"Go on, Lily," urged a tall, brown-eyed boy, with a thin face and untidy black hair, elbowing the smaller, red-haired girl beside him.

"I'm not doing it," she protested, her warm brown eyes narrowed. "I thought you were the one who wanted to talk to him, James."

It was silent for a long moment as the older boy – James – stared at man in the portrait they had come to see – thin and gangling, with shaggy black hair and a drawn, pale face.

"Uh, Sirius?" he tried. "Padfoot?"

James jumped as Sirius' eyes blinked open, coal black and lonely-looking, and when they caught James's face, he looked taken aback. "Who…?"

"I'm…um…I don't…my Dad is your Godson," the young boy stuttered, and Sirius stared at him for a moment before a wide grin stretched across his face.

"I mean you're… Harry's son?" he laughed, eyes dancing. "Wow, I never thought I'd ever…" he trailed off, shaking his head.

"I'm James," the boy said, reluctance forgotten. "I'm eleven, Albus is ten, and Lily is eight."

"Lily and James," he murmured, more to himself than to anyone else, smiling fondly, as if his world had just brightened considerable. "I should have known…but Albus…really, Harry?"

"I really just wanted to meet you," James continued. "I'm named for you – James Sirius Potter."

It was very quiet for a long stretch before Sirius spoke. "Where is Harry?" he asked quietly. "I'd like to see him."

"I think he went upstairs, to your old room…he said that I should talk to you myself."

"I asked Dad," exclaimed a tall, skinny boy with green eyes, thundering down the stairs and bursting into the room. "I think the thought of seeing you again shook him up pretty bad – he still wants to though," he assured Sirius hastily. "I just don't think he ever really got over your death," he added quietly.

"I bet you're tired of hearing it – I know Harry certainly was – but you look just like James…" the man in the portrait said, chuckling to himself as the young boy sighed. "It seems, however, you're the only one with Lily's eyes."

"Yeah. I know," the boy huffed, before turning back the way he had come. "I'll go get him."

"I'll come," Lily volunteered. "C'mon, James."

"But-" It didn't take long for James to catch on. "Oh. Okay."

It wasn't long before their voices could be heard outside the door.

"C'mon, Dad," Lily called impatiently, stamping her foot, and a smile crept across Sirius' face as the door swung open and Harry James Potter himself entered the room.

It was strange how little he had changed – his eyes were still young and wise in equal measure, so like Lily's, and his father's untidy black hair fell unevenly across his forehead, hiding his lightning scar as Harry's eyes flickered up to meet his Godfather's gaze, begging for the answer to a question neither of them could answer.

It was silent for a very long time before Sirius spoke, a beaming smile lighting his face as he looked down at his Godson.

"I'm so very proud of you."