Even as Harry saw his best friends snogging, he was rather glad that he hadn't caught them doing...well, more than that. The Dursleys had never bothered to sit him down and give him "the talk" before Hogwarts, no doubt believing that his "freakishness" would render him celibate for life. Mrs. Weasley certainly hadn't broached the subject with him, so it was rather a good thing that, a few weeks into the school year, there had been a very, very brief lecture on it-with boys and girls separated-using wizarding euphemisms for the body parts in question, and what happened.
This had been during their third year.
Harry and Ron were very glad that they hadn't needed to sit through that with Hermione, or any of the girls in their year.
Then again, Ron had pointed out, that Hermione's parents were dentists, which were a type of muggle doctor, so she likely would have come into school knowing about "the differences between witches and wizards."
They hadn't asked her, of course, and she hadn't volunteered the information.
With this in his head, Harry was very, very glad that while his friends' faces were pressed against each other, they were fully clothed and only kissing.
Hermione, perhaps having heard his footsteps, turned around and her face went pink. Ron's, too, turned beet red.
"Er, hey mate! Good game, eh?" he blabbed. "We were, uh, just talking about it."
Harry couldn't help himself. "So I saw."
The faces of his best friends turned even redder, and he decided to release them from their embarrassment.
"So, you're together now?" he asked, heading towards his trunk to grab a spare sweater.
"Yes," they both answered at once.
Sweater in hand, Harry gave them a nod. "Er, that's great. Congratulations."
"Thanks!" Ron spoke up. "Yeah, um, it just sort of happened...not that I didn't fancy you for awhile, Hermione," he quickly added.
Hermione's face turned rather pink. "Yes, it was quite all of the sudden, and yet, not."
Harry nodded once more. "Great," he repeated, smiling at them. He was happy for them, after all. Of course, one thing needed to be said, just to tease them a bit...
"D'you mind, though, uh, not doing too much of that in the corridors? Or during class?"
He grinned so that they could see her was not entirely serious.
"Oh, we won't be that kind of couple!" Hermione insisted, raising herself up straight.
"Yeah, definitely not. We won't be prats," Ron confirmed.
"I mean," Harry said, still grinning, "a bit of snogging is fine. Just not all the time."
They snickered at this.
"Congratulations, by the way," Harry added. "So, er, I'm heading back to the party before Sirius sends a search party out. You might want to make an appearance soon, Ron. Just because Neville and Dean were wondering where you went." Turning to Hermione, he added, "Think Ginny would like to see you soon, as well."
The last part was probably true, but not quite as accurate as the bit about Dean and Neville.
Ron scowled a bit. "Surprised Dean could see anything past the edge of my sister's face," he muttered, and Hermione put a hand on his. To Harry, he added, "Yeah, we'll be down in a bit."
Five minutes later, Harry had his sweater on over his robes, and was talking to Neville in front of the fireplace. Even though part of his mind was on what his friend was saying, Harry wondered if Ron and Hermione were going to become an official couple before the school, or hide it for bit. Dean and Ginny were fairly open about their relationship, as far as Harry could tell, but there were others who hardly did as much as hold hands. He remembered that when Cedric and Cho were together, which must have begun at the Yule Ball, they had always seemed to be near each other, but hadn't been making out. You just knew they were a couple...well, Harry had known, anyway. While he didn't miss her, not in that way, he also noticed that she wasn't with anyone else this year. She seemed a bit less sad, too, although hardly her popular self before Cedric's death.
Much later that day, after the festivities were over and everyone had gone to dinner, Sirius asked if he would like to spend the evening at Grimmauld Place.
"You have to ask?" Harry teased, holding up a small bag that Sirius had bought him over the summer. It was far more practical than lugging a trunk around for an overnight (or two) visit.
"Even if I reckon I know the answer, I'll always ask," Sirius replied, chuckling a it as he wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders.
Harry nodded, understanding what he meant. "Yeah, I reckon I know what you meant."
He knew that he could use the time away from his dormitory to relax and, if he were being honest with himself, get the rest of his weekend homework done. He hadn't done any since early on Friday afternoon, and if he didn't start that evening, he'd probably be spending all of Sunday on it. Perhaps, even, late into the night.
Sirius seemed to know that Harry had had enough celebrating for one day, and made no remarks when Harry set his books on the table after dinner. He kept Harry company while he worked, a book in hand to distract himself, but always ready if his godson had questions. It was only on Snape's latest nightmare of an assignment that Harry needed more than a few minutes' worth of help, and after that was over, it was almost eleven, and he still had more work to do. He might have pushed himself to keep working had he been at school, as eleven on a Saturday was not terribly late, but between the excitement of the game and the party afterwards, Harry could hardly keep his eyes open.
"Time for bed, I think," Sirius suggested mildly after Harry had yawned twice in the span of a minute.
"I suppose so," he agreed. "Mind if I leave these here?"
Sirius tousled his hair, then guided him up from the table. "Not a bit."
Once his teeth were brushed and he was in bed, tucked in and curled up against Sirius, Harry felt a bit more awake. Not enough to want to trudge downstairs and do homework, but enough to talk to him.
"I keep running over the last few minutes in my head," Harry admitted. "I can't believe I almost lost the game for us," he murmured.
"Harry," Sirius soothed. "It happens to all of us. I barely saw the Snitch, and that other guy, Hooper or whoever he was, well, he was just in the right spot to see it. Besides," he added, "wasn't he using a Nimbus 2001 broom? Those aren't Firebolts, but they're fast, all right."
"I can't almost lose again, though," Harry insisted, staring at Sirius. "I just can't."
"All right," Sirius murmured, brushing some hair back from Harry's face. "Then, I know you won't."
Harry went quiet, debating whether or not to tell Sirius about Ron and Hermione. Finally, he decided that he would. They hadn't said not to, after all, and if everyone knew by Monday, there would be no point in keeping it from Sirius.
"When I went upstairs to get my sweater, I came upon Ron and Hermione snogging. They're a couple, now."
Sirius chuckled a bit. "Took them long enough, eh?" At Harry's snicker, he added, "What about you, pup? Are you all right with this?"
"I don't feel left out of anything," Harry said, truthfully. "I just hope they keep the public snogging to a minimum."
"Believe it or not," Sirius said, brushing more hair away from Harry's face, which resulted in a yawn, "that was our fear when your mum finally agreed to start seeing your dad."
"Oh yeah?" Harry looked up. "What happened?"
"We caught them kissing a few times, but they never did anything in public that a professor or prefect would take away points for. Now, mind you, I don't know all of what they did before they got married, as your father was a gentleman that way," Sirius added, with a bit of a smirk, "but when they started dating, it was disgustingly sweet and not at all something you wouldn't want your grandparents to see you looking at. Of course," Sirius continued, contemplatively, "they were head boy and girl by then, so they did have a reputation to uphold."
This reminded Harry of the conversation from the summer before his fifth year. "Sirius, I know that Dad was never a prefect, but was Mum?"
Sirius pulled harry in a bit closer, tucking the blankets in more securely around him. Harry smiled to himself as he nestled against his godfather, who promptly resumed stroking his hair.
"Yes, pup, your mum was a prefect, during her fifth and sixth year," Sirius began, rather wistfully. "She was rather like Hermione in that way-there was simply no question that she would be the one chosen of the girls in her year. She was really good at the job, too. The younger students really liked her, trusted her. At the same time, she didn't let anyone walk over her. Your mum was an easy pick, and a good one."
Harry was glad, especially since Remus had all but admitted he'd failed at the role. As he had witnessed through Snape's memory.
"How'd my dad end up becoming Head Boy?" he murmured.
"Well, your dad being chosen for Head Boy might have seemed a bit odd, and generally, Head Boys were prefects beforehand. He was one of the exceptions. For one thing, his ego had gone down considerably by the middle of his sixth year, and his grades were stellar, and Remus was never good at enforcing discipline. There might have been a couple of Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff students in the running, and there certainly would have been more competition if fifth or sixth years could have been given the position. Still, I rather think he was surprised, and didn't want to do much to have it taken away from him," Sirius concluded. "Even after Lily fell for him."
"Sirius, did you..." Harry trailed off, not sure if it was a question Sirius would want him to ask.
"Yes, but that's a story for tomorrow, pup," Sirius answered, softly. "Not for when you're half asleep."
As though proving his point, Harry let out a giant yawn, and a laugh.
"All right. G'night, Sirius."
"Sweet dreams, pup. Remember that I'm proud of you," he murmured. "And I know your dad would be, too."
When Harry woke up the next morning, Sirius didn't immediately bring up the topic that he had begun to ask about the previous night. After breakfast, Harry set about working on his Charms and Transfiguration homework, both of which took longer than he had expected, and then spent an hour studying Herbology for an upcoming test.
Even though they would eat lunch soon, Sirius brought him a plate a of biscuits to, as he put it, help him concentrate.
"Biscuits do that, eh?" Harry asked, smiling in spite of himself. "You didn't put anything else in them, did you?"
"Oh, shush," Sirius answered, tousling his hair.
After lunch, Sirius did make him take a break before they headed into his Potions lab to create an Adrenaline Draught, which was the next potion that he had not made either in class or with Sirius. By now, he had advanced to potions he and his godfather had not made together (or under Sirius's careful watch), but Harry found that as long as he studied the notes and instructions beforehand, he received full marks in class.
Once this was complete, they returned to the sitting room, where Sirius produced two mugs of hot chocolate, a roaring fire in the sitting room, and a couple of throw blankets. This, Harry knew, meant that it was time to talk.
Accepting his own mug of hot chocolate, and enjoying the feel of the hot mug around his hands, Harry listened as Sirius took a sip of his own drink, then began to speak.
"You asked if I'd ever had a sweetheart while in school," Sirius began, speaking softly.
Harry looked up, abruptly. "You don't need to tell me, if it's too personal."
Sirius wrapped an arm around Harry. "Pup, believe me, I want to tell you about it, all right?" At Harry's nod, Sirius continued, "Marlene McKinnon and I began going out in our fourth year. She was a fellow Gryffindor, and one of your mum's closest friends."
"What was she like?" Harry asked.
"Fiery, just like your mum. Really gorgeous, a real looker, with this amazing curly black hair and dark brown eyes." Sirius grinned. "Which were the first things you noticed, but she was wicked smart and the most loyal person I ever met. Well, tied with your parents," Sirius added, with a laugh. "Really, the fact that she gave me a shot so early makes me wonder if your mum liked me, as a friend, rather a bit more than she did your dad."
"You're selling yourself short," Harry grinned, and Sirius returned the smile.
"Perhaps. I was a bit of a prat back then. Marlene seemed to see through that. Anyway, she was a pure-blood, not that it mattered to me, although not one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight." Harry nodded, recalling Sirius's explanation about those pure-blooded families from the summer. "Now, had I cared a whit about what my parents had thought, Marlene's lineage might have been a bit problematic. Not enough for them to tell me to send her packing, because my family had married into other families that were not part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight before, although it was hardly encouraged."
"Did you become serious while you were still living with your parents?" Harry asked.
Sirius shook his head. "No, by then, I had been adopted into James's family. Now, had we been on speaking terms when Marlene and I were considering marriage, they likely would have had inquiries done into her bloodlines, because you can hardly have the heir marry someone not of pure blood." Sirius snorted, then. "We did break up, briefly, during our fifth year, but got back together when our sixth year began. We remained together after Hogwarts, and we were going to get married, but she was murdered by my dear cousin." Sirius let out a deep breath. "Personally, I think it was intentional on her part."
"Probably," Harry agreed, knowing what Bellatrix was like. "I'm really sorry, Sirius."
Sirius let out a deep breath. "That's all right, pup. Anyway, she died about six months before you were born, and that was that. After you were born, I was too busy doing things for the Order and helping your parents with you to think about seeing anyone else. I suppose," he added, rather playfully, "that much hasn't changed."
"I'm not six months anymore," Harry protested, rather half-heartedly.
"No, you don't need your nappies changed or to be bottle fed or burped or anything like that," Sirius admitted, with a laugh. "But you're still my first priority. Even so than before, since you don't have parents. Which I still blame myself for," Sirius added, a bit sourly.
"That wasn't your fault. You didn't kill them, or betray them," Harry reminded him.
"I could have done a lot differently, though. Even if I couldn't have saved them, I could have fought harder for you."
Harry swallowed, hard. That part, he couldn't exactly deny. Then again, he couldn't have known what Dumbledore would have done to meddle.
"You're here, now."
Sirius smiled, a bit sadly, and nodded.
"Have you ever thought about...?" Harry struggled to find the words. "Trying to find someone, now?"
"Trying to get me out of your hair, are you?" Sirius teased. More seriously, he added, "Yes. Occasionally. That being said, most of the Order is either male, married, or a relative. Sometimes, all three. They're the ones I see most often. I missed Marlene after she died, of course, but finding another sweetheart never came to mind as immediately important. Anyway, I can't have kids, likely thanks to all the intermarriage within my family, so there's that."
"How d'you..never mind." Harry turned red.
Sirius chuckled, pulling Harry into a hug. "I went rather farther than your mother and father while still at Hogwarts. There are protective charms, to prevent a pregnancy, but we forgot to use them as often as not. Young and in love and all that." Sirius smiled as Harry's face turned even redder, and gave him a squeeze. "Afterwards, once we were engaged, we took the rather nontraditional path of trying to have kids before we were married. Not that we were intending to have our child present at our wedding, but if Marlene had a baby a few months earlier than nine months into our marriage, we weren't concerned. But," Sirius added, "she never became pregnant. After seeing Healers and having some tests done on both of us, we learned that Marlene could have kids, but I couldn't. I attribute it to too much pure blood inbreeding in my family, and I rather wonder if Regalus would have been able to have a son or daughter had he not gotten himself killed." Sirius sighed. "Marlene still wanted to marry me after that, although I wouldn't have blamed her if she hadn't."
Harry tried to wrap his mind around the new information. "In the muggle world, there's stuff like fertility treatments...and adoption."
"They're far ahead of us in that direction, pup," Sirius answered. "As for adoption, well, I've sort of adopted you, haven't I?"
Harry nodded. "You're more a parent to me than the Dursleys ever were," he said with intensity.
"Not that the standard is that high." Sirius held Harry even tighter, and Harry let himself rest against his guardian's robes. "After this is all over, if I do meet someone who you approve of to be your, er, step-godmother, perhaps? If she doesn't already have kids, I'll ask what she thinks about adoption. After this war is over, I'm sure there will be lots of kids needing homes, although most end up in the care of relatives, like your friend Neville."
"I can't imagine that Voldemort will be finished off so quickly," Harry mused. "And there's still Nagini to do away with."
"I don't doubt that you'll be the one to off him, with Voldemort taking the prophecy literally," Sirius sighed, "but I rather hope you complete your Auror training before that happens."
So did Harry.
He knew that, in spite of having survived past encounters with Voldemort, he could use all the help he could get.
Next up: The school reacts to Ron and Hermione, Harry attends the Christmas party for the Slug Club, and Sirius broaches the topic of his scar.
All constructive feedback is most welcome!
