And here's the next chapter! Hope you guys love! ;p

Thanks to Louise-Maria, history grrl, and of course, FredNeverDied, for the inspiration for these clips/scenes from young Harry's life! Love your feedback!

James Potter was used to his best friend, aka Sirius Black, get all of the attention from the ladies. He really preferred for the women to go to the grey-eyed man rather than himself – he'd always only had eyes for Lily. Lily was the only one he had ever had a crush on or ever dated, and he preferred to keep it that way. Sirius, on the other hand, had always appreciated a bit of attention. Even after he and Remus had gotten together in Sixth Year, he soaked up all of the attention he could get, even of the romantic sort. It wasn't that he would ever cheat on Remus, and didn't even accept the ladies' invitations to a such-and-such place at a certain time. He just enjoyed that so many people loved him, even when he loved only one.

When Sirius was with James, James seemed to be forgotten about. It wasn't that James wasn't handsome by any means – it was just that Sirius had this suave, confident air exuding from him that drew everyone – man and woman alike – in.

But one day, something happened that had never happened before and that they weren't sure would ever happen again…

xxx

Seven-year-old Harry held his father's and godfather's hands as they walked into the nice Muggle restaurant. Children didn't usually come to a restaurant of this sort, but it was Harry's birthday and he'd seen the place in a magazine somewhere and insisted on going. And, doting parents that they were, they had agreed. It's not like they didn't have enough money, after all.

The threesome drew looks as they walked in, and the hostess walked up to them with a smile.

"Reservations for Potter, party of three?" she asked, barely managing to hide a skeptical eye at Harry from their view.

"That's us," Sirius said, as James told Harry to settle down.

"Follow me, please," she told them with a smile, and they were led down a quiet hallway to a room with maybe ten tables inside. Older men and women were seated around the various tables, at various stages of their meals. A couple of older women almost outright glared at the young threesome as they sat down. The men had to fight chuckles at their obvious jealousy that they could afford this at younger ages.

James and Sirius sat down at the table they were directed to, and Harry sat across from them, nearer to the corner. He grinned and swung his legs a bit, drawing even more scowls in their direction.

"Oh, piss off," Sirius muttered under his breath when he noticed. James nudged him with his elbow as the waitress came and explained the menu to them before taking their orders.

About half an hour later, their food had arrived and Harry was smiling as he ate his burger rather messily.

"Slow down, Puppy," Sirius chuckled, reaching across to wipe off a smear on his cheek with his cloth napkin. Harry obediently ate slower, albeit rather reluctantly.

Then one of the women from before that had scowled at them sniffed and said loud enough for them to hear, "It's sad when they let the homosexuals into a fine establishment such as this, isn't it, honey?"

Sirius and James both heard her comment, and the answer was muttered just soft enough that they couldn't hear it. But both had stilled, highly offended. Not that the woman thought that they were together, but that she had made any comment about it at all. Sirius was gay, and James was his best friend, and no one was allowed to talk about Sirius like that, and consequently the late Remus Lupin.

"No need to be so prejudiced, Matilda," another woman said. "I'm sure they are fine young men – and look how they care for their little boy."

"You wanna give them something to really talk about, then?" James muttered.

"I'm game if you are," Sirius said, knowing exactly what he was talking about. James flashed him a quick smile before leaning across the table to speak in low tones to Harry.

"Harry," he said, causing Harry to look up and see the somewhat mischievous look on his dad's and godfather's faces. The expression on his face instantly changed from content to sneaky.

"Are you playing a prank?" he demanded in a hushed voice.

James quirked a smile at him. "Of sorts," he said calmly. "Now, for this prank, Sirius and I are going to do some things that I want you to act like are totally normal. Can you do that for me?"

Harry nodded solemnly before grinning and going back to his hamburger, though he still watched the two of them, waiting to see what they would do.

And so, feeling that he had prepared Harry as much as he could, James turned to Sirius, bending in close to his face so that their lips were almost touching.

"Always ready for a prank, right?" James breathed, fighting to hide laughter at the strange situation.

"Always," Sirius laughed softly, and then pressed his lips to James'.

The kiss was slightly awkward, but Sirius pretended that it was Remus' lips and James pretended it was Lily's, even though to James it was odd with Sirius' slight stubble and to Sirius James' lips were drier than Remus'. They deepened the kiss, Sirius snaking his arm around James' waist and tugging him closer.

Then they heard Harry sigh loudly. "Can you stop kissing all the time?" he demanded in a perfectly petulant tone. "I'm eating."

James and Sirius broke away at the same time, turning their heads to smile at Harry somewhat mischievously, with the right touch of abashed for the people that might see the expressions on their faces.

"Our little Marauder," Sirius proclaimed, proud of Harry's improvisational skills.

And at the chattering of the gossiping old ladies behind them, James and Sirius smirked at each other, proud of a prank well pulled.

But they both knew that it was much more than just a prank. Those women were wrong to say what they did so outright, especially with Harry there. What if they had been a couple? Harry definitely would've been upset after hearing their words.

And somehow, they knew that Remus and Lily both would approve of the job well done.

"I bet he won't be too mad…Uncle Sirius is cool about this kind of stuff."

Harry shot a doubtful look to his best friend. "I don't think so. He said using someone else's wand is dangerous, 'specially when I'm only eight and haven't gone to Hogwarts yet."

"But it's Uncle Sirius," Neville argued, gazing at the wand sitting on the coffee table. "He's always super cool with magic. Remember when he gave me bunny ears and a tail on Easter?"

Harry couldn't help the smile that crossed his face at the remembered event that had happened when they were six. A moment later though, he frowned again as he remembered what came after. "Yeah, and my dad was really mad at him for it since no one knew the counter spell and you had to go to St. Mungo's to get them off."

"But that was Sirius."

Harry sighed in exasperation. "Remember when Sirius was in charge of watching us for the night and we explored the attic again and found the old time turner and kept going back to earlier in the day to play pranks on him without him realizing it was us?"

Neville nodded. "He felt cheated, 'cause he thought it was something else in the house that kept doing all that stuff to him."

Harry shook his head. "That's not what he was mad about – he was mad that we used a magical object without knowing the dangers and stuff with it, and we were alone. After you left, he walloped me real' bad."

Neville sighed in a long-suffering way and said, "It couldn't have been that bad, Harry."

Harry stared at him, pushing away the faint embarrassment that came with admitting what he was about to. "It was the first time I was walloped over the knee."

Neville's eyes widened. "Over the knee?" he said, horrified. "You were four! My first time was when I was almost six!"

Harry shrugged. "I was almost five," he reasoned. "And my dad was spanked first over the knee when he was three."

Neville shook his head in astonishment. "Wow."

"Anyway," Harry said, desperately wishing to change the topic, "Sirius is fun, but he's responsible, too. And if he found out that I tried using his wand…" he shook his head, leaving it at that.

"Well…" Neville said hesitantly, "What if we use Oliver's?"

Harry thought about it for a moment. Oliver had just finished his first year at Hogwarts, and they knew that he would be coming over later that day to play some Quidditch, but perhaps he would show them a few spells afterwards? They were almost nine, after all…

"Let's ask him when he comes over," Harry said with a grin. "I bet I can convince him if I let him borrow my new broom…"

Harry and Neville both chuckled at that, knowing it was true. Neither of them noticed Sirius standing in the doorway, gazing at his godson with a fond, proud look. He'd heard most of their conversation about using his wand, and it gave him a bit more peace of mind. He had left his wand alone for a few minutes to take a Floo call, and when he came back and heard their conversation, he was ready to intervene before Harry was even able to try using the wand. But then he'd heard Harry's explanation, insisting that they shouldn't, and he felt relief swoop in on him. Until he'd heard the conversation, he'd never realized that on some level, he worried that he shouldn't have gone and taken Harry over his knee those years ago when they were messing about with the time turner. But knowing that Harry had been left with that impression even now gave him a sense of relief that the spanking had helped. (Of course, the times after that when Sirius had had to spank him probably helped as well…)

With a smile growing on his face, he walked from the room without coming back for his wand. He knew that it would be safe on the table.

"Yes, Mr. Potter – we'll be careful!" Oliver grinned as James reminded the two of them yet again of the dangers of what they would be doing. James didn't like to give off the impression that he was like a mother hen, but he did – without fail – every time something mildly dangerous or traumatizing came up when it concerned Harry. Oliver didn't really mind – after having known James, Sirius, and Harry for almost four years to the day now, he was used to the family. Although it hadn't quite been acknowledged out loud, Harry considered Oliver like an older brother, and James and Sirius like a son. Harry couldn't remember the last time when, besides when Oliver was it school, he ever went more than a day without seeing him. Frequently they played Quidditch, with Harry as Seeker and Oliver as Keeper. Sometimes Neville joined as a Beater, but most of the time Oliver just brought some of his friends and Neville refereed. Or, of course, they simply played a modified version of Quidditch where not as many players were needed.

That day however, they were going into an entirely new territory – for Harry, anyway. Oliver would be taking them to the Muggle carnival, where they would eat and ride the roller coasters and do other things of the sort. Harry wasn't too sure exactly what they were doing, but the way Oliver talked about it made it sound dreadfully exciting. Oliver himself had been introduced by a muggleborn wizard in his year.

"Is that enough money you have with you?" James asked them. "Are you sure you won't need anymore?"

"Muggle money goes farther, remember," Oliver said, "I'm sure twelve hundred pounds is more than enough."

"We have everything we need, Dad," Harry told him impatiently. "Can we go now?"

"Give your old man a hug first," James ordered. Hiding the roll of his eyes, Harry complied quickly before stepping back.

"And Happy Birthday, Harry," James said as though just remembering.

"You already said that," Harry reminded him. "And my birthday is tomorrow."

"Well, it's not every day you turn nine, is it?" James sniffed theatrically. "Can't have you forgetting…and this is your birthday outing…" he trailed off for a moment before looking to the thirteen-year-old next to Harry. "Now, you be very careful," he said sternly. "I'm not too comfortable with this as it is – you've only had two years at Hogwarts, after all…but you should be fine…"

"We will be," Harry told James, and hugged him by choice this time. "Don't worry."

xxx

They had fun at the carnival – Harry more fun than he'd had in a while. It was so different – the sights, sounds, even the way they dressed. He'd been in the Muggle world before, of course, but never around so many people all at once. Everyone was shouting to each other and it smelled of popcorn and cotton candy, and there was stranger music playing throughout the area.

They had played games, too. Harry won a stuffed lion that roared when a button on its paw was pressed – "For Gryffindor, of course!", as Oliver said – at a game where he had to shoot down bottles with a toy gun (though he hadn't known what exactly a gun was, and had Oliver explain it to him), although he was pretty positive that Oliver was somehow getting away with using magic so that Harry would win. Harry didn't call him out on it, though – he got a stuffed lion, after all.

Harry ate lots of what Oliver identified as "animal fries", and was glad that Oliver had been in the Muggle world at least a bit, so that they weren't two totally lost boys in the midst of hundreds of Muggles.

Harry liked the Ferris wheel best, because it went the highest. He'd said to Oliver that it was like they were flying, but Oliver had pointed out that if they were flying, they'd be going much faster, and there wouldn't be safety bars on their seat. Harry had wanted to climb out of the seat, but when he tried, Oliver had been quick to pull him back down, explaining that the Muggle security would probably kick them out. Harry hadn't been too happy about that, but he went along with it anyway.

It was when they were walking away from an ice cream stand around dusk that it happened. There was a loud bang in the air, one that Harry thought vaguely sounded like the sound his toy had made at the place he'd won his lion at. But then Oliver had yanked him to the side, out of the pathway where people walked, at the same time that people started screaming and running. It was only a few people at first, but then the hysteria began spreading as the same sound came again.

"Wh-what was that?" Harry asked, growing fearful as the Muggles' emotions affected his own.

Oliver didn't answer, instead pulling on his arm to get him away. They began running, and Harry wished that he or Oliver knew how to apparate, but neither of them was old enough. The sound rang out again, and Harry saw a woman ahead of him fall suddenly to the ground, blood spurting from a wound on her back. The screams around him grew louder, and Harry's heart pounded faster as the woman didn't get back up. He began running faster beside Oliver, trying to get farther away from whoever or whatever was hurting people.

Then Oliver suddenly jerked him away from the crowd, and they moved toward one of the roller coasters.

"Come on – go inside," Oliver said quickly as they approached the deserted entrance. "Just walk along the tracks, now – they won't be able to find us in here."

Harry obeyed without a word, walking through the entrance into the darkened interior. His heart pounded loudly, and he felt a sick feeling in his gut at the continued screams.

"W…We should try and help them," Harry finally got out, looking back at Oliver. He was just able to make out his silhouette against the entrance as the older boy followed behind him.

"We can't do anything, Harry," Oliver said with a strained voice, probably from fear and worry. "We're just a couple of kids, and you don't even have a wand."

"But we're Gryffindors!" Harry protested, not bothering with the fact that he still had two years before he would actually be Sorted and know for sure if he would, in fact, be in Gryffindor's House. "We're supposed to be brave!"

"There's a difference between being brave and being rash, Harry," Oliver said in a voice that left no room for argument. "Going out there would only get us hurt or killed."

"What is it that's hurting people?" Harry asked finally.

"Other people," Oliver said shortly. "But even Muggles have their inventions that make up creative ways of injuring people. These Muggles are using guns."

"What's a gun?"

"It looks like what you used to hit the targets at the place you won your lion at." Oliver explained. "But real guns have bullets, which are little pieces of metal with a sharp point on the end. When the trigger is pulled on the guns, the bullets shoot out and hit whatever has been aimed at. Today, the Muggle is aiming at people, and the bullets could kill them."

"Can't magic stop it, though?" Harry pressed.

"Sometimes – if the witch or wizard's reaction is quick enough. But bullets move faster than spells, and you can't see them coming."

Harry fell silent, walking further along the tracks, but mentally he was thinking that he and Oliver should be able to do something to help, rather than hiding out like a couple of Hufflepuffs. But Oliver was the older one here, and he'd promised his dad and Sirius that he would do what Oliver said.

But that didn't mean he had to like it.

xxx

Sirius was surprised when he heard the Floo go off a couple of hours earlier than expected for when Oliver and Harry were supposed to come back home. He wondered why they were home so early, and went to the living room to find out.

They seemed to be unharmed, though a bit fidgety, so he wondered if they had done something they weren't supposed to do. But then he saw the fearful sort of nervousness in both boys' eyes, and it was different than if they'd disobeyed.

"What's wrong, boys?" he asked them, dread forming in the pit of his stomach. "Did something happen? Why are you home early?"

Oliver rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, looking away from him and to Harry. Harry saw his gaze and gave him a look as though to say, Don't look at me – you can do the explaining.

"Oliver?" Sirius questioned when he didn't get an immediate response. "Harry?"

"Mr. Black," Oliver started hesitantly, finally looking at Sirius. "Have you ever heard of a Muggle weapon called a gun before?"

Sirius' face drained of color. This could not be good.

xxx

As soon as Oliver finished his explanation, with the occasional input from Harry, Sirius grabbed both boys into a hug.

"Thank Merlin you guys are okay!" he exclaimed, before pulling back to look at Oliver in the eye.

"Thank you for keeping Harry safe," he said fervently, and Oliver flushed slightly at the praise. Then Sirius looked at Harry. "And thank you for listening to Oliver, even when you hated it. He knew what was best in the situation, and you were very smart for doing what he said. …I don't know what I would do without you two." He saw the look on Oliver's face and added, "Yes – you too, Oliver. You're as much a part of this family as Harry is by now."

"Are you going to tell Dad what happened?" Harry asked him a bit nervously, thinking of what James' reaction would be if he found out what had happened.

Sirius chuckled slightly, though his eyes were still lined with worry and his posture still a bit tense. "Are you kidding me? He'd have an aneurysm if he found out!" Harry and Oliver couldn't help but smile at Sirius' description of what James' reaction would be, as it sounded so like the man.

Sirius let his smile grow a bit as he said, "Let's keep this under wraps for a bit…at least for another month."

James stormed from the Floo fireplace, too angry for words. Sirius looked up from the couch, and raised a single eyebrow in calm question.

"What's up, Prongs?" he drawled, tossing the Daily Prophet onto the coffee table in front of him.

"I-am-going-to-kill-those-fucking-bastards!" James fumed, words coming together almost rhythmically in his anger. "I am going to hex him so strong that – "

"First tell me who and why so that I can figure out where I stand on this," Sirius interrupted calmly, rising to his feet and pushing on James' chest to sit him down on the couch. James reluctantly fell into the couch, still fuming, and Sirius sat down next to him.

"Okay, firstly, who?" Sirius said, gazing at James' livid expression.

"The Daily Prophet reporters, editors, and their entire bloody staff!" James answered, scowling.

Sirius crinkled his eyebrows in confusion. "What'd they do this time?"

James stared at him. "Don't tell me you haven't seen the page three special," he said sardonically.

Sirius shook his head. "I only just picked it up and you know that I always read the comics first and then finish the crossword and then look at the Quid…"

With a frustrated huff, James grabbed the newspaper still sitting on the coffee table and yanked it to page three, shoving it at Sirius. Sirius took it a bit more calmly and looked down at what James was so pissed off about.

Taking up half of the page were various pictures of James, Sirius, and Harry all out together. It was clear that they expanded over many months, as one of the pictures was of the three of them out on Harry's tenth birthday, and another was of just three days before. Sirius quickly looked down at the accompanying article as the pictures didn't seem to be an issue.

POTTER AND BLACK: LOVERS?

By Rita Skeeter

Most of us know of the long-standing feud between the Potter and Black families, but when James Potter and Sirius Black became best friends in their Hogwarts years, it was safe to say that the feud had ended. But it also begs the question: how did they turn out to be so close? Perhaps they were close in a way that no one had anticipated.

It came out soon after the fateful Halloween of 1981 that Sirius Black and his other best friend Remus Lupin had been lovers since their sixth year of Hogwarts. Later it was made known that Lupin was also a werewolf, and had been from his childhood. We all know of the dangers that werewolves pose, but after Lupin sacrificed his life for Lily Evans and her son Harry Potter, one was left to doubt at the evilness of all werewolves. Some students in Lupin's graduating class remember him as being a "shy, quiet sort of fellow", although one witch said that "he was always off playing pranks with Black and Potter, but his innocent-looking expression always got him off the hook when they got in trouble." He may have been kind at face value, but clearly he was hiding something beneath all of that. Who can say for sure what that was, though? In any case, Sirius Black seemed to have opened him up in more ways than one – but what was the story behind that? Even the fact that his lover was a werewolf should show that perhaps he doesn't have the best judgment when it comes to men…

But then these incriminating photos were taken while the two were out with their son/godson, and it seems that Black has forgotten about Lupin, and James Potter about Lily Evans, and gone after each other. They certainly seem to love touching each other, as seen by the way Black speaks close to James Potter's ear…and then Potter laughs and turns a comely shade of pink.

But when people who knew James or Lily at Hogwarts were asked, it was said that James would never go for anyone other than Lily Evans, and was devoted to her from his first day of school. One of Lily's close friends who prefers not to be named said that Lily would always tell of how she was asked on a date every day since their fourth year by Potter. When another classmate was questioned, he said that the day that Lily said yes to a date, Potter looked the happiest he'd ever seen him – even more than when he won a Quidditch game, and that was saying something. He laughingly describes that over the course of the day after Evans accepted, Potter was assigned seventeen detentions for daydreaming during class.

So that begs the question: how did Sirius Black manage to coerce James Potter into a relationship? Some suggest blackmail, others a love potion, and one even suggested that Potter never really loved Evans but it was a front the whole time and he was in a relationship with both Black and Lupin. Perhaps our child hero, Harry Potter, should watch out from his guardians – who knows what they could be up to?

Sirius slowly lowered the paper from his line of vision, and gazed at James with a deathly calm expression.

"We should find this Rita Skeeter woman," he told James, setting down the paper with deliberate calmness. "And any sort of trash on her to expose." His face was gradually changing to show the anger boiling inside of him. "And I 'opened him up in more ways than one'?! What's that supposed to mean? I was the 'taker', thank you very much!"

"Need to know basis, Padfoot," James reminded him, shaking his head at Sirius' blunt talk of his past sex life with his other best friend.

Sirius acted like he hadn't heard him. "We need to ruin her reputation, and slam her whenever possible, because this bitch should not be trashing Remus and Lily like this!"

"And you!" James retorted. "This is like a slam on you personally! Where do they even come up with this bullshit?!"

"You said a bad word!"

They both suddenly looked to the doorway, where Harry stood with a handful of jelly beans in his hand. He looked accusingly at them both.

"You need to put a sickle in the swear jar, or have soap in your mouth for two minutes!" he proclaimed, popping a jelly bean into his mouth. Then he paused, looking at their angry faces.

"What's wrong?" he asked, immediately concerned. He rarely ever saw both of his "parents" angry at the same time.

"Nothing you need to worry about, puppy," Sirius told him, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment before rubbing his eyes with both hands.

But Harry was far more observant than James and Sirius gave him credit for. His eyes caught the newspaper and he sighed.

"You saw something in there you didn't like, didn't you?" he asked in what seemed to be a resigned voice as he walked over. "Well, you're supposed to let me have it first, anyway!"

Sirius looked up at Harry somewhat confusedly. "What? Why? Since when has that been a rule?"

Harry didn't answer for a moment, going through the first couple of pages of the newspaper to see what must've bothered his parents. When he got to page 3, he pulled the page out and crumpled it up, saying:

"I've always taken the paper for the past couple of years so that I can pull out the pages that would make you guys mad or sad before you get it." He explained, shoving the crumpled page into his pocket and choosing another jelly bean from his handful.

"What? Why?" James asked, amazed at his son's intelligence and somehow sad at the same time. "I mean…what made you think that…?"

"I remember when I was younger and you'd always see the articles from Halloween about Mum and get sad, or you'd get angry when there was one about me, and I thought it'd be better if you didn't know that it was there." He shrugged, as though it was no big deal, and then grimaced as he bit into a salt-flavored jelly bean. "You guys never noticed, 'cause you don't look at the page numbers to see that there's a couple missing."

"Harry," Sirius sighed. "We're grown men – we can handle this. You're only ten – you shouldn't have to."

Harry frowned. "I'll be eleven in twenty-three days," he reminded him.

"Still," James said gently, "We're your parents – we should be protecting you – not the other way around. Don't these articles make you upset?"

"Sometimes," Harry admitted. "But I don't think I'm as sad as you guys are, 'cause I don't remember my mum, so I don't know what I'm missing. And I've always grown up with people staring and pointing at me. Just 'cause it's written down doesn't change the number of people thinking and talking about me."

Sirius and James looked at each other, wondering when the child got so wise.

"Well, let us deal with it, alright?" James said, putting his hands on Harry's shoulders. "It's okay for us to see these things."

Harry looked at both of them before sighing. "Alright," he agreed.

"Now," Sirius said, rubbing his hands together. "How are we going to get this Skeeter woman back?"

Harry's face lit up with an evil grin. "Actually, I've been doing a bit of research on her…I have the perfect idea."

"It's not coming today, Harry. It's not coming at all."

"Shut up, Oliver."

"I don't know why you're so hopeful. Squibs don't get acceptance letters to a magical school."

"Shut up, Oliver!"

"I only speak the truth. Hogwarts only accepts people with magic, and well…let's just say you're a bit lacking in that department."

"Bugger off!"

Harry was getting frustrated with Oliver's incessant teasing. For the past week, he would tease Harry whenever he came over that he wasn't going to get accepted into Hogwarts, because he was a Squib. Harry knew that it wasn't true – he remembered several bouts of accidental magic, especially the time when he was four and had completely destroyed his bedroom – in his sleep. Still though, Oliver's teasing was getting old and annoying, and nothing he said would stop him. Even though Oliver didn't really mean it, he'd been getting more bossy and annoying as he got older, and right now, before his fifth year at Hogwarts, he was just unbearable.

He was saved from a brawl though, when James came sauntering into the room, having heard the last bit of their conversation.

"Language, Harry," James scolded lightly. "Oliver, stop teasing him. You know that once he gets his wand he'll be able to knock you flat in seconds, so I'd be extra nice to him if I were you." Oliver smirked at the good-natured ribbing from his surrogate uncle, but didn't say anything.

"Plus, I could poison you right now if I wanted," Harry proclaimed. "All I've gotta do is call one of my little snake friends and you could be out of my hair for the rest of my life."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Yes, I remember – you only remind me of your Parselmouth abilities about every other day now. And don't think I've forgotten that you set the boa constrictor on me at the zoo last month."

Harry flushed with embarrassment. "That was unintentional!" he protested. "You were being mean to me again. And he didn't even hurt you – he just slithered on by and made you wet your pants."

"I did not!" Oliver protested. "Some fat kid behind me spilled his drink on me when he was trying to get away from your friend!"

"Alright, boys, let's calm down now," Sirius said, walking into the room. "No need to bring The Wrath of Boys upon us."

"It's already six-thirty, though," Oliver pointed out. "Your owl should've gotten here by now, Harry – it is your eleventh birthday, and Neville got his yesterday."

"Maybe it's a stupid owl," Sirius offered, sprawling himself down on the couch. "I had a stupid owl deliver my Hogwarts letter – have I ever told you guys that?" Both boys shook their heads.

"No?!" Sirius exclaimed, immediately sitting up. "Well, this calls for story time!"

Twenty minutes later, Harry, Oliver, and even James, who'd heard the story plenty of times, were laughing with tears streaming from their eyes as they clutched at their stomachs. They didn't notice the owl pecking at the window to be let in until it had scratched at it for almost a solid minute. Harry jumped up and threw the window open, and the barn owl came soaring in. With shaking hands, Harry untied the letter to see his name and address printed on it, detailed all the way down to "in the living room".

After the owl had flown off (after clipping Sirius' ear with its beak), the other three crowded around Harry as he fumbled to open his letter. He took out the first piece of parchment and read aloud:

"Dear Mr. Potter, we are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

He got no farther, for he was suddenly swooped up into the air by an ecstatic James, and was spun around once before being set back on his feet again.

"My little boy is going to Hogwarts!" he exclaimed proudly, ruffling a grinning Harry's hair as Sirius snapped a picture of the moment on the camera in his hands. "Can you believe it, Padfoot? Harry's going to Hogwarts!"

Finally! Harry is going off to school! Thanks for enduring through the first background chapters with me before he starts his first year – from now on it will pretty much follow the first book…with a few changes, of course. ;p Any advice/reviews are always appreciated, and I shall see you guys soon! :)