Chapter 1
"Dad!" Harry yelled from the front door. "Dad come on! You promised we could go early and look at the Quiddich stuff!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming-honestly Harry-everything won't disappear if we don't go immediately you know." Sirius laughed, ambling merrily out of the kitchen. "Where's Draco?"
Harry blew out a sigh. "Draco! Come on!" he yelled.
"Don't yell Harry." Narcissa called from the kitchen, she came out a moment later, drying her hands on a towel. "Go upstairs and get him."
Harry blew out another sigh and ran up the stairs to find his brother. He knew right well that Sirius wasn't his dad and Narcissa wasn't his mum, and Draco wasn't really his brother. But they were his family, and he called them by the appropriate names. As much as he would have liked to know his real parents, Sirius and Narcissa did just as well.
"Draco, come on. We're only waiting for you." He said, throwing open the door, to find Draco with his head buried in a book. With great purpose he strode over and grabbed the book out of Draco's hands. "Come on Dray, let's go."
"Give it back Harry!" Draco demanded.
"No! We're going to Diagon Ally, now come on. You can read later!" he shut the book. And threw it on the bed.
"No! Harry! Now I won't know where I was!" Draco screeched, jumping on him.
Thus began a very loud tussle.
"Siri, could you please go upstairs and stop them?" Narcissa smiled, shaking her head.
Sirius sighed, he had no one to blame for his son and godsons behaviour but himself. He knew it-he was hardly the best behaved man in the world. "Right! You two! Downstairs now! Or you're both grounded for a month and I'll make it a point to owl the headmaster of Hogwarts and tell him to give you detention every night for the whole school year!"
"You can't do that!" Draco yelled back sulkily. "Besides-Harry provoked me! He made me lose where I was in my book."
Sirius rolled his eyes at his nine year old. Harry had turned eleven at the end of July, Draco wouldn't turn ten until Christmas. "Just get downstairs Draco-come on; we've got a lot to buy for school you know."
"And Quiddich!" Harry said excitedly. Hopping down the stairs.
"You don't get to play Quiddich till second year doufus." Draco said, following, glaring at Harry.
"Why is that dad? It's stupid really, isn't it? I mean, I can play Quiddich now, why do I have to wait?" Harry asked.
"Because you can't play it right-you cheat!" Draco snapped peevishly.
"I do not! At least I can catch the snitch-you can't even catch a quaffle!" Harry taunted.
"I'm not a chaser Harry-I'm a keeper. I don't have to catch the bloody thing; all I have to do is stop it going into the hoops-so there. Besides-without your glasses you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a snitch and a bludger!" Draco snapped.
"Boys-boys, come on now." Sirius said, with a helpless smile to Narcissa, who was chuckling from the kitchen doorway.
"Harry, Draco, either behave or I'll make you go shopping with your mother."
It had the desired effect; they both stopped arguing and looked slightly horrified at the thought. Ah, but it was good to have such leverage over children, Sirius thought to himself with a smile. "Now come on, Remus is waiting for us at the leaky cauldron." He ushered them out the door. "Bye love." He called back.
"Have fun boys!" Narcissa called after them.
They took a muggle subway near to the leaky cauldron and walked the rest of the way. In muggle territory Harry and Draco had a whole new thing to argue about-whether Manchester united football team was better than Liverpool. Sirius just took the chance to relax and listen to his son's bicker-he had hardly any time off from work as it was, so to spend it doing something fun-like getting ready for their first year of school, was key.
Sirius was an Auror, and a damned good one. It worried Narcissa a little that he was always put on the most dangerous cases, but after ten years she was almost used to it. Harry and Draco thought it was the coolest thing to have such a famous Auror for a father. Narcissa had remained a stay at home mum for the boys while they were growing up, and in a very practical fashion she had already taught them some of the things they would be learning in school. Sirius always thought she would have made a great teacher, but he couldn't bring himself to ever suggest it, he didn't want to be parted from her for a school year, or longer.
Remus on the other hand was a teacher. Dumbledore had offered him the post teaching DADA in Hogwarts, and although he was apprehensive about it at first, and there had been a bit of a rigmarole at the beginning of his teaching career seven years ago, he was now a respected and accepted member of the teaching profession-they had worked round his disability, and for the day before, the day of and the day after his classes were devoted to study periods, supervised by a senior students. It was a workable system, and that was all that mattered.
Having said that, Severus was none to happy with the arrangement, though the second anyone suggested getting a new potions teacher to allow him to take a new job working with the dark arts somewhere else he was suddenly very possessive of his Potions rooms, and dungeons. Claiming he wouldn't trust anybody else to teach the idiotic children of England potions or the whole country would probably be blown off the map within a matter of minutes.
Sirius and Severus were hardly friends, but Narcissa got on famously with him, and so long as Remus was around when he was invited to dinner Sirius was ok with it, Severus was at least polite around the werewolf-it was maybe conceivable that they were even friends, in school at least.
"Uncle Remus!" Harry and Draco yelled in unison, running ahead of him and to a table by the back wall.
Remus unfolded himself from his spot and smiled brightly at them. "Hi boys. How are you?"
"Okay." Harry laughed. "Are you going to come with us to pick out stuff for school?" he asked. "Can you tell me why they don't let you play Quiddich in first year in school? It's a stupid rule." Harry said.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Harry, shut up. You are too obsessed with Quiddich."
"Well at least I'm not obsessed with books. I mean, what do you see in them."
"Words." Draco said dryly.
Harry stuck his tongue out at him.
Remus laughed. "Is this what I'm going to have to put up with on a daily basis at Hogwarts?" he asked Sirius.
Sirius nodded. "Yes Remus and worse. You should see them on a bad day." He grinned wickedly at his friend.
Remus laughed. "Come on, we should get you your things for school. Who's got their lists?"
Harry patted his pockets. "I know I have it somewhere-hold on. I know I put it in here." He pushed his glasses up on his nose and started searching again.
Draco rolled his eyes again and pulled a sheaf of papers out of his pocket. "You dropped it when you got off the train. Here." He handed three sheets of parchment to him.
Harry took it and smiled winningly. "Told you I had it somewhere!"
Draco started muttering. Sensing another fight about to break out Sirius put a hand on Draco's shoulder and began to steer him towards the back of the pub, out into the tiny back yard that led to Diagon Ally.
He quickly tapped out the code and wall was opening up as Harry and Remus appeared beside them. "Right, where to first?" he asked, looking round.
"Quiddich!" both boys said, Draco in a sarcastic parody of Harry, who punched him hard in the arm.
"Dad!" Draco said pointedly.
"Quit it you two. Harry, you do that again and I won't take you to the Quiddich shop, and Draco-stop poking fun at Harry, ok? Good. Now, Remus, where should we go first?" Sirius said, turning to his friend.
"Robes first-then books and other stuff, then lunch, then maybe Quiddich, if they behave, what do you say?" Remus smiled.
"You forgot about pets!" Draco pointed out. "You promised we could get one for going to Hogwarts."
"Oh hell!" Sirius said, slapping a hand to his head. "I did too. Right, so after lunch we'll go to the Quiddich shop and then go get the pets."
"Pets first dad. If you and Harry get into a Quiddich shop you'll never leave." Draco pointed out.
Remus shot him an amused look.
"Right, fine, fine. Go and find Glad rags would you. Don't wander too far ok!" he called after them as they darted off.
"When did Draco start acting so mature?" Remus asked.
"Since he heard he's the youngest student going to Hogwarts this year, what with him being a year and a half younger than Harry. He thinks he has to be grown up or they'll throw him out. Narcissa spent the night up with him after he got his letter. He wanted to get his school books early, just to make sure he knew everything before he got there." Sirius smiled fondly. "You'll have to watch out for that Remus-he'll over tax himself something serious. I've already explained to Harry he has to look after him, and I intend to give him that talk again before they head off. I don't have to worry about Harry overtaxing himself on the school front-he as bad as James, and just as Quiddich mad."
"He's doing a good job of distracting Draco." Remus smiled, watching Harry suddenly grab Draco's arm and pull him off to the side.
Sirius looked at them, and groaned. "Oh no, not the Quiddich shop. We'd better get them away from there now or we will be here all day-Draco's just as bad once you get him inside."
Remus laughed. "There's Glad rags-you head on in there and set up a fitting, I'll get them in there for you. If I let you get the boys you'll be glued to the window for hours."
Sirius laughed and headed for Glad rags and Remus went to drag the boys away from the Quiddich shop. "Come on you two. Quiddich shop last remember." He said.
"Look at that broom- Nimbus 2000. Do you think dad would buy it for us if we asked?" Harry was asking.
"He might-but you can't use it in Hogwarts-it'd just sit around getting dusty." Draco replied. "Besides, you'd break it."
"I would not!" Harry shot back.
"Boys! Glad-rags! Now!" Remus ordered, in his 'I'm a teacher, I have authority, listen to me and do as I say immediately!' voice.
"Okay." Harry said, with a last longing look at the broom, he followed Remus and Draco over to the robe shop.
"All right deary's, just you step up onto a stool for me and we'll get started." The lady from the shop said, with a smile. Draco turned slightly panicky eyes to Sirius, he and Harry had had very little contact with scary old ladies in robe shops before, most of their clothes were muggle. Harry just bounced up onto the stool. Draco followed a little more cautiously.
An hour, and a hundred pinpricks later the measurements were done and both boys had four sets of school robes shrunk down into a carrier bag, which Sirius was swinging to and fro and he talked to Remus, as they made their way to Quigley's Quills, a smaller, and less crowded book shop where Remus got discount because he shopped there so often.
"Why do children cost so much?" Sirius asked when he saw the bill for books, Quills and parchment notebooks-he knew Draco had slipped at least three extra books in, just like he knew Harry would manage to wrangle something out of him in the Quiddich store. He wasn't going to bring it up though, the way Draco was carrying those three books made him smile indulgently and pay the money.
"You're going soft Siri; you let them away with everything." Remus laughed.
"I do not!" Sirius said. "And look who's talking-who bought them ice-cream before lunch huh?"
"They're the closest I'll get to children of my own Siri, I'm allowed to spoil them-I'm the very nice uncle, they know they can get anything out of me. You on the other hand are supposed to be the father, why do you spoil them?" Remus said, giving him a small push.
Sirius shrugged. "I don't have the heart to say no." he sighed. "You're right, I am getting soft. Where too now boys?" he called to them.
Draco checked his list. "Cauldrons, potions ingredients and a wand." He rattled off. "And dragons hide gloves."
"Potions." Sirius sighed. "Only Snape's class would involve spending so much money all at once." He pursed his lips. "Right-go, find the potions shop!"
Harry and Draco scampered off to find the shop.
Lunch had Harry and Draco bickering again, this time over which animal it was better to get. Harry was dead set on an owl-a big one-the size of a house if how he was gesturing was anything to go by, Draco on the other hand wanted a cat, mostly so it could tear Harry's owl to pieces. The two were incorrigible.
They of course ended up with an owl and a cat, a pretty snowy white Owl Harry named Hedwig, and a big ugly brute of a cat that Draco called 'The gigantic Fuzzball' he did of course have an official name, but Draco preferred Fuzzball, so that's what it was called. As predicted they spent the rest of the day in the Quiddich shop, and Harry managed to get a signed England jersey, after a lot of pleading.
Remus had laughed at just how easily Sirius had given in. both boys had Sirius wrapped right round their little fingers-hell, they had everyone wrapped round their little fingers. They said their good byes at the leaky cauldron, Remus declining the offer for dinner, and going home. And Sirius listened to the continued argument over whether Manchester was better than Liverpool at football, as they made their way back on the train-ignoring the stares they were getting for the Owl Harry had sitting on his knees.
"How was your day?" Narcissa asked with a smile as they came in, kissing Sirius.
"Exhausting." Sirius answered with a groan.
Narcissa laughed. "Go put you things upstairs boys, dinners nearly ready."
Harry and Draco raced upstairs.
"So how is Remus?" she asked.
"He's fine-called me a softie. I was tempted to kick him for that, but I figured I should set some kind of example for the boys." He smiled.
"Good, can't have them getting bad manners from you." Narcissa said. She suddenly looked shy. "Siri…" she said, with a small smile.
"What?" Sirius asked, studying her.
"Siri-it's not certain yet, but I think I might be…" she looked at him and broke into a hundred watt smile. "I think I'm pregnant Siri!"
Sirius stared at her for a moment in shock, before his face stretched almost unbelievably wide with a grin, and he pulled her into a hug. "Merlin! Really? This is brilliant!" he gushed, hugging her again, showering her with kisses. "One of our very own." He smiled.
Draco stopped at the top of the stairs, he'd finished putting his things away and had been about to go downstairs when he had heard that comment. 'One of our very own'… what exactly did that make him then? He knew Harry was his dad's godson. And he knew he was definitely his mother's son… so what did that make him-if he wasn't his parents 'very own'?
He turned abruptly and went back into his room.