Harry awoke to another nightmare involving an array of memories; he craned his neck around to see if his father was still in the room. Sure enough, Sirius was situated in a chair beside the bed sleeping; his head had fallen back and his mouth was open slightly. Harry thought that this was the most peaceful he had seen his father - since escaping Azkaban and gaining custody of Harry, Sirius had gained both weight and muscle, making him look much healthier than he had when they first met. Magical dental work had completely restored his teeth, and he had a big, white smile that he flashed every time he laughed. His skin had lost its pale, ghastly color and had achieved a light tan pigment, and his cheeks were flushed a rosy color. This past summer he had cut his hair a bit shorter, so it curled just past his ears, and he had shaved his beard off entirely. He looked almost identical to the man that Harry had seen in his parent's wedding photo - the only hint of Azkaban that remained was the haunted look that appeared in his eyes, but even that had become less prominent.

Harry remembered the way the girls at school fawned over him, and he couldn't help but chuckle a little, despite the pain and sadness that lingered in his heart from the past night's events.

Harry's laughter awoke Sirius - he shot out of the chair and looked around wildly for a moment before resting his eyes on the bed where his godson lay. His expression softened and he smiled. "Morning - you gave me a fright, I didn't think you'd be awake for a few more hours."

Harry shrugged and buried his head back into the pillows. He didn't feel like talking much, but he liked having Sirius around.

Sirius paused for a second - he didn't know what he had expected, but he was disappointed at Harry's lack of a response. Be patient he reminded himself before sitting down on the side of the bed and stroking Harry's hair. "You want anything pup? Breakfast? Wanna do something today? I'll take you anywhere your heart desires."

Harry scowled to himself - the last thing he wanted to do was face the outside world after the terrible ordeal last night, but he softened, knowing his dad was trying to make him feel better. "No thanks."

Sirius frowned, but then thought of an idea. "Accio photo album." The old, blue covered book flew from one of Sirius's bookshelves in the bedroom onto the bed.

Harry finally turned to him and gave him a questioning look.

Sirius shrugged. "Feeling nostalgic, I suppose. Want to look?"

Harry thought for a moment, then nodded. Sirius leaned back against the headboard, and rested an arm around his godson's shoulders as he flipped open the photo album. "This is similar to the one I gave you last Christmas - I think you'll like it."

Sirius sat up a little straighter so Harry's head was resting more comfortably against his shoulder, then cleared his throat. "There once was three young boys - well, four, but we'll ignore one, that attended Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There was Sirius Orion Black," Sirius said, turning the page to show one with four separate photographs covering it. The top one had a picture of Sirius as a young boy, probably twelve or thirteen years of age - even then, he looked older than his friends and appeared to carry himself confidently. "He was the most handsome and talented of the bunch, if I do say so myself."

Harry rolled his eyes, but smiled to himself at his dad's antics.

"Next," Sirius said confidently, pointing to the picture in the top right corner of the page. "Was James Fleamont Potter - the Gryffindor Quidditch Star and team captain… bossed me around a good bit when I played my last four years, he did." Harry's dad, his biological dad, waved back at them, a happy smile plastered onto his face. In the background, Sirius was approaching James, a pile of leaves being levitated through the air in front of him. The leaves fell all over James' and then the picture showed the two boys laughing and chasing each other around the grounds. Harry smiled at both of the men he loved being so happy and carefree together.

"Then, there was Remus John Lupin, werewolf mcwerewolf, and probably the bravest of us all." Sirius spoke the last part with so much respect in his voice - Harry knew how much his dad loved and cared for Remus.

"Last and definitely least was the traitor." Sirius mumbled, his kind and gentle demeanor changing immediately at the reminder of Pettigrew. "Anyway, the three boys were the most brilliant Hogwarts had ever seen - unmatchable in any subject or sport-"

"Dad," Harry said, chuckling slightly to himself and rolling his eyes.

"What puppy? You deserve to know the truth!" Sirius said, smiling down at his boy.

"Tell me a real story about the Marauders," Harry said, looking up at Sirius hopefully.

"Hm, I've told you so many though. What do you want to hear?" Sirius asked.

Harry hesitated. "I heard you got… hurt once."

Sirius lifted an eyebrow. "I'm going to assume you're talking about the quidditch fall I took my sixth year? We had a lot of injuries, me especially, considering the family I lived with, but that was definitely the worst one. Why do you want to hear about that?"

Harry shrugged and looked away, blushing. Sirius thought back to Dumbledore's words from the previous night - perhaps they held some truth?

"It's just," Harry began, "you're the strongest person I've ever met. And… I feel… really bad right now, but maybe if I hear how you coped with your worst injury, then it might help me… please, Dad?"

Sirius kissed the top of Harry's head. "I'm flattered, pup, and I'll do it if you think it will help you, but honestly, you make me sound so great when in reality I'm…" Sirius trailed off, not sure where he was going with the statement, but not wanting Harry to believe he was stronger than he actually was. "Well, can I finish the photo album first? There's a few pictures I want you to see."

Harry nodded and resituated himself against Sirius's shoulder.

"Now, as I was saying," Sirius started again, his easy demeanor returning. "The Marauder's were the best of the best - except at finding girlfriends. James fawned (get it Harry, fawned. Your dad was a stag- Ow don't hit me!)" Sirius rubbed his arm where Harry had just nicked him for his bad pun. "Anyway, James fancied Lily his entire career at Hogwarts." The picture in the photo album showed James flying circles around an annoyed Lily in an attempt to get her to talk to him. "She wanted nothing of it for the first six years, but she finally came around seventh year."

"What? Why? She didn't like him?" Harry frowned - he didn't know much about his parents besides what Sirius and Remus told him, but he had always assumed that his mum and dad were always friends.

"Well er… listen, Remus, your dad and I, we really were pretty good at things in Hogwarts. We played quidditch, we pulled brilliant pranks, made top marks - it got to James' and my head. Remus was more down to earth than we were… but Lily didn't really like James because James was a bit too, er, confident for her tastes. He deflated his head a bit sixth year and she came around, she really did love him in the end and he loved her too. No matter what you may hear, your dad was a great man and the best friend I could ever ask for. Okay?"

Harry nodded, but he felt a horrible sinking feeling in his chest - had Snape been right all along? Was his dad really arrogant?

"Why does Snape hate you guys so much? I remember Remus saying he thought he was jealous of dad's quidditch talent but… I can't see why that would lead him to hate me too." Harry asked quietly, remembering with pain the events of the night before and what Snape had done to him.

Sirius swallowed and looked away. "There were a couple of things… Harry, I'm not proud of some of the stuff I did at Hogwarts, okay? We were boys and we were immature, especially compared to you. I would like you to not judge James based on what I am about to tell you - he grew into a fantastic man. You can judge me, I'm still a pretty big oaf most of the time."

Harry wasn't sure he wanted to know what Sirius was going to say - his dad normally wasn't this solemn, and it was worrying him. He hesitated, "you… can finish your story first, if you want."

Sirius smiled at Harry, but shook his head. "Nah, you probably need to know - it would at least explain why Snape treats you the way he does." His father took a deep breath, looking down at the photo album sadly. "We… we were arrogant berks. Remus really wasn't, he was the best of all of us. But on the first train ride to Hogwarts, I met your dad in a compartment. I was sitting alone worrying myself sick over whether or not I'd be in Slytherin - my parent's threatened my head if I wasn't. But then I met this boy who was so confident and excited about being in Gryffindor and suddenly I wasn't scared anymore - I wanted to be in Gryffindor. Well, shortly after speaking with this boy, who was your dad, of course, Lily and Snape walk in - they were friends from a young age, apparently. Snape started provoking us and we fought back - not with magic, mind you, but we threw some insults at him. Lily was angry with us and walked out, Snape following right behind her. That was the start of it - he hated us from that moment and we reciprocated that feeling. We'd hex him whenever we had the chance, but he gave it right back to us. I guess the best way to describe it is like Malfoy and you - one person picks the fight, the other reciprocates. There was one time that we got him bad, and it was also the time that Lily and him stopped being friends. It was after our DADA OWL, and I was, er… bored. I voiced this to James and James decided that we should hex Snape, try and get a rise out of him. Remus was there and he was a prefect, but he didn't try to stop us… and we really humiliated Snape. It was funny at the time, but I think that really made him hate us-"

"And what about my mother, why did she stop being friends with him?" Harry asked, feeling a sickening rush of sympathy for the potions professor that hated him so.

"Well, she stood up for him, you see. Told us to stop being arrogant toerags… well, said that to James, but I was definitely at fault too. At this point, Lily and Snape had stopped being as close, Snape was getting into some dark magic, which made us hate him more, to be honest - whatever you're thinking of your dad right now, Harry, know that he was a good man and hated dark magic. Snape was all about it, and Lily stopped hanging out with him for that reason; however, that didn't mean she wanted to watch him get bullied. She stood up for him, and he called her… you know… a-a… the m-word." Sirius explained sheepishly. "From that point on, they didn't speak, and Lily got to know James better and realized he had a good side. The more James got to know Lily, the more he wanted to better himself and he eventually became the man that should have raised you - he was a great man."

Harry nodded, but remembered something else. "You said there was another thing… that made Snape hate you so much?"

Sirius swallowed nervously. "Yeah, yeah there was. I think Remus mentioned it to you before… it's complicated Harry. You'll hate me-"

"No I won't, dad. I know whatever you did then is not who you are now." Harry said, nuzzling into his father's chest.

Sirius sighed. "Okay, well… Snape had been bothering us for a long time about what we did on the full moons. He knew we snuck out and Remus went somewhere with Madame Pomfrey - to be honest, it doesn't exactly take a genius to put it together, and Snape had done it - he just wanted evidence of us breaking the rules and Remus being a werewolf so we could get expelled and all his problems would be gone. So one night on the full moon, he caught up to James, Peter, and I. He started provoking us, talking about my parents disowning me… it hit a nerve for me, but I kept myself under control. I wasn't the only one angry though, he kept bringing up Lily to James and that bothered him too. Then he… he started talking about Remus, about how he knew his secret, how weak and terrible he was - that did it for both James and me. James first reaction was to hex, whereas mine was to run my big mouth… and that's what I did. I provoked him, told him if he wanted evidence that badly to go touch the knot on the Whomping Willow, he could see Remus… I didn't dream he'd actually do it, the idiot. He had just said that he knew Remus was a werewolf, and then he decided to go see it for himself. James stared at me for a moment as what Snape was going to do sunk in, then we both chased him down. I was firing hexes and screaming for him to stop, but he kept running - believe it or not, the guy is a pretty fast runner. James caught him right as he got to the base of the Whomping Willow, but Snape still saw Remus. I turned into a dog to distract Remus while James moved Snape back to the castle. Thankfully James was there and told Remus what happened the next morning; that I hadn't betrayed him, but that Snape had already known and just needed the confirmation from me to do what he had planned… I don't know what I would have done if my friends turned against me."

Sirius sighed again, not meeting his son's eyes. "Needless to say, we all got in a lot of trouble, but especially me. Detention for the rest of the year, kicked off the quidditch team, no Hogsmeade weekends-"

"What? But Snape knew Remus was a werewolf! He might have tried it anyway without you telling him!" Harry said indignantly.

Sirius smiled for the first time since he began the story. "It's alright - like I said, James and Remus weren't mad at me, and that's all I really cared about. James and Snape both got detentions too for being out of the castle late at night, so it wasn't as unfair as you might imagine. I felt I deserved it-"

"You didn't," Remus said from the doorway. Both Sirius and Harry snapped their heads around to face him - they hadn't heard him enter. He had arrived from the werewolf colony late the previous night, and Sirius had only had the chance to speak with him briefly, considering how tired the man had been.

Remus had a soft smile playing on his lips as he walked in and closed the door behind him. "You blame yourself for everything Sirius, but as we pointed out to you a million times back then, Snape already knew what I was - even if you hadn't told him, he probably would have tried it later on."

Sirius swallowed and looked down at the blankets on the bed, not meeting either of their eyes. Remus shook his head and sat on the edge of the bed. "What are you looking at?"

Sirius looked up at his old school friend gratefully. "It's that old photo album I had, I was showing Harry it and the conversation… turned, a bit. Anyway, Har-bear, where was I?"

Harry crinkled his nose at the endearment. "Har-bear?" He asked indignantly. Sirius and Remus both chuckled.

"Oh right! I was talking about Lily," Sirius said, excitedly, turning the page. "So Jamie-boy and Lily got married and had an annoying little berk of a baby- Ow Harry!"

Harry chuckled as the pillow he threw made contact with his dad's face. "That's what you get for calling me an annoying little berk."

Sirius barked laughter and kissed the top of Harry's head before continuing. "Despite his berk-ish qualities, he was adored by all who knew him. His mummy and daddy loved him very much." Sirius's voice had gotten much softer and his expression held one of loving adoration as he looked down at a wizard's photo of James, Lily, and Harry. James was tossing Harry into the air, and all three of them looked so happy.

Sirius turned the page gently, revealing eight photos of Harry, Sirius, and Remus. "And James and Lily had two friends that absolutely loved and adored their annoying little berk of a baby."

The top photo was a picture of Harry sitting in his godfather's lap, playing with a stuffed black dog that he had apparently been given. The picture beside it was of Remus having a full-blown conversation with Harry, while the baby looked up at him with wide eyes, as if he understood what he was saying. The one beside that was of Harry, a little older, giving Sirius a kiss on the cheek, and Sirius was making a face as if he were disgusted to get baby slobber on him - subsequently, the one beside that picture was of Snuffles licking baby Harry's face and Harry making a face similar to the one Sirius just had.

"Always one for revenge, weren't you Padfoot?" Remus said with a laugh at Harry's face in the fourth picture.

"I had to show Harry was it felt like to be slobbered on!" Sirius said, barking laughter. Harry chuckled too and continued to look at the pictures of him with his guardians.

Sirius stroked a hand through Harry's black mop of hair and pulled him in close, gently kissing his forehead. He turned his head so his rough, stubble covered cheek was pressed against Harry's temple, and whispered in a quiet, gruff voice, "No matter what memories Snape made you relive last night, you've got good memories in this head of yours - focus on those and know that you've got people who love you and will help you get through this."

Harry smiled up at his dad, then turned his attention back to the photo album - he didn't exactly feel better, but he had been distracted from the old memories that had tormented his mind, and for that, he was extremely grateful.

Sirius turned the page again, and Harry saw a picture of Sirius and James flying through the air in Gryffindor quidditch robes. "Wait, dad, you forgot to tell me about your quidditch injury."

Remus looked at Sirius, a surprised, but distressed look on his face. "Why were you going to tell him about that?"

Sirius shrugged. "He asked, I don't mind telling him. You saw it, though, you can probably tell the first part better than I could."

Remus shuddered as he remembered it. "It was horrible, I don't know why you're bringing this up… ah, it was a match against Slytherin, wasn't it? You know how the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry is, Harry, it was bad. A Slytherin beater knocked a bludger at James, and Sirius didn't take kindly to the attack on his best friend. Sirius went and picked an argument with the beater, which pissed the Slytherin team off… a few minutes later, both of the beaters from Slytherin had aimed bludgers at Padfoot and they both got him in his torso. He was knocked off the broom from at least 100 feet in the air - the teachers were so shocked they didn't even think to try and slow down his impact. At the last second, Dumbledore slowed him, but I think the impact with the ground shattered about every bone in his body." Remus's voice broke as he said this.

Sirius smirked. "Moony, you emotional devil, I was fine! Out of the hospital wing two days later."

"Only because you snuck away from Madame Pomfrey." Remus said, a small grin playing on his features. The grin was gone quickly though. "We thought we lost you… James thought for sure you were dead."

Harry regretted asking about it - Sirius had referenced the injury a few times since he had started living with him, but the thought of his dad almost dying didn't sit well with him. Harry pressed his forehead into the crook of his father's neck for reassurance.

Sirius turned his head towards Harry. "Not you too, I'm fine! Blimey, that was eighteen years ago."

"I know," Harry said simply, as he closed his eyes. "But you and I aren't practicing quidditch with bludgers anymore."

Sirius huffed, but smiled at his son, who was now curling up next to him. Sirius stroked his hair for a moment, before he said quietly, "you get some more rest, and I'll be back with some lunch in a little while."

Remus eyed Sirius, and then the two friends left Harry in his father's room to get some much needed sleep, as he continued to recover from the terrible occlumency lesson.

A/n: Since Harry has already learned occlumency, he essentially wouldn't find out about the Marauders and Snape, so I'm making Sirius tell him about it. Snape is my least favorite character (I think he's very in depth and interesting as a character, but in relation to Harry, I hate him), so if you love him and think he's never at fault for anything, this isn't the story for you… anyway, let's hear about the Marauders and Hogwarts! Remember to review and enjoy!