A/N Sorry for the delay but I've been out of town. This chapter is strictly birthday party fluff (honestly, doesn't the poor boy deserve it? lol). Tomorrow, I promise a much more exciting chapter that is already almost finished. Thanks again for all of the reviews.
Enjoy!
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Harry and Ron sat crossed legged on Harry's bed, a wizard's chess board between them. Both boys stared at the animated pieces in determined concentration. In the comfy chair that Sirius usually sat in when staying with Harry, Hermione was curled up like a cat contentedly reading an enormous old tome that she had nicked (with permission, of course) from Sirius' extensive library. All three were dressed in their pajamas as they casually relaxed in near silence. After dinner that evening, Sirius had quietly indicated to Harry that he and his friends need not adhere to Harry's usual ten o'clock bedtime during the birthday weekend festivities. Now, the clock nearing midnight, they lounged together sleepily, but unwilling to part ways until Harry's birthday was officially ushered in.
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It had been a thoroughly exhausting but enjoyable day for the three best friends. After giving Ron and Hermione an extensive tour of the house (minus the forbidden rooms, to Ron's chagrin), Harry had discretely kept Hermione occupied in the large library as Sirius had a quiet word with Ron. A few moments later, they rejoined them, Ron's ears a slight pink, but both were smiling.
Harry took them exploring the paths through the woods. Just to be on the safe side, he had directed them around the right side of the pitch so as to not go anywhere near the grove. Hermione, having heard the whole story upon arrival, nodded approvingly and the three spent several enjoyable hours chatting and wandering. Dobby had packed a picnic basket for them which they ate at the goldfish pond as Hermione told them stories about her time in France. She had spent quite a few hours on the beach and had the glowing tan to attest to it. Although Ron would never admit it, he thought the healthy glow to her skin looked very nice indeed.
Harry had volunteered to clean up after their lunch, so he busied himself packing and sorting while the other two strolled to the other side of the pond. With Harry so distracted, Hermione took the opportunity to casually pull an object from her shirt pocket and hand it to Ron. Taking the pretty little seashell onto the palm of his hand, Ron stared at it, enchanted, as she shyly explained how the colors of the shell reminded her of him. The shell had orange tinges to it, with swirly blue bands and a smattering of frecklish dots. When he tried to stutter his thanks, Hermione had had her limit of embarrassment and had hurried back to Harry's side to help him finish the cleaning chores.
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Now, as the minutes ticked closer to midnight, and although seemingly calm on the exterior, Harry was mentally screaming with happiness. This year, for the first time, he would get to bring in his birthday among loved ones. He regarded the determined scowl on Ron's face as he contemplated how to parry Harry's last chess move and then looked to the serene expression on Hermione's face as she contentedly flipped pages.
His friends.
He felt a warm burst of contentment explode in his chest, feeling unusually fond of both of them at that moment. In the hallway, the old grandfather clocked chimed the stroke of midnight. At the sound, both of his friends turned to him smiling.
"Happy Birthday, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed brightly, throwing the book aside as she leaped from the chair and threw her arms around him.
"Happy Birthday, mate," Ron wished him affectionately as he playfully nudged Harry's shoulder with his hand.
Smiling widely, and blushing a little, Harry dropped his eyes down, a bit embarrassed. "Thanks guys. Thanks for being here."
"Happy Birthday, Harry," a voice called from the doorway. Harry looked up to see his godfather standing in the door, a large tray levitating in front of him. As he walked closer to the trio, they could see that the tray held a small birthday cake, alight with fourteen candles with multi-colored flames, a large pitcher of milk, four glasses, four plates, a serving knife, napkins and four small forks.
Harry took a deep breath as he gazed over the thoughtful gesture. He and Sirius locked eyes for a moment before Harry quietly whispered "Thank you, Sirius." Both knew that the boy was not only referring to the late night confection.
Sirius directed the tray over to the bed where it positioned itself in front of the birthday boy. Sitting down next to Harry, he put his arm around his godson's shoulders and gave him a small squeeze.
"Make a wish, Harry."
Slightly choked up, Harry turned his gaze up to Sirius' face and gave him a small smile. "I don't have much to wish for. They all came true this year, already."
Sirius' breathing hitched and a large lump formed in his throat. It would not do for the three teens to see the hardened ex-Azkaban prisoner cry over his godson's birthday cake, so he rolled his eyes theatrically and jerked his head towards the melting candles.
"Oh, I'm sure you can think of something."
Letting out a small snort at the teasing, Harry turned back to the cake. Smiling slightly before his mouth went into a small grimace, he closed his eyes and blew. When he had opened them, all the candles were blown out and the three observers were cheering and clapping, the sight of them permanently returning his smile.
Reluctantly releasing his hold on his godson, Sirius busied himself with cutting and serving large slabs of the vanilla cake with thick chocolate frosting. As he passed them around, Hermione took it upon herself to pour and distribute the milk. The four ate and drank as they told nonsensical stories and laughed heartily at nothing funny in particular. The boys had a second go at the sweet sticky layers and Sirius repressed the urge to scold about all the sugar ensuring that none of them would be going to sleep any time soon. He could have happily stayed up with Harry all night, but he wanted his godson to enjoy his time with his friends. He deftly piled the empty plates and glasses back onto the tray and levitated it again.
"Don't forget you have a lot of guests coming in the morning, Harry. Try to get some sleep, at least," he scolded gently with a smile on his face.
Harry rolled his eyes and smirked. He had to act the part of a fourteen year old now who would bristle against such admonishment, but inwardly he revelled in the warmth of having someone actually parent him. Birthday wishes, indeed.
"Okay, okay. I will," he answered, feigning annoyance. Sirius laughed a little at the boy's obvious theatrics and winked at him.
The happy and proud godfather started to make his way to the door, just a little sad. He wanted to give Harry a hug and a kiss, both for his birthday and also to just say good night. It was a nightly ritual and comfort that both enjoyed immensely. He just didn't want to embarrass Harry in front of his friends. As he turned quickly to watch them gather together on the bed, he swore he saw a small flash of hurt in Harry's eyes. Throwing assumptions aside, Sirius strode back quickly and leaned down to gather Harry in his arms. He embraced his godson tightly to his chest, receiving an equally strong hug in return.
"Happy Birthday, my Harry," he said softly into the dark hair nestled under his chin. Ever observant, Hermione surreptitiously engaged Ron in idle chatter, ignoring the birthday boy and his godfather.
Sirius brushed a very quick kiss onto his godson's forehead before lowering his mouth to Harry's ear.
"I'm so sorry your parents can't be here tonight, but know that they are watching over you, always. I'm sure that, wherever they are, they are very proud of you. I love you, little one. Never forget that," he said whisper quiet before drawing back and standing back up. Harry didn't respond other than a small nod, trying very hard not to cry in front of his friends. Choking back his emotion and clearing his throat, Sirius gave him another wink.
"Don't forget to brush your teeth. I don't want to have to send you to the Drs. Granger if you start getting cavities," he teased, eliciting a snort from the boy before sweeping, tray and all, out of the room.
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Celestial Court was a beautiful home. Residence of several generations of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, it had seen its fair share of parties and balls and gala events. However, it never looked more festive than it did the day Harry Potter turned fourteen.
The house itself had been done up with bunting and streamers in the Gryffindor colors, appropriate as all of today's guests had, at one time or another, been sorted into the regal house of lions. Smiling inwardly to himself, Sirius was positively giddy thinking about the generations of Slytherin Blacks absolutely rolling in their graves at all of the burgundy and gold.
Miniature faeries were lit up in formation as living glittering banners that said Happy Birthday Harry as they flew around the grounds. Multicolored paper lanterns hung everywhere, randomly bursting into fireworks and then repairing themselves again. All entrances to the house had been charmed open, surrounded by archways of lilies, in honor of the birthday boy's mum. The usual knights were placed inside to guard the forbidden rooms. With so many guests, inquisitive teens making up the bulk of them, Sirius had decided that a real deterrent was necessary to curb any undue curiosity. They wouldn't attack someone trying to enter, but they would block access and scold whomever was trying to break in while summoning the master of the house.
Outside, bunches of red and gold balloons that would alternate images of Harry's face and the Gryffindor lion roamed the grounds. Large banks of enchanted lights had been installed around the pitch to facilitate evening play. In the right side yard, long tables dressed with sparkling red and gold cloths were set up with plates and silverware that were charmed to dance around the edges when not in use. Near the tables was an impressive barbeque pit where Dobby, wearing three chefs hats and a long apron that said "Kiss the Cook", would be cooking food all day and evening for the guests. Sirius and Harry had tried to convince the small elf to just be a guest for the day but Dobby had been so mortified by the idea of not being allowed to help with the party that they had dropped the idea amidst his anguished cries.
Further to the side from the eating area was a shimmering blue swimming pool that Sirius had installed for the occasion. It had not been too difficult. In Diagon Alley, he had purchased the hand-sized oval that, when dropped on the ground and spelled properly, would enlarge itself into the allotted area, automatically filling with water that kept itself chlorinated and cleaned. It had been pricey, but Sirius had decided that Harry needed to work on his swimming skills. The boy had not been given much opportunity to enjoy the sport while living with the Dursleys and the ability to do spellwork underwater was a firm requirement of any Auror. Not that he would force Harry into a profession that he wasn't interested in but, like any parent, Sirius did have hopes for his godson's future after all. He tried not to think about Harry not getting the chance to have a future. There were times when you just needed to feel normal.
With the guest arrival time fast approaching, Sirius had placed Harry and himself in position in the parlor. His godfather had explained to him that it was polite to be on hand and greet his guests personally as they arrived. They were alone. Ron and Hermione were currently on the front lawn attempting to rein in the irritated fountain cherubs. The faeries making up the sparkling flying banners had gotten a little too close on occasion and the cherubs were expressing their outrage by peeing water at anyone that came close to them. Such behavior was not appropriate for the day's festivities.
Although he was not sure why, Harry felt himself growing a little nervous over the prospect of having so many people travelling just to see him, to celebrate his birthday with him. It was such a strange feeling. For all of his unwanted fame, he was really still a shy boy at heart. All of the people on the guest list were his friends, team members, beloved teachers and, in the case of the Weasley's, his surrogate family. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why having them at his home was unnerving him. Feeling fidgety, he relentlessly tugged on the collar of the light blue polo shirt Sirius had him wear. Sensing his godson's unease, Sirius rubbed his back gently and leaned down to his ear.
"Relax, Harry. These are your friends."
The soothing tone of his godfather's voice and the lulling comfort of the backrub started to calm him down significantly. He nodded his head shakily and took several deep breaths before the large stream of witches and wizards appeared in the parlor.
Bit by bit, the myriad of guests began to arrive. First, of course, were the Weasleys. Molly had been adament about getting there early to help with the preparations and, one by one in a flurry of red hair, she, Arthur, Fred, George and Ginny came through the floo, followed a few minutes later by two older redheads that Harry assumed were the older brothers Bill and Charlie. Ron had told him that his eldest siblings were staying at the Burrow for the rest of the summer to visit with the family and to attend the Quidditch World Cup. Only Percy didn't make an appearance, citing that his new official duties at the Ministry of Magic were keeping him "too busy to attend a boy's birthday party", as he had explained it to his irritated mother. The two older Weasley's shook hands with Harry, wishing him many happy returns before chatting up Sirius. As very little boys, they did have some memories of the former Auror and Order Member when he visited their twin uncles.
After the Weasleys came Professor McGonagall who arrived with Oliver Wood, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet in tow. Harry and Sirius both choked back surprise by the Transfiguration professor's appearance, neither of them having seen her outside of school or Order meetings. Her long hair, normally pulled back into a severe bun was drawn back from her face, but loosely flowing down her back. Blooms of red and yellow sweetheart roses were woven into the tresses. Instead of her thick black robes, she was wearing a very pretty lightweight summer robe of gold linen with red embroidered roses all through. Transcending her true age, Minerva looked positively ethereal as she stood in the parlor. Laughing to herself about the shocked expression on her former and present students' faces, she snapped, with mock indignation.
"Mr. Black and Mr. Potter! Kindly close your mouths before one of you two chokes on a bug. It is not seemly behavior for my Gryffindors!"
Both chastised lions snapped their mouths shut while Minerva grinned a satisfied smile. Remembering his manners, Sirius took her by the hand and bowed low as he gallantly placed a kiss on the back of hand.
"Forgive me. I'm never quite myself in the presence of a beautiful lady," he said with all of his usual charm. Giving him a small snort in reply, the flattered professor blushed a little too.
They had not been out of the floo a good minute before a large older woman in a flower print robe and a hat with a rather large and ugly vulture on it stepped out of the fireplace. With a prepossessing air, Augusta Longbottom announced her arrival with her grandson Neville along with Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan. While Harry enthusiastically greeted his dorm mates, Sirius spoke quietly with Mrs. Longbottom for a few brief moments regarding the current condition of her son and daughter in law, careful to make sure that the boys could not overhear them. The torture of the Longbottoms was another sharp stab to the heart for Sirius, but he didn't let himself dwell for too long. He didn't want Harry to see him upset.
Finally, Remus and Albus Dumbledore arrived to round out the guest list, carrying multiple festively colored packages. After a quick hug from Remus, who went immediately to the gift table to add their parcels to the large pile, Harry and Sirius spent a couple of minutes speaking with the kindly headmaster. Albus wished Harry a very happy birthday before complimenting him on his Occlumency improvement. Apparently, Snape had been more impressed than he would ever let on to either Harry or his godfather and the praise from the headmaster made Harry beam. Dumbledore had apologized for the absence of Professors Snape and Hagrid. Hagrid was currently nursing multiple rather nasty burns from his blast ended skrewts and was in the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey fretting over him. He told Harry that Snape was unfortunately out of town, but the truth was that Severus had not felt entirely welcome at the gathering as much as he would have liked to come. Albus had clucked sadly over the decision, hoping that old hurt feelings could soon be soothed.
With the arrival of all the guests, it was time to start the day's festivities.
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Lunch was served and the lot of them grouped together to fill their plates from the tasty offerings of Dobby's grill. There was much laughter and general good humor as friends old and new chatted. Harry's friends were overwhelmed by Celestial Court and it's grounds and he proudly accepted their compliments, his chest feeling warm and unusually light. The whole experience was such a one hundred and eighty degree turnabout from his usual summer lifestyle. He shut his eyes tightly at the memories and pushed back the unhappiness of what he might be doing at that moment had he been forced to endure another holiday at the Dursleys. Opening his eyes, he caught a glimpse of his smiling godfather winking at him and relaxed immediately.
After lunch, there was a small stampede as the bulk of the guests ran to the Quidditch pitch. By mutual agreement, it had been decided that a team made up of the Weasley family members would compete against the remainder of the Gryffindor house team and guests. With that in mind, Team Weasley and Team Gryffindor grabbed the rented Nimbus 2003's and formed positions. For Team Weasley, Charlie, a former great player in school, Bill and Arthur took up the chaser positions, Fred and George, of course, played beaters, Ron was keeping the goals and, surprisingly enough, Ginny was going to seek the snitch. Magnanimously, Harry had offered Ginny his Firebolt to offset his perceived handicap of her age and inexperience.
Team Gryffindor was made up of the house teams chasers, Katie, Angelina and Alicia, Oliver was keeping the goals, Harry, to no one's surprise, was seeking the snitch and Dean Thomas and Sirius (who argued that the team needed an old fart like Arthur Weasley to keep things even) were playing the beater positions.
Remus was refereeing the match while Minerva kept score. At the blow of the whistle, they were off and Team Weasley made an early grab for possession of the quaffle. As the players streaked up and down the pitch, a battle ensued. Team Gryffindor, with a larger majority of current house players took an early lead. While Ron made a passable Keeper, Oliver was better and his seasoned Chasers kept better control of the quaffle. Fred and George began playing dirty with the bludgers, and it was all Dean and Sirius could do to keep their players from being injured by the ill tempered projectiles. Laughing merrily, Sirius batted away the bludgers with all the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas day, only getting temperamental when they threatened Harry. For his part, Harry zoomed around the pitch hunting for the small snitch. As a less experienced player, Ginny decided that the best course of action was just to follow Harry, maintaining enough of a distance to keep him from getting suspicious.
As the play raged on, Team Gryffindor was up by 80 points by the time Harry finally spotted the miniature gold ball. With a flash, he zoomed into the sky in hot pursuit after it, not noticing Ginny right on his tail. Reaching out, he got closer and closer to it when, all of a sudden, he was pushed aside by the breeze of his own Firebolt overtaking him. Turning for a quick second, Ginny winked and blew him an air kiss. Completely startled, Harry almost lost his bearings and struggled to stay airborne as the petite redhead grabbed the snitch to the thundering cheers of the Weasley men. Blushing furiously, Harry clapped for her as she made her way down to the ground, snitch in hand, to be hoisted up on her brothers' shoulders. Right then he made a vow to never again underestimate Miss Ginerva Weasley.
Hot and sweaty from the game, the players tramped off of the pitch and everyone went to change into their swim suits. At the pool, two of the house elves were carrying around trays of tall fruity drinks with sparklers in them. Splashing around in the cool water, they played games and raced. Taking a moment to rest, Harry tread water for a couple of moments and noticed Hermione lounging on one of the long chairs surrounding the pool's edge. With her bushy haired tied up in a knot, she was laying back casually talking to Ginny. In a flattering bikini, she was rapidly garnering a great deal of attention. Harry felt like he had never truly seen her before. From the looks on the faces of all the other male students present, apparently they had not either. However, unlike them, Harry was not so much ogling her blossoming shape as wishing desperately that she would cover up a little. Having never had a sister, he didn't recognize the protective fraternal annoyance that he was currently experiencing and vaguely wondered how many young wizards he was going to have to threaten as he and Hermione got older. Probably a fair few from the looks of it.
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As the day passed contentedly, it was soon time to gather around the long tables for dinner followed by gifts and birthday cake. Sirius was watching Harry carefully. The boy seemed as if he would be overwhelmed at any moment and his godfather's feelings were vacillating between outrageous joy over having brought the emotionally scared teen so much happiness and gut wrenching agony over concern that it might all have been a bit too much for him to handle. He stayed purposely close to Harry, ready in a flash to provide a smile, a hug, a joke or whatever his godson needed at the moment. His actions did not go unnoticed by the adults present who murmured approvingly to themselves. All of them were pleased to see the boy that they were all so fond of finally getting the love and support that he so richly deserved.
Feeling a bit like Dudley (only minus the feeling of selfish entitlement and plus a feeling of genuine thankfulness) Harry spent almost a full hour opening his many gifts. He was blushing furiously at the generosity of all of his friends. All of his gifts were thoughtful in nature and it seemed like he could not thank them all enough. Sirius stood behind him as he opened one after another, his hands firmly on his godson's shoulders giving him support and occasionally soothing the shaking that seemed to keep threatening Harry's composure. The final gifts brought everyone to their feet in appreciation. Sirius had given him a large envelope that contained tickets for all present to the Quidditch World Cup in a private box that he had secured and Dumbledore, Minerva and Remus had gotten together and provided magical tents to accommodate the large group.
After the gifts, Dobby came out levitating a four tier birthday cake. Each tier was in the shape of a snitch, each one larger than the one on top of it. More faeries had been employed, both to act as the snitchs' fluttering wings and also to fly around the tiers in circles holding the fourteen enormous candles. With Sirius' arms holding Harry firmly around his chest, the boy fought back tears as all the assembled sang (mostly off key) a long winded version of Happy Birthday before the faeries flew towards him in a straight line holding out the candles for him to blow out as they passed by.
A second Quidditch game was demanded by Team Gryffindor. This time, Harry was wise to Ginny's Machiavellian plotting and he was paying much closer attention. Diving into a half decent Wronski Feint, he fooled her and shot into the sky at the last second to capture the snitch and secure a win for his team, even as he narrowly missed being hit by a bludger. Too excited by the win to fuss about it, no one but Sirius was upset by the near miss. He alone had seen that Dean had almost surely batted the bludger at Harry as he streaked away from Ginny. He wasn't a hundred percent sure that the move had been intentional and he didn't want to spoil the evening so he kept quiet. With the win, Oliver visibly relaxed when, ever the ambitious team captain, he came to the conclusion that he wouldn't have to chuck Harry for the littlest Weasley come fall term.
It was pitch dark outside when the game finished and everyone was growing tired. It had been a wonderful day. Sirius had one more diversion up his sleeve, however. Summoning all the guests onto the thick blankets that he had conjured, they waited a moment before seeing the first spark of colored lights and heard the sizzling of a large burst of fireworks. Within moments, the sky roared to life as popping blooms and magical creatures came to life and raced across the sky. Sirius was sitting on the blanket, his knees bent as Harry sat down in front of him and leaned comfortably back against his godfather's broad chest, idly munching on a wedge of watermelon. In perfect contentment, the two watched the lights display and tuned out all of those around him. When the last round of lights flashed in the sky, the crowd gasped their pleasure at the several stories high sign sparkling Happy Birthday Harry and they all clapped enthusiastically as Sirius held his godson close.
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All too soon, it seemed, the little groups began to make their way into the parlor with Sirius and Harry once again standing in place, this time giving profuse thanks and farewells. When Dumbledore, the last remaining guest, other than Remus, Hermione and Ron who were staying over through the next day, took his leave, Sirius noticed that Harry looked dead on his feet and sent the exhausted boy up to bed, promising to be up to say good night. Hermione, after stopping by Harry's room to say good night, told him that Ron had fallen asleep from physcial exhaustion as well as an excessive intake of food. Remus had levitated his slumbering form up to his room earlier. Thanking her for everything, he let her hug him again before she went to collapse into her own bed.
Teeth brushed and in his pajamas, Harry was just getting settled into his bed when Sirius knocked and came in quietly, a very pleased look on his face. There were no words. Harry didn't know how to thank his godfather for what was, absolutely, the best day of his life. He began to try but Sirius, sensing the raw emotion on the boy's face, just put a finger over his mouth and shushed him before pulling out a small package.
"I have one more small present for you," he said. Sirius was smiling at him gently, but his silvery eyes looked a little pained.
Confused, but intrigued, Harry opened the small box and found that it contained a delicate snow globe. Inside the globe, a large stag, a doe and a little fawn frolicked in a rain shower of tiny lily blossoms. Even as they ran, the stag and the doe stopped periodically to nuzzle the fawn in turn. Harry's breathing hitched and hot tears sprang forth into his eyes. Pained, Sirius reached over and gently stroked the messy black hair in comfort. Harry was so preoccupied by the globe that he didn't notice the small envelope underneath it until Sirius pointed it out.
Harry's fingers were shaking as he pulled the envelope from the box. Instinctively, he already seemed to know what it was and it took all his strength to open it and pull out the aging parchment. Grabbing onto Sirius' arm for support, he unfolded the paper and wept as he read the small neat writing.
Our dearest Harry,
Happy Birthday!
We don't know how old you are right now, but if you are reading this, we are gone. We asked Sirius to give this to you when you were old enough. We can't tell you how sorry we are that we are not there to help you celebrate in person, but know that we are thinking of you always and we watch over you every minute. We know that Sirius loves you just as much as we do and is taking good care of you.
Be brave, be strong, and most of all be happy. That is all we ever wanted for you. No parents were ever more proud than we were the day you were born. You were a gift that filled us with such joy we didn't know how we ever deserved it. Always remember,
When the two of us met, then we had each other. When you were born, then we had everything. Happy birthday, our darling.
Love, Mum and Dad
Harry's tears were flowing freely as he finished the letter. Sirius reached over and pulled him into a tight embrace, trying desperately to soothe the quivering body in his arms. For a moment, he wondered if what he had done had been such a good idea until Harry pulled back and was smiling amidst his tears.
"Thank you, Sirius. Thank you so much for this," he said in a watery voice.
Sirius gave him a small nod, tears unshed in his own gray eyes. "Thank Remus as well. He kept this while I was...away."
"I will." Harry sniffed a bit and turned his gaze back to the perpetually moving globe.
"They made that, you know," Sirius told him after a moment. "Your Dad conjured it and your Mum charmed it just after they went into hiding. They wanted you to have something to always remember them by. I'm just so sorry it took so long for you to get it."
Harry gave him a pointed look and then burrowed himself into Sirius' chest. "That's okay. I have it now." Holding his godson close, Sirius allowed his tears to fall as he whispered into the black hair "Yes, I do."
