Ok ok I know - I have no excuse XD Anyways, I'm sorry this took so long - I just couldn't bring myself to write for some odd reason xD Anyways, I hope the extra long length of it helps to make up for the delay. Anyways, ON WITH THE STORY! Oh and please review even though I don't deserve it XD It helps motivate me :)

Chapter 14

*** Somewhere in Heaven…***

James looked up at Lily, grief in his eyes. He saw that Lily's eyes were red too.

"He hates me," James whispered, pain radiating off of him. Lily realized that even though she was very upset as well, she knew she would have to be strong for James. She waved her hand over the glass table that she and James had been watching the recent events through, making the images disappear, and once again returning it to its original form – a plain, round glass table.

Lily wrapped her arms around James' waist and breathed in his "heavenly" scent. Oh how corny, Lily, she told herself, amused. She felt James shudder and was brought out of her reverie. She sighed.

"James – " but he didn't let her finish. He broke away from her suddenly and turned to face her with full-fledged anger in his eyes. Lily hadn't seen him this angry since one of the Slytherins had attacked her in seventh year, rendering her unconscious. Lily stepped back nervously. The anger in James' eyes dimmed slightly and he sighed. He walked towards Lily and wrapped his arms around her waist as she buried her head in the crook of his neck. James breathed in the scent of Lily's magnificent red hair and sighed, slowly beginning to calm down.

"I'm sorry Lily. I'm not mad at you – nor at anyone else, but myself." He referred to himself with such passionable hatred, that Lily was shocked. James never talked about himself this way.

"How could I have done all of those things? Like, I know I was bad, but bad to the point where Harry hates me? How could I have done this? I'm such a horrible role model – yet my son turned out perfectly, thank God! What if Harry had followed in my footsteps and had become – " James swallowed, " – like me?"

Lily looked deeply into his eyes and stroked his face soothingly.

"Shh… James… it's okay," she whispered. "He doesn't hate you." James had opened his mouth to retort at her, but she simply placed a finger over his lips, wordlessly gesturing for silence. She went back to stroking his face and continued. "Harry is just torn between his love for us and doing the right thing, James. You and I both know that he loves us, Sirius, and Iris beyond anything – and the only reason why he is so upset and is speaking like this is because he loves us – " she said the word with such reverence, " – but he knows what we did as teenagers was wrong, and harming Snape had been wrong, which is why he's torn between what is right, and who he loves." James just looked at her, incredulous.

"Lily – you heard him! He said that we deserved to die, Lily, die! He said that we deserved our brutal end! This is all my fault! Had I not been a git to Snape – none of this would have happened! And I mean literally none of this would have happened!" James was so furious with himself. Lily and he had had this argument before.

You see, James believes that had he and Sirius not been so horrible to Snape in Hogwarts, he might have not turned out to be a Death Eater, therefore he wouldn't have heard the Prophecy made about Harry, therefore he, Lily, and Harry would still be a family – had it not been for his horrible mistakes. Therefore, James constantly blamed their deaths on himself, as well as Harry's plight, much to Lily's annoyance. The number of times James had apologized to Lily for what he believed was his destiny only – not Lily's – yet because they were married, it affected her too, and James couldn't bare that truth. Lily could feel one of these infamous arguments about to surface, so she quickly stopped James before she had to listen to his endless rant and string of apologies.

Lily placed both of her hands on either side of his face and kissed him deeply, distracting him from his current coherent thoughts. James knew exactly what she was doing, but that didn't mean that he wanted to stop her – and he probably wouldn't anytime soon.

After a few minutes, Lily pulled away, breathless. James just looked at her with a deadpanned look in his eyes.

"He hates me," James repeated. Lily just shook her head, exasperated.

"He does not hate you!" Lily exclaimed. James just nodded vigorously at her. Lily sighed; she understood that Harry was angry – and with good reason, she thought to herself, grimly – but she also knew that Harry didn't hate them; he was just torn up about what was the right thing to believe. "This – if anything – proves just how much he loves you since he's trying to choose between protecting Severus and siding with you. You yourself knew you were wrong, and if Harry is upset that you had done all those things that just means he loves you so much and he thinks so highly of you because he loves you – and he wants to continue being able to look up to you like that, so when he thinks of Severus, I'm sure it upsets him." Lily shrugged, trying to show James that it wasn't that big of a deal – but James' beliefs were not to be changed. He continued to stare at Lily with that defeated look in his eye – showing her just how much pain he was in from his previous actions. Lily sighed and stood on her toes to give him a peck on the lips. "Everything's gonna be okay, James," Lily crooned softly, hoping with all her heart that this statement would turn out truer than she actually believed.

***

"You really think it's going to work, Ron?" Harry asked, nervous. Ron nodded his head vigorously,

"Course, mate! I know it's going to work," Ron exclaimed, clapping Harry on the back. Harry smiled at him weakly, hoping to all the Deities in the World that Ron was right. Harry took a deep breath and called out Sirius' name into the mirror. Harry's stomach clenched with anticipation, wondering if Sirius was going to answer or not. As soon as the mirror's face changed from reflecting Harry's to showing Sirius', Harry let out a deep breath he had not known he had been holding.

Harry forced a smile at Sirius.

"Hey Sirius! What's up?" Harry asked with false cheer. Sirius grinned, sweeping the hair out of his eyes.

"Us, what else?" Sirius asked, winking. Harry forced out a chuckle. Sirius' eyebrows pulled together as he adopted a look of concern and asked, "Harry, is everything alright?" Harry opened his mouth to say yes, and he just wanted to say hi to them, but then thought better of it. He closed his mouth and frowned, thinking the best way to approach what he wanted to say.

Sirius waited for an answer, but when he didn't get one, he decided to help prompt Harry.

"Harry, if you want to ask us something or say something, don't hesitate." Sirius smiled at him in reassurance. Harry took a deep breath.

"Can I please speak to you, Iris, Mum, and Dad, please?" Sirius looked startled at the formality of his Godson and just nodded.

"I'll go get them and then call into the mirror right away when we're all present," Sirius said, still looking slightly nervous. Harry nodded in acceptance and forced a smile in thanks before the mirror returned to showing him his reflection.

Harry looked to his right and cocked his head at Ron in question. Ron nodded and said, "yeah, he's here – don't worry Harry; everything's gonna be fine," he added when he saw how nervous Harry was.

"Yeah, I'm probably worrying for no reason… but I just can't help it!" Harry yelled out, frustrated. Ron nodded solemnly.

"I know, Harry, but still – try as hard as you can, alright? Harry, the worst that can happen is either of them saying no, so you shouldn't worry so much. You're doing your part, and after this everything is out of your hands. It's their decision that controls what happens next, not what you say," Ron pointed out wisely. Harry nodded and graced his loyal friend with a grin, albeit a bit forced.

"I didn't know you and Dumbledore were so close," Harry remarked, smirking slightly. When Ron cocked his eyebrow in question, Harry replied, "you're beginning to sound like him. Are you sure you're 16 and not 170?" Harry dodged a pillow that Ron threw at him, scowling. For a second Harry thought he was angry, but then he realized that Ron's eyes were twinkling. However, before Harry or Ron could say anything more, Sirius' face reappeared in the mirror. He forced a smile at Harry, but Harry could see through his façade. Sirius eyes were brimming with worry, and there was an, almost, foreign crease between his eyebrows, despite the forced smile.

"Well Harry, we're all present, so shoot." Harry saw James, Lily, and Iris in the background behind Sirius. Lily and Iris both forced smiles at Harry, but James did not. James had a deadpanned expression on and didn't even make an effort to make a comforting gesture at his son, even though he knew that something was probably wrong. Feeling a bit nervous at his father's behaviour, Harry looked over at Ron. He gave Harry the thumbs-up sign and motioned for him to continue on. Harry smiled gratefully at him before returning his attention to the mirror. He then took a deep breath before beginning his semi-prepared "speech".

"Mom, Dad, Sirius, Iris," Harry said, as he turned to each person to nod at them, acknowledging his presence. Harry took another deep breath. "Okay, look – I called you all here because I have something to… request… of you all." Harry took another breath to calm himself before explaining himself. "I know that you all are great people – amazing, really – but, there is something that has been bugging me for the last while. And I would like to talk to you guys about it." His previous guardians didn't reply, but looked at each other in surprise before turning back to the mirror instead. Harry wasn't known for talking about his emotions, thoughts, or feelings. Harry tried to ignore the surprised looks they had given each other and continue on with what he had been saying. "I – I want you to apologize to Snape," Harry suddenly exploded, losing his control and confidence. Sirius stared at him – his mouth agape; Iris had a look of mild surprise on her face and her eyebrows were raised; Lily's eyes were wide, but there was a look of distinct pride on her face as well; James' reaction was the least expected, however, because as soon as the words had come out of Harry's mouth, he had begun nodding vigorously and had jumped out of his seat, ready for action. Iris was the first person who managed to reply to Harry's request.

"And what, might I ask, brought this sudden request on?" Her voice was full of curiosity, but Harry could sense the underlying pride in her voice and smiled at her, grateful for breaking the awkward silence.

"It had come to my attention recently that, despite how amazing you all are, you still had made mistakes as children, and one of them resulted in making a normal guy as horrid as possible – not including Voldemort, of course," Harry added quickly. He sighed when Sirius' open mouth opened even more. "I feel – no offence, of course – that if you guys hadn't really bugged him when he was younger, he wouldn't have turned out to be as bitter as he is today," Harry told them, his tone apologetic. "Listen, guys, I love you all, that's why I'm saying this. I don't want people having animosities towards you guys, even if, at one point, you deserved it." Harry winced when he finished talking, realizing that that might not have been the best way to speak to his parents and his godparents. "Look, I know I'm being very rude, and you guys are probably infuriated right now, but I feel so guilty. I feel like I have to decide between doing the right thing and being loyal to my parents and family, you know?"

"No I don't know, Harry," Sirius suddenly spoke up, his voice gruff with anger. This was the reaction that Harry had been dreading, and yet had also been somewhat suspecting that that would occur. Harry sighed.

"Look – Sirius – " but Sirius didn't let him finish.

"Jesus, what the hell is wrong with you, Harry?!" Sirius suddenly exploded. "Why the bloody hell should we apologize to him? He deserved what he got, that bloody slime ball," Sirius growled out. Harry stared at him, stricken. "You're so bloody retarded Harry; you're a disgrace to us all! Tell him Prongs!" Sirius huffed, his eyes glinting with fury and betrayal. Harry was stunned at his words. How could Sirius say such things? Harry looked at his father trying to gauge his reaction and emotions. Harry was startled to see fury on his father's face. He had thought that least of all his father would have understood how he felt. Obviously, he had been wrong, Harry realized, fury building inside of him. However, before Harry could say anything in retaliation, his father spoke first.

"Sirius!" James thundered, furious beyond all reason. How dare he accused his son of being a disgrace to them. "How could you say such things? If anything, Harry is completely right, and you are wrong! Don't you realize the damage we have caused? By being horrible to Snape, we have robbed Harry of his entire childhood! If we hadn't gone and picked on Snape, he wouldn't have become a Death Eater, and he wouldn't have been picking on Harry for 5 years straight!" James had straightened up to reveal his entire height, showing his friend just how angry he really was. Sirius, who had never been on the receiving end of James' wrath, was shocked. James always sided with him! But then Sirius realized that James would only side against him if he was dead wrong. Slowly it dawned on Sirius that Harry and James were right, and he had been dead wrong.

Guilt began eating away at the inside of Sirius when he realized the seriousness of what he had done and said. He let his remorse flood into his face and he turned to Harry, his eyes beseeching.

"I'm so sorry, Harry. You were completely right and I was dead wrong. I'm an extremely huge prat. I'm so sorry – you deserved nothing of what I said. I never meant anything – I was just letting my unjust anger get the best of me, and for that I am truly sorry. I never meant a thing – nor will I ever mean anything like that, ever. I really care about you Harry, and I see now that you were right about the whole Snape situation. I was just letting the school-boy bully in me take control again." Sirius closed his eyes and sighed. He opened them again to look at Harry, his eyes playing on the same beseeching look he had just given Harry. "Forgive me?" he asked, his voice sounding hopeful yet full of pain at the same time. Harry thought for a minute before smiling at him.

"Of course, Sirius; I know you would never say anything that horrible to me, and I also know why you said it – but trust me, Snape deserves to be apologized to. Trust me," Harry added when he saw the slightest flicker of doubt in Harry's eyes. Sirius then turned to his wife and his best friends.

The whole time Lily and Iris had been staring at Sirius with dumbfounded and shocked looks on their face. Lily's was one of sorrow and fury, while Iris' was just of fury. James had just kept his enraged gaze on Sirius even after he had yelled at him. During Sirius's apology, however, his fury had softened somewhat, and his face was somewhat deadpanned again. Lily's gaze and fury had softened too, but not Iris'; her fury was not wavering, and neither was her gaze. Sirius turned to James first and bowed his head in shame.

"I'm sorry, James. I don't know what came over me. I was an idiot, and I'm so sorry for what I said. Everything you said was right and I earned every word of what you said to me. It is not Harry that is a disgrace – it is I. I am not fit to be his Godfather, and I am so flattered that you had actually put me as Godfather in the first place. I – " but James did not let him finish. Instead, he pulled towards him and engulfed him in a hug. James forced out a little chuckle, but it was a chuckle all the same.

"It's alright, Sirius, jeez." Sirius returned his embrace full-force and sighed. He looked at James.

"I really am sorry, James, and to you too, Harry." Harry shrugged, as did James.

"You already apologized," they both chastised him at the same time. This made them both grin, although James' was still a bit forced.

"Great minds think alike Harry," James reminded him with a wink. Harry grinned at his father. Next Sirius turned to Lily and repeated the same things he had said before, and had been – like both times previously – forgiven right away. Finally, Sirius turned to Iris. She still had that furious look on her face and her expression was stony as well.

"Iris?" Sirius said, softly, as though afraid that his one word would explode her any second, which it probably would, Harry thought to himself, smiling mentally. Iris pointedly ignored him, causing Sirius to run his hands through his hair nervously. "Listen, Iris, I'm really sorry, and if you hadn't heard before, I am remorseful over what I said, and I never meant to hurt anyone with my words. I'm just an idiotic hot-headed git," Sirius told her, shrugging. Iris smirked at his half-hearted attempt at a joke.

"I know," she said, glaring. Harry watched the expressions playing out on Sirius' face and realized that her every word and emotion was hurting Sirius, and that every second the discord between them continued, his pain was increasing tenfold. Harry felt bad for him and decided to spare him some of Iris' wrath.

"Iris – please – forgive Sirius. I know where he's coming from – really – but I also know that he didn't mean any of the hurtful things he said; he was just infuriated, and in fury, people tend to do things they regret afterwards." Iris' stony expression stayed on her for a few more minutes before she finally relented and sighed.

"Are you sure you're ok, Harry?" she asked him, concerned. Harry just nodded. She sighed again, then nodded. She looked at Sirius, a menacing glare inhabiting his features again. She walked up to him, slowly, and stood in front of him. After about thirty seconds, she walked a little closer so that they were only a few inches apart, her chocolate irises glinting in the light, before leaning in suddenly and whacking his head. "There!" she exclaimed, "and that's the least of what you deserve!" she continued on angrily, turning away from him and stepping a few feet away, again, so she was between Lily and James, and therefore away from Sirius. Sirius smiled weakly in thanks at Harry, understanding that this punishment was nothing compared to what he could have received.

Harry sighed; all this tension had drained him, and he knew he had to do something about it before he exploded.

"So… seen any good Quidditch matches lately?" Harry said out of the blue. Lily, Iris, and Sirius looked at each other before bursting into bouts of laughter. James just smiled weakly.

***

Harry looked at Ron and asked, "he's still there, right?" his voice slightly higher than normal with all the panic. Ron rolled his eyes.

"Yes, he is still there, in the exact same place he was when you told me to check," Ron checked his watch, "37 seconds ago," he concluded, annoyed. Harry smiled apologetically. Ron just shook his head.

Harry and Ron were standing outside Snape's office, the Marauder's Map, the invisibility cloak, and the 2-way mirror in tow. Harry looked down at the mirror into the faces of James and Sirius (Lily and Iris were watching what was going on from the enchanted glass table).

"You guys ready?" he asked, his voice betraying the fear and nervousness he was feeling but wasn't showing. James nodded, smiling a little, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Harry, for the millionth and first time, yes, we are ready!" Sirius exclaimed, thoroughly irritated. Harry laughed, amused and relieved somewhat at his Godfather's ease. James rolled his eyes, a small smile playing on the corners of his mouth at his best friend.

"Okay," Harry said, taking a deep breath and rapping on the door in front of him 3 times. He heard Ron taking out the cloak from his robe pocket and throwing it over himself. Harry took another deep breath and began to wonder if the Map had been wrong and if Snape was actually away. Harry began hoping that this was the case, but as soon as Harry had decided to go back, the door flew open to reveal a very irritated looking Snape. Harry gulped.

Snape stared down at Harry, but when he didn't say anything, he sneered at him.

"Is there something I can do for you, Potter?" Snape asked, his voice snide. Harry swallowed his rising anger down, reminding himself that it, hopefully, should his plan work, the Potion's Master would soon realize he is indeed not like his Father, and change his ghastly attitude towards him and all of his other close Gryffindor friends. Harry swallowed again.

"Um, can I please speak with you for a minute, Professor?" Harry asked, his voice steady despite his fear. Snape just continued sneering at him.

"Do I really have a choice, Potter? Even if I did say no, you would just go to the Headmaster – who happens to encourage your disregard for the rules and other such behaviour – and demand that I be spoken to, and your demands met. So, what is it Potter?" When Harry didn't speak, his eyes flashed. "Well? Out with is Potter – I have no time to waste here with you!" His annoyed words acting as a stimulant, Harry pulled his Gryffindor courage to the surface and rose to his full height. He addressed the Slytherin once more.

"In private, please, Professor." Snape just glared at him for another moment before stepping to the side, allowing Harry access to his office. He didn't know why he was humouring the Gryffindor instead of just humiliating him and kicking him straight out.

Snape closed the door behind the Gryffindor and stood with his arms crossed, staring down at the annoying Potter brat whose head was bowed. When Potter didn't say anything, Snape sneered at him.

"As I have already mentioned, Potter, I, unlike you, do not have impeccable amounts of time to waste." He glared down at the nervous Gryffindor. Before he could finally lose his temper with the brat, he lifted his head to glare at the Potions Master. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and finally spoke.

"I wanted to speak with you… in private." Before the Slytherin could retort with a snarky comment, the boy continued speaking. "I didn't want to do this where other people could hear us because I know that it would cause trouble, which I would very much like to avoid." Snape just continued to glare down at the Gryffindor, his expression irritated. Harry took a deep breath and pulled the mirror out from behind him. He looked down at it and muttered something, much to the Potions Master's annoyance.

"Stop your incessant muttering, Potter!" Snape snarled at the boy.

"Snape – please – for once in your life – be nice," Snape heard the cheeky response and suddenly anger grew inside of him. He had done the boy a favour by letting him into his office and giving him a chance to say what he wanted, and this is how the boy repaid him? The insufferable little brat! He was about to give Potter an earful, but the boy beat him to it. At first Snape had thought that the boy had been talking to him, but then – with a jolt – he realized that the boy wasn't, in fact, talking to him, but was instead talking into…. A mirror! Comprehension dawned on Snape, but then he got confused again. He decided to try and tune into what the boy had been saying again, and then, maybe, just maybe, he could figure this out.

Potter was glaring into the mirror and talking into it with an irritated edge to his voice.

"You know the point of coming here, yet you still couldn't control your pathetic emotions!" Potter's eyes were blazing and Snape could very well see how angry he was. The question was who was he angry with? Snape saw Potter take a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down. "Sorry," he began quietly, "I didn't mean to snap. It's just… that was kind of uncalled for, and, well, it's probably going to make the task much harder if you keep making remarks like that," Potter said pointedly at the mirror. Potter was irritated with someone for insulting Snape of all people? Snape was mildly surprised, but he didn't show it. Instead, he kept his usual cold mask on the outside, his permanent sneer firmly in place.

"Quit talking to yourself, Potter!" Snape snapped. Potter looked up, startled.

"Uhh… I – I wasn't talking to myself, sir…" Harry mumbled. His mumbling nagged at Snape's temper.

"I don't appreciate lies, either!" Harry winced at his obviously furious tone.

"I'm not lying, sir. Please, I actually came here to show you something."

"Well? Hurry up, Potter! I don't have all day to listen to pathetic nonsense!" Snape snapped. Harry visibly winced. His hold on the mirror tightened so Snape assumed that whatever it is Potter was there for had something to do with that mirror. Potter looked down at the mirror again before facing Snape, a new confidence present in his features. Harry took a deep breath before addressing the reason he had come for.

"Professor, you know how – um – we had gone to stay in Grimmauld Place with Sirius during Christmas, right? Well, while we were there, Sirius had given me a package. However, I never opened it. A – after – the – the – fi – fiasco at the Min – Minis – Ministry, when Sir – Sirius went through the Ve- Vei – Veil... I – I was very upset. When I was sorting through my things the next day, I saw the package sitting unopened in the bottom of my trunk. I opened it to find a mirror from a two-way mirror set. You know what that is, right Professor?" Snape sneered.

"Yes, Potter, I am not as brainless as you are; I know what a two-way mirror is." Harry nodded, trying to ignore Snape's goading voice. Snape had been quite surprised to see Potter stutter so, especially in front of him. He had thought about ridiculing Potter about it, but then thought better of it. Even he wasn't that cruel. He would make ridicule Potter about it in a few months when he would have gotten over the mutt's death already, Snape planned, evilly.

"Well, I got really excited for a moment; I thought I was going to be able to speak with Sirius again. Well, I called out his name into the mirror, but, obviously, nothing happened. I was heartbroken; it felt like I had lost him all over again. Well, anyways, during the night, I woke up to a bunch of loud voices. At first I thought I was imaging them, but then I saw that my dorm-mates were stirring, so I quickly put a sound barrier around my bed and tried to deduce where the voices were coming from. It turns out that they were, in fact, coming from my mirror. I looked into it to see – " Harry couldn't continue. He hadn't realized how much of an impact being able to speak with his guardians again had made on him. He hadn't realized how much it meant to him to have his family back, nor had he realized how much he appreciated it. Snape tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for the blasted boy to continue. Snape would never admit it to anyone, but the boy actually had him intrigued.

"Well? Out with it, Potter!" Harry took another deep breath.

"I looked in to see my Parents and Sirius."