"What are the chances that he's actually going to go to Madame Pomfrey to check that his arm is really one hundred percent ok?" Lily asked, laughing a little as she and James wandered through the school grounds on the way to the front gates.
"Not a chance," James said truthfully, knowing full well that his son would be on his way to the Gryffindor common room with the rest of the team to celebrate their big win over Slytherin.
Lily looked at him knowingly. "I blame you," she says.
James turns to her and looks at her in mock hurt. "You wound me," he says dramatically gripping his left chest with his hand.
"Well it is your fault," she says, not bothering to pay attention to his charade.
James runs to catch up with her, grabbing her wrist and spinning her around.
"Wh-what are you doing?" she gasps amidst laughter.
"You blame me for our son's stubbornness?"
"For his stubbornness concerning anything Quidditch related yes!" she says loudly, and James can't deny the truthfulness in that statement.
"So his stubbornness for everything else I can blame on you?" James asked teasingly.
Lily just huffed and kept walking on up ahead.
James laughed and walked on behind her with his head down. He almost didn't notice the pair of feet straight ahead of him, but he screamed nonetheless, which made Lily jump and spin around.
"Er, hello?" James said nervously as he addressed the large eyed house-elf that had blocked his path.
Lily came back down the path towards them, taking her place beside James before it registered in her mind just who this house-elf was.
"Dobby?" she asked a little wearily.
"Harry Potter's parents, it is an honor!" Dobby said, bowing down before the two much to their surprise.
James crouched down so he was eye to eye with the elf before he extended his hand. "It is very nice to meet you as well," he said.
Dobby's eyes went wide just as they had months ago when Harry offered him a seat in his room.
James who had met a house-elf or two in his time, besides the ones that worked in the Hogwarts kitchen expected the coming behavior and quickly stepped in to stop Dobby from doing any sort of self-harm. "There's no need, it's ok, really," James said soothingly to Dobby which oddly seemed to work, much to Lily's surprise.
Lily too moved down to Dobby's level before addressing him, bringing back memories of when Harry was little and he always wanted to ask them questions about what was what. "Did you want to tell us something, Dobby?" she asked kindly.
His eyes went big again, but James quickly placed a hand on his shoulder, which calmed him down.
"Dobby doesn't know where to begin," the house-elf said as he began pacing back in forth in front of Lily and James who watched him in anticipation. "Dobby doesn't quite know how to tell you this Harry Potter's parents besides that there is a terrible, terrible plot to make bad things happen at Hogwarts School this year and it is not safe for Harry Potter."
"What kind of things, Dobby?" Lily asked softly, worry coming through her voice.
Dobby looked flustered. "Dobby, we need you to tell us what kind of dangerous things or else we have no basis to take Harry out of here, if bad things really are to happen," James reasoned with the elf.
"Dobby shouldn't have told you that, but Dobby only wants Harry Potter to be safe," he said, his big eyes fixed on them once again.
"Safe from what?" they asked unanimously.
"Dobby hoped that when Harry Potter missed the train that he would not come to Hogwarts this year, but when he did he thought that the bludger would be enough to keep him-"
"You're the one who set the bludger on Harry at the match?" James asked a little harshly. Dobby gulped.
"He's fine," Lily said to James, which made him breathe a little easier.
"Dobby, does all of this have to do with the Chamber of Secrets being open? Do you know who opened it?" Lily asked Dobby calmly.
The elf immediately froze.
"James, Lily! Good to see yer! Sorry couldn't be at the match myself," Hagrid's voice boomed out from behind them. James waved at Hagrid in acknowledgement before quickly turning back to the house-elf.
"Harry Potter must not stay at Hogwarts now that history is to repeat itself," he said quickly to the Potters before he apparated away, much to James' frustration.
"Would you like to come in for some tea?" Hagrid called to them again.
Lily and James looked at one another, still lost in what Dobby had just finished saying, as they stood up to their full-height once again.
"Tea?" Lily asked after a few moments.
James just nodded as he continued mulling over the conversation en route to Hagrid's cottage, where the half-giant greeted them, engulfing them in large hugs before shooing them in to the warm cottage.
A book slammed down on the table, startling both Ron and Harry who had been bent over their respective pieces of parchment trying to finish another one of Snape's potions essays. Ron glared up at Hermione who scrambled onto the bench across from them, whilst Harry glanced curiously at the large book she had plopped down in front of them.
"I can't even tell you how relieved I am that we didn't have to go through with the plan to use Polyjuice Potion," she whispered to the both of them, flipping open her book and carefully looking through the old pages that looked as though they were ready to fall apart at her touch.
"What is that?" Harry asked her hesitantly.
She looked up at the both of them before turning the book around to face them. "It's the instructions for the Polyjuice Potion. I wanted to look at it a little more," she said, "for educational purposes," she added after taking in their confused expressions.
"So you went to Lockhart to get permission to get a book out of the restricted section purely for educational purposes?" Ron asked in disbelief, raising a questioning eyebrow at her.
Hermione glared back at him, turning the book around towards her again. "Just because you have no interest in your education doesn't mean that the rest of us don't."
Harry and Ron looked at one another then back at Hermione before they broke out laughing that was until the librarian heard them and came bustling towards them.
"This is a library, not a place for frivolity!" she said harshly to the trio before she sped off down the aisle of books behind them to patronize another group of students who were hitting each other with the books.
The trio sat in silence for a few moments but were interrupted once again when Neville came running through the library, running straight into the end of their table.
"Neville?" Harry asked once the boy caught his breath and was finished being lectured by the librarian who was furious that she had to go back to their table twice within five minutes.
"Did you hear? Lockhart's starting a dueling club!" he said excitedly, collapsing into the seat next to Hermione and throwing his books down on the table.
"Wicked," Ron said, closing his parchment inside his textbook, showing the others he was clearly done for the day. "When's it start?" he asks Neville who hands him the poster that he had taken from one of the hallways on his way there.
Harry looked over at the poster but his eye caught on the second Professor's name that was listed. "Snape is helping?" he asked Neville skeptically, who nodded nervously.
"Yeah, I guess there is that," Neville said solemnly, his fear of the man evident in his voice.
Hermione looked sympathetically at the boy. "I'm sure Lockhart will be leading the whole thing, Neville," she said quietly, "He is the one with all the experience after all," she added.
Ron and Harry looked at her incredulously.
"The man is an idiot, Hermione, when are you going to get that through your head?" Ron asked her.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at the redheaded boy seated across from her. "For your information Ronald, Professor Lockhart has accomplished things in his life time thus far that you can only dream of," she said haughtily before she continued scribbling down her response to the potions essay question on her piece of parchment.
"I'd say she has a point," Harry said to Ron, "But Lockhart is way too thick to be that good at what he says he does."
Hermione didn't even bother looking up at the boys anymore and just resorted to shaking her head and muttering while she continued to complete her work.
"Come on," Hermione said worriedly, grabbing a hold of Ron's arm as she watched Harry quickly depart the stage upon which he had just shocked the entire dueling club by speaking Parseltongue out of nowhere. "Excuse me, excuse me," she said hastily, but then screamed, "Move!" when they weren't getting to Harry fast enough.
When they finally broke through the crowd of students they couldn't spot Harry anywhere on the staircases or down any of the corridors leading off the hall.
"He'll be in the common room I bet," Ron said, which made Hermione tug on his arm again as they winded their way through the corridors and up the staircases that led towards the common room where they finally caught sight of the back of Harry's messy black head of hair.
"Harry! Harry! Wait, it's just us!" she yelled up ahead kindly, knowing he was regressing into one of his states that had been common throughout the school year so far.
She exhaled when Harry turned around, his face solemn.
"I know you're going to ask but no I don't know what that was," Harry said once they were safely inside the common room.
"Were you trying to set the snake on Justin?" Ron asked, once the group settled in front of the fireplace.
Harry shot a look at him before he shook his head. "No, I was trying to get it to leave him alone. Didn't you hear me?" he asked, after a few moments.
Hermione and Ron looked at one another before looking back at him quizzically. "No, Harry. We couldn't, no one could," Hermione said calmly.
"You were speaking in a different language, mate," Ron explained. "You were speaking in Parseltongue: snake-language."
"I was speaking a different language?" he asked the two incredulously.
"It was strange," Ron said, after nodding to confirm.
"Well that's alright, right? I mean loads of people here must be able to do it."
"No, Harry. Parseltongue isn't something that many witches or wizards are able to speak. Harry, listen to me. There's a reason the symbol of Slytherin is a serpent. Salazar Slytherin was a parselmouth, he could talk to snakes too."
Harry fell back into the cushions of the couch and stared at the crackling flames of the fire.
"Do you think it's possible I could be related to him?" Harry asked them hesitantly, not making eye contact with either.
"I don't think so, Harry. I mean wouldn't your mum and dad have told you when we asked about Malfoy's lineage?" Ron said reasonably, much to Hermione's surprise.
"I think he's right, Harry," Hermione said, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Your mum and dad would have told you. Besides your dad's side of the family has been in Gryffindor for generations, I don't think the sorting hat would place a descendent of Salazar Slytherin in Gryffindor—they are far too unlike one another."
Harry considered this for a while but when the thought of how the Sorting-Hat had wanted to place him in Slytherin last year, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was a lot more wrong with this ability that either of his friends was letting on. He stood up after a few minutes. "I think I'm just going to go upstairs and do some work," he said quietly, dismissing himself and jogging up the steps to his dormitory.
Ron made a move to go after him but Hermione stopped him with a look. "He needs to get through this one on his own, just wait a bit," she said quietly as they both watched Harry's retreating form on the stairs.
"Harry, where are you going?" Hermione asked, after they were turned away from the Greenhouses, having found out that Herbology was cancelled for the day.
Harry who had been having a hard time all week with the constant stares and comments from classmates around school who were skeptic of the connection between his ability to speak Parseltongue and the events following the reported opening of the Chamber of Secrets, merely shrugged in response.
"I think I'm just going to go for a walk," he said a few moments later.
"Do you want us to come with?" Hermione asked for Ron and herself.
"No, I just need to be by myself," he said, nodding at them both before he departed towards the grounds.
Hermione and Ron looked sadly after him before heading back inside, escaping the cold winds coming off the lake.
Harry walked for a while, slipping once or twice as he walked down the slopes that led towards Hagrid's hut. Having seen the smoke curling as it came out of the chimney he decided to change his walking route to visit his large friend instead.
"Harry!" Hagrid's voice boomed out from up ahead, startling Harry as he suddenly appeared from behind the hut.
"Hi Hagrid, what are you doing?" he asked, taking notice of the birds in Hagrid's large hand.
"Something's been killing the school's roosters you see," he said, holding them up so they were dangling directly in front of Harry's face, much to the young boy's distaste. "Headed up to the castle to see Professor Dumbledore, show him what's been happening. The staff are supposed to present him with anything odd going on, now-a-days its hard to tell what's odd and what's not if you know what I mean. Freaky stuff, the Chamber of Secrets and all. What are you doing down here though Harry, no class to get to?"
"Herbology was cancelled," Harry replied simply.
"Right then," Hagrid said in response. "Well I best be getting these to Dumbledore, see you later Harry, and Merry Christmas!" Hagrid called back to him as he started climbing the hill towards the castle.
Harry watched him for a while before continuing on. He walked on for a bit before deciding to turn back towards the castle. Up ahead he caught sight of Ginny who looked a little lost near the edge of the forest.
"Ginny!" Harry called to her, which made the small girl jump.
Her eyes whizzed around until she caught sight of Harry, which allowed her to relax a little as she made her way towards him.
"H-Harry," she said nervously.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked, as they trekked towards the castle together.
"I-I uh, I couldn't, uh," she stuttered much to Harry's amusement.
"It's ok, you don't have to tell me," he said, which made her smile slightly.
The rest of the walk back was relatively silent, except for a few times when Harry would pose Ginny a question about how much she liked Hogwarts so far and how she felt about her classes. When they entered the west doors of the castle Ginny muttered a quick goodbye to Harry before running on up ahead. He quickly looked to his watch to check what time it was and noting that it was almost time for supper he took off towards the Great Hall on the other side of the castle.
Harry kept his eyes glued to the ground as he trudged along the corridors, but despite this he still managed to trip and land flat on the floor, breaking the bridge of his glasses.
"Where's Hermione when you need her?" he muttered as he tried unsuccessfully to place his glasses back on the bridge of his nose. He gave up after a few moments and held them out in front of them to provide him at least a bit of vision while he looked around to see what exactly caused him to trip.
Harry stumbled back when he finally saw Justin Finch-Fletchly looking just as Colin had, petrified on the floor of the corridor. Harry felt Justin's cold, rock-solid hand and jumped back a little. He placed his glasses out in front of him again, jumping a little yet again when he saw the still, dark transparent form of Sir Nicholas.
"Potty-Potter has been caught in the act! Potty-Potter has been caught!" the voice of Peeves the Poltergeist hollered from behind Harry, making the boy whip around, fear spread across his face.
"It wasn't me!" Harry called after the Ghost who had quickly departed the corridor and had flown off in search of people to tell his most recent discovery to.
Harry paced anxiously, his eyes continuously catching onto Justin who was so eerily still and doll-like in his petrified state that he couldn't help but wonder what was doing this. And what could be so bad that it could petrify an already dead being?
"Look who we have here," Ernie Macmillan, one of the boys in Harry's year called out from behind him. The boy though stopped in his tracks once Harry had stood up, and the person who was petrified on the ground behind him came into sight. "Justin," Ernie seemed to breathe, his eyes shocked for a moment before they narrowed in on Harry. "What did you do to him?" he practically yelled at Harry before taking off down the hall, past Harry and towards McGonagall who was already making her way towards the scene.
"Potter," she gasped when she was finally within range, Ernie following her tracks with a mixed emotion of shock and anger spread across his face.
"Look what he did, Professor," he said, pointing towards Sir Nicholas and Justin in front of them.
McGonagall circled the two, taking in their petrified states before turning back to Macmillan. "Mr. Macmillan, dinner is being served in the Great Hall, I suggest you go and join your housemates. And for the time being I would appreciate it if you would keep the events of this evening to yourself, everyone else shall know soon enough," she said, shooing the boy off down the hall. She turned around to Harry, not sure how to approach. She took another look at the scene around her. "I'm afraid this is out of my hands, Potter. Come with me," she said, leading the boy the opposite way away from the Great Hall.
Harry walked behind her in silence as she weaved through the corridors and passed a few straggling students who were late to the feast. He didn't dare ask where she was taking him, but the walk reminded him of the time last year when she found him after he rode the broom for the first time and dragged him through the school looking for Wood. Harry though knew that this journey wouldn't have quite the same ending that that journey had.
McGonagall stopped at the end of a long corridor just ahead of where a stone eagle stood.
"Professor Dumbledore is waiting for you," she said to him, before saying the password to the eagle, which graciously hopped aside revealing a staircase.
Harry looked nervously at McGonagall before hopping on the second step and disappearing as the staircase wound it's way towards Dumbledore's office.
"So what did he say?" Ron asked eagerly when Harry, Hermione and himself finally found a compartment on the train.
Harry plopped himself down on the bench across from Ron and Hermione, sighing as he looked outside the window and back at them. "Dumbledore just told me that he knew it wasn't me who petrified Colin, or Justin, or Sir Nicholas. Then he asked me if I had anything I wanted to tell him," Harry said.
"Did you tell him then?" Hermione asked curiously.
"No," Harry said. Hermione and Ron both looked at him. "I just didn't want to, ok? Can we talk about something else?"
Ron nodded. "Did you hear about the Chudley Canons last game?"
Harry shook his head 'no' as a signal to Ron to launch freely into his endless story about the Canons season thus far. Hermione took this as her queue to open her book and start her holiday homework.
"See you back here in the New Year!" Ron called back to Harry and Hermione once he spotted his mum and brothers on the platform.
Harry and Hermione waved him off, calling out their own holiday greetings before they set out to search for their own parents.
"Is your family doing anything special for the holidays?" Harry asked Hermione as they moved through the crowd.
Hermione shook her head. "No, we often go skiing in France during the winter break, but I'm not certain if we are going this year or not. Mum's mum hasn't been fairing well recently and I think she want's to stay around just in case anything happens you know," she said.
"Understandable," Harry said quietly, not really being able to relate having never really gotten to know his grandparents personally—he only knew what his parents had told him growing up, but even know he knew that those were modified stories since his parents hadn't told him about their magical heritage until last year.
While Harry was lost in thought but was taken out of it when Hermione tugged on his arm and pointed towards where both their parents were gathered, lost in conversation at the end of the platform.
"Come on, let's go," Hermione said eagerly, tugging Harry along the rest of the platform.
Lily caught sight of the duo first and smiled brightly at the both of them. She pulled on James' scarf to bug him a little before pointing towards the kids. The Grangers turned around after James and called for Hermione who ran eagerly towards them.
"Mum, Dad," Harry breathed, hugging his dad tightly when he reached them, causing James and Lily to both be a little concerned—not that they let on.
"Hello Sweetheart," Lily said quietly to Harry when he finally moved to hug her. He smiled a soft smile up at her before she turned him around so his back was to her, her hands delicately placed on his shoulders. "Harry, this is Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Hermione's parents," Lily said, introducing them. Harry immediately outstretched his hand towards them.
"It's nice to meet you," Mr. Granger said, smiling as he shook Harry's hand. "And it's Daniel, by the way."
"Harry," Harry said back.
"Emma," Mrs. Granger said, smiling at the young boy. "We've heard a lot about you and Ron from Hermione. It's nice to put a face to the name," she said brightly.
"Hello," Harry said brightly.
"Do you both have everything?" Lily asked both Harry and Hermione after a few more moments of chatter amongst the adults as they hammered out the plans.
Hermione and Harry both nodded eagerly and both their fathers immediately moved to grab their trunks as the group of them slipped through the barrier into the bustling station.
Lily's arm remained around Harry's shoulder as they walked out of the station. The group stopped when they reached the busy street. Lily quickly pulled a small piece of parchment out of her purse and jotted down their address on it.
"We shall see you in a short bit then?" she asked Emma smiling.
"We will be right behind you," Emma agreed and with that she led Hermione away toward their car.
"Are they coming over to dinner?" Harry asked, sneaking a glance back at Hermione and her mum.
Lily smiled. "I talked to Hermione's mum a little while ago about getting together, but we both thought it would be much better if you and Hermione were with us as well," she answered simply. "I missed you, Harry," she said after they walked in silence for a few moments, just as they caught up to James who had already thrown Harry's trunk into the car. James reached out for Hedwig's cage and placed it in the back seat.
"I missed you too," Harry said back to his mum. "Both of you," he added, once he noticed his dad's questioning look.
James chuckled after, and grabbed a hold of Lily's hand while with his other he drove them through the busy wintery streets of London towards Trevor Place.
"That was absolutely wonderful, Lily," Emma said graciously after setting her fork down on the table.
"Yes, thank-you, Mrs. Potter," Hermione said shortly afterwards.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Lily said, smiling as she pushed back from the table and grabbed her own plate along with the others and set them in the sink.
"Harry, why don't you and Hermione go and do something," James suggested as he stood up to pour some tea into Mr. and Mrs. Granger's cups.
"Want to go?" Harry asked Hermione who was seated across from him.
"Sure," she beamed.
The adults watched as the two kids quickly pushed their chairs in and grabbed one of the sweets off the counter before they went down the hall and turned to head up the stairs.
"Thank-you," Daniel said once Lily sat back down at the table, placing a small plate of treats in front of them.
"It's our pleasure, really," Lily said brightly.
"We're glad you could come, finally," James added, chuckling a little.
"It has been a very nice night so far indeed," Emma commented, putting a little sugar into her tea before she stirred it. "But I think we would both like to thank-you for your son, really."
James and Lily looked at one another before turning back to the Granger's, slightly confused. Emma took notice of their expressions and chuckled slightly before she took a sip of her tea and continued.
"Hermione never really had many friends before she left for Hogwarts. From the beginning she was always very mature for her age and we think that that was an issue with the other children sometimes. But when she got that letter and she went off to this new school and this new world that was so different from everything we knew, she changed and although she is still our very bright little girl, she's a lot happier and that is in part due to your son and Ron of course. So we just wanted to thank-you for raising him the way you did. He's special and I can see why him and Hermione get along," Emma explained further, which brought tears to both hers and Lily's eyes.
The auburn-haired women reached her hand across the table to touch Emma's and smiled softly at her.
"Thank-you for Hermione," she responded. "She's exactly what Harry needed in a friend as well."
Emma looked up at Lily and smiled sincerely, gripping the other women's hand back and mouthed 'thank-you' to her.
"Would you like to come and sit in the front room?" James suggested after a while. "Chairs are much less stiff in there," he joked, pretending the grip his back out of pain much to Daniel and Emma's amusement.
"Sure, why not?" Daniel said, picking up his cup and following James out of the kitchen, Emma and Lily taking up the rear.
"Your house is really quite beautiful, Harry," Hermione commented as the two sat on the floor on the second flat of the house, looking out as the snow fell down onto road outside.
"Thanks," he said, not really knowing how else to reply.
"Are you still worried?" she asked softly, noticing his vacant expression.
"Probably not as much as I should be, but then again I think the Professors are worried enough for all of us," Harry commented quietly.
"I've been trying to figure it all out, but all I come up with is dead-ends," Hermione said, clearly frustrated.
"I'm sure you'll figure something out soon," Harry said reassuringly, giving his first genuine smile in weeks.
Hermione just smiled back and looked around the dark room. "What's through there?" she asked, nodding towards the double doors towards the back of the house at the top of the stairs that led down to the main level.
"Come on, I'll show you," Harry said, standing up and extending his hand for Hermione to take.
She gasped when Harry opened the door to see all the books that lined the walls and that were piled on the floor seeing as the bookcases were filled to the brim. "Would your parents mind?" she asked, motioning to a stack of books.
"No," Harry responded surely.
Hermione immediately began searching the shelves in the same manner that Harry had seen her do many times in the Hogwarts library. He watched as she pulled a few books off the shelves and placed them neatly on his dad's desk. She did this for quite a few minutes before she pulled him across the room and set the books down on the floor between them.
"What are all of these?" he asked, attempting to read the spines of the old volumes.
"Books on the school's history and some ones about events in the wizarding world in the past years," she said simply, pulling one of the books off the stack and handing it to Harry. "Search through it, see if it has any information on the Chamber or Slytherin."
Harry did as she said and the two sat there for a few hours taking in as much information as they could, if they found any, onto a piece of parchment. Eventually they both fell asleep on the floor, exhausted from their long-journey and the excitement of the evening.
"Harry? Hermione?" a soft voice called out.
"I can't believe how late it got," Emma Granger commented as she wrapped her scarf around her neck and pulled on her gloves. "We must do this again sometime very soon," she said smiling at both Lily and James, the former who was halfway up the stairs.
"Let me just go find them," Lily said, before walking the rest of the way up.
She went all the way to the third floor, expecting them to be in Harry's bedroom but was a little surprised when they weren't. She laughed a little when she went back down the stairs, thinking of how deep in conversation the adults must have been in for the kids to be able to slip by the front room without notice and go downstairs. Lily was just about to go down the stairs to the foyer when on the second floor she noticed the slight opening into the den which she poked open a little more to reveal the children's sleeping forms. She sighed happily at the innocence before she slipped back down the stairs.
"They're both asleep on the floor in the den," Lily said quietly. She looked to Daniel, "Come up, I'll show you where they are, I didn't want to wake them, they look so exhausted," she explained as they walked up the stairs.
"Isn't that a sight?" Daniel commented quietly, smiling as he tip-toed across the room careful not to disturb Harry as he picked his daughter up and held her tight in his arms.
Lily followed him back downstairs and stood with James on the front stoop as they watched Emma and Daniel place Hermione, still asleep, in the back of the car, then proceeded to wave as they drove off down the street and turn right onto Knightsbridge Rd.
James locked the door once they were back inside and he and Lily both quickly set to work using magic to clean up the evening before shutting off the downstairs lights and heading up to the second floor. James went into the den, smiling at the sight of Harry asleep on the floor with a book as his pillow. He picked him up gently, careful not to rouse him and followed Lily quietly up to the third floor where he placed Harry down on his bed.
Lily proceeded to take off Harry's trainers and glasses before tucking him in, placing a soft kiss on his forehead.
"Goodnight, sweetheart," she whispered, her hair just tickling Harry's nose.
"Night mum," Harry murmured in his sleep.
James just chuckled and placed a kiss on Harry's head before he led Lily out of the room, shut off the light and closed the door behind them.
"What do you suppose they were doing in the den?" James asked Lily quietly once they were safely in the hall.
"I'm not sure," she said, pausing just as she was about to enter their room. "You go on in, I'll be right back."
"Lily," James moaned, knowing exactly what she was up to.
"I have to know," she said softly before she disappeared down the stairs.
James stayed there, leaning against the doorframe, his eyes shut slightly while he listened to the soft padding along the floor and then back up the stairs. She summoned him back towards Harry's door, which made him a little nervous to say the least. "What is it?" he whispered to her.
"They were looking into the Chamber of Secrets, James."
"Well that's understandable, right? They're curious as to what it is, you were too," James reminded her.
Lily shook her head. She held up the detailed list that Harry and Hermione had made that evening. "This is more than curious, James."
James took the list from her hand and read it carefully. He felt bad after he finished reading the last sentence for telling his wife that she was probably jumping to conclusions. "Should we wake him up?" he asked seriously, motioning to Harry's door.
"I need to know what's going on with him," Lily said quietly. "He didn't seem like himself when he got off the train today. It was almost like he was back to being the kid who we used to have to comfort at night after a day at school where the kids were being particularly mean."
"You think they're bullying him?"
"No. Maybe. I don't know," Lily sighed, "All I know is that right now our son is not alright and I know it has something to do with their need to make this list this evening. I won't be able to sleep until I know what's going on inside his head, James."
"Me either," he said, hugging her tightly. "Come on," he said softly as he turned the knob and together they crept into Harry's room, Lily taking a seat on his desk chair whilst James coaxed him out of sleep by turning on his bedside lamp and shaking his shoulder slightly.
"Harry. Harry," James said softly.
They both watched as Harry turned over and instinctively felt for his glasses on his nightstand.
"Er, hi," he said, once he had placed his glasses on the bridge of his nose and noticed that both his parents were in his room at a late hour, which was never good. "Is something wrong?" he asked, yawning.
"Harry, what's going on at school?" James asked softly, rubbing Harry's shoulder.
"You found that?" Harry asked, sighing as he took notice of the note in his father's hand.
"We did, and we're worried. First that house-elf friend of yours stops us as we're leaving the Quidditch game and tells us that he's been the one making all the stuff happen to you this year, and then today you get off the train and you don't seem like yourself," Lily said, smoothing Harry's hair down as she looked into his eyes for an answer.
Harry looked at both of his parents and sighed, before launching into the stories of what had been happening all year so far and how the kids had been treating him differently ever since the blood message had been left on the wall at the end of October and how over the past week it had gotten worse since he had been found next to yet another victim.
"We just wanted to figure out what was terrorizing the school so I wouldn't be blamed anymore," Harry said at the end.
Lily and James looked at him, their hearts breaking for him. Lily pulled Harry close to her, and murmured in his hair how sorry they were that they didn't know sooner.
James reassured Harry, hugging him. "We're going to figure this out champ," James said, after tucking the sheets in around Harry for the second time that evening. "You can always come to us with anything, ok?"
"Ok," Harry said, yawning yet again.
Lily placed a kiss on his forehead. "We're always here for you sweetheart," she said softly, smiling at Harry as she brushed the hair off of his forehead. "Get some sleep."
Harry watched as they shut off his light and made to shut the door. "Mum? Dad?"
"Yes, Harry?" James said, Lily standing slightly behind him.
Harry sat up a little. "Are you going to take me out of Hogwarts?"
James and Lily stood still, looking at one another for a moment or two before turning back to Harry who was looking at them with worry plastered across his face.
"Not now," Lily said softly, trying to make him feel a little better meanwhile she was gripping tightly onto James' hand.
James piped in though. "But Harry, you have to know that if these attacks keep happening, the school won't remain open for long. The ministry simply wouldn't allow it. They wouldn't put that many kids at risk."
"Harry, it's nothing you need to worry about tonight, sweetheart. Get some sleep, ok?" Lily said softly.
James reached to close the door but Harry piped up again.
"Dad?"
"Yes, champ?"
"Has the Chamber of Secrets ever been opened before?"
James sighed and went back into his son's room. "50 years ago was the last time the Chamber was opened," he said solemnly.
"What happened when it was open before?" Harry asked curiously.
"Harry, now's not the time for that tale. Maybe in the morning, but it's late and we all need some sleep," James said seriously, pushing Harry back onto his pillow before leaving the room once again.
"Sleep tight, darling," Lily said, closing the door behind them. "Well he certainly knows the right questions to ask," she joked, but knew it was also a very true statement.
"Lils, how do we tell him that the last time the Chamber was opened a student died?" James asked
"I don't know, James. But come on, let's go to bed before Harry hears," she said softly, grabbing his hand and pulling him into their bedroom.
But it was already too late- Harry had heard everything.
"Harry!" Sirius' voice boomed throughout the house. Lily shot him a death glare from kitchen table where she was sat with James drinking some tea as they read over the Prophet. "Harry!" he screamed again, just to disturb Lily.
"You know you could actually make the trek up the stairs and get him so as not to disturb the neighbors," James commented, looking over the brim of his glasses at his friends before turning back to his paper.
"Where's the fun in that?" Remus commented, before winking at the Potters and shouting, "Harry!" at the top of his lungs.
"What is it?" they all heard a small voice call a couple seconds later, accompanied by the stomping of feet down the above flight of stairs. Sirius and Remus grinned when Harry came around the corner, pulling his jumper over his head and stopped, puzzled at the top landing. He looked at them for a second before his face broke into a large grin and he raced down the last flight of stairs and launched himself into Sirius' arms. "Sirius!" he said excitedly as his godfather enveloped him in a hug.
"Hey Prong's Jr!" Sirius said happily as he hugged Harry.
Harry stepped back from him with a questioning look before he attacked Remus into a hug as well which made the man chuckle.
"Hello to you as well, Harry," Remus said merrily to Harry.
Harry took a step back from the both of them. "What are you both doing here?" he asked.
"We, your amazing godfather and Moony here, are taking you Christmas shopping," Sirius said before whispering the last part to Harry, "Amongst other things."
Harry laughed.
"Come get some breakfast first, Harry," James called, laughing a little as he did as he knew what kinds of things Sirius would be whispering to his son.
Harry ran back to the kitchen and gulped back whatever was on the plate that Lily had set down in front of him before he departed the kitchen and immediately grabbed his coat and Gryffindor mittens and scarf before declaring to Remus and Sirius that he was ready.
Sirius grinned and gave Lily a quick kiss on the cheek and ruffled James' hair before he took off after Harry and jumped off the front step into the snow pile that had accumulated at the bottom of their steps.
"Bring him back in one piece Sirius!" Lily called out before closing the front door behind the three boys.
"So where are we going?" Harry asked, picking up a snowball as he trailed behind Sirius and Remus and whipped it at the back of his godfather's head.
Sirius picked one up and whipped it back at Harry before answering. "We're going to Italy!"
Harry stopped dead in his tracks.
Remus chuckled at the look on Harry's face before slapping Sirius over the side of the head. "We're going to look around Shaftesbury Avenue, walking there and then we will catch a cab to bring us to the Leaky Cauldron, grab lunch then shop in Diagon Alley for the remainder of the day," Remus said simply.
"Let's go then!" Harry said excitedly, thrilled at the idea of going to Diagon Alley again.
Remus laughed and pushed Sirius over into the nearest snow bank before he ran to catch up with Harry who was sprinting towards the busy roadway up ahead eager to get to his favourite spots in London.
"I'll get you back for that Remus," Sirius hollered but only heard Harry and Remus' laughter in response.
"How does one where these things?" Sirius asked as he inspected yet another pair of stiletto heels.
Harry and Remus groaned as he put down the shoe he was looking at and picked up another pair. The two had sat down on one of the futons in the shop.
"Are you planning on buying Lily a pair for Christmas or something?" Remus asked, the boredom evident in his voice.
Sirius glared. "Well I was going to actually get her a thoughtful present this year but if you two are going to be so rude, I'll just forget about it," Sirius said all dramatically, drawing more attention to them than they had before.
Remus threw his head back before standing up, grabbing the shoes from Sirius and placing them down, and instead picked up a pair that were black with gems sewn into them and shoved them into Sirius' arms once he got the right size. "Would you go and pay for these already so we can get to the Leaky Cauldron?" Remus said, pushing Sirius towards the cashier whilst he and Harry walked out into the street to wait.
"Thanks again, Tom," Sirius said merrily, slapping the change down on the table before the group got up and walked into the backroom to enter the alley.
"Wicked," Harry said in awe when he saw the way the alley looked at Christmas time.
Garland with lights and ornaments were hung zig-zagged above the pathway between the shops and a large Christmas tree sat directly in front of the wizard bank. Everything seemed so much more magical with the snow covering everything.
Harry immediately took off towards the Quidditch Supplies store, Sirius hot on his tail. Remus shook is head, dreading how long this afternoon was going to be with these two most likely never wanting to leave the Quidditch store, despite the long list of things they had to buy.
"Dad's going to be so excited when he sees what you got him, Sirius!" Harry said excitedly when he hopped out of the cab in front of number 34.
"Well that's the plan, isn't it?" Sirius said as he walked Harry to the front door.
"Mum! Dad! We're home!" Harry called out when he stepped foot inside the front door. "Aren't you coming in?" he asked, puzzled when Sirius and Remus remained on the step.
"Not tonight, little man," Sirius said, ruffling Harry's hair, much to his distaste.
"We will see you tomorrow for Christmas Eve though, Harry," Remus said, copying Sirius as he messed up Harry's hair before they both waved and apparated away.
"How'd it go?" James asked just as Harry shut the door behind him and kicked off his boots.
"It was fantastic!" Harry beamed before he ran past James up to his room.
"I guess he had a good day with them then," James chuckled when he walked into the kitchen.
Lily looked up from where she was chopping up a small number of vegetables and laughed when she saw his expression that he was desperately trying to hide. "Someone's a little jealous," she teased as he planted a kiss on her head and tickled her for a little while before she turned around and held the knife she had been using up out in front of her, making James slowly back away. "I wouldn't mess with someone who has a knife in her hand," she said jokingly. "Is that what you're wearing tonight?" she asked skeptically, as she looked over his outfit of jeans paired with a cable knit jumper.
"Why, what's wrong with this for a night of relaxing around the house with my darling wife?" he asked, looking down at his outfit.
Lily raised a questioning eyebrow for a moment, and then she placed the knife down on the counter behind her and walked across the kitchen to where they had a small bulletin board that was plastered with notes and an old calendar that hung from the bottom of it.
"Yes, I did put it on here," she said pointing at the day's date and the note she had scribbled down. "And, oh look, I even hung up the invitation," she said, spinning around and grinning at James who had in the meantime made his way across the kitchen to take a look at what she was referring to.
"The Hospital Christmas party," he said, the memory of her telling him about it the night before Harry had come home, popping to the front of his mind. "Right," he said after thoroughly reading over the invitation. "No, this is not what I was planning on wearing," he said smirking as he placed a kiss on Lily's cheek, cupping her face in his hands as he pulled her in for a longer kiss just because he could.
"This is something I don't miss when I'm gone," Harry commented as he squeezed his way between his parents, causing them both to laugh, as he continued on to grab a sweet off the counter.
"We didn't miss having you around either," James retorted, sticking his tongue out at Harry who responded with his own face which made Lily laugh harder, before he planted one more kiss on Lily's cheek and headed towards the stairs.
Lily just shook her head at James and went to go join Harry at the counter.
"No sweets before dinner," she joked, before grabbing a square for herself and taking a nice big bite out of it.
Harry just laughed at her antics and grabbed another one. Lily threw her head back in laughter as she watched her son try to fit them both into his mouth at the same time. Lily cupped his face in her hands and placed a kiss on his forehead.
"By the way, you're going to Hermione's for the evening," she said, calling back to Harry.
"You look amazing," James whispered softly into Lily's ear while he continued to move her around the dance floor alongside other members of the hospital staff.
Lily blushed and looked down nervously, just as she did the first time she stepped onto a dance floor with James.
"You do," he said again, cupping her chin with his finger to bring her eyes back to his. James swore he could look at her for ages. He sighed internally when the song ended and she took a step away from him, muttering something about having to say hi to one of her fellow nurses. He watched as she slipped through the crowd in her floor-length black dress that perfectly highlighted all of her features and allowed for her gorgeous auburn-coloured hair to stick out even more so amongst the rest. He couldn't wait till they got home and Harry was safely in his own bed, for all James could think about was how much more beautiful Lily was even without the dress on.
The rest of the Christmas holidays for the Potters passed by quickly. James was, as predicted thrilled with the new broom that Sirius had bought him, but Sirius was completely caught off guard when James gave him the same gift. Lily was taken aback by the heels that Sirius had bought her but thanked him graciously, placing a large kiss on his lips, which made the rest of them laugh once seeing Sirius expression.
Together the Potters, along with Remus and Sirius went to the Weasley's for Christmas dinner, much to the delight of Harry and the Weasley boys who had no idea that this was going to happen. Christmas day at the Weasley's was an entire event that included multiple games of Quidditch of the adults against the kids. Harry was thrilled even more when he got to witness his mum get on a broom for the first time on his life, but was caught completely off guard when he saw that she actually wasn't half bad. James and Lily teamed up on Harry a couple of times which had all three of them laughing despite Sirius' multiple attempts to knock them all of their brooms when he sent bludgers their way.
Harry couldn't help but notice how distant Ginny seemed throughout the whole day, and it didn't help quench his feeling that something was wrong when Ron told him that she had been like that the whole break so far.
"Remember to write to us if anything else happens, ok Harry?" James said seriously to his son while they stood on the train platform at the end of the winter break.
"I will, Dad," Harry said.
"We will see you at Easter, sweetheart," Lily said quietly, hugging Harry tightly before they sent him off to catch up to Ron and Hermione who were waving him down from further down the platform.
"Where to now?" James asked, once they made it through the barrier.
"Home," Lily said, "I have a letter to write to Dumbledore," she said determinedly.
James just gripped her hand tighter while they followed other parents out of King's Cross.
A/N: Once again I am so sorry that I have been so horrible with updating this story in the past few months. I have been trying to write this chapter for ages, but I have found that this story and the last while important aren't nearly as exciting for all the characters as the later stories will be, so I am excited to finish TCS and POA and get onto GOF, very soon. Hopefully, fingers crossed. Anyways all recognizable J.K. Rowling content is fully hers and I take no credit for it. Please review, I really appreciate your feedback and comments. Also a belated Merry Christmas to you all! And Happy New Year as well!