A/N- Sorry for the wait guys, its been a crazy couple of weeks, but I know that is no excuse. I hope this chapter is good enough to make up for it! :) Hope you guys like it.

DISCLAIMER: I am not British nor am I rich, thus you can infer that I don't own HARRY POTTER.

Walking out of the dorm with the seven others Harry nearly ran into Hermione who had stopped abruptly on the staircase.

"Ow, Hermione! What happened?"

"Harry, we can't take them waltzing through the castle when there are still hundreds of repairs to be made….there has to be some other way we can get around to the Room of Requirements." She whispered looking at him.

Harry frowned, that was true. There was no way he could take them through Hogwarts without attracting anybody's attention and without the visitors finding out too much about the battle. They needed some secret passage to the Room of Requirements some way to get there from the Gryffindor common room. But that was impossible, no such passageway was on the map, there had to be another way. They needed someone that knew the school even better than him or Hermione, someone that knew the Room of Requirements perfectly, they needed-

"Neville!" he exclaimed.

Hermione looked at him a moment but then smiled, "Brilliant Harry! After last year he would be the one that knows the room the best, Let's go find him!"

Harry and Hermione quickly descended the rest of the stairs with seven bewildered teenagers following. They ran into the Gryffindor Common Room that looked extraordinarily unaffected by the fighting that had occurred except the fact that it was incredibly empty.

Harry turned to them quickly, "You all wait here for a second while we go look for a friend of ours."

"Blimey Harry, who are these people?"

Harry whipped his head around quickly at the familiar voice. "Neville! Thank Merlin. We were looking for you."

Harry watched as his friend, worn and still slightly bruised came through the portrait hole smiling at him slightly. It struck him then how much older Neville looked, especially from the bumbling clumsy boy that he remembered.

Neville pushed the hair out of his eyes and turned to give Harry and a worried Hermione a warm smile, "Looking for me, eh? What can I help with?"

"The Room of Requirements."

Neville's worn demeanor lifted slightly at the sound of his reliable haven.

"Do you know a way to get into the Room without leaving the Common Room?"

To Harry's surprise, Neville nodded instantly, "Of course."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the first members that moved into the room last year were all Gryffindors, so we needed a safe method of travel to the room itself."

Harry beamed at him relieved, "Can you show us where it is?"

"Sure."

Harry moved forward slightly in anticipation, and Neville caught a glance of who was standing behind him and Hermione and let out a gasp when his eyes fell on one couple.

Neville gaped between Harry, Hermione and them in absolute terror and bafflement. "W-what?" His face turned a steady dark red color.

Hermione stepped forward to comfort Neville, she put her arms around him and had to stand on her toes for head to reach his shoulders, "Shhh Neville, yes they are who you think they are. Don't yell please, we'll explain once we are all in the Room. Please Neville, they are your parents; they just don't know that yet."

The others, besides Harry, watched the scene in bafflement. They noticed as the boy with another slightly familiar face slowly calmed down from his dark red color to a color much more normal.

Alice noted the interaction between Hermione and the boy and wondered if they were all that close or if there was something going on there. Alice shrugged it off as the boy-Neville?- walked towards the bookshelf at the corner of the common room.

Neville walked over to the bookshelf and counted three shelves up and five books down to a older book with dark red binding and faded lettering he pulled the book halfway off the shelf and stepped back as the shelf began to move.

Harry could only watch in wonder as the shelf moved forward than aside leaving a wide yet short passage that could easily let a full grown person crawl to their destination.

Harry snuck a quick glance at Hermione and noticed that she was beaming. Hermione caught his eye and squeezed his hand in excitement, "By him being able to open a passage way proves to us that the room still exists."

Harry looked at her confused, "How does that prove that?"

"Simply because their cannot be a connection from point A to point B if point B doesn't exist." She said impatiently.

"If you say so Hermione." He said, earning a pair of rolled eyes from her. The others watched the on goings with bemusement, only Sirius looked angry.

"How on earth did he find a passage that we didn't?" he whispered loudly to James and Remus. Harry chuckled mentally but it was Lily that answered, "Maybe it's because there are people that actually cleverer than you lot! Shocker!" She said sarcastically as she smiled fleetingly at Harry before getting on her knees and going through the passage.

James looked at her worryingly but followed her lead and soon everyone from the past was through the hole. Harry, Hermione and Neville were the only one's still inside the common room and as Harry watched Hermione go through the passage, Neville turned to him and with an astonishingly calm voice, "You better have a bloody good explanation for this."

Harry quickly gave him a recap of what had occurred in the last hour or so and Neville looked at him slack jawed. He quickly shook his head of his bewilderment and motioned for Harry to enter the passage way. Harry hurried forward and heard a grinding noise of the passage closing behind him. As Harry moved forward he heard Neville behind him mumbling,

"You three never actually stick to doing anything normal do you?"

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

"Wow."

Harry just crawled out from the passage and into a grand room with a warm fire in the middle of a circle of plush black couches. Harry heard Hermione gasp and he had to say that he was impressed too, the room looked like it never even knew what Fiendfyre was- let alone been ravaged by the heinous thing.

The room surrounding them was covered in all the house colors. He might have been more awestruck if he wasn't still trying to digest the fact that his parents were there with him.

"Oh HARRY!" came a yell from the other side of the room. Next thing he knew he was being enveloped in a warm motherly hug.

Harry smiled warmly and hugged the woman back fondly, "Mrs. Weasley."

She stepped back from him and he winced inwardly as he noticed how skinny and worn she looked, she looked at him with a warm smile and with a look of concern and joy. Over the top of her head he caught glance at the rest of the Weasley clan, except Fleur, Percy and George.

"My dear boy, you-you-" she paused for a second as she sighed contentedly, "Well you're all grown up aren't you. We all owe you-"

Harry stopped her before she could give anything away, "Mrs. Weasley, I think you should some people." He said as he turned aside to show her the people standing behind him.

Mrs. Weasley gasped along with the whole group of Weasley's. Harry watched as he saw Mrs. Weasley begin to cry and he was shocked as she hurried forward and hugged a bemused Sirius.

"I am so sorry."

Harry heard Ron walk up beside him and they shared a startled glance. Hermione, who was standing between them simply nodded as though she had expected this, "She must have felt awful for treating him the way she did before he-you know" she whispered to them.

Sirius looked around not knowing what to do, he just awkwardly patted her back as she backed away looking slightly embarrassed. She walked back to her family and Mr. Weasley put his arm around her shoulders and walked her to a seat.

Bill Weasley looked tired and his scars more pronounced. "So are we going to start? Ron and Ginny filled us in on what happened."

Harry nodded and motioned for everybody to take a seat. Harry was amused as he saw the Marauders trick Lily into sitting in between Remus and James. He let out a chuckle as she pouted. "I think we should go around the circle and make introductions of those who just joined us."

Harry pointed to Neville first, "Hello, I'm Neville Longbottom," Frank and Alice gasped and looked to the boy that was sitting next to them with some wonder. "And yes, I am your son." Frank beaming smile faltered as he saw Alice look worried, Neville simply took her hand (because he was sitting next to her) and smiled, "Don't worry, you are my mum." Alice smiled wide and hugged her boy.

Bill cleared his throat, "Well I'll go next, I am Bill Weasley."

"I'm Charlie Weasley."

"I'm Arthur Weasley." Mr. Weasley said looking at them all saddened and awed, they were so young- he couldn't believe it.

"I'm Molly Weasley." She said as she put her hand in her Husband's as she felt his concern.

Once everybody introduced themselves and they had taken a seat in the circle, Lily, who had the book bag, pulled out the first book. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone." She read aloud. She looked up at Harry curiously but didn't question anything as she began to read.

The Boy Who Lived

"What an accomplishment." Severus drawled. Sirius looked at him spitefully, James put his hand on Sirius' shoulder and shook his head.

"Snape, it's a war. Still being alive is a big deal." James said looking at Severus with a stern expression rarely seen on any of the marauder's faces.

Severus looked taken aback but narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Lily's eyes widened Who was this mature person infront of her and where was the arrogant prick James Potter? Wow, she could get used to this, he wasn't that- oh no Lily, bad thoughts!

She shook off her thoughts as she went back to reading.

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

"Who on earth wants to be normal?" "Dursley's?" Sirius and Lily spoke at the same time and looked at each other surprised.

"Excuse me?" The said again in unison. This time the looks on their faces looked so shocked that either of them shared any similarities that everyone in the room laughed.

"Do you know them?" Sirius asked curiously.

"They sound so familiar."

"Well, I don't like them already." Sirius said coolly as he leaned back into his chair, flipping his hair out of his eyes irritated.

"Why?" Lily asked with her eyes narrowed, she hated bigots who judged people without even knowing them.

"What decent person wants to be normal?" He asked, looking at her as if she was crazy.

"That doesn't mean anything! How dare you judge someone without knowing anything about them?" Lily said enraged. "You absolute big-"

Ron let out a small chuckle. Lily whipped her head around to look at him angrily.

"What are you laughing about?"

"I just find it funny that you're yelling at Sirius about judging people, but aren't you judging him yourself? What's the complicated word that you usually use to describe that 'Mione?" He said looking at her with mock confusion.

Hermione could only smile at him warmly, she adored when Ron stood up for what he believed in and she knew that he knew what that word was,

"It is called being Hypocritical, Ron." She said rolling her eyes.

"Ah yes, what she said. I am sure there is a lot more to a person than meets the eye, I mean I know that there is a lot more to everyone in this room then we may know about. So- well yeah that's why I laughed ma'am." He finished slightly lamely his confidence wavering. Hermione, Ginny, and Molly threw Ron glowing looks and even though Ron's ears were scarlet, he didn't back down.

Harry had to smile and thump Ron on the back, discreetly of course.

Lily looked completely shocked and ashamed.

"I-I never realized. Your right, I am really sorry Sirius." She said quietly. Sirius looked at how miserable Lily was and he softened slightly,

"It's okay Evans. You're not the only person who thinks that." He said avoiding James and Remus' gazes.

Lily looked aghast. Frank and Alice shifted awkwardly in their seats.

Most of the people from the future knew of Sirius' harsh family life so they just glanced at each other.

"Maybe we should just keep reading." Ginny said gently to Lily.

The people from the past looked frightened, if the first sentence caused so much, they wondered how the rest of the story is going to play out.

They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

"Nonsense? Hmph." Sirius grumbled.

Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.

"Drills! Those things are magnificent-"

"Arthur."

"Sorry Dear."

He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache.

"Seems like quite the looker doesn't he?" Remus said trying to lighten the mood.

"Ah yes Moony, seems like Padfoot here might finally have some competition, besides me of course." James said ruffling his hair almost unconsciously.

"You wish Prongs." Sirius said sticking his tongue out at him. "No one can resist me."

Hermione and Ginny giggled at them. Sirius sent them both smirks and his best wink.

They both just looked at him blankly causing Sirius to falter and nearly stumble out of his chair in surprise.

Everyone in the room roared in laughter, and Sirius narrowed his eyes at the now laughing girls, "Meanies."

"Seems like you've lost your touch Paddy, dear." James said, happy that Sirius was finally back to his jokey self.

Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.

"What a great match, a gossip and bore." Sirius said.

"Actually she reminds me of Petunia." Severus said sneering.

Lily looked at him startled, "Excuse me? Petunia? No-"

She blanched and looked at Severus for the first time in nearly a year, but before he could be elated they both realized what this probably meant. Severus shook his head and looked away, No way something like that would happen.

Before anyone else could comment or interrupt Lily continued.

The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.

"Hey! Besides Prongs there is nothing wrong with the Potters!" Sirius said.

"Yeah exactly there is nothing wrong with the Pot-OI!"

"Anyway, I don't think they are talking about James' parents here anyway Padfoot. Seeing as the book is from the future it is probably about James and his wife." Remus said dragging out the last word. It was odd to think about one of his best friends married.

They were only sixteen for Merlin's sake! And in his own sake he knew that he was never going to married. Hmph, married yeah right Lupin, let's try to graduate first.

"I wonder who I am married to?" James said his eyes lingering on Lily, but quickly looked away.

Harry noticed and had to smile widely- it was nice to see his father so in love.

"Yeah keep reading, I want to see this mysterious Mrs. Prongs." Sirius said smirking.

Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.

Lily hesitated at this point, and had to use all her restraint to not look up at Severus who she knew was glaring so intensely at the book.

James noticed this and didn't say anything but tried to put an arm on her shoulder. Lily tried to ignore how she was melting into his touch and just shook her head. No no no no, that would be horrible! Wouldn't it?

The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him.

At this point Molly looked very angry but avoided saying anything.

"They never even knew you?" Bill said surprised.

Harry simply shook his head, but he soon turned nervous. None of them knew what exactly the conditions were for him with Dursley's, it was going to be interesting to see their reactions.

Sirius not noticing, "Hmph, I don't want you visiting my godson anyway!"

Remus looked amused, "Godson?"

"Of course, I'm his godfather right Prongs?"

"'Course." James said smiling.

Sirius beamed and Remus just rolled his eyes amused.

Lily was surprised to see the Marauders like this, so sincere and caring. She never thought they were this close, of course she knew they were best friends, but they seemed more than just friends, more like- brothers.

This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.

James and Molly both let out growls involuntarily.

When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.

"Ah such a lovely child."

"James?"

"Yes Lily Flower?"

"Shut up."

None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.

"What?" The kids from the past and the rest of the room looked surprised.

"How are they letting their owls fly around muggle London?" Frank asked annoyed.

At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.

"Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house.

"And they're not even stopping him? How can you leave a child this undisciplined?" Molly asked outraged.

Sure she had heard stories about Harry's home life, but she usually assumed that the tw-her children were all exaggerating. Molly hurriedly wiped off the tear that came to her eyes, oh she wished that she had never taken Fred and George for granted.

He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.

It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar — a cat reading a map.

"Minnie!" Sirius said excited nearly bouncing on his seat.

Everyone gave him weird looks. James laughed but Remus looked at him oddly, "How in the name of Merlin do you know that's McGonagall?"

"I just do." Sirius said stubbornly as he continued to bounce up and down.

Remus looked to Harry, Harry simply shrugged his shoulders, "I have no idea what's happening in this chapter." He said.

For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen — then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive — no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.

"Minnie can." Sirius said with a sing song voice.

Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.

But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.

This time all of the people from the past were angry and shocked.

"How could everyone let their guards down like this? In broad daylight!" Frank asked astounded.

Remus, Severus, and Lily are narrowed their eyes.

"Something must have happened." Remus said slowly, not really sure what but he knew something important must have happened.

Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes — the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion.

"Wow, muggles really have a way of making everything seem logical to them." Alice said surprised.

"Well, this muggle doesn't exactly seem like the fastest broom in the shed." James said, and Alice nodded.

"That has to be the understatement of the year." Ron said quietly so only Harry, Hermione and Ginny could hear. They all chuckled.

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdoes standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together.

Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt —these people were obviously collecting for something… yes, that would be it.

The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.

Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead.

Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.

"What a complete prat."

"Charlie!" Molly scolded, but Charlie didn't back down.

He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.

He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy.

This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.

"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard —"

Remus and Sirius exchanged nervous glances with James.

" — yes, their son, Harry —"

Everyone glanced at Harry, who was merely gazing at the floor, finally realizing the day that this was all taking place.

Mr. Dursley stopped dead.

"Yay! He's dead!" Sirius cheered.

His remark achieved its goal and the tension in the room evaporated as people threw him exasperated looks and snickered.

Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.

He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking… no, he was being stupid.

Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.

"Harold?" James and Lily said together disgusted.

James looked at Lily stunned for a minute and then beamed; Lily tried to keep her composure.

"What? I think even you would have the sense not to name your child Harold." She said, hoping to Merlin that she wasn't blushing heavily.

"Okay, sure." James said teasingly but everyone could not help noticing how his face fell slightly as he turned away.

There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her — if he'd had a sister like that… but all the same, those people in cloaks…

"Hey! There is nothing wrong with Mrs. Prongs." Sirius said outraged.

James looked at him amused, "How on earth do you know that Padfoot?"

"If she was anything as bad as this git is making her out to be, me and Moony would never have approved." Sirius said as if it was the obvious thing in the world.

He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.

"Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell.

"That poor little man!" Ginny said, slightly worried.

It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last!

"WHAT?" The people from the past were all looking at the book frozen with astonishment. The Weasley's on the other hand looked at Harry finally realizing what this day was and what it meant to him.

Ginny and Hermione moved so that they could both hold either of his hands.

"YES! " Sirus and James said jumping out of their seats simultaneously. Remus and Severus looked pale with shock and Frank kissed Alice out of pure elation- causing Alice and Neville to both blush a bright red. Lily simply stared at everyone in surprise repeating, "Its over. Its over."

"Can we celebrate? Let's have a party. We've had tons of parties in here, the Room of Requirements will give us everything we need. I am sure we could ask for party decorations and a path to the kitch-" Sirius said bouncing around elated.

"No."

Everyone from the past turned their heads to look at Hermione.

"Why not?" James asked her worried.

Hermione kept a straight face, and avoided looking at her boys as she said, "We'll never finish the chapter if we have a party now. How about if you guys decide to hold the party once this chapter is over?"

James and Sirius sat down nodding. "Fine." It did seem reasonable enough.

Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"

And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.

Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination. As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw—and it didn't improve his mood — was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning.

It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.

"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.

The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.

"Minnie." The marauders said at the exact same time.

Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.

Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!"). Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:

"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"

"I bet he's a wizard." Remus said with slight humor. Severus was shaking his head in disgust, Surely people weren't this stupid.

"Well, Ted," said the weatherman,

"Hmmm, My cousin Andy married a muggleborn named Ted? Maybe this could be him?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early — it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."

Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters…

"Oh dear, if he's started to notice, I wonder what other Muggles have begun to think?" Alice said worried.

This time James had no retort.

Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er — Petunia, dear — you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"

"PETUNIA?" Lily screeched much to the surprise of mostly everyone. "Oh no! Oh no! Oh, dear."

Severus paled considerably, but the Marauders began to understand what Lily was talking about. Remus began to smile, Sirius smirked, but James was beaming as he turned to Lily.

"She's your sister, isn't she?" he asked completely earnestly and completely excited.

Lily could only nod. James' smile though impossible seemed to grow even larger. He quickly moved to her, helped her stand, put his arms around her and swung her through the air effortlessly.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." He said to her in a voice so quite nearly a whisper, almost like a prayer. Lily only looked at him transfixed and she had a soft smile on her face. Maybe he isn't that bad after all.

James looked at her and frowned for a second, "You aren't mad are you?"

Lily looked at his sincere hazel eyes and gave him a genuine smile. "No."

James beamed at her again before looking at her much more seriously. "I think that I need to sit down and talk to your sister. No one talks to about my Lily like that." He said and Lily looked at him in slight awe, but smiled.

"Thank you, I would appreciate that." She said shyly, he looked at her smiling. Sirius let out a very loud cough that seemed to startle both of them and bring them back to the fact they were standing in a room full of people. They both shuffled nervously back to their seats.

Harry looked at them with pure happiness. Who knew that he would be able to see he parents get together?

Lily didn't even notice the hopelessly shocked and angry glares that Severus was sending her as she continued reading happily.

As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.

"No," she said sharply. "Why?"

"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls… shooting stars… and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…"

"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.

"Well, I just thought… maybe… it was something to do with… you know… her crowd."

Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son — he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"

"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.

"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"

"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."

"Yes, because you really know how to name people, Petunia. I mean really, did you have to name the poor kid Dudley?" Lily snorted rolling her eyes, "I think Harry is a lovely name." Lily said smiling up at Harry.

Her eyes raked over her son and realized that he did share a few of her features. Wow, I guess he really is my son. How odd is that?

"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."

He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.

"She probably is."

Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did… if it got out that they were related to a pair of — well, he didn't think he could bear it.

The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind… He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on — he yawned and turned over — it couldn't affect them…

How very wrong he was. Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.

A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.

Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.

"Enter Dumbledore." Neville said, causing some people to start because he was so quiet till then.

This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.

Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."

"It's Minn-"

"WE KNOW SIRIUS! WILL YOU LET ME READ?" Lily said, her red head temper finally breaking through.

Sirius, as well as a few other people, flinched back in fear but he did as he was told.

He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.

"Cool. That sounds like his own invention. I wish I could see something like that!" Remus said completely awed.

Ron simply smirked unknowingly and involuntarily tapped the pocket on in his robe where the same Deluminator laid.

He clicked it again — the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.

"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."

Before Sirius could say anything, Lily sent him a death glare, causing him to simply look back at her innocently.

When she looked back to the book, Sirius turned to James and said in a stage whisper "Your wife is SCARY Prongs."

"I know isn't she great?" James said dreamily. The sides of Lily's mouth twitched as she continued.

He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled. "How did you know it was me?" she asked.

"How many cats do we know that sit that stiffly?" James said laughing

"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."

The entire room laughed as James turned red. Hey he figured, There could worse people to be like.

"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.

"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."

"See! We should be having a party too!" Sirius said glaring at Hermione. She simply rolled her eyes and ignored him.

Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.

"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no — even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news."

"They should be more careful." Frank said concerned.

She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls… shooting stars… Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent — I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."

"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."

"Eleven years?" James yelped, "Wait that should mean this is happening in…"

"Five years." Remus finished for him.

"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."

She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"

"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore.

"We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"

Harry let out a chuckle, Dumbledore and his sweets.

"A what?"

"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."

"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone —"

"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense — for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort."

Besides Frank, Alice and Severus the entire room kept from flinching. Remus and Lily caught this and exchanged glances. Hopefully this meant that this really was the end of the war? Hopefully it meant that there really was going to be a time when nobody would ever tremble at a mere name again.

Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name." "I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."

"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."

"Only because you're too — well —noble to use them."

"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."

Everyone in the room chuckled, the marauders laughed especially heartily.

"I always knew that Dumbledore was a prankster at heart." Sirius said well naturedly.

Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what they're saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"

It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.

"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters.

"What?" Sirius said looking completely shocked and worried of what was probably about to come next.

The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are — are — that they're — dead."

"NO! NO! NO! DAMN IT, NO!" Sirius yelled putting his head into his hands. Remus looked shocked and looked up to Harry and the others from the future.

"Please? Please tell us it's not true." He plead to them. They all could only shake their tear stained faces.

Lily was pale but she managed a small smile, "Hey, at least you finally get what you want Potter. I guess we do get married." She said quietly before bursting into tears.

James looked at her and swooped down to her in a flash and held her. He kissed on the temple tenderly as he whispered to her. "I will protect you Lily. I don't care how, but I won't let him hurt our family."

Beside the crying Alice and Frank, Severus looked shattered. She was his best friend, she was his everything. She couldn't be gone. She COULDN'T!

When she tried to joke he knew it was façade, one to try and make others feel better but when she finally succumbed to tears it wasn't him that was comforting her. It was Potter. It was her- husband. He thought like a bad word.

Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.

"Lily and James… I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus…"

"I guess she really didn't hate you after all James." Lily said still sniffing with her head in his chest.

"No, it's mostly for you." James said quietly trying to joke around with her.

"Come on James you were the best transfiguration student she has had in nearly a century. There would be no way that she didn't like you." Remus said recovering from his shock slightly.

"Yeah, that could explain why we were never expelled. Minnies a big ole softy." Sirius said lightly as he sat back down.

Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know… I know…" he said heavily.

Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry.

"THAT BASTARD BETTER STAY AWAY FROM MY SON!" Lily screamed hysterically as she got up to hug her son.

"Lily! I don't think you should be swearing dear." Molly said gently.

Bill, Charlie, and Ron snickered very quietly.

"Who's the hypocrite, eh mum?" Ron whispered, teasing his now scarlet mum.

"Yeah mum, I'm fine see." Harry said holding back tears. This was the first time he could ever remember that his mum had held him. She quickly realized what she was doing and blushed. Mumbling a quick apology she hurried back to her seat and the book.

But he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke — and that's why he's gone."

"WHAT?" James yelped.

"You defeated Voldemort as an infant?" Sirius said astounded.

Harry didn't answer, and only motioned for Lily to read.

Dumbledore nodded glumly.

"It's — it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done… all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding… of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"

"We can only guess." said Dumbledore. "We may never know."

Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"

"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"

"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."

"OH BLODDY HELL! They're going to leave you there, aren't they? ARE THEY MENTAL!" Sirius exclaimed furiously.

"You don't mean – you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore — you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son — I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"

"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."

"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter?

These people will never understand him! He'll be famous — a legend — I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future — there will be books written about Harry — every child in our world will know his name!"

"Oh no! If he gets his father's ego, then that could be a horrible thing." Lily said half concerned half teasingly.

"Oi, woman!" James said glaring at her.

"Exactly." said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"

Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes — yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.

"Hagrid's bringing him."

"You think it —wise — to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"

"I would trust Hagrid with my life." James said seriously.

"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.

"Wow, this is getting a bit creepy mate." Sirius said laughing, he quickly stopped when he was punched in the arm by James.

"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to — what was that?"

A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky — and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them. If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild — long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.

"OH MY MERLIN! It's the FLYING MOTORCYCLE I WANTED! I bet you its mine!" Sirius said bouncing from his seat again.

"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"

"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."

"Yeahhh." Sirius cheered elated.

"No problems, were there?"

"No, sir — house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.

All the girls cooed causing the boys to mock the now scarlet Harry.

"Is that where —?" whispered Professor McGonagall.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."

Everyone from the past looked up and noticed the lightning shaped star that was behind the boy's shaggy hair and gazed at in awe.

Ron cleared his throat and everyone started and Lily began to read again.

"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"

"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well — give him here, Hagrid — we'd better get this over with."

Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.

"Could I — could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.

"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "You'll wake the Muggles!"

"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it —Lily an' James dead — an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles —"

"Oh Hagrid." Lily said sadly. It was nice to know that Hagrid thought so highly of them.

"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two.

For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.

"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."

"He just left you on a doorstep?" Molly asked outraged. "Just like that?"

Harry simply shrugged again.

"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall — Professor Dumbledore, sir."

Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.

"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.

Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.

"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.

A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley… He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter — the boy who lived!"

"Good thing we decided against that party, eh Prongs?" Sirius said trying to lighten the mood.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him as Lily asked, "Well that was the chapter. Who would like to read next?"

Harry smiled at her warmly, "I think I should."

If the next chapter contained what he thought it did, he would be the only one that wouldn't be incredibly surprised by its contents. He needed to be the one to read it.

Sorry again for the delay in updating, and I hope I caught any and all mistakes I might have made. But I am un-beta-ed so if you catch a couple let me know and I will fix them.

P.S-But Hey you know what motivates me to update sooner?

REVIEWS! So I know that if you got this far you have read it, so just press the button to and Thankies.

Signing Off,

Shaya