I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter four

2355 (11:55 pm)

It was Harry's birthday. Actually, it was five minutes before midnight. Sirius told him to go to bed early because he was going to get up early the next morning; he just didn't know how early. Harry growled when he saw the time on the wizards' clock. That only caused Sirius to laugh as he lit candles.

"Get up Pronglet. We have a busy day. Even though we can't have your friends over we can have fun. Now, get up and get dressed. We have an appointment in three minutes that we can't miss."

Harry rolled over and waved his had at nothing; wishing that the light was gone. Suddenly it was pitch black in the room. That caused Harry to sit up in his bed. He knew what happened. He did magic.

"Harry?"

"Ummm... sorry about that. That happens from time to time."

"We'll talk about it later. For now, we're needed down stairs." He led Harry with a proud smile on his face.

They went all the way down to the kitchen. On the table were twenty-four packages in a circle. Harry was amazed at the sight. The presents ranged in size and shape. But that wasn't what impressed Harry; it was the fact they were celebrating.

"Don't just stand there; open the first box. Open only one box. You can others later. One per an hour of the day. I think Tonks brought a few things but those don't count in the one per an hour rule. She's not going to be here until later."

"Why is she sleeping?"

"She just got off her shift at 2200. Apparently, she had more than a few reports to write. Moony said she Floo'd a few hours ago to say she'll be by around ten."

"Fine. So, can I open my present now?" Sirius gave him a nod and Harry began to tear at the paper. The box was small but had a weight to it. When he pulled back the tissue paper, he couldn't help but gasp. It was a black leather jacket. He took it out of the box and saw that it was way too big for him.

Remus also gasped when he saw the jacket. He had seen it in almost thirteen years.

"That jacket belonged to James. After we graduated, he walked past this Muggle leather store and saw that jacket. It was as if he fell in love with the moment he saw it. Fortunately, he had Muggle money on him to buy it. A few months before he died, he told me to keep it in my vault. I didn't want to but I did anything that James wanted me to do. Somehow, I think he knew he wasn't going to make it through the war. He kept asking me to put things in my vault to keep safe for when you were older. A lot of your gifts this year are things your parents gave me. to keep safe."

Harry couldn't speak. He had so little that belonged to his parents. He had never seen anything that belonged to his Mum. These gifts were bringing a part of his parents back to him. He pulled the jacket on and was surprised by how soft it was. It took a deep breath and caught its smell. Trees and fresh air. Those two smells were what his father left behind. He could imagine James taking a walk in the woods behind Godric's Hollow. He could see James flying a Nimbus 1500 around like a pro; wearing this jacket. He pulled it even closer to smell it. He closed his eyes as he allowed the memories overflow him. Though he had no idea whether the memories were true or not.

"Thank you Paddy, Moony. This is wonderful. I can almost feel him."

Sirius and Remus didn't know what to say. Remus was still in shock. He knew what most of the presents were but the jacket came as a surprise.

Then Sirius cleared his throat.

"I really don't have anything else planned right now. So you want to write in your journal, now would be a good time."

"Or we could tell you another story about our school days. We sure do have a lot of them.

"I want a story."

"Well, how about I tell you about the day that I met your father?" Harry nodded eagerly. "It was September 1, 1970..."

0100 (1:00 am)

"... and we were best friends ever since."

Remus stifled a yawn as Sirius ended his story. His best friend was a great story teller but when it was this early in the morning it was hard to pay attention to a story that he personally witnessed.

But now it was time to open another present. Harry pulled a long box toward him. Somehow, he knew that it was a wand. He could feel the power of the core drawing him in. He opened the box to reveal a willow wand. It belonged to his mother. Ollivander told him that his Mum had a willow wand that was good for charm work. It was begging to be used again but knew that it would never happen. Its chosen was gone. He picked up the wand but wasn't surprised when pale blue sparks shot out. A moment later, the wand was backing its box.

"Thanks." That was the last word spoken during that hour.

0200 (2: 00 am)

Harry decided to avoid the other narrow box; knowing that it was his father's wand. He couldn't take that kind of emotion so soon after seeing his mother's wand.

Instead, he pulled a small flat package towards him. He knew what it was, a book. The title of the book surprised him, 'Marauder Rules' written by Wormtail, Moony, Padfoot and Prongs. He heard his godfather talk about the 'Rules' but never thought he would ever see them.

"Where did you find this book, Moony? I thought it was destroyed."

"James also asked me to keep a few things. I just thought our protégé would benefit knowing all of the rules. Though I think some of them would be irrelevant to him. But it would make a good laugh at how stupid some of were."

They were caught off guard when they heard Harry laughing.

"You called Peter Pettigrew Pudge-pudge for five years."

Sirius went into the story where they used Pettigrew to distract McGonagall while they pranked Snape. The story was even funnier than the prank.

0300 (3:00 am)

Harry still wasn't ready for the other wand. He didn't know if he ever would be. He could fell the mahogany wand calling to him but he resisted the urge to touch it. At least he could for now.

The next present was another book. It was an advanced charms book. He always had the tendency to go at a slower pace in charms than his other subjects and that book was cure to help him. He saw Remus neat hand writing on margins to help him with understanding the theory. He looked though the book for forty-five minutes before he had to put it down.

0400 (4:00 am)

By now, the three of them were getting tired. Harry opened another present, which was a watch (Harry was happy to see that it was waterproof). Then they all went upstairs to take a nap for an hour. They really didn't have anything planned to so early in the morning. Sirius had thought it was a good idea to stay up for twenty-four hours straight.

Harry decided to use that time to meditate so he could find his animagus form. All he knew saw that it was black. He didn't even know what kind of animal he was. He made sure that he was sitting comfortably before he began.

He sat there ignored everything around him and concentrated on finding his center. There was a shuffling sound but he knew that was coming from within him because there was a silencing charm around the room. Next, he heard a soft clicking noise. He knew the sound before but he didn't know where.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard Remus opening his door. He pushed the noises from his mind and followed Remus downstairs again.

0500 (5:00 am)

They all were still tired but refreshed at the same time. Sirius had resolved this was not going to become a yearly tradition.

Remus noticed a rather curious expression on Harry's face. It was as though he was deep in thought but at the same time completely relaxed. He had to ask Harry about it later.

The next gift was chosen for him by Sirius. Apparently, he was hungry because it was a large basket of fruit. He pulled out an apple and tossed it to Sirius as though he was asking him to make something to eat.

0600 (6:00 am)

Remus was going to kill Sirius. Well, he was but he was way too tired. But they weren't scheduled another nap for another two hours.

The reason Sirius was an almost dead man was because he planned a trip the Gringotts for Harry to see the family vault and he was dragging him along. He hated those carts. They always made him sick. If only there was more than one speed.

Sirius had lied to Dumbledore the year before and said that he had taken Harry to the Potter vault. In truth, Harry had never even heard about the vault. Boy was he in for a shock.

The present Harry chosen was a locket with a lily craved into it. The chain was missing so thought he could get a new one so he could wear it... as long as Malfoy never saw it. He didn't care what he said about him but Malfoy would make nasty comments about his Mum.

0657 (6:57 am)

Harry shuffled his feet as he walked up the stairs to Grimmauld Place. He couldn't help but feel as though he was being watched. He knew that it was Dobby; he just could sense where he was. It was frustrating not being able to feel where he was.

The three of them went into the kitchen as soon as they got into the house. Harry only had a few minutes before he had to open the next present. He was ready to open his father's wand box.

The mahogany wand was scratched and scorched but it still held a lot of power. Harry picked up this wand as well and felt the same sorrow he felt when he held his Mum's wand. The same blue sparks shot out as well. But instead of putting it back into by itself, he grabbed his mother's wand and put them both in the same box. The wands were together as should have been the whole time. They belonged together just as James and Lily belonged together.

0800 (8:00 am)

Harry was ready to go to bed by the time the open his eighth present, which was an empty photo album. But he wasn't going to get the chance to go to sleep Dobby was already in his bed.

A/N This is the first eight hours of Harry's birthday. The last 16 will be in the next chapter.

I put another clue in this chapter for what Harry's animagus form could be. Just so you know it has nothing to do with the black comment. It makes sense that his form would be black. The clue in the last chapter was the comment that Harry was like both Sirius and Remus.