Harry woke to the next morning to Sirius swearing.
"What's wrong?" he asked, opening his eyes and seeing his godfather in his dressing gown. Casting a glance at the other bed in the room, he saw that Remus was still fast asleep.
"Scrimgeour floo-called," Sirius spat out, but tousled Harry's hair. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
Harry shrugged, then glanced at the clock. It was after eight.
"What happened? He's not here, is he?" Harry asked, sitting up in bed.
Sirius grimaced. "Great Merlin, no, but he wanted to visit. Asked if he could ask you some questions about Dumbledore and see what you could do for the ministry."
Harry frowned as Sirius returned to the bed. "In light of last year, shouldn't it rather be the other way around? The Boy Who Lies and all that. And they want me to advocate for them?"
"I said as much, give or take a few other things...here..."
Sirius ran a hand down Harry's back, gesturing for him to remove his shirt. Obediently, and smiling in spite of himself, Harry obliged.
"You know you're going to spoil me if you keep this up," Harry complained halfheartedly as Sirius applied just enough pressure to Harry's shoulders to nearly make him fall asleep again.
"Kiddo, you spent your childhood with three muggles who hated you, and two of them were in charge of keeping you safe and loving you. I could give you hour long back and foot massages twice each day and fill you with treacle tart and buy you ten of the latest broomsticks... and it wouldn't come close to making up for it," Sirius said, softly. "Not to mention that you're still recovering from horcrux removal surgery."
"I have you now, Sirius," he whispered, feeling a lump in his throat. "And I feel fine."
Well, except for the lump in his throat. Sirius must have noticed, because he took Harry in his arms.
"And I will do my damnedest to make sure that stays that way," he promised. "That reminds me, Snape won't be able to examine you again until tomorrow. I know how disappointed you are."
Harry sighed. "I don't see why he has to come at all, but what happened with Scrimgeour, anyway?"
Sirius smoothed Harry's hair back, and Harry let himself rest his head against Sirius's shoulders.
"Anyway, I told the new minister as much as you just said, adding in a few swears and promised some painful hexes if he as much as tried to talk to you without my consent." After a moment, he added, "I might have added a few animals that Umbridge could attempt to procreate with before she so much as looked at you again."
Harry snorted. All right, he was sixteen and nearly of age, but it still gave him a very warm feeling inside to have Sirius act so protective of him.
"I love you," he said, softly.
"I love you too, pup," Sirius chuckled. "Did I go too far?"
"Depends. Which animals did you suggest?" Harry had to ask, with a grin of his own.
"All ones Hagrid would keep as pets," Sirius said, slyly. "Dragon might have been one."
"Might have been?"
"I don't fully remember through my fury," Sirius admitted.
Again, that warm feeling.
He lay still for awhile, enjoying the feel of his godfather's hands on his back, easing his way back into sleep.
"Stay with me for a bit?" Harry asked, through a yawn. "Even Remus is still sleeping."
Sirius chuckled, then tucked the covers around them. "I plan to give you a long back or foot massage later, since you're clearly too tired to enjoy it now."
"If you must," Harry retorted, earning a hair tousle and a hug that left him breathless for a good five seconds. "Mmph! Hey, I need to breathe!"
Sirius repeated the hug, but without the same rib crushing element, and then just held him close.
"Much better," he sighed, letting his head rest of the pillow closest to Sirius's head.
He was glad there was still over a week left of holidays.
The three of them ate a combination of a late breakfast and early lunch a couple of hours later, served on a tray by Remus.
"Time to wake up before the day's all gone!" he announced, holding the tray of delicious smelling food over their faces.
"Join us," Sirius offered, gesturing to the ample space between himself and the end of the bed.
"I'm already dressed..."
"Well, Moony, your robes will just have to get a bit wrinkled. That will teach you not to dress so early next time," Sirius chided playfully.
Remus placed the tray on the bed and sat down next to Sirius.
"Pull up the covers," Sirius commanded.
Remus grinned at Harry as he obeyed. "Rather bossy today, your godfather."
"He had a floo call from the new minister," Harry explained, helping himself to some eggs. "Wanted me to be their advocate."
Remus' face turned sour. "Ah, I see. Mind you, Sirius is always a bit bossy about everyone relaxing and enjoying themselves during the holidays," Remus amended. "Almost as bad as your dad."
"Well, if you met James' parents..."
"I did," Remus reminded Sirius, taking a bite of his own eggs. "On several occasions, in fact."
"Sure, you spent Christmas there, twice. I spent almost every holiday there since our first year, and then the ones after school ended. Even after James and Lily got married, they demanded I come over. Yes, demanded, pup," Sirius insisted, turning to Harry. "You don't say no to the Potters."
"They sound great," Harry said, rather wistfully. "I wish I could have known them."
"They would have adored you. Spoiled you rotten," Sirius laughed.
"Like you don't," Harry noted, with a smile.
"It's the job of a godfather to buy you tons of gifts and all the sweets your parents would say no to," Sirius explained, patiently. "Grandparents as well. Usually, anyway."
Harry suspected that Sirius's extended family had been as bad as his parents, and grasped at Sirius's hand. The older man smiled, a bit sheepishly, and squeezed back.
It was a bit less festive than Christmas, but a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing day. They remained in their pajamas for most of the day, and in the bed, summoning various games and food as necessary. Around one in the afternoon, even Remus reluctantly changed from his robes back into his sleep ware, and Sirius rewarded him for this sacrifice with a back massage. Which Harry was mostly asleep for, as he felt a bit tired halfway through the afternoon. He was feeling much better than immediately after his surgery, but he felt tired more easily than usual.
"You should mention this to Snape when he arrives tomorrow," Sirius observed.
Harry shrugged. "He'll just think I'm complaining about nothing."
"Pup, you had surgery. He should know if you're still experiencing symptoms," Sirius chided, gently.
"He'd certainly prefer it over the alternative," Remus pointed out. "That is, you nodding off in class."
That was certainly true, and Harry didn't want to imagine what kind of humiliation Snape would put him through in that case. Granted, even if he had been forewarned, he might still opt to humiliate him...
"I wonder if Ron and Hermione are having a good holiday," Harry mused, changing the subject. "Ron told me that Fleur's spending loads of time with Bill, of course."
Mrs. Weasley, Harry knew, still hadn't warmed up to Fleur. It was quite the opposite with Hermione, although she wasn't at the Burrow for the holidays. Hermione's parents had insisted that she come home, and Harry couldn't blame them. After all, she never came home for Easter, of course, but she had spent the previous Christmas and summer holidays at The Burrow.
"You can always floo-call Ron, but an owl would be the best way to reach Hermione," Sirius suggested. "Her fireplace isn't connected, is it?"
"To be honest, I don't know if she even has a fireplace," Harry said, laughing a bit. "The Dursleys have an electric one."
Likely recalling Harry's story about the Weasleys getting stuck and almost destroying his aunt and uncle's living room, Sirius grinned broadly.
"What's so funny?" Remus asked, sitting up in his bed.
"You tell him, pup," Sirius answered, still grinning. "Or, if you like, you can show us the memory in the Pensieve."
"I'll tell you," Harry said, feeling the beginnings of a broad grin. "See, Mr. Weasley got tickets to the Quidditch World Cup and was going to pick me up..."
Sirius chuckled, no doubt recalling Harry and Ron telling him what had happened last Christmas.
Later that evening, Harry sent Hermione a rather short letter, since there wasn't very much of importance that he could say via writing, and he would see her in a little over a week, anyway. Then, he asked Sirius if he could apply the glamour so he could talk to Ron without raising any questions. He didn't think his friend had told his parents about the horcruxes, and his face showing up in the flames without a scar and a fading circular cut over the area would certainly raise questions.
"That reminds me, I need to teach you how to do this on your own before you leave," Sirius said, afterwards. "Take a look..."
Harry peered at himself in the large mirror and couldn't see anything different. Well, perhaps he still looked a bit paler than usual, but the glamour hid the new scar and made the old one look real.
"What happens if someone brushes against it or something?" Harry asked.
Sirius, rather than answering, poked the effected area. There was no change.
"Cool!"
"Glamour charms are generally about the skill level of a third, maybe fourth year student," Remus explained. "Many girls used them instead of makeup."
"Doesn't really work on hair, though," Sirius added, giving Harry's a tousle. "Too hard to tame."
"Which is why your grandfather's hair potion is still so popular," Remus put in.
"Is that why there is so much gold in my vault?" Harry wondered.
"Partially. They were already quite well off before Fleamount developed the potion and sold it off." Sirius smiled. "More than enough for him and Lily to be able to live on, and you, if you hadn't wanted to work after school. Or if the war had still been going on."
"I wonder if Hermione knew that the hair potion she used for the Yule Ball was developed by my grandfather," Harry said, thoughtfully.
"It's recorded in a few volumes, but not the sort of books that your friend typically reads," Remus answered, with a smile. "History books of fashion throughout the ages and whatnot."
"Yeah, probably not what Hermione would spend her time on," Harry laughed.
A few minutes later, as Sirius was setting up Wizard Chess to play with Remus, an owl appeared. Sirius, being nearest, carefully extracted the role of parchment from its leg, and it gave a hoot before disappearing.
"It's for both of us, from Dumbledore," he noted, handing Harry the scroll. "Here, pup, you take a look."
Harry took the missive and read it out loud. "'Dear Harry and Sirius,
I would like to hold your next lesson on the Friday after you return to Hogwarts. Please arrive at my office at 8:00.
I hope you are enjoying your holidays!
Best regards,
Albus Dumbledore.'"
"His lesson plans might change when he sees that we jumped ahead a bit," Sirius noted, with a laugh, as he set up the final piece.
"Just a bit, I reckon," Harry chuckled. "Maybe he'll finally tell us about that ring. I'm sure it was one of the horcruxes."
"Oh, I'd bet at least ten thousand galleons on it," Sirius agreed, placing an arm around Harry's shoulder. "Now, watch and learn as I utterly trounce Remus."
Remus gave Harry an amused look. "Always a competition with him, isn't it?"
"Sure, where's the fun if you don't play to not only win, but utterly destroy your opponent?" Sirius said, lightly.
"And here, I thought we were just playing to have fun."
"Moony, defeating you is fun."
"Remind me never to play against you, Sirius," Harry noted, leaning in a bit against his godfather. "You might be able to teach Ron a thing or two, though."
"Your friend is extremely talented in Wizards Chess," Sirius acknowledged, moving one of his pawns. "But I have quite a bit more experience on him. Don't worry, though, if we play, I'll go easy on him."
Remus tried to hide a snort. "What he means, Harry, is that he will let the game go on for about a half an hour instead of ten minutes."
Harry wasn't so sure. "He did defeat the giant chess board in our first year. You might be surprised..."
"Well, we'll see. Perhaps, we can play a game or two after our lesson on Friday," Sirius relented, as he captured one of Remus' knights. "Check."
Harry and Ron spoke a bit later that day, accompanied by a rather put out Mrs. Weasley and an equally annoyed Ginny. Ron, on the other hand, seemed to be in good enough spirits.
"What's wrong?" Harry finally asked.
"Fleur," Mrs. Weasley said, at the same time that Ginny said, "Phlegm."
"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley scolded, half-heartedly. "I told you not to use that word around her."
Ginny made a show of looking around. "She's not here, is she?"
"No," Mrs. Weasley allowed, trying very hard not to smile. "Oh dear, I really hope that Bill doesn't go through with the wedding, or Christmas will be just awful from now on."
"That's assuming she'll let him visit," Ginny pointed out, hands on her hips. "She keeps talking about how much she misses her family."
"Well, I don't see what's keeping her from returning, only I wish she wouldn't take our Bill with her!" Mrs. Weasley huffed.
"What's she done?" Harry asked, knowing that the two of them did not exactly get along.
"She's awful," Ginny answered for her mother. "She's so stuck up, and always doing this-" Ginny flicked her hair dramatically. "-And it's always how uncivilized us Britains are and how much better they do things in France. Besides, she's a Veela, so she's likely ten times prouder because she knows how good-looking she is..."
"You're very pretty, dear, just as pretty as she is," Mrs. Weasley soothed, running a hand through her daughter's hair.
Harry and Ron exchanged a look. Ginny certainly wasn't unattractive, and her hair was looking especially nice that day, all sleek and shiny, not unlike Hermione's when she used the hair potion a couple of years ago...but hardly anyone except Veelas (or 1/4 Veela, as Fleur was) looked like that. It was otherworldly, really.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Thanks, mum, but you're just saying that because I'm your daughter."
"You are lovely, Ginny," Mrs. Weasley insisted, "and you're not a snob, which is nearly as important. Looks will fade over time, but your personality remains with you. I hope Bill realizes that."
The boys-and Sirius-nodded, and then Mrs. Weasley asked Harry about how his holidays were going.
Since he couldn't tell her about his horcrux surgery, he just said that he was having a great time with Sirius and Remus (which was certainly true), and she beamed and said that she was glad.
She sounded it, too. Harry had been a little concerned, at first, especially since she and Sirius hadn't seen eye to eye last year on...well, on him. He knew that she thought of him as a son, and it must have been hard, suddenly moving into Sirius' house and having to share Harry with him. She'd said some unkind things about him as well, and Harry almost believed her at one point.
Now, though, Sirius was officially innocent and Harry's guardian. Mrs. Weasley seemed to be accepting that, or behaving as though she did, and was trying to be motherly to Harry without trying to take him away from Sirius.
He was glad. Mrs. Weasley wasn't quite a mother to him, as she had her own kids to worry about, but he did like her, and appreciated what she had done for him during the years. All the same, she could never replace Sirius, and he was relieved that she'd stopped trying.
"We have to go, Harry!" Ron said, suddenly. "Bill's calling us over...if we don't talk soon, see you when you get back!"
"See you!" Harry and Sirius said, cheerfully. "Thanks for the sweater, Mrs. Weasley!" Harry added, quickly.
"You're most welcome, dear," Mrs. Weasley beamed, before their faces vanished from the flames.
Sirius and Remus stared at each other, then at Harry. Both were wearing grins on their faces, but Harry couldn't see why.
Author's note:
Yes, the ending hints at Harry/Ginny, but as Harry is still oblivious, he doesn't know what Sirius does. And it's going to stay that way for awhile.
I know there was a big scene between Harry and the new minister in the book, but I thought it made more sense to have Sirius run interference offscreen. I can just see him yelling and threatening to hex him even though, he knew deep down, Scrimgeour had nothing to do with Harry's abuse by Fudge and Umbridge the previous year. Oh well, he'll get over it.
NEXT UP: Snape finally returns for a check up, and Sirius offers a rematch against Lupin, of another magical sort.
Second note:
If you're enjoying the fluff of this fic, I started another one called "Harry Potter's Adoption." Yes, I fully admit that creativity regarding Harry Potter fanfiction is NOT my strong suit. At least, you can get a good idea what the fic is about by what I call it!
Anyway, it features an ALMOST five year old Harry Potter being adopted by our favorite godfather who's never been to Azkaban, and was able to spend three years gathering evidence against the Dursleys being unfit guardians. The backstory is secondary to the story of Harry being adopted by Sirius, and the healing that occurs from having lived with the Dursleys for almost three years. It's AU, but I try to keep the treatment of the Dursleys to what canon shows and implies. Also, since I am STRONGLY against any kind of physical punishment on a child, there will be none of that in this fic.
I have about five chapters that are at least in draft form, one of which is already posted here. If you're so inclined, please give it a read!
