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.
AN: Sorry for the long wait, it's been a busy few days, but coincidentally, the next chapter is one of my longest so I hope that makes up for it!
Chapter 19
"Can you believe Hermione? Trying to defend Snape with the way he is. He's obviously the one going for whatever that stupid dog is guarding."
Harry nodded distractedly as he climbed into bed. Just hours ago, he had gone to Professor Snape's office to request his book back when he saw Filch helping the man dress a large wound on his leg. By the way it looked, the only explanation for it was that Snape had tried to get passed the three-headed dog they ran into. None of them knew what exactly lay hidden beyond the door the dog was guarding, nor did they know what someone could do with it, but it had to be bad. It didn't help that he was already feeling nervous about his first Quidditch game tomorrow. His concerns about Snape's evil plans were doing nothing to calm his anxiousness.
"What do you think, Harry?" Neville whispered. "Should you write and tell your… you know?"
They were alone in their dormitories but Neville was always smart enough not to talk about Harry's parents loudly. In fact, to be on the safe side, none of them ever mentioned James and Lily. Asking Harry about Sirius implied they were wondering about the rest of his family as well.
"What would they be able to do?" Harry responded. "It's not like they can storm up to him without any evidence."
"But they'll be here for the Quidditch game tomorrow," Ron said, not as quietly as Neville and Harry were speaking. "You could tell them what we think! I mean, who else could it possibly be? McGonagall? Flitwick? Snape's basically been caught red-handed!"
"I guess I could tell them… they'd want to know. In fact, they'd probably be angry if we didn't say anything."
Both boys nodded encouragingly. "I'd wager even Hermione would tell you it's a good idea… well, if she knew your parents were alive, that is."
"Ron!" Neville hissed nervously as he looked around their room. "Lower your voice! Someone might be listening!"
Ron went red. "Sorry, Harry!"
He waved it off. "It's fine, guys. Who would believe you if they heard you anyway?"
Neville shook his head. "We should still be careful! What if Professor Snape found out?"
Though he agreed, the redhead scowled at him. "It's not like I ran down the corridors screaming 'hey everyone! James and Lily Potter are back from the dead,' Neville-"
Scabbers squeaked loudly from his spot on Ron's pillow. They turned in surprise.
"Look at that! He's actually awake!"
Neville and Harry laughed. It was true. From the Hogwarts Express until now, they were trying to convince Ron that his rat really was dead. Even Trevor was proving to be a more interesting pet than Scabbers.
"What's his problem?" Harry asked wondrously as they watched Scabbers dig his way under the pillowcase and scamper to its deepest corner.
Ron sighed exhaustedly. "He burrows occasionally. Of all the times to do it, though- Scabbers! Get out of there! I'm about to go to sleep!"
Lily was panting hard when she made it up to Harry's room. Remus was just behind her, red in the face and just as out of breath. James glanced at them. "Where are the children?"
"We brought them all to the Weasleys."
"Did you find who it was? Have they run off?"
"No," Sirius said shortly.
He stepped out of the way so they could see Hedwig's cage.
Lily's heart stopped as she stared at the rat.
Remus inhaled sharply. "He's alive? How the hell did he find us?" he growled. "You dirty traitor, I'll kill you myself!" He stepped forward with a very eager Sirius by his side but James grabbed them both and held them back.
"No, Remus! Sirius, stop!"
"James, he's the reason-"
"I know what he did! But I'm not letting you sink to his level!"
Sirius snarled viciously as he fought James' hold. "Oh I'll sink much lower if it means I get to be the one to tear his heart out!"
James shoved them back and they stumbled together onto Neville's cot. "No! I won't see my friends become murderers!"
"Oh, enough with the nobility, James! That's what got us here in the first place! All this time, he's been alive! He didn't even have the courage to kill himself after what he did to you! How can he even live knowing- I'll kill him if you won't!"
"Just stop, we can find another way!"
"Another way to what?!" Lily shouted.
They looked at her in surprise. "Lily…"
"He's the monster that tore our family apart, that was spying on all of us for Voldemort. It wasn't Dumbledore's fault for leaving Harry with my sister, it wasn't our fault that we couldn't protect our son!" She ran to the cage and pulled the struggling rat out before James could stop her. "It's his! None of this would have happened if he didn't betray us!"
"Lily, wait!"
She threw the rat on the ground. Before he could run away, a stream of light shot out of Lily's wand and slammed into his side.
Scabbers' squeaking became a high-pitched yell. Peter scrambled forward clumsily, having been in the middle of scurrying away. His head slammed into the wall, but he didn't give up. He jumped to his feet and tried to escape once more but Remus was already blocking the doorway. Sirius hurried to the window and stood there with his wand stretched out, just in case Peter was mad enough to jump through the glass. Lily grabbed Peter by the collar of the dirty shirt he was wearing.
"You son of a bitch," she spat.
"Lily!" Peter cried out. "Lily, sweet Lily, please. Please, you have to understand-"
"How dare you talk to her!" Sirius hollered, lunging forward and pulling him away. "How dare you look her in the face after what you did to her!"
"You don't understand!" Peter stuttered desperately. "He- he forced me-"
"DON'T LIE! You'd been passing him information for a year before James and Lily were murdered!"
"He would've killed me, Sirius!"
Sirius reeled back in disgust. "THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED! Died rather than betray your friends, as we would've done for you!"
"But they're alive now! And they're back with Harry! Please, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" he begged.
"Oh, did you hear that, Lily?" Remus asked sarcastically. "He didn't mean to. That makes everything better." He pulled Peter towards him. "You should've realized, Peter, that if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would."
Peter fell to his knees. "Remus, please! Please, I beg of you!" Lily, Remus and Sirius raised their wands and pointed it at him. "No! No!"
"DON'T!"
No one ignored James this time. The man stepped forward, head held high and a fury in his eyes unlike they'd ever seen before. Peter grabbed at James' knees and wept. "Thank you," he whimpered. "James, my old friend. My dear friend-"
"Why, Peter?" James whispered. "How could you lie to us like that? How could you sell the lives of the innocent to save your own skin?"
"James-"
"Why did you come here? How did you find us?"
Peter shook his head, gaping helplessly. James suddenly didn't care about getting answers or doing what was right. After trying so hard to stop his friends from killing anyone, he was the one seeing red. All he wanted was to wrap his fingers around Peter's neck and squeeze the life out of him.
"I trusted you. I put my life in your hands. I put the lives of my wife and my child in your hands…"
"Please, J-James, I didn't want to! I begged him to spare you and Lily but-"
"You begged him to spare us at what cost? My son. A boy we were teaching to call you Uncle! Voldemort killed Lily, Peter. He nearly killed my son. I will never forgive you for this. Never." Peter began sobbing harder. "I didn't want to stop them. I wanted to watch the light leave your eyes… but half of the wizarding world still believes Sirius somehow lied his way through his trial. I think your testimony will be ample enough proof for them."
"James!" Peter shrieked. "James, no! They'll lock me up in Azkaban! J-James! Lily please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"Stupefy."
Peter went rigid and went limp. "It's not right," Sirius muttered. "He deserves death."
James stared emotionlessly at the man crumpled on the floor. Lily crept up behind her husband and held him tight, her hands rubbing his stomach soothingly.
"He'll probably get much, much worse."
Peter Pettigrew's trial was not open to reporters like Sirius' was. The Wizengamot didn't fancy having a spectacle of a courtroom like they had a year ago. Peter did not reveal anything about James and Lily being alive and whether it was out of fear or the last shred of loyalty he had in his body none of them really cared for the reason. It helped that Dumbledore was very carefully crafting his questions.
The trial was short and ended with a unanimous vote. Peter was to be sent to Azkaban and would have another court date to determine if- well, when- he would be Kissed. Lily and Sirius had stayed throughout the entire hearing, but at a certain point, James couldn't handle it any longer. Hearing Peter confess to his crimes under Veritaserum had him near completely breaking down. Remus followed him out and stayed with him. "I don't want to watch it either," he confessed quietly. Despite everything he'd done, it hurt too much to see him sentenced.
"Am I insane?" James had asked. "To feel bad even though he was the reason my wife was killed?"
"He was our brother, James," Remus told him. "You'd be insane if you didn't feel anything for him. Even Sirius is hurting to see him like this."
Before the trial, they learned the truth about why Peter was at their home. He hadn't done anything to Ron's rat so he could sneak in and hurt them again.
He was Ron's rat.
After the tragedy, the Weasleys had found him and taken him in as a pet for Percy. Truthfully, by the little behaviors he showed while talking, it appeared he'd become more rat than human over they ears. Sirius stated it was appropriate for a man like him.
The Weasleys had, of course, been completely horrified when they were told. "I let him sleep in my bed," Ron had said with utter revulsion. Molly and Arthur spent most of their days making sure that Ron wasn't traumatized by the news, but he was more angry than he was scared. Sirius, feeling bad for the boy and somewhat responsible for letting Peter escape the first time, bought him a new pet. It was a ridiculously hyper and very small owl that hovered around Ron quite loyally. Despite how irritating and loud he could be he was proving to be much better than Scabbers in that he wasn't a criminal pretending to be house pet. Ginny had named it Pigwidgeon, and Ron stated that even "Pig" was a better name than "Scabbers."
Harry was rather proud of being the one to catch the culprit. That is, he was proud that being a Parselmouth had proven to do good after being told the majority of wizards and witches looked down upon it. "And they think we're evil, Sally?"
"It doesn't help that you named him after Salazar Slytherin," Sirius deadpanned, but he patted the snake's head gratefully. "Good worm."
Despite being happy that the traitor was caught, Harry could see the toll it was taking on his family. Sirius was resting easier knowing that the man who betrayed him and his friends was now paying for his crimes, but was also quieter while walking around the house. Lily seemed like she was always trying her best to control an outburst from all the pent up anger she was still feeling against Peter, and Remus was constantly trying to cheer everyone up despite his own sadness about the friend they lost to Voldemort. Harry's birthday had come and gone and none of them even noticed.
Determinedly, he took it upon himself to make everyone feel better.
It was a Saturday two days after his birthday and Harry woke up far earlier than everyone else had. He crept past their bedrooms and down to the hallway closet that his mum kept supplies in. He pulled out a stack of white paper, quickly and sloppily drew out cakes and balloons on all of them, then taped them up onto the walls in the living room. When that was done, he went into the kitchen and began cooking. By sunrise, he had a huge stack of pancakes on one plate, a pile of bacon on another, and eggs frying on the skillet. Bread was being toasted and sausage was sizzling on another pan. Sally, who was perched on top of the counter, watched his human friend with great interest.
"How will thiss help your family?"
Harry paused. "Er, well… I'm going to take over all their chores today."
"Won't they be upsset to know they missed your birth celebration?"
"That's all right!" Harry said confidently. "I'll make sure they know I don't mind. I lived ten years without birthdays, didn't I? It's not so bad missing one."
"Durssleyss," Sally hissed disdainfully.
"Oh, not you too. Let it go, Sally. Mum and dad still refuse to tell anyone what they're doing to the Dursleys. It's getting quite worrisome."
When Harry was done, he brought the plates into the living room and set them down on the coffee table. Then, he went back to the kitchen, grabbed Sally and brought him out to the backyard.
"Go on, go get your breakfast." He watched Sally slither away before heading back in. "Wake up, everyone! Wake up!"
No one stirred.
Mischievously, Harry grabbed a spatula and unused pan and banged them together loudly.
"WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!"
This time, he heard someone tumble out of bed and onto the floor so hard that it shook the chandelier in the dining room. Feet scrambled above him and doors were thrown open.
"Harry?!"
"Where are you?!"
"What's could possibly be happening now?!"
"Harry!"
He watched his family stumble down the stairs, clumsily bumping into each other the entire way. They were all shoving each other to get in front, James and Lily more aggressively than the others. Sirius and Remus were beginning to look quite harassed and rather agitated with the couple.
"Would you stop?!"
"Cut it out!"
"My son needs me, this isn't the time to be doing this!"
"HEY!" Harry boomed.
They fell silent. He smiled and waited until he had their undivided attention.
"Wonderful. Would you all like to join me in the living room?"
"…For what?" James asked confusedly.
Harry rolled his eyes and beckoned them to follow him down the hall. "Well, I know how hard this past few weeks have been and I don't blame you for forgetting so don't start crying from what you're about to see?"
Lily frowned. "What do you mean?"
He held the door open for them. "Surprise!"
They all stared at the living room in shock, all their hearts sinking to their stomachs when they saw Harry's shoddy decorations hanging on the wall. The delicious smell of all the food he cooked only made them feel even guiltier.
"Oh, sweetheart," Lily whispered sadly. "Harry, we're so sorry!"
"It's okay," he laughed. "I understand."
"It shouldn't have happened in the first place," James sighed as he pulled his son into his arms. "We'll go to Diagon Alley later today and buy you all the presents you want. I promise."
He rolled his eyes once more. "Dad, you must be confusing me for my cousin. I don't need presents or anything. I just want to see you all happy again. Can we do that today? Forget our problems and have some fun?"
"Of course we can!" Remus told him. "We'll floo your friends and tell them all to come over."
"We don't have to bother them!" he said hurriedly. "They all sent me their birthday greetings anyway." He pretended not to take notice of the way they drooped down with shame.
"I'll bake a cake!" Sirius exclaimed suddenly.
Lily scoffed. "I'll bake a cake, lest our house burns down during Harry's birthday breakfast. And you will be getting presents or my name isn't Lily Evans."
James glared at her. "It isn't Lily Evans, it's Lily Potter."
"Just checking to make sure you remembered. You forgot your son's birthday, after all."
"Oi! You did too! And so did his uncles for that matter! What kind of lot are you?"
Remus reached over and swatted the man on the back of the head. He pointed his thumb towards Sirius. "Don't look at me, he's the boy's godfather. I'm just his lowly uncle that visits on holidays."
"You live with us!" Harry scowled. "You've no excuse forgetting your favorite nephew's birthday!"
"You're my only nephew, Harry."
"Even more reason! Now, are we going to tuck in or not? The food's going to get cold!"
Harry sat between his parents, enjoying their arms around him as they ate their breakfast and sang Happy Birthday to him. He made sure to keep everyone happy, always turning the subject to something positive when it seemed like they were remembering Peter.
In the middle of their festivities, they heard an owl hooting from the kitchen. "Must be the prophet," Lily noted.
"I'll get it!" Harry insisted. "Enjoy the food! I'll be right back."
He grabbed a Knut from his mother's bag and hurried to the owl that was become very impatient.
"All right, here you go. No need to get cranky."
It hooted once more as it stuck its leg out for him, where a leather coin purse was tied. Harry patted the owl, dropped the Knut and took the paper. It soared out of the window before he unrolled the newspaper to look at the headline.
He nearly dropped it in shock.
"PETTIGREW ESCAPES"
"You knew he was a bloody unregistered animagus and you didn't make any preparations for that?!"
Minister Fudge flinched at the way James was looking at him.
"We thought the Dementors would be ample enough- we never imagined they would allow anyone to escape, animagus or not!"
Sirius dragged his hand down his face slowly. "I used to transform into a dog countless times because they have trouble affecting animals, you ungodly moron."
Fudge turned red. "I'm still the Minister and I demand respect!"
They ignored him and turned to Dumbledore. "What are we doing about this, Albus?" Lily asked quietly.
"Dozens of aurors are already out there searching for him," he told them. "All the professors will be on high alert if he isn't caught by the time the school year starts. I refuse to let anything happen to Harry. You have my word." James gave the Headmaster a long stare before nodding. Albus seemed relieved to have James back on his side.
"And this time, you'll tell us about everything the moment it happens, won't you?"
"Most assuredly."
Having his entire family, as well as his friends and their families, surrounding him during his trip to Diagon Alley was making Harry feel much less antsy than he'd been feeling all week. Knowing that Peter Pettigrew somehow escaped Azkaban terrified him. Sure, his uncles told him confidently that the man was a bumbling fool and would be too scared to try and find Voldemort, but that did nothing to ease his worries. Harry's nightmares came back with a vengeance, this time centered on Peter finding them and killing his parents in front of him.
Ron and Neville had taken to flooing over to the Potters and camping out in Harry's room, knowing he'd need all the support he could get. Even Hermione had owled the Potters, asking if they could open a secure floo network to her house so she could check up on her friend. Besides knowing his friends cared enough to go out of their way to make sure he was feeling all right, Harry also had Hedwig ready to wake him up in case of any intruders and Sally promising to attack any rats he saw around the house. James and Lily even put up more wards and protection spells that stretched further than their previous boundaries. There wasn't much more they could do to make him feel safer.
"Harry?"
He broke out of his musings and turned to his bushy haired friend. Hermione was smiling at him kindly.
"Can you believe it? We're about to meet him!"
Harry rolled his eyes, which Ron took immediate notice of. "Do you really think he cares about Lockhart, Hermione?" Ron drawled. "Or did you forget that Pettigrew is on the loose."
"Pettigrew could be dead and I still wouldn't care about Lockhart," he muttered. Ron and Neville laughed loudly. Hermione glared at them all.
"I would expect you to have more respect for Mr. Lockhart! All the things he's done…"
"He looks like a right git to me," Sirius said from behind them. Molly clicked her tongue in disagreement and Lily slapped his chest.
"You aren't even giving him a chance!" She insisted.
James' jaw dropped. "Don't tell me you're falling for the prat's nonsense."
Lily merely blushed. "I'm not! But you can't deny that he's rather handsome…"
"Oh for Merlin's sake," he said with exasperation.
She turned redder but before she could defend herself once more, a loud gasp caught the attention of the crowd.
Gilderoy Lockhart was on his feet, staring at their son in wonder. "It can't be Harry Potter?" He practically dived into the crowd and pulled Harry forward. The boy was now as red as his mother. Everyone began applauding and a photographer blinded him with a bright flash. "Nice big smile, Harry! Together, you and I are worth the front page!" He was positively beaming, completely ignorant of how uncomfortable Harry was.
Lily's eyes flashed dangerously. She began pushing through the crowd that formed in front of her. "And she's back," she heard Remus tell the men amusedly. Lockhart was in the middle of some long, drawn out soliloquy about giving Harry his books autographed and free of charge before she finally got to the front.
"Indeed, I have great pleasure in announcing that this September, I will be-"
"That's enough," she interrupted, seizing Harry from the man and pushing him behind her. "I don't take very kindly to people handling my ward and taking them too far from me to protect him, or have you forgotten there's an escaped convict running around?"
Gilderoy gave her a brilliant smile. "And who may I ask you are? You are certainly too beautiful to be just a bodyguard."
Lily somehow grimaced and blushed at the same time. "Well, I am his bodyguard and you're getting in the way of my duty. Come along, Harry. We're done here." She tugged him back to their friends and family. He passed his books to Ginny, dumping them into the cauldron she was carrying, and told her she could keep them for he'd be buying a set of his own. Molly looked like she was going to argue, but Lily insisted that they keep it. She thanked them before heading to the register with her husband and the Grangers. "Can you believe the nerve of that git?!"
Sirius pretended to be scandalized by her tone. "You aren't even giving him a chance!"
She pinched his side and he laughed at her. "Oh shut it, Sirius," she chuckled. "Do us a favor and grab his books and pay for them? I don't want to see Lockhart, even as a picture on a book." She passed him her money and watched him go.
"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?"
They all turned to see Draco Malfoy approaching the children, sneering the entire way.
"Famous Harry Potter! Can't even go into a book-shop without making the front page."
"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" Ginny shouted, glaring at Malfoy angrily.
Malfoy snorted. "Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend?"
"Shouldn't we stop them?" Remus asked Harry's parents.
"He's smart," Lily said. "He won't give in to this."
They must've missed whatever Ron said to Draco, but they did hear the horrible retort. "Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley. I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."
Ron dropped his books and reeled his fist back but Hermione and Harry grabbed him quickly.
"Ok, now we interrupt," James mumbled. "We don't need more trouble than we already have."
They stepped towards the children just in time for Mr. Weasley to return with the twins and Mrs. Weasley.
"What's going on?" Arthur asked when he saw their faces.
"The Malfoy boy causing trouble," Remus answered. "Come on, let's get the kids before they get into a fight."
Suddenly, a much taller version of Draco appeared from behind the children. "Well, well, well- Arthur Weasley."
Mr. Weasley straightened and stared at the newcomer coldly. "Lucius."
Lucius' gaze flickered to Sirius for a moment before turning back to Arthur. "Busy time at the Ministry, I hear? What with Pettigrew on the loose and all those raids… I hope they're paying you overtime?"
James gripped his wand as he watched the blond man reach into Ginny's cauldron and grab a secondhand Transfiguration textbook.
"Obviously not. Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't' even pay you well for it?"
Mr. Weasley turned a dark shade of red. "Easy, Arthur," Remus warned.
He paid the werewolf no mind. "We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy."
With horrible timing, The Grangers hard returned and took in the scene questioningly. Lucius looked at them with obvious disdain. "Clearly. The company you keep, Weasley… and I thought your family could sink no lower-"
They all watched with morbid fascination as Arthur lunged forward and tackled Lucius into the shelves of books. The twins encouraging cries drowned Molly's shrieks out. Mr. Granger had pushed the children and his wife out of the way and was now trying to pull Arthur back. The fight was quickly drawing the attention and a few workers were rushing towards them, begging them to stop. "Would one of you do something?!" Molly demanded when she noticed the rest of them staring slack-jawed and stunned. Her frantic plea snapped them out of their daze and James and Sirius jumped into the scuffle. It took all three men to drag Arthur away and Lily's wand at Malfoy's throat to keep him at bay.
"I wouldn't try anything if I were you," she threatened.
Malfoy sneered at her and tossed the book back into Ginny's cauldron, ordering Draco to follow him out as he wiped blood away from his split lip.
"That was brilliant!" Sirius blurted out. "Imagine, pure-blood loving Malfoy getting his ass handed to him Muggle style! Absolutely brilliant Arthur!"
Molly was not amused, scolding her husband for his childish behavior.
Harry, on the other hand, was grinning madly with Ron and Neville. There wouldn't be a day once school started that they would pass up the chance to rub this in Malfoy's face. Hermione noticed the mischievous looks on their faces immediately. She gave them a stern look and a shake of her head.
"Absolutely not, you three! What would," she looked around and leaned in to whisper, "what would Miss Lily say if she finds out you'll be provoking Malfoy at school. I'll tell her, Harry. If it means keeping you out of trouble, I'll warn her."
Ron rolled his eyes. Hermione and Lily had grown very fond of each other over the summer. He didn't doubt that Hermione really would run and tattle on them. "Must you always ruin all our fun?"
"Miss Lily wouldn't-"
"Oh God, if I have to hear you call her Miss Lily one more time."
Hermione blushed. Neville nudged Ron with his elbow. "Hermione's right. Let's just try to avoid Malfoy this year." Harry and Ron gave each other knowing glances. "I said try, didn't I? Besides, ignoring Malfoy isn't the real question here. What we really want to know is whether or not you'll get over your silly Lockhart crush now that Miss Lily doesn't like him, Mione."
Harry and Ron roared with laughter as Hermione turned redder and gave him a pinch on the arm. "Neville! You're supposed to be on my side!" she laughed.