A/N [Standard 'I don't own anything' disclaimer.]

Well... It hasn't been a month at least. This whole situation reminds me of one of my favourite sayings: when it rains, it pours. Between several major events at work, upcoming winter and all the preparations thereof and falling sick for over a week (still have that accursed cough) it is not surprising that writing fell over by the wayside. No real promises on when the next chapter will be out, although I hope it will be less of a wait than this one.

As usual, reviews oil the gears of inspiration and are enjoyed.

On with the story!

Albus Dumbledore was concerned. After all, it had been a full week since Harry Potter returned to the castle and he still hadn't encountered the mirror, despite the compulsion charms Albus had added to the cloak to ensure Harry goes wandering into that particular room. Then again, it was quite possible that Harry would not use the cloak so casually... Once again Albus cursed not adding a compulsion to use the cloak, but what is done is done. After one last glance around the room the aged headmaster left for his chambers.

Harry was having fun. Oh, sure, he was breaking like a dozen school rules, but it only made it even more fun. On a completely unrelated note, the restricted section of the Hogwarts library was at least twice the size of the normal one. Harry chose to believe that whoever sent the cloak to him knew he might (would) use it like this. And if Minerva thought that the stories about his parents would not encourage him to break rules... well... too bad. Harry was having fun.

It was after the first week back at Hogwarts, at the meeting between Harry, Hermione and the teachers (Filius, Minerva and Severus) that Harry brought up the topic of the other mystery gift he had received: the strange mist-filled vial.

"Did the box it was in have anything else?" Severus held the vial to his eyes, he knew quite well what this was, the real question was, who was this from.

Harry shrugged and pulled out the note, "It had this note with it." he passed it to Severus, who immediately read it.

"... while but one remembers... Funny." the normally sour potions master smiled, a sight Harry was starting to get used to, "It is a memory." he looked at Harry, "It can be viewed in a pensieve, similar to a muggle cinema." He got up and walked over to one of the cabinets in his office, where their meeting was taking place, "I have one, so does the headmaster." he pulled out a small shallow stone bowl with a large number of runes engraved along its upper edge. "The problem is that it is impossible to know just what is contained inside one of these," he gestured to the vial, "without actually going in and having a look." he sighed, "While it is not possible to add any directly hostile magic to it, it is possible to... lock, for lack of a better word, someone inside to watch the entire thing. And if the memories are bad enough..." he trailed off.

"So what can I... I mean, I want to... well, know what is in there." Harry looked down at the small unimposing vial, "So what do I..."

"I'll check it first." Severus picked the vial back up and moved to empty it into the stone bowl – the pensieve, "My skill at Occlumency will prevent any long-term effects if this is a trap, and I will be able to determine if the memory is in any way doctored." the vial almost fully filled the pensieve, despite being several times smaller, "Curious. I ask that you don't touch it until I return." he looked right at Harry, "I'll be fine." With that he reached out and touched the surface of the 'liquid' inside the pensieve. Harry watched in fascination as the man before him disappeared moments after.

Several minutes later Severus reappeared at the exact same spot. He was breathing suspiciously slowly and seemed to fight tears, "Harry, who..." he took a deep breath, "Whoever sent this..." He paused again. After a full minute he changed course, "The memory is completely safe. And, I think that Harry should go in first. We can watch it later." A glance at his colleagues stopped any questions from them. Severus guided Harry on how to enter the pensieve, making sure he remembered how to exit before the memory ends, should he want to. Not even a full second after Harry entered the memory he turned to the other student present, "Hermione, you should go in with him." Seeing the girl in question about to open up with her question barrage he continued quickly, "He will need your support. You will understand why once you're in there." Moments later Hermione joined Harry inside the memory.

The experience of entering into the memory was strange, the entire world around her seemed to fade into a white mist before coalescing into what seemed like the grounds of some English mansion. As Hermione looked around she quickly noticed several things. For one, it was the middle of summer. For another, there were quite a few people present. And if the décor was anything to go by, this was a wedding. Then she noticed the man waiting by the altar. Hermione momentarily froze; it was Harry. Well... a grown-up Harry, but... Then, as she noticed 'Harry's' brown eyes, realization struck her like a bludger: that was not Harry. And as the bride entered the scene Hermione understood just why Severus wanted her here; This was the memory of Harry's parents' wedding. Looking around she noticed her Harry, 'my Harry?' standing to the side, visibly holding back tears. Without another thought she rushed over and pulled him into a hug, holding him as the floodgates opened, while beautiful the entire scene also served as a reminder of what Harry had lost,what had been taken from him. Slowly she guided them over to the first row of chairs, sitting the two of them down next to three young man smiling at James Potter and Lily Evans.

One of them, the one with the largest smile was a tall black haired grey-eyed man who seemed to almost radiate happiness. He jabbed his elbow to the side and whispered, Harry and Hermione still heard it. "Peter, this is a happy day, stop worrying."

The man in question appeared to smile and be happy, but was notably nervous, "We are at war. The whole ceremony could have been done with a fraction of the people... This is just asking..."

The man on the other side of the first interrupted, "Calm down. Potter Manor has the best wards outside of Hogwarts. We are safe here." The only detail that stood out about the man was the slight golden colouring to his eyes.

"Yeah, listen to Moony, he knows this stuff." the black-haired man smiled, "Now, pay attention." the three focused back at the scene in front of them.

Harry and Hermione sat there for what felt like hours, watching his parents exchange their wedding wows. It was a strange experience for Hermione, even more so given that this was the first wedding she had been to... assuming this even counts. As she noticed Harry calm down she smiled and leaned into his side, "It is beautiful." she sighed.

"It is." Harry chuckled, "This is a really good gift, actually." he paused, Hermione knew she had to give him the time, "I have no good memories of my parents, now someone has sent me theirs." they sat in silence, watching as the ceremony finished, "I just wish I knew who sent it." Harry whispered just as the world around them started going white.

Just after Hermione entered the pensieve Severus turned on the spot and walked to his liquor cabinet. Reaching inside he procured the bottle of firewhiskey, 'Didn't have to replace that bottle for nine years. Then Harry Potter comes to Hogwarts and I am already on the third one this year... Should see if I can get him to pay for that, it's not like he doesn't have the gold.' Severus mused as he took hold of one glass, then, after a moment of consideration took two more. Sitting down away from the desk with the pensieve on it he filled the three glasses before taking a slow sip from his.

"So. What is it?" Minerva finally voiced the question.

Severus took another sip before answering, "Their wedding."

"You mean?" the transfiguration mistress paled.

"Lily and James, yes." Severus took another long sip before continuing, "I was there, under polyjuice of course, and still... seeing them..." he paused as all three glasses needed refilling. After the three teachers once more had some liquid courage in their hands he continued, "I can't begin to even imagine what Harry must be feeling like right about now."

"What was it you called him..." Filius scrounged his face in thought, "The boy-who-lost-it-all?" A silent nod was all the answer he received.

The three sat in silence for quite some time before it was broken by the two... not children, not really, returning from the memory. It was immediately clear that Severus had made the right call to have Hermione join Harry in there, the tear tracks and their mutual hug made it rather obvious.

"Yeah, me too." Hermione sighed just as the two reappeared. Taking a moment to recognize that they were back she led them to one of the unused chairs in the room. They refused to let go even as Harry sat down and Hermione ended up sitting on his lap, a sight that forced the three teachers to hide their smiles.

"Harry?" after a full minute of silence Minerva finally spoke, "How do you..." she never got to finish.

"It was them." Harry sniffed, "I... I had never actually seen them... well... other than..." he stopped. After taking several calming breaths Harry restarted, "I didn't have any... good.. memories of my parents before this. And... don't take this the wrong way," he looked at the three adults in the room, "I really like hearing all the stories you have about them but..." he trailed off.

"Nothing quite matches seeing it." Severus finished the thought for him.

As Harry was slowly calming down Hermione found her curiosity rearing its head, "I'm curious."

"Is there ever a time you aren't?" Harry's response was almost automatic by now.

Hermione sighed, "Anyway," she looked at Severus, "Why isn't something like this," she gestured to the memory-filled pensieve, "more common? I would think that wizards would prefer this instead of picture albums."

The three teachers shared a look before Severus sighed and sat forward, preparing to explain. "The short and blunt explanation: It is dangerous." he only gave a small pause before continuing, "Knowing you two, here's the longer version. As you both must have figured it out, a pensive can recreate a memory to almost life-like quality." Receiving two nods he continued, "Of course, the memory has no capacity for interaction, it is a memory after all. The problems however arise when someone spends too much time looking at memories inside a pensieve. It is quite possible to get lost in them." he paused for the gasp, "Not literally of course, although... that might almost be better. No, what can, and does, happen is is that over time the wizard or witch in question will begin to lose the ability to recognize when they are inside a memory and when they are not." he sighed, "If my memory serves, there are currently two people in St. Mungo's long term treatment ward because of this."

"That's horrible!" Hermione's quiet exclamation had Severus nod.

"Yes, yes it is. And because they fail to acknowledge that they are not inside a memory it is extremely hard to treat them." He sighed, "The Auror department has a special team that is trained so they can sift through large amounts of pensieve memories with minimal risk. Even then they still undergo regular sessions with mind healers to make sure." the five sat in silence for a moment. "There is little to no harm in us showing you the occasional memory, the really important things, but it cannot be used the way you propose; the danger is far too great."

Hermione nodded in understanding. None of the teachers, nor Harry, commented on the fact that she didn't change her seating arrangements for the rest of the meeting.

A few days later Harry found himself in the library with Neville, while Hermione was trying to find any of the books about dragons they knew should be there. Harry chose to use the opportunity to speak with his best male friend about something that had come up in the discussion after the three teachers had watched the wedding memory. "Nev, you have a moment to talk?" Harry sat down at the table the other boy was at.

"Sure." Neville put down the book he was reading. Because of the study group the first years had formed they had a lot more free time than usual, Neville was using this time to improve on his potion making skills.

Harry took a moment to consider how to best approach the situation, finally just going for it. "I haven't told this to many people but... someone sent me a memory of my parents' wedding as a Christmas gift." Harry chucked, "Didn't give me a name so I don't know who to send the thanks to, but... well..." he sighed, "You do know your father was best man in their wedding, right?" Neville slowly nodded, suspecting where Harry was going with this. "And... well... your family came up in the discussion about the wedding, and..." Harry took a deep breath, "I didn't know. I mean I had suspected something had... but..." Harry took a moment to gather himself, "What I mean to say is that... well... I may be cursed with having to re-experience my parents deaths one day a year, but I can't begin to imagine what it must be like for you." The two boys sat in silence for a while, neither noticing the bushy head listening to their talk from behind a bookshelf. "So... if you ever need help, any kind of help, just ask and I'll do what I can... brother." Harry held out his hand.

"Brother?" Neville was confused by the statement.

"I'm quite sure that's what we would have grown up to be, had..." both boys felt the sadness, "I found out that your mum was my god-mother and Minerva, that is professor McGonagall, told me that my mum was yours..." he sighed, "I think... I think they would want us to stick together." Neville gave a sad smile and took the offered hand.

"Harry, we have a pro..." at that moment Hermione walked around the end of the bookshelf. "Am I... interrupting something?" she knew she had not.

As Neville started to stutter in surprise Harry narrowed his eyes, and his pupils, as he could all but smell the insincerity coming off of the girl in front of him. Just as Hermione noticed that his eyes had changed, Harry, for the first time ever, felt a slight tingle around his eyes. Instantly focusing on his eyes he shifted them back and shook his head as the feeling didn't go away, merely into the background. "No, we were done for now anyway." he turned to Neville, "We can talk about this some more later. Tonight in the common room perhaps?" receiving a nod Harry turned back to his best female friend, "So... what's the problem?"

Hermione had managed to blink away the surprise at Harry seemingly being aware of his eyes changing and frowned, "All the books about dragons are gone."

That earned a raised eyebrow from Harry, "All of them?"

"Yes." the answer was short and tense.

"Did you ask Madam Pince about it?" Harry fought to keep the amusement out of his voice.

"No..." Hermione answered after several seconds, her voice far lower than before.

Harry smiled, "Then let's go ask her now." Neville shook his head in amusement as the Gryffindor Duo left. They might be only first years but there were already countless rumours going around the school that they were a couple. What Neville found amusing was that they were either totally oblivious to said rumours, a statistical improbability, or, for some reason, did not care about everyone thinking that they were together. Returning to his potions book Neville chuckled at the thought that there was a third possibility; that the rumours were right.