The silence stretched unbearably slowly as Harry watched his father stare at the cloak being offered to him. He didn’t move to take it, but his eyes drank in the sight of it hungrily. Harry bridged the gap between them, carefully depositing the cloak into the hands of its former owner.

“Where did you get this?� James finally asked in a whisper. Harry answered slowly, carefully wording his answer.

“I got it from Dumbledore, who borrowed it from you.�

“How did you know I gave it to Albus?� he demanded thunderously, causing Harry to stumble away from him.

The silence afterwards slammed into Harry’s chest with an incapacitating force. This was the fear he hadn’t considered. And yet it came slithering forth from the recesses of his mind; never having left, simply having found a cozy spot to hibernate until the time was right. His mind shoved him back into the cupboard with unerring accuracy. Suddenly he was staring at the spidered underside of the stairs. Your parents are lucky to be dead, Uncle Vernon was booming from beyond the door, They don’t have to see what a waste of space you are! He was curled up on the thin mattress, dreaming of the faceless stranger coming to rescue him. The stranger took a look at him, shook his head, and returned to the bright sunlight beyond the front door.

As Harry tried to catch his breath, his eyes sought out Ginny’s from across the room. He barely registered Lily scolding James. Her gaze held him, anchored him. However this ended, he would always have her. With the sour taste of bile in the back of his throat, Harry quietly responded.

“Like I said, he gave it to me. For Christmas, actually. He held onto it for …a while.�

James shook his head vehemently. “No, you don’t know what you’re talking about - who you’re talking about. Albus wouldn’t do that to me. He said he’d give it back in a couple weeks; he wouldn’t keep it that long. I trust him with my life.�

“Mate,� Sirius said in a low voice, “He’s had it well over a month now-�

“And I’m sure he has his reasons!� James snapped at him, cloak balled in his fists. “It’s only September, there’s ages til Christmas!�

A chill ran down Harry’s spine. It was only September.

“Well, take a look at the cloak itself, then,� He said, fighting to stay in the present. “No other invisibility cloak looks or feels like that one, you can’t deny that.�

James wordlessly played with the edge of the cloak. His stormy countenance did not budge.

“I think I see…yes, look, there’s that hole from that one time we walked straight into a brazier in second year,� Remus said with a forced grin, trying to be casual in the wake of the ticking bomb that was his friend James.

“Four of us under that thing, and not a single brain between us,� sighed Sirius, “Those were the days!�

“That hole could be from anything,� James said through clenched teeth.

“Just put it on, James! You’ll know when you put it on,� Lily took his hand, the gentle pleading in her voice making Harry’s throat contract.

His parents had a silent conversation with their eyes. Harry felt he could have watched them that way forever. Then James swung the cloak in a well-practiced arc, so it settled on his shoulders. With only his head exposed, it was difficult to miss the wonder that stampeded its way across his features. His eyes met Harry’s - but in a different way than they had done before. It was as if he was seeing the other man for the first time. James took a step towards him and-

WHAP! An unsettling thud came from upstairs, breaking the moment. Harry made to move, but his wife beat him to it.

“You’d better not be bleeding by the time I get up there!� Her voice trailed her as she headed towards the stairs.

“Nothing too bad, I’m sure. The kids get along pretty well now they’re a bit older,� Harry said would-be casually. The smile slid off his face as he turned back to his father. James was once again closed off. He silently handed the cloak back to Harry, and stalked back across the room to the safety of his people.

“Lily, shut up! I’m trying to hear what they’re saying� Jamie hissed at his younger sister. Both of them were crouched at the top of the staircase, while Al watched anxiously from the doorway of his bedroom.

Dad had come back from work in the middle of the morning, which he never did unless there was big shit happening. Then he’d barged into Jamie’s room, demanding the cloak with no reasoning, which was totally un-Dadlike. To top it all off, he told them all to stay upstairs, and that he would explain it all later, which he had never, ever, done before. There were unfamiliar voices coming from the living room, talking with Mum and Dad in serious tones. So obviously, some really big shit was happening. Jamie needed, no, deserved, to know what it was, and what it had to do with his cloak. But Lily had other plans.

“I can’t believe you. I am going through a crisis, and you’re telling me to shut up. You are officially my least favorite brother,� Lily whispered venomously, making a face at him. James responded with a gesture that he never would have used if his parents were nearby.

“ooOOOOH I’m telling-� Jamie’s hand quickly covered her mouth, and they both froze as the chatter from the floor below quieted for a minute. After a brief pause, their father’s rumbling voice restarted once more. There were no heavy footfalls in their direction. They both relaxed.

“Sorry,� Jamie apologized reflexively, and released her. “You tell Mum, and I’ll tell everyone at school that you still sleep with Bianca.�

Lily gasped. She hugged the stuffed purple unicorn closer to her chest. “You wouldn’t!� She whispered.

Jamie merely raised his eyebrows in response, and refocused on trying to decipher the conversation happening downstairs. It was difficult to tell the voices apart.

“Al, I think they’re talking about you!� Lily said liltingly to her older brother.

“What? Why?� He scampered over to join them at last.

“No Lily, it was ‘Dumbledore’ Albus, not ‘Dumbass’ Albus,� Jamie sniped with a sly smile.

Al shoved Jamie hard, and his forehead met the wooden railing in a reverberating WHAP. Stars exploded behind his eyelids. When his vision returned, he was looking down through the posts of the railing into the worried face of his mother.

“What happened, who’s hurt?� She demanded. Jamie hadn’t looked at her properly in a while, and was suddenly hit by just how very tired she looked.

When met with a guilty silence, she sighed, and continued, “Jamie, let me look at you. Someone had better tell me what happened because I really don’t have time for a fight.�

Jamie tried to get up, and felt dizzy. His mum tutted, and took the steps two at a time until she got to him. As she checked him over thoroughly, Lily and Al quietly bickered back and forth.

“So, what’s the story? I know it won’t be the truth, because that involves admitting that you were eavesdropping, so what’ll it be?� She summoned an ice pack from the freezer, and gave it to Jamie to hold to his forehead. Both of her younger children were silent.

“Okay,� Mum sighed. “Did he at least do something to deserve it?�

Lily and Al shared a look, and avoiding Jamie’s gaze, nodded hesitantly. Those little dickbags.

“In that case, I feel like I should tell you that violence is never the answer.� Ginny pursed her lips, and continued on, “But on the other hand, it’s also important to stand up for yourself. Can we all just agree to use words next time?�

They nodded again.

“And Jamie, will you please try to be a little kinder to your siblings? At least until you all go back to school?� He nodded numbly, his head swimming as the pain of his injury finally began to set in.

“Great. Since you’ve probably heard most of the conversation anyway, why don’t you come down and meet our guests.�

The kids traded looks - Albus, scared; Lily, excited; Jamie, still a little woozy - and followed her down the stairs.

Dad poked his head out of the living room, and his eyes went wide when he saw their little parade.

“Gin,� he whispered, using his favorite gag-worthy nickname for Mum, “What are you doing? This is way too soon-�

“Harry, please. It’s going to happen eventually. They’ve been eavesdropping since you got back. You’re the one who always says we shouldn’t keep things from them.� Mum was gentle yet firm, in full-on guilt mode.

“I know, I know…I’m just worried. I don’t know them very well yet. I’m not sure what they’ll do,� Dad whispered, his throat tight. Who on earth could be in the living room that would make his Dad cry?

Mum hugged him close, fitting her head under his so she could lightly kiss the base of his neck. Jamie turned to Al and did a fake gag. Al studiously ignored him.

“You do know them. The only thing they’re going to do is love them. You have to trust them, love,� she whispered, just loud enough that Jamie could hear.

“I don’t know about that, not just yet. But I know I trust you.� His dad sighed, lingered a beat longer, then pulled away from his mum. “Alright,� he rubbed his hands together. “Give me a 30-second head start.�

Dad went back into the living room, and Mum turned back to face them. She seemed a little less confident than she had been when talking to Dad.

“I’d explain everything right now, but honestly, it’s your dad’s story to tell. Just know that everything’s fine, this is a good thing. And also, we don’t know everything yet. So there will not be answers for all the questions you have. We’re not hiding anything, we honestly just don’t know. Okay?�

The three Potter kids nodded, unusually silent.

“Okay,� Mum took a deep breath, “Here we go.� They followed her through the archway that led to the living room.

There were a lot more people there than Jamie had been able to hear from the stairs. His head still stung, and he could really only focus on holding the ice pack to his forehead as he entered, so he didn’t get a good look until he took a seat on the couch opposite them. Once he did, however, it took him only a split second to figure out who they were.

“Fucking hell!� he exclaimed, his ice pack falling to his lap. His dad snorted.

“Well put, kid,� Mum said, fighting back a smile.

Jamie wished she had reprimanded him for his language. That would mean that nothing was really serious, that this was maybe some weird prank, or a hallucination brought on by his recent head injury. But instead, they’d gone and treated him like a bloody adult. That, over any other evidence, proved to him that these people could only be who they appeared to be.

And who they appeared to be…were the heroes of many of his childhood bedtime stories. The subjects of the few revered pictures that littered the upstairs hallway. The ghosts that haunted him every time he wrote his name on his homework.

A million questions burned through his mind. Looking at his siblings, they were similarly caught off guard. Al sat with a skeptical tilt to his head, and a smile on his lips. Lily had retreated into Dad’s shoulder, an unusual bout of shyness overcoming her normal exuberance.

If Jamie thought it was fucking weird to see them sitting in front of him, it was practically earth-shattering to hear them speak.

“Bloody hell, those are some strong genes!� said the one Jamie recognized as Sirius. The man sounded older than Jamie had expected him to, with a gruff, scratchy voice that didn’t quite match his young face. Sirius seemed like the type of guy who wasn’t conscious of how cool he was, and didn’t get all weird about it. Jamie immediately wanted to be his friend and learn his ways. With a weird twist in his gut, he realized this was one of the men he was named after.

The man next to him laughed, and Jamie flashed back to earlier that summer, when he and Teddy had laughed themselves silly during an all-day Rocket League marathon. This man was unmistakably his godbrother’s dad. He had the same cinnamon-colored hair that Teddy had whenever he crashed on their couch, and the warm smile that Jamie knew as well as Al’s and Lily’s. Jamie gasped and looked at his Dad. Teddy!

Dad caught his eye and gave a sympathetic smile. Jamie just shook his head and guffawed. He suddenly didn’t blame Dad for nearly crying earlier.

As if that wasn’t enough, the couple (clearly a couple) sitting across from his parents were obviously his grandparents . It felt really weird to think of anyone other than his mum’s parents as his grandparents, but that’s what they were. Weirder still, that they were like, Teddy’s age, and not old and gray. They looked almost exactly like they did in the wedding photo he passed every time we went to the bathroom. Well, except for the baby, obviously. WAIT-

“Fucking hell Dad, is that you?�

His dad dropped his head into his hands and groaned. “I guess we should probably do some proper introductions, yeah?�

Lily’s breath caught in her throat. There were three of them - three. One had seemed like a dream already, but three seemed unreal. Only one of them looked like the grandson - well, son, if she was being honest - in her imagination. But it really didn’t matter, because she knew she'd already fallen head over heels for every last one of them. She took a moment to study them each in turn as Harry went around introducing them all.

The oldest was named James, which brought unexpected tears to her eyes. Harry clarified that he usually went by Jamie, so hopefully she wouldn’t be breaking down every time someone called his name. He was a tall, lanky boy, on the verge of being a man. Jamie nervously tousled his hair in the Potter way, though it was Weasley red and straight as a pin. Lily thought to herself that it was a lovely contrast to his tan skin, inherited from his father. His facial features even resembled Harry’s, but he had his mother’s warm brown eyes. Even with his slouched stance and folded arms, she could see that he was already as tall as his dad.

The younger boy seemed to be in the awkward stages of leaving childhood. This was Albus, she reminded herself. She was relieved to hear that he normally went by Al - the full name seemed rather a heavy burden for a child. His head barely reached his brother’s shoulder, so a growth spurt seemed imminent. But what had her truly entranced was that he looked the most like how she imagined Harry had as a boy. His gravity-defying hair, his tan skin, his lovely green eyes - her father’s green eyes. The glasses he roughly pushed up as they slipped, the shirttail dangling from the edge of his trousers on one side. She could stare at the boy all day and never be tired of him. But upon closer inspection, that’s where the similarities ended. He had that button-like nose she had always admired on Molly Weasley’s face, and her smile to match. Well, she supposed, his mother’s smile, as well.

The youngest of them, the girl, rushed past before Lily was able to get a good look at her. She clung to her father as soon as they reached the room, and he looked at her like there was nothing more precious in the universe. This, she would learn, was the very girl named after her. As if she needed further confirmation that she and James were long gone at this point in time.

It felt odd to think of there being another Lily Potter. It took her breath away, but it didn’t hurt the way Jamie had. The other Lily seemed to be ten or eleven - possibly in her first year of Hogwarts. Her wild and wavy red hair haloed her face, and her pale skin almost glowed in comparison. But what drew Lily’s attention immediately were her eyes. No doubt about it, those were James’ hazel eyes, peering out of this little girl’s angelic face.

“Wow,� Lily said, leaning forward to catch the younger Lily’s gaze with a kind smile. “Has anyone ever told you that you have your grandfather’s eyes?�

Her hazel eyes grew wide, and she shyly shook her head before burying it in her father’s arm.

Harry chuckled. “Not sure why she’s so shy all of a sudden. Normally she’d be bouncing off the walls.� His daughter merely wrapped an arm around his bicep in response.

Lily’s eyes met her son’s in a moment of shared love for the child. It was interrupted by a soft, but clear pinging sound that rang through the house.

“That’s odd, someone just came through the wards,� Harry frowned.

Ginny gasped. “It must be Ted, I invited him round for lunch.�

Panic overtook Harry’s calm countenance. “We have to get you all upstairs. He can’t - this isn’t how-�

“Breathe, love,� Ginny murmured, “You tidy up down here, I’ll get them all settled upstairs.� In a very Molly-ish way, she propped her hands and her hips and bellowed, “Everyone, follow me!�

Her kids dutifully followed her back up the stairs, and Sirius fell in line with a mischievous smile. Remus dutifully followed him. Lily grabbed James’ hand and dragged him along with her.

Lily couldn’t resist one look back to see her son’s love-stricken face. Yes, he was definitely his father’s son.

The last of the teacups had levitated themselves into the dishwasher when Teddy bounded through the front door. He bellowed a joyful greeting.

“In the kitchen, Ted!� Harry replied, starting the dishwasher. Teddy came in and grimaced melodramatically at the sound of it.

“Merlin, Harry,� Teddy said loudly, “Can we move to the living room? That thing is so damn loud!�

Harry frowned at his godson stubbornly, but nodded. He loved the blasted contraption, even if it did sound like there was a whole construction crew in the kitchen every time it ran.

“Whisper quiet, my ass…� Teddy muttered, flinging himself onto the sofa previously occupied by his father. “So I suppose cooking’s off the table, then?�

Harry blinked at him blankly.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m not putting up with that racket. I vote for takeout, preferably from the sushi place we tried last time. I’m still having dreams about their crab rangoon!� His head lolled back dramatically, and he dove headfirst into an in-depth recollection of the meal.

Oh, right. Food. Teddy was here for lunch. He didn’t know anything about the monumental change that had taken place. He was too busy rhapsodizing about crab rangoon.

A part of Harry wanted to keep it that way. To let him stay in his safe bubble of normality. To laugh, and argue that the sashimi had been way better. Let Teddy put in the order on the app, though Harry still said it was faster to call. Have one last simple, easy day with his cozy little family, and pretend that nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

But it was already too late. Teddy had cut himself off, and was watching Harry with narrowed eyes.

“Something’s up, old man. Tell me.�

Harry tidied a stack of Quidditch magazines, hiding his face.

“Oh nothing. I just already ordered the pizza.�

“No you didn’t,� Teddy shot back, “You always wait for me ‘cause I have the rewards card, and you like getting free pizza. What happened?�

Harry took his glasses off, and rubbed his eyes. Ready or not, it was time.

“Er,� he started confidently, “I’ve no idea how to say this. A weird thing happened yesterday.�

Teddy hummed, and sat up cautiously. “Normal weird, or Harry Potter weird?�

“Both, actually. We had just dropped the kids off at King’s Cross, and Ginny and I went to Godric’s Hollow, like always. When we got to the house, there were people inside.�

“Bloody looters!� Teddy exclaimed. “I can’t believe they got through the wards-�

“I wish it was looters. No, it was a group of people…� He focused on picking at a hangnail on his thumb. “Well, a group of people who traveled through time, actually.�

Teddy froze for a beat. Then: “Pull the other one, Harry.�

The older man sighed. “I don’t know how to say this, it’s not gonna sound real, but…my parents were there. And my godfather, Sirius. And me, weirdly enough,� he said with a shake of his head. “And…your dad, Ted.�

Teddy stared at him. He looked much younger than he had in a long time. His wide eyes and gaping mouth reminded Harry of the little boy who’d clung to him like a lifeline every time Andromeda came to pick him up from a weekend stay; who bawled as he waved goodbye from the open window on his first trip on the Hogwarts Express. Who turned bright tomato-red every time a stranger assumed Harry was his dad.

After a long moment, Teddy swallowed.

“You’re sure,� he said evenly. It wasn’t a question.

Harry nodded. Teddy nodded to himself, drifting off to stare at a spot on the carpet.

“Do you want to eat first or meet them?� Harry asked quietly.

Teddy's head whipped back to him. He fumbled for words. “Fuck’s sake, are you serious?�

Harry grinned, for the first time in what felt like years. “Stupid question. I’ll go get them.�