Harry Potter and The Year of Discoveries

A/N: Ok folks; let's get moving with the reviews! I know you're out there and I want to know what you think of where this is heading. Because I don't have a clue...Please review, people? I really appreciate it!

Disclaimer: Really don't like these things...Harry Potter and anything associate with Harry Potter does not belong to me. It all belongs to JKR; creative genius.

Harry woke up in the Hogwarts hospital wing rather disoriented. He squinted his eyes against the bright light, trying to determine where he was exactly. It was Madame Pomfrey's form leaning over him that clued Harry into his location.

"Madame Pomfrey? What's going on?"

"Oh, Harry dear, you're awake! I swear, you've been in here more often than your father was, and that's saying something." Pomfrey bustled around Harry, checking him over to make sure he really was all right.

"Excuse me. Ahem!" Harry chuckled to himself. Never in his fifteen years had he ever actually said 'ahem'. Madame Pomfrey looked up at him in surprise. "What in the world am I doing at Hogwarts?"

"Oh...well, Harry, you see..." Pomfrey was stalling and she knew it, but she had only just found out about James and Lily from Albus. And she didn't want to be the one to tell the boy. Thankfully, her saving grace walked in the door. "Albus! Er, Headmaster...Harry wants to know what he's doing here at Hogwarts. Care to explain?" Poppy shrugged awkwardly and hurried out the door.

" 'Ello Professor," Harry greeted Dumbledore politely.

"Hello my boy. How are you feeling?"

"A bit like a truck ran over me, sir. What happened?"

Dumbledore pulled up a nearby chair and sat next to Harry's bed. "Harry, do you remember back in your first year when I told you all that I could about your past? And that I would only answer questions I thought you could handle?"

"Yes sir, I do."

"Good, that's very good. Harry now is that time for you to hear it all. You recall getting some new neighbors recently? Liz and Jaron?"

Harry nodded and smiled; he had really taken a liking to the couple.

"Jaron found you outside your Uncle's home, beaten and unconscious. He took you here."

"S-sir? They're magic, like us?"

"Oh dear. Yes Harry, they are." Dumbledore paused, muttering to himself, "I didn't think it would be this hard."

"What would be hard, sir?" Harry asked innocently.

"Hmmm? Harry, Liz and Jaron are not who you think they are. They are in fact your parents. They never died."

The shock and betrayal etched on Harry's face was almost more than the Headmaster could stand. He merely sat and waited for this young wizard to say something; to say anything. "How?" Harry finally sputtered. "You-you all kept this from me?! They were my parents, for God's sake! And you made me go live with those...those people! How could you?" Harry turned from Dumbledore, not wanting him to see the tears that threatened to stream down his face. "You were my hero." He said softly.

Albus Dumbledore was not an overly emotional man. In fact, he had trained himself to keep his feelings well hidden from his students so as not to upset or alarm them. Yet seeing Harry Potter like this...it was all he could do to hold back his own tears. "I am so sorry Harry," he began, already choking on his words. "We never thought this would happen. When we made the plan we thought were protecting you. You were in danger by just being with James and Lily and we thought if Voldemort 'killed' them, the danger would be off. But we were wrong. And now that Voldemort has risen, it is time for them to come out of hiding. I won't ask you for your forgiveness yet. I know that you aren't ready and when the time comes, you will find it in your heart. Someday. And I can wait. In the meantime, we need you to be strong both physically and mentally. There are battles to be fought and a war to win and we must have you in the lead." He paused, wondering if he should go ahead or wait to tell Harry the rest. "After revealing so much to you, I am reluctant to tell you more. When you are feeling ready to hear it all, I will tell you. Or if you don't want to hear it from me, Sirius certainly can give you the information you will need. Get some rest, there's another student here who will want to see you." Professor Dumbledore rose from his chair and walked to the door. He gave one last glance at Harry before he left, sighed ruefully and walked to his office.

"Caramel beetle," he told the gargoyle tiredly. The door opened and he went inside to find Sirius, James, Lily and Ginny all waiting for him.

James rose at once to greet his former Headmaster. "Sir? How did he take the news?"

Dumbledore sat wearily in his chair behind the desk and sighed heavily. "Not well, I'm afraid. He thinks we betrayed him by not telling him everything. I can only hope that the strength he has shown so often in the past will again lead him to forgive our actions."

Ginny looked up at the Professor, concern evident in her eyes. "Sir? If I may?" He nodded, waiting for her to continue. "I certainly don't want to offend anyone here, but if Harry can find it in him to forgive you, he is certainly the strongest young man I have ever met. Maybe it's because I'm closer to him in age, but what you all did? It has the potential to destroy him. I don't really know Harry personally; I've been to chicken to approach him, but what I do know is that he is strong and he is proud. And he loves. He's a lot like you in that respect, Lily. My first year, Harry saved me from Tom Riddle. He could have died himself, but he never thought of that. He only thought of saving me and everyone else. And you know what the irony is in all of this? Harry would give anything to be a normal boy. He doesn't want all the fame and the glory and the constant stares. If you had thought everything through way back when you planned this all out, Harry could have different life. He could just be Harry Potter, not Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived." When Ginny began her little speech, she had not expected her emotions to say so under control. But she also had not expected the shame and guilt from the adults in the room.

"Oh, God...Ginny, do you really think that we've destroyed him?" Lily asked her fearfully.

"I don't know. I only think that there is a possibility that it could happen. But I do know that Harry is strong; stronger than most wizards his age. Ironically enough, fighting Voldemort has given Harry a bravery and courage unseen in most. That could be enough for him to find forgiveness. But don't push it. I think that he will come around when he is ready. But not a moment before. If you push him, that may turn your son away from you forever."

They all sat quietly, not wanting to say a word while Ginny's words of advice sunk in. Sirius shifted uncomfortably in his seat, while James cleared his throat. Ginny stood abruptly, announcing, "I'm going to see Harry. I'll try to talk to him about seeing you, James and Lily." With that, she limped out the door and went to the hospital wing. "As long as I'm there, I might as well have Pomfrey fix me up," she muttered to herself.

Ginny quietly opened the door, not wanting to disturb Harry if he was sleeping. So she tiptoed over to his bedside and sat down gingerly. However, Harry was not sleeping. Ginny was shocked to find that this boy she had liked for so long was crying. She noticed that he was trying to hide his tears, but he could not. For his body shook with sobs and the tears streamed down his cheeks. Ginny reached over to touch his face, hoping he would open his eyes and see her.

As soon as she touched him, Harry flinched and opened his eyes, locking gazes with her. "Ginny?" He choked out. "What are you doing here?" Upon further inspection, Harry saw that Ginny was injured as well. He sat upright in bad, his eyes bright with anger. "What in the world happened to you?"

Ginny smiled painfully, tears now shining in her eyes. "Oh Harry! It's awful! Percy...he's joined Voldemort." The sobs came for her now, wracking her body. Harry reached out and tried to embrace her as best as he could; however, the pain was still so great in him that he could barely pat her shoulder. They stayed in that awkward position until Ginny's tears were spent and now only hiccups. "I was on my new broomstick, a Nimbus2000, Fred and George bought it for me. Anyway, it started going out of control and I crashed. Next thing I know, I'm tied up in the Shrieking Shack and Voldemort is standing over me. He wanted to know your secret Harry, which of course I didn't know, so I could not tell him. He sent in one of his Death Eaters...and it was Percy."

"Oh man," Harry murmured. "Gin, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, Harry. Percy chose his path; you had nothing to do with it. Besides, you have your own problems to worry about. You don't need to concern yourself with me."

Harry shook his head in disagreement. "Don't you see, Ginny? I worry about you; your whole family, because I can get my mind off of me. See I have so many people 'protecting' me and 'worrying' about me that I can worry about you." Harry paused, something occurring to him. "Gin, has anyone contacted Ron? Or the rest of your family? They should know that you're here and you're safe."

"Yeah, Dumbledore owled them right when I got here."

"So you know then? About my parents?"

"I do."

Harry scowled in frustration at this. "I don't understand, Ginny. Why did they do this to me?"

"Honestly Harry, I don't know. I think that they believe wholeheartedly that they were protecting you. They never once thought of these consequences."

"Yeah, well, they should have." Harry sullenly replied.

"I agree. I really do. But they are your parents and they love you. Won't you at least give them a chance? If you're not up to it yet, don't push yourself. But consider it, ok?"

Harry looked into Ginny's expressive eyes and saw that she was sincere. "I won't make any promises, but I will try."

(Back at the Burrow)

Charlie Weasley was pacing around the kitchen while his brothers watched him wear ditches in the floor. " 'Eh, Charlie, sit down...you're making me nervous," Ron finally told him. Charlie stopped, looked at his brothers in despair and sat down uncomfortably.

"Sorry," he said softly. "I just don't know what to do. Ginny's missing and we have no idea where she is or if she's hurt...or if she's even alive!"

"We're all scared for her, mate." Bill came to sit next to his younger brother. "But she'll be fine. We will find her and she will be ok. Everything will be back to normal."

CRASH! Everyone jumped as a brown barn owl hit the kitchen window. Ron winced in sympathy and went to let it in. "Oi, I think this one of the school owls. Do you suppose they're sending out the letters already?"

Fred came up to look over Ron's shoulder, shaking his head. "Nope. See? Only one letter. There should be four."

"What does it have to say, Ron?" Bill asked quietly.

Ron quickly read the letter, his eyes growing wide with anger and sadness. Unable to speak, he thrust the letter into Fred's hand. Fred skimmed it over as well. As he finished, he was unwilling to believe what he had just read. "It-it can't be," he whispered in the silent kitchen.

"Well, read out loud, would you?" George tackled his brother from behind. "Personally, I'd like to know what's got you two so tongue-tied.

"Dear Weasley's,

I hope this letter finds you well; however, I do not expect you to be in good spirits at discovering the disappearance of Miss Ginny Weasley. To give you some peace of mind, Ginny is now safely here with us at Hogwarts."

"What's so bad about that?" Charlie asked.

"Keep reading," Ron choked out, waving a hand at his brother.

"Um...let's see...oh, here we go. While it is good news that Ginny is safe, we have some rather alarming and disturbing information as well. It seems that young Mister Percy Weasley has joined the Dark and is serving Lord Voldemort." George stopped. There was more written there; something about Harry being at Hogwarts as well, but as fond as he was of the boy, certain things were more important.

The room went deadly silent. The Weasley brothers all looked at each other, the expressions mirrored on their faces. Percy? Percy had betrayed them all? It didn't seem possible and yet they knew that Professor Dumbledore spoke the truth. Exchanging glances once more, they all nodded in silent agreement. They had to go to Hogwarts.

Bill looked towards the stairs, wondering if their parents were awake yet. "Mum? Dad? Can you come down? We...um, we have something to tell you!"

A/N: That's all for now. I'm working on some ideas for the next chapter and the general plotline for this. In the meantime, please r/r! I haven't been getting any lately and I don't like it!