1. The First Meeting

Remus is sitting at the kitchen table, checking his students' homework, when Sirius, his husband, storms in, waving a letter in his hand.

"Did you read this?"

"No, I didn't get a chance to check the mail yet. Why?" Remus asks, putting down his pen. His husband is looking really distraught, and he hands over the letter. He sits down, while Remus quickly reads it.

"The bastards," Sirius says, and Remus lets out a sigh, as he puts down the letter on the table. "I will kill them if I ever find them."

"No, you won't," Remus says, knowing his husband far too well. "Plus, if you'll be put in jail for murder, then what will happen to Harry, huh?"

"I know."

"Well, it seems like we'll be needing to clear out a room."

Sirius and Remus are at the train station, Remus checking his watch every two seconds, Sirius walking up and down the platform, making sure that Harry hadn't arrived on the last train, and that he isn't waiting for them somewhere.

Sirius and Remus had met at school, where they had also been friends with another couple, James and Lily Potter. They had stayed friends all throughout school, and after. And when James and Lily had had a baby, Harry, they had named Sirius and Remus his godparents. But only a year after Harry had been born, the five of them had gotten into a car accident. A bus had smashed into them, pushing their car off of a bridge, into the water. They had all tried to get out of the car together, but James had hit his head, and they couldn't get him to wake up. Lily had begged them to save Harry, no matter what. So Remus had grabbed the baby boy, and had gotten him out of the car. He had wanted to go back, but by then, it had been too late. When he turned around, he saw the car disappearing underwater, and he had feared that he had just lost his three best friends, one of them also being the love of his life. But a few minutes later, Sirius had come above water, coughing. Remus had jumped in, and gotten him to safety as well. But they never saw James and Lily again. Sirius had later explained that he and Lily had tried to wake James up, but that they had realised that he was dead. That's when the car had gone underwater. Sirius had tried to unfasten Lily's seatbelt, but because she was panicking, she kept pushing him away. She kept crying and screaming, which meant that she had run out of oxygen really quickly. Sirius had tried his best, but she had died, in front of his eyes. There was nothing he could have done. Or so Remus kept telling him. But still he keeps blaming himself. Because why hadn't he gotten Lily out of the car sooner? She would still be alive today.

Sirius and Remus had expected to take baby Harry into their home and raise him. But because of Sirius' arrests in the past, and the fact that they were two men, it was decided that it would be best for Harry if he would be raised by Lily's sister, Petunia, and her husband. They simply ignored the fact that Lily and Petunia hated each other.

But now, it has turned out that Petunia and her husband have been abusing and neglecting Harry. So now that he is fifteen years old, he will finally be moving in with his godfathers Sirius and Remus.

"Ahh, there it is," Remus says, as the train drives into the station. His husband is now standing next to him, but he is looking terrified.

"Are we really ready for this?"

"Well, we've got to be, haven't we?" Remus asks, and he flashes a small, but nervous smile.

When Harry gets out of the train, his knees are shaking. A man who was dealing with his case was supposed to have come with him, but he had had to cancel this morning. So here he is, all on his own, about to meet his godfathers for the very first time. And he's about to move in with them. He sees loads of people, but he is looking for two men. All of the men who are in pairs, are business men, so they can't be the people he is looking for. But then he sees two men, who seem like the most unlikely pair. But they are standing next to each other, talking. So maybe it is them after all. One of them has shoulder-length, dark brown, scruffy hair, a moustache and goatee, and he is wearing old brown boots, black jeans, a vague, but dark colour shirt, and a brown jacket that looks like it has seen better times. He looks like the type of guy who owns a motorcycle, and who goes to see really loud bands. The other man has a slightly geeky look to him. His hair is a light-brownish colour, styled in no special way. He also has a moustache, but where it looks quite stylish on the other man, on him it makes him look a bit stuck in another time. But somehow it suits him. He is wearing simple trousers in quite a dull colour, with a grey sweater, worn over a white shirt. He seems like the kind of guy who likes to read, and who probably teaches. They are total opposites, but somehow, they seem to compliment each other. They must be his godfathers.

"There he is," Sirius says, when he sees the teenage boy walking up to them. Both men are taken aback by how much the boy looks like James, and it makes them realise more, how much they miss their friends. But when the boy comes closer, they see that he has his mother's eyes, which is also somehow a bit of a comfort.

"Harry," Remus says, giving the boy a hug, even though they haven't really met before.

"Ah, it is you then," Harry awkwardly laughs, and Remus lets go of him.

"Yes, sorry. My name is Remus, this is Sirius."

"Come here," Sirius says, and he gives the boy a big hug. "How was the journey? Was it okay?"

"Yeah, it was fine. Ehm, did my boxes get here safe?" Harry asks, feeling a bit guilty that that is the first thing he asks about. But really, he has to ask.

"Well, we only received three boxes. The rest must still be on its way."

"Oh, no, that's all I own," Harry says, feeling embarrassed. "They wouldn't let me get a job, you see? So it's just some clothes, and a couple of books and old records that I got from neighbours who were throwing them out."

"The bastards," Sirius says.

"Oh, it's okay. I don't need much. And I can cook, and clean, and…"

"Harry," Remus interrupts him. "You're not with them anymore. We'll be taking care of you, and there'll be no cleaning, except for your own room. And no cooking, unless you enjoy cooking, of course."

"Really?"

"Really," Sirius says. "We're going to give you the life that you were meant to have with us, before they decided that you couldn't live with us."

"Why was that?" Harry asks, as Sirius takes his suitcase from him, and they slowly start walking towards the exit.

"Well, Sirius was a bit of a rebel when he was younger," Remus laughs.

"I got arrested a few times," Sirius explains, and Remus raises an eyebrow. "Okay, more than a few times. But it was nothing too bad, don't worry. Just silly stuff."

"And of course they couldn't possibly let two men raise a baby," Remus adds, and he and Sirius both look at Harry to see his response to that comment. They had both been a bit worried, because what if Harry would have a problem with them two being together?

"Well, that's just stupid," Harry says, and both men can't help but smile.

"Yes, yes it is."

When Remus enters the kitchen, after he has brought Harry to his bedroom to unpack, he finds Sirius standing there, quietly sobbing. He hardly ever cries, but when he does, it breaks Remus' heart. He goes up to his husband, and wraps his arms around him, holding him as tight as possible, without hurting him.

"He has her eyes," Sirius whispers. "When I look at him, I keep seeing her. I see her, dying. I could have saved her."

"You did all you could."

"I should have gotten her out sooner. He would still have his mum," Sirius whispers, and Remus stops hugging him, but moves one hand to his hip. The other he puts on the side of face.

"Look at me," he says, looking straight into his husband's eyes. "You did all you could for her then, and you're still doing all you can for them now. We saved their baby boy, and we are going to do everything we can for him, no matter what. And that is all we can do."

"But…"

"No buts," Remus says, and he pulls Sirius closer, to give him a kiss. After they have broken the kiss, the door opens, and Harry walks in.

"May I ask you something?"

"Of course," Sirius says, taking a step away from his husband. "Anything."

"What happened that night? When they died."

"Sit down," Remus says, and Harry does as he is told. The two men join him at the table, and they tell him, honestly, what happened.

"It's not your fault," Harry eventually says, after having taken it all in. "I ehm, I just overheard you. Sorry. But it wasn't your fault. You tried to save her."

"But I couldn't, and I will never forgive myself for that," Sirius says, staring down at his hands, and a long silence follows.

"Can you tell me how you knew my parents?" Harry eventually asks, and Remus can't help but smile. He and Sirius don't speak about their friends that often anymore, because it is simply too painful. But he still loves thinking about them. About when everything was still okay.

"Well, your father met your mother on the first day of a new school year. We were all about eleven and twelve at the time. She and her friend, Severus, had just joined the school, and you couldn't help but notice them. Your mother was beautiful, even back then, with her long red hair, a beautiful smile, and those eyes, well, you've got them as well," Sirius begins. "Whereas Severus was a bit odd, he was a very quiet boy, and he had pitch black hair. And you know how someone can just give you the creeps sometimes?" Sirius asks, and Harry nods. "Well, he was one of those people. It later turned out that he was in love with your mum, and that he had hated your dad all throughout school because of it. But in the end, he turned out to be a nice guy. I actually saw him at a gig a few months ago. Nice guy. Anyway. Your father went over to your mother, but she mostly ignored him. And she kept ignoring him for a few more years, no matter how many times he kept trying to ask her out. But he always kept messing up, or Severus would interrupt. It was quite funny, actually."

"And where do you two come in?" Harry asks, and Remus can't help but laugh. His husband always does this, he answers one question with a whole other answer, or in this case, a whole other story.

"Sirius and your dad became friends a few weeks after the beginning of the school year, and another boy, Peter, joined them. And I didn't join them until two years later. But I always noticed them. Those three were the ones that would always get into trouble by pulling stunts, arriving late, being loudmouths."

"Never," Sirius laughs, and his husband and their godson can't help but laugh. "But we stayed best friends all throughout school, and after. Except for Peter, who turned out to be a horrible person. But we don't talk about him. But the four of us, we were friends until… well, you know."

"How did my parents eventually fall in love?"

"Well, there was a prom, when we were about fourteen, and your dad wanted to ask her, but he kept messing up. So he was planning on going there, just to pull a stunt, when your mum showed up, and asked him."

"My mother asked him to go to prom with her?" Harry asks, and both men smile and nod.

"That was Lily. She had of course understood what your father had been trying to do all that time, that he had been trying to ask her out. And she was sick of waiting for him to get it right. So she asked him out, and they danced all night long. Until we were all kicked out, and then they left together. So who knows what happened then. What I do know, is that the next time we saw them, they were together. And they were inseparable after then."

"And they were so happy when they had you," Remus adds. "I have never seen two people who were so proud, and who loved someone so much, as your parents loved you."

"Really?"

"Really," Remus says, and he gets up, and goes over to the wall. He takes the frame from it, and hands it over to his godson. Harry looks at it, and he gets tears in his eyes. It's a photo of him, as a baby, in his mother's arms, with his father hugging his mother from behind. They are both looking down at him, their eyes and smiles filled with love.

"You should take it up to your room," Sirius says.

"I can't, it's yours."

"Take it," Remus confirms, and Harry flashes a shy smile.

"Thank you."