The couple in front of Harry froze, though neither of them appeared very surprised at his sudden appearance. In fact, the boy’s face broke into a shaky grin, though it quickly faded as Harry’s wand remained pointed at the pair.
“Show me your hands, and slowly!” he demanded, and they unwound themselves from around each other and tentatively lifted empty hands into the air.
“Harry? Harry, it’s us,” the boy said, his words stumbling over themselves. “Ron and Hermione, you know, your friends?”
Harry just glared at him.
“And how do I know you’re not Death Eaters?”
Ron shrugged. “Ask us anything, mate.”
Harry looked at him steadily for a moment, his expression thoughtful, before nodding once.
“Right, Red, what kind of creature did Hagrid tell us to go see in our second year, and what was its name?”
Ron blinked, an involuntary shudder rippling through him.
“I “ I think it’s called an Acromantula. It was a giant spider, anyway, and its name was Aragog.” He shuddered again. “I still have nightmares about that, sometimes.”
Harry’s features relaxed, and he almost grinned, but kept his face stern as he turned to Hermione.
“Hermione, what happened to you the first time you took Polyjuice Potion?”
She scowled. “You had to bring that up, didn’t you?” she grumbled. “I accidentally used cat hair instead of human, and I ended up with a furry face, yellow eyes, whiskers, pointed ears, and a tail! A tail!”
Harry’s face broke into a full grin this time, and he chuckled, unable to help himself. He lowered his wand, though he still held it loosely in his hand, just in case.
“Yes, you did,” he agreed, “And it wasn’t quite as bad as you think. Though it was a bit funny…” She gave a little huff as he smirked at her. Ron, on the other hand, gave a short bark of laughter before slinging his arm casually around her and squeezing her shoulders.
“Harry’s right, it wasn’t that bad, Hermione.” He grinned impishly at her, and reached out his other hand to chuck her on the chin. “I thought the ears and tail were rather cute, actually. Though I’m quite glad they weren’t permanent,” he added hastily as she turned her glare on him. But it only lasted a moment before her face melted into a smile, and they both turned back to Harry, who’d been watching their exchange with some interest.
Hermione rushed up to him and enveloped him in an enthusiastic hug, almost knocking him over, while Ron contented himself with patting him on the back as he tried to breathe.
“Hermione!” Harry wheezed. “Air!”
Her grip on him immediately loosened, and she went to stand next to Ron, both of them grinning like idiots. Harry was pretty sure his own expression mirrored theirs, but he didn’t particularly care at the moment.
“What are you doing here? How did you find me? And what’s going on between you two?” He asked the last question as Ron reached for Hermione’s hand, though he quickly dropped it when he realized Harry had noticed.
“Er…well…er, nothing, really,” Ron stuttered. Hermione gave him a hurt look, then turned back to Harry.
“We came looking for you, with Tonks, and she suggested we pretend to be a couple because that way it was more plausible that Ron was spending Christmas with me instead of his family.”
“Well, it’s not like it’s completely unlikely! I mean, you spend nearly every Christmas with us anyway,” Ron argued, and Hermione sighed.
“Yes, Ron,” she said patiently. “But I usually spend Christmas day with my parents, and most girls don’t travel on the holidays with boys who are ‘just friends’.”
Ron started to protest again, but Hermione shushed him before answering Harry’s other questions.
“We found Ginny’s glove by the stone circle “ ” she began, but before she could continue, Ron interrupted her.
“Where is she, anyway? Why isn’t she with you? Is she all right?” he demanded. Harry held up a placating hand.
“She’s fine, don’t worry. I wouldn’t have left her if I didn’t think she was safe. I mean, come on Ron, I broke up with her to protect her!”
Ron looked slightly mollified, though not fully satisfied. “I’d still like to see her. Just to make sure.”
Harry glanced at the dark sky before replying, “I’ll bring her to see you tomorrow, all right?”
Ron nodded as Hermione looked at him impatiently. “May I continue?” She took a breath and began speaking before he could open his mouth.
“Quite frankly, we nearly panicked when we realized you were missing. We looked for you for two hours, and when we couldn’t find you, we went back to the school and asked McGonagall for help. She’d had some experience with the circles before, so she told us what they were, then she and some of the other Order members figured out when and where you were. They decided to send a team in to bring you both back, and Tonks, Ron, and I were the only ones who wouldn’t be recognized. And Ron and I thought you’d be more likely to understand everything coming from us.”
Harry nodded, sticking his wand back in his pocket.
“You were right,” he agreed as he swung his Invisibility Cloak over his shoulders. “Listen, wait here a second; I’ve got to go let my dad know everything’s all right.”
Hermione looked at him piercingly. “I thought that was your father. Listen, Harry, you aren’t going to try and tell them what’s going to happen to them, are you? Because””
“No, I’m not!” he broke in sharply, the cloak limp and forgotten in his fist. “I’m not stupid, I know that could mess up the future!”
Hermione winced, and Ron put an arm around her shoulder again, frowning at Harry.
“She didn’t mean it that way, mate,” he said softly. “We just know how you feel, that’s all. I mean, not exactly, but we can guess. I know if it was my parents and I had a chance to save them, even if I knew it would mess up the future, I’d still want to try.”
Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair so that it stood on end. “I do, but I know I can’t,” he said dully. “I mean, there’s a good chance they’ll figure out something’s happened; I think they already have, actually. But I’m not going to tell them anything that will save them. Though I have a feeling that even if I do, Voldemort will manage to kill them later.” He murmured the last sentence, as if speaking to himself.
Hermione stepped hesitantly forward and placed her arms around him again, more carefully this time.
“It’ll be okay, Harry,” she said quietly. “At least you’ve got this time with them. Ron and I will be staying at the hotel with Tonks most of the time anyway, so you won’t have to worry about us interfering or anything.”
Harry shot her a grateful look and patted her awkwardly on the back before stepping away.
“Thanks,” he said simply as he raised the hood of his cloak, vanishing from sight. “I’ll be right back.”
He walked to the end of the street and turned the same corner his father had, nearly running into James.
“Dad!” he hissed, and James whirled, hand in his pocket.
“Harry?” he asked.
“It’s me, can you come back? It’s all right; they’re my friends, not Death Eaters, I’ve checked. I’d like you to meet them, if you don’t mind.”
James looked around in disbelief. “What do you mean, your friends? I thought you didn’t have any friends here, you know, being from the future and all.”
Harry winced at the distrust that had sneaked back into his father’s voice, and pulled James around the corner and out of sight of the main road.
“Look,” he said desperately, pulling off the Invisibility Cloak. “I can explain”they’re from the future, too! They were with me and Ginny before we disappeared, and apparently there’s some way to track people through time, so they found us. I’ve been telling you the truth, I swear!”
James studied him for a few moments before nodding once, though his expression was cautious. “All right,” he said finally, and Harry smiled in relief. His father had just started to trust him, and he didn’t want anything to mess that up. For a moment he found himself wishing his friends had stayed in the future…but there was no point in thinking that. They were here, and while he wasn’t happy with the disturbance they were causing, he was glad to see them.
“Let’s meet these friends of yours, then,” James said, and Harry was jolted out of his thoughts. He nodded quickly and started towards the end of the street, his father following.
“Dad, er, James, these are my best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.”
James shook their hands warily. “Nice to meet you. Is anyone else going to drop in from the future that I should know about?”
Ron laughed, and even Hermione smiled as she answered, “Just our chaperone, I’m afraid, but you don’t know her. And we’ll be out of your hair, for the most part; we just wanted to make sure Harry was safe and able to get back as soon as possible.”
James glanced at Harry, whose face had dropped at the mention of his return.
“And when might that be, exactly?” James asked.
“New Year’s Eve, at midnight,” came Hermione’s precise reply. “We’ll be traveling back through the stone circle, and that’s one of the times when it’s strongest.”
James nodded absently, his gaze still fixed on Harry. “So, we’ve got just over a week with you then,” he said quietly. His face had softened at Harry’s glum expression. “We’ll make it count,” he continued, and Harry’s head snapped up. He stared hard at his father for a moment, then his face broke into a grin.
“Thanks, Dad.”
James smiled and patted him clumsily on the back. There was an awkward silence for a moment, then Ron cleared his throat.
“So, Harry, erm, I guess we can go now. I mean, we know you’re here and safe and all that, so we probably need to meet with Tonks to let her know what’s going on.”
Hermione gave him an exasperated look. “No, we don’t, Ron, we can contact her through the mirrors, remember?” She turned to Harry. “Tonks gave us two-way mirrors to communicate; you know, like the one Sirius gave you.”
James looked at Harry, interested now. “Sirius gave you a set of those? Cool! We used to use them when we had separate detentions.”
Harry’s throat suddenly seemed to constrict as he thought about the godfather he’d lost a year and a half ago, and he struggled to get the words out.
“Yeah…he told me that.” He tried to smile, but it came out as a sort of weak grimace instead. Hermione seemed to sense his anguish, and broke in.
“Anyway, Tonks wanted us to find out where you’re staying so we can get in touch with you when we need to.” She smiled brightly at James. “Is he staying with you?”
James looked at her, a little startled to find her addressing him. “Oh, yeah, we’ve put him and Ginny in the guest room. We don’t have a lot of space, you see.”
Ron’s ears turned red, and a flush started creeping up his neck. “I suppose you’re being a gentleman and sleeping on the floor, right, Harry?” he asked menacingly, and Harry turned pale.
“Er…well, yeah…of course,” he stammered, and James turned to Ron in surprise, his resemblance to Ginny finally seeming to click.
“Are you her brother?” Ron nodded grimly, and James winced. “Right. Don’t worry, the guest room’s got two twin beds,” he lied, and Ron seemed slightly mollified, though he continued to glare at Harry as Hermione tried to redirect the conversation elsewhere.
“So, Harry, do you and Ginny still have the Galleons from the D.A.? Because I was thinking we could use them to communicate with each other. Or we could try the mirrors; that would work, too. I’d just have to enchant one for you and Ginny.”
Harry nodded. “Ginny’s got her Galleon with her, so we can use that for now, though if you want to enchant a couple of mirrors that would probably work better. You can give them to us later though, after you’ve talked to Tonks.”
Hermione nodded and started tugging on Ron’s arm. He started to move reluctantly, dragging his feet and looking over his shoulder at Harry as they headed back towards the hotel.
As soon as they were out of sight, Harry sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face.
“Thanks for that,” he said hoarsely to James. “Ron would’ve killed me. Might still kill me, actually.”
James chuckled. “Big brothers are like that sometimes,” he said easily. “I’ve had to help Sirius get out of a couple of scrapes when a girl’s big brother wasn’t keen on the idea of Sirius going out with his baby sister.”
Harry nodded, groaning. “And Ron’s the youngest! She’s got five more!”
James’s eyebrows shot to the top of his forehead. “Five? Are you crazy?”
Harry nodded again. “I must be. And Ron’s my best friend, besides. And really protective. Hates every guy she’s with.”
He thought back to the day he and Ron had discovered Ginny and Dean kissing behind the tapestry, and his hands balled into fists. James slung an arm around his shoulders and started steering him in the direction they’d come from hours earlier.
“Don’t worry about it too much,” he soothed. “Just treat her with the respect I know you have for her…and don’t let Ron catch the two of you in a broom closet.”
Harry grinned in spite of himself before pulling away and tugging the Invisibility Cloak back over his head. They’d just reached the end of the side street, and though it was getting a bit dark, it was still a bad idea for him to be wandering Godric’s Hollow without it. But it didn’t take them long to leave the hamlet behind them, and as soon as they were far enough away, Harry pulled off the cloak so that it was easier for him and his father to talk.
James looked over at him hesitantly. “You know, if it’s a problem, you can sleep on the couch and Ginny can have the guest room. We normally wouldn’t have made you stay in the same room; it’s just that we didn’t know if we could trust you, you see.” He flashed a sudden grin in Harry’s direction. “And you didn’t look like you’d complain too loudly anyway.”
Harry shrugged ruefully. “What can I say? Any guy in his right mind would jump at the chance to spend the night with Ginny. Particularly me.” He muttered the last words under his breath as James continued.
“Right, well, we didn’t want you running around the living room, and frankly, I was worried about you going after the baby. Not turning on the heat in your room was Lily’s idea; she wanted you to be too preoccupied and uncomfortable to try anything.”
“I certainly was,” Harry said, and James clapped him on the back.
“So, how did things turn out?” James asked, wagging his eyebrows suggestively. Harry laughed.
“Well, at first I tried to be chivalrous and sleep on the floor, but Ginny wasn’t having it. She was worried I’d get hypothermia; she practically forced me to climb into bed with her.”
James snorted. “I’m sure that was torturous.”
Harry’s smile suddenly faded as he remembered how he and Ginny had finally spent the night.
“Yeah, it kind of was,” he said glumly, and James frowned at the change in his voice. “I think she cried herself to sleep, if she slept at all. I didn’t get any rest either because I was worried about her. And we stayed as far away from each other as we could get.”
James sighed and slung an arm around his shoulders. “Look, I’m sure you’ll work it out eventually. Just…I don’t know, go with your gut and try not to hurt her.”
Harry nodded as the lights of the cottage came into view. Someone was in the kitchen, and he could hear childish laughter as they reached the door. James raised his hand and knocked.
“Who is it?” Lily called.
“It is I, your darling husband, bringing supplies for the feast tomorrow night!” James replied, grinning.
“I don’t believe you; my husband wouldn’t have remembered what to get and would have returned home empty-handed.”
Harry snorted, and James rolled his eyes at him, though he had a huge grin on his face. “Now, Lily…er, my flower “”
“And my husband would never call me his flower, unless, of course, he wanted to sleep in the sitting room tonight.” James winced as Harry burst into full-fledged laughter.
“Lily! It’s me and Harry! Ask the security questions if you want, but let us in, it’s freezing!”
Harry could hear giggling and whispering behind the door as the two witches tried to decide what to ask them. James turned and rolled his eyes at him.
“Trying to figure out the most embarrassing questions they possibly can,” he said to Harry in a low voice, who nodded his agreement.
“We should do the same,” Harry replied, and James looked at him thoughtfully before a mischievous smirk spread over his face.
“You’re definitely my son,” he said smugly, and Harry smiled faintly.
“Right,” Ginny called through the door. “Harry, how did the rumor get started that you had a Horntail tattooed on your chest?”
James looked over at him and raised his eyebrows. “You’ve got a Horntail tattoo? And on your chest, no less? I don’t even think Sirius has one of those!”
Harry laughed. “No, I don’t actually, but Ginny thought it would be funny to tell a fourth-year gossip that I did. And she was right, it was hilarious.”
Ginny giggled from behind the door. “You should have seen her face! Her eyes got as big as Quaffles!”
“Your question, Ginny,” Harry said. “What did you compare my eyes to in your first year?”
There was silence for a moment, but then he heard a chuckle before she answered, “A fresh-pickled toad.”
“You’ve certainly got a way with words, Ginny,” Harry heard Lily say from behind the door, laughter in her voice.
“I was eleven! How good were you with compliments at that age? Besides, I wanted it to rhyme. And, sadly, it did.”
“Okay, okay, Lily’s question!” James broke in. He grinned broadly. “What rather embarrassing thing happened to you at breakfast in the Great Hall during our sixth year?”
“Ugh, you had to ask that, didn’t you?” Lily groused from behind the door. “Fine, one of the Slytherins thought it would be funny if his owl defecated above the Gryffindor table, and I happened to be right under it when it did. It wasn’t the most pleasant thing I’ve ever experienced.”
Harry snorted and choked, trying to hold in his laughter as he winced in sympathy.
“Right, your turn, James,” Lily said, and James looked a trifle uneasy.
“She’d better not ask about””
“What happened every time you asked me out in fifth year?”
He sighed. “She asked about it,” he muttered, his ears turning pink. In a louder voice, he answered, “You hit me with a curse that stuck my tongue to the roof of my mouth, so I had to mime everything until I found one of my friends and convinced them to take it off, which wasn’t always easy to do.” He scowled at Harry’s questioning look. “Sirius thought it was hilarious and wouldn’t do it half the time, and Peter couldn’t remember how to the other half. The only one who ever took pity on me was Remus.”
At this point, Harry and Ginny were both laughing so hard it was difficult for James to make himself heard through the door. Harry was bent over and struggling to breathe when he heard the lock click and caught a glimpse of his mother’s face as she opened the door. James stalked forward, his face looking like a thundercloud.
“Oh, come on, James, lighten up!” Lily teased as he walked through the door in a huff. James pretended to ignore his wife as he deposited the groceries on the kitchen table, but as soon as she’d taken a step in his direction, he whirled and charged her.
“Oh, now you’re in for it!” he shouted triumphantly as Lily squealed and dodged around the couch.
Harry watched, bemused, as his parents tore around the house like giddy teenagers while Ginny leaned against the table, smiling, his infant self on her hip.
He wanted to wrap her in his arms and kiss her senseless right there…but he knew he shouldn’t, not if they were going to stay friends and not lovers. But then he thought of what James had told him in town, and he frowned thoughtfully.
Ginny pushed away from the table and walked up to him, bouncing baby Harry until he giggled and squirmed to be put down. She obligingly set him down next to the sofa, where his parents kept a pile of his toys. She watched him for a few minutes until he was happily occupied before turning back to Harry.
“Knut for your thoughts,” she said quietly, raising one eyebrow. He smiled. She’d always been able to tell when something was troubling him. He bent and kissed her cheek.
“I’ll tell you later,” he breathed in her ear. “Promise.”
Of Christmas Past by Chaser921
Chapter Notes: I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving; I certainly did. And this chapter is nice and long, so it should make up for the length of time it took me to write it. Again, much thanks to my wonderful beta, yemeron. Enjoy!
Chapter Endnotes: So, I actually ended up expanding James' password story into a fanfiction. It's called Langlock, and it's in my list of stories. Read it, you'll like it!