What the heart wants
Authors note: Thank you everyone that has read and enjoyed the story so far. Thank you for the feedback it has been helpful. I will work on formatting the story differently and once I get it right I will go back and fix the previous chapters. This is why your feedback is vital for my improvement and I welcome all of it. Again anything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 4
Dumbledore arranged to meet the Potters' and the Grangers' at the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley. As both families arrive you can sense the tension and the confusion. They sat down and ordered drinks while waiting for Dumbledore to get started. "I know you are wondering why I called you here. There has been an unusual development and I need you to keep an open mind as I explain it to you." Dumbledore related everything that Harry told him and what happened after he found them. Lily Potter and Jean Granger were openly crying while James Potter and Herold Granger were torn between joy and unbelieving. They were all afraid to believe it, to have their hearts broken again, but Dumbledore is not cruel and would not come to them if he was not sure. James was the first to speak. "So you're telling us that our children, that we buried, are sitting in the castle as we speak?" "Yes, they are currently waiting in my office." Replied Dumbledore. "I have a question." Jean asked through her tears. "Is this permanent or will they go back to wherever world they came from?" "That I am not certain of as most of this is theory, but the fact that we are not even sure about how they arrived here means, that even if I try to get them home, it could take years. It may not even be possible then. If a solution is found they may not want to go back. They are entering their most formidable years. If they build a life here, they may not want to go back to where they have nothing." "Can we see them?" asked Lily. She has been on the edge of her seat since she received the news. She has missed thirteen years of her son's life, she did not want to miss another second. Hermione's parents felt the same way. For them it has only been two years, but with the grief still so fresh, they just wanted to run to her. "Yes, of course, we can floo from here to Professor McGonagall's office. I do not wish to startle the children". Once they arrived back at the castle, they made their way to Dumbledore's office. "This may be painful to hear" Dumbledore started "Harry has not had a very good life from what he has relayed to me. He seemed to gloss over most of his childhood, and a lot of his schooling to be honest. Voldemort's name was mentioned more than once, so I just want you to be prepared. There is no telling how he will react to seeing you for the first time. He could be receptive and happy because, according to my theory, if he did not want you he would not be here. On the other hand he could be shy and closed off to protect himself. Please be prepared for either outcome."
Harry and Hermione were starting to get nervous. The wait and curiosity were starting to get the better of them. Harry had always had this longing for his parents. He dreamed of being reunited with them, but it had never really been a possibility. Now, they were actually close and he did not know how to think or feel. Hermione's thoughts were running on a similar path. She was feeling very conflicted. She never not had her parents. They were always a constant in her life. She always felt loved and cared for. For her she just left her parents two months ago to come to school. Now, those parents were gone to her, she just found out that her parents here have been mourning her for the past two years. She could not imagine what they have been going through. She also knew that if they were going to be stuck here, which seemed like the case, she would need her parents. She could not imagine her life without them. She could only hope that they wanted her as well. At that thought, both sets of parents walked into the room followed by Dumbledore. For a minute it felt like time stood still. Everyone just stood there staring taking everything in. Harry studied his parents. They were slightly older than the pictures he has but they were everything he ever imagined them to be, and so much more. James and Lily were just blown away. He looked just like a mini James but with Lily's eyes. Lily could not take it anymore, with tears in her eyes, she rushed forward and enveloped Harry in a hug. This was the first hug that Harry could remember receiving from his own mother, and it was the best hug of his life. He held onto her like his life depended on it. Once James saw this he rushed forward and scooped them both up into his arms. He never thought he would have the opportunity to hold his son again. Hermione looks over to her own parents, which have not moved yet, and could see tears just streaming down their faces. She took a step toward them and that was all the que they needed. They rushed forward and gathered her up and held her like she would disappear. After a few minutes they all reluctantly separated. "Please let's all take a seat. There is much still left to discuss". Dumbledore stated as he conjured more chairs to accommodate everyone. After they were all seated, Harry's hand clasped tightly in Lily's, Dumbledore began to speak. "So, Harry lets go over the events from the night you lost your parents to determine what was different for you and if there was anything the same." Harry nodded in agreement and waited for him to continue. "We know in both worlds Voldemort came after baby Harry, which led to the Potters going into hiding." At this both Harry and his parents agreed. "Harry, could we hear the events of that night, as you know them, so that we can compare?" Harry looked up, a little nervous, swallowed and then he began. "From what I was told, my parents were put under the Fidelius charm and originally chose Sirius to be their secret keeper. Sirius convinced my parents to change to Pettigrew because no one would suspect him. They did not know that he was already a death eater working as a spy for Voldemort. He gave the location to Voldemort and he showed up in Godric's Hollow on Halloween night when I was a year old. Both of my parents tried to hold him off." At this point in the story everyone noticed that Harry seemed to have this glazed over, distant look in his eyes and knew that this was painful for him. "Now, I know this part first hand because this is the memory that I have to relive whenever I am close to a dementor." Both James and Lily's expressions darkened at this. They hoped to find out why in the world their son was ever near a dementor in the first place. "My dad blocked him at the door, he yelled Lily it is him take Harry and run, and then he was dead. My mom ran with me to the nursery to try and hold him off. Voldemort broke into the room and told her to stand down and move out of the way and he would spare her. When she refused he killed her too. Now, what he did not know is, that when she gave her life to protect me, she gave me protection. When Voldemort turned his wand on me, the spell rebounded and stripped him of his body and his soul fled, leaving me bleeding and crying in my crib." Harry took a breath to steady himself. He looked at his parents that were silently crying and continued "Sirius was the first to arrive and found me and my parents. He was devastated, He picked me up to leave with me, when Hagrid arrived. He told Sirius that Dumbledore gave him orders to take me to my aunt and uncles. After Hagrid left with me Sirius went after Pettigrew. When he found him, Pettigrew made a big show of arguing with Sirius, accusing him of betraying my parents. Then he blew up the street, cut off his own finger and transformed into a rat. No one knew that he was an unregistered animagus, it must have been something he picked up working for Voldemort." Harry did not know if his father was an unregistered animagus in this world, but he was not going to give him away if he was. "In the aftermath, twelve muggles were killed and Sirius was captured and sent to Azkaban without a trial". At this James and Lily were outranged and started to say something when Dumbledore interrupted. He raised his hand to quiet them "Let us remember, as bad as some of these events are, they happened in another universe, not here." Lily was the one to gain her voice first "Of course, but let us also remember that another universe or not, these events still happened to him and for that we can be upset." She took her seat, much closer to Harry now. Despite what he just relived, he could not help but feel loved and protected, at her outrage on his behalf. His friends, of course, were always mad and appalled at what he had been through; but for once, he felt like he had someone to actually protect him and love him. That was another new feeling for him. While Molly Weasley always cared for him, a mother's love was something that could not be replaced. Harry spent the next few hours going into full detail about his life with the Dursleys up to the events that led to them being on that tower. Once he was done they all sat there. How a child so young could, have been through all that. Dumbledore stood, "Why don't we take a break. You can go have some lunch outside of the castle. Get to know each other a bit and get some fresh air. Then, we can come back and go over the events as they happened here and go from there.
They decided to go eat in muggle London so they were not overheard or disturbed. Once seated and they placed their orders, they sat in silence, not knowing how to start. Harry, never being good with awkward silences, decided to speak up first. "So, mom and dad (he did not know if he would ever get used to saying that) tell me something about your life now. Did you ever have any more children? Do I have any siblings that are going to have to deal with this as well?" It was something that Harry thought about often. If his parents had lived, would have had any siblings or would he have stayed an only child. James decided to be the one to answer "Well, as you may know, we never stopped grieving for you. Dealing with losing you almost destroyed us. It was at least five years before we got back to anything resembling a normal life. We will save some details for when we get back to the castle, but Sirius and Remus really helped us through it. We threw ourselves into work and the Order, then another five years to build our relationship back and get into a good place mentally. It was about three years ago that we felt that we were ready to start building our family again. It took another year but you have a brother that is almost two years old." He stopped to see how Harry was taking the news. Harry had the biggest smile on his face. He did not know if he was going to be a good big brother but really wanted to try. He never thought he would have siblings so he was going to take this opportunity and run with it. "That's great, and at least he is too young to understand anything yet." At his statement everyone had a good laugh. "So, what is my brother's name?" Lily answered "Sebastian Fleamont Potter. Fleamont after your grandfather."" The food arrived and they just made small talk, enjoying each other's company. Before they knew it, it was time to head back to the castle.
Once they were all situated back in front of Dumbledore, they waited for him to begin. "I know you're anxious to find out our version of events so here it is. There was a prophesy made Harry, that was interpreted, by Voldemort, to mean you would be the one with the power to destroy him. I assume that to be true in your world as well, seeing as he felt the need to come after you there as well. It is the same here that James and Lily were but under the Fidelius charm and went into hiding. It is also the same that Pettigrew was made secret keeper. The difference being that, the evening of Halloween I called your parent to a meeting about the prophesy. They had a trusted friend and Order member Mary MacDonald stay with you. I escorted the Potters home only to find the dark mark in the air above the cottage. Both Mary and baby Harry were dead." Harry had to shake himself. It is hard to have to imagine your own murder. He could now imagine how his parent must have felt. "After that Voldemort gained more power and more followers. It took a few years, but the order also gained strength and numbers. We became a strong match for him and his death eaters but we could never seem to gain enough to stop them completely. It has been thirteen years and we are no closer to stopping him now than we were that horrific night." Dumbledore took a breath and waited for the new information to sink in. Hermione, who had been quiet up to this point, raised her hand to speak. With a small chuckle Dumbledore motioned for her to speak. "Professor, I am not sure about my counterpart here, but I am always researching something. After the events of last year and hearing the story in more detail, something did not sit well with me. I started to do some research about how a wizard could be hit with the killing curse and not die. We know Harry was protected by Lily's sacrifice but what about Voldemort. So after going through almost all the books in the library, restricted section included, I came across one book that only briefly mentioned that there is a way to rip the soul and hide it so that if the body dies the soul will live on. Which, is basically how we have come across him, no body of his own just a soul. He was trying to get his body back. Professor, we need to find out more on Horcruxes." Dumbledore gave a visible start at that. That actually makes sense he thought. Why did he not think about that before? "Miss Granger, that is very good research and gives us a good direction to look in." He turned to James "Does Sirius still have access to the library at Grimmauld Place?" "Yes, even though he hates that place, he could not give it up when his parents died." I am going to call an Order meeting next week to address this. Let Sirius know to look for any information regarding Horcruxes." James gives a nod. "Now, I think it best if everyone's goes home and get settled in. I am sure there is going to be a lot of adjusting that needs to happen. I will keep you informed about the meeting next week. By then I hope to have a plan to introduce both of you back into society without raising too much suspicion." At this they all stood and went to go home. Home, now that was a thought for Harry. He had never really had a home to go to outside of Hogwarts. He had lived in houses but never had a home. For the first time that he could remember, he could not wait to get home. With his parents by his side he felt safe. He gave Hermione a huge hug, he hoped that he would get to see her soon. The Grangers and the Potters exchanged phone numbers, promised to call soon, and they all went home.
Authors note: Another chapter done. How does everyone feel about the long chapters? I know I enjoy them when I read but I am not sure about the majority of readers. I am trying to get chapters out as fast as I can when inspiration strikes. Please leave your reviews I would love to hear your thoughts.