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 18

"Did you have to bring Scabbers?" Fred asked Ron with distaste. "You knew he was being fussy. You should've just left him home."

Ron glared at them. "He's just a little ill!"

"He's just annoying is what he is," George drawled.

Since they arrived yesterday, Scabbers had been hiding in Ron's bag, refusing to come out even for food. For the most part, Ron kept him in his cage but he thought the fresh air and open space might do him some good for a change. For some odd reason, Scabbers kept trying to run away, much like Trevor. Ron was sure that it was because he was getting sick and confused in his old age. George and Fred argued that it didn't matter and was ruining their time.

"Now, instead of enjoying our vacation, we have to keep constant watch on your stupid rat."

Harry smiled sympathetically. "If you want, Ron, we can ask my parents if they know any spells to help him."

Ron huffed as he tried his best to soothe the rat that was squirming in his hands. "It's alright, Harry. He'll stop eventually. He just needs to go back to sleep. I don't get what's got him so frantic!"

In fairness, all of them understood Ron's worries. Scabbers didn't do much more than eat and sleep, and saying he woke up to eat was being generous. Harry was sure he once saw the rat sleeping while eating the cheese Ron had given him. The most any of them had ever seen him move was crawling from one part of Ron's bed to another. To be honest, Scabbers could be mistaken for dead. Somewhere in the middle of their term, he only got worse. He began balding in certain spots and seemed to be getting sicker and sicker by the day.

It was odd seeing him so jumpy, so alive.

"Maybe it's Pads," Neville suggested. "He can probably sense a dog's around looking for a new chew toy."

George and Fred howled with laughter. "Shut it, Neville, unless you want me to throw Trevor into the Black Lake," Ron chuckled as he shoved Scabbers into Hedwig's cage. The snowy owl looked irritated by the intrusion and hopped out before she could be locked in with him.

Neville shrugged. "Trevor would probably be happier there, really."

"Where's this Pads anyway, Harry?" Fred asked.

Yeah! We didn't know you had a dog. What kind is it?"

It was the younger boys' turn to laugh. "He's not really a dog," Harry explained. "It's Sirius. He's an unregistered animagus. Pads is his nickname- well, Padfoot."

The twins jumped to their feet simultaneously. All attention was turned away from Scabbers. "What?" one of them whispered.

Harry stared at them. "What do you mean what?"

"Did you just say Padfoot?" the other asked.

"…yes?"

"As in Mr. Padfoot?"

Harry, Neville and Ron gaped at them. "Mr. Padfoot?"

"They don't know, George," Fred muttered. "Shut up about it."

"But it isn't a very common name, is it?" he whispered loudly back. "He has to be Mr. Padfoot!"

Harry was glaring at them suspiciously now. "Hang on, how do you two know that name?"

They straightened. "None of your concern, Harry, none of your concern. If we could talk to Mr. Black for a moment."

"Oh come off it," Ron said with a roll of eyes. "What's going on with you two?"

They looked at each other, seeming to be communicating telepathically, before turning back to the boys. "Wouldn't happen to have a map of the house so we can find where your godfather is?" Harry sprung to his feet just as fast as Fred and George had moments ago. They lit up gleefully. "We're right, aren't we?! He's the Padfoot!"

"How do you know about the Map?" Harry asked instead of answering their question. "They lost it ages ago!"

Fred grinned broadly. "And we found it. Nicked it from Filch. You've got to introduce us properly, Harry!"

George nodded with an eagerness they'd only seen on his face after he'd pranked someone. "They're our heroes!"

"Who are the others? Messrs. Moony, Wormtail and Prongs. Are they still around? Does Sirius still talk to them?"

Harry glanced at Ron and Neville, who were watching them in confusion. "I would assume so, unless they've been living in this house together without interacting with each other."

The twins' jaws dropped. "You're related to them?!"

"To Prongs," Harry laughed. "You've got to be kidding me. Did you bring the Map with you?"

Fred scrambled over to his bag. "We never leave it behind! Otherwise, mum might throw it out, thinking it's something from Zonkos. Wait, Harry, you have any spare parchment on you? Do you think they'd give us their autographs?"

"All right," Ron called out loudly. "What is going on?"

Ten minutes later, the adults sitting in the living room heard a thundering of feet storming in their direction. "What do you think that's all about?" Sirius murmured curiously as he looked up from his paper. They watched with surprised amazement as the five boys spilled into the room, Fred and George shoving the shorter ones out of the way. To their dismay, before they could even scold them all for roughhousing, the twins were grabbing their hands and shaking them enthusiastically. Their voices overlapped each other and made it hard to understand them, which only added to their confusion.

"Only ever wished I could be as witty as you, sirs!"

"-countless times you've helped us out-"

"-Owe you so much!"

"Awful, that he'd betray the bonds of brotherhood, but of course you three are still-"

"Weirdest alias of the lot of you anyway-"

"If you could just sign this for us-"

James had been forced to shake their hands four times before he finally stopped them. "Wait a second, what is going on here?"

Harry pushed through the twins. "You'll never believe it, dad."

"Stop hogging them, Harry," Fred growled. "You see them every day! Give us a chance to talk!"

He scoffed. "You just talked their ears off!"

Ron sniggered. "Made fools of themselves in the process. If you could just sign this for us?" he mocked with a high voice.

"Shut up, Ronald! Don't ruin this for us," George hissed. "Not in front of the Cartographers."

Even Neville was amused by the way they were acting. He walked over to where Lily was and sat on the arm of her chair. "The Cartographers? Doesn't really sound as cool as the Marauders."

"The Marauders?" Sirius exclaimed. "Did Harry tell you about us?"

George perked up even more. "I- well you see, Mr. Padfoot, sir, not really. That is, we found out about you-"

"-and the other sirs-"

"-long before we knew Harry! Why we never hoped-"

"-never imagined!"

"-that we'd actually be able to meet you! This is a dream come true!"

James, Sirius and Remus still looked rather confused, but Neville tapped Lily's shoulder and pointed to one of the twins' back pockets. She snorted. "Oi, husband," she called. James looked at her. "They've got your silly map."

"Silly?!" Fred and George shouted.

"Our map?" Remus gawked. "How in the world did you find the Marauder's Map? Filch confiscated it from Peter-" He paused and looked at the other's hesitantly. James nodded at him to say he wasn't mad for bringing the man up but Sirius didn't look happy. "Err… well, Filch found it," he finished lamely.

"Well, we have the entire map memorized if you want it back!" Fred offered immediately.

James spared a glance in Lily's direction. "Harry, would you like-"

"No," Lily said calmly as she sipped her tea.

Harry suddenly felt like stomping his foot in protest. "But mum!"

The twins and Ron looked just as indignant. "Who else should carry it but the child of Prongs himself?!" Fred argued.

"Yeah, imagine how much easier it'll be to sneak out with it!" Ron said.

Lily gave the Marauders a pointed stare, having proven her point. Fred and George groaned, swatting Ron on the head. "Way to go, moron."

"Now that that's settled, why don't you boys go up to Remus' room and make sure it's prepared for the girls?"

"The girls?" Harry asked. "Is Hermione bringing a friend?"

"Actually, sweetheart, Mrs. Weasley and we agreed that Ginny might like to meet everyone before she starts her first year in September."

"Ginny?!" The Weasley boys cried.

"Ginny is coming? Here?!"

Sirius laughed. "I thought you liked spending time with Ginny?"

George began rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "No, don't get us wrong, we do."

"Ginny's the best! It's just that…" Fred trailed off.

Ron looked too flustered to explain it himself. If he told them all outright, Fred and George would surely hurt him for outing their little sister. "Well, it's just that Ginny… I can't imagine her being able to stay here without being a bit…"

Neville and Harry looked bewildered and the adults were suddenly quite concerned. "What is it? What's wrong with Ginny?"

James had the largest Cheshire grin on his face from the moment Ginny Weasley came through his fireplace and went bright red at the sight of Harry. Molly and Arthur were greeting their sons, making sure they were behaving for their hosts. Lily was at the front door with Hermione and her parents, which left only Remus and Sirius to control their beaming friend. "He's not even twelve yet, James," Remus muttered under his breath so that only they would hear. "Don't do anything rash." But James wasn't thinking quite clearly. He was too busy bouncing on his heels and watching Harry glance at the youngest Weasley in confusion.

"Always with the redheads," Sirius chuckled.

James was beaming with pride. "His father's son through and through. How many children do you think they'll have?"

"He's eleven," Remus reiterated.

"Hello, Ginny!" James said happily, stepping forward to hug her. The girl blushed harder but beamed up at him. "I'm James Potter, Harry's dad. Excited to be staying with us for a few days?"

"Oh yes! V-very excited, sir!"

"Now, now, none of that," he told her. "You can call me James."

Ron and Neville turned to each other. "Never told us we could call him James," Ron whispered.

"That's because he doesn't want us to marry Harry."

The two sniggered behind Harry's back. The raven-haired boy glared at them for not explaining what was going on. "Fine, you don't want to tell me? I'll just ask Ginny."

"Please do!" Ron giggled delightedly.

Harry frowned but walked over. "Err, hi, Ginny. I'm Harry. Would you-" He stopped when the girl whirled around and stared up at him with very big brown eyes. "Uhm… Would you… would you like to meet Hermione? I think she's in the hallway with my mum."

She nodded, looking away from him quickly, then ran out.

"I don't understand," Harry murmured. "What did I do?"

Molly looked at James and they shared knowing smiles. "She's been talking about you all summer," Ron hinted.

His entire body jolted when he finally realized.

The rest of the week continued on with Ginny fawning over Harry, Hermione defending the girl from the boys that were poking fun at her and Harry trying his best to ignore the attention he was receiving. It didn't help that James and Lily were teasing him mercilessly for it. "Same tastes as your father, huh?" Lily would say when they were alone, making the boy groan and storm away as she laughed. As much fun as he was having with them all, he was half-excited for the week to come to an end. To escape their jokes, Harry had taken to hiding in the garden with Sally. The snake was pleased, having been ignored for the better part of the week. He listened patiently as Harry complained about his human friends.

"At the rate Ron's going, I wouldn't mind feeding Scabbers to you just to make him shut up."

"Sscabberss?"

"His rat." The snake hissed hungrily. "I can't actually feed him to you, Sally… but we could give them a scare. How would you like that?"

"As long as I get food after."

"I'm sure Hedwig has something for you." Harry pocketed his friend quickly. "Now stay quiet, Sally. They can't know I can talk to snakes or they might get upset with me."

He smiled innocently as he passed his parents in the hall.

"Oh, I recognize that look," Lily accused. "That's the look your father used to have on his face back when he was about to do something silly. What are you doing?"

"Nothing!" he answered defensively. "Now excuse me, I have to go see to my friends."

"Whatever it is, don't make a mess, Harry James!" his father called while he went up the stairs.

His friends grinned when he entered his room. "There you are," Hermione said with relief. "We were wondering where you went off to."

"Yeah, we knew it wasn't on a first date with, Gin," George stated.

"Because I saw her napping in her room," Ron finished. The redheaded brothers snickered together.

"Think that's funny, do you?" Harry asked as he meandered towards the bag he knew Scabbers was hiding in. "No, I just went off to grab my friend so I could introduce you all to him. His name's Sally."

"His name is Sally?" Fred asked.

He plucked the snake out of his pocket and laughed loudly when they all jumped back in surprise. Neville looked like he would faint and Hermione was growing pale. "Bloody hell, Harry!" Ron cried.

He held Sally over Ron's bag threateningly. "Enough with trying to embarrass me and Ginny or I'll let him eat Scabbers."

"You wouldn't!"

"We'll help!" the twins said, lunging for the bag and pulling out a squealing Scabbers. "Go on, Sally! Take a bite!"

"Fred! George! Stop it! That's not funny!"

"Oh, honestly, boys!" Hermione shouted, trying to take Scabbers away from them. "Give him back to Ron! You'll frighten the poor thing to death!"

Neville, surprisingly, was laughing hysterically as he watched the scene in front of him. Ron and Hermione were standing on bed, trying to grab the rat from Fred's upstretched hands. Harry jumped up next them, but instead of helping, he was holding the snake up in the air.

"Go on, Sally!" he urged. Sally was cocking his body, getting ready to strike out at Scabbers. "Dinner's ready!"

"Harry, please!" Ron begged.

He gave in with a roll of his eyes, pulling the snake back to his side. "So you'll stop?" he asked as Sally coiled himself slowly up Harry's arm.

"I will! I promise!"

"Good, because-"

"Not a rat. Not a rat."

They watched Harry stiffen in his spot.

"You all right there, mate?" Neville asked. Harry didn't respond. He was staring intently at the snake, which they swore appeared to be speaking to him. His body began to tremble and he was now looking back and forth between Scabbers and the snake, nodding every few seconds. "Harry?" Neville called again, this time much more worriedly than before. The others could see that none of this was part of Harry's joke. Fred shoved Scabbers back into Ron's bag and approached the boy carefully, George right behind him. Hermione looked like she was stuck between wanting to help and running to get one of the adults. "Harry, really, you're scaring us now."

Fred reached out cautiously and ruffled Harry's hair, all the while staring at Sally to make sure the snake wouldn't attack him. "Oi, Potter?"

Harry blinked. He forced a smile on his face. "I'm fine, but why don't we put Scabbers in Hedwig's cage? So he can get some fresh air." Ron glared at him suspiciously. "I'm not gonna do anything, I swear. Just want him to relax after the ordeal we just put him through."

"I suppose it isn't a bad idea…"

Ron wrestled the rat out of his bag once more, clicking his tongue with irritation as it put up a bigger fight than ever before.

"Look what you've done to him, Harry."

"Just put him in there, Ron, and lock the cage."

"Ok, what's going on with you, Harry?" George questioned.

"Nothing! Just want to make sure he doesn't run away. You know how antsy he's been." He waited for Ron to lock the cage. "Right, now that he's settled, fancy a broom race?"

They gawked at him incredulously. Scabbers was thrashing wildly, clawing at the bars and trying to squeeze out of his prison.

"Settled?" Ron asked weakly.

"Might as well give hm some space. He might not calm down if there's still so many of us around him. And don't worry. Mum spelled that cage unbreakable. He won't be able to get out and run away or anything." Finding some logic in his explanation, they slowly trickled out of the room until he was the only one left. "You're sure, Sally?" he asked the snake when they were alone.

"Smellss of your kind. Not a rat."

Harry observed Scabbers a few seconds longer before racing out of his room and to the living room. Relieved, he noticed that none of his friends were in the house anymore and he was sure Ginny was still safe in Remus' room. He crashed into his father in the kitchen, who laughed and steadied him. "Slow down, son, or you'll-"

"Dad!" James was instantly concerned by the fear in Harry's eyes. "There's someone in my room."

"What?"

"It's Sally, he said that Ron's rat isn't a rat at all! He said he smells human. I think someone must've been spying on us or on my friends. They must've known Ron would be coming here and started impersonating Scabbers or something! What if it's Voldemort? What if it's a Death Eater?"

"Just calm down, Harry," James commanded. "You're sure about this?"

"I'm sure!"

"Where's- Scabbers, is it?"

"He's in Hedwig's cage. Please, dad, I don't want mum to get hurt again!"

"You have your wand on you?" Harry pulled his shirt up and showed his father the wand that was sticking out of his pants pocket. "Alright, your mother is in the garden. Tell her what's happening and that she needs to get you and your friends further away from the house."

"But, Ginny-"

"Remus is out there with your mum. Send him in here to get Ginny. Do you understand?"

"What about Sirius?"

James smiled, trying to ease his son's worries. "I need my backup, don't I? Now go."

When Harry disappeared through the back door, James whipped his wand out of its holster and crept up to his son's room as quietly as he could. From his spot outside the door, he could already hear Scabbers squeaking. He tiptoed across and opened Sirius' door silently. The man, who was sitting on his bed reading a book, looked up at him inquisitively. James raised a finger to his mouth and gestured for him not to say anything out loud before waving him over. Sirius was instantly on guard. He grabbed his wand off the bedside table and hurried to James. Remus was there now, a half-asleep Ginny in his arms. He looked at them and waited for James to signal that they were okay before he carried Ginny away.

"What's going on?" Sirius whispered.

"Someone's in our house, in Harry's room," he breathed quietly back. "Are you ready?"

"Right behind you."

James reached for the doorknob, tried to get control of the way his heart was palpitating, then threw the door open and peeked into the room. Hedwig's cage was still in tact and the rat was struggling within it. "There!" James shouted, rushing in with his wand before him. Sirius followed him quickly. Unfortunately, he didn't notice James had halted to a stop and he slammed into his back with a grunt. Sirius stumbled a step back but caught himself against the door jamb.

"What?" he asked. "What is it?"

James stared at the rat with wide-eyed horror. "Peter."