Gone

The afternoon sun shone through the window, lightly caressing the features of the aging mans' face. His hands, resting on his chest, still held the book that had consumed his attention until exhaustion caused his mind to wander into the world of dreams. His black hair, which stood at odd angles as his head lolled on his shoulders, looked oddly brown in the setting sun. This faux brown hair covered a lightning shaped scar that had plagued the features of the young man since infancy. If one were to take a closer look at the mans' body they would see that this scar was not the only one that covered his skin. These marks represented years of wars which change the boy into a man faster than many others.

"Harry?" a middle aged woman called, rounding the corner to her husband's study. The auburn-haired woman stopped short, leaning against the door-frame. Her deep brown eyes watched as the mans' chest rose and fell with a steady rhythm. A smile played on her lips she watched her husband sleep, her arms folded across her chest. Her smile faded when she heard hurried footsteps and turned just as her five-year-old son stumbled into the room.

"Mummy!" the boy cried as he quickly searched the room for her, the woman knelt to envelope the child in her arms. She began whispering words of comfort to quieten the boy before he woke his father. Ginny looked up as her 12 year-old ward, and all-but son, walked in, his hands in his pockets and a worried look on his fathers' face.
"Teddy, Jamie? What's wrong?" the two boys avoided eye contact as neither of them answered Ginny's question. The woman's eyes warned the boys as she stared at them, leaving them with no other option than to come clean.
"I'm sorry, Aunty Ginny," Teddy said softly, "I swear I was watching him!" Ginny's eyes widened as she let go of her first child and rushed into the next room.

The now worried mother scanned the room and saw her two-year old daughter, Lily, sitting surrounded by an array of coloured crayons, paper strew across the ground around her. Ginny's eyes continued to search but failed to land on her middle child, Albus.
"Al!" she called, looking every way her head could turn. She suddenly looked back at Teddy.
"What happened?" the boy shook his head.
"I don't know! He was here…" the boy gestured at the table which was still full of lunch dishes that indicated the young teen had attempted to make lunch for his siblings, "… and then he wasn't!" Teddy finished. Ginny's brow furrowed as she tried to comprehend Teddy's words.

Suddenly the woman heard a small voice from behind her.
"Mama!" Ginny spun on the spot, looking for her son, but only hearing his voice.
"Al?" she called again.
"Mama…" this soft cry preceded a small sob as the four year old stood in front of his mother, unable to see his own hands. The mother of three knelt down and reached in the direction of her sons sobs and found his small body beneath her fingers. She had seen invisibility before but only via her husbands' secret cloak. Ginny knew that this cloak was not responsible for this, and she racked her mind for another explanation – but found nothing.

"Harry!?" Ginny called, not taking her eyes off the spot which her son was supposedly occupying, "HARRY!" The wizard sprung from his chair and sped down the hall to find his wife and three children standing in the lounge, all with varying degrees of worry on their faces. Lily, it seems, had no clue that her brother had found a way to turn himself invisible and had returned to drawing without a care.
"Gin!" Harry sighed, looking at his wife. She stared back at him, her hands clasping something he could not see.
"Harry, Albus has managed to follow in your footsteps and… become invisible." She tried to keep the worry out of her voice, as Teddy was now holding James who seemed distressed. Harry's jaw dropped.

҉ ҉ ҉

"Hey, we're having a bit of a crisis over here, and we could really use your help?"
Minerva McGonagall was used to getting strange fire messages, but this one worried her immensely.
"What's wrong?"
"It's Al, we're not sure how to fix… well… him."

"He's invisible?" The elderly witch was having trouble believing the younger woman. She had arrived at the Potters house and found scared parents and a missing child.
"Yes, Minny. And we need your help to fix it. Neither I or Harry have any idea on how he could have done this or what could reverse this." Ginny watched as her husband held their hysterical invisible child.
"Accidental magic is a strange thing. I, myself accidently turned a bully into a cane toad when I was around Al's age," the witch sighed. She pulled out her wand and muttered a few different spells, hoping that at least one of them would revert the child back to his viewable form. Both parents gasped with relief as slowly the colour returned to their son and he was once again visible. With a smile, Harry kissed his sons head and watched as James rushed to his brothers' side with a tearful hug.
"Thanks, Minny," said the mother as she joined her husband.
"Anytime, Ginevra. Anytime."


A/N: entered into the 'If you dare' challenge, prompt 913. Lost Boys.