Meet the Parents

Chapter 1

Life can be hard sometimes. Sometimes, it can be very sad. Sometimes, it can also be filled with small, irritating things which drive you insane. Those three statements combined would more or less describe how the life of Harry Potter looked like in the beginning of July, after his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

He tried as hard as he could to forget about all that had happened--the death of his godfather, the fight in the Ministry and the prophecy. So, he filled his day with different things to do, to distract himself. He worked in Aunt Petunia's garden, even though this year she actually tried to forbid him from doing any housework (probably due to the fact that Mad-Eye Moody had really scared the Dursleys at the King's Cross station). He read different books--anything that he could find--his old school books, some stupid romance novels, Dudley's comics and few large tomes about Occlumency, Legilimency and Dark Arts sent by Hermione. He did his homework. He answered all the letters he received, and there was quite a lot of the--not only from his friends, but also from total strangers, as he was a public hero again.

It didn't really help. Different thoughts and memories haunted him and the moment of Sirius' death kept coming back in his dreams. He couldn't stop wondering what would have happened if only he hadn't stopped Occlumency lessons--if only he hadn't gone to the Ministry--if only he hadn't been angry at Sirius and opened his present...

He felt sorry and guilty. He was also terrified by the fact that he was responsible for the future of the wizarding world. It was his job to get rid of Voldemort, one of the most powerful and reckless dark wizards ever. Piece of cake for a student. Nothing to worry about.

He didn't really care at that time if he was going to die. But he was simply petrified with the thought that Voldemort would attack people around him just because they were his friends. And losing another close person--that would be too much.

He didn't cry late into the night or anything like that. But he never really smiled either. His friend's letters were full of concern, and he replied all the time, saying that he was going to be all right. But it was only a lie. Instead of slowly getting over his sorrows, he was just hiding his feelings deeper and deeper inside.

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Remus Lupin was sitting in the kitchen in the Temporary Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. After Sirius' death, they had to move out of Grimmauld Place, which had been inherited by Narcissa Malfoy--the only descendant of the Black family who wasn't outlawed yet.

The Temporary Headquarters, a small house in a Muggle village named Lastfall, was much smaller and much cozier than the Black family mansion. It had also quite poor protections compared to the former Headquarters, and that was the reason why people kept calling it 'temporary.'

One of the meetings had just finished, but Remus was to stay and guard the house--members of the Order did it in turns now that Sirius was gone. He waited patiently as everybody Disapparated one by one, until finally the only person remaining was Dumbledore.

"You wanted to talk with me privately, didn't you, Remus?" the old wizard asked, taking a seat on the opposite side of the table. "So--what do you want to discuss?"

"Professor, I'm not sure--I have this impression that--I don't know--it's about Harry..."

"Yes..." the Hogwarts' headmaster slowly nodded and continued with a thoughtful expression, "I hope he is finally getting better. It is a very short time he has now..."

Remus looked up and calmly asked, "Short time for what, Professor?"

"Remus..." Dumbledore smiled sadly, "I can't possibly tell how much longer Lord Voldemort will wait, after he lost his chance to hear the prophecy and the Ministry has admitted that he is back to his full power. He will strike any moment now--he already did after all, didn't he? We cannot waste time for grieving those who died. Nor we can give up. We have to be ready to fight. Otherwise Sirius' sacrifice would be useless. And Harry--it's quite obvious that Lord Voldemort will try again to attack him. Sooner or later--it's especially Harry, who needs to prepare."

"Yes--well, I think he is preparing--he wrote that he is currently reading Mastering Occlumency. It's pretty advanced stuff--but I think he feels guilty for what has happened, Professor."

"Well--I expected that--he shouldn't feel this way, but I expected he would. Did he write to you about it?"

"No, and that's what worries me the most. He says that he is all right--his letters are so impersonal, so emotionless. I think that we should do something, Professor. He is just closing in. I wrote to his friends about it and they said he is similar towards them."

"What do you suggest, then?" Dumbledore asked, raising his eyebrows.

"He shouldn't be alone now, Professor. After all he's been there for almost a month--isn't it enough for him to keep his protection?"

"I hope it is--but we can't risk it, Remus. It's just too important..."

"More important then Harry himself?!"

"Remus, I already made wrong decisions because I was concerned about Harry's happiness rather than preparing him for what he has to face. I believe that those decisions are one of the reasons of his tragedy now. And I'm not going to make the same mistake again. He has to grow up faster than other boys of his age do..."

"It's just so unfair."

"Yes--I shall think of something to cheer him up. A very special birthday present perhaps." Saying that, Dumbledore smiled with a characteristic twinkle in his eyes.

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It was Aunt's Petunia scream that woke Harry up that day. He yawned and stretched in his bed, hoping that whatever Dudley did, it wouldn't steam up his aunt too much. Not that he minded her being upset, but he didn't want to listen to her stupid comments for the whole day.

Slowly the yells from downstairs were starting to make some sense to Harry.

"You again! No! Get out!" That couldn't have been Dudley, could it?

"He's sending those goddamn letters! What do you want now, you--you freaks!" Harry was sure now that it must have been some wizards who caused Aunt Petunia to scream like that. But as to what kind of wizards, he didn't know.

He took out his wand and got out of bed. Then he opened his trunk and started to search it for the Invisibility Cloak. Finally ready, or at least as ready as he could be at the moment, he started to go down the stairs, careful to make as little noise as he could.

He was halfway down when he noticed who the visitors were. He sighed with relief and took off the Invisibility Cloak.

"Tonks! Professor Lupin! Mr. Weasley!" Harry shouted with almost genuine smile. "Hello! What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Harry," Mr. Weasley smiled back at sleepy teenager, who looked pretty funny, dressed in much too big pajamas, with half of his body still invisible and wand in his hand. "Happy Birthday!"

Aunt Petunia screamed. The three wizards laughed.

Harry tried to hide his surprise at what Mr. Weasley had just said. He forgot about his birthday! It had never happened before. Even when he hadn't had any friends and the Dursleys--on purpose--had given him an additional amount of housework on that day, he had always remembered.

He hoped that none of the visitors had noticed his surprise and once again tried to smile.

"Thanks, Mr. Weasley!"

"Harry," It was Tonks' turn now to shout, "All the best for you!"

"Yes, Harry, all the best," Remus Lupin added. "And listen, here is your first present..."

Harry took a small box mumbling some sort of thanks and started to unwrap the gift. Remus, however, grabbed his hand and said with the mischievous grin, "Better get dressed first, if you want my advice."

Harry looked at his former professor curiously and after a while resumed opening the box.

"It can't hurt if I just take a look..." he started to say, when all of sudden, the world started to whirl around him.

He immediately recognized the feeling. The gift must have been a Portkey! He cursed under his breath, hoping that he would not end up in some sort of public place like Diagon Alley. He was more than a little relieved when the magical travel was over and he found himself in the Burrow, facing what appeared to be the whole Order of the Phoenix, Weasley family and some members of the DA.

Their expressions were shocked at first, and then everybody burst out with laughter. Harry smiled, uncertain what to do, and finally started laughing as well, for the first time during his summer vacation.

Ginny was trying to say something that sounded a little bit like "Surprise," but she didn't manage. Ron and Hermione were on the floor, almost crying. Mrs. Weasley had tears on her cheeks, and the twins were laughing so hard that their whole bodies were shaking. Professor Snape (What was he doing here, Harry wondered) had an evil and satisfied smirk on his face.

Everybody had started to slowly calm down when Remus Lupin Apparated with loud pop. He looked at the scene in front of him, grinned and said to Harry, "Told you to get dressed first!"

Everybody started to laugh again.

Soon Tonks and Mr. Weasley appeared. It was Tonks who spoke.

"Ha, ha! Wotcher! It turned out even better than I imagined! I've got your stuff Harry! Er--I don't know if you realized--this is a surprise birthday party--ha, ha!" With that, she erupted with laughter.

Soon, everybody calmed down and started to greet Harry and give him their best wishes. Hermione hugged him and whispered "Just stay yourself" into his ear. Mrs. Weasley smiled and tried to say something, but suddenly she felt tears in her eyes and simply smiled sympathetically. Fred and George sang "Happy birthday" aloud and soon everybody joined them.

After that Mr. Weasley said aloud, "I know that you all want to give your congratulations to Harry right now, but please, let him get dressed first! Fred, George, help him with the trunk..."

Soon, Harry was wearing his normal clothes and he came downstairs again.

He felt the very same warmth inside him, which he had felt when members of the Order came to the station to talk to Dursleys. Like there was someone there for him after all, someone who cared...

The party went on with presents, good things to eat and loads of fun. Fred and George provided a large supply of joke stuff. When half of the birthday guests started to turn in different colors (Snape was pink!), Fred winked to Harry and whispered, "Just couldn't have missed the birthday party of our main investor."

DA members kept telling Harry how well he had prepared them for their O.W.L.s. Ernie Macmillian grinned and exclaimed that he had gotten an 'E' for Defense Against the Dark Arts instead of the birthday wishes. It was similar with the others--Neville had an 'O'! Harry grinned at them. He had an 'O' from DADA as well.

There was one thing, however, that Harry couldn't help wondering about. What was Snape doing here? The Potions Master hated him as much as he could; it just didn't fit.

Soon, however, he dismissed these thoughts and joined some people in going outside to play a game of Quidditch.

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If Harry had stayed inside, he would have probably witnessed a very unusual activity.

As soon as he was outside, Mr. Weasley Disapparated only to re-Apparate a moment later with none other than Albus Dumbledore accompanying him.

Dumbledore greeted everyone present with short nod.

"Harry is outside? Good. We can get to the final part of the preparations. Severus? I trust you brought the potion?"

Snape answered without a smile:

"Of course, Headmaster. However, I still think it is too much effort only to cheer up one spoiled adolescent."

"Yes, Severus, you are certainly right..." said the old wizard absentmindedly. "Arthur, is the room ready?"

"Yes, it's Percy old bedroom--not that we need it, anyway...."

"Good, so let's get right to work--lead the way, Arthur, please."

They all went upstairs, and the only person left was Lupin, who smiled to himself, thinking about the very, very special present which Dumbledore was about to give Harry.

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Chapter 2

Harry entered the kitchen. His cheeks were flushed and his hair messed by the wind. He looked much better than he had that very same morning. Still, there was some sadness in his eyes. It had never really left them.

He was surprised to see the Hogwarts headmaster sitting on one of the stools and apparently talking quietly to Ron's little owl, Pig.

"Headmaster? Hello?" he said uncertainly.

"Well, hello, Harry. How are you?" There was some amount of concern in the old man's voice. "I watched you while you played Quidditch in the garden. I guess that you are little bit better now, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm all right, thank you."

"Well, best wishes then."

"Thanks..."

"Now, Harry, I have also a present for you--something that hopefully will help you cope with what you've been through--and become truly 'all right.'"

Harry raised his eyebrows. That was quite unexpected. What could Albus Dumbledore possibly give him?

"Come with me, Harry--I can see you are interested--I believe you should first see it alone, but who knows, maybe you will choose to show it to your friends later."

Harry followed the wizard upstairs, to the room which used to belong to Percy. To his surprise, the room was absolutely dark.

"Pastorale terminus," said Dumbledore, and just after that, the floor of the room started to shine with different colors.

"Look down, Harry." Harry looked down.

"What you see now is an effect of a quite powerful spell. It won't wear off until midnight, or maybe even longer. It allows you to see the past events connected with people you have feelings for. Only those who have died, mind you; you can't possibly use it to spy on your friends or anything like that. But I believe you will find better purposes. Have a good time, Harry." With that, Dumbledore Disapparated from the room, and Harry was left alone.

He bent on his knees and looked down. It looked like the floor had been enchanted into some sort of a screen. The blurry image started to clear up a little. Slowly, Harry started to recognize events in front of him. It was a wedding. A big white limousine arrived in front of some church. A bride got out. And Harry recognized her immediately. It was his mother. Her hair was pinned in some sort of fancy hairstyle, with a lot of flowers. She wore a white, simple dress and looked both happy and nervous.

Harry felt a sudden dryness in his throat while he followed his mother into the church. There was bright, happy music, and his father was standing next to the altar, dressed in something that looked like dress robes and a suit mixed together. Next to him stood Sirius, with a wild grin. Further in the back, Harry noticed many other people he knew: Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Dumbledore, McGonagall, the Longbottoms, Moody and even Aunt Petunia. All of them looked visibly younger.

Harry kneeled, staring. There were tears on his cheeks. He remained like this, not moving, absolutely oblivious to the world around him, with his gaze transfixed on the different images shown on the floor.

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It was around five o'clock when the guests started to feel impatient. They knew, of course, that Harry was supposed to receive a very special gift, and were not surprised by the fact that he had disappeared. But he had been gone for more then three hours now, and they couldn't help wondering what he had gotten.

Most anxious were, of course, Ron and Hermione. Both of them shared the feeling that Harry should show them the present--after all, they were his closest friends.

"Maybe it's some sort of book--I don't know..." Hermione said.

"Come on--if it were you who disappeared, Hermione, then I would be sure it was a book--but Harry?!"

"Well, if it was something really interesting..."

"Yeah, right! You know what I think? I think we should go and check."

"No, Ron! Remember what Dumbledore said? Let him just be alone..."

"God, he can have fun with this whatever-Dumbledore-gave-him stuff some other day! I mean, look, everybody wants him to come down. He has candles to blow--it's his birthday party after all! Do whatever you want, but I'm going up to check on him."

"OK--let's go, then..."

And so they left, telling everybody that they just wanted to see what new pranks Fred and George were up to. Soon they were upstairs, in front of Percy's room.

"He's very quiet, isn't he?" Hermione noted.

"Maybe he's just fallen asleep," Ron said with a smirk, but there was a hint of worry in his voice.

Hermione knocked delicately and opened the door. For a moment, they just stared at the scene in front of them.

Harry was lying on the floor, hands under his chin, watching something below.

Both Ron and Hermione looked down and gasped.

"I read about it..." Hermione whispered. "Pastorale charm--it's awfully time consuming--I can't believe it--now I understand why Harry didn't come down..."

"So what exactly is going on?" Ron asked, not bothering to stay quiet.

Harry raised his head, finally noticing the two teenagers who had just entered. He had some tears on his cheeks, but he was smiling.

"Hi, guys..." he said. "It's my parents, look..."

Ron and Hermione didn't need any encouragement; they were already observing the images below.

They could see a young couple, obviously the Potters. Lily held a little baby--probably Harry--in her arms, while James was telling her something animatedly, making wide gestures and smiling happily. Then he said something that made Lily smile and she gave him Harry. James took the baby and kissed him on the forehead. Lily grinned and kissed James on the cheek.

"Wow..." was all that Ron managed to say.

"Your parents were so cheerful..." Hermione stated, glancing at Harry, to see his reaction at what she had just said.

"Yeah--I've seen their wedding, you know? And Sirius was there..."

"Wow, Harry! That's just so cool!" Ron exclaimed. "And did you see them becoming Animagi?"

"No--I didn't get to the school years, yet..."

"Then let's see it! Imagine, Marauders in action!"

At first, Harry was not so sure that he wanted to show his friends what Sirius and James had been like. He still could remember what he had seen in Snape's Pensieve. But then, there was no reason to hide it. He was with his friends, after all, and they would accept him, no matter how badly his father had treated Snape. In fact, Ron hated "the evil git"--as he usually referred to Hogwarts' Potions Master--so much, that he might find Marauders' behavior amusing.

Harry looked at the floor. He knew instinctively what to do. He pictured his parents and Hogwarts in his mind, and slowly, the images on the floor started to move.

The new image they saw was Hogwarts castle. The sun was high and everything seemed peaceful.

The only problem was that there was nobody there.

"Well?" Hermione asked. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure--something must have gone wrong."

"Maybe you should say some incantation?"

"No, Dumbledore would have told me if I had to..."

"What's the point in showing us Hogwarts without people there, anyway?" Ron said in irritated voice.

Hermione answered immediately, "Oh, Ron, don't be stupid--it's not our Hogwarts, it must somewhere in the past--the trees look smaller."

"Then why don't we see Marauders, Miss I-know-better?"

"You wanted to see them in their Animagus form. Maybe they're transformed?"

"No!" Harry interrupted "They're not there. I just don't get it! Why doesn't it listen?"

He sat on his knees and pressed his hands to the floor. Slowly, as if it were an enchantment, he began to mutter: "Show me my parents! I want to see my parents! When they were my age! At Hogwarts!"

Suddenly, something strange started to happen. A stream of light bound Harry's hands to the castle below them. Images began to whirl, and suddenly they were all surrounded by colors. Everything whirled faster and faster around the group of teenagers. It got to hard to stand, and one by one, the young wizards finally blacked out.