Author's Note:
This is technically the beginning of Part II. Harry's first year living with Sirius and Remus has come to pass and now there will be more time jumps to cover the next bit until he starts Hogwarts.
Got the idea of the Hook Man from an old urban legend I remember as a kid; changed it up a bit to keep it less Muggle, but still fun. Not as scary as a certain episode of Supernatural (one of my favourite television shows), but still a good scary story to use.
Also, if there are any artists out there — anyone want to draw me a nice cover for my story of Sirius and young Harry? PM me if you are interested.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the lyrics to Birthday — belongs to the wonderful Beatles.
Reviews and Comments: To E-Dett: Thank you! And don't worry — this whole chapter is Harry's birthday! To Mattelle: Thank you! And yes, Sirius will definitely go overboard LOL. I'm glad you look forward to the updates. To Reyna: Thank you! Ginny does have a good heart and yes, if Draco met Ginny and Luna it would be interesting. To ninaz08: Thank you! Sirius will make his birthday good, promise! To geekymom: Thank you! To debygoebel: Thank you very much! It is nice to see Harry so free and happy. To alix33: Thank you! I thought Sirius would want to bring in some of the Marauders and Lily if he could.
Thank you very much for reading and please, please review!
Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you!
CHAPTER FIFTY:
The One With the Best Birthday Ever
By the time one thirty came around, Sirius had everything set up. He hadn't gone overboard, despite Remus' worries, but he did have a fun-filled day planned with back to back activities to keep the kids occupied until bed.
Harry was dressed in a red tee shirt that said 'Birthday Boy' in gold lettering and jean shorts. Sirius had even made him a little plastic golden crown to wear with golden antlers for the day. Harry was eagerly already wearing the crown along with his red birthday cape (according to Sirius, all birthday boys should wear capes, as he and James had insisted upon every single year when they were at Hogwarts).
Sirius remembered how in sixth year when he had shown up to class for his seventeenth birthday wearing a red cape and McGonagall had merely rolled her eyes. She didn't have to ask why they wore capes anymore. She didn't even mention that they were out of school uniform. You wore a cape on your birthday; end of story.
The memory made him grin and he wanted to bestow that tradition upon Harry.
"What is this, James?" Sirius asked in bewilderment as James hooked the fabric around his neck.
"It's your birthday cape."
Sirius' eyebrow merely rose. "My what?"
"Today is your twelfth birthday which means you must wear the birthday cape. It's tradition."
Sirius had merely stared at him. "Tradition?"
James nodded, grinning widely. "Dad says that the birthday cape gives you power over your birthday wishes and makes you feel just how special your day is. Therefore, you wear the birthday cape all day in honour of it being your special day. Mandatory Potter tradition."
"I'm not a Potter," Sirius said, checking out the red cape in the mirror and grinning when he realized that in Gryffindor gold it said: BIRTHDAY BOY in big letters.
James rolled his eyes. "Blood brothers, remember — wear the damn cape!"
And he had, Sirius remembered, every single year until he had gone to Azkaban. Remus and Peter had worn it too. Sirius had found it in the Potter vault and the sight of it had almost brought tears to his eyes at the memories it held. When he placed it on Harry that morning and told him of the long-standing Potter tradition of wearing the cape, Harry had grinned in glee.
"Like a superhero?"
"Exactly," Sirius told him, kissing his forehead.
Harry was running around the house now, Marauder chasing him and barking, his long red cape billowing out behind him as he ran. The sight made Sirius grin as the Floo lit up and the first guest arrived.
Sirius recognized the beautiful woman immediately as Pandora Lovegood and her lovely daughter Luna. He grinned widely at her. "Pandora, lovely to see you again."
She smiled warmly at him. "Hello, Sirius, it's kind of you to invite my Luna to your son's birthday."
"Harry's choice," Sirius said as Harry came running down the stairs. "Harry, your first guest has arrived."
"Luna!" he exclaimed, hugging the small blonde who hugged him back.
"Hi, Harry! Thanks for inviting me!" She looked over his attire and grinned. "I love the cape and the crown."
Harry grinned back. "Thanks."
Sirius accepted all of Luna's overnight belongings as well as Harry's birthday present from Mrs Lovegood as the Floo lit up again and Neville arrived with his grandmother. Neville grinned widely at the sight of Sirius, giving him a hug before grinning at Harry. Harry introduced him to Luna and Neville gave her a shy smile as Tonks stepped out of the fireplace followed by Ted and Andromeda.
Within ten minutes the living room was full of birthday guests: Luna, Mrs Lovegood, Neville, Mrs Longbottom, Tonks, Ted, Andromeda, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Remus, Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, Percy, Charlie, and Mrs Weasley. After birthday greetings were given, Mrs Longbottom, Mrs Weasley, and Mrs Lovegood all left and Sirius grinned at Harry and his friends. He had been surprised to see that Charlie had decided to come, but he figured he had probably come for his friend Tonks as much as Harry. Bill had declined, which made sense seeing as he was going to be a sixth year in September and didn't need to be hanging out with his little brother and sister's friends.
"All right, you lot, the party's going to be out back. Let's put all of your sleeping stuff upstairs in Harry's room for now. Why don't you all take turns changing into your swimsuits and then we'll head outside?"
The kids all got moving upstairs with their stuff (except for Tonks and Charlie who were not sleeping over, but did bring swimsuits) and Sirius turned to the adults in the room.
"Thanks for coming. I've finally got the back set up a bit so make yourselves comfortable outside and Remus will find you some refreshments," Sirius announced as everyone headed out the back door in the kitchen.
As the kids made their way back downstairs in their swimsuits, Sirius led them outside into the garden where he had set up the first birthday event. Two huge barrels were on either side of the yard, full to the brim with coloured balloons.
"Okay!" Sirius exclaimed, clapping his hands together with a grin. "For our first event at the Birthday Extravaganza, I am going to split you up into two teams. Harry, as the Birthday Boy you get to be captain number one and let's make Neville captain number two, yeah?" Both boys nodded so he grinned. "All right, Harry, you go right and your team will be Ginny, George, Tonks, and Percy. Neville, that means you're on the left and your team is Luna, Ron, Fred, and Charlie. Got that?"
"What are we doing, Uncle Sirius?" Harry asked, still wearing his birthday crown and cape over his blue bathing suit trunks.
Sirius grinned widely. "Well, you each have two barrels full of balloons over there and those balloons are full of different kinds of jelly."
"Balloon fight!" Fred exclaimed, eyes wide. "Excellent!"
"Fight indeed," Sirius said with a grin. "The team that uses all of their balloons first wins. Are you guys ready?"
"Yeah!" They yelled.
Sirius grinned. "Go!"
He watched as they each took off, making a beeline for the barrels and he made his way over to the gazebo where Ted, Andromeda, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Hagrid, and Remus were sitting.
"Looks like a fun start," McGonagall said as she sipped the glass of rosé that Remus passed her. "Do you have a full itinerary planned?"
"I certainly do. Up until they go home tomorrow morning at eleven."
"I told him that he's a brave soul," Remus said with a grin.
"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed, punching his friend in the arm. "You aren't going anywhere tonight so don't even try it, Moony."
Hagrid laughed as he drank his pint of Dragon Scale. "Don't want ter stay alone wit' ten kids?"
"It will only be eight tonight, as Charlie and Tonks aren't sleeping over," Sirius said. "But no, I'm not insane."
Andromeda chuckled as she watched the kids crack balloons full of jelly all over themselves and giggle. "Charlie is coming to stay with us tonight. He and Nymphadora are going to some rock concert at nine."
"Concert?" Sirius asked, his interest peeked.
Ted smiled. "Some new band called the Weird Sisters, Dora loves them. They're performing at the Merlin Concert Hall in London. Dora says that they are so punk rock and absolutely brilliant. We bought her two tickets for her birthday and she decided to bring Charlie."
"I can attest to that," Remus said with a smile. "I'm a fan of their music myself. They just finished school only two or three years ago."
Sirius grinned. "Sounds fun."
While Sirius was chatting in the gazebo, Harry and his team were trying to figure out how they could win. They were already one barrel down, but they were all equally as covered in different flavours of jelly. He grinned widely as he hit Ron in the shoulder, exploding orange jelly over him. They were all laughing as they chased and tossed balloons at each other.
George grinned broadly when he picked up a pink balloon. "Last one, Potter!" He aimed carefully and threw it at Fred, but instead of popping it simply bounced off of his head.
Fred let out a war cry and he and George wrestled over the last balloon, laughing when it exploded between them.
Sirius made his way back out across the garden, grinning. "Harry's team wins! Nice one, George!" He gestured for the kids to move around him. "Winners, you each get a gift card to Zonko's Joke Shop in Hogsmeade." They all cheered and Sirius grinned. "Neville, your team still did great so you guys each get a small box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Now let's clean you lot off."
Sirius muttered 'aguamenti' and jets of water streamed from his wand which he used to carefully rid them all of jelly. Once they were all jelly free and properly drenched (and refreshed, as it was quite muggy outside), he dried them off and sent them into the house to change back into their clothes.
As the kids made their way inside to change, he quickly cleaned up the garden with a few spells, removing all of the evidence of the intense balloon fight and he set up the white tee shirts on the clothesline.
When everyone was back outside, he handed each kid a spray bottle and set of different coloured dyes and instructed them to spray their shirts any way they wanted to. As they got creative and decorated their shirts in the bright colours, spraying sharply or intensely, Sirius merely supervised their work.
Ginny finished first, her shirt completely covered in bright blue, green, and a hot pink that seemed to zig-zag through the shirt. Sirius placed a drying charm on it and a quick cleansing charm and then handed it back to Ginny who eagerly pulled it over her head.
Once they were all wearing their newly made tye-dye tee shirts, Sirius started a game of tunnel tag by declaring Percy, Luna, and Ron to be it. He counted to twenty to give them time to spread out and then the game began.
He moved back to the patio, smiling when Ted came to stand next to him. "What's the difference between tunnel tag and regular tag?"
"Tunnel tag is way more fun," Sirius told him with a grin. "The game ends when everyone is frozen. If you get tagged, you have to freeze in some sort of stance that makes your body a tunnel. The only way you can get free is for someone to crawl beneath you like they are moving through a tunnel such as between your legs or under your stomach, as Ginny is currently arching over onto her hands, see how Harry crawls under her? Now she's free."
Ted grinned. "They are definitely having a great time. Good job, Sirius."
Sirius grinned back. "Thanks."
Keeping one eye on the game of tag, Sirius served the vegetable trays and fruit trays out. He smiled when Dumbledore told a joke about a mermaid ordering a drink in a bar. It was nice to have adult company over for once, Sirius thought, and it was nice to just listen to them chat and have a good time. When Ted busted into laughter after hearing Dumbledore's joke, he smiled.
Everyone was enjoying themselves.
Sirius watched as Harry, overcome with a serious case of the giggles, collapsed on the ground after being tagged and made himself into a tunnel. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, even Charlie and Tonks, who were fourteen.
By the time five o'clock hit, the tunnel tag game had winded down and Sirius urged them to head onto the patio and partake in some fruits and vegetables. As they munched for fifteen minutes, Sirius put Queen on the wireless record player, smiling when Harry started to dance a little and his friends soon joined in as the band sang 'We Will Rock You.'
When they were done their snacks, Sirius led them over to the table he had set up on the far side of the patio.
"Now, this next game is a taste test," he said with a grin. "The point of the game is to roll the two dice and whatever number the dice lands on is the mystery food that you have to try. So, if you roll a six and a three, then you have to mix a spoonful of number six and a spoonful of number three together — and eat it."
"Eww," the kids said, making him grin in appreciation.
It was the exact reaction he had been hoping for.
"Exactly. And if you don't want to try it, then you reach into this bowl, and you have to do whatever the paper says to do. Deal?"
Harry's grin was wide enough to split his face. "Deal!"
He took the dice from Sirius and rolled a four and a two, which according to the list meant that he had to eat pickle juice and ketchup together. Everyone made the appropriate sounds of disgust as he mixed them together and took a bite.
"Not bad," he said as he swallowed.
"That's revolting!" Percy exclaimed, arms crossed in front of him.
"You can go next, Percy," Harry said with a grin, drinking fruit punch from his glass to wash down the taste.
Percy was supposed to mix salsa with soy sauce, but he refused so he reached into the bowl for a suggestion. "Jump on one leg for twenty seconds with both hands on your head."
Percy sighed, but did what he had to as everyone laughed.
Next up was Ron. He had to mix salsa and ice cream and he went for it. Grimacing as he swallowed. Luna voted against mustard and sour cream and had to sing the alphabet backwards, which she was surprisingly quite good at. Fred ate the sour cream and salsa mixture quite pleased with his perfectly normal spoonful. George attempted to eat the cottage cheese and ketchup, but decided against it last minute and had to dance like a crazy elf for two minutes. Ginny mixed icing sugar with mayo proudly. Charlie said no to pickle juice and ice cream and had to stuff his face with crackers and then try to whistle. Tonks refused cottage cheese and hot sauce and had to do twenty cartwheels in a row (which she rocked at). Last was Neville and he lucked out and rolled two threes which meant he was lucky enough to eat two spoonfuls of ice cream with a smile.
As the game winded down and the kids were full of laughter, Sirius and Remus had kicked the grill into gear and were barbecuing sausages. Everyone sat down at the picnic table on the patio to eat happily.
Then it was time for gifts.
Harry was grinning widely, his crown and cape still on his body as Sirius made him sit on the top of the picnic table and blared 'Birthday' by The Beatles on repeat. Harry covered his red face as Sirius and Remus both sang loudly to him while they brought him gifts.
"They say it's your birthday! We're gonna have a good time. I'm glad it's your birthday. Happy birthday to you!"
Harry simply giggled and they both kissed his cheeks and began to hand him his gifts.
From the Weasleys, Harry received a super soft knit blanket in deep Gryffindor red with his name written in gold across it for his bed as well as a full box full of homemade sweets. From Luna, he received a toy Quidditch set that allowed you to play an entire game with the mini figures. From Neville, he got a Venus Fly Trap for him to plant and play with as well as a box of chocolate frogs. Tonks gave him a book on pranks that he was eager to put to use. From McGonagall, some new clothes for the fall and a toy broomstick — the bigger and better model for the growing child, as it advertised. From Hagrid, he got a framed photo of Hagrid and Lily when she was a first year at Hogwarts in front of the pumpkin patch that she had helped Hagrid with, along with a book on a history of dragons which Charlie looked at with interest. From Dumbledore, six new stories from magical fiction authors. And from Ted and Andromeda, some new clothes for the fall.
But his gift from Remus and Sirius was by far the best. They had each given him one full day to spend with either of them going wherever he wanted and doing whatever he wanted to do. He couldn't have been happier.
Harry grinned widely as everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' and Sirius presented him a large chocolate cake with rainbow sprinkles in the shape of Marauder (Andromeda's baking expertise) and served with Neapolitan ice cream. Once cake and ice cream were eaten and gifts were put away, Harry said goodbye to Ted, Andromeda, Hagrid, Dumbledore, and McGonagall as Remus set up the last big game for the night.
Remus handed the kids (all minus Charlie and Tonks who had left with Ted and Andromeda to go to the Weird Sisters Concert) the cardboard, wooden boxes, and duct tape needed for the next game.
"All right, you lot have fifteen minutes to build two forts. If you were on Harry's team last time, this time you're on Neville's team and vice versa. Clear? Build forts." Remus instructed.
Sirius grinned as he watched them get to work. "I think that they're going to like this game."
"It was a good idea, Sirius. They're all having a great time. You did great at keeping them entertained."
"I'm glad," Sirius said as he flicked his wand and all of the leftovers and dirty dishes settled into the kitchen for him to take care of later.
Once they had the forts built, Sirius presented each of them with three cans of silly string. "All right, time to go to war."
The kids laughed as they attacked each other with the different coloured silly string, hiding behind their forts and shooting each other freely and covering each other in string until all of the cans were empty.
Sirius instructed them to head upstairs and change into their pyjamas and to bring all of the sleeping stuff downstairs. It took twenty minutes for them all to shuffle down and Sirius and Remus led them into the tree house where they set up their beds. Harry took the hammock, Fred and George called dibs on the bunk beds. Ginny and Luna decided to snuggle together next to the hammock as Sirius and Remus helped them all make up their beds. Percy and Neville each had a cot to sleep on. When everything was set up, Sirius urged them all to come back outside where Remus had started a bonfire.
They all sat around the fire, Sirius showed them how to make S'mores and octopus sausages as Remus told them a ghost story.
"One day, a teenage boy and girl went out on a date together. The reports had been on the wireless all day about the madman who had escaped from St Mungo's Hospital. They were calling him the Hook Man since he had lost his right arm and had it replaced with a hook. He was a killer, and everyone in the region was warned to keep watch and report anything suspicious. But the girl was too excited about her date and could hardly be bothered about an escaped convict," Remus said, as the kids all watched him in the growing darkness, the flames the only light other than the moon."
Remus' face was illuminated by the flames as he continued. "The boy picked the girl up and they went out dancing and had a great time. They were snogging under a bridge, listening to the wireless that the boy had playing soft music from his back pocket. The music was interrupted to warn the public once more about the scary Hook Man on the loose. This time, it caught the girl's attention, and she pulled away from the boy, glancing around nervously at the darkness under the bridge. 'Maybe we should get out of here,' she told him. 'That Hook Man sounds dangerous.' The boy kissed her. 'Don't worry, love, we'll be fine,' he told her, trying to get in another kiss. She pushed him away again. 'No, really! We're all alone out here. I'm scared,' she admitted. They argued for a moment. Then a huge thud seemed to pound over the tunnel. She gave a shriek and said, 'Let's go!' The boy rolled his eyes and told her that it was just a car crossing the bridge. But then there was another thud and a loud screech."
Sirius made a thudding and screeching noise in the background and had all of the kids jumping.
Remus smirked at his friend as he spoke. "The girl insisted they leave at once. The boy agreed and told her he'd go grab his broomstick where he left it around the corner of the bridge. The moment he was out of sight, there was another loud thud."
Sirius made a thudding sound.
"The girl called out for the boy, but there was no answer. Then she heard a scream. She ran, terrified that the Hook Man would find her, all of her worst fears culminated into that moment and then arms grabbed her from behind and she screamed again."
Sirius took this opportunity to grab Percy's arm from behind, making the boy shriek in fear and causing everyone else to scream as well.
"But it was only the boy," Remus continued, ignoring Sirius' scare tactics. "He held her close and reassured her that everything was fine. He held his broom out to her to show her that it was fine, too. They climbed onto his broom and flew home, but she couldn't stop looking behind her. She felt like they weren't really alone. They got to her house and she climbed off of his broomstick and turned to kiss him goodnight, but a bloody hook was dangling off of the edge of the broomstick!"
Ginny looked pale and she moved closer to Fred and George, who she was sitting between.
Percy scoffed, rather embarrassed to have let himself show his fear.
"Where did the bloody hook come from?" Fred demanded, his arm draping around his sister who had crawled into his lap by now.
Sirius grinned. "That's just it, no-one knows."
There was nervous laughter now as they ate more of the octopus shaped sausages and S'Mores and then Sirius and Remus hurdled everyone into the treehouse for bed. Sirius tucked everyone in, kissing Harry goodnight, smiling when Marauder lied down beneath his boy's hammock. He set the fairy lights up on the ceiling.
"Goodnight everyone. If you need anything, don't be afraid to come find me or Remus. Otherwise, we'll see you in the morning."
There was some giggling and talking heard from the treehouse, but within forty-five minutes, every child was fast asleep.
Sirius grinned at Remus as they cleaned up the kitchen. "I feel like I could sleep for a week."
Remus laughed. "Me too. Great party though." He yawned as he finished up the last of the dishes. "Are you setting an alarm for the morning?"
Sirius nodded. "Yeah, I want to be up by seven. Who knows what time the kids will start waking up. Then I guess we'll start breakfast."
Remus nodded. "Sounds good. I'll be crashing in the guest room until then."
Sirius grinned. "Understood. 'Night, Moony."
"Goodnight," Remus said as he headed upstairs.
Sirius headed outside to check on the sleeping kids once more before he made his way up to his bed. He heard footsteps in the house three times as kids made their way to the toilet, but otherwise he slept well.
He had breakfast cooking when Neville came into the kitchen first just before eight in the morning.
"Good morning, Nev," he said with a grin and ushered for the boy to take a seat. "Did you sleep all right?"
Neville nodded. "Mostly. I dreamed about the Hook Man."
Sirius grinned widely. "Good, that means we scared you. Don't worry, Nev, the Hook Man is just a story, he's not real."
"Good," Neville said, sounding rather relieved as Fred and George came into the kitchen next.
Sirius put Led Zeppelin III on the wireless as he cooked and listened to the kids chat. Within thirty minutes, all eight of them were in the kitchen eating scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, and chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup as Remus refilled their cups with chocolate milk.
After breakfast, they all got dressed and packed up all of their stuff; double and triple checking that no one had forgotten anything (Neville forgot his socks, then his sleeping bag, and then his shoes). Sirius urged them to go outside and play in the treehouse until their parents arrived to pick them up. Mrs Longbottom arrived first and then Mrs Lovegood. Mrs Weasley came in just after they left and smiled warmly at Sirius.
"How was the party?"
"I feel like I was run over by a herd of rampaging hippogriffs, but other than that it was dandy."
She chuckled as she sent her children through the Floo with their belongings one after the other. "That means that you did it right."
She wished Harry a happy birthday and disappeared after Ginny in the Floo.
Sirius plopped himself onto the chesterfield, stretching out and closing his eyes. He grunted when Harry climbed on top of him. "I need to sleep for a week. Maybe two."
Harry laughed and hugged him tightly, snuggling into his warm embrace. "It was the best birthday ever!"
Sirius kissed his forehead and smiled. "Good. Now, how about you and me have a little nap?"
When Harry only grinned at him, he sighed.
The nap definitely wasn't going to happen.
End Author's Notes:
Part I: Chapters 1-49 — Finding His Dads (1985-1986)
Part II: Chapters 50-Present — Growing Up With His Dads (1987-)
Thanks for reading and please review!