"Daddy..."
Harry woke up. The first thing he felt was coldness under his skin. He felt naked. He opened his eyes, groaning and looked down. He was naked. Naked as the day he was born. But he also noticed that there was not one scratch on him. 'Strange' he thought. Then he thought back to what happened as he stood up. He was in King's Cross.
He died. He was hit with the Killing Curse.
He gasped at the memory. It happened. He's gone. For good. Hermione would be friendless and loveless. Arabella would be without a father. Half an orphan. He began to cry.
"Why are you crying, son?" he heard an angelic voice. He looked up and saw a beautiful woman who couldn't have been much older than him. She had red hair and one of the sweetest-looking faces he'd ever seen. She, unlike him, was wearing clothes. A black turtleneck and jeans. What Harry noticed was her eyes. They were emerald-green's. Like Arabella's. Like his.
"Mum?" She smiled and nodded.
He ran to her and hugged her. He felt warm in her embrace. It was his first motherly hug he'd ever had. He wanted to make it last, but he pulled away. She stroked the side of his face and wiped away his tears.
"A-am I...dead?" he asked her.
She just smiled at him and shook her head. "No, Harry, you're not. You're dying. Not there yet."
"Harry!" he heard behind his mother.
He looked and smiled at his almost doppleganger.
"Come here, rascal!" Harry ran to his father and hugged him tightly.
"You have no idea what it's like to meet your parents for the first time!" he said sobbing now.
"Come on now, pup, don't cry. Potter men don't cry," James tried to man him up.
He chuckled and wiped the tears away. "I just missed you two. For ten years, I was told you two were awful people who didn't care about me. But then I heard the truth from Hagrid and I was...happy that you loved me. And now, I know."
They smiled.
"We will always love you," Lily said. James nodded in agreement.
"I love you, too," their son replied.
"So, I hear you are a father now?" Lily asked crossing her arms sternly. "Want to explain something to us?"
Harry blushed as his father clapped him on this shoulder. "Alright, Harry!" He looked very proud. Lily gave him a stern look and his smile turned to a frown quickly.
"It's okay. I love her. And her mother. Her mother's name is Hermione Granger. Our daughter's name is Arabella Charlotte Granger-Potter. She's beautiful. They both are," he said smiling dreamily. "Arabella has our eyes, Mum. Emerald-green. They're gorgeous. And she has Hermione's not-so-bushy brown hair." They knew all of this information.
"We know. We've been watching you. Hermione seems to be a lovely young woman," Lily said.
Harry grinned thinking of her. "She is. I'm in love with her. But I never got to tell her."
"Harry, we want you to meet some people," James said. And behind him and his wife, four people came out. They weren't that old, but they looked like they were beginning to gray. There were two men and two women.
"Harry, these are your grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa Potter. And Grandma and Grandpa Evans," James introduced.
Harry smiled at them and shook their hands. But they didn't want to shake hands. Grandpa Potter gathered him into a hug. "Oh, boyo, you're so big and grown." They all hugged him tightly.
Harry smiled. This was his family. The family he never had. The family that he was told hated him. But they weren't. They loved him.
After he met his grandparents, they left, leaving the young, broken, but newly formed for a moment, family together.
"So, tell us how Sirius is doing," James asked giving him a blanket to wrap around himself. They sat on a brick bench in King's Cross, with Harry in the middle. "Not very good, but he's getting there. He's in hiding because of Wormtail. People on the battlefield are fighting now trying to capture him for Sirius. To try him for your murders."
The young couple shook their head.
"I still can't believe he sold us out. Wormtail," Lily said sadly.
"Never liked him!" James cried out comically making them laugh.
"And Remus?" Lily asked.
Harry smiled at the memory of Remus. "Amazing. He destroyed the last Horcrux. Nagini. He's also in love with Nymphadora Tonks. They're perfect for each other."
"I'm glad everyone is getting along without us," Lily said.
Harry shook head. "No, Mum, everyone will always have a part missing from them because you two died. They miss you. I can tell. But they have love to get them through. But I have to defeat Voldemort to let them be together."
They nodded. "You'll go back soon enough, son," James said gently.
"When?" he asked.
"When someone calls you to wake up," Lily answered.
Harry nodded and looked glum. "There's no one around me to tell me to wake up."
"No one has to be around to wake you up," his father told him.
Harry looked at him curiously. "Really?"
He nodded. "Yep. Too bad no one called us back. No one was around. Just Voldemort. And no one knew we were dead."
"I would have called you back. If I knew how to speak then." They laughed.
"Thank you, son." They hugged him.
"How long is the 'calling back' offer?" he asked them.
"Hmmm...about two minutes," James replied.
"Well, then I'm dead for sure," Harry said sullenly. "It's been almost an hour!"
"Actually, time is slower here. One hour could be one minute. So, you have little over an hour left."
"Oh, that's brilliant," Harry smiled beaming. He still had a chance.
After a moment, he asked, "So what am I supposed to do here?"
"You're supposed to be reborn, son. Your wounds are healed. You died, exhausted. If someone calls you back, you have to be ready to defeat him."
He reached up and felt for his scar. It was gone. For the first time he felt smooth skin there. It felt amazing against his palm. He closed his eyes at the feeling. His curse was gone. His burden disappeared. Forever. His lightning bolt that he once liked when he was younger was erased from his skin.
He smiled.
"We met up with Dumbledore earlier," Lily said smiling. "About a year ago."
Harry frowned. "Bastard."
"What?"
"When Hermione was pregnant, he wanted to abort the baby or send Hermione somewhere to have the child and then give it to a Muggle family," he growled.
"WHAT?!"
"IMA KILL HIM!" James shouted.
"James, you can't. He's already dead," Lily reminded him.
He paused widening his eyes at the realization and then said, "Ima bring him back to life, torture him, and then kill him. See how he likes being murdered!"
"He was murdered, Dad," Harry said chuckling.
"Aw, damn it! You ruined it for me, son!" They all laughed.
"But I protected them from him. I even scared him once," Harry smiled.
"There ya go! Old Dumbles scared by a Potter! Ha! Wait until I show him hell for an eternity!" James yelled.
"'Hell' in heaven? Scary!" Harry laughed. Once they settled down, he asked, "So, what's it like there?"
"It's...whatever you want it to be," Lily said with a smile.
Harry nodded smiling as well. "Do you like it?"
"Yes, I love it. It's everything I imagined it would be." Harry wished he could go with them, but he had a mission to complete. Defeat Voldemort and stay alive. Then go home to Hermione and Arabella. And finally, to live.
After a while, he said, "Maybe no one's going to call me. I have a half an hour left."
"You will be called, sweetheart. Just you wait," Lily said and kissed his forehead.
Harry nodded and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Soon, it was three minutes until time was up.
"No one's going to-"
"Daddy..." His ears perked up.
"Arabella?"
"Daddy...wake up...get up...come back...anytime you fall, get back up." She repeated the words he once said to her when she was learning to stand.
He couldn't move. "Anytime you fall, Daddy, get back up." He stood and face his parents.
"She's calling me back. My daughter is calling me back. I have to go now." They stood and hugged him.
"You make sure to love them both, you hear?" Lily said crying. He nodded. "Of course."
"Stay safe, son. And kick Voldemort's fucking ass!"
"James!"
Harry laughed. "I will. I love you both."
"We love you, too, son," they said together and he saw a white light.
"Daddy, get up. Anytime you fall, get right back up." He nodded at his daughter's words. He sat up, in his old, dirty clothes, but he looked reborn. Without one scar or cut. He felt amazing. He looked around and saw Voldemort some ways away, walking away from the "corpse". Harry stood and he thought, closing his eyes.
He thought.
He thought about his parents.
He thought about his friends.
He thought about his family.
He though about love.
He thought about Hermione.
He thought about Arabella.
He thought about love.
Suddenly a white light surrounded him. "VOLDEMORT!" he yelled. The Dark Lord turned confused. And he was not prepared for what was coming. Oh, was he not prepared. The light got brighter and brighter. And brighter. He shielded his face and Harry yelled, "Avada Kedevra!" A jet of green light shot from his wand and hit him.
It was slow motion. Voldemort yelled as he was thrown back against a tree. Harry heard a sickening crunch of bones and winced.
"You are not a god! Gods aren't human! And you, Thomas Marvolo Riddle, are a motherfucking human corpse!" He shouted the Killing Curse again. And he was truly dead now. The white light went away, now longer needing to protect him.
Harry stood and felt something wet hit his cheek. He looked up.
A raindrop.
He smiled at it. And it began to rain.
It poured down in heavy droplets. Harry's smile turned into a grin and he beamed, holding out his arms to catch the rain.
And he began to dance. He danced in the rain. The one who caused him trouble was vanquished. Gone.
Dead. In hell.
And he couldn't have felt better.
It was over.
Harry was learned that some of their "soldiers" had died, but not anyone really close to him. Remus, Tonks, Neville, Luna, Will, Serena, and Hagrid were all fine, but severely wounded and in the hospital. He smiled. And they all hugged him.
They had won the battle, thanks to the great alliance with the giants. And Wormtail was captured. Sirius could now be free.
"How do you feel, Harry?" Tonks asked.
"I wanna go home," he simply said.
They all understood. But he couldn't go home just yet.
Arabella watched her mother cry her eyes out as they finally finished fixing the Manor. Their home. Their home that hand been almost destroyed. But they fixed it. All of it. Hermione was lying on the couch, sobbing.
Arabella hated to see her like this. She gave her a tissue. Hermione took it gratefully, blowing her nose and wiping her tears. "Thank you, sweetheart." She hugged her tight.
They didn't even hear it. The door opening.
Or the voice.
"Right where I left you."
They looked up and saw Harry for the first time after a year. He looked so amazing.
"DADDY!" the little girl ran to her father, who knelt down to hug her.
"Princess!" He smothered her with kisses, making her giggle. "Oh, I've missed you." He began to cry softly. Of course, Arabella wiped them away with her thumb. "Thank you," he whispered in her ear. "Thank you for bringing me back."
He stood up and looked at Hermione. She looked even more beautiful than when he met her for the first time on the train when they were eleven. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. She looked at him with disbelief that it was him.
"Hermione...?"
She stood and walked to him. He grabbed her hips, she wrapped her arms around his neck and shoved her tongue into his mouth, kissing him as if her life depended on it. Harry kissed her back, duelling with his tongue against hers. He moved his hands down to her ass, making her moan in pleasure. He lifted her up into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist. She put her hands under the neck of his shirt, feeling his smooth, toned skin.
He pulled away and leant his forehead on hers. "Arabella," he reminded panting. They both looked at her and laughed. She had her tiny hands over her eyes, shielding them from her parents, being "yucky". But she had separated two of her fingers and was looking at them. When she was caught, she giggled. Harry set Hermione down and hugged her properly, whispering in her ear, "I love you. Marry me."
Hermione pulled away and stared at him. "What?"
"Marry me," he repeated.
She smiled and chuckled half-heartedly and then nodding. "YES!" She threw her arms around him and kissed him again.
But broke away when they heard Arabella giggle again. Harry grabbed her and picked her up. "Come here, you!"
"Daddy!" He tossed her in the air, making her laugh from her gut.
They all laughed.
Their family was reborn.