Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character, story element or plot item originally published in the Harry Potter books or movies that I may refer to in this story. I'm merely playing in the sandbox.

Author's note: Welcome back, dear reader, to another of my random ideas that I don't know what else to do with.

I apologize for my absence, there have been many things going on in my life at this time. Even now, I'm trying to rebuild my strength from my last treatment. I, as a result of an incident in a minor surgical procedure, am now a dialysis patient again. This takes a great amount of time from my week, so writing unfortunately has to take a back burner.

I am working on a new project. I was working on A Mind Occupied and had a nagging idea for a story thanks to another work, though I'll have to look for it. I may describe it in the author's notes when I finish it and see if someone can help me give credit for a portion of the story, where harry begins to sort and work through items in the Room of Requirements. I know I touched on that as a passing thing in Forging a New Name, but the idea of processing the room and actually getting involved int the work as a project was inspired by a project by Harry and Ron in another story. I am drawing a blank, though.

That's not why we're here today. With some minor edits, here is a piece from what I call my Quarry Journal, a place where I just free write daily as I can. This came together over a few days of pondering a particular idea.

"From the Ashes"

Author's note: Well, once again readers, I come with a bit of background or lore or something, I'mm not even sure this time. I am kind of cleaning the closet, as it were.

While I work, I listen to pod casts. This is easy during some of my job, where I'm researching an issue or handing out the tickets as they are assigned to our department. Sitting in an empty building as I do, the voices on the podcast are usually a nice break from things.

Usually.

This story stems from one that wasn't so nice. A young lady recounted a very harrowing tale of her abusive father and what amounted to imprisonment in her home for something she didn't do: specifically, the spilling of a cup of juice on a chair. My response was less than mature. I suggested, to the computer, of course as there was no one there to make the suggestion to, to burn the offending chair down in the front yard. Like many of my stories, the random comment or idea sprung forth and became a thing. Now, I must get the text out of my head so I can focus on other items. So, here is "From the Ashes."

The small boy sat in the room, and she watched. He couldn't be who they claim. He was only four or five, surely. As he looked up, emerald eyes set in pale sockets, she sighed. "This is going to be a disaster." Cursing the old man she couldn't get to leave his ivory tower, she exhaled once, opened the door and stepped inside.

"Mr. Potter?"

The smell of soot was in the room and she wrinkled her nose. The boy barely responded. "I didn't mean to."

She stepped forward and took the chair on the other side of the interrogation table. Didn't they have anywhere else to sit him? He looks like he's miserable and probably thinks we're going to throw him in jail or something.

She watched as he adjusted the blanket around him. Hi s messy hair hung limp from the water that he'd been soaked with as they attempted to combat the fire he'd been in. "I know." She kept her voice soft.

"I am Madame Bones. I'm…a police investigator. Why don't you tell me what happened?"

"Dudley had a cup of juice and was holding it out of reach from me, daring me to take it from him." He whispered. "We were in the living room and I was sweeping the shelves, doing chores."

She nodded, taking notes with a pad and pencil. She'd seen the remains of the room and heard what some of the neighbors had been saying. "You do a lot of chores?"

The boy's hung head low, and he murmured another yes. "I have to pay my way."

Bones took a deep breath as she looked at the child. "So, your cousin was taunting you." Harry nodded and she waited. "Then what happened?"

"He took a swing at me, I dodged, then bumped into him with the duster. He sneezed, then dumped some of the juice on the chair. He glared at me, then dumped the rest of the glass on the chair and told Aunt Petunia that I had done it." He took a breath, momentum seeming to vanish. Finally, he spoke again. "She hit me with a frying pan, then locked me in my cupboard."

"You mean room."

"Yeah, the cupboard under the stairs."

Bones closed her eyes for a moment, pencil falling still. She vaguely remembered the report that there had been a mattress in the cupboard, remains only visible through some forensic analysis that had been done. It had been the source of the event, so the cupboard had been scrutinized pretty hard.

"So, you were in your…. cupboard."

He shook his head. "I can't. I didn't do it."

"Just tell me what you saw. It'll help."

"It's…it's not real, though." The boy pulled the blanket closer around him.

She nodded. 'Try me."

"Fine." She was surprised that he was defiant here. "My hands glowed. Then…the door blew open for a second and there was this flash of light…. then the door slammed shut."

She nodded slowly. "Are you hungry? The doctor said you hadn't eaten in a while."

He nodded. She pulled a thermos bottle from her bag and poured out a bowl of soup. He took an offered spoon, not looking up, then made a slight face. She smiled, having done this deliberately. "Is it cold?"

"It's okay."

"Look at me." She pulled out her wand and waved it over it, whispering an incantation. The soup began to steam, and his eyes grew wide. "Magic is real, Harry Potter. I'm sad and proud that I am the one telling you this." She shook her head. "James and Lily were good people and I wish you'd grown up knowing this."

He stared in shock. "But…. they said…."

"I know. I don't know why they lied to you. Your Aunt should have known because of your mother, but she lied to you. There're no records that she was made to forget so I don't know that the story was there." She felt bad lying. She was certain that it was some kind of repression or control. She'd seen it before. Too many times before.

"So, we can heat things up?"

She laughed slightly at the innocent question, then conjured a cup of tea. It wasn't real, of course, but it was something for him to see. She sipped at the black tea, exhaling softly. "Magic can do many things; some people can do even more powerful spells than I just showed you."

"Did I kill them then?"

"Accidental magic happens when you are defending yourself sometimes or highly stressed, so I would say no. Since I am one of the lead investigators in this case, I can safely say that you are in the clear. You wouldn't have locked yourself back in the cupboard, so something happened." She suspected it was the strange wards that were detected there, the residue clung to him, but couldn't be identified yet. More of Dumbledore's meddling.

"Do I need a stick to do magic? How did…how did what happened…happen?"

"Most of the time you need one. Some wizards and witches can do things without. You might be one of those. We'll just have to see.

"Bones," a voice came through the cracked door. "Come here for a moment."

She stood. "I'll be back. Eat the soup."

As she stepped outside, she faced one of the guards from the Ministry entrance. His name was escaping her at the moment, but she didn't get a chance to ask. "Something's come up and you need to come see this."

"Unless this is related to the case…."

"James Potter just walked through the entrance, demanding to see his son." The guard gestured to the door behind her, and she fell still.

"Are you…. this isn't some prank."

"He passed the scans and we're waiting on seeing if it's Polyjuice, but….it seems to be real."

"But James is dead. I was at the funeral."

"He's alive now."

She glanced over her shoulder and sighed. "What next? Merlin rising?"

Author's Note: I believe at this point t's easy to assume that this scene ties to the one in "Thoughtful Wanderings" about James Potter rising from the grave. Let's set the timeline to him being about six or seven, then reexamine how old he looks to Bones in this scene. There will need to be a scene where James confronts Albus and where Sirius gets a trial, but with James Potter as star witness. This will lead to a Potter-Black Alliance and somehow bring Pettegrew to light, but not justice. I think that he'll need to escape, but not be caught from Percy.

The story could cut ahead to Harry's first year where he's more confident and loyal due to a lasting friendship with Susan and Neville. I want to revisit this, but I need to finish the projects that are already on my plate. And school, of course. The doctorate that was removed from this fell apart; I just couldn't stand the class requirements. I didn't enjoy it. Since it wasn't required and really wouldn't benefit me in my career field, enjoyment was an important part of the equation. I left that program and am currently pursuing a different bachelor's degree study. This one is something I enjoy, when I can get the work done.

Once again, I hope you enjoy and have a lovely day. I will try to write more soon.