Inside
"But you are normal!" said Harry fiercely. "You've just got a – a problem – ,"
Lupin burst out laughing. "Sometimes you remind me a lot of James. He called it my 'furry little problem' in company. Many people were under the impression that I owned a badly behaved rabbit"
You are so much like him, Harry, and you will never get to know that. You are so
much like James…and Lily. You will never get to know them, to see them. It is such a horrible fate for you, Harry. You do not deserve it. You deserve to have the parents that you can not even remember. It is so unfair. Why, oh, why does life have to be so unfair?
You are so much like James, more than just in appearance (and your hate of Snape). Everyone says you look just like him, but you are so much like him in life that that should be mentioned too. No, instead. You have his smile, his laughter (though luckily not his sense of humor). You are just like him not to judge by stereotypes, but by what you see and know. You value your friends above anything else in the world. It is very easy to mistake you two sometimes. You have the same aura of greatness as James had, and the same courage, probably the most important thing you two could share. You guys are practically carbon-copies of each other, in appearance, but do not worry, you have plenty of Lily in you as well.
Like your prominent green eyes are without doubt, and remarkably Lily's, so are many of her qualities you posses. Her integrity and honor, showing through when you never take the credit or bask in glory or fame that you have easily earned. You have the same sparkle in your eyes she would have when she accomplished something. You have her same love and trust and hope. You have a good way of judging character when you pick your friends…and her bravery too.
You have picked up so many of their great qualities…and a few of their negative ones too. Like Lily's hotheadedness, James' tactlessness, Lily's grudge holding, and James' stubbornness. Even if these are not so great they are part of you, and part of your parents in you. And I know you like nothing more than to have some grasp of who your parents are.
Yes, I say are instead of were. I just can not use the past tense as though Lily and James are not here any more and will never come back, because that is wrong. Some might just call it denial, but I call it the truth. The ones we love never truly leave. They will always be here for us, with us, in us, in our dreams, in our thoughts, in our prayers.
I can not believe, Harry, how so much you are like them, especially since you never really knew them. It is said that children pick up mannerisms and traits from their parents, but you do not even remember them, yet pieces of their personalities are evident in yours. I do not know if it is genetic. I do not know if it is magic. I do not know if it is a coincidence. I do not know if it is a piece of your subconscious remembering them from your first year of life. I do not know if it is a miracle, but I hope it is. I hope with all my heart that it is more than just an accident that you are some much like the both of them.
I know it is silly sounding, but when I see you it is like I see Lily and James again. They are alive. They are. They are alive in you. You have no farther to look than yourself when you want what they were like. You are like them in appearance and personality. In ups and downs. In friends and family. In the negative qualities and positive qualities. In hopes and dreams. You are your own person, yet still you are your parents' child, both of them. You have your father's talent and your mother's faith. You have both of their love.
I do not think I could tell you, Harry, all this, because it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about them, about you. I could not imagine speaking it. Maybe one day, in the future, when you ask, I will answer, and you will know how much you are like them, but until that time comes please, oh, please do not forget them or forsake them. Because of all the noteworthy people in the world they deserve not to be forgotten, they deserved so much more and by living with them inside you, you give it to them. You are finishing the legacy of James 'Prongs' Potter and Lily Evans Potter. You are their child and the love of their lives.