Harry never got to tell Sirius he loved him

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 72460

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, MadameSSnape at a... wrote:
> In a message dated 7/22/2003 1:19:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
> cathio2002 at y... writes:
> 
> > Another sad thing about Sirius's death is that Harry
> > never got to tell his godfather that he loved him and
> > vice versa. I know each of them knew how the other
> > felt, but still...
> > And Harry never got to ask Sirius other unanswered
> > questions about his father and mother, that only
> > Sirius could answer. 
> > 
> > Dialogue from Bellatrix on page 810 (US edition
> > OOP)emphasizes how Harry felt about Sirius.
> > 
> > "Aaaaaah...did you love him, little baby Potter?"
> > 
> > The lump in my throat was as big as a cantaloupe when
> > I read that.
> 
> But DID he love Sirius?  Or did he just love the IDEA of having 
someone who 
> cared about HIM? The idea of having a real parental figure?  (Not 
that I really 
> think Sirius was a GOOD one, mind.)  His projection of James onto 
Sirius?  
> And did Sirius love Harry, or only the projection of James that he 
put on Harry?
> 
> Think about it - before Harry comes to Grimmauld Place, they can't 
have spent 
> more than perhaps a dozen hours in each other's company, plus the 
exchange of 
> a few letters - is that REALLY enough time to develop that sort of 
feeling?  
> I don't think so...
> 
> Sherrie


"You do care," said Dumbledore..."You care so much you feel as though 
you will bleed to death with the pain of it."  

And Dumbledore continues..." You have now lost your mother, your 
father and the closest thing to a parent you have ever known. Of 
course you care."

You personally may not think that Sirius was a good parental figure 
or a good influence.  But, canon indicates that Harry considered 
Sirius very important. He empathised with Sirius in their parallel 
feelings of being subject to Dumbledore's directions, of being kept 
out of events.  Harry empathised with Sirius in that both of them 
have been condemned by popular opinion.  Harry wanted to talk to 
Sirius about girls. Maybe this is not love, but clearly Harry valued 
Sirius' opinion, and he wanted and needed their connection.  And, had 
Harry not felt strongly about Sirius, he would not have been able to 
banish Voldemort from his head in the MoM.

Whether Sirius was good, bad, a horrible parental figure, a damaged 
man who was trying to get himself back together, a cad who only 
wanted to shag girls or a transvetite cabaret performer - it doesn't 
matter. What matters is that he was very important to Harry.

Marianne