A/N:  Here you go!  The FINAL CHAPTER!!!

Chapter 30: Mother, Father and Son

"It is never easy to say farewell, so instead I will tell all of you what a privilege these past seven years have been. While I do hope that all of you have learned a thing of two about magic in your time here, I feel confident in saying that you have taught all of the professors here, myself included, many valuable lessons as well.  We have witnessed the rise and fall of the Dark Lord Voldemort, something which many never even dreamed possible.  We have seen his supporters brought to justice, and those wrongfully accused pardoned.  But let us not forget why we are here today: to celebrate the end of another year, the graduation of another class.  Let it not be said that hard work and determination go un-rewarded.  It is now my honor to present to you this year's class valedictorian, and Head Girl, Hermoine Granger!"  Dumbledore declared, countless cheers around him.

"Come on, Ron," Harry said.  "Just one game of chess before we catch the train?"

"For the last time, no!" Ron said, grinning from ear to ear under his flaming red hair.  "I just know that you charmed your chess set so that you always win.  Your queen and knight are in league with each other!"

"Ron, you are such a bad loser," Hermoine said, sitting beside him on a couch in Gryffindor common room.

"I am not," he muttered defensively, causing Harry to snicker.

"Yeah, and I'm the Queen of England!" Harry said. 

"Your majesty," Ron grinned, standing up and bowing before Harry, who rolled his eyes.

"Grow up!" Hermoine said, pulling Ron back onto the couch, but causing him to bump his knee on the coffee table.

"Ow! Watch it!" said Ron, rubbing his knee.

"Sorry," Hermoine told him, kissing his cheek.

Harry sighed.  "You just have to rub it in that Ginny left already, don't you."  Harry had been dating Ron's younger sister, Ginny Weasley, for the last year, but she had left Hogwarts earlier that day with her family.

"Oh, fine," sighed Ron.  "We can play a game of chess."  Ron knew that only two things could cheer Harry up now: quidditch or chess.  And since quidditch wasn't a feasible option right now, he settled for the latter of the two.

About half way through the game, the portrait hole swung open and Dumbledore entered, looking quite pleased with himself.  He was not alone though, Fawkes, his faithful phoenix was resting on his shoulder, and Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House, was right behind him, with Sirius Black trailing at her heels.

"Headmaster?" Hermoine asked.  "Is – is something wrong?"

"Quite the contrary, Hermoine," Dumbledore said with that familiar twinkle in his eye.

"Sirius!" Harry called out joyfully.  "You made it!"

"Wild hippogriffs couldn't have kept me away," Sirius said, winking at Harry.  "As if I would miss my godson's graduation from Hogwarts!  And before you ask, Remus – I mean Professor Lupin," he said with mock seriousness, "is here as well.  He is waiting for us in Hogsmeade."

"Harry," Dumbledore said, "I have something here for you.  What you do with it is your decision, and I have the utmost faith that you will choose wisely."

Harry exchanged a confused look with Ron, who shrugged.  "What is it, sir?"

"This," he said, pulling a wand out from his robes.  "The brother wand of your own, that which belonged to Voldemort."

Ron clapped his hands to his mouth and Hermoine gasped.  Harry just stared pointedly at the wand.  He then reached out and took it from Dumbledore's outstretched hand.  Not waiting for a second thought, or perhaps even a first one, Harry instinctually snapped the end of the wand and retrieved the phoenix feather from its core.  Harry knew that this feather came from Fawkes and must have once been a beautiful array of colors, but it was now black with age and residue from the dark magic it was used for. 

Harry then set the feather down next to the chess set on the table in front of Fawkes, who cocked his head to the side, staring at his charred feather.  The phoenix then turned to Dumbledore, who smiled knowingly and nodded, before focusing back on the feather.  He then let out a shrill note, sending tingles down the spines of everyone in the room, before shedding a single tear onto the feather, which instantly melted into its original form.  Fawkes then took the feather in his beak and flew over to Harry, perching on his shoulder.  All eyes were now fixed on Harry and Fawkes. 

"What is it, Fawkes?" Harry asked curiously, petting the phoenix's head.

Fawkes opened his beak, it looked as though he was going to reply, but instead he simply released the rejuvenated feather, and everyone now watched as it floated down and onto the chessboard, landing between Harry's queen and knight.  What happened next, only two people in the world could explain, and it was clear that one would not say without the other.  First the chessboard began to rattle, and then the table it was sitting on.  The floor began to shake next, causing the furniture in the common room to, in addition to everyone present. 

The lights in the room flickered and eventually went out.  Everyone was grabbing hold of the piece of furniture nearest to them, trying not to fall.  Everyone, that is, except Harry.

"What's going on?" Ron shouted above the racket.

"Earthquake?" Sirius shouted back, looking toward Dumbledore.

"Doubtful," Dumbledore said, looking as though he was enjoying himself.

"Harry, be careful!" Hermoine yelled, clinging to Ron for support.  Even Crookshanks, Hermoine's cat, was digging his claws into a sofa, hoping, no doubt, not to be thrown across the room.

Harry didn't hear her though.  He was reaching out for the feather.  The instant he touched it, something happened.  The shaking stopped, and the purest of white lights shot out from the feather on the tabletop, and illuminated the room.  White sparks seemed to be flying from each individual line of the feather, and in every direction.

Two of these sparks circled the room, and then both met at the same destination: Harry's queen.  Immediately following them was another set of sparks, this time meeting at the knight.  Each chess piece levitated above the board, hovering for a moment, before they began to grow in size, taking more of a human shape.

Everyone was staring at the spectacle wide-eyed, with a sort of dumbfounded expression on their faces.  Harry could feel his heart racing as he watched intently as what were once his chess pieces, a gift from none other than Dumbledore himself on his 16th birthday, grew limbs and hair.  The queen, Harry noticed first, began gracefully stretching her arms as they appeared, finally running her hands through her long, auburn tresses that fell to the small of her back before landing gently on the ground, her face hidden behind her hair.  The knight stretched his aching limbs as well, but made no effort to touch his recently sprouted black hair, although he did reach in his pocket for something that he placed on his face.  He landed on the floor as well, only somehow managed to catch himself standing.  He then reached his hand out to help the nearly middle-aged woman up.  They now stood together, facing everyone, his arm around her shoulder, her hand in his.

"Oh my god," whispered McGonagall, bringing her hand to her mouth. Dumbledore nodded to her, and very quietly, led her out of the common room despite her silent protests.

"It's not possible…" Sirius muttered.

Harry was at a loss for words.  He could feel tears stinging at the back of his eyes, but he did his best to fight them.  He opened his mouth trying to force some sort of sound to come out, but it was of no use.  He couldn't do it!

"He looks just like you, James," the woman whispered, wiping a tear from her face.

"And with your eyes," James said, his face slowly breaking into a smile.

Harry choked on his attempted words once again, but finally managed to find his voice.  "Mum?  Dad?" he asked in disbelief.  Lily bit her lip and nodded.  "Mum!  Dad!" Harry shouted it this time, jumping over the coffee table and across the room; into his parents' open arms for the first time in over 16 years. 

"My little baby," Lily kept repeating over and over, hugging Harry close to her, rocking gently back and forth.  Under normal circumstances, someone treating him in this childish manner would cause Harry great anger, but he found it to be very calming right now.  He cried tears of happiness into his mother's shoulder, as she did the same into his.

Other than that, the room was silent.  Well, until Ron finally broke it.  "Fred and George are not going to believe this," he said stupidly.  It was true though.  Ron's twin brothers had idolized Harry's father and his friends, known as the Marauders, during their time at Hogwarts.

"Ron!" Hermoine hissed, hitting his chest with the back of her hand.

Harry quickly turned to face everyone again, smiling wider than he ever had before.  He was even laughing.  James and Lily turned as well, finally taking in their surroundings.

"Padfoot, you old devil," James grinned.

"Prongs, you've done it again," Sirius said, smiling and shaking his head.  "And Lily- God, it's good to see you both again… but, how?"  Lily looked from Sirius to James and shook her head.  Sirius laughed a little as he saw the familiar troublesome grin growing across James's face.  "I should have known…"

"What on earth…?" Lily said, feeling something rub her ankle.

"Crookshanks!" Hermoine said.  "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'll take him upstairs, he really didn't mean any harm, sorry if he hurt you, really-"

"You'll have to excuse her," Ron said.  "She gets a little, er- chatty when she's nervous.  Especially when it has to do with that mad cat…"  Ron, of course, had not stopped referring to Crookshanks as that, despite the fact that the cat had good reason to chase after his former pet rat, Scabbers, seeing as how he wasn't a rat at all, but an illegal animagus wizard.

"It's no bother," Lily said kindly, leaning down to pick up the now purring cat.  She looked into the cats green eyes as she held him in her arms, and gasped.  "Erimentha!"

"What?" James asked, sounding shocked.

"You're joking!" Sirius said.

"No, I swear it.  Look, James.  It's Erimentha!"

Erimentha… Erimentha…Harry thought.  Why do I know that name… It sounds so familiar.  Harry wracked his brain, trying to think of why he knew the name, when it suddenly struck him.  "Eri?" he asked quietly.

Lily smiled proudly.  "Yes, yes, Harry, that's right.  Eri."

Ron pulled a face.  "Who's Eri?"

"My kitten that ran away… just before… just before…" Harry choked again.

Just then the portrait door swung open and Dumbledore returned to them.  "A pleasant reunion, I trust?" he asked, smiling widely.

"How could it be anything else?" Sirius asked jovially.

Lily pulled herself away from James, Sirius and Dumbledore, who were now in serious discussion (catching James up on all that had happened over the years) and stood to the side, her arms around her fully grown son.  "And who have we here, Harry?" she whispered in his ear.

"Oh- Oh!  Mum, these are my best friends.  Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley," Harry said, grinning from ear to ear, no doubt very excited at the prospect of his friends (and himself) finally being able to meet his family.

"It's nice to meet you," Ron said, extending his hand to Lily.

"Mrs. Potter?"  Hermoine asked.

"Lily."

Hermoine smiled.  "Lily," she said, starting again.  "I just, well, that is to say, I don't understand.  We are always taught that you can't bring people back from the dead, no offense…"

"None taken," Lily smiled.

"But how is it that you've come back?  It just doesn't seem logical."

"And quite right you are, Hermoine," Dumbledore said, opening up their conversation. He then turned to face Lily.  "Our Miss Granger here is quite like you were in school.  Head Girl as well, and always trying to keep the boys out of trouble."  This caused Hermoine to blush. 

"Honestly, Hermoine, I've no idea…" Lily said.

James coughed loudly.  "I might be able to help explain," he said.  "Provided that Albus helps me…"

"Naturally," Dumbledore said.  Everyone found seats around the common room, waiting anxiously to hear how it had all happened.

"It all started with the rogue present from you, Sirius, and Remus and Peter," James said.

"What present?" Sirius asked.

"The Mirror of Erised."  Harry's eyes grew wide.  He too knew of that mirror, having lost many a nights sleep thinking of what he saw in it, unquestionably the scene he now found himself in.  "More than anything I wanted to find the means of deflecting the Killing Curse… after all, it had claimed the lives my remaining family, my mother and sister.  I just couldn't quite figure out how to use the Mirror to my advantage… until we were at the Palace of the Prophets.

"Your Gran," James was now nodding at Lily, "Victoria, she told me something, gave me a clue.  The next time I looked in the Mirror, I knew what I was looking for.  The question now became how to achieve it."

Lily looked up at Dumbledore suddenly.  "Gran!  How is she?"

Dumbledore smiled.  "She's just as feisty as ever, and anxious to see you all again." 

"She hasn't even seen Harry since he was just a baby…" Lily said, wiping a tear from her eye.

"I have-" Harry started, but Lily cut him off.

"We'll discuss it later," she whispered quickly.  She then looked to James.  "Continue."

"Well, it finally occurred to me, the one thing to counter a curse of death would be a spell of life.  I know it doesn't sound as though it makes much sense, but Albus and I worked together and finally, it all came together.  If you charmed the wand, it would not kill.  The charm was only temporary, but it was a risk I had to take.  Lily," he said with an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you, but you have to understand, if word had gotten out about it… we could have been in even more danger."  Lily smiled slightly and nodded, letting James know that she understood.

"But then, Mr. Potter- er- James, well, what happened if you didn't die?" Hermoine asked.

"The wand was able to take our lives from us, but not kill us.  Instead, our essence… our souls were trapped within the wand, until their release.  Harry, that is why we were able to appear… why you saw us that night…"  Harry nodded.  He remembered the day as if it were yesterday.  He had been trying to win the Tri-Wizard Tournament when he was transported to the rebirthing of Voldemort.  It was the echoes of his parents, and the others killed by the wand, that had allowed him to escape.  "The rest though, well, that was all the genius of Albus." James said, smiling.

"Oh, as flattered as I am, it was still your idea, James.  But, I shall continue the story.  Once Harry was safe, I returned to Godric's Hollow to retrieve you both from the remains of your house, transfiguring your bodies into a more er- discreet form.  Knowing how fond you both were of playing wizard's chess, I thought it was only appropriate.  And then, when the time was right, I transferred you from my care to your son's until such a time as he was able to release you from your state."  He gestured toward Harry.

"Wait until Snape gets a look at you," Sirius laughed.

James quickly whipped his head around to face Sirius.  "Snape?  What about Snape?"

Harry laughed.  "That's the same reaction Sirius had!" 

"Severus is a professor here, James, and he has been for a number of years," Dumbledore told him as a sly grin appeared across James's face.  "And whatever you do with that bit of information, promise me one thing."  James nodded.  "Never tell me what you are thinking at this moment, for I believe it is best that I not know."  This caused everyone in the room to start laughing.

"Remus!" Sirius shouted all of a sudden.

"What? Where?" James said excitedly.

"Not here, you prat.  He's been waiting on us at the Three Broomsticks… well, on me and Harry, Hermoine and Ron.  Oh, he's going to throw a fit at not being here…"

"Well, perhaps it's time to pay dear old Moony a visit," James said.  "Just as soon as I-"

"James!" Lily said.  "You are a grown man!  There will be no pranking!"

"But, Lil… come on, really… think about it… he'd never see it coming."

"Yeah," Sirius said.  "Think of the possibilities."

"James, Sirius. Leave. Severus. Alone.  This is a time for family and friends, not to settle a grudge."

"I think she should let them at him," Ron whispered to Harry, who couldn't help but laugh.  Even Hermoine nodded slightly at the idea.

"Let's just go and meet Remus, alright boys?" Lily said, standing up and taking James's hand in hers.

"Sure, sure… Snape can wait."

"James!"

"Only joking, baby.  Only joking…"  James winked at Sirius who nodded. 

"Shall we then?" Lily asked.  Everyone agreed and started shuffling about the room getting ready, except Dumbledore who excused himself saying he had some work to attend to.  They all exited through the portrait hole, the Fat Lady expressing her extreme surprise and joy at seeing Lily and James again, and headed for Hogsmeade.

"This place will never change," James said absently, looking at the moving staircases and down the various hallways.  Lily simply smiled and sighed contentedly, James on one side of her and Harry on the other.

The motley crew made their way into Hogsmeade and down the main street, with a minimal number of people turning and staring or pointing at Lily and James walking with Harry.  They finally arrived at the entrance of the Three Broomsticks, and Sirius threw the door open.

"Oy!  Remus!" Sirius bellowed.

"Well, it's about bloody time you all get here!" Remus shouted.  "I've been waiting for nearly two hours!  What the he-  holy God!"  Remus blinked and rubbed his eyes, making sure they were not deceiving him.  "James? Lily?" he choked.  Lily and James each smiled and nodded excitedly.  "Lily!  Prongs!" Remus shouted this time, full of joy.  He rushed over to his old friends and embraced them as everyone in the tavern watched with shocked expressions on their faces.

"You little sap," Sirius laughed.

"Get over here, you great git," James said, creating an opening for Sirius to join them.

"My troublesome Marauders, back together again," Lily smiled. 

"How?  Why?" Remus said, struggling to find the words.  "How on earth did you manage to pull this off?"

"That, my dear Moony, is an excellent question, the answer to which is a very long story," James said, leading everyone to a large table in the back of the tavern.  "And it all begins with your stolen present…"

"No," Lily laughed.  "It all begins with James's obsessive nature…"  And so the story was told once again, only this time with more detail. Harry learned more about his parents' lives than he could have dreamed of before, and, even so, couldn't wait to hear more.

The end.

A/N: Well, there you have it… it's all over… if anyone has any interest, this story is still available for viewing at the following link (where it was originally written)…

http://boards.harrypotter.warnerbros.com/web/hpus/messages.jsp?topic=2681383&board=Book&so=a