Journey to the Past

Torch-I do not own Harry Potter :'( or the song hero, that belongs to Enrique Iglesias

(Whispered) Let me be your hero

A dark-haired handsome young man stood alone on the stage. He kept his eyes glued to the kareoke screen, clutching the microphone as if it were his last lifeline.

Would you dance if I asked you to dance?
Would you run and never look back
Would you cry if you saw me crying
Would you save my soul tonight?

He'd never told anyone this, but he had stage fright. All his classmates knew him as an arrogant quidditch star, whom all the ladies wanted to be with. But really, he was shy, kind, and pretty romantic. He just wished she would understand that.

Would you tremble if I touched your lips?
Would you laugh oh please tell me these
Now would you die for the one you love?
Hold me in your arms tonight?

He pushed his glasses further up his sweaty nose as he sang the chorus. His voice was deep yet soft; hitting the notes just right.

I can be you hero baby
I can kiss away the pain
I will stand by you forever
You can take my breath away

He took a glance at the audience and noticed all eyes on him. He hadn't wanted to do this in the first place, but ever since his mum had found out about his 'fantastic singing voice', she had insisted he take part in a muggle tradition called 'kareoke'. And God knew he could never say no to his mum.

Would you swear that you'll always be mine?
Would you lie would you run away
Am I in to deep?
Have I lost my mind?
I don't care you're here tonight

I can be your hero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away

Oh, I just want to hold you.
I just want to hold you.
Am I in too deep?
Have I lost my mind?
I don't care...
You're here tonight

I can be your hero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by your forever.
You can take my breath away.

I can be your hero.
I can kiss away the pain.
And I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.
You can take my breath away

I can be your hero

As he sang the last few words to the song, the crowd erupted into applause. He blushed and clumsily stumbled from the stage in search of his parents.

"James! That was beautiful!" Mrs Potter cried, tears clear in her eyes. James mumbled a small "Thanks," ducking his head as his father patted him on the back.

"I'm proud of you son!" Mr Potter said, smiling broadly.

"Excuse me?" A red-headed man said from behind James. The Potters whisked around to face him. "Hi, I'm Mark, I just came over to say I thought you were fantastic. Have you considered being a professional singer when you're older?"

"Erm," began James. "Thanks, but no sir."

"And polite too!" Replied Mark, grinning. "Well you should do, you could be the next Robbie Williams!"

James wasn't sure who this Robbie Williams fellow was, but he knew exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up, and no-one could change his mind.

"Oh no," Mrs Potter said. "My James wants to be an Au-"

"Law enforcer!" James cut in, shooting his mother a quick sideways glance, causing her to blush for her slip.

"Well, my boy!" Mark said. "That is a way to go I must admit! A fine job, looking after the citizens of your town or city."

James was reminded forcably of Professor Slughorn for a short moment. There was something about this man whom James thought was alike to another. Though he was unsure who that 'other' was.

"Anyway, it was nice meeting you James…"

"Potter," James said, holding out a hand for the man to shake. He thought he saw a look of dawning comprehension upon Mark's face, but a moment later it was gone and Mark was shaking James' hand rather ferociously, a glint of what appeared to be mischief in his eye.

"Yes, James Potter. Great." Mark said finally letting go of James' hand. "Well, I'd best be off back to my wife, she isn't very good at handling our two daughters alone, cheerio!" And Mark turned his back on the Potters and walked away, presumably back to his two girls and wife.

James stared after him, confused as to where he'd seen that mischievous glint before, because he was sure he had. While he was pondering this, another black-haired boy pounced on him from behind.

"Ha! Prongs you puff!" Sirius grinned. "I'm guessing that little song was for your beloved?"

"Shut up!" James blushed furiously.

"What?" Mrs Potter cried. "My little Jamsie's in love? How come I never knew about this? Why didn't you tell us James?"

"Because it's not important," James muttered, to you guys anyway, he thought.

"Of course it's important James!" Mr Potter scolded. "God, I remember when you were just in diapers, and now you're in love!"

"I'm going to get some air," James muttered leaving the table whilst his father comforted his mother (who had burst into tears at the news), and Sirius was too busy laughing (and probably peeing himself thought James) to notice James had gone.

He left the muggle pub through it's doors, and a blast of cold air burst into his face. It felt oddly relaxing and he took in a deep breath and closed his eyes whilst sitting down on a nearby bench, not a short way away from the pub doors. When James opened his eyes he realised something was different than when he had first entered the muggle pub, with his parents and Sirius. He hadn't noticed it at first because he had just wanted to cool his head, but now his head was clear, he realised there was something in the air. Something big was about to happen, possibly already happening. There was magic all around, even the December snow seemed to glitter upon the frost-ridden ground.

Then he heard it. A scream cut through the silence and the Dark Mark lit up the night sky. Robed figures made their way down the street towards him, setting fire to and destroying everything in sight. James turned on his heel, back into the pub, withdrawing his wand from his jeans pocket as he went. Upon entering, he ran back to the stage and grabbed the microphone from the person who was next for the kareoke. The pub fell silent.

"The Death Eaters are outside, I repeat, there are Death Eaters outside," James warned hoping any magical people present would hear. "Someone warn the Ministry and the rest protect the Muggles. I think the Statute of Secrecy is broken so let's move it people!"

And with that said, James lept from the stage, past his parent's table where Sirius joined him and a cry of "James!" Could be heard issuing from his mother. He shouted back to her "Warn the Ministry!" and kicked the doors open where a couple of Death Eaters were stood outside.

"Stupefy!" James yelled to which Sirius cried also.

The two Death Eaters were immediately knocked out and with a flick of James' wand, were bound and gagged. The two boys jumped over the floor-born Death Eaters onto the street outside. Many more robed figures were prowling, smashing windows and breaking and entering houses, searching for muggles to join their bloodbath.

James was in a battle with two Death Eaters when their was a huge explosion a little up the street. He thought it must be made from someone on his side as Death Eaters that were caught in the blast were thrown unceremoniously into the houses on each side, where they then fell, unconsious, to the ground. After James had finished off his Death Eater, he peered into the smoke from the explosion and tried to make sense of the two shadows which seemed a little shorter than himself.

Soon, the smoke had dispensed and the two figures were shown to be a boy and a girl, possibly around his age. The girl fell to the ground and, shortly after, the boy dropped too. As James drew cautiously closer, he realised the two were covered in cuts, bruises, and soot from the blast.

He bent down between the two figures and checked the girl. She had a cut under her eye, and shocking red hair could slightly be seen from under the layers of dust and rubble. The boy was much worse for wear. He had a black eye, a couple of cuts on his face, a scar on his forehead (although this was old as it was already healed), a possible broken arm, cuts and burns on his arms and legs, and ribbed robes. His glasses hung, broken, from his ear. All of a sudden, he opened his eyes and a gasp fell from his swollen lips as he clutched at James, who was shocked to say the least. The boy's emerald eyes squinted at the person whom he had grabbed, then widened on the realisation of who its was.

"Dad?" He choked, before collapsing; his eyes rolling back into his head leaving a stunned James staring at the boy who mimicked himself, except for his eyes.