Operation Homeward (A Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Six

Okay, I know I said I'd update May 14th. Things changed, I wasn't going to be able to do it. I posted on my profile. Sincerest apologies.

I've decided to just do every other Thursday from now on. School's over, but hopefully that'll give me time to actually plan chapters. Cool? Cool. If that doesn't happen ... It's likely because I've lost motivation 😂

Please comment :) I noticed that there's a crazy amount of reads on my fourth chapter compared to the others, and I wonder if that was because of Teddy or because of Harry or what. Lemme know, and I'll give you more of it. I loved writing that chapter—I've loved HP all my life, so it was a very amazing feeling writing Harry's POV for the first time (how'd I do?). If there's anything else, again, please let me know.

Onto the chappie :)

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Albus had known Teddy Lupin all his life. He was practically his brother, and as his brother, he knew quite a bit about him—like the fact that he tended to act very flustered (er, more flustered than usual) when caught off-guard.

In the five minutes it took Albus, Lily, and James to explain everything they'd discovered regarding Harry's possible survival, Teddy had bonked his knee into the coffee table (then proceeded to apologize to said coffee table), knocked off the flower vase on top of it with his elbow (and cleaned up the mess while repeatedly saying, "I'm sorry"), and called Harry "Herman" when asking Lily about how she found the portkey snitch.

Really, it was a wonder that the bloke hadn't yet been kicked out of Auror training. Or died in it.

When all the details of the past couple hours was laid out in the open, Teddy only stared at them with comically wide eyes. His hair had somewhere during their conversation turned back into the classic Potter hairstyle, but this time, no one commented on it.

"So ..." Lily started, "what do you think?"

Albus held his breath as Teddy considered the new information for a couple moments. He knew it was a lot to take in, especially for Teddy, especially because of what it could mean for them.

"I ..." Teddy said softly, "I ... Wow. I don't really know."

Albus had to reign in the urge to squirm uncomfortably, instead choosing to fiddle with the hard drive in his hands. He needed to get another opinion on this now before he let himself start hoping for things that could never happen; before he let himself imagine telling his dad—

Stop it, he internally chastised, there's no good in letting your mind wander to that right now.

"I know," said Lily tenderly, dragging Albus back to the present. "I still haven't quite wrapped my head around it, either, and I'm sure these two feel the same." She nodded her head in the direction of the brothers sitting on each side of her.

"This is a little more than just trying to believe that Harry might be alive after all this time, Lily," said Teddy. "It's more like it doesn't make sense. If what you're saying is true—and I'm not saying it is—then not only was, is, Harry not the person we thought he was, but there's also someone searching for whatever he had right now. And clearly, they are not the sort to be messed with."

Albus looked down at the hard drive, subconsciously holding it tighter. "So, what do you think we should do?"

"What you should do is take it to Hermione," answered Teddy. "She's smart, she's the Minister, and she was one of the people that knew Harry more than anyone. She'd know what to think of all this."

Albus exchanged looks with James and Lily. This was exactly what they were worried he'd say; they couldn't trust that Hermione wouldn't do what needed to be done. She cared about Harry like a brother, and she was the Minister, but that didn't mean that the Wizengamot wouldn't try to restrain her if word got out that the famous Harry Potter might be alive; the last thing they needed was the very people searching for whatever Harry had found out that he might still be alive somewhere.

"I feel like there's a 'but' coming," said James, grinning slightly.

Teddy sighed and gave him a weary smile. "But ... Harry once told me that sometimes what we should do isn't always what we must do; that's why he went into the Chamber of Secrets, retrieved the Philosopher's Stone, let Peter Pettigrew live, etcetera. I feel like that is the case now."

Albus held his breath, a dull ache spreading in his chest. "What is it we must do, then?"

Teddy thought for a moment before replying, "I think Lily should show me that children's book she found."

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I have to end the chapter here for plot and flow purposes. I might update again sometime this week because I know it's a short one. Please comment! Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!