Prologue:
Harry sat in the dark corner of number 4 Privet Drive with his head in his hands. He sighed loudly as he looked into the only look he had into his parents' life together, the photo album that Hagrid had given him after first year. As he flipped through the pages of the book, he had to wonder what went on behind one those happy, smiling faces. Were they always smiling so widely? Were they witty? Did Dad still ruffle his hair? Did Mum use magic to help her cook like Mrs. Weasley or would she do it by hand like a Muggle? Was Mum anything like her sister? What was Dad's favorite dessert? Mum's favorite tea? Did they argue much?
Ever since he had seen Snape's memory of his parents, he began to wonder just how James had won Lily over. What did he say to her? Did he give her any gifts? Take her places?
'Wish Da was here to help me with Cho.' Harry thought dismally.
He loving ran his fingers over the top of the pictures and his mother and father waved at him excitedly; even Sirius in the background smiled joyfully and gave Harry an enthusiastic wave. Sirius, the memory of his godfather still hurt so much. Remus he never saw and Wormtail he was prepared to kill for the betrayal that he had committed. Harry realized sadly that Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs were permanently split and that he, Harry, would never know them. Their dreams would die with Peter and Lupin, the dreams of a second generation of Marauders coming into Hogwarts from each of the original members. A little Moony, after all, one couldn't leave the Shrieking Shack unused for too long, who would hold up the rumors of it being haunted? A wee Wormtail, every gang needs that one member who just worships the other members, right? Another Padfoot, someone as smug and daring as Sirius with his wit and charm to be mates with James' boy. Harry. Who was all alone now.
Not for the first time he wondered what life would've been like if James or Lily had defeated Voldemort. Or if neither of them had died. If Sirius had never been sent to Azkaban, would he have married? Had kids? If so, would Harry have been mates with them? Probably. And Lupin! What if Lupin and James and Sirius had never parted ways, would Lupin have (despite his condition with lycanthropy) had a family as well? Or would he have just been Uncle Remus? And what about treacherous Peter Pettigrew? Uncle Wormtail? Harry shuddered at the thought of it.
He vowed that one day he would be the one to kill Wormtail, to put Peter Pettigrew in his grave, for Lily, James and Sirius.
Sitting in the dark corner of his small room, Harry had never felt more alone. Then he decided to end his loneliness, he got up and walked over to his desk. He needed to talk to someone, he was having nightmares recently. They were all about Lily and James fighting in their fifth year at Hogwarts, he was having nightmares that his parents really hated each other. He knew it wasn't true, the smiling pictures in his book were proof of that but he wanted to know more about their story, needed to know more about their story.
Dear Moony,
I was just wondering about my parents. I can't get that image of Mum fuming at Dad out of my head, "I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid." The way she talked about him, his arrogance, it was really like she hated him.
It's so lonely here, I mean with Voldemort back it's hard to see Ron and Hermione and.. I guess this is one of those times that I really wish I had a father to talk to. Or a mother. Or both.
I miss them but I don't know how that's possible. I mean I never knew them. And now Sirius. I'm still looking out my window all the time looking for Padfoot to come around.
I just.. I wish I could see everyone in a time when none of this had happened. No more screaming and killing and death, I want to know them when they were happy. The picture album I have, well, its not helping like it used to.
I know you're busy but ... I didn't know who else to write. You're the last of the Marauders, Moony, I figured it would be alright to talk to you about them.
Love, Harry
Looking over this note, it seemed reasonable. He just hoped it wasn't too much of a bother. Moony was doing about as well as Harry, he knew, with Sirius dying and the Order of the Phoenix becoming constantly more demanding, and with the whole werewolf thing life wasn't easy as it was without a 16-year-old boy's depression and curiosity. But he had to ask. He had to.
Hedwig came back with a dead mouse in her beak and Harry let her finish eating before sending her off, telling her of course to be very careful and fast and to get a good response. The snowy owl beat her wings and flew into the silent night without interrupting the quiet. Harry sighed and lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about everything and nothing.
'I wonder what Cho's doing? Does she hate me? I wonder if she'll go to Hogsmeade with me next year, I mean I'll be good if she's not going to bring up Diggory or anything. What about Ron? Hermione? I wonder what Dumbledore's up to. I wonder what the Hogwart's teachers do in the summer...' Eventually he trailed off to sleep without his inquiries being answered.
In London at that time, Remus Lupin was lounging in a chair looking dismally at the moon, two days until it was full. He was pale and ill- looking, Dumbledore and McGonagall were upstairs talking or arguing or whatever. Most of the night had consisted of eating as they discussed what Voldemort could be up to, what was he planning and was Harry safe; who was on duty protecting him? Mundungus had been taken off the list because he had nearly gotten Harry expelled and killed. Remus thought that tonight it might just be one of the Weasleys, most of whom were either asleep upstairs or in various parts of the world doing assignments for the Order.
Just as Remus was about to nod off a tapping came to the window followed by a quiet hooting. With some interest as to who and why post was being delivered to at this hour but upon open opening the window and letting in the snowy owl he knew that Harry had a need of some kind from someone.
"Well, old girl, give it here." Remus said gently to the owl and she extended her leg so that Lupin could untie the letter from her leg.
He read it and gave a sad smile, 'Poor Harry.' He thought.
He let the letter fall to the desk near him and he looked into the fire, half expecting one of his friends to pop through it at any time. With a sigh Remus murmured, "You shouldn't have to go through all you have, Harry. You should have what other children have: a mum and dad as crazy about you as they were about each other, a nice house and maybe a little brother or sister. You deserve to have a normal life...or at least a glimpse of it."
He remembered something Sirius had said about Harry just days before he died, he confided in his old mate, "Harry should get to see more memories of Lily and James, he should get to know them as well as he can, given the circumstances. The boy needs a mother and father, I can't be that for him, I'm not James."
Lupin sighed again, 'You were the closest thing to a father he ever had, Sirius, and now your gone too.'
Then Remus leapt to his feet, "But he can see them again. Oh Sirius! Why didn't we see it before?"
With that he dashed upstairs as fast as he could, he would give Harry the one thing he thought he would never have: his parents.
A/N- Hi to all who read. Hope you liked it, it sounds corny but give me time, I'm just warming up. This is my frist HP fic. Which brings me to issue one: I have 2 LOTR fics in the works and they do take precedence over this fic for now because that series is nearly done and HP still has a long life ahead of it. UPDATES will be SLOW, I warned you. But please, do read and at least toss me the occasional review, its good for corrections and thoughts and stuff. Hope you like it so far!!
Harry sat in the dark corner of number 4 Privet Drive with his head in his hands. He sighed loudly as he looked into the only look he had into his parents' life together, the photo album that Hagrid had given him after first year. As he flipped through the pages of the book, he had to wonder what went on behind one those happy, smiling faces. Were they always smiling so widely? Were they witty? Did Dad still ruffle his hair? Did Mum use magic to help her cook like Mrs. Weasley or would she do it by hand like a Muggle? Was Mum anything like her sister? What was Dad's favorite dessert? Mum's favorite tea? Did they argue much?
Ever since he had seen Snape's memory of his parents, he began to wonder just how James had won Lily over. What did he say to her? Did he give her any gifts? Take her places?
'Wish Da was here to help me with Cho.' Harry thought dismally.
He loving ran his fingers over the top of the pictures and his mother and father waved at him excitedly; even Sirius in the background smiled joyfully and gave Harry an enthusiastic wave. Sirius, the memory of his godfather still hurt so much. Remus he never saw and Wormtail he was prepared to kill for the betrayal that he had committed. Harry realized sadly that Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs were permanently split and that he, Harry, would never know them. Their dreams would die with Peter and Lupin, the dreams of a second generation of Marauders coming into Hogwarts from each of the original members. A little Moony, after all, one couldn't leave the Shrieking Shack unused for too long, who would hold up the rumors of it being haunted? A wee Wormtail, every gang needs that one member who just worships the other members, right? Another Padfoot, someone as smug and daring as Sirius with his wit and charm to be mates with James' boy. Harry. Who was all alone now.
Not for the first time he wondered what life would've been like if James or Lily had defeated Voldemort. Or if neither of them had died. If Sirius had never been sent to Azkaban, would he have married? Had kids? If so, would Harry have been mates with them? Probably. And Lupin! What if Lupin and James and Sirius had never parted ways, would Lupin have (despite his condition with lycanthropy) had a family as well? Or would he have just been Uncle Remus? And what about treacherous Peter Pettigrew? Uncle Wormtail? Harry shuddered at the thought of it.
He vowed that one day he would be the one to kill Wormtail, to put Peter Pettigrew in his grave, for Lily, James and Sirius.
Sitting in the dark corner of his small room, Harry had never felt more alone. Then he decided to end his loneliness, he got up and walked over to his desk. He needed to talk to someone, he was having nightmares recently. They were all about Lily and James fighting in their fifth year at Hogwarts, he was having nightmares that his parents really hated each other. He knew it wasn't true, the smiling pictures in his book were proof of that but he wanted to know more about their story, needed to know more about their story.
Dear Moony,
I was just wondering about my parents. I can't get that image of Mum fuming at Dad out of my head, "I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid." The way she talked about him, his arrogance, it was really like she hated him.
It's so lonely here, I mean with Voldemort back it's hard to see Ron and Hermione and.. I guess this is one of those times that I really wish I had a father to talk to. Or a mother. Or both.
I miss them but I don't know how that's possible. I mean I never knew them. And now Sirius. I'm still looking out my window all the time looking for Padfoot to come around.
I just.. I wish I could see everyone in a time when none of this had happened. No more screaming and killing and death, I want to know them when they were happy. The picture album I have, well, its not helping like it used to.
I know you're busy but ... I didn't know who else to write. You're the last of the Marauders, Moony, I figured it would be alright to talk to you about them.
Love, Harry
Looking over this note, it seemed reasonable. He just hoped it wasn't too much of a bother. Moony was doing about as well as Harry, he knew, with Sirius dying and the Order of the Phoenix becoming constantly more demanding, and with the whole werewolf thing life wasn't easy as it was without a 16-year-old boy's depression and curiosity. But he had to ask. He had to.
Hedwig came back with a dead mouse in her beak and Harry let her finish eating before sending her off, telling her of course to be very careful and fast and to get a good response. The snowy owl beat her wings and flew into the silent night without interrupting the quiet. Harry sighed and lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about everything and nothing.
'I wonder what Cho's doing? Does she hate me? I wonder if she'll go to Hogsmeade with me next year, I mean I'll be good if she's not going to bring up Diggory or anything. What about Ron? Hermione? I wonder what Dumbledore's up to. I wonder what the Hogwart's teachers do in the summer...' Eventually he trailed off to sleep without his inquiries being answered.
In London at that time, Remus Lupin was lounging in a chair looking dismally at the moon, two days until it was full. He was pale and ill- looking, Dumbledore and McGonagall were upstairs talking or arguing or whatever. Most of the night had consisted of eating as they discussed what Voldemort could be up to, what was he planning and was Harry safe; who was on duty protecting him? Mundungus had been taken off the list because he had nearly gotten Harry expelled and killed. Remus thought that tonight it might just be one of the Weasleys, most of whom were either asleep upstairs or in various parts of the world doing assignments for the Order.
Just as Remus was about to nod off a tapping came to the window followed by a quiet hooting. With some interest as to who and why post was being delivered to at this hour but upon open opening the window and letting in the snowy owl he knew that Harry had a need of some kind from someone.
"Well, old girl, give it here." Remus said gently to the owl and she extended her leg so that Lupin could untie the letter from her leg.
He read it and gave a sad smile, 'Poor Harry.' He thought.
He let the letter fall to the desk near him and he looked into the fire, half expecting one of his friends to pop through it at any time. With a sigh Remus murmured, "You shouldn't have to go through all you have, Harry. You should have what other children have: a mum and dad as crazy about you as they were about each other, a nice house and maybe a little brother or sister. You deserve to have a normal life...or at least a glimpse of it."
He remembered something Sirius had said about Harry just days before he died, he confided in his old mate, "Harry should get to see more memories of Lily and James, he should get to know them as well as he can, given the circumstances. The boy needs a mother and father, I can't be that for him, I'm not James."
Lupin sighed again, 'You were the closest thing to a father he ever had, Sirius, and now your gone too.'
Then Remus leapt to his feet, "But he can see them again. Oh Sirius! Why didn't we see it before?"
With that he dashed upstairs as fast as he could, he would give Harry the one thing he thought he would never have: his parents.
A/N- Hi to all who read. Hope you liked it, it sounds corny but give me time, I'm just warming up. This is my frist HP fic. Which brings me to issue one: I have 2 LOTR fics in the works and they do take precedence over this fic for now because that series is nearly done and HP still has a long life ahead of it. UPDATES will be SLOW, I warned you. But please, do read and at least toss me the occasional review, its good for corrections and thoughts and stuff. Hope you like it so far!!