AUTHOR'S NOTES: This takes place during the 3rd book and I had to think about how to write this part because with James alive and Sirius NOT in Azkaban the question was how to get the dementors at Hogwarts.

To those who asked about Harry and Kelly going to Hogwarts, your questions are answered here. Although I have to say that it wouldn't be as much of a Harry Potter story if he didn't go to Hogwarts.

Next chapter will be the Hogwarts Express and we see how Gibbs, James, and Mike Franks work together at NCIS.

Please remember to read and review. Reviews equal love!

3 Years Later

There was an air of tension in the kitchen when James came home from NCIS on a rainy Friday night. Sitting down with Sirius and Remus at the kitchen table, James looked at his friends warily. "What's going on?" James asked, looking worried.

Sirius slid a newspaper article across the table and waited until James gave him a puzzled look. "Ron Weasley's rat. Look familiar?"

James looked at the picture of the Weasley family in Egypt and squinted at the rodent perched on Ron's shoulder. "That filthy, dirty, traitorous rat!" Slamming the article down on the table, James got up angrily. "All this time that good for nothing murderer was right in Harry's dormitory!"

"Well, now that we know," Sirius said, a dark look in his eye. "What are we going to do about it?"

"Dumbledore offered me the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Lupin put in. "If I take it I can keep an eye on Harry."

"I have to tell the Ministry of Magic," James said, running a hand through his unruly black hair. "God, they'll have a field day with this." Looking around, he asked, "Where's Harry, anyway?"

Sirius looked over at Remus and the two of them smirked. "He's upstairs," Sirius replied. "Talking with his girlfriend."

x

Looking at the two-way mirror propped up on his desk, Harry smiled at Kelly, even though she couldn't see it. Her brown eyes seemed distant but Harry didn't care as he studied his best friend in the whole world. "So are you ready to start at Hogwarts this year?" Harry asked. Even though there were several top notch wizarding school in the States, James had insisted that Harry go to Hogwarts and after hearing about Kelly's blindness Dumbledore had taken extra care to assure Kelly that she'd be welcome at Hogwarts once she turned 11.

Kelly smiled and nodded. "I've been reading and rereading all my books. I don't want to be behind in classes."

"You'll be fine," Harry assured her. "And Ginny said that she'd be happy to help navigate the castle."

"What's it look like?" Kelly asked, her face growing thoughtful.

Harry thought for a few moments and started talking about the castle, the moving staircases, and the portraits while Kelly listened intently.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next morning, Harry bounded down the stairs and hurried into the kitchen. "Dad, when are we getting my new school things?"

James looked up from his newspaper and studied Harry. "Well, I've been thinking about that, Harry," he replied as Harry grabbed a glass of orange juice and put some bread in the toaster. "And I spoke with Shannon and Jethro. What do you say if we took Kelly with us when we go to London?"

"You mean she'd stay with us until term begins?" Harry replied as he leaned against the breakfast bar.

"Exactly," James replied, sipping a mug of coffee. Setting his mug down for a moment, he added, "Harry, I want you to do me a favor this term."

"Sure," Harry replied as he buttered his toast and brought his plate and juice glass to the table. "What?"

James looked reluctant but finally he said, "I don't think it's a good idea for you to go to Hogsmeade this year, Harry."

"What?" Harry asked, after almost choking on a bite of toast. "Why not?"

James had been expecting the question and replied, honestly. "Because the person who betrayed Lily and I is still out there. He's rumored to be lurking around Hogwarts and I'd feel better if I knew you were safe."

"Dad, that's so unfair!" Harry said, angrily. "Everyone else in my year will get to go!" As he grabbed his breakfast and headed for the stairs he said, "I hate you!"

James sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He hated denying Harry the chance to visit the wizarding village but there was too much danger. Especially since the British Ministry of Magic had just approved the use of dementors as guards around Hogwarts. Hearing the doorbell, James got up and answered the door, surprised and delighted to see his girlfriend, a very lovely redheaded witch, Jenny Sheppard standing there. Smiling, he held the door open for her as she entered the foyer.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" Jenny asked, looking around for Harry.

James shook his head as he closed the door. "Harry's up in his room, pouting. I told him he couldn't go to Hogsmeade this year."

"Because of Pettigrew?" Jenny asked as she joined James at the breakfast bar. Once they both had full cups of coffee in front of them, Jen added, "I'm sure Harry would be safe if he went with his friends."

James pulled out the Daily Prophet article Sirius had shown him last night and handed it to Jenny, pointing out the rat on Ron Weasley's shoulder. "He's been in Harry's dormitory for the past two years. Probably waiting for the best moment to attack Harry and take him to the Death Eaters."

Jenny set the article down and took her boyfriend's hand. "James, you worry too much. I'm sure Pettigrew knows that you, Sirius, and Remus would be on him in a heartbeat if he did anything to Harry."

James nodded at that. "You're probably right. But then there's the dementors."

"Ugh," Jenny said with a shiver. "I hate those things. I was reading about them and the idea of getting your soul sucked out?" Sipping her coffee she looked at James. "The dementors are the real reason you don't want Harry to go to Hogsmeade, aren't they?" Taking James's silence as an affirmative, she seemed puzzled. "Harry's had a wonderful childhood. He's happy and has friends…"

"I'm afraid… he'll remember that night," James replied, quietly, looking down at the bar so Jenny didn't see his eyes shining with unspilled tears. "I've done my best, Jen… to make sure that Harry remembers the best of Lily. I never want him to remember her death." Unable to keep a choke out of his voice he added, "Harry saw Lily murdered. I don't…" Wiping his eyes furiously, James got up, taking his mug to the sink before asking, "Can I, uh…? Can I make you breakfast?"

Jenny watched James puttering around in the kitchen and after a few seconds, she sighed. "Eggs and bacon would be great," she replied.

When Kelly Gibbs got off the plane in London with James and Harry, she noticed that the air seemed denser and when they got out onto the street the roads seemed far noisier. Once James had flagged down something called the Knight Bus, he escorted Kelly to—"An armchair?"

James chuckled as Kelly sat down. "It's a bit different here. And you may want to hold on."

"Yeah, for dear life," Harry said, sitting down next to Kelly and holding her hand. "This gets a little wild."

"How wi—?" But Kelly was cut off at the bus was off like a shot, barreling down that road at who knew how many miles—or was it kilometers now?—an hour, making wide swings at turns. When the bus finally slammed to a halt, Kelly could feel her heart racing.

"Kelly, we're here," James said, calmly as he took the young girl's arm gently. "You can let go of Harry and the chair now."

Kelly nodded and slowly released her hold on Harry and the armchair. Standing slowly she withdrew the cane she used to navigate and unfolded it before making her way off the bus. She could smell beer and smoke mingling with the smells of cooking food and there seemed to be an odd crackle in the air although it was faint here on the street.

But after passing through the pub to the small courtyard behind, the crackle in the air seemed to grow stronger. Kelly listened as someone tapped on a brick wall and she could hear the bricks moving and sliding against one another. As Harry led Kelly into Diagon Alley, the crackle seemed to become an energy that seemed to fill the air and, strangely enough, felt like fresh air after walking through a polluted city. "Can you feel it?" Kelly asked, soaking up the magical energy in the air.

"Feel what?" Harry asked, puzzled. But after a moment, he stopped walking and closed his eyes. After a moment he opened his eyes again and looked at Kelly. "I don't feel anything."

Kelly nodded and took Harry's arm as they followed James down the busy street. "It's… like an energy. And it smells like… like fresh air, only better."

Harry shrugged at that. "If you say so." As they neared Quality Quidditch Supplies, Harry said, "Hey, Dad. Can we check out the new Firebolt?"

James stopped and turned to look at the store front. "Sure."

Once he was looking at the Firebolt close up in the store, Harry asked, "Dad, can I get one for my birthday?"

"What's wrong with your Nimbus 2000?" James asked, looking at his son.

Harry looked at his father and shrugged at the question. "Nothing, really. It's a great broom. I just—"

"If it's a great broom," James said, leading the two kids out of the store. "—then you don't need a new one."

"Please, Dad?" Harry said.

James gave Harry a look. "You get an allowance during the summer. What happened to the money you saved?"

Harry gave a dejected sigh at the question. "I spent it when we went to South Carolina last summer."

"All of it?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Most of it," Harry mumbled under his breath. "Saved the rest for today and then the train ride to Hogwarts."

"Hmm," James replied, as they headed towards Gringotts, the wizard bank. "Guess you should have saved some more money. You could have bought the broom yourself."

"But why won't you buy it for me?" Harry asked, holding the door of the bank open for Kelly and his father.

"Because you have to learn how to budget your money," James replied as they went up to one of the goblins. "You need to learn how to be responsible, Harry. How are you going to learn that if I just bought you whatever you wanted?" As they took a cart ride to the vault that James had helped Gibbs and Shannon set up for Kelly, James thought about the warning Dumbledore had given him the night Voldemort murdered Lily. Even though James had survived the attack Dumbledore had still wanted Harry to go to Lily's sister. James had put his foot down and threatened to run off with Harry and Dumbledore had given in on one condition: that James was to raise Harry as normally as possible- That Harry not be spoiled and that he learn how to do some things in the muggle fashion.

Nowadays James found it getting harder and harder to keep that promise, especially after the near deaths of Shannon and Kelly and Harry's injuries.

"Dad?" Harry asked, noticing his father's distant look.

"Coming," James said, quickly. After getting the necessary galleons, they left the bank and headed for Ollivander's wand shop.

The inside of Ollivander's reminded Kelly of her father's basement and she could feel dozens if not hundreds of separate strings of magical energy. Some seemed softer, flowing… Others seemed sharper, more forceful… With her cane out in front of her, Kelly slowly moved around, her other hand held out, occasionally touching stacks of long, thin boxes. As she moved about the store, she could almost feel someone watching her and at the same time she felt drawn to a humming ahead of her. Picking up one of the boxes, she felt the humming grow stronger and slowly she set her cane aside and opened the box, withdrawing the wand inside.

The moment Kelly held the wand in her hand she knew it belonged to her. She gave it a swish and the smell of dust and grime seemed to vanish instantly.

"That is the fastest I have ever seen a wand choose its owner, Miss Gibbs," said a gravelly voice from behind. "And the cleanest my shop has been in almost 50 years."

Startled by the voice, Kelly's first instinct was to flee but then she heard James Potter's voice. "It's okay, Kelly. This is Mr. Ollivander."

"A pleasure to meet you, my dear," Ollivander said as he took Kelly's wand and studied it. "15 inches precisely. Cedar with a Maplewood handle. Containing the hair of a highly spirited female unicorn." Giving the wand back to Kelly, Ollivander smiled at her. "I expect that that we will be seeing great things from you."

"Mr. Ollivander?" Kelly asked, pulling out her money and handing it to Harry who extracted the correct amount and handed the coins to the wandmaker. "Why this wand?"

Ollivander chuckled as he again took Kelly's wand in his hands. " You mean why has this wand chosen you as its master? This wand was made with more precision than many others. Being blind, you also must rely on precision." Taking one of Kelly's hands in his, he went on. "For one so young, your hands are roughened by woodwork. Cedar, if I am not mistaken."

Kelly nodded and took her wand back as Harry led her out of the shop.

It was well after 2 in the morning and James still couldn't get to sleep.

Sitting alone in the study of the house he had grown up in, James was surprised at how small the house seemed now. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, the kitchen, the living room, and the study. For one of the richest, oldest wizarding families, the Potters lived modestly. James's father had often said that those who lived the high life made it easier for others to knock them down.

Leaning forward in his arm chair, James reached into a nearby desk and pulled out a carved wooden case and a key. Unlocking the case, he opened it and withdrew a thin willow wand with a holly handle. It was a hair longer than 10 inches and even though it felt strange in his hand, there was a faint warmth there, too. Just like the empty place in his bed some nights. He loved Jenny. She was smart, funny… a redhead… James let out a small dejected sigh as he replaced Lily's wand and locked it back up again.

Ever since Sirius had found Lily's wand in the wreckage of the house in Godric's Hollow James had kept it locked away, pulling it out only in those moments when he just had to be close to Lily again. Rubbing his face with one hand he sighed again. Lily would berate him for sitting alone in the dark, dwelling on memories. And James did want to settle down again… get married…

But it always came back to Lily. The mother of his son and the greatest thing to ever happen in his life. An irreplaceable woman who always knew the right thing to say and when to say it. How could he find another woman like that?