After Harry's reading and writing lessons the following day, Sirius and Remus decided to tell him the truth about his parents' death.
Neither was looking forward to it, of course. How could you tell a five year old that his parents had been murdered?
Sirius was amazed that he had been able to keep his mind on the lesson.
"That was great, Harry, really great," he said, looking over the parchment.
After reading from some of his favorite picture books, they had switched to practicing the alphabet. Harry's writing was not exactly good, being a beginner, but he worked hard and both Sirius and Remus could make out the letters.
Harry beamed at the praise, evidently still unused to being told he had done anything well.
"Thank you," he said, softly.
"Well, that's the end of lessons for today," Remus added. "But perhaps we can read to you later."
Harry nodded, then shifted a bit closer to Sirius on the couch.
Noticing, Sirius grinned. "Does someone want a visit from the...Cuddle Monster?"
Another nod, and Sirius gently pulled the child into his lap, then wrapped both arms around him tightly. Giggles emerged before long, even though Sirius was sure he wasn't tickling Harry. After giving him another squeeze, he released this arms so they were holding Harry, but not tightly.
Remus took a seat next to them and looked on fondly. Harry must have seen something in his other guardian's face, because he jumped out of Sirius' lap and hugged Remus closely.
Sirius heard his friend make a noise of slight surprise before hugging Harry back. The child, his pup, loved both of them, but he was always just the least bit reserved around his Uncle Remus.
Then, Harry grinned and returned to Sirius, who welcomed him back into his arms.
"I love you, puppy," he murmured, swallowing the lump that was forming in his throat.
"I love you, Sirius," Harry answered, his voice soft.
Remus reached over and wrapped a hand around his brother's shoulder. The lump seemed to grow. Remus knew that this wouldn't be easy, but seeing Harry there, looking so happy, only made it worse.
They hadn't told Harry much about what had happened to his parents. How could they? He was barely five years of age. He wasn't sure what, if anything, the Dursleys had told him about why he was an orphan. They'd been all too eager to hoist Harry off on him, and while Sirius had known that his pup had been mistreated under their watch, he'd rather hoped that Petunia might have taken him aside. Apologized, of course, but also told him a few words what they'd told him. After all, it wasn't as though Dumbledore hadn't written a very detailed letter about who the child-the baby-they were choosing to accept had been, and would become.
"Harry," Sirius began, hearing his voice sound gruff, hoarse. He cleared his throat, then tried again. "Harry, puppy, there's something that Remus and I want to talk to you about."
As he'd expected, there was a spark of fear in the child's eyes. That was what always happened, whenever there was the slightest deviation. Or, even, when there wasn't. Sirius had learned to recognize the look in his months with Harry. It meant that something was wrong, and it was Harry's fault, and he was going to be punished for whatever it was.
"You're not in trouble," Remus quickly put in, before Sirius could. "You haven't done anything wrong."
"No, you haven't," Sirius added, giving Remus a grateful smile, and hugging Harry close to him. "You did everything right, Harry."
The look vanished, replaced by another one of cautious curiosity. Because, after all, if they wanted to talk to him, but it wasn't anything he'd done, then what was it?
"And we're not sending you back. Ever," Remus put in. "Your home is here, Harry."
Harry nodded, shoulders slumping a bit as he leaned against Sirius. "Okay," he answered, softly.
"We have to talk to you about what happened to your parents," Sirius explained. "It's rather a long story, and if you have any questions, please ask them. You should always ask questions, puppy, if you have them."
This was another thing they'd noticed. The way Harry tensed up if he didn't understand something, especially in their new lessons. After some coaxing, he'd admitted that he had been told not to ask questions. While Sirius and Remus had assured him that this was not a rule in their house, and he'd been happy to hear it, he always tensed up if he had to ask something.
Sirius could hex the Dursleys until they were unconscious during moments like these.
He ran a hand through Harry's hair, gently carding it. The child closed his eyes for a moment, clearly enjoying the touch.
"Your parents," Sirius began, "were very, very good people. They went to school together, the same school that Remus and I went to. Which you do NOT have to go to if you don't want to," he added, emphatically. "Their names were James and Lily. Your middle name, of course, is James, which is after your daddy."
Harry nodded, following the conversation easily enough.
Remus spoke up. "We were all friends, all four of us. Not with Lily, not at the beginning, but there was another boy in our year who was our friend. So, it was James and Sirius and me and Peter. James and Sirius were best friends, just like brothers." He smiled. "But that didn't mean that the four of us weren't very good friends. In fact, James and Sirius and Peter became animagi when they learned that I was a werewolf. That's how much we all got along. But, er, that's another story."
Sirius smiled. "A good story, though. Yes, so the four of us were great friends, and your mummy and daddy fell in love at school, and just after school finished, they got married. I was the best man in their wedding. I'm sure I can find you a picture of that."
"I'd like that," Harry said, happily.
He'd seen pictures of his parents, and just how much he looked like his dad, but Sirius hadn't very many on hand. Often, he'd been the one to take the photographs. Given how many pictures contained Peter, he rather wished they'd made him the photographer more often.
"But as happy as we all were," Sirius continued, "it was a rather gloomy time. There was a very, very evil wizard who had been gaining power over the last ten years or so. He was so feared that almost no one would even speak his name. They called him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, instead. Now, none of us held with such ideas, because if you're so scared that you can't even say a person's name, that just makes them more powerful to you. Do you understand?"
Harry nodded, and Sirius could tell that he did. But what came next filled him with pride.
"Can you tell me his name?"
"Of course. He called himself Lord Voldemort," Sirius answered. "But, Harry, even now, people still don't like to say his name, so if you ever have to refer to him, you ought to say You-Know-Who. It's kinder, you see?"
Harry nodded again, and Sirius went on.
"Well, Voldemort was extremely powerful, and he was killing people for no reason. Partly, those who might stand up to him, but also those who he just didn't like," Sirius finished, rather lamely. Now was not the time to get into pure-blood politics. Another day, certainly, but not just yet. "We all stood up to him, especially your parents. He really didn't like that. Soon, puppy, you were born, and he decided that not only was he going to get even and kill your parents, he was going to kill you."
"Me?" Harry asked, wide-eyed. "But I was a baby!"
Sirius could hear the indignation in the boy's voice, and was glad of it. Even after being hurt and mistreated for most of his short life, Harry could still feel indignant that an evil man would want to murder him just because his parents had refused to go along with him.
Of course, there was more to the story than that, but that would wait until Harry was older.
"Evil people don't care about that, Harry," Remus reminded him. "He's killed children before, so Voldemort...well, he was so evil, so dark, that..."
"He didn't care," Harry repeated, nodding.
"Your parents went into hiding," Sirius continued, "but he found them."
"And killed them," Harry finished.
Sirius held him even tighter. "Yes, puppy."
"But why didn't he kill me?" Harry asked. "Did he change his mind?"
Remus shook his head. "He did try to kill you, but he couldn't. For some reason, he couldn't kill you. Not because he didn't want to, didn't try to, but he couldn't. That night, all of the power left him. He might have died, he might be a sort of living ghost, instead. We do know that he's gone for now."
"And that scar on your head, puppy?" Sirius added. "That's his mark on you. Even though he tried to kill you, he failed, and all that he could do was leave a scar on your forehead."
Harry was quiet for several minutes. "I'm sad Mummy and Daddy are dead, but I'm glad that Voldemort is sort of dead." Then, he asked, "Is that why I need the protection potion? In case he comes back?"
"In part," Sirius said, rather uncomfortably. "But there are other bad people out there, much like him, and this keeps you safe from them. Before then, it was your aunt's blood, because she was your mummy's sister. But we saw how she and her husband treated you, so we had to get you out of that horrible house."
Harry hugged Sirius' arm. "Thank you for saving me from them."
Sirius chuckled. "I love you, Harry. I wanted to take care of you as soon as your parents had been murdered. But Dumbledore thought it was safer for you to have their blood protection. Fortunately," he added, "Professor Snape found a way for you to be protected and happy."
"That's good."
"There's one last thing," Sirius added. "Because he couldn't kill you, Harry, you're famous. You, er, sort of defeated him, even if no one knows how it happened. Everyone calls you the Boy Who Lived."
"Everyone?" Harry repeated, scrunching up his face a bit.
"Everyone. Even kids. Which is why we told you this, even though I thought it would be better to wait a bit. Because we want you to make friends, to not be stuck with old people like us," Sirius teased, tickling Harry's sides a bit, "but kids aren't very good with secrets. So, we wanted to be the ones to tell you, instead of a kid you'd just met."
"That makes sense," Harry said, with a nod. "I'm glad you told me."
"Do you have any more questions?" Remus asked, gently.
But Harry shook his head. "I don't think so."
"Well, if you do, you can always ask us. Now, mind, we might not have the answers, but we'll do our best," Sirius promised.
"That's right. We certainly will," Remus added.
Just then, Harry's stomach rumbled.
"I think it's time for lunch," Sirius observed, grinning at him. "Harry's tummy is making noises, and I'm rather hungry as well."
"So am I," Remus put in. "Shall we head to the kitchen?"
Author's note:
Well, I think that conversation went about as well as anyone could hope for!
Next up: Sirius and Remus piece together what they know about who they can invite over for Harry to befriend...and whose parents or guardians won't scare him (or them!).
As always, constructive feedback would be most welcome!