“Hermione, it is too bloody early!”

“Ron, honestly, I know for a fact your mother taught you to never swear in front of a lady!”

“What lady?”

SLAP!

“OW!”

A snort resounded from behind them and Ron scowled at its source. “Shut up, Padfoot! I’m too bloody tired!”

“I’m sorry, Ron, but that was too funny.” Sirius replied between laughs.

“Will you two hush up!”

“Says the lady who just slapped me!”

“Oh now I’m a lady, huh?”

“You know that slap was louder than I’ve been this entire time!”

“You know, Ron, if you keep this up, you’ll never pass Stealth and Tracking during Auror training.” A muffled but familiar voice remarked from beyond the bedroom door.

Ron blushed and Hermione rolled her eyes. When Sirius felt he had calmed down enough from his laughing fit, he cleared his throat and knocked on the door. “Enter!”

The animagus popped his head in to find Harry and Ginny spooned on the bed, covered by the fluffy white comforter. “Hey there, pup! We going?”

“Just give us a few minutes.” Harry whispered in reply.

“Are they decent?” Ron squeaked behind Sirius.

“Tell him he can come on in. Ginny fell back to sleep once she got here.” Harry relaxed against the sheets as the door opened fully.

“AH!”

“SHHH!”

“You said they were decent!” The redhead hissed at Sirius.

“They’re both wearing clothes! Decent enough for ya?” Sirius argued.

“Only you would think we had sex with a baby in the room, Ronald!” Ginny remarked, not bothering to open her eyes.

“You’re…spooning!”

“So?!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” A cry emerged from the far side of the room.

“Brilliant! You’ve woken up Severus.” Ginny threw the covers off and scowled at her brother. “I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

“Whatever!” Ron rolled his eyes. “Are we going or what?”

Harry sighed and threw the covers off as well.

“Merlin’s beard! It’s gorgeous!” Tonks gasped as she peered out the window for the first time. “It’s so green! Remus, you didn’t tell me it was this beautiful.”

“I’ve never seen if from this high up, to be honest.”

“Yeah…from up here, it looks like paradise, doesn’t it?” Sirius added. “Hey, I bet you I can find the house first, Moony!”

“You’re on!”

Harry chuckled as he steered the car around the area. It was actually Remus who found the house first, having recognized the stream that ran through the grove of trees behind the house.

Sirius pouted childishly. “When did those houses get there?! I don’t remember them ever being there.”

“That’s because you and James were always so busy playing around back. It’s a wonder you two even knew what the front of the house looked like.”

Harry landed just on the outskirts of town and decided to drive back to the house in order to lull the infants back to sleep. Ginny took it upon herself to point out all the landmarks she knew as well as mention all the goings-on around town.

“That’s the park where they have the free barbeque every Sunday.”

“Where?!”

“Most of the town gathers here, I reckon, every Sunday just to hang out. And they’re so nice, all of them. They’re so welcoming. Harry played football with them last Sunday.”

“Football?”

“Oh! Did you win?”

“Football?”

“My team did, yeah.”

“He was brilliant.”

“What’s football? It sounds interesting.”

“Wait a minute, is this the same football Dean fancies playing?”

“Yeah.” And the majority of the ride to the house was taken up explaining the rules of the game as well as the way it has diversified across borderlines. “Hermione, I didn’t peg you as a football fan.”

“Well…I—I’m not.” The brunette stuttered.

Harry narrowed his eyes at her and smirked. “Mm-hmm…”

“So…do you have wards around you property, Harry?” Hermione asked, quickly changing the subject.

Harry snorted and turned back towards the road. “Yeah, I set them up last weekend.” He explained. “There are one set of wards around the outer edge of the property, which began when we crossed that stone bridge back there. Another set is around the four houses at Haven’s Place, and that one encompasses the woods around back. Another set is just around my house in particular, which includes the garden, and that one is laced with a Fidelius Charm, which would activate at my will.”

“Who’s the Secret-Keeper?”

“Me.” They pulled up the front of the house. “The final one is around the house itself and that’s laced with a second Fidelius-like Charm—one of my own design—as well as numerous other protections and spells and whatnot.” He shut off the engine. “And all of them are connected to me.”

“Which means…?”

“Not even a bug can cross my wards without my knowledge, not even a microscopic one. If Voldemort himself wished to rise again—which would be impossible—and kill my family, he’d have a hell of a time trying to cross even the first set of wards. That set of wards is powerful enough, and they all increase in intensity as you go in.”

“Damn, you’re paranoid!” Sirius snickered. 

“Damn straight I am.” Harry snorted and jumped out of the car. He and Hermione helped Tonks and Ginny, and their sleeping charges, out before letting the guys out the back. He let everyone into the house and showed them around the second floor and to their rooms, since he had to put both Sev and Teddy to bed anyway. After some prodding, Ron and Hermione decided to share the corner guestroom, Remus, Tonks, and Teddy would take the room across the hall, and Sirius would sleep on the couch downstairs.

“Or I can sleep in my dog form in the middle of the hallway.” The animagus smirked.

“Sirius, I just cleaned the carpet last weekend. I don’t want dog fur everywhere!” Ginny scowled, much to Sirius’ amusement.

As everyone unpacked whatever little they brought, Ginny laid Severus down on the master bed and nestled him in pillows. They decided to forego bringing Sev’s crib or playpen, since Harry noticed the infant slept through the night whenever he slept in bed with them. The teenager volunteered to watch the two sleeping infants while Harry took everyone on a quick tour of the livable areas of the house.

Despite having practically lived here before, Harry noted both Sirius and Remus studied every corner of the house as if they’ve never been here.

“Do things seem new to you two?” Harry asked them. “I mean…you’ve seen this house before…everything—”

“Well, actually…” Sirius exchanged a look with Remus.

“Everything sort of…seems new.” The werewolf replied.

“Like the furniture…that wall.” Sirius pointed to the new wall.

“Well the wall is new.” Harry remarked, “But the furniture is all from before.”

“Oh, yeah…we know. It’s just…it…feels…different.”

“Different?” Harry’s eyebrows furrowed.

“A—A good kind of different!” Remus assured him. “What Padfoot is trying to say is that the house has a different…uh…”

“Aura?”

“Yes! Thank you, darling. Everything has a different aura now. It’s—”

“That’s what’s new.” Sirius nodded.

“Exactly.”

“Ah.” Harry nodded. He could understand auras.

After the quick tour concluded, Ginny pulled the group aside and explained the plans she and Harry agreed on for the house. She left out her plans for the secret room, of course. She decided to only let Hermione and Tonks see those particular blueprints. She made doubly sure to emphasize to the boys just how much reinforcement was needed for the roof. When she was absolutely sure they understood just what was needed, she shooed the men out the door and locked them out of the master bedroom so that she would be able to go over her secret plans with the girls.

“Well…I guess we’re not needed.” Harry mumbled at the door before turning back to his companions. “Would you guys like to get straight to work on the roof or…” He eyed Sirius and Remus carefully, “…would you like to, uh…see your special cave again.”

The two old friends exchanged a look and Sirius cleared his throat. “Ahem! Well, it’s uh…your special cave now, actually—”

“No.” Harry replied before he could finish, “It’s still yours. It’s just as you left it and…” The teenager didn’t know how to put his feelings into words. Technically, the house was his now and the cave, as it was on the property, was his as well. However, claiming it as his felt…wrong…to Harry. Sirius and Remus grew up playing in that cave along with his father. That special place was one of the few things they had left of him. He didn’t want to take that away from them. “Just…I’d appreciate it if you just came over with me. I don’t…really want to move anything…ever. I just…” Want to hear stories about him. Want to feel a connection to him. Want to get to know him—good, bad, and ugly.

“Sure, pup.” Sirius nodded, eager yet reverent. “Let’s go over right now, why don’t we?”

“Uh…you guys go ahead.” Ron cleared his throat awkwardly. “I think I’ll…either check out the other three houses…or sleep. Harry, you don’t mind, do you, mate?”

“No, absolutely not! The wards around each of them should recognize you. Just touch the handle and they’ll all open.”

“Got it.”

“Shall we?” Remus gestured towards the staircase.

The walk to the cave was made in silence, each man lost in his thoughts. Once they reached the cave opening, it was Sirius who stepped up first. “My god…” He approached the cave very much like Harry approached his parents’ graves last weekend—awed and reverent; this was sacred ground for him. The only sounds that filled the air were the babbling of the brook and the crunch of dried leaves as Sirius made his way inside.

Sirius could feel a large lump forming in his throat. It was getting harder and harder to swallow. The walk over here had brought back so many ghosts from his past. Squeals of laughter echoed in his ears as they passed a familiar tree. “Come along, Sirius! It’s not much farther. You’re going to like it, I promise!” The animagus could swear he saw, from the corner of his eye, two blurs of light rush by him—one with messy black hair and the other with curly brown locks. He blinked and the blurs had vanished. The moment the sight of the brook reached his eyes, he saw the ghosts of two boys splashing each other from opposite banks. He blinked and they too were gone. Then there was the cave.

“Oh, Prongs…” Sirius breathed, taking in the state of their secret hideout. The sleeping bags were just as they left them all those years ago. The Gryffindor colors were still there, his posters still decorated the walls, and the candy and junk food still littered the ground—just as they left it. “How long’s it been, you reckon, Moony?” Sirius croaked. He sounded on the verge of tears.

“Over twenty years, Padfoot.” Remus replied, his voice just as soft and deferential. He picked up an empty chocolate frog box from one of the sleeping bags and smiled at it before taking a seat on the bag itself.

“Has it really been that long?” Sirius whispered, fingering a photo of him, Remus, and James taken in this very cave that one of them stuck onto the wall.

“Summer before seventh year—that was the last time we were all here together.” Remus watched as Sirius sighed and took a seat on his own old sleeping bag and leaned back against the wall, his eyes shut.

“Lily never came here?”

“Never got the chance to, I don’t think.” Remus shook his head sadly. “Everything just happened too quickly after we graduated. I don’t think James ever got the chance to take her here.”

The age lines around Sirius’ face really began showing then, and when he spoke his voice sounded weary. “It’s a shame. She’d have loved this place.”

A rustling noise from the direction of James’ old sleeping bag had Sirius jerking his eyes open and looking towards its source. For a moment, he thought he saw James sitting there, just like he used to—with his back against the wall, one leg stretched out, the other bent at the knee, and a cocky smirk plastered onto his face. His glasses were askew, but his eyes were twinkling as he smiled at Sirius. “What’s on your mind, Padfoot?”

Prongs? Sirius’ breath hitched in his throat and his eyes watered so quickly he had to shut them before any tears began to fall.

“Sirius?” The voice repeated in concern. Yet now it sounded a little different. When the animagus opened his eyes once again, James’ chocolate browns were replaced with Lily’s emeralds. It had been Harry he had been looking at. Harry, not James.

Damn it! What is wrong with me?! Sirius cleared his throat and quickly swiped at his eyes. “Sorry, pup…” He took a deep breath to try to calm his emotions. “I guess coming here was harder than I thou—” His voice cracked at the last word and he quickly cleared his throat several more times.

“Sirius, it’s okay to let it out, you know?”

“I know. I know.” His godfather nodded, waving him off.

“Why don’t you both tell me about him?” Harry suggested, hugging his knee to his chest. “I’d love to hear about him. Both of them, really. Anything at all.”

“Are you sure you still want to hear about it?” Remus asked, giving Harry a bemused smile. “I mean…knowing what we did to Severus and all?”

“What you did to Sev you did when you were…” Harry cocked his head one way and then the other, internally debating which word he should use, “…stupid.”

Sirius’ eyes shot open and he stared at Harry for a second before turning to Remus. “Wow, he doesn’t beat around the bush, does he?”

“I don’t consider youth an excuse.” Harry smirked.

“He’s harsh.”

“He’s right.” Remus raised an eyebrow at the animagus.

“I still can’t believe he was in love with Lily.”

“The feeling was entirely mutual.” Harry interjected.

“How do you know, Harry?”

“Trust me, Sirius. I do!” His godson’s tone of voice made it abundantly clear to both men that that particular line of conversation was closed.

The animagus’ shoulders sagged and he sighed. “Look…if it’s any consolation, I…don’t particularly feel proud of that point in my life.”

“Nor do I.” Remus added.

“Nor would your father had he been here.” Sirius threw in.

“Well I’m not particularly proud of any of you either.” Harry replied, “But…it was one choice out of…so many more.” His gaze moved from one to the other and back. “It was one story out of…a lot of others. I mean…just because I helped Fred and George with a few pranks doesn’t mean I’m a prankster and I love pranking. My mom fell in love with my dad, and if I’m anything like her, and you two tell me I am, then I know she fell in love with him for a reason. He was second tier to Severus Snape, true, but there has to be a reason for that.”

Sirius snorted. “James would be rolling in his grave if he found out he was only second tier.”

 “Who did she fall in love with? I want to get to know him—good, bad, and ugly.”

Sirius snickered. “Well your father was certainly all three.”

“Padfoot!”

“Except for the ugly part. I have it on semi-good authority that he was rather dashing. Of course, that’s second to me.” 

“You sound like Gilderoy Lockhart.”

“I’m kidding, Moony!” The two friends laughed at each other and Harry laughed at their antics.

“There’s more to a person than what they did as a teenager.” Harry gestured towards the both of them. “You both turned out okay. Now I want to know about my dad.”

The two old friends exchanged wistful smiles.

“To be honest with you,” Remus started, “because I know Sirius isn’t going to say it, you had us down pat back in Grimmauld Place on Wednesday. James was very much like Draco Malfoy and we were very much like his gang.” The werewolf grimaced. “Each of us had our reasons for hanging out with him.”

“But your father had some redeeming qualities too!” Sirius threw in. “Did you know it was his idea to become animagi in order to keep Remus company whenever he transformed?”

“It was a stupid idea! I believe that’s one of the things Harry meant when he said ‘stupid’.” Remus scowled at his friend.

“It was selfless, Moony!” Sirius argued. “And we all know James had that in spades when he wanted to.”

“It was not entirely selfless, Sirius.”

“Maybe not, but I didn’t see you protesting so readily at the time.”

“I was ‘stupid’ at the time, remember?”

Sirius rolled his eyes and turned back to his godson. “Regardless of how we all acted at school, here it was entirely different.”

Remus nodded in agreement. “Yeah, here your grandpa wouldn’t stand for James having an attitude.”

“Or any of us for that matter.” Sirius smirked.

“Here, James wasn’t the king of the school. He didn’t strut around. He didn’t hex people. Here, James was James, not James-the-showoff, just James—the man your mother fell in love with.”

“This was our haven, Harry.” Sirius smiled at his godson but Harry could see he was a thousand miles away. “Our Haven Place.”

“The road was aptly named.” Remus chuckled. “This home, this cave, this town, this whole place houses some of the best memories of our lives.”

Harry smiled and leaned forward, eyeing each of them intently. “Tell me about them.”

And they did. There were too many stories to tell, of course, so the two old friends merely stuck to the more memorable ones. They spent a good hour and a half in that cave, telling Harry one story after another. The teenager heard tales of how his father and his two best friends used to camp out in the woods during those warm summer nights, telling each other ghost stories around a magical campfire. When the weather was clear, and the stars were out, they would sometimes sleep in the fields making up stories about the different constellations. Sirius told Harry about how James was a model member of the wizarding community here at Godric’s Hollow. He was always helping out his mother’s friends with errands here and there.

“To be honest, Harry, seeing James while he was here and seeing James while he was at Hogwarts almost makes you feel like they were two different people.” The animagus explained. “I think his Hogwarts personality was something he developed when he left home because he could; and then it kind of stuck throughout the years, becoming a reputation he always wanted to maintain.”

“That was until he became serious about your mother.” Remus added.

“Exactly! James allowed your mother and no one else to deflate his ego to a manageable size.” Sirius chuckled. “He really loved her.”

By the time Ginny found them in the cave, Harry felt like he had a more complete picture of his father—good side and bad—and what he realized was that James Potter was nothing more than a regular man. He was not perfect. He was not an angel. He was not a bad guy, either, though. He had his good traits and his bad. He did things he eventually regretted, but worked to atone for his sins. He had some dark moments as well as some shining ones. He made his mistakes and then learned from them. He was a regular, flawed human being—just like Harry. The realization brought a smile to the teenager’s face.

“Yoohoo! Excuse me!” A beautiful voice sang from just beyond the cave entrance.

“Merlin’s beard! This place is just magnificent!” Another familiar voice exclaimed from beside the first.

“I know. Isn’t it?”

All three men grinned.

“Harry?”

“Come on in, sweetheart.” Harry replied.

“Remus? Are you in there, love?”

“Yes, I’m in here too.”

Ginny ducked inside the entrance and her eyes immediately found Harry’s. “Look who decided to wake up and look for you.” She nudged the infant in her arms. Severus pushed up against her chest and rubbed his eyes with a little fist, yawning.

The moment he saw Harry, his eyes lit up. “A ba!” And he dove towards the teenager.

“WHOA!”

“WHOA!”

“Hey!”

Ginny caught the infant before he could fall, but both Harry and Sirius were on their feet in an instant, reaching out to try to catch the baby.

“Ah. Ah. Ahhhhhhhh!” Severus began crying when he realized he was still in Ginny’s arms.

“Easy there, cub. Hold on!” Harry took the infant in his arms and both Ginny and Sirius helped support his back while Harry adjusted his hold. “He’s fine.” He nodded at Ginny and then his godfather. “Thanks, Padfoot.”

“Yeah.” The animagus nodded and then turned back to Remus. The werewolf was smirking at him. Sirius frowned, “What?!”

“Nothing!” Remus turned away quickly and focused on Tonks and Teddy. 

“What are you laughing at?”

“I’m not laughing at anything.”

“You’re laughing at something.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Wow! This place is pretty! Was this your secret hideout, sweetheart?”

“It sure was.”

“Sirius? Remus? Would you two mind terribly if we cleaned up the half-eaten chocolate bars, at least?” Ginny asked.

“Oh no!”
“Absolutely!”
“Go right ahead.”
“Be our guest.”
“In fact, we’ll help.”

With Remus conjuring a trash bag, Sirius waved his wand and all the half-eaten food was swept up and quickly cleaned away.

“Thank you! The rest can definitely stay where they are.”

“Much obliged, madam.” Sirius mock-bowed to a grinning Ginny before sweeping his arm out in a ‘ladies first’ gesture.

The group trekked back to the house, but decided to forego the back door and took the side gate to reach the front yard. Tonks expressed an interest in touring the house Harry was offering them, so the group met up with Ron and Hermione in front of Harry’s house and the teenager took them on a tour of the houses next door and across the way.

“These two houses are unfurnished. However, that house in the corner is furnished, but I’m giving that back to Aberforth Dumbledore, as that used to be his family’s house when they lived here almost a century ago.”

“Dumbledore?” Sirius raised his eyebrows. “As in—”

“Albus’ brother.” Harry nodded. “He’s the owner of the Hog’s Head. When I offered to give the house back to him, he accepted.”

“Albus didn’t?” Remus sounded intrigued.

“Too many bad memories. Although…I really think it should be Aberforth who should be complaining, but he wants the house back, so…”

“What sort of bad memories?”

“That’s between me and Dumbledore.” Harry waved his hand and opened the door to the house across from his and next to Dumbledore’s. “If he wants to tell you, he will. It’s not my story to tell. Suffice to say, I am not letting anyone in that house until I go through it with a fine tooth comb and get rid of anything…not supposed to be there.”

“Harry, you shouldn’t have said that. You made Sirius curious.”

“I’m not the only one who’s curious now. Am I, Moony?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Harry snorted and led the group through both empty houses. It was going to be up to each of the couples to choose their desired house, if they wanted a house. Ginny was subtly pushing both couples in the right direction by pointing out the features of each dwelling and listing their advantages. In addition to that, she listed the advantages of living in Godric’s Hollow in general. Sirius joined in the effort as well by nagging both Remus and Hermione to accept the offer. He could already tell Ron and Tonks both wanted to say yes. Harry called a halt to the tour when he noticed Remus’ face contort in annoyance.

“Come on, Padfoot. Let’s let them decide for themselves, eh?” After making sure Severus was secure in his arms, Harry put an arm around his godfather’s shoulders and steered him towards the door. “How about we tackle that roof now? What do you say?” Remus threw the teenager a grateful look and went to help his wife with Teddy.

It didn’t take Ginny much effort to convince the girls to come with her to the farmer’s market while the guys fixed the roof. What did take much effort, however, was convincing Severus to come with them as well.

“Haweh!”

“Come on, cub. There won’t be much to see here. We’ll be working on the roof the entire time. You’ll get bored.”

“Fff-pay hehw!”—‘S-T-A-Y’

“You won’t even be able to go around in your walker. We’ll be on the second floor the whole time.”

“Fff-pay!”—‘S-T-A-Y’

“Come on, love, we’ll take you in the buggy!”

“Haweh!” Sev hugged Harry around the neck and buried his face in his shoulder.

“You’ll be riding right next to Teddy. Don’t you want to play with Teddy?”

“HAWEH!”

“Severus—”

“HAWEH!!!” Severus screamed at the top of his lungs and then began to cry on the teenager’s shoulder.

“Clingy little runt, isn’t he?”

SLAP!

“OW!” Sirius rubbed his stinging shoulder vigorously as he shot Ginny an indignant look. “I was only joking!”

“Not funny!” The teenage girl sent Sirius a glare that made the animagus cringe.

A snort resounded from behind and Sirius scowled at its source. “Shut up, Moony!” That only made the werewolf and his wife laugh all the harder.

Ginny snuck up behind Harry and encircled his waist from behind. “Come on, love…” She breathed gently in his ear—and thus Severus’—making sure to infuse her voice with just a bit of white magic. Sev immediately began to calm down. “Come on…Don’t you want to start working on your room? Sev’s room? I thought you were excited about it, sweet?”

“Hey! How ‘bout that? Designing your own room! You feel up to it, cub?”

The crying ceased entirely and Sev lifted his head slightly off of Harry’s shoulder to peek up at Ginny. “Woom?”

“Exactly!” Ginny gave him a gentle smile. “We just have to go out for a few hours, let the boys clean up this mess, build a roof…then we can start working on your room.” She winked at him.

“Ah! Wawawawawawooooo!” Another tiny voice squealed from the other side of the room.

“Teddy wants you to come with us, Severus.” Tonks laughed, bouncing a jolly Teddy in her arms.

Harry grinned at his godson. “There! Teddy’s excited about going. You could point out all the nice vendors to him.”

Sev immediately pushed up off his chest at the suggestion. “Peb-by?”

“Four hours, tops. After that, the room’s yours.”

“Fama-maka!” Sev dove towards Ginny.

“Whoa! There we go!” Harry chuckled.

After the ladies and the infants departed, Harry led Sirius, Remus, and Ron past the false wall and to the damaged part of the house for the first time. As before, in the cave, Sirius was the first to visibly react to the destruction.

“Oh my god…” He breathed, seemingly frozen to the spot. His eyes roamed about the area, taking in the burnt and decaying debris, the rotting leaves and tree branches, and the weather-beaten baby toys scattered about. Then just as suddenly as he froze, he moved, speed-walking to the nursery and pausing in the middle of the room to look around.

“Padfoot?” Remus questioned cautiously from the doorway.

“Sirius, are you alright?” Harry eyed his godfather in concern. He was a bit taken aback when those two dark eyes immediately snapped to meet his, and even more shocked when he realized they were glistening with unshed tears.

“I—I…” Sirius quickly turned away, diverting his eyes towards the remnants of a wall beside Harry. He took a deep breath. Then another. Then another. Then finally he swallowed and turned back to his godson with a look of uncertainty. “The last time I was here…the place was in flames…and I was holding you…and I didn’t know what to do—” He choked on his last words and spun away, wiping away his rebellious tears with his sleeve.

Harry took a deep breath and approached his godfather as one would approach a beaten puppy. “Sirius—”

“Just give me a minute, pup.”

With a wave of a hand, Harry summoned a chair from the dining room and faced it towards the panoramic view of the landscape. After helping his godfather take a seat, he summoned a chair for himself and sat beside him. Together, godfather and godson sat, admiring the view of the landscape, as the former worked on drying the errant tears that managed to escape his tight defenses. “That’s why I want to rebuild this place, you know.” Harry began, laying a comforting hand on Sirius’ shoulder and squeezing gently. “This place reminds me the most of my parents.” He eyed the view before them. “This town as well. I’m sure for you it’s been doing that and more, hasn’t it?”

“A bit.” The animagus’ voice was still a little raspy.

“But the one thing I couldn’t get over,” the teen continued, “was the fact that this place was a ruin! The place was in shambles when I came here a few months ago. There, of course, was this mess.” He gestured around them. “Then the windows were broken, you had doors falling off their hinges, there were weeds growing all over the yards. If this was meant to be some sort of memorial, they did a piss-poor job of making it seem that way, didn’t they?” His godfather snorted despite himself. “A plaque. That’s it?! ‘It was preserved in its ruined state as monument to the Potters and as a reminder of the violence that tore apart their family’. Bullocks! People were probably too afraid to clean up the mess. And why would you need a reminder of violence?! This is not a monument to my parents! It’s a reminder that they’re dead!” Harry scowled and Sirius’ head snapped towards him as he realized his godson was right.

“That’s why we need to rebuild this house.” The teenager whispered, his eyes shining with excitement. “We need good reminders of Lily and James; not bad ones! Eh?”

“I agree.” Sirius smiled at his godson.

“Come on, Padfoot,” Harry stood up and offered the older man a hand, “Let’s turn this piss-poor monument of my parents’ deaths into something that celebrates their lives instead.”

Sirius chuckled and took the hand, hooking an arm around the back of Harry’s neck once he stood up. “You know, pup, you remind me so much of your parents sometimes, it’s scary.”

“I take that as, ugh…a compliment.” Harry grumbled good-naturedly, trying to escape Sirius’ hold.

“Nope! Not letting go.” The animagus taunted.

“Padfoot—OOF!”

Sirius pulled Harry into a rib-crushing hug and gave him a discreet kiss on top of the head. “I love you, Harry. You know that, right?”

“I love you too, Sirius.” The teenager whispered in return.

With a final squeeze, Sirius released his godson, but not before ruffling his hair playfully. “So…Ron! Moony!” He called to the two men who had retreated to the ‘room’ across the hall to give them some privacy. “Are we going to raise their roof or what?”

“Is the mushy stuff done with?” Ron grimaced.

“Yeah, yeah. The mushy stuff’s done with.” Harry chuckled, smoothing down his hair.

Neither Sirius, nor Remus, nor Ron had any experience with construction spells so Harry had to walk them through the entire process, which took the better part of half an hour. The complexity of it kept tripping up both Ron and Sirius. Remus, as usual, was a quick-study. Once everyone became familiar with the process, Moony suggested the first step should be to clear the ground of debris. Harry agreed whole-heartedly and the four set off tearing down the remaining walls and doorways and making sure that none of the furniture was bolted down. When everything was finally loose, Harry banished every sliver of wood and chip of rock down to the backyard with the flick of a wrist. When everything was through, the four men stood on an expanse of bare floor that stretched from the false wall to the edge of the house.

“I think you should put a cushioning charm at the bottom, Harry.” Ron suggested, eyeing the edges of the platform uneasily. “Um…just in case one of us falls off or something.”

“Why should one of us fall off?” Sirius smirked.

“Don’t worry, Ron. I already put a cushioning charm around the edges.” Remus assured the redhead.

“Oh, Moony! You take the fun out of everything.” Sirius smirked, shoving Ron ever so lightly.

“It’s not a joke, Padfoot!” The teenager snarled at the animagus.

“Calm down, Ron.”

“Why don’t we set about building the walls next? What say you?” Harry asked, totally ignoring the exchange.

“I agree. I’ll take this side.” Remus stated, heading to the spot where one of the longer walls should be.

“Right. I’ll take this one. And Sirius? Ron? You both can take the short wall, okay?” Harry pointed to the side of the house.

Both Sirius and Ron looked affronted. “We’re not invalids, Harry.”

“Yeah!”

“Did I say you were? I just noticed that it takes the pair of you longer to make a wall than it takes Remus or me. So I figure if you two make that wall at your own pace it’ll be done by the time we are.”

Sirius scoffed. Ron rolled his eyes. Remus snorted. Then they all turned their backs on him.

“What?!”

Harry was indeed right. By the time he and Remus were done making their walls forty-five minutes later, Ron and Sirius finished with theirs. The teenager threw them a smug look and they both shoved him back into Remus. Harry rolled his eyes.

“Harry…” Sirius called, looking around curiously, “…perhaps you should have taken some pictures of the area first, or—”

“We did.” Harry nodded. “I took extensive photographs with both a magical and a muggle camera when I first came back here a month ago. In fact, I’ve been detailing the evolution of this house from being a wreck to…well, being a house again. Ginny, as well, took quite a few pictures when she came here last week.”

“I reckon she took quite a few more than quite a few.” Ron murmured. “Knowing Ginny.”

Harry snorted and directed them back to the task at hand. Working together, the boys managed to rebuild the missing half of the roof, as well as the missing walls, in just about two and a half hours. They had a few issues getting started—mainly due to Sirius and Ron—but once they all fell into a rhythm, they worked quickly and efficiently. By the time they were done, the master bath and Harry’s old nursery, as well as the two rooms across the hall, were whole and habitable once again. Harry reminded them that Ginny was working on a project for the attic so the walls needed to be super reinforced. The teenager instructed the rest of them on reinforcement procedures and, working together, the men were able to finish everything in a little over an hour. The minute Harry collapsed the false wall, opening the entire second floor for the first time in seventeen years, the sound of a slamming door echoed up the stairs.

“Looks like we finished just in time.” Remus remarked as he leaned against the new window at the end of the hall.

“Boys? We’re home!” Tonks sang from the first floor landing.

“HAWEH!”

“AH! AH! AH! AH! Haaaaa…” Childish giggles echoed up the stairs, followed shortly by the sound of footsteps.

“Hawehhhhhhhhh!”

“Was that singing?” Sirius snorted. Remus shoved him lightly on the shoulder.

“We’re up here ladies.”

A shock of pink hair preceded a gasp of surprise. “Merlin’s beard! Look at that!” The footsteps double timed the rest of the way up and before long all three ladies and two babies stood at the end of the hallway, gaping in astonishment.

“It’s so big!”

“It’s gorgeous!”

“Wow, you boys were certainly busy.”

“HAWEH! Babooooooo…” Sev bounced in Ginny’s arms and waved at Harry. The bright yellow happy face balloon, attached to his wrist, bobbed along with his hand. “BABOOOOO!!!”

Harry grinned at the infant. “You got a balloon?!”

“UH-HUH!” Sev kept bouncing his balloon but began reaching for Harry. “Up! BABOOOOM! UP!”

The teenager chuckled and took the baby in his arms, discreetly planting a kiss on his forehead as he adjusted him. “How’d you get the balloon?”

“Baboooooom.” Sev grinned up at the yellow smiley face and continued to jerk it up and down.

“Oh my word! Look at all this. It’s absolutely amazing!” The ladies went through each of the four rooms and raved about the craftsmanship. As Ron basked in Hermione’s praises and Remus answered the million and a half questions Tonks was asking him, Harry took Sev into his newly-built bedroom.

“Look, baby boy,” he murmured softly, “this is your room.”

Sev looked down from his balloon to study the space around him. The room was a fairly decent size; a little bit smaller than the master bedroom, yet a little bit larger than the room across the hall, Sev noted with satisfaction. The setting sun shone in through the new windows and made the alabaster walls and the hardwood floor glow in its light.

“You’ve got an amazing view.” Harry walked over to one of the windows. “You can see the green fields and the forest and the town. It’s absolutely beautiful down here, don’t you think.”

A breeze blew in through the open window and drifted through Sev’s baby hair, making the infant sit up and gasp. “Whaaaaaayyyy!” He grinned toothlessly at Harry.

“White?” The teenager’s eyes twinkled with delight.

“Whaaaaaaayyyy!” Sev began bouncing up and down excitedly.

A grin was beginning to spread across Harry’s face. “You feel it, don’t you?”

“Wiwi…” Sev stopped moving, closed his eyes, and grinned up at the ceiling. The cool breeze blew in through the open window once more and wrapped itself around the man and boy. “Wiwi…”

“There she is…” Harry whispered into Sev’s ear.

“Wiwi…”

“You feel her, don’t you, cub?”

Feel her? Severus could more than feel her. Severus could see her, could smell her! Lily was right here—in this room—and she felt so alive! The feel of his beloved’s magic all around him made Sev’s body tingle all over with the sensation of white magic.

He felt Harry give him a kiss on the forehead. “You’re doing it, cub! All by yourself. I’m really proud of you, Sev.” A wave of pure joy rushed through Severus at Harry’s words. Someone was proud of him. Proud…of him! The grin on the infant’s face grew even bigger.

As Sev basked in the glow of Lily’s lingering magic, Harry made sure to pull his magical presence back so as to not disturb the infant in his exploration of his newfound magical abilities. A flash of movement caught the teenager’s eye and Harry turned to find his godfather leaning against the doorframe. For the first time since everything came out, Sirius did not look at the pair of them with a smirk or a frown or a scowl or a grimace. Instead, the animagus stared at them now with an expression that Harry could only define as wistful.

“How long have you been standing there?” The teen murmured, knowing his godfather could hear him perfectly.

Sirius didn’t reply for a long moment, and Harry began to question whether his godfather was actually here or a thousand miles away. Then, as if speaking through a lump in his throat, the animagus replied in a raspy voice, “Whole time.”

Harry’s eyebrows furrowed in concern. “Padfoot?”

Sirius waved him off. “It’s just you…standing there…” The animagus ran a hand through his frizzy hair as he inhaled rather sharply. “For a minute there, I thought I was looking at your father…” Severus shifted in Harry’s arms, and Sirius’ attention turned to infant, “…or your grandfather…” Baby Snape was still turned away from him, but he now rested comfortably against Harry’s chest, as opposed to his rather rigid stance just moments before. Sirius watched as his former arch-rival stuck his thumb in his mouth and shifted to find an even more comfortable position in Harry’s arms. Somewhere in the childish corners of Sirius’ mind, he registered the pangs of envy that were beginning to make themselves known. Those childish emotions were muted, however, overshadowed by the arguments of his more reasonable adult mind. “He doesn’t know how lucky he is.” He murmured, continuing to study the child in Harry’s arms. “Not yet. But I hope to Merlin he realizes it soon.”

Sirius looked up to meet his godson’s eyes. “I’d have given anything.”

Harry knew what he meant. Sirius would’ve given anything to have a father like him. He’d have given anything to have a mother like Ginny. He’d have given anything to be loved by a family. Sirius would’ve given anything to be in Severus’ position right now.

“You got it eventually, Padfoot.” Harry reasoned. “And you still have it to this day.” The teen gestured towards the infant. “Sev never got it.”

Sirius’ eyes dropped down to briefly study the infant once more. “I know.” He murmured. A comfortable silence settled around them for a moment as Sirius was once again lost in thought. Then, all of a sudden, godfather and godson locked eyes. “But he’s got it now…And if I have anything to say about it, he’ll have it for the rest of his life.”

Harry’s eyes widened in surprise and a smile began tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Run that by me again, Padfoot?”

Sirius rolled his eyes and pushed off the doorframe. “Just take care of your cub, pup!” He replied over his shoulder.

“You realized you’re mixing two different species of canine!” Harry called back, a grin lighting his face.

“Whatever!”

“Translation: ‘Welcome to the pack, Severus!’”

The oblivious infant looked up at him curiously. “Uh?”

“Never mind.” The teenager smiled. “So…where did you get the balloon?”

“Baboooooom!”