Disclaimer: I do not own the original canon nor am I making any profit from writing this piece. All works are accredited to their original authors, performers, and producers while this piece is mine. No copyright infringement is intended. I acknowledge that all views and opinions expressed herein are merely my interpretations of the characters and situations found within the original canon and may not reflect the views and opinions of the original author(s), producer(s), and/or other people.
Warnings: This story may contain material that is not suitable for all audiences and may offend some readers. Please exercise understanding of personal boundaries before and during reading.
Author's Note (Generic Note for the Houses Competition): All my works should be considered to be Not Epilogue Compliant and I treat everything that is not the HP books and the Hogwarts Library Collection as apocrypha (supplementary to canon but still outside of it) and treat it as such (including ignoring it unless it suits me). I also make a policy of not ignoring abusive and distasteful actions/decisions of characters and not handwaving the effects of trauma experienced by characters. If you feel that a character isn't acting like their "canon self" chances are good that it's because of one of these two things and they are merely displaying a more realistic response than they did in canon. Such changes are not considered AU elements, and therefore do not have the same requirements.
Author's Note(s): Though it should be obvious, this is an AU where Lily lived (because she actually did take Harry and run when James told her to). Since Lily lived, Sirius was never imprisoned for betraying the Potters (as there was a Potter capable of arguing around to point out that he was not the Secret Keeper when unnamed persons decided to accuse him of doing so). That is literally all that matters about the AU for the purposes of this fic. As a final note for my NT readers: yes, a four-year-old is capable of doing what Harry does in this fic. How do I know? Personal experience. I was in my twenties before I even realized that there weren't toddlers who didn't. (It took that long before I actually interacted with a neurotypical child of that age and realized just why the children in my extended family tend to draw so many looks.)
Dedication: to the Lady Justicia, who is blindfolded to ensure that all are the same before her and armed with the sword of Truth & Knowledge. May all remember that Your scales are tipped in favor of those to be judged, not in favor of those authorized to judge, and that Your sword smites those who use the authority entrusted to them to spit upon Your edict of impartiality.
Challenge/Competition Block:
Stacked with: Houses Competition (Term 3); SHoE; SoC; PP; LL; NC; SI(N); StL; ToS; BAON; FPC; Gryffindor MC; Poly Family (No hover); Slicing Life; Fear Inside; Neurodivergent; Jagged Little Pill
House: Hufflepuff
Year: 6th
Category: Additional (1000-3000 words)
Additional Requirement: A happy occasion
Prompt: Halloween (event)
Representation: Life after Loss; Magic; Life Lessons; Sirius Black; Antics; Triad (Celestial Petals); Resistance Survivors; Potters; Lily Evans Potter
Bonus Challenge(s): Machismo (Emotional); Second Verse (Not a Lamp; Ladylike - Aggressive; Non-Traditional; Found Family; Wabi Sabi; Middle Name; Tomorrow's Shade; Unwanted Advice; Unicorn; Three's Company; Odd Feathers; Zucchini Bread; Hot Apple; Mermaid; Creature Feature)
Secondary Bonus Challenge: SHoE (Onus)
Word Count: 1649
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Keys
Acceptance is Key
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"And what it all comes down to is that everything's gonna be quite alright."
– Alanis Morissette, Hand in My Pocket
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Sirius adjusted the tri-colored dog ears hanging down either side of his face for what had to be the seventh time in the last fifteen minutes. Then he adjusted the star-tipped antennae atop his head for the fifth time in the same. He frowned at this reflection, trying not to think how ridiculous he looked. The light blue paint on his nose managed not to flake this time, thankfully. Remus had threatened to not bake anything for a whole week if Sirius ruined his hard work again. Sirius had the impression that the other man was serious enough that Sirius would not be able sway him on the matter.
Sirius felt even more ridiculous than the time he and Prongs had gone on a pub crawl to celebrate a successful mission. Here he was, just a few days shy of turning twenty-five, and he was dressed as a character from a Muggle cartoon. Not just any character either. In the absolute height of cliché, he was dressed as a character who also happened to be a dog. Normally, he had no problem playing to his strengths—he made a rather nice dog, if he did say so himself—but Puppy Brite was not a fearsome grim. He was a gaudily colored animal companion. How did he allow himself to be talked into this again?
As if summoned by the thought, Harry collided with Sirius' knees. The four-year-old had his hair lengthened and colored a rich violet. The entire mass had been secured in a ponytail atop his head with a bright yellow barrette shaped like a lightning bolt. Someone—most likely Lily—had braided a strand. Harry tugged on the rainbow-striped tunic that Sirius wore over his tan slacks before lifting his arms in a silent demand to be picked. In a move that had long since become habit, Sirius hefted his godson into his arms and was promptly rewarded with Harry snuggling close.
"Why am I not surprised that he ran straight to you?" Lily announced as she hurried into the room. She had a pair of black socks in one hand and the blue boots that could complete Harry's costume as Stormy. "He doesn't want to wear his socks again. Then he escaped when I turned to grab his boots."
"They match," Sirius commented without thinking about what he was saying, "and they're black. It's Wednesday. Black is for Mondays and new moons."
"Oh, you're right," Lily agreed, well accustomed to the logic of her son. "I swear by the time I get the hang of this new pattern, he'll decide to change it again. Wednesdays are the gray and green day, right?"
"Yeah—" Sirius cut himself off as Harry patted at his face suddenly. He looked down into the wide and pleading eyes of his godson. "What's wrong, pup?"
"Purple?" the boy begged. He leaned back far enough that Sirius was worried about dropping him. Harry pointed to the purple and green tunic he was wearing as part of his costume. They had compromised on a long tunic instead of the character's dress when Harry had dug in his heels on wanting to go trick or treating as the female character. Harry's eyes shimmered as if he was about to cry. "Purple, Paddy?"
As always, Sirius melted at that look. Combining it with Harry's version of Padfoot just made him even weaker for it. Sirius would never think of himself as taking James' place, no matter how he and Remus seemed to have slid into that place (and didn't it say something that it took two people to even come close to filling the hole that James' death had created?), but every time Harry called him that name, Sirius understood a little better why James had always melted around Harry. Screw all the advanced reading and math skills the kid showed: this was the real sign of his genius.
If he got sorted into Slytherin and taught how to achieve that effect on purpose, they were all doomed. He would be ruling the world by the time he was sitting his OWLs. If he ended up in Ravenclaw, the world may not even realize it. Hufflepuff? Well, then the world would love it. Sirius loved his House, but Gryffindor would definitely be detrimental to any global domination plans.
Barely cognizant of anything beyond Harry's teary eyes and heartbroken request, Sirius turned his own puppy eyes at Lily. She rolled her eyes and heaved a long-suffering sigh. Shaking her head, she headed out of the room, presuming to swap out the black socks for a mismatched set of purple ones. Sirius gave his godson a dramatic wink.
"We've won this round, Bambi," he announced, bouncing the boy in his arms. Harry giggled in response and tossed his hands out. He then began signing something with more exuberance than clarity. Sirius tried to follow for a moment before conceding defeat. "I'm not following, kiddo. Take it easier on your poor dogfather."
"Won!" Harry shouted, looking far too put-out about the request than any four-year-old should be able to pull off and looking like a dark-haired version of George Burns. As if to underline the peevish expression, he squirmed free and took off running out of the room. His voice echoed in the hall. "MOONY! MOO-NEE!"
By the time Sirius had caught up, Harry had found Remus in the kitchen where he had been putting together a few extra goody bags for their expected trick-or-treaters. Harry was sitting on the sturdy oak table, safely away from all the edges and in Remus' direct line of sight. He was using the positioning to regale Remus with something in signage that was going too fast for Sirius to follow. Lily might have been able to make a better hash of it, but of the three of them, Remus was the best at it. The werewolf was also the best at recognizing when Harry was becoming overwhelmed, if only because the situations that caused it were often just as difficult for him as they were for Harry.
Sirius rubbed at his ribs, over the spot where he had a bunch of acacia blossoms inked. James' absence suddenly hurt more than it usually did. Things certainly could have been worse—they could have lost Lily and Harry when Voldemort had attacked—but that did nothing to stop the pain of having lost the man who had been more than a brother to him. Even if Sirius had never felt even a drop of attraction for James, let alone as much as he felt for Remus and now Lily, what he had felt for James was not so easily defined. He would never have been comfortable sharing a bed with Regulus, yet more than once over the few years the Marauders had together, that had happened. The habit of dogpiling for comfort had just naturally stretched to include Lily and Harry, especially in the first few months after James' death.
Now Sirius was watching as James' brilliant son babbled on about something, dressed as his favorite cartoon character and more than ready to go trick-or-treating for the first time. His heart was swelling with both happiness and sorrow, and Sirius felt like he was a hairsbreadth from either breaking down into tears or having another fit of hysterical laughter like he had had when he had learned that Snivellus had really thought that a week's worth of so-called spying was really going to negate three years of willing service to the Dark Lord. An arm wrapped around his waist and he reacted out of habit to return the favor.
"Awestruck by my kid, Black?" Lily asked, teasingly. Sirius tore his gaze away from Harry long enough to press a kiss to her dark red hair.
"You do good work, Evans," Sirius replied, rather proud of how his voice didn't crack on the phrase. Lily hummed and leaned a bit of her weight against his side. "He's actually kind of perfect. Must be something he got from his godfather."
"No pun this time? For shame. You're slipping, Black." She punctuated the mild rebuke by rubbing her forehead on his chest. Her voice was almost too quiet when she continued. "He gets it from James, you know. He's so much like him."
"Yeah," Sirius agreed, "and James would have loved this." He sniffed back tears before attempting to regain his previous state of joyfulness. "An entire holiday dedicated to sweets and trickery. James would have been in stitches just thinking about the possible mischief just waiting to be planned." Sirius frowned slightly. "Though none of our plans ever required wearing ridiculous costumes and face paint."
"You should feel lucky that Harry settled on Puppy Brite for your costume," Lily said, poking his side. "He originally wanted you to be Skydancer."
"That would have been much better! I look ridiculous," Sirius complained. There was a beat of silence between them before Lily began chuckling. Sirius looked down her. "You're the one who talked him into this, aren't you?! Oh, by Morgana's kirtle, woman, you are just as deviously scary as James always said."
"Careful there, Black," Lily warned, her green eyes twinkling with mirth, "or you'll make me blush."
"Mama!" Harry called happily from the table, pulling their attention from their conversation. He was standing now, but so was Remus who was ready to help the toddler down from the perch. "Socks! Treats!"
"Duty calls," Lily quipped before heading over with her fistful of socks that were several different shades of purple. Sirius watched them, and the happiness in his heart overtook the sorrow for the moment. This was his family, even with its James-shaped hole, and it was absolutely perfect.
Even better, it was everything that he had ever wanted.
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An Ending
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