Harry gave a watery laugh at her words. "I do get that all the time," he whispered, hoarsely, as she hugged him. His mother was hugging him. He wept into her hair, the tears of a young boy who knew his parents were dead, gone, never to come back. It was as if all his grief was fresh, new, and it ripped open a wound in him that had never healed. It couldn't, simply because they weren't there.
"You saved me," he managed, through a sob. His fingers stroked her red hair, over and over, memorizing it. If she disappeared tomorrow, he'd have this, at least. "You and Dad...you sacrificed yourselves for me, and it made it so Voldemort couldn't touch me." Wanting her to know the overwhelming gift she'd given him, Harry grasped her shoulders so she would look up at him, serious through his tears. "You made it possible for me to defeat him, and save everyone. You should know that...mum." Merlin, he loved saying that, calling her by the name he could never speak before. "You and Dad defeated him, through me."