“Mm,� Ginny hummed blissfully. “Ice cream tastes so much better without the kids around.� Harry rolled his eyes as he paid the teenaged girl behind the counter, and they set off for a walk through Godric’s Hollow.

“You don’t mean that,� he said after a while. “I know you wish they were here. You still got plain chocolate with rainbow sprinkles just in case Lily wanted to switch with you.� Ginny shrugged.

“That might be why I started ordering chocolate originally, but now I just like it. I’m allowed to like chocolate with sprinkles.�

“Ok, then how do you explain the giant wad of napkins you grabbed? The two of us adults don’t need that many napkins.�

“Oh please, ice cream is inherently messy! Besides, it’s never bad to have a couple extra napkins in my purse,� she said defensively.

“Sure. It’s definitely not because you miss them already.� Harry kept an eye on her as he licked a stray drip from the side of his cone. His wife huffed childishly.

“Fine, if it’ll shut you up, I do. Happy? Of course I miss them. But we are allowed have fun without them, you know. We enjoyed life before them, and we can learn to again.�

She reached out to close the space between them, and his free hand easily swung up to capture hers, a dopey grin spreading across his face. They finished their treats in comfortable silence, treading the familiar path to his parent’s cottage. It came up over the hill slowly, looking almost exactly the same as it had during his Christmas visit with Hermione all those years ago. The ivy still enveloped the exterior like a second coat of paint; the hedge still wildly grasped for the clouds. The entire right side of the second floor remained open to the elements.

As they approached the small gate, the ice cream in Harry’s stomach suddenly turned to lead. Ginny squeezed his hand reassuringly. Every year it got easier to see the destroyed cottage, but it would never be an entirely fun experience. They stood in silence for a while, just taking it in.

“Remember a couple years ago,� Ginny said, quietly breaking into his somber thoughts, “when we found that note on the sign, where someone left their phone number for Jamie?�

That got a gentle laugh out of Harry. “And it turned out to be Fred on the other end, pulling a prank on him? That kid’s always playing the long game, I swear. How could I forget?�

“Yes!� Ginny giggled. “Merlin, I can’t remember the last time those two pranked each other now.�

“I almost miss it." Harry enveloped his wife in his embrace, careful not to get his sticky hands on her coat. "No, I take that back: I don’t miss the pranking, I miss when Jamie wasn’t a moody little git.�

“Me too,� she agreed, closing her eyes and sinking back into his chest. “I miss our little boy. I don’t want him to be a teenager anymore.�

“Won’t be a teenager much longer,� Harry murmured. “His seventeenth is only a couple months away now. I should see if I can find my dad’s watch in the vault, to give to him.�

Ginny groaned.

“Don’t remind me. I was trying to distract you, and now you’ve gone and made me sad too." She sighed melodramatically. "Let’s get out of here before we start openly weeping in the street.�

She grabbed his hand once more, and the two of them began to make their way back the way they came. Harry turned back for one last look, and the sound of muffled voices caught his attention. He stopped abruptly, causing Ginny to stumble.

“Harry?�

“Sorry, I just…do you hear that?�

Before she could respond, he pulled away and approached the house once more, wand raised.

“What-�

Harry interrupted her, putting a single finger to her lips. Now that they were closer, it was definitely coming from inside the house. He could make out three - no, four different voices, all arguing. And then, the pit of his stomach dropped. He heard a baby cry.

Ginny’s panicked eyes met his own, and her wand was out as well.

As quietly as possible, Harry opened the long-neglected gate, and made his way to the front door. Although he’d ventured into the house a couple times over the years, he was kicking himself for not taking better notice of the layout. He didn’t really fancy the idea of being ambushed today, if at all possible.

Upon reaching the door, he turned back to his wife. Ginny gave him a small, grim nod. Half of him wished she wasn’t there, and the other half was grateful that she was. If he’d loved her any less, Harry mused, he would’ve have attempted to recruit Ginny to the Aurors long ago.

Harry cast a nonverbal unlocking spell on the door, and took a deep breath before quickly throwing it open.

“Nobody move,� he bellowed. “Wands on the ground!�

The sight that greeted him sucked the air from his lungs.

He knew, logically, that the four shadowy shapes in front of him were not who they appeared to be. But that didn’t stop Harry from thinking it for one shining, shimmering second. A memory flashed in his mind unbidden, one that had been buried for years. The smoky forest quiet around him, branches snapping beneath his feet. The small stone in one hand, the snitch from Dumbledore’s will in the other. His heart pounding defiantly against his breastbone as he somehow moved one foot in front the other. A shiver ran down his spine. Thankfully, Ginny was more present than he was.

“Stay right where you are,� she said sternly, with only a slight tremor in her voice. “No one has to get hurt if you just answer our questions.�

She glanced at him quickly. He knew she was stalling until he got it together, and his heart nearly burst with love for her. Deciding it was time, he cleared his throat.

“Lumos Maxima,� Harry whispered, sending several globes of light around the room. His throat tightened as the light confirmed what he had guessed at in the darkness.

The woman was dressed for bed, in a worn, light purple bathrobe and slippers that were too big for her. Her hair was tossed up in a bun, but it was a deep auburn red, darker than Ginny’s. Though it pained him to look, he had to. The eyes beneath her fringe were the same he saw in the mirror each day.

The men, and there were three of them, were equally familiar to him. There was one with light brown hair, and two with black hair. The lighter haired man was younger than Harry had ever seen him, with less scars. With a jolt, he realized that Teddy now looked so much like him, when he didn’t morph. The shorter of the men with black hair was wearing leather pants, and a worn moto jacket. Harry could easily picture him on the motorbike that currently sat in his garage at Potter Manor. It was excruciatingly difficult to look at him and not see what he would become. And the last man with black hair…

Harry had never really seen his resemblance to the man, not in pictures, at least. But standing here, in front of him, it felt like watching himself in a pensieve. His stance, his nervous hands raking through his hair. The way he subtly tried to place himself between Harry and the others, trying to protect them even without his wand in hand. All but the eyes, of course. Those were all his own.

Before he could fall further into his own thoughts, a squeal came from the small child in the brown-haired man’s grasp. The baby squirmed to get a look at the intruders, and it was all Harry could do to keep his jaw from hitting the floor. His first thought was that the baby was scarily similar to Albus at that age - and his second, of course, was that the baby was supposed to be him. It was fussy, and grabby and had no scar on its forehead. Completely unblemished.

As the silence stretched, the one disguised as Sirius cleared his throat.

“We’re happy to answer any questions, if you want to ask them. But honestly, we have more than a few of our own,� he joked, a roguish smile spread across his youthful face.

The Remus lookalike sucked in a deep breath, and seemed as though he was struggling not to lose him temper.

“Alright,� Harry said, regaining his composure. “Let’s start here: this property has very strong blood-keyed wards around it. How did you get past them? After that, you can address your appearances. I can only assume this is meant to be some kind of revenge-fueled personal attack. Whatever you’re doing, you won’t get away with it.�

He took in their stunned expressions, and cursed internally. They weren’t bad actors, he’d give them that, at least.

“Gin,� he said, never taking his eyes off of the group across the room, “Would you send Flanders a patronus for backup?�

She nodded. Her mare slipped easily from the tip of her wand, and out the open door.

“Well?� Harry demanded. “Any explanations? Or shall we move this little party to a holding cell back at the Ministry?�

“Look, we don’t want any trouble. We were at home, getting ready for bed, and then suddenly, we were in this nightmare version of the house, and that’s when you got here,� his not-mother explained, trying to stay calm.

“Alright, let’s pretend I believe that,� Harry snapped back. “Take off the disguises and let’s do this, already.�

“We’re not - we don’t have any disguises on, sir.� The fake Sirius traded glances with the fake Remus. “I swear, I’m just naturally this handsome.� His smile didn’t make it to his grey eyes.

“Don’t do that,� Harry muttered.

“Harry,� Ginny hissed a warning. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw the Lily imposter cover her mouth with her hand.

“Don’t pretend you’re him. That’s too far,� his voice was shaking now, as his fury overflowed.

“Was this what you were after? You want to get me mad, catch me off guard? Well, you’ve done it. Mission fucking accomplished. Now drop it, so I know who exactly it is I’m sending to Azkaban!�

The baby began to wail, and the one playing Lily made a move towards him.

“Hey!� Harry snapped at her.

“Back off,� said the James, deathly quiet.

Harry’s green eyes met his hazel. It was silent for a moment, with nothing but the baby’s cries filling the silence.

“The baby’s a nice touch, I’ll give you that,� Harry drawled. “Maybe you thought I’d be interested in self-preservation, or changing history? As if I would have fallen for that.� He snorted.

The James clone said nothing, just continued to let his eyes bore into Harry’s own. Harry just laughed in response.

“Or maybe you really thought you really could pull one over on me. Maybe you lot were stupid enough to think that I’d fall for you masquerading as dead people. You thought I’d let you into my house, into my life, just because you look like people that I know have been dead for years - for decades!�

“Harry!� Ginny interrupted him. He saw his Deputy Auror’s dolphin patronus floating beside her. Relief flooded his limbs.

“Waiting on your signal, Potter,� the dolphin said before it disappeared.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,� Harry muttered, wordlessly flinging out his wand and calling forth his stag. Ginny later told him that the four intruders seemed entranced by the sight of his patronus.

It only took about half an hour for his aurors to get the imposters into holding cells at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Of course, a good chunk of that time was spent by Harry giving them a good dressing down on their emergency response times, and on the exact definition of ‘backup.’

When the last of them had gone back to work, and it was just the two of them again, she scooped him up into a secure hug. He stood frozen, replaying the last few minutes in his mind.

“What the fuck?� He kept repeating hoarsely. “What the fucking fuck was that?�

“Just try to let it go, Harry. Whoever they were, they were just trying to get under your skin. They’ll get what they deserve, I promise you that.�

She took a step back, and he saw everything he felt reflected in her eyes. She blazed with anger, but her eyes were uncertain as they brimmed with tears.

As the adrenaline left his system, Harry no longer felt anything but very, very tired. He let his head fall forward, until his forehead gently connected with Ginny’s.

“Let’s go home,� he whispered. He saw that look on face, the one that meant she knew that he wasn’t okay. He ignored it for now, knowing she’d get him to talk about his feelings some other time. She always did.

Instead, she just nodded gently, and took his hand. As they walked back to the center of the village, it was almost easy to pretend that nothing had even happened.

Almost.