Author's Note:

1. All recognizable content is the property of J.K. Rowling

2. This story contains some deviations from canon including original characters, female Severus Snape, non-canon relationships, among some other changes

3. Flashbacks will be in italics with the date in bold.

*This is a rewrite of my original attempt of this story, as well as a combination of my side stories. There are some significant changes which I thought made the story a bit better. I hope you all like it. I have also decided to keep my original stories up for anyone who prefers those.* - B.

When Harry James Potter woke up on the morning of December 30, 2022, it took him several seconds to realize where he was.

"Are you alright, baby?" Harry's wife, Valerie, asked sleepily, very likely having been woken up by Harry jumping up.

Harry nodded, slowly sitting back down onto the bed.

"Yeah, I… I just had a bad dream," Harry admitted, somewhat hesitantly.

Valerie reached up sleepily, and Harry laid down and snuggled into her arms.

Valerie kissed his forehead. "What about?"

Harry sighed, continuing to hold onto his wife. "Jamie."

Valerie stiffened slightly and remained quiet for several seconds. Harry could practically hear the wheels turning in her head and knew that she was replaying the events of the last few months in her mind.

October 28, 2022

As Harry reread the letter he and Valerie received from Hogwarts Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, he grew more and more furious. The letter had stated that his oldest son, James Sirius Potter, called "Jamie" by friends and family, had gotten his Hogsmeade privileges revoked for the rest of the term. Harry couldn't understand how Jamie had already gotten into so much trouble not even two months into the school year, and, by the looks of it, Valerie could not understand either.

"That child is going to drive me insane," Valerie angrily muttered under her breath, pacing around the living room looking for her purse.

Harry simply shook his head too angry to speak.

"Let's go get this all sorted," Valerie grumbled, walking over to the fireplace after finding her purse.

Less than a minute later, Harry and Valerie arrived in Professor McGonagall's office to find McGonagall standing near her fireplace to greet them.

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," greeted Professor McGonagall, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Please take a seat."

Professor McGonagall led the couple to her desk, where Jamie was slouched in a chair, staring at his feet.

Valerie took the seat closest to Jamie while Harry sat down on the opposite end of the desk.

"What's happened?" Valerie asked, after several seconds of awkward silence.

Professor McGonagall sighed. "It appears that James thought it would be humorous to exhibit muggle duelling on one of his classmates."

The room remained quiet for a few seconds before Valerie spoke.

"Is that so, Jamie?" Valerie asked, turning to Jamie angrily.

Jamie squirmed uncomfortably before nodding, continuing to stare at his feet.

After already having to endure an entire summer listening to Jamie constantly teasing and fighting with Harry and Valerie's younger son, Albus Severus, called "Al", Harry was finding it increasingly difficult to control his anger, opting to remain quiet in an attempt to prevent himself from making a scene.

Valerie sighed, shaking her head before turning her attention back to Professor McGonagall.

"Is the other child alright?"

"He's in the hospital wing," Professor McGonagall stated. "With several bruises, a broken nose, and a few missing teeth."

Given that Jamie clearly had gotten out of the fight mostly unscathed, with the exception of mildly bruised knuckles and a small scratch on his face, Harry knew that it could not have been a fair fight. This realization pushed Harry over the edge.

"Professor, may Valerie and I have a few minutes alone with our son, please?" Harry asked through gritted teeth.

"Of course," Professor McGonagall said, leaving her office.

After hearing the office door close again, Harry started on Jamie.

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING!"

Jamie flinched slightly, his eyes remaining fixed on his feet.

"LOOK AT ME!" Harry roared, causing Jamie to quickly lift his head.

"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO PICK ON PEOPLE JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN?!"

Jamie remained quiet, staring nervously at Harry.

"HOW MANY TIMES?!" Harry repeated, growing even more furious.

"A lot…" Jamie whispered, his hands shaking.

"SEVERAL TIMES!" Harry roared. "AND DO YOU LISTEN?"

"I-I…" Jamie started, apparently attempting to explain himself.

"NO, NO, YOU DO NOT! YOU DON'T LISTEN!" Harry answered. "YOU COULD HAVE SERIOUSLY INJURED THAT BOY! YOU ARE SO DAMN LUCKY THAT SOMEONE STOPPED YOU OR YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN A MURDERER! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?"

Jamie quickly shook his head, clearly holding back tears, but given the circumstances, Harry couldn't care much.

"Y-you d-d-don't… you d-don't" Jamie started.

"Don't what, Jamie?!" Valerie asked angrily.

Jamie wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "Y-you… You d-don't understand…"

"Understand what?" Valerie was starting to sound very annoyed.

"He… he said… he was saying stuff… horrible things… I-I…" Jamie tried to explain.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT THAT BOY SAID!" Harry roared. "YOU ARE A SIX-FOOT-FOUR QUIDDITCH PLAYER! HOW BIG WAS THE OTHER BOY?"

Jamie looked down sheepishly, before mumbling, "About Al's size."

Given that Al looked almost identical to how Harry looked at age fourteen, Harry now knew the fight was not equally matched at all.

Harry sighed angrily. "YOU ARE TURNING SEVENTEEN IN LESS THAN TWO MONTHS! YOU NEED TO GROW UP! WHY IS IT ALWAYS YOU DOING THESE THINGS? AL AND KATE HAVE NEVER GIVEN YOUR MOTHER AND I EVEN HALF THE AMOUNT OF TROUBLE YOU HAVE! EVEN TEDDY HAS BEEN A BETTER SON THAN YOU, AND HE'S NOT EVEN OUR BIOLOGICAL CHILD!" Harry knew that this was a rather harsh thing to say, and in all honesty, he didn't genuinely mean what he had said, but in his anger, Harry found that he didn't care too much.

Harry huffed angrily, feeling winded after all of his screaming. "I can't deal with this right now," Harry grumbled, making his way back to the fireplace without giving a second glance to Jamie.

"Your father and I will think of a fitting punishment later," Harry heard Valerie tell Jamie. "For now, don't even think about coming home for Christmas."

November 5, 2022

Barely a week after receiving news that Jamie had gotten in a fight, another letter from Professor McGonagall arrived at the Potter home.

"Harry!" Harry heard Valerie shout from downstairs. "We're needed at Hogwarts, again!"

Harry ran through a list of possible scenarios of what trouble Jamie could have caused this time. "I wonder what he's done now," Harry sighed, once he arrived in the living room.

After a few minutes, Harry and Valerie found themselves in Professor McGonagall's office for the second time in less than two weeks.

"Hello, Professor," greeted Valerie. "What's Jamie done today?"

Professor McGonagall paused for a short while before saying, "Let's sit down, first."

Harry rubbed his temples in an attempt to calm himself down. He reasoned that if Professor McGonagall wanted them to sit down first, it must have been really bad. He only hoped that Jamie didn't manage to get himself expelled.

It was only when Harry and Valerie arrived at Professor McGonagall's desk, Harry noticed that Jamie was not in the room.

Professor McGonagall sighed deeply before beginning her explanation.

"As you may know," Professor McGonagall began. "The first quidditch match of the season was this morning."

Harry and Valerie both nodded, waiting for Professor McGonagall to continue.

"Midway through the match, there was an accident," Professor McGonagall continued. "James was hit close-range in the back with a bludger and fell off of his broom."

Valerie gasped. "Is he alright?"

In Harry's opinion, the look on Professor McGonagall's face offered enough of an answer. "Madam Hooch tried to slow down the falling," Professor McGonagall explained. "But he still hit the ground rather hard, and he was unconscious by the time he was taken into the hospital wing."

Harry felt numb. Any of the anger he felt toward Jamie for his actions of last week had faded completely and had been replaced with fear and guilt. Harry found that he was now unable to speak or even move.

"Are...are we allowed to see him?" Valerie asked nervously, her face completely pale.

"I believe Madam Pomfrey and Mr. Tonks-Lupin are still working on him, but I will let them know you're here."

Professor McGonagall promptly stood up and left the room.

Valerie sighed deeply, covering her face with her hands.

Harry felt like crying. All he wanted was to hold his oldest child in his arms.

After what felt like several hours of tense silence, but likely was only a few minutes, Professor McGonagall arrived back in the room.

"Madam Pomfrey says they've done what they can for James right now," said Professor McGonagall. "He's still unconscious, but you're welcome to come and see him."

Both Harry and Valerie stood up quickly and followed Professor McGonagall to the hospital wing.

"Hi, Uncle Harry, Aunt Val," greeted Harry's godson, Edward Tonks-Lupin, called "Teddy", as soon as Harry and Valerie entered the hospital wing.

After both Teddy's parents were killed during the Battle of Hogwarts and Teddy's maternal grandmother died several months later, Harry became Teddy's sole guardian, raising him as his own since the age of three.

"Hi, Teddy," Valerie said, pulling Teddy in for a hug. "How's Jamie doing?"

Teddy sighed before running a hand through his hair which rather than its usual bright blue-green was now a dull grayish-brown, a tell-tale sign that Teddy was feeling rather nervous or stressed.

"Well, not great," Teddy said. "His spine snapped at the point where the bludger hit him, so he'll definitely be paralyzed at least from the waist down. And he's been completely unresponsive, so we think he must have hit his head quite hard. Madam Pomfrey might be able to explain everything a bit more."

Teddy led Harry and Valerie behind a curtain where Madam Pomfrey continued working on Jamie.

The moment Harry saw his son, he felt as though the air had been taken from his lungs. Jamie was lying flat on his back on one of the hospital beds, looking as pale as the sheets he was on and more still than Harry could ever remember seeing him.

"Oh, Jamie," Valerie sighed sadly, rushing over to her son, and grasping his hand. It frightened Harry that Jamie didn't react at all, not even the slightest twitch.

Madam Pomfrey summoned three chairs and gestured for Harry and Valerie to sit down before sitting down herself. Madam Pomfrey began explaining the details of Jamie's injury and current condition, and while Harry tried his very best to focus on what she was saying, his mind kept wandering to his severely-injured, comatose son.

"When do you think he'll wake up?" Valerie asked, teary-eyed and still clutching Jamie's limp hand.

Madam Pomfrey sighed deeply, and Harry could tell that she felt conflicted over whether or not she should tell them the truth.

"In all honesty," Madam Pomfrey said with an air of deep regret. "It's unlikely that he'll wake up at all."

Whatever Harry thought Madam Pomfrey was going to say, it certainly wasn't that. Barely over a week ago, Harry had been furiously screaming at his mischievous son for once again causing trouble, and now he had to watch his little boy fight for his life.

After a few minutes of tense silence, Valerie spoke.

"Is there anything we can do for him?" Valerie's voice sounded like she was desperately trying to hold back tears.

"With your permission, I can have some healers from St. Mungo's take him over there," Madam Pomfrey offered. "That way he would get the help and attention he needs, and you would be able to visit him as often as you'd like."

"Yes, yes, please," Valerie said, as Harry nodded eagerly. "That would be great."

"You are welcome to stay here until the healers arrive," said Madam Pomfrey before promptly standing up presumably to write to St. Mungo's.

Harry sighed, wiping some stray tears from his eyes. "I just keep replaying what I said to him over and over again," Harry admitted. "I shouldn't have said what I said. I was just so angry I wasn't thinking. That's no excuse though." Harry began sobbing into Valerie's shoulder.

Valerie held Harry even tighter. "I could've… should've stopped you before you went that far. You cannot blame yourself entirely."

"I wish I could've given him a hug, or at least looked at him, or something," Harry said, once his sobbing subsided.

"We'll have plenty of time for hugs and cuddles once he wakes up," Valerie answered hopefully.

Harry paused for a few seconds. "What if he doesn't?"

Valerie sighed. "First of all, we'll cross that bridge if and when we get there. Second, he's already improved so much. Two months ago, he wasn't responding at all. Now, he opens his eyes, albeit subconsciously and when provoked. He moans sometimes. There is no reason to think he won't get better."

Harry snuggled further into Valerie's arms.

"I suppose you're right," Harry said, smiling in spite of himself. He loved that Valerie was able to help him see the positive side of things even when he really didn't want to.

Valerie chuckled before kissing the top of Harry's head. "Of course, I am."

Harry felt surprised at how differently he and Valerie responded to their son's injury and the guilt they felt over their last interaction with them. Valerie coped by almost over-eagerly helping Jamie in any way she thought she could, whether it was placing fresh flowers by his bedside, taking care to brush his hair or wipe some sweat off his face whenever she visited him, or even bringing him different cuddly toys he played with as a small child, while Harry often felt like he couldn't even get out of bed and whenever he visited Jamie or even saw pictures of him, all he could do was cry.

"We should get up now," said Valerie, after several minutes. "Al and Kate will be waking up soon."

Harry nodded, before getting out of bed and waking downstairs to start breakfast.

Just as Harry and Valerie were finishing up the cooking, Harry and Valerie's youngest child and only daughter, Lily Katherine "Kate" Potter, came bounding down the stairs.

"Good morning, Mum and Dad!" greeted the ten-year-old excitedly.

"Good morning, lovely," Valerie greeted, before placing a plate of eggs and bacon and a glass of orange juice at Kate's seat.

After a few minutes, Al finally came downstairs.

"Morning," Al mumbled, partly due to him not being a morning person and partly because he was likely still angry with his parents for what they had said to Jamie.

November 6, 2022

"Now, you want to be all loving and caring!" Al said furiously, entering Jamie's hospital room. Al had been allowed to leave Hogwarts for the day to visit his brother in the hospital.

Valerie sighed. "Good morning to you, too, Al."

Al simply growled. "Did you stop shouting at him for long enough to hear why he beat that guy up?"

"No," Harry admitted sheepishly. "Not really."

Al huffed. "Well," Al said, glaring at his father. "If you had, you may have realized that that Ravenclaw arsehole had been bullying me about, you know, last year, and Jamie caught him shoving me into a wall."

Last year, Al had been tricked into helping Gregory Goyle's daughter, Mildred, go back in time and almost bring back Voldemort. Harry, along with his best friends, Ron and Hermione Granger, had quickly resolved the issue, but not before Al had to witness the death of Harry's parents.

Harry didn't quite know what to say. "He… he only told us that the boy said something mean. He never said he hurt you."

"It was just a shove," Al said angrily. "And of course he didn't! He didn't want you guys to freak out!"

"We might not have," Valerie argued quietly.

"No, you would have," Al snapped back. "Whenever Kate and I have a problem, you both make sure you sort it out, because it couldn't possibly be our own faults. But when Jamie needs help, then it's his own fault and his own problem. You know, I'm shocked you're even here! I would've thought you'd have just said, 'Whatever, it's just Jamie causing trouble again. He'll have to deal with it himself.' BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT YOU ALWAYS DO!"

Harry was quite taken aback by how angry Al was, as Jamie and Al often got on each other's nerves whenever they were around each other.

"Where's all this coming from, darling?" Valerie asked, clearly trying her best to maintain her composure.

Al angrily sat down on one of the chairs next to Jamie's bed. "You know, whenever the Slytherin's were being jerks or I couldn't sleep because of nightmares-"

"You've been having nightmares?" Harry interrupted. "Is this about what happened last year? Why didn't you come to me? I could've helped."

Al rolled his eyes. "This is exactly why I didn't come to you. And also not the point! Anyway, Jamie would sometimes smuggle me into the Gryffindor dorms and let me sleep in his bed. Or if I was sitting by myself in the Great Hall, he'd come over and sit with me."

"Really?" Harry said, feeling rather surprised.

Al scoffed. "He's not a horrible, terrible person who only causes trouble and only cares about himself, no matter how much you think he is."

Harry desperately wanted to tell Al that he didn't think so little of Jamie, but he understood that his recent actions hadn't truly reflected that.

"You know," Al started after a few minutes of silence. "After you guys shouted at him, he came to the Slytherin dorms to see if I was okay after that guy was picking on me. He tried to pretend he was fine, but I could tell he wasn't. He seemed really upset."

Harry watched Al shift his gaze over to Jamie.

"I'm not surprised he got hurt," Al added quietly and, much to Harry's surprise, affectionately. "He looked completely distracted at the match. He was not himself."

"Poor thing," Valerie mumbled, gently squeezing Jamie's hand.

"Don't pretend to care!" Al growled, turning to his mother. "I know you don't!"

Al promptly stormed out of the room.

"Good morning, dear," Valerie said cheerfully, clearly trying her best to keep the peace. "How are you doing today?"

"Fine," grumbled Al. "How's Jamie?"

Harry sighed, not missing the edge in Al's voice when he asked about Jamie.

"Well, Grandmum and Granddad Weasley say he's doing quite well," Valerie answered quickly. Molly and Arthur Weasley, Harry's best friend Ron's parents, who were the closest thing Harry had to parents, had been watching Jamie for the morning and had sent updates to Harry and Valerie earlier that morning. "They say Jamie's been moaning a lot more, and he even moved his hands during one of the pain tests."

Al made no acknowledgement of this new information and continued eating his breakfast.

"I'm looking after Jamie this evening," Harry said, hoping to clear some of the tension. "You are welcome to come with if you'd like to, Al."

Al merely nodded.

"Oooh, can I come too, Dad?" Kate asked excitedly. "I wrote him another letter!"

Kate wrote letters to Jamie everyday and would read them to him whenever she visited.

"Of course, love," Harry said.

"Maybe we should all go see Jamie," Valerie offered. "We could take our dinner with us and eat with him."

"That's a great idea," said Harry, glancing over at Al to see his reaction, which much to Harry's chagrin was nonexistent.

Six o'clock soon arrived, and dinner was cooked and packed, along with some plates and cutlery. Everyone in the Potter household began making their way to the fireplace to floo to St. Mungo's. As had happened every time he entered Jamie's hospital room over the past two months, Harry felt himself beginning to tear up.

"Hi, darling," Harry whispered, sitting down on the side of Jamie's bed and running a hand through Jamie's hair. "I've made your favourite dinner. I know you can't eat with us right now, but as soon as you're better, I'll make you some. I'll make you some everyday if you want." Harry kissed Jamie on the forehead. "You need to get better soon, baby. We all miss you so much."

As Harry wiped his tears on his sleeve, he noticed Al watching him from the corner of his eye. For the first time in over a month, Harry didn't see anger but rather sadness and perhaps some guilt.

"Let's eat," said Valerie, likely noticing the somewhat awkward silence.

Over the next hour or so, the family ate dinner and had small, light conversations, throughout which Jamie moaned rather frequently.

"You're feeling rather talkative today, aren't you, dear?" Valerie asked after once again being interrupted by a series of moans.

To Harry's surprise, Jamie moaned again, almost as though in response to Valerie's question.

Valerie chuckled and kissed Jamie on the forehead.

After another hour in Jamie's hospital room, Harry noticed everyone was beginning to get tired. Kate had managed to tuck herself in next to Jamie, while Al sat on the opposite side of Jamie quietly reading to him.

"Maybe we should stay here overnight," Valerie suggested, holding back a yawn.

Harry nodded. "I'll just let Ron know not to come."

By the time Harry returned to the room after leaving to send a letter to Ron, who was scheduled to look after Jamie overnight, Kate was fast asleep with her arm draped around Jamie, Al was slowly beginning to doze off, and Valerie was curled up on a chair sleepily watching her three children.

Harry spent several seconds silently watching his family, feeling happy that they were all together despite the circumstances.

"Hey, baby," Valerie said sleepily looking up at Harry.

Harry chuckled, walking over to kiss Valerie.

"Do you want me to transfigure the chair into a cot?" Harry offered.

"No, sleeping on a chair sounds like a great idea," Valerie said jokingly, before standing up so that Harry could turn the chair into a cot.

Soon the chair was replaced with a cot complete with some blankets and pillows.

"I'll just tuck the kids in and turn the lights off," Harry said as Valerie laid down.

As Harry took the book off of a now sleeping Al's chest, Al stirred.

"Dad?" Al said, sleepily.

"Sorry, love," Harry said. "I was just putting your book down. You can go back to sleep now."

Al yawned. "S'okay."

Just as Harry was about to walk away, Al grabbed his arm.

"Yes, dear?" Harry said, turning to look at his son.

Al hesitated slightly, apparently trying to organize his thoughts.

"I...erm… I just wanted to say… Sorry, for… for how I acted," Al said awkwardly. "I noticed that you and Mum both seem pretty upset about what's happened, you know, with Jamie. And… I… I can tell that if… if Jamie were to, you know, not make it,... you'd both be… well, I suppose you'd be really heartbroken."

Harry felt quite touched that Al felt the need to apologize and that he seemed to understand that Harry and Valerie were trying even if sometimes it felt like it was too little too late.

"Thank you, Al," Harry said, his voice cracking slightly. "I can understand why you felt angry, though. Mum and I haven't exactly been great to him, but we will do better. We're just hoping for the chance."

Al nodded before, much to Harry's surprise, reaching out for a hug.

"I love you, Dad," Al said, holding on to Harry.

"I love you, too, Al."

Harry gently kissed Al on the forehead before turning off the lights and laying down on the chair-turned-cot next to Valerie who was now fast asleep. He smiled to himself, feeling happy with his loving family and hopeful for the future. Had Harry stayed awake just an hour more, he may have noticed the peculiar commotion that occurred once midnight struck.