Harry awoke early to find Hedwig pecking on his window with three letters attached to her leg. He jumped out of bed and let her in, taking the letters from her and tossing her a few treats from the box by the window. She flew up to her perch and drank deeply from her water dish before tucking her head under her wing and quickly going to sleep.
He had received a letter in response to each one that he sent. Unsure of which letter to read first, he picked up Luna's and unrolled it. She had much the same opinion on things as Hermione did, and her letter gave Harry the confidence to open Neville's letter, which said pretty much the same thing once again. Both were very happy for Harry, and glad that he didn't have to go back to Surrey again.
Harry stared at the letter from the twins. He was just about to open it when a knock came at his door. "Come in," he called, sitting the letters aside.
"Oh, you're already up," Remus said, a bit surprised. "I thought teenagers liked to sleep in?" He teased a bit.
"Oh, I do, but Hedwig woke me up," Harry gestured to the letters laying on the couch beside him.
Remus sat down. "I see you've opened two of them, how did they go?"
Harry smiled, "You were right about Neville and Luna, they're both just happy that I'm happy and safe. I haven't opened the one from the twins yet, I'm a bit nervous."
"Don't be," Remus advised. "Something tells me that Fred and George are going to be perfectly happy for you, probably even more so than Hermione, Neville and Luna are. Especially if they've read yesterday's paper, which I'm sure they have."
Harry found Remus' comment a bit odd, but ignored it for the time being and opened the letter from the twins.
Harry,
Though we were a bit hurt to not receive a letter when Ron and Hermione received their letters, we understand. We're very happy for you little brother, and Ron has a drawer full of shorts that are full of itching powder, just waiting for his little bum to get in them. Come by and see us next time you're in Diagon Alley.
Gred and Forge
Harry looked up from the letter and beamed. "They want me to come see them next time we're in Diagon Alley. And," Harry said with a laugh, "They've put itching powder in all of Ron's shorts."
Remus laughed, "Sounds like something those two would come up with. It just so happens that we're headed to Diagon Alley for a bit today. Perhaps we'll swing by their shop."
Lupin left Harry to put his letters away while he went downstairs to fix them some breakfast. When he got to the kitchen he found Sirius sitting at the table drinking a cup of what looked to be very strong, black tea. "Morning Padfoot," Remus said happily.
"What's got you so chipper?" Sirius asked, his voice still thick with sleep.
"Luna, Neville and the twins all wrote back to Harry this morning, very positively, I might add."
"That's wonderful!" Sirius said with a smile.
"And it seems that the twins didn't approve of Ron's reaction. It seems they snuck into his room and put itching powder in his shorts."
Sirius' barking laugh filled the kitchen. "What's so funny?" Harry asked as he came in the room.
"Moony was just telling me about poor Ron's underpants," Sirius said with a snicker.
Harry grinned and sat down at the table. "Remus said we could go see the twins today while we're shopping."
Sirius agreed as Remus sat a plate of food on the table and the three men tucked in.
It wasn't long before the food was all gone and they were heading out the door. Their first stop was a clothing shop in muggle London for things like jeans, trainers, underwear, tshirts and socks. After Harry had picked out what he wanted, Sirius picked up doubles of everything in multiple colors and piled them in Harry's arms. "There's no sense in shorting yourself on clothes when both of us have enough money that our great grandchildren aren't going to need to work."
Harry protested when Sirius insisted on paying, but Sirius produced a wallet of muggle money and paid the cashier, and they headed outside.
Once they were in the Three Broomsticks, Sirius shrunk the packages and stuffed them in his pocket. They stopped for a quick butterbeer before heading on into Diagon Alley.
A quick stop at Madame Malkins for Harry to be measured, and to pick out fabrics that Sirius once again insisted on paying for, and they were headed down the street to the quidditch shop where Harry got a new broom servicing kit, new gloves and a couple of practice snitches.
After their shopping was done, the three headed to the most obnoxious looking building on the street. Lots of purple and orange, and many flashing lights set Weasley's Wizard Wheezes out from the rest of the buildings in Diagon Alley.
When they entered the shop they were greeted by both Weasley Twins, which was unusual because Fred was usual in the back, inventing new pranks, or at least succeeding in blowing something up.
"Hello Harry, Marauders," the twins said together.
Sirius and Remus nodded their hellos to the twins, while Harry hugged them both.
"You know Harry, I think Sirius and I are going to go get a cup of tea whilst you visit with your friends. I'm sure you don't want us old dogs hanging around." Remus said lamely, knowing that the twins wanted to talk to Harry.
"Ok, see you guys later." Harry said absently, already chatting with the twins over some new products.
As the Marauders left, George turned the store over to their shop keeper, and he and Fred took Harry upstairs to their little apartment. Once they were all seated, Fred began to speak, "I know Ron upset you, but really he's the only prat of the family, besides Percy of course. Mum and Dad don't care of course, they knew Remus and Sirius were together for years, and neither do Bill, Charlie or Ginny. No idea what crawled up Ron's bum, but he'll either come around, or he doesn't deserve to be your friend."
"Thanks guys, it means a lot that you guys are still with me." Harry said, smiling.
"Harry, I've got a secret, and Fred is the only one that I've told before now, but I think you're fitting to be the second person to know." George started.
"OK," Harry said, waiting for George to continue.
"Hey Lee, come here a second," George called.
Lee entered the room and took a seat on the sofa to George's left. Harry was a little surprised when Lee took George's hand and leaned against him.
"Lee and I have been together since we were 13. I took Alicia to the Yule ball at the end of our sixth year, to keep anyone from being suspicious. Now that us being together isn't illegal, and we can raise children together and get married, we've decided to tell our families. After your letter yesterday, we decided to tell you first." George explained.
"That means a lot to me," Harry said. "I'm happy for you guys. I'm glad you don't have to hide your relationship for years like my dads did."
Harry hugged both twins and Lee again, and the four sat around and talked about Harry's upcoming last year at Hogwarts, and his new found family. Before they knew it Remus and Sirius were back and the group headed to a small cafe for lunch.