Chapter Twenty-Three

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James:

I just said goodbye to Old Padfoot, and it was a lot harder than I expected it to be. I mean, I can't even imagine what he is going through, and I know that for him that was him saying bis final goodbye to me. That's a lot to take in.

Right now, me, young Pads and Dumbledore are walking back up to the castle. When we get there, Dumbledore asks us to come up to his office. When we arrive, we see that Lily, Marly, Alice, Mary, Moony and Peter have arrived. Pads and I take our seats (there are a bunch set out in front of Dumbledore's desk) and Dumbledore remains standing. "So, now that you all know your futures, I think that it is fine for your children to know who you are. I shall be sending you back to your own time soon, where you will be obliviated, but I feel that it is only right for Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom to be able to talk to their parents - something that they have not been able to do in quite some time. Also, Professors Lupin and Snape will be informed of your true identities, and will also get the opportunity to say a final goodbye, along with Professor McGonagall. Is that all right?" Dumbledore says, and we all nod our heads. So, Harry is going to meet me and Lily for the first time since he was a baby - that's huge. I can't wait to meet him, as my son, and tell him how proud I am of him.

A couple of minutes after Dumbledore says all of this, Minnie G enters the room and calls Lily and I out. Here we go; This is it. I look at Lily, and she almost instantly looks up at me. Our eyes meet, and for a split-second I feel totally filled with happiness. Then Minnie G speaks up, "Ok, I'm going to turn your appearances back now.". Suddenly, Lily and I look like, well, ourselves again! We're currently sitting in Professor McGonagall's office, and someone has just knocked on the door. Lily and I stand up, as does McGonagall, who goes and opens the office door.

A boy, who looks almost identical to me, walks into the office. When he sees us, his face shows several expressions in the space of about five seconds; shock, happiness, anger, grief, etc. I smile at him, and he tries to open his mouth to say something but no words form. "I...I...what?" he eventually gets out, and McGonagall smiles at him and says, "Take a seat, Mr Potter.". Harry, Lily and I all sit down, and Harry does not take his eyes off of us for a second. "Who are these people?" Harry whispers, and I can feel Lily tense beside me. I know that it must hurt her, the fact that her own son doesn't recognise her; doesn't believe that it's actually her. I see her hand sitting on her chair's arm, and I take a big risk. I reach out a give it a reassuring squeeze. Lily removes her eyes from Harry and looks at me, and smiles. I feel my heart swell, and Harry gasps.

"No way! No fucking way!" he says, completely and utterly shocked. "Yes, Mr Potter. And I'll let you get away with that piece of language this one time, is that clear?" McGonagall says, and Harry grins. Lily and I both grin back and Harry jumps into our arms. It's really weird, because I know that in a couple of hours I won't even remember this, and Lily and I haven't even had Harry yet. We have a sort-of family hug, and then we get to talking. After about ten minutes, however, it's time to say goodbye. "Goodbye, Harry! I love you." Lily says, giving him a hug, and she has tears in her eyes. "Bye, Harry! We're really proud of you, ok?" I say, and Harry looks at me, and grins. "Bye Mum, Bye Dad!" he says, and at this moment, my heart is full.

After saying goodbye to Harry, Lily and I head back to Dumbledore's office, where we meet everyone else and find out that Alice has just done the same thing for Neville as we have for Harry. Everyone's appearances are now back to normal, and we all take our seats once again. Then, Professors Lupin, Snape and McGonagall enter Dumbledore's office. 

You can see the shock on Old Man Moony's face when he sees us, and you can see Snivelly Snape slowly becoming utterly stunned. Old Man Moony looks at Dumbledore, who nods, and he immediately rushes over to me and gives me a big hug. "Hey Prongs!" he says, tears forming in his eyes. You can just see how broken Moony is, and I know that I can make that better. "Hey Moons!" I reply, grinning. He grins back at me and that's when young Moony and young Pads come over. You can see Old Man Moony's eyes narrow when he sees Padfoot, so I take this opportunity to say, "Moons, Padfoot is innocent. I just went to talk to him - he didn't do it. He wouldn't! Please believe that!". Old Man Moony looks a little bit shocked, but then nods his head and embraces Padfoot too. Him and young Moony look at each other weirdly for a couple of seconds before we all burst out laughing.

This is how it is supposed to be.

Lily:

After saying an emotional goodbye to Harry, James and I are sitting back in Dumbledore's office when Professors Lupin, Snape and McGonagall walk in. When I see Severus, I can see that he is stunned to see me. When Professor Lupin goes over to talk to the Marauders, and Professor McGonagall chats with the girls, Severus slowly makes his way over to me. 

"Lily." he whispers, shocked. I nod my head, and smile. "Hey Sev!" I say, and he looks shocked by the use of my nickname for him - he clearly hasn't heard it in a while! After a brief catch up, and I say goodbye to Professor Lupin and Professor McGonagall as well, Dumbledore announces that it is time for us to leave. After saying our final goodbyes, Dumbledore takes out a time turner and then, everything goes dark.

We wake up in Dumbledore's office in our own time, and he asks us where we were and what we were doing. We tell him all about the time turner, and the future, and then Dumbledore removes our memories of this entire thing (except for the lessons).

I go along to my classes, and everyone thinks that we've all just been in the hospital wing for a while. We're totally back to normal. James and I hate each other, we most certainly do not get along with the Marauders and there is a war slowly building just outside of these walls.

I don't remember anything; not Harry, not Sirius. Nothing.

A/N - And that's the end! I hope that you enjoyed the story! I'll be starting another one soon - go and check it out on my profile! <3

Started ~ July 1st 2020

Finished ~ July 23rd 2020


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