-oOo-
As Halloween approached Harry convinced Remus and Sirius to take him trick or treating. They went for a Star Wars theme. Of course Remus was Chewbacca, Sirius was Darth Vader, and Harry was Yoda. It took some time to convince Neville to go with them but he finally agreed. They kept it simple with a Jedi outfit. Andromeda went along too but didn't want to dress up just to take pictures.
It was quite a bit of fun, especially it being everyone's first time. Neville was simply fascinated with all the different costumes they came across. He was especially amused when he saw a few girls dressed up as the muggle version of witches. Andromeda was a bit insulted though.
They went from house to house stocking up on candies. They went well into the evening, Sirius and Remus made sure that Harry got enough candy for the three of them.
Andromeda made sure to take a good amount of pictures throughout the night. Harry was happy to get more pictures for his room and to spend this time with everyone. They had been focusing the last couple of months on work for the contact shop and were glad to take a break right before the grand opening.
They had even spent the morning carving pumpkins. They put a preservation charm on them and a bluebell flame inside. Their house wasn't visible to muggles so there was no reason to put them outside. They decorated the inside good anyways.
They had planned to carve pumpkins, go trick or treating, and then come back and watch a scary movie while eating some candies. Neville was going to sleep over as well.
At one point they had gone into a haunted house with Remus leading the way. Neville was in between Remus and Sirius followed by Harry and then Andromeda. Harry could tell that Andromeda was a bit wary so he made sure to stay near her. Neville was the same way and Harry noticed Remus stayed near him, Sirius was enjoying the experience.
At one point a dummy dressed as a Michael Meyers popped out holding a fake knife, Neville screamed so loud that it scared Sirius back into Harry. He was shoved hard and nearly fell, luckily he was caught by Andromeda who was trying hard to hold back her amusement at seeing Neville and Sirius on the ground, especially after Sirius's girlish scream. Harry squeezed her hand in thanks and smirked at Sirius making sure he understood that this was going to be brought up again.
Before they got off the floor Andromeda made sure to snap another picture.
-oOo-
The shop opened on November 15th, they wanted to make sure and open before Christmas. It was named Clarifying Images. They were hoping for good business especially before the holidays but quickly learned that it was not the case.
As Christmas neared they realized that nobody knew what contacts where. It was going to take some time until word got around on exactly what they were selling. Luckily they had the money to allow this to happen.
The arcade though was doing well. They figured that at least for the summer they were going to need to hire some more help. Harry recommended they hire Hogwarts students that needed a summer job.
Christmas was spent skiing in Switzerland. The three of them took a vacation for two weeks, spending both Christmas and New Year's there. They had a very good time, it was a small Christmas but one they would remember.
-oOo-
After the holidays he got a response from Garuk with a list of homes and decided on one in Scotland.
When he saw the schematics he realized it was perfect. It was big enough and with a good sized basement that could be prepared for Remus. It was close enough to the wizarding world where he could still be involved if he needed to but no one knew it was there or had any idea that it was available to him.
Right away he started to figure out which wards he wanted for it and asked Garuk to find him a house elf to start cleaning the place up.
Also he had made sure to read the Hogwarts rulebook. He would probably read a few sections over again just so that he was more familiar with it but already knew of some rules that would apply to situations from last time. At least he knew there was no way he could be denied the choice of looking at alternatives teachers. Especially as a lord who believed he wasn't getting the proper education with a certain professor.
Harry had gotten into the habit of writing both Cedric and Tonks at Hogwarts. They wrote pretty regularly and Harry made sure to let them know what was going on. He mentioned how the contact shop was doing and how they were planning on hiring a few Hogwarts students during the summer to help out. Tonks said she wanted one of the positions, Harry of course knew better than to say no. They agreed that she would let the students know and they would pick out two more students on one of the Hogsmeade trips.
-oOo-
For Valentine's Day he made sure to send some chocolate to McGonagall, Andromeda, and Tonks. For McGonagall and Tonks he sent a single rose and for Andromeda he added a bouquet of stargazer lilies. Sirius was amused that he seemed to pick up a girl in a year even if it was Tonks.
Harry laughed, he was close to Tonks and wanted her to know he missed her. She really treated him as a kid brother and watched out for him at least in her own way. It was also an ongoing game to tease each other, she was helping him be less awkward around girls.
-oOo-
By June Harry had about was almost done with his animagus transformation. He only had his head left to transform and he was a bit wary to try it. He was pushing himself though because he wanted to get it done by his birthday. It wasn't looking like it would happen though, he was still hopeful but the end of summer seemed more realistic.
The safe house was warded, both the perimeter around the house and the basement, Harry also had the master bedroom warded so that only he could get in. There was a book in his room that only he had control of. Only names in the book where the ones allowed entry into the house. A name was added and then he would have to place his ring on top of it to make it official. Because of this his room had to be protected more than any other.
He had written to Slughorn to start feeling him out as a potion's tutor if the need arose. Sure there was still a little over a year to go but he wanted this to be out of the way already. If he could get a yes it would be one less thing to worry about later.
There was also the fund raising invitation he had gotten from the ministry. Apparently the ministry was having a dinner to help raise money for St. Mungo's. He didn't want to go but knew that if he didn't Sirius wouldn't go either and that would look bad. Unfortunately this was being organized by Narcissa Malfoy so he assumed what kind of families would be there. Neville explained though that since it was a fundraising event it would be all the richer families regardless of whether they were light, dark, or neutral.
They had picked which students to hire for the arcade, Sirius and Remus thought it amusing to let Harry make the decisions since it was only students and for the summer. Harry was happy when he saw that Charlie Weasley was one of the students interested. In the end it ended up being Charlie, Tonks, and another Hufflepuff hired. They would each work two days a week.
-oOo-
Within a few weeks of Charlie working he and Harry became friends, Charlie mentioned he had a few younger brothers and asked Harry if he wanted to meet them. Of course Harry said yes and they set up a day for Harry to go to dinner.
It was during this dinner that Harry learned something important. Neville was shy of course but he was very mature for his age. Neville understood that there was more to life than food and Quidditch.
When Harry flooed over that day he was automatically greeted by Charlie.
"Hey Harry, glad you could make it. Come on let me introduce you."
Harry looked to his left and saw the Weasley clan.
"Harry this is my mom and dad. Mom, Dad this is my boss Harry Potter." He said amused, grinning at the annoyed expression on Harry's face for being introduced as his boss.
Harry stepped up to greet them first shaking Mr. Weasley's hand.
"Hello Mr. Weasley, I'm delighted to meet you."
Moving on to Mrs. Weasley, he held her hand and kissed her knuckles.
"A pleasure to meet you as well Mrs. Weasley. You have a lovely home." He added with a warm smile, quite amused to see a red tint to her cheeks.
"Thank you for inviting me into your home." He took out the gifts he brought with him. He took out the gifts from his pockets a bit apprehensively and unshrunk them. To Mr. Weasley he handed a bottle of wine and a rubik's cube, to Mrs. Weasley he handed her a box of chocolates, he had two handkerchiefs embroidered with initials, one for Bill and the other for Charlie. To Percy he handed a gift certificate for the arcade. He knew it was tradition to bring gifts but wasn't sure if he overdid it but felt weird not bringing them because there was so many of them.
"I had heard you were quite fond of muggles and had a sense of humor, this is a toy that every muggle has heard of, it's strategic and hard to master it, it's quite addicting." He blushed. "At the time it seemed like a good gift idea."
He heard a few chuckles but luckily Mr. Weasley cut in.
"It's a wonderful gift Harry, not necessary but appreciated. You must show me how to operate it though." Harry smiled, grateful that the moment was over and nodded.
They made small talk while Mrs. Weasley set the table up for dinner. He also showed Mr. Weasley how to work the rubik's cube. Everyone else watched intrigued.
"When it came out it was quite the rave. Such a simple toy but it fascinated people around the world. It wasn't very common to see people who could solve it and people became a bit obsessed." Harry explained to the best of his knowledge and some guessing.
"Have you ever done it?" Asked Bill.
Harry chuckled, "No, I can get one side quite easily, two or three about eighty percent of the time, and I got four sides once. Remus is better at it than I am and Sirius doesn't have the patience."
Ron spoke up, "I bet I could do it, I should have gotten that instead of Dad."
Harry could only raise his eyebrows. He could tell that he didn't mean anything by it he just considered himself good at strategy, but it was highly inappropriate comment. Harry knew Ron so he didn't take offense but it could have been interpreted as being ungrateful for the gift he did get.
Charlie knew that Harry didn't care but Mr. Weasley didn't. Both he and Bill closed their eyes in exasperation. Before anything could be said he turned to Percy.
"If you're interested in getting some contacts let me know." He said with a smile. "I love not wearing glasses anymore." Then he got an idea. "Do you want to try them out?"
Percy looked interested, "Do you have some on you?"
Harry chuckled, "No I don't, but if I may borrow some parchment and a quill I can get some."
When they handed him these things he wrote a quick letter to Remus asking him for two pairs of contacts and some solution, once done with that he called for Hedwig through their bond. When she arrived he attached the note and said to her.
"Hedwig can you take this to Remus and wait for him to give you a package to bring back to me." Hedwig sent him a feeling of acceptance and took off.
After finishing he realized that the family was staring at him.
"You have" said Fred
"A phoenix?" finished George.
He smiled at the twins, "She was a gift from Hagrid on my ninth birthday. He gave me an egg thinking it was an owl egg. When she hatched we discovered she was a phoenix. She honored me by deciding to remain and bond with me."
"Wow" they both said.
Before anyone could ask any more questions Hedwig came back with the package and perched herself behind Harry. Harry opened the package and pulled out the contacts and solution.
"These are our basic models. We have a few extra features you can add and we're hoping to come up with some more. They will adjust to your eyes automatically, will stay lubricated, and wont break. The solution is only needed if you take them off." He looked at Percy. "Would you like me to show you how?"
He looked at his parents who nodded with a curious expression. Harry took off one of his, dropped it into the solution then put it back in his eyes slowly so that Percy could see what he did.
"Once you have it on close your eyes, it takes about two seconds to adjust."
Percy put them on, allowed them to adjust and looked around amazed.
"Father, these are amazing" Harry smiled.
"Keep both pairs, one for you and one for your father."
Mr. Weasley started to protest but Harry cut him off by putting up his hands.
"I never said for free Mr. Weasley" He looked at Charlie with a smirk to show that it was mostly a joke. Mr. Weasley looked a bit wary but curious to hear what he was going to say.
"From Percy I just want him to mention my shop and explain the contacts when someone asks him why he's not wearing glasses anymore." He shrugged. "Business is not going as well as we had hoped because wizards don't know what contacts are. We were going to pick a few students from Hogwarts give them contacts for free as long as they helped spread the word. As long as you're ok with this we've got a deal."
Percy nodded excitedly.
Harry then looked at the twins, "For your dad all I need is your word that I won't be either of you gentlemen's prank victim." He smirked and then chuckled at their indignant expression. He leaned in and whispered to them. "I've heard of you two."
Then putting on his most innocent expression trying to avoid Mrs. Weasley's eyes narrowing at him in suspicion. It didn't help that Tonks had warned Charlie of this face and he chuckled at seeing it.
"It's up to you two if your father get these contacts. He works hard for his family, never asking for anything in return I wonder if two of his sons would do this for him."
They knew they were being played, by the expressions on everyone's face they knew it too. The twins knew that they had to say yes without looking bad in front of their family.
"Allright we promise" they said dejectedly.
"Wonderful doing business with you boys." He said with a bit of a clap.
The rest of the family laughed at the twins, or at Harry he wasn't sure, as they made their way to the table.
When they were ready to eat Harry made sure to wait until Mr. Weasly started eating before he took a bite. He noticed that both Bill and Mrs. Weasley were watching him but said nothing of it. Throughout the meal he made sure to feed Hedwig a few bites, made small talk, and was absolutely repulsed by Ron's eating habits. It wasn't as if it was a Weasley thing since no one else ate that way. It was hard for him not to notice these things since he had been learning what not to do, especially sitting right across from him. He would never look down or judge someone for it but there was no way he didn't notice these things now. I guess this was a disadvantage of learning to do things a certain way.
"So do you remember anything from that night Harry?" Asked Ron.
"Ronald, don't ask such a thing!" Mrs. Weasley said scandalized.
Harry just smiled at Mrs. Weasley, "It's ok Mrs. Weasley, I'm not offended." Turning to Ron he continued. "I remember some images but they're mostly of my parent's last moments which I would rather not discuss." He made sure to say it with no malice just a kind smile.
An uncomfortable silence went through the room. Harry mentally chastised himself for not simply saying no. Hedwig trilled a soothing note that immediately dissolved the tension in the room. She sent him a feeling of reproach for berating himself.
"So have you guys been to the arcade?" Harry said hoping that now the conversation could keep flowing, luckily it did. They had all been at least once, Mr. Weasley especially excited about the games. Harry smiled at him, he really did miss them.
Once they were done with the meal Harry pulled the twins to the side to make sure they took no offense. He explained that his godfather was a bit of a prankster himself so he learned to stop him in his tracks early on to make sure you're not constantly on guard. He also offered to let them borrow the Marauder's Map until he arrived to Hogwarts.
They seemed particularly excited at this and laughed at Harry's reasoning. Harry promised to have them over at his house and they had free reign against his guardians if they wished it, in fact he encouraged it. They readily agreed and Harry could tell this was the beginning of a friendship.
When he turned to the rest of the room he saw Ron glaring at either him or the twins. Right then there he understood that Ron was jealous either because he was talking to the twins or because the twins were talking to him not Ron. Already they had gotten off on the wrong foot. He was going to try and salvage this somewhat but this reinforced his decision on his friendship with Ron. If he was jealous of his own brothers he could imagine other students.
The rest of the visit was showing him around the house and talking with everyone there. Harry showed them some more of the cube and managed to do two sides. Ron tried and after a few minutes managed one side. Harry knew that if there was anyone who could it would be Ron. Ginny never really talked. He did make plans with the twins though, to have them over or take them out somewhere.
-oOo-
When they went to the Ministry for the fundraiser they realized it was a simple dinner with a few people speaking on behalf of St. Mungo's. Sure there were a lot of upper class people that you had to behave for, but ultimately it was a rather simple event.
He managed to meet a few more people who worked in the ministry and a few parents who had students going to Hogwarts around the same time as Harry. He was introduced to Amelia Bones through Andromeda. He also met Mr and Mrs. Greengrass and was asked if it would be agreeable for her to write him. It was obviously an attempt for him to get to know their daughter thinking she would be a good match for him. He wasn't interested in marriage contracts but was hoping to at least be friends.
Harry asked Madame Bones if he thought her niece would want to go celebrate his birthday with them. He had convinced Sirius to take them to an amusement park. It seemed like it would be a good crowd, Sirius, Remus, Andromeda, Ted, Charlie, Tonks, Cedric, Fred, George, Susan, Neville, and him. Remus added in that it would be nice if he invited the other Weasley children as well. He said yes but was wary of Ginny, she was to shy right now and a bit of a groupie. Also he wasn't sure if the four adults could handle eleven kids. Oh wells they're the ones who suggested it.
Of course he mingled with the Minister, the Malfoys, and other families but they were mostly just greetings. It was a bit awkward when Andromeda and Narcissa said hello but they kept it civil. All in all it was a good evening.
-oOo-
After sending out invitations for the trip they got a response back from everyone. Tonks of course was going since her mom was too, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, said yes but apparently Mrs. Weasley didn't allow Ginny to go. Cedric and Neville were in as well. Susan also accepted so it rounded to an even ten everyone having a partner.
When Harry got word from Charlie that Ginny was crying because she wanted to go too Sirius went over and talked Mrs. Weasley into letting her go. Luckily at the same time that this happened Susan wrote Harry to ask if she could bring someone. That made it even again.
Sirius had gotten an international portkey for the states. Harry had wanted to go an amusement park with roller coasters and Six Flags was what they agreed on. They would land in the nearest wizarding town and take a couple of cabs from there.
They let everyone know that the time difference would make them off and to do their best to adjust their sleeping schedule accordingly. Pepper up potion was brought in case it became necessary. It looked like a mad house with so many kids there.
Surprisingly enough Susan ended up bringing Lavender Brown, Harry had no idea that those two were even friends. He wondered if they were always friends or if they fell apart during Hogwarts.
The day was very fun, in the beginning some of the kids were wary of getting on, Andromeda refused point blank. They started off with a bit of the smaller ones and got everyone warmed up.
Harry ended up partnered up with either Tonks, Neville, or Cedric. The four of them would alternate between each other. Charlie stuck with Percy who was a lot more relaxed than Harry remembered him. Fred and George of course stuck together. That left Ron with Ginny he didn't seem to happy about it but that's the way it ended up, especially since he wasn't too friendly to Neville and Harry refused to make Neville feel left out. Susan was an easygoing girl who Harry could definitely see himself friends with, Lavender was simply a younger version of the girl he remembered.
Ron and Percy both got a bit queasy after a ride but luckily neither of them threw up, Percy was a close call though. Everyone seemed to adapt well to the muggle world or at least took everything in stride. The day went well and even though they got home early in the morning London time everyone was ready to sleep like logs. It took all their efforts to get everyone home before they fell asleep.
-oOo-
It was probably mid September when he finally managed his transformation. For the last six months he had been working on convincing Remus and Sirius to let him join them on the full moon. After some long discussions it was Moony, Padfood, and a newly named Shadow for the full moon.
The panther cub was immediately accepted by Moony, it probably helped that he was still not fully grown when he joined. He didn't know how it would be if he would have been a full grown panther joining two dog breeds.
Along with the animagus transformation he was told that he gained a more graceful step. Remus told him that his steps became more silent and Andromeda told him that recently he glided a bit when dancing with her. It didn't help that now that he had the means he liked to keep himself well dressed and groomed. After going one lifetime in shabby clothes he liked his clothes to fit well and look nice. For a while he worried that he would become spoiled but he knew what it was like have money for longer than he knew he had it so he knew he wouldn't forget what it was like and appreciate what he had.
It was right before Halloween when Sirius decided it was time for an adventure.
It was early in the morning, the sun had probably just risen when Harry felt something shake him awake.
"Hedwig it's to early girl," He assumed it was her but when she heard him give an annoyed trill from his other side he opened his eyes.
"Merlin Sirius what are you doing up so early?" when he turned over trying to ignore Sirius he felt the blankets come off of him.
With a cheesy grin Sirius said, "I wanted to see if you wanted to go exploring as Shadow with me"
Once he saw he had Harry's interest he continued, "If Hedwig would be kind of enough to take us to Hogwarts," Hedwig looked dubious but waiting for Sirius to continue, "I could show you the whole school, plus some of our hiding spots." He stopped and looked around as if he was checking that no one else was around. Then he pulled a parchment with a drawing of Padfoot chasing aroundMcGonagall's animagus and finally catching her tail and flinging her into the lake.
Harry couldn't stop the grin that came, now finally awake. "If we can manage to put this on her desk without getting caught I'll convince Andromeda to let you pierce your ear now or to increase your arcade room time."
Harry was already up and started changing as soon as Sirius finished his sentence, then he stopped.
"Would you mind taking us Hedwig?" He received a picture of McGonagall yelling at a cowed Sirius and Harry with a feeling of amusement.
Harry laughed out loud when he realized that she would take them if only to see them get in trouble.
After that she took them straight to the Shrieking Shack. From there they turned to their animagus forms and took off for the castle. They took one of the secret passageways and ended up on the third floor. They took some time to just run around and chase each other. Making sure to exaggerate being sneaky. It was close once when they walked by a pair of prefects, they figured they should go to the Transfiguration class before more people woke.
When they got outside of the class Sirius transformed and unlocked the door. They got in and were about to stick the picture on the board when a voice behind them cut in,
"Excuse me gentlemen, may I ask what you are doing in my classroom?"
Apparently it didn't even cross their minds that she might have warded her door. They looked at each other while each were thinking on ways to get out of it. When they turned they saw a very annoyed transfiguration teacher.
"Minnie! Fancy seeing you here." Harry said cheekily.
"Accio Parchment" before he could stop it the parchment came out of Harry's hands.
Sirius jumped towards her to try and cover the drawing, quicker than they thought possible she put him in a body bind. Harry couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him. He was so going to show this to Remus later.
She looked down at the drawing and became noticeably irritated, "What's the meaning of this Mr. Potter?"
He looked over at Sirius with an evil eye before he answered, "Well Sirius said that he wanted me to prove that I was willing to pull a prank on you. I didn't want to, least of all to you Minnie but he told me I would get my piercing early if I did. Well I just couldn't resist. I really am sorry Minnie, I should've said no." For good measure he added in, "I look up to him and I wanted him to be proud of me"
Her eyes softened and then hardened turning back to Sirius. When she did he made sure to make eye contact with Sirius and gave him a smirk which he quickly hid when McGonagall turned back to him.
She took off the bind of Sirius and before he could say a word she went off on him,
"I can't believe you Sirius, that you would encourage such behavior, it's bad enough that he has taken on some of your mannerisms. I thought you knew better than that Mr. Black. Make sure this never happens again."
Sirius nodded and pulled Harry out of the classroom. As soon as they stepped out they transformed, Harry looked back to see a shocked McGonagall. Well apparently this was one thing that wasn't going to remain a secret.
When they got home Remus was waiting for them. Harry went to go get his pensieve to show Remus. In the meantime Sirius was both irritated and amused. Irritated at the fact that a ten year old pulled one over on him, amused that it was his godson who did, he couldn't help but laugh. Later they had showed both Tonks and Neville, they both teased Sirius merciless about it.
-oOo-
Magically Harry was very happy with what he achieved. He was sure that he could keep an experienced legillimens out of his mind and was able to keep his "living room" open for about thirty seconds continuously if someone was looking. He was happy that he would be able to keep his occlumency hidden for a bit longer. His wandless magic thrived, he studied up on all the spells learned through Hogwarts. Now whenever he read something new he would learn it without a wand first then with it. This would help keep him interested since he figured school was going to be a bit boring.
Talking about school he had finally decided to with Ravenclaw. There were a few pros and cons with this but ultimately figured this was his best bet. In Ravenclaw he could excel and it wouldn't be questioned as much as if he was in another house. He wasn't going to hide that he was advanced he figured he would be top of the class for DADA, Transfigurations, and Charms. That left Herbology for Neville to excel in, and Astronomy, History of Magic, and Potions for Hermoine. He was hoping she wouldn't be resentful about it. Hermoine was the best and didn't like to be anything but.
He had already talked to Slughorn and made an arrangement to have him on standby for the first term to judge how the potions teacher behaved. He was told that Snape might have a prejudice against Harry because of his father and Sirius. Sirius completely backed this story so it wasn't hard to make it legit. Slughorn jumped at the opportunity to be the personal tutor to the boy who lived. Granted Harry told him that if the situation came up it might be a group of students but Slughorn paid it no mind.