Title: An Claidheamh Soluis

Rating: PG

Author's Note: Absolutely the hardest chapter so far.

Just a short chapter because I know people want this as much as I do and it was

SO hard to write!

Thanks for the reviews!

PS. I think I'm going to leave this story as non-canon because it wouldn't fit with what happened in HBP.

Chapter Five: Family reunion

Sirius, unlike James, was quite enthusiastic about seeing Harry again.

Then again, he was the only one of the three of them that actually knew him.

And that thought stopped him in his tracks.

Sirius had never, for one moment, believed that Lily and James didn't know Harry. He had always believed……known, they were watching over them all from somewhere up in the clouds. That they were watching over Harry when he couldn't be there for him. And even though he couldn't remember anything about what happened behind the veil, he had only been there for a fraction of the time that Lily and James had. Surely they remembered something.

But they didn't. It was obvious really- all the questions they asked about Harry were genuinely sincere.

And Sirius wondered what it was like to have never have known your own son.

To have never known Harry Potter.

Of course, he hadn't known him for years. But these last three years were some of the best in his life, and Harry was the sole reason for that. A lump formed in his throat and he suddenly didn't want to go out. He turned around to look at James and Lily, who gave him curious looks. It was funny, he could actually hear their voices in his head: "What's he waiting for?"

He turned back to the door and strolled out. What indeed?

Harry was almost hiding behind Lupin. His mouth fell open when Sirius entered, and he gulped. Sirius stopped once more in his tracks. Silence followed. Each stared at the other.

Remus, who seemed uncomfortable, shuffled his feet a bit.

Harry and Sirius stared at each other, eyes locked. And then Harry broke contact. Sirius hoped it was a good sign. Harry looked at Remus questioningly, who nodded, and Harry took a small step forward. Sirius followed suit and the next thing he knew he was embracing his godson.

Harry buried his head in his shoulder and Sirius felt him shaking. He didn't know if he was crying or not. What he did know was that he, himself was making rather sob-like noises, and his breath was coming in short gasps. He buried his face in Harry's hair, and for a brief few seconds, let the tears fall.

Remus' hand gripped his shoulder a few minutes later, and stared grimly at him. Sirius nodded; he knew what he had to do, knew that Remus had done his part up to here.

"C'mon Harry." His voice was gruff, "There's some people you have to meet."

And he steered the boy into the Hospital Wing before either had time to prepare, or worse, think about what they were doing. They both may have run in the opposite direction if they let themselves think.

James and Lily were waiting for them.

Lily was a bundle of nerves. Her mind was so confused; she had no idea what to think or do, what was happening to her. Her whole world had fallen apart while she had been gone, and then stitched together haphazardly by some mad seamstress.

James beside her was just as bad. He was standing stiffly, his jaw clenched in a manner that showed plainly that all he wanted to do was run and hide. He was nervous, obviously so, fidgeting and shuffling his feet in a way that irritated Lily no end. She just wanted to grab ahold of him and make him stop moving about. She squeezed his hand tighter.

The door opened, and Sirius walked in, gripping a black-haired, green-eyed teenager by the shoulders. He was tall enough, with the same black tousled hair that he had been born with, and his father before him. His eyes were the exact same colour as hers, but of course, she had already known that. From a distance, he looked so identical to James that for a second she thought she had been transported back in time.

But of course, when she took that single step closer, she saw the differences. He had a lightening scar on his forehead. That was unusual. New. And he had a slouch in his posture that James, with his overly-large, confident head had never had. She had always maintained that the egotistical size of James Potter's head balanced off his body so that he always walked in that confident, balanced way that she never could.

She glanced at James. He was staring at their son, mouth wide open. They began to move towards him, but unlike Sirius, neither rushed to embrace the other. In fact, when they met, the four of them just stared at each other awkwardly.

Sirius cleared his throat. "Er- well….Harry, meet your parents. Lily, James, meet your son. I-er- I think you'll find you have much in common…I'll leave you alone to –ah- catch up…See ya!"

And he fled.

James groaned audibly. From behind the door they could hear Remus talking to Sirius. Then there was a loud clatter, followed by an irate, "Bloody Hell, Lupin! That hurt!" And then a loud string of curses. Remus' voice returned with a sharp edge to it.

Then there was silence and the sound of retreating footsteps.

James was the first to move forward, not because he felt he could, but because his wife poked him rather painfully in the back and he stumbled not-so-gracefully forward. "Um….hi…Harry… I'm your father…I mean; well I guess you already knew that but y'know... And this is your mother, Lily, which you also knew and well, I know you're probably a bit confused but… Christ, this is hard!" he ran his fingers through his hair, and grinned nervously. "So…hi."

Harry stared at him. A lump formed in his throat. "Hello," he said quietly, for lack of anything else to say.

Lily stepped forward. She stood in front of her only son and opened her mouth.

No sound came out. She tried again. Once again she emitted no sound. So in a bold move she took another step forward and embraced him. Harry, lost and confused, found himself his mother's arms for the first time he could ever remember.

"Oh my baby," she cried. "Oh, my poor child, Harry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I left you…we left you. My baby, all grown up. I'm so very sorry….." He words were lost as she held her child tighter, and James, feeling left out, joined them in a tearful reunion.

Sirius and Remus watched from the door, for once unashamed of the tears they were both letting slip down their cheeks.

Well, I know its short but it was really really hard to write and I'm still not sure that I'm satisfied with it. The next chapter will have a bit more getting-to-know-each-other, and Ron and Hermione find out! Hopefully it should be up in the next few weeks!

Oh, and if you want to leave a review, don't be shy!

Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated; flames aren't. You know the difference!

Until next time!