Author's Note: I own nothing but my adorable puppy, Achilles. Please enjoy the fruits of my labors. SOOOOOOO sorry for the incredible delay in updating…. Real life got in the way. Thanks so much to Crumple-Horned Snorkack Hunter for
inspiring me to write a Harry Potter fanfic in the first place! If you haven't started her story Demistifying Lily Evans, do so now! Now, without further adieu..
Chapter Three:
The renovations to number twelve Grimmauld Place were completed in a week. Sirius sent an owl to his cousin Andromeda who was a gifted transfigurer and a natural home renovator. Andromeda's spunky eight-year-old, Nymphadora, who was born a Metamorphmagus, watched Harry during the renovations and entertained him for hours with her constantly changing hair color.
Together Remus, Sirius, Andromeda and her husband Ted changed the dark, dingy row house into a bright, open, child-friendly space. Andromeda called it 'open-concept' and claimed that a Seer told her it would be all the rage in a decade's time.
The whole house was done in shades of blue, lightening from the deep, rich navy of the kitchen- that was set off by creamy white cabinets- to the almost ethereal sky blue of the new fourth floor sunroom. Harry and Sirius' rooms were now set on the third floor, while Lupin's bedroom (Sirius had insisted he have his own room at number twelve) and a guest room shared the third floor along with a dual-purpose library and study room for Harry. The second floor was an entirely open living space while the ground floor held a formal sitting room and dining room.
The entire renovation crew had tried multiple times to remove the rude painting of Sirius' mother Walburga Black from the hallway of the ground floor but it had proved to be impossible. Instead, Sirius ordered Kreacher to slide the painting along the walls down to his quarters. This ingenious loophole in the sticking charm was realized by Dora- she refused to be called Nymphadora- proving that sometimes a child's innocence provides the best insight.
When they were through with the renovations, Sirius decided a celebratory dinner was in order. Kreacher prepared a lavish feast in his new kitchen, with almost no foul remarks made due to his immense happiness at receiving such a gift from his master.
After the dinner was over, Sirius put Harry to bed before seeing his guests out. In truth, he was very relieved to be back in contact with his once outcast cousin. The matriarch of the Black family, Sirius' mother, had disowned Andromeda from the rest of the family after her marriage to the muggle-born Ted Tonks, but since Sirius had put her in St. Mungo's after Regalus' death drove her off the edge of insanity, Sirius had reestablished communication with his favorite cousin.
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Remus Lupin finally accepted Sirius' permanent invitation to live with him after six months of practically living at Number Twelve, save nights of his transformation, after revealing to Sirius late one night that James had been supporting him with a portion of his inheritance. This was the night that the duo finally read James and Lily's last will and testament, which had somehow gotten lost during the remodel.
They were sitting in the library late after their weekly dinner with the Tonks family. After putting Harry to bed, they settled down to discuss the day's news, as was common. The best friends settled down into comfortable, over-stuffed chairs, sighing and groaning as the effects of the day finally made their appearance.
"I don't understand why you just won't concede to the fact that you are living here," Sirius mused.
"I am not. It's not safe for Harry to be around me. Do you think James and Lily would appreciate their son being raised by a monster?" Remus retaliated. A small thump sounded in the room, but both men dismissed it as a pop of the firewood.
"You are no monster, Moony," Sirius sighed. "I make the wolfsbane potion for you every month. You're completely harmless."
"I am not harmless!" Remus argued. "I am a monster and I refuse to hurt Harry!" Again, a thump resounded in the room, louder than before. Sirius and Remus stood and unsheathed their wands, carefully looking around.
The thumping sound seemed to be coming from the large mahogany desk that would be Harry's when he was old enough to start practicing magic. Carefully, Sirius approached the desk; all the while, the thumping increased its pace.
A master of performing spells wordlessly, Sirius opened the drawer with a mere flick of his wand. The drawer flew open and onto the floor, the black portfolio spinning and levitating a few inches above it. He stepped closer as the folder spun up onto the wide desk and settled down in the center; the large 'P' glowed bright emerald, accompanied by the gold script below it.
"Sirius, what—"
"It's James and Lily's last wishes," Sirius answered his friend's unspoken but obvious question. "I found it after the funeral, but I don't remember putting it in here at all. I've been searching for it, but no magical means were working…"
"Open it," Remus urged. "Open it, let them tell us what they last desired."
Sirius lifted the soft leather-wrapped covering to expose a length of parchment that looked remarkably like the old map the quartet devised during their school years. The paper looked frail and withered; it was blank except for a heading at the top:
Only Those Whose Hearts Are True May Read This Will and Follow Through
Sirius and Remus tapped their wands to the parchment simultaneously and said, "I solemnly swear…"
Words formed on the parchment, then sentences and paragraphs, all in bright crimson, as if the words were written in blood. After the page was fully viewable, the duo stood over it and read to themselves. At the very top of the will was a small letter that appeared in Lily's own script, unlike the rest of the words that were in a muggle typewriter style. Sirius' eyes nearly welled over in tears as he read her kind words.
I know you'll take great care of him, Sirius, my friend. I know our time will have come too soon, but do not stay sad for long. You are responsible for my son now- for his happiness and wellbeing. I know you'll be an amazing caretaker. –Lily
After Lily's note, the formal will began.
To Sirius Black III, we leave our son, Harry James Potter, and all of his possessions.
To Remus Lupin, we leave a portion of the contents of Gringotts vault 687- to keep you safe and comfortable. We ask that you look after Harry along with Sirius to keep them safe.
To our son, Harry, we leave the remainder of our possessions, our house in Godric's Hollow, vault 687, and our muggle bank account in Whales. Know that we love you with all of our hearts and more.
The rest of the will was filled with legal jargon; Sirius and Remus skimmed through it to the end before tapping the will again and placing back in its folder.
"See," Sirius said. "Even from beyond, James knows you're no monster. He wants you to help me with Harry, are you going to disrespect the dead's wishes?"
"I guess not," Remus responded. "You know, James helped me out after graduation when I couldn't find work."
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Harry Potter started showing signs of magic at age five. Sirius had set him in the corner of the second floor living room for knocking over a lamp while riding his broom in the house. No sooner had Sirius closed the broom away in the cupboard, he heard a POP! and the broom was beside Harry in his corner. Sirius was too stunned and amused to discipline him further.
For his sixth birthday, Sirius and Remus took Harry to a muggle zoo. They saw elephants, tigers, hippos and bears. In fact, the whole outing into the muggle world went swimmingly until they entered the reptile house.
Almost immediately after they entered through the heavy wooden doors, Remus knew something was different. All of the snakes in their various exhibits turned to face the two men and the child they accompanied. As they continued through the exhibit, every python, viper, cobra and rattler kept their eyes trained on the trio. Remus was about to write it off as nothing more than the snakes reacting to the magic that surrounded the peculiar humans when Harry walked up to a particularly large exhibit containing an equally large boa constrictor.
He hissed at the snake and it hissed back. He took a step to the left; the snake slithered along with him. Sirius was amused until young Harry told the zookeeper that the snake would like to have something larger than a rabbit for his next feeding, and preferably alive. Sirius and Remus quickly escorted their young charge away from the reptile house to a nearby park bench.
"Harry," Sirius questioned. "How did you know the snake had a rabbit to eat last?"
"He told me," Harry stated simply.
Unable to comprehend what the young boy meant, Remus asked for clarification.
"I just told you," Harry responded like the two adults were dense. "He told me he had a rabbit this morning, but that he hates rabbits. He wanted me to let him go, but then you made me leave."
"Harry, why don't you go look at the flamingos over there?" Sirius pointed to the salmon colored birds across the path and Harry complied.
"Remus, could he really be a Parseltongue?" Sirius asked in a hushed whisper.
"It's my understanding that that is a trait passed down through family," Lupin replied. "Slytherin himself was said to have spoken the snake language, but surely James would have told us if he could've done that. We were his best friends!"
"Surely. And Lily was muggle-born, so she couldn't have…"
"Uncle Sirius, Uncle Moony, can I go see the lion again?" little Harry asked.
The two men dropped the subject for the time being and spent the rest of their zoo day entertaining the bubbly, inquisitive six-year-old.
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On Harry's ninth birthday, Sirius and Remus began teaching him about magic. They used the great mahogany desk to show Harry how to make simple potions, taught him about the history of magic and even showed him how to perform some spells he would learn his first year. Sirius thought this early training was essential, given that Harry was constantly getting into mischief at Grimmauld Place and whenever he visited his playmates Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom. Ron's mother, Molly Weasley, mentioned to Remus one time when he was picking Harry up from a play date at the Burrow (the Weasley's house) that his troublesome outbursts most likely were stemming from boredom.
Remus and Sirius taught Harry spells and charms and incantations; they taught him how to make elixirs and philters and potions of varying degrees of difficulty; Sirius even went so far as to casually start preparing Harry for the arduous task of becoming an Animagus, which both Sirius and Remus agreed should be done as quickly as possible as another safety measure. After all, an unregistered Animagus could go anywhere in their animal form and not be discovered if they were careful.
The summer before Harry's eleventh birthday was the most interesting by far. Albus Dumbledore, who was not an unheard of guest of Number Twelve, made many appearances over the summer. During one of his last visits, he sat Harry down to give him one of many fatherly sorts of talks on attending Hogwarts.
"Harry," he said as they settled down in the comfortable chairs in front of the library fireplace. "I am aware that you have been learning how to concoct some potions and have practiced some wand work with a toy wand."
"Yes sir," Harry squeaked in his prepubescent ten-year-old voice.
"And am I to assume you are excelling?" Dumbledore inquired.
"Yes sir, Professor Dumbledore." Harry replied.
"I will expect you to behave properly during your time at school," Dumbledore continued. "You have had a unique childhood so far, Harry. Most at Hogwarts will only know about you that which they have heard or read from the press. Not all of these things will be true, and most will be exaggerated. Do not lose yourself as you find your place at Hogwarts. Your parents gave up everything so that you could succeed."
Harry was left dumbfounded. Such a conversation was very heavy to a ten-year-old.
"Well, have a licorice wand," the Professor insisted.
Harry took the gift as his soon-to-be Headmaster walked into the fire grate and said his goodbyes to the Boy Who Lived. Bright green flames leapt up around the wizard as he spun into nothingness.
A few days later, Harry's eleventh birthday came about. The party was a small affair, with just Harry, Ron Weasley and family, Neville Longbottom and his Grams and the Tonks family in attendance. Dora, who had graduated Hogwarts with remarkable scores on her N.E.W.T. exams Apparated in from Romania where she was traning to become a Auror with her mentor, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody.
As the party drew to a close, a large, brown Barn Owl flew to the front window and tapped its beak on the closed pane. Remus opened the window to accept the letter the post owl had delivered and dropped a few knuts in the leather pouch attached to its ankle. As he walked back toward the group of cleaning up after the festivities, he chuckled.
"Well, well, well," he smirked. "It appears Harry's Hogwarts letter just came in."
Harry bounced up and down and even hovered for a few seconds, he was so excited.
"What does it say?" he asked energetically.
"Oh the normal," Remus said, handing the letter over Harry's head to his godfather.
"'Harry James Potter is hereby accepted and invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,'" Sirius read. "Well of course he is! He's been on the list since before he was born! Well, this school list will need to be attended to… I guess a trip to Diagon Alley is in order."
Harry went to bed in such a state of excitement that sleep wasn't an option. This was, by far, his best birthday ever. He could not wait until the next morning when he would take another step towards going to magic school.
Author's Note Part Deux: Please let me know what you think of my story by dropping me a review. If you really like my writing, I encourage you to pimp out my story to your friends!