the_debt_of_time

"Yeah, he told me he didn't like that," Harry interrupted.
"He really didn't," she emphasised with wide eyes. "By the beginning of seventh year,
James, Lily, and Remus were sick of us, and your mum tricked us into confessing our
feelings for one another. Once that happened, he was it for me. We joined the Order
together and then moved into a flat together with Remus."
"Where were my parents?"
She laughed. "In their own home being disgustingly in love with each other."
Harry smiled and then appeared nervous before he asked, "Can you... tell me
something real about them? All Sirius and Remus tell me is how amazing they both were,
and then Snape's memories showed them in, well, a really bad light. I feel like I don't know
who they really were because everyone I've ever met that's known them is exaggerating
or... I don't know, biased."
Mia smiled brightly, remembering that when she had first arrived in 1971 and met
James and Lily, this was what she was hoping she eventually would be able to do. A
Pensieve could be used later for the important moments she wanted Harry to see, but she
was thrilled to be able to tell her best friend the truth about his parents. "Your mother used
to collect werewolf romance novels."
Harry's mouth fell open. "You're kidding."
Mia grinned so widely that her cheeks hurt. She could just imagine the look on Lily's
face having Harry find out about her little secret. "I'm really not. I teased her about it
mercilessly."
Harry laughed. "What about my dad?"
"He didn't like werewolf romances," she answered while holding back a laugh at her
own personal inside joke. "He did, however, steal Mum's jewellery and sent it to Lily over
school breaks. Lily would send it back, and Mum would take away his broom."
Looking happier than she could remember, Harry said, "Sirius says he has a bunch
of pictures locked in his room that we can look at later."
Mia nodded. "I'd love to. I'd like to find him first."
It had not taken long for Harry and Mia to track down Sirius. With his bed occupied
by the pair of them during the night, he had relocated himself to the library, where he had
shifted into Padfoot and curled up on the rug in front of the fireplace.