Chapter 48: Shed Skin - Summer 1995

Sirius, Remus, Petunia, and Dobby all celebrated Harry and Dudley's return from school with a big cake and party decorations. It was both charming and a bit overwhelming.

Then, there was a moment where something clicked for Harry. This is my home.

Harry gave several entirely-too-long hugs while candles (Candles? For a welcome-home cake?) dripped wax onto fluffy pink frosting.

Harry settled into Number 12 Grimmauld Place with fresh enthusiasm.

Shortly after finding his way back to the room he stayed in the previous summer, he remembered a conversation with Sirius from almost a year earlier. Harry had planned to move into a specific bedroom, one with the view of the street and just above the front door.

Sirius took Harry on a tour of the house to pick out a different bedroom. While it was technically unnecessary given that Harry had owned the house for several years in the other timeline, Sirius' pitch for a room with a window facing the back garden area was effective. "This might be more relaxing for you, Harry. That other room you liked feels like King's Cross to both inside and outside this house."

"I suppose we have six residents again now, with Dudley living here for most of the summer." Harry was thoughtful. "I'll take this one."

Harry didn't hate having his cousin around. The pair Floo'd to visit the Burrow frequently where they, Luna, Ginny, and Ron would play soccer and other non-magical games. Dudley was quite good at many of them, but could still be a sore loser. Luna was terrible at all of them, but appeared to enjoy herself. Harry focused much more on the latter.

Harry had learned months ago that Acturus had arranged a sort of trust for Dobby upon the wizard's death. Sirius was the administrator since elves couldn't legally inherit or do business. The pair worked on a project together, though Dobby made the biggest decisions.

That summer, Dobby told Harry that he decided to create a non-profit free elf employment agency. Acturus had suggested that Dobby become the managing director or CEO of whatever venture he started, but Dobby was firm that he didn't want any elf, himself included, to profit excessively off of other elves.

Harry's thoughts on that eventually led him to compare how Acturus and Dumbledore each treated Harry as they passed.

While neither wizard was technically Harry's grandfather, Dumbledore used the facade of it while attempting to win a war. Whereas Acturus used his grandfatherliness to help Harry, Dobby, and his actual grandson, Sirius.

Both old wizards might have been trying to make up for mistakes in their past, yet Dumbledore would have continued to manipulate Harry from beyond the grave. It was clear in how Acturus talked to Harry a year ago that he surrendered all control to the living, to heed or ignore his advice. He also communicated in a straightforward manner, which Harry valued highly.

Harry put his gifts from Acturus on a shelf and tucked away his letter from Dumbledore in a hard-to-reach cupboard.

In many ways, Harry could feel himself moving forward. In his growing sense of peace and happiness, he wanted the people around him to move forward as well.

At Harry's insistence, Sirius started looking into higher education programs. "If your breaks don't perfectly align with the Hogwarts schedule, Petunia should still be around to look after me. And I'll only be there for three more years. I want you to live your life, Sirius."

"Okay, but I also want to hear about what you plan to do after Hogwarts, Mr. Live-Your-Life."

Luna had already offered Harry a job: "Luna wants me to be her magical creature research assistant. She's brilliant, and I'd love to see the world."

Well, Luna had actually said that she 'might find herself in need a sword'. But, Harry took the hint.

Sirius considered this. "I can see that for you, actually."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione met up many times that summer.

Ron wanted to go to the cinema, but Harry rejected the most popular movie showing at the time based on solely on the title character: "batman".

The trio saw some other, less memorable film. The redhead was amazed by the experience anyway.

They rehashed the film over fish and chips. Predictably, Ron was the most animated and argumentative in their spirited discussion.

Hermione told Ron, "You've gotten quite a bit better at sharing your opinions over the last few years. I'm proud of you, actually."

Ron bit his lip. "I needed a bit of a, well, confidence boost. Not just with you guys, but with my family and other friends. I'm… content."

Harry said, "I'm more content, too. Ron, I'm glad you brought up the idea of no longer adventuring together. I… had the sense we were done, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why."

Hermione nodded fervently. "It was so clear to me, once you pointed it out. Our work has been, well, work. Our friendship suffered when we only talked about our plots and couldn't speak openly."

Ron looked sheepish. "I, er, started to resent you two a little. I also value your feelings more than the results. Thankfully, things worked out for the most part."

A question occurred to Harry. By this point, he mostly succeeded at ignoring the irritation of still not being able to openly talk about the other timeline. But he still wanted to know: "Do you think that… our first big adventure also had harmed our friendship?"

Ron said immediately, "Yes."

"Undoubtedly. While it was a thrilling fight against evil, everything felt so intense."

"When we argued, it felt like the world would end. We didn't have enough outside of each other."

Harry agreed with that. When Ron left their horcrux hunt, Harry felt like a part of him died that even Ron's eventual return didn't quite fix. Yet, Harry felt whole now.

Hermione said, "I used to think that our first adventure taught me about friendship. But I had so, so much to learn. I think I'm a much better friend now than three years ago."

Ron said, "Yeah, I'm much better at making time for us, but also letting you have your own interests and friends."

"Same."

The trio sat in contented silence for a few moments.

Ron fidgeted a bit, then said, "I don't think that I'm going to work for the Ministry. I'm going to be a journalist, unless something else catches my fancy of course. Learning new things, being a strategist, and inventing my own spell were all great. But, I think our society needs more reporters, to really make it better."

"That's wonderful, Ron. I'm looking into the aurors myself. I love reading and knowing, but need action too. But who knows; I still have some time to decide. We're only fifth years." Hermione gave a wide smile.

Looking back on the other timeline, Harry wasn't sure why all three of the trio had ended up working for the Ministry when their whole fifth year of school had been such a biting and unresolved critique of the institution.

Harry changed topics slightly. "Do either of you think it's weird that I feel… a sense of victory that I didn't before?"

"I think that makes perfect sense."

"I feel it, too."

The trio finished up their conversation and moved to leave.

"Oh, before you go." Harry offered Hermione the notice-me-not scarf that Time had gifted him at the very beginning of this adventure. "I don't need to hide so much, anymore. And, it isn't quite what Ron 'think first' Weasley needs either."

Harry winked at Ron, who gave a wry smile back.

As Hermione took the scarf from him hesitantly, Harry said, "Maybe you'll find a use for it in your next adventure, Hermione."

"Well then you simply must take this." Hermione handed him her ring from Time. "I don't think I'll ever use it again. I only checked that Voldemort was gone with it, which seems like a waste. But, you might like it as a memento that you can take with you wherever you go. Off to the jungles or wherever with Luna, as a reminder that this all was real."

Harry took the ring gladly and hugged his friends goodbye. "See you on the train back to school."

Later, Harry finally put words to a few things that had been bugging him about the previous story, the one that they had rewritten with their time-travel.

As he'd alluded to with his friends, the war in the previous timeline had steep costs. The death and destruction had made a declaration of victory at the end of the war ring hollow.

Additionally, after the Battle of Hogwarts, he was hounded by reporters to share what was next, where he imagined himself in twenty years. But Harry hadn't immediately been ready to imagine his whole future, not when so many others' futures were prematurely cut short.

It was obvious to Harry now that winning a war didn't teach him to fight for himself. Learning how to make sacrifices didn't teach him how to build a life with what was left. And, merely having close friends didn't teach him how to be a good friend.

This adventure into the past taught him those things, and he was incredibly grateful.

In the calmer moments of Harry's summer, he wondered what Lily was doing.

He imagined her sitting on that beach wearing a floppy sun hat, maybe reading a novel with a frosty drink in hand.

Harry hoped that she made choices that brought her back to him. Lily-as-Snape had been cordial with him at school when they were around others since Voldemort's defeat, and that simply wasn't enough.

Yes, Harry knew that the Slytherins especially had started to watch their softened head of house with distrustful eyes. However, that wasn't Harry's problem. Lily could value other people's opinions of her more than her relationship with Harry, but he didn't have to accept that. He deserved to be treated well.

Furthermore, Harry wanted more than just positive interactions with Lily: he wanted a meaningful connection. That may not be possible unless Lily really worked on herself and found a way to live more genuinely.

Not only was openness something Harry valued highly on its own merits, but also Harry had intense secrecy fatigue. He didn't want to keep any more layers of complexity in his life than he could justify.

It was also true that Harry couldn't properly forgive Lily when he didn't feel like he knew who she was. She didn't even seem to know herself either. That elicited more pity from Harry than anger or frustration, though he felt all those things.

In mid-July, Harry saw a report in the Daily Prophet detailing Hogwarts Professor Severus Snape's tragic demise in France.

Maybe he was too optimistic, but Harry took that as a good sign: his mother was finally shedding that identity, letting that ghost rest.

Harry got a note a few days later:

Harry,

Would you mind if a certain statue in our hometown was forcibly removed? It perpetuates a long-standing lie that, while inadvisable to publicly correct, is frustrating to me personally.

-Sand and Sea

He smiled as he read the signature, which he was sure was another alias for Lily.

Once he learned of his mother's continued survival, Harry didn't care for the statue of baby Harry and his two adoring parents. Sev was more important than any of the three, yet not shown. He had given up his life and identity for a shot at ending the war and saving both his friend and her son.

Harry disliked the statue for neglecting Sev. But the more he thought about it, Harry actually never quite liked the memorial.

What is this statue even saying? Even if Voldemort's defeat in 1981 were a story of a mother's love for her son, their family wasn't particularly special just because they loved each other. And, they had put some of their affection in the wrong person: Peter Pettigrew, who had betrayed them.

Monuments like this could be places for people to process their grief regardless of the depiction. Still, Harry thought this was an especially poor focal point. It didn't facilitate any sort of accurate understanding of the war: it's causes, consequences, or the true battles. The war was about more than how it ended.

In 1995, the statue was no longer especially relevant, either. The war had seemingly ceased in the public's eye fourteen years earlier. The scars were still present, like the loss of life and the harmful ideology that still persisted against muggleborns. However, Harry knew that further care should take different forms than a statue of the Potter family.

Most important of all, Harry thought that Lily could choose herself and her own needs over the public's as she worked through her challenges.

He owled back his agreement.

A day later, the Prophet reported on the destruction of the Potter's memorial statue in Godric's Hollow. Two vandals had been heard laughing by a neighbor but made a hasty and untraceable exit.

They left a message: "Stick to an obelisk next time."

Because of the laughter and note, the reporter said that they were probably mischief-makers and not former Death Eaters. Harry noted that both descriptors were accurate.

That same day, a grumpy owl delivered a chunk of grey stone that was smooth on one side and jagged on all the rest. The accompanying scrap of parchment had a single word written on it: "Boom." Harry thought that the handwriting looked like Professor Wicket's.

Harry was disappointed when he hadn't heard anything more from his mother by the end of the summer. However, he hadn't given her a deadline, nor would he.

The train ride back to school went by quickly, with many people shuffling around in various compartments to talk about their summers.

Ron and Hermione both had shiny new prefect badges. Harry was happy for his friends and not the least bit jealous. Harry didn't want the expectations.

At the Welcome Feast, Harry scanned the head table briefly. Less pink than last time. Harry was so, so very grateful that the trio's fifth year of Hogwarts was shaping up to be completely different than what they experienced in the other timeline.

Headmistress McGonagall gave the expected start-of term address. "We were all saddened to hear of the passing of our longtime Potions instructor, Professor Snape, over the summer." She paused gravely. "Professor Slughorn will continue the post until we can find a suitable replacement. In happier news, Transfiguration will be taught by our own Professor Wicket. Taking his place for Defense will be Professor Petrel."

There was something about the new professor's nose, which was delicate and decorated by a silver ringlet. Or maybe there was something about the short, red-orange hair.

Harry watched as Petrel leaned over to Professor Wicket and said excitedly, "I've always wanted to teach Defense."

Petrel's gaze traced over all of the students, but lingered on Harry for the barest moment.

Slowly, Harry smiled.

A/N: And that's a wrap on this story! I thought that a parallel to the very first time we meet Snape in canon book 1 (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) would be a fitting place to end.

While Harry and Lily's relationship isn't completely resolved, they have the skills, attitudes, and support they need to work it out. In my mind, writing only a little more would cheapen the effort needed, whereas writing a lot more would change the feel of the work and require a new story structure.

I hope that you found this series interesting and enjoyable to read. This is the most ambitious thing I've ever written, and I'm proud of it despite its imperfections.

Thanks for reading! Your likes and reviews have been much appreciated and lovely 3