Hindsight

Summary: "Ten years," James whispered to his wife. "We've been dead for Ten years… how is this possible?" Ten years after the tragedy at Godric's Hollow, James and Lily come back to life and find their world turned upside down.

Chapter 17

Time passed, and the summer holidays had finally come.

Harry was feeling rather sour. Although Gryffindor had won this year's Quidditch Cup, it wasn't enough to catch up to Slytherin, who took the House Cup at the End-of-Term Feast. Malfoy took every opportunity to brag about it, going so far as to find his train compartment just to say something irritating. Professor Snape was the smuggest they'd ever seen him as they left the castle. Ron and Neville were sulking just as hard as he was but Hermione wasn't tolerating much more of it.

"Would you three stop?" She laughed at them. "Harry, you're the reason Gryffindor took first place this year. You made Wood cry. And shouldn't we all just be happy we're alive after the ordeal that happened with Quirrell."

Harry sunk down in his seat. Ron glared at Hermione. "Very nice, reminding him. Now the rest of our train ride, Harry's going to feel guilty for things that weren't even his fault."

"You know I didn't mean it like that, Ron! I didn't mean it, Harry! Honest!"

"I know," he sighed. "It's fine, just- let's change the subject. Are you all coming over to my house to visit?"

Neville nodded eagerly. "Of course, Harry! Gran's excited that I actually have friends to see this summer."

Ron frowned. "Jeez, Nev. Didn't I tell you to stop making yourself sound so pitiful? Malfoy'll never take you seriously if you keep talking about yourself like that." He held a hand up when it looked like Neville was about to apologize to him. "Don't. Next time, just say something like 'of course, Harry! Like you could survive two full months without me.'"

They all laughed.

"You can count me in, Harry, but Fred and George are insisting that they come with me. I'd say no to them, if I were you. They'd likely put a spell on you while you're asleep."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You know we can't use our magic outside of school, Ronald."

"They'll find a way!"

"What about you, Hermione?" Harry asked. "Mum says she'd love to have you over."

She blushed at the thought of formally meeting the people she'd only ever read about. "You're sure? Oh my, Lily and James Potter… I read in a book once-" Ron let out an exaggerated yawn to interrupt her. She reached over and punched his side for it and he laughed at the irritated glare in her eyes. "Anyway, maybe your mother wouldn't mind speaking to my parents? Shed some light on what it's like to be a muggle-born. They were ever so proud when I got my letter, of course, but I'm sure they're still curious."

Harry smiled at her. "Of course she would. Come over with them for tea sometime and she'll tell them all about it."

They were in higher spirits the entire way to King's Cross. Harry was grabbing at his things excitedly, ready to get off the train before it had even stopped. His friends laughed as they watched him slide the door open and run down the corridor after a voice announced that it was safe to exit the train. "Harry, wait!" Neville called out. They pushed through students to find him, apologizing the entire way out. They didn't spot him until they were already off the train, and at that point, their own families had already flocked to them.

"Oh, you must meet my friends!" Hermione said to her parents after greeting them.

"Mum, please," Ron begged, when Molly threw herself at him and began kissing his cheeks soundly.

Neville was grinning up at his grandmother as he triumphantly held Trevor up for her to see. She gave him an approving nod before leading him over to the Potters. All four families converged off to the side where they wouldn't block anyone from finding their children. They all took turns introducing themselves to the Grangers, with Lily and James as Harry's guards.

"Hermione wrote to us about Halloween- can't keep anything from us, even if she'll get in trouble for it, isn't that right, Hermione?- and we just want to thank your boys for saving our daughter from that troll," Mr. Granger told them all gratefully.

Mrs. Granger nodded in agreement. "You've raised very fine young men. We only wish the professors had spotted them so no one would've been in danger."

"That's my Neville," Augusta said, a tinge of pride in her voice. "Brave like his father."

"But the Grangers are right," Remus said firmly. "Not that there will be a next time, but if there is, you best find someone to help or you'll be grounded the entire break." Ron and Harry glanced at each other amusedly but Neville was nodding dutifully at the adults.

"Mum," Hermione started, "Harry says we're invited to come over during the holidays. His, uhm, guard here is a muggle-born witch and I was hoping you all could talk about it, to ease your worries about me being in the wizarding world."

Mrs. Granger looked to Lily, who smiled at her kindly. "That would be lovely. Thank you so much."

"Well, we'll see you soon, then," James told them happily. "Harry, say goodbye to your friends. It's time for us to go."

Harry was just about to bid his farewells when someone bumped into him and sent him stumbling into Ron. He looked up just in time to see Malfoy smirking at him.

"Oops, sorry, Potter. I didn't see you there- was too excited to get to my parents."

The boy turned on his heels and strutted off to a couple just as blond and snooty looking as him.

"God, he's the worst," Harry grumbled under his breath.

Ron patted his friend's back. "Just think, Harry. Two months without that evil git."

But Harry wasn't feeling any better when he noticed his entire family staring daggers at the Malfoys as they disappeared from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

Despite the shaky start to their break, Harry was finally feeling better. He wasn't having many nightmares about Quirrell anymore, which meant Sirius was finally sleeping in his own room again. James and Lily were constantly spending as much time with him as he wanted and this summer his mother allowed him to fly around on his broom with James. The morning after the first full moon of the summer, Harry tended to Remus himself, bringing him breakfast in bed and spending the entire day at his side. Using a muggle TV Lily bought for her son, they watched muggle films together- about werewolves, much to Harry's entertainment and Remus' playful disdain. He also spent a lot of his time talking to the men of the house about their days at Hogwarts, and hearing about their happier memories were beginning to far outweigh the bad experience he had his first year there. Harry would bake with his mother during the day and kiss her goodnight when she came into his room to check if he was all right.

Indeed, spending time with family was putting everything back on track for him.

"Har? Where are you, son?"

Harry leaned out of his bedroom window to smile down at his family in the backyard. "I'll be down in a minute! Just finishing my essay!"

Sirius groaned. "Oh, come on, kid! You're really listening to your silly mum about finishing homework early?"

"Black!" he heard his mother holler from around the corner, where she was tending to her garden.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I mean- good job, Harry James. Make us proud."

"Just think of it this way, Padfoot. The more he gets done now, the more fun you'll have for the rest of the summer!"

"Fair enough, Lily! Harry, listen to your silly mum and finish your homework early!"

Harry laughed loudly before turning back to his desk and scribbling his last paragraph down. He looked the assignment over and, finding it satisfactory, rolled the parchment up, tossed it into his trunk and headed out. He was sure his mum would come up and check it over anyway. He could fix whatever mistakes she found later. When he got to the backyard, his dad and uncles were all hovering on their brooms already, his Nimbus lying on the grass. Lily had moved on from her flower garden to the vegetable plot on the other side of the backyard. Harry was just about to jog over to his broom when he heard it.

"Hurtss."

Harry swiveled around but no one was behind him. "Hello?" he called. "Anyone there?"

"Hurtss."

This time, he looked towards the flowers that his mum was watering earlier. "Hello?"

"Ssomeone there? You can hear me? Can you help?"

Harry glanced at his family. He had no idea how someone found their warded home, but they really did sound like they were in pain. "Dad! Can you come here? There's a man that needs help!" He crept closer to the flowerbed. There was no one near it. "Hello?"

"Hurtss. Help me. Please."

He noticed some movement between the leaves and pulled them apart carefully. Harry relaxed at what he saw. A gardener snake! After the excitement of meeting his parents and going to Hogwarts, he'd totally forgotten about the snake at the zoo. It was obviously magic! Some animals could talk to wizards… or was it that some wizards could talk to animals? He couldn't be bothered to find the answer at the moment. The poor thing was squirming around, trying to loosen thorns from its body. "It's all right!" he told the snake. "My dad can help you."

"Help me?"

"There are thorns stabbing you right now. That's what hurts right?"

"Hurtss. Will you take them out?"

"Sure! Just don't move. They'll be here soon."

The snake stopped wriggling. "Thank you. I've never met a sspeaker."

He frowned. "Speaker? What do you mean?"

"You sspeak my tongue, child."

"That isn't a common thing?"

"Harry?"

He glanced over his shoulder to see his dad and Sirius looking down at him in horror. He assumed neither of them were big fans of snakes and laughed. "Oh good! I need your help. This snake somehow got thorns stuck on it. It's been crying for help." They didn't move. "What is it? I mean, I knew it was magical since it could talk, but it's just a garden snake. It won't harm anyone." They still said nothing. "…dad?"

"Go on to Remus, Harry," James finally answered. "We'll help the snake."

Harry stared at them suspiciously. "You aren't going to kill it, are you? He's already in pain."

"We won't," Sirius promised, grinning at him. "Now, listen to your father. Get the snitch prepared, will you? Knowing Remus he'll lose it the moment he lets go of it. It'd be a right shame. We just bought it."

He turned back to the snake. "These two men are going to help you, okay? Don't bite them."

"I will not, sspeaker."

"I'll check on you tomorrow. Maybe I'll get my owl to bring you a mouse to eat."

"You're very generouss, sspeaker."

"See?" Harry told them as he stood. "He's very nice! So don't do anything funny to him." With that, he jogged to his uncle. Remus was back on the ground, standing partially in front of Lily, who must have hurried over when she heard that someone had entered their protective wards.

"Is everything okay?" she asked him worriedly. "Who did you see?"

"Oh, no one!" He grabbed the snitch from Remus' hand and set it free. "It was just a snake in your garden. It was hurting from some thorns in its side, but dad and Pads said they'd help it. And the snake said he wouldn't hurt anyone so don't worry. He's harmless. Though, he did tell me he hasn't spoken to anyone before. I'm guessing talking animals are pretty rare, even in our world?"

He was too busy watching the snitch flitter around to notice the glances Lily and Remus gave each other.

Weeks passed and they still hadn't explained to Harry what being a Parselmouth implied. The boy, for his part, remained blissfully unaware as he continued to check on the snake every day. James practically fainted when Harry came in one morning and happily announced that he'd named the blasted thing.

"You named it after Salazar Slytherin?!" he had shrieked. "What kind of Gryffindor names things after Salazar Slytherin?!"

Harry only frowned and said, "I didn't mean to pay homage to Slytherin. I just thought it would be funny to call him Sally."

By the time they decided they'd stalled enough, it was far too late. Harry's friends were already coming over to visit him and he was chattering excitedly about introducing them to the gardener snake that he had taken to calling his pet. Now, they had no idea how to explain that he needed to hide his ability.

"This is what Dumbledore meant about being connected to Voldemort," James told them worriedly. "Voldemort somehow transferred some of his powers to him."

Remus sighed. "What are we to say? We can't make him feel guilty for it."

Sirius scowled. "Of course not! It's not his fault! And so what if he can talk to snakes. He doesn't have an evil bone in his body."

"Not in the house, Harry!" Lily cried out when she Harry walked in with the reptile coiled around his arm, from his wrist to his shoulder. "Can you please just put… Sally by the flowers for now. We have to talk to you before your friends come today."

Sirius squirmed uncomfortably as he listened to Harry hiss at the snake. He glanced at the others to see what they thought of it. Though Remus looked tense, he didn't look frightened by the boy's ability. James and Lily certainly would never think ill just because his godson could talk to snakes. Comforted, he turned back in time to watch it slide down Harry's body and towards the garden. "Now, Harry," he began. "We don't want you to think that we are upset with you after what we tell you."

Harry stiffened. "What is it?" They brought him to the living room and sat him down. "What's going on?"

James wasn't sure how to start. "It's- we don't think any less of you, Harry, you have to understand that. The gift you have is amazing, but misunderstood."

He paled. "Think less of me?"

Lily sat next to her son and took his hands. "Harry. Animals can't talk, even in our world, but there were a few wizards and witches in history that have been able to speak the language of snakes like you. It's called Parseltongue. It's very uncommon to be a Parselmouth and- and the thing is-"

James took pity on his wife. "The thing, Harry, is that most people see it as a trait of a dark wizard. Slytherin could talk to snakes and so could…"

Harry was hit by realization. "Voldemort."

Remus jumped into action. "Just hold on. This doesn't mean anything-"

"It doesn't mean anything?!" he shouted. "We have brother wands and now I find out we can both talk to snakes? You're all hiding something from me! Why do we have so many similarities? Why did he want to kill me?! TELL ME NOW!"

Lily got to her feet. "You watch that tone, Harry James! I know you're upset but that's no way to talk to us!" He glared at them and, before any of them could do anything, turned and ran out of the house. "Harry, wait! Sweetheart, come back!"

"Let him cool off," James told her softly. "He's just confused. He won't go far."

The Weasley boys and Neville had arrived and Harry still hadn't returned. Lily ushered them into the kitchen for pumpkin juice in hopes to distract them but it didn't work. "Is he okay?" Ron asked worriedly when he noticed that Harry wasn't rushing in at the sound of them.

"Nothing to be worried about, Ron," Remus assured him. "When you're done, you can all head up to his room. We've expanded it and added cots for all of you to sleep on."

George's eyes lit up. He gulped his drink down and ran to the hallway. "First to Harry's room gets his bed!"

"Oi!" Ron hollered as he chased after his twin brothers. "Hedwig will poke your eyes out for touching his things!"

Neville shook his head. "I better go make sure they don't break anything."

"Thank you, Neville," Lily laughed.

The twins reappeared suddenly. "By the way," one of them said.

"It was very nice meeting you, Mr. and Mrs. Potter!"

"We promised our mum we wouldn't tell anyone."

"But that doesn't mean we won't write it out on a banner for everyone to read."

They grabbed Neville by the arms and dragged him away. "I think I'm going to like them," Sirius announced as Remus volunteered to go outside and find Harry.

"When I failed to steal the stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me… decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me…"

"Let me speak to them… face-to-face…"

His mother's tortured screams.

"Filthy mudblood, you tell me the truth! Now! How are you back?!"

""LEAVE HER ALONE!"

Harry's eyes snapped open.

He was lying down on the grass by his mother's flowers, Sally sleeping on his lap. He couldn't remember falling asleep. Turning onto his side, he sighed heavily. He hadn't had that dream in a long time. He looked down at the hands that killed Quirrell as he listened to the crunching of grass behind him, like someone was approaching him.

Harry stared at his palms a moment longer before sitting up.

"Heard me coming?" Remus asked him. He nodded slowly. "Your friends are here."

"Will they still be my friends when they find out I can talk to snakes?" Harry mumbled.

Remus looked at him. "You're still my friend, aren't you? Knowing what I am?"

He scowled. "That's different, Moony."

"Is it? I'm considered a dark creature with good reason. Being a Parselmouth hardly compares to a rabid dog." He smirked when Harry laughed at him.

"Why is it such a bad thing? I asked Sally. He doesn't think it's dark. He likes having the company."

"I'm sure he does."

"It's not like we're plotting the end of the world. He just wants a friend." Remus recognized something in Harry's eyes, which told him the boy knew what it felt like to be alone. He hated knowing Harry grew up with the same loneliness that he did before meeting James and Sirius.

"If they're true friends, they'll understand. Just like we do. Besides, you don't have to tell them anything until you're ready to."

Harry turned to Remus desperately. "I don't want to be like him."

"You're nothing like him."

"But-"

He grabbed Harry's hand and squeezed it gently. "Nothing."

"… That day. In the chamber with Quirrell…" Remus's brow raised an inch. Harry never spoke about that day to anyone but Lily. "He couldn't touch me without blistering and scorching his own skin. It was because Voldemort entered his body after he failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts, right? It was really Voldemort that couldn't touch me."

"That's right."

"… So that has to count for something. I have to be good, better than him, for him to burn when he touches me."

Remus wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders. "That counts for everything, Harry."

Somehow, he was already feeling better. "Thanks, Moony."

Remus winked. "Us dark wizards and evil beasts have to stick together." Harry snorted, shoving the man away as he placed the snake back on the soil and stood.

"Speak for yourself! Or have you forgotten I'm a hero."

He grabbed the boy around the neck and hauled him back into the house. "You really are your father's son, you arrogant brat."

"Unhand my son, Lupin," Lily growled playfully, pulling the boy away and kissing his forehead. "Go on, sweetheart. The boys are waiting for you upstairs."

"Love you," he told her. Regret was written all over his face for yelling at them earlier. Lily merely smiled and kissed him again before sending him off. Harry gave his dad and uncles a wave. Lily waited to hear him close his door upstairs before turning to the men. "We're not going to let anything ruin the rest of his summer from this point on. Do you understand me?"

Sirius raised a brow at her. "Crystal, your majesty."

Upstairs, Harry happily greeted his friends. Fred and George had already claimed the two cots closest to his desk, Neville was sitting on the one near the foot of his bed, and Ron was frantically sorting through his bag on the cot parallel to Harry's.

"What's missing, Ron?" he asked.

The twins snorted. "Looks like Neville's not the only one that loses his pets."

"I didn't lose him!" Ron spat. "He's just hiding- aha!"

Harry chuckled as he watched the rat squirm around in Ron's hands. "Well welcome to my house, Scabbers!"