Disclaimer – I own nothing you recognise.

An – I was listening to Ronan Keating – which is oddly inspirational – and this is what came out of it! I know it's probably not very good but…

'That's good enough for me. He's mine.' Said Ron happily as he held the tiny owl out for Crookshanks to sniff. Harry watched him, the letters and envelope still clutched in his hand. He was dreading going back to the Dursleys – but at least he had Hogsmead to look forward to, and the Quidditch World Cup, and now he had something close to family for the first time…and there was something else in the envelope. He tipped out a tightly folded piece of very old-looking parchment, and another note from Sirius, which he quickly scanned, his eyes widening as he read.

'What is it?' Asked Hermione, as Ron leant over to try to read over his shoulder.

''Harry – I never got the chance to give it to you before, but when your parents first found out that Voldemort was after them they wrote a note, in case anything happened to them and you survived, and they gave it to me. This is it. I'm sorry I could never give it to you earlier, and remember, whenever you need me, you can write. – Sirius.'' Harry read out breathlessly. A letter. From his parents. He had a letter from his parents. He had a Godfather…he had a letter – a connection to his parents – it seemed odd, but it was really…it was the only real connection to them he had…

'Wow!' Said Hermione, eyes round and as big as saucers, mouth open as she stared at the back of the letter in shock.

'Well read it then!' Exclaimed Ron, gesturing at the folded parchment in Harry's lap, which he opened with shaking hands, a lump rising in his throat…

Hi Harry,

I'm not really sure what to put – how often is it you write something like this? But Dumbledore thinks Voldemort might be after us, so me and your mother decided to write this in case…well, you know. I know that for us to have been killed Peter would have had to betray us, and I trust him, but I also know what Voldemort's like, and I know he may well find another way to figure out where we're hiding.

Padfoot…isn't in the best of moods. He tried to feed you earlier and you threw it in his face – literally –

Here there was a lot of scribbling and splattered ink –

That was him. He tried to steal the quill. I would change parchment but it makes it more…genuine or whatever…

And now Lils is yelling at Sirius – using 'Levicorpus' on a baby is a very idiotic thing to do, apparently. That would be you then. You don't seem to mind that much though.

Harry paused…this really was from his parents…he could barely believe it, he almost didn't want to, in case somehow it turned out not to be true…but it had to be…

Anyway, explaining what everyone's doing wasn't really why I decided to write this…I just wanted to let you know that one, however you survived and whatever you've done (Quidditch I hope!) me and your mum are proud of you, and two, we love you. And she wants me to tell you that schoolwork's as important as Quidditch – which it's not.

He was joking, Harry.

Here the handwriting changed from a quick scrawl to neat and curly, and Harry knew immediately that it was his mother's.

But really – I know it's probably not much compared to us actually being there, but we do love you – and if Sirius is ever driving you mad, just threaten him with ladybirds, he's terrified of them.

Harry smirked and felt himself go red as he blinked back a tear. He would much rather have read this in private, but he could hardly tell Ron and Hermione that…and he doubted he could have waited until he got back to the Dursleys anyway.

Him and Remus said to say hi. Peter's not here but I'm sure he says hi to.

This letter probably seems very snappy, but like your dad said, how often do you write something like this?

I'm not really sure what else to say except – once more, we love you, and we're sorry we're not there for you. I hope you're only reading this because James and I survived and showed this to you for some other reason, but I know it's unlikely.

Love

Mum & Dad

PS – The invisibility cloak's great for nicking food from the kitchens for after-hours parties!

PPS – No, it's not.

Harry couldn't help but grin. It was just a letter…it was short and like they had said, nowhere near actually having his parents, but it was the closest thing he had…it was something from them…something he had never thought he would have, something he could still barely believe he was holding. Ron and Hermione were waiting eagerly for him to read it out, which he really wasn't sure he wanted to do – he wanted to keep it to himself – but they stuck by him – they deserved to hear it.

He opened his mouth to read it out – maybe not all – but some of it – and stopped. Something else had appeared at the bottom of the page that definitely hadn't been there before. He had no idea how, and for a split second thought he was seeing things, but Ron had gasped too – he had seen it as well.

Say hi to Ron and Hermione from us.

An – well there you go. That's what happens when you write fanfiction while listening to Ronan Keating.

I'll leave you to guess what happened!!