A/N: Okay, I know that I have no excuse but to be perfectly honest I had a writer's block for about 3 months. Then, by the time I felt like writing again, I had forgotten what the story was about, so I had to reread it all and start this chapter. Then I had final exams for school, and then I had vacation and so on and so forth. But now I've spent about a week writing on nothing but this, and I'm just not happy with it. Obviously, I read H/Hr fanfiction and while I can't always please myself, it helps when I do. But I need this chapter to go where I want to go, so if you don't like it I'm sorry. R/R!
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Harry Potter sat on his bed in his room alone, watching the Marauder's Map. He had seen Lavender leave Hermione alone, and he had seen her and Draco meet up. While in the back of his mind he thought he should tell Ron, he had seen how the events of the last 24-hours had affected Lavender, and she probably just needed someone to talk to. His eyes wandered to Dumbledore's office, his dad and Sirius were in there with Dumbledore, and had been for quite some time, Harry wondered what they were discussing, because there was no doubt that Voldemort was still out there waiting for the news that Lucius Malfoy was dead, if it was truly Malfoy that died.
Harry heard a knock on his door, and his eyes immediately went back to the map and he saw Hermione standing there. He slowly got up and walked over to the door, taking a deep breath and opened the door. Hermione looked at him and smiled a small smile.
"Hermione!" Harry said first, "why don't you come in!" Harry stepped aside and Hermione walked in and stopped, waiting for him to close the door. Harry walked back over to his bed and sat down staring at her waiting for her to say something.
"I'm sorry!" Hermione blurted out after a long pause.
"For what?" Harry asked.
"You didn't deserve to be treated the way I treated you after that night!" Hermione said sitting down on his bed next to him.
"Hermione…"
"No, let me finish! I treated you like you were a burden, and when my parents died, I didn't get the chance to let everything out, so I kept everything in and let it out on our relationship. It wasn't fair for me to tell you I love you and then turn around and treat you the way I did!"
After a long pause Harry spoke up, "Are you finished?" Hermione looked up and nodded. "Alright, then lets put it behind us and go talk to Dumbledore!"
"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked.
"Well do you or do you not have to find an apartment?" Harry asked taking her hand.
"Harry, I don't understand…"
"Hermione, did you really think I would be mad at you?" Hermione didn't respond, "I meant it when I said I love you, I'm not in this for the short run, I want this thing between us to last, and I'll move heaven and earth, and kill Voldemort twice to have this last."
"You mean it?"
"You bet I do!"
James and Sirius sat in front of Dumbledore in silence looking at him expecting him to explain what he meant.
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"James, Sirius what you must understand before I begin, you two along with Lily should not even be here. I don't know why you were brought back, the person who brought you back had their own intentions for doing what they did. However, there are going to repercussions for the magic that was preformed through this act." Dumbledore said slowly.
"But I still don't understand, who brought us back, and why did they? I mean, anyone who had that power would have tried earlier, or would be working for the other side, right?" James said, not seeing the look between Sirius and Dumbledore. "What are you not telling me?"
"James…you must understand, I never prepared myself for this circumstance, your right, the only people who knew how to bring you back are very powerful witches and wizards who are either dead or would want you dead." Dumbledore said cautiously, "Except one!"
"Who?" James asked.
"James, I don't really think that is any of our business, I mean, it's obvious that Dumbledore doesn't want to divulge the name." Sirius said.
"See…even Sirius gets to know, why can't I?" James asked
"Because it is not his place to say!" said a voice from behind them. They turned around and saw Lily walking in. "I got here as soon as I could Dumbledore." She said sitting down next to James, who refused to look at her.
"Fine, I don't need to know who, but what are these side-effects?" James asked.
"Well, whether or not I told you, this spell was not supposed to be performed, and the consequences of the spell have yet to catch up with us, but they will." Dumbledore said leaning forward. "I've tried searching for the consequences and side-effects, but either they were never recorded or where they were recorded was destroyed." Dumbledore said standing up and walking over to his bookshelf and pulling out a book. "This book briefly mentions a spell that brings the dead back to life and it mentions a few spells that can ensure long life," Dumbledore said setting down the book in front of the three adults.
"It says how to find out the side-effects right here. It just says to perform a series of spells on the one that brought you back." Sirius said.
"Yes, but the spells can be quite dangerous and can result in serious consequences." Lily said continuing to read.
"All these things are saying the same thing, we have no way of finding out if we'll drop dead tomorrow or not." James said sitting back in his chair.
"I didn't say that!" Dumbledore said suddenly, "I did find something, something not written in any book. It may help you, but you would be using very powerful magics, and very dangerous."
The three looked at each other and Lily looked back at Dumbledore, "What do you mean!"
"The magic you were brought back by was very, very powerful and dark magic. In order to secure the magic, you have to balance it off by using very, very powerful and good magic." Dumbledore said, "I spent a very long time searching for power that would be the match of the power used, and it wasn't easy because the power used was pure evil, so I had to find the opposite, pure good."
"What would that be, love?" Lily asked guessing
"Love would be a very difficult one to grasp, because you would have to have so much love for one person inside of you that it would be able to save them." Dumbledore said, "It is a very risky thing to try and control, unfortunately it is what we have to do."
"Can't we use a different form of good?"
"No, we can't because the evil that brought you back stemmed from love, it may have turned evil, but it began with love." Dumbledore said, "The person that brought you back did it out of love and it turned them unwillingly evil, they may have eventually overcome it, but it was pure evil that was used. Now, we must take the same love and pray that that love is enough to keep the person good."
"You can't expect their love to be enough!" Lily said
"Lily, they believe in it, and it won't work unless we all believe in it." Dumbledore said quietly.
"Well I'm in!" James said standing up.
"James, you cannot rely on them this much, its too much responsibility for children!" Lily said standing up.
"Lily, they aren't children, they are almost 17, we were that old when we fell in love!"
"Yeah, and we saw how great that turned out for us, plus we don't even know if they are back together, Hermione left him over stupid things." Lily said. "Their love is too new, and too fragile."
"Lily, James I don't think this is the best place!" Sirius said
"So you're basically saying you don't believe in their love!" James said ignoring Sirius
"James…"
"She is not right for him, and if we do this we may be dooming not only Harry but Hermione to an unhappy life together!"
"Lily…" The sound of a door slamming finally alerted Lily and James to the entry way where they saw a shocked Harry standing.
"Harry…" Lily whispered.
"I cannot believe you, all this time you were pretending to like Hermione when really you hated her…" Harry said
"Harry, I'm sorry…"
"She wanted to spend the summer with us because you said you wanted her too, she thought of you as a mother, and you crushed her." Harry yelled.
"Honey, you're just too young…" Lily said
"No, mother you were my age when you and dad began your relationship." Harry retorted, "I cannot believe this, my whole life all I wanted was you two back, and now…I can't see why!" Harry said turning to the door and slamming it shut. Lily started after him but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.
"There is absolutely nothing you could say to him that would take back what he heard." James said.
"I don't hate her; I just can't see why they are rushing so much." Lily said looking at him.
"Yes you can!" James said lifting her chin.
"James…" Lily began but was interrupted by James' lips. It had been a long time since they had truly kissed, not including the time they were dead. James pulled back and walked past Lily with Sirius not far behind him. Lily was left with her own thoughts and Dumbledore staring at her.
"Harry loves her very deeply, Lily!" Dumbledore said
"How do you know?" Lily asked sitting down, "What makes you so sure that it isn't just puppy love?"
Dumbledore leaned back and looked at Lily, "I've seen my fair share of students pass through these doors. Every single one of them acted up in one way or another because they felt as though they had to make a place for themselves in the wizarding world. Some achieved high marks; some have excelled in Quiddich, and so on and so forth. Not many, however, have come into the school having a place, however," Dumbledore said, "There have been very few, people like the Malfoy's who come from money, for example. But Harry came into this world not knowing anything about his life and he was instantly popular, having people begging to be his friends," Dumbledore paused, "But Harry didn't want it! He didn't want to be written into books, or be pointed out! He wasn't a celebrity and no one seemed to understand that; except for Hermione and Ron. It is true that they don't always get along, but Harry would save the world for them, even if it meant giving his life. You remember, like you did for Harry."
"He's my son…"
"She's the love of his life!" Dumbledore interrupted, "And she makes him happy, if you knew nothing else that should be enough!"
"So…what do I do?" Lily asked after a long pause.
"I can't tell you what to do, you have to make sure that she understands that you are on her side, if she doubts that love, she won't come back this time!" Dumbledore said standing up and walking to the door. "But I can tell you she'll be in the library!"
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