Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything

Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything (14)

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Chapter Fourteen: About-Face

The annex room off of Dumbledore's office was primarily used now as a safe meeting space for the Order. Matters of great import were discussed here, and all the portraits of the former Headmasters gave their own experiences with the countless dark wizards that had come before. Most often the room would be filled with a dozen or more members of the Order, along with a unit of specialist Aurors, all under the leadership of Mad Eye Moody. On this Sunday morning, however, there was a mere trio of occupants. But, despite their smaller number, the matters they were discussing were of no less import.

"I still can't get over the fact that Ted and Andromeda would do that. I had always known that they were brave from standing up to the Black's, but I had no idea about any of this. And poor Tonks! Her parents were taken from her at a young age, and all her life she has to pretend that they're still alive. She had always told me that they were deeply affected at a Muggle musical festival in the sixties and had, how had she put it?"

"Turned on, tuned in, and dropped out?"

Remus nodded.

"Yeah, something like that. Thank you, Hermione. I had always pictured them living like hippies somewhere in America. I don't know if they still do things like that over there anymore or not. I stopped keeping track after that Nixon fellow's nonsense. And then Dumbledore follows that up by telling me that the two of you are brother and sister! Either one of those things would make anything that the Quibbler had ever produced seem quite normal. But, I agreed that it was best that he kept it a secret, even from me. Mind you, that didn't stop me from busting his office up a bit. He said that he was quite used to it by now, though. Still, after sleeping on it, I've come to terms with things. I'm not mad at either one of you, either. You couldn't tell anyone, and that included me."

Harry smiled in relief. He hadn't been sure how Remus was going to take all this.

"We really did want to tell you, Remus. When Dumbledore told us on my... I mean, our... birthday, you were one of the first people I thought of. Dumbledore told us both it was too dangerous, so we kept it a secret. Well, except the part about us being related. That had to come out because of Ron and Luna getting the wrong idea about something, but we never did tell them about our parents still being alive. You and Dumbledore are the only two people now, besides Hermione and I, that know. We both wanted you to know because of you being their best friend still alive."

Harry and Hermione gave Remus a warm smile that caused the aging Marauder to laugh.

"And because you thought I might figure it out by myself and be mad at you both for now telling me, right? Don't worry, like I said, I'm not mad. I would have known from the start, if the two of you weren't so accomplished at Occlumency. I knew something was up with the way you were acting differently around each other after your birthday. At the time, I assumed it was suppressed romantic feelings. I had no reason to think anything else. One thing still puzzles me, though."

Harry's brows furrowed.

"What's that?"

Remus grinned a patented Marauder grin that would have made Fred and George look quite innocent.

"Well, there were two distinct adrenal and pulse reactions with the two of you. When you were talking to one another, it was only slightly noticeable. But, when you would see one another without thinking that the other saw you, it was markedly higher. What would you imagine that means, eh?"

Harry and Hermione looked guiltily at one another before laughing along with Remus at his teasing. Hermione shook her head at the pair of them.

"Boys! Don't you ever grow up?"

This, of course, only made the other two laugh harder. Harry wiped at his eyes and gave Hermione's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Sorry, sis. And, in answer to your question, Inspector Lupin, this brother and sister thing is still new to the both of us. We're still working on it, ok?"

Remus nodded.

"See that you do. I don't want to see a kid by the name of Potter come here to Hogwarts in eleven years time with flippers, all right?"

So said, this brought the "serious" meeting to a close, mainly due to the fact that none of them could stop themselves from laughing long enough to say anything more.

**********

"Well, if it isn't about Draco, then why would they make a special effort to tell us he wouldn't be there?"

Ginny and Neville were working on homework between classes on a Monday afternoon. Harry and Hermione had told the rest of the group that they wanted to meet up with them after dinner in the Room of Requirement. When Ron had asked what the meeting would be about, neither of them would reveal anything to him. The only thing they did say on the matter was that Draco would not be there. This had made Ron happy, but it had also made the rest of them all the more curious, especially the naturally curious Ginny. Neville was trying to get his Herbology essay done, but knew that, to avoid certain strife, he would also need to pay attention to what his girlfriend was saying. Unfortunately, he let his concentration lapse at times.

"Ginny, honey, it could mean anything. Maybe they just want to talk about the next Advanced Defense meeting. It might even be something about Draco's father that he doesn't want Draco to know about."

Ginny thought this over. It was a much more interesting topic than luck potions and the importance of using a pure silver knife when making it.

"It could be something about what they were talking to Dumbledore about the other day, too."

"Uh-huh."

"It could be about their meeting with Professor Lupin the day after that."

"Uh-huh."

Ginny gave a stern look to her boyfriend. He didn't notice this, seeing as he was looking at his essay and scribbling something down on it.

"It could be about Dumbledore's plan to have Harry impregnate all sixth and seventh year girls in order to produce an army of magically superior babies to fight off Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

"Uh-huh. Wait, what?"

Neville now looked up from his parchment to look at a disgruntled looking Ginny.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't think you were paying attention to me. I must have been mistaken. Tell me, what were the two ideas I had before that?"

Neville's mind raced. He had no idea what she had said since he had been writing about his idea to get creeping ivy to be more direct.

"Uh, well, you mentioned a few other things you thought they might want to talk about."

Ginny's eyes narrowed.

"Yes, and they were?"

Neville's mind was blank. He went for the only defense he could think of.

"How much I love you, and how much you love me?"

Ginny tried to remain stern, but the effort failed miserably.

"You're lucky I do love you so much, Nevy. I'd hate to have to...punish you."

Neville felt a hand move under the table that made him jump.

"Well, I think that's enough homework for today. Fancy a walk down by the lake, gorgeous?"

As it turned out, Ginny did.

After dinner had ended, the group made it's way to the Room of Requirement for their meeting. Once they had all gone inside and shut the door behind them, they all turned to Harry in expectation of an explanation. Instead, they found him and Hermione tapping at each corner of the room and looking quite serious. Ron frowned in confusion.

"Uh, if you two are done checking for stone worm, maybe you'd like to tell us why we have to be here instead of studying? Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

Hermione finished her taping on the walls and gave one more crack on Ron's head.

"Ouch! What the hell was that for? Is it part of whatever you and Harry were doing?"

Hermione rolled her eyes as Harry conjured six chairs for them all to sit in.

"No, Ronald, it's not. Harry and I were putting up the strongest privacy charms possible so that we could be assured that nobody could drop in on us. We don't want a repeat of fifth year when Umbridge's cronies tried to flush us all out. And, although your head is stone-like at times, I don't think you'll be affected."

The rest of the group laughed while Ron turned pink. Eventually, he laughed along with them. When the laughter had died down, Harry called for their attention.

"Right, well, thanks for coming. Even though I seem to have a lot of practice at this public speaking rubbish, I still don't like doing it, so Hermione's going to help me. And, in truth, it is as much her story as it is mine. There's more about us that you don't know, even more than just the fact that we're brother and sister. It's something even more unbelievable than that. Something that goes against everything you've ever been told, that goes against history."

The four friends left staring at them all felt their eyes widen and pulse quicken. What could possibly be bigger than the two of them being brother and sister? What could it be to make Harry sound so...dramatic? They all made their own guesses at it, with some being more serious than others.

"Snape is really your father," Ginny said.

"It's Hermione that has to kill Voldemort, not Harry," Neville said.

"No! It isn't going to be Hermione! Harry can handle it; he's been born to do it. I don't want Hermione's life to be at stake, as well!" Ron yelled.

Hermione yelled over the din of voices so that she might be heard.

"HEY! Quiet down! No, Snape is not our father, thank god. Harry is still the one to kill Voldemort, as far as we know. Oh, and I'd love to see you try and stop me from being by Harry's side in any fight, Ronald. Especially since I would certainly expect to have you there, as well!"

There was a long and awkward pause after that, as those that had spoken out of turn looked down at their feet. The silence was suddenly broken by the one voice that hadn't spoken yet.

"Now that I've given everyone a chance to guess, I can tell you what the answer is. Harry and Hermione's parents, James and Lily Potter, are still alive. There, I guessed correctly, so I should win something. Although, I did have inside information, so I guess that could disqualify me. What do you think, Harry? I'll let you be the judge."

Everyone now looked from Luna to Harry and back again. Ron was stuttering, as he often did when confused and mad at the same time.

"You-you told Luna, and you didn't tell me, your oldest and closest friend? What the bloody hell is that about?"

Hermione also looked stricken.

"Harry! I thought we agreed that we would tell everyone together!"

Loud conversation broke out again and Harry had to yell out to get their attention. He was getting used to it by now.

"SHUT UP!"

Everyone stopped talking immediately. Well, except for Luna, and she hadn't been talking in the first place.

"Listen, I didn't tell Luna anything, ok? I didn't have to. Luna talks with her mum, who talks with Sirius, who I told about this first, since he had been looking for mum and dad since he arrived in... well, wherever he is. So, nobody got told anything before anyone else. I just found out Luna knew about this at breakfast."

The rest of them all bowed their heads and nodded. They all felt they should have known that Harry could keep a secret, seeing as he had kept one for all of them at one point or another. Once satisfied that they were all settled down again, Harry continued in a softer tone.

"Yes, Hermione and I have found out that our parents are still alive. I didn't believe it myself when Dumbledore told me, but it's true. They have been in hiding since that Halloween night Voldemort tried to kill me, all the while helping to protect Hermione and I from him. On top of that, they have been working on figuring out what the prophecy really means, and how I might be able to rid the world of Tom Riddle at last."

Ron shook his head.

"Harry, two people died that night. There's no question about that. Dad still has copies of all the files about it, along with copies of the death certificates. The whole thing is considered an open case until Voldemort is defeated. Dad was one of the Order members called onto the scene afterwards. They were all looking for you, but Hagrid had already gotten you out of there."

Hermione now took over answering questions. Harry was grateful, since he was developing an enormous stress headache.

"You're right, Ron. Two people did die that night, but it wasn't our parents. They looked like them, but it wasn't them."

Ginny coughed.

"Hermione, if you tell me that James and Lily had identical twins of one another that nobody knew about, I'm out of here."

A few of them giggled nervously. It was an absurd notion, but at this point the term "absurd" seemed relative. Hermione shook her head.

"No, Ginny. There were no twins involved. Well, apart from Harry and myself. No, the reality is that two Metamorphmagi took their places. Instead of Lily and James, it was Ted and Andromeda Tonks that died that night."

Everyone now looked at Harry and Hermione with even more stunned faces. They all knew that Ted and Andromeda were Tonks' parents. How could that be? They were still alive, weren't they? This was a part of the tale that Luna didn't even know about.

"How could Tonks' parents be dead? I've heard her talking about them."

Harry gravely nodded his head.

"Yeah, that's the first thing that came to my mind. Dumbledore said that the story of Ted Tonks being a Muggle was a lie they made up so that Andromeda would be disowned by the Black family, and also to throw off any suspicion about him. The truth was that they were both Metamorphmagi, and that they passed on the trait to their daughter. Dumbledore had hoped that their love for one another and the sacrifice of their lives so that I might live would be enough to destroy Voldemort. As we now know, it wasn't. Ted and Andromeda knew the risks and were willing to die for that chance. In return, their daughter was marked down for being an Auror, and has been looked after by the Order since that night. So, instead of me being the poor orphan in all of this, it's been Tonks all along. I feel bad now for making fun of her clumsiness. Her bravery is amazing for not letting on about the real tragedy of her life."

The females of the group had tears welling up in their eyes and Neville felt a lump in his throat. Ron, however, chose to look at it differently.

"Bloody hell, Harry! This is great! All this time you've had a real family! When can we all meet them?"

Harry shook his head at his well meaning, yet often tactless, friend.

"Ron, we can't meet with them. They're supposed to be in hiding, remember? This knowledge can't go beyond this room. If Voldemort were to find out what really happened that night, he wouldn't rest until they really were dead. So, until all of this is over and Voldemort is dead, we all have to go on like we always have. And, don't forget, nobody is to say anything to Tonks. If she decides at some point to tell us, fine, but until then, none of us know anything about it, ok? OK, RON?"

Ron went pink at Harry's pointed stare.

"Fine, fine, I won't say anything to her or anybody else. Can we go now? All of these sudden revelations are making me hungry."

Hermione clicked her tongue.

"Ron! We just got up from eating! How could you possibly still be hungry?"

Ron looked over at Ginny and they both laughed. Ron then stood up and took his girlfriend by the hand, just as Ginny did the same with Neville.

"Weasley metabolism, love. Of course, if you don't want to go with us and get fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookies and ice cold milk, that's up to you."

Hermione tried her best to look disapproving, but the need to swallow her own quickly accumulating saliva was a dead give away.

"Oh, well, fine. I'll go with you, but only to make sure that you don't eat yourself sick and overwork the poor elves. Besides, they also make quite the best oatmeal raisin."

Ron and Hermione then left hand in hand, followed closely by a similarly linked Neville and Ginny. Harry turned to Luna, expecting to see her anxious to go as well. Instead, he saw that she had the same glint in her eyes that he had seen several times before. He swallowed hard.

"Actually, Harry, I was thinking we could stay here for a little while longer."

Harry watched her lips as they got closer and closer to his own.

"But, Luna, what about getting some dessert?"

Luna's warm breath was now mingling with Harry's own.

"Oh, I think we can have our dessert right here, don't you?"

Neither of them ever made it to the kitchens.

That night, Harry had one of his most vivid nightmares ever. Strangely, Voldemort played no part in it. Instead, the dream showed Professor Snape standing over the dead body of James Potter. At first, Harry thought he was looking at himself lying dead, but then he saw the open and empty eyes of his father. Snape showed no remorse on his pallid face, and instead looked as if the sight amused him a great deal. Harry's hatred towards the Potions Master steadily grew until he finally woke himself up, only to find that his bed was lying in ruins and there was a great banging on his door. Still high on adrenaline and shaking, he flew to his door and jerked it open to find the frightened face of Hermione.

"Harry! What is it? I heard you next door in my room through the wall! It sounded like a bomb went off. What's wrong? Were you attacked somehow? Is it Voldemort?"

Hermione's eyes scanned Harry all over looking for any kind of injury. She noticed he was shaking as if he was freezing, even though he was also completely bathed in sweat. Harry had to take a few deep steadying breaths before he could calm himself enough to answer her.

"Hermione, oh, thank god that it's you. I'm sorry about all of this, it was a terrible vision. I haven't had one in such a long time now that it really got to me, and it was so real! I thought I could block it all out, but I guess this one slipped through."

Hermione took hold of Harry's arm and guided him back to sit in a chair.

"It's ok, Harry. You're safe now. Maybe it didn't have anything to do with Legillimency at all. Maybe it really was just a nightmare. Everyone has those from time to time. What was the dream about?"

Hermione poured Harry a glass of water from his bedside pitcher and handed it to him. Harry took the glass in both hands and downed it in three large gulps. While Hermione then poured him another from the ever-filling pitcher, Harry let a breath out that he hadn't even realized that he had been holding.

"It was my dad... sorry, our dad. He was lying dead on the ground and Snape was standing over him. It was so real, Hermione. Snape looked as if he thought it was really funny, and I could feel myself hating him more and more. The next thing I knew, I was laying on the floor covered in torn cloth and sawdust, with you banging on my door. What if it really was a vision? What if Snape is going after our parents? I have to get out of here, now."

Harry Jumped off the bed in preparation to rush out the door, but quickly found himself being restrained by his sister.

"No, Harry. You aren't going anywhere. So, you had a vision where you saw someone you cared about having their life threatened. Doesn't that sound familiar to you? Don't you remember how that story ends?"

Harry made an initial attempt to shrug off Hermione's grip before allowing her to sit him down again. He was surprised at the strength of the usually bookish girl. He later supposed that she had built up the muscles in her arm from carrying those books, and from fighting off Ron's advances.

"All right, fine, I won't go running off again. But, I'm telling you, this was more than just a dream I had. What do you propose I do, have some warm milk and forget about it?"

Hermione ignored the snarkiness of Harry's reply and continued on in her usual, "I-know-best," voice.

"No, I don't suggest that you forget it at all. I do suggest that you need to tell someone who can do something in the event that it does turn out to be a true vision. I suggest you put your robe and slippers on and go see Dumbledore. If you want, I could even come with you."

Harry felt embarrassed about his childish behavior and nodded. Hermione was right, as per usual.

"You're right. I'll go and see Dumbledore and talk to him about it. He'll know what to do, and he can tell me what Snape's up to. You should go back to bed, though. I feel bad enough that I woke you this early, not to mention acting like a prat. I'm sorry, Hermione."

Hermione smiled at him and pulled him into a tight hug. They both felt better immediately.

"That's ok, Harry. What are friends and family for? You go talk to Dumbledore, and then you can tell me all about it in the morning, ok? Well, later on this morning, I guess I should say. Just don't do anything rash, will you?"

Harry smiled back at her and crossed his heart.

"I promise, Hermione. I'll just go and talk to Dumbledore and see what he thinks. I'll see you at breakfast, ok?"

Hermione nodded and followed Harry out of his room. After one more hug, Hermione turned left to return to her own private room, while Harry turned right to make his way to Dumbledore's office. He breathed a deep sigh of relief when he came to the door to the old man's office. Everything was going to be all right now.

Except that it wasn't. Dumbledore wasn't there, and none of the portraits even stirred in their frames when he asked them where he might be. Harry thought of leaving the Headmaster a note, but he didn't feel like he could accurately write out how he felt. Instead, he left the office and intended to see if Professor McGonagall might be awake.

However, just as Harry was about to turn the corner to return to the main stairs, a movement on the landing above caused him to quickly hide behind a statue. From his hiding spot, he instantly recognized the figure in the darkness from the paleness of exposed face and hands.

"I wonder what Snape is doing out at this hour" Harry thought. "Is he leaving the castle to go after dad like I envisioned? Sorry, Hermione, but I have to follow him."

Using an advanced cloaking spell on himself, Harry followed Snape as he descended the main staircase. The professor did look extremely furtive, so Harry became even more convinced that he was right to follow him. When they had reached the entry hall, instead of heading out through the main doors, as Harry had been certain he would, Snape continued on to the passage which lead to the stairs down to his dungeon level office. For a moment, Harry thought that continuing to follow the professor would be a waste of time, but something continued to urge him forward.

It was at the door to Snape's office where Harry's pursuit ended. Once the door had shut and locked behind the professor, Harry ended the cloaking charm had had put on himself and placed his ear to the door. Despite the vast magical powers he now possessed, Harry found that some Muggle methods were still the best.

What Harry heard confused him. It sounded as if Snape was having a heated argument with...himself. Harry knew that Dumbledore would often rattle on to himself, and that Professor Sprout would sometimes sing Muggle show tunes to herself during lessons, but he had never known Snape to do anything of the sort. His voice continued to get louder and louder as Harry stood there. The words being said didn't make any sense, either.

"We have an agreement, and it's more than either of our lives are worth to go against it now after all of these years."

"Damn the agreement! I don't care what Dumbledore says! He already knows the truth, so what difference does it make now?"

"The difference is that there are too many protections being broken as it is! I have dedicated my life for this cause, and I will not have you make that in vain for your emotional weakness."

"How dare you? Do you think you're the only one whose life in entrenched in this? What about me? What about her? Our lives are just as much on the line here as yours. And you talk to me about being weak? For three years now I've been right there in front of them, and yet I've had to continue to drive them away from me. I've had to keep them hating me, just as they hate you. I'm tired of it. I just want to see them, and for them to see me, as I am. For Christ's sake, they already know! What could possibly be the harm in it now?"

"Oh, yes, do get yourself all worked up. Let your emotions spike your magical levels. You'll have them both knowing you're here. I do my best to shield your mind from him, but there are limits, you know. You will go back now and think on this. If the Headmaster found out about what we have been doing, I don't think he would be very conducive to giving you even freer rein, do you?"

Harry had heard enough. Whatever Snape had been "doing" that the Headmaster wouldn't approve of, he was going to find out what it was. Pulling his wand out of his pocket, Harry blew the door open to the office and trained his wand directly at Snape's chest. At least, he tried to.

The problem was, there were two of them. Standing before Harry, looking very much as if he'd been caught with his hand in the chocolate frog barrel was, indeed, Professor Snape. Standing next to him, also looking guilty was Professor Snape. This abnormality struck Harry as quite odd. It also made it hard for him to determine which chest to train his single wand on. Both Snapes spoke at once.

"Put your wand down!"

Harry didn't.

The Snape on the left held up his empty hands to show that he was unarmed.

"Look, Harry, I know this looks rather, well, strange, but if you give us about..."

Snape number one, as Harry now considered him, checked his watch. Harry found that in itself as being odd, since he didn't remember seeing Snape with a watch. And was that a Cartier? Harry had remembered that Uncle Vernon had always wanted one to reflect his managerial position. Did Hogwarts pay that well?

"...Twenty three minutes, all of this will make sense, ok? You can keep your wand on us the whole time. I promise, all will be revealed then."

The Snape on the right (a.k.a. Snape number two) sneered.

"An appropriate use of the term, I think. We could tell Potter now, but I guess seeing is believing in this case."

Harry nodded. He still didn't know what was going on, but since he wasn't picking up any feeling that either of the men before him meant him any harm, he decided to wait and see what happened. He tried to enter both of their minds, but they were very well guarded. He concluded that Dumbledore must be behind this. He even thought that one of the Snapes might turn out to be Dumbledore. Perhaps he was going to spy on a Death Eater meeting? While he continued to think about this, the Snape on the left suddenly doubled over. Harry had seen people coming off of Polyjuice before, but this was unlike any he had seen before.

Harry had expected to see long white hair appear, or a long crooked nose. Instead, he saw the long greasy hair that belonged to Snape shorten and become cleaner looking. As apposed to a long and crooked nose, the man's features went from sallow and austere looking, to familiar and handsome. Finally, within half an hour of coming face to face with identical twin Snapes, Harry was now face to face with a single Snape, along with...

"Dad? Is it really you?"

James Potter straightened himself up and ran his hands through his now clean, but unruly, hair.

"God I hate how itchy my head gets. Have you ever heard of shampoo and conditioner, Severus? My own hair might be hard to manage, but at least there's nothing living in it."

James took his hands out of his hair and moved to hug his son. Harry moved out of the way.

"Not so fast. Are you really my father? I can't seem to get into your mind, and the only other person I can't get into is Dumbledore. For all I know, you could be Voldemort."

James gave a crooked grin that is son's closest friends had seen on Harry many times.

"From what I'm told, you could have spotted me as an enemy the second you walked in. As for getting into my mind, that was part of the deal when your mother and I went into hiding. Dumbledore and Lily arranged it. If you had guessed we were around before you came of age, well, that would have made things difficult."

Harry kept his wand trained on his father.

"You could have been told about that. Both of you could. Why should I trust either of you?"

James grinned even wider.

"Constant vigilance, eh? I see Mad Eye hasn't changed. Ok, I'll prove it, then. On the right cheek of your bum are three small red marks that look a little like a roman numeral three."

Harry's mouth dropped. To his knowledge, only he knew about that. He had first discovered it on his first trip to the hospital wing when he was looking himself over in the full-length mirror there. It wasn't very big, but he had seen it. He doubted even Ron knew about it.

"How did you know about that? Do you know how I got it?"

James laughed.

"That was from the one time that I let Sirius change your nappie. He said that a Black could handle anything. Well, once he got the nappie open, he lost his bottle. He panicked and hexed the bloody thing. The result was a hell of a mess, and a burned baby bottom. We did our best to fix things, but it still left a mark. Of course, the both of us caught holy hell when Lily saw it, and Sirius was never called upon for babysitting again. Remus was much better at it. I think he handled things better than I did. He always was the mature one of the bunch. I'm glad he's looked after you so well, Harry. I can't tell you how much I wish things could have been different, son. Your mother and I love you and Hermione very much."

Harry knew that the man spoke the truth. It felt like he was looking at a future version of himself. Finally, he stepped forward and allowed his father to hold him for the first time in sixteen years. After a minute or two, the emotion of the scene was broken by the cough of the now forgotten third member of the group.

"Although this little reunion is touching, I must inform you both that the Headmaster will be back from his visit from his brother soon. You, James, would be well advised to be back in Ireland when that happens. You can some back later if you wish to have more...family time."

James and Harry broke their hug and smiled at one another, tears welling up in both of their eyes. Harry could hardly believe all of this was really happening and wished that he had told Hermione to come with him when she had offered.

"I don't understand, though, why did you come here tonight?"

James laughed again.

"Tonight? Hell, I've been coming here off and on ever since your fifth year, son! After the TriWizard tournament, I told Dumbledore that I'd be damned if I wasn't going to keep closer watch on you. So, we made a compromise. Since Severus here was helping your mum and I out in Ireland, he agreed to let me stand in for him from time to time. The catch was that I couldn't let anyone know it was me, especially you and Hermione. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to say something to both of you, but I couldn't. Worse than that, I had to treat you like he would. If I suddenly treated you like a father, it would have given me away. Still, for me, just seeing you both and knowing you were safe made it all worth it."

Harry's mouth dropped even lower.

"So, Snape really is helping out? Are you sure he's not still working for Voldemort?"

James shook his head while Snape gave another little, but blatantly fake, cough.

"No, Harry. Severus really is working on our side. The two of us still don't see eye to eye on most things, but we're both loyal to Dumbledore."

Harry then remembered something else that didn't make sense to him.

"Wait, what about the Marauder's Map? I've never seen you on it."

Snape suddenly looked triumphant.

"AHA! So you admit to having it! I knew it all along! I'm sure that the Headmaster..."

James quickly cut him off.

"Knows all about it, Severus. So don't waste your time. No, you wouldn't have seen me on there. All of us Marauders had a hand in creating that map. But, in the end, we had to have someone with a mastery of charms to make it work. Since we didn't figure old Flitwick would play ball, we went with the most gifted charms student in the school. As it turned out, I happened to be dating her. Lily changed it around a bit, too. For one thing, you used to be able to zoom in on the dots. Lily didn't care for that feature for some reason. She also put a few extras in it that meant she could further alter it later, if she needed to. That's how the map has said that Hermione's last name is Granger, and that I can use Snape's when he isn't here. Your mum is as smart as she is beautiful, just like our daughter. Our son can be smart too, when he puts his mind to it."

Harry's face went pink and he looked down at his feet. James laughed at him.

"Hey, there's no time for embarrassment, son. My father said the same thing about me. Now that we're together, I have something I want to tell you. It's very important, and there isn't much time. That's what Severus and I were arguing about when you came in. I wanted to tell you in person."

Harry nodded for him to go on.

"It's Voldemort, son. He may not be making the news lately, but he's still out there. Your mum and I, along with Professor Snape here, have spent the last sixteen years trying to stay one step ahead of him. We've been able to protect you and Hermione somewhat, but things are going to get a lot tougher soon. We've received information that Voldemort has been far from idle of late. Harry, son, the darkest days yet may still be before us. The second war that we have all feared for so long may be coming, and it may be here even sooner than we had feared."