Family Reunion
They were summoned, and escorted into Dumbledore's office before breakfast. Before anyone was awake and in the common room. It wasn't a surprise for Regulus that no one was up, he seemed to still be the most sleepless Slytherin in the castle. The lake hadn't changed, at least from below. There were new books thrown around the bookshelves in the common room, a few interesting titles, perhaps he should update some of his curses and others at some point.
The man that came to get them was silent. Regulus didn't notice him until he was standing, almost frozen at the foot of the stairs. He was very, very pale, from the moment he set eyes on Regulus. And he had the most ridiculous moustache. At least it wasn't Snape.
"I'll fetch the rest." Regulus knocked on Dorcas' door, she was fixing her clothes, sleepless seemingly, and then they both headed over to the boy's dorm. Who were still sleeping.
Evan and Barty each in their own bed--a miracle. And Alexander wasn't asleep, he was borderline trying to snuggle himself into a coma by means of his pillow. He was like a baby when he couldn't sleep and he hated not sleeping.
"Can't this be rescheduled?" He groaned. "Like after double digits? I haven't had enough beauty sleep."
"You're pretty enough to go like this Babe." Dorcas patted his legs.
"ALRIGHT!" Alexander surrendered trying to asphyxiate himself into sleep, "But only because you called me pretty." Then he stared at Regulus, expecting him to call him pretty too. Regulus was above those cheap charades. He was pretty. But Regulus wouldn't admit to it if he wanted him to. He'd lose all his dignity and control and know that he could get Regulus to do anything if he bat his eyes at him. He slept shirtless which didn't help his case. He looked like an olden aristocrat wrapped between fancy sheets and being absorbed by an outrageous number of pillows.
Regulus decided the best course of action was to grab a pair of hardcover books, big and old, noisy. And clap them together for Barty and Evan to wake up in the most annoying way possible. Needless to say, he got his way. And the two other boys complained frantically as Dorcas ran out of the room seeing that Barty wasn't quite... clothed.
A few moments later, Regulus manged to get them all in the common room, no more complaints. He had to threaten taking their speaking privileges away again, but after yesterday they were happy to comply.
The moustachioed man was swallowing saliva when he saw them all get down the stairs.
"Regulus." Alexander stopped him by the arm. "Reggie."
"What? We should move before they all wake up."
"Regulus is right." The man spoke, Regulus knew that voice, distantly... familiar.
Still, Regulus was right, as he often was, they had to be quick right now.
They made it out of the common room and almost to the door of Dumbledore's office when Alexander couldn't keep his mouth shut anymore. Regulus had seen him try, pursing his lips.
"Regulus." Alexander pulled his arm back and pointed at the man with the moustache. "That's Sirius." Of course it was! No one else would sport such a ridiculous look. This though, seemed to take Sirius aback more than Regulus. After all, Regulus was still on bad terms with his Sirius. This was the same brat that ran away though. That left him behind, and there was something watering in the old man's eyes, but he swallowed it. That's why he didn't recognize him. This Sirius didn't have the fire his older brother did. He did have the capability to keep his mouth shut, which Regulus couldn't wait for his to learn. But... now... did he?
"You never could keep your mouth shut Alexander." Sirius looked at them both with the water threatening to spill.
"Part of my charm." Alexander smiled at him, "If I'm right, tell me what's my nickname for you."
Old Sirius had a flash of a choke.
"Yes. That one." Alexander threatened.
"You called me Blacky."
"You call Sirius Black. Heir of the House Black. BLACKY?" Dorcas was holding back tears of laughter now.
"Never going to let him live it down." Evan laughed throwing his head back. Sirius glared at him and Barty, probably wasn't as fond of their adult versions either. Not that either was alive still, but, well, Evan did murder their Alexander. And they hadn't heard anything good about Barty so he can't assume he was part of their side in the end, seeing as he was sentenced to death by dementor's kiss.
"Can we call you Blacky, Reg?" Barty's eyes were faced with a poisonous look from Regulus.
"If you dare." Regulus said slowly "you will lose your breathing privileges. There's enough plants making an effort to make up for you wasting air that need a break."
"Spiky." Barty cackled.
"You beat us!" James called from behind them and the door to Dumbledore's opened.
"Dumbledore was called away on Order's business." McGonagall manned the desk. "Which I hope is for the best."
They stood across two men. Old Sirius and Old Remus Lupin. It all seemed to really go downhill for them after school. Still they were standing so close to each other, Mary figured that means they were still together, which was so beautiful, honestly. When was Mary's turn for that kind of love? Marlene had Dorcas, James had Lily, Regulus had Alexander, and even fucking Evan had Barty. Maybe she wasn't made for this. She couldn't honestly picture it herself, her last boyfriend was, well, it was Sirius, and that didn't help her case. She was his unknowing beard. This wasn't interesting enough though, we just had to meet the aged-glow-downed versions of Sirius and Remus? Alright.
Then the door swung open.
Now it was worth it.
"Oh no." Grown up Snivellus Snape froze on the entrance. If she had a camera, Mary would've been the happiest woman in the castle.
Everyone. And Mary meant EVERYONE, glared at him. Even Pandora. How did you get Pandora to not like you?
"Professor Snape." Alexander bit his mouth, he knew he would say the most godawful thing right now. And he could just now. McGonagall was present, they respected her enough to make fun of him in front of her.
"Professor, please escort the fifth years to their respective classes. Mr. Lupin, if you'd please take the forth years as well. Me and Mr. Black, the, old-est? Have to talk accommodation."
"You're her problem now." Snape sniped at them. He opened the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. James was excited about it, at least he had that going on for him, it had always been HIS class. Remus was great, Sirius was good, Peter was fine, but James, James was truly great at it.
The teacher, Dolores Umbridge, Snape told them her name. She was short and flabby. Dressed up hair, tightly put in a short updo. She wore a pink tweed ensemble. She looked just a bit like a toad. And she gave a friendly giggle. James liked her.
James hated her. "How do you have Defence Against the Dark Arts without DEFENDING AGAINST THE DARK ARTS!"
"The woman is a psychopath. I swear." Mary joined the hate club. "And no one should wear THAT MUCH TWEED."
Lily hadn't talked all day. James didn't blame her. It was complicated still. James wasn't fond of complicated, and he was fond of Lily-in any capacity you can think of.
He wanted to ask her about it. How she was feeling about that boy Harry who might be her nephew. It was complicated wasn't it? He thought about the child from Pandora's vision still, he couldn't make that out either.
"You lot have to direct your pranking prowess towards her and make her quit." Marlene could've been head of the I Hate Umbridge Club. If McGonagall hadn't asked them to be on their best behaviour.
"We will definitely work on tha--" James saw Harry walk out of the classroom after them. "Lils. I think maybe we should talk..." It was better to just rip off the band-aid than wait and let the scars rot. And he'd rather be the one to tell Lily, he was the only one of the Marauders with... tact.
Alexander shot a look at the other boys, Mary and Marlene looked like they had been set on fire. Lily looked at him like it was... something, she looked like she'd rather just get over with now that he brought it up. And James felt the same. He had to tell her that was most likely her niece.
And him. Harry, he deserved to know it as well.
"Let's get out of this... family matters." Alexander grabbed Sirius and Remus, standing between them two, which neither was too happy about, but got over it quickly enough. "We could go find Reggie and company, grab a bite since we missed breakfast." He herded them away.
Lily grabbed James' hand and pulled him as far into the corner as she could.
"Look. I--"
"I know Lily." She looked hesitant, and awkward, stumbling over her words. "Don't worry, you don't have to say it." He was going to save her the trouble. "He's definitely your nephew!"
Lily went pale. And then, after taking in a big, deep, patient breath. She said, "no. James."
"He's got your eyes." She couldn't not see that, it was the most obvious answer.
"James." Lily was biting her lower lip and trying to hide her mouth with her hands, she was probably going through it. James got it, it had to be tough. Thinking about all that.
"Don't worry Lily, it'll be fine. He's surely going to be fine. You're going to be fine. I'm here every step of the way if you need me."
"James, listen." She bit her lip again. "That's not my nephew."
"But your eyes, surely he has to be related to you."
"James, love..." LOVE? sure Lily called everyone love, but she hadn't called him that since they were vision-married. His vision blurred. She stroked his face, her fingers cupped his face. "... who does the rest of Harry reminds you of?"
What rest? There was no getting through those eyes, they were Lily's after all. Sure he had black messy hair, and a build a little skinnier than himself, like Sirius, he was a quite taller than Peter but much shorter than Remus, just like himself, and well, what else should he be looking at?
She could read his mind, he had always been an open book for her. "James, he's your spitting image."
OH.
OH.
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
"So you mean that Harry is..."
"Was? Will be? Would be? Has been? Our kid."
Lily grabbed James' hand after she managed to shut his jaw shut. But right now they were about to take long enough for Harry to be close still, she had to keep the momentum. "James, we'll talk about us and whatever that entails later. But we should at least talk to him right now. He's probably going through it."
James nodded quick and long nods, like he was a domesticated animal, it made Lily's heart giggle a little. He could always prioritize the important stuff and Lily appreciated that, not a lot of people could. He still had a lot on his mind, clearly, from the lack of actually communicating with words. But right now they were on a mission.
They turned the hallway and of course he was gone. James took too long to get there, no trouble. Right now, Lily was a woman on a mission. She pulled out her wand and with a swift revelio with a tracking twist on it, they started following the light glistening trail that would lead them to Harry.
He was alone-ish. If he took anything after either herself or James, he would never be without his friends, and true enough Hermione and Ronald were next to him. So this was as alone as they would get him if that was the case.
"Excuse me." Lily tapped on his shoulder, they were halfway crossing a bridge that led towards the Care of Magical Creatures general area, so most people were not there. If fact, they were the only there. It was a chance she wouldn't waste.
The three turned around and couldn't make out any word.
"Harry, we have to talk." Lily stated her intentions. And it was better to just say it than dance around it, it was complicated enough as it was.
"We don't mind them staying, if you'd rather that." Since when are we... we? He was right of course, they could stay, but where did that come from.
"Whatever you want Harry." Hermione patted his shoulder.
"Yeah mate." Ronald chimed in.
"I... I think I'll be alright. You guys go on ahead to Hagrid's." Harry waved his friends off and they made their way off the bridge, it was good to hear Hagrid was still around though. One more friendly face was always good, especially in time-travel shenanigans.
"Alright." James said, and then, was quiet. "I haven't had much time to think about this. Just connected the dots a few moments ago. If anyone wants to go ahead..."
"Okay. We all agree it's complicated." Harry hadn't spoken yet. He probably had more insight in the situation. "I am Lily Evans. And this is James Potter." The basics. "From our part, we are sixteen, so I figure about your age. And we know Pandora had a vision where we were together in the future and had a child, who we figured was? Is? you. We we aren't properly together yet. We don't understand the time-travel, and we aren't sure where to go from this, but this is a situation we should talk about."
"What did properly together yet mean?" James. Oh James. Oh Lily. She fucked up that sentence but what was she supposed to do.
"Not the point right now."
"So not the point, I'm sorry." James was back on track, head in the game.
"I'm fifteen. But I suppose I'm as lost as you two." Harry was a bit sheepish about it, "I never truly met you two. My parents. And I don't know what to make of this either. I can't say I'm alright about it either."
"Okay, what can we do from there." James said, taking the lead, "I don't know about Lily, but I do feel somewhat responsible for you, maybe not like a father, but perhaps an older sibling? We're older still, so that might work. I do feel a bond or something I can't explain. But I want to be there for you, even if me from the past or future, is not here. My parent's inheritance should be enough to keep us for generations and either me or you should have access to the Potter Manor. My parents should be there, they'll sort that out." James could fix things when he set his mind to it, when it meant helping someone. And Lily's crush wasn't letting that go unnoticed.
"I have to agree with James." Lily said as if having to agree with James was a burden, and Harry couldn't understand that yet, but he would if he'd known him. "I do feel some kind of kinship of sorts. I can't name it well either, but I do feel responsible in a way. Maybe the older sibling dynamic can work. I suppose we out to give it a go. If you agree, obviously. And I can't say I have much of an inheritance or anything, but anything I can do I will."
Harry was silent. Properly silent. He didn't get that from James. Still he looked at him. Stared at him. "I don't think your parents are alive James."
It was a gut punch for James. Lily could feel him breaking from the inside, his hand was shaking and he took off his glasses. His eyes were watery, but he stayed strong. Right now, he was here for Harry, he'd go on the rest later.
"Then where have you lived? With Sirius and Remus I hope, they're still alive." He kept swallowing and Harry didn't seem to notice this.
"No. Sirius was in Azkaban until two years ago and Professor--Remus couldn't take care of me because of the whole Lycanthropy issue." THE WHAT ISSUE? That was. What? "I've been living with my Uncles."
"I don't have any siblings so..." James had to keep his answers short, his voice was threatening breaking.
"Pet? Petunia Evans agreed to take care of a child?" That was the most outrageous thing she had heard all day. "That can't be right."
"It's not really." It escaped Harry.
"What?" If she mistreated her child, Merlin save her, Lily would fish every skeleton out of Petunia's closet and make them dance until she gave up life. She always had issues with Lily being magical, but being a bit of an asshole and mistreating her nephew. Merlin.
"Don't worry about it." Right, they could get on that later. "I'm willing to give the sibling thing a try."
Jame smiled through his watery eyes. "Then we'll get on that, bud." His smile was trying with all its might, but the waterworks were on the verge of exploding.
That Harry seemed to get. "Alright. But right now I'm late to Care of Magical Creatures..."
"Go, go." Lily waved him off and they watched until he was off the bridge. Now Lily had to get James to his Sirius and Remus and Peter. Right now he needed them.