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 30

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

James flinched at Harry's icy tone. The boy had decided to skip out on his first Hogsmeade trip to, well, brood. "Harry… son, there's no shame in-"

"This is by far the worst start of the school year ever," he snapped. "I passed out on the stupid train, Malfoy's going to get Hagrid fired, Sirius is still having fits in his sleep because of the Dementors- and don't even think about lying to me about it, I know he is- and Moony just had to jump in front of me in class. Now, every time I go to Defense, all everyone is saying is I'm going to get away with not doing any work because my uncle is the professor!"

Remus, who was making sure his grindylow wasn't making too much of a fuss, turned and frowned remorsefully. He'd never seen Harry this moody and wasn't sure how to handle it. They were sure Lily would be able to snap the boy back into shape had she been with them, but she was in the middle of a tutoring session.

"Harry, I only did so because I assumed it would take the shape of Lord Voldemort. I figured your classmates would be petrified if they saw it."

The boy sagged slightly, but only for a second before he was crossing his arms and glaring at the wall once more. "Well, you're wrong," he answered bluntly. "I thought of the-" he paused and the tops of his cheeks turned a light shade of red.

James stared at his son and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Was it the Dementors?"

Harry's lips pulled into a thin line and he nodded once.

"Well…. That's rather impressive," Remus noted. Both Potters looked at him and he smiled at the surprise on their faces. "That suggests that what you fear most of all is fear. Very wise, kid."

Harry suddenly felt very inadequate. "I don't know if it's so much that as it is the fact I hate hearing my mother getting tortured over and over again," he muttered.

"What says it isn't both, Har?" James asked.

He glanced between his father and uncle. "Listen, you both know how to fight these things, don't you? Or at least I know Remus does. Can't-"

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. As if he could feel worse than he was already feeling, a great wave of annoyance erupted in his chest when Snape came in with a goblet of Wolfsbane potion for Remus, not that Harry noticed it.

"What are you doing here?" he spat.

"Harry!" James and Remus scolded together.

The boy turned to them angrily. "He's been nonstop coddling Malfoy and picking on us Lions for no reason at all except he can because he's a Professor! Besides, haven't you heard how desperate he is for your job? He's probably poisoned your potion so he could finally get the job!"

"Harry! Knock it off- now!" James hissed.

He jumped out of his seat and stormed out. "Forget it! I'm going to Hogsmeade."

"And how are you going to do that?" Snape snapped. "They've all gone down already."

Harry ignored him and slammed the door shut.

"Get ahold of your brat, Potter," Severus gritted out, unable to contain his irritation with the teen that had blatantly disrespected him in front of his childhood tormenters. "He'll be serving detentions from here to the grave if I had it my way."

"Well, you don't have it your way, do you?" James retorted, ignoring the warning his friend was giving him to stay calm. "The kid's stressed out as it is and you and that Malfoy boy aren't making it much easier."

Snape roughly passed the goblet to Remus, who just about broke his neck in his haste to catch the sloshing liquid in his mouth as it tipped over the cup's edge.

"I'm sorry, do you believe we should give him special treatment just because the Dementors make him feel uncomfortable?"

"Uncomfortable?!" James roared, flying to his feet immediately. He stepped forward, his fists balled at his sides like he was ready to knock Snape flat on his back. "They're doing more than just making him feel uncomfortable, not that you'd know anything about that since you didn't have to go to Azkaban for your crimes, did you?"

"You-"

"Is it not true?"

All three men turned to see Lily standing at the door, Sirius just behind her and glaring at Snape over her shoulder. She had a hand on her hip and a look on her face that was challenging Snape to disagree with her. There was something about her new facial features and black hair that had the man even more intimidated than before.

"Lily-" Severus began.

She ignored him and walked into the room, dropping her books onto Remus' desk. "And where is my son? I thought you said he'd be here waiting for me when I got back from tutoring."

"Well, I can think of one reason why he isn't here," Sirius quipped from the doorway he was now leaning on. "Are you done here, Snape, or are you waiting for her to drop her glamours so you can drool all over her? You know the rules, she isn't allowed to do that, so don't hold your breath."

Severus, who bit back his humiliation, decided it was not the time to fight with them as he was outnumbered. "You should drink that directly, Lupin. I made an entire cauldronful if you need more," he growled before shoving past Sirius on his way out.

"Gee, was it something I said?" Sirius asked.

James looked at his wife to see her waiting for an explanation. "He's probably in a tunnel on his way to Hogsmeade right now- and don't worry, no one knows about the tunnels but us. He won't be running into any Dementors," he answered with a sigh. "The poor kid was already temperamental then Snape comes in and he just about loses it. He wasn't exactly happy that Remus and I reprimanded him for back-talking a teacher."

Lily's shoulders fell and she felt her heart ache for Harry. "It'll pass. We just have to give him some time."

"It doesn't pass that easily, Lil, especially since what he experienced was you in pain," Sirius told her softly. "I know it seems odd that he's so bothered because he only encountered it once and it's been so long already, but that kind of thing sticks with you. I mean, it got so close to him… too close. I wouldn't be surprised if his nightmares have come back."

"Not to mention, Malfoy is still getting a rise out of him about it," Lily conceded. "I just hate that he has to feel embarrassed over something that's truly hurting him. All I want is for him to feel better again."

"Well, hopefully he's clearing his head at Hogsmeade."

Remus hummed in thought. "Actually, with his luck, Hermione will be lecturing him for being reckless enough to use an underground tunnel to get there."

"I can't believe you, Harry James Potter! Of all the ridiculous, irresponsible things to do!"

Harry rubbed at his temples as he tried to block out the sound of Hermione ranting. It took him ages to get to Hogsmeade and the last thing he thought he'd get was a lecture. Ron and Neville were looking upon him with great pity. They were just choosing out which candies to bring back to him when he showed up and was almost immediately yelled at by the girl. She'd been non-stop for almost ten minutes now and he had half the mind to leave them all behind and explore the town by himself. Unconsciously, his pace quickened, but Hermione noticed.

"Don't you run away from me, Harry!"

"Hermione, please," he begged. "I've had a bad day. Can't we just pretend I came here with you guys and have some fun?"

"Maybe he's right," Neville suggested. "Why don't we give him a break?"

"Yeah, he'll be nice to Crookshanks for the week if you let up already," Ron offered.

"Like actually nice, not like the pretend nice we've been to the beast," Neville clarified.

Harry grimaced. Hermione had purchased a cat- or whatever animal it was- and brought it to Hogwarts with her this year. Neville, Ron and he were quite wary of him, since he was only friendly to Hermione.

"Yeah I'll even feed him for you," he said hurriedly before Hermione could snap at Ron and Neville. "So, please? I'm sorry and I won't take the tunnel again, all right? Now, show me where Zonko's is."

Hermione eyed him for a moment before giving in and snaking her arm around his. "This way, then. I guess I can't convince you to check out the bookstore?"

He laughed and patted the elbow that was hooked with his. "Yeah, Hermione, I'm not that sorry."

She giggled and tugged him towards Zonko's, Neville and Ron joking around behind them.

The rest of the trip consisted of all of them successfully cheering Harry up. He'd bought a few things at Zonko's for his dad and Sirius, some bars of chocolate for Remus, and more Cauldron Cakes than he knew his mother would really eat. They took a quick visit to the Shrieking Shack, so Harry could see where Remus would be transforming, and suffice it to say, he was rather unhappy by the shoddy accommodations given to his uncle, but it would have to do. All too quickly, they were heading back to the castle. As they walked through the halls and up to Gryffindor Tower, he was reminded of the reason he fled to Hogsmeade. He gave his friends a hesitant glance before deciding to tell them what had happened.

"So you really yelled at Snape?" Ron asked for the tenth time. "Man, I would've paid to see that."

"I don't know, Harry. Now he's going to torture you even more in class." Neville groaned.

"Not to mention you got Remus and-" she paused and looked around at the students who were within hearing distance. "Uhm, that is, Professor Lupin and Professor Dawling caught you yelling at him."

"Yes, well Professor Lupin and Professor Dawling weren't much help when I told them what a git Snape's been," he said irritably. "Maybe, if it was Sirius that was there-"

"Woah, what's going on?" Ron exclaimed.

A large group of students, trailing down the staircase from the Gryffindor Common Room, were chattering loudly, jammed into each other and wondering why no one was moving. Harry tried to standing on his toes to see over everyone, but even Ron-the tallest of them all- couldn't see what was happening. A bad feeling settled in Harry's stomach and he felt a great need to get to the front. He pushed through his housemates with insincere apologies until he finally got to the Fat Lady.

Except the Fat Lady wasn't there.

Her portrait had been slashed and torn. Pieces of canvas were lying shredded on the floor. The wood behind it looked like someone had tried stabbing their way into the Tower.

Harry took a step back in horror. He didn't know how long he stood there staring at it, but suddenly Professor Dumbledore was standing next to him, examining the ruins. "We must find her," he told Professor McGonagall who was just behind them. "Go to Mr. Filch and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."

"You'll be lucky!" a voice cackled above them.

Harry looked upwards to see Peeves smiling giddily down at the scene.

"What do you mean, Peeves?"

The poltergeist, who only ever listened to Dumbledore and the Bloody Baron, didn't seem so thrilled anymore. He floated downwards and hovered in front of the headmaster.

"Ashamed, your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful. Poor thing," he finished, though it was clear he wasn't all that sympathetic.

"Did she say who did it?"

"Oh yes, Professorhead." Peeves was grinning again. "Snuck in, quiet as a mouse. Got very desperate when she wouldn't let him in, and scurried away before anyone could see him hacking at the door like a madman. Always running, isn't he, that Peter Pettigrew?"

All eyes turned to Harry, who dropped the bags he was carrying and all but shoved everyone in his way to get back down the steps.

"Potter, wait!" Professor McGonagall shouted.

His friends took off after him, but the Seeker was showing just how fast he could be on land. He sprinted ahead of them, down many flights and across a handful of halls before he got to the floor where the Defense classroom was. He slammed into the ajar door and flew into a desk, forcing it to topple over, knocking down a few chairs on his way to the office.

"Remus!" he shouted with great panic. "REMUS!"

The office door opened and he just about tackled into his uncle.

"Harry!" The force had him stumbling backwards into Sirius. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Harry?" Lily asked, getting up from her seat.

All of them had waited in Remus' office with intentions to go searching for the boy if he didn't return to them after the Hogsmeade trip was over.

The boy latched onto her immediately, wrapping his arms around her like she would be taken away from him if he didn't. "You're okay," he said while gasping for air. "You're okay! Where's dad?"

The door to Remus' bathroom swung open and James came in, a smile spreading across his face when he saw his son. "Harry! You're back. I was worried you'd be sulking around the castle but… What's going on?"

"It's Peter!" Harry told them.

Lily pulled back, shocked. "What?"

"He got into the castle! All the way up to Gryffindor Tower!"

It was the morning after all the chaos in the castle and everyone was still on edge. All the students spent the night in the Great Hall, packed together in sleeping bags with the professors watching over them while every inch of the grounds were searched. Lily, of course, had stayed in the Hall, tending to stay closest to the third year Gryffindors. Despite his desperation to go on the hunt for Pettigrew, Sirius was forced to stay with her. Not only did James and Remus want to keep him as far away from the Dementors as possible, but they were rather afraid of what the man might do if he was the one to find the rat. "Keep our boy safe," Remus had said to convince him.

When Harry woke in the morning, his mother was at the opposite end of the room, which he knew was to keep appearances, but Sirius was hovering above him.

"Pads," he greeted. "Was there anything?"

The man shook his head. "Everything clear. Unfortunately or fortunately, however you want to look at it."

Harry nodded slowly, unsure of how to feel. "Is… Where's Remus?"

Sirius heard the unasked question. "He's in Dumbledore's office. They want to speak to you as well. We'll be joining the meeting after breakfast, okay?"

And what a meeting it was.

It started with Harry forcibly squeezing his friends into the office with him. He'd reasoned with Sirius, saying that since Peter knew who they were and what they looked like, there was a high chance that they were in danger too. Sirius, who reasoned with the others that it was faster to agree than argue, shrugged and said, "he would've told them everything anyway." And that was how Hermione, Ron, Neville and the Twins- who noticed them leaving the Great Hall and followed immediately- were seated in the middle of a group of irate professors.

Of course, McGonagall was not even slightly amused with their presence, insisting they were children and shouldn't be involved, but Sirius had a point. As much as they wanted to protect them, they were so very involved already.

"They're right," James said with exhausted defeat. "Peter damn near axed his way into Gryffindor Tower. They need to be on guard and for that, they need to be a little in the know. So we're going to tell them what they need to hear and that'll be that."

Harry grinned triumphantly at that.

And then Lily began pacing in front of the children, looking very determined to make them listen to whatever she was about to say. They all knew how important it was to listen.

"Now, you will do everything I say, you do you understand?" she ordered.

They all nodded in unison.

Lily stared at Harry first then gave all of his friends a glance of their own.

"You will never be walking by yourselves in the hallways. Always walk in groups. I mean it, even for you two!" She pointed at Fred and George. "I don't care if you think you're older and can take care of yourselves."

"Like you ever see us apart anyway," Fred retorted. "Don't worry, we'll stick together."

Lily hummed approvingly. "Obviously, as we expected, Peter had no trouble getting passed the Dementors, bloody useless bastards." James choked on the laugh he tried to hide when he heard his wife swear. "You see a rat, you scream for help. I don't care if it's just a regular old mouse. Kick it, stun it, stomp on it if you have to. You take no chances."

"Harry's mum is wicked cool when she's angry and taking charge," Ron whispered to Neville. They both looked at Hermione, who was eying the woman with something akin to adoration.

"I want to be her," Hermione whispered back to them.

"Do you think Mr. Potter would be mad if I asked her to marry me?" the redhead asked her. Harry pinched Ron's side, but Hermione just giggled.

"Not if I ask her first," she quipped.

Lily paused and nearly sneered at the four. "Are you listening to me, Harry James? This is very serious!"

Harry gaped at her mother. "It wasn't me, it was them! I was listening, mum, honest!"

"Now that I have your attention- no more of that tunnel! You hear me? If you so much step your little toe into that god forsaken-"

"I've sealed it already, Lily," Remus told her before she could give a full-fledged rant to the boy. "James and I have sealed all the tunnels."

"Peter won't be able to get through them," her husband promised.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Not that it would matter. He never remembered how to get through them anyway, always needed the Map."

"Well, we double blocked off the ones he used most often and were most familiar with," Remus said. "Just to be sure."

Lily gnawed on her bottom lip as she begun pacing once more. "Good, that's… good. All right. Next." She gave Harry a sympathetic frown, one that begged him to see she didn't want to upset him. "I know you won't like this, sweetheart, but your father and I don't want you going down to Hogsmeade anymore."

Harry drooped in his seat. He assumed they'd tell him that but he was still disappointed. "I understand," he grumbled.

"We're thankful that you do, son," James murmured regretfully.

"Well, if you're not going neither am I," Neville stated.

"Nev, no!" Harry exclaimed. "Don't worry about me."

Ron shook his head. "Once was enough, mate. 'Sides, do you think we want to get kidnapped by that maniac? We're just fine here, thank you very much."

"Yeah, Harry," Hermione said supportively. "I've already explored that bookstore and bought everything I need from it. No need risking our safety for a bag of candy."

"Well, we'll be going," George said bluntly, but smiled. "But we'll keep our trips on a 'need-to-go' basis."

Sirius patted his godson's back. "Don't worry. We can go down together one of these days, so I'll be there to protect you. Remus can come with us."

"Thanks, everyone," Harry told them all gratefully. "So, what else do we need to know?"

Lily glanced at Dumbledore, who knew it was a sign that he should take over. "Sir Cadogan shall be taking over the Fat Lady's duties for a while, which you may spread to your housemates when you see them."

"And the Dementors?" Fred asked. "Haven't done anything to protect us. They won't be moved into the castle, will they?"

"I assure you not, Mr. Weasley, though I will be speaking with the Minister about their effectiveness."

"That should go over well," Ron muttered.

"Give Corny our best regards, will you?" George added cheekily.

The corners' of Dumbledore's lips tugged upwards before he waved towards the door. "You're all dismissed, and please be careful."

"I'll see you all later," Harry said to his family before closing the door behind him and his friends.

When they were left alone, Albus turned to his professors. "So, the search came up empty."

A flash of anger shone in James' eyes. "Not even a trace."

"We even took Harry's map, but he was nowhere on it," Remus informed them.

Minerva shook her head. "Can't it have been tampered with? Or maybe he showed up as a different name if he was disguised? He could've picked hair up off the groud and came in as a student."

"The map never lies," Sirius disagreed. "We made sure of that when we were making it."

McGonagall let out a quiet "humph," and glared at the three men. "If only you had applied that much dedication to your studies." The three man cast guilty but amused grins at each other. "There are two more things we must discuss, now that the children aren't here."

Albus cleared his throat. "Kingsley?" he called out. A door in the back of his office opened and a tall, broad-shouldered man came in. He smiled politely at everyone that looked at him. "Everyone, Kingsley Shacklebolt. One of the best aurors in the Ministry."

"You only say that because my loyalties lie with you," Kingsley quipped.

The Headmaster actually smirked. "Kingsley, you know Professor McGonagall, and I'm sure you know Sirius Black and Remus Lupin here. This is our muggle studies professor, Hesper Evercreech, and Remus' substitute, Henric Dawling."

"Pleasure," James greeted, though still wondering if the newcomer could be trusted. He noticed that Kingsley was examining him and Lily much in the same way.

"Albus has asked me to pick up where you two left off," he said, addressing Remus and Sirius. James spared a glance at Albus, whose expression remained unchanged. Not that he needed an explanation. Of course, Albus wouldn't tell Shacklebolt that James Potter was galavanting around Europe searching for Horcuxes. "I have some good news. It seems your suspicions were right. Bellatrix Lestrange became awfully agitated with me."

Sirius felt satisfaction deep in his chest. "Was she? How were you even able to get a sit down with her? Are you that important of an auror?"

"Well, I'd hope so, since the Minister assigned me to be in charge of the hunt for Peter Pettigrew." Sirius stood straighter at that, as did the others. "I convinced Fudge that it was necessary to interrogate the Death Eaters we had in Azkaban, see if they knew anything, had any plans in waiting that Pettigrew might know of and put into action. Of course, none of them said anything on that front, but I did feed some lies to Bellatrix after her questioning. Told her that I was the new person in charge of her seized assets and that we'd be giving the fortunes in the Lestrange Vault to various programs, most of them to help muggleborns." Kingsley huffed out of his nose. "Of course, we wouldn't be able to do that but she went quite mad at the thought of it. Went on and on about how her Lord would 'reach in and twist my insides' if I dared touch it."

"She said it right out like that?" Lily exclaimed disbelievingly.

Kingsley shrugged. "Azkaban has that affect on people, Professor. Loosens a few screws and makes it easier for things to slip out." He glanced at Sirius uncomfortably before continuing. "Anyway, it was quite an adventure to get into the vault. Made a deal with the goblins, nearly got burned to death by a dragon, actually got burnt inside of the vault, and nearly drowned in gold but-"

He brought a burlap bag up to eye-level. They all stared at it in surprise, none of them having noticed it before.

"We figured out which was the Horcrux."

McGonagall stepped back immediately, and James and Sirius both leaned away from the man, but Remus and Lily couldn't help but move forward with curiosity. "What is it?" Lily questioned.

"A cup," Sirius answered. "Right?"

Kingsley turned the bag upside down and let the cup clatter onto Dumbledore's desk. "Helga Hufflepuff's, to be exact."

"It looks in tact."

"That's because it is. Who would like to do the honors?"

Albus pulled the sword out, looking like he was ready to do it himself.

Lily stepped up to the desk immediately. "Well, they've all had a go already. I do believe it's my turn."

James lunged towards the woman, grabbed her wrist and tugged her back. "Lily, no! Are you mental? You know what might happen-"

"Which is why I won't let you do it, not again, James."

"You're barking mad if you think I'll let you do this!"

"You're barking mad if you think you're making this decision for me."

"Oh for Merlin's sake," Minerva muttered. She grabbed Gryffindor's sword out of Dumbledore's hands, the others parting like the Red Sea as she marched back to the desk. She held it high above her head, so that the blade was parallel to her, then stabbed it downwards into the Horcrux.

Glass shattered and sprayed around them like confetti, Dumbledore's table shook and the many objects sitting along the wall began tumbling and falling to the floor. Lily dragged James down and covered him with her body while Remus and Sirius ducked for cover as fast as they could. McGonagall, who had been frozen in her spot, was cut by a few shards of glass before Dumbledore was able to get around the table and shove her towards the couple on the ground. Kingsley had all but dove under Albus' desk. They held on a minute more as the room continued to tremble.

When it was all over, they got up one by one and took in the destroyed office around them.

"Do you think the rest of the castle felt that?" Lily breathed out.

McGonagall stood shakily, then healed the scratches on her hands and face. "I-I'll go check," she said before rushing out of the room.

Sirius went to follow her but Albus raised a hand. "She'll be all right," he stated calmly. "I'll check on her soon. We have other matters to take care of now."

Sirius sighed. "Right, the second thing we have to discuss?"

Albus grimaced. "Not quite," he replied before turning around and looking at Kingsley, who was staring at them all in great dismay.

"Did you say Lily and James?"