Fate

Chapter 16 - The Missing Piece

Harry could hardly believe that less than twelve hours ago he had kissed Ginny goodbye.

He was laying quietly on a bed in one of the spare rooms of Godric's Hollow...

Godric's Hollow...

He smiled widely at the thought, turning his face into his pillow as he could barely contain his urge to jump for joy, shout, scream and tell the whole world what had just happened.

James and Lily....his parents...they were here....alive....

He relished in the memory of his mother's arms around him, for once not feeling the least bit embarrassed about his tears in front of another person. She was his mother....James was his father....he was supposed to cry in front of them, he was supposed to be able to hold them when times were bad or things got rough.

Harry thought back to seeing his parents kiss in the kitchen and the pure love and unending affection that he saw between them. A huge weight had lifted off his chest, knowing for himself what kind of people his parents really were. Sure they weren't perfect, but they weren't anything near what Harry had dreaded them of being. The episode in Snape's pensive had been on his mind almost constantly since Sirius and Remus had told him about traveling back to possibly save his parents. It had replayed in his head over and over as he wished and prayed with all his might that he could see, really see what they had been like.

And he had...oh, he had...

He remembered the looks he had sneaked as James and 'Sirius' had greeted Remus in the hospital wing. His first thought had been comparing them to Fred and George. Their eyes were full of mischief and laughter. But mingled throughout the conversation had been an unspoken worry for 'Remus' health and the calamity that had happened the night before.

Brothers....Harry had decided on that word.

He hadn't been so sure at first, but then, neither had they. Harry replayed their first confrontation with James and 'Sirius'. His mind had started to panic at seeing his father so young and so...angry. Scenes from Snape's pensive had flashed through his mind and it got worse and worse as he heard James and 'Sirius' cold voices towards them. Their semi-cocky attitude had also hit at him hard and he had lost his breath, daring to actually believe that James might turn out to be all the things that he had dreaded, all the things that Snape had drilled into his head for the past five years.

When Sirius had full out announced their names, Harry had felt like he wanted to faint. The annoyed and disbelieving look that James had thrown him had gripped at his heart so bad that he wanted to throw up. Not knowing what else to do, but his whole mind and heart in a panic, Harry had turned to Sirius, begging to leave, trying to do anything so that he wouldn't have to find out the truth...wouldn't have to face up to what he feared his father was going to be.

Then as his father, his own father, accused him of being a death eater, Harry had snapped back at him, feeling for a moment as if he was in a routine fight with Malfoy. But that wasn't enough. James and 'Sirius' had kept going, questioning Sirius and Remus down to the last detail. It wasn't until he heard James defend Pettigrew that the thought dropped into his head.

War...they were in the middle of a war. Not just any war, but one that had being going on since before they were in school and that had no end in sight.

As he heard his father defend one of his friends, Harry's heart slowed down, his thoughts started to process rationally again. Yes, James might have been defending the man that would betray him to his death, but the point was that he was defending his friend, no matter what the circumstances were. Sirius had told him repeatedly about how loyal his father always was to his friends, how loyal all the Marauders had been to each other, and something had almost made Harry forget it.

Shock after shock had followed as he heard about Sirius' fiancé, as he traveled to his first home and stepped foot inside, seeing his mother for the first time and dying to collapse in her arms, begging forgiveness for getting her killed, seeing his much younger self relaxing purposely on his mother's shoulder, unaware and blissful to the destiny that lay before him...

Harry did not allow another shot of anger, fear or despair hit him until Pettigrew showed up.

He wasn't sure what he would have done if someone had tried to hold him back. Thankfully Remus was too busy holding back Sirius to take much of a notice how Harry's hand had tightened on his wand when he heard Pettigrew's voice and how his eyes had flashed darkly at the door, begging the traitor to enter just so he could point his wand at his throat and hear him beg for mercy...hear him beg just how Harry had to hear his own mother beg every time he came near a dementor.

It had felt bloody good to just slam the rat up against the wall and hear him squeal in pain as Harry had dug his wand into his throat and let the whole room know what kind of person he was.

Remus' ever voice of reason had pulled him back into the present, or rather, the past, and Harry had saved the rest for Remus and Sirius to uncover.

It had then been his instinct to announce his real name to his mother, his father already knowing it. She had shed tears for him through her lovely eyes that he had inherited from her, and indeed he had. It was the first thing he had noticed about her, and he had no doubt it had been the first thing that James had noticed about her as well. He wondered if anyone saw his eyes in the same way that James saw hers.

The explaining of the story had gone well on all accounts and Harry once again turned his face into the pillow as he thought of Peter bound in cords on the ground, struggling to get free as he saw all those around him find out who and what he truly was.

He had the strangest urge to go find the owner of WWW and announce to the world what they had just been able to do.

He thought about how his mother had rushed up and just held him in her arms, weeping with him and for him as he had begun to realize what they had just accomplished. Harry's heart had almost stopped as he felt James' arms around him as well and dared to think the word 'family' in his mind as the three of them sat there together, crying and smiling and being.

A soft knock on his door brought his face out of the pillow and he leaned up on his elbow, grateful he hadn't fallen asleep yet or changed into his pajamas.

"Come in."

He couldn't help but grin as he saw Lily peak her head in smiling at him before walking through the doorway slightly.

"Do you like the room?" She said with a small amount of hesitation.

"Oh, oh yeah, it's great!" Harry said quickly. Sitting up completely as she came forward and sat next to him on the bed, smiling. They both were quiet for a moment before Lily finally turned to him.

"I actually came up here, well, oh I don't know how much you are like your father, but," she giggled slightly, "I've been trying to ask Sirius, your Sirius, a question, but he keep's skiving around it. I know that James wouldn't tell me either, especially if it was Sirius, but I was thinking maybe you could enlighten me a bit." She turned to him innocently and Harry cracked a smile.

"I'll have to get back to you on the 'How much I'm like James' thing, but why don't you ask me your question and I'll see if I can answer it?" Harry asked her.

"Well, I heard what Sirius said about Azkaban," Lily started, looking away from him and fiddling with her hair. "And if James and I were gone...?" she looked up at him helplessly. "We were both wondering...who raised you?"

Harry's eyes went wide and his heart sped up. He had not been expecting that. He had not even thought about the fact of revealing to his mother how cruel her sister and brother-in-law had been to him and he certainly didn't want to think about it now. He opened his mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say.

Lily frowned. "What? What is that look? Harry, who was it?" She pleaded, reaching forward and grabbing one of his hands. Harry looked down at their clasped hands and felt a strange emotion rise in him.

Sharing his feelings and his secrets had not ever been easy for him. Ron and Hermione were probably the first people to get him to open up so much. Sirius had gotten a little more, but never had Harry felt comfortable enough to just tell someone about...well...everything.

I was missing a mom, he realized. The missing piece...

He looked back up at Lily, tearing at his new revelation, but still shaking his head in the negative.

"No, no, you don't need to know that," he took his hand away and bit his bottom lip, looking away from her downcast face.

"It was her, wasn't it?" she said in a soft voice.

Harry whipped his head around in astonishment and saw that Lily had tears running down her cheeks and was looking at him. "Petunia...she must have had to take you..."

"How did you-?"

"She's the only one I could think of that would have had the legal right. Without Sirius or Peter, and Remus wasn't allowed and if Emily and Arianna both died....oh Merlin..." she dropped her face into her hands and Harry's eyes went wide as she started crying softly.

"Mum...Mum, please don't cry..."

Harry did the only thing he could think of, and that was reaching down and pulling Lily against him, once again feeling the awesome power of a mother's love as she openly cried for his sake, for the years of punishment and isolation that her son had gone through.

"Shh....it's not your fault..." he tried to convince her softly.

As her tears finally died down, she pulled back, a little embarrassed but still gazing straight at him. "I can only imagine," she sniffed. "Of course, you probably don't' know much about my relationship with her."

"I guessed quite a bit," Harry said, his lip twitching a bit as he thought about some of the awful things his aunt had called his mother throughout the years.

"We never did get along, even before I went to Hogwarts," Lily said softly. "She was the eldest and I was always tagging along after her, wanting to be with her friends and be one of the big girls," she laughed slightly. "I was so, so thrilled when my Hogwart's letter came. Petunia had always done everything first, being the oldest with the new clothes and being taller....I was so excited to get out of her shadow, become something of my own...But," She turned back to Harry, "she never really did understand about our world. I think she was afraid of me for the most part. That or she was upset for being pushed out of the spotlight for once..."

Harry nodded in agreement.

"Oh, my poor Harry," she reached out and stroked his cheek in a very mother like way and Harry closed his eyes, relishing the contact. She had called him by his name, not said "boy" like his guardians always had. It was amazing how well they had fallen into the mother-son relationship, like it was the most natural thing in the world, despite that they only had a five year age gap between them.

She left her hand on his cheek and he opened his eyes, wondering what was wrong when she didn't move. She was just looking at him with pure anguish in her eyes.

"Why did Sirius and Remus let you come back?" she whispered, her eyes tearing. "So much could go wrong..."

Harry felt his heart reach out to his mother and reached his hand up, covering her hand with his and bringing it down in his lap and gripping it softly. He then looked her right in the eye, hoping that she would be able to understand what he was about to say.

"The first eleven years of my life, I had no idea who you were, or dad. All I knew was that you had apparently died in a car accident and that you were both rather, er, different people."

Lily snorted. "I'm sure that's not the word my sister used."

Harry shook his head, "No, but that doesn't matter. The point is, when I finally found out who you were, one of the first facts I learned about you was that you had...you had died for me..."

He wanted to look away and hide his tears, but he kept eye contact, wanting, needing her to understand.

"Let me try to save you this time," he said solemnly. "If not for you and dad, then for me."

It seemed that she did indeed understand for she reached up to wipe her tears away.

"Sweetheart..." she said painfully looking at him.

"Please, Mum," Harry cut her off and then smiled. "I'm sorry, is that weird when I call you that?"

"No," Lily shook her head, smiling. "I think it's brilliant."

"Oh, good," Harry said, relieved, "I guess I'm not quite used to saying it yet."

They smiled at each other once more before falling quiet again.

They both sat in companionable silence till Harry heard a few faint laughs from downstairs followed by a cursing voice that sounded a lot like Sirius.

"What are they doing down there?" Harry turned to her, confused.

Lily laughed slightly. "James, I mean, your father and Sirius are trying get your Remus and Sirius to tell them more about the future, but," she giggled, "they weren't being very cooperative."

A louder shout was heard, this time followed by a very distinct "Sirius!" and that followed by running footsteps that sounded more like a dog and a stag than a human.

"Great Merlin," Lily rolled her eyes. "Two Sirius Black's in this house...I'm going to go crazy."

She got up and started to move towards the door, neither of them noticing how silent the downstairs had suddenly become.

"I best make sure they don't break anything," Lily started saying, "Are you sure you don't need any-"

She was cut off by the door bursting open, the 'Remus Lupin' standing there, looking positively fearful. James, Sirius, 'Remus' and 'Sirius' stood on the stairs a distance behind him, all sharing identical looks.

"Remus!" Lily scolded. "You should be resting on the couch still!"

"He's gone!" 'Remus' said quickly.

---

"You say you come here to change the past and yet you still won't tell us what happened?" 'Sirius' snarled in annoyance, glaring at his older self who just laughed.

"I think Sirius is having a little too much fun with this," 'Remus said dryly from his position on the armchair, typically Remus Lupin as he was looking through some books he had found. "Blimey, I haven't seen these in ages," he awed, turning the pages of his current book gently.

Sirius just laughed harder at his old friend's antics and sat down on the couch next to 'Remus' who had a steaming cup of tea and was watching everyone with a mute expression of delight in his eyes. "Now this is how you're going to turn out in our future," Sirius told the younger Remus as he pointed to the older Remus who glared at him. "Tell me, you really want to turn into a bookworm?"

"Sirius, I am a book worm," 'Remus' chuckled, holding up the book he was holding for Sirius to see.

"Bloody Merlin they're everywhere!" Sirius jumped up and ran off to the kitchen where James had disappeared to.

"Nice to see I haven't grown up too much," 'Sirius' said sarcastically after him.

Sirius just kept smiling. It seemed he couldn't stop. Perfect. It was all going perfectly. And while he knew that thought should have made him a tab bit nervous, his extreme happiness clouded it over.

Poking his head into the kitchen, he saw James writing something at the table furiously.

"What's up, James?" he asked loudly.

James jumped five feet into the air, obviously not having heard Sirius' approach and being too absorbed in his work

"Sirius!" he cried out when he got a look at his sneak.

Forgetting all his troubles instantly at the sight of his best friend, Sirius just grinned, whooping once before turning into Padfoot and scurrying away.

He vaguely heard Prongs galloping after him and rushed back into the family room, only to collide with 'Sirius' who ran right into him. Prongs fell right into the mess and both James and Sirius turned back into their human forms, scrambling to get up.

"Animagus?" A surprised voice said to one side.

James and Sirius turned and saw that 'Sirius' had been heading to where Albus Dumbledore was standing at the front door, looking quite surprised.

"Ah...?" James seemed at a loss for words.

"I suppose you boys will never stop surprising me." Dumbledore waved it away. "But now, no now is not the time." He turned to Sirius gravely. "I'm afraid I bring some troubling news. It seems the Dementors lost hold of Mr. Pettigrew while escorting him to Azkaban."

The room was so silent it seemed everyone had stopped breathing.

"Peter has run away. We have no idea where he is."

Sirius would have stood shell shocked for another hour if 'Remus' hadn't bolted up from his position on the bed and began rushing up the stairs. Immediately James, Sirius, 'Remus' and 'Sirius' followed him.

They all four stopped in time to see Lily open the door of Harry's room.

"Remus!" Lily scolded mother-like. "You should be resting on the couch still!"

"He's gone!" Remus blurted out.

Sirius saw and heard Harry get out of bed and rush up to his mother's side, his eyes wide and disbelieving.

"Pettigrew escaped," Remus finished.

Lily gasped, holing her hands to her mouth. Sirius felt a knife twist in his heart and caught Harry's eye, seeing the desolation in his face and knowing that his own expression looked remarkably similar. Turning to Remus, he knew what the old Marauder would say without him having to.

"Now we see the consequences," Remus whispered once again.