The general feeling in the Lupin household on the morning July 16 was a very happy one. Everyone woke up that morning in a good mood and walked around the house with a smile on their face. It was young Remus' first birthday and the enthusiasm and happiness that his older sister Lupa had displayed as she planned for her brother's birthday was infectious. Even Remus, though he was too young to know that it was his birthday woke up with a smile on his face that morning. It might have had something to do with waking up to Lupa's smiling face.
The day started off normally enough. Lupa and Remus had their breakfast in the playroom. Contrary to most children his age, Remus did not get most of his food on his clothes. It helped that his food consisted mostly of fruit and other things that did not stain the clothes. It also helped that Lupa mostly fed him herself, eating her own breakfast while Remus was chewing whatever she had just fed him.
After breakfast, because it was a nice day, Lupa called for two servants. One to carry her brother outside to the backyard and the other to retrieve their outside toys. The servant set Remus down underneath one of the shady trees in the backyard. Even though it was still fairly early in the morning, it was already very warm out. The other servant appeared a moment later carrying a box full of toys for the siblings to play with outside. Remus immediately crawled over to the box and pulled himself up using the sides. His walking had improved and he could go for a while without falling. But he still preferred to crawl some places. Once he was steady on his feet, he reached in and pulled out a ball.
"You want to play with the ball?" Lupa asked.
"Ba." Remus agreed sitting down.
Lupa moved the box out of the way and sat down a short distance from her brother. She gently rolled the ball towards him and Remus managed to stop it by slamming his hands down on top of the ball. He looked delighted with himself and then rolled the ball back to Lupa when she called to him.
The siblings played ball for a few hours, moving on to Lupa rolling the ball around the yard and letting Remus chase after it. When his short little legs finally became tired of running around the yard and he collapsed on the grass, Lupa picked up the ball one last time and put it back in the box. Then she sat down under the tree and leaned against the trunk.
"Come here Remus." She called.
Remus pushed himself to his hands and knees and crawled over to her. When he was close enough, Lupa reached out and pulled him to her side. Remus happily snuggled against her.
"Want to read a story?" Lupa asked.
Remus, worn out from playing all morning, nodded into her side. Lupa grabbed the book she had brought outside and opened it to the page that was marked. Moving the ribbon, she continued on where she had left off the night before when she was reading Remus to sleep.
Hours passed and without them realizing it, it was afternoon and time for lunch. As Lupa had instructed, all of the servants came outside with a picnic lunch and blankets to spread on the grass. They were also carrying presents for the birthday boy. Lupa had shocked them all when she had given them each a little bit of money to go into town and buy Remus a present. Lupa didn't notice the servants until they spread the blankets on the ground in front of them and began to set out the food.
"Are you and your brother ready for lunch, Miss Lupa?" The cook asked.
"Yes, we are." Lupa answered before gently nudging Remus who had fallen asleep against her. "Remus, wake up." She said softly.
Remus' mouth opened in a yawn as one hand came up to rub sleepily at one eye. His eyes opened and Lupa was confronted with green eyes, the same color as her own, giving her a grumpy look.
"Lunch time Remus." Lupa continued, still in the same soft voice.
That cheered Remus up. He sat up with a happier look and Lupa led him over to the nearest blanket. It was covered in all of their favorite foods. A servant immediately handed Lupa a plate filled with some of Remus' favorites and Lupa set about making sure that her brother didn't try and tear into his food the way he did last time. When she was satisfied, she turned her attention to her own plate.
Casual conversation sprung up amongst the gathered group. For once, positions were ignored and even the lowest servant engaged in a conversation with her betters. Lupa was debating which candy was better with the servant that usually helped her with Remus. And Remus was just happy to have all the attention.
Too soon lunch was over and it was time for Remus to open his presents, with some help from Lupa. The cook was the first to go as he had to get back to his kitchen to prepare dinner for the master and missus. Remus eagerly tore at the paper and seconds later he revealed a new toy top. The toy was decorated with a carved pattern around the top, alternating wolves and stars. Delighted with the toy, Remus attempted to pull the string but couldn't do it fast enough. Lupa leaned over and placed her hand on her brother's and together they pulled. The top spun around a few times before falling to the blanket. The blanket wasn't hard enough for it to spin longer.
More and more presents were handed over by various servants and Remus tore into all of them with the same eagerness he had the first one. A pattern was soon revealed amongst the presents. All of them from the female servants contained some type of clothes or something similar. From the men Remus received toys. When the last present had been opened an hour later to reveal a hat, Remus was exhausted. There was only so much a one year old could take and Remus had had his nap interrupted. He was leaning against Lupa and struggling to keep his eyes open. Lupa took the hat from him and handed it to the servant in charge of the clothes.
"I think that's enough for now." Lupa said softly. "If you'll leave the blanket here, I think he'll take his nap on it."
A servant nodded and the remaining group quietly stood up and slipped away. Remus had fallen asleep by now and Lupa slowly shifted him off of her and on to the blanket. Then, feeling rather tired herself Lupa laid down next to him and was asleep in minutes.
Sirius' first birthday was exactly as was expected for the Black heir. Sirius woke up at his usual time and went through his normal morning routine with Lucille. He was given his breakfast of porridge and fruit. He was dressed in the usual nice clothes that he wore every day. The only difference was that there was a small pile of presents piled in the center of his playroom. Like any curious child, Sirius immediately went straight for the pile the second Lucille set him down on the floor.
"Hold on Sirius." Lucille said.
She closed the door behind her before crossing the room to sit down next to the boy. She selected one of the presents from the top of the pile, instead of the one at the bottom that Sirius was trying to pull loose, and handed it to the boy. Sirius was immediately distracted by the present and took it. For once giving into his childish tendencies, Sirius tore into the paper without any sort of finesse. Lucille didn't scold him for it, deciding that on his birthday, Sirius could be allowed to act like the child he really was instead of the one his parents wanted. Thankfully the present Lucille had chosen was one of the ones that contained a toy. She knew that the majority of the packages contained clothes that would fit the growing heir in the next few months. His parents had thought that he should have more clothes and educational books than toys. Never mind the fact that he was only a year old and far too young to begin reading.
Sirius seemed pleased with the new set of wooden blocks he had received. He loved to play with his blocks and build things out of them. Lucille had the feeling that if she let him, Sirius would spend all day doing so. Sadly, she had her orders from his parents and they were completely different. Still, he spent a fair amount of time playing with the blocks. As expected, Sirius wasn't as pleased with the clothes he unwrapped but by now he had learned not to throw a tantrum about things. That didn't mean that he never threw one, but it usually took something major to set him off.
When the last present had been unwrapped, Lucille allowed Sirius to go play with his new toys. He could learn his shapes later. For now, he could be a child. He so rarely was allowed to do so that this one day a year, he could be allowed to do as he liked. Besides, who was going to tell the Black heir what he could and couldn't do? His parents didn't care so long as he behaved himself and they didn't have to concern themselves with him too much. That would come later. And they would likely agree that on the day he was born, Sirius deserved to do whatever he wanted.
When lunch time rolled around, Lucille picked Sirius up and checked him over to make sure he was presentable. Today was their weekly lunch with his parents and they couldn't be late. Deciding that he was presentable, Lucille placed him on her hip and quickly made her way from the playroom down the stairs, and into the dining room. Thankfully Orion and Walburga had not yet arrived and so Lucille was able to get Sirius situated in his chair before they arrived. And not a moment too soon. The second Sirius was secure and Lucille had stepped back behind him, Orion and Walburga arrived.
"Sit." Orion ordered, barely sparing a glance at Lucille.
Lucille quickly took her seat next to Sirius while her masters sat down at the head of the table. A minute later several servants entered the room bearing dishes and trays of food. These were set down in front of Orion and his wife. Plates were placed in front of each person and silverware was passed out. Glasses of wine were poured and Sirius was given his usual glass of milk. When Orion had said the required grace, Lucille began to fill Sirius' plate with food, cutting them down into smaller pieces for the boy.
"How did Sirius like his presents?" Walburga asked.
"He was very pleased with them. Especially the new blocks. He immediately added them to his others and began to build new things with them." Lucille answered.
Walburga gave a small smile before turning her attention back to her food. The rest of the meal passed in silence the way it usually did, the only sound being the clatter of silverware against plates. Lucille was just beginning to wonder if the question about the presents was going to be the only mention of Sirius' birthday the boy got. When Orion had given her the instructions last week, she had thought that meant they would at least wish the boy a happy birthday. Oh well, it's not like Sirius was old enough to care.
When the last bite of lunch had been eaten, servants came in and cleared the table. Lucille waited for the dismissal to take Sirius back to his nursery but it never came. Before she could figure out a way to politely bring the subject up, the servants reentered the room, this time bearing a modest sized cake. Across the top of the cake written in blue icing was the words Happy Birthday, Sirius. Lucille was surprised. She could have sworn that she had told the cook to send the cake up to the nursery where she and Sirius would each have a piece after lunch.
A knife was presented to Orion who used it to cut three regular sized pieces and one smaller piece. One of the regular sized pieces was passed to Lucille, along with the smaller one for Sirius. Sirius looked delighted at being given a sugary snack so soon after lunch. He didn't wait for permission before digging in with his hands. Lucille looked up to see that his parents' mouths were pressed into thin lines but they said nothing, choosing to ignore it and eat their cakes.
Once the cake had been eaten and the rest cleared away, Lucille was given permission to take Sirius back to the nursery. She carried the now sleepy boy on her hip back up the stairs and took him into his room to lay him down in his cradle. Sirius was out the moment she laid him down and Lucille was careful not to disturb him as she pulled the blanket up over him. Before she left to go to her room next door, she looked down at the sleeping child and leaned over to place a soft kiss on his forehead.
"Happy Birthday, my little pup." She whispered.
Lucille left the room and closed the door quietly behind her without looking back at the boy. Had she done so, she would have seen the smile on Sirius' face as he slept on.
AN: I meant to post this yesterday, but it wasn't quite finished. When I tried to finish it, my brain just would not cooperate. I guess that's the downside of going on a retreat for the weekend.
So, what do you think of the boy's birthdays? Do you think they're accurate? I tried my best to keep with how their family life is.
I actually don't have much to say this week. Looks like I'm still distracted. That, and I have class in an hour. So, for now I'll leave you with this recommendation. Check out Harry Potter: Dark Memories by BlueOwl. It's a very good one and one of my top 10 non Wolfstar fics.