A new day, a new golf course, and a new chapter. What more could a prospering screenwriter want?
Ok, you know how I love all the reviews and such, but now, it's starting to get ludicrous. I've got people reviewing and complaining about how 'Harry's revealing too much information to James and Lily. Dumbledore better memory charm them after they go back.' In the first two hours after I posted Chapter 12, I got three, THREE, reviews brining this up. Folks, I expect better of you, honestly. If you're going to make snide comments at me, PLEASE make sure you know what you're talking about first. For each and every one of you who sent me a review of this nature, go back and read Chapter 8 again. Now. Punishment for your insolence :) . Just kidding of course, but come on, I've already mentioned that Dumbledore WILL be memory charming EVERYONE who knows any bit of truth. As for HOW he's going to accomplish it without deleting the important parts (such as Lily and James' newfound relationship), we must not forget that Dumbledore is a brilliant man, who always comes up with the solution to everything, even if it's the wrong solution sometimes. Now, with that in mind, I kindly ask the faithful readers out there to please not send in reviews complaining about the plot. If I'm actually making errors in canon, grammar, spelling, etc. I encourage you to point them out. But kindly leave the plot to me. As one reviewer said to me once:
"Lots of interesting things that could happen, but YOU are the Omnipotent Author. The one who knows all and writes it down YOUR way!"
I'd like to think this is true lol. So, as a final plea, from the bottom of my heart; please let everything that happens in the story simply happen. Rest assured, I'm taking precautions to make sure that there are NO loose ends in existence that I don't want there on purpose. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING that happens has a reason. All of you who yelled at me about it, you have NO idea how important James and Lily finding out about their deathday is to the plot. The answers will all come in time, just keep reading, and everything will unveil itself.
And now, I offer a sincere apology at my outburst. I know that I will have offended some people (and will probably receive some flames as a result), but what I said needed to be said. To the rest of you who spoke out of pure curiosity and had no badgering intentions, I am truly sorry.
One last thing. Because Harry and Hermione start conversing with each other in their heads in this chapter, the dialogue may get confusing. To keep it simple, when they're talking in their heads, the dialogue will be in single quotes 'like this,' not "like this." Now, no more small talk, let's play some qudditch!
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Chapter 13: Quidditch Through the Ages
Two weeks had passed since the first time that Hermione read Harry's thoughts, and the first qudditch match of the season was right around the corner. It was the traditional Slytherin vs. Gryffindor, and James had the team working doubly hard so they could finally reclaim the cup that they hadn't held in three years.
In addition to the extra practices, Harry and Hermione had been practicing their silent communication every night. After ten days of re-reading Spirit Theory, they had finally managed to convey simple words to each other using only their minds. Slowly, they progressed into sentences, and two days later found themselves able to fully converse with each other.
Harry and Hermione were sitting in the common room one night doing their homework, when Hermione's voice entered Harry's head.
'Don't look now, but they're at it again,' her voice said to him. Turning from his transfiguration essay, he saw James and Lily in a very passionate lip-lock on the couch by the fire.
'You can hardly blame them,' Harry replied. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hermione give a small chuckle. Glancing around the room, he saw that people were beginning to stare at the sight that James and Lily were making. Even Sirius and Remus had halted their discussion on quidditch to watch the proceedings.
"Hey!" Harry barked. James promptly fell off the couch causing Lily to burst into a fit of giggles as her face turned a slight pink. Slowly, James peeked over the back of the couch, his face crimson red. "I would say, 'get a room,' but I believe that as Head Girl, Lily already has one?" Harry asked, prompting more blushing from the two of them. "The Head Boy and Girl snogging on the common room couch for everyone to see; set an example and keep your displays of affections private." Blushing, the two of them removed themselves from each other's arms and returned to sitting positions on the couch.
'You handled that well,' said Hermione in Harry's head.
'Gotta learn how to tell off students for snogging in public sometime,' he replied with a snicker. 'I am Head Boy in the future, after all.' Hermione laughed from her seat a few feet away, got up, and walked over to him.
"I sure you'll be great at it without any practice," she said out loud.
"I can think of one other thing I was great at without any practice," Harry responded wiggling his eyebrows. "I didn't see you complaining."
"I didn't want to get your self-esteem down," she replied with a laugh.
"I suppose I deserved that," he said giving her a kiss. A minute later, a loud shout disrupted his thoughts.
"Hey!" James yelled. "And you're telling me to watch my affections in public."
"It's not like I was snogging her into next year," Harry replied smugly. "I take care of my private business in private, unlike you two," he said pointing an accusing finger. James and Lily blushed some more at this.
"We'd prefer not to hear about our...son's...personal matters if it's all the same to you," responded Lily taking care to whisper the word 'son'. Hermione gave a chuckle at this, walked over to Lily and whispered something, causing her face to turn bright red.
"Hermione!" she gasped.
'What'd you tell her?' Harry asked in his head.
'That we can talk dirty to each other whenever we want, because of the uncanny ability to communcate with our minds,' came the response. Harry turned and looked at Hermione, who was wearing an extremely smug grin on her face.
"I can't believe you said that," he said with a laugh.
"Why? It's true," she replied with a smile. At this, Lily threw up her hands.
"Ugh! Please, enough!" she cried.
"Do we want to know what's going on?" asked James with a smile.
"I sure would," commented Sirius from his chair.
"They can tell you if they want," said Lily. "I'm going to bed, I've heard enough smutty things about you two for tonight." And with that, she got up, gave James a quick peck on the cheek and stalked off to the Head Girl's room.
"Erm....on second thought maybe you two should keep it to yourselves," said Sirius, changing his mind. This earned a laugh from Harry and Hermione.
"So..." James said lowering his voice. "Any progress Harry?" He didn't have to ask what James meant. Harry knew perfectly well that James was referring to his animagus practice. He had managed to turn himself into the spectral form that came before his body could take shape as an animal, but none of them could figure out what animal he was.
"Not really," said Harry slumping down on the couch where Lily had been sitting. Hermione sat down on the arm of the sofa and put her arm around him. "I keep not getting the animal right."
"Well, what have you tried?" asked Remus. Harry groaned.
"Practically everything," he said. "I swear I've forgotten one, but I can't remember what it is for the life of me."
"Dog?" asked Sirius.
"No."
"Rat?" asked Peter. Harry shook his head.
"Phoenix?" asked James. Harry looked up at his father in surprise, but shook his head anyway.
"No, it was the first one I tried. I thought for sure that'd be it, but I guess I was wrong," he said. The six of them sat quietly for a little while pondering on what animal Harry could possibly be, before James looked at his watch and nearly fell off the couch.
"Blimey!" he yelled. "It's half eleven already! We've got to get sleep for tomorrow," he said quickly heading towards the stairs.
"James, the game isn't until Saturday," called Harry. James stopped and turned, wearing a confused look on his face.
"So?" he responded. "Last minute practice, you know that! And you should be getting your rest too," he added. "I work the team even harder on the last practice before the match." With that he disappeared up to the dorms.
"He could give Wood a run for his money," said Harry getting up begrudgingly. "And that's saying something."
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As hard as Harry found it to believe, James had been telling the truth. After the four hour practice on the following night, in which Harry had never flown as hard in his life (including games he played in), he could barely move he was so sore. Even Lily had pulled James aside asking him what he was thinking by keeping them out there so long. Walking into the common room, he collapsed on the couch and was immediately comforted by Hermione.
"Are you ok?" she asked. "You looked like you were having a tough time out there."
"Not tough, just exhausting," Harry replied. "And how would you know, anyway?" he asked genuinely curious.
"I was watching through the window. I couldn't my work done, not while I was worried about you flying your arse off out there for James," Hermione answered.
"You don't have to worry about me so much you know," he said rubbing his eyes.
"I know I don't have to, but even with the prophecy, seeing you fall off your broom fifty feet to the ground wouldn't have me throwing a party," she replied. A smile came over his face but quickly vanished as he tried to stand up.
"Ohhh," he groaned reaching for his back. Hermione helped up, and looked at him with a smug grin.
"Perhaps we could ask Lily if James is currently occupying the Head Boy bath," she said. "You look like you could use some hot water."
"You have no idea how good that idea sounds right now," he said grimacing. They walked up the stairs to the landing carefully and knocked on Lily's door. When there was no reply, Harry's brow furrowed.
"That's odd," he said. "I distinctly heard Lily say she was going to her room to relax."
"Maybe we should just go in," Hermione suggested.
"What if she's in there with James and they've put a silencing charm on the door?" asked Harry. Hermione pulled out her wand.
"Finite Incantatem," she muttered. Still, no noise was heard from inside the room. Shrugging, Harry nodded and Hermione opened the door to Lily's room, finding it quite empty. They walked in and looked around for any sign of Lily, when Hermione heard a giggle behind the closed bathroom door.
"Harry, maybe we should just go to the Head Boy's room and not worry about it." Harry turned and looked at her quizzically.
"Why?" he asked. As if to answer his question, a muffled moan came from behind the closed door. Harry's eyes widened in shock and he promptly hobbled his way out of the room and into the Head Boy's, Hermione hot on his heels. Closing the door behind her, she saw that Harry was standing stock still, his face the color of a radish.
"Well," said Hermione after some silence. "At least the door was closed." At this Harry walked into the bathroom throwing up his hands and muttering that sounded like, 'bad images....'
She followed him into the lavatory, and closed the door behind her, making sure to cast several powerful locking and silencing charms. Turning back to Harry, she saw that he was already in his boxers and turning on the tap for the hot-tub.
"Not wasting any time, are we?" she asked, starting to shed her clothes.
"I want to get into the water, and get the vision of my parents shagging out of my head as quickly as possible, if that's all right with you," he said shaking his head slightly. Hermione gave a chuckle as Harry removed the last of his clothes and got into the now full hot-tub.
"I don't know why it revolts you so much," she said slipping in besides him, now equally naked. "I mean, you know that they had to do it at least once in order to have you." Harry let out a groan and put his arm over his eyes while shaking his head.
"You're not making this much better," he said with another grimace. Hermione just laughed.
"Fine have it your way," she said. "Just get all the knots in those muscles worked out. You have a big game tomorrow, after all." Removing his arm from his face, he looked at her exposed body and couldn't help but smile. Hermione saw this and narrowed her eyes at him. "I thought you were to sore too even move, let alone do that." Harry chuckled.
"Who says I have to move?" he said with a grin. Hermione gave him a smug look and moved in front of him.
"And here you were complaining so much about all the physical work you do," she said grinning.
"Well you know what they say," Harry replied taking her hand and pulling her on top of him. "Fight fire with fire."
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The next day everyone woke with the excited buzz that only an imminent quidditch match could bring. Everyone on the Gryffindor team had woken early so they could eat breakfast quickly then run down to the pitch and go over some last-minute tactics. Hermione had gotten up early too, wanting to see Harry off before the game started. The two of them had mutually agreed not to bring up what either of them had witnessed the night before to James and Lily; they feared it could only cause embarrassment.
Harry had commented on Tonks' hair, which was bright red today for the game, but he felt slightly shaken up as they finished breakfast.
'Nervous?' asked Hermione silently as they were heading down to the pitch alongside the team.
'More than I thought I would be,' Harry admitted. 'I want to make a good impression on my mum and dad, you know, not let everyone down.' Hermione gave a small, audible chuckle at this.
'Why do you think I worked hard in school all these years?' she asked with a smile. Harry gave a laugh and put his arm around her, continuing to converse through their link until they reached the locker room.
"All right, well I'll see you in a little while," Hermione said giving Harry a hug. "Be careful out there."
"I will," he replied kissing her quickly on the cheek, earning a few wolf whistles from the male contingent of the team. Blushing, Hermione exited and made her way to the stands to watch with Sirius, Remus, and Peter.
"All right team," said James gearing into 'captain mode'. "Listen up. We've got a hell of a group this year. We've got all of our plays down to perfection, we've got three chasers and a keeper who, if I may say so myself, are some of the best to ever grace these grounds. AND..." he paused for effect. "We've got possibly the greatest seeker in existence right now." James shot Harry a wink here.
"Hey what about us?" piped Dolsher.
"Eh? Ah you two are ok," said James with a sarcastic smile. There was a shared chuckle here by everyone in the room, then James' face grew serious again. "I'm only kidding of course, you two are great as well. Now let's not forget the strategy. Harry, you're on your own until you spot the snitch, then everyone except Lily piles on to make sure he catches it, got that?" Everyone in the room nodded.
"I still don't see why I have to defend the posts with no help," Lily muttered.
"Because hopefully with all of us shielding Harry, he should be able to catch the snitch in a matter of seconds," James replied. "Now, we've got a match to win. On three, Lion Pride! One, two, three!"
"LION PRIDE!" shouted the entire team as they made their way out onto the pitch. Suddenly it hit Harry.
'That's the animal I've forgotten!' he thought to himself hitting his forehead.
'What is?' came the voice of Hermione in his head, causing Harry to jump.
'You can hear me?' he asked following his team out onto the pitch. 'I thought we had to be near each other in order for this to work.'
'Apparently not,' Hermione replied. 'So what were you thinking about?'
'I just thought about an animal I had forgotten,' Harry said. 'The lion.'
'You didn't try lion?!' Hermione said accusingly.
'No...' he replied timidly.
'Well go on, you have a game to play,' she said. 'We'll worry about this later. I won't bother you while you're in the air.'
'You never know,' Harry said. 'It might help.'
A twenty-year younger Madam Hooch stepped out onto the field, with the chest of balls under her arm.
"Captains, shake hands!" she ordered. James and the Slytherin captain (a thin, menacing looking boy by the name of Roddrick) stepped forward and shook hands before turning back to their own teams.
"Welcome to the opening match of the season, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin!" shouted the commentator from high above the ground. Harry didn't recognize the voice; he figured the person must've been in a different house.
"Teams at the ready," said Madam Hooch as she released the bludgers and snitch. With a blow of her whistle, the quaffle was in the air along with the two teams and the game was on.
Harry couldn't help but chuckle at the scene that played itself out in the next few minutes. Harry knew that the Gryffindor team was going to win the cup this year, but 'bloody hell!' he thought. James, Tonks, and Kielty could have given Angelina, Alicia, and Katie a run for their money. They moved with speed, precision, and cunning. Five minutes into the game Gryffindor was up 30-0. Lily hadn't even had to defend the hoops yet.
Meanwhile, the Slytherin beaters were sending the bludgers every which way at the Gryffindor chasers. Harry was circling the pitch high above the action, when he vaguely registered the announcer yelling, "Fifty to nothing Gryffindor! The chasers are really on their game today - THAT'S A BLATANT FOUL RIGHT THERE!" Harry looked down to groans and boos from the Gryffindor stands and saw James falling to the ground. Madam Hooch immediately blew her whistle signifying a penalty shot, and the team assembled on the pitch below.
"James!" shrieked Lily running over to him. He was unconscious, and Lily was desperately trying to revive him.
"What happened?" asked Harry.
"Manvers sent a bludger to his head," said Tonks. "He didn't even see it coming." Harry looked back up at Madam Hooch, who had called a timeout on the field in order to deal with the injury. Madam Pomfrey came running out onto the field to examine James.
"He's alive," she said feeling his forehead. "But I think he's been concussed fairly badly. I'll have to take him to the hospital wing."
"I'm going with you," said Lily determinedly. There were shouts of protest from the team, but Harry raised his hand to silence them.
"Let her go," he said. "She doesn't deserve the pressure of playing out here while James is injured." Even though it was common knowledge that James and Lily were dating, there were still groans from the team.
"So what do we do now?" asked Muldew. "We're down two players now." Harry looked over his shoulder at being James floated off the pitch on a stretcher by Madam Pomfrey, accompanied by Lily. Sighing, he turned back to the team with resignation.
"Okay," he said sighing. "We're up fifty to nothing right now. We've got a penalty, and I have complete faith that afterwards it'll be sixty nothing." The group nodded slowly. "So here's what we're gonna do. I'll act as keeper, until I spot the snitch. Muldew, you stay with me and guard the right hoop, I'll take the center and left ones." Muldew nodded. "Tonks, Kielty, and Dolsher, you three need to play some really good defense until I spot the snitch. Got it?" Everyone nodded, albeit hesitantly. "Hey," Harry said, noticing the defeated looks on the team. "We can do this. Two players means nothing right now. We can outplay the Slytherins in every facet of this game with seven people, so now the game should be just about even, right?" There was a more enthusiastic nod this time. "All right then. NOW LET'S GO OUT THERE AND WIN THIS FOR JAMES!" Harry yelled. There was cheering from the team as Madam Hooch descended to talk to them.
"Have you decided who'll be taking the penalty shot?" she asked.
"I will," said Tonks. Madam Hooch nodded and tossed her the quaffle.
'Harry is everything okay? What happened?' asked Hermione in Harry's head.
'Everything's fine,' he reassured her. 'James got concussed, and Lily left with him. So we're at a two-man disadvantage, but I think we'll be okay.'
'All right,' Hermione replied. 'Just be careful.'
'Always.' Tonks sped off towards the Slytherin hoops, straight at the keeper. At the last second possible, she swerved to her right drawing the keeper away, and threw the quaffle across her body right through the center hoop, There was cheering from the Gryffindor seats, and Madam Hooch resumed play with a blow of her whistle.
Later, Harry would realise that he shouldn't have underestimated the Slytherin team's skill. Within twenty minutes the score was 60-100 in favor of Slytherin, despite several shots that were blocked by Harry and Muldew. He could tell the team was starting to get nervous. Truth be told, he was starting to get a little nervous himself.
It was then that he saw the Slytherin seeker start to slowly make his way around the perimeter towards the side of the pitch on Harry's left. Watching carefully, he noticed that the seeker's eyes were carefully trained on one spot. 'He's seen it...' Harry thought to himself, and quickly scanned the area where his counterpart's gaze was.
And sure enough, there it was. Hovering 5 feet off the ground was the golden snitch. Quickly doing some math, Harry realised that even with his superior broom from the future, he would probably not win a straight out race here. The Slytherin seeker was about fifty meters closer to it than he was, and there was no way Harry could beat him to the snitch with that much of a difference.
'I need it to move closer to me...' Harry thought. And as if to answer his request, the snitch fluttered lazily twenty or so meters towards him. With a quick shrug, Harry shouted over to Muldew, "All or nothing!" and took off at full speed after the snitch.
The other seeker noticed this and quickly sped off from the opposite end of the pitch. Harry guessed that the snitch was about ten meters closer to the Slytherin seeker than him, and so he put on an extra burst of speed.
The distance between the two seekers and the snitch was rapidly decreasing. Harry was coming from the south end, the Slytherin keeper from the north. He didn't bother to hear that in the confusion of the chase, Kielty had grabbed the quaffle and managed to score twice.
"Faster..." Harry urged his broom. He was now only 20 feet from the snitch, about the same as the other seeker. Harry was there, he was going to get there first, he knew it...
But snitches, unfortunately, have minds of their own, and realising that two seekers were bearing down on it, it decided to move in the only direction it could to escape and shot upwards. Fortunately for Harry, he was just far enough away to notice this change and pulled up after it, only to feel a piece of hard wood slam into his chest, nearly knocking him off his broom.
Clutching his ribs in agony, Harry saw the other seeker, skid to a halt on the ground after colliding with him. Starting to get dizzy from the pain, Harry put on a final burst of speed as he reached up to grab the snitch. The last thing Harry remembered was falling to the ground with the golden ball clutched in his hand.
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'Harry...Harry...can you hear me?' a voice in his head said. It sounded strangely familiar.
'Hermione?' he replied, barely able to form a coherent thought.
'Oh god, I'm so glad you can hear me,' she said. 'I've been trying for hours and been getting no response.'
'Hours?' asked Harry not opening his eyes. 'How long have I been out?'
'Six hours,' came the reply. 'Madam Pomfrey said you were lucky to be alive.'
'What happened?'
'The collision broke four of your ribs,' Hermione said. 'You passed out from the pain and fell about thirty feet to the ground.'
'What about James, is he okay?' Harry asked.
'Yes, he's been awake for a while now," she replied. 'Can you open your eyes?' Gathering his strength, Harry opened his eyes and saw Hermione hunched over him, her eyes red and puffy.
"Hey..." he said, his voice gravelly. Hermione threw her arms around him causing him to wince.
"Sorry," she said pulling back. "I guess the potion hasn't finished healing you yet."
"Harry!" yelled Lily running over to him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're awake. God, I was so scared when they brought you in here. Hermione and I were in a right state, we thought you might've died." Harry managed to force out a smile.
"Nope, alive and kicking," he said tiredly. "Where's everyone else?"
"They went back to the common room to celebrate the win when you hadn't woken up after an hour," Lily replied. "You can't blame them, two-hundred and thirty to a hundred, we haven't had a win like that against Slytherin in a while." Harry's eyebrows arched at this.
"That's not a very big margin of victory," he said hesitantly. Lily nodded.
"Like I said, we haven't had a win like that against Slytherin in a while." Harry sighed and nodded.
"Well a win's a win. How's James doing?"
"Fine," Lily replied. "He woke up about an hour ago and has a hell of a headache, but should be okay in a day or so."
"I'm fine right now," said James hobbling over to the three of them.
"You should be in bed," Lily said reprovingly.
"Well I want to see if Harry's doing any better, is that okay?" he asked. "I heard you nearly killed yourself catching the snitch."
"Yeah," Harry replied. "Bloody awful flyer their seeker is, anyone with any flying skills whatsoever would have been able to pull up before they hit me. Even Malfoy could've done it."
"Malfoy?" asked James.
"Long story," said Hermione shaking her head. At this point Madam Pomfrey bustled over with a flask of what Harry recognised as a dreamless sleep potion.
"James! You get back in your bed right now!" she shrieked seeing him up and walking about. Grumbling, he made his way back to his bed, and the nurse handed Harry the potion.
"Take this Lockheart," she said. "You need sleep in order for your bones to heal completely." With that she bustled back over to James to tend to him, and Harry uncorked the bottle.
"I'm going to go back over to James," she said. "Feel better, Harry."
"Thanks," he replied downing the potion. Immediately he began feeling drowsy. "Hermione, stay with me?" he managed to ask.
"Of course," she replied before Harry drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
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Two days later James had been released from the hospital wing, but Harry was still bed-ridden. Madam Pomfrey was giving him daily checkups and said that he would still be in the hospital another week. Apparently when he landed, the impact caused minor brain damage, and the nurse wanted to make sure that the swelling had gone back down before he left.
Hermione had stayed with him the entire time, except when she had to go to classes. After a brief argument (which Harry didn't hear because of his dreamless sleep), she had convinced Madam Pomfrey to let her sleep in the bed beside his.
Harry was sitting up in bed reading over the transfiguration assignment from Professor McGonagal, when Hermione came into the room, followed by James and Lily.
"Hey," he said putting the parchment down. "I haven't seen you two in a while. How are you doing, James?"
"Better. Nursed me back to health, this one did," he said putting an arm around Lily who blushed at this statement.
"Are you feeling any better," asked Hermione sitting on Harry's bed next to him.
"The same," he replied. "I still feel like my head is swimming."
"I'm sure you'll get better," said Lily. "Madam Pomfrey hasn't failed to cure anyone yet."
"Yeah," said James. "Listen Harry, I haven't had a chance to properly congratulate you on your catch the other day. From what I hear it was bloody brilliant."
"Thanks," he replied. At this Hermione looked down at her feet with a sigh. The action didn't go unnoticed by Harry. "What's wrong?" he asked. She looked up at him and shook her head.
"Oh, it's just that this is why I hate it when you play quidditch," she said. "You always manage to give me a terrible scare."
"But I've never been injured beyond repair, have I?" Harry asked.
"It doesn't mean that it won't happen eventually," Hermione replied. "I'm not asking you to stop playing, it just frightens me so." Harry sat up and put an arm around her.
"Listen," he said. "If it worries you that much...well, then I'll consider giving it a rest. It's not like I'm going to play quidditch professionally anyway." At this James' jaw dropped.
"Do you mean that?" Hermione asked. "You'd give up quidditch...for me?" Harry nodded.
"All I want is for you to be happy," he said taking her hand.
"Harry, you...you're going to give up quidditch?" asked James incredulously. "I mean, I understand that I'm going to have to find another seeker when you leave, but I mean you're going to give it up entirely?" Harry shrugged.
"I'm not going to make any hasty decisions. When we get back to the future, I'll take a look at my options and make a decision then." James let out a breath that he had been holding.
"Well speaking of decisions," said Lily. "I think it's a good time to tell you that I'm quitting the team."
"WHAT?!" shouted James and Harry at the same time, causing Madam Pomfrey to come out of her office and shush them.
"I'm sorry James, but I can't be leaving the field to take care of you every time you get injured. I understand that it's a part of the game, but you're more important to me than blocking the quaffle." James' mouth was open, but he nodded numbly.
"Well, I guess that means I need to put up a bulletin for keeper tryouts," he said sighing. "You're sure you want to quit?" Lily nodded.
"Positive," she said.
"Well, all right," said James with a sigh. "Let's go and get a sign put up. Hope you feel better Harry."
"Thanks," he replied as Lily and James turned to leave. "Hey guys?" he called out remembering something. The couple stopped and turned around. "When you see him later, can you ask Peter to stop by, I want to ask him something." James shrugged.
"Sure," he said. "He's probably in the common room with Remus and Sirius. I can go and get him now if you like." Harry nodded.
"That'd be great," he said.
"No problem." With that James and Lily departed, leaving Harry and Hermione alone.
"I thought you weren't going to confront him," she said once positive that James and Lily were out of range.
"I'm not confronting him," Harry said. "I just want to ask him some things that might help shed some light on this situation."
"You don't think he'll get wise to you?" Hermione asked.
"Nah, it's not like I'm going to ask him if he already has the mark on his arm, which I know he doesn't."
"How?" Hermione asked.
"Well, I do share a dorm with him," Harry pointed out. Hermione nodded.
"So what are you going to ask him?" she asked.
"I've had a lot of time to get everything planned out," he said. "Don't worry." A few seconds later Peter walked through the double doors of the hospital wing.
"Hey," he said sitting on the bed next to Harry. "James said you wanted to s-see me?" Harry nodded.
"I heard you know Bertha Jorkins," he said calmly. Peter looked taken aback at this.
"How do you know about her?" he asked guardedly.
"James and Lily, of course," he said. "I just know who she is in the future and wanted to ask you about her." Peter seemed to relax at hearing this.
"Oh," he said. "Well what do you want to know?"
"How'd you meet her?" Harry asked. Peter turned slightly red at this.
"Well, I was getting picked on by some Slytherins in the hall when James, Sirius, and Remus weren't around, and she helped me out. We became friends after that," he said in a small voice.
"What's she like?"
"She's really nice to me," Peter replied. "I asked her on a date once but she said she wanted to be just friends. That's okay with me though, it's nice to have a female friend to talk to." Harry gave Hermione a small wink at this. "Why are you asking this? D-do I get together with her in the future?" he asked excitedly.
"Now Peter, you know I can't tell you that," Harry said. "You already know too much about 1997 anyway." His shoulders slumped dejectedly at hearing this.
"I don't suppose she talks about me, does she?" he asked weakly.
"I wouldn't know," Harry replied. "She worked in the ministry for a while, but I don't know where she is now." Which was actually the truth, Harry had no idea where they'd buried her.
"Oh well," said Peter. "Anything else?"
"Oh there is one thing," Harry said. "Could you give this letter to Lily for me?" Peter took the letter and looked at it wearily.
"Sure thing," he said. "Hope you feel better."
"Thanks," Harry replied.
"See you, Hermione," Peter said getting up and walking towards the doors.
"Bye!" she called out as he left. After he was gone she looked at Harry who had a confused expression on his face. "What is it?" she asked. Harry shook his head.
"That is a boy who's infatuated," Harry replied. "It's blatantly obvious."
"Is that a bad thing?" Hermione asked.
"Yes and no," he replied. "I don't understand how he could have feelings for her, and then twenty years later give her to Lord Voldemort."
"Maybe they had a falling out?" she suggested.
"I doubt it," Harry said. "In the dream I had before fourth year, Voldemort made it sound as if they were the best of friends when Peter confronted her." Hermione looked at him quizzically.
"You remember that?" she asked.
"Old dreams I've had are starting to become more clear," he replied. "I don't know why."
"What was the letter about?"
"Just a little test to see if he actually gives it to her," he replied. "If I know anything about my parents, it's that when Lily gets that letter, she'll want to come right down here and thank me for it."
"Why?" asked Hermione. Harry grinned.
"Because she's my mum," he said. "I'm sure she'll -" but he didn't have time to finish his sentence because at that moment, Lily flew into the hospital wing holding the letter in her hand and promptly gave Harry a hug.
"Harry, thank you," she said. He turned and gave a smug grin to Hermione who rolled her eyes. "But it was nothing really."
"Nonsense," said Harry. "I wouldn't have even been able to become friends with James, and, Sirius, and everyone if it hadn't been for you in the first place."
"What's it say?" asked Hermione.
"Oh, Harry just thanked me for being there for you two when you first arrived here," she said. "And I assure you it was nothing."
"Well, I wanted to thank you anyway," Harry said. The three of them continued to make pleasant conversation as they reminisced over the past two months, when none other than Albus Dumbledore walked through the double wooden doors with his usual twinkle.
"Professor!" said Harry with a smile. "How are you doing?"
"Quite well, Harry, quite well," replied Dumbledore.
"What brings you here, professor?" asked Hermione.
"Well I'm pleased to say that I have some rather good news," he said.
"Yes?" asked Harry. Dumbledore leaned in close so he could lower his voice slightly.
"The Order has managed to rescue Nicolas Flamel," he said with a smile. Harry's face fell a little bit, and he could've sworn Hermione's did the same.
"So...so we're going back then?" she asked.
"Well, you'll have two weeks while we make the required potion, but then, yes. You will return to your own time." Harry nodded. "I'll leave you three to discuss what you need to, then," the headmaster said, and got up to leave the hospital wing.
"Headmaster?" asked Lily before he exited. Dumbledore turned around. "Who will be making the spell?"
"I will," the headmaster said. "I wish for there to be no mistakes in this. Nicolas, who as you may or may not know is a brilliant alchemist, will brew the potion, and I will be the one taking it. As they say, if you want something done right, do it yourself." Lily nodded and Dumbledore left the hospital wing.
They each sat there in silence for a few minutes until Harry spoke up.
"Lily, do you think you could go and bring all of the Marauders down here?" he asked. Lily nodded and left to go retrieve them.
"Well," said Hermione. "I guess this is it then."
"Yep," said Harry. "We're going home."
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Phew! Glad to have that one over with, it was fairly tough to write. A couple things I wanted to get out of the way. First, the next chapter will be the last one in the past, as so many of you have wanted me to GET ON WITH IT! The second is the conversation with Peter. Please refrain from posting negative comments about it, I know it's not that thorough and doesn't really make much sense, but it's important to the greater plot. Hope you all liked it, and you can look forward to 1997 at the end of next chapter.