1

Harry awoke early. He jumped out of bed and raced to Sirius' room and pulled opened the door. Everything was still the same – the chair, the desk, the wardrobe. Even the books were untouched by Remus. But Sirius was gone. For a moment Harry panicked. Then he looked at the dog basket and saw Snuffles sleeping. Harry laughed to relief the tension. Then he jumped over to Snuffles and started shaking him. The dog growled and moaned but woke up. Suddenly a wet tong was licking all over Harry's face.

'Ieuw!' exclaimed Harry. His godfather was standing over him, having transformed back into a human.

Sirius was laughing. 'That's what you get if you wake me at –' He looked at the clock ' – 4:30 A.M. I'm always awake round six, couldn't you have waited?' he asked between laughter and exasperation.

'But Sirius! Don't you know what day it is!' Harry was dancing all over the room.

'No Harry, you never told me,' said Sirius innocently.

Harry stopped dancing and studied Sirius' face for a moment, then his face lightened up said: 'You do know! I'll go get Remus! Meet you downstairs!' And he raced out of the room.

A while later they were all downstairs Sirius, Remus and Harry were all still wearing pyjama's but no one seemed to notice or care.

'Okay, birthday boy,' said Remus and Harry looked up. 'What first – breakfast or presents?'

Harry answered in a way birthday boys the world over would react: 'Presents!'

Remus glanced a look at Sirius and Sirius went to collect the presents. He came back with a few presents. Harry got a fancy quill set, a new chess set and a muggle T-shirt saying: Magic exists.

Sirius cracked out laughing at the last one. 'Muggles don't think magic exists, Harry. So it's just a fun T-shirt, but for you, it's the truth and no one will realise!' At this Harry burst out laughing. It was the kind of thing Sirius liked. 'Now breakfast!' he said.

'Wait a second young man, we got you something else too,' said Remus. Harry looked questioning at the two of them. Sirius dragged a large, very large box out of the room. Harry ran towards it and opened it – inside was…

'A Hogwarts trunk, guys?' said Harry, noticing that Sirius and Remus shared a smile. Together the pulled it out of the box. It was a standard red one, with Harry's name on it. It looked a bit larger than other trunks though.

'Open it,' encouraged Remus. Harry opened it cautiously – he knew Sirius. But when nothing came popping out to scare him or hit him, he opened it fully. Inside were too letters – one from Hogwarts and one in a plain white fat envelope.

After reading the Hogwarts letter, with Harry dancing around the room. ('Now you've got to let me in Diagon Alley, huh!') They proceeded to the white envelope. Harry ripped it open and Sirius moved closer to Harry, putting an arm around him. There were about seven pieces of paper. Harry started reading the first one.

We are pleased to inform you that Harry Potter may be adopted by Sirius Black. We have received the confirmation we needed to proceed with the adoption. In the case of Harry Potter, that is Albus Dumbledore. You are required to read and sign every piece of paper.

Yours sincerely,

Adam Green

Department of magical adoption and law

'Have you thought about this enough, Harry? Are you sure you want this?' Sirius looked unsure at Harry. 'I would love to adopt you, Harry, really. But I don't want this forced on you.'

'Just sign Sirius, I'm sure! This is the best birthday ever!' Harry started dancing again, laughing and singing a chant that went: 'I'm going to be a Black, Sirius will be my father! I'm going to be a Black, Sirius will be my father!'

Remus just looked on, and felt happy for the couple. Clearly this is what Harry wanted. Sirius had asked Harry a month ago, and Harry had replied with a huge yes! They hadn't told Harry they were planning for Sirius to adopt him on his birthday. As Harry looked over Sirius' shoulder, the paper glowed gold and disappeared.

'Were did it go?' asked Harry confused.

'It means the adoption has been accepted,' answered Remus.

'Oh,' said Harry. Then he lightened up. 'Dad,' he said confidently. 'When are we eating?'

For a moment Sirius looked confused. Then he scooped Harry up in his arms.

'One minute, Harry,' he said. He showed a hidden switch on the trunk.

'The code is Padfoot,' he grinned. He pulled out the false bottom. 'You can hide stuff in here. No one will notice.'

'Thanks, Siri – Dad. And you too, of course!' He indicated Remus. Harry stood up and gave Remus a hug, before hugging his new-found Dad.

Harry was sitting on the train when the compartment door slid open. A red-headed boy stood awkwardly in the door opening.

'Anyone sitting there?' he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. 'Everywhere else is full.'

Harry shook his head. The boy smiled and sat down. Harry saw him looking at him, before turning away.

'Hey, Ron.' Two red-headed twins came into the compartment. Probably brothers, Harry found himself thinking. He lost track of the conversation for a bit.

When the twins were gone, the boy introduced himself. 'I'm Ron Weasley. Those people – Fred and George - they are my brothers. What's your name?'

'Harry Black,' said Harry without hesitation.

'Oh. You look a bit like another boy called Harry. Harry Potter,' said Ron a bit downcast.

Harry grinned in spite of himself. Sirius had made sure no press knew about the adoption. The hope was that if Harry had a different last name, he might not be recognised every time. Of course, the protection from fame wouldn't last long, Remus had assured him only one person had to find out, or the whole school would know. The scar was a bit of a giveaway, so Harry tried to hide it under his fringe.

The boys talked happily with each other, and Harry was glad he could have a normal conversation with some one that did not contain the subjects: scar, Harry Potter, Voldemort, Harry, Sirius and Remus or Harry. Nobody tried to disturb them, although one girl very bossily asked if they had seen a toad.

'Why would you want a toad?' Ron had asked in surprise. The girl had left after that.

'Mind you, I've got a rat, so I can't complain,' Ron had added to Harry.

Harry and Ron hadn't brought anything from the trolley, Ron saying he had sandwiches and Harry knowing Sirius would send something. He was right. Just a minute after the trolley witch had left, a brown, nice looking owl flew through the open window.

'Wow,' said Ron softly.

Harry laughed and as he untied the large packet he said: 'This is Scar. He's the family owl.' Sirius had insisted on naming him Scar. He said it was irony. Harry had laughed, gingerly touching his own.

'Is he old? I don't see any scars.' Ron looked confused.

'No. Don't let the name confuse you,' laughed Harry. Harry petted Scar and put him next to him. As Scar made to escape, he said: 'Hey, hold on! I need to write a letter back!' To Ron's amazement Scar settled himself next to Harry.

'He understands what you're saying!' said Ron.

'He's a smart owl,' confirmed Harry. He quickly wrote a letter back, saying "thank you" and "everything is fine", and gave it too Scar. Scar flew of and Harry opened his package. 'Great!' he said, pulling out three boxes of chocolate frogs. Each box contained 10 frogs.

'Want some?' he asked Ron, now starting pulling out two packets of Droobles Best Blowing Gum. There was also a note, saying: Harry. Don't read this out loud. When you're alone, check the secret compartment in your trunk. I hope you like the sweets – and have someone to share them with, I gave you a lot. Remember your ancestry. Go Gryffindor! Love, your dad and uncle. Of course Remus wasn't really an uncle, but as Sirius and Remus thought of themselves as brothers, he sort of was an uncle. They had also never really concealed he fact Harry was related to Godric Gryffindor.

He and Ron changed into their robes as the country side sped past. A while later they had arrived and Harry stuffed the remaining sweets in his pockets. The two of them disembarked, waiting for a new adventure to begin.

A/N: As this is my duty to note this, Adam Green and his department don't exist in the original series. Also a bit from the train ride to Hogwarts had been copied from the books.