"Padfoot? What's the matter?" Concern laced James's voice as he entered the hospital wing, followed by Lily and Remus. "How is Harry?"

Sirius shook his head, taking a shaking breath. "Not good," he started. His three friends summoned chairs and each took seats around Harry's bed, all three sharing the same look of concern. "They-" his voice cracked, tears started to fall down his face. "Here's a list of all his current and past injuries."

He handed the list to them, unable to tell them how bad Harry had been hurt. Instead, he watched Harry whose face was slowly gaining color and was relaxing.

"How could they do all of this to him?" James demanded, voice growing angry. "How dare they take in my son and treat him worse than dirt!"

Tears were streaming down Lily's face, and she began to sob. Remus took the sheet from James's hands and scanned over it quickly, an enraged look growing on his face. He looked up to Sirius "How dare they hurt my cub." He muttered. "If only..."

Sirius shook his head. "Don't go there Moony. You've done nothing wrong. It's me who should be having regrets. You couldn't have done anything. I'm the one who went and got myself locked up in Azkaban. I-"

"Wait, what?" James looked up from comforting Lily. "You got yourself locked up in Azkaban?"

Sirius grimaced. "After you two were, er, killed, I went after Pettigrew. I confronted him in a street, and he blew up the whole place killing 13 muggles and staging his death."

"What about a trial? They could have found out the truth using Veritaserum."

"They didn't give me a trial. Everyone believed I was the one who betrayed you two. They carted me off to Azkaban the next day. I was there for 12 years before I managed to escape in Padfoot form."

"How are you not crazy?"

"The dementors didn't affect me as much if I was Padfoot, so I transformed whenever I could get away with it." James ran his hand through his hair, a deep sigh escaping his mouth.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Padfoot. You didn't deserve that."

"I mean if I hadn't-"

"No, it's not your fault. Its fucking Pettigrew's fault. Don't you dare blame yourself for anything."

"But if I hadn't-"

"Don't blame yourself for anything that happened to Harry. None of this is on you, Padfoot." Sirius shook his head.

"I don't know how you can see it that way, but thank you Prongs."

"I've been trying to convince this dog since I found out the truth that it wasn't his fault. He's been blaming himself this whole time." Remus interrupted. "Typical Padfoot."

James shook his head again, a mix between a grin and a grimace twisting on his mouth. Lily grabbed Harry's other hand, holding it just like Sirius. "Thank you for staying behind with him, Padfoot."

"Yeah, no problem. How was the meeting with Dumbledore?"

"Ugh, that man. He wouldn't believe us. He told us he had proof that Harry was being treated perfectly fine and we must be overexaggerating."

"A simple glance at Harry's medical record says differently," Sirius said, glancing at Harry again. Even after dealing with abuse at his own home for the majority of his childhood, Sirius still hadn't noticed the signs in Harry. The flinching, the aversion to loud noises, his eagerness to live with Sirius after knowing him for only a few hours. It all made sense now, and Sirius hated that he hadn't caught it sooner. Lily nodded in agreement.

The four adults sat in silence for hours after. No one had the energy nor the motivation to say anything. Harry's still body lay between them as a barrier. Everyone stayed lost in their thoughts. House elves from the kitchen brought up food, but it was left mostly untouched.

A few hours past midnight, they began to doze off. Lily first, probably from the exhaustion from crying earlier. Sirius second, followed by Remus. James fell asleep last, unable to keep his eyes open any longer. He couldn't stop watching his son, wondering how the universe could be so cruel to him. Somehow, despite the hurricane of thoughts swirling through his head, the last Potter fell asleep.

Everyone woke up late the next morning around 10 am. Harry was still asleep, and they decided that they would eat in the hospital. Their breakfast was quiet with the occasional small talk. What do you say to your best friends that have been dead for 14 years?

"What is Harry like?" Lily asked abruptly. Their breakfast had disappeared, and the adults were left to the familiar, yet slightly uncomfortable silence. "Is he a good kid?"

Remus smiled fondly. "He is the best of kids. He has a huge heart for others, and is extremely selfless,"

"Not to mention reckless." Sirius butted in. "He has a knack for finding trouble."

"Trouble typically finds him," Remus corrected. "Harry's a smart kid and is extremely powerful. He produced a corporeal Patronus by the end of his 3rd year. "

"What? That's nearly unheard of." Lily looked impressed. "How did he learn? Who taught him?"

Remus blushed. "I did. In Harry's third year Albus ordered dementors to patrol Hogwarts because Sirius had escaped and was still thought to be a madman at the time. Harry hated how the Dementors affected him and asked me to help him learn to defeat them."

"He's a great friend and a good person overall. You would be proud of him." Sirius finished with a small smile.

"I can't believe we've missed so much of his life," James muttered. "Are things ever going to go back to normal?"

"No," Remus said hesitantly. "But, nothing with the Potter's is ever normal. Everything will go back to being okay, though. Sooner or later it'll be as if you two never left."

"What if-what if he doesn't like us? What if we disappoint him?" Lily's voice cracked.

"All you can do is love him and try to be there for him. He's wished for this to happen his entire life. You are both amazing people. I know he'll love you. There's no way you could disappoint him."

Harry's still body began to move at that moment. His hands flexed before his eyes cracked open. He squeezed them shut against the bright light of the hospital wing, and let out a loud yawn.

"Wher' am I?" He muttered, voice thick with sleep.

"Hospital wing," Sirius reminded him. "How are you feeling, pup?"

"Sore, but better." Harry took a moment to stretch before opening his eyes. "Wait, mum? Dad? That wasn't a dream?"

James chuckled, "No, we're here to stay. Don't worry."

"Good," Harry sighed in relief before perking up again, panic etching his face. "Shoot, Sirius-"

"Yes, they all know." Sirius kept his voice calm. "Madame Pomfrey healed you all up. She's going to give us a potions regimen for you, and after we get that you should be alright to leave."

"You don't hate me?"

"Pup, I couldn't hate you. Nothing that happened was your fault. You couldn't have done anything. But why didn't you tell us? Remus and I could have gotten you out of there. You could have lived with the Weasley's."

Harry shook his head. He opened his mouth to speak but ended up coughing for a moment before continuing. "Do you know how many times I begged Dumbledore to take me from there? How many times the Weasley's offered to take me in, and I had to turn them down because Dumbledore wouldn't let me? Because of some stupid blood wards, I had to stay at the Dursleys. For 'protection' reasons or something like that. He wouldn't listen when I told him I never considered it home. That I wouldn't be alive to defeat Voldemort if he kept sending me back there. He wouldn't listen."

"Dumbledore knew?" Remus's outraged look was mirrored by the rest of the adults. "And he did nothing about it?"

"He sent people to check up on me. That just made the Dursley's even worse, so I told him that I was fine and to stop sending people. They made me write every three days, but the Dursleys read every letter I owled before I could send it. Its fine I guess. It wasn't too bad; I got used to it."

"Wasn't too bad?! Harry, they abused you. I saw the list myself. You shouldn't have had to get used to it. Dumbledore should have gotten you out of there as soon as he learned about what was happening. Nothing justifies child abuse." At the word 'abuse,' Harry flinched. "I'm sorry, Harry. I'm so sorry."

"No!" Harry sat up quickly, wincing in pain from the sudden movement. "Don't blame yourself. You couldn't do anything. It was all my fault. If I had behaved better, done less to anger them, made them like me more, they wouldn't have had to do what they did. It's my fault, not yours."

"Harry, listen to me," James crouched down near his son's head so that he could look Harry in the eye. "I may not have known you for long, but I know that whatever you did didn't warrant the punishments they gave you. Nothing warrants abusing a child. The only people at fault are them. And I promise I will do everything in my power to make sure they pay for what they've done."

Harry nodded, eyes wide.

"Harry, baby, I grew up with Petunia. There wasn't anything you could have done to prevent this. No matter how perfect you acted, she still would have acted the way she did. I know the same could be said for Vernon. They are the ones who are in the wrong. Please don't blame yourself for this, baby."

"Ok," Harry whispered, throat hoarse. Tears welled in his eyes, but he held them back. He couldn't cry in front of his parents. Then they would realize how weak he was and stop acting as if they cared. As much as he wished it was genuine, he knew they couldn't love him. No one could love him.

"I'm going to get Madame Pomfrey," Remus said, getting up. "You probably need your potions now that you're awake."

Sirius got up but didn't follow Remus to Madame Pomfrey's office.

"Where are you going Padfoot?" James asked, looking up from Harry. Sirius turned around and grimaced.

"Dumbledore and I need to have a few words. I'll be back."

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please leave some feedback and let me know what you think! I'm welcome to constructive criticism. Let me know what you like, what you don't like, what I could improve, etc. I would love to know! Thank you all for reading and sticking with this story! 3