James and Lily Potter : Sixth year

Chapter 4: sixth year

"We're from the future," said one of the boys. "Dumbledore sent us along, 'cause—" He looked at the other boy for support.

"Because Dumbledore wants us to see the past, or something like that," said the girl quickly.

James raised an eyebrow. "Er—hello, then. I'm James Potter." He extended a hand.

"Lily Evans." Lily stuck out a hand as well.

One of the boys' eyes looked shocked. On closer inspection, James realised that he had the same startling green eyes as Lily.

"You're Harry Potter!" he exclaimed rather loudly.

Lily gasped and clutched James' arm rather tightly, though the latter secretly enjoyed it.

The redhead boy, whom they recognised to be Ron Weasley, looked over at the couple with a critical eye. "You two are supposed to hate each other," he said bluntly.

"Ron!" cried the bushy brown-haired girl sharply. "Excuse him; he's not much manners. I'm Hermione Granger."

"We know," said Lily, nodding, "and the red-haired boy is Ron Weasley, correct?"

"How do you know all this?" asked Harry suspiciously.

"Dumbledore told us," was said with brevity.

"How does Dumbledore know?" queried Ron, squinting. "You know, I don't think you're Harry's parents."

James rolled his eyes. "Oh? Then who is? Arabella Figg and Sirius Black?"

Lily snorted, while the other three stared in shock, and glanced at Harry nervously.

"Oh, sorry," said James, noticing the look on Harry's face. "Sirius died, didn't he?"

Harry nodded mutely. "He was like—like the father I never knew. He was both my mother and father, and my mentor. He was always there for me and never kept me waiting. And he was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange in an attack in the Department of Mysteries."

Hermione gasped and put her hand on his mouth. "Harry!" she hissed.

"My best friend was killed by his damn cousin?" said James incredulously. "Well, then, we'll just have to Avada Kedavra Bellatrix the next time we see her."

"Potter!" exclaimed Lily. "It's bad enough that we know this piece of information! But to actually change the future—?"

"All right, sorry. Anyway, I'm James Potter, and this is Lily Evans, my future wife. Need to know anything else?"

"Was it true, what Snape said before?" asked Harry quietly.

"Snivellus? That git? I don't know, what did he say?"

"You've always hexed him at Hogwarts," continued Harry, unfazed. "Was it true that Mum hated you?"

James glanced at Lily and then back at his future son. "Well—er—she still hates me at this moment, but—"

"I don't hate you," Lily interrupted, blushing.

"You don't?"

"No. I told you I loved you as a friend, didn't I?"

"See, Harry," said Ron, looking delighted. "I told you your mum and dad never hated each other. You're just worrying about nothing. See, your dad, he's a nice guy. Snape was just being a slimy git as usual."

"You cursed Snape near the lake in fifth year for no reason," accused Harry, turning to James. "And Lily intervened, and she was yelling at you like mad. She tried to help Snape, but he called her a you-know-what."