Hi everyone! I hope that you are enjoying the story so far. Here is the latest addition to the story and I can promise one more chapter by the end of today. Pleasant reading!

Chapter 5

One evening, Sirius took Harry to his office to have a chat about their return to Britain. The ICW had announced their findings and Sirius was now a free man! As he had not been given a trial within 30 days of capture, he should have been released. Dumbledore should have known this. It would appear that the old man was letting things slip by him in his old age.

Amelia Bones, the head of the DMLE was furious that such a miscarriage of justice had taken place in her department. She had trained alongside Sirius and James at the auror academy and never could wrap her head around the story that Sirius betrayed his best friend. Due to correcting this oversight by ex-minister Bagnold and Bartemius Crouch, Sirius Black and his family could finally return to their homeland.

"Harry," Sirius started. "The goblins, although they were unable to release the will due to Dumbledore's meddling, were able to find some of their journals on transfigurations and charms as well as some memories that they had left for you to watch. I have already viewed them to ensure that they were authentic, and I want you to know that I am here if you need me."

With that said, he poured a vile of liquid memory into a large basin and showed Harry how to view the memory before leaving the room. Once the door was shut behind him, Harry thrust his face into the bowl and gasped at what she saw. Standing before her in a room of red and gold stood Harry's parents Lily and James Potter with a swaddled baby held in her arms.

"My darling child," Lily crooned as she stroked the hair of her baby. "If you are viewing this memory then your father and I did not survive the war with Voldemort. If this is so, then there are some things that you need to know that will be vital to your survival."

"Hello Harry," her father said with pride. "While we may have passed, we want you to know that we love you very much and that we will be watching over you always. The first thing that you should know is that you can always trust your Dogfather. He may be a cur, but he will have your back through thick and thin and his loyalty will never waiver. We let everyone believe that he was the secret keeper for our family so if you are seeing this memory, but have not heard from him, then please stake this memory to Amelia Bones. We were sure that Sirius was being watched so we changed our secret keeper to our friend, Peter Pettigrew. If we are dead, then he betrayed us and should be expelled from the marauders forever. Sirius, Remus if you are there, if this has indeed happened please don't kill him. Toss the rat into Azkaban where he can suffer under the memory of his betrayal."

"Harry," her mother called. "You were a surprise for us in more ways than one. We were told that it would be impossible for me to bear children due to a nasty curse from Bellatrix Lestrange. Luckily, your grandmother Euphemia was a Black by birth and was able to help us remove most of the curse. The only upset is that you are the only child that we will be able to have. This effectively makes you the last Potter. While I don't fully understand the intricacies of pureblood politics, your grandfather, Fleamont, informed us that you would not be able to inherent the Potter titles as you are not a male. In order to protect from being used, we have placed a time delayed fidelius charm on your gender and a block on your metamorph powers to trick the world into thinking that you are male."

"By doing this," James continued. "We have effectively protected you from one Albus Dumbledore. Don't get me wrong, Albus is a good man. Our only problem with him is that he forgets the individual and uses people in order to achieve his goals. If he knew that you were a girl, he would marry you off to one of his allies in order to "protect" you from the dark families that will no doubt come after you. Your mother always excelled at charms, and you can thank her for coming up with this elaborate prank. Sirius, you would be proud! After all of these years our Tiger-Lily has finally pulled of a prank worthy of a Marauder!"

"Shush you!" Lily admonished. "Harry is still sleeping"

"Sorry Lils," James whispered back as he began to stroke his daughter's hair softly.

"I know that this must be awfully confusing Harry," her mother stated. "You have probably thought of yourself as a boy for a long time now and might even fancy some lucky girl. If this is the case don't worry too much. As the last heiress of an ancient family, you have some leeway with the law. Should you choose to marry, and I hope that you do, your husband will be able to marry your chosen as well forming a triad marriage. This is entirely up to you darling. I just want you to know your options so that you will be happy."

"Harry," her father called. "If you do chose a betrothal contract for the protection that comes with it, might I suggest my godson Regulus? If you have yet to meet him, his full name is Regulus James Asteropaios-Black. He is Sirius's son and will have two lordships once he reaches his majority. He will be able to protect you and if he is anything like his father he will be the most loyal boy you could ever wish for. Think about it my little prongslet."

"Sirius," Lily calls out to the air. " If you're there, please take steps to help our little girl. If this is the path that she chooses to take, guide her. I know that Calliope doted on Harry, but if you were out of the picture then I don't see how that would have ever been allowed to continue. If you were able to find your freedom then you had better put in the work and give her the daughter that she has always wanted! Otherwise, the two of us will have words on the other side."

Harry laughed at the words of her parents and cried at others. She wasn't sure what to think at the moment, but she knew that she needed to speak with Sirius once she got out of the pensieve. She wished that she could touch her parents but knew that this wasn't real. She would need to leave soon, and the memory was already beginning to fade.

"Goodbye Harry," her father said as he gazed at the baby in his wife's arms. "Know that we love you and that we will be watching over you for your entire life. Be safe, but don't be afraid to get into a little trouble from time to time. You're a Potter and have a reputation to live up to! If that old dog gives you any trouble, just remind him of the summer of '69. That should put him in his place!"

"We love you Harry," Lily whispered as she kissed her sleeping daughter's cheek. "Never forget that. Live your life, love your family, but most of all be yourself. If you can be true to yourself then you can never go wrong."

With their parting comments, Harry found herself ejected from the pensieve. There were tears streaming down her cheeks but there was also a smile on her face. This memory was the longest that she had ever heard from her parents before and she felt that if she were to cast a Patronus at this moment that it would light up like the sun! A true memory of her family whole and happy.

By the time she found Sirius, he was on his favorite chair in the sitting room nursing a glass of fire whiskey. He would take a sip of the magical liquor and follow it with a small belch of flames. He reminded hairy or a weary dragon.

"Sirius?" Harry called out. "Have time to chat?"

"Hey there pup," Sirius replied. "Anything for you. So, what did you think about what your parents had to say? I have already spoken with my Reggie, and he has agreed to the idea as long as you are ok with it. No matter what you choose to do, I will be on your side 100%."

Harry looked at Sirius, pondering the best path ahead. This was all new and frightening to her and she didn't want to feel trapped. She was tired of being caged and had decided that she would never again be subjugated to another's will.

"If I am to agree to this, then I want it to be a contract of equals," Harry stated. "There will be an escape clause for both Reggie and I in case we change our minds down the road. We can get to know each other better, and if nothing changes in a few years, we can either decide to marry or cancel the contract. How does that sound?"

Sirius reached out his arms and pulled Harry into a firm embrace. The old dog felt relief that Harry was able to take in the situation so well considering the life that she had led.

"That's all I can ask of you pup," Sirius replied to his goddaughter. "I know this is all sudden and strange for you and I am sorry that you don't really have the time to breathe. If you have anything that worries you, come to either Calliope or this old man, alright? Well, I suppose you can also go to Reggie as well since you two will be betrothed. God that's strange to say. For the last 14 years I had completely forgotten that I had a son. Having watched over the both of you for the past month, I can see that you both are so much sharper than I was at that age. It will be difficult at first, but I just know that everything will work out for you.."

"Thanks, Padfoot," Harry said as she squeezed tighter into her dogfather's arms. "I just hope that Hermione and Ron wont be too freaked out come September."

"Are you worried about how Ron will react to your sudden change?" Sirius asked. "Or are you more worried about a certain bushy-haired girl that helped save my life?"

At Harry's reaction to the mention of Hermione, Sirius let out a roar of laughter!

"I knew it!" Sirius exclaimed as he bounced her around in his arms. "I knew there was something there between you. The way she couldn't keep her eyes off of you and smiled as she was holding your hand in hers. I dare say the little bookworm had "wormed" her way into your heart. What are you going to do about it?"

Harry sighed at Sirius's antics as she had no idea what was going to happen. Sure, she liked Hermione. She always had. She just didn't realize what those feelings meant. Now, it might even be too late with this betrothal.

"I don't know Padfoot," Harry sighed. "I'm new at all of this. Hermione was the first person to show me kindness. She was the first person to ever hug me and say that they cared. I don't know what I would do if she rejected me now."

"Harry," Sirius said. "From what I could see in my short time around her, she cares for you. It could be the love of a friend , a sister, or just maybe it's the love of a lover. You will never know if you don't take a leap and ask her yourself. If you never ask, you may find yourself suffering with regret for what could have been. Take it from me. Any love you find, seize it. You can never know what tomorrow brings, but with mutual love and trust, you can face the future together without fear. You just need to ask yourself one thing. Is she worth it?"

Harry looked deep within herself and found her answer. Hermione was worth any hardship. Harry would face any amount of adversity if it meant that she could be with her best friend. With fire in her eyes, she locked her gaze with Sirius.

"Yes, Sirius," Harry declared. "She is."