Harry had strange dreams sometimes. When he was little, his dreams transported him to a dark, cold room not unlike his cupboard. In the room, there was a man. He was always dirty and really thin. He didn't seem to notice much, either. But the first time Harry dreamed about him, the man looked up. And the smile he wore completely transformed his face; it no longer looked tortured but full of hope, of life.

"James?" He whispered that first time. Poor Harry just shook his head; he had no idea who this James was.

"No, I'm Harry. Just Harry." He said sweetly, holding out his hand. The ragged man just sat there and stared at him for a moment before the tears started to run down his face. There was something heart-breakingly beautiful about seeing him cry to Harry. It seemed as if each of his tears carried with them a small piece of his sorrow, until his smile finally held some happiness.

"No, of course you are. Harry... My little Pronglet. I haven't seen you since you were this big." And he held his palms out, demonstrating how big Harry was when he last saw him.

"How do you know, mister? And what's a pronglet?" The widening of his adorable green eyes seemed to have lit a spark in the man, for you couldn't tell that he was so gaunt at a glance; he seemed almost healthy again.

"I'm your godfather, Harry. Merlin, it's been- Hang on; how are you here? How did you get here?!"

"I-I don't know, sir. I was asleep in my cupboard, and then I was here." Poor Harry didn't know what had caused the alarm in the man's voice; after all, it was only a dream.

"P-Pardon me, mister, but isn't this only a dream?"

"A dream? Oh, Harry, I really wish it was; you have no idea..." And then the man and the room started to faded away. This saddened Harry as he didn't want the man to leave; he was only the person who hadn't looked at him like something that you found at the bottom of a pond.

"No, no! Harry, please!" The man was crying again. This time, though, the tears weren't beautiful. They were sad, so sad. They made him cry, too, huge tears.

"Please, just- just a bit more time, please!" And the a harsher voice spoke up from beyond the darkness of the rapidly blurring cell - for Harry knew that that was where he found himself.

"Quiet, Black. Or do you want to see the Dementors again that desperately?" Harry didn't like this new voice; it seemed to scare the kind man. He tried to yell at the person, but found he couldn't speak. He looked down at his hands, but couldn't see them; he supposed he was waking up now. And that was a thought that filled him with dread.

No, I want to stay.

He clenched his eyes shut, and when he next opened them he was staring at the dusty ceiling of his cupboard.

A month or two later, Harry went to bed and awoke to find himself in the cell again. The man was still there, only this time he was pacing back and forth, saying something about killing a rat.

"I don't like rats, they have scaly tails. A girl at school brought one in once."

Harry's sentence seemed to have startled the man, for he let out a yell and whirled around. Upon seeing Harry, his tired and sunken face split open into a genuine smile that seemed to de-age him by quite a few years.

"Harry! You're here again!"

"Hello again. I'm sorry, sir, but I still don't know your name."

"Oh, er- it's Sirius. Sirius Black."

"Huh, You have a weird name." Harry's face broke into a smile, which only served to further widen Sirius'.

"Cheeky bugger. You can call me Padfoot if you want."

"Why would I do that?" Harry's voice held that curious lilt to it that all children seem to have before they reach a certain age. It seemed to bring forth a mischievous spark in Sirius, because he winked and in place was -

"A doggy!" A childish laugh full of delight rang about the room, lighting it up. The dog was large and black, with shaggy fur that had a remarkable resemblance to Sirius's hair. The dog - Padfoot, his mind supplied - barked at him and ran in a circle before jumping up and placing its paws on his shoulders. Padfoot's eyes seemed to grow unbearably sad for a moment, so, in response, Harry encircled the dog with his arms and hugged him tight.

They stood there for a few seconds before sinking to the ground, Harry still wrapped around Padfoot, his right hand stroking up and down his back. He felt happy in that moment; like he had a family.

He barely registered the shift underneath him as dog turned back into human, until he was jolted back into the present by skinny arms encircling him in a hug just as fierce as his own.

They were both crying, he realised. Harry didn't want Sirius to be sad, so he sat back, wiped his tears and said, with a tremulous tone, "D-Did you know my parents, Sirius? It's just, I don't know much about them; Aunt Petunia won't tell me."

"Petunia? How in the name of Merlin did you end up with that sorry excuse for a human being?" Sirius's voice was laced with disgust before he seemingly registered the rest of the question.

"Yes, I knew your parents Harry. Your dad was my best mate, back at school. Him, me, Remus and... And then there was your mother, Lily Evans. Your dad- James- always said that she was the most beautiful witch he had ever seen. She had long red hair that he used to just sit and stare at during classes... And her eyes, well, you've seen them before."

"I-I have? Where?" Harry didn't remember ever seeing his mother before. Maybe in a photograph?

"In the mirror, Harry. You have your mother's eyes. And you look like a mini James."

These two pieces of information made Harry light up like a pixie; he looked like his parents. For some reason that he didn't know, this fact filled him with pride. To know that he had inherited something from his parents, something so precious that only he could have...

And then the room grew blurry again.

No!, he tried to shout. I don't want to leave yet!

"It's okay Harry. I'm pretty sure that you'll come back. When you do, I'll tell you all I can about your parents, okay?" Sirius smiled sadly, a tear trailing down his face.

And then he was gone again.

Sirius kept to his word. For the next few years, Harry would visit in his dreams and Sirius would tell him stories about his parents, about the school that they went to, the magic- that he himself had!- and the first time that Sirius held him as a baby- "Merlin, you so were small, I was scared of breaking you!"

And when Harry spent his first night in Hogwarts, he awoke to Sirius trying to whistle something.

"Sirius! Sirius, I'm at Hogwarts now! It's brilliant, just like you said." Harry knew he was grinning like an idiot, but he knew Sirius didn't care.

"Harry, that's great! Now, do you remember all of those pranks I told you about?" Sirius' voice had taken on a mock serious tone, with a playful light to them.

"Uh huh!"

"Excellent. We must plan now..."

And when Harry woke up with a positively evil grin, his fellow gryffindors felt that it was safer to slowly back away and hide.