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It was raining.

Iris could hardly believe her eyes. She numbly took a few steps backwards until her feet found their way out the bedroom door. They carried her down the stairs and out the front door, where she flinched as raindrops caressed her skin for the first time in months. Iris couldn't help but let the rain soak her as she stood on the cobbled sidewalk, overwhelmed with emotion.

It didn't surprise her all that much when the first person walked by, fading in and out of opacity as they minded on down the sidewalk towards town. She sat on the door stoop and watched as one by one more shadows traversed past the front gate, the sky opening up more each second.

After a while, the squeak of the front door behind her was dulled by the pounding rain. Cedric took a seat beside her, the silence between the two speaking volumes. They both knew what the rain meant; Iris' time was limited. The thunder roared overhead, calling for her to come home.

She reached over and grabbed his hand, trying to imprint the memory of how it felt in her mind.

"They must have figured out how to save me..." she spoke for them both. "I'm really gonna miss you," she swallowed thickly.

He let out a short breath, "I didn't get the chance to say goodbye the first time... at least now we can."

Their eyes met, and a tear rolled down Iris' cheek, disguised in the rain showering down on her.

Cedric said sadly, "This is time we were never meant to have together. And it's been amazing... but you don't belong here." Iris looked away in anguish, "You need to be alive, you need to stop Voldemort."

It was a painful truth for both of them. Their borrowed time was up. Iris had crossed certain lines in the magic protecting her by bringing Cedric there, and she had no idea what to expect as the consequences. She would be changed forever by her experiences, it had been so long since she had seen anyone other than him; Iris couldn't even imagine what chaos could be going on outside her asylum.

"I know..." Iris said quietly, "I miss Harry. Everyone really, and I'm ready to go back, I just— I don't want to leave you again."

Cedric wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, "I'll stay with you until the end."

They sat and let the rain soak them all the way through, hair and clothes stuck to their skin.

Iris...

She heard a whisper that sent a jolt down her spine, sitting straight up and looking around. Cedric watched Iris cautiously as she stood and waited. Like someone had tied a string around her, Iris' gut pulled her to walk out of the front garden gate and down the sidewalk to stand before the house next door. Every day since she had arrived in Godric's Hollow, Iris had stared at this house with its missing chunks of roof and broken walls with a painful sting in her heart. It looked especially miserable in the storm, with the dark clouds and sheets of rain the perfect backdrop to its ruin. She pushed through the rusty gate and made her way forward toward the door she had not passed through in fifteen years.

Her hand hesitated over the handle, her stomach doing flips as she finally turned it and carefully opened the door. Her foot stepped over the threshold and onto old wooden flooring where rain dripped off her into puddles.

The house gave her chills. Fifteen long years it had been abandoned, preserved only by magic. It was dark and dusty in the sitting room with only dim light streaming through the windows that were being beaten with rain. The furniture was worn and lifeless, void of human touch.

The entire place screamed of loneliness and abandonment, and yet, in the next room, Iris could hear the clinks and rustling of dishes moving around.

Her heart beat faster as she cautiously approached the kitchen. Iris entered the room with bated breath, Cedric staying behind, and her eyes glazed over the space taking every inch in until they landed on a figure standing at the sink in front of a window. Vibrant red hair trailed down her back elegantly, swaying as the woman whose head it was on washed dishes. As if she sensed Iris entering, the woman stopped her activity and turned to face them.

A warm smile lit up her face as if nothing in the world was wrong.

"Iris." Her voice was like honey in Iris' ears, like the sun on her face on a beautiful summer day.

Never more than that exact moment had Iris understood the comparisons to her mother's looks. There she stood in front of the girl, in the flesh, a mirror of her daughter.

Lily Potter was a vision of lost time, remaining in the same house she had died in so long ago.

Iris could do nothing but stare for the first several moments. When she had first found Cedric in the limbo, a part of her had been wishing the whole time that her parents had found their way through too. She wanted nothing more than to know them and have time with them the same way she was given time with Cedric. Now, with her mother standing before her, Iris felt frozen.

Her mother's smile never wavered, "Finally... I was hoping I would get the chance to see you again."

Thunder growled above, snapping Iris out of her stupor. Lily took steps forward to meet her, gently reaching out a hand. Iris stared as her own hand rose to touch her mum's, flinching when they met. Lily watched Iris' midnight drenched hands, sadness finally breaking through her warm demeanor.

Lily cleared her throat and looked back at Iris, her green eyes that looked so much like Harry's meeting Iris' hazel, "Your father and I have been watching over the two of you all these years." Iris did her best to memorize the features of Lily's face as she spoke. "You and Harry have lived such difficult lives, it's my greatest regret."

Iris managed to finally get words out, "I can't believe you're here."

"We've always been here," Lily told her gently, "Just because you can't see something doesn't mean it's not there." She squeezed Iris' hand, "Come with me."

Lily led her back out into the sitting room, where Cedric was sitting on a lounge chair across from a new figure on the couch.

"Dad?" Iris choked out.

James turned to her, the spitting image of Harry, "Hey, kid."

The storm was only worsening. Iris could feel a pull in her gut, calling her back to the land of the living.

She and Lily sat on the couch beside him and Iris' heart was racing, unable to comprehend the fact that she was sitting in between her parents in that moment. She felt like the world was moving in slow motion, and her eyes searched for Cedric, who smiled reassuringly.

"This is so crazy," Iris let out a held breath.

Her parents chuckled. Lightning danced in the clouds outside.

"We don't have much longer," James said, "Your mother and I want you to know how immensely proud of you we are."

Iris looked at him, tears gathering in her matching hazel eyes.

Lily brushed Iris' hair behind her ear, "You've grown so strong, so incredibly strong. And when you go back, you have to stay strong. Your hardest challenges are still ahead of you, Voldemort is stronger than ever."

They both took on very serious looks at that, and Iris understood the severity of her words. She had left unfinished business behind, and she still had Harry to protect.

"You'll stay with me?" Iris asked, "...When I'm gone?"

Lily and James exchanged a look and then James spoke, "We'll be watching over you, always."

"And we'll keep an eye on this one for you." Lily reached over and grabbed Cedric's hand, "He's a sweet boy," she remarked.

Cedric smiled at that and looked to Iris wistfully before he said, with pain evident in his voice, "Are you ready?"

Iris looked around at all three of them, not wanting to ever leave them, but she was itching to get back to her life. With a nod from Iris, the four of them stood and made their way out of the front door and into the garden.

They stood in a small circle, the rain drenching them once more. Lighting flashed every other second, the constant rumble of thunder overhead. She grabbed her mother and father's hands in each of her own, Cedric directly across from her. This was it, the moment she had been waiting months for, but it was so bittersweet.

"We love you, Iris," Lily said over the loudness of the storm.

The young witch took a deep breath and one last look at each of their faces before she closed her eyes and tilted her face up to the rain, letting it roll down her.

A moment later she felt static start to build on her left arm, little shocks of electricity running up and down. The darkness began to melt from her left hand as blue lightning covered her. Iris felt her heart begin to quicken and thought it might just beat out of her chest and then— the brightest flash of lightning she had ever seen and the world went white. Everything went quiet so fast her ears were buzzing, no more pouring rain or thunder... just silence. Suddenly her lungs were allowed to fill with air.

Her gasp rang out, echoing into emptiness. She took another breath, alive once again.

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heyyy... it has been a very long time since I last updated. super sorry about that but i hope for anyone who came back to this story or new readers who are lucky to find it now after my hiatus that you enjoyed this chapter. I lost my joy for writing for quite a while as I became busier with school, but I just graduated college in may and found myself missing fanfics and this community.

so anyway, iris' story continues, and I'm excited to share it with you all. much love, elle