Much as Harry wanted to pretend that the events of the morning had been nothing but a bad dream, he couldn’t ignore the situation forever. Especially not when he’d told Flanders to expect him in after lunch for the group interrogation.

Once he and Ginny got back to Potter Manor, they tried to get in a quick nap. He was exhausted, but his whirring brain had other plans. He replayed the entire morning over and over. None of it was making sense to him. Why now? Why those four? Why the baby? The more he thought about it, the less it seemed like an elaborate plot, and more like a prank gone wrong.

An accident, even.

And yet, their disguises had been so perfect. They couldn’t have used polyjuice, could they? Maybe grave robbing ought to be added to their list of charges. He made a mental note to send a team to check their graves. Well, his parent’s and Remus’ graves, anyway.

No, it had to be glamour charms. Or maybe some of them were metamorphagi…but they were so rare. He knew from research he’d done when Teddy small, there were only a handful of them in the UK at all, and of that handful, only a fraction in England. And to have manipulated every single centimeter of themselves to that degree would have taken hours; days. It wasn’t necessarily out of the question, but certainly seemed unlikely.

Harry always told his aurors that there were no stupid ideas when brainstorming, but there was one thought that he knew was incredibly, dangerously stupid, the very second it popped into his head. What if? No, he sternly replied. But it’s not impossible…it whispered to him, in a voice that sounded very much like his own as a child. They’re real. And they came back for you.

“Harry,� Ginny’s gentle voice interrupted his internal debate. “I can practically hear you thinking from over here.� She flipped over to face him on the bed. It seemed that she hadn’t had any better luck sleeping.

“Come here,� she whispered, rubbing his arm lovingly.

His hands slipped around her middle and met at the small of her back. Burying his face in the crook of her neck, he let the sweet scent of her block everything else out.

They lay entwined for a while, taking comfort in the closeness. Too soon, an insistent beeping shattered the peaceful silence. Harry groaned, and reached for the phone in his pocket to shut off his alarm. Rubbing his eyes, he begrudgingly sat up and stretched.

“You know, I’m sure they could live without you for another hour, Harry.� She played with the edge of the quilt as she watched him put on his glasses. As tempted as he was to stay, the pull of a potential explanation won out in the end.

“I won’t be gone long.� He leaned over her, kissing her firmly. “I’m only going for an update and to sit in on some of the interrogations. I’ll be back by dinner at the very latest, and then I’m all yours.�

“Just…� she caught his hand, “Just promise me you’ll let someone else handle this case. I don’t want to see you get hurt because a few idiots decided to…do whatever it is they’re doing.� She gently caressed his wrist with her thumb, hesitating, before she continued.

“I know that hurt, to see them this morning. Please put yourself first, Harry. Whatever’s going on, whatever they’re up to, you are more important. You hear me?�

Her eyes blazed with unshed tears, and Harry sighed. He couldn’t have this argument today. It was one that they’d been having since the very beginning; since the day after he’d walked into the forest all those years ago. The form it took lately was Ginny’s increasingly insistent requests that he retire sooner rather than later. She argued that he’d done enough; he maintained that there was still work to be done, that he was far too young to be thinking about retirement at all. But it always came back to this: his ‘saving people thing,’ and the way it inevitably ended up with him in St. Mungo’s, or back at the therapist he’d begrudgingly begun seeing around the time of Jamie’s birth. And so far, things had worked out. Ginny knew who he was, better than anyone else, and she knew that this part of him was as immovable as the color of his eyes and the timber of his voice. It played a big part in her falling in love with him in the first place, and in her being alive to do so. But she feared (and Harry did too, if they were being honest with each other); they feared that one day, he would take it too far. That the Boy Who Lived would someday run out of luck.

Harry closed his eyes, fighting the squeezing sensation in his lungs as he cleared his mind of such thoughts.

“I hear you, Gin. I just want to check in, see if they’ve made any progress. I promise I’ll be quick. I’ll be back before dinner at the very latest.� She tilted her head, glaring at him.

“And I’ll…I’ll let Flanders take point on this one.� Her dazzling grin was worth the twisting in his gut as he said it. She got up onto her knees, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Promise?� Ginny whispered, lips hovering over his. Her breath tickled the stubble on his chin.

He slid his hands over her hips, settling on her bottom. “Promise.�

They shared a slow, longing kiss. Her teeth pulled on his bottom lip, and he caught himself before he pushed her back onto the bed.

“I really do have to go,� he panted slightly, his voice a little huskier than just a minute ago.

“And you’ll be back in an hour?� She played with the hair at the base of his neck.

“I’ll be back in 15,� he chuckled. Her sweet laughter followed him down the hall as he hurried to the fireplace.

The silence that followed the closing of the door to the holding cell was more than a little jarring, after the ruckus of the past hour or so. They’d been handled roughly once the aurors took over, pushed and shoved all the way to the nearest apparition point. The worst had come when they arrived at the ministry; they had been separated. Lily had kicked and screamed until they relented, and let Harry remain with his mother. Sirius was still trying to joke his way out of it, but James had gone deathly quiet once more. The worst was Remus, now limp and pale, with the look of a man facing the guillotine.

Though they’d been questioned separately, they were left to stew in the holding cell. Once the guard left them to their own devices, they’d compared notes. After a couple rounds of the expected questions, it seemed that they’d all been subject to just about every method of identity verification that the aurors had access to: they’d had to drink an antidote to polyjuice potion, been asked to produce their patronus, and had even been questioned under veritaserum. Afterwards, they all begrudgingly admitted to being grateful for all that excruciating time spent working on occlumency, since one of the aurors had tried legilimency on each of them in turn.

None of them could truly relax in the holding cell, but James was still tense long after the rest settled in to wait. Sirius sat on one of two benches with Harry in his lap (who was finally asleep, the tiny bastard), and Remus was curled up in the corner of the room, trying to get some shut eye as well. Lily was reclined on the bench on the opposite side the room, head turned to the side to keep an eye on James. He was pacing relentlessly, but never took his eye off the door.

“James, love, please sit down before I kill you,� Lily murmured sweetly.

“Something’s happened, Lily. None of the Ord- of our friends are out there. No Frank, no Alice, no Mad-Eye…� he dropped his voice to a whisper. “I’m beginning to wonder if this is even the real Ministry at all.�

“James-� Lily sighed.

“This is part of the reason they’re supposed to be here, right? So that we don’t end up in situations like this, where we’ve done nothing wrong, facing a bunch of strangers who won’t listen to us!�

“Darling, please-� Lily caught Sirius’ eye as her husband cut her off once more. He could only shake his head in exasperation.

“Of course, maybe I’m right, and this isn’t even the actual Ministry. They could all be Death Eaters in disguise, banking on the fact that we’ll go along with anything they say just because they’re in the uniform. Maybe all of this is their doing. The weird house, the mad bastard yelling at us — maybe this is what Dumbledore has been warning us about. They couldn’t get past the Fidelius, so they found a way to get us out, instead.�

“First of all,� she whispered, “we know there are actual Death Eaters in the actual Ministry, so that theory can just go right out the window. But even if you were right, and they were Death Eaters, why would they go to all this trouble? Why not just kill us immediately?� Lily finally sat up and crossed her arms.

“Because…they’re playing with us.� James’ eyes lit up as he came up with the answer. She wanted to cry. But at least he had stopped pacing.

“They’re angry that we’ve escaped this long, they’re just fucking with us until He gets here.�

“Mmhmm. And if that’s the case,� she said gently, “why did they give us tea and pastries in the interrogation rooms? Why did one of them offer to run out and get Harry some diapers?�

He stumbled over his words, so sure he could explain it all so it fit. Lily felt her heart break for him. She carefully reached out and caressed his arm, pulling his hand into hers.

“Maybe they’re just normal people, doing their jobs,� continued Lily. “Maybe Alice and Frank have the day off, and Mad-Eye’s…I don’t know, maybe he’s in the loo. Or maybe it’s…there’s another explanation. I don’t know,� she shook her head, frowning.

He huffed in frustration, and yanked his hand from hers. She heard Sirius tutting his disapproval as James resumed his frantic pacing.

“James,� she said with as much love as she could muster, catching his hand once more as he passed her. “I hate to say it, but there’s nothing we can do right now. You could exhaust yourself with worrying, or you could sit down and get some rest. How do you expect to take down You-Know-Who if you’re dead on your feet?� She smirked at him, and his shoulders slumped.

For the first time since he’d come home from Remus’ house, which seemed like years ago now, he looked into her eyes. She watched him begin to melt, felt the adrenaline slowly drain from his limbs. He sat next to her heavily, and took her hand, kissing it soundly. Lily sighed, grateful to see him relax, and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Thanks, Lil. I’m just…� He growled in frustration. “You know?�

And she did, truly. It wasn’t as if his behavior was entirely unprecedented. She’d never fooled herself into thinking it would be entirely smooth sailing, being married to James Potter. If the first five years they’d known each other were anything to go off of, she supposed she never should have expected to never have a peaceful day again in her life. But he’d changed since then, and so had she. They’d done the usual growing up, true. But the pair of them had gone through so much more in those four years since they’d graduated, that their days of ‘pride and prejudice’ in school felt like a lifetime ago.

They’d both joined the Order right away, and it was exciting and scary and fulfilling and awful, all at the same time. It had also made them targets, even more so than when they were merely a blood traitor and a muggleborn dating at Hogwarts. There had been close calls, agonizing nights of waiting, and hospital visits with no clear outcome. They’d come face to face with the man that terrorized the entire wizarding world himself, and had lived to tell the tale. Both of them had hardened over the last few years, but James never handled it as gracefully that she did. But they got through it all, together, with their merry band of friends. And then, without any planning or warning, Lily was pregnant.

Dumbledore had insisted they go into hiding as soon as they announced it. From the moment the door closed on them, James had become paranoid and grumpy. It wasn’t pleasant, but she had understood, as they shared many of the same worries and fears. It had lessened once Harry was born, and the house filled with the light and love of a new life. That’s the way things were until about six months ago, when word reached them of the deaths of his parents.

James broke, that day. And Lily wanted to break, seeing him that way, but she had to keep it together for her boys. She figured he went into survival mode, after that. He trusted very few, and relaxed around even fewer. Some days he just stalked about the house like feral animal, cooped up in captivity. But she never gave up on him. The James that she loved was still in there, she knew. He was sad, and lost, and desperately, terribly scared; but he was there. And of course, just when he was beginning to calm down, to go out with his friends and be happy once again, they ended up in a holding cell at the Ministry, surrounded by unfamiliar faces, and all her good work was wasted. So yes, she did know.

Not trusting herself to say anything, Lily just buried her head in his neck, and wrapped her arms around him. Slowly, he shifted to return the embrace, and leaned his head on hers.

“You know,� she said after a moment, “you aren’t the only one coming up with mad theories. When we were at the house, I thought…well, it seems rather ridiculous now.�

“Hmm?�

“Nothing, I’m being silly. This whole thing is getting to me.�

He laughed, and she enjoyed the feeling of his chest vibrating next to hers. “I highly doubt that. I’ve been trying to get you to be silly for years, I think it would take more than just one very weird day.�

“Ha ha,� she said dryly in response.

“Tell me, Lils. You always listen to my bullshit. Let me have a go.�

“No, it’s really nothing. I only meant…this is a difficult situation, and you’re not the only one going a bit mad here.�

James hummed and nodded. Lily shifted to find a more comfortable position, and caught Sirius’ eyes from across the room. He held her gaze for a couple long moments, before lifting a shaky hand to brush a stray chunk of hair from Harry’s sleeping face. Sirius looked back up at her heavily. She tried to ignore the sinking feeling that her ‘mad theory’ may not be so mad after all.

“-and then I said, ‘Are you sure about that, sir?,’ and he said, ‘Yes, I’m sure I really am Sirius Black!’ And I said, ‘Excuse me sir, but hasn’t he been dead for quite a long time?� And then he was quiet for a while and I said, ‘Would you like to amend your statement, sir?� And he didn’t say anything-�

“Yes, I think I get the picture, Flanders.� Harry rubbed his scar. Not for the first time, he idly daydreamed about torturing Hermione very, very slowly.

Michael Flanders was tall and skinny, with large dark eyes that seemed perpetually on the edge of tears, and which made him seem even younger than his twenty-one years. He really shouldn’t have been an auror at all, but he had passed all of his NEWTs, and so he’d joined as a trainee two years ago. And that’s where he would still be, if not for Hermione.

Harry had hoped they were past pandering to the few ancient relics that remained in the Wizengamot, but it seemed that the corpses had enough sway with the younger members that that was certainly not the case. Flanders’ great uncle somebody was a member, and had hinted that he would be ‘extremely appreciative’ if his beloved nephew were working directly under the Chosen One. He wouldn’t have gone through with it, except that after multiple delays and deferrals, Hermione’s revised Bill of House Elf Rights was finally going up before the Wizengamot. She’d been working at it for the past ten years, and though her tenure as Minister had slowed her progress, it hadn’t lessened her passion for the cause.

Promoting him wasn’t quid pro quo, he’d told her, rather an attempt to reach across the proverbial ‘aisle.’ Of course, they both knew otherwise, but Hermione had looked so desperate when she’d jokingly suggested it, that Harry knew he had to do anything possible to help his sister achieve her dream. And so here he sat in his office, with the biggest dunderhead he’d ever encountered as his second in command. Though his fingers itched to sign the man’s dismissal papers for any one of the fireable offenses he had already committed, he knew he had to wait until the hearing was over. Harry didn’t enjoy firing people, but he would savor letting Flanders go.

“Sir?� Flanders interrupted his musing. “Would you like me to go on to the next one? Mr. Lupin was quite-�

“The supposed Mr. Lupin, and no, I think we can assume that his interview went similarly, yes?�

“Almost, sir, but instead of insisting he was Sirius Black, he kept saying that he really was Remus Lupin.�

Harry stared dumbly at him for a moment, and decided it was best to just to move on.

“What about our identification measures? Any polyjuice usage?�

“No sir, they all took the antidote and nothing happened, like you said would happen if they were the real thing.�

“And their patronuses?� Harry asked impatiently.

“Mr. Potter’s was a large deer, Mrs. Potter’s was a large deer, but without antlers, Mr. Lupin’s was a large wolf-�

Harry cursed. “And I suppose Mr. Black’s was a large dog, wasn’t it?� He rubbed his scar again, irritation building.

“How did you guess that?� Flanders looked at him with admiration.

“And the veritaserum — you let Auror Blackwell administer it, yes?� Blackwell was a seasoned auror, smart and courageous; Harry trusted her, and if not for the whole mess with Hermione, she would currently be his Deputy Head.

“Yes sir. I started with Mrs. Potter, so as to get the baby back to her as quickly as possible. I asked her-�

“Just give me the transcript,� Harry demanded. He did, and Harry spent a tense couple of minutes reading through it. He had never been more glad to already be sitting down. Once finished, Harry started over, and reread it twice more.

“No, sir! I would never-�

“Mmhmm, well, your file says otherwise,� Harry sighed. His mind was racing, trying to come to terms with what he’d read.

“And the legilimency?� He suddenly remembered. “What did Auror Blackwell see?�

Flanders had the good sense to look ashamed. “She couldn’t get through, sir.�

Harry raised an eyebrow. “None of them?�

“No, sir. She said that you were the only one she could think of that might be able to do it, they were that strong.�

This surprised him, but only for a second. If they really were who they said they were, it wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. They’d certainly had enough time to work on the skill, and occlumency was useful against dark wizards. However, while he was wildly curious to possibly see the insides of his parent’s minds, it did feel like an invasion of privacy for people who were essentially strangers to him. And to whom, he was a complete stranger.

"The DNA tests!� He remembered, saving that thought for much later, along with the wave of emotion that was threatening to knock him off his feet.

“The what, sir?�

Harry dragged a hand down his face before answering. “The muggle DNA tests, Mike. To quadruple confirm their identities. They’re in each interrogation suite, next to the polyjuice antidotes?�

“Oh, I didn’t realize you were serious about those-�

Flanders was saved by a knock on the door.

“What is it?� Harry snapped. A young auror with long curly brown hair poked her head in.

“I’ve got a letter for you, sir.� Harry groaned.

“Simpson, I’m in the middle of something here. Can it wait?�

She shuffled in the doorway nervously. “It’s from Hogwarts, sir. I only thought-�

Harry took the two large strides towards her, and snatched the envelope from her hand. She watched him open it uneasily. Noticing she was still there, he told her, more gently than before, “Sorry, you were right to bring it right away. Thanks, Simpson."

She nodded with a smile, and slipped out silently. His eyes devoured the letter, and when he read the words he had been dreading, he almost forgot how to breathe.

…that your daughter has been injured. Please come to the school at your earliest convenience to…

“Sir?� He tore his gaze from the parchment in his trembling hands, and latched onto Flanders. “Is everything okay?

Harry stared at him for a couple moments, his brain unable to form sentences. “I have to go,� he mumbled as his legs finally began to move.

“Sir! We have to finish-� When Harry wheeled around to face his deputy, he found him uncomfortably close.

“Mike, my daughter is hurt. This can wait. Finish up here and get them back in holding.� Harry stopped himself before leaving and added, “And get going on those bloody DNA tests!�

“But..sir!� Flanders called after him forlornly, but Harry was already to the lifts.

Mike steeled himself, and reentered the interrogation room. Attempting a stern look, he bellowed, “Right, who wants to take the first ‘see a way’ test?�

The group stared at him, as if confused by the sight.

“DNA,� Lily corrected flatly.

He glared at her with all the menace of a fruit fly.

“Gesundheit. You’re first.�