"Were your parents?" Lily asked making sure she heard correctly.
"Yes."
"Can you prove it, Harry?"
"Absolutely, look at me."
James swung his wand toward Harrys voice. The light from the wand hit Harrys mouth. He slowly moved the light up Harrys face until he saw his emerald green eyes.
Lily gasped, "James." He reached out and took her hand.
"Nox."
The four of them struggled to get to their feet. Ginny wrapped her arms around Harrys neck and gave him a small kiss on the lips. He was grateful for it and returned her gesture with a tight hug. When they broke apart James and Lily were walking towards them holding hands.
"Harry," Lily whispered.
Harry looked straight into the eyes of the young woman that would become his mother.
"Harry," she said while reaching with her free hand to touch his face. They both felt something powerful, and neither moved. "How old are you?"
"Seventeen."
"So are we." She let go of James hand and embraced her son. Unsure of what to do he hugged her back. He was glad it was dark out and no one could see the tears swell up in his eyes. As much as he loved Ginny and as grateful as he was for everything Mrs. Weasley had done for him, he thought there was nothing more wonderful then being hugged by his own mother. Suddenly she broke away and grabbed James hand.
"Im sorry," she said to the ground.
Harry struggled to find his voice, "Please dont be."
"Its just that this is really. . ."
"Weird. I know." Next to Harry, Ginny shivered. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"I wish I had my cloak."
"Ginny! The cloak." They both turned and looked on the ground behind them. "Lumos." After a few minutes of searching, Harry yelled, "Here it is."
He grabbed the invisibility cloak and swung it around her shoulders. "That might help a bit."
"Hold on," James said. "Thats my cloak."
Harry looked at Ginny questioning. She shrugged in return. Harry looked at his father, "You left it for me."
Lily squeezed James hand understanding what Harrys words meant.
"Look," Harry said taking charge. "We are literally out in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night. We have one cloak, no food and no money."
"So what we need then is food and shelter for free," James continued "any ideas?"
"Well, we know where we are, but we dont know when."
James smiled broadly, and his eyes twinkled, although in the darkness it was hard to tell. "Oh, but Harry, my boy, we do."
"Hows that?"
"The map of course." James laughed at three perplexed companions. "The map said we were on the future site of Hogwarts, which means the castle is either being built or about to be." Everyone was silent with the realization of when in time they actually were.
"And how does that help us?" Harry asked completely frustrated.
"Actually, it helps a great deal." Ginny said her voice full of Weasley mischief. "Im sure we will find help in the village."
"How do we know the village is there?" Lily asked.
"Im sure it is. Ill explain on the way." Ginny led them towards the village of Hogsmeade, both couples holding hands.
After several minutes of walking in silence, Lily spoke. "Ginny, please tell us about the village."
"Oh right. Sorry. Well, earlier today, if we can still call it today. Anyway, I was in the Three Broomsticks with Colin and Melissa."
"You tagged along with those two." Harry said feeling a bit bad for her.
"They arent that bad, besides its not my fault that my boyfriend got himself a detention with Snape."
"Ginny!" Harry yelled.
Ginny thought about what she had just said. "Oh, this is going to be hard." Harry squeezed her hand.
"Snape!" James laughed loudly. "Snape, that greasy git is one of your professors. Thats a joke!"
Harry turned so suddenly that James was taken aback and stopped laughing immediately. Harry stepped towards James and stood toe-to-toe and eye-to-eye with his father, anger rising. "This is no joke! There is nothing funny about it! Snape hates me; hes hated me since the day I set foot in Hogwarts, and do you want to know why?" Harry yelled.
Ginny whispered, "Harry."
He ignored her and continued, "He hates me because of you. Because youre my father and I look just like you." He paused to try and calm himself down. "We need to talk about this, but it will have to wait until we find shelter."
He wrapped his arm around Ginnys shoulder, and they continued walking. James looked at Lily, regret and sorrow washed over his face. She took his hand and gave him a quick kiss. They ran to catch up to Harry and Ginny.
"Ginny, please finish your story," Lily said trying to keep everyone calm.
Ginny looked up at Harry questioningly. He nodded for her to continue.
"Right. Well anyway, Melissa is a history buff and asked Madam Rosmerta about the history of her pub. We got quite a story. It turns out that the founders were actually involved in the physical building of the castle. Gryffindor himself lived in Hogsmeade during the entirety of the construction. The other founders were here for periods of time. Anyway, if Madam Rosmerta is right, the Three Broomsticks is on the same site as Gryffindors house."
"So we just walk up to Godric Gryffindor and ask him to let us stay in his home?" Harry asked laughing at the absurdity of the whole idea. "Why would he agree to do that?"
Before anyone could answer the four of them stopped and looked at the site before them. There most definitely was a village there, but it was nothing like the village that they knew. There was no street full of shops, and no Shrieking Shack in the distance. Instead, there were dozens of homes. There didnt appear to be any roads in between them, just homes randomly scattered about the hillside. Everyone looked at Ginny, and she just beamed back at them.
"I told you we could find help here," she said knowingly.
Harry turned to James, "Now why exactly would Gryffindor let four strangers into his home?"
James smiled and simply said, "Because were family."
A/N: Continued thanks to Cliodne for her beta work.