Disclaimer: nothing about Harry Potter is mine, ever.

AN: sorry it's later than usual. THANKS to all who reviewed.

Enjoy as Harry and Sirius explored the 'legendary' Godric's Hollow! And somehow it turned out to be different from the original plan...

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Chapter 7 Memories of the Past

It took Sirius a good few days to explain to Harry the content on disillusion and concealment in the notebook they had retrieved from Sirius's room in 12 Grimmauld Place. Sirius provided that the charm was correctly done.

"Disillusionus!" Harry pointed his wand to his old text book for what he felt the hundredth time. Sirius gave an excited bark. For a splitting second, Harry thought he had seen the book turned grey. But as Harry picked the book up for closer inspection, the book remained its original brown colour. Harry turned the book upside down. Still nothing. Harry threw the book down in exasperation.

"Sirius, are you sure that this is the right d would blend flawlessly with the background, provided that the charm was correctly done.

"Disillusionus!" Harry pointed his wand to his old text book for what he felt the hundredth time. Sirius gave an excited bark. For a splitting second, Harry thought he had seen the book turned grey. But as Harry picked the book up for closer inspection, the book remained its original brown colour. Harry turned the book upside down. Still nothing. Harry threw the book down in exasperation.

"Sirius, are you sure that this is the right charm?" Harry groaned as he flexed and stretched his wrist and his wand arm, which was stiff with tiredness after performing the complex wand movement accompanying the incantation of the spell. He wiped cold sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. The charm was ridiculously draining.

"I am sure this is the right one. It had been awfully useful back at our years in Hogwarts. The Marauders excelled this in our sixth year, so I thought you would have no problem." Sirius said through the parchment with the 26 alphabets.

"How long had it taken you?"

"Well, it took us five months, but it was worth the effort."

"Five months? I surely cannot excel this before the term start!"

"Of course you can, because I know the correct way to do this. It had taken us a good month, even with brainy Moony and smart Prongs, not to mention me, to interpret the runes the charm was written in. And it had taken us another month to figure the wand movement and the sort of thing . . . anyway, my point is, this should take you less than a month. Your last try wasn't all bad, was it?"

Harry stared at the unchanged transfiguration textbook in his hand, and signed.

"Don't give up yet, lad."

"We have been doing this for five days. Why don't we just try something else? There are plenty of invisibility spells and potions in your book."

"Ordinary invisibility charms don't stand a chance against competent wizard or witches as Dumbledore, McGonagall or even Remus. Even so, the simplest invisibility charms are Seventh Year level, at least for ordinary wizards and witches. The disadvantage of such NEWT level invisibility charms is that the castor himself also cannot see the charmed object, in our case, me. It would be unbeneficial."

"Is there any difference with this disillusion charm? The castor cannot see the charmed object, right?"

"You are wrong. The disillusion charm you have been practicing is different from the normal ones. The object would still be discernible from the background for the one who cast the charm, while for other people or animals the charmed object would blend completely with the background. This is the beauty of this disillusionment charm."

Harry read over Sirius's word and signed. He turned his attention on the dog form of his godfather. Strangely, his eyes were staring at the space. He seemed to be in contemplation. His head jerked as if something suddenly dawned on him. He pointed his paw towards the alphabet parchment

"There may be something else that is prefect for our condition... Yes, that is the perfect solution. I can't believe I've forgotten something as important."

"You said that this disillusionment charm was perfect."

"I am serious this time. I was stupid to have overlooked it. "

"Can't expect too much from a dog's brain, can we?"

Sirius glared at Harry.

"Just turn to page 23 of my note book."

Harry flipped though the pages with trepidation. He doubt whether the thing Sirius had in mind would take him ten years to master if it was really so good. Harry lay the book down on his bed and read the content aloud.

"The Concealment Charm. It is a charm requiring high level of magical energy of the castor, which provides protection to the person under the charm from the prying eyes, either unaided or aided with magic, of all human beings except the castor. It is one of the very first concealment charms in the history of recorded magic; its origin reaches as far back as the period of the founding of Hogwarts. The charm is dependent upon the existence of a bond, either magical or spiritual, between the castor and the one being cast with the charm. The Concealment Charm builds on the existing bond and at the same time consolidating the connection between the souls of the two involved, granting the two involved with an enhanced spiritual link aside from protection to the person being charmed. To cast the charm . . . "

Harry continued to scan through the pages which gave a detailed description of the correct incantation of the charm, which Harry had no idea on how to pronounce, and then a detailed description of the effect of the charm, provided that the charm was correctly performed. Afterwards followed a series of animated illustrations of the horrible consequences if the charm had been performed faultily. Harry winced as his vision swept across those unsightly images.

"Sirius, are you serious about this?" Harry looked at Padfoot with a queasy feeling in his stomach, hoping against hope that the great black dog would shake its hairy head.

Padfoot nodded his gigantic head solemnly, his pale eyes set in a determined gaze upon Harry. 'You are going to do this no matter what.' The determined gaze told Harry what Sirius was thinking.

Sirius had not pressed Harry to get started on the charm that day, as Harry was already exhausted with the practice of the disillusionment charm. Instead, Harry was urged to send Remus a message via Fawke's feather for permission to visit Godric's Hollow. Remus agreed to take Harry to his parents' house. Harry longed to visit Godric's Hollow ever since he had heard of its existence, but he still had been burning to know why Sirius wanted him to go there. Sirius had been insistent on not disclosing much and only indicated that he wanted to check out something important in his deceased best friend's house.
"Harry, welcome home." Remus waved his arm over the stone path that was lined with firs on both side. The road opened into a clearing ten meters ahead. There stood in the middle of the clearing a three-storey house with red-bricked walls. The house seemed to glow with warmth under the morning sun. It looked as if the thick wooden door would be swung wide open at any moment and a small child would burst out of the house. The little child ran with his face flushed with happiness, his scolding yet loving mother close at his heel. Harry couldn't suppress the feeling of warmth that was flooding the deepest corner of his heart. Picking up his pace, Harry sped down the path with his arms swinging in excitement at his side.

After no time at all, Harry was standing in front of the doorstep of the house. Gently, he rested his hand upon the worn looking door. The moment his skin came into contact with the wood, his whole body reverberated with a magical resonance. It was as if the blood within his vessels was all of a sudden saturated with power and surging with strength.

"Harry." Someone called. Harry ran his palm over the coarse surface of the wooden door before withdrawing it.

"Welcome back." Remus said.

"Remus, I really have to thank you for bringing me here . . ." Harry said with his eyes glued to the house he had lived during the first year of his life. It was as though if Harry had stared long enough, he could have been allowed a peep through the memory of his parents buried within the deepest part of his brain.

After a while, rational thoughts squeezed themselves out of Harry's overjoyed brain. "This house is wonderful. But they had said that Voldemort had destroyed it during that night. How come it still looks . . . so intact and well looked after?" Harry waved his arm vaguely over the house.

"You have Professor Dumbledore to thank that for, " Remus said, "a part of the house was destroyed, but Dumbledore, using means that no one else understand, restored the external structure and even the ancient wards protecting it so that it looks and feels just like before. I offered to help keeping it maintained occasionally during all those years and tried to restore the interior the best I can manage. Dumbledore insisted repairing this ruined house so that not all the past memories are lost to those who are still alive. . . "

Harry stared at his feet. He didn't know what he should think. It almost looked as if Dumbledore really cared about Harry as a human being. Or had he ever used Harry as a tool?

"Let's get inside." Harry nodded as Remus took out a single golden key. "It is all yours now. " Remus put the golden key onto Harry's palm. Harry closed his shaking fingers around the key and squeezed for a moment. Then he slided the key into the keyhole. With a smooth click, the lock was opened.

Harry took a deep breath and pushed. What greeted him was a spacious sitting room. The floor was covered with woolen deep red carpet that was soft and comfortable to step on. Portraits and paintings adjourned the walls. There was a deep blue sofa and a muggle TV set. Books and various decorations as vases and porcelain figures filled the space of the wooden shelves surrounding the room. Harry could picture perfectly the image of a red-haired woman coming out of the kitchen into the sitting room with a vase full of fleshly picked white lily, walked across the sofa and TV set to the wooden table. In a graceful motion, the woman placed the vase down where the flowers were caught in a curtain of luxurious golden sunlight. The woman turned her head and her lips were slightly open, about to call her son with her soft voice . . .

"If it is OK with you, " Remus' voice terminated Harry's imagination. "I have to go for a while. Tonks is already outside. She agreed to look out for you while I'm gone. Tonks said she preferred to stay outside and enjoy the morning sunbath. Just take your time around the house and explore it as long as you wish."

After Remus was gone, Harry freed Sirius out of the invisibility cloak. Padfoot seemed unusually subdued. His pale blue eyes were wide open with an unspoken sadness. He trotted around the room with his tail limbed downwards. Harry couldn't find the heart to disturb his Godfather's private recollection. Instead he quietly made his way out of the room and wandered around the house. Sudden surge of familiarity overcome Harry as he turned corners and entered rooms, but the memories were too vague and slippery to be grasped. There were rooms with few or nothing inside, probably due to the incomplete restoration. Harry didn't know why Sirius had wanted to come here. Perhaps he just wanted them to get a chance to revisit buried memories, or it had something to do with Sirius mentioning James telling him to 'go home' in the Portal to Death. Nevertheless, Harry was grateful that he had finally come here.

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Sirius stared at the two armchairs next to the hearth. The house was saturated with memories of the Maraudars so intense that Sirius had a hard time breathing . . . His mind was overloaded with the scents of his best friends that should be long gone the night the house and its owners were, presumably to be eternally, destroyed. One memory stood vivdly out of the hundreds that were threatening to burst out of his trapped mind, now more than ever . . .

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Sirius signed contently, closed his heavy eyelids and sank deeper into the large comfortable armchair. Listening to the soft crackle of the burning firewood over the howling sound of winter snowstorm had recently become a favourite pastime of Sirius'.

Sirius lifted the hot mug of chocolate in his hand and stole a glance at the owner of the house where Sirius usually engaged in his new favourite pastime time. Ever since James and Lily Potter married and moved into Godric's Hollow, Sirius Black had been the most frequent guest of the house. He frequented the house so much that Lily even came to suggest that Sirius should save the trouble of coming and going and just simply move in with them. Sirius plainly declined the offer, saying he didn't want to disturb the Potter's private life, and that he didn't want to be restrained and he had been too busy with his various 'girlfriends' (It was true that he had had relationship with quite a few women, but none was serious or stable). Lily had insisted that Sirius needed to settle down and that living in a decent family would do him good. Lily and Sirius had quite a series of argument over the topic. Sirius knew perfectly well that Lily had meant him good by wanting him to experience normal family life. He knew that he lacked it and needed it, now more than ever, in the craziness surrounding the war and Voldemort, which had been mounting in intensity almost to the saturation point . . .

"Padfoot, I want to tell you something about Godric Gryffindor."

Sirius crooked his eyebrows at James sudden words.

"Once upon a time, there was a powerful and wise wizard called Godric Gryffindor."

Sirius couldn't help himself but interrupted. "Come on, Prongs, I've had enough of that at Hogwarts."

"No you don't, mate."

Sirius stopped protesting as he recognized the serious tone all too well.

"Godric Gryffindor contributed greatly to the development of modern magic, especially in the field of telepathy. He valued the virtue of true courage above all other, especially the courage to choose in a dilemma. He founded Hogwarts with three others, hoping to pass on his knowledge and beliefs. He loved his family very much; his daughter and his son were the pride of his life."

"Gryffindor's son and daughter? Never heard of them."

"Don't interrupt. . . It was rumoured that Gryffindor had left his greatest power to those that came after him. The power would only be granted upon the person who passes a trial from Godric Gryffindor himself. "

"Oh. . ." Sirius studied James' expression closely, trying to discern what James had in mind by telling such thing. James' face was unusually blank. Then it turned into one with barely contained excitement. Sirius crooked his eyebrows in puzzlement again.

"Remember what I've told you, mate. But I hope the information won't come into use for you... anyway, enough of that for now. I have two pieces of news for you today."

"One good, one bad? I want the bad one out of the way first."

"Well, it depends on how you view them. The first one is that . . . Lily is pregnant."

Sirius's lower jaw dropped.

"I can't believe it! Prongs is going to be a father! Congratulations!" Sirius clapped James's shoulder heavily. Sirius's wolfish grin widened upon seeing the look of pure joy and pride in his best friend's face. Also there was nervousness.

"Scary, isn't it? I'm going to be a father, for crying out loud!"

"Yeah, Prongs, you're going to be a Father. And you'll be a great one!"

"Thanks. You are the third person in the world who knew of the existence of our little baby. I'm going to name him Harry."

"Harry? Sounds great! But how do you know that it will be a boy?"

"I just know it is going to be a healthy little boy. I just know it." James said with such pride in his voice.

"So, when will little Prongs see the first ray of this world?"

"July. I'm so excited!"

"So am I! Just hope that Prongs junior would be less thick then Prongs senior!"

James smacked Sirius's head with his fist.

"Now. I am going to deliver the second piece of news for today. I am very serious." James sat straight up facing Sirius, looking him squarely in the eyes.

"Sirius Black," Sirius automatically straightened himself up, a pickling sensation now budding in the pit of his stomach in excited anticipation.

"I now officially appoint you as the Godfather of Harry James Potter. Once you accept the role, you will be the legal guardian- "

"What?" Sirius exclaimed, "Are you nuts?!"

"– of James and Lily Potter's son and are obliged to take full responsibility of spoiling little Harry–"

Sirius's jaw fell downwards, "Pardon me?"

James continued his serious tone and expression as if Sirius hadn't spoken at all. "-and training him to be the next generation of trouble maker at Hogwarts. More importantly, you –"

"You mean it, James? Me, a Godfather? I can't -"

"– are obliged to raise your Godson if his parents, under any unfortunate circumstances, are unable to fulfill their roles."

Sirius's heart was paralyzed for the briefest moment with fear at the last statement, for the mere thought of the circumstances that could make James and Lily not available to their son was most terrifying. Yet in time of war, who could say for certain that something, even as dreadful as beloved ones dying, would never happen?

Sirius made up his mind. He was more then resolute to see to it that this decision would last nothing short of forever.

There was no doubt that James could clearly depict the sequence of thoughts in Sirius's mind, even if his outward carefree expression had not flatter for the merest of millionth of a second.

"James, are you sure that you have gotten the right person? Isn't it responsible, brainy Moony, or even honest Wormtail? Me?"

"Yes, you. Lily said it would be good for you . . . a child would be enough to tie you back on the ground and settle down."

"Settle down? Because of a child? Prongs, I agree to be the Godfather, even if it is just so to prove that I will not be that easily tied down! "

The shock of being appointed as an authoritative figure of another human being wore on for several months. When the initial shock wore off, Sirius finally managed to accept the fact that he was going to be a Godfather. However, when that happened, the live baby was already crying in his arm. Flesh waves of panic hit Sirius head on.

However, less than an hour later, Sirius was already plotting behind Lily's back to get Harry flying on a broomstick before he reached his third birthday.

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Harry found Sirius sitting transfixed and staring at a photograph above the mantle. Harry chuckled as he looked at the picture closely – it was a baby, no doubt himself, being cuddled by two grown men, namely Sirius and James, in front of the house, with Lily hovering worriedly in the background.

With a bark and a swing of his head, Harry knew that he was meant to follow. Harry trailed after Padfoot as he trod out of the sitting room. They went up the stairs to the second floor, and with his gigantic paw, Sirius turned the knob of a door and motioned Harry to enter the room. It was without doubt Harry's room when he had lived here years ago.

Sirius stopped at the corner of a large Asian style deep red carpet covering the floor and tapped at the corner with his paw. Harry knelt down besides Sirius and lifted the carpet up. He knocked the floorboard with his knuckles, and was greeted with hollow sound of a space underneath the floor. Harry swiftly felt for the joining of the floorboard and pulled before uncertainty and fear of the unknown had time to settle in.

The instant the wooden floorboard broke its contact with the floor, Harry felt his whole body being sucked into a pit of darkness. There was a sensation of free fall, but then he realized he was really falling through emptiness with an alarming speed. Before he could start panicking, Harry's body came into contact with a hard surface with a solid thud. It sent waves of excruciating pain through the side of his body that had suffered the full impact.

Harry felt around the damp ground with shaky hands after he was sure that miraculously nothing in his body was broken. "Sirius! Where are you?" Panic seeped into Harry's rapidly cooling limbs as the silence around him rang on. Harry's throat constricted at the faint smell of rotten plant and dead stale air that seemed to press so hard onto him. Harry drew out his wand. "Lumous!" Harry's eyes were unprepared for sudden brightness. Momentary blindness was followed by pain of being jumped onto by a large black dog.

"Sirius, don't do that!" Harry's voice rang horribly loud in the dead silence. He pushed off his over-enthusiastic godfather and stood up. From the now better controlled light from the wand tip, Harry surveyed the room they were in. Judging from the distance they have fallen, they must now be underground. The passageway they were in was clay-walled and allowed about two men to walk abreast. When Harry stared up, he couldn't even discern the hole through which they had fell through. All he could see was the slightly domed ceiling. They were in the middle of a passageway. About ten feet ahead of him the passageway opened into a larger cavity, while behind him the passage way continued on and on and Harry couldn't really see where it ended. With a little trepidation, Harry followed Sirius's steady foot steps into the cave ahead.

Only two things stood out in that underground cave that was almost twice as large as Harry's bedroom: a large wooden box lying at the corner, nearly escaped Harry's surveillance as it blended so well with the background, and a tapestry with inch of dust covering its content. Quickly sweeping the dust off the surface with the back of his sleeve and sneezing uncontrollably, Harry wished he had learnt something, anything at all on how to remove dust with magic.

What greeted Harry under the inch of dust was a family tree. The Potter Family Tree. Harry quickly located his own name at the lowest part of the tree. From what he could see, it seemed that James was the only child in his family. This was also the case for James's father. James's grandfather, on the other hand, had two sisters, one named Dorothy, the other Alice. But other than that, the family tree was just names and relationship that didn't really signify anything meaningful to Harry. Looking down to Sirius for indication of any recognition to the tapestry, Harry found nothing was shown on Sirius's impasse dog face.

Silently, Harry brushed his fingers across the name of James Potter, the line joining his name to another, and then the name of Lily Potter, and stayed there. He could feel that his parents were trying to tell him something important by summoning him back here through Sirius. But exactly what do they want to tell him? He ached to know...

Harry felt something stung his finger tip. Staring at the drop of blood that was oozing out of the tiny wound, Harry had the sensation of free fall... no, he indeed had been falling again.

Less than the span of a second, Harry's bottom connected with the dampened, yet hard nonetheless, sandy ground. Rubbing his backside furiously, Harry shakily got up from the ground. Somehow by lucky chance, his wand was still in his clutch.

"Lumous!"

As soon as the word left his month, something ahead cracked open. Harry rolled off to the side. From the light of his wand point, Harry could see spears penetrate the ground where he had just fallen onto less than moments ago. Crouching on the ground and panting, Harry surveyed his surrounding with the dim light of his wand, which couldn't penetrate the darkness for long distance, as if being absorbed by the surrounding foul smelling air. Sirius was nowhere to be seen, which might very well mean that he had not fallen together with Harry this time.

This time it was another passage way Harry had fallen into. The wall consisted of large, mud-ish brick that looked like a thousand years old. The atmosphere, the smell and the trap of spears gave Harry a queasy feeling that he was inside a tomb.

Attempting to calm his racing heart to no avail, Harry set his shaken body upright by leaning onto the brick wall. His hands sought the support of the cracks between the bricks as he gingerly put his weight on his wobbly legs. Yet as his hand pushed another brick, it slide backwards with a dull click. In the subsequence silence, Harry's breathing sound was so loud to his own ears. Again the sound of something sliding open in the dark could be hard meters ahead of Harry. Reflexes of seeker saved Harry's life once more as Harry leapt and rolled out of harm's way. More of the spears lined the brick walls Harry had been clutching to, their shafts still vibrating from the impact.

Harry straightened himself up, his mind running wild about all that had happened. He knew the trap was not meant to kill... or else the spears would have gone through his body the moment he triggered the trap. Instead, Harry had been given time to escape. Where the hell was he? Harry just couldn't shake off the weird feeling that it all seemed to be a poor imitation of adventure movies twenty or more so years ago. Perhaps he should expect mummies or skeletons to ambush him any moment...

As Harry trotted through the passage, his suspicions seemed to be confirmed. Ground that suddenly gave away, bricks that collapsed on him without being provoked, string loop that threatened to snatch his ankle and hang him upside down... although none was deadly enough to get him, Harry was far from spared with scratches and cuts and bruises. He was really frustrated as he dodged one trap after another, and exit was nowhere in sight. What sort of people on earth would set up such a silly maze underneath their house? What were his parents thinking... or had he been transported to somewhere far apart when he fell through? And where was Sirius? He must be worried sick about him now...

Without warning, the passage way gave way to a large chamber. Harry walked around the chamber that was void of any visible decorations or anything at all, without touching anything. The only thing worth noting was a side of the brick wall that had a distinct patch where the colour of the brick was different. It was roughly the size of half a door, where the brick was paler in colour than the surrounding wall, as if something had covered it for a long time... was it a picture or portrait of some kind, Harry had no means of telling.

As if lured by some unknown forces, Harry's hand was drawn towards the area of light-coloured bricks. As soon as his fingers came into contact with the brick, Harry regretted his move. He tried to withdraw them, but they were already glued to the bricks by invisible forces. Harry felt that his whole body was being sucked into the wall. Harry's vision blacked out. He was lurching forward so swiftly and the rush of winds past his ear was deafening, yet he couldn't see a thing...

The sound of dog barks roused Harry back to the reality of the living world. Harry opened his eyes. What occupied his entire field of vision was the over-enlarged, or the too close hairy face of a giant black dog. The dog licked his face furiously as it discovered that he was awake. Harry groaned, trying to push off the offending tongue with shivering hands, his body at the same time seemed to be aching all over.

Harry found himself lying on the floor of his old room. His head were bursting with questions that no one would ever be able to answer – how had he got back there? How had Sirius got back there? Why were there underground passage ways and chambers down Godric's Hollow? It made his already aching head ached worse.

What really happened? And what was he supposed to gain out of all these?

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Sirius was not about to provide any answers soon, it seemed. He put Harry under the scrutiny of his sharp gaze for a long while before relenting, as if then he decided that Harry had not suffered severe harm.

"Sirius! What were we doing? Please tell me -"

Padfoot shook his head. His eyes told Harry that what they had come for was not yet over. He turned to leave. Harry could do nothing but follow.

Swiftly, Sirius made his way down the stairs and to the front door. He put his paw against the door knob, indicating that he wanted to be let out. Harry hurriedly tied the invisibility cloak around Padfoot before swinging the wooden door open.

Harry greeted Tonks, whose hair was light green and spiky this time, and told her that he wanted to stroll around the house a bit. Tonks let him after making him promise not to wander too far away.

As soon as they were out of Tonks's sight, Harry removed the invisibility cloak and continued to follow Padfoot's lead. They soon parted from the stony path and trotted among the firs and thick trees.

The sound of rustling of leaves due to the gentle caress of wind, the soft song of birds dwelling on the trees, the thin veils of sunlight that escaped the thick canopy of the forests to descend upon the soil, the fragrance of blossoming plants in the air... all of these created a surreal atmosphere. It was like walking through a pleasant dream.

Too soon, the journey through the dreamscape stopped. Padfoot stopped his progress and sat on the soft grass-covered soil, directly in front of his two best friends's grave.

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James and Lily Potter
1960-1981

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It was all that was engraved on the white gravestone.

Harry had dreamed of this moment. He had thought of this moment ever since he was five, when he was old enough to ask such questions as where his parents were buried. He was scolded for asking the question. He was ordered never to ask again. But it far from stopped him from thinking.

Harry had thought he would cry upon seeing his parents' tombstone. But he didn't. Slowly, he lowered himself down to sit besides Padfoot, careful not to make any sound that would disturb the tranquility of the place.

Harry knew it must have been the first time for Sirius to set his eyes upon his best friends' grave. He didn't know how Sirius felt, but for himself, Harry felt so calm. He was relieved. He closed his eyes to let himself feel.

To feel the caressing breeze run through his hair, to feel the warmth of the sunlight upon his skin, to feel the quietness and the peace that his parents were immersed in.

From the relaxed stance of his godfather, Harry could tell that he was experiencing the same emotion as he did.

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Harry had not found a lot of answers that he longed to acquire when he left Godric's Hollow. However, he gained memories that connected him to the past, and memories that gave both him and Sirius the strength to carry on.

My dear readers, I need motivation! I need suggestions!