A/N: enjoy!

Chapter 3: Reunion

Of course James was happy for Remus- having the family he always wanted more than anything- but the prospect of his long-time friend actually having that family was odd. No matter how much he wanted it, Remus would never have let himself have it, no matter how many times himself, Lily, Sirius, and Peter told him it was stupid. He was dead set on the idea, and once Remus is set on an idea, he won't change his mind. He was so stubborn like that.

"Who's she," Lily asked Sirius, who was standing beside James.

"Tonks," responded Sirius.

Both Lily and James examined her. She looked young, not incredibly young, but definitely younger than the rest of them would if things had gone differently. She was definitely much younger than…fifty-one. Merlin.

"She's a metamorphmagus, so I would assume the kid is too," said Sirius as James watched him examine the young boy. "He wasn't born yet when I died, and judging by his expression, Remus wasn't around much longer after his birth."

"Merlin," said James from under his breath. It was, no matter how much he wouldn't admit it, all Remus ever wanted, and it was gone so soon. Now, he just looks so lost, watching his son cling onto his wife.

James looked away from them and looked at Sirius, really looked at him, at all of his features. There was no way around saying that Sirius looked like utter shit- his skin was pale, his face and eyes hollow, and his hair, which he had always taken great pride in, was dead and clumped together as it fell to his shoulders. What the hell happened to him? Azkaban, he knew, but why?

"Padfoot," James said to get his friend's attention. Sirius looked over to him, but they soon were both startled by the sound of the door creaking open. Their direction was redirected to the newcomers- Minerva McGonagall stepped back into the room, but this time, she had company.

Two grown men followed behind her, one he had never seen before, but the other, James knew very well, if not for a long time. James could hear his heartbeat in his ears, pounding rhythmically against his eardrums as he stood face-to-face with his son, who he had last seen as a baby, now older than he was. Harry was older than James. Harry had experienced more of life than James had, which was always the goal when they were being hunted down by Voldemort, to keep Harry alive no matter what. But still, there were twenty-nine years that James had missed, years that he will never get back, no matter how desperately he wished he could.

James looked over to his wife, who looked as stunned and pale as he probably did. Her lips moved slightly, but no sound came from them. Harry was pale too- he was stark white and seemed like he would topple over at any moment. It must be strange for him too, seeing his parents after twenty-nine years of being dead. It was certainly strange for James to have a son that was older than him.

The three Potters just stared at one another, each of them wanting to speak,but what would one even say at this moment. He supposed that Remus had figured it out, and that went rather well for him, James supposed.

"Hello," James spoke up weakly, after several moments of silence.

"Evening," Harry greeted, his voice just as strained and weak as his father's was. They fell back into silence, all still staring at one another. "I don't know what else to say," he admitted.

Still not saying a word and with silent tears falling down her cheeks, Lily rushed forward before enveloping her son into her arms. Sirius nudged James between his shoulder blades, pushing him forward, so he could wrap his arms around his son and wife.

It was a long hug, as far as hugs go, but it was so small in comparison to the amount of time that was lost for all of them.

They all separated and James took the time to examine his son- his thirty year old son. He looked just like James, only he looked more mature as he stood tall and strong. There was no way he could've turned out that badly with Sirius raising him. James's heart fell into the pits of his stomach, since Sirius was dead with them, Harry had lost parental figures more than once. How long had he raised Harry? He had been in Azkaban, hadn't he? Was Sirius able to raise Harry at all?

James saw his friends from the corner of his eye, he saw the way he looked at Harry. No matter how little time Sirius had looked after Harry, he had deeply cared for him.

"Are you alright there, Harry," Sirius asked. He was standing a short distance from the three of them but was now slowly walking towards his godson, a smile on his face the whole way.

"I don't know really, don't really know what to think about all of…this," Harry answered before opening his arms and tightly hugging Sirius. He was crying now as he whispered, "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright, Harry, no need to worry about it now," said Sirius. What was there to worry about in the first place, James wondered. What had happened in the thirty years since James had died? His friends looked as though they had lived much, much longer than James knew that either of them had, and even Harry seemed to carry more weight on his shoulders and more sorrow in his eyes than any thirty year-old should.

The wizard standing beside Harry cleared his throat, "I really hate to interrupt, but I really need to get some things sorted. I'm Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister for Magic-"

"Minister," Sirius questioned, a smug look on his face.

"Yes, Black, Minister," answered Kingsley. "Obviously you're quite acquainted with my Head of Aurors, Harry. But, you're probably not so acquainted with the Deputy Head Auror, Nymphadora Lupin," Kingsley explained as he nodded his head towards Remus's wife, who was now, along with Remus, standing beside Sirius.

"We need to figure out your slight debacle," Kingsley finished.

"Right," Harry started, "what exactly do you remember before…you woke up?"

"To be quite honest," Remus began, "it was like I fell asleep in the middle of the battle and woke up years later."

"You don't remember anything in between the battle and when you woke up in the forest," Harry clarified.

"I vaguely remember something, as if I woke up for a brief moment, but I don't remember what had happened," explained Remus. James tried to wrack his brain, and what Remus was saying was all true. There was Voldemort, then asleep, then he felt as if he had woken briefly, then dead again, and now they were all here.

"Sounds about right," explained Sirius.

Kingsley turned to Tonks and Remus, "is Teddy alright? Is he okay to answer any questions?"

"He's obviously a little shaken, but he should be alright," said Tonks. Kingsley nodded before walking past the group and towards Teddy's hospital bed. The rest of them all followed behind him.

"Hi Teddy," Kingsley greeted the boy as he stood at the foot of the bed.

"Hi Kingsley," said Teddy, sitting up in bed and straightening himself up. His face was still slightly blotchy from crying. "What are you doing here?" He paused. "Stupid question."

"It's alright," Kingsley said. "I just need to ask you a few questions. Tell me, what exactly do you remember before you were struck by lightning."

"Well," Teddy started, "Vic and I were taking a walk outside by the forest-"

"Sorry, but why exactly were you taking a walk so long after curfew," Tonks interrupted.

Teddy swallowed, "Erm…"

"Don't worry kid, I have a lot of dirt on both of your parents that you can use in a situation like this," Sirius offered.

"Thanks, Sirius," said Tonks with a sigh. Sirius shrugged before giving Teddy a wink.

"Please continue," said Kingsley.

"Right…we were walking and then it started to rain, so we headed towards the path by Hagrid's to go back to the castle. But, Hagrid was carrying cages into his house, so we both ran into the forest to wait until he was finished. Then these weird white figures started coming towards us and so we ran. That's when I got caught on the cage and was struck."

"And you didn't touch anything in the forest or on your walk," asked Kingsley.

"I don't think so," said Teddy. He pondered for a moment, "I did find a weird rock on the ground with runes carved into it and I was going to try and decipher it; I must've dropped it when I was struck by lightning."

Harry paled, "were you holding this stone when you were struck?"

Teddy nodded.

"What did it look like," asked Harry.

"It was like a perfect diamond," said Teddy, "and, like I said, it had runes carved on it."

"The resurrection stone," said Harry, almost inaudible. His face continued to drain if it's color.

"Come again," said Sirius.

"The resurrection stone," said Harry, louder this time. "If Teddy was holding it when he got struck by lightning, then the power of it must have been enhanced in some way. That's why you all are here."

"The resurrection stone? Like the one from the children's story," asked Lily.

"I know it sounds mad," said Harry, "but it's real, and I've used it. That brief moment of waking up you all remember- that was me calling for you with the stone, right before I handed myself over to Voldemort."

"Right before you did what," Sirius asked, baffled. "Why would you do that?"

"I had to," said Harry. "I'll explain everything later, I promise."

"Excuse me, Mr. Potter and Minister Shacklbolt," said Madame Pomfrey firmly from behind the group. "I really do need you to be leaving soon, Mr. Lupin needs his rest." It was a phrase James had been told so many times before, it was strange to think it was an entirely different person now.

"I'm sorry but it is Ministry business, Madame Pomfrey," Kingsley tried to explain.

"I don't care if this was a visit from Merlin himself, the boy needs his rest, Minister," said Madame Pomfrey. "Two minutes."

"Fine," Kingsley conceded. He turned back to Harry, "how did the lightning strike charge the stone like that?"

"I dunno," Harry admitted. "But that's probably the only thing it could be. When I used the stone, they were ghosts, they weren't solid. Now they're like us. It appears that they never died."

"And you were the only ones in the forest," Kingsley asked.

"That we saw, yeah," answered James.

"Is that all," asked Madame Pomfrey, who was still standing behind them.

"I believe so," answered Kingsley.

"Good. I need you to be moving now. Out," ordered Madame Pomfrey. "Mr. Lupin needs his rest and can answer whatever questions you need him to afterward."

"Where should we go," Remus asked. "We can't exactly wander around like normal."

"I have an idea, but you're not going to like it," stated Kingsley.

"I know what you're going to say, and the answer is no," Harry said. "Nobody's been in there in years. If whatever ecosystem resides there doesn't get them, asbestosis will definitely do it."

"Mr. Potter, I do recall there being a room here that will fill any need or request," said McGonagall. Dear Merlin, she was like Dumbledore- it must be a rite of passage for every Headmaster to start talking in riddles.

"You don't mind, Professor," asked Harry.

"Not at all," McGonagall responded with a smile. "Students should all still be in bed, I would suggest moving sooner rather than later."

"Thank you, Professor," said Lily.

"Of course, Mrs. Potter," responded McGonagall. She paused briefly, contemplatively, "it's lovely to see you again. All of you." She walked out of the Hospital Wing stoically, but James knew, from the way her shoulders shook slightly, that she was silently crying.

"Thank you, Ted, for your help, but I may be needing some more information from you later," said Kingsley.

"Sure, no problem," said Teddy.

"Goodnight, Teddy," said Tonks before pressing a kiss on top of his head.

"Night, Mum," he said before he turned to Remus. He stared at him for a brief moment, seeming to not know what to do, before he climbed out from his covers and knelt at the foot of his bed. He wrapped his arms around Remus's torso, who then, despite being slightly taken aback, wrapped his arms around his son. When Teddy eventually pulled away he looked up at Remus, "Night, Dad."

"Goodnight, son," said Remus, his voiced strain as he was choking back his tears.

Outside of the hospital wing, they had all said their goodbyes to Kingsley, who had promised to make a return with more information as soon as he was able. Harry then began to lead them through the many winding corridors of the castle.

The walk through the castle at night was not a strange occurrence for Remus, Sirius, and James. They were very accustomed to sneaking around the corridors past hours, both during full moons and for mischief. However, the castle now just felt…different. James knew it had been a while since the last time he had been in Hogwarts Castle, but it felt strange; places that he remembered exactly looked ever so slightly different. It wasn't a big change or difference, but it bothered James because he was never able to specifically identify what was wrong with it.

However, the seventh floor corridor hadn't changed much at all. To be fair, there wasn't much to it to begin with, only a few cupboards used for miscellaneous items. There was still the Barnabas the Barmy tapestry that always adorned the outer wall, which was where Harry had made them all stop. James looked at Sirius, confused, what was there that was needed to be stopped for. Has Harry heard a noise? James placed a hand on his still concealed wand just in case. Thank Merlin it was still with him, he must've been buried with it.

But then, the wall in front of them began to shift and change. James watched in awe as a door began to materialize itself on the wall across from the tapestry. He stared up at large oak doors that certainly hadn't been there a second ago, and James was sure they had never been there even when he was a student.

"It's the Room of Requirement," explained Harry once he saw his father's confused expression. "It can transform into whatever you need it to, whenever you need it, so long as it's not already occupied. It wasn't well known when I was at school, and since McGonagall is letting us hide you in there, it probably still isn't."

Harry turned the handle and opened the large doors to a room that was decorated strikingly similar to the Gryffindor common room. The three long, lumpy sofas that surrounded a fireplace were the same shade of red as the common room's were. Surrounding the couches were three, four poster beds, just like the ones in the dormitory. In the one corner by the door was a small kitchen set up of an oven and a few countertops.

"I'm sure McGonagall will send food up, and I'll bring some stuff by tomorrow morning," explained Harry. "One of you must remain in here at all times, or it will disappear."

"How long has this been here," asked James, in awe.

Harry shrugged," since the castle was built, I suppose."

"We had no idea this was here," said James. "How did we never find this place?"

"I knew you didn't know about it," said Harry, "it didn't show up on the map. If a person entered the room, they just vanished from it."

James smirked," you had the map?"

Harry nodded," Two of my friends gave it to me in my third year, they had stolen it from Filch's office."

"How much trouble did you get in with it," asked James.

"Good amount," responded Harry.

"Do you still have the map," Lily asked Harry.

Harry smiled sadly, "I do, but it stopped working once Remus had died. I guess once all of you had died, it died with you in a way. It's just said 'Mischief Managed' on it since."

So Peter was dead. It made sense, if Voldemort had gotten to him and Lily, he would've needed to get through Peter first. What exactly had happened to him? Why wasn't he with them?

"What happened to Peter," James asked.

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