Conversations with Ghosts
Saturday, 31 October 1998
Between one breath and the next, the trio appeared in Grimmauld Place’s entrance hall. The ghosts materialized a moment later.
“Wow,” Sirius said looking around, “I like what you’ve done with the place.”
“Why did we wait until after I died to get rid of that dumb ass troll leg?” Tonks asked.
“Listening to you trip over it and then wake up Mother dearest was one of my only sources of entertainment,” Sirius said with a cheeky grin.
“I hate you.”
“You married my boyfriend, get over it.”
“This isn’t happening right now,” Harry said while Neville tried to hold in a laugh.
“Huh,” Theo said.
“What?”
“I can see them when I’m touching you.”
“Odd,” Harry said, cocking his head, “do you think that has something to do with Death saying I’d absorbed the Hallows or whatever?”
“I don’t think you absorbed them, per se,” Neville said, cocking his head in an identical way to Harry, “they still exist. Their power is just intrinsic to being Master of Death, so you possess the powers of the Hallows.”
“Same difference,” Harry said with a wave of his hand, “it’s a benefit though, we have two ways for people to see them. Now,” he said, clapping his hands, “we need to find Andi and Cissa before I get yelled at.”
“Right,” Neville said, looking properly frightened of the prospect of two angry Black sisters, “let’s go.”
“Andi? Cissa?” Harry called as he approached the sitting room.
“In here,” Andromeda’s voice called back, “care to explain why Kreacher popped in holding Teddy and looking more mischievous than I’ve seen him look in, like, 25 years?”
“Good question,” Harry said, stepping into the sitting room with Neville, Theo, and several (currently) invisible ghosts, “right, I should probably actually explain this before just throwing the situation at you.”
“I never thought the day would come,” Hermione said, walking up behind Harry, “he’s actually going to explain something before dragging people into his crazy? What has this world come to.”
“Enough of your snark, Granger,” Harry said, mock glaring at his best friend, “so you all know how I’m the Master of Death, the stone in the Peverell ring is the Resurrection Stone, and at least have a general sense of the idea that the Veil is the thinnest on Samhain.”
“And all of that means what?” Andromeda asked, though she looked like she knew where this was going.
“I woke up to my mum talking to me this morning,” Harry said, “and my dads and Sirius standing at the foot of my bed.”
“We can see them when we’re touching Harry or the Stone,” Theo explained.
“And I could see them as soon as I’d touched the Stone and can still see them now that I’m not touching it,” Neville explained, “though we haven’t tested if I’m a conduit the same way Harry is,” he reached his hand toward Hermione, “care to test it?”
She grabbed Neville’s hand and then shook her head, “I can’t see anyone, Harry give me your hand,” she said, moving toward Harry, “oh,” she breathed out, “hello everyone.”
“Hi, Hermione,” Sirius said with a grin, “it’s great to see you.”
“You too, Padfoot.”
“Wait,” Ron said, “Sirius is here? I want to see Sirius!”
“It’s not just my son,” James said, glaring at his best friend, “all his friends like you better too.”
Harry laughed openly at that before getting a rather mischievous glint in his eye, “don’t get a big head, Padfoot, we all still like Remus best.”
“Cheeky git,” Sirius responded, though his warm smile betrayed his real opinion on the matter.
Narcissa and Andromeda looked so far out of their depth.
Harry took a long look at them and set his ring on the table, “we’ll leave you two alone. Touch the stone and you’ll be able to see who’s here, just give me one second,” he paused, closing his eyes and sorting through everything he could remember about Ted Tonks until a kind-looking man with bright eyes and a soft smile appeared before him, “there,” Harry said with a smile, “now everyone’s here.”
With that, he took Teddy from Andromeda who passed him over and then looked at her sister as they had a silent conversation about how to handle … whatever was happening, and walked out of the room with Theo, Neville, Hermione, and Ron in his wake. Lily and James followed as well, leaving the Tonkses and Blacks in the sitting room.
They found Draco standing in front of the main floo yawning, “good morning, what insanity are we handling today?”
“Harry woke up to a bunch of dead people in his room,” Ron said.
“Ah,” Draco responded with a nod, as though he needed no further explanation, “and we brought the dead people here to speak to mum and Aunt Andi?”
“Exactly, dear cousin,” Harry said, wrapping the arm he wasn’t holding Teddy with around Draco’s shoulders.
“Oh,” Draco said, looking up, “is that your mum?”
Harry hummed in confirmation, “forgot to mention that you can also see the dead people when you’re touching me.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Potter,” Draco greeted, “I’m Draco Black, previously Malfoy, but we all hate my father so it’s Black now.”
“Nice to meet you, Draco,” Lily said with a smile, “call me Lily, please. And this is James,” she added.
James grinned a grin that looked so much like Harry that Draco shivered slightly before saying, “hello, Mr. Potter, it’s nice to meet you as well,” and then turning to Harry to ask, “who else is here?”
“So far it’s mum, my dads, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and Ted.”
“You forgot Death, Slytherin, and Gryffindor,” Theo helpfully added, “though they didn’t follow us here.”
“Death’s around somewhere,” Harry said, “he always is.”
“You know,” Theo mused, “that would have been an immensely frightening sentence if I hadn’t met Death this morning and realized he’s a human who looks weirdly like you, not some amorphous concept.”
“Why do you look like Death?” Draco asked.
“Story for another day,” Harry said with a wave of his hand.
“Alright,” Draco agreed easily, “anyone else we think might come for a visit?”
“I have some hopes,” Harry muttered, before shaking his head and actually answering Draco’s question, “with the Peverell Family Magic and the Stone, we think everyone who partakes in the ritual tonight will be able to see and speak to actual apparitions instead of just hearing disjointed voices or feeling familiar magic.”
“Wow,” Draco breathed out, “that’ll be incredible.”
Harry nodded before changing the subject, “Kreacher made breakfast,” pulling Draco along and hoping everyone else followed and stopped asking him questions for like 5 minutes, “let’s eat.”
“Would you like me to take Teddy?” Hermione asked, having overheard Harry’s muttering, “and you could go up to your room to talk to him?”
“Would you?” Harry asked, sounding incredibly exhausted for having just woken up an hour ago, “thank you.”
Hermione smiled in response and took her godson into the kitchen, talking to him and asking him questions as if he could actually respond.
“Do you want to do this alone?” Theo asked with nothing but love and understanding in his eyes.
“For now,” Harry said, stepping up to Theo and pulling him into a tight hug, “I love you,” he whispered, kissing Theo softly before pressing their foreheads together for a moment.
“I love you too,” Theo whispered back, pressing another soft kiss to Harry’s lips, “I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Who’s he,” Ron started to ask before pausing for a second to think, “oh, okay.”
“Let’s eat,” Hermione said, clearing her throat, “he’ll be back in a bit and then we can all talk to whomever.”
Nearly an hour later, Harry left his bedroom, wiping tears from his eyes and headed into the sitting room to see how Narcissa and Andromeda were doing, he found Regulus in the hallway between his and Sirius’ rooms.
Regulus took one look at his son and wrapped him in a hug. The spirits were more solid than they’d been when Harry used the Stone in the forest. They were almost fully tangible, just cold and slightly blurred.
But, despite the chill, Harry felt warm.
“Who were you speaking to?” Regulus asked, though he knew the answer.
“Cedric,” Harry breathed out, “I don’t know how the afterlife works so I don’t know if you’ve met him or heard about him, but he was my first love, and I watched Pettigrew kill him.”
“I’m sorry, mon étoile,” Regulus murmured, running his fingers through Harry’s hair, “I’m so sorry.”
Harry took a deep breath before pulling away, “how are Cissa and Andi?”
“Better now,” Regulus responded, “I can’t begin to explain how happy I am that they made up and that you have them in your life.”
Harry smiled but it looked rather forced.
“What’s wrong?” Regulus asked, “I know that look, I saw it in the mirror for years, something is weighing on you.”
Harry took a deep breath and paused before responding, “sometimes I don’t know why this power fell to me,” his voice hardly above a whisper, as if he didn’t truly dare to give voice to his insecurity, “I don’t know why it’s always me.”
“I don’t know why, mon monde,” Regulus responds, cupping Harry’s cheeks. Harry leaned into the touch and let his eyes flutter shut, dropping his head down so his forehead could rest against his father’s. Regulus paused before continuing, “I don’t know why. But I know that you are using your power for good, and I know that you are a good man, a good father, and the greatest son anyone could ask for. I died before I met you and I spent so many years in Limbo with so little knowledge of you but even then I knew that you were everything I ever dreamed you’d be mon fils, mon garçon, ma petite étoile.”
“Je t’aime, Papa,” Harry whispered back, swallowing the lump in his throat and closing his eyes tighter against the tears.
“Je t’aime, mon fils.”
They stood in silence for a minute before Harry took a deep breath and leaned back, blinking his eyes open, “I meant to ask,” he started and waited for Regulus’ nod of encouragement, “how does it work? Like what all can you see, how did they know our nicknames and animagus forms, but you all didn’t know about Theo?”
“I knew about Theodore, as did Lily and James,” Regulus said with a smile, “I really don’t know how Sirius and Remus didn’t, honestly. Especially after the conversation you all had about your nicknames,” he said with a roll of his eyes, “but I will say that it’s not like we’re watching all the time. We can check in to an extent, we have a general idea of how you’re doing and what’s going on, but it’s not like a 24/7 play-by-play of your life. It’s clearer when you’re talking about us or thinking about us, which is why your names and forms were so clear. And you’ve had several conversations with Theodore about Lily, James, and me.”
Harry thought the information over for a moment and nodded, “that makes sense. I was honestly alright chalking it up to Sirius being entirely oblivious, but your explanation works.”
Regulus laughed openly at that, “your explanation might work as well.”
“Are Andi and Cissa still using the Stone?”
“I think they’d sit there all day,” Regulus said with a smile, “Cissa is rather excited to get to know Ted and Dora.”
“I’ll give them more time then,” Harry said, “I want to give Theo the chance to talk to his mum without me having to be there,” he then looked down at his watch and winced, “I need to find whoever has Teddy, he’ll be getting fussy soon.”
“I’ll follow,” Regulus said, “I want to properly meet my grandson.”
Harry just grinned before leading the way downstairs. They found Sirius and Remus standing outside the sitting room.
“Hey cub,” Remus greeted with a fond smile.
“We’re on our way to find Teddy,” Regulus told the pair, “care to join?”
Sirius grinned and nodded, and Remus’ smile turned somehow fonder as he fell into step behind the Blacks.
They found Theo, Neville, and Teddy in the room with the Black Family Tapestry and, as Harry predicted, Teddy was getting fussy.
“Oh, thank Merlin,” Neville said when he saw Harry, “nothing is working, not even Prongs and Moony.”
Harry walked up to the little trio and ran a hand through Teddy’s hair before looking at Theo and asking, “what do you think’s wrong?”
“He could still be teething, but I really just think it’s just that today has been a lot. Hopefully he’ll settle for you,” he answered, moving over so Harry could join them on the couch. The minute Teddy was safely in Harry’s arms, he let out a yawn and his eyes fluttered shut. Harry settled the now peacefully sleeping boy against his chest and held him close with his right hand while reaching out his left to intertwine his fingers with Theo’s, both because he craved the touch after the morning he’d had and so Theo could see the ghosts.
“You’re joking,” Neville said, looking properly exhausted, “this is ridiculous.”
“What can I say?” Harry said with a grin, “he’s well aware of who his favorite is.”
“He terrorized Ron, Hermione, and Draco for a half hour before we came in here thinking he’d settle if it were just the two of us, he screamed at Prongs, cried at Moony, and tried to bite Theo right before you came in and then you show up and he’s an angel.”
“Why do I feel like this is a common occurrence?” Regulus said with a laugh.
“Because it is,” Theo, Neville, and Harry responded.
“He’s been teething,” Harry explained, “but even before that he’d only really settle if me or Neville were holding him and, more recently, Theo. He likes everyone when he’s awake, and he’ll usually sleep for Andi after a small battle, but when he’s totally overtired or in pain he’ll only settle for me.”
“And sometimes that’s not even enough,” Theo said with a sigh, “but we figured out pretty quickly that Prongs, Moony, and Padfoot settle him even when he’s that far gone so when he reacted like that to Prongs and Moony we thought our lives were over.”
“That’s a tad dramatic, darling,” Harry said with a laugh.
“Harry used to only settle for Padfoot too,” Sirius said with a soft smile.
“Like father, like son, I guess,” Remus said.
“Yeah I think I heard something about his father having a thing for Padfoot,” Harry said with a smirk.
“You little shit,” Remus said while Sirius and Regulus did a poor job covering up their laughter, “you know I was talking about you.”
“I’m his da,” Harry said, “but you are and always will be his father.”
“What’s he gonna call Theo?” Sirius asked, and then promptly ignored the reaction that question evoked.
Regulus, like his brother, ignored the looks on Harry and Theo’s faces and winked at Neville who was trying so hard not to laugh he’d turned bright red, “Harry called James da or baba and would’ve called me papa so maybe they could use that.”
“What did you call your dad, Theo?” Sirius asked.
“Sir,” Theo responded almost automatically, still looking rather shocked at the line of questioning.
“Ah, one of those,” Sirius said with a nod, “that won’t do.”
“Harry and I have only been dating two months and Teddy is his son, not mine,” Theo hedged.
“He’s as good as,” Remus said, finally finding his voice after Harry’s earlier declaration, “I see you with him and I see him with you. Don’t hold yourself back from love, Theo, I can tell you firsthand that it hurts everyone in the long run.”
Theo just nodded, squeezing his eyes shut and swallowing hard. Harry tightened his grip on Theo’s hand and leaned into his side.
“Hey Nev, now that he’s asleep, can you go get Ron, Hermione, and Draco so they can talk to these three?” Harry said before pressing a kiss to Theo’s temple and then the top of Teddy’s head, “you know he’ll sleep through anything now that he’s out.”
“Course, Haz,” Neville said, pushing himself out of the chair he’d claimed, “I’ll be back.”
“Did you see the tapestry, Padfoot?” Harry asked Sirius once Neville had left the room.
“No, what changed?”
“Look.”
Harry watched as Sirius and Regulus both walked to the wall. The once burnt and tattered tapestry had been repaired and renewed. The colors were brighter, and Sirius, Alphard, and Andromeda’s portraits had been repaired. It now showed Ted and Tonks tied to Andromeda and Remus and Teddy tied to Tonks with an additional line off of Teddy tying him to Harry who had appeared below Regulus and the new portraits of Lily and James.
“This maybe isn’t how I thought you would show up on the Black Tapestry, Moons,” Sirius said with a slightly sad smile, “but I’m glad you’re here nonetheless.”
Remus’ returning smile was slightly wobbly, his eyes were damp, and he couldn’t seem to come up with a response.
Harry tried hard not to think about how close their group was to the age when everything went wrong for his parents and their friends. He tried not to think about what he’d do if he and Theo were ripped apart or if Teddy was spirited away to the muggle world like Harry had been, forced away from his godfather and any chance he had at having a parent.
Theo, as if reading Harry’s mind, pressed a kiss to Teddy’s head and then one to Harry’s cheek before resting his head against Harry’s shoulder and squeezing his hand.
It was quiet for a minute until Harry asked, “where are mum and dad?” realizing they were two short, with the assumption that Ted and Tonks were with Andromeda and Narcissa.
“I’m honestly not sure,” Regulus said, apparently coming to the same conclusion.
Before anyone else could chime in, Neville returned with Hermione, Ron, and Draco and had Lily and James in tow, “found your mum and dad wandering around,” Neville said, “thought this lot might want to chat with them as well,” gesturing over his shoulder to the trio of living people.
Hermione took one look at Harry and immediately took the seat at his right, reaching out to brush the curls off his forehead and looking straight into his eyes, as if reading his mind, before nodding and mirroring Theo, leaning her head against Harry’s shoulder.
“So, she still knows Harry better than anyone?” Sirius asked.
“Pretty much,” Ron said with a fond smile, “with the exception of Neville, though he can literally feel Harry’s emotions if he focuses so that’s sort of cheating.”
“No, I’m willing to admit she knows him even better than I do,” Neville said, “it’s honestly impressive.”
“Good to see some things never change,” Sirius said, smiling down at his godson.
“Cissa and Andi have the Stone so if you want to chat with ghosts you’re gonna need to be touching me,” Harry said, looking over at Ron and Draco.
The pair happily took up seats on the floor, leaning back against Harry’s legs.
“Alright,” Harry said, adjusting Teddy slightly so he could sit up a little straighter, “let’s do introductions just in case anyone got missed earlier. This is Theodore Nott, my boyfriend, this is my best friend Hermione Granger, that’s my freaky magical twin, Neville Longbottom, this one,” he said, kicking his left foot slightly, “is Draco Black, former nemesis, current cousin, and this one,” he finished, repeating the motion with his right foot, “is my brother in all but blood, Ron Weasley.”
He looked up at the ghosts to make sure they’d caught everyone’s names and then began to introduce them, “you all know Professor Lupin, then there’s Sirius Black, my godfather who is not, in fact, a mass murderer and then my parents, Regulus Black, Lily Evans, and James Potter. Anyone else I should call to join this party?”
“Your godfather is here,” Draco began before trailing off.
“I think you should maybe take the ring when your mum and Andi are done and talk to him alone,” Harry said softly, “I’m not totally sure how that one would go over with our present ghostly company.”
“Could you summon my uncles do you think?” Ron asked, “you’re wearing Fabian’s watch, so you have a connection.”
“Shit,” Neville cut in before Harry could respond, “Mary, we forgot about Mary.”
“Jesus,” Harry said, blowing out a breath, “you’re right. Do you want to go back and get her, or should we send an elf?”
“At this point we should send Fawkes, we are the worst fake nephews ever.”
As if summoned (or, you know, actually summoned), Fawkes appeared with an incredibly confused Mary in tow.
“What have you two gotten yourselves into now?” she asked as soon as she saw Neville and Harry.
Hermione moved to the floor to sit between Ron and Draco, leaning her head against Harry’s thigh so she could still see their ghostly company, “take my seat, Professor MacDonald.”
“What have I told you about calling me Mary, Hermione?”
“Sorry,” Hermione said, wincing slightly.
Mary just sent her a fond smile and patted Neville on the shoulder before sitting down beside Harry and pressing a quick kiss to Teddy’s head, “why’s everyone on top of you, Harry?”
“Because if you touch me or the Resurrection Stone, you can see ghosts today.”
“Ah,” Mary said quietly, “who’s here?”
“Remus, Sirius, Regulus, James, and Lily,” Harry responded, “and Ron had just asked about the Prewett twins before Neville realized we should have gotten you before we left school.”
“Well thank you for thinking of me,” Mary said with a smile, “do I just have to be touching you?”
Harry nodded and readjusted Teddy so he was holding him with his left arm, reaching a hand out for Mary to hold, thinking she’d probably need the comforting point of contact more than Theo at this point.
“Oh,” Mary breathed out, “hello.”
“Hi, Mary,” Lily said with a bright grin. Her greeting echoed by everyone else.
Harry closed his eyes and thought of the pictures he’d seen of Fabian and Gideon, of the few stories he’d heard from Molly, Kingsley, and Mary, he thought of the battered gold watch he’d worn since his 17th birthday. Mary gasped and Ron choked on air and Harry knew it had worked.
When he opened his eyes, two men were standing beside Remus. They looked more like Ron and Charlie than the twins, though their bright smiles and mischievous eyes wouldn’t have looked out of place on Fred and George.
They greeted Ron first, “it’s great to see you again, Ronnie, wow you got tall” Gideon said with a bright smile.
“He’s not just tall,” Fabian said, rolling his eyes, “he’s also kind and smart and a great person,” he added before turning to Ron and saying, “and I can’t tell you how happy I am that you found Harry and Neville.”
The group chatted for a while, sharing stories and shedding tears until Andromeda and Narcissa walked into the room, followed by the shades of Tonks and Ted.
Harry looked toward Theo to see if he wanted to go speak to his mother but noticed his boyfriend had fallen asleep sometime in the last few minutes. He smiled fondly and pressed a soft kiss to the top of his head before nudging Draco and tilting his head toward the ring that Andromeda was carrying.
Draco smiled in thanks and stood up, grabbing the ring and hugging his aunt and mother before ducking out of the room to go speak to Severus.
“It’s nearly noon,” Andromeda said, settling into a chair beside Neville, “we should have some lunch and then you lot should head back to Hogwarts. I’m sure you have some preparation to do before the ritual tonight.”
“Good idea,” Harry said, “you lot go ahead, I’m just going to sit here for a bit longer, I don’t want to wake either of them up,” he said, tilting his head toward Teddy and Theo.
Andromeda smiled softly and nodded before calling for Kreacher and asking if he’d prepare some lunch. When Kreacher popped back a few minutes later to tell them lunch was ready, the room cleared out. Andromeda fell behind the group and grabbed a blanket to drape over Harry and Theos’ laps. She leaned over to brush Harry’s hair back and press a kiss to his forehead, murmuring, “thank you, sweet boy. You are incredible and I am so lucky to consider you a son.”
Harry’s eyes welled with unshed tears, and he couldn’t speak past the sudden lump in his throat, so he simply nodded. No words were needed, she understood went unsaid.
She pressed one more kiss to his forehead and fondly patted his cheek before heading out of the room.
For the first time that day, Harry had a second to breathe. It had been insanity since the moment he opened his eyes. Good insanity, to be sure, but insanity, nonetheless.
He took the chance to soak in the sleeping faces of his little boy and his boyfriend, his conversation with Cedric heavy on his mind.
“I’ve never stopped loving you,” he’d said, drinking in the sight of his first love after years of only seeing him in nightmares, feeling rather guilty at the admission.
“I know,” Cedric had replied, “but that doesn’t mean you don’t love Theo and that you don’t love the life you’ve built. You can still mourn the life you lost; we lost. I don’t know,” he’d said, smiling softly with a fond look in his eyes, “maybe mourning our chance makes you appreciate this one more.”
Harry had thought that over for a while, remembering nights of whispered conversations and dreams for the future. He’d only been 14 then. He hadn’t yet watched someone die, he hadn’t yet fought a war and died himself. He hadn’t truly met Theo, Teddy hadn’t been born, he hadn’t known about Regulus or Horcruxes or the Peverells. He had no clue what responsibility awaited him. He’d been young and in love and, in spite of everyone who’d tried to drag him down, a dreamer.
“That’s one thing you never understood,” Harry had said, “I appreciate every chance, I always have.”
“You’re right,” Cedric had responded, taking a moment to really look at the Harry who now stood before him. They were the same height now and Harry was a year older than Cedric had ever been. He wasn’t that too short, too skinny young boy who’d been shoved into a tournament he’d never wanted to be a part of. He was a young man who’d fought a war and walked to his death, who clawed his way back and built a family and stepped up to the responsibility of being a Lord and a Founder’s Heir. He was a father. Cedric didn’t know this Harry, he never would. And, maybe, he’d never truly known Harry at all, “Theo understands though?”
“He does,” Harry had confirmed, though it was clear he didn’t want to compare the two, “he understands more than most.”
“Good,” was all Cedric had said, “then let him love you.”
“I will.”
Tonight, he’d lead the ritual and allow his friends to see shades of those they’d lost. Maybe next year he’d make a list of people he should gather to see ghosts throughout the day, or maybe he’d keep it to himself and his family. He wasn’t sure. There was a lot he wasn’t sure of, but as he looked down at his sleeping boys he was alright with not being sure. He had his family and that was more than enough.