A/N: Oh my gosh! You guys make me feel so awesome! :D I woke up this morning to a bunch of follows and favorites! Thank you so much!
Okay, so to answer some questions some of you might have had: Yes James and Lily technically have new bodies. Because the ones in the graves would have been rotting by now or already dust. So it made sense to me that they should get new bodies.
After this chapter, I'll probably be updating weekly or bi-weekly – I'm updating this one because I already have it written and I'm working on the next chapter. It should be done within the week. Until then, why not give me some feedback when you finish this one?
Okay, loves, here is the next chapter! Enjoy!
Chapter 1
Lily looked around the room, wondering what could have possibly happened to leave her house in such a state.
An entire wall of her little boy's nursery was missing, and everything that had been in here was either rotted or in such bad shape it couldn't be used anymore.
Speaking of her baby, where was he? One minute she was begging for his life, with him crying behind her, the next she woke up on the floor and he was gone. She had to find him, and her wand as well.
Lily looked everywhere in the room, and she eventually found her wand under Harry's crib. Oh, her precious little boy! Where was he? What had happened to him? She prayed he was safe.
'Oh, Merlin!' Lily thought. 'What about James?'
Lily hoped as she crept out of the nursery that her worst fears wouldn't be confirmed.
"James?" she whispered cautiously. "James, are you alright?"
"Lily?" came her reply. "Sweetheart, are you okay? What about Harry?"
Lily came down the stairs to meet her husband. "Oh, James," she said, starting to cry. "James, he wasn't in his crib. Where could he be? What if something awful happened to him? I couldn't stand it! And our house! It's ruined! It wasn't like this earlier. What's happened?"
"I don't know, darling," James said, attempting to console his sobbing wife. "I'm sure he's fine, though. Don't worry, we'll find him. But first, let's gather everything of value from the house. Our money, and everything we can take with us; and maybe we should change, too."
They quickly ran through the house, grabbing everything they could find that was of importance. As they went through the house, they assessed the damage. It was clear they couldn't stay here.
Luckily, most of their clothes were still intact, thanks to a spell from Lily. They found some acceptable Muggle clothes and changed quickly.
"What should we do now, dear?" Lily asked. "We should alert Dumbledore that we're alright, maybe he has Harry. Or at least he'll know where he is."
James thought for a minute. "Yes, we probably should go see Albus first. Fill him in on what's happened… But what about Sirius and Remus? Sirius is Harry's godfather, after all. Maybe he's got him."
"Hmm, that's a thought," Lily mused. "We'll go there afterward, unless Dumbledore tells us otherwise."
James wrapped his arm around Lily and Apparated them to just outside of Hogsmeade. They set off, up High Street, and headed for Hogwarts.
Everyone they planned to visit that night, aside from their son, was currently congregated in Albus Dumbledore's office, watching as they made their way across the Hogwarts grounds.
"Ah," said Dumbledore in surprise. "It seems we have some rather…unexpected visitors."
"Who is it, Albus?" questioned Minerva McGonagall, drawing her wand.
"I do not know, Minerva, but it appears they mean us no harm. We shall find out when they arrive."
Sirius Black and Remus Lupin sat back down in their chairs and looked at each other with concern.
In a few minutes' time, there was a knock on the door of the Headmaster's office.
"Come in," Dumbledore called to the newcomers.
When the door opened, no one was prepared for the sight they received. James and Lily Potter (or what looked like them, at least) stepped into the office, their faces full of concern.
"It can't be… No." whispered Professor McGonagall, wand still drawn.
Sirius and Remus were out of their chairs with their wands ready.
"You look like you've all seen a ghost," James said jokingly.
But this wasn't funny, not to Sirius. He quickly strode over to 'James,' wand raised.
"What form is your Animagus?" Sirius asked angrily.
"A stag, you know that Padfoot," said James uncertainly. "Why, what's this about?"
"Show me then, if you really are James," said Sirius, lowering his wand slightly.
"Really, Sirius? You think that's best, here? Well, alright then," James replied, slightly confused.
"Sirius, it's a trap, they're imposters. You and I both know James and Lily couldn't possibly – no matter how much we want to believe it," Remus warned.
"'Couldn't possibly' what, Remus?" Lily asked.
"What did I tell you and James when you asked me to be your Secret Keeper instead of Sirius?" Remus asked hotly.
"You… You told that you agreed with Sirius. We should make Peter our Secret Keeper, because you and Sirius were too obvious choices. So we did," Lily said. "Now really, Remus, what is this all about?"
Beside her suddenly stood a tall, beautiful white stag.
"Merlin's beard," whispered Sirius, dropping his wand. "Prongs. It really is you."
The stag transformed back into James.
"Yeah, of course it is, Padfoot. Can't you tell? Now come off it, what's going on?"
"Yes, it is them after all. I can smell it. But how?" Remus confirmed.
"Ah, how indeed, Remus," Dumbledore echoed. "Surely, something quite miraculous has occurred."
"Will someone please explain what's going on?" Lily demanded, fully irritated by now. "And I want to know where my Harry is!"
"Please, Lily, James, have a seat," Dumbledore offered, conjuring two more chairs with a flick of his wand. "I will explain everything in due time, but first, do you know what the date is?"
James and Lily looked at each other at this odd question.
"Um, since it's after midnight, I'm guessing it's November first, 1981?" James said, still confused.
"No, James," said Remus gently. "It's July thirtieth, 1995… Today is Sunday, well, now anyway."
Lily and James just stared at each other. It wasn't possible.
"Is this some kind of sick joke, Moony? 'Cause, honestly, it's not funny," James said darkly.
"No, Prongs. It's not a joke. I wish it were…"
"But fourteen years?! How? Why?" James asked, bewildered.
"James, we're wondering the same thing," Sirius said.
Dumbledore spoke up, "James, there are a few things you need to know about the past few years. You and Lily have missed quite a bit."
"Quite a bit?" Lily repeated. "Yes, I'll say we have! We've missed our little boy growing up!"
Lily was nearly inconsolable. James was just stunned. How could they have missed out on so much?
"So… What's happened, Dumbledore? Why have we missed out on fourteen years? Where's our son? Please tell me he's alright," James asked, his concern growing.
"That is not an easy thing to explain, even I am not completely certain of all the details," Dumbledore said, the twinkle back in his eyes. "I will do my best to answer your questions, but a few things we can only guess at."
"Okay," said Lily slowly. "So, first question: Why have we missed fourteen years?"
"That, my dear Lily, is a wonderful question. The answer my shock you both," said Dumbledore bracingly. "Please allow me to explain fully before any interruptions.
"Fourteen years ago, something terrible happened, and both of you suffered a horrible fate. Voldemort murdered you both before turning his wand on Harry."
Lily gasped and James sat with his head in his hands.
"Is my son alright, Dumbledore? And if we died, how are we here now?" James asked, the tears in his eyes threatening to spill over.
"Why you're suddenly back now, that is a mystery. Fate has her mysterious ways… But Harry is quite alright," Dumbledore said brightly. "He was not killed that night. He is alive and well, and you would be very proud of him. That night, not only did Harry survive, but Voldemort's curse appeared to backfire. He did not die however. He was merely stripped of his powers, and curiously, his body. Harry walked away with only a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. This year, however, Harry competed in the Triwizard Tournament, completely by accident, along with three other students. As he is not old enough to have competed, a Death Eater posing as the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher put his name into the Goblet of Fire, and Harry's name came out when the champions were selected. In the Third Task, the Triwizard Cup had, unbeknownst to myself and the other Hogwarts teachers and staff, been turned into a portkey. Harry, along with the other Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory, grabbed the cup, which transported them to a graveyard where Voldemort waited. Peter Pettigrew, otherwise known as 'Wormtail,' killed Mr. Diggory, on Voldemort's command. Harry then watched as Voldemort obtained a new body. Voldemort gathered his remaining faithful Death Eaters, and then proceeded to duel Harry. Harry got away, and used the cup to transport himself and Cedric's body back to Hogwarts. As you can imagine, Harry is quite shaken. Other than that, he is fine."
James and Lily just stared at each other. Their little boy, their precious son, had been through so much, and at only fourteen. Of course, they were immensely proud of him, what parent wouldn't be? But they were more concerned for him, how he was handling all this. And, moreover, was he happy? They had missed so much. Who had been taking care of him?
James spoke first, "So where is Harry now? Who's been taking care of him? Sirius?"
It was Sirius who answered him, "I wish. I've only been a part of Harry's life again since last year. No, someone else took care of Harry."
James looked from Sirius to Remus, slightly alarmed, "Remus?"
"No, James, I didn't either. For obvious reasons…" Remus said, not quite meeting James or Lily's eyes.
"Well, who did then? And Sirius, we made you Harry's godfather. You should have been first choice," Lily said, concern mounting again.
"I sent Harry to live with your sister, her husband, and their son, who is about the same age as Harry," said Dumbledore calmly.
Lily and James exchanged a horrified look.
"P-Petunia… raised my Harry?" asked Lily shakily. "Oh dear. That's no good. They hate us."
"Dumbledore… Why?" asked James. "There's no way they treated him right. When can we go get him?"
"I sent Harry there because I believed family was best for him," Dumbledore replied. "Through Lily's blood, Harry was protected. The longer he stayed in the care of relatives, the longer he would be protected. But, it seems that he has other options as far as family now."
"Yes, but what about Sirius?" said James, quite upset by this point. "We had clearly said that if anything should happen to us before Harry came of age, Sirius was to become his guardian. Why wasn't he?"
"I wasn't in much of a position to, up until a year ago," Sirius said darkly. "The bloody Ministry had me locked up. Said I was 'Voldemort's right-hand man.' After…after what happened to you two, I went to go find our dear friend Peter. He sold you out to Voldemort, James. He has the Mark and everything. Well, when I went to see him, I cornered him in an alley. He knew I was well past angry. The dirty coward blew up the alley, cut off his finger, then he transformed. He killed thirteen Muggles in the process. All the Ministry officials could find of him was his finger. So I got charged with murdering him and the Muggles. I didn't even get a trial, just straight to Azkaban. Twelve years I spent there, until I escaped. They still think I'm guilty, so I have to be extremely careful if I go out."
"But, you didn't do anything," James said. "Why hasn't Peter been turned in?"
"He's too quick for anyone to catch," Sirius said. "But we've come close a couple of times."
"Wow," said James.
"But what about Harry?" Lily asked. "When can we go get him?
"Well," said Dumbledore, "it is rather late, and I'm sure Harry is asleep by now. Why not wait until the morning to collect him?"
"Well, I guess you have a point," said James. "I guess we'll just have to wait until the morning…"
"Ah. Well, now that's settled," said Dumbledore happily. "You can stay in the castle tonight. I'll have Minerva show you to a guest room."
Professor McGonagall had listened to the entire conversation in silence. She was still sunned to see James and Lily, walking about and talking, as if they'd never been gone.
"Of course, Albus," said Professor McGonagall. She got up and started for the door. "Oh and James, Lily… It's good to have back."
James could have sworn he saw a smile and tears brimming her eyes before she turned to the door.
A/N: Okay, so that's Chapter 1! I understand it was probably unbearably dull, but it was necessary. The next chapter will be better, I promise! I know that since this is fifth year, at the end of the year (provided I take this story that far) in canon, Sirius dies. Now what should I do about that? Should I keep it in, or should I let him live? Review & let me know! Also, should Harry & Ginny get together yet, or should I wait? So many ideas! Give me your opinions & tell me what you thought! Again, thank you, dears!
