Chapter Text
Godric’s Hollow October 31st, 1981
“I hate it,” Albus said. “Knowing what will happen to them tonight.”
He stood next to his father, holding on to him tightly. Scared to let go again. His father nods in agreement. His green eyes flashing a range of emotions. They are partially hidden behind a low stone wall and under a great old oak tree opposite the cottage young James and Lily Potter occupy. The cottage they will die in before too long. Harry and Albus, father and son, are alone. The others have gone back to the present time already. Draco or Ginny will be back in the morning to take them back.
“Me too,” Harry replied. Jaw set as he tries to compose himself. He looks down at his son, a sad smile on his face. “I’m sorry Albus, for pushing you away. What I said was unforgivable but I am hoping we can move past it.”
“Dad, you don’t need to-”
“Thank you, for staying with me, Albus. It means far more than I could ever say.” Harry didn’t even try to hide the tears forming in his eyes. He pull Albus closer to him. Holding him tightly. “I’m going to try and be a better dad for you, Albus. You deserve far more than I’ve given you.”
Albus looked away, towards the cottage his grandparents live in. They can be seen clearly through the window playing with their infant son. The child that would grow up to be his father. Harry Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived. The man who saved the wizarding world from Voldemort.
“They-” Albus starts. His voice cracking slightly. “They really loved you. They look so happy with you. I think you would have liked them I think I would have liked them too.”
“Yeah?”
Albus nods, certain in his assessment. “Yeah. Definitely.”
They stand in silence for a few minutes, huddled together against the rain and cold. A flash of lightning splits the sky and illuminates the street. Albus can feel his dad’s hands shaking.
“She really is beautiful,” Harry whispers. Albus can barely hear him over the crack of thunder that rolled over them. “My mum really is beautiful.”
“I’ll won’t tell mum you said that,” Albus can’t help but laugh slightly despite the weight of what is about to happen. They continue to watch as Lily and James play with baby Harry, coloured bubbles floating about as the he tries to grab them, squealing silently as his chubby hands reached out and grabbed at the bubbles and popping them as he caught them.
“I used to do that with you as well, you know.” Harry said, looking down at Albus as Lily seemed to stare out the window, almost as if she was looking directly at them.
“Really?” Al said, looking up. His eyes were green, just like his fathers, and full of surprise and a mix of other emotions.
“Yeah, I did. You used to laugh the house down as you chased after the bubbles. Squealing with delight as you grabbed at them. Your mother and I would take turns holding you and flying you through the air to chase after them.”
Harry chuckled at the memory, smiling wide. He ran his hand through Al’s hair with gentle fondness.
“You were a very happy baby. You always made me laugh after a bad day. All three of you did but you most of all.”
“Really? Not James or Lily?”
“Really, you always remind me of your mother. Bold, fierce and funny. I think that makes you a pretty great son.”
Albus smiled at his dad warmly for the first time in what felt like years. Hugging him tightly.
Inside the small living room Lily watches as James plays with Harry, blowing multi-coloured bubbles out of his wand as Harry tries to catch them. Both boys are laughing with wide smiles. Lily can’t help but smile fondly at them. Her chest full of love watching as her husband play with their son.
A flash of lighting lit up the streets outside and she caught a glimpse of two figures under the old oak tree across the road, almost hidden behind it. One looked like one of the two boys she’d seen lurking around the last couple days. She didn’t get a good enough look at the other figure.
“That boy is back,” she said quietly. “It’s like he watching us.”
James’ smile didn’t falter. “Impossible, we’re under the Fidelius Charm, he can’t possibly know we’re here. Even then I doubt he’s watching us specifically.”
“I’m tempted to go ask what he wants,” Lil said, folding her arms across her chest. Half looking out the window, half watching her husband and son.
“Don’t,” James said quickly. “It’s not worth the risk.”
She looked out the window again as another flash of lighting filled the sky. This time she caught a glimpse of the other figure. It was a man with messy dark hair looking down at the younger boy, holding him tight as they seemed to smile at each other. ‘A father and son?’ Either way it was setting her nerves on edge.
“It’s getting late, we should start getting Harry ready for bed,” Lily said, stepping around the coffee table towards James and Harry. James chucked his wand onto the couch and held Harry up high above his head.
Lily took her son from her husband, holding Harry close to her, kissing him gently. Harry wrapped his little arms around her, clinging to her as he rested his head in the crook of her neck, babbling softly.
Harry could feel Voldemort’s proximity before he could see him. He grabbed Albus and pulled him closer, almost dragging him behind the tree. Albus felt his dad’s hands stop shaking.
“Dad?” he asked, as loudly as he dared which was barely a whisper.
“He’s here,” was all Harry could manage. He reached up and touched his scar, feeling it ache again the closer Voldemort got to their position.
A shadowy figure slowly approached, walking down the road with an almost casual grace that belied who he was and what he was prepared to do. To kill a young family and attempt to kill an innocent child.
Harry felt his heart racing, his chest welling with hate and anger and a deep, deep sadness. He squared his shoulders and forced himself to watch Voldemort’s approach to his parent’s cottage.
The hooded figure was in front of Bathilda Bagshot’s house as a flash of lightning lit up the sky. The rain seemed to slow and the wind died down. There was silence as the figure slowed. Harry could hear the blood in his ears as he narrowed his eyes. He grabbed his son’s shoulder and started pulling him behind himself, ready to shield Albus if anything happened.
The figure seemed to shift his gaze towards the tree. Harry could see Voldemort’s pale skin under his hood. This wasn’t good. Harry slowly started to move backwards, hoping to put the tree between them. Getting into a fight with Voldemort wasn’t an option. Not if the timeline was to remain unaffected. Hermione would kill him if mucked up the timeline more than Albus had originally.
The sound of old twigs breaking were as they stepped backwards was barely masked by the sound of the wind and rain. A crash of thunder echoed loudly over the small village.
The wind died down again for a moment. All that could be heard was his own hangered breathing. He was shaking again.
“I know you’re there,” Voldemort’s voice carried in the wind. It was high and cold as he remembered. It was voice that haunted his dreams so many years later. He’d never be rid of it. “Come out and face Lord Voldemort.”
Harry saw him raise his wand in their direction. There was a moment of silence where Harry was sure there was no other sound in the world. A twig broke under his foot as he stepped backwards. Voldemort’s wand shifted closer to their position.
Albus tripped on something, crying out in surprise. The sound was deafening in the silence. Voldemort sent out a curse as Harry spun, grabbing his son and throwing him behind the wall for cover, side stepped the first curse and pulled out his own wand, all in one fluid motion. Albus cried out as the curse barely missed them and then again as his father stepped forward, casting a curse of his own.
Harry ran towards the low stone wall, deflecting another curse sent his way, before jumping the wall. “Albus, Run!” Harry shouted. “Get out of here, go!”
Harry sent a string of curses and jinx’s at Voldemort who deflected and countered them with ease. Harry was forced to dodge and block several attacks aimed at him. Their spells collided and erupted into light bright enough to illuminate the entire street. The spell broke with a blinding flash. More spells, more curses were sent flying. Harry moved to keep Voldemort busy, to keep his focus on him while Albus ran for it.
He didn’t know which way his son would go, he couldn’t take his eyes of Voldemort for even a fraction of a second. He just had to keep him busy. They circled each other, firing spells, blocking and dodging.
“I’m impressed, wizard.” Voldemort said, his voice carrying above the noise of the spells. “Not many can duel like you.”
“I’ve had plenty of practise!” Harry retorted, matching Voldemort spell for spell.
“Surrender to me! And you shall be allowed to live serving me. I will always welcome a wizard of great skill into our ranks. Surrender to Lord Voldemort!”
“I’ll never join you, Tom! I’d never join your ranks Riddle!”
“You dare!” Voldemort hissed. “You dare speak that false name to me?”
Lily was halfway up the stairs when she heard the first curse and the shouting that followed. James was in the hallway in a flash, meeting her there, wand in hand. “Albus, Run!” the voice was loud enough to be heard clearly. “Get out of here, go!” Lily and James shared a look. She could see spell work lighting up the street outside with bright flashes. Blue, white, red and nearly every other colour.
Lily moved around James to look outside the living room window to see what was happening. She could see the older man from earlier fighting a hooded figure. Both were incredibly skilled, dodging and weaving, blocking and countering with casual ease as they danced around each other. She could hear the hooded figure talking to the man.
“Surrender to me! And you shall be allowed to live serving me. I will always welcome a wizard of great skill into our ranks. Surrender to Lord Voldemort!”
The name made Lily clutch Harry tighter and step away from the window. “Lily take Harry and run!” James said, dragging her out of the living room and back into the hallway. “Take him and get out of here. I’ll help hold him off.”
Before Lily could even voice her disapproval of his plan the front door bolted open with a crack as a drenched boy tumbled through it. He glanced at them, green eyes, wide with panic, looked them up and down as James drew his wand. The boy held out his empty hands.
“Good you’re dressed, we need to run, like now!” the boy said, looking back over his shoulder at the duel in the street. “I don’t know how long dad can hold him off for. Do you have another way out of here?”
The boy looked so much like James as a teenager. The same messy black hair, the same nose and chin and crooked smile. How the boy was smiling at a time like this Lily had no idea.
James reacted first, reaching forward and grabbing the boy and pulling him inside and towards Lily. “Go out the kitchen, get out of here!”
Lily was running on instinct as she reached for the teen, turned and pulled him along as she felt his hand in hers. “James, my wand is upstairs!”
“Just go!” He shouted, almost pleading with her. The boy pushed her towards the kitchen.
“You can have mine once we get outside,” the boy replied. “Assuming we don’t die. Oh my dad so going to kill me.” The teen was rambling as Lily took the lead again, pulling him into the kitchen and towards the back door. He pulled out his wand, muttered something she couldn’t hear, flicked his wand and the door opened. He left his wand up high for Lily to grab.
“I’m useless at magic unless it’s opening doors apparently,” he grumbled. “Take the wand, I can hold the baby.” He offered, waving his wand in front of her as they stepped out into the garden.
“I have a vested interest in making sure he doesn’t die, okay? He dies and I cease to exist. Already made that mistake once during this entire saga and I kind of like existing most of the time. I don’t want my dad to die any more than you want your son to die.” The boy couldn’t keep quiet as Lily dragged him towards the back gate, snatching his wand and placing it in the hand holding Harry and grabbing the panicking teen again.
“Come on, this way,” she said pulling him through the gate that led into the street adjacent to the front door and the fighting. She risked a look back and saw that James hadn’t followed. She turned on the boy, wand swapping hand before she pointed his own wand at him. Harry was fussing loudly, frightened by the sudden rush and raised voices.
“Who are you?” she had his wand against his neck. His eyes went wide as lighting flashed. They were as green as Harry’s. “How-?”
Her question was cut off by the teen. “Really? Surely step one should getting away from the darkest and most evil wizard of all time and step two should be worrying about time-traveling calamities and mysterious teenagers. Can we please get out of here?”
“Right, one crisis at a time,” Lily agrees. Offering her arm out to the young boy who, if his mumbling were true, was her grandson. She could definitely see the Potter genes in him. He grabbed her arm and half a second later she apparated them both and baby Harry.
They reappeared somewhere in London that Albus didn’t recognise. Lily dragged him into a crowd of muggles as she guided them towards a dirty looking building that seemed to have no distinguishing features at all. Hopping up the trio of stairs Lily let go of his hand and hammered on the door.
“Sirius! Sirius! Open the door, it’s Lily!” she pounded on the door, shouting loudly at it. Harry was crying loudly now. The events had been too much for him. The shouting and banging, the cold rain mixed with jolting sensation of Apparating that left Albus feeling incredibly sick, was too much for the baby.
There was muffled sounds of crashing and running and cursing before the door swung open. Albus had seen the old picture of the original Order of the Phoenix that his father had kept but he was unprepared to see the young handsome Sirius Black in the flesh. Sirius’ face flashed with emotion. Worry and shock chief among them. Lily pushed passed him, dragging Albus with her.
“Lily, what happened?” Sirius asked, shaken out of his shock by being shoved aside in his own doorway. “Where’s James? Who’s the kid?”
“I don’t know Sirius! Voldemort was coming. He was coming to kill us when a fight started outside the cottage. Someone was fighting Voldemort and James must have stayed behind to help. You have to go and help him Sirius!” Lily was frantic, trying to calm Harry as he cried in distress. Bobbing him up and down, rubbing his back as she spoke.
“Who’s the kid?” Sirius asked, looking at Albus, clearly confused.
“He burst through the door just as the fighting started. He came to warn us,” Lily said, looking down at Albus. “You need to go Sirius! Go help and James!”
“And my dad! He was the one fighting Voldemort,” Albus added. “Please?”
Sirius nodded, eyes darting between the teen and Lily. “Are you going to be okay, Lily?” he finally asked, eyes settling on her. She nodded and he darted out the door and was gone.
Lily pocketed Albus’ wand and moved to a small living room that led into an open kitchen. She collapsed into an armchair, eyeing Albus wearily.
He stood there, fidgeting awkwardly with his sleeves before he sat across from her. “These sofas are gross. They look like they belong to the seventies… which they probably do. I always forget this decade is all greens and browns and gross.”
Lily raises an eyebrow at his comment and pulls out his wand again. It’s not pointed at him, but she casts a patronus that quickly gallops away into a shroud of silvery mist. She rests the want facing him, pointed at the floor by his feet.
“Was that a patronus?” Albus asked, eyes wide. “So cool.”
“Now, who are you? And why have you been following us the last two days?” Lily asked. Her face, usually filled with warmth and love, was set and hardened. Albus swallowed nervously. He suddenly found his worn out shirt sleeve fascinating as he started playing with it.
“Um… well I guess I could tell you,” Albus mumbled to the floor. “What I said earlier is the truth. My dad is Harry Potter.” He said, lifting his gaze up, not to meet Lily’s but to look at the young child that would become his father. “I’m Albus Potter. Your grandson. Or I will be…”
His own wand, in the hands of his grandmother, was pointed at him now. “How?” It was a deceptively simple question with no easy answer.
He told her everything he could from the first fight with his dad to how he stole the Time-Turner to Delphi to being betrayed and abandoned here, to watch his grandparents die. He slowly curled up in the seat as he told the story. Slowly withdrawing himself into a ball on the tatty sofa across from her. He was telling her of how badly he messed up and he was left feeling small and alone and like the total failure he had been desperately trying to prove he wasn’t.
Harry had his back to his parent’s cottage as sidestepped out of the way of a nasty curse. He countered with as many curses and jinxes as he could before Voldemort sent something his way that he was forced to block. The shield reflecting the curse up into the night sky.
They danced around each other as they duelled. Apparating around each other in an effort get the upper hand. Harry appeared with his back towards the cottage again as a spell flew over his shoulder towards Voldemort. He sidestepped a slashing curse and saw his dad running towards the fight, wand out.
He shifted his gaze back towards Voldemort. He sent his own cutting curse and followed it with a trio of stunning spells that forced Voldemort to apperate out of the way. Harry took the half second to turn, partially to keep an eye out for where Voldemort would reappear and partially to look at his dad, James Potter. To actually see him properly with his own eyes.
Voldemort appeared in a pillar of inky smoke behind James and sent a curse towards his back. Harry was faster, wandlessly shoving James aside with a wave of his hand and deflecting the spell with a well-placed shield charm. James let out a cry of alarm as he was send tumbling over the low wall and into Bathilda’s front garden, his wand disappearing into the shrubbery.
This needed to end quickly. It wouldn’t be long before someone showed up. This wasn’t a subtle duel and there were far too many muggles in the village to risk keeping this going for too long. Clearly Voldemort felt the same way.
“Enough of this!” he cried out. “Avada Kedavra!” His wand was pointed at Harry.
“Expelliarmus!” Green met red and light flashed brilliantly as Harry held strong against Voldemort’s curse. James could only watch as the two spells moved back and forth, one moment edging towards Voldemort, the next moving towards the mystery man.
“Get out of here!” the man shouted at James. “James, go! Please!”
He didn’t move. He caught the man’s eyes, bright green in the spell light, pleading with him. James didn’t move. The spell moved back towards Voldemort. “Dad run!” the man shouted and James scrambled for his wand in the bushes. ‘Dad? What..?’
He didn’t have time to contemplate what the man said as the joined spells exploded outwards, apparently having reached one of the duellers. The force of it sent James into the bush. He had to quickly untangled himself and found his wand, ready to jump back into the fight. He turned and jumped back over the wall. Voldemort was gone, his robes fluttering in the wind as the rain soaked them into the ground. The bone white wand was on the ground nearby to tangle of robes. The man was on the floor, several feet back from where he had been standing.
James ran over to him. The man was twenty or so years older than James and had the same messy dark hair that plagued all Potter men. His glasses had been knocked off and James collected them and the man’s wand as he checked him over. He was, miraculously, still breathing. Blood was pooling beneath his head and his breathing, as miraculous as it was, was jagged and shallow.
James took the opportunity to check the man’s pockets to find his ID card in small leather wallet and a moleskin pouch.
James flipped the ID wallet opened and let out a confused noise that seemed to jam in his throat. It was there in plain black ink.
Harry James Potter
Date of Birth: 31st July 1980
Position: Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement
Issued: 27th March 2019
A picture of the man was clear as day in the centre of the ID wallet. He pocketed the ID wallet without looking at what else was tucked into it as well as the pouch and wand. James didn’t trust any of it. Despite duelling Voldemort James couldn’t afford to trust him. Not yet. He would get answers once they were safe.
He took his wand and tried to stem the bleeding. He would need proper medical attention but James could at least make sure the man didn’t bleed out anytime soon.
A hulking figure appeared at the end of the street next to the discarded dark robes. “James! James! Is that you?” the massive hulking man asked. Hagrid moved towards him in a half-run as James stood to greet him.
“Hagrid! Come on, I could use a hand!” James embraced Hagrid in a half hug before going back to the older man on the floor at their feet. “He’s hurt. He defeated Voldemort. I don’t know how but he did. We need to get him out of here before the muggles show up.”
Hagrid let out a surprised string of noises but nodded and went to pick the man up. There was a crack, distinct from the thunder that had plagued the night, and the sound of someone running.
“James!” It was Sirius, sprinting towards them from the direction of the church. He skidded to a halt as he drew closer. His wand was drawn and he looked wild. “James! Where’s Voldemort?”
James embraced Sirius as Hagrid gently picked up the unconscious man. “He’s gone.”
“Gone? How?” Sirius looked like he didn’t believe him. James couldn’t blame him.
“I don’t know but we have him to thank,” James said, nodding towards the man in Hagrid’s arms.
“Let’s go, back to mine. Lily is there with Harry and some kid. She’s probably already sent word to Dumbledore,” Sirius was thankfully thinking quickly. “I’ll take Hagrid and meet you there.”
James nodded his agreement and watched as Sirius took Hagrid and apparated out of there. He turned back towards the cottage he had lived in for the last year and a bit with his wife and son. He wasn't quite prepared to give it up just yet. He walked back towards the cottage as the distant sound of muggle sirens could be heard.