Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter.

Author's Note: Thank you so much for the awesome reviews! One of my most faithful reviewers said that they've been depressed lately because one of their favorite shows got cancelled! Man, I'm sorry to hear that, that SUCKS! Hopefully reading this will make you feel better.

On another note, yesterday I had to make a heartbreaking decision. I've just decided on another beloved character I'm going to have to kill later on in this story, at the end of sixth year. Yes, I do plan to have this fic go until Hary's final battle, at the end of his seventh year. I don't know if any of you guys feel the same way I do, but sometimes it's as hard to write a character's death as an author as it is for my readers to read about it, especially if the character is well-loved. I've written HP fanfic since 2008 and I've killed off many characters in my time, and it's even made me cry to do it in some fics! But I'll try to explain. This may sound strange to you, but sometimes I hear the characters talking inside my head, and they'll tell me to do what feels right. When I made the decision yesterday to kill off one, that particular character was okay with it. The only thing they told me was that they didn't want to go without a fight. Well, their wish is my command. But don't fret, you'll not have to worry about that until end of sixth year. I won't tell you who it is who's going to die of course, but every time you see a loved character on your screen, just cherish them!

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Please enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 9: Harry's Fourteenth Birthday

"Harry!" came a concerned voice, snapping Harry out of his dazed thoughts. It was Sirius, and following close behind was Remus.

"What happened, cub?" Remus asked. "Another nightmare?"

"We've got to notify Dumbledore, now!" Harry cried.

"Why? What's happened?"

"Azkaban ... Azkaban's been broken open! Barty Crouch Jr. found a way to break in, and he brought the deformed body of Voldemort with him. He also found some spell to get past the dementors. Everyone's free, including Peter Pettigrew! Barty Crouch Sr. is dead, his son killed him!"

Both Sirius and Remus's faces went white. "Dammit!" Sirius swore, running out of the room. Remus sat on the edge of Harry's bed, his thoughts going a mile a minute. "Are you sure that's what you saw, Harry?" he asked.

"Yes," said Harry. "I don't believe it!"

Sirius came back into the room after about two minutes, followed by Albus Dumbledore. It seemed as though the Headmaster was a light sleeper; it had taken him hardly any time to arrive. His face looked ashen, and he was extremely worried. "Harry, what is this I hear about Azkaban?" he asked.

"Azkaban's been broken open," Harry repeated. He then told Dumbledore all the details he remembered of the dream.

"Oh dear," said the Headmaster. "This, I was not expecting. You say Crouch Sr. is dead?"

"Yes," said Harry. "And the guards of the prison."

"I must notify other guards immediately." Dumbledore said somberly. "But you can be sure that I will not trace this back to you."

"Thank you, sir," said Sirius, and Dumbledore left. Sirius joined Remus in sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"I don't think I'll be able to get back to sleep now," said Harry honestly. "This changes everything, doesn't it?"

"It does," said Remus solemnly. ""I can't believe it."

"And that bastard Peter is free," Sirius snarled. "And Bellatrix Lestrange. My evil cousin. Did you know, Harry, I hated my family growing up?"

Harry was surprised. He never would have thought Sirius had an unhappy home life. "Yeah, that's right," Sirius said. "My parents were obsessed with their stupid pureblood mania. They believed that purebloods were better than any other wizards or Muggles, and they tried to get me to believe in the whole thing. My little brother, Regulus, believed it wholeheartedly."

"I didn't know you had a brother," said Harry.

"I did," replied Sirius. "He was two years younger than me. He's dead now; he was a Death Eater back in Voldemort's first reign of terror. He was given an assignment to kill someone, and he backed out of it. So he wasn't totally heartless," he said with a bitter edge to his voice. "He was so subserviant to our parents it made me sick, though."

"Calm down, Sirius," said Remus, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. But Sirius continued to rant; nothing could stop him now.

"It was horrible. He was killed by one of Voldemort's supporters. No, he wasn't important enough to be killed by Voldemort himself. My parents wanted me to be a good little boy and join the Death Eaters too, but I point-blank refused. I wasn't going to assist anyone in killing people. It's just wrong.

"My home was located at 12, Grimmauld Place. I hated that damn, bloody hell of a house. Every Black besides me has been in Slytherin, so my parents were appalled that I became a Gryffindor. Mother sent me a Howler the next day, and it totally embarrassed me. She couldn't resist saying how much of a disappointment I was to the whole family. But I didn't want to be like them, bigoted and prejudiced. Every Christmas vacation and every summer it got worse and worse. I had to watch my little brother bow down to our parents all the time, and when he attended Hogwarts with me, I had to watch him hang around with Snivellus and the other Slytherins, and they drilled the pureblood garbage into his head even more.

"Finally, in the summer after my fifth year, I couldn't take it anymore. I was sick of my parents' dinner parties, sick of their social gatherings, sick of being stuck hanging around my stupid cousins Narcissa and Bellatrix. Narcissa ended up marrying Lucius Malfoy, and Bellatrix ended up marrying Rodolphus Lestrange. They're all rotten to the freaking core. We never got along, and Bellatrix is just psychotic. She loves torturing people and killing them. I had to put up with her in Azkaban for years, hearing her repeat over and over again, "The Dark Lord shall come for me! He will rise again, you all will see!" Looks like she got her wish," he snarled angrily.

"So anyway, I ran away from home that summer," he continued. "I went to stay with your dad, Harry. He and his family were wonderful; they gave me a second home. They said I was always welcome, so I stayed there until a few years later when I got my own flat. My dear old mother burned my name off the Black family tapestry. I was disowned. The same went for my favorite cousin, Andromeda. She married a Muggle-born by the name of Ted Tonks. They have a daughter named Nymphadora."

"Wow," Harry exclaimed, now that his godfather had come to the end of his tirade. "Just ... wow. I'm so sorry to hear all that."

"Well, it's over now," Sirius said, still with that bitterness in his voice. "I can't even imagine what those awful Death Eaters are going to do now that they're free. And Peter! Hanging around with scum like them!" He gave a furious growl like a dog.

The three of them stayed up the rest of the night, talking in hushed tones. At one point, Harry said, "So it looks like we won't be going to the World Cup now, right? I mean, Voldemort said that he wasn't going to start his plan of getting his hands on me until after it was over, but you probably still don't want to go. If you don't, that's alright, I understand."

Sirius and Remus could hear the resignation in his voice, and see the disappointment and heartbreak in his eyes. They exchanged glances, and made a decision that they hoped they wouldn't regret.

"We mustn't let them scare us," Remus said finally. "If we let these Death Eaters rule our lives, we won't be able to go anywhere. That will be playing right into their hands. We're still going to go to the Cup, but we have to be very cautious. I want you to stay with us at all times, do you understand?"

"Yes," said Harry, his spirits rising a little.

Sirius started pacing around the room. He was really agitated about Peter. He thought he had finally put that scum in the place where he belonged. "I still can't believe Peter's free," he said with venom.

"You mustn't keep perceverating on that, though, Sirius," said Remus gently. "I know it's hard, and he was our friend at one time, but we must try to separate this man from the man he was back in our school days. If we think of him as two different people, it should be easier."

"Easier said than done," muttered Sirius.

"I can't disagree with you there," sighed Remus.

Over the next few weeks, Harry's Occlumency training continued. Luckily, he had no more dreams of Voldemort during this time, and no news had been heard about any of the escaped Death Eaters. Harry also had described to Dumbledore exactly what he had seen in the old house the Dark Lord was residing in for now. The Headmaster said it was probably the Riddle House in Little Hangleton. Unfortunately, there was no way for him to get in. Powerful Dark magic had been used to situate wards on the house so that only people whose magical signature they recognized could get in. Dumbledore said he would get to work on trying to break them, and then he and some people he knew could try to ambush the Death Eaters. In the deformed state Voldemort was in, he would probably be easy to capture.

When it came to happier news, Harry's birthday was coming up. He was turning fourteen years old, and his two guardians wanted to make this the happiest birthday he'd ever had. They were once again appalled that the Dursleys had never got him anything for his birthday, they had never even said "happy birthday" to him. During an Occlumency lesson, Remus had seen a memory of Harry drawing a birthday cake on the wall with seven candles on it. This had obviously happened seven years ago.

"We're going to have a little party for you," Sirius said cheerfully a few days before his birthday. "Who would you like to have over?"

Harry was shocked. "You don't have to do that!" he exclaimed.

Remus put an arm around him. "We want to," he said quietly. "You've never had a birthday party before. We want to make this one special."

Harry looked choked up over this statement. He had always thought he was just a freak and a burden, someone undeserving of such things. He'd always watched Dudley have parties with his friends, and they'd played games and eaten cake and Dudley had opened a massive pile of presents. Aunt Petunia was always going on about how her little Diddydum kins had to have the best, best day!

"So who do you want to have over?" repeated Sirius.

"Obviously the Weasleys," Harry said with a smile. "The whole family. I've never met Charlie and Bill; I've always wanted to know what they're like."

"Absolutely!" boomed Sirius. "Of course you can have them over! Anyone else?"

Harry thought for a minute. "Neville Longbottom," he decided. "And Cedric Diggory. He just became my friend in the last week of term. Oh, and Seamus and Dean, from my dorm."

"That'll be great!" said Sirius happily. "My godson's turning fourteen! Hooray!"

"Diggory, did you say?" asked Remus. "Cedric's father must be Amos Diggory. He works in the Ministry, at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I see him about once a year when I have to go to the werewolf registry to reregister for my lycanthropy."

"Are you okay with seeing him?" Harry asked concernedly. He knew how most of the wizarding world perceived and reacted to werewolves.

"Of course," smiled Remus. "Look, Harry, I've had people resenting me for what I am my whole life. It doesn't really phase me anymore."

Harry felt sad at this. The fact that his guardian had had to go through so much prejudice that by now he had become accustomed to it was upsetting. But he nodded his head, and invitations were sent by owl.

On the day of Harry's birthday, he was awoken to a big, shaggy black dog licking his face. "Oy, Sirius, gedoff!" he said groggily, his eyes still clogged with sleep.

But Sirius was in a jubilant mood, and didn't listen to Harry. He started barking very loudly, and demanded to be scratched behind the ears. Not being able to suppress a smile, Harry did as Sirius-the-dog asked. Finally, the big dog gave it up and turned into his godfather, who immediately pounced on him. "Happy birthday, pup!" he boomed excitedly.

Remus was in the room too, laughing at his best friend's antics. "Happy birthday, cub," he said, smiling softly.

"Thanks, guys," Harry said with a grin. He felt so warm inside; just waking up to special treatment like this made him feel so good. All his worries could go away for just one day. He was not going to think about Pettigrew or Voldemort or any other Death Eaters today. He was also not going to think about the Dursleys. He'd received answers from the Weasleys, Cedric, Neville, Dean, and Seamus that they could all come to his party. He was so excited!

"Presents, presents, presents!" chanted Sirius, jumping up and down.

"Oh, Padfoot, stop acting like a child!" Remus laughed. He and Sirius went into Sirius's room, followed by Harry. "I hope you like what we got you," Remus said. "We got you a few things each."

Harry beamed. "You didn't have to get me anything," he said.

"Of course we did!" said Sirius. "You don't turn fourteen every day, you know!" He was doing his best to try to be lighthearted, although the anger at the Dursleys still gnawed at the edge of his conciousness. What he wouldn't give just to throttle them all! Harry was still healing from the whole horrible experience. He really hadn't opened up and talked to him and Remus much about it yet, but that would come with time. For now, Harry was just happy to be away from his horrible relatives.

"Rip them open, go on Harry!" said Remus, grinning widely.

But Harry didn't rip his presents open. Since he hadn't had any presents before, he savored every moment of unwrapping them. The first thing he unwrapped was a book about Quidditch. "Oh, cool! It's about different teams!" he exclaimed. This gift was from Sirius. He gave his godfather a grin and thanked him profusely.

The present-opening ceremony continued. He received a book on advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts from Remus. He also got more clothes from the two of them, and a Snitch as well. Harry was thrilled with this, and kept catching it every two seconds. Sirius and Remus burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked curiously.

"Just remembering James," said Remus fondly. "He used to do that all the time. We used to sit under a tree on the Hogwarts grounds, and he'd literally spend hours playing with it."

"Oh wow," Harry said. "I love it! Now when we play Quidditch, I'll have a Snitch of my own!"

The two friends smiled proudly, pangs of nostalgia surging through them.

Harry also received his very own Pensieve. "You can keep any thoughts you like in this," said Sirius. "Remus and I thought it was important that you had one of your own. That way, you don't always have to borrow Dumbledore's."

"Thank you," Harry said sincerely, staring into the bowl. He'd always found pensieves fascinating since the day he'd found out about them. He saw that there were already some strands in it. "What are these of?" he asked.

"Those, Harry, are of your parents," Remus smiled. "We put some good memories in there for you. You can explore them whenever you want. ;there're some funny ones, and some other happy ones. We only put the good times in there. We wanted you to see us when we were happy, when we were all inseparable best friends."

"Wow. Thanks so much," Harry exclaimed, giving his guardians a hug. There were tears in his voice; his emotions were running out of control. The two friends held him close, thanking Merlin that they had this beautiful young boy to make their lives brighter.

After a delicious birthday breakfast, Harry spent the rest of the morning reading some of the new books he had received. He was very interested in the subject matter, and particularly loved watching the figures swoop around on broomsticks in his Quidditch book.

After lunch, people started arriving for his party. First to arrive were the Weasleys. Everyone said hello, and the whole family was happy to see him.

"Hey, I'm Bill Weasley," Bill introduced himself. "I work at Gringotts in Egypt as a curse breaker. This here is my brother, Charlie."

"What's up, mate?" said Charlie cheerfully. "It's great to meet you! I've heard all about you from Ron, Ginny and the twins. I work with dragons in Romania."

"Wow, that's exciting," said Harry. "Great to meet you both!"

"And Harry knows who we are, right, mate?" said Fred.

"Haven't forgotten us, have you?" said George.

"How could I forget the infamous twins?" Harry grinned.

"What's going on, mate?" Ron said. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks," said Harry. Hermione rushed up to him and hugged him; she had just arrived at the Burrow two days ago. "Hi, Harry!" she exclaimed happily. "How are you?"

"I'm doing fine, Hermione," Harry said. But she could just tell he'd had a hard summer before he'd come to live here, though. There were still remnants of that haunted look in Harry's emerald eyes, but she told herself that she wouldn't bring it up on his birthday.

Harry then saw Ginny, and they exchanged smiles and hellos. They kept eye contact for quite a while, and Harry felt that connection again, like he'd felt it the time before.

Cedric Diggory was next to arrive. Sirius and Remus thought his father was tactless, because he boasted about Cedric winning the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff in front of them and Harry. "Leave him alone, Dad," Cedric said rather crossly, his face flushing with embarrassment. "He fell off his broom!"

"But YOU didn't fall off, did you, son?" Mr. Diggory boomed. "Doesn't take long to figure out who's the better flyer!"

"Dad, seriously, stop it!" Cedric said. Eileen Diggory, his mother, gave his father a glare. Mr. Diggory finally snapped his mouth shut.

The party was wonderful. Harry received lots of marvelous presents. Not surprisingly, he received a book from Hermione; it was all about Animagi. From Ron he received a new set of Quidditch robes. From Mr. and Mrs. Weasley he received a brand new Weasley sweater and some delicious chocolate fudge. From the twins he received 500 Pranks to Play on Your Rivals.

"Hey, that's the same book I've got!" Sirius said with a mischievous grin.

"Thanks, guys!" Harry said, even though Mrs. Weasley was glaring at the twins. "Don't encourage him!" she said to them, but Fred and George just grinned goofily and said together, "We're doing nothing wrong, Mum, just showing our true talent." From Cedric, Harry received two Bludgers and a Quaffle. "Cool, I've got a whole set of Quidditch things now!" he beamed. Ginny, Neville, Seamus, and Dean gave him things like cologne, clothes and aftershave.

There was a beautiful cake, chocolate and vanilla in flavor. Everyone ate it with vigor. Remus was a pretty good cook, and had made it himself. It was hilarious, because Sirius was always trying to help. Remus had told him to get out of the kitchen because he was a horrible cook. This resulted in the two Marauders throwing flour at one another and laughing their heads off. Harry chortled at them and treasured every moment of the humorous scene.

Everyone sang two renditions of Happy Birthday. Sirius and Remus said it was Marauder tradition to first sing the song out-of-tune and really horribly. This resulted in a terrible cacophony of sound which Harry couldn't help laughing at. The twins really outdid themselves when it came to this. The second rendition was supposed to be sung beautifully with melodious harmonies. Once again, the twins couldn't help saying "Cha cha cha!" at the end of every line.

Emotions soared through Harry again at a tremendous rate. Everyone was singing for HIM! He started to get rather choked up, and his two guardians noticed. They each put a hand on Harry's shoulder and smiled gently at him. Harry managed to smile back through the tears in his eyes.

Everyone stayed till the evening, and then they all went home. Neville and Ginny had been rather shy at the party, but Harry did his best to make them feel welcome. Dean, Seamus, and Cedric had also been great company. Cedric let Harry know that he was also going to the World Cup, so they might see each other there. Harry was thrilled.

Once everyone had left, the fourteen-year-old boy found that he was exhausted. He got ready for bed, and his guardians tucked him in, saying another soft "happy birthday," to him. He drifted into sleep, feeling the happiest he'd ever felt in fourteen years.

Remus sighed contentedly as he got into his bed. He smiled at Sirius, who had come to bid him good night, from across the room. "I think you made it a wonderful birthday for Harry," he said.

"Thank you. You too, mate," Sirius said truthfully. "I bet James and Lily are looking down on us now. They'd have given anything to be here, celebrating with us."

"Yes, they would," sighed Remus. "But they'll always be in our hearts. And even though Harry doesn't remember them, they'll always be in his too."

"They will," Sirius said. "Good night, Moony, old pal. See you in the morning."

"Good night, Padfoot, old friend."