Disclaimer: All characters and plots from the Harry Potter books belong to J.K. Rowling

A/N: This is just a reply to Minea's review: I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and it made you laugh, I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much! Thank-you so much for your reviews, they always make me smile! :-)

Family:

Harry was pacing again. He cast his mind back to the conversation he'd had with his godfather just minutes before:

'Do you want to meet them?', Sirius said quietly, waiting for Harry to lift his head so Sirius could see his reaction.

Harry, whose eyes were red-rimmed from his tears, but his face showing so much joy, just nodded, unable to speak.

'I'll send them up', Sirius said, a small smile on his face as he stood up and headed for the door of his godson's room.

'Wait', Harry called, his voice slightly croaky from crying. Sirius immediately stopped in his tracks and turned back around to face Harry, a confused expression on his face.

'Sirius, what if...', questions were racing through Harry's mind, some good, some bad, but the only thing Harry was able to utter out of his mouth was, 'What if they don't love me anymore?'.

Sirius' expression immediately became one of sympathy and understanding as he replied,

'Harry, if you're going to believe one thing I've told you tonight, let it be this: I have never known anybody love a person as much as your parents love you. And yes, I'm speaking in the present tense. Harry, you could be a toddler or an old man and they'd still love you, I promise you that', Sirius said softly.

"But I'm not a toddler any more", Harry thought, stopping his pacing and sitting down on his bed, his face in his hands. "When they died, they had a baby. Now I'm fourteen, it's a bit of a reality jump-"

But Harry had no more time to dwell on this because he was pulled out of his thoughts by a soft knocking on his door.

His head snapped up at the sound and his heart began to race. This was it. The moment he had been waiting for since he was so very little. The two people he had dreamed about coming to rescue him were just behind the door.

After a few moments of panicking, Harry realised they were probably waiting for him to let them in, or hoping he hadn't passed out from shock.

'C-Come in', Harry called, his voice sounding croaky with nerves as he stood up.

The door slowly opened, revealing Lily and James standing on the threshold, their expressions similar to their sons': slightly nervous but also complete and utter joy and longing.

They walked a few steps into the room, slowly so as to not startle or rush their son. Harry just stood there, examining the two people stood in front of him, as if he was finally verifying that what he was seeing in front of him was true. And it was this that made Harry finally believe what Sirius had being trying to convince him. Growing up, Harry had never had anyone who had really loved him or cared about him. So, it was a shock coming to Hogwarts and having to adjust to people actually taking a genuine interest in him, people who were worried when he was in trouble, or who were made happy just by Harry being happy. This is what Harry had thought had felt like having a family at last. But now he realised that that came no-where near to how he was feeling right now.

Looking at the two people who were stood in front of him, Harry finally understood what it was to matter to someone, what it was like to be a part of a family. They were looking at him with such love and happiness in their eyes that it wasn't the fact that he really does look like a younger version of his father, or that really does have his mother's eyes, but that these people could be nobody but his parents. When Harry had been going over in his head how to greet them, he'd planned to not cry and to keep his distance from them, purely for his own sake if they weren't who they claimed to be, but when Harry finally believed that they were his parents, this plan went completely out of the window.

Tears were streaming down Harry's face as he ran forwards and was pulled into a hug by James and Lily. The three Potters just stood there, Harry resting his head on his parents' shoulders, James and Lily with their arms tightly wrapped around Harry, like they were never going to let him go again. Lily had tears streaming down her face as she gently stroked her sons hair and James had welled up with happiness when Harry had ran forward towards them and was now whispering comforting words to his son as he held him.

'Harry, we're so sorry', Lily sniffled through her tears, 'We're so sorry we weren't here for you when you were growing up, but we're here now baby, we promise. We love you so, so much sweetheart'.

Harry didn't reply, but just held on tighter to his parents, the happiness that was overcoming him leaving him speechless. The three stood there for several minutes, just holding each other, wrapped in their own bubble of joy. Eventually Harry pulled himself away from the hug, so he could get a real look at his parents for the first time in thirteen years. Wiping away his tears, he quietly said,

'Hi', to which James and Lily laughed softly, beaming down at their son.

'Hello son', James said, putting his arm around Harry as he spoke, whilst Lily gripped her son's hand in her own.

No-one spoke for a few moments, there was just happiness that they were all together again, after thirteen years of being apart. Harry broke the silence, whispering,

'I-I can't believe you're really here. You're real...I thought Sirius was lying..', his eyes never leaving his parents.

'We're real, we promise sweetheart', Lily smiled, squeezing Harry's hand for reassurance.

'And we're not going anywhere, we can promise you that too', James said in such a way that Harry couldn't not believe him, so he just nodded, the smile never leaving his face.

'We've got so much we want to talk to you about Harry..there's so much to catch up on...', Lily said softly, brushing her son's hair back as she spoke. 'But you look so tired baby...how about we all try and get some sleep?', as she caressed Harry's face gently.

Harry was going to protest, to say that he just wanted to stay up talking, that he could talk to them forever, before it hit him just how exhausted he really was. So, he just nodded, saying,

'Okay. But you promise you'll still be here when I wake up?', looking from his mother to his father as he spoke, his voice sounding anxious, as if he might wake up and realise this was all a dream.

'How about we don't leave you, even whilst you're asleep?', James suggested, to which Harry looked relieved.

So, that how was the three Potters slept last night: Harry with his head on his father's shoulder and with James' arm wrapped around him and with his mother stroking his hair as he fell into the depths of unconsciousness, sleeping peacefully without any nightmares about rats or dark lords, for the first time in thirteen years.

A/N: First of all, I know this is a shorter chapter, but I just wanted to update something and I've got plans for the next one to be quite long :-) Secondly, this is not the end of the story, in case anyone thought so :-) I was really unsure whether I've written this chapter too soppy or not, so I'd love to hear what you liked/what you think I could improve on :-) Thank-you so much to everyone who's favourited/followed the story and all the lovely reviewers! :D I'd love to know your thoughts on this chapter, so please review!

MyMessyLittleRaindrops