Chapter 2

"Oh my gosh! He looks exactly like you!"

"SHH!!! You're going to wake him up!"

"But –"

"No buts! Just keep your mouth shut! You're such a baby, you know that right? I still cannot believe that you're a father, to be honest with you," Harry heard someone sigh. Then he heard another voice chuckle sadly.

"Not like we had much time to really register the fact, yeah?" Harry then heard a loud thump.

"What the hell was that for?!?!" Harry heard the same voice yell.

"Stop being such a prissy, Prongs!" Harry's eyes flew open upon hearing his father's old nickname. Harry then recognized the voice that had just spoke. It was too good to be true….

I'm dreaming, Harry decided.

"Both of you be quiet! If any of you wake my son up, there'll be hell to pay!" Harry heard a woman's voice threaten. With a jolt he realized who it must be. Harry heard Ron groan and realized, shocked, how loud they must be. Harry cast the Muffliato spell around his four-poster bed. He then took a deep breath and sat up in his bed, lifting the mirror up to his face, bracing himself for what he was about to see; but, no amount of mental preparation could have prepared him for the shock he got when he saw the 3 most treasured people in his life standing together, arguing, talking, and laughing. Harry's breath caught in his throat. He couldn't say anything; he just sat there and stared at his dead parents and godfather, not being able to get enough of them.

He studied his mother's face, especially her eyes. She's beautiful, he thought to himself. He studied his father next, astounded at the similarities between himself and his father. They both had the same stuck-up stubborn hair, the same chin, the same nose, practically the same everything! Harry then looked to his godfather, and was shocked to see that his godfather looked at least 15 years younger; his eyes were alight with happiness and peace, and yet, there was a tiny spark of sadness still in them. He kept staring at them, until, finally, James noticed. He gasped.

"Li – Lily…" he trailed off, looking overwhelmed. She had been staring daggers at Sirius, and now she had transferred that gaze to James.

"What James?" she asked him, still furious with him for being so loud when her son was sleeping. A smirk slowly spread across James' face.

"You might not want to talk to your husband – the ­father of your child – like that, Lils. Your not setting a very good example for him when it comes to respecting your superiors," James teased her. She growled and hit the back of his head.

"Ow!" he protested, laughing. Suddenly, what James had said registered in both Lily's and Sirius' head at the same time. They both turned to the mirror with tears in their eyes. Lily's tears were of happiness, and, although Sirius was trying to make his look like they were of happiness as well, Harry knew better, although he decided not to comment on them just yet.

"Harry…" Lily whispered, overwhelmed at the fact that she could finally talk to her son face-to-face in a situation that wasn't weird or stressed or strange in any way. She put her hand up to the surface of the mirror, as if to touch his face. Harry felt his own eyes prick with tears.

"Mum…" he whispered, longingly. He, too, had begun to move his hand to touch the surface of the mirror when he pulled it back violently, his face darkening. Lily looked at him questioningly. "It's too good to be true," he said simply. The tears that had been building in Lily's eyes finally cascaded down her face.

"I know it's hard to believe… but… trust me… it's all real," she said, sincerely, practically begging for him to believe her. James and Sirius nodded beside her. Harry's heart yearned to comfort his mother, but what if this was a trap set by Voldemort, somehow? What if… Voldemort… was… somehow… trying to lure him into some other trap?

"If it's all real, then how you guys didn't answer right away when I called for Sirius? Huh? How come? Is there some kind of slow reception or something?" Harry asked, taunting them to give him that excuse. James took the mirror from Lily's shaking hands to answer Harry's question. He looked Harry straight in the eyes, and this time, there was no humour on his face at all, and, from what Harry had heard about his father, that was highly unusual.

"Harry, this is real – I guarantee you."

"You still didn't answer my question," Harry pointed out, wanting to believe that this was all real, so badly. However, he kept his desperation hidden.

"That would be my fault, Harry," Sirius interrupted, a sheepish look on his face. Harry raised an eyebrow at him in question. "I – um – left the mirror at my place when I went to your Dad's place for dinner last night… so… yeah… sorry about that." He looked at Harry in sheepish apology.

Harry went over the points they had given him in his head, and, to his relief, they all made perfectly good sense. However, he was still unsure, so he had to ask something which the answer would be answer that only people from 'Heaven" would know. Harry's eyes lit up: he had thought of the perfect question.

"Relay what happened in Dumbledore's office, to me." Sirius, James, and Lily all looked at each other, before Lily began to speak in a trembling voice. James kept his arm around her during the whole thing, giving her moral support.

***

After they had finished relaying the night's events in Dumbledore's office to Harry, he was finally convinced that he really was talking to his dead parents and godfather. They all looked at him, anxious about his verdict.

"Dad, couldn't you have picked a more conspicuous animal to transform into when you decided to become an Animagus?" Harry teased him. James grinned at him, understanding that he believed them.

"Phew!" Sirius wiped his brow. "All the pressure!" Sirius mocked. The rest of them burst out laughing. Sirius joined in, all grins – except for that small spark of grief that was planted in his eyes. It was worrying Harry a bit, but not too much. However, despite the fact that he was slightly worried, he still hadn't addressed Sirius about it, and he didn't plan on doing it any time soon. For now, all he wanted to do was catch up on lost time with the people he cared about most in the world.