Disclaimer – I don't own Harry Potter. It belongs to J.K Rowling

"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked as they sat down for dinner. Harry shrugged and dished food onto his plate.

"Don't pretend there's nothing wrong, mate. We can tell." Ron said thickly, around a mouthful of chicken. Harry shrugged again. Hermione gave a flustered, exasperated sigh.

"Fine then, don't tell us. We'll figure it out sooner or later." she cautioned. Harry didn't respond, just began to eat. "Fine." Hermione said in a clipped tone. Harry rolled his eyes.

"So, how's Snape's assignment going for you two?" Harry asked. Ron made an annoyed sounding grunt, while Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Ron refuses to settle down and research. I have to do all the work." Hermione complained.

"You do not! I do a lot of the work!" Ron cried.

"You do not!"

"Do too!"

"Why don't you two just get married already?" Harry asked snidely from between the two of them. Ron's ears burned fiery red and he began to eat again, while Hermione went pink and pulled out flash cards of some sort.

"How's your report going, Harry?"

"Fine."

"Fine? Are you insane? Harry, you're working with Malfoy! Are you under hexed?"

"Nope. We both just sit there and work."

"Are you telling me Draco Malfoy is working peacefully with you? He doesn't take swings at your family anymore?" Ron asked, clearly astounded. Harry snorted.

"He's still Malfoy, Ron. Course he offends my family. I did it right back, and he got really defensive. Said I could curse his house, but not his father. And he knows." Harry said in a low voice. Ron and Hermione leaned in.

"Knows what?"

"About my parents and Sirius being back." Harry whispered. Hermione gasped.

"Harry, what are we going to do? I think I know a spell that can erase some of his memory! I just hope it isn't too powerful, I'm not sure exactly how much trouble we could get in for slight memory loss," Hermione was rambling worriedly.

"Calm down." Harry ordered. "I told him I wouldn't talk about his dad if he kept quiet about Sirius."

"Oh, Harry, it's Malfoy!" Hermione said sadly. "He'll never keep his promise! By tomorrow morning, You-Know-Who will know!" Even though Harry had trusted Malfoy's word at the time, he suddenly doubted, and the realization felt like a blow to his stomach.

"Tell your parents and Sirius when you see them next, that the son of Lucius Malfoy knows." Ron encouraged.

"But what if they go back?" Harry asked, somewhat fearfully.

"Would you rather they went back on their own, or would you rather Voldemort kills them again and comes after you?" Hermione rationed. The three friends fell silent and started eating again.

Later that night, Harry lay in his four poster bed. His parents and Sirius went back yet from outside. His stomach was churning nervously. Should he tell them about Malfoy, and risk them going back? Or would they stay anyway? How long would they stay in the meantime? What will they do? Buy a house? Get jobs? Will they let the rest of the magical community know they're alive? Would Harry get to be normal, after so long? Would he have to return to Privet Drive? The questions were churning his brain and his stomach. Finally, though sick with dread, he managed to fall asleep.

Lily, James, and Sirius crept into Gryffindor Tower. Lily and James managed to sneak into the 6th Year Boy's Dormitory and checked the Harry was asleep. It took a lot of restraint for Lily not to touch her son's cheek, or to tuck him in. When she and James walked hand in hand back down the stairs, Sirius was waiting on the couch, staring pensively into the fire.

"Do we wake him up and tell him?" Sirius asked.

"No, we'll tell him in the morning." Lily said softly. Sirius nodded in affirmation. James and Lily sat down beside Sirius on the squashy red couch. James broke the silence first.

"What has Harry's life been like, Sirius?" Sirius looked over, somewhat startled.

"He already told you, mate. Weren't you listening?"

"No, I mean..." James sighed in frustration, trying to explain. "What has he been thinking and feeling? He told us the events. But he didn't tell us what he felt like, how scared he was, he cut out a lot. What did he think about..." another thought filled pause, during which James took Lily's hand. "Us?" Lily leaned forward to look at Sirius.

"You know him better than we do, Sirius. Tell us what you know." There was pain in Lily's voice as she admitted that one of James's best friends knew her own son better.

"Tell us why he stumbled over his words so much when he told us why Snape stopped the Occlumency lessons. He said he saw Snape's worst memory in the Pensive, but it obviously had something to do with...with us. Because otherwise, he wouldn't have tried to protect us from it." James explained. Sirius held up his hands in the well known gesture for someone to stop.

"Slow down, both of you. Harry's had it rough growing up. The Dursley's told him nothing about being a wizard, it was complete shock for him to find out you two hadn't died in a car crash. He took the abuse the Dursley's gave him for the most part, all these years. Except for the past couple, when he retaliated a bit. People have kept secrets from him a lot in his life. Teachers, the Ministry, adults, friends, the Dursleys, even Dumbledore. They all thought they were protecting him, keeping him safe. But he just got frustrated and angry and upset. It was the facts of his life they were keeping from him, a basic right anyone should have is to know more about themself and their history than others. It was most difficult for him when no one believe him that Voldemort was back. I mean, he had seen horrors. He saw the death of that Cedric kid, he'd been tortured, he'd seen you two escape from Voldemort's wand, and no one believe him. Before, he'd been a hero. Which was difficult in it's own. But he was worshiped and praised before, Fudge let him get away with things, and Bagman hailed him. And then, all of a sudden, no one believed him. The Ministry, that had been so keen to protect him and make him out to be a golden boy, was suddenly treating him like mud, trying him before the Wizengamot. And some of his friends didn't even believe him. A lot to deal with." Sirius explained.

"But what about Lily and me?" James pressed. Sirius sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes. He didn't want to explain some of this to the two of them.

"He's always loved the two of you. More than anyone knows. He's missed you guys a lot, I can tell. I don't think he necessarily spent nights crying into his pillow though, he was tougher than that, and he'd never really known either of you. When he got to Hogwarts, you two were more present here. Head Boy and Head Girl, a lot of teachers remembered you two, or remembered the four of us James, and Harry heard a lot about the four of us in his 3rd Year, when I showed up. He was upset at first, because he didn't understand why we were friends. I was a mass murderer, after all. He met Lupin then too. Harry was thrilled to play Quidditch, because you had too James, and everyone said he had your natural ability." James face lit up with a proud smile at this. "It's been hard though, because," Sirius took a minute to carefully measure his words. "He was always proud of you two. And he'd gotten this...idea...into his head...that you two were...saintly, almost." Sirius said uncomfortably. James and Lily were staring at him, fixated.

"Keep going!" Lily pressed. Sirius sighed and rubbed his neck, trying to rid himself of the awkwardness.

"He had always thought that both of you were law abiding, and good, and honorable, and that neither of you did wrong. I mean, he knew we would sneak around James, but he didn't...that wasn't what bothered him. Harry's done plenty of that on his own. Snape's worst memory was one that shattered that image for him." Lily gave a pained gasp, and her hands sought the comfort of James's.

"Continue." James said forcibly. Sirius was obviously past uncomfortable. By now, he just wanted to spit it out and be done.

"It didn't hurt his idea of you, Lily. But James...he was pretty upset with you. Snape's worst memory was the day Exams finished in...maybe 5th or 6th Year, I think, I don't recall it being 7th, and you made Snape flip upside down. Remember?" Sirius asked. James face went pale with horror, and he got up and leaned on the mantle of the fireplace, facing away from his wife and best friend.

"I never...thought, when I was doing that, that someday my son would see that." James said, his voice tight and thick.

"I know James." Lily said comfortingly.

"What happened then?" James asked. "After he saw the memory?"

"He found Lupin and me using the fire. We were at my parents house, and his head showed up in the fire. It took...a lot...to calm him down. Harry knew what it was like to be taunted and laughed at, James. He felt what Snape felt, not what you felt. Harry is a lot like you, but a lot unlike you. He's had to deal with being an object of two ideas. Some people like him immensely and want to be his friend, or at least admire him or are grateful. But there are others who taunt him and torment him, and he's too noble and proud to fight back. He's a good boy, James. Just different then you. He'd never just started up a war like that. He's defended himself well against one of the boys here, Lucius Malfoy's son, but he's never started the war. He's defense only. He's like Remus, never seeing the sanity in starting a fight."

"I can't believe," James said in a deflated voice, trailing off.

"It was hard for us to explain. We were still young kids then. Just playing around. He saw you messing up your hair and playing with the Snitch, and looking at Lily hoping she'd be watching." (Here Lily stifled a laugh.) "He had trouble getting it was just your little quirks, like ones his friends have. He imagined you as some kind of stoic knight, I guess. You suddenly seemed arrogant and cocky and cruel, just like Snape's always told him you were. He thought Lily hated you, actually, because she didn't seem to like you so much in the memory."

"Oh, I'd always liked James." Lily interrupted. "I just didn't want him to know. He was too arrogant back then." James didn't seem to appreciate that much.

"Fine! I made a mistake! How was I supposed to know that one of my son's major impressions of me would be formed while I was getting even with Snape!" James roared, clearly distressed and angry.

"James, keep your voice down! But you have to admit, you and Snape were never even. You were always at least one point ahead." Lily informed him sadly. James's hands were in fists, which he was grinding together to keep his emotions suppressed. Sirius watched with sad eyes, like a whipped dog.

"In the morning, after we tell him our decision...I'm going to explain to him." James said decidedly. Sirius sighed heavily from his seat on the arm of the couch.

"Do we realize how insane this is? We come back, which is a dream come true, only to go away again? This might kill him."

"He's stronger than that. Besides, we're staying for awhile." James argued, his own back rigid and tense.

"But emotionally. He had us, he lost us, he has us. Now we're going back? You're his parents. He's never gotten to know. But here's the chance, here's the opportunity, and you're giving it up?"

"You agreed with the decision before, Sirius. Why are you doing this?" Lily asked sharply, rising to her feet and putting a protective arm around James's waist. Sirius remained seated, his black eyes watching them coolly.

"Because I'm afraid for Harry. Maybe the right choice isn't always noble." Sirius offered. James glared at him.

"I'm going to bed, Padfoot. Come on Lily." James ordered gently, putting his arm around her waist too. They walked out of the portrait hole and to the 'guest room' Dumbledore had made for them. Sirius sighed heavily and got down off the couch. Without another thought, he turned into a large black dog. The dog padded over to the fireplace and lay down before the warm glow. It turned it's mournful eyes to the ceiling and whimpered once, then closed it's eyes and fell silent.

Hope you guys liked it! I'm getting better at updating, I think! Next chapter - Harry finds out! I hope you like the chapter, please review and tell me what you think! Constructive criticism, encouragement, suggestions, ideas, or just telling me if you liked it or not, all welcome!