Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. It mainly belongs to the goddess JKR or an awfully long list of people... (the MOSSes -Ministry Officers of State Security- are mine). If you like it, review and feed my soul. And since we don't need to hurt each other, if you don't like it, don't tell me ! Flamers will be adopted by my family (if you don't believe it's a threat... too bad for you !)

There was one beta injured in the process of creation: SilentG [http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=197488] devoted precious time to check my poor spelling and grammar! May she be praised! (I'll have Severus delivered to your doorstep as a 'thank you' present!). The remaining mistakes are all mine, and I apologize for those.

All he can feel is loneliness...

A void worse than what he experienced in Azkaban.

It was as if the shadows of the life of Severus and Harry had found a way to pass through his cells and to leave a mark on his soul.

He had felt the loneliness of the orphaned boys, the betrayal of their relatives who were still alive: a cold-hearted manipulator on the one hand and three Muggles of the worst kind on the other.

He could taste their tears.

He lived their companionless lives.

He felt the hope they had when they came to Hogwarts and he felt how some of those hopes were shattered. Shattered by more betrayals from foes and friends alike.

He experienced each and every particle of sadness that ever came into their lives...

And when he thought he would go mad... Quiet came. Peace. Friendship. Partnership. Respect.

And love.

Finally.

Love.

At last Sirius could breathe again, it no longer felt as if he had been buried alive under the burning sands of Egypt...

He acknowledged that while he was in a cell of some sort, the walls were nothing like those of Azkaban, there was no door that he could see and he could not transform into his animal form.

He was on the floor panting, slowly remembering that what he had just lived was what 'Snape' and Harry had been living: their own personal hell till they acknowledged their love.

He knew.

But he still felt sick about his godson being in love with 'Snape'.

"Why Padfoot ?"

Sirius turned towards the voice.

James Potter was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to him. By the wall but a foot away stood another man who didn't look much older than James; he had black hair, dark eyes, and an unmistakable nose: Snape's father.

"Why Padfoot ?" James repeated.

"What ?" Sirius croaked, exhausted by whatever the priestesses had done to him to make him live that strange ordeal.

"You were my friend Sirius, you knew that Lily and I wanted to wait for the end of the War to have a child, but our love breached through potions and spells. Harry is a miracle of love... Do you remember how proud you were when we made you his godfather, how you promised you'd do *anything* to make him happy..."

Sirius sighed. As James spoke, he not only remembered, but also felt again how he'd felt when James had told him that Lily was pregnant, how light he had felt the first time he had been handed his godson.

He remembered meaning to do *anything* to make Harry happy...

James went on, "I've had only a few months to hold him and love him... Do you know how I felt when I saw Voldemort and I knew death awaited me ?"

Sirius shivered as the memory was processed through his cells.

"I thought," James added, "That Voldemort would kill my sweet wife and our baby and it was more painful than all the Unforgivables cast together... Yet, Lily found a way to save Harry... We floated in limbo for some time and when we finally found a way to check how our baby was... We found him at the Dursleys'! I don't blame you Sirius... Pettigrew betrayed us all..."

Sirius felt that James understood that there was no way he could have kept his word from the depths of Azkaban. James was even grateful for the things Sirius had done after his escape.

"Harry's life has been miserable because none of us could protect him... Severus protected him. He has saved him many times. Voldemort tortured Severus, but he always protected Harry... They're made for each other, why would you want to make my son miserable ? Why do you want to make him lonely again ?"

"It's Snape!" Sirius said.

"My son is a good man," Mr. Snape interjected.

Sirius barely looked at the apparition. He refused to deal with yet another Snape.

"I know you've felt what he went through... Brought up by his aunt in lies, never loved by his only relative... Alone with our house elf... Fed with falsehoods... Given away to Voldemort... You cannot judge my son by what you thought of him at school..."

Sirius refused to answer. Mr. Snape sighed and let James deal with his schoolfriend.

"In the name of our old friendship Sirius, I must warn you that if you don't mean to let our son be happy with his chosen one, the consequences will be terrible."

"Are you threatening me ?"

"No. I'm warning you."

"Good, because you know that you're dead and there's nothing you can do against me," Sirius said.

"Sirius... Lily found a way to save our baby. Do you really think that she would let *you* mess with his life permanently ?"

Sirius shivered. It was not with cold.

"My wife and Lily sensed what you were planning to do even before our house elf contacted the priestesses' Order. They won't let you do as you please with our sons," Mr. Snape informed Sirius.

"You've always underestimated witches, even at school!" James added.

"What could they do ?" Sirius arrogantly snorted, "You're all dead!"

"The Above always listens to the prayers of loving mothers," James announced.

"That's ridiculous! And when I'm finally out, I'll tell the press what I think about all this... It's the fault of that stupid Dumbledore: he trapped Harry in his house with Snape and now the boy thinks he's in love with that git!"

"Padfoot!" James growled, "I'll grant you that we are dead and that we cannot do as we please, but do you really think that the Above would have allowed us to give our wedding bands to Severus and Harry if they had not been meant for each other ?"

"But it's wrong!" Sirius yelled.

"What is *wrong* Padfoot ?"

"Snape was in school with us... He's old enough to be Harry's father and for Merlin's sake James! He's been a Death Eater and he's a *man*!"

"Love, Padfoot... True love unites souls without bothering for the corporeal envelopes holding them... They're made for each other... They're good for each other... They have acknowledged their love for but a month and they're already bringing more light to the world... They're going to accomplish even more than free the world of Voldemort - you remember that the spell they used could work *only* if the two persons who cast it are truly and sincerely in love with each other, don't you ?"

Sirius snorted.

"There's one thing I want to know Sirius... When you go out, will you leave them alone ? I don't expect you to say that you understand and approve, but will you let them be ?"

"No... because it's *wrong*," the Animagus stubbornly repeated.

"My son's happiness is *wrong* ?" Lily said, making herself visible.

"Because he is in love with *my* son... it's *wrong* ?" Severus's mother added, holding Lily's hand.

"Lily..." Sirius started, "If you were still alive, how would you react to your son thinking that he is in love with a man ? If I let that happen it's going to be the end of your family..."

"When will you acknowledge that Harry no longer is a child ? He is a young man, but he knows what he wants," Mrs Snape said.

Sirius ignored her.

"She's right, you know," Lily declared, "Harry knows what he wants. Without Voldemort trying to kill him, Harry would not have spent so much time with Severus and he would have understood that he *is* his soulmate later, but, for once, the chips fell the right way... My baby has found someone honest, someone who respects him and loves him..."

Lily managed to take Sirius's chin in her hand and she forced him to look at her before adding, "Happiness is too precious to dismiss it for a stupid reason... My son has fallen in love. Incidentally he has fallen in love with a man... So be it!... I've seen him sad all his life... Till Severus took care of him... And they might not be the end of our names. Don't forget that there is magic in their lives."

"Whatever happens, our sons are at last happy together," added Mrs Snape.

Her husband held out his hand towards James and helped him up before whispering, "Do you think he'll keep ignoring us ?" and James shrugged. The late Mr. Potter was beginning to think that his old schoolfriend would have to face the wrath of two angry mothers if he kept up his stubborn disapproval.

"Sirius ?"

"Lily ?"

"Are you against their union because Harry has decided to link his fate to a man or are you mad because it's Severus ? How would you have reacted if he had told you he had fallen for... for Remus ? Or even for you ?"

"Are you sick, woman ? What kind of mother would you have been ?"

That proved to be the last straw for the mothers.

Now their spirits were angry.

It was clear that Sirius would not leave their sons alone if they did nothing.

If what Severus and Harry had lived had not convinced the Animagus, the mothers found a trick: they passed through Sirius and left in him the agony they had experienced when they died, knowing that their infants would be left almost alone in the world, without the comfort of their loving arms, and they made him live the torment that was theirs when they witnessed the sadness in their sons lives...

The Animagus was sprawling on his back. Eyes wide open, the mothers had just condemned him to live their own ordeal over and over again till in his mind he would swear to let Severus and Harry live their life as it pleased them.

Till Sirius's soul had given his word, he would be held prisoner in his own mind.

Lily looked at James and said, "You had warned him."

"I'm disappointed in him, but he got what he deserved... No... I was thinking of Remus and how lonely he must have been all these years..."

Lily took James's hands and pecked him on the lips.

"You've seen how our sons were looking at your werewolf friend ?" Mr. Snape asked.

"No, I was only looking at Harry and how happy my baby was..." James admitted.

"Well, I was also looking at *my* baby," Mrs Snape said, "But I've noticed that they were looking at Harry's second godfather with interest... I'm certain they will try to help him find his way into the arms of Severus's friend and now that the War is over they can work on a cure for Mr. Lupin... It was my husband who developed the latest recipe for the Wolfsbane you know, so our sons can certainly find a cure one day..."

As they dissolved into thin air, the two couples kept on chatting...

       

Annamaria and Natalie apparated into the cell.

"My duty is done here," the Summoner said.

"You've allowed the wronged mothers to express themselves and the Order thanks you," Annamaria declared.

"Cases like that one add some salt to my mission," Natalie answers with a charming smile.

"We did some good and we've had some fun!" Annamaria conceded.

Looking at Sirius who was like a goldfish out of its bowl on the floor, Natalie wondered, "What are you going to do with him ?"

"Watch him till he accepts to leave that couple alone or till he dies... He has to learn that no one messes with the Above, soulmates, priestesses or mothers..."

Natalie nodded and both disapparated from the cell, leaving Sirius with the living hell the mothers had given him...

Alone till he would be reasonable.

Trapped as long as he meant to make two souls change their true nature by force...

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