"Open it," A feminine voice said from behind him. Harry instantly recognized the voice. It was as familiar as the green light of the killing curse. He had heard it so many times screaming "Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!" He spun around on the spot to come face to face with a person he only knew from pictures in the album Hagrid had given him and from the Mirror of Erised. "Mum?"
"Oh Harry," She cried out as she pulled her son into a hug. "My son."
"And I thought those hugs were for me," Another voice said. Again it was a voice Harry heard when the Dementors were close. "Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run!"
"Dad?" Harry said as he looked over his mother's shoulder and saw a man who looked almost like himself just a little older.
"Son, we are so proud of you," James Potter said. "You've grown into a fine young man."
Harry felt his father's arms wrap around his mother and him. Before February this had been his dream, this house, his Mum and Dad, a family. But now something was missing. Something else belonged in this house, some ones that is.
"Is this a dream or is it real? Am I really dead?" Harry asked his parents.
A thumping, struggling sound came from behind the cupboard door. Harry turned and gave the door a quizzical look. Something told him he had to look, but another part knew he didn't want to see what was there.
"It can't hurt you now son," His father said. "It's no longer a part of you."
"Part of me?" Harry asked as his hand reached for the knob. As he opened the door he saw his old mattress on the floor, and upon it was a small naked child-looking thing with flayed skin gasping for breath. "What is it?"
"A part of Voldemort's soul son," Lily Potter answered and then explained. "The night we died, when he tried to kill you, his soul was too fragile for the stress of the killing curse rebounding upon him. It split and a part of it lodged in your scar."
Harry remembered a conversation he had with Professor Dumbledore two years previous.
"Unless I'm much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I'm sure ..."
"Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?"
"It certainly seems so."
He looked at his mother, "Dumbledore knew didn't he? He knew it was in me. He told me when I came out of the Chamber that Voldemort had transferred something to me."
"He suspected it Harry, but recently he had become convinced," James Potter said. "He believed you had to die before Voldemort could."
"A horcrux? That thing was a horcrux and he didn't tell me?" Harry said, his voice rising. "He didn't tell me I had to die?" The anger only last a few seconds before he sighed. "Guess he was right wasn't he?" Harry said softly. "I'm dead," A sense of loss descended upon him as he could see the three faces of his bond mates. "Just...just as I finally..."
"You still have a choice Harry," Lily said. "You can choose to go back or go on."
"How? How can I go back?" Harry asked. "I'm dead aren't I?"
"Not quite. You are neither dead nor alive right now," Lily replied. "You are just here. You see, two souls arrived, yours and that thing," Lily gestured toward the closet. "Only one has to continue on. You can choose to return but you must choose soon. You can go on and join us in what Dumbledore calls the Next Great Adventure, or return to your life and to your new family."
"You know about them?"
"Of course son, we are watching you every day," James said and then rustled his son's unruly hair. "Were you trying to outdo me son? Three beautiful and intelligent witches?" His father gave a wry grin. "Though I will warn you that just one of them is hard enough to deal with."
"Hey," Lily said though she was smiling at her husband.
"It...it wasn't my idea Dad," Harry said. "But I love them, all of them, but I don't deserve them."
"Let them decide if you deserve them or not," James suggested.
"Let them? So you think I should go back?"
"That's a decision you have to make, but you should know what you face if you do," Lily replied. "Dumbledore has kept one other piece of information from you. It is the whole reason we were killed and why Voldemort has tried to kill you so many times."
"There was a prophecy made about you Harry," His father said. "Shortly before you were born, Albus heard a prophecy that suggested you were the only one who could kill Voldemort," James looked over at Lily before continuing. "Sn.. I mean someone overheard some of it and told Voldemort. If you do decide to go back, make Dumbledore tell it to you, or if he won't, you can listen to it in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry."
"I...I have to kill Voldemort if I go back?" Harry asked. "How?"
"We don't know," Lily replied sadly. "But don't be like Albus and think you have to do it alone. You have people you can trust to help you, who want to help you, let them."
"You don't have much time left here son," James said. "You have to decide if you are going on, or going back."
"I...I want to be with you but," Harry started as once again the memories of his bond mates surfaced.
"We understand," James said. "We'll be here when you return someday...hopefully a long time in the future, and then we'll have an eternity to spend together," James said as he rustled his son's hair once more. "Hopefully when you make it back we can watch your children and grandchildren together then."
"Just remember we love you Harry," Lily said. "And we love your bonded. They are all very special women. Give them our love."
"Just a couple of things before you go," James said. "Ask Albus about our wills soon."
"Why?"
"Your mother and I had a dream," James Potter replied. "We used to talk about what we wanted when the war was over. In the family vault is a roll of parchment which explains it. I'm not going to tell you what it is, and though it's legally yours anyway, consider it an early wedding gift from us."
"I...I don't know what to say."
....
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