The sunday sun shone brightly through the large glass windows at Grimauld Place, pouring into the kitchen, which made it most unnecessary to have the need for lights on at this time. It was about 9:37 in the morning, it being long enough in the day that Harry was now on his second cup of tea. In the kitchen Harry stood over the stove, making his signature breakfast; pancakes with bacon and over easy eggs. It was a nice spring day, as fallen leaves blew lazily in the grass, and trees rattling, making a soft backround noise. As Harry tossed the pancakes into the air, holding out the once-filled with pancake batter pan, he hummed a Celestial Warbeck song. While her music seemed cheesy it seemed to fill Harry’s head time to time, but it’s Harry’s fault, as he lets the wireless fill the room with her voice, not bothering to shut it off.
Suddenly there were small footsteps sounding from the staircase. A moment later the steps turned into a soft padding, which grew slightly louder as a boy with blue hair walked into the room. The boy made his way to the kitchen table and breathed in the familiar breakfast smell.
“Good morning, Teddy,” greeted Harry, placing a pancake on a plate that already had 3 stacked on it.
“Morning,” said Teddy a bit dryly.
“Need some water?” suggests Harry, as he walks over to the cupboards above the sink before he can see Teddy nod. He proceeds to take a cup and fill it with water from the tap. His slippers made a kind of a clop sound as they come in contact with the floor. He pads over to Teddy, who is now sat at the dining table, his cheek pressed to the heel of his hand.
“Mm, thanks,” said Teddy appreciatively after he took a gulp of the water.
“No problem,” said Harry, getting back to making Teddy’s breakfast. He cracked two eggs into a new pan and stood, watching over the sizzling eggs. “How’s you sleep last night?”
“Good,” replied Teddy, rubbing at his eyes.
“Not too late, I expect?” asked Harry, though he already knew the answer from the state Teddy was in.
“Just a bit late,” said Teddy, trying for an innocent looking expression. Harry raised a brow. “Okay, just a bit after 11,” said Teddy. Harry continued looking at him with a look of ‘You-don’t-need-to-lie-I-already-know-the-answer’. Teddy sighed, “Fine, I might’ve been up until… 1:30?”
“And what were you doing up so late?” asked Harry, more of a rhetorical question than anything. He flipped the eggs in the pan.
“Reading,” lied Teddy, quote obviously.
“Teddy,” said Harry.
“Okay, fine, I was going through a box of stuff I found in the attic in the afternoon yesterday,” explained Teddy. Harry looked back at the eggs, testing whether or not if they were finished. When deciding they were he took two pancakes from the pancake stack and put them on a new plate. He then put the two eggs onto it, and got the bacon, which had been reading about halfway through the pancake-making. He placed a crooked strip atop the pancakes, forming a smiley face. He knew it was a bit silly; Teddy was 9. But Harry found it as rather a habit, and it’s not like Teddy had any protests. Besides, it was destroyed the second you decide to eat something from it.
“Well, why’d you have the box?” asked Harry, walking over to the table with 2 plates. He placed the smiley face pancakes infront of Teddy, as long as infront of a chair across from Teddy. He then walked over to the fridge and got a bottle of syrup from the side of a fridge door. He stalked back to the dining table and sat down, uncapping the maple syrup and drizzling it as he lightly squeezed the bottles to get some syrup out.
“It was labeled ‘Hogwarts memories’,” said Teddy, taking a bite from the bacon which left it almost fully eaten.
Harry hummed in acknowledgment, trying to remember what he put in there; his Gryffindor cloak, his Gryffindor tie, the first snitch he’d ever caught, probably a deck of exploding snap, a Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes Gadget or two, his invisibility cloak (it’s rare he’d need it now that he’s not tip toeing in the Hogwarts corridors), the Marauders Map, his fire bolt in shrunken form-
Wait, the Marauders Map? If that was in the box, then-
“It had a bunch of stuff in it, stuff I’m assuming you had when you went to Hogwarts. It also had this piece of old parchment. By the way, I wanted to ask, why is it so special?” Teddy asked this last part very curiously, as if the question had been prodding him for some time. “I assume it’s some sort of magic or something, considering there seemed to be nothing on it.”
“Well, why don’t you bring it down and I’ll show you, yeah?” said Harry suggestively.
“Sure,” said Teddy, his mouth a bit full with bites of pancake. “Be right back!” he said, before sliding his chair back and running to the staircase, racing up the stairs until Harry heard the final ‘Thump!’ of one of Teddy’s feet.
Harry’s heart starting beating more rapidly, the sound getting louder in his ears. Was this the day he finally told Teddy about his fathers? He knew this would hurt, considering Harry’s heart still felt sore every time he thought about the, himself. He didn’t like to think about it much, and certainly refrained from thinking of it himself, but it was hard, considering their son lived with Harry, and Harry was Teddy’s godfather, meaning everyday he saw the boy’s face. Teddy looked much like Remus, as his facial features seemed to be more of Remus’ looks. But his eyes were as blue as Sirius’. It also seemed that, while he was a spitting image of Sirius, he also had that calmness and softness about him that Remus had.
Harry was brought back out of his memories of the two he’d considered to be his father figures over the years when he heard the steps creaking. A couple seconds later Teddy entered the dining room, the worn out cardboard box in his hands. Teddy placed the box down as he folded up the cardboards cover and dove his arm in the box. He retracted the folded and slightly dusty map. He then handed it to Harry, who relished the feeling of the parchment. It’s been years since he’d flipped through it, stalking along the corridors of Hogwarts, whether it was with Ron and Hermione or just by himself, taking a night stroll. It’s been years since he’d stalked (“I think it’s to strong of a word,” protested Harry to his best friends and boyfriend as Ron recounted the many times Harry would stare at the map for hours watching Draco, his current boyfriend-recently turned fiancée, while laying in bed in the Gryffindor dormitories). It’d been years since he’d stored this map away, its contents reminding him of memories that hadn’t even been his own, as it was too overwhelming. As he felt the soft but almost sandpaper-like paper, Teddy spoke.
“So, what is it?” said Teddy, “Is it suppose to mean anything special?” Harry’s eyes burned slightly at this. Teddy had no idea how this map was once used by his trouble making dads.
“Something quite special, actually,” said Harry, a little choked up. “Here, I’ll show you.” Harry then called ‘Accio’ and a second later a wand came flying into view. Harry grabbed it midair.
Harry placed the parchment on the stone iron table and pressed the tip of his wand to the parchment. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” Harry said, the familiar words bringing back memories, specifically the one of when Fred and George had given him the map and told him the incantation.
The parchment instantly started printing words, as the ink flitted into the paper. Within moments the words ‘Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauders Map’ onto the front of the paper. Teddy let out an audible gasp.
“Woah, that’s so cool!” said Teddy in exasperation. His eyebrows seemed to go up into his hairline. His hair changed into a pink.
“Yeah. You’ll think it’s even cooler once we open it,” said Harry. He unfolded the parchment and lay it out on the table, making the full design appear. Hogwarts’ corridors, dormitory’s, alcoves and classrooms were printed out fully in red ink.
“What is this?” said Teddy, sounding a bit awestruck.
“Well, this is a map of the school you’ll go to when you’re eleven; Hogwarts,” said Harry.
“Was this thing made by a famous witch or wizard? Are there multiple copies?”
At this Harry gave a hard swallow. At this moment the air from outside seems to pick up, to the point where leaves are rotating in circles. “This is a one-of-a-kind object, actually,” said Harry. He knew what Teddy’s next question would be before it exited his mouth.
“Who made it?” asked Teddy, “Was it someone from Hogwarts? Like a teacher?” Teddy stared at the map in admiration, taking in every detail.
“Well, it so happened to be a map made by…” Harry paused for a moment, his eyes going blurry from sudden tears filling his vision. He blinked hard, willing away the tears. “Parents.” he finished.
“My… parents?” said Teddy, “They made this?”
“Yeah,” said Harry, “They did.”
“Do you know when, or how it was made?” Teddy asked curiously. “And why are their names Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs?”
“Well, when your parents went to Hogwarts, they so happened to be best mates with my dad. They also had another friend, who later on betrayed one of your fathers, Sirius. But that’s a story for another time.” said Harry. He breathed in a long breath of air before exhaling and began talking again. “When your parents and my dad went to Hogwarts, along with one of their former best friends, Peter, they were quite the trouble makers.”
Harry let out a soft snort as he remembered a prank Sirius had told him about in his fifth year at Hogwarts. He’d once set off a dung bomb in class so he and his dad could skip Charms. It’s not that they’d particularly disliked Charms class, but Sirius hadn’t finished an essay, and Remus had jokingly suggested that he should set off some sort of distraction. Wherever Sirius went or did, James went along with it, and proceeded to help Sirius escape. Sadly they weren’t as smooth as they’d thought, and ended up getting a detention from McGonagall.
Harry continued with what he was telling Teddy. “They’d also apparently had had lots of free time, which they used to plan and accomplish pranks. With this in mind, your other dad, Remus, had come up with the idea to map the school and everyone’s names one day in their shared dormitory. This way, when they were trying to commit a prank, or were going around the school, they’d know where they wanted to go, and whether or not they’d get caught or run into someone.”
“That’s smart,” said Teddy. “But, why were their names Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs?”
“Because my dad, Peter and your parents were the troublemakers they were, they didn’t want to get caught with this map. So, they came up with the idea of code names. Well, you see, your dad Remus… at the age of 4 he was bit by a famous death-eater known as Fenrir Greyback. Greyback was a bad person, and mainly targeted young children. One day, your grandpa Lyall had offended Greyback, and decided to get revenge. He visited your dad’s childhood home, where he had been living at the time that Greyback had visited. When he had saw that Lyall had a kid, he decided getting revenge by biting your dad. One thing I hadn’t mentioned about Greyback was that he was a werewolf, and a bite made your dad turn into one.
“Every full moon a werewolf will transform into their werewolf form. Therefore, your dad would become a werewolf every full moon. This is what gave him the code name Moony. Your dad, my dad and Peter had felt so bad for Remus, as each full moon he went through a terrifying, upmost painful and terrible situation, and decided to became animagi. Animagus, which reflect your personality traits, transform you into an animal. Sirius’ animagi was a huge black sog, therefore he got the name Padfoot. Peter had the traits of a rat, so he got the name Wormtail, as a rats tail looks like a worm. My dad, James, has the personality traits of a Stag, therefore was given the name Prongs.”
“That explains a lot,” said Teddy. “They seem like real geniuses.”
“Your dads would of loved to hear that. They were terrific people, really.” At this next sentence, Harry’s eyes became watery again. “I wish you’d have met them.”
Harry got up from the table and scooped up his and Teddy’s plates, as he didn’t want Teddy to see his face. He scrambled over to the kitchen island and placed a statis charm, so they’d stay warm.
“I have another question,” asked Teddy. He paused this time, a bit hesitant to ask. “What we’re my dads like?”
Harry pressed his hands firmly against the kitchen island.
“What were they like?” echoed Harry, shaking his head before deciding to stalk back over to the kitchen table. He sat back in his seat and spoke. “Your parents were… the best people,” said Harry. “They… well, they were just perfect, really. Your dad, Sirius, always the comedian, but knew exactly what to say in any situation he was put in. He was brave; suited the house Gryffindor better than anyone else.
“It was as if it’s definition was based off of him. He was so brave, always standing up for his rights and his opinions.” Harry thought to the time where the Weasley’s, Sirius, Remus and the rest of the order were sitting in Grimauld Place, and Sirius had fought with Molly whether or not it be best Harry ought to know about the order. “He was never afraid to speak for himself. I was a bit surprised after I found out about his past.”
Harry winced, thinking back to the stories Sirius had told him about his home life; the beatings, the curses, the days that went by without him being fed, the eventual escape to his dad’s house.
“Growing up, your father didn’t have anything of a good life. The only thing, he had said, about growing up with his family, was his brother, Regulus. They were together through and through, or at least until Sirius had left, and Regulus had got the dark mark. After that Sirius had never spoken to him, never had considered him a brother again until he learned about how Regulus had tried destroying a Horcrux .”
At seeing Teddy opening his mouth, looking like he was about to ask a question, Harry stopped him. “Yet a story about another time. You won’t need to know anything about Horcrux ever, but I’ll tell you when you’re a bit more grown.” Harry paused for a moment before continuing.
“He was a really good man, and so loving and caring. He put his friends before anyone, very alike to my father. Infact, he was so great that I saw him like he was my own father. He was rebellious, as well. Got a detention with or without his friends on a daily basis. So many stories of pranks and detentions.
“His personality seemed almost infectious. Your other dad, Remus, admitted that to me one day as we watched him laughing with Grandpa Arthur.” Harry thought back to the memory. Him and Remus were at the coffee table infront of the fire, Remus with tea in hand. Sirius had told a joke which made him grin widely, as well as one reflected on Mr Weasley’s face, and that’s when Remus had said that although he’d never admit it, Sirius had a strong influence on people around him. As well, it had been for that reason that Remus had started to fall for Sirius during school.
“He seems to have been fun,” commented Teddy, a soft look gracing his features.
“He was full of life,” replied Harry. He watched as Teddy stared at the wallpaper covering the walls. Moments went by, and for a bit Harry thought Teddy was going to get up, but he talked suddenly.
“What was my other dad like?” he asked, looking back at Harry with those bright blue eyes.
“Your other dad, Remus, he was… well, at first glance he seems the complete opposite of Sirius, but really it’s like Sirius and my dad has influenced your dad into making mischief. Like I said, he wasn’t much of a sane at school as he seemed to be. While he was at the top of his classes, and seemed to be one of the most kind a genuine people you’d meet, he made up a lot of those pranks.
“With intelligence like this it gave him many possibilities to be creative with pranks. He would think of a prank, or map out steps of how to go along with a prank suggested. He would think of all the possibilities of something going wrong, what routes to take, and how to end up without being caught when sneaking out. He was a mastermind, really.
“He’s taught me a lot over the few years I’d known him. When I was in my third year of school, he’d been the professor of my favourite and top subject, which was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Or, for short, DADA. He’d taught me how to protect myself, as well as a lot about my parents. His knowledge seemed to be one of his best qualities. He was also a great listener. Of course, your aunt and uncle, Hermione and Ron, became my best mates in my first year of school. But I couldn’t tell them about everything. Your dad Remus would listen, and always offered some great advice. He was very wise.
“He was so sincere, as well. But, not pityingly. As example, whenever he’d bring something up about my parents, it wasn’t him apologizing for my loss, but instead telling their stories, letting me learn about them through his adventures and years with them in school. They lived through your dads. He knew exactly what to say at the right moments.
“He was also fairly accepting. My mum, Lily, had been what some people had called an offensive term of addressing someone as muggle-born. She’d also been the top of all of her classes, making people envy her intelligence. Your dad had been one of the first to be accepting, to be kind to her. He was, really, the kindest and most fair person I’d ever met.
“When they died, well…” Harry thought it might be best not to bring up this part, as he’d get emotional, and didn’t expect it to go over well with Teddy, either, considering Harry had never told him how his parents had died, but in the end thought it to be good that Teddy know. “They died in the war of Hogwarts, defending the school, defending the students, defending me. They died brave, and were the best people I knew. They died fighting for others, for fighting for a brighter future, and for our current one. They’d had their final moments together.” Harry’s eyes struggled with keeping tears back at this, because really, he’d never spoken to anyone about it. He’d just cried as Hermione held him, or shed tears whenever he’d tell a memory to Draco, or heard a story from Molly, whether it was ridiculous or heroic.
“When you were born they had always spoke about you. They seemed to never get enough of you, just like every parent, but almost as if they were the two people to care the most about a child. I’d hear “Teddy napped for two and a half hours today! Can you believe that?” or “Teddy laughed today, you should of heard it, the sound of an angel it was,” or “Teddy said…, well, what he said was rubbish, considering he doesn’t have any teeth, but he almost said something that we could make into a word!” or “Teddy’s hair turned a new colour today!” Harry thought about all of the times the two had seemed to be so fawned of their new baby that Teddy was the only thing they’d ever talked about.
“Wow… they really loved me that much?” Teddy asked, his voice seemingly gone fragile.
“Of course they did, Ted,” said Harry, reaching across the table and taking one of Teddy’s hands in his. “They both loved you so, so much. You were their entire universe and more. I’d never heard anyone love someone that much. I’d only ever felt it, felt it for you and for Draco.”
Teddy’s faced seemed to be streaming with quiet tears moments later.
“You really think so?” he asked.
“I know so,” said Harry reassuringly. Harry got up from his seat and crouched infront of Teddy. “Buddy, I hope you know that you were their everything. They sacrificed themselves for you. They loved you more than anything in this world, and they showed it every chance they could.”
Teddy turned his body to face Harry and hugged him. “I know now.” He said. For a couple minutes the two stayed in a embrace. Harry had never given a talk like this before, and, with Teddy not looking, let a few tears of his own escape and slide down his face.
Once Teddy let go of Harry, Harry took off his glasses and wiped a mixture of recently-dried and fresh tears from his face before wiping away Teddy’s tears as well.
Harry pulled away from Teddy and sat back down in his seat, looking over the map. He saw McGonagall’s name in the Headmistress office and gave a soft smile; she’d been in a fair share of the memories of his dad and his father figures’ stories. Harry gave a last sweep of the map before pointing the tip of his wand and putting it against the paper, muttering ‘Mischief Managed’ and watching as the ink seeped away. He put it back in the cardboard box, taking a quick glance at everything in this box. What he hadn’t expected, though, was an envelope.
Know he’s in a sudden flashback. One day, at the burrow, he’d been cleaning out the bedroom where he’d been staying, and found a letter beneath the bed. Assuming it was a order conformation from Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, or a letter dropped off by an owl and never recovered, Harry had reached under the bed. When he’s read who the letter was from on the back, it had read
For: Harry
From: Sirius and Remus
Harry hadn’t opened it. Instead, he’d broken down. Finding a letter, or anything, really, from or related to Sirius and Remus had made Harry cry, and sometimes still did. So, when he’d found this letter, especially since it’d been a very short time since the war had ended, he’d ended up breaking down on the wooden floor of the bedroom he’d slept in at the burrow.
For some odd reason he’d never opened it. Instead he’d thought about opening it years later, when it wouldn’t hurt as much.
Apparently it had been stored away in this box, and he’d forgotten about it. From time to time something like this had prodded his mind, but he had never knew what.
“You should probably freshen up,” said Harry, eyes once again brimmed with tears at seeing this letter, “We’re seeing aunt Andromeda this afternoon.”
Teddy let a frown settle on his face. “Do I really have to?”
“Yes, now go,” said Harry, gently.
“Fineeee,” said Teddy reluctantly, already walking to the stairs. But before Harry could hear Teddy walk up the steps Teddy spoke.
“Harry, can you tell me stories about my dads tonight?”
Harry was a bit stunned. He should’ve expected that, since he hadn’t really told Teddy anything too specific.
“Of course,” said Harry softly, and smiled at Teddy.
Teddy gave a smile in turn, before racing upstairs. A few moments passed as Harry now stared at the letter in the box, before hearing the faint noise of droplets raining down in the bath from the bathroom upstairs.
Harry took the letter from the box and decided to finally read it. He went over to the lounge room and sat on the sofa, carefully opening the seal of the envelope. Harry told the slip of parchment out and read in his head it’s contents.
Name: Harry James Potter
Age: 17
Blood status: Half-blood
Parents: James Fleamont Potter and Lily Jade Potter
Current residence: Number 4 Privet Drive
The signatures of the parents who want to adopt this child:
Remus John Lupin
Sirius Orion Black
Sirius and Remus, they… they wanted to adopt him? Now Harry thinks back to when the order was over at the burrow, and when Sirius and Remus attempted to talk to him on the side, Molly had fussed about it being Bill and Fleur’s special day, and that they ought to be listening when someone gives a speech. She said that the two of them could talk to Harry later, but that night there had been no opportunity as Harry, Ron and Hermione had fled from the wedding after an attempted attack from death eaters, and went on a mission to search for Horcruxes.
They’d had wanted to ask Harry if… they could adopt him? Become a son of theirs? At this thought Harry started to break down, tears leaking and pouring so fast that it was hard to stop. His heartbeat quickened as his thoughts started to spiral. They’d considered Harry as a son, and thought of him so much as one that they’d wanted him to become one of his sons. Harry didn’t notice that the shower had turned off, didn’t notice that Teddy would be down any moment to get ready, didn’t hear the steps creak. All he could focus on was the memories of being with Sirius and Remus, and it was a loud and great pain in his head, and in his heart.
- Time Skip -
That night Harry had sat Teddy down infront of the fireplace and told him multiple stories of his dads’ past, multiple stories including his own dad and mum, told him how they’d have a reputation no one would ever beat, would ever best, because they were the biggest pranksters the school would know, the biggest mischief makers to ever walk the Hogwarts grounds. Draco was also there, and held Harry’s hand as Harry recounted funny stories, and memories of Sirius being himself through and through, as well as Remus being the most Remus he could be.
As Harry told these stories he remembered every detail, every minor moment, any little thing, and as he told these stories about Sirius in Remus, he’d relived them, relived the memories of the past, and began recounting the stories of Sirius and Remus’ time so well it was as if he’d been with them the whole time.
The end.