In times of confusion
In chaos and pain
I'm there in your sorrow under the weight of your shame
I'm there through your heart-ache
I'm there in the storm
My love I will keep you by my power alone
I don't care where you've fallen or where you have been
I'll never forsake you
My love never ends
It never ends.
- "Times" Tenth Avenue North
Severus had developed a new habit, one he was not particularly proud of. On Fridays, when he only had his NEWT students in the morning session, he would floo after class to the Ministry of Magic. The lowest floor contained a few eateries and Severus would take a seat at Winking Wugmunk the pub that sat across from the small deli where he had hugged Harry months earlier, and work on class preparation for the next week with a beer.
It was a nice habit. Hamish, the owner, counted him a regular now and was friendly and kept the beers coming while not being annoying. Sometimes, if Severus stayed long enough, Hamish would even give him a free plate of his famous Fish and Chips. But he wasn't there for beer or the Fish and Chips. He was there for the view of Pauline.
Even in the Ghangzou world, he still did not understand how they ended up together. She was beautiful with her shinny, thick hair, golden eyes and lithe, tanned limbs that slid in between tables as she talked to customers. He never dared speak to her. What would he have said if he did? It was more than enough just to see her, to know that she was alive, that he could talk to her if he wanted to. One time, she laughed so loudly, he heard it across he walk and that sound, the best he had ever heard, rang through his head for the rest of the night.
Severus picked at the last of his fries, watching as Pauline picked up discarded plates from one of the tables. She had looked exceptionally beautiful today, and being at the bar seemed to be an implicit excuse to avoid the drink invitation Sirius had sent him, so he had stayed longer than usual.
A glance at his watch told him it was almost 11. He got to his feet, stretched and threw a few galleons on the table.
"Goodnight Hammish," he said with a nod.
"Night Professor. See ya 'round then." Snape walked out of the pub and started to slowly walk toward floo thinking what variations he could make to the Acetox potions. He was intrigued by the challenge of the Permanent Sticking Charm. He hadn't stopped making different formulations in his head.
He qued for the floo wondering whether or not he could increase the bison horn without causing a huge explosion, testing that on Sirius' house might not be such a bad idea.
"Excuse me," said a female voice he had heard one too many times in his dreams. He turned around to gawk at Pauline, who had just qued up behind him. She was there and talking to him. He blinked at her stupidly. She gave him an odd sort of look.
"The floo is available," she said, pointing to the empty grate behind Severus.
"Right. Right, sorry," he said, nearly tripping over his feet as he half-ran into the grate. His heart hammering, he took a pinch of floo powder. He turned around again, awkwardly facing her as he prepared to floo. Her lips were curved upwards.
"Hogwarts, Snape's Quarters," he muttered. A familiar pulling sensation yanked him away from Pauline into the fireplace. He wasn't sure if his stomach and lips were numb from the apparition or from seeing Pauline.
XXxXXxXX
"They're coming," Ron hissed. Anxiously, Harry looked up at the swarm of owls that were slowly descending into the Great Hall. Instantly, he spotted Nugget, Sirius' small tawny owl. Sirius kept his promise to write every day, and occasionally, he would also send up a box of candies and chocolates. He typically did this on Friday - as a congratulations for getting through another week of classes - or Monday as consolation that the weekend was over. Sure enough, Nugget was flying lop-sided, straining with the effort of holding the box up.
As excited as Harry was for Sirius' letter, he was looking for another letter and another bird. Behind Nugget, Hedwig was gracefully floating towards the Gryffindor table. Both birds landed in front of Harry with a crash. Hedwig, who had seen Nugget's constant presence at Harry's breakfast as the worst sort of betrayal, almost landed immediately on Harry's breakfast plate in her effort to deliver her letter first. Quickly, Harry took the letter from Hedwig's leg and started to read.
Nugget, used to getting a much more enthusiastic welcome from Harry, snapped his beak at Hedwig and shuffled towards her, holding his leg out for Harry.
"Charlie says he can take Norbert. Tonight." Harry said with relief, holding a piece of toast out for Hedwig. She took it gracefully. For the past few weeks, Hagrid had been raising a dragon in his wooden hut. This problem had overwhelmed all Harry's other concerns about Snape and Nicholas Flammel because Draco had spotted the dragon in Hagrid's house and was now certainly going to get Hagrid fired. The only way to save Hagrid's job was to send the dragon away with Charlie, Ron's brother who worked with dragon's in Romania.
Across the room, Draco sneered at him. Harry glared back. Nugget hooted insistently again, shoving his foot towards Harry.
"Alright!" Harry snapped, relieving the owl of the parcel and Sirius' letter. "Get on with it." Looking stung, Nugget flew over to the Professor's table, hooting dolefully. Despite having no letter, he stopped in front of Snape's plate.
Snape scratched the owl's back mindlessly as he continued to read the morning paper. Feeling that this was the sort of treatment he deserved, Nugget rubbed his head affectionately against Snape's forearm, shooting Harry a reproachful look. Harry frowned in confusion, watching at the bird started to eat some of the bacon on Snape's plate.
At first, Snape didn't seem to appreciate Sirius' infrequent letters at all, but now the letters came almost daily and Snape didn't scowl as Nugget came towards him anymore. In fact, the only time Snape had looked at Harry at all this semester was a few days ago when he had looked over when Nugget had flown in, as if he had been expecting a letter.
Harry sighed. He hadn't told Sirius about Snape ignoring him. He didn't want Sirius to get in a fight with Snape, but he still found it strange. Snape was a lot nicer now, to Neville even, but he couldn't even look Harry in the eye. Whatever, it didn't matter. Harry looked away from the Professor's table. He had bigger problems.
"We're going to be late," muttered Harry. He shoved his unread letter from Sirius into his pocket and shoved the rest of the sweets into his school bag.
Herbology and Potions were torture. For once Harry didn't care that the only thing Snape did was nod at his cauldron and write down a mark. He just wanted it to be night so that he could get the stupid dragon away from Hagrid and go back to worry about something simple, like what Fluffy was hiding, or who Nicholas Flammel was.
Harry ate dinner hurriedly with Ron and Hermione, and soon night fell over the castle. Seamus, Neville and Dean were snoring soundly in their beds, but Harry and Ron remained wide-awake.
"Are you ready?" Harry whispered.
"Sure," replied Ron, sounding a little nauseous. Without saying a word, they got out of bed and dressed. Professor McGonogall was on duty patrolling, the hall-ways for wayward students. They would have to be completely silent, and have a strong dose of good-luck, not to be seen. Still, saving Hagrid was worth whatever suspension or detention the Professors could throw at them.
"Good luck," Hermione whispered. She was staying behind to let them back into the common room. They pushed the portrait hole the whole way open so that the Fat Lady couldn't see who was running out and tell on them (though Angelina had told them that the Fat Lady was not allowed to get students into trouble).
The Gryffindor common room was relatively near the school entrance. Ron and Harry simply had to make it down two flights of stairs, a row of classrooms, down the Grand staircase and out through the entrance hall. Since there were few places to hide, they decided to take it as a run.
Harry's stomach was burning with the effort of running by the end of the first staircase. The castle was silent. McGonnogal was in a different part of the castle. With a grin at Ron, Harry bolted through the hall, down the Grand Staircase and out through the front doors.
"Wait," hissed Harry, propping the door open slightly with a large stone.
The night air was bitterly cold, but that didn't slow Harry down. He and Ron ran side-by-side their breaths coming out in hot puffs like racehorses training in the early morning.
"Hagrid!" Harry yelled pounding at the door. Quickly, the door to Hagrid's hut open and they were yanked inside.
"Did anyone see yer?" Hagrid asked anxiously. Looking out the window to the castle.
"Don't think so," Harry said, kneeling over to catch his breath. Norbert was sitting on the kitchen table, a half-charred teddy bear in his cage.
"And Malfoy doesn't know about the Astronomy tower?" Hagrid asked. Ron shook his head.
"No way he can," Ron said, walking over to Norbert. The dragon barred his fangs and blew flames out of his nose.
"Maybe I should take him. I don't want you lot getting in trouble on account of me," Hagrid said, twisting his hands.
"How do you think you can walk around the castle unseen?" Harry asked with a smirk. Hagrid chuckled a little at that.
"What if he's lonely?" Hagrid whimpered, peering into Norbert's cage. Harry sighed.
"Charlie'll make sure he's ok," Ron said, covering the cage with a large, flame retardant cover. Norbert shrieked in disapproval, and Hagrid started to bawl loud, wet tears. Harry tried very hard to be sympathetic, but couldn't hep but feeling that the sooner Norbert was out of their lives, the better they'd all be.
"We've got to go, Hagrid," Harry said, there was 8 minutes to midnight, and the Astronomy tower was a bit of a trek. Hagrid howled and Harry patted him consolingly on the arm.
"I'm sorry, Hagrid," Harry said. "But you know it's better this way." Hagrid gave a great sob then pulled himself together with a brave nod.
"Yea, I know, I know, I just am gonna miss 'im is all," said Hagrid, mopping at his eyes. "You be on your way."
Before Hagrid could change his mind, Harry and Ron grabbed either end of the cage and started to job back to the castle, careful to stay in the shadows.
Quietly as possible, they slid into the entrance hall and eased the door shut behind them.
"Mrrwow," Mrs Norris, skeletal and looking very proud of herself, stared up at them. Ron groaned. She licked her lips and darted up the stairs.
"Come on, quick," Harry said, his heart pounding fast. "We've got to get up to the tower before Flitch."
The entrance to the Astronomy tower was on the opposite side of the castle. It was a race against time and Norbert's cage was heavy with the weight of the shuffling dragon. By the time they reached the entrance, Harry's lungs were burning, and each stair up impossible. Still, the Astronomy Tower was quiet, Harry doubted the teacher's bothered to patrol it during night. They managed to reach the top of the tower and both he and Ron let out a breath of thanks.
Harry checked his watch: 12:01, and peered out the window. Two small dark figures were approaching on broomsticks.
"That's Charlie, alright," Ron said, squinting at them. Sure enough the moment they landed, Harry could see the bright red Weasley hair and freckles. He was shorter, only as tall as Ron, and strong-looking. His friend Ned was tall and thin.
"Hey little bro," Charlie said, grinning at Ron. Ron grinned as well and quickly ran over to embrace his brother. The rest of them quickly shook hands and exchanged greetings
"I can't believe you got yourself a dragon," Charlie said, hooking the cage between him and his friend.
"Careful on the way back. Don't want Mom catching on to what you've done," Charlie said.
"Avoid that damn cat," Ned offered. With that, they kick off the ground and flew into the distance.
"He sounded impressed, didn't he?" hissed Ron as they stumbled back down the stairs. Harry couldn't help but notice that being the youngest of so many brothers had made Ron uncertain of his family's love and approval. Personally, Harry didn't get it. One only had to see all the letters Mr and Mrs. Weasley wrote and all the times Ron's brothers had ribbed him to see that he was loved. If Ron wanted to see what it meant to not be loved by your family, he just had to come spend time with Harry and the Dursleys.
Perhaps, Harry thought, when there was no hate to compare love to, one could be uncertain about what love actually was. Regardless of the fact that Ron's belief in his family's disapproval was unsubstantiated by any evidence Harry had, it still had to sting.
"He sounded really impressed, Ron," Harry said with a smile. They slunk along the back way, freezing when they heard footsteps.
"Where are the students, my sweet?" asked Argus. "Malfoy is right isn't he? Harry Potter is out of bed." Harry gasped and looked at Ron. Filtch stood between them and the common room. There was only one thing to do.
"I'm going to make a run for it," whispered Harry. "When I pull Filtch away, you go back to the common room."
"Harry, no!" Ron started to protest.
"He knows I'm out of bed. There is no reason for us to both get in trouble," Harry hissed back. Before Ron could protest any further, he ran sprinting past Mrs. Norris while Filtch's head was turned. The cat hissed and started to chase him.
"Is that him? IS THAT HIM?" Filtch yelled thumping after him as fast as he could. Harry quickly turned a corner and threw himself into the first classroom, praying that Mrs. Norris didn't see him. Gasping, Harry pulled himself away from the door to look at the classroom.
It wasn't really a classroom. It was more of a storeroom. Desks were over-turned and shoved to the side, there were a few, large telescopes pushed on the other side. There were boxes of dust covered books and, at the back, a large, sparkly mirror stood in front of him. It was the only new looking thing in the room. When Harry looked into it, he thought he saw other people standing behind him. He frowned and stepped closer, all thoughts of Filtch out of his head.
The closer he got, the closer the people got, and the clearer their outlines got. Harry's breath sharply and painfully left his lungs. James stood beside him, beaming, holding Grace who waved enthusiastically at Harry. On his other side was his Mother, smiling gently at him, her hands on Amelia's shoulder. Amelia smile shyly, looking up at her mother for confirmation that she was doing the right thing. Behind them was Snape, who had Sirius on his shoulders, and Pauline who held a small baby in her arms and Michael's spare hand. Michael jumped up and down and pointed at Harry while Sirius stuck his tongue out. The elder Sirius stood beside Snape, looking younger and happier with his arm around Remus.
Everyone looked out at Harry with love and fondness. Seeing them again was like having a knife thrust into his stomach. He could almost remember the sound of his Father's voice and the smell of his Mother's perfume.
"Mom," whispered Harry stepping closer to the mirror. "Dad? How is this possible?" He touched the mirror, hoping with all his might he could slide beside them. Ghosts? With a rush of hope, he whipped around and blindly reached behind him to find nothing - nothing at all. Of course, Amelia, Sirius, Gracie never existed at all. They were only hypotheticals. Harry's stomach sank and his eyes filled with tears.
It felt like he had lost that Ghangzou world all over again. The only benefit of not having known his parents before their death was that he never knew how amazing they were, how amazing his life could have been. That had to be taken from him too. Everything ached.
He didn't know what this mirror was, but he knew it was evil. He never wanted to see it again. Shakily, he ran his hand over his face and took a step towards the classroom door. Before he could reach it, the door swung open revealing the two people he wanted to see least in the world: Snape and Filtch.
"AHAH!" Filtch said triumphantly. Snape just stared at Harry, inscrutable.
Thirty minutes later, Harry sat in McGonnogal's room with Snape, Draco, Dumbledore and McGonnogal. They all sat in silence, waiting for god-knows what. A knock on the door broke the silence. Draco grinned to himself, winking at Harry when they made eye contact. Harry didn't care. He wasn't even thinking about stupid things like detention and house points. He was thinking about the mirror. He stole a glance at Snape, who was still avoiding looking at him.
"Come in," Dumbledore said serenely. The door opened, and Sirius burst in, concerned. Harry's stomach sank to the floor. He hadn't considered that they would be calling Sirius.
"Harry? Are you alright?" Sirius asked. Harry nodded. Reality abruptly set in. Detention and house points hardly mattered until Harry realized that they could form a basis for Sirius not wanting him anymore.
"It seems Harry thought it would be great fun to lure Draco Malfoy out of bed to find a dragon," McGonnogal said with thinly veiled anger.
"A dragon?" Sirius said in disbelief.
"The dragon didn't exist," Snape said. "Harry just wanted to get Draco into trouble."
Harry looked up and glared at Snape, fiercely hating him all the sudden. Seeing the Ghangzou version of his family had filled Harry with even more rage and pain. After everything, Snape couldn't even look at Harry.
"Is that true, Harry?" Sirius asked, frowning. Not willing to give away Hagrid, Harry nodded tightly. Sirius kept looking at him.
"50 points each," McGonnogal said. "And two weeks detention." Harry couldn't help but groan.
"Professor!" Malfoy said, looking at Snape for help.
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Snape said, nodding at Professor McGonnogal whose lips twitched.
"Sneaking around the castle is not only not allowed. It is disrespectful, a nuisance and most importantly dangerous," Snape said looking between Harry and Draco. "And this petty feud between you is irksome. Draco, being a tattle-tale is nothing to be proud of." Draco flushed.
"And Harry, trying to lure out a fellow classmate and get them in trouble. Frankly, your Father.."
"Don't you dare talk about my father," Harry shrieked, shocking everyone in the room. Even Dumbledore looked taken aback. Harry was indignant he was being accused of fooling Malfoy, embarrassed that it was happening in front of Sirius and scared that it would result in Sirius kicking him out, and filled with hate for Snape who had never once given Harry the smallest of breaks. How dare Snape bring up his parents after ignoring him for all this time?
Snape's eyes narrowed. Sirius frowned and Harry knew he had thrown away any chance of living with his Godfather.
"10 more points, Mr. Potter," Snape said. His indifference incensed Harry even more.
"You don't have the right to yell at me!" Harry yelled, since he had nothing too lose but more house points. "You are not my Head of House, you aren't my friend and you're not my family! If you h-hate me so much just leave. me. alone." Harry said quickly wiping a tear off of his cheek. He felt like he was about to explode.
"Harry," Sirius said his voice reproachful and frustratingly calm.
"And you are not my father," Harry snapped at Sirius, turning on his heel and storming out of the door before he could see the hatred on Sirius' face.
"Mr. Potter!" Professor McGonnogal said sternly.
"It's alright, Minerva," Harry heard Dumbledore say. "Just let him go for now." Which was what everyone always did.
Tears threatened to spill over Harry's eyes. He couldn't return to the dorm-room and have Ron see him. He ran towards the only living thing he could stand to be in front of right now, Hedwig.
He had ran so much that night that his lungs were burning by the time that he reached the Owlry. He ran both his hands through his hair and grabbed it at the roots. Between the Mirror, Snape and getting in trouble, he felt moments away from completely falling apart. He sank down on a hay-bale trying to catch his breath.
After a moment, his heart slowed, and instead of a crazed rage, he was left with an empty, sick feeling. He looked around for Hedwig, but she was nowhere to be found. Like most of the owls she had gone hunting. Even though it was irrational for him to attribute this to himself, he felt like Hedwig too didn't care about him. He rested his head on his hands.
A few minutes later, there was the sound of footsteps. Harry's stomach sank further. The polished black shoes and jeans were clearly Sirius'. Embarrassed, Harry didn't look up even as the Sirius sat down beside him. Vernon would have belted Harry by now, so that was something, Harry thought bitterly. Sirius' silence was almost worse though. Was it so hard to find the words to kick him out?
After a moment, Sirius arm came up around Harry's shoulders.
"Why don't you tell me the whole story?" Sirius said gently.
"You heard it," Harry said tartly, but he didn't shrug off Sirius' arm.
"You just wanted to get one over on Malfoy?" Sirius prompted. "You wanted to get him into trouble?" Harry shrugged. They sat in silence for a moment, then Sirius gently squeezed Harry's shoulder.
"Well next time, do something that only gets him in trouble, alright?" Sirius said, smiling a little when Harry looked up at him.
"You aren't gonna yell at me?" Harry said, confused. In his experience adults were always mad, about everything. Sirius sighed and looked across the owlry.
"Well, considering what I got up to at school, I think it would be little rich for me to be getting mad at you for luring Malfoy out of bed," Sirius said finally. "My parents got mad at me all of the time, and that didn't change a single thing I did. I don't see why it would be different if I got mad at you."
Harry shrugged and looked across the owlry.
"Perhaps, I should get mad at you about it. I don't know. This is all new for me. But you are eleven years old. The decisions you make, how you treat people now, that is going to determine what sort of man you are going to be. I don't think you want to be the kind of man that is effected by people like Draco," Sirius said after a minute. Harry's stomach squirmed uncomfortably. Somehow, this was worse than yelling.
"Don't get me wrong, I know that I will inevitably have to yell at you about something, but let's not have the first thing be Draco Malfoy. Who cares about Draco Malfoy? If I'm going to yell at you, it's going to be for something good like drug use or playing with fire," Sirius continued. Harry looked at him sharply.
"So, you're still going to let me stay with you?" asked Harry. Sirius blinked, and some emotion Harry didn't recognize flashed across hid face. Feeling stupid for bringing it up, and bracing himself for rejection, Harry looked away.
"You are not some pal I'm letting crash with me," Sirius said softly. "We're family, kiddo. Grimmauld Place is our home. Nothing is ever going to change that."
Harry blinked at Sirius, stunned. Petunia and Vernon had always loved Dudley, and because of how they loved him Harry had assumed that love meant ignoring the other person's faults. He didn't realize it meant loving them in spite of - and because - of those flaws.
"Oh," Harry said softly. "But what if…"
"What if nothing," Sirius said firmly. "Whatever happens, I'm going to be there. No conditions, no exceptions."
Harry blinked at Sirius, who looked absolutely sincere, more sincere than he ever looked. Unconditional love, Harry wasn't sure that even existed. If it did, it had never been extended to him before.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you," Harry whispered. Sirius shook his head, his hand still on Harry's hair.
"Completely forgiven, kiddo," whispered Sirius. He leaned forward and kissed Harry on the temple. "As I understand it, you are heading into those wonderful teenage years where you will apparently become a terrible, hormonal rage-monster who yells at me all the time, tells me daily that you hate me, spends all your time locked in your room listening to loud music and piercing things that should never be pierced."
"I don't want to be like that," Harry said earnestly. "Not to you." Sirius chuckled and smiled fondly at Harry.
"It really doesn't sound fun for me either," Sirius said. "So how about this: sometimes you will have to be the kid and yell at me, and sometimes I will have to be the adult and yell at you, but when we don't have to be doing that, how about we try to be friends and talk to each other instead of yell."
"I didn't think that guardians could be friends with their kids," Harry said.
"Yeah? Who says?"
"Dunno," Harry said honestly. He just knew that was the rule.
"Well, what's important to me, is that you are able to talk to me, that we respect each other, and that we enjoy our lives" Sirius said. "I don't care about the rules." Harry let out a tentative smile at that, and Sirius butted him in the shoulder.
"I am worried about you though," said Sirius, "I'm worried about how upset you were, and I'm worried about how you talked to Sev- Professor Snape. I don't want you talking to any Professor like that, but especially not Professor Snape, alright? At the end of the day, after everything with Ghangzou, after what he did for me, he's family. " The prickly agitation Sirius had just so successfully soothed reared up again.
"Family?!" Harry said indignantly. "He hasn't spoken a word to me since the Ghangzou. He's not my family." Sirius look absolutely stunned for a second.
"He hasn't spoken to you? Not at all?" Sirius said, sounding genuinely confused. Harry just shrugged.
"It's not like I care," muttered Harry.
"Really?" Sirius said gently. "Because I think most people in your position would care about that." Harry just shrugged again.
"I get how Snape not talking to you would make it seem like he doesn't care about you," Sirius said thoughtfully. "But it seems to me that if someone can talk to everyone but one person, it's that one person they care about the most."
Harry looked sharply up at Sirius. He had never thought of it that way.
"Anyways, regardless of your relationship with Snape, he's family to me," Sirius said. "And that means you have to treat him with respect, ok? I want you apologize for how you spoke to him tonight." Finally, Harry nodded. He could do that, but he'd be doing it for Sirius, not for Snape.
"Is that what upset you so much earlier?" Sirius asked. Harry swallowed. For a moment, he considered telling Sirius about the mirror, but he couldn't find the words. If he tried to describe it…well he could already feel tears coming to his eyes.
"There was actually a dragon," Harry said, offering another truth instead. Sirius' raised his eyebrows in surprise as Harry told him about Hagrid's hobby. Again, Sirius looked across the room, considering what to say.
"Thank you for telling me the truth," he said. "Now, I know we haven't exactly made rules, but let's go ahead and make one against handling deadly animals."
"Hagrid made sure it was safe," Harry protested quickly, not wanting him to get in trouble.
"I know Hagrid would never mean to put you in danger, but Hagrid gives every one, and more importantly every thing, the benefit of the doubt. An admirable quality most of the time, but your you're not losing life or limb on my watch, ok?" Sirius said. Harry snorted, but nodded in agreement.
"You could have told me," Sirius said. "I would have helped Hagrid."
"You - you would have?" Harry said, surprised at this revelation.
"Of course," Sirius said. "I'm on your side, kiddo, always." Harry nodded and looked down at his hands.
He had never been spoken to like this before. He had never had an adult on his side. They were always the people ignoring him, beating him or yelling at him. After all these years alone, it felt odd to have someone there. Instantly, Harry felt guilty about keeping the mirror to himself after promising Sirius that they would talk to one another.
Harry whispered. He couldn't talk about the mirror, but like the dragon, he could admit another truth.
"I miss my Mom and Dad," whispered Harry. He had never said that before to anyone. The Dursleys point-blank refused to talk about his parents, and other 11-year olds wouldn't understand. It felt too personal to say to anyone else, and even though he knew Sirius knew Harry missed his parents, now that he said it out-loud he felt exposed.
"I know, love. I know," whispered Sirius. "If I could, I'd trade places with them in a heartbeat for you," Harry looked away and brushed a tear off of his cheek.
"Come here," Sirius said softly, pulling Harry's head on to his shoulder. "They loved you so much, you know that? You were their whole world."
This was the type of thing that the, unbeknownst to Harry, the Dursley's were supposed to say to him. No one who knew his parents had told him that his parent's loved him, or shared in his pain. The understanding was too much for Harry.
A few tears slid down Harry's face. Sirius didn't say anything, but his grip on Harry's shoulder tightened as the tears slid from Harry's cheek down to Sirius' collarbone.
"All they wanted was for you to be safe and happy and live just an extraordinary life," Sirius said, stroking down the cow's lick on the back of Harry's head. "So even though it's going to be really hard some days without them, why don't we try and make that happen. For them."
Harry sniffed back some tears and nodded.
"We'll figure it out together, alright, love? I promise." Sirius said, holding out the hand that wasn't around Harry's shoulder. Harry nodded and put his hand in Sirius'.
Please Review