The second he came through the Floo there were arms around him and his glasses were knocked askew from being pressed up against what he assumed was a shoulder.
"So glad you're coming to mine for the holidays!" Sirius beamed in his face when he pulled back to hold him at arms length.
"Give the boy some space." Mrs. Weasley's voice came before Sirius was pushed aside and her happy face filled Harry's vision now. She brushed some soot off of his shoulders and then cupped under his chin. "How have you been doing dear?"
"He's been fine mum." Ginny moaned. "He could probably do with some room to move though. And breathe." She had come through the Floo first and already recovered. Ron had gone through before either of them had even gotten to the twins flat, who still had a few more hours of work left in the day.
"I'm doing great Mrs. Weasley. Thank you for inviting me for Christmas dinner." Harry said, happy that he was properly using his voice around his girlfriends mum.
"Oh, you can stop in anytime over the holidays. I'm sure my boys wouldn't say no to another here for their Quidditch games. No doubt Ginny wouldn't mind it either." She looked pointedly over to her daughter then, who responded with a big cheeky grin.
"I'll want to see Sirius' place too." Ginny told Sirius with a challenging look in her eye.
"It's Mr. Black." Mrs. Weasley told her sternly.
It was a voice that would have made Harry do exactly as told, but Ginny just scoffed. "If he wanted me to call him that, then I'd like to see him ask me to himself." She starred Sirius down in.
Harry fought not to smile at the way Sirius was just cowering under Ginny's eye. Surely if he was in dog form he would hide behind something in the room.
There were a lot of something's in the room to choose from. He was in what had to be the sitting room. There were couches and arm chairs occupying most of the floor space and shelves on every available wall space. He could see the stairs leading up to the next level, and right into the kitchen from his vantage point on either side of the stairs too, they may as well have been a ladder for how steep they were.
The space was so cozy and warm. It smelled like fresh baking and warm soup. He'd only just finished breakfast about an hour ago, but he would find the room for whatever that delicious smell was if it was offered.
"It is a sign of respect for his status in our society young lady." Mrs. Weasley continued. She didn't sound too angry, just scolding.
"Doesn't change the facts." Ginny said walking away. "I'm putting my bag in my room, I'll be right back down." She called back to Harry with a wink.
"I really don't mind Molly. After everything she and I have been through, it would be entirely strange for her to address me how our society would demand." Sirius told her. Then he turned back to Harry. "We've been invited to stay for lunch and I accepted."
"Sounds great!" Harry smiled. "It smells amazing, and I know Ginny wanted to show me around too."
"No closed doors." Was all Mrs. Weasley said before patting his shoulder kindly and heading back to the kitchen.
Harry sputtered a bit. As if he would try to do something disrespectful like that under their roof. On his first visit.
Sirius chuckled and took up comfortably on the closest couch, indicating for Harry to do the same.
Harry's eyebrows went up seeing how at home his godfather was. Even after living here for so long as a dog, he wasn't a dog anymore and this wasn't his house, but he was so relaxed. The heads of the Weasley family must have truly been over the fact he'd been deceiving them and using their home as a safe house for so long.
"I thought we'd go to Gringotts tomorrow." Sirius said.
"Oh! Great. I've wanted to for a while, but didn't know what to expect from this holiday really. I spent all my previous one's at Hogwarts." He chose a spot and got comfortable on the other end of the couch from his godfather.
"I know." Sirius told him sadly. "You've had a lot of questions, and I hope that I've helped with answering them. The archives from the Prophet must have helped quite a bit too."
"It did. I really can't believe that I hadn't checked out all of that as soon as I came to Hogwarts, but I was just so amazed with everything I was learning that I hadn't thought about it, and everyone else just assumed." He played off that it didn't bug him anymore, but it still did a bit. He'd been rather ignorant about it.
Sirius took a breath and hesitated before his next sentence. "Later, after I've given you the tour of Grimmauld Place, I want to have a serious discussion about your life with the Dursley's. And then talk to Dumbledore about you not going back there at the end of your sixth year."
Harry felt his face heat up at that. He had been manhandled as a child and that led to a few injuries. Dudley would never get in trouble for punching him in the arm or the stomach, and there was a lot of neglect growing up. Things got much better when he started going off to Hogwarts. During the summers he would just be given a list of chores, feed himself and then disappear into his room. He was basically their House Elf.
His feelings about sharing all this with Sirius though he wasn't sure exactly what they were. Embarrassment? Shame?
"Hey." Sirius put a hand on his arm. "I promise I won't kill them unless you tell me to. I just want to know. I only saw a small bit of what your life was like the summer I escaped. You were their slave, and it's been killing me that I couldn't get you out of there right away. It's actually for selfish reasons that I want to know. I've been imagining the worst, and I just need to know." He told him softly.
"It's bad." Ginny said from behind Harry. He jumped, not having heard her come back downstairs. She settled down on the armchair across from them. "But it isn't terribly horrible. Just sad and makes you want to cut on them a little bit."
"You guys have talked about it?" Sirius asked, more to Ginny.
Ginny shrugged and smiled over at Harry. "I can be very persuasive." She winked.
Just like that, Harry felt better. Ginny had taken her new knowledge of his upbringing well. Her slight desperation to make it all better by smothering him with kisses and love had made it quite easier to tell her too. That same approach wouldn't work with telling Sirius, but at least Harry knew he would be able to get the words out.
"So, you wanted to show me around?" Harry asked, wanting to change the air of the conversation.
"Yeah!" Ginny stood up. "We'll start by going up to check if Ron wants to come. His room is at the top of the house." She went to the stairs.
The expression 'top of the house' had Harry slightly confused but looking up the stairs from the ground level he understood. Now he was eager to see what this place looked like from the outside. There were stairs leading up at all sorts of angles and doors leading off here and there along the way as well.
At the top of the first set of stairs she opened one door and walked in. "This is my room." It wasn't very large. The bed and dresser took up the bulk of the space. Her bag was sitting on top of a small vanity, and an upright steamer trunk was used as a closet. "Tiny, I know. But I don't spend much time in here." She said cheerfully at his expression. "And really." She pulled him closer to her. "The bed has plenty of space." She told him quietly before kissing him.
Harry smiled against her mouth but felt uncomfortable doing any more than a few kisses under her parents' roof. "We were doing a tour, were we not?"
Ginny rolled her eyes and pulled back. "Fine." She twirled her finger, indicating that he should turn around and go back on the landing. "That's my parent's room." She pointed across the landing to the opposite door. "With every extra kid they just sort of, added another floor. That's why the house looks the way it does." She climbed the stairs ahead of him.
"This one was my brother Bill's room initially when Charlie came along." She said on the next floor.
"Then it was the twins after Bill moved out, now it's a guest room I suppose, but probably still quite dangerous." She chuckled. Having met the twins, he could only imagine what surprises would be in store for any unsuspecting potential guests.
"This room was Charlie and Percy's. First one then the other. Charlie shuffled rooms when the twins needed to be upgraded because Ron had come along." She moved up to the top floor. "And this is Ron's room." She knocked on the door. "My room was always the nursery since I'm the last to occupy it."
Ron hadn't responded to the knock, but Ginny pushed open the door anyways. The room was bright orange with posters of the Chudley Cannons, and one of a girl from the Holyhead Harpies that Harry didn't know the name of, but from her uniform he knew why she was up there.
"You okay?" Ginny asked Ron. He was laying on his bed with his hands behind his head.
"Fine. I don't want to talk about it." Ron grumbled.
"I'm going to show Harry around the property. You want to come?"
"No." He said quietly.
"Alright." She stepped backwards to the door.
"Wait." Ron turned to her and sat up abruptly. "You know, don't you?" He accused.
Ginny put her hands up. "I don't know anything. Not for sure anyways."
"What do you know?" Ron demanded.
"Are you kidding me? I'm not playing that game and potentially getting it wrong and making things worse. You want to mope up here over something, then by all means go right ahead."
Harry felt uncomfortable and wondered if he should slowly backed down the stairs to get away.
"Ginny. Tell me what Hermione told you."
"No." She stood her ground. "If you are upset about something, then I am not going to potentially make it worse by thinking it is about something someone chose to confide in me about, when it might not be. That will just make everything worse."
"Hermione told you, didn't she. She told you she doesn't think we're working anymore." Ron admitted sadly.
Harry's heart went out to him. Ron really liked Hermione. He'd confessed once that he thought she was too good for him, not that Hermione would think along those lines as she knew different people had different strengths. But if Ginny decided that she and he were too different he would be absolutely crushed.
Ginny sighed and went to sit down beside her brother. "She told me that she still likes you though. A lot. Just that you two are very different and don't talk very much."
"We talk all the time! We barely do anything but talk." Ron complained.
"Do you talk? Or does she talk at you?" Harry joined the conversation from the doorway. "Hermione can carry on a conversation all by herself for hours. I've seen it."
Ron was silent for a moment staring at him, then his shoulders sagged. "Yeah. I guess that's true. It is mostly her talking. But it's not like I mind. Because I'm usually interested in what she talks about and I swear I learn more from listening to her than I do from some of the professors."
"Did she tell you to make a pro/con list over the holidays?" Harry couldn't help the smile that came to his face asking that question. Hermione really liked lists.
Both Ron and Ginny grinned a bit at that. "Yeah, she did." Ron admitted. "I just didn't realize there was anything wrong, you know? She's been busy with school and wanting to pull together this rough draft of a book of the last war. I've been busy with Quidditch. But we're still snogging and what-not. I haven't, like, pressured her to go further than she wants to." His ears tinged pink at that.
From Ginny's expression, she knew something about Hermione's feelings on that that Ron didn't, but wasn't going to share. And curious as Harry was, Hermione was his best female friend and he probably wouldn't be comfortable knowing where she drew the line in her relationships.
Ginny patted Ron's leg and stood up. "I say do up the list. Fight for her if you want to, but if you are back and forth on it then you might want to decide to just be friends now, because it will only get harder to be friends down the line if things go sour."
Ron acknowledged that he heard what she said and they left him there to ponder and Ginny led the way back downstairs. Sirius was sitting in the kitchen with a cup of coffee talking to Mrs. Weasley. He and Ginny grabbed their coats and headed outside after she gave her mum a ballpark estimate on how long they'd be gone.
The view of the Burrow from outside, even knowing what the inside looked like, was a sight to behold. It made him happy. Why he didn't know. Perhaps it was because it was truly the first magical house he'd ever been in, and it looked it. The lopsided additions piled one on top of the other and the smoke coming out of the many chimneys. It was so quirky and great!
Ginny led him first over to the orchard, pointing out what the outbuildings were along the way. Her dad's shed, the broom shed, the animal house for their chickens and pigs. It was a very self-sufficient property.
The orchard was especially amazing. Even though it was the dead of winter there was still fruit coming off of some of the trees. Ginny explained how her mother had charmed the atmosphere around the trees so that it could sort of be tricked into thinking it was a different time of year than the actual season. Magic really was amazing. There were rows of fruit bearing trees and various plants all in different stages of growth. He could imagine Ginny and her brothers growing up and just running out to the garden for a snack of snap peas or a pear.
"This is amazing." Harry told Ginny as she pulled him along down the rows of trees. "Where exactly are you taking me?"
"To the one's at the end. It'll be warmest there."
"Warmest?" He repeated. It was cold out, sure. But he wasn't freezing or anything. The wind was down, the sun was shining and it was kind of pleasant.
His understanding kicked in when they reached the ripest tree near the end and Ginny turned around to face him and started unbuttoning her jacket. "Three weeks and we don't know how often we'll get to see each other. We're also more alone than we have been in a long time." She gave him a sultry smile.
His brain took a little longer to register what was going on. He'd been in 'innocent tour of her home' mode, just properly spoken to her mother for the first time and here she was stripping off her layers of clothing in her family's magically warmed orchard.
They shouldn't be doing this here. Now. But it had been so long since they'd been properly alone, and she looked so good in that tight fitting t-shirt. It was ridden up enough that he could make out the line of her knickers where her trousers hung low enough. He stared at that line as his blood flowed south.
"Ginny." He said softly, painfully.
It seemed disrespectful to let their hormones take charge right now. The first time he'd been invited over and if he was found ravishing the only daughter in the field there was a very small chance that he'd be invited back, if he even managed to make it out alive, she did have six brothers after all. What he wouldn't have given to have his invisibility cloak right then.
Ginny stepped towards him and pulled down on the zip on his jacket, all the while maintaining eye contact with him and fueling his desire for her even more with the lust in her eyes. If he didn't give in to her wishes, there was a chance she would be the one not letting him off the property alive.
He swallowed deeply and fought the urge to look over his shoulder and guarantee no one could see them nor were they headed out here.
"Harry." She said in a sexy whisper. His jacket was now open and her hand was at the button on his trousers.
It had only been about two hours since they'd been glued together in an alcove, but it was never enough.
"Fuck it." He quickly shrugged off his jacket and pulled her down to the ground to lay on top of it with him over her. He ignored her triumphant look as his mouth attacked every exposed piece of skin on her neck. Her hands wandered all over his back and into his hair and he rocked against her and was rewarded with a delicious moan.
"Been too long." She moaned and tugged at his trousers in an attempt to pull them down.
"Wait." He pulled back and grabbed her coat to place under her as well. It really was quite warm on the ground where they were, but it was still the hard ground, and if she was wanting to go as far as he assumed she was, then the extra comfort would be appreciated.
The tree they were under was blocking them from view of anyone that might be on their way over to them, and it was too thick full of leaves and fruit for anyone flying overhead to see as well.
He pulled back again to take his trousers off. Her heated kisses were making his erection almost painful. It had taken a bit to calm it down after their earlier liaison, and now it was seeking revenge and fulfillment.
Ginny slid off her trousers as well and he couldn't help but stare at her knickers, wishing her could feel what was hiding underneath them with something other than his fingers. They had both expressed the want to try using their mouths on each other, but this was not that place or time for that. He came back to lay on top of her and they both groaned at the contact below.
Their lips were locked as they moved together. Her hand slipped between them and she grasped him firmly in her hand and his eyes rolled back in his head as her finger brushed over his tip. Her other hand moved down and slid his pants over his bum.
He wasn't going to question it anymore. She made him feel so amazing, and he wasn't going to stop her from doing what she wanted to him. It was as her second hand fumbled slightly between them that he tried to use some of his remaining brain power to figure out what she was doing.
Harry's eyes snapped open as the tip of his erection became incredibly warm.
Ginny's eyes were wide and determined staring back at him. She pumped her hand slowly up and down his length, moving herself a little further down with each movement, and his erection a little further inside her with each thrust.
His eyes unfocused from the sensation of the wet heat that was now encompassing him. As he slid inside her further and further her found there was a point that restricted him from moving all the way at the gentle pushing that their combined movements were doing. "Ginny." He breathed out.
"Do it." She begged.
How he knew what she was talking about he couldn't explain, but at her request he pulled back slightly and thrust harder until her barrier gave way and he was buried completely inside her.
Ginny gasped in pain and arched her back. There was a moment of panic for him seeing her like that. Her eyes were closed tight, a few tears leaked out from the corners and down into her hair along her temple and he kissed one of the tears away. He had to clench himself tight in order to stop his body from pulling back and thrusting again until she gave the go-ahead. Because it felt so freaking amazing and he was desperate for more.
She took a few shaky breaths before she relaxed and he started moving as delicately as possible, watching her face for any more signs of pain. "So. Full." She moaned in pleasure. That caused him to completely un-clench and make more confident thrusts.
This was the most amazing sensation he'd ever felt, and it was causing an orgasm to build up inside of him at a rapid pace. He knew she wasn't anywhere close to ready, and he also knew it was going to wind up being a quintessential first time coupling experience, but there was nothing on earth that was going to be able to stop him or slow him down from reaching his finish in-.
Harry let out a long and satisfying groan as he released himself inside her properly for the first time ever.
He collapsed on top of her as though he'd just finished running a marathon, rather than having spent all of one minute having the most satisfying experience of his life.
They said nothing to each other as he recuperated, but he didn't get the feeling that she was disappointed. Perhaps she'd been expecting that to happen their first time.
"I will pray to whoever you want me to if you let me keep trying that until you have the same reaction I just did."
She chuckled in his ear and the movement caused him to twitch inside her. He was not yet soft, and still in place. She gasped at the sensation. "It's okay. And yes. You can try that again." She placed a kiss just below his ear.
He lifted himself up onto his elbows and looked down at her with what he knew was to have been the dopiest of smiles. "You know, I had thought our first time would happen a little differently than that." He told her happily.
"So had I. But I didn't want to wait anymore. And I don't think there is anywhere in the castle that would allow us to sneak off for a whole night on a transfigured bed or something with out getting caught." She rationalized.
A whole night alone with her would have been ideal, but either way he just wanted to be with her in this way again and again, so he didn't really care anymore. So long as she was okay with it.
And they were still in the orchard at her home.
She must have seen that realization dawn on his face. "Wait. Don't move." She dug her hand down into her coat pocket and found her wand and a cloth. She placed the cloth under her bum and her wand on the grass beside them. "Okay."
Her eyes rolled back in her head slightly as he withdrew from her. He couldn't help looking down at where they had been joined and was slightly alarmed at the sight of red.
"Tergeo." The red vanished. Ginny had grabbed her wand and cleaned up the mess on him and herself.
"Are you okay?" He asked in worry.
"I'm fine Harry." She blushed. "It happens to girls on their first time." She assured him.
After they'd pulled their clothes and coats back on Harry sat back against the tree and pulled her to sit with him with her back resting against his front. His body felt so satisfied, but his mind kept making him get assurances from Ginny that yes she was okay, and yes she still wanted to try that again. They sat there for less than a half hour with him mostly just awestruck with how incredibly lucky he felt.
()()()
Harry was both nervous and excited about what was about to happen. Gringotts trips for him had always been a little exciting, it was the only time he'd been on something resembling an amusement park ride. The cart he had to take to his vault probably had some kind of magical safety on it, but since he couldn't actually see anything keeping him from pitching over the side on a sharp turn, it felt like it was a million times more dangerous than a roller coaster. The stalagmites and abyss below added to the effect.
And the Goblin manning the cart.
This time though he was here for something other than just refilling his stash of coins. He was going to be sitting down with one of the higher up Goblins and going over his family accounts and investments.
The book that Bill Weasley had sent him was a big help when it came to understanding how Goblin's appreciated being treated. It also helped that Sirius was with him, he had been in the bank a few weeks previously to go over his own family vaults. Sirius had had a big smile on his face when he spoke of how he'd transferred all of his outlaying cousins vaults into his own. Harry had been told how awful Sirius' family had been to him, just for being a Gryffindor and not fighting for Voldemort, so he understood Sirius' hatred for the family.
Apparently not all of Sirius' cousins were all bad though. He'd reached out to one that had been blasted off the family tree in one of the sitting rooms at Grimmauld Place. Andromeda had married a Muggleborn named Ted and for that she was cut off. She had a daughter that was an Auror named Nymphadora, yet another odd wizarding name, and they had been invited over to the Tonks residence for a New Years Eve dinner.
Harry and Sirius had spent all of the previous afternoon just talking and getting to know one another better when they arrived at Sirius' place after lunch. Harry had told him a glossy overview of his childhood and they both managed to make it through that.
Sirius was a really cool person. And he really thought of the Weasley's as family, which made Harry like him all the more. And while Sirius hadn't said anything to him after Ginny and he returned from his 'tour of the Burrow property', it was pretty clear he'd known they hadn't been just been out for a stroll. It had been a little awkward for both of them when Sirius basically had the 'what are your intentions' speech over tea yesterday.
Harry completely understood that Sirius had bonded with Ginny over their three years together, as dog and its human, and she was important to him. But she was important to Harry too, and he told Sirius as much. Ginny was his first girlfriend and the first person he'd ever said 'I love you' to, romantically or otherwise. He didn't want anything to come between their relationship.
He was pretty sure that his furious blush and flustered response of her being important to him was enough to relay that because Sirius switched the subject to Quidditch after and started telling stories of his dads days as a Chaser for Gryffindor.
"Mister Potter, Lord Black." A goblin greeted them tersely upon their entrance to the marble foyer of the institution. "Follow me please." The stout being turned away from them abruptly and walked as fast as his little legs could carry them toward the lift at the back of the reception area. It made sense given their size that there weren't any stairs to take them up to the next level of the bank, but Harry hadn't noticed the lack of them until just then.
Sirius and he followed the goblin into the lift with out saying a word. The goblin too said not a word to them, even when exiting the lift and showing them to an ornate office, with an ornate desk that was surprisingly regular height. Behind it sat a goblin wearing a jewel encrusted suit jacket.
Harry blinked at the ostentatiousness of it all for a moment before he remembered himself and bowed.
"Thank you for taking the time to see me on what is probably a very busy day. I appreciate every minute you have to spare for my business dealings."
"You may take a seat Mister Potter. You wish for Lord Black to join you?" The goblin behind the desk asked, the one that had guided them there closed the door to the office behind them on the way out.
"I would like him to join us if you don't mind. I'm afraid I have a limited knowledge of accounts and investments, having him here would be helpful as I will be able to ask him later any questions that I have so I might not take up too much of your busy time."
The goblin bowed his head in what Harry construed as appreciation. "I am Reshkeh, holder of keys for the most esteemed of vaults for Gringotts."
"A most important position for a well deserving goblin such as yourself I am sure." Harry said, trying to remember what he was supposed to say and when.
"Enough of the pomp and circumstance young one." Reshkeh waved his hand at the two seats in front of him. "Sit down and we can go over your assets."
Harry and Sirius took their designated seats and both presented the goblin with their wands for verification. Reshkeh inspected them and then brought out a golden bowl and placed it on his desk with a dagger, looked to Harry expectantly.
The book he had read had mentioned this as well. Verification of blood ties to family vaults required actual blood.
Harry stood and took the dagger in his hand. It was surprisingly light. However, it was not surprisingly ridiculously ornate. Steeling himself with a deep breath through his nose he put the tip of the dagger to his pinky finger on his left hand and pushed down gently until a drop of blood appeared. He squeezed his finger and the single drop of blood went into the bowl.
"Is that enough?" He wasn't sure, the book hadn't mentioned how much blood was needed, just that it was needed. Muggle scientists wouldn't have needed much more than that to check for DNA. They would have only needed a swab of spit actually.
"That will suffice." Reshkeh said, and without getting up from his seat he cast a complicated spell and regarded a parchment that began glowing slightly at the corner of his desk. With a snap of his fingers then a tome appeared before him. "Now then, Mister Potter. You have four vaults to your name; your personal vault, which you have pulled from already, your mothers vault, your fathers vault, and the Potter family vault. In terms of total gold you have 1.3 million Galleons readily available. There are many investments that you have spread out across the magical and Muggle world including but not limited to Publications, Cosmetic companies, Oil companies and Timber. All have been broken down on the parchment before you with current values. You have three properties to your name; Potter Manor in St. Ives Cambridgeshire, a number 42 Cottage Lane in Godrics Hollow and number 4 Privet Drive in Surrey."
"What!?" Harry burst out. The investments and amount of Galleons had shocked and surprised him, but not like this. "I OWN THEIR HOUSE?!" He yelled. "Those horrible bastards!"
Reshkeh didn't look happy about the interruption. "Problem?"
"Yes." Harry spat out. "The people currently residing in Number 4 Privet drive have been-."
Sirius put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "I didn't know. But we'll talk about this later." His expression pleading with him to try and keep his head.
Harry took a deep meditative breath. "I apologize Reshkeh. Please continue." He managed.
"There is also all manner of items; treasures, clothing, books. Not all of it is itemized. If you would like an itemized list of your vaults there will be a cost associated with it."
The book Harry had read did not tell him this part, Sirius had. The book was written by a former curse-breaker about goblin/human interactions and goblin history. Sirius was the one that explained that the best way to get on a goblin's good side was to pay him for an unnecessary service. The goblins knew the difference between when a human knew it was unnecessary, but did it anyways, or if they were merely aristocratic and throwing their money around. The one's that knew it was unnecessary and paid for it anyways would be on the goblins good side. It was a way of paying a bribe with out paying a bribe.
"I would very much appreciate that. At what cost can I be expecting to be billed?" Harry said carefully.
"From the size of your vaults and the number of them it would be 260 Galleons for a detailed list. This includes only what is visible. Any closed trunks or wardrobes, drawers and the like will not be searched."
"I understand and approve of the amount. I will also be back once I am of age to transfer the contents of my parents vaults to my own and close them out so that you may have them to lease out to new clients."
It was a quick meeting, but that is how it was supposed to go.
"Good job pup." Sirius cuffed him on the shoulder in approval when they were on the steps leading out of the bank to Diagon Alley. "I know you were about to blow your top back there, for good reason, but you kept it together pretty well."
Harry couldn't believe that he had essentially been a slave to the Dursley's and called an ungrateful freak for so long, meanwhile he was their landlord. It was ridiculous. The nerve of them. They were the ungrateful ones. They'd been living rent and mortgage free since he'd lived there.
He'd walked out of the bank with several documents, one of them was the deed to the Privet Drive house and associated paperwork. He was going to go over that one carefully tonight.
"Thanks." He said morosely. "That was a lot of information back there."
"I know, but you've got a lot of time to go over everything, and while you can't touch three of the vaults for another eight months at least you have the knowledge now and you've met the goblin in charge and he's pleased with you." Sirius was looking down the alley, searching for something.
"Are you expecting someone?" Harry asked him of his behavior.
He looked back at him and gave him a bit of a sheepish expression. "No. I'm looking for something. For a.. lady friend."
Harry's eyebrows went up. Sirius hadn't mentioned having a girlfriend in their letters, or at all yesterday.
"Okay. Like a Christmas present?"
"Yeah."
"Good. I need to get something for Ginny. You'll help me with that, right?" While he wanted to get her something special and personal, he also wanted the assurance that she would really like it. Sirius had known her for longer than he did, he would be of help in finding something perfect.
Unfortunately Sirius cringed a bit at that. "Oh. Ginny's a tough one to buy for when you're just her friend. Or brother. Quidditch stuff would be too friendly a purchase, and she doesn't care for jewelry. Clothes would be too much and might offend her somehow. Sweets are too impersonal." He started listing off.
"Geez, I was looking for help, not a list of how to piss her off." Harry half-joked. Everything Sirius was saying made sense. She really wanted for nothing, and if he went overboard with purchasing something for her he knew she would just pretend that she liked it. He didn't want her to fake being grateful for something.
"You can't get her knickers either, she'll be opening the present in front of her family. That'd be a good way to get dead."
Harry felt the heat rise to his face. "I wasn't even considering that!" However, now the image was implanted in his mind of her in a sexy black lace thing. Laying back on Harry's new bed in his room at Grimmauld Place. It was a big king-sized bed. He shook his head. "I'm at a total loss. I've only had to buy for Hermione and Neville before, and they're straightforward. A book and a plant each with some kind of sweet. But with Ginny it's a whole new game." He took a breath. "What are you getting your girl?"
"Woman." Sirius corrected. "And I was actually leaning towards the knickers." He winked with a grin.
Well, that wouldn't work for him. He thought disappointedly. Looking around the Alley he checked out each of the shops. He didn't want to get her a pet, she didn't seem the type to be happy about getting beauty or bath products.
"Maybe I could get her tickets to a Quidditch game or something?"
"She'd like that!" Sirius agreed and started leading them towards a feminine shop.
Harry followed his godfather into the store with hesitation and wide eyes. There was a lot of perfume and feathers in this store. It was mercifully free of customers at this early hour though. Sirius seemed to know exactly what he wanted and Harry was stuck in front of a few racks of what appeared to be mere strings with triangles of lace attached. His eyes travelled up to the mannequin wearing the thing and it winked at him. It was all too much. He wanted to rush out of the shop, but didn't want to be seen coming out of it with out Sirius in tow. What if someone saw and told Ginny or one of her brothers that he'd been in there?
There was a bathrobe close by him. Bathrobes were safe enough to look at. He wasn't sure how long he was looking at it before Sirius chuckled beside him and tugged on his sleeve to get him to come back out into the Alley.
"You're dad was bad in those shops too. Well, he wasn't before he and Lily started going out. But once they did he didn't want anyone to assume what was going on under her clothes."
"Ew. That was my mum." Harry made a face.
Sirius laughed. "Alright. You're thinking Quidditch tickets for Ginny then?"
"Yeah. But Ron would like them too, and I can't get her the same thing I get her brother." He thought through. "She could probably use a new coat." He mentioned after seeing Madame Malkins.
"Hmm. Practical, not too expensive. I think she'd like that. You could have them add extra warming charms to it as well, and an undetectable expansion charm on the pockets. That could be damn useful." Sirius agreed.
"Okay." Harry smiled. She should be pretty happy with that. He'd make sure it was a nice wool one with a pleasing color. Something similar to what she had now, which was nice enough but had seen better days. She'd mentioned how often she had to reapply the charms to it because it was slightly too large, or the warming charms weren't sticking to it for as long. "Yeah. I think she'll really love it." Harry was now grinning.
"Great." Sirius led the way to the clothes shop. "Any idea what she's getting you?"
"No. But she's pretty damn proud of it." He chuckled. He could recall the day she'd figured out what she was giving him for Christmas. She'd been bouncing off the walls about it. It had been adorable.
They went into the clothing shop and it took them a half hour.
HALF AN HOUR.
Just to pick out a coat for her. There were so many different types for girls. There were basically two types for men; trench or leather. Girls apparently needed all sorts of different options. The sales lady was super helpful, but asked all kinds of questions he didn't have the answer to and Sirius had to come up with some responses. Finally they'd gotten the perfect coat with all the additional spells for warmth, water repelling, self cleaning, and undetectable expanded pockets. Sirius also suggested the add an armoring spell to it as well so it could shield her in case she got hit with a wayward spell.
Harry had been thrown by that one. Sirius just reminded him about Fred and George and that had Harry agreeing with him. He'd been told stories of the twins experimenting with all kinds of crazy things.
()()()
This was the first Christmas that Harry could remember ever truly being excited for. His first Christmas at Hogwarts had been great because of the festive air and wonderful food. It had also been the first time he'd received presents. Hagrid, Hermione and Neville had all gotten him a little something. That had been when he'd received his fathers invisibility cloak as well. It was a wonderful memory and every year since at school had been just as nice.
But now he was actually celebrating Christmas with people. His Godfather and Remus had been excited about it the night before and gotten rather inebriated and started sharing anecdotes. It had been very amusing, and they'd allowed Harry to have a few fingers of Firewhiskey as well. He wasn't a big fan of the taste, but by the end of the glass his belly had felt very nice and warm.
He awoke smiling in his bed in anticipation of the day.
Throwing back the blankets he pulled on his bathrobe and rushed down the stairs, behaving rather more like a young child. But it was how he felt.
"Happy Christmas!" Sirius shouted from the sitting room they'd put the Christmas tree up in. He was all smiles and had a Santa hat on his head. "You're finally awake!" He bound over and pulled him into a big hug.
"Happy Christmas Harry." Remus said from the sofa, rising to give Harry a hug also.
"Happy Christmas." Harry beamed and his eyes widened at the pile of gifts under the tree. He remembered seeing that many gifts under the tree at the Dursleys, but their tree had never looked quite as merry as the one here in Grimmauld Place. Sirius had waited for Harry to arrive before they decorated it. It involved quite a lot of tinsel and a dash of magic. The Dursley tree had always looked just a little too much like it came out of a magazine, as was Aunt Petunia's aim. "Where did all this come from?" He gestured to the gifts, there hadn't been that many there last night.
"Dobby went to distribute and collect the gifts last night." Sirius told him and handed him a mug of hot cocoa.
"Wow." Harry sat down looking at the pile.
"We'll just have to start at the top and work our way down." Sirius exclaimed, giving off the impression of one wanting to clap his hands together in excitement.
Remus chuckled at his friends exuberance. "We'll let you play Santa then and start handing them out."
Slowly the room began filling up with rumpled scraps of paper and the three men chuckled as they made their way through the gifts. Mrs. Weasley had made Sirius and Harry a jumper, the two of them had immediately pulled it on over their pajamas. Harry had also received several treats from Honeydukes from all of his friends, and Sirius had gone all out and gotten him a multi-compartment trunk, one of which was already filled with brand new Quidditch equipment, and another with clothes. He'd been appreciative of it, but exclaimed at the unnecessary grandeur of the gift, which Sirius waved off.
Harry had been at a loss as to what to get Sirius until Remus had told him about his old motorbike. At Sirius' suggestion of a coat for Ginny, he figured a leather jacket for Sirius would be a good call and Sirius had been quite happy with it.
All three of them had a good laugh over Ginny's gift to Sirius. She liked to bake holiday treats for all of her friends, even Remus got some, but Sirius' were all in the shape of bones and provided to him in a personalized dog bowl.
The last gift under the tree was a rather flat parcel addressed to Harry. It weighted about two pounds and felt like a file of some sort.
For Harry, Love Ginny. And there was an impression of her lips on the note.
Sirius and Remus had looked on waiting for him to unwrap it. He ripped off the first layer of paper to find another layer of paper underneath. Underneath that was a file folder. The tab on the folder read James Potter 1971-1978, Gryffindor.
The two grown men came closer when they saw that.
"She didn't!" Remus' jaw dropped.
"She did!" Sirius' eyes went wide. He seemed to be fighting the urge to snatch the folder from Harry's hands.
Harry took a breath and flipped open the folder.
Student- James Potter Year- One
has been assigned detention
Date(s)- September 5th, 1971 Time- 7:00pm Room- Transfiguration
Reason for Detention- Flinging dung bombs onto Quidditch Pitch during Slytherin Practice
Punishment- Cleaning and sanding down desks in classroom. presiding. M. McGonagall
"This is... this is." Harry stammered and felt his nose twinge the way it does when he is about to sneeze, but he didn't have to sneeze.
"She stole his file from Filch's office!" Sirius stood up. "That is bloody fantastic!"
"I don't know how I should react to this." Remus admitted, still staring at the file rather dumbfounded. "I mean. I'm a professor."
"You're on holidays. It doesn't count." Sirius ignored his friends worry. "Let me see that." He moved the pile of goods that had accumulated beside Harry so he could sit beside him and get a better look.
Harry flipped through all of the detention slips in his dad's file. There were a lot of them. And there was something else there that was shoved in between the slips that he pulled out and the men on either side of him drew in sharp breaths.
"Oh." Remus sucked in a breath.
"Oh my lord." Sirius said slowly. "The Marauders Map! I never thought I'd see that again!"
"What is it?" Harry asked, holding onto it with both hands as though it might disintegrate.
"It's a map we made of Hogwarts! It's got all the passwords to the secret entrances and tells you where people are as well." Remus said in awe.
"I didn't know Filch had stuck it in there!" Sirius said. "He confiscated it from James in our last few months. We'd already memorized everything so we didn't fight to get it back." Sirius pulled out his wand and tapped the parchment. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." And ink began to spider out all across the pages.
"This is." Harry started unfolding the paper. The map. "This is all of Hogwarts?" His eyes raked over every exposed corridor and landed on a little trail of footsteps. "That's professor Snape? Right now, that's where he is?"
"Yep." Sirius said happily.
Harry's eyes went from the parchment to the rest of the folder sitting in his lap. This was one of the most amazing gifts he'd ever received.
()()()
The three men arrived at the Burrow just after 1pm Christmas day. The sitting room was completely cluttered with empty boxes and bundles of paper that were no doubt bound for the fireplace. The twins and who Harry assumed was Percy, one of the brothers he hadn't met yet, were in the room and a raised a glass in greeting, not bothered to do much more than that, and from the slightly glassy looks in their eyes he could tell why they weren't bothered.
Harry's eyes raked across the room and into what he could see of the kitchen in search of Ginny.
Mrs. Weasley came into the room wiping her hands on her apron. "Hello dears." She beamed. They all gave her a greeting and Harry saw a movement of long red hair in the kitchen behind her. Mrs. Weasley gave him a knowing look and gestured her head kindly saying he was allowed to go in and greet her daughter.
Ginny mustn't have realized that they'd arrived. She'd been helping get ready for the dinner for that night and had her own apron on and smears of flour on her cheek. She looked amazing. Currently she was kneading something in a bowl and glanced over to him freezing in surprise.
She looked so perfect to him in every way, and what she'd given him for Christmas he had no words. She pulled her hands out of the bowl and hastily tried to wipe the dough off, but he didn't care about that.
Harry closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms tightly around her kissing her hard on the mouth. He heard her give a wistful sigh and felt her forearms come against his back while she returned his kiss, keeping her dough covered hands off his cloak.
"Mmm. Pantry." She moaned and walked him backwards.
"That's a new pet name." He teased and kissed his way down her neck.
"Walk towards the pantry so that my family won't see us." She growled and continued pushing him to move backwards.
He traced circles on her hips with his thumbs. "Can't we go back out to the orchard?"
Ginny giggled lightly. "Geez, give a guy just a little taste."
Harry pulled back from her in a slight panic. "That's not what I. I mean. I do, but I just." Harry sighed. He didn't want her to think that all he wanted to do now was have sex. He did, don't get him wrong, but he was desperate to show her just how much she meant to him. "Ginny. Your gift."
"The coat is beautiful." She smiled up at him, her whole face alight. "I love it."
"Yeah?" He asked hopefully.
"Absolutely." She promised. "You spent too much." She reprimanded slightly. "But it is beautiful."
"Great. I'm so glad you like it. You are a rather hard person to find a gift for." He told her. "Sirius agrees. I had to outsource to figure something out for you that wasn't something I'd just get for a friend. Because you are so much more than a friend."
She glowed at the comment. "As are you. It took me a while to figure out yours."
Harry nearly wanted to cry at how truly touched he was with her gift for him. "Ginny. I can't even. It's so. You're amazing and I love you."
"Awe." Came a moony sigh from the kitchen entrance. "You two." It was Mrs. Weasley and she looked about ready to gush.
With the moment lost Harry and Ginny pulled back from each other blushing at the fact they were being observed. "Mum." Ginny complained.
"Alright. Ginny, you have more work to do. Harry, why don't you go up and say hello to Ron." She broke them apart.
Ginny gave Harry another chaste kiss and dunked her hands back into the bowl.
()()()
By dinner time Harry had only managed to steal a few kisses from Ginny. They'd all played Quidditch and had several rounds of appetizers and beverages. Harry met the rest of the Weasley boys, including little Kenneth who was pretty adorable with his auntie. He clearly enjoyed being the youngest.
Kenneth had been a little weary of Sirius and Remus at first. They were fully grown men, Harry he didn't seem to have an issue with but did make 'yuck' noises when Ginny gave Harry a kiss. The boy came around to Sirius though when he changed into his dog form however. Then he was Kenneth's new favorite person.
The company was great, the food was delicious and it was easily the best day Harry could remember having.
They were all a good amount of tipsy by the time they had to head back to Grimmauld Place.
None of them had expected to walk into a MMA elf edition show down in the sitting room. Dobby and Kreachure were kicking, scratching and hitting each other and they tumbled all over the room with something shiny swinging between them