Lily and James Potter

Harry:

Harry found Rosalie, Draco, and all the Weasleys sitting in a group the next morning. "Hey," he said, by way of greeting. "Ready to sit our exams today?" He was met with a chorus of groans.

"We're debating leaving now," Fred sighed. "I don't think we can last another two weeks."

"Week and a half," Rosalie corrected, peering over the top of a charms textbook.

"Two weeks," George grumbled, folding his arms, and slumping forward on the table. "We've got a shop waiting for us in Diagon Alley."

"You have?" Harry and Ron asked at the same time.

"I noticed," Draco said. "Do be careful. My aunt tried to blow out your windows and couldn't, so I wouldn't be surprised if she tries to return and do something."

"Speaking of your aunt," Rosalie said, "We have new baby mice. So we can move the horcrux later today."

Harry looked between everyone's faces. Ron… Ginny… Fred… George… "To be honest, Rosalie," he said. "I don't think any of us has time. Unless you're planning on skivving off your Transfiguration and Charms exams after not going the whole year."

"Not the whole year. I've only been here since February."

Someone sat across the table from him, rustling the silverware. A lovely lady with shorter hair dyed darker at the roots. She was also an adult. Easily forty. Harry stared at her confusedly as she smiled and straightened her robes. "Good morning. Let's see… scar like a lightning bolt… you must be Harry. Red hair, all four of you, the twins, Ron, and…" the woman snapped her fingers. "I'm sorry. I know you're Ron's little sister."

"Ginny," Ginny said. "Who are you?"

"Everyone, this is my mum," Hermione said, sitting down beside Harry and scaring him. Draco, who had been in the unfortunate position of taking a drink of orange juice, snorted it all up his nose and scrambled to grab a napkin off the table.

"Your mum!" Harry repeated. "How's she here?"

"My dad's also here. We got them through the wards last night," Hermione explained as a man going bald sat next to Hermione's mother.

"You can call me Emma," Hermione's mom said. "Until next year, at least. Then you can call me Professor Granger."

"Professor Granger?" Fred repeated, looking extremely intimidated.

"I have seen the future," George said hoarsely. "And it is pale and bleak."

Hermione scoffed. "Don't mind them, mum. They're leaving this year anyway."

"Maybe this week, if they can't stick it out," Ron said.

Harry wasn't sure what to do. He'd been expecting a nice, quiet, somewhat stressful morning before he went to sit his defence exam with Professor Dumbledore. Now, Hermione was sitting beside him and her parents were sitting across from him and he had to somehow play it cool even though he hadn't yet brushed his hair or teeth.

Hermione's dad did the same thing his wife had done, rehearsing the names of everyone he could remember from Hermione's stories and smiled when he got to Harry. "Ah, yes, glasses and black hair. You must be Harry! I'm Dan." And he stuck his hand across the table.

Harry shook his hand and hoped his palm wasn't too sweaty. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Granger."

"One more time," Dan said. "My name is Dan. You can call me Professor Granger next year in class."

"Which class?" Ron asked. "Muggle Studies?"

"Oh, we'll do a couple," Emma said. "Rosalie's apparently written out the curriculum for a few half-year classes."

"Half year classes?" Ron asked. "What's that?"

"Sound it out, Ron," Hermione said.

Ron scowled at her, but Rosalie burst into giggles. She thought the joke was great. "In the Muggle World, there are half year and full year classes," she said. "Everything at Hogwarts is full year. But starting next year, we're going to have some mandatory half-year courses. Geography, for one."

"Really!" Draco looked quite excited. "And you'll learn about different places in the world?"

"And how to get to them, and how far apart they are," Rosalie said. "I think it'll broaden horizons for a lot of students. And then we'll have to have classes on Muggle technology so that Pureblood students can learn about cell phones and such…"

"I've just begun learning," Ginny said. "The music is so strange and wonderful!"

"My favourite part of the Muggle world," Rosalie said. "And then a health class and a business class will be offered as well. Geography will be required for the seventh years and technology for the first… not sure about the placing of the others."

Harry wasn't sure how he felt about a mandatory geography class, but acknowledged that it really could open up the eyes of people like Malfoy, who'd never seen a beach and had no concept of temperature outside of "summer hot, winter cold." So he shrugged and nodded and gave Mr. and Mrs. Granger a closer look across the table. They were examining the food options and gazing around the hall in general awe. And they both had robes on, but sans crests. Were they some of Hermione's?

"Ready for exams, Hermione?" Rosalie asked. The four Weasleys sighed and hung their heads. Harry felt similarly, but his mouth was full when the joint sigh happened.

"I think so," Hermione said. "It's been a busy year, but after third year… I can handle any workload." She waved a hand. "Gryffindors have Defence first?"

"Yeah. Then History of Magic. Then some of us have to go down to Care of Magical Creatures," Ron said.

"Pity that oaf Hagrid is still teaching," Draco scoffed.

"Oi!" Harry said, having swallowed his mouthful. "Hagrid's our friend! Where's your loyalty, mate?"

"Just because he's your friend doesn't make him my friend," Draco replied. "I'm also loyal to the idea of getting an education."

Beside Harry, Hermione was filling in her parents on why Draco had been singled out for loyalty. "Yes… the houses… exactly. I'm in what was the evil house… he used to be there… it's because I'm ambitious, yes."

"So, Muggles can come into Hogwarts, now?" Ginny asked. "That's quite impressive."

"I think it's great, personally," Rosalie said. "The material is so needed – we can learn so much faster with their equipment!"

"That's all you care about, right?" Hermione asked. Rosalie nodded enthusiastically. "Because I've thinking…" she spread her hands, fumbled for words, and put them back together again. "I don't think any of you will like this idea. But imagine if wizards didn't have to live in obscurity!"

There was a general silence. Every single person – even her own parents – were looking at Hermione like she was crazy.

"You've lost me," Ron said. "You mean… open up the magical world to Muggles?"

"Well, it could mean a lot of things," Hermione said. "What if… parents could come look at Hogwarts before their kids start? And… Fred and George could sell their products to anyone in the whole world?"

"You want us to sell our products to the world?" George asked.

"Watch out, mate," Fred said. "She's a Slytherin now. She's only saying that to get us on her side."

Harry thought this was hilarious and began to choke in an effort to hide his laughter. Hermione looked very put-out. "It's just a pipe dream right now," she said, then touched Harry's forearm. "What do you think?"

"Oh don't ask Potter," Draco said. "He's a biased party. He'll say anything to make sure you keep liking him."

Harry wrinkled his nose at Draco. "I'm a Gryffindor," he said. "The Gryffindor, actually. I'll say what's on my mind." He turned to Hermione. "It's… ambitious. Surprise, surprise. I think you need to flesh out the idea a little more before we can call it a winner or not." And truth be told, he thought it would do wonders for helping purebloods get over their bigotry.

Everyone thought on this for a moment. Dan looked particularly excited about the summation Harry had given. "This is great!" he said. "Yes, good response. Very good. Oh… your ears…"

"Are they glowing?" Harry asked, feeling his cheeks go red.

"Yes… red," Dan said, tilting his head.

"It's only because he's done a brave thing," Hermione said. "Hang on… are mine green?" She lifted her hair up and yes, her ears were green.

"Harry, Hermione, Draco and I are house representatives," Rosalie said. "And we all light up our house colours when we're displaying the qualities of our houses. Rowena and I have talked and it's a way for people to recognise us as being Heads-in-Training." And as she said this, a blue light began emitting from her ears as well. Everyone turned to look at Draco, and his were a quiet yellow as he thought.

"How come you're yellow?" Fred asked. "You haven't said anything!"

Draco covered his ears. "You don't know what I'm thinking," he snapped, scowling. Then, after another pause, he said, "I think your idea has merit, Hermione. I mean, I agree it needs work. But it could be good."

Ron's fork fell out of his hand. "Malfoy's been possessed," he announced. "You're kidding, right? Muggles would want us to solve all sorts of problems!"

"I used to think that too," Draco said, turning a little red now even as the yellow continued to grow. "But… they function just fine on their own, actually. And they've done things wizards can't. Did you know that Muggles have walked on the moon?"

"If you weren't dating Rosalie, I'd think you wanted to marry a Muggle," Fred said. "You both were the first purebloods to get phones."

"Yes, because they're handy!" Draco said. "And I wouldn't marry a Muggle! That's a bit too far, don't you think?"

He rolled his eyes in exasperation and took Rosalie's hand on the table. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Why is it too far?" She asked.

"Okay!" Harry got up quickly. "I'm going to go get ready for the day before anyone starts a fistfight. See you in Care of Magical Creatures Ron and Hermione. Also, you look beautiful today." He kissed her cheek.

"Thanks, Harry," Hermione said.

"Yes, thanks, Harry," Ron said sarcastically.

Harry sprinted back up to Gryffindor Tower and ran into Neville on the way down, who frantically asked what time it was. "Er, uh…" Harry juggled his phone out. "Only eight-ten!"

"I stayed up late practicing potions," Neville said. "With Malfoy's help at the beginning of the year, I might actually pull a decent grade on Snape's final! I'm glad I'm not helping with that snake, though…"

Harry shuddered. The basilisk had begun to be dismembered a week ago and the sixth and seventh years had been tasked with harvesting different parts as part of their final. As Salazar had said, the entire thing was kept so cold that almost nothing had rotted away. Most of them were enjoying the process, actually, and were allowed to sell some bits that they harvested. But Harry would be happy to never see the snake again.

Harry brushed his teeth and gathered up as much loose parchment as he could and three ballpoint pens and one quill and bottle of ink. Then he cleaned his wand carefully and sprinted to Defence.

Dumbledore had prepared a half-foot of parchment for each to complete a written portion on what spells were most effective in a life or death situation. Then, students would complete a practical by dueling a practice dummy in a spare room. Harry, having had actual battle experience, found this to be quite easy. Ron did too, because he'd done training with Harry in the DA. In fact, many DA students breezed through the exam, handing in their parchments and then going through to finish the dummy before other students had decided what they were going to write down.

"Mr. Potter, outstanding," Dumbledore said as Harry left the classroom.

Harry paused. "My performance, or my grade?" he asked.

"Yes," Dumbledore said. Then he chuckled. "Ms. Spinks taught me that. Yes. I have something for you."

"Yes, Professor?" Harry asked, heaving his bookbag onto his back.

Dumbledore held out a large bottle with a cork in it. It looked like a large bottle of alcohol and Harry hesitated to take it. "What… is that?" he asked.

"It's from the Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore said. "Arthur Weasley brought it to our meeting last night. It is a mixture of ethanol, a bezoar, unicorn blood and ashwinder egg. The Ministry uses this to remove many curses from many different items. You simply soak the cursed item in it for twenty minutes or more and test it out. Do not drink it."

Harry took the bottle. "Will it kill me?"

"It will make you want to be killed," Dumbledore replied. "Most alcohol does, but this is no longer to be used for entertainment under any circumstance. You would be better off drinking gasoline from the Muggle World. Do not let the Weasley twins have it."

This was a true danger. Harry nodded. "Thank you, Professor," he said and turned to take his leave. He supposed the two things he needed to try this mixture on first were the diadem and the ring. Hermione and Rosalie would be excited about the Diadem. Maybe Rosalie could use it to pass her Transfiguration exam… no, that wasn't fair. She turned in all the assignments. She should know how to cast the spells just fine.

Since he'd finished his defence exam so early, he headed up to the Gryffindor common room and then to his dorm. He dug around in his trunk until he came up with an old shoe and transfigured this into a bowl large enough to fit the diadem into.

Down in the founder's room, he used oven mitts to move the diadem and the ring into the bowl. Then he uncorked the bottle. It smelled like gasoline and rotten eggs. He wrinkled his nose and began to pour it over the diadem and ring. The ring, when the first drops hit it, let off green smoke with a poof. The diadem, when the mixture began lapping at its side, let off a burnt orange smoke. Very interesting. He was glad no one had put on that ring or been hurt by the diadem.

He had to dash to take his History of Magic exam then. It was a long, boring, stuffy two hours of writing and trying to remember various points of history. Harry pondered multiple choice exams and whether they'd make this class any easier, and then headed down to Care of Magical Creatures with Hermione and Ron. This was a lot more enjoyable. Ron was lightening back up and was fun to laugh with again.

After a short break for a very late lunch, Hermione and Draco had to head to Arithmancy to sit that exam and Harry could finally head back to the Founder's room to check the diadem and the ring.

"Moment of truth," Harry thought. "Is Rosalie going to her Transfiguration Exam?"

When he opened the door, the room was empty. The mixture in his section of the room had not been touched. Harry approached it.

Wouldn't it be awful, he thought, if both had completely dissolved into the mixture? He poked a finger into it and found it to be freezing. But he reached in and found the end of the diadem. Then, he hesitated and put it back. He had nowhere to dry this thing off.

The fingers he dipped into the potion were frozen stiff by the time he got the bowl up to his dorm bathroom. It probably wasn't a good idea to go around touching strange mixtures, right? He poured as much of the mixture as he could back into the large bottle, hoping that this wouldn't ruin it. Then he rinsed the diadem and the ring off in the sink and dried them with a towel. He made sure to wash his hands really well before he left.

On his bed, he cast the three spells he knew to see if an object was cursed, but nothing seemed to happen. Equally dangerous as the chance the curse still existed was the possibility that the diadem wouldn't work anymore. Rosalie and Hermione would kill each other trying to decide who should kill him. After this occurred to him, he decided it was time to pick it up.

He put the diadem on his head and paused. It suddenly occurred to him that he had mixed up the years of the various goblin uprisings on his exam. He turned his thoughts to Hermione's idea from that morning and suddenly had the thought, gee, Rosalie's new and improved Muggle Studies class could be the basis for that transition! To allow young Purebloods to see Muggles as ingenious and begin to undo the racism that they held onto!

And when Harry removed the diadem, he was fine. Not burned in the slightest.

He put the ring on. It was a decent ring. The stone was cut in a very nice way. The resurrection stone, Dumbledore had called it, though he had not explained much about it. Apparently, it was part of a trio with Harry's invisibility cloak.

The ring was much too big for him, so Harry removed it and held it in his hand. He took the diadem and his wand and began to head back down the stairs. Even though the diadem was not cursed anymore, Hermione and Rosalie would be sorely disappointed if someone nicked it because he'd left it lying around.

He opened and shut Godric's door, and found himself subconsciously turning the stone over in his hand as he walked through Godric's room and down to Hermione's area, to put the diadem on her workstation. He hoped he'd be able to see her discover it and explain to her that it was safe now – she'd be thrilled.

Then Harry turned around and almost leaped out of his skin. There were two people in the room with him who had not been there before. His heart hammered in his chest and his throat constricted to the point he realised he needed oxygen and had to force a ragged breath. And this normal startled reaction was made worse by the fact that he recognised the people. For he had seen them in photographs, in memories, and in the Mirror or Erised.

His parents, Lily and James Potter, were in the room, watching him.

They were neither ghost nor truly flesh, he could see that and knew it from being around the founders four so often. The resembled most closely the Riddle that had escaped the diary so long ago, and he had been memory made nearly solid. Less substantial than living bodies, but much more than ghosts, they moved toward him, and on their faces, there was the same loving smile.

Harry was so overcome that he could not return it.

James was exactly the same height as Harry. He was wearing Muggle-type clothes – a blue long-sleeved shirt and jeans. The eternal staple. What had people worn before blue jeans existed? His hair was untidy and ruffled and his glasses were a little lopsided, like Mr. Weasley's sometimes were.

Lily had a wide smile. She pushed her long, red hair back as she drew close to him, and her green eyes, so like his, searched his face hungrily, as though she would never be able to look at him enough.

"You've been so brave," she said.

He could not speak. His eyes feasted on her, and he thought that he would like to stand and look at her forever, and that would be enough.

"How are you here?" he finally asked.

"The stone," Lily said softly. "It can bring people back in the world of the living. But you cannot touch us, and no one else can see us."

Harry was breathing very heavily and looked down at his wand in his hand. He summoned a chair nearby and had a seat as he caught his breath. The stone was warm in his hand. "I… I didn't know it would do this," he said. "But it's really you?"

"Yes," Lily said. James was approaching to stand behind her.

"And we're proud of you," James said. "We're proud of who you've become."

Harry stared at them both. "I didn't want you to die," he whispered. "I'm so, so sorry you died… so I could live."

"It was a decision we made together," Lily said. "Harry, we loved you more than you can imagine. We still love you. And if you ever have children, then you'll know. We love you."

James reached forward and stretched his fingers to Harry's forehead. Reaching for the scar. But his fingers stopped short of touching Harry's skin and he just traced the mark from a distance and withdrew. "You look so much like me," he said.

"My eyes," Lily said softly, leaning her head on James's shoulder.

There were so many things he wanted to ask. So many things he wanted to say. It took all his focus to make his lips move. "Did it hurt?" he asked, childishly.

James shook his head. "Quicker than falling asleep," he whispered. "And your mother… knowing of that prophecy… she put everything she had into protecting you."

"Prophecy?" Harry repeated. "You knew… I was… what, a perfect Gryffindor?"

"No, Harry," Lily said. "Darling, there was a prophecy made about a baby born in July who would have the power to defeat the Dark Lord. One whose parents had defied him three times. And your father and I and Alice and Frank Longbottom were the two options. We went into hiding because of that prophecy. Unfortunately, Voldemort heard a portion of it. A very small portion. And he came after us."

"He chose the half-blood," James said, thoughtfully. "Not the Pureblood. Maybe because of what he himself is."

"That prophecy in the Department of Mysteries," Harry said suddenly. "The one he was obsessed with for months? That Trelawney gave? It's got me in it too?"

"Yes, Harry," Lily said. "The prophecy said that the Dark Lord would mark you as his equal. And you would have power that the Dark Lord knows not."

"Professor Dumbledore is the person the prophecy was given to," James said. "But I think we've remembered all that was in it."

Harry put his hand to his scar. He hadn't realised it, but there was a dull throbbing behind the skin. Normal headache or horcrux pain, he couldn't tell.

"I'm sure you'll find a way to remove it soon," Lily said. "I was worried. But I think Hermione and Rosalie together have a real chance. Rosalie… she's become Hermione's library, hasn't she?"

"That's true," Harry laughed. Instead of running to the library, Hermione would now run to Rosalie and pull information out of her.

Lily and James continued to smile at him. "We're so proud of you, Harry. We always have been. And we always will be."

"Are you leaving now?" Harry asked.

James parted his lips and made a little sound, then sighed. "Keep the stone, Harry. But do not pull us out often. Maybe when you get married, or when you have our first grandchild. But don't dwell on the past. Don't be tempted and don't let us become an obsession. We're at peace, Harry. We want you to be at peace too." Then he looked at Lily, to make sure he hadn't spoken for her.

With one last look at his parents, Harry turned the stone over in his hand. And he watched them fade away. The tears were wet and hot on his face. There was an ache in his heart, but strangely, he felt filled up. Rejuvenated. And the ache was not from something missing, but from having a taste of something he had always wanted.

He sat in silence for a few minutes, knowing he had one more exam in the back of his head, but feeling as if nothing was important at the moment.

He sat there until the Ravenclaw door opened and Hermione and Rosalie came in, arm-in-arm, chatting about Rosalie's Transfiguration Exam, which she seemed mildly frustrated about. When they saw him, they paused.

"Harry," Hermione asked, "What happened?"

"Are you okay?" Rosalie asked.

Harry finally felt the urge to stay still and quiet leave and wiped his face off. "Yeah, I'm okay," he said, and put the ring into his pocket. "Just something extraordinary, that's all."

That night, Harry went to see Dumbledore in his office. He knocked and when Dumbledore said, "Enter", opened the door, walked in, shut it, and leaned against it. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, grading exams, but set a very heavy book over them so that Harry had no chance of seeing whose was whose.

"How can I help you, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry stood still as he found the words he wanted to use, and then said, "I would like a copy of the prophecy about me, please."

That was all he could muster. It had been a long day. But Dumbledore did not seem confused or surprised. "Of course," he said. "Would you like it on parchment, or would you like something you can put into a pensieve?"

The only pensieve Harry had used had been in Snape's office and he had no pensieve himself. So he swallowed and said, "parchment, please."

Dumbledore withdrew one of the half-foot pieces they'd used on their exam still blank and began to write it out. It took him about five minutes and Harry did not speak or move the entire time. He simply watched the quill glide over the parchment. Then, when it was done, he handed it to Harry.

The prophecy read,

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal. But he will have power the Dark Lord knows not. And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies."

Harry read it twice. "It's not got couplets," he said, softly. "Helga's prophecy had rhymes."

"Well, this prophecy was made this century," Dumbledore explained. "Our manner of speaking has changed. In the olden days, couplets in prophecies were seen as binding agreements. Nowadays… not so much. They're seen as annoying or unnecessary."

"It's more specific than Helga's as well," Harry said. "Hers is kinda… vague." He read the line "neither can live while the other survives."

"Well, I haven't seen your other prophecy," Dumbledore said softly. "But I wonder if it is more specific than you think. Ah, please don't put it in your pocket yet." Harry paused. Dumbledore gestured him forward, took his wand, and waved it at the parchment. "I have charmed this so that it cannot be taken out of the castle, Harry. And I would prefer you do not take it out of the founder's rooms. The Dark Lord has tried several times to hear the whole thing over the years. He has only heard the first part, and his paranoia led him to fulfil the second."

Harry nodded. "Thank you, sir," he said, and put the prophecy in his pocket and his hand on the door handle.

"Do you have any other questions for me, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"Do you have anything you want to tell me?" Harry asked.

When Dumbledore said nothing, Harry turned down the handle and said, "Good night, Professor."

The next chapter will be called Helga Hufflepuff's Visit.