It was several days since he had first written to Arielle, she had responded to him almost instantly saying that if it were convenient she could call on Monday and would wait at the top of Privet Drive for him at midday. It had been a Tuesday when he first received her letter and he had been an anxious mess for five days, worrying and wondering about whether she would come or not and if he had made the right decision in agreeing to meet her. By the time Monday rolled around he could barely contain his nerves and so when it reached ten to twelve he smoothed down his least baggy shirt and jeans and tried to settle his hair before stealing out of the house, careful to avoid the notice of any of his relatives, to meet his Godmother. As he walked up the street fussing over his appearance he failed to notice the stunningly beautiful woman awaiting him. She had vibrant, violet eyes set in delicate, elfin features framed by long pale gold hair that spilled around it in soft waves giving her a soft, ethereal look. She looked young, her face free from age lines, save for her eyes that held the knowledge and pain of one who had lived far too long and seen too many horrible things.
When Harry finally looked up and saw her standing there, tears glittering in her violet eyes, as she smiled brilliantly at him he couldn't help but smile back.
"Harry!" She called out, her voice like a half remembered melody from when you were a child that brought with it a sense of comfort and love. He quickened his steps until he stood before her as she fought to stop the tears that were now leaking out of her eyes and forming silver trails down her cheeks. With a hiccup she closed the remaining distance between them and wrapped him in her arms, clutching him close to her chest. He automatically wrapped his own arms around her slender waist and laid his head on her shoulder, breathing in the scent of her hair that brought back memories of laughter and days spent in the sun when he was a babe. Releasing him after what felt like an age she stepped back and gently cupped his face in her hands, eyes saving every detail of his face to her memories.
"You poor boy, you've inherited the Potter curse after all. But you've got your mothers smile." She said with a watery chuckle. Harry's green eyes widened as he processed what she had said, usually when he met someone who knew his parents they would say he looked like his father but with his mothers eyes. This was new.
"The Potter curse?" He asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"Yes, the untameable hair and terrible eye sight. It's been going for generations. Though we used to tease James that he would start a new one with his odd obsession with Lily's red hair." Arielle replied as she stroked his cheeks gently before letting him go to simply drink in the sight of him. Her eyes soften in sadness as she recalled the days when her two best friends were still alive, it broke her heart that she had so many memories of them and Harry had so few, if any at all.
Harry drank in every word, hungry to know more about his parents, more about what they were like. He knew little to nothing of them so every word, every hint to their history was as precious to him as gold was to the meanest miser.
"Would you...could you tell me more about them? My parents I mean?" Harry asked softly, unsure whether it would hurt Arielle as it did Sirius and Professor Lupin to talk of their dead friends for too long. She smiled at him tenderly and nodded; turning away from the Dursley's she indicated they should walk and he followed, slipping into step beside her. The only sound for a few minutes as they walked was the click of her shoes on the pavement and the swish of her strapless. silken sundress as it twirled around her knees
"What would you like to know?" A million questions swirled around inside his head, it was impossible to just pick one. She must have sensed his turmoil as she laughed softly and swept her hair behind her ear but not before he saw the awful gouges around her wrist. "Sorry, stupid question. I suppose what I should have said was, where would you like to start?"
"I don't know. What were they like at school? How did you meet them? Where did we live before...you know?" Harry gabbled out quickly, trying to get as many questions asked at once.
"Well I met you Dad first. I was in the boat next to his when we were crossing the lake, and genius that he was, he didn't listen when Hagrid told us all to duck and fell in. He couldn't swim so I jumped in after him and got him back into his boat. Your mother I met later that night when we went to Gryffindor tower, I was sharing a room with her and she was a little lost and homesick so I sat and talked with her until she felt better. Your parents were very different people at school, James was a born trouble maker and good at everything without even trying-especially Quidditch- where as Lily was a devout student, she was top of her class in almost everything, well behaved and polite. They were like fire and ice at times they were so different, but then there were the moments when they were so alike it was scary: they had the same loyalty, courage, strength of spirit and loving heart. They were the kind of people who would do anything for their friends, they would stand by them till the bitter end; they fought for justice, for the innocent, for those who could not fight for themselves. They were two of the best people I've ever met. And to answer your last question, they had a cottage in a little hamlet called Godric's Hollow that wasn't too far from your grandparents estate. They loved it, it was small but always filled with light, love and laughter." Arielle spoke laughed as she remembered the meeting James, smiled sadly at Lilly's sadness and had a beautiful smile on her face as she spoke of them at school and after. Harry loved listening to her talk about his Mum and Dad, his home with them in Godric's Hollow where had it not been for Voldemort he would have grown up, brought friends home to and spent Christmas with his family.
"My Dad fell in the lake?" He couldn't help but grin at this, the image of his eleven year old father flailing in the lakes frigid water clear in his imagination.
"Yes, not the first or last time he ended up their either. He seemed determined to meet Lance at least once in his life." She recalled fondly. Harry was deeply amused, wondering when else his father had ended up in the Lake when he paused on something.
"Lance?" He inquired with a raised eyebrow at the blonde woman walking beside him. She threw back her head and laughed, he mane of pale gold hair shining in the summer sun.
"The Giant Squid. One of your father's friends named him and it just kind of stuck, god knows why Sirius named him Lance but hey, he always was a bit mental but that was why we loved him." She laughed then stopped suddenly realising what she had said.
"Sirius?" Harry prompted. She knew Sirius? Well she must have, he reasoned, if she had known his father especially as he was Harry's Godfather. Arielle closed her eyes for a moment, a look of immeasurable sadness marring her otherwise flawless features before she stopped walking and turned to face him.
"Sirius Black. He was your Dad's closest friend, they were brothers in all but blood and loved each other more than anything. He was best man at your parents wedding as well, he spent the whole service whispering filthy comments in my ear," she chuckled softly at this before continuing on, "Sirius was a great friend of mine too. More than that, he was probably the only man I've ever loved. As you've probably seen in the Prophet he's been in Azkaban for twelve years for murder and I know this will be hard to believe after everything you've read about him but he's an innocent man."
Harry froze at her words. He had been expecting a reaction much like Professor Lupin's, that Sirius was guilty. That Pettigrew had died a hero and that Sirius was a murderer who should be returned to Azkaban as soon as possible. He did not expect to hear that Arielle believe him innocent.
"I know Sirius, or I did before that he was condemned to that hell hole, and I know that he is the last person on this earth that would follow Voldemort. He abhorred the Dark Arts and everything Voldemort stands for, he would never hurt an innocent never mind someone he considered a friend. He was like your father in that respect, he would die rather than ever betray his friends."
Arielle spoke with a great sadness and a wordless grief that Harry couldn't even begin to comprehend, she looked so lost and sad as she spoke of his Godfather, of Sirius, that he didn't know what to say except "I know."
She looked shell shocked. If Harry had not been expecting her to believe Sirius innocent it was nothing to this.
"You know? You know he's innocent? How? What...?"
"I know Wormtail betrayed my parents to Voldemort and that he was the one to kill all those muggles. I met them both in my third year at Hogwarts, the year Sirius escaped. He told me he was my Godfather as well." Harry replied quietly and watched as a myriad of different emotions played across he face before settling on relief tinged with anger.
"Oh Harry, I wish you hadn't had to meet that little rat bastard! But I'm glad you know the truth, I didn't want to try and convince you incase you thought I was mad or on Voldemort's side and was trying to trick you or something. I take it that Sirius is still in contact with you? I know that idiot wouldn't be able to resist staying away from you once he met you, he always was reckless beyond sense." She cried. Harry grinned at her as she cussed out both his parents betrayer and insulted his Godfather in the same breath, he knew Sirius would take deep offense to being called a reckless idiot but it was nice to talk to someone who knew him well enough to say stuff like that. When he had talked with Professor Lupin briefly during their Dementor lessons it had always been about school, Quidditch or the soul sucking spectres that had haunted the castle boundaries that year. He had never had the chance to talk about Sirius or his parents with him, save for the brief mentioning of them when he had been recovering from the Boggart-Dementor's affects.
"So what was Sirius like back then?" He asked, determined to get answers about his grim Godfather as they began walking again.
"He was a brilliantly cheeky, flirtatious fool who got into more trouble than should've been humanly possible. I remember, a few months into Lily's pregnancy she and I went shopping for some things for you and left your Dad and Sirius to paint your nursery while we were out. We came back that afternoon and there was more paint on them than on the walls because Sirius, genius that he is, decided they should have a paint fight." She told him with a grin, her face lighting up as she spoke making her look radiant with the afternoon sun making her hair shine like gold and her porcelain skin glow. She really is beautiful, Harry thought to himself as she launched into another story of his Father and Godfather's antics and with a smile Harry walked along beside her listening to stories of the parents he had never known and his Godfather before he had known him.