Harry Potter and The Heirs of The Founders

Chapter Seven

Soul-mates

Rose stared at the piece of parchment. Her heart began to race. Drops of sweat were forming on her forehead. She couldn't believe it.

A hoof print.

It had to be her dad. Only a person would have the ability to think that the owl was awaiting a response.

She sat there staring at the parchment.

The earlier despair was soon forgotten as Rose sat down and pulled out a fresh piece of parchment as an idea came to her head.

Dear Dad,

I knew you were alive, I just didn't think I could find you so easily. Everyone has been looking for you so hard, that I guess it has never occurred to anyone to just send you an owl.

I don't know where you are, or how you can travel, or whether you can apparate and I don't know what you look like. But if you can make your way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts I will check every night for the next week. If I find a stag I will force them to reveal themselves and hopefully our paths will cross.

If this is not possible, send me another hoof print and I will try and come up with another way for you to be found. I hope though that it's possible. I want to meet you and get to know you better.

Love,

Your daughter Rose.

Rose hurriedly picked up her books and her homework and practically ran up to the owlery. She found her owl and quickly gave the letter to the owl.

'Find Prongs again for me,' she said to the owl. 'Find James Potter.'

The owl obediently hooted and flew off into the sky.

Rose quietly walked back to Gryffindor Tower. She was going to locate Ginny and tell her everything. She was going to need some help for this one and she hoped that Ginny would be the best person to help her.

*~*

The owl had returned. The stag lifted his head up to see it soaring towards him. He was just getting used to the fact that he had a daughter; but more importantly the fact that someone realised he was alive. He was pondering how this could be. He had come to the conclusion that somehow, Chrystal must have seen Lily and transformed her. He remembered the look on her face from the night that they had "died". She couldn't believe they were dead. She had shaken them and screamed but it had not woken them. James had tried to reach out and let her know that he was fine. But he was frozen. Unable to move and could not feel anything until he awoke in the St Mungos morgue to find himself transformed and unable to retake his human form.

He read the letter. Could he make it to the Forbidden Forestat Hogwarts?' He hadn't tried to apparate for a long time, not knowing the location of those that knew his Animagus from. But he could certainly try. He shook his head at the owl to let it know there was no reply. Hopefully all would go according to plan. It would only be a matter of time now, before he would be reunited with his family.

*~*

Lily's mouth was wide open.

She had dropped the casserole covered spoon on the floor.

'I asked Hermione to marry me,' Harry said having hoped for a better response. He wasn't sure if his mother was upset, astounded or just shocked.

It took Lily quite a while to come to terms with what her son had just told her. In her head she kept seeing her one year old son telling her that he was getting married.

'I'm sorry Hermione,' she said finally. 'It's not that I'm unhappy, I'm not truly. It's just that I guess I still see Harry as a one year old boy. I keep having to tell myself that he's a grown man now.'

Lily walked over and embraced her son and Hermione.

'I am very happy for you both,' she said. 'And I am very proud of you. However I think our dinner's ruined.' Lily pointed toward the pot on the stove which was beginning to smell like charcoal.

'That's okay,' Harry replied with a smile on his face. 'I'm sure there's some leftovers in the fridge.'

They sat down over a dinner of warmed up soup and made plans for the marriage to occur as soon as was practically possible.

'I don't want a big wedding,' Hermione kept saying over and over again. 'I just want to be with Harry, for as long as we have together.'

They ended up agreeing on plans by the early hours on the morning. Harry was adamant about one thing. Ron was going to be his best man, and he wouldn't do it without Ron being there. And he wanted to talk to Ron before it happened.

Lily walked out of the house early the next afternoon and apparated back to Hogsmeade. She quickly transformed into Crookshanks and made her way back towards the castle.

It was ironic really. She, the one had to remain hidden for the safety of her son and his fiancée, would have to organise their wedding in the shortest amount of time possible. The feat would have to fall upon Sirius and Chrys. And the practicalities of them getting married while they were in hiding were still swirling around Lily's head. Luckily Harry had thought everything through. Lily walked in the entrance to the castle and made her way up to the staff quarters. As soon as she entered Sirius and Chrys' room she announced herself with a big miaow before transforming.

Sirius spied her almost immediately. He was sitting in the sitting room, glancing at a book.

'What did Hermione say?' Sirius asked with a cheeky grin on his face.

'You should have given me some warning Sirius Black,' she said. 'That was very cruel.'

'I take it she said yes then,' Sirius replied. 'Anyway Lily, it's not my place to tell you. That's Harry's job. Are we happy?'

'Well I guess so,' Lily said. 'I mean I've known Hermione very well for quite a while now and I think she's a good match for Harry. It's just hard getting used to the fact that my son's all grown up.'

Lily sat down with Sirius and went through Harry's plans. It was all quite simple really. Lily would reveal them from hiding, Lupin would marry them in front of a small group of friends and then all would go back to normal. And they would put a notice in The Daily Prophet a couple of days later with photos to try and keep Voldemort under the illusion that Harry was leading a normal life and hence wouldn't begin looking for his Secret Keeper. It was only after they had made all the plans that Lily realised that Chrys wasn't there.

'She's gone to see Alastor Moody,' Sirius said rolling his eyes. 'Bloody Auror stuff. You know I'm not too keen on being married to an Auror?' Lily nodded. 'Well Chrys is the closest "stationed" Auror to The Three Broomsticks so she has to deal with all the loose ends there, despite other Aurors living in Hogsmeade. It's Moody's revenge for all the paperwork he had to do when she got Lucius kissed.'

'I can't see her being too happy about it,' Lily replied. 'She always hated that kind of thing. I'm sure she would have just resigned if possible. Working three jobs last year kind of pushed her to the edge. She said as much. I didn't think she'd quit Quidditch though, but I guess you had to do some persuading there.'

'Interestingly enough I didn't,' Sirius replied. 'It was entirely her choice. I think after the Cup was over she'd had enough. So Scotland's without their Seeker for the next World Cup. Looks like it might be Harry's job eh?'

'She wouldn't have quit for Harry,' Lily replied.

'They've only come head to head once and I believe Harry won,' Sirius answered.

'I also believe that that was his birthday and Chrystal let him win,' Lily replied. 'If I'm not very much mistaken.'

On that note Chrystal walked in the door.

'There's no point debating my Quidditch days,' she said. 'They're over.' She pointed to her stomach. "Especially at the moment.'

Sirius and Lily burst out laughing when they saw the deadly serious look on her face.

Lily stood up walked towards the door as Chrys snuggled in Sirius' arms.

'I guess someone had better tell Rose that her brother's getting married,' she said. 'It's probably best that it's me. I don't know how she'll take it, but I think we should be more worried about how Ron will take it.'

Lily transformed and pushed the door open with her paw. She slowly made her way towards Gryffindor Tower hoping that Rose would be in there. She also hoped that Rose would react well.

This weekend. Her son was getting married on Saturday and she had no idea where James was. It wasn't fair. He should be there for their son's wedding. And they had no idea where he was.

Lily arrived at the fat lady and rubbed against the frame. The fat lady seeing "Crookshanks" answered Lily's question;

'If you're looking for Miss Heaney and Miss Weasley they're not here. They headed out an hour ago with heavy robes. I would suggest that they're somewhere outside.'

Outside was not a word Lily particularly wanted to hear. Although the snow was not falling yet, it was cold and the last thing she wanted to do was go out there by herself. Especially in her cat form. But somehow she felt something was happening. Something wasn't quite right. She headed straight back to the staff quarters, hoping that she wouldn't be interrupting anything.

She wasn't. Sirius and Chrys were still sitting on the settee where she'd left them.

'Rose isn't in Gryffindor Tower,' Chrys said when she saw Lily. 'She's outside searching for something. I'm not sure what but she can't find it.'

Sirius and Lily's mouths dropped. How did she know that? Had she done what she swore she'd never do?

'Well am I right?' Chrys asked. 'She's cold and she's looking, so I assume she's outside looking for something.' She looked at the look on their faces. 'It came to me okay. I don't do that kind of thing.'

Accepting her explanation for the moment, Sirius scooped up Lily and threw Chrys her thick cloak.

'First stop Hagrid's,' Sirius said. 'I mean Charlie's.'

Chrys shuddered at the thought of the hut not belonging to Hagrid anymore.

They made their way down to the hut and were surprised when they found just Charlie and Ginny inside.

'Where's Rose?' Sirius asked Ginny.

Ginny looked as if she was not going to tell.

'Do you know what's going on Charlie?' Sirius asked Charlie who was beginning to show a look of concern on his face.

'She was here, but then she said she had some work to do,' he answered. 'Is something wrong? You look as if you think she's dead or something.'

'No she's not,' Chrys answered. 'Bu we were looking for her and she's somewhere cold and afraid. We need to know where.'

Out of concern for her friend Ginny spoke up.

'She's looking for Prongs,' she whispered.

'What?' exclaimed Lily as she transformed from Crookshanks.

'She wrote a letter, the day we won that Quidditch match,' Ginny began. 'She was just writing it because she wanted to feel close to her dad, and then on a whim she sent it. It came back with a muddy paw print. She decided that she would send another letter. It said that he should meet her on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. I tried to get her to tell one of you, because she doesn't even know what he looks like in his Animagus form. She just didn't want to get everyone's hopes up. She decided that she would just try the Revealing Charm on any stag she saw. Then if she was successful she would bring him to you, Mrs Potter.' Ginny added the last comment looking directly at Lily.

Lily felt her heart tighten. A letter. Who would have thought that something so simple could locate her husband? They had been searching so hard for so long, Lupin had in fact devoted the majority of his time over the last four months to searching and Sirius had spent the greater part of summer searching and yet they had found nothing. James. She longed to hear his voice, see his face and feel his touch. She needed to feel his arms around her and his voice telling her that everything was going to work out fine. She needed to hear him tell her that he would keep her safe. Her heart had almost broken when she lost him. The thought that he might actually be here was almost too much top bear.

'Well she won't have gone too far,' Lily said. 'It's best we go and find them both.'

She was not going to give up. Charlie located a spare lantern and the five of them made their way outside. Charlie glanced at Lily.

'Shouldn't you transform?' he asked her. 'It wouldn't be wise for anyone to see you.'

'Who's going to see?' she asked. 'Hopefully James.'

She answered her own question. Her nerves were rattling. She hoped that Rose had been successful. She didn't want to think that there was a possibility that she hadn't. They walked up and down the edge of the forest looking for some sign of Rose or Prongs.

'Are you sure she said the edge?' Lily asked Ginny who nodded in reply.

They paced the edge once again looking for a glimpse of life in a wood that appeared dark and deserted. Finally they got it. Sirius spied a flash of dark hair just inside the perimeter of the forest.

'Rose?' he called. 'Are you there?'

'Yes,' replied the chattering voice. 'I'm in the clearing Uncle Sirius.'

The group ran to the shaking body. The girl was in tears. She turned to her mother.

'I thought he'd be here,' she said. She began to bawl which only accentuated the shaking. 'I thought we'd found him.'

Lily held her daughter close and tried to reassure her despite the feeling of disappointment that was rising in her stomach.

'It's okay darling,' she said in a soft, soothing voice. 'At least you tried.' She stroked the girl's hair. 'Let's take you inside and give you a nice warm cup of chocolate.'

Rose nodded and Lily began to head towards Charlie's hut. They hadn't succeeded. Lily let out the breath she was holding. Perhaps tomorrow. As long as there was hope Lily knew deep down inside that they would find him. He was out there somewhere. He was alive and he was trying to be found. She let out a large sigh of breath and kept walking towards the hut.

They were just outside Charlie's hut when she heard it. She and Chrys exchanged glances. She had heard it too.

'Right, let's go,' Chrys said.

Sirius, Chrys and Lily turned around instantly. Rose, already slumped on the ground, looked as if she wanted to, but didn't have the strength. Sirius held her under the armpit and helped her stand. They then made their way back towards the Forbidden Forest. All of them saw the full moon above them. Despite its light, their surroundings seemed darker. As they reached the clearing where Rose had been standing Sirius called out.

'Prongs, can you hear me?' he yelled loudly.

This time they all heard it. It was closer and sounded as if it was coming towards them.

'We're over here,' Sirius began repeating this again and again until finally they could hear a galloping sound approach them. The stag entered the clearing.

James.

Lily knew instantly that it was James. She could not forget his Animagus form. There was no disputing that this was James. Her chest began to tighten as she had to try and stop herself from hyperventilating. Her heart was pounding at a million miles and hour. They had found him. Sirius located his wand and pointed it at the stag.

'Revalo'

The stag was instantly transformed into the form of James Potter. He glanced around at the people who were in the clearing.

'Sirius, it's good to see you again. Finally,' he began. 'Chrystal, is that you?' She nodded her head. 'You've changed.' He moved over and embraced his old friends. He glanced around again. His attention turned almost immediately to Rose. 'You're Rose aren't you?' he said. 'You have to be.' She nodded. 'Thank you for saving me,' he said. 'If I have to eat another blade of grass ever again I think I'll be sick.' He walked over, embraced his daughter before picking her up and spinning her around in he air. 'You're all grown up. I guess that's going to take some getting used to.' Then his attention was focused on Lily. Her heart was pounding. It was James. After seventeen years, she had found him again. 'My darling,' he said as he ran towards her and kissing her like he had never done before. "I've missed you so much.'

'You're hurt,' Lily said noticing a gash that ran from his shoulder to his elbow. 'We'd better get that seen to; but how?' She glanced at Sirius. They would have some explaining to do. 'We can't take him into the castle like this and I certainly can't go into the castle as myself.'

'Take him to my cabin,' Charlie suggested. 'Then we can fetch Poppy. She won't tell anyone. By the way James I'm Charlie Weasley. I think I've changed since you last saw me. I believe you came and saw me in a Quidditch match at Hogwarts.'

James had another glimpse at the figure.

'I'd agree with that one,' he said. 'And who's the younger Weasley then?' James had spied Ginny out of the corner of his eye, trying to stay out of everyone's way.

'That's Ginny, Dad,' Rose said. 'She helped me find you.'

'I owe you my thanks then Ginny,' he said. 'But I agree with Lily, I need to get near a fire and have this awful scrape seen to. And I think Rose needs a fire as well and perhaps a warm drink of some kind.'

The group, now exhausted made their way back towards Charlie's hut. Charlie instantly put the kettle on.

'What happened to Hagrid?' James asked innocently. Seeing the looks on their faces he thought he shouldn't have asked that one. 'I guess I've got a fair bit of catching up to do then?' Everyone agreed with him. Charlie poured tea for everyone and sent Ginny to fetch Dumbledore.

'He'll be the best person to catch you up,' Charlie added as Rose pulled out her wand and began to tend to her father's wound. 'Where have you been? We've been looking for you for months.'

'I've been wandering in the Welsh wilderness,' James said. 'Somehow I got stuck on the Isle of Anglesey and ended up in Llyn Alaw. It took me a while to work out where the hell I was and then working on trying to find Lily was almost impossible. How long has it been?'

'Almost seventeen years James,' Sirius replied.

'I've been out of contact wit the world for seventeen years?' James couldn't believe it. No wonder people looked different. 'It should have twigged when I saw Rose. Or better yet when I read her letter telling me she was Gryffindor's Quidditch captain. So seventeen years, and what month is it?

'October,' Sirius replied. 'Not Halloween yet.'

'That makes you sixteen then,' he said to Rose examining the job she had done on his arm. 'Nice mending there. When's your birthday?' The entire cabin laughed at this, it was entertaining that a father should ask his daughter when her birthday was.

'Actually I don't know whether Rose knows the right date,' Lily said between giggles. 'It's May 31^st. 2 months before Harry's.'

'Speaking of Harry,' James said. 'Where is he?'

'I think it would be best to fill James in now, don't you think?' Chrys emerged from the shadows to ask. 'How much do you know about what's happened in the past seventeen years?'

'Nothing,' James admitted. 'I didn't even realise where I was until about a month ago.'

'Okay then,' she said. 'I'll begin and someone can take over when I don't know what happened.' She glanced carefully at James who was drinking his tea, while Rose tended to his wound. She knew that rose needed to hear a lot of this just as much as James did. 'On October 31^st 1981 I was summoned to Godric's Hollow to attend a scene. I didn't realise that it would be you guys, or I never would have gone. When I got there, I found the most devastating scene I've ever seen. I knew then what happened. You realise Voldemort fell that night?' James shook his head. 'Apparently when he tried to kill Harry the curse rebounded onto him and killed the mortal part of him. When I found your bodies, as far as I could see you were dead. Like Lily, I hadn't realised about the delay before you transformed. Sirius was already there, grieving for you. He was determined to take Harry and I left him there while I went and summoned help. Sirius told me he was going after Peter. I begged him not to but he insisted. He located Peter the next day and Peter was one step ahead of him. He cut off his finger and blew up a street of Muggles to make Sirius look even guiltier. Sirius was sent to Azkaban without a trial and Peter was for an intents and purposes dead because nearly no one knew he was an Animagus. So the outside world Sirius was dead. Harry was taken to live with his aunt and uncle who tried to hide the magical world from him, hoping that they could put a stop to it.'

Sirius took over.

'Harry came to Hogwarts and I will him tell you about it, when you see him. However Peter was apprehended by Harry, two of his friends, Remus and myself when he was in third year. Peter escaped and returned to Voldemort and helped him restore his body. Then the cold war began. Cornelius Fudge refused to believe that Voldemort had been restored to power. So Dumbledore and the operatives have been trying to keep Voldemort at bay and seemed to be successful until last year. He appeared to directly target Harry and blew up The Shrieking Shack. Harry luckily was not there at the time, but five students were killed. Now disappearances are occurring all over the place like his last rise to power.'

'You remember Soaghal don't you James?' Lily asked him. James nodded. He knew that bloody prophecy. 'Given that Voldemort went after you he must believe it.'

'So Harry's in hiding then?' James asked. His question was answered by everyone's nodding, 'Whatabout the others.'

'I'm Ravenclaw, James,' Chrys said softly. 'I didn't know until after you were gone.'

'But why aren't you hiding then?' he asked.

'I'm safe for the moment,' she replied. 'We know two will fall, either Harry or him and one of Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. We don't know which and from our intelligence we know that Voldemort does not know which.'

'For now, only a small group of people know that Rose is Harry's sister,' Lily said. 'These are the only people who know I'm alive. I'm Harry's Secret Keeper. So whether or not you should reveal yourself is debatable. Besides you're from Gryffindor's line as well. He may come after you too.'

Dumbledore and McGonagall made their entrance into Charlie's hut. They immediately ran straight towards James.

'Has he been filled in?' Dumbledore asked. Everyone in the room nodded. Dumbledore glanced at the exhausted James and the shivering Rose. 'Might I suggest we get some sleep for tonight and reconvene in the morning,' he continued. 'Charlie, perhaps you might allow the Potters to stay in your hut tonight. Your room in the Staff Quarters is still empty. Shall we meet here, say at ten o'clock?'

Everyone left the hut, leaving James and Lily to get reacquainted.

It was only later when they were lying in bed, that Lily realised she hadn't told them Harry's news.

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