The Weight

The Weight

Author: Prongs

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns all things 'Harry Potter.'

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, or commented on this story.  I really enjoyed writing it, and I'm going to miss it!  As you probably can tell, this is the last chapter.  Enjoy!

Chapter Ten: The Explanation

………….

When the door opened, Severus looked up from his desk and scowled.  "What are you doing here?" he asked.

James walked into the room and sat down on top of one of the student's desks.  "We need to talk."

Severus scowled and put down his quill.  "And what exactly do we have to talk about, Potter?"

"The way you treat my son," James replied.  "Just because you hate me doesn't mean that you need to treat him the way you do."

"He is just as rude and arrogant as you are," Severus said bitterly.  "I treat him the way he deserves to be treated."

"How dare you say that-"

James stopped speaking when the door opened and Lucius Malfoy walked into the room.

"Malfoy?" James said as he stood up.

Lucius nodded slightly.  "Potter."

Both men shook hands and then stared at each other for several seconds while Severus watched with a scowl on his face.

"Lucius, why on earth are you being civil to him?"

Lucius smirked at Severus before returning his gaze to James.  "Because our sons are dating, I suppose."

James laughed slightly.  "I guess that's a start, anyway," he said as he walked towards the door.  "Perhaps you can convince your friend to treat my son with a bit more respect.  Have a good afternoon."

Lucius nodded his head and watched James leave the room.  He then walked over to Severus and placed a gentle kiss on his lover's lips.

………….

"You're late," Sirius said with a smirk.

James rolled his eyes.  "I was talking to our favorite person."

"Aww, Snape?"

"Why were you talking to him?" Harry asked curiously.

"Don't worry about it right now," James replied.  "As it is, our conversation was cut short by Lucius Malfoy."

"Why was he there?" Sirius asked.

Harry started laughing.

"You obviously know something that we don't," James said as he looked at his son.

"Kind of," Harry said and then starting laughing again.

"Harry, what are you-" Sirius began.

All of a sudden, James' invisibility cloak appeared in the hands of a grinning Draco Malfoy.  

"Merlin, Harry, it really isn't that amusing!" Draco exclaimed.

"No, it isn't," Harry agreed.  "But when you're there kicking me with your boot it's hard not to do something!"

Draco sighed and shook his head.  "Whatever."  He then looked over at Sirius and James and grinned.  "See, I figured I'd come with you guys, but we thought Dumbledore would say no to that, so…"

"You were going to use the invisibility cloak?" Sirius supplied.

"You got it!" Draco exclaimed.

"Why wouldn't he let you come?" James asked.  "You'll probably be fine, Draco."

Draco shrugged his shoulders and folded up the cloak neatly.  "All right then."

"So, are you two goin tel tell us what's so amusing about-"

"Hey," Draco interrupted as he glanced at James again.  "Did my father and Severus do anything out of the ordinary?"

"Define out of the ordinary," James replied.

"Did they snog?" Harry a, sm, smirking.

Sirius looked appalled.  "You mean you really think that those two are an item?"

"Oh, they've been wanting each other for years now," Draco explained.  "It just seems to be taking them my entire lifetime to actually hook-up."

"You're not that old," Harry said as he swatted his boyfriend on the shoulder.

"Aww, boys, are you on your way to my office?" Dumbledore asked as he came up behind the small group in the hallway.

Sirius replied with a nod, and everyone started walking to the Headmaster's office.  Once there, Sirius and James sat down on the large chairs next to Dumbledore's desk, while Harry and Draco sat next to each other on the sofa.  Several seconds later, Remus walked into the room, followed by Professor McGonagall.  Remus sat next to Harry, while McGonagall sat next to Remus.

"I believe we can begin now.  Before I explain this to all of you, I think that Harry should better understand the relationship between both of you," the Headmaster said as he looked ariusrius and James.  "Have you explained to him why exactly James and Lily were married?"

"No," Sirius replied with a sigh.  

"Well then, the quick version of the tale, perhaps?" Dumbledore suggested as he leaned back in his chair.

James nodded and turned to look at his son.  "Basically, Harry, there was a prophecy that said your mother and I had be married and have a child.  After talking to Dumbledore about it, we knew we had to do it, so we did.  Before that, though, Sirius and I had been dating since our fifth year."

"And Remus and your mother had been together since sixth year," Sirius continued.

"Even though Lily and I were married, we still continued to see the people we were really in love with," James explained as he smiled slightly at Sirius and theokedoked sadly at Remus.

"We all loved you, Harry," Sirius added.  "And it's not like we were at each other's throats all of the time or anything like that.  It was just…"

"A really weird situation," James finished.  "And then when everything got darker and Voldemort became even more powerful, Lily and I had to be protected.  We wanted Sirius or Remus to be our secret keeper."

"I couldn't because I'm a werewolf," Remus said quietly.

"It's not like you would have betrayed us!" James exclaimed.

Remus sighed and folded his arms across his chest.  "I wouldn't have willingly betrayed you, but when I transformed back then…" his voice trailed off.

"And then you know what happened to move it from Sirius to Peter," James said softly as he looked at his son.

"I know," Harry muttered angrily.  

"As you can probably imagine, Harry, we were all hoping that the Dark Lord would be killed for good and then everyone could resume life the way they wanted to," Dumbledore explained.  "We had already planned on performing a wizarding annulment for James and Lily and then allowing James and Sirius to get married, as well as Lily and Remus."

Everyone was silent for several moments while they reflected on the events that had impacted their lives.

"Harry, please just know that no matter what, we all four loved you more than you can possibly imagine," James finally said.

"And we still do," Sirius whispered.

"I know," Harry said, smiling.  "I just wish things could have been different for all of you."

"I suppose now, you all would like me to explain how Sirius and James are with us again?" the Headmaster asked.

Everyone nodded their heads.

"Of course," Dumbledore commented with a smile.  "Well, soon after Harry defeated Voldemort, members of the Order began searching the Riddle Mansion.  As you can imagine, they found all sorts of interesting books, artifacts, and potions."

"Well, they came acrone one particular book that actually cataloged all of the unique potions in Voldemort's possession.  Potions that Severus knew nothing about.  It would appear that the Dark Lord had another potion's master supplying him with several rare, intricate potions."

"In this book, I read that among Voldemort's possessions was a small vial that contained a strong potion.  According to the book, this potion could bring the dead back to life.  After carefully reading the book several times, I asked the Order members to then look for the potion.  It was eventually found in Riddle Mansion, in a small cellar, under lock and key and complex spell after complex spell.  Of course, we managed to break in," Dumbledore said, almost proudly.

"But how could a potion bring us back to life?  I mean, this will sound weird, but what about our bodies?  Did we just appear out of thin air?" Sirius asked.

"Excellent question, my dear boy," the Headmaster said with a smile.  "You see, the book explained that a spell had to spoken by a very powerful wizard at the same time the potion was poured into a large cauldron.  All of this had to be done in a secluded dark room.  Naturally, I believe Harry to be one of the most powerful wizards I know, but I decided not to have him utter the spell.  I thought it would be better for him not to be there, as we weren't sure how both of you would look when you returned to life."

"So, I said the spell while Madam Pomfrey poured the potion into the cauldron.  We did this in a small, unused room in the castle."

"Why did you let me choose who to bring back?" Harry asked quietly.

"My dear boy, why not?  You have certainly sacrificed enough.  I couldn't possibly think of anyone else who should have the honor of selecting who to bring back to life."

"But what if it hadn't worked?" Harry said.  

"Well, we tried it with several insects first, actually," the Headmaster explained.  "It immediately worked on them, and our research backed ythiything up."

"How come you didn't tell me about it?" Remus asked.  "I'm a member of the Order, and yet, I knew nothing about this."

"For the same reasons I didn't tell Harry the details," Dumbledore replied.

"How come you only had enough for two le?"le?" James asked, glancing at Remus and then back at the Headmaster.

Dumbledore looked thoughtful.  "We have a small amount left.  Not enough to bring back one person, but enough to work with and study.  I'm hoping that Severus will help me with the task of working to create more of this potion."

Sirius sighed.  "Do you really think he's going to do that?"

"Yes, I have faith in him," Dumbledore replied.  

"Can we help at all?" James questioned.

"Of course," Dumbledore replied.  "All of you can help.  And Mr. Malfoy, just so you know, your father helped us immensely in our search of Riddle Mansion.  We're still searching its contents to see what we might have overlooked."

Draco smiled and nodded his head.  "I'd like to help, too.  With the potion, I mean.  I'd rather not go near Voldemort's mansion."

"Of course, my child," the Headmaster replied.

"Do you think Snape will be able to figure out exactly what's in the potion?" Harryed. ed.  "I mean, then we could bring my mum back.  And other people," he whispered.

"We'll certainly do everything we can do.  As I said before, I have faith in him."

"Well, I want to help, too," Harry replied.

"And you will.  In the meantime, I believe Minerva and I were going to take stroll around the grounds," Dumbledore said as he gazed Professor McGonagall who had been silently listening to the conversation.

"I'm looking forward to it," she said as she and the Headmaster both stood up and exited the room.

………….

Draco placed a gentle kiss on his boyfriend's lips and grinned.  "You okay, love?"

"Yes," Harry replied as he quickly embraced Draco.  "I'd like to go speak with Remus for a moment, though, if that's okay.  I'll meet you down by the lake in thirty minutes."

"Sounds perfect," Draco said as he winked.  

Harry hurried down the hallway in search of Remus while Draco made his way down to the dungeons.  He was hoping to talk with Severus about the potion, to find out any new information.

When Draco arrived at Severus' door, he quietly knocked.  When nobody answered, he uttered the password, which Severus had told him weeks ago.  Draco quietly walked into Severus' living room.  He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard noises coming from Severus' bedroom.

Draco made his way across the room and peered in through the crack in the door.  Inside, he saw his father on top of Severus, and they were passionately kissing.  Both were only wearing pants and had their eyes closed.

Draco raised an eyebrow and hurried out of Severus' rooms.  Once in the hallway, Draco smiled and then laughed loudly.  "About damn time!" he exclaimed to no one in particular.

"Keep it down, young man," the Bloody Baron said as he whizzed by.

Draco winked at the ghost and started walking towards the kitchens.

"Did he just wink at me?" the Bloody Baron murmured quietly.

………..

"Remus?  May I talk with you for a moment?"

Remus smiled and ushered Harry into his rooms.  "Of course.  You're always welcome here, Harry."

"Thanks.  Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am.  How come you're not with your father and Sirius?  Or Draco?"

"I told Draco that I wanted to talk with you, Remus.  My father and Sirius are in their rooms.  My dad has something he wants to ask Sirius.  Besides, I am allowed to spend time with you, right?" Harry asked jokingly.

"Of course," Remus said.  "Sit down, Harry.  Would you like some tea?"

"That would be great, thanks," Harry replied as he sat down.  "Remus, I just want you to know that I appreciate what you told me about my dad and Sirius.  I'm so glad they're here again, but you need to know that I really want to meet my mum, too.  And I want you to be happy and have her back in your life.  You really deserve to be happy, too, Remus.  I'm going to help in any way that I can to duplicate that potion and bring my mum back to life."

Remus smiled.  "I am happy, Harry.  I'm surrounded by people that I love and for once, we don't have the threat of a Dark Lord looming over us.  I would love to have Lily here with me, too, but I know that it might not happen.  We just don't know yet.  I appreciate your words, though, Harry.  Thank you."

"Well, I really do mean it," Harry said as he embraced Remus tightly.  "You're just as important to me as everyone else I love.  

Remus didn't trust himself to speak, so he just tightly hugged Lily's son.

………….

"Sirius, may I ask you something?" James whispered as he sat down next to his beautiful lover.

"You just did," Sirius replied with a grin.  "But you may continue to ask me questions.>
>

James smirked.  "Gee, thanks."

"Anything for you, love."

James just studied Sirius' glowing blue eyes for a few minutes without saying anything.

"Erm, James?" Sirius asked quietly.  "You okay?"

"I love you," James said as he leaned forward and passionately kissed Sirius.  

"And I love you," Sirius replied when the kiss had ended.  

"I talked to Dumbledore yesterday, and I asked him about something very important," James began.

Sirius' brow furrowed. "I have no idea what you're talking about.  Is everything all right?"

"More than all right, Siri.  He said that due to the circumstances, my marriage to Lily can be annulled.  Even if she comes back, which I truly hope she does, she and I will no longer be married.  Which means that she would be free to marry Remus.  And I…"

Sirius watched with tears in his eyes as James grabbed his hands tightly.  

"Will you marry me, Sirius Black?"

Sirius hugged James tightly.  "Do you even have to ask, James?  Yes, I'll marry you!  I love you so much!"

James looked up at Sirius and grinned.  "I love you, Siri."  James started to move, but Sirius stopped him.

"What're you doing?" Sirius asked.  "Don't move out of my arms."

James just laughed.  "Your ring is in my pocket, love."

"You actually found the time to get me a ring?" Sirius asked, shocked.

"With a little help from Dumbledore," James replied.  

Sirius watched as James took a gorgeous ring out of his pocket.  He carefully slid it onto his lover's finger and then passionately kissed Sirius.

"Thank Merlin you're alive and here with me," Sirius whispered.  

James nodded and kissed his future husband yet again…

……………

THE END