Hello everyone. I am not J.K. Rowling and I don't own anything.

If you've stuck it out and read the story to the end I'd like to thank you. I apologize for taking so long to update, but in the end we got here!

It was 12:25 am. A Wednesday. The great hall was full of students eating lunch. All was quiet as they stuffed their faces, pondered life, or silently plotted. A normal day, in three of the four houses, but the usually rowdy Gryffindors were strangely subdued. One of their number was missing. Lily Evans stared listlessly at her mashed potatoes, though she couldn't quite figure out why she was so bored. Remus and Peter were actually having an intellectual discussion about green beans of all things and Sirius was silently freaking out. Sirius knew the others thought Prongs was flouncing around the castle somewhere or perhaps the quidditch pitch, but Sirius knew the truth. Prongs was *drum roll please* ...in an alternate dimension! There was a reason Sirius was doing his doing his freaking out silently. He did not want anyone to think he was crazy, he had a reputation to maintain. But, as Sirius would later remark, craziness seemed to be predestined to occur that day.

At exactly 12:34, in the middle of the Hufflepuff table there appeared a very confused stag. The minimal amount of conversation in the hall stopped immediately. The deer tried to leap to the floor, but the majority of its hooves were inconveniently placed in someone's food (or in one case, drink) and the poor beast toppled over on to a first year, who'd been too startled to move. Luckily neither was seriously injured, and the stag galloped off, out of the great hall. Later, the first year would say that the stag had smelled of syrup, but by then the incident had been forgotten by most, dismissed as one of the many particularities one had to put up with at a magic school.

Later, Sirius found Prongs, who was human again, on the outskirts of the forbidden forest lying in a sticky heap.

"Oh, hello Sirius. You won't believe the dream I've just had," said the syrupy boy. Several leafs had attached themselves to him.

Sirius chuckled at that, and every time he tried to speak, it made him laugh more and more until he could barely stand, so merry was he.

But through some form of best friend telepathy (a magic even muggles can utilize) Prongs was able to understand what Sirius was unable to say. "Wait, was it not a dream then?"

And in response Sirius pulled a miniature tiger from his robe pocket, and said "We simply must finish that game of parcheesi, my deer."

Prong smiled and said, "Oh you're on," he seemed to notice that he was covered in several different types of food, "That is, you're on as soon as I've had a shower".

"I was going to win, you know."

"In your dreams, Padfoot, in your dreams".

Scorpius Malfoy was having a dream. The type of dream that you can't remember, but upon waking gives you a pleasant feeling as though something wonderful has happened or is about to happen. Of course, this effect is usually limited to waking up naturally, and Scorpius was being shaken rather rudely. And a very distant someone was calling his name.

"Scorpius!"

"Scorpius!"

"SCORPIUS!"

Scorpius supposed he would eventually have to open his eyes. Still… It was quite bothersome. He decided to respond to the irritating auditory onslaught with the appropriate look of Malfoy Bored Annoyance™. It became obvious that bored annoyance may not have been the appropriate emotion for the scene after precisely three seconds. This was the time it took Scorpius to process his father's very worried face peering down at him from a kneeling position.

"Dad?"

Scorpius's father gathered him into a very genuine un-Malfoy-like hug until he noticed The headmistress beaming and a dark haired man staring at the suddenly very interesting wall. He quickly released Scorpius and softly grunted, "I'm glad you're safe."

The man ceased his deep investigation into the wallpaper's less than intricate design and spoke. "I suppose we can call off the aurors now."

Scorpius's father and Mcgonagall stared.

"James is still missing, Harry," Mcgonagall said tenderly.

"Oh, I know," said the man. "But he'll be back soon. I'm certain of it."

Scorpius's father glowered. "It is a wonder you have any children left, you're so blaisé about their safety! Come Scorpius! We're leaving."

Scorpius, who was still slightly tipsy with sleep, staggered to his feet and made a move to follow his father, before he took a long hard look at the other man in the room. He was wearing different glasses and his hair was beginning to grey, but it was definitely the same face. He hesitated a moment, unsure.

Harry smiled at him. "Go along Scorpius, your father doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Scorpius followed Harry's instructions pausing only once, for several seconds when Harry pressed something into his hand. Once he made it into the hallway he realized it was a chocolate frog.

Prongs, like the fly son of a doe he was, loved to play the banjo. Of course, he wasn't an expert yet, he'd only picked it up after he'd graduated from Hogwarts. These things took time, people! The Prewett twins were completely unjustified in kicking him out of mission control. Even worse was the desecration of his beloved instrument. He couldn't bear the thought.

Lily found him moping on the stairwell of the Order's safe house.

"Hey".

Prongs looked up. "I don't wanna talk about it."

She sat down next to him. "Well, good. I didn't want to talk about it."

"I mean, it's not as if my pride and joy was utterly destroyed by that twat Gideon!-"

Lily sighed as James continued to rant. He had matured quite a lot since their Hogwarts days, but sometimes he didn't know when to stop. Like with that banjo. She didn't know when or how he'd gotten one but she cursed the day. And when the Prewett brothers had finally had enough and cursed the Banjo to only play the meow mix theme song, she hadn't been upset.

James was still ranting. "and if they had a problem with it they could have said something! Honestly, that's just ru-"

"James… I'm pregnant."

He sputtered for a bit. "Oh...oh….oh…"

Prong's mind was racing. Harry was coming. But… Wow… Already? Prongs had thought they had more time.

Lily's face fell. Of course he'd react like this. Could he not act like an adult for once? "Oh.. James!" she said in frustration.

"Lily? Lily I-"

"Forget it." Lily stood up, intending to angrily stalk away, but Prongs grabbed her wrist.

"Wait. Listen!"

Lily rolled her eyes but complied. There was muffled shouting. "So? The Prewett's are probably just-"

A piercing shriek perforated the air. Lily and James grabbed their wands and rushed into the room that had been jokingly christened mission control.

Prongs went after the death eaters the second he came onto the scene. Stunner, shield charm, stunner again. Don't think, just do. Lily was yelling something. Telling him to come to her. When he got close enough she grabbed his hand and the world began to constrict until he couldn't possibly breath, until he began to believe his lungs would never expand again, but all too suddenly they were painfully filling with all the air in the world and now he was at the Burrow. Lily was still grasping his arm, and someone else's as well. He figured it was one of the Prewetts, but he couldn't tell which, his face was obscured with blood. The bang of their apparition caused the inhabitants of the house to rush towards the sound. Five red headed little boys and a pregnant Molly Weasley raced in.

"Get the children out of the room!" screamed Lilly.

Molly went into autopilot. "Billie take your brothers!"

Prongs staggered to his feet. "I've got them Molly." He grabbed one of the toddlers, gave the other to the eldest boy and took the four year old by the hand. Trusting the two older boys to follow him he made for the stairs, into what seemed to be a bedroom.

The five boys looked at him quizzically. Prongs stared back. Finally he addressed the oldest one. "So you're Billie, are you?"

The boy stuck out his chest. "It's Bill!"

"Right," said Prongs. "Well, I'm Prongs."

Bill crossed his arms. "Was that Uncle Gideon?"

Prongs decided to go for the gently honest approach. "Possibly."

The second boy with the rowdy hair looked up at Prongs. "Is Uncle Gideon going to die?"

Prongs really wished he could convince himself it was moral to lie to children. "I don't know".

It was at that point that one of the toddlers began to cry.

Harry felt himself lifted off the rotted leaves that covered the ground, and carried by a weeping Hagrid to Hogwarts and all the people he had planned never to see again. He heard their grief, and he knew he'd made the right decisions. His mind kicked into action even as his body remained deathly still, and at the right time he sprang. And then it was Voldemort who was living dead on the ground. And all Harry wanted to do was hide.

It wouldn't be too hard to slip away in the chaos. Celebration and grief were mixed so completely around him that he felt as though he could hardly breath. He made his way slowly to the exit of the great hall, but as he was about to pass through to the other side he saw Hermione sitting with Ron at what remained of the Gryffindor table. Ron seemed to be entrenched in thought. Hermione was speaking to him, and when she paused he would reply, but it was obvious that Ron's mind was somewhere else. Harry followed his line of sight, and felt his heart sink when he realized Ron was staring at the row of dead. How could Harry have forgotten? Ron had lost a brother. Harry felt out of place. He turned again to leave, but Hermione had seen him.

"Harry!" she waved him over.

Harry came to her, but he was dragging his feet.

Ron look at him blearily. "I'm glad you're not dead mate."

Harry swallowed. "Me too," he said softly.

Hermione beamed as though he'd just gotten an O on an exam. "I was so worried about you! Especially after-"

Hermione trailed off. Harry figured it was because Ron had taken her by both wrists and was looking deep into her eyes, but it really could have been anything.

"Er… Hermione i've been thinking." Ron said. It came out all at once and his voice was shaken. "There's been too much loss today. There ought to be something happy in the world, and well, I don't want to lose you. And I know I'm probably the most pretentious git that's ever existed to ask you this without a ring… But will you marry me?"

Hermione whispered something in Ron's ear and he promptly got down on one knee and and asked again. She said yes.

Harry smirked. It was just like Hermione to correct someone's form before accepting a marriage proposal.

James was worried Mcgonagall would never forgive him for 'causing' the disappearance of two students (yeah, 'cause that was totally his fault). He was worried that Filch would never forgive him for the state of the carpets in the headmistress's office. That was debatably his fault. The egg yolk and flour that was left where he had reappeared did come from a food fight that he had willingly participated in. Most of all James was worried that Scorpius would never forgive him for every horrible thing he'd ever done to the poor kid. That was why, instead of listening to Mcgonagall's lecture he was running full throttle through Hogwarts to catch the Malfoy's.

Luckily for James, Draco had been too angry to use floo powder. He'd need to majestically stomp away down a longer distance that just going to the nearest fireplace offered him. That meant going out of Hogwarts' wards and apperating. Which in turn meant that James had time to catch up. If he ran.

Soon he could see two painfully blond heads in the distance.

"Scorpius!" James yelled.

The younger Malfoy turned around. Then he saw who it was and briefly considered making a run for it.

But James was already there, and he didn't look like he was going to do any harm. He was actually quite out of breath.

"Malfoy- gasp… I'm- wheeze…. Sorry."

Now the ball was in Scorpius's court. He got to make the choice that would define their relationship from there on out. Maybe even the relationship between their two houses. That was a lot of pressure for one guy. Especially when his dad is very violently raising his left eyebrow in a way that means we are leaving now Scorpius!

In the end Scorpius decided that "Thank you" was the appropriate response. James countered with "See you later", and Scorpius agreed that they would in fact see each other later before Draco was finally able to drag his son away.

James thought he saw Scorpius smile at him as he walked away.

Prongs had finally gotten all the Weasley sprogs to bed (and he'd only had to use three lullaby charms). He was dead tired himself, but he wasn't able to fall asleep. Too many thoughts were dancing around his head, making him even more exhausted .

But then there was a knock at the door and there was Lilly.

"What's the news on the Prewetts?"

She shook her head.

"Both of them?"

She nodded.

"Jeez…"

She came and sat beside him and he held her.

"James?"

"Yeah, Lils?"

She whispered. "You're crying."

"I'm a very emotional person, dear."

"I'm glad. It gives you depth."

They watched the sprogs slumber in silence for a while.

"We're gonna have one of those," she said.

"Hopefully he'll be easier to put to bed then they are."

Lily looked back at him. "He'll? How do you know it won't be a she?"

Prongs smiled. "I have my sources."

"Mm… let's make a bet," she said.

"I don't feel comfortable accepting that, as I am 100% certain our child will be a boy," said Prongs.

"There really is no way you could know. Besides all that's at stake is the naming rights."

"Okay," he said. "But I'm going to win."

"Sure… but if you don't you'll have a daughter called Esmeralda Jane." She expected him to cringe. He hated that name, but he just laughed.

"His name will be Harry James, and he'll have my hair and your eyes, and he'll be kind and smart and he'll have your sense of humor and my inability to give up, and he'll do us proud Lily."

And at times like these Lily was very, very glad she had married James Potter.

Harry could see his son talking to Scorpius Malfoy through the window. The entire ordeal seemed so far removed from the present, that it was hard to remember that for James it had only been yesterday.

"Professor?"

"Yes Mr. Potter?" said Mcgonagall.

"Might I take James out of school for the rest of the day?"

"I'm not sure we should be rewarding his behavior, Harry," said Mcgonagall gently. "Causing other student to disappear is not-"

There came a distant chuckling from some corner of the room. Shortly after followed a pained sigh. Then even more chuckling.

"Albus?" asked Mcgonagall.

"Hehehe!"

The portrait of Snape looked longingly at the drugged lemon drops. If he could become corporal for long enough he could take enough to sleep through several centuries. He was pretty certain that most of the other portraits already had. Or maybe he could force feed them to Dumbledore. The older portrait had lost the few marbles he'd had left and was babbling incoherently (there was a small chance that he was trying to communicate in mermish, but Snape was skeptical).

"Minerva, I believe my esteemed colleague," Snape paused to let them process the extreme amount of sarcasm that was exuding from his very being. "He is trying to inform you that he is responsible for the disappearances, not the Potter brat."

Mcgonagall frowned. "Albus? Is this true?"

"Ahahehe… Yes," said the giggling portrait.

"The lemon drops contain a potion the causes the effects seen in young Mr. Malfoy, and perhaps young Potter, though I cannot confirm his case," said Snape.

Mcgonagall was beyond annoyed. "Albus, we shall discuss this thoroughly when you are able to stop laughing. Harry, I suppose it will do no harm to take James out of class for one day. Mr. Malfoy is doing the same with Scorpius."

Harry smiled. "Thank you, Professor."

That was how, later that evening, Harry found himself in Godric's Hollow, his son at his side.

James was familiar with the town from countless family visits, but somehow this was different. When he looked at the place where his father lived as a baby, James found he could no longer think of it as just a war memorial for some conflict that happened before he was born, but as a house. A home, or the ruins of one at least, where a real family lived and died.

They kept walking, deeper into the small town, until they reached a church yard full of graves. There were only two that held any sort of interest for them. James and Lily were covered by a single headstone. Harry swept away the debris of the old flowers and wreaths and replaced them with new ones.

James wondered if Prongs would really care all that much about flowers, but the he thought perhaps Lily might like them. She was named after one. James hadn't really known what to leave… A pancake? A parcheesi piece? Nothing seemed right. In the end he'd settled on writing a letter.

Hello Prongs,

I know you probably can't read this, but you never know…. And anyway Al (my brother) says that writing things down is good for you. I want you to know that I won't forget what you told me, and that I'm going to do a better job of living up to your name. (And Sirius's too I guess).

Tell Granmum I say hi,

The Prongslet.

Ps.

What do you call a deer with no eyes?

No eye-deer.

James folded the letter up and put it under a rock next to the head stone. Both Potters stood, side by side. James being a near perfect miniature of his father. The clouds passed overhead, creating shadows that never stayed around for long. The sun would come out from behind the clouds and chase them away, only to be covered again when the wind decided to push the clouds back into place. It was an ongoing struggle, one that would never be fully won or lost. Even on the driest of days the clouds are plotting a rainstorm. Coincidentally, it was only when it started sprinkling that Harry realized that they were long past the time he'd told Ginny they were going to meet her. He didn't immediately say anything, however. James seemed to be lost in thought, and Ginny would understand, she was nice like that.

Harry did however cast a nifty umbrella spell under his breath, and even though he hadn't meant to this startled James out of his thoughts.

"Dad," the boy said pensively.

"What?"

"I'm sorry I turned you into a rabbit," said James.

Harry laughed. "I'd actually forgotten about that."

And they left the churchyard and the rainstorm and headed home.

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