Regained Moments

Chapter 3

"James Potter," Mme Pomfrey said sternly, hands on her hips as she looked at the 16 year old with disappointment and anger. "I understand that mistakes can happen and you may not have meant to have a child, but how could you not look out for the health of your partners."

"But-" James tried to object, but he was quickly interrupted by a hand in his face.

"Even if it was a one night stand you should still keep an eye out in case of this situation, do you understand?" Mme Pomfrey fixed James with a firm glare, her tone suggesting that she wasn't going to take any answer other than that he understood.

"I haven't slept with anyone with a vagina! At least not that I know of, meaning that if I have I didn't consent. I would never do that and abandon a child I knew about." James said, his tone a little overly earnest even though he wasn't lying. "Do you even know who the mother is yet?"

Mme Pomfrey went back to her spell that she had paused to chastise James' seeming abandonment of a baby and partner. James peeked over her shoulder, not that he could understand what the different waves of magic meant as he hadn't learnt these kinds of medical spells.

"I owe you an apology, Mr Potter." Mme Pomfrey said when the magic stopped, sighing slightly. "I would have known about this child if they were from this time."

"It's fine, I don't think anyone would have expected them to be from the future, there was no time turner and it's basically impossible for someone to go back in time otherwise." James said, waving his hands. "But who's the mother? I swear I won't do anything to harm them."

Mme Pomfrey fixed James with a rather stern look, seeming like she was trying to figure out if he was telly the truth that he wasn't going to force the mother into anything. "Lily Evans."

"Wait, seriously?" James asked, his eyes immediately widening in shock as he took a small step back. "Mme Pomfrey, this isn't something you should joke about."

"Mr Potter, am I the kind of person who would let a situation like this turn into a joke?" Mme Pomfrey snapped at James who was still standing with his mouth open, staring at her. "If you go back on your word to treat the mother with respect then I will be the one to deal with you."

"I swear I won't. How are they though? Why did they pass out?" James asked, turning the attention back to the child on the bed, their mouth in a slight frown and was trembling slightly.

"Their magic is pretty drained due to the presumably accidental magic sending him back here. Otherwise there's nothing exactly dangerous, everything else can be easily healed. Now off you go, I'll call for you when they wake up." Mme Pomfrey said, making shooing motions at James as she moved closer to the boy, flicking her wand at her bag causing it to zoom over to her and open itself on the chair next to the child's bed, all the potions on show.

"Yeah, okay, be careful with them, that's my kid." James said, looking at the child sadly as he walked out.

"Who do you think I am?" He heard Mme Pomfrey mutter.

James headed to Professor McGonagall's office, he was going to write to his parents soon, Lily may be the child's mother, but they were clearly powerful, so magical parents would be better at dealing with them. That being said, his parents owned a business and were often very busy with that, and he was more than okay with looking after his kid while waiting for them to be able to come to Hogwarts, so he wanted to talk to Professor McGonagall about what he would need to do that.

"Professor McGonagall?" James asked as he knocked on the door to her office, being allowed in very quickly.

-----

Harry woke up again, and while he was in a completely different place, he could tell from the bare stole ceiling that he was probably in the same building, he hadn't woken up! He was still in the same place, he could look around, and he didn't feel any pain anymore, but his head felt a little stuffy.

"Hello, you awake?" A slightly shaky, rough, feminine voice asked from beside him, making Harry jump, making him realise he was in a rather wide bed that was much softer than the mattress he slept on in his cupboard.

"H-hello." Harry stuttered, grabbing the blanket that was covering him firmly in his fist. He knew he didn't deserve it, but he was still scared that it would be ripped away from him.

"What's your name kiddo?" Another voice said, one he remembered from the last time he was aware of this dream, it was the person who had caught him, making Harry flinch away again.

"A-at school they call me Harry." He said, trying to stop his hands from trembling, knowing he wasn't supposed to tremble.

"What do they call you at home?" The younger one asked, their eyebrows wrinkling together in a way that seemed concerned.

"I-I'm not really supposed to say..." Harry said, chewing his lip before he realised that this was all a dream anyway, so it didn't matter. "But it's Freak, Boy, Brat, Fucking Useless, Piece of Shit, um... And Weirdo."

"Who is it you live with?" The older person asked, also looking concerned, the younger now gently holding one of Harry's hands, Harry would feel the warmth, but he couldn't tell if it was for comfort or so their hand was on Harry for when he did something wrong.

"My aunt and uncle." Harry said, eyes flicking between the two people, the hand around his stiffening slightly, but not tightening.

"What about your parents?" The older person asked again, when glancing at the younger Harry noticed their jaw was clenched, Harry hoped he hadn't done anything wrong.

"I'm not supposed to ask questions, but aunt Petunia said they dies in a car crash, but sometimes I have dreams where I remember a bright green light and a scream." Harry said, mumbling slightly. He really wanted to ask who these people were, but no matter how much he wanted to, he knew the rules. No asking questions.

"Hello Harry." The younger person who was holding his hand said, after closing their eyes for a deep sigh, then smiling broadly at Harry, their hair messy and falling in front of their glasses and brown eyes, it looked cool in the kind of way Vernon would always scoff at. "I'm James Potter, your dad."

Harry just stared at the person in front of him, blinking with eyes wider than normal. He didn't know how he was supposed to respond, his parents were dead, if they weren't why would the Dursleys keep him? Besides, this person looked too young to be his father.

"My parents can come in just over a month, so in that time you're going to stay here with me while I go to classes. I don't see why my parents would refuse to take you, but if they do then you'll be spending all time except holidays here with me." James said, looking excited, not that Harry knew why he would be excited about spending time with him, nobody ever wanted to spend time with Harry.

"Tha-thank you." Harry stuttered, feeling like he couldn't look at James out of embarrassment. He didn't want to tell him people don't like Harry, and he didn't want James or James' parents to find out how bad of a kid he was and about all the freakish things that happened around him.

"Of course, you are my son." James said, ruffling Harry's hair, his touch gentle, kind, and warm. "You're going to have to take some potions for a while, and they're not going to taste good and they're going to make you sleepy, but you need to take them anyway, but it's fine if you fall asleep."

"Okay." Harry said with a small nod. He liked James already, and he just hoped things would stay okay. He was okay with taking gross things as long as it meant he got to stay with nice people.

"Can I take him now?" James asked, looking past Harry to the older person on Harry's other side, Harry following James' eyes to look at her too.

"Yes, explain everything to him and make sure to bring him back if there's anything wrong." They said, sighing and standing up, their knees clicking.

James picked Harry up, which he wasn't expecting, and started walking with him. Harry couldn't remember the last time he had been carried, he had always been expected to be self sufficient at the Dursleys, and even when Dudley was still being hauled around by Vernon Harry had been left to struggle to keep up and pick himself up when he fell over all alone.