A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE AMAZING, FANTASTICAL, AND TALENTED BRIDGE. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND I HOPE THIS ISN'T TOO HEART-BREAKING. I'm such an expert at breaking people's hearts, after all.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Alles Gut zum Gebertstag!

'Think of all the roads
Think of all their crossings
Taking steps is easy
Standing still is hard
Remember all their faces
Remember all their voices
Everything is different
The second time around'

You've Got Time – Regina Spektor

If Only

or

'You've Got Time'

I.

The crying never ceases, the screaming barely even changing inflection. The ear-piercing noise seems impossible from such a tiny set of lungs. It's almost lucky the neighbours can't hear a thing, James thinks, though it's some small comfort seeing as his ears are being blown off by one-year-old.

'I'm not cut out for this, Evans.'

There is no response. This is partly because the party to whom he is addressing his croaking words is upstairs in their small cottage trying to relieve the screaming problem. It's also partly because no one could hear a damn thing over Harry's dragon yelling. It is just their rotten luck that their son's first fever comes at a time where it's absolutely impossible to get to St Mungo's.

James leans his head tiredly on the kitchen table and runs his hands through his hair. Who knew that raising a kid could be as tiring as battling a sodding Death Eater?

'I did.'

'Merlin's shit!' James nearly topples off the chair, but manages to catch himself on the table. 'How long have you been standing there? And since when can you read bloody minds?'

Lily snorts. 'Since you've never had a filter between your brain and your mouth.' She turns away and busies herself with the kettle. 'And only a minute, I finally got Harry asleep.'

All at once James notices the silence. 'Oh. You're a sodding hero, you know that?'

'Mmhmm,' Lily kisses him on the forehead. 'And don't you forget it.' The redhead busies herself with placing some old teabags into mugs, while James fidgets at the table. The quiet is nice somehow, now that he knows Harry is asleep, James cringes at his reaction earlier, insisting he couldn't calm Harry down, and sending Lily to do what he, as a father, should be able to do.

'I heard what you said before too, you know.' She sets a steaming cup of earl grey down before him, and sits down across from him and takes his big rough hands in her own small and pale ones. She looks sternly at him. 'I know this is hard for you, but you are cut out for it. If you can be Head Boy, you can do anything!' she teases. James sighs.

'I know you want to go out and help somehow, but you know we can't right?' Lily's familiar stare seems to pierce him, almost like Dumbledore's.

'Of course, Lil. I wasn't even thinking that you know though, mind reader that you are.' He nudges her slippered feet under the table. His wife turns her head to the side skeptically. 'I really wasn't!' James protests. 'Well I was thinking about sneaking out, in a way-'

'There it is.'

'But not to fight the bastards, as much as Sirius would like. I was just thinking how, how, how we could, you know, take Harry to St Mungo's if it were safe. Make sure the fever's nothing bad, y'know?'

There is a silence as Lily looks down at their entwined hands and bites her lip and starts to shake. James starts, and squeezes her hands. He cannot tell if she is crying or laughing. When she finally looks up he sees she has succumbed to both. Her almond eyes are shining, but he can tell by her smile that she is laughing too.

'What?'

Lily releases his hands and gets up from the table. Turning around, she faces her husband and grins despite herself. 'Who knew that James Potter, Quidditch Captain in only his 5th Year, extraordinary Transfigurator, handsome, talented, arrogant, bloody fool and toerag could be so sensitive?'

James pouted. 'I was just saying-'

'Padfoot will be quite devastated to hear this won't he?'

'Lily...'

'I'm only kidding you know,' she leans down to kiss him on the nose. 'It means so, so, so much that you said that, you know. And I know it wasn't an act because I know when you lie, you always-'

'Scratch my chin, I know, you've told me many times, love.'

'Well it's true. Even Sirius doesn't know that one.'

'Isn't very observant is he?'

Lily smiles and shakes her head. 'No, no he isn't.'

They sit in mutual quietness then, listening to the crickets outside and the distant sound of their Muggle neighbour's incredibly loud dishwasher.

Lily sips her tea thoughtfully. 'It's Christmas in a few weeks you know.'

James blinks. 'I know?'

Lily looks directly in his eyes. 'I think we should have the boys around for Christmas. You know, a small party.'

The words take him by surprise, and he sits for a almost a whole minute, staring into Lily's deep earnest eyes. But he looks away soon enough, and addresses the fridge. 'Remus and Sirius can come, yeah. Sounds good.'

'James.'

'And we can invite Mary, yeah? She's still okay isn't she?'

Lily looks sadly at him. 'Yeah, she is.'

'And Frank and Alice, right? They can bring Neville.'

'James, I know you know you're forgetting someone.'

James presses his lips and eyes together tightly. He gets up and walks around the kitchen slowly, folding his arms across his chest, grabbing his shirt and pulling on it agitatedly. Leaning up against the counter, he lifts his head up and stares at the ceiling. Then quietly, almost whispering, he speaks. 'There is no one else, Lily.'

His wife shakes her head vehemently. 'James, yes there is. Pe-'

'Lily, we can't, we just can't,' He stares at her now, eyes angry and hard, but desperate. 'We can't,' James whispers at the tiles.

'He was your brother.'

'Not anymore. I...we can't. We just...can't.'

Lily looks at him for a second, then nods. 'Okay. Okay, the others can come, but not Peter.'

'Thank you. I'll go check on Harry now.' Lily nods tiredly, and James strides across the room, jumps up the stairs two at a time, and walks down the hall, past the numerous pictures framed and hanging on the walls. James can tell Harry is still asleep from the silence of the hallway, so he stops to look at his favourite picture.

His best friend laughs in it, silent guffaws at an (even now) forgotten joke. Sirius's hair is shorter, and though the picture is only a couple of years old, his face is younger and fresher. As he watches, the picture Sirius winks at James, and puts his hands on his head and wags them around, depicting antlers. James's photo self stands beside him, grinning and rolling his eyes at the antics. He slings an arm around a slim redhead beside him, squeezing her closer and kissing her on the top of her head. The girl has a cheery, beaming smile and regularly sticks her tongue out at the camera, waving to the real James and laughing cheekily. Lily's arm is linked to Remus's, as he stands modestly and wryly smirks at the camera. James can tell the picture is taken at the opposite end of the month to full moon, as Remus's laugh, smile, and even hair is bright and lively. Peter stands on the end, a nervous grin playing on his lips and his blonde hair catching in his eyes. He stands close to Remus, part of the gang, part of their group. A Marauder. A brother. Wormtail.

James shakes his head and tears his eyes from the photo, pushing Harry's door open and watching his son instead. Harry's black hair, so like his own, is scrunched against the pillow. Gently, so as not to wake the exhausted boy, he picks up his son and holds Harry against him son against father. 'I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, Harry. Not Voldemort. Not a Death Eater, not Peter. Not anyone.'

'What about a girl who breaks his heart?'

Lily stands in the doorway behind James, silhouetted by the hall light. She comes in and kisses her husband on the cheek. 'After all, didn't I break yours?'

'Well there's an exception. Girls breaking your heart can come good, Harry. Might make you smarten up a little.'

'He doesn't need it, with my genes.'

James chuckles and sets Harry back down in the cot, pulling a blanket over him. He can't help but think inside though, that Harry does need protecting from a broken heart, just not one caused by a girl.

II.

The cat and Harry have become best friends, and it's all James's fault.

Lily runs across the kitchen to catch her five-year-old before he escapes out the window behind Ira. Harry certainly has become an expert climber, dragging chairs and scaling cupboards like he was born a monkey not a wizard.

Before he can follow Ira out into the yard, Lily grabs him by the middle and sets Harry on the floor, before kneeling down in front of him and looking at him sternly.

'What have I said about climbing, Harry?'

Harry's shining emerald eyes look into his mother's earnestly. 'I'm not owled to do it.'

'That's right. So why are you then?'

'B'cause I was following Ira!' Lily sighs and curses the adventuring genes James has given her son.

'Alright, Harry. Listen carefully. If you don't climb for a whole week, I promise we can make biscuits.'

'Real bikkies? Like duh ones Aunty 'Gonagall makes?'

'Yes, real biscuits. I'm sure we can always con Aunty McGonagall to come around to make them with us, how 'bout that?'

'Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!'

'But only if you don't climb, Harry, okay?'

'Okay, Mummy.' Harry nods seriously, his five-year old promise as sincere as only a five-year-old's can be. Despite his mischief-making, Lily knew Harry would keep his promise, the biscuits being the clincher on the deal.

'Are you bribing our son?' A tall man who is the spitting images of the boy beside her (besides the eyes of course, the eyes are hers through and through) walks into the kitchen with a piece of parchment in his hand.

'Daddy! Mummy says we can make bikkies!' Harry runs towards his father and jumps up and down at his feet.

'Is that so?' In a swift movement, James holds out the parchment to Lily, whilst scooping his squealing, excited son up with his other arm and turning him upside down and back up again.

'Again, again!' James complies with a smile, to Lily's amused shaking of her head.

'He must get the zero motion sickness from you. And only bikkies if Mr. Monkey here stops climbing around,' Lily says, ruffling Harry's hair.

'Have you been chasing Ira again, Harry?' A cheeky grin is all his father gets from the green-eyed boy. 'I really think you're going to scare that cat to death one day. Nerves of steel it must have, to survive being run over by a toddler on a broomstick.' The sentence is more directed at Lily than to Harry, and Lily snorts at the recollection. As James and Harry banter back and forth, Lily opens the parchment. It's in her husband's scribbly writing.

Sirius at door

It may have seemed useless to have to write that down, but speaking Sirius's name around Harry could create chaos in running, jumping, and screaming fits when it was time to part.

Lily nods at James, who tries to nod back with difficulty, as Harry has grabbed his hair and is tugging it, laughing. Rolling her eyes, Lily makes her way out of the kitchen and down the hallway to where Sirius is leaning against a coatrack just inside the front door.

'Red! How's it going?'

'Good, Sirius,' Lily smiles, hugging Sirius warmly. 'Long time no see though.'

Sirius waves his hand nonchalantly. 'You know how it is, Order stuff.' But his faltering smile does not match his confidently spoken words.

'What's wrong? What is it? Sirius?' The redhead widens her eyes. 'Is it...?'

Her question does not need to be ended; they both know what her desperate enquiry is.

Luckily, Sirius shakes his head. 'No. Not that type of news. It's, well, bigger than that.'

It's then that Lily notices that Sirius isn't in his normal visiting garb of jeans and a shirt. He wears robes with a small phoenix emblazoned on the breast, the fighting gear of the order.

'Oh, merlin. Where are you going? What's going on?' Sirius suddenly looks much more serious than he usually is.

'We found them. And, well, I think this is the final battle, Lils. Dumbledore is ready. Our numbers are stronger than they've ever been since the recruits from Hogwarts have filled us out. We can take them. We can end this.'

Lily can't speak, there are tears in her eyes, and every face of every Order member, dead or still fighting, is flashing through her mind. She gulps.

'Do you need us?'

Sirius shifts uncomfortably. Suddenly James appears behind Lily, grabbing her shoulder and squeezing it. 'Harry's playing with Ira,' he answers to Lily's unasked question. He turns to his wife and looks at her seriously. 'I want to go, I want to help.'

Lily bites her lip. She doesn't know what she wants. Forget two; multiple parts of her are at war. Part of her wants both her and James to stay here and let the Order fight without them. Another wants both of them to go, to fight and win and free the wizarding world. Yet another wants James to stay and her to go, James could look after Harry if anything happened to her, and she doesn't want to be stuck at home, waiting, waiting. But still that tiny, tiny part of her wants James to go and for her to stay, so they can at least help in some way, for Sirius to have his best mate beside him.

These thoughts battle in her head as James observes her, waiting for her answer to his statement.

But they are interjected by their friend. 'Listen you two; no one wants you to fight. No one. If anyone has to live, it has to be you two, you have Harry, you have each other. That's why I volunteered to tell you what was happening, because I'm the only one who you'll listen to.'

James looks like he's been slapped. Lily winces, knowing what could come next. Her husband's voice is shaky. 'Y-You don't want me to come?'

'No. You're staying with your wife and your son. So both of you can protect Harry in case something goes wrong.' Their friend's face is stubborn, and Lily knows that there will be no use in arguing.

James gulps, but with a look and a kiss on the cheek from Lily, he nods reluctantly. 'I don't like leaving you and Remus and the rest of them. But if it's your dying wish...' He smiles half-heartedly.

Sirius smiles painfully. He shakes his head. 'You were always the worst joker, Prongs.' He leans forward and the two men hug, clinging to each other.

'Don't you dare let this be the last time I make you uncomfortable, Padfoot.'

Lily sniffs and holds her tongue to the roof of her mouth, as Sirius disengages himself from James and hugs her again. 'Say goodbye, good luck to Remus for us, won't you?'

'Of course. Don't let this one run wild either, huh?' Sirius winks and Lily nods tearfully and kisses him on the cheek.

She reaches for James hand as Sirius turns to open the door, but a small voice interrupts them.

'Uncle Sirius!'

Pushing through her and James, little Harry runs up to his godfather and hugs him on the leg. Grinning, Sirius bends down and lifts Harry by the arms and throws him up in the air, Harry giggling his head off. As he puts his godson down, he kneels next to him and ruffles his hair. 'Alright, champ?'

Harry nods enthusiastically, babbling about Ira and biscuits and Aunty 'Gonagall. Sirius interrupts him with a grin. 'Now, I've gotta go away for a little bit, Harry, so do you reckon you can look after Mummy and Daddy now that you're such a big and grown-up man?' The black-haired boy nods seriously, puffing his chest out and answering with a very confident, 'Yes, Uncle Sirius.'

'Good, now I know they're in safe hands.' Harry nods solemnly. 'This is where I leave. See you soon, alright?' He opens the door and steps outside, waving as he draws his wand.

Lily and her boys' wave back, as Sirius salutes them and disappears. James pushes the door close and turns, and Harry runs back into the kitchen, chasing Ira, who has poked her head around the corner.

James holds out his arms, and Lily folds into their warmth, and they stand, in the safety of each other. 'And now we wait,' James murmurs.

'And now we wait.'

III.

Harry has reached the age where he avoids his mother's kisses.

'Muuum, I'm gonna be late for school!' he whines, dodging his disappointed mother as he runs out the door. James hears Lily call after him to be careful crossing the road, but Harry has already yelled a fleeting farewell to James in the front yard and is halfway down the street. James rolls his eyes and resumes fiddling with the engine of the small green car parked out the front of their cottage.

'Nine years old and a teenager already,' sighs Lily, walking up to peer over James's shoulder. 'When are you going to give in and take the bloody thing to a Muggle mechanic?'

'I am a grown man, I'll figure it out! And as for Harry, he's probably found another girl in his life,' James waggles his eyebrows. 'We'll have to give him the talk soon, at this rate.'

'No, no, don't say that,' Lily covers her face and moans. 'That's just too scary.'

James laughs. 'Still glad we sent him to a Muggle school?'

Lily nods. 'Yes, he needs to learn to be independent from us. Look where home-schooling by doting parents got you at Hogwarts! Besides, I think he's having fun, making new friends you know.'

'As long as they're not girls, right?'

'Oh shut up. He can have friends that are girls, you're ridiculous,' she says, shaking her head. She turns away and goes back inside, leaving the door open, as it's an unusually sunny day for November. James takes one look back to the gizzards of the car, shrugs, and picks up all the funny Muggle tools that Lily has bought and follows her back inside.

His wife is sitting at the dinner table, tapping away on a funny old machine that she calls a typewriter. James doesn't understand why she doesn't just dictate to a quill, but Lily is stubborn about these sorts of things. She's got her serious, writing, 'don't interrupt me or else' face on, so he leaves her alone and goes to the kitchen to fix himself a cup of tea. Quickly realising there is no milk whatsoever left (Harry drinks about a carton a day these days), he yells out, momentarily forgetting that Lily is working.

'What?' is her irritable response.

'We've run out of milk.'

'Well go and get some then!'

James bites his lip. There's a reason he's never been to Godric's Hollow's corner shop before, and it's the fact that he's utterly hopeless with Muggle money.

'Er, there's no Muggle money, Lily.' He hears an irritable sigh, and a scraping of a wooden chair, before Lily appears in the doorway of the kitchen.

'There should be, I went to Gringotts only a couple of days ago. Is it in the jar?'

'Er -'

Lily stomps over to jar on the windowsill, where twenty pounds is visible through the glass. She thrusts it at James, who meekly walks towards the front door and closes it behind him. He walks down the street, following his son's footsteps, towards the centre of the village. The corner shop is right next door to the church, and the sun beats down on his back as he walks.

The bell on the door rings faintly as he steps through the doorway. The shop is small and cramped, but homely, the shelves stacked haphazardly with groceries. A register sits on a table just opposite the door, but no one is seated on the armchair behind. James stares curiously around at the unfamiliar packaging of the foods, and the weird products he can see. Shaking his head, he finds a tiny fridge humming loudly at the end of a small dead end aisle, and James extracts two cartons of milk carefully from it. He wanders slowly back to the front of the shop where there is now a kind looking, plump, elderly lady humming quietly behind the register. Nodding his head awkwardly, he puts the two cartons of milk on the table.

'Er, just these thanks.'

'Of course, dearie. That'll be three pounds fifty.'

James gulps and stares down at the money in his hand. He casts his mind back to when Lily had tried to explain Muggle money to him. Slowly, he hands to the lady what he thinks is the correct money. By this time, she's looking at him strangely, staring at his fumbling of the notes in his hand. She takes the money and gives him back some coins, raising her eyebrows when he frowns at them.

'Your change dear?'

James takes the money slowly and grabs the milk from the table. 'Er, thanks very much.'

He walks briskly out the door, just catching the words '...getting stranger and stranger...' from the lady. Grimacing, he starts back on the road towards home, not sure whether the encounter has been successful or not. Just as he is about to turn into his street, an austere looking woman hurries up to him, her glasses slipping on her long nose.

'Excuse me!'

James turns to her, she looks somewhat familiar, but he can't quite place her. She has a McGonagall-esque drawn back bun, and is wearing a floral blouse. 'Can I help you?' he says politely.

'I couldn't help but notice, sorry. You look an awful lot like him. You must be his father, I assume?' Frizzy bits of hair had now started to escape from her bun, and she looks quite mad.

'Erm...'

'Oh, I'm so sorry,' she says hurriedly, holding her hand out to him. 'I'm talking about Harry Potter. I'm the Principal down at Godric's Hollow Primary. Henrietta Myers.' She squints at James over her horn-rimmed glasses. 'I assume you are Harry's father?'

'Yes, I am,' James looks at her oddly, shaking her outstretched hand. 'James Potter. Is there something I can help you with?'

'Mr. Potter, Harry has been involved, in a ... incident, shall I say. With another student. I was just coming to knock on your door to see if you or his mother were home, as you do not have telephone?' She poses the last statement as a question and James sighs inwardly, knowing he will be forced to answer.

'No, we don't have a phone yet, ours has broken and we've yet to come across money to replace it.' This is an outright lie of course, thanks to James's inheritance from his parents, they would never have to work again, but saying they were poor had been the only feasible cover story he and Lily had come up with to cover for the fact they did not have a phone. It was only by Lily's insistence they had some Muggle appliances at all, like a refrigerator, as it was just practical. But a telephone was a hassle that they didn't particularly need at all, except for, it seemed, now.

'I see. Well, if you wouldn't mind coming now to the Primary school, I would like to discuss Harry's behaviour with you.'

'Well, I can run back and get Lily, my wife, if you like...'

'Oh, no need for that. I only need one of you. You can pop those in the staffroom fridge while we talk,' Mrs. Myers says, pointing to the milk.

James knows he has no choice in the matter, and resigns himself to walking down past the church and war memorial, down to the other side of village where the small primary school is situated. He wishes Lily were with him, a level-headed presence would not be unwelcome.

Suddenly, an idea comes to him, and he bends down to tie his shoelace, waving Mrs. Myers ahead of him. As he bends down, James surreptitiously draws his wand and casts the Patronus charm in the direction of home. Satisfied, he stands up and catches up to the principal of his son's school. He wonders what Harry could have done. Whilst a mischievous boy, Harry was at heart, very good-natured, and James can't see any way he could get 'involved in an incident with another student'.

About five minutes' walk later, they reach the school gates, and Mrs. Myers leads James down to the office building. They pass a young receptionist, who ogles James as they walk past. He ignores her.

Finally, they reach a door marked 'Principal', and step through. Inside are three people, a nervous looking male teacher with a bushy moustache and a bald head; a tall, lean boy with blond, spiky hair and a smug look; and a small, skinny, scruffy boy with wide green eyes and James's hair.

Harry looks up when his father and Mrs Myers enters, a relieved smile on his face, though it falls a little when he seems to realise Lily isn't following. James sits in the empty chair beside Harry, and while Mrs Myers talks to the male teacher, he whispers in his son's ear: 'Don't worry, Mum'll be here soon', to which Harry visibly relaxes.

'We're just waiting for Mr and Mrs McCoy. We'll start in a second.' says the principal. James nods and Harry stares at his shoes.

A minute or so later, a very tall, very blond, man enters, followed by a just as blonde, but much tinier woman. They sit either side of the other boy, and his mother hugs and tearfully strokes her son on his cheek, while the man glares menacingly at James. Both the McCoys are dressed to the nines: Mr McCoy is wearing an expensive looking suit and holding a leather suitcase, Mrs McCoy a dress, high heels, and excessive amounts of golden jewellery around her neck, wrists, and hanging from her earlobes.

'Ahem. If we could get started please.' Mrs Myers looks nervously at Mr McCoy, who stops cracking his knuckles. The other boy's mother stops crying, but still holds her son. Harry looks up nervously. 'Now, I'd like to talk to you all about an incident that happened this morning between Harry Potter and Drew McCoy. Drew, could you please account your events for us?'

The smug look on Drew's face grows stronger. 'Well, I is just standing around, mindin' me own business in the playground, when he,' he pointed across the room to Harry, 'came up to me and started asking for me lunch. Then when I wouldn't give it to 'im, he forced me to climb up a tree and wouldn't let me get down.'

James raises his eyebrows at the last bit of Drew's story. The blond boy had to weigh twice as much as Harry did, how Harry could have 'forced' Drew up the tree, he doesn't know. Harry looks angry at Drew's words. Meanwhile, Drew's mother is fawning over him again, as the boy smirks at Harry from under his mother's arms.

'Well, it seems we have need of an apology to Drew from Harry,' the principal begins. 'We do not tolerate bullying at this school, and we will not let this happen again.' Harry opens his mouth to argue, but James beats him to it.

'Excuse me, but have we heard Harry's side of the story yet?'

The principal looks flustered. 'Well, no, but the evidence points against him. Why would Drew climb the tree if Harry did not force him?'

James opens his mouth furiously, but a knock on the door interrupts him. It swings open and the young receptionist pokes her head in. 'Sorry to interrupt you ma'am, but there's a lady at the front who refuses to leave until she talks to you. She says it's something about her son?'

Mrs Myers frowns and excuses herself to investigate. Harry turns angrily to his father. 'I didn't do it, I swear! It was, you know,' he stares at his father urgently. His father catches on quickly. Speaking quietly, he tells Harry to tell the truth, but to change the bit about Drew and the tree. 'Say you don't know how he got up there, you didn't see, okay?' Harry nods.

'That's what I said before, but they wouldn't believe me.'

'It'll be alright, I promise. Now-'

He is interrupted by Mrs Myers entering the room, with a redheaded woman following her to sit on the other side of Harry. Lily catches James's eye and tips her head, to which James nods. Lily grimaces and bends down to kiss Harry's cheek, murmuring a greeting and a consolation.

Mrs Myers is now even more flustered than before. James knows that she doesn't understand how Lily can know Harry and James were here, but is too busy to be able to ask questions. 'Now, where were we, an apology was it?'

'No-' James starts, but now Mrs McCoy flies into a tizzy.

'My son has had grievous harm inflicted upon him; I demand some punishment for Mr. Potter!'

'Excuse me,' James says loudly.

'I agree wholeheartedly with my wife,' Mr McCoy talks over James. 'I believe that Godric's Hollow Primary has anti-bullying rules, which should ensure the punishment of the bully.'

'I, er...' Mrs Myers widens her eyes. Drew sits smugly, while Harry swings his head back and forth from his mum to his dad.

'I agree with you.' The room goes quiet at the, words. Harry stares, horrified, at his mother. 'I agree. When I sent Harry here, I was quite impressed with the anti-bullying stance. And I agree that bullies should be punished,' she sets her piercing green eyes upon Mr McCoy, who has started to smile and speak. 'However, ' she says, and Mr McCoy is silenced. 'I believe my son hasn't told his side of the story yet.'

Mrs Myers sighs. 'Alright then, Harry. What happened, in your perspective?'

Harry gulps. 'Drew came up to me this morning, and asked for my lunch. I said no, and then he pushed me. While I was down on the ground, Drew must have climbed up the tree. I don't know why. Then you came and found me. That's what happened.'

The principal throws up her arms. 'Well who are we supposed to believe then?'

James frowns. 'Was there anyone else there? Who saw what happened?'

Mrs McCoy starts to speak, but her husband whispers, 'Narelle,' and she falls silent. Harry nods.

'Mandy was there. She's my friend.'

'Mandy Brocklehurst?' Mrs Myers asks.

With a nodded affirmation from Harry, Mrs Myers leaves the room, presumably to fetch this Mandy.

'I hope you know who you're messing with!' The deep voice of Mr McCoy fires across the room, stinging. Harry flinches, but James almost laughs

Lily raises her eyebrows. 'Is that a threat, Lucas?'

Lucas bristles. 'How do you-'

'Oh, Janet Watson, my next door neighbour, said you owned the land farmland around Godric's Hollow.' James laughs inwardly. Nobody is going to win against Lily in a fight like this.

'Too right we do,' sniffs Narelle McCoy. 'And aren't you unemployed? That's what Wendy Kepler told me.'

'Rumours spread fast in villages like this, don't they?' Lily rolls her eyes.

'So you don't deny it?' A smug look identical to her son's spreads across Narelle's face.

'I didn't realise it was any business of yours. If you must know, I am a novelist and newspaper columnist. My husband works for the government. While we're discussing professions, what was yours? I didn't quite catch it.'

An uncomfortable look passes over Mrs McCoy's face, but she is saved by the appearance of a young girl with dark hair and bright blue eyes, followed by Mrs Myers.

The girl sits nervously down in the last remaining chair, between Mrs McCoy and James.

'Now, Mandy, we have an issue of truthfulness between Harry and Drew here, about this morning. Did you see what happened?'

Mandy nods.

'Drew, was Mandy there, did she see?' Drew nods reluctantly

'Can you tell us what happened, Mandy?

The girl widens her eyes and looks at Harry, who speaks. 'Mrs Myers, Mandy doesn't speak.'

'Well what was the use of getting her then?' The principal says, frustrated. 'You may go, Mandy.'

'Hang on,' says James. 'Why don't Harry and Drew say their stories again, and Mandy can shake her head or nod at them?'

'Would that be alright with you, Mandy?' asks Mrs Myers.

The girl nods again.

Looking distinctly uncomfortable, Drew accounts the same story as before. Lily, who hasn't heard it before, almost snorts, but stops herself. Mandy shakes her head vehemently when Drew finishes, an angry look on her face.

Harry then tells his side of the story. Mandy, watching him carefully, frowns at the part where Drew climbed up the tree, but with a hesitated look at Harry, nods.

'Well, it seems settled then,' says Mrs Myers. 'Drew could you please apologise to Harry?' Resigned, Drew's parents push Drew forwards. But Mandy then puts up her hand. 'Er, yes Mandy?'

Mandy mimes writing in the air. Raising her eyebrows, looking uncertainly at the girl, then at Lily and James, who look just as surprised, Mrs Myers turns over a piece of paper on her desk and hands Mandy a pencil, who then starts writing in astonishingly neat print. James reads over her shoulder, as does Narelle.

I dont think Drew should just say sorry. Every day he asks for our lunch and pushs us down wen we dont give it too him. Its very not nice. I wish he would stop. Harry tryed too stop him today but Drew pushed him can ask Mikel and Loren and Amrit and Briget and Tom in our class becos it hapens too them too.

Narelle makes a strangled noise, and James smirks. Mandy hands the piece of paper to Mrs Myers, who reads it aloud. Harry nods along with it, Lily glances slyly at the McCoys, Lucas's jaw is set, and Drew looks at the floor, his smug look nowhere to be found.

'Is this true, Drew?'

Drew looks at his father, who shakes his head. 'Nuh. It's not true.'

The principal presses her lips together. 'I will be right back. I'm going to question Michael, Lauren, Amrit, Brigette and Thomas.' With that, she marches out of the room.

'The nerve of you fucking people!' Lucas McCoy stands up and strides across the room to where James is sitting.

'Excuse me,' says Lily sharply. 'There are children here!'

Lucas's face grows red. 'I will say what I bloody well like.'

'And I will ask you to leave and not frighten and say foul language in front of my son and Mandy,' says James lightly. He stands, and Lily behind him beckons Mandy over to her, who does so in a hurry, looking over her shoulder anxiously at Mr McCoy. 'Please, go sit back down again,' says James. 'Did you ever find out where exactly I work in the government, Mrs McCoy, in all your evident questions about us?'

The blonde lady cows and shakes her head.

'Maybe that's a good thing. It's top secret. Now, please, feel free to sit back down, Lucas.' He stares at the imposing figure in front of him, who eventually clenches his jaw tighter and sits back down. 'Thank you. Diplomacy is valuable in today's society, I think you'll find.'

Lily smiles. James sits down.

For what will be the last time, Mrs Myers comes back into the office, and sits down at her own desk. She looks over the top of her glasses at Drew. 'I'm afraid all the students Mandy mentioned, and then some, confirmed that for the last few weeks, you have been forcing them to give you their lunch, which you then throw into the rubbish.'

The McCoys and their son all flinch.

Mrs Myers turns to the Potters and Mandy. 'You may go, Mandy. Thank you for your account today. Mr and Mrs Potter, I am very sorry you had to take time out of your day to come down here. I apologise. Harry, thank you for being truthful. Drew will be dealt with in accordance with our anti-bullying rules. You may all go, Harry, you may go home with your parents.'

The Potters stand up and leave the office, where Mandy cups her hands to Harry's ear and whispers something. Harry smiles and nods, and Mandy trots down the hall back to her class, presumably.

Lily kisses Harry on top of his head, and he does not avoid it. James leads them all out of the office and they begin the walk home.

Harry speaks first. 'I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to make Drew go up the tree.'

Lily laughs. 'Don't worry,' James says, grinning. 'I set a boy who tried to steal my broomstick's pants catch on fire!' Harry laughs, astonished.

'Guess what, Harry? I made Aunt Petunia fly once, when I was angry with her. It's not your fault at all.'

'In fact, we're proud of you for standing up to that bully.' James says.

'Really?'

'Really really,' says Lily. 'Just don't make a habit of using magic, alright? You should just tell us or your teachers next time.'

'Alright,' says Harry happily. He grasps his parents hands and skips between them on the way home, every so often crowing in delight as Lily and James simultaneously lift their arms to swing him through the air. James smiles at Lily over Harry and leans over to kiss her.

'Ew, Mum!' says Harry loudly. 'You can kiss me, just as long as you don't kiss Dad. '

Lily laughs and laughs at this, giggling her head off all the way home, Harry frowning in disapproval.

They reach home and James goes to make tea, but opens the fridge and cringes.

'Lily...'

'Mmm?'

'I may have forgotten the milk.'

IV.

Autumn starts chilly that year, and Harry shivers under his jacket as they cross the road into the station. A snowy white owl, a present sent from Hagrid, hoots in the cage Lily is carrying, which attract strange stares from the Muggles around them.

'Shhh, Hedwig.' Lily whispers to the owl.

The odd-looking family makes their way onto the platforms and stop just before the barrier of Platform 9.

'Ready, Harry?' asks Sirius

Bravely, Harry nods, but his mum can see the consternation in his face. She elbows James in the ribs, and he pushes the trolley with Harry's trunk forward. 'Watch me, Harry,' he says. He starts towards the barrier, gathering speed until -

He is gone. Harry swallows. 'Come on, we'll do it together,' says Lily.

She walks forwards and Harry follows reluctantly. They stop just short of the wall. Lily leans against it and gestures for Harry to do the same.

Whoosh. Steam surrounds them, as do the many voices of students and their parents and siblings. The Hogwarts Express appears magnificently before them, and Harry gasps in amazement.

Sirius materialises behind them and scans the crowd before them. 'Over there,' he points.

They thread their way through the crowd, passing numerous people they know. They exchange quick hellos to Alice and Frank Longbottom as they help Neville find his toad, wave to Edgar Bones with his daughter Susan, and pass a bushy-haired first-year who is standing with her excited Muggle parents.

Eventually, through the mist, they spot James standing next to a scruffy looking wizard with sandy hair and a peeling suitcase. 'Hi, Uncle Remus,' says Harry as they come to stand next to them.

'How are you, Harry? Excited?' Harry nods eagerly. 'That's the spirit. Shall we share a compartment then?'

Harry nods again, relieved at being able to share with someone he knows.

'Say, isn't that Fabian and Gideon's sister?' Sirius points to a plump, red-headed woman who is surrounded by a gaggle of ginger children.

'Oh merlin, it is! I haven't seen her since we were both pregnant,' Lily says, amazed. 'She'd already had five children by then too. One of them must be in the same year as you, Harry.'

Lily leads the group over to the other family. Harry, James and Remus hang back while Sirius and Lily approach.

'-you've blown up a toilet or -'

'Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet.'

'Great idea though, thanks, Mum.'

'It's not funny.'

She taps Molly Weasley on the shoulder and the older lady spins around.

'Er, hi, Molly is it? Sorry, I've forgotten your last name. I'm Lily Potter, we met while we were pregnant?' Lily starts nervously. Molly looks at her curiously, then her eyes widen. 'Lily! Yes, of course I remember. You were in the order with Fabian and Gid weren't you?'

'Yes! Oh thank Merlin you remembered, I was worried for a second. This is Sirius Black; he was friends with Fabian and Gideon.'

The two women and Sirius get chatting; meanwhile the eldest brother of Molly's children turns to his siblings. 'I'm off to the Prefect compartments, we get two to ourselves.'

'Oh, are you a Prefect, Percy?' says one of the brothers, with an air of surprise. 'You should have said something, we had no idea.'

The second brother, who is obviously his twin, continues. 'Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it. Once - '

'Or twice -'

'A minute -'

'All summer -'

'Oh, shut up,' says Percy.

Remus exchanges glances with James, amused.

The twins dig a piece of parchment out of their trunk and consult it, whispering and shielding it from their younger siblings' view.

James gasps as he recognises the parchment, as does Remus.

The twins look up then, and see their Professor, an adult they don't know, and a scrawny, black-haired kid staring at the parchment in their hands. Their younger brother and sister turn to watch.

Remus shakes his head. 'They must have stolen it from Filch.'

'How did you know?' One of the twins is looking at him suspiciously. 'Did you see us, Professor Lupin?'

James laughs. 'How did you figure out how to open it?'

One twin looked to the other. 'Lots of guesswork...'

Remus smiles serenely. 'I think we had better explain. That's the Marauder's Map, right?'

The twins again looked at each other. 'Yes,' they say in unison.

'We're the Marauders,' explains Remus. 'I'm Moony, James is Prongs, and Sirius is Padfoot.'

By this time, Lily turns to watch, and has started giggling, astonished, as she works out what has happened. Sirius finishes his conversation with Molly to turn around and see the twins, standing, gobsmacked, as they look upon their idols. Sirius points at the map and looks excitedly to his friends. Lily is explaining the situation to Molly, and the younger brother and sister, along with Harry, look utterly confused.

Molly stalks over to the twins and snatches the parchment out of their hands. 'Fred, George, how could you steal from the poor caretaker?'

'It's just Filch,' says Sirius, James, Fred, and George. Lily rolls her eyes.

'I can't believe you're Moony, Professor Lupin,' says George.

Remus sighs. 'I'm not anymore.'

Molly holds out the parchment to Sirius. 'Here, this was yours, you can have it back now,' she says warmly.

The Marauder glances at his friends and back to Molly, and holds the Map back out to Fred. 'Nah, they can use it. They need it more than we do,' he says. The twins stare, unbelieving. Sirius glances at James, then down at Harry. 'All I ask is that when you're finished with it, you give it to Harry here, who, after all, is Prong's son.'

The twins nod solemnly and thank Sirius, saluting him and folding the parchment up and putting it in Fred's trunk. They then start to heave their trunks onto the train, talking excitedly about the Map.

Remus shakes his head one more time, before leaving to pack his trunk onto the train. 'I'll be in that compartment over there, Harry. You're welcome to sit there too, if you like,' he says to the youngest boy.

'Oh, thank you, Professor Lupin,' says Molly warmly. She turns to Harry and pushes her son forwards. 'You must be Harry. This is Ron; it's his first year at Hogwarts too.'

Ron nods awkwardly at Harry and holds out his hand, and they shake. Sirius holds his laughter back.

'So, er, do you like Quidditch?' says Harry.

'Of course I do! What's your team?'

'Holyhead Harpies. Yours?

'Chudley Cannons.'

'You're kidding!'

They walk away, babbling to each other. Lily looks delighted.

'Of course, they leave us to do the heavy lifting,' Sirius moans. He and James grab Ron's and Harry's trunks and carry them onto the train, Molly's thanks following them.

'Mum, can't I go too, please, please!'

'Sorry, Ginny, you've got one more year before you can go.'

Ginny sighs, but her huff is lost in the sound of the whistle signaling five minutes.

James and Sirius appear again with Harry and Ron. Ron turns to his family and Harry to his. Lily kneels down beside him and attempts to flatten his hair. Hugging him tightly, Harry whispers in her ear. 'I'm scared, Mum.'

She gazes fondly at him, and James kneels down too. 'You've got nothing to worry about, Harry,' he says. 'Hogwarts was the greatest fun I ever had. You know everyone there, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Hagrid...'

'Yeah, but what about people my age?'

'Well you've got Ron now,' Lily smiles, 'and you know Neville too.'

'But, but what if they're not in the same house as I am?' Harry persists.

'You can still be friends with them. And then you'll make new friends anyway. That's how Uncle Remus, and Uncle Sirius, and I, and Mum met,' grins James.

Harry smiles a bit more. 'I hope I find friends as good as that,' he says.

Lily hugs him again and James does too. 'Good luck, Harry.'

The whistle sounds again and Harry quickly waves goodbye to Sirius before he and Ron hop onto the train. They lean out the window, as do Fred and George in the compartment in front of them.

Ginny starts to cry and the twins try to console her.

'Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls.'

'We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat!'

'George!'

'Only joking, Mum.'

James, Sirius, Harry, Ron, and even Lily laugh, and the Hogwarts Express starts moving. Lily waves furiously at her only son, James beside her, holding her hand. Ginny half cries and half laughs, running alongside the train and waving.

The families of the students wave their final goodbyes, and the train disappears around the bend.

'He'll be alright.' says Sirius.

And James and Lily know he's right.

A/N: Please don't kill me. This story came to me in a fit of sadness and longing, and it only seemed right to dedicate it to you 3

Thanks for reading. xxx