The Reunion

James was rather excited. Turning to Lily, whom he hadn't seen in a good fifteen years, he said, "It feels great to not have to stand in that line anymore to see what's going on with Harry. Even better, I'll get to see Remus, and Sirius, and hopefully Peter, if he wasn't killed by Voldemort."

Lily smiled, tossing her long auburn hair over her shoulder. "Yes, it will be nice to see my old friends again. Still, I think it will be nice to see Harry, too. I've waited fifteen years, and I couldn't wait much longer." She shook her head. "I do feel sorry for Peter, though. Besides, even if he was killed, we'll see him again. Even dead alumni get to come back for the reunion."

This was the most important night in history, very special to many of the dead. Tonight was the Hogwarts Alumni Reunion, and even those who were in the Afterlife were permitted to come. Laughing again, Lily consulted the itinerary she and James had been given. "Okay," she said. "They have a small portion the first day where you can sit with your children and talk about how their school year has been going. There'll be a list of where each student will be, so we can go see Harry, I hope. We'll be sleeping in our old common room--if we can remember where they are."

James laughed too. "You know, Lily," he said, "I'm really looking forward to seeing Harry again. Do you think he remembers us?"

"I'm sure he does, James," Lily answered reassuringly, although she harbored a few doubts herself.

Impatiently, they joined the queue outside the wind baskets. Finally, they got to the front of the line and climbed in the basket. Instantly, they were whizzing down the path, straight to Hogwarts. When the basket landed, they climbed out and wobbled over to the wall, where a list of where each student waited was posted. Consulting the list, James smiled. "I knew it! Harry is in Gryffindor. Come on!" With that, they headed up the stairs to the entrance.

When they arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, they simply walked right through. They heard snatches of a conversation floating over from the armchairs near the fire.

"-don't think the alumni will listen, they won't want to hear a children's book."

"Sure they will, Mione! No one reads like you do."

"Gosh, do you really think so?"

James looked at Lily, then floated a little closer and cleared his throat.

The three children sitting there jumped as one and turned around. James and Lily were a bit caught off guard. On the far right sat a boy with red hair, freckles, and shining blue eyes. A girl sat next to him, a girl with bushy brown hair tied back softly and deep, thoughtful brown eyes. On the far left sat a boy who looked extraordinarily like James. His jet-black hair stuck up every which way. His eyes were like Lily's; though-they glowed a brilliant green in the dim firelight.

This boy gasped, a very little. "Mom? Dad?" he said.

The girl smiled. "Come on...Sit down..."

They moved over to give the couple a bit of room. Now that he could see them clearly, he remembered all of them. The girl with bushy hair he didn't know, but he suspected she was Muggle-born. The redheaded boy was Ron Weasley, his son's best friend. The boy with black hair was his son Harry. Inquiries into the girl's name yielded the information that her name was Hermione. Smiling widely at them all, he said, "So, what's happened with you-all since we died?"

"Lots," said Harry. "I guess you've heard about everything that's happened before now-"

"No," interrupted Lily. "We haven't heard anything about what's been going on with you guys since we died. We've been standing in line, waiting to see what's going on with you."

"Oh," said Ron. "Blimey, this is going to be tough."

Hermione turned to Harry. "Well, where should we start?"

"Square one, I guess," said Harry, and he pushed back his bangs.

James and Lily gasped as one. Underneath, hidden by the fringe of hair, was a thin scar shaped like a lightning bolt. Immediately, thoughts ran through James's head...the house had fallen on him...someone had tried to brand him...he'd been struck by lightning...

"How did you get that?" gasped Lily.

"Voldemort tried to kill me," Harry said matter-of-factly.

"No!" said James, sinking backwards in his chair.

"Yes," said Harry, very quietly. "That's no ordinary cut. A mark like that only comes from being touched by a curse, and an evil curse at that."

"Which one?" asked James, although he thought he knew the answer.

"The Killing Curse," said Hermione.

Lily looked like she was about to faint. James managed to stammer out, "Wha-what happened to You-Know-Who?"

Ron looked at him. "He was--what was it again?--separated from his body."

"Ouch," commented Lily.

"Yeah, that was pretty much his reaction too."

James shook his head. "So, what happened to you , Harry?"

Harry shifted in his chair. "Well...I got sent to the Dursleys'."

"What! You don't-you can't mean--" gasped Lily.

"--Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley?" said Harry, looking up. "The very same."

"Don't be ridiculous!" cried James. "They hate us!"

"Tell me about it," said Harry, rolling his eyes.

"But-" said James, searching for the right words. "But you're supposed to go with Sirius! He was appointed your godfather! You're supposed to live with HIM, not those miserable, pathetic, abominable excuses for human beings!"

Harry's eyes filled with tears. He stared down at his lap, trying hard not to cry.

Hermione bit her lip, then put her arm around Harry. "Harry, don't cry, it's okay, he doesn't know...how could he know? Harry, it's okay, he'll be here later..."

Lily looked from one to the other. "What are you talking about?"

Hermione hesitated and looked at Harry. He nodded, telling her that it was all right for her to tell them. He was still too upset. Looking back at Lily and James, she said gently, "This will come as a bit of a shock, but...Sirius is dead."

James's jaw dropped. "He--what--I--you--he--they--why--how?"

Harry spoke up, very quietly, his voice quavering. "It's my fault."

"Harry, get a grip," Hermione said sharply. "It was not your fault. It was an accident. You couldn't have known."

"I should've listened to you," Harry berated himself, shaking his head, tears filling his eyes again. "You were right--Voldemort was playing on my--my love of playing the hero--"

Hermione's own eyes were filling with tears. "No," she whispered. "Harry, I was wrong. It wasn't your love of playing the hero--it was your love for Sirius that led you down into that chamber. If he had really been in danger and I'd convinced you to stay you'd have never forgiven me."

James looked back and fort. "What are you talking about? What chamber?"

Harry took a deep breath and explained everything--how he'd had the visions of Sirius trapped in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries, how he'd been convinced Sirius was being tortured to death, how he'd led five of his friends--his only real friends, the people he cared about the most after Sirius--to the Department of Mysteries, how he'd nearly got them all killed--

"Harry," Hermione said, sharply again, "for the last time, that was not your fault. I seem to recall you spending a good amount of time trying to convince us not to go with you, and unless my memory proves incorrect you only gave in because we were wasting time and you weren't sure if Sirius was alive."

James smiled despite himself. He found himself immensely grateful to Hermione. She seemed to have taken upon herself the excruciatingly painful task of convincing Harry that whatever had happened in the Department of Mysteries could've happened to anyone, and that it was not his fault. Ron, he noticed, kind of sat aside, looking a bit pale.

Harry gave Hermione a grateful but insincere smile before turning back to James and Lily and continued. He told them how Neville had dropped the prophecy, how he had been trying to help Neville escape, how Sirius and the Order had shown up (James growled appreciatively) and begun to fight off the Death Eaters attacking them, how Dumbledore had arrived and everyone had stopped except Sirius and Bellatrix, how he had taunted her, how the second spell had hit him straight in the chest...

At this Harry's voice broke, and he could tell no more. Hermione put her arm around him again. Looking up, she said very quietly, "Apparently, the spell wasn't fatal, but it was enough to knock him over. There was this veil in the middle of the room--according to Luna it was the veil between life and death. Whatever it was, Sirius fell through it--and he never got back up. He's gone."

James was speechless. Shooting an anxious look between her husband and son, Lily quickly asked, "Well, what happened here at Hogwarts?"

Relieved, the children told her and James all about how they'd discovered Fluffy and the Sorcerer's Stone, and how Harry, Ron, and Hermione had gone down and stopped Quirrel and Voldemort from getting it. They talked about how Harry had solved the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets, and single-handedly defeated the basilisk. They told them all about the third year-how Harry had been given extra protection, how he'd heard James and Lily's dying moments in his head and fainted every time he'd gotten near a dementor. James was not pleased that his best friend was not only dead, but formerly a supposed convict, but he listened to the chilling tale of that night rapt with attention, and only interrupted once--when Hermione told him how Snape had thrown off the invisibility cloak and appeared in the Shrieking Shack.

"What is Snape doing here?" he asked.

"He's teaching Potions," said Harry. He glanced at his father. "He wasn't too pleased when I showed up at school--he was still smarting about that joke Sirius played on him--he's still smarting about it--and besides, he hated being in your debt--"

"My debt?" James was confused.

"You saved his life," Ron reminded him.

"Oh yeah..."

Harry added, "That year, I was pulled into Snape's office and told to empty my pockets. I had the Marauder's Map with me. Luckily, it was still blank. He tried to get it to tell him what it concealed, and finally, he said, 'Professor Severus Snape, master at this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal!' And it started out by saying, 'Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business.' Then it came up with, 'Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git.'"

James roared with laughter. "Sounds like us, all right!" he chortled.

Harry said, "Well, then the map revealed, 'Mr. P--'" He swallowed briefly. "'Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor.' Finally, it wound up with, 'Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball.'"

James chuckled. "Well, don't stop now! What happened after Snape showed up?"

So the foursome finished telling him, winding up with how Snape had told everyone that Lupin was a werewolf. "Best teacher we've ever had," said Ron bitterly.

Lily giggled like a schoolgirl. "I can believe that," she said. "So, what happened your fourth year?"

Both James and Lily noticed the extraordinary change that came over the children. Harry looked at the floor, his eyes no longer glowing. Hermione slipped her hand into his and squeezed it gently. Ron gave the adults a look of intense sadness.

"What's wrong?" asked James, looking from one to the other.

Ron opened his mouth, then checked his watch, stood up quickly, and said, "Oh, look at the time! Gotta go to dinner!" At that, all four stood up and walked out of the door.

"D'you get the feeling they're avoiding us?" asked Lily.

As the four friends walked into the Great Hall, Dumbledore announced, "For today only, there is free seating!" Still, they sat in the same spots they always did. To their surprise, Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker, joined them. "What's on your mind?" Hermione asked, noticing that Cho was prodding her food without much appetite.

Cho put down her fork. "Cedric came back for the reunion," she said in a low, choked-up voice. "He's spent all evening with the Hufflepuffs, but I know he'll come visit me later." Her eyes filled with tears. "I don't think I could deal with that."

"I know what you mean," said Harry, putting down his fork also. He and Cho didn't really get along anymore, but this was a common bond they shared, and he could sympathize. "My mum and dad came back, and they wanted to know what happened that year. I don't think I'll be able to tell them."

"Oh, Harry," said Hermione, eyes shining with unshed tears.

Ron looked at him sideways. "Well, it's not going to make it any easier if you starve yourself. Eat something."

Harry sighed. "Maybe you're right," he said, and he picked up his fork, then almost immediately put it down again. "I can't, Ron," he said. "I'm not hungry."

Ron, realising that it was going to be tough enough for Harry to talk about what happened last year, didn't press the matter anymore, although he did insist that Harry have something to drink.

Finally, the meal ended. Harry, Hermione, and Ron headed back to Gryffindor tower. Lily and James weren't there. They had gone to a special meal for alumni, and had not yet returned. Harry was glad. It gave him time to regroup and collect himself. When Lily and James finally did return, Harry prepared to tell them, but suddenly he thought about the last time he'd told this story before he'd told Rita Skeeter--he'd told it to Sirius--and his eyes filled up with tears. "Well, go ahead, Harry," James said slowly.

Harry nodded, but was too overwhelmed to speak. Understanding that, Hermione started by telling them about the Triwizard Tournament, and how Harry's name had somehow got put in the goblet. She got them all the way through the first task, where Ron took over. He told them about helping to prepare for the second task, how they'd been put in an enchanted sleep, how the champions had had to dive into the lake and rescue them, how Harry had got there first, but stayed behind to make sure all the hostages were safe, not just his own. Hermione took over again and told them how they had helped Harry prepare for the final task, how Rita Skeeter had written lies about them, how the Weasley s had come to watch Harry, how Amos Diggory had been so angry with Harry about the article making out Harry was the only champion. "He was just angry, I think, because Harry took away some of Cedric's glory," added Hermione.

When she told them about entering the maze, however, she faltered. She glanced at Harry, as though not sure what to do. She squeezed his hand a little, and that squeeze seemed to give him strength. "It's all right," he said in a surprisingly strong voice. "I can tell them."

Then he started the worst part of the tale. Harry told them how the cup was a Portkey, which had taken him and Cedric to the graveyard of Little Hangleton. He told them how Voldemort had been there, and how he had quickly and mercilessly murdered Cedric. Lily made a kind of strangled gasp, and James silenced her with a look, although he was rather ashen-faced himself. Harry was glad. Once he had got started it was easier to keep going. He told them everything he remembered, and only once was he interrupted. When Harry told them about Pettigrew using his hand to resurrect Voldemort, James let out a string of curse words that Harry had only heard once, in a South Park episode.

"That rat! That filthy, dirty, rotten, low-down, scum sucking" faltered James, unable to think of another insult.

"-No-good scruffy-looking nerf-herder?" finished Hermione, a trace of the smiles that used to glow constantly in the old days crossing her face.

"Exactly," snarled James, still fuming. "Why on earth would he ever do anything like that?"

A voice spoke up, a voice that startled everyone, a voice that Harry knew only too well. "I came to two conclusions. Either he was threatened until he agreed, which I doubt, or more probably, he thought that since Voldemort was getting so powerful it would be more beneficial to be on the Dark Side."

The group looked towards the door. The person standing there was thin, careworn, tall, lanky, and had a sad and worried expression on his face. But he was still Sirius Black.

"Are you all right, Harry?" he asked gently.

Harry was about to say yes, but he looked up, saw Sirius's face, looked him in the eye, and managed a small smile. "No," he said quietly. "But I'll live."

Sirius nodded, and motioned for Harry to continue. He continued on, telling them what Voldemort had said, who he could remember was a Death Eater, and what Voldemort had told them about wanting thirteen years' repayment before he forgave them. Now he began to have a little trouble with his voice, but he continued, telling them about the Reverse Spell Effect. They remembered coming out of the wand, and were pleased that he'd got out safely. He told them how Moody had pulled him into his office and nearly killed him. He told them about how Moody had turned out to be Barty Crouch JR. and how he'd told Dumbledore that his father had smuggled him out of Azkaban. Harry told them how Crouch had told them that his father had gone to tell Dumbledore what he'd done, so Crouch had killed him. Finally, his voice faltered. He could tell them no more.

Three days later, James and Lily were forced to return to the Afterlife. As they mounted the basket, Lily looked back, wishing she could have seen her son and his friends, got to know them, before they had suffered such tragic losses. The carefree children she could have known were lost forever. They had died along with Sirius, and all hope of them returning was vanquished with the return of Voldemort.

"I swear to you now, Peter," she whispered. "I will have my revenge."

Then she turned away from her family, and the basket ascended.