A/N #1/Warning:
I've received a bit of negative criticism for not progressing forward quickly enough with a plot, and for having Harry and his godfather cuddle together. While neither of these poor reviews are going to influence this story in the least (well, maybe, I'll add EVEN MORE HUGS), I will add a warning that this chapter contains...CONSENSUAL AND PLAYFUL TICKLING.
You.
Have.
Been.
Warned.
Harry woke up the next morning wrapped tightly, but not uncomfortably so, in his godfather's arms. While sleeping next to Sirius was not an uncommon occurrence, he certainly hadn't experienced the safety and warmth as he did this morning. Sirius had even tucked the two blankets around their frames. This, combined with Sirius's arms wrapped around Harry's frame, made it nearly impossible to rise from the bed without waking the older man.
It was a good thing, then, that Harry felt like he could remain there indefinitely, not needing to use the loo.
Harry smiled a little at that thought, and let the feeling of being held surround his thoughts. He'd known that he hadn't had what most kids experienced growing up. He couldn't remember ever being hugged by the Dursleys, and he thought that his first hug had probably been by Mrs. Weasley at the end of his second year. Then, there had also been her motherly hug after Voldemort had rose again, and when he had thought about this act of love during the summer before his fifth year at Hogwarts, he'd felt an additional sense of hurt. How cruel Dumbledore had been, to keep him entirely in isolation for over a month, not just deprived of information, but of any comfort of family or friends.
Well, here Sirius was, acting even better than he ever dreamed a father could. More than once, Sirius had been there, comforted him, after nightmares? Reassured him, hugged him, even stayed with him while he fell back asleep? More than that, Sirius wasn't like the strict and uncaring Uncle Vernon, or any other adult male who believed he had Harry's best interests at heart while imposing their own rules on him, restricting his knowledge. Sirius loved Harry to death, literally, yet he knew not to try to keep Harry from doing what he would have to in order to go against Voldemort. So, Sirius would be there to give him the guidance and power he would need. Whether the final battle would be in a year or in ten years.
Harry tried not to think about that part. The prophecy had been daunting enough with Sirius there beside him, an arm wrapped around his shoulder as they sat in chairs in Dumbledore's office. The headmaster finally looking at Harry as he spoke to him, explaining everything. Had Sirius not been there, had he been killed...
He knew that had Sirius gone through the veil, instead of barely missing it, he would have gone in after him.
Then, who would have fought Voldemort?
Trying to brush off these gloomy thoughts, Harry focused on the warmth he felt, physical and emotional, and the solid presence of Sirius's arms around him.
Hugs were almost a form of magic in themselves. Like chocolate, they had healing powers.
A few noises from the older man indicated that he was up. Then, there was an increase of pressure around Harry's frame, although not quite enough to restrict his breathing.
"Morning, pup," Sirius murmured into his ear.
As he spoke, a piece of his hair brushed against Harry's ear, and he snickered.
"Hey! You'll tickling me, Sirius!" he half heartedly complained.
Sirius guffawed. "I can see that you're like your mum. She was very ticklish. In fact, I wonder..."
Suddenly, his arms dropped from Harry's frame, and his fingers brushed against both of his sides.
Harry nearly fell off the makeshift bed in laughter, but at least he escaped Sirius's tickling fingers.
"Easy, easy there. You don't want to split your head open!" Sirius lightly chided, pulling him back on the couch.
"That was your fault! You nearly tickled me half to death just now!" Harry grumbled, but he was grinning.
Sirius raised his eyebrows, and a wide grin appeared on his face. "Oh, is that a challenge?"
"No!" Harry nearly shrieked, and tried to rise.
He was too slow for Sirius's lightning fast reactions. His godfather pulled him down, chortling gleefully, and wrapped his arms around his frame in an effort to restrain his godson. Harry tried very hard not to smile.
"Now," Sirius mused, "let's see if I can remember where else your mum was ticklish..."
Suddenly, both fingers were under Harry's arms, and he let forth a howl of laughter. The fingers positively danced under his arms-Harry was very glad he was wearing pajamas, as he provided some barrier-for several seconds, at which point Sirius released him.
"That's not funny!" he grumbled, but he was smiling in spite of himself, and made no effort to run.
Sirius needed no further permission to continue. He dangled his fingers in the air menacingly, traveling the length of Harry's chest while leaving a mere inch's worth of space, before suddenly stopped right under his neck.
That was the worst yet, and Harry immediately lowered his head-except he'd accidentally trapped Sirius's fingers inside of his neck, making the tickling far worse.
"Let go-let go!" he panted, between peels of laughter.
Sirius promptly removed the offending hand, then reached out both arms to hug Harry. "I can see you've had enough tickle torture-for now."
Harry only hesitated for a second before returning the hug. "Guess I have more than just my mum's eyes."
"Yeah, funny how you look like your dad, yet you have Lily's very ticklish nerve endings," Sirius snickered. After a moment, he added, "Both your mum and your dad loved having their hair played with, too."
"It's very relaxing, especially when you do it," Harry agreed. "Say, Sirius, was my dad ticklish, too?"
He could feel Sirius's smile. "Only under the feet. Want to see if you took after him there?"
"Oh, all right," Harry sighed, but he was grinning. He lifted his feet onto the couch.
Sirius removed his socks and, without preamble, dropped them on the floor. He took hold of the bottom of Harry's feet, and traced underneath them.
Harry remained still, completely unaffected. Sirius moved his fingers up to his toes, obviously expecting the laughter to start, but Harry felt only a mildly pleasant sensation from Sirius's fingers along his toes.
"Er, sorry?" he asked, eying Sirius with a grin. He was about to place his feet back on the ground, but Sirius stopped him, keeping his hands on his feet.
"You ever had a foot massage, pup?" he asked.
"A...what?" Harry asked, eyebrows narrowing in confusion.
Sirius gave an exaggerated sigh. "When someone rubs your feet all over."
"...No."
Another smile. "Well, would you like me to?"
"It won't hurt, will it?" Harry asked, then regretted it, instantly.
Sirius would never do anything to hurt him.
His godfather, taking no offense, simply gave him another squeeze on the shoulder. "No," he answered, gently.
"Well, all right. Should I move or anything?" Harry wondered.
They were still sitting next to each other, and Sirius had one arm around Harry's shoulders. His feet were lying up on the couch, about a foot away from easy reach.
"Good point...here, hold on..."
Sirius repositioned himself so that he was a foot or so away from Harry, but he had easy access to his feet. He held one in each hand and began to run his fingers down each. He pressed downwards, rather as though he was kneading some bread, but it wasn't at all unpleasant. Quite the opposite, in fact. Harry noticed that his touch was steady and predictable. It also felt better than anything he could have expected. He tried to stretch out on the couch without moving his body too much.
"That feels really nice," he murmured.
Sirius smiled. "Your dad would rub your mum's feet almost every night. Especially when she was pregnant with you. Her feet got huge, then."
"Weren't there charms to make them shrink?" Harry asked, imagining his mum walking around with feet twice the size of his own.
"Sure, but they only lasted a couple of hours at a time. And you were a big baby," Sirius added, chuckling. "'Sides, she loved it when one of us would rub her feet."
"You did, too?" Harry asked, surprised.
"Oh, sure. There were days when they were quite painful lot, even with shrinking charms. So much so that even a few hours after your dad massaged them, she'd try to hide her limping, or plant herself down on an oversized chair. I could always tell when she was having one of those days, but your mum was very stubborn. Practically had to beg her to have a lie down for an hour or so, so I could massage them when your dad was at an Order meeting or getting groceries or something." Sirius paused. "Her back hurt a lot, too, so we both helped her there. Like I said, pup, you were a very large baby."
"I'm sorry. I feel awful I hurt Mum so much," Harry said, a little sheepishly.
"No reason to be sorry. You came out healthy, which made it all worth it. Besides," Sirius added, and from the corner of his eyes, Harry could see his soft smile, "They loved you, pup. We all did."
Sirius moved his hands to Harry's toes, now moving circles on each one individually. Harry let out a long sigh. He couldn't remember feeling more relaxed in his life.
"That feels really good," he mumbled.
Sirius chuckled a bit, then moved his hands backward again, towards the middle of his feet, pressing down lightly. "I figure you'll need this at least once a week if we keep up your potions lessons, since you'll be doing a lot of standing in one spot for those."
Harry didn't answer, just let his eyes close.
He was aware of Sirius moving his hands backwards and forwards along his feet for what felt like ages. Harry enjoyed having his toes massaged the most of all, until Sirius moved again to the heels of his feet. His let out a long, contented sigh. As each moment passed, Hary became even more relaxed, and sleepy. At one point, he felt the blankets fall, by magic, over his body, stopping just above his feet. Then, he felt Sirius place a gentle kiss on his forehead.
Harry woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon. He felt momentarily confused, since he knew he was not in his bed, and then the memories of the morning came back. Sirius had tucked him back in under the covers, which covered him from his neck to below his feet Smiling to himself, he removed the blankets from his body and headed into the kitchen. He knew Sirius wasn't fussy about getting dressed for breakfast.
To his surprise, it was still before eight in the morning. Odd. He would have thought it was much later in the day.
"Good morning," he said, seeing Sirius at the stove.
Sirius turned to give him another long hug. "Good morning, pup. Sleep well?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, great. Thanks for the-what did you call it?"
"Foot massage," Sirius said, with a grin. "Some call it a foot rub. Enjoyed that, did you?" At Harry's nod, he squeezed his shoulder. "I'm glad. We'll do it again, soon, if you like."
"Sure. Thanks again, Sirius." Peering at the pan, he inhaled. "Wow, that smells really good."
"And should taste good, too. You woke up just in time for breakfast," Sirius added, placing some eggs and bacon on two separate plates, then handed one to Harry. As they walked to the table, Sirius suggested, "I figured we'd have another Potions lesson today?"
"Yeah, but, er, I didn't read any more in the book," Harry admitted, sheepishly. "Just the first three chapters."
"That's all right, since we only covered the first chapter. We'll start on one of the potions from the second chapter after breakfast. After we both get cleaned up, rather," he amended, glancing down at his dressing gown.
"All right," Harry answered, taking a bite of eggs.
They were very good, even accounting for his increasingly growing appetite. Not that it could quite compare to Ron's. He felt a stab of uncertainty, since they hadn't spoken more than once since the summer holidays had begun.
Harry normally missed his friends as much as Hogwarts, if not more, but this holiday was different. Having Sirius around was like a mentor and best friend and older brother and parent all rolled into one. Especially after nearing losing him, Harry wanted to cling to every moment he had with him. At the same time, he knew that, in all likelihood, he would die before his godfather, because he was the one due to go up against Voldemort.
He also was aware that he'd be spending far less time with Sirius after the holidays ended, even if he returned to Grimmauld Place for the Christmas holidays. Having the mirror would help, of course, but he was getting used to Sirius's being there. The hugs, of course, and his being there after a bad dream. Even just the way he would put an arm around his shoulder as they read next to each other. How he would tuck a piece of hair around his ear.
The thought of spending September thru most of December completely separate from the closest thing Harry had to a parent put a lump in his throat.
Well, maybe they could meet at Hogsmeade when there were weekend trips...
Ron and Hermione would be there when he returned to Hogwarts, and Sirius would not be.
All the same, he should probably make an effort to see them before they took the train from King's Cross.
Harry cleared his plate without realizing it, and Sirius, also having finished around the same time, wordlessly summoned the pan over to the table. He refilled his own plate, then sent it over in front of Harry's, stopping it in the air.
"Second helpings, pup?" he asked.
"Sure," he agreed, dishing out a second helping of bacon and eggs onto his plate. "It's so cool how you can do that."
Sirius sent the pan back to the stove. "I'll start teaching you nonverbal spells later today, if you like. It's a bit tricky, as I've said, but really quite simple once you get the hang of it."
Harry nodded his thanks, his mouth full of eggs.
"By the way," Sirius asked, once Harry had swallowed, "you have a birthday coming up."
"Er, yeah," Harry answered, shrugging a bit.
"You don't sound very excited," Sirius noted, taking a bite of bacon.
"Oh, well, I've never really celebrated it," Harry explained. "I've always been with the Dursleys, and..."
"They didn't even have a cake? Or presents?" Sirius asked, startled.
Harry had make an effort not to laugh. He would have thought that Sirius would have guessed otherwise by now. He just shook his head, then added, "The last time I got birthday presents from them was when I was ten. They, er, gave me a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks."
The socks had had holes in them, too.
Sirius swore.
"But Ron and Hermione always got me stuff," Harry added, quickly. "And when I turned fourteen, they sent over these great cakes, too. Which was when Dudley was on his diet, so it was especially good to have something sweet to look forward to after a horrible meal."
Harry knew, what with spending nearly two years out of Azkaban surviving almost entirely on rats, but Sirius had more than a vague idea about hunger.
"Well, would you like to celebrate your sixteenth birthday properly? With an actual party and proper presents? And, dare I say, a real cake on the day of the celebration?" Sirius asked, with a smile.
"That would be great. If it's not too much trouble," Harry added, quickly. "Really, Sirius, this whole holiday has been amazing...you don't have to-"
"Harry," Sirius interrupted, then got up from his chair and turned Harry around, placing both hands on his shoulder. "It's no trouble. In fact, I would love to throw you a real birthday party. I just hate that you haven't had one before now."
"Well, all right," Harry agreed, looking at Sirius's smiling face, and slowly forming his own.
A/N:
Still there? :)
Just wanted to mention that even though Harry receives birthday gifts from his friends, he doesn't have a real party until the sixth book. This is slightly ruined by all of the news of Death Eaters and disappearing people. All the same, I give Mrs. Weasley credit for her effort at making it a special day for Harry.
In my version, I want to tell a more uplifting and downright FUN birthday story for Harry.
As always, reviews are GREATLY appreciated.
