'Sirius! Sirius, come quick!' Sirius was up and out of his bed in a flash. He ran down the stairs to the sitting room, skidding on the rug.

'What is it?' He asked the newly eleven year old Harry.

'There's an owl coming!' Sirius glanced outside to see a barn owl making its way towards the small cottage in the English countryside.

Ever since Harry had turned eleven a week ago, he had been talking nonstop about his Hogwarts letter. Harry, Sirius and Remus had just gotten back from a five day holiday in Turkey (continuing their tradition from when Harry turned nine) when Harry had asked out of the blue,

'When do Hogwarts letters come?' Remus had answered that his should be coming soon and that there was nothing to worry about; he was going to go to Hogwarts.

So for the past few days, Harry had uncovered Sirius' book, 'Hogwarts: A History' and had been telling Sirius random facts about the school. Sirius was getting irritated, to say the least.

There was also another though on Sirius' mind. He and Remus had yet to tell Harry why he had to go under glamour charms everywhere he went and why he was famous as well as an orphan. (Although Sirius and Remus never referred to him as an orphan, they thought it sounded rude and unsympathetic, even though Harry hated people's sympathy.

Sirius came back to the present when he heard Harry take a deep breath. Sirius grinned at Harry and grabbed the letter from the owl that had just landed on the windowsill.

Mr Harry J. Potter...

Sirius grinned again and handed the thick letter to Harry.

Excited yet nervous, Harry fumbled with the wax seal on the back of the letter and broke open the envelope. Harry read through it, a smile breaking onto his face. He read it over three more times before he made any sounds or movement.

'I got in!' He cheered and hugged his godfather before rushing up the stairs. Sirius gave a grim smile before throwing some Floo powder into the fireplace and saying Remus' address.

'Remus?'

'Sirius, what's wrong?' Remus came into the room. He had heard the slight distress in his friend's voice.

'Harry just got his Hogwarts letter.' Remus blinked.

'Isn't that a good thing? It means that Harry'll stop talking about it, right?'

'Yes, but it also means we owe him an explanation, any time before September first.'

'Ah...'



'So, when're we going to tell him?'

'Tonight? We can get it over with; just tell him to ask anything he wants. That way if he comes up with any more questions he has roughly a month to ask before he's gone.'

'Sure, come over for dinner then.'

'Six?'

'Six.'

'Thanks Sirius,' Harry stood and took his plate to the counter while Remus banished the rest of the mess on the table to the sink.

'Harry, can you not leave just yet please? Thanks.' Harry sat back down at his spot around the table and peered curiously from his godfather to friend. Sirius waved his wand over the dirty dishes before slowly making his way to the table.

'Sirius.' Sirius glanced at Remus and sighed, quickening his pace to the table. He sat down and looked Harry directly in the eye, causing Harry to gulp. Had he done something wrong?' Sirius cleared his throat and said,

'Ask us anything.' Harry just stared.

'What?'

'Ask us anything. Why you've needed to go under glamour charms, why you're famous, why you mum and dad are dead. Anything.' Harry stared. He had been waiting for years to get the chance to ask so many questions, but now, now he couldn't think of a single one.

'What happened to mum and dad?'

'They were murdered.' Remus answered bluntly, his face clear of all emotions.

'By who?'

'There was a man named Voldemort. He wanted complete power. On Halloween night, when you were a year old, he went to your house. Most think he was looking for your parents to become his followers. They were powerful people, you parents... But that wasn't why he went.' Sirius trailed off, his head hanging.

'Who was Voldemort?'

'His name was Tom Riddle,' Remus explained. 'He was engrossed in the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. He ended up making a group of followers called Death Eaters. Voldemort was... Power hungry I suppose. He wanted to take over the wizarding world. He almost did until he was stopped.'



'How?' Harry was very curious now.

'You stopped him.'

'What?' Harry couldn't believe his ears.

'When Voldemort went to your house, he only wanted to kill you. Instead, your mum and dad put up a great fight, but he ended up killing them to get to you. He spoke the killing curse, but somehow the curse rebounded back to him. You're the only one known to have ever survived that curse.' Harry stared, wide eyed at the two remaining marauders. They were joking, they had to be joking. It couldn't be true...

'Is that why I'm famous? Because I survived the killing curse?' Remus nodded gravely.

'That's why you go under the glamour charms. Well, there are actually two reasons. One, so you get attacked every time you go out into the public eye and the second is because there are a few of Voldemort's followers who would like to finish Voldemort's job for him.' Harry nodded and the kitchen went silent. After a few minutes Harry asked,

'Why did Voldemort want to kill me?'

'That's a question we cannot answer.' When Harry went to protest, Sirius held up a hand. 'Not because we don't want to, but because we don't know.'

'Oh...' Harry stood suddenly. 'Thanks for uh, answering my questions...' And he pounded up the stairs to his room. Sirius went to follow but Remus held him back.

'Let him mull things over for a bit, by himself with no interruptions. He just needs some time.' Sirius sighed and nodded, sitting back down at the table. 'I'll make some tea I suppose,' Remus got up and bustled around the kitchen, tapping the kettle with his wand.

'You think he's alright?' Sirius asked. Remus considered the question.

'I think he will be... After he thinks things through and then gets to accept the fact that all those things happened.'

'I suppose.' They looked to the ceiling as they heard shuffling.

'Go see if he's alright. I'll wait down here.'

'Thanks Moony, you're a lifesaver.'

'Is that all?'

'For now yes.' Sirius threw Remus a cheeky grin before heading up the stairs.



'Harry?' Sirius knocked on his godson's wooden door.

'Yeah?' Harry opened the door to let Sirius in.

'Are you alright?' Harry shrugged.

'I'm fine. Just need to mull things over a little. Get used to knowing everything today when I knew nothing yesterday.'

'That's what Remus said,' Sirius smirked. 'You don't have any questions though, do you?'

'Not that I can think of at the moment no. Thanks for telling me everything though. I'd rather knowing about my own past than go to Hogwarts and know nothing.'

'Yeah Remus and I thought it better if you didn't learn from a textbook.'

'That stuff's in textbooks?'

'Course, it was a life changing event for tons of people. You're in some of those books by the way.'

'I am?' Harry asked incredulously.

'Well defeating the most powerful dark wizard of the century deserves some recognition.' Harry grinned.