Twist

Chapter 3

"My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations." William Shakespeare, also John Green's 'The Fault In Our Stars'

After Harry brought James and Lily with him to his house, the atmosphere was awkward. They were shown their rooms and they quickly settled into bed, tried from the day's events.

It was a few hours later that Lily lay awake, and her need for water became so unbearable that she slipped out of bed and made her way down the hall for the kitchen.

Lily stopped outside the opening into the living room, hearing Harry's voice. He was obviously speaking to someone on the Muggle telephone, and his small and scared tone of voice was what made her stop to listen. She peeked in carefully, and he was turned around from her, so she could watch his expressions.

"...just so hard. What if they don't like it here? What if they don't like me?" A pause. "Yes, I know that. I'm not an idiot, and I wasn't being bland today. I was just in shock... Shut up. Yes, yes, I know Ginny, eat the casserole you left, alright. If you want me to try it that bad, I will, but if you poisoned me, I bloody swear -" He chuckled, cutting himself off. "No, you're a wonderful cook! You just have a habit of burning everything... I'm not making fun of you!" Another stop, and he suddenly turned serious. "Anyway, I'm just worried they'll not want to stay... After all we went through, I know, I know... Fine, whatever Gin... Shut up, you know you love it when I call you that. Alright... Good night, I -"

He instantly cut himself off. It looked as though he wanted to tell her something else, but couldn't force the words out. He bit his lip and said, "Bye."

So it was Ginny he'd been talking to. Lily rather liked the girl - Ginny kind of reminded her of herself a bit younger, just without all the books and cleverness. Not that Ginny wasn't clever; Lily thought she was extremely smart, to have had helped Harry with all they did together, and Harry must have been as well.

"Mum, I know you're standing there."

His voice made her jump. She cursed silently and stepped out, feeling embarrassed. "M'sorry. Just needed a drink, and you sounded a little off, so I just..."

"That's alright," Harry mumbled, and patted the sofa next to him. Lily smiled gently and sat down. "I heard you come down the stairs."

"I, uh, heard you talking to Ginny," Lily started uneasily. "Harry... we weren't thinking about leaving you. Ginny told us how important it was to you, and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

"I... I just thought that since... I didn't really seem all that excited about you being back you'd not want me." He swallowed. "I am happy, I really am, it's just... I never had parents. Ever. I don't know what to say to you, or what to - to do..."

"It's fine," Lily said instantly, taking his hands. "You're my son. It's odd to think about, for me, but you are. And you always will be. Is this..." Her eyes widened. "Is this about James? About what he said to you? Because he didn't mean it, he -"

"No, I know," Harry interrupted. "It's not. When Sirius was alive - I mean, from this timeline - he used to tell me about how much of a prick he could be at times. It doesn't bother me, really."

"Yes, because James is a much bigger prick than Padfoot," Lily said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Forever the arrogant one, even twenty years later..." She cleared her voice. "So, uh, what about Ginny?"

Harry arched an eyebrow. "What about her?"

"I mean... you seem very close."

"She's my best friend," said Harry uneasily. "I would've died without her." He grinned at her. "What're you implying?"