Inside, the young boy named Harry Potter lay shivering on the floor, curled up under a ragged and thin blanket and glancing at the dial of his cousin's wristwatch. And just as the numbers flipped to 12.00 AM…
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. A pause, and then a rattle of the door latch, which was locked. The light clicked on the in the next room as his uncle burst in, carrying a rifle, while his cousin Dudley ran to cower behind his mother. A muttering could be dimly heard from outside, and suddenly the door latch glowed and creaked open- and the old rotting door fell straight in. Silhouetted in the doorway was a tall, imposing figure in a black cloak. He stepped inside, bent down and lifted the door back into the frame. He removed his cloak and draped it over his arm, revealing a rather gaunt man with black hair neatly tied into a ponytail, a rather sharp chin, and dressed simply in a green collared shirt and jeans.
At this point, the Dursleys fled into the next room, slamming the door behind them, Vernon's rifle all but forgotten in the face of this wizard. The man glanced rather contemptuously in their direction, and then his gaze fell on Harry. He stared at Harry for a moment as Harry stared back. Then he spoke. "Harry? My god- you look just like James." he whispered. Then he smiled. "Except for the eyes; you have Lily's eyes."
Harry found his voice. "Excuse me sir, but who are you? How do you know my name?"
Sirius sat on the elderly couch and motioned Harry to sit. He did so, cautiously, and Sirius continued. "I am Sirius Black. I'm also your godfather and legal guardian."
Harry frowned and shook his head. "I-I don't have a godfather, and even if you are- and my legal guardian as well- then why haven't I been living with you?"
Sirius sighed. "Yes you do have a godfather; me. And the reason you haven't been living with me is a very long story, which I will be telling you about later on. Rest assured, Lily and James never wanted you to be with the Dursleys. Had circumstances permitted, you would have been living with me."
An expression of hope entered Harry's face. "So does that mean I can live with you now? Instead of the Dursleys?" he asked, happiness and hope evident in his voice.
Sirius smiled. "Of course you are; wouldn't have it any other way. Especially-" and here his face darkened "-since I was told your first letters were being sent with 'cupboard under the stairs' in the address."
Harry looked even more eager by now. "So do you know who's been sending me letters? Was it you? How-"
Sirius cut him off, chuckling. "So much like James. No, I haven't been sending you letters; that question is easily answered by the letter itself. Which reminds me-" He pulled a letter from his pocket, addressed to "Mr. H. Potter, the Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, the Sea" and handed it to Harry.
With shaking hands, he opened the envelope, pulled out a sheet of parchment and started to read. "Dear Mr. Potter: We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…" He trailed off, reading the rest silently. He looked up when he had finished, slightly puzzled. "Mr. Black, what does this mean? Wizardry…?"
Sirius placed a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "First off, please just call me Sirius. And second, you, Harry, are a wizard. So am I, and so were your parents."
Harry frowned at this and replied "Are-are you sure I'm a wizard? I mean, I'm just…me…"
Sirius smiled and said "Harry, there is absolutely no doubt that you are a wizard. Your name's been down for Hogwarts ever since you were born. Think back; have you ever made anything odd happen when you were angry or scared, things you couldn't explain?" Harry clearly remembered several incidents such as Sirius had described. Sirius, seeing this, smiled even more and said, "Well, now that you've read your letter and understand at least some of the situation, we'd best be off home. I just have to work out how to get there…" He trailed off, looking thoughtful.
Harry piped up. "Er, Sirius? How did you get here, anyway?"
Sirius, still thinking, replied "Hm? Oh, I Apparated- that's magically transporting yourself from one place to another instantly. Unfortunately, you don't know how to Apparate and couldn't even if you did because you're underage, and I can't just Apparate you somewhere because that's not possible. At any rate, I certainly have no intentions of staying here tonight. Let's see now, we can't take the Floo Network, this hovel isn't hooked up to it…"
He snapped his fingers. "I know! I can make a Portkey. I hate to subject you to magical travel this soon after you've just found out you're a wizard, but like I said, I don't want to sleep here tonight and I'm fairly certain you don't either." Seeing the blank look on his godson's face, Sirius explained. "A Portkey is an object that can be charmed to transport more than one person to another place. This'll take a few minutes, but first, since it's cold outside, you're going to need something warmer to wear…" Taking the blanket off the couch, he transfigured it into a light cloak. He handed it to Harry, who gratefully put it on.
While he worked at turning an old can into a Portkey, Sirius continued. "I live in a little house in Wales with my friend Remus; we were both good friends of your parents. Technically, it's Remus' house; he inherited it from his parents, but he lets me live with him since we're really all we have left…"
He trailed off again here, looking slightly uncomfortable, and Harry plucked up the nerve to ask, "So, um, are you and Remus, er, 'together'? I don't have a problem with that or anything, I was just wondering…"
Sirius looked up, bemused. "No! No, we don't swing that way; we're just very good friends. It's nice to know you wouldn't have a problem with that, though." He straightened up. "There! All done. Now, all you have to do is touch the Portkey, and I'll activate it. It will feel kind of like being pulled backwards from your navel, but it's almost instantaneous." Somewhat hesitantly, Harry touched the Portkey, Sirius tapped it with his wand, and in a flash they were gone.
Harry felt himself being pulled backwards and then landed with a thump outside a well-kept little cottage with a light on in a ground-floor window. He fell on his bottom, and Sirius gave him a hand up. "Come on, it's late and I'm sure we're both tired." he said as they walked up the garden path to the front door. He performed a series of unlocking charms, and they walked through the door into the cozy little house.
Remus, clad in an elderly pair of pajamas and an equally worn red dressing gown, was sitting on the couch awaiting their arrival and now rose to greet them. Smiling brightly, he shook Harry's hand, saying "Hello Harry, it's a pleasure to meet you again. I'm Remus Lupin; I share this house with Sirius."
Harry politely responded with "Pleased to meet you-" and then yawned widely.
Remus chuckled slightly as Sirius said, "It is getting rather late; why don't we show you your room? You'll get the grand tour tomorrow, when we're all a little more awake." With that, the two wizards escorted Harry up the stairs. They walked down the small hallway and Sirius opened the door to the last room on the left, saying, "Here we are. It's kind of small and we weren't sure how you'd want to decorate it; you're more than welcome to fix it up any way you'd like. What do you think?"
Harry was floored that anyone could be so kind to him; the room was more than he'd ever expected. It was a little smaller than Dudley's second room, but considering that it didn't have a mountain of broken toys occupying it, it actually had more space. The walls were decorated in a pale yellow, with several Quidditch posters hung on the walls. A blue rug adorned the wood floor, a mahogany bed with a green bedspread occupied the room along with a matching nightstand, and a chest of drawers and a desk were against the walls. In short, it was a lovely and well-appointed room, and Harry said as much.
Both men smiled warmly at him, Sirius replying "I'm glad you like it. At any rate, I'm sure we'd all like some sleep, so if you'll hand me that cloak I transfigured, I'll make it into something you can sleep in."
Harry quickly unfastened the cloak and handed to him. Remus excused himself, saying, "I'm glad you're with us Harry, but I need my sleep, so good night to the both of you."
Sirius replied "Goodnight, Moony" as he transfigured the cloak into a gray nightshirt. He handed it to Harry and followed Remus out, pausing to bid Harry goodnight. Harry changed into the nightshirt, removed his glasses and set them on the nightstand, and got into bed. Smiling happily, he drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Harry awoke to bright sunlight streaming through his window and birds chirping. He rolled over and retrieved his glasses, noticing as he did so that they had been cleaned and repaired. Putting them on, he also noticed that the clothes he'd been wearing the night before had been removed from the room and lying neatly folded on a chair were a light blue shirt, a pair of khaki trousers, a pair of underwear and some socks. Dressing quickly, he set aside the blanket which the nightshirt had reverted to at some point during the night, and went downstairs where the sounds and smells of breakfast cooking were mingling with Remus humming along to whatever was playing on the old radio perched near the spice cabinet.
Remus turned around from the sausages cooking on the stove to see Harry still blinking somewhat sleepily in the doorway, dressed, but with possibly the worst case of bed hair in the history of mankind. Remus started chuckling and said, in between chuckles, "Good morning Harry; you'll have to excuse me, but you look even more like James like that. He always woke up in the morning with his hair even messier than usual, as well." Still giggling a little, he conjured a comb and handed it to Harry. "Here, see if you can't untangle your hair a little. Not that it'll help much, but at least it won't look quite so bad."
Harry took the comb and started attempting to tame his hair. He asked Remus, who had turned back to the stove to flip the sausages and several eggs, "Thanks. So, where is Sirius?"
Remus looked up and replied "Still asleep. You're an early riser you know; it's only 7.30."
Harry sat down at the kitchen table and said "I usually have to get up this early to cook breakfast for the Dursleys."
Remus frowned a little at that and said "Hmph. Well, you won't have to help cook here- that is, unless you want to. Sirius hasn't had too much trouble fending for himself when I'm indisposed, but if he has to cook for someone else…well, let's just say his cooking skills leave much to be desired." Remus now tipped the sausages onto three plates, followed by the eggs and slices of toast. Setting the plates on the table, Remus cast a charm to keep the food warm, and then said "I'll wake Sirius up in about fifteen minutes or so. In the meantime, I don't know when the last time you had a bath was, but if the state of your clothing was any indication, it's been awhile. I suggest you take advantage of the shower upstairs before Sirius gets up. There are extra towels in the linen cupboard next to your bedroom and soap and shampoo in the cabinet under the sink."
Harry indeed hadn't had a bath in quite awhile, so he decided to take Remus up on his suggestion. Twenty minutes later, he came back into the kitchen, now completely clean as well as neatly dressed. Sirius had dragged himself out of bed and stumbled downstairs in the meantime and smiled at Harry as he came into the kitchen, hair still damp. "Morning, Harry!" he said with a huge grin. "Eat up, we have a big day ahead of us. We have to get your school supplies today."
After everyone had eaten, and Sirius had gone upstairs to his room to get dressed, Harry decided to voice a question that had been on his mind all morning. "Remus? Um, where exactly did these clothes come from? I woke up this morning and the clothes I was wearing last night were gone, and these were on the chair by my bed."
Remus replied, "Those are actually some of my old clothes from when I was your age. Your clothes were not only absolutely filthy, but around eight sizes too large for you. You'll be getting some new clothes of your own later today, I'd wager. So, for today, you're borrowing those. Which reminds me…" Remus went upstairs and faint rummaging sounds could be hard emanating from what was presumably his bedroom. He came back down a minute later, carrying a neatly folded sweater. He handed it to Harry, saying "Here, you'll probably be wanting this; it's going to be rather chilly today. This was also mine, my Nan knitted us all sweaters on our birthdays."
Sirius came downstairs, neatly dressed, and grinned when he caught sight of Harry. "Very sharp, Harry; you look a lot better when you aren't wearing clothes that are ten sizes too big for you. Remus, isn't that one of the sweaters your Nan made for you?"
"Yes it is, Sirius. I'm amazed you remember." Remus replied.
"Well it is a nice sweater. Plus, you got that at the birthday party where James and I decided we'd try and-"
"Never mind about that, Sirius." Remus said hastily, cutting him off.
"Remus, the thought occurs to me that we haven't shown Harry the rest of the house. How about it Harry, want a tour?"
Harry, who was eager to see what the rest of the house looked like, said "Yes, please."
Sirius cheerfully led Harry to the spacious living room and from there throughout the rest of the house, describing it as he went, while Remus good-naturedly followed. The small group ended up back in the living room, where Sirius said "Well! That's the house, and now we should probably think about getting to Diagon Alley to do some shopping."
Remus spoke up. "And how are you planning on getting there Padfoot? I sincerely hope you're not planning on taking the bike; that thing's a deathtrap."
Sirius waved this aside. "Of course I'm not taking the bike; it needs a lot more work before it can be ridden again. I was rather hoping I could borrow your car to drive to the train station."
Remus sighed and said, "Well at least you're not taking the bike. I'll drive you two to the train station; I shudder to think what you'd do to my car if I let you drive it."
So it was that ten minutes later the three of them were driving down the main road of the village in Remus' elderly car to the small train station. Sirius and Harry settled into a compartment by themselves, and Harry asked "Sirius, what's Diagon Alley? And why are we taking the train to London instead of that thing you used to get me…a portkey?"
Sirius replied, "Diagon Alley is the largest wizarding shopping area in Britain. It's hidden from non-magical people (Muggles) behind an old pub in London. And the reason we're taking the train instead of a faster mode of travel is because I wanted us to have time to talk before we got to Diagon Alley. You see, you're probably going to have a whole lot of people recognize you. I wanted to have time to explain to you why you're famous. And…" here he hesitated. "…why I'm famous. Or perhaps I should say, infamous."
Harry was stunned. "Famous? Me? How can I possibly be famous?"
Sirius sighed and said "Harry, it's a very long story. I suppose I should start by telling you where I was for the last ten years. I was in Azkaban, which is the wizard's prison. I was sentenced to life there, but I was acquitted when the person who had actually committed the crimes I was imprisoned for was caught."
Harry was dumbfounded. His godfather didn't seem to him to be a criminal; he was very nice. "What crimes were-" he started.
Sirius held up his hand for silence. "Please, let me finish; I'll get to that later. I believe I already told you that both Remus and I were good friends of your parents. We were best friends, we were- James, Remus, me, and…and Peter. Peter was something of a tagalong at first, never was as smart or talented as the rest of us. But we were friends all the same. Now, when we were young, younger than you are now, a Dark wizard by the name of Voldemort began a rise to power and a reign of terror that lasted for eleven years. Not all wizards are good Harry; it's very important that you remember that. Voldemort was evil, the worst Dark wizard in centuries.
"We, that is your parents, Remus, myself, and Peter, were all in the same year together at Hogwarts, and we all graduated under the shadow of Voldemort. Now, your parents were as talented a witch and wizard as I've ever seen, and they were on the top of Voldemort's list of people to kill. I'm not sure exactly why, but they were. After Lily had you, they decided that drastic measures were necessary to hide from Voldemort, so they used the Fidelius Charm. This is an old and complex spell that places a piece of information, in this case your parents' location, inside a single, living soul. This person is known as the Secret-Keeper, and the secret cannot be found out unless the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it.
"I was James' best friend, the best man at his wedding, your godfather, so, naturally, James and Lily chose me as their Secret-Keeper. However, I knew I was a very obvious choice, so at the last minute I persuaded them to change to Peter instead of me, and we didn't tell anyone. I thought it was a perfect bluff; Voldemort would naturally assume I was the Secret-Keeper, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless person like Peter. Well, I was wrong, a mistake that haunts me to this day.
"You see, we knew that someone on our side, in our circle, was passing information to Voldemort. I'm sorry to say that both Remus and I thought the other to be the spy, and we were both wrong. Peter had been spying for Voldemort for over a year when your parents died. He betrayed them to Voldemort, and on Halloween night 1981, Voldemort came to your house and killed both your parents. Now here's the tricky part- he tried to kill you as well, but he couldn't and we're not sure why. All we know is that when he tried to kill you with an evil, deadly curse, it bounced off and hit him, and it destroyed him. That's where you got that scar on your forehead; that's a curse scar. And that's why you're famous; you defeated Voldemort at the age of one. You're the boy who lived, Harry."
Harry didn't know what to make of
this and sat quietly for a few minutes, absorbing this new information.
Finally, he spoke, half to himself." The Dursleys always told me my parents
died in a car crash and that's where I got that scar." He looked up at Sirius.
"But then, why were you in Azkaban? Did everyone think you were the
Secret-Keeper?"
Sirius acknowledged this with a
nod. "Partly, yes. The main reason why I was sent to Azkaban happened the day
after. I was the only one who knew that Peter had betrayed us, and I went off
in search of him, to make him pay for what he'd done. I found him in a suburb
of London, and I confronted him there. But before I could do anything, he
shouted for the whole street to hear that I had betrayed James and Lily, blew
up the street with the wand behind his back, cut off his finger to fake his own
death, transformed into a rat and scurried away. I was arrested at the scene
and spent the next ten years in Azkaban for a crime I hadn't committed. Peter
spent the next ten years as a pet of a wizarding family. He was found about
three months ago, by Remus incidentally, and was given a trial and sent to
Azkaban for life, where he's placed under spells so that he can't transform and
escape. I was finally free, and came to live with Remus. And that, my boy, is both
your and my stories in a nutshell."
Harry thought about all of this and all too soon the train pulled into London, where he and Sirius disembarked. They took the Underground to a busy street lined with shops, and stopped in front of an old pub bearing the sign "The Leaky Cauldron." They hurried through to the old courtyard, attracting no small amount of attention as they went, and Sirius opened the entrance to Diagon Alley. Harry was amazed; he'd never seen anything like this before, and he looked like he was trying to see everything at once.
As they walked, Harry asked, "Sirius, how am I to pay for my supplies and everything? I don't have any money."
Sirius replied "Don't worry about
it; I'm paying for everything. I was fairly well off before I was sent to
Azkaban, and the Ministry of Magic gave me a very generous amount of money as
compensation for wrongful imprisonment. And even if I weren't paying for
everything, you'd still be able to afford it on your own. Your parents left you
all the money they had."
Harry frowned. "But if their
house was destroyed-"
Sirius waved a hand impatiently. "They didn't keep their money in the house; that's what Gringotts is for." He pointed to it. "That's the wizarding bank, over there. Now, I've already withdrawn some money, so the first place we're stopping is here." With that, they drew to a halt in front of Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "This shop carries Muggle clothing as well as robes." After picking out a new wardrobe for Harry as well as his Hogwarts uniform, they purchased some new robes for Remus. After they left Madam Malkin's, they visited Flourish and Blott's and a host of other shops, getting all the things Harry would need for school. At last, they stopped in front of Ollivander's Wands. As they opened the door a bell jingled, and they were both quiet as they entered the shop.
Mr. Ollivander came out from the back and gazed at Harry for a moment before smiling slightly. "I wondered when I'd be seeing you here, Mr. Potter." His gaze fell on Sirius, who shifted uncomfortably, and he nodded and said "Mr. Black. Twelve and a quarter inches, oak. Rather inflexible and good for transfiguration and charms, as I recall. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you were shipped off to Azkaban?"
Sirius smiled and pulled out his wand. "Actually, it wasn't. The Ministry kept it as evidence and it was returned to me when I was acquitted."
Mr. Ollivander nodded. "Glad to hear it; a good wand that one is. Well now Mr. Potter, let's see about getting you a wand. Which is your wand arm?"
Harry replied, "Um, well I'm right-handed…"
"Stick out your right hand, then." Mr. Ollivander said tersely. As his measuring tape took Harry's measurements (by itself), Mr. Ollivander explained the different kinds of wands to Harry. At long last he clapped his hands and the measuring tape flew back to him. He scurried into the back of the shop, returning with a wand in a box. He handed the wand to Harry, saying as he did so "Birch and dragon heartstring, eight inches. Rather springy."
Harry, unsure of what to do with it, looked at Sirius who made a small flicking motion with his wrist. Harry dutifully flicked the wand- and nothing happened. This process was repeated with a large number of different wands until Mr. Ollivander came back with a dusty box, out of which he produced yet another wand which he handed to Harry. "Somewhat unusual combination; holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches." Harry flicked the wand, and a stream of red and gold sparks shot out of the end. Sirius cheered and clapped, and Mr. Ollivander placed the wand back in its box, muttering as he did so. "How very odd…odd indeed…"
Harry nervously piped up. "Sorry, but- what's odd?"
Ollivander fixed Harry with his eerie gaze and said, "I remember every single wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter, every single one. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather resides in your wand gave just one other feather. And that feather happens to be the core of the wand belonging to the person who gave you that scar."
Sirius hastily paid seven Galleons for Harry's wand, and the two of them exited the shop and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron. Sirius glanced at his watch and back at Harry. He then spotted someone in the corner- a very large someone. He steered Harry over and introduced him, saying "Hagrid! It's good to see you." Hagrid beamed, and Sirius continued. "Harry, this is Hagrid; he's the gamekeeper at Hogwarts and an old friend. Hagrid, you remember Harry."
Hagrid beamed even more and said "O' course I do! Blimey, 'ow could I forget Harry?"
Sirius turned to Harry and said "Harry, I've got one more quick errand to run. I'll be right back; you stay here with Hagrid, ok? Hagrid, you'll look after him for a few minutes, won't you?" He replied that of course he would, and he and Harry chatted for about fifteen minutes or so until Sirius came back from his mysterious errand. "Right then, thanks for keeping an eye on him for me. It was a pleasure seeing you again, but we really have to be getting home."
Hagrid bade them goodbye, and Sirius led Harry over to the fireplace. "Okay Harry, we're going to be taking the Floo network home. It's a way to travel through fireplaces. What you do is take a pinch of this powder-" producing a small bag filled with sparkly green Floo powder "-and toss it in the fire. When the fire turns green, you say where you're going, in this case 'Lupin Lodge,' and step into the fireplace. Make sure to keep your eyes closed and your elbows tucked in, and when you feel yourself slow down, step out. Got all that?"
Harry nodded, slightly nervous, and did as Sirius instructed. He stepped into the fire and a short while later fell out of the hearth in the living room of Lupin Lodge. Remus, who had been reading the Daily Prophet on the sofa, rose and helped Harry up. Unfortunately, not only had Harry's glasses fallen off and snapped at the bridge, he had also managed to accumulate what appeared to be half the chimney soot in Britain on his person. Remus brushed the soot off of him and took his glasses. Performing another repairing charm on them, he handed them back to Harry just as Sirius stepped out of the fireplace with all of their packages.
He chuckled as he caught sight of Harry, who was still rather sooty. "Tell you what Harry, why don't you go upstairs, change your clothes, and put your things away? We'll have dinner in a little bit." When Harry had gone upstairs, Sirius turned to Remus and said, "You're not going to believe this, Moony. We went shopping and got Harry his wand. We went to Ollivander's, of course, and the wand that suited Harry was holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches."
Remus raised an eyebrow. "There's nothing too odd about that, Padfoot."
"Yes, well, here's the tricky part. Harry's wand core came from the phoenix that also happened to supply the core for Voldemort's wand."
Remus' jaw dropped. "Oh my goodness. Well, that is a surprise, to say the least." He gathered himself together a little more and asked, "So how did shopping go, other than that?"
"It went just fine, as a matter of fact." Sirius looked at his watch. "Hm; almost dinnertime. By the way, has Harry's present arrived yet?"
Remus nodded. "It did. It's very lovely, too."
Sirius smiled. "Yes it is, isn't it? You know, I'm not even sure Harry even remembers that it's his birthday today." His smile faded. "I can guess why, too; I doubt those Dursleys" spitting out the word as though it were a swearword "ever gave him much of a reason to look forward to his birthdays."
Remus smiled and said "Well, we'll just have to make his first birthday with us memorable. I made a nice chocolate cake, and I just have to go take the rolls out of the oven. Dinner will be ready in a minute. Why don't you go and fetch Harry and we can give him his present?"
Sirius went up to Harry's room and knocked on the door. Not receiving an answer, he opened the door to find Harry sprawled on his bed, engrossed in his new copy of Magical Theory. Sirius rapped on the now open door to attract Harry's attention and said "Harry? Dinner's almost ready you know."
Harry looked up, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry! I changed and put my stuff away, and I decided I'd start reading this."
Sirius waved a hand and said "Don't worry about it; are you ready to come downstairs and have some dinner?"
Harry marked his place with the receipt from Flourish and Blott's, and scrambled off the bed to follow Sirius downstairs. As he made towards the kitchen, Sirius stopped him. "Hold on there, Harry. Remus and I have something we want to show you in the living room."
Curious, Harry followed Sirius into the living room where Remus was waiting. Sirius went to stand beside Remus and said, "While we were out today and you were in the Leaky Cauldron with Hagrid I had to do some last-minute shopping. So, without further ado…" He stepped into the kitchen and came back with a beautiful snowy owl perched on his arm "…Happy birthday, Harry."
Harry was stunned. "Wow…this is for me?"
Remus smiled and said "Of course it is; it is your birthday today, unless I'm very much mistaken. We haven't forgotten, even if you did. She doesn't have a name yet, so you can name her whatever you like. She has a traveling cage, and we have some Owl Treats, but she'll mostly just perch in your room and go hunting on her own. Owls are the main form of communication for wizards; we use them as messengers to send letters."
Sirius extended his arm, and the owl hopped onto Harry's shoulder and hooted softly. Harry stroked her gently and she flew off into the kitchen, followed by Sirius, Remus, and Harry. Harry noticed her sharing a large perch next to the back door with a medium-sized tawny owl. Sirius saw where Harry was looking and explained, "That's Alberta; she's the owl Remus and I use.
They sat down to the delicious dinner Remus had made, and afterwards Remus brought out the cake with eleven candles on it as he and Sirius sang "Happy Birthday." The three of them stayed up, Remus and Sirius regaling Harry with stories of their own school days, until 12.30am when Remus glanced at the clock and declared that he was going to bed. Sirius and Harry stayed up a little while longer, Sirius managing to make them both a cup of hot cocoa without blowing anything in the kitchen up. As they sipped their hot cocoa in comfortable silence, Harry spoke up. "Sirius?"
"Yeah, Harry?" he replied, setting down his mug.
"I just wanted to say thanks- for everything. Thank you so much. This has been the best birthday of my life." Harry put down his cup and, on an impulse, hugged Sirius. Pleasantly surprised, Sirius hugged him back.
"You're more than welcome, Harry." He said. "Now, it's getting rather late, so I'm going to bed. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Sirius." Harry replied as he followed Sirius up the stairs.