Return Of The Father (Harry Potter fanfiction) **COMPLETED**

:: Chapter 26: St mungo's again::

"Time to head back, d'you reckon?" James asked after a while. They had sat in front of the headstone for a long time, each immersed in their own thoughts, oblivious to the snow that had settled on top of their heads and shoulders. Harry nodded, and he unsteadily got to his feet, James following close behind. James raised his wand and conjured a bouquet of beautiful lilies, and Harry caught it as it fell. He knelt down again and placed the flowers after which his mother was named in front of the headstone.

"Let's head back," Harry said. He felt an odd sense of suffocation, and he wanted to get away from this place as soon as he could. James nodded. He grabbed Harry's hand, turned on his heel and apparated back to number twelve, Grimmauld Place, leaving the graveyard and all the snow.

***

Harry was bombarded with questions from his two best friends, who were more than a little eager for a recount of his little trip. Harry, still a bit somber after visiting his mother's grave, managed a smile.

"Brilliant," Harry said genuinely, brushing off snow from his robes and watched as they dissolved into water as they touched the floor.

"Treacle tart!" James said exhuberantly, brandishing the package in the air as he wandered off to hang his coat. Harry chuckled at his father's antics and his best friend's baffled expressions. Juvenile to the core, he thought to himself, staring after his dad fondly.

"The house elves," Harry said as an explanation.

"C'mon upstairs and tell us about it!" Ron said eagerly. Harry grinned at him and followed Ron and Hermione upstairs.

"How was the trip?" Sirius asked as James finally entered the living room to find his best friend carrying a huge box of old antiques to dump in the attic. Sirius put the box neatly on the floor, feeling that having a talk with his best friend was more tempting than making his way upto the dark and dusty attic with a heavy box.

"Great. Took him to Godric's Hollow, and the graveyard. He loved Potter Manor and- OI! Keep your paws off my tart!" James said indignantly, noticing that his best friend had been helping himself while James was busy talking.

"Paws," Sirius snorted, shaking his head. "Ingenious, Prongs, ingenious."

"It's better than your lame Sirius-serious jokes!" James said, cleanly swiping the package away.

"I haven't used that one in years..." Sirius said munching thoughtfully.

"Anyway, what did you do this morning?" James asked, settling comfortably into a sofa. Sirius followed suit.

"Nothing much. Mostly preparations for setting off to St Mungo's, you're all going this afternoon. Give me a tart, don't be selfish."

"I'm not being selfish. It's just that knowing you, you'll finish the whole thing before I know it. Just save some for the others," James said, passing over the package.

"Sure, sure," Sirius said absently. "How are Maddy and Mickey?"

"Great. Kept the place running all this time, it's almost spotless! You should have seen their faces when I turned up there the other day!"

Sirius chuckled. "They must have been ecstatic when Harry arrived. I bet Maddy shed a few tears."

"She did," James said fondly. "I have to pay them another visit too, you can come with me, after you're free."

Sirius was silent. The prospect of being free still hadn't come to terms with him. He still had a nagging voice inside his head which told him that things could go terribly wrong. No matter how much James had reassured him, he still couldn't shake off that looming feeling of forebodding.