AUTHOR'S NOTES: A short chapter but it does something necessary…. Like give Dumbledore the kick in the ass he needed.

Alone in his office, Dumbledore was surprised when he head Phineas Nigellus say, "You are an idiot, Dumbledore."

Dumbledore frowned at the former headmaster. "I don't recall asking you for your opinion, Phineas."

"No, you never ask any of us for advice," Phineas snapped. "Do you think we—" Phineas waved a hand indicating the other headmasters and headmistresses now dozing in their frames. "—are here because we like the view?" Seeing Dumbledore start to argue, he said, "All the other heads have sought the advice and wisdom of heads past… except for you. Now why is it, Dumbledore, that you alone are wiser than us all?"

"I would never presume to know everything, Phineas," Dumbledore said, defending himself. "I'm merely human."

"Then for once… will you listen to someone else's advice?" Phineas said, imploringly. "You have mishandled Potter from the start. The first mistake being that never noticed that Peter Pettigrew was on his way to becoming a Death Eater when he was 12. The boy wanted powerful friends."

"I suppose you're right on that," Dumbledore admitted. "I should have paid more attention…"

"Also," Phineas added, getting on a roll. "You should have been more diligent in checking on Potter once he was at his aunt and uncle's house."

"On that, I agree wholeheartedly," Dumbledore admitted, thinking. Looking around his office, his eye caught a small picture of his sister, Ariana. "Harry's just like her…" Dumbledore whispered to himself as he remembered how his sister had been lost in a fight for the 'greater good'. "Severus is right… All I ever seem to care about is what I wish to achieve… I always say that the ends will justify the means…"

"Now that you've removed your head from your arse…" Phineas said with a smile. "Might I make a suggestion?"

"I dare say I couldn't stop you…" Dumbledore muttered wondering if this was the reason he'd never asked the other heads for advice.

"Find the Potters… beg for forgiveness… and for Merlin's sake… don't bugger it up," Phineas implored.

--

Lily slowly opened her eyes and blinked when she saw James grinning at her. "Oh… Oh, I must be dreaming…"

"Wouldn't be the first time I've heard that," James said, still grinning.

Sitting up from where she'd been lying, she saw that she was on a sofa in the Gryffindor Common room. Looking around she saw Harry and Camille sitting by the fireplace 'talking'. "James…?"

"Yes… and you have a tattoo of a tigerlily on the small of your back," James said, waggling his eyebrows.

"Okay, I believe it's you!" Lily said quickly before Harry or Camille started asking questions. "But how are you alive?"

"Well… That's kind of… complicated…" James said, slowly. "The short version would be… some kind of instant reincarnation."

"What?" Lily asked, confused.

"For the past 12 years… I've been just a stag…" James replied. "I didn't remember anything about you, Harry… Then I came across the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest. Apparently they'd been reading the stars and knew I was alive."

"But… how are you… here? And human?" Lily asked, still perplexed.

"I saw Harry," James replied, glancing over at his son. "And… I don't know… It all came back."

The portrait hole opened and Lily stood when she saw Dumbledore come in.

"Might I have a word?" Dumbledore asked, hesitantly.

"I don't know," said a voice from the shadows of the room. When Dumbledore turned, Sirius stepped forward, his eyes full of anger. "How do we know you're not going to try and take Harry away?"

Dumbledore found it surprising that Snape would have informed Sirius of the conversation but it was not completely unexpected. Deciding that divulging a bit of personal experience would make his case better, Dumbledore began, "I was about 18 when my sister died. In a duel between myself, my brother Aberforth, and Grindelwald… Ariana was killed. It was my fault… Grindelwald and I believed that we could help create a world where wizards didn't have to hide and muggles were of the minority…"

Lily was shocked by this. Albus Dumbledore… the man who welcomed any muggleborn student with open arms… "So what changed?"

"I saw where a true Wizarding World would lead," Dumbledore replied. "And I saw that those who seek a world like that do not care who they hurt."

"Harry?" Lily said, not looking away from Dumbledore. "You and Camille go up to the dormitory. Now." Once the kids were out of earshot, she said, "You knew about the prophecy about Harry… And when you found out that our son was the one who could defeat Voldemort…" Lily's expression was one of disbelief and disgust. "You wanted to do what… exactly? Make him into some kind of weapon? Build up his hate of bullies and people like the Malfoys then unleash him on Voldemort?" Pulling out her wand and shoving it under Dumbledore's nose, she said, "Give me One. Good. Reason. not to hex your ass into oblivion."

"I was willing to sacrifice Harry…" Dumbledore said, his eyes on the wand inches from his nose. "Just like I was willing to sacrifice my sister. I believed in the greater good. That the good of the many outweighed the good of the one."

"And this… just came to you out of the blue, did it?" James asked, wanting to keep an eye on his wife in case she lost her self control. He wasn't worried about Lily cursing Dumbledore. As skilled as Lily was in a duel, she could just as easily resort to nonmagical fighting.

"Call it… an epiphany brought on after being reminded that I am NOT always the wisest person," Dumbledore replied.

Lily lowered her wand but when James saw her fists clench, he pulled her away. "Lily… don't do anything stupid."

"If you EVER try and manipulate anyone in my family again…!" Lily warned, her green eyes flashing dangerously.

"I think he gets the message," James said as Lily started trying to pull away.

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