A/N: I couldn't resist the chapter title. Harry finally sees the portraits of his parents, along with the group from last chapter.

Eight- Meet the Parents

Polaris had just been laid down for a nap when Harry suggested they all needed a light lunch. Narcissa agreed and Sirius summoned Kreacher, asking him for a lunch for seven. It was midway through his sandwich that Harry remembered his parents' portraits. Swallowing the suddenly dry bite down he said quietly, "I was able to visit Gringotts a week or so ago and it turned out that my parents had portraits made. I have yet to resize them, would you be interested in talking to them?"

Five stunned faces met his and Sirius groaned sheepishly. "I forgot about them as well, Harry. They're not going to be happy about being left in that suitcase for this long."

Harry drew his wand and murmured, "Accio suitcase!"

The plain leather case was still small enough to attach to a keychain. He laid it on an open part of the table and tapped it with a quiet, "Finite."

It resized instantly, stopping at about the same size as most portraits Harry had seen in the magical world. He opened it with trepidation, suddenly nervous about what his parents would say. Sirius covered one of his hands with his much larger one and quirked a small, reassuring smile. Harry relaxed and hung the two momentarily empty frames on the wall.

The background picture of one looked like a library and Harry couldn't help but think that was his mum's. Lily was an academic; she would have wanted to be portrayed that way even after her death. James' was the open field at Hogwarts with the Black Lake and a single tree in the background. Strangely, that fit his father to a tee according to what he knew. James would rather have been caught dead, excusing the expression, than painted in a library or school background.

Harry finished his sandwich and said timidly to Hermione, "Do you think they're just out of their frames?"

"I think so, Harry," she said, thinking. "If I remember reading correctly in A History of Magical Portraiture all you have to do to notify them of the change is knock on the wood frame."

They all chuckled slightly and Draco murmured with a grin, "Ever the bookworm."

Harry reached out and tapped the edge of Lily's frame with trembling fingers. The moment he did so he stepped back and sat down next to Sirius at the now-cleared table. It took a couple of minutes, then Remus tilted his head to the side, listening. Harry wasn't surprised; Remus had the most sensitive ears of the group. He was surprised when Remus began chuckling softly.

"What?" Sirius asked, curious.

"You'll hear," Remus replied in amusement.

After a moment they could hear the pair. Lily was speaking, exasperation evident in her voice. "James, I told you, I thought I heard someone knock on the frame!"

"Lils," James' voice sounded equal parts hopeful and amused, "these portraits have been sitting in a vault for whoever knows how long. I think you just heard something else. After all, I don't hear it anymore."

Lily just replied with an audible sigh of annoyance. Sirius snickered from next to Harry and murmured in his ear, "It doesn't sound like they've changed at all."

A black-haired wizard with hazel eyes and square glasses strolled into the grassy field and said, "See Lily, I was-" he spotted the group of people and yelped, "Merlin, you were right!"

Outright laughter at James' expense greeted Lily as she stepped into her library. "Of course I was right," she said sweetly.

She greeted them all with a smile. "Hello! It's nice to finally be out of that vault." She spotted Remus and blinked. "Is that you, Remus?"

"Hi Lily," Remus grinned. "I was listening to your conversation. Doesn't sound like much has changed."

She pulled a face. "Tell me about it. Do you know how many times I've hexed him for various things while we were in that vault, sometimes out of sheer boredom?"

Severus snickered. "And just what are you snickering about, Sev?" She shot pointedly. "Glad to see you finally stopped being an idiot about Remus."

Had Harry not been there, he would have never believed anyone could make Severus blush so easily. "Thanks Lily," he grouched.

"You're welcome," She replied sweetly. "Someone's got to keep you in line."

James, meanwhile, had been scanning the faces. When he saw Sirius he beamed brightly and said, "Hey Padfoot! I've missed seeing your face around. How are you, old friend?"

Sirius opened his mouth to reply and Lily interrupted with, "Speaking of old, what year is it?"

Looking around at their suddenly sad faces she said, "Oh dear… It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"It's July of 2003," Sirius said softly. There was no easy way to break it to the two of them.

James had a rather stunned look on his face. Looking closer at Sirius he murmured, "22 years? Please tell me Voldemort's dead at least?"

"He lost his body when he attacked you two, but he gained it back in 1994," Severus replied somberly.

"Damn," James cursed. "How bad is it compared to when we were alive?"

Remus swallowed slowly before replying, "It's worse. We're thinking about going against Albus as well."

"Why would you fight Albus?" Lily asked, more like whispered.

"Because of the way he messed my life up for his own goals," Harry spoke up, getting up and leaning against the edge of the table.

Lily looked at him for a moment; saw the bright, familiar green eyes and her own widened joyously. "Harry?"

James was gazing at him hungrily as well as he nodded. "Hello mum, dad."

"You look wonderful, Harry," she whispered. "I've missed you so much."

Harry's throat tightened and he smiled, unable to speak past the lump in his throat.

James grinned at his son and then he frowned, thinking. "Severus, you said that Voldemort lost his body the night he attacked us. How?"

"After he killed mum," Harry answered, drawing his parent's gazes, "he turned his wand on me."

"But you're alive," Lily murmured.

Harry sighed heavily. This was far hard to talk about when looking at his parents. "Because you shielded me when you didn't have to, the Killing Curse he cast rebounded back onto him. Somehow, he was merely forced from his corporeal body rather than being killed outright. I received a lightning bolt scar on my forehead and the title of 'Boy-Who-Lived' in exchange for becoming an orphan," his voice was bitter.

"For ten years I wondered what the scar was from as I eked out my existence with the Dursleys, ignorant of magic and the fact that mine was a household name. Then Hagrid came with my letter and there I was, famous for surviving the attack that killed my parents."

"Hang on," Lily's voice was an irritated hiss. James looked murderous as well. "Did you say Dursley, as in Vernon and Petunia Dursley?"

"Yes," Harry replied.

"I put in our will that you were NEVER supposed to set FOOT there!" Lily shrieked. Everyone winced reflexively, Remus had covered his ears from the moment he heard her irritation. He knew Lily well; his sensitive ears had suffered on more than one occasion.

"Your will was never read," Harry said with a sigh.

James' hazel eyes had narrowed. He flicked his eyes from Sirius to Remus and said, "Where in the hell were you two?"

"Don't," Harry said forcefully, "blame them. Sirius went after Peter and was put in Azkaban prison for it and since Remus was ignorant of your change," he glared pointedly at his father, "he thought he'd just seen Sirius betray you both and murder Peter. He left the country on the advice of Albus Dumbledore."

James looked both ashamed and horrified. "Azkaban, Pads? But they found out and let you go, obviously."

Sirius barked out a laugh. It was slightly bitter. "No, they didn't find out. The stupid rat cut off his own finger and transformed after blowing up the street and catching 12 Muggles. I spent 12 years in there James, finally I broke out. I'm cleared now, an Auror saw Peter at one of the last Death Eater attacks but I was on the run for another 3 years."

James snorted. "Only you, Pads, could break out of Azkaban prison."

Not exactly, Harry thought with bitter humour. Remus snorted; obviously he was thinking the same thing.

"So Harry," Lily beamed at her son, "Tell us about your school years."

Hermione giggled. "Mini adventures, every one of them," she explained.

"What's your name?" Lily asked, curious.

"Hermione Granger, Mrs. Potter."

"Oh Merlin, call me Lilly. His expression," she tilted her head to the side at James, "gets so smug when anyone calls me that."

"Oi!"

Hermione giggled again. "All right Lily. Call me Hermione."

"You said Hagrid brought you your letter?" James asked, interested. "Why? The owl that brought mine landed in my mum's hair, she was a bit annoyed with it and blasted a few of its tail feathers off."

Sirius snickered. "I remember you telling me about that."

"The reason why Hagrid brought my letter is because the Dursleys tried to prevent me from going. They figured they could lose the trail and we ended up on this hut in the middle of the ocean."

Lily snorted in disbelief. "That would have been Vernon's idea. Tuney may have not liked magic after I started attending, but she still knows some things about the magical world."

"Anyway," Harry said pointedly, "Hagrid brought my letter and told me I was wizard. My reaction to that was, amusing, to say the least. I was in shock; I thought Hagrid was looking for the wrong person at first."

"Better than some," Lily said, smirking at Severus. "Some people forget the difference in the worlds and offend girls by calling them a witch."

Severus flushed again and grumbled, "Shut up Lily. I was nine years old, for Merlin's sake."

Remus snickered at his lover's reaction. "You called a supposedly Muggle girl a witch? That's pretty bad, Sev. I grew up in the magical world and I would still know better than to call a young girl a witch."

Severus retaliated by smacking Remus across the back of the head with a half-hearted glare.

"What house did you end up in?" James asked eagerly.

"Gryffindor, though I almost ended up in Slytherin," Harry replied, grinning as his dad's jaw dropped.

"I met Hermione on the train along with another named Ron," he scowled at the name. "Draco and I" he grinned at said blonde, "didn't exactly get along at first."

James looked over at Draco and said, "A Malfoy? Any relation to old Lucy?"

Draco's face was priceless. "Lucy?" he murmured with a grin. "Next time he calls me Dragon I know what to say. Thanks! And yes, Lucius is my father. He became a spy for the Order, our Manor is currently headquarters."

"Good for him," James grinned.

"What would you say is your best class, Harry?" Lily asked, curious.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts, easily," Harry replied. "Though Potions would have been a favourite as well had a certain Potions Master not been taking out his temper on me."

It was almost funny to watch how fast Severus tried to shrink away from Lily's hard green glare. Eventually taking pity on the ex-Slytherin Harry added, "But we've come to terms now, I consider Severus a good friend."

"Good!" Lily said firmly. "More mature than some," she glared pointedly at James.

James ignored her. "Did you play Quidditch?" he asked eagerly.

Hermione snickered in laughter. "I would say so! He got on the House team 1st year!"

"No way!" Sirius was shocked as well, he hadn't heard that. James asked, "What position?"

Harry chuckled at his father's expression and said, "Seeker. I was Captain as well in 6th and 7th year."

"And banned in 5th," Hermione huffed, still angry about Umbridge. Draco looked away, he felt guilty for getting Harry and the twins banned. Slytherin hadn't won the Cup anyway, Weaselette had gotten the Snitch.

"You're skipping a few years, Hermione," Harry reminded her.

"How did you get banned from Quidditch?" James asked, looking horrified at the very thought.

"We'll get there eventually. Continuing with 1st year, Hermione, Ron and I ran into a Cerebrus that was being kept in the 3rd floor corridor. Hermione noticed it was standing on a trapdoor and Hagrid let it slip that it was 'between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel.' Oh, he also said the Cerebrus was his and his name was Fluffy."

"What," Lily asked faintly, "was Dumbledore thinking, keeping a 3-headed-dog in a school?"

"We found that out after Christmas," Harry said grimly. "Fluffy was part of a series of enchantments guarding the Philosopher's Stone. I was serving detention in the Forbidden Forest when a Centaur gave me enough clues to realise that Voldemort was attempting to steal it."

Lily's face was white. So was James' and it was surprisingly him that spoke, "The Elixir of Life. Oh Merlin, that would have been the end of everything."

"We found out Hagrid had let it slip to a stranger how to get past Fluffy. Up until the night we went through the trapdoor, I thought it was Severus trying to steal the Stone," Harry looked sheepish. "A miscalculation on my part, and I apologise Severus."

Severus snorted. "Quite all right, I certain gave that man an easy enough cover, I'm disgusted to say."

"You went through the trapdoor?" Lily asked. "How did you get past Fluffy?"

"You play him a bit of music and he falls asleep," Harry explained. "I went through first, landing on a soft surface. It was only after Hermione and Ron had followed that Hermione realised it was Devil's Snare. She remembered that it didn't like light or heat and Ron said to light a fire." Harry smirked at Hermione and she groaned in embarrassment.

"Hermione replied with, 'there's no wood'."

People burst out laughing.

"You're a witch, woman!" James had dropped to the grass he was laughing so hard.

"That's what Ron said. She conjured the same blue flames she used to set Severus on fire earlier that year and we were released. Next was a room with a bunch of birds and a locked door. After a moment I realised the birds were winged keys. There was a broom there and I was able to catch the key that opened the door."

"After that came McGonagall's giant wizard's chess set. We had to play our way across, and yes, Dad," Harry added at James' unasked question, "it was exactly like real wizards chess."

James paled. "I hope you were good at chess. I'm awful."

"So am I, but Ron Weasley was one of the best in the school and he beat the set," Harry summarized that curtly, not wanting to linger on Ron's name any longer than necessary.

"After that came Severus' bit. That was a good idea, by the way. He had a line of potions on a table along with a riddle. As Hermione explained, most wizards can't think logically and would never have been able to find the correct potions. The reason why we needed the potions were for the flames that appeared in the doorways after we approached the table. Hermione is one of the smartest people I know and she figured it out."

"I continued on alone," Harry sighed. "It wasn't Severus, obviously. It was my DADA teacher, Professor Quirrell. He was sharing a body with Voldemort, but I was able to get away with the Stone. He couldn't touch me physically because of your sacrifice; I literally burned him to death."

James blinked. "Well that's one way to kill somebody."

Harry explained the rest of his school years leading up to the unfinished 7th, surprisingly James took the fact that he was a Parselmouth with only curiosity. Perhaps he knew about the Slytherin blood in his background.

Harry's expression by now was somewhat pinched. He really didn't want to remember his arrest and trial. With a sigh he continued. "I never finished my 7th year or took my NEWTs. I had just finished help to re-ward the school after they fell in the Hogsmede attack when two Aurors arrested me for the murder of Ron Weasley's younger sister Ginerva."

"What? You didn't do it, obviously!" Lily protested.

"They didn't care, mum. The public trial was more for Fudge's benefit than mine, I was sentenced to life in Azkaban prison without them even thinking about using Veritaserum. I broke out earlier this month. I was thin enough to slip through the bars on my window and jump into the sea. Most of the Weasleys turned their back on me without a second thought. The only ones who didn't that I know of for sure were the twins, Fred and George."

"So they still believe you guilty," James muttered. Looking at his son he said shrewdly, "That doesn't explain why you feel like going after Dumbledore as well."

"He took a great deal of money from your vaults as well as trying to get me married off to Ginerva Weasley."

The shouting that followed that bit of information went on for a good while. As it began to wind down Harry looked at the clock and invited people to stay the night. He would put off explaining his relationship with Sirius and the presence of Polaris until tomorrow. Until then, he had to deal with his pounding headache and get some sleep.