Fate's Manipulation

James faltered just a little as the cottage appeared. Though he couldn't explain or describe it, he knew deep inside that something monumental was going to happen. "Wait a second, Hagrid," he started to say. He was too late though as the door opened and he was momentarily blinded by bright light that flowed from within the room. He took an involuntary step back. Hagrid hadn't said in as many words that the cottage would be empty, but he had assumed...they had assumed...

Suddenly, Hagrid transferred Amanda into his arms and stood in front of James, protecting him from whatever was within the cottage. James stumbled slightly at the added burden of his daughter, who awoke suddenly. As Amanda rubbed her eyes, James set her to her feet, smiling through his nerves as his little girl reached for his hand. He felt uncertain, but he had no right to pass his nervousness on to his daughter.

"Oy. What is this..." Hagrid's voice trailed off and he rocked back on his feet as if in shock or horror. James couldn't see around the large man, but the shock that raced through Hagrid alarmed him. Icy cold dread ran through him and he held his children closer.

"Amanda, get behind me if need be."

His little girl nodded and clutched his hand, a hand that had become slick with nervous sweat.

Hagrid seemed to stand framed in the light for hours, though James knew only seconds had passed. "As I leave and breathe. I never thought I'd see the day..."

A high-pitched sound escaped from the giant...was that a nearly hysterical giggle? James dearly wanted to peer around his protector but knew he was safer behind someone with magic.

"Yes, Hagrid. What you see is true."

Was that Dumbledore's calming tone? Surely it had to be safe if Dumbledore sounded so calm...

James edged to the side slowly, spotting his former headmaster who stood in the doorway defensively, wand at the ready. Some things never change. Hagrid's gaze was riveted into a bed in the far corner of the cottage, but James couldn't see what was there.

"You don't understand." Hagrid laughed again and a tremor wracked his body. "You don't understand what I found tonight."

Hagrid fell silent again, appearing to stare in shock at whatever was in the room. James could sense that there were quite a few people inside, but nobody else spoke. It was as if they were all expecting Dumbledore to speak again before greeting Hagrid.

Bizarre.

James spared a few moments to consider what had Hagrid so upset before he turned to Amanda. His leadership and fatherhood roles rose up within him and he knew he couldn't stand by and wait for Hagrid to explain what was happening inside the cottage or to announce them to whoever was inside. "You and your brother stay right here," he whispered as he transferred the sleepy boy into his sister's arms. He hesitated a few moments before handing Amanda his wand. "I need to find out what's going on here. I have the distinct feeling that you know how to work this, Amanda. Use it only if you have to." When his little girl nodded and set her jaw in a determined manner, James stepped aside and around Hagrid.

James met Dumbledore's eyes first, the welcoming look turning to shock and then something else, a sheen covering the older man's gaze and glistening in the depths of his wise blue eyes.

"Is it really you?" His former headmaster started to reach out to touch him, then abruptly stepped away and James was able to see into the cottage and the bed. The woman and teenager sitting on it looked at him in shock and the ground seemed to open up under him. James rocked back on his heels as recognition filled him.

"Lily?" The woman holding the boy had to be? But how... And the boy? Could it be his son? "Harry?" James' voice finally broke as he rushed into the cottage. He dimly heard the joyous chorus of other voices calling his name, but he couldn't spare them a moment.

He skidded to a stop inches before gathering them close. He had to be sure... What if... What if they didn't know him or want him or... Tears poured down his face.

"Lily? Is it really you?" He reached out a trembling hand to her, brushing a finger slowly over the softness of her cheek. Everything about her screamed out to him that this was his wife, but he had to be sure.

Tears brimmed in her green eyes as she drank him in. "Yes," she finally managed. They held each other's gazes wordlessly before she stood, arms open. "You're here, my darling! He's back, Harry. We did it!"

Something elemental hit James with enough force to knock him to his knees when they touched again. Magic flowed through him unbidden and he was so overwhelmed that all he could do was sob into her hair, holding her to him with an elemental fierceness that might have hurt her, had she not been so involved in the moment.

Lily finally pulled away slightly to cup his cheek before her lips found his and they exchanged a tender kiss. There would be time to address baser needs later, James knew, as he shared the tender embrace with his wife.

Lily gently moved her lips from his and motioned to the bed and the sobbing boy who was looking up at him with something akin to hero worship. James knelt in front of the boy...Harry...and placed a hand on his knee. He had so much to say...there just weren't words.

"Harry...my son! I..."

"I know, dad." Harry tackled him in a tight embrace and father and son tumbled to the ground. Lily wrapped her arms around them and they all sobbed together, finally united.

~*~

Lily could barely make herself understand that the handsome man in her arms was her beloved husband. Time had changed him but the eyes, the smile were the same. And his kiss... Awareness hit Lily someplace deep inside her soul. Her body and her heart would never forget her husband. She sank to the ground as James and Harry embraced, and wrapped her arms around them. She had her family back. She could face anything now.

~*~

Sirius leaned against Remus as the reunion happened mere feet away. James! He had barely recognized his friend as he stepped around Hagrid. The years had not been unkind to James but he hardly looked like their old friend. He looked older but still had this air of innocence around him, as if he'd been someplace where the events hadn't touched him.

Where had he been? How had he and Hagrid found each other?

The question rattled around Sirius' brain. The reunion almost seemed too personal, too intimate for any of them to be watching. He glanced over and saw that Dumbledore and McGonagall were looking toward Hagrid and he knew Remus was studiously studying the charmed ceiling of the cottage.

Sirius shifted restlessly before Remus' hand closed over his with surprising strength. "Don't," Remus whispered a warning in his ear, "Let them have their time, Sirius."

~*~

Amanda was getting cranky. She was tired and cold and even a little hungry. She wondered if she was dreaming. What other explanation was there for her favorite book characters to show up and her dad to think it was normal? But why was she so cold, then? Had daddy put the air conditioning on again?

Her dad was a romantic dreamer but he was never irresponsible. She could just hear her mother telling her father that he was indulgent but never irresponsible. Amanda didn't know how to explain any of this--the walks all over the place, her dad's nerves when he was never nervous or scared, he was her dad after all! She didn't like it at all that he'd been like that. If her dad wasn't comfortable, what did that mean for the rest of them? Were they even safe if daddy wasn't relaxed and at ease?

She heard her dad say the names of Lily and Harry and it sounded like there was some sort of scene happening there. She didn't want anyone to be having a scene, not when she and mostly asleep Adam were outside on the grass and freezing. She fought back tears and shook her brother gently into full wakefulness. He was quite heavy and she couldn't hold him any longer.

"Come on, Adam." Amanda wanted some answers but most of all, she wanted her daddy. She couldn't stop the sniffles and tears that began to leak from her eyes as she led her brother past the giant and into the room. The tears started falling harder when she saw her dad hugging a woman and a boy. She didn't know where her mom was, and her dad...she needed her daddy.

"Daddy?"

~*~

Harry was totally overwhelmed. Just as he had adjusted to his mother being alive, there had been that strange magic thing that had hurt them both and then Hagrid had brought his dad back. His dad! His mom and dad were alive! He had his real family here at long last! It seemed like a dream but a surreal feeling told him it was definitely real life. He had so much to say, but every time he opened his mouth, words came tumbling out and he finally settled for repeating that he loved his parents over and over again. Their embraces felt comfortable and so right. For the first time in his life, Harry felt cared and cherished by family. And safe. How that his parents were here, maybe he didn't have to be the boy who lived anymore. Maybe they could protect him now.

His father and mother were holding him, crying, when a girl's voice called for her father. Harry looked up, angry at her, at anyone, for breaking up this moment. His heart soared and he felt complete for the first time in his life and some kid had to ruin that.

Daddy?

Harry looked over at the girl. She was wearing a stretchy pant and top set that had frogs and princesses on it and she looked tired and dirty and scared. She held the hand of a little boy who had teddy bears on his pants and top and who looked as confused and bewildered as the little girl looked scared. He wanted to be mad, but he couldn't help but to identify with the girl, even if he was resentful that she had ruined this moment.

~*~

James heard his daughter's voice and his head snapped up. The children! Claire? Awareness and guilt came back to him and he reluctantly pulled away from Harry and Lily to stand and approach Amanda.

"It's all right, darling." James smoothed her hair down with shaking hands. "It's been a long and confusing night, hasn't it, love? We need to get you and your brother fed and taken care of and..." He exhaled slowly, at a loss for what to do next.

"James?"

That voice, tentative but still reassuring. James turned around and met the eyes of Remus Lupin. "Oh mate," his voice broke again as he crushed Remus in a hug. "So bloody long..." He hugged his friend almost desperately, trying to separate his past from the information filtered through the books.

Remus rubbed slow circles on James' back. "I know, Prongs. We have a lot of catching up to do, but right now these two need some food. Sirius and I--"

"Sirius?" James' joyous cry was swallowed up when the other man grabbed him in a bear hug.

"Yes, Sirius," Remus tried again gently. "James, these children look exhausted and with everything that is going on..."

James tried to bring his mind back to the task at hand, stroking Adam's hair with one hand and squeezing Amanda's hand with the other.

"We have a small room," the typically no-nonsense tone of his former head of house had gentled with emotion. "They need their rest..." She gave him a tumultuous smile and it was then that James realized that Professor McGonagall was crying. Her hand brushed over his shoulder, as if she was testing his corporeal form. "Welcome home, Mr. Potter. You've been missed."

There was simply too much going on. James' emotions were on overload. He nodded slowly and dug down deep to find a reservoir of calmness that he could convey to his children...his younger children, he reminded himself.

James knelt in front of Amanda and Adam. The little boy was pressed tightly to his sister's side and Amanda looked as overwhelmed as he felt. "Amanda, would you go with Professor McGonagall? You need to get some sleep, sweetheart. I'll just be out here. I won't be very far at all."

Amanda seemed to be considering this for a moment, wavering as the exhaustion that she wore on her face obviously worked on her last strength. "Okay, daddy, but please don't leave. I'm scared. Mommy isn't here and we've been all over, and..." She clung to him, long hiccupping sobs and heaving breaths wracking her body. Adam clung to her, whispered words of love coming from his little lips.

James held both of his children tightly. "I'll be here, sweetheart." He stood, meeting his former professor's eyes, reassured by the gentleness and care that he saw there. "Please stay with them. It's been a hell of a night." He watched her lead the children into a closet that magically expanded to a bedroom then found his way to a chair, sinking into it and running a hand through his hair.

"I...what the bloody hell is going on?" He looked around the room, focusing first on Dumbledore and Hagrid deep in what appeared to be an intense conversation then to Remus and Sirius who stood uncertainly, and finally smiling slightly at the confused joy that was all over Harry and Lily's faces.

"I could ask you the same." His former headmaster handed him a small glass. "Drink up, James. Firewhiskey. It should help. We have time for questions later."

James tossed the drink back in a gulp and closed his eyes for a moment before returning to Harry and Lily. They had settled back on bed and were holding hands tightly. "I can't believe I'm here....with the both of you."

"James, who was that little girl?"

He knew someone would ask but he hadn't thought his wife would have been the first.

"The girl, Amanda, is my daughter. Her brother's name is Adam. Somehow we all found ourselves here."

~*~

So many questions, Lily thought. This one appeared to be one of the hardest of all. Daughter. James had a daughter and another son. Lily considered this for a minute or two. He hadn't remembered who he was, just like she hadn't. Instead of finding himself in her circumstances, he had moved on and formed a family with another woman.

The physical ache that rushed through Lily was as strong as the worst stomach cramps. So this is what heartbreak feels like. Images ran through her mind unbidden. James and some faceless woman in an intimate embrace. James as her husband in every way. Some faceless lucky woman having her husband when he'd been wrenched away from his real wife and son after a few precious years. It wasn't fair!

"Daughter," Lily repeated, hating the biting edge in her tone, but she couldn't stop the words that flowed out of her or the bitterness associated with them. She slowly pulled her hand away and stood, facing her husband. "And I presume there is a mother? Where is she, James. Where is your other wife?"

~*~

Other wife? Other kids? He had to make it through life fighting Voldemort and living in absolutely horrible conditions while his father was making another family and having other kids, another son? Harry gave his father an angry look. How could his dad have cheated on his mum like that?

"How come they got you and I didn't? Didn't you love me enough to find me and mum? Why did you make another family?" Deep down inside, Harry knew that his father wasn't the type of man to run away from his family, but none of that mattered now. He had dreamed of this reunion for so long and it was all messed up. And it was that little girl's fault.

~*~

The bitterness and anger from Harry and Lily were unexpected and cut James to the quick. "It wasn't like that, Harry. I couldn't get to you. I couldn't get back. I tried...Lily, Harry, I tried so bloody hard. And then the kids came to me with these books and... Great Merlin, don't you think I would have been here if I could have? Don't you both know that I love you, that I ached for you, that I stopped living?"

"Apparently not," Lily's lips were pressed into a tight line. "You created another family with someone else."

"It's not like that, Lil!"

She put up her hand. "Please, James. This has been an exhausting day. I need a little air." She turned to Hagrid. "Would you escort me on a walk around the grounds? I need to clear my head for a few moments. I'll be perfectly safe with you."

Hagrid shot James a sympathetic look, but nodded his head. "O'course, Lily." He crossed the room to muss Harry's hair and gave the boy a big smile. "Chin up, Harry. You got your mum and da back an' that's the most important thing."

Harry gave Hagrid a grateful look before nodding. "Thanks."

~*~

"Come on, we're almost back to where the cottage was." Ron, Hermione and Ginny had run at nearly top speed since seeing Peter in Hogsmeade. Fortunately, the basket of chocolates for Lily was still intact and even more fortunately, Peter hadn't noticed them or given chase.

They had debated for a few moments until Hermione had convinced them that they had to tell the headmaster about Peter right away, even if they were intruding on Harry and his mother. They'd understand. For all they knew, Peter might be after her and there was no way they would allow Mrs. Potter to be taken away from their best friend again.

"So, where is it?" Ron scanned the grounds in disgust. "Bloody magic cottages, never appearing when you want them to."

Ginny and Hermione shared a brief smile and walked together to the slight shimmer in the night air. "Right here, Ron, and if I'm correct, the door should be about here." Hermione rooted around before knocking three times on the door. When there was no answer, she palpated the shimmer carefully.

"Hermione, are you sure that's it?" Ginny hated to ask, but she knew that time was of the essence.

Her friend rolled her eyes but nodded when Ginny stepped up and knocked on the shimmer herself.

"Headmaster Dumbledore? Ron and Hermione are here with me. Something perfectly dreadful has happened and we need to speak to you right now."

The door opened, light spilling over the dark grass. "C'mon in then." Ginny was pulled in by Hagrid, and her brother and Hermione followed.

"I thought I might be seein' you soon." Hagrid looked very serious. "Yeh didn't tell anyone yeh saw me, did yeh?"

All three children shook their heads. Was this what everyone thought they had to share?

"No Hagrid. You're not dreadful." Hermione managed a smile.

"Though you and that man were a little strange," Ron added.

"It was much worse," Ginny added, before turning to Hermione who appeared to be the appointed spokeswoman.

"Hagrid, Professor Dumbledore, we saw Peter Pettigrew in Hogsmeade."