I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

Note: The website is still having problems with reviews and I'm not getting all the email notifications, so I'll wait to do a big response later.

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The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 127 – Sweet Sorrow

"I thought Dora was waking him up." Andromeda opened the door and she looked into the bedroom. She smiled softly, a sweet expression at an unexpected sight. She left and came back with a camera, took a few pictures before setting the camera aside.

She then knelt by the bedside and gently shook a slumbering Harry. "Harry, love, time to wake up."

Harry groaned and blinked a few times. "Hunh? Oh, hi Auntie Andi." He yawned while still lying prone. "What time is it?"

"Early still admittedly, but it's a big day and we want to celebrate with you."

"It is?"

She pinched his cheek gently. "Yes, yes it is. You turn seventeen today. Happy Birthday love!"

Harry smiled. "Oh right! Thanks!" He tried to sit up and found that he could not move. "Uh, what the…" He looked down to see an arm curled around him.

Andromeda sighed and shook her head. "Dora said she was coming to wake you up and instead went back to sleep apparently, using you as a teddy bear." She reached over and poked Tonks' cheek. "Dora, wake up."

"No," Tonks muttered, pulling Harry closer. "Five more minutes."

"No, now," Andromeda said firmly and pinched her ear.

"Ow! Okay I'm up!" Tonks sat up, being pulled up by her ear, and glared at her mother. "Mum!"

"You were supposed to be waking Harry up for his birthday, not going back to sleep you lazy thing."

"Not my fault Harry looked super comfy," Tonks groused. She shook her head and smiled wide. "Happy Birthday little brother!" She flopped on him, pushing into the bed.

"Thanks!" Harry said muffled, wriggling, trying to avoid Tonks' tickling fingers. He hugged her back, squeezing tight. "You guys came over early this time."

"We wanted to share the whole day with you," Andromeda said. "It's a very important one after all. Ted's waiting downstairs. We have some special gifts for you first so we'll be waiting for you."

Harry changed swiftly and tucked the gold circlet around his neck like a torc, and hurried downstairs. He heard chatter in the kitchen and when he entered, he was greeted by a beaming Sirius, Ted, Andromeda, and Tonks. He hugged every single one of them, beyond happy to see them.

"Look at you," Sirius said, tearing up slightly and holding Harry by his shoulders. "I still remember when you were born, such a tiny thing. Now you're a tall young man. Taller than your dad."

"Really?" Harry asked.

"Really, he would've hated it and been so proud at the same time. Bit of a peacock he was."

"Birds of a feather," Andromeda muttered.

Sirius snickered. "You're not wrong. Anyways, the guests will be here soon, we're turning this into a daylong thing so you'll need plenty of coffee or tea to keep you going but I wanted us to give you a few things now in relative privacy as family. Here, your first and most traditional gift."

Harry accepted the black velvet box from Sirius with trembling hands. He already had an idea of what it was but that did not diminish his eagerness in the slightest. He opened it and sighed as he looked at the gleaming gold watch sitting within. It was polished and shone with an inner radiance. He looked at the etched front with wonder, fingertip tracing the emblem design: a shield with a heart bisected by a wand. He opened it, looking at the numbers and clicking clock hands. When he flipped it over, he looked at the back, at the familiar dog made of stars.

"I, uh, went into your family Vaults and looked for any family watches. Unfortunately, I never found your dad's. But I found one that belonged to your grandfather. I had it repaired and cleaned up. The front is your family crest of course but I added the back one. The Blacks will always have your back, forever. As long as there are Blacks, the Potters will never be alone." Sirius coughed as Harry hugged him tight about the middle. "Man, you got strong," he teased while wiping his eyes.

Andromeda was next and she handed him a slim long black case. "Keep an open mind about this one," she said. She watched as he opened it, showing a long silver blade. It had no guard on it, no obvious decorations. The hilt was almost overlong, and the blade single edge coming to a tapered point. At the very bottom of the hilt where a pommel would be had his initials as well hers and the word 'tool' etched in small neat script.

"It is a Black tradition for a mother to give her son a blade of some sort. In the past, it was a form of final defense should a wand be broken or lost. As time passed, it became a sort of status symbol, only those of the main Black family received a blade. I…never thought I'd ever had the opportunity to present a blade to a son. I was waiting for Dora to have a son so I could continue the tradition, one of the few Black ones I like. Thank you for not making me wait too long."

"I'll keep you waiting longer," Tonks muttered.

Andromeda snorted. "No pressure Dora. Anyways, I wanted to give this to you. I had it fashioned to look like a Healer's scalpel so you can use it as such. Remember, it's just a tool, something to be used with your intent."

"It's not just a tool," Harry said and hugged her, burying his face into her neck.

Andromeda teared up, hugging him back hard. She knew what he meant by that and felt incredibly warm. She bent her head to hear him whisper something and she smiled wide and her tears flowed. "Of course," she said and blushed heavily when he kissed her cheek. She kissed his forehead.

Tonks dabbed her eyes at the sight and waited for them to gently part. "Well, my gift is going to suck comparatively. I should have went first," she said and everyone laughed. She handed Harry a small bag. "It's a rock," she said without preamble.

Harry poured the contents into his hand and smiled. "Two rocks even. You shouldn't have," he said with faux delight.

Tonks snickered when Andromeda swatted her. "They're called Sibling Stones. Kind of old-fashioned magic and have a bit of a reputation to them, used to be all the rage in Magical families. When they're connected, you have a link to whoever has the other. As long as the person's alive, the stone will be warm. If you hold it, you can sort of send impressions to the other and it will help find the other stone, like a tracking spell of sorts but it'll only work for whoever is keyed into the stones."

"Oh that sounds really useful. Why aren't they popular anymore?"

Tonks shrugged. "Well, you can only link one stone to another at a time so not everyone wants to carry around a bunch of rocks. Also, the unsavory reputation, is that they are linked by blood. You have to give your blood to both and well not a lot of folks are so eager to do that. I mean, you don't have to, but to really get the most out of them, you need to willingly give you blood. Plus there was a string of dark times where people did some messed up things with them because they had someone else's blood and well, yeah."

"Great job on selling that," Sirius snorted.

Tonks flipped him off. "Anyways, I just wanted to give you a Sib Stone cause when Mum told me about them when I was little, I really wish I had one to give, a sib that I was close enough to give one to I mean, and I'd totally get it if you don't want to do the…blood…portion…" Her jaw dropped when Harry took the silver scalpel and made a tiny prick in his pointer finger without hesitation. He held his finger to a tiny indentation in each of the two stones and they throbbed gently as they drank his blood.

She took the scalpel from him and made a small cut in her finger too, and did the same. Each stone glowed slightly as they drank her blood and both of them shifted slightly. After a brilliant burst of light, both stones looked identical to the other, smooth and colored green and pink. Harry held one and Tonks held the other. Harry smiled when he felt the stone bounce in his hand and he could feel a gentle pull towards hers. "I'm going to keep it in my Medic pouch," he said softly. "So I'll always have it with me. Thanks Tonks…"

She hugged him tight, her hair turning black and messy, her eyes turning green. "You can call me Dora," she muttered. "Not the long version, but you can call me Dora." She smiled broadly when he licked her cheek and she returned the gesture, messily.

"My children are disgusting," Andromeda said tearily.

Ted grinned. "Well, my gift is definitely the most boring. I don't know any cool magical traditions or cool magic things. I'm just a Muggle-born after all."

Harry shook his head. "No you're not. You're my cool Uncle Ted."

Ted's eyes glinted. "I've always wanted to be the cool Uncle for so long. My nephews and nieces know me as the weird Uncle." He coughed. "Well, thank you Harry. Truly. And while I don't know anything about magical traditions, I do know a few Muggle ones." He opened a long bag that was hanging off a chair. "And every man, wizard or no, needs a good suit. So Andi gave me your measurements and I had a suit tailored for you. We then enchanted it to fit and grow with you, but alterations can be made. I was worried cause I wanted it to be a surprise but also wanted to have you fitted for it, but hopefully it looks good."

Harry took the suit from him. "Oh wow! This looks really nice. I've…I've always wanted a nice one," he confessed shyly.

Ted smiled broadly. "Excellent! Even better. Go on, put it on."

Harry went back to his room and soon came back, feeling incredibly self-conscious. It was the first time he wore Muggle style clothing of such fine material and cut. Surprisingly, everything fitted very well. He walked shyly into the kitchen wearing black dress shoes, his coat and pants also black, a crisp white button-up shirt, a long thin black tie, and held his circlet in hand. "How do I look?"

Sirius wolf-whistled. "I never usually cared for Muggle clothes besides jeans and leather jackets, but that looks damn good on you Harry!"

Ted looked approving as he gently pulled on the seams to straighten the jacket. "Yeah that fits great! Nothing beats a tailored suit. Robes are comfy but you make an impression when you wear a Muggle suit, no matter what any wizard says."

Andromeda adjusted his tie. "Such a handsome boy," she praised. She took the circlet from him and put it on his head, shifting the metal to silver.

Tonks whistled and pretended to fan herself. "Harry, please wear that at Hogwarts one day and tell me what happens. All I'm going to say is the ladies will be throwing themselves at you."

Harry blushed.

Andromeda grabbed the camera again and they took pictures together: one with just Harry and Sirius, Harry and Tonks, and then Harry with Andromeda and Ted. Kreacher came and took a picture of all of them together, after saying how Harry made the Muggle robes look acceptable.

"You should keep those on for the party," Tonks said.

"But it's my seventeenth, isn't that a big Magicals day to wear dress robes for?"

"We're the Blacks, we do what we want," Sirius said airily.

"There's tradition and then there's tradition," Andromeda said with a merry laugh. "The Blacks and the Potters share the sentiment that we keep the traditions we like, and do away with the ones we don't."

The doorbell rang and Harry went to answer it, walking with a new pep in his step from the warmth the morning already provided. He opened the door and smiled at the Grangers on the step.

"Happy Birthday Harry!" Hermione's eyes popped. "Wow! You look like James Bond!"

"Who's that?" Harry asked, confused.

"Oh boy, we need to educate you on the wonders of James Bond," David said. "It's a crime that you don't know who that is. That's an incredible suit, who made it?"

"I don't know but Uncle Ted got it for me for my birthday, you can ask him," Harry said as he ushered the Grangers in. "Thank you for coming!"

"We wouldn't have missed it for anything," Jean said, hugging Harry warmly. "We're glad to come celebrate with you. Especially considering what you did for Hermione for her seventeenth."

"Oh well, I was happy to," he said, rosy cheeked.

"And we're happy to be here," Hermione said, hugging him tightly.

They all gathered in the kitchen briefly to chat and visit before Harry drifted to the sitting room to greet the guests that came through the Floo.

Alicia and Oliver appeared together, one right after the other. "Sir Harry!" Oliver bellowed. "Happy seventeenth!" He picked Harry up and hugged him.

"Captain!" Harry laughed. "I thought you'd be late again today."

"No way. I told Coach I couldn't do anything today and I busted my ass all week to make up for it. Good thing it's our off week so didn't have a game yesterday or today. I wasn't about to miss today."

"I would have been very peeved if you did." Alicia's tone made Oliver wince. She smiled at Harry and hugged him. "You look so handsome Harry in a Muggle suit!" She tucked her arm into his and faced Oliver. "I'm replacing you," she said with a smile to him.

Oliver laughed. "I can't even argue with that right now. I'll be waiting when Katie arrives and fights you."

"And she fights rough," Alicia smirked. "Well, until Katie arrives then."

"You're having a great season," Harry said to Oliver. "You only average five goals a game so far."

"Ugh, that bloody game against Montrose," Oliver groaned. "Ruined my average, I was at three and a half up till then."

"Do not encourage him," Alicia said to Harry, elbowing him in the side. "I've had to listen to the 'Montrose Massacre' for days. It's driving me mad."

Harry grinned. "You still have one of the best averages in the League right now. Only one better."

"Eckles of Holyhead," Oliver nodded. "She's a real aggressive Keeper."

Harry chuckled at seeing Alicia making retching faces. "And how's your program going? I heard you just finished working on a new variant of the Wolfsbane."

"Where'd you hear that?" Alicia asked, astonished.

"I can brag about you from time to time," Oliver said. "I can talk about non-Quidditch things too."

Alicia flushed. "Oh, well, yes, we did just finish. It's about twenty percent cheaper to make and easier to boot. It's still in trials but we're hopeful."

Angelina came walking through the Floo, her arm in a sling. "I got it!" she shouted back into the fire. "There's a medic, a soon-to-be trainee Sports Healer, and two full Healers here! I'll be back on Monday and if I can't shove the Quaffle up your arse, I'll eat it!" She flipped off the fire with her free hand, making Alicia, Oliver, and Harry laugh and Hermione shake her head.

"Eat the Quaffle or the arse?" Alicia asked, eyes twinkling.

"Shut up," Angelina said irritably with a blush. "Rabbit! Happy Birthday!" She goggled at him. "You look so good in that Muggle suit!"

Harry smiled happily while summoning his wand from the holster. "Thanks! What happened?" he asked as he took her arm gently in his hand.

"Ah I was looking forward to coming today and wasn't paying attention. Trying to hurry through early warm-up practice for the starters. Hit the goal post catching a bad pass and banged my arm. The Team Healer wanted me to stay and get it set but he takes forever and I knew you'd fix me up." She sighed with relief when Harry healed up. "See? Good as new." She showed off her healed limb by hugging Harry, lifting him in the air.

"How are you getting stronger?" Harry gasped.

"Hard work and tenacity," Angelina said as she put him down. "And a desire to be awesome." She looked him up and down. "I might need to see if I can get George a suit like this. Until then, you're replacing him."

"Be careful Harry, you're turning into a heartbreaker," Hermione said.

"Have you looked at him?" Oliver asked breezily. "I'm not into blokes and even I have to admit he's easy on the eyes."

Harry did not like the look Alicia currently wore. Thankfully Tonks came in with a tray of drinks and they chatted and laughed until the Floo erupted again.

Thomas appeared, shaking his head. "Harry, are you sure you want to be with Katie? Let me tell you, Bell girls are a real handful."

Harry smiled. "I think it's worth it."

"Good," Thomas laughed. "Hey that's a real sharp looking suit. Looks good on you."

Lyla came flying through the Floo, clearly pushed. "You shouldn't push your daughter around, mother!"

Samantha shook her head when she arrived. "I'll push you as needed. It's a mother's right." She smiled warmly at Harry. "Happy Birthday dear! Oh my goodness, look at you." She hugged him. "Katie isn't going to know what hit her."

"Where is she?" Harry asked with a bashful smile.

"Had to grab your second present. She hid it really well so Lyla couldn't find it and it took her a while to find it."

Katie stepped through the fire and she glared at Lyla. "I'm going to glue your trunk shut before I go. It took me forever to undo whatever you did to my closet, you pest." She stopped glaring, noticing Lyla not paying any attention to her. "What are you looking-" she took a look at Harry and froze, her jaw dropping open.

"Hi Katie." Harry waved shyly. "What do you think?"

Katie stared blankly.

Alicia and Hermione started laughing. "She looks like when Harry saw her for the Ball!" Hermione said happily.

"I think you broke her Harry! It's her turn to be speechless." Alicia was holding her stomach from laughter. "Go on, twirl! Do it!"

Feeling horribly embarrassed but faintly pleased and deeply flattered all in one, Harry did an awkward turn on the spot.

Katie blinked.

Lyla looked up at Katie. "Oh gross, you're drooling."

"What?" Katie touched her mouth. "No I'm not!"

"But you had to check! You're so gross-AAAH!" She ran from Katie's grasping hands and hid behind Harry. "Harry! Save me!"

Katie tried to grab Lyla. "Going to kill you, kill you dead!"

Harry took her hands in his while Lyla fled squealing. He kissed his girlfriend's cheek. "Hi," he said again.

She kissed him back, her arms going about his neck. "Hi. I really like the suit."

"The last time I saw her this possessive was that stuffed animal years ago," Thomas remarked. He almost recoiled from the glare Katie gave him over Harry's shoulder. "I do think I've been chastised," he said to his wife.

"There there, you'll survive," Samantha said patting his hand. They chuckled as they left the room.

"I'll have you know that Alicia tried to take Harry," Oliver said as he hugged Katie.

"And me," Angelina said when it was her turn.

"Taking isn't the same as replacing," Alicia demurred.

"I trust them not to do anything too inappropriate," Katie said as she hugged Alicia.

"Just how I like my parameters, loosely defined," Alicia said with a devious smile.

Luna came next, followed by Daphne and Tracy, the Weasleys and Neville.

"I can't believe you two came," Harry said to the twins.

"You'd think we'd miss your seventeenth?" Fred asked, insulted.

"I feel bad you guys closing for the day," Harry said honestly.

"Eh, some things are more important," George said warmly. "We stayed open an hour later all this week to make up for it and we honestly did so don't you worry."

"We might do that here and there regularly," Fred continued. "It's nice to take a day off for both of us."

McGonagall, Remus, and Hagrid arrived together with Amelia, Susan, and Hannah right after and everyone went to the rooftop garden. Dobby, Inky, and Fanny came with the Hogwarts staff and after a minor tussle with Kreacher about things, the party was well under way.

Sirius drew Harry away for a moment and showed Harry a very fancy looking bottle. "I wanted to share this with you," Sirius said, pouring a small measure into two small cups. "This is Ogden's Finest, 100 years cask matured firewhiskey."

"That sounds expensive," Harry said, looking at the bottle.

"But it'll be worth it. I got that bottle shortly after moving in, just waiting to share it with you today." Sirius smiled at Harry. "I couldn't be more proud of you if you were my own flesh and blood. I'm honored to be your godfather and I hope to have many years ahead of us." He and Harry toasted, touching their glasses together.

Sirius sighed as he took a sip. "Delicious."

Harry coughed and tried to keep himself from spitting out the burning spirit. "I'll take your word for it," he gasped. "My whole body feels like it's on fire."

"That's the good stuff," Sirius said with a laugh.

"Here, Dora, drink this," Harry said and handed her the cup.

Tonks took a sip and her hair went wild, an explosion of shocking green spikes before falling into soft brown ringlets. "What the hell is that?!" she gagged. "You drink this?! How are your innards functional?"

"Oh you opened the 100 year bottle." Andromeda took the cup from her daughter and drank the cup dry in one smooth slow swallow. "Ahh, now that is some fine firewhiskey."

"Our sprogs don't think so," Sirius said with a sniff.

"It's an acquired taste," Andromeda said and poured herself another measure.

Later Luna sat down on Harry's lap. She handed him a Knut.

"You already gave me a gift," Harry said, amused.

"For your thoughts," Luna clarified. "Hermione said to give you a pence or a penny but I don't know what those are. She said Knuts are close enough."

Harry smiled. "I'll give you my thoughts for free. I'm just…a little overwhelmed still. Seeing all these people here, to help me celebrate my Day of Life as you call it, it's still incredible to me. I can still remember when I didn't even know I had a day. And then wishing to have someone to spend it with. I almost hope I never get used to it, this feeling I mean." He grunted softly when Luna hugged him tightly. "What's this for?" he chuckled as he hugged her back.

"Trying to give you twelve years' worth of hugs," Luna said thickly.

"I hope to have more from you from now on," he said softly. "No need to try and cram so many in one," he said without meaning it.

"I can do both," Luna said.

"Well, I appreciate it." He snorted when she licked him. "And what was that for?"

"Because it amuses me, and you, and Katie," Luna said impishly as she got off his lap.

"It really is funny," Katie agreed, smiling.

"I think Katie wants to give you something in private. I'll distract the others," Luna said happily and after hugging Katie, skipped off.

"I love that girl. She's so much fun," Katie said fondly.

"She's special alright." Harry smiled at his girlfriend. "Is this your second present? Your mum mentioned it."

"Yup, can we go somewhere private?"

He nodded and rose, taking her hand in his and led her to his room. When they sat on his bed, she gave him a beautifully carved wooden box. He opened it and his eyes widened at the silver and gold candle that sat on red fabric. "Wow! What's this?"

"I actually got the idea from Angelina when she told me about your bunnies. It does a lot of the same things. It's technically more like a lantern instead of a candle. You put a little oil at the base and it lights with a spell. You can also cast a Light Charm into it too. I have the twin. When you light one, the other one will glow. And you can write tiny messages into it and they'll show up on the other one. Unfortunately, not very long ones, so not great for any actual conversations, but good enough to otherwise. If you use a scented oil or put a little something to burn in the well, the scent can be transmitted to the other one."

He gently took the candle out and held it in his hands. It felt solid and heavy in his hands and when he turned it over, he smiled at the tiny message etched into the metal. "I love you too," he said with the biggest smile.

She blushed prettily. "Do you really like it? I thought it'd be nice to have and we can think of each other when we light it and send little messages in between owl letters."

He pressed his forehead to hers. "It's perfect."

"Good. I picked the candles because, well," she blushed harder, "I really like it when you describe me like candlelight. And it matches the charm you gave me." She gasped softly when he kissed her lips. After a few moments she pushed him onto his back, lying on top of him and kissing him deeply.

After an unknown period of time, they started as the door shook. "Hey! Put your clothes back on and come back up, the cake needs to be sliced!" Sirius shouted. "Ow, ow! Andi, let go of my ear, it was a joke!" His voice faded as he was pulled away, literally, by a scolding Andromeda.

Harry groaned. "Why do we keep getting interrupted when we snog?"

"No idea," Katie said wistfully, her lips on his neck and her touch and breath doing terrible things to his spine. "We should probably go up."

"At least there'll be cake," Harry muttered and she laughed.

-0-

Katie had no idea how to feel at this moment.

It was the day, the day of her leaving for the Academy. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of errands and activities. Getting her things together, her records in order, spending as much time as possible with her friends and family and Harry. She had been so busy she did not have the time to really process that she was leaving.

Now she stood at the International Portkey point within the Ministry of Magic. Her Portkey was leaving in minutes and she almost wished she was not going.

It was what she wanted. She knew the program was one of the best. She knew after she completed it, she would be a trained Sports Healer and would have no shortage of job opportunities anywhere, but especially in the United Kingdom. The program was intense but she picked it because it was challenging and she would be done faster. She was comfortable with French, having practiced and learned for a little more than a year now, and traveling between home and school would not be too bad when she had the time.

That did not completely quell her nervousness though.

Lyla had almost been despondent, crying and hugging her big sister. Thomas had put on a brave face, sniffling a little while he hugged his first-born child. Samantha had a giant smile but plenty of tears as she hugged her daughter, saying how proud she was. Andromeda had given Katie a big hug and was also a little teary.

Harry was last and he looked sad, but somehow did not cry.

"No tears for me?" Katie asked in a teasing voice that was a little forced.

"Nope, didn't want you to feel bad about leaving." He grinned lopsidedly. "I'll mope plenty later."

"And here I thought you were trying to preserve your public appearance," she smiled.

"Oh I don't care about that," Harry said dismissively. "You like me for me and not how I look."

She melted a little. "Love," she corrected gently.

"Love." He smiled. "I'm so proud of you and you're going to do amazing. I believe in you."

She felt much better after hearing that.

He handed her a few shrunken boxes. "One is for you and the others are for your hosts, the housing hosts." He hugged her desperately when the warning whistle sounded. "Send me a message through the candle when you're settled."

"I will." She dithered for a moment, looking at the waiting Portkey on the platform. "Sod it," she said and pulled Harry's face to her and gave him a deep kiss. She held up two fingers at Lyla's audible retching. The whistle sounded again and she broke away. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," he said, injecting as much warmth as he could into the words.

Katie hugged everyone one last time before leaping on the platform at the last moment. She grabbed the rope as it was starting to turn blue and with a wave, disappeared.

Harry looked at the spot where she was, sighing softly. He felt someone approach his side and did not react when Samantha slipped an arm around his waist. He almost automatically did the same, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"There goes our girl," Samantha sighed gustily.

"Our girl?" Harry smiled.

"Yup, our girl." Samantha squeezed him. "She'll be okay. And she'll be back soon and in only a few years, she'll be home for good."

"I know. Still a little hard though."

"It sure is." She looked at Harry. "And you better send me messages on the regular. Just because Katie isn't in the country, doesn't mean you're not part of the family."

He looked at her gratefully. "Really?"

She squeezed him. "Of course, you silly thing."

"Thank you. And I will. I'll be keeping an eye on Lyla after all."

Her smile was warm. "Thank you, dear. And thank you for letting us be your second family."

"Katie is a part of my first family, my first real one so…you guys are part of my first family." He felt even happier with how hard she hugged him.