Part Two
"James has a kid, James has a kid," Sirius said in a sing-song voice.
"Shut up," James replied, blushing.
"Man, that was weird," Peter muttered, and Remus nodded in agreement.
"So...where are we sleeping?" Remus asked.
"Well, Moony, there's no where in the school with more beds that right here in the Hospital Wing...let's sleep here." Sirius replied. The four boys climbed into bed, and covered themselves cleverly so as to hide themselves from the James's son's view.
Peter fell asleep instantly, and it only took a few moments for Remus to follow suit. Sirius stayed awake an entire five minutes pondering the James kid, but James was up much later.
There was something about that boy that gave James a very funny feeling. James had never been very open to the idea of having children, and he certainly wasn't thinking about it at age sixteen. His mind was overwhelmed with mixed feelings of confusion and loss and regret and wild happiness and another something that tugged at his chest and wrapped around his heart.
When he finally did go to sleep, he was pondering where the boy had gotten such vivid green eyes...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Good morning, Harry!" A girl's voice chirped to an already very awake Harry. However, her cheerful voice brought the sleep of Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and James Potter to an abrupt end.
"Hey Hermione! Hello Ron! How'd you get through Pomfrey? She told me she wasn't going to let me have any visitors today after the way you two acted last night. How did you act?" He asked, his eyes twinkling.
"She was acting like it was no big deal!" Ron exclaimed, and Harry laughed. It felt good.
"So, how did you sleep Harry?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"Not too bad...I had a weird dream though," He muttered the last part more to himself than to either Ron or Hermione.
"What about?" Hermione asked, biting her lip. Harry wondered if he was imagining it or if she was more worried than usual.
"I don't remember the beginning," He said, frowning. "But after that, I was back in the hospital wing, lying in bed, just like I am now, except that it was night. And...and my dad was there. So were Sirius and Lupin...and Pettigrew. All four marauders."
Ron and Hermione stared at each other, then at Harry, then at each other again. Sirius cursed under his breath.
"Ron, go get the map," Hermione commanded. Ron fled up the stairs, and Sirius looked over at James in disbelief. All four Marauders were staring at each other with wide eyes. It wasn't...they COULDN'T mean THEIR map!
"What's going on, Hermione?" Harry frowned, but she was muttering to herself.
"Nothing, Harry," She replied distractedly, which only made Harry frown deeper.
"I know something when I see it, now what's going on?!" He demanded. Hermione opened her mouth but was interrupted by the sound of a door being slammed shut and a snap from Madame Pomfrey.
"Hermione, you're never gonna believe this," Ron said, his face pasty and his eyes wide as he stared down at the map. He wasn't the only one with a pasty face and wide eyes. The Maruaders were staring in shock at the young red-haired boy who was reading the map they had just created and was now going to use it against them. They had only finished that map three weeks ago!
Hermione leaped out of her seat and ran to Ron, peering at the map. She didn't look surprised.
"Harry," She said. "I'm really sorry."
"For what?" Harry asked with a confused look on his face.
"For this," She replied, raising her wand and pointing it at him. "Dormando," She whispered, and Harry fell into a deep sleep.
"All right, you four, I know you're here." She looked sharply at the four beds, and her look did not soften as they climbed out and looked guiltily at her.
"Why didn't you leave?" She asked, her voice tight and constricted.
"Well...you know we have to use the same parchment to get back and we have kinda...um...misplaced the parchment?" Remus explained. Hermione's eyes got very wide.
"WHAT?!" She spluttered, looking at the Marauders in disbelief. Suddenly, out of the silence, Ron laughed. Hermione turned on him with fury in her eyes.
"This is NOT funny, Ron Weasley!" Hermione snapped.
"Sorry," He mumbled, rolling his eyes. Hermione spun around to glare at the Marauders.
"Well, what's your brilliant plan?" She demanded.
"Just to hang out here in the future until we find the parchment, I suppose," Sirius shrugged. Hermione felt her eyes widen.
"Wh...what?" She spluttered. "And WHAT, exactly, do you plan to tell Harry?" She demanded.
"The truth." Remus replied.
"Yeah, it's not like he's never seen Daddio before!" Peter said, nudging James, who blushed.
"Why I ought to-" Ron began through his teeth. To have the man who would later condemn Harry's dad to death tease him about never seeing his son...
"You could never understand the consequences." Hermione interrupted before Ron would say or do anything to give away the events of the future.
"Whatever do you mean?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well...it's just..."
"It's hard to explain..."
"Let us do the talking." Hermione finally said. "WITHOUT your presence if you DON'T mind...and remember, I have the map, so you can't try to sneak in."
"How did my son end up to be friends with such a stick-in-the-mud?" James muttered.
"Oh I wouldn't say that," Ron teased. "I remember one certain person instructing Harry and me to feed Slytherins poisoned cakes..."
"Shut UP, Ron!" She blushed, as the Marauders laughed. "We HAD to..."
"Yeah, whatever," He rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, I suggest you four leave...now. We'll meet in about half an hour."
"Where?" Ron asked.
"The Marauder Headquarters of course!" Sirius chirped.
"The WHAT?" Harry and Ron demanded in unison.
"Oh my God, please tell me that James Potter's son knows about the Marauder Headquarters!" Sirius exclaimed, sounding horrified.
"Never heard of it, and neither has Harry," Ron replied.
"What the heck is up with that?" James muttered. Hermione shrugged.
"Okay, you know that false door in the Charms corridor that all the first years try to use and it just frustrates them?" Peter asked.
"Yeah...I had a bad experience with that door myself." Ron answered.
"Well, tickle it just below the handle and say 'mischief makers' and it'll open." Remus promised.
"Fine," Hermione said, biting her lip. She wasn't particularly keen on having to tell Harry about all this. "See you then." She waved them off, then turned to Ron.
"This is NOT going to be fun," She muttered.
"You can say that again!" Ron replied. They carefully sat by Harry's bed, watching his peaceful sleep. Neither wanted to wake him, but they didn't have much of a choice.
"Harry," Hermione mumbled, shaking his shoulder a bit. "Harry, wake up,"
"Hmm?" Harry asked, sitting up and blinking. "What's going on...HEY!" He suddenly looked wide awake, and was glaring at Hermione. "The last thing I remember is YOU putting me under a sleeping spell."
"I'm very sorry, Harry, I'm about to explain." She sighed, looking over at Ron.
"Don't look at me!" He said. "YOU just said you were going to explain!" Hermione sighed.
"Fine. Harry, remember that dream you were telling us about?"
"Yeah..." Harry replied, confused.
"Well, it wasn't a dream..."
"So wait a second, my dad is HERE?! Now?! As a sixteen-year-old?" Harry demanded, unable to believe it.
"Yes," Ron and Hermione replied for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"And Sirius? And Remus and Peter too?"
"Yes,"
"And I can't tell them anything?"
"Right."
"Oh my God..." Harry muttered...again. It seemed like they had had this conversation about a million times. "But...with a Quill...I'm so confused!" he cried.
"Look, you'll have to see for yourself." Hermione sighed. Harry was fully dressed in his uniform. After a very careful inspection (right in the middle of Ron and Hermione's explanation, I might add) Madame Pomfrey had agreed to let Harry out for the afternoon 'and then see how he was doing'. For the trio, it was convenient timing.
"I don't believe it!" He cried.
"You have to pretend like nothing's wrong," Ron insisted once again.
"What, you expect to look at a young version of my DEAD father who I never knew and pretend I'm perfectly happy living at home with him and Mummy?" Harry demanded. Ron winced. He didn't know how hard this was going to be for his best friend.
"You can't tell him who 'Mummy' is," Hermione suddenly realized.
"WHAT?"
"You can't tell them Lily is your mother!"
"What, aren't they dating or something?"
"Not necessarily," Hermione replied matter-of-factly.
"Oh my God...I don't want to think about my dad with anyone but my mum, okay?" Harry replied, a look of disgust on his face.
"Okay, just don't mention it," Hermione replied. It was a good thing the halls were deserted. The way they were talking ANYONE could figure out what was going on!
"Which door did they say again?" Ron muttered, squinting down the hall.
"This one," Hermione replied, stepping up to the troublesome first-year-terrorizing door. She tickled under the handle and muttered the words under her breath.
"Ready?" She asked, looking around at Harry. He nodded grimly.
"Here we go..." Ron muttered as Hermione opened the door.
The four Marauders were talking and joking around. From what the trio could tell, Remus and Sirius were involved in a thumb war.
"Twelve sickles on Padfoot," James said.
"You are so on!" Peter smirked. They watched and cheered as Sirius and Remus battled it out.
"Um...hello," Ron said. Sirius made the mistake of looking up, allowing Remus to win the match.
"Told you!" Peter crowed.
"Sirius, you made me lose a bet to Wormtail!" James whined.
"Again?" Remus snickered. He and Peter did some complicated high-five.
"Hello?" Ron tried again.
"Huh? Oh, sorry," James said. "Almost forgot we were in the future."
"Okay, um, everyone, this is Harry." Hermione said nervously. "Harry, you already know everyone right?"
"Uh...yeah," Harry's green eyes were open wide. No, he didn't know EVERYONE. Yet even those he did know, Sirius and Remus, looked much different...so young, so carefree, so innocent...so alive.
"So this is my son?" James asked, standing up and looking Harry up and down.
"Jesus, James, he looks just like you!" Remus cried, standing up as well.
"Not true," Sirius interjected. "Since when does James have green eyes?"
"Green eyes?" Peter asked, sounding confused.
"Yeah, are you blind?" Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Must have got those from his mother!" Remus said, nudging James who blushed.
"So...this is really weird." Harry said. Actually, the Marauders had no IDEA how weird this was for Harry. His father...Harry couldn't believe he was looking at James Potter. And even more unbelievable: James Potter at age sixteen!
"Yeah," James replied, not looking Harry in the eye.
"I'd hate to think of my dad being the same age as me," Sirius shuddered.
"Tell me about it," Remus replied. "That would just be so...wrong!"
"So, does James here actually ground you?" Peter asked curiously.
"I would NEVER ground anybody!" James cried, mortified that Peter would even suggest such a thing.
"How do you know?" Peter taunted. Harry went white. What was he supposed to say?
"Well, not grounded often..." Harry said cautiously. "A few Howlers though,"
"James? Sending Howlers?" Remus laughed. "That's priceless."
"What? I send you Howlers?" James asked, still pale. "I'm so sorry!"
"Trust me, he deserves it," Hermione said, glaring at Harry as if to say 'it's too bad you can't REALLY get a Howler for everything you do!' Harry couldn't help but crack a grin.
"James has a kid, James has a kid," Sirius said in a sing-song voice.
"Shut up," James replied, blushing.
"Man, that was weird," Peter muttered, and Remus nodded in agreement.
"So...where are we sleeping?" Remus asked.
"Well, Moony, there's no where in the school with more beds that right here in the Hospital Wing...let's sleep here." Sirius replied. The four boys climbed into bed, and covered themselves cleverly so as to hide themselves from the James's son's view.
Peter fell asleep instantly, and it only took a few moments for Remus to follow suit. Sirius stayed awake an entire five minutes pondering the James kid, but James was up much later.
There was something about that boy that gave James a very funny feeling. James had never been very open to the idea of having children, and he certainly wasn't thinking about it at age sixteen. His mind was overwhelmed with mixed feelings of confusion and loss and regret and wild happiness and another something that tugged at his chest and wrapped around his heart.
When he finally did go to sleep, he was pondering where the boy had gotten such vivid green eyes...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Good morning, Harry!" A girl's voice chirped to an already very awake Harry. However, her cheerful voice brought the sleep of Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and James Potter to an abrupt end.
"Hey Hermione! Hello Ron! How'd you get through Pomfrey? She told me she wasn't going to let me have any visitors today after the way you two acted last night. How did you act?" He asked, his eyes twinkling.
"She was acting like it was no big deal!" Ron exclaimed, and Harry laughed. It felt good.
"So, how did you sleep Harry?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"Not too bad...I had a weird dream though," He muttered the last part more to himself than to either Ron or Hermione.
"What about?" Hermione asked, biting her lip. Harry wondered if he was imagining it or if she was more worried than usual.
"I don't remember the beginning," He said, frowning. "But after that, I was back in the hospital wing, lying in bed, just like I am now, except that it was night. And...and my dad was there. So were Sirius and Lupin...and Pettigrew. All four marauders."
Ron and Hermione stared at each other, then at Harry, then at each other again. Sirius cursed under his breath.
"Ron, go get the map," Hermione commanded. Ron fled up the stairs, and Sirius looked over at James in disbelief. All four Marauders were staring at each other with wide eyes. It wasn't...they COULDN'T mean THEIR map!
"What's going on, Hermione?" Harry frowned, but she was muttering to herself.
"Nothing, Harry," She replied distractedly, which only made Harry frown deeper.
"I know something when I see it, now what's going on?!" He demanded. Hermione opened her mouth but was interrupted by the sound of a door being slammed shut and a snap from Madame Pomfrey.
"Hermione, you're never gonna believe this," Ron said, his face pasty and his eyes wide as he stared down at the map. He wasn't the only one with a pasty face and wide eyes. The Maruaders were staring in shock at the young red-haired boy who was reading the map they had just created and was now going to use it against them. They had only finished that map three weeks ago!
Hermione leaped out of her seat and ran to Ron, peering at the map. She didn't look surprised.
"Harry," She said. "I'm really sorry."
"For what?" Harry asked with a confused look on his face.
"For this," She replied, raising her wand and pointing it at him. "Dormando," She whispered, and Harry fell into a deep sleep.
"All right, you four, I know you're here." She looked sharply at the four beds, and her look did not soften as they climbed out and looked guiltily at her.
"Why didn't you leave?" She asked, her voice tight and constricted.
"Well...you know we have to use the same parchment to get back and we have kinda...um...misplaced the parchment?" Remus explained. Hermione's eyes got very wide.
"WHAT?!" She spluttered, looking at the Marauders in disbelief. Suddenly, out of the silence, Ron laughed. Hermione turned on him with fury in her eyes.
"This is NOT funny, Ron Weasley!" Hermione snapped.
"Sorry," He mumbled, rolling his eyes. Hermione spun around to glare at the Marauders.
"Well, what's your brilliant plan?" She demanded.
"Just to hang out here in the future until we find the parchment, I suppose," Sirius shrugged. Hermione felt her eyes widen.
"Wh...what?" She spluttered. "And WHAT, exactly, do you plan to tell Harry?" She demanded.
"The truth." Remus replied.
"Yeah, it's not like he's never seen Daddio before!" Peter said, nudging James, who blushed.
"Why I ought to-" Ron began through his teeth. To have the man who would later condemn Harry's dad to death tease him about never seeing his son...
"You could never understand the consequences." Hermione interrupted before Ron would say or do anything to give away the events of the future.
"Whatever do you mean?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well...it's just..."
"It's hard to explain..."
"Let us do the talking." Hermione finally said. "WITHOUT your presence if you DON'T mind...and remember, I have the map, so you can't try to sneak in."
"How did my son end up to be friends with such a stick-in-the-mud?" James muttered.
"Oh I wouldn't say that," Ron teased. "I remember one certain person instructing Harry and me to feed Slytherins poisoned cakes..."
"Shut UP, Ron!" She blushed, as the Marauders laughed. "We HAD to..."
"Yeah, whatever," He rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, I suggest you four leave...now. We'll meet in about half an hour."
"Where?" Ron asked.
"The Marauder Headquarters of course!" Sirius chirped.
"The WHAT?" Harry and Ron demanded in unison.
"Oh my God, please tell me that James Potter's son knows about the Marauder Headquarters!" Sirius exclaimed, sounding horrified.
"Never heard of it, and neither has Harry," Ron replied.
"What the heck is up with that?" James muttered. Hermione shrugged.
"Okay, you know that false door in the Charms corridor that all the first years try to use and it just frustrates them?" Peter asked.
"Yeah...I had a bad experience with that door myself." Ron answered.
"Well, tickle it just below the handle and say 'mischief makers' and it'll open." Remus promised.
"Fine," Hermione said, biting her lip. She wasn't particularly keen on having to tell Harry about all this. "See you then." She waved them off, then turned to Ron.
"This is NOT going to be fun," She muttered.
"You can say that again!" Ron replied. They carefully sat by Harry's bed, watching his peaceful sleep. Neither wanted to wake him, but they didn't have much of a choice.
"Harry," Hermione mumbled, shaking his shoulder a bit. "Harry, wake up,"
"Hmm?" Harry asked, sitting up and blinking. "What's going on...HEY!" He suddenly looked wide awake, and was glaring at Hermione. "The last thing I remember is YOU putting me under a sleeping spell."
"I'm very sorry, Harry, I'm about to explain." She sighed, looking over at Ron.
"Don't look at me!" He said. "YOU just said you were going to explain!" Hermione sighed.
"Fine. Harry, remember that dream you were telling us about?"
"Yeah..." Harry replied, confused.
"Well, it wasn't a dream..."
"So wait a second, my dad is HERE?! Now?! As a sixteen-year-old?" Harry demanded, unable to believe it.
"Yes," Ron and Hermione replied for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"And Sirius? And Remus and Peter too?"
"Yes,"
"And I can't tell them anything?"
"Right."
"Oh my God..." Harry muttered...again. It seemed like they had had this conversation about a million times. "But...with a Quill...I'm so confused!" he cried.
"Look, you'll have to see for yourself." Hermione sighed. Harry was fully dressed in his uniform. After a very careful inspection (right in the middle of Ron and Hermione's explanation, I might add) Madame Pomfrey had agreed to let Harry out for the afternoon 'and then see how he was doing'. For the trio, it was convenient timing.
"I don't believe it!" He cried.
"You have to pretend like nothing's wrong," Ron insisted once again.
"What, you expect to look at a young version of my DEAD father who I never knew and pretend I'm perfectly happy living at home with him and Mummy?" Harry demanded. Ron winced. He didn't know how hard this was going to be for his best friend.
"You can't tell him who 'Mummy' is," Hermione suddenly realized.
"WHAT?"
"You can't tell them Lily is your mother!"
"What, aren't they dating or something?"
"Not necessarily," Hermione replied matter-of-factly.
"Oh my God...I don't want to think about my dad with anyone but my mum, okay?" Harry replied, a look of disgust on his face.
"Okay, just don't mention it," Hermione replied. It was a good thing the halls were deserted. The way they were talking ANYONE could figure out what was going on!
"Which door did they say again?" Ron muttered, squinting down the hall.
"This one," Hermione replied, stepping up to the troublesome first-year-terrorizing door. She tickled under the handle and muttered the words under her breath.
"Ready?" She asked, looking around at Harry. He nodded grimly.
"Here we go..." Ron muttered as Hermione opened the door.
The four Marauders were talking and joking around. From what the trio could tell, Remus and Sirius were involved in a thumb war.
"Twelve sickles on Padfoot," James said.
"You are so on!" Peter smirked. They watched and cheered as Sirius and Remus battled it out.
"Um...hello," Ron said. Sirius made the mistake of looking up, allowing Remus to win the match.
"Told you!" Peter crowed.
"Sirius, you made me lose a bet to Wormtail!" James whined.
"Again?" Remus snickered. He and Peter did some complicated high-five.
"Hello?" Ron tried again.
"Huh? Oh, sorry," James said. "Almost forgot we were in the future."
"Okay, um, everyone, this is Harry." Hermione said nervously. "Harry, you already know everyone right?"
"Uh...yeah," Harry's green eyes were open wide. No, he didn't know EVERYONE. Yet even those he did know, Sirius and Remus, looked much different...so young, so carefree, so innocent...so alive.
"So this is my son?" James asked, standing up and looking Harry up and down.
"Jesus, James, he looks just like you!" Remus cried, standing up as well.
"Not true," Sirius interjected. "Since when does James have green eyes?"
"Green eyes?" Peter asked, sounding confused.
"Yeah, are you blind?" Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Must have got those from his mother!" Remus said, nudging James who blushed.
"So...this is really weird." Harry said. Actually, the Marauders had no IDEA how weird this was for Harry. His father...Harry couldn't believe he was looking at James Potter. And even more unbelievable: James Potter at age sixteen!
"Yeah," James replied, not looking Harry in the eye.
"I'd hate to think of my dad being the same age as me," Sirius shuddered.
"Tell me about it," Remus replied. "That would just be so...wrong!"
"So, does James here actually ground you?" Peter asked curiously.
"I would NEVER ground anybody!" James cried, mortified that Peter would even suggest such a thing.
"How do you know?" Peter taunted. Harry went white. What was he supposed to say?
"Well, not grounded often..." Harry said cautiously. "A few Howlers though,"
"James? Sending Howlers?" Remus laughed. "That's priceless."
"What? I send you Howlers?" James asked, still pale. "I'm so sorry!"
"Trust me, he deserves it," Hermione said, glaring at Harry as if to say 'it's too bad you can't REALLY get a Howler for everything you do!' Harry couldn't help but crack a grin.