Chapter 2 – Old Friends
…After the Department of Mysteries in 'Order of the Phoenix'
Sirius slowly opened his eyes to find it was daytime. He lay still for several minutes as he slowly regained consciousness from a long and restful sleep. Deciding it was time to get up he rubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes and pushed himself into a sitting position with his arms.
Confusion took hold as he surveyed his surroundings trying to remember what had happened and how he had come to be wherever this place was. He grinned and let out a single snort at his first thought which was that whatever he had drank the night before had been strong and he had consumed way too much.
Looking around he found himself sitting on the ground in the middle of a large grassy plain that stretched out as far as the eye could see. There were small clumps of trees scattered about and as he turned around he discovered the land behind him turned into foot hills which eventually changed into mountains with snowy peaks. Standing up he continued to take in his surroundings, deeply breathing in the crisp, fragrant air. There was no doubt in his mind that this was the most beautiful place he had ever been.
As he tried to determine which way to go he noticed a small line of smoke wafting upwards in the direction of the mountains and set off. Walking towards the source of the smoke, his mind returned to the matter at hand as he tried to remember what had happened.
Sirius grimaced as he remembered Grimmauld Place and something about an emergency…
"Harry!" he blurted out as the events of the previous night returned with the force of a bludger.
Sirius stopped and looked around quickly as if his godson might be somewhere close by before transforming into his animagus form and breaking into a run towards the smoke he had been walking towards. He crossed an ice cold stream and ran over many hills which became larger and steeper as he neared his destination. Climbing a final hill he found himself looking at a small but very nice home that was nestled in amongst a grove of trees. It was two stories tall and had a wide porch that ran the entire length of the house.
Breathing heavily from the exhaustion of the run, Sirius transformed back into his human form and examined the area for signs of life. He spent several minutes looking at the home and the area around it as he caught his breath but the only sign that someone was about was the smoke silently rising from the chimney at one end of the building. As thoughts of his godson and the danger he had been in returned, Sirius drew his wand and cautiously approached the house.
He still found no evidence to indicate anyone was there as he quietly made his way up the stairs and on to the porch. He was only a few steps away from the front door when it was thrown open and the last person he expected to see stepped out smiling widely.
"P..P..Prongs?" he managed to stutter out.
"Hello Padfoot. Bout time you got here," James Potter said with a mischievous grin.
"Is it really you?" asked Sirius. His heart was racing and the hope in his voice was easy to hear.
James smiled at his long lost friend. "Course it is mate."
Not being able to stand it any longer, Sirius leapt forward and pulled his long lost friend who was more of a brother into a strong hug which was quickly returned. There were tears of happiness in Sirius eyes when the two finally separated.
"Just like you to cry like a little girl." James said followed by a lot of laughter.
Sirius laughed as well before changing into Padfoot and leaping on his friend.
"Stop! Quit it! I'll get fleas!" a laughing James said as Padfoot covered him with slobber.
Padfoot stopped a moment later as he heard a familiar bubbly laugh coming from just inside the door of the house. Looking up he found another familiar figure smiling back down at him, a figure with long auburn hair and brilliant green eyes.
Jumping off his friend, Padfoot changed back into Sirius before quickly crossing the space between them and pulling her into a hug.
"Heyya Lily Flower." he whispered to her with an emotion filled voice as he hugged her.
"It's good to see you Sirius," Lily said returning the hug.
A short while later they separated and the three shared large smiles.
"Come on boys," Lily finally said before turning and heading into the house. "Lunch is waiting."
A grinning James threw an arm around Sirius and led him into the home. They were half way across the living room when Sirius stopped and placed a hand on James shoulder. James was surprised to see a look of worry and urgency on his face.
"James! We have to find Harry! He's in trouble!"
James let out a long sigh. "Don't worry, Harry's ok. Don't you know where you are?"
A feeling of relief instantly flowed through Sirius. "Actually no, are you sure he's ok? Last I remember we were in the middle of a fight in the Department of Mysteries."
James nodded as he once again began steering Sirius towards the kitchen. "Yes, I'm sure. Don't you remember what happened at the end of the fight?"
Sirius scrunched up his forehead in concentration. "Well, I was dueling with Bella… I remember getting hit with some sort of curse, and then I was lying in the grass were the foothills start."
"The curse she hit you with threw you through the veil Sirius. You're in the death realm. Didn't me and Lily being here clue you in?"
"I'm dead?"
James nodded again. "As a doornail."
Sirius look of introspection over the knowledge of his death turned to one of confusion as he looked back at James. "A what?"
"Never mind," James said as he started to laugh. "Muggle saying. I guess I've been hanging around with Lily too much."
Sirius laughed and took a seat at the small kitchen table as Lily rolled her eyes at James comments.
"Hey," Sirius said as a thought occurred to him, "how'd you know what happened in the DOM anyway?"
"Well, we saw it in the pool," James said casually.
Sirius just stared at him with a look that clearly indicated he expected a better answer.
After a quick chuckle, James ate a bite of his meat pie before returning his attention to Sirius. "Don't worry, we'll show you after lunch. It lets us see some of what's going on. You're quite the wanker by the way," he finished with a straight face.
Sirius eyes opened wide and he started to babble while Lily reached over and smacked James on the back of his head.
"Relax Sirius, James is just having you on. Yes we can see some of what goes on in the pool, but the key word is some. It doesn't show us everything and we don't have much control over what we do see. I can assure you that what he said about you is complete rubbish… At least as far as you know." A wicked smile appeared on her lips and her eyes twinkled softly as she finished. James was laughing harder than ever.
Sirius looked back and forth between the pair several times with a look of shock on his face before he realized they were teasing him. Shaking his head he started smiling and laughing along with them.
"Damn it's good to see you again Padfoot," a laughing James finally managed to say.
After lunch the three went to the living room where the pool James and Lily had mentioned was located. The pool was low and round standing only a foot tall and roughly four feet across. The edges of the water were surrounded with a rough stone that looked as if it was native to the mountains outside the house. The surface of the water came right up to the top edge of the stone and was perfectly still.
Sirius reached out to touch the brilliant blue water and found it felt exactly as he expected if not a bit cool to the touch. He was surprised, however, when he pulled his hand back and it was perfectly dry. Curious, he leaned forward to take a better look and realized he could not see the bottom. Beneath the surface the water seemed to go on and on in every direction with no end in sight. In fact he quickly realized he couldn't even see the sides of the pool when he looked in through the water.
As he continued to stare into the pool an image began to form. It started as a small point of light deep within the center of the water that quickly grew. As he continued to watch he saw an image of his godson form along with an image of the Gryffindor ghost everyone knew as Nearly Headless Nick. As soon as the images were fully formed they rose from within the water to hover just above its surface.
"He won't come back."
"Who?"
"Sirius Black," replied Nick.
Sirius heart broke and he could feel the tears running down his cheeks as he watched the scene play out before him. He saw Harry looking for him and thought he was going to be sick.
"He will not come back," repeated Nick, "he will have… gone on."
"What d'you mean 'gone on'?"
Sirius continued to watch while Harry became angry with the ghost before watching Nick float away leaving Harry alone. Sobs escaped Sirius throat as he took in the look of misery on Harry's face just before the image disappeared leaving nothing but the calm blue water of the pool behind.
Feeling hands on his shoulders, Sirius looked up from where he was kneeling beside the pool to find James and Lily looking at him with concern. "I should have stayed behind. I shouldn't have left him alone."
"People like you don't stay behind Sirius," James said squeezing his friends shoulder in support.
Lily kneeled down next to Sirius and pulled him into a hug. She gave him a few minutes to get past the worst of his grief before she began to speak softly. "It's ok Sirius. He'll be ok."
"I know he will." Sirius was barely able to force out. "It's just killing me that I can't be there for him."
"I know, I know." Lily replied after letting out a long sigh. "The pool's both a gift and a curse. It's a blessing to be able to share a bit of his life, but at times like this it hurts to know there's nothing you can do. No way to ease the hurt. Just know that he still has friends who love him and he'll get past this. He's a lot stronger than even he realizes."
It took a long while, but Sirius finally managed to calm down and Lily led him to a nearby sofa.
"Thanks guys," Sirius said softly still feeling Harry's pain.
Lily smiled and nodded.
"You know Padfoot," James couldn't help but say as the mood began to lighten, "you might have made a good poltergeist."
The next couple of weeks passed in a whirlwind of stories and laughter. The three old friends found themselves sitting in the living room enjoying their butter beers when Sirius began laughing so hard at one of James stories he accidentally knocked his mug off the table causing it to land on the floor with a loud crash.
"Oh crap. I'm sorry guys." he said still fighting his laughter while he moved to clean up the mess.
Lily smiled brightly as she rose from her place next to her husband. "It's ok Sirius, I'll get it."
Sirius returned her smile and had the grace to look abashed as he watched her cross the room. He was surprised when instead of pulling her wand she retrieved a small dust pan from within a closet and began sweeping up the mess.
After emptying the broken glass in a trash can she put the dust pan back in the closet and headed out of the room. "I'll just get you another one and be right back."
Sirius watched the whole scene with confusion as he began quickly going over the last weeks since he had arrived at this place in his head.
"James?" he finally said looking to his brother for answers. "What's going on?"
James looked back confused. "What do you mean?"
"I mean what's with the dust pan? Lily was the most gifted charms student I ever knew. Why not just do a simple Reparo and cleaning charm? Why didn't she just summon another bottle of butterbeer? And now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think I've seen you or Lily do any magic since I've been here."
As Sirius continued to look at James he was surprised to see an especially odd look appear on his face. He saw the smallest amount of sadness and resignation though he didn't think it had anything to do with his magic, mixed with a look that told him that whatever had happened he had done willingly and gladly. As he continued to watch James relive whatever had happened in his mind, Sirius was shocked to find the most prominent emotion that crossed his features was happiness.
"James?" Sirius finally said softly bringing his friend out of his reverie.
"Oh, sorry, why don't we wait for Lily, she knows more about it than I do."
Sirius nodded and the pair sat in silence for a few minutes until Lily returned.
"Here you go Sirius," she said handing him another mug just like the one he had broken earlier. Looking back and forth between the pair of men, she could tell something had changed the mood in the room, but she wasn't sure what.
"Guys?" she asked simply looking back and forth between the two. It was James who finally answered.
"He noticed you didn't use magic to clean up the mess."
Lily smiled and nodded in understanding. "Ah, I see." she said before turning to Sirius. "I'm sorry Sirius, we've lived so long without it that it didn't even occur to us to mention it to you."
Sirius nodded in understanding. "It's ok, I understand, I'm just a little concerned and curious as to what happened to you."
James and Lily shared a loving smile before she turned back to Sirius. "What do you know about the night we died?"
"Well," Sirius began, "Pettigrew gave you up to Voldemort and he came after you. He killed…" his breath hitched as he looked at his long lost friends for a minute before continuing, "James and then came after you and Harry. You wouldn't move out of his way so he killed you too. Then something happened and Harry defeated him." He had finished softly and sadly and was very surprised to look up to find the brightly smiling faces of his friends looking back at him.
"And how do you suppose a one year old Harry defeated the most powerful Dark Lord of our age?"
"No one's really sure, something about your sacrifice and love protecting him," Sirius replied. "How did he do it?"
James and Lily shared another smile before they began telling their story.
"Well, we're sorry we didn't tell you about it, but we knew we had to keep it a secret. It actually started at the beginning of the summer about six months before we went into hiding…"
"Alright Harry, alright. Just promise me you won't tell your mother." James said to his grinning son.
Setting baby Harry down next to him, James drew his wand and cast a quick silencing charm on the door to the study where Lily was currently working. He then spun the wand around his head in a large circle casting another charm to expand the living room a little bit. After stuffing the wand back in his pocket, James stood and headed to the corner of the room not noticing that Harry had managed to grab the wand from his pocket.
Reaching his destination, James picked up his broom and turned to return to his waiting son.
"Oh crap!" he said running back across the room.
"Harry, no!" James said though he was having trouble not laughing as he took his wand back. Shaking his head, James turned towards his wife's favorite lamp which was now spewing large purple bubbles into the air, much to Harry's delight.
"Huh?" he muttered in confusion after several long minutes as he found himself unable to reverse whatever Harry had managed to do.
"Oh boy, now we've done it Harry." After staring at the lamp for a few more minutes, James shrugged his shoulders and replaced his wand in his pocket. "Oh well, we're in trouble now anyway, might as well go for that fly."
James picked up Harry and sat on his broom, carefully sitting Harry in front of him. Once again drawing his wand, James cast a spell to limit the brooms speed followed by another creating shield bubble around them before once again returning the wand to his pocket.
"Ok Harry," James said placing his sons hands on the broom, "it's all yours son."
After helping Harry get the broom in the air, he allowed him to steer the broom around the room.
Wham!
"Easy Harry, no wait!"
Bang! Smash!
"Wait, no go the other way!"
Harry was giggling hysterically.
Thump! Bump, bump, bump, bump… Thwack! Crash!
"Oh bugger, Lils is gonna kill us." James laughed.
The pair flew around the room bumping into everything in sight and laughing all the while. They were just flying through the purple bubbles issuing forth from Lily's reading lamp for the fifth time when Harry tensed up in James arms.
"What is it son?" James said looking down at the boy in his arms. It was right about then that the smell hit him. "Oh man."
Landing in front of the couch, James banished the broom back to its corner before quickly canceling the expansion charm he had cast on the living room followed by the silencing charm on the study door.
"Lils!" James hollered. "Lils!"
Lily looked up from the scrolls she had been examining and rolled her eyes. 'What now?' she wondered. Getting up from her desk she stretched her arms high over her head for a few seconds before letting out a long breath and heading into the living room where her husband was bellowing her name.
"What is it James?" she said as she entered the room. Looking at the scene before her she wondered how long she had actually been in the study. The room looked as if a rather large tornado had swept through upsetting everything in its path. In the middle of the disaster sat James holding a giggling baby Harry at arms length. "And why is my lamp spitting out bubbles?"
"Um, I'm not really sure. Probably something wrong with the electricity charms on it."
Lily sighed knowing better than to believe his lame excuse and quickly returned the lamp to normal. "I think I'll pretend I didn't see that."
James nodded. "Probably a good idea."
"So other than that, what was it you needed?"
"Harry needs a change," he said.
Lily shook her head as she began looking through the mess for the diaper bag. "Honestly James, you know very well how to change him."
"Yeah, but your better at it and I'm pretty sure he was missing his beautiful mommy," he said before turning to his son who was dangling from his hands, "Weren't you Harry?"
Harry let out a giggle that seemed to urge James on. "Yes you were, yes you were."
Lily couldn't help but smile at her husband's antics and the giggling Harry was doing wasn't helping either. "That's very cute honey, but you're not getting out of it that easily."
"Mama!" Harry suddenly said gaining the undivided attention of his parents.
"What? What did you say Harry?" Lily said stepping closer and kneeling next to her son.
"Mama!"
The widest smile Lily had ever worn lit up her face as she took baby Harry from her husband. "Oh your first words, my smart little man." she said giving him a kiss on his forehead.
"Mama! Mama! Mama!" Harry kept repeating.
"Ok, I'll clean you up sweetheart," she said finally laying him down on a changing mat where she began cleaning him up.
As his initial shock wore off, James grinned widely and let out a little chuckle that did not go unnoticed by Lily. Finishing with her efforts she crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows letting out a mock glare directed towards the two most important men in her life.
"You two planned this didn't you?" she couldn't help but smile and laugh as Harry smiled back and let out a gurgle.
"Mama!" Harry said again raising his arms towards his mother.
"Oh you two," she said before she began tickling Harry mercilessly.
Harry giggled and shrieked, squirming wildly as his mother tickled and played with him before picking him up and hugging him tightly.
"I love you so much Harry," she said before placing a loving kiss on his forehead. "Why don't you play with your father some more while I finish up in the study? Ok sweetheart?"
"How much longer do you think you'll be tonight?"
"Not much," she said addressing James, "I think I may have found something and just want to look into it a bit more before I quit for the night."
After giving Harry anther hug and kiss, she held him out towards James who was waiting to play with his son with a large grin on his face. Harry held out his hands towards his father as he was being handed to him.
"Mama!"
Lily let out a snort as James continued to smile and try valiantly to correct his son. "No Harry, I'm Dada. Can you say Dada?"
"Mama!"
"No, Dada! Dada!"
"Mama!" Harry said giggling wildly as James began tickling him.
Lily couldn't help but smile at the men she loved with all her heart as she watched them play. It almost seemed as if Harry knew what was going on and was teasing James. 'Well,' she thought, 'it would serve him right.' As she returned to her study she let out a soft groan realizing she might very well have given birth to another Marauder.
Pushing the thoughts of her son and husband aside, she sat back down at her desk and continued with the translation she had been working on for the last few hours. Before going into hiding, they had made a final trip to the Potter Family Vault to store some of their prized possessions and while there had removed several old books and scrolls that looked like they might be of use in the research Lily had been doing.
Ever since they had found out the Dark Lord was after their son, Lily had been searching high and low for a way to protect him. She had searched the Hogwarts library and the ones at the ministry without any luck. Knowing the Potters were a very old line of light wizards, she hoped that the materials she found in their vault would be of some use. She had already gone through the books she had taken without any luck but the scroll she was currently working on looked very promising.
A couple hours later she had finished translating the first portion of the scroll and stopped to read what she had so far.
The Foundations of Magic
Magic in its simplest form could be described as energy. More than just energy, however, Magic is thought to be one of the basic building blocks of life. Why some individuals and not others are able to manipulate this energy remains unknown to this date, but the energies have been found to be tied heavily to emotion lending credibility to the theory that life itself is a result of this energy.
Many different types of Magic exist and as with most things these 'offshoots' are believed to be rooted to a single, powerful foundation from which all magical power originates. In its simplest definition and simplest form, this foundation is believed to be love.
Lily was getting more and more excited the further she read. If what was in the paper was correct, she believed she had found the solution to her son's safety. Giddy with the possibilities of her discovery, she eagerly continued translating the lengthy scroll.
It was a few days later and wearing a large smile on her face that she entered the kitchen where James was feeding Harry. After placing several pieces of parchment on the table she sat on James lap and gave him a long kiss.
"Mama, Dada, Mama, Dada…" Harry began repeating breaking the romantic moment.
"Oh sweetheart, I have one for you too." Lily said leaning over to give her son's food covered face a kiss. "Mmm," she said as she pulled back, "apple sauce."
Harry laughed and waved his arms around as his mother smiled at him. Taking the bowl of food from her husband she pointed to the papers she had brought in with her. "I'll finish feeding him, why don't you read those. I just finished the translation and there's a ritual that will do what we want. It's not quite what we were looking for, but if the worst comes to pass, he should be well protected."
James nodded and after washing his hands sat at the table and began reading through Lily's notes.
A little while later as Lily was finishing washing up Harry, James finished with the notes. "We should do this right away," he said with certainty.
Lily nodded. "It's surprisingly simple. The only danger comes if the love we share for Harry isn't strong or pure enough." Turning towards her son, her eyes were sparkling. "That's not a problem at all."
James had moved to stand next to her and was also looking down at his son with a warm smile. "Not even a little bit of a problem."
Moving into the living room, James sat on the couch with Harry on his lap while they watched Lily prepare for the ritual.
She started by levitating the coffee table, several chairs and a rug out of the way to clear a large area in the middle of the room. Following her notes and concentrating on her and her husbands love for their son, she then began using magic to etch several obscure runes into the wood floor forming a rough circle that was about two meters across.
Receiving a look from Lily, James stood and carefully carried Harry to the circle laying him down on his baby blanket which Lily had place in the center. They both smiled as Harry looked back up at them grinning brightly. Kneeling within the circle on either side of their son, James and Lily drew their wands.
"Iugum magicus demorior!" Lily said holding her wand in both hands. The magic in the room became thick with her words but far from being frightening it was a comforting power that enveloped and protected them warming their very hearts with its comforting grasp. Gripping her wand tightly, she snapped it in half with a resounding crack.
Smiling at his wife, James repeated the ritual. "Iugum magicus demorior!" The magic in the room thickened again as he completed the phrase before snapping his wand.
Concentrating on their love for their son, James and Lily raised the broken pieces of their wands towards the sky. A moment later there was a flash of fire and the most beautiful phoenix they had ever seen appeared in the room above them. Contrary to every phoenix on record which were primarily colored red as was Albus Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes, this one was shades of blue fading to white at the tips of its feathers that made it look as if it were the center of the flame, its hottest and most powerful part.
Their awe at the unexpected color of the phoenix changed to complete and utter wonder as two more similarly colored phoenixes appeared.
"Lily?" James muttered in question.
Lily shook her head as she continued to gaze at the magnificent creatures circling above them. "I don't know. There was only supposed to be one."
"Bwedie!" Harry giggled drawing his parent's attention back to the matter at hand. Looking down they found Harry looking up in wonder and happiness at the phoenix flying overhead.
The phoenix's continued to circle for a minute before the first to appear flew down taking the pieces of the Potters broken wands in his powerful talons and taking flight again returning to the air to circle with his brothers. Their song began to fill the air, slowly building along with the feeling of love that filled the hearts of the three humans in the circle.
As the song became louder, James and Lily could feel their magic reaching out towards their son. They felt it encase him and bond with him connecting and making itself part of his very soul. A few minutes later the song began to fade and the magic began to recede.
With a final burst of song, there was another burst of flame and the three phoenixes disappeared.
James and Lily sat by their son in a stunned silence for a long while.
"That was, I mean, I don't know, what was that? What just happened?" James finally managed to stutter out.
"I don't know James. But what ever it was it was a good thing. I can feel it in my heart, it was good. The ritual worked."
"Yes it did, we'll have to arrange to get new wands."
As they shared a smile there was another burst of flame as the first phoenix that had appeared returned. There was a clatter on the floor next to both James and Lily who looked down to find their repaired wands lying next to them.
"What?" James asked.
Lily shrugged her shoulders and watched as the phoenix landed next to them before walking up to Harry.
"Bwedie!" Harry said again.
The phoenix let out a soft trilling, singing to an extremely happy Harry who kept giggling and pulling at its feathers.
James and Lily moved to the couch and allowed the two to interact confident in the knowledge a phoenix would never allow any harm to come to their son. They watched for a long while amazed at how gentle and loving the magical creature was with Harry until he finally began yawning widely, worn out from the evening's events.
Sirius had a look of amazement on his face as the story ended. He had laughed hysterically and Lily had frowned as James told of his antics with Harry and marveled in wonder at what Lily had discovered and the following ritual.
"So, 'Iugum magicus demorior', my Latin's never been that good, but that's something like 'Bond Magic Love' isn't it?" Sirius asked.
Lily smiled. "Not quite, but close enough."
"So, you gave Harry your magic?"
"No, not exactly, we bound our magic to him using the base of all magic, love. When we died protecting him, it sealed the spell transferring our magic to him through love, and using that love to protect him."
Sirius nodded as he began to understand. "So he has the combined magic of himself and both of you?"
James and Lily shared a sad smile.
"Yes and no." Lily continued. "He does, but he hasn't been able to use it as he should."
Sirius look returned to one of confusion as he thought about what she said. "He is a powerful wizard, but you're obviously right, he's not shown any were near the amount of power the three of you would have had combined. Why is that?"
Lily let out a sad sigh. "The magic we used to protect him is based in love. He does have our magic within him, but he can only access it through love. Unfortunately growing up with my sister," she spat out, "he's never really learned to love. But he has displayed his potential on occasion. You were even there once though you were passed out at the time."
Sirius looked at her curiously as he thought for several seconds before the light seemed to switch on in his brain. "His patronus, it takes positive emotions to create one."
Lily nodded. "Yes it does. Harry created one to save you that chased off over a hundred dementors. Most fully grown wizards can't create one at all and the ones that can, could never come close to scaring away that many, yet Harry did it to save you."
Awe was the only word that could describe the look on Sirius face as Lily told him that Harry had harnessed the power they had gifted to him to save him. Harry had really loved him.
"I understand why you don't miss your magic. I wouldn't either."
"No," James said, "we don't miss it. We only wish Harry'd had a better life growing up. Not knowing love means he hasn't been able to consciously use our gift. He has the power within him to do what he needs to do, but I fear he will never be able to use it."
"I'm sorry," Sirius said softly with his head in his hands. "I shouldn't have gone after Wormtail that night. I should have stayed and been there for Harry."
"It's not your fault Sirius. Even had you been there, Dumbledore would have still placed him with the Dursleys. The same magic we gave to protect him is tied to the blood wards Dumbledore created around Privet Drive."
"Dumbledore..." Sirius whispered with a hint of anger though he did not look up.
James sighed. "I know, I know, we're not thrilled about the way he's handled a lot of things concerning Harry. But we don't blame him either. As many mistakes as he's made, his intentions have always been good."
Sirius let out a long sigh and sat back in his seat. "I suppose you're right. I just wish I could still be there for Harry, that I could still help him. I'd do anything to help him."
"We would too Sirius, we would too."
The group sat in silence for a few minutes before the old man sitting across from them spoke up.
"I do so love to hear you all speak of Harry. The way you look and sound while you do so is most invigorating. He was lucky to have you all in his life, even if only for a little while."
He had appeared along with his chair not long after James and Lily started telling their story. They all knew he was there but were wholly unconcerned as if his appearing out of the blue was a normal event, even an expected one that would normally be given no more thought or notice than something entirely benign such as an extra chair that sits in a corner.
At first glance he appeared relatively young sitting in simple squishy armchair with his legs crossed. He had tan skin and a long skinny nose. He wore a long white beard and had a smile that could disarm anyone. It was his eyes, however, that told the true story of his being.
His eyes were the most brilliant blue you could ever imagine, a blue which interestingly enough seemed to perfectly match the blue of the pool that sat between them. His eyes showed the age of a being whose life spanned centuries and millennia rather than days and years and revealed tightly controlled yet unfathomable power. Yet his entire presence seemed natural and normal. It seemed to reach out towards you and put you at ease, much as a phoenix song would.
Sirius, James and Lily smiled at his comments as they continued to think of Harry.
Leaning towards the pool, the man spoke again. "Let's see what he's up too, shall we?"
As he stared into the waters depths an image of Harry's room began to form.
Harry was standing in a larger version of his room. Off to one side stood a man neither James, Lily nor Sirius had ever seen before.
With his wand in hand, Harry scanned the room looking for his assailant. Seeing some movement out of the corner of his eye, Harry cast a stunning spell towards the figure there. Not expecting it to be reflected back, he had to dive to his right and barely avoided being hit.
As he was trying to stand he felt his wand get knocked from his hand and all the air leave his lungs as he was kicked in the chest, knocking him back to the ground where he was quickly pinned.
"Uncle! I give, I give."
Tonks grinned as she sat up on top of his chest and crossed her arms. "And what are you going to call me from now on?" she asked giving him a teasing glare.
"Well, not Nymphadora, I can tell you that." he replied.
Tonks let out a scowl and conjured a bucket of ice water which she held above his head.
"What was that Harry? I don't think I quite got that."
"Alright! Alright! Tonks!" he said holding his hands up to fend off the bucket.
A laughing Tonks dumped the bucket anyway gaining a yell from Harry before he was pleasantly surprised to find the bucket now contained confetti rather than ice water. Tonks laughed even harder as Harry let his body slump back to the floor with a loud groan.
The old man was grinning ear to ear as the scene vanished from the pool. While initially being shocked and worried at the scene they had witnessed, James, Lily and Sirius were also smiling as it faded away.
"That girl loves him." he said as he sat back in the chair he had appeared in.
"Really?" Sirius asked in surprise. "Imagine that, my cousin. I had no idea."
"Yes, she does, though unfortunately as is the case with Ginny, he just can't believe that anyone would love him."
James and Sirius couldn't help but let out a chuckle earning James a smack on the back of his head from Lily. Sirius was only spared because he was out of reach.
"I'm sorry Lily Flower, but you have to admit it's a bit funny. I mean all of Hogwarts knows about Ginny's crush on Harry and yet he remains completely oblivious," a grinning James said.
Lily let a small smile grace her lips for a few seconds at the thought. "I suppose it is a bit humorous, or it would be if the ramifications weren't so severe."
A hushed silence fell over the room for a few minutes as the group contemplated the meaning of what Lily had just said. Finally the old man spoke up.
"It is true that the prophecy he lives under binds his fate. But hope comes in many shapes and forms as does power. Perhaps the power the riddle speaks of is the gift you have given him, but it could just as easily be something else."
The three friends looked up curiously wondering where he was going with this.
The old man smiled back kindly at the three. "I find myself watching Harry intently. I was drawn in by the self sacrificing love of his parents and godfather and riveted firmly in place by the caring nature of his acts as he has become the man he is. You should all be very proud."
A moment later there was a flash of fire above the pool as a beautiful blue phoenix appeared. A phoenix James and Lily had seen once before. Flying towards Lily, it dropped a small scroll within her hands before disappearing in another brilliant flash.
The man stood and the chair vanished as he addressed them again. "In your hand you hold a power which has only been granted once before. It is a power rarely sought out for the consequences are severe but it would give him what he requires to fulfill the prophecy which binds him, guaranteeing that he would emerge from the other side victorious."
"This power, as with every other, comes at a price. The price would be paid by both Harry and yourselves. For you, it would mean you will never be able to see him again. Never be able to touch, hold or embrace him for all eternity. For him, well, for him it would mean many different things. Examine what I have given you. It is your choice whether you send it to him or not. Should you choose to give him the choice, you may send along a letter from each of you, however, you may not mention anything that would interfere with his normal development. By this I mean you may not tell him anything that will alter his decisions regarding this choice or others he will make."
With his speech finished, the man gave them another kindly smile before vanishing into thin air. He was fully aware that anything they put in a letter no matter how benign it appeared to be would alter Harry's views and affect his future choices but he found he didn't mind.
They all thought about his parting words for a long while, contemplating their meaning until Lily finally opened the scroll the phoenix had given her and read the title. 'Immortality'