CW: birthdays, crushes, mentions of flying

:SIXTY-TWO:

More time had passed since that dark night in the forest, and Harry was doing better. He'd met with Jannie a few times since Sirius had talked to him, actually liking the counselor and enjoying their conversations. She was different from other adults Harry had met in the wizarding community because she hadn't immediately treated him like 'the Boy-Who-Lived'. It made him feel more safe and normal, so he found himself opening up about even the more difficult stuff.

At home, his hesitation around Petunia and Dudley had slowly faded away again. Him and Dudley didn't get to spend as much time together though, as Noah had begun taking Dudley with him to work some days and just to hang out on others. Harry would've been more annoyed by this, but Noah was really trying to connect with Dudley and his relationship with Petunia was becoming quite serious.

So instead, Harry had become even closer to both Ron and Neville. He liked the other Weasley children as well, but Ron was quickly becoming his best mate due to their similar age and interests. Ron was either over at the flat playing chess and getting some space from his hectic family, or taking Harry over to the Burrow to have quidditch friendly and have supper.

Hermione was once again on a family holiday, though she promised to join them later on in the summer. This year, Mr. Weasley had managed to get tickets to see the Quidditch World Cup through a connection at work. Harry had nearly burst with excitement when Ron told him, and Sirius was more than happy to send him off. It reminded him so much of James, who had loved playing quidditch so much growing up.

Plus, it gave Sirius a perfect excuse to take Remus on that holiday he'd been promising for a while now. Remus had been bearing it very well because he had to, but the stress of the horcruxes and his monthly transformations had taken a toll on him. Even with the help of the wolfsbane potions, transformations were not exactly easy on the body. He felt sore and exhausted more often than not, and his hair was starting to prematurely grey.

But he was learning how to relax, learning how to let go of the anxiety that one more thing was going to come out and threaten his chosen family. Sirius often found Remus tucked into himself on the couch, having fallen asleep while working on his freelance job. He always looked so peaceful that Sirius didn't have the heart to wake him up, instead taking a different seat and quietly drinking his tea.

It was during one of these peaceful afternoons that Harry paced into the living room, pretending to not be bothered by something that was clearly bothering him.

"What is it, Harry?" Sirius smirked. "You'll carve a dent in the floor if you keep pacing like that."

"Oh, it's nothing," Harry sat down and looked like he was about to write something, his quill posed over the parchment.

But then he put it down and began to pace again instead.

"Wha?" Remus muttered blearily, waking up and squinting at Harry. "What's the matter, Harry?"

"Sorry, Papa." Harry blushed. "I just...well, I wanted to invite Luna to my birthday party this year."

"A bird!" Sirius' smirk widened. "Harry, why didn't you just say so! You're talking to an expert at flirtation."

He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, smiling. Remus scoffed, throwing a pillow at him.

"Ew, dad!" Harry's blush had grown even worse. "It's not like that!"

"Sure it isn't." Sirius looked completely unabashed, catching Remus' pillow with ease.

"It ISN'T!" Harry yelled, hiding his face. "Don't be so weird about it! I knew I shouldn't have told you about it!"

He collapsed on the floor next to the unwritten letter.

"Alright, alright." Sirius said appeasingly. "Look, if you want Luna to come, just write that. Or tell her in person - they live really close to the Weasleys and you're over there all the time."

Remus stretched his arms over his head, yawning. "What do you want for your birthday anyway? I still need to go grocery shopping for it."

"You reckon Ron would ask for me?" Harry asked Sirius, ignoring Remus momentarily.

Sirius smirked, shaking his head. "Harry, don't overthink it. I'm sure she'd love to come and we can even practice if you want."

"No, that won't be necessary." Harry said quickly, getting back up. "But I did promise I'd go over to the Borrow actually, so I'll see you both later."

"Good luck!" Sirius winked. "Don't forget to come back and tell us all the details!"

"And we're grocery-shopping together tomorrow!" Remus called after Harry as he walked over to the fireplace.

Harry nodded at Remus, grimaced at Sirius, and then vanished into the green flames.

Sirius sighed melodramatically. "They grow up so fast, love. Just yesterday he fit on my shoulders, and now he's chasing a bird."

"I think 'chasing' is a bit of a strong word." Remus said grumpily, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "He's too young to be dating anyways."

"He's about the same age we were when we started getting crushes." Sirius retorted. "Now you're up though, do you want to watch a film? I didn't want to wake you before."

"Alright," Remus smiled. "But I want tea and biscuits first."

"Already thought of that." Sirius pulled the bag of biscuits out from behind himself and pointed to the extra tea mug.

Remus laughed, moving over so Sirius had some room on the couch. "You know me too well."

Sirius kissed Remus on the cheek. "Of course I do, love."

They tucked in together, watching an old black-and-white film that Sirius really liked. Partially waiting for Harry to return with his teenage dramas, but mostly just enjoying their time together. As Harry was growing up and becoming his own person, Sirius and Remus had found themselves growing into their own relationship outside of raising Harry. Date nights and movie afternoons were one of the many things they'd added to their routine over the years, little ways to keep the spark alive.

When Harry returned later, he looked flushed and pleased with himself.

"Luna's coming to my birthday." He said pseudo-casually, taking off his shoes by the fireplace.

It took everything in Sirius not to laugh or say 'I told you so'. But he couldn't help smirking at Harry as he stormed away to his bedroom. And then...they heard his door close.

"Did you hear that?" Remus murmured quietly, staring at Sirius in shock.

"Yeah," Sirius grinned broadly. "And I think I'm going to really like this girl Luna."

Harry's birthday went as planned, just a small gathering of all Harry's friends for tea. The Weasleys were so kind as to have it at the Burrow this year, so all of the kids could play quidditch after the food and presents were over. Most of his presents were quidditch-themed, but Luna and Neville both got him plants.

Neville's plant was another magical and difficult to kill one with healing properties, but Luna's was both strange and very sweet. She'd gone into a muggle shop and purchased a peace lily for him.

"For your mum," She'd said with a serene smile. "And the muggle lady said it could help with headaches too, though I'm not sure how exactly."

"Thank you," Harry said awkwardly, taking the plant. "Are you going to come to the Quidditch World Cup?"

"Yes," Luna nodded. "Daddy got us tickets, though we have to leave earlier than you will."

Harry beamed. "Great! We'll try and find you there."

"Wish I could go." Neville pouted slightly. "But my gran planned something at the same time and won't let me skip out."

"We'll be sure to get you lots of souvenirs, Neville." Ginny said kindly. "Fancy a quidditch friendly, Harry? The others are already outside."

Sirius and Remus had purchased another broomstick for the Weasleys, so there was one for each child. They'd tried to refuse it, saying it was too much, but Sirius had insisted. So, now Ginny didn't have to sneak around trying out her brother's broomstick, as they gave her one of their old ones. It also meant, though, that she wanted to play nearly all the time.

"Erm, sure." Harry looked to Luna and Neville. "Do you want to come watch maybe?"

"Yeah, alright." Neville grinned easily.

Luna nodded, skipping along with them all. "Perhaps I'll make a dandelion chain - there are lots of new blooms in the field now."

Notes:

Happy Reading!