Chapter Fourteen~~~Welcome Home
Harry looked at Ginny, she looked terrified. He grabbed her hand, trying to comfort her. The men surrounding them raised their wands.
"Alright men, on the count of three!" the largest one shouted. "ONE! TWO!" Harry waited with baited breath, knowing there was no way out of this. If any of them got hurt in this, the future would be messed up even more than it probably already is. It seemed to take forever for the man to say three. In fact, they were still waiting...still waiting. Harry blinked, thinking that this man was holding the drama for a little longer than was really necessary. Sirius glared at the man.
"Will you kill us already?!" he shouted. The man didn't move. In fact, now that Harry looked closer, none of the men were moving. Harry looked into the window where the older Sirius was eating dinner. He was moving, but what...? They heard footsteps; slow, measured footsteps. Who was this? Harry took the opportunity and whipped out his wand.
“Be prepared for anything!” Harry warned. They waited for whoever it was to turn the corner, and it seemed to take an eternity. It’s Lord Voldemort, Harry thought, I’ll be anything it’s him.
Albus Dumbledore turned the corner. There was a tangible feeling of relief in the air. Harry lowered his wand at once, and everybody else followed him. Ginny gaped.
“I didn’t know you could do that? Why didn’t you just do that from the beginning?! We could have made everything so much easier!” screamed Ginny. Dumbledore smiled at her, and then pushed his way past the frozen men.
“Well, I’ll be quite honest with you. I don’t really take pleasure in breaking the law, which I am doing at present. And plus, these fine men were only doing their job, and after awhile it gets quite uncomfortable being frozen,” he explained. Everybody just stared. Dumbledore looked at James and Harry. “How are you doing, Harry? Ginny?”
“I’m alright, at first it was…difficult, but now not so much,” Harry said and Ginny nodded her agreement. Then he got up the nerve to ask the question he had wanted to ask Dumbledore ever since he had discovered they had went back in time. He walked over, and pulled Dumbledore aside, so the others couldn’t hear.
“Dumbledore, I was wondering…well, everything would be so much easier for so many people if…if Lily and James hadn’t died. May I kill Peter?” he asked with trepidation. Dumbledore frowned.
“Why would you want to kill Peter?” Dumbledore asked, confused. Then Harry realized. This Dumbledore didn’t know! He had to decide for himself. He looked around, saw Ginny, Lily, James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter, and sighed. Who knows what would have happened if Lily and James had lived, then Neville might be standing where he was, making this decision right now. Or perhaps Voldemort would be ruling the world, or perhaps Harry wouldn’t exist anymore. Or perhaps a thousand other things would have happened, and Harry wouldn’t be standing there looking at the girl of his dreams, about to save the life of the only family he had.
“Never mind, he just gets on my nerves in the future,” Harry muttered. Dumbledore nodded, though Harry suspected that he didn’t believe him. “Can we go and save Sirius now?” he asked. Dumbledore nodded.
“Are we going then? This is me we’re talking about, sitting in that room like some mental person living on exlax and mashed potatoes!” Sirius roared. Dumbledore chuckled.
“Of course, let’s go,” he said.
“Allow me,” James said, moving forward and raising his wand.
“I’m afraid,” Dumbledore said, stopping him, “That this is not Hogwarts, Mr. Potter. This is St. Mungo’s and you are attempting to enter a highly secure door. Allow me .” He put his hand flat on the door, and then removed it, a bright red hand shaped mark was left on the clean white door. Slowly, however, it began to fade away. He took his finger and traced the word ‘open’ onto the door. The door latch clicked, and swung open. James stared in amazement.
“Wow,” muttered Peter.
“After you, Harry,” said Lily kindly. Harry looked at Ginny, who was backing away to let him go in by himself, but Harry reached for her hand, and lead her in with him. She grinned, and the two of them went in.
Sirius looked up at the sound of footsteps, and immediately he froze as if Dumbledore had put the spell on him too. He put down his drink, and stared at Harry. Harry felt his eyes watering, as it had seemed to do quite often these past days. He moved forward, closer to his God-father.
“S-Sirius?” he muttered uncertainly, not wanting to believe his eyes. Sirius got off the little hospital bed, and nodded. Harry noticed that, unlike the other residents of this ward, Sirius was dressed perfectly normal. “Are you…you’re Sirius Black right?”
Sirius broke into a grin, and barked out a laugh. “Harry! I knew it! I-Knew-It! I told them you would come from the future, but would they believe me? Noooo. I’m just crazy bugger, and they treated me like one too! Would I please go sit down and live on exlax and mashed potatoes, they would say… well not in those words, but that was the message they were trying to get across. I never gave up hope though, I knew you would come.” Harry sat down in a chair, his legs not able to support him any longer.
“For the longest year of my life, I thought you were dead,” Harry said hoarsely. Sirius saw how upset Harry was, and frowned.
“I’m sorry for dying Harry,” Sirius said somberly.
“Just don’t do it again, alright?” Harry said grinning.
“Come here, kiddo,” Sirius said and pulled Harry into a huge hug. “How did you get them to believe you?” Sirius said.
“Well, we looked like students, and Dumbledore found us, and I looked so much like my dad,” Harry explained.
“And I suppose I didn’t look anything like…” but Sirius trailed off as the rest of the crowd piled in.
“Sirius Black,” the younger Sirius supplied for him, staring at his self.
“Bloody hell!” Lily exclaimed upon seeing Sirius. Her eyes darted from the younger Sirius to the older one and back again.
“Wait…I remember this!” Sirius said excitedly. “You’re…Harry Brown…and you’re Ginny Johnson! Sorry for flirting with you…” Sirius said, grinning rather awkwardly. Ginny laughed.
“I still can’t believe it,” James muttered. The older Sirius looked at James, and his smile left.
“James…Lily…” he said, his voice choking up.
“Sirius…they can’t know,” whispered Ginny sadly. The older Sirius nodded sadly, looking pityingly at Harry.
“How did you handle seeing them?” he muttered.
“It was…difficult,” Harry murmured. The older Sirius put an arm around him.
“Are you sure this is him, Harry? Ginny?” Dumbledore asked. They both nodded. The older Sirius actually giggled.
“I remember you saying that! It’s amazing, I’ve felt weird for that past few weeks, almost as if my memory was being rebuilt, but ever so slightly,” Sirius said, his eyes bright. Harry laughed.
“What do you make of it Sirius?” Remus asked his classmate. Sirius shrugged.
“I honestly don’t know what to think,” he admitted.
“Still don’t believe me?” the older Sirius asked. “Try this on for size.” And with that he turned into a big, black shaggy dog. Everybody in the room gasped. Dumbledore’s eyes widened, and then glared at the younger Sirius, who, in response, had also turned into a younger version of the dog. The two dogs looked at each other, and then turned back, both of them grinning ear to ear.
“Any advice for the future?”
“Ummm…next year you’re going to meet a really pretty blonde named Caroline, don’t snog her, she has a very mean boyfriend. Go for…the girl named Rosmerta instead,” the older Sirius advised thinking. His younger self nodded. “So, Harry, I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but I would love to leave this place, I have a whole year to make up.”
“Right,” said Harry nodding. “Do you have the twin to that two-way mirror you gave me?”
“They told me it was too dangerous for me to have, so they put it in a room until I was ‘released’” Sirius said, shaking his head. “The scum-bags.”
“Do you know where that room is?” Ginny asked. Sirius nodded. “Let’s go then.” Sirius walked to through the door, but then stopped staring evilly at the frozen guards. The younger Sirius seemed to be reading his mind.
“Shall I?” he offered, and, with a mischievous nod from his future, went and tipped one of the guards over. The two of them burst out laughing, while Harry and James shared a grin. “That felt good.” Lily rolled her eyes.
“Let’s get going,” Remus said, and Sirius led the way. It took a surprisingly long time to get there, but they managed it, and allowed Dumbledore to open the door again. Harry walked into the room, and nearly fell over with shock. The walls, ceiling, and floor were made up completely of different sized lockers. As they all piled in, it got very noisy from stepping all over the metal. Sirius, however, seemed to know exactly where to go. He marched over to the corner, and knelt down, looking longingly at a locker with the name ‘Sirius Black’ engraved onto it.
“I thought they didn’t believe that was your name,” Lily said confused.
“They didn’t know what else to put, because I wouldn’t give them any other name,” the older Sirius explained. “Could I borrow your wand, Harry?” Harry thrust his wand to him, and Sirius caught it nimbly. He muttered a spell, and the lock clicked loudly, reverberating off the other lockers. Sirius pulled out only one thing. A mirror. Harry hated that mirror, and yet now it was going to save them. Dumbledore came closer.
“Is this the mirror you told me of?” Dumbledore asked. Harry nodded.
“It’s weird,” the older Sirius remarked. “For once, I know something Albus Dumbledore doesn’t.” Dumbledore chuckled.
“Ever the same, Sirius,” he said, his eyes twinkling.
“I think a couple minutes of silence are in order, I know something Dumbledore doesn’t!” the room was quite, and then Sirius grinned. “Okay, that’s enough. But when I get back into the future, I want you ta have remembered this moment. I’m going to quiz you.”
“Cane we just hurry before somebody catches us?” Peter said nervously. Harry and Sirius exchanged murderous looks…it would be so easy. Lily was looking at Harry.
“I know it’s silly of me, but I’m going to miss you,” Lily said, wiping away a tear. “But I geuss I’ll see you in the future, being my son and all,” she laughed and gave Harry a huge hug. Harry felt as though she had just hit his heart with a baseball bat. No, she wouldn’t see him in the future. She would be dead.
“Same goes for me Harry. I just want you to know, I am really proud that you’re going to be my son. You’re a good man, and an even better Marauder,” James said, grinning. Harry almost fell to pieces right there. Ginny put her hand on his shoulder. Harry forced a smile.
“Thanks, dad,” he said. His dad was proud of him. He had said he was a good man, a good Marauder. He was proud!
“I hope I’ll see you in the future Harry,” Remus said, grinning and shaking his hand.
“You will, I promise,” Harry muttered. He looked at Peter, who appeared very busy looking at the floor. Harry nodded in satisfaction, if Peter had tried to touch him, Harry would have lost his self control and killed him on the spot.
“I’ll always remember this day,” Sirius said, “and I have no doubt that we will continue to be friends even after this,” he said motioning towards the older Sirius.
“I’m afraid, Mr. Black, that I cannot allow you to remember this day. Who knows what it has affected already. We need to put it right, and then anything that has changed because of your knowing, will be gone.” The marauders and Lily groaned, along with the older Sirius.
“You mean I won’t remember meeting Harry as kid?” he asked. Dumbledore shook his head.
“In fact, its best if I do it now, before you three go back. Hold on,” he said, and pulled the current Hogwarts students out of the room.
“Bye!” they all called sadly before they left the room. Harry tried to smile and wave, but as soon as they were gone, Harry allowed several tears to fall across his face. Ginny hugged him, and Harry put his arms around her, gathering his strength from her. Sirius smiled, and Dumbledore re-entered.
“It’s time.”
Sirius, Harry and Ginny all gathered around the mirror, gripping it tightly. Dumbledore placed a sticking charm on all of them and the mirror.
“This isn’t just going to take our fingers with it, right?” asked Ginny uncertainly. Dumbledore laughed.
“No, Miss Weasley, I have managed to enlarge the charm so that it includes all of you,” he said. “Now, all you need to do to activate the process is to jump into the air at the same time. My spell is strong, but it will need a kick start.”
“You want us to…jump?” Sirius asked. Dumbledore nodded. “Alright then. Ready? On three then…one…two…THREE!” they all jumped into the air, and vanished.
“See you in twenty years,” Dumbledore muttered sadly, and left the room.
Harry, Ginny and Sirius closed their eyes, as they jumped. They waited to be lifted away into the air, instead, they landed back onto the ground. Harry opened his eyes, and looked around. He was in Dumbledore’s office! All three of them were standing on a shelf.
“H-Harry? Ginny?! Sirius?!?!” Dumbledore yelled, leaping a foot in the air. Harry grinned, it was a Dumbledore from his time period. He leapt off of the shelf, and, as they were all still glued to the mirror, Ginny and Sirius stumbled after him. “You’re alive! Tell me everything! Actually don’t. I was just on my way to dinner with The Order. You can tell us all there! Sirius Black is alive!” Harry had never seen Dumbledore this happy. He clapped his hands together, and called Fawkes. “I’ve got a big load for you tonight, old friend, but you’ll manage. Now off we go!”
Back at Grimmauld, Harry had just finished telling his story to Dumbledore, Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Ron and Hermione who was in tears. Of course, now that Harry had gotten there, she had been in tears. When he had first walked into the crowded Living Room, there had been such a loud silence; Harry’s ears were still ringing. Following that was a huge burst of noise and rushing and tears. Harry, Ginny and Sirius were hugged and kissed senseless. But Dumbledore had pulled him aside to explain to the select few what had happened.
“Oh, Harry, I can’t tell you how I’m feeling right now. I’m too happy for words!” Hermione said through a sob as she got up and hugged Harry for the millionth time. Ginny walked in and everybody rushed up to her. She grinned. It had been an hour since they had returned home, but every time they entered a room, it seemed to be the first time. Harry, after many retellings of the story, decided to go upstairs and lie down until dinner. He received a hug and a kiss from everybody once again, and left. He heard Ron follow him, and was glad. Ron had been so choked up that he hadn’t been able to say much.
“Hey, Harry. I just wanted to tell you…” He broke off, and for the first time ever, Harry saw a tear running down Ron’s face. “when I thought you were…You’re my best friend, Harry. Thanks for being there for me all those years. I hope we stay friends forever.” Ron laughed at how stupid that sounded, but Harry grinned.
“You’re my best friend too, Ron,” Harry assured him. They stood there in silence for quite awhile. Ron cast around for another subject, wiping his face off.
"I asked Hermione out," Ron said, blushing. Harry stared at him, and then grinned.
"Finally!" he said, and they both burst out laughing.
"Hey, Harry? I don't know if it's dumb of me to ask you this, but...what do you think Voldemort will do now that your unprotected?" Ron asked, sitting down on his bed. Harry followed him, shrugging.
"Try and kill me," he said, matter of factly. Ron nodded, but then Harry realized something. He looked up, his eyes wide. "You...you just said Voldemort's name!" Ron blushed.
"Yeah well, I thought he had killed my best friend, my sister not too long ago. Saying his name became the least of my problems," Ron's voice crackled slightly. "I had never felt the way I had that night Harry. I had never had anybody I love die right in front of my face like that. And to watch you and Ginny run through that veil..." he trailed off, unable to speak from the memory of it. Harry nodded understanding. "And plus, I knew that saying his name meant a lot to you, it was the least I could do."
“Don’t forget about Hagrid,” Harry said, noticing how Ron had not mentioned Voldemort’s killing Hagrid.
“I didn’t forget, it’s just…hard,” Ron said, choking up again. Just then Hermione burst in her face pink with excitement.
"Harry! Ron! You'll never believe who’s decided to join us for dinner!" she practically burst. Ron looked at Harry, who shrugged.
"I dunno, Santa Clause?" Ron guessed. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"No, of course not! Percy's here! Ron, your brother is back!" she wailed, tears in her eyes. Ron jumped up, and so did Harry. "Come on!" and they followed her down the steps. When they got down there, Mrs. Weasley had Percy in a tight hug and was sobbing loudly. Mr. Weasley was also crying, and had his arms around both his wife and son.
"I'm so sorry, mum, dad," Percy said, also tearing up. "I'm so sorry." Ginny was holding Bill's hand, blowing her nose on a handkerchief. Fred and George were frowning, obviously not as forgiving as the rest of the family. Ron seemed stuck, not sure whether to forgive Percy or not. He managed by not showing any emotion at all, but Harry could see his ears were bright red.
"Ron, go on," Hermione urged. Percy caught sight of his youngest brother, and then Harry. He broke away from his parents, and moved towards Harry and Ron.
"Ron, Harry, I owe special apologies to both of you. Please forget about that letter I sent you," Percy said.
"I burned it," Ron said stiffly.
"Good," Percy said. "Listen, I know you don't want to forgive me, and most likely the same with you Harry, but you must realize that I am genuinely sorry. I became obsessed with my job, and then when Mr. Crouch died, I didn't know what to do. So, really, I'm not asking you to forgive me, but I am asking you to give me a chance to prove myself as the brother, and friend, I should have been to you all." Harry looked at Ron, ready to back him up in whatever he had to say.
"Alright Percy. Okay," Ron said, looking at Ginny. Percy embraced Ron, who patted Percy awkwardly on the back. Percy then moved to the twins.
“Forgive me brothers?” he asked, pleadingly. Fred and George glared at Percy, and it was obvious that they were still very angry with Percy. Mrs. Weasley, however, was glaring at them to forgive Percy, so they both nodded stiffly. Percy embraced them both tightly.
“Okay, Perc. Now you’re pushing it. No hugging,” Fred said with disgust while George peeled Percy off of them.
“Alright, Weasleys, time for a talk. I personally want Percy to explain every day he was away from us with detail,” Mrs. Weasley said. “Strictly family! Unless, of course, Harry and Hermione wish to join, being part of out family.” She smiled warmly at Harry and Hermione, who felt both very flattered, and very reluctant to have Percy tell them about his boring days as a secretary.
“That’s okay, Mrs. Weasley. We wouldn’t want to intrude,” Hermione said slyly, glancing sideways at Harry.
“Yeah, we don’t want to intrude either,” George said. “So we’ll just skip this one shall we?” and the twins started to walk/run out of the room.
“STOP RIGHT THERE!” Mrs. Weasley roared, glaring. And with a moan, Fred and George followed Ron, Ginny, Percy, Fred, George, Bill, Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley (Charlie being in Romania). Harry and Hermione started laughing.
“I heard about you and Ron,” Harry said, grinning.
“What? Oh, well…yes,” Hermione said, slightly uncomfortably. “It was actually quite funny, because I was going to do it tonight if he hadn’t.”
“Why did it take you guys so long to get together?” Harry asked, smiling widely.
“Well, to put it simply. Ron’s a moron,” she admitted. Harr burst out laughing. He pulled her into a hug.
“I’m really happy for you two. Now I won’t have to listen to my two best friends bickering all the time, you’ll be too busy snogging!” Hermione hit him playfully on the shoulder. Just then, Sirius came in, beaming. He spotted Harry and his smile grew.
“Hey, Harry. A word?” Harry followed him out into the hall.
“What is it, Sirius?” Harry asked. Sirius was…blushing?!
“Rosmerta! She owled me today…says she wants to ‘get together!’” Sirius whispered. Harry grinned.
“I didn’t know you liked her so much,” Harry said.
“Remember those time I disguised myself as a dog in Hogsmeade in your fourth year?” he asked. Harry nodded.
“Well, one day, I transformed into a human to climb over a fence and…Rosmerta saw me. I thought she would scream and run away but…she didn’t. She didn’t recognize me at first! So we got to talking and after she really liked me…I told her who I was. She has been quite for awhile, but Remus turned her into a believer for me! She loves me Harry! And I think…I think I love her too.” Harry burst out laughing, but then realized Sirius was serious! He stopped abruptly.
“Sirius, that’s great. That’s really great. I’m happy for you!” A door to their right opened, and Snape walked in. Harry and Sirius froze. Snape walked up to Sirius, who was glaring with malice. Snape had absolutely no emotion on his face. Harry waited with geld breath, gripping his wand tightly in his hand in case he had t break up a fight.
"Sirius...welcome home," Snape mumbled, putting out his hand to shake it. Sirius looked stunned.
"What?" he whispered. Snape looked down at the ground.
"I'm glad you made it back," he said. Sirius burst out laughing, then, completely without warning, slammed his fist right into Snape's face. Harry widened his eyes. Snape looked shocked as he reeled back, holding his eye.
"I deserved that," Snape mumbled.
"Damn right!" Sirius said, grinning. He grabbed Snape's hand and shook it. "It's good to be back." Snape was grinning too. Harry couldn't believe it. Snape and Sirius were shaking hands? What had happened to the world since they had been gone?! Just then, Mrs. Weasley rushed in. When she saw Snape and Sirius shaking hands, she beamed.
"Oh! Oh this is wonderful! Come here, all of you!" she said, and pulled them all in a hug. Snape's eyes widened in disgust. Sirius grinned.
"This is what you get when you decide to be a half-way decent person," he said.
“It’s time for dinner, everybody. Come on!” and with that Mrs. Weasley guided everybody to the kitchen.
After dinner, everybody started talking. Many faces kept glancing and winking at Harry, Sirius and Ginny.
Harry stared around him, watching and smiling. Ron and Hermione were sitting close together, their arms around each other. He had thought it would take them forever to get a clue about each other, but they seemed to have gotten the clue quite well, Harry thought as he watched Hermione lean up and kiss Ron on the cheek. Ron blushed red.
His eyes roamed Mrs. and Mr. Weasley laughing happily, at something Fred…or George…oh well one them said something funny. Then he looked at Lupin. His talk show had been a huge success, and he was now wearing one of the new robes he had bought for himself. He had also been able to convert a few dedicated fans into believing Voldemort was really back. Most wizards believed Dumbledore now. Then Harry looked over at Snape, a big black eye now forming. Harry almost laughed out loud as he saw Snape and Percy listening intently to Kingsley Shacklebolt, who had a very Somber look on his face.
Finally, his eyes rested on Ginny, who was sitting next to him, with her head on his shoulder. He grinned to himself; she was the girl of his dreams. They hadn’t really said anything as far as boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but they had this sort of silent agreement. No words were needed. They simply loved each other.
Harry was happy, he was truly happy, and he came to peace with his decision back in the past; he was glad he hadn’t killed Peter. If he had, he might not be sitting here with the girl he loved leaning against him, or his god-father, happy and healthy, sitting beside him.
Then Harry felt eyes upon him. He turned his gaze towards Dumbledore, who was smiling knowingly. He winked at Harry, who smiled back.
“Hey, Harry. There was something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” Sirius said beside him.
“Yeah?”
“Well, your aunt, as you know, is in Azkaban right now,”
“No, I didn’t really know that”
“Well she is,” Harry could tell Sirius was really nervous about something. “So, that means that there is no point in you staying at the Dursleys.” Harry nodded, wondering if he was hearing correctly. Could Sirius be asking what he thought he was? “Well I was wondering if maybe you would like to…well…I mean…I dunno…stay here with me during the holidays? Help me put my life back together?”
Harry’s heart leapt! He wouldn’t have to go back to the Dursleys ever again! He jumped up and then sat back down, unable to control his actions
“Are you serious?!?!? You wouldn’t mind?” Harry burst.
“Mind? Harry I would be honored!” Harry couldn’t believe it. This was without a doubt the most wonderful he had ever felt in his entire life. He was home, he had home! He had a family! His heart swelled. All he could do was nod, his throat clenched with his joy. He looked over at Dumbledore, and saw that he had tears running down his face. His eye twinkled, and he whispered, so softly, yet so clearly it carried over the chatter to Harry’s ears.
“Welcome home, Harry. Welcome home.”
A/N: Well, that was my story! I hope you guys had as much fun reading it as I had writing it! Thanks so much to everybody who reviewed, it meant so much to me! It seriously made my day to come home from school and see your reviews! Simply amazing. I'm geussing if you made it to this last chapter, you must have liked it, otherwise you would have ditched it a long time ago! If that's true, maybe you will consider reading my sequel "Scar." Love ya!