Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any character from the series.

Meeting Old Friends

Sirius Black had just finished his conversation with his brother when he sees two other known faces. "James? Lily?"

"Padfoot!" James exclaims with a mixture of happiness for seeing an old friend and sadness for said friend's death.

"Prongs. Lily. It's so good to see you again." Sirius comments.

"Sirius, my baby didn't come with my me so I presume he lived." Lily says, cut to the quick. "Did you take good care of him?"

"Huh, I had a little trouble." Sirius replies.

"What do you mean, Padfoot?" Lily angrily asks. James is angry as well.

"When I found out Wormtail betrayed us, I decided to kill him." Sirius explains.

"Then how come that cowardly rat isn't here with us?" James asks.

"When I thought I had him cornered he cut off one of his fingers and then caused an explosion that killed twelve muggle bystanders." Sirius explains. "Since Wormtail and I were the only living people who knew I wasn't the Secret-Keeper..."

"They thought you betrayed us???" James and Lily ask. Sirius nods. "I got a life sentence in Azkaban."

"Then who raised Harry?" James asks.

"The Dursleys." Sirius answers, fearing for the worse.

"What!?!?!?!?" Lily asks, outraged. "Doesn't Dumbledore know how Petunia and her husband hate magic?"

"Well, Lily, do you remember how you refused to abandon Harry despite being given a chance to do so by Voldemort?" Sirius asks.

"Yes." Lily replies, trying to contain herself.

"By doing so, you gave Harry a love protection that will keep him safe until he reaches the age of seventeen." Sirius explains. "The only way to keep that protection from wearing off earlier is having Harry being raised by someone blood related to you."

"Padfoot, when Voldemort realized he couldn't kill Harry, why didn't he go after Petunia before my son was taken there?" James asks.

"When Voldemort failed to kill Harry, the Avada Kedavra..."

"He used Avada Kedavra on a baby?" James and Lily ask, shocked.

"...bounced back on him, destroying his body."

"So, is he dead?" James asks hopefully.

"Unfortunately he saved his soul by creating a Horcrux." Sirius explains and then notices the confused faces of his friends. "Never heard the word before, right?" James and Lily nod.

"The Darkest Art consists of a spell that splits the caster's soul in half." Sirius replies. "While the caster keeps one half within his own body, he places the other half inside an object that becomes known as a Horcrux. As long as the Horcrux remains intact, its creator cannot die even if his body is destroyed."

"Well, if you got a life sentence at Azkaban, I presume you got no news about how Harry's been doing." Lily deduces.

"Actually, I escaped." Sirius replies.

"Padfoot, how did you... I thought it was impossible to escape."

"Twelve years after I was sentenced, Cornelius Fudge went for a routine inspection and I asked for his newspaper."

"Twelve years and the dementors Severus told me about still hadn't driven you insane?" Lily asks, shocked.

"Because the memory I was most focused on was a sad one, the dementors couldn't feed on it." Sirius explains. "Anyway, when I was reading the newspaper, I've spotted Wormtail's animagus form at the shoulder of a Ron Weasley and realized I had to do something. Using my own animagus form, I fled Azkaban and swam my way back to England."

"Wow! That's one for the Marauders' records, Padfoot." James comments.

"Tell me about it." Sirius replies. "Fudge had even told the Muggle Prime Minister about me. And got scolded by the International Confederation of Wizards because of this."

"He should have been scolded for worse." Lily comments. "Sirius, while you were on the run, did you have a chance to see Harry?"

"Yes." Sirius replies. "The first time was when the Dursleys got a visitor who seemed to be a female version of Mr. Dursley."

"His sister Marge." James and Lily reply.

"Whatever happened then, was horrible enough Harry actually ran away from home." Sirius comments. "After that, I went to Hogwarts to look for Wormtail and take a look at Harry's third year."

"Which house was he sorted to?" Lily asks.

"Gryffindor, of course." James replies.

"How can we be sure?" Lily asks. "He could have been sorted to one of the other three houses."

"He comes from a traditionally Gryffindor family." James answers.

"Somehow I doubt my sister and her husband had told him." Lily replies. James silently agrees.

"Don't worry, Prongs." Sirius replies. "He's a Gryffindor."

"Thank Merlin!" James exclaims. "Is he a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team?"

"Seeker."

"That's my boy." James happily exclaims. "But, did you get that traitor?"

"Almost." Sirius sadly replies. "I got Harry, Ron and Hermione..."

"Who?" James asks.

"Hermione Granger, a muggleborn witch who became friends with Harry." Sirius explains. "I got them to show them the truth but my chances of clearing my name were ruined by Snivellus' resentment."

"What was Snivellus doing at Hogwarts?" James asks, shocked and angry.

"He's the Potions Master." Sirius explains.

"Is Dumbledore crazy?" James asks. "After all Snivellus did?"

"Actually, he's a great potion maker." Lily replies. "It's no wonder he's got the job."

"Actually, he wanted to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts but Dumbledore doesn't trust him that much." Sirius explains. "Which is a pity. I'd love to see how the curse would prevent him from teaching D.A.D.A. for more than one year."

"Is the curse still on?" James asks and Sirius nods.

"Then who's been teachin my son through all those years?" Lily asks.

"I don't know about the first and second years, but third year he's got Moony..."

"Moony became a teacher?" James asks, shocked. "But what Dumbledore did about his furry problem? Lock him up at the Shrieking Shack again?"

"No." Sirius answers. "Somebody invented Wolfsbane Potion, which allows werewolves to retain control of their actions during full moons. Sure, he still needed to remain absent from time to time and Snivellus covered for him. And Snivellus was also the one who prepared the potion for him."

"Moony drank a potion prepared by Snivellous?" James asks, shocked. "And Snivellus didn't betray him?"

"No. Apparently Dumbledore was right about trusting him." Sirius replies. "Not that I'd admit it when I was alive."

"Did Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup?" James asks.

"Yes." Sirius answers. "Gryffindor defeated Slytherin and Ravenclaw and would have defeated Hufflepuff had Harry not been attacked by dementors."

"What were dementors doing at Hogwarts?" Lily demands.

"Fudge sent them there to recapture me." Sirius exclaims.

"If I were alive I'd hex him for the rest of his life." Lily replies.

"What about Harry's fourth year?" James asks.

"Dumbledore reinstated the Triwizard Tournament." Sirius answers.

"Hooray!!!" James replies.

"What's the Triwizard Tournament?" Lily asks.

"A tournament involving Hogwarts and Europe's other two greatest schools of magic: Beuxbatons and Durmstrang." Sirius explains. "Each school would be represented by a champion choosen among the students in three dangerous tasks and the winner would receive the Triwizard Cup, eternal glory and one thousand Galleons."

"Why have I never heard about this before?" Lily asks.

"The Tournament had been discontinued in 1792 due the death rate." Sirius explains, much to Lily's horror. "That's why Dumbledore had estabilished some safety measures."

"Who was the Defence Professor then?" James asks.

"Alastor Moody."

"Really?" Lily asks.

"Well, yes and no." Sirius explains. "Unbeknownst to us, a Death Eater captured Moody and was using Polyjuice Potion to impersonate him and use the Triwizard Tournament as part of a plan to capture Harry and use him on a spell to give Voldemort a new body."

Sirius then notices the looks of his friends. "Don't worry. Harry is alright."

"How did the Wizarding World react?" James asks.

"Well, Dumbledore recreated the Order of the Phoenix and Fudge did all best to discredit Harry, Dumbledore and anybody else who tried to confirm Voldemort's return." Sirius exclaims.

"Save some of the hexing for me, Lily." James asks. "I hope the next Defense teacher is a competent one."

"Unfortunately, nobody applied so the Ministry used an educational decree to appoint Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts and she only taught theories." Sirius explains. "Fortunately Harry and his friends formed a defense group to practice defensive spells."

"That's my boy." James comments.

"But how come Fudge managed to hide Voldemort's return?" Lily asks.

"Voldemort took advantage of Fudge's denial to act hidden." Sirius explains. "Of course, that might have changed when he went to the Department of Mysteries to steal the prophecy."

"What for?" James asks. "Doesn't he already know it?"

"Just the part Snivellus told him." Sirius replies. "Voldemort still doesn't know anything other than the fact he'll be vanquished by a wizard born at the end of July of 1980 to parents who had already defied him three times."

"Did Harry really grow up to become Voldemort's equal?" Lily asks, worried.

"Well, he's a Parselmouth." Sirius replies.

"It doesn't mean anything, right?" Lily asks.

"Right, Lily." James replies.

"You don't sound more convincing than Severus did when I asked him if there was any problem with me being a muggleborn." Lily comments.

"Well, being a Parselmouth is commonly associated with Dark Magic with the most known Parselmouths being Salazar Slytherin and Lord Voldemort." James explains.

"If at least there's a way we could get back and watch over Harry." Sirius comments, hoping to change the subject.

THE END

I hope the ending isn't too long.