Harry walked along the path of nothingness in his mother's warm embrace. For how long they walked, he did not know, but he felt amazingly calm.

After walking for what seemed like a few hours, they came to a beautiful garden. Lush, green trees grew everywhere, and flowers were scattered on the ground.

"LILY!" A voice called. Turning, Harry saw a young man with messy black hair walking up the road.

"Father?" he whispered, his voice lost in Lily's cry of 'JAMES!'

"Harry," James said, looking at him. "You are my son in everything but blood. But remember, I will always love you, no matter what happens. I will always be here to support you."

"Thank you," Harry whispered, resting his head on James' shoulders. "Thank you, Dad."

"Your very welcome," James said. "Here comes Sirius."

"HARRY!" A younger form of Sirius ran up to them. "Oh god, Harry, I can't believe it, it's really you..."

"Of course its me," Harry smiled. "Who else can it be?'

Sirius let out his barking laugh. "Good you see you again, Harry." he grew serious. "I want to say that since James and Lily picked me as your godfather, I want to say that I will always care for you. No matter what happens, no matter what you do, I will always be there for you." At this, Sirius handed him a small box. "This is a gift from all of us. When you are lonely, look at it and may it remind you that we are here for you."

"Thank you," Harry replied, his flashing emerald eyes filling with tears. "Thank you so much."

"Harry," Lily said. "We brought you here today for a reason. One is to let you know that we love you and will always be here for you. The other is because I have to say that what you did today was wrong."

"I know," Harry whispered, slightly ashamed. "I shouldn't have lost control like that."

"Yes," James said. "Remember, you were granted power. And because you have that power, you must use it wisely. Use it for good, not for evil."

"Alright, I understand," Harry whispered, tears flowing freely down his cheek. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, child," Lily said, pulling him into an embrace, and for the first time, Harry understood why people said that there was nothing in the world more pure and comforting than a mother's love. He felt happy, and for the first time in his life, truely safe.

"Where are we right now?" Harry asked.

"I'm afraid we can not say," Sirius said. "But know that in your darkest hours, we are always here."

Harry nodded. "I know. Um... can I stay here a bit before I go back?"

A smile graced Lily's lips. "Of course. Follow me, and I'll show you around."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"NOOOOOOO!!!!!!" !Severus!'s voice rang through the air, full of despair and sorrow. "HARRY!!!!!!!!!!"

"No, Severus, calm down," !Remus! grabbed his distraught colleague. "Calm down... Let's go out for now..." He turned to Professor McGonagall. "Minerva, please deal with the Death Eaters."

The professor nodded as !Remus! half dragged a distressed !Severus! out of the potions dungeon.

"Everyone, back to your dorms!" Flitwick said, standing on a table. "Out, NOW!"

Everyone rushed out of the room and the Gryffindors went back to their Common Room.

"What happened to Harry?" Ron whispered anxiously.

"I don't know," Hermione answered. "What do you think, Draco?"

"Hmm?" Draco asked, not paying attention. He was still shocked at what had happened. Harry had just disappeared. Even more surprising was the way his Head of House had behaved; Draco had never seen the Potions Master lose control like that before. The teacher had seem so... lost.

"Draco, are you okay?" Hermione asked, placing a hand on the blond's shoulder. The blond was surprised for a moment, then nodded. "I was just thinking about.... how... well, I'm stunned at how Professor Snape behaved."

Ron nodded. "Same here, I can't believe that git..." he stopped when both Draco and Hermione shot him deadly looks. "I mean, how Professor Snape was acting."

"And you know how Harry managed to throw all those Death Eaters around the room? I have no idea how on earth he did that; it's... just simply amazing." Hermione said.

Draco was about to reply when the Mauraders caught up with them.

"What happened out there?" James asked. He was still in shock as he remembered how Harry had jumped in front of him to black the Cruciatus Curse, how the raven-haired boy had willingly suffered and taken the pain for him. Why had Harry done such a thing? Especially after how James had accused him. He was really beginning to regret what he had said and how he had treated the boy.

Draco looked at him coldly, his icy grey-blue eyes boring into the other's. "You realize that if something.... happens to him, the last... memory he has of you will be you, yelling and accusing him."

James flinched at the angry words. "I know," he whispered. "I shouldn't have accused him. I'm sorry."

"That doesn't matter anymore," Draco replied, a faraway look in his eyes. "I just hope he comes back. Or else, you'll live to regret it."

Sirius was quick to stand up for his friend. "It wasn't entirely James' fault," he argued. "If Harry hadn't spoken Parseltongue when he had, then--"

"Then Peter would have gotten bitten," Draco interrupted coldly. He stared at Sirius, his eyes bitter. "If you still think he was the one who set the snake, then there's no point in talking to you at the moment."

"I didn't say that!" Sirius defended himself quickly. "I was just saying that it wasn't entirely our fault... Well, maybe it was," he added, his voice faltering when he caught Draco's glare.

"Hey, everyone! Cool it, there's no point in arguing right now," Remus said sensibly. "For now, we can just pray that Harry comes back safely."

"I'm tired," Hermione said. "I want to get an early night."

"Same here," Remus added.

As they were walking towards the dorms, Lily whispered to James, "Don't go to sleep, wait till Ron and Draco are asleep, then come to the Common Room. Bring the rest of the Mauraders. We need to talk." With that, she disappeared into her dorm, following a yawning Hermione.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry had never felt so happy in his life. He knew he should be feeling guilty; !Severus! and !Remus! had to be worried to death by now. But he couldn't help it. He could never remember an hour of his life that had been more happy than the hour he had just spent with James, Lily, and Sirius. He sighed in content and followed Lily again to visit the rest of the amazingly large garden.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

!Remus! Lupin could not believe it. !Severus! Snape, the one everyone knew as the emotionless, dour Potions Master was actually crying.

He turned and tried to comfort the distraught man. Yes, he was upset himself, but the fact that !Severus! was crying was more than he could believe. He remembered when he was still in Hogwarts, how many times James and Sirius had cursed the Slytherin. He also remembered with a shiver, the condition !Severus! was usually in when he came back from a Death Eater meeting. And all those times, he never shed a single tear.

Now, the Potions Master sat next to him, tears flowing freely down his pale face. It worried !Remus! to no end that his colleague was acting like this. He sighed as he turned to help the other into bed for an early night.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

James Potter slipped out of the dorm, careful not to disturb the sleeping forms of Ron and Draco. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew was right behind him.

When they arrived in the Common Room, they saw that Lily was already there.

"We need to talk," Lily said.

"Obviously," Sirius said sarcastically, teasing the other girl.

"Stop joking around, Padfoot, she's right," Remus said. "Something's strange about Harry. I mean, look what happened today; he managed to throw about two dozen Death Eaters around the potions classroom."

"I know," James agreed. "I was shocked, like, you know, when he jumped in front me. I mean," at this, he lowered he voice. "He willingly took THREE Cruciatus Curses for me. Why on earth would he do that? I don't deserve it. Especially after how I treated him the other day. If things went wrong, he could have DIED."

"And it's strange," Lily added. "Have you noticed how many times people have referred to him as 'Harry Potter'? He doesn't look a bit like James, so why would someone do that? Professor Selenica mentioned 'Potter' in her prophecy, and then, that Death Eater called him 'Harry Potter'. And have you noticed what happened that day in our first potions class? When you asked him his name after making him drink the Varification Potion?"

James shook his head. "I was too busy trying to come up with more interesting questions."

Lily sighed, exasperated. "He was really struggling, you could practically SEE the sweat rolling off his forehead. He opened his mouth and said 'Harry P-P-' and at the last minute, he managed to say 'Harry Darkice.' I, personally, think his name may be Harry Potter."

"Why would he lie to us?" Peter squeaked. "Maybe he IS working for the Dark Lord or something..."

"Maybe, but I doubt it," Sirius said. "You saw how he fought the Death Eaters today."

"No, he is most definately NOT Dark," Remus said. "He told me that his mother was killed by the Dark Lord."

Lily shivered. "How awful!"

"I think we should just tread out way carefully around him," Sirius said. "And its not just him. His friends... they obviously know what's going on. They're just so.... secretive and mysterious."

James nodded. "But..." he paused. "I don't think they mean any harm."

"Me either," Remus agreed. He yawned. "Blimey, I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed. Coming, Prongs? Padfoot? Wormtail?"

"All right," Sirius agreed. "Let's go."

Leaving the Common Room, the Mauraders crept quietly up to their dorms and fell asleep. It had been a long day.