Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: Just to let you know, I'm not using the information JKR provided us in DH about the secret keeper dying and then everyone he told the secret to becoming secret keeper. For the sake of this story, when the secret keeper dies, the secret dies with them.

Forever Remembered

By: ChoCedric

James and Lily Potter were sitting out on their front porch of their house in Godric's Hollow. Their eleven-year-old son, Harry, was also sitting with them, a curious look on his face. His parents had just told him that they needed to talk with him about something very important.

Throughout the past ten years, life for the Potter family had been small, but comfortable. Their house in Godric's Hollow still had the Fidelius Charm over it, so it had been keeping them safe since the day it was cast. Unfortunately, since they were still a major target, they weren't allowed to go out of the house much. Whenever they did go out, they had Auror guards with them at all times, and they carried emergency Portkeys so that if they were attacked, they could escape quickly. Voldemort was still running rampant throughout the wizarding world, and attacks were still happening, but the Potter family was still here, still alive.

Tomorrow was a big day for Harry: tomorrow, he was going to start at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It had been a big decision on James and Lily's part to even let him go; they had seriously considered homeschooling him. But they finally decided to send him, for Albus Dumbledore was still Headmaster, so Hogwarts was still deemed one of the safest places in wizarding Britain. Plus, they knew Harry needed to get out there and make friends, spend time with children his own age. They didn't want to keep him cooped up in this house more than they had to.

They had also decided not to tell Harry about the prophecy yet. How, they thought to themselves, could they tell an eleven-year-old boy that he had been prophesied to kill a Dark Lord? It was unfathomable. They'd wanted to give Harry a childhood, so they'd done all they could to spoil him rotten, yet keep him aware of the sacrifices people made to keep him happy.

Speaking of sacrifices, the reason they were sitting out here was because James and Lily now knew it was the right time to tell Harry about a huge sacrifice a very special man had made for them, a sacrifice which had let them spend the last ten years together as a family. They'd mentioned this man's name around Harry before, so he knew a little about him. But he didn't know the major part he had played in making sure they were still alive today.

"Mum, Dad?" Harry said, looking at his parents. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Remember when we told you that there were some things you needed to know, but we decided not to tell you until you were older?" Lily asked softly, looking at her beautiful son.

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Well, it's time now," James said. "Since you're going to Hogwarts tomorrow, and you're going to start to grow to be a young man, we figured it's time we told you some things."

"Okay," said Harry, growing more curious by the second. "Is it about the war?"

"Yes," said Lily gently. "It is. Do you remember us talking before about a man named Sirius Black?"

"My godfather?" asked Harry. "The one who you told me died ten years ago?"

"Yes," said James, his face filling with emotion. "We now know that it's time we told you all about him, and the major part he played in your life."

"All right," said Harry. "I kind of vaguely remember him from when I was a little baby, I kind of remember him turning into a dog. Is that true?"

"Yes, it is," said Lily, smiling softly. "He was an Animagus."

"Let's start at the beginning," said James, making himself more comfortable on his seat. "Your godfather, Sirius, was the best friend I've ever had." He still found it extremely painful to talk about him, but he knew he had to do this for his son. "We met on the Hogwarts Express, and I knew right away that he was a kindred spirit. He was funny, oh, he had the best sense of humor. He had a great thirst for adventure, and he loved making friends.

"Sirius came from a rich pureblood family, which were the Blacks, of course. He told me right away that he didn't get along with them, for all of them had been in Slytherin and they only associated with other purebloods. Do you remember me telling you about prejudice, Harry?"

"Yes," Harry replied, looking interested. "You said that some families don't like Muggles and Muggle-borns, and some of those people are Death Eaters, supporters of Voldemort." James and Lily had found it important to teach Harry not to fear Voldemort's name, for if he was going to grow up to fight him, he had to learn that fear of a name only increased the fear of the thing itself, which Albus had taught them.

"Yes, that's right," said James.

"Did Sirius's parents support him?" Harry asked.

"No, not openly," said Lily, "but they thought he had the right idea. Sirius's little brother, Regulus, did become a Death Eater, though. He died back in 1980, just after you were born."

"Oh," said Harry. "That's a shame."

"It is," agreed James. "Anyway, Sirius didn't understand why his parents thought that way. He broke family tradition and was sorted into Gryffindor. You can imagine his parents weren't best pleased. I still remember the Howler he received the next day.

"As the years passed, Sirius and I remained the best of friends. Remus," he said, smiling a little, "was also in our group at school."

"That's right, I remember," said Harry. Remus was still in touch with the Potter family, but since Sirius had never told him the secret because he had suspected him of treachery all those years ago, he wasn't able to come around to see them. But they still saw him, for they would go round to his house on occasion. Harry loved Remus, and Remus loved Harry like an uncle would love his nephew. "Was there anyone else who was your friend at school?" Harry asked curiously.

James and Lily's faces grew taut, and James answered, finding it hard to keep the anger out of his voice. "Peter Pettigrew."

Harry knew that somehow, even mentioning this man's name was difficult for his father. "Peter Pettigrew?" he said in a small voice. "What was he like?"

"We thought he was a good person," said James quietly.

"But he wasn't?" asked Harry just as softly.

"No," said Lily sadly. "But we'll get to that later."

"Anyway, Remus, Sirius, Peter, and I called ourselves the Marauders," James continued, sighing and staring up at the heavens in remembrance. "As you know, Remus is a werewolf. The three of us found this out in our second year, and we did our best to show Remus that we were still going to be his friends no matter what. Sirius's family was prejudiced against werewolves also, but since Sirius was different from them, he stayed friends with Remus."

"Wow," said Harry. "Sirius must have been a wonderful person."

"He was," said James, still staring at the star-strewn sky. "As you know, I became an Animagus in my fifth year. So did Sirius and Peter. I became Prongs, or the stag. Sirius became Padfoot, or the dog. And Peter ..." He stopped, trying to bite back his anger, "became Wormtail, the rat.

"With our new abilities, endless options were open to us. Believe me, Harry, there were times when we were very naughty boys in our school days," he said, trying his best not to laugh.

"Naughty? That's the understatement of the century," Lily snorted. "You were more than naughty, you were awful!"

"I know," James smirked, "but we had the time of our lives helping Remus out. He always said we were the best friends he'd ever had.

"In the summer between our fifth and sixth years," James went on, "Sirius showed up on my family's doorstep, telling us he'd run away from home. He didn't want to be a part of his family anymore. When he left their house, they disowned him."

"Disowned him?" asked Harry, appalled. "Really?"

"Yes," Lily answered. "They did."

"What horrible people!" Harry exclaimed. "How could they disown their own son?"

"I know, it is horrible," James agreed. "But my family and I let Sirius live with us for a few years, until he got his own flat."

"After Hogwarts," Lily took over, "Your father and Sirius trained to be Aurors. Voldemort was running wild through the wizarding world, just as he is today, and the war was in full swing. Remus, Peter, Sirius, and both your father and I also joined something called the Order of the Phoenix."

"The Order of the Phoenix?" asked Harry, gazing at his parents with rapt attention. "What's that?"

"It's an organization started by Albus Dumbledore which helps to fight Voldemort," Lily told him. "And we became major targets because of it. This is the reason we're now in hiding." She and James knew that this wasn't the whole truth, but they stuck to the fact that they weren't going to tell Harry about the prophecy yet.

"So Voldemort's after us because of the Order thing?" asked Harry.

"That's right," said James. Now they were getting to the part of the story which filled both parents with sadness and heartache, but they knew they had to tell it. "Harry, do you know what the Fidelius Charm is?"

"It's that secret keeper thing, right?" asked Harry. "I read about it in a book once."

"Yes, that's right," said Lily. "When you were born, Sirius was asked to be your godfather. When we went into hiding, he offered to be our secret keeper."

Harry gazed again at his parents, the puzzle pieces beginning to fit into place. "Sirius was our secret keeper?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," James said emotionally. "That means that unless he told the secret, no one, not even Voldemort, would be able to find us."

"So he ... so he died because he was our secret keeper?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Lily said, tears beginning to fill her eyes. Even years later, it still hurt deeply.

"How ... how did he die, and what did Peter have to do with it?" Harry asked softly.

"Peter told Voldemort Sirius was the secret keeper," James said in a hard voice. "Sirius went into hiding himself, but Peter knew where he was. He brought Sirius's cousin, Bellatrix, who was a Death Eater, and Voldemort, to Sirius's hiding place."

James and Lily had found this out from Snape, one of their spies. "Wh-what happened?" Harry asked, his voice shaking a little.

"They tried to torture the secret out of him," James choked out. "But Sirius, oh, brave, loyal Sirius ... he didn't give in." Tears began to sting his own eyes. "He fought, strong and hard, right to the end. They really hurt him, Harry. And Peter ... Peter was right there, and he did nothing to stop it."

"Where's Peter now?" Harry asked in a barely audible whisper.

"Still with Voldemort, Harry," said Lily. "We haven't seen him since the night Sirius died, but we know he's still alive."

"After Sirius was hurt," said James, wiping tears away with the back of his hand, "Peter apparated him to our doorstep, since that rat also knew where we were hiding. But since he wasn't the secret keeper, he couldn't tell Voldemort. We heard the pop of apparition, and when we came outside, Sirius was there, really hurt. And Peter had already gone."

"I stayed here to take care of you," said Lily, "but your father took Sirius to the hospital."

"The hospital weren't able to do anything for him," said James bitterly. "I flooed Remus, and he showed up minutes later. We ... we went in to see Sirius so that we could be there for his last moments." He couldn't help a choked sob escaping, and Lily put a comforting arm around him. "He died minutes later."

"You understand, don't you, Harry?" Lily whispered, tears falling down her face also. "He died for us, Harry. He sacrificed everything so that we could live together as a happy family."

"I know it's been hard growing up, son," James said. "I know you haven't been able to get out much, to do things other boys do. But Sirius gave us a chance at a life we would never have had otherwise."

A look of pure shame crossed Harry's face, and James and Lily knew he was remembering all the times he had ever complained about being cooped up in Godric's Hollow, lamenting the fact that he couldn't be like other children. He was now realizing what had really happened, that a real man had sacrificed his life for him. They put soothing arms around him, for he was also trying to fight back tears.

"A greater man you could never have met," James said, his face filled with heartbreak and sadness. "I still miss him tremendously. We must do all we can to honor his sacrifice."

Harry stared up into the star-strewn sky, just like he'd seen his father do, and whispered, "Thank you, Sirius. Thank you for your sacrifice."

"We love you, Siri," James whispered, gathering his family into a strong, loving embrace. "And look at what a wonderful young man your godson is becoming. I'm sure you'd be proud of him if you were here. Oh, how I wish you were here. But I hope you know that you'll be forever remembered."

"Forever remembered," Lily and Harry echoed, drawing strength and comfort from each other.

And somewhere, in the heavens above them, a young man with sleek black hair and mesmerizing gray eyes smiled gently down at the little family. He knew they could not see him, but he hoped that they at least would feel his presence as he said softly, "You're welcome, and I love you, too."