"If you could make the toast that would help me out," Severus answered. He got out a cast iron skillet, put it on the burner and lit a fire under it and soon the smell of sizzling bacon filled the kitchen. While the bacon fried, Severus sliced a tomato. Harry buttered the toast and put fresh lettuce on two of the slices while his dad fixed a salad for each of them. "You sure can do that fast," he remarked as he watched Severus prepare the salads.
"It comes from years of chopping and dicing potion ingredients," Severus answered. "Although when we were in potions together, your mum usually did the chopping and I did the stirring."
"Then you and mum were partners like me and Neville?"
"All seven years," Severus answered as he placed slices of bacon on the toast and topped them with a slice of tomato.
They took their food to the small table in the kitchen and sat down. Harry took a bit out of his sandwich, chewed and swallowed. "This is the best!" He exclaimed. "Not just the sandwich, but spending time with you, Dad.
"Well, I'm certainly enjoying it," Severus said.
"You know I did ask Sirius why he never checked on me or visited me while I was at the Dursley's," Harry said with a frown.
"What was his answer?" Severus asked.
"He said Professor Dumbledore told him I was fine and they had a lot of Death Eaters to catch after You-Know-Who was gone. Why does everybody believe everything he says and they don't bother to check for themselves?"
Severus sighed and put down his half-eaten sandwich. "Professor Dumbledore is a very powerful wizard and people look up to him, admire him, and respect him greatly. Unfortunately, this also tends to make people believe he is infallible so they do not question his decisions."
"Infallible?" Harry stumbled a bit over the word.
"It means people tend to think he is flawless – he does not ever make mistakes and I am not excusing Black who did know he was your godfather. I do not understand either why he never found the time to even pay you even one visit in eleven years as the majority of the dark wizards had been rounded up and put in Azkaban within a couple of years of Voldemort being gone."
"I think he just forgot about me and forgot my father had appointed him my godfather. He seemed to only talk about what he and my father did at Hogwarts. What did they do after they graduated and my father married mum other than being Aurors?"
Severus shrugged. "That I cannot tell you, Harry because I did not associate with them; only with your mum. Perhaps you could ask Remus."
"Maybe I will, Dad." Harry said.
That night after they had prepared and eaten dinner together, there was a knock on the door and the identity charm Severus had on his door spelled out Remus Lupin.
Severus opened the door and allowed Remus to come in. He stood inside looking rather ill-at-ease. Severus had always thought without Potter and Black hanging around Remus constantly; he and Remus might have become good friend.
"Hi, Professor Lupin," Harry called from the kitchen. He had convinced his dad to allow him to brew their tea the Muggle way rather than using magic. He thought it tasted better brewed normally than with magic. He put the teapot, cups and saucers on a large tray with a plate of oatmeal raisin cookies that Blinky had brought earlier. "Dad, could you carry this in? It's too big for me."
"Have a seat, Remus while I go help Harry," Severus said.
Remus sat down on one end of the soft blue couch opposite the fireplace. Severus carried in the tray with the tea and cookies and set it down on the coffee table in front of Remus. "Would you like to do the honors, Harry since you brewed it?"
"Sure, Dad," Harry answered. He carefully poured the hot tea into the three cups, and passed one cup to his dad, the second one to Remus and took the third one and then passed around the plate of cookies. Harry added a slice of lemon to his as did Remus. Severus drank his without anything else.
"You know, I'd forgotten how well the elves cook until I had dinner in the Great Hall tonight. It was delicious," Remus remarked.
"Are you all settled into your quarters?" Severus asked.
"Yes, I've gotten most of my books unpacked and arranged in the bookcases." Remus replied. Like Severus he was a complete bibliophile. "Why I came here tonight is to apologize to you and Harry, Severus for Sirius' behavior. I know he upset Harry terribly and I feel very badly about whole thing."
"Was my dad really that arrogant, stuck-up, and a bully?"
"I'm afraid so; when James was fifteen he thought and acted as if he was Merlin's gift to the world."
"What made him change?" Harry asked.
"Well, your mum for starters. Lily wouldn't put up with any crap from him. Secondly, he got out into the real world and found out he wasn't the center of the universe. For instance, he got into the Auror Academy and people didn't give a Galleon that he was James Potter, son of Charles and Mavis Potter nor did any professor there favor him and let him get away with the crap he'd pulled at Hogwarts. They expected him to study and perform the same way as everyone else in the Academy."
"What did my father do when he was home?"
"Well," Remus' eyebrows knitted in thought. "He was a Quidditch fanatic; the Wimbourne Wasps were his and Sirius' favorite Quidditch team and they used to go to all their games. James really enjoyed flying and practicing new defense tactics with Sirius."
"Didn't he spend any time with mum or me?"