Harry was thrown to the cold ground after what seemed like minutes in the massive earthquake, but it most likely didn’t last a second. He took a few seconds to compose himself, then stood up shakily. He was back outside of the Hospital Wing, right where he had left the day before. Or, rather, a few seconds ago. His head was still spinning with the time change.
But he hardly had time to gather his thoughts when Lily walked out of the Hospital Wing, dabbing her eyes. She looked up and saw him, her green eyes filled with tears. “Oh…hello, Harry,” she said, sniffing. “Erm…I don’t know if you’re heard…”
“I know,” Harry said, nodding his head sadly. “You’re pregnant.”
Lily then began to break down sobbing. “It was an accident!” she sobbed. She ran forward and threw herself on Harry, who was taken aback. “I had too much to drink…and James…oh, what do I do?”
“It’s okay,” Harry replied soothingly. Awkwardly, he began to stroke her head, not sure what to do. Gradually, Lily’s sobs diminished into crying, and finally, heavy breathing and minor shaking.
“I’m glad you’re here, Harry,” she said, laying her head on his shoulder. “You’re the only real friend I have.”
Immediately, Harry felt a pang of guilt at her statement. He gently detached himself from her and held her by the shoulders, looking deep into her eyes. This wasn’t going to be easy. “Lily, I need to tell you something,” he said very seriously. “It wasn’t James who got you pregnant. It was me.”
Lily’s reaction wasn’t quite what he’d anticipated…she studied his face for a moment, then chuckled.
“Very funny, Harry,” she said. “What are you on about?”
“I’m serious!” Harry exclaimed. He drew his wand, and her grin slowly faded. He pointed it at her and murmured, “Obliviate.” Lily’s eyes briefly went out of focus, and then she shook her head and looked up at Harry once more, terrified.
“I “ I remember now,” she stammered, in shock. She backed away from him slowly. “We were at the Hog’s Head…we both drank too much…and I brought you into a room and we….” She slapped herself in the forehead. “It was no accident! It was all my fault!”
“No!” Harry said quickly, eager to avoid more waterworks. “It wasn’t your fault. Firewhiskey can do terrible things to a person’s mind. You didn’t know what you were doing.”
Lily nodded slowly. “But it still shouldn’t have happened,” she said. “I shouldn’t have drunk any of the Firewhiskey. I feel so…stupid.”
Harry slowly approached her. He was in a mini-dilemma…he didn’t want her to get too attached to him, but he didn’t want to completely shut her out of his life at this difficult time in her life. So he compensated: he awkwardly put a hand on her shoulder and spoke to her like a friend.
“You are a very smart witch,” he assured her. “We will get through this; I promise.”
Lily nodded again. After a few seconds, she looked up at him. “What are we going to do with it?”
“With what?” Harry realized the stupidity of the question as soon as he said it. “Oh…right…”
“We can always drop out of school if we need to,” Lily said softly. “My mum knows people; she can get you a job at the Ministry…”
“No, absolutely not,” Harry said quickly. “That’s not an option. You and I both need to finish our education, and that’s final.”
“But then what can we do?” Lily asked in desperation. “I can’t keep the baby here, and I certainly don’t want to leave it with my parents!”
“We can’t keep it, Lily,” Harry said firmly, and she immediately shook her head.
“We have to!” she insisted. “It’s our flesh and blood…we can’t just give it up!”
“We can’t keep it,” Harry repeated. “I’m in no financial position to assist you and a baby. It won’t work, and I think you know that. We’re not ready to be parents.”
Lily took a deep breath. “I know,” she said finally. “But I don’t want to think about it right now. I should…tell my parents first and see how they react.”
“Right,” Harry said. Then, with a sudden realization: “I should go make sure James doesn’t write his parents and make them think he got you pregnant.”
“That would be good,” Lily agreed. So, with a brief and awkward hug, they parted ways, Lily headed for the Owlery, and Harry for the common room.
***
He didn’t see James in the common room anywhere, so he headed up to the dormitory, where he found James, Sirius and Remus sitting on their beds, talking in an undertone. When Harry walked in, they all looked up at him.
“Hey, Harry,” James said tiredly. His eyes were bloodshot, and he had bags under his eyes.
“James,” Harry said firmly, without wasting any time, “there’s something I need to tell you.”
“What’s that?”
Harry drew his wand and pointed it at the three boys. “Obliviate.” All three boys spaced out for five seconds, and then snapped to at the same time. James stood up suddenly.
“It was you that got Lily pregnant?” James asked, incredulous.
“Yes, I know,” Harry replied tiredly. “I just think that…”
Unexpectedly, James threw himself at Harry, a bloody war cry uttering from his mouth. Harry, who hadn’t stowed his wand away yet, was able to cast a Shield Charm around himself at the last second, which deflected James and threw him back against the wall. Undeterred, James drew his wand, looking ready to fight to the death, but before either boy could make a move, Sirius and Remus jumped on top of James, tackling him to the ground and kicking his wand away from him. James proceeded to scream at Harry.
“GIT!” he screamed. “YOU GIT! YOU GOT LILY PREGNANT, YOU…”
“You should be thanking me, James!” Harry said hotly. “I saved your butt from a lot of public humiliation and brought it upon myself!”
“THANK YOU?!” James screamed. “HOW CAN I THANK YOU WHEN YOU STOLE MY GIRLFRIEND AND GOT HER PREGNANT?”
At that moment, Professor McGonagall burst in the room, looking livid. “What in Merlin’s name is going on in here?” she exclaimed. “I was trying to give the Gryffindors an announcement, and…Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, why are you on top of Mr. Potter?”
“He tried to attack Harry, Professor,” Remus replied. James ripped himself away from the boys and stood up. He glared at Harry then stormed out of the room.
“What was that all about, Potter?” McGonagall asked Harry, putting her hands on her hips.
“Erm…he was just mad at me, I guess,” Harry said, shrugging. “It’s happened before.”
McGonagall studied him for a long moment, then sniffed. “Take care in how you interact with James, Harry,” she warned. “I don’t want anyone else at this school to get injured or killed. We may be near a serious issue with the Ministry.” With that, she turned on the spot and walked out of the room.
Harry looked to Sirius and Remus. Sirius cleared his throat. “I don’t blame you for anything, Harry,” he said quietly. “But just know that I’ve been James’ friend for a long time, and I value my friendship with him over my friendship with you.”
“I understand,” Harry said, and Sirius nodded. He then ran from the room after James.
“Well, I’m with you, Harry,” Remus said, making Harry grin. “I’ve known James for a long time, as well, but I know you have good intentions.”
Harry nodded. “Thanks, Remus. I appreciate that.”
Remus cleared his throat awkwardly. “So…what are you going to do about Lily?”
“I don’t know yet,” Harry sighed. “I still need to figure out a way to get her together with James.”
Remus laughed. “Well, good luck with that,” he said. “It doesn’t look like James is in any mood to collaborate with you anytime soon.”
“True that,” Harry said, chuckling. Remus did likewise.
“What about the kid?” he asked. “Are you going to keep it?”
“Lily wants to,” Harry replied, “but I told her that we can’t. You understand how hard it would be to get her to marry James if I stuck around with her and a kid. I saw that happen, and it won’t happen again.”
He proceeded to tell Remus of his visit back to the future. Remus listened intently, and Harry thought he would have a heart attack after he told him he would marry Lily after he himself disappeared. “Me and Lily?” Remus said in disbelief. “No way.”
“You don’t think so?” Harry asked. “You don’t like her, or what?”
“Oh, nothing like that,” Remus said. “She’s very pretty, and smart…but I wouldn’t think that she would find me appealing, especially because…”
“I would’ve done the same thing,” Harry said, and Remus raised his eyebrows “Not like that, of course,” Harry said quickly, “but situationally. You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do,” Remus said, grinning.
“So you can see why I can’t stay with Lily,” Harry said.
“It’s unconventional, that’s for sure,” Remus said, frowning. “But I suppose you have no choice. You’re going to break her heart, though.”
“That’s the idea,” Harry replied. “I know, it sounds horrible, but I need her to hate me so she can fall in love with James. “Maybe she’ll see myself in him and use him as a substitute.
“Or,” Remus said, “she’ll be reminded of you through him and hate him as well as a result.”
“Gee, thanks for the support, Remus,” Harry said, smirking.
“It’s just hypothetical,” Remus said, shrugging. “It could happen!”
“Yeah, I suppose,” Harry said, nodding.
There was silence for a few seconds. “Listen,” Remus said, “I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow, so I’m gonna get to bed now.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Harry said. He hadn’t slept for a long time, and his adrenaline from James’ attack was wearing off. He kicked off his shoes and changed into something more comfortable, then slipped into his four-poster. He lay thinking about all that had happened, and all that he must do, and it made his head hurt even more. He fell asleep without even taking his glasses off first.
Author’s Note: And there you have it! Chapter 2 at long last! Thank you so much for being patient with me, and I promise, if something else happens to prevent me from adding more chapters, I will do everything in my power to avoid such a long wait again. Please review!
Changing the Future by PEMDAS
Chapter Notes: I had to resubmit this chapter, unfortunately...but I hope it will go up this time, due to a misunderstanding...sorry for the even LONGER wait!