I Fought for You

Summary: On Halloween 1995, Harry learned what happened after Voldemort attacked him and his parents that night fourteen years ago.

Harry sat in the window in the fifth-year boys' dorm in Gryffindor tower. Tonight was the Halloween feast, the first since Voldemort's return.

Halloween was a solemn occasion for Harry and his parents. It was the anniversary of when Voldemort attacked the Potters.

It had been fourteen years since that night.

How James and Lily survived was a mystery that baffled healers even now. Harry was a mystery in his own way, being the first and only person to survive the Killing Curse. One healer had said that the Potters were just lucky. By all accounts, none of the Potters should have survived.

As a child, Harry would dress up for Halloween. He would trick or treat around Potter's Bar with Lily. He didn't have many friends at school for reasons no one understood. A boy named Henry was Harry's only school friend. Before Harry went to Hogwarts, Henry told him his family was moving to Leeds for a new job his father had gotten.

But happily, Halloween was the anniversary of Harry, Ron, and Hermione's friendship. It was Hermione's idea they would celebrate their anniversary the Hogsmeade weekend close to Halloween. It was Harry and Ron's idea to go to the Three Broomsticks for lunch. The lunch would end with an argument about who would pay for lunch.

"Harry?"

Hearing his name called, Harry turned around. He found Sirius standing at the door.

"Are you okay?" Sirius inquired. "I figured you would be at the feast."

The fifteen-year-old shrugged, picking himself off the floor.

"I'm fine. Just wasn't interested," Harry replied. He just wanted to be by himself for a while.

"Come on, Pup. We'll go for a walk. Then we'll go back to my quarters. Your Mum is cooking in my and Remus's quarters tonight."

Harry followed Sirius down to the common room. They stopped in front of the fireplace.

"The fireplace is hooked up to the floo network. Did you know that?" Sirius asked his godson. Harry nodded. James had told him this piece of information a few summers ago. Harry only used this method of transportation in an emergency to get to his mother's quarters.

"Marauder's Quarters," Sirius called, disappearing in the green smoke. Harry followed, tumbling out of the floo.

"Never going to master that, are you, Kiddo?" Sirius chuckled.

"One day," Harry commented.

They slipped on their coats. Harry had left his coat in Remus and Sirius's quarters the day before.

They left Sirius and Remus's shared quarters, heading downstairs to the front doors. Once at the front doors, Sirius pushed the door open. They walked down the stairs out onto the Hogwarts grounds.

As they walked along the grounds of Hogwarts, Harry and Sirius walked in step with each other, making small talk as the Scotland wind blew softly. The weather was chilly on the last day of October. It was a sign that winter was definitely on the way.

"What do you know about what happened after that night?" Sirius asked.

"I know what happened to Mum and Dad if that's what you mean," Harry answered.

Sirius tried to think. What was the best way to explain to Harry what else happened that Halloween? They walked along the lake, pulling their coats tightly around them.

"Well, we thought that your parents were dead. Dumbledore wanted you to go to live with Petunia," Sirius began. "That was until we realized James and Lily survived. We quickly got them to St. Mungo's. Then we learned they were going to be okay. Dumbledore thought that I was the one who betrayed them. I explained James had changed the secret keepers to Peter. I had to take a truth potion for him to believe me."

Harry nodded, knowing this part of the story that Peter Pettigrew was the one who betrayed his parents and him to Voldemort. That was why Voldemort came after them that night.

"After that, Dumbledore apologized to me for thinking I betrayed you, James, and Lily. Then he said you were going to stay with Petunia."

Sirius turned to face Harry putting his hands on Harry's shoulders.

"I fought for you."

"What?"

"I fought for you," Sirius repeated. "I argued that James and Lily had documents fixed that stated if anything happened to them, you were to go to me. I would get custody of you. I reminded Dumbledore that my flat was in a Muggle neighborhood and you would be perfectly safe. Andromeda agreed to watch you during the day while I worked."

Harry remembered Andromeda. She was a healer, like Lily. He had seen her a few times when she would come around for tea with Lily. He also had gotten to know Tonks and Ted. Tonks had watched him for Lily when he was little if Sirius or Remus couldn't.

"Who exactly did you fight with over me?" Harry inquired.

"First, Dumbledore, then I fought the Ministry."

Harry just nodded, motioning for Sirius to continue. He was shocked to learn this.

"I was given a chance to have you for a month to see how it would work out." Sirius then smiled, remembering the looks of shock he got when they returned after the month was up and surprised to find Harry healthy, clean, happy, and alive. "Professor McGonagall was my saving grace. She told the ministry I was the only person you had been around besides your parents. I was with you every day since the day you were born."

Harry asked, "Sirius, how long did I stay with you?"

"Almost a year," Sirius didn't hesitate to answer. "Your parents were deemed able to care for you in September of the following year. We had celebrated your second birthday in their shared hospital room."

"I always wondered why my second birthday pictures had a hospital room in the background," Harry mused.

"They were considered recovered by the end of August. They were deemed able to care for you two weeks later. I moved in with them because the lease was up on my flat. I wanted to move to a better neighborhood. I also didn't want to be away from you. Plus," Sirius paused, turning to his godson, smiling. "You had become quite attached to me. Although when I brought you to see your parents, you would reach for them, saying mama and dada."

"I was wondering. Did Mum and Dad want more than just me?" Harry asked.

"Harry, the curse had damaged that part of her body so badly that it would be hard for her and James to have another baby. They were just thankful that they had you. They tried for years but weren't successful."

Harry swallowed thickly. While he was grateful to be an only child, he was jealous of Ron's relationship with his brothers. He often wondered what life would have been like if he had a little sister or brother. But James was also an only child. He knew what his son was feeling.

They were approaching the front doors when they smelt the sweets and food from the Great Hall. Harry's stomach growled in response, making Sirius chuckle.

"I know your mother is in our quarters preparing dinner, but it's my job as godfather to give you enough sugar to knock your teeth out. What do you say about stopping by the Gryffindor table, collecting some treats? Then we'll head back to my quarters?"

Harry agreed. "Let's go. Hopefully, Ron and the guys haven't eaten it all yet."

Sirius laughed, following his godson into the Great Hall, where they loaded up with treats.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry and Sirius walked down the corridors towards Remus and Sirius's shared quarters named 'The Marauder's Quarters.' When they reached the portrait of the wolf, the stag, and the dog, Sirius said the password, "Mischief Managed."

When the portrait opened, Sirius and Harry went in.

He followed Sirius to the kitchen. Lily had made Shepherd's Pie, roasted potatoes, and carrots.

"I figured you would want a better meal than the one in the Great Hall."

Harry jumped at his mother's voice. "Didn't mean to startle you, sweetheart," she murmured, going to her son, pulling him in a tight hug.

"Mum?"

"I haven't seen you since breakfast," she said.

"Are we ready to eat?" Sirius asked.

"Yes. James will be along shortly. Remus is joining us for dessert."

They sat at the round table in Sirius and Remus's quarters to eat the meal Lily had prepared. The floo roared. James came tumbling out, catching himself before falling flat on his face.

"I see you've started without me," he commented. James sat down between Harry and Lily, kissing his wife's cheek.

"We did. I didn't know what time you'd get here. Harry and Sirius were hungry," Lily retorted.

James ruffled his son's hair. "How are classes going?"

Harry filled him in on his classes and how the Quidditch team was doing. James listened attentively.

"I'll be there," James told him. "I've never missed your games."

Harry paused with carrots and potatoes in his mouth. "Really?" he mumbled, mouthful.

Lily sighed. "We've talked about talking with your mouthful. I swear I taught you table manners!"

"Sorry, Mum," Harry apologized after he swallowed.

Dessert was served when Remus showed up forty-five minutes later. Lily and James served the tea and the treacle tart.

"It's hard to believe that it's been fourteen years," Lily said somberly.

"I told Harry about what happened afterward," Sirius informed the group.

"Do you have any questions, Prongslet?" James asked.

Harry shook his head. "Not really. I'm just glad that I still have you and Mum."

Lily patted his shoulder, kissing the top of his head as she passed him on her way to her chair, sitting down from where she got herself more to drink.

When they were heading to the sitting room, James pulled Harry to him. He hugged him tight, but not too tight. The teen didn't fight him, letting him pull him into an embrace. Lily soon joined them, kissing her husband and then her son on the head.

"We love you, sweetheart," Lily whispered. "So very much."

"I love you too, Mum. And I love you too, Dad," Harry added.

"No, I see how it is. You've always loved Mum more than you did me," James said, pretending to be hurt.

"Dad, I love you and Mum both the same!" Harry argued.

Then, without warning, James pulled Harry into another hug, nearly causing Harry to trip.

"I know. But you are too easy to joke with."

The Potters then said goodnight to Remus and Sirius, heading to Lily's quarters, where they would spend some time together. James and Lily walked with Harry in between them. He would be sleeping in Lily's quarters tonight.

He will return to Gryffindor tower in the morning. It was a tradition they had developed when Harry went to Hogwarts that they would spend Halloween night together. Just like how they've made it through the past fourteen years. Together.

Now that Harry knew the whole story, he would be forever grateful that his parents survived that awful night fourteen years ago.