Disclaimer: You already know I own nothing. Why must I put this here?
Chapter Summary: Harry is given the reason behind his fame.
A/N: Told you the next chapter would be out soon. And here it is! You didn't have to wait long at all now did you? :-)
Chapter 15: Explanation
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Three days before Harry's birthday found Sirius teaching Harry to play Exploding Snap, with an old deck of his, on the living room coffee table. Harry was a quick study, Sirius soon came to realize, for he picked the game up easily and had begun to beat Sirius after the fourth game. Remus was sitting on a sofa chair next to them, reading a book on Elementals.
"Padfoot…?" Harry tentatively interrupted his Godfather who was planning the next card he should put down.
"Yeah, Prongslet?" Sirius replied absentmindedly.
"Am I…famous?" he asked curiously, cautiously, causing Sirius to peer over at him inquisitorially and Remus to slowly glance up from his book.
"Why do you ask?" Sirius questioned uncertainly, wondering if he was ready for the explanation he was going to have to give. One thing he had promised himself when Harry was born was that he would never lie to him, and he was not going to start now.
"Evwrybody knows me…and sometimes act…funny awound me. They always look at my fowhead, and even Bill said that I was famous," Harry stated quietly, watching his Godfather's every move and trying to decipher his emotions. Sirius took a steadying breath…this was the moment…and it was on his shoulders.
"Harry…do you know…what happened to your mum and dad?" Sirius asked thinking this was the best place to start.
"Yes," he answered truthfully.
"You do?" said Remus, voicing his friend's thoughts and indirectly telling Sirius that he was not going to leave him alone in this, for which Sirius was extremely grateful.
"Uh huh," replied Harry, sadness in his voice. "They died…in a caw cwash." Sirius felt like exploding with anger.
They lied to him! Prongs, die in a car crash! I could kill those sons of… Sirius's train of thought shifted when he noticed Harry's apprehensiveness at his feelings of hatred.
"No, no, no, kiddo, I'm not angry with you!" Sirius soothed, motioning for him to come over and sit with him. Harry seemed wary, but, obeying, came and sat in front of his Godfather, as both were on the floor.
"I am not mad at you, Prongslet. I'm mad at your Aunt and Uncle. For everything they've done, and now…for lying to you," Sirius clarified. Harry looked confused.
"What do you mean?" Harry inquired in his child-like voice.
"Harry…your mum and dad…James and Lily…they didn't die in a car crash."
They didn't? Then how…
"They were murdered," Sirius difficultly divulged. Harry seemed pensive for a few minutes, his gaze falling to his hands, but then he glanced back up and asked timidly, "What's 'mur-dered'?" Sirius had battling emotions well up inside him. Happiness that Harry did not know what the word meant and sadness that he now had to be introduced to it.
How do you explain cold blooded murder to a child? he thought.
Remus set his book down patiently and joined the two on the floor.
"Murder, Harry, is when someone kills somebody else," Remus explained.
"Who would want to kill somebody else?" Harry asked incredulously. His two guardians smiled sadly at their charge's innocence.
"Bad people, evil people," said the Lupin, in words Harry would understand.
"Wizards can be bad, too?"
"Some wizards…can be very bad," Remus replied sadly.
"Not us…right?"
"No, Harry, not us," said Sirius smiling softly. Harry smiled slightly back, before his expression became pensive again.
The green light was magic…they were murdered… Harry thought, sadness filling him.
"But who…who would…?" Harry asked, his voice beginning to shake. Sirius felt his heart constrict, the last thing he wanted to do was to cause Harry more pain…but there was no other way around it.
"An evil wizard named Voldemort, Harry. And people today still fear to say his name. They call him You-Know-Who," said Sirius. "Your dad was a wizard through and through, and a strong one at that. Voldemort had been gathering followers, called Death Eaters, and had wanted your dad to join him as well. Which James didn't because he hated everything to do with Dark Wizards. Voldemort promised him death for that. Then James married Lily, and had you. Voldemort knew he had to do something fast for when you grew up he would have two enemies he didn't want to have. The problem was, he didn't know where you all were hiding. Your house had a charm on it so that only one person knew where it was. Peter Pettigrew, who we thought was our friend. But Peter, as it turned out, was a Death Eater too and he told Voldemort where your house was. When you were one-year-old…he…he went there, planning on killing all three of you. He…he killed Prongs first, who was trying to save you and Lily, and then Lily, who was trying to save you, too. Then…the killing curse that had killed so many…didn't work on you. It…it didn't work. It bounced back and hit him…no one's heard from him since."
Harry had started crying near the end of Sirius's story, and was currently in his Godfather's arms sobbing. Sirius felt torn to pieces, he felt like crying, but he knew he had done his mourning over Prongs and Lily's death, and that it was now Harry's turn. He, Sirius, needed to be Harry's soothing shoulder, the strong one, the comforting one. Remus, too, knew it would do the situation no good if he cried. It would more than likely make Harry cry even more, and that was something he did not want to be responsible for. The boy seemed to be going through enough as it was.
Merlin knows how our emotions are affecting him already… Remus thought.
The three stayed that way for a good hour. Thirty minutes into it Harry's sobbing had slowly come to a stop but his face was still hidden in the folds of Sirius' robes. The last thirty minutes consisted of Sirius wondering if Harry had worn himself out so much that the boy had fallen asleep. Sirius' thoughts were proven false, however, when after the long hour, Harry showed his tear stained face.
"Prongslet…" Sirius rasped, not knowing exactly what to say.
"Did…did they love me?" Harry looked up at Sirius, then Remus, then Sirius again, his bright green eyes shining with a deep desire to know this one question.
"So much," Sirius stated, tears forming in his eyes. "You were everything to them, their pride and joy. You meant so much," Sirius wrapped his arms around Harry, bringing him closer. "Just like you do to us," Sirius rubbed his nose in Harry's tuft of black hair.
"Padfoot…Moony?"
"Mhmm," came the two men's reply.
"I love you."
Amber met bluish-grey for a moment before they both turned their soft, fond gazes back down to Harry. "We love you, too, Prongslet."
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"Is it why?" Harry inquired, fifteen minutes later, as Sirius tucked him in.
"Is it why, what?" Sirius asked, sitting down on Harry's bed and brushing the emerald eyed boy's bangs out of his eyes.
"I'm famous, because I didn't die?" Harry elaborated. Sirius sighed sadly.
"You are, kiddo. All because your mum loved you so much, that she sacrificed herself to save you. And it worked." Harry smiled sadly.
"I wish…I wish I wasn't."
"I know, Harry…I know," Sirius replied as he kissed Harry atop the forehead.
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"You think I should've told him about the chance that Voldemort might come back?" asked Sirius, who sat at the kitchen table drinking a Butterbeer.
"No. Not yet, anyway. He shouldn't have to worry about that until later. He's young." Remus took a sip of his tea, seated across from Sirius.
"Yeah, I guess your right. He wishes it'd have never happened, you know."
"Who wouldn't? In exchange for fame, he lost his parents. I'd have wanted it to never have happened, as well."
"It kills me to see him heartbroken, Moony."
"It had to be done, Padfoot. He has to go through the pain of it if we ever want him to move on. You had to tell him sometime, better now than later, don't you think?"
"Granted…but still."
"If it's any recompenses, I think you did good tonight. You went through with explaining the truth to Harry in a way he would understand. Not many people can do that. You didn't think you'd be able to do it, but you did," Remus said truthfully. Sirius smiled gratefully.
"Thanks, Moony."
"It's the truth."
"Not just for that."
"No?"
"No."
"Why then?"
"For being there for me tonight. I meant a lot to me. I was sure you'd walk out and leave it all up to me."
"What kind of friend do you take me for?" Remus asked smirking. Sirius grinned sheepishly.
"Marauders stick together, our number one rule, remember?"
"How could I forget?"
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A/N: You all seemed to love that Sirius-Molly argument. Haha. I liked it when I was writing it. It seemed to just 'fit', in my opinion anyway. Thanks to all the reviewers who've been with me from the start and also to the ones who just recently found this story. Keep reviewing and I'll keep posting. Most of the questions asked in the reviews will be answered in later chapters. As for Harry and his potions, he only had to drink them for a week and he's been with Sirius and Remus for more than a few weeks now. Chapter 16 will be out hopefully this week and yes it will contain Harry's b-day.
