KEYnote: When you see the illogic of this plan, just remember the lengths to which Voldemort went to in the fourth book rather than slitting Harry's throat when he had the chance. Man's got a sliver of a soul and he's just not all there.

P.s. James (and Sirius) are here to stay. They will not die or rot, etc. That's predictable and gauche. I have more fun ideas that to keep the plot rolling ;D

Chapter 13 - That Type of Lucky

It took time to convince McGonagall, but like with Harry, the Patronus did it.

Harry didn't miss the look McGonagall gave him about his and Luna being in Forbidden Forest befriending more than just hippogriffs.

Harry gave Pen to Luna so the bowtruckle wouldn't have to apperate with them.

"He will be back in the morning," McGonagall told her.

Harry opened his mouth to protest but his Head of House shook her head.

"Harry, winter break is very near and your father looks as if he is in desperate need of medical care. Your absence can be explained away for a night but we do not have anyone to go looking for you right now."

Harry sighed, but nodded, giving Luna a brief hug before she rushed back up to the castle.

"Why so secretive?" James asked.

"Voldemort is still obsessed with me," Harry told him.

James looked tired at this, shoulders rounding a bit, "Everything has changed except for the war."

Harry didn't really know how to comfort him.

"Come," McGonagall commanded as she strode confidently into the forest. "I need to be back before supper, we have ministry spies in the castle."

"Oh?" James asked, staying by Harry's side as they followed behind their Head of House.

It was strange that his father was only a few years older than him now. His parents had been so young when their family had been destroyed.

"The Defense position is cursed," Harry said. "So Dumbledore has to scrape the bottom of the barrel. Lupin was a professor for a year though, he was really good."

James flashed a smile, "Moony would make an excellent teacher."

"He's the one who taught me how to make a Patronus," Harry said, smiling back.

"He was thirteen," McGonagall said over her shoulder, sounding proud which brought heat to Harry's cheeks.

But James didn't look pleased, he looked disturbed, "Why did you learn that charm at thirteen?"

Harry thought of his mother's voice pleading for his life and immediately dismissed the idea of ever sharing that with his dad.

James probably had enough nightmares to be getting along with.

"My boggart is a Dementor," Harry said. "Lupin helped me get over that fear."

James's wary look softened, "That's really impressive, Harry."

McGonagall came to an abrupt stop and turned, holding out her hands.

James offered his hand as well, so the three of them were in a circle when they were pulled through space as if they were being sucked through a straw.

It was unnervingly like a portkey.

When they landed on the side of the mountain near a small cottage house with a barn attached to it, Harry was glad he hadn't eaten since breakfast.

He definitely preferred Thestrals.

Buckbeak squawked a greeting, coming to head butt Harry's shoulder as they walked to the cottage.

James gave Harry and a hippogriff a look Harry couldn't quite decipher.

"This is my brother's, Malcolm's home," McGonagall said. "He'll bring you back to the castle tomorrow morning, Harry."

Harry nodded, glad that he would be seeing Sirius again if only for tonight.

James was still holding his hand as they walked through the front door.

"Sirius, Remus, I checked, it is him," McGonagall was saying.

"Is who?" Sirius asked.

McGonagall stepped to the side, revealing Harry and James.

There was a clattering of chairs, Sirius and Lupin had their wands pointed at James.

Harry squeezed James's hand, knowing this wouldn't be easy for anyone.

oOo

Sirius stared.

James.

It was James.

But James was dead.

Sirius held out his hand, "Harry?"

Harry who had been holding James's hand, let go and ran to Sirius.

He caught the boy in a one armed hug, keeping his wand arm free.

"What the hell is going on, Minerva?" Sirius asked, holding Harry tight to his side.

Minerva sighed, "Voldemort is a monster. He used some curse to put James into a status state, a curse version of the Draught of Living Death, I believe. He was presumed dead."

"Presumed dead?" Sirius scoffed. "No, I saw him, I saw them both. James Potter is dead."

"You look like shit, Padfoot," James said.

Sirius flinched, that was James's voice.

But he snapped back, holding Harry tighter to himself, "And you looked as if you haven't aged a day over twenty, yet still look like you were hit by a bus."

"Voldemort got a wee bit annoyed with my antics," James said.

"Where is Lily?" Remus asked.

Sorrow filled James's hazel eyes and he looked away, "She's gone, Remus."

If this was James, truly James, then Lily's death would still be fresh for him.

"But you're not?" Sirius asked suspiciously, glancing at Minerva who stood next to her brother.

"No, and if it wasn't for Harry, I would wish I was," James said, sounding entirely too tired.

Harry flinched against Sirius's side.

"How did you prove who you were?" Sirius asked.

"He showed us his patronus," Harry answered, pulling back to look up into Sirius's face. "It changed into a Thestral because of me."

Sirius stilled, looking back to James, "It's really you, Prongs?"

James nodded.

"I have soup," Malcolm said, cutting through the tension with the subtly of a heavy blow from an axe to a sapling. "Have you eaten, Harry, James?"

Both Potters shook their heads. It was sort of unnerving.

Remus let out a breath, "The two of you are going to look like twins."

Sirius met Minvera's gaze, she nodded, and Sirius trusted her.

Remus tipped their chairs upright, before stepping around the table to go to James.

James looked at their old friend and said, "You didn't take the money I left in our will, did you?"

Remus pulled the shorter man into a hug, "Of course, I didn't."

James hugged him back.

Sirius wanted so badly to believe this it hurt, but he wasn't quite sure his sanity could handle it. So he sat with Harry still close to his side in the seat beside him.

Minerva spoke to Malcolm, and after he nodded in assent to her remarks, she stepped back toward the door, "I have to go. Sirius, Remus, don't do anything stupid. I wouldn't have brought him or Harry here if I believed for a second that James was lying to me. We should all know the horrors and insanity of which the Dark Lord is capable of."

Sirius nodded to her, "Alright."

She glared at him before turning her attention to Harry, "Malcolm will bring you back to the castle in the morning, if you need to return early, just ask."

"Thank you," Harry said.

Malcolm kissed his sister's cheek and she disapparated out with a pop.

Remus joined Malcolm in grabbing soup bowls James moved to take the seat across from Sirius.

"I'll have a look at your wounds once you've eaten," Malcolm said as placed the dishes down on the table.

"Thank you," James said.

It was immediately awkward, and once Malcolm sat down with Remus, they began to eat, in near-complete silence save for the sounds of silverware against the bowls.

"How is your Defense club going, Harry?" Malcolm asked.

Harry's shoulders sagged in relief at the familiar topic, "Really good. I think everyone is going to pass their tests. Defense NEWTS is going to be pretty easy for me I think. I know the material better than the seventh years."

James raised a brow, "You're teaching seventh years in Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"It's my best subject," Harry agreed. "I'm also good at Charms."

James smiled, "Just like your mother. Are you good at Potions too?"

"I'm okay," Harry said.

"He's being modest," Remus said. "He's top of his year in Defense, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, and likely best in the school for Magical Creatures."

Harry shook his head, "Only for this year, my friend Hermione is top of the year in every class since first year. And Luna is the best with Magical Creatures."

Sirius frowned at Harry's defensive tone, "Harry, you are doing inordinately well. Dumbledore has you studying elemental magic."

"Why is that necessary?" James asked.

"The war," Harry answered flatly.

James's jaw ticked and he glared down at his soup.

Remus cleared his throat, "Harry is also a teacher's assistant for a few of Minerva and Flitwick's classes."

"That's amazing, son," James said. "Lily would have been over the moon with glee. She was top of our year."

Harry's cheeks pinked and he looked up at his father in an almost shy manner.

"Minerva and Sirius are also training him to become an animagus," Malcolm said.

James visibly brightened, "How has that been going?"

Harry poked his spoon in his soup, "It's going. McGonagall says I have the power to do it, but Transfiguration doesn't really come to me naturally."

"You also have a lot on your plate," Remus said.

Another silence followed.

"Do you like Quidditch?" James asked, looking more nervous than Sirius had ever seen him.

James was a lot of things, but social nervousness wasn't really one of them. Illustrated in the fact of how willing he had been to make himself out to be a fool for Lily.

"I was a Seeker," Harry answered. "But I quit this year."

"Why?" James asked.

"The Defense professor is trying to ruin my life," Harry said. "Our defence club is kind of illegal because she suspended all clubs and teams for a while."

"Oh," James said lamely.

"He's a better flyer than you," Sirius bragged. "McGonagall made an exception for him in his first year to join the team."

"Did you win the cup last year?" James asked with a half smile.

Sirius, Harry, and Remus flinched, none of them wanted to talk about the Triwizard Tournament tonight. James had enough to contend with.

James looked between all of them, "What?"

Harry cleared his throat, "The Hufflepuff Seeker died on the pitch last year, so no one won."

Sirius winced, that was a very smooth lie and he hated that Harry had to misdirect his father like this.

James looked horrified and at a loss for words.

Harry pushed away his bowl, "I— I want to be here in the morning but I—"

Malcolm rose to his feet, "I have your room all set upstairs. It's next to the library if you need some to get your mind on lighter topics before bed."

Harry nodded, rising to his feet as well and hugging Sirius before he could rise too. Sirius hugged him back from his seat.

"Goodnight, Sirius, Dad, Lupin," Harry said, retreating from the table, following Malcolm.

"Goodnight, Harry," James said, looking a bit like a kicked puppy when Harry didn't approach him for a hug.

The three of them, Sirius, Remus, and James, are alone at the table.

James rubbed his temple, "Sirius, why isn't Harry being raised by you?"

Sirius flinched and bit back a whimper that his animagus side wanted to make. Catching the sound in his throat before he could further humiliate himself, "I'm so sorry, James. They didn't give me a trial. The court believed I was your Secret Keeper."

James looked to Remus, "You got him out of Azkaban?"

Remus flinched as well, "No, Sirius escaped on his own. He's technically a fugitive."

James —unexpectedly— cursed, viciously.

"What?" Remus asked.

"I beat the shit out of Peter," James explained.

Sirius barked a laugh, "He deserved worse."

"I did a partial transformation," James said. "By beat, I mean I kicked him with hooves to the point where I think he was still in a coma."

"Was?" Remus asked.

James ran a hand through his hair, "I burned down the Malfoy Manor with Fiendfyre, I'm not positive anyone bothered to rescue him."

"Wormtail's dead?" Sirius asked.

On one hand, Peter seeing justice was the quickest way to clear Sirius's own name.

On the other hand, being killed by James indirectly seemed like a proper fate for the rat.

"I'm glad he's dead," Sirius said.

Malcolm came back downstairs then, "James, if you're done eating. Let's get you cleaned up. There will be time to talk tomorrow."

James sighed, rising to his feet as if every bone in his body ached. He was technically the youngest of them now.

It didn't show by the way he moved.

Sirius didn't think he would be getting much sleep that night.

oOo

Harry fell asleep nearly as soon as he climbed into bed, exhaustion like a concrete block pulling him under.

If he dreamed, he didn't remember.

oOo

Sirius sat on the sofa with Remus, both of them silent and lost in their own thoughts as dawn began to seep into the sky.

James came out from the guest bedroom and sat between them at sunrise.

Sirius and Remus exchanged a look.

"I think we failed at being adults," James said.

Sirius snorted, "You essentially died protecting your kid. You did fine."

"I failed," James disagreed. "I failed my wife and my son. Because I trusted Peter and because I didn't confide in you, Moony."

"I should have known Sirius wouldn't have—" Remus began as Sirius said, "It was my stupid idea, it was my fault."

James patted Sirius's knee, "It was Peter's fault, and it was Voldemort's crimes. Harry and Lily paid the price for it."

"Did Lily really use the Dark Arts to redirect the Killing Curse?" Remus asked.

"Yes," James sighed. "And Harry's alive, so —thanks, Snape— I guess, for exposing my wife to learning about the Dark Arts."

Sirius flinched, "He's still a greasy git."

James shrugged, "He owed me one. Speaking of gits, what the bloody hell did you do to Voldemort?"

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

James shook his head, "He was obsessed with you, Sirius. All he asked me were questions about you. Not about the Order of the Phoenix, not too much about Lily or Harry, but you."

"Why?" Sirius asked, just as confused.

"I don't know but he was desperate for anything about you; from what books you read to your ex-girl friends. Anything and everything," James replied.

"What did you tell him?" Sirius asked.

"I told him to go fuck himself with a hot iron rod where the sun doesn't shine."

Sirius snorted, "He probably would have gotten more out of Peter."

Remus hummed, "Not true. Peter could never really keep up with you two. His view of you both was tainted with jealousy and hero worship."

"But I'm nobody," Sirius said. "I might pack a magical punch, but when you boil it down, my cousin had more time free out of Azkaban than I do to improve as a fighter outside of Hogwarts than I did. I am not one of Dumbledore's most valuable pieces."

"But you are the dearest person to Harry," Remus countered. "I think Harry would do just about anything to keep you safe, Sirius."

That didn't make Sirius happy at all.

"Dad?"

They all turned to look at the stairs where Harry hesitated on the last step.

"You're really still here?"

Harry had never sounded so young.

James stood and rounded the sofa, to pull Harry into a hug, "Yeah, Harry, I'm really here and I'm not going anywhere."

Harry stepped into the embrace and clung to James as if he was a lifeline.

Sirius's chest was tight with grief for both of them, for the tragedy and misfortune that had befallen the Potters. As well as his own part in it.

Remus took Sirius's hand and squeezed, a silent refrain that he was not alone.

Malcolm came out of the downstairs bedroom fully dressed, "Breakfast anyone?"

Harry pulled away from James, "I want to go back to school?"

"Why?" Sirius asked, despite himself.

Harry shook his head, "No one can know or guess that I was gone."

He sounded afraid.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Remus asked.

Harry looked away as he whispered, "He's happy."

"Who's happy?" James asked.

Harry didn't meet anyone's gaze as he said, "Voldemort. He's really, really happy, which is never a good thing."

"I'm sorry," James said. "How the hell do you know what No-Nose is feeling?"

Harry took a step back from James, voice timid, "He— we have a connection."

"A connection!?" James repeated, voice pitching.

Sirius was at James's side, pulling him back, "James, not now."

Harry looked thoroughly spoked and Sirius didn't like it in any way Harry's fear of James.

"We'll explain later," Remus said from James's other side.

Malcolm was already holding out his hand to Harry to disapparate them back to the border of Hogwarts's wards."

Sirius stepped away from James, and was immediately rewarded by Harry launching himself at him for a hug.

Sirius held him tight, "Stay safe, Prongslet."

Harry hugged him tighter and pulled back to meet his gaze, "Only if you swear to me that you'll stay safe too."

Sirius had a bad feeling that Harry had been listening to their conversation from the top of the steps.

Still, he promised, "I swear it. I'll keep your dad safe too. We won't fail you again, Harry."

Harry didn't look comforted by his nodded, turning to take Malcolm's hand.

Harry looked between Sirius and James, and said, "I love you."

"We love you too," Sirius and James said in unison just before Malcolm popped them out.

James spun on Sirius, "What the fuck did he mean; he has a connection to Voldemort!?"

Sirius and Remus exchanged a look.

Remus cleared his throat, "That might be a question better answered by Dumbledore."

"What happened?" James nearly growled.

"Nothing good," Sirius answered honestly. "Nothing good."

oOo

Harry arrived at the Great Hall late, dragging his feet on his way back to the castle, which shouldn't have been too much of a problem, only the Daily Prophet had arrived before him.

The room looked up, almost as one, and stared at him with horror stricken expressions.

Luna practically ran into him, pulling him back out the door.

Her voice was practically frantic, "Harry, we have to go."

He was already looking down at the paper in her hands, his eyes skimming over the words.

But it was the pictures that stood out to him.

The pictures… which seemed to come alive, stepping forth into the reality of Harry's worst imaginings.

Mixing with his memories of his ill adventures at the Ministry of Magic, forgotten dreams, and his overactive imagination.

And he knew he was reliving things partially through Voldemort's memories.

His father strode into the Ministry of Magic, wand in hand.

Voices echoed around him as people stopped in their tracks on their way out of the Ministry at the end of the work day.

"Is that—?"

"Harry Potter?"

"No, James Potter?"

"James Potter!?"

"But he's dead!"

Camera lights flashed.

James's smile was wide, and slightly manic as he recited, "It was not Death, for I stood up."

Questions were shouted at him but they were cut off abruptly as James raised his wand and spoke the next line of poetry, "And all the Dead, lie down–"

Greenlight spilled forth from that dark wand as the curious crowd turned into a panicked stampede.

"It was not Night, for all the Bells," the man who was not Harry's father said giddily as he killed more witches and wizards at random.

"Put out their Tongues," he said, not even the Polyjuice could disguise Voldemort's venom as he murdered another person. "For Noon."

The final picture was of Bill Weasley disarming Voldemort, who dropped his wand and smiled smugly with James's face before disapparating away.

Leaving his wand, which probably was James's actually wand behind.

"Harry?" Luna asked.

He blinked, coming out of his head.

Luna took his hand, and it was only then that he realized he was shaking as he held the paper with both hands.

The article was damning.

'Since the discretion of James and Lily Potter's graves, the world has been wondering what was done with James's body. Well, we've found it. And he appears as no reanimated corpse ever has. Leaving us to wonder, was James Potter ever truly dead? While the effects of the potion, Draught of Living Death, may have fooled those who buried the Potters. Although how he survived so long underground remains a mystery.

Still, any doubts of this NOT being truly James Potter, fall apart when his odd words —that many survivors were able to remember in horrific detail— were researched.

"It was not Death, for I stood up,

And all the Dead, lie down -

It was not Night, for all the Bells

Put out their Tongues, for Noon."

He was quoting an obscure muggle poet, Emily Dickenson. Very few people knew —and then only those who were close to James— that he courted his wife through poetry.

Surely, it cannot be believed that any Death Eater who might have wished the Potters harm would have known such intimate details about him much less been able to quote such a mediocre poet.

But recent events have us wondering; is it so surprising that the father of Harry Potter, might not be who we believed him to be?

Harry Potter, who is well known for being an attention seeking liar.

Could he also be the son of a murderer?

Son of an unacknowledged —until today— dark lord?

After all this time, as the truth finally come to the light of day? Could James Potter and Sirius Black —a convicted felon and the first person to ever escape Azkaban— have been in league with each other? Perhaps not working for He Who Must Not Be Named at all but rather vying for their own dark plans for our world?

Harry forced himself to skip the rest of the article to instead read the casualty list; the name that stood out to him most was Percival Weasley.

Harry should feel sadder than he did about that, but mostly, all he could think was how cruel fate was, how cruel Voldemort was.

He found out he had a godfather, only to learn he was a criminal, then to discover he was innocent but denied the opportunity to clear his name.

Only a few years later, after changing time itself, he discovered his father was still alive, except he didn't believe it. By not believing, his father had been tortured.

Then they were reunited, only for his father to be painted as a criminal just as his godfather had been.

Wrongly framed.

The worst part was, no one was likely to grant them the benefit of the doubt.

'James Potter the Murderer', 'Sirius Black the Escaped Criminal' and 'Harry Potter the Crazy.'

They were just that type of lucky.

oOo

AN: Thoughts, Demiguises, or feedback, pretty please?