James when he sat down without giving him the time of the day.

The other three laughed even louder. Harry was actually telling Ginny about last night when Sirius came into the dining area and heard fragments of their conversation. With some persuasion, Harry gave in and told him the whole encounter with his parents the night before. Arabella then came in five minutes later after hearing their playful laughter and made them tell her what was going on.

"Shut up." James continued buttering his toast and ignoring his laughing friends which only made them laugh even harder.

"What's the joke about?" Lily asked perkily as she joined them at the dining table. They were all laughing too hard to even start talking. "James?"

"You won't want to know." James muttered grouchily due to the lack of sleep.

"We were teasing-" Sirius burst into another fit of laughter before he could continue.

"Actually Sirius was teasing James about last night." Harry managed to stop laughing for a moment to update Lily about the conversation.

"About him kissing you good night?" Lily grinned. When all of them burst into another round of laughing, she knew that she had made a correct guess. "Right, that was funny." She was laughing as she scooped some scrambled eggs onto her serving plate.

"We could hear you laughing all the way from our rooms, share the joke." Remus and Stefanie took a seat between James and Sirius at the breakfast table. Sirius had moved further away from James so he could not shove food into his mouth at the least expected moment.

"It's a long story." Sirius said dramatically. "It all started last night-" He seemed to be attempting to re-enact the scene but making it more exaggerated than it was. "-and James-" Sirius bent his head over Remus', until their noses were nearly touching when Remus shoved his face away. "-kissed Harry-" Sirius gave the sweetest sigh he could muster.

"What?" Stefanie and Remus asked in shocked.

"You may want to complete the sentence." Harry wiped his mouth with the napkin before more food could spill out from his mouth.

"Good night." Sirius finished with him leaning back on his chair, looking totally in bliss. Remus was choking on his milk while Stefanie was laughing so hard until she could not swallow her food.

"That – that was very nice of you." Remus told James encouragingly while trying not to burst into rude laughter like the rest of them. Even Lily could not help but laughed softly at Sirius' drama. Honestly it was not that funny actually, but Sirius had added his own imagination with exaggeration of the actual scenario that made it funnier. James' blushing with Lily's reddening face only added on to the comical effect.

"Padfoot, I dare you kiss your godson good night." James finally spoke up after the laughter subsided a little. He knew Sirius would not back down from any dare and this would definitely get back to him.

"Since when is Harry my godson?" Sirius acted all innocent. "I've never said anything about having a godson or something."

"Sirius, you are my godfather and legal guardian when my parents were not around." Harry was enjoying every moment teasing his father and godfather at breakfast. It's not exactly an every day event.

"Fine." Sirius pouted and kept his hands crossed in front of his chest. Either his pride or masculinity, and both were equally important to him. "Inform when before you go to bed tonight." This time, all of them were laughing at Sirius' expression. They continued their breakfast in a light-hearted manner. Although no one mentioned anything about traveling to the past after breakfast, they knew what their next step was very clearly.