This is unbetaed, as was the first chapter. I have a few chapters written that I am going over to correct any mistakes I may find after stepping away for a bit. If you find any spelling or grammar errors, feel free to point them out and I will correct them. Enjoy.

Chapter 2

The next few weeks was spent with Harry and Sirius going over Harry's new books and relaxing before the new school year. Harry had been to Hogwarts with Sirius last year, so he wasn't as nervous as he normally would have been about the upcoming year. He was still excited about actually starting school and meeting new friends.

With two weeks left before school, there was to be a celebration at the Weasley's house; a place affectionately called The Burrow. Sirius and Harry didn't spend much time with the Weasley's. The older Harry got the more tension there seemed to be between the Weasley matriarch, Molly, and Sirius. Molly seemed to think that Harry was not being raised to the best of Sirius' ability and Sirius was just fed up with Molly trying to tell him how to raise his godson. Harry was pretty tired of the way Molly seemed to baby, not just her children, but him too.

Molly wasn't the only obstacle for Harry at The Burrow. Ronald Weasley, the youngest of 6 brothers but not the youngest child, had a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He seemed to have a problem with Harry's fame. Not that it was something that Harry wanted or asked for, which, apparently, irked the boy even more. He also seemed to have a problem with the attention Harry got from Sirius. Harry could understand to a point. Ron was one of 7 kids in his house, where as, Harry was an only child, but that wasn't anything Harry could control either. Harry had hoped that when they went to school Ron could put aside his unwarranted jealousy, or at least Harry could avoid him.

The final obstacle for Harry was Ron's little sister, Ginny. She is the only girl in the family and the youngest child of the Weasley's. She also has a hero worship crush on Harry. Harry hated the idea of people adoring him for something he didn't even believe really happened. Much less something that was completely out of his control if it did happen. Long ago when Harry made it clear that the fame was unsettling to him, Sirius set the wards on the house to automatically send all owls with fan mail to the basement, where he would take the safe gifts to donate and dispose of the letters.

So to say that Harry was not looking forward to the party at The Burrow was an understatement. At least when he and Sirius arrived to the party, Harry saw a friendly face that didn't illicit any dark feeling in him: Neville Longbottom. Neville was the son of a couple that Harry's parents went to school with and fought alongside in the war. Neville was in a very similar situation to Harry. His parents had gone down in the last war. Unfortunately, they were not dead. It is unfortunate because they are currently in St. Mungo's, a wizard hospital and long-term care facility. They had been driven insane by some of Voldemort's follows and left as little more than vegetables. This left Neville to grow up with his grandmother on his father's side. Augusta Longbottom is a stern woman. She is very proud of her family and her son. Sometimes she takes it a bit too far, if Harry was honest. She pushed Neville to be more like his father, even though it seemed the boy took more after his mother personality wise. Harry had a theory, with which Sirius agreed, that all the pressure on Neville made him into the nervous wreck that he is today.

Ron, Ginny and Neville were all playing out front when Harry arrived by sidelong apparition. Sirius was all smiles and playful aura. "Hey kids, how are you?"

"Sirius!" all three kids took a short break to greet Harry and his godfather.

Sirius smiled jovially to the children as he and Harry walked toward the house. "How are you kids doing today? Happy birthday, Neville. Excited for school, Ron?"

The three kids animatedly talked over one another to Sirius after his greeting, thanking him or telling him about their summer. Sirius laughed and excused himself to go inside to talk to the adults and put Neville's present down. "Have fun and be careful Harry."

"Always, Sirius," Harry rolled his eyes at his godfather as he walked inside. "So, guys, what are we doing today?"

"Well part of what we are celebrating is yours and Neville's birthday, so, like I told Neville earlier, it should be up to you and him what we do today." Ginny smiled at Harry in a way that already had him feeling uncomfortable.

Harry rubbed the back of his neck looking at Neville, "Er, right. So Neville, what do you want to do today?" Neville seemed just as lost as Harry in picking a game as he mumbled his disgruntled reply. As Harry looked at his friends he noticed that Ron was already seemed put out. In an attempt to keep the peace he offered for Ron to pick their entertainment.

"How about a game of Quidditch?" Ron always loved to play pick-up games when there were enough people, but even when they were short on players they could still practice keeper and seeker games. Ginny would never turn down a chance to play, but Neville wasn't the best flier.

"That sounds like a plan to me. Neville, you can be on my team if you want to play?" Harry offered knowing that Neville always felt a little out of place in this group. His strengths were in things he could do with his feet firmly on the ground.

"Yeah, sure, sounds fun," his voice broke a bit, but he seemed gratefully to Harry for offering to be his teammate.

Ron and Ginny were already running toward the broom shed debating on who was going to play keeper on their side. Harry put an arm around Neville and led him after the siblings.

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When Sirius entered the house, the older Weasley children were helping Molly get the tables and decorations ready. "Anything I can do to help?" There were a chorus of greetings from all the Weasley's and Augusta Longbottom, who was at Molly's side putting the finishing touches on the dinner and cake.

"You think you could help us get all this stuff outside? Molly believes the weather being nice is reason to have the party outdoors." Arthur Weasley, the Weasley patriarch, was levitating several tables toward the door.

Sirius ducked out of the way and levitated several presents that were about to fall off one of the tables Arthur was moving, "Sure, where are we going to take all this?" He followed along behind the elder Weasley keeping his eye on all the items on the tables.

"Oh, just on the other side of the house. Bill, can you make a cover for the table area?" Arthur started to set the tables down as his oldest son transfigured a shelter that stretched the length of the tables. "Great, great. Just set the presents at the end, Sirius, thanks."

Sirius followed the older man's instructions then leaned against the end of the table. "So, Bill, how goes the job? Gringott's curse-breaker, right?" Sirius hadn't seen the younger boy since he graduated two years ago. Bill's face lit up as he started telling stories about his time in Egypt. The other men returned to the house to start bringing the food and other decorations out to the yard.

Several minutes later, Bill's younger brother, Charlie, returned laughing, "If you let him keep talking, you will be here for the next several days listening to his stories."

Bill glared at his little brother, "You're one to talk." Charlie rolled his eyes, but his bother ignored him turning back to Sirius. "If you think I am bad when I talk about work, Charlie hasn't even started his job yet and he already won't shut up about Romania or the dragons he hopes to work with." Sirius laughed at the bother's banter and looked out to the Quidditch pitch to watch the younger children.

The men continued with light conversation for a bit longer, waiting for Molly and Augusta to finish with dinner. The Weasley twins had left to join the younger kids on the Quidditch pitch and Percy excused himself to his room. His two older brothers heckled him for being a book worm, "You do know that you don't have OWLs until next year, right?" Percy just huffed and turned his nose up as he continued to walk inside.

As the women appeared out of the house with the food, they called everyone to the table. The younger children put away their Quidditch gear in the broom shed and were laughing and joking on their way up to the makeshift party area. Percy, reluctantly, came down from studying shortly after the kids arrived.

Molly was fussing around the table making sure everything was in its proper place when the children entered the area. Before Harry could sit between Neville and Sirius, he was pulled into a crushing hug from the matriarch. "Oh, Harry, how are you? You are so thin; have you been eating enough?" Harry stiffly and awkwardly hugged her back as he waited for the Sirius' explosion.

Sirius gritted his teeth, he knew it was coming, but it still pissed him off. This is why he and Harry stayed away from the Burrow as much as possible. "Of course he has, Molly." There were so many things he wanted to add to that, but he didn't want to start a fight at a party that was partially meant as a birthday party for Neville and Harry.

Molly moved back from Harry and placed her hands on his shoulders looking at him expectantly, as if Sirius hadn't already answered her question. "Yes, Mrs. Weasley. Sirius is always on me about eating more." Harry though if he could convince Mrs. Weasley that his godfather was a mother-hen type, which he sometimes was, she might stop her nagging for once.

She waved her hand dismissively, "Yes, yes, of course he is dear." She steered him toward the table and started making him a plate as everyone else was getting their food. Harry was already fed up and it seemed so was Sirius.

"Molly, the boy is perfectly capable of making his own plate." If looks could kill, Harry was sure Mrs. Weasley would have been on the ground before Sirius had finished his statement. The glare his godfather had turned on Molly was getting darker each time she reached to gather food on Harry's plate.

Molly seemed completely oblivious to Sirius or his attitude. In an attempt to stop the fight before it could really start, Harry took the plate from Mrs. Weasley and continued to put food on it until she walked away. Harry took his seat next to Sirius, who grinned and rolled his eyes at Molly's antics and Harry's obvious attempt to keep the peace. Harry chuckled at Sirius and bumped him with his shoulder.

Next to Harry, Neville was thanking his grandmother and looking slightly embarrassed that his plate had been gotten for him too. Harry just smiled at him and slightly shook his head leaning into whisper to him, "At least she is your care giver and not someone trying to make it seem like your care giver is incapable of feeding you." Neville smiled gratefully to Harry and began eating the food his grandmother had given him.

For the next few minutes, things were mostly quiet with people talking to their neighbors and enjoying their meal. Once everyone had finished it was time for presents and cake. Neville and Harry took turns opening presents. They each got some things for school, books, quills, along with candy and other treats. Neville received some rare plants and pamphlets on their care from his grandmother. Harry had already gotten his present from Sirius a couple of weeks ago on his actual birthday. It was a cloak that belonged to James. Sirius sat up telling him many stories about the Marauders' adventures with the cloak as Harry went to sleep that night. Molly, of course, had trouble believing that Sirius had given Harry anything for his birthday since he didn't bring Harry a present to the party. That was the last straw for Sirius. After a yelling match with the Weasley matriarch, Sirius apologized to Arthur and he and Harry said their goodbyes to the rest of the guests, taking their leave back to Grimmauld Place.

"That woman just doesn't know when to quit!" Sirius was still furious several minutes later when Harry came back down the stairs after putting his new things in his room. "I don't know why she has such a hard time believing that I can take care of you."

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you are such a prankster," Harry smirked at his godfather, "If you act like a teenager…" He let the sentence trail of as his godfather registered what he was saying and started chasing him through the house.

"I'll show you a teenager!" Sirius threatened as he caught Harry and they collapsed into laughter. They ended up in the attic room and were looking up at the enchanted roof of the clear sky outside. "So are you ready for school?" Sirius asked his godson after a few minutes of quietly watching the stars.

After seeing the Great Hall last year Harry had asked Sirius if they would be able to use the same spell on the roof at home so he could "safely study the stars." In reality, he just wanted to be able to see the sky without having to worry about the weather. Harry wasn't sure if Sirius knew his true reason for wanting the enchanted ceiling, but was pretty confident that Sirius was just indulging him. He stared a little longer at the ceiling thinking about his answer. "I think so. I mean, I'm excited, no doubt. I guess I'm just worried about which house I will be in and what kind of friends I will be able to make." He didn't need to elaborate on the fact that he was worried about people gravitating toward "The-Boy-Who-Lived" instead of getting to know Harry. It was an old fear, one that Sirius was well aware of and frequently attempted to alleviate.

Sirius leaned up on his elbow to look down at Harry, who continued to stare at the stars. "Harry, you know that it doesn't matter what house you end up in. I will always be here if you need me, and so will Remus. And the other kids may see you as "The-Boy-Who-Lived" at first, but give them a chance to get to know you. You will be surprised how easily some will be able to separate you from the legend."

Harry sighed finally looking away from the sky and focusing on his godfather. "Some will, yes. Others though," he paused thinking about Ron and how his jealousy seemed to increase over the years, "others may never separate them. Some may never even try." Harry shook his head and looked back to the stars, "But I'll be ok Sirius, I know I'm not alone. You, Remus, and Neville will always be here. And if I ever do start to get too full of myself I'm sure Snape will not hesitate to remind me who I am." Sirius started laughing and Harry soon joined him. They both knew that Snape cared about Harry, but he was the type of person that could keep you grounded. He never let Harry's "hero status" allow him to be lazy. Snape had come over several times to tutor Harry in potions. Sirius, Remus and Snape had a strained relationship to put it mildly. They never seemed to relax fully around each other, but Snape had been as close to Lily as the others were to James, so they would put up with each other for Harry's sake. They all cared more for Harry than they did their school time rivalry.

"I'm sure he will. Before I forget again, Harry, Remus sent me an owl this morning. He is going to come tomorrow and stay with us until you go to school. I have to return to Hogwarts a few days before you, and you won't get the full Hogwarts experience unless you ride the Hogwarts Express."

Harry wasn't really worried about "the full Hogwarts experience," but he did want to ride the Hogwarts Express. He wanted the chance to see the other students before school started and meet the muggle-borns with everyone else. Even though envoys of the Ministry were sent out to the families of muggle-borns, the kids of wizarding families and the kids of muggle-born families didn't usually meet until the Hogwarts Express. "That's great! I can't wait for Remus to get here. I have so many new spells and things to show him. You think Snape will still come by for our tutoring sessions?"

Sirius ruffled Harry's hair as he got up, "If Snape can put up with me then he will have no issue putting up with Remus. Well we better go to sleep, so you can be rested when Moony gets here in the morning." He helped Harry up and they went off to bed in high spirits and looking forward to the time they would spend with their friend.