It's not easy to explain, but . . .

Chapter 66

                                         Chapter 66: Winging It

"That wasn't one of the scenarios we'd discussed, was it?" Dan asked, looking at Harry.

"No . . . no it wasn't," sighed Harry.  "It was my stupid 'Gryffindor/nobody gets hurt on my account/gotta save everybody' mentality that kicked in, you see."

"Mental is right," Rupert sat back, shaking his head.

"Guys . . . think . . . Harry and Neville are both here . . . they're okay," Emma pointed out to her friends.

"Oh . . . right . . . brilliant,"  Dan admitted, blushing, even as Rupert smacked himself on his forehead, rolling his eyes.

"Little slow on the uptake, aren't they?"  Tom grinned, looking over to Draco.

"A bit, but then, they're Gryffindors," Draco smirked, then laughed.  "Truthfully, though, everyone there had a collective heart attack, watching that happen."

X X X

Harry became aware of light filtering through his closed eyelids and ventured to open them a bit . . . yes, this is what it was supposed to look like, if the books and movies were any indication . . .but . . . wait . . . this wasn't King's Cross.

He pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked around.  He was in a garden, at the rear of a cottage which looked vaguely familiar . . . was it his parent's place in Godric's Hollow?  Getting to his feet, he turned around and saw that only the garden and the cottage were visible to him, beyond that was foggy and indistinct.

Then he heard it; that painful, mewing and screeching that he knew to be the bit of Voldemort's soul that had been living in him for more than fifteen years.  'But', he thought, looking  around.  'Where is it?'

"Over here, darling,"

Suddenly, his mother and father had appeared, a ways down the stone walkway that led through the garden toward the cottage.  Harry smiled and walked over to them.

"Hello Mum . . . Dad," he said, even as he looked down to see the dying piece of Voldemort's soul, laying on its side under a rose bush.  He turned away from it and faced his parents.

"Hello, son," James said, as he reached out and patted Harry on the shoulder.  Harry jumped a bit and then threw his arms around both of them, hugging them, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I can feel you!" he gasped, when he could find his voice.

"Of course you can,"  Lily laughed.

"But when I saw you with the Resurrection Stone, I couldn't!"  Harry stepped back, quizzical look on his face.

"Ah, but that was just a glimpse of us, through the Stone . . . this is different," explained Lily.  "This is your reality at this moment, just as it was when you met Albus at King's Cross . . . "

"You know about that?" Harry gasped.

"Well, we were with you the first time you went through this, you know . . . we had to go back and do it all again with you . . . working out a bit better this time, though, isn't it?"  James smiled at his son.

"But do I get to make a choice again, this time, or am I really dead?"  Harry asked.

"Oh, I think you know the answer to that,"  replied Lily, as she picked up a basket of cut flowers and turned toward the cottage.