Chapter 5
Harry was usually a bit annoyed when Ron or Hermione barged into his home regardless of etiquette or manners considering he was usually naked, with Draco, or both. The lines must have blurred somewhere around the time they shared a tent together for months in which they saw…everything.
But today, he was actually quite happy that they violated his privacy once more because they did the hard part for him. He had been agonising over how to bring up the whole ‘not-dead parents’ situation up to them but thankfully, the decision was out of his hands.
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“So do you think we’ll get our wands back?” James asked Lily the following morning after Harry had already left the house in a mad dash to get to work on time.
She pondered for a moment, “It’s possible? I just don’t know if the Ministry would keep track of items that old.”
“The Auror department has files from before even Dumbledore was alive like when dinosaurs were around plus I’m sure someone knows where the most famous wizards in England’s wands have gone” he smirked.
Lily shoved his arm, “He never should’ve told you that, your already large head has gotten even bigger. The more important question is what’s for breakfast, I’m starving.”
“Just tell Kreacher to make something,” James groaned, stretching.
“I wouldn’t put it past him to spit in it” she muttered, before pressing a kiss to his cheek and stepping away, “I’ll go make tea and come up with something.”
She padded through the house barefoot, feeling the cold wood beneath her feet. She took a rather straight path to the kitchen, not wanting to check any empty rooms or wander down a random corridor after the ‘mysterious growling’ she heard come from a room two doors down.
It was usually best to leave things like that alone.
Just like opening the door to your very secret house when your very secret keeper showed up unannounced, but hindsight is always 50/50.
She was just about to step on the last step when she noticed a small mat had been put upon it. She did remember Harry slipping on it once and found the new addition welcome before continuing past it. Lily was just about to reach the threshold to the kitchen when she noticed a curly haired girl stood with her hands clasped in front of her, standing expectantly as if waiting for an appointment.
Lily froze and the girl turned large chocolate-coloured eyes onto her.
The minute their eyes made contact, the girl’s brows started to furrow, “Who are you?” she asked sternly.
Lily didn’t know what to do, she could be honest but she didn’t know who the girl was or if Harry knew her well. What if she was one of the people to stay away from?
“I’m a friend of Harry's,” she said lightly, looking at her feet.
“A friend? I’ve never seen you before,” she scrutinised.
“I’m from out of town…”
“Harry’s never been out of town” Hermione finally looked at her fully.
The girl’s cheeks started to brighten and Lily looked down at herself in Harry’s old pyjamas and tousled hair and realised with a start that the girl had made a very uncomfortable assumption. Her nostrils flared then and she muttered something, turning back into the floo and throwing the powder in forcefully.
Lily noticed with a note of panic that her hair was actually sparking at the ends.
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Hermione arrived back at the Ministry and made a beeline towards the Auror departments. She pushed past other Ministry employees and ignored all of the waves or greetings people offered.
Harry was cheating. Shameless bastard and with a girl with red hair , could he be any more cliche?
And she still stayed there even after Harry had left? That level of comfort only comes after a certain point of time spent together.
By the time she was standing in the lift, her heel was tapping incessantly on the floor and she kept jamming her finger against the button, urging it to go faster.
The minute the overhead bell dinged, Hermione burst past the doors and marched all the way to Harry’s cushy office at the end of the lined corridor.
Harry had windows surrounding the slightly ajar door and Harry was sitting at his desk with Malfoy in the chairs opposite him. He saw her through the glass and smiled, offering a wave but his face slowly dropped as he saw Hermione plough through the office like a bull and he was a red flag.
Pushing past the door, Hermione smiled, her lips spread to the point of straining, “Harry.”
“Hermione?”
“Granger.” Malfoy offered.
“Is everything alright?” Harry asked, leaning back to look at her with a much more serious expression, because he knew Hermione didn't just get mad over nothing.
“No, everything is not alright” she grumbled.
At both of their questioning looks, Hermione took a deep breath and sat in the chair next to Malfoy’s. She reached over to Malfoy’s chair and put her hand over his arm and he looked at her bewildered.
“Harry I’m sorry, but Malfoy needs to hear this” she breathed, offering a look of deep sympathy to Draco who’s brows only climbed up to his hairline
“What’s happened?” he asked.
She looked into Draco’s iron eyes, “Draco…I think Harry has been intimate with someone else.”
Harry spit out the coffee that he had been sipping and Draco’s eyes widened, looking over at Harry with an expression of pure anger, his eyes turning into the colour of mercury.
“What?” they both said in unison, Draco angered, Harry scared.
“I couldn’t believe it either but I went over today to ask about a form I needed Harry to sign and I saw her there, looking quite at home might I add. She looked so scared, or rather, guilty. She claimed she was from ‘out of town’” she added with a roll of her eyes.
Draco’s expression went from fury to mirth and Harry exhaled deeply, cleaning up the mess he had made and to her confusion, Malfoy started to howl with laughter, throwing his head back and Harry just shook his head and took deep breaths, as if relishing the fact that he still had his life and balls.
“What?” Hermione muttered, looking between the two of them like they were crazy.
“I told you she’d find out within the week” Draco laughed, wiping tears from his eyes.
Harry pulled out three galleons and slid them across to Draco who pocketed them happily.
“Mione, I’m not cheating on him” he supplied.
“B-But I saw her! In your pyjamas!” she pointed.
“We haven’t exactly gone clothes shopping” he cringed slightly and exhaled once more. “How do you feel about skiving off work for today? We have a lot to discuss.”
Considering the fact that neither of them were too worried, Hermione just nodded, more interested in this than paperwork. They all headed out together, Draco smirking as he followed as if he couldn’t care about work either, more curious in whatever was going on here.
They arrived in Harry’s living room just moments later, “Harry I don’t know-”
“Exactly Hermione, you don’t know” Harry sighed exasperated, “I can’t believe you’d think I was even capable of that.”
“Ballsy Granger” Draco commented before softening and lightly grasping her arm, “Thank you nonetheless” and she nodded.
Kreacher hobbled around the corner and Harry asked, “Kreacher, can you please bring our guests to the Library?”
They sat in the Library: Harry scared and anxious, Hermione tense and irked, Draco calm and collected.
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They walked into the room a moment later.
“Harry” James greeted. Lily filled him in on what had happened and it took everything in him to not burst out laughing. He figured the girl was Hermione and if Harry’s description was anything to go by, he knew exactly what was going to happen as she left.
Hermione analyzed both of them, her eyes darting between the two of them sharply.
Harry stood, wiping his clammy pants on his robes, “Hermione, James Potter and Lily Evans, or rather, my mum and dad.”
Hermione practically had smoke coming out of her ears as she tried to process Harry’s words.
“You- they-” she blurted, slowly standing up.
“Hi,” James smiled.
“Harry, I can’t do this anymore. I fought a troll for you, time travelled for you, rode on a dragon for you but this, no I can’t do whatever this is' ' she breathed heavily pacing back and forth dramatically before dropping back down into the sofa in a daze.
“Hermione I-.”
“Oh my gods, is this from the Resurrection Stone? You said you got rid of that? That’s why you weren’t at work, you were doing this!”
“Presumptuous aren’t you?” Lily sniffed.
Hermione jumped back up and touched Lily’s hair, “How’d you do it? She’s sentient, I mean this is totally wrong but…”
Lily grasped her hand softly, disentangling it from her hair, “We’re very much real dear.”
Hermione pulled her hand back as if burned.
A few cups of tea and about two Calming Draughts later, Hermione was sat dumbfounded on the sofa as she stared at James and Lily and how they ended up here.
“It’s mad I know,” James smiled.
“Hermione, Harry told us a lot about your time at Hogwarts together, excluding the dragon thing, and I wanted to thank you for keeping him alive, I hear he had a proclivity towards recklessness and without you…I’m not sure where he’d be” Lily smiled with shining eyes.
Hermione’s smile brightened and her shoulders straightened at the sudden praise. James had to agree, just hearing the antics he had gotten up to made his time at Hogwarts look like child’s play. Then again, his main concern was having fun whereas Harry’s was trying to make it to summer.
“Really Hermione, thank you. You remind me of Lily a bit you know” James smiled and Lily shook her head fondly because she must have agreed.
“Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Potter,” she intoned respectfully.
“Oh please call us James and Lily, I’m not ready for that,” Lily mock sighed.
They all took lunch together in the garden, enjoying the shining summer sun that warmed their skin and the fauna that had taken over the entire space.
“I really need to get started on this house” Harry sighed once more, looking around at the state of everything.
“I still can’t believe this is the same house from all the stories” James wondered.
“It’s just the last piece I have of Sirius besides his motorbike and a leather jacket, I can’t bring myself to let it go. Plus Teddy loves playing out here” Harry nodded.
Harry told his parents about Teddy a few days prior and they were all eagerly looking forward to seeing his godson and their grand godson? Was that a thing? They would make it a thing.
“We could always get started on it today? We certainly have enough hands,” Lily commented, looking around the table, adding Ron who had shown up on his lunch break when none of them were at work and was still processing the new developments.
As they continued chatting and finishing up their meals, Harry had to pause multiple times to absorb the current scene. He was sitting around a worn wrought iron table with his loved ones while the sun spectated on their lovely afternoon together. The sun practically breathed life into Lily’s hair as it glowed atop her head whereas it enriched James’ skin, easily tanning his golden skin and producing freckles across his nose. Ron and Hermione were settled close together, Ron’s arm resting lazily across her chair while Draco rested a light hand on Harry’s knees as a reassuring presence.
And now they would get started on the home Sirius left for them so that they may restore it and fill it with the life it had long since lost.
Harry was grateful he made the choice to come back on that fateful day, he truly had so much waiting for him.
______
“Bloody hell” Ron shouted, slamming a door behind him.
“What?” Draco called out from where he was bent over a chest that had been charmed shut.
“There’s a fucking troll in there,” He cursed.
“No there’s not” Draco groaned, wiping his hands to follow him in.
There was indeed a life-sized troll statue just standing ominously in the corner. The Blacks really were insane and, naturally, Draco shrank the small troll and slipped it in Weasley’s pocket so that he could find it later.
He was really too kind.
______
“This library is amazing Harry, I mean almost all the books are about dark magic but the research is astounding” Hermione called out in awe as she wandered the shelves trailing a finger along the leather spines.
“Mione, why don’t we keep you away from the Library” Harry steered her out, not entirely sure if the books were all safe to be around.
“But Harry it wouldn’t hurt to just take a look” she turned back around as if an invisible thread was tying her to the library.
“Let’s look at the guest room upstairs,” Harry said, grasping her arm lightly.
Hermione ignored him as she cracked open a book and a loud ringing noise filled the room.
Lily helped Harry drag her out of there, slamming the door shut behind them and Hermione shook her head as if waking from a stupor.
“We should probably stay away from there” she said lightly.
______
“Master Regulus was most talented,” Kreacher called from the doorway as James inspected Regulus’ shelves that still held bits and baubles from the experiments he used to conduct.
His telescope remained in pristine condition in the corner of the dark room and James brought it out, planning to use it on a clear night.
“He was,” James mumbled, touching a glass bear that did the irish jig when poked.
“Kreacher misses Master Regulus” he intoned sadly.
James turned then, taking a look at the small wrinkled elf and saw just how much he had deteriorated in his time here alone. Kreacher wasn’t always so mean and weary but it seems the collapse of the House of Black caused him to fade away as well. The elf remained horrible but his dedication could not be denied.
He wondered if he might like going to the Malfoy’s instead, the last Black heir living there now. James immediately saw the resemblance between Draco and Regulus in the dove-coloured grey eyes though Draco’s held a hope that Regulus lost somewhere around fourth year.
“He loved you” James said and the elf perked up just slightly, a flick of the lips upward, and he knew it was the right thing to say.
“He loved Kreacher’s bouillabaisse…Kreacher has not made this in a long time,” the elf mentioned, rubbing his foot against the floor as he twiddled his thumbs.
James recognized that as one of Regulus’ favourite meals, always ordering it when they went to French restaurants together which happened to be quite often. James didn’t get it but he figured it worked for Regulus’ sensitive and spice-resistant taste buds.
“Well I’m sure we’d all appreciate it if you ever made it for us” James hinted and Kreacher grinned widely, the folds on his face spreading before he popped away.
James shook his head with a bit of a laugh before pulling off his glasses and stretching, “Just for you Reg” he mumbled and he could practically feel Regulus’ admonishment for that nickname from just beyond the land of the living.
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After a long day full of more exploration than actual clearing up, they laid in various spots around the sitting room to rest their aching muscles.
“Harry, did you ever figure out how we can get our wands back?” James asked from where he was spread out over a sofa, an arm laid across his eyes.
Harry was sitting sideways on a chair with his head hanging over the edge of the armrest, “Oh yeah, the files said Dumbledore kept them in his possession.”
Hermione turned from her spot on the floor, “He kept them? Why for?”
“That man had more secrets than hairs on his chin” Draco mumbled and James had to give him a fist bump for that.
“I’ll never forgive him, you know” Lily whispered from her spot opposite James.
“For what?” Harry inquired, sitting up slightly.
“For everything…So many of us died or went missing in the first war and when you told us about how it went for you- the similarity between our stories, I was just disgusted. All of you were only children,” she cast a look at Draco who rubbed his arm absently, “I just wish he did more himself rather than making us his soldiers.”
“Snape knows that well,” Draco muttered in remembrance of his late godfather.
“How so?” Lily asked absently.
And so began the tale of Snape’s life and eventual demise. Harry had told them of how horribly he had treated all of them at Hogwarts but also how he found out about Snape’s past and how his allegiance had switched to the light, how he had begged Snape to hide Lily, how he had tried to help Harry, and how he had saved Draco.
Lily shed a few tears during the story but no more. She refused to cry over a man who had wronged her so many years ago and had only decided to atone in the recent past. She would only remember him as a misguided man who had tried to help and the tears were borne from an implicit part of her that felt sympathy for all, even if they may not deserve it.
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“We should go to Hogwarts soon then it seems” Harry mentioned over dinner after everyone had gone back to work to come up with a good enough cover before going home for the day.
“I don’t know why but I’m almost nervous about it, though I am excited to see Minnie” James genuinely smiled at the thought, “You think she’ll be happy to see me?” he asked, bumping shoulders with Lily.
Lily nodded lightly but didn’t avert her eyes from the empty plate in front of her.
“Hey you okay?” James focused on Lily now who swayed lightly in her chair as she turned to look at James with glassy eyes.
Harry refilled her water quickly and pushed the cup towards her in a silent offer.
She grasped the glass with trembling fingers but as she brought it to her lips, it slipped from her grasp and shattered as it fell to the floor. Lily followed just after as her eyes rolled back into head and her mouth fell open as gravity reached up to bring her down before James fell out of his own chair to catch her.
“Lily?” he panicked, lightly tapping her cheek to no avail. The life rapidly seeped out of her skin as her pallor turned grey quickly.
“Harry, call St. Mungo’s now!” He shouted as he shook, bringing Lily to rest in his arms.
Harry froze as if struck. He felt like all time had stopped as he just watched the events unfold in front of him in slow motion. His heart thudded wildly in his chest as a high pitched ringing noise filled his ears. His limbs were frozen and his mind was silent as he watched his parents in horror.
“Now Harry!” James commanded, shocking him out of his stupor as his surroundings suddenly rushed into him in a sensory overload.
Harry tripped over his own feet as he scrambled towards the floo, landing in the emergency floo of St. Mungo’s begging to emergency mediwitches who were standing by that he needed help.
They filed in beside him, linking hands while carrying various medical supplies in the other and they were all whisked away to Grimmauld, fierce looks of determination on all their faces.
“Where is the patient?” one witch asked upon landing, she was a stout looking woman, her harsh face serious as she interrogated Harry, the gleaming silver pin on her uniform indicated she was the head of the emergency department.
“I-In the kitchen” Harry rushed as the group of five all followed behind him, “My parents.”
James was still on the floor with Lily, brushing back her hair and whispering while tears glistened in his eyes and over his cheeks that became red and splotchy, all life from the earlier sun gone.
“Mr. Potter,” one of the witches gasped as she looked at James and Lily, “Your parents…” The other witches looked on in shock but the head witch whose name tag read ‘H.M.W. Shields’ snapped her fingers in a silent command to get to work.
“Help her!” James begged, looking at them with so much pain that Harry had to physically avert his eyes, lest he collapse as well. He still felt like he wasn’t entirely connected to his body but rather just watching the scene unfold from outside his body as an observer, much like watching a memory in a Pensieve.
The witches jumped into action then as a male mediwizard pulled James off to the side so that the witches may work. They all cast spells rapidly, each one glowing a different colour, some flaring brightly while others twitched and blinked. Harry noticed the red one that displayed her heart rate moved too slowly and wondered if it was too late, if his delay in responding had been disastrous.
“What happened?” Shields asked.
“I don’t know, we were just eating dinner and she passed out, I don’t know just please. She seemed fine, she was fine !” James repeated, emphasising his words as he couldn’t believe what he was saying. He pulled at his hair as he paced, the mediwizard still standing in front of him to hold him back if necessary.
Harry remained in the doorway.
He really shouldn’t be so shocked. He was Harry Potter, stuff like this happened to him every day if anything, he should be more surprised that this hadn’t happened sooner but he supposed that it wouldn’t have hurt so much then. It was only right that the gods let him enjoy his parents, bond with them, heal with them, only to rip them away from him once more.
They moved Lily who was still frozen in sleep to a stretcher before levitating her out while Shields remained behind.
“Now Mr. Potter,” both of them snapped their attention to her and she just eyed James warily before turning to Harry, “I don’t know what is going on here nor is that my main concern. By all accounts, Mrs. Potter seems to be fine physically, though magically, her core is very weak and is adversely affecting her overall health. We will have to keep this quiet for obvious reasons, you may notify any immediate family you may have and all of our witches and wizards have taken oaths and are unable to reveal any confidential information about our patients. You may follow me and wait at one of our private waiting rooms.”
Harry and James followed close behind her, swapping glances quickly though not exchanging any words.
Shields led them to a small room lined with chairs and Harry and James just sat across from each other. They looked at each other in silence with equally bloodshot and teary eyes, casting glances to the door every once in a while.
What does one say in this situation?
Harry was scared that James would collapse next and didn’t know what he’d do if he did as well. All he could think about was how Lily had dropped, how she was full of life only to be reduced to a pile of flesh as the life leached out of her. The image was burned behind his eyelids and he wished he could just stop blinking so as to stop the nonstop torture he was facing.
It was well into the night at this point, and the window outside showed people idly strolling by with shopping bags, looking into the windows every once in a while to comment on the rundown outward state of the department store, ignorant to the life that teemed within. He was forced to look away when a mother and son walked by, holding twin ice cream cones, laughing about something likely inane.
Harry bent into the floo and notified Hermione, Ron, and Draco of what happened and they all walked in immediately with no regard to time or any other plans they might have had. They immediately dropped whatever they were doing and came for Harry and he felt his heart burst as he watched them offer words to James before joining their silent vigil without comment. Hours passed like this. Ron and Hermione whispered to each other every once in a while, Draco offered words of encouragement and soft touches to show his support but Harry and James were mirror images as they just stared silently at the carpeted floor.
The room gave off the illusion of comfort but Harry had never been more uncomfortable in his life. The small room that was meant to feel cosy made him feel claustrophobic, like he was back in the cupboard, and the carpeted floors made him feel scratchy and uncomfortable. The chairs hurt his back and the fire in the hearth made the room stuffy and overly warm.
Draco had assigned himself to coffee duty, dutifully refilling their cups once they finished if just for something to do.
Finally, when the moon had just shifted past its peak, head mediwitch Shields entered with a sombre expression, “Mrs. Potter has been stabilised for the time being but it seems that her magical core is leeching off of her physical reserves to sustain itself and the clock is ticking before it reaches a critical stage. Now, we need to know exactly what has transpired for this to have occurred, such injuries have only been seen in cases of severe magical accidents or in cases where dark magic is involved.”
“We haven’t been involved in anything that would cause such an injury,” Harry explained and Shields just nodded, looking at them seriously though her mind seemed to be far away as she worked through what could have affected Lily.
“Mr. Potter, if I may be frank, I have seen two of some of the most famous wizards alive and well when they were known to be dead. This kind of magic does not just happen everyday.”
It was clear that the only way to obtain any information was to go to Dumbledore’s office and raid it for any bit of information. Harry chided himself for waiting so long. They should have done this days ago, should have immediately consulted professionals and done research but no, they were sitting around fires drinking tea and swapping stories.
He was so stupid and that is what had Harry stepping directly into the Headmistresses’ office at three in the morning demanding answers.