Over the course of the next two weeks, Sirius had invited Remus over a total of twenty-seven times. They had been working together to get Harry more outspoken, but it wasn't turning out so well. They had had very long conversations on the most ridiculous thing like how they liked their eggs done. One particular conversation on pie had lasted a total of three hours and forty-two minutes. They would have these conversations so that they could get Harry to voice his opinion, but so far, he only listened, speaking when Sirius or Remus addressed him directly.
Late one night after Harry had gone to sleep, Sirius and Remus sat at Sirius' kitchen table discussing what to do about Harry's shyness.
'I think,' Remus began, 'that Harry needs a friend. That way he might start feeling more comfortable around people.'
'But he already has friends. You and me.' Sirius protested.
'Yes, that's true, but maybe he needs friends his own age.'
'There's no one his age around here.'
'Isn't there a boy the exact same age as him down the street?'
'Yes, but I don't like him.' Sirius said stubbornly. Remus looked at him.
'Look,' Sirius began, 'he's a muggle. What if Harry accidentally told him something? Or, once Harry leaves for Hogwarts, we're going to have to tell the kid all kinds of lies.' Remus sat thinking for a few moments.
'All right then, but we have to get him over this shyness stage soon. He can't go around like this forever.' Sirius nodded and the two sat thinking for the next few minutes. After quite a while Remus said,
'I think the best thing to do is always ask him his opinion; include him in our conversations and that type of stuff.' Sirius agreed and Remus left to let Sirius get to bed.
Over the course of the next week, Sirius and Remus put their plan into action, and it was working. The two would randomly ask Harry if he liked their outfit, or ask him what he wanted for dinner or what he wanted to do for the day. Over time, Harry started to ask to do something by himself, without anyone asking him. Sirius was so overjoyed when this occurred, that he took Harry to Diagon Ally and bought him a half a dozen new toys. This confused Harry, but he accepted it without question.
Before Sirius knew it, it was July twenty-ninth, two days before Harry's birthday. Sirius was planning a surprise party for Harry, but was having trouble figuring out what to get him. Remus of course, had already gotten Harry a gift, but refused to tell Sirius what it was. As Sirius was watching Harry play, it came to him. He ran to the fireplace and flooed Remus quickly asking him to come and watch Harry for an hour. As soon as Remus stepped out of the fireplace, Sirius ran out the front door and turned on the spot, apparating to some unknown location.
An hour later, Sirius apparated to the front of his house, Harry's present behind his back. He peered into the house and quickly stepped in when he saw no one was there. He sprinted up the stairs to his room where he put Harry's present in his closet. He then went down the stairs to find Harry and Remus sitting on the grass out in the back playing with magical blocks. He smiled when he saw that Harry was saying something to Remus and Remus smiled. Sirius opened the door and stepped outside, sitting on the grass beside Harry, and he started to build a tower with the blocks, talking with his two best friends in the world.
The day of Harry's birthday dawned bright and early. As Sirius looked out his bedroom window, he was glad to see that the day would most likely be a nice, sunny, warm one. He quickly went to the bathroom and had a shower in record-breaking time, then proceeded down the stairs to decorate the whole living room in red and gold streamers and balloons. Not even a minute after Sirius finished decorating, he heard movement upstairs. Sirius sat on the couch waiting for impatiently for Remus to arrive. Remus arrived out of breath, right when Sirius stood up, having decided he was going to floo him.
'Sorry I'm late Padfoot.'
'Don't worry 'bout it,' Sirius said dismissing it with a wave of his hand.
'Wow, the place looks great,' Remus said looking around the room. 'I didn't know you could do this yourself. Is Harry up yet?' he asked quickly at the glare Sirius was sending him.
'Yeah, I heard him moving around up there. He should be down soon.'
Ten minutes later, the two friends heard footsteps coming down the stairs. They settled themselves down on the stairs and waited for Harry to enter, each with a huge grin on their faces. Sirius had wanted to jump out from behind a couch to surprise Harry even more, but Remus had dismissed that idea saying that with Harry's past, he might not take it well. Finally the two adults could see the shadow of the small boy. When he stepped into the living room, his mouth dropped. He looked at Sirius and then Remus, frozen in place.
'Surprise!' Sirius shouted happily.
'Is this for me? My birthday?' Harry questioned.
'Of course. Who or what else would it be for?' Remus questioned. Sirius could hear the amusement in his voice. Sirius went and picked Harry up, putting him on his shoulders, and walked into the kitchen, Remus right behind them. After the trio finished eating, Remus handed Harry his present. Harry looked at it in awe which made Sirius chuckle.
'Open it kiddo!' Sirius said. Harry obeyed and carefully opened the gift. Sirius and Remus exchanged amused grins.
'Wow,' they heard Harry whisper. Sirius looked at the gift Harry had received from Remus and felt his eyes go wide. Sitting in a cage beside Harry was a snowy owl with big amber eyes.
'Wow Moony,' Sirius started. 'That was a good idea.' Remus smiled.
'Thank you, Padfoot.'
'Mine next!' Sirius announced. He handed Harry a long slim package. Harry took it gently and carefully unwrapped it. Harry took the broom out and looked at it curiously.
'Why did you give me a broom Sirius?' Harry asked. Remus raised an eyebrow when he heard the boy ask something without being encouraged too, but smiled at the fact that Harry didn't know what it was.
'That Harry,' Sirius started quickly getting over the shock of being asked a question by Harry, 'is a broom stick, which you can fly.' Harry stared at him, awe written all over his face.
'You mean I can fly a broom?' Harry asked.
'Of course you can fly a broom! Your dad did. Your mom didn't care for flying all that much though. I can teach you if you like.' Sirius said smiling.
'You can? That'd be awesome! Can you teach me now?' Harry asked. Sirius and Remus shared a confused look at how much Harry was speaking his mind this day, but Sirius answered non the less.
'Of course I'll teach you, but not today. Okay?' Harry's face turned into a frown but he nodded all the same.
'Okay.' Sirius smiled and ruffled the boy's hair.
Later that night after the cake had been devoured and Remus had left, Sirius and Harry were sitting in the living room. Harry was on the floor, surrounded by books he had found in his room 'reading' them. Sirius was watching the boy in amusement. He knew for a fact that Harry, a now six-year-old boy could not read.
'Sirius?' Harry asked.
'What?' He said stupidly, shaking himself from his thoughts.
'What does this word say?' He asked pointing to a word in a textbook. Sirius leaned over and read the word.
'It says Hedwig. Why?'
'That's what I'm naming my owl. Hedwig.'
'Hedwig, eh? That's a nice name. Hey, Harry, how about Remus and I start to teach you how to read and write?' Harry looked at him for a moment before he said,
'Okay. When do we start?' The young boy now looked excited.
'Well, I'm going to have to floo Remus to ask him when he can, but it should be soon. I think we'll teach you to read before you learn to write though.' Harry nodded and went back to sitting on the floor with his books. Sirius stood up and went to fetch the Daily Prophet from the kitchen. He hadn't had a chance to read it earlier that day because of Harry's party.
An hour later, Sirius folded up his paper, and looked to Harry. He had to laugh at what he saw.
Harry was surrounded by piles of books, and was sleeping with his head on a particularly high pile consisting of five thick books. Sirius picked the boy up and walked up the stairs to his room. He pulled back the covers and placed the boy under them. He didn't have to change him as he had had the boy put him pajamas on earlier. Sirius then pulled the cover up, over his godson. He walked to the window to let Hedwig outside for a hunt, then walked to the door which he still left open incase Harry needed him and turned off the light.
'Goodnight and happy birthday, Harry.'