Return Of The Father (Harry Potter fanfiction) **COMPLETED**

:: Chapter 10: The Potters reunited ::

The next morning, James realised that he was too far behind when it came to things that occurred after his death. Figuring that he would be meeting Harry only later, he called out clearly "Dobby?"

With a loud crack, the little house elf emerged again, wearing even more hats than before.

"What can Dobby do for James Potter, sir?" He squeaked excitedly.

"Dobby, I was wondering if you could bring me stacks of newspapers from after I died? I wanted to catch up with what happened after."

"Dobby will see what I can do, James Potter sir!" He said and with another crack, the elf disappeared leaving James alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Dobby didn't return until much later. When he finally arrived, he was carrying bundles of old, yellowing newspapers and James ran to stop him from toppling over.

"Thank you, Dobby. This will do very well." He said, smiling at the elf.

"Very well, sir. Dobby shall go now." And after giving a low bow and an enthusiastic smile, he disapparated again.

James let out a long sigh when he took in all the newspapers. This could take hours! He started with the ones immediately after their death.

November 1, 1981

It had news about their deaths. About how the Potter's bravely defied Voldemort for the sake of the 'greater good' and got murdered in the process. How their son Harry survived the killing curse and was named 'the boy who lived'. James shook his head. The prophet just exaggerated the story of how two loving parents simply sacrificed themselves to save their son and transformed them into two war heroes.

The next paper gave a detailed account of their funeral. James became extremely touched as he read about it. The page about their memorial service was very elaborate, giving accounts of the speeches made by friends, teachers and acquaintances. How they spoke tearily about their bravery and sacrifice. A photo accompanied the article. He and Lily were buried with their wands held against their chests wearing their best robes and many people were paying their respects. It was deeply touching.

As he flipped through the next few papers, he saw an article titled-

"LESTRANGE IMPRISONED FOR TORTURING COUPLE AND DEATH EATER ACCUSATION. "

Bellatrix Black was Sirius's cousin, a death eater who married Rodolphus Lestrange. As he read the article, his heart clenched. Bellatrix Lestrange was locked up because she tortured two people to insanity. And that couple were the Longbottoms.

James sat back and moaned, putting his head in his hands.

"Oh Frank... Alice..."

Frank and Alice Longbottom. Alice was Lily's best friend and she had married Frank Longbottom. They were excellent aurors and used to be really close to them. The fact that they were tortured until they lost their minds...

They also had a son, Neville, about the same age as Harry. Voldemort as good as orphaned two infants that week. He couldn't help but wonder if that would have been their fate if Voldemort had chosen Neville instead of Harry.

With a heavy heart, he flipped through the next few papers. More deaths of friends and classmates. Imprisonment of their old slytherin death eater classmates.

Dumbledore had only provided papers which were of significance, so there weren't any copies which were dull and useless. Then he came across one which stated that the "boy who lived" had arrived at Hogwarts. There were articles which talked about how much power ran through his veins as he defeated the darkest wizard of all time. There were even articles about how Harry could be the next Merlin. James snorted loudly. Harry was just a kid!