Chapter Text
“Tell them I mean no harm!” Umbridge screamed. She was flailing wildly, trying in vain to escape the centaurs holding her down and tying her up.
“I’m sorry professor, but I must not tell lies,” Harry said, hearing the acid in his own voice.
The centaurs subdued Umbridge and carried her deeper into the forest. Harry could hear her shouts for help fading away into the dark night.
Harry turned to Hermione and raised an eyebrow. He huffed a laugh when Hermione shrugged.
“Right then,” Harry said. He pulled a tattered piece of parchment from his pocket and muttered the password. He watched the lines form, fascinated as always by the Map.
He searched for his and Hermione’s names and began leading them out of the forest. Knowing he could trust Hermione to stop him before he ran into a tree, he began scanning the Map. He wanted to make sure they weren’t caught by surprise by a teacher or any of the Slytherins.
Suddenly, Harry stopped and nearly dropped the Map. He gasped at the parchment, unwilling to believe what he was seeing was real.
Harry fleetingly noted Hermione passing him and turning back, noticing he had stopped.
“Harry? What is it?” Hermione asked.
“It can’t be,” Harry murmured, thinking aloud and not focusing on Hermione at all.
“What are you talking about? Harry?” Hermione asked. Harry saw her hand reaching for the parchment, and he jerked his head up. He looked into the forest for a second before dashing away, sprinting headlong into the thick trees surrounding them.
“Harry!” Hermione shouted.
Harry heard her following behind him. He didn’t acknowledge her, instead, he kept running, looking more at the Map than the forest around himself. He was lucky he didn’t run full speed into a tree. Harry stopped a few feet inside the tree line. Hermione narrowly avoided colliding with him.
“Harry —” Hermione started, but Harry held up a hand and shushed her.
He pointed in front of them. There were two figures just inside the tree line. Harry heard Hermione gasp and knew she recognized them, just as he had.
“Do you think it’s really them?” Hermione asked in a soft voice.
“The Map has never been wrong before,” Harry answered. His eyes never left the two people standing mere feet away from them.
“What do you plan to do?” Hermione asked.
Harry didn’t answer her directly. Instead, he walked forward.
“Mum? Dad?” Harry called, voice tentative and wand in hand.
The pair in front of them jerked at the words. Harry noted that the woman had vibrant red hair, like Ginny’s. Much more vibrant than his old photos had been able to show. She was also looking worse for wear, with twigs and leaves in her hair and tears in her clothes. The man, also looking raggedy, was almost an exact copy of Harry, with the exception of the obvious difference in age. His eyes, of course, were a soft hazel, rather than Harry’s striking green.
“Harry?” They both spoke at once.
“How do I know it’s really you?” Harry demanded. He kept himself slightly in front of Hermione. His wand was still in his hand, though hidden enough that he doubted the pair had noticed it.
“Would my animagus form work?” the man — James — asked.
Harry looked to Hermione, careful to keep the other two in sight as well. She shrugged.
“It’s possible for two people to share an animagus form. But when he changes back, it will be to his true human form. So if it’s someone under polyjuice or glamours, they will revert and he won’t look like he does now,” Hermione whispered.
Harry nodded to himself. He trusted Hermione to know what she was talking about.
“Yeah. If you transform into the right animal I’ll trust you,” Harry said. He wasn’t sure they believed him, but he didn’t blame them. He didn’t believe himself. This was too surreal. He didn’t think a simple animagus transformation would convince him that his dead parents were standing in front of him in the Forbidden Forest.
The man — James! — nodded and started to shrink and contort. Where once a man stood, now stood a stag. Just as quickly, the man returned. He still looked like James Potter.
“What’s your name?” Harry demanded.
“Lily and James,” the woman — Lily — replied.
Harry shook his head. He opened his mouth to say that wasn’t what he meant when James spoke.
“Prongs. My name is Prongs.”
Harry felt some of the tension drain away. His wand lowered a fraction, but he was still unsure.
“I want to trust you. Tell me something so I’ll trust you,” Harry pleaded.
“You live with my sister, Petunia Dursley, and her husband and son Vernon and Dudley. I’m sorry for that, love,” Lily said.
“That’s not exactly a secret,” Harry said.
They stood staring at each other. The two adults were obviously trying to come up with a way to gain Harry’s trust. Harry wasn’t sure if there was anything that would work.
“Is that our Map?” James asked, pointing at the parchment in Harry’s hand.
Harry glanced down at the still activated Map. He nodded silently.
“Damn. I can’t believe that’s still around. Pads got it confiscated by Filch in our seventh year. Where’d you get it?” James asked.
“Er, my friends found it in Filch’s office when they were in detention. They gave it to me in my third year,” Harry replied.
“Wait!” Hermione exclaimed.
The other three turned to look at her. She raised her wand and cast something. Harry thought it sounded like “paternus” but he wasn’t sure. He was going to ask her what she was doing when a blue line glowed between Harry and Lily. Harry was still confused, but James and Lily exchanged a look with each other.
“What?” Hermione said. She sounded confused.
That makes two of us, Harry thought.
Before anyone could speak, Hermione pointed her wand at James and muttered another spell, which Harry didn’t hear. This one caused blue letters to form above James’ head. They arranged themselves to say “James Fleamont Potter-Lupin.” Harry watched in shock, staring at the letters as they began to dissipate.
“What? Lupin?” Harry sputtered.
“We can explain,” Lily began.
“You had better be able to,” a new voice said. Harry recognized the voice and gulped. He instinctively stepped between his parents and the newcomer, raising his wand.
“Please let them explain!” Harry begged. He had a strong sense of deja vu. “Don’t make me stun you again, Snape!”
“Harry!” Hermione and Lily scolded at once.
Harry heard James choke on a laugh.
“I’m serious! You weren’t going to let Sirius explain two years ago in the Shack. I can tell you don’t want to let my parents explain either. Please, Professor, let them explain,” Harry said. He lowered his voice, but not his wand. His left hand was stretched in front of his parents and Hermione, as if to shield them from Snape.
Snape sighed. He rubbed a hand across his face but waved his free hand as if to say, “go on, then.”
Harry took a cautious step back, careful to keep all four people in the clearing with him in sight.
“Merlin. This is a mess. James, where do we begin?” Lily asked. She was wringing her hands together, her nerves obvious. Harry reached out and took hold of her hands and smiled.
“How are you alive?” Harry asked.
“Ah, well, I’m alive because Severus asked for me to be spared. James is alive because he’s a pureblood and Voldemort was hoping to lure him to his side. He didn’t cast the killing curse on us; he stunned us instead,” Lily explained.
“We’ve been told you were brought to your aunt’s as soon as possible, and Hagrid thought we were dead,” James added.
“Told? Who told you?” Harry asked, flabbergasted.
A dark look stole across James and Lily’s faces.
“Dumbledore,” they both spat.
Harry flinched at the venom in their voices and shared a look with Hermione and Snape. He had only ever heard that name spoken with such hatred by Voldemort himself. The coldness of their voices, and the intense hatred they managed to fit into one word, sent chills down Harry’s spine.
“What? How could Dumbledore have told you anything?” Harry asked faintly.
“The night Voldemort tried to kill you, Dumbledore found us stunned in the house. He bound us and took us to an underground, er, house? I guess you could call it?” James began.
Harry, Hermione and Snape stared at James and Lily. Snape’s face was mostly closed off, but Harry and Hermione were openly gaping. What they were saying was unbelievable. And yet, here were his parents.
“He kept us drugged most of the time. To be honest, we’re not even sure when it is right now,” Lily added.
“Yeah. I think it’s been about six months since the last time the old man showed up. He doesn’t realize it, but we’ve become mostly immune to the potions he’s been dosing us with,” James said.
Snape scoffed. Four pairs of eyes landed on the dour man and he scowled.
“Something to say, Severus?” James asked. Harry was surprised there was no malice in his voice, only curiosity.
“My thoughts are none of your concern, Potter,” Snape said, a sneer taking over his face.
Harry turned to Hermione.
“The spells you did. The first one was a paternity spell, right?” He asked.
He caught the quickly concealed look of pride on Snape’s face. It made something warm inside him, but he brushed the feeling aside.
“Yes. The second was an identifying spell. But I must have done the first one wrong,” Hermione answered.
“No, you didn’t,” Lily said.
“I’m not Harry’s father. Severus is,” James added.
The clearing was silent for a moment. Harry stared at his father, James, in shock. What did he mean, Snape was his father? That wasn’t possible.
“Paternus,” Snape muttered, pointing his wand at Harry.
The same blue light connected Harry and Lily, but now there was a second light visible. It connected Harry and Snape. Snape must have been too far away the first time the spell was cast. That was the only explanation Harry had for it not working last time.
“How is this possible?” Snape demanded. Harry wanted to know that as well.
“You don’t remember?” Lily asked. Harry thought she seemed less disappointed and more resigned. As if she had expected this.
“Obviously,” Snape drawled with a roll of his eyes.
“Damn that man,” Lily muttered. “We’ll have to get you all purged at Gringotts, as soon as possible. We were headed there ourselves after we came here. We had to see our sons,” she continued.
Harry’s head whipped up at that.
“What do you mean ‘sons,’ as in plural?” Harry asked.
“The thing is Harry, Dumbledore has been meddling in our lives for a very long time. He caused Severus and I to break up. I had just had you, and James had just had his son, when Dumbledore put James and me together,” Lily said.
“I had been married to Remus. Still am, since magic doesn’t recognize the divorce Dumbledore filed,” James said. “You were born the day after I had my own son, Harry.”
“What?!” Harry shouted. “You gave birth? But you’re—”
“A man? Yes. Men can get pregnant. You should know this by now. How old are you now? You mentioned third year earlier,” James said.
“I’m fifteen, nearly sixteen. It’s 18th June 1996,” Harry supplied faintly. His head was spinning. Wizards could get pregnant? Why didn’t he know this?
“Fifteen? But you’re so small,” Lily gasped.
Harry felt his cheeks warm up and he looked away. The silence grew until Hermione cleared her throat.
“You said you gave birth? And Remus was the other father? What happened to the child?” Hermione asked.
“He’s up at the school,” James answered.
“How come the wolf didn’t recognize his own sprog then?” Snape asked with a derisive sneer.
“Surely a master potioneer such as yourself is aware of the masking effects of a Blood Adoption potion?” James answered.
Harry was again surprised at the lack of malice in James’ voice. This wasn’t how he had expected James to act when speaking with Snape. Weren’t they supposed to be enemies, like Harry and Malfoy? He was even more surprised to see Snape look openly cowed by that statement.
“Who’s your son?” Harry asked. He didn’t know every boy in his year. There was only one person he could think of. “Wait. Is it Neville?” Harry asked as realization dawned.
James beamed and Lily looked proud of him as well. Harry ducked his head as he felt his face heat.
“Yes. My son is Neville, currently going by Longbottom,” James answered.
Harry couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It all seemed so outlandish, but here stood Lily and James. So much of what he had known was a lie. Harry collapsed to the ground with his back against a tree. The rough bark helped to ground him to reality, but he was spiraling.
He pulled his knees to his chest and dropped his head onto his knees. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing. He heard the snapping of twigs and crunching of leaves that preceded a small, warm, hand dropping onto his shoulder. He leaned into the touch and knew instinctively that it was Hermione. He could smell her floral shampoo, and it was like his magic recognized her as a safe haven. He was glad she was there. He couldn’t imagine doing this alone.
“What do we do?” Harry asked.
His tone was fraught with desperation. He didn’t know what to do, and he knew it was unfair asking Hermione to solve this for him.
The silence stretched for a moment before it was broken, by Snape of all people.
“A purge would be wise, but it must wait,” the dour man said in a surprisingly calm, and — dare he think it? — gentle voice.
“Why wait?” James protested.
“Mr. Pot — that is — how am I meant to address you now?” Snape asked, shocking Harry with his open vulnerability.
“How about ‘Harry’? That is his name, Sev,” Lily said.
Harry could hear the amusement in her tone but the thought of Snape calling him anything other than ‘Potter’ was enough to make him cringe. He refused to raise his head and see the expressions of everyone around him. He couldn’t imagine that it would benefit him in any way.
“I think, for the time being, it would be prudent to continue to call him Potter,” Snape said at last.
Harry could feel the eyes boring into him, but he stubbornly refused to look up. He was getting overwhelmed and didn’t know what to think. Snape continued when it was clear Harry wasn’t going to look up or acknowledge them in any way.
“As I was saying. I think it best to wait. If Albus is involved, it would be wise to keep him as far in the dark as possible. The four of us showing up at Gringotts together would be disastrous,” Snape continued.
“Shit!” Harry exclaimed. His head snapped up and he shared a horrified look with Hermione.
“Padfoot!” they both said in unison.
“He’s fine,” Snape cut in before they could do anything more than look guilty.
“How could you possibly know that, Snape?” Harry demanded.
“Because I spoke with him. I do not know why you thought he was in danger, but I assure you he is fine,” Snape said.
Harry sagged in relief. He wouldn’t have been able to ever forgive himself if he had let Sirius die because he got side tracked.
“What’s this about?” James asked.
“It’s a long story,” Harry hedged. Hermione shot him a look of sympathy and Harry grimaced in response. He didn’t fancy talking to his mum and James about his life thus far.
“It happened again,” Snape said, full of certainty. “When? What did you see, exactly?”
Harry sighed. He shared a look with Hermione and curled his arms around his knees.
“I saw a few Death Eaters holding Padfoot up next to a shelf with what looked like white glass balls on it. They were demanding he pick one up and threatening him,” Harry said. He kept his focus on his knees. He picked at a loose thread on his slacks and ignored the gasps from beside him. Snape ignored them as well and pressed on.
“When did you see this? Is that why you were in Umbridge’s office?”
“Yes. I saw it during my history exam. I left — I’m probably going to fail — and went to Umbridge’s office to use the Floo.”
“And then she caught you,” Snape surmised.
Harry shrugged and didn’t reply.
“Where is Madam Umbridge?” Snape asked.
“Er—” Harry began. He shared a guilty look with Hermione.
“I sort of led her into the Forest. She insulted the centaurs. Last we saw, they were dragging her deeper into the Forest,” Hermione answered.
The silence was thick with tension.
“Who’s Umbridge? And why did you make her centaur food?” James asked. Harry smirked when he heard a thump accompanied by “James!” from an annoyed Lily.
“Umbridge is the undersecretary to the Minister. She is also currently the Headmistress,” Snape answered.
“What happened to Albus?” Lily asked.
“He was ousted a month and a half ago,” Harry could feel Snape’s penetrating gaze on him. He looked up and met the man’s eyes. They were dark and fathomless and impossible to read.
“You can’t blame me for that,” Harry said softly.
“No. I cannot,” Snape agreed. He held Harry’s gaze for another moment before looking away towards Lily, who was looking at Harry in concern.
“Why would he, or anyone, blame you Harry?” Lily asked. Harry could tell she was confused, but he didn’t want to explain. He shrugged and looked at Hermione.
“So. What now?” Harry asked again.
“It is the end of term. You will be going home in a few short days. If I know Albus and the Dark Lord, they are both making a scene at the Ministry right now. It will be impossible to hide that he is back, now,” Snape began.
“Wait, back? What?” James interrupted. Harry sighed.
“The night he tried to kill me, the spell backfired, and he disappeared. He came back, possessing our DADA professor in first year. I had to stop him from getting the Philosopher’s Stone. Then he came back as a memory, preserved in a diary, possessing Ginny Weasley, in second year. I defeated a basilisk” —he ignored the gasps, but noted that Snape was one of them— “and stabbed the diary, killing the memory. He laid low third year, don’t ask me why. Then fourth year, he had a Death Eater impersonate our DADA professor and managed to get me into the Triwizard Tournament.
“He had the Death Eater help me through the tasks as much as he could, though it wasn’t much, and kidnapped me at the end. He had Wormtail, the traitor, kill Cedric Diggory. ‘Kill the spare’ he said.” Harry stopped for a second to compose himself. Hermione laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and squeezed. He shot her a grateful smile before clearing his throat and continuing.
“He used my blood, Wormtail’s hand, and bones from his father’s grave to make himself a new body, and then we dueled. Somehow, a golden light connected our wands, and Cedric, some old bloke, and this woman I recognized as a Ministry worker came out of his wand. They were ghostly echoes of themselves. They helped distract Voldemort” —Harry heard a low hiss come from Snape and filed the information away for later— “and his Death Eaters, and I was able to use the Triwizard trophy cup to portkey back to the school. No one believed he was back. I don’t know how they explained Cedric being dead and my wand not having cast the Killing Curse. Dumbledore believed me, though, and with him, the rest of the Order,” Harry said.
“Merlin,” James breathed.
Lily fell to her knees beside Harry and hugged him close to her. Harry slowly unwrapped his arms from his knees and returned the embrace. It was different from the hugs he sometimes got from Mrs. Weasley. It felt warmer somehow.
“Yes. That,” Snape said faintly.
Harry caught his gaze once more and realized the man hadn’t known most of what Harry had just told them. He wondered how much the Headmaster shared with his spy.
Snape cleared his throat and looked away.
“I think it best if Mr. Potter returns to the castle and behaves as normally as he can. Lily and James should meet him at King’s Cross, on the Muggle side, polyjuiced as his aunt and uncle. From there, we can meet at Gringotts to get purged,” Snape said.
It sounded like a decent plan to Harry. It would keep the Headmaster in the dark for at least a little while longer. As much as he hated leaving his mother and James, he understood why it had to happen. Something much bigger than any of them understood was happening.
“Sir?” Harry asked.
Snape looked back at Harry and raised an eyebrow in silent enquiry.
“I was wondering if we might begin Occlumency lessons again,” Harry said. It was obvious he had been duped by Voldemort. Sirius wasn’t at the Ministry, so the vision had been a lie. If Harry couldn’t tell a fake vision from a real one, he needed to know how to block them entirely.
“I think that can be arranged,” Snape answered. Harry wasn’t sure if he imagined the look of pride that briefly shone in the man’s dark eyes.
“Thank you, sir.”
Harry didn’t want to let go of his mother. He hadn’t seen her in so long, and he had thought her dead until an hour ago. But the sky was darkening and they needed to get back to the school.
“Oh! Harry, I don’t remember much, but be wary of the Weasleys,” James said, startling Harry.
Lily pulled back and regarded Harry.
“Yes, there is some plot or plan on Dumbledore’s part with the Weasleys. I don’t know the details, except that it involves the youngest two and Molly,” Lily added.
“And stay as far away from Sirius as you can,” James said with a dark look on his face.
“What? Why?” Harry spluttered.
“He knew. That bastard knew we were alive and did absolutely nothing to help us,” James spat. “I don’t think Remmy is involved, but Sirius knew.”
“I doubt the wolf knows. He has been staying with Black, however. It would be wise to wait before approaching him,” Snape cautioned.
Harry’s head spun. Sirius knew his parents were alive. And he had known for at least six months. He never said a word to Harry about it.
“Ron,” Harry said. He shared a pained look with Hermione.
“You can’t say anything to him, Harry. We don’t know what’s going on. It’s best if we keep him in the dark until we know what is happening,” Hermione said.
“You’re right,” Harry sighed. He hated it, but it was true.
Harry stood and brushed off his pants until he felt the dirt and detritus magically disappear. He saw Snape looking at him but ignored it.
“We should get back to the castle. Snape, I think you should escort us and probably take points or something,” Harry said.
Hermione snorted and Harry saw Snape’s lips twitch as if he was hiding a smirk.
“Yes. Come along Potter, Granger. Lily, Potter, I shall see you in a few days at Gringotts,” Snape said.
Lily pulled Harry into another tight hug. She smiled and moved on to hug Snape. Harry averted his eyes and James caught him in a one-armed hug.
“You may not be my biological son, but I raised you for the first year of your life. And you are Lily’s son, and she’s my best friend. I love you, kiddo,” James said.
“Thanks. It will take some getting used to for me to stop thinking of you as my dad. But I love you, too,” Harry replied.
Snape cleared his throat and gestured for Harry and Hermione to precede him from the forest. The trio made their way up to the castle together, and Harry resisted every urge to look back.