His Boy

Chapter Thirty-Four: Happiness

Sirius, Remus, and Lexie stared down at the official looking envelope that had just been delivered to the breakfast table by a Ministry owl, complete with seal. After a couple of moments, Sirius grabbed it up, as it was addressed to him, and with shaky hands, tore the wax that kept it closed. He pulled out a single sheet of parchment, unfolded it and read aloud, not wanting to do this on his own if it was bad news. He didn't think he would be able to handle it if it was bad. He'd probably go to his room, curl up in a ball, and never come out again. The past day and a half since his interview had been bad enough.

"Dear Mr. Black,

After a lot of careful consideration, the Department for the Protection of Magical Children has deemed your home and family are the best match for four-year-old Harry Potter. We request your presence at our offices at noon upon the 23rd of February to formalize full legal custody and adoption overseen by a representative of the Wizengamot. Congratulations.

Olivia Giness

Head of the Department for the

Protection of Magical Children!" Sirius cheered, his voice getting more and more excited as he had read, Remus and Lexie jumping from their seat. They both flung their arms around Sirius and danced about in a circle, laughing. The tears flowed freely. They were getting their little boy back… they were going to be a family again, officially, today.

As Sirius hugged his best friend and girlfriend, his heart exploded with such warmth that he couldn't believe how lucky he was. Not even a full six months ago, he had still been locked in a prison cell, no hope of ever seeing daylight or the ones he loved ever again… and now, unbelievably, he was here. In his own house, his own kitchen, with two of the people he loved more than anything else in the world and the knowledge that they would soon be reunited with the current single most important person in all of their lives besides each other.

…...

"Well Potter, you and I are going on a special trip today." Professor McGonagall smiled as she straightened out his hair to the best of her ability. Unfortunately, it was just like his father's, never wanting to lay flat, but then again, it suited him. Giving up, she tucked a napkin into his collar, not wanting him to make a mess of his nice clean, long sleeved grey shirt and jeans before this afternoon.

"I'm not a baby." Harry frowned, looking down at the napkin and feeling as though it were very much like a bib.

"No, you're not, but sometimes you spill and you need to stay clean today. It's a very important day." McGonagall explained, setting his plate of scrambled eggs and buttered toast in front of him. Even if he spilt now, the crumbs and eggs wouldn't soak through the napkin to his shirt like jam or oatmeal would have.

"Why? Where're we goin'?" Harry asked curiously, wondering why today had a special trip and was important. He had had a lot of fun with the Professor, but they hadn't gone anywhere that wasn't part of Hogwarts since he'd been here. It was just always too bitter cold out to stray too far from the castle or Hagrid's. Best to keep to the indoors where warmth was.

"It's a surprise." McGonagall smiled, eating her own breakfast. She would have taken him down to the Great Hall, as it would be Harry's last meal at Hogwarts until he was eleven unless he visited, but she was feeling a little bit selfish about spending the remaining time they had together with just the two of them. She had grown quite fond in the past eight and a bit days, of having Harry underfoot when she wasn't in classes.

"Oh." Harry smiled. He enjoyed surprises. Maybe they were going someplace super exciting, like Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley. His Padfoot had told him all about those places, though he had never been to either of them yet. "Is it gonna be fun?"

"Yes." McGonagall smiled, knowing that this particular surprise would be very fun for Harry. "In fact, I think it will be the best thing we've done all week."

"Wow!" Harry beamed, getting more excited now that he knew it was going to be that awesome. They had done a lot of good things this week, but the idea of doing something even better? Well, that was quite the news!

…...

"He's not going to care what you look like, Padfoot." Remus remarked as Sirius straightened out his hair for what was about the sixth time in the past fifteen minutes. They were just about to apparate to the Ministry to pick up Harry.

"I know, but if we might as well appear decent. Who knows what the Ministry might do? For all we know, they could snatch him back simply because I don't look spiffy enough." Sirius informed him, straightening out the tie he wore about once every five years or so. Even in school his uniform had been loose and easy going, never tying his tie at all unless it was around his head just to make McGonagall crazy. "Is it straight?"

"Yes, now let's go." Lexie balked, rolling her eyes and grabbing hold of Sirius's tie. She dragged him away from the mirror in the hallway and into the living room where there was more room for them to disapparate together. It was already eleven, they didn't want to be late… even though technically their meeting wasn't until noon sharp.

With three cracks, the three grown wizards appeared in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic and made they way towards the lifts, having to submit their wands for identification before getting them back. They piled into an already fairly full lift and waited, as it brought them to the correct level.

The Department for the Protection of Magical Children was always easy to find, being just off to the left of the lifts. They entered through a door and into the main lobby area before sitting down on the colorful benches that were located throughout the room for prospective parents or people seeking parental re-establishment.

And then, they waited.

The minutes seemed to tick by so slowly, Sirius tapped on his watch, wondering if it was even working properly. Lexie shuffled her feet back and forth anxiously, having to rise to go to the bathroom twice in the same hour, though for two completely different reasons each time, and no, she was not pooping in case you were wondering. Remus sighed every few minutes, looking up from the book he had brought along, unable to concentrate on the words on the page. A clock on the wall ebbed slowly onwards, giving a click for every minute that went by, each click seeming to last a full minute by itself, although, it was actually only barely half a second.

A door opened and Ms. Giness exited from it, smiling. "A little birdie has just informed me that you've been waiting out here for no less than forty-five minutes earlier than our arranged time."

"Yeah well, best to be prompt?" Sirius smiled, rising from his seat to shake her hand. He was feeling a lot friendlier to her now that he knew things were going to work out the way they were supposed to.

"Yes, indeed it is. It's a little early, but I suppose we can begin the paperwork now if you-"Ms. Giness began, but the door to the lobby was flung open, slamming up against the wall quite loudly.

"I demand to know exactly what this is about!" Lucius Malfoy spat rather menacingly as he entered the lobby, cane in one hand, brandishing a sheet of parchment in the other. His wife followed after him, her nose turned up as though she smelled something foul.

"Can I help you Mr. Malfoy?" Ms. Giness asked, looking a little startled at the intrusion.

"I received this letter this morning. We would like to know as to exactly why our application for adoption was denied." Lucius stated coldly, stopping in front of Ms. Giness and eying Sirius, Remus, and Lexie with contempt.

"Well, when there are two families involved, we decide which would be better suited for adopting the child in question. I told you from the very beginning, Mr. Malfoy, that the Department and Wizengamot tend to favor families that already have a history with the child over families that do not, even if both are very nice matches. In the end, we have to do what's best for the child, and in this particular case-"

"My cousin is not fit to raise a child." Narcissa butted in, face still sour. "He is completely immature and unreliable."

"On the contrary, we feel that Mr. Black makes an excell-"

"He's rowdy, and lives with a werewolf, and doesn't have enough decent sense not to impregnate the first woman he comes across after being imprisoned for nearly three years."

"I beg your pardon?" Lexie rose to her feet, her face reddening with anger.

"Mrs. Malfoy, I will ask you not to speak in such a defaming manner in my Department. I realize it is difficult not to be able to adopt right away when you want another child so very badly, but there are plenty of other little boys who need good homes and I will be willing to set up an appointment in which we can discuss the possibilities of-"

"We don't want another child, except for this one. Surely you must understand that? The Malfoys and the Potters were close friends for many decades, it would only be right for us to take one of them in."

"That's a load of shit." Sirius shook his head. "The Potters deplored the whole lot of you and your pureblooded bias. Lily, James, the whole line of them would be rolling in their graves if they ever saw a Potter forced to be part of the Malfoy family. You're despicable."

"How dare you!" Lucius shot back, raising his wand and looking fierce as his wife grabbed his arm to keep him from doing anything that could possibly harm their reputation. He lowered his arm, Sirius's, Remus's, and Lexie's hands, all poised to grab their own wands, lowered as well. "Come Narcissa. We're through here. But mark my words, Black, someday you're going to screw up, and we'll be waiting for it."

With his threat hanging in the air, Lucius left the room, Narcissa linked to him by their arms. Sirius stuck his tongue out after them, quite angry, but not wanting to let it get the best of him. This was going to be a happy day. And he was going to do his best not to screw it up. He did make a good dad after all.

…...

Harry was anxious. He and the Professor had Flooed from her office directly to the Ministry of Magic, specifically, a room with a lot of toys in it and bright colors.

"Where are we?" Harry asked curiously, liking the looks of all of these toys. There were a couple of other kids here, but they were a bit older than him and seemed to be playing by themselves quite contently, looking up every now and then at the double doors with frosted glass panes that led out of the room.

"This is a special play room. We have to stay here until someone fetches us, but it won't be long. And then it'll be time for the special surprise."

"Do we have to wait?" Harry asked, feeling a little put out that the surprise wasn't coming yet even though they were already here.

"Yes, but you can play until then." Harry pondered this over for a moment and then sat down next to the nearest toy train. He pushed it across the carpet, making choo-chooing noises and smiling. He enjoyed trains immensely.

After five minutes of train time and his hand playing over the brim of his conductor's hat, Harry looked up as the doors opened and someone he did not want to see entered the room. He blatantly ignored her presence, not bothering to watch as she spoke to the Professor and only looking up when McGonagall tapped him gently on the top of his head.

"It's time for your surprise, Potter."

"I dun want it. That lady is mean." Harry shook his head, glaring up at Ms. Giness like she was the absolute worse person on the planet.

"No, she's not. She's a good lady, But even if you don't like her, you're going to like your surprise, some come along Potter." McGonagall stated firmly and Harry heaved a sigh, getting to his feet. Well, if the Professor said he'd like his surprise (and she hadn't lied to him once yet as far as he knew) then he would go.

They walked through the frosted paned doors and into a happy looking hallway that they followed until they turned a corner and reached the end. All Harry could see under the brim of his hat were the occasional pairs of feet, part of the walls, benches, and the floor.

"Harry!"

Harry's head shot upwards, tilting back, eyes wide as he took in the rest of the room. He turned his head in the direction of the voice, and immediately broke into a run without really thinking about it. He knew that voice! And there he was! Harry cried out, his arms shooting forward, running full speed. "PADDDDDDYYYY!"

"Harry!" Sirius crouched quickly, knowing they'd probably run into one another if he moved and then… then…

Harry hit Sirius's arms and was lifted upwards. He locked his arms around the man's neck and legs around his torso, fingers clinging tightly into the back of his shirt so hard that it wrinkled right up. Sirius's arms held onto him tightly, his lips kissing his little boy's head and cheeks over and over again, whispering reassurances into his tiny ears. "Harry, I missed you. I'm soooo sorry this happened, but I promise, never again. I promise, I promise. Forever and ever, remember? No one can ever take you away because we'll always come back together. I would fight against a dragon for you."

Harry sniffled, his little heart soaring so much that he had been unable to stem the tears that were flowing from his eyes properly. He leaned back just a smidge, wanting to see his godfather's face for just a moment, and then buried his face in his neck, breathing in the familiar scent of his Padfoot, his home.

"Paddy, I missed you. Why didn't you come get me?"

"I wasn't allowed to, Harry, or you never would have even been here in the first place." Sirius snuggled him tighter and Harry sniffled again, nodding. Of course that had to be the case, his Padfoot would never have left him alone for so long otherwise.

After a few minutes of just cuddling with his boy, Sirius dried both their cheeks and turned to look at Moony and Lexie who were waiting for their turns patiently. They both knew Harry was more attached to Sirius and needed a couple of minutes to calm down.

"Heya Harry!" Remus smiled, rising and reach a hand out to give Harry's hat a loving tug. Lexie joined him, beaming and straightening the little boy's glasses as he picked his head up.

"Moony! Lexie!" Harry squealed in that way only little kids and teenage girls usually got away with, his happiness at being back with his godfather increasing as he found his other two favoritest people waiting for him as well. He was still clinging to Sirius though, not quite ready to let go. Hugs for Moony and Lexie would wait for now, they were just pleased to see him.

"Well, that's everything done then." Ms. Giness smiled, having given them a few minutes to get reacquainted with one another before coming over. "Your paperwork is all taken care of, so you can head home as soon as you'd like. Obviously, we made the right decision."

"Damn straight." Sirius smiled, hugging his Harry tighter. "Harry, we can go home now!"

"Yaaaaaaay!" Harry laughed but then frowned a tiny bit. "But I gotta say bye first."

"Oh, well of course." Sirius carried Harry over to where the Professor was watching them, dabbing slightly at her eyes and regaining composure as they got to her.

Harry leaned forward from Sirius's arms, hugging McGonagall and she hugged him back, planting a kiss on top of his hatted head. "Bye Professor McGooglegul."

"Bye Harry, it's been a pleasure."

"You'll visit, right?" Harry asked curiously once the hug was finished.

"Of course." McGonagall nodded, giving him one of her rare smiles and Harry grinned, glad he'd see her again. He had enjoyed spending time with her, even if he had missed home very badly.

"Thanks, for keeping him safe Professor." Sirius smiled at her. "You're welcome for dinner any time."

"He's a good boy, Black." McGonagall responded, straightening out her hat. "He's a lot like his mother in that way. Oh but he is cheeky like his father as well."

"He's perfect." Sirius laughed, kissing Harry's cheek. He and McGonagall shook hands and then he rejoined his friends.

…...

Harry had spent the entire afternoon back home either clinging to Sirius and exclaiming out loud his joy at seeing things again. McGonagall had sent all of his things back shortly before they had left that morning, so they were sitting on the floor of the living room next to the fireplace. Harry didn't pay them much mind, mostly shouting about rooms. "Living room!" He'd said when they'd landed.

"Kitchen! My room! My playroom! My bathroom!" He had hugged onto Sirius even tighter as they'd walked around the house, Harry wanting to see everything but not be set down. Every time Sirius had even remotely mentioned the idea, Harry had just clung to him tighter.

Lexie made them a special dinner that night, the spaghetti and meatballs Harry loved. They sat down to eat it in the dining room too, Harry in his own chair, but keeping one hand tightly wrapped up in one of Sirius's sleeves, making the older man have to eat with his less agile left hand, but then, that was part of having kids, not always being able to do things the way you normally would. Their needs came first, and if Harry needed a day or two to feel secure in knowing that his Padfoot was right there, then that's what would be done.

At bedtime, Harry slept tightly wedged between Sirius and Lexie, face buried in Sirius's chest. Neither adult particularly minded, quite pleased just to have him back within arm's reach.

The next morning, when Harry woke up blurry eyed and splayed across most of the bed, he smiled. He sat up, rubbing at his eyes and looking at first Sirius, and then Lexie, both of them still fast asleep. He prodded Sirius in the cheek repeatedly, wanting him to get up with him.

Sirius's eyes blinked open and he yawned, looking up at Harry with a soft smile. He grabbed hold of the little boy's jammy sleep time fingers and kissed them before sitting up and pulling him into his lap. "Good morning, Harry."

"Morning Paddy." Harry grinned up at him.

It was Sunday, for which Sirius was glad of, otherwise he probably wouldn't have gone into work if it had been a weekday. He and Harry tiptoed from the bedroom and made their way downstairs to the kitchen where the wee light of morning was beginning to show. Even now, it looked like it was going to be a nice sunny day, though, probably bitter cold still.

"Let's make pancakes." Sirius suggested, lifting the bag of flour from where it sat in a high cupboard. Harry clapped his hands excitedly and hurried to the fridge to grab out the two eggs he knew they needed for making pancakes.

After helping Sirius put the ingredients in the metal bowl, Harry used the whisk to help stir them all up, needing a little help of a faster hand to get all the lumps out once the liquids had soaked into the powders.

"MMmm, looks yummy." Harry remarked. "Like vanilla cake."

"Yeah, but this won't taste anything like vanilla cake." Sirius laughed and pulled out the carton of food colorings. "Here, let's pick a color to make the pancakes. What d'you think?"

"Red." Harry suggested, reaching for the red dye but Sirius stopped him.

"Are you sure? If we add the red, it'll come out pink instead of red because the batter if so lightly colored."

"Hmmm…" Harry pondered it over for a moment and then jumped from his stool. He got into one of the lower cupboards and pulled out the tin of metal cookie cutters, remembering something. "Paddy, can we put hearts in the pancakes for Moony and Lexie?"

"That's a great idea, Harry! I don't know if it'll work, but we can try it." Sirius beamed at him as Harry picked out the big metal heart cookie cutter. Sirius grabbed him a bowl and they put red food coloring in it. Upon further thought, they made bowls with blue and green too. The yellow wouldn't show up in the pancake though, if this worked.

Sirius poured some pancake batter into the pan and let it sit, cooking until it got bubbly all throughout. Then he dipped the cookie cutter in the dye, not wanting Harry to get close to the hot pan. He place the cutter gently down into the cooking pancake and pulled it away after a moment of letting the dye connect.

Harry squealed, admiring the pink heart in the batter. Sirius flipped the pancake quickly and Harry cleaned the batter that had gotten stuck to the cutter off with a towel.

They did well, making the pancakes perfect… Sirius was rather good at pancakes, knowing when the flip from watching James's dad when he was young. Had that really only just over eight years ago? Wow.

They added chocolate chips to Remus's pancakes. Chocolate and banana to Lexie's, and blueberries to Sirius's. Harry liked to keep his plain and put treacle syrup off to the side to dip them in, because the syrup was thicker than maple and harder to drizzle than it was to place a glop on the plate with a spoon. Every single plate had three pancakes with a different colored heart on it.

"Mmmm, something smells amazing." Lexie peeked her head in, hair tousled as she entered the kitchen. "Pancakes?"

"Lexie! We made special pancakes." Harry beamed and pointed to where her plate was on the table, kept warm by a spell Sirius had placed on it. Neither had eaten yet, choosing to wait for Remus and Lexie by cleaning up first.

"There is something very, very delicious wafting into my nose." Remus remarked as he came into the kitchen as well, still in his green pajamas. He took his usual seat where the chocolate pancakes were. "Oh wow! Look, there are hearts in the pancakes!"

"Yep!" Harry laughed brightly, jumping to climb into his chair and picking up his spoon with absolute delight. It was easier getting a good bit of syrup to eat with his pancake with a spoon instead of a fork. Then his pancake would just break off in the syrup.

"Mmm, and they're my favorite!" Remus beamed and tousled Harry's hair, taking a big bite of his pancakes before scooping Harry up into a hug. He'd gotten a couple last night before bed, but he still needed to reassure himself that the kid was back, safe and sound.

Harry returned the hug happily and then they all sat down to eat breakfast, together, as a family.

Hi guys! I'm so glad you took the time to read today! I really really enjoyed writing this chapter. Let me know what you thought if you want, I always appreciate it!

Love muchly, crazy-headed,

S.Q.O.