As soon as James and Harry entered the house, they were thrown into the chaos that was Potter Manor.

Growing up with the Dursleys, Harry was quite used to over preparing for guests to arrive, but nothing could have prepared him for the terror that was his mother.

Things were scattered everywhere doing all sorts of different tasks. The mop was cleaning the floors by itself, while the broom and dustpan stood by indignantly. There was a vacuum that was running through the halls, picking up every small scrap of dirt from the pristine carpet. Dishes were washing themselves in the sink, a duster was frantically moving across every surface it could find, and still it seemed that it was't enough.

"James! Oh thank Merlin, you got here just in time." Sirius said, panic and fear evident in his eyes, "You're bloody wife has gone mad!"

James chuckled softly at Sirius' terror- filled voice, "well, mate, what do you want me to do about it?"

"I don't know, snog her, shag her, I don't care! Just bloody well calm her down!"

"You know very well I can't do that Pads, she'll just become angry at me if I try."

"well then," Sirius started before stopping and thinking for a moment, his eyes drifting towards Harry, "send little prongslette in there! She will have to calm down for her beloved son!"

James stared at Sirius for a second before bursting out in a breathless laugh.

"You're joking, right Pads? Sending Harry in there would be homicide."

"No I am not joking Prongs. Someone has to do something, and since you don't have the balls to do it-"

"I should at least give it a try, dad." Harry said, finally able to speak up from the silent giggles Sirius' panic had put him in.

"See there Prongs? You're kid is on my side." Sirius smugly said, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder, "you are a brave soldier lad. If you don't make it out of there alive… I'm taking your broomstick."

"Gee, thanks for that Sirius." Harry responded with fake glumness.

"Yeah, no problem kiddo, now get in there and calm your mother down for Merlin's sake."

Not allowing for Harry to respond, Sirius shoved Harry off toward the kitchen where his mother was undoubtedly cooking dinner.

Harry began his approach slowly, as if his mother was a delicate deer that might be scared off, but the further he got into the kitchen, the quicker his steps got, until finally he was right at his mother's side.

She looked disheveled and tired. Her hair was up in the messiest sort of bun, the apron she wore around her waist was dirty and worn, and her eyes held a sort of exhausted look in them, like all she wanted to do was sit on the floor and take a hundred year nap. The sleepiness was probably the only reason that she had yet to realise that Harry was standing right next to her.

"Um, mum?" Harry asked softly, timid at the prospect of having a tired, irritable mother on his hands.

Lily turned around and gave him but a small, tired smile, though her eyes seemed to light up at the sight of him.

"Harry," She said softly, "did you enjoy your shopping trip with your father?"

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Mum, maybe you should take a bit of a break? You look absolutely exhausted."

"Oh no, I'm fine. Besides I have to get dinner finished along with the cleaning before your aunt arrives."

"But mum, you're likely to run yourself ragged from all this work. Cooking and maintaining cleaning spells can't be easy."

"It isn't easy, but how else am I to get all of this done? I mean, I love your father and Sirius, but those two are absolutely useless when it comes to this kind of thing."

"Well then I can help you. The Dursley's had me cooking and cleaning every day since I was seven. I can help get this stuff done so that you can take a break."

"No," said Lily sternly, "I refuse to do that to you, Harry. I'm not going to make you do all of this work by yourself."

"Well, at least let me help you."

Lily paused and thought about the offer for a second, before smiling at Harry and giving him a small nod.

Harry grinned and ran off to grab a small stool to allow him to look over the counter top (he really was quite short). After he was steady on his stool, he looked at his mother and waited for orders.

"Alright then, Harry why don't you start cutting out this dough for the biscuits, and I will start on the ham."

"Ok, mum."

They worked in a comfortable silence, each just enjoying each other's help and company. After Harry had finished cutting out the biscuits, he carefully set them in the oven and set off to work on straining the green beans. Lily did everything else.

Harry was so happy, he finally got to cook (which he actually liked to do very much) with his mother. Harry didn't think anyone could be happier or luckier than he was.

Remus popped in to help after about 15 minutes, and together the three of them managed to prepare all of the food with time to spare. Lily sent Harry up to get changed into his more formal looking pants and polo before she went off to no doubt scold James and Sirius for not helping her at all.

In his room, Harry took a moment to just lay in bed and think about his day; It was the best thing ever. He went shopping with his dad and helped his mom cook supper, and it was then that Harry realized that it no longer felt weird. He no longer felt awkward and uncomfortable around his parents, and he felt as if he had been raised by them all along. Sure, he knows that it won't all be blissful happiness, he's sure he'll get on his parents nerves, but even then it won't dampen his never ending joy at finally having them with him.

Harry was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of the doorbell clanging in the hallway. Realizing that he had yet to get changed, Harry threw on a pair of his khaki slacks and a bright red polo before running down the stairs to greet his aunt like a good host (what? after 11 years with the woman he was bound to learn something.)

He turned the corner to see his Aunt Petunia greeting Lily and James politely while staring uncomfortably at Remus and Sirius. Harry walked over and stood beside his father before politely saying, "hello." to Petunia.

"Well," Lily said with a smile, "Shall we head to the dining room for dinner?"

Sirius cheered and booked it into the dining room before Lily as even done asking her question. James and Remus followed suit with apologetic glances at Lily, and Petunia simply nodded stiffly before following the others in.

James had already pulled out a chair for Petunia to sit in, and was patiently waiting for her to sit. Harry, taking from his father's example, pulled out his mother's chair then pushed it back once she sat down.

"Thank you Harry." She said, giving him a bright smile.

That's the difference between his mom and Aunt Petunia that Harry enjoyed the most. His mother doesn't give him ridiculous nicknames and she doesn't coddle and praise him magnificently for every little thing. As Harry took his seat, he thought of all the times Aunt Petunia had burst into tears over "Duddy's" polite manners, and he had to resist the urge to laugh.

Once dinner was served, the conversation was even more limited than it was originally (if that were even possible). Soon, though, Sirius starting telling Harry the story of the time his mom dumped his dad into the black lake when he asked her out in their third year at Hogwarts, and the conversation became quite loud. The only person that wasn't joining in was, unsurprisingly, Petunia. She just sat stiffly in her chair and looked straight at her half finished plate of food like it held the secrets to the universe in it.

"So, Petunia," James started, a smile still dancing on his lips, "Where does your son go to school?"

Petunia, never missing a moment to brag about her "Dinky Duddydums" looked up and responded immediately.

"He attends Smeltings Academy for Boys. It's a very prestigious private school. The very best in England."

"I think I've heard of that school," Remus said, "is it true that they encourage the boys to fight while the teacher's back is turned?"

"W-well, I suppose they might," Petunia said with a slightly defencive tone, "But my Duddy doesn't participate in such nonsense, he wouldn't hurt a fly."

Harry couldn't help it, the thought of Dudley not taking every chance he had to beat someone up made him snort into his potatoes. If Petunia heard him, she didn't acknowledge it, but James heard and gave him a concerned glance. Harry just shook his head and went back to eating as silence once again befell the table.

The clock seemed to tick slower and slower as the silence went on; Lily began to look more and more put out. Petunia kept casting wary glances at everything in the room, particularly Sirius, who had developed the habit of glaring at her between bites of his meal. Harry just ate slowly, waiting for someone to say something. He kept looking at Sirius as he glared, and the one time they made eye contact, was the moment Sirius burst.

"That's it, I can't take this silence anymore!" Sirius barked, throwing his hands into the air, "This is just so awkward; I can't stand it. I'm going to go outside and go for a run before I die of boredom."

James smiled at his friend's constant need for action and noise, but didn't stop him as he walked through the door.

"Honestly," Petunia scoffed, "you would think silence is a bad thing the way he's acting."

"Well this kind of silence is a bad thing," countered James, "it's tense and awkward."

"I found it rather nice," Petunia scoffed, "after all it almost makes this house, and this family seem normal."

"Petunia," Lily interjected, her tone wary but also a bit strong with warning, "I thought you were over this."

"Yes, I thought I was too. I thought I could ignore this freakishness to have you back, but it just is too… wrong; too abnormal."

"Well from our perspective, you're the abnormal one here, not us."

"James, please."

"Oh yes, because keeping company with a grown man that acts like an undisciplined child shows that you are very normal. Not to mention all of these abnormal pictures."

"Petunia-"

"Our pictures aren't abnormal."

"Moving pictures aren't normal, they're strange, and they represent just how different the normal world is from your freakish one."

"How dare you-"

"James, sit down. Petunia, please calm down and-"

"Lily, I am sorry, I really am. I thought maybe I could forget all of this freak stuff and rebuild my relationship with you, but all this abnormality, I just cannot forget that you are apart of it. I can't forgive you for being a freak."

For a moment, things became quiet again, but not because of tension, this time it was because of shock. Tears were streaming down Lily's face, and James had his fists clenched so hard his knuckles were beginning to turn white. Harry, not knowing what to really do, just stared at his now standing mother as she slowly walked over toward Petunia.

"Hey Harry, maybe you should go up to your room yeah?" James suggested, warily eyeing Lily, who now had a firm grasp on her wand.

"Don't even try James," Remus said, sounding slightly amused despite the situation, "If he is anything like you, he will just walk outside and listen into the conversation from outside the room."

James just nodded his head. He was keeping a close watch on Lily just in case things turned ugly.

"You, can't Forgive me? Forgive? Being a witch isn't something that requires forgiveness, Petunia. I haven't done anything to you that deserves to be forgiven." Lily said, her hand gripping her wand tighter and tighter as she got closer and closer to Petunia. Her ears had begun to go red, but she ignored them as she continued to advance toward Petunia, "You, on the other hand, you Petunia Jade Dursley, bullied me from the day I got my Hogwarts letter till the day you left the house with your over sized, walrus of a husband. You didn't even have the courtesy to show up at my wedding. You disowned me and my family completely, and when I was killed, you took my son in and Tortured him. Cooking, cleaning, obeying, pretending; all while stuffed into a ruddy cupboard all because you were angry at me for being a witch. You allowed your whale of a son beat up my underfed son because you couldn't be bothered; your Duddykins, which is a stupid name by the way, could do no wrong."

"What did it matter if my son has bruises everywhere from the beating that would occur on the rare occasions that Dudley could catch him, maybe it'll beat the 'freakishness' out of him. Face it Petunia, you are a complete cow, an uncaring, cold hearted COW!"

Lily stopped to take in a breath, but she didn't allow Petunia to retort as she went right back into her ranting.

"But despite that, despite the way you made my son suffer, I decided to try and forgive you because you are my older sister. You're all I have left to remind me of mum and dad; you're my only link. Now, though, I see that it'll never work. You'll never fully be sorry for what you did to me or to Harry, because the jealousy in your heart is far too strong, and you are too far gone; I can't pull you back."

Silence fell onto the room, everyone was staring at Lily in amazement, except for Petunia whose glare never subsided once during Lily's entire monologue. The silence hung for a couple of minutes, before Petunia decided to pull the very last straw with a hate filled, "bitch"

Lily cracked. The rest of her face flushed red as she whipped her wand out from her pocket, pointing it straight at Petunia whose eyes grew in terror. Almost as if he were prepared for this (which he probably was), James leapt into action. He ran behind Lily and grabbed her around her thin waist before grabbing her wand and putting it behind his back. Remus seemed to take this as his cue and jumped in between Lily and Petunia. He looked at James to make sure that, the now screaming, Lily was properly restrained before he turned to Petunia.

"You need to leave," he said with a very pointed and dangerously wolf like stare, "Right now."

Petunia, still looking as if she might pass out from fright at any moment, grabbed her purse and began to walk towards the entrance hall with a huff, followed by a very angry Remus. Lily struggled to be free from James' grasp, but seeing that she wasn't going to be able to escape, she simply looked into the corridor and yelled the one thing that hurt like a gunshot wound.

"I HATE YOU!"

Lily stopped struggling, and she stopped yelling too. Instead she went limp in James' arms and began to sob.

"I was so stupid. I-I should never have believed that she could change."

"Shh, no you weren't stupid. You are loyal to your family, you just wanted to give her a chance. It wasn't stupid; it was… you. It's who you are Lil."

Harry slid out of his chair and cautiously walked over to his parents, not sure if he could provide any comfort to his mother.

"Mum?" He said softly before kneeling in front of her, "it's alright mum. Everything will be ok, you have me, and dad, and Sirius, and Remus. We're your family. You don't need her."

Lily gave Harry a watery smiled before pulling him into a hug. James, not being able to help it, wrapped them both in a hug of his own.

The family just stayed there, kneeling on the ground in a large a group hug for who knows how long, and when Remus re-entered the dining room from escorting Petunia out, he wished that he had a camera to capture the perfect moment between his friends, and their son.

A/N: AHHHHH! GUYS IT'S ANOTHER CHAPTER CAN YOU BELIEVE IT AHHH!

Sorry it's taken so long. This thing has been sitting in my google drive for weeks, but with school and everything I only managed to write a couple of paragraphs at a time.

Anyway I hoped you liked it.

Now to address a comment on my last chapter. You weren't signed in, so I have to respond to you here 'Guest' but you know who you are, so no big deal.

Earlier I said James was a chaser; that is in fact correct. James being a seeker in only the movie canon (thanks a lot Warner Bros). This is not the official canon, though, as J.K Rowling (all hail the queen) has stated that James Potter actually is a seeker. Hope that clears up the confusion. Thanks for reviewing.

Speaking of reviews, make sure you guys leave me one telling me what you think. I always like to hear your opinions on the chapters, and you may get a response from me in either an author's note or a PM.

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Until next time,

Muggleborn Malfoy