"Happy birthday, sleepy-head!"

The messy head of hair on the pillow turned away, and Sirius found it very comical when Harry realized what had been said.

"It's my bwithday!"

"It sure is! Three years old, such a big boy! I got you something I thought you might like to entertain yourself with while I get the backyard ready for your party. Do you wanna go down and open it?"

Sirius was quite positive he had gotten a case of whiplash watching Harry bound out of bed and down the stairs.

"Come on Daddy!"

Chuckling, Sirius hurried down the stairs, eagerly anticipating Harry's reaction to the gift he had gotten him.

Walking in the kitchen pantry, Sirius pulled down a box of instant ramen from the top shelf that was hiding a colourfully wrapped package.

"You hid it from me!"

"Of course I did, you're a sneaky little boy and can't have you spoiling the surprise. Now, let's go eat some breakfast."

"But Daaaddyyyy! I wanna open my pwesant!"

Sirius' face was graced with a smirk. It was far to easy to trick a three year old, and yet it was just soooo entertaining.

"Alright! Alright!" Sirius held his hands up in mock surrender. "You can have your present!"

Placing the box of the table, he let Harry have at it, and after several minutes of watching the three year old struggle with the ribbon (Harry had flat out refused his offer to help) Harry got to the gift.

Wide, bright eyes looked up to him, the child's smile so wide Sirius could count all the crooked baby teeth.

"A bwoom! I've got a bwoomstick, Daddy! Just like you!"

"Yup, you're a big boy and big boys should get big boy toys!"

In all actuality, it was NOT a big boy toy, as it only went a meter off the ground and no faster than 3 miles an hour. But not telling Harry that wouldn't do any harm. Less harm than giving a three year old an adult broomstick that could go hundreds of feet off the ground, at least.

"Can I go ride it!"

"I gotta show you how first, but yeah, let's go outside."

8888888

"Now, just tell your broom, 'Up!'"

"Up!"

Harry jumped a foot in the air and began breaking out in excited peals of laughter.

"Amazing job! Now, we'll just lift you up on to the broom"

It was in that moment that Sirius decided he had to work out a bit more often, as Harry seemed impossibly heavy.

"Yes, well, now, just will it to move."

The small broom began gliding around the yard, Snitch yipping excitedly the entire time.

"I'm doing it Daddy!"

"Yeah! Such a big—ugh! SNITCH! NO BITING THE BROOM!"

88888888

"But Daddy, what if the kids are mean?"

"Don't worry, they won't be! You'll have loads of fun. Anyways, you'll be back home for the day by lunchtime. Don't you want to learn how to read and write like big kids?"

Harry gave a hesitant nod.

"Good, now let's get you socks on, lest we'll be late."

Harry was starting pre-school, which the boy couldn't seem to decide whether he was excited or worried about. Sirius was having a similar mix of feelings. On one hand, he'll be gaining three hours of Sirius-time everyday. On the other hand, he was losing his little tyke. Granted Harry went to Ron's for hours on end on multiple occasions, but this was different. Next thing he'll be gone to kindergarten, and primary school, and off to Hogwarts and moving out of the house and starting a family of his own and retiring and moving to the Virgin Islands or something. The thought of the prophecy loomed in his head. The Virgin Islands sounded appealing when Sirius dared think of the other possibility.

Shaking the morbid thoughts out of his head, Sirius loaded Harry into the Muggle car he had bought after a neighbour commented on his not having one. Best not to get the Muggles thinking too much. Speaking of which, "Harry, you're remembering to pretend magic doesn't exist when you go to school, right?"

"Yup, Daddy. No such thing as Hogkhorts or dwagons! No wands or bwoom sticks!"

"Good lad. You'll obey your teachers, right? I don't want to hear about any funny business!"

"Yes, Daddy."

"Well, here we are. Let's go sign you in."

Three and a half hours later Sirius found himself eating lunch with a chattering three year old.

"And then Miss Wendy let us finga paint! I made you this, Daddy!"

Harry enthusiastically reached into his bag and pulled out a rather messy painting. Sirius was clueless to what it was supposed to be.

"See! This is you! And me! And that's Snitch. We all in the gadin, see?"

"Why, this may be the best painting I have ever laid eyes on! Monet has met his match!"

"Whos is Mon-yay?"

"He was a muggle painter. Maybe next time we go to the library we can get a book about him. In the meanwhile, what do you say we put this amazing piece of art on the fridge for everyone to see?"

Harry smiled brightly and ran to the refrigerator and stuck it on with a magnet. "Can I go back to school tomorrow?"

"You sure can, Sport."

888888888888

"Daddy." Sirius was startled awake by the pitiful cry of his name and the sound of sniveling from Harry.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes and reaching over to turn on the light, he found Harry standing next his bed, the front of his pajamas soaked. "What's wrong?"

"I had a accident. I didn't mean to!"

Understanding dawned on Sirius. Harry wet his bed. It was to be expected as he hadn't been wearing diapers in a while.

"Oh, hey, come on there, no need to cry. Let's wash you off, change your pajamas and sheets, and you can sleep with my tonight while we wash the bedding, okay?"

A look of apprehension passed Harry's face and he worried his lip. "But what if I do it again!"

"Well, then we'll just clean ourselves up again and sleep in the living room. Anyways, that's not likely to happen, as you've already wet yourself tonight. Why don't we try going to the bathroom before we go back to sleep just to make sure, okay? Come along now, best we get to it so we can get some sleep."

Half an hour later, Sirius found himself laying awake in bed with a small ball breathing steadily next to him, and even if there was a damp bed in the next room, he knew he was more happy than he'd have ever been if it was someone else laying next to him.

A/N: Yes, I know it's been a ridiculous amount of time since I last updated, and for that I apologize. I've been back at school, which took quite a bit from my time, and when I finally finished this, my beta was busy herself. Please note, that out of consideration of you all, this wasn't beta-ed in interest of getting it up. Good news though, the next chapter is about a third of the way done, and will be posted promptly, so long as I don't get any surprise time-fillers.