This story was entered in the Sycophant Hex: Spring Faire Festival under the General Story: Links to the Past.

The criteria is below:

Summary: The war has been fought and won, by the Order, and now Harry has decided that it is time for him to learn more about his parents--truly learn about them. In his search for everything there is to know about James and Lily Potter, Harry turns to the only two people left who can possibly shed any light on the lesser known aspects of the Potters' short lived lives: Remus Lupin and Severus Snape.

Rules:
1. The story must take place after the war.
2. The Order must be the winners of the war.
3. Harry must approach both Lupin and Snape requesting information on his parents.
4. The story must be told from either Harry's first person proper point of view or a general third person proper point of view.
5. The story must stick to canon with regards to Sirius being dead.
6. Peter Pettigrew must also be dead. The how, when or where he died is at the discretion of the author.
7. No Time-Turners are allowed.

Notes:
1. Harry's relationship with both Snape and Lupin is at the author's discretion (i.e. Does Harry still hate Snape? What are his true thoughts about Lupin?).
2. How Harry goes about gathering the information and approaching Lupin and Snape is up to the author.
3. While the author is not allowed to make use of a Time-Tuner, Pensieves and other means of collecting memories and/or information may be used.
4. Any romantic entanglements, whether between Harry, Lupin, Snape, or any other canon characters, is at the author's discretion.
5. All standard SH rules and submission guidelines apply.

---

Prologue

Once upon a time there was a little boy left on the doorstep of a lovely home in Surrey. He spent the night out in the cold and wet... Sleeping... Dreaming.

He dreamed about his father, a man with beautiful brown eyes and a hearty laugh. He dreamed about his mother with her flaming hair and emerald green eyes. The only true sadness about this little boy was, when morning came, he had forgotten all the things he had dreamed. He couldn't remember who he missed anymore. He didn't see his mother's hair in the bright light of the sunrise. He didn't hear his father's whispers on the wind as it blew by.

When he was discovered that morning on that doorstep, the little boy could almost see someone familiar in the woman towering over him. But even little boys forget the simplest things, and this little boy forgot love.

As the years went by, the little boy found no home in Surrey. The people who cared for him only did so to appease people they were afraid of. The little boy would sleep in his cupboard and play with the dust bunnies he found there for he was not allowed toys. He would make up stories in his head. And the sweetest story of all was one about the mother and father he could no longer remember. His father was a king and his mother a queen. They lost him one day while traveling in Surrey and they searched for him still.

The little boy needed the illusion of love. The illusion of memory. A slim hope that one day he would be worth love.

One day, the little boy wasn't so little anymore. He was an older boy of ten and he got his first piece of mail ever. A letter on parchment with a fancy script addressed to "The Little Boy Under the Stairs." The boy was so excited that he nearly jumped for joy. Surely he was loved if someone had sent him mail. But his caretakers took that letter away before he could read it, and the boy tried to forget the whole thing.

But the people who wrote the letter to the boy didn't forget. And when he hadn't replied, they sent a giant to save him and bring him home. The giant found the boy on an island hidden away in the dark wishing himself a Happy Birthday. The giant told him a fantastic story about magic and wizards and witches. He told the boy that he was magic too, and that he could learn all about it if he came to magic school. The boy's caretakers tried to scare the giant away but he didn't leave. He didn't leave until the boy said he wanted to go to magic school.

The boy grew up while at magic school. He learned how to wave a wand and how to fly a broom. He made friends and enemies. He also found out that the story he had made up about his parents wasn't true. The boy learned that an awful man had killed his parents and the man wanted to kill him too. So the boy trained and learned and practiced so that he would be ready to face this evil wizard.

When the day finally came, the boy had become a young man of seventeen. He stood on a battlefield with his friends at his side. He raised his wand and began to fight. He had so much to gain. But he also had so much to lose for, while at magic school, he had finally found love. He had discovered that he was worth love and that he could love others in return.

The battle went on and on. The young man became tired and afraid. What if he couldn't defeat this evil? So many people depended on him. What if he let them down? Would they still love him? The young man’s friends reminded him that even if he didn't win that day he was still their friend. He was their brother. He was suddenly inspired to fight all the harder.

He cast his final spell. The evil wizard fell and died. The young man could hardly believe it. He was free! His friends cried out with joy and hugged him tightly.

The celebration that followed lasted for days. People sang and danced and laughed. They had been so afraid but now everything was safe again. The young man had won! But soon he began to realize something. He still did not remember his parents and he wanted to. He needed to. So he went in search of stories and memories about his parents. The young man first spoke with the Wise Old Man. The Wise Old Man told him many things, but it wasn't what the young man wanted to hear. He then tried to think of a person who could tell him the stories he searched for. And he found two men. Two heroes. Two wizards who had fought with him that day and lived still.

‘Now,’ he thought, ‘I can finally have my Happily Ever After.’

***