Harry stilled, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. "Really?" he asked.
Sirius nodded. "Come on," he said, standing and leading the way to the family parlour.
Entering, Harry saw the large Yule log in the centre of the rome, the three candles burning away happily. Sirius, however, continued towards the circle of comfy chairs in the corner, which Harry noted now sported a pensive in the centre. "We've added hours of our memories: from when we met to simple conversations, our adventures to boring lessons. From when Lily would simply curse your father pink to when they held you in their arms for the first time and everything in between," Remus said. They had wanted to show Harry his parents as they were, how Lily had a fiery temper as a young girl and how besotted James was; they wanted him to get to know his parents and for him to be able to experience what they were like.
Harry nodded. "Thank you," he said, his voice catching as he tried to convey just how much this meant to him.
"Come on, pup," Sirius said. "I want you to see your mum in her wedding dress. I swear Lils must have had some angel blood in her, she was always beautiful but that day… that day she was gorgeous."
~
Harry didn't even realise he was crying until he felt Sirius wipe his face. He was smiling so hard his face ached.
"They would be so proud of you, Harrison," Sirius said, using Harry's full name to convey just how serious he was.
Harry smiled and hoped the animagus was correct. "They were so in love, so happy." "They were. They were lucky in that regard."
Harry nodded. Thinking about them made his chest ache to be with Tom, but it also tore him apart to realise that it was thanks to his soul mate that his parents were dead. That the people he had spent the past few hours watching were gone the people who were so full of life, of joy and love. He had never really had a chance to get to know his parents; sure he had heard stories, but actually seeing them… he felt f or the first time how deeply he missed them. For the first time he truly realised what he was missing.
Harry had watched everything from the first time the marauders met, both Remus' point of view and Sirius', to the last time Sirius had seen his parents alive. A lot of the memories featured Wormtail and other people Harry despised, but he couldn't bring himself to care as he took in everything about the parents he never knew.
Harry was shocked at how much his father had looked like the previous him—he truly had been a clone of James Potter. They had the same raven hair that defied gravity, the same crooked grin, and even their builds had been similar, though James had been much healthier and taller than Harry had ever been. The only difference were the eyes. Harry had Lily's eyes, not just the colour but the almond shape, too.
His father had been confident, slightly cocky, but still he was young. Harry watched, fascinated, as the marauders were born on their first journey to Hogwarts. He didn't even mind seeing a young and still snivelling Peter as it showed how his father treated people. James had taken the young traitor under his arm and more or less declared him under his protection.
He watched them be Sorted, how Sirius had been so nervous when he had gone into Gryffindor and how James had comforted him.
Harry watched in awe as his father fell in love with his mother and then in hilarity when his mother dismissed him and all of his attempts. Simple conversations between friends and cruel pranks, late night plotting and boring lesson -, Harry watched all of them with wonder. He witnessed his mother curse his father pink, blue, green, bald and—well, she cursed him a lot over the years because of his antics.
He watched as his mother slowly started to respond to his dad's unrelenting devotion, how her eyes slowly started to soften and her smiles became much less rare. He watched them slowly fall completely and utterly in love.
He watched how his father had spent weeks building up the courage to ask for her hand in marriage; how he had a whole speech planned only to bottle it at the last minute and practically throw the ring at her in fear of rejection.
He watched as his mother and father fought Voldemort and his Death Eaters in the first war, how they duelled together and complemented each other in battle.
He watched as they planned his nursery, how they argued over names, and how Lily eventually won and got Harrison instead of James, who wanted Harold. He watched them as he grew and saw how much they loved him.
He saw the pride and devotion in their eyes as he was born.
Eventually Harry, Sirius and Remus were all spat out of the pensive. Harry could feel the tears running down his face, but he didn't care enough to brush them aside. "Thank you," he clogging his voice.
whispered, emotion
Sirius and Remus were in similar states, the memories dragging up emotions long buried.
"It's okay, pup," Sirius whispered, pulling both Remus and Harry into a three-way hug. They had hardly spoken during the memories, instead letting Harry get the full experience.
Harry smiled, grateful for what they had done. Eventually the hug ended, all of them left feeling better for it.
December 24th 1992, Grimmauld Place London Harry was awed as he felt his magic join with Sirius and Remus'. Their cores all seemed to expand and rejuvenate as the flames sparkled. It felt like his magic was alive as it danced around the room. Eventually the out of body experience ended and Harry felt his magic return to him and settle, leaving him buzzed and his sense heightened.
"Wow," he whispered quietly.
Hearing a slight chuckle, Harry looked up and saw Sirius sitting on a chair with a blissed out look on his face.
"I forgot how powerful a proper Yule ritual could be," the animagus said.
"Is this your first one since you left home?" Harry asked.
"No, I celebrated with your father and grandparents while at school and then with your parents during the war, but this is my first Yule since Azkaban."
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