Remember You

Remember You

Chapter Two

~~~~~

Harry was pulled from the green water, gasping for air, and looking around wildly. "What in Merlin's name are you two doing?" asked an irate voice. The young Gryffindor looked through his green water stained glasses and saw that it was Sirius who was trying to pull him and Draco from the fountain. With great difficulty, the two boys scrambled out and stood next to Sirius, shivering and dripping water from their green clothes and skin, and in Draco's case, hair. Harry snorted, trying to hold in his laughter, which earned him a reproving look from Sirius. "I'm waiting. It looked like you two were trying to drown each other. What made you two decide to take a swim in this fountain? There is a perfectly fine lake outside that we could have dunked you two."

"Sirius! Stop, please. What happened to your sense of fun here?" Harry asked, smirking, an expression he had picked up from the green haired boy standing next to him.

"I still have it! I just don't like it when I come in here and see my godson drowning in this fountain. I only just got you here a month ago, I'd like to keep you for a while longer."

Harry's facial expression softened and he would have hugged his godfather, but he was wet and green. "I know. But we weren't drowning... we were..." Harry blushed, making his face go to an even deeper shade of green. "Well, I wanted to try something out." He looked to his boyfriend for help, but Draco was looking in the opposite direction, pretending to have not been involved. "I... well, I... I sort of, you know, wanted to see what it'd be like to er - kiss underwater. You see, I didn't really get the idea until we fell in the water. We were just talking and we fell in..." Draco snorted at this, but Harry ignored him. "So, we knew what we were..."

"Black, did you find..." Professor Snape had just walked in the front doors and stopped at the sight of his godson and Harry. His mouth dropped open slightly, but he quickly closed it and advanced on the three men. "Draco, what did Potter do to you? Do you need me to place any hexes on him?"

Harry opened his mouth to protest but Draco beat him to it. "Yes, I think that might be nice, Severus. He pulled me into that fountain, insisting we needed to swim, and now I'm about to die of hypothermia. Plus, my hair is green, Sev! Green!" Draco stopped, looked at Harry and seeming to remember something, carried on in his outrage. "Potter even had the audacity to suggest that I dye my hair! Why would a Malfoy need to dye their hair? We've always been blond, and I mean, my fair skin wouldn't look good with any other colour. Shouldn't people know that my hair is natural?" Draco continued in this vein, and Sirius pointed down a hallway to a bathroom when Snape inquired about one. Snape sent a glare back at Harry as he led his ranting godson away by the shoulder. Harry laughed and turned to Sirius.

"I er - wouldn't suppose you'd be kind enough to help me back to my normal glow?"

Grinning, Sirius pulled out his wand, cast a drying charm, and then wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders and led Harry in the opposite direction down a long cavernous hallway to another bathroom. "Seeing as how we're alone now, Harry, I want to have a little chat with you. You're seventeen, and you have a boyfriend...."

"Oh, Merlin, no! Sirius, if this is a sex talk, I don't want to hear it!"

"Well, I don't want to talk about it either, because it's right embarrassing to talk about this kind of stuff, but you need somebody to tell you, and I could never ask Remus to do it." Sirius offered a cheeky grin and steered Harry into a large bathroom with a bathtub so deep that it looked as though it would be up to Harry's chest if he stood in it. All the bathrooms had a shower and bathtub each, and the baths were all this deep, but they all varied in size. Some could hold only one while others could hold up to thirty people. This particular tub was made for five people. As Sirius and Harry walked in, candles lit up the dark-blue room, offering what little light they could.

"First things first, take off your shirt and shorts." Harry complied, leaving himself only in his black boxers. Sirius rang a silver bell that sat on the sinks and a moment later, a house elf appeared beside them. They requested some clothes from Harry's room, and then the elf was gone with a pop. "Now, back to the matter at hand," Sirius began, pushing Harry onto the counters with the sinks, and he began to mutter cleaning spells under his breath between his conversation with Harry. "Like I was saying before, you're seventeen and have a boyfriend. I know that you've been together for… how long now?"

"Seven months, not including the times we broke up," Harry supplied.

"I just want you to be sure that when you two do have sex it's when you two are ready. It's a big choice and can change everything. It's not always for the better either. Sex can tear two people apart. You two aren't having sex yet, are you?" Harry flushed and looked down at his legs.

"No," he replied bitterly. Sirius raised an eyebrow, cast a few more charms, then swung onto the counter beside his godson, even though Harry was still coloured.

"Is that bitterness I hear? Why are you bitter with him?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Harry mumbled, feeling very foolish.

"Harry, I just want to help. I'm not going to judge you."

Harry hesitated, trying to get the right words together so that he did not sound like a self-gratifying bastard. "Well... it's just, he pushes me away all the time. He's always talking about sex, always making jokes, but he never wants to go further than kissing. And it's just so... frustrating!"

Sirius chuckled softly and patted Harry on the back. "Sexual frustration. Been there, done that, never want to do it again."

Harry looked at his godfather with a raised eyebrow. "So, you're not feeling frustrated anymore? Where are you..."

"Oh, I get my kicks here and there," he answered vaguely, not even waiting for the entire question. Harry sniggered.

"Sirius, are you a slut?"

"Harry!" Sirius laughed. "No. As a matter of fact, I am involved with somebody right now."

"Really? Who is it? How come you haven't told me?"

"It's... kind of new right now, and a bit fragile. We're keeping it a secret until we get over a few issues that are still between us. It's nothing we won't be able to, but... Oh, fine job, Harry. I get what you're doing. Good job on distracting me."

"Well, yes, it was. But I am honestly curious."

"All in good time, my friend. What I'm curious about is, you're not forcing Draco to do anything he doesn't want to do, are you?"

"No! What do you take me for? I go as far as he wants me to go. I really don't know what his problem is though, it seems like he gets scared or something when anything beyond kissing begins."

"Well, then just be patient. Maybe sex just makes him nervous. Or maybe sex with a boy makes him nervous. You are his first boyfriend, I presume?"

"Yes, first everything actually."

"Okay, that brings me to my next topic. Gay sex..."

Harry groaned. "Sirius!"

"Harry, this is serious. You could end up hurting each other if you don't know what you're doing. I wouldn't call myself an expert on the topic, so I bought you a book on it. It's part of your gift from me, but I thought I'd give it to you in private. I don't want to embarrass you."

Harry dropped his head into his hands. "Trust me, this couldn't get anymore humiliating."

Faintly, Harry heard the house elf pop back in, and Sirius took the clothes from her with a thanks, then the elf popped back out of the bathroom. Sirius started to mutter more cleansing charms on his skin, while Harry continued to think. Sirius announced that his skin was as close to normal as he was going to get it, so Harry got up from the sink and began dressing. He noticed that his skin was still tinted green, but was not really that noticeable. "Sirius?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think my parents would think of me being gay? Would they have disowned me?"

"Disowned?" Sirius asked incredulously. "I should think not, Harry. They would have loved you no matter what. This is a part of who you are, and they would have loved you more for it."

"Well, wouldn't they have been disappointed about not having any grandchildren, if they had lived, of course, and didn't have more kids... I mean, I've always wanted kids, but now I can't. The Potter bloodline will cease to exist when I die."

Sirius smiled and pulled Harry into a firm hug. "Harry, I don't think you've done your research. There are ways for two men to have a baby together."

"Adoption?"

"Well, yes, but that way is more Muggle, or if you're sterile. Two men can have a baby together."

Harry pulled back and contemplated for a moment with a slow dawning horror. "I don't understand how that's possible."

"We live in a world of magic, Harry. Anything is possible."

"You don't mean that a man can get pregnant?" Harry asked slowly.

Sirius let out a barking laugh. "I suppose that is possible, but I wouldn't suggest it." Both men shuddered. "Plus, I don't think anybody has even thought of trying to do that. No, there are other ways. But, I think we're a bit ahead of ourselves here. You will be able to have children, no matter what. For now, let's just think of your birthday, all right?"

Harry chuckled a little and nodded. "Can we open presents?" he asked brightly. "I mean... it's the least you could do since you've just put me through the sex talk."

Sirius laughed brightly and swung his arm around Harry's shoulders. "Sure thing. Come on. Let's go see if Snape fixed that boyfriend of yours up yet."

The two men quickly walked back into the entrance hall just as the two Slytherins arrived. Harry very unsuccessfully tried to hold back a smile when he saw Draco. Draco's skin was still as green as Harry's, but Draco's hair had hardly toned down at all. The normally blond boy was not looking too happy about this. When he saw Harry walking towards him with a goofy grin, his scowl only deepened. "Don't come near me, Potter. This is all your fault."

"Hey, I'm not the only one who fell into the fountain, you know."

"Well, you pulled me back under with you!"

"Your hair was already green! Fifteen more seconds, if it was even that long, did not make a difference, you prat!"

"Harry!" Sirius admonished.

The young Gryffindor offered a sheepish smile but immediately turned his attention back to Draco, who was now looking at Sirius. "Professor Black, didn't you... punish him or something? Make him work with the house elves for a day. Pulling innocent guests into a fountain of coloured water is not called good hospitality!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "First, Draco, you may call me Sirius during the summer holidays. Secondly, I don't think Harry's actions are enough to merit punishment. Maybe if he had threatened your life with drowning... then yes, I'd punish him."

"Well... he almost killed me twice last term! On purpose! Maybe you should punish him for that!" Draco said, obviously very desperate for Harry to be punished for his actions in the fountain. Harry immediately tensed. Mentioning the events of last term in front of Harry or Sirius was a bad thing to do. The two were getting along, but the wall that had been built between them during Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts would slowly be put back up at any mention. Even if it was not Sirius's fault, Harry had a hard time forgetting what Sirius did. Sirius had also tensed up and was clenching his jaw, just as Harry was.

"I think that you know, Draco," Sirius began quietly, "that was not Harry pulling those despicable acts. Not in mind, anyhow. Don't you think that he has been punished enough for it?"

Harry stared at the ground, refusing to meet anybody's eyes as silence fell upon the four men.

"Professor... I... I didn't mean..."

"No, don't say anything, Draco. It doesn't matter. And didn't I tell you to call me Sirius?" he smiled at Draco and then placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry jumped a little and flinched away from the touch. Sirius withdrew his hand with a tight swallow. "Harry," he started softly. "I'm going to have the house elves prepare your gifts while I go out and collect the rest of our guests. Why don't you lead Professor Snape and Draco to the sitting room?"

Harry backed away a few more steps with a tight nod. His godfather sighed sadly and left the hall, leaving Harry alone with the two Slytherins. "Harry, I'm sorry," Draco apologised and grabbed Harry's hand. "I don't know what I was thinking."

The dark-haired boy smiled reassuringly. The only reason he felt he could smile right now was because Draco never apologised to anybody except him. It always left a soft spot inside him. "No need for apologies, Draco. I know you didn't. Come on, I'll show you to the sitting room."

"You two go ahead," Snape spoke up. "I need to go speak with Black." Harry nodded his assent and gripped Draco's hand harder, pulling him past the dining hall, two rooms away, into the spacious sitting room. The massive pile of presents was already stacked up next to a love seat where Harry assumed he was supposed to sit. Harry pulled his boyfriend over to this seat and sat next to him. "I'm sorry about your hair."

"Ah," Draco waved him off. "It only adds to my devastatingly good looks.... Okay, I'm lying. I hate it, Harry. I really do."

"If it makes you feel any better, I like it," Harry whispered, leaning in and planting a soft kiss on the corner of Draco's mouth. Draco sighed and started to lay gentle kisses on Harry's mouth and neck until voices echoed down the long hallway outside the room. Ron and Hermione walked through the doorway and stopped, effectively blocking off the entrance for anybody else. They both stared. Then Ron burst out laughing, pointing a shaking finger at Draco.

"Oh. My. God. Malfoy, your hair! And your skin!"

Hermione snickered. "Honestly. You two should dye your skin orange and you'd look like a couple of oompa loompas." She burst out into more giggles. "I can just see you two dancing around singing, ‘oompa... oompa... oompa dee do, I've got another riddle for you.'" She wiped tears of mirth away, while she gained some more control of herself. "Honestly. What did you two do?"

Before Harry could answer, Draco tugged on his arm. "What are dooma loomas?"

*

Four hours later, Harry was finally through all of his presents, had blown out his candles, and now people were bidding him goodbye. Once it was only Sirius, Remus, Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, and Snape, they had dinner in the dining room where Sirius and Harry usually ate. Two walls were made completely of glass that overlooked the lake and Quidditch pitch, while the other two walls had burgundy drapes dressing them. "So, Sirius," Harry began after everybody was done eating. "I keep hearing about all these surprises that you have for me," he said, emerald eyes twinkling. Sirius smiled, obviously relieved that Harry had forgotten what Draco had said earlier.

"Yes, I suppose it's time to tell you a few things. First of all, and I think you may have been told this already, but Ron, Hermione, and Draco are staying for the remainder of the holiday."

Harry's eyes lit up. "All three of them? Charlie slipped about Ron, but I didn't know about all of them! Well, wait a minute... Draco isn't safe here. There was a reason for him staying at Hogwarts. I don't want him here if he's in danger."

"Calm down, Potter," Snape said, annoyed. "If he were in danger here, he wouldn't have been able to come today in the first place. There are many wards here to protect you that will also protect anybody else in this house."

"Oh, that's good. But, what about you, Professor?"

Snape sneered. "You want me to stay here? How touching, but I don't think so. I'll be staying at Hogwarts."

"Oh," Harry replied, flushing.

Remus smiled at Harry. "We also have another surprise for you, Harry. Sirius, Draco, Severus, Ron, Hermione, and I pitched in on this."

Sirius grinned as he passed down a long thin box. Harry took it and was a bit startled to feel it vibrating. He opened the paper cautiously and then lifted the lid on the box. From inside, an ebony broom jumped two feet into the air and hovered in front of Harry's awestruck face. A strangled gurgle emitted from his gaping mouth as he raked his eyes over the magnificent broom. It was highly polished, giving it a shiny surface, and all the twigs were immaculately trimmed... Every part of it was so perfect that Harry did not even know if he was worthy of touching it.

"What..." Before he even got his question out, the broom moved to Harry's right so that the end was directly in front of his eyes. "Firebolt XP," he read, awe-struck. "How... how did it know what I was going to ask?" he inquired faintly.

Snape snickered. "I moved it so that you could read it." The entire table broke out into laughter.

"Honestly, Harry," Ron laughed. "A broom reading minds? That's almost as ridiculous as Trelawney making a real prediction." Harry offered a sheepish smile and ran a finger down the length of the magnificent broom.

"I don't even need a broom. Why did you get me a new one?"

"Honestly, Harry. Just because you don't need it, doesn't mean we're not allowed to buy you it," Sirius replied smiling.

"But now I have two broo..." Harry looked up and smiled at his best friend. "Hey, Ron. Do you want my Firebolt?"

Ron opened his mouth, but no sound came out for a few moments. "No, I don't want it. I can get my own broom."

Draco snorted. "Yeah, right. The day you can afford a good broom is the day I can't afford one." Ron's face immediately turned red, as did Harry's.

Harry elbowed Draco in the side none too nicely. "You great prat!" he hissed at his boyfriend. "I thought you agreed not to say anything about that anymore!"

Draco sneered but did not say anything. He merely crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the wall. Harry heard himself growl low in his throat but knew it would be useless to get Draco to apologise. "Keep it to yourself," he warned. "Because there isn't anybody here who wants to hear it." Harry then turned back to the red head. "Ron, I'm not trying to... give you charity or anything. I just don't need the darn thing anymore, and you do need one, so take it. I'm not hearing any of your lame arguments about it either."

"Ron, just take it," Hermione demanded. "Harry's just trying to get rid of the extra clutter that would be in his room if he were to keep it."

"Wha -" Hermione cut Harry off with a glare, so he quickly nodded. "Wha - ow!" He exclaimed lamely. "Hermione... are you sure you should have dropped Divination? You just read my mind! That's exactly what I was thinking!" Draco snickered at Harry's bad acting but stopped when Harry threw him an angry glare. Even Ron smiled a little and chuckled.

"Harry, do us all a favour and never take up acting as your profession. I may be a little thick sometimes, but you just blew what Hermione was trying to tell me."

Hermione let out a frustrated breath and looked at the wall, clearly at her wit's end with Harry. He sighed and looked imploringly at Ron.

"So what? Everything we just said was a lie, but will you please just take it? I honestly wouldn't know what to do with the bugger. What's so wrong with wanting to give your friend a present? I mean, you just gave me one today!"

"It's your birthday," Ron mumbled. "All right, fine, I'll have it."

"Great!" Sirius exclaimed. "Now it won't go to waste! Now, Remus and I have one more thing for you, Harry, that has been in our, or rather Remus' safekeeping for the past sixteen years. It was meant for you on your seventeenth birthday so... here you go." Sirius handed Harry a box that could have held a Quaffle or Bludger, and when the younger man took it, the latter was his first thought as to the contents. He nearly dropped it through the table upon grabbing it. "Oh. It's quite heavy. I should have warned you." Harry merely rolled his eyes, set the gift on the table, and began unwrapping it. Inside was a large marble-like, black ball. Emerald eyes turned up to Sirius and Remus in question.

"What is this?"

Remus stood up from his place and came around to take the ball out and set it on the table. "I'll have to say the spell since you're not allowed to do magic."

"But I am allowed to!" Harry exclaimed indignantly. "I'm seventeen now!"

"Oh, right," Remus said sheepishly. "Well, I'll do it anyway and teach it to you later. It takes a few tries to get it anyway."

"What does it do?" Harry inquired.

"I'm not exactly sure," Remus answered truthfully. "They never did tell us, did they Sirius?"

Sirius confirmed that with a shake of his head. "They only said that if we had any questions about it, to ask Dumbledore because he was the one who suggested the idea and, of course, the incantation to get it to work," Sirius replied, looking as eager to see what the ball did as Harry did.

Harry slid to the edge of his seat, eagerly awaiting to see what was going to happen. He could not be sure since Remus had not actually said, but he was quite certain that Remus was speaking of his parents, James and Lily. Seeing that Harry was eagerly waiting, Remus pointed his wand at the ball and said the incantation under his breath. A flash of black emitted from the ball that cast the room into darkness, cutting off all the light that was coming from the large windows around them. Before anybody could say anything, another light projected from the ball, illuminating two figures standing a few feet from Harry.

The young Gryffindor gasped and slid back into his chair. Standing beside Remus were Lily and James Potter. To Harry, they looked like a bad connection to a Muggle television. The James Potter apparition laughed as he looked directly at Harry, which Harry found slightly disorienting since actors on the television never looked directly at you, unless they were news anchors. As they were 3-D, it made it even more disorienting. "We finally got the stupid thing to work!" James Potter laughed.

"Shush, James," Lily Potter admonished. "We only have twenty minutes here."

"Bloody hell," Sirius said loudly, causing the apparitions to look over at him.

"Padfoot!" James exclaimed. "You're here too! Oh, and Moony! James did a quick scan of the rest of the company and landed on Snape. "Merlin, Padfoot! What the bloody hell do you have Snivellus in your manor for?" Snape growled low in his throat but did not say anything. Harry bristled at the subtle reminder at what a prat his father had once been. If James Potter kept this act up, Harry's view of his father would be forever tainted, which was something that Harry did not want.

"Er - I..." Sirius let his mouth hang open, clearly at a loss of words.

"Severus helped Harry out last term," Remus replied. "He is here for Harry's birthday party today."

Lily elegantly raised an eyebrow. "Severus helped out Harry?"

"Yeah, why didn't Sirius help him? Or Remus?" James inquired bewildered. Silence reigned down on the occupants of the room.

Harry cleared his throat. "In... incapacitated," he muttered.

Lily, sensing the tension, looked to Snape and smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Severus," she said kindly and sincerely. Harry looked to his potions master with interest to see what his reaction would be. He had gotten the impression in his sixth year that his mother and Snape had been friends in school. Snape shifted a little, met Lily's eyes, and then looked down again.

"You're welcome," he said quietly.

"I'd ask what happened," she continued, " but we don't have much time, and we wanted to see how our son has turned out. I know you must be a little confused right now, Harry, as to how this is happening, but the explanation would take longer than twenty minutes."

"Plus, we're not allowed to ask many questions," James put in. "We aren't allowed to know what happens to us in the future. I can make a pretty good deduction, since Lily and I aren't with you all right now... but well, we've known something like this might happen. Anyway... we can see that you have a couple of your friends with you right now...."

"Er - y... yes," Harry stuttered. "That's Ron Weasley," he said, pointing at Ron, who waved tentatively and smiled. "And that is Hermione Granger."

"Granger?" Lily asked. "I've never heard that name in the wizarding world before."

"She's Muggle-born." Harry grinned. "And the best witch in our year."

Hermione blushed as James laughed. "That sounds like Lily." James then tried to see something behind Harry but gave up. "There's also a person with green hair behind you, but I can't see who it is. He or she seems to be hiding." Harry leaned to his right so that they could see Draco, who was in fact hiding from Harry's parents, as if afraid to be seen by them with such atrocious hair.

"Hello," Draco muttered after sending a death glare at Harry.

"Lucius Malfoy?" James asked incredulous. Draco scowled and pushed Harry back in front of him.

"No... er - dad?" Harry was unsure of this title, but James merely grinned like an idiot. "This is his son, Draco Malfoy. And he has green hair because I pulled him into the fountain in the entrance hall."

"All right! One up for Gryffindor!"

"James!" Lily admonished again. "He's only assuming you're a Gryffindor, Harry. It's quite all right if you're not though."

"I am."

Lily offered him a large smile. "I'm glad to see that house rivalry hasn't gotten in the way of you two being friends. I assume that you're in Slytherin, Draco?"

Draco peeked around from behind Harry, nodded a little and smiled, and then disappeared again.

"Well," James scoffed. "He sure is mild mannered for a Slytherin."

"He's not usually like that," Ron quickly put in. "He's a right prat most of the time. I think Harry must have broken up with him or something, because he's been sulky all day." Harry immediately tensed up and looked away from his parents, who had confused looks etched on their faces. Ron, who saw Harry tense, clapped his hand over his mouth. "Bugger. I'm sorry. I told you big mouths run in the family, Harry." Harry shook his head and quickly stood, debating whether to make a run for it, but as if Sirius had been expecting that, he was already there, holding Harry back. He looked at his godfather with a trapped, desperate look in his eyes. Sirius held him gently by the shoulders.

"Harry? What did you ask me just this morning?"

"If... if mum and dad would disown me if they had known."

"And what was my answer?"

"They wouldn't, and that they'd love me even more because of it," he whispered.

Sirius winked. "That's right. Now you can see if my words were the truth. Don't run away. They aren't here for very long." Sirius pushed Harry a little towards his parents and then resumed his seat on the other side of the table. Harry still refused to look into his parents' eyes and looked to his shuffling feet.

"Harry, look up at us," Lily said quietly. He did look up to see his mother's smiling eyes and his father's contemplative expression. Lily held out her hand, her wedding band glinting brightly in the darkened room. Harry merely looked at it confused as to what he should do. Should he try to take it? If he did, wouldn't his hand go through it?

"Take it, Harry. Dumbledore said we could touch." With a shaking hand, he slowly reached out and let his fingers rest on hers. He let out a happy laugh and slipped his hand in hers, gripping it tightly. His mother's warmth spread through him, and now that he could actually feel her, he seemed to remember being held, sung to, and comforted by her in days long past. He closed his eyes and let the feeling wash through him. When he opened his eyes again, he saw James staring at their joined hands almost longingly. Harry smiled and held out his free hand, offering it to James. He took it, and Harry was pulled into a group hug. Their joined hands dropped, leaving Harry free to wrap one around his dad's waist and one around his mum's. He let his head drop onto James' chest and smiled happily with a hint of sadness. Lily let go of him and let father and son cling to each other in a tight embrace.

"I bet people tell you all the time how much you look like me, don't they?" James whispered.

"Yes. ‘You look so much like your father, but you have your mother's eyes,'" Harry spouted off, pulling back slightly with a grin. "And that I get my flying talent from you." Harry's eyes lit up. "Oh! I've always wished I could tell you that I'm Gryffindor's Seeker."

James' hazel eyes lit up with excitement. "I knew it! I knew you'd be a Seeker. Just the other day, you were sitting on the floor in the living room, and out of nowhere you caught a fly with your hand." James looked down at his son with shining eyes. "You just shot that pudgy little hand up, grabbed that thing out of mid-air, and squeezed so hard." James sighed and looked at his son proudly. "I bet you're wonderful," he sighed.

"He is," Draco drawled from behind them. "He's only lost one game and that was in third year. And he made it on the team in his first year, and from what I understand, he had never even been on a broom before." Harry flushed from the combination of the unexpected compliment from his boyfriend and his father's look of admiration.

"Yeah well, it never would have happened if Draco hadn't been acting like the prat he was, and still is, and stolen Neville's Remembrall during our first flying lesson."

James smirked and looked at Draco. "Well, thank you for getting my son on the Quidditch team!"

Draco only scowled. "I'm still not too happy about it," he muttered. "Harry makes me look like a bloody fool every time Slytherin plays against them."

Harry smiled a little. "Draco's the Slytherin Seeker," he informed his parents.

"And you still manage to be friends?" James asked incredulously. "I don't understand it."

Harry laughed nervously. "Yeah."

"Harry?" Lily inquired, taking his hand once again. He looked at their joined hands for a moment, finally deciding to suck it up and tell his parents.

"Okay. I'm.... Draco is..." He cast another desperate look towards Sirius, who merely nodded and winked. "Er - what I mean to say is, Draco is... my... my boyfriend." He took a deep breath, ready for his parents to blow up, even though they had already basically been told of Harry's preference for boys. Harry only became more nervous, however, when James started laughing. The only thought running through his mind was that James did not believe him and thought it was some elaborate joke. "I'm serious."

"Oh, I know you are, Harry, and I'm sorry for laughing, but it just struck me as funny. We already added two and two together when your friend Ron over there told us his reasoning for Draco's silence. We didn't shun you then, now did we?"

"Well, no, but..."

"I know it took courage to tell us," Lily said. "I'm glad you did, instead of leaving it go unsaid. I don't know about your father, but it tells me a lot about what kind of person you are. Come here, Harry." She spread her arms, and Harry immediately fell into them, embracing her just as he had hugged his father minutes before. "You seem to have turned out to be an outstanding young man and I think I speak for James when I say that we're both very proud of you."

Harry smiled widely as he pulled his head back and looked at her. "Thank you, mum."

"You're most welcome." She pulled her arms from around him, held his head between her hands, and kissed all over Harry's face. She stopped for a moment when she pulled back his fringe, no doubt noticing the scar, but decided against asking and kissed the scar instead. "My beautiful little boy," she whispered softly as she pulled him to her again. "I love you so much, Harry."

"I love you too, mum." The two pulled away from each other, and Lily looked to Draco.

"Come here, Draco." The blond, or rather not-so-blond boy stood up nervously and approached his boyfriend's long dead mother. "Hello. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise, Mrs. Potter."

"Call me Lily." She turned to James. "How much time do we have left?"

James looked off in a different direction and then answered. "About eight minutes."

Lily nodded and turned back to Draco. "I'll be quite honest, Draco," Lily began. "I never trusted your father and never quite liked him either -"

"You and me both then."

"Oh," she smiled, trying to hold back her surprise. "You have obviously shown that you care about Harry, if he is with you, and have shown your loyalty to him, if he trusts you. Being his mother, I trust his judgement. I know a little of how Lucius can be, through what Severus told me, and it makes me a little nervous about how your father is taking your relationship with Harry. And... well, for as long as you're with him, just keep him from your father, please. I don't want any harm coming to him."

Draco's mouth quirked up in a small smile the way Harry knew it always did when he thought of where his father was at the moment, unless of course, those thoughts included his mother. "I can assure you that even if Harry was in danger from Lucius, I would make sure your wishes were granted. As it is, Lucius is in Azkaban and no longer a danger to anybody. He doesn't even know of our relationship."

"Well, then, Draco," James said. "As long as you're in Harry's life, consider yourself a member of our family, no matter how small it may be nowadays. If you do hurt him though, I will know, I don't know how, but I will rise up from my grave (I'm only assuming I'm dead), and haunt you for the rest of your natural born life."

"Dad!"

James raised his hands in mock surrender. "I'm only telling the truth, Harry. It'd be the same if I were really there with you now."

Lily laughed, shaking her head. "Don't worry, Draco. He has no idea what he's talking about. He won't ever know if you hurt Harry." She reached out and pulled a very surprised Draco into a hug. "Take care of my baby for me."

"Erm - I will," Draco said as he broke free only to have his hand grasped by James.

"You seem like a better man than your father." Harry smiled as he saw Draco's silver eyes light up for a moment in happiness, but then they went back to his usual mask of indifference.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter." Harry knew that it was all that needed to be said between them. James could not have given Draco a better compliment.

"Five minutes," James muttered. "Sirius, Remus, get over here," he commanded, and the two men sprang to their feet and hurried over. Remus and James exchanged words that could not be heard while Sirius spoke to Lily and embraced her tightly. They exchanged people, and James was speaking quietly to Sirius, seeming to be reassuring him about something, and then they also embraced. Ron and Hermione came and stood on Harry's left side, offering him a little support. James nodded at them. "It was nice meeting you two, however brief it was. Help Sirius, Remus, and Draco take care of him for us."

"We will, Mr. Potter," both Hermione and Ron answered at the same time.

"We always do," Hermione added.

Lily grinned broadly. "I'm glad he found such great friends. Hey, Severus," she added turning to the potions master who was still sitting at the table. "Come here."

The intimidating man stood and walked forward with what seemed to be trepidation. Lily immediately hugged him and said a few things to him that he responded to in a low tone. James only inclined his head slightly at him, and Snape did the same before he walked back to his seat.

"Harry," James said. "Let's say goodbye. We have a minute now."

Harry wasted no time in stepping forward and being engulfed by both of his parents once again. Subconsciously, he reached up and started fingering his mother's long hair as he buried his face in her shoulder. The small family clung together, trying to make it last forever.

"I don't want to say goodbye," Harry whispered. "I miss you both."

"We know. But we have to," James answered. "I love you, and I'm as proud of you as your mother claims I am."

Harry wrapped his arm around his mother's neck, never letting go of her hair, and moved to his father's shoulder. "I love you, too, Dad." He lifted his head and smiled cheekily at his father. "I do look a lot like you, but I think you're a bit more geeky looking, especially when you purposely mess up your hair." Harry shuddered.

Both of his parents let out a loud laugh, and James kissed the top of his head. "I don't how you know about that, but it wasn't me." Harry smiled and stepped away, grabbing a hold of each of their hands. "We have ten seconds," James noted. Harry quickly kissed his mum's cheek.

"Goodbye, Harry," they said at the same time. "Take care of yourself."

"I will."

With one final squeeze of hands, James and Lily Potter disappeared from view and the room was flooded with light once more, making all occupants blink owlishly trying to get their pupils to dilate. Harry's hands dropped to his sides, and he stood staring at the spot that his parents had just occupied, unable to believe that he had finally had a chance to speak with them, hug them, tell them he was okay, and that he loved them. He smiled.

The occupants of the room were now in a state of shock as they continued to stare at the black ball. Harry began to speak, but stopped when the object began to glow a mysterious red. Right before their very eyes, the ball cracked, hissing as it steamed. Harry watched it warily as it seemed to rotate by itself, and before anybody could do anything, it shot a jet of red light towards Harry and hit him in the chest. He went flying backwards into one of the windows. Luckily, they had been charmed to be unbreakable so Harry merely bounced off the windows and onto the floor. He lay in shock for a few moments before pulling himself up to stare incredulously at the heavy ball. It was resealing itself, and the light faded just as quickly as it had come. It now seemed perfectly harmless.

"Harry? Are you all right?" Sirius broke him from his reverie. He turned, faced his godfather, and smiled.

"I'm perfect. How are you?" he answered in all honesty. His back hurt a little from hitting the window, but other than that, he felt extremely content. The light had sent a warm shock throughout his body, making him feel very happy and calm.

Sirius grinned. "I'm wonderful. Did that light hurt you?"

"No. It made me feel really good actually."

Sirius sighed in obvious relief and helped his godson up. "Did you like that?"

"It was definitely unexpected, but it was great," Harry replied honestly. "Would I ever be able to watch that again?"

"That, Harry, is possible, but you are only allowed to go through the actions, not say anything. That is how it happened for James and Lily sixteen years ago and that can't be changed," came a voice from the doorway. Everybody jumped and turned towards the voice.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed. "How long have you been here?"

"Since James said they had five minutes. I never did find out if they got that to work," the old man said, his eyes twinkling mischievously as he walked to them. "It seems that they did."

"What was that thing, Professor?" Harry asked curiously.

Dumbledore seemed to ponder this for a few moments before answering. "Come to think of it, I never did find a name for it when I figured out how to work it. It's the only one in the world, and what is known about it is kept in my head. I decided to let Lily and James use it since it could fit both of their needs. This was a practice run, and let me say, it's been a long wait to see if it worked." His expression grew serious. "I must impress upon you to keep that safe. I am entrusting it to your care. I will give you more information on its care and how to reuse it at a later time. Right now, there is something that I have come here to tell you about, Harry. Since last summer, you have been getting along with your cousin, Dudley, am I correct?"

"Yes, I have. He's been nice to me since my birthday last year, and we've been writing to each other since the beginning of last term."

"When is the last time he wrote?"

"Er - it has been a while. He wrote me in April, and I wrote back around the beginning of May, but he never wrote back." Harry paused, swallowing. "In fact, Hedwig never did come back from that trip. I haven't wanted to think about it, but..."

"Why didn't you say anything about Hedwig, Harry?" Sirius asked.

Harry shrugged helplessly. "I was hoping she'd come back. But, what about Dudley, Professor? Is he all right?"

Dumbledore stared at Harry soberly. "I won't beat around the bush as Muggles like to say. Harry... Dudley disappeared about a week before his school let out for the summer holidays."

"What? Is he all right? Have they found him?"

"Yes, they have found him, just yesterday in fact. He was found in a Muggle alley, near the Leaky Cauldron. I'm sorry, Harry, but Dudley is dead."