My Parent's Secret Keeper

Epilogue—Part One

"No, it's yours Harry James Potter. Voldemort wasn't interested in your parents, he couldn't care less about Lily and James, he wanted you. YOUR PARENTS DIED FOR YOU, not that you deserve it. You disrespect their wishes for you. James would have been very disappointed in you."

"Sirius, you have to talk to him about this," Remus said to his best friend in the most commanding voice he could muster. It had been two weeks since the trial that had permanently cleared Sirius of all charges that had been filed against him, but life in the Black household hadn't been the best. Harry, was still recovering from his encounter with Peter Pettigrew, was not a happy child. As soon as the happiness of saving his Godfather from a one way ticket to Azkaban had dimmed down, so did the glow in Harry's eyes. This was the reason Remus was currently badgering Sirius.

"Look Padfoot, what you said to him was out of line. I still don't know the exact words that you used, but whatever it was that you said, I think it hurt him worse than any knife that could stab him."

Sirius just blew off this remark with, "He's fine Moony, he knows that I didn't mean it. That was back when he thought I was his evil godfather out to get him. Harry understands that I would never blame him for the death of his parents. Peter and Voldemort are the reason they are dead." Sirius said the last part pleadingly. Deep down, he knew that Harry was still blaming himself for the death of Lily and James, because of what Sirius had said to him. The terrible twisting in Sirius' stomach every time Remus had brought up this subject reminded him of that fact. Remus wasn't buying it.

"I know you're not that thick. He goes back to Hogwarts in only a couple of weeks. I've tried talking to him about it, but you're the one who caused this damage, so you are the only one who can reverse it. For once in your life, be a man, and go talk to your godson."

"But—" The look on Remus' face told Sirius that he better not argue anymore. Like a dog with his tail between his legs, Sirius walked up the stairs reluctantly. He hesitated outside Harry's door for a second before lightly knocking and entering. Harry was sitting by the window, petting Hedwig. He looked up when Sirius entered the room, a little startled.

"Hey kiddo what's up?" Sirius asked, putting a strained smile on his face. There was a reason he had been avoiding this talk for so long.

"Just writing a letter to Ron," Harry hesitated for a second. "That's alright, right? I mean, I know I was grounded, but that seems like ages ago, and I haven't written in forever, and I'm worried that…"

"Calm down Harry. I think being stabbed by an evil rat man and spending a week in the hospital has put you through more than enough. I think we can officially say you are no longer grounded." Harry looked very relieved, muttered something softly to his owl before she flew out the window, and then turned to face his godfather awkwardly.

"So…"

"So. Is that transfiguration homework still giving you problems? I can help you if you would like, or not. Merlin knows James and I always left our homework until the train ride to Hogwarts." Sirius was stalling and he knew it. When Harry stiffened at the mention of his father, the knot in Sirius' stomach tightened.

"I think I've got it under control. I've not finished my potions yet but…"

"Harry, we need to talk," Sirius said, interrupting whatever was about to be said about potions. "You see… I've mentioned this before but Remus says that… I mean, I don't think that you need to be told, but… you should already know… it's been mentioned before… I'm not quite sure how to broach…" Harry looked horrified.

"You're not seriously going to give me THE talk are you? I thought you were just teasing before, I really already know how… well, how, that works…"

Sirius barked a laugh, happy for the broken tension before remembering. "No, Harry, not that. Ha! But remind me to tell Moony that he has to give you that talk, as the responsible one in this household, in about a year or two. It'll be great!"

Harry smiled, glad that wasn't it. He couldn't imagine anything more terrifying than that talk again. "What do you want to talk about then?"

Sirius took a deep breath and began. "You remember the night that you tried to leave with the Weasleys?" Harry nodded, and was about to say something but Sirius wouldn't let him talk. "Don't interrupt, I need to get this all out at once, or I won't be able to at all." The Boy-Who-Lived looked very nervous at this point, but allowed his godfather to continue speaking. "Well that night some…words…were exchanged, and some things came to light, things that should have… well there's no way to reverse them now, but, well, I needed to really think about them before I talked to you, but I have to do something about it now…"

"Don't send me back to the Dursleys! I know that I said that I would prefer to live with them, but I really wouldn't. I just didn't know the whole situation then, and I was angry at you. I didn't mean it! I promise, I'll do anything… I'll go back to being grounded… please…" Harry was close to tears. There was silence for a second while Sirius found his footing. It took him awhile to even register what had been said.

"Harry, no! No, I would never send you back to the Dursleys! Do you think that I spent 11 years trying to get custody, just to send you back because of some angry words? I promise, you will never see those disgusting excuses for human beings ever again. Not unless you want to of course, but I don't want you to think that I would ever do something like that. I love you. Do you understand that Harry?" The nearly hysterical boy nodded, and Sirius knew that this part of the discussion wasn't over, but he had a bigger fish to fry. "Harry, this is about what I said to you. About James…and Lily. You have to understand that I was very angry that night, I was angry at myself for not being the godfather I should have been, I was angry at Dumbledore for not believing in me, the Weasleys for trying to steal away the one thing that meant the most to me…. I was even angry at Lily and James for dying and leaving both of us in that situation. Temper runs in my family, you see, if you ever meet my mother, which I hope to Merlin you never do, you'd understand. But Harry, I have to tell you. Despite all those things I had no right to say what I did. You, were not responsible for what Voldemort did that night."

"But you said…"

"No, Harry. What I said was wrong. Your mother and father had fought Voldemort three times and lived to tell the tale. That was a good enough reason for him to be after anyone. If it weren't for you, they probably wouldn't have lived as long as they did, because they went into hiding to protect you."

"And died to protect me," Harry said miserably.

"Yes, they did die to protect you. But Harry, they wouldn't have had it any other way. If Voldemort had only gotten to you… well, they would have been as good as dead anyway. You were their whole world Harry. James, he was so proud. Anytime you did anything new, he would explode in pride. The first time you smiled, the first time you laughed, the first time you accidentally set his hair on fire. And Lily… well, she would just sit and watch you sleep. She'd be so jealous if you ever paid attention to anyone but her… you're first word was 'momma,' which was good, because I don't think she would ever forgive the person or object that you said first. It would kill them to think that you blamed yourself for what happened that night. Lily would have shouted herself blue at me, and then you, if she were here to do so. I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, but you defiantly have Lily's temper. The point being Harry, many things went wrong that shouldn't have. But none of them were your fault. I want… no, I need you to understand this. Do you?" There were tears on both boys' faces now, but Harry nodded before staring out the window. The awkwardness returned. "While, then I'll let you finish writing your letter then," Sirius said, hoping that he had gotten through to Harry. He stood up to leave, but right as he reached the door, Harry spoke.

"Sirius?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Did…did I really set my Dad's hair on fire?" Sirius grinned and sat down next to Harry again.

"You sure did, and that wasn't all you did. You really lived up to the Marauder name, let me tell you about the time that…" Their conversation went on for hours, with many moments of laughter and tears, and later, when Remus came to check on them, he found both of them asleep on Harry's bed, with Harry's head resting on Sirius' chest, hints of smiles on both their faces. Remus smiled, and quickly grabbed his camera… in years to come, he would need something to blackmail Harry with, and this would work out perfectly.

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AN- That's right people, over two years since I wrote this story, I have finally written the epilogue you all asked for so long ago. You're impressed aren't you? Never thought it would happen? Well, neither did I, until tonight, when I was rereading through some of my old stuff and I got inspiration. That was about four hours ago, and now, this is the final product. It is now nearly three in the morning, and I have class at 10, so, that's going to be fun for me, but I think it was worth.

I know what I am going to write for the second part of the epilogue, so you don't have to wait another two and a half years for it. And, you may ask why I am writing a part two… well, mostly because I couldn't leave my story with 13 chapters…. Not lucky at all! I had non-prime numbers, so, hopefully you think of this as an advantage to you. So, I hope you enjoyed, and let me know what you think.