Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Enjoy!

"Good thing it's after curfew or we would be bombarded by a lot of questions right now," Lily said as they walked back to their dormitory.

"We still will be once we reach the Tower," James said, still holding their sleeping son. "You know that Sirius, Remus and Peter will be waiting up to see why were summoned."

"True," Lily laughed. "Can you believe it James? Why do you think this happened?"

"A second chance," James murmured. "I think Harry really needed us." He tightened his hold on his boy, feeling protective. "For magic to respond to him this way, it must have been bad what he went through."

Lily nodded.

"Who is this?" Remus asked in surprise when James and Lily entered the common room. He, Sirius and Peter were sitting by the fireplace, curious as to why James and Lily had been called to Dumbledore's office.

"Here, I'll take him to your dorm," Lily whispered, taking Harry from James arms. All James dorm-mates were in the common room so she could go up there and place Harry on James's bed.

James watched them go and then explained what the Headmaster had told them.

"A son?" Sirius's mouth dropped open.

"And he's five? Or seventeen? I'm confused," Remus frowned.

"He was seventeen, he remembers being seventeen, but he was sent back here as a five year old," James said, watching as Lily walked down the stairs from the boys dorm. "He still asleep?"

"Yes," Lily smiled. "He's so cute, I can't believe he's ours."

"Why is he here?" Remus asked curiously.

"Dumbledore believes it's a second chance for him," James said. "Maybe for all of us. He lost everyone." he said in a grieved voice. The pain in his son's eyes had been hard to see. "He defeated Voldemort as a seventeen year old but lost everyone in the war."

"Merlin," Sirius breathed.

"He defeated you-know-who?" Peter squeaked.

James nodded. They began discussing how and why this could have happened until they heard a gasp and saw Harry standing at the top of the stairs.

"Sirius?" Harry's mouth dropped open.

"Yeah, pup? You know me, huh?" Sirius grinned, his grey eyes bright. "What am I saying? Of course you know me. I'm your favorite uncle, right?"

Harry wanted to throw his arms around his godfather and yell at him at the same time. Yelling won. "You left me!" he accused as he ran downstairs.

"What?"

"You died, you left me!" Harry sobbed. "I needed you and you left me. Everyone left me."

Sirius looked horrified and stepped forward. "Pup, I'm sorry." What on earth had happened in Harry's time? He bent down and opened his arms, hugging Harry when the child threw himself into his arms. "He's your mirror image, Prongs," he remarked. "Except with Lily's eyes."

"Yup, he'll be a looker when he gets older," James quipped.

"Such arrogance," Lily sighed, her eyes on Harry who was sniffling into Sirius's shoulder.

"You okay, pup?" Sirius asked, the nickname coming naturally to him.

Harry nodded as Sirius put him down.

"So of course you know Remus and Peter," James said.

Harry ran to Remus and hugged him. "You left me too," he whispered.

Remus felt horrible, even though he had no idea what had happened. He stroked his hand through Harry's hair. "I'm sorry, Harry. But we're all here now, right?"

Harry nodded, stepping back. He stared at Peter, the man who had betrayed his parents in his time. Without thinking, he ran up to him and started hitting and kicking him.

"Hey! Ow! Stop!" Peter squealed, trying to get away from the determined five year old.

"Harry, stop that right now!" Lily scolded.

When Harry ignored her and went to kick Peter again, James quickly pulled him back. He reached around Harry and planted a mild swat to his backside. "Enough!" he scolded.

Harry stilled, his wide eyes on his father. His hands sneaked behind him to rub out the slight sting and he felt his eyes fill with tears.

James sighed and knelt down so he could look Harry in the eyes. "Why did you act like that with Peter? It wasn't nice and he's our friend." he said more gently. He felt bad for swatting him, but it had been an automatic response to Harry's behavior.

"No, he isn't," Harry whispered.

James frowned and exchanged a glance with Lily.

"What does he mean?" Peter asked in confusion.

"He's just tired," Lily said smoothly.

James stood, lifting Harry into his arms. "Lily, we should arrange his bed. Dumbledore said a house elf would deliver one for him."

"Cool, we have another dorm-mate," Sirius grinned.

Harry peeked out at Sirius from where he had hidden his face in his father's neck. He gave him a small smile.

James carried Harry to his dorm room, Lily right behind him. As soon as she shut the door behind them, she warded it so so no one could overhear them. "Harry, what did you mean Peter isn't our friend?"

"He changes sides," Harry said as James set him down. "He betrays both of you. Because of him, I lost you." his voice broke.

"I can't believe Peter would do that," Lily said, shocked.

"I'm not lying!"

"Hey," James cupped Harry's chin in his hand. "She didn't say you were. We believe you. But Harry, as of now he hasn't done anything but be our friend."

Harry jerked his head away. "He's a rat! He can't be trusted!"

"I'll keep an eye on him," James promised. And he would. It was difficult to think Peter would betray them but he believed Harry. He would keep a close eye on Peter and be careful of what he shared with him about Harry and the future.

"Harry, do you need anything? Are you hungry or thirsty?" Lily asked.

Harry shook his head. He hadn't eaten in...he didn't even know. All he was was tired.

Lily was pulling back the covers on the bed placed near James. "We'll need to get you clothes and toys. We don't even have any pajamas for you." she frowned.

"I'll shrink one of mine," James said as he pulled out a pair of PJ's. "We'll need to make a trip to Hogsmeade. Maybe we can get permission from Dumbledore to leave the castle even though a Hogsmeade weekend isn't coming up yet."

Lily was watching Harry as he looked around the room, staring at the Quidditch posters. "You like Quidditch?"

Harry nodded eagerly. "I was a seeker!"

"Yeah?" James looked proud. "Chip off the ole block, huh?"

"That's wonderful, Harry. What year did you make the team?"

"First year."

Lily looked at James and then Harry. "Oh. So they change the rules that first years can play? I'm not sure how I feel about that," she frowned. First years were so small, and Quidditch was a really dangerous sport.

"No, the rules haven't changed," Harry yawned. "I flew during my first flying lesson after Madam Hooch took a student to the infirmary. I wasn't supposed to but I was trying to catch a Remembrall for a friend and I caught it right before it hit the side of the castle. McGonagall saw me and immediately put me on the team." He fell asleep as James changed him into pajamas and laid him down.

Lily's mouth dropped open.

James, however, looked amused. "It sounds like he will be a handful." he remarked.

Lily nodded ruefully.

HP

James woke up earlier than usual to find Harry sitting on the window seat. He frowned. It was too early for him to be up. "Harry?" he asked softly, not wanting to wake up his dorm-mates. He sat up.

Harry glanced over. "Hi."

James got out of bed and walked over to his son. "Can't sleep?"

"I had a bad dream," Harry shrugged. "This is what I would usually do when I couldn't sleep."

"Did that happen often?" James asked. When Harry nodded, his felt his heart break. Such sadness in a five year old's eyes. He couldn't imagine his son having grown up with that look in his eyes. Picturing him as a seventeen year old, surrounded by bodies of those he loved after finally defeating Voldemort...no, he couldn't imagine. That was not what he would ever want for any child, let alone his son.

"Dumbledore said Lily and I were killed when you were a baby," James said carefully.

"Uh huh. Thanks to Peter, Voldemort knew where to find us. He came to our house and you told mum to take me and run. You tried to fight him but he killed you," Harry said in a grief stricken voice. "Then he went after mum and told her to get out of the way but she refused. He killed her and then tried to kill me. I became the boy-who-lived and it was up to me to destroy Voldemort."

"Merlin," James breathed.

Harry's eyes filled with tears. "I couldn't save them," he whispered. "I lost everyone because I couldn't save them."

"It wasn't your fault. You were a teenager with too big a burden to carry." James said, reaching out and cupping Harry's chin in his hand. "It wasn't your fault." He repeated. "Things will be different now, everything is okay now."

"But Voldemort is alive here," Harry said worriedly.

"Yes, but you are not the boy-who-lived here," James said firmly. "Dealing with him is not your responsibility. Now you can just be a child."

"M' not a child," Harry yawned.

James smiled and gathered his boy in his arms. "Of course not," he said as he carried him to his own bed. He kept Harry cuddled next to him as they both drifted off to sleep.

HP

"It's the sweetest thing I've ever seen." A voice cooed.

"How many pictures are you planning to take?"

"Just a few more..."

"I want a copy. I'll enlarge it and hang it on the wall," A voice laughed.

James opened his eyes to find Lily, Sirius, and Remus standing over him. He blinked in confusion before realizing the weight he felt on his chest was Harry. He groaned as Lily took another picture. "Don't you guys have better things to do?"

"This is just too adorable," Lily gushed.

"It really is," Sirius teased. "First you slept with a teddy bear and now a Harry bear."

"Sod off," James suggested with a laugh.

Harry stirred and gave a start when he saw all of them standing over him.

"Sorry, Harry," Lily said, sending the camera to her dorm. "We didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay," Harry sat up. He and his dad put on their glasses. "I'm hungry."

"Get dressed pup then we go eat," Sirius said.

"He needs a bath before he gets dressed," Lily said. "We'll meet you downstairs."

"Sure thing," Sirius said as he and Remus left the room.

Lily began going through James clothes.

"I can just wear what I was wearing yesterday," Harry said as he stood up. It was still weird being so small.

"I have enough clothes, we can shrink something down," James said easily. "I'll take him to the prefects bathroom to have his bath."

Harry perked up. The prefect's bathroom was really cool, with a tub the size of a pool. James took him to the fifth floor where the bathroom was located. No one else was inside and Harry couldn't help the childish delight to splash around in the multi colored water as James tried to get him slathered up with soap.

"Harry, I need to wash your hair," James said in fond exasperation. After quickly washing the boys hair, he rinsed it off. "You want to swim around for a few minutes?"

Harry had fun splashing but swimming? Without gillyweed, he really couldn't swim very well. He had never properly learned. "I don't know how," he said softly.

"Oh," James had jumped in the tub, keeping his boxers on and quickly soaped himself up. After washing his hair, he showed Harry how to float in the water. He then showed him how to exhale underwater. "You make bubbles, like this," he took a deep breath and put his face underwater. Bubbles came up and Harry giggled. James lifted his head out of the water and wiped the water from his eyes. "Keep your mouth closed and breathe out your nose until you're out of breath and then come back up." They practiced a few times until Harry got comfortable with it. Harry was practicing kicking his legs when Lily walked in.

"I was afraid you two had drowned," Lily said.

"I'm learning to swim!" Harry said proudly.

Lily shared a smile with James as she knelt by the edge of the tub. "Show me, love," she encouraged.

James helped keep Harry afloat as he practiced kicking. He then was shown how to move his arms. Harry was still trying to get the hang of it when Lily commented that breakfast would be served soon.

"Aww," Harry pouted. He was having fun!

"We'll practice more later," James promised as he got out and dried himself off. "Come on, Pronglet." He held his hand out to help him out. "Soon you'll know enough to swim in the Great Lake."

Harry started to get out and then squealed. "Mum, I'm nakie!"

Lily bit her lip so she wouldn't laugh. "Sorry, love," she turned around as Harry got out and James dried him off.

"You can turn back around," James said with laughter in his voice. Merlin, their kid was adorable!

Wrapped up in a big, fluffy towel James carried Harry back to their dorm and they quickly dressed for the day.

"Ready for some grub?" Sirius asked cheerfully when they joined them in the common room.

Harry nodded. He was so hungry! He hadn't felt hungry last night but he honestly couldn't remember the last time he had eaten. He smiled at Sirius and Remus but his smile faded when he saw Peter. He glared at the rat and Peter blanched slightly.

"Harry," James noticed and nudged his son. It really was difficult to believe quiet Peter could betray them and become some horrible person but he obviously had, by Harry's reaction to him. He hoped this time around Peter would do the right thing and stand by his friends. He had already told Sirius and Remus what Harry had said about him and while surprised, they had agreed to be careful what they discussed around Peter and keep a close eye on him.

Harry let out a huff and looked away from Pettigrew. "He's a slimy, no good -"

"Harry." This time there was warning in James voice.

"Why doesn't he like me?" Peter asked, looking confused. The boy liked Remus and Sirius, why not him?

Remus cleared his throat and clapped his hands together. "Let's go before Sirius passes out from hunger." He said, taking the attention away from Peter.

"I could eat a Hippogriff," Sirius nodded, pretending he was going to faint on Remus.

"Prat," Remus laughed as he pushed him off.

Lily took Harry by the hand as they walked to the Great Hall.

TBC: