Chapter 4: Empty House
I don't remember how we got home. I vaguely remember Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione leading us to the hotel to pack our things and grab a Portkey, but it didn't matter at all. I only have been back in this time for one day and already I have failed.
When we arrive home, mum collapses on the floor, crying hysterically. Ron tries to calm her down, though it is clear he is close to breaking himself. Albus goes to the kitchen and asks Maddy for some tea, which the old elf gladly serves for us.
Lily is clinging to Aunt Hermione as though her world has just ended, while I still stand there dumbly. My mind still has not started working again. Things happen, but they make no impact.
Zombie-like, I make my way to my room and sit down on my bed. I dully note that I have something in my pockets, it is Lily's locket. I stare at it without seeing it, the words of Albus echoing through my mind 'Save... Her...' but the words don't have any meaning.
Seconds fade into minutes. Minutes fade into hours, and I am still staring at the locket like it is some foreign object, when there is a knock on the door. I hastily put the locket away and call for whoever is at the door to enter. To my surprise I see Teddy standing there, grief clear on his face. His hair is black, his natural hair colour.
"How are you holding up?" Teddy asks me.
"What?" I ask stupidly. My brain still refuses to acknowledge that anything is wrong.
"Want to talk about it?" Teddy asks me sadly. Teddy's simple question seems to restart my brain. But instead of rational thought, it is filled with irrational anger.
"What do you know about it? You never lost your father!" I shout. The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them.
"Don't you dare!" Teddy shouts, advancing menacingly on me. I stand up to stand my ground. If Teddy wants a fight, a fight he can get.
"Harry was as much a father to me as he was to you!" Teddy shouts.
"Yeah, you had to borrow mine, because yours didn't care enough to live for you!" I shout back. That is when Teddy hits me hard on the nose and I feel my nose breaking. Before I can retaliate, the door opens and Albus storms in, putting Teddy and me in a full body bind. Hermione quickly follows and heals my nose. Hermione is quickly followed by a fearful-looking Lily.
The anger I feel seeps away when I see the look on Lily's face, though Teddy still looks very angry. Can't say I blame him, I don't think I should have been saying those things, but they are said now.
"What is going on here?" Hermione asks before releasing me from the body bind.
"Teddy came up here to talk to me and I said some things I shouldn't have said," I say truthfully.
"Why?" Lily asks me.
"It just became too much," I answer, feeling very small all of a sudden.
"I have put Ginny to bed, everything okay up here?" Ron asks, coming into the room.
"Where are Rose and Hugo?" I ask, realising they are not here.
"They are with your Grandmother Molly at the moment," Ron explains.
"I think we should all go to bed. I know it is only the afternoon, but we all had quite an exhausting day, and some sleep would do everyone some good," Hermione says, releasing Teddy from the body bind.
Albus looks like he wants to say something, but instead just shakes his head and leaves the room, followed by Lily, Teddy and Hermione, leaving Ron behind.
I sit back down on the bed and Ron sits next to me.
"I won't say that the pain will ever go away, but it will get easier. The most important thing now is that you allow yourself to heal. You are not alone," Ron says quietly to me.
"Yes, I am," I say without thinking.
"Why? Why would you be alone?" Ron asks, raising an eyebrow.
"I have to look after the family now, since I'm the oldest," I say dully.
"You don't have to do it alone, James," Ron says to me. I nod, but I know Ron is wrong. It will be up to me. Only I have travelled back in time. I have to fix this. I have to fix this family, but I do not tell Ron this.
"Just remember, James, you always have a family. And we will all be there when you need us," Ron says before leaving the room.
I think over Ron's words, but he doesn't understand, neither does Teddy. I have to do this alone. I have to look after the family on my own. Quietly I check on Lily, Albus and mum. I find each in their own room, already asleep. I find Ron, Hermione and Teddy in the kitchen.
"James?" Hermione asks when she spots me.
"We'll be fine. Thanks for being here, but you better go home to your kids and wife," I say, looking from Hermione and Ron to Teddy.
"You will call us if you need anything?" Hermione asks me.
"Yes," I say, but I don't intend to do such a thing.
Warily I go back upstairs to rest. When I'm finally lying down, I easily fall into a restless sleep.
~O~
I'm back at the clearing, still bound to the tree. I notice that one of my hands is free and Lily is again sitting by the fire.
"You're awake," Lily says, looking up at me.
Slowly Lily gets up and moves towards me, holding some sort of stone in her right hand.
"You know what this is?" Lily asks me, pointing to the stone. I notice that it is completely black.
"It is the Resurrection Stone. With this I'm supposed to be able to summon the spirits of the dead, but somehow our dear father is blocking the spirits from answering me," Lily says, as though disappointed in our father.
"Good for him," I say without really thinking.
"You don't understand, James. He answered the first time I summoned him, but he seemed disappointed instead of proud. Said I had to move on, that he did not belong in this world, or some such rubbish. Mum was not happy either when I summoned her. I don't know what father did, but the stone is not working for me any more," Lily explains to me.
"Why are you telling me this?" I ask warily.
"The stone might work for you, James. I gather that you lost my locket, so you are to summon Albus and make him explain to you where the locket is. Then you can summon the other spirits and convince them to help me," Lily explains, putting the stone in front of me, in reach of my one free arm.
"You could have power, James," Lily says softly.
"I won't summon them," I shout in her face.
"Just think about it, Jamie," Lily says before walking back to the fire.
I pick up the stone and throw it with all my might in the direction of the fire, I only manage to throw it about one foot away, just out of my reach.
"You can think again if I will go against anything dad taught me!" I shout defiantly.
Lily gets up and points her wand at me.
"Perhaps another lesson in obedience?" Lily asks me sweetly, before she casts the Cruciatus curse at me.
~O~
A thump tells me that I have fallen out of bed. Once again I had a nightmare about Lily torturing me. What do these nightmares mean? Are they what is going on in the time I left behind? That seems to be the best explanation I can come up with. Slowly I pick up Lily's locket from my night stand and look at it.
Something in the dream I just had registers. It seems that Lily found the Resurrection Stone, but that somehow dad is blocking the use of it from the beyond. Vaguely I remember the Tale of the Three Brothers that was read to me often. It said something about a Master of Death. What does that mean?
The tale also mentioned an Invisibility Cloak, which at this moment is in my Hogwarts trunk. Making a mental note to check that out later, I silently go down the stairs to check on Albus, Lily and mum. All three are still asleep. I suspect that Aunt Hermione must have given them some Sleeping Draught.
When I enter the kitchen, I notice that it is empty. Checking the other rooms tells me that Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione and Teddy have left.
Sighing, I sit at the kitchen table contemplating my next course of action. If the Deathly Hallows are involved, then this is something that must stay in the family, no matter the cost. Seeing Lily with the Resurrection Stone convinced me that they are not as safe as dad might have thought. Quickly I change the wards on the house so that only Potters can enter and leave. And only then when I know about it.
At that moment, Maddy appears in the kitchen and starts making breakfast. I notice that she is setting the table for five.
"Are we expecting someone, Maddy?" I ask warily.
"Just a normal family breakfast," Maddy says cheerfully.
"We are just four," I point out.
"Is master Harry on a mission again? Master Harry did not inform Maddy of such a thing," Maddy says, shrugging.
It is then that I realise that Maddy does not know what happened.
"Dad is not on a mission Maddy. He is..." I say, but cannot finish. Saying it aloud is too much of a confirmation that it truly happened.
"... dead," Albus finishes for me as he comes down the stairs, looking worse for wear.
"Albus!" I say, exasperated.
"What? Saying it makes it real, yes, but at least I'm not denying it," Albus says fiercely. I have to say he has a point there.
"Master Harry is dead?" Maddy asks suddenly fearful.
"Yes, dad is dead," I say sadly, barely able to keep it together.
"That does not make sense. Maddy would know when master Harry dies," Maddy says stubbornly, and serves the table for five.
At that moment, Lily comes down the stairs and sits down at the table.
"Why is the table set for five?" she asks hoarsely.
"Maddy is in denial," I answer sadly. Lily simply nods at this and picks at her breakfast.
"Where is mum?" Albus asks.
"Still asleep last time I checked," Lily said.
After hearing that I decide it is time to lay down the new ground rules for the family.
"Okay, mum is still asleep, so I feel like I should place some ground rules in this house. No one enters or leaves this house without my, or mum's knowing. The two of you are not allowed to leave the house. You can go outside, but you cannot leave the grounds. Is that clear?" I say in an authoritative voice.
"Who made you the boss?" Albus asks angrily.
"Dad did. He asked me to look after you all if anything happened to him. And I'm not losing another member of this family," I say while slamming my fists on the table.
Albus looks at me incredulously, while Lily just seems to accept it all.
"You might not be the boss in this house, James, but I do agree with your rules," mum says as she comes into the kitchen.
"I already adjusted the wards so that only Potters can come and go in this house," I say to mum. Mum simply nods and nearly collapses in her chair.
"I got you, Mum," I say as I catch her.
"I'll get you back to bed, Mum," I say while mum protests loudly, but she thanks me when she is back in her bed.
"We will have to look after mum," I say when I get back in the kitchen. Albus and Lily nod, and thus begins the new life of the Potters.