Harry opened his eyes.

He was on his back, surrounded by a bright, white mist. He sat up, touching his face — only to realize his glasses were gone, and that he was completely naked.

"Back again, Harry?"

Harry's head spun quickly in the direction of the voice, his breath catching. Albus Dumbledore was walking towards him, sprightly and upright, wearing sweeping robes of midnight blue.

"Harry," Dumbledore spread his arms wide, his hands as whole and white and undamaged as the last time Harry had seen him here. "You brave, wonderful man. Let us walk."

Harry followed him, too stunned to say anything.

They walked together under the high, sparkling white ceiling, their footsteps resounding against the utter silence of their surroundings.

"I'll admit, I didn't think I would be seeing you again so quickly." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled beneath his half-moon spectacles. "Your penchant for trouble persists… no matter when you are."

Harry laughed hollowly, hearing his voice for the first time since he'd entered. He stopped quickly. It sounded strange for some reason, but he couldn't quite understand why.

He peered at Dumbledore.

"I'm dead this time, right?"

Dumbledore only beamed at him. "History does tend to repeat itself."

Harry blinked, absorbing what the older man had said.

"I'm… alive ?" Harry asked, shock coloring his voice. No way… how? "Explain."

"But you already know," said Dumbledore. He twiddled his thumbs together. "It is the very same reason as last time…"

And then Harry remembered — the fact that he could speak Parseltongue again in the past, the oddness of it all…

"The Horcrux," he breathed. "There really was one in me again, wasn't there? And… it's gone again, isn't it?"

Dumbledore nodded enthusiastically. "Correct! Your soul is whole once again, and completely your own."

"But…" Harry trailed off, several questions at the tip of his tongue. "I still don't understand. How did the Horcrux restore itself into my body in the first place?"

Dumbledore's smile slipped ever so slightly, his eyes dimming and clouding over in thought.

"Mysterious thing, Time. Powerful, and when meddled with, dangerous." He looked at Harry with a sudden seriousness. "It doesn't do to dwell in a time other than your own…"

Harry blew out his breath in frustration. "I understand. It's just — now that I'm here, there's so much going on that I need to fix—"

"You can't save everyone, Harry," Dumbledore said somberly. "When disrupted, Fate always finds a way to balance itself out once again, in some way or another."

Harry flinched. "Does that mean I'm not changing anything then?"

Dumbledore stayed silent, not responding to his question. A few moments passed before he said anything at all.

"It would be best not to change or reveal any more than you need to."

Harry smiled wanly, thinking about the Unbreakable Vow that ensured his inability to do otherwise.

"Of course."

They walked until reaching the familiar station — King's Cross station. It was just as empty and clean as last time, shrouded in that perpetual opaque white mist.

Dumbledore stopped in front of the station, looking back at Harry with conflict in his blue eyes. He seemed to be drinking in Harry's appearance, as if there was something odd about it that he couldn't quite place his finger on.

"You're looking young, Harry," he breathed eventually, a small, sad smile on his face. "But your clock ticks faster by the day."

His face grew somber as cloudy mist began to swirl around his form.

"Dear boy… do not lose yourself in the past…"

. . .

"... the Killing Curse? Are you certain?" a female voice gasped.

Harry blearily blinked himself awake, finding himself in a dimly-lit bedroom. Any conversation that had been happening died down as soon as Harry began to move, struggling to sit up only to stop as pain wreaked havoc upon his spine.

"Careful," said a dark-haired man, holding a vial of some substance to Harry's mouth. James, Harry realized through his blurry vision. "This should help."

Harry opened his mouth blindly, his eyes still squeezed shut in pain as he allowed the cool liquid to travel down his lungs. When the pain had abated enough, he opened them, reaching for his glasses on the bedside table and shoving them on.

James, Lily, and Sirius were sitting around his bed, quietly observing him with an intensity Harry couldn't place.

It was as if they were waiting for him to speak.

"Er…" Harry croaked, looking around at everyone. "... Yes?"

And then out of nowhere, Lily shoved her way to the head of Harry's bed and put her hands on Harry's shoulders, shaking the living daylights out of him.

"YOU IDIOT!" She shouted, her red hair glinting like dancing flames in the candle light. "YOU STUPID, UNTHINKING—"

James ripped Lily from Harry's frozen form, holding her in his arms. His expression was disturbed. "Lily! Calm down."

"—SELFISH, RECKLESS FOOL!" She finished, her eyes shining.

By now, Harry was fully alert. He sat up in his bed and scrambled to the far corner of his bed, ignoring the pain his actions brought him.

"What's your problem ?" Harry asked in bewilderment, observing the wild creature that was proceeding to glare at him with righteous fury.

Lily crossed her arms. "What the hell were you thinking ? Jumping in front of a Killing Curse?" Her eyes were wide, her voice dropping to a sarcastic pitch. " Did you expect to survive? "

Harry threw his hands up in the air. "Well, I wasn't thinking—!"

" Clearly! " Lily shrieked, throwing her hands up in the air as well.

Harry got up from the bed then, facing her as he felt his own frustration beginning to build. He swiped his fingers through his hair, pulling at it in an attempt to relieve some of his stress.

"Look," he said firmly. "I just jumped in front of a Killing Curse for a man who has treated me like shit since I arrived here, and I am in pain ." He glared at Sirius, who had remained oddly quiet all this time, before turning back to Lily. "Why the fuck are you complaining?"

"BECAUSE YOU COULD HAVE DIED!" Lily roared.

Silence.

"But I didn't," Harry said simply, raising an eyebrow at her. And then he continued to stare at her, shock slowly creeping in at her response… at her yelling, her words.

"Besides," he asked quietly, carefully. "Why do you care?"

Lily stared back at him, her mouth opening and closing a few times.

"I… " she began softly. "I just…" She swallowed. "What if reinforcements hadn't come on time?" Lily cleared her throat. "I mean—"

"Oh, I see ," Harry murmured darkly, his jaw clenching momentarily. The little ball of hope that had begun to rise in his stomach — that maybe she cared for him — was quickly stomped down. "This is about your guilt complex, isn't it? You're the one who sent me on the mission so you're just worried—"

Slap!

Harry's cheek burned red-hot where Lily had slapped him. He slowly put a hand on his cheek, staring back at her, watching the anger that had been flaring in her green eyes quickly die down.

Lily's eyes were wide, her mouth open in astonishment. She looked utterly flabbergasted, staring at the spot where her hand had connected with his skin.

"Lily!" James came forward, taking his wife's arm and pulling her back yet again. "Merlin, don't murder the patient!"

James looked back and forth between Harry and Lily, confusion clear in his expression. "I don't understand what's going on between you two, but can we please calm down and—"

"Guilt complex?" She asked incredulously, her eyes narrowed in a mixture of fury and hurt. "I'm scared shitless at the thought of losing anyone else in my life, and you're asking me about a guilt complex ?"

And then, out of nowhere, Lily burst into tears.

Harry stared at her, his jaw dropping as he watched salty droplets run down her cheeks. Her shining eyes were finally tearing up, and something in him ached at the sight, his stomach twisting with emotions he couldn't begin to decipher.

"I think the real question is…" Sirius asked quietly, his stormy gray eyes oddly subdued as he looked back and forth between Harry and Lily. " How he survived."

He continued to stare at Harry, who looked away resolutely. Harry would have to think of something to say to the man eventually…

"No matter how I think about it," Sirius continued on, his eyes narrowing. "It just doesn't make any sense… "

" Nothing about this man makes sense," Lily bit out, staring at Harry. "Don't you guys realize?"

She stepped closer to Harry, her nose mere inches from his. The only thing Harry could see was teary, vibrant green.

"He appears out of nowhere, never having attended Hogwarts. He has no connections or family background to speak of, the Gaunt family hasn't been heard from in years. Nobody knows who he is. He's a Death Eater who's not used a single Dark Curse during duels…. not even once."

She narrowed her eyes, observing him closely.

"And I can't even see his face clearly!"

Harry's blood ran cold. She couldn't… what?

"You're looking at me right now!" Harry shouted. "What on earth does that mean? "

A warm hand clamped down on Harry's shoulder as James dragged Lily away from him for the third time.

"I'm sorry, Gaunt," James said firmly. "Lily and I will head out now. I wish you a speedy recovery," he looked at Sirius. "And Sirius will take you back to your room with Regulus and Snape once you're good to go."

Sirius nodded back at James.

James looked back at Harry one last time, his expression softening.

"Thank you," he said, with an unprecedented warmth that Harry couldn't have prepared himself for if he'd tried. "For saving him." He glanced at Sirius briefly once more, whose gray eyes flickered with discomfort before looking away awkwardly.

And then James and Lily were gone, leaving the two of them alone once again.

Harry took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. There were so many questions on his mind, he didn't even know where to start.

So instead, he started back towards the bed he'd been in, feeling that it would be nice if he could play patient for just a little bit longer… forget about this confusing past reality altogether…

"She's right, you know?"

Harry stopped walking, pausing.

Then, slowly, he turned around to face Sirius.

The gray-eyed man tilted his head as he stared at Harry. Dim lights were hitting his cheekbones straight on, casting shadows upon the hollows of his cheeks.

"About what?" Harry asked carefully.

Sirius strolled towards him, his half-lidded eyes sweeping Harry's form.

"Well, about everything, I suppose. The fact that we know nothing about you and the way you rarely use Dark curses."

His eyes glinted. "Though, most importantly, she's right about how your face is always so bloody unclear ."

And then, without warning, slim, olive-toned fingers were reaching for Harry's jaw, a thumb running down the side of his face.

Harry froze, his breath catching at the suddenness, as the hand hitched his face upward— penetrating grey eyes looking down at him in concentration —

" What the fuck!" Harry squawked, slapping the hand and pushing Sirius away altogether. "What are you doing—?"

"So did you put it there, then?" Sirius asked, his eyes narrowed in thought, his lips pursing.

Harry looked at him in bewilderment. "Put what ?"

Sirius stared at him with a distinctly unimpressed look.

"The enchantment on your face, Gaunt."

Enchantment?

Harry sneered. "There's nothing on my face, Black. You're just going bloody mad ."

Sirius's face turned stone-cold.

Oooh, Harry's inner voice jeered, did I hit a soft spot, jackass? He watched as Sirius closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before stepping away and turning his back on Harry.

He was a few feet from the bed now, steadily moving away and giving Harry a false sense of security—

Sirius stopped in his tracks.

"Why did you do it?" Sirius asked quietly as he turned around once more, in a tone so unfamiliar Harry almost didn't recognize it for what it was. "Why did you save me?"

Lost.

In that moment, Sirius looked so unfamiliar to Harry — like a puppy, searching for answers that would never make sense to him. His dark eyes were wide with confusion, his glistening mouth ever so slightly open.

Harry was so tired of deflecting.

"Can't you just be glad I saved your life and stop asking questions?" Harry snapped, crossing his arms and sitting back on the bed.

Sirius's mouth twisted back into the scowl Harry was so well-acquainted, his eyes flashing like his quicksilver temper.

"Well, if you didn't want me to ask then maybe you shouldn't have saved me!" With that, Sirius spun back around on his heel and stalked towards the door.

"Fine!" Harry yelled after his disappearing form. "I'll keep that in mind the next time a Killing Curse hurtles your way and you're too damn busy laughing at your own joke!"

And as the door slammed shut, Harry punched the pillow next to him, intent on finally getting some of the inner peace he deserved. Millions of questions were still buzzing around in his head, but he was too exhausted to even think right now.

Harry closed his eyes, exhaustion instantly hitting him.

He was out within seconds.

. . .

Life after the triple-attack went back to normal, continuing as if nothing had happened at all. It was a repeated cycle of training, eating, and sleeping. One thing was certain — the Marauders hadn't told anyone else about him surviving the Killing Curse, as no one else seemed to treat him differently.

Snape and Regulus had still been highly curious about the duel at the time.

"So what happened next?" Snape asked with unusual curiosity, seeming unhealthily interested in the gory aspects of it. "After Bellatrix removed the Prewett's mouth?"

Harry gave Snape an exasperated look. "She tortured him, what else?"

He then proceeded to ignore Snape, calling out to their other roommate.

"And by the way, Regulus! Bellatrix asked about you during the duel… said she cared about you."

Regulus, who had been in the middle of brushing his teeth, violently spit out some toothpaste and stared at Harry out of the open bathroom door.

"Er… that's nice," Regulus replied weakly, the pure terror in his voice saying otherwise. "Love her to death, that Bella."

Snape snorted as Harry erupted in laughter at his reaction. Merlin, he'd kind of missed these two… Snape and Regulus always kept it real and unconfusing.

Unlike the Marauders.

Mealtimes were different now, because Harry no longer shared a table with only Snape and Regulus. For some odd reason, Lily and James had decided to start joining them instead of sitting with the rest of the Order members… making for some very interesting mealtime dynamics over the next few months.

They were pleasant… towards Harry, at least, acting as if the events following his survival of the Killing Curse had not occurred.

"How are you, Lily?" Snape asked politely, pointedly ignoring James. It was lunchtime, and they'd just finished their first round of training for the day.

"I'm doing fine," Lily replied evenly as James glowered at Snape from behind her.

"Yeah, she's fine, Snape. You don't have to keep asking her every single day."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "It's called having manners, Potter. Surely you've heard of the concept?"

James's chair squealed back violently, and Lily put a hand on his arm, her expression pained and long-suffering. " Enough , guys—"

They began to bicker, and Harry watched the proceedings with fascination, fighting back the strange urge to snicker. It was at times like these that he remembered they were only nineteen.

"Harry, can you pass the salt?" Lily asked out of the blue.

"Yes, of course," Harry replied back, before his mind screeched to a halt.

Harry, she'd called him.

He slowly raised his eyes from his plate to look at her, the way she was looking back at him — the smallest, tiniest hint of vulnerability shining in the depths of her eyes — nearly made him flinch.

It was her way of apologizing, Harry realized. Because he'd asked her to call him that all those days ago.

He just hadn't realized the effect it would have on him.

Harry's stomach lurched, his breathing picking up pace as he promptly picked up the salt from nearby and wordlessly passed it to her. And then he looked down, his eyes shuttering as he buried his shaking hands in his lap.

It was frustrating how something so casual could be so meaningful to him. Because in that moment, Harry could just imagine his life with them… in a normal dinner setting, as if he had grown up with them…

"Harry?" Regulus asked softly. "Are you alright?"

Harry looked up. "Yeah? Why?"

And then he realized that everyone was looking at him in concern, even Snape, and boy was that a surprise…

"Oh, yeah, of course!" Harry said with cheer, scraping his spoon against the plate so loudly it made everyone wince. "Sorry — did you say something to me?"

Interacting with Lily just hurt. Because even if she couldn't feel it, there was this deep, visceral connection between her and Harry that made almost every single one of their interactions emotionally-loaded.

James was an entirely different story.

The man was curious about him.

"So… a Parselmouth. " James glanced at Harry as they were walking towards the training arena after lunch. "Could you… uh… say something?"

Harry stared at the older Potter. It figured that the man would only ask him after he'd lost the Horcrux in his body.

"Where? When?" Harry stalled, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Anywhere!" James's eyes went wide, eagerness clear in his wide mouth. "How about now?"

Harry narrowed his eyes at his future father. "I'm not a circus act."

James threw his hands up, looking caught off-guard and slightly sheepish. "I know that. I was just asking, sheesh." He raised his eyebrows as he reached for his dragon-hide boots. "No need to be so defensive."

Harry spun on him. "No need to be defensive? " he enunciated, sarcasm in his voice. "Do you remember how you treated me when I was first captured? Or have you forgotten?"

James paused in the middle of putting on his training gear, looking directly at Harry. His face was completely serious.

"Harry…" he sighed, biting his lower lip in contemplation. "Let me tell you something."

He sat down on a bench nearby, away from the rest of the people who were getting ready, and looked up at Harry.

"Two weeks before you arrived, my parents were slaughtered by Death Eaters. Rowle and Rabastan, to be specific."

Harry froze at the knowledge, his eyes wide in horror.

His grandparents? Killed… while he'd been… training to become a Death Eater? A sour taste flooded Harry's mouth, tasting distinctly of bile.

"I'm not trying to justify myself, necessarily," James frowned, running a hand through his hair. "But dealing with that has been incredibly difficult . But in war, you can't help but blame those on the other side, even if they aren't necessarily the ones who killed the ones you love." His eyes snapped upward, staring penetratingly at Harry.

"And I'm not the only one. Lily lost Marlene McKinnon — one of her best friends — a few days before you arrived." James's mouth curled. "She was raped to death by the Carrow twins."

Harry gasped, thinking back to how furious Lily had seemed the day he'd met her all those months ago.

Her voice resonated in the large cell, condemning and righteous.

"You've killed for blood status… raped for far less…"

No wonder.

Harry held a hand to his mouth, taken aback by the horrors his parents had experienced. No wonder.

"War makes us think in black and white even when things aren't. Humans aren't." James stood up, shaking Harry's shoulders. "You are proof that! You, Regulus… not quite sure about Snape, but — you guys aren't evil."

James squeezed his shoulder, his hazel eyes warm and welcoming. "And this is something that I've realized slowly, during the months I've spent with you, the months I've spent healing from my losses… "

He let go of Harry, clapping him on the back. "I truly believe that there's a reason Dumbledore gave you all a chance."

James grinned at him, all contagious optimism, and Harry couldn't help but smile back a little.

And then there was Sirius.

Sirius didn't bother Harry much anymore… that was another thing that had changed. In fact, it seemed as though Sirius was purposefully avoiding Harry altogether, especially when it came to duels.

Harry glanced at Sirius on the other side of the training locker rooms, observing the way Sirius's bare tan back muscles flexed as he put a shirt on.

As if feeling Harry's gaze, Sirius glanced sideways at him, his gaze darkening unreadably. Their eye contact lasted a few seconds before Sirius looked away from him, ignoring him once again.

Harry clenched his jaw and looked away as well, slamming his locker door shut. This game between them — this competition of avoidance, ignoring one another, whatever it was — it had gone on for far too long.

The silence persisted between them a while longer, tense yet eerily peaceful.

But it didn't last forever.